Lost in the weeds

Still in Natural Bridge, Virginia. It's pretty cold here, but then it's cold all over. Bette tells me the snow is over the high boots. Glad we got the snowblower.

Very tired. I'm not getting much sleep (never do when on the road). Also not studying much. I have cracked the books, but not much more than that. This weekend is going to be long with my nose in the book.

Trying to keep up with the world. Lots of people have seemed to have lost their minds out there. But that's nothing new.

But we all shine on

Miss ya, John.

It was a cold December evening and I was walking through the Christmas tide
When a friend came up and asked me if I'd heard John Lennon had died
Then the two of us when to this bar and we staid to close the place
And every song we played was for the Late Great Johnny Ace.
Late Great Johnny Ace - Paul Simon

At the airport

Dear US Airways,

I'm at the airport two hours early as prescribed by current advice. Nobody is at your checking desk so I can check my bag. I would say this was strange, but oddly enough I don't expect better from you.

Your pissed customer who will make it a part of his profile to never fly you again.

edit PS if the recommendation is to arrive 2 hours early, then you should schedule your workers shifts to start 2.25 hours before the first flight.

On the tax vote

Hey, I've got an idea. We have consensus on tax cuts for those making less than $250,000. Lets divide the bill into smaller pieces so we can have a straight vote on each. You know, like the conservatives argued for HCR, Cap and Trade, Wall Street Reform, etc, etc. Cause, you know, we can have a vote and be on record for just what we're for and what we're not for.

Well, that's really what happened today and you can see just how good that idea was. It was bull then, it's bull now.

Can't wait to start asking, "Have you read the bill?" I think us progressives can pick up some protest signs cheap.

Dear fellow Democrats, stop the long worded explanation. Just say, "The conservatives are holding the middle class hostage to give people who don't need tax cuts more of your money." Then get into how the Republican's haven't found a way to offset the costs. When the try to turn it back on you, explain that you didn't run on that platform, they did. It's their own ideals they've abandoned before they even take power. Calling them hypocrites goes over people's heads (either they don't really understand the word because it's been over used or they expect all politicians to be one, however they're still upset when the actual action happens, they just don't care about the word).

Forth coming scarceness

Not only are things going to be busy from now until Christmas, what with all the work, class, and general disruptness of living, but next week I'll be in the wonderful state of Virginia as a sales training event. Joy of joys. And did I mention it's the week before finals? Ah, I'm filled with the holiday spirit. Or filled with something.

So posting here and keeping up to date with you all may take a little more time than I'll have. Next week I'll be learning our product lines, traversing the political minefields, and generally trying to control myself so I don't smart off in the wrong direction. And then at night there of course if the team building (read as "partying"). Plus I'll need to go through two lectures' worth of material on my own, not to mention studying for the final test.

Have I mentioned I haven't started the holiday shopping? Yeah. It's going to be some crazy weeks between now and then. Hopefully I'll have some extra down time to start edits on the novel and short stories. If not, hopefully with the time I'm taking off for some other responsibilities I'll be able to get more writing done then.

So if I don't see you before hand, I'll see you on the other side. Play nice. Don't eat too much chocolate.

For those of you writers out there, one more link today

Jeff VanderMeer shares his hard copy edits to a story. If you think your pages bleed from the amount of red ink on them, just look at that picture.

When Teresa Nielsen Hayden ran her party trick (ie. "watch her edit your story in real time") at VPXIII I asked her if so many comments were usual for a submission level manuscript. She said yes, but I always had a sneaking suspicion she was trying to make me feel better (or at least that's what the goblins gibber in my ear as I go to sleep).

So this helps. Thanks, Jeff, for sharing.

Linkee-poo wonders where Friday had been hiding all week

As a counter to the video on new writers I give you Tobias Buckell on it being about the journey, not the destination (which I think the main argument in the video was the over focus on the destination). As a related comment, there's a line in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about why they took the trip to Bozeman on motorcycles instead of flying there, which would have been faster. I don't remember the main quote, but it was something about wanting his kid to realize that it's about the journey. If they flew there, Bozeman would have just been a destination easily reached. Instead, by traveling there on motorcycles Bozeman becomes a goal, but one you spend most of the time in arriving and leaving there and not being there. It makes the being there time more magical.

And related to that, here's a post by Jim Hines over at SF Novelists about "overnight success."

And another SF Novelists post about leanring to love grammar. This ties in to a discussion I had last night where the person I was talking with mentioned how they edit lots of text subordinates create, which was strange to them because they never really liked English in school and doesn't know all those fancy words. Well, you really don't need to know them. You do, however, have to know how the English language (or whatever language you're writing in) goes together. That may be a complete zen-like understanding or a highly technical competency. It doesn't matter which.

Eric pretty much sums up why when I realized the Republican Party had betrayed it's own core values and I left seeing the fight they've been experiencing for the past decade (that is the fight over the social conservatives control of the agenda and platform) that I reregistered as a Democrat instead of an Independent (as most people in my position did, which is why the Independent vote most often swings conservative).

And finally a semi-political link. Richard Dawkins reads his hate mail. (Warning: video contains vulgarity which is NSFW)

Linkee-poo looks to the stars above and the mud below

The search for xenon biology just got a huge lift (or will, if the rumors are true, we'll know later today). A bacterium has been discovered (reportedly) that substitutes arsenic for the phosphorous the rest of life on this planet (that we know about) uses. It'll be interesting to see if this is just a chemical swap, or if this means the DNA is a completely different lineage (and strengthens the hypothesis that life on this planet wasn't a single event) or if they mean that the cell uses arsenic the way our cells use phosphorous. Phosphorous, if you don't know, is the main energy carrier in your body's cells. It helps form a molecule called ATP, which had three phosphorous atoms hanging off the end. Snap one off (phosphorylise) and you've got your energy. Your main cellular energy production (Glycolosis, Krebs Cycle, Electron Transport Chain and ATP Synthase Gated Channel) is all about making ATP from ADP and Pi. That we now have a bacteria that uses a form of arsenic to store and use energy is big. Huge. Will it mean faster microwaves (1 minute for a hot dog is too damn long now)? No. But it means the "special Earth ark" theorists just got dumped on and the possibility for extra-terrestrial life grew by a magnitude. Sarah Goslee has a better breakdown of what news we have so far, which is to be expected as she's a pretty damn good biologist.

