Tooth Update

Well, a temporary reprieve. I went to the dentist and he was very impressed with my use of a Sonicare. Apparently not only was he pleased that I use it, but was satisified that I use it correctly. Although it has been too long-- over two years-- since I last saw a dentist, I only needed the kind of cleaning "usually needed around six months." There were also no new cavities to note.

On the other hand, the shattered wisdom tooth in my lower left jaw does have to come out and it will next Tuesday. Won't that be fun? In the meantime, he's capped it with a temporary fill that allows the tongue to skate over it and not get cut, so I can speak and eat again with slicing the underside of my tongue to shreds.

I left the dentist and found the park'n'ride under the West Seattle bridge. I was pleased to note that they've finished the new Alkai bridge extension and put in another parking lot underneath it, effectively doubling the size. I've never had trouble finding parking there in the past, and now, well, there's plenty of room.

I may try to ride my bike into work now and then by parking there and riding the rest of the way. It would probably be good for me.

On the other hand, my word count would drop terribly; I've written six thousand words since Thursday, all on buses. I'm writing this on a bus because some jackass keeps leaning over my shoulder and asking, "What are you writing?" and I didn't want to have to explain that I was writing the intersticial dialogue between two major love scenes in my latest science fiction lesbian robot three-way watersports porn story. Bwahahaha!

The Universe is Absurd, and it Starts in LA

Those of you who've read David Weber may remember The Committee On Public Safety. Believe it or not, such committees actually exist and I can't help but wonder if they're peopled by folks similar to the bloodthirsty loons Weber described.

The Los Angeles Committee On Public Safety has just drafted and sent to the city council a new proposal requiring strippers to stay six feet away from the patrons, to perform "in public view" (banning "private room" dancing), and that all financial transactions that take place be mediated by a mananger or security representative.

In Los Angeles???

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On the flip side, if you haven't seen it, check out Exactitudes, a photo montage website of subcultures. Some of them not work safe, but you can tell which ones by the thumbnails. It's an amazing collection showing how people identify with their subculture and dress like their peers.

Seeing past the shine.

One of my favorite fan writers, Nickolai Mirovich, has the strange habit of writing Pokemon' erotica novels. Thankfully, all of the erotica is between the human characters, but the fact is that in the past three years he's released a trilogy of novels around Misty and Miranda, the shortest; was 40,000 words (that's a novel by Hugo and Nebula standards, although by RWA standards it's just a "novella"), the longest over 130,000. These are books-- and they demand as much reading power as a book. The third was surprisingly good, and while the de rigeur pokemon battle at the end is well written, the encounter between Miranda and her estranged stepfather is what really makes the novel worth reading. (The title of the chapter is, "Luke, I am not your... Oh never mind.") His power is characterization; he just makes his characters come alive, and his ability to change points of view smoothly is so natural that I am pained with envy. I'm so bad at it that I consider any story where I change points of view to be strictly experimental.

I was re-reading his third novel, Misty and Miranda: Halloween Story, when I realized that he has one terrible habit. His characters rarely "say" anything. Instead, they (in order of appearance in chapter one, eliminating duplicates) comment, exclaim, grumble, chuckle, instruct, ask, inquire, mutter, apologize, assure, laugh, whisper, and then finally someone says something.

The correct word in many of these places is "said." To write, "'Well, fine!' he exclaimed," is to belabor the point. "'Take this to her,' she instructed," likewise sends the same message twice.

Sometimes, it's okay to write, "She whispered..." I've seen writers twist their writing into all kinds of weird shapes to avoid using anything except "said." David Weber gets a nice balance, but in long dialogues has often resorted to having the characters make pointless physical motions and gestures just so he can name them in a paragraph and indicate the speaker.

Just something I noticed today while waiting to have my head examined.