WRITING UPDATE: REVIEWS

This is going to be a bit of a ramble. Don't say you weren't warned!

Thanks to my new vow to stop multi-tasking, I had to to wait until I finished a book that was really pissing me off, before starting this post. I'm not going to tell you the title. I will never name books I don't like. Someone put a lot of work and a lot of soul into that book, and I can't bring myself to demean something so precious to another person.

So let me talk about this in the abstract: I wanted to stop reading this book altogether at some point (at many points). The main character really pissed me off. He was one of those types that I hate - a character that is a spectator in their own lives, where all they do is react to situations, and where every other character introduced is so much more interesting, and yet someone we don't get to follow. No, we're left with this guy, who can't stand up for himself, who isn't articulate, who is a constant victim in a world where bad things just keep happening, and in response he never seems to learn or improve. He's not attractive or intelligent or special in any way, and he doesn't become any of these things either. He's just a sponge - absorbing and feeling bad and then expounding on the life lessons he has learned as a sponge. The longer the amount of time I spent with this person - the more I started to actively hate him. I felt like spending time with him was wasting hours of my life, and maybe so.

However, every time I wanted to stop - I thought about the reviewers that I sent my book out to, and I kept going. I've tried to put a constructive spin on reviews, with this post, and here's a follow up. I've sent the draft out to a good number of people - a sample. There were two reviewers in particular who I had been really looking forward to hearing from, because they were published authors; they had that aura of legitimacy: they had been published in the traditional way. They were represented by agents and a real publisher had published their books. This would be some great feedback! So I waited for their responses in happy anticipation. Then I just kept on waiting. 

One of the authors could not finish the book at all. My book isn't that long, just to be clear. But she just could not finish it. As I was reading the book which will not be named, I kept thinking - was this what it was like for her? What I've heard back from the reviewer is that this book is not her "type." (I'm assuming she's being honest here, and there's no reason to think she would lie.) Anything that falls outside this "type," she cannot bring herself to read, not even for a friend. What I take from this is that people have a natural range of books they will read: they have a "type." People like blonds and Thai food, and anything else is ugly and tastes like dogfood. Human nature is what it is. I, on the other hand, am a book whore. I'll read anything, as long as something about it piques my interest, so this was good to know. 

The other reviewer? She's a genius. Literally, a genius. She could probably put away an encyclopedia a day. So no sweat, right? Could probably jot down a few useful notes and be done with it. I never heard back from her again. I don't understand why people say they're going to do something - and then don't do it. Human nature is a funny thing. I'm going to keep shuffling along. Writing is a process, and there are a lot of obstacles along the way - I just have to keep moving forward. As long as I keep moving, I will eventually get to where I want to be.

HOW TO EMBED PHOTOS ONTO BLOGGER USING FLICKR

It's 2014 and I just joined Flickr! Yes, that same Flickr, founded 10 years and 87 millions users ago, and now I am totally on board. Why?

Well, for one thing, Flickr can be used to store photos that I can then embed onto this blog. There is a huge debate going on about whether storing photos on Google or Flickr is better, and the reason I hopped on the Flickr train is because Blogger will give me 1 GB of photo storage, Google+ gives me 15 GB, while Flickr will give me 1 Terabyte of completely free storage.  Check my logic: 1GB < 15 GB < 1 TB.* 

With a measly 1 GB of storage using Blogger and undying flames of passion for blogging without ever getting paid, sooner or later I was going to run out of storage. To remedy this, I found that I could store photos on Flickr, and then embed them onto this blog instead. 

To embed a photo is fairly straightforward if you look at the photo above: 

1. Make sure that you are not using the new beta version of Flickr. I tried it and it sucks.** Instead of simply embedding that one photo you wanted, it will unleash a slideshow of all your photos. No one wants that, Flickr. To make sure you are using the old version of Flickr, look at the bottom left of the photo. There should be a white box that says "Try our new photo experience beta." Don't click on that. If that isn't there, then congratulations you're in the new beta Flickr. Get out. Click on the bottom left corner to return to the old version.
2. Next, click on the lower right hand corner box with the arrow icon shown above.
3. Click on "Grab the HTML" code. Click on Html.*** Determine the size you want, and copy the code that appears.
4. Return to Blogger, go to HTML instead of Compose on your post, and paste the code where you want your photo to appear. Your photo should appear under the Compose view, and you're done.

Now, here is a trick I figured out for those shifty types (like myself) who want to store pictures on Flickr, but don't want to make those pictures public on Flickr. See photos below for steps on how to do this.

