# Random thoughts



## SeverinR

Random thoughts, philosophy, observations.

This one I thought of a few days ago:

"Chasing women is much like a dog chasing a car, when you finally catch one, you don't know what to do with it, or you're dead."

and:

"Sometimes a bitch is exactly what you need in your life."
http://severinr.deviantart.com/art/Batch-433-350590913


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## SeverinR

Facebook friends loved this one:
I shall call you eggscaliber - Bing Images

"Whoever pulleth it from the cabinet, shall rule the kitchen."


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## RK-Summers

Always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon. Always be a dragon.


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## Ireth

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.


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## RK-Summers

Mustard, darling. We British taste good with mustard


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## advait98

Why does 2+2=4? Why not 5 or 6 or 7. Why is the world full of constants? Space is inconstant, but none of us realise that. Look into the world beyond you. What do you see? The sun, the stars? They have to exist, but how? In space? But how? What is space? Why is it there? What we see, so far, how is it there? Why do we exist? In the end, we're only invisible specks on the monstrosity that is the universe. What's the meaning of our existence? Why do birds fly, while we don't? 

What is life?


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## The Unseemly

Perhaps let me put it like this advait:

The best questions always answer themselves. The trick is finding out what _is_ the best type of question.

OR

Most of your above questions advait could possibly be answered like so: Q. why do you climb a mountain? A. Because it's _there_.

If I'm going to make a brief exception from, eherm, not messing up and using internet talk on here, you could nicely summarise as: #YOLO.


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## CupofJoe

The Unseemly said:


> #YOLO


My devout Buddhist friend would disagree with that statement - very politely and probably while offering you a cup of tea and some sticky rice cakes [take one, they are really very nice sticky rice cakes!].
I go about as far as this...


> In beauty I walk
> With beauty before me I walk
> With beauty behind me I walk
> With beauty above me I walk
> With beauty around me I walk
> 
> In beauty all day long may I walk.
> Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
> On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
> With dew about my feet, may I walk.
> 
> In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
> In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
> My words will be beautiful.


I can make a mean fry bread and my lamb stew is getting better...


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## SeverinR

To all the bacon I have loved in my life,
There will always be a place in my heart for you, at least until
The Doctor scrapes it off.


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## SeverinR

You owned the key to my heart, 
now it is tossed in some box in the attic with all
the other forgotten memories.
I just hope the day will come that someone will pick the lock.


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## Legendary Sidekick

RK-Summers said:


> Always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon. Always be a dragon.





Ireth said:


> Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.


My youngest was born in the year of the dragon (and my wife and I even called her The Dragon until we knew the gender), so these are words for her to live by.


The words I gotta live by, as far as the Chinese zodiac is concerned:
*"So I'm a big, fat [r]at."* ~Elmer Fudd


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## SeverinR

RK-Summers said:


> Mustard, darling. We British taste good with mustard



Ok, then to that I offer:
"If you can't cut the mustard, don't be a cannibal in England."


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## Andrewsouth

I hope the best time will come.I love my life and think that it will become good.Life is precious love it.


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## Addison

People often spend so much time rethinking the past, "what if I asked her out? What if I didn't quit that job? What if this and that and those?" They spend so much time what-ifing what can't be changed that they waste away the present and forsake the future. Live in the now and what-if your future.


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## Weaver

RK-Summers said:


> Always be yourself. Unless you can be a dragon. Always be a dragon.



What if it isn't an either/or thing?


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## Addison

Then I say be who, or what, ever you want to be. It's your choice.


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## druidofwinter

https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/5487662080/hA36191F1/


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## Ireth

"I don't always travel across Middle-earth, but when I do, I simply walk into Mordor." -Frodo Baggins, The Most Interesting Hobbit In the World.


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## Weaver

Ireth said:


> "I don't always travel across Middle-earth, but when I do, I simply walk into Mordor." -Frodo Baggins, The Most Interesting Hobbit In the World.



Thank you, Ireth.  I needed something to make me laugh today...


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## Ireth

You're very welcome. Glad I could brighten your day. ^^


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## SeverinR

Weaver said:


> What if it isn't an either/or thing?


Then you rule!

One of my books has a dragon changling, makes one wonder, if one could chose, would they chose human(oid) or dragon women, or both?


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## Weaver

SeverinR said:


> Then you rule!
> 
> One of my books has a dragon changling, makes one wonder, if one could chose, would they chose human(oid) or dragon women, or both?



Ah... Sometimes I wonder if people on these forums are mildly psychic.  

I was going to reply to your "Then you rule!" comment with something like, "Yeah, whether I want to or not.   "  And then you went and expanded on your post...

I think that someone who could go back and forth between dragon and humanoid forms would be attracted to both dragons and humanoids.  On the other hand, a human woman who'd been dragon-ified and got stuck that way would need a time of adjustment before her new physiology started asserting itself and she started thinking that some of those male dragons were really, really sexy.


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## Guru Coyote

I recently found that my stories, as does my life, contain too few otters. They are really something otter. Almost otterworldy.


