Video of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan

The following is a repost from BoingBoing for those who might not have already read it:

Wow! From Coilhouse:
Helen Keller — inspiration to generations and inspiration for an entire genre of schoolyard humor — and her teacher and friend Anne Sullivan in a clip from 1930 in which they describe the way in which Helen learned how to speak … It’s a fascinating little clip which pays homage to a woman who, even beyond her amazing circumstances, was a radical socialist, suffragist, and supporter of birth control, who was friends with the likes of Mark Twain and who worked tirelessly to champion the rights of both the downtrodden and the physically disabled.
(Via Richard Metzger)

Thoughts On Creative Writing Courses

For reasons I don’t exactly understand, someone sent me an email today asking for my opinion on two different creative writing courses. I’m not a fiction writer…yet, and I’ve never taken any creative writing courses other than Writer’s Craft in grade 12. However, I didn’t let that stop me. I always have an opinion, about everything. So for anyone else who wants my uninformed opinion, here you go.

Honestly, the only advice I can give you is: think carefully about what you want from the course. A lot of creative writing books, and thus I would assume courses, teach you how other people write, and what works best for them. But that doesn’t help you figure out what’s best for you. Why not start a weblog, and write in it as much as you can (daily, if you can manage it)? That’s free, and you don’t even have to risk rejection as you learn. That’s mostly how Ryerson University teaches us journalism. Every few days, I find myself out on the street, doing interviews, script writing, filming, writing for a paper, or putting together features. Our profs spend little time teaching; they make sure we have the requirements straight, and then we learn by doing. If you need critical feedback, you can join writers websites, mailing lists, or a local writers group. I’m not sure you need to take a course for that, either. And I know you don’t need to take a course to submit your work to magazines, and see what happens. You might get rejected, but you can learn from that as well as you can learn from a course.

Devotional: Accepting Our Adventure

” The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.” — J R R Tolkien

The story of Moses and the burning bush is, more than anything else, the start of an adventure. It begins a quest for Moses: a quest to free the people of Israel from slavery. As well, it marks the start of an epoch desert adventure for all the people of Israel, fraught with defeat, danger, and triumph. But the most remarkable aspect of the story is how divided Moses seems to be about accepting his quest.

When he first encounters the burning bush, Moses is consumed with curiosity, and goes to investigate right away, and see why it doesn’t burn up. But when he realizes that the angel of the Lord is within the bush, he becomes afraid to look, and hides his face.

How many of us do the same thing? Many of us long, deep inside, for something exciting to happen. We want change, and we want things to improve in our own lives, and in the rest of the world. But when we encounter a situation that offers the excitement and change we think we want so badly, we become afraid and hide our faces so we don’t have to look. When it comes right down to it, going on a mission trip next summer wouldn’t fit the schedule. In this economy, changing jobs is just too risky. We’ll do it when we have time. We’ll do it when things are more secure. Someday, we’ll live a more adventurous life. But not today. Probably not tomorrow, either.

“The rush of years just tumbles on, and we get caught in the tide, just a teardrop in the river wild of time.
We don’t have to be legends, but our eyes need to be wide, or we’ll miss the history that’s passing buy.
You don’t have to conquer alien lands, or rule empires with an iron hand; you don’t have to be a hero or a nave.
You just have to live the life you choose, no matter if you win or lose.
At least you had the wisdom to be brave!” — Terence Chua

The next difficulty Moses struggles with is one that most of us are familiar with: “Who am I,” he asks. He doesn’t believe that he is good enough to be successful. He doesn’t believe that he, Moses, could really make a difference. He doesn’t see why it should be someone like him; aren’t other people far more qualified for this sort of thing? He is flawed; shouldn’t the people doing tasks this important be perfect?

How many of us use that as an excuse to avoid our own adventures? What good would we be at habitat for humanity? We don’t know anything about building houses; we’ll let more qualified people do that. We can’t be leaders, because we have no leadership experience. We’re just one person. What difference do our donations make, really? What do we know about politics? We’ll let people who know what they’re doing campaign. We only have one vote; what difference does one vote make? We’ll keep doing what we’re comfortable with; that’s what we’re good at, anyway. Someday we’ll do something different, but not until we’re good and ready.

“Living is learning,
of star shine and wonder,
of dew drops and thunder,
the world and yourself.
Inside be turning,
and outward be growing.
You won’t find this knowing
in books on a shelf.
Learning is doing,
not watching and waiting,
or sadly debating,
what you fear to try.” — Mercedes Lackey

We pray that we are able to take a fresh look at the world around us, and see all the adventures taking place there. We pray for the wisdom to see the adventures we are called to undertake, and the ability to see how we can make a difference. We pray for the courage to act, and to take a stand, even though we may feel insecure, under qualified, and small. We pray for the ability to apply the lessons we learn in God’s grand adventure story, the bible, to our own on-going adventures. We pray that we may be granted an understanding of our place in God’s plan. But most of all, we pray for the knowledge that no matter how outnumbered and alone we may feel during our adventures, no matter what fears we may face or how long the roads we may walk, we are never left to adventure on our own. Our God is with us.

voice post numbers (with important corrections and new cities!)

