Chapter 9 of The Night is a Harsh Mistress is up at the Writer’s Retreat blog. Check out our new format and let me know what you think!
Thursday 13 – 156th Edition: 07/31/2008
13 Questions
“If they can get you asking the wrong questions they don’t have to worry about the answers.” – Thomas Pynchon
1. Who says morning is the most productive time? Why do we have to start work in the morning? Why don’t night-owls rule society?
2. Why DO we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?
3. Why in the U.S. are the polls (you know, those thing you vote at?) (yes, dear, I know that’s grammatically wrong; pay attention, or we’ll never get through this!) only open during working hours?
4. Same question re: banks. Don’t they WANT us to give them our business?
5. Why is the sky blue?
6. How come they don’t teach budgeting, checkbook balancing, grocery shopping – and bargain-hunting, job search skills, etc. in high school and college?
7. Why are bonuses taxed at 40% in the U.S.?
8. Why do cats always land on their feet and have to sleep on my computer – WHILE I’M USING IT?
9. Why are squirrels really nice when you DON’T have a dog, but the minute you get a dog, they turn into little harlots? “Wanna touch squirrellie?” “Don’t I have a nice tail?”
10. Why are people who own little, disgusting, barking, yappy dogs convinced that their dog is an angel – while it’s barking at effing THREE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING? (You know who you are…)
11. Why are people so rude? I mean, come on. If I’m walking on the sidewalk, TWO OBJECTS CAN’T OCCUPY THE SAME SPACE AT THE SAME TIME. It’s simple physics, people.
12. Why are CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) conductors so communicative when absolutely unnecessary (like, when we’re stopped short of a station with a train ahead of us, “We’re standing momentarily while the train ahead of us clears the station…”) and absolutely non-communicative during crises (like, when we’re stopped dead on the tracks, the conductor gets OFF the train to check out something on the tracks, then gets back on and we get underway without any explanation… what, did he see a donut or something??).
13. Why do people in public office lie and then stand by it when caught out on it, as though sheer repetition will make their lie true? (What? Of COURSE the sky is purple!)
Happy TT!
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in other’s comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! Leave your link in a comment, and I’ll link back to you here:
Andi’s Thursday Thirteen
Eden’s Thursday Thirteen
Heather’s Thursday Thirteen
Kat’s Thursday Thirteen
Dawn’s Thursday Thirteen
Gwen’s Thursday Thirteen
Kaige’s Thursday Thirteen
Liz’s Thursday Thirteen
MLF’s Thursday Thirteen
Shelley’s Thursday Thirteen
Wiley Wednesday
I’ve written an essay, “What To Do When Stress Rears Its Ugly Head” at the Writer’s Retreat Blog. This is part of our weekly series called “Wiley Wednesday,” where one of the writers from the Retreat shares our thoughts on the art, business, and craft of writing.
Check it out!
Thursday 13 – 155th Edition: 07/24/2008
13 Things That Have Happened
Who in the heck IS this Murphy guy anyway? I wanna give him a piece of my mind! (And a kick on the seat of the pants. And maybe a baseball bat…)
1. My car died. Got stranded in Minnesota.
2. Got stranded in Minnesota. Winona, to be exact. While it’s a beautiful town, it’s still five hours from my house.
3. Got stranded in Minnesota. And the rental car place in Winona wouldn’t rent me a car one-way to get home, so I had to go NORTH (the opposite direction from home) to get a car at the Minneapolis airport, so I could drive SOUTH (the opposite direction from the airport) to go home.
4. My car died. In Minnesota. I got back to Chicago with a rented car. But MY car was still IN MINNESOTA. (Astute readers will begin to sense a theme here…)
5. The Bluebook on the car was $2,000. Repair costs STARTED at $1,000. I blew the head gasket, see. Going 75 mph on the open highway in the middle of a cornfield, IN MINNESOTA. (Fixated? Me?) Winona, while beautiful, is five hours from my house. Which is TOO FAR TO WALK. Ergo…
6. The mechanic offered to purchase my car. My boss, a financial planner, blew HIS head gasket at THAT suggestion, and told me that I should donate the car. The deduction, under U.S. Income Tax law, is good for up to five years, by which time we will have purchased our first home and could actually USE the deduction.
