Bad Writer - no cookie

This post is to guilt me. If you're not interested in self flagellation, just skip and we'll see you again tomorrow.

So Saturday was a waste, but I wanted to get some writing done on Sunday. That didn't really happen. I spent the day puttering and moaning. I was in a lot of pain. Anyway, between being up and down and taking care of cats, no writing got done. I also expected a little writing tonight. Unfortunately after I got home and took care of the cats, it was 8 by the time I started to make dinner. So no writing tonight either (and I just remembered that I need to find a letter before tomorrow morning). And I'm really tired.

So, no words down either (except on a 4x6 card that I took some notes on). Bad writer, no cookie.

But, I did get the scrivener file copied to dropbox, which I wanted to get done yesterday. So, small movements.

Linkee-poo orders the Pu-pu platter

There's a lot from Jay Lake in here. I'm getting close to catching up, so I expect that might continue for the next two linkee-poos. Sorry.

Eric goes more intellection than that subject as he reviews Prometheus. "Prometheus aims for being 2001 and somehow manages to miss the target well short of Star Trek: The Motion Picture…" I'll admit here, I wasn't all that hip to see P, although I might of, just to keep current with the genre. But now I might wait for it to hit the deep discount bin (not just based on Eric's review, but on the preponderance of other reviews I've seen).

On one front, North Carolina finally admits it should look at sea level rise in a scientific manner. (Grokked from Jay Lake) I guess the North Carolina Senate’s Agriculture, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee was upset realizing "Regulations based on sea level projections would mean more area that is currently oceanfront would not be available for development, given that it's likely to end up under water by century's end." You can read that as, "Oh noes, we won't get rich people to buy houses and our tax base will crash!" Here I'll also note, flood insurance is a federal program, so they would be putting you and me on the hook for the loss. And on the other front, Virginia goes into retrograde about the whole issue. (Pointed to by Dan) It's also about a sea level rise. But we can't call it that, because apparently "'sea level rise' is a 'left-wing term' that conjures up animosities on the right." So while conservatives dicker about the language because they've taken stances that they can't defend (which is the only reason "sea level rise" is a "left-wing term" in their minds, instead of a scientifically valid term), "(a)lready, 5 percent to 10 percent of the city’s lowest-lying neighborhoods have heavy flooding. The world’s largest naval base, based in Norfolk, is spending hundreds of millions to replace piers to withstand rising water. Yet they manage to make no mention of climate change or sea level rise in their response strategy." I guess I should be happy that at least they're doing something about it. Not like they have a choice.

Holy shades of the body snatchers, the corpse flower, a parasite, has appropriated genes from its host. More proof that the world we live in is stranger than we can ever imagine. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"(N)early a fifth of all the power generated in California — as well as huge quantities of natural gas and diesel fuel consumed in the state — goes into water-related uses. You might call that report, entitled California’s Water-Energy Relationship, as The Great Wake-Up Call." Yes, the numbers do becomes staggering when you start to look at the infrastructure and what it cost. Especially if you live in a frackin' desert. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)

A look at US politics insanity from across the pond. "Then again, (Republican obstructionism to pull the economy down to use it to defeat President Obama) a hard accusation to prove… there is circumstantial evidence to make the case. Republicans have opposed… stimulus measures that once they supported, such as a payroll tax break… Even unemployment insurance, a relatively uncontroversial tool… has been consistently held up by Republicans… Ten years ago, prominent conservatives were loudly making the case for fiscal stimulus to get the economy going; today, they treat such ideas like they're the plague… Traditionally… Republicans have been supportive of loose monetary policy. Not this time… then, there is the fact that since the original stimulus bill passed in February of 2009, Republicans have made practically no effort to draft comprehensive job creation legislation. Instead, they continue to pursue austerity policies, which reams of historical data suggest harms economic recovery and does little to create jobs. In fact, since taking control of the House of Representatives in 2011, Republicans have proposed hardly a single major jobs bill that didn't revolve, in some way, around their one-stop solution for all the nation's economic problems: more tax cuts." Look out conservatives, your slip is showing. It's a long article with lots of data points which ends up acknowledging that the person who sits in the White House is the one who gets blamed, no matter who did the screwing up. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Another view from across the pond, "Perhaps Limbaugh is hoping that his harsh words will prevent anyone from noticing he's one of an increasingly large number of multi-millionaires rooting for and donating to fellow multi-millionaire Miit Romeny's campaign." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Some state courts say: We do not have the power under state law to render a decision about a decision we're not allowed to recognize…" Another reason why DOMA is unconstitutional and why this silliness regarding same sex marriage (and the use of the word "marriage") needs to end. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Tweet of my heart: @rhodri: The way I now consume news: a) See jokes about a story on Twitter b) Try to work out what the story is c) Find story d) Understand jokes

Alligator Quotient: It would appear alligators, like Garfield, don't like Mondays either.

