The · Word · Pirate's · Preferred · Ports · of · Call

Who needs a lucky clover when you have bullets? Maybe she just waned Starbucks to know that she meant it when she said “splenda not sugar”. For the record she had a badge on her belt too but I couldn’t get a discrete shot of it.

Originally published at The IggBlog. You can comment here or there.

I received some gentle criticism for my first round of manuscript reviews at the OCWW. I was told that some thought my commentary overly harsh, and that I should do more to accentuate the positive I saw in the manuscript.

That's no way to get better, but okay.

For the record, I opened with positive commentary on the piece, and closed with positive commentary, and as I read I noted lines I really liked. I also praised the writer's courage for even submitting in the first place. Okay, eighty percent or more of the commentary was stuff that I thought needed changing or tweaking, but that's the nature of a critique. I certainly wasn't cutting or sarcastic. I don't even say whether I think it's publishable or not. I've never been in the business of cutting checks to writers and my professional experience is limited to sf/horror/fantasy.

I'd never tell anyone to give it up. Where someone is as a writer today might be just a baseline for improvements over the years. While naturally gifted writers exist, just as gifted musicians and gifted woodworkers and gifted gardeners exist, like all those other skills you can learn how to do it better in a bunch of different ways and create talent where none was evident and then hone that talent further. I'm the result of about thirty years of haphazard effort, irregular learning, trial, and error that can only be neatly expressed with exponents.

Nobody at the pro level puts much time into positive reinforcement. If I'm really lucky, when talking over a manuscript or reading editorial notes I'll get a "ha!" or two, or in rare instances "that's vintage E.E. Knight right there" but that's it. You take knocks in this business over your work. Most of us care deeply about it. I know that hurt. I don't just know it, I've slept with it. We've had weekends away together. When my ego deflates like a cheap tire, I can usually pump it back up in a day or two. The next contract is all the praise I ask for (though I happily accept it in any form, 24/7).

I know it can feel like a beatdown. I've been through several myself as an amateur. You'll learn, both from what the pro says and your own emotional progress in separating Self from Work. So if you get a chance to be critiqued by a pro, do it. Take a piece of leather to bite down on if you have to, but do it.

We went in Williams Sonoma over the weekend on a mission for baby food prep stuff and on a whim I picked up a new tin of tea, Harney & Sons "Paris" blend.

I've never been big on flavored tea. I like a haymaker of a tea taste, otherwise I'd be drinking chocolate or Italian soda or whatever if I wanted X flavor. I tend to load up on lemon and sugar anyway so I need something hearty to take the abuse. But this one was a very pleasant surprise. The tea is still there, though gentle. They've used a black that's very smooth and round in the mouth (maybe a Ceylon?). Strongest note is vanilla with some fruit from the Bergamot, but more subtle and less oily than an Earl Grey. The box said citrus but I wasn't tasting it, then again my taste buds are parboiled, wine-marinated, garlic-fried, over-spiced, and occasionally smoked.

This would be a great tea for people who don't like bitter teas or a delightful surprise for your friend who always sticks with a nice safe Lipton (I'm not knocking Lipton, mind, they make a superb tea and I ask for it in restaurants when I'm not sure of the other brands they have). When my tin of sachets runs out I'll be buying it in bulk.

• 09:50 *shakes fist at Google Sync yet again* #
• 11:52 Check out @two_ontheaisle's new mini-doc on journal keeping. I've been meaning to share, worth your time. bit.ly/4EvLl3 #
• 17:38 This has been possibly the most rotten run of dumb luck I've ever had with fantasy football. #
• 19:43 Wow, was BSG: The Plan underwhelming. #

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This really does sum up the feelings of more conservatives than one might think, and something we've been saying for a while now.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWI2NDcyNWVkMjJiYjcyNTVjNDFmNzQ1ZTczMDQxZDU=

Bush’s “compassionate conservatism” was promoted as an alternative to traditional conservatism. Bush promised to be a “different kind of Republican,” and he kept that promise. He advocated government activism, and he put our money where his mouth was. He federalized education with No Child Left Behind — co-sponsored by Teddy Kennedy — and oversaw the biggest increase in education spending in history (58 percent faster than inflation), according to the Heritage Foundation, while doing next to nothing to advance the conservative idea known as school choice.

