I have taken a few minutes to label the posts in my archive. I noticed that it is getting pretty big and I thought it might make it easier for anyone who wants to re-read (or hasn't been reading since the beginning) to be able to find posts that might interest them. I also thought that checking the label of new posts could help with knowing what it is you are getting into by reading. On the right side of the screen under my linked websites I now have a Labels menu. Clicking on one of the labels (like Book Reviews) will pull up all the posts that I have labeled thusly. Some posts have more than one label, but that's what happens when you meander freely like a river on a silt-covered flood plain. So give it a try and let me know if it is helpful. Write on.
R.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Going All Thoreau
On a sunny spring morning, Jack Jackson sat down by the river listening as it gurgled with pen and pad in hand. He scratch-scratched away at the pad, stopping occasionally to glance around dreamily. The willows swayed with the morning breeze and the shadows from the slopes at Jack Jackson’s back moseyed across the rippling water.
Loud crunching and crashing sounds distracted Jack Jackson from his contemplation and he glanced over his shoulder at the river-side growth from whence the disturbance came from.
Rob Roberts burst out of the willows with a curse.
“You’re ruining the serenity,” said Jack Jackson.
“You’re quite a work, freak-sauce.” Rob Roberts waved his arm toward the east. “You have to yell to hear yourself over the dammed surface mine. Don’t talk to me about serenity.”
“Why do you have to be such a smart-aleck?” Jack Jackson asked, placing his pen and pad carefully on a rock next to the river as he stood.
“What are you drawing?” asked Rob Roberts.
“It’s not a drawing, jerk-face.”
Rob Roberts picked up the pad and the pen rolled into the river with a plop. “What the hell is this?”
“It’s a poem,” replied Jack Jackson.
“It’s toilet paper.” Rob Roberts flicked his wrist and the notebook flew out over the water with a flutter of pages before descending into the river to speed away with the current.
Jack Jackson whipped the sword of his hand out at Rob Roberts’ throat. Rob Roberts grasped his neck while his breathe wheezed in and out. “I bet you don’t have any smart-alecky thing to say to me now that I’ve crushed your laranix.”Larynx, thought Rob Roberts, Larynx, as he sank back down on the riverbank.
Loud crunching and crashing sounds distracted Jack Jackson from his contemplation and he glanced over his shoulder at the river-side growth from whence the disturbance came from.
Rob Roberts burst out of the willows with a curse.
“You’re ruining the serenity,” said Jack Jackson.
“You’re quite a work, freak-sauce.” Rob Roberts waved his arm toward the east. “You have to yell to hear yourself over the dammed surface mine. Don’t talk to me about serenity.”
“Why do you have to be such a smart-aleck?” Jack Jackson asked, placing his pen and pad carefully on a rock next to the river as he stood.
“What are you drawing?” asked Rob Roberts.
“It’s not a drawing, jerk-face.”
Rob Roberts picked up the pad and the pen rolled into the river with a plop. “What the hell is this?”
“It’s a poem,” replied Jack Jackson.
“It’s toilet paper.” Rob Roberts flicked his wrist and the notebook flew out over the water with a flutter of pages before descending into the river to speed away with the current.
Jack Jackson whipped the sword of his hand out at Rob Roberts’ throat. Rob Roberts grasped his neck while his breathe wheezed in and out. “I bet you don’t have any smart-alecky thing to say to me now that I’ve crushed your laranix.”Larynx, thought Rob Roberts, Larynx, as he sank back down on the riverbank.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Ignoble Experiment
“Whoa, check that out,” said Jack Jackson.
“That is so fake looking,” Rob Roberts replied.
“How would you know what looks fake and what doesn’t?”
Jack Jackson and Rob Roberts lounged in the glow of the TV on the long, velvet couch. They argued on and on about the subtleties of the horrific movie.
“I’ll never watch another movie you pick out again,” said Rob Roberts as the credits rolled. He stood up.
“You will, and you’ll like it,” said Jack Jackson, leaping to his feet.
“Oh yeah?” Rob Roberts responded.
“Yeah,” said Jack Jackson, whipping the sword of his hand out at Rob Roberts’ throat. Rob Roberts grasped his neck while his breathe wheezed in and out. “I bet you don’t have any smart-alecky thing to say to me now that I’ve crushed your laranix.”
