Via Jason Kottke: 24 pieces of life advice from Werner Herzog Paul Cronin’s book of conversations with filmmaker Werner Herzog is called Werner Herzog – A Guide for the Perplexed. On the back cover of the book, Herzog offers a list of advice for filmmakers that doubles as general purpose life advice. 1. Always take
Read on »Writing
NaNoWriMo 2014 Winner
This is my fourth consecutive win. It sort of feels a little less-satisfying that the others. For one thing, I’m writing something that’s intensely personal, so I kind of felt pretty drained by it. Also, there was a lot of research involved because it’s historical fiction, so even when I wasn’t writing, the topic was
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2014 Book Cover and Current Word Count
The working cover I made for my 2014 NaNoWriMo novel. (Spoiler alert: some words might not actually be true.) Also, a handy graphic that updates with my word count so you can see what I’ve got going. I’m at 8670 words, above word count for day 4, and I have a pretty good idea what’s
Read on »The Boston Electric Protective Association
From Boston: Its Commerce, Finance and Literature (with Illustrations) 1892 A bit of research I’m doing for this year’s NaNoWriMo
Read on »Publisher’s Weekly: The Top 10 Essays Since 1950
From Publisher’s Weekly: The Top 10 Essays Since 1950. Robert Atwan, the founder of The Best American Essays series, picks the 10 best essays of the postwar period. Links to the essays are provided when available. Fortunately, when I worked with Joyce Carol Oates on The Best American Essays of the Century (that’s the last
Read on »Excerpt: Untitled Short Story
I would not mind your thoughts on this, the beginning of a short story I’m working on (that is due Sunday! but we’ll just gloss over that for now). I’m hoping this will be a series of related short stories. It is in a particular genre, but I’d rather get further before I disclose that.
Read on »Winner Winner, Turkey Dinner – 2013 NaNoWriMo Finish
50,119 Words, validated, means that I “win” National Novel Writing Month. I’m very grateful to Stephanie, who has been really supportive of me doing this, even though she’s had a lot of difficulties going on right now. We’re adjusting to her lengthy commute to her new job and a family illness, so it’s been a
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2013 Wordcount, day 19
I’m three fifths of the way through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and still on track for word count. I wouldn’t say the last few days are works of genius or anything. Or even spelled correctly. But they are word strung together on a page in some sort of semi-coherent fashion. So there’s that. Week
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2013
I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month again this year. I’ve undertaken this challenge in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012, and I “won” twice – in 2011 and 2012 by writing 50,000 words each year. That novel is pretty close to being complete, but needs some major revisions and finishing work, and I’m pretty
Read on »Testing my ROT-13 encoding plug-in
Testing the WordPress ROT-13 encoding plug-in. Here is a HUGE spoiler (single click on the line to decode): [rot13]Rosebud was the sled.[/rot13] Cute, huh?
Read on »On Writing
NaNoWriMo 2013 Preparation
I decided to get serious about plot, rather than just pantsing-it completely. I transferred the handy chart I got at GenCon to my bulletin board. And noted the troublesome spot where my plots commonly end up. The chart is from the “Fiction Fundamentals Part 1: Plotting and Planning” led by Lawrence Connolly & William Horner
Read on »Gen Con Writer’s Symposium 2013, Saturday in Review
WKS1345346 (Fiction Fundamentals Part 3: Putting on the Polish on Sat at 08:00 AM – 3 hours) Lawrence Connolly, William Horner III “In-depth workshop: learn how to make your story sing through application of effective revision and editing techniques.” I was really sorry to miss this workshop because the other two these guys did on
Read on »Gen Con Writer’s Symposium 2013, Thursday and Friday in Review
Thursday WKS1345344 (Fiction Fundamentals Part 1: Plotting and Planning on Thu at 08:00 AM – 3 hours) Lawrence Connolly, William Horner III “In-depth workshop: learn how to avoid extra work by planning your story and all of its elements from the beginning.” This was easily the most useful of the day’s programs to me, although
Read on »My Gen Con Writer’s Symposium Schedule
I think I’m probably a bit over-scheduled for GenCon this coming weekend – I’m signed up for these writing workshops and seminars. I’m thinking my brain is going to be pretty fried if I attempt to do all of this, so I’ll probably skip out on some of them strategically. Fortunately they’re all in the
