A Sense of Doubt blog post #2752 - Writer's Retreat Day One: To Eureka

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2752 - Writer's Retreat Day One: To Eureka

So, I decided to rent a car and drive to Eureka, CA.

Why?

Flights were almost $700, would route me through a long layover in San Francisco, and then I would still rent a car for a week.

Train trip takes 26+ hours.

And it's only about eight-nine hours and 450 miles.

Why rent? Don't I own a car?

Sure. I love my 2001 Subaru Outback that has 200,000+ miles on it. I am sure it would make it and back, but why risk a problem and put over 1000 more miles on it than I need to?

Car rental is about the same cost as the plane tickets, so it seemed to make sense. Plus I got a car with California plates (a Hyundai), so I fit in. :-)

How amazing was it that when I finally stopped to use to rest room, full up the tank, and get lunch that right off the exit there was an old style drive in with fantastic food that had been there since 1970? Talk about serendipity!!

The drive was not bad. I had wanted to leave at 8 a.m. and didn't leave until 10 a.m.

It was pretty easy going all the way. I listened to my audio book and talked on the phone some.

I didn't stop much. My longest stop was for lunch about forty minutes at 13:00, which I know because Google tracks this stuff.

I stopped again at a rest area just over the California border after going through an agricultural check station where I was let through after I answered that no, I did not have any produce. I walked around a little and got back in the car.

I stopped again to take the beach-ocean pictures below, which I think were around Crescent City. I did not take pictures driving through the redwoods though I will on the way back.

I arrived in Eureka about 18:30 and at the air bnb by 19:00 ish.

More on my lodgings tomorrow.

Working and writing...

THE TRIP DETAILS

8 hr 3 min (449 miles)

via I-5 S

Fastest route now due to traffic conditions

441 S 3rd Pl

Kalama, WA 98625

Get on I-5 S from S 1st St

2 min (0.8 mi)

Follow I-5 S to OR-99 S/NW 6th St in Grants Pass. Take exit 58 from I-5 S

4 hr 26 min (280 mi)

Follow US-199 S and US-101 S to Cottage St in Eureka

3 hr 29 min (168 mi)

3335 Cottage St

Eureka, CA 95503

ABOVE: K&R Drive-In, Oakland, OR (1:10 PM - 1:37 PM)

Northern California Coast: I believe this is near Crescent City.

Celebrated my arrival in Eureka with sake and sushi!

Spicy Tuna roll and Dungeoness Crab roll

Bayfront Restaurant

Good night!



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2208.31 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2616 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2751 - Writer's Retreat Starts Tomorrow: EUREKA, CA

Humboldt_Bay_and_Eureka_aerial_view

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2751 - Writer's Retreat Starts Tomorrow: EUREKA, CA

I finished LCC final grades yesterday.

And now, I leave tomorrow on a vacation. Though I went to Seattle in May (see this), that trip was the first and the farthest I have been from home since September 2019. Surely, there would have been travel in 2020, but there was a pandemic (there still is?).

And so, I decided to do a Writer's Retreat like I used to do. I chose Eureka, CA simply because it looked pretty, it's on the ocean, it's far enough away that it feels like getting "away from home," which means getting out of both Washington state, where I live, and Oregon, which kind of also where I live as I am in the Portland, OR metropolitan area.

I would be truly ecstatic if I had not work at all for WORK and could just write, read, eat, walk, eat, write, write, write. Though I finished LCC on Monday the 29th for the Summer quarter of 2022, I still have to prepare for Fall quarter, though I do not need to bear down on that work as the quarter starts September 19th. However, I completely re-designing my Canvas for English 101, so that's some work.

And I still have two courses at Park University that are entering Week Three.

So, my plan is to JAM all of my grading once I arrive in Eureka on Thursday and Friday, and then just maintain the expected daily activity Saturday-Tuesday and just write like a maniac.

