Lionel Shriver's comments on "cultural appropriation"

Lionel Shriver gave an interesting keynote speech (text here) about writing.  I find it interesting because Kate Sherwood, a romance author I enjoy, has also recently commented that she doesn't feel comfortable writing a trans character because the trans community wouldn't appreciate it (my paraphrase).  I think it is important that authors are able to use anything without worrying about cultural appropriation, because as Ms Shriver pointed out, fiction will be little more than memoir if every writer can only draw from the well of personal experience, since outside of that would be "appropriation."  It seems she caused quite the stir, but overall, I would tend to agree with her.

Edit:  I have been reading more on this speech and the stir it caused, and while I will still support Shriver's assertion that fiction writers should be able to write what they wish, I will also say that if a writer is including a minority (sexual, ethnic, whatever) for no other reason than to check a tick box, then it probably better to not include said minority.  If there is a reason other than that to include said minority, for plotting or character development, then go right ahead and include them, but if, as a writer, you do a poor job with your character, then expect the criticism that comes with poor writing.  Everyone has different tastes and respecting those, while not necessarily agreeing with them, is one of the hallmarks of civilized society, the ability to agree to disagree.  Writers do care about their writing, and not every writer is going to accept critical reviews gracefully, but the chance of those reviews is an intricate part of publishing, so lash out, keep it civil, and make sure that your overall argument is not lost in the hoopla if your reaction goes viral.  I do think she made some valid points, but I think her argument is getting lost.  Fiction authors should be able to write the book they want to write, and if it is good, people will read it, and if it isn't, they won't.  Good or bad, it will likely get both sorts of reviews, and a writer needs to accept those, particularly if there is something in the book that borders (or is) controversial.

Obviously changed times

Tonight I was watching "That's Entertainment," which is a fairly interesting overview of MGM in its heyday.  Considering Disney's view of "Song of the South," one thing that I was surprised hadn't been edited out since the movie's premiere was a clip of Andy Rooney and Judy Garland in blackface.  While I wouldn't condone making a modern film with blackface, I do think it is important to remember and discuss why it may have been popular at one point in time.  I don't think that it is possible to deal with racism by ignoring and erasing these older representations, though they tend to be uncomfortable, so most would prefer they just not exist, which is very easy in this day and age.

Enough with the Harry Potter comparisons

I finished Aimee Carter's "Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den" last night, and one of the reviewers at Amazon made some comment about Harry Potter.  It seems that every book about adolescents, magic, and school gets that comparison.  Considering how little this book resembled Harry Potter in every other respect, it doesn't even seem like a good idea to make the comparison.  I did enjoy Simon Thorn and his determination to do what he felt was right, as well the fact he also tried to accept the consequences of his actions.  Just because an author starts with the above three mentioned components does not make it a Harry Potter knock-off, it is how the author progresses with those components, and how the author handles the plot.  The more components of Rowling's book that make it into the new author's work is really what makes a knock-off.  I enjoyed the fact that this author really only took two of those components to create this fast paced novel, since school was a totally negligible aspect.  Was there a special school? Yes. Did Simon attend this school? No, at least not as a regular student.  After all the action, it does seem that he will be attending in the future books, but the school will likely be fundamentally changed after the events of this book.  Anyway, I guess I have seen the Harry Potter comparison far too many times for it to actually mean anything, which is a bad thing.  Points of reference are nice, but this one has been so over-used in describing YA fantasy novels that it no longer means anything except that there will be adolescents, magic, and a school.