Read on »Supergirl First
The case for why DC should tackle a Supergirl movie before a Wonder Woman movie. I wrote a little bit a few weeks ago about the importance of getting the Wonder Woman storyline right when she is written in comics, books, television and movies. If I had a huge ego, I’d say the folks at
Read on »Character lists in famous novels
The characters in these lists are main characters and key secondary characters in these stories. In some cases there are additional secondary and minor characters not listed here. This list may be updated periodically with additional famous novels and their character lists. The Great Gatsby Characters: 10 Nick Carraway Jay Gatsby Daisy Buchanan Tom Buchanan
Read on »Camp NaNoWriMo 2013 Participant
Yep, so I’m going to do Camp NaNoWriMo 2013 for April. My project for this writing commitment is to finish the novel I worked on (and “won” with) in 2011 and 2012. Prior to today’s additions, it was at 78,391 words. (I wrote 50,000+ words for it in November 2011, threw out over half of
Read on »Gender Through Comic Books Online Course
Very cool news from comic writer Mark Waid: For the last few months, a talented university teacher named Christy Blanch has been putting together a college-level course called “Gender Through Comic Books”–but it’s not limited to college students. It’s the world’s first comics-related Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)–meaning that it will be FREELY AVAILABLE to
Read on »Ryan Murphy does hate lesbians, apparently
Via Vulture magazine, some interesting commentary of last night’s Glee episode, which I have yet to see. Glee Recap: Carefully Chosen Bells and Whistles — Vulture. Speaking of chaos, if you’re a casual Glee fan, you might have missed out on exactly how directly last night’s episode knocked down the fourth wall between it and
Read on »Some other NaNoWriMo Thoughts
Trying to write 50,000 words in a month felt like holding my breath under water – everything else was suspended while I worked on writing. I basically ate, slept, went to work and wrote. I cut out television, most socializing and practically all other stuff that invades my day. Trying to keep the house clean,
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2012 – Validated
So.. I won NaNoWriMo again this year. I finished three days early – with 50,058 words written this year added to what I wrote last year. Now I need to write the actual final chapters and not just scenes from the climactic ending, but hey – I’m a lot closer to a complete work than
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2012 – Day 9
8. 13,336 – 2750 (14497, +1161) Those are my notations for Day 8 of National Novel Writing Month. 13,336 – that’s “par for the course” or the least word count for day 8 to stay on track to “win.” 2750 – the number of words I wrote yesterday. 14497 – total word count for November
Read on »Only on afterellen.com would lesbian stalkers be a feel good story
Only on that site would no one question a story like this: The 8 Craziest Pop Culture Lesbian Stalkers When you hear the term “lesbian stalker,” it’s usually referencing someone you or your friend broke up with that you just can’t get away from. Well I’m sorry to say but lesbian communities are oh-so-small, my
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2012
Yup, I’m going to do this again. I’m basically going to add 50,000 words to my novel from last year in hopes of finishing it. Wish me luck. I did it once; I can do it again. Of course last time I took a week off work to do it, and this time I’ve already
Read on »Fortune Cookie Du Jour
Yeah, right.
Read on »It’s like we’re not even watching the same show
“Glee” Recap (4.01): Marley & Me | AfterEllen.com. I can’t read this recap of Glee. You read it for me. I couldn’t get through the first paragraph, because it’s like the writer and I aren’t even watching the same show. Or sitting on the same planet, even. The crazy; it burns. I thought her recaps
Read on »25 Ways To Plot, Plan and Prep Your Story
25 Ways To Plot, Plan and Prep Your Story. I’m struggling with my novel quite a bit right now, trying to untangle the plot and see if I can figure out what I’m trying to convey. I had a really frustrating time last weekend trying to work it out. The “fly by the seat of
Read on »Pixar story rules
The Pixar Touch – history of Pixar – Blog – Pixar story rules (one version). These are some fantastic story writing rules from Pixar Writer Emma Coats, as collected from her twitter feed. Pixar story artist Emma Coats has tweeted a series of “story basics” over the past month and a half — guidelines that she
Read on »Fortune Cookie Du Jour
You’ll never know what you can do until you try.
