Lakeshore

[photos|art] Me at the JayCon afterparty

jlake@jlake.com — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:34:07 GMT

Me at the JayCon afterparty.

A photo which was both taken and arted up by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. © 2013, all rights reserved, used with permission.

[cancer] Field notes from Cancerland, post Father's Day edition

jlake@jlake.com — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:30:17 GMT

In General

All the excitement of JayCon XIII is behind me, along with JayFest and the various auxiliary festivities. This means that I am back to focusing on the difficult details of my life. Including still not having my laptop, and thus missing access to many of my files. I believe the new one arrives tomorrow. It also means the mental and emotional landscape has shifted from a multitude of entertaining distractions to being back at the center of Cancerland. Melancholy prevails.

Appointments

This week I see a trust attorney for some more estate management discussions, and a palliative care doctor to talk about end-of-life planning in detail. I'm also sitting for a print interview, as well as film shoot not connected to Waterloo Productions' ongoing Lakeside project. More about these as they unfold.

Life Transitions of the Financial Sort

The house refinance finalized and funded last week. I hadn't really written about that here while it was ongoing, simply so as not to create problems in the process should the lender Google me for diligence. I'll say more about this later in a detailed post on end-of-life finances, but the general idea was to reduce the interest rate in order to minimize cash flow going forward.

Likewise, I have begun the process of separation at work, and my last day on regular payroll is currently set to be 7/1. I'll go on Short Term Disability for a while, then transition to Long Term Disability later in the year. I have a lot to say about this process, but would prefer to see it all play out before I comment publicly. What is clear is that I will go through a period this summer of essentially zero income, which will be scary and tight.

Emotional Ripples

Lisa Costello had a near meltdown a few days ago in which she told me how difficult it was to watch me dismantle my life piece by piece. Which is exactly I am doing. Leaving work, simplifying and shutting down financial accounts, giving away or getting rid of much of the contents of my house, saying good-bye to geographically distant friends as I get the chance to see them, and so forth. I pointed out that dismantling my life on my own terms was itself something of a gift, as it grants the illusion of control and allowed me to arrange things as I see best. Those brave words aside, she's absolutely right. This process is heart-breaking. My only comfort is that it's even more heart-breaking when your survivors have to do it all unexpectedly.

Regorafenib Side Effects

Side effects bingo continues. As of today I am in my off week for the drug (21 days on, 7 days off), so the side effects have hopefully peaked for now. Some of the advice we've given is that month one is the period of maximal side effects, some advice says month two. In either case, we expect a plateau after the peak, with the possibility of some mild amelioration. In the mean time, yech. My mouth continues swollen and sore. After most meals I brush my teeth with pharmaceutical grade toothpaste, then rinse and gargle with a saltwater solution followed by a baking soda solution. (I tried combining those two at first. Pro tip: Don't. Just don't. Trust me on this one thing.) After that I rinse with the lidocaine mouthwash. Let me tell you, go through that a few times and you never want to eat again.

The other overwhelming side effect is the hand-foot syndrome. As of yesterday I was finally seeing some skin breakage, just peeling on my fingers mostly. But the pain in my palms and soles has been quite troublesome. I walk with a cane now, use a disabled parking permit, and spend as little time as possible on my feet. I also wear cotton gloves most of the time, to avoid incidental friction on my hands. Yesterday my feet hurt so badly I thought the skin of my heels had torn free (which is a possible thing on this medication). In related news, the swelling in my scrotum continues, though we've managed to mitigate it by having me wear briefs which are slightly too small for me. This gathers and cradles the affected area, which keeps the skin of my thighs from irritating the swelling. Crazy stuff.

I'm also continuing to experience erratic GI function. Admittedly, that's my ground state these days, but the Regorafenib creates mild constipation on top of everything else. This is pretty much the opposite of what it says on the tin. And my sleep patterns are just weird at the moment. Unless I have a strong amount of social distraction, I will all but pass out by 9 pm. I will then wake up between 2 and 3 am, and usually cannot go back to sleep. Even my friend Lorazepam doesn't seem to fix this problem. Just lately, I've been falling asleep in the afternoons, and fairly deeply at that. What I'm not yet doing is hitting that pathological fatigue that has characterized so much of the rest of my chemotherapy experience over the years.

