Transportation has always been an issue, but as gas prices bloat and government brings in carbon taxes, toll bridges (the Port Mann bridge is scheduled to have a toll booth, which will slow down the traffic even more) and other measures, all under the guise of being green, it means that people will want to seek alternative means.
Over the years, yes, people have relied more and more on their cars. When I was a child I would walk the ten-twenty blocks to school. These days everyone drives their kids. That’s partly because of the greater fear of predators, not to mention traffic has become exceedlingly congested and inconsiderate, making it unsafe for younger children.
Housing prices have become exorbitant so people have to buy farther and farther out and then commute to work. If you live east of Vancouver you have the choice of taking buses; not a time efficent mode. There is the West Coast Express or a combination of SkyTrain and buses. The first is prohibitively expensive for many. But let’s look at using buses and SkyTrain. The farther out you live, the more you pay for a bus ride as the GVRD (now changing their name to Metro Vancouver)/Coast Mountain Bus have conjointly allowed for the area to be split into zones. Which means you are punished for living farther from the downtown core.
Many people, including me, have opted to continue driving as it was cheaper for gas than a bus pass and more time effiicient. Mexico City, with a population of plus 25 million keeps their trains cheap or the city would freeze from gridlock and completely decay from the pollution, which is already extremely bad. Cities like New York have an efficient subway system that runs frequently to all the boroughs and is comparably priced.
Efficiency means reliable. The bus/train system here has suffered from numerous breakdowns, especially in the winter. The stations are filthy and have a high criminal element lurking about. There has been a recent change to the stations with brighter lighting being put in and more security around the platforms. However, the level of filth (dirt, spit, gum, spills) on some of the platforms is still fairly high.
As well, people have been stranded when an overfull bus passes them by and there is no later one running. “Reliable transportation” would include buses running frequently and on time. Somehow the city decided it was a good idea to let downtown clubs and bars be open till 4:00 am if they wanted, but Coast Mountain closes down the SkyTrain just after midnight and the buses become infrequent or stop running to some areas far before most bars close. Incidences of weekend car thefts go up because somebody has come to town to party and find they can’t get home. I’d love to know who was the brainiac that thought that part out.
Taxis are likewise impossible to find on a weekend and would be too expensive to most other cities. Sure you can ride a bike, if you trust the drivers. I don’t, and that’s a story for another day. The public is held by the short and curlies. The GVRD, Coast Mountain and the BC government continue to tax everyone, raise prices of local transportation and add more tolls. They want to encourage us to use less fuel, mostly to garner votes in the “green” category. But where are the viable alternatives? Not enough public transportation that is affordable, reliable, safe and timely leaves people with spending more for not better.
Stress levels will increase, pollution won’t lessen because the green alternatives are missing. In the long run, this is the GVRD’s and the government’s ways of having more money coming in without putting effort in to true alternatives.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Carbon Tax: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
The latest craze that even the government on all levels has realized brings popularity and kudos, is to go green. From civic to federal governments, this last year we've seen such buzz words as "eco, green, carbon tax and environment."
Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan has been championing his "eco-density" movement as we move closer to an election campaign. For the busy, unthinking or easily duped they hear the word "eco" and will go, Oh it must be good for us and the environment, so I'll vote Sam. What does it really mean? It's another word for condo, high-rise and sardine city. Eco-density, like the use of collateral damage to mean dead people, is just disguising the continual downgrading of our living spaces to smaller and smaller areas for higher prices. Oh, but they'll put a little greenspace outside so that when you're pressed up against the glass and staring down five stories, you can dream of a previous era where people gamboled in the grass.
The BC government, so good at tearing up contracts and firing hospital workers to the tune of saving money, cleanliness issues and losing lives, who started singing the song of saving our environment has just instituted the carbon tax, to take place June 1. Because, they parrot, it will make people use gas less and think of greener alternatives. Supposedly it will affect every use of fuel, including those who have to heat their homes this way. Much better to let those little old people with their thinly insulated skin shudder away and wrap up in old blankets. Then the government can say, well look at them; aren't they doing a great job.
The carbon tax makes no sense. It's like saying, oh people are buying too much food, so we'll raise the price of food. The rich will just pay more and the poor people will eat less and starve. It wouldn't be so bad if there were cheap, viable and environmental alternatives. But there aren't. A hybrid car is already more expensive than a gas-powered car. But the federal government was giving a $2000 rebate should you buy one. The price was still more than a cheaper gas car and the federal government decided it sends a better message to get rid of the rebate.
