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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jlassen |
| 2008-05-14 15:24 |
| Polar Bears get fucked by Bush administration |
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After a federal judge ruled that the the adminstration was illegally dragging its feet in not making a decicioin, the department of the interior says
"This has been a difficult decision, but in light of the scientific record and the restraints of the inflexible law that guides me, I believe it was the only decision I could make."
He want to to assure industry that the threatened designation will not actually change anything... Drilling and mining will still go on in Polar Bear Habitats, and this designation can not be used as a tool to force limits on green house gas emissions, even though that is preciously what is endangering the Polar Bears.
Read all about it here.
So, to recap -- A judge ruled the Administration was illegally withholding classification, and giving away mining and drilling rights while doing so. Adminstration is forced to classify bear as threatened, but it admits up front that it won't actually do anything... in fact it took special pains to introduce rules that apply specifically to the polar bear so that nothing needs to be done.
Once again, the administration is shuffling the chairs on the deck of the titanic, claiming "Nothing to see here."
Fucking vampire polar bears need to eat Dick Cheney and G. W. Bush in their sleep. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne should be forced to feed his own intestines to baby polar bears for his chicken shit statements and refusal to actually follow the law.
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| dkolodji |
| 2008-05-14 18:00 |
| Chaparral Poets Convention Haiku Workshop |
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April swam by too fast with almost too many poetry events. I never did mention the haiku workshop I did for the California Federation of Chaparral Poets in Ontario.
John Amen, Deborah P Kolodji, Lee Collins
Three members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association were presenters, as was kingfisher1031, Katarina Canyon, and Sharon Hawley. On Friday evening, John Amen, the publisher of The Pedestal Magazine did a workshop on image. He started with an exercise where we were to choose between anxiety, anger, and sadness as the emotion which best described how we felt at the moment. Then, we were to brainstorm images that were connected with that emotion, eventually writing a poem on that image. He then repeated the exercise with a choice between happiness, excitement, and peace. I ended up writing a poem about traffic on the freeway for "anxiety" and a poem about a Japanese garden for "peace." It was an interesting exercise because it was completely backwards from the way I usually write. I usually start with the image, not the emotion. On Saturday morning, Katarina Canyon did a workshop about dreams and I ended up writing yet another freeway poem - this one a nightmare poem about taking the curve too fast on the northbound ramp from the 134 freeway west to the 2 north (which is entirely way too high!) and going over the edge. No, I've never done this, but I once actually dreamed about it (more than once) over twenty years ago. In the dream, my ex-husband was driving and I was a passenger. kingfisher1031 followed next with a writing exercise based upon chapbooks of his poetry which he distributed to attendees. We were supposed to take one of his poems and then use it as a model for a new poem. I used a poem of his called "Poem" which started with the words "I am not...." In the afternoon, a group of high school kids from Northern California put on a workshop which involves several stations of writing prompts - stuffed animals, postcards, lines from poems, etc. In the early evening, I did my haiku workshop. Some people got back late from dinner so I only had about 45 people in the room, but it still turned out to be a wonderful experience. Doing a haiku workshop in a larger crowd is interesting, but I learned a lot from doing it. I focused on "kigo" - season words. Because we were indoors in a business conference style room, it was difficult to use the native fauna as inspiration, so I gave them "April poetry" as a kigo (a shorter way to refer to National Poetry Month). I then told them to write down "April poetry" on their paper. After that, I told them to look around and write down what they saw as one line written over two short ones: the woman in the red hat/bites her nails or the man counts/ syllables on his fingers I then told them to combine them with the April poetry line, using "April poetry" as either the first or third line, for example: April poetry the woman in the red hat bites her nails or the man counts syllables on his fingers April poetry This is just one of the many tricks I tried with them to try to get them to get the feel and flow of haiku. My session lasted from 6:30 to 7:55. I was followed by Lee Collins who did a workshop on humorous poetry. He was followed by Sharon Hawley who shared her poems and images from her recent cross-country bicycle trip. She rode her bicycle from Maryland to California. Poets and Writers funded the speaker's fees with a grant, so we all got paid!
