Posts in Writing
Listen to Your Mother -- in Kansas City
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Today I wrote about the national face of Ann Imig's amazing live performance series, Listen to Your Mother, on BlogHer. Here I thought I'd share details about the Kansas City show, which is directed by my friends Erin Margolin and Laura Seymour. Here are the details:

Be part of this national event that will be in Kansas City for the first time on May 11, 2013. We want you to join us in giving Mother’s Day a microphone!

You’re invited to join other Kansas Citians in a national series of live readings celebrated locally and shared globally via social media, blogging, and the small world of the internet. Listen To Your Mother-Kansas City is directed, produced, and performed by our local community, for our local community.

We are officially accepting submissions! Please email yours to us, ErinMargolin@gmail.com and Laura.Seymour@gmail.com. These will be accepted from now through February 15, 2013.

Commitment for cast members includes two group read-throughs in April, a pre-performance run-through at Unity Temple on the Plaza, and one 7:00 p.m. performance on May 11, 2013.

Ticket sales for this event will begin March 1, 2013. If you are interested in sponsoring or coming to our event, learn more at our website: listentoyourmothershow.com/kansascity, and please don’t hesitate to email us with any and all questions!

Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Rose Brooks Center. Rose Brooks Center provides emergency shelter to women and children escaping life-threatening abuse. Once they are safe, these families receive the tools and resources they need to begin rebuilding their life – a life built on respect, love and compassion. -Rose Brooks

 

PS: In other news, if you've ever wanted to speak at BlogHer's annual conference, you should submit a Room of Your Own idea.

Viva la voices!

Author Marketing Stuff
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So I just ordered a book campaign from Goodreads' self-serve beta program. I decided to tell you about this because I'll let you know how well it works. I've heard great things about Goodreads' ads. It's going to run from whenever it gets approved until thirty days later. We shall see!

I also ordered some bookplates. This is a way to get a book signed when you're not in physical proximity to the author. Since I am going nowhere on my book tour that doesn't exist outside of Kansas City, Missouri (I'll be at The Writers Place on April 5, please come!) So if you buy my book and you want a signed bookplate, please drop me an email at ritajarens@gmail.com. I have no expectations for volume so this is either a brilliant or stupid thing to say. We shall see!

And next week I am going to the ALA Midwinter Meeting to meet LIBRARIANS. I love librarians! I can't believe that is next week, actually. I should really get my act together.

So ... that's what I've done so far other than social media. My publisher has arranged a lovely cover reveal tour and some festivities for the release day, which is February 7. I arranged one event locally and bought bookplates, author business cards and a small online advertising campaign. I've written a ton of guests posts and done a bunch of interviews and spent $200 of my own money to buy physical copies for book bloggers who agreed to review it. Oh, and I've committed to buying books to give away on Goodreads and a few other places that haven't launched yet. All in all, this is not a lot of money and is mostly sweat equity.

I write this out because I know there are going to be a lot of authors now and in the future who are either self-publishing or publishing with small presses or are with Big Six presses but don't have a very big marketing budget. I want to figure out what works in book marketing -- besides, you know, writing a book people want to read.

What do you want to know? I'll do my best to be transparent in this process. I so appreciate all the support I've received here and elsewhere on the Internets. Word of mouth, baby -- I really, really appreciate it.

Giveaway! Strong Like Butterfly: An Anthology

Recently I heard from Pauline Campos at Girl Body Pride. Pauline's been doing amazing things out on the Interwebs for years now, and I was delighted to hear she put together an anthology that is now available at Smashwords called Strong Like Butterfly: An Anthology.

Strong like butterfly
Enter coupon code CW24A on Smashwords for 25% off the cover price through Feb. 13.

I'm always interested in helping out a fellow anthologist. However, I'm even MORE excited about this anthology (for which I was not paid to promote) because it's filled with beautiful essays (some of which are written by my friends) and because it's all about learning to love the way you look, a concept quite close to my own heart. Here is Pauline's post about the book.

My favorite line from the anthology is by H.C. Palmquist: "For, in the words of one of my dear friends, yesterday's scars are today's armor."