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## Ireth

Guru Coyote said:


> I recently found that my stories, as does my life, contain too few otters. They are really something otter. Almost otterworldy.



Then I guess you otter do something about that!


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## Guru Coyote

Ireth said:


> Then I guess you otter do something about that!



I otterly will, and already have. They are the "little sisters and brothers" of a people in my WiP now.


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## Guru Coyote

I just figured out why thunderclouds are so dark! 
Thunderstorms are so much more awesome when it's dark. Makes sense when you think about it.


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## A. E. Lowan

Ever notice that angels fall, but demons never rise?


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## Guru Coyote

A. E. Lowan said:


> Ever notice that angels fall, but demons never rise?



That's because they have no inhibitions about farting. If only they kept their gases in...


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## Guru Coyote

"I can't complain about a lack of hugs. My life squeezes the crap out of me every day."
(That's the family-friendly version)


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## Weaver

A. E. Lowan said:


> Ever notice that angels fall, but demons never rise?



I wouldn't say that...


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## A. E. Lowan

Weaver said:


> I wouldn't say that...



Do you know of any (not in a video game) that have?  It would be good for my research.


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## Ireth

Someone on this very site (Devora, I believe) wrote a story about a demon who rose... at least I'm sure he must have, in order to have fallen in love with an angel.


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## A. E. Lowan

No, that one didn't.  He just fell in love with an angel, had a baby, and then renounced being a demon, but he was never made an angel.


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## Ireth

A. E. Lowan said:


> No, that one didn't.  He just fell in love with an angel, had a baby, and then renounced being a demon, but he was never made an angel.



Fair point. But even renouncing demonhood could be seen as a step upward, no? If demons are morally 'black' and angels are morally 'white', he seems to have edged up into the grey area.


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## A. E. Lowan

Very true.  I'm not a black hat/white hat writer.  I just think it's interesting that something considered so "pure" can go so dark, but it doesn't seem to work the other way around for them.


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## SeverinR

Educating someone has a tendancy to make them less uneducated.


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## SeverinR

The true power of a bard is to draw energy from a crowd, returning it back them in an emotional and meaningful way.


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## Guru Coyote

A while ago I mentioned I needed more Otter in my life. Now, imagine Otters were pets, living in our homes like cats.

I'm not sure if I'd want to put my smartphone into an otterbox in that case...
OtterBox Phone Cases | The # 1 selling case for smartphones | OtterBox.com


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## Addison

I have found there are four stages to a writer's opinion of their writing. 
1: My writing's good, I can do this. 
2: My writing's terrible, I can't do this.
3: My writing rocks! I-am-awesome!
4: (Usually follows a submission to agent or publisher) My writing sucks! What was I thinking?!


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## Scribble

In the frustration of trying to explain to my 17 year old son how the things he wants today will not be the things he wants tomorrow, I see myself having the same discussions with my father, 23 years ago, at the same age. The future was an impenetrable wall. I can remember 17 year old me. There was not enough time behind me to see far enough before me.

Random thought for the day:

You can teach knowledge. Wisdom can be found or realized but you cannot teach it. Trying to teach someone wisdom always sounds to the listener like foolishness.


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## Guru Coyote

I think we need an extra metric for writing besides word-count:

I often realize that a big book might tell a simple story, while a short story could build a whole world in my head.

Maybe we could measure "information density" or "inspirational density" of a story.
And I do not mean information in the sense of facts, but rather in the sense of new ideas, relevant info, stuff I enjoy to read about as a reader. "Stuff that matters" to me as reader, and are still Story - as opposed to info dump.

For example, what I am currently trying to do in worldbuilding for myWiP... I am designing a calendar system, four cultures etc. But all this is there to enrich an existing story, to add detail and conflict. To motivate character's actions etc.
At least I hope it does ^^


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## SeverinR

Daughter proclaims: Every cowgirl needs a cowboy.
Father corrects: NO! Every cowgirl needs a horse, the horses ass comes with it.

(true Facebook today)


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## Addison

There are some experiences, events, that you can not begin to fully describe with the written word. Nor the spoken word. Such as this one. I am in my living room with my lap top in my lap sitting mostly against the arm chair (Just the shoulders and upper back) while my black lab is laying down with her head and front legs (which need their nails cut) snoring in the pocket between the chair and my lower back. No possible way to describe this.


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## Guru Coyote

Found in the classified section of the Bazaarat Times:

"Seeking princess to come and whisk me away. Shining armor and white horse optional, no dragon-slaying required or desired, I am rather fond of my own kind. Serious applicants please ensure that you are human, female, can supply your own transportation and can tolerate a fiery temprament. No need to call, just come and get me away from here. Soon. Please?"


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## SeverinR

Found a name I just have to use in a book:

Klingshirn; Rabble rouser, trouble maker.

Hey, its random.


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## Addison

I'm at a stage in editing where I'd rather have a chemistry final, and I've never taken a single chem class.


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## Guru Coyote

There is a definite lack of fluffy animal toys in fantasy fiction.


