Migraines suck

It's been a while sine I've had one, but I had one tonight.  They're pretty crippling, and I can never get any writing-related stuff done.  I just can't think well enough, even when I'm not nauseous or shaking, and I just can't trust myself to make decent decisions.

It's mostly subsided now, which is why I'm capable of using the computer at the moment.  But the final polishing of Cities of Mars will remain postponed until tomorrow.

I had hoped to release the trilogy this week, but I might wait until this hurricane stuff has passed.  I want to release at a time when I'm fairly confident the power won't go out.  My location in the northern part of the state means I'm not in any real danger, but the power goes out around here every time a squirrel farts, so a little caution won't hurt.

Not sure...

...what Buzz is wearing on his head.  It looks dangerous, though, and possibly illegal in some states.

But he's Buzz Aldrin, so as far as I'm concerned, he can wear whatever he wants. 

Jerry Pournelle has died

One of the living legends of science fiction has passed away.  He was 84.  He was a brilliant man, with actual scientific accomplishments to go along with his literary ones:

He worked in operations research at The Aerospace Corporation, and North American Rockwell Space Division, and was founding President of the Pepperdine Research Institute. In 1989, Pournelle, Max Hunter, and retired Army Lieutenant General Daniel O. Graham made a presentation to then Vice President Dan Quayle promoting development of the DC-X rocket.

I've only read a couple of his books.  I always meant to get around to reading The Mote in God's Eye, but have yet to do it.  Some day, hopefully.

R.I.P., Mr. Pournelle.  :(

Not sure about Pale Moon :(

I made the switch to Pale Moon, and I added the add-ons I wanted.  I've got it configured.  Unfortunately, there are still issues.  I can't embed youtube videos on kboards.  Also, PM seems to hang more often than Firefox.

Will I switch back for good?  Hard to say.  I'm on Firefox right now, but I've still got PM set as my default browser.  :|  I just don't know.  If the developers can get my favorite add-ons available as WebExtensions, then that would be great.  I could stick with Firefox.  At the moment, though, it looks like most Firefox add-ons will self-destruct in November.

I just don't know what to do.

A generous move by Audible

They're offering free audiobooks to victims of Hurricane Harvey.  They'll still pay the authors, though.  :D  Here's the email I received from them:

Hello,

My colleagues at Audible, ACX, and I watched the terrible news about Hurricane Harvey with the same sense of "What can we do to help?" that so many others had. We've noted publishers making books available to schools, libraries and shelters in the area and applaud their efforts. We wanted you to know that we've contacted the tens of thousands of Audible members in the greater Houston area to let them know their memberships are on Audible for the next three months and that they won't be billed during this time. Our hope is that this makes life a little bit easier for our customers who are impacted by Harvey. We did something similar after Hurricane Katrina and try to extend the same spirit of "do the right thing" in working with school kids in Newark (more on that soon).

While we won't be billing our Houston-area members for their audio over the next three months, we will continue to pay you your royalties on their selections. We've already gotten a few notes from members in Houston who are grateful for our offer. Let's hope that listening to some high quality audio may brighten a bleak situation for some people.

Sincerely,
Beth

Beth Anderson
EVP & Publisher
Audible, Inc.

That's a nice gesture, guys.  Cheers.  :)

SF themes according to Clare Winger Harris

Mrs. Harris was an early 20th-century SF writer.  In 1931, her list of "themes" was published in Wonder Stories, one of several pulp SF magazines of the day.  Here's the list:

1. Interplanetary space travel.
2. Adventures on other worlds.
3. Adventures in other dimensions.
4. Adventures in the micro or macro-cosmos.
5. Gigantic insects.
6. Gigantic man-eating plants.
7. Time travel, past or future.
8. Monstrous forms of unfamiliar life.
9. The creation of super-machines.
10. The creation of synthetic life.
11. Mental telepathy and mental aberrations.
12. Invisibility.
13. Ray and vibration stories.
14. Unexplored portions of the globe; submarine, subterranean, etc.
15. Super intelligence.
16. Natural cataclysms; extra-terrestrial or confined to the earth.


Let's see... Buddy only hits one of those, and that's 8.  And possibly 9, depending on what "micro-cosmos" means.  Mr. Wilson hits 1, 2, and 4.  It also includes 8 if one considers time dilation to be a form of time travel into the future.

Yet-to-be-published works: The Free Space books hit 1, 2, and 9.  The Wheel of Fire books hit 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15.  Lol... Looks like I'm sort of throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Wheel of Fire.  :D

I think Harris's list is a pretty good one, and surprisingly still relevant all these decades later.  Here's one of Mrs. Harris's stories, "The Fate of the Poseidonia."  It's about Martians trying to steal Earth's water.  Man, you just can't trust those darn Martians.  Free to read at the link.

Hummingbird activity has increased

They're always territorial, but their behavior has picked up recently.  That's typical--it's late summer, and they'll be migrating soon.  They have to store up energy for the long flight to Cuba, and that means they're constantly chasing each other away from the feeders.

Still, though... it seems like it's cooler now than it should be.  Tomorrow's high is only going to be 84.  But the hummers are frantic, and the poplar leaves have started to fall, so I guess summer's reaching its end.