OK - computer lovers of the world, take note !
I've got it already, it downloads naturally for Ubuntu Hearty Heron users but I have not explored it, yet.

My goodness, I am busy recently, not crazy busy, but well, busy... Leon's schedule does effect me, also, and he worked 72.75 hours this week. (Boeing weeks start on Friday for some reason that alludes me.) There is talk now of putting him on third shift - the midnight to 7 shift. I think we can do it. But its going to be a rough ride.

I am losing weight. I am down to 166 (our scales.) the Doctor's scales would probably weigh me in the 173 + or - range. I don't look slim but I am slimmer than I was. I am healthier, also - I am not going to be diabetic - my blood sugar went down and I would bet you it will be well into a normal range the more weight I lose. Even my cholesterol and blood pressure are showing signs of improvement - so its worth the attention to food; writing in a journal, extra exercise  and self control I am practicing are all well worth the effort.  January was a 'bear' in many ways including weight loss. It took me all month to lose just 6 lbs. - most of last year I lost weight at the rate of 10 pounds per month --- from September to December - I lost of majority of the weight I've lost so far. December was slow, also, but I did things that caused it to be so.. like, well, celebrating Christmas! I am hoping once it warms up I will be more willing to take long walks and even work in the yard and will return to my 10 lbs. a month average. I would like to stablize at 125 or there-abouts sometime in August.

I am learning how to use the Ubuntu Operating system "Gusty Gnome" - but it's going to take a good year to know enough to make it make sense for me. I like it plenty and would encourage anyone with the time and desire to learn to try it - there are many fine books out there. My favorite being "Ubuntu for Non-Geeks" second edition by Richard Grant. It's designed to get you started and even has Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) as a Free CD in the back of the book. That is the version/release of Ubuntu just prior to mine... soon - sometime in the spring, I think the next release/edition/update of Ubuntu will be available. I understand it will be called "Hardy Heron" - every six months a new release of the operating system is offered for free on the net.

I am also learning the Python computer language. Here is the main website that I am using.
I would suggest that you just take the lessons a page at a time... and try to read some and talk to a friend that already programs Python, if you are lucky enough to have one.. I am - and he's my sweet husband so its even better but I don't feel like I have really mastered anything yet. I am just slowly running through the lessons. One a day.

There are a lot of open source programs on the net that run on Ubuntu (open source means that you could, if you know how to, get into the code of the program and change it.) - there are also some programs that are owned in the traditional sense but are also free - its worth the searching to find what is good and some of it is excellent. Here is a list :
Open Office. (speaks for itself. It is a package of four programs: writer,spreadsheet database,Presentation,  including a small drawing program.)

Picasa - Well if you don't know what it is you must be Rip Van Wrinkle !

Gimp - a picture manipulation, retouching program. I had it on my XP OS and it works just fine, though I have never mastered it as well as I would like.

Frozen Bubble - a cute program that is rather like Dynomite or perhaps 'Break out' used to be The games on Ubuntu tend to be rather dinky (is that a word?) so its down right impressive.

Mozilla Firefox is my web browser.

Thunderbird is my email program

There is a professional grade publisher that I am very impressed with, though, honestly I have just played with it. Scribus is the name of this gem, and NO I don't know hardly anything about it.except it looks impressive.

I've found two programs that do mostly what I want them to do though I have not mastered either yet... One is  Gourmet Recipe Manager.

And the other is gtypist -yep, a typing program. This one is a bit hairy ... I haven't even opened it up successfully, yet. I need to read the instructions and carefully proceed.