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## Ireth

How hard can it be to find a plain chocolate-brown long-sleeved shirt? I need one for a costume, and I can't find one anywhere!


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## Guru Coyote

Everything I am learning in writing class is teaching me that using words ending on 'ing' is furthering bad writing.


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## SeverinR

Guru Coyote said:


> Everything I am learning in writing class is teaching me that using words ending on 'ing' is furthering bad writing.


But:
Everyth-ing, learn-ing, Writ-ing, teach-ing, further-ing, all end in "ing".


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## Guru Coyote

SeverinR said:


> But:
> Everyth-ing, learn-ing, Writ-ing, teach-ing, further-ing, all end in "ing".


Or: Avoid Alliterations, Always.
And: Absolutes are the worst thing after comparisons.

Cookies. Nothing else matters, Grammar used to say.


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## Ireth

Drinking games, even movie drinking games, are really no fun when you're drinking alone. :/ Found that out the hard way last night.


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## Steerpike




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## Guru Coyote

Steerpike said:


> Some video...



"The uploader had not meade this video available in your country" :/


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## Svrtnsse

I just got a free coffee at my favourite pub where I go to write in the mornings. It's good to be a regular.


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## Ireth

Anybody know how much it costs (on average) to replace a laptop's wireless card?


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## Guru Coyote

Ireth said:


> Anybody know how much it costs (on average) to replace a laptop's wireless card?



More than a brown long-sleeve, on average. Shut up, Coyote.


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## Steerpike

I don't know, Ireth. Might be cheaper just to buy a USB wireless adapter and disable the built-in card.


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## Ireth

I've tried the USB adapter for my older sister's desktop on my laptop, and it did nothing. :/


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## Steerpike

Did you make sure you got the drivers installed properly? Also, you might want to go into the device manager and disable the built-in wireless card to make sure there aren't any conflicts that was preventing the USB adapter from working.


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## Ireth

Steerpike said:


> Did you make sure you got the drivers installed properly? Also, you might want to go into the device manager and disable the built-in wireless card to make sure there aren't any conflicts that was preventing the USB adapter from working.



I didn't even get a popup saying I had to install anything. :/ It worked on my little sister's laptop just fine, and her built-in wireless card works just fine. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to post this. :/


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## Steerpike

Hmmm. The driver may have already been installed on the other laptop. If the computer didn't at least automatically install something, I'd be suspicious about whether the driver is there or whether it even saw the device. You could always plug it in and go into the Device Manager and see if it is there. If not, try the add hardware or go to the manufacturer site and get the driver. I'd try that before replacing the wifi card.

The wifi card itself might not be that expensive, but where you're going to suffer is the labor, I suspect. Laptops are more of a pain than desktops.


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## Ireth

Steerpike said:


> Hmmm. The driver may have already been installed on the other laptop. If the computer didn't at least automatically install something, I'd be suspicious about whether the driver is there or whether it even saw the device. You could always plug it in and go into the Device Manager and see if it is there. If not, try the add hardware or go to the manufacturer site and get the driver. I'd try that before replacing the wifi card.



Logical. I'll see if that helps at all.


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## Steerpike

Good luck!


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## Ireth

Well, I got past the first popup this time. Apparently I need the disc that came with the adapter in order to install the required software, and I have no idea where that is or if my sister even still has it. :/


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## Steerpike

Go to the manufacturer web site. They'll have it for download, if you have a USB drive or something to move it over.


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## Ireth

Ooh, good plan. I'll see if I can find my USB.


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## SeverinR

"I don't know how to spell success, theres some s's and c's, and I don't know..."
Brandon Sanderson's lectures on writing.

Success is when you get past the suc, the cess(pool), if you only go to suc-less, then it is not success.


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## Ireth

Why isn't there an antiperspirant (not just a deodorant) that you can spray over your whole body rather than just smearing under your arms? I dunno about the rest of you, but I perspire from more places than just my armpits, and my underarm antiperspirant doesn't help with that.


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## Guru Coyote

Ok, sure, the gender of the MC should not matter. But, please, if you are writing in 1st person and are going to have one of the MC's kids address them as 'Mother' about three parters into the story... you may consider hinting the reader at the gender of your MC sometime earlier. In this case, the gender IS important info and should be dealt with early. You don't want to jarr the reader out of the flow by such a simple omission.
Thank you.


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## SeverinR

Ireth said:


> Why isn't there an antiperspirant (not just a deodorant) that you can spray over your whole body rather than just smearing under your arms? I dunno about the rest of you, but I perspire from more places than just my armpits, and my underarm antiperspirant doesn't help with that.



Note: Antiperspirant works on feet too. Warning the old fashion spray might make you scream...cold, ice cold on toes and feet.


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## SeverinR

Before taking up the sword, strike the ballot for change.


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## Addison

"The pen is mightier than the sword." Write a letter.