7. We managed to donate the car. In Winona. The internet is a beautiful thing.
8. I started MBA courses at Argosy University the same week I got stranded in Minnesota. I love stress.
9. The three classes I’m teaching, two on Artist’s Way related material and one on fiction writing, got behind while I was having my car drama. Two of these classes concluded last week. The fiction class is like a run-on sentence. (It’s a demo. So sue me.)
10. Michael (my husband, remember him?) had surgery on a deviated septum two weeks after I got back. BEFORE we were able to purchase the new car.
11. I got stranded by a cab driver! (GAH!) Actually, to be fair, I didn’t get stranded. But the idjit couldna get his credit card thingie to work. So he had to take me to the bank to get cash – while my drugged up husband wandered into our house by himself! I love stress.
12. I took the week of Michael’s surgery off, intending to clean my house from front to back, top to bottom. I love stress so much, that I slept most of that week. During the DAY. Because I was too stressed to sleep at night. My house is now in WORSE shape than it was BEFORE I took the week off. How the heck does THAT work? (If you know, this is a rhetorical question. Do not attempt to answer this question. In the event that you feel you must answer this question, stab yourself repeatedly in the left eye with a pencil until the urge passes. That’s it. Just like that.)
13. Where was I? … Actually, that’s not a bad question. Where WAS I? (If you say Winona, I’m so going to climb through the intertubes and kill you it isn’t funny.) (No really. It isn’t funny.)
If the foregoing was funny to you in any way, shape or form, you are a sick puppy. Please seek professional help immediately. Me? I’m going into a convent.
Happy TT!
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in other’s comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! Leave your link in a comment, and I’ll link back to you here:
Andi’s Thursday Thirteen
Eden’s Thursday Thirteen
Heather’s Thursday Thirteen
Kat’s Thursday Thirteen
Dawn’s Thursday Thirteen
Gwen’s Thursday Thirteen
Kaige’s Thursday Thirteen
Liz’s Thursday Thirteen
MLF’s Thursday Thirteen
Shelley’s Thursday Thirteen
The Night Is A Harsh Mistress, Chapter 8
Chapter 8 of The Night Is A Harsh Mistress is up, in which Rachel might, possibly, find a love interest…
Thursday 13 – 150th Edition: 06/19/2008
Thursday 13 – 150th Edition: 06/19/2008
13 Things I Am Grateful For
Note: these are listed in no particular order.
1. My health
2. My spouse
3. My home
4. My puppy dog
5. My kitten, Belii and Marina
6. My writing
7. Summer weather
8. Air conditioners
9. My friends
10. My voice
11. My doctor
12. My family
13. My computer
Happy TT!
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in other’s comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! Leave your link in a comment, and I’ll link back to you here:
Andi’s Thursday Thirteen
Eden’s Thursday Thirteen
Heather’s Thursday Thirteen
Kat’s Thursday Thirteen
Dawn’s Thursday Thirteen
Gwen’s Thursday Thirteen
Kaige’s Thursday Thirteen
Liz’s Thursday Thirteen
MLF’s Thursday Thirteen
Shelley’s Thursday Thirteen
The Night Is A Harsh Mistress, Chapter 7
Chapter 7 of The Night Is A Harsh Mistress is up now on the Writer’s Retreat Group Blog. Enjoy!
Thursday 13 – 148th Edition: 06/05/2008
13 Ways To Waste Time
1. Television
The average American adult, according to A. C. Nielsen, watches five hours of television a day (in 1990), and that the television is on at least eight hours a day.
2. Chattering on the cell phone
Time-filler conversations, that just pass the time, are a large time waster for people. (You wouldn’t believe the stuff I’ve heard people talking about during my train ride.)
