Digging in the Dirt

I haven't had much to say, lately (been editing, been working, been avoiding talking about the Middle East) so I thought I'd send you to someone who has.

http://oldontario.blogspot.com/ is the blog of an archeologist friend of mine who is doing some contract work in what people in Toronto call Northern Ontario, but what is really just middlin' Ontario. Sounds like an interesting dig, and she's starting to find some stuff.

Meanwhile, back to the edit. Six more pages before I sleep.

Maybe.

Back to work.

Good Weekend/Bad Weekend

Good weekend: Now have a laptop (a loan from my mother-in-law) so I'll be able to write on the go and not have to kick my wife and child out of the house one day each weekend. My wife and I saw a fine show starring our friends, The Rude Mechanicals Friday night. My wife's mother came down for a visit on Saturday and had a fun afternoon with her grandchild. I took my daughter to visit my Dad and his wife today and she called them "Nana" and "Poppa" for the first time and we took her swimming in a pool (which she was not at all happy with at first, but began to enjoy towards the end). Also got two chapters edited and am nearly caught up and ready for our next deadline, assuming I get the time to write this week.

Bad Weekend: The kid cried the entire time we were out on Friday, and Saturday night was up from 12:30 AM until 4:30 AM. I got three and a half hours sleep. At Nana and Poppa's house, she refused to let me out of her sight, screaming every time I did something silly like go to the washroom or try to take a nap. I had to caffeinate myself to keep functioning which is why I'm still awake now. I have to get up for work in six hours and I'm still at the computer.

This week I will be very, very tired.

And here's a great archeology link I haven't had a chance to post until now:

http://www.archaeologica.org/

By the way, Nestle just bought Jenny Craig. Anyone else see the irony?

Back to work.

And then to sleep!

Nuances? What Nuances?

Michael Wilson on George Bush on Stephen Harper:

"The president looked right at me and said, 'You know, your prime minister is a very direct man ... I like that because I know what he's saying. I don't like this nuance stuff,'" [Michael] Wilson [Canada's ambassador to Washington] told CBC television on Sunday.

Okay...

So, the President of the United States of America doesn't get nuances, and Stephen Harper apparently doesn't have any.

Frightening? Yes.

Surprising? Not so much.

Back to work.

Long Weekend Round-up

Happy Canada Day (four days late) and Happy Independence day , USA (one day late)!

I was visiting my mother-in-law on the weekend (out of Toronto! Yay!), so no posting got done.
I was very pleased to only have to spend part of the weekend in front of the computer (and displeased that I didn't get what I wanted accomplished). Would rather have been swimming, but the edit must go on and Lake Ontario is bloody cold this time of year (really. I nearly froze my ankles off. I would have gone in deeper, but I was carrying the kid at the time and there's no way I'm exposing her to that).

Speaking of the edit, and of freezing, last week was a week of sticking points. First, a section in Chapter 7 got me completely flummoxed for about a day, then another section in chapter 8. In both cases it wasn't until I was walking to work the next morning that I got the answer, which meant immediately getting to my computer and firing off the idea before I forgot it.

My personal favourite, thought, came on Wednesday. The line was originally, "The watch tower was a dim shape in the distance." Briana, my editor, asked, "What sort of shape?" I thought, good point. No problem, it's a...

a...

Two hours over one word. I must have been tired or something. I ended up quitting in favor of television that night, got the answer on the way to work (again) and emailed it to myself. Sad, really.

Now, as we approach the middle of the first week of July, I've made it through chapter 9, which contains a pivotal conversation and reveal, which meant re-writing nearly the entire chapter so it made sense. All the information was there, sure, but the order was atrocious. Had me confused, and I wrote it.

Fortunately, it's much better now.

So that was my long weekend. Hope yours was good.

Back to work.

The Perfect Wave

Yesterday was the summer solstice (hope you Pagans out there had a good party!) and my boss showed me something very cool.

If you visit the offical US time website, and click on your timezone, it will give you the time where you are. More importantly, it will show you a map of the world, with which areas are currently in daylight, and which ones are in shadow. At the solstice, the shadow forms a perfect sine wave, which will turn into almost a straight line as we move towards the equinox, then a sine wave the other direction as we move to the next solstice.

Neat, huh?

Yeah, I'm a geek, but in a world full of wonders, its the geeks who go looking that see the most.

Back to work.

Oh, look

Not-for-profit health care is better than for-profit

Anyone else out there not surprised?

Good God!

Stephen Harper said something smart.

My favorite quote is:

"It is true that somewhere, in some communities we do find promoters of terror, people who use cultural, religious symbols to perpetrate violent crime. They abhor open societies, pluralist societies, democratic societies, because they advocate the exact opposite: a closed, homogeneous, dogmatic society."

Hmmm. Who does that sound like...

Say, do the Neocons know that you're badmouthing them, Stephen?

Evolution and Anthropology

No, I'm not going to join the debate about Evolution vs. Intelligent Design. I've already picked my side, and it isn't Intelligent Design. If the universe was intelligently designed, George Bush would never have become president, and Stephen Harper would never have become Prime Minister (of course, neither would Paul Martin).

