Mom's Guide to the Galaxy

We packed up and went.

Several months ago, a co-worker of mine mentioned a website she had heard of – Pack Up & Go – that will plan a 3-day vacation for you. The catch is that you don’t find out where you’re going until you go. We thought that sounded like fun, so as a spring break option we picked a price range in the “plane, train, or bus” option and filled out their survey about our interests, recent trips, and upcoming trips – they want to avoid places you’ve gone recently or are going to soon.

One week before the trip, we received some hints so we know what to pack, the weather forecast, and when and where we’re departing. Based on the weather and departure details (flying out of Midway and we’re allowed two free checked bags each), I guessed we were heading to Baltimore – Southwest (the airline for free checked bags) had four flights leaving at 8:00 AM that day, and the other three were to warmer climates. Cassandra’s guess was Philadelphia. You're going to Philadelphia! PA As it turns out, she was right – that flight was at 7:55.

We woke up at 4am and opened our envelope before heading to the airport. By the time we parked, we had an email with our boarding passes and some additional details. I glanced through the sightseeing and food recommendations before breakfast, and really dug into them on the plane.

Our package also included directions to our hotel, a dinner reservation and gift card, museum tickets, and an Uber credit. And most importantly, a map of the downtown area. I marked our hotel and dinner spot, and scoped out where the recommendations landed on the map.

We stopped at the hotel before lunch, planning to leave our bags with the concierge, but lucked out because our room was ready. We took a little longer as a result, then hit the streets heading towards the Reading Terminal Market. It was lunchtime and the whole market felt packed, so instead of exploring its’ entirety, we slipped out the other side and found a lovely Ramen restaurant in Chinatown.

After lunch, we wandered towards the Liberty Bell with a stop in a chocolate shop. Despite three chocolate shop stops, we didn’t buy any chocolate on this trip! (Self-restraint is easier when traveling carry-on only.) When we reached the Liberty Bell, we saw a long line inside the building. And outside. And turning the corner. We decided to wait our visit until Sunday morning, though we did pick up postcards at the gift shop. We wandered our way around town and back to the hotel before our dinner reservation at Garces, and managed to visit a couple shops on the way to that.

Dinner was amazing, starting with sourdough bread and a selection of olive oils and vinegars, then appetizers, soups, and entrees that landed at our table. We even saved room for dessert, which went nicely with the Auchentoshan Three Wood (Scotch) I selected. As we strolled back to the hotel, we laughed as a young gentleman sang to someone in his group, then asked who else needed to be serenaded.

Sunday morning, well before the Liberty Bell opened, we descended to Urban Farmer, the hotel’s restaurant, where the waiter talked me into having a homemade English muffin… because it came with the blue crab omelette. The muffin was easily double the size I expected. It made a lovely lunch; I barely finished the omelette.

Our line strategy worked – we strolled right in when we reached the Liberty Bell shortly after 9:00 am. Next on the agenda was The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, a block away from our hotel. There were casts of dinosaurs fossils as we entered, and information on any number of animals elegantly displayed in life-sized dioramas, as well as an indoor butterfly exhibit. We bypassed the live crocodiles, since we had already decided to visit both the Adventure Aquarium (across the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey) and the Philadelphia Zoo. We stopped at the hotel to grab my leftover English muffin from the room fridge and summoned a ride using Uber. Our driver did warn us that the area surrounding the aquarium is unsafe, and to get our return ride directly from the entrance.

We arrived just in time for the hippo feeding. I don’t know about you, but I’ve mostly seen hippos lounging at zoos, so this was a treat. Both hippos were in the water. From the below water level viewing area, we could see them pushing off the floor to snatch half a head of cabbage in their mouths. We moved from there to the shark exhibit, glancing at jellyfish and other creatures on the way. The final part of the shark exhibit is the optional Shark Bridge – a rope netting bridge with metal supports over the shark tank. (Yes, we most certainly did walk it.)

Then it was time for a hands-on exhibit, reaching into a tank of rays before popping outside for one of the two penguin enclosures. And back inside for the touch-a-shark tank – significantly smaller than the ones below the shark bridge – and an exploration of reptiles and amphibians. We went back outside with the crowd at penguin feeding time before visiting the hands-on kids area. (Yes, we’re above the target age range. But still welcome.) That included yet another touch tank, this time with starfish, shrimp, and fish.

An Uber ride later, we were back at the hotel trying to pick a dinner spot from the long list Pack Up + Go provided. With assistance from my phone (“that one doesn’t have an available table for two hours”, “that has no openings tonight”), we selected El Rey as our destination, and enjoyed interesting Mexican food, including a rice pudding flan.