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A Memory Meme:
1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
What were you doing ten years ago?
I'd just graduated from Roanoke College--which was depressing not just because I'd enjoyed it (after an extra-long time getting there...I didn't start till I was two months shy of 25 years old), but also because I'd felt like I'd wasted a lot of my time there (as in not spending very much of it with the friends I'd made there--this didn't have anything to do with "I was too busy studying", by the way), and I was dreading my student teaching. Thanks to the student teaching, though, I was able to hold on to my two much-loved campus jobs: managing editor of the Roanoke Review, and a dispatcher for the campus police (a job I got with alemya's help).
What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order):
1. Write another Appalachian-themed or -set poem.
2. Dread our first freshman orientation session, coming Saturday.
3. Post a locked LJ entry about my future educational prospects.
4. Get dinner.
5. Oh yeah, and work, since I'm at the library tonight.
What are some snacks you enjoy?
Homestead Creamery ice cream
Spicy Nacho Cheese Doritos
Hershey Bars dipped in peanut butter. ("You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!" all over again)
Graham crackers
Extra sharp cheddar cheese
What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Buy lots of books. Oh wait, I do that already. OK, built a nearly or completely self-sufficient community that already has an invite list waiting, complete with lots of land deep in the mountains. Donate large sums of money to animal rescue organizations and to restore the St. Francis De Sales school in Rock Castle, Virginia. Buy and reopen Virginia's Explore Park, along with rebuilding the late great SW Virginia amusement park known as Lakeside. Fund private space exploration. Join the Bilderbergers. Find out what the government really knows about UFOs.
What are three of your bad habits?
Procrastination. Writing memes instead of real content. Spending too much time living in my head.
What are five places where you have lived?
1. Vinton, VA
2. Buchanan, VA
3. Frederick, MD
4. Aldie, VA
5. Glade Hill, VA
What are five jobs you have had?
1. Literary magazine managing editor, Roanoke College / Roanoke Review
2. Campus police dispatcher, Roanoke College
3. Park attendant, Virginia's Explore Park
4. Naval defense contractor, CACI
5. College librarian, Ferrum College
What six people do you want to tag?
Erm--anyone who wants to play?
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| scbutler |
| 2008-05-14 17:49 |
| The Edge of Reason |
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A big shout out for Melinda Snodgrass's The Edge of Reason, which just came out yesterday from Tor. It's a great book with a great idea, an interesting take on the how and why of several thousand years of religion here on good old Earth, and a great story to boot. Melinda has an essay up on Scalzi's blog which provides a snapshot of why she wrote the book. Check it out.
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I consider Dark Dungeons to be one of the most awesome Chick tracts if not comic books in the world. The fact that it was first mailed to me by my Aunt Sharon as a way of getting me to stop playing Dungeons & Dragons (when I was pretty much over it by middle school anyhow) only makes it that much more cool.
See! It almost made playing D & D seem cool.
Someone took it seriously enough to write a point-by-point refutation
I only scanned it, but I did not see anything along the lines of Fact: Most RPG players are really fat and chomp down on the pizza and Mountain Dew like there's no tomorrow.
or Fact: Hot witches tend not to play Dungeons & Dragons - not even in college.
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A three-year-old roll of film I recently had developed reminded me of just how freakin' long I have let my hair get in the past.
Big honkin' hair that splayed across my shoulders when I stood up straight. The young lady next to me is Jenna, one of my "kids" who graduated in 2005 (and who I got to see again last February while visiting Northern Virginia), and yes, my hair was longer than hers.
I just found out that Liz, one of my kids from the Class of 2007, threatened to cut my hair in my sleep. In retrospect I kind of wish she had. :D
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If you are a role-player or have role-played, are interested in role-playing (note the deliberate repetition here), and haven't received an e-mail regarding it today, then you may need to send me an e-mail soon and ask me what the hell I'm wittering about!
Or say you're interested and you'd like to know more - either works!
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Every once in a while I feel an urge to do a little write-up celebration of a favorite book, series or author, and right now I feel compelled to pay homage to ‘cozy’ mystery author Carolyn G. Hart and in particular, her ‘Death on Demand’ series. It’s one of my very favorites and I love to go back and re-read them over and over again.
