Filed under: Amazon, Connections, Constitution, Feedback, Humor, Kindle, Promotion, Publishing, Religion, Science Fiction, Society | Tags: Amazon, blogging, Christians, Communion of Dreams, Constitution, direct publishing, Edenists, feedback, free, highlights, humor, jim downey, Kindle, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction, Thanksgiving
I was scheduling a “free Kindle copy” promotion of Communion of Dreams a while ago, and as part of that I was poking around a little deeper into the Amazon ratings/rankings/comments. Something they evidently added a while back that I hadn’t noticed is that people can “highlight” passages in the Kindle edition, and share that info with other readers.
Anyway, about a year ago someone highlighted a passage (in italics below) and added a comment which I find rather amusing, and I thought I’d share it:
JohnB: I resent the author’s allusion to Christians in this negative light. More unConstitutional bashing.
Take your worst nightmare right-wing Christian fundies,
Really makes me wonder if he continued to read the book at all past that point.
You can find all the highlights here. Oh, and the Kindle edition will be available for free this Thursday and Friday.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Architecture, Humor, Travel, YouTube | Tags: AIA, architecture, blackberry cobbler, Claysville Store, food, Hartsburg, humor, jim downey, Katy Trail, reviews, travel, video, www youtube
Among other things, my Good Lady Wife is the exec of the local chapter of the AIA. And last night they had their annual awards dinner.
Now, you might think that such an event would be formal and fancy. But that would be ‘big city’ thinking. This is where it happened:
No, I’m not kidding. Here’s another pic:
It’s the Claysville Store, just off the Katy Trail at mile 150 outside Hartsburg.
Here’s a nice little video about the place:
Here it is from the Trail:
And here are a couple of images taken from the Trail while I was wandering around:
And:
So, if you find yourself on the Trail, or in mid-Missouri sometime and are looking for something a bit out of the ordinary, give them a look. Excellent, simple fare. Limited menu, and hours.
But man, the blackberry cobbler was delicious.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Connections, General Musings, Humor, Music, NPR, Science Fiction, Society, Writing stuff | Tags: Alwyn, blogging, Darrell Scott, Fat Tire, humor, jim downey, Lake of the Ozarks, music, New Belgium, NPR, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, Tim O'Brien, travel, writing
At about 7:45 in this interview:
NPR: “I wonder: your original CD together Realtime is so beloved by your fans, does that make you just a tad nervous about how this much-anticipated follow-up might be received? Or do you just block that stuff out?”
O’Brien: “Ah, you know, I’m gettin’ over that.”
NPR: “But not yet? You’re still working on it?”
* * * * * * *
It was a hard week. He may have been only a dog, but his absence was entirely too distracting.
* * * * * * *
The other night I played supportive spouse and accompanied my Good Lady Wife to a professional meeting she had at the Lake of the Ozarks.
The Lake (as people in Missouri almost universally refer to it) is an interesting sort of place, from a purely anthropological perspective. Originally built to help generate electricity, it then became a tourist trap in the 1960s, then evolved into something of a Spring Break party spot for college kids throughout the state. It still has something of that reputation, though it has now branched out a bit into being a general purpose convention/resort area. I’ve written about it previously.
Anyway, like these sorts of meeting things go, the first night there was a cocktail party with an open, but limited selection, bar. I walked up to the bar, nodded to the nice very clean cut young man behind it, asked “Got any Fat Tire? ”
“Sorry, just domestic beer. ”
I blinked, a bit stunned.
He explained further “We don’t have any of those Belgium beers.”
* * * * * * *
At about 7:45 in this interview:
NPR: “I wonder: your original CD together Realtime is so beloved by your fans, does that make you just a tad nervous about how this much-anticipated follow up might be received? Or do you just block that stuff out?”
O’Brien: “Ah, you know, I’m gettin’ over that.”
NPR: “But not yet? You’re still working on it?”
O’Brien:“Well, there is a sort of a fermentation that happens in people’s minds, and I guess it happened in my mind too, that you know, what, can we do that again? Can we go back to that? And then, at some point I just said ‘well, you know, if we don’t try we’ll never do anything together again'”.
Scott: “To me the word is ‘fearless’. Putting it out there, and then, with the right ingredients it’ll probably turn into something edible.”
Something edible, indeed. Back to work.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Augmented Reality, Civil Rights, Connections, George Orwell, Government, Heinlein, Humor, movies, Predictions, Privacy, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, Society, tech, Writing stuff | Tags: 1984, augmented reality, George Orwell, Heinlein, humor, jim downey, movies, NSA, predictions, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction, Steve Jobs, surveillance, technology, writing, Zombies
I wouldn’t have the nerve to include this kind of thing in a novel … no one would believe that such an agency would have such a twisted sense of humor.
