A number of things I'm thinking/talking about
Wed, Nov. 10th, 2010 09:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scarlettinaIt's the first sunny Seattle morning in quite a while, and I actually timed my morning activities so I'd have some leisure to write an LJ entry. ::pleased::
Work: This week is the last before our team goes into high gear for three weeks. I'm savoring the slow pace, because come next week, it's going to be early to bed, early to rise, with not a lot of breathing space in between. I'm thankful to be employed.
The Vengeance of the Internets: I suspect that many folks who read my LJ were aware of last week's Internet Kerfuffle of the Week -- the Cooks Source debacle. I followed this train wreck mostly via Twitter, and it really was a case of the event being too awful too look at while being unable to turn away. Watching a publication and an editor shoot themselves in the head so thoroughly was a rare and remarkable thing to see. The latest development is the notice currently posted on the Cooks Source Web site, which is oddly and awkwardly written, continues to display the publication's tin ear for public relations and Internet culture, and still seems to present the publication as a poor-pitiful-me victim of Internet persecution rather than a thief of other people's work. (Psychology Today has posted an interesting push-back against the Internet's swift judgment.)
Completely Frivolous Cat Font: For my cat-loving compatriots, I share the LiebeKitty font, which seems to offer a nod to Simon's Cat, as well as an outlet for human-feline infatuation.
Books: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: I was in Barnes & Noble last week and came across a display of their Classics series, which included this volume. It's a nice presentation, offering not just Douglass' own story, but also a new introduction, contemporaneous endorsements and reviews, footnotes, and a book-club style section with questions and comments to discuss. It was fascinating reading and I enjoyed it. Still processing a lot of the stuff I learned about the era and about the author's story. I may or may not comment about it later. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not being inspired in some way. It certainly offers perspective.
OryCon--not: And I'm not going to OryCon this year--which is remarkable only because this is the first time in quite a few years that I've actively wanted to go. Why aren't I going? See above re: intensifying work schedule. The work for this cycle actually starts on Saturday morning and I have to be here for a meeting and for prep work. The scheduling doesn't make me happy in the least, and I'm concerned that I may run into similar situations with RadCon and Norwescon. I'll have to examine the schedule and figure things out, because I don't intend to give up my writerly life for my day job. It's a question of juggling and schedules. But if the schedules deeply conflict (as they already do with my brother's wedding, which I'm going to regardless), I'm going to find myself in a personally troubling position. We'll see how it goes. In the meanwhile, to all of you going to OryCon, have a wonderful time, and have a drink for me, will ya?
Work: This week is the last before our team goes into high gear for three weeks. I'm savoring the slow pace, because come next week, it's going to be early to bed, early to rise, with not a lot of breathing space in between. I'm thankful to be employed.
The Vengeance of the Internets: I suspect that many folks who read my LJ were aware of last week's Internet Kerfuffle of the Week -- the Cooks Source debacle. I followed this train wreck mostly via Twitter, and it really was a case of the event being too awful too look at while being unable to turn away. Watching a publication and an editor shoot themselves in the head so thoroughly was a rare and remarkable thing to see. The latest development is the notice currently posted on the Cooks Source Web site, which is oddly and awkwardly written, continues to display the publication's tin ear for public relations and Internet culture, and still seems to present the publication as a poor-pitiful-me victim of Internet persecution rather than a thief of other people's work. (Psychology Today has posted an interesting push-back against the Internet's swift judgment.)
Completely Frivolous Cat Font: For my cat-loving compatriots, I share the LiebeKitty font, which seems to offer a nod to Simon's Cat, as well as an outlet for human-feline infatuation.
Books: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave: I was in Barnes & Noble last week and came across a display of their Classics series, which included this volume. It's a nice presentation, offering not just Douglass' own story, but also a new introduction, contemporaneous endorsements and reviews, footnotes, and a book-club style section with questions and comments to discuss. It was fascinating reading and I enjoyed it. Still processing a lot of the stuff I learned about the era and about the author's story. I may or may not comment about it later. I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not being inspired in some way. It certainly offers perspective.
OryCon--not: And I'm not going to OryCon this year--which is remarkable only because this is the first time in quite a few years that I've actively wanted to go. Why aren't I going? See above re: intensifying work schedule. The work for this cycle actually starts on Saturday morning and I have to be here for a meeting and for prep work. The scheduling doesn't make me happy in the least, and I'm concerned that I may run into similar situations with RadCon and Norwescon. I'll have to examine the schedule and figure things out, because I don't intend to give up my writerly life for my day job. It's a question of juggling and schedules. But if the schedules deeply conflict (as they already do with my brother's wedding, which I'm going to regardless), I'm going to find myself in a personally troubling position. We'll see how it goes. In the meanwhile, to all of you going to OryCon, have a wonderful time, and have a drink for me, will ya?