*Transcendental *Logic

I’m on a Mexican Canadian radio…
I’m on a Mexican Canadian radio, woah-oh…

I’m going to be on the radio!  First time in my life; I’m so stupidly geeked that I bet I screw it up spectacularly. 

Want to listen and see if I screw up?  Well, if you’re awake, you can catch it either by living in the range of CFRU 93.3 in Canada, or by doing what I’ll do, which is catching it online at the radio station’s website.  You want the "listen live" links on the right-hand side.  The interview will be at 7:15 a.m. on Friday, July 4 (that’s 2008 for those of you who’ve been on Uberman a long time!).  And for the record, it looks like a really cool radio show, even without showcasing noobs like me.  ;)

There is also, as I understand it, a show archive on the site, where you can catch it if you missed it; and if they let me, I’ll post the interview here too (unless I really really spectacularly screw it up!). 

Hm, well, my voice is a little nasally and weird I think, but I’ve always been told I had a great face for radio!

(Gotta love that pic…I got it from http://www.freshair.co.uk, by Googling for "face for radio".  Ha!)

Aw, man.  George Carlin was one of my all-time favorites.

And you know, I don’t think any of my all-time favorites have passed away before now…it’s a feeling I’ve been waiting for and quietly dreading.  At this moment, it’s six a.m. and I just found out, so I can’t say for sure what it’s like…but I’m sure whatever I do say will pale, shrivel and die of embarrassment next to what Mr. Carlin would have said.  The man had a way with words, their composition and delivery, that you don’t get outside of great poets.  That he used it to simultaneously enlighten and unburden people (because that’s what great entertainment does; it unburdens you, of stress and misgivings) is all the more admirable.

I am, of course, in no position to eulogize for such an august personage, but I can offer what I think are two of his best clips:  The bit on abortion ("anti-abortion is anti-woman"), which will not only live in comedy legend, but eventually be politically vindicated too; and the best defense of sun-worship I’ve ever seen ("religion is bullshit").  Of course, that famous wordplay, and the "dirty words" clips, are some of my favorites too…it’s just that these two are what elevated the man from a comedian to a modern prophet in my personal pantheon.

RIP, dude.  I know they’ll never make another one like you, but I hope they manage to come close some day.  People need it.

That’s right, you can all go ahead and scream FINALLY! now — it’s done!

I’m reminded of the day I decided to write this book…two years ago in May. It was part of my decision to take up a polyphasic schedule again. I’d already decided that I needed better notes, and more actual research into this thing, to handle the type and volume of questions that were coming my way — as well as my own turgid curiosity and the world’s refusal to take up the torch for me. After six long years, my own memories of Uberman, recorded but not terribly carefully, were starting to seem uncertain and overplayed; and while the group of interested people was small, it was interested, and it was asking really good questions, one of which was whether Everyman was a viable alternative to Uberman.

Well, a whole lot has been learned in the last two years. It was hard to get here and hard to adjust to all the things that being "here" has meant, but the schedule I’ve worked out makes so much else in my life easier, I honestly don’t know how I’d manage without it. I hope that the combination of hard/easy doesn’t come across in the book as confusing…think of it as just another in a long line of paradoxes, if you like.

Some practical information:

First, I have not yet held this book in my hands. Lulu’s printing is normally excellent — I’ve used it before (on my poetry book) and my husband uses it too, and we’ve always gotten good results. I’ve checked and triple-checked the minutae of the design and seen every line of the print-ready proofs, and it all looks perfect to me. But I cannot promise, if you order a physical copy right-this-second-now, that it will be without flaw. If it’s way screwed up, I will replace it if I can afford to (i.e. if you’re planning to order ten, better wait). But I just can’t make a personal guarantee until I see it. The electronic copy is all tested and good, though.

I’ve ordered mine, and it should be here in about a week. So if you want a hard copy, you may want to wait that long, or order the electonic copy first if you don’t mind paying for both, and can’t wait.

Pricing is $9.95 for the (softcover) book, $4.95 for the downloadable PDF. The PDF does not have the covers, but is otherwise identical.

You can buy the book right now by going to this link. I will put a permanent link on the site as soon as I can (but for now, I’m already doing this when I should be doing homework!). Searching Lulu.com for "Ubersleep" or any other reasonable keyword ought to pull it up, too.

There is a free preview on the buying page as well. It’s just the covers and the first handful of pages, but it gives you an idea, I think. Note the Table of Contents if you want to see what the book contains before you buy it.

