Eugie Foster's Self-Indulgent Musings

NOT the End of the World

2010-01-07T16:00:06Z

Amused by all the Armageddon-esque weather hubbub here. We're expecting less than one inch of snow accumulation in the metro area. And there's talk about crowds at grocery stores stockpiling supplies. Less than one inch wouldn't even qualify as a "storm" up north. Silly Southerners.

'Course, having said that, if we have any accumulation, I probably won't be able to make it into work. As I discovered a few years back, this state's lack of snow-clearing equipment—plows and salt trucks and all—makes the roads essentially impassable with any of the white stuff on it.

Insomnia, Whee. Not.

2010-01-06T11:08:07Z

Blah, bleary, and blinking. Yep, the first bout of insomnia for 2010. Insomnia alliteration, woo. Also, babbling. It's gonna be a looong day...

Work Work Work

2010-01-05T15:20:57Z

Gah! Georgia's legislative session doesn't convene until next week, but it already feels like we're deep into it. Oof. No more rush bills this morning, PLEASE.

Not an Auspicious Beginning to 2010

2010-01-04T14:30:34Z

MARTA commute painfully cold this AM. Waited for a train for 20 min in 15 F degrees outside due to a downstream delay. Can't. Feel. Face.

When Shakko Did Not Lie

2010-01-04T12:58:36Z

Happy New Year! My first publication of 2010 is now up, Podcastle's reprint of "When Shakko Did Not Lie," fabulously read by Melissa Bugaj. Go listen, yo!

Birthday Yay!

2009-12-31T19:33:02Z

Thanks to everyone for all the happy birthday wishes yesterday! *mwaaa!*

Had a lovely dinner with the hubby followed by cake and prezzies : ).

New Boots

2009-12-30T14:36:11Z

Wore my new boots I got for Christmas today, and they're surprisingly painful to walk in over concrete. But they look good. Priorities and all. However, I think long hikes through the urban jungle are off the list for these:

Droid in Review

2009-12-29T14:42:53Z

Okay, I've had my Droid for a little over a week now. Overall conclusion: I LOVE it. There are some aspects of it which I think could be improved upon, some of which may actually be fixed, as the Android OS continues to be upgraded, but all in all, it rawks hard.

Of note, as soon as I booted it, my Droid informed me that it had an OS upgrade that it wanted to install, which I ignored the first half dozen times the notification popped up—as I was too busy playing with it to want to give it a moment to load and reboot—but which I finally allowed it to implement when I had a brief pause in oooing. However, I hadn't had enough time to really get to know Android 2.0 to be able to identify the changes and comment upon the upgrade from 2.0 and 2.0.1. But I like that OS upgrades can be pushed to my phone without me having to download or install anything manually.

(Some of) the Pros:
• First off, the screen resolution is nothing short of spectacular. As someone who depends upon her eyes for both work and recreation, I simply can't gush enough about the Droid's amazing screen. The incredible crispness and brightness allow for unstrained viewing of teeny-tiny letters which I would otherwise be squinting at on my laptop or desktop monitors. It's utterly wowsome and must be seen to be believed.

• The Droid multitasks like a speed demon. On the drive to Elgin, we were using the GPS to navigate and check traffic conditions, playing music via Pandora (Internet radio), checking out the Avatar movie trailer on Flixter (well, I was, fosteronfilm was driving and listening to me make impressed noises at the video quality and streaming speed), keeping an eye on weather conditions with Weatherbug, and sending last-minute Christmas gifts via Amazon.com on the Droid's browser—while I also checked email in a gleeful-compulsive fugue state. The Droid responds lightning-fast and can easily switch back and forth between applications without batting its red, glowing eye. Wi-fi is faster than 3G, of course, but I didn't see a huge lag when switching between 3G and 1X (although there was one).

• Google Maps GPS is an all-around great GPS, and it's free! There's no monthly surcharge, and it integrates seamlessly with my contacts. I didn't need to manually enter in any addresses, I just clicked on my contacts (which I synced to my Droid from my exchange email via gmail) to bring them up and navigate to them, all within Google Maps. The voice is a little mechanical (my Mio GPS has a much more natural sounding voice) but is perfectly understandable, and I suspect there's an app out there which can give it a more mellifluous voice.

• The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is love. I have small hands, and my fingers are slender. I'm well-suited to work on teeny-tiny keyboards, but I'm not a fan of the Droid's touch-screen keyboards. The horizontal one is better than the vertical (wider keys and all), but I still find my typo quotient and speed to be less than optimal—feels like I should be using a stylus. Not so the slide-out keyboard. I've never had a Blackberry, and I don't text message, so thumb typing is all new to me. After less than two weeks, I can't thumb type as quickly as I can ten-finger, but I consider my speed respectable and my accuracy acceptable.

• Voice search. A single touch button and I can search Google via voice keywords. It's pretty damn accurate, too. Okay, not so good on "Eugie" but it got "ihop" on the first go.

• Copy/cut and paste. I hear some smartphones can't cut/paste. The mind boggles.