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## SeverinR

To all the famous children actors/actresses, singers,etc.
 The roman candle and skyrockets, get alot of attention for a short time, the roman candle burns bright for a few seconds, the sky rocket makes enough noise to attract attention then ends in a massive bang. The true star flares to life and glows through the good times and bad.
 Too many try to be the massive skyrocket not seeing what comes in the end. The true star remains in sight, maybe not as bright as those around, but easily outlasts the fireacrackers.
 Be a star not a roman candle or skyrocket.


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## GeekDavid

SeverinR said:


> To all the famous children actors/actresses, singers,etc.
> The roman candle and skyrockets, get alot of attention for a short time, the roman candle burns bright for a few seconds, the sky rocket makes enough noise to attract attention then ends in a massive bang. The true star flares to life and glows through the good times and bad.
> Too many try to be the massive skyrocket not seeing what comes in the end. The true star remains in sight, maybe not as bright as those around, but easily outlasts the fireacrackers.
> Be a star not a roman candle or skyrocket.



Along the same lines...

Be nice to the people you meet on the way up. You'll see them again on the way down.


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## Guru Coyote

Addison said:


> "The pen is mightier than the sword." Write a letter.



Swords, they just don't make em like they used to anymore.


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## GeekDavid

Guru Coyote said:


> Swords, they just don't make em like they used to anymore.



I would say "never bring a knife to a gunfight" but the Mythbusters busted that one.

It was fun watching Jamie with a rubber knife charge at Adam with a toy gun, too.


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## Guru Coyote

"Never bring a pen to a sword-fight."


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## Addison

Bring a gun to a sword fight. Ever seen Indiana Jones?


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## GeekDavid

Addison said:


> Bring a gun to a sword fight. Ever seen Indiana Jones?



I really hate to be the one to break this to you, but...

Indiana Jones isn't real. 

(just playing with ya.)


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## Guru Coyote

Next you will tell us Santa was invented by Coca Cola. Right.


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## Addison

Coco Cola was better when they had the polar bear mascot.


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## Guru Coyote

Ess, the warrior, was also a prince. 
He very much disliked that folk tended to slur his title and name into one. 
"Prince Ess!" became a common set of last words.


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## Sam Evren

In the vein of being told what not to do:

It's fair to say that I was a very good lighting designer. In theatrical lighting design, getting a positive review on your lighting in the reviewing newspaper is considered "the grail," and every professional design I did got the requisite praise in print, even if the show, itself, did not.

One of the things I found in my career was that the "best designers" came from New York. I wasn't from New York.

I finally had the chance to see several New York designers work in opera. Their designs lacked all color. Not just for a single piece or scene, but each and every design I saw them do.

So I asked one, "Why?" To me, color is such an integral part of the visual spectrum, and there's rarely a better way for light to affect your emotion. It's visceral, primal, and it can affect an audience without their awareness.

He told me using color (in lights) just wasn't done. He was taught in school that using color was, essentially, gauche.

I always used color, and still offer my advice on it to designers that ask my opinion. I don't recommend slathering it around until you've turned the stage into a cartoon, but knowing how things (like color) work and what affects an audience is a tool I'd never throw away.

I converted some I met along the way. Others I didn't. What I realized most of all was that when people were saying that a thing shouldn't be done, it was because they didn't understand how to do it properly.


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## Chilari

GeekDavid said:


> I really hate to be the one to break this to you, but...
> 
> Indiana Jones isn't real.
> 
> (just playing with ya.)



To right he isn't real. Ever seen a real archaeologist who doesn't own a trowel and repeatedly utterly fails to record contexts through notes, diagrams, drawings and photos? No, they'd get sacked if they messed with artefacts and sites the way Indy does. Sacked and blacklisted. Possibly protecuted.


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## GeekDavid

Chilari said:


> To right he isn't real. Ever seen a real archaeologist who doesn't own a trowel and repeatedly utterly fails to record contexts through notes, diagrams, drawings and photos? No, they'd get sacked if they messed with artefacts and sites the way Indy does. Sacked and blacklisted. Possibly protecuted.



Just another in a very long line of movie falsehoods. Mythbusters regularly explains how physics just doesn't work the way it does in the movies.


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## SeverinR

Hey! Indiana Jones steals artifacts from the naitve people, so the people of the United States can have something in their museums, much better then the bandits looting graves for profit or to provide rich people something for their private museums.
Primitave people can't expect to keep their "priceless peices of art."


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## Devor

The more I plan my day, the more likely it begins with child vomit.

Two of 'em sick today, plans shot, cleaning is ongoing.


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## SeverinR

Best laid plans of mice and men, didn't have kids to alter them.


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## GeekDavid

SeverinR said:


> Best laid plans of mice and men, didn't have kids to alter them.



Didn't some general somewhere in time say "no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy"?


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## Addison

I don't know, but I do remember-sort of mostly-the saying about picking your battles. Choose the ones that mean the most.


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## Ireth

I can't tell whether I'm hungry or nauseated right now. ._. Do I dare eat something when I might just throw it back up?


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## Scribble

Ireth said:


> I can't tell whether I'm hungry or nauseated right now. ._. Do I dare eat something when I might just throw it back up?



Start with simple, non-staining foods.


