[Personal] A rare speaking out post
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.†― Edmund Burke
I don’t talk much about politics or religion in public in general. However, things change. In the past I’ve let some labels apply to me. No longer, especially in charged time where the Bat Crap Crazy extremists have appropriated those groups/labels. I have never supported those who call those they don’t agree with names – like Repugnicans/Repugnants or called the First Family “Obummer” or “Moochelle” (that one hurt a lot as a larger woman), nor am I fond of “Cheeto in Chief”. We can do better than name calling.
HOWEVER… though I know why some people voted the way they did: Supreme Court appointees, promises of economic recovery, etc. I *hope* they didn’t see this coming. I think the “hope” was The Candidate being controlled by Party (which isn’t perfect by a long shot). BUT…now we’re seeing what he is capable of and it’s not pretty. I’ve grown up believing in Christian principles and Biblical teachings. I stand by “love your neighbor as yourself” and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” as FUNDAMENTAL Truth. I’ve not seen that lately. That’s not okay.
Nor is the blatant hypocrisy. I watched while there were shouts of “Executive Overreach” in the last eight years. I didn’t agree with a lot of what Obama did, but where are the shouts now? These harmful executive orders aren’t bringing out the same outrage by the same people. And make no mistake, they are harmful in both short and long-terms, we saw one this weekend. Our country was founded on immigrants and refugees – that needs to continue. Does the mean our system isn’t flawed? No. It needs work and thoughtful overhaul – AS DOES OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM. You can’t just disband something or build a wall or detain legal travelers JUST BECAUSE. That’s not how things work.
I’ve grown up respecting the Office of the President. I still do. It’s an awesome responsibility. I do not respect the current occupant because he’s ALREADY broken the Oath of Office. He sees only the power but not the responsibility. I cannot support the actions he’s taken. Trying to silence people who disagree with you is never an answer – though I figure my friends list will be lighter after this .
I stand with the scientists and workers who are working to keep truth in the hands of the people – we have a better shot at this than in the regimes being mentioned because we have the internet. We have ways of connecting that weren’t ever available before. I’ve followed all the “Alt” accounts. I’ve not been a “write/call your congressman” person. That will likely change. If scientists and academics do run for office in the next cycle, I will do my part – as I have done my adult life.
I will not be a good person who does nothing.
[Writer Post] Processes
Or…why I probably can never meet Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Jose Molina…
Okay, so writing is a moderately occupation – just you, the voices in your head, the clicking of the keyboard, and/or the scratching of a pen. Hopefully leading to a big ole pile of words that don’t necessarily suck. Throughout the years many people have made money off telling young writers HOW YOU should write, WHEN YOU should write, for HOW LONG YOU should write, and if you Just Follow These Rules you will be PUBLISHED (AKA rich, thin, and the person of your choice will love you!).
To that I say, POPPYCOCK! Pure, unadulterated HOCKUM. Or… BULL CRAP (it’s a family blog).
So what do I have to say about PROCESS? What makes a good process? Do you produce words? Do they create a beginning, middle, and end at some point? Congratulations! You have a process. Your process is YOUR PROCESS. If it works for you, it’s a good process. Yay, you! (Yes, this year is all about the small, every day successes. Some days that’s all we can hope for.)
And guess what? Your process? It’s probably like someone else’s process – because even though details may shift in shipping, no one is original. If you can’t write unless you have exactly six red Skittles and a shot of tequila before you write, that’s pretty specific, but there may be whole writers groups out there who have do the same thing (just maybe with green Skittles and rum). For the record, SO NOT my process.
My process isn’t elaborate. It’s not weird. It’s not even unique. In fact if you listen to this episode of Children of Tendu — you’ll hear 90% of my process. Because it’s (seriously) almost identical to Javier Grillo-Marxuach. The advice on taking advice from other writers or writing books? Jose Molina echoes most of my advice (which was taken from yet someone else) which is “take what rings true to you and discard the rest”. But Jose’s process is one I know many writers also follow – and guess what? We all get along. We all write. We all get the job done.
Which is why I should probably never meet these gentlemen in person. Because I would, very likely, be the world’s biggest, gooberiest (shut up it’s a word) fan girl on the entire planet. Seriously, I’d embarrass myself and I’m a grown, professional woman (shut up! I am, too!)
