OK, this will sound like a rant , BUT I'm going back to an earlier idea . Book discussion groups sound good in theory but in reality not so much . IOW , when you first bring up the topic of a discussion group everyone says 'oh yeah great idea ' but when you actually schedule discussion time and ( Read more... )

So this will turn out a bit more meta than I thought it might. Additionally, it relates to a discussion session with JohnScalzi at L.A. Times Festival of Books in 2012. During the discussion Scalzi was commenting on a difference between geeks and elites, and Scalzi said that when two geeks meet they'll sayto each other 'OMG, you like Dr. Who, ( Read more... )

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Previously on my FB I put up a short message about Drive throughs, I don't get it.  I don't get drive through service at all, I mean get out of your car if you want something, or what is your malfunction that you expect service to be delivered to your car?  Are you all so indolently self indulgent and self centered that you cannot get out of your ( Read more... )

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/16/5_people_who_bravely_fought_the_christian_takeover_of_america_salpart/  This is excellent if you're  asking.

When I lived in Chicago I had a friend, J, who was staff of an area convention for some years.  Later I met folks, at least three people on separate instances, who were also staff of the same convention, and I would ask naively, "Well, then you might know J?"  The replies were all "No!".  Of course, now we move to present day and most of the ( Read more... )

This is going to sound like a cranky ole fogey's message.  But it's on my mind anyway.  Some years ago when I still a member of the Chicago Dave and Buster's meetup http://www.meetup.com/Chicago-sf-org/ a visitor came to the D&B event and while there they commented to several others that the group seemed to be the SF TV and movie meetup and there ( Read more... )

EPIC FAIL!!  Saturday, February 18, 2012, I went to Gallifrey 2012 at the Marriott by LAX.  Knowing from FB that the author Nancy Holder would be there I brought several of her books to sign.  Arrived at LAX right around 11.45 and after going through the convention's FRACKED UP registration (OMG, it was worse than ACen's foulup from a few years ( Read more... )

Yesterday, left for Riverside SciFi http://www.meetup.com/riversidescifi book group with about $6.00 on my person.   And by the evening, I bought and consumed at Back to the Grind http://www.back2thegrind.com/ coffeeshop a medium Americano and a large white chocolate chip cookie, ( Read more... )

It seems like it was when we used "Continental's" as paper currency, but it goes back to when I worked in retail.  One of the first lessons I was taught when I worked in retail was to face your currency in the cash drawer.  BTW, 'face currency" means take your paper currency and make all of it face side up and turn them so all the bills are facing ( Read more... )