The spirit of Stonewall

The Artdog Image(s) of Interest

I moved the posting schedule around some, when I realized that June 28 is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Like the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the 50th anniversary of Stonewall Means Something. As Ben Power put it in The Rainbow Times, "Stonewall was the flashpoint that gave painful birth to the modern LGBTQ Rights Movement"

In honor of the occasion, I've been diving into history. It's given me a new perspective on the spirit of Stonewall. It's also given me a new respect (read that awe) for the courage of the folks who threw punches at the Mafia-controlled NYC police outside the Stonewall Inn that morning

Small side note: I set this post to go live at 3:00 a.m., the time the police raid that started the riot reportedly began.

In the course of my life I've been friends and/or acquaintances with enough smart, funny, amazing, creative people who get classified within the LGBTQIA+ rainbow to realize they're really not abnormal-in-a-negative-way at all. Nor are they as rare as some would have you believe.

Unusual, yes. Frequently. It's one of the things I love best about these friends: their creativity.

A man named Vin Testa celebrated outside the Supreme Court in 2015, when the court ruled that the Constitution protects same-sex marriage. Photo by Zach Gibson/New York Times.

But one thing's certain: my friends would be far less free to be their smart, funny, amazing, creative, unusual selves if there hadn't been massive strides made since Stonewall. Sadly, however, despite the fact that we now have marriage equality and an openly gay man is in the top tier of Democratic Presidential contenders, we do not live in an LGBTQIA+ friendly world.

Most of the societies that contributed children to the great experiment that is the United States of America were repressing and hating and killing LGBTQIA+ people just as virulently and for a far longer time period than we enslaved black people. 

Nor are we doing enough to make it clear once and for all that we repudiate those attitudes. Lately, we seem to be losing ground! But this is not the time to quit.

May the spirit of Stonewall rock on!

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Queer Projections, for the "Take a moment to remember" photo/design, and to Zach Gibson and the New York Times for access to the photo outside the Supreme Court.

Welcome to Rana Station

Where did Rana Station Come From?

The first of the XK9 "Bones" Trilogy, What's Bred in the Bone, is now available on Amazon as a paperback or in Kindle format. It explores ideas I've been developing for a long time.

Its setting, Rana Station, is almost a character in its own right. That's partially because of the culture, partially because of the communities, and partially because of the incessant need to grow food everywhere possible.

I chose the classic Stanford Torus as the basis for my design, but--like many sf authors--I've adapted it.

The Stanford Torus space habitat design: In this 1975 painting by Don Davis, we see the single stationary mirror that would capture solar energy and reflect light to the secondary mirrors around the single torus.

For one thing, there isn't a single torus on Rana, but rather a series of eight tori, counter-rotating for better balance and stability, and linked by a long central "Hub," kind of like an axle linking the eight habitat wheels. For another, the tori are bigger, based on tech first extrapolated for a Bishop Ring.

I have tried numerous times and in numerous ways to visualize for myself how Rana would look on approach. The best way I've managed so far to approximate an exterior view is a "quick & dirty" extrapolation in Adobe Illustrator, using a PNG of a bicycle wheel with a transparent background.

It's still not right, because it doesn't recreate the space docks and the manufacturing structures. but if you think of the spokes as symbolic of all the elevators from various parts of the 1-G habitat to the Hub, it does give a general idea of what the "wheels" would kinda look like.

Admittedly, both quick and dirty, but it gives a general feel. The smaller wheels represent the ozzirikkians' habitat wheels. Never met an ozzirikkian? You can change that! Read the book! You'll meet several.

If you think this "wheel" structure looks familiar, that's because it does. Ever since the Stanford Torus was introduced, it's seemed to many the most earth-like, understandable, and workable of the space-colony habitat designs . . . at least, as far as movies and TV go.

Interior concept art for the Elysium space station shows a much less steep-sided valley than I imagined for Rana Station's habitat wheels. But it gives a glimpse of the inside of a wheel structure.

We aren't likely to be able to provide "artificial gravity" that works like magnetism and switches on or off, at least, not by using any laws of physics that we currently know. Therefore, the gravitation needs to be provided by centrifugal force, created by building rotating megastructures in space.

I've created several posts about space station designs that I considered and studied in the course of my "Space Station DIY" series, when I was trying to figure out what kind of space station design I would use for the setting.

I considered  space stations/colonies in general, Dyson structures, Bernal spheres, and O'Neill Cylinders. But the torus seemed to me the most likely to provide a reliable 1-G environment that was comprehensible to terrestrial human brains.  I liked it better, and I got to be the decider because it's my story.

I'm planning future posts about aspects of life inside those wheels, including a look at some of the maps and 3D elevations I've been creating as paper sculpture, to help me more realistically understand, develop and describe the settings inside this world I'm creating. Stay tuned.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Wikipedia for a good file of the painting by Don Davis  - NASA Ames Research Center (ID AC76-0525), of the original Stanford Torus, which is now in the Public Domain.
To my chagrin, I can't relocate the source of the PNG image I used to create my "quick & dirty" Rana Station visualization.  I apologize! 
Thanks also are due to Geeks of Doom, who provided the Elysium concept art. 