• The speaker. For a thin, 1cm (ish) strip of speaker grill on the back, the sound quality is impressive. Playing podcasts and MP3s straight from the speaker provides a surprisingly satisfying and rich listening experience.

• The 5 megapixel camera is pretty snazzy. I hear folks complaining about the camera, and I'm not a photog-geek, so what do I know? But I'm impressed by it. I've been letting it stay pretty much on auto mode, and it's been taking clear, crisp pictures in dim lighting and in motion. Also, it has a flash—a blinding, flashy-thing-you-unto-memory-loss flash. Me likie.

• The apps. Okay, so the Android OS has a lot fewer than the iPhone. But it's got over 10K, with more being developed as I type, and so many really excellent ones are free! I've installed an app (Goggle Google) that allows me to do Google searches from photos the Droid takes, one that can scan bar codes for shopping comparisons and to use for those discount membership cards, one that turns the screen into a flashlight and one that turns the Droid's *flash* into a flashlight, as well as mobile PhotoShop, an ebook reader (Aldiko)—which has sold me on using the Droid as an e-reader, even with its 3.7" screen (did I mention the amazing resolution?), and uncountable others. All free.

The Cons:
• A major annoyance is the inability to set a signature in my email. I can in the gmail app, but my main email is my domain one, and I have no intention of switching. Being able to append one of those ubiquitous "Sent from my iPhone/Blackberry/Smartphone/etc." lines to my outgoing Droid-mail is really essential in order to give email recipients a heads up that a note is shorter or terser than normal because of the sending device, not because of the content or interpersonal friction, etc.

• The battery has not been…robust. Considering how I've been using it, I can't blame it, but I haven't been able to go a whole day without having to charge it. But then, I've been using it essentially like a laptop, and I can't get a full day out of my Sony VAIO either. With more standard use (i.e., not with me obsessively playing with it during most of my waking hours), I expect (hope) I'll be able to get 1-2 days out of it.

• I can't figure out how to modify some of the pre-loaded apps. Like the alarm clock. I really dislike all of the alarm tone options it provides me with and would like to load my own ringtone (the Overture of William Tell). But I can't figure out how. I could load another alarm clock app, but I don't think it would integrate with the Dockrunner app, which I use as my nightstand clock/weather info./alarm. Grumble. Maybe more digging will unearth a solution. [Edit: And lo, a bit of digging did indeed unearth a solution. Rah!]

The Ambivalent:
• The touch-screen is very, very sensitive. I'm experiencing a lot of "oops, didn't meant to hit that"s. Thinking about getting one of those screen protector things which may help.

• The sync between the Droid's Bluetooth and my VAIO's won't let me send anything other than photos and MP3s. I'd like to send Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PDFs as well. I can, of course, transfer such files using the USB connection, but I'd rather do it wirelessly. There may be an app to enable a better transfer protocol, or it's possible that my VAIO's Bluetooth software is to blame. It is, after all, a few years old.

• The Droid doesn't come with Flash built in. I can't view anything online that uses Flash, like the trailers on IMDB. Waiting for an app or OS upgrade to rectify that.

So while not the perfect device, the Droid is AMAZING. It's the next best thing to having a computer with a GPS, email, Internet browser, and a bazillion apps installed directly into my brain. I love my Droid.

Happy Holidays to All

2009-12-25T18:10:45Z

Happy Christmas/Solstice/Hanukkah/whatever December holiday you observe! Merry merry merry!

Toy for Solstice

2009-12-20T17:31:00Z

OMG! Matthew got me a Droid for solstice! *squee!* Updating status on shiny new toy...

"Littleblossom Makes a Deal with the Devil" by S. Hutson Blount

2009-12-18T13:39:38Z

My reading of S. Hutson Blount's excellent story "Littleblossom Makes a Deal with the Devil" is now up at Escape Pod! I'm way amused by Steve Eley's (sfeley) intro. He called me a "powerhouse in the genre." Hee!

This is my first time reading for the Escape Artists folks—who I adore and have sung praises for many times—and I hope I managed to do a credible job. It's a different sort of nervous being the reader instead of the author.

So go listen! It's free!

Stupid Novel Progress: Plugging Away

2009-12-17T14:07:40Z

+300 and -200 (different) words on The Stupid Novel. Beginning to think I should start calling it something other than "The Stupid Novel."

Stupid Novel Progress: 2.5K words

2009-12-16T14:00:52Z

2.5K words on The Stupid Novel, to the detriment of my holiday to-do list. How is it mid-December already??

Guest blogging: Grasping for the Wind

2009-12-15T14:51:07Z

John Ottinger invited me to join his panel of guest bloggers this week at Grasping for the Wind.

My post, "Creative Procrastination: Kanji, Word Families, and TXT SP3EAK," is now up.

