Eleanor Arnason's Blog, page 49
December 8, 2012
Writing
I am mostly done with going over line edits of the chapbook collection. The edits have just been correcting typos and my never-standard punctuation. I think I've rewritten only one sentence. I have one more story to go.
I've reached the point I always reach, when what I write seems awful. I simply have to push through. The mood goes away. I quite like some of what I've written. Though I never see the story other people see or the story in my mind, which is luminous and perfect and very funny. A combination of Jane Austen and -- what? P. G. Wodehouse? Scrooge McDuck? Over the top, sense of wonder sf?
I grew up on Austen, Dickens, magazine science fiction, Scrooge McDuck, murder mysteries and 20th century humorists, including P.G. Wodehouse. I assume that's what shaped my own writing.
I've reached the point I always reach, when what I write seems awful. I simply have to push through. The mood goes away. I quite like some of what I've written. Though I never see the story other people see or the story in my mind, which is luminous and perfect and very funny. A combination of Jane Austen and -- what? P. G. Wodehouse? Scrooge McDuck? Over the top, sense of wonder sf?
I grew up on Austen, Dickens, magazine science fiction, Scrooge McDuck, murder mysteries and 20th century humorists, including P.G. Wodehouse. I assume that's what shaped my own writing.
December 7, 2012
The Real Problem Is...
The real problem is, I have a headache and don't really want to work on writing, but have to. 
Error Messages
I have been getting a lot of error messages on my blog. Of course, it is impossible to get in touch with Google to ask for help. If this continues, I may start a new blog with a link to this one.
A Slight Attack of Grouchiness...
A slight attack of grouchiness, due to being slightly under the weather. I am reading yet another discussion on an economics blog on how to control government spending. But the discussion never gets around to mentioning global warming. Are these guys nuts? Dealing with global warming is going to involve spending huge amounts of money. The only comparable example we have (so far as I know) is WWII and the creation of an economy with one goal. If we don't deal with global warming, the damage it does will cost gazillions. So what is the point of talking about balancing the budget, when we are looking at losing coastal cities to flooding and the Midwest to drought? Snarl.
It's obvious what we need to do: get serious about reducing use to fossil fuels and -- at the same time -- begin to deal with the consequences of CO2 already in the atmosphere. We are going to have to invest in wind power, solar power, geothermal power, massive energy conservation, the building of dykes and flood gates, insulating every house in the country, painting roofs white, reorganizing agriculture to deal with pervasive drought... The list goes on and on and on.
The politicians and pundets are planning to reduce the federal budget, as if none of this is going to happen. As if Katrina and Irene and Sandy have not already happened. As if the Midwest is not already in a drought.
It's obvious what we need to do: get serious about reducing use to fossil fuels and -- at the same time -- begin to deal with the consequences of CO2 already in the atmosphere. We are going to have to invest in wind power, solar power, geothermal power, massive energy conservation, the building of dykes and flood gates, insulating every house in the country, painting roofs white, reorganizing agriculture to deal with pervasive drought... The list goes on and on and on.
The politicians and pundets are planning to reduce the federal budget, as if none of this is going to happen. As if Katrina and Irene and Sandy have not already happened. As if the Midwest is not already in a drought.
November 29, 2012
Writing
Yesterday and the day before, I was working on a novelette, which I want done by the end of the year. (This is the story I hoped to finish by the end of November, but that is not going to happen.)
Today I was working on the novel which I am trying to finish revising before Wiscon. In addition, I just got the line edits for a chapbook and need to start working on them right away. Tonight, I will be going to my workshop, where we may be discussing part of my novel and a recent short story. I find it hard to keep so many balls in the air.
A moment's thought makes obvious what I should do: go over the line edits, then finish the planetary romance, then go on to the other stuff. But for a moment, it seemed like a lot.
I assume there is a reason why I work on several things at once. I must like it or find the process useful. It does mean when I am mulling over one story, I can move to another one. But it makes it hard to push ahead at a steady rate. I am always shifting gears or changing hats.
Today I was working on the novel which I am trying to finish revising before Wiscon. In addition, I just got the line edits for a chapbook and need to start working on them right away. Tonight, I will be going to my workshop, where we may be discussing part of my novel and a recent short story. I find it hard to keep so many balls in the air.
A moment's thought makes obvious what I should do: go over the line edits, then finish the planetary romance, then go on to the other stuff. But for a moment, it seemed like a lot.