Read on »Indiana Romance Writers of America: Golden Opportunities Contest
From the Indiana chapter of Romance Writers of AmericaIndiana Golden Opportunity Contest. We welcome you to help us celebrate the 22nd anniversary of Indiana’s Golden Opportunity (IGO), one of the Midwest’s premier contests. The Indiana chapter of Romance Writers of America® (IRWA) has a well-deserved reputation for offering detailed, encouraging comments to our contest entrants
Read on »Fortune Cookie Du Jour
“You were born with a ‘sixth sense’ and superb insight.” I love a good suck-up cookie.
Read on »Episodic v. Serial – Complications Ensue
Episodic v. Serial – Complications Ensue: So when we actually saw Rob Thomas (creator of VERONICA MARS) giving a talk at Banff, DMc asked him about his thoughts on episodic vs. serial. Rob busted out a factoid I’d heard before, but which really hadn’t sunk in. When people say they watch a show, on average,
Read on »Goodbye, Movable Type
Pardon the dust, please; I’m moving this site out of Movable Type and into Word Press, and from an old-school host to Media Temple. I took the week off to make this move because I have to configure Word Press and get plugins in place, and I have over 6,000 posts and hundreds of images
Read on »2012 Resolutions Check In – January
It’s not quite the end of January, but I thought I’d check in a bit early on my year’s goals because next weekend promises to be chaotic both “internally” (meaning: with my own writing plans) and “externally” (meaning: with the Super Bowl going on in the city and whatnot). So how am I doing? 1)
Read on »Word Counts of Famous Short Stories (organized)
Shamelessly cribbed from Classic Short Stories and re-organized by word count from shortest to longest for comparison purposes. We’re discussing short stories with the Indy NaNoWriMo group this afternoon, and I thought it might help to have a word count chart similar to the one I did for Famous Novels back in November. Of the
Read on »Writing Resolutions
Wordplay has a nice list of 12 writing resolutions – 1 for each month of the year. Pretty good stuff, and I plan to adopt them. In January, I resolve to…schedule a regular writing time. In February, I resolve to… create a roadmap to publication. In March, I resolve to… stop procrastinating. In April, I
Read on »Friday Night Lights
While I’m working through my CD ripping project, I’ve been knitting and doing some marathon Netflix watching. I can’t remember what prompted me to start watching Friday Night Lights, but I’ve been working my way through the first several seasons – and it’s GOOD. The writing is amazing. I wish I’d been watching this all
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2011: Validated.
I’m validated at 50163 words. Technically I’m “done” writing my National Novel Writing Month project. Except that I still need to write chapters 12-15 and chapters 2 and 5. But 50163 words makes it “finished” for the purposes of the contest. I’m a winner. I’ve written more than Slaughterhouse Five and The Great Gatsby. Not
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2011: Still chugging along.
I’m at 43,506 words. That’s 6,494 words away from “winning.” And I have 4 days. I think it’s a safe bet that I’ll get there, especially since I have all day tomorrow to work on it. I didn’t write at all on Thanksgiving Day, but I wrote in the car both to and from Iowa
Read on »Men are bad at sex (writing)
The Literary Review’s “Bad Sex in Fiction” award is dominated year after year by men. (heh. See what I just did there?) I do find the thought that men can’t write sex well very funny. And there are some prominent male authors on the list, too, which is odd, because what’s so interesting about their
Read on »NaNoWriMo Road Trip setup
Writing in car, now with inverter to ensure iPad stays charged. Also, monkey plays critical role in keeping iPad from falling over. Trial and error involved in this set-up.
Read on »NaNoWriMo Update: Still on target
My word count is now 35,521 words. Not quite beating out Ole Yeller on the “famous books word count list.” I’m under par by 1,153 words, but I should have time to get caught up (and hopefully ahead) tomorrow on the road to Iowa for the family Thanksgiving. Stephanie is driving, and I’m planning on
Read on »Word Count for Famous Novels (organized)
Word count for famous novels, in ascending order by number of words. Based on this list compiled by Nicole Humphrey Cook. (Thanks Nicole, and sorry for stealing; I wanted to see the list in order.) For average word counts based on genre, see this handy reference. Also, here’s another list I may swipe and add
Read on »Nanowrimo 2011: Still in the game
I’m at 28,932 words – above par for the first time since the first week. (Par for day 17 is 28,339.) Around 115 pages. Parts of this story are poor, parts of it make me really happy and there are large chunks that need to be better researched. I know what the end will be
Read on »NaNoWriMo2011 – Still Cautiously Optimistic
It is NaNoWriMo 2011 Day 13, par for yesterday’s work (Day 12) should have been 20,004 words/80 pages. Mine was 17,234 words – about 68 pages. I’m 2770 words behind par, which isn’t too bad. This is definitely more than I have ever written before in a single sustained effort on any single subject, so
Read on »Die Vampire Die
Personal Truth
I’ve posted this quote before, but it came up in conversation recently, and I was struck again by how very beautiful it is. May Sarton, from Journal of a Solitude: “My own belief is that one regards oneself, if one is a serious writer, as an instrument for experiencing. Life–all of it–flows through this instrument
Read on »NaNoWriMo 2011: very tentative outline
I spent some time yesterday trying to work out how my story is going to go, and came up with some potential chapter titles. Which, looking at them now seem completely over the top and fraught with the possibility of failure, but what the hell. I may as well look stupid. It wouldn’t be the
Read on »NaNoWriMo2011 – Outlook: Cautiously Optimistic.
