TSCC: Not a eulogy
StandardI know some of the folks reading this were fans of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, so let me direct you to this blog post by the executive producer about the end of the show.
From the department of low expectations
StandardI made my word count goal today. It was, as expected, a problem with my focus. I’ve dealt with this before and I know what to do.
In other stories of barely meeting extremely low standards, a California judge dismissed a lawsuit, stating that a reasonable person should know that “crunchberries” are not real berries.
There is also fun in the world
Standard1) It puts the lotion on its skin. Why Archie is smart to propose to Veronica rather than Betty
2) “… Where health care reform becomes entitlement reform.” Ezra Klein on the effects of giving power to experts. Please please please get this right, President Obama, you hold-without-trial bastard.
3) Rebooted movie franchises are the new black! What movie franchise would you reboot? Explain, if you would, what you change. For me, it would have to be THE ROAD WARRIOR, but I would set it in a future where no one talked funny. Oh, and instead of searching for rare gasoline, everyone would just ride bicycles or drive solar cars. And instead of shooting crossbows, they’d throw snack cakes. What’s your idea?
My last post was “This is tough” but this will be tougher
StandardToday I worked on Man Bites World for a little more than an hour before my day job began. On those days, my daily goal is 500 words–just enough to feel I accomplished something in a limited time. On bad days I can feel okay about barely making it; on good days I can double it (or almost double it) and feel pretty good.
Today I wrote 200 words.
There’s no excuse for it. Yesterday was even worse–near as I can tell, I wrote negative one words.
Last night, though, I sat and talked quite a bit with my wife. I’ve been avoiding the Starbucks near my home because some of the other customers are too close and too gross, but working at home isn’t cutting it. Even when I’m out, though, or at a different coffee shop, I’m daydreaming, distracted and generally zoned.
Not that this is new. I’m *always* daydreaming, but I need to get my head clear and focus my daydreaming on the characters.
My wife thinks its a lack of sleep, customary depression following the end (hah!) of … Blue Dog and some overly self-indulgent calorie consumption. She’s right, too. But the only cure I know of is to brow-beat myself into looking at the laptop and only the laptop.
It had better work, too.
This is tough
StandardMy week is split in two. On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I’m stuck at my day job, sitting at a computer all damn day. At those times, I have no problem keeping up with my internet reading.
On Saturday through Tuesday, though, I’m home. I run errands, watch my son, cook and clean, and I write.
At least, I’m supposed to be doing all that stuff. What I find myself doing instead is keeping up with the internet, with my LJ friends list, sff.net newsgroups, mailing lists, and all the interesting links and articles that branch off from there.
I’ve got to cut back and skim. I enjoy reading about everyone’s lives (in fact, most of my friends list is devoted to the way people live their lives, and the differing voices they have) but I’m sacrificing things I shouldn’t by putting in all those hours, like writing and exercise. That needs fixing.
On top of that, we’re about to start homeschooling.
You’re going to see even less of me for most of the week from now on. Sorry about that.
Books!
StandardTwo recent books:
First, Joker by Brian Azzarello. This is the first version of Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker to appear in comics (that I know about, anyway–I only read trades). It’s a creepier, uglier Joker (just look at that cover), but I don’t know if it’s all that much scarier than previous versions. It recasts him as more of a gangster than comic book villain, but what should I expect from a crime writer? Aside from the bullshit setup, it’s solid work and interesting stuff (I found I couldn’t put it down), but when I reached the end I found myself vaguely dissatisfied.
Second, there are a lot of books out there about Winning A For-Real Fight, and many of them are filled with specific tactics and annoying macho puffery. Well, Rory Miller had been a martial arts student for many years before becoming a casino bouncer and then a prison guard. He had a “fight-a-day” job in which he tried to apply the lessons learned in the dojo to real-life violence.
The result of those lessons are here, in Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence, which I read because of a recommendation by David Hines. Miller talks very clearly about the way violence takes place–the context of it, the execution, the mental state a person enters when they’re attacked, the mental state of the person doing the attacking. He also talks about the way certain martial arts training is pure fantasy and how dangerous it can be.
Even more interesting is one topic he touches on several times: self-imposed limits–people who believe they don’t have permission to behave rudely to alarming behavior. People who believe they could never win a fight. People who feel they must respond to a challenge to their authority. People who want to appease authority figures. People who think fighting will be like sparring.
As an author who writes about violence, the clear descriptions of the mental and emotional states reinforced and deepened my understanding of the processes of physical conflict. I’m also grateful for the way he talks about breaking through artificial limits, which I’m going to apply to my life globally. There are so many ways I box myself in because of what I believe about myself…
This isn’t the time for that discussion, though. It’s something to think about and you might find it useful, too.
Anyway, I’m not interested in martial arts training (I’ve tried it more than once and it’s not for me) and I thought this was a fascinating, thoughtful book. I didn’t agree with everything here, but this is rich, fertile soil.
Highly recommended. Thank you, David.
Books!
StandardTwo recent books:
First, Joker by Brian Azzarello. This is the first version of Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker to appear in comics (that I know about, anyway–I only read trades). It’s a creepier, uglier Joker (just look at that cover), but I don’t know if it’s all that much scarier than previous versions. It recasts him as more of a gangster than comic book villain, but what should I expect from a crime writer? Aside from the bullshit setup, it’s solid work and interesting stuff (I found I couldn’t put it down), but when I reached the end I found myself vaguely dissatisfied.
Second, there are a lot of books out there about Winning A For-Real Fight, and many of them are filled with specific tactics and annoying macho puffery. Well, Rory Miller had been a martial arts student for many years before becoming a casino bouncer and then a prison guard. He had a “fight-a-day” job in which he tried to apply the lessons learned in the dojo to real-life violence.
The result of those lessons are here, in Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence, which I read because of a recommendation by David Hines. Miller talks very clearly about the way violence takes place–the context of it, the execution, the mental state a person enters when they’re attacked, the mental state of the person doing the attacking. He also talks about the way certain martial arts training is pure fantasy and how dangerous it can be.
Even more interesting is one topic he touches on several times: self-imposed limits–people who believe they don’t have permission to behave rudely to alarming behavior. People who believe they could never win a fight. People who feel they must respond to a challenge to their authority. People who want to appease authority figures. People who think fighting will be like sparring.
As an author who writes about violence, the clear descriptions of the mental and emotional states reinforced and deepened my understanding of the processes of physical conflict. I’m also grateful for the way he talks about breaking through artificial limits, which I’m going to apply to my life globally. There are so many ways I box myself in because of what I believe about myself…
This isn’t the time for that discussion, though. It’s something to think about and you might find it useful, too.
Anyway, I’m not interested in martial arts training (I’ve tried it more than once and it’s not for me) and I thought this was a fascinating, thoughtful book. I didn’t agree with everything here, but this is rich, fertile soil.
Highly recommended. Thank you, David.
Finally! It can be announced!
StandardI can finally release the news that the first of the merchandising deals for my Twenty Palaces novels has been finalized. Here’s some initial concept art for the Child of Fire Lego kit, due to hit toystores in October, a couple weeks after the paperback publish date.
I can’t wait to see how they create the sapphire dog.
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You guys know I’m just joshin’, right? This image (and more complicated ones, too) created with the Lego Digital Designer. Use the program to design a virtual Lego model, then upload it to their site (if you want) and order the pieces and instructions mailed to you.
In happier news:
StandardNY Times columnist and Pulitzer-winning economist Paul Krugman praises Charles Stross’s novels.
I hope this brings him a couple thousand new readers.