Well, all the deep-REM napping caught up with me last night. Still pretty down with this cold, and I got a grand total of 2 hours of sleep. Then got up at 5 am to drive three hours back to Portland. Today is a total loss, with respect to any form of productivity more important than lying on the couch and re-reading the same paragraphs over and over.
Endurance and other tasks to resume tomorrow (hopefully). Off to Omaha Monday, assuming I'm any kind of better. For now, allowing myself to flatline.
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| 2009-07-11 11:12 |
| [links] Link salad, largely creative edition |
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| art, books, cool, funny, links, personal, process, science, tech, writing |
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Scale tip — Art writing guru James Gurney on telling details.
Barbie heals space martians, and cures interspecies racism! — Um, yah. (Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mikigal.)
A field guide to reproductive health — Art madness.
Welcome to Lunarville — Ah, me. Missed opportunities.
Robot land-steamers to consume all life on Earth as fuel
?otD: Virus or bacteria?
7/11/2009 Body movement: n/a (overslept due to ongoing chest cold) This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house) Currently reading: Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold
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Still have the cold, which deducted a 2 hour nap from my afternoon. Managed 1,700 new words nonetheless. Should have time to wrap my weekly quota tomorrow. Tired of being sick.
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Even amidst it all, I managed 1,300 words today (to my amazement). Might make goal this week after all. Too tired to sort out a WIP.
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I've had some things to say about cancer, about health insurance, about Endurance, but this chest cold is running me ragged and having me sleep 11 hours a day. Regular blogging service will resume as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, calendula_witch finished a book. Go give her some love.
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4,900 words today, across two hours, to 100,500 words on the manuscript. Right now I think this is going to come up considerably shorter than earlier estimates. Maybe 120,000 or so. I'm a bit surprised. Possibly Fred has learned to write to length, or possibly I'll have to insert stuff on rewrite. That's fine. Every book is different. But my last few have been dreadfully overlength, and I've kind of gotten used to very fat drafts.
Go figure.
Meanwhile, ( wip! )
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3,700 new words on Endurance today, in 90 minutes of writing time.
( As usual, a WIP )
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| 2009-07-07 04:58 |
| [links] Link salad yawns into another Tuesday |
| Public |
| books, cool, green, health, links, personal, politics, publishing, religion, reviews, science, travel, videos |
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An interesting review of Green [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ]
A "dumb copy editor" story from George Lakoff — Don't get me wrong. Copy editors are my friends, both figuratively and literally. But this is hilarious.
The Astronomer's Dream — A short animated film.
The blue and the green — Awesome color spiral illusion... (Thanks to willyumtx.)
Fixing airport security
Blinded Man Regains Sight With Tooth For Eye — Um... (Thanks to tetar.)
A Pound of Cure — The federal government is about to spend big on health-care IT. Too bad the medical industry has a vested interest in inefficiency. I find the viewpoint of this article overly cynical, but some interesting stuff here nonetheless.
Arizona is 6000 years old? — Pssst. Hey. Conservative America. Listen up. Religion doesn't have to make you stupid.
What The Right Means When They Say "America"
?otD: How many roads must a man walk down? Show your work.
7/7/2009 Body movement: 40 minute beach walk, 10 minutes of stretching and meditation This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house) Currently reading: The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold (re-read)
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4,400 words in two hours today over three sessions. I lost 1,100 words mid-session due to a series of errors, or it would have been a 5,500 word day. Grr. And writing the same scenes twice in a row is really not my favorite thing to do. Book's at 91,900 words now.
( Some WIP for youse guys )
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bravado111 with a photo spread on Green [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ] — Heh.
Flags of forgotten countries — Dark Roasted Blend with one for the vexillologists among you. Actually, I remember most of these countries.
Igniting Fusion — Mmm, warm.
Centauri Dreams with a roundup — I draw your attention to the subsection entitled "Superluminal Radio Waves and their Uses", in turn referring to this article. Paging Sam L. Tannaity to the office. I'm just a poor little low-rent SF writer with a liberal arts degree, so maybe it's just me, but I'm really struggling with this one. Comments from the better informed?
?otD: How long is Long Beach?
7/6/2009 Body movement: n/a (will beach walk later) This morning's weigh-in: n/a (no scale at beach house) Currently reading: n/a (just finished P.S. Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood)
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Days 20 and 21 were lost to our grand adventures in Points North. Day 22 today yielded only a disappointed 2,100 words in an hour of effort. However, under my new weekly rubric, that makes 21,600 words for the week, well in excess of my 17,500 word target. I'm now at 87,500 words. Given that chemo shouldn't start before early August, I'm confident of getting this draft wrapped before cancer eats my brain.
( In the mean time, a bit of WIP: )
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maryrobinette is liking of the Green [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ].
newroticgirl liked Green maybe a bit too much
Moving the goalposts — My last Tor.com guest blog post from the recent run.
Carnivorous Clock eats bugs, begins doomsday countdown — Brings a whole new meaning to the idea of a "mainspring". (Thanks to lillypond.)
The danger of safety — Road, rail and air crash comparisons.
?otD: Where is Mendocino County again?
7/3/2009 Body movement: 60 minute urban walk (Buena Vista Park and back) This morning's weigh-in: n/a (forgot to get on the scale before I showered and ate) Currently reading: P.S. Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood
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5,400 words in 2.25 hours today, to 85,400 words. I've made my week's goal, having reached 19,500 words since Monday. This will make my weekend with calendula_witch and her family more relaxed, because I won't be feeling pressured about writing.