Bus/SkyTrain transportation is so expensive that it was still cheaper for me to take my car to New Westminster from Vancouver than to take the bus and its requisite hassles (not reliable, not always in time, strange, sometimes dangerous street people). I'll have to check again but the green alternatives aren't there. Those buses still spew gas. Electric or hydrogen buses would be better.
Perhaps the government thinks it's a fivolous option for people to go to work. There are many smaller areas and farm communities where people must drive to go anywhere. It really doesn't help them and punishes them. Not to mention, the truck drivers that haul goods and food across the country are doing us a service. Perhaps they should stop driving too. Oh no, of course not; the price of everything will just go up.
Should I even mention that this does nothing for the existent problem of pollution and greenhouse gases and it's the least effective (energetic) way of implementing change. I'd like to know what the tax money will go to except lining government coffers. Bringing in better mass transportation and alternatives would make the carbon tax more feasible if it was actually applied to the big users. If even the little people, the poor people and those who have no choice are punished, it just means that in the end as always, the poor will get poorer and the rich will just continue to pay more to consume the same amount.
Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan has been championing his "eco-density" movement as we move closer to an election campaign. For the busy, unthinking or easily duped they hear the word "eco" and will go, Oh it must be good for us and the environment, so I'll vote Sam. What does it really mean? It's another word for condo, high-rise and sardine city. Eco-density, like the use of collateral damage to mean dead people, is just disguising the continual downgrading of our living spaces to smaller and smaller areas for higher prices. Oh, but they'll put a little greenspace outside so that when you're pressed up against the glass and staring down five stories, you can dream of a previous era where people gamboled in the grass.
The BC government, so good at tearing up contracts and firing hospital workers to the tune of saving money, cleanliness issues and losing lives, who started singing the song of saving our environment has just instituted the carbon tax, to take place June 1. Because, they parrot, it will make people use gas less and think of greener alternatives. Supposedly it will affect every use of fuel, including those who have to heat their homes this way. Much better to let those little old people with their thinly insulated skin shudder away and wrap up in old blankets. Then the government can say, well look at them; aren't they doing a great job.
The carbon tax makes no sense. It's like saying, oh people are buying too much food, so we'll raise the price of food. The rich will just pay more and the poor people will eat less and starve. It wouldn't be so bad if there were cheap, viable and environmental alternatives. But there aren't. A hybrid car is already more expensive than a gas-powered car. But the federal government was giving a $2000 rebate should you buy one. The price was still more than a cheaper gas car and the federal government decided it sends a better message to get rid of the rebate.
Bus/SkyTrain transportation is so expensive that it was still cheaper for me to take my car to New Westminster from Vancouver than to take the bus and its requisite hassles (not reliable, not always in time, strange, sometimes dangerous street people). I'll have to check again but the green alternatives aren't there. Those buses still spew gas. Electric or hydrogen buses would be better.
Perhaps the government thinks it's a fivolous option for people to go to work. There are many smaller areas and farm communities where people must drive to go anywhere. It really doesn't help them and punishes them. Not to mention, the truck drivers that haul goods and food across the country are doing us a service. Perhaps they should stop driving too. Oh no, of course not; the price of everything will just go up.
Should I even mention that this does nothing for the existent problem of pollution and greenhouse gases and it's the least effective (energetic) way of implementing change. I'd like to know what the tax money will go to except lining government coffers. Bringing in better mass transportation and alternatives would make the carbon tax more feasible if it was actually applied to the big users. If even the little people, the poor people and those who have no choice are punished, it just means that in the end as always, the poor will get poorer and the rich will just continue to pay more to consume the same amount.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sending out Poetry
This month I decided to concentrate on sending out literary poems. I have scads of them and haven't sent out much for a while. So I did a search through www.duotrope.com and first found the sites that I could submit to electronically. I looked for the highest paying ones of course. This is still a several night project because you have to read each set of guidelines and check the deadlines for submission, any special formatting rules, who the editor is and where exactly to send it.
Then I go through my poems (and if the magazine has samples on the site I read a few) and match the best ones. Plus I read through the poems and do any rewrites that are needed. I reformat them if it's needed, save them into separate documents and send them through email with a cover letter. I then checked the lists for the postal submission magazines. Literary magazines tend to not accept submissions by email. It's the minority that does, but there are more of them than there used to be. I still managed to send out quite a few through email. I'm now sending off another eight by mail. Mail of course means printing out the poems, and a personalized cover letter. Making up SASEs and adding addresses and postage and mailing. In all, this month I've sent out about 23 submissions of poetry with a total of 93 poems going out. Yep, 93! Guinness Book, look out.