1. Open up the image on Flickr and select the size you want. Now, right click on the photo and select "Copy Image URL."

2.  Now hit the "Insert Image" icon on Blogger (see below), select "From a URL" and paste the image URL you copied from Flickr. The image should appear and show up on your post.  Done.

* In the name of honesty, I also chose Flickr storage over, say, Photo Bucket, because I'm already trolling around Flickr and this wouldn't add too much time to my virtual commute. 

** It took precious hours of my life to figure out that the "slideshow" problem that was making me cry tears of blood was due to a feature of the new beta Flickr, and that to solve it, I only needed to go back to the old one. If nothing else, this warning should save hours of people's lives.
*** Correction: Click on HTML, not embed. Embed will give you a slideshow. HTML will just embed that one photo.

WEEKEND DIY: SHELVES EDITION

Via Rue Magazine

The obsession officially began when I saw the image of that complete stranger walking across her low shelf above. It seemed a perfect solution to a multitude of shelving quandaries - namely how a lot of shelves can be ugly. No offense to shelves. But...where would I find two large rocks like that, and how could I make them the same height? I had images of myself sanding rocks late at night, and it wasn't ideal.

Then, I found a much more reasonable DIY below. It's such a simple idea really: balance a refurbished plank of wood on top of a stack of magazines, and then you can have a shelf. Perfect.  

Image via Tumblr

MUSICAL PROCRASTINATION: THE XX - INTRO

Mid-2013: Hey, this song...is wow. It hits all the pleasure centers. It's a make-something kind of song. I'm going to play this when I need the energy to create. *Brain Fart*

December 2013: Holidays! Yay! Christmas puts the F in fun! Did I forget something? 

January 2014: New year. Life hard. Tired. *Collapse*

February 2014: Here you go.  

ANTI-MULTI-TASKING

The new year seems to be the trendy time to make goals. People want to exercise more, to eat better, to learn a new skill, to just generally turn into a better person. Me? I'm going to stop multi-tasking. 

"There's really interesting work showing that when you're focused on what you're doing, you become happier, even if what you're doing is incredibly boring" 

- Maria Konnikova, author of How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes

Based on Konnikova's work, trying to do maximize productivity by doing multiple things at the same time has the opposite effect - you just end up doing a lot of things badly, and are less happy as a result. There's a discipline needed to reign yourself in from multi-tasking, but if you can achieve this discipline, you learn to really focus when you need to. I, for one, need to.  

You can take a look at the article or listen to the podcast here.

FUN LINKS

Travel

20 Reasons To Drop Everything And Go To Spain

Ah...travel. I'm fascinated by it. I fantasize about it, and I didn't need yet another reason to do it, but it's still fun to look, because second only to the act of being in another country, is the anticipation that comes before. 

Book Reviews

Posting the (Almost) Perfect Review

Sooner or later it's going to happen. You decide to write a book review. Possibly on Goodreads. When evaluating someone else's creation, it's always good to go in with some ground rules. This is a good one.

News

Inanities.org

This entire blog. It's great. It's informative and straightforward, and parses through so much political BS like a serrated blade through hypothetical butter. It's possibly the most informative, feet-on-the-ground blog about what's really happening in Egypt, if you wanted to know.

Blogging

5 Reasons I Stopped Blogging

I consider the decision to commit to blogging or the decision to quit as a moment of transition, so it's always interesting to see that what caused the change. I've always found it to be creative outlet. It serves me rather than the other way around. If blogging does not serve you, then it is better to let it go.

TV
Orphan Black
Have you heard of this? I found out only recently - and life became more exciting. This a BBC show about clones that revolves around a female lead. It hooks you right away. It does not let up. Even it you're not into clones, it doesn't matter. It's just a good show. That's all I'm going to say. Anything else would ruin it for you.

Health
Understanding Health Insurance
Short, easy to understand articles that explains heath insurance in simple terms.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN: YOU WILL BE MISSED

Via

Goddammit Hoffman. I really liked you - a lot of people really liked you. You put magic on the screen. You could hold it in your hands, and you could take it, and lay it on the table when you wanted. You had your own brand of magnetism - not the the easy kind that comes from being born beautiful, genetic magnetism - but your own kind, which you probably learned to hone, like a craft.     