So. No matter where you are in your writing life – embrace your process. Revel in it when you find like-minded writers, no matter what the genre or style. NEVER, ever let anyone tell you your process is wrong. Likewise, NEVER, ever tell anyone THEIR process is wrong. There’s no right way to do this. There’s no wrong way to do this – as long as you’re doing this. That’s the only key. If you’re a writer – write. Period. Full Stop.
Now…back to work.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Castell 9000 Perfect & National Handwriting Day
So I couldn’t do the WHOLE review in an image – but hey, National Handwriting Day! You need more info in a readable format. Also, as a long-time Phineas and Ferb fan and a SF geek, CASTELL 900 Perfect is an AWESOME name.
The CASTELL 9000 Perfect cap is about 2.5″ long and comes with one of Faber-Castell’s classic green pencils, so the initial length is about 5.5″ long with a white, smudge-free eraser– with the cap posted to the eraser end, it makes the pencil itself about 7.5″ long. The remaining super cool thing? The twisty looking top? It pops out as a sharpener. So you ALWAYS have a SHARP wooden pencil. The lead in this is a soft “Bâ€, which means needing more sharpening for a strong point.
I tried the cap with generic pencils – both round and hex. The round pencil was a bit tight, but they both worked. So you don’t HAVE to use the Faber-Castell pencils with the Perfect Pencil – but they are really NICE pencils. So you COULD – the brand recognition alone makes this amazing.
This is the mid-grade, more expensive than the purple one, but totally worth it version. I still love this concept and product as a writer. If I were an artist I wouldn’t use anything else.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 It’s one of those things that if you love wooden pencils, it will blow your mind. The cap is secure. The sharpener does a good, tight point.
2. Grip and feel – 1 – There’s no real “grip”. It does make shorter pencils easier to use and regular pencils a bit long – but the plastic is kind of light so it doesn’t throw off the balance too much. It’s not overly bulky.
3. Material – 1 It’s strong quality plastic with a decent metal-bladed sharpener that seats securely. Clip feels strong and unlikely to snap off.
4. Overall Design – 1 – Seriously? You don’t think this is something that will make a difference, but it does. If you’re an artist, please check this thing out.
5. Price Point – 0.5 – Considering this is Faber-Castell, the price is still pretty good. The Faber-Castell Green “9000” is $10 but has metal accents. It’s not the highest end but it’s also not the lowest end.
[Writer Blog] Wednesday Muddle
Wow. It’s Wednesday. It’s January. And I’m trying to shoe-horn everything (it feels like) before February. Busy-ness consumes all – which in a way is good because… Job Security – but there has to be a balance. We had a friend stay with us for a week, which was awesome but also throws everything off (we are all creatures of habit). But now…getting things back to something resembling “normalâ€.
Fiction is still slow. Still debating typing up the “Write the Story†exercises – which will make me do them more. But I wrote some last night after eating and getting my brain back from the Day Job. I go home with my brain full of STUFF (not mucus anymore, thank goodness, or at least as much). There’s so many projects with different data sets playing handball in my head. AND we have to be concerned with the Inauguration.
I’m talking with the people who made the planner I was excited about this Christmas. It’s got a manufacturing defect. I also find I’m not using all the features I thought I would and maybe something…simpler would’ve been better. BUT… I hate thinking I wasted money (not the cheapest thing) on something that should’ve been awesome but might not turn out to be… so muddle! But the customer service response has been quick (when I found it) and polite just not “greatâ€. They’re offering a partial refund and coupon for my next order. Which is fine but not great, because do I really want to spend MORE money with them? Ponder. Might talk more about this on Monday.
THANK GOODNESS I have a yoga immersion weekend this weekend – getting there close to “We start RIGHT. NOW.†But I will be there! For now, getting through Day Job. Getting some words down on paper. And looking forward to ConDFW in February.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Holidays on Mondays
So, two things have derailed today’s blog post:
1: My dear friend, Nora, is in town and staying with us through tonight, no we have spent the whole day poking through resale shops. So, tired, hungry, and probably playing one last round of Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights.
2: MLK Day off — which allowed for the above to happen (and the sadness of my yoga instructor being ill and canceling class tonight) which also distracted me from getting stuff done.