I didn’t say anything about joining National Novel Writing Month this year because I haven’t gotten very far with this in the past, and I’ve learned talking about stuff tends to kill projects before they get off the ground. I’m doing much better this year, though, and I’ve managed to keep my word count up
Read on »The dangers of being a woman online
“You should have your tongue ripped out”: the reality of sexist abuse online by Helen Lewis-Hasteley – 03 November 2011 12:51 Accounts from several women, some prominent figures and some more anonymous, describing the nature of abuse that gets directed at them online because they are women.
Read on »Pondering feed readers
Do people use feed readers anymore? It seems odd to me that this never quite caught on in a big way amongst people I know. I use a feed reader and I know my wife does, but other than web geeks, I’m not sure many other folks do. Maybe it’s not simple enough? How do
Read on »links for 2011-09-01
Stupid Game of Thrones Characters – Dorkly Article If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the Stupid Ned Stark meme. Hilarious as it is, the other idiots get off scot-free. Let’s fix that. (WARNING: SPOILERS) (tags: GameOfThrones memes funny) Don't talk down to little girls: Lisa Bloom explains why Ask
Read on »links for 2011-06-10
Periodic Table of Storytelling by *ComputerSherpa on deviantART Very cool chart of story tropes. (tags: visualization storytelling writing)
Read on »BEST. FORTUNE. EVER.
Fortune Cookie: “Only if you dive for pearls shall you find one.” That is awesome.
Read on »Nuvo Arts Blog Writer Chi Sherman
Speaking of things I’ve been remiss in writing about this year – several months ago, our good friend Chi Sherman became a writer for Nuvo Newsweekly (our local alt weekly, for non-Indy residents.) She’s on the arts/writing/entertainment beat writing about all the cool happenings going on about town, and much of our new awareness of
Read on »John Cleese on creativity
John Cleese discussing writing, creativity, and getting in the zone for creative work. One of his main points is the importance of not being interrupted while writing – once you are distracted from your task, it’s very difficult to get back on the moving train of thought. So closing yourself off to disruptions is a
Read on »Dragon Dictation for the iPhone
I’ve been playing with the Dragon Dictation for the iPhone to transcribe some blog ideas that occur to me when I drive to work in the morning. I have about a 20 minute drive and I usually have several ideas that I’d like to write about in that time, but in the hectic moments after
Read on »The Lost Finale
Kottke does a nice round-up of sites’s comments on the Lost finale. Many of them express what I’ve heard as a common theme among fans – it’s okay that all of the questions weren’t answered, because most of them were. The major storylines were wrapped up. io9, on the other hand, came up a with
Read on »In search of the next Lost
Entertainment Weekly has an interesting article in their current issue about all of the shows written to be the next big Lost and how none of them seem to be taking off in the way the networks are hoping. I am watching FlashFoward, and it’s interesting, but most of the shows are missing a key
Read on »SXsW 2010 – Friday Recap
Two panels that we were able to make it to after flying in today… Getting Stoked about Web Typography Samantha Warren Went over a lot of stuff I knew already about finding inspiration in typography – but it was refreshing since we really back-burner our typography in our designs, partly because of the technology concerns.