Let me throw out a random Hoffman. There are many out there, because he was versatile. He could do lead roles and character roles. He could be weak and/or pompous. Let's skip Capote, Almost Famous, The Master* and just randomly fixate on...Punch-Drunk Love. Did you know he was in that? Have you not seen it? That's fine. Let me help you skip to the relevant parts: It's a love story with Adam Sandler trying not to be Adam Sandler, and from the beginning, the rhythm is a little off. I couldn't focus on Sandler, and I couldn't focus on anything else. Either nothing grabs me or too many things grab for my attention, and the entire thing comes off as vaguely stressful. Up to a point. Because then Philip Seymour Hoffman appears onscreen as a phone sex hotline operator, with his hair shot into  a plume, one that bobs when he talks. The man is psychotic, but it's also the perfect note of psychotic, because the tone of the movie is slightly psychotic, and Hoffman just slips right in. Suddenly, the movie has energy. It's the Hoffman gravitational pull. It's a lot more interesting. You find yourself having fun. That's what Hoffman can do. 

Hoffman was also undeniably unique, crazy versatile. He could literally shove himself into a role. As a writer, I notice characters that are a little off. I like them - the weird ones - the ones that are possibly too unrelatable to base a story on. Lead characters are sometimes variations on a theme - cut from the same generic cloth. There's not much creation involved. But when you write a weird person, there's that  tiny moment of panic because damn, it's so...so weird. And weird can sometimes turn into repulsive. Who can play this? Who can make this character likable without compromising on the qualities that make him unique? Might I suggest... 

I probably had unique expectations for Hoffman. There was a tide of uniformity and shallowness that I fully expected Hoffman to subvert, simply by continuing to do what he does, but no. He has left us, and he will be missed.  

*I haven't seen this, but this will be rectified by the end of the week. 

SMALL GESTURES TOWARD WORLD PEACE

How much does a succulent go for nowadays? $3? $7 at most? Did someone descend under cover of darkness with a spade and a bag to steal $7 worth of succulent from a complete stranger? Is this really the best investment of your time?

And no, it was not my plant, but as a member of the human race, I am appalled. There were some other working titles I had for this post - they all involved profanities - and then I thought better of it. There is no need to add to the negativity out there.

My new my working theory is the current title. Let me explain. I had a job in retail at one point, where we were told over and over again not to give the customer a bad experience (ironically, the job was a bad experience for me) because a customer will remember a single bad experience for a year and they will tell all their friends, and bad news travels fast, etc. What I took from this, was that people naturally hoard their bad experiences, and it will color their outlook for a long time. All the little things can pile up over time, until the problems are no longer small, and the world can become a very dark place. There is possibly some evolutionary basis for this: remembering that eating certain plants caused diarrhea probably ensured that your genes made it into the Cenozoic era. But now that we have Imodium, it may be time to rethink that tendency.

What to do? My theory is this: I'm a believer in small gestures. Small acts of consideration done consistently will travel a long way. It's a concept taken from the school of Karma. Small gestures, to counteract the nighttime succulent stealers of the world.

What is a small gesture? I think that ca be as simple as listening when someone is talking to you. Being present. When the cashier asks if you want your receipt in the bag, you look that person in the eye and say "yes." Did you read a good article? Leave a positive comment. I have a friend who writes popular short stories. She can tell that 2000 people have looked at the story. Out of those 2000, 100 "like" it. Then maybe 7 people leave a comment. This is a very aggravating statistic. So, leave a comment.* Little things make a big difference. Be creative and see what you come up with.


*By "my friend" I mean a real separate friend. I'm not talking about myself. Reading this over, I realized how this could be misinterpreted, but I'm past the point of passive-aggressive mixed messages. I've moved on. Seriously.

A PICTURE FOR THE WEEKEND NO. 28

QUICKIE ON THE XO JANE IT HAPPENED TO ME YOGA EXPERIENCE

Every once in awhile, someone writes a piece that is painfully honest, but in a bad way, because it shows you in this one person this utter lack of awareness of internal biases (just reread the title), and the fascinating way that these biases are processed internally. As a result, her inability to stop judging this other person for being black, not skinny, and new to yoga is processed as being "hyper-aware of my skinny white girl body." 

I'm adding this quickie because I do hope it provokes intelligent discussion and change. The actual article at XO Jane has been taken down, but here is a thoughtful reaction to it.

As a personal aside, I'm uncomfortable sometimes by how tight yoga clothes are becoming. I do go to yoga, but it's weird walking to and from class, and sometimes being in class wearing these tight ass outfits. Every little bit shows, and then you have to twist yourself around. I wouldn't do it if I didn't get a lot out of it, but sometimes I do look at myself from afar and see a sweaty mess.