Linkee-poo is late

Elizabeth Bear reminds me to post (by way of a general tweet, because she's subtle that way) that Dr. Debra Doyle is offering editorial services for writers. "She's good at it." And I agree. I didn't get much time to spend with her at VP, but I wish I had.

Jennifer Crusie on the importance of the words. I will admit I've offered alternative words on some critiques. However, if it's more than a single word, I'll often just write, "I think these need to be rewritten. It's just not working/powerful/clear enough for me." However, as always, it's up to the writer if they agree or not. Same on my end. If you want to suggest something, go ahead. There's often times than I know there's a better word, but I just can't get it out of the fog. However, don't be upset when I don't take your suggestion.

Vince continues the Bradbury memorial by sharing a quote about writing.

Fred Clark is wise and snarky (as is his wont), about Peter's vision and whether it nullified Moses' Laws as regarding Christians or had a much narrower interpretation. Of course the argument is germane as some people claiming Christianity like to talk about who is unclean and an abomination while accepting that the vast majority of other Old Testament Laws are null and void. Or as I like to say, if you pull out OTLs, and you're not kosher, you're doing it wrong.

Rachel Maddow with intentional lying from Mitt Romney. And this is the conservative candidate (not like I expected the others to be better, but still). (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Tweet of my heart: @newsbiscuit: Children warned name of first pet should contain 8 characters and a digit

Lessons learned

So, what are the lessons learned from what has been happening?

Unions, you know how you considered the economic issues and made the deals about how you'd put off immediate salary increases for protecting your benefits because you saw that they could plan out future expenses better than getting an immediate pay? Yeah. Fuck 'em. See how they're just taking your benefits away anyway? So next time, don't be so considerate. Go for the benefits and the pay increases.

Union Employees, you know how everybody else really wants you to have the crappy deal we all get in the public sector, but without the increased pay that is in the public sector? Fuck 'em. Get jobs in the public sector that will pay you better.

Public Sector Employees, you know how you think you're "paying all your benefits" and not getting any government services for your tax dollars? Yeah. Fuck 'em. 'Cause now you're going to find out just how much more you'll have to pay for your benefits (because you're not actually paying the full freight). And there'll be no options to get anything better. Hope you don't get sick and that you're saving 15-25% of your current take home pay for retirement. Crossing my fingers for you.

Industry, you know how you think you're winning by eliminating pay and benefit standards of which you look weak in comparison? Yeah. Fuck 'em. You can pay people less and less and let some other schmuck pay the wages that keeps the money rolling into your profit distributions. Because, wait a sec, no, that's not going to happen. Hope you get all you can out of the business before it closes up shop because nobody wants to pay anybody without a VP or higher title any wage that's livable.

Long Day

Sorry folks. It's been a long day for Steve. It started with an early trip to the airport, followed by doing some home improvement as a surprise for my wife (she doesn't read blogs, so her finding out from here isn't an issue). The surprise has two distinct parts that are related, but could be separated. I finished the one today (or mostly finished, I've got two small to complete tomorrow. I was thinking about doing the second part tomorrow, but given how badly my knees feel and how wiped out I am, I don't think it's going to happen I'll hurt my knees a little tomorrow, finishing up, but if I do the second part, I have a feeling they'll be bleeding by the end of the day. Plus, I'd like to have most of a day off. That would be the first day in four weeks (yes, I did a lot of Memorial Day). Anyway, I didn't even eat dinner until 9:30. I can't do that tomorrow.

But that's what I did, and it took all day. So I couldn't play on the intertubies today. Sorry about that.

As an FYI, I wrote some extra post this week and have them scheduled for today and tomorrow. Just in case you're wondering on how I could be away, but still post.

