Emphyrio: Good
In the early evening I finished Emphyrio by Jack Vance. It was a pleasant reread; I really liked the story.
The Domains of Koryphon
The races of Koryphon keep an uneasy peace- the swift, nomadic Wind-runners, the fierce Uldras, and the aristocratic Outkers. For over two hundred years the Outkers have occupied the Alouan lands, living in baronial splendor where Uldra chieftains once ruled. When the self-proclaimed "Gray Prince" leads Uldras in an onslaught to expunge the Outkers from ancestral lands, he faces a challenge from the Outkers, and from history itself!
In the evening I started in The Domains of Koryphon by Jack Vance with cover art by Dylan Carroll.
Terminal applications for macOS
In the afternoon I wrote a reply to a Usenet post in both comp.os.linux.advocacy and comp.sys.mac.advocacy. In the post I replied to the author stated that there is an impressive choice of terminal applications for Linux, implying that this is not the case for macOS. I replied that I knew of at least 10 terminal applications for macOS. Soon after, I replied to my own post with the following list (reformatted to link directly):
Also the author complained about lack of customization features to make the command-line environment aesthetically pleasing on macOS. To which I replied that one could install starship and a neat font like Firacode Nerd Font Mono.
Personally, I use Alacritty. In the past I have tried kitty but I like the simplicity of Alacritty more.
The Blue World: Good
Early in the evening I finished The Blue World by Jack Vance. Even though I have read this book several times before I still enjoyed the story once more. Recommended.
Emphyrio
Halma is a planet forever shrouded by the mystical epic of Emphyrio. Governed by an antiquated feudal system, all but the powerful Lords are involved in the planet's arts and crafts handiwork, which is exported and highly regarded throughout the galaxy. Work on machines is punishable by death, and profits are small. From his father Amiante, Ghyl Tarvoke learns that the inequalities of life on Halma can be remedied, and that the answer lies in legend. When Amiante dies a cruel and unjustifiable death, Ghyl begins his quest - to know the true story of Emphyrio.
In the early evening I started in Emphyrio by Jack Vance. I had downloaded the edition with cover art by Joe Bergeron.
Marune: Alastor 933: Good
In the afternoon I finished Marune: Alastor 933, Alastor book 3 of 3 by Jack Vance. I liked the rereading of this story. It was a quick but good read.
I Bought Three Books by Jack Vance
In the afternoon I decided I wanted to read "The Blue World" by Jack Vance. I did own the Dutch translation of The Blue World as part of an omnibus, but not an English edition, which I prefer. So I went to the official Jack Vance ebook shop and selected The Blue World. Additionally, I also added Emphyrio and The Domains of Koryphon (also known as "The Grey Prince") to my basket. Of the latter I also had a Dutch edition, part of the same omnibus. Each ebook costs 5.99 USD so the total was 17.97 USD which I paid for using PayPal.
The Blue World
King Kragen has ruled a sea-covered world since human colonists arrived twelve generations before. A monstrous water creature with gluttonous appetites, King Kragen demands a payoff in return for protection- and to appease him has become a way of life. To anger King Kragen means certain death, but Sklar Hast is fed up with slavery and sacrifice. In a world without weapons, the fight won't be easy- particularly when the unwilling treat Sklar Hast as the enemy!
In the afternoon I started in The Blue World by Jack Vance. I had downloaded the edition with cover art by Marcel Laverdet. This is one of my favorite books by Jack Vance. I read the book, in a Dutch translation, for the very first time back in 1981. Back then "Vienna" by Ultravox was played on the radio and I recall that the haunting song went well with the water world described in the book.
As we lived near a canal I even tried to make my own, fresh water, sponge arbor with some success. I made a cube out of green plant stakes and divided the cube into smaller sections. I lowered the construction into the canal with a rope and checked it often. After quite some time some growths could be discerned.
Feeding a Socotra Island Blue Baboon tarantula
Early in the evening I noticed that the juvenile female Monocentropus balfouri, which arrived last week, was out of hiding. So I decided to attempt to feed her.
The common name of this spider is Socotra Island Blue Baboon tarantula. In the above photo the blue legs are not really visible. Maybe because the spider is going to molt soon, maybe because she is still young.
When I dropped a pre-killed morio worm, a larva of Zophobas atratus (darkling beetle), the tarantula showed a threat display: it quickly reared up on her hind legs, exposed her fangs, and spread her front legs wide open. I pre-kill morio worms by crushing their heads with tweezers to prevent them from burrowing into the substrate and ending up as large black beetles.
In both photos webbing can be clearly seen. In my experience this species is a prolific webber and will create a very dense silk mat.
Later in the evening, when I checked on the tarantula, she had still not eaten the larva and was resting in a corner. I'll check again tomorrow and will remove the larva the day after if its still left over.
For more information on this species, check out the Monocentropus balfouri care sheet by Tarantula Collective.
Wyst: Alastor 1716: Very Good
In the late morning I finished Wyst: Alastor 1716, Alastor book 2 of 3 by Jack Vance. I liked the rereading of this story more than I expected, especially the second half. In short: very good.
Marune: Alastor 933
From his fabulous palace on Numenes, the Connatic rules the sprawling Alastor Cluster, and tracks the doings of each of his trillion or more subjects. But there is one man he knows nothing about; the past life of the wanderer called Pardero is a complete mystery. Pardero himself has two goals: first, to find out who he is, then to find his enemy- the person who stole his memory. He discovers that his home is the mysterious Marune , a planet lit by four shifting suns, and Pardero makes his way there- to be hailed as the Kaiark Efraim, ruler of the shadowed realm. Uncovering his lost identity had been comparatively simple, but finding his sworn enemy would be more difficult...
In the afternoon I started in Marune: Alastor 933, Alastor book 3 of 3 by Jack Vance. I downloaded the version with cover art by Konstantin Korobov.
Many years ago I named one of my Silicon Graphics Indy workstations, which I had bought second hand, after the planet in this story: Marune.
Mounting a Brassavola nodosa orchid
Last Friday I had ordered some dried sphagnum moss. I wanted to mount a Brassavola nodosa, originally a present for my mother, on a piece of cork. I was expecting the moss to arrive last Saturday, so that day I removed the orchid from its pot, removed the dead roots, moss, bark, and cleaned the healthy roots carefully.
Next, I carved a small piece out of a cork tube to make space for the orchid. By mounting it on a cork tube and giving it more light I hope to finally get flowers. It hasn't done so in nearly seven years!
And today the sphagnum moss arrived. It was dried and compressed in a flat package. I let it soak for a while in warm water.
I used 3 pieces of plant twist tie to hold the orchid in place with the sphagnum moss underneath its roots. Hopefully, with better care, the orchid is going to flower soon. In my experience, a different plant and in Mexico, the flowers of the Brassavola nodosa smell very nice in the evening, hence the common name "Lady of the Night" for this orchid species.