Your Saturday moment of zen.
Photo, San Francisco © 2007, 2011, 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.
Posted: 10:39 am Sat November 19 2011 | Comments(0) |
Science Fiction and the Interstellar Idea
Apparent cyberattack destroys pump at Ill. water utility — In separate incident, hacker claims access to SCADA system at Houston utility. As David Goldman says, “And so it begins.”
Fox Falsely Dubs Alleged White House Attacker As “‘Occupy’ Shooter” — What, Fox lying about something to make people they disagree with look bad? Despite the fact that multiple law enforcement agencies found no connection. Wonder if they looked for a connection between the Tea Party and a gun nut from Idaho? Nah, why would anyone think such a thing?
Older, Suburban and Struggling, ‘Near Poor’ Startle the Census — Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along.
The myth and fact behind Newt Gingrich’s 1980 divorce
Police Response to Occupy Wall Street is Absurd — Mind you, this Forbes talking. Not exactly a hotbed of liberal sentiment.
?otD: Been grooving all week with you?
11/19/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 0.0 minutes (chemo fatigue)
Hours slept: 15.00 (solid sleep plus napping)
Weight: n/a
Currently (re)reading: Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
Posted: 10:38 am Sat November 19 2011 | Comments(0) |
The Endurance reading went well last night. We had about 12 for dinner, and about 35 at the Cedar Hills Powells. I wore the spiffy new hat that ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1){kind=small}
janetl
Off to breakfast with Dad shortly, then chemo. Y’all play nice while I’m gone.
Posted: 8:38 am Fri November 18 2011 | Comments(0) |
Your Friday moment of zen.
Gull in the Haight, San Francisco © 2007, 2011, 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.
Posted: 8:34 am Fri November 18 2011 | Comments(1) |
An Open Letter to Simon and Schuester CEO Carolyn Reidy — A bizarre rant from an S&S author. As @ColleenLindsay says, “Writers, don’t EVER do this. You have a problem? Let your agent handle it. You have meds? TAKE THEM.”
Decoding Western art’s buried messages
Spiders offer up useless gifts to get sex — but ladies not duped — Males will even play dead to get more action in this devious 8-legged world. Yeah, I’ve been on dates like that.
Mysterious Symbols in China Desert Are Spy Satellite Targets, Expert Says — Cool weirdness. Nazca ‘r us. (Thanks to David Goldman.)
Recipe Networks Reveal Human Taste Preferences — Network science is revolutionising the future of food.
Moving mirrors make light from nothing — Researchers claim to have produced sought-after quantum effect. (Also thanks to David Goldman.)
Faster-than-light particles repeat speed despite tweaks
Why Wall Street Still Doesn’t Get It
This Cannot Be the Way Occupy Ends — Police militarization and peaceful protest.
A very smart Occupy Wall Street poster — (Via Curiosity Counts.)
Gingrich Called for Jail for Politicians with Freddie Mac Ties — Despite the fact that he took $1.2 million from them as a lobbyist. More of that justly famed conservative intellectual consistency and sterling ethics. Not like those flip-floppng situationist liberals, no no. Nothing to see here citizen. Move along.
?otD: Having a better Friday than me?
11/18/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 9.25 (solid)
Weight: 219.2
Currently (re)reading: Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
Posted: 8:31 am Fri November 18 2011 | Comments(0) |
Yesterday my oncologist informed me that I had lost all my nose hairs. Full nasal Brazilian, that’s me. Which explains the odd booger-to-finger ratio lately, as I commented on my Twitter and Facebook feeds. And the perpetually runny nose. It’s like being three years old again. I shall attempt to maintain nasal dignity at tonight’s Powell’s reading and signing for the release of Endurance [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]. Do come if you’re in the PDX area. Given that I actually slept well last night, I might even be lively!
The postponed chemo ten of twelve starts tomorrow. I passed my blood tests yesterday, and we discussed whether my ongoing head cold was of concern. So long as I don’t run a fever or slide back into GI terror, they’re going to plug and run me.
Meanwhile, plans are stirring for the spring. I expect to have the first volume of Sunspin, Calamity of So Long a Life, revised and back to my agent by the beginning of March so it can finally go to market. I have a few travel itineraries coming together. Look for me at RadCon, unless I’m feeling desperately broke in February, with other appearances to be announced.
I don’t have my writing brain or my normal life back yet, but I can see them from here. Tonight’s reading and signing will be a nice reminder.
Posted: 6:46 am Thu November 17 2011 | Comments(6) |
Your Thursday moment of zen.
