Sally Ember's Blog, page 10
December 28, 2021
#Ebooks #Smashwords 5th Annual End-of-Year Sales! #Free, 25 – 75% off! Only Three More Days, Through 1/1/22
#Ebooks #Smashwords 5th Annual End-of-Year Sales!
#Free, 25% – 75% off! Only Three More Days, Through 1/1/22
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance
by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads #CR4U
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo are
by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is having its 5th Annual End-of-Year Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are on sale for 3 more days only!
—free (Volume I)
—only $2.99 (Volume II) COUPON CODE for Volume II, good on Smashwords, only, 12/17/21–1/1/22:
UP66L
—only $2.00 (Volume III) COUPON CODE for Volume III, good on Smashwords, only, 12/17/21–1/1/22: UP66L
(usually $3.99 each for ebooks)! See below for links and more info.
And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales for this great sale!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give ebooks for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program at Amazon!
See below for links, details and coupon codes (on Smashwords, only) for each of the Volumes.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart (in this case, download Volume I for free), you get a discount for the total package. Vol I Amazon link: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, using COUPON CODE: UP66L
on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice).
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart, you get a discount for the total package. Vol II Amazon link:: http://www.amzn.com/B00KU5Q7KC
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $2.00, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, using COUPON CODE: UP66L
on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice).
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart, you get a discount for the total package. Vol III Amazon link:: http://www.amzn.com/B0177Z1KRM
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks.
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, archived YouTube (Sally Sue Ember channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/SallySueEmber/videos) video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers and more: http://www.sallyember.com
December 22, 2021
#Ebooks #Smashwords 5th Annual End-of-Year Sales! #Free, 25 – 75% off! 8 More Days: Through 1/1/22
#Ebooks #Smashwords 5th Annual End-of-Year Sales!
#Free, 25 – 75% off! 8 More Days: Through January 1, 2022
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance
by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads #CR4U
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo are
by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is having its 5th Annual End-of-Year Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are on sale for 8 more days only!
—free (Volume I)
—only $2.99 (Volume II) COUPON CODE for Volume II, good on Smashwords, only, 12/17/21–1/1/22: UP66L
—only $2.00 (Volume III) COUPON CODE for Volume III, good on Smashwords, only, 12/17/21–1/1/22: UP66L
(usually $3.99 each for ebooks)! See below for links and more info.
And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales for this great sale!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give ebooks for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program at Amazon!
See below for links, details and coupon codes (on Smashwords, only) for each of the Volumes.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart (in this case, download Volume I for free), you get a discount for the total package. Vol I Amazon link: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, using COUPON CODE: UP66L
on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice).
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart, you get a discount for the total package. Vol II Amazon link:: http://www.amzn.com/B00KU5Q7KC
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $2.00, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, using COUPON CODE UP66L
on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice).
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart, you get a discount for the total package. Vol III Amazon link:: http://www.amzn.com/B0177Z1KRM
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks.
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, archived YouTube (Sally Sue Ember channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/SallySueEmber/videos) video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers and more: http://www.sallyember.com
December 18, 2021
What is #Christian about #Christmas? EVERYTHING!
What is #Christian about #Christmas? EVERYTHING!
So, every year, as a practicing Buddhist raised Jewish, I post something about this topic. This year, with about one week until Christmas Day, I posted this on FB, and the ensuing “dialogue” was… priceless.
“Once more, for the deniers and seemingly willfully ignorant: Symbols and activities of #Christmas ARE #CHRISTIAN.
“Doesn’t matter what you think, want or believe, what religion you usually belong to, or what you like to claim/say about your….
“The following are not ‘American,’ nor is the USA a ‘Christian nation’ (although the Constitution has been overruled and hijacked to make it appear true).
All Christian items/aspects associated with Christmas count, and must include (note the word ‘Christmas’ in each):
—Christmas trees
—Christmas indoor or outdoor decorations OF ALL KINDS, including wreaths, garlands, ornaments, angels, 5-pointed stars, lights of all kinds, inflatables (regardless of origins), audio or video recordings, IF displayed/ broadcast/hung for Christmas
—Christmas carols
—Christmas hymns, prayers, services, worship rituals
—Christmas cookies
—Christmas gingerbread houses and contests
—Christmas cards
—Christmas parties
—Christmas joy, cheer, greetings, piped-in public space music
—Christmas cakes, pies, pastries, puddings, etc.
