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Complex Numbers #709278 added October 24, 2010 at 11:11pm
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Second Thoughts
Before I get into what I meant to talk about today, a bit of a clarification:
In 1948, an issue of Sky and Telescope provided a misinterpretation of the meaning of "blue moon" that persisted until 1999 - and, in fact, persists to this day. The article in that magazine (which was a printed thing that presaged web pages) gave the definition of a blue moon as the second full moon in a calendar month.
That, as I mentioned, turns out to be an error. It turns out that the older, and more correct, meaning for blue moon is the third full moon in a season (as in winter, spring, summer, or fall) that contains four full moons. (Though there are complications with regard to how exactly a season is determined.) This realigns the moon names with their seasonal expectations. By this rule, there will be a blue moon next month,
http://www.inconstantmoon.com/cyc_blue.htm
http://www.panic.com/blog/2009/12/on-calendars/
As a further aside, this is a great example of both how mistakes become quoted as if they were fact, as well as of how the definitions of things can be mutable. In the end, of course, we live in a much different world than the old Farmer's Almanac did, and the cycles of the moon mean little to us in our modern life, when many of us don't even bother to look for the moon, let alone care about its phase (two days past full as I write this), and almost nobody cares about the names of the moon anymore. Hell, even the seasons don't have the hold on us that they used to - not in a world where we can get winter squash in July and green onions in December.
Don't get me wrong; I like technology, especially the technology that put dudes on that very same Moon. I just can't help but feel that we've lost something along the way.
Anyway...
Shawna had the "let's just be friends" talk with Mike yesterday evening. Mike was like "okay." I'm only disappointed because it reduces the amount of vicarious drama in my life. Doesn't make me want to get cable, though. So I guess she was having second thoughts, even though she'd initiated almost all of their activities, including attending Sexy Zombie Jello Wrestling.
I got to thinking about it, and I wondered if she was expecting him to put up a fight, or get angry, or something. I get the impression some women think they need that to validate their own feelings, or whatever. I don't know... seems to me that if he'd tried to convince her otherwise, that would be saying, "you're just a girl and you don't know your own mind," which of course would set the women's movement back further than Sexy Zombie Jello Wresting did. Way I see it, though, if that's the case, he's saved himself a lot of relationship drama.
But what do I know? I'm clearly not qualified to render opinions on relationships. I was just like, "Does that mean we can still hang out with her and just talk?"
He didn't know. Sometimes "let's be friends" means "I just don't want to see you."
Someone needs to write a goddamn dictionary.
Ladies: we're not subtle. Just tell us straight out. It saves us both a lot of hassle, that way. Most of us aren't stalkers, and if you don't want us, we'll pursue one of the three billion other women out there.
I'm having second thoughts, too. I've been working toward putting together Part 2 of Prototype, my NaNovel from two years ago. I figured Part 2 would be this year's NaNo. I've gone through the motions of the wonderful "October Novel Prep Challenge"  by Brandiwynš¶  but the characters just aren't speaking to me, this time. I know where I want to take it, but I'm no longer thinking that NaNoWriMo is the appropriate venue for completing Prototype. It's just not going well for me.
There's another idea I've had bouncing around for a few years now, not science fiction but more urban fantasy, which had the working title of Avatars until fucking James Cameron released that goddamn smurf movie, thus ruining the title forever (even though my idea is completely different, and uses the old definition of "avatar.")
I think I'll have time to outline it and get ready to do the actual writing this year - all I have so far are vague ideas about the beginning, some scenes in the middle, the end, the two main characters, and the antagonists. Come to think of it, that's really all I need to start writing, but I'd prefer to go ahead and outline it first.
But it feels like giving up, even though I fully intend to edit and flesh out Prototype at some point... though we all know what my intentions are worth.
I don't know. I feel like I have to decide soon. Like, tomorrow. |
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