Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

WorldCon in Chicago

My revised list of WorldCon panels:

Fri Aug 31 Noon-1:30:pm Game Show: Iron Chef Flash Fiction
Grand Suite 3 The aim of the game is to write a short story in less than 5 minutes. The moderator will give the panelists a subject to write about, and after 5 minutes our writers will each read their masterpieces and let the audience decide the winner before they head into the next round into the next challenge. Three rounds are planned but a fourth will be added if time permits.
Christopher J Garcia, Dr. Phil, Janet Freeman. Lawrence M. Schoen (M), Mur Lafferty

Fri Aug 31 4:30-6:00:pm Scale and Space: Seeing Neil Armstrong's Footprints
Columbus EF What can we see from space? Popular TV shows suggest we can infinitely enlarge any image without any loss, but the real world is both much more complicated and much more interesting. We know Neil Armstrong's footprints are still on the Moon - but can we see them? And from how far away? And what else can we see? The Internet is full of fascinating images. (This is an updated version of a Science presentation I made at ConFusion 2011 -- I wonder if the audience will be larger with this weekend's news of the death of Neil Armstrong?)

Sat Sep 1 3:00-3:30:pm Reading: Dr. Phil
Dusable
I'll be reading from the opening of my second unpublished military SF novel, Out of Ashes Rises The Phoenix and Ensign Marie Rossetti's Really Bad Day in Port Outboard Engine aboard the starship USFS Llewellyn.

Sun Sep 2 12:00-1:30:pm The Role of SF for Teachng Critical Thinking
Comiskey A discussion of science fiction's role in the academic world, and how using science fiction in the classroom promotes literacy and encourages students to think critically.
Chris Mirell, Dr. Phil, Erica Neely, Jonathan Vos Post, Val Ontell


And then there's the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC):

Thursday 30 August 2012 -- 7pm

For years my sister Wendy tried to get us down to Atlanta over Labor Day for DragonCon. But she was going to come up to Chicago for WorldCon in 2012. Sigh.

This is the Official Notice that we will have the Wake For Wendy At WorldCon (WFWAWC). The dinner is at Ron of Japan -- Wendy was very fond of Teppanyaki. Indeed, we went to Ron of Japan in 1979 when she visited me at Northwestern after the Great Blizzard of '79.

Website with menus and pricing -- there are vegetarian options and I was asked about whether they do gluten free soy sauce or tamari -- they emailed and said they just ordered some gluten free soy sauce:
Ron of Japan
230 East Ontario Street, Chicago IL
Google Maps
Thursday 30 August 2012
7pm to 9pm ?

You don't have to attend WorldCon to be a part of WFWAWC -- several members of the UCF in fact already are likely to wake but not con. We're up to 15 friends and family so far. Teppanyaki is not cheap but it is one helluva show. If you want to be added to the reservation and come celebrate my sister Wendy K. Braxton, you can leave a comment here or email me at:
drphil at dr-phil-physics dot com

Afterwards... I still haven't taken a picture yet, but I HAVE received a Viking Boat via Amazon.com. There might be some sort of ceremony involving some of Wendy's ashes, the Viking boat and a fuel load of Jack Daniels... and the Chicago River is between the restaurant and the Hyatt.

I'll enjoy seeing you there and supporting me in remembering my sister.

Dr. Phil

And A Week's Worth of Fleeting Memories

Some highlights:
-- they showed a clip of a swim meet earlier in the year and the whole back area was plastered with signage, mostly bright yellow Nikon signs, and Nikon signs on the edges of the starting blocks. Now my love of Nikon products is certainly well known, but it was so cluttered, I don't know how the swimmers could deal with it. One of the reasons I love the Olympics so, is the clean lines and colors of the playing areas. It also explains why I have to little interest even in trying to find competitions in many of these sports outside of the Olympics.
-- saw the end of an amazing men's tennis match, where Federer finally beat 3-6 7-6 19-17 in over 4 hours. I do so like extra innings.
-- got to see some of the rapid fire pistol shooting today. Cuba won the gold medal, the first gold in shooting ever. I think they said they had two bronze. The Indian shooter had to go after the Cuban shooter clinched the gold, and as the Indian had more than the 3rd place finisher. Hard to shoot when you know your score won't change anything.
-- sort of like watching the clean and jerk and seeing two competitors have their legs give out on them, conceding the gold medal. But they tried.
-- or the report of the female Saudi judo competitor who was out of the competition in 82 seconds. But she was here. She did it.