Having reached our final morning without, we decided a Philly cheesesteak sandwich was an appropriate breakfast option at the appropriate named Spataro’s Cheesesteaks restaurant at Reading Terminal Market. And having already walked over 40,000 steps during the weekend, we chose the reasonable option of… no, wait, we walked some more. You can’t really sit down while exploring a zoo. We packed up, checked out of the hotel, and spent the next few hours at the Philadelphia Zoo. (With our luggage. Good thing it was just carry-on.)

They have some pretty interesting exhibits, including their 360 view tunnels for various animals. I can’t emphasize enough how cool it is to walk under the jaguar or the red pandas. Sadly, the trip had to end, so we headed to the airport, thoroughly satisfied with our first Pack Up + Go experience.

Tiger on my toes

I was in the shower, singing about the tigers that come at night and reflecting on Arwen’s latest attack on my toes when I remembered this poem I wrote a couple years ago. That particular tiger was far less painful than the kitten.

The kitten, Arwen, exploring the just-emptied freezer bag from Blue Apron — Arwen exploring the just-emptied freezer bag from Blue Apron

There’s a tiger on my toes,
I’m scared it will bite my feet.
I was sleeping beneath the stars
and now a tiger wants to eat.

I want to call for Mom,
but I think it fell asleep.
Maybe it won’t eat me
if I don’t move or make a peep.

I’d like to shift my foot,
but I may have felt a claw.
Will it wake the creature up
if I jostle its mighty paw?

As I lie awake in fear,
I reach to touch its fur.
I can feel the furball shift
and unleash a massive purr.

There’s a Tiger on my toes,
he sleeps there every night.
But when I’m half asleep
he gives me such a fright.

Well, that was unexpected.

Sometimes, life throws you for a loop; other times, it feels like you’re being hit by full-on plot twists, like a sudden death or an unexpected pregnancy. It can feel like stepping sideways into your own life, as things shift around you that you never saw coming.

For Vin, the main character of Side Life, by Steve Tougonghi, it’s worse than that… he flat out doesn’t remember some of the loops (a cat?), and would swear the plot twists were exactly the opposite (why doesn’t his best friend’s phone number work?). It all started when he was forced out of the software company he founded, and his father referred him to a house sitting opportunity. The house, and the opportunity, don’t seem quite… right.

Vin does what any bored genius would do… he obsesses about the issue. With nothing else holding his attention, he delves into the mystery of the house and it’s owner, Nerdean. To his credit, he doesn’t climb into one of the caskets he finds in the secret basement immediately; he waits until he can log into the computers and get some information about the caskets. When he does experiment with the casket’s basic settings, his reality shifts and confusion reigns as he tries to understand what’s happening to him.

I can’t say much more without getting into spoilers. Suffice to say, I recommend this book; it will be released on May 8^th. This book will keep you guessing, including deciding whether you like the main character or despise him.

The most important step.

“What is the most important step a man can take?”

The first one.

That was my first thought upon reading the question in Oathbringer. As it turns out, that was the character’s initial response too. It made me think about some significant first steps I’ve taken in recent years.

Followed a friend into our graduate program. This was significant because it didn’t match either of our majors, though it was my minor. It was that or law school; I think I picked the right one for me. That was the first step in my career in Information Technology.
Picked up a flyer for a fan-run Chicagoland convention while I was at GenCon. That convention is long since defunct, but the effects linger – I met my gaming group, and ex-husband, because of that convention.
Signed our daughter up for karate. It seemed like something good for her to try, and she was interested in what little she had seen (err… Kung Fu Panda). There is certainly an element of luck that went with finding the right school, especially since we hadn’t been looking for one.
That first year when I decided to clear weeds out of the old garden patch and plant spinach. I’ll admit, I had no idea what I was getting into… vegetable gardening is addictive.

As it turns out, the answer was actually “The next step.” Those were, of course, significant too:

Interviewing with a Chicagoland company when I finished my graduate degree. Having a degree is lovely, finding a company that will hire you to work with it is even better. And it’s the reason I ended up in Chicagoland.
The second fan-run convention I attended in Chicagoland was Capricon. Not only is it a great convention, I’ve made friends for life at it. It was an excellent next step.
The next step at karate was getting me on the mat with her. And again after my accident. That worked out well, I pre-tested for first degree black belt last weekend.
Gardening has turned into a series of next steps for me. When I moved to my current house, I actually moved a raised bed set in before I moved furniture to the house. It was early June, which is already a late start for gardening, and it turned into a fabulous harvest.

According to my cats, my first step should be to feed them. My next step should be to feed them again. They’re about to be disappointed at least once.

Thoughts on Gilded Cage

One of the first book reviews I wrote was for Gilded Cage, almost eighteen months ago now. Despite eagerly anticipating the sequel, I lost sight of it, and just realized today that not only is it out, it’s already available in paperback. Used! Needless to say, I am ordering Tarnished City immediately, and I have a co-worker who will want to borrow it as soon as I’m done.

