Process and Production

 

One of the most difficult things about writing, for me, is continuing to write. On this blog alone I have said many things, and try not to repeat myself too often. The problem comes when I have to produce quantity rather than quality. I've a habit of refining things to what most would consider excess- that's why I have a book draft with a only hundred pages and a dozen sections but only... perhaps two of those sections are actually what I consider to be complete. I've also developed a predilection towards brevity- to the point of my words feeling hamstrung to my subconscious. They're there, they just won't come out. So I have to take enough of them away to be able to lift the remainder from their dwelling place, and set them upon the page where they belong.

Being one's own worst critic is essentially what a writer does, after all. The drive to overcome that internal urge to endlessly tinker and refine is what helps build a successful writer more than almost anything else. 

That and a giant pile of money.

On An Unwelcome Trend

 

You are on the internet. A place meant for knowledge, exploration, and improvement- but full of uncertainty, unfamiliarity, and unpleasantness.

Deal with it.

To see someone prefacing a picture, a film, or a piece of writing with aught like "(cw:xyz)" is to immediately be less inclined to pursue any interest I might have had- largely out of sheer indignation. In the past, I have said that knowing how a story ends doesn't spoil the journey of it for me, and that will always remain true. But to see a writer or an artist making a conscious decision to knowingly turn away potential enjoyers of their work before they can take the time to explore it for themselves? That burns. When exploring media, the discovery of the experience is so much more than words, sounds, or imagery.

Are so many so unwilling to explore outside their comforts that they need be warned of what might come? Are creators so fragile as to censor themselves before their work so much as sees the light of day? Do they feel the rise of fear in their hearts if they choose not to? 

But... what if they believe it necessary?

A fine broad-strokes example, something I have seen fade to such obscurity that it may well be lost: the craft of the film trailer, or of the dust jacket blurb. Instead of intriguing or inspiring a prospective enjoyer with the work's potential possibilities, all too often now they simply lay facts and figures out in a manner so bland, so banal, as to hamstring any opinion that might be developed of the work itself. Film trailers that spoil the big twist. Book synopses that offer names and actions sans any intent. 

What is missed above all in these flawed, misappropriated mediums and methods, is the reason to delve. To interest someone enough that they explore the depths of a story, to do the detective work that might reveal to an audience that story's very soul, and through it perhaps highlight some facet of their own.

In a time where creative expression is relentlessly stifled unless tirelessly monetized, and potential audiences are so much more willing and able to spread uninformed venom, then what might yet be done?

All I can offer is the proper thing to do: ignore the warnings placed by others, and respect the quality of your audience by offering none of your own.

Yet principles do not pay for groceries. And so ever shall I hunger.

There's a reason we don't say "I'd Buy That For A Dollar!" any more

 

On occasion, I make note of a concept called a 'food desert'. In brief, those are places where there is minimal to zero access to food that isn't some sort of  quick-service food operation, or that's purchasable but prefab/frozen/dehydrated/etc. Essentially a no-fresh-groceries zone. 

They tend to be in what you might call low-income areas. Often but not always urban, they tend reliably with gerrymandered oppressed voting districts too.

This is going to kill people.  Well, more people, given that even the king of drag-ass, OSHA, 'last year criticized the company for a “continued disregard for human safety” that “suggests the company thinks profits matter more than people.” '. That's nothing new to anyone with sense, and certainly applies to far more companies than this. But for it to actually be said is always a legitimate surprise.

In many locations, establishments like Dollar Tree and its contemporaries are potentially the only affordable source for... produce. I can't even bring myself to say 'fresh produce', because some of the incarnations I've been to would give that word a hell of a workout.

The problems here are numerous, and they chain together something like this: 

• Small 'dollar stores' exist where they do because there's no viable space for the larger 'discount' chains like Walmart or Target, and the travel time and distance to such places can be logistically prohibitive.
• Bargain hunting is a myth now. Look at my supermarket comparisons from just the other week. People see 'sale prices' that aren't really any more affordable, but they still pay out. They already committed to being there and may not have the time to find an alternative- if one even exists.
• Bargain hunting is also a long-developed and constant state of mind, particularly in lower-income areas. Having been achingly poor for most of my life, I will forever despise what it's done to my shopping and spending habits. I'd rather go hungry rather than pay 'full price' for what I want to eat.

So consider. How far would you travel to get groceries? How much would you spend to get there and back? How much could you transport at a time? How much can you afford at a time? 

All questions that can loom very large for people who live in and around food deserts. Dollar stores are a shitty mitigation, but at least they exist. This latest debacle is just going to introduce more stressors where there are already too many.

