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The Craft of Writing

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Lying Lance

Lying LanceSo Lance Armstrong lied. The dreary weather matches my dreary mood. It’s not even that he used whatever he used. It’s almost not even that he had a fairly elaborate system in place to do what he did. It’s that he lied. Repeatedly.

I know. As an adult, I’m supposed to be ready for people to lie. It’s not supposed to shock me. But it does. And since I take it personally, it disappoints me, too. I honestly expect that once someone is caught cheating, that person will step up and admit it.

With Armstrong it’s even worse. Not only did he choose to lie – casting aspersions on others along the way. He waited to come clean until he wanted something else badly enough to make admitting he cheated a priority for him. To me, that makes his admission worth about – I don’t know – exactly zip?

So Lance is a fraud. A big lying fraud. Thanks a lot, Lance.

And now Lance wants to compete in other sports. Nice try.

I will not waste one second watching Lance Armstrong compete. Ever. Again. Under any circumstances.

Believe me when I tell you, I’m not lying.

(Read the ArmstrongDopingReport for yourself!)


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The New Project

I just read about an ongoing project in England. Every seven years, the same group of people is interviewed about their lives. This has been going on since they were children in the 1960’s. They are all 56 now. The filmmaker who continued the project (The Seven Up Series) after the initial set of interviews is Michael Apted – now a noted documentary filmmaker. The footage is fascinating.

I teach writing to kids through my KidWrite program. It’s a before or after school program and in the course of the program, I get to know the kids pretty well. I’d really like to know what they are like as they get older. With that in mind, I’m going to being a project where I follow ten kids from now until then. Not sure when “then” will be, but I’m excited to get started. I need to decide if they will all be the same age or if I’ll pick two or three of the same age (maybe need to follow 12 or 15).

I’m not great with video editing software…. But I can put a digital recorder on a tripod and push start….

Not sure where I’m going with this but it feels like a great idea.

Here’s to “The New Project”~


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Review of My Book!


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Redirecting Your WordPress Blog

I admit it. Sometimes, after I’ve started something, a better idea comes along. The choice is to wait until I’ve thought of the ideal name or thing – oh, wait. That’s what I thought I did – or get going with what I’ve got. The penalty of starting and changing your mind can be excessive…

The last time I needed to switch my blog to a new url it was a nightmare. I honestly don’t want to think about it, let alone describe it in detail. THIS time I decided I needed a different name for my fluid dynamics blog – I had Fluid Dynamics in Action as the name because it was about fluid dynamic principles in action. It seemed to anyone interested in fluid dynamics that I was simply not aware that fluid dynamics is the study of fluids in motion.

Anyway. I wanted to change the url for my blog from FluidDynamicsInAction to FluidsInMotion.

All I needed to do was redirect the traffic from the first url to the second. It costs $13 per year and took about three minutes to do. Imagine my delight to discover all my content and formatting is now at the new url!

Yes! So you can go to http://fluiddynamicsinaction.wordpress.com and you’ll wind up at http://fluidsinmotion.wordpress.com. If you go to http://fluidsinmotion.wordpress.com you’ll wind up there, too.

Oh. Happy, happy, happy day!

If you need to make a change between WordPress urls or even a complete change in domains, this will walk you through it.


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Press Release!

The press release is out today! It’s listed on EurekAlert! This is amazing.


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Crazy

My book came out in October and it’s been a scramble ever since. I’ve never promoted a book. Even though I’ve read what others have done to promote their books, I still wasn’t sure where to begin. I started doing anything that would attract my attention and – voila – I’m getting a mention here and there. My press release goes out tomorrow. My website is ready. My general science blog, Synthesis, is ready. My fluid dynamics blog, Fluid Dynamics in Action, is all set. I’ve tried to create a meaningful Facebook presence – sorry to everyone who has been pestered with unintended emails today!!!!!

Now all I can do is see what happens next!


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One Ring-y Ding-y

Does anyone else remember life before the phone company break up? What was to result was a new era of lower phone rates and ease of access.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

I am in one of Verizon’s layers of Hell at the moment. I don’t know my account number. The pin I think is my pin is not my pin. I know the last four digits of the account number from my ebill. I’m calling from the number of the account. I want to PAY THEM MONEY. But is that enough?

NO!

Before I can pay the bill that goes with the account for the phone I’m calling on, I have to have the pin or the account.

Speak to a person, you say? The people have left the building!

This is maddening because I know I’m going to lose my internet and phone any minute now and there’s nothing I can do about it!

WHere is Lily Tomlin when you need her?


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My Book is Out!

Yes. Modeling Ships and Space Craft: The Science and Art of Mastering the Oceans and Sky is out! Amazon.com even has a “look inside” feature on my book!

I’ve discovered that a site called Novel Rank allows me to track my ranking on Amazon.com. I’ve also learned that the ASIN number is the ISBN-10. I’m looking into ways to market my book to science profs, teachers, schools, professionals….

I’ll keep you posted!

(Here’s the blurb: Modeling Ships and Space Craft: The Science and Art of Mastering the Oceans and Sky begins with the theories of Aristotle and Archimedes, moving on to examine the work of Froude and Taylor, the early aviators and the Wright Brothers, Goddard and the other rocket men, and the computational fluid dynamic models of our time. It examines the ways each used fluid dynamic principles in the design of their vessels. In the process, this book covers the history of hydrodynamic (aero and fluid) theory and its progression – with some very accessible science examples – including seminal theories. Hydrodynamic principles in action are also explored with examples from nature and the works of man. This is a book for anyone interested in the history of technology – specifically the methods and science behind the use of scale models and hydrodynamic principles in the marine and aeronautical designs of today.)


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Blogging at BioBuzz!

I’m delighted to announce that I’m a member of the BioBuzz blog team. BioBuzz covers all things BioTech and is working to build a strong BioTech community in Maryland. They offer networking events, news, mentors, and info on career opportunities.

I’m currently covering biofuels – and couldn’t be happier about it.

Check out my first post!

Gina


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Adoption and Health Records

Unfortunately, I’ve been spending a lot of time in the ER and various doctor offices with one of my kids. This particular child happens to have joined us through adoption. I have limited – and I do mean limited – information about the birth parents. There is no information on the health history of the genetic parents.

I’ve noticed that when we are asked questions at the doctor and ER, when we answer that we don’t know, it gets recorded as a No. Now there is a world of difference between, “I don’t know if there is a family history of a horrible disease” and “There is no family history of a horrible disease.” As the record is built for this particular child, it looks as if we know for sure that a number of unsavory options are decidedly remote possibilities.

I’ve also noticed that there is no box to check to indicate that my child joined us through adoption. Neither is there a box for children who are in foster care, those who were conceived via anonymous donors, etc. As a result, we are asked the same questions about health history and must explain it over and over and over again. That would be okay if it made a difference, but each new person starts with the health history and the same set of questions. Yes. We can state at the outset that we are an adoptive family but what if my child arrives without me and is unable to speak? What poor decisions are going to be made on the basis of these flawed medical records?

I think it’s time that medical forms and records embrace the a significant portion of the population does not know the answer to some very important medical questions. There should be a box for I don’t know on the forms that comprise the basis of our health records.

Anyone out there agree with me? Maybe we can get things rolling for a much-needed change.