Interesting Month

It has been an interesting month.  Early in the month I ventured to my hometown to visit family, as it turned out, I had not been there in five years, since shortly before my father started chemo.  Anyway, I managed to visit my parents and grandparents, and due to other circumstances I spent a bit more time at home than originally planned, which worked well, since I saw my aunt, uncle, and cousins in that extended time.  Later in the month, on the 31st actually, I learned that one of my grandmothers had passed.  I don't think I have ever been so grateful to have made a trip home.  Since I normally tried to maximize my time with her, and this was no exception, I have good memories from that final trip.  The last meal we shared was at my favorite pizza place, and when I saw her last she was making  crispy bacon for my 2nd cousin one morning.  I managed to get a some more memories with her which was great, and for what it is worth, I think the family get-together after her funeral would have made her happy, with all of her grand-children and most of her great-grandchildren spending most of an afternoon sitting, chatting, taking pictures, and being a family brought together by grief, but one in which grief did not overwhelm.  Most of the great-grandchildren did not know those from the other side of the family, but several were willing to be adopted into the other's family by the end of the day.  While she wasn't there, her abiding belief in family permeated the day, and if there is any sort of tribute appropriate to her, that would be it, no one took greater pleasure in taking care of her family.

Still not here, regularly

As I doubt it is a surprise that I haven't posted since January, after last years record-breaking single blog post, I decided to toss something here, on a night that I am otherwise occupied with laundry.  I actually have a letter to write, but haven't gotten around to it just yet.  Aside from work, nothing really has been going on in my life, though the world is falling into a rather nasty state.  I guess the big thing holding me back there is it was a letter that had none of the humor and wry observations I normally expect from the correspondent, and I really don't relish replying with the boring tedium that makes up my day, since I haven't learned to play the Ukulele I bought in Hawai'i.

Ahh, the new year and more resolutions not to keep.  While not specifically spoken, I decided that this year I would read a bit more poetry.  To read more poetry means that you also reflect on and want to share that poetry, and I will attempt, though I doubt my efforts will last long, to update this blog a bit more regularly.

This evening I was reading Pablo Neruda's "The Book of Questions," translated by William O'Daly, and in poem VIII, I discovered the following lines:

Do tears not yet spilled
wait in small lakes?

Or are they invisible rivers
that run toward sadness?

I am still working out what I think of these lines, but I found them evocative, and wanted to post.

One thing that came to mind is the finite-ness of the small lake versus the perceived infinity of rivers, or the release of limited tears, like a dam overflowing due to a specific event, over the constant crying of someone who can not get over an event, whether loss of a loved one or some other traumatic event.

Perhaps not the most joyous thoughts for the new year, but when reading poetry randomly, rather than choosing a certain theme, you don't always get happy.

New Month, New Year, probably not many updates

But flowers distill'd though they with winter meet,

 Leese but their show; their substance still lives sweet.

From Sonnet V, by Shakespeare.

Another of something stumbled by that I enjoyed.  I love how characters in books can so often rattle off quotes, which is something I doubt I can ever do,mostly because as a society we have lost the habit, more accurately lost the reason for the habit, since speaking of tv shows has replaced conversations on poetry, literature, and theatre.

We will see how much more we get through, though I doubt the will be much hunting good quotes with forks and hopes, just the copy-paste of an iPad.

Pablo Neruda, part 2

I don't really know about other people, but when I am reading something, whether fiction or non-fiction, and they mention an author that intrigues me, but which I don't know much about, I frequently go about trying to read something by that author.  I have heard Neruda's name frequently, associated with politics as well as poetry, but I had not picked him up yet.  Too many other books currently sitting around half-read is the most likely excuse, or that I wasn't currently in a poetry mood.  Whatever the excuse, I did finally get around to reading a bit, and I liked it, though I did not pick up his love poems, and mention of his love poems is what prompted me to grab a collection as well as one of his long poems.  (A Boy and His Dragon by R. Cooper is the book that referenced Neruda this time.)

Thinking back, when I read Anais Nin's diaries ages ago, and there were so many writers mentioned, so many that I did pick up and read, Henry Miller and Lawrence Durrell chief among them.  In the case of Nin, she opened up a collection of literature that I hadn't previously known about, since American writers in Paris during the twenties get so much more press than those that followed.

At least I am still exploring and following my curiosity, though I sometimes feel I am not doing a good job there, getting lost in whatever other activities that I have going on.