These are their Olympic moments.

A Bittersweet Moment

Today, Friday 3 August 2012, marks the beginning of the Athletics competition, what we tend to call Track & Field in the U.S., as the swimming competition fades away. And as usual, one of the announcers was Craig Masback. Craig went to White Plains High School with my late sister Wendy in the early 70s. She was always so proud of his miler accomplishments and his commentary at the Olympics over the years. Go Craig.

Dr. Phil

Adventures In Atlanta

When I cleared out my late sister Wendy's apartment in November, I also knew she'd had a storage unit dating back many years. But without the key to the lock, the access code to the gate or the authorizing paperwork from the probate court for me to settle her affairs, I couldn't do anything about the locker.

So in a scene reminiscent of many an episode of Storage Wars, today I had the lock cut and the door was raised in the first time for a long time.

We're going to cut the lock and open the door. You'll have five minutes to look, but you can't go in and you can't touch anything or open any boxes...

Wait, this isn't an auction. This is my sister's locker -- I can just walk inside.


The big reveal. (Click on photo for larger.)


Nice of Wendy to provide a corridor inside. (Click on photo for larger.)


Not sure when she was here last. After she no longer had a car, it got harder and harder to get out here. Lots of Christmas decorations. (Click on photo for larger.)


I remember that dark wood and wheat cushioned sofa, chairs and coffee table. Too big and heavy to keep hauling up to apartments -- especially the staircase in the last one. (Click on photo for larger.)


One of those boxes says it has stuff from the 1996 Olympics. Several boxes labeled as being sorted in 1998. (Click on photo for larger.)


I remember that picnic basket -- will have to see if it's in good shape inside. (Click on photo for larger.)


That white bedspread I remember from Medina in the 60s -- but I'm not bringing it home. (Click on photo for larger.)


That wooden chest? Oh, I think I know what it is. (Click on photo for larger.)

Tomorrow we dig it all out.

Dr. Phil

Things Remembered In The Middle Of The Night

In yesterday's post on two old scanned Christmas pictures (DW), I was so busy playing forensic detective that I forgot about some of the obvious things. (grin)

1995 would've been my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and Wendy's 40th birthday, so we had everyone up here for Thanksgiving. So we surely stayed home here in Allendale for Christmas and definitely weren't in Atlanta for that Christmas.

As for 1990, I had been trying to figure out who took the picture -- and forgot that the Polaroid Spectra SE had a self-timer and a tripod mount. So while the 'rents might have been up for Christmas, it is more likely, given that the Christmas tree hadn't been decorated yet, that we shot the Polaroid ourselves and put it in the Christmas card to Atlanta. And probably did another one to Greensboro. Maybe.

Funny how you remember things in drips and drabs sometimes. And one of the reasons I like having blogs to work with...

Dr. Phil

Gray and Damp

At 12:30 the radio was saying we were having freezing rain turning to snow, accumulation about an inch, as part of a winter storm advisory until 1pm. Maybe for Grand Rapids, but halfway to Lake Michigan not only was there no rain, freezing or thawed, or snow, but for a brief moment full sun burst out of the overcast skies. One thing about living by a Great Lake, weather is wildly local.

Next snow possibility is New Year's Eve Eve, i.e. tomorrow evening -- we'll see.

Year End Bills

One of the last things I do each year is renew my professional memberships -- American Physical Society, American Chemical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers -- as well as renew subscriptions to The Chronicle of Higher Education and PC World, and donate to Northwestern and Michigan Tech. Doing most of these online has become relatively easy. I didn't even have to open the society statements.