The magazine printed several slides alleged to have come from an NSA presentation referencing the film “1984,” based on George Orwell’s book set in a totalitarian surveillance state. The slides – which show stills from the film, former Apple Inc. chairman Steve Jobs holding an iPhone, and iPhone buyers celebrating their purchase – are captioned: “Who knew in 1984…that this would be big brother…and the zombies would be paying customers?”
Jim Downey
*Referencing this, of course.
Filed under: Augmented Reality, Google, Humor, Privacy, Society, tech | Tags: augmented reality, Gmail, Google, humor, jim downey, privacy
“Can I show you to a table?”
“Yeah, sure.” I followed the young, trim man over to a small table by the window.
“Will this be OK?”
“Fine.”
I sat down. The waiter stood next to the table.
“Would you like to order your mocha and cheese danish?”
“Sorry, what? I haven’t even looked at the menu yet.”
He glanced at a pad in his hand. “Our records show that you usually order a mocha – slim – and cheese danish whenever you come into the cafe at this time of day.”
“Um, not yet. I’m waiting for someone.”
“OK.” He glanced to the door. “Here she comes now.”
I turned, saw Sam enter. I looked back at the waiter.
He looked back. “Samantha Jones. 37. Two kids. Her husband, Joe, isn’t aware that you’re having an affair.”
I goggled. Sam came over, glanced at the waiter, sat down.
“Good morning! So, that’ll be coffee, black, for you, sir, with a fresh fruit platter. And Samantha will nibble at a blueberry muffin and drink water.” He gave us a wink. “Don’t want to get too full.”
Sam blinked, looked at me a little confused. We both looked to the waiter. “Yeah, sure.”
He nodded and smiled. Tapped a few keys on the pad, then just stood there.
I looked at Sam. She looked at me. I looked at the waiter. “Something I can help you with?”
“Oh, no sir. But thanks for asking.”
“Then, will you go away?”
“Oh, no sir. I’m here to facilitate anything you may need. Perhaps interest you in a special offer for a weekend getaway?” He glanced at the pad. “It’s been almost three months since the last one.”
“Um, but we’d like a little privacy.”
He smiled. “Not to worry, sir. I won’t share your information with anyone. This is just a service we provide. Completely routine.”
“Yeah, but, you know, we’d like to be … alone.”
“Sorry sir, but you agreed to the terms of service when you came in here. And the courts have ruled that you have no expectation of privacy in a public place such as this.”
“Yeah, but …”
Jim Downey
Filed under: Humor, Marketing, Promotion, Science Fiction | Tags: 1554, beer, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, free, humor, jim downey, New Belgium, promotion, Science Fiction
This is post number 1554.
One of my very favorite numbers. If you ever get a chance, be sure to tour the New Belgium brewery.
Sometime today or tomorrow we should hear the results of the latest drawing from the official judge. In the meantime, enjoy this holiday weekend — maybe with a nice beer. I think I know one I’m going to enjoy …
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Connections, Feedback, Gardening, Humor, Marketing, Predictions, Preparedness, Promotion, Publishing, Science, Science Fiction | Tags: Amazon, ants, art, blogging, bookbinding, canning, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, drawing, feedback, free, gardening, humor, jim downey, leather, MargoLynn, planning, predictions, promotion, reviews, science, Science Fiction, tomatoes
It’s been said that our ability to conceive of and plan for an uncertain future is one of the hallmarks of human intelligence. Some ants and other critters might beg to differ.
Nonetheless, today’s crop from the garden is largely going to be canned for enjoyment this coming winter:
That’s about 20 pounds of mixed tomato varietals in the dish drainer, and another 5 or so pounds of Roma tomatoes in the colander. I’ll chop and can the bulk of them, then sauce all the Romas and the left-over juice/bits from the canning. So far this season I’ve put up 44 pints of chopped tomatoes and about a gallon of sauce.
I like to plan ahead.
And you should too. There’s about 36 hours left to get your entry in for the drawing for a full leather, hand-bound edition of Communion of Dreams. And we’ll also be drawing for the last of the “nearly perfect” cloth copies:
Finished product.
I’ve managed to talk my old friend MargoLynn into handling the drawing for me, so you should send all bribe attempts to her. Winners will be announced sometime Sunday.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Amazon, Art, Connections, Feedback, Health, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, movies, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Society, tech | Tags: Amazon, art, blood, blood magic, Blood Tea and Red String, bookbinding, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, economics, feedback, free, health, humor, jim downey, Kindle, movies, printing, promotion, reviews, Science Fiction, St. Cybi's Well, technology, writing
While on my morning walk, I was enjoying the beautiful day, the glint of sun on the dewdrops, the company of my dog.
And thinking about blood.
Specifically, about the old notion of a “contract signed in blood.”
Well, what if you had a culture which took books so seriously, that they were always made using blood as the ink?
Just off the top of my head, I could come up with all kinds of justifications for how such a culture might arise, from fantasy (‘blood magic’) to Science Fiction (books could always be traced back to their source through the DNA in the blood) to the plain creepy (“we do honor to our ancestors/enemies/icons by using their blood to write history”).
