You know what makes The Eternal Migraine even better?

Being awoken at 5:30 by somebody so eager to text you photos that they forget the time difference.

The photo, to be fair, is awesome.

The combined sensations of pounding temples and drooping eyelids?  Less so.

READY FOR THIS TO STOP, YO.

This has been a big week for e-book news, most of it coming from the old price-fixing suit (discussed here and here) about the agency model is now down to Apple. According to Andrew Albanese at PW, "Penguin Finally Settles Price-Fixing Charges, Will Avoid Trial." Apparently, since Penguin was the largest publisher involved in the suit, their settlement means that consumers who bought e-books under the agency model (like me!) will be receiving a bigger class settlement than anticipated: "With the Penguin deal, the settlement fund that will reimburse consumers has now more than doubled since the initial state settlement was announced in 2012."

Meanwhile, Apple is still holding to the position that they didn't do anything illegal, despite Judge Cote (the judge on the case) saying her initial reaction was that the government would be able to prove them guilty. (Albanese also covered this news in PW.) It does not look like it's going to be an easy battle for Apple, especially now that they'll be standing alone on the defendant's stand.

In other news, Apple is doing something I think is remarkably cool: they have started a publishing program for fan fiction in which both the fan fiction writers and the creators of the work on which the fan fiction is based will receive royalties for purchases. Fan authors can only work in certain licensed properties, which should remove legal issues, since it means that the original creators have to agree to let fans play in their worlds. Now, why would people buy fan fiction instead of just getting it for free on the web? I'm not sure. I don't read much fan fiction anyway. But I like the idea of creating shared worlds that can profit everyone playing there, which, given my background in role playing games and role playing fiction, shouldn't be a surprise. You can read more in the PW article.



And last, given the rumors about Microsoft buying B&N out of the nook section of the company, as well as the rise in popularity of tablets as reading devices, I've been having some concerns that e-ink is going to vanish, which will make me very, very sad. But lo, Sony and E Ink Holdings have just come out with a new device with a flexible screen that looks pretty darn cool! I don't see myself buying one any time soon -- I like my nook Simple Touch -- but I'm really glad that E Ink Holdings is still in the game, and I hope that's a trend that continues. (Full article, once again, via PW.)

Happy birthday, docbrite, oakdragon, and perkk

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The hellhounds have stopped eating again.

I had another four-hours-of-sleep night last night.

The vets had only had some of the lab results back today, not including campylobacter, which is the miscreant both the senior vets like the best.*

It is now the weekend.  It is, furthermore, another bank holiday weekend.  This means we won’t have the rest of the info till Tuesday earliest, and since stuff always backs up over a long weekend, Wednesday is likelier.  Or Thursday.

You’ll forgive me if I don’t feel like writing a proper blog entry tonight.

* * *

* Note that I don’t think it will be this easy.  We tested for all the usual suspects six years ago and came up negative.  And then I took them off cereals, which improved the situation sufficiently that it was possible to believe that what remained was a combination of the notorious sighthound bad attitude toward food and the damage done to their guts from having spent most of their first two years eating something they were fearfully allergic to.

Today's Sunday strip has John flat on his back on the couch explaining that he'd rather rest up that spend a nice day out with the family.

(Strip Number 6133, Original Publication Date, 27 May 1984)

Panel 1: We start things off with Mike, who's wearing a jacket, watching John take a nap on the couch.

Panel 2: He gives Daddy a rude awakening by yelling "BOY, SOME PEOPLE SURE ARE LAZY!!"

Panel 3: He then tells John that he, Lizzie and Elly are going to bicycle up to the ski hill and asks Daddy if he wants to join them.

Panel 4: Since John doesn't immediately say yes, Mike then tries to pull him up off the couch as he pleads with him to join them.

Panel 5: Elly backs Mike up by saying that it's beautiful up on the hill as a means of coaxing him off the couch.

Panel 6: She then reminds him that they say that a change is as good as a rest.

Panel 7: He considers this for a moment.

Panel 8: Since the bike trip would further irritate his aching back, he tells her that if it's all the same with her, he'll take the rest.

Summary: My guess is that John is supposed to be Lynn's alter ego in this one; that's because the Lynnsight is a long-form rant about sofas she has loved. It's very telling about Lynn that she remembers her furniture more vividly than she can what her children were like growing up.

1. Story-related Block

When you have story-related block, you feel sick every time you think about the story you're working on. You find yourself avoiding sitting down. You wonder if you were made to be a writer. You being to make lists of everything you hate about your book. You even hate thinking about it.

