Vacation 2023

At the end of June, my family and I took a vacation for the first time in several years. We divided our time between Philadelphia and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. My husband has always wanted to visit Gettysburg, so when we decided to go to Philadelphia, I suggested we add on the side trip. We went on a ghost tour, drove around the battlefield with a licensed guide, and visited several museums in the town. In Philadelphia, our main focus was the historical area, particularly Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Betsy Ross House, and Christ Church, along with the burial ground. We also visited the U.S. Mint, a natural history museum, and Valley Forge. My son will definitely have a leg up for his U.S. History class in the fall! We've already decided our next vacation will be to London, though I also want to fulfill one of my bucket list items and visit Liverpool. Here are a few photos from the trip:

 

A house in Gettysburg that suffered a lot of damage during the battle (the white spots are repairs)

Recreations of some of the cabins used by Washington's guards at Valley Forge.

A statue of George Washington at Valley Forge.

 

  Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge.

Bird Watching

 One thing I love to do in the winter is feed the birds. A side benefit of working more from home this year is being able to watch them at lunch. For a suburban area, we get a pretty good variety. Our visitors include cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, mourning doves, juncos, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, and unidentified sparrows. This year, I'm also getting some birds I haven't noticed before, like these two:

This is a junco, but not the slate-colored variety I normally see. I posted this picture in a Facebook birding group, and the consensus seems to be that it's a pink-sided junco normally found out west. I wonder if it could be a hybrid between different varieties.

The bird below is also new to me this year. I thought at first it was a pine siskin, but someone else thought it could be a song sparrow. I really need to work on identifying my sparrows!

Do you like watching or feeding birds? Do you have a favorite? If so, feel free to share it in the comments.

 

 

 

Baby Yoda and Alien Lifespans

If you've been anywhere on social media in the last week, you've probably seen the cutest creature ever from Star Wars: The Mandalorian (yes, even cuter than the porgs):

(Photo Credit: Disney)

I'm talking about Baby Yoda, whom I'll refer to here as BY. It's not clear yet if BY is actually Yoda's child, but since no one knows the name of Yoda's species, the child has to have some kind of name. (Since we don't know the child's gender, I'll use "they" and "them" pronouns.)

BY is supposed to be 50 years old, but they appear to be an infant or young toddler. Since BY can get out of their carrier, let's assume they're developmentally equivalent to a two-year-old human.  It's mentioned in Star Wars that species age differently, and we know Yoda was about 900 years old when he died. Still, BY has already spent about 5.5% (50/900) of their total lifespan as an infant/toddler. A two-year-old human has reached about 1.7% of her maximum life span, using 120 years as maximum age. Is that a significant difference? It's hard to judge on so little data. If species age at different rates, it might make sense that they would spend different proportions of their life at different stages. Sentient, social species like humans need to have longer childhoods to learn the rules of their world. That said, if you're going to have an extended childhood, it would make sense to be equivalent to a four-to-ten-year-old human child, not an infant. The older child is slightly less dependent on caregivers, can explore the world independently, and has enough brain power/development to make sense of it.

Of course, there are some good explanations for why BY might still be a baby or toddler after fifty years. Here are a few of them:

• The child was first sensed while they were in an egg or in stasis, so they might not have actually been born fifty years ago.
• Yoda's species is strong with the Force, so the Force may affect the child's development. (The Force could limit the child's growth, or the child may need to grow slowly to master the Force.)
• There might be some environmental factor limiting the child's growth. For instance, the child may need some nutrient found only on the species' home planet to mature. (This is my favorite theory and what I would use if I was writing this story.)

Are you a Baby Yoda fan? Are you content to adore their cuteness, or do you want to learn more about their species? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Lilacs (and Tulips) of Lombard

Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers, both fragrant and fleeting. Every spring, I go on a orgy of flower-sniffing. There's a park near us that's filled with lilac bushes and tulips. It's one of our  traditions to visit it every year. Last weekend was rainy, and this weekend I was sick. However, I was determined not to miss out on the bloom peak, even if my stuffed nose isn't up to appreciating the wonderful scent. Here are a few pictures from yesterday:

Milwaukee Trip

My family and I took a few days off last week to go to Milwaukee. I know it's not a glamorous destination, but we didn't have enough time to go very far. Besides, there were a couple of museums Alex wanted to visit.