Okay, I've joked on other blogs about the new TSA procedures and that the new machines and pat-downs won't detect explosives hidden in body cavities, and it's just a matter of time until we have to submit to a full body cavity search. Seems I'm not the only one who has thought of that (ACLU blog article on how the ACLU will oppose those, too, once they get here, which uses the same logic I did). The money shot, as usual, is at the end, "… but when Americans make that decision, they should do so with their eyes wide open, without any illusions that this will prevent all attacks on airliners, much less attacks on shopping malls or all the infinite number of other plots and targets that terrorists could come up with if they are not stopped by competent law enforcement and intelligence agencies." Yeah, that. Remember the conservative mantra of "fighting terrorism isn't a law enforcement issue"? So how come all the latest terrorist attack attempts in the US have been foiled by law enforcement?

December Harvest

Shivers.

Wednesday's links cry cold tears in a dry land

First up, all around hoopy frood and fellow VPXIIIer (The Fightin' 13th!) has her first published story up at Electric Spec. Go read and enjoy.

For the love of all that is holy, I'm going to be a writer. I think my heart just stopped. Bwahahaha!

The first time I met John Scalzi, okay the second time I talked with him, I mentioned something about wanting to be a writer. You could see the switch being thrown in the back of his head and any interest in continuing the conversation, on his part, went away right then. Too many people have had a similar conversation with him. Hell, I've had it too many times myself. (It was only after he discovered I was involved with a professional level critique group that I think I redeemed myself, somewhat.)

Sometimes, however (especially in the last half of this year), I feel like I'm playing the part of the male bear. Maybe not to that extent (and, yes, I've had very similar conversations, to varying degrees, but I can say I've had people hit the high notes in that video). At least I don't bring the rank cluelessness with me (I don't think I ever did, but then I also have a faulty memory and friends are welcome to correct me here).

The blog reader is up over a hundred again. And this is after I've knocked out all the reporting from Tor (really getting annoyed with seeing the same article pop up 3 or 4 times). Just not enough time in the world. And then when I do have time, it's spent trying to recoup instead of getting ahead. Including staying up late trying to relax instead of sleeping.

Here's an interesting poll. I wonder how many conservatives will be called out on just what the "will of the people" is when they talk about extending all the cuts. Permanently. Because, despite the headline of that report, the data shows a majority want either all the Bush Era Tax Cuts to expire, or at least do so for the wealthy. A majority larger that what the Republicans got voted into Congress with (even with gerrymandered districts). No. I doubt they will either. Your liberal media at work.

And a look inside to all those shiftless people hanging on the government dime, not really doing anything until their unemployment ends. Uh. Yeah. While the Democrats and Republicans gear up for another round of playing chicken with people's lives, I've been repeating to myself that many people in this country have never experienced social upheaval. If you think letting the tax cuts expire for the rich is the most horrible thing that will ever happen to them, you might want to reflect that at times in this world, when the poor went hungry and it looked like the burden wasn't being shared equally (as in, "as to your prosperity, so too your debt" or rajadharma) the rich were drug from their homes and at best were incarcerated by the new governments.

Look, I know a few people in the Tea Party movement. I've had some knock-down-drag-out conversations with them. So, yeah, I don't think all of them in the movement are idiots or racists. However, it seems to be a pattern that their titular leadership and most vocal supporters in public office keep outing themselves as such. Seriously, people, if you want me to take your movement seriously you're going to have to deal with this instead of ignoring it. That is, of course, as long as the TPM isn't actually just a front for social conservatism (which it's also appearing to be more and more). Going about saying, "We're about lower taxes (read as: "No Taxes!") and 'Constitutional Government' and we don't want to have any more platform than that," and then continue to put forward and elect these kinds of people, if you have the other stuff as your platform or not, you'll be known for it. The rest of us will fill out your platform for you by observing those people you put in office.

Come Cold December

And I haven't read the manual for the snowblower yet. Fortunately I never took the one scraper out of my car last year (thought about that on the drive in).

This is progress?

Pertaining to an earlier conversation on the existence of several sets of communities with their own laws (however we classify them as laws or "community standards"), the stay at home daughters movement. In this case, it's Vision Forum's version of "Biblical Law." Also pertains to arguments over how "subjective" and "punitive" Islamic/Sharia law in in regards to women (when actually it's nothing of the sort, and again, goes to community values that are given the imprimatur of Religion because, well, the majority of the community ascribes to a particular religion, even though the religion arrived after the practices were in place). Not as vile as genital mutilation, but still not anywhere near even pre-Enlightment thinking and really a degree of grayness (in this case, IMHO, the sexual slavery is still there, and scaring is mental instead of physical). It's also germane to my arguments on how the Right-To-Life Movement isn't actually about anti-abortion, but about rolling back feminism and the sexual revolution.

While the movement's numbers range into the tens of thousands (not very big), they are, by far, not the only group that espouse this tripe. So, yes, when people point outside and shout, "They're bad people," you now know why I refer to the beam in our own eye.

And, again, it's not religion. It's culture. It's a thousand year battle.