I see my oncologist next Monday, along with more bloodwork to track my liver functions and overall body chemistry. We'll have to find out what the second month of Regorafenib brings. I suspect this will depend a lot on how much the side effects diminish this week in the absence of continued further drug dosage.

[photos] Your Monday moment of zen

jlake@jlake.com — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:04:27 GMT

Your Monday moment of zen.

The grounds of the ruined monastery at Kharakhorum, Genghis Khan's lost capital city. The vast majority of the strucutres were destroyed by the Communists around 1928, the few surviving templeshave been maintained and restored, along with the outer walls. Photo © 1992, 2013, 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.

[links] Link salad flies before the Flame of Udûn

jlake@jlake.com — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:02:57 GMT

Birthday Song’s Copyright Leads to a Lawsuit for the Ages — Ah, the magic of copyright. Especially in Happy Birthdayland. (Via tillyjane, a/k/a my Mom.)

Portland's Hoyt Arboretum attempts to set the world's tree hugging record — Because Portland! (Via @bobhole.)

Repairing Bad Memories — Hmm. No potential for abuse here.

Who Made That Mouse? — The history of a human interface. (Thanks to Dad.)

Scientists Moving 15-Ton Magnet From NY to Chicago — I think this was one of my word problems in 8th grade math.

Puffed-up hot Jupiters may be getting an electric charge — New model suggests they're heated up by magnetic fields of solar wind.

The Pope’s Gay Panic — More moral bankruptcy from the greatest pedophilia shelter in history.

Why Dwindling Snow—Thanks Largely to Climate Change—Might Dry Out Los Angeles — I continue to be amazed at how liberal propaganda on climate change has fooled even reality itself. Thank God for Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party, or this country might have been able to do something about the problem before it got much, much worse. Which would be a shame, because that would have meant liberals were right. Every good conservatives knows it's far better to drown Miami and dry out Los Angeles than let any part of the liberal agenda succeed.

What Sweden Can Tell Us About Obamacare — Last month, for the 37th time, the House of Representatives voted to repeal Obamacare, with many Republicans saying that its call for greater government involvement in the health care system spells doom. Yet most other industrial countries have health care systems with far more government involvement than we are ever likely to see under Obamacare. What does their experience tell us about Republican fears? Groundless paranoia has long been the conservative stock-in-trade on almost every issue — that's how you manufacture more angry white men, after all, which by the GOP's own admission is its key political strategy. Why should healthcare be any different?

Antonin Scalia Does Not Believe in Molecular Biology — Duh. He's a Republican. The GOP has spent the past decades very carefully and deliberately privileging willful ignorance over either science or evidence-based critical thinking. What else would we expect? (Via shsilver.)

QotD?: Would you stand and fight?

6/17/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (too many errands, not enough time)
Hours slept: 5.75 hours solid
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 248.0
Number of FEMA troops on my block leaking intelligence secrets: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg; Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[personal] Happy Father's Day

jlake@jlake.com — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:56:46 GMT

Happy Father's Day to my Dad, all the dads out there I know, all the dads out there I don't know, and to everyone who ever had a dad.

Joseph E. Lake, Sr. Photo © 2013, 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.

[events] JayCon done come and gone

jlake@jlake.com — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:52:11 GMT

JayCon done come and gone. Except for breakfast this morning. And taking fjm to the airport for her trip home, and so forth.

I would call it successful. We had guests from Australia, the UK, Canada, Texas, California, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. We had pizza and cake and cookies. We had before parties and after parties. We had a tiki ceremony.

And now despite no drinking I have the functional equivalent of a hangover.

Also, I was way too busy to take photos, but here's a couple from others:

© 2013 Dierdre S.M.

© 2013 Tamara Kaye Sellman

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with and for me. I love you all.

[photos] Your Sunday moment of zen

jlake@jlake.com — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:37:05 GMT

Your Sunday moment of zen.