Don't want to copy down those numbers? Okay, here they are. Please note that the Winnipeg number I read out was, in fact, incorrect; I missed the 2 at the beginning. The number listed hear has been corrected. Also, several new cities have been added. So: the number you dial on your regular phone (depending on where you live):

• Toronto 416-548-4739
• Calgary 403-775-2208
• Edmonton 780-628-3504
• Halifax 902-482-3738
• Kitchener 519-957-1904
• Ottawa 613-686-1602
• Quebec City 418-948-3307
• Vancouver 604-628-4266
• Winnipeg 204-480-4085

Once connected to that, dial: 17476267097 to connect with lj.
Remember! You're not calling from your authorized phone number. You must enter it.

serius

The two pay-radio services have become equal: Serius is charging extra for internet radio. A free trial is available for the next two days. At least the online quality is slightly superior to xm. I'm not sure about the regular signal; Serius's has been going quickly down hill. From what I read, XM is doing the same. Serius is still a little superior in programming, with music stations commercial free (for the moment). But XM is slightly cheaper, even though the music channels have some commercials. However, XM is owned by a combonation of AOL and Clear Channel, so that doesn't leave most ethical consumers with any option, really; we're stuck with Serius.

firearms

Not sure if this is accurate, or not:

Firearms
If you consider that there has been an average of 160,000 troops in
the
Iraq theater of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of
2,112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000
soldiers.
The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 for the
same period.
That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in
the U.S. Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in
the nation, than you are in Iraq.
Conclusion: The U.S. should pull out of Washington immediately!!

No idea of the original author. Stolen off usenet.

Bush: The Universe is all Mine! God told me So!

WASHINGTON—U.S. President George W. Bush has quietly signed a new National Space Policy that asserts his country's right to deny access to space to anyone “hostile to U.S. interests.”

full article.
I've been saying this was a threat for years and years. It was only a matter of time, really.

stupid teachers

Mo over at brownkitty has a conversation going about both stupid teachers and overly smart students. How many of us fit that last? I wanted to link to an mp3 of _Sister Catherine Claire_, but then I realized that I don't have a good place to put it. So a link to the album will have to do.

G. W. Bush: Invade Mars!

“Mars is essentially in the same orbit. Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If there is oxygen, then we can breathe.”
“[It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system.”

Launched in August 2005, the orbiter dropped into a low orbit around Mars last month to map the planet's subsurface minerals, monitor its atmosphere and look for evidence of enough subsurface ice or water to process into oxygen, concrete and rocket fuel for manned exploration.

US President George W Bush has urged NASA to focus on getting people to the moon and Mars, although a manned mission to Mars is still many years away.

full article.

last links

Yum! Another baggie of links! This is the last one for a little, as I'm off for thanksgiving. But when I get back, real articles! I promise!

Okay, so first: The Dixie Stenberg and Brassy Battalion Adventure Theater. This really, really wants to be as good as classic old time radio. For me, unfortunately, it falls short. It's got similar production standards, but the voice acting needs a little work.

If we're talking about science fiction, what we need is links to Baens Universe, a reasonably priced electronic sf magazine. If you can't afford it, strange horizons is also excelent, and free.

And on a non-science fiction, but still geek, note, have rpg web profiler, an open source D&D character sheet written in php.

As usual, we end with a quote that isn't related to anything at all:

God could have secured Noah, by the ministration of angels without putting him to any care or pains, but he chose to employ him in making that which was to be the means of his preservation, both for the trial of his faith and obedience, and to teach us that none shall be saved by Christ, but those only that work out their salvation; we cannot do it without God, and he will not without us: both the providence of God and the grace of God crown the endeavours of the obedient and diligent. — John Wesley – _John Wesley's Notes On The Old Testament_

audio games: some quick questions

I'm considering an article on the death of the audio games industry; however, before I launch into an article of this nature I'd like to back it up with more than my own opinions. If you would be so good as to briefly answer the following 10 questions in the comments, it'd be a big help.

When asking questions about audio games, I am using the guidelines of audiogames.net

These questions have been removed; this method of collecting data, as well as some of the included questions (and some questions not included) are flawed. The question of the future of the audio games industry is a larger one than I had thought, and not quite so cut and dried. I intend to take another and better shot at finding an answer; you will all hear from me sometime in the future on this issue.