Category: blog

Stop SOPA and PIPA

Today, many prominent websites are on strike — gone dark — in protest against the impending SOPA and PIPA legislation under consideration by Congress. Why should you care? Because these acts will break the internet.

Edited to add: here’s a great post that lays out in detail all the ways in which this legislation is bad for the internet and bad for any individual who uses it. And here’s another that provides a terrific roundup of links where you can find out more. /end edit

I create and own intellectual property. So I don’t support piracy. But taking a sledgehammer to the internet is not the solution. Democracy is a constant balancing process between freedom and control, and SOPA/PIPA are only interested in control. We can do better than this.

I’ve signed the petition against SOPA/PIPA, and I hope you will too.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Enjoy your day. Enjoy something on an internet that is uncensored and freely available to you. Don’t steal, don’t plagiarize, don’t troll and don’t use pixels to hurt other people. And don’t make laws that suck the life out of an entire thing just to fix one part of it.

Peace out, G-Scout

Last fall, the Girl Scouts of America accepted a trans kid into a Colorado troop. And thus apparently began the Decline of Western Civilization, if you believe some of the responses. Some Girl Scouts and their parents began calling for a boycott of Girl Scout cookies in protest. Because keeping dollars out of your own local community in California or Ohio (where two of the protests are based) is a great way to punish those uppity Colorado folks with their practically-left-coast values. Oh, wait, California is the left coast too. Oops. Well, never mind, let’s just punish EVERYONE and then go have some iced tea.

A 14-year-old girl decided to take her boycott national and posted a heavily scripted video on YouTube, complete with signs. I am not linking to that video because I have no wish to promote the content. And because she’s a kid, she has an opinion, she put it out there and it will forever be on The Google to haunt her through her entire life. She doesn’t need any more shit from me.

Nope, today I am here to bring you a passionate, graceful and thoroughly beautiful response from a young woman in college. Who is also expressing her opinion, and who is being an ally to trans Girl Scouts everywhere. It’s coherent, powerful and it has by god doubled the amount I plan to spend on cookies this year.


 

I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout back in the Stone Age when we had the full uniforms, including socks with the logos (I swear I am not making this up). I did not have this young woman’s experience of encouragement and support and community in my troop. I wish I had. I would give a lot to have been this clear, direct, articulate and fearless in my late teens and early twenties. And if the Girls Scouts have become the kind of organization that help to shape women like this one, then they are welcome to my cookie money.

If a girl with a sash and an order form knocks on your door and asks you to buy some Samoas, don’t ask her how she pees. Buy some cookies and tell her she’s doing a great job.

Enjoy your day. Peace out.

The wonder

— Oh my god, Martha, that Kelley Eskridge is throwing up words on the internet again.
— I know, George. Go get a bucket and a mop.

Incoherence alert: I don’t really know how to talk about wonder, which is a hell of a thing for a writer, but there you go. Sometimes things are bigger than words.

Today is not about wondering, not about the verb of it all. Today is about the noun, when wonder turns from questioning into an answer. Isn’t that the coolest thing, to get a blast-your-soul-open answer to a question you didn’t even know you had? Or to meet an old answer anew and find it has the same power to move you? That is the wonder of stories, for me. I read, and when it is good, whsshh, there I go into the story; and inside it I find a place which is also inside me. Perhaps it is a part of myself I have never before seen in the light. Or maybe it is an utterly familiar internal space, one of the places of dancing or thorns or nothing but sky. You know those places. We all have them. We explore them through our own experience, and through the stories we tell each other. Stories open doors inside us where we find ourselves.

So before the guy gets here with the mop, let me point you to the source of today’s holy shit, stories are amazing meditation on wonder. There’s a guy named Mark Oshiro who, among other things, reads and writes about it. And Mark is the Best Reader Evah in my opinion right now, because oh my god he is all about the wonder of it all. He blogs about each chapter of the book as he reads it, and he does his best to avoid being spoiled about the book before he reads. So he’s coming to it fresh with a critical mind and an exuberant heart. Mark Oshiro comes to reading ready for joy, sorrow, fear, hope and love. Ready to find the world in a book.

And right now he is reading — for the first time — The Lord of the Rings.

So do yourself a favor and go share the wonder of that. (Follow the links back to the Chapter One post and work your way forward).

I am enjoying it so much that I actually find myself saving the posts as rewards. I want to reach through the internet and give this guy a hug for loving stories so much that he gives himself to them and finds the wonder.