The gate of the ruined monastery at Kharakhorum, Genghis Khan's lost capital city. Note the yaks on the right. Photo © 1992, 2013, 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.

[links] Link salad wakes up with a JayCon hangover

jlake@jlake.com — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:33:23 GMT

No, That’s Not Too Much Jay — File 770 is both kind and funny about me.

Mainspring (Jay Lake, Clockwork Earth #1) — A review of my novel by a readeer who really, really didn't care for it.

Superman: Flying to a church near you — Well, ok then. (Via shsilver.)

A Pocket-Sized Micro House Built To Withstand Severe Weather

Could a Surplus of California Milk Fulfill China's Cheese Needs? — I was not aware that China had cheese needs.

Restoring Trees to Save the World's Rarest Parrot —

South Africa's Cape parrot needs more yellowwood trees to survive.

La Salle's long-lost ship?

QotD?: Are you as stonkered as I am?

6/16/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (too many errands, not enough time)
Hours slept: 5.75 hours solid
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 248.0
Number of FEMA troops on my block leaking intelligence secrets: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg; Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[conventions|repost] Announcing JayCon XIII - today!

jlake@jlake.com — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:47:23 GMT

ETA: We will be having my living wake, the JayWake on Saturday, July 27th. This will be a celebration of my life and a giant flip of the bird to my death. Including both a wake and a roast. Watch this space for more details.

Every year, some people tell me that I need to announce JayCon early so they can get it in on their calendars. Every year, some people tell me I need to announce JayCon later, because they don't plan that far ahead. Sometimes, these are the same people. So starting now, and going on through the spring, I will be reposting this announcement with occasional edits or updates as needed.

In celebration of my natal anniversary, JayCon XIII, my 13th annual 37th birthday party, is Saturday, June 15th, 2013 (a/k/a today) from 2 to 5 pm at the Flying Pie in SE Portland. We're partying because I was born, and because ~~I have beat cancer again and again and again~~ we may not ever get to do this again.

If you can read this, you're invited. Prior JayCon experience not required.

Also, if you're coming from out of town, and you think I might not be aware of that, please contact me. There are some limited capacity extended festivities from Friday to Sunday.

Flying Pie Pizzeria
7804 SE Stark Street
Portland, 97215
(503) 254-2016
http://www.flying-pie.com/
[ Google Maps ]

As is traditional for JayCon, Paul M. Carpentier is specifically not invited.

[personal] JayCon preparty

jlake@jlake.com — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:44:41 GMT

Last night we had the JayCon preparty at Cartlandia here in SE Portland. That's a pretty substantial food cart pod with a big central tent into which we fit about twelve or fourteen people for a couple of hours of food and chitchat. Always a good thing.

Today is of course JayCon. That should be loads of fun, as always. By Monday, things will have calmed down, and I won't know what to do with myself.

Also, it would be nice if I could stabilize my sleep schedule.

[photos] Your Saturday moment of zen

jlake@jlake.com — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:41:05 GMT

Your Saturday moment of zen.

The walls of the ruined monastery at Kharakhorum, Genghis Khan's lost capital city. Photo © 1992, 2013, 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.

[links] Link salad says it's time to celebrate a birthday

jlake@jlake.com — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:36:38 GMT

Jay Lake - Próba kwiatów — An (apparently) largely positive review of the Polish edition of Trial of Flowers.

How we feel can change how we taste fat — Content people can detect changes in fat content, unhappy people do not.

Australian squid eat sperm for better bodies and babies — Presented without further comment. (Via David Goldman.)

Leprosy’s disappearing act came from public health improvements

Japanese eyeball-licking craze carries blindness risk

The Invention: 1928 — Flat panel display?

How Google Will Use High-Flying Balloons to Deliver Internet to the Hinterlands — I do love Google, except for the banal evil that is the Google Books Settlement.

Using Metadata to Find Paul Revere — Both funny and sobering. (Via David Goldman.)

Feds to comply with NY morning-after pill ruling — Conservative sexual paranoia really isn't a good basis for national policy. I'm glad to see sanity prevailing once in a rare while.