—Christmas meals
—Christmas gifts, clothing, accessories, including pajamas
—Christmas-time films, TV or radio shows, podcasts, etc., that include anything on this list
—Christmas or Catholic imagery, e.g.: crosses, statues, mangers, paintings, sculptures, tapestries, books, stories, pageants, plays, costumes, fairs, sermons, letters, messages, birthday celebrations, anything else for and about Jesus’ birth, life, or death
—Christmas traditions OF ALL KINDS.
“Period.
“Anyone unclear? Ask a non-Christian. We are all certain.
“We non-Christians are also more comfortable and feel appropriately respected when the above are acknowledged rather than disputed.
“Happy Holidays.”
Someone I barely knew from high school (almost 50 years ago!) posted these responses, and our dialogue is included, below:
HER: “I am a Jew who has always LOVED the spirit of the holiday season including each and every item you outline on your grinch-like list…I am not a ‘denier’ nor ‘willfully ignorant,’ much less un-American…Rather, I look at it as a holiday for children, celebrating the spirit of giving, kindness and joy—nothing more, nothing less.”
ME: “My list was intended to get Christians to acknowledge the Christianity that permeates everything Christmas. People can enjoy, celebrate, believe whatever they want. Please just acknowledge, then, what it all is.”
HER: “Then I guess I’m not sure why the seemingly degradation of the season is even necessary…Why the need to enforce your personal perception of Christmas/Christians and the symbols people choose to celebrate the season, upon others?…Regardless of faith, each and everyone of us is entitled to celebrate in the manner they choose…I seriously doubt Christians need a lesson on your meaning of Christmas.”
ME: “It’s interesting to me that my presenting facts seems degrading to you, and you’re not even Christian. Strange, that.
“Meanwhile, in actual meaning-land, I was having conversations with people raised Christian who were denying the meaning or Christian-relatedness of ANYTHING to do with Christmas, calling it an ‘American’ holiday, and also saying: ‘it’s just a tree,’ ‘I like the lights,’ ‘everyone celebrates Christmas, don’t they?’ etc. I thought those sentiments and views were offensively, blindly privileged and absurd. That prompted my post.
“I am not ‘degrading’ anything. I am naming what is true and wish others would acknowledge it. It is injurious to those NOT Christian already made invisible at this time of year, especially, to be told that ‘a Christmas tree isn’t about Christmas’ and is ‘for everyone.’ Sheesh. That is all.
“Enjoy whatever you want, as I said. But, if you, ‘as a Jew’ (your words), want to ‘celebrate the season’ (winter? December? snow in LA?) with CHRISTIAN symbols, what about if you acknowledge that? Then, maybe try to understand yourself. Perhaps assimilation is your goal; many Jews have tried and some have sort of succeeded. The tactic of ‘blending in,’ thinking it would ‘save us’ from anti-Semitism, however well accomplished, has never worked, and I do not consider it a goal worth striving for, anyway.
“Asking/expecting/rewarding non-Christians to ‘celebrate’ Christian holidays is an oppressive tactic used by mainstream, privileged folks to undermine and degrade minorities. If you choose to go along with that and enjoy it, you have internalized that oppression and made it your own: they won. Still want to enjoy that? Go right ahead. SMH”
Also ME, quoting from this article: “https://www.nbcnews.com/…/secularization-christmas… ‘…secular Christmas is just religious Christmas with cuter clothes and better PR….disliking Christmas doesn’t mean I’m mean or a bad person. It means I’m not Christian and have no reason to celebrate a holiday that’s not significant to me.'”
and, still ME, still quoting, from another article: “https://theweek.com/articles/884660/no-christmas-not-secular ‘…There is nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas, or with finding deep personal joy in the Christmas season. Celebrating Christmas does not necessarily make one complicit in oppression. But expecting others to do the same, to erase our own experiences for the sake of preserving the magic of the season, is oppressive. Though many Americans can happily compartmentalize religious Christian observance and secularized Christmas cheer, not all of us have the luxury of doing so….'”
