Journals
Journal Entry #36
March 4, 2009
The Wayne County Library, situated in Jesup, GA, invited me to participate in a NASA-sponsored exhibition celebrating the rise of science. I was out there last night. We talked a bit about the early Greeks calculating the size of the Earth by measuring shadows cast by identical sticks at high noon several hundred miles apart. They did a lot more, of course. I wonder where we’d be now had the Hellenic version of civilization survived.
Primarily we talked about the future, especially the effects life extension might have, and genetic manipulation. Generally everyone agrees that preventing birth defects, if we’re able to do that, creates no ethical problem. But what about making people better looking? Or increasing their IQ? What if we find a happiness gene and acquire the capability to create personalities that are always happy? Would you want that for your child?
(Imagine yourself married to someone who is always, relentlessly, happy.)
(A note from the editor: Jack's wife ,of course, is always happy. This has not proven to be a handicap.)
I started Barbara Tuchman’s THE GUNS OF AUGUST this morning. It has become my stationary bike book. I’ve discovered how to read while peddling. And having a good book to look forward to makes doing the routine so much easier.
A reader, Mike Poole, was interested in my comment concerning Douglas Preston’s novel BLASPHEMY. He recommends THE CABINET OF CURIOSITIEs, coauthored by Preston and Lincoln Child.
Like everyone else, I’ve been watching the bailouts with interest. It’s the first time I can recall not having an opinion other than one based on trusting the proponents. (Economics always put me to sleep, so it comes down to a matter of whom I believe.) It’s hard to get away from the sense that the Republicans who are outraged about wasting money never batted an eye when Bush was taking the country into a war that he could not explain, but which cost lives and treasure in immense quantities. I kept thinking about JFK who, when we confronted the Russians over Cuba, went before the nation and showed photos of missiles in place, and talked about the consequences of inaction. GWB, on the other hand, wanted us to trust him. And bin Laden, when Bush started diverting troops, was still in Afghanistan. So, in my mind, the people who supported the administration have no credibility.
Subterranean’s ’best-of’ collection, CRYPTIC, arrived a few days ago. I’m not objective, of course, but it’s a pretty nice package.
We’ve lived in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, on the Canadian border in North Dakota, and in Chicago. (The weather in Chicago, after North Dakota, seemed downright balmy.) Today we are in South Georgia, just north of the Florida line. And for the first time we have a house with a fire place. Our heating system gave out the other day, during what passes locally for a cold snap. So we’ve made good use of it.
As of last week, each of my last five novels had made the final Nebula ballot. Thursday we got word that CAULDRON had become the sixth. Maureen and I went out and celebrated. It’s always a high.