And herein the schedule for the whole week:

Saturday
• The Book Smugglers Best Reads of 2009 by The Book Smugglers

Sunday
• Are We Post Genre? by Harry Markov

Monday
• Ramp Up Your Reading: More and Faster by Bill Ward
• Creative Procrastination: Kanji, Word Families, and TXT SP3EAK by Eugie Foster

Tuesday
• Ramp Up Your Reading: Do It Better by Bill Ward
• Book Buying: Telling Readers Where to Go by Jim C. Hines

Wednesday
• Ramp Up Your Reading: Expand Your Horizons by Bill Ward
• A Love Affair With Stories by Karen Miller

Thursday
• Working With Young Writers by Shaun Duke
• The Write Stuff by Stephen Hunt

Friday
• Science Fiction and the Death of the Human by Shaun Duke
• Shared World Fiction: Spinning Stories Out of Unmapped Bits by Rosemary Jones

Saturday
• Science Fiction Ain't Dead (So Shut Up) by Shaun Duke
• The Things An Author Does by Pamela Freeman

Sunday
• A Golden Age for Short Fiction by Joe Sherry

Morning of Stories

2009-12-09T13:35:36Z

I had a funny dream this morning. Can't remember much about it, but I woke up laughing. Wish I could wake up laughing every morning.

During my commute to work on the eastbound train, a woman was sobbing her heart out while a man sat red-eyed and mournful beside her.

As I was ascending the steps of the capitol, I passed a shirtless man descending them. He grinned at me, revealing many missing teeth, and wished me "good morning."

The world is full of stories.

Stupid Novel Progress: Part 4 Zero Draft, Onto Part 5

2009-12-08T14:30:33Z

Ruthless cutting of -1.5K words on The Stupid Novel and Part 4 is now at zero draft. Rah! Onward to Part 5; entering the final stretch. And with only three more weeks left in December, it really does feel like a race.

Stupid Novel Progress: Almost at Zero Draft of Part 4

2009-12-07T14:28:32Z

550 words on the The Stupid Novel. So close to zero draft on Part 4 I can almost taste it. Then onto Part 5, the exciting climax...

Sleep is for the Dead...Apparently

2009-12-04T12:26:20Z

And my love/hate ping-pong match with insomnia continues. Got almost no sleep last night, but wrote 1.7K words on The Stupid Novel. I can has coffee now, plez? *twitch*

Curiosity Killed Who?

2009-12-03T18:45:59Z

Ad hoc research overload. Brain overflowing with trivia on the kanji used in Japanese newspapers and the symbolism of carnations in the language of flowers. Gah!

Stupid Novel Progress and Guest Bloggery at Ecstatic Days

2009-12-03T12:38:16Z

Progress and stuff: 1K more words down on The Stupid Novel and made another guest blog post at Jeff VanderMeer's Ecstatic Days pimping a couple excellent projects, "Mansfield Park and Mummies & Lord Dickens’s Declaration."

Writing writing writing.

Name the best science fiction titles

2009-12-01T15:43:14Z

Ooo! Damien G Walter gave "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Beast; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" a shout-out (alongside Clarke, Bester, Le Guin, etc.) in his "Name the best science fiction titles" post in the Guardian!

NaNoWriMo Stupid Novel Fail

2009-12-01T12:57:18Z

Well, it's December, and I'm still plugging away at The Stupid Novel. Sigh. At least I managed to plug 2.3K words into it yesterday.

Mouseferatu.com

2009-11-30T21:22:45Z

The website I've been working on for Ari Marmell (mouseferatu), good friend and amazing writer, went live today. Check out the shiny at Mouseferatu.com.

Thankfulness Fail

2009-11-30T12:50:31Z

It was a less quiet and productive holiday than I'd hoped. Drama, Stress, Sickness, and Automotive Distress: the four riders of my t-day apocalypse.

Glad to be back at my desk and at work.

Grand Jury Duty. Nooooo!

2009-11-25T21:15:17Z

Gah! Got a summons in the mail for grand jury duty. Grand jurors, unlike trial jurors, meet twice a week for a two-month term. I actually think this might be an interesting experience, as I've never served as a grand juror before. Except for one, itty bitty problem: I've been summoned to do my civic duty during the upcoming legislative session.

The cosmos is pointing and laughing at me.

And now I wish I was at work today so I could pluck Title 15 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated off the shelf opposite my desk and figure out if I can get this deferred. Guess I have no choice but to peruse LexisNexis online, which is a pain to navigate through.

Lessee...Code Section 15-12-2: "Any person summoned to serve as a juror in any court of this state shall be excused from such service during his attendance as a legislator in the General Assembly."

@#%$! Close, but no.

Ah, here we go. Code Section 15-12-1(a)(1): "Any person who shows that he or she will be engaged during his or her term of jury duty in work necessary to the public health, safety, or good order or who shows other good cause why he or she should be exempt from jury duty may be excused by the judge of the court to which he or she has been summoned or by some other person who has been duly appointed by order of the chief judge to excuse jurors. Such a person may exercise such authority only after the establishment by court order of guidelines governing excuses."

Editing bills for the General Assembly during session counts as "work necessary to public good order" doesn't it? Urg. Hope so.