Author Archives: momdude

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About momdude

Space cadet | Family dude | Photographer | Music lover | Traveler | Science fiction fan | Hugo Award nominee | Writer | 5x NASA Social participant | KC Chiefs fan | LA Kings fan | Senior Director of Finance & Administration for ALS Network | Member & former staff Finance Officer at the Commemorative Air Force SoCal Wing | Hard core left-wing liberal | Looking for whatever other shenanigans I can get into
July 24, 2022 · 23:44

I Found The Secret Base

Some comings and goings over Friday and Saturday evenings had me wondering. The good news is that I’m seeing an influx of hummingbirds.

In the past we’ve once seen a hummingbird nest out where I could see it. Normally they’re off in the hedges and since they’re very small, they’re very hard to find. But while looking at the bougainvellea over by that side of the house, I noticed a lot of hummingbird activity where there isn’t a feeder.

So this morning I went out to take a look, and there’s something in there in the vines behind this drain pipe. Could it be another hummingbird nest?

It’s really hard to see through the vine leaves, so I took another half step closer to get this picture…

…and in seconds I had at least two hummingbirds buzzing my head like a couple of F-18’s driving off a Russian destroyer that gets too close to their aircraft carrier.

Hmmm. I’m thinking that’s a confirmation that there’s a hummingbird next in their. Since I’m not willing to have an angry, energetic, viscious humminbird impaled in my ear like an errant lawn dart, we’re not going to do anything further to confirm that and just take it as a given.

Maybe I’ll put up another feeder over there as a peace offering.

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Filed under Birds, Critters, Photography

July 23, 2022 · 23:49

Non-Splooting Lizard

I found this handsome specimin out in the yard today.

He loves being on this bit of wooden trim or edging. It’s got enough sun to keep him warm, but when it’s really hot it’s also got some shade.

I’ve seen him before a number of times, and I often stop to talk to him. I don’t know that it’s helped in getting him used to my presence, but he does seem relatively calm and allows me to get within maybe seven or eight feet, sometimes less.

He even lets me move around and shift angles without fleeing.

The tricky part today was getting down on my knees near him, which I haven’t done before. He even didn’t freak out when I went through the gyrations and exertions necessary to stand back up while holding the camera, shooting pictures, and trying desperately to not lose my balance and fall on top of him.

The detail and colored spots on his back are spectacular and beautiful!

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Filed under Critters, Photography

July 22, 2022 · 23:48

Splooting

Some days you get a teeny, tiny bit of knowledge or trivia and it’s enough to declare victory and quit for the today.

Today’s one of those days.

A few days ago I posted about how the squirrels in our back yard will lie on the concrete porch, spread eagled. Long-time reader & contributor & author & purveyor of her own site Jemima Pett commented that it was to cool off in the heat.

This evening I ran across a random tweet which I might normally ignore. But it had a picture of a squirrel, spread eagled, and a local television/news station article about this very phenomenon.

It’s called “splooting!” (I think the “!” is optional, but hey, with a goofy looking squirrel layed out on the pavement like a bearskin rug and a word like that to describe it, how could anyone not include the exclamation point?)

I was tempted to leave well enough alone and just go with the silly, funny word, but decided to check other sources. I was afraid that I might find that this was a made-up thing from that Texas television station. Then I would have to quickly find something else to write tonight, or at least a different spin.

But, no! It really is a term, particularly in reference to dogs. (Google an image search for “splooting puppies.” You can thank me later.) I remember our Lucky Puppy and Jessie doing it from time to time. But lots of critters sploot.

Now you know!

 

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Filed under Critters, Silly Shit

July 21, 2022 · 23:35

Acton Sunset

Out in the desert tonight, 50 miles or so northeast, celebrating at a nice, recommended restaurant in a Western style, unincorporated area called Acton.

Got out near the railroad museum just as the sunset was finishing up. With LA to the south, Santa Clarita to the west, and the Antelope Valley to the northeast, I wonder how dark the skies get here. They’ve got to be better than in the San Fernando Valley, right?