On our first full day, we visited both the Milwaukee Public Museum and the Pabst Mansion. We visited MPM on our first family trip, and this was one of the places we wanted to revisit. Alex particularly enjoyed the dinosaurs and the bug exhibit, and I liked the butterflies. Since we didn't spend the full day there, we headed over to the Pabst Mansion. I was there a couple of times in high school, but the house has been extensively renovated since then. For dinner, we stopped at the Milwaukee Public Market, where we happened to pick up a chocolate T-rex.

Eugene wanted to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum, as the new building offers many photographic opportunities. We spent a few hours there, but since Alex was getting bored, we headed over to Discovery World in the afternoon. Then it was back to the Milwaukee Public Market for dinner and more swimming in the hotel pool.

We had to return home Saturday so Eugene and I could see Sting and Peter Gabriel in concert at the United Center. So we literally made the trip home a little sweeter by touring the Jelly Belly Company warehouse and picking up Japanese green tea Kit Kats in Gurnee Mills. Maybe next time we head up to Milwaukee (assuming we have decent weather), we can try tracking down the Bronze Fonz. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from our trip.

The Dark Side and the Write Side

I mentioned back in May that my family was interested in joining the 501st Legion, a Star Wars costuming organization that makes appearances for charity. (Their motto is "bad guys doing good.") Last week, my husband and I were officially accepted into the Legion. (Alex can't join until he's 18, so for now he has to enroll in the Galactic Academy--if he ever agrees to let me submit pictures.) Here I am as a Jawa:

And here I am with Alex. My husband is an Imperial Gunner.

I made the Jawa robes and hoods myself; I even bought a simple sewing machine and taught myself how to use it. I also prepared the mask and glowing eyes. BB-8 is not officially approved as an accessory for Jawas, but I hope to take him trooping someday.

Of course, the last thing I need is another activity to take away from my limited writing time. It will be a family activity, though, and depending on where we troop, I may be able to write en route.

As an indie, I'm not worried about whether trooping will conflict with a "professional author" image. It may give me a chance to meet more SF fans, but while I will talk about my books if asked, I don't think it's right to use the 501st to promote my own work. It might be interesting, however, if we decide to attend C2E2 next year with the 501st. Do I troop the entire time, or do I set aside some author time? Even if I can't bring balance to the Force, I hope I can do that with my multiple identities as writer and fan.

Have you ever done costuming, or would you like to? What character(s) would you play?

Happy Tenth Anniversary!

Tomorrow is my tenth wedding anniversary. (My husband and I have actually been together for twenty-five years, but some of that time was when we were in a long-distance relationship.) For our first anniversary, we took a one-week trip to London. For our fifth, we took a special lunch cruise on Lake Michigan. This year, both of us have been too busy to plan anything and have limited time to take off. We may take an extended weekend somewhere later, when things are less hectic--if that ever happens.

Here are a couple of pictures from the wedding:

and a few from the honeymoon:

Happy Anniversary, sweetie, and many more!

Seven Years and Counting

The next Blog Ring of Power progressive interview starts later this week. After this week, we do have interviews lined up into October. However, this is a good day to take a break from writing and celebrate a special day: my anniversary. My husband and I have been married for seven years now. Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

We took pictures at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Even though it was September, it was hot, and our schedule meant we had to go at noon, which makes for poor lighting. It was still worth it, though.

Cutting our delicious cake.

















Only forty-three years to go, Hon. I love you.

Writing Marathon

Once again we're between interviews for the Blog Ring of Power, so you'll have to wait until next week to hear from Denise Verrico. Technically, her series of mini-interviews will start on Wednesday at Terri's blog if you can't wait until next Monday.