I still have some poems sitting around. There are the sex poems that are too descriptive for some markets, a few SF poems, some witch/tarot series poems as well as those I did on Mexico and India. Of the ones still on my desk/computer, some are good to go and some have sat for a long time because they are just...not...right.
It's an elusive thing, and this round I did send out poems that have sat for ten years. In all, I probably have at least another 60 poems at home, including some unfinished ones, and another ten out. I did finish a poem I started last year called Perfect Lover, and another literary one I started two years ago called A Gathering. The second is a 3-4 page poem which I'm quite happy with. And I wrote a new one this week called Medusa that could sell as speculative or literary.
I try to send any poem I can off to literary markets first as they pay much better for poetry on average than a speculative market. I have managed to get $50 for one spec poem and now $100 for a literary poem. On average though, spec poems are around $10 and liiterary $20 and up. I also sent out about ten stories this month. And I continue writing on the erotic novel, but I'm going to have to pull the other novel out this coming week and read over it and the outline and synopsis if I'm going to do the Kansas workshop.
Next month I might delve into the very hard market of children's lit. I have a few stories so it won't take as long. I had this great dream two nights ago and woke up going, this would be a great young adult novel. It had the full plot, conflict and resolution. And can I remember it? No. Wah! But overall, I'm feeling rather accomplished, along with three sales for the month. Wheee!
Then I go through my poems (and if the magazine has samples on the site I read a few) and match the best ones. Plus I read through the poems and do any rewrites that are needed. I reformat them if it's needed, save them into separate documents and send them through email with a cover letter. I then checked the lists for the postal submission magazines. Literary magazines tend to not accept submissions by email. It's the minority that does, but there are more of them than there used to be. I still managed to send out quite a few through email. I'm now sending off another eight by mail. Mail of course means printing out the poems, and a personalized cover letter. Making up SASEs and adding addresses and postage and mailing. In all, this month I've sent out about 23 submissions of poetry with a total of 93 poems going out. Yep, 93! Guinness Book, look out.
I still have some poems sitting around. There are the sex poems that are too descriptive for some markets, a few SF poems, some witch/tarot series poems as well as those I did on Mexico and India. Of the ones still on my desk/computer, some are good to go and some have sat for a long time because they are just...not...right.
It's an elusive thing, and this round I did send out poems that have sat for ten years. In all, I probably have at least another 60 poems at home, including some unfinished ones, and another ten out. I did finish a poem I started last year called Perfect Lover, and another literary one I started two years ago called A Gathering. The second is a 3-4 page poem which I'm quite happy with. And I wrote a new one this week called Medusa that could sell as speculative or literary.
I try to send any poem I can off to literary markets first as they pay much better for poetry on average than a speculative market. I have managed to get $50 for one spec poem and now $100 for a literary poem. On average though, spec poems are around $10 and liiterary $20 and up. I also sent out about ten stories this month. And I continue writing on the erotic novel, but I'm going to have to pull the other novel out this coming week and read over it and the outline and synopsis if I'm going to do the Kansas workshop.
Next month I might delve into the very hard market of children's lit. I have a few stories so it won't take as long. I had this great dream two nights ago and woke up going, this would be a great young adult novel. It had the full plot, conflict and resolution. And can I remember it? No. Wah! But overall, I'm feeling rather accomplished, along with three sales for the month. Wheee!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Center for the Study of Science Fiction, Kansas
Well, on Saturday as Rhea and I discussed the worldbuilding workshop, then went for drinks and something to eat and to hammer out our second story some more (she threw a left curve into it so we had to sort out where it was NOW going), I talked about organizing the World Fantasy con SF Canada party. SF Canada is a very small country cousin to SFWA, the professional speculative writers organization.
I'm a member at large on our not too active board. We had talked about hosting a room party but our funds are limted as well and I knew no one would do anything unless I jumped on that bandwagon. I told Rhea that I'm doing this, one: because World Fantasy is in Canada this year (Calgary) and we should be highlighting our Canadian writers. It's part of SF Canada's mandates but rarely is much that's spectular done. Limited budget and all.
