Mass LiveJournal Exodus OMG Initial Thoughts

By:  TempestGeekitude

So apparently some shit went down this weekend or last week as LiveJournal decided to integrate with Facebook via their Connect thing. Many people have apps and such that update FB when they post on LJ or any other blog, btu this apparently goes deeper. Something about comments also crossposting and F-Locked and Private entries making an appearance without the owners say so. Plus, some weird stalking stuff that… I don’t even fully understand. I really should try, but it’s all a labarynthine mess of fuckedupness that I just want to run and hide.

Apparently tons and tons of people have left LiveJournal over this but tons and tons of people also signed up. There is screaming, worries, and a really good explanation of much of this from Cleolinda. Okay then.

My main concerns are thus: even if I don’t give LJ permission to integrate my journal with FB, can other people do so? Like, can someone like or comment on a locked post, thus exposing its contents to people on FB? Even if it’s only a snippet or the beginning of the post, I am not at all down with that. Given FB’s horrid privacy policies and their penchant for letting other people put all your business on the Internet (i.e. Places lets you check your friends in to locations, tagging a picture puts that on your wall and photo album without your express permission, etc.), I think this new mess does not bode well for the semi-privacy of the FLocked content.

But I moved all semi-private operations to Dreamwidth long ago, so there’s not as much stake for me. For others maybe so. I guess this is why so many people moved over there.

For right now, my strategy isn’t going to change. I’ll still cross-post to LiveJournal but ask people to comment here. All of my Dreamwidth posts are restricted to my access list right now1 and there’s an RSS feed of this blog there. The only change I can see happening is that I might start cross-posting from this journal to my actual DW account and not just the feed and maybe allow comments.

I don’t plan to leave LiveJournal because there are still plenty of people there. But I long ago stopped giving them money directly and I hope everyone who views my journal there uses ad blocking software. It may take a while, but I think the community I care about is going to end up on Dreamwidth as well as spread out over Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites. What I like about right now is that there are ways to aggregate these disparate social networks so you can keep up with someone no matter what. But I understand the longing to keep the community at LiveJournal intact as it is something special. I just wish the company wasn’t making it so damn hard…

At any rate, for those of you who just moved to Dreamwidth, you can find me here. Please introduce yourself if you subscribe just so I can match accounts/people in my head. Here’s the feed for those who want that. I have some DW codes if people still need some.

Footnotes

  1. BTW, I really like this feature. For those who don’t know, on Dreamwidth there are two levels of following/friending. There’s subscribing to someone’s journal — wherein you can read their public posts on your FList — that can go either one way or be mutual. But even if I decide to subscribe back to that user, she does not automatically have access to my locked posts. I have to grant her further access to those if I choose. This means I can follow someone without worrying whether they are the type of person I want reading my locked stuff. Everyone is happy. [⇧]

Let’s Talk About Writing Software

By:  TempestWriting Life
Let's Talk About Writing Software

This post reminded me that I’ve been wanting to poll folks about writing software lately. I know everyone talks about the wonders of Scrivener and how it changed everything for them and such, but there are other programs out there as well. I’m wondering how well they work for people.

I know some still prefer homespun methods of keeping track of stuff like plot threads, character traits, settings details, etc. Sometimes having it all in one program does help those who need a little guidance in order to be organized. I’m still int he process of finding the best way for myself, so I’m definitely intrigued by what others are up to.

So, if you use writing software that provides a bit more functionality than a word processor, let me know what you use and why you like it. Also what you wish it could do but doesn’t, and wish it wouldn’t do but does. Or, if you’ve cobbled something together from several different programs, I’d love to hear about that, too.

What I’m not interested in hearing is variations on: “Real writers don’t need fancy writing programs, you should JUST WRITE.” Because, honestly, everyone is different. Some of us do better with extra tools. And I’m sure everyone agrees that no matter how good a writing program, it cannot write something for you. So if you feel the urge to whip that out, kindly talk about puppies and kittens, instead.

Enough

By:  TempestBlog Against Racism
Enough

Longer, more detailed and specific post later. But:

Dear publishers, producers, directors, studio heads, network presidents, and other people in charge of media,

Stop it with the fucking racism, already. It’s just not on, anymore. It’s stupid and ridiculous and disgusting and not right. Racism is never, ever okay. Even if not being racist cuts into your bottom line, or even if it angers racist consumers; even if being racist is comfortable, or even if racism is what you really enjoy perpetrating, it is not okay.

And in case you need some help understanding what racism is, I’ll give you some clues:

  1. Whitewashing? Racism.
  2. Portrayals of racial stereotypes? Racism.
  3. Magical Negroes (or any variation involving any other racial or ethnic group)? Racism.

I could go on. But honestly, you all know what you’re about. I know you know because you all have ready-made excuses for it, or deflections, or any other number of cheap tricks. Quit it. Even if it might have been a tiny bit acceptable before, it’s just not now.

Racism is not ever okay. If you don’t believe that, then get the fuck off of this planet. We don’t need you.

