xantym

pressed, a clear shore
spends the sense of lines,
values made green with day

today sonnets blend shine and shade



(Play with magnetic poetry here.)

Due to many interruptions, I just finished The Metamorphosis after starting it about a week ago. (In truth, I read the majority yesterday.)

I am now inspired to read each critical essay included in the reprint.

This is what I plan to do next Monday: Carol Ann Duffy In Residence (poetry reading)

In order to get a refund from Western Union for a $5.00 money order, I have to send them a non-refundable processing fee of $15.00.

Obama effigy hanged in Jimmy Carter's hometown

• 19:59 @earthenwood is having a studio sale. Check it out: www.etsy.com/shop/earthenwood?section_id=6507692 #
• 20:01 @YanniKuznia zer goot. We like you that color, as opposed to beet red. I imagine you do too. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

As a member of Anticipation I am eligible to nominate works and people for those awards. If there are any works of 2009 to which you would particularly like to draw my attention, please let me know and I will aim to include them in my review.

Thanks.

Early menstruation linked to heart disease risk -- "Women who started having menstrual periods before the age of 12 may have a higher risk of developing or dying of heart disease than other women, a new study suggests." I was 11, IIRC.

Ginkgo doesn't work: Are there better ways to save your brain? -- "[A] new study [...] has found no evidence that ginkgo reduces the normal cognitive decline that comes with aging."

Biological cells reveal brain chemistry secrets -- "Scientists have developed biological cells that can give insight into the chemistry of the brain" by "chang[ing] colour when exposed to specific chemicals".

Got a pet tarantula? Better protect your eyes -- If you are squeamish about pics, don't click the link

• 20:52 @MintCondition *hug* always hard to say farewell to a good pet (and friend). #
• 20:54 Came home from new years with five lbs of peppermint bark! Nice bonus on top of good time with terrific people. #
• 20:55 @pnh indeed! Happy birthday and happy palindrome day! #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

I received an email from one of my co-editors today. If it weren't for his information, I never would have known that Danse Macabre nominated one of my poems ("Sun of the Demiurge") for the 2010 Pushcart Prize.

My chances of being selected by the judges--whomever they may be--just doubled.

How's your new year going?

I'm thinking of changing my default icon; I never use this one anyway. Also, I perhaps will resolve not to make any resolutions this time around.

Hope you all have a safe and fun New Year's eve.

I am not doing the year in perspective thing tonight. Maybe tomorrow. I have not felt much like writing lately, which is why it looks like I won't have a Wellspring to show you today. Also, I have had other things to do. Furthermore I haven't been feeling exactly well, so this week in my free time I've mostly been lying around reading British Summertime by Paul Cornell and The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson. Both really seem to reflect a lot of each author and their personal philosophy. I am glad to have read them.

Two of the most exciting developments of 2009 will not be announced until sometime in 2010. I don't know when, or I would let you know. Suffice to say, I think you will be delighted.

In the meantime, I've had years both worse and better than 2009 but I expect to be safe and among friends tonight and I get to have Brian with me all week, so I have plenty to celebrate. Hope you do too.

• 17:20 Looking forward to New Years with the CFG folks #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

I picked up Science at the library today and came across a very cogent, important article: "Racial Bias, Unspoken But Heard" by John F. Dovidio. Four separate studies (joined by a common theme) detail how nonverbal information influences the attitudes of TV audiences. "Specifically," Dovidio states, "exposure to nonverbal race bias, via evaluative conditioning, may cause perceivers to associate race with affect and thus exhibit race bias themselves" (p. 1711). The findings are stunning in their implications:

Nonverbal race bias was thus observed across 11 shows, each with an average weekly audience of 9 million, suggesting that many Americans are exposed to nonverbal race bias. These biases may occur for a variety of reasons: because actors spontaneously exhibit nonverbal bias, because biased nonverbal behavior is written into scripts, and/or because directors persuade actors to change their nonverbal behavior. Regardless, the bias appears on a number of popular television shows and thus may influence viewers. (p. 1712)

For many years, many have thought that TV influenced how viewers perceived groups portrayed in various ways on TV; however, since the '70s, it's been assumed that merely changing the content of the story or the makeup of the cast was enough to shake up longstanding beliefs. I highly recommend reading the article in full, if possible (the only free virtual content is the abstract, linked above).

Of course, I'd like to see a similar study carried out with a group that is nonwhite, then have the results compared. (Every population in these studies were white, presumably to test for conformity of these racial views.)

'Best Job' winner stung by dangerous jellyfish

Broadcasters' woes could spell trouble for free TV -- I've been seeing ads on TV (bought by broadcasters) warning consumers that free TV may be a thing of the past if congresspersons (congresspeople?) aren't contacted. This article is written as though the change is inevitable.

• 12:15 @lisalinderman You are so welcome! We miss you! #
• 12:16 Brian drove us all the way home to Yellow Springs, OH from Charlotte, NC yesterday. Have I mentioned he's my hero? #
• 12:17 @Sheryl67 stop it with the eye poking of self. Seriously. #
• 12:29 RT @sfsignal Spider Robinson fundraiser -- Only 2 days left! is.gd/5Dnh7 #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

MSNBC reports that state AGs that are part of the GOP plan to sue regarding the "kickback" that Brownback won in his part of the health care bill. This truly concerns me, as AGs are supposed to be nonpartisan.

If you attended a movie in the theater this year, which one was your favorite?

The Truth About Lie-Detection – What Works And What Doesn't -- Interesting, especially the part about how those in corrections are more likely to finger a truth-telling introvert than a liar.

• 22:31 @joe_hill i have felt that way myself, honest. #
• 22:34 Playin super scrabble with mah sweetie, my sistah, and her main squeeze. Much deliberation at each turn. #
• 22:35 Brian just bridged two columns with a single word. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter