From: "Erica VD Ginter" <eginter at klgai.com> To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Are You An Islar or Islata? Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 16:06:52 -0400 Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Well, it's not exactly discussion, but my father's email account is Ralsi at aol.com. Their house in the mountains of central Pa. is called Islandia, and has a sign to that effect. We found out totally by accident (I got caught in a speed trap in a nearby town) that the state police use the house as a marker along Alan Seeger Road, which goes from Rt. 26 in MacAlevy's Fort to Alan Seeger State Park. The house is also a landmark because at the peak of blooming there are 1500 daffodils in the grassy area just across the road from the house. People drive out from State College (about a 30-min. drive) to see the flowers every year. I gave my parents half a bushel of bulbs as a housewarming gift, knowing it was the one bulb flower that deer, squirrels, and chipmunks will all leave alone. In subsequent years I've added to the collection, most recently in 1999 for their 50th anniversary. I picked out 50 exotic daffodil varieties at Behnke's Garden Center here in Beltsville and sent them off, along with a bulb-planting tool. By the way, the Behnke's in Beltsville is likely to close sometime in June. Stop by and spend lots of money to help them decide to keep this location open! Erica -----Original Message----- From: Strong, Lee [mailto:StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL] Sent: Monday, April 15, 2002 10:35 AM To: 'WSFA members' Subject: [WSFA] Re: Are You An Islar or Islata? Actually, I was expecting a more elaborate discussion of "Islandia" than occured. I used the name "Islandia" for a fictious US state in an alternate history that I am working on to acknowledge my debt to Austin Tappan Wright. The alternate history started out as "my islandia" and evolved considerably from there. I tried some approaches before I found one that seemed right for Wright. In related news, I finished rereading Heinlein's "The Number of the Beast." Thank you for the suggestion. One character used the term "ficton" for quanta of measurement along an alternate temporal axis twice on page 444 of the hardback edition. Since the alternate temporal axis in question appeared to measure reality versus fiction, the term seemed appropriate. It was explicitly derived from the word "fiction." However, throughout most of the book, most of the characters use the terms "quanta" or "minimums" or the singular forms as units. I am now reading "The Elegant Universe" by Brian Greene and "The Universe in a Nutshell" by Stephen Hawking to see what the latest thinking by real world scientists is. As Mark Twain said, "Always get your facts right first. You can mangle them for effect later." More later. -----Original Message----- From: Erica VD Ginter [mailto:eginter at klgai.com] Sent: Thursday, April 11, 2002 5:38 PM To: 'WSFA members' Subject: [WSFA] Re: Are You An Islar or Islata? I don't know what Lee is waiting for. I am bemused. Take it, away, Lee! Islata Erica -----Original Message----- From: lee gilliland [mailto:leeandalexis at hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 10:56 AM To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net Subject: [WSFA] Re: Are You An Islar or Islata? ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL> Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> To: "'WSFA members'" <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Are You An Islar or Islata? Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 10:38:05 -0500 I, too, have details, but am waiting for Erica. Telephone your contractor and tell him that you have hidden his paycheck under the rug that he's supposed to move. -----Original Message----- From: Michael Walsh [mailto:MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu] Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 10:28 AM To: WSFAlist at keithlynch.net Subject: [WSFA] Re: Are You An Islar or Islata? She can Explain Better. She has Details. Until then, check the nooks & crannies for your lost contractor. mjw He's installing the carpet. All we have is bare floors _________________________________________________________________