There are a few absolutes in this little adventure : You really need to know more about computers to use Ubuntu than you do MS products. It isn't all done for you - Its the difference between being an infant and your Mommy puts the food in your mouth and you eat it (Microsoft products) and then, later, you learn to sit at a table and use a spoon and fork - a Linux Ubuntu system. It pays to know a few basic Linux commands because it a lot easier to work form 'terminal' to get programs to load, sometimes, especially stubborn ones than it is to work from the user interface - GNU. Games are not so hot on Ubuntu. They aren't so fancy and are more reminiscent of the first games I saw 25 - even 30 years ago - there are a few some very good games. One bit of good news is that Java games on the net seem to have no problem running on Ubuntu - I've done it for various games and it seems to work. Ubuntu is a work in progress... thousands of people are working world wide to make it a free, open operating system. There is Microsoft - which is getting more and more expensive in both hard disk space and money as the years fly by... and their products are impressive .. and there is Ubuntu and Linux - for free for those of us who don't want a mother or the expense of Microsoft's products.

 There is (also)  a program called "Wine" that is supposed to be interface between Microsoft programs and Ubuntu but so far it seems that it is rather limited, but I am not even sure HOW limited and, well, honestly - I am not even sure I have gotten to work properly.  I have yet to really understand it. Lastly, It pays to want to learn - to be willing to read a book or two and to have a massive amount of patience while you are learning. I never thought I would see Leon admit ignorance but he is actually learning as much as I am. It's actually FUN!


Here is a big, big surprise : I've begun writing, again ! Like so many,  the great American novel rests on my bottom book shelf - the problem is that its only half written. I've been writing it (OH, MY!!!!!) since 1982. Go ahead, laugh, I've heard it all before. I do enjoy writing - its just it scares me to death to express myself - my upbringing in the dark halls of Roman Catholicism suppressed my natural proclivities to a large degree. Be silent, be little, don't stand out or get in our way - we are the important ones - you are just a little girl.... (growl .. ) I realize now, how utterly squashed and silenced I really am - It is as if they took a flower bud and ground it into the dust. I find any self expression - scary - but you know what ... like this blog - the more you do something  that scares you to death - the more you grow, the more you learn, the more you gain confidence and the will to continue to expand, grow and mature - each step in the process depends on the steps before it; just as this post depends on each letter within  each word. My novel is both science fiction with some mystical/fantasy undertones. It is not a light -hearted story.A great deal of it is serious drama. There is always my quirky humor, also.  I absolutely love my characters and even if I never give them life in other people's minds - at least I finish their story, and, I know they will always live in my own heart. Mellisa, Giordano Bruno, Hilland, Claymore, Craxton, Moreland, William De Landenlas, James the Witch... well, they all really exist - within ME. Its time to write their story. I don't seem happy if I don't write constantly. I always feel that something is missing from my life.

And no, my back room - this study/craft room/sewing room/herbarium/needlework room/library  is not much neater. I keep trying. Too much in too small a space, that is the real problem !!! but I am going to try to get organized, honest, I am.

And, no I am not yet beading as I said I would - I will. Soon.

My Linux/XP adventure.
We reloaded XP yesterday and then reloaded Linux .. found out later we didn't have to reload Linux/Bunny/Ubuntu, after all. We are both learning. Here is the link to that info for anyone working to learn Ubuntu.
I suggest checking just about all questions out on the web and assume nothing when you are working with Ubuntu - there are an endless number of sites giving help, instructions and people having the same problems you are.. it looks like a friendly, helpful community effort to a new Linux user, like me. We call it Bunny, by the way, for short ... so is the mascot a cute little penguin or a bunny? I like the bunny but the penguin is rather cute, too...

 I had the revolving Desk tops and rubber windows weirdness working last incarnation but this incarnation we can't seem to repeat our actions even though I wrote some of them down. It seems we are missing a step or two. I am still looking for Wanda Fish - what menu is she on, I wonder? Where is my Wanda Fish?????????
 We will keep researching the problem with my video card and will write the cure down next time. I didn't lose any of my old files because they were saved on safe hard disks but I lost a lot of the work/effort/changes from the last incarnation - getting things to look and act the way I wanted them will take a day or two. Also, all my settings, are needless to say, gone... I had moved files up and had even got Rhythm Box to work properly with my old Ipod files and now I will need to do that all over again. As far as I can tell, my XP side is just fine the flickering to black and the weird crackling sounds are gone... I will not use it for much more than some old games and several programs like Transparent Language Italian -
a fine program for language learning that has resources for not only Italian but Latin, Spanish, French and God knows what else ! Now, if I would actually work on my Italian I might be able to say more than 'Good day' in it! Owning a language program does not ensure you will actually use it to learn a new language.
Microsoft has announced that it will no longer sell XP - which, is a step on the path to no longer supporting it... though, I am a little confused whether it is June or the end of the year when they do the deed - what they are doing is pressuring the companies that sell computers to no longer XP machines (even though the customers are still asking for  them!)
... so when they do that ( no longer support XP)... well, I will give away or sell all my old XP programs - or find ways to make them work on Linux Ubuntu - or give the programs a little more life by staying off the net on the XP side, entirely.

