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How Stretchy is the Future?

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The other day, I was listening to NPR’s excellent Planet Money podcast–an episode on Prohibition and whether FDR drank moonshine before being elected president and getting the 18th Amendment repealed.

It’s an amusing (and informative) show, but one of the things that struck me was the discussion on inelastic goods. These are things that people will buy no matter how high the cost rises. Some good examples are tobacco, coffee, and gasoline. Our insatiable demand for booze is one of the things that doomed Prohibition, in fact.

These are pretty classic examples, and have been more or less constant for the last century (if not much, much longer). Now I’m wondering about the next century…

What are the nearish future’s inelastic goods & services? What will we be unable to live without?

I think bandwidth is a likely contender. Whatever the internet looks like in 100 years or so, we’re going to want to get connected and stay connected. We seem to be on the road to augmented reality (virtual overlays on the real world through our glasses, iThingies, phones) and this information will only become more and more vital to our everyday living. See Jack Graham’s excellent two-part post on shareable.net for more on that.

But what else? It’s easy to believe that medical insurance (in the U.S. at least) will continue to be in high demand, despite the costs. I can imagine some life extension therapies might be high demand and high price, but I don’t see them as commonly available as something like alcohol, but you never know.

Education, perhaps?

I’m also thinking if some of the worst predictions about global warming and resource depletion come true, we’ll be seeing some pretty high prices on staple food crops–maybe even on the processed junk. People gotta eat.

What about water? Especially in the southwest, where drought conditions are already prevalent, how much would you pay for a glass of water? Would you have a choice?

A lot of question marks in this article, but it has got me thinking. Feel free to comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Six Things I learned at Clarion West

Some of you may stumble upon my blog looking for tidbits about what to expect from the Clarion West experience. Maybe you’re thinking about applying (you should) or maybe you’ve just learned you got in (yay!)–but either way, you’re dying to know what happens on the inside.

Here, then, is a small peek into the mysterious inner workings of the workshop.

  1.  Apply steady pressure and it’ll be okay.
  2.  The Zombie Apocalypse is survivable. 
  3.  Fear nothing, especially spiders. 
  4.  Always wear a life jacket. There be sirens on the reef. 
  5.  The only thing creepier than one doll’s head is eighteen of them.
  6.  All things in moderation. Especially sleep. Especially during Week 6.

Your experience may vary, of course.

Clarion West: There and Back Again

I’m back.

Six Weeks. At least 21,000 words written, and close to half a million words read (~100 stories). Six great instructors, and seventeen other very talented writers. Plus two wonderful administrators, at least ten guest speakers, a great cook, numerous gracious volunteers and supporters.
Uncountable great conversations with like-minded souls, too many plates of delicious food eaten (ooo fried cheese curds). Vats of ice-cream consumed, at least a few beers and glasses of wine and whiskey.  Many miles walked around Seattle (and paddled upon Lake Union).

Many, many new friends and some I now think of as “family.” 

And–
Well, here’s the thing. My first response is to try and boil down the Clarion West experience to all these quantifiable things so that I can more easily explain it to people. But the six weeks I spent in Seattle defy easy explanation.
I hope in the coming weeks and months on this blog to talk a little about what the workshop meant to me–but I’m honestly still too busy processing the experience right now to form a coherent summary of everything I learned during the most life-changing of all the summer vacations I’ve ever had. 
For now, all I can say is: If you’re an aspiring writer who feels they are just on the verge of a professional career, but you feel like you need something to boost you to the next level–consider applying for one of the Clarion workshops.

It will change your life, too. 

The One Where we Update the Blog (New Acquisitions Pt1)

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I’m not going to be able to blog about my time here at Clarion West very often, as the experience is too raw, too new to comment on any specifics (and I’m too busy writing, anyway). I will say I am having the time of my life with some talented, amazing people.

In the meantime, enjoy some random photos documenting my used bookstore obsession.

That is all.

Reading, Writing (and Eating)

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I have a lot to do before I head to Clarion West this summer. Aside from all the normal things one does to prepare to leave town for an extended period (catch up on work deadlines, buy plane tickets, finish home improvement projects, spend lots of time with wife and cats), I have been doing a lot of reading and writing as well. 


I love a good story, and have always loved reading, but sometimes it feels like a luxury instead of something “I should be doing.” As an aspiring writer, it’s ridiculous to consider reading as some frivolous luxury, of course, but sometimes that old Protestant guilt kicks in. Stoopid guilt. 

One convenient consequence of Clarion West coming up is that it gives my brain plenty of ammo to use against Mr. Guilt. “Hey, I’m doing homework, bugger off!” It’s working so far, and I’m knee-deep in a best of Locus Awards collection, a book of Michael Bishop’s short stories, and Ian McDonald’s Desolation Road. I am enjoying them immensely, and have another pile of books to dive into with wild abandon just as soon as I’m done! 

And I’ve been writing, too. I was well underway on a short story before I got the call about the workshop, but I hit a bit of a narrative snag. Too many characters, I think, and I’m trying to cull out a few to see if the story sags without them. In the meantime, while in the midst of painting a room we’re renovating, another story hit me out of the blue, and three hours later, I had a solid draft I felt great about. A week of edits on the new one and I’m still excited. It’s very different from the things I’ve written so far. 

I usually don’t indulge those bolts out of the blue — after all, it’s important to finish what you start. I’ll just make notes and leap on the new ideas when I’m done with the old ones. But sometimes a story takes you and throws you across the room and you can’t ignore that. My winning entry for Clarion West was a bolt-out-of-the-blue story, and you see where that got me!

On the eating front, my wife continues her 52 Cuisines series for her blog, so that means every week we sample some of the great international cuisines that a big city like L.A. has to offer. It’s rich material for the mind (and stomach) and fuels my intense desire to learn everything about everything… a good trait for a writer, I think. 

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