Another Year Wiser

Posted by tmycann on Jul 15th, 2019 in indie, writing | 0 comments

I observed another birthday recently. I’m glad I no longer have that date floating out on random social media; being private with that information makes those who remember without those reminders feel more authentically connected. So I’m marching inevitably closer to the half-century mark of my life and am glad to say I’m more committed than ever to supporting what’s meaningful to me: Love, art, and friendship.

So it was no small celebration when we got word that hubs is the official opening act for the Slambovians when they play locally again next month. He’s hard at work making sure his EP is ready for release at the concert, so I’m practicing my marketing skills. Check out the promo poster, and join us if you’re in the area.

Apart from that work, I’ve been reading. There’s news about a nanofiber “skin” that could help revolutionize burn and wound care. And speculation about entangled time, both of which could have implications for book two of the Planet Seekers series. Not that I’ve made much progress with that, given all the other activities, but I do have an October deadline for getting my completed draft to my editor, so I don’t have much more time off from writing.

There were also two articles on memory that stuck with me. The first outlined tips to help us memorize. The second was much more deeply philosophical–at least in that it addressed the centuries-old falsehood that animals certainly couldn’t share the capacity for episodic memory with humans. Accumulating evidence that species as diverse as rats, dogs, dolphins, scrub-jays, and elephants are able to recall past events and replay them in their minds has been a painstaking task, unnecessarily burdened by the bias that pushes “truly scientific” people to believe mere animals couldn’t possibly share cognitive traits with humans. (Sorry-not-sorry for that sarcasm…) Now that some have jumped that hurdle, it looks like humans might benefit by gaining access to new treatments for Alzheimer’s.

Even further down the path of opinion and philosophy were two articles in The Atlantic. The first pointed out that the ubiquity of cars and driving were driven by policy changes, while the second questioned exactly what we give up by joining our lives in marriage. Both worried the disregarded hazards to health and reduced social connections were bigger than our society’s enshrinement of both institutions allows us to recognize. My take-away was that… my post-apocalyptic story might need more consideration of how relationships change when mobility is extremely restricted. And that somebody on Twitter nudged me (and other authors of post-apocalyptic stories) to include more bicycles in those settings. It totally makes sense when you consider the details. So there’s been a lot of thought percolation over here. More words are likely to result. Soon.

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