I Know This Blog is Largely Defunct... But There's New News!

I wanted to pop over here and make sure people get a chance to check out my latest short story, Vermin, which was published on e-zine Reflection's Edge this month!

Click Here!

I hope you enjoy it!

Also, I started a new weight loss blog called Half of Allie. Check it out and let me know what interactive features you'd like to see. My husband and I are doing this together and I really look forward to the two of us living longer, healthier lives!

Won't you join us?

In other news, I have one other story out in circulation. It's a science-fiction/horror tale called "Dust." I completed another story, Big Winner, last week and I hope to get that polished and out the door soon as well. The novel is still under works, and I have another one in mind.

Finally, Allison Edits is still open for business and more than ready to edit your manuscript! Contact me through the site if you're interested! You can also read my Allison Edits Blog!

Allie Becomes an Editor

After a lot of time and careful consideration, I finally took the leap and decided to begin my own editing business, Allison Edits.

Apparently I have the skills. It's time to start making them pay the bills.

You can inquire about the business or just take a walkthrough here.

You can read the Allison Edits Blog, which will deal in writing and the industry in general. I imported a few of my entries from here and added a couple of new ones.

I hope, if you're reading this and find yourself in need of a quality edit for your manuscript, article, resume, cover letter, or any other project that requires a high polish, you'll consider Allison Edits. I pride myself on my quality of service and my affordability.

Are People Really Getting Dumber?

One of the most ubiquitous "memes" I see circulating today is one that says people are devolving intellectually. I make no claim that this is something new. For as long as I have been alive, people from earlier generations have waxed curmudgeonly on the "falling standards" of education, communication, and the increasingly obsolete nature of complex, meaningful, and original thought in younger people. I have even caught myself doing this from time to time. It's easy to do any time I turn on the TV and see shows like "The Real Housewives of Orange County" and horrible, horrible ideas like this dominating the airwaves.

To put it lightly, though, I think this is a little unfair.

Stupidity among the human race is nothing new. Neither are shark attacks, horrible inventions, runaway brides, kidnapped children, stabbings, gang fights, and other things that suck. The only thing that has changed is our perception of such things due to our increasing exposure to them via the media, politics, and the internet. Open any history book, close your eyes, and blindly point your finger to any page and you'll probably open your eyes on a decades-old example worthy of a gigantic "What the eff were we thinking?? Using Lysol for douche?? WHAT??"

To wit, we now live in a more sedentary world. We (yours truly not excluded) have become accustomed to things being more convenient and as such have maybe suffered the ill effects, such as fatter asses, and a more spoiled disposition overall. Hell, when you can order pizza via text message, record a week's worth of shows by simply pressing a button, and have your eyes blown out of your skull by receiving a glut of information from a single screen shot of CNN, it's easy to fall into the comforting notion that the world is doing things differently, and by gum it doesn't look so good from the ivory tower!

I suggest we take a step back from this cognitive spiral for a moment and really look at what's happening here. ARE people really getting dumber? Can the world that brought you high-speed internet, the TiVo, social networking, and the iPhone be filled with troglodytes?

I don't think so. Despite what those of us who cling to the curtain closing on the antiquated past may think, the human race continues to evolve. They're just doing things differently. My friend Chad inquired this morning via his status update whether learning cursive was really ever necessary. It's a good question. Ultimately, I don't think so. At least not anymore.

I learned the art of writing things in loops and curly Qs over twenty years ago, and the minute my school curriculum no longer required it (and this was long before I started using a keyboard as my main form of communication), I stopped using it. Why? Because I view that form of writing (at least my rather illegible, shaky interpretation of it) as tedious. I practiced my ass off in penmanship, and it's never elevated above the level of barely-legible. My father's handwriting also sucks. So does my that of my grandparents. I think it's genetic.

That doesn't mean, however, that I have forgotten how to write. I still communicate rather well, I think. Hell, I am attempting to form a living off of it. Does it bother me to see grown adults and children alike exercising poor spelling and grammar? Most definitely. But the human race has been filled with illiterates and semi-literates since the dawn of civilization. But since we're seeing more and more writing from the "proles" of society, it generates the perception we're getting worse at things. For the record, I exclude LOLcats and other such "satire" language from this assessment. I believe such plays on words require a certain amount of sophistication and smarts to pull off properly, but that's another blog for another day.

