A Probability of Being

i. The Proper Adjective perhaps not Happy New Year try a Furious New Year on for size try determined new year, try incandescent glorious righteous , try full of fight , try striving for justice , try screaming to the heavens new year ii. On Chickens Chickens are delicious. Chickens are also delightful creatures. Unfairly maligned as stupid, chickens are darling sweethearts that will sit calm in your arms, clucking soothingly. Chickens let their chicks find refuge in tender, warm, feathery hugs. Wouldn't you want that for your children, too? Be a good chook mom to them and other chicks, too. iii. The Moon, The Moon Lunar New Year springtime sprouts blossoms burst green shoots yellow pollen sun glares snow storms maybe gray skies lunar cycles lunatic songs counting days by crescents bright moon dark moon flickering lamplights 2% chance of rapists in the dark 80% chance of hurt at home 100% chance of fuckery in the big house making laws 1000% fed u...

My first publication of 2017 is a review of Arrival , directed by Denis Villenevue, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker! I had the opportunity to catch an early screening at UC San Diego, which also included a reception with the author of the original story that the screenplay is based on, Ted Chiang!  I refrained from getting too personal in my review, but I watched it at a time when I was really depressed, about ready to quit my PhD, and just overwhelmed generally. It's uplifting not only for its optimistic ending when nations come together in a unified purpose, but also for its echoes from the novella, that there is a future to create, a chronology to act upon. It's cheering, even a little, to think that there is a future, and one doesn't know just yet what's at the end of it, what is the sum amount of happiness to be gained. And that even the upcoming unhappiness is maybe worth it. I want my curiosity to find out how it all really shakes...

As I publish more, it's been fun to look back on my old fiction to see what I used to do that I don't anymore, what concerned me then and how that has changed. So I thought I'd post some old old and possibly terribly embarrassing fiction over time. Today's story is "The Changeling," inspired by Asimovian robots and the question of humanity and sentience in artificial intelligence. Further ruminations on the story afterwards.