The Tragic Fall of the White Race in America — Yup. Too bad for the Republican angry white man freakshow.

QotD?: Going to be at JayCon today?

6/15/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (too many errands, not enough time)
Hours slept: 5.5 hours (fitful)
Body movement: 0.0 hours (exercise room was occupied)
Weight: 246.6
Number of FEMA troops on my block leaking intelligence secrets: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg; Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[personal|events] On the cusp between JayFest and JayCon

jlake@jlake.com — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:47:29 GMT

Yesterday evening was JayFest. Which we celebrated in style. It was well-attended, and I think some books got sold. No photos yet, on account of continuing computer issues hereabouts, but there will be. Much fun was had by all, and somehow John Pitts wound up with the Genre car afterwards.

Today is kind of a cusp day. Enjoying the company of fjm. John will be by later, and this evening is a loose group dinner for early and pre-JayCon attendees at Cartlandia, my almost-local food cart pod.

Tomorrow, of course, JayCon XIII with all attendant madness. Which is incidentally Joyce Z.'s real birthday, so she'll be celebrating there as well.

In other news, today is the_child's last day of school. Shortly she will be a freshman no more. Another reason to celebrate.

[photos] Your Friday moment of zen

jlake@jlake.com — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:39:51 GMT

Your Friday moment of zen.

The Outer Mongolian equivalent of the Interstate highway system. I'm not being snarky, in 1992, the country had less than 200 miles of paved roads. Photo © 1992, 2013, Joseph E. Lake, Sr.

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

[links] Link salad wanders into Friday

jlake@jlake.com — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:36:09 GMT

A reader reacts to Kalimpura — Generally rather favorable. I loved this bit: There are several big themes in the book that I really like too. First, Green is a bad-ass queer woman of color. Her story isn’t about any of those aspects of her, they just are facts about her. Sometimes those facts contribute to her interactions with other characters and sometimes they don’t. This is so important. Especially because Green is young and brave and flawed and impetuous and foolish and special all at once. She’s an individual, not a stereotype, and we need more of those depictions of queer women of color in our literature.

Bride of the Girl Cooties — Cora Buhlert with an excellent link roundup and commentary on the current iteration of arguments about gendering in SF.

Will McIntosh, On Choosing a Title for Your Novel — I've had a things or two to say about this in the past. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

The Secret to a Video-Game Phenomenon — I always thought Minecraft is what Lego should have invented.

The Renaissance Military Compass — Ok, that is cool. 500 year old milspec technology. Scroll down a bit when you land on the page. (Thanks to threeoutside.)

Excel Is An Art Form: These Beautiful Images Are Proof — Wow. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

U.S. Supreme Court Says “Natural” Human Genes May Not Be Patented — Huh. Some unlooked-for sanity in patent law.

Gene/culture co-evolution

Oxygen mystery: How marine mammals hold their breath

Why Rational People Buy Into Conspiracy Theories — Because reasons, damn it! (Thanks to David Goldman.)

Antarctic ice melting from below, finds study — Ice loss in Antarctica is largely driven by warm ocean currents, a discovery that could lead to more accurate predictions of sea level rise. Must be scuba diving liberals with blow torches. Everyone knows climate change is a fraud, no matter what the evidence says.

‘Spiritual’ young people more likely to commit crimes than ‘religious’ ones — Which is why atheists are one of the most distrusted groups in America. No, wait, what...? (Thanks to shsilver.)

California Prepares for Fallout as High Court Ruling on Prop. 8 Nears — Prop 8 is institutionalized bigotry driven in large part by funding from the Mormon Church, which has joined the Catholic Church as an example of total failure of moral leadership and social conscience because of that. It would be very nice to see Utah's exported religiously-branded hate run back out of California.

[Iowa GOP governor] Terry Branstad May Need To Approve Medicaid Abortion Funding — Yes. Every single one of them. Because one thing conservatives believe absolutely is that the government shouldn't come between you and your doctor. Which is what makes Obamacare evil and government oversight of abortions good... that much-vaunted conservative intellectual consistency. You know how much Republicans hate those situational ethics. (Via scarlettina.)

