So yes, I’m really going to be handing out ribbons at Baycon, because I just picked up the order from the factory. Here are the shots of the five ribbons I’m carrying. (The fifth one is mostly covered due to the top secret nature.)

Here they are:

They are shiny. Also, any ribbons not given out at Baycon will come with me to the 2008 Worldcon. (Well, okay, except the Press Button. Receive Baycon one, as that’s specifically for this con.)

Anyway, yes, I have shinys. Woohoo and w00t!

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

I guess you could say that. Anyway, it looks like First Bank SD is trying to make a run at Paypal by rolling out their new Paypal-like service, Revolution. The difference is that First Bank SD is a *real* bank, and thus is insured by the FDIC. It also means they’re unlikely to pull some of Paypal’s shenanigans. (I haven’t gotten hit by them, but I’ve heard horror stories…)

Of course the best part is that if you sign up before today is over (that is, the 15th of May), they’ll give you $25 for starting an account. And as a bonus, if you click via the little icon below, I get $10 for referring you.

The catch? You have to be a resident of the United States or be able to fake it. (They ask for a mailing address and an SSN.) And Cheryl Morgan (who was the person who informed me about it) notes that one person got asked to fax a copy of their driver’s license and utility bill, so be forewarned.

But as far as I can tell, there’s no other obligations. Anyway, the button follows:

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

Here’s an old shot pulled out of my archives. The shot’s taken from a passenger seat going 75 down I-5 as one drops into Anderson from the hill to the south. This was those last few moments of realizing that I was home after a long trip from the Bay Area.

This photo is better if you click through it. You need the full sized shot to get what I’m getting at. (As it is, you can barely see it.)

Anyway, the reason I bring up this shot is that it’s about the only good shot of Shasta or Lassen I can find on quick inspection of photos I’ve stashed online. Of course, identifying mountains from a distance can be problematic. I remember once going to Adin, which is where my pioneer relatives set up their homestead, and looking westward at the snowcapped mountain.

Adin’s in the Big Valley, where Lassen, Shasta, and Modoc counties all come together. (In fact, the three big towns in the Big Valley — Adin, Bieber, and Nubieber — are all in separate counties. Also, note when I use big, I mean relatively compared to the rest of the valley, because those are small towns.) If you look at a map, and look and see what’s west of this point, you’ll see clearly that it’s Mt. Shasta, the same mountain in this photograph. But it took me several moments to realize that.

I grew up in Anderson. The mountain on my horizon has two peaks, the main bulk of Shasta itself, and a smaller peak called Shastina. The thing is, Shastina is on the west side of the volcano. Thus, when viewed from the east, as I was doing in Adin, there is only *one* peak. My visual cues to say “Yeah, that’s Shasta,” were missing.

Which is why I’m having so much fun with Raven’s photos. She went up to Corning and Orland, which are about fifty miles from Redding, and took pictures. And now I’m trying to identify the mountain, and realizing my visual cues are all wrong again.

That said, I want to say it’s Lassen, but I grew up with a view of Lassen from the west, and Raven’s photo is more from the southwest. This is what Lassen looks like from Redding. Actually, that’s taken from one of the western ridges, but it’s close enough. (And it’s a gorgeous shot. My thanks to the photographer, Duane Langshaw.)

Anyway, the point of the exercise is to show just how much fun it can be to try to identify a mountain from pictures. And if anybody can help Raven out, I’m sure she’d appreciate it.

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

You might recall my post from the other day in which I wrote about the story of a home run nearly lost but for good sportsmanship by the other team.

Well, here’s the video ESPN put together. Warning: Have Kleenex ready.

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time

–T.S. Eliot, from Little Giddings

This one is going into the quotes file.

Anyway, consider this a thread for open musings. What’s on your mind, folks? Comment away, either here or on LJ.

I may have more to say tomorrow, despite the May death march.

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

These are the next two weeks in my schedule.

Fri, May 9th: Mom’s 50th birthday. Taking her to lunch. Going out to dinner. Must go down to UCD and pick up paperwork. Must clean house. Homework due in Excel class.

Sat, May 10th: Mom’s family comes for Mom’s bday/Mother’s Day. House must be clean by 11 AM.

Sun, May 11th: Work day to catch up with homework. Need to call Ei and wish happy birthday.

Mon, May 12th: Mom goes back to work. I think I have homework due in Excel class. Work. Need to call and wish tanesmuti happy birthday.

Tue, May 13th: Mom works. I might work. I might be working on final project in Excel class.

Wed, May 14th: Mom works. I work. Final project due in Excel class.

Thurs, May 15th: Mom works. I probably will work.