I will know a lot more by then. We think we have 3 more years before Microsoft cuts us off, entirely. I have already written some about our Microsoft rebellion. I don't think we are the only ones. I felt only anger when Microsoft forced us to call in and get permission to reinstall Windows XP, it was an invasion into our home.. acting like they owned the program I bought from them  - when I buy something, I buy it.. .it is mine for as long as I choose to use it, if I want to reinstall Windows XP next week this time, I will or should be able to ... I compared it to Jo-Anne's fabrics telling me I had to buy new knitting needles in a new wood and could no longer use my old bamboos.

'Like hell, I do' is my instant and unedited response. I don't bow to the gods of MS or to  Bill Gates. There is a strong sense that I will not respect any man or woman just because their egos make them expect my respect.

I reloaded my system last night. Ubuntu is a lot faster to reload than XP or even Microsoft '98 and I did it in about 2 hours, most of that time being spent watching an old movie in the living room with Leon while the computer did the hard work. We were having some Issues with both computers and it just became easier to reboot and reload... which, if you ask me is a little like tearing out a knitting or crochet project, and almost as pleasurable - there is irony in this sentence if you are reading it right... Its called frogging, by the way... rip it, rip it, rip it....
Well, now I work on the system most of today and get to dance and jump the way I want it to - like training a dog (a smart person never tries to train a cat!) but it doesn't always bark. I hope I am learning ... I need to read more and use that workbook I bought a bit more. There is a window called 'terminal' that allows you to download and even program that I would like to learn to use.. it reminds me some of the very earliest machines or even dos - it's the real computer - the desktop is just the front door. Oddly, at 56 I am seriously thinking about learning some programming, its never too late to learn, is it?  Leon is no alien to Linux or even Unix so it is not as great a mystery to him, but for me it is all NEW ! He has lead me through some processes at the terminal window but I would like to explore all the free programs that are out there. Last incarnation my browser (Firefox) was very unstable. It would turn gray and lock up - something I had never seen it do when I used it with XP - so far, this incarnation, it seems far more stable. I am not sure what was wrong. I tend to experiment a lot and I may have downloaded or changed something that the Mr. Firefox didn't like.

 It is going to take a long time for me to get used to Ubuntu and even longer to understand it and perhaps a year or two to feel like it is the dog and I am the master, but- heck, I still misspell it now and again, so I wouldn't expect myself to do better than I am doing.
What do I think about it ?
I would put it this way. Microsoft is the Roman Catholic Church - there is a definite Hierarchy, priesthood, holy days and duties to perform to stay right with Microsoft. Stay within her confines and she will get you to computer heaven or nirvana; she is usually a good mama and you don't need to know a lot of computing - or programming- to use her products.  She makes everything easy for you and you always have a button to push or a mouse to move. She is also a jealous church and will call you a heretic or even worse if you don't always do things her way. She will punish you if you try something that jeopardizes her well-being and livelihood. She costs a lot and you must pay your tithe to her god of computing or she will get very angry - may even refuse to give you a new reload code.
Linux - or Ubuntu- is like mystical Gnostic Christianity. You are mostly on your own. You are a stranger in a lot of places because you walk alone.  There are few rules and no theology. No priests, no hierarchy, no tithe, no protecting mama, no assurances of divine award, no catechism. It is a one-to-one relationship with the computer. You can do stupid things, easily, computing as an adventure. Sometimes things go wrong and you don't really know why and have no idea how to fix it.  You can find a lot of advice but you must do the work of find the good advice and rejecting the nonsense.
You must study, read and meditate on what you are doing and trying to achieve what you think is best. You must question everything.   You try new things and if they don't work or 'feel' wrong you drop them and try something else...The buttons aren't always obvious. You have to work hard to keep the relationship going. You don't do what you do because of fear of Mama Microsoft's wrath or to stay right with your friends and fellow users.. you do what you because you just LOVE playing with the processes and details of the system, learning something, exploring and experimenting. There is no certainty of getting to some kind of heaven or nirvana, but you do your best not to worry about the outcome just walking the path with some trust and a lot of willingness to learn something NEW.