Because wonder is good, my friends. To be astonished into sorrow or joy. To go on a journey with people who aren’t real except they by god are, aren’t they? Isn’t that part of the magic, this ability we have to make them come alive inside us? Story is real, it is, it is, I don’t care what people say because I know. I have lived so many of them. I am stuffed full of Frodo and Sam, Morgon and Raederle, Gil and Rudy, Harry Crewe and Aerin, Candy Smith, Travis McGee, Jack Reacher, Johnny Smith and Danny Torrance and Stu Redman, Jack and Stephen, Hazel and Fiver, Alexander, Ged, Mia Havero, ‘Glory’ Conway, Lazarus Long, Aud and Lore and yowsa, just you wait for Hild…

Edited to add: And not just books: the novels of television and the novellas of film, whose people also inhabit me: Mal and Zoe and River, Buffy, Al Swearengen and Trixie, Stringer Bell and Bubbles, Ripley, Sarah Connor, Ree Dolly, Raylan Givens… Oh my goodness, it’s crowded in here. But somehow there is always room for more. (end edit)

And then there are all the stories of my own that tumble inside me like the surf. I am deep and restless these days with story, teeming with characters that only I have met, moments that only I have known, that are every bit as real to me even though they are only mine. So much of what story does to us is private, don’t you find? Almost inexplicable.

And there you go, I just took 650 words to not explain the inexplicable. Ah, well, incoherent for sure, but you know what? I will let it stand, and perhaps do better some other time. Or maybe just let the stories I love speak to me, and the ones I write speak for me. And I think it’s time to take a trip with Tolkien again.

Thank you, Mark. Thank you all who share my love of story. Enjoy your day. Go read something wonderful!

Clarion West, all year long!

Many people know the Clarion West Writers Workshop as the world-class summer boot camp for emerging writers of speculative fiction. We are now accepting applications for the 2012 workshop, with an absolutely spectacular lineup of instructors: Mary Rosenblum, Hiromi Goto, George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, and Chuck Palahniuk. The deadline is March 1. Scholarship assistance is available — we strive to help as many students as we can, so don’t let cost prevent you from applying. Don’t miss this chance to study with some of SF’s greatest writers!

And don’t miss the chance to attend one of our one-day workshops, held monthly (except for the Summer Workshop period) in Seattle. An equally stellar lineup of writers will teach full-day sessions on a focused topic. We’ve had terrific feedback on these classes — they are a great opportunity to learn in an intimate, supportive setting without breaking the bank, and will give you skills you can begin applying immediately to your work.

Here’s the winter schedule:

January 15 – Louse Marley
Avoiding Rejection
Agents often only read the first ten pages of a novel before deciding if they want you as a client. Slush readers for magazines decide within a few paragraphs whether your short story is right for them. We’ll practice techniques to make your manuscript grab the attention of an agent or editor from the first paragraph on. Students will provide a one-page sample of their writing for the instructor.

Louise Marley is the author of fourteen novels of historical fiction, fantasy, and science fiction. Her most recent novel, Mozart’s Blood, draws on her personal experience as an opera singer as well as her historical research.

There is still some space available in this workshop, but you must register by January 8! Get your writing year off to a great start by learning more ways to engage your reader from the first paragraph!

February 5 – Richard Paul Russo
Bringing the World to Life (Without Killing the Story!)
How do you provide enough information about the physical, social, political, and other aspects of the story’s environment to fully engage your readers without distracting from or slowing down the story? Accomplishing this is one of a writer’s biggest challenges. Through discussion and written exercises, we’ll explore different approaches to scene-setting and description that bring the world of the story richly to life without losing the readers’ interest or engagement. Students are encouraged to bring story or novel scene ideas to use as starting points for the exercises.

Richard Paul Russo is the author eight novels and numerous short stories. He is a two-time winner of the Philip K. Dick Memorial Award, most recently for his novel Ship of Fools, which was also a New York Times Notable Book.

March 4 – Kat Richardson
Creating your Urban Fantasy World
This special-focus workshop will help you learn how to choose, establish, and write a setting (real, alternate, historical, or allegorical) appropriate for Urban Fantasy. You’ll learn how to block out and write action that utilizes whatever magic, occult, or paranormal system you’re establishing, and how to develop and write characters for Urban Fantasy by integrating their power(s) and skills–or lack of them–with their setting and interactions.

Kat Richardson is the bestselling author of the Greywalker paranormal detective novels. A keen fan of hardboiled fiction, Kat models her stories on the work of iconic detective writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, with added dashes of whimsy and horror, and the occasional ferret.

Registration is open now for these workshops, and will open soon for the April/May sessions (stay tuned for Exciting Announcements about those sessions coming soon!).

Enjoy your day.

The MS paper that can change it all

It’s a good end to 2011 to finally have this paper available: “Multiple Sclerosis Is Not A Disease Of The Immune System” by Dr. Angelique Corthals, published in the last 24 hours by The Quarterly Review of Biology.

The paper details Dr. Corthals’ theory that MS is a lipid metabolism disorder. For more context and a precis, see Nicola’s detailed explanatory post and the long comment conversation that follows. If you would like to ask Angelique a question, you may do so at Nicola’s blog.

QRB is charging $14 for online access to the paper, but have given permission for it to be freely distributed by email. If you want a copy, please drop a comment here or email me, and I’ll be delighted to forward it to you.