So, in my excuse-filled absence, go check out Tokyo Pen Shop, through February if you put in the code RHONDAEUDALY they will give you 10% off your order.
I need to take advantage of it myself. Enjoy the rest of the holiday, I will get back on track.
[Writing Post] Writers Life for Me
OMG, what day is it? Oh right, it’s Wednesday and blog day. I tried to write one earlier…and here we are. Confession time, my word counts have been…sporadic…at best. The reason – which I am still working on – is because the Day Job is piling higher and higher with important and transferable skill projects all hitting this month and stretching through April (and probably beyond).
One of the big things is that I’ve been assigned to basically be a “con chair”. I’m planning the 2nd largest event our department does in a year that deals with the public and private sector partners. It was something I kind of wanted to do…so kinda yay, but it’s going to be a lot of work ALONG WITH all the other stuff I have to do. In fact, I get to pick the day of this event. I’m planning it to be just before we go to SPECTRUM in Kansas City so I can be mushy there.
No excuses but there are times when we all have limited brain bandwidth. I’m trying to figure out the magic mixture (because this all hit just after we got back from the holidays) that lets me get everything done while still remembering things like how to tie my loafers (yes, I know you don’t tie loafers, that’s the point of the full brain) and making sure there’s coffee in my system.
This is what writers deal with on a daily basis. I will get my act together – because honestly, I don’t have a choice. Right now, it’s overwhelming, but I’m processing. Several of the bigger deadlines are sort of staged and spread out – but several are right at the end of the month. So if I know this is a specific crunch time (which it totally is) then I can work with that. Tiny word counts, a couple of the exercise stories, maybe even just some notes and writing doodles, but it’ll keep me on track for when the load starts lightening. Then look out! Full steam ahead – I just have to get to the rail switch.
There it is. Yes, if you’re serious about writing you do what you have to to make it work. I am doing that. The words may not be EVERY day, but the commitments are there, the professional development (okay, industry-related podcasts) is there, but what’s important is knowing my limits. There are going to be days where tying loafers or hitting the button on the coffeemaker is just ONE TOO MANY THINGS. Then let it be too many things. I’m also committing to spend less time playing a game I’m totally sucked into because – dude. BUT…but there’s also a time and place for that (usually for me last thing of the day to help kind of clear the brain hamsters – the less obnoxious cousin to the brain weasels. I just can’t let it be a bigger distraction than it can be.
[Pen/Pencil Review] New Pen Outlet Discovered
I promise I’m going to get to ACTUAL pen reviews again soon, but I didn’t have a moment to spare today (much). But I’m getting a blog post in.
Jimmy discovered – and enabled me again – a new pen and pencil outlet online – Tokyo Pen Shop. He discovered some Pentel 205s he didn’t have there. And after a quick look through to get a couple of things to bump his order over to free shipping ($25 like JetPens), I found some things I either missed in other places or didn’t know about. I picked up a pen a tiny reporter’s notebook to try out. I look forward to doing a full review of them in the future. The fact they also threw in a piece of candy and a sticker is a bonus.
I did, indeed, add the sticker to the back of the notebook – and it just fit to make it a personalized experience to me. We’ll see how things go. Pricing seems comparable to JetPens. I’ll be doing some comparisons down the road. Or when I’m ready to do more, just spreading the love. But so far, the pricing has been great. We got the order in quickly with the treats. I’m impressed with them so far.
So go check out Tokyo Pen Shop – they’re in Iowa, I think. You can tell them I sent you, but they don’t know me yet, so it might just scare them. 
[Writer Post] The Convention That Was
Welcome to the first Wednesday of 2017. Time for new beginnings and new ‘tudes. Hopefully some new habits and productivity. There’s a lot going on in the next few months, but I’m dedicated to making it all work – because honestly, there’s not much choice in the matter. Failure isn’t really an option – but there are degrees of success. So, here we go, once more into the breach.
Merley the Cosplay Dog. There are not enough Cosplay dogs in the world.
I will cap out 2016 by addressing the topical elephant in the room – Marvelous Nerd Years Eve. There was good. There was bad. There was ugly. My ugly wasn’t nearly as ugly as others.
See? Though Underdog wasn’t having it on Sunday.