Why wait to batch these all at the end of the year? Because I can write them on the same page in my check register so they'll be all together when I do my taxes. Yeah, have to think about taxes again. Plus I get to do Wendy's and will have to wade through the Georgia forms, too. Or at least the screens in TurboTax.

Time Sinks

Still taking time to make phone calls and otherwise deal with Wendy's finances. While online billpaying may be convenient when you're alive, I don't have access to her email statements, so have to wait for paper bills to get generated and forwarded. Oh the electric bill isn't a bill but a check for a buck-and-a-half refund on her final bill? Oh that's amusing. And unexpectedly different.

And the two days I spent coming aboard Dreamwidth as LiveJournal rolled over everyone with their misguided Release 88 rollout was time and expense that I hadn't planned for, dammit.

But "I'm not complaining."™

Really?

Haven't written about gas prices much this fall. Guess not having to buy gas every two days pushed it a bit off the radar -- and on long road trips you just pay whatever it is. Gas on Tuesday was $3.27.9/gal for regular -- today just two days later it was $3.48.9/gal. 21¢ in 48 hours? Okay, I suppose the jabbering about the Strait of Hormuz makes oil speculators nervous. But there was also a report that the U.S. is a net exporter of refined gasoline -- refineries are struggling against a drop in U.S. demand. So much for all the commuting done by all the jobs created by the rich people after years of the Bush tax cuts... (cynical grin)

Writing

Too early to close out the year or even the sabbatical, but travels and holidays are hell on the writing. But in the last two days I've shipped four stories. Saturday I hope to get a new story written for WOTF while watching Northwestern and other Big Ten teams play bowl games -- or punt and send an older story if I don't finish by 10-11pm. (calculating grin)

Holidays

It's Thursday? Huh. Every day seems like Saturday. Have to keep up with the day of the week, though, in order to not run out of 2011 for tax purposes or miss getting our last couple of weeks of garbage out to the road. At least I'm caught up with the newspapers.

Getting a certain amount of reading done. TV has been an inconsistent mess. And the news channels started in on the Year in Review stuff before Christmas and now it's all Iowa Caucuses All The Time.

How are your holiday leftovers?

Dr. Phil

Thanksgiving Weekend

As previously reported, we had Brunswick Stew on Thanksgiving itself and we did a Saturday movie. For years, when we are home for Thanksgiving, we haven't done the big meal on Thanksgiving itself, but on Friday or sometimes even Saturday.

So on Friday I was able to make a perfectly ordinary grocery store run -- which in Allendale doesn't involve getting anywhere near the insanity of the so-called Black Friday shopping nonsense. It was a pretty blue sky day and I threw a camera bag in the back of the Blazer.

Made it all the way back up our driveway before shooting this stand of exploded milkweed pods -- next year's Monarch butterflies. (Click to enlarge)

We had company scheduled to come for Thanksgiving, but they had to cancel. I was just getting back from Atlanta and Mrs. Dr. Phil was treating her sinuses, so we settled on little chickens -- Cornish hens -- which are so easy to cook versus turkey.

A whole little chicken, sage stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, gravy and fresh cranberry relish.


Ah, the aftermath. We eat one side of the little chickens on one day and the other the next -- and the remaining bits get used another day. Note that the one Corning Ware has both chickens. (grin)

New Toys

Mrs. Dr. Phil has been debating getting some sort of tablet or smart phone, mainly because the university library is expanding its online and borrowable e-book holdings, and she wanted to be better equipped to deal with both students and technology. Apple has refurbished iPads on sale at educational discount, and there's the iPhone and Android variants. But while I was away she decided to give the Amazon Kindle Fire a try. It certainly made being at home with her sinus cold more bearable, especially with the spiffy red case she found. (e-grin)

Here's Mrs. Dr. Phil using her Fire in the Alt-Mode to do the Sunday Sudoku from the newspaper.