No love,
Tempest

Things I Want To Do

By:  TempestGeekitude
  1. Go to SmallCon. I probably can’t, though, since I’m going to World Fantasy at the end of that month.
  2. Go to JemCon. Do not judge me. Again, I probably can’t go since I need to reserve the vacation days for World Fantasy. Still, it’s very tempting to try and go just for the weekend. I would need someone to go with me as I’ll know no one there. And transport. Sigh. SIGH, I said.
  3. Go to World Fantasy. I’m covering this for the day job, yet I sill have to use vacation days. I am making this face –> :/
  4. Go to DragonCon. Can’t go, have to go to Germany, instead. I know, life is hard.

What do you want to do?

Writing In Public

By:  TempestWriting
Writing In Public

I’m sitting in a new tea cafe that just opened up in the Village with my friend Nivair, just soaking up the cafe ambiance and drinking expensive tea. I love finding new cafes and other places to write in the city, especially since my ‘old’ haunts often go sour long before I’m done with them. This has been a constant source of annoyance for me since I moved back to the city four years ago. And I am on a constant hunt for good places to chill and write.

People often ask me why I can’t write at home, and I have no good answer for them. I can rarely get in the mood at home, can rarely even work up the energy. It could be that I don’t have an office space per se — my desk and such is in the living room — but it could just be that I am odd.

I like writing in cafes and other public spaces. I like the din of other people’s voices around me, which are often mixed with music. I guess I also dig the energy. I’m not one of those people who needs to be seen writing to feel like a real writer, I just need to be out of the house.

This is not always the best idea for my wallet. Sitting in a cafe or coffee house for hours means you have to pay to justify the space you’re taking up. Unless it’s a Starbucks. I never feel guilty for taking up space in a Starbucks. With an indie cafe I want to help them stay in business so I can keep coming there to write, so I buy stuff. A whole day can cost $20 if you’re not careful.

So in addition to cafes I also seek out good hotel lobbies, and I’m pretty talented at finding them. My current favorite hotel is the Ace on 29th street. They’ve got their lobby set up for laptop jockeys like me, with a long communal table with outlets in it, which is very convenient. And since it’s a lobby, they don’t mind if you don’t eat and they’re open all night and all day. It’s pretty perfect. Except on Friday and Saturday nights.

Anyway, my obsession for finding good places to write long ago led me to create this list on Yelp, which is an adjunct to this massive list of places with free wi-fi in the city. Every time I add something new to that list and it hits the front page of Yelp I get a new compliment as more people discover it. There are a ton of people like me who need the comfort of a public place to get their work done. Or to waste time on the Internet.

How many of you are like me and need to be out of the house to write? How many of you need to be in your house to write? And how many of you are lucky enough that it doesn’t matter?

How Do You Keep Track Of Submissions?

By:  TempestWriting Life
How Do You Keep Track Of Submissions?

A couple of years ago I brought up this topic as I was searching for a solution for myself. I decided on Sonar, and so far it’s serving me well. However, I’m researching submission trackers for another project, so I figured I’d open up the discussion again.

How do all you writer-types keep track of your submissions? I know some are still using the old Excel spreadsheet solution, but what else is out there?

And if you were going to build the perfect tracker, what features would it include?

When Writers Fail To Understand How Words Work

By:  TempestWriting
When Writers Fail To Understand How Words Work

It starts with Elizabeth Bear1 using the word (or tag) ‘deathmarch’ to describe difficulties in moving forward on wordcount with a novel. Apparently the word in the original post here has been removed due to concerns raised in this comment here:

The word I want to point out is “deathmarching”. I’m well aware that some people may use this to refer to a hard, exhausting, sometimes perilous struggle, but there’s history attached to that word, and thus it’s not one that ought to be used lightly.

Read the whole comment, as it makes some good points. And then be prepared to stab yourself in the eyes after reading Bear’s response:

I have very mixed emotions about political correctness in language: I believe that it’s our responsibility to be aware of the language we use, but I also have a sense that mythologizing language only gives it power.

I’m going to just say two things about this and the subsequent conversation in Bear’s journal and elsewhere.

  1. Every time I see someone (usually a white person) using the term ‘political correctness’ in this way it makes me want to get on a rocketship and leave this planet behind forever. It’s not all that shocking for me to see Bear waving around PC in a manner that would make Glen Beck proud given the racial politics she’d displayed lo these many years. But still, lady, what the hell? You’re a goddamn writer yet you wave off the very real consequences of using loaded words casually by complaining about political correctness? How much fail can possibly be contained in one person?
  2. I really don’t think that it should be up to people in positions of privilege to decide when it’s okay to make words mundane and erase their history of blood. I think it should be up to the people with the history and the people the word affects. Hint: that ain’t you, eBear.