Pablo Neruda, part 1

Aum, VI

Pardon me, if when I want
to tell the story of my life
it's the land I talk about.
This is the land.
It grows in your blood
and you grow.
If it dies in your blood
you die out.

                             -Pablo Neruda (translation by William O'Daly)

This poem caught me off guard, but I liked it, though I know I have not the relationship with my land, country and people that Neruda had with his.  Then again, perhaps I am not viewing it with the proper lens.  Old glasses may be familiar, but they don't always improve your vision appreciatively.

Fiction

I have been reading a lot of M/M fiction lately, some of it mainstream (Nightrunner series), and some of it not so much (The Last Pure Human).  While those are just two examples, I have read several more, and maybe with time I am not so critical, or maybe I have just been lucky with what I have picked up, but this seems to be better written than what passed as "gay" lit when I was coming out.  That isn't to say that I like all that is out there.  For whatever reason, I started The Last Herald-Mage series, but was so put off by the main character that I could not continue, though the series ranks high on some Goodreads lists.  While the Pure Human tale is seems more of a stranger in strange land sort of comedy (set in the future on another planet), Alec and Seregil in the Nightrunner series have a relationship that actually develops over the course of the books, and, in truth, I don't really think you could change the sex of either of them without some major rewriting of the books, so it doesn't really seem like the author wrote a M/F love story and changed it to M/M just for the sake of it standing out.

I probably did have something else I wanted to say, but my ancient lap top is acting up, so I needed to use my desktop, as I have no intention of trying to type blog entries on the virtual keyboard of a tablet.

Post-Christmas

Hmm... 4 months. Not surprising, but probably indicative of the future. Definitely indicative if I honestly think I will make any more post typing on an iPad mini.

On the Nature of Intelligence Leaks

It is amazing that our crack intelligence service doesn't seem to really have any brains.  A few years back they leaked the knowledge that those opposed to terrorism had a mole in a Yemen terrorist organization, and I don't know if the found the person who leaked that or not, but it did put someone in danger, if the mole did not get out prior to leak.  Just this week, it was revealed that the recent embassy closings occurred because the spy agencies managed to tap a conference call.  I am sorry, but both of these leaks seem to be much more disastrous to our intelligence gathering than Snowden's leak confirming the government scans all internet traffic for this or that keyword, if you are to believe them.  Snowden confirmed something that has been rumored for 15+ years, but was so general as to be ho hum, so what.  The other two leaks dealt with specific threats and most likely will make gathering new information using the earlier techniques more difficult.  I realize the NSA is in need of an attaboy or two, but this is really a stupid way to convince the public you are doing your job.  If you had followed the Constitution, you wouldn't be in need of an attaboy to gain back public support.

Thursday Morning

Summer in Seattle has it advantages, but this morning the sky looks nothing like it does in the picture, and the beverage in front of me is the other Seattle standby, coffee.  There are other things I want to write, but with this being a spur of the moment post, I don't have them organized in my head, so I will skip them.  The news cycle is so filled with garbage, it is hard not to have something to write about, but the problem is not sounding like an idiot doing so.  If I do sound like an idiot, then I am guessing it can't be helped, but that is one reason I am leaving my ramblings to how I write rather than how much I currently despise whatever currently stupid thing is going on in the world.  On that note, I think it is time to wrap up today's excursion to my blog.

Just a bit of something...

It has definitely been an interesting year so far, more on the general news front rather than anything in specific.  I really hope the US stops chasing Snowden quite so rabidly, as it is making the US look really pathetic, after he made the US look really stupid.  Honestly, at this point, at least domestically, he brought about a bit of discussion on the government spying on US citizens, which regardless of what sort of greater protection doublespeak they wish to wrap it in, is still absolutely something that should be scrutinized in the press and in congress, much more than it has been, and much more than it likely will be.  Internationally, Snowden said we were spying on China, as if that is an earth shattering revelation.  I am not sure when common sense national security issues became top secret, but obviously with no brains in the security apparatus, such things have happened.  Also internationally, and a bit embarrassing to boot, was the revelation that we are spying on our allies.  That is the black eye on the world stage, and that is something that will likely require more than just a few platitudes to clear up.  Hero or not, and I won't go there, I do believe some of the issues he brought up, like the possible abuse of powers granted by the Patriot Act, needed to be brought up, and needed to be discussed.  I also think before the US uses any political capital, like that issues with the Ecuadorian presidential jet, it should really review what has been in the press, and decide if what was revealed was really top secret, or if it was honestly just something everyone knew, but disclosure of it in the press just made it an issue that could not be brushed aside.  I have heard for years about some government agency or another culling email and such, but had never much thought about it, or even if it was more than just the proverbial internet myth, so now we know it isn't a myth, but a rumor confirmed-- hardly top secret stuff there, but then the US government has a tendency to over-react, just look at the TSA.

The is enough for this morning.  Waiting for Skyrim to update while drinking my coffee is sort of what led me here today, so I won't promise another update anytime soon, though such things do cross my mind periodically.

Just another Sunday

It seems I am finally getting over whatever pseudo-cold/flu thing that hit me. Most of this past week I haven't felt like much, and perhaps even gave the awfulness to my trainer at the gym, as he cancelled Friday's session, sounding on the phone as bad as I did Wednesday, so it is nice to be done with that. Since I have a trip coming up, it is even better that I feel good, but now I have to get more done this week than I had originally planned.

Ecosystems

I am beginning to wonder if the Internet is going to continue to get bigger or rather if it will become fragmented again, much like the beginning with various walled gardens.  What made me consider this is the new Chrome-book, as well as Surface, and whatever new product (small tablet?) that Apple is planning to announce soon.

While I know that there isn't really any pressure for me to use any one platform over another (I have a PC, and I am writing this on my Macbook), it isn't that difficult to notice that Google and Apple are both doing what they can keep you in their respective spheres, and with Surface, will Microsoft be far behind.  This blog is here, rather than somewhere else, because I chose not to move it when Google bought Blogger, and I am on Blogger because the friend who talked me into this was on here.

I think I need to be a bit more specific about what I mean, as even if Apple does have the equivalent of Blogger, I have no clue as to what it is, and don't really care.  The thing with Apple is the thing with apps, which, if you have Flipboard, or something similar, means you don't really need to go outside into the real Internet, on your phone or iPad, if you load the feeds on an app with sites you regularly go to for news or whatever.  It is really little more than a customized favorites bar with previews, but it does narrow what you see, though on my phone, that is plenty fine with me, but on my computer, I rather like the exploration aspect that is still there in the "you might be interested in" links.

I wonder if I should have chosen Google for my first example, though considering how sloppy my thought processes today, I likely will mess this up by adding extraneous information.  The reason I think Google may support this hypothesis a bit more than Apple is that while it doesn't feature a walled garden quite as strictly defined as Apple's, it does gather enough information on users that links and such will be those your habits have lead Google to believe you want to see.  Let's face it, whenever your insurance is up for renewal, if you use Chrome and flow your quote requests through a Gmail account, you will be seeing insurance commercials for the next six months, or perhaps longer.  While not strictly delineated, this would be Google curating your ads and perhaps links as well, based on some activity recorded by its data cruncher algorithms.

What part of the pie this leaves Microsoft is a good question, and one which I guess only time will reveal.  Whether the future of Internet is some Flipboard style app, or something based on your viewing history data being crunched, and then you fed those results as to where you should go, or perhaps Microsoft has something in mind beyond just getting into the game, some view of how they see people, computing devices, and the Internet , and how all three fit together to form someplace that people will continue visiting via the Microsoft way, rather than the Apple or Google way.  It will be interesting, and while Surface looks really neat, if there isn't much beyond a tablet with a fancy keyboard, I think Microsoft will have another Zune.

I wonder if the reason Google's Chrome-books haven't been extremely successful is that people don't really view them as much more than another way to view the web, and not the best for so many other things people use laptops for, since wifi is pretty much a prerequisite, and you can't count on it free everywhere.  To be honest, I haven't used any apps for my Macbook, as I am not even sure mine would support them, as it is an older model, so I am not sure what the app even offers, but Apple has effectively made their hardware work well together, so even though this is old, it still works for my Apple TV, and I like my laptop better for blog posts because I can sit in the living room and compose, rather than at a desk, looking at a wall.  I have done blog posts from my phone, and they aren't that fun, and I can't imagine the experience would improve from my iPad.  While I think Surface, with its keyboard, would be a great Internet thing, for me it would be less so, since I can't quite use the keyboard from my lap, and for the screen to stay up, there needs to be something for the stand to use as a base.

Now this is just how I use the tech that I own, and I can not say if others use their tech in the same fashion.  Considering the number of hardware and software companies out there, I am sure that not everyone uses their tech toys in the same fashion I do, so there should be plenty who will explore what Surface has to offer, though whether it will replace tech from other companies or co-exist with them, each performing a slightly different function, is impossible to predict.

Fluidity of Time

I guess I will find out the hard way just how this looks, as it seems that Blogger has altered the controls some since I last posted a picture.  Since I am not a daily poster, I guess I will continually log in and think it would be good to add something, only to discover it has been several weeks since I posted.  I think I have a harder time of keeping track of time than I do of keeping track of my keys.  Of course, since inception, I have never had a firm purpose in mind for this blog, so the good thing about large breaks between entries is that is means I don't have even larger amounts of drivel to post.  On the flip side, there are probably too many posts much like this one bemoaning the lack of purpose, and just filling up space because it is a Saturday morning, I am drinking coffee, and I feel the urge to do something that might be vaguely termed productive, that doesn't include running the vacuum.  Aside from it being Autumn, it is also the presidential election season, and I will refrain from much more comment on that, since nothing has much changed since my last comments.

Why not support?

I was reading coverage of Paul Ryan on CNN, and they quote Ryan as saying, "I think it kind of goes without saying that there's definitely a media bias." A follow-up asked him to cite specific examples, which he seemed unwilling to do, as he didn't want to "litigate this thing." Perhaps I am mistaken, but if the bias is out there and obviously in plain sight, then an example should have been easy to provide, even off the cuff. It isn't really a big deal, and it fit right into their play book, since they won't specify tax loopholes they intend to close, why would they bother to specify media bias.

Since I am not quite app-smart enough to figure out how to copy from Twitter to Blogger in my phone, a link to the appropriate political ticker post will have to wait.

Art 21, Serra

Last night I watched an old episode of Art 21, which was originally presented by PBS during the early part of the new century.  Richard Serra was one of the artists mentioned, and it showed him sketching some of his work in his journal.  At least for the drawings made during the filming of this documentary, Serra's line-work is as subtle as his building material.  That seems appropriate, but thinking of either of those doesn't really give you a  feeling of actually encountering his work, which has a great deal of subtlety in how it affects one's senses.

Interesting Conversations from Work

Last week one of my colleagues, upon discovering that I was disinclined to vote Republican, told me that I really needed to see these Allen West videos. (I am on my phone, so I am not going to link them.)

Anyway, I watched them, and managed to get through the first one, though I had to work to maintain interest after the democrats are communists initial comments. After not very many minutes, I had to do a double take, as the inestimable speaker was clarifying how exactly the Democratic Progressive Caucus was related to Communism. It seems in West's mind progressive is code for communist. With this just being correlated, he goes on to imply President Wilson was a communist. Now this didn't seem accurate, and low and behold, Wilson was a fervent anti-communist, at least according to several biographers and Wikipedia. With this in mind, I listened to the rest of West's comments, though I had to chuckle when he advised the reporters there to do their homework and research stories.