Today is Saint Nicholas’ Day. Maybe do somebody a good turn? I can’t say anything about St. Nick that isn’t said better in these two posts:
St. Nicholas: what can I say, he was a beast.
Merry Christmas.
Category Archives: Writer
Two Links Tuesday: Star Wars Reconsidered Edition
Link One: George Lucas’ Big Mistake
Link Two: The Star Wars Saga: Introducing Machete Order
I love Star Wars. A lot. Even the bad movies, like Episode One? Yes, I saw it multiple times on the big screen, then bought it on DVD. And then watched it a few more times. And the ones I actually like I’ve seen even more times.
In spite of all that, I couldn’t agree more with this quote from Link One:
And Yoda, the exemplar of the Jedi philosophy, is wrong about everything.
The reasoning behind that is presented quite well there.
There is a long-running debate among fans regarding viewing order for the saga – should you watch these in order of release, or in order of episode number? Both of these have problems, and Link Two proposes a new viewing order that resolves them quite handily. My wife and I recently went through them in that order, and it’s definitely the way to go. (It leaves Episode 1 out entirely, so that’s a big argument in favor of it right there.)
Two Links Tuesday: Out-of-Date Movie Review Edition
Link One: Why ‘Blue Like Jazz’ Won’t Save Christian Cinema
Link Two: Wouldn’t It Be Cool if Shakespeare Wasn’t Shakespeare?
Link One is a review in The Atlantic of ‘Blue Like Jazz’, and Link Two is a review in the NYT Magazine of ‘Anonymous’. I haven’t seen either of these movies, and while I’d kind of like to see ‘Blue Like Jazz’ (loved the book, but will wait for DVD), I have zero interest in ‘Anonymous’. But I thought both of these reviews were interesting in themselves, and worth reading.
Two Links Tuesday: Taste Edition
Link One: Flavors of heartache.
Link Two: Making the Grade: Why the Cheapest Maple Syrup Tastes Best
The first link is one post from one of my favorite webcomics: Indexed. Jessica Hagy posts all these hilarious and/or thought-provoking graphs and charts on index cards. Check it out.
The second link is an article from The Atlantic that will not only teach you some things about maple syrup, but about food labeling in general. Worth a read.
Two Links Tuesday: Writing Edition
Link One: SureFire’s (Nearly Indestructible) Pens Review
Link Two: Llama font – say it in llama
I think I want a SureFire EWP-02 – the $90 price tag will slow me down a little, but I’ve broken two pens in my pocket in the last two weeks. (Didn’t get ink anywhere, just cracked the cases.) I like the idea of an überpen, ready to go anywhere or do anything, tough, rugged, ready for the world. Won’t break in my pants pocket when I plop on the couch.
Link two is one of those awesome things that the Internet was made for – it’s just goofy fun. Go try it out.
I wrote a love poem for my wife!
I say “you’re a blessing”
and it’s true
but you are so much more:
A perfect jewel
endlessly beautiful
reflecting God’s light
in countless ways
my own dear Silmaril
delighting eyes heart mind soul
Even the flaws
(impossible to see
without a loupe)
do not detract
they merely add
detail and texture
Polished surface
prismatic depths
beauty
upon beauty
upon beauty
Two Links Tuesday: Keep Going Edition
Link One: Bloom Like an Artist
Link Two: Dunning–Kruger effect
Link one is a brilliant webcomic at Jellyvampire. Really highly recommend you read all the way through this – it’s a vertical scroller, but it’s not that long, and well worth it. It’s about pursuing your passion, even when it seems unrealistic.
Link two is the Wikipedia article about the Dunning–Kruger effect – which is a documented issue where incompetent people tend to think they’re better than they really are, and competent people tend to think that they’re worse than they really are.
Two Links Tuesday: Combat Edition!
Link One: Eye Candy: Porcelain Fighting Figures Dropped And Photographed The Moment Of Shattering
Link Two: The Rules of Sagefight
The first link is pretty well described in the title – but you have to look at the pictures to see how dang cool it looks. Very interesting photography project.
The second link is for a game that looks like fun – I haven’t played this, but it actually looks like it would be a fun challenge for a martial artist, thinking about tactics and balance, leaving strength and speed out of it. I don’t know, maybe not, but I’d like to try this with a few of my training partners at some point.
Crows
A murder of crows
the color of void
wheeling against a white sky
black branches, barely budded
a grid to track their flight
below, all is green
with splashes of
white yellow pink red
A murder of crows
omen of battle
noisy and social
low-class cousins of
lonely and noble ravens
thinking of death and hunger
(but mostly death)
your death, mine
the dog across the street
crows dream of death
even in springtime
MoD: Terrorist Activity
This was my submission to Machine of Death II – so the story follows the requirements for that book which can be found here. (It wasn’t accepted for that volume, so here it is for everyone to read for free!)
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Sarita stood in the doorway, eyes wide open, laughing almost loud enough to hear over the sound of her machine pistols. A terrible shot, with no idea even how to aim, much less any interest in doing so, she enjoyed the pose and the loud noises and the drama. I am so sexy! She knew how good she must look right now. She did wish that Steven had let her wear her high heels tonight, but she had to admit that the knee-high French paratrooper boots she’d just bought were pretty hot with her all-black outfit. The soldiers who had come around the corner of the steel corridor, maybe thirty feet away, weren’t in much danger, but they had no way of knowing that. They jumped back around the corner. This gave Sarita enough time to toss her glossy black mane out of her face, reload her left pistol, and yell “Wooooooo!” as she started to fire again. I am a sexy badass!
“Wooooooo!” wasn’t much of a war cry, but Sarita wasn’t much of a warrior. That is what she used to yell on the dance floor when she was clubbing, and it was all she could think of now. This rush of adrenaline was why she’d joined Free the Future, and it made all those boring conversations and planning meetings worthwhile.
Jane, ever practical, had been ignoring all the gunfire and had picked the lock on the door behind them, leading into the heart of the MAU Ops Center. One of the soldiers shoved his rifle around the corner and started firing wildly down the hallway. Steven and Pedrag dove through the now-opened door, while Jane grabbed the back of Sarita’s black silk jacket and pulled her into the room. They tripped and fell over, Sarita landing on Jane. As Pedrag slammed the heavy steel door shut Sarita sat up and tried to fire a few more rounds down the hall, but they just bounced off of the interior of the door and ricocheted around the room. Steven grunted softly, leaned against the wall, and slid to the floor. There was a perfectly round 9 millimeter hole in the exact center of his forehead.