Work update

Short version: there hasn't been any. Longer version: I got sick last weekend with a killer virus and floated through my week, doing anything (like blogging or watching baseball) to distract me from how I felt. I have this idea that I shouldn't work on my fiction when I'm sick. It feels like I haven't got all my artistic smarts up and running. I worry that I might ruin something, so I avoid writing or editing.

In this instance, the time off segued nicely with my mental work. The last thing I did was write the synopsis and cover letter for Xmas Carol. Then I got sick and began to float through my days. On Monday, I'll return to that work. But in the interim, though I haven't read the synopsis, I reworked it in my head. Rather than read it on Monday, I'm going to sit down and do it a very different way. Then I'll have two synopses. Surely, between them I'll find happiness.

So that's the plan. And beginning Monday, posting may be light for a while. I need to get some real work done. But never fear, I'll get something up fairly often and I'll surely return to heavy posting soon. In the meantime, tune in tomorrow. Fun post coming up.

Oh, and Carmine read chapter 1 of Xmas Carol and said he loved it. There's nothing like positive reader reactions. Since the book only gets better after the first chapter, I think I've garnered another fan for the book. Hooray!

It's not about who has the most toys

Recently I caught up with friends from bygone days and was shocked when they immediately told me about their possessions. It's like they were saying, "this is my life." It isn't, you know.

What's important is how you feel. That's the story, not whether you managed to buy something expensive in your travels. Where did your life take you? After all the twists and turns, did you end up happy, sad, resentful, broken, undaunted? Are you proud of your life?

Much to my surprise, at 63 I'm the happiest guy in the world. That's the news I have for my old friends: "Hey, I ended up happy!"

As for money, I'm still a hippie about it. It seems foolish to me. I don't have any, don't want any, and have never spent one hour thinking about money in my whole life. I've never balanced my checkbook -- I just go by feel. I also don't want many things so I'm easy to please. I seem out of step with others on this topic but I'll never change. Money is boring.

Yesterday morning I saw a poll on CNN Money:

When will you become a millionaire? 

1. In five years
2. Ten years from now
3. In twenty years
4. Already am one
5. Never

They should have added another choice: "6. Don't care." We hippies have no respect for money, none at all. Isn't happiness and feeling good about your life vastly more important than money? Just saying.

Japan today -- a need for flyash?

Saw this in the news today:

Japan has also ordered two giant pumps, typically used for spraying concrete, from the U.S. They are being retrofitted to spray water first, according to Kelly Blickle, a spokeswoman at Putzmeister America Inc. in Wisconsin. At least one similar pump is already in operation at the plant.

They should consider putting flyash into the mix somehow -- perhaps by spraying the entire thing with flyash after the concrete is laid down. But do they know this? It's breaking news in science, which means they may not have heard of flyash's usefulness in maintaining concrete structures.

So much information flies across the internet every second, but getting that information to the right people at the right time is another matter entirely. I hope they at least consider how flyash might assist their efforts to cover the reactors in long-lasting concrete.

What comes after consciousness?

On Sean Carroll's blog, Cosmic Variance, he posted an article about consciousness and at one point asked the most interesting question: "What's next after consciousness?"

In our universe, one of the most surprising things is emergent behavior. It's a term science uses to describe something complex and completely unexpected emerging from simple inputs. In other words, looking at the ingredients, you'd never have thought you'd see this behavior.

Consciousness is emergent behavior. Looking at brains and what they're made of, and the tasks that brains were built by evolution to accomplish, you'd never have suspected that consciousness would arise. The ingredients are wet, gooey brains, made of simple substances -- not the sort of substrate you'd think could produce a Mozart or an Einstein. Consciousness is emergent behavior, writ large.

So the question Sean poses is: what emergent behavior will come next? We ourselves are the fertile ground here. Will we create something exponentially greater than ourselves? Will we join with our technology in a way that so changes what we fundamentally are that we can't even imagine the result? Will this new being possess something beyond consciousness? What would that be?

It's an intriguing question. I'm glad Sean brought it up and I've already tucked away a short story idea based on it. And book 3 of The Worlds grapples with just such an idea. To my mind, it's the most exciting question we can ask.

Katrina all over again

If I read one more story about the 50 workers in the Fukushima Dai'ichi plant who are bravely giving up their lives for their country -- yet don't have food to eat -- I'll scream. Every story about these workers says they have no food (only crackers) and are forced to sleep in the cold with "one blanket". This is insane.

They can drop endless tons of water on the plant but they can't send down a little parachute with some basic supplies? These people are giving up their lives and they don't have food or blankets? And none of the news reports on TV or stories I've read online ever mentions why they are in this sorry state. These are heroes -- and they're not being fed or kept warm?

What's wrong with this picture? It's driving me crazy, just like those images of people without water after Katrina -- day after day after day.

Drop some supplies down to the workers now!

More strange science words

Today I happened upon two science words that made me smile: toponium and bottomonium. Way to go, guys.

Toponium refers to meson particles that interact with the top quark and its anti-quark.

Bottomonium refers to any hypothetical meson that forms from the bottom quark and its anti-quark.

Never name particles when you're not feeling creative. Never. Sleep and name them tomorrow.

NOVA earthquake show

Annie tells me that although her local listings said there would be a NOVA episode last night on "Japan's Killer Quake", when she tuned in, the show was about birds instead.

I don't know why this happened because in my area the Japan quake show was indeed aired. It was very good, too. It hardly focused on the nuclear repercussions, instead centering on the quake and tsunami. There was quite a bit more footage than we've seen on the news and it made me understand the violence of the quake itself, which never really came across in the news footage. Same with the tsunami. They covered the effect on various villages and you got a good sense of how unstoppable the water was. There was also some, but not that much, coverage of the human devastation. Mostly it focused on the physical aspects of the quake and tsunami. There's only so much you can show in an hour.

If the show wasn't on in your area last night, keep an eye on your listings. It's bound to air soon and you don't want to miss it.