Our brightest blazes of gladness
are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.
~Samuel Johnson~
Continue reading Monday Reflections: On bookstores and The Office
All posts by Carl V. Anderson
Friday Favorites: Les Edwards
(Cygnus. All images copyright Les Edwards)
As threatened yesterday, I have brought back the Friday Favorites. For the uninitiated, this category features sites from my Favorites file, mostly art, that I want to share with you. This month’s selections will primarily be science fiction artists whose paintings have either graced science fiction covers for years or are in their own unique way reminiscent of those great artists. Les Edwards (also known as Edward Miller) is one such artist.
The above painting, Cygnus, is one of my absolute favorite pieces of science fiction art. The hazy blue tone and the depth it creates gives one the sense that there is an enormity to this place that is only hinted at in the painting. I sit and stare and wonder who the person walking on the bridge is. For a long time I mistakingly thought that he was walking towards the ship when in fact he is walking away. Is he the pilot? A passenger? A mechanic? His presence gives the piece a feeling of melancholy that I find endearing.
Origins of a Stainless Steel Rat
(Click on the picture for a wallpaper sized version)
For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
~Vincent Van Gogh~
What is it about space? About the stars? What makes it such a thrilling notion, to climb aboard a rocket ship and fly off into the unknown? As I sat outside tonight, gazing up at a full moon through the telescope, seeing the edges of craters and the brilliant depths of whites and grays, I was overtaken with awe at the idea that we have built flying machines that have ferried men to the moon. It is almost beyond imagination.
The Rest Falls Away: The Review
*Updated post from yesterday: The Review! (No spoilers)*
It is finished! My first completed book of 2007, and a rolicking good time it was. It has been a long time since I have stayed up past the witching hour to finish a book, but what better time to be reading about vampires?
Farewell 2006, Welcome 2007
New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.
~Hamilton Wright Mabie