Catching up with Jim Hines' going for broke (as a full-time writer). First, he got his finances in order. The Harry Connolly's advice comes in handy (yea, I've been thinking the same thing for a while now). Diana Farrow Francis weighs in some excellent advice. This advice works well if you're going full time writer or not. AAAnnnnndddd Jim's off to a rip-roaring start. You go, Jim.
Tobias Buckell with some life-hacks on being ADHD (SQUIRREL!) and keeping focused on writing. I've thought of the multiple login approach, but he goes much farther with it. And I think his points are all to the good. I've done somethings like this, for instance some get time-sink sites I used to visit I took out of the browser history so I would have to type the whole URL in, from memory, if I wanted to go there. Substantially cut down the time I spent.
What is possibly the best Star Wars buildup, Adam Savage proves that Star Wars blasters aren't laser.
"Don't write action scenes. Write suspense scenes that require action to resolve." For the record, I write action scenes. They're fun. However, I don't believe in the fair fight. If it's a fair fight, my characters probably wouldn't engage. They either know they'll win, or it's a fight they can't run from. I personally hate the meme where the protag gets beaten down and is on the mat hearing the count when they remember their Grandma's advice in making pie, "Crush the nuts" and suddenly they have a turnaround/second-wind and beat the snot out of the antagonist (I call this the "Rocky Effect"). I really hate (with the fierceness of a thousand supernova) the meme where the good guy has the drop on the bad guy (like, they have a gun and the bad guy is defenseless) and then they even the fight up by giving up their advantage. It makes me scream at the screen. Fuck it, vent the fucking bastard (by either blowing a hole in them, or sending them on a spacewalk without a spacesuit). This isn't how the world works. If the bad guy is on the ground, either arrest them or put another slug in their head, don't give them the opportunity to get up (the only exception to this I can think of is the final fight scene in Serenity, but then Mal does something worse to The Operative, he destroys his faith by making him watch what happened on Miranda). If your characters are going to fight, have them take the advantage and keep it. But also, give the bad guys some credit. If they always lose, how did they get into their position of power in the first place?(Grokked from Ferrett Steinmetz)
The world's greenhouse gas emissions by country in one easy graphic. (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
One of the things I do is I notice people's tattoos, I used to draw flash in school for pizza money. When I'm x-raying someone, and they're a little frightened and I notice they have ink I'll ask them about it. "Tell me what your tattoo means to you." Many people get names (actually, I've been surprised about how many people get children, parents, and friends names and how few have their spouses names), some tattoos are coverup jobs for youthful indiscretions, others have what seems like little significance. But I've never felt the urge to actually get one myself. Here are 24 tattoos people got to combat mental illness. And now I'm wondering if I should get one. (Grokked from Janiece)
And we have a Darwin Award contestant. A teen shoot self while taking selfie with gun. Say, Texas, don't you have a strong gun culture which teaches people to respect guns?
Teach your children well. Or, nine rules for swearing for children. Rules 1 and 2, OMFG yes! Had to inform the nephews they were doing it (hilariously) wrong. (Grokked from Dan)
"Colorado's (long-term birth control) experiment was funded with a $23 million grant… And the results are striking: By 2013, teen births in Colorado had dropped 40 percent — compared with a 30 percent decline nationwide. The steep drop continued last year. Abortions among teenagers in Colorado were also down. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper said the savings in Medicaid and government assistance far outweigh the up-front costs." And now that the private money is drying up, is the Republican controlled legislature going to continue the funding? Of course not, because this fight is not about reducing abortions and teen pregnancy, it's about control of women's bodies and ending the sexual revolution.
"It was about 10 years ago, after a colleague had died swiftly and peacefully, that Dr. Ken Murray first noticed doctors die differently than the rest of us." Most doctors have advance care directives, many people don't even know what that is, let alone tell the appropriate people. Most people don't do it until too late. At the hospital I've seen people die, and I've seen people who are already dead (sometimes the heart doesn't know to stop beating, until it runs out of oxygen). However it's our job, in the absence of specific orders, to work hard to save their lives. Only a doctor, or the family, has the right to say, "that's enough." Make sure yours (both the doctor and your family) know when you want them to say when. Because, like the article says, we won't tell you that "do nothing" is an option. Also, I will note here, it is your right as a patient to refuse treatment, or to ask for alternatives. The doctors, nurses, techs will try and talk you out of it (and we may not be able to help you fully if you do refuse), but you can say no and make it stick. (Grokked from Janiece)
And talking about jumping the shark, apparently the Trumpinator also cheats at golf. All he needs is a caddy/man servant called Odd Job and he's be a Bond Villain. Seriously, he cheats at golf. We don't have to dig that deep to find things against the guy.
"But a bad use of force call is not a good argument for less scrutiny of use of force." On the existing narrative of cop=good guy and person they shoot=bad guy. (Grokked from Janiece)
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