GOP congressman Trent Franks: It’s hard to get pregnant from rape — Republicans apparently cannot keep themselves from being both vile and stupid on this topic.

QotD?: Force choke or Vulcan nerve pinch?

6/14/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (too many errands, not enough time)
Hours slept: 5.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 246.8
Number of FEMA troops on my block leaking intelligence secrets: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg; Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[cancer] Field notes from Cancerland, JayFest edition

jlake@jlake.com — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:00:18 GMT

JayFest

JayFest is tonight at Powell's Cedar Hills. Some of the folks arriving today are staying over for JayCon, including J.A. Pitts and fjm. From about lunchtime today until after dinner Sunday it's going to be one nonstop trip to crazytown around here. Next week will be a dead calm sea by comparison.

Story Sale

In the department of good news what cheers me, seanan_mcguire and I have placed our collaborative novella "Hook Agonistes" with Subterranean Online. Go, us!

Estate Matters

As of yesterday, the house refinance has funded. I'm done with that, at an advantageous interest rate and a reduced cash flow requirement. This week, we have met with the accountant, the financial planner and the attorney about various matters as well. Sometime in the next week or so, I will write out in detail the kinds of planning we're doing, including whys and wherefores. Just don't have time right now. And, frankly, it's overwhelming.

Daye Jobbe

I am in the process of leaving work permanently on disability. I have a lot to say about this, but I believe I shall wait until we're all the way through the process so I can comment from that perspective. My employer continues to be extraordinarily supportive of me in this process, as does my boss, as well as the members of my work group. This does have some fairly staggering implications in terms of me receiving reduced cash flow from disability insurance while seeing my healthcare costs push up by 350% in shifting to COBRA. Again, more on this later when all the ducks have been enrowed.

Regorafenib Side Effects

My not-so-slow side into debilitation continues apace. I am now wearing cotton gloves almost all the time, including in my sleep. Also thick hiking socks over my silky bamboo socks, to cushion my feet. We have bought a new chair that gives me good elevation of the extremities, as well as a 'zero gee' posture to deal with the significant back pain which is emerging as a result of me walking with an odd gait due to the foot pain. I am also experiencing swelling in various body parts, including my feet and my scrotum. (That last is no joy, let me assure you.) The day to day stuff is driving me nuts. Yesterday I almost had a meltdown because I could not uncap a pen. Also, I am getting stupider. I can tell this because my performance at Sudoku has declined noticeably in the past two weeks. I use that as one of my basic cognitive self-checks. I've also been making an increasing number of stupid logistical mistakes. And my sleep cycle is very messed up. I woke at 2:15 am this morning, finally giving up at 3:00 am — this on top of a 10:00 pm bedtime. So, yeah...

JayCon

Meanwhile, there's JayCon XIII on Saturday. I'll be doing my best to enjoy the heck out of all the fuss and bother. Hope you can make one or more of the events between now and then.

[events|repost] JayFest sponsored by Powell's Books

jlake@jlake.com — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:44:29 GMT

This evening, Powell's Books will be hosting JayFest, a group signing and book fair in support of the Clayton Memorial Medical Fund in my name.

DATE: Thursday, June 13, 2013 (two days before JayCon XIII)
TIME: Book fair 6:00-9:00 pm, group signing 7:00-8:00 pm
PLACE: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing in Beaverton, Oregon

Authors in attendance will include David D. Levine, Phyllis Irene Radford, Devon Monk, Barb and J. C. Hendee, Shannon Page, Mark Ferrari, J. A. Pitts, M. K. Hobson, Diana Pharaoh Francis, and Tina Connolly.

Ten percent of the proceeds for each book sold during the book fair will go to the Clayton Memorial Medical Fund, which helps professional science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery writers living in the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska deal with the financial burden of medical expenses.

Be there or be rectilinear!

Please see http://www.powells.com/events/5348/ for more information and updates.

[photos] Your Thursday moment of zen

jlake@jlake.com — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:41:00 GMT

Your Thursday moment of zen.