And I've been to enough WFCs to know what the parties are like. WFC is a professional con--mostly writers, publishers and editors. The schmooze quota can be high. My ulterior motive is that by being the organizer and being there I get to chat more with the editor/publishers. Not that it's been a huge problem in the past. Rhea kind of gave me a verbal bitch slap though, and said, why are you wasting this opportunity and you don't have a manuscript to pedal?
I said, because I'm just trying to keep myself in the saddle and write whatever I can and get something under my belt. Therefore I've been writing erotica because it's easy without getting bogged down in too much research or worldbuidling. I need to reinvigorate my writing, which has been working some. She wanted to know if there was any horror or fantasy in my novel but nooo, it's straight-out erotica. But damn her, she planted a seed in my wee brain.
And then I'm reading through LJ and read Kij's story. Some people have a way of evoking a world that's different than our reality but you swear after reading their tales that it's out there and you just hadn't noticed. Ursula LeGuin did it with Always Coming Home. Kij has done it several times. And then I recalled I'd been curious about the novel writing workshop she teaches in Kansas every summer. It's one of the few universities anywhwere that actually has a Center for the Study of Science Fiction. (Hmm, I hope fantasy is okay though I could argue my novel is SF just as Anne McCaffrey did.)
I gave her a call to just say hi but also to ask if this would be a good thing for me. Well, upshot is that if I can find the $$$ I think I'll take it as it will jumpstart the stalled novel. http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/novel-workshop.htm If nothing else, then by WFC I'll at least have a partially reworked novel for consideration.
I'm a member at large on our not too active board. We had talked about hosting a room party but our funds are limted as well and I knew no one would do anything unless I jumped on that bandwagon. I told Rhea that I'm doing this, one: because World Fantasy is in Canada this year (Calgary) and we should be highlighting our Canadian writers. It's part of SF Canada's mandates but rarely is much that's spectular done. Limited budget and all.
And I've been to enough WFCs to know what the parties are like. WFC is a professional con--mostly writers, publishers and editors. The schmooze quota can be high. My ulterior motive is that by being the organizer and being there I get to chat more with the editor/publishers. Not that it's been a huge problem in the past. Rhea kind of gave me a verbal bitch slap though, and said, why are you wasting this opportunity and you don't have a manuscript to pedal?
I said, because I'm just trying to keep myself in the saddle and write whatever I can and get something under my belt. Therefore I've been writing erotica because it's easy without getting bogged down in too much research or worldbuidling. I need to reinvigorate my writing, which has been working some. She wanted to know if there was any horror or fantasy in my novel but nooo, it's straight-out erotica. But damn her, she planted a seed in my wee brain.
And then I'm reading through LJ and read Kij's story. Some people have a way of evoking a world that's different than our reality but you swear after reading their tales that it's out there and you just hadn't noticed. Ursula LeGuin did it with Always Coming Home. Kij has done it several times. And then I recalled I'd been curious about the novel writing workshop she teaches in Kansas every summer. It's one of the few universities anywhwere that actually has a Center for the Study of Science Fiction. (Hmm, I hope fantasy is okay though I could argue my novel is SF just as Anne McCaffrey did.)
I gave her a call to just say hi but also to ask if this would be a good thing for me. Well, upshot is that if I can find the $$$ I think I'll take it as it will jumpstart the stalled novel. http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/novel-workshop.htm If nothing else, then by WFC I'll at least have a partially reworked novel for consideration.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Worldbuilding and Writing
Rhea and I went to Dennis Foon's worldbuilding workshop yesterday at the public library. It was a two-hour free session sponsored by the Writers' Trust http://www.writerstrust.com/ . Dennis Foon has written a fair number of young adult books and done a lot of TV/movie scriptwriting. I've never read anything of his but he makes a living at writing.
The workshop may have been good for people newer to writing but it really was nothing new to me or Rhea. I was hoping there might be something on structuring or other aspects that he considers in creating a world. We all wrote a couple of short pieces where he would set the scene by saying, "It's the morning after a major catastrophe. What are the feelings of the person, what were they doing before the catastrophe struck?"
So, it wasn't a waste of time and maybe I'll have a story out of it but I'm not sure it gave me anymore depth. I still want to find a workshop that will help me develop more, either depth in my stories or plots that flow better. Or both of course. I keep analyzing my stuff hoping to get the key to the kingdom. If I find a good workshop that might be my vacation time this year.
