Spontaneous ∂erivation

Come down little words
Into my work’s miasma
Or else I may cry

Neil Gaiman got unblocked!

Neil Gaiman’s Journal: Why write?

What he says is true:

Mostly it’s a long hard walk. Sometimes it’s a trudge through fog and you’re scared you’ve lost your way and can’t remember why you set out in the first place.

But sometimes you fly, and that pays for everything.

Writing: fear, courage, guts.

Now I must go battle my own demons.

Hero is stuck firmly up at top of tree.

Barrage of boulders will begin tomorrow.

Funny but unfortunately true: it’s a harrowing experience to write. I have some writing goals that have lagged all this week, in part because the plots for my novel and my short story both winged off to parts unknown. I am desperately running after them, but so far this results in no words that can stay on the page (they’re all in the “free-write outside of the story” arena).

That’s one of the reasons I started up Flash Friday, staring with a serial story with characters Phineas Zene and Sebastian Arcady, whom I have known for only a few hours longer than everybody else.

Sometimes a public deadline can help focus the mind tremendously. Sometimes… it doesn’t.

Even Neil Gaiman proves vulnerable:

And I am still posting links to things instead of writing interesting things in the blog, because I am still somewhere in the hell that’s either Chapter 5 or Chapter 6 of THIS DAMNED BOOK which seems determined to be longer than it was meant to be. (You’re not a novel, I tell it. You’re not even a novella. You’re a novelette. And you’re due in on Monday. But the story merely laughs and stretches ominously and I have no idea what this bloody pool is doing in the middle of the forest.)

The only difference between writers and wannabe writers is that writers keep going and finish.

Have a serious hobby.

Really.

When all I had was my job and Jeremy Brett videos, the productive part of my life was centered around The Job. When stress went up in my job, I could not box that stress up and say “this is only part of the productive me that’s having trouble sleeping at night”. Heavens forfend that work for some reason reaches an idling point of little tasks that, while tedious, still need to get done, and you start fidgeting mentally.

Having another productive part of your life is the key to not putting all of your mental eggs in one basket.

The other key is that this hobby is one you take seriously. You actively participate and, most importantly, be productive. You exert independent control.

Now there are two productive sides of you. And the independent side should tank less often, perhaps almost never.

Being productive is the key to self-esteem.

Warning: your free time will go down considerably, but you’ll probably have more satisfaction. The best part is that this satisfaction carries over to The Job, increasing your moral and lowering your blood pressure.

That’s why I write.

And here is the claim post for it.

My Technorati Profile

You can favorite this blog!

Do it for the elephants on LSD, the vampire LOLcats, and the Chinese medicinal soup.

Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments by Alex Boese

A bizarre and readable little book, capturing the strange ends of Science!. Perfect when you need some quick breaks between periods of beating your head against the next plot twist. And some of these little articles are inspiring! For instance,

• Back in the Victorian ages, real scientists were trying to revive the dead with electricity, a la Frankenstein. What if they had succeeded?
• An experiment involved people not seeing what was in front of their eyes—an “invisible” gorilla. That’s useful information for your mystery puzzle box.
• Milgram’s experiment. Obviously. But also Landis and the decapitation of rats.

Recommended. Also recommended are Boese’s books about hoaxes.

A Chinese dance called the " Thousand-Hand Guanyin"

Update: Taoism.net with more details about Thousand-Hand Guan Yin.

Quoted from Google Video:

There is an excellent dance, called the Thousand-Hand Guanyin.

Considering the tight coordination required, their accomplishment is nothing short of amazing, even if they were not all deaf.

Yes, you read correctly.
All 21 of the dancers are complete deaf-mutes.
Relying only on signals from trainers at the four corners of the stage, these extraordinary dancers deliver a visual spectacle that is at once intricate and stirring.

Its first major international debut was in Athens at the closing ceremonies for the 2004 Paralympics.

It had long been in the repertoire of the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe and had traveled to more than 40 countries.

Its lead dancer is 29-year-old Tai Lihua, who has a BA from The Hubei Fine Arts Institute.

The video was recorded in Beijing during the Spring Festival celebrations this year.

Enjoy this presentation which is 6 minutes in duration.

In the struggle between online photo album services Flickr and Picasa, Flickr has won by dint of user base, ease of use, availability, and Just Working.

For Picasa, I keep get 500 INTERNAL SERVER ERROR whenever I try to upload images for the blog (which upload to Picasa), as well as when I try to upload photos directly to Picasa. This does not impress me.

Flickr, on the other hand, just works (although I wouldn’t trust them to post to Blogger, since Flickr doesn’t seem to send passwords to Blogger over SSL). Plus Flickr has much better photo sharing built in—Flickr groups are just the tip of the iceberg.

Bye, Picasa.

A Chinese friend of mine recommended I start taking a Chinese tonic soup, meant to boost the immune system, improve breathing, and increase energy. I didn’t believe it would work, but I was willing to try a recipe out. I’m susceptible to colds and flu year-round, but especially in the fall. And I have asthma problems, among other things (I do a little cough of death as I settle in for the night).

After one night of soup (I accidentally put in enough herbs to double-dose myself), the next day I already felt healthier. Breathing better (no cough of death), and lots of energy in the morning–and I did not wake up sick. It was as if I had taken a double-dose of all my inhalers.

Another day later, I felt even better, despite not having had tonic soup again.

So perhaps this soup will help you too.

WARNING: do not take this soup while you are sick. It boosts up your immune system, which is good, but taking it while your sick will boost your immune system a bit much and make you feel worse.

Anyways….

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