How to scare the neighborhood children

So, kids, eat all your vegetables and do well in school or you'll end up like this.

That's me in my new glasses. Not sure why I have that "frightened rabbit" look on my face (and this was the best of the few photos I tried). But this was me at the end of the work day yesterday. You can tell the time by how disheveled my hair looks. It's heading for the Baby Herman look, which means it must have been after 4pm. Man I need a haircut. I'm starting to look like the long-haired hippy freak I am inside.

Happy book day

Almost forgot to wish a lot of my friends Happy Book Day. The Modern Faes Guide to Surviving Humanity is out today. Congrats, everyone.

Linkee-poo has new glasses

And spent the lunch hour picking them up, so not much done today.

TREASURE! Five-hundred "new" fairy tales collected by the guy that gave the Brothers Grimm a run for their money. And there's an English translation in the works. I'll be in my bunk. (Grokked from phial, who sometimes comments here)

More on that habits thing I linked to earlier. This one is an interview on Fresh Air about the book The Power of Habit Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business by Charles Duhigg. I may have to put this on my list to read. His thesis is quite good, and his comments about how sometimes we really don't know why we have certain habits. I've known about cues and rewards for a long time (hey, I used to have more responsibilities for advertising, I'm not especially proud of it, but I always like to do good work). There are several bad habits I would like to break myself of. Wasting time in the evening on the internets is one of them (sorry, I like you all, I like posting and reading about you all, I like bringing you all cool stuff, but I'd much rather be writing fiction and poetry).

H.P. Lovecraft for beginning readers. Horton hears "ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

3D printed guitars. Oooo, pretty. Although I'd be interested in hearing how they sound. I know for electric guitars the body isn't supposed to add anything to the sound (Les Paul's first electric guitars were set on 2x4s and nicknamed "the Plank"). But for contrary information I submit the warmer sound and resonance of hollow body guitars (I used to play one). And for final proof, I only need point to Brain May (Dr. May to us). (Pointed to by Dan)

The fiction to reality timeline. I disagree with some of their "when it came into reality" (such as, I've been using voice activated computers since 1993 - a Mac 800AV - now, if they said "natural speech", then they have a point). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

In case you want to write near-future military fiction, it always helps to know the sum of all their fears. The new horizon of electronic warfare has the DoD worried. Remember back in the early 2000's when Donal Rumsfield was "revolutionizing" the Pentagon and put a priority on purchasing "off-the-shelf" technology to reduce costs (of both development and procurement)? Well, when you do that it turns out that many people can buy commercially available technology. Regulations to keep it out of the hands of people who mean to do us harm really don't present that high of a wall.

Alligator Quotient: Swimming in a sea of proto-leather on the claw.

Duty and Obligation

I debated being an agent of chaos, but in the end kept my registration intact. Plus, I know all the poll workers by first names. On the plus side, the guy in front of me was R, and his was the 4th R ballot. I was the 7th D ballot.

Scene from Last Night's Commute

Would have put this up last night, but as you could tell my piss and vinegar stores overfloweth.

Dear Rush Limbaugh,

Let me say first off that you can ignore me. I'm not a normal listener to your show. Mostly because I like to keep my intelligence intact and just a random sampling of your show and your viewers proves that would be impossible to do if I listened. But I do hear about your controversies, which seem to happen on a regular basis of about one every year and a half. You have a propensity for sticking your foot in your mouth, which is, I guess, better than the alternatives places you could be sticking either.

So take that into mind as I call you a despicable excuse for a bag of protoplasm to retain fetid water. You're not a poor excuse for a human being, you're a poor excuse for excrement. To call you a disgrace to thinking animals above the level of chameleons… whom I would rather spend time with instead of you, I'm sure our conversations would be more productive. The chameleon and me. I felt I needed to clarify that for you. Anyway, it would be an insult to the intelligence of chameleons everywhere to say that.

You called Sandra Fluke not only a slut, but a prostitute and someone who is only in school to have sex. And then you tried to apologize several times. But those weren't really apologies, and you're insulting our intelligence by trying to get us to think so.

And then you go on to say how you're the victim. You're only the victim of your own depraved mind. You're a sick, sexually obsessed, dirty old man. Saying you're sorry you used the words "slut" and "prostitute" but not the sentiment behind your slanderous statements. You stated that this student was having too much sex to pay for her own birth control. That she was doing it for money and wanted us to pay for it. And then you said that "we the people" should get the benefit of it by having her post web videos of her having sex.

Let me just say this for every woman I know, including my nieces who are still in college, you're whole commentary was an exposure of your depraved attitude towards women and your sense of entitlement. And I'm forced to ask, do you often watch sex videos on the internet? I'm just wondering because of how fast you got to that statement. Like you were building to something and needed the visual to finish. That any woman would want to be near you is an example of how messed up our society is. Frankly, I'm almost moved to get a restraining order against you on behalf of all women.