Read on »Drop-Down Fly-Out Navigation on my site
I’ve been dissatisfied with the navigation methods here on my site for a long time – I was very frustrated by the long, unwieldy category list from the sidebar – I’ve always organized by category, but the display of that navigation sucked, because it was hard to tell that there were categories and sub-categories, and
Read on »links for 2010-02-05
On Language – Crash Blossoms – NYTimes.com Classic headline screw ups – “Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim” and “Red Tape Holds Up New Bridge.” (tags: writing headlines nytimes humor language) This is the title of a typical incendiary blog post – Coyote Crossing This sentence claims that there are many people who do not agree
Read on »December? Oh my.
Wow – time to wrap up the year, and I’m utterly at loose ends with various projects. I’ve been working steadily on knitting projects, and organizing the house, two areas where we’ve made some pretty big gains. We’re steadily getting through the mounds of papers that need to be filed or thrown out, with the
Read on »links for 2009-10-31
Home — Second Story Second Story is a non-profit writing project serving kids, schools and community organizations in Indianapolis, Ind. Programs include in-class writing instruction at local schools, as well as after-school tutoring, creative-writing workshops and other events. (tags: writing creative children eucation fun) The Secret Headquarters Dr. Fredric Rinehart has been credited with developing
Read on »Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing a short story
Cribbed from Kurt Vonnegut’s Wikipedia entry: In his book Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut listed eight rules for writing a short story: Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted. Give the reader at least one character he or
Read on »What motivates me
I’m not motivated by a bunch of platitudes about “finding the edge” and “exploiting your potential.” I’m not motivated by people who engage in competitive behavior with people they should be collaborating with. I’m not motivated by people who rest on their laurels and do the bare minimum to get by, or people who spend
Read on »Stimulating Reading
My feed reader is often a bloodbath; I add to and purge my regular web reading ruthlessly, and yet it’s always overstuffed and I’m perpetually behind. There are some mainstays; ego surfing my own feeds and some friends to whom I would feel embarrassed conversing In Real Life if I hadn’t kept up with their
Read on »Ennui
I’ve been rather blue lately. I’m feeling creatively frustrated. I have some idea in my head that I can’t quite get out – like that time when you had that really fantastic dream, and just as you woke up, you thought “I gotta remember this!” at the same time all the details start sliding away
Read on »blogging from my iPhone
We’re out at Ralph’s Great Divide eating dinner, and I decided to test the Movable type iPhone interface for my blog. Works good. Dinner is also delicious.
Read on »Electrasteph’s Fortune Cookies
A rather simple site I created for my Fortune Cookies to get the basics of Expression Engine (and by special request from my girlfriend, who enjoys my snark.) Electrasteph’s Fortune Cookies
Read on »Indiana political blogging
Sometimes it’s really entertaining for all the wrong [link deprecated: http://www.blueindiana.net/showDiary.do;jsessionid=38F64BC3DD2AF56DA297D48ACAA576E0?diaryId=2332] reasons. 2019 Update: Lest it be lost to the ethereal ravages of time, this was the subject of the above posts. From: gwelsh@indy.rr.com Subject: Tyrion Date: April 9, 2008 4:55:22 PM GMT-04:00 To: bil@bilerico.com It’s quite interesting that you, of all people, would allow
Read on »SXSW Interactive 2008
I’m getting final stuff prepped to take off for SXSW Interactive 2008 in Austin, Texas tomorrow. I’m going with three of my design team co-workers; one from here in Indianapolis and two from Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. We’re staying in the Courtyard Marriott right next to the Austin Convention Center, so we’re in the
Read on »Dealing with some denial of service attacks on the site
I have been dealing with a denial of service attack on my site recently. I suspect that I’m the target of some unethical behavior in the gay Republican base in Indianapolis politics, specifically because of this post I wrote about Marion County’s special election to replace Julia Carson. It’s been almost exactly a year since
Read on »links for 2008-03-01
National Grammar Day: Brought to you by the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar Vote for the worst grammar. No, I’m not one of the poll items. (tags: Grammar english funny) Feminism 101: “Calling Out Fellow Progressives for Sexism Prevents Unity on the Left” The second installment of Melissa McEwan’s excellent series on basic
Read on »Fascinating Interview with David Simon
David Simon is the producer of HBO’s “The Wire” – a highly acclaimed series that I have on my Netflix queue since I’ve heard so many rave reviews calling it “The Best Show on TV Ever.” Here is part of an interview he gave with Nick Hornby for The Believer: We got the gig because
Read on »November is National Novel Writing Month
This year, for National Novel Writing Month – I have a plan! I’m going to do something really innovative — I’m going to spend the month of November… … building a website for my friend Chi. Yes! I know, it’s not a novel. However… I actually know how to build websites (unlike novels, which I
Read on »testing blogging from the iphone
I installed the iPhone plug-in for Movable Type. Works good, as you may be able to tell.