HER: “I didn’t say it was degrading to me, I said your “degradation of the season” was unnecessary—particularly coming from a Jew—and offensive to Christians or anyone who chooses to celebrate the spirit of the season…Have you ever observed the face of a child sitting on Santa’s lap?…Pure joy, wonder and amazement in all of their innocence…That is what Christmas is all about.”
Last, from ME: “Again, you completely misread and misconstrue my points and purposes. Let us end this useless miscommunication here.”
****************************************
I say, let’s celebrate SCIENCE and the Winter/Summer #Solstice!
from https://time.astrosage.com/holidays/common/winter-solsticeWinter/Summer Solstice commemorations are “secular” and inclusive, since we ALL live on this planet: December 21 or 22, and, June 21 or 22, every year.
If you’re in the mood to be “woke,” extend a hand to non-Christians by respecting our NON celebrations and enjoy your own however you want. Some non-Christians may even appreciate an invitation (with no pressure) to one of your celebrations: consider that.
December 15, 2021
#Ebooks #Smashwords 5th Annual End-of-Year Sales! #Free, 25 – 75% off! December 17, 2021 through January 1, 2022
#Ebooks #Smashwords 5th Annual End-of-Year Sales!
#Free, 25 – 75% off! December 17, 2021 through January 1, 2022
The Spanners Series’ first three Volumes of utopian science-fiction/romance
by Sally Ember, Ed.D. are on sale NOW!
Proud member of Clean Indie Reads #CR4U
The Spanners Series‘ cover art and logo are
by WillowRaven: http://www.willowraven-illustration.blogspot.com/
Smashwords is having its 5th Annual End-of-Year Sale and The Spanners Series‘ ebooks in every format (reader’s choice) are on sale for 3 more days only!
—free (Volume I)
—only $2.99 (Volume II) COUPON CODE for Volume II, good on Smashwords, only, 12/17/21–1/1/22: UP66L
—only $2.00 (Volume III) COUPON CODE for Volume III, good on Smashwords, only, 12/17/21–1/1/22: UP66L
(usually $3.99 each for ebooks)! See below for links and more info.
And, go browse on Smashwords for other great discounts and sales for this great sale!
Whether you’re sweating, freezing, rained or snowed on or anywhere in between, there is still time to READ!
Give ebooks for gifts for birthdays, graduations, holidays, anniversaries, vacations: any time!
The paperbacks of all three Volumes are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program at Amazon!
See below for links, details and coupon codes (on Smashwords, only) for each of the Volumes.
This Changes Everything, Vol. I, The Spanners Series
Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the consortium, the secret visits are made public. Now Earthers must adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are.
Clara is selected to be the liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective and she chooses Esperanza Enlaces to be the Chief Media Contact. They team up to provide information to stave off riots and uncertainty. The Many Worlds Collective holos train Clara and the Psi-Warriors for the Psi Wars with the rebelling Psi-Defiers, communicate effectively with many species on Earth and off-planet, eliminate ordinary, elected governments and political boundaries, convene a new group of Global Leaders, and deal with family’s and friends’ reactions.
In what multiple timelines of the ever-expanding multiverse do Clara and her long-time love, Epifanio Dang, get to be together and which leave Clara alone and lonely as the leader of Earth?
This Changes Everything spans the 30-year story of Clara’s term as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, continuing in nine more Volumes of The Spanners Series.
Are YOU ready for the changes?
Volume I, This Changes Everything:
Ebooks are PERMAFREE on Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376197
and Amazon: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart (in this case, download Volume I for free), you get a discount for the total package. Vol I Amazon link: http://www.amzn.com/B00HFELTG8
This Changes My Family and My Life Forever, Vol. II, The Spanners Series
Intrigued by multiple timelines, aliens, psi skills, romance and planetary change? Clara and the alien “Band” are back in Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever.
Now as Chief Communicator, Clara leads the way for interspecies communication on- and off-planet. Fighting these changes are the Psi-Defiers, led by one of the oldest friends of the Chief of the Psi-Warriors, its reluctant leader, Rabbi Moran Ackerman. Stories from younger Spanners about the first five years of The Transition fill Volume II.
