Chuck Wendig and 25 ways to survive as a creative. Can't do #2, as it's me supplying the food, rent, and healthcare. But my first "professional" (ie. steady paycheck) in this field was outputting films (which is now so dated). And my #5 for writing? When I can buy a motorcycle with the proceeds.
Want a little inspiration to go tilting at those windmills? "Nothing is withheld from us what we have conceived to do… Do things that have never been done." I'm sad to admit that when I was full of piss and vinegar I used to have encounters like this and squandered them on fleeting moments of self importance. Today when I could use a moment of magic and recognize it for what it is they're often few and far between. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The World Fantasy Award Nominees have been announced.
Obedience on the job and the American working culture. As someone who is (hopefully) about to get a work provided laptop so they can "work from home" (actually in all probability a cubicle at school), I so here this. When they took my crackberry as a cost cutting measure, I was actually glad about it. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The rebirth of the arcade. Ready player one. You know what I'd really like is a place with actual pinball machines. I loved them as a kid and always was jealous of the kid(s) who had a game in their basement. (Pointed to by John)
A photo essay of vanishing languages form the National Geographic. There's enough story bones in there to keep you busy all your life. Also, some interesting cultural insights into the specifics of language. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Mitt Romney pretty much confirms the gaffes during his trip abroad. Apparently, even though he loves Israel and the "culture" of success they have there, he's no fan of the kibbutz. I wonder if he even knows where kibbutz are? Hopefully there's a staffer explaining it to him right now. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)
"Seriously, if $80 million is not a sufficient sum to trigger your personal corruption-detector, then you don’t have one." Fred Clark and "the city councilman who wrote a bill and pocketed $80 million." As a former Village Councilman, yes, that.
"When I (James Hansen) testified before the Senate in… 1988, I warned of the kind of future that climate change would bring to us and our planet. I painted a grim picture of the consequences of steadily increasing temperatures, driven by mankind’s use of fossil fuels… But I have a confession to make: I was too optimistic… Our new peer-reviewed study… makes clear that while average global temperature has been steadily rising due to a warming climate… the extremes are actually becoming much more frequent and more intense worldwide." Unfortunately, because it has James Hansen's name attached, expect the usual deniers and nay-sayers to beat their breasts, claim political bias on reality, and continue to do nothing until their homes are under water or burned away. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
The Belarus-Sweden teddy bear row escalates. Just in case anybody really missed the madness that was the Cold War. Apparently those socialists in Sweden are inciting their neighbor by airdropping teddy bears parachutists carrying pro-democracy letters in the former Soviet Block nation. As Novysan says sharing the link, "It would be years before anyone realized just how WWIII began." (Grokked from ChiaLynn)
Why we can't have nice things. As I stated before, didn't we have this cultural conversation back in the 80s? Look, what they say about "what slides off one child may be devastating to another," is very true. There's a corollary in education that you never know what words are going to inspire (or crush) a student. However, and this is from the conversation that will occur (again) in a few years, abuse isn't the one event. Smacking a child's hand to keep them from touching something hot or dangerous, or hitting their behind when they break the rules (that they have been told) isn't abuse. Hitting them because you didn't get your way as a child, slapping them because you lost control, giving them a trashing because you're in a bad mood, hitting them to cause pain for its own sake or because they're left handed is abuse. Telling a child once that maybe they weren't meant to learn a certain task isn't abuse (although it would be better to help the child come to that realization on their own - and here I'm talking about something that they would really be bad at no matter how much they tried, not a task that they don't grasp mastery of at the first try). Telling them that they're bad at a task because they as a person are bad/stupid/clumsy/evil, that's abuse. Also, I have a feeling the numbers they're reporting are incredibly low because people don't know what abuse is, especially the kind that doesn't leave physical scars. (Grokked from Jay Lake)
Elizabeth Bear has a post related to this from the grow-child side of the equation. I may have to re-read that a few times to internalize it. At a quick glance, I don't think I've done that (glorifying PTSD and making it a "desirable trait" as they say in advertising) with my writing.
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