Originally posted by james_nicoll at Mississippi Personhood Amendment

I took a few really nifty sunset photos over the last few days.

Here's one I particularly like:

We are lucky enough to be able to give money to charity in these tough economic times. It's the time of year when they start calling to get all their year-end funding, which I hate. I would rather build a list of charities and give them money, and not get a phone call in the first place!

That is where you come in. We've given money to a bunch of different charities over the last five years or so, and want to know if there are any good ones we're not aware of yet.

Here's our list, alphabetically:

American Cancer Society - we've lost too many good people from cancer, including friends and family.
American Diabetes Association - my niece's husband has Type I diabetes.
American Red Cross
Berkeley East Bay Humane Society - helping the cats and dogs find homes
CatPAWS - rescues feral animals and gets them care
Doctors Without Borders - they were very very good in the Pakistan flooding
DonorsChoose.org - fund teachers' wish lists for their classrooms
Family Giving Tree - gives kids presents at Christmas
Greenpeace
Heifer International - sustainable food sources for impoverished families
Humane Society of Silicon Valley - they gave us our lovely Miles and Ashes
Lamplighters Music Theatre - they're awesome
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - in memory of my sister
Louisiana SPCA - helping displaced pets from Katrina
Oxfam America - these folks do good work with minimal overhead
Pacific Whale Foundation - they also do whale-watching and snorkeling tours in Maui
Philharmonia Baroque - Baroque music on period instruments
Planned Parenthood - low-cost reproductive services
Project Open Hand - my late uncle's favorite charity
Second Harvest Food Bank - they feed hungry kids. What more can I say?
Southern Poverty Law Center - fight intolerance of all kinds
UC Berkeley - where I went to school

Please chime in with any other good places to give...

Updated on Friday November 19 11:03:51 PST 2010 to add Planned Parenthood

It's going to be amazing this year. Lots of funny vampire jokes, and of course beautiful music and singing.

Here's the preview from San Francisco Classical Voice.

If you want tickets, start with the Lamplighters website.

Go, or you'll never find out why Mayor Navin Gruesome remains ever-youthful in this parallel universe, nor what Mrs. Partsong's name was before she changed it!

My mom has a friend who has a 15-year-old son. This son has written a fantasy novel. I want to recommend him some good, well-written fantasy.

Here are the first few things we came up with. Please chime in with more recommendations.

The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
Furies of Calderon, Jim Butcher
Dark Glory War, Michael Stackpole
The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula LeGuin
Green Rider, Kristen Britain
Jhereg, Steven Brust
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan (first book of the series)
Talion Revenant, Michael Stackpole
The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart

Books I really like, but that may not be to his taste:
The Paladin, C.J. Cherryh
Bridge of Birds, Barry Hughart
The Magic of Recluse, L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Originally posted by neo_prodigy at Spirit Day

Last Thursday, I attended an event put on by a particular vendor to talk about a technology I'm interested in (VMWare) combined with a particular hardware solution I'm less interested in. I heard about this from macdrauc, who is interested in both the technology and the hardware solution. Since it came with a free ticket to the Giants game (vs. the hated Dodgers) that night, I figured I would go if I could, learn what I could, and enjoy the baseball.

Well.

It turned out to be much more valuable than that, with lots of fun additional benefits (lovely parting gifts?). During the presentation, because I was paying attention and answering the presenter's questions, I was given a Starbucks Gift Card. Sweet!

The baseball game ticket was in a suite on the posh suite level, including dinner and dessert and a bar. I had very nice fajitas for dinner, and some lovely strawberries. I was thinking that I had done very well indeed to attend this presentation, but then they said "wait! There will be a special guest during the game!"

Indeed, just as the Giants were settling down to rout the Dodgers, the great Vida Blue came in to the suite, and proceeded to hang out and autograph baseballs and talk with us. I wasn't following baseball when he was at his peak, during the 1970s (he won the Cy Young award for pitching before I was born), but he did pitch for both the A's and the Giants and was a real asset to both of those teams.

I spent some time talking to him, and we actually spoke about keeping score, and my learning how to keep score from my father. He told me how he had to count pitches before his starts, which he saw as a nuisance, and about the way they charted the pitches thrown and where the ball was hit for every pitcher on the staff (his were in blue, of course!).

It was really wonderful to meet him and talk to him, and while he'd never remember my name (but might remember I know how to keep score), I know I will definitely remember that he was willing to take the time to be gracious to a fan who isn't particularly important but loves baseball.

And then the Giants finished crushing the Dodgers, we saw them hoist the flag that said the Giants had moved into first place, and we went home to get not-quite-enough sleep, with very pleasant dreams.

I would like to do something peaceful and respectful and self-improving for 9/11.

I would like to get a group of people together (or maybe just go by myself) and read the Quran, in some park or public space, and answer questions and/or invite people to join me.

Is anyone else interested?

I left work a bit early today because they're moving our cubes again, for the third time in 8 months.

In December, we were moved down to San Jose, and in April, minus four people, we got moved back to San Bruno.

Now, after I switched to a different team, I'm moving again: I'm headed up to the floor with all the developers (the architects spend more time working with the developers than with the rest of Ops), and to a spot where I'll be sitting with all the rest of the team. Also, because I'm the only one who spoke up, I get a window cube. And yes, I'm currently in the West side of the building, and starting next week, I'll be on the East side.

I am really looking forward to being up there. It means a lot to me to be sitting with my team, instead of with my old team, which I've been doing since April, and even since I officially transitioned to the new team in June (I transitioned on paper in April). It may be a silly little symbolic thing, but even so, it matters. Even aside from that, this cube isn't right next to an entry door and on a major aisleway, and open to everyone walking down the hall. I will be more productive and happier there for a number of reasons.

I first encountered papersky when I read a poem she wrote about Hurricane Katrina. Somehow I already knew her name, though I'd never read anything she wrote. I followed her on LJ to keep up with someone who could put words together like that.

When TOR.com started giving away free e-books, one of them was the first book in the Small Change series: Farthing. I duly downloaded it, read it, and went immediately to buy it and the second book in the series, so I could share them with friends. Farthing is set in an English country house in the 1930s (yes, think Gosford Park), but there's a twist. It's well worth reading. But that isn't what I'm here to talk about today.

I've been working on rounding out my collection of Jo Walton's books, and this week I stumbled across Tooth and Claw. I wasn't sure what to think, but I was sure I'd enjoy it.

My, did I ever.

Imagine Pride and Prejudice, if the characters were all dragons, with a dragon's need to eat meat and sleep on gold, but with the manners and class-consciousness of Regency England. You meet a family that has unmarried sisters, and a brother who needs to make his way in the world, and another brother who is the personal clergyman to a very rich dowager. Some of their difficulties are purely draconian, and some are the same that Lizzy Bennett had. It's a delightful romp through a well-thought-out world, with compelling characters whom one wants to see succeed.