This is going to be just a note, really - My honey, that lovely man I've been married to for some 32 years has gone wacky & wild and has installed Linux Ubuntu, which I immediately called 'bunny',  on his machine on the CD drive that we bought today. I am somewhere between awe, skepticism, curiosity and complete terror.. I am a very easy going woman...  Want to put a motorcycle motor in my living room while you are cleaning it? (and yes, he actually did that when we lived in the trailer !) no problem. Accidentally tear into the floor in the living room when you are using the saw? Hey, that is what rugs are for...  Live in a house the size of some postage stamps ... no problem. Make tallow here at home (Did I tell you about my tallow making experience a couple of weeks ago?) It was a great experience. Stunk to highest heaven, but I am going to use some of it to make soap, so it was worthwhile to me to get on board with the black powder pistol adventure.

  But stray from the Mother Microsoft? From the safety of her large skirts...
ARE YOU MAD?
 but I am, also, very curious.

 It is an unclassified, new  territory ... you all have noted I don't always do what everyone else does; my favorite movies are not the blockbusters, my favorite books rarely are best sellers, I don't go to church because I can not bear anyone telling me what to think, my religion is Gnostic - and this list is actually the short list... I disobey authority, naturally, in my mind and often in my heart .. only obeying when I must. Love is the only way to tame me and the only authority I do obey with any consistency are the political/legal laws of the USA because I love the constitution & the bill of rights and strive to be a good citizen. ... I am like one of my cats, walking my own path in my own way : a loner who happens to be married. Leon knows me ... insult my intelligence, claim I can't possibly understand something and you have a war on your hands ... (ME, little old housewife ... me ? ohhhhh, I couldn't possibly understand a NEW operating system !  (eye lashes batting in a feminine way, a  slight smile... using a soft, gentle, almost childlike   voice... ) I am very good at mocking the arrogant. I have had to do it many, many times.
If I get cute, I have a suggestion: Be afraid, be very afraid.
I can think of several reasons I would like to get from under the thumb of the Microsoft  monster.. she has gotten too big and forgotten her roots. She seems to think she can impose her will on us, who buy her products, she is getting too big for her panties, her products have more holes than a piece of tatted lace, they are a bunch of liberals who cause our local taxes to go up because they have no compassion for their middle class neighbors.
So... next year, we stray from the havens of operating-system bliss and explore Linux and its environs. Should be interesting... Leon claims this has NOTHING what so ever to do with rebellion or any other less polite term or phrase that might occur to me (something to the effect of 'doing it to the man..' )  this is chiefly born of curiosity and a need to learn something new, a new hobby for him..NOW how can I possibly refuse him, anything, even my beloved computer's hard disk space? With that kind of appeal to the angels of my better nature or to the better angels of my nature... or.... ??? well you get the point. I must yield. Been like this since day one when I was 23 and he was 21.
Next year : Linux Ubuntu.
(That is, if we can figure Linux out! )
I think there must be some small print on our marriage license I never read....

OK .... I tried... I really tried. I like my roses but I wanted a Christmas tree... a little seasonal cheer, heck, a Merry Christmas. I tried everything... it just didn't work. One time I got my roses and the Christmas tree - the designer said please don't change things... does changing the design when you don't do it on purpose, count?  I have to go wash dishes. If I don't wash dishes we won't be eatting dinner. This bland design will change when I have an hour to read up on what I am doing wrong HONEST ! Love you all ! have a great week
Kathy Mary H

Well my honey came home early last night and we cleaned and refurbished my new computer (his old one!) very nice, very fast and OH - DID I TELL YOU I HAVE A 500 GB HD, NOW ????