The Insanity of Geese

Why the conservative message wins. See, Democrats swept into power in the Congress because "the people" knew that what the Republicans were doing wasn't working. So, hey, let's give these other people a try and see how they do it. So how can conservatives run on what is basically Bush Era Economic Policy (you know, the one that got us into so much trouble in the first place) and be gaining traction? Well, the talking heads will say that people really want conservative values and President Obama is taking us away from them, yadda yadda yadda, same old crap. And it's bull. People are back to the "what the people in power are doing isn't working, hey, let's give these people a try and see how they do it." Most people just don't give a good goddamn about monetary policy, taxing strategies (just promise to cut our taxes, though, even if it's on 1% for us and 10% for the 1%), fiscal maturity, or any real economic theory that works.

Conservatives know this (they are working hard at keeping the "low information voters" from not voting, or from becoming informed votes). Progressives, by and large, haven't caught on to the trick. It isn't that conservative policy is "better", it's that it is "different" from what we're doing now (don't confuse them by trying to tell them deficits are down, the current policies will lower them faster than what conservatives are talking about, and taxes are the lowest they've ever been for the vast majority of people still working), and they don't see what we're doing now as working (fast enough). They don't see it as a pendulum swinging. It's just that banging on this side of the TV isn't bringing in the signal better, so we'll try the other side, not understanding that banging the TV won't improve the reception no matter where you hit it.

Linkee-poo wants to check you for ticks

Another quick linkee-poo. Sorry folks, the day thing is descending into madness.

Avram Grumer brings us a real life incident of how we're living in the future but that SF writers aren't keeping up. Do we need to keep talking about how a cell phone call would destroy most thrillers, or does everybody get it by now?

The humble light bulb and the engineering behind it. Probably more than you ever wanted to know, but still cool science. (Pointed to by John)

One of my many experiences is arguing with Cleveland Science Center staff over whether the tides influence Lake Erie. They have (or had, it's been a while since I've been through there) a game show set up that tests your scientific knowledge. It may come as no surprise that after 15 of 20 questions, I was leading the pack. And then they had the question, "Are the Great Lakes affected by Moon tides?" And in my own Sheldon moment, I answered, "Yes, because everything, including you and your house and the rocks in mountains are affected by the tide." There is a measurable bulge in the Earth caused by the Moon (and the Sun, to a lesser extent). Now, it's not as big as ocean tides, but it's there. And I thought they were trying to trick us. Their answer was, "No, the rise and fall of the lakes is due to wind action." But I am right. In fact, the Large Hadron Collider needs to take this affect into account. (Grokked from thc1972)

The risk of taking too much acetaminophen (Tylenol). I'm sure this is meant to be about the conversation on pain control, and it's great that we're asking how much people are taking. But did anyone ask why they're taking that much? From anecdotal evidence I can point to two factors, 1) the government continues to "crack down" on prescription pain control medication (based on their "estimates of what we should be using vs what is being prescribed" - for some controlled substances, the fed limits how much can be produced in a year, including precursor ingredients - another casualty in the War on Drugs) and 2) we are not built for our modern life style (postures and chemical/noise/energy exposures) and we are in pain. But because of #1 we can't cope with #2 in a proper manner, so we take too many over the counter pills. And in other pill news, the research shows that birth control pills don't actually "prevent blastocysts from implanting" as is the common myth from the Pro-Life side. And here's the whispered side note, that's because we often really don't know how drugs are working, we just see that they are (not all, especially the modern highly target drugs). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"'It think (getting a job) been exacerbated by the recession,' Cappelli said. 'Employers feel that they shouldn’t have to pay as much. I think we’ve gotten used to the idea that wages don’t go up.'" Well, unless you're working in top management. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Taxing sugary drinks like tobacco products is gaining more momentum. The initiate probably still won't pass, but it'll get closer. (Pointed to by Dan)

Alligator Quotient: Okay, they've forgotten how to play poker, but they remember euchre? How weird is that reptilian mind anyway?

Check Check

I this thing on? (Just checking a twitter feed folks) Rice Checks, Wheat Checks, Checks Mix.

Edited In a IRC conversation with a friend today, they talked about how they keep missing when I post. So with their help I set up an IFTT rule to post a tweet whenever I post here on the blog. IFTT is pretty cool with software that watches your feeds and performs actions based on rules (on a classic "if then do" structure). So I might be trying out various things. However, I think this rule will be the only one that ties back to the blog. However I may set up a twitter rule to cross post to Facebook.

Linkee-poo sank Manhattan out to sea

Chuck Wendig and 25 ways to fight your story's mushy middle. And just in time too as I transfer from the quick first act to a longer second act to get to the Orpheus in the Underworld third act. I'll have to read this again, tonight. There are thought worms writhing in my head because of this. Rereading may help turn them into Spice. The Spice must flow.

