I took the kids to get their flu shots today (and also got mine). Pumpkin didn't faint this year, and Petunia only freaked out a little bit... so it was a good year, I guess.
While we waited to make sure Pumpkin wouldn't pass out, Pumpkin read, Petunia watched a show I'd downloaded onto my tablet, and I thought about all the things I need/want to do.
I was feeling a little bit down about how slow I'm going with Adjusted Latitudes, and also wondering if I could say yes to a really interesting book project an author just pitched to me, but that I'm not sure I have the bandwidth to do.
I was thinking that maybe I can't keep the side projects going at the level I thought I could, despite what my time-tracking data had told me when I was deciding whether or not to go back to a "regular job."
And then I realized that I have a new "hobby" that I'm sinking a lot of time into: writing postcards and researching races to donate money to.
I don't plan to stop writing postcards after the midterms, but I do plan to scale back a bit. I had been aiming for at least 10 postcards per week (sometimes I'd do 15 or 20 if I had the time). In September, I bumped that up a notch, and I'm currently writing 5 postcards every day. That's not a huge time sink... but I think it explains why I don't feel like I have as much time to write travel posts or promote books, particularly when I add in the time I've been spending figuring out where I should send money to help in this campaign season.
So I don't feel so bad now about the glacial pace on getting Adjusted Latitudes going, and I think I'll reserve judgement about that book project until after the midterms.
Maybe some other night I'll write about my mixed feelings about the level of political involvement I feel I need to have right now. On one hand, I have realized I was too complacent about the problems in this country and I don't want to go back to that. On the other hand, think of all the other things we could all be doing with our time right now instead of fighting so hard for these midterms.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Friday, October 12, 2018
Weekend Reading: Hello From the Sick House Edition
I have been working from home for the past two days because Petunia has a cold. I am going a bit stir crazy. Also, I am sad I couldn't go rollerblading today.
But on the bright side, I've gotten some quality Petunia-cuddles during breaks, and she's feeling a lot better now. So far, Pumpkin hasn't gotten sick, so I think we may finally be almost done with this cold.
Let's get to the links. First, the happy ones:
As I mentioned in my post on Wednesday... The Inconvenient God, a fantasy novelette by Francesca Forrest is now out! If you haven't grabbed a copy yet - get one. I think you'll love this story. Also, I'm running a release month promo for this book, so if you send me a picture of the book on your ereader (or in your hands, if you get the paperback) I'll send you a promo code to get Vanessa Fogg's The Lilies of Dawn for just $0.99.
Speaking of Vanessa Fogg... she posted about some much deserved recognition her stories are getting. Check it out, and then check out the stories, because they are wonderful.
And now, for the less happy links:
If you only have time for one link this week, read Peter Beinart on the limits of civility.
Amy S. Kaufman's essay on chivalry and why it is nothing to be nostalgic for is also really good.
I don't have any other links. I've been spending more time writing postcards and less time reading the news. I know that it is looking less likely that we'll flip the Senate. I know that is depressing to some people, but remember that flipping the Senate was always a long shot. The most important thing, in my opinion, is that we get one house of Congress, so that we can get subpoena power in the hands of people who actually care what happened in the 2016 election, care about whether Donald Trump's personal finances are influencing our foreign policy, and will provide some actual oversight on the Trump administration for things like the horrible policy of separating immigrant children from their parents. The House has always looked like the chamber we had the best chance of flipping, and so I have focused more on the House than the Senate in my donations and in my postcard writing.
If you want to join me in writing postcards, there's still time to do so! You can get addresses from Postcards to Voters or Postcards4VA. One of my unexpectedly favorite things about writing postcards is that so many of them go to small towns and rural areas. The addresses are all for registered Democrats. It is a good reminder that we are not fully "sorted" despite our talk of Red and Blue states. In truth, there are plenty of Republicans in California - even in urban areas! - and there are plenty of Democrats in so-called Red states - even in rural areas. One of the things that the people who run Postcards4VA found after their first round of postcard writing (in the 2017 state house campaigns) was that the postcards helped increase rural turnout. My theory is that this is because the postcards remind rural Democrats that they are not isolated points of Blue in a sea of Red - they are part of the great Purple mix of America.