For those who don’t know what a ‘cozy’ is, the term defines a sub-category of the mystery genre and refers to mysteries in which the sleuth is not a professional – i.e., not a police / homicide detective, investigator, etc. Mystery queen Agatha Christie made the ‘cozy’ mystery most popular with her Miss Marple series.
There are currently 18 books in the DoD series,
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http://hailsaten.blogspot.com/2008/05/consolidation-of-power-bookmark-this.html CONSOLIDATION OF POWERBookmark this: www.briankeene.comFrom now on, that's your one, single stop. The blog entries are moving there. The new message board is there (and you really should sign up, because it's just like the old board). Everything is moving there. If you're reading this on Hail Saten, this is the last post. See you at BrianKeene.com. If you're reading this on MySpace, this is the last Blog entry of its kind. From now on, the MySpace Blog will include the occasional book announcement, but that will be about it. Although I'll still be maintaining a presence on MySpace, I won't be checking in nearly as much. If you want to contact me, please do it via the new message board at BrianKeene.com. Now, perhaps you just typed in www.briankeene.com and you don't see a message board or Blog posts or anything like that. Instead, all you see is the old website. Don't worry. All is well. Here is Doctor Michael Oliveri to explain why that is happening: "It all has to do with when your DNS server sees the changes. DNS is like a phone book for the Internet. Every ISP maintains their own phonebook for their hosts. The top-level stuff now knows that the authoritative phone book for briankeene.com is our new host. However, your ISP phonebook may not yet be aware of that because it's cached briankeene.com's address as our old webhost's. When it dumps that cache sometime within the next 48 hours (quite possibly sooner -- this is the max most hosts use), it will ask the top-level guys who is in charge of briankeene.com, learn it is now our new host, and ask the new host's phonebook what briankeene.com's address is. If that doesn't work, or you are impatient, empty your cache and then do the following: Click Start, and then click Run. Type cmd and hit enter . Type ipconfig/flushdns and hit enter. Type exit and hit enter. Then visit www.briankeene.com and see if you get the new site. " Thank you, Mike. So, we'll see all of you at the new digs, right? If not, you'll miss the Big Surprise Announcement, which is coming soon...
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| e_underwood |
| 2008-05-14 16:00 |
| Magical Cancer Markers |
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Today is a great day. I think I have mentioned that my mom is battling her sixth episode of breast cancer. This time it metastasized into her back bone and has gone down into her hip, which is the reason it spontaneously fractured a few weeks ago. The doctor made it clear that what we're dealing with is a matter of time rather than finding a way to beat this thing.
After fracturing her hip, she had to go through a round of radiation, which she just finished. The nurse called her today. The doctors are amazed! The nurse was excited! My mom's cancer markers went down from the 3000s to 81, and there is hope of her cancer going into remission. Although there is no guarantee, this is very good news.
Yeah, mom! Happy Mother's Day!!
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Who's going to Marcon weekend after next? I'm likely to be there on Saturday.
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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) swivetfeed |
| 2008-05-14 14:57 |
| Is that a pickle in your pocket...? |
| Public |
http://theswivet.blogspot.com/2008/05/is-that-pickle-in-your-pocket.html (Yes, this post is perfectly safe for work, never fear!) Ran across the street to Cheap Ass Deli to grab a sandwich. Paid the clerk, grabbed my change, my sandwich, a pickle and a napkin. Shoved all but the sandwich into the pocket of my hoodie. Ate lunch. One hour later: Me (sniffing the air): "What the hell is that smell?"
::: a few moments later :::
Me: "Wow, that's just awful. Smells like an ashtray or stale cigarette smoke...who's smoking on this floor???"
::: another hour elapses :::
Me (holding nose): "Jeez, that is just foul."
