Month: October 2018

I’m just going to talk about the Giants and the NFC east. I’ll begin with an allegory. My youngest plays for a 9u football team. He used to play for a 10u team but we moved him down in order to make a contribution for a team. He did. He’s scored basically every touchdown for that team since he arrived to the tune of twelve scores in four games. He began to emerge as the feature back because he was playing in his own division where the talent is comparable. His confidence built and he is starting to believe in his abilities again. This is also the story of the Giants. Over the last few games I’ve watched the piecemeal line come together and protect Eli Manning. Slowly I’m watching him emerge from his ‘dump it off’ mentality and take a few more chances downfield. Not a lot. Still, he’s connecting on 72% of his passes, has the highest QBR of his career, and is at the second highest YPG in his entire career. 

This week he lost to the Panthers in a game that should have been a win. Recently the league even admitted they got it wrong. The Panthers are in their league and it should’ve been a win. Now the Giants are about to face a team in their own division. It is going to be a win. On a short week where the emotions and energy are high and everyone is ready to break out, the Giants are about to take the defending Super Bowl champs to task. This is a must win game for the ‘G-men’, because with only one win on the schedule, they need to beat division rivals and win the division in order to make the playoffs. 

I predict the Giants will be a 9-7 team and make it to the conference championship. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

It’s Tuesday and tomorrow is Waiver Wednesday. I have a ton to say about the Giants, so we need to wrap this thing up tonight. Okay, here we go–recap: Joe and Jane are working to solve the problem while DARPA Dave (he has a name now!) is pursuing his own plan and is certain it will work. 

It won’t.

Dave refuses to accept this and when Joe becomes vocal about how much the world is in danger thanks to Dave, Joe is kicked off the project. This is basically the beginning of our dark moment. Joe is kicked off and decides that he is fine with that and is going to leave. Jane, who is beginning to have feelings for Joe, recognizes that he’s not the guy she thought he was, which causes the relationship black moment when she agrees that he ought to leave. Now they’ve fallen apart, DARPA Dave is about to screw everything up, and the Volcano is still going to end the world. 

Then it blows. Not entirely, but the meddling of DARPA Dave causes the side caves to flood with lava and Dave and his team die. It’s a terrible commotion and it prevents Joe from actually leaving. He comes back, finds Jane and tells her they have to execute the plan right away. The use her secret caves to get close to the thing and realize the only way to solve the problem is to get a crazy amount of water to the source right away. How do you do that? You blow up Lower Falls Waterfall. The resulting torrent of water will neutralize the active portion of the Volcano. 

They go to do it and there is some hair-raising action as they try to plant charges and escape. In the end the plan works and they narrowly escape. The Volcano blows, changing the landscape of Yellowstone forever, but the water changes how it erupts–no explosion, but there is lava runoff that spreads across the national park. In the end Jane and Joe are on an island with water rushing around them and into a wasteland of lava below. They kiss and that is the end.

A story handled in 40 minutes. Nothing left but the writing.

I’ve been laying out this plot for twenty minutes now. If nothing else it should demonstrate how easy it is to lay the foundation for a workable plot. Yes, it feels more like syfy channel than sci-fi canon, but the writing is really what turns trope into terrific. Yes, I accept that I am being sorta corny right now too. Anyway, where were we?

Joe and Ranger Jane meet. Jane is on site because she was the closest to the action when old faithful got angry and she knows the park better than anyone. She’s the guide in a sense and the park officials demand one of their own be in place. Joe arrives as the DARPA teams are already in place using subterranean tech to map out a new hole that opened up after old faithful started hurting people. They are seeking information and not really concerned with the larger problem that Joe was brought in for. They don’t fully believe the problem is real still, though evidence suggests they need to consider it real. They begrudgingly let Joe poke around the surface and react in surprise at the new cave system and the lava puddles. According to Jane, the caves are old but the lava is new. She’s been playing in these caves forever. 

The back and forth continues and over the course of several scenes develops into a power struggle between the agitator and the Joe/Jane pairing. Finally the agitator decides that he has this under control and wants Joe off the project. He is banned from the cave entrance. However, Joe is certain that something far worse is happening below the surface. Jane believes him and shows him her secret way into the cave. They go deeper than the other teams have gone and they see that the lava puddles aren’t coming from the main vent of the volcano. They see that vent and realize that things are about to get really bad for humanity. Just then the Volcano burps. The result is a huge explosion that shakes everything and sends them running. They get trapped in a side tunnel and… that is all we have time for today. 

