Amnesia

If you haven’t done so already, please go here and listen to the new version of “A Loss of Innocence” written by Peter Hodges and read by yours truly.

I am going to have a lot of fun doing this audio book, oh yes.

Michael Collins was a marine. He should have been a doctor. 

Michael Collins was like any other high school senior. He wanted to get even with the Rak’Lan for destroying San Francisco and Shanghai. He wanted to know the truth about the disastrous first contact with an alien race around the orbit of Jupiter…and he was willing to put his life on the line in the service of humanity much to the dismay of the people who loved him the most.

His parents.

A Loss of Innocence  - Part One
Story by Peter Hodges
Dramatic Reading by Kate Baker
Music: “Leaving Home” by Kate Baker

Science fiction author, S.M. Stirling is interviewed over on Pete’s site this morning and next friday. S.M. Stirling’s long list of published works include:

The Protector’s War

Island in the Sea of Time

Dies the Fire

T2: The Future War

The Sky People

A Meeting at Corvallis

Conquistador

The Domination

The Sunrise Lands

and more!

Remember about two weeks ago when I told you that I would be on the radio? Well thanks to Vince O’Connor, I have the recording of the show! I have to admit, it was a little odd having an entire 25 minutes of the show dedicated to my music, and I can’t be held accountable for any delusions of grandeur it may have caused in my head.

So yeah people, bow down!

I mean, enjoy! You can access the file below by streaming it, or dl’ing it. Thanks again, Vince!

Also, a huge thanks to John Scalzi, for allowing Vince to play “Why Don’t You Love Me”, the song to which John wrote the music and I hijacked with permission, (read, “collaborated”) to write the words and sing. You continue to rock, John!

 

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I was without the intarweebs today as I cleaned out my old office. Being the environmentally friendly eco-warrior that I am; I brought six old pieces of obsolete office equipment to Staples to recycle. It’s a great program and for just 10.00 each you can clear your conscience and get rid of old computers, monitors, fax machines, etc instead of throwing them away.

As I waited for the paperwork, I struck up a conversation with Andrew, the super Staples office supply sales clerk. Our banter began with bad jokes, which then cycled to ripping holes in the space-time continuum, to “Dr. Who” and we rounded out the conversation with speculation about the final cylon on BSG.

Andrew: “Starbuck is totally NOT a cylon.”

Kate: “Well, everyone knows that…”

I don’t know Andrew.

Andrew, as far as I know, does not know me.

It was nice to strike up a conversation about real life with another geek, even if it was discussing our favorite science fiction television shows. I didn’t think my kind made it out into the sunlight for other things besides the local conventions.

So here’s to you, Andrew in all your geeky glory while working at Staples. May the toner be with you, always.

China Death Toll Over 12,000 in 7.9 Quake

Myanmar Death Toll Tops 63,000, Could Surge to 100,000 from Cyclone

Volcano in South America Awakens After Thousands of Years Dormant

MT. Etna in Sicily Erupts

1/4 World’s Wheat in Danger From New Fungus

Tornadoes are on Record Pace

The Honey Bee Die Off

Food Riots in Third World Countries

What does all of this mean?

We’re all pretty much fucked. But I feel fine.

Enjoy, it actually looks kinda good, despite not having anything to do with Aliens. Oh and Leoben is in it. Rawr.

…deny teenager entrance into senior prom. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t classify this as a dress. The following statement may seem like an angry tirade, but that’s because it is. This poor excuse for a proper vestment screams “I really have no caring parents who give a shit as to how I present myself to my friends.”

We need to stop letting our daughters dress like prostitutes. I’m not talking about dressing them in the stunning fashions of the FLDS but there are elegant dresses out there to showcase beauty, instead of flaunting sex like slutty whores.

Don’t even pull the racist card out on me either. Had this girl been white, yellow or purple, my reaction would have been the same. Show your children to respect themselves and their bodies, please.

Edit: I’ve removed the “rape me” comment, as I can see how some people would take issue that a dress is never the main reason that the violent act occurs. You may see my arguments in the comments below as I’ve left it up for discussion.

Just one of three reasons why I love being a mom. I hope you called yours and wished her a very happy day, because the world wouldn’t be graced with your presence if she weren’t around.

In honor of the special day, we waded through the throngs of people at Home Depot and bought some flowers to plant on the retaining walls that lead into our garage. Here are the pictures!

This is the whole little flower garden layout.

***Warning: Contains Spoilers from this season’s “Battlestar Galatica”. ***

I have suddenly realized why I turn off the TV at 11:00 p.m EST every Friday night, perplexed, angry, crying and sad. Ronald Moore has taken my hand and together we lead a very slow funeral procession. I have experienced every single emotion while watching the show this season and as time has gone by and each episode ends, it has not gotten any easier to bare the weight of these feelings.

I can not fault the actors for their powerful performances. Especially Chief and Roslin. Leoben is also extremely believable and even though every part of my body wants to run, I can’t help but be drawn into his charismatic drive to believe in something greater than himself.

As I grow older, the beat of my own heart grows louder as I am faced with my own mortality. I used to laugh at 30-somethings who would converse about death and worry about the end of their existence. I was too busy living in the moment to even contemplate such wary and depressing things. Yet, I glance at my children and then to my father who has stared death in the face a few times in his short life and I start to grow paranoid of my own fragility.

Ronald Moore knows his audience.

Every Friday, he bombards us with questions of faith, sometimes harsh exploration of belief and it is all done very convincingly. This season has been extremely hard for me to watch, and not because I know the series ends after X episodes. It’s because when I look at Cheif Tyrol reacting to major life changing events, or Laura Roslin dealing with her crisis of faith in the face of death, or even Kara Thrace, so uncomfortable in what should be familiarity; there is resonance. There are moments when my heart beats so fiercely in my chest as I see myself wholeheartedly responding the same way, challenging the same things and facing the sometimes horrifying realizations in life and my eventual death.

I dread the last episode, I really do. Part of me wants the happy ending, but one of the reasons I fell in love with BSG was because of its true-to-life tangents. I could relate to these flawed humans and cylons alike.

If the humans do make it to Earth, (which apparently is already mixed with Cylons as we learned from tonight’s episode) I do not see a fairytale ending. Although, I will be thankful for a show that actually made me think about things and who’s writers weren’t afraid to journey across any sacred and politically correct border.

I have had that song in my head since posting the Discovery Channel’s commercial two posts below this one.

Here is my own Interweebs version!

I love my keyboard
I love my monitor
I love my speakers
I love Jean-Luc Picard?
I love all the nik-nacks
On Woot and Steep and Cheap…

Boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada

I love the intarweebs
and all the Twitterites,
I love the gaming world
when I’m alone at night
I love lolcats
they make me smile bright!

Boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada

I love my Youtube
I love the Whateveresque
I love the Brain of Shawn
I love all the “hot chicks”
I love the Hodge and
His a-hole politics

Boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada

I love the newbies
and throwing frag grenades
I love my portals
and GLaDOS’ crazy cake
I love my medic gun
And all the death at stake

Boom De Yada
boom de yada
Boom de yada
Boom de yada

boom.