3. Text-Messaging
I once was in the car with someone who was texting while she drove. (A practice I asked her to either stop or let me out of the car. She stopped, but looked grumpy. Stay off the sidewalks in her neighborhood!)
4. Unimportant Emails
How many times have we opened stuff ‘just to see what it is?’ This is the modern world’s version of junk mail.
5. Online Chat
Again, not actual conversations, but time-filling chatter.
6. Procrastination
Wasting time putting off important projects is a big one.
7. Not Setting Goals
I’ve met people who have no goals. They just wander through their lives, without any purpose. Boooring!
8. Inefficiency
Instead of grouping tasks in order, we waste a lot of time running back and forth, making too many trips when running errands.
9. Disorganization
We waste a lot of time looking for routine things. Keys, wallet, purse, etc.
10. Busywork
We’ve all done it – the easy projects that make us look busy, so people don’t know we’re not really working.
11. Unmindfulness
Acting on autopilot. We lose a lot of opportunities by ignoring the moment that we’re in.
12. Trivial Concerns
Rather than giving our attention to what truly matters to us, we waste our time getting excited over things that don’t matter – celebrity relationships, gossip columns, etc.
13. Not Taking Ourselves Seriously
I’m not suggesting a humorless existence. I am suggesting that we decide to make ourselves and our highest values and goals the driving purpose of our lives. Spending time on the people and activities that matter to us would benefit us far more than wandering around the internet and gossiping about unimportant things.
Happy TT!
Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in other’s comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! Leave your link in a comment, and I’ll link back to you here:
Andi’s Thursday Thirteen
Eden’s Thursday Thirteen
Heather’s Thursday Thirteen
Kat’s Thursday Thirteen
Dawn’s Thursday Thirteen
Gwen’s Thursday Thirteen
Kaige’s Thursday Thirteen
Liz’s Thursday Thirteen
MLF’s Thursday Thirteen
Shelley’s Thursday Thirteen
The Night Is A Harsh Mistress
I have finished Chapter 6 of The Night Is A Harsh Mistress. Come on over to the Writer’s Retreat Blog to see!
Eden’s Challenge
Eden Hail, of Eden’s Eternal, recently challenged me to a writing duel. Here is her challenge and my response:
The Challenge:
“Your h/h get thrown out of their time (forwards or backwards, whichever you are more comfortable with) and only one of them remembers they are from the present. The other thinks they are native to the timeline. How does the ‘native’ persuade the traveller that they are both exactly where they want to be?”
The Response:
Untitled
The portal closed with an audible sizzle, a little like water on an active electric connection. Jake shook out his shoulder-length hair, the curls sweat-flattened and kinky. “Sara. Hey, Sara!”
His jump partner stood next to him and stared up at a baobab tree. Her eyes met his. “Yes, sir?”
He snorted. “Funny. Let’s go. We need to get to the compound before sunset or there’ll be Hell to pay.”
She fell into step beside him.
“This was a smooth jump,” Jake mused. “I hardly feel it. What about you?”
“Jump, sir?” Sara regarded him with wide blue eyes, her nostrils flared a little. “I didn’t jump, sir.”
Jake frowned. “What?”
She didn’t say anything, just studied him with that faint air of perplexity in her eyes. They started walking again; Jake wasn’t sure who initiated it. He cast around for something to say but came up blank. Finally, he caught her arm and swung her to face him. She moved in his grasp like she was dancing. It completely unsettled him. “What is wrong with you?”
“Sir?”
“Sara, what are you playing at?”
Sara frowned. “My apologies. I’m not playing. But, shouldn’t we get to the compound? Look, sunset.” She pointed over the baobab tree nearest them, where the sun was clearly visible. The bronze disk sank alarmingly fast toward the mountains, shadows already lengthening on the valley floor.
“All right, let’s go,” he ordered. He took off, not caring if she followed or not. He just wanted to be moving. After a moment, she followed him. The trail wound around a long hill. The compound’s wooden posts were visible around a copse of alders and he sighed in relief. “We’re here.”
