out of the blue

Never Say Never

Chris Sullins — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 22:50:38 +0000

I've got a bet on with Andrew that a particular piece of our code will never get into an infinite loop. The code is intended to generate a unique random string of characters. The only way the loop can happen is if it randomly chooses a preexisting value every time. This seems relatively unlikely, since there are 14776336 possible values. The record of our wager is on the office wall, right below the National Pen Company advertisement. (I'll have to tell you about that one sometime.)

Of course, neither of us will ever win: there's a never on both sides of the equation.

Afterglow

Chris Sullins — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:40:10 +0000

Seattle is still shining, the towers lit up by sunlight across the Sound. It's dusk here at the apartment, but Seattle has a straight shot to the West, past the Olympics. Our view of the Sound is blocked by the hill. We got engagement photos shot in a park there on Queen Anne Hill as the clouds burst over the Sound. The sheets of rain came closer, and the wind tossed our hair out behind us. It is a beautiful park, looking down at a surprising angle into the heart of downtown, with the Space Needle out in front. Whenever at dusk the city still holds the red glow of sunset I think of that park, and the hidden geography made visible by light.

Award Winners

Chris Sullins — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:29:44 +0000

I finally finished the last of the novels that have won both the Hugo award and the Nebula award. I have considered someday collecting all of them and putting them on a bookshelf together, but that's not generally how I organize my books. Also, it would be problematic since some of the award winning books are part of the series (like the last one I read: Startide Rising by David Brin)…. But it would still be fun. Another problem is that the nominees would be worth getting as well, not just the winners, and many of them are out of print.

Someone somewhere probably has a collection of all the short stories, novelettes and novellas that have won. I'll have to gather those myself someday, maybe scan them all and OCR them. Sarah would probably help me build a book-scanner. Of course these days many of the short stories are put online before the awards so that they'll be accessible to all voters. So all I have to do is collect the old ones that are hard to find and out of print, and then it will be far less work from year to year…. Keeping up with a field is difficult.

Please excuse my rambling. I wanted to post something, but this was all that was on my mind.

Mountainous Thoughts

Chris Sullins — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:13:42 +0000

One of the great things about our apartment is that we have an excellent view of Mt. Rainier. On clear days it provides a nice backdrop to the skyscrapers. Even on cloudy days we can often see the snowy lower slopes beneath the overcast.

I was wondering to myself why this was possible in Seattle, where Mt. Rainier is in the vicinity of 50 miles away, but not in Portland, where Mt. Hood is a mere 30 miles away. (These are straight line distances estimated using Google Maps.) Rainier is about 3000 feet taller than Hood, but I wouldn't think that would affect the visibility of the slopes. Both cities are at approximately the same elevation.

The only explanation that I can come up with is that since Rainier rises much more quickly out of the surrounding landscape, the clouds have the opportunity to bunch right up against it. In Portland you have foothills for quite a ways, and the clouds bunch up against hills that are much farther away from the mountain. Nice and simple, at least.

Really, I'm not sure. I would like to know, but I wouldn't know who to ask. It could even be that I just have more experience with Mt. Rainier, because of the location of our apartment. So, anyone remember whether the same effect occurs in Portland? Can anyone offer validity to my interpretation, or an alternate explanation?

Faith in Humanity –

Chris Sullins — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:36:55 +0000

Okay, this just pisses me off. At the Arboretum in Seattle, a large park filled with rare trees from around the world, some imbecile came in the night and chopped down a rare south Asian conifer. The tree is worth $10,000 simply because of its rarity: the region it comes from is under significant ecological threat through habitat loss. It was a transplant meant to safeguard a rare species from extinction. This was not a shady collector plotting his heist, carefully digging up the specimen to hide in his secret greenhouse. It was cut down. Officials believe someone was looking for a free Christmas tree.

It is painful to me that such dedication and care can be undone by one idiot with a saw.

Want Google Wave?

Chris Sullins — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:59:07 +0000

I have some Google Wave invites left. I'm happy to present the opportunity for 7 of them to be given out to friends via this blog. The first 7 comments left by people I know will receive them.

Engaged!

Chris Sullins — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:11:00 +0000

As of October 25th, 2009, Sarah and I are engaged to be married.

We proposed to each other early in the morning on a beach on Puget Sound, and exchanged simple hammered bands of sterling silver. This was the culmination of a camping trip to Deception Pass State Park, a beautiful landscape of rugged cliffs and wind-blown fir trees, rocky beaches tucked in between headlands.

We celebrated that day by exploring Seattle: we shared a tea service at Remedy Teas; we wandered the streets of Chinatown and peeked into the busy markets; we explored the nooks and crannies at Elliott Bay Book Co; we visited Discovery Park for the first time, and looked out over the Sound towards the Olympics; we dined at Brad's Swingside Cafe; finally, we returned home to sit by a crackling fire and read, snuggled up in blankets.

It has long been our desire to honeymoon in the Canadian Rockies. Since next summer is already incredibly busy for a time most of a year away, we are planning the wedding ceremony for late July of 2011. This will hopefully give us time to reduce (though by no means eliminate!) the hectic nature of wedding planning, and allow our friends and family time to plan around it.

We think of our wedding as a time to celebrate with the community and proclaim our commitment to each other. It is a symbol of our futures entwined.

Our love goes out to all of you (but most of all to each other).

Halloween 2009

Chris Sullins — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:46:24 +0000

Halloween was pretty awesome this year. We went to a farm to get apples, which we made into juice upon our return. On the drive back we saw a bunch of kids in crazy costumes. Little ladybugs, princesses, and giraffes. The highlight was two parents who dressed up as bunny rabbits; the kid who sat on his dad's shoulder was a little carrot.

Aaron, Cami, Sarah, Paff and I carved awesome pumpkins: a crazy face, a kitty, a spider, a zombie turnip, and a velociraptor, respectively. Soren, Alice and Austin came over to watch Evil Dead II with us. Then we all went home and slept.

[ Halloween 2009 ]

Next year's pumpkin: Escher-inspired.

Technology Update

Chris Sullins — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:24:28 +0000

Fireplaces are perhaps the cleverest invention yet. Soon I will have to get an axe so that I can split more kindling. Another clever invention: the axe.

Early Seattle Photosets

Chris Sullins — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:36:35 +0000

Pictures have finally arrived! Two photosets: one from moving and getting settled; the other from a picnic to Gas Works Park. They are taken with my lovely new Nikon d90. After a long time drooling over DSLR cameras, now I finally have one. So I may post more pictures than usual.

[ Moving to Seattle | Gas Works Picnic ]