Remember to keep your receipt, since if there’s another edition of the book and you already bought one, I’ll pass you a free electronic copy of the new one.

You can also rate the book and leave reviews at the buying page; whether you do or not is totally up to you.

And I would be a total buttface for failing to take some space and say THANK YOU to everyone who asked about this book, had conversations with me about this book and/or about polyphasic sleep, told me they wanted to buy this book, and contributed to the body of knowledge on polyphasic sleep in any way. Obviously this whole deal is a lot more about you than it is about me, and I hope the book does your questions and your learning and your pioneering spirits some justice.

Good ni–oh, wait.

It’s not naptime for a while yet!

;)

In honor of the passing of one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time, here is one of his short stories, called The Nine Billion Names of God.

The science is outdated, of course — it’s hard to remember, at times, that this author was actually 90 years old when he died; in everything I ever read about him, he always seemed young — but the writing is unquestionably, even in a piece this minor, almost effortlessly good.  As a writer, it’s always an effort to read this stuff critically or for your education — you keep getting sucked in.

This story has got what may be the best ending lines of just about any short story ever.  Also, I just read that in a memorial for Arthur C. Clarke and attended mostly by authors, the speaker was reading a eulogy-montage of sorts made up of famous lines from Sir Clarke’s work.  When she got to the last line of this story, the whole room said the end along with her.  Which would have made for one of the most powerful memorial experiences I can imagine.  …Which is fitting.  I may be biased, but I think he unquestionably deserves it.

I have copied out the story under the cut.

Read the rest of this entry »

Random Missives

I just saw on the Internet that the city I live in is 16 miles from Detroit.

Sixteen miles!  That kinda makes me proud.  ;)

Oo, and if the zombie outbreak starts downtown (which we all suspect it will; be honest), we’ll have at least a little time to prepare before the first wave of ‘em.

The chainmail addiction is definitely in full swing.  Wove byzantine chain last night until I ran out of that size rings, and then got frustrated at running out, even though it was almost 1 in the morning by then.  Augh my package needs to get here!  Some part of my obsession-addled brain insists that it’s not here yet because my closures aren’t good enough, and I’ve caught myself mumbling, Gollum-style, They’re getting better, yessss… Almost half is perfect, yes, perfect…NO!  NO NOT GOOD ENOUGH!  The Precious stays away from ussss!  It will not come!!  Waaauggggurgle.

Ahem.  I’m sure this phase, er, passes.  I’d hate to have to put "hefty supply of rings and pliers" on the list of things I absolutely need in order to not go postal.  Or get mixed up in organized crime so I can afford it.

That just reminded me:  If you’re at all a Terry Pratchett fan, and have not yet read Going Postal, DO.  I’ve decided that it’s my favorite, along with the ten others that are my favorites.  But it’s near the top, definitely, mostly because not only is it a kickass story and hilarious, but unlike a lot of TP’s work, this one doesn’t peter out at the end.  The end is quite fabulous; I devoured every page of that one.

Watch Out for Fall Colors:

By the way, in case it interests anyone, today is my 30th birthday.  ::whistles copyrighted song:: 

This means that I’ve officially made it 12 years past the point where everyone was betting I’d end up in jail or a loony bin.  Heh. 

My favorite thing about this phase of life is how thick everything seems — I feel like I could keep digging and learning things forever and never get far enough in.  Life used to seem relatively flat and either boring or intimidating, but lately I’ve been digging up all these things that I think I’d be content to study and practice for an aeon or so:  taiji, kung fu, yoga, chainmail, piano, singing, poetry (from both sides), other languages (I don’t know any yet, but only because I can’t afford to properly learn — it’s coming though!) … anyway, this is significantly different from how I felt when I was a kid (bored bored bored), a teenager (depressed and despairing), and a young adult (busy, breathless and confused). 

Prescient Epistemological Changes (which is both appropriate, and a joke; it’s an actual chapter-heading in one of my papers):

Also, I’ve been feeling more, um, connected to my younger self than I used to.  This could be an effect of age, or of too much philosophy .. ;)  …But it is funny; when I was younger I always felt relatively "isolated" in my identity in time:  I was me now, and me-way-back-when seemed like someone else.  Now I can feel much more of the progression, and "being me" feels like something that stretches both back and forward in time.  I wonder if that’s what people mean when they talk about "feeling old".  I wouldn’t call it that, though; I feel…bigger, not "older".

No Golden Polyphasic Calves:

(I don’t suppose I need to add that I slept in today.  It’s my birthday!  Geez.)