Last time I laid out a plot involving the SuperVolcano below old faithful nearing eruption and a wacky Volcanologist’s (yes, that is really a profession) old plan to stop it. This is wear the military gets involved. See, years ago he submitted the plan to the military and they shelved it based on cost and need. What he wanted to do was drill a hole near the core of the volcano and pump water down the shaft to keep the volcano stable. Another rival volcanologist had a different plan that was both cheaper and useful in other contexts. That guy went on to be a big shot at DARPA. 

Of course the big shot is required to make the call to bring in our protagonist. So now we have an agitator (the DARPA dude), a protagonist, and all we need is a love interest. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the park ranger. Yes, I know it sounds corny. It is corny, but we are talking about a tropetastic tale that, if written, is going to hit all the notes and sell like bottled water. Geyser Water. 

Anyway, the Park Ranger is already working at Yellowstone and was involved in getting people clear of the Old faithful accident. She’s really good at her job and has practically lived at the park since she was a kid and her mom was a ranger. In fact, she’s been around so long that she knows about the caves below Yellowstone… That is going to come into play later. 

For now… 

Some Thoughts:

1. Had to take the last minute to discuss the Giants loss. I almost gave up on the team as I watch them quite nearly quit on themselves and especially on their QB (why didn’t you get Bridgewater?!?!). The refs stole this game. This penalty on Landon Collins was really the difference in the game and it was flat out bogus. 

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A long dormant volcano is about to go off and a daring scientist has a crazy idea to stop it. He’s being opposed by rigid thinkers and as a result the world is in imminent danger. This feels like a syfy channel show I saw. Or maybe seven. The end of the world is a common plot device. In climate fiction this is generally the result of mother earth fighting back against us humans being really stupid or just the normal cycle of nature reminding us that, in the end, we ain’t all that. Of course the victory condition is that we hardy humans survive the rampage of nature and stand to face a new future. This plot device, while common, is not entirely fictional. In fact, we are dealing with a version of that right now. There is a SuperVolcano under Yellowstone that erupts every 600,000 years and it is primed to pop relatively soon. 

So, if the story was being written then the opening sequence would show Old Faithful not being faithful. In fact, erupting in irregular patterns. This started becoming noticeable back in ’96 (https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/05/us/time-trouble-for-geyser-it-s-no-longer-old-faithful.html) and was revisited by the media just recently (https://www.npr.org/2018/05/03/608210968/yellowstones-largest-geyser-erupts-3-times-puzzling-scientists). In the fictional version (or at least the screenplay) people get hurt. Human lives have to be put at stake in order for the problem to seem to matter. 

Next we find ourselves interacting with our wayward scientist who must already be at the end of a downward spiral. S/he has to be in trouble already and need this. S/he could already be working on the solution but is being overlooked because this feels like a problem that is not a problem.

There’s more to the story, but because I only have 10 I’ll get to it tomorrow.

Some Thoughts:

1. Given the speed of light and the rampant use of radio waves to convey messages into the ether of deep space, we will eventually contact another civilization. The question is how will they react?
2. Pardon the shoddy linking. This interface (or computer) is not functioning as designed. 

I have to admit the ‘press publish twice’ feature is a situation. It sounds like a simple thing to remember. Press the button and then just do it again, but I don’t do it again and I find myself publishing the next day again and again. See? Problem. I’m not entirely certain the problem rests on my side of the responsibility spectrum. I’d guess somewhere in between…

That is how I wound up making this blog about the role of technological thinking in writing–wait let me make that the title… brb.

Back. So, yes. Tech thinking in writing. Consider this factoid: The far fetched imagination of Gene Roddenberry is partially responsible for cell phone technology. Now we have cell and our thinking about tech ought to be scaling so vastly upwards that we are opening our world to new ideas and possibilities. The most far fetched thing I’ve read since then is about AI-enhanced everything from smart missiles to smart clothing. This is not terribly far fetched. It is instead  sensible and possible evolutionary next step in scientific thinking. I am talking about twenty steps ahead. Forty.

I am also just talking, because I haven’t made that leap myself. When I think about what Cli-fi means to me I think about that leap forward. Science fiction tends to dwell on the unintended consequences of advancements, but also requires the imagining of those advancements in order to question them. 

I do have one thought: Microweather.

When I was a kid and designing superheroes for a self-made role playing game, I came up with the concept of a Cherokee (it was the ‘it’ tribe back then) woman who could manipulate moisture in the air. I looked hard for a good name and that research brought me to the concept of a Rain shadow. Of course, it became her name. However, the idea of the leeward side of a mountain being shielded from weather effects made me wonder if, in a bowl-shaped geographical depression or at least at very low altitude as to limit movement, one could create micro-weather effects. In other words, could there be a climate shell in a specific region influenced and aggregated by technology? Could we use airborne nano or other types of wide spectrum effects to control the weather? 

