Day 39 (2025 A.D.)
Mostly sunny today. Our high was 77F. Spring may come on time this year. I can only hope.
A busy day. And busy days are good days. I got a huge amount of work done on "The Beholder's Share." I think this thing that has become a novella (projected length ~10,000 wds.) should be finished by Tuesday. Anyway, after the writing, after a lot of answering email, after a bunch of stuff, we headed back to Leeds to get the new used office chair. Which we did. It's good to have seen my mother twice in three days, after not having see her for the better part of a year. By the time we got back home, Kathryn and I were both too tired to haul the new chair up the backstairs, so that will happen in the morning. No, tomorrow afternoon. But no more duct-tape throne; it goes to the landfill.
A couple of nights ago, playing Guild Wars 2, I saw someone with the name "Die Me Dichotomy." That is, of course, Episode 22 of Season Two of Farscape. It was such an unlikely screen name, seeing it made me smile. Hardcore Farscape fans still exist.
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So, that thing I said on Facebook a couple of days ago, when I asked where all the adults have gone, predictably it pissed off a few people. Inevitably. But what mystified me are the people who could not imagine how I could possibly be an adult and a writer. Because, apparently there are people who think the two are mutually exclusive. Me, I'd say no one is a decent writer until they've matured, but...let me share one of the comments (name withheld, of course), because it's just so incredibly baffling:
I agree with the sentiment to a certain extent. I’m struggling as I grow older to hold a balance of “childlike” creativity and being a full ass adult.
In your opinion, is there a middle where creativity can still flow as a child’s sometimes does while still being an adult and not getting lost?
I hardly even knew how to reply. Who is teaching kids that if they dare mature the process will destroy their creativity? Is this part of what cripples so many adults emotionally these days? Are people afraid of losing aspects of themselves by growing up? Anyway, I did reply. I said:
My creativity is the creativity that has comes from lived experience. It has nothing to do with preserving childhood. Nothing anywhere says adults have to lose any spark of creativity, and if it does it's wrong. My favorite authors, say Faulkner, Shirley Jackson, Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurty, they were adults. At sixty, I am a far better author (and scientist, also requiring creativity) than I was at 30. I never tried not to grow up. As for harnessing creativity, I honestly don't know. I do. What would I do otherwise? If I'm awake, I'm solving problems. It's that simple.
Truly, I think this upset me as much as the latest damage done by the Demonic Duo. Creativity is not an artifact of childhood. It's part and parcel to being human, and it matures as we mature. This is the sort of thing I just thought everyone understood. Silly fucking me. Also, in no way am I trying to shame the person who made the post. They put this out there, and I am merely doing my best to reply.
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Friday I started smoking again. But with the state of the world right now, I'm letting myself off the hook.
----
There's stuff Heather Cox Richardson said the last couple of days I'd like to talk about, but this has already gotten much too long. It can keep.
Later Tater Beans,
Aunt Beast
2:30 p.m.
A busy day. And busy days are good days. I got a huge amount of work done on "The Beholder's Share." I think this thing that has become a novella (projected length ~10,000 wds.) should be finished by Tuesday. Anyway, after the writing, after a lot of answering email, after a bunch of stuff, we headed back to Leeds to get the new used office chair. Which we did. It's good to have seen my mother twice in three days, after not having see her for the better part of a year. By the time we got back home, Kathryn and I were both too tired to haul the new chair up the backstairs, so that will happen in the morning. No, tomorrow afternoon. But no more duct-tape throne; it goes to the landfill.
A couple of nights ago, playing Guild Wars 2, I saw someone with the name "Die Me Dichotomy." That is, of course, Episode 22 of Season Two of Farscape. It was such an unlikely screen name, seeing it made me smile. Hardcore Farscape fans still exist.
----
So, that thing I said on Facebook a couple of days ago, when I asked where all the adults have gone, predictably it pissed off a few people. Inevitably. But what mystified me are the people who could not imagine how I could possibly be an adult and a writer. Because, apparently there are people who think the two are mutually exclusive. Me, I'd say no one is a decent writer until they've matured, but...let me share one of the comments (name withheld, of course), because it's just so incredibly baffling:
I agree with the sentiment to a certain extent. I’m struggling as I grow older to hold a balance of “childlike” creativity and being a full ass adult.
In your opinion, is there a middle where creativity can still flow as a child’s sometimes does while still being an adult and not getting lost?
I hardly even knew how to reply. Who is teaching kids that if they dare mature the process will destroy their creativity? Is this part of what cripples so many adults emotionally these days? Are people afraid of losing aspects of themselves by growing up? Anyway, I did reply. I said:
My creativity is the creativity that has comes from lived experience. It has nothing to do with preserving childhood. Nothing anywhere says adults have to lose any spark of creativity, and if it does it's wrong. My favorite authors, say Faulkner, Shirley Jackson, Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurty, they were adults. At sixty, I am a far better author (and scientist, also requiring creativity) than I was at 30. I never tried not to grow up. As for harnessing creativity, I honestly don't know. I do. What would I do otherwise? If I'm awake, I'm solving problems. It's that simple.
Truly, I think this upset me as much as the latest damage done by the Demonic Duo. Creativity is not an artifact of childhood. It's part and parcel to being human, and it matures as we mature. This is the sort of thing I just thought everyone understood. Silly fucking me. Also, in no way am I trying to shame the person who made the post. They put this out there, and I am merely doing my best to reply.
----
Friday I started smoking again. But with the state of the world right now, I'm letting myself off the hook.
----
There's stuff Heather Cox Richardson said the last couple of days I'd like to talk about, but this has already gotten much too long. It can keep.
Later Tater Beans,
Aunt Beast
2:30 p.m.