Sorry for the posting drought but it couldn’t be helped. I have off for the next week and had to pay the piper for it. In other words the day job. In addition, nothing grabbed my attention enough that I had to write. The waking world has taken on a strange dream-like or nightmarish quality that disorients the chronicler. What formerly would have been astounding events has now become mundane. More riots? Sure. Statues toppled? Check. Cities burned? Are there still any un-burned? Supreme Court outrages? Whatever.
I just finished Spellbound, the second volume in Larry Correia’s Grimnoir series. I’ll write up the review but right upfront I’ll say it’s very good. I’ve always liked his Monster Hunter books but this historical urban fantasy is even better. I’ll rave about it soon in a post but now I’ve got to get the third volume on order to see how it turns out.
Believe it or not, I haven’t done my taxes yet. Actually this is my signature move. I always wait until the deadline. It’s a family tradition. But this year my laziness has actually driven me to take advantage of one of the tax services to prepare my forms. I can only imagine how painful this will be. But they say suffering is good for the soul.
A week off in July is the high point of my New England year. It is the least likely place in the calendar for snow and full of the things that are most likely to make me smile. There are lightning bugs (or fireflies if you like), fireworks, watermelon, barbecue, ninety degree days, dragonflies, butterflies even a swimming pool if I want. I might even find a preying mantis in my garden. I can spend hours trying to get a good shot of a hummingbird or a fox or a tiny golden bee. I can watch favorite old movies way into the night and make believe I’m a kid again.
So forgive me if I’m a little delinquent here at the site. I’m sure to have some good stuff this week.
“If I had my way, I’d remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead.”
Roald Dahl
That’s okay, old fellow, for all of us life gets in the way, sometimes. It’s not as if we’re paying a subscription as to cable TV or something. But I admit the writing is better here that on network television, which I had pretty much given up on even before the covid programming drought. At least in my area they are running some old classic television and classic films, all of which are better than the usual drivel. If it were’t for shows such as “How It’s Made” and other information programming my television would not be on at… Read more »
I haven’t read much of Lem. Would you say The Cyberiad is some of his best?
Outstanding. I prefer this to some of his other work as it is instructive and can be funny, too. A love poem in mathematics, is one of the things you’ll find in The Cyberiad. Hard to find, though. I took me four months to get a copy of The Cyberiad.
Well, you’ve piqued my curiosity and I’ll have to find The Cyberiad.
Have you read any of Burroughs other books? I’ve been a fan of the John Carter series since high school.
I’ve read many of his books. Moon Maid, Pellucidar series, Barsoom (John Carter), Land That Time Forgot, People That Time forgot and others. If you liked John Carter, try finding a copy of Outlaw of Torn. Not easy, but worth it IMHO.
I’ll do that. Thanks.
I’ve read most of the books/series you mentioned. None of them have the same “feel” for me that the Barsoom series did. Maybe it was simply nostalgia because I read the others as an adult instead of early teenage years.
Sounds like you’re enjoying your July, photog! I feel like a kid right now, too, as I’m enjoying my summer vacation from teaching. Of course, summers here in SC are brutal, but I’m definitely enjoying watermelon and water sports.
Hey Tyler. Enjoy that time off!
You too, photog. I’m making the most of it while I can.
Will you be opening school in August? Or will they try to force you to open online? My wife has a staff meeting tomorrow night (we’re in NC) to discuss this. She teaches at a small Christian school.
Hi Jason, I don’t have any official word from my administration yet about reopening, other than an e-mail that went out in June detailing new safety protocols: wearing masks, taking temperatures at the door, sanitizing frequently. However, the major school district in a neighboring county–the district that we follow for hurricane closures, snow days, etc.—is not resuming classes until 7 or 8 September 2020, either on or after Labor Day. There is a wrinkle there, though: that district was transitioning to a quasi-year-round schedule for Academic Year 2020-2021, and were slated to resume classes on 3 August… Read more »
Hi Tyler,
I’ll try to remember to do that! The good news is… I remembered to set the notification this time… so if you don’t hear from me tomorrow, remind me here and I will.
Haha, no worries. I love the notification system; I used to have to remember to return to old blog posts to see if anyone had responded to my comments.
Looking forward to hearing what your wife found out. I’ll keep y’all posted as I learn more on my end.
All I can say is “WOW!” There are apparently several possibilities for how to approach it. Including some ridiculous requirements for social distancing, etc. All furniture except desks are basically going to be removed from the rooms to give room to provide 6 feet between the student desks. That means that the teachers’ supplies, files, etc. will not be in the room with them, but stored in another room with no students. The teachers won’t be allowed to actually help a student at their desk (my wife teaches elementary students). They have to maintain at least 6 feet and… Read more »
WHOA! “WOW!” is right. There’s no way you can teach elementary school kids while maintaining a six-foot distance. There’s also no way you’re going to keep those younger kids apart. The supplies being kept in another room will be another major source of inconvenience for teachers. I think your wife is correct: an online start is far preferable to a world in which kids can’t play with one another and teachers can’t help them. The issue is going to be parents wanting a place to dump their kids while they go work. An elegant solution seems to be… Read more »
You guys are talking about a lot of very relevant stuff. My grandkids are faced with three choices for schooling this fall.
1) traditional in-class but very modified (masks, distancing)
2) on-line (zoom, etc.)
3) home schooling
You two should collaborate on a post on the subject and share your insights.
I had a similar thought. There are no easy answers here, so we’ve got to look at trade-offs. The problem is, with kids, emotions run high. God forbid a child gets sick–or worse! But it would take one tragic case in a sea of millions of students for everything to shut down again, and no school or district wants to be the one with that single tragic case.
We have become so risk averse that we are willing to sacrifice freedom and prosperity for the illusion of safety. It should be an interesting but painful experience we are headed for.
Amen, photog, amen. Everything is about “safety” (and its cousin, the “L” word–liability).
I will continue to issue dispatches from the educational front. I think my time in this field is nearing its end.
[…] That was the topic of some discussion on photog’s blog, Orion’s Cold Fire, back on his 11 July 2020 update post. It will be quite interesting to see how different States and school districts handle the […]