A Mountain, a Reservoir and a Giant Arrow

Sometimes I have really good ideas.  Sometimes those really good ideas turn out to be more hardcore than I planned.  (Robyn would probably say it's more often than sometimes.)

This past weekend, I wanted to implement one of my fantastic ideas.  You see, there are these giant arrows all over the country.  They were built by an ancient civilization called the United States Government.  This ancient civilization had planes flying across the continent, and these planes didn't have GPS devices.  (I know, we're talking about a primitive culture.)  So they built giant arrows along the flight route so that planes could see them from the sky, and know they were on track.  (Click here for more info about these arrows.)

Most of the arrows are gone.  The areas have been developed, or they've been torn down for other reasons.  But there are some that remain.  They are overgrown with weeds and falling apart, but they're still there.  I found one on Google Maps and decided I wanted to go stand on it.

I didn't even tell Robyn what we were doing.  I just told her that I wanted to cross something off my bucket list, and we headed out into the wilderness.

I came armed with Google Maps.  I had looked at a satellite photo and I thought it looked like we could just drive along a dirt road and get there pretty easily.  Looking at the satellite images now, it seems obvious that the arrow is on the top of a mountain.  But, that just didn't occur to me before getting there.

We started along the dirt road only to discover very quickly that it went up a pretty steep mountain.  There was no way we were driving to it.

I told Robyn  I just wanted to run to the top and see if I could see it on the other side.  She was not interested, so she waited in the car.

It didn't even occur to me that what I was proposing was running up a mountain and that that would have been impossible a year ago.  But I did it.  I ran straight up.

I figured I'd get to the top and be able to look down on a gradual decline down into a valley where I would find the arrow.  That's not what I found.  I stood on the edge of a cliff looking down on Quail Creek Reservoir.  It was a serendipitous discovery because it was beautiful.

 I still thought the arrow was on the other side of the mountain because I figured I hadn't walked far enough to be there.  So I decided to walk along the edge of the cliff and see if I could look down on it.  And, if so, we'd find that other road near the reservoir and get to it that way.

I walked along the cliff for about 10 minutes with no luck.  That's when it occurred to me to pull out Google Maps, since I had the GPS coordinates of the arrow.  I pulled out my phone and it showed me that I was about 100 feet from the arrow.  It turns out that even a giant cement slab is not visible from very far away when there are rocks and bushes and weeds all around.  My good friend Google lead me there, and I found the giant arrow.

This was my first view of the arrow.  It slopes up the hill so you can't really tell it's an arrow from the bottom.

This is the very tip of it pointing at my feet.

The head of the arrow pointing at me.

It wouldn't be complete without a selfie.

Technically, my bucket list said, "Stand on a giant arrow." So I had to get a selfie doing just that.

There are a few important things we can learn from this story.  Most importantly, pay attention to details like whether there is a mountain in your way when planning an adventure.  But almost equally as important:  When you find there's a mountain in your way, don't let that stop you.

A Morning Stroll With a Moose

This weekend Robyn's parents rented a cabin in Park City and invited us to come spend the weekend with them.  We've had a lot of fun so far.  I just want to share a small experience with you from this morning.

I woke up this morning about 6:30.  I tried with all my might to go back to sleep.  Unfortunately, might doesn't really do much toward sleeping, so I utterly failed.  Since I was awake and no one else was, I thought it would be fun to go take a walk.

I found a little walking trail that wound around and lead me to the street leading up to Olympic Park.  I didn't really have any destination in mind, but I started to climb the hill toward the fancy ski jump ramp.

I was getting pretty close to the Park but I was also getting tired and debating when I should turn around and go participate in important activities like breakfast.

As I pondered many thoughts of breakfast in my heart, I saw off in the distance what I thought was a cow.  All I could see was the animal's backside sticking out from behind a tree.

I decided to walk closer to get a better look.  As I got closer, I noticed a smaller animal with big pointy ears near the alleged cow.  The smaller animal was about the size of a donkey, and the big pointy ears convinced me it was definitely a donkey.

As I got closer, my phone decided to announce my presence.  I had Runkeeper going, and it always tells me how far I've walked every ten minutes.  When run keeper made its announcement the larger animal stood up to its full height and turned to look at me.  It was definitely not a cow.  It was a mommy moose.  The "donkey" was a baby moose.  They both looked me straight in the eye.

I was in awe.  I have always wanted to see a moose in the wild.  I travelled all the way to Alaska, and really hoped to see a moose, but never did.  It turns out I just needed to be within an hour of my own house to see this guy.