My goal is to make progress in a few projects but mainly build momentum to be able to write daily or nearly daily even if it's just about fifteen minutes. I tend to get nervous about work and often start that right away. And when I don't start work early in the morning, I work on this blog rather than write fiction.

So, time to change how I do things because the Fall will be difficult with early mornings at school Monday-Thursday. I am going to have to squeeze in that writing time.

I want to manage this blog so that I am ahead on it (at least a week ahead) and that I work on it in the evenings and on the weekends to stay ahead and reserve mornings for writing, especially since I will probably get up at least twice a week at 4 a.m.

So I am off to Eureka to get some writing done.

Wish me good travels, good fortune, and good activity.

Carson Mansion

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2208.30 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2615 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2750 - Please stop electing IDIOTS who are also dangerous in their ignorance - MUSIC MONDAY FOR 2208.29

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2750 - Please stop electing IDIOTS who are also dangerous in their ignorance - MUSIC MONDAY FOR 2208.29


I was just going to post this video about Lauren Boebert, but since that's not music, I decided to add two covers of  the 1979 classic "Highway to Hell" by ACDC for Music Monday.

Thanks for tuning in today!

Christian nationalism is thinly veiled autocratic fascism by a radical minority hellbent on imposing their narrow-minded, bigoted, hateful way of life on the nation despite the large numbers of our citizens who do not share their views. There are even Christians AGAINST Christian Nationalism.

Along with domestic terrorists fighting to overthrow our democracy, steal our elections and voting rights/systems, and over-eager to start "shooting the libs," Christian Nationalism (which does not deserve capital letters) is one of the greatest threats to the freedom, dignity, and personal security enshrined and guaranteed by the constitution.

It's like EVERYTHING that Trump says if turned around and applied to him and his cronies is actually what is true.

Remember his pathetic and inappropriate video on January 6th, 2021 calling off his army to stop attacking the U.S. Capitol?

https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/trump-video-telling-protesters-at-capitol-building-to-go-home-transcript

I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side, but you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt. It’s a very tough period of time. There’s never been a time like this where such a thing happened, where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country. This was a fraudulent election, but we can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home at peace.

Just turn those remarks around and apply them to this Christian Nationalist movement: "so bad, and so evil."

Remember, EVERYTHING Trump says is projection of his own criminal actions.

EVERYTHING.

As he said, WE MUST FIGHT LIKE HELL OR YOU AR ENOT GOING TO HAVE A COUNTRY ANYMORE.

FIGHT.

Lauren Boebert gets the humiliation of a lifetime on national TV

Aug 19, 2022

Brian Tyler Cohen

• Fascism
• Christian Nationalism
• Evil
• Separation of church and state is literally in the first sentence of the First Amendment
• For them, The Handmaid's Tale was a BLUEPRINT

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/new-apostolic-reformation-mtg-mastriano-dutch-sheets-1234584952/

Highway To Hell - ACDC (Cover) By Smokin Aces Acoustic Duo

ClareCunninghamandJamieHiscox

Highway To Hell - ACDC (Cover) By Smokin Aces Acoustic Duo

Clare Cunningham - Vocals & Guitar

Jamie Hiscox - Guitar & Vocals

www.facebook.com/clarecunningham86

www.twitter.com/clarecofficial

http://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/trumps-insurrection-follows-long-history-christian-nationalist-violence/

Highway to Hell - Bruce Springsteen (w Eddie Vedder & Tom Morello) - Brisbane Ent Centre - 26-2-2014

Feb 26, 2014

TheAussiemusicman

AC/DC Cover - with Eddie Vedder and his magical tambourine !!

https://www.timesargus.com/opinion/perspective/christian-nationalism-2020/article_e2bb0930-e214-54ee-b582-9620f919cda3.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2208.29 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2614 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2749 - GenderQueer WIN! Ban is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2749 - GenderQueer WIN! Ban is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

This is a bit of a cheat for today's COMIC BOOK SUNDAY.

I am posting four days late, and so this news has broken SINCE and yet was not yet official on Sunday August 28th, 2022.

