C.B. Potts's Blog, page 31

Saturday Morning

The snow is falling like confectioner's sugar through a sieve, sweet covering the world.

I am wondering why Francois Hollande was awarded UNESCO's Peace Prize. At a very minimum, isn't it premature like whoa! to say his interventions in Mali are successful? They're fighting in the streets, taking this building, losing that one, tanks and mortars, right now. By definition, this is not peace.

And not at a minimum, why choose him anyway? Depending on who you talk to, the French military inventio...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

How does it work? I think that's my favorite question, although I'm not entirely sure - my favorite favorite question may be How does it work best? But before you know how something works best, you need to know how it works at all.

There's lots of ways to answer the question. You can think in engineering terms. You can think in aesthetic terms. You can think in social terms. Snowplows have lots of parts; the internal combustion motor, the hydraulics that lift and drop the blade. What are the q...

This is the End, Beautiful Friends, The End

It's been a good ride, but I need to let this journal go now. I'm taking a break from blogging: it's been a decades' long habit, and at this point, it's not a healthy habit for me. I'll be on Facebook if you need me, and when I set up shop again, I'll let you know. Until then. Peace. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.

Yeah, No.

Funny how both of these dogs are standing in piles of special snowflakes.

Remember folks don't eat that yellow snow!

Warren Ellis Wrote This

There is no ratio. People tend to look for structure in my working life, and there isn’t a lot. Reading is work. Writing is work. Communication is work. Research is work. I work from when I get up to when I go to bed. I’m fairly stupid, and writing passable pages doesn’t come easily, so this is a 24/7 gig for me, just to be competent. All this means that it’s really hard to separate the elements of the day out enough to be able to see a ratio. It’s all The Job.

Oh, How I Love Big Trouble in Little China

Something I Want To Remember

"Many suspected molesters engaged in what psychologists today call 'grooming behavior,' a gradual [process of normalizing inappropriate sexual contact] in which predators lavish children with attention, favors and gifts."

The sort of behavior that's frequently considered being an extra super duper awesome adult pal to children by people who don't know to identify grooming behavior.

- This quote is from Shakesville

Here Is A Thing

The Amish wagons and buggies have something on them that whistles when it moves.  It's a really high-pitched tone that travels. I can hear it long before I hear the whirr of wheels on the pavement or any hooves. I wonder if it is to keep dogs from chasing the horses? It cuts through the silence and right into your ears with a trapped mosquito in a midnight hotel room precision.

Things To Practice File

I am not *actually* responsible for how other people feel about their lives. I can not make sure they're happy, or that they're upset in a way that isn't too inconvenient for everyone else.  That is actually on them. Not on me. Any energy I expend trying to control someone else's emotional experiences is energy wasted.  Put all of that effort into something productive or at least entertaining instead.  That is a better choice.

And Another Thing

I would have loved to been a fly on the wall when China Mieville learned the Nobel Committee chose the EU for the Peace Prize.