We are still here. We are still fighting to make the world better. We are all tired, so we’re taking turns being on point vs being on rest. It doesn’t matter which role you’re in, you’re doing a good job.
In a world where 100% productivity is expected, rest is an act of resistance.
Trying to keep up with everything that’s going on? The Resistance Calendar can help. (You absolutely do not need to do everything on the list!)
Do you live in South Carolina? Read the Freedom to Read the News section of today’s Authors Against Book Bans newsletter. Then, use the provided links to tell the State Board of Education that the books shouldn’t be banned statewide. (If you’re not in South Carolina, you can still read the newsletter for more tips and information about preventing books from being banned in your area.
March 1 the account writing-prompt-s on tumblr posted the following prompt:
You bought a cheap mirror from an antique store, not knowing it was enchanted. The mirror shows the reflection of the viewer 60 years in the future. You didn’t realize it was magical because your reflection is… exactly the same.
Here’s a tiny bit of fiction I wrote in reply.
Well, almost exactly the same. Sometimes it strikes you as just a bit too…. polished. Like perhaps your chin is just a little too smooth and creamy? or maybe it’s that the smear of chocolate sauce on your chin from that ice cream sundae isn’t reflecting the light quite right.
When other people – friends, family – look in the mirror, they see themselves aged sixty years, or worse, their bodies aged sixty years and breaking down as they may be in the grave. But not all of them. A few of your friends close to your own age have the same experience you do. Your older sister looks like something out of the end of an Indiana Jones flick, but you, your bud Robin, and even Harry from down the street, all look just as you do now. You’re in your twenties, you’re young and neat looking, dressed in polos and slacks, ready to take on the world.
You thought it was weird, but you also thought that it was a sign of great things to come. After all, your stupid older sister wouldn’t be there, and you would. That had to be great, right?
Then one day when you were walking past the mirror, the image began to glitch. You knew this was “just” a mirror. Your friends had helped you take it apart to confirm there was no screen and nothing electrical involved. Your reflection stabilized after a second, but then glitched again, looking more like a lost UHF signal from your grandmother’s black and white TV set than a mirror, or even a digital display.
One more time, you saw your reflection. This time, it screamed at you. “You have to get off the moon!” it yelled, clawing at the inside of the glass. “YOU HAVE TO GET OFF—“ A mushroom cloud lit the background, which was supposed to be the bland yellow living room wall behind you.
After that, the mirror went black. A few moments later, it reflected you, your friends, and your stupid older sister, just like any other mirror.
It’s time to put some good in the world as best we can.
Check your vaccination records
Hey, if you haven’t noticed, things like tuberculosis and measles are making a comeback here in the United States thanks to all the folks who think vaccines are for other people. As an added bonus, the US has cut its aid to a bunch of other countries — aid that very often included money, supplies, and vaccines for things like polio, measles, TB….
Do you know what you were vaccinated against as a child? It turns out a lot of people don’t! But since you had to be vaccinated to get into school, those records are available at your state. The CDC has a list of contacts for immunization records. Look up your state, follow their contact instructions, and find out what you’ve been immunized for. Then check in with your doctor on what you might need as a booster.
Antibody Titer Test (a blood test you can have to determine if you actually have immunity to something)
Safer driving
Got an annoying pothole that you’ve reported to your department of transportation and nothing’s been done? Alert your fellow drivers creatively! (Be safe!) A giant pothole plagued this Englishman’s commute. He put an upside-down statue in it. The article contains other militant but decent actions people have taken to draw attention potholes in case upside-down statues are not your thing.
Write your congress critters, your governor, and Vice Admiral Nancy Hann. You can use resist.bot to contact the first two, and Vice Admiral Hann’s email address is nancy.hann@noaa.gov. Here’s a script I threw together.
Hi! My name is [NAME] and I’m a constituent from [TOWN].
I’m calling to demand that [REP] do everything in their power to block and reverse the job cuts that President Trump just made to NOAA.
NOAA has been understaffed based on needs for over 50 years due to Congressional budget decisions, making it more and more difficult for trained scientists and engineers to protect the American people.
If we don’t have accurate weather, solar flare, giant storm, and volcanic activity reports, people die. If firefighters fighting wildfires don’t know which way the winds will be blowing, people die. If your state department of transportation doesn’t know which roads need to be salted, people die.
In other words, President Trump’s cuts are going to kill Americans, lead to significant damage to our infrastructure, shut down businesses, and skyrocket disaster costs.
[If your state is in particular danger due to literally any kind of weather or disaster, point that out here when writing to your congress critters or your governor.]
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Remember to provide your full address (including 9-digit zip) if you’re leaving a voicemail or emailing directly because that maps you directly to a specific voting district.
Not quite reviews, I talk about books I read and enjoyed.
First, if you bought The Long Earth because Terry Pratchett wrote it, know that it is absolutely not the style or type of a Discworld book. The book probably should have had Stephen Baxter’s name lead because my understanding is that he’s a “hard sci fi” guy and while this isn’t the hardest of sci-fis, it’s definitely not fantasy.
Second, the writing is solid, the plot is credible and creative, and the ending is a gut punch, in just the right way (especially as the first book of a five book series). There are a few dead spots where things get a bit monotonous but it’s also easy to argue that the authors were trying to let you know that it felt monotonous to the characters too.
And there is a main character that I’d gladly punt out a window, but I suspect that’s also intentional.
There’s no romance (thought I can’t say for sure that some won’t develop in a future book) and a lot of good common sense thinking from the main characters. There’s only one spot where you’ll be yelling “don’t do it!” at the book, which is good. The biology elements are awesome, as is the geography and geology. And the “magic” is consistently applied, so no giant plot holes.
I’ve already bought book two, and I suspect that I’ll be reading the entire series.