Of course, I was aware that if the mommy decided to charge me, I could be badly injured.  Yet, I couldn't walk away.  I just stood and looked her in the eye while she stared right back at me.  The baby quickly lost interest in me and continued eating.  I was close enough that I could hear the sound of the baby pulling up weeds and chewing them.

Eventually, mom decided that she didn't like me this close to baby.  She decided to lead him away.  But, rather than take him into the woods, the two of them crossed the road in front of me.  Naturally, I took a video.

I was a little nervous as they were crossing the road. It actually felt like they were even closer than before. You can see in the video, that the mommy turns to look at me for a second, but she decided I wasn't a threat (luckily).

Aren't they just the cutest little family?

Of course, if you follow me on instagram you've already seen this picture.

After they walked off on the other side, I began to make my way back to the cabin.  Seeing a moose family seemed as good a final destination as any, and it was clearly breakfast time.

The only question I have is, "Who was the athlete?  Me or the moose?"

I called my wife and told her how cool it was, and that I get to cross "See a moose in the wild" off my bucket list.  Her first question was whether I got too close.  I told her I probably did, but I was still alive.  Besides, you only live once.

My 2013 Hugo Votes

An important item on my bucket list was to vote for the Hugo Awards.  The Hugo Awards are awarded every year.  There are a number of different categories but all of them have to do with fantasy and science fiction.  I've been following the Hugo Awards for decades now.  But I decided this was the year to be a part of it.  So I read the nominated works and cast my vote.

I recognize that many of my normal readers will not be familiar enough with these works to care what I voted for.  However, for those who have read these it's fun to see how others voted.  My guess is that this post will get more traffic from Google than from my normal audience.  So, if you're not interested, I won't be offended if you leave.  But for those who choose to stay, here's a brief explanation about the Hugo voting process.

To vote, you just have to be a supporting member of the World Science Fiction Convention.  (This year, it cost $60.)  They send you an electronic packet with copies of all the nominated works.

You don't just vote for your favorite.  You rank them in order of preference, this eliminates the problem of two similar stories splitting the vote.  The computer does complex algorithms that make it so that if your first choice doesn't get enough votes, your vote goes to to your second choice, etc.  The whole process is explained in detail here.

You'll notice I voted for "no award" a few times.  If you vote for "no award" before a candidate, you are saying that you would prefer that there be no award given, rather than have that nominee win.  This is used when you feel a nominee is not worthy of a Hugo award.  No Award can actually win, and in that case they will not give the award to anyone.

Without further ado, here are all of my votes with some brief commentary explaining why.  I included all of my ranked votes.  I also tried to include cover art where available.  For the short fiction I included the cover art of the magazine that published each piece.

Edit: I have revised the text below by highlighting the actual winner in red.  But, I have left the order of my votes intact whether I voted for the winner or not.