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## Addison

Hungry or nauseated.....I get that a lot. Usually what helps is taking a walk and/or drinking sprite or sierra mist.


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## SeverinR

"My mind can't relate to how old this body is."
Last Vegas quote.


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## Svrtnsse

I made an unhealthy. It's sort of like a smoothie, except for fruits and berries I put in Bailey's and After Eights.


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## Addison

Bailey's and After Eights, never heard of those. They sound interesting by themselves but, as you've made clear, do not go together.


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## GeekDavid

I've discovered a good rule of thumb for Mexican restaurants... if the music inside is from a radio tuned to the nearest Spanish language stations, and the cook speaks with a heavy Mexican accent, you're probably going to get some really authentic Mexican food.


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## Addison

Si, Si Geek David. Chevy's sort of follows that rule. But of the two Mexican restaurants in my small town, there's only one that sells the best Mexican. From the Enchilada and Chile Relleno to the Tostadas, even the rice and beans are better. 

The same rule can be said for Chinese food. Happy Garden Chinese restaurant is the best.


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## Ireth

Jobhunting these days is really getting me down. Applying over and over to the same places who haven't yet hired me just feels like looking in the same near-empty fridge every five minutes to see if there's food. I keep hoping I'll be lucky and discover that somebody went shopping, but mostly I just find myself staring at condiments.


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## GeekDavid

Ireth said:


> Jobhunting these days is really getting me down. Applying over and over to the same places who haven't yet hired me just feels like looking in the same near-empty fridge every five minutes to see if there's food. I keep hoping I'll be lucky and discover that somebody went shopping, but mostly I just find myself staring at condiments.



I agree.


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## SeverinR

FOund a couple good quotes from: 
Mercedes Lackey- songs - YouTube

"It actually dawned on me, that I don't fight, I just kill whatever annoys me and its over." -"Oathbound"

"An idiot can kill you just as dead as a wise man."-"Kerowyn's ride."


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## Ireth

Getting excited about seeing The Hobbit in a week and a half! I just really, REALLY hope they don't turn Legolas into the Captain Obvious he was in the LOTR movies. Really.


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## GeekDavid

Ireth said:


> Getting excited about seeing The Hobbit in a week and a half! I just really, REALLY hope they don't turn Legolas into the Captain Obvious he was in the LOTR movies. Really.



It's Hollyweird. Of course they will. And they'll make someone into Jar Jar, to bring in the young kids.


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## GeekDavid

Ireth said:


> Getting excited about seeing The Hobbit in a week and a half! I just really, REALLY hope they don't turn Legolas into the Captain Obvious he was in the LOTR movies. Really.



Not to mention that the same people that did that to the honorable Legolas in the LotR movies are making this one. Trust me, they'll do it again. They might even ramp it up just to "prove" to the fans that they're "right." That's the way movie moguls think.


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## SeverinR

If I owned a donkey, I think during the holidays I would suspend mistletoe above it. Just to let people know what I think.


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## Ireth

Spoiler for those who haven't read Harry Potter (which probably isn't many, but still):



Spoiler



What would have happened if Harry had been killed by the Basilisk fang in Book 2? Basilisk venom is one thing that can destroy Horcruxes, which Harry was at that point. So if he died, the bit of Voldemort in him would have died too. And he would have died trying to protect Ginny, which ties into the sacrifice theme of Book 7. Also, he would have died by Voldemort's hand (by proxy, it being Tom Riddle's memory who sent the Basilisk after him). So would it have worked out more or less the same (aside from the remaining Horcruxes)? Would Harry have been able to come back to life and eventually destroy Voldemort as he should?


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## Guru Coyote

When my friends came over to visit, they discovered the dried up husk of a plant they had given me. I just shrugged and said: "It looked kinda gray when you brought it."
Took them a moment to remember I am colorblind.


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## SeverinR

Eshai'du
So many it applies too, yet they don't even know it.
I guess because they are Eshai'du.

Just found an old quote.



Spoiler: Eshai'du



Eshai'du Colloquially "dumbass;" more likely "ignorant" (Origin - t)


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## SeverinR

No one that has gone to war, ever comes back the same. But they are not lost souls never to be a part of society again. They can build from what is left if they are shown how to cope. 
Society forced them to go into battle, they should pay to show them the way home again.

(this borders on political, so lets keep it A-political.)


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## Legendary Sidekick

My "random" thought is not random at all - just a geeky confession. The band Manfactory just released its third Street-Fighter-II-inspired album yesterday, and I just downloaded albums #2 and #3. _Street Fight! Round One_ is free. I think I still lived in HK when I downloaded that one.

Maybe the free album's the best of the bunch - I love the way the songs play as if you're listening to one 25-minute song, but I wanted closure so I collected them all.

Girls kicked ass today. I read a nice Brienne scene in _Feast of Crows_ ("Laugh.") and Chun Li's the champ (take THAT, Akuma-users!) according the music I downloaded. And my wife and daughters got me to shop all day, so I guess I got beaten by girls, too. But I had my thick GRRM book to keep me sane, so shopping day was fine with me.