Read on »Hey, guys! I’m blogging from the car!
The car, I’m blogging from it! I’ve got the ability to blog via my Motorola Razr via email in place, so I can update from the car while we’re traveling. We’re on the road in Phoebe, with lisa and Jason behind us, headed up to Chicago. I believe the plan is to get some food
Read on »Why I’m Still Disappointed with Movable Type, 4.0 Beta version
ridiculous rant. You can see the original rant below the fold. I am, apparently, really stupid. And quite wrong. And Jerame is quite right. Never mind. I’ll just be over here, making new category templates. Don’t mind me. UPDATE: Okay, I’m not quite that wrong. I can make a specialized template work for a single
Read on »Today’s Fortune Cookie
You will enjoy good health, you will be surrounded by luxury. I take it back fortune cookie – I believe every word you say, I swear!
Read on »Today’s Fortune Cookie
“You crave your lover when the two of you are apart.” Ooo la la! Hawt cookie! I couldn’t read it out loud to my co-worker – I had to hand it to her to read, lest I get a case of the giggles. (But I will be reading it out loud to my girlfriend later.)
Read on »Recent Fortune Cookies
From lunch today at Changs: Your skills will accomplish what the force of many cannot. Damn. I better get some skills quick. Seriously, though, this is one of the better fortunes I’ve ever received. Be neater if it were true. From lunch last week at Changs: Everywhere you choose to go, friendly faces will greet
Read on »SXSW 2007 thoughts
One of the first things I plan to do is take a closer look at Microformats and see where I can mark up my site appropriately. While I was sitting in the panel, I downloaded the firefox operator extension, and I’ve been playing with it. I also want to get OpenID set up on this
Read on »SXSW anticipation
I’ve been busy getting prepared for the South by Southwest conference, and the closer it gets, the more excited I am. I am hugely lucky that we’re being sent by work – our whole web design team from both Indianapolis and New Jersey is going – which means I don’t have to foot the bill
Read on »Passive Aggressive Blogging
One of my favorite amusements lately is folks who read something I’ve written here, and rather than commenting/disagreeing on my site, or even going back to their own site and commenting there while linking to my post, they simply comment on their own sites in general terms, without providing any context to what they’re reacting
Read on »Today’s Fortune Cookie
“Everything will now come your way.” Um, at first I thought “Great!” because I’m waiting for the new laptop. (Is that like “Waiting for Godot“?) But then I started to worry – what if I need a helmet?
Read on »NaNoWRiMo Update
I’m hopelessly behind and have no reasonable expectation of ever catching up by the end of November deadline. I know what the general story is, but when it comes to writing scenes that make any sort of sense, I’m completely stalled. And the stress of being so far behind is really interfering with my actually
Read on »Nanowrimo: Day 3
Okay, I really, really have the plot all worked out and I’m very excited by my idea, which I think is fun, entertaining, and a Big Idea, also. But I have to do some more research, in the form of purchasing the Historic Plan for our neighborhood, at a cost of $5, from the Indianapolis
Read on »Nanowrimo: Day 1
My word count for day 1: 1281 words. That sucks! I spent most of the day trying to figure out the plot, which I should have had outline in October. It didn’t help that I had my teeth cleaning appointment and the chimney sweeping appointment. Also, the dog barked all day along. Apparently Cthulhu is
Read on »National Novel Writing Month 2006
National Novel Writing Month is November 1st, and the sign-up for it begins this Friday October 1st (I managed to skip the entire month of September in my head). One of my friends participated in the past and is going to again this year. Here’s the scoop: National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants
Read on »Quiet time
Sorry about the lack of new and unique writing over the last week or so. I’m writing a couple of long book reviews that are still in draft form, and doing a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes on the site design to get everything cleaned up, so things have been quiet ’round here.