The Good – Nichelle Nichols is EVERY BIT as beautiful, gracious, kind… add every glowing adjective you can think of here… as every story you’ve ever heard about her. And she LOVES butterscotch triple chocolate chip cookies. Every Animaniac voice actor (especially Maurice LaMarche and Jess Harnell) are brilliant, lovely, talented people who even chat with fan girl guests.
Jess Harnell signing a Rock Sugar CD for Meredith!
But most especially, the boots on the ground that came together around Devin Pike to make this show something entertaining for those who came. They pulled major miracles. Devin Pike nearly killed himself to make this work. There were people who tried VALIANTLY to keep Devin Pike from not actually physically DYING while trying to fix this show. Sadly… there were so many things Devin’s Army couldn’t control or fix though they tried to make it all less visible.
Neil Kaplan – voice actor and selfie taker extrordinaire.
The beautiful handful of people who came to my panels, listened to me ramble, asked questions and were all around good eggs.
Sunday’s panel – and the awesome people (a few more trickled in) who showed up!
The Bad – If you want to know the basic issues? See my post about the OKC Geek Expos show. Many of the same issues – lack of signage directing people anywhere, split levels that confused folks, etc. And, frankly, the show was too long, too expensive, and at a poor time of the year for it. It was one of those IDEAS that was brilliant on paper but didn’t quite materialize. Attendees steadfastly made NO EYE CONTACT with artists and vendors for fear they’d buy something.
Lack of consistent communication amongst staff. Not everyone knew what VIP passes, Guest Badges, or other perks meant.
Some signage.
The Ugly – The seemingly lack of regard/respect for the “University†side of the programming track by SOME upper level staff. Starting with having to push to get the tables promised to writer/artist guests – which was the only “payment†most of us received for providing hour long panels/presentations. The panel room assignment was changed the week before the convention with no notification to us (we had to check the website and the wall signs) to a room that doubled as a dance party room. Only ONCE was the room actually set for a traditional panel, and on that day I was told I got a little excited about making it so, it was being taken care of (I cut that guy some slack, he’d just gotten laid off from the convention) AFTER they’d set up the Speed Dating room. I had to shoo dancers and speed daters out of the room for my panel. One author canceled one of her panels because the hotel was taking out tables and chairs to set up for the dance party that night. And I personally helped set up chairs so the third author could hold her panel after we had to shoo out the sound and light crew. But for the most part, we did what we agreed to do – we held panels. We gave presentations. It’s what we signed on to do.
Sleeping Beauty Cosplay and a Leia.
This is IN SPITE OF being a guest of the convention, listed in programming, and advertised on the front page. It’s one thing to know you’re not the draw (or the financial responsibility) as one of the actors. It’s another to basically have your nose rubbed in it like an unhousebroken puppy. It’s one thing for certain staffers to think or believe authors are a waste of space or resources, but this was so very overt. RESPECT AND PROFESSIONALISM go a long way – and yes, both directions. But for the most part, we writers did what we agreed to do – we held panels. We gave presentations. It’s what we signed on to do.
Future con runners! LEARN FROM THIS. I will go to hell and back with Devin Pike. If he ever does a show again, I’ll support him. The crew behind THIS show? Never again. I know who they are. I know where they’re based. I gave them a second chance with this show because of Devin. Twice bitten, baby. Twice bitten. I may not totally give up on pop culture events, but I will have major trust issues.
[Pen/Pencil Blog] New Year, New Sales, New Opportunities
Today is the holiday day off for New Year’s Day. I’m also recouperating from a long weekend at a convention. I did play with the Faber-Castell Grip Plus Ballpoint pen when one of my Sherpa inserts ran out of ink this weekend.
I’ve also picked up a couple of other things during After Holiday Sales – I broke down and got a whole set of 0.5mm Papermate InkJoy retractable gel pens in the 12 color pack (because it was on sale at Staples).
Then today I got the infamous “inventory reduction sale” from Paradise Pen Company – since ConDFW next month is in Fort Worth instead of near the Dallas Galleria – we went today instead of trying to figure out a Birthday Pilgrimmage. I have a couple of new pieces that are part of “Christmas Money” and some being put away for birthday.
So next up, back to actual pens! And organization. And yoga. And STUFF. Bear with me. The tracks are realigning and we’ll be heading in a forward motion very soon.