@slothrop I adore trains. As an immunocompromised person, cars are safer for me, and also I live in an area where public transportation is largely terrible and crowded with severely mentally (and physically) ill people. So yes, there are nuances.
In a perfect world, and in good health, I would take trains everywhere. Some of my best travel memories are on trains.
@slothrop Man, I'll never forget the time my sister grabbed my cheeks in a way that made my chapped lips split open and blood run down my chin - the look on her face, such abject horror...
@cstross Unrelated, this question made me want to grab BOTH bags of Dot's Pretzels off my shelf - cinnamon-sugar AND garlic-parmesan - at the same time. Probably not a good idea.
I mean, we have watched the movie. I am not worried about sheltering HER, I know her. But I do not know her classmates, and I was wondering at the audacity of that choice.
I have always been of the mind of "talk frankly with your kids about stuff and sound them out/guide them about their feelings on it BEFORE they see it on TV or the internet or hear it from other kids" but every parent has their own style.
I can say that at least in my own kids' case, I fully trust them to make good life choices even if they see people making bad ones in media. They LOVE conversations about media/fandom and we have wonderful conversations about how dumb and self destructive some characters are.
@cstross Doing the exact same thing at 49, which I never expected I'd have to. Wise even if you don't have a set expiration date though. It shows you think of your readers as more than paychecks - as people who deserve to find satisfaction.
From #WritersCoffeeClub 11/16. "When did you reach the point when you thought: wow, I'm a writer? Are you still waiting?"
When someone spotted my nametag at a convention and said, "Oh my God, you're Mishell Baker!"
I'd been self defining as a writer literally for longer than I can remember, but until that point, even after being published, I had assumed that the only folks who'd read my books were people who already knew me and were doing it to support me. 😂
@cstross If anything, I'd say the message of my work is that there are more kinds of love than Hollywood pays tribute to and that it's the glue that holds human society together.
I am fascinated by the different treatment people receive when they have an approximate ETA on their own death. Some value them more (time is limited), some less (no point in investing in something temporary)...
...and almost no one faces the fact that this reasoning applies to *literally everyone they know.*
"New life can spring from old. I still have wisdom to pass on. Please ... do not let them take me before my work is done. Keep the tormentors at bay... just a little longer. Give me minutes, and I will give you a thousand lifetimes."
- This WoW quest I was doing with my friends today for funsies and did not expect to end up crying a small river
Enjoy life. Be someone you would love. Make things better.World Fantasy, Nebula, Tiptree finalist repped by Russ Galen. Curator of happiness. Gamer, parent, computer science student, language nerd, cancer brat. Whatever pronouns you like.My header shows my urban fantasy trilogy - BORDERLINE, PHANTOM PAINS, and IMPOSTOR SYNDROME, against a downtown L.A. backdrop. My profile pic shows an androgynous middle aged white person with buzzed hair, smiling warmly but perhaps a little shyly.