Kunte stood in the gatehouse, his smooth skin shiny with sweat. “You’re back!” he shouted, white teeth flashing in his face. “Sara!” He pronounced her name like the Latin, Sahrah, and Jake smiled. They got close enough and the tall warrior stepped out to clasp his forearm. “Ukutzu!”
“Why do you keep calling me that?” Jake muttered.
Kunte grinned at him, eyes twinkling. “How could I forget the first word you said to me?”
“I was asking for fruit juice,” Jake muttered. “How was I supposed to know you don’t speak Ghanan?”
The African laughed, the deep bray of joy a welcome sound to Jake’s ears. Kunte turned to Sara and held out both hands. “Sara. Welcome back!”
Sara frowned. “Was I gone long?”
Kunte looked startled. “Not any longer than expected,” he answered literally.
They walked through the gate, leaving Kunte to his duties. Captain Sam Miller strode out of his small tent, his arms bare to the shoulders and black suspenders dark against the khaki shirt and pants. His sidearm nestled up against his left pectorals, a ring of sweat surrounding the holster. His boots left swirls of dust in his wake. “Jake, you old dog! What kept you?”
Sara shrank behind Jake and he stepped sideways to block her view from the Captain. He signaled with two fingers by his pant leg and watch the Captain’s eyes follow his hand. Sam frowned slightly but said, “Come. My tent has wine. I’m sure you’re fatigued.”
Jake nodded and turned to Sara. “The women’s tent is there,” he said, pointing. “I’ll collect you in a moment. Go, get settled and something to drink.”
Sara looked up at him with wide blue eyes and nodded. She turned without a word to the Captain and Jake watched her walk away, a tentative step that seemed jarringly unfamiliar in her body. He was so used to her purposeful stride that this alteration left him unsettled.
“What is it?” Sam asked.
“Inside,” Jake murmured.
He followed the Captain into the cool gloom of the tent. “What’s happened?” Sam demanded.
Jake didn’t reply right away. He poured himself a glass of wine and didn’t dilute it, just slugged it back in one gulp. He turned to meet the concerned gaze of the Captain and sighed heavily. “I think there’s been an accident. Mindlock.”
He gasped. “What?”
“She’s showing all the signs of it,” Jake went on. “She kept calling me sir. She doesn’t know where we are, and she seems changed somehow. Like the implants took over.”
The Captain grunted. “Who was the technician?”
“Wallace,” Jake replied. “I know him. He’s good, never misses.”
The Captain digested that. “There’s been word lately, Jake.” He poured himself a half-snifter full, then followed that with the chilled water from the crystal pitcher nearby. He spoke to the tent wall without turning. “Something in the psych journals, not yet widely reported. It’s been happening more often, with the new drugs.”
“What’s been happening, Captain? What is wrong with her?”
Sam turned and met his gaze. “The personality splits, essentially. The mind can’t take the dual reality and chooses the new one, essentially erasing the old one. Most of the time it’s not gone entirely, but it’s like a dream. Not real to the person any longer.”
Jake stumbled and sat down, his knees like water. “What?”
The Captain regarded him. “The theory is, the jumper either wants to believe in the new reality so it becomes a compulsion, almost a delusion. Or, they think it may be a malfunction with the biochemical reaction to the drugs at the synaptic level. Dr. Leary postulated it as early as 1968 that lysergic acid diethylamide could do –“
“This is Sara we’re discussing, not some lab rat!” Jake shouted. “I don’t care about some twentieth century quack doctor! This is 2238, for Earth sake!”
The Captain fell silent, regarding him with a sad expression in his eyes. “In point of fact, it’s 1926.”
Jake wanted to shout, or even better to strike at the other man, but knew that wouldn’t change the truth of what he’d said. “Is it reversible?”
The Captain didn’t answer out loud. He didn’t have to. Jake read it in his eyes.