How would YOU do with the changes?
Volume II, This Changes My Family and My Life Forever:
EBOOKS now $2.99, 25% off the regular price of $3.99, using COUPON CODE: UP66L
on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice).
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart, you get a discount for the total package. Vol II Amazon link:: http://www.amzn.com/B00KU5Q7KC
This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Vol. III, The Spanners Series
Clara, Moran, Espe, Epifanio and the alien Band of holos are back in This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change, Volume III of The Spanners Series. Psi-Defiers launch increasingly violent protests during this five-year Transition, attempting to block Earth’s membership into the Many Worlds Collective. Earth’s nations and borders must dissolve and Psi-Warriors must strengthen in their battle against the rebels.
Clara, as Earth’s first Chief Communicator, also juggles family conflicts and danger while creating psi skills training Campuses to help Earth through the Psi Wars. Clara timults alternate versions of their futures as the leaders’ duties and consciences force them to make difficult choices across multiple timelines, continuing to train and fight.
Will the Psi-Warriors’ and other leaders’ increasing psi skills, interspecies collaborations and budding alien alliances be enough for Earth to make it through The Transition intact? If there is no clear path for Clara’s and Epifanio’s love, does she partner with Steve or go it alone?
What do YOU do with wanted/unwanted changes?
Volume III, This Is/Is Not the Way I Want Things to Change:
EBOOKS now $2.00, 50% off the regular price of $3.99, using COUPON CODE: UP66L
on Smashwords, any ebook format (reader’s choice).
These paperbacks are in the Kindle Match/Kindle Matchbook program on Amazon. This means that if you purchase both the ebook and its paperback counterpart, you get a discount for the total package. Vol III Amazon link:: http://www.amzn.com/B0177Z1KRM
The Spanners Series‘ three paperbacks.
Print editions and ebooks published under Timult Books
REVIEWERS: Ask for FREE Ebook coupon codes for Volumes II and III on Smashwords any time: sallyember AT yahoo DOT com
For more information about Sally Ember, Ed.D., her bio, books, blog, archived YouTube (Sally Sue Ember channel, https://www.youtube.com/c/SallySueEmber/videos) video talk show (CHANGES conversations between authors), guest blog posts and guidelines, links to author interviews, book trailers and more: http://www.sallyember.com
November 23, 2021
“Announcing the #BookLife #Prize Finalists”
Mazel Tov to these 5 authors!
Click on the link, below, then on each title to see who is being honored and learn more about each novel.
http://booklife.com/authors/11/17/2021/announcing-the-booklife-prize-finalists.html
October 5, 2021
October 4, 2021
#MacArthur Foundation 25 Newest Fellows 2021: #Scientists, #Filmmakers, #Artists, #Dancers, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists and #Historians
#MacArthur Foundation 25 Newest Fellows 2021: #Scientists, #Filmmakers, #Artists, #Dancers, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists and #Historians
“The MacArthur Fellowship is a $625,000, no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential….Recipients may be writers, scientists, artists, social scientists, humanists, teachers, entrepreneurs, or those in other fields, with or without institutional affiliations. They may use their fellowship to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers.”
There are three criteria for selection of Fellows:
Exceptional creativityPromise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishmentsPotential for the Fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.Meet the newest crop of very fortunate creative sorts, this year’s MacArthur Fellows, who will each receive $125,000/year for 5 years to do WHATEVER THEY WANT!
MacArthur Fellows 2021For bios, specific info on each Fellow, and more about the Program and the Foundation, check out their website: https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/
Imagine: There are no outside or public applications or nominations. The process for selection is so secretive and unknown that very few people (no one outside the Foundation, supposedly) even knows who the nominating and selection committees’ members ARE each year!
“Although nominees are reviewed for their achievements, the fellowship is not a lifetime achievement award, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential. Indeed, the purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.
“The Foundation does not require or expect specific products or reports from MacArthur Fellows and does not evaluate recipients’ creativity during the term of the fellowship. The MacArthur Fellowship is a “no strings attached” award in support of people, not projects. Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $625,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years.”