Fri, May 16th: Mom works. I probably will not, but I will be studying. Need to go to Roseville and pick up ribbons.

Sat, May 17th: Excel Final Exam.

Sun, May 18th: Breathe, because things are about to get ugly.

Mon, May 19th: Work. Mom works.

Tues, May 20th: Mom works. Final exam Accounting. Must have homework done. Must have five article reviews done. May have to work some.

Wed, May 21th: Mom works half day. I work? Mom has appointment with DMV to plead with them to keep her license.

Thurs, May 22nd: Work. Mom works. Ei comes down. Going to see Caspian with Ei. Must be packed for Baycon by this point.

Fri, May 23rd: Drive to Bay Area with Ei for BAYCON!

Yeah, it’s going to be an exhausing couple of weeks.

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

I finally decided on a ribbon.

It will say:

 

Met katster.
(still not king)

 

I’m amused, anyway. :)

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

 

Baycon’s coming in less than two weeks! I’m pretty stoked. Baycon was fun last year, and this year I’m actually staying at the hotel instead of commuting from far away. I’m also showing a friend around her first science fiction convention.

(It was pretty easy to convince her to go. All I had to say was, “Hey, guess what? People run around in costume there and nobody thinks they’re weird!”)

Anyway, this year, I’m going to be handing out badge ribbons. (For the confused, that’s why I posted my Baycon badge from last year. The trail of ribbons extending off of it is an example of what I’m talking about.) I haven’t exactly totally decided what they’re all going to say, but besides the already done top sekret ribbon for gridlore, I’ve pretty much decided that I’m going to get one that says “Help! I’m trapped in a ribbon factory!”

I’m still trying to figure out some way of saying ‘I said hi to katster’ in a cool fashion, though.

Also, unrelated, the muttering you may have heard coming from Sacramento was katster studying the preliminary Baycon schedules and wondering *why* Iron Poet and Fanzine in an Hour got put in the same timeslot. ;)

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

I love baseball. My love for it has faded since I was in sixth grade. I once knew every single winner of every single World Series, had a hugeassed baseball card collection (of which I still have most of them) and once won tickets to see my beloved Giants play for knowing the answer to some sports trivia question on the morning show on the local pop music station in Redding. I got older and the strike happened and I’ve only recently started following it with any enthusiasm again.

But see, I’m a girl. Girls don’t play baseball, they play softball. And while I’m a decent hitter and (much to my surprise) pretty good at catching most things that come my way, I run like a penguin. And because I run like a penguin, I’m a liability on the basepaths and any position that might require me to cover a lot of ground — like any outfield position. I don’t think it was just that my favorite player for the Giants played first base that made me want to be a first baseman. I think it was somewhat recognition that it was one of two positions on the field perfect for a slow player. (Catcher is the other, but I’ve had to give up the backstop position as my knees have gone bad.)

Sadly, my folks didn’t really have the money for me to play Little League except one year, so I didn’t really get a chance to practice and maybe become just a good enough hitter that my penguin-esque running wouldn’t matter. So other than eighth grade, when I think Mr. Stanley felt pity for me and stuck me on the team as the last man off the bench, I never was able to play school-sanctioned softball. (This is the way my athletic career always went — penguin-esque running, less than perfect hand-eye coordination, and being smart enough to understand the scorebook doomed me from actually making most school teams (eighth grade softball and JV basketball being the exceptions). And sadly, the scorekeeper is not the most heralded player on the team…)

But this post ain’t about my frustrations at trying to make the team. It’s about this act of sportsmanship (print version). You have to read the article, but the short of it is that a player on one softball team hits the first home run of her career, and in the excitement, manages to hurt herself rounding first base badly enough to end up in a heap on the ground. And instead of subbing a pinch-runner (which means the home run wouldn’t count as a home run — instead, it would have been a two run single), a player from the other team asked if it would be okay for them to help her around the bases.

It made me cry. I remember during that year of JV basketball where I managed to score my first (and only) two points of my career. I was so excited that I was nearly hyperventilating at the other end of the court. The ref had to ask if I was okay, and I said, yeah, that was my first basket.

I can only imagine how devastated I would have been if I had that taken away by a fluke accident. Thus, I salute the act of sportsmanship shown by the player on the opposing team in the instance above. I can only hope that if I was ever in that situation, if I could have done half as well.

Not only is that a good softball player, that’s a great human being. I know which is more important.

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

So yeah, I’m not in my happy place these days. Wednesday was a headache-inducing day, as I sat in the office and couldn’t focus because they’re fixing the light rail across the street. This involved heavy use of the pile driver. So far today, the pile driver has not been invoked, so I’m hoping I’ll actually be able to get some work done.