Is your school safe for all students?

The Artdog Quote(s) of the Week

This has been a very "full" month, but the teacher in me just couldn't let Pride Month pass without at least one post! Also, I did an analysis recently, and realized I haven't been writing about this topic nearly often enough! So I'm brushing off my "teacher hat" to ask: is your school safe for ALL students?

No, gun violence, frightening as it is, isn't my "safe schools" topic for today. That's because it's not the only--or at all the most prevalent--life-threatening hazard lurking in today's schools. Yes, life-threatening. Have you seen the suicide numbers? 

Even when they aren't killing themselves in despair, LGBTQIA+ Youth too often face a drumbeat of hatred, denigration and even outright violence every day, in school, at home, or on the street. That'll wear a person down real fast. Especially when they're still just beginning to figure out who they are.

An ongoing battle

Creating safe spaces for these kids is an ongoing and age-old battle. My art teacher mother fought to protect her LGBT students back when I was a kid. I did all I could to make my classrooms safe zones. But as long as there's ignorance, intolerance, and hatred being taught, teachers who are allies are the first, and absolutely critical, line of defense.

I hate to admit that not all educators feel this way. Not all classrooms are safe. very few schools are safe. All too few bathrooms are safe, for pity's sake! Couldn't they at least relax in the bathroom?? But no. Between the bigots, the fearmongers, and the misguided, bathrooms are certainly not safe.

I long for a time when every student, regardless of gender identity, can receive this message (I love that it's inside a color wheel, one of the art teacher's most important tools). I'm not alone in wanting this kind of respect for all students. But the other allies and I need a lot more company to make this message completely ring true.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Instazu and #transgenderpride's Instagram feed for the Explanation-of-Gay-Pride image (totally nailed it); to GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) via Autostraddle, for the infographic image on verbal and psychological harassment in schools; to NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English, for the quote from their advisory committee; and to TeachersPayTeachers, for the classroom poster design offering words of hope and encouragement.

Wishing you a magical Summer Solstice

The Artdog Image of Interest

Do you love time lapse photography? I certainly do. I went looking for a good image to wish you a magical Summer Solstice, for this post. When I stumbled across a time lapse image of the sun rising at Stonehenge on the Summer Solstice, I was delighted. I hope you are, too!

This sequence was taken at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, UK, in 2018. Just watching the video made me feel a little bit the way I did after the eclipse in 2017 (even though it was cloudy, it was still magical). I can imagine how breathtaking it might be to see the Solstice at Stonehenge in person.

Incidentally, the people-watching is pretty interesting, too. 

My Beloved, of course, puts his own spin on Solstices. He traditionally greets the Winter Solstice in shorts, flipflops, sunglasses, and maybe a Hawaiian shirt, to crow about how it's all going to be warmer and brighter from here on out. Conversely, the Summer Solstice is his cue to bemoan the the fading of the light. "Can't you feel the chill already?"

However you spend it, I hope your Summer Solstice is warm, bright, wonderful . . . dare I say magical? And ideally, also full of interesting characters.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to English Heritage, for the marvelous time lapse video taken at Stonehenge on the Solstice in 2018. 
The "Wishing you a magical Summer Solstice" image has a multi-part history. I wasn't able to find a current website for Avalon Raven Design. According to the invaluable TinEye Reverse Image Search, it began life as a stock vector image in 2008. However it evolved, I hope you enjoy the final image!

Other readings at SoonerCon 28

Authors, Reading--Part Three

In the last two weeks I've published photos and information about readings I attended at SoonerCon 28.

Part One profiled science fiction, alternate history, and fantasy readings.

Part Two spotlighted two fantasy and two alternate history writers.

Today's authors include one each who write fantasy, science fiction, and middle-grade whimsical "creepy stories." Since each brought a physical copy of their book and was kind enough to hold it up for me, I did composites of each person.

Fantasy author and Fantasy Writers Asylum imprint editor Julia S. Mandala shows the cover of her epic fantasy Blood Songs at right. At left, she reads an excerpt from it. Author Laura J. Underwood listens in the background.

At left science fiction author Lou Antonelli reads an excerpt from his novel Another Girl, Another Planet, while David Carrico listens in the background. At right, Lou holds up his book to show the cover.

Middle-grade "creepy stories" writer Kim Ventrella shows off her latest book, Bone Hollow. At left she reads an excerpt from the beginning. At right she shows us the cover. Her earlier middle-grades book, Skeleton Tree, dealt with similar themes.

I hope you've enjoyed this three-part "book tour" of Soonercon 28, via photos of some of the authors who did readings there.

Going to readings is a great way to learn about interesting new books you may never have heard of. It's also a fantastic way to meet authors and interact with them in a small-group setting.

Next time you go to a science fiction convention, I strongly recommend that you try going to some of the readings!


IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to SoonerCon 28, and artist Matt Frank, for the header image. All other photos were taken by me at SoonerCon 28, June 7-9, 2019, with the express permission of the persons being photographed.If you wish to reblog or use them, please include an attribution to Jan S. Gephardt as the photographer, and if possible provide a link back to this post. Thank you!