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Filed under Los Angeles, Photography

July 20, 2022 · 23:11

Video From The Back Forty

There were critters about, despite the heat!

This guy wasn’t so much scared as he was annoyed. He had been in a nice, sunny spot out on the back wall at the lip of the hill and when I had the gall to walk by in my own yard, he felt compelled to hop down, jump up onto the sidewalk, and glare at me. And I do mean “hop” and “jump” since he did both. I’m not sure I’ve seen other lizards do that, usually they just run and skitter and slink and scramble. But this guy I’ve seen jump several times, including twice today. He’s not much on height, so I’m not worried about him going for my throat, but he’s pretty good on distance.

These were the surprise of the day. They’re about 40% to 50% the size of the normal mourning doves, so I’m guessing their fledgelings. They didn’t fly away or even try to fly, but they also didn’t seem too upset about me being just a couple of feet away. I guess they missed that “OH GOD RUN FROM THE GIANT HUMANS!” lesson. I think that the nest is low to the ground in the hedges behind them that separate the yards, so I’m not surprised to see them here. I just hope one of the neighborhood feral cats or a hawk doesn’t see them as well.

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Filed under Birds, Critters, Video

July 19, 2022 · 23:23

Chicago, Here We Come (I HOPE!)

Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention, will be held in Chicago on September 1-5, 2022.

For the first time in a bunch of years, it looks like we’ll be there, barring some kind of (waves hands and does hopeless Kermit flail indicating everything) catastrophe.

My first science fiction convention was Iguanacon II in Phoenix in 1978. My first trip out of North America was Seacon ’79 in Brighton, England. My honeymoon with Janet (my first wife) was a cross-country road trip to Noreascon Two in Boston in 1980.

We went to Denvention Two in Denver in 1981, Chicon IV in Chicago in 1982, and ConStellation in Baltimore in 1983.

In 1984 we were touch and go at LA Con II here in Los Angeles. I was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Fanzine but Janet was about 8 1/2 months pregnant, so we could have been forced to bail at a moment’s notice. I did not win the Hugo and our son arrived two weeks after the convention.

After attending seven years in a row things got spottier. We didn’t get to Australia in 1985, Brighton in 1987, or The Hague in 1990.

Even for the domestic conventions, we only got to about a third of them. But we were also taking all of the kids – they got brought up in fannish culture. Noreascon 3 in Boston. ConFrancisco in San Francisco. LACon III in Los Angeles. Chicon 2000. ConJose in San Jose. Torcon 3 in Toronto. LACon IV. Denvention 3. Anticipation in Montreal.

Over the past dozen or so years it seems that a lot of Worldcons have been overseas, and with my career and CAF time commitments causing quite the pinch to my available time, we didn’t get to Australia, Helsinki, London, Dublin, or Wellington. Of course, we didn’t get to Chicago, Kansas City, San Antonio, Reno, or Spokane either. Hell, we didn’t even get to San Jose.

Recently, of course, there’s been COVID. So while we really, REALLY had plans to get to Washington, DC last year, that ultimately didn’t happen.

I had forgotten that the last one we actually got to was in 2009, Anticipation in Montreal. It’s been thirteen years. Time flies when you’re… Never mind.

Next year Worldcon is in Chengdu, China. As much as I enjoyed my one trip to China, I don’t realistically see us getting to Chengdu Worldcon 81st. For the 2024 Worldcon there’s only one bid, Glasgow, Scotland, so I’m guessing they’ll win the vote. We might actually give that a shot, it sounds like a great trip. 2025’s only bid so far is Seattle, where 2026 has bids from Los Angeles and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

In summary, while the future looks good for at least a couple of domestic bids coming up and at least one realistic overseast trip, this year’s Worldcon in Chicago is where we’re focused. I think we’re going.