San Francisco street art © 2007, 2011, 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.
Posted: 6:36 am Thu November 17 2011 | Comments(0) |
A reader reacts to Green — I think they liked it.
Save the Words — They need a good home. (Via danjite
Klan Air: 1922 — The Klan had an air force? (Look at the markings on the tail of the plane.)
Huge Lake Could Increase Chance of Life on Jupiter Moon
Gamburtsev ‘ghost mountains mystery solved’ — Mmm, Antarctica.
Russians are leaving the country in droves — Some chafe at life under Vladimir Putin’s rule, but for many others, economic limitations are the prime motivator. Experts say the numbers have reached demographically dangerous levels.
The Brutal Truth About Penn State — The problem can’t be solved by prayer or piety — and it’s far more widespread than we think. I have always despised athletic privilege, in part because I was a victim of it during much of my schoolchild years, but the business at Penn State takes athletic privilege to a level of vile insanity.
Welfare for Millionaires — A startling new report reveals the billions in government dollars that benefit America’s wealthiest citizens. Every conservative knows that giving money to poor people who desperately need it just encourages them to be lazy. Giving money to rich people who don’t need it? That’s the American way!
#Occupy: The Tech at the Heart of the Movement — (Snurched from curiosity counts.)
Gods Help Us, St. Louis Did it Right #OWS — (Via drjon
Wall Street on guard for Occupy day of action — Hide behind your money, boys. Mayor Bloomberg will always err on the side of wealth.
Has a Harvard Professor Mapped Out the Next Step for Occupy Wall Street? — Another Constitutional Convention? Is Lessig nuts? Given how well organized the Christianist core of the Republican party is, we’d wind up living in a theocratic state with no revenue base. All this “Christian government” stuff is no different than Shariat law, after all.
?otD: Coming to my reading tonight?
11/17/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo fatigue)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 8.5 (solid)
Weight: 216.4
Currently (re)reading: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Posted: 6:34 am Thu November 17 2011 | Comments(0) |
After careful reflection, I have decided to share this email I sent to a friend and fellow cancer patient. This person’s situation is much more dire than mine, though not terminal, and cancer has inflected their life far more than it has done to me. They wrote me, asking me how I keep going without giving up. Here, lightly edited for comprehension and their privacy, is my reply. Note this is not a desperate cry for help on either of our parts. Rather, this is me in my continuing effort to give insight into the mental and emotional terrain of cancer.
Yes, it’s damned hard. I often have that urge to give up, especially late at night by myself when I’m lonely and mourning my lost primary relationship or really feeling beaten up over my writing career. There really aren’t any happy thoughts that help me at that point. More than once I’ve seriously looked at my pill collection, which would be enough to kill a squad of Navy SEALs if parceled out the right/wrong way.
There’s three or four things that keep me going even then.
First and foremost, my daughter. As bad as my death from cancer would be for her, my giving up and actively or passively suiciding would be much, much worse. I simply cannot do that to her, or to my parents.
Second, I do have an incurable desire to see what happens next. This is true even in the depths of despair.
Third, I’m a staunch atheist. This life is the only ride I get, and there’s nothing to look forward to once the big sleep claims me. It’s a no-excuses credo, a simple faith that is a great comfort to me in these trying times, to misquote Bujold. If I actually believed in a sweet hereafter, believe me, I would be mightily tempted by it.
And, well, I have friends and loved ones and family and fans and all kinds of people I’d be letting down.
Yeah, it sucks. Yeah, odds are it’s not going to stop sucking, even with my current good scan news. Yeah, odds are quite good this will carry me to an early grave. But even in the depths of despair, I can’t convince myself things are so bad it’s worth hurrying toward that end.
I don’t know if this helps, but it’s how I feel. I don’t have much to offer from a distance but, well, here we are.
Jay, who is also deeply enraged
Posted: 6:11 am Wed November 16 2011 | Comments(3) |
davidlevineelisemelisem
One is a cupcake bead. It’s horribly cute, and is a reference to a dream I had about her a while back: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ].
The other is an opal in one of Elise’s lovely silver settings, and is a reference to the visit she and I and several other folks made to Lightning Ridge Opals in Melbourne last year: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]. It’s a piece I rather liked in the raw, and she has set it up so very nicely.
I want to thank elisem
I feel honored and loved and beautified.
Photo © 2011, David D. Levine. Used with permission.
Posted: 6:05 am Wed November 16 2011 | Comments(0) |