Best Novel Is it because I'd really like to see a zombie novel win?  Possibly.  But, this novel (and the whole trilogy) was more than just a zombie novel.  It had political schemes, conspiracy to assassinate, clones, and an entire society completely rocked by a deadly virus.  This novel is what I think science fiction is supposed to be like.  It explores how one change in our future could completely change society.  Oh, and if that's not enough, there is a zombie bear.
1	Blackout by Mira Grant (Orbit)
2	Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen)
3	Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas by John Scalzi (Tor)
4	2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)
5	Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed (DAW)
Best Novella It's an apocalypse story, it's a time travel story.  It's pretty much awesome sauce all around.  I love the way the story unfolds in 3 different time periods, so in a sense you know what is going to happen from the beginning.  Yet there is still a big reveal at the end.  Totally amazing!
1	After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications)
2	San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats by Mira Grant (Orbit)
3	"The Stars Do Not Lie" by Jay Lake (Asimov's, Oct-Nov 2012)
4	The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications)
5	On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press)
Best Novelette i went back and forth on this one.  The top 3 were all really good, and could have potentially got my vote.  But "The Girl-Thing who Went Out for Sushi" was just so unique.  Have you ever wondered what it's like to be an octopus or a nautilus?  Well, maybe you should go out for sushi.  (I also love the title, because you have to read the story to get what the heck it's talking about.)
1	"The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi" by Pat Cadigan (Edge of Infinity, Solaris)
2	"In Sea-Salt Tears" by Seanan McGuire (Self-published)
3	"Fade To White" by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
4	"Rat-Catcher" by Seanan McGuire (A Fantasy Medley 2, Subterranean)
5	No Award
6	"The Boy Who Cast No Shadow" by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Postscripts: Unfit For Eden, PS Publications)
Best Short Story All three of the stories were good.  This is another category where I reordered them several times.  The first time, I actually placed "Mantis Wives" in third place, but the more I thought about it the more it grew on me.  It's so brilliant.  On the one hand, it's a horror story.  On another, it's not really horror, it's just insects, it's like a nature documentary.  But yet, on another hand, (yes I have 3 hands) it's a commentary about marriage, and what fathers sacrifice for their children.  You just need to read it.  It's too brilliant.
1	"Mantis Wives" by Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, August 2012)
2	"Mono no Aware" by Ken Liu (The Future is Japanese, VIZ Media LLC)
3	"Immersion" by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld, June 2012)
Best Related Work I have to admit something.  There are 2 categories where I didn't read every nominee cover to cover.  This is one of them.  However,  I read enough to discover that I thought this was a very thorough companion to fantasy.  I really want to check out the companion to science fiction which was the Hugo winner in this category in 2005.
1	The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge UP)
2	Writing Excuses Season Seven by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson
3	Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who Edited by Deborah Stanish & L.M. Myles (Mad Norwegian Press)
4	Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Sigrid Ellis (Mad Norwegian Press)
5	I Have an Idea for a Book… The Bibliography of Martin H. Greenberg Compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, edited by John Helfers (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box)
Best Graphic Novel This is the second category where I didn't read everything cover to cover.  But, I did look at them enough to discover that Schlock Mercenary had a genuinely fun feel to it.
1	Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia by Howard Tayler, Colors by Travis Walton (Hypernode Media)
2	Grandville Bête Noire Written and Illustrated by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics, Jonathan Cape)
3	Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks Written by Joe Hill, Illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)
4	Saga, Volume One Written by Brian K. Vaughn, Illustrated by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
5	Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run Written by Paul Cornell, Illustrated by Ryan Kelly, Jimmy Broxton and Goran Sudžuka (Vertigo)
Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) I've only seen 3 of these movies.  I don't watch R rated movies so I voted the other 2 below "No Award" as my personal protest against R rated movies.  Of the 3 I've seen, all were super awesome.  Ultimately, I had to pick The Hobbit.  I love Tolkien, and I've loved everything Peter Jackson has done with Tolkien's work.
1	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, Directed by Peter Jackson (WingNut Films, New Line Cinema, MGM, Warner Bros)
2	The Avengers Screenplay & Directed by Joss Whedon (Marvel Studios, Disney, Paramount)
3	The Hunger Games Screenplay by Gary Ross & Suzanne Collins, Directed by Gary Ross (Lionsgate, Color Force)
4	No Award
5	Looper Screenplay & Directed by Rian Johnson (FilmDistrict, EndGame Entertainment)
6	The Cabin in the Woods Screenplay by Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon, Directed by Drew Goddard (Mutant Enemy, Lionsgate)
Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) There's no cover art for an episode, so you get a picture of me with a Dalek. In the Doctor Who category (clearly I jest, other years it has been the Star Trek category, or other popular shows) if there was an option to vote for Daleks, I was clearly going to do it.  Daleks have been trying to exterminate the human vermin since before I was born.  They're about as awesome as it can get.
1	Doctor Who: "Asylum of the Daleks" Written by Steven Moffat; Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
2	Doctor Who: "The Angels Take Manhattan" Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
3	Doctor Who: "The Snowmen" Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
4	Game of Thrones: "Blackwater" Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)
5	Fringe: "Letters of Transit" Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
Best Editor (Short Form) When you look at a written work, it's hard to know what the editor actually did to contribute, versus authors or other contributors.  However, I figured in this category, I just had to choose my favorite magazine or anthology.  My 3 favorite magazines are Asimov's, Analog, and Clarkesworld but Asimov's has a special place in my heart.
1	Sheila Williams (Asimov's)
2	Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld)
3	Stanley Schmidt (Analog)
4	Jonathan Strahan (Edge of Infinity)
5	John Joseph Adams (Armored)
Best Editor (Long Form) Again, editors are hard to pick.  But Toni Weisskopf edited Captain Vorpatril's Alliance which was my number 2 pick for best novel.
1	Toni Weisskopf
2	Patrick Nielsen Hayden
3	Lou Anders
4	Liz Gorinsky
5	Sheila Gilbert
Best Professional Artist I was completely unfamiliar with these artists, but I made my vote based on the artwork included in the Hugo voter's packet.  Doesn't dragon chick above look pretty awesome?
1	Dan dos Santos
2	John Picacio
3	Julie Dillon
4	Chris McGrath
5	Vincent Chong
Best Fan Artist Again, in this category  I just decided based on the voter's packet.  We've got aliens, we've got redshirts.  What's not to like?
1	Steve Stiles
2	Brad W. Foster
3	Maurine Starkey
4	Spring Schoenhuth
5	Galen Dara
Best Fan Writer This category helped me discover a new blog that I totally love.  Mark Oshiro runs markreads.net and it's the funnest site ever.  He reads books and shares with you his thoughts as he reads them.  Try reading a book along with him.  (Read his entry on each chapter after you read the chapter.)  It's a fun experience.
1	Mark Oshiro
2	Steven H Silver
3	James Bacon
4	Christopher J Garcia
5	Tansy Rayner Roberts
Best Semiprozine The choice here was obvious.  I love ClarkesWorld.
1	Clarkesworld edited by Neil Clarke, Jason Heller, Sean Wallace and Kate Baker
2	Lightspeed edited by John Joseph Adams and produced/directed by Stefan Rudnicki
3	Strange Horizons edited by Niall Harrison, Jed Hartman, Brit Mandelo, An Owomoyela, Julia Rios, Abigail Nussbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Dave Nagdeman and Rebecca Cross
4	Apex Magazine edited by Lynne M. Thomas, Jason Sizemore and Michael Damian Thomas
5	Beneath Ceaseless Skies edited by Scott H. Andrews
Best Fanzine I had no prior experience with any of these fanzines, several of them are very fun, but Elitist Book Reviews is my favorite.  It probably doesn't hurt that I got the chance to meet Steven Diamond at CONduit this year.
1	Elitist Book Reviews edited by Steven Diamond
2	SF Signal edited by John DeNardo, JP Frantz, and Patrick Hester
3	The Drink Tank edited by Chris Garcia and James Bacon
4	Journey Planet edited by James Bacon, Chris Garcia, Emma J. King, Helen J. Montgomery and Pete Young
5	Banana Wings edited by Claire Brialey and Mark Plummer
Best Fancast Several of these were really fun, but SF Squeecast was the most fun for me.  Several of the hosts are SF authors, so it's fun to hear their different perspectives.
1	SF Squeecast, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Cornell, Seanan McGuire, Lynne M. Thomas, Catherynne M. Valente (Presenters) and David McHone-Chase (Technical Producer)
2	StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith
3	The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan and Gary K. Wolfe
4	SF Signal Podcast, Patrick Hester, John DeNardo, and JP Frantz
5	Galactic Suburbia Podcast, Alisa Krasnostein, Alexandra Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts (Presenters) and Andrew Finch (Producer)
John W. Campbell Award for best new writer Blackbirds was the book that I felt took the best skill to write.  The protagonist wasn't very likable, but somehow Chuck Wendig got me to really like her by the end of the book.  Also, of all the books written by these nominees, Blackbirds was the only one that got me to want to read the sequel.  It's such a unique story.  Miriam Black can tell you the day you are going to die.  Creepy and awesome!
1	Chuck Wendig
2	Mur Lafferty
3	Max Gladstone
4	Stina Leicht
5	Zen Cho