Editor: Pauline Campos

Contributors: Lissa Rankin, Therese Walsh, Mercedes Yardley, Leslie Marinelli, JessiSanfillippo, Carol Cain, Jeanne V. Bowerman, Abigail Green, LeslieMarinelli, Sue O'Lear, Elan "Schmutzie" Morgan, Kim Tracy Prince,Heather Palmquist, Shoshana Rachel, and Alexandra Rosas.

And Pauline is doing fun stuff in conjunction with her book's launch. Here are her notes:

Follow along for updates on the Facebook Fan page, Twitter, Google +,and Pinterest for surprise contests and giveaways, including afree Strong Like Butterfly exclusive cuff braceletdesigned by Berkey Designs, similar to the Girl Body Pride bracelet, which benefits theNational Eating Disorder Association with each sale.
 
Buy the ebookand contact me via email at girlbodypride@gmail.comwith your name and site URL. As a thank you for supporting the site's goal helpwomen learn to see themselves as beautiful in their own right, and mostimportantly, love themselves as they are, your name and URL will be posted onthe Supporters of GBP tab on www.girlbodypride.com!

I am giving away a copy of Strong Like Butterfly and as well as a signed copy of contributor Mercedes Yardley's BeautifulSorrows or WinterWonders (your choice)! To register, just leave a comment. You may enter as many times as you want. I'll close the comments and select a winner at 5 pm on Friday, February 1.

Giving Away Three Copies of THE OBVIOUS GAME

Today my interview with my publisher is up on their website, InkSpell Publishing.

My favorite part of the interview is the reveal of THE OBVIOUS GAME playlist. The chapter titles are actually all album titles from the late eighties and early nineties for no reason other than it's my book and I wanted to and the novel is set in 1990 and nobody ever either a) figured out they were album titles or b) told me that was hokey and ridiculous and I had to take it out. I haven't actually pulled this playlist together on iTunes yet, but dammit, I should do that.

The Obvious Game Playlist

Chapter 1: Pride by White Lion (1987) – When the Children Cry

Chapter 2: Appetite for Destruction by Guns N’ Roses (1987) – Welcome to the Jungle

Chapter 3: Scarecrow by John Mellencamp (1985) – Small Town

Chapter 4: True Colors by Cyndi Lauper (1986) – True Colors

Chapter 5: Can’t Hold Back by Eddie Money (1986) – Take Me Home Tonight

Chapter 6: Hysteria by Def Leppard (1987) – Hysteria

Chapter 7: Nothing’s Shocking by Jane’s Addiction (1988) – Jane Says

Chapter 8: Just Like the First Time by Freddie Jackson (1986) – Have You Ever Loved Somebody

Chapter 9: Use Your Illusion by Guns N’Roses (1991) – November Rain

Chapter 10: Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf (1977) – Bat Out of Hell

Chapter 11: Head Games by Foreigner (1979) – Dirty White Boy

Chapter 12: Faith by George Michael (1987) – Monkey

Chapter 13: Cuts Like a Knife by Bryan Adams (1983) – Straight From the Heart

Chapter 14: Double Vision by Foreigner (1978) – Hot Blooded

Chapter 15: Disintegration by The Cure (1989) – Fascination Street

Chapter 16: Poison by Bell Biv DeVoe (1990) – Poison

Chapter 17: Achtung Baby by U2 (1991) -- Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?

Chapter 18: Nevermind by Nirvana (1991) – Smells Like Teen Spirit

Chapter 19: Listen Without Prejudice by George Michael (1990) – Something to Save

Chapter 20: Out of Time by R.E.M. (1991) – Losing My Religion

Chapter 21: The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby (1986) –  Mandolin Rain

Chapter 22: Infected by The The (1986) – Out of the Blue (Into the Fire)

Chapter 23: Strange Fire by Indigo Girls (1989) – Strange Fire

Chapter 24: Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos (1992) -- China



I put a three-book giveaway on Goodreads. If you use Goodreads, go enter! And if you don't use Goodreads, consider using Goodreads, because it's such a great way to discover new authors. And friend me there so I can see what you like. I think my username is Rita Arens.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Obvious Game by Rita Arens

The Obvious Game

by Rita Arens

Giveaway ends February 05, 2013.

See the giveaway detailsat Goodreads.

Enter to win

 


And, I've been writing a ton on BlogHer and forgetting to tell you about it. I bet you won't spot the theme!

THE OBVIOUS GAME Cover Reveal & Excerpt!

