Another post over at Front Page on (what else?) climate change. And is it the most-viewed piece at Front Page today? Why yes indeedy it is.
Thanks for asking.
And did I steal the topic from my brother Stosh and his excellent post of last week?
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
All of this occurred while I spent the last day and a half helping a client get through an EPA inspection (and thus why yours truly has not been around) and if you thought my head couldn’t get any bigger, well – we are now in full elephant man alert mode.
Actually, if I can set aside my self-protective bluster and lie down on the couch for a moment, I’m both humbled and not a little freaked out at this point. If you’re a regular here, you can probably tell that I love to write. Though I am a pointy-headed scientist, writing has always been my artistic outlet – kind of like music is for a lot of people. And, every time I find a new outlet that might care to share my wares, it scares the crap out of me. I’m not sure what the psychology of that is, but it always happens.
And it’s also weird, because that false bravado that I use to hide the fear when it comes to finding spots that want my writing, becomes real – no BS – bravado when my technical side is at work. In my little niche of the environmental world (air quality) I can sell myself without any problem at all. But when it comes to furthering my writing career, my Lars Walker starts to come out. (And I say that with all possible affection Lars – we all love ya here!)
Anyway, that will be the totality of my personal venting for the rest of 2009. And now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, any suggestions on topics that you think might be suitable for me to expound upon at Front Page? Preferably environmental and/or technical for the time being, since I think that’s how their readership will probably view my schtick for a while.
Many thanks my friends.
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Wow, glad we were able to snag you for RF3D duties a couple days ago. Congratulations, Mr. Pointy-Head (sincerely) — you’re doin’ us all proud!!!!
Congrats Rich. You are an outstanding writer and the recognition is well deserved. As for topics how about the myth of disappearing ice shelves? I’ve read that we are gaining ice in some areas but losing it in others but I do not fully understand all of that voodoo and imagine others share my confusion.
I would love to read your take on “An Inconvenient Truth,” a review if you will. Not sure if it’s Front Page material or not. Plus anything to better explain why climate legislation impacts the average person, I don’t thin the media (even the conservative media) spends enough time explaining that.
My only quibble is that no sentence in your article starts with “Over at Threedonia…” Work that in and you are cooking with gas.
Beer’s Law! Beer me!
One question—what’s your brief? Are you sticking to pure science or delving into policy?
Also Rich, try to work in some of these phrases into your next article…
“Origami kept us busy.”
“Miami keeps growing.”
“Hippopotami keel over in the heat.”
“Pastrami kebabs!”
“The tsunami keelhauled the crew.”
“The swami kept chanting.”
…but subtle, like. See what’s happening there? Sweet, huh?
~Mike!~
The most notorious line in the leaked e-mails:
“Hide the decline.”
What does that mean, exactly?
I think it refers to tree-rings showing that temperatures have fallen since the 60s, which doesn’t jibe with the actual recorded temperatures. This casts significant doubt on their value as proxies for earlier times when we didn’t have thermometers.
But it could mean the Medieval Warm Period’s cooling into the Little Ice Age, which the alarmists also want to hide.
Or the drop in temperature between the 40s and the 70s despite the vast increase in CO2 emissions, which the alarmists also want to hide.
(For some reason, they want to hide a lot of stuff.)
So why not explain that phrase to us dopes?
Congratulations Rich! I’m glad I ignored Floyd’s requests to revoke your access after your first post in Threedonia.
In all seriousness, I know exactly what you mean. I think more people suffer from fear of success than fear of failure, but the former is something our culture never discusses, yet fear of success is all around us, all the time. I don’t think it’s a text book example, but it’s topical; Tiger Woods’ recent woes may be attributable to a fear of success as a root cause.
I suffer from this. My parents were awful at success. So afraid of it that they actually discouraged my sister and I from pursuing anything we showed talent in. I see a lot of parents do that. I think this also ties into that ancient, Greek concept of the hero taking a fall. When we believe we can do something very difficult, and attempt it, and achieve it something seems to take over in our brains pushing us to screw it up somehow, to balance it out.
I think artists, and writers are artists, face this more concretely than most any of us, but we see it all the time. An author with obvious skill writes a fantastic first novel, then disappears. A musician with obvious talent composes a fantastic album, then disappears. I think most of us find it easier to be creative, or take risks, when no one external has expectations. Maybe it’s the “tall poppy” syndrome.
Regardless, you’ll get over it and do fine. You’re on to bigger and better things. I look forward to the day when I turn on the television and see your head in one of those Brady Bunch boxes debating climate change with Nancy Grace and three other pundits.
Could that explain why I procrastinate relentlessly; or am I lazy and just suck? My wife would like to know.
I just thought of this:
Maybe one of the reasons why it’s more common in the arts is because it’s not as concretely measurable. Same thing with sports. If a mechanical engineer solves a problem vexing his compatriots, and designs a new process, well, he’s got a degree in mechanical engineering. It’s all very concrete. One can draw it all out on paper. If Hootie and the Blowfish write a song 16 million people like… What is that? Can they do it again? How would they know. Creativity springs fully formed at times, and I think the artist him or herself often doesn’t know when or how it will strike, or if inspiration will return.