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

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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.

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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.

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.

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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?

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First Weekend

Sunday night of the first weekend of the new year. We did some things we’d talked about for this weekend. But then, didn’t get to others. So far, 2021 hasn’t been bad. Ha. I’ve been thinking about my approach to this year. This will be my first full year of “retirement.” How am I going to schedule myself? What do I need to do to make sure I’m writing or plotting or reading/researching or working on covers or something productive? For academic research I’ve used the Pomodoro method where you work for 25 minutes at a time, take a couple minute break and then another 25 minutes. Every four “pomodoros” you take a longer break (hour or so). This has worked in the past and I’ve done it a few times with the fiction writing. I think I will make sure I use this method every time I sit down to write.

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Stay Sane Inside Insanity

The title of this post comes from a line from Columbia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show and I think it encapsulates how I’ve tried to get through 2020. It is with relief and trepidation that I wave at 2020 in the rearview mirror. Relief that we made it through the year. Trepidation about what awaits. I know the external things (pandemic, lockdowns, general governmental crep) will ease somewhat. I say somewhat because I don’t believe that general governmental crep will ease all that much and in fact, will likely get a lot worse, at least at the federal level. But what will 2021 bring? I’m hoping for the best but (mentally at least) preparing for the worst.

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Stress

Holidays are stressful. In a normal year we’d be traveling to California, and parceling out our visit among essentially three families. My cousins and their families (usually all in one spot for a day or two), and then my in-laws who are now two separate households not counting my husband’s siblings. So, yes, stressful. But this year, the lovely 2020, we are NOT traveling to California…but things are even more stressful than if we were.

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Happy Halloween!

I always enjoy Halloween in my neighborhood. There are a lot of kids out; a lot of them come in from other neighborhoods across the city. It’s great. The kids are having a blast and the adults are happy knowing their kids can walk around the streets without fear. On top of that, I get to hang out with my neighbors who are very cool people. We sit on their stoop and hand out candy while catching up. The trick-or-treaters love the fact that there are three…THREE..candy bowls that they get to raid. It’s a lot of fun.

It’s been almost a month since I updated this blog. It’s been a busy and somewhat stressful month as well. I should keep writing here on a regular basis since writing helps me work through a number of stressors, problems, provides a means to vent, etc. At work, it seems to be clown cars all the way down. But, I think I’ve worked everything out. I’m taking students to Antwerp, Belgium in January and there is absolutely no process nor structure for dealing with the logistics of a trip abroad with students. It’s ridiculous.

But, I figured out a work around and I’m pretty pleased with it. There are still details to be ironed out, but I think the big hurdles have been jumped. Tomorrow is a “research day” which means I’ll be doing my own writing. Yay! I have started book #2 and I’m feeling very good about it. I’m getting good information from reliable sources about how to deal with Amazaon and it’s Kindle Unlimited structure so I’m very confident that uploading Book #1 will be a piece of cake. it’s out to beta readers right now. In addition to Book #2, I’m outlining Books #1-3 for my next series. It’s exciting to know that I actually do have all these stories lined up inside my head just waiting for an outlet.

There have been many times when I wish that I had figured this author thing out earlier. However. I know that I wouldn’t have figured it out without going through all the experiences I’ve had so far. Those experiences gave me the ideas for Book #1 and I’m very grateful for that. But, yeah. It’s been 20 years in the academic career. Time for a change.

Hubby heads out to meet up with his college friends for a week or so of golf and cards. I will miss him terribly, but I’m also looking forward to the opportunity to get a lot of writing done. Tomorrow is Day 1 of NaNoWriMo and I intend to get in at least a few hundred words each day. Getting a good way into Book #2 will be great. I am very happy with my progress so far and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.

Enjoy your Halloween and eat all the candy and goodies you want!

Image by Larisa Koshkina from Pixabay