Sorry , I know screaming isn't polite but I couldn't help myself for a moment.

Today I am going to rebuild my system and download all the programs we all use as well as the games and what ever my system needs to work properly - I think, but I am not sure, that I have all the drivers - well, except the ones for the scanner and printer ! I am considering trying Thunderbird because I am already using Mozilla Firefox. Here is the Mozilla website.

This weekend I am going to try to salvage anything I can from my old hard drive. I had been neglecting back-up procedures for a long time and have paid the usual price for not listening to my unconscious - Of course, the big problem is the defunct Windows XP Operating system on the old hard drive - how exactly will this computer react when its slave hard drive has XP, too - I suggested gutting that program immediately upon turning the computer back on - just going for the throat and deleting all the files - remember, it won't be only my registry list - only my C drive copy is there. My honey is not sure that is going to work.

One of the great problems is, that, as computers get more and more complex more and more can go wrong. We will never know for sure what went wrong on my old Beastie - Leon thinks it was on the motherboard, but exactly why it would suddenly fail, die, crash we do not know - we have few thunder storms here in the northwest and had nothing that could be mistaken for a power surge that day.

I would love you all to really read that short article about Newton that is the subject of my comment, above. I have had mystical experiences my entire life, since very young childhood and have always accepted what I can only call the transcendent realms but I have also loved nature and the study of nature (science) since that very same period of my life - as a very little girl (1st. grade). I had a passion for astronomy and drove my poor parents crazy when I asked for a telescope, later other disciplines have attracted my attention and there are few aspects of science that I ignore, entirely. Both love of God and love of nature are natural for me and I see no conflict between a universe that has invisible, translucent realms of consciousness & subtle energies that can not be measured by existing sensors, and, also, the physical, material realms of solid matter that are easily measured, observed and studied with both our own senses and modern technologies. I see the universe as a complex set of relationships and connections - made of pure energy and consciousness in which energies of varying degrees of power and subtly flow through the ALL. Matter and consciousness are related - in fact, they are united.

"The ALL is ONE the ONE is All !"

For those of you who want to limit the universe either to the 6000 years of the Bible, Koran or even the books of Moses or solely to a godless universe of the Physical matter and natural laws ---- well, all I can say, is that you underestimating the complete strangeness and wonder of the ALL ! I stand between the two extremes of the religious who want to limit the universe and the Godless who want to limit the universe, and, I say, with all honesty, you are both very, very wrong and wrong minded. ( I actually pity you some because your imagination has failed you.)

Men like Giordano Bruno and Issac Newton knew that you did not need to leave God & your soul behind as you explored the realms of physical matter - the physical matter universe was another way to KNOW GOD (it reflected God as a mirror reflects or a painting reflects the mind of the painter ) . They did not faint before the mystery of the ONE and the ALL ... this is very important and it has been lost by both the churches and modern intellectuals : the physical universe, made by God in his mind and heart at the beginning of time, shouted out in the explosion of the big bang as a word spoken, reflects to us a view of the face of God - The TAO - the ALL is the both matter and spirit - balanced forever and reveals in all its patterns, forms, radiations, energies, laws, history and shapes - the ONE who gave it life - the entire universe is made up of God's energy, his love, power, life - He is both the ONE and He is ALL there is = yet, he also transcends his universe & all universes and is both timeless and transcendent. At His level of consciousness you stand beyond time and all other limits - there is no time, for Him, or those who are lucky enough to experience His presence.
Think about that a moment. God isn't a guy on a white cloud with a long beard - He is both force and person (intellect, awareness, personality, even things like sense of humor!) but so far beyond anything that those words mean to us humans that we can not, even when we strive to do so, understand exactly how his consciousness works - He isn't a Jove or a Odin or a super human. He is aware - a person, so to speak - but he is also a force, an energy - life force itself - and time, space, death have no real meaning for him/her - they are illusions created by matter and matter's limits.