We have memberships, hotel reservations, and now plane reservations. Everything’s refundable if the world collapses (again) but we’re hopeful. Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Baycon up in San Mateo and it, while much smaller in size that in previous years (“Thanks, COVID!” ) was still enjoyable. I have no idea how big Chicon 8 will be compared to what I’m used to as a Worldcon, but I’m hoping for a fun convention and also some good sightseeing around Chicago. Maybe a Cubs game at Wrigley.

It’s about time to catch a break and get a little bit back to normal, if we can.

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Filed under Fandom, Travel

July 18, 2022 · 23:07

No Context For You – July 18th

I’ve been thinking a lot these days about music, both in the philosphopical sense and in the more practical sense.

Philosophically, I’m always surprised by folks to whom music is a take it or leave it proposition. Sure, they like having something on the radio in the car and they may go to a concert here or there, but, you know … whatever! Where for me it’s much more of a passion, a daily presence, something that I’ve got on or available or involved with hours and hours a day.

Practically, I still like my physical media. I know that the world is going to streaming services and content on demand and storing everything on the Cloud. And I’ll most certainly take advantage of those conduits, listening to Sirius satellite radio all the time, storing copies of my music online, listening to Pandora stations centered around favorite groups. But the foundation is always a closet full of CD’s and even records and cassettes. The Cloud can go offline, the streaming services can get into pissing contests with the artists, satellites can fail, even music (and video, and books, and everything else) that you’ve “bought” digitally can all get taken back without warning. They’ll only take my CD’s (and DVD’s and books and tapes and laserdiscs) when they show up with a warrant and/or an army.

Paranoid, much?

Have you read the freaking news recently?

Gotta have my music! And books!

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Filed under Music, Photography

July 17, 2022 · 22:34

Bougainvillea

Two months ago these flowers surprised me.

Today I was again pleasantly surprised, but this time I looked up what these are.

They’re bougainvilleas.

No clue why some of the blooms seem to have one of these little white centers while others have two or three.

This is why I got degrees in physics and business, with minors in astrophysics and computer programming.

Biology seems to just bounce off my brain and vanish into the ether.

But I know what I like and what I think is pretty, and this is it. And I know that I like sharing that, so here it is!

Completely lost in real life and the small thumbnail images are the long stamen sticking out of these flowers, but you can see them in these pictures!

They’re almost the same color as the bright magenta petals, just a shade or two more red.

I hope your Monday and the upcoming week are spectacular and fun, but I also know that the world can be “interesting” for so many of us these days, so if “sucks less than average” is an acceptable substitute for “spectacular” and “painless” is good enough to stand in for “fun,” I hope you get those. And if looking at incredibly bright flowers helps, take these!

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Filed under Flowers, Photography

July 16, 2022 · 23:15

Squirrel Spa

We’re apparently operating a full-service spa resort for squirrels now.

Not only do they feed on all of the free bird seed that they can eat, I found this one waiting patiently for its full-body massage.

I’ll admit, there was a second when I thought that it might have eaten too much bird seed and died, spread eagled, content to have died doing what it loved most.

Then I saw the other one similiarly splayed out a few feet away. I’ve never seen other squirrels lie like this, but it must be comfortable because both of them do it on every hot day now.

Whatever! They’re weird. Sort of goes with the job description for “squirrel” I guess.

At least in this yard.

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Filed under Critters, Photography

July 15, 2022 · 23:38

ISS Pass – July 15th

As expected, the late ISS pass tonight was very low in the sky.

There’s the Big Dipper up there again, but instead of passing through the “bowl” of the dipper, the ISS path just barely passes above the trees.

Better yet, click on the image to blow it up to full sized – look at all of those planes, especially right down by the horizon. That’s all of the big jets coming into LAX from the Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest, and Asia.

No joy on seeing Dragon. With docking only about eight or nine hours away I figured that it would be close, but I didn’t see it at all, even watching for about ten minutes after ISS went by.

Finally, the other screw up was forgetting to check the camera battery. Instead of catching the ISS going just barely above those trees all the way to the far horizon, I just saw it for a few minutes.

Keep watching the skies!

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Filed under Astronomy, Photography, Space