Other ways to get involved if you are not near to a race that needs in person canvassing (or if that's not your thing - it is not mine!) include phone banking and text banking. Both of these can be done remotely. You can pick a campaign and sign up there. The Cook Political Report's house ratings can help you find a campaign that could use your help. Or, you can read about @Pinboard's "great slate" of candidates he thinks have a chance to flip some unexpected districts. Or you can go to Swing Left and find some ideas there.
Whatever you pick, if you're worried about the health of our democracy under Trump, I encourage you to pick something to do to try to change the situation. We still have time to step back from the brink. And I can tell you that I always feel better after I write some postcards. Will it be enough? I don't know. But I feel better for trying.
Moving on.
In recommended listening:
Rebecca Traister has a new book about women's anger out, and she's been on several podcasts lately. I think her interview with Ezra Klein is the best of the ones I've heard.
Bunny!
chump chump pic.twitter.com/u5A4Ll6D3H— bunnies! ✪ (@bunnyarchive) October 8, 2018
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Release Day, Day Off... Not Quite to Plan
I've been feeling a little burned out, so I decided to plan a day off. Then I looked at my work calendar and decided the best I could manage right now was a half day. So I scheduled that for today. I figured that would work out well, since today is also the release day for The Inconvenient God - I planned to call in to some meetings in the morning, have a nice lunch, then do some release day promo, then head out for a walk on the beach.
But then I came down with a cold last Friday. I'm better (mostly - still a little stuffed up, but no longer clearly sick). My husband got sick two days ago. And Petunia got sick this morning. So far, Pumpkin is healthy. We'll see if that lasts.
So, I have both Mr. Snarky and Petunia home with me today. I attended my meetings, but had to work a little longer than I anticipated because my other time was interrupted tending to Petunia. I guess the bright side of having Mr. Snarky home, too, is that he can stay here with Petunia and I can still take my walk on the beach. But this is not the peaceful "mental health day" I imagined.
Oh well... at least it is looking like a good release day for The Inconvenient God! There are several reviews on the GoodReads page, and quite a few sales so far. If you want to add to the sales total, you can get the ebook for $2.99 at the usual places:
And the paperback for $7.99 at Amazon and BN.com. It will be available at IndieBound soon, and librarians - it will be in Overdrive and Baker & Taylor soon, too!
Here are a couple of early reviews:
But then I came down with a cold last Friday. I'm better (mostly - still a little stuffed up, but no longer clearly sick). My husband got sick two days ago. And Petunia got sick this morning. So far, Pumpkin is healthy. We'll see if that lasts.
So, I have both Mr. Snarky and Petunia home with me today. I attended my meetings, but had to work a little longer than I anticipated because my other time was interrupted tending to Petunia. I guess the bright side of having Mr. Snarky home, too, is that he can stay here with Petunia and I can still take my walk on the beach. But this is not the peaceful "mental health day" I imagined.
Oh well... at least it is looking like a good release day for The Inconvenient God! There are several reviews on the GoodReads page, and quite a few sales so far. If you want to add to the sales total, you can get the ebook for $2.99 at the usual places:
And the paperback for $7.99 at Amazon and BN.com. It will be available at IndieBound soon, and librarians - it will be in Overdrive and Baker & Taylor soon, too!
Here are a couple of early reviews:
- The Little Red Reviewer (pretty much spoiler free)
- Fill Your Bookshelf (mild spoilers, but not of the ending)
Also, don't forget I'm running a release month promo for this book - send me proof of purchase (which can just be a picture of the book on your ereader) and I'll send you a promo code to get Vanessa Fogg's equally wonderful novelette The Lilies of Dawn for just $0.99.
International readers - if you're in a location for which the exchange rate makes this book a ridiculous price for a novelette, but you want to read it, please get in touch! I'll work something out with you.
Hooray for release days! And boo on sick days. I'm going to get my walk on the beach, though, and that's not nothing.
Friday, October 05, 2018
Weekend Reading: Just So Tired Edition
I want to post a few links, but am going to keep this short because... well, because today's news is unsurprising but exhausting nonetheless. But the sun is shining here, and I think a rollerblade will do me much good.
I have two contenders for my "if you read only one" slot this week, so I hope you'll humor me and read both:
First, Alexandra Petri's sadly prescient piece from last week about how hard it is to stop the train, inspired by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's statement that she had wondered if she would just be jumping in front of a train that was going to go where it was going, anyway. As it turned out, this is indeed what she did. And yet... although it looks like Kavanaugh will be confirmed, I think her testimony made a difference in the larger sense. I think she has helped move us forward to a better world in which we will not laugh off the assaults young men perpetrate on young women. So maybe this one train goes where it was always going to go, but we blow up the track after it passes.
