Notices by Deb Nam-Krane (dnkboston@apobangpo.space)

Saying this up front: I hate Big Energy, and I would die happy if everyone stopped using all fossil fuels right now.

Operation Epstein Shield, aka Trump's war of choice with Iran, is highlighting how unsustainable our system is. It needs to change immediately.

Let's stop using plastic. Let's convert to local and regional regenerative agriculture. Let's make effective insulation available to everyone. Let's improve our transmission lines. Let's eat less meat.

Let's make unsexy changes 1/

#WritersCoffeeClub

April 10: What's something other writers swear by that you just don't get?

Writing every day. You want to see me do that? Sure, I can, but if I'm not feeling it, it's likely to be garbage.

#writing #writingcommunity

@ljwrites I really don't think the NaNo model is helpful beyond kick starting people into writing. Because it's not just "do it every day", but meet a certain quota of words. (I say that as someone who has participated a few times and is friends with the former admins in my city.)

For one installment to my last series, I wrote 60K words in two weeks. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and this was the fourth installment. So it can be done, but it's not always a good thing.

@ljwrites Ultimately, it's better to have something to work with than a blank page, but the first draft shouldn't be a race, right?

And maybe that's my big problem with it, because it feeds this BS publishing/production model that is mostly helpful if you're trying to chase a trend. And I get it, but it's very difficult to create something original that way.

I went to high school with an illustrator whose work seems to be pretty popular. Just judging by her output, it seems like she is regularly bursting with ideas. And good for her! But for those of us that need to let something percolate, the rush isn't helpful.

Of course, if this were how we were supporting ourselves, okay, sure, start snapping your fingers and getting things done. But if we have the luxury of being able to write without that pressure, no need to impose artificial constraints.

@Lana this is not good. I want people to refuse unconstitutional orders that violate human rights, but with our luck, some air force commander will declare himself emperor (pronoun specified on purpose).

#Boston #weirdweather #climateemergency

Give it up for the Bluest State in the Nation!

Do NOT be surprised. As I've mentioned, I regularly lobby to help raise cash assistance grants to the poorest of the poor--those who aren't even at *half* of the poverty line. Every year, because our legislature lets vulnerable people fester.

Also: ICE is taking people AFTER they have served their sentences. After decades, they're still "the worst of the worst"?

--

https://boltsmag.org/massachusetts-prisons-contract-with-ice/ ht @bmacDonald94 @bolts

#uspol

@gme @dalias @kibcol1049 You will all be happy to know that my son and his girlfriend, also an art major, nodded as soon as I suggested that abstract art might be one big money laundering scam. And then we quickly segued to Warhol, whom they basically characterized as a grifter who made memes and would, if alive today, use AI for art.

Okay! Tomorrow: traditional publishing.

The SAVE America Act would screw the #AAPI community.

Per APIAVote.org:

"20 percent of AAPIs don’t have a birth certificate on hand, 14 percent of AAPIs don’t have a passport, and only 8 percent have naturalization papers readily available."

Also, "AAPI adult citizens are also roughly two-thirds foreign-born, meaning issues naturalized citizens face would be disproportionately higher for AAPIs than for other communities."

TL;dr: a lot of AAPIs wouldn't be able to vote.

#uspol

@gme I'm disturbed thinking about this, because I think it calls into question not just art that was popularized during those periods, but also the analysis and "movements" that were built up to, perhaps, justify them.

My son is an illustration major, and he can't stand abstract works. Given the period those became popular, I'm starting to worry that he might not be entirely wrong.

@dalias @kibcol1049

@dalias Oh, I completely agree. Ever since I read the story about Hunter Biden's million dollar amateur art at a gallery, I haven't been able to look at "fine art" without thinking "money laundering". @kibcol1049

@dalias You mean what was sent to Epstein? @kibcol1049

@kibcol1049 The first number is the one that baffles me, because I can't believe Epstein would have been good for that. I tend to think those big numbers were a combination of hush money and access to other people.

The last number completely tracks.

@selzero https://audiomack.com/thatyorubagirl001/song/any-song-amunorae

@inthehands Jesus, I'm sorry. For what it's worth, nobody I know thought anything was de-escalated anywhere.

@blogdiva Definitely. American shows lean into "tragedy" re the Confederacy. Even PBS.

@lookitmychicken Made In Korea might be up your alley.

@lookitmychicken it was grim but I liked it

Another thing I love about Mastodon: you don't need to be convinced that we're heading into a massive recession that's going to make 2008 look like luxury. (Though some may need to be convinced that one of DOGE's objectives was to be able to hack into our accounts--if they don't do it, it's because they're incompetent, not unwilling.)

It's going to be so much fun in six months getting into a contest about who said this would happen first...

https://sfba.social/@drahardja/115834528246600165