Do I contradict myself?

Hi there! You've found my journal! There's a fair amount here that's for public consumption, and also a fair amount that's not. In order to read the stuff that's not "public" you'll need to be what DW/LJ call a "friend" -- it's something that I designated.


I'm not too strict about it, though, so if you'd like to read more than the public postings, then leave a comment here. I believe you'll need a DW or LJ account for me to allow you access, but they're easy to get. If I don't know you and you aren't sure if I'll recognize who you are, then you should let me know who you are. You're also welcome to email me at filkerdave @ [ dreamwidth.org / livejournal.com ] with more info.


Hope to see you!

ETA: I am no longer reading or commenting on the LJ side. I will still be crossposting for the foreseeable future but comments on those new posts on the LJ side are disabled. Please come join me on Dreamwidth!

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So the other thing I did today was finish the last of the Novelettes for the Hugo Awards and noticed something sad. The Puppy-driven Chuck Tingle parody, "Alien Stripper Bones From Behind by the T-Rex" by "Stix Hiscock" (a non de plume for someone, no idea who) was significantly better-written and easier to read than John C. Wright's "An Unimaginable Light"

Wright is, in theory, a real writer. His story was terribly written, though. Not worthy of a Hugo, not even worthy of being in your average junior high school literary magazine.

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OK, we need some more beautiful things in the world. This stuff is beautiful. I especially like Space and Waves.

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I'm about done with the the novellas for my Hugo reading. I may do the short stories next and the novelettes after.

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The CQ WPX contest for CW (aka Morse code) took place this past weekend. I'm not really into radiosport but it's a great chance to improve operating skills and make some contacts that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to make. I focused primarily on different countries that I hadn't had a contact with, and I was able to get through to Ukraine, Luxembourg, Finland, Sweden -- all new to me. But the most exciting contact that I had over the weekend was actually domestic. The American Radio Relay League has an award called Worked All States. To earn it, you need a confirmed contact in each of the 50 US states. There are different endorsements for different bands (frequency ranges) and operating modes (CW, phone, digital) but the base award needs a contact in each of the 50 states, any band, any mode. The very last state that I was missing was Alaska.

On Saturday, I was checking a site called DX Summit, in which amateurs around the world note where you can find other amateurs on the dial. If you're looking for a particular country, it's a great resource. I was looking to see if there were any other countries I might be able to contact, and I happened to see a spot for Alaska! I tuned in and listened and sent my call. It took a few tries to get through, but I managed, and it was confirmed over on Logbook of the World yesterday. If I go for the CW endorsement I'm still missing 4 states (Iowa, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Rhode Island), but I've officially earned WAS!

I'm pretty happy about that.

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No SF conventions, no regional burn -- invited to a few parties on Sunday but my sister and family will be in town and that's more fun! (On the other hand, that means likely no POTA either.)

What about the rest of you?

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Over the weekend our desks at work were moved from the 15th floor to the 7th floor. This is part of a long term plan to consolidate most of our space on the 7th and 8th floor of the building, so we weren't specifically chosen for this as such.

There are good things and bad things about my new space. The bad is that it's even smaller than my old cube up on 15, and that wasn't too spacious to begin with. The good is that I actually have access to natural daylight! Because of the orientation of the desk, my chair isn't facing a window but it's out there at about 7:00 over my shoulder! Natural daylight! I haven't had access to natural daylight at my desk in several years!

And now begins a few hours of unpacking my crates and making sure that I have some place to put everything.

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Back when I first got back into radio, one of the first things I did was apply for and get my original callsign as a vanity call. I liked it. It was easy to send in Morse code (which is becoming my primary operating mode).

When callsigns in the US are issued, they're in a 2x3 format -- 2 letters, a number, 3 letters. There are some limitations as to what those letters and numbers can be because certain prefixes are assigned to different countries. When you get a higher class of license, you can choose a shorter call. The most common here in the US are 1x3 and 2x2 calls. There's a limited number of callsigns available for the highest class of license that are 1x2 and 2x1 format. For 1x2, the first letter must be K, N, or W. For the 2x1 callsigns, A is also an option as the first letter. These callsigns come available rarely since there are so few of them. All amateurs who apply on the day they're available are put into a pool and one is chosen at random.

And one year to the day after I passed my Amateur Extra test, I received a license grant for a 1x2 callsign!

