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Masks Unmasked and Wheelies

Thursday 16 July 2020 | 2 Comments

Masks Unmasked

Two facts to begin with: fact one — the governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, issued an executive order today prohibiting cities from mandating masks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only that, but he is suing Atlanta mayor Keisha Bottoms because she implemented such a mandate.

The lawsuit marks a stunning escalation in the brewing feud between Kemp and Bottoms after the Atlanta mayor introduced her mandatory mask ordinance. Under her order, not wearing a mask within Atlanta’s city limits was punishable by a fine and even up to six months in jail.

But the governor’s office has argued the mayor’s plan is not “legally enforceable” because Kemp signed an executive order that prohibits local action from being more prohibitive than the state’s requirements. (Source)

Fact two — of the states with the highest growth of cases in the US (Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, and California), four of the five have Republican governors. Florida, South Carolina, and Texas were among the last to shut down and among the first to open back up.

It leaves me wondering what in the hell Republicans think they’re doing. I get the feeling that most of the anti-science individuals and policies come from Republicans. They seem to have a positive fear of science.

Anti-vaxers? Usually Republican. Parents who reject the clear evidence for evolution and want creationism taught in school? Republican. Climate-change-deniers? Republican. Anti-maskers? Republican.

And it’s not just a feeling, not just a perception: there are data to back it up.

I think this pandemic is really highlighting an ugly truth about America that many of us sensed but couldn’t really prove: we can’t help but see it all around us now.

At the other extreme is New Zealand, where politicians let health professionals and scientists make decisions about how to deal with the pandemic. They now have zero active cases. Zero.

But it’s not just who’s making the decisions: it’s also the mentality of the populace. This pandemic is also showing the ugly side of American “freedom-at-all-costs” thinking.

As it stands, I think the rest of the world is now just looking at America and shaking its head. We elected someone who has no business working as a public servant to the highest office in the nation and rejected clear scientific findings regarding the pandemic, which lead us to have historic levels of infection — to the degree that the EU has banned Americans from traveling to Europe.

Wheelies

Today, as we went on our evening walk, the Boy was popping wheelies on his bike. Right now he’s just pulling his front tire off the ground for a fraction of a second. Soon enough he’ll be trying to ride wheelies for as long as he can.

I found myself trying to remember whether I could ride wheelies as a kid. Could I? I honestly can’t remember. It seems plausible and implausible at the same time.

Such is the fragile and unreliable nature of memories.

A Little Reworking

Wednesday 15 July 2020 | 0 Comments

Tuesday Adventures

Tuesday 14 July 2020 | 0 Comments

We all woke up at seven this morning. For K, that was sleeping in half an hour; for me, that was my normal wake up time; for E, well, it depends; for L, it was definitely early. Our plan: a morning bike ride on a route that we repeat regularly to check for improvement. After mapping out a route, we headed out. I stuck with the Girl because I knew she would be zooming ahead; K stuck with the Boy because he just doesn't have the stamina a thirteen-year-old possesses. L and I made the 7 km ride in 24 minutes, which means an average speed of 16 km/h. Not too bad for a then-fussy girl who didn't even want to get out of bed to begin with.

After breakfast, the Boy and I set up his wooden train set to take some pictures: he wants to sell it (eBay? Facebook Marketplace? Craig's List?) since he doesn't play with it anymore.

Then we did the same with his Duplo blocks. "I haven't touched those in years!" he proudly informed me. But after we just display them, we have to make something out of them.

One last time.

The afternoon passes with a lot of reading.

The Girl reads Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in its entirety for the second time. It's the HP book I've agreed to read, so she wanted to get through it quickly so I could read it. I struggled through the end of Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot -- a book I had high hopes for but which ultimately left me disappointed.

In the evening, the Girl played a game of chess with K while E and I went on another bike ride:

And throughout the day, I popped downstairs for the next lesson in the series on Photoshop compositing and ended this evening with this creation:

Next step -- apply those newly-learned skills to pictures of my own kids...

Stay-cation

Monday 13 July 2020 | 0 Comments

We were supposed to be leaving tomorrow for a small vacation with the family. It seems like a crazy idea to go out during a pandemic, but we were just going to the beach — easy enough to stay away from everyone, and since we were Airbnb-ing it, we wouldn’t even have to go inside restaurants or stores.

Then we realized K and I have chickenpox. How is it possible to have chickenpox during a pandemic that is forcing us to isolate ourselves? Well, we go to the store; K occasionally works with real estate clients; we have been going for hikes. During all of this, we take the appropriate CDC-recommended precautions.