Larynx, thought Rob Roberts, Larynx, as he sank back down on the couch.
“That is so fake looking,” Rob Roberts replied.
“How would you know what looks fake and what doesn’t?”
Jack Jackson and Rob Roberts lounged in the glow of the TV on the long, velvet couch. They argued on and on about the subtleties of the horrific movie.
“I’ll never watch another movie you pick out again,” said Rob Roberts as the credits rolled. He stood up.
“You will, and you’ll like it,” said Jack Jackson, leaping to his feet.
“Oh yeah?” Rob Roberts responded.
“Yeah,” said Jack Jackson, whipping the sword of his hand out at Rob Roberts’ throat. Rob Roberts grasped his neck while his breathe wheezed in and out. “I bet you don’t have any smart-alecky thing to say to me now that I’ve crushed your laranix.”
Larynx, thought Rob Roberts, Larynx, as he sank back down on the couch.
The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction
If you have ever had an interest in the old savage Norsemen but did not want to wade through monstrous volumes of archeological ramblings or neo-Nazi propaganda or romanticized Viking inspired literature, than Richards’ Introduction could be the perfect match for you. With around 130 pages of text, this little volume is a pleasant read and a great back-pocket size for anyone that likes to keep something to read readily available.
The content is quite satisfying and Richards’ information is very up-to-date. I liked how well the narrative flowed—sometimes reading a history book is like reading a textbook and that is wrong. Very wrong. When I finished The Vikings, I wanted more. The book increased my knowledge and understanding of these people who dominated the middle Middle Ages and left me anxious to expand on that.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in:
Vikings
The Middle Ages
History of the British Isles (Britain, Ireland, Isle of Man, Shetland Island, etc.)
Ships or naval history
Scandinavian history
European history
Archeology
Early exploration
History of trade
Some of these subjects are merely touched on. Some have chapters dedicated to them. I found Richards had good enough insights into them to add them to the list. So read and enjoy, if you have the urge. And remember, “Valhalla, I am coming,” as Robert Plant once crooned.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Man and Blogging
The Man doesn't like blogging. He doesn't like shenanigans. Or anything that distracts from efficient labor. Therefore, he has blocked Blogger from me while I am at work. I noticed that the blocker is temporarily not working and thought I would shout out to them as that might miss my writing while I'm at work. Don't let The Man hold you down. Write on.
R.
R.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Back to that Writing Thing
Drawing from ironbog.eastkingdom.org
I have digressed in the last couple of posts, and I hope that is hunky dunky to y'all. I have been working on a (potentially) smaller project than my Derthal stories. I have mentioned before in an earlier post that I was considering a Viking story, and I have been looking into the feasibility of such a tale. It would be set right around 1000AD, a very rich time historically.
- Swen Forkbeard and Ethelred the Unready (another interpretation of the word could be "bad council" suggesting he listened to the wrong people if anyone, but that doesn't sound particularly catchy, does it?) were fighting over England
- Eric the Red had settled Greenland and his son Leif the Lucky had set up a seasonal fishing/hunting/trading/foraging station in Vinland (somewhere on the east coast of N. America)
- Vikings made up the personal bodyguard of the Byzantine Emperor (the Varangian Guard)and used the north/south rivers of Russia to trade in the Mediteranean, the Caspian, and the Black Seas
- The Reconquista was still going strong in Iberia (just like it would for the next 500 years)
See, pretty exciting smack happening. Note that I have completely snubbed the Franks. I say that's what they get for dominating all the Western/World Civ classes. Don't you think? Even if you don't this is my post, so there.
In light of the state of the world, and the fact that the Vikings left almost no written sources of their own gives me a lot of room to work with a story. It is going to be sweet. Elyena and I have been having some exciting discussions about the possibilities. Write on.
R
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Corporate Musings
A few thoughts for today – in my Inbox sat an Internal Announcement about a new program for cutting costs to become “a world-class organization” by asking every employee to cut $8 a day in expenses. Swell. I think it’s a great theory. How much is a box of paper clips? But the real power of the memo is under the heading “WHY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE?”