Second, Adam Serwer on how the cruelty is the point for Trump and his core supporters, and how this is changing us as a country.
There were also two things about conservatives who have changed their view of the world somewhat.
First, Benjamin Wittes on Kavanaugh. I am not among those who think this sort of reckoning is too little, or too late. I think we have to allow for people to change their minds when new information comes in, even if we ourselves thought the information available earlier already supported a different opinion. I have one quibble with Wittes' piece, though. He writes that his cognitive dissonance at seeing a different Kavanaugh than the one he know is not the point. But I think it very much is the point. We need men like Wittes to realize how many other white men show a respectful and respectable personality to them while treating the rest of us as if we are not fully human. (And fellow white women: take some time to reflect on how that behavior generalizes. There are plenty of people who will seem nice and respectful to us, but behave completely differently to a woman of color. Know that and watch for it.)
Second, Max Boot on the Trump era in general.
That second one ties into my thoughts on the Kavanaugh debacle. I think Roe and other key decisions were lost when we lost the 2016 election, so my anger over the Kavanaugh situation is more around the fact that there were plenty of other conservative judges who could have been chosen. Was the confirmation of Kavanaugh in particular so important because of his views on presidential immunity (which are hard to reconcile with his earlier career on the Starr investigation, but whatever)? Or did they just dig in because they couldn't stand to back down to a bunch of women? I don't know.
But I do know that the current Republican party seems driven by a desire to stay in power at whatever cost. They are knocking down norms and pushing the limits of the Constitution wherever necessary. I do not have any sense of where the bottom might be in terms of how much they are willing to bend (or even break) the bonds of the rule of law and the principles of democracy. I am worried for our future path. I think we can still correct course, but the longer we wait, the harder it will be.
I guess what I'm saying is: Yeah, this all sucks. Take whatever time you need to get over this week's events. Then please consider doing something to help keep it from getting worse. The time to act is now. Pick some campaigns to support - at any level of government. Many of the protections that the Supreme Court is now likely to throw out will only matter if the states act to remove those rights. Work to register voters. Do whatever feels right to you, but don't assume it will all work out OK. Things only work out OK if people act to make them work out OK.
And here's this week's rabbit:
I have two contenders for my "if you read only one" slot this week, so I hope you'll humor me and read both:
First, Alexandra Petri's sadly prescient piece from last week about how hard it is to stop the train, inspired by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's statement that she had wondered if she would just be jumping in front of a train that was going to go where it was going, anyway. As it turned out, this is indeed what she did. And yet... although it looks like Kavanaugh will be confirmed, I think her testimony made a difference in the larger sense. I think she has helped move us forward to a better world in which we will not laugh off the assaults young men perpetrate on young women. So maybe this one train goes where it was always going to go, but we blow up the track after it passes.
Second, Adam Serwer on how the cruelty is the point for Trump and his core supporters, and how this is changing us as a country.
There were also two things about conservatives who have changed their view of the world somewhat.
First, Benjamin Wittes on Kavanaugh. I am not among those who think this sort of reckoning is too little, or too late. I think we have to allow for people to change their minds when new information comes in, even if we ourselves thought the information available earlier already supported a different opinion. I have one quibble with Wittes' piece, though. He writes that his cognitive dissonance at seeing a different Kavanaugh than the one he know is not the point. But I think it very much is the point. We need men like Wittes to realize how many other white men show a respectful and respectable personality to them while treating the rest of us as if we are not fully human. (And fellow white women: take some time to reflect on how that behavior generalizes. There are plenty of people who will seem nice and respectful to us, but behave completely differently to a woman of color. Know that and watch for it.)
Second, Max Boot on the Trump era in general.
That second one ties into my thoughts on the Kavanaugh debacle. I think Roe and other key decisions were lost when we lost the 2016 election, so my anger over the Kavanaugh situation is more around the fact that there were plenty of other conservative judges who could have been chosen. Was the confirmation of Kavanaugh in particular so important because of his views on presidential immunity (which are hard to reconcile with his earlier career on the Starr investigation, but whatever)? Or did they just dig in because they couldn't stand to back down to a bunch of women? I don't know.