The workshop may have been good for people newer to writing but it really was nothing new to me or Rhea. I was hoping there might be something on structuring or other aspects that he considers in creating a world. We all wrote a couple of short pieces where he would set the scene by saying, "It's the morning after a major catastrophe. What are the feelings of the person, what were they doing before the catastrophe struck?"
So, it wasn't a waste of time and maybe I'll have a story out of it but I'm not sure it gave me anymore depth. I still want to find a workshop that will help me develop more, either depth in my stories or plots that flow better. Or both of course. I keep analyzing my stuff hoping to get the key to the kingdom. If I find a good workshop that might be my vacation time this year.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The Life of a Writer
On Mondays I teach dance. Afterward, I take my laptop and go off to a local cafe/restaurant, have a couple of drinks and work on a novel. If I don't do this I'll get distracted with many other writing projects.
At the moment, I'm continuing the collaborative writing with Rhea Rose on our joint story, though she just threw me a curve ball from our discussed plot so I have to chat with her before I proceed. I'm also working on two stories started nearly a lifetime ago. One is nearly done and I'm hoping to finish it in the next week. It's the retelling of a tale about an old Germanic hearth goddess.
I'm not writing any poetry at the moment but rewriting a bit. And I've been concentrating on going through my bookmarked literary markets the past couple of nights, tossing the broken links and moving the ones that take online subs into a separate folder. And when I find one, I send them off a few poems.
For example, tonight I sat down at 8:00 pm and started going through the markets, continuing from where I left off the other night. It's 11:30 now and I've weeded through them all and sent out poems to about four magazines. That's about four poems per magazine and they're already written. I also submitted two stories to two other magazines. But just doing that, searching through, finding the right poems, reading through them, making a few changes, reading other guidelines took three and a half hours.
When I submit stories/poetry in paper format it takes even longer because I must take the template letter, fill in the titles on each one, print the poems and letters off, match them out, fill out envelopes, make up SASEs, put stamps on, put the material inside, seal them up and take them to the post office. Usually I'll do a batch of about ten magazines and it will take me three solid nights to get everything sorted.
Writing is about 40% and 60% perseverance. And now I'm going to bed, reading a bit before to keep the brain percolating.
At the moment, I'm continuing the collaborative writing with Rhea Rose on our joint story, though she just threw me a curve ball from our discussed plot so I have to chat with her before I proceed. I'm also working on two stories started nearly a lifetime ago. One is nearly done and I'm hoping to finish it in the next week. It's the retelling of a tale about an old Germanic hearth goddess.
I'm not writing any poetry at the moment but rewriting a bit. And I've been concentrating on going through my bookmarked literary markets the past couple of nights, tossing the broken links and moving the ones that take online subs into a separate folder. And when I find one, I send them off a few poems.
For example, tonight I sat down at 8:00 pm and started going through the markets, continuing from where I left off the other night. It's 11:30 now and I've weeded through them all and sent out poems to about four magazines. That's about four poems per magazine and they're already written. I also submitted two stories to two other magazines. But just doing that, searching through, finding the right poems, reading through them, making a few changes, reading other guidelines took three and a half hours.
When I submit stories/poetry in paper format it takes even longer because I must take the template letter, fill in the titles on each one, print the poems and letters off, match them out, fill out envelopes, make up SASEs, put stamps on, put the material inside, seal them up and take them to the post office. Usually I'll do a batch of about ten magazines and it will take me three solid nights to get everything sorted.
Writing is about 40% and 60% perseverance. And now I'm going to bed, reading a bit before to keep the brain percolating.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
New Writing Sales
I just received word today that my SF story "Ice Queen" will be in the Warrior Wise Woman anthology by Norilana books. It's due in June. http://www.norilana.com/norilana-ww-guidelines.htm shows the cover for the book.
Sometimes my emails don't seem to make it across the water so I checked with the editor of the Mammoth Book of the Kama Sutra and my story "Janukurpara" (the knee elbow position) will be published in that anthology. It's about to go to the publisher and has been edited so I presume it will be out in a couple of months.
A good weekend over all for publishing. Just when I was doubting once again, a somewhat roller coaster state for many writers.
Sometimes my emails don't seem to make it across the water so I checked with the editor of the Mammoth Book of the Kama Sutra and my story "Janukurpara" (the knee elbow position) will be published in that anthology. It's about to go to the publisher and has been edited so I presume it will be out in a couple of months.
A good weekend over all for publishing. Just when I was doubting once again, a somewhat roller coaster state for many writers.
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