Taking lessons from the national bestseller “Good to Great,” we recognize cost savings has a tremendous impact on our transition to a world-class company. With “$8 to Great,” ALL associates are empowered to do their part.
Each week flyers highlighting a different “real-life” savings concept as well as ideas to help you make a difference will be posted in your location. We encourage you to stop and think about these concepts and continue to identify ways we can save money and do our jobs more efficiently.
In other words: If you help save money by making your job harder the piratas blanco at the top of the ladder will have more profit margin to play with. That would be a savings of at least $2080 per year per employee. And they’ll freak out if someone gets half-an-hour of overtime and act like we should be thrilled by out 3% annual raise. I’m sold.
Then I had a customer who reminds me of an old employer come in this morning to talk to My Salesman. The customer—who we’ll call Bich to protect his identity—told me to watch my bid entries because I had fat-fingered an item on a recent project. He said, “Don’t worry, I got you covered on this one. Right. My Salesman jumped in at that point to say, “You remember what we talked about? Going through each line item and double checking everything?” I said, “Are you kidding?” Bich was standing right there, but whatever. My Salesman wasn’t the one that stayed late and had to beg favors from the rest of the sales staff to get the job done. My Salesman and Bich make a great team. For example—one day My Salesman was telling me about how things were going to get better for Bich once the recession hits because “he’ll be able to pick up some good julios cheap.” I say, “So Bich is going to expand his crew during to recession to save money?” He gets this lame/timid look on his face. I can read between the lines. “So he’s going to drop the guys working for him now and replace them with guys begging to work for peanuts? Those ‘julios’ have families, bills, they’ve been loyal to Bich and done a good job for him.” In a huff, My Salesman says, “Let Bich worry about how he does business.” Yeah, I will. But don’t act surprised that I’m not jumping for joy when you ask me to call him about something so stupid that you don’t want to be the person on the other end of the line.
R.
Taking lessons from the national bestseller “Good to Great,” we recognize cost savings has a tremendous impact on our transition to a world-class company. With “$8 to Great,” ALL associates are empowered to do their part.
Each week flyers highlighting a different “real-life” savings concept as well as ideas to help you make a difference will be posted in your location. We encourage you to stop and think about these concepts and continue to identify ways we can save money and do our jobs more efficiently.
In other words: If you help save money by making your job harder the piratas blanco at the top of the ladder will have more profit margin to play with. That would be a savings of at least $2080 per year per employee. And they’ll freak out if someone gets half-an-hour of overtime and act like we should be thrilled by out 3% annual raise. I’m sold.
Then I had a customer who reminds me of an old employer come in this morning to talk to My Salesman. The customer—who we’ll call Bich to protect his identity—told me to watch my bid entries because I had fat-fingered an item on a recent project. He said, “Don’t worry, I got you covered on this one. Right. My Salesman jumped in at that point to say, “You remember what we talked about? Going through each line item and double checking everything?” I said, “Are you kidding?” Bich was standing right there, but whatever. My Salesman wasn’t the one that stayed late and had to beg favors from the rest of the sales staff to get the job done. My Salesman and Bich make a great team. For example—one day My Salesman was telling me about how things were going to get better for Bich once the recession hits because “he’ll be able to pick up some good julios cheap.” I say, “So Bich is going to expand his crew during to recession to save money?” He gets this lame/timid look on his face. I can read between the lines. “So he’s going to drop the guys working for him now and replace them with guys begging to work for peanuts? Those ‘julios’ have families, bills, they’ve been loyal to Bich and done a good job for him.” In a huff, My Salesman says, “Let Bich worry about how he does business.” Yeah, I will. But don’t act surprised that I’m not jumping for joy when you ask me to call him about something so stupid that you don’t want to be the person on the other end of the line.
R.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Riotimus vs. the Superbowl
Just wanted to take a moment to discuss the highlights of my Monday morning.
1) I walk into dispatch. There are drivers and my salesman standing around talking about winning and losing money and so on.
R: Was there a football game this weekend?
Crowd: (general hissing and booing) Just the Superbowl (spoken with condescension).
R: That's cool. Who won?
Crowd: (general hissing and booing)
Salesman: The Chicago Bears
R: I always liked the Bears
Crowd: (general hissing and booing)
I leave the room in turmoil, but I am strangely satisfied.