I'm so excited to show you the cover for my young adult novel, THE OBVIOUS GAME, which will be published on February 7, 2013, two days after my thirty-ninth birthday.

Those of you who have been reading me for a while know what a labor of love this book was. While there was an awful lot of pain and sweat I didn't write about, I think you saw enough to know there were many days I didn't know if this would ever happen and many days when I really, really wanted to just throw down.

I'm glad I didn't. Not only is this book finally finding its way into the world, my publisher has generously offered to donate a portion of the proceeds of the book (I don't know how much yet) to the Eating DisorderFoundation, which was recommended by my friends at the Eating Recovery Center in Denver. It's my greatest hope that this novel will not only be worthwhile as a novel but will also help parents and families understand and feel compassion for someone suffering from an eating disorder and offer hope for a full recovery to those who are in the grip of it. UPDATED 1/14/2013: My publisher has informed me they have been unable to get in contact with the charity and are putting this plan on hold until they can hammer out details.

This novel was so much harder than SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK was, and I thought that was really hard. But the novel was so much more personal and so much a combination of craft that I had to learn on the job and inspiration and revisions and rejection and more revisions and hours I could've spent doing something else. I know a lot of writers talk about the pain of the writing process. For me, there is actually never a blank page because I don't sit down to write without a lot of couch time first in which I figure out what I want to say and visualize the scenes in my head. So I guess maybe I'm "writing" when I'm not writing, but that works for me, because I have so little writing time (as does everyone -- how many novelists don't have day jobs?) I have to be getting thousands of words out every time I schedule a 9-midnight with myself after my daughter goes to bed. Usually on Mondays. I seem to be more tolerant of flogging myself on Mondays, not sure why.

But I wouldn't do it if I didn't like it. I love it. I feel energized by it. I love thinking about what I'm going to write next. This is fun for me. Otherwise, I would never put myself through the rejection.

If you're working on a novel, take heart -- everyone feels the way you do on your darkest day sometimes.

TheObviousGame.v8.1-Final

 

“Everyone trusted me backthen. Good old, dependable Diana. Which is why most people didn’t notice atfirst.”

Praise for The Obvious Game:

"Lovely, evocative, painful and joyful all  in one ... much like high school." -- Jenny Lawson, author of LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED

“I couldn’t put down THEOBVIOUS GAME. Arens perfectly captures the hunger, pain and uncertainty ofadolescence.” -- Ann Napolitano, author of A GOOD HARD LOOK and WITHIN ARM'S REACH

"THE OBVIOUS GAME is afearless, honest, and intense look into the psychology of anorexia. Thecharacters—especially Diana--are so natural and emotionally authentic thatyou’ll find yourself yelling at the page even as you’re compelled to turnit." -- Coert Voorhees, author of LUCKY FOOLS and THE BROTHERS TORRES

"Let’s be clear aboutone thing: there’s nothing obvious about THE OBVIOUS GAME. Arens has written amoving, sometimes heart-breaking story about one girl’s attempt to control theuncontrollable. You can’t help but relate to Diana and her struggles as youdelve into this gem of a novel." -- Risa Green, author of THE SECRET SOCIETY OFTHE PINK CRYSTAL BALL

"THE OBVIOUS GAME explores the chasms between conformityand independence, faith and fear, discoveries and secrets, first times and lastchances, hunger and satisfaction. The tortured teenage experience is capturedtriumphantly within the pages of this unflinching, yet utterly relatable,novel. - Erica Rivera, author of INSATIABLE: A YOUNG MOTHER’S STRUGGLE WITHANOREXIA 

Book Information:

Publisher: InkspellPublishing

Release Date: Feb 7th, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-9856562-7-0(ebook), 978-0-9856562-8-7 (Paperback)

Paperback Price: $13.99

Kindle: $4.99

To be available at all majoronline outlets: Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository

Pre-order now at InkspellPublishing Website at a special discount of 30% on both paperback andebook!

Website/blog: http://www.surrenderdorothyblog.com or http://www.ritaarens.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ritaarens

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rita.arens

BlogHer: http://www.blogher.com/member/rita-arens

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=4048495&trk=tab_pro

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/ritajarens/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B002KRLEHE

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1371209.Rita_Arens

And here's a short excerpt!


