February 6, 2010
February 4, 2010
Nora K. Jemisin tells it like it is
Remember that N.K. Jemisin post I linked to a couple days ago? Livejournaler Delux-Vivens linked to one of Jemisin's later comments that I hadn't seen, and I want to make note of it, because I think it's a really excellent rebuttal to "The Tone Argument":
Yes, I think the "quiet reasoning" would've been missed without the "angry" posts. But I'm putting scare quotes around these for two reasons a) because the "quiet reasoning" posts were angry too; very likely every cogent and persuasive post you saw was written by someone trembling with fury and struggling to be coherent. And b) because I don't recall seeing a single "angry" post that didn't make a reasonable point...<snip>
As for the danger of alienating people with good intentions -- well, one of the things that I learned from RaceFail (and also from general experience) was that people with good intentions are the ones to fear most. The overt racists are easy to deal with. You can spot them coming a mile away. But the well-intentioned people are scarier. They might not intend harm, but in most cases they haven't thought about all the racist (and other "-ist") messages they've absorbed from society. They haven't done the basic groundwork necessary to purge themselves of that passively-absorbed "-ism". So they say the most incredibly hurtful, self-absorbed, and utterly useless things, then compound the problem by getting upset when they're called on it. I liken these people to sleeper agents -- they seem OK at first, but then they suddenly "activate" and stab you in the back, and then they come out of their fugue and freak because there's blood on their hands and they don't know how it got there and they refuse to accept that they're the ones who put it there, OMG, OMG. Meanwhile, you're on the floor bleeding out, unnoticed because of their histrionics.
I oughtn't quote the whole comment here, but you should really go read the response in its entirety -- and read this similar post as well. It's yet more proof that Ms. Jemisin is a really smart and very talented writer, and gives you all the more reason to go buy her book. Not convinced yet? She has three sample chapters online at her blog.
Aw, thanks, Phil!
Check out these two very sweet reviews from reader Phil M. Knight, who I met at Green Brain Comic's SNAP festival a couple years back:
Readers can also check out Phil's lovely fan art, which he presented me with at the Old Ghosts signing at Green brain.
I'm so honored that you took the time out to post these, Phil. Thank you so much! Fans like you are what keep me going.
February 2, 2010
AAAAAAAAAAAARGH
Trying to plan a summer trip, involving airplanes. And once again, just like every other time I plan a trip involving airplanes, I ask the universe:
WHY THE CRAPPING CRAP IS THERE NOT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN KALAMAZOO AND ANY OF THE DETROIT OR CHICAGO AIRPORTS THAT DOESN'T REQURE AT LEAST TWO TRANSFERS AND AN ASSTON OF HASSLE?
Come on, people. Throw us a shuttle bus or something, for God's sake.
February 1, 2010
Skiing with Dan
Dan: Okay, here's a map. We're here. We can take this trail or that one. That one's prettier, but it's going to be harder; you may have to take off your skis for part of it.
Me: That's okay. The scenery's more important than my dignity.
Dan: In fact, I think I can see on this map where you left your dignity. Back there at the bottom of the hill.
Me: I usually don't fall unless I intend to. It was either that or run into those saplings.
Dan: Yeah. You made the right call, provided you don't mind the bruises.
Me: I don't mind them much, but sometimes they freak Paul out.
Dan: Just tell him to use them as a Rorshach test.
Me: Yeah, but then he'll want to make drawings out of them. When Paul's drawing on my ass with a Sharpie marker, I'll know who to blame. "Hey look, this one's an alien!"
Dan: An alien that gets more jaundiced as the days go by.
Me: ... from the flu we gave him when he tried to invade.
Dan: ...
Me: I am so blogging this when I get home.
January 30, 2010
John Scalzi on the Macmillan/Amazon spat
Oh John. Times like these remind me why I like you so much.
January 28, 2010
The iPad Meh.
First thoughts on the iPad? Meh.
It's basically just a supersized iPod Touch No OS, so it can't run programs, which pretty much kills any desire I have to own one -- I was hoping for a pressure-sensitive machine that could run Photoshop and Manga Studio. It'll be a great media-player, and very likely a Kindle-killer. A lot of other people will like it very much. Me, personally, I don't like having a lot of separate gadgets. I like having one gadget that does everything. And right now, for me, that gadget is my Fujitsu convertible tablet laptop. I love the damn thing so much it's a little ridiculous. There are things I'd change about it, like giving it more RAM, a bigger hard-drive, and making it about three pounds lighter. All these are minor quibbles, and it has an awful lot going for it, starting with the hot-swappable hardware bay: it holds a cd-player, a spare battery -- this is the option I use most often; with both batteries fully charged, I get close to 5 hours of drawing time -- or an empty spacer if I want to shave off a pound or so. If I want to get all crazy-nostalgic, it even came with a 3.5" drive.