Owo, a sort of roadside cairn and shrine supposedly hosting healing powers, Outer Mongolia. Photo © 1992, 2013, Joseph E. Lake, Sr.

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

[links] Link salad for a JayFest Thursday

jlake@jlake.com — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:36:57 GMT

Altitude May Influence Language Sounds — The lower air pressure at high altitudes may be a factor in why ejective consonants are more popular in languages spoken higher up.

What Will Humans Look Like in 100,000 Years? Here's a Guess — Callista Flockhart, apparently. And white, totes white.

Paper Dolls: 1960s TV Stars — For all your retro needs.

Virus That Evolved in the Lab Delivers Gene Therapy into the Retina

Does the Big Bang necessarily mean we’re part of a multiverse?

Mapping Color Names — Oooh. Cool.

The Surprising History and Science of Tear Gas

The lost city of Heracleion — Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. (Snurched from Steve Buchheit.)

New York's Sea-Level Plan: Will It Play in Miami? — Once again I am reminded that there is no objective reason for climate change to be a partisan issue. Just reflexive conservative hatred of anything liberals care about, as well as the usual GOP contrarianism, in play over what in retrospect will prove to be the biggest and costliest mistake in the history of human civilization.

To Stop Being the Party of Stupid You Must Stop Being Stupid — If you are not around people who will look at you like you are crazy when you make stupid claims about other people's experiences, then you tend to keep saying stupid things about other people's experiences. It is not enough to pay a political price, or even to be shamed into silence. You have to come to believe -- in your heart -- that sincerity itself is not the same as accurate information. That's the awesome socially engineered glory of the conservative media echo chamber: epistemic closure that keeps its followers from ever needing to question themselves or examine any evidence that contradicts their cherished worldview. As a political strategy, it has been brilliant. As a cultural strategy, it is profoundly toxic and counterproductive, even to conservative interests.

QotD?: What did you do with that book?

6/13/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (too many errands, not enough time)
Hours slept: 4.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 246.4
Number of FEMA troops on my block leaking intelligence secrets: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg; Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[cancer|personal] Getting stuff done

jlake@jlake.com — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:40:29 GMT

Yesterday, with help from Dad and lillypond (a/k/a my sister), I:

Secured my disabled parking permit from the DMV

Returned the MacBook Air I just bought

Ordered the new MacBook Air based on this week's announced hardware refresh

Determined the need for a PC to handle finances and medical accounts separately from my writing computer

Selected (but did not yet purchase) that PC

Upgraded the_child's cellphone

Met with a Financial Planner for almost two hours, which was both overwhelming and informative

Picked out and ordered a second sick-me chair at Relax the Back, which has different purposes than the first one

Retrieved the Genre car from the mechanic

Worked out how to maintain my blogging habits from Lisa Costello's PC while I am Air-less

With Lisa's assistance mailed off story contracts and various bits of pharmacy business

Plus a bunch of other stuff I cannot remember this morning

One day at a time, one thing at a time. Except sometimes the days and things come all together at once.

[photos] Emily's birthday party this past Saturday

jlake@jlake.com — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:31:42 GMT

mlerules, the birthday girl her own self

Me and Baby E— (no relation to Team E—)

Lisa Costello and my (step)mom

The distaff component of Team E—

lillypond (a/k/a my sister)

Baby E— again

Visiting friends from Seattle

Another friend and mlerules

A cinnamon roll the size of your head

As usual, more at the Flickr set.

Photos © 2013 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.

[photos] Your Wednesday moment of zen

jlake@jlake.com — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:18:34 GMT

Cowboys, Outer Mongolia. Photo © 1992, 2013, 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.

[links] Link salad wishes its parents a happy anniversary

jlake@jlake.com — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:11:30 GMT

What Makes Fiction Good? It's Mostly the Voice — Ta-Nehisi Coates on reading Slaughterhouse Five.

A Glamorous Killer Returns — Cougars in the east.

Marks on Martian Dunes May Reveal Tracks of Dry Ice Sleds — Calvin and Hobbes go to Mars?

New phylum of bacteria found lurking in hospital sink’s drain — Its genome hints that it may live inside some other organism. Don't wash your hands!