Yeah, it’s a little scary how my brain works sometimes.
* * *
And after I come up with something like that, usually within just a few seconds, my mind races off to consider what the practical ramifications would be to such a thing.
Economically, there’s some fun stuff you could do with it. Books could be purchased with the buyer’s own blood: “Price – just 750ml – get yours today!” Which also implies blood as the basic economic unit, but that wouldn’t necessarily be the case.
Mechanically, blood itself wouldn’t be a great printing ink without some other elements. So you could have the whole printing revolution based not on the development of a printing press, but on the discovery of how to make blood suitable for mass printing.
As a book conservator, dealing with books printed in blood would present some additional challenges. Depending on what else was added to it to make it suitable for printing could make it damage the paper it was printed on (this is actually a big problem with some printing inks used in history). And if I needed to do restoration work, would I need to find blood of the same type, in order to match the original ink?
* * *
Usually about this point in such speculation, I start to wonder just what in the hell got me thinking about these things in the first place. What was my subconscious chewing on?
I could perhaps tie it to the odd little movie we watched last night.
Or that my wife had a close call last week. There wasn’t a lot of blood per se, but the symbolism is kinda hard to ignore.
Both good candidates. Both likely elements.
But in the end I decided that it was just that I’ve been thinking a lot about writing. About printing. About bookbinding.
All those things are measures of my life. In some very real sense, they *are* small, tangible pieces of my life.
Not unlike blood, I suppose.
The Kindle edition of Communion of Dreams will be free all day tomorrow. And remember, if you would like a chance to win a full-leather, hand-bound copy of the special edition, you need to write a review on Amazon and post a link in the original blog entry about the drawing. That’s a $250 – $350 value.
Even more, it’s part of my life.
Maybe it will be a part of yours.
Jim Downey
Filed under: Connections, Emergency, Health, Humor, movies, Science Fiction, YouTube | Tags: appendicitis, Galaxy Quest, health, humor, jim downey, movies, Science Fiction, video, www youtube
A bit of an apology to any who feel they deserve it: I intentionally understated just how bad my wife’s acute appendicitis was earlier this week. Once she had surgery and was admitted to the hospital we knew that she was going to be fine with a few days of intense care, and I didn’t want to get people overly concerned about what her condition had been. Which was, frankly, really bad. Following the surgery, this is pretty much how the surgeon characterized it:
Seriously, that’s what happened. The surgeon said that the appendix hadn’t just ruptured, it had “basically exploded, with pieces all through her abdomen. A real mess.”
So, now that she’s been cleared to return home tomorrow, I thought I’d offer my apologies. Earlier I wanted to let people know that she was in the hospital, and why, but I didn’t want to get everyone too worked up over a crisis which had already passed. Sorry about being misleading. And thanks for your support.
Jim Downey
*If you didn’t instantly think of this scene just from that phrase … well, you need to watch Galaxy Quest again, as it has obviously been too long. When I discussed posting this with my wife, we both had a good chuckle over the fact that she had also thought of the exact same scene when the surgeon told us what had happened. Yeah, we’re weird like that.
Filed under: Amazon, Connections, General Musings, Humor, Kindle, Marketing, movies, Music, Predictions, Promotion, Publishing, Science Fiction, Weather, YouTube | Tags: A Tale of Two Cities, Alzheimer's, Amazon, blogging, care-giving, Charles Dickens, Communion of Dreams, direct publishing, Fred Hoyle, free, Her Final Year, humor, jim downey, John Bourke, Kindle, Led Zeppelin, literature, movies, music, October The First is Too Late, predictions, promotion, Science Fiction, Sean Carroll, St. Cybi's Well, time travel, travel, video, www youtube
Partially related to stuff which happens in St. Cybi’s Well, but also I suspect because I just turned 55, I’ve been thinking about “time” a lot. The perceptions of it, how it ‘works’, how it is portrayed in books and movies. This topic is hardly new for me, though, since tropes about time travel are so common in Science Fiction.
Anyway, one interesting little side-track I was considering this morning was what you could do with a series of stories/books premised on a slightly different concept of time than what we commonly work with. Specifically, I was thinking of time as a manifestation of other aspects of the universe, analogous to how weather is a manifestation of other physical characteristics on a planet. You could have something like a “time forecast”, wherein changes in the quality of time itself had an impact on the story/characters. Perhaps our little corner of reality has long been in a ‘calm’ period of time weather, with things moving along smoothly and placidly, so that we’ve come to expect that it will always be that way. What happens when there’s a change? Perhaps a new front moves through? A storm? A tornado? Does everything get jumbled, a la October The First is Too Late? Perhaps it could literally be the best of times and the worst of times simultaneously.
Something to play with. But for now, I need to get back to work. And you, if you haven’t already, should take advantage of this last day of the week-long promotion and go download Communion of Dreams and/or Her Final Year.
Jim Downey
Communion Of Dreams 