Eleanor Arnason's Blog, page 97

From NASA

Our Earth is covered by volcanoes. Volcanoes are breaks in the Earth's cool surface where hot liquid rock from the interior comes out -- sometimes suddenly. In the above image from the ASTER camera aboard NASA's orbiting Terra satellite, snow-capped volcanoes are seen from overhead that compose the picturesque Islands of the Four Mountains in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, USA. The islands contain restless Mt. Cleveland, an active volcano currently being watched to see if it emits an ash...

Tricks the Muse Plays

This is from a post by Doug Hewick put on the Wyrdsmiths blog:

...You need to learn not only what works for you, but also how you tend to trick yourself as a writer. After all, it's our job to tell convincing lies stories, and we often make our own best targets.What makes it even harder, though, is that sometimes we aren't tricking ourselves. That same urge that is a bad idea nine times out of ten may be the right answer this time

And my comment:

The problem I have is a negative response that c...

Yet Another Bridge in China

The only trouble with most of these bridges is -- they are for cars. Cars are a mistake at this point in history. So here is a bridge for trains...

Another Bridge in China

This bridge is across a bay with famous tides. We are looking at a service station with a tower for viewing the tides.

Bridge in China

One of my cousins sent me a group of photos of bridges in China. I thought they were going to be images of picturesque ancient bridges. They turned out to be contemporary bridges. As Patrick said when I showed him a picture of modern Shanghai at night, "That's what they did with the future. They shipped it to China."

Writing

I went to the library this morning to pick up a couple of holds. However, it was closed for a customer service day. So I went to a local coffee shop and revised Lydia Duluth story # 7 for a couple of hours, till two young women with loud voices came in. I am not good at blocking loud voices.

So I went home. The day is hot and bright with a gusty wind and thunderstorms predicted for this afternoon. I am feeling frustrated about not being able to pick up volume # 11 in C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner...

Greenhouse Effect Poem

For the poet Grace Nichols


Ocean rises.
Islands go down.

Calypso,
mango, dodo,
plantain,
sugar plantation
islands --
gone.

Palm trees, sea breeze,
white sand,
more kinds of snail
than anyone can count,
except Professor Gould
of Harvard --
gone
under rolling, blue billows.

Where are
the bright shirts,
shining fish,
flower garlands,
star apples,
breadfruits,
taros and
tortoises?

How can we live
without dreams of islands?

I wrote this in 2002. While I might not miss Florida, I would miss the world's islands.

Thoughts About the Gulf and Global Warming

In the past, when I brooded about global warming, my brother would point out three cheering facts. (1) Given the human life span, both of us will be dead before things get really bad. (2) Neither of us has children, so we don't have to worry about what happens to the children. (3) Rising sea levels will put most of Florida under water.

However, global warming is happening faster than originally expected; and the disasters causing by a reckless and unsustainable economic system are happening n...

Writing

This is a cross post from the Wyrdsmiths blog:

Lyda and I went to a coffee shop and wrote yesterday, as we do most weeks. Naomi and Doug are taking the summer off from our meetings, due to child care and (in Doug's case) a book deadline.

Work does get done, when one writes with other people. I finished revising a story yesterday. But there is always the temptation to talk.

I'm planning to go to another coffee house today and revise another short story manuscript. Writing in coffee shops gets m...

Bad News and Good News

I am still carrying health insurance through my old job. I just got a letter from the insurance agency handling my COBRA. The monthly payment is doubling to more than $800 a month. The company I used to work for renews its health insurance every June, so this rate is part of the new policy. The insurance policy covers only me; and I have Medicare Part A, which means the federal government takes care of my hospitalization.

The $800+ a month is for doctor visits and prescription drugs only.

I w...