Wasteland Wrap-up #44

One month in Paris, inventing the Doomsday Machine, Metal Gear, nukes in the Middle East...

We have been in Paris a little over one month now — it is amazing how the time flies. I am starting to feel a little more situated; we have managed to make some friends, and I am starting to feel that I understand how things work here institutionally, as well. We’ve got actual City of Paris library cards (the French graphic novel industry seems quite serious and large, and I have started supplementing my French immersion with them), and we have had several social engagements.

Contrary to the stereotypes we heard, the French do not seem particularly closed off… at least the ones who have invited us to social engagements.

A visitor on my windowsill.

The news from the United States continues to be up and down, mostly down. What a mess. A friend forwarded me this blog post from Peter Woit about the situation at Columbia University, which I encourage people to read, if they want a sense of how ugly the atmosphere can be at American universities right now. It is hard to imagine doing anything serious in that environment.

One thing I don’t think I had noticed when I visited before was how the Eiffel Tower sort of pops up or looms over buildings at odd times. It can go in and out of sight depending on where you are. Without its base visible, it is often a little unrecognizable. For whatever reason it reminds me of the abominable snowman in the 1964 Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer stop-motion film, when he pops up over the mountains…

An interesting little bug I saw in a garden. I believe this is a fifth instar Nezara viridula (Southern Green Stink Bug).

In my “professional news,” my new book (out in December) received a favorable write-up from Kirkus Reviews: “A nuanced portrait of a president who shaped the modern nuclear age.” And it received a starred review from Library Journal as an anticipated book (a “must-read”), but I don’t think that is online yet. Woo.

Lyndon poses in pure tourist mode.

I wrote up a post for Doomsday Machines on the concept of the “Doomsday Machine” in fiction — how it got to Dr. Strangelove, anyway. In case you missed it:

I am actually pretty waxed from too much socializing (and perhaps too much food, today), so I will keep this update pretty brief!