I assume there is a reason why I work on several things at once. I must like it or find the process useful. It does mean when I am mulling over one story, I can move to another one. But it makes it hard to push ahead at a steady rate. I am always shifting gears or changing hats.
November 28, 2012
Writing
I haven't done a word count yet, but I think I got about 500 words done yesterday. For me, this is pretty good. I haven't paid a lot of attention to how I write. But I seem to go on till I don't know what happens next, then I stop and mull for a day or more. Some stories come really easily, and I don't have to do much mulling. Other stories come slowly, with many halts. I am in awe of people who can write steadily. I used to think I had to wait for the muse to arrive with the next 1,000 words. Now I think it's possible to push through the halts and keep going. But I still spend a lot of time mulling.
I haven't done a word count yet, but I think I got about ...
I haven't done a word count yet, but I think I got about 500 words done yesterday. For me, this is pretty good. I haven't paid a lot of attention to how I write. But I seem to go on till I don't know what happens next, then I stop and mull for a day or more. Some stories come really easily, and I don't have to do much mulling. Other stories come slowly, with many halts. I am in awe of people who can write steadily. I used to think I had to wait for the muse to arrive with the next 1,000 words. Now I think it's possible to push through the halts and keep going. But I still spend a lot of time mulling.
November 27, 2012
I got about 500 words written yesterday. Now off to a cof...
I got about 500 words written yesterday. Now off to a coffee shop to write more. I planned to finish this story as my contribution to novel writing month. I will not. But I think I am past the huge problem that was holding me up. Hand waving. The answer is hand waving. The story remains wet and is about to get creepy.
November 24, 2012
More on Consumption
Back in the 1940s, economists and others worried about what would happen when war spending ended. There was a lot of pent-up consumer spending from the war era. But once every household had a car, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a radio -- what then? There was a real -- and realistic -- fear that the country would sink back into the Great Depression.
One solution was to continue military spending. This led to the Permanent War Economy, which we still have.
Another solution was to make things that broke or wore out. For a long time, many Americans bought a new car every three years, which was the length of a car loan in those days, The joke was your car began to give trouble right about the time the loan was paid off. New cars were very attractive. Remember the 'new car' smell? So you bought one; and Detroit's new car orders determined the American economy for the next year. The industrial Midwest -- the automative, steel, glass and rubber plants in Detroit, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown and Gary -- all depended on cars. The jobs the car orders created, many of them high-paying union jobs, determined much of the country's income. This solution is Planned Obsolescence, which is still with us. Cars last longer than they used to. Clothing doesn't, and electronic equipment is designed to be tossed when the next, new, improved goodie appears.
Planned Obsolescence doesn't work as well as it used to, because the big industrial plants and the good union jobs are gone, or so reduced that they can no longer power the economy. Cheap clothing made in China is not an adequate economic replacement for cars made in Michigan from steel, glass and rubber produced in the US.
Yet another solution was to create new needs. Your fridge still worked just fine, but advertisements told you that you needed a new one, harvest gold with a larger freezer compartment and an ice cube maker. Or you needed an entire separate freezer -- which is, in fact, useful if you buy in bulk or need a place that will hold this year's deer. Not all new purchases are a bad idea.
One of the things driving the modern American economy is advertising and marketing. It's advertising which leads to mobs of people wandering through the Mall of America, looking for something to buy and dragging their unhappy infants with them, so the wee things can learn the importance of buying.
It works on me. In my case, it's mostly catalogues that tell me what new goodies the local pen shop has or what kinds of neat clothing can be bought from J. Jill.
What's interesting in all this is the solutions not tried or tried right after the war and now given up. If you want to pump money into the economy, why not build affordable housing and new infrastructure, like the dams built during the New Deal? Highways don't make a lot of sense today, but light rail and railroads are a great idea. Why not put money into clinics and colleges and public schools and sustainable energy?
The Interstate Highway System was built with federal government money. States and counties continue to build and maintain roads. These roads made suburbanization possible and cars increasingly necessary. Obviously the housing and auto industries benefited. It's government money that pays for the Military Industrial Complex. But there seems to be a limit to how much governments can spend -- and on what kind of goods and services -- before American business gets bent out of shape.
I'd like to see the money spent on war and advertising invested in the huge issues that face us: global warming, peak oil, food shortages, lack of water... We could provide decent jobs for the entire country and rebuild the world.
I did go out today and buy a cup of coffee. Now, I am home and am staying home and not spending money, except maybe to donate to a few good causes.
