Curled up with a book,
cat's tails swishing to and fro -
raindrops on flowers.
She smiles as she leaves;
another lovely morning -
the apple tree blooms.
Smiling commuters,
hot, overcrowded subway -
summer's almost here.
Overgrown back yard,
peeling paint, crumbling façade -
the cruel winter.
Wind chimes ringing out,
kids stickers on a trash can -
the bus driver waits.
The lonely busker
strums his guitar, ignored -
overhead a bird sings.
The change: Oil production collapses in the middle east, driving prices of crude oil to over $500/barrel.
1. This change happened because reality finally caught up with the overblown estimates of reserves in the ground. Back in the 70’s, the method of estimating reserves was changed, drastically inflating the available oil, yet to be pumped from the ground. Based on the pre-1970 reserves, the production crash was correctly predicted and happened as scheduled. It was not expected because people had grown to believe the post 1970 inflated estimates of oil reserves.
2. Oil companies outside the middle east, those with reserves that are still exploitable.
3. The countries in the middle east. Initial suffering is horrendous as lack of cheap energy causes their desert ecosystems to revert to an arid, pre-green state. Lack of power for water de-salination initially causes riots. The situation is salvaged by the enormous dollar reserves the countries have, which they use to snap up alternative energy companies in the US and proceed to build solar/wind power farms in the desert.
Consequences
1. - No driving anywhere you want to
- Lot more emphasis on local consumption
- Massive switch to alternative energy where possible (solar rooftop-heating for water)
2. - Public transport is welcomed (instead of NIMBY)
- Plastics become expensive, cities start putting up public water fountains
- No more air travel
3. - Focus on recycling. Existing plastics are reused to the point of disintegration.
- People start spending more time in neighbourhoods and parks in walking distance.
- Obesity starts retreating - lack of cheap energy makes junk food expensive.
From the SFF.net exercise on world building
Imagine our world after some major single social, political, cultural, or economic change has happened, then:
Answer the following questions
1. Why did this change happen, what brought it about?
2. Who enjoys/benefits from/favors this change?
3. Who dislikes/suffers from/disapproves of this change?
List the following consequences
1. Think of at least three ways the average person's daily life is different.
2. Think of at least three ways that "official" public life is different.
3. Think of at least three ways that people's behavior has changed.
Patchy fog. Narrow
road - why do the cars drive fast
through the morning sun?
Just for fun, I will start building a world using Patricia C. Wrede's Fantasy world building questionairre.
I had been meaning to do this for a while now. I started out on LJ and could somehow never keep up - too many distractions, too many friends to follow. So here I am, striking out again.
This is a blog for my writing practice. I'll be the first to admit - most of the writing here will be atrocious. I will be considering this my experimental stage, a place for first drafts and scratch work and vocabulary and haikus.
Yes, one of my resolutions is to write a haiku a day. So here it starts.