Well, AFP is calling it as it is. Look, we spent a whole hellofalotta money in WI, and we won! We bought your election, bitch. And now we'll buy the Presidency, too. Yeah for us.

"Well, get ready to add another entry to e-voting's list of woes… One Bender Bending Rodríguez was elected to the 2010 school board in Washington DC… This was not some nefarious attack from a group of rogue hackers: The DC school board actually dared hackers to crack its new Web-based absentee voting system four days ahead of the real election. University of Michigan professor Alexander Halderman, along with two graduate students, did the deed within a few hours." (Pointed to by John)

Fred Clark asking (and sharing an answer) who were the apocalypses written for? Of some relevance to the WIP. Also, whenever someone tells me in person about how Revelations is coming to pass, I respond, "Nero is long dead. We are in the end time already."

The 32 innovations that will change your tomorrow. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Speaking of which, how about a morphic screen which can give you physical buttons on a touch screen? (Grokked from Tobias Buckell)

"Darling was right. There is voter fraud being committed before elections, but what he omitted is that it is Republicans who are engaging in the fraud… The voter fraud claims are a smokescreen to cover up Republican efforts to suppress the vote, while engaging in their own voter fraud. The only voter fraud problem we have in this country is Republicans denying citizens their right to vote." (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Alligator Quotient: They're babbling in tongues, trying to confuse me and succeeding.

Death Is a Lonely Business

Lots of people are continuing their remembrances of Ray Bradbury and sharing how they first came to know him. I have to admit I was late to Bradbury. I probably had read something of his when I was younger, and I saw the movies of Fahrenheit 451 and Something Wicked This Way Comes (to this day, I remember the library confrontation scene, I can close my eyes and see Jonathan Pryce ripping the pages out of the book) and enjoyed them immensely. There's so much I read in high school and college that I've forgotten. There was a series of books with covers by the Brothers Hildebrandt. I don't even remember the title of those, but I remember the covers most vividly. That's not unusual. For me, one of my blind spots is being able to connect authors names, titles, and story lines together (I remember them, but for some reason they're not attached in my head).

But it wasn't until my junior year in college that I bought a copy of the Vintage Bradbury from the college book store (no doubt denying a student enrolled in the class it was assigned reading for their copy). I had just finished reading everything (and I mean everything) Arthur C. Clarke had written up to that point for a paper in independent studies in fiction (a 400 level course). The paper explored how the godhead was portrayed throughout his works (God shows up a lot in Clarke's works, BTW).

I was going on a trip to Europe to see my uncle and wanted a little light reading material. I remembered Bradbury's name, and I already had a profound interest in SF/F. I knew Bradbury was a BNA, even back then (before I started paying attention to these things), I think I vaguely knew he wrote F541. The Vintage Bradbury was one of 3 books I took.

It was near the end of the flight over when I grabbed it out of my carryon. Being the contrary cuss I was (am?), I opened it to the last story, There Will Come Soft Rains, and read that first. It was, no shit, the first short story that I remember knowing the author, title, and story line all together without having to study and repeat the mantra of those keywords over and over. Then I turned to the middle and read The Small Assassin and The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl, And I was hooked.

By the end of that vacation I had read all the stories at least once (and it was a very active vacation, not a "sit on the beach and read" vacation). Some of them I read three times. I had never done that before. At most if I was having a test on the reading I might have read a short story twice, and only begrudgingly (the only novels I had read more than once up to these was the The Lord of the Rings, which I think I had read 3 times by then). That summer I devoured everything I could find by Bradbury (R is for Rocket, S is for Space, The Golden Apples of the Sun). And by the end of summer I was complaining about why I hadn't done my paper on Bradbury instead.

There was a chance in college I could have met him, but at that point I was still stupid and didn't think you could actually met the authors and stars you loved. They lived someplace else. A Shangri La that was always in dappled sunlight and you could pick ripe oranges from the trees whenever you wanted one. Later in life I did have the opportunity to see him and I took it. I went with friends. He was in a wheel chair by then, and the event staff kept him well walled off to those who hadn't paid the extra premium price. He was available for a short time to sign books (the tables set up had a few I hadn't found before, including The Zen of Writing, so I had some he could sign, again I was stupid and didn't realize I could bring my own books for him to sign). But the crowd was too large, and many people went home disappointed (even some who were in line, Ray wasn't in the best of health at the time).

