Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Meta
Category Archives: Personal history
Institutions and Indoctrination
Today’s neighborhood cookies party. Fareed Zakaria how democracy depends on its institutions; The Trump administration will indoctrinate Federal employees with MAGA training; A West Virginia mayor reject a Pagan float in a Christmas Parade; How Trump is stocking his cabinet … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, Politics
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Car Hits Power Pole
Short post today, since as I was sitting down to write it, an hour and a half ago now, the power went out. This was around 4:20pm. I sat and read a book. Power back about 5:40. Car hit power … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, Personal history, Politics
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October Heat Wave, and Dark Skies
We’re a week or more into a heat wave in the Bay Area, and it’s at least the 6th day in a row the temperature here in Oakland has been above 90. Ever since last weekend the forecasters predicted the … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Personal history
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Three Weeks: Leaving My Life Up to Me
My partner Y left late last night (I had to drive him to SFO well past our usual bedtime) for a three-week trip to China. (Partly business, partly family.) We’ve been together some 23 years, and this will be the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history
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DNC and Late August Goings-On
Last night was the end of the Democratic National Convention, with Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech as nominee for president, and it’s been well-covered in all the news media. Most of us thought Harris did quite well, as she bridged from … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, Politics
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Nostalgia, Weird Ideas, Joy vs Grimness, Prayers
Tom Nichols on how nostalgia for the past tells us lies; More on JD Vance’s tribal morality and short-term thinking; Robert Reich on Kamala’s joy and Donald’s grimness; And the meaning of why Trump rallies open with Christian prayers. —— … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Hectic Week
In my retirement I’m getting very accustomed to routine days with no urgent tasks awaiting me. I read the paper, I do a chore or two for Locus Online or sfadb.com, have lunch and take a nap, then read a … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history
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Locus Awards 2024
Quick post at nearly 8 in the evening, just home from the Locus Awards. Like last year, they were held live at Preservation Park in downtown Oakland; last year’s report is here, and I’m going to borrow a photo from … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, science fiction
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I’ve Caught a Cold; How Much of Science Fiction is Obsolete?
I’ve caught colds my entire life; two or three a year. I sneeze, cough, and it usually starts with a sore throat. (Whereas I very rarely have gotten flues, with a temperature and symptoms that go on for a week.) … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Personal history, science fiction
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Second Return from Austin
More executor fun over the past few days. I and my partner and his son and son’s wife spent a long hot weekend in Austin going through Larry’s house, meeting an estate seller and a realtor and a neighbor, and … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history
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