Jay Lake: Writer

[links] Link salad knows Major Tom’s a junkie

Get Fuzzy with more on fiction — Put down the coffee before you read this.

Shel and Jez: 1922 — Cute knows no decades.

The Ice Kingdom — A photographic portrait of the Arctic — or what’s left of it — in all its glacial beauty.

Perseid storm — Golly this is gorgeous.

A Near-Term Read on Life in the Galaxy — Pay attention, skiffy types.

Why We Should Actually Thank Dr. Laura for Her N-Word Rant

?otD: Ashes to ashes, funk to funky?

8/21/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 9.75 (solid)
This morning’s weigh-in: 242.0
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 5/10 (fatigue, peripheral neuropathy)
Currently (re)reading: Destroyer by C.J. Cherryh

Tags: Art, Culture, Food, Funny, Links, Personal, Politics, Religion, Writing

Posted: 8:52 am Sat August 21 2010 | Comments(1) |

[cancer] The saucer brought me home, colonoscopy all good

Colonoscopy this morning. The (important) good news, as calendula_witch explains here is that I’m all normal. No polyps, no nothing. I don’t need another one for three years. The (transient) bad news is that I am as fatigued now post-procedurally as I was during some of the worst of chemo. My recovery climbout from sedation or anaesthesia is always much longer than the norm. calendula_witch is here at Nuevo Rancho Lake keeping an eye on me.

Tags: Calendula, Cancer, health

Posted: 5:23 pm Fri August 20 2010 | Comments(9) |

[personal] Miscellaneous updatery is all part of my rock and roll fantasy

Despite the title on this post, I had a Banarama moment in the shower this morning. And let me tell you, nothing convinces one that one needs a shower like a day of colonoscopy prep can do.

Bits and pieces:

• Speaking of colonoscopy prep, I’m off to the clinic Real Soon Now, in the care of calendula_witch. And no, anent suggestions from several helpful souls, vodka was not an approved part of the clear liquid diet of the past 30 hours.
• I’ll be closing out the steampunk caption contest voting poll, probably on Monday. Right now madrobins is leading the field.
• I figure on being done with Endurance sometime this weekend. Then I’ll be working on the Kalimpura outline and trying to sweep through some WRPA and a few short fiction projects in fairly short order.
• Next Tuesday I am in an audio studio for a little while. It will be my first time recording with pro equipment. Too bad my voice is so iffy…
• Cancer second opinion consultation will take place at M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas, probably in early October. Watch this space for updates.
• I’d like to do another contest/book giveaway for the upcoming release of The Sky That Wraps. Should it be a caption contest, or shall we do something else?

Alien abduction experience, here I come…

Tags: audio, Books, Calendula, Cancer, Contests, Endurance, health, Kalimpura, Personal, Polls, Texas, Writing

Posted: 6:54 am Fri August 20 2010 | Comments(2) |

[photos] Your Friday moment of zen

Your Friday moment of zen.

Doll’s head, Mendoza, TX. © 2006, 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: Photos, Texas, zen

Posted: 4:28 am Fri August 20 2010 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad is taken up by the fire in the sky

Get Fuzzy on fiction as a foreign country — Hahahah.

Developing nations to bear cancer brunt, unprepared

Rural Pennsylvania WPA poster

The Republic of Spies — Abkhazia, one of the breakaway provinces over which Russia and Georgia fought in 2008, has been colonized by Russia’s state security services. And the locals are hardly thrilled.

Artificial meat? Food for thought by 2050 — It would solve some ethical problems, too.

Ten things I know about the mosque — Once again Roger Ebert is eloquent about conservative idiocy. His first point is far and away his best.

Top 10 Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories — The American radical right has to be considered a strong contender for the title of modern conspiracy champion. “Radical right” is being far too kind. This stuff is mainstream conservative fare, supported daily by prominent Republican politicians and media figures.

?otD: Ever seen a UFO?

8/20/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1.25 hours (revisions)
Body movement: n/a (colonoscopy prep)
Hours slept: 6.75 (fitful)
This morning’s weigh-in: 241.0
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 4/10 (fatigue, peripheral neuropathy)
Currently (re)reading: Destroyer by C.J. Cherryh

Tags: Art, Culture, Food, Funny, Links, Personal, Politics, Religion, Writing

Posted: 4:25 am Fri August 20 2010 | Comments(1) |

[cancer] Time for another alien abduction experience

I am having another colonoscopy tomorrow. That means I’m on a clear fluid diet today, and this afternoon will be taking WonderDrugs™ to ensure the pipes are clean. I’ve warned everyone local to stay the heck away from Nuevo Rancho Lake today. There truly are some experiences that should not be shared.

