A.C. Wise

Forty years ago, we landed on the moon. Over at tor.com, there’s a wonderful series of recollections about that day. They are particularly interesting in that they are all from science fiction and fantasy writers, people who are paid primarily to dream about the future. The over-arching pattern in the reminiscences seem to be a mixture of fulfillment - a sense of yes, this is what we’ve been waiting for - and a sense of disappointment that the momentum didn’t carry forward, that the promise of that day was broken.

Another common thread is a sense of history, a sense of knowing, and of being part of something momentous unfolding. This got me thinking about history and memory in general. I wasn’t born when we landed on the moon. So I was trying to think of moments in my own life that I knew I was living history.

There are things I remember mostly for the aftermath, the cloning of Dolly the Sheep, and the death of Princess Diana. There are a few moments that I remember clearly - where I was, how I felt - moments where there was a sense of history. I remember the most recent Quebec referendum, and the outbreak of the first Iraq war. I would like to think that, as time goes forward, I will always remember where I was when I listened to the inauguration speech of America’s first black president.There are moments of personal history too, things that are only important and momentous to me and my family.

I wonder what the future will bring, what other moments will crystallize in my mind. Will there be moments that I say yes, this is what I’ve been waiting for And will the promise of those moment be fulfilled?

The anonymous anthology, Nemonymous Nine: Cern Zoo, which contains my story whose title I can’t tell you, is now available. Should you be so inclined, you can purchase it here on the nemonymous website. The concept of anonymous anthologies seems to be catching on. More about the trend can be found here and here.

We took a quick turn around trip to NYC Tuesday, primarily to see The Colbert Report, but also do a lot of walking, picture-taking, and eating. Did I mention the walking? My feet are covered in blisters. It was worth it.

We started with dinner at Tre Dici. Along with the standard bread to start the meal, they brought us what appeared to be Parmesan crusted risotto hush puppies. So, yeah, they win.

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My very pretty Neil Gaiman keyboard arrived today.

In case you can’t read it, it says ‘keyboard I wrote some Sandman with’. This makes me very happy. Now I just have to figure out how to keep it safe from marauding cats, who - incidentally - are thrilled that a kind man and his fabulous assistant took the time to mail them a wonderful box to play in.

Besides books, another thing I frequently lust after is photography - prints, digital images, old, new - I love it all. I love taking pictures, and I wish I was better at it. I love looking at other people’s pictures, as you may have noted from some of the photoblogs linked on my sidebar. I love the “interestingness” function on flickr, where you can hit refresh over and and over again and get a random selection of gorgeous photos from various flickr users. I’m a photography junkie.

Being as such is the case, I was intrigued by this contest, being sponsored by Lenovo and Microsoft. I was further thrilled to see that Shreve Stockton, of the The Daily Coyote (whose photographs I also lust after) is one of the judges. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and enter, knowing I have no chance of winning. If, however, you are curious about the ideas I entered, and/or are foolish enough to want to vote for me, you can do so here and here.

Suitably, my ideas involve burial places and abandoned buildings.

The Shirley Jackson Award Lottery winners were announced today. Not only am I not getting stoned to death, but I won a signed copy of Elizabeth Bear’s The Chains That You Refuse and a signed keyboard from Neil Gaiman. How abso-freaking-lutely cool is that?

I went to the Poe reading at the German Society of Philadelphia yesterday. Edward Pettit, the Philly Poe Guy, gave a brief introduction on Poe’s work in Philadelphia, Ellen Datlow introduced the authors, and Gregory Frost, Laird Barron and John Langan each read a selection from their stories.

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Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

IndieBound is a great website, which I found via Neil Gaiman’s journal. Among other things, it lets you find listings for independent bookstores in your neighborhood. The list is by no means exhaustive. For example, Robin’s Bookstore, which I’ve mentioned here before, didn’t show up in my Center City Philly search, but it did turn up a whole slew of bookstores that I wasn’t even aware of - several within walking distance of my workplace. This is a very dangerous knowledge for me to have, and it makes me very, very happy.