Thursday, June 10, 2004

I Find This Stuff Because I'm Not A Snob

OK, I am a snob, but I have a very wide interest area.

I love working with would-be writers - from college-age to post-retirement-age individuals who dearly and deeply want to become writers - and their most frequently asked question might be paraphrased as - "What's the one thing I need above all others to become a writer?" They're often surprised when I answer (as John Gardner did in his wonderful ON BECOMING A NOVELIST), "The perspective that only a serious education can give you."

I have an advanced degree, but the serious parts of my education have been self directed. But that wouldn't have been possible without the formal part.

You'll only find Mr. Simmons if you poke around the ghettos of literature. But go looking for him. "Ilium" is a treat.

How Dogs Will Make It Possible To Live Forever

Just a little glimpse into how my mind works. Read the following article and see if you go anywhere near where I'm heading.

CNN.com - Study finds dogs understand language - Jun 10, 2004 "'You don't have to be able to talk to understand a lot,' Fischer said. The team noted that dogs have evolved with humans and have been selected for their ability to respond to the communications of people."

OK, pretty interesting. Could use to talk about the different types of intelligence. Are dogs smarter than cats, or just different? Other interesting and worthy topics come to mind as well.

But here's what come to my mind: our old companions may be critical for our next step in evolution as well.

You see, I think there's good evidence that we didn't shape dogs like we have cattle and corn. It's more likely that our two species evolved together. Not only have they evolved to be able to understand and respond to us, but we too have been shaped by their companionship.

Nature doesn't have much use for us after 40. Done with raising the next generation. It's up to us at that point to go on or fall apart. These creatures we call pets help sustain us in ways that other humans don't and can't. And should we figure out a way to stay young and healthy longer than our three score years, we'll need them more.

Children grow up and move on, necessarily separating themselves. Mates may change and move, too. Friends have lives of their own. And few of us can stand our own company endlessly. But a dog needs you. And yes, they understand you. Perhaps more importantly, they care. Other animals will be present for you, but how special a relationship, forged across the millennia, and now, likely to carry us forever forward.

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

Personal Assistant Wanted

Today, Neil Gaiman wrote this in his blog:

"Woken up this morning rather earlier than usual, by my assistant Lorraine. 'I made you a cup of tea,' she said. 'Can you drive me to the Hospital? I think I broke my arm in the night.' "

Where exactly does one find such a creature? A live-in, selfless assistant - something from another era, I thought. I think I'd be much more productive if I had someone like this to follow me around, keeping me on task, reminding me to write and post to this blog. Edit my spelling and grammar. Press and layout my clothes. Insist it was time to exercise. Suggest that the salad might be better than the bacon cheese burger. Answer the phone and say, "he's not to be disturbed at the moment. Perhaps I can help you."

But coffee, please, not tea.

Sunday, June 06, 2004

Tick

This explains a lot. Or at least why my shoe laces keep unraveling.

Guardian Unlimited | Life | The final countdown: "The quiet periods in the fossil record where evolution seems to stagnate are a big problem for natural selection: evolution can't just switch on and off. Over 20 years ago the late Stephen Jay Gould suggested internal genetic mechanisms could regulate these quiet evolutionary periods but until now no-one could explain how it would work."