Jay Lake: Writer

[funny] Conversations in Omaha

On the way out of my hotel yesterday morning to head for work, I stopped to chat with the day manager, who was taking over from the night clerk. (I stay there so often we’ve all been on a first name basis for years.) We were discussing my burgeoning head of hair, and I mentioned that I’d managed to save the chest port from the recent surgery to remove it. We also talked about the fact that I had samples of my liver and my colon at home. She said, “Only a man would do that.” I said, “I carried this stuff around in my body for months and years. Don’t women keep their children?”

Later that same day, talking to a woman at the Day Jobbe office about the pronounciation of her unusual surname, she said to, “Yes, sometimes I look in the phone book for dates. I like to pick men with easy last names.” This cracked me up.

Ah, Omaha. Comedy gold.

Tags: Cancer, Funny, health, Omaha, Personal, work

Posted: 4:41 am Thu May 03 2012 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad has been hauled away by Mr. Peabody’s coal train

More Bad Book Covers — A blogger takes umbrage with book covers on one my Tor books, and one of Seanan McGuire’s books.

Fine-tuning Nanotech to Target Cancer — Programmable nanoparticles have shown promise in early cancer trials, and may finally fulfill the promise of nanomedicine.

Freezing Time — Targeting the briefest moment in chemistry may lead to an exceptionally strong new class of drugs. Wow, does that headline sound like a story title.

Oldest human blood cells found in well-preserved ‘iceman,’ say scientists — Oldest human blood cells: Discovered in 1991, the body of a man who was felled by an arrow in the Alps some 5,300 years ago still has intact red blood cells, scientists have discovered.

10 strange fast food items abroad — Strange from a USAnian perspective, of course.

Finally, a Shark With a Laser — Because sometimes life just has to imitate art.

1859′s “Great Auroral Storm”—the week the Sun touched the earth

A Mélange of Ice — What a beautiful photo.

Student left in cell 4 days recalls hallucinations — The War on Drugs, keeping you safer since, well, never.

The Self-Made Myth: Debunking Conservatives’ Favorite — And Most Dangerous — Fiction

Wife Of NC Amendment One Supporter: Husband Wrote Bill To Preserve ‘Caucasian Race’ — Ah, conservatives. Your racism and homophobia are just part of what makes us all love you so much. There is simply no liberal equivalent to this kind of institutionalized Republican lunacy, not outside the far fringes of the progressive movement.

Chris Christie’s Liabilities as GOP Running Mate — Heh.

‘Hyperpartisan discussion’ ends gay spokesman’s stint with Romney — I continue to be fascinated by this story, mostly in wondering about the psychological train wreck that is any gay American working for the Republican party as it is constituted today.

?otd: Daddy won’t you take me back to Muhlenberg County, down by the Green River where Paradise lay?

5/3/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (2,600 words on Their Currents Turn Awry)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 8.0 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie

Tags: Art, Books, Cancer, Cool, Food, gay, health, Links, nature, Personal, Photos, Politics, race, Science, weird

Posted: 4:37 am Thu May 03 2012 | Comments(4) |

[links] Link salad beholds the Underminer

Ruling: Jesus doesn’t heal cancer — Also, this just in: Water is wet. Not offensive so much as offensively stupid, and life-threateningly dangerous to ailing people foolish or desperate enough to place their hope in this. Spiritual seeking can be an important part of healing, but confusing it with actual medical intervention is tragic. As I’ve said time and again, just because you believe it doesn’t mean it’s true.

Are sugar substitutes worse than the real thing?

Ancient fleas plagued ancient dinosaurs — And modern fleas plague modern dinosaurs! Or something.

New Device Automatically Slices and Scans Brains, Then Puts Them Into A Google Map — The latest in zombie chic? (Via danjite.)

Draisine, ca. 1818 — A forerunner of the modern bicycle. (Via my brother.)

Do Kids Care If Their Robot Friend Gets Stuffed Into a Closet? — Headline of the day.

Physicists Crack Fusion Mystery — A new theory might help researchers double the power of fusion reactors.

‘Even Jimmy Carter’ — In which the usual Republican ignorance of reality is exposed for the Nth time.

Eight “Scathing” Passages From The News Corp. Report — Maybe the UK’s Parliament could have a go at Fox News next? There’s certainly no accountability whatsoever to be had on this side of the pond.

Conservatives’ Deep-Set Fear of Women’s Rights — Very interesting piece. To me this gets at the heart of the difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives by definition want to foster a narrow, smaller worldview. Liberals by definition want to foster a wider, more diverse worldview. The liberal worldview almost always leaves plenty of room for conservative ideals. Don’t want an abortion? Don’t have one. Hate and fear homosexuality? Be straight, with my blessing. Want to deny evolution? Party on with the flat Earthers. The conservative worldview very rarely leaves room for liberal ideals, seeking to deny all of society anything conservatives themselves don’t agree with. On the basis of sheer, simple fairness, I could never be a conservative.

Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake! — The iconic writer scolds the superrich (including himself—and Mitt Romney) for not giving back, and warns of a Kingsian apocalyptic scenario if inequality is not addressed in America. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

Richard Grenell hounded from Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives — Well, at least the GOP is being intellectually consistent for once.

[Michigan] EM referendum off November ballot, opponents vow appeal — Republicans cited the wrong font size on the title of the petitions circulated by Stand Up For Democracy, a coalition of groups that launched the petition campaign, as the reason for not approving the initiative for the ballot. Opponents gathered 203,238 signatures, roughly 40,000 more than needed to get a repeal question on the ballot. Yep, I can see that as a compelling political argument. Ah, the principled consistency of the GOP, who always believe the voice of the people should be heard, except when they disagree with it. (Via corwynofamber.)

?otd: Is nothing beneath you?

5/3/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (3,500 words on Their Currents Turn Awry)
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 7.25 (fitful)
Weight: n/a
Currently reading: The Blade Itself Joe Abercrombie

Tags: Cancer, Cool, Food, Funny, gay, gender, healthcare, Links, media, Personal, Politics, Religion, Science, sex, Tech

Posted: 4:42 am Wed May 02 2012 | Comments(0) |

[writing] Back on Their Currents Turn Awry

I managed to bang out 4,600 words on Their Currents Turn Awry yesterday. I was feeling a little uneasy about my days-long hiatus from working on the book, though I recognize logically enough that the combination of the port removal surgery and the fourth anniversary of my cancer was deeply distracting.

It’s good to slip back into the headspace of the characters. My sense of muddling has receded from where it was a week or two ago, and I am definitely on the downhill run toward wrapping this first draft of Sunspin‘s second volume. I’m also definitely at the stage of thinking, “This is stupid, no one’s going to want to read this tripe.” In other words, situation normal for this author.

I started reading Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself a couple of days ago. Man, is he hard on his characters. Everything is fast and difficult from page one. Sunspin isn’t like that. I’m moving a different kind of pace, more deliberate. So at the moment, Joe is making me feel inadequate. Like I want to say to myself, “Quick, kill somebody!” Except this is a different book.

It’s funny how we look to others. I believe I’m a perfectly good writer who sometimes can trend towards great. (I have to believe that, otherwise I’d never sit down at a keyboard.) Yet there are so many ways to go about this. “There are nine and sixty ways / Of constructing tribal lays / And every single one of them is right.” And when I’ve chosen one path, all those other paths look so much more attractive.

Sort of like when you order the chicken parmigiana and then salivate over every other dish that comes out of the restaurant kitchen.

Ah, writing. Insecurity must really be part of the process.

Tags: Books, Cancer, Currents, health, Sunspin, Writing

Posted: 4:51 am Tue May 01 2012 | Comments(2) |

[travel] Off to Omaha again

I’m off to Omaha again. A bit short-slept, eager to be back on Their Currents Turn Awry after a weekend of cancer echoes and chest pain. We shall see. Blogging and email service may be irregular.

Whatever you’re doing this week, be well.

Tags: Books, Cancer, Currents, health, Omaha, Travel, Writing

Posted: 4:25 am Mon April 30 2012 | Comments(1) |

[cancer] Happy Cancerversary

Four years ago today I was admitted to the hospital with copious rectal bleeding, which turned into my cancer diagnosis.

Today I’m having family and a few friends over to celebrate the fact that I’ve survived four years with Stage Four colon cancer. As it happens, this past Friday my second chest port was removed, so we’ll be honoring that outbreak of optimism as well.

I got to keep this one:

So, yeah. My brain’s been kind of eaten these past few days, but the stress is basically good stress. Getting my life back, at least for a while.

Today: Happy Cancerversary. Tomorrow I’m off to Omaha, back on Their Currents Turn Awry, and back to real life

Photo © 2012, 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.
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Tags: Books, Cancer, Currents, health, Omaha, Personal, Photos, Travel, Writing

Posted: 7:01 am Sun April 29 2012 | Comments(4) |

[conventions] Write to Publish

Had a good time yesterday at Ooligan Press’ Write to Publish conference. kenscholes was there, as was ramblin_phyl, Jason Brock and a number of other folks. Plus I meant some neat new people, including Allison Moon.

It was a well-run conference put on by Portland State University’s student-run press. The panels were nicely moderated with some good questions. The mix of folks attending was rather different from what I see at SF conventions, et cetera.

I dragged a little more than I expected I would, due to pain and fatigue from Friday’s chest port extraction. Still, very glad I went. Wouldn’t mind going again next year if they do more genre stuff.

