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MY KENYA DIARY: IN QUEST OF EAGLES
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july 4, 2018 - 2018-07-04
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By public demand, and after a delay of an embarrassing number of years, I've finally put my notorious essay, Ender and Hitler: Sympathy for the Superman, free on the fabulous internets.

A bibliography of my published books and stories.

Here's a simple card-counting FAQ to get you up to speed on the basics. Here's the true story of the notorious DD' blackjack team, told for the first time on the fabulous internets. No other team went from a starting investor's bankroll of zero to winning millions of dollars.


A Sadean take on Asimov's classic Three Laws of Robotics can be found in Roger Williams' NOW REVIEWED ON SLASHDOT!!! The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect. Adult readers only please -- explicit sex and violence. For updates on the "Dead Tree Project" and other topics, you may visit the official fan site, Passages in the Void..


My Bird Lists -- My Louisiana State Life List, My Yard List and, tah dah, My World Life List.


HEY! What happened to the Peachfront Conure Files? The world's only OFFICIAL Peachfront Conure site now features free peachfront conure coverage, including a magazine length Intro to Conures previously published in American Cage-Bird Magazine, now free on the web. I offer the best free Peachfront Conure information on the internet. If you have great Peachfront Conure info, stories, or photos to share, contact me so I can publicize your pet, your breeding success, your great photograph, etc. on my site. Thanks.







i hadn't laid eyes on a golden-winged warbler in years and at first i couldn't believe what i was seeing until someone else called it

2016-11-14 - 3:42 p.m.

The last day of birding was a full day of birding here and driving there and birding some more, for a variety of habitats from the coast to the pine forest. At one point we were on a sandy beach to see the sun rising in the east over the Pacific Ocean. At another point we were in the trees where a bit of a hummingbird was poking into the red (cardinal flower?) blooms at our feet. It turned in the sun and flashed a metallic flash- a truly breath-taking male blue-capped hummingbird. Along the way we found many of those trees that seemed to collect warblers, vireos, and more, including a variety of hummingbirds. I will confess that early in the day, I was a bit annoyed at all the flowers being ignored by the various hummingbirds, who were missing in action for an hour or so, but eventually we saw some truly exciting species at close range...

Also, at one place, while we were inspecting a male Golden-cheeked Woodpecker, a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl flew in and sat down very close. If I'd been the Woodpecker, I might be feeling a little nervous.

We had a last dinner on the square in Oaxaca, where we checked the bird list and shared the last of the bottle of Mezcal.

Saturday was just one of those days. At first the plane was delayed, and then anyway the car keys went missing, and then at the counter I found out the Oax-Mex leg was NOT in first class. They didn't have a first class. However, the lady did block out the row for me. As long as nobody's sitting in my lap, I'm OK. At MEX, I found the club, had some coffee & breakfast, then found my gate. MEX-DTW was a standard domestic first class style flight, except they didn't serve a pre-departure cocktail. They did serve drinks and lunch during the flight so...

The real hassle was in Detroit. They'd changed things up, which will probably save time in the long run but, in the short run, THEY LOST MY BAG!!!! The bag with the Mezcal in it actually got priority handling and came out on the first class conveyor but the other bag with the dirty laundry went missing. After I complained, one of the guys went and found it somewhere, which left me VERY little time to drop it off, run to the lounge for some dinner (Bailey's over ice and two kinds of salad), and then run to my gate to catch the plane DTW-MSY. I was running up to ask something, probably if they'd called boarding for first class, when the gate agent said something about needing "volunteers for an $800 travel voucher." I didn't even let her finish before I raised my hand and shouted, "I'll take it."

So I got a free night in some not very exciting suburb of motel hell and an $800 voucher. Since I paid about $450 + some orphan miles for my open jaw round trip tickets MSY-VER, OAX-MSY, I seem to have made a tidy profit on the airfare portion of the adventure. Plus in the morning they let me use the club again to get breakfast. There was food, pre-departure and inflight cocktails, etc. on the DTW-MSY flight. It was early, so I stuck with Bailey's and coffee.

Then DH picked me up, and I went home and slept pretty much straight for 12 or 13 hours...

The bird list, including photos and a cute video, is coming soon. Stay tuned.

Also, I only have a year to use my $800. Knock on wood, I'll be traveling much sooner than that.

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