::: goes to investigate the rest of the floor, sees no culprit for stinky smell, sits back at desk, puzzled :::
Me: "I don't get this...it smells sorta like..." (cluetrain has finally arrived at station)
::: reaches inside hoodie pocket, retrieves leaking plastic bag filled with sour pickles :::
::: facepalm :::
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| marlowe1 |
| 2008-05-14 15:10 |
| Amusing tales in self-promotion |
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As you probably know, I like to make Amazon lists. If I had the resources to arrange interviews, get my books into the hands of all the reviewers and pay a sales team to get my books into bookstores, I might not. But I'm broke so Amazon lists (and tags) it is.
Apparently this guy doesn't like them.
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My mother says there is an upcoming sidewalk sale-type flea market coming up in the Main Street area of Lawrenceville, but she needs more specific info. Has anyone heard info about this or know who I could call, or where to look? TY.
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My scifaiku "artificial form" has just been published in the May issue of the e-zine Aphelion:
http://www.aphelion-webzine.com/poetry/2008/05/ArtificialForm.html
Check it out! I will admit to being a huge Doctor Who fan, and the Cybermen helped inspire "artificial form". I think the Cybermen are one of the better Doctor Who baddies, and the Cyber Conversion Units in the "new" series are absolutely terrifying. Imagine your brain and other bits being removed by a machine that looks like some sort of sinister mechanical spider or octopus.
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The wounded ego is born when we are told not to be who we are. We're either told to "stop that!" or through beliefs we're taught about ourselves that we're "not enough". The ego fractures into the healthy part that is the authentic us and the wounded part that is the part we believe we should be. If we come to believe that we're "not enough" (smart enough, tall enough, quiet enough, mature enough, creative enough, rational enough) then there's the great potential that we will subvert our authentic self and spend our lives trying to live up to being enough for our parents which means forcing ourselves to live a life hoping to gain our parents acceptance, approval, and support. It's possible to go through an entire lifetime never knowing the "not enough" belief is what's motivating us.
While we live from "not enough" we bury our authentic self. Who we truly are is looked at as wrong or inadequate or even in the way of creating the "right" life. We tell ourselves lies in order to sustain the wounded ego's quest for perfection. The wounded ego uses the 3 D's to survive: Deceptions, Distractions, and Diversions. There are many more like Denial, Delusion; feel free to add your own or make up your own list.
The point to all this is that since I started reading Deb Ford's book "Why Good People Do Bad Things" I've come face to face with my wounded ego. The belief that I'm not enough has taken over my life and has forced the submergence of my authentic self. Today I realized I've been telling myself that my imagination is (metaphorically) locked up in a box in a locked room and I can't get to it. The well's dried up and it ain't never gonna rain again.
But yesterday I started a new story and without thinking, some very imaginative bits came through which flies in the face of what I've been telling myself. Then I knew it was that part of me that doesn't want to be creative because it's not the "right" life. The truth is that whatever my parents want from me, they will never get. I can't seek their approval or support or acceptance for what I want, nor can I try to live the life they'll be happy with.
This all seems really simple. A "no kidding" moment. But it's not that particular truth that's difficult. It's that I'm still trying to deceive myself into giving up being creative, telling myself I don't write often enough or I'm not imaginative enough or whatever I'm not enough of to be what I dream. I'm sure none of you know what that's like!
Uncovering the truth of my own deception is enlightening. How many people do you know tell themselves they're not enough "X" so they can't do "Y" and live their lives defeated? I would venture to say many artistic types disqualify themselves from their own potential by telling themselves their not enough.
So what to do now? Recognize the deception and heal the wounded ego, acknowledging that I am enough to do whatever I want and not let the shame and guilt of the past guide my future. It's a work in progress.
Thanks for listening.
Peace,
Gary . . .
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| neo_prodigy |
| 2008-05-14 12:43 |
| An HBCU First |
| Public |
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| Mos Def - Excellence |
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This was a very cool story and I thought it was one worth sharing. Oh yeah and the guy in question is really hot too.
By ERRIN HAINES
Associated Press
Published on: 05/12/08
From his first day at Morehouse College — the country's only institution of higher learning dedicated to the education of black men — Joshua Packwood has been a standout.
His popularity got him elected dorm president as a freshman. His looks and physique made him a fashion-show favorite. His intellect made him a Rhodes Scholar finalist. His work ethic landed him a job at the prestigious investment banking firm Goldman Sachs in New York City.