These fine graphs offer some stats on football injuries for them as that might be interested in that sort of thing.
2) At the water dispenser I overhear several people talking about the Superbowl. Everyone has their say and there is a long pause.
R: I decided to watch a Superbowl once, but when I turned on the TV it turned out to just be a football game.
Crowd: (general hissing and booing)
I go back to my desk and get back to work.
R.
1) I walk into dispatch. There are drivers and my salesman standing around talking about winning and losing money and so on.
R: Was there a football game this weekend?
Crowd: (general hissing and booing) Just the Superbowl (spoken with condescension).
R: That's cool. Who won?
Crowd: (general hissing and booing)
Salesman: The Chicago Bears
R: I always liked the Bears
Crowd: (general hissing and booing)
I leave the room in turmoil, but I am strangely satisfied.
These fine graphs offer some stats on football injuries for them as that might be interested in that sort of thing.
2) At the water dispenser I overhear several people talking about the Superbowl. Everyone has their say and there is a long pause.
R: I decided to watch a Superbowl once, but when I turned on the TV it turned out to just be a football game.
Crowd: (general hissing and booing)
I go back to my desk and get back to work.
R.
Friday, February 02, 2007
a'viking
The typical viking ship held 32 Norsemen, 
was ten feet wide, and only had a 3-1/2' draft,
meaning that it could go anywhere that was 18' wide (for the oars), and 4' deep. Hence their domination of Europe for close to 300 years.
I'm a viking and I'll do what I want to
Do what I want to
Do what I want to
You could do too if you sailed for Cnut
That being said, I had this swell story idea about a Norseman that goes a'viking and does whatever he wants to. After all, it's 1000 ad and who's going to stop him? I'll call him Olaf, or Sven, or Aeric. I can see it now, with my minds eye.
I actually can't see anything else because I am doing a project at work that has blinded me. Honest, I am seeing squiggly-senseless-scratched lines everywhere. And I have to decipher the meaning. And due to the nature of the project I know that it's a big fat waste of time. But that kind of thought will get me nowhere, so I will just take a moment to feel the salty spray in my face while I go exploring with Olaf. Or Sven. Or Aeric. After all, it's 16:00 on a Friday in the _______ business and who's going to stop me? Write on.
R.
PS Feel free to Google Cnut, or the 11th Century if you didn't get my verse.
was ten feet wide, and only had a 3-1/2' draft,meaning that it could go anywhere that was 18' wide (for the oars), and 4' deep. Hence their domination of Europe for close to 300 years.
I'm a viking and I'll do what I want to
Do what I want to
Do what I want to
You could do too if you sailed for Cnut
That being said, I had this swell story idea about a Norseman that goes a'viking and does whatever he wants to. After all, it's 1000 ad and who's going to stop him? I'll call him Olaf, or Sven, or Aeric. I can see it now, with my minds eye.
I actually can't see anything else because I am doing a project at work that has blinded me. Honest, I am seeing squiggly-senseless-scratched lines everywhere. And I have to decipher the meaning. And due to the nature of the project I know that it's a big fat waste of time. But that kind of thought will get me nowhere, so I will just take a moment to feel the salty spray in my face while I go exploring with Olaf. Or Sven. Or Aeric. After all, it's 16:00 on a Friday in the _______ business and who's going to stop me? Write on.
R.
PS Feel free to Google Cnut, or the 11th Century if you didn't get my verse.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Yeah . . . Right
So Blogger has FORCED me to switch to the new 
format. I think it sucks. They must think I will be thrilled to enter my damned full e-mail address just to make a comment on blogs I frequent. Well, I'm not feelin' it.
Can you hear me Google? We know you are the Man, and I'm not talking about the good one. We're on to you.
R.
PS I loaded the map because I am considering a crusade against the new Blogger.
format. I think it sucks. They must think I will be thrilled to enter my damned full e-mail address just to make a comment on blogs I frequent. Well, I'm not feelin' it. Can you hear me Google? We know you are the Man, and I'm not talking about the good one. We're on to you.
R.
PS I loaded the map because I am considering a crusade against the new Blogger.