She hoped it was okay to spend the money on a new toy. Okay? After I'd picked up some bargains on eBay and acquired a backup digital SLR for home -- a Nikon D1X -- and another for the office -- a Nikon D1H -- how could it not be okay?

The D1X is a 6MP camera with an extended 27 frame buffer and 3 frames per second speed, the same resolution as the medium setting on the full-frame Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n I bought last year. The D1H is a 2.7MP camera, can shoot at 5 frames per second, has a 40 frame buffer and has a more sensitive sensor up to 6400 ISO, with almost no noise at 1600 ISO, which I intend to mainly use in B&W mode.

I'd inherited from my sister Wendy an extra auto-focus lens, a simple 35-70mm f3.3-4.5 AF Nikkor, and a compact Nikon Speedlight SB-22 electronic flash, which I tested in the Kindle Fire shot above. I'll add them to the office Nikon D1H setup.

Tonight we had a spicy Szechuan eggplant -- Mrs. Dr. Phil feeling we'd had enough chicken the last couple of days. All in all, a lovely weekend. (Even if Northwestern didn't win against Michigan State.)

Dr. Phil

The Apartment Is Emptied and Cleaned

There comes a time, when faced with a large and daunting job with a limited timetable that one alternately faces despair and satisfaction. First, it's when you show up the day after 90% of the apartment is cleared out -- all the big pieces and hundreds of pounds of clothes, dishes, books, etc. -- and you can't quite figure out what needs to be sorted, what someone was going to take, what's to be disposed of, and just how much of the stuff you've assigned yourself to take is actually going to fit in the Bravada. You can't quite stuff it to the gills because you still have the suitcase and gear at the hotel to load up when you leave in a day or two.

And you're alone. The kind volunteers who are going to help you -- or rather help their friend one last time -- haven't arrived. And you don't know where to start.

But then the help arrives and things are being moved. And the rooms are cleared one by one. And the Bravada is loaded and it will fit. And maybe. just maybe this is going to work.

And out of the blue someone shows up, but it isn't the person you just met the other night who was going to help clean, but an old friend and roommate of Wendy's. And who just found about out Wendy today and still came over to help clean the place. Without having found an address book, I know there are people in Wendy's life who don't know she's died. And I was so glad this person came.

Sometimes getting that second or even third wind is hard. But then you suddenly discover that there is nothing left to do. That it's all done. And you managed to get the rooms done that didn't have lamps done before the daylight left. And you can turn out the lights and close the door. And use the key for one last time.

Today's Amusement

Any house or apartment begins to look sad as it is emptied out. Just as there's a magic point in moving in where an empty space suddenly becomes a home. Or at least looks habitable. Late in the afternoon a U-Haul truck showed up and some young guy began moving into an apartment downstairs. He was an entrepreneur who decided to leave his fancy trendy apartment and pay a lower rent to save money to buy something. His crew were organized and he had plenty of help. There was a symmetry to this and the moving in raised the energy level in the neighborhood and people passed carrying things in opposite directions, chatting and, for some, sharing smokes.

We had three of the four guys from yesterday working today for a number of hours. We'd given them the cans and dried goods from the kitchen yesterday -- today they were going to take the unopened food from the refrigerator. But it got forgotten.

So we invited the new neighbor to come upstairs and load up on whatever he wanted. Actually there was a chilled bottle of Riesling which we sent downstairs as sort of a housewarming present first. Yes there was a lot of stuff we ultimately threw away, but so much stuff which found or will find a new home.

A job well done.

Dr. Phil

56

My sister Wendy died over the weekend.


For many years we got together once a year in Greensboro NC at Christmas. We always did Christmas very well -- and especially had fun with "stocking stuffers", which you can see never could fit in just the stockings. Jackie/Mother, Wendy, Harry/Daddy, Mrs. Dr. Phil


More recent picture from another member of the UCF.

Dr. Phil