To say your mind is filled with more unwashed socks than the Grinch is to slander Dr. Suess, so I won't. But I will say your soul is full of gunk. Frankly I'm not sure that you don't leave a slime trail behind you like the bloated slug you resemble. That anyone would listen to your show and find it entertaining is an indictment on the modern education process.

So let me ask this. You're an "entertainer" and it's pretty obvious the only reason your "apologizing" is that 10 sponsors have pulled the plug. So you do it for the money. And I think you try to make the people who listen to you happy. So what does that make you? I'll leave you to your own logic.

You make me long for the olden days. Your olden days of puritainical rule and sensibilities. I would make the trip to Florida to throw rotten food at you in the pillories.

Pond scum feels sullied by the comparison to you. You're not an entertainer, your the neighborhood homeless guy on the corner shouting obscenities at the people in their cars. That you somehow duped people into giving you a radio show so you could spread your disease to more people is beyond my comprehension. I'm sure it involved drugs. The kind you used to take.

With all due respect, fuck off and die.

Yours,
Me

PS. I'll preemptively apologize. Some of my word choices weren't the most appropriate, and in my attempt to convey my point, I may have offended you. I sincerely apologies from the bottom of your black heart.

See how that doesn't work.

That I wasted my evening writing this scrib instead of study for my test on Wednesday can give you a measure of how much I'm pissed at this whole thing.

EDITED 03-06-11 I think what really gets to me is the pernicious mentality of social conservatives who ascribe to the old definition, "Conservatism: The fear that someone, somewhere, is having a good time."

And the mind set is very well portrayed in this youtube clip

Linkee-poo may be mad, may be blind, may be viciously unkind, but can still read what you're thinking

Elizabeth Bear on the writer's favorite pastime, waxing the cat. She gives the professional aspect to it. For me, setting up the clean room is a little too much. (Grokked from matociquala, which is kinda pointing in a circle, but I couldn't resist the joke, it's my own form of cat waxing)

Jennifer Crusie with with juice, glasses, and tables in Word. While I'm tempted to make jelly glass jokes, it's something of a serious matter. Look, you can be all full of piss and vinegar and then spill that out onto the page, but unless there is some structure there, nobody is going to get it. I'm a panster for most things. I'll pick a topic and run it to the ground. Most times. And if you are also a panster, go ahead and write the book that way. But you shouldn't rewrite that way. Or to carry her metaphor, one you squeeze the juice out, you better have it in a glass, because if you don't it's just liquid on the table top with no form. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)

Just for fun, if you're a fan of Neil Gaiman's Stardust (while the movie was entertaining, the book was way, way better), and who isn't, there's a site selling Tristan's sword (replicas). And by "selling" I mean they're on fire sale. It's a nice sword (and in case you didn't know, I loves me my sharp pointy things). If it had a basket hilt I would be hitting the buy button right now. With a basket hilt it would be very close to the schiavona, a type of sword that would have been carried by my ancestors. The schiavona is a mercenary's weapon. It is basically a basket hilted broadsword. Much of what you can find in reproductions are the Venetian version. That version was lighter, and thinner (and later) than the northern slavic style (the sword on sale goes in the opposite direction and is much wider). This wasn't a sword carried by dandies or for protection, it was a sword meant to slice through armor and kill, quickly. (Grokked from Neil Gaiman)

A cartoon explanation of the conservative position about gas prices. Reminds me when I hear the people here at work complain about gas prices when they drive the honkinest, biggest trucks (and never use them to haul anything). (Grokked from Morgan J Locke)

Chuck Wendig is enjoying Saladin Ahmed’s Throne of the Crescent Moon (which, BTW, has been generating a lot of buzz). And he's looking for more fantasy that breaks from the Tolkein/Celtic/Scandinavian realms of fantasy. If you know where he could get more of that same flavor, go tell him about it. Speaking of which, if you've already got your mitts on a copy, and you also need more of that same drug, Saladin is running a review contest and when book 2 comes out next year, you might win a copy before release date. Sure, it's a whole year between hits, but there might be Chuck is trying to find you some literary methadone to tide you over.

