The Daily Parker

Politics, Weather, Photography, and the Dog

Where's the weekend?

Between unpacking, preparing for a party (which encourages the unpacking), and the regular business of working, I didn't have time to write this weekend. I still don't, but I did want to catch up on a couple of things.

First, a coronal mass ejection over the weekend is producing large aurorae today, which could be visible in Chicago, New York, Dublin, and Seattle—way farther south than usual.

Second, Rhianna Pratchett, Sir Terry's daughter, says the next Discworld novel will be the last:

The author, videogame and comics writer told a fan last week that her late father’s forthcoming novel, The Shepherd’s Crown, featuring teenage witch Tiffany Aching, would be the final Discworld book. And asked by a fan if she would be continuing the series herself, she ruled out the possibility.

“No. I’ll work on adaptations, spin-offs, maybe tie-ins, but the books are sacred to dad,” she wrote on Twitter. “That’s it. Discworld is his legacy. I shall make my own.”

She added: “To reiterate – no I don’t intend on writing more Discworld novels, or giving anyone else permission to do so.”

Good for her. As blogger A.J. O'Connell wrote today, "Forty-one stand-alone novels are an amazing gift to give a fanbase, and I feel like it would be greedy to ask for more."

More later. Back to a deck that's due this afternoon.

Carving out order from the chaos

Unpacking continues apace. By yesterday morning I'd managed to hook up my A/V equipment, which also meant getting part of my living room in order:

Last night I finished my kitchen (except for part of one box), so now I just have to unpack a few more boxes in my office and about 32,768 boxes of books. Plus I still have to hang things on the walls.

Tonight I've cleared my calendar so I can just be done. I may not get all the books up, but I will at least finish everything else.

Possession is not occupation

This is my past night in the place I've lived for more than seven years, and it's a disaster area.

I take legal possession of my new place in a little more than three hours, but all my stuff is not magically being transported there. I've spent the better part of today packing, using Cleveland Indians Duck tape to mark which drawers and closets are empty (file under "moving randomness"), so now every time I need something I realize it's in one of these boxes. Bollocks.

Under the heading, "This, By You, Is A Problem?", I've already transferred my Internet connection to the new place, so I can't even stream a movie. Of course, I can update my blog from my phone, so it's still the future.

Transitions are good. Transitions are growth. The process of transition sucks.

Next update from Inner Drive Technology World Headquarters 4.0, sometime tomorrow or Monday.

Lunch

Today I'm going to get a salad from Whole Foods Market. But last Thursday, at Ristorante Arté al Lago in Lugano, Switzerland, I had this:

That is a venison tortellini in a broth that must have taken them two days to cook. The only pasta I have ever had in my life that topped it was the peacock ravioli I ate at Mistral the night before.

Why did we go hiking so much? So we could fit into the clothes we brought with us, of course.

Mistral, Bellagio

Last Wednesday we had one of the best dinners of our lives at Mistral, in Bellagio, Italy. I don't have the ability at the moment to describe it, except to say that I will never look at a peacock again without salivating. We had 8 courses each, one set of molecular-gastronomy dishes and the other more traditional, ending with a batch of vanilla gelato made with eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and liquid nitrogen.

Oh, and we had a view:

Someday, I will have better words to describe the food. I think it was better than the other Michelin-starred restaurants I've been to, but I'm not sure. More field investigation is required.

Print media

Yesterday I bought the Sunday Chicago Tribune for the first time in years. Sadly, I didn't buy it to read. It's just packing material.

Did I mention I hate moving?

It begins...

With the Inner Drive Technology World Headquarters move only 21 days from now, this was bound to happen:

Also in the next three weeks is a big vacation. So, you know, no stress...

More stuff on my Kindle

Fortunately, I have a couple of long flights coming up in two weeks. Unfortunately, not all of this will be relevant then:

Tonight I'm taking a short break to go to the Wait! Wait! Don't tell me taping, which is conveniently located two blocks from my office. And tomorrow I might have some time to think.