Category: blog

I can haz bad science

lolcat-mitosis
 
Here’s an examination of bad Star Wars science by John Scalzi that made me howl.

And cringe, as well. I’ve said before that my fiction tends to wave at science on the way past, and that’s because I’m not Science Gal… but there’s currently one Big Science Clunker in my screenplay that I have gone down on my virtual knees to try to fix; the powers that be, however, are so in love with it as a metaphor that they think no one will notice the bad science. I’ll keep trying: but Scalzi, when the time comes, if you cannot be kind, then at least please be this funny…

Nicola’s day on Author August

Please join me once again over at the Science Fiction Message Board’s Author August, where it’s all about Nicola today. Any comments you have are most welcome — just be sure to sign up/login first or you may find your thoughtful post has been eaten by worms.

Thanks once again to the good folks at SFMB for hosting this event and inviting us to be part of it.

One day my shame will come

I could not get tickets for tonight’s Salon of Shame. You have to be quick these days — they sell out in minutes. But I’ve been to the Salon and it’s a blast; Seattle grownups, many under the influence of a fortifying adult beverage, stand up in front of strangers and read from their teenage diaries or letters.

And we all laugh, cringe, howl and oh no! together. Great fun.

The shows are ASL interpreted by some of the best performance interpreters in Seattle (including the fabulous Pam, Jeff and Anne — you’ll see Jeff in the video below). Pam and Jeff taught at my ASL program, and what they do is very much a road not taken for me. In an alternate universe, I’m interpreting Salon of Shame too, and rock concerts, and plays, and slam poetry events, and spending way more time with Deaf friends. Living in more than one language, more than one culture; I think I would have enjoyed that life too.

And one of these days I’ll probably have to sign up for my turn on the shame stage. I kept a sporadic journal in high school, and am mostly struck by how uninteresting I was able to make my own life seem on paper (grin). But perhaps there is a nugget or two in there that is embarrassing enough to turn into a bonding experience with total strangers. We’ll see…

I certainly never had the nerve to write down anything about sex. What if someone read it? *shakes head* Salon readings tend to divide up between those who thought when we were teenagers that whatever was happening was only happening — and had only ever happened — to us, and if someone found out, we would just die. And then there are the kids like Patrick (in the video) who just put it all down on paper… I wish now I’d had the nerve, which is ironic when you think about it: wanting now to share enthusiastically that which Could Never Be Shared! when I was a kid. Perhaps this is that thing they call perspective.

Here’s a taste of the shame to come. Not Safe For Work. The camera work is shaky in places, and the ASL is clear.

Enjoy. And I’ll go back to reading that journal…

My love letter to Sady

No, I didn’t find a new sweetie; it’s not that kind of love (grin)…this is 21st-century newfangled blog love.

——–

Dear Sady,

I love your blog . I discovered it thanks to a reader who pointed me to your post on Jennifer’s Body. Hmm, I thought, who is this cool woman who is such a master of the exclamation point and talks about ladybusiness?

I like that you are so damned opinionated and that your opinion is (in the cogent words of Jef Mallett), the result of thought and not a substitute for it. I think your discussion with your Gentleman Associate about the importance of print media is very smart and fall-down funny. I like your FAQ.

But here is the post that has made me love you. Because I have met those special snowflakes you speak of; and, sadly, I’ve been one too. I’m working on that, and sometimes when I need help I will come back to this post and think of you fondly.

And I’m also working on the part where I need to get behind my own self sometimes and push; where I need to SHOUT and !!! if that’s what it takes. One reason I admire your blog-voice so much is that I sometimes wish for more of that energy in my real voice, in those moments when I have to stop someone from stepping on me out in the world. That can be hard for me; but it’s important to have more than one tool in our toolbox, no? I am good at facilitating; but still learning to shout not just in an incoherent voice, but with intent and reason behind it. An opinion that results from thought, in a voice that’s maybe a little louder than is comfortable for the special snowflake it’s directed at. You are helping me with that, Sady, and I thank you.

Jukebox

Tonight I will be dancing.

It’s been a while. For various schedule reasons, I haven’t been able to dance since May. I’m looking forward to it enormously, and today’s jukebox is all about that.

The first song, by the fabulous Keb’ Mo’, pretty much says it all. The rest of the songs do it.

Enjoy.

Edited to add: I’m sorry to say that I don’t have enough server space for all my audio, so most jukebox playlists become inactive after a few months. This is one. Very sorry. But the music is worth seeking out, it’s great!

To use the E-Phonic MP3 Player you will need Adobe Flash Player 9 or better and a Javascript enabled browser.