That led me to thinking about short run seasons in a commercial zone and how that sped up cycle might lead to the production of or evolution of bacterium to the point where new diseases are birthed out of that zone. Now we have a story! 

Maybe I’ll consider writing it. Or maybe you will.

Fact: We can all get sucked into the daily routine and, especially if we get behind on stuff, we can forget to take care of ourselves. 

Fact: Healthy writers are better equipped to work than those whose bodies are constantly falling apart.

Both of these facts are influencing this ten minutes of conjecture and lecture. I want to be honest with you all: I can no longer touch my toes. No, it’s not a fat thing. I cannot stretch that far, my back hurts everyday, and until two days ago, I did not recognize that those two things could be connected. 

We get this one body in life. In the futures of my imagination we will get multiple bodies (and planets) and have the opportunity for a do over or to recklessly neglect ourselves. However, in the time and space my temporary consciousness inhabits, I gotta stretch. I am beginning to accept and believe in the connection between body and spirit. I feel that I am a better writer when I feel better in my body.

I’m almost back to form. 11-5 last week and the pick against the Raiders ought to be counted as a win, because they won exactly how I said they could, with Beast mode churning out 130 yards on the ground in only 20 carries. So, that changes things. Carr did still throw for 437, but it was a lot of play action and that too is part of the recipe. Here are the ingredients for this weekend:

Quick Picks
NE over IND
TEN over BUF
NYG over CAR
CLE over BAL
GB over DET
DEN over NYJ
PIT over ATL

JAX over KC
JAX is really good. People sleep, but I know what the Giants defense can do and I saw that clash happen. These guys are going to put up points and surprise the NFL’s hottest QB on the other side of the ball. Game of the week right here.

CIN over MIA
I don’t believe in MIA. I don’t even have an interest in talking them up. The fact is I have slightly more faith in what the Bengals core can do, so here we are.

LA over SEA
Rams are the real deal. Normally this would be one for the ages, but I fear Seattle is still reeling from the loss of Thomas. Sure, they were going to trade him, but they haven’t quite found the voice or energy to replace him. They’ll need that in this game.

HOU over DAL
The Battle of Texas will be won through the air. It won’t be Dak doing the winning. This is a big deal on many levels. The one that the media will seize on is that Texas has two black QB’s going head to head. Why does it matter? Because a school superintendent out there said that “You can’t count on a black QB.” Go ahead and read the article. The most interesting thing is how the dude himself treated his comments and chided others for how they handled the situation. Ahh, Texas. 

NO over WAS
New Orleans has a lot of tricks up its sleeve but the biggest one of all was exposing Eli Manning as scared to throw. We kinda knew. Well, we knew, but now we know. Alex Smith can’t throw down field like that. It is why Mahomes is running the show now. That means the swarming underneath defense of the Saints will take care of business.

It feels like a very long time since the last blog. This is because I’ve switched to daytime blogging (and writing) and this particular post is coming close to 11 PM. I lost track of the day. I fell into the beauty of the rain and the business of daily chores and teaching and writing and let the blog slip. 

So here we are.

I can update you on a few things. I’ve reached that point in my life where back pain is an actual problem. I’ve hit a wall in the weight loss department. Maybe it is more of a gentle slope backwards towards fattyland. Maybe the back and the fat are related. In happier news, I’ve found my way back into the page. I remembered (reconnected with?) what it really means to fall into story and I’ve been falling into this new piece. I don’t know that this feeling is sustainable. I wish it were, because I love how it makes me feel. It is because I love it that I know I still am a writer. 

I am happy. This is not as deep or thorough a feeling as possible but I am happy right now. I feel good in my own skin and I’m not fatalizing about the future. Yeah, I just made that word up. It’s a writer thing. 

I have been working towards a sense of balance. To me this means finding time and space for all of the things in my life that I love and accepting that there are still things in my life that I don’t love but still must devote adequate time to in order for them not to become unmanageable. In truth, I haven’t devoted the time to task that I need to. I have a handful of things that need doing–no I have a truckload of things that need doing to the point that I don’t write lists because I really don’t want to see them. So, rebalancing starts with doing that first. It starts with being realistic about the responsibilities and, once realized, setting a plan in place that makes time for those things while also making time for the healthy things that keep me well and make me who I intend to be.

Some Thoughts:

1. The things that matter to me matter to me only and that that is a difficult thing.