Striking Differences

December 20, 2021December 20, 2021

Striking Differences

We are settling in here in Texas and I am constantly struck by how different and yet similar our life here is, compared to our life in Philadelphia. The most obvious thing is the weather. I grew up in San Diego, so I’m familiar with warm winters. But it’s been twenty years since I lived in southern California. And, those twenty years have been filled with snow, freezing rain, sleet, ice storms, and just plain damn cold weather every winter.

December 5, 2021December 5, 2021

Settling In

Our stuff is arriving on Tuesday! Yay! The driver called this afternoon to give me the update. “Sounds like you’re in an empty house.” “Yes, I am. How’d you guess?” (said with slightly sarcastic tone as I listen to the echo). “I can hear the echo. How’d you like me to fix that for you on Tuesday morning?” “I’d love it! When?” “Between eight and nine.” “Great!” (while silently thinking, okay, gotta get up early on Tuesday!)

December 2, 2021December 2, 2021

Moving

Moving and job hunting are, according to what I’ve read, the two most stressful things you can do. I’ve done a lot of moving and job hunting over the years, and I have to say, I completely agree. We just landed after a two-state move, Pennsylvania to Texas. It’s been almost twenty years since we moved anywhere. We didn’t even move into different apartments in Philly. We stayed in the same city and same apartment for twenty years. Then we moved almost 2,000 miles away.

November 16, 2021November 16, 2021

Tolerance

What does it mean to tolerate something? What do we mean when we say that tolerance is something to strive for? People are fond of saying that they have no tolerance for intolerance. But according to the definition of the word, they therefore are intolerant, regardless of the targeted nature of their intolerance.

November 9, 2021November 9, 2021

Moving Forward

So…we are moving to Texas in a few weeks. We haven’t moved anywhere, not even within the Philadelphia environs, for almost twenty years. This is going to be quite the adventure. It’s been stressful too, and I haven’t been writing. I need to get back to the writing since that’s the only way I’ll manage to finish book #3. My plan is to alternate packing and writing for the next couple of weeks. If I can finish the first draft, I can then do editing which, for me, is a lot easier. Then, send it off to beta readers before the final push of packing and moving.

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021

I Aim to Misbehave

This report is maybe 12 years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried ’til River dug it up.

This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear ’cause there’s a whole universe of folk who’re gonna know it, too. They’re gonna see it.

Somebody has to speak for these people.

Y‘all got on this boat for different reasons, but y’all come to the same place. So now I’m askin’ more of you than I have before. Maybe all.

As sure as I know anything, I know this: They will try again. Maybe on another world. Maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, 10, they’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people…better. And I do not hold to that.

So no more runnin’.

I aim to misbehave.

– Mal Reynolds, Captain, Spaceboat Serenity

September 12, 2021September 12, 2021

Punishing the Unvaccinated to Assuage the Fears of the Vaccinated

I just read a piece in Reason talking about Leana Wen’s (now working for CNN natch) contention that the unvaccinated should be confined to their homes. That due to their refusal to get the vaccine they are causing problems for those people who chose to get vaccinated. With that statement, in addition to loudly demonstrating her love of all things authoritarian, Wen absolutely undermined any arguments from the CDC, FDA, or FICUS that the vaccine is effective.

September 5, 2021September 5, 2021

InHuman

I found myself doomscrolling this morning and made myself stop. I think it’s time for another break from social media, or at the very least limit my interactions there severely – I can&…

Source: InHuman

Cedar Sanderson hits the nail on the head. Any time somebody wants to do something to you “for your own good” it is never that. It is always for their own good. As a fully functioning adult, you are the one best-suited to make decisions for your own good. Read the whole thing.

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021

Neighbors

My neighbor Bill passed away last week. I just found out yesterday when we ran into his son. Bill suffered a stroke a little over two years ago and his youngest son moved back home to help his mom take care of Bill. We first met Bill at a block party almost twenty years ago. We had just moved in and our landlord (and neighbor) lived, and still does, two doors down. He and his wife made sure to let us know about the block party. It was a great way to meet all the neighbors.

June 25, 2021June 25, 2021

The Beach Fixes Everything

So many things going on right now. Writing is not one of them. At least not one that is coming easily. I’m switching between projects, keeping up with prompts, reading, reading for research purposes, and yet… and yet. I know when I get lost in reading for fun (even if I tell myself that I’m looking at story structure, character arc, etc. etc.) I am avoiding something. So, I’m trying to figure out what exactly I’m avoiding. I’m not under any pressure to finish a project by an externally imposed deadline, I’m not dealing with crap I’d really rather not deal with. So, what’s the problem?