I'm a little sad to let KA2ESK go. It was the callsign I was issued when I was first licensed and I was happy to get it back and it's served me well. But I'm really very happy to get K2FI as my new callsign. Not only is it shorter, it's GREAT for sending in Morse code, which is becoming my primary operating mode.

See you on the air!

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My "on this day" over on Livre des Visages reminds me of the time I got (virtually) called on the carpet for sharing a group shot of a staff meeting.

It shouldn't continue to bother me, but it does.

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I'm slowly slogging through Brandon Sanderson's "The Way of Kings"

I'm sure there's an exciting story buried somewhere in there. So far it just goes on and on and on and on and...

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I'm thinking about conventions and strongly thinking about gafiating, at least from general SF conventions (I'll still likely go to filkcons).

Conventions and convention culture has been a huge part of my life for the past 35-plus years. Lots of friends, lots of good memories, but...not sure it's what I'll be doing next year. We'll see.

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I just ordered a memory foam pad for my bed yesterday. Today, I got the email that the order's been shipped and I noticed the following little bit:

Beds are not always only for sleeping. It is important to consider that moving around on hands or knees on a memory-foam mattress is different from more standard mattresses. Knees will sink a lot deeper.

My inner 12-year-old is giggling madly.

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So for some years I've been getting emails for this dude named Darren who keeps signing up for things with my gmail address.

This evening, I got a thank you email from his GM dealership, and it had a helpful link to "change your contact preferences." Going to that link gave me a phone number and snailmail address. I just texted him and asked him to please NOT use my address anymore. I'm going to guess he's likely very surprised right about now.

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A weekend at FKO was just what I needed, but it doesn't work well with "having enough sleep"

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Time to shut down here at work and pack for FilkONtario!

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I saw your ghost today.

It was unexpected, both in time and place. I walked into the gym, as I do most Wednesday nights, and there you were. Or, rather, there she was. She had your build, your hair, and she was talking to the women at the desk when I walked in and I stopped, shocked. And then she turned. Oh, it wasn't your face she was wearing, but it was close enough that she could have been your sister. The shape of her face was the same as yours. Her eyes, the same color. The chin, close enough. Her smile was different than yours, though. And her voice, also not yours. I don't know who she is. I never saw her before. But for that one instant, she was you.

I saw your ghost today.

I knew, intellectually, that you couldn't be here, that you wouldn't be here. You'd have no reason to be here. You're far, far away, safely at a distance. But for that one instant, before my head could speak, my heart twisted into knots. The anger, the fear, the hurt. Watching something I cared for stripped away from me. Not taken by you, no, but taken by you all the same. The image stayed with me all through the gym. Each time I looked up from the rower, each time my gaze went the wrong way in the mirror, there was your ghost, as if to say, "You will never be free."

I saw your ghost today.

I've been at peace since then. You've never come up, not once, and time, like Omar Khayyam's moving finger, moves on. But deep down, deeper than even I knew, I still want to scream at it all. I want the ghosts to leave me in peace. I want your ghost to fade back to the distance where I left it, among the shadows and shades of the past.

I saw your ghost today.

Let it stay at rest.

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This one is sweet.

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OK, Claire is up to something in that last panel.

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My ham radio goal for this year is to do 80% of my operating in Morse code. April is really killing my stats so far but of the 4 contacts I got today, 3 were code and 1 was voice. Of the 3, 2 were in responses to calls that I sent out and one was a station in Brazil that I responded to.

The weather is going to be good this weekend, which means I can get out and do a little WWFF. If you're licensed, follow me on twitter to know when I'm on!

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Can anyone get to the comics or is it just me?

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Nothing quite like a "We want you to participate in programming!" email from a convention that fired you to make your day.

Yes, yes, I realize that they probably send one to everyone with a membership. Still.

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A cover version I hadn't heard before! I mean, I adore the Siouxsie and the Banshees original version, and I love the covers by School of Seven Bells and Anna Nalick (which I may like even more than the original). There's another I found on YouTube by the Frantic Ballerinas which was...OK, but not great. I like this one though!

What are some of your favorite covers>



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I'm not doing science, but I *am* still alive. Just very busy these days so I haven't had a chance to really sit down and write stuff!

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The free article of the Month for the March issue of QST, the publication of the American Radio Relay League, is all about a year of National Parks on the Air. It's fun. There's a lot of memories tied up in it, and I'm seeing so many familiar names and callsigns.

The article itself is here in PDF format.

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