God (who is pure consciousness, awareness, love..) is the great artist - the hands (again, not literal hands! ) behind all the natural laws, the elements, patterns and energies of the universe. He is the life force/TAO, balance, love that makes the universe possible. In seeing His creation (and a note: God is beyond gender - He is actually He/She - having within his consciousness aspects that we describe as female/ feminine and aspects that we describe as male/masculine. ) we see a little of his hand - and understand a little better his/her real nature - and what I feel for God is both Love and Awe and yes, constant surprise.
Lastly, I would add that God - the real God - is difficult, perhaps impossible for our minds to grasp - our words and imaginations fail to grasp the incredible reality that Is God/ universe/the All/ TAO and it is natural to want a simple, comprehensible, graspable universe - either the universe of the religious or the universe of the atheists & materialists but I will not settle for either; infinity and eternity are not too big for me. I accept the complexity of it all and admire and love it for its great beauty.

A dead computer is a sad thing to see. It doesn't smell like the organic kind of death but it definitely is silent and quite absent of any movement and sound - I find myself mourning Beastie but he is gone, gone like last week's dinner, not quite as much as a cat, though, it is, after all only a computer.
Happened very strangely, too. I played a few games at 4 am and then decided to return to bed after my husband left for work - when I rose, the computer, Beastie, was DEAD. No hurricanes, earthquakes or lightening struck the house during my nap - I checked. Death came, as they always say, in his sleep, peacefully.

My husband, who is working overtime, promises me an autopsy this weekend so we can know what happened though his educated guess it the motherboard or the CPU blew - a wild outside hope is that it is the power supply but I am somehow doubtful of that, too easy. That means that we will follow family custom and he will build himself a new computer and I will get this computer - His - for my very own. It isn't much faster than Beastie was because of the ceiling that seems to now exist for CPU speeds but it is fast enough for anything I do with it. My husband loves flight sims, which demands frame speeds above the normal; something that does not much inspire me but most of my games are puzzles of various kinds, only rarely do I play a first person fighter game like Diablo and none of my games demand the frame speeds of his flight simulations.

It really makes me wonder if computer ( uses) constitute some kind of addiction because after the first day I was ready to fight something for the right to own a computer, but sanity kicked in and I am doing fine. I may even get some sewing done while I waiting for the next incarnation of the Beastie, which I suspect will happen near the Fourth of July, when My husband will have the time to order and then assemble the new computer.
It's Nice that human beings aren't the only reincarnating creatures in the universe, computers reincarnate, too, sometimes even in the same box they lived in their previous life.
Other news : I worked in the yard, yesterday, helping a new neighbor clean up some old trees that grow between lots and hurt my right shoulder - something is inflamed or strained, I am not sure which. The pain is ---- indescribable ---- What did I ever do in my past lives to deserve so many problems with my shoulders? What ever it was I am most heartily sorry for it now and promise never to do it, again ! I actually have the fabrics and patterns on my sewing table for my summer nightgowns - now they must somehow be cut and get sewn.
Take care and have a lovely weekend all who read this !