Tags: Cancer, Conventions, friends, health, Personal, Portland

Posted: 6:59 am Sun April 29 2012 | Comments(0) |

[photos] Having the port taken out

Yesterday, in a fit of optimism I had my chest port removed. The surgeon distracted me by chatting about publishing the whole time, while poor mlerules watched. She and the physician’s assistant N— both used my iPhone to photograph the procedure.

Under cut for potential medical ick…

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Cancer, health, Photos

Posted: 6:57 am Sat April 28 2012 | Comments(3) |

[links] Link salad only let them go so wrong out of kindness, I suppose

Panel Discussion Moderated by Terry Bisson and Interviews with Rudy Rucker, K. W. Jeter, and Jay Lake — Rick Kleffel with a podcast of some of us Being Smart at SF in SF last February.

The Cultivation of Imagination — Art writing guru James Gurney with some interesting thoughts.

Emotion — xkcd on cancer.

Monsanto Blamed For Bee Population Collapse, So It Buys Bee Research Firm — (Via danjite.)

Pacific reef shark populations ‘plummeting,’ study says

Space shuttle with horse and rider — I find this photograph striking.

Big Bang Machine Discovers Brand New Particle

Asteroids Could Be Mined for Fuel, Says Company — Orbiting spacecraft could be refueled with water taken from planetoids—but some experts doubt the economics.

Explaining the CISPA Cybersecurity Bill, the Latest Threat to your Privacy — Hoo boy.

White Privilege — Ta-Nehisi Coates talks about privilege.

Homophobic? Maybe You’re Gay — Why are political and religious figures who campaign against gay rights so often implicated in sexual encounters with same-sex partners? Because water is wet. Typical conservative hypocrisy, in the same vein as “The only moral abortion is my own.”

Legal discrimination, but no name-calling, please — …a desire to avoid being labeled a bigot while defending legal discrimination Hello, Christian Right. Also, this: Christian petition affirms same-sex relationships.

The Public Doesn’t Share Romney’s Cold War Mentality on Russia — Ya think. Confidential to the Romney campaign: The Soviet Union hasn’t existed for over twenty years. And they’re really not a threat to Czechoslovakia, which hasn’t existed for almost twenty years. Confidential to the rest of America: Tell me again why these GOP morons should be in charge?

John Boehner’s poker face — In January, John Boehner couldn’t have been more confident about the state of the GOP majority. It was “nearly impossible” that Democrats might win the House back in 2012. In fact, the Speaker said, Republicans were well positioned to hold the House for the next decade. Ah, for the heady days of the Permanent Majority, when the GOP turned a budget surplus into a frightening deficit, reversed our paydown on the national debt, and launched a reckless trillion dollar war of choice. All of which is now Obama’s fault, of course. Just ask any Tea Partier. No wonder people want the Republicans back in power.

?otd: Where did Lefty get the bread to go?

4/28/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.5 hours (WRPA)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bicycle ride
Hours slept: 8.75 (solid)
Weight: 242.4 (!)
Currently reading: A Game of Thrones (graphic novel), George R.R. Martin with Daniel Abraham and Tommy Patterson

Tags: Art, Cancer, Christianists, Cool, gay, healthcare, Links, nature, Personal, Photos, podcasts, Politics, Process, race, Religion, Science, Tech, Writing

Posted: 6:50 am Sat April 28 2012 | Comments(1) |

[cancer] Having the port taken out today

I’m off in a couple of hours to the clinic to have my chest port removed, for the second time. It’s a very minor outpatient procedure lasting less than an hour under local anaesthetic only. Which involves a doctor and a nurse digging about in my chest for most of that time, via an entry wound just close enough to my right clavicle that I can’t actually see what they’re doing. Fairly twitchy about that, even though I’ve had this exact procedure before. The last time, I was so nervous that I took two Lorazepam before I went in. By the time I got to the clinic, I could barely walk, I was so looped.

I think I’ll stick to one Lorazepam this time.

Of course, after mentioning last night to mlerules how well I sleep and how consistently I sleep well, I had a terrible night’s sleep. Though I wasn’t consciously worrying about the procedure today, I rather assume that medical stress played its part.

I’ve lunch with a friend from high school today, and I’m due at the Ooligan Press social tonight with lizzyshannon and the_child, otherwise I’d be tempted to pop two Lorazepam, call in a sick day, and sleep off the stress post-procedure.

So, yeah. Yesterday’s no writing was due to schedule whackiness (of the good kind, a nice potluck dinner, among other things) and me wanting a day of brain break between sections of Their Currents Turn Awry. It’s quite possible today will be no writing as well due to me being in a drug-induced haze and medically stressed out. Or not. We shall see.

Tags: Books, Cancer, Child, Conventions, Currents, friends, health, Personal, Process, Sunspin, Writing

Posted: 5:40 am Fri April 27 2012 | Comments(5) |