Bitter cold last night and today. Currently, we have a windchill warning. At the moment, it's 16˚F and feels like 14˚F. Our low last night was 9˚F, with a windchill of -6˚F. The world is scabbed with ice and snow, and there's more snow forecast for tomorrow.

Yesterday went well, actually. I made it to the Hay, and I made it all the way through ( Read more... )

Today we celebrate the life and works of Charles Darwin. We celebrate the courage of intellect and conviction and our triumph over superstition. Today we celebrate the miracle of life on Earth. Today is Darwin Day. Happy 206th, Professor Darwin. To quote Carl Sagan:

The secrets of evolution are death and time - the deaths of enormous numbers of ( Read more... )

Today, of course, is Darwin Day, and marks the 203rd anniversary of Darwin's birth. Viva la Evolución! To quote Carl Sagan:

The secrets of evolution are death and time - the deaths of enormous numbers of lifeforms that were imperfectly adapted to the envirnoment; and time for a long succession of small mutations that were by accident adaptive, ( Read more... )

I've just been told that Twitter has taken credit for the Russian Revolution.

Today is Darwin Day.

Here in Providence, the smallest fraction of snow has melted. The cold hangs in the air, thick as soup. In the the house, the house I do not leave, I suspect the humidity is in the single digits. The air is crisp, and it crackles when I walk through ( Read more... )

1. Kathryn and I were stunned and deeply saddened at the news of Alexander McQueen's death, at age 40. Far too fucking young. McQueen was an especially important influence for Kathryn, who told me, yesterday, that it was his work that first showed her that fashion could be art. But this is all we get from any artist, as much as they have to give, ( Read more... )

First off, let me direct your attention to the auction that is being held to benefit the Shirley Jackson Awards. Appropriately, it is being called a "lottery." A lot of great stuff, and I've donated a complete, signed set of my novels: Silk, Threshold, Low Red Moon, Murder of Angels, and Daughter of Hounds. Tickets are only one dollar each, and the ( Read more... )

Today is not only Darwin Day, it marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, who was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on February 12th, 1809. Viva la Evolución!

Yesterday, my comp copies of A is for Alien arrived, along with copies of the chapbook, B is for Beginning. I was a little overwhelmed; I still am. A is for Alien is ( Read more... )

A day of relief and some small bit of rejoicing yesterday, as we learned that we got the apartment near the Armory district in Providence that we were hoping we'd get. It is very, very good to know, again, where we will be sleeping two months from now. We plan to leave Atlanta, probably, on Friday, May 30th, and arrive at the new place on June 1st ( Read more... )

So, yes, here we are once more at Darwin Day, and I just wanted to take a moment here to mark the 198th anniversary of the birth of one of the individuals most responsible for shaping our current understanding of life on Earth. It is also a very fine day to reflect upon the power of the scientific method as a tool for unlocking the mysteries of the ( Read more... )

The secrets of evolution are death and time - the deaths of enormous numbers of lifeforms that were imperfectly adapted to the enviroment; and time for a long succession of small mutations that were by accident adaptive, time for the slow accumulation of patterns of favorable mutations. Part of the resistance to Darwin and Wallace derives from our ( Read more... )