One solution was to continue military spending. This led to the Permanent War Economy, which we still have.
Another solution was to make things that broke or wore out. For a long time, many Americans bought a new car every three years, which was the length of a car loan in those days, The joke was your car began to give trouble right about the time the loan was paid off. New cars were very attractive. Remember the 'new car' smell? So you bought one; and Detroit's new car orders determined the American economy for the next year. The industrial Midwest -- the automative, steel, glass and rubber plants in Detroit, Toledo, Akron, Youngstown and Gary -- all depended on cars. The jobs the car orders created, many of them high-paying union jobs, determined much of the country's income. This solution is Planned Obsolescence, which is still with us. Cars last longer than they used to. Clothing doesn't, and electronic equipment is designed to be tossed when the next, new, improved goodie appears.
Planned Obsolescence doesn't work as well as it used to, because the big industrial plants and the good union jobs are gone, or so reduced that they can no longer power the economy. Cheap clothing made in China is not an adequate economic replacement for cars made in Michigan from steel, glass and rubber produced in the US.
Yet another solution was to create new needs. Your fridge still worked just fine, but advertisements told you that you needed a new one, harvest gold with a larger freezer compartment and an ice cube maker. Or you needed an entire separate freezer -- which is, in fact, useful if you buy in bulk or need a place that will hold this year's deer. Not all new purchases are a bad idea.
One of the things driving the modern American economy is advertising and marketing. It's advertising which leads to mobs of people wandering through the Mall of America, looking for something to buy and dragging their unhappy infants with them, so the wee things can learn the importance of buying.
It works on me. In my case, it's mostly catalogues that tell me what new goodies the local pen shop has or what kinds of neat clothing can be bought from J. Jill.
What's interesting in all this is the solutions not tried or tried right after the war and now given up. If you want to pump money into the economy, why not build affordable housing and new infrastructure, like the dams built during the New Deal? Highways don't make a lot of sense today, but light rail and railroads are a great idea. Why not put money into clinics and colleges and public schools and sustainable energy?
The Interstate Highway System was built with federal government money. States and counties continue to build and maintain roads. These roads made suburbanization possible and cars increasingly necessary. Obviously the housing and auto industries benefited. It's government money that pays for the Military Industrial Complex. But there seems to be a limit to how much governments can spend -- and on what kind of goods and services -- before American business gets bent out of shape.
I'd like to see the money spent on war and advertising invested in the huge issues that face us: global warming, peak oil, food shortages, lack of water... We could provide decent jobs for the entire country and rebuild the world.
I did go out today and buy a cup of coffee. Now, I am home and am staying home and not spending money, except maybe to donate to a few good causes.
Black Friday
These are a series of facebook posts about Black Friday and an article in The Guardian on Buy Nothing Day.
Black Friday does not only happen at malls. The Y is having Black Friday specials, and my email is full of Black Friday offers from (for example) the Chicago Art Institute online shop.
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I like the idea of consumer fasting. But Buy Nothing Day seems to be this coming Saturday, when I plan to go to the Farmers Market and buy bread, eggs and (I hope) apples and a butternut squash. This time of year, the Market is only open Saturday.
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I am still thinking about Buy Nothing Day. Today (Black Friday) is the absolutely best day for it, since you are taking your life in your hands if you go shopping, though I guess formally Saturday is Buy Nothing day. The Guardian says the economy can't survive if we pull money out of it. Well, you can always give the money you would have spent on shopping to a good cause. If you donate to an organization helping the homeless, the organization will be able to buy more supplies and that will put money into the economy. For ordinary days buying locally and from small businesses is good, but I think days of buying nothing sound good for personal well being. I speak as one who absolutely loves shopping.
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Turns out Friday is Buy Nothing Day in the US. Tomorrow is International Buy Nothing Day
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I was reading more about buying nothing or (at least) less. The blogger Mathbabe suggests going through your closets and finding out what you already own. Many people -- possibly most Americans -- have more than they need already. This is certainly true for me. I have a handful of favorite things -- clothes, pens, bags and so on -- which I use all the time, and lots of things that stay in the closet or a drawer. I figure I could pull out some of the things I don't use and begin to use them, and that would have almost the same thrill as shopping. There are things that are not interchangeable -- books, CDs and DVDs. But these can be obtained from libraries or Netflix. Or -- since I do have some money -- I could buy a few things. But I don't have to keep the Mall of America in business.
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