I’ve been reading Gibson’s new book, Zero History, and I’m impressed with his ability to incorporate that language of the internet into his writing. How many other authors can wring symbolism from instructions for formatting a Twitter screen-name? How many other authors can even write about Twitter?
I suppose this is to be expected, Gibson was writing about today twenty five years ago. He understands the present moment because he’s been on to it for a quarter century.
I love gadgets with the kind of sweaty passion only men who own cell phone holsters or carbon fiber wallets can understand.
I don’t own either of those things, because I’m not insane. But my point stands.
But when it comes to plonking down my precious cash, I do have some standards.
Today NASA was kind enough to notify the world, via Twitter, that, “Asteriods passing Earth near moon tomorrow morning..no worries.”
It’s those last two words that get me. I mean, what will the tweet that informs us of our imminent demise say? ”Run!” ”Best of luck with the post-apocalypse.” Maybe, “Just getting this off my chest: I ran over a dog on 33rd by the 7-11 about three years ago.”
No, the tweet that portends our doom will probably try and say something soothing. Like, “we’re doing everything we can,” or, more colloquially, “no worries.”
Best of luck with the post-apocalypse, reader.
The rumble of the garage door opening downstairs as my neighbor comes home yanks be back twenty years. Dad’s pulled in, and it’s late. I should run to bed.
A new story by the devilishly handsome Will Kaufman, “Cooper and the Satellite,” is out in issue #20 of M-Brane Science Fiction. Right now they’re offering a big discount on subscriptions to the PDF edition of their zine…$4.00 for a year. That’s only double the $2.00 asking price for a single issue.
If you want a print edition, you’ll have to wait until October when M-Brane‘s quarterly comes out.
When my beloved Saab finally crapped out for keeps, I purchased my mother’s 2001 Subaru Outback from her. She promptly went and acquired her “dream car,” a 2008 sea-foam green Toyota Prius. I’ve been living with the Subaru for a year now, and I’ve also had the opportunity to put about a thousand miles on the Prius. As someone who considers himself auto-enthusiastic, I thought I’d do a comparo of these two very un-enthusiast cars in order to discover which car is the best mom car.
The showdown of the millennium!
Will Kaufman. Proud owner of 34 vertebrae.