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## Reaver

Legendary Sidekick said:


> The band Manfactory...




Just by random coincidence, Manfactory is also the name of Ultimus Manimus' favorite nightclub.


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## Chessie

Happy New Year to Mythic Scribes!


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## Guru Coyote

Did you know that, according to the Mytek calendar, 2014 is the Year of the Coyote?
Now you do.
Happy Year Of Coyote ta'yall.


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## Guru Coyote

Outtake from the current storyline:

Reemu: "And we could raise goats."
Awynn: "What's a goat?"
Reemu: "You don't know what a goat is?!"
Awynn: "No. Describe one to me."
Reemu: "Ok. It has cloven hooves, that's like a horse, just split in two. And it has this white little beard under its chin, a thin tail with a little tufft at its end."
Awynn: "Does this create have a horn?"
Reemu: "Why, yes, billy goats have horns."
Awynn: "We call those unicorn."


----------



## SeverinR

A knight in shining armor is more worried about appearance then substance. Any man that has fought will never polish out the dents and tarnish of war.

I credit this one to a post on Facebook, that made me think of this.


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## SeverinR

"Unless taken to a practical level, everything you learned in college is stupid." 
Meatloaf.  Meat Loaf ready to rock Las Vegas | On Air Videos | Fox News

He was speaking about his Improv classes in college, but I believe it is true in most cases.


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## SeverinR

"As far as execution means goes, all are heads above the Guillotine. (which is heads below)"


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## Ireth

Inspirational Facebook picture quote of the day: "An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it's going to "pah-TOINGGGG" you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming."


----------



## Guru Coyote

"Everything I need to know, I can learn on Facebook." Hehehe


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## SeverinR

A couple for the Corvette museum in Kentucky:
"I heard its a real let down."
"The Corvette museum is going to hell."

Corvette museum to reopen after sinkhole swallowed pricey cars - CNN.com


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## SeverinR

So to honor Mother nature, lets let her know how we appriciate her with a paraphrased work:
 "Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advise, pull down your pants and slide on the ice,' so mother natural can kiss our cold chapped arses,"


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## taiwwa

Random thought: I looked at my copy of Harold Bloom's "The Closing of the American Mind" on my bookshelf, and I thought that that specific line of academic pessimism is racist, at heart. It relies heavily on arbitrary authority, that of the professor and his thoughts on the lines of poetry, and deep down it is a reaction against multi-culturalism.


----------



## The Blue Lotus

Random thought: 

Do not under any circumstances write about vomiting, vomit, or the smell of vomit when you do not feel well.
It tends to make that action a reality.
:eeeew!:


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## Jabrosky

I'm in an incensed mood as I type this. On another message board I used to visit every now and then, we had a thread on Black History Month, and I got into a correspondence with certain posters who said early African history wasn't worth studying and that traditional African peoples were "barbarous tribes". And this wasn't even the first time I've seen this kind of latent Eurocentric racism on that forum. In the end I chose to log out and put the site on my browser's block list.


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## taiwwa

Jabrosky said:


> I'm in an incensed mood as I type this. On another message board I used to visit every now and then, we had a thread on Black History Month, and I got into a correspondence with certain posters who said early African history wasn't worth studying and that traditional African peoples were "barbarous tribes". And this wasn't even the first time I've seen this kind of latent Eurocentric racism on that forum. In the end I chose to log out and put the site on my browser's block list.



if I might ask, where is this place?


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## Jabrosky

taiwwa said:


> if I might ask, where is this place?


I don't want to cause a forum war, and the particular message board I speak of requires membership in order to lurk there, but I will say it was the "outside discussions" section of a longstanding and popular forum for a gaming website.


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## taiwwa

Well, I will say that fantasy does have...severe race problems built into it, inherently. Given that so much of it revolves around dehumanized humanoids (orcs) and murdering every last one of them...


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## The Blue Lotus

How to clean your house in 15 mins.

I hate cleaning, I love my family and friends, but for the most part they are pigs when they come for a visit. I spend countless hours scrubbing various surfaces until I am overcome by fumes being emitted from the various cleaning products I use.

On top of this Mickey is still ruining things faster than a wrecking ball could possibly accomplish.

So I sat down and tried to find a faster way to get the job done. 

After much thought and internal debate, I have figured it out and I'm here to share it with you! 

First you will need a bag of rags, and some boxes.

Step one: Pack anything you want to keep

Step two: Soak rags in lighter fluid.

Step three Remove all people and valuables, pets, etc. that you want to keep

Step four Light the rags after spreading them throughout the home.

Step five, hit on the hot firemen as they show up to douse the conflagration you have created.

Optional - Take graham crackers, marshmallows, a long stick and a chocolate bar and make smores while you wait.

No really it works! Your house will be spotless from then on.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Found a dollar bookstore in Southern Cal, not too far from home. Got Brent Week's "Way of Shadows", a Jim Butcher "Dresden Files" book, & Donaldson's complete "Thomas Covenant" series for $5.

