Sealevel Rise

Watch Rising tide on PBS. See more from Need To Know.

Pink Butterfly House

"Bullseye, Inc" by Brian D. Garrity

I love a story in which the moon is either defaced or blown up, and both are delivered by Garrity's "Bullseye, Inc."

Unlike most of the stories in Volume II, Garrity chose to continue his story that started in Volume I. "Bullseye, Inc" is several years after the first story at the precise moment A Target/Wal-Mart like company takes control of the entire planet.

What I like about "Bullseye, Inc," however, is the way race is handled. Everyone is light shade of brown except for a few remaining, now minority status protected, whites. It's a fun and plausible future to consider.

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Yup, I have a story in Cifiscape Vol II. I'm just trying to get the word out.

"The Fall of the World's Own Optimist" by Bob Lipski

When I have the opportunity to teach Literature, the absurd genre of drama is one of my favorite subjects. The Greeks never wanted to see a Tragedy and Comedy mix: to laugh at at misfortune is evil.

Tragedy should elicit pity and help, Comedy laughter and reflection.

However, seeing the misfortune of others sometimes elevates our own pain: "At least I am not that guy."

We are a culture obsessed with the misfortune of others. We need others to be worse off than we are to be able to see our lives as good.

So too, it seems, Lipski's Uptown Girl needs such a reminder. Very "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas," Love it!

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Yup, I have a story in Cifiscape Vol II. I'm just trying to get the word out!

Minneapolis Cherry

Lulu Earth Day Contest! buy The Many Lives of Inez Wick 30% off

The Many Lives of Inez Wick

30% off

Lulu is hosting a print book contest for Earth Day. I entered The Many Lives of Inez Wick, which means that a tree will be planted in the book's name.

There are other prizes for the book that sells that most copies during the contest. I've discounted my book the maximum amount of 30%, which means I'm only making $0.47 per book. If you are going to buy a copy, do it now!

"Wardrobe Malfunction" by Dale Newton

Newton's story is one that I can see happening in the future. Much of science fiction is pure fantasy and likely never to occur. Here is the setup aka voice-over style:

In a world too familiar to our own, one woman attempts to improve her life by applying for a good job at massively successful nonprofit. She has the skills. She has the education. However, her dress suit is out of juice and the default setting is to race car checker black and white. Will she overcome her nonplus attire and get the job or will her clothing sputter out living her with Emperor's New Clothes?

Such a fun story! And, yes, only lonely nerds would design digital clothing that default to see through when out of power.

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Yup! I have a story in the Cifiscape Vol II anthology. I'm just trying to get the word out.

CINDERELLA ATE MY DAUGHTER by Peggy Orenstein

Cinderella Ate My Daughter is a frightful book that tackles the way girls are marketed to from the moment they are born.

As a father of a six month old girl, I was curious about the color pink and princesses. See, my mother who bought us boys dolls of all kinds and My Little Ponies in order to help us better empathize with women, now only wants to buy my daughter pink and princesses. My mother also bought us boys all the boy toys too. She taught us how to cook and sew. I'm a good housekeeper.

However, my mother, who is most likely teasing me, wants to bring into my house a pink princess castle. I've said no a dozen times, but not really knowing why I was saying no. Well, other than when I was a kid, a princess was the kind of girl to be avoided. Princesses always needed saving, and once saved, seemed to take all the fun out of everything by wanting to play house.

Anyway, the book does a great job running through the history of both the color pink and princesses. I now have a few good reasons to limit my daughter's exposure to pink and princesses.

1. Pink is only one color.
2. Princesses lead to materialism and consumerism
3. Both limit imagination
4. Both alienate intersex play
5. Both lead girls to focus on looks instead of feelings.

There are even more reasons, but those are my big five. Yet, pink and princesses are important to girls, and once my daughter starts school will need to understand them. The key, I believe is to limit. I want my daughter to know ia is not limited and that I respect both women and femininity. Not all pink is bad.

A must read for parents of girls!

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Orenstein, Peggy. Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture. New York:  HarperCollins, 2011.

Bone Bike

More Trees

More Up-Skirt Tree Shots

Where's Oedipus When You Need Him?

Little Free Library & The Many Lives of Inez Wick

Today, I went for several walks. Everywhere I went, there seemed to be a Little Free Library. Then, Jessica had a good idea. We'd put copies of our books in a couple of them.

Thus, if you read this blog post and know your way around Minneapolis, you can get a free copy of The Many Lives of Inez Wick by me and a copy of Blameless Mouth by Jessica. your clues to the location are in the pictures.

Good Luck!

Cthulhu Rises

"The Rotation of The Earth" by David Oppegaard

"The Rotation of The Earth" by David Oppegaard is a classic story of 1940's and 1950's America. The future looked bright as we launched into outer space and modern medicine advanced. However, when thoughts of the future only help to avoid dealing with the present, horror lurks just beyond cracked bedroom doors.

This story hits home. My mother stayed home to raise and home school my brother and me. She, thank heavens, only struggled with the 1950's housewife depression and did was not as successful as the mother in this story.

Don't let anyone take your dreams of a better future from you!

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Yup, I have a story in Cifiscape Vol II. Thus, I'm helping to get the word out about the anthology!

"Harris" by Jonathan Hansen

Run!

"Harris" by Jonathan Hansen is a good zombie-like short story in the new Cifiscape Vol II: The Twin Cities anthology. The zombies are called "the broken" and are human refuse deposited back on planet earth by invaders from outer space.

Earth, and Downtown Minneapolis are in ruins. There are only a few non-broken survivors trying to avoid being eaten by the broken or taken by aliens. These survivors search Downtown Minneapolis for food, water, and Twinkies.

Run! is a lifestyle that keeps everyone safe. The question is can you run fast enough?

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Yup, I have a story in Cifiscape Vol II. Thus, I'm helping to get the word out about the anthology!

Baby Wearing F...

OK! Yes! I love wearing my baby. Nothing will change my love for wearing her, not even the stupid guys who yell stupid stuff out of their cars!

Flower Falls, Burning Bush, & Somalia Car