Tech Writing and Italian Literature
The other day in my Professional and Technical Writing course we were scheduled to do some peer editing. My instructor said that withholding feedback on work is rude, that "it is actually quite Machiavellian in that if you do you are trying to ensure that you (the student withholding feedback) will get a better grade than the person you are offering to edit." It was a beautiful moment for me and I took great pleasure in the reference to that fine writer from renaissance Italy. Machiavelli is most well known for writing The Prince (not the song covered by Metallica from Garage Inc), an outline of what a leader would need to unite Italy and end the wars between Spain/Holy Roman Empire and France that had been fought on Italian ground for generations. It is a very interesting work, and worth some time and consideration. Machiavelli really outlined the Divine-Right Kings era before it actually happened, ie. Kings like Louis XIV could have been poster boys for The Prince even if they weren't around when it was written. So here's to teachers that can use Machiavellian in a sentence and still make it apply. Write on.
R.
R.
Friday, January 19, 2007
In My Hands
Not only is it a cool song (okay, I suppose it is actually All Within My Hands if you want to be technical) but it was cool to hold it in my hands. I took the 53,000 word edition of Tales from the Laughing Grass and printed it out using MS Word's Book Fold format. It was surreal. Being the frickin' genius that I am, I looked at the stack of paper, than at the mighty appearing paper cutter there in the computer lab, and I proceeded to choppy-choppy. Of course I tried to choppy-choppy the stack all at once. You may be able to imagine how that went. Or you may not. If you can't and you decide to try it to find out, make sure you use scrap paper and not your one of a kind manuscript. Even if it is only one of a kind until you put another buck-and-a-half on your University card so you can print another. Anyways, I trimmed up the carnage as well as I could and swung by Kinkos to see if they could staple or bind it somehow. Because of the massacred edges, however, they deemed it impossible. They said to just let them cut it next time. It will only cost another buck-and-a-half to have them to choppy-choppy and and a few more bucks to bind it in a nice fashion. In spite of the self-imposed setback it felt incredible to hold that stack of stories in my hands and talk with Elyena about how we got to this point. It is very satisfying, even in the face of the work still ahead of us.
With a large handful of submission deadlines coming up, I thought I would throw out my picks for the stuff I'm going to try my hand at in the next little while. I am considering "A Day in the Sun", "The Traveler's Gift", "Toll Man", and "To Turn on One's Own" for upcoming events. Nothing is set in stone. I feel at right now that I am too close to the stories to objectively rate their odds at various venues, but Elyena is trying to help with the issue. Suggestions are welcome.
So that is what is going on in the realm of my writing (besides class work, and my Cather paper was such a hit I don't think I will spend much time here addressing it unless I can't help myself) right now. Write on.
R.
With a large handful of submission deadlines coming up, I thought I would throw out my picks for the stuff I'm going to try my hand at in the next little while. I am considering "A Day in the Sun", "The Traveler's Gift", "Toll Man", and "To Turn on One's Own" for upcoming events. Nothing is set in stone. I feel at right now that I am too close to the stories to objectively rate their odds at various venues, but Elyena is trying to help with the issue. Suggestions are welcome.
So that is what is going on in the realm of my writing (besides class work, and my Cather paper was such a hit I don't think I will spend much time here addressing it unless I can't help myself) right now. Write on.
R.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
It's Nice to Meet a Goal Now and Then
With the completion of a fun little story I call "The Captaincy", Tales from the Laughing Grass has now exceded 50,000 words. Translated into a book-sized format, that is between 170-210 pages. Not a huge book, I know, but The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is only 198. O Pioneers by Willa Cather (read the in-depth analysis of some of her work in my archives) is about the same, so I am excited. It is also long enough that if I had made it there earlier I could have sent it in to the Jefferson Press Fiction Book Contest (I probably wouldn't have, for various reasons, but it was a goal none-the-less). So anyways, the stories keep stacking up. Thank you to all of you that have edited or otherwise encouraged my efforts in this regard. Write On.
R.
R.
Monday, January 08, 2007
On Good Behavior
So my boss' laptop took the old lead sleeping tablet. That in itself may not be bad. However, as it were, he has selected to work at the computer terminal right in front of mine on this day. "It could be worse," you are thinking, and you're right. He could be sitting behind me. Except that with that same wisdom that led me to select the back-most seat back in my school days (the ones where I was a kid, not the ones where I had kids) I selected the the back-most desk. Yes, it's true. So here I am, struggling to keep my muscle-relaxented brain focused on productivity while his big black cloud hangs over my corner of the workspace. Even so.