A UK view of the Limbaugh affair. I have to admit that I thought he went over the line with the "slut" comment, but that was the only part of his show that I heard about. Now that I've seen more of his comments, of which "slut" was the tip of the iceberg, an apology is not enough. Dear Rush Limburger (it's not clever, but it'll have to do for now), well, sirah, I would guess you would know about prostitutes. You know, having traveled to the islands with over 100 viagra pills and no female companionship traveling with you. No, you're not "just an entertainer," that much is sure. Entertainers are not the keynote speakers at political conventions, they're the warm up. And your time of pond scum politics has come to an end. Please don't let the door smack you in your sorry ass on the way out. We'd hate to give you one more jolly. Dear Conservatives, do you get it now? Or, conversely, how many times to we need to do this fire-drill before you all get it? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

I'm not sure this poll of Gov. Kasich's approval ratings shows what they think it does. Sure, his disapproval numbers are above 50, but follow the curve. It's amazing what happens when conservatives shut their yaps as Kasich has done since his ass was handed to him last November. It doesn't mean he's changed or see the errors of his ways, it's just he realizes that he needs to build the platform first before he wants to hang anybody out to dry.

Alligator Quotient: Approaching the neck. Anybody got water wings I can borrow?

Linkee-poo shifts into Sunday gear

How to think like an editor.

Neil Gaiman make my heart ache to get back into a writing routine. Well, at least I can live the "writer's life" vicariously through him and my writer friends.

Maybe Romney could say he voted for it before he voted against it? The it in this case being the individual mandate. Seems he wrote a USA Today editorial basically outlining the individual mandate and telling President Obama that it worked in MA, so it should work for everybody. You got some 'splainin to do, Lucy. Maybe Romney will also finally tell the conservatives that the individual mandate was the brain child of the Heritage Institute. But then that would have to acknowledge that accurate history isn't what the conservatives have been telling themselves. Might as well also tell the conservatives that Ronnie Reagan raised taxes 11 times after he realized his tax cuts were killing the economy and reduced tax receipts. You can say it all you want, and point out the actual history, but they'll never believe you.

Because I'm tired of the conservative mantra, "We get death threats for speaking the 'truth'." Yeah, well, so does everybody. And considering that there are conservative attorneys general who have been pursuing climate change witch hunts, I'm not all that sympathetic. And if you're a union organizer, well it's even worse. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

(It's possible that) One out of every ten Wall Street employees is a psychopath. Knock me over with a feather. Having dealt directly with top management in companies, especially financial companies, their claim of 4% of executives are psychopaths might be a little low. Also, I'll note here that the clinical view of psychopaths differs from the popular view. It's too bad that executives and Wall Streeters are going to sully the popular opinion of psychopaths even more. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Alligator Quotient: They're waiting at work. I can feel their breath form here.

Linkee-poo is blowing in the wind

Tobias Buckell's latest novel, Artic Rising is reviewed by Alan Cheuse on NPR's All Things Considered. Well done, Tobias. Congrats.

Ezra Klien on the submerged welfare state. A social study that most people who benefit from a government program don't realize they have benefited from the government largess. With how those programs reach to the top income levels. Lot of good statistics to show just where the problem lies. Tax expenditures. (Grokked from Patrick Nielsen Hayden on Making Light)

Well, that didn't take long. Yep, we wouldn't have these school shootings only if we had a prayer first. What is incredibly sad is there are many who will nod their heads at this non sequitur argument as if it wasn't the deep pile of horse shit that it is. (Grokked from Vince)

Here's an editorial on CNN about why evangelicals love Ricky Santorum and hated JFK. But I was struck by this quote from JFK's famous speech. "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president -- should he be Catholic -- how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote, where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him." So, how do we stand on that? Let's see, we now have ministers violating their tax-free status to advocate for political candidates (and even more so for party votes) from the pulpit. Check. We now have wide spread voucher programs than funnel public money to private religious schools. And we've removed the barriers for churches to get public funds for their (what used to be called ministerial) outreach programs and to help rebuild "historic" churches. Check. And do I need to remind anybody of Mitt Romney and his Mormonism (or the "ZOMG, Obama attends a 'radical' church)? Check. So, for four basic precepts we now have gone past incorporating 3 of them into public life. Only that first one, that a Catholic prelate would tell a President how to act, is left to be broken. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Linkee-poo knows that smoking ain't allowed in school

Still up to my tuckus in alligators, so not a lot today. However, I do have a question. Some people's blogs have various through themes like, "How I feel today", "What music is on the iPod", "What's on my screen right now", or "What my cat left on the doorstep today." I'd like to do the "Tweet of my heart" everyday, but sometimes I can't read my twitter feed all that much. And frankly, sometimes you all aren't the most witty, or the comment doesn't translate without lots of context. You're letting me down. I meant to mention this earlier, during our annual review, but I was distracted by what my cat left on my doorstep. So, I was thinking about "Alligator Quotient:" with various levels. I mean we have so many words for "ass" that even just that level could be exciting. Alligator Quotient: It's up to my Santorum. See, I can always do something with that. Sound interesting? Boring as crap, just give us the links? My auntie was et' by an alligator, so not for me?