So those are my votes. Are there any you agree with? Are there any you disagree with? Let me know!

Festival of Colors 2013

This weekend we had planned to take a little Easter vacation.  My parents had their time share down in St. George and we were going to go down there for some hiking, swimming, fun in the sun and relaxation.

Unfortunately, there was a little mix-up   It turns out they had booked the condo for March 29, 2014.  March 29th was when we planned to go down, but it turns out that the year portion of the date is important.  And since this year is 2013, they weren't gonna let us use the condo.  (How rude!)

We were sad that our plans fell through.  (But, I was more sad for my mom, we were just going to spend the weekend but they were making it a bigger trip.)  Fortunately, there was a silver lining to the cloud of the timeshare mix-up.   I got the opportunity to cross a very important item off my bucket list.

Every year around this time I see all sorts of pictures cropping up on Facebook from the festival of colors that happens at the Hare Krishna Temple.  I've always wanted to attend, but every year we end up making plans on that weekend before realizing that we are once again going to miss it.

Well, this year since our plans fell through, we decided to attend so that we could put our own pictures of our brightly colored selves on Facebook.  Here is the sum of our experience in pictures.

The temple filled with people as we approach

The cloud of colors from people throwing

Robyn and I with the colorful people

Robyn and I with our friend Kayli

Colorful Kissing

Selfie before we get back in the car

Isn't she cute?

It was a great experience.  They had a band playing and people were singing and dancing.  I love to experience other cultures.  I think the celebration of colors and "lovingly coloring each other" is a fabulous form of worship.

One of my favorite parts was when the band was playing Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song, only they had changed the lyrics to be about Krishna.  It was kind of awesome.

My second favorite part was throwing colors on people who were walking in as we were leaving.  They were blank canvasses, ready to become works of art.

If you haven't seen sufficient evidence of the good times, naturally we took a video before we got back in the car to drive away.