While looking up something entirely different at work, I stumbled across the Anthropology home page of Palomar College in San Marcos, California, which has a couple of very interesting tutorials about anthropology, including the evolution of evolution theory.

So have a look if you like.

Back to work.

A Quick Post

Because I haven't posted in a while. Things are busy. Relatives have been coming to visit so it has been cleaning, entertaining and editing, editing, editing. My editor and I figured out the problem the computer was having with the chapters she was sending, and it has been nose at grindstone ever since.

Having an intersting time with one section. A couple of astute questions from my editor turned a few notes into a major revision of one bit which has improved the section to no end. It also has left me slightly stumped, as it changes some of the motivations for the next bit, and requires some working around to get fixed. I figured it out on my way to work this morning, and just have to remember it for when I get home tonight.

Meanwhile, dwarf dinosaurs here, because sometimes science is neat.

Back to work.

Well, Dammit

I have just discovered that my computer is not showing all the changes that my editor has put in Small Magics Chapter 7. This is annoying, because without seeing them, I can't tell whether or not I agree, and we will have nothing to argue about.

I meant discuss. Really. I'm not argumentative at all. Really.

Stupid computer.

I have contacted my editor, who is very good and will no doubt get back to me quickly. Annoying, though. It means I am paused.

Drat.

Oh well.

Back to work.

(On something else for the moment)

Editing Small Magics

It is very late and very hot (ten degrees above seasonal), and I am no longer tired.

I have just finished editing chapter six, which puts me far behind where I wanted to be at this point, but beggars cannot be choosers as the saying goes, especially when it comes to time. I am working all day, as is my wife and we have a one and a half year old. Time is our most precious commodity right now, and I hoard it when I can.

First, hats off to Briana, who is my editor. She is doing a fine job of seeing the things I have missed and asking pointed questions that make me take long, hard looks at sections of my manuscript and ask myself "Why?"

Editing is a strange process. You are taking something deeply personal and subjecting it to the scrutiny of someone who does not know you, or your work, which is what makes them so valuable. They can see the garbage parts for what they are and say so.

I have a slight advantage with Small Magics. I have not truly looked at this book in a year at least. I have written another book since then, and am a third of the way through another one (the sequel to Small Magics, in fact). Nonetheless, it is still deply personal to me, and there are parts of my heart that cry out "Noooooo!" when I realize some things have to change to make the book better.

I have been putting two to three hours every evening into the edit, and the result has been an average of six or less hours sleep a night since the editing process began. Funny, I thought I'd be more tired, but you can get used to anything, really.

Of course, I may just be hallucinating at this point.

I am about eighty pages behind where I wanted to be, but I'm getting the rythm of it, and expect to be making up for lost time soon.

Briana, if you happen to chance upon this, keep up the good work.

Back to...

Ah, who am I kidding. I'm going to bed. I have to get up in five and a half hours.

I really didn't want a political blog...

I wanted a nice, fun blog where I could talk writing, books, authors, archeology and other neat science stuff, , how my latest book is coming, what workshops I'm running, how the editing process is going on Small Magics, and occasionally comment on current affairs.

But come on, Stephen. What are you thinking?

• You whine about the press not liking you.
• You grandstand on Afghanistan and actually use the phrase "staying the course."
• Your accountability act actually reduces accountability and would remove from the ethics code a clause that says politicians are required to "act with honesty."
• You've cancelled the one-tonne challenge, and 14 other environmental programs.
• You're you're looking for a way to weasel out of the Kyoto accord.

What are you? George Bush's Canadian lickspittle?

There is so much more to say, but I've wasted one evening on this already, so I'll make it short:

Stop doing stupid stuff so I can get on with my editing.

Anyway, my next post will be about the fun I'm having editing Small Magics, which will be on shelves in 2007. It has nothing to do with Canadian politics, and is a very good read. Click here for a preview, then rush out and order it so my publisher will like me.

On reading Spike Milligan

I've just finished "Rommel?" "Gunner Who?" by Spike Milligan.

The man was mad.

Utterly mad.

And utterly brilliant.

Spike Milligan, for those who don't know, was a British musician, comedian, writer, and a member of The Goon Show (a brilliantly funny BBC radio program) along with Peter Sellers and Ned Secombe. He was also certifiably insane, and for part of The Goon Show was driven from the asylum where he lived and wrote to the studio to perform, then driven back again at the end of the show.

This book, written in 1973, is a ramble of thoughts and memories, paying only lip service to the idea of chonology, interspersing personal memories with scripts of imaginary performances starring Hitler and Winston Churchill and remembered nightmares so horrifying they had me in chills. It is funny and profane and horrifying without apology. The boredom, humour, fear, humanity, cruelty, absurdity and insanity of men at war spills out in a stream of consciousness that pulls the reader along with it.

It is one of the best recollections of war I have read in a long time, and I highly recommend it for those who haven't read it.

The New Budget: Harper's Hate Letter to Canadians

I've just read the lead-up to Harper's budget and I'm seeing red.