Ultimately, I see the so-called negative artifacts of our increasingly digital, information-stuffed society as a result of our continuing drive to advance the human race. Any perception that we are getting dumber is just that--perception. When you can see more examples of something (such as human stupidity), it's easier to feel there is a new trend forming.

But there isn't. We expect more of our children now than ever due to our efforts to climb higher up the food chain. Is there a bit of a whiplash effect from this? Yes. Some will be lost through the cracks, but that's Darwinism at work for you.

The fittest will continue to survive, even if we're all a little fatter.

Talking Myself Through a Rejection

Having one of your labors of love rejected by a purveyor of art is probably one of the nastiest blows to one's egos one can ever sustain. Whether your medium is music, paint, voice, instrument, body, or words, the life of an artist is one dominated by masochism. We know our odds of breaking through into the mainstream or into some form of esteemed ubiquity within in a more localized community of peers is low, and yet the most dedicated persevere. It's akin to stepping outside during a thunderstorm with a near certainty that you're going to be struck by lightning.

But I'm new to this game, both in the writing end (at least in terms of trying to take it to the "next level") and in the publishing end. I've submitted three works for consideration to handfuls of would-be publishers. The first one was accepted. It was a shock, really. It's the sort of rare event on the scale of a full-court shot thrown backward over one's head. The other two have received one rejection each.

I have to say, it sucks. I expect rejection every time I send a story out, but those expectations do little to absorb the blow of disappointment that someone didn't find me good enough to feature in their publication.

My first reaction is to berate myself. I'm not one of those people who blames others off the bat when things don't go well. In those cases, I'm typically pointing the finger at myself first. So in order to cope and not end up in a bloody fugue of self-flagellation, I have to engage in a bit of cognitive gymnastics. How do I cope with rejection?

I remind myself my story is clean, first off. When I submit something out, it's been through several edits and has passed through at least two other pairs of eyes before and I click "send." So I know I'm not being rejected because I'm a sloppy writer, and that is reassuring. If you can't master the art of proper grammar and certain style elements, then you can basically just give up trying to do more than move beyond home plate. I can take heart that I'm not being rejected due to massive incidents of passive voice and a confusion of "their" and "there."

Second, I consider that I may have chosen the wrong publisher for my body of work. Usually when I search for takers, I try and read an excerpt or a sample story if they have one available. Sometimes, I realize I am taking a risk in making a match, and those have so far been the ones to reject me off the bat. This leads me to the most important thing:

My rejections so far seem to lie in a mismatch of writer and publisher. My story doesn't fit their needs or it just wasn't their thing. It's not because the story sucks in and of itself. It's because they're looking for a certain "flavor," and my work doesn't fit that particular bill. If you're craving chocolate, and I stick a spoonful of hot sauce in your mouth, chances are, you're going to spit it out (even if you usually like hot sauce). They very well may have seen some promise in the story, but because it may have stuck out like a mutilated thumb in their magazine of chick lit, it was tossed.

The fact is, if a relationship of any kind isn't going to work due to the needs of the business person you're attempting to entice, you're going to be rejected. It doesn't matter if you're selling stories or prescription drugs.

Do I wish the editors that have rejected me so far would give me more helpful feedback than a form letter that ultimately says "thanks, but no thanks?" Of course. But I recognize that editors have to wade through massive slush piles in order to meet the deadline and feedback is rare. The letters can seem unforgiving, but I am sure it makes them feel no better to reject you than it does for you to be rejected.

This is one reason why I typically submit my work to people who accept simultaneous submissions. Having more than one line cast in that unforgiving ocean makes a rejection feel a little less painful. Of course, I haven't yet gotten that "final" rejection. When I do, I'm going to have to start all over again. Or I'm going to have to convince myself that my story isn't nearly as good as I thought.

I'm just not going to think that far ahead...

I know I'm a good writer. I might not be "great," but I think I'm good. I'll never get great unless I keep writing and keep learning. So it's with that sentiment I'll keep plugging ahead.

Pre-Order "The Black Garden" Today!

This short story anthology, featuring the short story "Aria" by yours truly, is now available for pre-order for a measly $9.00! That will not only purchase you my story, but also eight others by great up-and-coming authors!

