Why not, one more

On September 22, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn GeekLeave a comment

Click for massive embiggenation.

The weather has been, with the exception of a brief rain squall yesterday afternoon, absolutely perfect for the last couple of days. Fall is my favorite season and has been for a long time; clear, cloudless sixty-two degree days are the reason why. It’s going to be warmer for the rest of the week– mostly upper seventies– but there’s no real chance of rain for several days so it ought to be really pretty around here for a while.

A very brief review of the iPhone 6: it is, once again, too damn slippery, meaning that I had no choice but to put it in a case. I don’t like phone cases, particularly on phones that clearly have had some effort put into their design, although Apple’s official case (I got the red one) is cut out at the bottom so that you can see some of the gold. It ends up having a sort of Iron Man colors effect, which I kind of like. Unlocking my phone with my thumbprint is fantastic. (Yes, it’s hackable, if a thief is very patient and willing to go through the 25 steps necessary to steal and transfer my thumbprint. Somehow I’m not worried.)

I feel like the glass on the front of the thing is more fun to touch than the glass on my previous phone. I’m aware that that sentence may not seem like it makes any sense. I’m not sure I understand it either. But I like holding this phone more than my last one. And I prefer the larger size, although I deliberately didn’t order the 6 Plus because there are limits to how big the screen of a phone should be. The camera is rather improved over the previous one, as I think you’ve seen already. And it’s fast and the screen is gorgeous and sooner or later Continuity and Apple Pay will start working and blah blah blah phonebrag.

The main disadvantage is this:

My wife took one look at my phone and said “Your phone has whatever face.”

“What?” I said.

“You know, like the emoji,” she said. In other words: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And now I cannot stop seeing that. Every goddamn time I look at the phone. Arrgh.

Autumn

On September 22, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn Photography1 Comment

This is about as pretty as the sky ever gets.

One good thing about music…

On September 22, 2014September 21, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn Music7 Comments

Perfect albums. Don’t put them in order and stop listing when you have to stop and think about it.

Mine are after the jump. Go.

Continue reading “One good thing about music…” →

Oh, gee!

On September 21, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn WritingLeave a comment

Doesn’t this article look timely and appropriate?

Cough.

In which hey let’s fight

On September 21, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn Cooking14 Comments

Is this chili, or not? 😛 #cincinasty #skyline

Reading tag!

On September 21, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn Reading4 Comments

Found this through Winter and thought it would make a good Sunday morning post. If you want in, consider yourself tagged. 🙂

Question #1: Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

I am, at this late point in my life, practically biologically programmed to have to read before bed. This actually was a big sticking point between my wife and I when we moved in together because we needed to find a way that I had enough light to read and she had enough dark to sleep. At any rate, this means that “prone” is my general reading position, although I do have a couple of comfy chairs in the house and the couch that I use as well. But I read in bed every single day.

Question #2: Bookmark or a random piece of paper?

Bookmarks. There are a few dozen in my end table next to my bed and another couple of piles of them strategically arranged on my bookshelves.

Question #3: Can you stop reading anytime you want or do you have to stop at a certain page, chapter, part, etc.?

Generally I need some sort of break in the text to give me a visual indication of where to start the next time I pick the book up. You’ll notice I do this a lot in my books:

* * *

Or a lot of writers will indicate a break by occasionally putting in a double-space between paragraphs. I prefer the asterisks, and I use them in my books because that’s how I read.

Question #4: Do you eat or drink while reading?

Eat, no, but I’ll frequently have a beverage next to me if I’m reading during the day.

Question #6: One book at a time, or several at once?

Generally just one. There have been times where I’ve taken a break from a dense nonfiction book to read a novel, but I almost never read more than one novel at a time.

Question #7: Reading at home or everywhere?

At home, but I don’t really lead a lifestyle that would lend itself to reading outside my house anyway. If I have a few spare minutes I’ll generally check Facebook or Twitter over an ebook. I have a Kindle but it doesn’t get as much use as it should.

Question #8: Reading out loud or silently in your head?

Silently.

Question #9: Do you read ahead or skip pages?

Rarely, in nonfiction books where I’m very familiar with the subject matter, I’ll skip over what seems to be introductory stuff. I never skip ahead in fiction; if I’m that bored with a book I just stop reading it.

Question #10: Breaking the spine or keeping it new?

I have actually bought new copies of books that I broke the spine of. I am fanatical about keeping my books in good shape– most of my library looks like it went from the bookstore straight to the shelf and was never touched again– and I almost never loan my books out because most people don’t get how nutty I am about it.

Question #11: Do you write in books?

Absolutely the hell not. See #10. 🙂 The one exception is my Biblical Hebrew textbook from college and grad school, which is covered in notes. I also have a Bible that I’ve annotated fairly extensively. That’s about it.

SKYLIGHTS cover reveal!

On September 20, 2014September 20, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn Writing4 Comments

All right, kids. Here we go.

SKYLIGHTS, my second novel, will become available at all ebook retailers on Tuesday, September 30th. Above is the final version of the cover, with art by Casey Heying. In addition, a POD print edition is planned, probably only available through Amazon– details to come on that.

You can, uh, expect some promotion around here over the next couple of weeks. Want an excerpt? Have an excerpt!

There was a buzz in my ear. It was him again. I set the iLid to record and answered the call.

“Gabe Southern.”

“I know your name, dummy,” the voice on the other end said. He was youngish, maybe, his voice more high-pitched than it probably ought to be. Speaking fast, as if he felt like he had more important things to do than talk to me, or maybe he’d just been drinking too much coffee. “I didn’t pick your number at random. Are you going to come see me today or not?”

The funny thing was, I’d actually checked my calendar and there wasn’t a single thing I needed to be doing for the next few days. The next work appointment I had that required me to actually physically be somewhere was a good week and a half away. I had some things to do Thursday evening, but nothing that couldn’t be put off if necessary.

“Do you have any plan to, I don’t know, explain anything, or are you expecting me to just get on a plane and go? I don’t even know who you are.” He had me intrigued, I admit it, but… c’mon.

“I told you, my name’s Zub. We met once, actually, but it was a long time ago and you probably don’t remember. I’ll give you a hint, but just one. Ready for it?”

I sighed. “Fine. Hint me.”

“Mars.”

He was right. That got my attention.

I’m kind of an idiot that way.

You can tell Goodreads that you’re planning on reading Skylights by clicking here.

Booyah.

A thought

On September 19, 2014September 19, 2014 By Luther M. SilerIn Geek2 Comments

Changing phones and changing phone service providers is incredibly annoying when you have two-factor authentication turned on for every device and service you have.