Write on.
R.
Write on.
R.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The Problem of Metallica
. . . or “Oh yeah, this is my favorite album.” So I was listening to …And Justice for All on my way back to work this afternoon, and as the title track dropped into that crunching post-solo grind I thought to myself, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” But then I had a series of flashbacks: me, listening to the amazing solo work of the title track to Ride the Lightning and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Me, listening to the down-tuned clean riffage in The Unnamed Feeling (St. Anger) and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Me, listening to the ominous riff to Kill ‘em All’s Seek and Destroy and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Me, listening to the first minute of The Prince off Garage, Inc. and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Me, listening to the funky, yet moving, introduction to Fixxxer from Reload and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Me, listening to the deft slide work on Mama Said from Load and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE,” (except for Ain’t My B**** and 2X4, which I despise). Me, listening to the incredible live opening to -Human from S&M and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE,” (again, not really, because I think it is overkill, but the new songs that were actually designed for Symphony and Metallica are lovely). Me, listening to the tremolo soaked rhythm part in Welcome Home (Sanitarium) from Master of Puppets and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” Me, listening to Kirks solo on Don’t Tread on Me (Black Album) and thinking, “Self, this has got to be the greatest album Metallica ever did. IT’S MY FAVORITE.” I could have just as easily used the descending melody in Astronomy, or the harminized solo from Nothing Else Matters (which really did nothing for me until I saw them perform it live once), or the monster riffage from For Whom the Bell Tolls, the incredible intro to Devil's Dance, or the non-stop assault of Disposable Heroes (all 8:16 of it).
I’m guessing that you can see the trend. I don’t think I am alone in this. I think it is a problem for Metallica fans worldwide. What is a rarely-stop rocker to do though? For now I think I will just set my computer to play all the Metallica in its library. And if you decide to do the same, then Right On. Er, Write On. Even so.
R.
I’m guessing that you can see the trend. I don’t think I am alone in this. I think it is a problem for Metallica fans worldwide. What is a rarely-stop rocker to do though? For now I think I will just set my computer to play all the Metallica in its library. And if you decide to do the same, then Right On. Er, Write On. Even so.
R.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
In the Mail
In the mail indeed. In the end, the lovely Elyena and I decided to send WotF a short story trilogy that we called Suffer the Child. It is made up of the stories "The Wasted Portion", "To Turn on One's Own", and "A New Guardian" and tells the riveting tale of the pre-Captain's wrestle with acceptance, morality, and authority. It is a charming, if violent, story. I am sure you are asking yourself, "Self, how many times does the pre-Captain get his bum kicked in this episode?" I'll give you a complete rundown of the incident statistics (+/- 25%).
Corpses: 6
Snubbings: 7
Smacktalk: 4
Smackdowns (the pre-Captain): 2
Smackdowns (someone else): 5
Cleaning up the baby: 2
Groupthink (the product of a mob of people) actually leading to something good: 1 (I know you're skeptical, but it could happen)
Getting knocked around by horses: 2
Romantic moments: 0
Asking for directions: 2
So that is Suffer the Child told statistically. Was it edifying? Satisfying? Horrifying? I found that to be an interesting experiment myself. Someone who has read the prose may disagree with my numbers, but like a professional statician I allowed enough of a margin of error that they don't mean anything anyways.
I also sent out ADIS to face the Kurt Vonnegut Fiction Prize challenge. While WotF should have results back in 10-15 weeks, I have no idea on the KVFP. Since it is annual, I suppose they could deliberate for a year on it. We shall see. Both contests publish winners and offer a satisfying cash prize.
So, Write On. And I will too.
R.
Corpses: 6
Snubbings: 7
Smacktalk: 4
Smackdowns (the pre-Captain): 2
Smackdowns (someone else): 5
Cleaning up the baby: 2
Groupthink (the product of a mob of people) actually leading to something good: 1 (I know you're skeptical, but it could happen)
Getting knocked around by horses: 2
Romantic moments: 0
Asking for directions: 2
So that is Suffer the Child told statistically. Was it edifying? Satisfying? Horrifying? I found that to be an interesting experiment myself. Someone who has read the prose may disagree with my numbers, but like a professional statician I allowed enough of a margin of error that they don't mean anything anyways.