 My family gave me a wonderful gift yesterday: a writing day! Normally, it's hard for me to get much writing time on the weekends since I have to catch up on housework and keep my five-year-old son entertained. However, yesterday my husband took our son to the local Railway Museum. While they spent all day riding diesels and taking pictures (my son borrowed my camera and took the pictures posted here), I got to revise Twinned Universes.It's hard to say exactly how much I got done, since I was just tweaking in some spots and writing new material in others. However, since I skipped over some scenes, I probably advanced about one hundred pages in the novel. Ideally, I'd like to finish this pass before Labor Day weekend so I can send this off to my editor for line edits.

How long is your typical writing session? If you get a day to focus on writing, are you productive, or do you do other things instead?

Some of My Favorite Pins--Recipes

Maria asked last week to see some of my favorite pins on Pinterest. I have enough boards (collections of pins) for several posts. Some of my collections are book-and-writing related; some aren't. Today, I'm going to display a few pins from my recipe collection.

My husband and I joined Weight Watchers in January, so I'm always looking for meal ideas that fit into the plan. I've saved a lot of promising recipes from their website as well as from SkinnyTaste. Here are some recipes I've actually made. I'm afraid the pictures themselves won't post, but you should be able to follow the links.


Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge



Zucchini, Basil, and Goat Cheese Omelet


Baked Eggs with Wilted Baby Spinach


Low-fat Baked Ziti with Spinach


Asian Skillet Shrimp and Sugar Snap Peas


Cookies and Cream Shake


I think I need to start printing these recipes out and storing them in a binder.

Do you look for recipes too? If so, for what type of food? Do you tend to look up recipes for a one-shot deal, or do you save them for later use?

Ten-Word Tuesday: Scarecrow Alex

It needs a face and hat to match my son.

Pictures from a Garden

The rain held off yesterday, so Eugene and I decided to spend our "date day" at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The last time we went there was in June, and that was with Alex, so naturally we spent more time in the Railroad Garden exhibit than anywhere else. It was nice to be able to tour the rest of the garden. Here are a few pictures we took (we both used my camera):

A-Z: Crocheting

Thanks for all the comments and follows so far! I'm slowly working my way through the list. I've only visited about 50 sites so far, so I have a lot of catching up to do. Please be patient.

Anyway, today's topic is crochet. My mother used to crochet when I was a girl. She tried to teach me, but since I'm left-handed and my mom's right-handed, we couldn't figure out how to do it. In my twenties, I taught myself how to crochet from books. Ironically, since all of the patterns are written for right-handers, I figured it would be easier to crochet right-handed. Over the years, I've made sweaters, baby presents, slippers, and more. I even made the ring-bearer's pillow for my wedding. That was the first time I used crochet thread (which is much thinner than regular yarn), so it was a challenging project; I had to redo parts of it. Here are some other things I've made:


This is my first afghan.















This is the layette set I made for Alex. I think he wore it once for pictures, but he only fit into it for a very short time.










Currently, I'm making a steam engine for Alex. It's out of crochet thread. I'm crocheting each piece separately, and they'll be assembled around a canvas frame that'll be stuffed with fiberfill. I hope he likes his "yarn train" when it's done. Unfortunately, some of the thread was the wrong gauge, but I didn't realize that until I was nearly done with the first piece, so I had to start over. I currently have all the parts for the frame crocheted (though I still have to sew them to the canvas frame), along with the smokebox; now I'm working on the boiler. I'll post a picture of the engine when it's finally done.

Does anyone else out there crochet?

Apocalypse SNOW!

The president of my company let us leave at 2:00 yesterday, since the blizzard was supposed to arrive around 3:00. It actually arrived earlier, around 2:30, just as I was leaving the daycare center after picking up my son. Although visibility was poor, we didn't have far to drive. My husband came home about twenty minutes after I did, so we shoveled and prepared to hunker down.

It's a good thing my work is closed today, because I wouldn't be able to go in:

Yep, that's how much snow drifted against our garage. I think it's at least two feet.