More Readings at SoonerCon 28

Authors, Reading--Part Two

Last week I posted about several authors whose readings I attended and enjoyed at SoonerCon 28. But wait! There are more!

I hope you enjoy this series of posts. Wherever I could, I’ve linked the authors’ names to their websites and/or books, so you can learn more about any who interest you.

Catherine Cooke-Montrose reads from a fantasy work-in-progress, inspired by the Byzantine era. She's recently been republishing her Mask of the Wizard Trilogy (formerly published by Tor Books) on Amazon under the author name Catherine Cooke.

Here is Adam J. Whitlatch, reading from his alternate history book War of the Worlds: Goliath,

Blogger Jeff Provine read from This Day in Alternate History, a fascinating concept for a blog, in my opinion.

Laura J. Underwood read from her 2011 fantasy story The Demon of Mallow, set in the same mythical land as her 2013 book, The Lunari Mask.

I have one more "Authors, Reading" collection to share next week. I hope you're enjoying this series.


IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to SoonerCon 28, and artist Matt Frank, for the header image. All other photos were taken by me at SoonerCon 28, June 7-9, 2019, with the express permission of the persons being photographed.If you wish to reblog or use them, please include an attribution to Jan S. Gephardt as the photographer, and if possible provide a link back to this post. Thank you!

Readings at SoonerCon 28

Authors, Reading--Part One

I'm apparently weird, but I enjoy going to readings. I attended a lot of them at SoonerCon 28, and thought you might enjoy seeing the photos I took of the authors. You may have heard of some or all of them.

SoonerCon 28 tried to group their readings thematically--but sometimes the authors didn't get the memo, so we had kind of a nice smorgasbord. I hope you enjoy this series of posts. Wherever I could, I've linked the authors' names to their websites and/or books, so you can learn more about any who interest you.

Author Brian Trent poses with a copy of his science fiction book Ten Thousand Thunders, before reading an excerpt from it.

Marguerite Reed, author of Archangel and many shorter works, shares an excerpt from a new short story at her reading. Fellow author Brian Trent listens in the background.

Susan P. Sinor reads from her alternate history novel, The Hunt for the Red Cardinal, while her co-author-husband Bradley H. Sinor listens.

Author David Carrico reads his short story, "The Hair of the Dog", set in the alternate universe of Eric Flint's 1632 Series.

Dennis McDonald reads from his short fiction “Moon and Shadow,” from the magazine Morpheus Tales.

These weren't the only readings I attended at SoonerCon 28. I'll profile more authors in future posts.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to SoonerCon 28, and artist Matt Frank, for the header image. All other photos were taken by me at SoonerCon 28, June 7-9, 2019, with the express permission of the persons being photographed. If you wish to reblog or use them, please include an attribution to Jan S. Gephardt as the photographer, and if possible provide a link back to this post. Thank you!

In your future, too?

The Artdog Quote of the Week

The more I think about this week's quote, the more truth I see in it. This month I'm focusing some of my posts on climate change migration and climate change refugees, because it is a growing phenomenon.

My fellow Americans tend to think of refugees as "other people." But if you're a Puerto Rican, or a former resident of Paradise, California, I bet it doesn't feel so remote. Many communities in Alaska also are feeling the effects, but if you're a Hurricane Katrina refugee, this is already an all-too-familiar story.

This issue isn't going away, it's growing. Proactive planning is by far the best response, but we're not getting enough of that from most local, state, or federal agencies--although a few (too few) corporations are waking up to the problem. This is an issue right here (no matter where "here" is for you) and right now.

From flooding and devastation in Puerto Rico to burnt remains in Paradise, CA, there's too much destruction on US soil for Americans to turn a blind eye to climate refugees.

If you haven't already started, this might be a great time to write, call or email your representatives, government officials, and others. If you live in a representative democracy, you have the right! Show up at town halls. Demonstrate if needed. Make your voice heard, and remember performance records when you vote. We're all in the bullseye, for this one.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to AZ Quotes for the illustrated quote from Vivienne Westwood. The other image is a composite of two news photos. On the left is a view of a flooded Puerto Rican town in the wake of Hurricane Maria, courtesy of The Daily Egyptian, photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS. On the left is a view of destruction in Paradise, CA after the Camp Fire in 2018, from Insurance Journal (no photographer credited).

Remembering D-Day

A Special Artdog Image of Interest 

Seventy-five years on, remembering D-Day is not something many of us can do firsthand. It's more of an "oh, yeah, I read/heard/saw a show about that" situation. The nonagenerians who actually do remember D-Day are getting thin on the ground.

But remembering D-Day, honoring the sacrifices made then, and drawing lasting lessons from that whole period of history, becomes more important every year. We forget at our own dire peril.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to the Los Angeles Times (photo 1/31), for the U.S. Army photo of Ike and the 101st; to the BBC for the famous Robert F. Sargent "Into the Jaws of Death" photo, taken from inside an amphibious landing vessel, of troops wading toward Omaha Beach that day (it's one I've referenced before in this blog); and to DDay.Center for the "75th Anniversary" shield-logo. The photo-composite of the three images was created by me, for this blog post.