I thought I’d share the review this week. And eventually, I’m sure I’ll have something to say about the sequel.

REVIEW. First published October 15, 2016 (Booklist).

At first glance, the world seems familiar in Vic James’s novel, but that illusion is quickly dispelled. The monarchy has long since been destroyed; the British aristocracy replaced with Equals, people born with magical gifts who lord over the commoners with their powers. The story starts just before siblings Abi and Luke begin their ten years of slavery, which is mandated for all commoners (i.e., those without magic). Unexpectedly separated, they quickly learn how little they understood of the Equals as their views of the world shift. Luke adapts to life in a factory town by joining a rebellion, while Abi and the rest of the family live together but grow apart while serving a powerful family of Equals. Nobody emerges unscathed from their slavery years, as the Hadley family can attest after mere months of service. The twists and turns make this book hard to set down; a second read may reveal many details that readers might breeze past the first time through. Readers will eagerly await the rest of the trilogy started here.

Capricon 2018

I’ve attended some large conventions – Origins, DragonCon, GenCon – and they’re certainly fun, but when it comes down to it, the smaller conventions, like Capricon, are my favorites. While the large conventions focus more on seeing the big names and meeting many of your fan favorites, the little conventions are about interacting with other geeks and getting to know them. And because geeks are such a diverse mix, there are many different ways of doing that at a convention. For example, here are some of the options from last weekend’s Capricon:

Panels – these are a great way to join topics or activities about esoteric geeky (is that redundant?) topics, such as learning Circular Gallifreyan, discussing computers before computing, or even a coloring workshop for adults.
ConSuite – smaller conventions like to make sure people eat during the weekend, and provide assorted food options, along with space to socialize.
Gaming – an opportunity to meet people in a casual setting, where you can play a short game (Loonacy or Fluxx, for example) or settle in for something longer (like Terraforming Mars). You learn a lot about a person when you play a game or two with them. And you might find some new games you like.
Parties – the effort geeks put into party themes is fairly impressive. One party group was handing out surveys Thursday and Friday nights to prepare for a Saturday night ~~Family~~ Fandom Feud, with questions related to assorted fandoms. Whether you’re interested in drinking, dancing, trivia, books (& beer), or just talking, there’s a party for that.
Faramir, my cute shoulder cat, riding on my (surprise!) shoulder.

Dealers’ Hall – oh, the shopping! Blissfully smaller than the dealers’ areas at big conventions (you really need at least a day to get through GenCon’s), the dealers’ hall at local conventions tends to showcase a good variety of fandom wares without being overwhelming. That’s not to say there aren’t too many choices, there’s always more options than I have space or money to bring home. This time, I brought home a cute shoulder cat from the fabulous ladies at Bast’s Garden. And because I like crossing my fandoms, I named him Faramir. The vendors are friendly and outgoing, and you’re likely to join random conversations with people about what you see.

While the large conventions are good fun, the little ones – this was just over 1,100 people – are the place to go to see friends and generally appreciate your own geekiness.

Our kitten, Arwen

I mentioned at the end of November that we had adopted a kitten, who we named Arwen. She was a resident at the local animal shelter, and her online bio warned people that “did nip her previous owner, so she needs a new family who can handle a playful kitten.” Given that she’s a kitten, I couldn’t understand why somebody would be worried about nipping.

In fact, she’s barely nipped me in the couple months since she moved in. She’s clawed me repeatedly, mostly on my hands, but barely touched me with her teeth. She’s also attacked my feet in bed enough that I added a thick blanket down at my feet for protection. In other words, she’s a fairly typical kitten, at least in that respect.

She’s also a climber. She will dash across the living room to leap onto the climbing tower, or jump on the counter, only to be pushed down and jump on the opposite counter almost immediately. She seems to think the best route to the bedroom window is to cross under the bed, then over the person in bed, onto the nightstand, leaping onto the dresser and stepping onto the jewelry box.

She is immensely curious about our food. The older two cats aren’t that interested in what we eat unless it’s chicken, but Arwen investigates everything, and wants to lick every dish and every serving spoon… even if we’re not done with them. I’ve taken to washing the serving spoons immediately, and re-washing if we go back for more, rather than leaving them out on the counter for her… there’s only so many times I can get up to remove her while I’m eating. And really, some of that food is spicier than a cat should be licking.

More importantly, what her online bio didn’t say is that her purring can be heard across the room. She’ll curl up on an arm and just start purring, or more amusingly, purr while I’m serving her food as she runs laps around the food container, and as she starts to eat. Yeah, that offsets any nipping or clawing. Cuteness wins.

Crafting Confusion

Some days, I have trouble deciding what craft project to work on, and it’s largely because I have too many in progress at any time. At the moment, I can count three that are started, none of which have deadlines, and one more that has a deadline near the end of this month.

