A family friend (in the bg of this picture) returned from her trip to Turkey with a gift for me:
It’s a nazar (for protection against the evil eye). Now I can resist all your evil sendings!
Food and Other Issues (a weight loss post)
StandardI figure pretty much everyone has food issues of some kind, even if they’re relatively mild or benign, and I consider myself lucky that mine are pretty mild. Continue reading
Just passed the 20K mark on A Blessing of Monsters
StandardRemember when I said this epic fantasy was definitely going to be complete in one book?
Er…
I’m going to have to slow forward progress on it while I revise the opening chapters and work up a pitch for my agent. Hopefully she’ll be happy with it and this new book by “George R.R. Martini” will be available sometime in 2013. God, I hope so.
Meanwhile, I have to go back and add more setting. I also need to change one of the viewpoint characters, who is not the sneaky trickster I wanted her to be.
Also, let me ask a question: Why is NaNoWriMo in November? Is it because the “No” in “Novel” matches the “No” in “November”? Because it’s hugely inconvenient, especially for folks in my country. Thanksgiving falls right into the end of the month, which is a time-consuming, exhausting, complicated holiday, and it also marks the start of the Christmas season.
Why doesn’t it run in January instead? Most of the big holidays are done and people are all jazzed about new beginnings and resolutions. Besides, the solstice will have passed and we’d be enjoying longer and longer days.
Anyway, for those who are taking part, remember, there is no rule but this one: “Be interesting.”
In which I repeat myself
StandardEverything I want to say about NaNoWriMo would be a repeat of my advice from last year.
Can I add that I have been increasing my productivity, and that those goals no longer seem like such a strain.
Zangoose and his sidekick Captain Weekend
Standard
Candy haul was modest and the boy didn’t get to meet up with his best buddy, but I got to eat a really good pizza.
For the record, three adults recognized that my son was dressed as Zangoose and four more pegged him as a Pokemon. Only two kids recognized him as a Pokemon and none guessed the type.
I’m sour on Halloween
StandardOnce I got past a certain age, Halloween supplanted Christmas as my favorite holiday of the year. This was years ago, and it wasn’t because of the candy. I liked the monsters, the costumes, the old horror movies and novels, the smell of autumn, the whole thing.
Then it seemed that everyone else joined in and shit all over it. Horror movies and novels turned all gory, costumes became things adults wore to bars, and everyone else started to get into the spirit.
And the zombies. God, I can’t stand the disgusting zombies.
What had been a time when an introvert could enjoy a feeling of solitude as things became chillier and the world around us slowly died, when you could watch a spooky movie or delight the neighborhood kids by dressing up and scaring them, well, it just started to feel crowded.
I’m sorry to say that I’ve lost my enthusiasm for it.
And that makes 20. Thanks, Scott Lynch
StandardActually, 21, but I was going to wait until I dropped at least 20 pounds before I blogged about it. Continue reading
Randomness for Halloween
Standard1) The World’s Most Controversial Lego Model.
2) The Schweizer Guide to Spotting Tangents. Some nuance on comic art that I hadn’t heard about.
3) Mount Rainier casts a shadow on the clouds.
5) Dahlia Lithwick earns respect for this article on Occupy Wall Street and modern media messaging.
6) Only remaining martial arts master searches for a student worthy of learning shastar vidya.
7) Creepy Old-Time Halloween Photos. Yeah, it’s a slide show. They’re still really creepy.
Bonus death-themed #8 because it’s Halloween and not all of these are holiday-related: A fantastic obituary.
OMG, I suddenly understand Wolverine’s hair
StandardAnd The Beast’s hair, too. Here’s a picture of Hank McCoy, aka, The Beast:
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Those are trunks, not underwear. You know, like wrestlers wear.
Here’s a picture of Hugh Jackman done up as Logan/Wolverine:
(I gotta get me one of those man-watches.)
Both of those guys have pointed hair on the sides of their heads, and as I’m developing a sort of “ape/monster” for the book I’m writing, I suddenly had to ask myself something unexpected: what sort of ears do these creatures have?
If they’re more primate-like, they’ll have round ears on the sides of their heads. If they stand up from the top of their heads, they’ll be more like a bear’s or a wolf’s. More human/less human.
And maybe this makes me an idiot for not realizing this before, but Wolverine’s and Beast’s hair are designed to let them have human ears while suggesting a non-human head shape.
Anyway, it’s something to think about (when I ought to be writing).
Christmas comes early
StandardI just ordered the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Extended Editions 12-disc DVD set, complete with all those crazy documentaries. I wish it included the theatrical editions, but I’m sure they’re holding that back for the 15-disc set in 2020, along with two-hour documentary about the guy who swept the candy wrappers out of the location shots in Morder.
It’s my Christmas present, and because Amazon Associate fees cancelled the cost, I’m getting it early and will watch it with the family.