But this is great news for Maia Kobabe and Eir's most excellent graphic novel.

So awesome that not everyone in a position of power in this country is not willing to ratfuck the law and the constitution.






https://www.comicsbeat.com/gender-queer-scores-a-win-in-court-as-virginia-judge-dismisses-lawsuit/

GENDER QUEER scores a win in court as Virginia judge dismisses lawsuit

The lawsuit against Maia Kobabe's graphic novel memoir was dismissed today on the grounds that the law it was based on is unconstitutional.

By

 Joe Grunenwald

 -

08/30/2022 8:00 pm

Gender Queer, cartoonist Maia Kobabe‘s graphic novel memoir about eir’s journey of self-discovery with regards to eir gender identity, has over the last year become a prominent target for conservative activists, with more library challenges against it than any other book in the United States. Today saw a small victory for the embattled graphic novel, though, as a Virginia judge threw out a lawsuit against Gender Queer on the grounds that the law the suit was based on is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Virginia state delegate Tim Anderson, relied on a little-cited section of Virginia law in which petitioners could request a judicial review of a book in order to determine if the work is obscene. Should the review determine that it is, under the law the sale of that book would become illegal. Both Gender Queer and another book, Sarah J. Maas‘s 2016 fantasy novel A Court of Mist and Fury, were being challenged by Anderson’s lawsuit.

The decision today to toss the case was issued by Virginia circuit judge Pamela S. Baskervill, who granted a motion by Kobabe’s attorneys along with those filed by other Virginia booksellers and national retailer Barnes & Noble, and ultimately found the law in question unconstitutional under both the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Virginia Constitution.

For more context and in-depth analysis, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund interim director (and occasional Beat contributor) Jeff Trexler posted a long thread on the CBLDF’s Twitter feed breaking down Baskervill’s decision.

While the court’s decision to dismiss the case against Gender Queer today has no impact on the regular library challenges the book has been receiving from Conservative groups, it’s still a nice victory for Kobabe, and one that will potentially lead those aforementioned groups to think twice before trying something similar with other books they might deem inappropriate for the children. Will it, though? Probably not. But a person can dream.

RELATED AND MORE...

GENDER QUEER creator Maia Kobabe opens up about hard conversations with eir aunt on GRAPHIC NOVEL CLUB

SDCC ’20: INSPIRED panel explores personal stories in graphic novels

A Year of Free Comics: Genderqueer by Maia Kobabe explores identity with laughs and charm

My own post on GENDERQUEER:

Saturday, February 5, 2022

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2545 - Dear Book Banners, Please Actually READ Gender Queer

ALSO, check out WONKETTE'S coverage of this same issue:

Virginia Republicans Won't Get To Ban Dirty Sexporn Books From Barnes & Noble After All https://t.co/fLsWkpGOsB

— gmrstudios (@gmrstudios) September 1, 2022

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2208.28 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2613 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2748 - The Extraordinary JV

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2748 - The Extraordinary JV

Who was smart enough to draft this future Hall of Famer and my favorite pitcher of all time in all of Baseball?

Yes, me. In fantasy Baseball this year, when many stayed away from him because of his recovery from surgery, I just knew. I KNEW.

I love JV.

Here's my share today. Thanks for tuning in.

Lots of Baseball posts lately...


https://sports.yahoo.com/extraordinaray-justin-verlander-39-best-090048901.html

The extraordinary Justin Verlander is 39 … and the best pitcher in baseball

Daniel Levitt

August 10, 2022

When Justin Verlander got José Ramírez to line out to end the sixth inning in last week’s game between the Houston Astros and the Cleveland Guardians, the righty veteran walked off the field having thrown six shutout innings. Barely breaking stride, or a smile, it was yet another stellar outing on the mound.

Thursday’s victory wasn’t just another game, though. It gave Verlander his 15th win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.73, both the best in the majors. For a 39-year-old who appeared in just one game in the previous two seasons – due to an arm injury and then Tommy John surgery to repair the damaged ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow – it was another reminder of just how special a pitcher Verlander is, and how historic a season he’s putting together.