Random House raises their library ebook prices. I believe most of the headlines I've seen state that librarians are "in a state of shock." It's sure to reignite the whole, "ebooks should cost zip" vs "it's a fucking business with overhead" debate.

Pengiun releases the artist's way app. And it's free. Might have to check that out (read that book many, many moons ago, and mostly from a visual designer re-energizing my creativity aspect).

Tor.com reviews The Dresden Files. I agree with most of what they say. It was a great little show, based in a loose way on the books by Jim Butcher. There were some significant changes, but I saw most of them necessary to translate to the small screen (plus, I liked the hockey stick wizard's staff). The dumbed down a lot of the baddies, which I think made for a world that had much less depth than the books. I didn't see this when it was on, but after falling in love with the books (which I listened to while finishing up Bladesman) I got the DVDs. My wife loved them, btw. And it was good to see a full-on alternative reality show that got most of the parts right.

Chuck Wendig on 25 ways to unfuckify your story. As usual with Chuck, don't read if easily offended by profanity and strange porn references. Might have to reread this whenever I get to editing things again. And I think I have a new phrase, "25. Go all Dalek on their asses."

In the US, antiauthoritarianism is often diagnosed as a mental disease and medicated. And then there's the study that stock traders are more reckless than psychopaths. "Instead of taking a sober and businesslike approach to reaching the highest profit, 'it was most important to the traders to get more than their opponents,' (the research leader) explained." Note yesterday's comment about not being rich because someone else always has more money. (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

Story Bones

Because the Muse demands I share it, but I really like where it takes me. Sigh, not enough time in the world.

"The word is difficult," he said with that accent John had never been able to place. "In your language, it is very flexible and fluid. Where you would take 6 or 8 words in context to convey all of an emotion, sight, or quality, in most cases we have one word. Ours is a precise language."

I see it as a lot of "lost in translation" story of cultural clashes. Sometimes it's the silences that speak louder than any megaphone could. And sometimes, someone can be showing you the clue, and you can completely miss it.

Linkee-poo is thinking of lamb stew

Since there was an advertising link the other day, I thought I'd point out this NPR story on the Power of Habit and how the most successful advertising affects your habits.

Hal Duncan on how to write a sentence of narrative. Rewriting a line from the Eye of Argon. It's a fairly detailed dissection of how to write effectively, clearly and purposefully. Food for thought (I'll need to go back and reread this one). (Grokked from Elizabeth Shack)

Freakonomics with bad news for people with hard-to-pronounce names. At one of my first conventions I was having a conversation that included David Hartwell. The part of that event that remains with me is his oblique reference to, "some authors should use pseudonyms." To quote Bender, "We're boned." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Follow your bliss. I need to keep remembering that. (Grokked from Joe Hill)

"7. If you are given a choice, you believe you have acted freely. This is one of the darkest of all psychological secrets." Teller, of Penn and Teller, shares some of his secrets. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Sure, you can trust the government. Just ask the closest Indian. (And the joke relates to Native Americans, not people from the Indian Sub-continent)

The rich are different. Or, at least, they're more unethical. At least that's what socio-economic research shows. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"'People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress,' said Alan Dlugash, a partner at (an) accounting firm… who specializes in financial planning for the wealthy. 'Could you imagine what it’s like to say I got three kids in private school, I have to think about pulling them out? How do you do that?'" That's right, people who don't have money can't relate to the loss of privilege and "status markers" because their too busy trying to figure out how they'll feed those kids next week. And let's be honest, it's not like you're going to send your kids to public school, they just won't be going to the most prestigious private school. Aw, bonuses are "down" (for certain values of "down") and the privileged just are sure how they're going to keep it in caviar and champaign. Well, as I put on a funny poster for work, "Brighten up, Sunshine. At least you've got a job." Oh yes, brother, we're all feeling the pinch. (Also note the recurring line of, "I'm not rich because other people have more money than I do," I've been hearing that a lot lately) How much have bonuses shrunk? About 14%, taking them to "almost pre-2008 levels." My heart bleeds, man. (Grokked from Jason Sanford)

In regards to that story, this week Marketplace has been running stories about the lower class mobility, where exactly is the "middle class" (since everyone, from those making $20k to $500k say they're middle class), they're new wealth and poverty news tracker, and they've also had some radio diaries of people grouped into those categories (working poor, middle class, better than most). It's always interesting to see how people view themselves in relation to society at large.

Tweet of my heart:
@msagara: @pnh Almost no one works in any aspect of publishing because they want to get rich. It starts from what books mean to them…