Cory Doctorow: Proud to be a Blockhead

Under the above title was going to be a link to Doctorow’s post of that name, but I don’t think so. Not yet. The link I pasted turned into a wall of text, virtually unreadable. So, again, this post will be the ‘About Blogging’ … how often already this year have I tagged a post that way?

Because what happens usually when I click on a Share Button, the title of the article/post to be shared and its URL are copied and saved on a virtual clipboard. Then, when I click and copy on a place in my post of my choosing ... usually after I’ve introduced the article/post as I intended to do here … the article/post will paste into the position directly under the title and shove the intro to the bottom, or into a never-never land where it can never again be found. (Yes, that is a hint to myself to save a draft though I’m not sure if that’ll work.)

I can but give it all another go.

Lol, this is a straight-out quote that reverberates in my head … from one of my own fictions, and when I say or think those words, I always feel like I’m hovering over Tardi Mack (trucker and surfer starring in Mongrel [published] and Meld [still being edited]) saying it while he is giving x y or z problem another go.

Intro

I’m proud to be a blockhead the same as Doctorow. Quoting from Doctorow’s article … “the most laughably false statement about writing ever uttered is Samuel Johnson’s notorious “No man but a blockhead ever wrote but for money”: … Yep. I’m definitely a blockhead.

There’s so much in this article that resonates with me, that I relate to, the whole article is rich with quotes about ‘making art’, creative endeavors of all kinds, how badly musicians are paid, and that by Spotify that people tell me I ought to be ashamed of not using them in preference to Apple Music, for example. All of them guilty of the same practices?

Why it’s important to read and read lots, how writing is a way of thinking, a way of working stuff out. While Doctorow is afraid his luck will run out in relation to his writing career, I’m often afraid that the internet will fall over and how easy that will be when it does, with all the links in the chain from me here typing this to you opening WordPress or your mail service, and reading. And there’s much more.

So I thought you might as well read the original … https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/21/blockheads-r-us/

Knitting

Since the tiger-knit is done, I’ve begun a project that I’ve had in mind for a few months and has already had a few trial runs. I’m amazed how well the yarn has stood up to being ‘frogged’ (knitting term that means to pull undone) four times up to now.

And even this time I was doubtful at first whether I’d keep this version as that bottom corner just will not unroll. I’ve tried a few things already, including pulling the first three rows apart. This merely caused the rolling effect to rise.

But I discovered it is probably an effect of the work being on the needles–which causes a certain tension along the sides–and which disappears when, for example, I knit half a line and the work hangs differently.

And let me tell you that the above are not the true colors! Though even the true colors, being what we used to call Vogue shades, are not my favorites. The yarn was on special, probably because no one likes them. I’m planning on throwing a bit of quinaquadrone gold at the finished work which usually fixes sickly hues such as these.

Third, as I hope you’ll have noticed by now, is the lack of a regular pattern. I wanted to see if I could knit a lacy organic-looking ‘shawlette’ to support an bunch of vines that I will crochet and/or embroider on it after the knitting.

A shawlette is a medium-sized shawl, I’m assuming. I learned the term from JS. The deepest part will about 40 cms or 17 inches. The length … not sure yet … whatever it ends up being when I’ve reached the required depth.

On the right side of the work, I’m increasing at the beginning of every line, then knitting eyelets either by (1) yarn over, slip one knit one and psso … which gives me a left-leaning stitch, and (2) yarn over and knit two together OR knit two together and yarn over … which give me right-leaning stitches. the main thing to remember is to do a yarn-over either before or after a pair of stitches knitted together. NOTE to self do not follow a yarn over directly after a yarn over.

The wrong side of the work is always purled.

By making these tiny decisions on each ‘knit’ line (on the right side of the work) for each wriggling vine wending its way up the knit, I’ll be able to pick out the strongest longest foundation vines to embellish. The rest will help build a foresty texture when I have fixed the colors.

That’s the plan, anyway.

Lodestar 64, Ahni & Kes

Here’s about half a chapter’s worth … Ahni’s and Kes’s ongoing journey, which I’m taking into a fog of indecision, it feels like. I’m forging into new territory and I have an inkling that I should’ve perhaps forwarded a few other characters onto the scene before further progress by these two.

This is one problem with publishing while writing. Times like these I wonder whether Charles Dickens ever ran into similar troubles. He also published serially, chapters in a monthly magazine.

64. Ahni on the Road Download

Unproductive Day

Having it. Any Comments I might’ve wanted to make on my daily reads … thrown down the gurgler by WP.

Sorry, #Content Catnip. Sorry, #exacticablog. Sorry, the two or three others of you. Why do I have to be logged in to make a comment? Why isn’t that stated before I start typing? All my words, disappeared into the ether again.

Not that my words are of an earth-shattering quality that must be saved at all costs! Not at all. It’s the loss of a possibility to communicate that I regret.