Why You Must Lead With "Yes"

"No." is one of the most aggressively abused words and concepts in any language.

Refusing something is a nebulously acceptable notion, but it's one that has requirements.

"Yes" is the only acceptable default. "No" requires valid justification. You can't say no to something just because you want to, nor can you say it because your beliefs don't align with something provable.

It's tiring to see the meteoric rise in preventable disease because "people" who are uppity about vaccines think they deserve the luxury of refusing them. I have to qualify the word usage simply because that designation is, to my mind, forfeit. Upon making the choice to actively sabotage a cooperative sociocultural environment and endanger the lives of their betters, they're worse than people, even than animals.

"Oh, this prevents the spread of a disease? No, I don't care about that." Well, off to the proverbial leper colony with you. No access to any public services ever again, because you've proven that you'd poison the well if you wanted to badly enough.

Shunning the willfully ignorant, the contrarian, the reckless, the ego-driven... it's all simply good practice. Lots of actual people with knowledge, experience, and skill do incredible amounts of actual research, experimentation, and verification to make the lives of others visibly better. 

Not every person can follow the minutiae behind most of it, and that's okay- that's why expertise as a concept exists. But thinking it's acceptable to dismiss those experts' efforts due to an inability to understand them?

No, that's definitely not. The aggressively politically motivated countercultural movement towards blatant distrust of the scientific method and disregard of validated expertise in the name of profiteering and personal preference is easily the greatest danger the U.S. (are they really though?) has faced in at least the last hundred years.

And it's spreading.

The loss of a titan- Akira Toriyama

 

The news from yesterday about the death of Akira Toriyama hit really hard. There are probably about as many people alive today that would recognize his characters as readily as they would the Mona Lisa- Toriyama had a level of impact that's hard even to quantify because of how robust his work's appeal was.

I've worked in kitchens and bars where the only event besides the World Cup that got back-of-house priority was the Cell Games. There's art in every medium and style, from artists and artisans with literally nothing in common but knowing Toriyama's work. 

It could safely be said that without him, the modern anime convention might not even exist, and certainly wouldn't be nearly as well known or popularized. There's a generation or two of kids who grew up on Cartoon Network or Toonami, for whom he might have been the first introduction to the world of anime, manga, or Japan in general. 

I happened to be logged in to Final Fantasy XIV when the news broke. Within ten minutes, there was a vigil being held in one of the MMO's major cities outside the Pugilist's Guild. Within half an hour there were so many people the game couldn't even render them all on screen at once (and the number of people with orange gi glams brought a tear to my eye). None of those people probably know each other- but they all knew exactly what to do.

Dr. Slump was a fun ride. Dragon Ball is iconic. Chrono Trigger is the greatest JRPG of all time, the Dragon Quest series might never actually stop, and even his lesser known contributions like Tobal no.1 resonate with their fanbases.

That's a hell of a legacy to leave behind.

For those who can read Japanese, there are thoughts from several of his contemporaries given here- names and creators hugely well-known in their own right, all united in their respect and admiration for a departed great.

Pop Quiz: Supermarket Edition

 

I went grocery shopping today- just got back in fact. Went to two different grocery stores.

Pak'N'Save, the low-income version of Safeway.

99 Ranch Market, the closest Asian Grocery to me.

Quiz is just one question: Which one of these sets of groceries do you think cost more?

Weight-wise, the 99 Ranch haul came back 5lbs heavier, about 17 vs 12. Think it mattered?

 

 

It didn't. Pak'N'Save was 34.43, and the 99 Ranch 32.54. Five pounds more and two dollars less.

Even scouring the shelves for sales (those bagels were BOGO, the pasta was $2.00 off per box, and both the grapes and tomatoes were at least half price), the pseudo-Safeway still dug deep into my wallet.

Rather more Pak'N'Gouge than Pak'N'Save, really.

99 Ranch though? I don't even usually look for obvious sales except on known expensive items (for those not in the cheap seats, that typically means meat), and I still almost universally come out ahead. Notice also that I didn't buy anything extravagant. Maybe the lunchmeat or the tteok might count, but that's a serious stretch.

I bought nothing for drinking, no spices, no herbs, no prepackaged meals, candy, chips, snacks, none of it. That all costs so much more I can't even try to justify anything like those.

It's depressing to look at how badly some communities are being taken advantage of when it comes to something as necessary as grocery staples, and it's a serious fight to find anything workable.

Small wonder so many people are struggling to make ends meet.