 

Prologue

1987

When we were in seventh grade,Amanda and I snuck out of her house one foggy Saturday night to meet herboyfriend, Matt. We spent more time planning our escape than we did actually conductingit.

We’d made a list while pretendingto do our homework:

Wrap flashlights with blackelectrical tape. (check)

Make fake bodies out of pillowsto hide in our sleeping bags. (check)

Booby-trap her bedroom door withstring across the threshold so we could see if her mom had tried to check onus. (check)

Assemble all-black outfits,complete with stocking caps, so we would blend in with the shadows as wewalked. (check)

Arrange the rendezvous pointahead of time with Matt: the third-grade playground at the elementary school.(check)

It wasn’t until we’d successfullyshimmied down the fence, jogged the four blocks up the street, and seen Mattsitting there alone on the seesaw that I realized I had nothing at all to dowhile they giggled and kissed. I’d been so caught up in the planning portion ofour escape that I didn’t notice how pathetic my part in it seemed.

I twirled on the swings acrossthe playground and out of view, once again pretending to be totally cool withit. The thing was, though, I wasn’t cool with it. I felt about as important asthe guy who wrote the cooking instructions for Pop-Tarts.

We probably would’ve stayed therefor hours if I hadn’t finally strode over to the jungle gym, coughing andkicking rocks as I went. Amanda poked her head out.

“What’s up, Diana?”

“Can we go soon? I forgot tobring a book.”

Her expectant smile turned sour. “Okay,”she finally said, disappearing in the darkness. “Just five more minutes.”

I wandered to the edge of theplayground, thought about turning back on my own, letting her get caught outthere by herself. But I wouldn’t. That’s what friends are for. She knew it. Iknew it.

Everyone trusted me. Good olddependable Diana. Which was why most people didn’t notice at first that I wasin trouble.


It's really happening! Huzzah! Let's bring out DJ Nibbles.

DJ nibbles

Do You Use Reader's Guides?
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It's just over a week until my cover reveal (those of you who signed up on the form to participate will get info soon! And if you still want to sign up, I'll put the form at the bottom of this post) on December 20th, and I've been thinking about my novel and trying to decide whether or not it's worth it to write a reader's guide for it. I myself always read them but from a writer's point of view -- what did that writer (or his or her editor or publicist or hired hack or whoever wrote the thing) think was important about the novel? But for some reason, I'm really struggling with trying to write one for myself. And I'm not sure normal people actually use them.

And I feel silly every time I try to write it. That's the truth, and that's why I'm struggling. It's like writing a bio about yourself in the third person, which I've also had to do a lot and I feel silly every single time I do that, too. It would be easier to use the royal "we."

We would like you to tell us whether or not we should persist in the writing of a reader's guide for THE OBVIOUS GAME.

It would likely not be in the novel, but I could put it here in the new THE OBVIOUS GAME section that I haven't created yet because the cover hasn't been revealed yet and also because I can't afford to hire help and haven't yet figured out how to hack Typepad advanced templates to redesign the navigation of this blog which is going to morph into an author website somehow, how, I haven't figured out yet.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

 

In Memory of Petunia Cookie Dough Arens

I can't believe it's happened again. It's been just three years since Bella the Monster-Eating Cat died of acute kidney failure, and now our sweet Toonsie is gone, too.

At the beginning of this week, we noticed she was having trouble making jumps she could normally hit with no problem. Beloved took her to the vet, where they drew blood, clipped her toenails and watched her freak out so bad she had to wear the muzzle party hat, which she's never had to do before at the new vet. I stared at her and thought scared thoughts and Googled all the things that could be wrong, and deep in my heart I knew it was one of those things, because arthritis didn't explain the way she was looking at me, that way that says something is very, very wrong.

After two days of waiting, we called the vet, who had just picked up the phone to call us. He said the labs were normal except for one thing: her blood glucose levels. They were almost five times normal. Then he started talking about how to treat it she would need shots twice a day for the rest of her life, which would mean she'd need to be boarded every time we go to visit family, and the person who watched the cat who hisses and tries to bite anyone in a boarding/vet situation would have to give her two shots a day. And to figure out the right dose of insulin, she'd need to spend three days in the hospital. The cat who wears a party hat to get a vaccine would be in a hospital, away from us, getting lots of shots, for three days.

