I am still scaling Mount TBR. It seems to be growing taller even as I climb it, but so it goes.

All the Birds in the Sky, by Charlie Jane Anders

I love this book. It is a thoroughly modern fairy tale. It has both kinds of witches: country and western. It has super-scientists. It has ninja assassins. People you would recognize (or fail to ( Read more... )

A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar.

This had been sitting in my TBR collection, when randy-byers wrote that it had become one of his favorite fantasy novels of all time. It definitely is a wonderful book. It won a pile of awards, and I think deservedly so.

A Stranger in Olondria is a secondary world fantasy with an extraordinarily rich and ( Read more... )

I wanted to get in another hike before the end of the season, and I wanted to show my hiking buddy around Bear Creek. It's one of the nicest places in the Sierras. The lower creek runs down a sequence of granitic benches that form perfect pools for swimming or bathing. The water is cold, but there is always a sunny beach or granite slab where you ( Read more... )

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Six Marimbas
Different Trains
Electric Counterpoint
Clapping Music
Double Sextet

This entry was originally posted at http://voidampersand.dreamwidth.org/24624.html.

Steve Reich's 80th birthday is coming up on October 3rd. There is a nice article, Steve Reich Is Running Strong, up on SF Classical Voice ( Read more... )

I don't usually post about work, because I'd rather not bore you to tears, but this story is too good and I have to share it. It's about what happens when everyone does their job well ( Read more... )

I did a walk in the park this morning. It was classic Sunset District summer weather, windy and foggy with occasional heavy mist. So I didn't get sunburned this year. It was fun. Big crowds of happy people, walking and chatting. Lots of bands playing and volunteers cheering us on.

I love the quote at the end of this article: Read more... )

I read some books!

Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman ( Read more... )