Definitely going back for a longer search.


----------



## buyjupiter

Why are my shoes wet? The shower hasn't leaked onto the floor yet today...but the floor is covered in water...oh, maybe that grinding, clanking sound late last night warranted further investigation.

On the bright side of things, the bathroom did need mopping. That just wasn't how I planned on doing it.


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## The Blue Lotus

Oh no! I'm sorry to hear that Jupiter. This weather has been crazy up here in the north and even further south, people's pipes are bursting all over the place. I hope your situation is not nearly that serious. Silver lining - the floor is clean!


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## The Blue Lotus

Deadlines are not negotiable.


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## Ireth

Has anyone written a story wherein the "virgin sacrifice" cliche is played with by having the virgin in question sacrifice her virginity instead of her life?


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## The Blue Lotus

Hmm,

I seem to recall a TV show years ago that hinted that it was done during the civil war to distract the general in order to gain ground and meet up with reinforcements outside of town. 

It was interesting. The "lady" was hailed a hero until modern times where she was relegated to the ranks of a whore, or lady of the night if you prefer. Gotta love how history can change like that.


----------



## Jabrosky

After a long writing slump, I just finished the first draft of a 2,000-word short. It always feels good to get shorts finished.


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## The Blue Lotus

Yay! Good for you Jabrosky


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## Guru Coyote

The Blue Lotus said:


> Deadlines are not negotiable.


He'd crossed the line, and now it was dead, as was the night, and he'd soon be too. He dangled the phone from its cut extension cord, no more grace period for  that writer's career of his. It would rest in pieces, there was just no point in negotiating over dead lines.


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## Guru Coyote

Ireth said:


> Has anyone written a story wherein the "virgin sacrifice" cliche is played with by having the virgin in question sacrifice her virginity instead of her life?



I think Blue Lotus' answer hints at why we might not see too many stories take that path... it crosses over into no-no-land for too many modern people.


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## SeverinR

tried to post this yesterday, Thought I posted it already in here, but didn't find it.

"Big words should be taken in slowly, enjoyed, fully digested so they flow out easily,
Not gobbled up quickly to be coughed up like a hairball."
SeverinR's deviantART Gallery


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## Jabrosky

I'm in the process of brainstorming ideas for a jungle adventure story. One of them has a white male explorer get captured by angry natives after trespassing into their sacred ground, and they plan to execute him through some brutal means I haven't decided on yet. In the end a native huntress swings to the guy's rescue and fights off his would-be executioners.

As much as I'd love to write a damsel-rescues-dude adventure, there's still the trick of writing the native antagonists in a way that doesn't carry unfortunate implications.


----------



## Ireth

If "embiggen" were a actual word, what would be its opposite? Ensmallen?


----------



## McBeardstache the Hairy

What if the cake _isn't_ a lie?


----------



## A. E. Lowan

I'd _still_ rather have pie.


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## The Blue Lotus

A. E. Lowan said:


> I'd _still_ rather have pie.


What kind of pie? Me I want Key Lime, the real stuff not that faked nasty northern version.


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## A. E. Lowan

The Blue Lotus said:


> What kind of pie? Me I want Key Lime, the real stuff not that faked nasty northern version.



French Silk


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## Noma Galway

Mmmm....pie.


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## CupofJoe

mmm'fashnik - like Mmmm... Cookies.


----------



## Guru Coyote

Ireth said:


> If "embiggen" were a actual word, what would be its opposite? Ensmallen?


belittle - what else could it be?


----------



## The Blue Lotus

I hate doing my taxes. There is no reason this should be so complicated! 

I'm of half the mind that the people who wrote these laws need to be executed in a very public way for being wantonly convoluted and confusing.


----------



## Addison

I don't know about execute, but those types of people were put in stockades so the people could throw rotten veggies at their heads. All you need is a bad tomato and a clear shot at a tax collector.


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## The Blue Lotus

Addison said:


> I don't know about execute, but those types of people were put in stockades so the people could throw rotten veggies at their heads. All you need is a bad tomato and a clear shot at a tax collector.



That could work too, if we can ensure they do not go out and reproduce and make little crazy babies who can't make things clear.


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## Noma Galway

Plato:  Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Descartes:  Bing, bang, bing, a bing bang.
Aristotle: bljlkalkjdf

This was on an essay prompt for my philosophy class. Thank you, instructor, for summing up these ideas so succinctly .


----------



## A. E. Lowan

Noma Galway said:


> Plato:  Blah, blah, blah, blah.
> Descartes:  Bing, bang, bing, a bing bang.
> Aristotle: bljlkalkjdf
> 
> This was on an essay prompt for my philosophy class. Thank you, instructor, for summing up these ideas so succinctly .



Your instructor forgot Socrates: "I drank what?"

[I can't take credit for this line.  It's from the movie _Real Genius_.]


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## Jabrosky

I swear the WYSIWYG post-editing tools have disappeared on my browser.  I also have trouble with adding spaces between paragraphs.


