sense of doubt

Though the current project started as a series of posts charting my grief journey after the death of my mother, I am no longer actively grieving. Now, the blog charts a conversation in living, mainly whatever I want it to be. This is an activity that goes well with the theme of this blog (updated 2018). The Sense of Doubt blog is dedicated to my motto: EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY. I promote questioning everything because just when I think I know something is concrete, I find out that it’s not.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #962 - Random Thoughts and First Birthday - Throwback Thursday for 1802.22

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #962 - Random Thoughts and First Birthday - Throwback Thursday for 1802.22

Hi Mom,

Random thoughts today and a picture.

So, Mom, here, I am with another picture of us for Throwback Thursday.
I did not post one last week, but I knew I was going to get back to it today.

I have about as many birthdays behind me as ahead of me (at least I hope so), and I have lots of birthday pictures, which are going to be posted throughout the year and not just on January 19th.

These are pictures from my first birthday, and the beginning of the Tower special tradition of art cakes. I am thinking this cake may depict may be Howdy Doody, but I am waiting confirmation.
Okay, it may or may not be Howdy Doody. Dad said it was just his first attempt at making a decorated and special art cake.

THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

I know you know this, Mom, and others who read me closely or know me know of this as well, but I watch the Young and The Restless as I always did with you, Mom. It's on at 11 a.m. here, though I no longer watch much of anything as a "live" broadcast and not a recording.

Recently, I caught up on Young and The Restless programs, which I can play while I work on the things I have to do which are mindless, which are around 50% of my work each week. At one point, I had 40 some unwatched episodes, so catching up is a HUGE accomplishment.

Anyway, BIG NEWS. You would love this news, Mom.

Young and the Restless NEWS - THREE CLASSIC CHARACTERS RETURN

The characters of Lorie and Leslie Brooks and Victor's first wife Julia will all return to Genoa City canvas the week of March 26th as part of the show's 45th year anniversary reunion. It's mind boggling to me that this show has been a part of my life for that many years. But it has.

Also, this...

MELISSA CLAIRE EGAN leaves Young and the Restless

READING

I finished Binti: The Night Masquerade last night, which was my traditional reading book. I also finished Paul Cornell's London Falling, as my audio book, and immediately started the second Shadow Police book -- The Severed Streets.

Nnedi Okorafor's Binti books are some of the best books and science fiction books I have read this decade! I plan more substantial reviews of them soon.

Paul Cornell's SHADOW POLICE books are good and fun and very British-centric.

I learned the meanings of "nick" in Brit slang, which in addition to being a synonym for steal can mean both the Police HQ and the act of arresting: "you've been nicked."

Nick in British slang.

The police procedure stuff gets a bit tiresome, but the characterization of the witch and descriptions associated with it were GREAT.

SLASHDOT

Yesterday, I decided to submit a story to SLASHDOT.

As I shared before for those who so not know SLASHDOT:

What is this?

This is Slashdot, a website based on and running the Slashdot-Like Automated Story-Telling Homepage software. You're reading the FAQ.

Who does this?

Slashdot was created in 1997 by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda. Today it's owned by BIZX, LLC. Slashdot is run primarily by a handful of editors and coders, with the help of many others. As of April 2016, the Slashcode is wrangled and taunted by Drew ("SlashDrew") Kroft. The editors are Beau ("BeauHD") Hamilton, Manish ("manishs") Singh, David ("EditorDavid"), and Logan ("whipslash") Abbott.

What does the name "Slashdot" mean?

"Slashdot" is an intentionally obnoxious URL. When Rob registered the domain http://slashdot.org, he wanted a URL that was confusing when read aloud. (Try it!)

So, in my morning reading, I spied a story worthy of posting on Futurism

I wrote the story and figured out from Slashdot's limited information what it intends for use of html to create links in the story when submitted.

Not only was my story accepted, but it made the front page and with very little editing. Here's the edited version, which is what I wrote up to the word "exist" and the rest is added by the editor. I considered adding that material for context, but I was heeding warnings about brevity. Next time I do a story, I will add a bit more context as in this example.