And yet, I’m having trouble deciding which one to work on next. That’s not even counting bits of the mending pile, like the large plush dog sitting on my couch because he has a minute seam tear.

“Crafting?,” you may say. ” That’s not on your list of goals.”

True enough, yet here I am, looking at my craft projects. I bought fabric last weekend to make a caftan. I thought I’d be buying blue fabric, but what jumped out at me was a brown fabric with embroidered patterns.

I have a crocheted Cthulhu barely started from before my accident; I had to take a break from crocheting after it for a bit because my shoulder was hurting. Instead of going back to it when I was ready to crochet again, I started a blanket. Ideally, I’ll finish that blanket before it gets too warm; it’s a fairly thick yarn, and I don’t want to be working with it during the summer.

I’m also working on a painting, which is really outside my realm of expertise; I’m far better at crocheting. But I’m enjoying painting as an artistic outlet, and have an idea for the one that will come after this one. I only have one spot where I store a painting in progress, so I do actually have to finish that one before starting the next.

Do websites count as craft projects? I have a couple of those that I need to work on too. Plus all my goals… it’s going to be a busy year.

It was a super blood blue moon!

Some mornings, I feel like I’m using a cattle prod to force a sloth into motion. “Get dressed! Come to breakfast! Finish eating!”

And then there are mornings like this Wednesday, when it was in an astronomy geek’s best interest to be up and moving. In this case, it was to see an eclipse, when we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the super blue blood moon.

I first heard of blue moons in elementary school… “once in a blue moon, a new smurf is born.” Yes, really, I remember that episode, though their blue moons seem to be a bit too close together. Not surprisingly, my actual understanding of a blue moon – the second full moon in a calendar month (since 1946) or the “extra” full moon in a year with 13 – came much later.

Super blue blood moon — The super blue moon before the eclipse started.

What made it stunning was the “super” part – the moon looked larger than normal because of it’s proximity to the Earth. Amusingly, I just saw the technical name for a supermoon (perigee syzygy of the Earth-Moon-Sun system) as part of a trivia question earlier this week.

“Blood Moon” refers to the moon during a total lunar eclipse, so named because it can look red. I don’t think it look particularly red here. Unfortunately, it was also sinking in the horizon as the sun was rising, so most of my attempts to photograph the eclipse part are obscured by trees. It was awfully pretty, but not particularly photogenic, at least not on my point & click camera.

Women’s March 2018: March to the Polls

Last Saturday was the second annual Women’s March, held in cities across the country and around the world. There really isn’t a single cause to march for; there’s a plethora of causes, all meaningful to some of the people attending.

Last year’s march was a direct response to the election of a man who brags, not confesses – as that would imply remorse – about sexually assaulting women because he is rich and can get away with it, as well as responding to a political movement that seeks to reduce choice and equality for anybody outside their core support base, which is typically white men. And so we march for equality and choice, and the right to fight back against sexual assault and harassment.

Our political system is a mess of contradictions. In the Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln described our government as “of the people, by the people, for the people,” but the people elected at the federal level are increasingly out of touch with the average person. The base congressional salary is $174,000 a year; assuming a standard 40-hour work week for 52 weeks, that calculates out to over $83 per hour. Yet the federal minimum wage is $7.25 – an annual salary of $15,080, assuming it’s a full-time job, and the highest state-level minimum wage is only $11. There are no specific set skills required to run for Congress… what exactly is it that makes them worth $83 an hour compared to people we rely on daily in every aspect of our lives, from restaurant employees to retail workers to teachers and more? At best, to run for Congress you need enough money to start the process – it’s not an appealing process to the average person who is struggling to put food on their tables. As so we march for a living wage.

Our federal representatives have affordable health care provided by our government as one of their many benefits, yet debate whether the rest of us should. Most are college educated, yet again, seem too willing to pull federal money from education at all levels. And we march for education and health care, which are key to being one of the great nations of the world.

There’s a declining number of veterans in Congress – at one point, the House and Senate included significant percentages (see here), and has moved away from that – which is perhaps how the support for our active military and veterans has declined. I don’t mean supporting the wars – that’s a different political discussion – but the people who are willing to put themselves in danger to protect our country’s interests. Congress, having shut down (again) specifically declined to fund our active military salaries, yet continue to fund their own salaries. Our active military make far less money than our federal representatives; they live on those funds. As so we march for the people who have and are putting their lives on the line for us, only to be forgotten by our government whenever they become inconvenient.

Over the years, the laws have evolved to ban slavery, extend voting rights to women and minorities, and more, recognizing in particular that we are a secular nation and as such, our laws should reflect that separation of church and state in order to allow diversity to feed into our system and improve our country. We know the United States can do better, because we have repeatedly improved ourselves. To paraphrase The Last Jedi, we’re not fighting what we hate, we’re marching for what we love.

And we vote.