A lot people are very uncomfortable with the idea of a colonoscopy. It’s invasive, in a manner and location which can feel very transgressive. It’s a little spooky, especially if you happen to get a look at the probe beforehand. Imagine a Norelco razor duct-taped to a black garden hose… Then imagine that going where the sun don’t shine. We’re talking Fantastic Voyage, except with John Candy in the Raquel Welch role.

I like to think of colonoscopies as alien abduction experiences. I’m taken into a little room with bright lights by mysterious figures in face masks and splash guards, I’m forced to strip and lie on a cold table, I get to enjoy an anal probe, and afterward remember almost noting of it. Really, how different is that from the classic contactee narrative? Perhaps the CIA has had field-expedient colonoscopy teams roaming the country in black helicopters all these years, when they’ve been able to take time off from mutilating cattle, staring at goats and overthrowing Third World dictatorships.

But there’s two critical facts about colonoscopies.

One, they don’t hurt at all. (I’m far more wiped out by the sedation.)

Two, they can and will save your life.

So do me a favor. Do yourself a favor. Do everyone who loves you a favor. If you’re eligible for a colonoscopy (in most US healthcare environments, that means being aged 50 or older), go get one. More to the point, if you have experienced any of the warning signs of colon cancer, whatever your age, go get a colonoscopy.

Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, with about 6% of the population eventually suffering from it. It’s the second largest killer among cancers, after lung cancer. The procedure is a little embarrassing and rather disruptive, but I’m here to tell you from deep personal experience that living with colon cancer is a hell of a lot more disruptive than half a day on the toilet and some bright lights in a little room.

So enough with the PSA. I’m doing my bit, because we already know my colon loves to produce new polyps, the bad kind. Due to my medical history, that induces a certain amount of fear and trepidation on my part, but the alternatives are worse.

Tags: Cancer, health, Personal

Posted: 5:18 am Thu August 19 2010 | Comments(7) |

[art] “Weed Life” by the Child

“Weed Life” by the_child. Medium: iPad 3G, Brushes app.

© 2010 B. Lake. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission.

Tags: Art, Child, iPad

Posted: 4:57 am Thu August 19 2010 | Comments(2) |

[photos] Your Thursday moment of zen

Your Thursday moment of zen.

The world’s tallest structure, a television mast outside Fargo, ND. Much too high for my camera to capture in full. © 2006, 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: north dakota, Photos, zen

Posted: 4:55 am Thu August 19 2010 | Comments(2) |

[links] Link salad goes on a diet of clear liquids

Fossils may be ‘earliest animals’ — Tiny, irregularly shaped fossils from South Australia could be the oldest remains of simple animal life found to date.

What Does ‘P vs. NP’ Mean for the Rest of Us?

Minnesota Tornadoes 2010: We’re #1! — Repeat after me, weather is not climate. Still, the trends don’t look good. Darn that liberal bias in reality.

The Boondocks with a strip re-run from seven years ago that is eerily on target today — Le plus que ça change…

In US 20% believe Obama is Muslim — The poll found one third of conservative Republicans believe Obama is a Muslim, nearly double the figure who said so last year. This is what we call “the crazy”, and it’s reinforced by constant messaging from conservative media outlets and political leaders. Confidential to conservatives in America: Your ideals are mighty damned weak if you have to rely on bald-faced lies to advance your agenda.

Olbermann: There is no ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ — A little unaccustomed reality to counter the conservative hysteria. Not that it will help… Still, worth watching if you want to understand this story from a reality-based perspective.

?otD: What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

8/19/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hour (revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.75 (interrupted)
This morning’s weigh-in: 243.2
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 4/10 (fatigue, peripheral neuropathy)
Currently (re)reading: Destroyer by C.J. Cherryh

Tags: Culture, Funny, Links, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science

Posted: 4:52 am Thu August 19 2010 | Comments(1) |

[food] Last night, I didn’t sleep at all, all, all

Important safety tip from yesterday: If you’ve been off caffeine for a few years, don’t have a chocolate-cappuccino shake with dinner. EVAR

Just sayin’. No particular reason.

Tags: Food, Funny, Personal

Posted: 6:45 pm Wed August 18 2010 | Comments(1) |