Thursday, May 12, 2005

Disasters great and small

Every weekday morning, I see S at my local gym. She opens the shop, runs the front counter, and makes small periodic orbits to clean machines and do all the grunt work needed to make the gym as swanky as it is. I say hi to her every morning, and we talk - small stuff. S has the distinction of being the second woman I see in the day, the first being my wife, who tries to cling to blissful slumber a little longer after her tired husband gets up to go bend himself in terrible directions.

S tells me about these headaches she's been getting, connected possibly to a lump recently removed from her throat (the scar is a dull crimson line hidden from the world unless she looks up). The doctor she talks to says she needs a CAT scan to find out what's wrong with her: a pain that flares from the back of her head, wrapping around her temples and eyes. She was asked if she had insurance, and like tens of millions of Americans, she's in that club of No. Without insurance, it's two thousand just to get the CAT scan, and that would be the start of her journey. If the scan comes up with something, well, then the ride really begins.

S says she can put down $500 for the scan as part of a good-faith measure, but it's not enough for the doctors. S asked her mom and together, they can scrape together an even grand. Will that be enough? Don't know yet. Until then, the headaches, the pain flowering in the back of her head, where it's oddly warm.

And S goes about her business trying not to think about it, cleaning the machines and smiling at customers. Tiny chatter, movement, convenient distractions whilst getting paid at a job and having no health coverage. I admire her, but I won't patronize her by saying that...me with the insurance that allowed me to pick up a swanky new pair of glasses and frames for a mere $160. Without insurance? Easily $500. I can't get angry about what she's going through because she isn't. She'd rather just go about getting things done, and made that's the best treatment she can get at this point. Thinking about how unfair it is that people have to pay thousands for a diagnosis, and maybe tens of thousands to maintain their lives, might hurt worse than the treatment. Having that pain burn in you about how unfair the system is, that's a mental ulcer I can see avoiding through busywork. S will get the money somehow, maybe. She'll get in, and I pray it's good news.

As for me, the biggest worry in my life right now is trying to find out why my Shuffle is acting up. Times like this I get that Zen moment that resembles being slapped across the face with a full-grown salmon. But then, I struggle with knowing what to do for her, if anything. As despair flowers, I start to feel tendrils of contentment pull me away, isolating my guilt in a cocoon of comfy living. I feel in me this sickening glaze of self-interest, not wanting to place myself in S's shoes. Once you see someone else struggling with health and massive debt, you want to run out of fear of it being contagious. You realize it's just a fat bit of luck you got a good job, a meager raise, and decent benefits, and when you see someone without, you wonder why you are on the "winning" side, modest as it may be. You want to help her pay the expenses, but then you don't know if you can afford it. You have half-hearted nobility in your hand, and it stings. You start to see the unlucky and destitute everywhere and you get overloaded. You can't help everyone. For every homeless guy you buy dinner for, there's two on street corners blow past while listening to the new Moby album.

And then, the cocoon comes back, nuzzles you close, whispers to you that the new Xbox is going to be revealed on MTV tonight. And, hey, you have hours of fun on DVR to watch. You have tickets for Episode 3 next Thursday. Ice cream is in the fridge. Life is good, right?

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

What happens in Idaho, Stays in Idaho

Loophole may allow US crime spree

A loophole in US law may allow people to get away with any major crime within a 50-square mile "zone of death" in eastern Idaho, according to a Michigan law professor.

This lawless oasis is said to exist on the edge of Yellowstone National Park because of a poorly drafted statute in the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution.

Criminals are entitled to be tried by a jury drawn from the state and legal district they committed their crime in, the constitution says.

But, argues Prof Brian C Kalt, while Yellowstone comes entirely under the district of Wyoming, small parts of it spill into the states of Montana and Idaho.

"You make some moonshine, you poach some wildlife, you strangle some people and steal their picnic baskets.

"You are arrested, arraigned in the park and bound over for trial in Cheyenne, Wyoming, before a jury drawn from the Cheyenne area.

"But Article III [Section 2] plainly requires that the trial be held in Idaho, the state in which the crime was committed.

"Perhaps if you fuss convincingly enough about it the case would be sent to Idaho.

"But the Sixth Amendment then requires that the jury be from the state - Idaho - and the district - Wyoming - in which the crime was committed.

"In other words, the jury would have to be drawn from the Idaho portion of Yellowstone which, according to the 2000 Census has a population of precisely zero.

"Assuming that you do not feel like consenting to trial in Cheyenne, you should go free."


Happy summer vacation, everyone.
Today's Word: Pattern

He was staring again, locked in a cerebral glaze. This time, it was a security guard who nudged him back to reality. He had been staring into the Pollack painting for 15 minutes, trying to decipher it.