I think I've read most of the fiction he wrote. It's rare I find anything new. And while not everything has stuck in my head (like the parents worried about the distant roars of the lions in that first story or the jealousy of the first Martian to met humans), I remember the words, the prose poetry tapestry he wove. How he didn't need to show everything (you don't see the parents being killed, or the Martian shooting the astronauts in their silver ships with a gun that buzzed with quiescent killer bees). It is the verbal equivalent of Hitchcock's "the horror in your head is much worse than what I can show you" concept. It is the shadows dancing on the cave wall that drives the thirst for the sunlight. It is the ambrosia of fresh mown lawns and a summer in Greentown that will last forever, the feel of new sneakers on your feet. So fleet until the Autumn People come again and steal the warmth of life so thoroughly, it takes half a year to remember it again.

Linkee-poo closes the door to the Green Veldt room

To go against the "write every day mantra" (of which I wish I could do, and maybe I'll get into the swing of that by the end of summer), write some days/write when you can. Before things went insane, I did have a day job, and the councilman work, and I still got a book written somewhere in between. It just takes a lot longer (and it's a lot harder).

NPR's summer fantasy reading list. (Grokked from Saladin Ahmed, who is featured)

Don't forget to wear your sunscreen. Having had my first sarcoma removed almost a year ago, yes this. Which, personal note, with my medical exam yesterday I was asked if I ever had cancer and I replied "No." About 3 hours after I did that I realized, why, yes I have had cancer. Sigh. The games our brain plays on us. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Remember when Google followed their "Do no evil" mantra? Yeah, it's been a long time ago for me as well. Also, remember when Google was a search engine not an ad delivery device? Yeah, me neither. (Pointed to by Dan)

In case you're wondering why Flame has people wigged out, here's a list of what it can collect (that we know about). (Pointed to by John)

An immigration protestor is lead out of a Romney Texas Townhall. Ironically, it's while Romney kept going on about how freedom has helped make America strong. Apparently the freedom to dissent from conservative ideals isn't one he supports.

"As I said, for all practical purposes this is already a Republican economy." Paul Krugman telling the secret that news organizations don't really want to hear. Including that we're making the same mistakes as FDR did, which exacerbated the Great Depression (not by Presidential choice, but by the obstructionist Congress). (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Vic Eliason is 76 years old… That may seem too old to be hosting a show called 'Voice of Christian Youth,' but you have to remember that Eliason wasn’t born until hundreds of years after the 17th century he’s trying to drag us back to. Compared to Cotton Mather, he’s still just a kid." Fred Clark on a little of the absurdist humor being peddled as insightful commentary on Christian Radio these days. Also with a side bit on serial "Those People" Hater Bryan Fischer. Want to know what's wrong with Evangelical Wackaloon Christianity in America today? There's your answer. Yes, I know not all Christians believe these ignoramuses or even have heard of them, but these are leaders in their community, spokespeople for large organizations, "mass co-mun-i-ca-ton'" as it were, not some backwoods snake-handlers.

One more conservative looks around and doesn't like what he sees in the conservative party. Our side isn't all that much better, but at least we don't get spittle-flecked when arguing. And we don't venerate the more vociferous of our clan, we tend to keep them at the edges of the tent. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

The October Country

Ray Bradbury has gone back to Greentown, IL. In that idealized small town, there's now one more child running wild through the streets, shops, clapboard houses, and fields with a brand new pair of sneakers that will last all Summer long. A Summer eternal. He'll listen as the wind brings him snippets of radio shows, walls glow from the hearth-fires of black and white TVs, none of which he'll really pay attention to. He'll sneak out of the window and run through the night, watch the carnival set up in abandoned fields outside of town, smell the corn ripening, and chew sweet grass as clouds scuttle past making fantastical shapes in the sky. He'll listen to distant rocket thunder. He'll watch his world turn green and play the game, and he knows the secrets all boys know. Never trust adults and you're only alive for a short while, be alive now.

RIP, Ray Bradbury. Yes, I know all about how your politics near the end disturbed people. But you're a great writer, and I'll miss not seeing new stories from you.

I picture him now, on Mars with all the other great writers of history, living with their creations. "Live forever," Mr. Electro, the living lightning-rod, told him. As long as we remember and keep reading him, and as long as our dreams are filled with the stars and a small town the USA could have been, he will.

Thanks, Ray, for everything.