I also sent out ADIS to face the Kurt Vonnegut Fiction Prize challenge. While WotF should have results back in 10-15 weeks, I have no idea on the KVFP. Since it is annual, I suppose they could deliberate for a year on it. We shall see. Both contests publish winners and offer a satisfying cash prize.
So, Write On. And I will too.
R.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
ADIS vs. Writers of the Future Results
And the results are . . . a not-win for "A Day in the Sun". That's the price you pay for shortness: ask any man under five feet tall and he'll tell you that it was his shortness as that held him back. I think that may be ADIS' problem too, in this competition. With a max word count of 17,ooo, other entries had as many as 13,000 more words to help them "sell" their story than ADIS, which came in at a short 3,904 words. Next stop for ADIS will be Kurt Vonnegut's Fiction Prize. With a word limit of 7,000, ADIS will be more of a competitor in the Fiction Prize. We shall see, anyways.
In light of my discovery that Writers of the Future winners all seem to be at least 9,000 words (usually more in the 14-16,000 range) I am considering putting a run of stories together under a single title and then calling each story Part 1: Bond of Truth, Part 2: The Wasted Portion, Part 3: To Turn on One's Own, etc. My only concern is that each "part" would read like an individual short story, and I have no desire to change that, meaning that I personally am okay with that. I would enjoy reading it, even if no one else did. Someone must like that kind of stuff or David Drake would still be practicing law instead of carrying on the career brought about by the Hammer's Slammers collection (which, though he did eventually write some Slammers novels, the first books were short story and novella collections).
In other new I have set to editing and revising Tales from the Laughing Grass now that I am on Winter Break. It is going a little slower than I had hoped, but I have been enjoying going back through those stories. It has been very encouraging.
Write On
R.
In light of my discovery that Writers of the Future winners all seem to be at least 9,000 words (usually more in the 14-16,000 range) I am considering putting a run of stories together under a single title and then calling each story Part 1: Bond of Truth, Part 2: The Wasted Portion, Part 3: To Turn on One's Own, etc. My only concern is that each "part" would read like an individual short story, and I have no desire to change that, meaning that I personally am okay with that. I would enjoy reading it, even if no one else did. Someone must like that kind of stuff or David Drake would still be practicing law instead of carrying on the career brought about by the Hammer's Slammers collection (which, though he did eventually write some Slammers novels, the first books were short story and novella collections).
In other new I have set to editing and revising Tales from the Laughing Grass now that I am on Winter Break. It is going a little slower than I had hoped, but I have been enjoying going back through those stories. It has been very encouraging.
Write On
R.
Monday, December 11, 2006
"Culture of Conflict" Update and Army of Anyone
Not a loser, not a loser, not a loser. Just thought I would let you know that the judges thought so highly of the entries (including CoC) that they only gave out two of three places. So, CoC might have taken 3rd, but they didn't think it deserved it. We'll never know. I should have let them choke on "An Evening with the Quill", but it's all in the past now.
In more positive news, I have been listening to Army of Anyone and enjoying it immensely. It is the amalgamation of the DeLeo brothers from STP and that Patrick guy from Filter (you know, the guys that do "Hey man, Nice Shot" or whatever it's called), along with David Lee Roth's old drummer Loozer, or Luzier, or something like that. You might be thinking "Wow, he must be an old guy if he played with David Lee Roth" but I don't know what era of DLR he played in, and however old he is he really pounds the skins. This is something that I have looked for in drummers ever since playing with that limp-sticked protestant with LH back in the summer of 2001. But the Patrick guy does some decent to excellent, and his lyrics make one-billion times more sense than anything (almost, at least) that Scott Weind (SP?) ever wrote even if he doesn't quite have the voice. The DeLeos are playing as fine as ever, the music structurally reminds me more of Tiny Music than Core or Purple, but it is mixed more thickly and not so many single-coil guitars (like Shangria La Dida). Overall I am enjoying the overall effect. So check it out, if you dare.