I asked the vet if he could estimate a ballpark of what keeping a diabetic Petunia alive would cost monthly because it seemed like an adult thing to do, and he said he'd call me back. I hung up the phone and started sobbing, scaring Beloved, who was at home looking for a job.

When the vet called back and outlined more clearly what would need to be done and how very far diabetic Petunia had become, I had to hand the phone to Beloved because I couldn't make words come out around the sobs. It was such a shock. It's always such a shock. This is the third time in five years I've been shocked like this.

At first I said it was totally manageable, totally doable. Then I started thinking through how Petunia would feel about hospitalization and boarding and daily shots, and how I wouldn't be able to explain to her that the person she loved most was sticking her every day for a good reason. She hadn't been able to explain to me something was wrong. She still purred and talked to me every time I made eye contact. Cats are notoriously good at hiding illness.

I pictured her in a hospital, being stuck for three days, and how miserable she would be. And I wasn't even sure if it would work, but I know once you take that step of extreme measures with a pet, it's very hard to stop. I gave Sybil thyroid pills every day for years and we sacrificed a mattress to her urinary tract issues.

I knew we weren't going to do it. The vet said if we weren't going to do it, we should put her down immediately, because she could go downhill very quickly. Already in the two days between when we took her to the vet and when he called she'd begun resisting being held and drinking entire bowls of water.

The little angel initially didn't react when we told her, but then, slowly, it began to sink in, and she cried with me. She couldn't go to school yesterday, and I couldn't stop crying, and so eventually I took a break and she and I drove to shelters after Beloved made the final drive with Petunia. He said he stayed as long as he could stand to breathe around the lump in his throat.

We got Petunia the day after Bella died, and this time, we didn't even wait one day. When it comes to pets, we adopt again immediately. Even though a new pet can't fill the void left by an old pet, a purring furrball salves many wounds, and I find my tears are best absorbed by fresh furr.

The tale of getting our new cats -- yes, we got two -- is actually funny, and I just can't summon the funny right now. Maybe tomorrow. But for now, I just want to thank everyone who reached out via email or Twitter or the phone with consolation. Pets are such outlets for our emotions, and Petunia got me through so many hard times. She's been my co-worker these past three years so I never felt lonely when working from home. She was hard to explain people and often misunderstood because she presented as cranky to anyone who didn't spend a significant amount of time with her. Vets hated her, boarding employees shrank from her, and she was at Wayside Waifs for nine months in a room by herself because she was the unadoptable cat who morphed into a crazy affection lap cat for Beloved and me and occasionally the little angel.

I'm glad we made the decision to put her down before she lost use of her legs. She drank two bowls of water the night before we took her in, and the vet told us she was pretty much starving because she couldn't process her food correctly. I'm glad we adopted her, even though she could be a trying cat any time we had to take her somewhere or when people came to visit with small kids. And she barfed everywhere, all the time, so much that we bought two separate steam vacuums to deal with it.

But that never mattered when she did this. Goodnight, Toonsie. I hope you are enjoying the mouse popsicles with Sybil, King and Bella in cat heaven.

Petunia's-last-night

Petunia Cookie Dough

2004-2012

IMG_0324
Bella Simone
2002-2009

IMG_1482

Sybil Louise
1989 -- 2007

And it begins again.
Does It Matter How You Make Decisions?
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Occupational hazard: I read a zillion articles and posts and tweets and emails and pitches every day, and sometimes these things synthesize into unnecessary navel-gazing in the evening hours. This makes my head hurt.

Information bias – the tendency to seek information even when it cannot affect action

Yesterday I read this New York Times article about the cost of raising a child. (Newflash: They're expensive!) The writer had already decided not to have kids, and she justified that decision by talking about financial responsibility. When she mentioned this to other mothers, they told her nothing really matters once you decide YOU WANNNNTT A BABBBBEEEEEEEEEE!

I tried to glean some insight from my discussions with women who arepersonal finance and parenting experts. I hoped they would help mereconcile the knowable and unknowable advantages and disadvantages ofhaving children. Instead I was assured that a cost-benefit analysis wasneither necessary nor helpful, and that one day I would feel the urge toprocreate, and so I would.

If you read the comment section, your eyes will bleed. People get really pumped about a complete stranger's decision to procreate -- or not.

False-consensus effect - the tendency of a person to overestimate how much other people agree with him or her.