The submission guidelines warn writers that not all stories are accepted and even fewer make the front page. Mine managed both with my first submission!! I am proud.

This was my first attempt to increase my online presence more visibly and to contribute. Another step is to contribute to an open source code project. I am also determined to write more fiction and hope to produce a short story soon and try to get it published. But then. I have said that before. I have many goals, and I do not seem to have enough hours in the day for all of them.

Regardless, here's my SLASHDOT story:

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/02/22/2121221/elon-musk-steps-down-from-ai-safety-group-to-avoid-conflict-of-interest-with-tesla

Elon Musk Steps Down From AI Safety Group To Avoid Conflict of Interest With Tesla

Posted by BeauHD on Thursday February 22, 2018 @05:10PM from the conflict-of-interest dept

New submitter the gmr writes:According to an announcement on the OpenAI blog, Elon Musk has stepped down from the board of directors of the nonprofit AI safety group, which he co-founded in 2015, due potential conflict of interest with his company Tesla. As explained in a post on Futurism, the move away from OpenAI may indicate that Tesla may be moving forward with more AI projects than most people may realize. Musk's departure may mean that Tesla is closer to delivering vehicles capable of Level 5 autonomy, "fully self-driving" vehicles that more than 35,000 Tesla customers paid for even though the technology does not yet exist."Elon Musk will depart the OpenAI Board but will continue to donate and advise the organization," the announcement reads. "As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, this will eliminate a potential future conflict for Elon." The OpenAI board of directors now consists of Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, Holden Karnofsky, and Sam Altman, with whom Musk co-founded the venture. The company reportedly plans to not only fill Musk's seat but expand their team as well.

"Open AI has also been a prominent voice in the conversation concerning the limitations, challenges, and potential dangers of artificial intelligence," reports Futurism. "Just this week, the company co-released a report with a number of other global AI experts that outlines the potential 'malicious' uses of the technology and how to prevent them."

Here's the message telling me my post made the big time!

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NEBULA AWARD NOMINATIONS HAPPENED, and so this is a reading list, especially for the short fiction, especially given the short story writing goal that I just mentioned.

https://www.tor.com/2018/02/20/announcing-the-2017-nebula-awards-nominees/

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America are pleased to announce the 2017 Nebula Awards nominees (to be presented in 2018), for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the nominees for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

The winners will be announced at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s 52nd Annual Nebula Conference in Pittsburgh, PA, which takes place from Thursday, May 17th through Sunday, May 20th at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center.

The nominees are as follows:

Novel

Amberlough, Lara Elena Donnelly (Tor)
The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss (Saga)
Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory (Knopf; riverrun)
The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Six Wakes, Mur Lafferty (Orbit US)
Jade City, Fonda Lee (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
Autonomous, Annalee Newitz (Tor; Orbit UK 2018)

Novella

River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (Tor.com Publishing)
Passing Strange, Ellen Klages (Tor.com Publishing)
“And Then There Were (N-One)”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3-4/17)
Barry’s Deal, Lawrence M. Schoen (NobleFusion Press)
All Systems Red, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)
The Black Tides of Heaven, JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)

Novelette

“Dirty Old Town”, Richard Bowes (F&SF 5-6/17)
“Weaponized Math”, Jonathan P. Brazee (The Expanding Universe, Vol. 3)
“Wind Will Rove”, Sarah Pinsker (Asimov’s 9-10/17)
“A Series of Steaks”, Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld 1/17)
“A Human Stain”, Kelly Robson (Tor.com 1/4/17)
“Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time”, K.M. Szpara (Uncanny 5-6/17)

Short Story

The Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Get Out (Written by Jordan Peele)
The Good Place: “Michael’s Gambit” (Written by Michael Schur)
Logan (Screenplay by Scott Frank, James Mangold, and Michael Green)
The Shape of Water (Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Written by Rian Johnson)
Wonder Woman (Screenplay by Allan Heinberg)

The Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy Book

Exo, Fonda Lee (Scholastic Press)
Weave a Circle Round, Kari Maaren (Tor)
The Art of Starving, Sam J. Miller (HarperTeen)
Want, Cindy Pon (Simon Pulse)

Not From Here @grantspanier

I have played hooky from work too long but before I go, here's a few pictures to close out today's post. Thanks for visiting.

art adams

Francavilla

diefraunamenshorst-3

Michael Dunn on Instagram_ “Beyond Sight”

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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 964 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1802.22 - 10:10

NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.