 
She Just Wants to Dance
Keb’ Mo’

Well
When the music starts to playing
She slides out on the floor
Dancing without a partner
Swaying on the two and four

There’s a rhythm in her footstep
And a flower in her hair
A smile on her face
Cause she’s in a place
Where she don’t have a care

She ain’t looking for no lover
She ain’t looking for romance
She just wants to dance

Well she’s moving kinda lazy
And it’s obvious to me
This little girl ain’t crazy
She’s as wild as she is free

She can feel it in her fingers
And it moves on down her spine
And when it hits her hips
She parts her lips
And you know she’s feeling fine

She ain’t looking for no lover
She ain’t looking for romance
She just wants to dance

Get out the way and let the girl dance…

My day on Author August

Today is Kelley Eskridge day on Author August at the Science Fiction Message Board, and I hope you’ll join me there.

Author August is designed to introduce readers to writers whose work they might not otherwise know. I appreciate that immensely and am delighted to be included. So please stop by and join the discussion, and take time to find out about the other writers who have been highlighted so far. You can drop in anytime — the discussion isn’t limited to a single day.

(And I’ll also be reminding you next week to head over again for Nicola‘s turn in the spotlight on August 20).

Legion

Can’t wait for this one — Paul Bettany is an archangel with a great big gun, and he’s here to save humankind. (Side note to screenwriters and directors — could we please get our heads around the idea that mankind is a lame word to use in this brave new world where not all of us are men? Awesome. Thanks.)

This trailer is Not Safe For Work, and by the looks of it, neither is Paul Bettany. I enjoy his work, and I’m looking forward to Legion.
 

 

I don’t get to talk about spoons

I don’t get to talk about spoons.

If you’re thinking Huh?, let me point you to The Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino.

My partner has MS. She’s a member of the disability community. I’m not. She gets to talk about spoons. I don’t.

What this means in the simplest words I can find is: being a disabled-bodied person is a different experience from being an able-bodied person, regardless of other factors of race and class and so on. It’s different. Being a person of color in this culture is a different experience from being a white person, regardless of other factors of class and gender and so on. It’s different.

If you don’t share an experience of difference — the kind of difference that hampers your access to physical space, cultural privilege, opportunities, social respect, or being seen as fully human in the eyes of the people around you — please don’t turn around and make that experience about you so you can then participate in it.

I don’t want to hear about your personal “color-blindness” or your paean to how brave the crippled people are because they have so much more to deal with. Nor am I concerned today with whether someone else’s difference counts as much as yours. Difference is, people: can we just acknowledge it and deal with it? And part of dealing means that sometimes you just stand back and give people space to be, to speak about what’s different for them, and to understand that you don’t necessarily get to be different that way too. You can do this even if you don’t think their difference is important, or you don’t understand why it’s important to them, or you don’t see the problem, or whatever. You can, if you choose, simply acknowledge that it’s outside your experience, rather than going on at length about how hard your own stuff is. It does not diminish you if the occasional conversation is not all about you. There is a great vast amount of the world that is not about you, and sometimes people want to talk about it.

So stop making it about you and start listening to how it is for the people who are Not You. Take their word for their experience. And understand that sometimes they just don’t give a shit whether you have suffered too. And today neither do I. I don’t care whether you think it’s fair that the disabled community wants to own the idea of spoons, the same way I don’t care whether you think it’s fair that some people have spaces where white folks don’t get to speak their mind about the challenges of whiteness. I just don’t care right now.

And I’m not here to fight about it. It’s a big world and you can find your own space in another part of it, so if you believe differently, please go express it on your own blog. I will turn off comments in a New York second if things get even the slightest bit whiny or trollish. I’m just not in the mood. Is that unfair? Tough.

Another fearless story

There’s been a fair amount of conversation recently on this blog about hope, and why people keep going in the face of hopelessness. Sometimes the universe demonstrates lovely timing: along comes a beautiful new ebook from Fear.less, written by Mawi Asgedom, that is all about hope and perseverance. Asgedom packs a lot into a small (six page) package, and what speaks to me most right now is his talk of courage, resilience and advice on how to persevere.

The moment of courage in a human being’s life is when all the indicators around you tell you that nothing’s going to work out, when you don’t have any evidence whatsoever that makes you feel like you’re going to be happy again. At that specific moment, when you can still step up and do your best, just because you believe that outside your own logic and reason it’s possible in the world, and you’re going to fight for it, that to me is what courage is all about.
 
— Mawi Asgedom

So many stories revolve around a hero faced with the choice to give up or keep going. Those are powerful stories, and they form the core of some of our most hardline cultural beliefs: that perseverance is all we need to win (if you work hard enough, you can do anything), and that stopping equals failure (a winner never quits and a quitter never wins). We put the emphasis on the results. But Asgedom also puts emphasis on the process: on knowing that when faced with the choice, we did our best.

I’m not here to say that persevering is always the right thing; sometimes stopping is the best choice. Billions of human lives have been lived as a string of such choices. I think Asgedom’s deeper point is that we have a choice, and we get to make it over and over again. It’s a lifetime’s journey. If you make a choice you don’t like, then make a different choice next time. Life doesn’t stop when we choose: it only stops when we don’t.

Download the ebook and share it as you like. Sign up at Fear.less to get more as they are released. And let me know what you think.

Wishing you more joy, more love, more hope, less fear.