In the Foundation’s favor, this year—for the fourth time since I’ve been tracking it, which is many years—the female-appearing Fellows are about equal in number to the male-appearing Fellows: 13 seeming males, 11 seeming female and 1 nonbinary fellow. The Fellows process has been great on “diversity” and varying geographic locations for quite a while. This year, only about 3 appear to be Caucasian. You can check out the stats on their site any time.
Again, LOVE this!
I am unfamiliar with all of them for the first time, so my “most interested in getting to know” recipients this year are:
Marcella Alsan, Physician-EconomistAward is for “Investigating the role that legacies of discrimination and resulting mistrust play in perpetuating racial disparities in health….Her most influential work to date provides empirical evidence for the widely held hypothesis that mistrust of medical institutions contributes to poor health indicators experienced by Black men in the United States.”
She “holds a BA (1999) from Harvard University, an MPH (2005) from the Harvard School of Public Health, an MD (2005) from Loyola University, and a PhD in economics (2012) from Harvard University. Alsan served as an associate professor of medicine and, by courtesy, of economics and health research and policy at Stanford University prior to joining the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School as a professor of public policy in 2019. Her work has been published in the American Economic Review, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, and Annals of Internal Medicine, among other journals.”
Ibrahim Cissé, Biological Physicist Award for: “Developing microscopy tools to investigate the subcellular processes underlying genetic regulation and misfunction….[He] continues to push the limits of quantitative microscopy (a microscopic study that uses algorithmic analysis of digital images) … He is also advancing imaging methods to investigate the early stages of misfolded protein clustering, which may be critical to understanding neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. His work revealed that the initial formation of misfolded protein clusters is akin to phase transitions that lead to condensates. Through his cutting-edge innovations in single-molecule microscopy and in-depth understanding of biophysical and cellular processes, Cissé is illuminating the dynamics of gene regulation and enabling further investigation of biological condensates.”
He “received a BS (2004) from North Carolina Central University and a PhD (2009) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at École Normale Supérieure de Paris from 2010 to 2012. Cissé was an assistant professor of physics and biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology beginning in 2014, and he was tenured in 2020. He was a professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology in 2021 prior to taking up his current position as director of the Department of Biological Physics at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany. Cissé’s work has appeared in Nature, Science, Cell, and PNAS, among other scientific journals.”
Also glad to see so many more recipients NOT from either the West or East Coast of the USA.
You can view ALL recipients of this Genius Grant (all Fellows): https://www.macfound.org/fellows/search/all
September 19, 2021
“WTF Happened in 1971?”
If you enjoy statistics, are fascinated by correlations and want to pretend there are causations, go to this site and THINK about each graph and set of facts depicted there. My son told me about this collection, and it is mind-blowing!
For example, in/by 1971, affordable birth control/contraceptive prescription pills (“The Pill”) had become widely available to teens (without parental permission needed, EVEN IN MISSOURI!) and adult single women everywhere in the USA, and I started taking them. SO, everything else must have cascaded from that, right?
OR, for meat consumers, chicken became a leading source of protein by a HUGE and growing percentage, vastly outperforming all other meat sources, starting in 1971 in the USA. Therefore, everything else must have been due to that.
What about financials? Check out this graph:
Inflation rates of over 2400% NOW??!!!Most people have less money, and what we do have buys less, so all our problems stem from that. Sure.
OR, try this: the numbers of lawyers and physicians have both steeply risen after 1971 in the USA; so did the numbers of incarcerated people. You tell me what the consequences of those increases have been…
What about the inverse changes in income vs. costs of housing since 1971, including the fact that it now takes more than three times as long to save enough money buy a house, if you even can?
Are you angry, yet? Bewildered? These are just a few of this site’s sections!
Please visit this site (ignore the ad for Bitcoin!) https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/ and leave your comments here on my post: https://sallyember.com/2021/09/20/wtf-happened-in-1971/
September 13, 2021
What OTHER Authors Recommend to Authors/Readers: A Great New Site!
What OTHER Authors Recommend to Authors/Readers: A Great New Site!
Shepherd.com “Like browsing the best bookstore in the world” asks writers to put up their “BEST OF” lists, either in pre-set or their own choice of categories. The Founder, Ben Fox, invited me to join!
