Hello from the sweltering, sticky, gross mid-Atlantic! It's been too hot to do nearly all the things I want to do on a daily basis: too hot to exercise, even inside; too hot for outdoor dining; too hot to bake. I saw an article yesterday about how being cooped up inside in the summer is becoming as emotionally tough as being cooped
up inside in the winter, and yeah, I feel that in my heart.
The upside is that it's been keeping me at my desk writing. I've also been more conscious about making plans with friends for indoor activities, whether it's meeting up for lunch at an air conditioned restaurant, hanging out with writers at an air conditioned coffee shop, or even indoor rock
climbing. And making iced tea. So much iced tea. (My favorites recently have been this Orange Jasmine Blossom green tea and Hibiscus Berry.)
I've also been taking walks late in the evening, when it's
marginally cooler and there's no baking sun. My neighborhood is full of birds, including a ton of mockingbirds, and I know some people find them annoying, but I find them fascinating. When I see them, I always try to pick out their songs -- and a favorite tune of my neighborhood's mocking birds is the car alarm song.
I'd heard that mockingbirds would sometimes imitate car alarms, but it wasn't until a year or two ago that I noticed one doing it. And, because of how brains work, now I notice them everywhere. What's cool
to me is that I haven't actually heard that style of car alarm in a long time (thank goodness!). So where are the birds getting it from? Did it go viral in the mockingbird community when those alarms were common, and now it's been passed down through the bird generations, becoming a folk classic?
I have only guesses, no answers, but I'm imagining a whole
avian cultural phenomenon around those godawful alarms.
My wife and I heard one of these car alarm imitators last night, which led to her sharing this article with me: "Yes, you can store data on a bird — enthusiast converts PNG to bird-shaped waveform, teaches young starling to recall file at up to 2MB/s." It's as wacky as it sounds: a Youtuber trained a bird (a starling in this case) to imitate a special sound clip he'd created that corresponded to a compressed image file. And as much as "storing data on a bird" makes me giggle... it worked! Spoiler alert, bird-based data transfer is very lossy, but it does work, which is absolutely wild. It's worth a read!
In writing news, I'm getting close to done with my novel in progress, which means I get to tell you all about it... soon. Very soon! For now, all I'll say is that it's a cozy fantasy, and I think you'll find it delicious. Stay tuned for book news!
Right now, I'm busy getting ready for Worldcon in Seattle next month. I couldn't be more excited, both to
see some friends and family in the Seattle area and to attend the con. (And, yes, to get a break from the heat.) I've been working on some goodies to share while I'm there. And, dear newsletter readers, there's one that I want to share with you first:
