As you probably guessed from the silence, I'm still away from home: in New York right now, flying back across the North Undrinkable tonight, and probably jet-lagged for the next two or three days. You wouldn't want to see me blogging while jet-lagged: it's kind of like blogging while drunk, only not as (unintentionally) amusing.
(I'm in New York for meetings with my agent and editors, plus general purpose sightseeing and maybe just a smidgeon of research for future fiction.)
Normal service will be resumed eventually: meanwhile, I'm going to try to line up more guest bloggers for next time I'm away for a protracted time (meaning, April: I'm a guest of honour at HAL-con in Omiya, Japan, and I'm not flying all that way just for a weekend).
Funny coincidence, I'm doing some business in NYC as well. Can't wait to get back to the warm southerlands of CA.
Charlie, do you ever drink alcohol on flights? I can picture you downing a few and then discussing "generation ship" ideas with a fellow passenger who knows almost nothing about SF concepts.
"I'm in New York for meetings with my agent and editors" because NYC is to USA as Edinburgh is to Scotland and London is to England and Paris is to France, and so forth, regarding book publishers.
Josh: I generally limit myself to a single glass of wine on long-haul flights. (The aircon is very dessicating and I need lots of fluids -- alcohol also helps dehydrate you if you drink too much of it, so it's a big no-no.)
Your physiology may be different from mine (and it probably is), but I suggest that when you fly against the grain of the sun -- take a night flight -- try to doze as much as possible through the flight -- and, once you get back to Europe, STAY AWAKE UNTIL your normal bedtime. Yes, you'll be getting the urge to nap at 3 in the afternoon. Resist the urge! Once you get to bed, you'll be so exhausted from staying awake so long, you'll very likely sleep through most of the night. Generally, I've found that if I can do this, the effects of jetlag are substantially mitigated on the following day.
On the other hand, chasing the rotation of the Earth is breeze from a jetlag perspective. I take night flights to Asia and I knock myself out with a sleeping pill -- and try to sleep through as much of the trip as possible. I generally synch up quickly to my destination timezone, because my circadian clock is fooled into thinking it's a normal dawn (despite the extra long night). Again resist the urge to nap the day of your arrival, and try to get to bed at your normal time adjusted for that timezone.
I'm a strong believer in shoehorning my circadian rhythm into my destination timezone...
Charles, do you have any concrete plans besides Omiya? Where else will you be visiting?
Beowulf888: see my next blog entry (just going up now).
Mixolydian: no concrete plans yet -- probably a week in Tokyo, and a week in either Kyoto or Osaka. Why?
Charles #7
Just wondered if you'd be in my neighborhood. Seems like you will since I live in Kyoto.These conventions are always being held in Tokyo, so unfair...