I thought I would lighten up some and talk about something more amusing than thoughtful. I have been a Science Fiction fan since oh... 1962 - 1963. We were passing through the Chicago train station and had to wait several hours to board the next train. I was terribly restless, as any preteen might be when there is a lot of time to do absolutely nothing and my mom encouraged me to go a local store to buy something to read. Hence, I discovered Science Fiction. I had been prepared for the genre by comic books. I remember this first novel very well because I still own it. It was "Battle for the Stars" by Edmund Hamilton and is still a very readable book though nearly 45 years have pasted. I was 'hooked' as they say, today. The novel is set in the far future. There is a starship captain, his alien wife (she's from Vega.), a cat and the fate of the earth that hangs on a mammoth space battle. What fun! And, yes, the cat becomes a pet of the alien lady.
Over the years my favorite novels have been the well written - and not so well written - novels of the golden age of Science Fiction and if you don't know about the classic novels :Edmund Hamilton, Robert Heinlein, Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, E.E. Smith, John Taine (a.k.a. Eric Temple Bell), Andre Norton & Joseph Campbell are some of the names you might want to look up. I suggest you do some real investigating - there is a lot to read which will give you many hours of pleasure, some of which will remind you of Star Trek and Star Wars, This is a Wikopedia article & is a pretty good intro.
There are some great authors who lived earlier and therefore their works are not necessarily from the 'Golden Age' : H.G.Wells, Hugo Gernsback, H. Rider Haggard, Jules Verne & Edgar Rice Burroughs (the father of Tarzan, a collection of 23 novels that had science fiction and fantasy elements.) , are examples of this earlier group. H.G. Wells is the best known - "The Invisible Man", "the War of the Worlds", "The Time Machine" ares still very popular and have been made into movies, some better than others & are always in Print. H.Rider Haggard is less known but a great deal of fun at his best, "She", is the only one of his works that is well known by modern readers. Verne is sometimes called the Grandfather of Science Fiction and his works are true classics. I suggest "Mysterious Island", a personal favorite. Of course, "20000 leagues under the Sea" should be read first. I can't say for sure that I have read anything by Hugo Gernsback though his work may be found in some modern collections. There are many collections of science fiction short stories. I suggest the library to explore them. A Britannica article concerning the history of Sci-Fi.

It is quite intellectual but will give you a worthy hint of the general history. There is, of course, a lot that I am missing. Shelley's Frankenstein being an example of early science fiction that few people realize is true science fiction even though it is also a fine horror novel.
What are my favorites ? I love Eric Temple Bell's "Time Stream" and return to it every few years to reread, once Again. His "Purple Sapphire" and "The Greatest Adventure" are also fine novels or perhaps, novellas. He was a mathematician and philosopher. A short biographical article including a list of his novels.
I found his name in an unusual place this week; a history of the Great San Francisco Earthquake, it seems he was there at the time and had invested in the local telephone company. In "The Time Stream" his time travelers spend some of their time in San Francisco just before the earthquake. I would add, also, that some of his work is rather dated but that said, I will stand by my affection of his works.
I hope if you haven't ever read these great classics you will know how to find them & the will to explore them. Some of them are slightly dated, after all, we know how we got to the moon, we know you can't breathe on the moon, we know we used rockets and not a gun to go there.

I think what I love about science fiction is that it enlarges my imagination. 31 years ago when my husband came home one day and announced that computers were becoming accessible to the hobbyist, my first comment was that 'yes, of course, but in the future!' (as in the next century!) and I mentioned Ray Bradbury's great short story, "There will come soft rains." and Issac Asimov's "Caves of Steel" as examples of what I expected for the future, and of course, Hal 9000, the nasty computer of the movie, "2001".
He said, no, it was NOW and he described a near future in which computers would be home based machines for the hobbyist and I was hooked, hooked forever, I would add. I saw my first S-100 bus at a local computer store. It was running a primitive hangman program. Oh, my excitement! A real computer. We didn't have a lot of money at the time and had to find a job that actually paid us so our first home computer was delayed a few years. By 1978-79 we had moved here, were making a decent living, and, at last, bought our first home computer - an Apple 2, before we bought, I would mention, our House ! (So you can sense our priorities at the time.) I could not resist the entire adventure of the computer age but they were not really very accessible to me for awhile, I was terrified of breaking IT. The word 'format' tormented me for a decade before we bought the our first Amiga, the first computer that seemed user friendly.

I love the Microsoft Windows interface, which has given me a feeling of freedom and confidence I do not think I could have ever had with the first computers.
As I said, Science fiction opens the mind up for possibilities and potential of the future, encouraging both innovation and adventure. Many of my best female friends are not friendly with their computers. They may use them but have no real passion for the machines. I think if they had read some Sci- Fi, when young, they would have been as thrilled as I was when the computer age fell upon us!