Nobel endeavors
I received an e-mail this morning from the slush pile guardian at the new market where I submitted my stories from the defunct Winter Frights anthology. Who even knew there was such a thing? Anyhow, while doing due diligence, the slush guard discovered that the story had been previously accepted for publication and what was the deal anyway? A quick explanation of the circumstances satisfied her. It’s probably worthwhile mentioning in cover letters when a story has been previously attached to a project that has withered on the vine.
The Nobel prizes in chemistry this year go to people in my field of expertise. X-ray crystallography is the specialty of chemistry that I have my degree in. Though it’s been a number of years since I actively practiced the science, the company that I work for sells the instruments that these scientists used to collect data. In fact, one of the photographs on the Nobel web site shows one of the winners standing in front of our equipment.
X-ray crystallography has a high Nobel prize quotient, since it has been used to elucidate the structures of some important materials. In the early days, the substances were simpler: Cholesterol, Vitamin B12, things like that. As the science evolved and computing power kept pace, the ability to work out the structures of more complex molecules, particularly proteins, has become more routine. Now they’re working up to cell membranes and organelles. It was exciting to see the names of our customers in the news articles this morning.
One of my seldom-reported claims to fame is that I once put a Nobel prize winner to sleep. Let me know if you’re interested in hearing the whole story!
Castle is continuing to be a good series with appealing actors and sufficiently interesting plots. Castle himself is more complex than he’s willing to admit, as evidenced by his “date” with the model who used to babysit his daughter. I thought the murder weapon this week was going to turn out to be a stiletto heel, which would explain why the victim was missing her shoes, but I was completely off track.
I completed the first round of interview questions for another article that will spotlight The Stephen King Illustrated Companion. There’s a chance of follow-ups. I’ll post here when the article goes online. So far I haven’t heard a discouraging word about the book.
Another 90° day here in SE Texas. Relief is supposed to arrive later on in the week.
I’ve always wanted to read the full 11 volumes of The Story of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. I wish they had a Kindle version! Maybe I’ll tackle them in 2010.
Categories: Uncategorized