Slaying the Zombie Ideas of Climate Change Denial — These are ideas that cannot be killed, no matter how thoroughly they are debunked. They always rise to shamble again, reanimated by the deniosphere. “The hockey stick is broken,” “the world hasn’t warmed in 16 years,” “Antarctic ice is growing.” These ideas are all wrong, demonstrably so, but they are still walking the countryside, looking to eat innocent people’s brains. Good luck with that so long as conservatives continue to have political and cultural credibility.

Parents to hear evidence in 2 faith-healing deaths — Child abuse and neglect are not First Amendment rights, no matter how sincerely held your personsal beliefs might be. It's extreme cases like this which highlight the fact that religion does not belong in the public square in a free and democratic society.

If work is a responsibility, then work is also a right — Slacktivist Fred Clark deconstructs yet another piece of pointless and cruel Christianist political lunacy.

Prostitution, drugs alleged in State Department memo — Hmm. A lot of people are out to get Mrs. Clinton these days. Wonder what they're scared of?

The Top 1% of U.S. Income Earners Receive 15% of Tax Breaks and Credits — People complain about government payments to the poor, but tax breaks are also payments, though less obviously so, to the rich. And those tax breaks cost the government a lot more money.

QotD?: Got celebration?

6/12/2013
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (too many errands, not enough time)
Hours slept: 6.75 hours (solid)
Body movement: 0.5 hours (stationary bike)
Weight: 246.2
Number of FEMA troops on my block leaking intelligence secrets: 0
Currently reading: Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation: A 28-Day Program by Sharon Salzberg; Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

[conventions|repost] Announcing JayCon XIII - only four more days!

jlake@jlake.com — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:55:31 GMT

ETA: We will be having my living wake, the JayWake on Saturday, July 27th. This will be a celebration of my life and a giant flip of the bird to my death. Including both a wake and a roast. Watch this space for more details.

Every year, some people tell me that I need to announce JayCon early so they can get it in on their calendars. Every year, some people tell me I need to announce JayCon later, because they don't plan that far ahead. Sometimes, these are the same people. So starting now, and going on through the spring, I will be reposting this announcement with occasional edits or updates as needed.

In celebration of my natal anniversary, JayCon XIII, my 13th annual 37th birthday party, is Saturday, June 15th, 2013 from 2 to 5 pm at the Flying Pie in SE Portland. We're partying because I was born, and because ~~I have beat cancer again and again and again~~ we may not ever get to do this again.

If you can read this, you're invited. Prior JayCon experience not required.

Also, if you're coming from out of town, and you think I might not be aware of that, please contact me. There are some limited capacity extended festivities from Friday to Sunday.

Flying Pie Pizzeria
7804 SE Stark Street
Portland, 97215
(503) 254-2016
http://www.flying-pie.com/
[ Google Maps ]

As is traditional for JayCon, Paul M. Carpentier is specifically not invited.

[cancer] Yesterday's oncology consultation

jlake@jlake.com — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:52:37 GMT

Yesterday Lisa Costello, Dad and I met with one of the oncologists from my clinic. The topic of discussion was my response to the Regorafenib. I have been experiencing a number of side effects, including incipient mouth sores, a sore and swollen tongue, loss of appetite, emerging food aversions, lower GI disruption, disrupted sleep patterns, and hand-foot syndrome. We did some bloodwork beforehand which indicated largely normal blood chemistry, though my liver functions are trending poorly. Among other things, my bilirubin levels have doubled in the past month. The oncologist was unsure whether this was a function of my progressing tumors or a function of the Regorafenib, or both.

We discussed the extent of my side effects, and that I can expect them to get worse in the coming week. We have permission to go off the Regorafenib if any of this becomes unbearable. They thought I would see a plateau of side effects by the end of the second month.

Additionally, due to the mobility impairment from the hand-foot syndrome, I received the paperwork for a disabled parking permit. I need to pursue that with the DMV now, which should be simple enough.

I will be undergoing another round of bloodwork in two weeks, and seeing the oncologist at that time. Followup scan won't be until the second half of July.