Three Sane #SCOTUS Rulings in Two Days - Marriage Equity, Affirming ACA & Fair Housing

I'm very happy for these victories for modernity. However, we need to be ever-vigilant. Civil rights for all races, genders and religions hasn't rid our nation of racism, sexism or religious bigotry. Likewise homophobia will not vanish due to changes in the law. We can't be complacent because I assure you the people who would rather have theocratic, 19th century laws will keep up the fight to drag us back. FORWARD!

Obese Woman Walks 13.1 Miles and Survives!

Is that click-baity enough for you?

The actual title of this should be "Walking the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon Route," but these days you need an inciteful title to get any readers.

Anyway...

The last few years, I've been increasing my walking. I've walked over 2,450 miles since January 2012. I rarely walk a lot all at once; 3-4 miles a day tends to be my limit, except for a few days while on vacation. I've about walked 8-10 miles per day while on vacation a few times.

I can't run, but I've always been interested in walking a marathon. So I decided I'd try by following the route of the Pittsburgh half marathon.

Walking the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon Route, Saturday, May 2, 2015

The Problem with Slate-Voting for Popular Awards Like the Hugos

Like the vast majority of people who've been voting for the Hugos for years, I have never, ever voted for a slate of people/works. It's certainly been tried. I haven't voted for people I've known for a long time, because I've never viewed the Hugos purely as a popularity contest. I have always believed the Hugos should go for quality works.

I don't believe the slate-voting that produced the 2015 Hugo nominations was a crime or an act or war. I think it was wrong, but it did not break any of the current set of rules, mostly because no individual/group had ever carried the notion of a slate to such an extreme.

In fandom, we often work together, but we act as individuals. It was unthinkable to find 200 people in fandom to vote in the lock step manner the SP slate demanded. So I'd argue anyone who did vote the SP slate is, by default, not a fan.

No matter who wins next August, unlike almost every other year, this year's Hugos will not reflect the votes of Worldcon members, because the nominations were so skewed. Some good works probably will win, but many good works, under the old "cream rises to the top" theory, didn't even make the ballot.

The fact that a slate took over the nominations does not mean I won't vote this summer. I certainly will vote, and I will work to help keep slates from taking over a ballot in the future.