No comments:

I am Christopher Tower the gmr

I am Christopher Tower (or Chris), and I am a writer of stuff. I grew up in Michigan; I now live in the Portland, OR metro area. I play Ultimate, ride a bike, and supposedly educate college persons while myself being educated in college. I am married with two kids, a beagle, a curly lab, and a fiesty pug/frenche mix. I like sushi. I love all SF, fantasy, comic books, D&D, board games, and Gnosticism. I am a Jungian. I am currently studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Walden University.

SENSE OF DOUBT STATUS AS OF 0705.04 - 16:45

Sense of Doubt is not currently dedicated to any themes or special interest. The subject matter is mine and may range from comic books to ultimate or from Baseball to feminist-centered media criticism. Until I feel I have enough content for multiple blogs, or until I am seized with a desire to create multiple blogs, this is it, and appropriately so. "Sense of Doubt" came about in Bowie’s Berlin period and the dark, ambient collaborations with Brian Eno. Like the Bowie of 1978, I have my own darkness that steals over me and through me, infecting everything. At the risk of sounding far too melodramatically obsessed with my own self-flagellations, this blog dedicates itself to that darkness, that infection. But it’s fun, too. Hey, I can be amusing? Or not. It’s the way of the [w]rench. Neurosis compelling action in insecure double-checking and misunderstanding evasions. It is my way.

More from the original description text that needed editing in 2015: Furthermore, Sense of Doubt is dedicated to the random. The theme is no theme. Just questions, doubt, and uncertainty. Feel the power of not knowing the answer. So dedicated on the last day of July 2006 by the Galactic Monkey Wrench.

The Galactic Monkey Wrench

This is the logo of the Galactic Monkey Wrench. I was given the nickname Galactic Monkey Wrench in college by a friend of mine who felt that I threw the monkey wrench into the cosmos at every available opportunity. Later, in discussions with my best friend, who is the Lord of Chaos (the Loc), he asked for my title and when I told him, without thinking, he blurted out "the gmr!" Since this was random and we appreciate randomness, I became the gmr, even though technically I should be the gmw. But gmw sounds like a car or some industrial manufacturing firm that makes a strange widget of which one has never heard. This acronym fetish may make no sense to anyone else, but my friend and I are quite driven to provide acronyms for many things. At the very least, it allows us to keep our conversations obscure and often private as no one knows about what we're talking.

Monkey Wrench Books

Chris's books

A Feast for Crows

by George R.R. Martin

This book is a little slower than the others. But if you become invested in this series, it provides key information about the history of Westeros and the lands across the Narrow Sea. It may not contain chapters with my favorite characters ...

A Game of Thrones

by George R.R. Martin

Do I really need to review this book? It's one of the best books I have ever read. Martin is a great writer. All the books are great, and I am loving my time rereading them. If you have not checked out these books, start here and get ready ...

The Golden City

by John Twelve Hawks

These books are immensely entertaining. Treat yourself to some strong writing, great action, compelling characters, and a mix of metaphysics and theology. The ending of this third book, which is presumably the last, is anti-climactic and so...

Pathfinder

by Orson Scott Card

This was a fun book. Not OSC's best but very good OSC nonetheless. The best thing about is the time travel, slowing, and speeding powers of the characters and how OSC engages the reader in discussion of causality and time paradox. For fans ...

Swamplandia!

by Karen Russell

This book came to me via my wife Liesel who discovered it and urged me to read it. Beautifully written with compelling characters and a sense of the magical (yet realistic, somewhat). Funny yet full of the pathos that marks a good if not gr...

Hey, Mom! The Explanation.