The three of us went outside to shovel. Alex has his own shovel, but he preferred to play King of the Hill:

















He also wanted to use my shovel as a sled:

















We don't have to shovel it all by hand; once we cleared some space, my husband was able to get out the snowblower. But he's been out there twice, and he's still not done. I've been too busy kid-wrangling and doing other chores to write or crit. But we're all safe, and we didn't lose power (though the lights flickered a few times yesterday). While I wish we'd picked up flour and a couple extra things at the grocery store, I have a nice chicken soup bubbling away in the crockpot. We're lucky that this apocalypse has been more of an inconvenience to us than anything else, but I feel for the people who have it worse.

The Science of Science Fiction: Hello, Hybrids!

If I mention science fiction and hybrids in the same sentence, chances are this may be the first thing that comes to mind:

As "fascinating" as Spock may be, he's not a natural hybrid; it required a team of Vulcan scientists to create him. Given how different Vulcan and human metabolisms are, it would have been impossible for his parents to conceive naturally. However, closely related animal species can and do produce hybrids. According to this article in the New York Times, up to ten percent of animal species and twenty-five percent of plant species interbreed occasionally with a different species. Some of these hybrids are obviously different from their parents; they may have an intermediate number of teeth, for instance, or their coats may be a patchwork of their parents'. (See the article for a picture of a zebra-horse hybrid called a zorse.) Unfortunately, due to genetic issues such as an unusual number of chromosomes, hybrids tend to be sterile. (This is more of an issue in animals than in plants.) Although hybrids generally can't compete against their parent species in the same niches, sometimes they are able to find a unique niche where they thrive and the parents don't.

What does this mean for science fiction? For near-future science fiction, I could see interest in creating species better suited to handle upcoming climate change. Perhaps scientists would even find ways to make these hybrids fertile by manipulating genes and chromosomes. Although species have to be very closely related (usually within the same genus; never outside the order) to hybridize in nature, genetic engineering makes it possible combine DNA from vastly different species. (I think in this case, probably only a few genes would be added from the other species, not half.)

Nearly all life on Earth uses the same genetic code (there are a few exceptions in extreme climates), but would this extend to life on other planets? Even if extraterrestrial life follows the same biochemical principles that we do, tiny but crucial details may be different. Their equivalent of DNA would be highly unlikely to follow our genetic code, or perhaps they may use different amino acids to build proteins. But if there's a way to create terrestrial-extraterrestrial hybrids, science fiction writers will find it--and explore the results and implications.

Five Years Ago....

I wore this...

And ate this....

That's right, it's our wedding anniversary! Eugene and I are taking the day off to celebrate and enjoy an Odyssey cruise on Lake Michigan. Have a happy weekend, everyone!

Back on the Blog Chain: There's a Place

Welcome back to the Blog Chain! B.J. picked the topic this round:

Is there a place you like to write that's extra special? Have you carved out a writing niche? Is there a certain time of day (or night) when the words fall into place, and your brain is focused on nothing but writing?

Mandy posted before me, and Eric will post tomorrow.

It's taken me a long time to set up my office in this house. I finally cleared out all the boxes this Tuesday, so now I can show you a few pictures. The first one shows the Beatles poster and photos above my desk; a writer has to have her inspiration, after all. The second is of my desk. I had a third one of my office, but it was too dark.

I do write in here sometimes when Alex is asleep or out of the house (sometimes I take a vacation day and send him to daycare so I can get stuff done). Most of my writing these days is on my lunch hour at work. I bring in my laptop and write at my own desk. I used to be able to write at night, but these days, by the time my son is in bed, I'm too mentally drained or need to catch up on finances or household chores. Sometimes I like to go to the bookstore to write at the cafe. I feel more motivated to write there since I'm taking time out of my routine and reserving it for writing.

While it is useful to have a designated place/time set aside for writing, I've found that as a working mother, I have to be flexible to make the best use of my free time. In the past, I used to print out the current page from my WIP and bring it with me so if I had a free minute, I could jot down a sentence or two. I need to get back in that habit again. But I think first I have to relearn how to focus. There are so many distractions out there that it's hard sometimes to concentrate on my own work. If you're focused enough, you can write anywhere, anywhen. After all, the muse is everywhere!