Then there was the accounting test, the less said about the better. I may lose my record of straight A’s at ARC. I’m sorta resigned to it, as I’ve been having a lot of trouble this term. It’s been busy, what with starting the new job and mom getting a job and whatnot, and some things just have to slip.

And then I get home from the test and find this:

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Yeah, some asshole went and wrote gang graffiti on my car. (I found it last night, but I took the pictures this morning.)

Is it too much to ask to go back to Tuesday and have a do-over on the rest of the week?

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

I'm working on getting my ribbon order together for baycon.

I joked at last year's Baycon about doing a ribbon that said "I said hi to katster" as an excuse to get folks to talk to me. While I found a better way (it's amazing how many people talk to you when you sit in front of doors and check badges), I'd still like to do something along the lines of "I said hi to katster" to give to people I meet at con.

The problem is, I don't exactly want that phrasing, but I'm not sure what I would like. So if you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

(I'll have a couple other ones, including a special one for gridlore and kevin_standlee. And yeah, I know Kevin won't be at Baycon this year, so I'll just have to give it to him at Worldcon.)

For the first three people that reply to me with your email, I will send you something. It might be something I've made or something cool from the Box o' Random Stuff. It might be music, or a rubber duck (or frog or other cool bath toy...), a book I think you will enjoy, or something else that is nifty-keen.
Whatever it is, I promise that I will get it to you in 365 days or fewer. I promise I will not send you junk, but it will be unique, and make me think of you :)
The CATCH (there's always a catch...) is that you have to post this offer in your journal, too.

OK folks. i see a brown bird, about quail sized, with a white belly and chest. There are two black stripes around the neck. Red eyes. Long legs. What bird?

Before I get too carried away, there are probably spoilers below here. So be warned…

Yes, just like half the geeks on the planet, I’ve been infected by the game that some call Portal. I’ve been hearing people rave about this game for a year now. Several times I wandered into the store, picked up the Orange Box, sighed, and put it back on the shelf. I never really got into Half-Life, and while I like video games, I don’t have the twitch reflex to be really good at them, so games like Counterstrike have never really held much interest for me. (Where’s the fun in getting smooshed by folks who are much much better than me, I ask?)

Anyway, because of that, I couldn’t quite justify fifty bucks to myself just for Portal, as much fun as the game sounded. So I ran several cycles of sighing over the Orange Box before Tuesday.

On Tuesday, I walked into the local GameStop.

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

So, last Friday night I went out to an event hosted by the Roseville Library called “A Night of Science Fiction”. Three SF authors were showing up to talk about their books and the genre. I admit, the thing that had me raring to go was that one of the three authors was Kim Stanley Robinson, who most of you know as the guy that wrote the Mars Trilogy (Red/Green/Blue Mars).

Neither of the other two names rung a bell at first, until I found myself in the Roseville Library looking at the in-library ad. They had helpfully reprinted cover photos, and I recognized one of the covers from John Scalzi’s blog series “The Big Idea”. The book in question would be Jeff Carlson’s Plague Year .

( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

Okay, quick question. Maybe somebody out there on my friends page will know.

I have a bunch of queries that I'd like to run on a MS-SQL server. It's a remote server, and I'd like to run these queries in batch, and save the results to my local hard drive. The current way (which is the only way I know) I'm running queries is through an MS Visual Studio connection, which doesn't seem to do what I want it to do. (At least, there's no easy way to hand it a bunch of queries, and tell it to run each one and save the results.)

So, can anybody help?

-kat

I may have found a fix for the LJ crossposter, so I’m testing it now. You never saw this.

Originally published at retstak.org. You can comment here or there.

So I went to a writer's retreat this weekend. In a dome house. It was fun.

If any of you is still following along on the 2005 Nano project, aka Sorrow of Memory or Last Hope, you'll be glad to discover that I am a scene and a half from the climactic scene of the novel, and more importantly, I know everything that happens up to the end of the climactic point. It means that if I get some time and smooth sails, I may actually *finally* be typing THE END on a project as opposed to just letting it hang, possibly as soon as the end of this month.

And then begins the task of revision. A writer's work is never done.

(Also, if any of you want a copy of the first draft of the novel, let me know. I'm happy to see what people think of it, as long as they're cognizant that this is a first draft and will get hacked to pieces once I let it sit for a bit.)

[roughly inspired by a story on NPR this morning...]( the moments that define )

Hi.

I know, it's been a long time since I've bothered to say anything. It's a long story.

So, that said, Hi! What do you all want to hear about?