Morning reading session

What’s more frustrating about it is that I’ve had them before. When my best friend came down with chickenpox our senior year, I was one of the friends who would drop by every day and tell him what he’d missed in school. I brought over R.E.M.’s newest release at the time (Out of Time). and we listened to it together.

Perhaps it was for the best, though — perhaps we were being idiots even for thinking about it. At any rate, the Airbnb host agreed to let us change the date and agreed to be very flexible about that new date, so we’ve theoretically lost nothing. Perhaps we gained more than we thought, though.

Composite play

Sundays

Sunday 12 July 2020 | 0 Comments

sometimes suck.

Cleaning

Saturday 11 July 2020 | 0 Comments

A significant portion of our lives is involved in taking back to the outside the dirt we drag inside. When you have a cat and a dog, there's even more to contend with. When you have an eight-year-old boy, that grows yet again.

So today, the Boy and I took on his room, something that we've neglected for far too long. Sure, we've done some mild interventions, but nothing like today: everything gets dumped out; everything gets rearranged; everything gets cleaned.

Views from the Past

Friday 10 July 2020 | 0 Comments

Morning Hike

Thursday 09 July 2020 | 0 Comments

We’ve been doing more hiking lately. Three hikes in three weeks. Last week’s hike was a grueling seven-mile hike that included a fair amount of climbing. Today’s hike, in theory, seemed like it would be easier: 5.5 miles with only 1,000 feet of elevation gain.

In actuality, it was easier than even we anticipated. Much of the beginning of the hike was downhill, and then a substantial, flat portion around a lake.

Once we were halfway around the lake, we stopped for lunch and to let the dog romp about in the water and cool off.

And then the heat got to everyone. And the elevation got to E especially.

And the kids were just ready for the whole thing to be over.

Recommendations

Wednesday 08 July 2020 | 0 Comments

This year, I had a student, E, who was exceptional in many ways, but most noticeable was her certainty that she would be a published writer. Indeed, that she would make her living writing. I have no doubt that she will: she has the talent and the drive. What she’s lacking, of course, is what all young writers lack: experience. Not just live experience — reading experience is just as important. So at the end of the year, I made her a list of books I’ve read which seem to me to teach something important about writing and a few films that teach something about good storytelling:

Books

Title

Author

Reason Why It’s Important/What To Learn
Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner This is simply the best book ever written. There is so much to learn from this book:

  • Non-linear, fragmented plot
  • Multiple narrators
  • Untrustworthy narrators
  • Multiple conflicting narrators
  • Absolutely gorgeous language
  • A gripping, engrossing plot

This is unquestionably my all-time favorite book, and I read it at least once every two years.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being* Milan Kundera This novel mixes philosophical musings, random bits of weird history, and a fantastic story set in Prague, with the Prague Spring as its setting. (Google it before you read this.) Kudera uses an unconventional point of view in this book: not really first person, not really third, it’s a curious mix of both. You’ll never forget your first time reading this, and you’ll walk away wanting to imitate its totally original point of view.
As I Lay Dying William Faulkner Each chapter is told by different 15 different narrators, and it uses a non-linear plotline.
Red Plenty Francis Spufford Historical fiction at its best. This excellent novel blends actual historical characters mixed with invented characters. Each chapter is a different time and different place in the USSR with different characters, but there are a few overlaps that provide continuity, so it’s a good study of fragmented plot development.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain Twain is the master of making jokes by leaving much of the joke in the reader’s mind: he gets you going and then stops, knowing your train of thought will end in humor. He’s also a master of writing in comic dialect.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
My Ántonia Willa Cather There’s nothing complicated or groundbreaking in this novel. It’s just simple, linear, first-person story-telling at its best; a lovely, lovely book.
Tales of Galicia Andrzej Stasiuk This novel mixes magical-realism, untrustworthy narrators, non-linear and completely fragmented plotlines to create a masterpiece. One of my all-time favorites.
Bleak House Charles Dickens It’s Dickens — read all his works. He’s a master. He’s especially good at creating multiple plotlines and weaving them together.
Great Expectations
4 3 2 1* Paul Auster The book of multiple plotlines: this novel takes one character and imagines four different lives for him. There are overlaps and similarities, but it’s the differences that make the book incredible. And that ending: you see it coming a thousand miles away, and yet it still shocks you and takes your breath away.
The Noise of Time Julian Barnes This novel is told in short fragments. There is a plot, but it’s not immediately obvious.
The New York Trilogy Paul Auster The meta-fiction masterpiece in which the author mixes real life with the story, this novel layers different realities (including the reader’s) into a mind-bending blending of storylines.
East of Eden John Steinbeck Possibly the greatest straight, simple, linear-plotline novelist America has produced, Steinbeck simply tells unforgettable stories in a straightforward, compelling manner.
The Grapes of Wrath
Being There* Jerzy Kosiński This novel utilizes something like magical realism in a subdued way.
One Hundred Years of Solitude* Gabriel Garcia Marquez The master of magical realism, Marquez is a spellbinding writer. You will never read a book with a story told in quite the odd, confusing, compelling way as this book. One of the most original books you will ever read.
Go Set a Watchman Harper Lee This was the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird. It will teach you how much a story can change upon revision.
To the Lighthouse Virginia Woolf This book completely blew my mind the first time I read it. There’s no way to describe what you can learn from this book. Just read it. It’s incredible.
Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoyevsky These are long, complicated novels. They are also perfect novels. Demons is my favorite and his best, but most people put Brothers Karamazov in that slot. They’re difficult to read because they require a lot of background knowledge, and the Russian names are difficult at first to someone not familiar with the language. Read along with an audio version.
Demons
Crime and Punishment
The Haunted Bookshop  Christopher Morley Everyone who loves books should read this one–a story about a bookshop?! What could be better. 
A Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles This is just a charming story. Nothing experimental or bizzare — just a great story told expertly.
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte A surprisingly modern novel that’s relatively old (1847). You’ll learn how to maintain a theme throughout a novel, how to give that theme a surprising twist toward the end.
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys One of the most original books written. This was written some 120 after Jane Eyre, and it is something of a prequel to Bronte’s novel. DO NOT read this without reading JE first. You’ll learn how to find inspiration from other books.
Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt This book will teach you how to write a memoir like a novel.
The Outsiders S. E. Hinton She wrote it when she was 16. Enough said.
The Plague Albert Camus An example of existentialist (look it up) writing — it’s a novel with a philosophical agenda.
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Jung Chang Family history at its finest. It will also teach you a lot about Chinese history.
The Name of the Rose* Umberto Eco Historical fiction that’s incredible: a mystery set in a 14th-century monastery. How could you not want to read that?
The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov What happens when a Russian writes a novel with the devil as one of the main characters? Perfection happens.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jean-Dominique Bauby I mentioned this in journalism; we read one of the chapters. From this you’ll learn how to write short, powerful observations about some of the most mundane things.
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster Jon Krakauer This is history written like it’s a novel.
The Sense of an Ending* Julian Barnes A slim book about confusion that puts the reader in the exact same spot of ignorance as the protagonist. It will teach you pacing.
Breakfast of Champions* Kurt Vonnegut A meta-novel that’s mind-bending, Breakfast also incorporates little sketches into the novel.

* Indicates mature content.

Films

Title

Reason Why It’s Important
In the Mood for Love (PG) A Chinese film. A slow, measured story that seems simple yet has incredible tension just beneath the surface. Excellent ending.
The Lives of Others (R) A German film. Absolutely the best ending of any film on the planet. My all-time favorite drama.
Conspiracy (R) This film features a bunch of men sitting around a table talking for 90% of the film. Incredible acting, though, and it will teach you what good dialogue sounds like.
Dangerous Liasons (R) Intersecting plots and plotters plotting against each other, this film will teach you how to tell a story in which emotions (in this case, fury and contempt) are always present, always hinted at, yet never fully shown — until the end. I think there was a remake of this. I’m referring to the 1988 original with John Malkovich, who is utterly brilliant in this film.

Sadly, most of these are rated R, so your folks will have to make the call on them.

Aggressive Visitor

Tuesday 07 July 2020 | 0 Comments

We had a raccoon visiting our property this afternoon. It was on the other side of the fence, but still technically on our property, and though Clover had no idea that that was the case, and though she is as much a guard dog as I am a potted plant, she raced down to the fence and confronted the raccoon.

The dog barked; the raccoon backed away, turning eventually and trotting along the creek upstream, toward the area where the Boy and I always explore. Suddenly, though, it turned back and came charging. It ran right up to the fence and began pushing against the fence, snarling and growling. Clover ran back to the raccoon, and soon they were running back and forth, the fence between them, Clover thinking it was a game, the raccoon furiously expressing its lack of amusement.

The raccoon became more and more aggressive, and I began wondering if there wasn’t something more going on. I decided it was time to un-welcome the little beast, so I took a great rock and heaved it toward the raccoon’s general vicinity. I didn’t want to hit it; just come close enough to frighten it.

It seemed to work: the raccoon darted into the stream and trotted away, but I know it will come back, and I worry about what might happen if it climbs the fence.