I will be happy to sign your copy too! If you want a signed copy and aren't local, we can work something out between us. Either I can sign it next time I come out to Ohio, or if you live in another state, I will likely be ordering a handful of the books myself and you can purchase a signed copy directly from me and I will mail it to you. :)

Anyway, visit this link and pre-order The Black Garden today! You should receive it by March 1st if you pre-order. If you don't pre-order, the book will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com shortly thereafter!

http://corpulentinsanitypress.com/storefront-2/pre-orders/

The Human Ego and the Apocalypse: Not-So-Strange Bedfellows

My friend Ian recently asked if I might do an Ask Allie entry on self-fulfilling prophecies, namely "Will people freaking about eventual armageddon actually manage to bring it about?"

It's an excellent question, especially in the current political climate, because short of dogs and cats living together, humanity is reaching a point of mass hysteria. Ancient historical rivalries are reaching a breaking point in Israel and Palestine. Pakistan and India are likely going to come to blows as well. And to top it all off, America went and elected the Negro-Islamo-Antichrist for President. (<---That there is a joke, see? Well, to me anyway). We are also obsessing about natural phenomena that seem unprecedented, even though they truly aren't. There is a slight bit of terror underfoot about our planet being on the brink of destruction from massive floods, supervolcanoes, asteroids, rogue planets entering our orbit, and solar radiation, and if you spend enough time on the right websites with enough people who share the same amount of paranoia, you too might come to think that the end of days is right around the corner. Well the truth is, the "end of the world" has been imminent for millions of years.* This planet has been experiencing massive change on a geological scale since its formation, and it's going to continue to change--with or without our help. Let's go ahead and discuss a few of those things right now.

1. Asteroids/Meteors: There are not enough human beings on this planet who are smart enough or equipped enough to monitor every part of the celestial skies for incoming chunks of giant space rock. For every one that we have our eye on, there are thousands of others floating out there that could slam home at any time and either end human civilization "dino-style" or wipe out a good chunk of it. This has been the case since our early ancestors were clubbing their dinners to death, and it will continue to be the case long after we are gone. Our atmosphere is thick enough to burn up or bounce back into space the little guys that try to make landfall, but we engage in planetary Russian Roulette on a daily basis without even realizing it. The question is, how much sleep are you losing over it? And how much do you plan to? I hope not much. At least until we elect Morgan Freeman for President.

2. Yellowstone National Park/Supervolcanic Eruption: Many people were not aware of this until a few years ago when the Discovery Channel made that movie that made a lot of people shit their pants, but much of Yellowstone National Park is actually one of a few gigantic underground volcanos (or "supervolcanoes") on this planet. The caldera at Yellowstone is about 35km across (or about 22 miles). All of the geothermal and seismic activity at Yellowstone is attributable to this. And according to some vulcanologists, it's overdue for an eruption. It apparently blows its gasket every 600,000 years and it's been 640,000 years since it has popped. If Mount St. Helens were the Hiroshima bomb of volcanoes, then Yellowstone would be several thousand of them going off at once. It would be the sort of eruption that would change the planet as we know it. It would spew billions of tons of ash into the atmosphere and blanket most of North America in a foot of it within a couple of days. It would then circulate around the world, block out the sun, kill all of the animals and vegetation, and bring about another ice age. I shouldn't need to remind people of the human casualties this would cause. There would be no escape from the effects of such a catastrophe.

What is causing the current fervor over this otherwise ignored (at large) ticking timebomb is the fact that there have been about 500 tiny earthquakes below the surface of Yellowstone Lake since December 27th or so, which is unprecedented in the 20 years we've been monitoring seismic activity at the park. This is causing many people to go "zOMG! VOLCANO!" Understandably so, especially if you live in or near Wyoming.

But let's think about this for a minute. The scenario I just described to you is "worst-case." If there is an eruption at Yellowstone, it would likely not be quite as catastrophic. Yes, it would definitely have an effect on the U.S., but it would not bring about an end to human civilization as we know it. Provided, of course, we don't kill each other over the last can of creamed corn in the grocery store. Also, there is no frigging way to stick an arbitrary time table on events such as these. If Yellowstone popped 640,000 years ago and it's "overdue," then in geological time--when a millenium equals a "couple of minutes"--that means Yellowstone could erupt in another 5,000 years. We simply can't be certain about such things. Also, since we've only been monitoring seismic activity for twenty of the several million years of this volcano's existence, we really can't judge with ANY accuracy about what is "unprecedented." Swarms of earthquakes come and go. They can signify a natural movement of tectonic plates or perhaps an encoraching geyser eruption. It has also been revealed that wind can have an effect on the equipment that measures harmonic wave activity, making it looks as if there is an earthquake swarm when there may only be a mighty wind blowing through the place. In other words, people are in a panic over something they know very little about. Yellowstone is indeed a sleeping giant, and one day it may wake up. But like with those unknown asteroids that come within striking distance every single day, we waste our time belly-aching over it.