Well, less pressured.
( A WIP for today... )
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4,300 words in two hours across two sessions today, to 80,000 words on the manuscript. A little distracted due to cancer news, but writing eases my mind. It's like meditation. Or fulfillment.
( And the WIP for today... )
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5,000 words in two hours today, broken over three more abbreviated writing sessions. Manuscript is now at 75,700, and I'm at 9,800 words towards my week (Mon-Sun) goal of 17,500. Also, passed the pivot point in the plot today, which means a while lot more action happening now. Set up? Set up? We don't need no more stinking set up!
( And some WIP for you all )
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| 2009-06-30 04:35 |
| [links] Link salad goes to the oncologist today |
| Public |
| art, books, cool, funny, green, links, movies, personal, reviews, science, stories |
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A reader with small love for Green [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ]
The New Space Opera 2 is out [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ] — Including my novelette "To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves", set in the Sunspin universe.
Images from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland — Wow.
Silhouette Masterpiece Theatre — Hahahaha. Serious art humor. (Thanks to goulo.)
Daguerre, Painter — Some awesome apocalyptic art.
Enceladus: Riddle of the Plumes — Centauri Dreams on oceans in space.
Igniting Fusion — Technology Review with some very big science, indeed.
?otD: Have you ever been to heaven?
6/30/2009 Body movement: 10 minutes of stretching and meditation (overslept for walking) This morning's weigh-in: 220.5 Currently reading: P.S. Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood
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4,800 words in 1.75 hours whilst in transit to California. Manuscript at 70,700 words. WIPs will resume tomorrow.
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| 2009-06-29 04:30 |
| [links] Link salad comes back from Iron Springs |
| Public |
| books, cool, culture, escapement, green, links, personal, photos, politics, reviews, science |
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Jay Lake's Green: A Departure for the Clockwork King — ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) jeffvandermeer with a brief interview of me about Green [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ].
mordicai comments on Escapement [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Borders ]
1909 Russia in living color: The photos of Sergey Prokudin-Gorskii — A piece of history most of us don't see much of.
7 Man-Made Substances that Laugh in the Face of Physics — (Thanks to jaborwhalky.)
SETI: A Detectable Neutrino Signal? — Oooh. With bonus Antarctic science pr0n.
To fight deflation, abolish cash. Could Japan make reality of 'science fiction'? — Curious news from the economic front.
The Redder They Are, The Harder They Fall — WaPo somewhat disingenuously asks why Democrats "get away" with more sex scandals, apparently ignores their own answer - it's the hypocrisy, stupid.
Ante Up or Leave The Table — Conservatives and climate change denial, specifically the low cost of such denial in personal, political and social terms. One thing this analysis leaves out is how conservatives have been dead wrong in their opposition to just about everything in the past century or more — child labor laws, women's rights, civil rights, minimum wage, interracial marriage, opposition to entry in WWII, support for the Iraq War. An America run on the principles espoused by conservatives in every one of those losing battles would be a much bleaker, harsher place. Why do they have any credibility on climate change?
?otD: Who put the "Mon" in Monday?
6/29/2009 Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride, 10 minutes of stretching and meditation This morning's weigh-in: 221.4 Currently reading: P.S. Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood
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Having gone off the grid for several days, I've missed a series of progress reports. Here's the last four days of production, through today:
| 6/25/09 | 2,500 words | 1 hour |
| 6/26/09 | 3,400 words | 1.5 hours |
| 6/27/09 | 1,200 words | 0.5 hours |
| 6/28/09 | 3,700 words | 1.75 hours |
On the 27th, I had a two+ hour writing session planned, lay down to rest for a minute, and woke up two hours later when calendula_witch came back to the cabin from a workshop meeting. So that was kind of a bust, as the rest of my day was committed. Still, under the new rubric mentioned last week, I don't consider it a failure. I'm going to measure a Monday-Sunday week, as that best reflects my writing pattern. This past week I wrote 20,000 words, to a current 65,900 word manuscript length. That includes a completely missed day due to illness and the short day due to extended napping (which was almost certainly recovery from illness). I'm vaguely disappointed in myself, but recognize that feeling as pointless chaff, as it's been a perfectly productive week that meets my measurement criteria. This coming writing week will be complicated due to traveling to California tomorrow to seek my second opinion on the cancer, and sticking around through the weekend to meet calendula_witch's family for the first time and celebrate the holiday with them. I think I've got it laid out well enough, though, to meet my goals.
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Well, day 10 of writing Endurance was a zero word day, thanks to a transient lower GI problem. That was yesterday. Today, day 11, I have been severely challenged by the logistics of working a full day, packing for Iron Springs and fetching calendula_witch from the airport. Still, I got in 2,500 words in an hour and fifteen minutes. That meets one of my two minimums.
She and I discussed this issue of insufficient production for a while this evening. I think I'm going to reset my goalposts from two hours/2,500 words per day to 17,500 words per week, and give myself the flexibility to balance my time without feeling like I've failed. Given that I wrote 39,000 words last week, that goal has a lot of play in it. But right now I do feel like I failed in not writing yesterday, and in not writing a full two hours today. That's unfair to me and it's unfair to the book. So I bow to the wisdom of calendula_witch, and reset my self-evaluation parameters from daily to weekly.
The reality is I'll probably write pretty much the same. I'll just have more options when things get crunchy, as they have in the past 48 hours.
( Today's WIP )
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