A few hours later, I was doing my #morningstumble on Twitter and I came across the Wikipedia list of cognitive biases. IT IS LONG. I stared at it, then I bookmarked it, then I came back to it and every political ad I've ever seen in my life flashed before my eyes.

Hostile media effect – the tendency to see a media report as being biased, owing to one's own strong partisan views.

I've read all the Malcolm Gladwell books and minored in human relations. My undergraduate degree is in communications. This is not to say I know anything at all about communicating or decision-making, but I like to study it, and the older I get, the more I'm inferring from myself and my surroundings: It is debatable whether or not it will help you to understand how other people make their decisions, but it is incredibly valuable to your mental health to understand and accept how YOU make decisions.

Curse of knowledge – when knowledge of a topic diminishes one's ability to think about it from a less-informed perspective.

Every super-stressful experience to date in my life has arisen from my belief that whatever decision I made at that moment was it, the end, no second chances. Until about age 35 I thought every decision I made -- from my choice of university to the number of children I would have to the house I would buy to the career trajectory I would take to the weight I was at in that moment was as important as the decision whether or not to push the red button and blow up the world.

Illusion of control – the tendency to overestimate one's degree of influence over other external events

And, shocker, I was wrong.

Now I think there are better decisions and less good decisions, but ultimately, life is a series of decisions and -- except in life-and-death matters, of which there are not that many unless you are a professional soldier -- the bad ones are only truly horrific if you don't change your tack after making them and head in a safer direction.

Irrational escalation – the phenomenon where people justify increased investment in a decision, based on the cumulative prior investment, despite new evidence suggesting that the decision was probably wrong.


I also used to hem and haw for weeks and months over a decision, resting assured the minute I made it, I would never have to think about it again. Also not true.

Ambiguity effect – the tendency to avoid options for which missing information makes the probability seem "unknown."

Just because you made a decision that didn't work out doesn't mean there isn't a chance to course-correct ... and just because you made a smart choice doesn't mean the universe won't reach down and throw you a disease/lay-off/car accident. There are no safe places or unsafe places, there are just places.


Just-world hypothesis –the tendency for people to want to believe that the world isfundamentally just, causing them to rationalize an otherwiseinexplicable injustice as deserved by the victim(s).

So now I try to think through all the possible outcomes of my decisions and then go with my gut, even when it isn't the most fiscally prudent way or the most societaly acceptable way or even the way that would make my family the happiest in every instance. Ultimately, we all have to live with our own decisions, and sometimes the decision that will bring you the most money means you won't have a kid or the decision that makes your daughter cry for joy makes you want to stick a fork in your eye every Saturday morning.


I used to think decision-making was a skill and that I was good at this skill, because some things in my life turned out super-awesome. Then I thought I must be very bad at that skill, because of the eating disorder and the depression and the anxiety and the hurt feelings and stupid jobs and not-recession-proof houses. Then I looked at this list and realized I am neither good nor bad at decision-making: I am human.

Outcome bias – the tendency to judge a decision by its eventual outcome instead of based on the quality of the decision at the time it was made.

Why do all those commenters care whether or not that writer has children? Why do I care? I think we all care how other people make decisions because we need proof we're good at it, that we can gauge from our armchairs how the shit is going to go down.

Bias blind spot – the tendency to see oneself as less biased than other people, or to be able to identify more cognitive biases in others than in oneself.

The longer I stare at this list, the more I realize we are all just lucky we haven't all killed each other yet. And also that I really need to stop worrying about how I make my decisions, because they are never, ever, ever going to be completely rational. And I probably wouldn't want them to be. I understand how my heart pumps blood through my body, but even if I concentrate really hard, I can't stop pumping. Self-preservation vs. rational thinking -- that's the human condition smackdown, isn't it?

 

The Ability to Still See Beauty
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Today the Strangers in my Inbox brought me this video. I was struck by how this photographer worries he'll get too jaded to see the beauty walking by him on the street. My dad told me once anything is interesting if you know the details, and my writing professor told me the whole subject is here: (                          ), but your article is here: ().

Art is in the details, but getting down to the details takes quite a bit of time, and there are always things buzzing around my head trying to distract me. This next week I'm going to take a blog hiatus and focus on the details.

Happy American Thanksgiving to all of you and yours, and I'll see you again on November 26.