*That clock sound from 24*

20 days left until the end of the term, and roughly eight weeks out until the Pacific Northwest Writers Association conference in Seattle. I still have to register, but I don't think I'm going to volunteer, but rather move from workshop to workshop and stalk agents and editors with the clumsy zeal of a rookie assassin.

Last night, it was all about the villain in class, which is proving tricky because both the hero and villain for the scene I'm working on are both the same type: feral. They have different motivations, however, so it's time to nuance that until it shines.

I should have about 15-20,000 words down before the conference, plus chunks of the beginning, middle and ending. I have the synopsis. I have the characters in place, and a list of scenes to either rewrite or, you know, write (ha!). I'm trying to get as much of the major stuff as I can, so when I do talk to agents and editors, I won't be lying all that much about the state of the manuscript.

Speaking of the PNWA conference, there's going to be only one editor on site who deals in science fiction. One, out of eight. Hey, folks. This is Seattle. I can't fire my art deco Flash Gordon raygun without zapping a sci-fi writer. We're going to descend on her like zombies on a hapless victim. It won't be pretty, and to paraphrase a sage for our times, "It'll all end in tears."

Bring Your Own Apocalypse

Hey, the local Science Fiction Museum is tempting me with an event May 21 that's up my alley and, if you are in Seattle and like speculative fiction, might be up yours too. If I go, it'll be my first time at the Science Fiction Museum, which is kind of odd for me. You'd think it'd be a place where I'd go all the time, but no. Wow. Imagine, a reclusive, anti-social sci-fi fan.

Details here

Monday, May 09, 2005

A few notes on Revenge of the Sith.

1) It's very violent. It's a war movie, a techno-samurai epic tragedy. Leave the kids at home.

2) "Star Wars" films usually work like this: If the thrill ride is enchanting, then fans can bypass some of the more flat moments. There are awkward and flat moments...any more and I spelunk into spoiler territory. Nitpickers will have a field day, casuals won't care that much. I give Lucas credit, he covered his bases: fawning fanboy, prequel-hater, indifferent moviegoer. Everyone will come away with what they want to see.

3) The back half of the film is, well, okay, remember how "Godfather" films end? The Byzantine plan in motion and lots of people end up bleeding on the floor. While "Godfather" has a brutal house cleaning sequence lasting for a few minutes, "Revenge" takes the last half to stretch out its lethal swath.

4) A few scenes seem too truncated, chopped dead when (for a first time) Lucas could have expanded interpersonal scenes to emphasize growing rifts. You'll feel a bit rushed along in the second third of the film. Some scenes last all of 30 seconds.

5) Yoda-fu doesn't look anywhere as stupid as it did in Episode 2. Jar-Jar doesn't speak a word.

6) Ian McDiarmid needs some sort of recognition for his work as Palpatine. He's the spine of this one.

7) Not everything is wrapped up from the prequels. A few items near the end feel tossed in. Again, nitpickers will bitch.

8) Saints preserve us, the political angle in the film felt right, resonant.

9) For all this noise about Lucas wanting to make movies he likes, he obviously paid attention to complaints about the first two prequels by fans and critics. He also has been watching Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and reading Shakespeare's tragedies. There's doom seeping into every scene, amplifying upon itself until the bittersweet end.

10) It's going to make a zillion bucks.

----

On edit: It's as good as "Empire Strikes Back."

On further edit: Episode 3 makes the first two even worse and, ironically, is presented in a way where you could understand everything happening without having seen the first two.
Revenge of the Sith

Awesome.

Wanna know more? E-mail.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Today's Word: Granny

She's 2,000 miles away and I miss her. I wonder how good of a grandchild I really am, since I'm so far away, and she is the last link to the grandanything. She is backwards and forwards, stronger than I am. I love her no matter what.

In The Trenches

Have to turn in three scenes in 48 hours. Mostly done, but in that frantic homestretch at this moment. After a bit of rest after writing for three hours, I go back to churn out the rough scenes, carving fantasies out of words. Strange though. If I was standing on a street corner muttering my imagery, I'd get carted away. In a class, with a writing teacher, and using a laptop, I have people eager to see what my characters are up to next.

The difference: $1,500 for writing class. Some place to go on Tuesday. $1,300 Apple snow-colored workhorse laptop. A patient set of teachers, classmates who are easily amused.

T-minus 15 hours

Until I see "Revenge of the Sith." I pray to whatever Geek god/ddesses who are listening for it not to suck. Please. C'mon. Make this one of the prequels not MST3K-worthy.