Creation Science
A Fiction project in Vineyard Haven, MA by John Sundman ·
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Update #4: Travels with Trippy
Posted on October 27, 2009
There's a guy who lives on Martha's Vineyard and owns a moving & storage company. His given name is Clarence A. Barnes III (as all his trucks yell at you), but he goes by "Trip", short for "triplicate", as in "the third". Trip is a legendary bullshit artist, and just about everybody who has ever worked for him has quit eventually -- including me. But the thing about Trip is, even though he thinks he's a larger-than-life colorful personality that people can't stop talking about ("everybody has a story about me"), in fact he *is* a larger than life personality that people can't stop talking about. Trip likes to boast "I wrote the BOOK on gypsy trucking" -- he never met a Department of Transportation rule he felt worthy of him -- and so when I say that Creation Science will be about, among other things, gypsy trucking, now you know where at least some of my information will come from. From Martha's Vineyard, I drove trucks & moved furniture & artwork for Trippy as far north as Bangor and as far south as Key West, and as for how closely I followed DOT rules, well. . . no comment.
I still pass on to my friends and children words of advice that Trip often gave me when I was working for him.
"Listen," Trip would say. "I want to give you some advice."
"Yes?"
"Don't be a fuckin' asshole."
It's actually very good advice, and I've tried to follow it-- although doing so is not always easy.
SO today marks our entry into the second week of Creation Science funding, and thanks to 35 very supportive people, we're well on our way, 3/5 of the way, to the stated goal of $5,000, with three weeks to go until this fundraiser ends on November 17th, my birthday. (Although, as I've said, the unstated goal is higher than that -- I can't live very long on $5k. That mortgage don't pay itself.) We have yet to secure a single $1 backer or a single $5 backer. So here's an observation: if each of the Creation Science backers already on board could persuade, today, one friend to sign up for $5, that would not only bring us $175 closer to the goal, but bring the roster of backers to 70, thereby making Creation Science look less like a vanity project, and more like a movement. And as Arlo said, friends, that's what this is, a movement!
More anon,
yr frn,
jrs
P.S. After I published my last update, friend Rob Burnett wrote to tell me, " For the record, I think it's: 'the information's unavailable to he *mortal *man.' "
D'oh!
But I also kind of like my variation on Paul Simon's lyric, so I'm not going to change it right yet.
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120
Backers
$8,059
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on November 17, 2009.
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1 Backer
HEY TANKS. You will get to say "Thank you for making your other three books available for free, but here's two bucks anyway!" and I will say, "Hey, thanks!" Plus, you'll get to read my blog posts here & monitor developments on the new book.
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7 Backers
DIGIBOOK. You get a nice digital version of Creation Science (PDF) as soon as it's done. Plus access to the project blog, etc.
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39 Backers
BOOK BOOK. A nifty printed & bound copy of Creation Science. (Shipping included in USA.) Plus DIGIBOOK. Please add $2 for personalized inscription.
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24 Backers
ONE AND ONE. One of Acts of the Apostles, Cheap Complex Devices or The Pains shipped to you when this project has been funded, and Creation Science when it's done. (Shipping included in USA). I have lots of Pains, fewer of Acts and CCD. First come, first served. Please add $3 for personalized inscriptions in each book.
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18 Backers
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Limited Reward
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THE OUEVRE. One copy each of Acts of the Apostles, Cheap Complex Devices, and The Pains shipped to you when this project has been funded, and Creation Science when it's done (Shipping included in USA). Please add $5 for personalized inscriptions in all four books.
Pledge $100 or more
6 Backers
POSTER PACK. Four copies of Creation Science inscribed any way you like, plus a signed poster of the book cover art. Size of poster and artist TBD, but you'll like it, I promise.
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8 Backers
PATRON. You get 1 Poster Pack, plus, I thank you profusely in the acknowledgments. Plus, if you like, you can see all early drafts and watch the book develop and offer suggestions.
Pledge $750 or more
0 Backers
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Limited Reward
(1 of 1 remaining)
COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Acts of the Apostles). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my Acts of the Apostles archives, including my original notebooks, copies of correspondence with my agent, dozens of rejection letters from New York publishing houses, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
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Limited Reward
(1 of 1 remaining)
COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Cheap Complex Devices). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my CCD archives, including my original notebooks, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
Pledge $750 or more
0 Backers
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Limited Reward
(1 of 1 remaining)
COLLECTOR'S EDITION (The Pains). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my Pains archives, including my original notebooks, copies of correspondence with the illustrator Cheeseburger Brown, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
Pledge $750 or more
1 Backer
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COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Creation Science). You get 1 Patron Pack, plus, a souvenir pack of nifty stuff from my Creation Science archives, including my original notebooks, copies of correspondence with my editor, one-of-a-kind mockups, etc. After Creation Science has outsold Harry Potter, you'll be able to sell this on Ebay for a fortune.
Pledge $1,500 or more
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MARTHA'S VINEYARD RETREAT. You and a friend can be my guest for a weekend next spring or summer at my house on Martha's Vineyard. Join me and my wife for three days and two nights at our tiny but friendly house in Vineyard Haven. You'll stay in our guest room; we'll provide breakfast, give you a guided tour of the island, lend you one of our cars for up to five hours, let you borrow our bikes, and you'll be the guest of honor at a dinner party for which Dear Wife Betty will prepare a meal of at least 5 courses. Includes one PATRON PACK.
Project By
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I'm the author of the novels Acts of the Apostles, Cheap Complex Devices, and The Pains, all of which can be downloaded for free from wetmachine.com. I've also written a bunch of award-winning essays for Salon.
I've done famine relief & agricultural development work in west Africa (5 years), have spent 22 of the last 30 years in high tech (Silicon Valley & Boston areas), the other 8 years as truck driver, construction laborer, and novelist. I volunteer at a food pantry that my wife founded & runs, and I'm a volunteer firefighter.
