E-Readin’

So, for Christmas I received from my parents a Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor, which I have to say, is a pretty nifty little gadget. They got me the wi-fi only one, which is fine–for work I tend to go around with a Verizon MiFi in my laptop bag anyway, so I’m not that concerned (at this point) with all of my portable electronic devices being 3G-capable, or whatever.

I ended up reading a couple of books while I was on vacation the few days after Christmas, by virtue of also having received Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold (fantastic novel btw), which included one of those Baen compliation CDs of most of Bujold’s Baen-related body of work in various electronic formats. After reading Cryoburn (mostly on the Nook), I ended up circling back around to read Cordelia’s Honor and The Warrior’s Apprentice. And, aside from the truly horrendous choice of cover for the Young Miles e-book (click here to see it, but I warn you, it’s really, really, really awful), it was a really pleasant reading experience. Even though I can get eyestrain from staring too long at a computer screen, the Nook’s LCD screen didn’t wear me out at all, and I was able to read comfortably for several hours at a stretch.

My only complaint so far (and it may be because I’ve neglected to read any kind of instruction manual) is how to get stuff to the main screen, other than the books preloaded by B&N. There’s not any truly intuitive interface for that… but then, B&N is fielding their own custom interface for the device, and I’m sure that things will get better in future revisions.

The extras built-in are also nice–I like the crossword puzzle app, Pandora is great, and the built-in MP3 player makes for a convenient convergence. If I get crazy enough, I could even buy a 32GB microSD card to put into the Nook, and load up most of my favorite music. I probably won’t go nuts like that, but it’s nice to know the option is there. (Although, I’d likely wait until after 32GB microSD cards drop well below $100.)

I also like that it looks like B&N is going to try walking the line between an open and closed system, setting up their own developers’ network and app store for the device. As much as it might be nice to simply turn this thing into a cheaper version of the Galaxy Tab or iPad, I think there’s some value for B&N in committing to a focus for this as an e-reader first, rather than sending it out to compete with the other tablets out there–though, at the price, it certainly could.

Mirrored from Bum Scoop.

End of the Year

So, here’s my little retrospective.

In February, I got a new job, replacing nearly four months of life on Unemployment. It’s a good job, one I’m pretty happy with, very challenging and so on. Not what I want to be doing forever, but it’s workable for the foreseeable future.

In May, I attended a novel workshop hosted by my friend Merrie Haskell out at her family’s cottage on Gun Lake, south of Grand Rapids. It was a good time, and I made a new friend in Kelly Swails. Oh, and I read two great novels (one by her and one by my friend Steve Buchheit), and got two great critiques (from Elizabeth Shack and Merrie) on my own novel. That novel, sadly, is still sitting in a state of semi-disrepair, but… I think it does need to sit a bit. I’ll get back to it, honest.

I also tried for the second time to start a novel that, while fantasy, drew heavily on my experience in Iraq, and for the second time I set it down. The second go at it identified and fixed a number of issues I had with the first try, but there were still more issues, I think, with the premise and opening, so I’ll have to go back and fix those.

In October, I made it to my first World Fantasy Convention, where I met a stunning array of awesome people, some for the first time ever, some just for the first time in person. I also met Darja Malcolm-Clarke who, as it happens, I have unknowingly been following around for most of my adult life. She didn’t know it either, so the first night of WFC turned into a recounting of amusing coincidences. I got to hang out with her again, just last night, as she was in town to visit family.

In fact, it felt like I met or hung out with everyone who was anyone at that con, but I also feel like I only scratched surface.

More tryingly, and personally, in the last third of the year, my wife and I discovered what we mostly already knew–that my oldest, my only son, is probably going to have a heck of a time with school. Not with learning, as it happens, he’s very good at that on his own, but just in the demands of a school day. This is not, incidentally, an invitation to tell me I should be homeschooling him, or seeking out alternative methods of education. We’re aware of the pros and cons, and this seems like the best course for him right now.

And this month, just a couple of weeks ago, we were given a name for his difficulties: Autism Spectrum Disorder, on the “highly functioning” end of the spectrum. He’s also got a helping of anxiety disorder and ADHD, which should surprise no one who knows me. In fact, the past few weeks have been heavy with speculation as to what I might have been diagnosed with at his age, had Autism Spectrum Disorder been in vogue in the 80s (when I was diagnosed with ADHD). And, yes, I did think about making this its own post, but in a sense, I don’t want to draw more attention to it than it is due. Tony is an extremely intelligent boy. He has every chance, given the right environment, of learning how to do the things that come naturally to most other people, the tough social component to ASD. We think, at this point, we have the right tools in place to help him get there.

So, in all, it’s been a largely positive year for me, and us. The struggle of dealing with my son has been tempered by getting a handle on what’s going on and developing a plan for helping him out. I haven’t been writing as much as I’d like, but I made a lot more writing friends, which leads to more inspiration in the writing arena. And I’ve nailed down what project I’m going to be kicking off in the new year, hopefully as soon as tomorrow, assuming the wife gives me time with the kids, after she’s had them to herself the last couple of days.

I hope your own year has been as good, or at least as constructive, and if it hasn’t, then I hope for a much better year for you in 2011. Me, I’m looking to build on this one and make things just that much better.

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year.

Mirrored from Bum Scoop.