Eleanor Arnason's Blog, page 52
September 21, 2012
Miscellaneous Remarks
Remarks pulled from facebook, all by me:
There are times I think SF is exhausted, but it may be that I am exhausted. In any case, the only answer is to keep trucking and try to write something new.
I was happily inputting my very wet noir planetary romance yesterday, when it suddenly seemed terrible, and I stopped. This is typical. I get neat ideas; I get excited; and then all at once, the story seems like a mistake. But the ideas are so neat! And the funny parts are so funny! So I continue, until the story once again seems like a mistake.
The story will probably turn out okay. I need to finish it and then read it over and see what needs to be revised. The good part is, I'm really enjoying this project in the up part of the cycle, which basically runs until I've written as much as I'm going to for the day. Then I crash and despair and do something else and get back to the story on the morrow. I think I knew too many Abstract Expressionist when I was a kid. They were a moody lot, and I thought all artists had to be moody.
September 19, 2012
Alternative History
I actually have a theory about why alternative history is so popular. The future is not easy to imagine. Technological change means it is likely to be very different, and lack of meaningful political and economic change means it is likely to be very dark, at least in the near term.
James Lovelock, a scienist who is responsible for the Gaia theory, which is not New Age spirituality, but the argument that Earth is a complex, interdependent system, says we will have a billion people on the planet at the end of this century.
That is a very large die off of human beings. We will also have the consequences of global warming: rising sea levels, massive storms and wide-spread drought. That seems almost certain now. We are past of the point of stopping global warming. We need to be looking at geoengineering, though it gives me the creeps.
So why alternative history? Because it is less difficult than writing about the future and in many cases less painful. At the same time, it continues a basic argument of science fiction: history is contingent, change will happen.
I have been writing some alternative history and a fair amount of time travel in the past few years, because I want to think about change. It may be easier to think about change, if one is not dealing with flood of change we are likely to experience in the near future.
James Lovelock, a scienist who is responsible for the Gaia theory, which is not New Age spirituality, but the argument that Earth is a complex, interdependent system, says we will have a billion people on the planet at the end of this century.
That is a very large die off of human beings. We will also have the consequences of global warming: rising sea levels, massive storms and wide-spread drought. That seems almost certain now. We are past of the point of stopping global warming. We need to be looking at geoengineering, though it gives me the creeps.
So why alternative history? Because it is less difficult than writing about the future and in many cases less painful. At the same time, it continues a basic argument of science fiction: history is contingent, change will happen.
I have been writing some alternative history and a fair amount of time travel in the past few years, because I want to think about change. It may be easier to think about change, if one is not dealing with flood of change we are likely to experience in the near future.
NASA APOD with Commentary
Is it art? Earlier this month, space station astronaut Aki Hoshide (Japan) recorded this striking image while helping to augment the capabilities of the Earth-orbiting International Space Station (ISS). Visible in this outworldly assemblage is the Sun, the Earth, two portions of a robotic arm, an astronaut's spacesuit, the deep darkness of space, and the unusual camera taking the picture. This image joins other historic -- and possibly artistic -- self-portraits taken previously in space. The Expedition 32 mission ended yesterday when an attached capsule undocked with the ISS and returned some of the crew to Earth.
September 17, 2012
Money
I broke a tooth last night and am waiting till my dentist's office opens to make an appointment. It's not painful, though I think I'm look at a $1,000 crown, and that is painful. The credit card bill for Worldcon has not yet arrived. I am going to have a frugal fall.
I am making about $17,000 a year less than when I was working three years ago. After taxes that would be $13,000, all discretionary, since I have the same basic expenses I had three years ago.
This is the reality of retirement for many people. Something that would have been irritating when I had a job becomes much more disturbing. I have Medicare and carry supplementary medical and dental insurance. Still, the money I am going to have to spend on this tooth is not in my budget.
A quick check of the Internet gets the following:
$1,000 begins to look like a lot of money.
When people in Congress talk about cutting Social Security or increasing the cost of Medicare, they are talking about reducing the incomes of people who make this kind of money.
It's not a lot of money. In addition, one has to figure that most people have more and more medical expenses as they age. It's scary to think of being old and sick and without adequate funds.
I am making about $17,000 a year less than when I was working three years ago. After taxes that would be $13,000, all discretionary, since I have the same basic expenses I had three years ago.
This is the reality of retirement for many people. Something that would have been irritating when I had a job becomes much more disturbing. I have Medicare and carry supplementary medical and dental insurance. Still, the money I am going to have to spend on this tooth is not in my budget.
A quick check of the Internet gets the following:
The average Social Security payment is $1,230.
Twenty-three percent of people 65 and older live in households that depend on Social Security for 90% or more of their income, according to a 2010 AARP report. About 26% more receive at least half of their family income from Social Security.So about 25% of retirees are living on $ 14,760-$16,400 a year; and about half are living on $30,000 or less a year.
$1,000 begins to look like a lot of money.
When people in Congress talk about cutting Social Security or increasing the cost of Medicare, they are talking about reducing the incomes of people who make this kind of money.
It's not a lot of money. In addition, one has to figure that most people have more and more medical expenses as they age. It's scary to think of being old and sick and without adequate funds.
September 15, 2012
Another Photo
Because I feel like posting photos today, here is the view from our hotel room at the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago. 
Award
Wednesday we went to an awards ceremony, where Patrick recieved the Iluq Award, given by the Corporation for Supportive Housing to an individual direct service worker who exemplifies energy, enthusiasm, and creativity in serving individuals and families who are homeless. The award is above.It's by an Ojibwe artist: a raptor, I think a hawk, on a tipi. The back has a fire inside the body of the tipi with flames and smoke rising. It's bronze on a marble base and seriously heavy. We know, because we carried it home.
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