3. Magentic Field Switcheroo: The sun's magnetic field shifts with some regularity, about every decade or so. What was once our star's magnetic north is currently in the south and it's expected to flip back in 2012. This happened a few years ago, and when it does happen, it basically means a lot of sunspots--which can have a bad effect on our telecommunication satellites. But it's been evidenced for quite sometime that the earth's magnetic field is also in the midst of a change, and it happens far less regularly on a human scale, but quite regularly on a geologic one--about every few hundred thousand years. In other words, there could come a day when your compass is pointing south rather than north. It is theorized that while this change is occurring, we will have far less protection from the sun's radiation. Oceans will heat up significantly and the planet will become unbearably hot. Humans, vegetation, and wildlife may not survive such a change. The people responsible for tracking such changes can only guess. At the moment, earth's magnetic field is weakened significantly, which could mean that we're in the process of a flip as we speak, but some trends show that the field weakens from time to time before resuming normal activity.

There are far more natural catastrophes that could end our time on this planet: rogue planets, melting ice caps, the earth tilting on its axis, an alien fucking invasion. But strangely enough, I am not worried about those things. They are out of our hands. Earth is just going about its earthly business, almost as if we aren't even here, and that's just fine. Meanwhile, its supposedly advanced inhabitants are busy threatening to nuke each other over who truly is entitled to a strip of "Holy" dirt. That is something worth worrying about. As a civilization, we haven't even begun to cut our teeth and it's very likely we will not even make it out of the toddler phase before we bring about our own destruction with one of our very own toys.

It all comes down to this: Humanity is engaged in a constant struggle between those who want to move forward and become enlightened, and those who are terrified of the wrath of some drummed-up mystical being with the manners of a spoiled child (thank you Robert Heinlein). Oh sure, we have other demons as well, but religion is the earth-ending doozy. Humans drummed those mystical beings to help them explain the mysteries of the universe during a time when we couldn't look to the heavens with telescopes or measure brain activity with EKGs. We invented them the way we invent Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy to pacify young children into submission. To provide them with simpler answers until their minds have matured to grasp the bigger truths of the world. We all eventually grow out of our fascination with St. Nick and we come to understand that it is not a fat dude in a red outfit who is responsible for spreading good cheer. It is us. It's our bag. Our responsibility. It is my hope that we will come to feel the same way about our earthly fates and stop resting our laurels on myth and fantasy, or those myths will eventually destroy us, and far sooner than a burp from beneath Yellowstone.

Oh, and then there's the bird flu...

*For those who think the Earth is only 6000 years old, this is your cue to flip the channel.

So Much for a Writing Career. Hello XBOX!

As mentioned over on kEnny's blog, the Dickson household has been operating in the latter part of the Clinton era when it comes to gaming consoles. It's not so much that I had lost interest in gaming. Quite the contrary. It's that in the years spanning between 2001 and 2008, other things were on the family radar. Namely, raising our young children so that they would one day come to love gaming as much as mom and dad. Then it wouldn't seem so much like an act of child neglect when I flipped on the ol' Nintendo Gamecube, since Natalie and Elias would usually want to watch or join in the fun. But even the kids were beginning to sense the obsolescence of the Gamecube. The controllers were becoming less sensitive with a decade of use, and commercials for the latest games always lacked the Gamecube logo at the bottom of the screen. We were becoming hip to the fact that no one was making games for our system anymore and we were therefore not terribly cool.

But money is always an issue around here, and as the new generation of consoles hit the market, one thing became abundantly clear: no way in hell could we afford to drop about $500 on a new gaming system. Although the Nintendo Wii hit the market at an affordable $249 (making it seem initially more appealing than the others), extra controllers would be a necessity, and the Wii remote/nunchuck combo runs about $65. New games also run about $60, just like the Microsoft and Sony consoles. There is an abundance of used games, of course, but that involves waiting for the other prodigies of the world to complete them in record time and turn them in at the local Game Stop to be purchased by us prolitarians and cheapskates. So procuring a Wii system that would be fit for the whole family would run us close to the cost of the competing systems, Playstation 3 and the XBOX 360. The PS3, however, was never going to be an option in this household. Nothing against Sony, but their controllers make me want to punch people.