And to be honest, it’s not me, either. It’s folks like this:

You see, in this story, by subsuming such outdated usages of “death march” into the mantle of the banal and the mundane — why, “imeldific” was such a success — we have embarked on the positive process of washing the blood out of our history. We have smoothed the jagged edges of our own psyches by repeatedly enduring the battering of the hardness and pain inherent in the stereotyping and prejudice we encounter. Saying and saying and saying, again and again: war, war, indio, savage, ladrones, blood, our little brown brethren, war, master, master, yes — until we accept the reality of it, and the repetition renders the reality common, banal, mundane, free of pain.

Why, look at us. We can even assume respectability now. Tayong hindi lumilingon sa pinanggalingan.

— ephemere (Trigger warning for descriptions of violence.)

And while we’re at it:

The background behind “deathmarch” is real. There is nothing mythic about respecting the experiences of those who have been systematically dehumanized and slaughtered or the people who belong to one or more cultures scarred by those experiences.

— manifesta

And then, AND THEN someone unearthed this blog post from 2006 which is actually, seriously called The Bataan Death-March of Merchandising. Because, you know, dealing with the Comicon dealer’s room is totally like unto a deathmarch.

Which all leads me to agree heartily with megwrites: fuck you, Elizabeth Bear, fuck you so, so, so, MUCH.

But, here’s the thing. As this post at Fiction Theory points out, this problem is not limited to Bear, it is vast. And the way to combat it, other than calling her and any other writer out on this stuff, is to do our best as writers or just as people not to contribute to it. You should go read.

Footnotes

  1. Yeah, I know, pretty much any sentence that begins this way can’t end well [⇧]

Honey And Tea Are Sacred

By:  TempestWriting
Honey And Tea Are Sacred

A few months ago I gave one of my bosses a small jar of my favorite honey from the farmer’s market because she was out of hers and looking for new honey to try. We often bond over just how good the honey is because local honey by skilled beekeepers is the bombdiggity! In fact, one of the sellers for this particular vendor gave me an appreciation for honey I never had before.

He taught me how honey has different flavors and why the stuff you buy in the store is often just flat and sweet instead of complicated and deep. Now I treat honey like fine wine and good chocolate. I need many jars of different flavors to match the different teas or foods I put the honey in or on.

I once told one of my co-workers that I spent a weekend pairing up my favorite teas with my favorite honeys looking for the perfect combination. Her response was priceless: “Girl, you need a boyfriend!” When I related this tale on Twitter, Amal El-Mohtar tweeted back that it seemed like an excellent way to spend a weekend to her, as tea and honey are sacred.

That they are.

Which is why I need to get my hands on her excellent book, The Honey Month. I have had peeks at it at various conventions but it always sells out before I get around to buying. Sadness! However, I am going to enter this fabulous contest and win a free copy so that I can enjoy the honey and tea prose and poetry goodness. You can, of course, also enter the contest. I won’t hold it against you if you win. Promise.

30 Days of Blogging

By:  TempestGeekitude

About a month or so ago Cat Valente challenged herself to write a blog post every day for 30 days to combat the creeping Twitterficcation of the blogging world1. While I do enjoy Twitter way more than I thought I would2 and think Facebook is an excellent social aggregation tool even if they’re shit on privacy, I do agree that I wouldn’t want to see long-form blogging fall by the wayside. Blogging has been really important to me both personally and professionally. But I’ve fallen off doing it for the past couple of years. Not because of Facebook or Twitter, but because I have allowed my job (which includes blogging) to eat me up somewhat.

In the past few weeks I have made a point of carving out time for writing and socializing with my writer friends to combat this. And now that I’ve had some short-term success in that area, I think I’m ready to try getting back into regular blogging again. Plus, Cat told me to.

I’m going to put a bit of a twist on the challenge since I have a million blogs I’m supposed to be contributing to or maintaining. My blog post a day for 30 days will stretch across more than one blog: Tempest blog, ABW, Chicktech, Geek Feminism, FeministSF, Tor.com, and probably whoever I’m supposedly guest posting for these days (Sorry, Jeff!). At the end of the week I will be sure to point to all the various posts so you can keep up.

As per Cat’s own rules, the posts for this will be substantive. I don’t know that I’ll have time for huge essays every day, but it won’t just be “Look at this damn shit over here, OMG.”

I’m sure I’ll find plenty to write about, but if I run out of ideas I’ll ask you all for help. Maybe you just want to see me go on and on about puppies and kittens for a month.

Footnotes

  1. Mostly she’s not happy that everyone wants to leave LJ, which I can understand in a way. I still think Dreamwidth is better and wish I could just transplant everyone there and move on. [⇧]
  2. Yes, Mary, you may laugh at me now. [⇧]

The Best Fiction is Always True

By:  TempestWriting

I, like Cat Valente, am confused by notion that a science fiction story can be too autobiographical to be fiction. Um, no. I can’t even really add to what Cat says here because there’s nothing extra to say. This notion is silliness.

I would never have written Elan Vital if I was under the impression that there was a hard separation between my life and my fiction. Black Feather as well.

Like I said. Silliness.