Create or Search Book Lists on Shepherd.com
If you are an author, you can sign up, here: https://forauthors.shepherd.com/contact
Offer your own “BEST OF” list! When you do, you also get to show off one of your own books and 2 of your favorite links (for that book or your website, or whatever you want)! You can also include a short author bio, your photo, a book cover image and a blurb for your featured book.
I created and chose to put up my 5 favorite Speculative Fiction books / compilations that ALL sci-fi writers ought to read/have read. “The best speculative fiction books that every science fiction author needs to read” by Sally Ember, Ed.D., with a short description of each and my reasons for including it, can be found here: https://shepherd.com/best-books/speculative-fiction-sci-fi-author-need-to-read
my favorite kind of Sci-Fi is Speculative Fiction
Explaining the Shepherd site’s concept: “I love wandering around bookstores letting random books capture my attention. Nothing will ever replace the ‘bookstore experience,’ but I want to reimagine book discovery online with a lot more serendipity. Thus, Shepherd.com was born.
“Shepherd launched on April 19th, 2021, and in addition to helping readers, we are also helping authors. There is a growing trend that authors have to become their own marketing team. That concerns me because it takes time away from writing and it is very hard to do. I [Ben Fox, Founder] want to make it easier for authors to get their books in front of the readers who would be most interested in their book.
“We are creating an experience that is like wandering around your favorite bookstore. Along with little notes from authors pointing out their favorite books. Signup here to get an inside look as we work toward this goal.
“Authors pick their 5 favorite books around a topic or theme they are passionate about, along with why they recommend each of those books. Then, we feature the author and one of their books alongside that list forever. And, we promote the author, their book, and their book list throughout our website and marketing channels.
“What features are coming soon? Topic Pages, search, and a new front page!”
So, if you want help marketing, networking, building an audience, finding new good reads, and more, check Shepherd out!
They also offer topic-specific articles and a newsletter: https://shepherd.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=fc6f04f4b024400e14636c034&id=c248e1153b
September 3, 2021
#DoYou10Q? Rosh Hashona through Yom Kippur, September 6 – 16 (#Jewish New Year High Holidays), Read, Respond, Review, Forecast
#DoYou10Q? Rosh Hashona through Yom Kippur, September 6 – 16
(#Jewish New Year High Holidays), Read, Respond, Review, Forecast
You don’t have to be Jewish or celebrate #Jewish High Holy Days (Rosh Hashona, Jewish New Year’s, and Yom Kippur, the “Day of Atonement”) to want to spend some time considering your life and your goals/ accomplishments each year. I was raised Jewish, but I am a practicing #Buddhist.
Again this year, the group running this event (http://www.rebooters.net/) has offered new, #pandemic-related questions AND the usual questions.
It’s free! http://doyou10Q.com and #DoYou10Q are the connection points.
Check out any local Partners with 10Q: http://doyou10q.com/partners: Reach out to Josh Kanter, Reboot’s outreach and partnership manager, at josh @ rebooters DOT net or (go to the site for his phone number (in the USA)].<
You can respond to all 10 Questions from September 6 through 16, online, and have them put into the “vault” for yourself for next year’s reflections.
10Q: “Reflect. React. Renew. Life’s Biggest Questions. Answered By You.”
The title and all the info, below, come from the 10Q site. Visit! Sign up! Do it!
http://doyou10q.com/
“Answer one question per day [or more than one per day, if you have some to catch up on] in your own secret online 10Q space. Make your answers serious. Silly. Salacious. However you like. It’s your 10Q. When you’re finished, hit the magic button and your answers get sent to the secure online 10Q vault for safekeeping.
“One year later (September 5, this year), the ‘vault’ will open and your answers will land back in your email inbox for private reflection.
“Want to keep them secret? Perfect. Want to share them, either anonymously or with attribution, with the wider 10Q community? You can do that, too.
“Next year, the whole process begins again. And the year after that, and the year after that.
“Do you 10Q? You should. If you have, already, enter the “giveaway” by sharing one or more experiences and using the hashtag, as directed:
Click here to get your 10Q on.
10Q begins September 6, 2020, and goes for 10+ days
http://doyou10q.com/
How do you want to 10Q? It’s up to you!
