Author Archives: Raymond Yee

I’m back….

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I kinda fell off the face of the earth, digitally speaking, as I finished up my ATDP course and pushed on a couple of chapters on my book. Focusing on the book all the time helped move it along in the short term but it led to some intense emotional compaction. I continue to focus on the book but I'm starting to let myself dream and plan for life-after-the-book!

Reading short stories again

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I've gotten back into reading -- and enjoying -- short stories. The easiest way for me to settle into a short fiction reading habit is to pick up a random issues from our pile of New Yorkers. Laura and I both recently read David Hoon Kim's Sweetheart Sorrow. I'm looking forward to reading Q. & A.: Living Language, an interview with Kim, to help me sort out some of my questions concerning the story.

What exactly is an “abolitionist church”?

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My church First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, CA has supported the work of the Not For Sale Campaign, a self-described "abolitionist" organization aimed at ending trafficking in human beings. (See for instance, a talk by David Batstone, the leader of Not For Sale at FPCB.) I'm generally supportive of the work of Not For Sale. One concern I do have with Not For Sale is its use of the word "abolitionist", especially as applied to churches. I have been hoping for a stronger definition of what an abolitionist church actually is from Not For Sale than what is currently there (at least as of the end of June.). The page describes "Action Steps" that a church might take to become part of a "movement of Abolitionist churches" but does not define the term "abolitionist".

Silly summations

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One moment, your words shine proudly in cyberia. Then with the hapless application of chmod, the same summations summarily cease.  Then, when you pray to the gods of the ether, the digital data come back.

Pick up that Unix book -- that's all I can say.

Book publishing and financial advice that cuts to daily life

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Food for thought in BookExpo America - Column - New York Times as I prepare to publish my first book and contemplate future books:

    Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired magazine who made his own splash last year with his book “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More,” returned to the convention to talk about the possibility of giving away online his next book — which he fittingly intends to title “Free” — to readers who were willing to read it with advertisements interspersed throughout its pages. (He still intends to sell the book traditionally to readers who’d rather get their text without the ads.)

Though the financial advice in More Advice Graduates Don’t Want to Hear - New York Times is aimed at graduates, the article is useful for people like me, who is currently living off savings as I pursue the life of a self-employed author and consultant:

    I also suggested cutting out the latte habit, which was my symbol for those little things in life that when turned into a habit, add up to money that could have been spent on something worthwhile and memorable. Other people, my wife among them, pointed out that I may have been too draconian on that point. Consistent savings is a lot easier if there are small rewards along the way; otherwise, life seems as if it is just one bowl of cold grass porridge after another.

I rather enjoy my writing times sitting in cafes. I think of that time as paying rent for a home away from home.

The importance of narrative — and redemption

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This Is Your Life (and How You Tell It) - New York Times:

    By contrast, so-called generative adults — those who score highly on tests measuring civic-mindedness, and who are likely to be energetic and involved — tend to see many of the events in their life in the reverse order, as linked by themes of redemption [emphasis mine]. They flunked sixth grade but met a wonderful counselor and made honor roll in seventh. They were laid low by divorce, only to meet a wonderful new partner. Often, too, they say they felt singled out from very early in life — protected, even as others nearby suffered.

The work redemption caught my eye since it very much fits with the way I have seen my own past.

Scum who scam elders and how we can fight them

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Bilking the Elderly, With a Corporate Assist - New York Times got my attention as someone who volunteers once a month for TeleCare to call the elderly to make sure they are ok. It's a report on the criminal scum who prey on the vulnerable and the commercial entities that profit from helping them:

    Richard Guthrie, a 92-year-old Army veteran, was one of those victims. He ended up on scam artists’ lists because his name, like millions of others, was sold by large companies to telemarketing criminals, who then turned to major banks to steal his life’s savings. Mr. Guthrie, who lives in Iowa, had entered a few sweepstakes that caused his name to appear in a database advertised by infoUSA, one of the largest compilers of consumer information. InfoUSA sold his name, and data on scores of other elderly Americans, to known lawbreakers, regulators say.

What can we do about this situation? At the very least, we can learn to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and the many around us about to avoid being scammed. Some links that seem to be helpful in this area come from various government agencies:

The AARP naturally has a page concerning how to avoid various types of fraud as a retired person. I would guess this info is useful for people of all ages.

The fact that infoUSA is a publicly traded company made me wonder how to easily figure out the reputation that any given corporate entity has. I know that you can look up basic financial info on sites like Yahoo! Finances (e.g., IUSA), which cover headline news. I have to do further research on this topic. For instance, do any of the "socially responsible" investment funds rate various companies and present that info in a publicly accessible form?

I will say that what I'm writing here is based trusting the New York Times. As a simple start, I can also do a search on Google News to see whether this coverage is vouched for by other news sources: infousa - Google News or Yahoo! News Search Results for infousa. I don't see a lot of other coverage of this topic yet; I am curious as to how infoUSA will respond.