Ann Leckie on writing advice, specifically "kill your darlings." Styles change, reader expectations change, media changes. What "kill your darlings" means to me is that you have to be ruthless on removing things that aren't story or the part so different in style they throw the reader out of the story, even if it's the part you love the most. But here's the reverse, you can make the story about whatever you want. If the part you love is different, rewrite the rest to match. The phrase has come to mean something different (advice and interpretation also changes) though. When you're a starting writer (hell, when you're an accomplished and well established writer) you'll love some of your writing more than others. What you do with those parts is up to you, but the story has to be a complete and whole and stylistically similar (unless there are reasons not to be). That's a western tradition. Other cultures have other story telling traditions. Again, the final writing advice is whatever works for you works. Do those things that work for you.
"The Virginia Tech professor was cutting up a downed tree with an electric chainsaw. What he didn't realize was that his power cable had been dragging through poison ivy. So at the end of the day, as he coiled the cord around his palm and elbow, he inadvertently launched a career-bending science experiment." With a primer on how to identify poison ivy. Leaves of three, leave it be.
"But by sophomore year, the high expectations began to feel like a trap. Like many kids at her school – and at elite high schools across the country – she felt compelled to push herself to get good grades and get into a top college." While there is a bit of "my diamond shoes are too tight" going on here, this actually is an issue and it's not just a rich person's problem. And like the rest of our culture it seems to have polarized in society. There was always the expectation that kids should do better than their parents, but now we have these checklists and "early markers" of achievement. Kids are busying trying to figure out how to be human and we add all these extra pressures (AP course, early college classes, involvement in sports and clubs, and a social calendar that needs an actual calendar to keep track of). But oddly you don't hear about the poor kids that burn out quickly, because they may still do better than their parents, but not come close to the kids in the neighborhoods this article is about. It could also be because many of these families didn't have to deal with earlier stresses (food and shelter security, stable home lives, etc) that they aren't prepared for these other stresses. And this isn't new. Dead Poet Society anyone?
"Toddlers in America are eating too much added sugar, and the problem only gets worse as they get older, a new study conducted by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control found." Thanks you, now can you tell us in which direction the Sun will rise tomorrow? Note that sugar, especially in the form of High-Fructose Corn Syrup, are cheap calories.
"The 10-year, $100 million study had faced mounting criticism and was recently halted over concerns about how large beverage makers, including AB InBev, came to provide such financial support. A series of media investigations suggested that lead researchers and NIH officials had inappropriately wooed drink makers, getting them to pour millions into the work, while strongly hinting that it would end in their favor—i.e., showing that a daily drink is safe and could lower the risk of common diseases." So if it proves out the study show that a daily drink may help health, AB InBev may just have had its cake and eaten it too. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)
"IHOP — the International House of Pancakes — is changing its name to IHOb and will now feature burgers, the company said in a tweet that was not posted on April Fool's Day. It remains to be seen whether the change will be permanent or merely a flash in the pan (cake) to promote hamburgers."
"Chinese government hackers have compromised the computers of a Navy contractor, stealing massive amounts of highly sensitive data related to undersea warfare — including secret plans to develop a supersonic anti-ship missile for use on U.S. submarines by 2020, according to American officials."
"New reporting confirms what previous stories speculated: chief of staff John Kelly's phone was hacked, and now they know where. They still don't know by whom, or how, or why, or what the damage was… Citing 2 unnamed U.S. officials, Politico says White House officials have narrowed down the time and likely location of the hack: President Donald Trump’s Washington transition headquarters, in late 2016." Revealed in a disclosed email he sent to another official instructing them to not send emails about the DoH's work to limit leaks and FOIA requests. I'm not sure which is the bigger story here.
"The European Union and the United Nations refugee agency called for a swift end to a political standoff that has left 629 migrants on a rescue ship drifting at sea after Italy refused to let it dock."
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a new interview Sunday that the European Union (EU) would follow Canada's move and forge ahead with its plan to implement counter-measures to President Trump's tariffs." It's a Trade War.
"A federal judge in New York City has halted, for now, the deportation of a pizza delivery man at least until a hearing on July 20… The 35-year-old was detained on June 1 while delivering food to the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn."
"Ross has said that he believes the cost of this last-minute change to the 2020 census would not be significant and has been factored into updated cost estimates. Still, Abowd projected that it would raise the price tag for the national headcount by at least $27.5 million, which he described as a 'conservative estimate' given the possible need for more door-knocking and other follow-up efforts to get noncitizen households to take part in the census." As someone involved in the last Census' door-knocking campaign, yes this. You're already going to have the "we don't trust the guberment" types who won't answer and may threaten any census taker who comes to ask (I only convinced one household by telling the man at the door that by law we had to continue coming back until they answered the questions, this was the 4th trip by the census worker and one they asked me to come on), but add those people who intentionally are trying to avoid any interaction with the government. And it's all in service of a racist agenda.
"In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court gave Ohio a victory Monday in a fight over the state's method for removing people from the voter rolls, a practice that civil rights groups said discourages minority turnout." This is why voting in every election is important because 1) it keeps you on the roles (not that will actually happen, check your status NOW) and 2) to keep these idiots away from the controls of power. Also a note to those who say, "I'm not voting to send a message." The response back is "fuck you."
"Arron Banks, the millionaire businessman who bankrolled Nigel Farage’s campaign to quit the EU, had multiple meetings with Russian embassy officials in the run-up to the Brexit referendum, documents seen by the Observer suggest." Sure are a lot of Russians around here. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Oakeshott was keen to keep her treasure trove of Brexit/Russia revelations for her book launch, but she has not merely kept out of the debate about the legitimacy of the Brexit campaign. Describing herself as 'a long-standing Brexit supporter,' who is close to Farage and Banks, Oakeshott has become a regular TV pundit shooting down 'conspiracy theories' about the validity of the Brexit vote amid claims of Russian influence or reports about Cambridge Analytica’s disputed involvement." More dots being connected. (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Lartey, who earned an annual salary of $65,969 as a records management analyst, was a career government official with close to 30 years under his belt. But he had never seen anything like this in any previous administration he had worked for. He had never had to tape the president’s papers back together again." (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
"Trump and Kim eager to declare success in Singapore 'no matter what happens'." This after Trump lowered the bar for the meeting so low that as long as they shake hands, they'll declare success.
"Any suggestion of a disabling conflict at this stage is contrary to ethics rules. Rosenstein’s involvement in the case has quite properly been cleared by Department of Justice career ethics officials—the same individuals who appropriately recommended that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuse. The fact that Rosenstein may be a fact witness in a case that he supervises does not provide sufficient grounds for his recusal under any of the applicable standards." (Grokked from Kathryn Cramer)
"Several prominent Russians, some in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle or high in the Russian Orthodox Church, now have been identified as having contact with National Rifle Association officials during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, according to photographs and an NRA source." And considering "The NRA reported spending $24.4 million to back Republican candidates for Congress in 2016" that's a whole lotta exposure risk for not a lotta bang. But then "Of the $30 million the NRA reported spending to support Trump, more than $21 million was spent by its lobbying arm, whose donors are not publicly reported." There it is. Again, for "no collusion" there sure are a lot of fucking Russians hanging around. (Grokked from Joy Reid)
"… De Niro decided to open with a message for President Donald Trump, who will soon meet with Kim Jon Un. 'I'm going to say this: f--k Trump,' he said. 'It's no longer just "Down With Trump" it's, "F--k Trump."'… De Niro received a standing ovation from many audience members."
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