So this Christmas rolled around and a financial opportunity presented itself and the answer became clear. Because the financial gift was for the entire family, it seemed the most obvious answer would be to finally upgrade the ancient gaming system we were all tired of. The only question was, did we want the scarily scarce and popular Nintendo Wii or the XBOX 360, which has some phenomenal games, but has had its share of hardware woes since its release? After much deliberation and consulting with my avidly gaming brother, the XBOX seemed the more obvious choice.

While the Wii is definitely an ingenious piece of work, I was never able to look at it as anything more than an entertaining novelty on the level of a karaoke machine. In other words, great for parties, but for those times when you just want to sit down and get your game on, it's not terribly practical. Gaming to me is a pastime for couch potatoes. There is a time and a place for exercise and a time and a place for vegging out. Combining them seems counter-intuitive to me. And after spending most of my childhood with Nintendo systems in my house, I am familiar with one ultimate truth about Nintendo: most of their games are basically made for kids. That's fine and all, but not so much when mommy wants to shoot people, which is often. The XBOX also has more features integrated into it. It has an excellent online gaming system through XBOX Live, it doubles as a DVD player, you can also download movies, games, and TV shows on it, and use it to stream other media like Netflix, pictures and home videos. It's an overall home theater appliance, and therefore more useful for geeks like us.

So off Ken and I went to Costco, where they were selling bundled XBOX 360 systems (with the 60 GB hard drive) bundled with an extra wireless controller, a headset, 2 games (Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones), and 3 free arcade game downloads for a mere $349. Given that the system by itself retails for $299 and the controllers are $50 and the headsets $20, it was a great deal. We also purchased a handful of more M-rated games and traded in most of the GameCube games. We deliberated purchasing a pre-owned system, but after familiarizing myself with the 360's greatest Achilles heel, the Red Ring of Death, I'm glad we purchased a new one.

For those who have either owned an XBOX 360 or have avoided buying one because of its reputation for hardware failures, then you are likely familiar with the dreaded "Red Ring of Death" that many believe is caused by Microsoft not going the extra mile to design an effective cooling system for the device, as well as their choice to use lead-free solder, which can become brittle when hot, forcing the CPU to come away from the motherboard. This failure was especially true for the first and second generation chipsets. In the later chipset designs, the CPU and the graphics chip have been shrunk and the cooling has improved a great deal.

Cooling your device can also be improved by using common sense. Keep it in an open area so air can circulate all the way around it. Keep it away from other heat-generating devices, furnace vents, and off of the carpet. The same goes for the power brick. Keep it off the carpet and put it on a shelf or even dangle it from a hook. Some say that you should position the system vertically to expose it to more air, but beware that doing this can damage your game discs because the disk drive was not intended to run vertically. Microsoft also recommends keeping the system horizontal. I am ticked off by the fact that this system has been marketed as being shown standing on its side when it really shouldn't be.

Some have recommend using a separate device called an Intercooler, which connects to the back of the XBOX and helps increase air circulation from the unit. These devices, however, can actually harm your unit by drawing power away from the XBOX. They can also scorch the A/C jack, and evidence of their use will void your warranty with Microsoft if you have a system failure. If you are concerned about air circulation, a better option is to spend twenty bucks on a USB-powered laptop cooler, and set the unit on top of it. You don't have to have it running at all times, but if you are engaging in a particularly long gaming or movie marathon, it's a better option.

Again, these issues were most troublesome with earlier chipsets. If you aren't sure you have a more modern one, you can find out without needing to crack open your device (and voiding that warranty). Simply look on your power supply. If you have a 175 watt power supply, you have the newer chipset. Also, if you bought yours within the last year, you should be safe. The Falcon chipset (which is the one that is less prone to overheating) was manufactured in August of 2007. A brand new chipset (the Jackal) was released into stores this December, and that one is apparently even better.

So far, I am very pleased with the XBOX 360. In fact, I'm enamored with it. I don't know if it's because I haven't been current in this sort of technology for awhile or not, but I have discovered that I really love gaming again. I've been racing through city streets and crashing cop cars in Need for Speed Most Wanted. I've been stealthily killing people in Assassin's Creed. I've been blowing away zombies in Left 4 Dead. I've been laughing and solving puzzles in LEGO Indiana Jones. I've also been wondering when the kids will let me have another turn now that they've returned from their Oregon vacation hungry for some game time. Yeah, this could be dangerous for my writing career.