The basics:

Harper wants to give more money to the provinces to address what he calls a "federal-provincial funding imbalance." He is also going to spend $5 Billion on the military, and $2 Billion on his baby bounty (which offers you $1200 a year for each child you have under six).

So how is he going to to pay for all this?

Well, currently, thanks to federal taxes, the price of oil, and good fiscal policies on the part of the previous government, Canada is is running a $10 Billion federal surplus. Do you think he's going to use that?

No, because he's a Conservative. His job is to make those with money richer, and punish those who don't have it.

So, he's going to cut the Good and Services Tax by 1%. This means, if you can afford to buy stuff, it will now be cheaper. This will also take $5 Billion out of the federal budget. He's also going to cut taxes for those earning between $36,000 and $118,000, and taxes for corporations and small businesses (did you know that Canada already has the best corporate tax rate in the G8?). This will also take money from the budget.

So, where is he going to get the money?

Why, by cutting government programs, of course. The national childcare program, which was going to cost $1 Billion a year and created affordable daycare spaces across the country, is gone. The Kelowna Aboriginal Accord, which would have spent $5 Billion to provide housing education, health care and infrastructure for Canada's First Nations, is gone. The funding for the Kyoto Accord to stop global warming is gone. Other government programs will be gone.

And of course, there's one group whose taxes he will raise. Those who earn less than 36,000 a year got a 1% tax cut in the last budget. That's going to be rescinded.

I would love to say Harper is doing this because he is stupid, but that is not why. He is doing it because he represents the interests of business, not of Canadians.

Harper is using the exact same program that the Harris Conservatives used provincially in Ontario in the 1990's. Cut taxes. Cut programs to pay for those tax cuts. When the budget balances, cut more taxes. Cut more programs to pay for them. Explain how the government can't afford to supply Canadians with services, and hand it over to private industry to do it at a tidy profit. And if you're too poor to pay for those services, too bad.

The budget is going to be released this afternoon. If it is what they've promised (and what I have written here is they've promise), I will be writing to my MP to tell them to vote down this budget. I encourage you all to do the same.

Back to work.

Shame on Stephen Harper

This post is about a day behind, but with the new job and the baby delighting in 3 A.M. wake-ups, this is the first chance I've had.

How dare he deny media the right to cover the arrival home of the bodies of Canadian soldiers?

How dare he not fly the flag at half-mast?

These are men who gave their lives working for peace in a war-torn country. They deserve our respect, and they deserve to be seen.

Shame on you Stephen.

For better coverage on this, read Rick Mercer's Blog and The Green Knight here, here and here.

I'll blog more later, but tonight it's 10 PM, I haven't written anything yet, and the alarm goes off in less than 8 hours.

(Of course, the baby usually goes off in less than 6)

Back to work.

On the Dangers of Reading Dickens

I am currently making my way through "David Copperfield," and in doing so, have noticed, in both my writing and my speech, a sudden urge towards the loquacious; an insatiable need to express in many words what could best be said in few; and worse, the willingness, indeed, the desire, to so so at a moment's notice upon any person unfortunate enough to venture the idea of beginning a conversation. In short...

I'm talking too damn much.

It's a habit I fall into, to write like the books I am reading. My first novel (which will never see the light of day) sounded like Heinlien, Hambly, Cherryh and Stephen King had created as bastard love-child by tossing out bits on similar themes that they didn't like and having them accidently land in the same pile.

I've improved, of course. Every writer finds their own voice eventually, and I think I've found mine, but I need to be careful. When I read a good book, the old tendencies kick in and I'll find myself writing in the style I'm reading instead of my own.

It does make the editing fun, though. I can remember where I was in my library when I was writing a particular chapter.

Speaking of which...

Back to work

Mountains Blowing Up

My brother is a geologist in Alaska, and from him I heard of this website where you can go to see Mt. Augustine blow its top.

Things have quieted down now, but look back in the archives for some really good eruption pictures. Also, check back regularly. You never know when another eruption may occur.

Back to work.

Happy Over-Easy!

"Over-Easy" is a phrase coined by a Christian friend of mine whose husband is Jewish. They celebrate both Passover and Easter, so "Over-Easy"

I will be away from my blog for most of the weekend, but wish all who visit it a happy holiday, whether it is Easter, Passover, Hanuman Jayanti, Baisakhi, Therevadin Buddhist New Year, or just the fact that you've got an extra day off work that you are celebrating this weekend.

Take care and enjoy.

Back to work.

Gainfully Employed Again

And thank god. The cupboard was beginning to get pretty bare.

A writing job, too, which is neat. I'll be writing articles on improving home energy management for www.managemyhome.com. Start date to be determined in the next few days, but it should be by the end of this month.

What a relief. Now I can get focused on the important stuff, like my daughter and getting Small Magics edited for its release in 2007. And getting my last book ready for submission. And the next one finished. And the next one started...

Sometimes, I think I overbook myself.

(Pun intended)

Back to work.

The Fish that Walked Like an Alligator!

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Tiktaalik Roseae.

Sometimes science is just neat!

And yes, I am a geek.

Hat Tip to The Green Knight, who had it up first, though I saw it in the New York Times this morning.

Back to work.