I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Monday, June 20, 2011

Linkee-poo goes on internet safari

Ken McConnell finishes Draft 1 of his latest novel. Congrats, Ken. Good luck with wrestling it to the ground.

Tobias Buckell points us to this article on the Aerotropolis. Very interesting city planning nepery going on in there. If you write futurism, have spaceports, steampunk with active blimp transports, or want to have some interesting grist for the world building mill, here it is.

Madeleine Robins on ur doing it rite. A little on my often repeat refrain for gaining wordcount, do the process that works for you. Listen to all the advise, immediately dump the ridiculous, try the rest, keep what works for you. She links to this blog post by Janni Lee Simner. What she said. All writing advice (include that which I impart, and I hope you've seen I've even passed on advice that didn't work for me, but it might for you) should begin with the disclaimer, This worked for me. It might or might not work for you. Give it a try. If it works, great. If it doesn't, don't worry about it. Move on. Yes, that. As the Buddha says, all are rivers which lead to the same ocean. (Grokked from Steven Gould)

Jay Lake has another comment contest. (Vote for Me!)

Janiece starts her own summer reading contest.

Because it was brought up at work, I looked up the Touchdown Jesus (aka, Buddy Jesus) only to find out… "It was destroyed by a lightning strike and subsequent fire on June 15, 2010." If that isn't a sign I need to be writing the next book, I don't know what is.

So much for the publishing industry is dead. (Grokked from AbsoluteWrite)

An NPR story on inattention blindness. This is a form of cognitive filtering which I believe I discussed before. So much goes on around us, so much data comes filtering in to the brain that for us to function at all, the brain shorthands what it can, brings what is important (at the moment) to your cognition, and dumps all the rest. This is where Sherlock Holmes worked wonders. He noticed all the little things and had enough prestored information to categorize most of what came in. You can train yourself to do better at noticing more of what goes on around you, but it is a training regimen. And you have to practice. (BTW, this is also probably why "guys don't see dirt" and "wives don't see the lawn needs mowed")

Because there's been a lot of talk lately about violent language and much of the right has talked about death threats against them, they aren't the only ones. Yep, people making death threats because of climate science. This isn't exactly new. There's been plenty of death threats and intimidation around the subject of evolution. Glad we live in such a world. (pointed to by Dan)

Too big to sue. Or, "Too many notes, Mozart." First Citizen's United, now Wal-Mart. So glad the courts are on our side. Dear Supreme Court Conservative Justices, this is exactly the reason why we have class action lawsuits. Thanks for gutting that law.

Remember when the Tea Party was all about fiscal conservatism and fighting all these socialist initiatives? Yeah, me neither, but that's what they like to tell themselves. Well, I think we can say they've jumped the shark by realizing electoral necessity. So much for the ideals. Yet another initiation into the Republican Party.

There's talk of Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, entering the Presidential Race. Oh please, please, please be true. I can't wait for someone to question his stance on his state's succession (of which he made favorable comments, I'm being nice since he tried to walk them back) and how those are not the actions of a patriot. Yep, the right is clamoring for a traitor to the cause to run for President. Oh, and did I mention that Texas has the second largest budget shortfall/debt to GDP issue of all the states? Yeah, that's the guy we want to be President.

No comments: