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Have you ever had a conversation like the ones in comic books where you are saying one thing and thinking something else, and the words are in a smooth round balloon with a pointy bit hanging down and the thoughts are in a different font, in a bumpy balloon with three circles hanging down?
I had some of those today. My Prius's driver side headlight was out so I took it to the dealership for replacement.
Service advisor thought balloon: Oh dear, all my customers bitch about how expensive headlights are, so I had better do this song and dance about how other kinds of headlights are even more expensive, to distract her. Service advisor says: "You're lucky that you don't have the blue high definition headlights. They cost several hundred dollars to replace. This type of headlight is on the cheaper end."
My thought balloon: He's trying to distract me. Shit, this is going to cost a bundle. I say: "Cheaper is good."
Service advisor is printing out estimate. Thought balloon: I'm siiiinging in the rain, just siiiinging... SA says: "Did you know that on Mercedeses and Lexuses, it costs $1500 to replace the headlights?"
I say: "People who buy Mercedeses and Lexuses are paying for the privilege of paying more." My thought balloon: This is a real Busby Berkeley special
The estimate is for $125. I sign it and leave. Several hours pass. The SA told me the car would be ready by 1pm so I call at 1:10pm and after being put on hold for five minutes I am informed the SA is out to lunch and the car isn't ready. I go home and take a very long nap. When I wake up there is a voicemail.
SA voicemail, timestamp around 2pm: "The car IS READY. I apologize that I didn't have a chance to call right when it was ready, but I was doing something else and I wanted to let you know the car IS READY." SA thought balloon: Eep, I fucked up. I had better use my special 'patronize the middle-aged lady voice'.
I go to the dealership. When I enter the service area to wait for my car to be driven up, I see the SA across the parking lot. He holds his arms out and shouts SA says: "Did you get my voicemail?" SA thought balloon: Maybe I can make her think it's her fault for not returning my voicemail.
I hold my thumb up. My thought balloon: Of course I got your voicemail, that's why I am here, isn't it?
SA comes closer and says: "Yes, they told me 'your customer called!' and I was out, yada yada." SA thought balloon: Commencing 'confuse with lots of words' mode.
I say: "It would have been convenient to pick it up at 1pm, but after that I had some things to do, so yeah." My thought balloon: Why were you out precisely at the time you promised the car for? And why did you lie about when it would be ready? It's not like I asked for the car to be ready at 1pm. I just wanted to know when it would be ready.
At least I got a sorely needed car wash into the bargain.
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Making Light linked to this blog post about Michael Jackson.Here is the comment I left: I thought Rossney's post started out well enough, but by the time he got to saying MJ was "no longer really...human in any meaningful sense" and saying "it feels strange to call him 'a man'," I had serious problems. Human beings who are seriously damaged are still human beings. Men who are seriously damaged are still men. It's disrespectful to the damaged people and to the rest of us to deny this. It's also misguided, because it creates a false sense of otherness and a false sense of security, a sense that this sort of thing could not happen to real people. Well, it could and did. (This part wasn't in the original comment.) This might well be something going on only in my own head, but I also have the uncomfortable sense that MJ's race is partly involved in the blogger's othering him, especially because of this sentence: (it's a mark of how profoundly damaged Michael Jackson was that it feels strange to call him "a man", just as it feels strange to recognize that when he died he was older than the President of the United States) For the record, my opinion of MJ is that he made some music that I loved and that he had a big influence on pop music, and that he seemed like a pretty unhappy person during the latter part of his life. I also know he is accused of child molestation, and I didn't follow the stories about that, so I don't have an opinion. If he did it, I am sad about the damage caused.
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I think I'll start a series of posts about companies I like to do business with. I found out about Wild Pacific Seafood http://www.pelicanpackers.com/ (aka Pelican's Choice) from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, which includes resources for buying sustainably harvested seafood. Wild Pacific Seafood has one fishing boat and they catch albacore via the trolling method, which is listed on the Seafood Watch card as a best choice. Troll-caught tuna are younger and have lower mercury levels than longline-caught tuna. Trolling produces less bycatch than longlining or purse-seining. Anyway, they sell several flavors of canned albacore in pop-top cans. The OH and I buy the no-salt-added variety, 100% tuna. It's expensive compared to regular supermarket tuna, but a can of this stuff goes farther than a can of supermarket tuna, which has a lot of water in it. (And our cats, shockingly, don't seem to like tuna water.) Every time we place an order (we usually get two 24-packs, which works out to $2.75 per can), they include a hand-written letter. Sometimes they include a sample of a different flavor.
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Where I'm coming from: I am an Obama supporter in most ways. I support
health care reform in the US and want everyone to have affordable access to health care. I am concerned about some of the rhetoric of health
care reform right now.
I would welcome your suggestions about fat-activist communities to send this message to.
The Obama administration's first forays into health reform focused on
eating habits and exercise, without mentioning weight per se. But that
seems to be changing. Over on http://healthreform.gov/ there are now a
number of articles claiming that it is possible to "prevent" obesity,
diabetes, and heart disease.
In one article there are claims such as "85 percent of the money spent
on health care goes toward people with at least one chronic condition."
The article also promotes the claim "Scientists say this generation of
American children may not live as long as their parents did," which was
literally mapped out on the back of a napkin and is based on the
now-debunked "fat kills 400,000 people a year" statistic.
http://healthreform.gov/forums/secretaryscorner.html
The first bullet point in the "Closing the Gap" article about
disparities in health care availability among ethnic minorities is:
"Obesity is debilitating and is often a catalyst to chronic disease.
Seven out of 10 African Americans ages 18 to 64 are obese or overweight,
and African Americans are 15% more likely to suffer from obesity than
Whites."
http://healthreform.gov/reports/healthdisparities/index.html
(Lack of access to health care is a huge problem, and it's vital to bring health care access to under-served groups. But I don't
think that sticking more African Americans on diets is the best first
priority.)
One of the major items linked from the first page of healthreform.gov is an op-ed from the
CEO of Safeway, which includes such claims as:
"70% of all health-care costs are the direct result of behavior."
"74% of all costs are confined to four chronic conditions
(cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity)."
"80% of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is preventable...
more than 90% of obesity is preventable."
http://healthreform.gov/forums/whatpeoplearesaying.html#rewarding_healthy_behavior
I think the fat activist communities need to address the Obama administration's
overfocus on "obesity."
- We need to explain that weighing more than the government approved BMI
is not a health condition. If fat people incur more medical costs than
thin people (which I'm not convinced is true), it's partly because so many of us are either (a) ignored
with "go away and lose weight" when we go to doctors with real
conditions, until those conditions become drastic (see the First Do No Harm blog for some tragic and infuriating examples), or (b) treated as if
we are at death's door, just because we weigh more, and subjected to
unnecessary tests and "treatments".
- We need to explain that weight and diabetes are largely genetic and
debunk silly statistical claims such as "90% of obesity is preventable."
- We need to explain that weight is not a behavior.
- We need to explain that blaming people with chronic health conditions
for the high cost of health care in the US is not a good strategy for
lowering health care costs or improving health care access for women and
ethnic minorities.
(I would welcome being convinced that this is just a bunch of hot air
and not a hammer about to come down on the backs of fat people. But I am worried.)
Note: I am not going to allow debates on the benefits of weight loss or the possibility of achieving permanent weight loss in this journal entry.
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I listened to the Audible Modern Classics edition, well narrated by Victor Levine. I especially liked his characterization of the Blue Fairy Godmother. This book is set in WWII Germany, post-war New York City, and a prison cell in Israel. It has no science fiction tropes. I did not find any of the characters particularly likeable (but that's true of most Vonnegut for me). A line from this book is one of the favorites in my quote file, and it sums up one of the themes of the book: We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be. This book is evidence that Vonnegut is one of the great American writers. He has the gift of making hope out of emptiness and simplicity, something that many people assume only Zen Buddhist masters can do. View all my goodreads.com reviews.
Goodreads.com posted to my Facebook status line when I added this book, and my friend supergee commented that he didn't like the book. I asked why and he wrote "Not sf, crappy characters, dumb moral." I agree with point 1. I also somewhat agree with point 2 (see above) and it puzzles me why Vonnegut's "crappy characters" don't bother me the way some writers' crappy characters do. I think it has something to do with how Vonnegut's protagonists mostly aren't emo, and/or how Vonnegut's writing style is definitely not emo. (I'm contrasting it to my reaction to Dan Simmons's Hyperion, which has some tremendously emo characters which are punched up because the writing style can be pretty emo.) I don't know what supergee thinks the moral of the book is; the closest I can come to a moral in it is what I quoted above. I don't think that's a dumb moral, although I'm not sure I agree with it. (For me, it might be a prescription that I tend to over-follow. I have a hard time pretending, and it limits me in some ways.) Tags: audiobooks, booklog, books, ethics, reviews
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http://wiscon.piglet.org/program/detail?idItems=172Wish Fulfillment in Fiction Track: The Craft and Business of Writing Description: What is the role of wish fulfillment in fiction? If you're a writer, what personal wishes do you want your stories to fulfill? Are they the same ones you want to read about? How do our fictitious wishes affect our everyday dreams? Moderator: P. C. Hodgell Panelists: Beth Friedman, Anne Harris, Stef Maruch, Caroline Stevermer I wasn't really happy with my performance on this panel, but I was glad that I did get on the panel because we had a really interesting pre-panel email discussion. Basically PC and I were talking about problems with using wish-fulfillment as a driver of fiction writing, and Anne and others were talking about the benefits. And what we saw as the problems they pretty much saw as the benefits. For example, PC brought up "Mary Sue" fanfic, and Anne said let's not diss fanfic, a lot of good pro writers got their start in fanfic. So then PC said that she was thinking about a particular story where the writer tortured one character so the other character could comfort him, and Anne said oh, hurt/comfort stories: one of my favorites. We decided not to make the panel into a debate though. Some highlights from the panel (again, I paraphrased and I might have got it wrong): ( Read more... )Tags: wiscon
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http://wiscon.piglet.org/program/detail?idItems=223Your Electric CriticsTrack: The Craft and Business of Writing Description: Writers groups and slush piles are two of the basics for new authors. Traditionally, writers met with a group of other local aspiring authors and critiqued each others work. Then they would send off their newly polished babies to a publisher, where they would be smothered in the slush pile. With the web, there are some interesting new wrinkles in this formula. Online critique groups like Critters make it easy to find other writers, and sites like Baen's Bar and Authonomy promise to make the slush pile a visible, living thing. How useful are they? Can you really get published using them? And what the best ways to make them work for you? Moderator: Jack McDevitt Panelists: Laurel Amberdine, Carol F. Emshwiller, Gary Kloster Jack McDevitt and Carol Emshwiller are seasoned professional writers; Laurel Amberdine and Gary Kloster are newer at it. The following notes organize what I thought were the highlights of the panel into various topics. ( Read more... )The list:There was also a handout listing various interactive slush piles and online writers workshops. I have mislaid it. I only remember that Baen's Bar was one of the slush piles (more information here: http://www.baensuniverse.com/subguide.html) and that Gary and Laurel had positive experiences with the following online writers workshops: http://www.critters.org, which is paid for by donations, and http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com, which is $50/year with a free one-month trial membership. Tags: wiscon