It may be hard to see it, but sometimes you can get rid of this kind of writers block by:

A) Going back to the beginning of the story and seeing where it went wrong. You have to be courageous enough in this situation to cut as much of the words that aren't working as you have to. This may well be most of what you have written. But unless you do this, you will never be able to feel any interest in this project again. It may already be too late for that. And so . . .

B) Trying to write something new might be the solution, as well. If you can think of anything else you are interested in writing, maybe something completely different from the failed project that is haunting you, try it out for a day or so. Fiddle with it, play with it. See if you can make writing fun again. If it works, keep going. But be watchful. If you start to feel a niggling sense that you've gone wrong again, stop before you get too far in. You don't want to keep throwing books out.

2 Life-related Block

In my mind, life-related block is completely different, but I think that there may be some writers who confuse life-related block with story-related block. Both come with a lack of interest in writing, and a dread whenever the idea of work comes up. In addition, life-related block can also cause you to question if you were made to be a writer.

However, life-related block is far more pervasive. When I have life-related block, I don't want to watch movies or television. I don't want to read books. I don't want to talk to friends. I don't want to eat my favorite foods. It is a bit like depression in this way, in that it can feel like it takes over your whole life and makes it impossible for you to feel happy.

Unlike depression, however, a life-related block can actually be solved by fixing a specific problem in your life. I don't know what that problem is for everyone, and sometimes depression medication can help by letting us see our lives more clearly. Sometimes a life-related block is  over-work or over-stress from a day-job, from family emergencies, or from the long illness of a loved one.

Sometimes a life-related block is the unconscious realization that there is something going terribly wrong in our lives, a relationship that has to be ended (and we don't want to do it), or a change has to be made. It can be related to the physical space you're trying to do your writing in. It can be related to money problems.

Whatever it is, if you have life-related block, starting a new project isn't likely to help you. You probably need to just take some time off your creative endeavors and really figure out what change is needed. Then, when you've got your stuff taken care of, the desire to create will naturally come back to you, slowly but surely.

Drunk, Jane spoke as though she were Nancy Drew. I was a fool for a girl with a dainty lexicon.

Michael Chabon, from _Mysteries of Pittsburgh_

This entry was originally posted at http://kestrell.dreamwidth.org/236867.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

I get loads of junk mail, mostly ads for things others think I need. I am quick to delete them. Sometimes, though, the subject line requires me to open the email. Such was the case this week when this subject line appeared in my Inbox: Place testing at the center of course planning.

This lovely ad from The Teaching Professor informed me that I should plan my curriculum by placing grading at the center of my planning. It used the terms testing and grading and assessment interchangeably, but it did want to sell me on a seminar on using tests to improve student learning.

You see, I do not use tests. Not. At. All. I could if I elected to do so. But I think I can see what students are learning by asking them to apply what they are learning in textbooks and other sources directly to REAL books for children, tween, and teens. I would rather my students perform real world tasks than take tests.

And that brings me to the tweet today from a friend whose child received the summer reading list for AP English along with the directions to analyze the various texts (all canonical) in multiple ways (I think the suggestion was to use 13 different "techniques."). When did summer, a time when kids should be able to read for pleasure, become a time for analysis of classic texts? When did we come to believe that AP kids did not need to read difficult (dare I say rigorous) texts without some sort of scaffolding for the analytical component? Who would prefer to kill a love of reading by assigning dissection over the summer rather than asking kids to read and offering suggestions? Or maybe teaming with the public library?

Please, as summer approaches, think more about how we can foster a continuing love of reading. Consider how we can ensure kids have access to books more readily. Deliberate on the element of CHOICE. after ALL, I plan to participate again in #bookaday. I will select the books to read freely. I will have access to a community online that can make recommendations for me as well. No dioramas or book reports, maybe a tweet or a blog post. Maybe not. I will have books to take along with me, audiobooks, eBooks, GNs, the whole spectrum. I am psyched for this challenge. If I do not read a book a day, there will be no sledge hammer blow to my skull. Instead, there will be encouragement and understanding.

So, by all means ask kids to spend time reading this summer. But do so bearing in mind that we can either support readers or murder them. The choice is ours.

Locations and times - what is it in me that meets them all, whenever and wherever, and makes me at home?
Forms, colors, densities, odors — what is it in me that corresponds with them?

- Walt Whitman

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