...But it's his skin that has made all of this an anomaly. This month, Packwood is set to take the stage and address his classmates as the first white valedictorian in Morehouse's 141-year history.
The 22-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., will graduate Sunday with a perfect 4.0 GPA and a degree in economics.
He could have gone elsewhere, to a school like Columbia, Stanford or Yale, but his four-year journey through Morehouse has taught him a few things that they could not, and he makes it clear that he has no regrets.
"I've been forced to see the world in a different perspective, that I don't think I could've gotten anywhere else," he said. "None of the Ivies, no matter how large their enrollment is, no matter how many Nobel laureates they have on their faculty ... none of them could've provided me with the perspective I have now."
( Read more... )
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Howdy.
New to LJ (and this community), thought I'd say 'hi'.
I'm an aspiring SF writer. Just completed the second draft of my (first) sci-fi novel. Now I have to cut 10,000 words out of it. Fun stuff.
Looking forward to learning more from this group.
[Message Ends]
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| dohlman |
| 2008-05-14 13:34 |
| Procrastination |
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As an admitted procrastinator, I was overjoyed to see an entire series on the subject at Slate! I meant to post this yesterday, but, well... ;)
Here's the linky:
http://www.slate.com/id/2190909/
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I hope this is allowed!
I am looking to go to Peru within the next year or so with my boyfriend. I managed to go to Mexico, Belize and Guatemala when i was in college (all the trips were prearranged-i just had to pay and show up)but i graduated so i'm at a loss on how to plan a trip like this.
can anyone recommend websites to help get me started? I'm looking for more of an adventure/archaeology based trip but i'll settle for touristy if i have to. I am looking to spend $5,000or less/per person for about a week and 1/2 but it's flexible.
thanks everyone!
(x-posted all over)
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TWO. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. WORDS!
Jesus flipping Christ. I only wrote 265K *total* last year. I will be well past that by *June* this year. Jesus flipping Christ.
Oh, also? THE PRETENDER’S CROWN is done. I’ve still got to rewrite the prologue per editor request, which is tomorrow’s job, but the last chapters and the epilogue are finished. 724 pages. 179,500 words. Holy *jeez*.
I only got about 70 pages of AAs done, though, which means I’m going to have to go downstairs and work on them this evening, at least until I’m so bored with it I fall asleep.
Ted has made pork & beans in the crock pot today, so dinner will be wonderful. And I had a nice lunch with Myles and Kate, and…now it’s time to go back to work.
ytd wordcount: 200,400
miles to Minas Tirith: 404.8
(x-posted from the essential kit)
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The May installment of my column, The Cauldron, is up at Fearzone.
Other News:
Writing. Sewing. Mucho busy. Ready for summer!
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Remember when I was begging for your opinions about a rating system for my reviews? I got some great ideas, but none of them really stuck to me as feasible for a number of reasons. For starters, I wanted something that was intuitive, where you all wouldn't have to consult some random post to figure out what the rating meant. But I also wanted something different than the star system, grading scale, and the #/10 system, because both seem (to me) to be far more concrete in their impressions rather than clearly an opinion.
I know I'm not making any sense, but I think I came up with a rating system that works for me and makes it obvious that it's MY rating based on MY reading experience (whereas with the ratings I mentioned above, they're so widely used that they tend to be "separate" from the review itself), and I'd love your opinion on it, especially in terms of the categories themselves.
I buy all of the books I read. Well, a few I get for free, and sometimes, a friend lets me borrow a title, but the latter's really rare since all my friends are spread across the nation. Libraries are out for me since the best ones are nearly an hour away, so most likely, I buy what I'm reading.
So why not create a rating system based on that premise? Here's the rough version of it:
Collector/Top Shelf (I need help with this one because I don't want to imply the books rated this way are collector items): books that I'd not only pay money for, but I'd pay a ridiculous amount of money for if necessary. Books I'll keep forever and ever and might actually buy multiple copies of should the opportunity arise. These are books I love to pieces.