I am feeling pretty excited to start revising Tales from the Laughing Grass this break. CoC not winning is just a hiccup in my master plan, so expect to see more and better from the old R. Write On.
R.
In more positive news, I have been listening to Army of Anyone and enjoying it immensely. It is the amalgamation of the DeLeo brothers from STP and that Patrick guy from Filter (you know, the guys that do "Hey man, Nice Shot" or whatever it's called), along with David Lee Roth's old drummer Loozer, or Luzier, or something like that. You might be thinking "Wow, he must be an old guy if he played with David Lee Roth" but I don't know what era of DLR he played in, and however old he is he really pounds the skins. This is something that I have looked for in drummers ever since playing with that limp-sticked protestant with LH back in the summer of 2001. But the Patrick guy does some decent to excellent, and his lyrics make one-billion times more sense than anything (almost, at least) that Scott Weind (SP?) ever wrote even if he doesn't quite have the voice. The DeLeos are playing as fine as ever, the music structurally reminds me more of Tiny Music than Core or Purple, but it is mixed more thickly and not so many single-coil guitars (like Shangria La Dida). Overall I am enjoying the overall effect. So check it out, if you dare.
I am feeling pretty excited to start revising Tales from the Laughing Grass this break. CoC not winning is just a hiccup in my master plan, so expect to see more and better from the old R. Write On.
R.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
To Win, or Not to Win
Just in case you were wondering to yourself, "Self, I wonder how R's story CoC did in that one contest?" and then you had to think about which contest because it seems like R has stuff scattered all over the place right now, I have news, or at least some convincing gossip. A peer of mine found out that he took 2nd Place middle of last week. So either my victory letter ended up at the mailman's house or I got SHOT DOWN like a Cobra attack copter vs. an insurgent with a rocket launcher. I make it sound more traumatic than it really is, I'm sure. It may be that I am the absolute sorest loser any of my friends have had the misfortune of playing Katan, Axis & Allies, MERP, Yahtzee, or any other assorted game with, but my motto today is Not Winning is Different than Losing. That's right. It's the road I'm driving today.
In other news, my Custer paper kicked my professor upside the head like Bruce Lee, or Chuck Norris, or at least like Jackie Chan. Based on the rave reviews the Cather paper received, I don't think I shall post it because we all know Cather is way more interesting than the Battle of Little Big Horn. Or close at least. I can only imagine what html will do to footnotes. It might be worth posting just to find out.
In yet more news, I resolved the romance issue in novel #1 (which I think I will call The Big Smackdown) when I gave my story "To Turn on One's Own" a good looking over. I won't bother you with the details, but I think it will add a nice dynamic tension to the situation. So there you have it.
Don't be afraid to Rock, and Write On.
R.
In other news, my Custer paper kicked my professor upside the head like Bruce Lee, or Chuck Norris, or at least like Jackie Chan. Based on the rave reviews the Cather paper received, I don't think I shall post it because we all know Cather is way more interesting than the Battle of Little Big Horn. Or close at least. I can only imagine what html will do to footnotes. It might be worth posting just to find out.
In yet more news, I resolved the romance issue in novel #1 (which I think I will call The Big Smackdown) when I gave my story "To Turn on One's Own" a good looking over. I won't bother you with the details, but I think it will add a nice dynamic tension to the situation. So there you have it.
Don't be afraid to Rock, and Write On.
R.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Speculation from a Lit Major
I wonder if it is requisite that to be a true Lit major a person has to learn to over-read perfectly enjoyable stories and poems by fine artists. Feel free to check out the elegant lines of Marianne Moore's poetry, if you will. It is moving, but sometimes a lizard is just a lizard, and a vase is just a vase. But if you see the deeper meaning, as my classmates did, I am happy for you. I think some works can possess multiple layers of allegory and meaning, however, I did not catch the vision tonight. I suppose that is the way it goes sometimes.
So now that I've ranted about over-analysis, get ready for me to post my study of four works by Willa Cather. If it doesn't convince you to take up the English Lit banner then . . . well, that doesn't really mean anything. Write on.
R.
I think I should re-emphasize that Moore's poetry is excellent, and her word use is superb, so do check out some of her poetry.
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