But I do know that the current Republican party seems driven by a desire to stay in power at whatever cost. They are knocking down norms and pushing the limits of the Constitution wherever necessary. I do not have any sense of where the bottom might be in terms of how much they are willing to bend (or even break) the bonds of the rule of law and the principles of democracy. I am worried for our future path. I think we can still correct course, but the longer we wait, the harder it will be.
I guess what I'm saying is: Yeah, this all sucks. Take whatever time you need to get over this week's events. Then please consider doing something to help keep it from getting worse. The time to act is now. Pick some campaigns to support - at any level of government. Many of the protections that the Supreme Court is now likely to throw out will only matter if the states act to remove those rights. Work to register voters. Do whatever feels right to you, but don't assume it will all work out OK. Things only work out OK if people act to make them work out OK.
History has its eyes on you.— Howl-exander Hell-milton (@Lin_Manuel) October 5, 2018
And here's this week's rabbit:
3rd October 2018 pic.twitter.com/xPCaolXeWZ— Rabbit of the Day 🐰 (@RabbitoftheDay) October 3, 2018
Friday, September 28, 2018
In Lieu of Links
I don't have a weekend reading post in me this week. I had thought maybe I'd write about why I'm so angry instead, but it turns out I don't have that in me, either.
I've spent time this week on the hobbies that make me happier: I updated the mapping plugin on my Adjusted Latitudes site and figured out how to create a KML file to show the route of our Redondo Beach weekend getaway and put that on the map. I worked on promo pitches for the upcoming Annorlunda Books release The Inconvenient God. (Note: I'm running a promo for people who buy it before the end of October.)
I've read a lot of news, too, but I don't feel up to parsing through it and finding the truly useful things to share. My kids are still too young to be following this mess, so at least I didn't have to try to explain it all to them. (This time is coming to an end. My older daughter is 11, and starting to pay attention to wider events. Her journalism class had an assignment about the Kavanaugh nomination before the sexual assault allegations hit. They've switched to tamer topics now, and she has shown no interest in following up on it on her own. But in another year or two that won't be the case.)
I do have to try to keep myself together for our usual routines, though, and last night, in particular, that was difficult. I made it, but only by writing postcards during the kids' snack time. Writing postcards makes me feel like I'm doing something, so it calms the impotent fury a bit. (If you want to join me: PostcardstoVoters has switched to the midterms now, and there is also the Postcards4VA effort underway.)
My younger daughter turns 9 next week. She is so excited about her birthday and the upcoming party. I want to be excited with her, and to do that, I need to tune out a little bit. I'll be back soon, though.
Let's make our country truly worthy of this girl's rendition of our anthem:
I've spent time this week on the hobbies that make me happier: I updated the mapping plugin on my Adjusted Latitudes site and figured out how to create a KML file to show the route of our Redondo Beach weekend getaway and put that on the map. I worked on promo pitches for the upcoming Annorlunda Books release The Inconvenient God. (Note: I'm running a promo for people who buy it before the end of October.)
I've read a lot of news, too, but I don't feel up to parsing through it and finding the truly useful things to share. My kids are still too young to be following this mess, so at least I didn't have to try to explain it all to them. (This time is coming to an end. My older daughter is 11, and starting to pay attention to wider events. Her journalism class had an assignment about the Kavanaugh nomination before the sexual assault allegations hit. They've switched to tamer topics now, and she has shown no interest in following up on it on her own. But in another year or two that won't be the case.)
I do have to try to keep myself together for our usual routines, though, and last night, in particular, that was difficult. I made it, but only by writing postcards during the kids' snack time. Writing postcards makes me feel like I'm doing something, so it calms the impotent fury a bit. (If you want to join me: PostcardstoVoters has switched to the midterms now, and there is also the Postcards4VA effort underway.)
My younger daughter turns 9 next week. She is so excited about her birthday and the upcoming party. I want to be excited with her, and to do that, I need to tune out a little bit. I'll be back soon, though.
Cynicism performed publicly is complicity. Fight or don’t fight but don’t be complicit.— Alexander Chee (@alexanderchee) September 27, 2018
Let's make our country truly worthy of this girl's rendition of our anthem:
We can’t stop watching 😆 pic.twitter.com/SPTY2naMDA— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) September 24, 2018
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