The Master Key

My latest Tor.com post, about L. Frank Baum's experiments with science fiction, is now up at Tor.com. Enjoy!

Fall

Fall is actually here. I was afraid to blog about this at first, in case it turned out to be one of Florida's frequent weather jokes, but no: it's really here, with flowers (Florida likes to flower in the fall), bursts of green, and, above all, cool weather. Last night, I could have used a jacket when I popped outside. I didn't, because I wanted to feel the goosebumps.

Fall for me now means not just cooler temperatures, but freedom. My days in summer are marked and set by the heat and heavy rains: I use a trike to get around, and I simply can't use it when it gets too hot (usually after 11 am) or too wet (most summer days in Florida). So my time becomes focused: what can I do before 11? How much? Assuming I can do anything at all. I need more days for errands, not fewer, since they can't be combined.

But today, I woke up and realized that I could leave the house at any time, at any hour, and not have to worry about the heat...

...naturally I spent the early morning too dizzy for the trike, and have spent the rest of the day waiting for a phone call.

Twitch. Twitch. Fingers twitching. The birds are yodeling rather loudly.

Fringe

So, while I continue to wait for this phone call, I may as well take a moment to chat about Fringe, which decided to merrily return to its "how can we, as an entertainment venue, best sicken the American audience this week" roots in last week's episode (yes, I'm behind…and will be behind on all fall shows until, um, at least December at this rate.) Also, I am terribly sorry to tell you that the cow is back.

Oh, Fringe.

( Various spoilery things. )