Worth the Cash: I liked it, don't regret spending money on it, and will most likely keep my copy.
Give it Away: I liked it okay, but I'll be passing this title along to a more interested reader.
Wish I'd Borrowed It: a book I didn't mind reading (or it's okay), but I wish I'd borrowed it rather than spent money on it.
Waste of Time & Money: Didn't like it and/or it pissed me off and/or bored the snot out of me. I think it's obvious what this category means. :)
All categories would be followed with a tight explanation of why I'm putting it in that category over another, and in the cases where some books fall "between" categories, I'll explain so.
Thoughts?
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No, we're not starting a BotM club, but Joseph Mallozzi has and he's chosen Jennifer Pelland's collection Unwelcome Bodies as a July pick.
Here's the pertinent blog post.
Joseph is an executive producer for the SF series Stargate: Atlantis and runs a popular blog. Some of his previous picks have been folks like Jeffrey Ford, John Scalzi, and John Shirley. He also posts lots of backstage photos from the show, so fans of SG:A will dig his site as well.
Upon hearing about Joseph's choice for his BotM, Jennifer clapped her hands with glee and said in a rather menacing tone: "Oprah, you're next."
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| marlowe1 |
| 2008-05-14 12:30 |
| Not nearly as much fun as Casey Casem's blow up |
| Public |
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Mostly because we all know that Bill O'Reilly is a temper tantrum throwing asshole who spends much of his time bullying people.
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| paulskemp |
| 2008-05-14 11:13 |
| Recurring Characters -- Pros and Cons |
| Public |
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I take a great deal of pride in having created a character in Erevis Cale whose story arc will ultimately reach across more than ten novels, five short stories, and some hundred and fifty years of "in-setting" time. That's a very cool thing as far as I'm concerned. But writing a recurring character has both pros and cons, some obvious, some (perhaps) not.
Some Pros:
1. Writer and reader get familiar with the characters. I know these characters like they're best friends. Some of you know them like close drinking buddies. That kind of understanding makes writing them easy and enriches the reading experience.
2. I can develop longer, more elaborate story arcs. Some story elements reach beyond the books and trilogies of which they're a part and create a longer, multi-series arc. There's an entire thread regarding Cale's god that readers can trace from Shadow's Witness to Shadowrealm, and perhaps even a bit into the next trilogy. That is rewarding for both writer and readers, I think.
3. New readers figure there's enough material about the character to justify taking a chance on the stories. After all, if he/she likes what she reads, there are many more books and stories to read.
Those are some obvious high points. I'm sure you can think of others.
Some Cons:
1. That selfsame familiarity. It can breed complacency in a writer and boredom in a reader. I've tried very, very hard to avoid this in the Cale stories, keeping constant growth/evolution of the character(s) foremost in my mind.
2. Simple fatigue. Writers and readers just want something new. Doritos are good, but I wants me some Buffalo-Ranch Super Doritos, and I want them now. I don't feel this fatigue about the Cale stories right now, so that's a good thing.
3. The abundance of novels featuring the characters can, contrary to the third pro above, dissuade readers from getting involved out of concern that they must invest too much time and effort to learn what the heck is going on. This is another way of restating an entry-point problem. Where can a new reader start and not feel lost? If it's only at the beginning (think Wheel of Time), some readers may pass. If it's anywhere, because the books are standalone (think Dresden Files), the novels may lose the nuanced connections that make reading a long series rewarding. I've tried to take a middle ground, where I think I've got a few decent entry points to the novels (in the form of either
Shadow's Witness, Twilight Falling, or Shadowbred).
4. The writer gets better (that's bad? :-)) and the early books aren't as strong as the later books. In this case, the writer is more stuck than usual with his/her early work, and if that early work is the only good entry point for readers, the problem is compounded. This is what happened to me with Eye of the World, from The Wheel of Time. I thought that novel was bad for a whole host of reasons and never continued on with the series, though I understand from friends that the subsequent books were much better.
Again, those are some Cons that jump out to me. Thoughts? Additions to the list?
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melancholy
exhausted![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
curious
happy
satisfied
busy
geeky