Read on »A nice cake is waiting for you: recent fortune cookies
A nice cake is waiting for you. I’m being stalked by a cake. That’s just scary. Your winsome smile will be your sure protection. Um, can I have a ball bat instead? I’d feel more secure. You are never bitter, deceptive, or petty. Oops, I got someone else’s fortune. A modest man never talks to
Read on »Fortune Cookie
“An upward movement initiated in time can counteract fate.” I got this one last week, and it’s easily the strangest, most mysterious fortune cookie I’ve ever received. This is what a fortune cookie should be; inscrutable.
Read on »“Mary Sue” in Online Fan Fiction
MARY SUE (n.): 1. A variety of story, first identified in the fan fiction community, but quickly recognized as occurring elsewhere, in which normal story values are grossly subordinated to inadequately transformed personal wish-fulfillment fantasies, often involving heroic or romantic interactions with the cast of characters of some popular entertainment. 2. A distinctive type of
Read on »American Rhetoric
A have a few of my favorite speeches here on my own site: [Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy] but here’s a website that has everything… AmericanRhetoric.com. Tons of the best speeches ever delivered in the United States. I wonder a bit about a site that has more speeches by Georgie boy than by Bill
Read on »My Chinese horoscope
Figuring out my Chinese horoscope. Birthday/time: June 6th, 1968, 7:01 a.m. Latitude and Longitude where I was born: West Des Moines, IA (US): 41n35, 93w43, Iowa. Timezone: -6 GMT. You are Red Sheep, born in the year of Brown Monkey. The first character in DAY represents you. So you are equivalent to Fire. Lucky element:
Read on »You have an ambitious nature
You have an ambitious nature and may make a name for yourself. Executive ability is prominent in your makeup. You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time. Drink to your health! Your luck has been completely changed today. Put the data you have uncovered to beneficial use. That’s an interesting if
Read on »You are open-minded and quick
“You are open-minded and quick to make new friends.” This is less of a “fortune” cookie, and more of an encouraging “wishful-thinking” type cookie “In love you could shine as a brilliant star.” Or, I could be as gooky as a puddle of mud. There’s no telling, really.
Read on »Your eyes will be opened
“Your eyes will be opened to a world full of beauty, charm, and adventure.” Hey, I must be going to Disneyworld!
Read on »You are going to have some new clothes
“You are going to have some new clothes” When I first read this, I thought, no, I’m buying a house, so I can’t shop for clothes. Then I thought, Emperor’s new clothes? “Life always get’s harder near the summit.” Like, is that supposed to cheer me up?
Read on »Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life
Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life. In otherwords, if I’m unhappy, it’s my own fault? Hands that touch this fortune shall remain young and strong. Of course, I made everyone touch the fortune. Got to look out for your friends. Now is the time to try something new. So much for the
Read on »In love you could shine as a brilliant star
In love you could shine as a brilliant star Hell, in love, I can’t even get a date.
Read on »Generosity and perfection are your everlasting goals
Friends long absent are coming back to you. Generosity and perfection are your everlasting goals. This must be another one of those “bizarro world” cookies It is the hopes and dreams that we have that makes us great. No, it’s pursuing and realizing those dreams that make us great.
Read on »outlook on life
Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life. An appropriately remonstrative fortune cookie at precisely the moment I needed it. Thanks.
Read on »carry a corkscrew
Always carry a corkscrew and the wine will provide itself–Bunting’s Law
Read on »happiness begins with a smile
happiness begins with a smile and a wink Unless life decides to slap you for going around winking at it. Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it. Yup. Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians But what about Dr. Carrie Weaver? she’s pretty great. You are a bundle of energy, always on the go
Read on »You are the master of your fate
You are the master of your fate Now doesn’t this defeat the *purpose* of a fortune cookie? Isn’t the point so I can be a sloth and just let my fate be assigned? You will be advanced socially, without any special effort. See, that’s more like it. Fortune cookies that allow me to be lazy
Read on »Great Oxymorons
p class=”author”>Author Unknown Act naturally Advanced BASIC Airline Food Almost exactly Alone together American history British fashion Business ethics Butt head Childproof Christian scientists Clearly misunderstood Computer jock Computer security Definite maybe Diet ice cream Exact estimate Extinct Life Found missing French bravery Genuine imitation Good grief Government organization Legally drunk Living dead Microsoft Works
Read on »On the Subject of Swearing
Salon.com question: A Michigan man faces a possible jail term of up to 90 days and a $100 fine for swearing in front of children, after he was dumped from his canoe. His attorney has argued the charges are ludicrous, since profanity is so pervasive in our culture. While most of us might agree that
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