As the ace of a pitching staff that leads the AL in several major categories, including ERA, WHIP and opponents’ batting average, Verlander is a big reason why the Astros are battling with the New York Yankees for the AL’s best record. As a mark of just how dominant he’s been, Verlander is odds on favorite to win his third American League Cy Young award, and is also the runaway leader according to ESPN’s Cy Young Predictor.

Related: Hack Wilson: the hard-living Chicago Cubs star whose epic 1930 endures

Having won the award in 2011 and 2019, Verlander could join a list of only 10 others to win at least three Cy Young Awards in MLB history. And at 39, he would become part of an even smaller list to win the award at such a late age.

What’s even more remarkable is the youth of the three pitchers closest to taking the award away from him this year, if you can even call them close. Chicago White Sox’s Dylan Cease, 26, Toronto’s Alek Manoah, 24, and Tampa’s Shane McClanahan, 25, have fewer than 175 starts between them, compared with Verlander’s mammoth 473 over 17 seasons. When Verlander won his first Cy Young in 2011, and his first MVP in the same season, Cease, Manoah and McClanahan were still in high school.

Regardless of awards and his competition, Verlander may actually be getting better. If the 2022 season ended today, he would have career bests in ERA and win-loss percentage, tied-best walks per nine innings, and his second-best WHIP and opponents’ batting average, among his seasons where he pitched more than 35 innings. And if Verlander continues at this pace for a projected 10 remaining regular-season starts, he’ll eclipse 20 wins for just the third time in his career. The other two times coming in his two Cy Young seasons to date.

How is Verlander still logging sparkling numbers despite throwing more than 3,000 innings in his career? While he’s been known for his punch out power – Verlander has averaged more than a strikeout per inning in his career to date – it’s his control and ability to induce weak contact from hitters that has been most effective. Verlander’s 1.6 walks per nine innings is fourth best in the majors, and he has used his fastball half the time – down from around 60% in recent years – to allow his slider and curveball to force his opponents to generate power themselves.

As good as Verlander was until injuries threatened to end his career short – he went 16-9 with a 2.52 ERA in 2018, and 21-6 and an ERA of 2.58 in 2019 – the Astros were understandably cautious to commit too much of their payroll to him, after paying the veteran $66m over the past two seasons to essentially rehab from injury.

But after Thursday’s gem took Verlander to 130 innings pitched, a player option for next season was triggered, meaning the Astros will have their ace back in 2023 for a bargain price, by MLB standards, of $25m.

Barring a major injury, we may well be back here in a year’s time marveling over even more of Verlander’s historic feats as a 40-year-old. Until then, the Virginia native has completely destroyed his fellow 39-year-old compatriots. Of the 75 pitchers in MLB-history to have pitched at least 130 innings in their age-39 season, Verlander is in another league of his own.

No other pitcher has an ERA under two at the same age, albeit Verlander has so far pitched less than half the 268.1 innings Eddie Plank notched in 1915, who is closest with a 2.08 ERA. In the 21st century, an era when pitch and innings counts are more strictly implemented and adhered to, fellow future Hall-of-Famer Adam Wainwright of the St Louis Cardinals is closest, who put up a 3.05 ERA in 206.1 innings last season, a spectacular campaign in its own right. If not for Verlander’s astonishing numbers, it might well be Wainwright, who’s again having a great season at 40, that the baseball community would have been fawning over.

If Verlander does indeed win his third Cy Young award, his 240 career wins and counting, his MVP season in 2011 (that also included a triple crown), and his World Series ring in 2017, mean he will certainly rank among the best pitchers ever to grace a baseball field. But until he hangs up his cleats, and it may be a few more years until he does, the baseball world will have to invent new superlatives to describe just how extraordinary Justin Verlander is.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2208.27 - 10:10

- Days ago = 2612 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.