With the prescription-drug benefit, he created the biggest new entitlement since the Great Society (Obama is poised to topple that record). Bush increased spending on the National Institutes of Health by 36 percent and international aid by 74 percent, according to Heritage. He oversaw the largest, most porktacular farm bills ever. He signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a massive new regulation of Wall Street. His administration defended affirmative action before the Supreme Court.

He pushed amnesty for immigrants, imposed steel tariffs, supported Title IX, and signed the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance-reform legislation.

Oh, and he, not Obama, initiated the first bailouts and TARP.

Not all of these positions were wrong or indefensible. But the notion that Bush pursued conservative ideas with “dogmatic fixity” is dogmatic nonsense.

Most Democrats were blinded to all of this because of their anger over the Iraq War and an often irrational hatred of Bush. Republicans, meanwhile, defended Bush far more than they would have had it not been for 9/11 and the hysteria of his enemies.

Quite so. There is a very wrongheaded idea out there about what a "conservative" is. FOX is finally catching on, and trying to capitalize on the frustration of truecons, and is rebranding themselves a bit. And they're still missing the point.

Started my "Writing the Genre Novel" class at the Off-Campus Writer's Workshop up in Winnetka. They have a great group up there in John Hughes country, though it looks like they draw from all over Chicago. Close to 40 people attended.

I'm a bit sore-throated and shagged at the moment. I'm not used to talking for two hours (and those of you who know me know that while I don't mind doing presentations, it's not my comfort zone). I'll be doing this two more Thursdays but I'm looking forward to it. From what I've seen of the group's prose so far, they have some talented writers. They're also a friendly bunch. Next one will be easier.

That's always the way it is with me and teaching. The first couple classes are rough going, then once I get to know the students I'm a lot more comfortable.

Twitter is dangerous because it's good to do the small stuff with, but I forget to cover the bigger stuff. So I guess I should catch up. No specific order.

* Ann & I went to the Worcester County Atheists Meetup last weekend, and it was a surprising success! We met some great people, had a fun evening, and I think we're looking forward to the next one.

* I spent Halloween at Bill and Mandy's big ol' Halloween bash. This was my costume:



Yup, I was a bad pun. Yeah, it was pretty awesome.

* I've been keeping this locked away a bit, but I see no reason to keep it secret, since it's such a poorly kept one: I've been going to therapy for my mental health issues and it's been a net positive. My therapist is good, but the last session was a little off-putting for reasons that aren't worth getting into here. HOWEVER, I'm significantly better off on the last few months compared to where I was before. I need to make a bigger entry about this.

* D&D has been fun. My undead-ish warlock Vesper has been cursing folks left and right, while being thoroughly confused about her actual existence. In true Jeff style, I had her spend a few round searching a library catalog while everyone else fought things. It's okay, though, because I got books on piloting an airship.

I love RPGs.

* I finished Wet for the 360 this week. A fun, if repetitive, game. I'm now back into Prototype and Red Faction: Guerrilla, and I'm lusting heavily over Dragon Age: Origins. Yay games!

* Made almost $30 on Amie Street cashing in on one album I recommended for free. That was a fun surprise, and so I bought a lot of stuff I didn't want to spend actual money on. Very nice surprise.

* We finally found someone to rent our place. Yay for having help paying your mortgage!

* I tried NaNoWriMo again this year. 1500 words and it's clear I will never be a fiction writer.

* We finally got a netbook after a looooooong time of contemplating. It's hard to do White Wolf games without a quick reference and Google Chat, and I want to do more writing and have something to take on the road, so a small, economical netbook seemed to make sense. A fun little indulgence.

I think I've done enough for now.