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http://wiscon.piglet.org/program/detail?idItems=96Track(s): Power, Privilege, and Oppression (Feminism and Other Social Change Movements) Description: Although it's not absolute, there's a strong tendency among masculine people to always want to have the definitive answer for everything, even if they don't necessarily know. In panels and elsewhere in life, it can be hard for men to admit they don't know things. Why is this? How can men deal with the pressure (either internal or external) to always have the right answer? How do women and other non–masculine folks deal with Male Answer Syndrome? If you think the answers to all these questions are obvious, then you need to come to this panel! Panelists: Suzanne Allés Blom, Moondancer Drake, John Helfers, Stef Maruch Moderator: John H. Kim In my pre-panel post, I said: "I wanted to be on this panel because it's All Answer Syndrome All The Time at my house...and the XY person in the relationship is not the only person participating. So I have experience from multiple sides. I also have funny stories and techniques that you'll want to know about!" ( Read more... )Tags: wiscon
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Romancing the BeastTrack(s): Reading, Viewing, and Critiquing Science Fiction (Feminism and Other Social Change Movements) Description: Paranormal romance almost always features the hero as a paranormal being and the heroine as an ordinary human. How does this resonate with gender relations and power relationships in our society? And is it emblematic of women seeing men as Other? Moderator: Vito Excalibur Panelists: Catherine Cheek, Stef Maruch, Heidi Waterhouse, Janine Ellen Young I was a panelist so I didn't take very thorough notes. When I read the panel description I immediately thought of a bunch of counterexamples, so I played the panel contrarian. Counterexamples: --Anita Blake books (everyone is paranormal. However, heroine starts out more human. In one sense she stays more human than her entourage, in another sense she becomes more paranormal than they are) --Marjorie M. Liu, A Taste of Crimson (a romance in which the lovers are a male vampire and a female werewolf) --First Underworld movie (ditto, except a female vampire and a male werewolf) --My unpublished vampire erotica story, with a female vampire and a male human (Vito asked if my vampire character is very old. She isn't. However, she is older than the human character.) We discussed stories in which the male beast becomes human (e.g., most versions of Beauty & The Beast) vs. not (e.g., Robin McKinley's Sunshine, although I gather this isn't a bog-standard romance) I mentioned Cocteau's version of Beauty & The Beast, in which the beast becomes human but he resembles a man who had been pestering Beauty, and she expresses some displeasure/distrust at the change. Things that were mentioned, but I don't remember what was said about them: --Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance by Jayne Ann Krentz (Editor) --http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/ --The beta hero (I think this referred to a less dominant, more sensitive male hero. I didn't say this on the panel, but Liu's A Taste of Crimson had some gender-role switching between the protagonists and the vampire could have been said to be a beta hero.) --Dark Hunter series -- (the beast remains "beastly") --Reaper TV show: Hispanic boy has relationship with demon woman --Queer reading of paranormal romance Someone suggested there should be a panel in the future about the uterine replicator. Toward the end of the panel we began discussing "male human, female sexbot" romances. A theory was promulgated for why women prefer beast romances and men prefer sexbot romances: Women fear loss, and men fear failure. The beast is only attractive to the particular woman who sees his inner beauty, so she won't lose him. A man can't mess up with a sexbot (is this what was said? I can't remember), so he doesn't experience failure. (In her writeup vito_excalibur said that this was interesting but these arguments could get too essentialist. I agree.)
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http://wiscon.piglet.org/program/detail?idItems=100We Are the Apes Who Pray To explore the evolution and purpose of the supernatural worldview (in all its forms) as purely a matter of human invention. As an atheist, it is often challenging to foster an uncompromised discussion of religion and spirituality without bowing to the social pressure to 'respect' or treat 'seriously' beliefs and opinions which, ultimately, have no basis in scientific fact. Beginning with the acknowledgement that human beings are, without exception, products of biological evolution, how do we move forward to discuss religion and belief for what they are: neurological, anthropological, psychological and sociological aspects of the human condition whose true value rests in what they reveal about us as apes who pray?Panelists: Erin Cashier, Catherine Anne Crowe, Janet M. Lafler, Keith R. Watson Moderator: Richard F. Dutcher Everyone on the panel was an atheist or agnostic. Some useful/important things that were said: ( Read more... )Tags: ethics, religion, science, wiscon
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