10 Minute Rule

I’ve been reading and watching a lot about cases of ‘Out while black’. The idea behind these things is that people (generally white and generally female) are calling the cops on black people for doing basic things in areas where these callers don’t think black people belong.

In some cases the callers are going to extraordinary lengths to pursue the black people. In one instance a woman believed that a black man who was leading around two white children had kidnapped the children. Her basis was racial and also due to the fact that the man would not let her talk to the kids privately. She stalked them in her car while she was on the line with the cops, following them from location to location until the cops could arrive. Another video showed a woman blocking the entrance to her apartment building because she didn’t believe the black man entering actually lived there. She demanded name and ID and ‘who he was there to see’ but when he claimed to live there she followed him to his apartment and still demanded his name after he opened his own door. 

I’m a bit old school when it comes to crime. I’m used to a world where criminals really are not polite. Here’s what I know from that world: If someone was kidnapping two kids and you followed them and demanded things of them, you would get hit. If you barred a person’s way to their home and then followed them to their door, you would get hit. In many of these cases history suggests you would get hit. The fact that you are not immediately being pummeled ought to indicate that this person is not a bad guy. 

Obviously that isn’t the real problem. The real problem is a certain stigma and expectation in regards to black men–particularly young black men. Moreover, we are in an era where people feel it is their right to get in your business and ultimately feel they have some manner of power over you, though I cannot understand where this feeling comes from.

It is a trip. See for yourself.

I have good days and bad days. On the good days everything clicks. I feel like the world is a good place for me and that I live in a good time. I feel the love from the people around me. I feel confident in my writing and the choices I’ve made in my life. On the bad days all of those things still exist, but a darkness creeps in around the edges. I feel listless.

Consider the etymology of that word. List-less or without list. The word list actually is an middle English way of saying desire. List in the modern parlance means tasks or chores, and it indicates that we are meant to relate our daily chores or tasks to desire. In other words we want to be doing something. Presently I don’t want to be doing anything though I have lists and lists of things that I should be doing. 

It is not that I feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities and precarious financial nature of my life. I’ve become so accustomed to being out of control in that sense that it feels normal–practical even–to be living in this fashion. Of course, the listlessness could be a subconscious (or more likely drain-based) response to the situation.

Last week I was in NYC. I felt that sense of listlessness for all of one evening. I could chalk that up to jetlag. However, here that low energy feels like a constant state of being, to which I argue that this may in fact be location or lifestyle based. 

The open speculation as to root cause is important. The writer part of me looks at it from a character perspective. In a sense I am diagnosing myself as a character and looking at life as story and figuring out the next steps that way. In another fashion the thinking helps to orient me in how I am actually feeling. Recognizing where I am when I am here is extremely important, because it helps me to understand the choices I make in this condition. 

Some Thoughts:

1. Been putting in some time on CODIV. The idea is to have a basic level of ability which makes me able to compete with my kids. They love this stuff. Video games represent their primary form of recreation (they consider sports a lifestyle and, in some cases, a future career, so not recreational but practical). I love playing with them and want to continue to see that be a part of our family life.

Today I watched my kid suck at football. It was, for me, a valuable life lesson both as a dad and really just as a human being. See, he was playing against arguably the worst football team in the league. His squad lost that game 18-6. It was closer than the score indicated, because for moments during the game he played hard. He was sick, but that isn’t even an excuse. The real issue to me was that he expected to win. He expected weak competition and he acted like it did not matter. 

This is how he behaves on a daily basis. He lowers himself to the level at which he plays, works, thinks, etc. I know exactly where he gets it. He is embodying the worst parts of me. He is taking them in and making them his own and living as that portion of myself and I hate it. I absolutely cannot stand excuse making and half efforts. Yet I am guilty of these things in my own life. I don’t choose it as my life course but there is enough of it that it has rubbed off on my children in the wrong way. 

So that is the lesson at play here: I cannot continue to be lazy and show them this person who doesn’t work hard, who doesn’t absolutely bring it in everything that he does, and still feigns success. I’m going to quote the Rock now: “Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.” He’s worked his ass off and hasn’t stopped working. He’s incredibly successful. He is absolutely not everyone’s favorite person, but he has built himself up and created the lifestyle and message and, yes, type of success he wanted. He did him and he worked hard to get there. Moreover, he doesn’t give a crap if you don’t like it or if you don’t care, because it ain’t about you. 

So, that is where I need to get back to. I need to get back to being the best version of me and putting in the work to do it. I’ve said it before on this very blog: The time for lazy and inefficient is over. It is grinding season.

So, you just finished a story. Maybe it was good. Maybe you felt like you could’ve done a lot more to make it right. No matter how you feel about the quality of the work, you’ve set it aside or sent it off for potential publication. There is that window–48 hrs for me–when you bask in the joy of completion before it is on to the next thing. However, what is the next thing? Can you spin up? Does 48 become 72? 144? A month?

The largest pitfall in writing is success. Be it success in terms of financial compensation or success in terms of completion, the victory bug can hit you hard. For me, at least, writing a story is not an easy thing. I used to think it was. When I was little the stories shot out of me so fast that I couldn’t write fast enough to keep up. Nowadays the pace is significantly slower and every finished product is a victory. I took a page from my sports history and allow myself two days to enjoy it before I get back to work. Except I don’t really get back to work that fast. 

In military parlance spinning up means activating for a immediate military action. Soldiers on call are expected to drop everything and ready themselves for a mission. Firefighters operate the same way. Writers like me take longer and what it takes to spin up feels different. Presently I have stories ready to be written, but in order to jump in I need to read my notes or chapters or background information. I don’t spin up so much as load up pre-story. The problem is that it is too easy to get stuck in the background preparation, because that is the easy stuff. When I do that instead of actually writing then I wind up taking a lot longer to get off the ground (hence spin up) or get back into writing actual pages. 

Starting this December I will be teaching a number of classes and workshops on the craft of writing and I feel like I need to have this part of it down to a science by then in order to pass that knowledge on to the next generation of talent.

Some Thoughts:

1. Being in love is just awesome.

My brother tried to convince me that the Giants need a rebuilding year. I denied that this could happen. Well, maybe it should happen. Tonight’s horrific loss was a clear indicator that the team is a mess. Few people in that locker room are happy. Even fewer offensive players have the right to hold their heads up high. Barkley can. Saquon Barkley was incredible this week in two games that showcased how explosive and impactful the young back can be moving forward. The only problem is that it will be hard to keep that energy and mentality high in the face of a QB that flat out sucks.

There. I said it. Eli is done. 

No, I don’t think they should’ve drafted a QB in the first round. Every year there is an outstanding crop of qb’s–at least according to the media–and every year most of them fall short. Barkley is the truth and has proven that. Eli deserved to leave on his own terms and hopefully he will at the end of this season. If not, then that gives the team the year to rebuild and prepare his replacement from the batch of talent graduating into the NFL come April. 

QB is not the only position of note to be fixed. The line is a sham. They have not been good for more than a few series all season. Over the last two games the Giants have converted 1 3rd down. One. Let that settle on you. 

One.

No wonder the D is tired and gives up points. The offense cannot stay on the field. Eli is broken and beyond fixing. Six games into the season the Giants have no chance of making the playoffs or even finishing above .500. This is a sad sad day for the Giants when you find yourselves looking up at the Browns in the power rankings and the standings. 

Next up is the Falcons. They suck too, but I am willing to wager the Giants will drop this one too. 

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.