If you know anyone in science, medicine, the media, or someone with MS, I enthusiastically encourage you to forward the paper to them as well. The more quickly this information spreads, the better for us all.

Nicola and I have never — never — staked our public support on any theory of MS until now. That’s because Angelique’s argument makes complete sense to us. Angelique is a friend, and I love her even more right now for this gift of hope not just to us, but to millions of people around the world.

I don’t blame anyone who is skeptical or disinclined to embrace a new theory. The goal of spreading this word is to have as many people as possible poke at it, turn it upside down, shake it hard and see if any part of it falls off. The goal is to test, test, test this theory, because that is what will lead to some real progress for everyone instead of the dartboard approach that currently constitutes the medical profession’s strategy for MS. But I tell you what, friends, if Angelique is right — and we believe she is — then the whole game of MS just changed.

2012 looks different to me because of this.

Enjoy your day, and thanks for your support.

Multiple sclerosis is a metabolic disorder, not an immune system illness

I blogged earlier this week about upcoming news regarding a new theory of MS.

If you’re back here for more information, please go to Nicola’s blog and read her precis of the paper that will be published today on Friday (rescheduled due to typsetting issues at the Quarterly Review of Biology).

It’s groundbreaking. Go read it. And as before, I ask you to please help spread the word about this. Thank you!

Enjoy your day. It’s a day of good news for people with MS, and people who love them.

Coming soon: important news about MS

Please go to Nicola Griffith’s blog and read this post about a forthcoming paper that establishes a radical new framework for understanding the causes — and therefore the treatment of — multiple sclerosis.

For those newer visitors who may not be aware: Nicola has multiple sclerosis. The work that will be done as a result of this paper will change her life, and mine, and the lives of millions of other people who have been, or will be, diagnosed with MS.

Nicola is asking in her post for people to help spread the word about this paper, so that it comes as quickly as possible to the attention of media, scientific institutions, doctors, people with MS, and those who love them. Please help. Please read her post, and then please consider helping us by linking to it, reposting, re-tweeting, or sharing on Facebook.

This is just the beginning. The paper itself comes out on Wednesday, and after that, the conversation begins. I ask you to be a part of it, and I thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart for anything you care to do to help spread the word.

Moneygami

Origami is such an intricate art. I remember learning a bit as a kid, and being amazed at the way an ordinary piece of paper could become so many things.

And now there is moneygami. Go take a look at the slideshow, it’s a lot of fun. I like it particularly for the clever uses of the illustrations on the bills. I could no more look at a bill and see these outcomes than I could fly to the moon. But other people can. So many ways to use our brains…


 
Enjoy your day.

Let there be light

All of you who are members of the HandyPeople Tribe, here is your opportunity to beam fondly upon one who is only slowly discovering your secrets…

We have two sets of overhead lights in our main room: a three-way switch/dimmer, and a separate single switch dimmer in the dining area. For the last year or so, we’ve had an occasional glitch in the dining room dimmer — it took a lot of jiggling (along with incantations, curses, and the occasional round of impact maintenance) to turn the light off. We’d flip the toggle to off, and the lights would turn off and then flick back on All By Themselves. On and off, on and off. Spooky!

Then the other day, we turned off the living room lights and they Just. Stayed. On. No amount of fussing would turn them off. Finally we had to kill the circuit in the breaker box and go to bed.

Normally this would be the time to cue the entrance of the Electrician. But we just spent a chunk of money getting our roof and driveway/sidewalks maintained, and every once in a while I get stubborn… And so I decided that before we called a guy (and although we know a woman master electrician, she sadly has moved away, and everyone else seems to be a guy), I would see if I could replace the switch myself.

Here is where all you HandyPeople can smile indulgently. I know in my head that I cannot blow up my house by wiring a switch wrong. But yeeps, the first time is scary!

I open up the wall and peered at the switch (with a flashlight because there is no sun in Seattle these days, and the circuit was off, so it was, you know, dark!).

I went to the store and bought two switches, one for each dimmer.

I came home and realized I had bought the wrong switches. My old switches were pre-wired. I bought switches with no wires.

I cursed.

I briefly contemplated going whole hog and stripping the existing wires myself, and wiring the new switch in.

I realized this was a bad idea and went back to the store. I bought two pre-wired switches.

I returned home. The new switches had different colored wires than the old! I went to the internet and learned.

I installed the first switch. It worked! Chortle!

I installed the second switch. I got it all the way into the wall before I discovered the dimming mechanism was broken.

I sighed.

I went back to the store. By now, the Returns person and I are on a first-name basis. I bought a new switch.

And installed it.

I know, really, all this white space and wordcount for a non-story. A grown woman did a home repair project all by herself. But GAZE UPON MY TRIUMPH!


 
My dad is an engineer. He is going to be so proud. (*waves at father through the internet*)

Enjoy your day. Go do something that makes you feel like the master of your own destiny!