Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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» Previous Views from Medina Road (2010-2013)
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Recent Posts
- The problem with the world is not evil. It’s ignorance, and delusion.
- Responsibility, Certainty, and Doubt
- No Necessary Nations
- Two Takes on the Problem with Men
- As I’ve Been Saying…
- Darkest Days
- David Brooks on Alasdair MacIntyre and How We Got to Where We Are
- Robert A. Heinlein: THE DOOR INTO SUMMER
- What Is America Thinking?
- How Doing Your Own Research Actually Works, and the Texas Floods
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Meta
Category Archives: Personal history
Three Weeks: Leaving My Life Up to Me
My partner Y left late last night (I had to drive him to SFO well past our usual bedtime) for a three-week trip to China. (Partly business, partly family.) We’ve been together some 23 years, and this will be the … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history
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DNC and Late August Goings-On
Last night was the end of the Democratic National Convention, with Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech as nominee for president, and it’s been well-covered in all the news media. Most of us thought Harris did quite well, as she bridged from … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, Politics
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Nostalgia, Weird Ideas, Joy vs Grimness, Prayers
Tom Nichols on how nostalgia for the past tells us lies; More on JD Vance’s tribal morality and short-term thinking; Robert Reich on Kamala’s joy and Donald’s grimness; And the meaning of why Trump rallies open with Christian prayers. —— … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Hectic Week
In my retirement I’m getting very accustomed to routine days with no urgent tasks awaiting me. I read the paper, I do a chore or two for Locus Online or sfadb.com, have lunch and take a nap, then read a … Continue reading
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Locus Awards 2024
Quick post at nearly 8 in the evening, just home from the Locus Awards. Like last year, they were held live at Preservation Park in downtown Oakland; last year’s report is here, and I’m going to borrow a photo from … Continue reading
Posted in Personal history, science fiction
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I’ve Caught a Cold; How Much of Science Fiction is Obsolete?
I’ve caught colds my entire life; two or three a year. I sneeze, cough, and it usually starts with a sore throat. (Whereas I very rarely have gotten flues, with a temperature and symptoms that go on for a week.) … Continue reading
Posted in Epistemology, Personal history, science fiction
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Second Return from Austin
More executor fun over the past few days. I and my partner and his son and son’s wife spent a long hot weekend in Austin going through Larry’s house, meeting an estate seller and a realtor and a neighbor, and … Continue reading
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Busy Busy Busy; the Duties of an Executor
This week has been busy with medical procedures and doctor’s appointments, all part of that ‘third birthday’ I discussed two days ago. Tuesday: draws for extensive blood-work, at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center on Ashby in Berkeley (photo above), followed … Continue reading
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Third Birthday
Third ‘birthday’; Why American Christians support Israel; More polarities and correlations for my chart; Examples, just from recent days, about Republican ambitions to turn back history; More examples of Christian indoctrination. This week is the third anniversary of my heart … Continue reading
Posted in conservatives, Narrative, Personal history, Religion
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Estate Matters
Busy with estate matters today. It’s not easy being an executor. So many things to take care of. People who do not respond to your emails. One pic for today, almost full-sized, of books he left behind.
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