An unproductive day represented by a stripped shrub.

There’s so much gate-keeping happening everywhere. I’m blaming that on the lessening of good online communications. I suppose it’s a good thing for face-to-face socializations. We’ll have to go back to them out of sheer frustration.

Called my Night and Day Pharmacy to repeat a couple of scripts, to be ready for the drought during the public holidays. They called me back, said they couldn’t repeat e-scripts only paper ones. Huh? Why not? Didn’t have any problem before? I called the Doctor’s surgery. Can’t get an appointment to iron the problem out till next week. Cutting it very fine again. I have 20 days supply remaining … gets me to the New Years long weekend. Nerve wracking.

But, I will say, a kind receptionist said she would call the pharmacy to see what was what. She’ll be calling me back. And she did, and she fixed the problem. I will take Reception@HealthCarePlus a bunch of flowers tomorrow. They are wonderful!

“Take the flowers on Monday,” my sister said. “They can enjoy them all week then.”

Will do.

I’m trying to sew/embroider the tiger’s face. I need something like ‘button yarn’ for the whiskers. Button Yarn? Usually I use ordinary sewing yarn doubled for sewing on buttons. I’ve never heard of Button Yarn. The ears are too big and they still have to be stuffed. I may need to re-open the neck seam and stuff the face more.

Tiger, looking kind of dumb without ears or eyes and with hanging threads.

Bleh … that reminds me of Linus.

Caterpillars

Six of these little critters are chomping down on my bolwarra bush. Not their usual food as far as I can make out.

Reading Helen Scwenke’s & Frank Jordan’s Create More Butterflies tells me that an Orchard Swallowtail will lay her eggs on any tree or bush in the citrus family.

Yet I thought I saw a large blackish butterfly in this bush. The caterpillars somewhat resemble the instars on p33 and there is a very small sandfly bush beside the bolwarra.

The caterpillars as you can see have a much closer resemblance to those of the Fuscous Swallowtail on p20. There’s only the lime berry mentioned for host plants for thst variety of swallowtail.

Here’s one doing its weird standing-up-in-the-sun move. Never seen that before.

The whole event is pretty exciting and was one of the reasons—the possibility that butterflies would visit my balcony garden—that I decided on a level two apartment rather than, say, a level seven place.

To top it all off, me getting an in house companion in the form of a cat is what made it possible for butterflies to visit. Before I got Moggy noisy miners, a pernicious sort of bird visited the balcony despite my efforts to keep them away, and clean out all insects good and bad. They even had a go at catching my fish. Moggy keeps them away and the caterpillars are safe.

The Same Old New Rules

Rather than becoming habits, after about two weeks of mindfully performing new rules and routines, I start to take my attention off them.

Fatal! Because I’ll start to forget them. And I bet nearly everyone one of you have the same issue.

So … a new rule I’ve been trying to make into a forever habit for over four months now, is getting mobile while using the mobile phone. IE walk around the house while talking with friends and family.

Yesterday did I do that? Hardly. Spent most of my time lounging on the couch despite hearing hints, along with the call, of busy diligence in the background.

Life admin calls need a different strategy. They usually need reference to paperwork and online forms. Although there are often lengthy waits involved, you can’t walk too far from your desk.

Such as when I called the RTA (Residential Tenants Authority) about the return of my rental bond pertaining to my unit in Coorparoo. Which I left back in March this year, about eight and a half months ago.

I was 23rd in line to a call center I was informed by a ‘kind’ call center robot. My heart sank. But I was updated every 60 seconds.

Surprisingly it only took about twenty minutes for that call center to work through that number of callers. The matter is not yet resolved, but since it was Friday afternoon, I arranged to call back next week.

My social caller a few weeks back … when I walked around the house and did almost 1000 steps toward my daily goal … and I discussed whether Brisbane will be ready for its go at hosting the Olympics eight years from now.

He doubts it. I wouldn’t know. He’s in building and has not seen any of the promised new venues even begun. Though eight years seems plenty of time, a really big venue will take that amount of time and all the available expertise all by itself.

We decided there should be a new rule. Any city taking this on–hosting the Games–should use what venues they have. Is it really necessary for the Games to grow bigger and bigger? A howl of protest would go up, I’m sure.

There. I’ve reminded myself to get back on the path to getting more active. Maybe this time I’ll remember to keep going!

After the Knitting …

After the knitting comes the sewing and stuffing …

But, because of the intricacy of the knit, there can be no sewing the whole thing together and then stuffing it.

Here I’ve sewn the two body-sides together at the spine, sewn up the four legs and stuffed them, and was about to start on the tail when I discovered the underside must be done before the back and tail.

The written instructions?

The written instructions are terse. I’m having to guess and gamble in places. Such as, pay out a front paw so the underside will stretch far enough to take in the backleg on that side sufficiently.

Because of course no hand-knitter will ever achieve exactly the same tension as another hand-knitter.