It does everything. I did all the touchups for Clockwork Game on it, and I'm learning how to draw on it from scratch -- it even takes SD cards, so working from photo reference is a snap. I do all of my writing on it. I programmed my website on it. I read books on it, so having a separate machine specifically for ebooks is redundant. I watch movies on it, and use it in my office as a spare TV, by streaming Hulu and Netflix. Best of all, it's downright *cuddly*, and I really enjoy working with it. Again, my only complaint is that it's a little chunky -- but so am I, so there you go.
I never thought a piece of hardware would turn me away from my long love affair with Apple products, but Fujitsu makes a damn fine tablet -- and Apple's gonna have to turn out a much more universal product than the iPad to make me give it up. I still have (and love) my iMac, but the iPad leaves a lot to be desired.
January 27, 2010
Haiti Linkdump
I confess to not being very literate on the topic of Haiti's history and economic past, so I've been trying to get myself educated. Here are some of the links I've been following.
A blogpost by LJ user Browngirl
A massive linkdump from blogger Unusualmusic, at ABW.com
On the issue of adopting Haitian orphans, from Racialicious' guest contributor Atlasien
Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Thomas Jefferson and Haiti (h/t Ta-Nehisi Coates at TheAtlantic.com)
January 25, 2010
January 24, 2010
ConFusion
I went to ConFusion yesterday, just the one day. the highlight of the afternoon was getting the chance to speak with Peter S. Beagle for a short time while he was autographing. He had a chair set next to him, and each autograph-seeker would sit down, drinking in his soft storyteller's voice, best appreciated side-by-side rather than across a huckster's table.
He spoke touchingly of his heroes, some of whom I'd heard of (Harriet Tubman, King Christian X of Denmark and Eleanor Roosevelt), and some I hadn't (Hugh Thompson, Jr. [Beagle wrote Thompson a letter, and when an editor wanted to include it in a book about Thompson, Beagle had the opportunity to speak to Thompson on the phone]). I'd just purchased his first book, and while I was waiting in line, I'd read the first chapter, which began with a raven fetching a ring of baloney for a man named Mr. Rebeck. Seeing both together on the same page, I couldn't resist asking if Mr. Rebeck was named after the man with the sausage-machine, and Mr. Beagle said the version he'd learned was about Mr. Dunderbeck, but that he'd heard it sung both ways. He sang a verse for good measure, then told me about his dear aunt who'd taught him the song, how much he loved her as a boy, and how well and beautifully she lived her life.
I ceded the chair to another friend who had a writing question for Mr. Beagle, but I left feeling that despite its brevity, I'd had a very intimate and deep conversation with an artist with a deeply kind and loving soul -- and also that everyone else who sat in that chair would say the same thing. When I related the story to John Scalzi later that evening, he said, "Ah yes. And that's the magic of Peter Beagle."
And so it was.
On a vaguely similar note, Virus sent me this lovely story about a man searching for Kurt Vonnegut.
January 21, 2010
A year later
Well, it's been a year since RaceFail started. It's been a rather difficult time for me; I've been uncharacteristically quiet because I've been learning an awful lot about myself (and my own work) that I'm still processing through. This isn't a moment for feeling particularly good about that, for reasons that Avalon's Willow and Deepa point out in their excellent posts -- but there is reason for hope, and I'll let N.K. Jemisin explain why.
January 17, 2010
On Haiti
As usual, Jay Smooth says it better than I ever could:
There are apparently some concerns over Wyclef Jean's Yele organization (ETA: Jean responds here), but if I had to pick, there is hardly a better charity to donate to at this moment than Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres. I already give to them annually, and will be sending another boost as soon as I'm able.
Clay Shirky rants about women
Go read this; make sure to read all the comments, and pay special attention to the ones by Eszter and Gisela and later on by Liz Henry and Haddayr. Rock on, ladies.
H/t to Pam Noles for the link.
January 12, 2010
New look, new url
A few years ago, a domain name speculator bought the FieryStudios.com sitename and -- if I recall correctly -- tried to get me to buy it from them for an inflated price. I waited them out, and a couple weeks back it became available again, so I snapped it up for the next ten years. Take that, jerks.
To celebrate, I finally took some time to spruce up the old thing, and good heavens, what an embarrassment. Tables, bad code, quirks-mode-inducing DTD declarations, and some code snippets that I swear go back as far as 1998. Yes, I've had a website for going on twelve years. You kids get off of my lawn.
Anyway, it's up now, and should be reasonably bug-free. Shout if you see anything wonky.
January 1, 2010
December 23, 2009
Raven sketches
Here, have some lovely ravens. Nothing like scavenger birds to make the season festive.
These are all fast brush-pen drawings from photos taken at Denali National Park in 2006. Only the last four birds had any pencils underneath them; the others were just exercises that turned out nicely. Enjoy! You may be seeing more of their cousins, soon.