Oh John. Times like these remind me why I like you so much.
First thoughts on the iPad? Meh.
It's basically just a supersized iPod Touch No OS, so it can't run programs, which pretty much kills any desire I have to own one -- I was hoping for a pressure-sensitive machine that could run Photoshop and Manga Studio. It'll be a great media-player, and very likely a Kindle-killer. A lot of other people will like it very much. Me, personally, I don't like having a lot of separate gadgets. I like having one gadget that does everything. And right now, for me, that gadget is my Fujitsu convertible tablet laptop. I love the damn thing so much it's a little ridiculous. There are things I'd change about it, like giving it more RAM, a bigger hard-drive, and making it about three pounds lighter. All these are minor quibbles, and it has an awful lot going for it, starting with the hot-swappable hardware bay: it holds a cd-player, a spare battery -- this is the option I use most often; with both batteries fully charged, I get close to 5 hours of drawing time -- or an empty spacer if I want to shave off a pound or so. If I want to get all crazy-nostalgic, it even came with a 3.5" drive.
It does everything. I did all the touchups for Clockwork Game on it, and I'm learning how to draw on it from scratch -- it even takes SD cards, so working from photo reference is a snap. I do all of my writing on it. I programmed my website on it. I read books on it, so having a separate machine specifically for ebooks is redundant. I watch movies on it, and use it in my office as a spare TV, by streaming Hulu and Netflix. Best of all, it's downright *cuddly*, and I really enjoy working with it. Again, my only complaint is that it's a little chunky -- but so am I, so there you go.
I never thought a piece of hardware would turn me away from my long love affair with Apple products, but Fujitsu makes a damn fine tablet -- and Apple's gonna have to turn out a much more universal product than the iPad to make me give it up. I still have (and love) my iMac, but the iPad leaves a lot to be desired.
I confess to not being very literate on the topic of Haiti's history and economic past, so I've been trying to get myself educated. Here are some of the links I've been following.
A blogpost by LJ user Browngirl
A massive linkdump from blogger Unusualmusic, at ABW.com
On the issue of adopting Haitian orphans, from Racialicious' guest contributor Atlasien
Henry Louis Gates Jr. on Thomas Jefferson and Haiti (h/t Ta-Nehisi Coates at TheAtlantic.com)
I went to ConFusion yesterday, just the one day. the highlight of the afternoon was getting the chance to speak with Peter S. Beagle for a short time while he was autographing. He had a chair set next to him, and each autograph-seeker would sit down, drinking in his soft storyteller's voice, best appreciated side-by-side rather than across a huckster's table.
He spoke touchingly of his heroes, some of whom I'd heard of (Harriet Tubman, King Christian X of Denmark and Eleanor Roosevelt), and some I hadn't (Hugh Thompson, Jr. [Beagle wrote Thompson a letter, and when an editor wanted to include it in a book about Thompson, Beagle had the opportunity to speak to Thompson on the phone]). I'd just purchased his first book, and while I was waiting in line, I'd read the first chapter, which began with a raven fetching a ring of baloney for a man named Mr. Rebeck. Seeing both together on the same page, I couldn't resist asking if Mr. Rebeck was named after the man with the sausage-machine, and Mr. Beagle said the version he'd learned was about Mr. Dunderbeck, but that he'd heard it sung both ways. He sang a verse for good measure, then told me about his dear aunt who'd taught him the song, how much he loved her as a boy, and how well and beautifully she lived her life.
I ceded the chair to another friend who had a writing question for Mr. Beagle, but I left feeling that despite its brevity, I'd had a very intimate and deep conversation with an artist with a deeply kind and loving soul -- and also that everyone else who sat in that chair would say the same thing. When I related the story to John Scalzi later that evening, he said, "Ah yes. And that's the magic of Peter Beagle."
And so it was.
On a vaguely similar note, Virus sent me this lovely story about a man searching for Kurt Vonnegut.
Well, it's been a year since RaceFail started. It's been a rather difficult time for me; I've been uncharacteristically quiet because I've been learning an awful lot about myself (and my own work) that I'm still processing through. This isn't a moment for feeling particularly good about that, for reasons that Avalon's Willow and Deepa point out in their excellent posts -- but there is reason for hope, and I'll let N.K. Jemisin explain why.
As usual, Jay Smooth says it better than I ever could:
There are apparently some concerns over Wyclef Jean's Yele organization (ETA: Jean responds here), but if I had to pick, there is hardly a better charity to donate to at this moment than Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres. I already give to them annually, and will be sending another boost as soon as I'm able.
Go read this; make sure to read all the comments, and pay special attention to the ones by Eszter and Gisela and later on by Liz Henry and Haddayr. Rock on, ladies.
H/t to Pam Noles for the link.
A few years ago, a domain name speculator bought the FieryStudios.com sitename and -- if I recall correctly -- tried to get me to buy it from them for an inflated price. I waited them out, and a couple weeks back it became available again, so I snapped it up for the next ten years. Take that, jerks.
To celebrate, I finally took some time to spruce up the old thing, and good heavens, what an embarrassment. Tables, bad code, quirks-mode-inducing DTD declarations, and some code snippets that I swear go back as far as 1998. Yes, I've had a website for going on twelve years. You kids get off of my lawn.
Anyway, it's up now, and should be reasonably bug-free. Shout if you see anything wonky.