----------



## Noma Galway

A. E. Lowan said:


> Your instructor forgot Socrates: "I drank what?"
> 
> [I can't take credit for this line.  It's from the movie _Real Genius_.]



I like it


----------



## taiwwa

So I've been sick lately, and the weird thing about being sick is that it reminds me of childhood. Like, I find myself remembering childhood more vividly now that I'm sick. I even find myself enjoying cartoons more while being sick than I would otherwise, and am more receptive to fantastical powers in those cartoons.


----------



## Addison

My family's been getting bad allergies now. I've just recovered, my kid brother and sister are bouncing off the walls and both parents are stuffed up. Even the dogs are acting weird. I think humans with stuffy, sneezy noses give them restless sleep. For the last three nights both dogs have had loud, active dreams. It's cute until they roll off the bed.


----------



## The Blue Lotus

I managed to do something bad to my back. I finally broke down and seen my doctor on Monday. 
She gave me some meds, one is the equivalent to a Disney themed band aid, the other however, is serious business. 
I took it and slept for 19hrs straight!  A friend called me, during this sleeping time and I just barely recall having a conversation. I do clearly recall not being able to string thoughts together quickly or coherently. I ordered a pizza for husband at dinner time and apparently told them one thing when I wanted something other. That made for an interesting wrong order call.
I've decided that I'll just have to suffer during the day, until husband gets home at night, because someone has to watch the puppy. 
He tends to get into all kinds of trouble if he is not watched like a hawk. 
I can say, however, that my insomnia is no longer an issue with this med. 
Not really a random thought, more like a random update. I suppose the thought would be "Holy crap Batman, don't take the pills unless you want to be knocked out like Alice as she fell down the rabbit hole!"


----------



## Addison

To Indie publish, or not to Indie publish, that is the question. Seriously, in this day and age, traditional or something else?


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## taiwwa

Addison said:


> To Indie publish, or not to Indie publish, that is the question. Seriously, in this day and age, traditional or something else?



Easy. indie publish.

traditional publishers can always repackage your work later on.


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## The Blue Lotus

taiwwa said:


> Easy. indie publish.
> 
> traditional publishers can always repackage your work later on.


But they won't, unless it is one hellava story that is selling hand over fist.


----------



## Addison

The problem I have with this publications thing is that the path of Traditional Publishing has been laid out, paved and worn to a gloss over the last century and more. Everyone knows how that system works. The selfie path is.....I don't think at this stage it's new but there's so many avenues. 
The traditional path: you get an agent (most of the time), the agent and writer find a publisher, they get a contract and the book gets published. 
The selfie path: you write a story, you edit/revise, you think of a design and you search companies to find the best publisher. There's no telling which are real and which are scams. So this avenue has been carved out with all the hills and turns but it's still getting the asphalt spread and signs put up.


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## taiwwa

The Blue Lotus said:


> But they won't, unless it is one hellava story that is selling hand over fist.



So you're saying your goal then is to get an advance and then...not deliver? 

Traditional publishers are utterly flooded with manuscripts. Agents barely have the energy or attention to give an author ten pages of read. The selfie path has been made much easier by the internet. As I said, internet ebooks first, traditional publishers can repackage them (in dead tree format with pretty graphics and binding) at a later time if there is sufficient interest.


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## The Blue Lotus

taiwwa said:


> So you're saying your goal then is to get an advance and then...not deliver?
> 
> Traditional publishers are utterly flooded with manuscripts. Agents barely have the energy or attention to give an author ten pages of read. The selfie path has been made much easier by the internet. As I said, internet ebooks first, traditional publishers can repackage them (in dead tree format with pretty graphics and binding) at a later time if there is sufficient interest.


No, What I'm saying is why on earth would a big house pay thousands for a book that people have already read for 2$ a pop?

I run a business and in business that makes absolutely zero sense.  I'd never pay top dollar for anything that everyone has already seen. I might, however, contract that person for their next big idea. 
I've only heard of one or two self pub books that go on to become paper books. Just because I've not heard of it does not mean it never happens, I'm just saying that is not an egg someone should/can count on. 
Be realistic in all things and live a happy life.  
All the best of luck.


----------



## taiwwa

The Blue Lotus said:


> No, What I'm saying is why on earth would a big house pay thousands for a book that people have already read for 2$ a pop?



Future books and book bound reissues for those who don't care for ereaders and for diehard fans who want a physical copy.


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## The Blue Lotus

taiwwa said:


> Future books and book bound reissues for those who don't care for ereaders and for diehard fans who want a physical copy.


True... 
But, now we are starting to circle back. So I'll leave it.


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## Addison

What is it with dogs and dead toys? My dog has gone from the puppy dog look, dropping the thing in my lap and barking at me so I would play. How in the heck can I, or even he, play with a three-inch long tail of a toy. A toy in which only the tail has survived? 

And now he has retreated to his throne. Which is the top of the pillows and back of the sofa by the window. He just has his front paws on top, his head resting between them while his rear-end has sunk into the pillows. 

Dogs. Gotta love 'em.


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## Guru Coyote

Tails are the only thing about toys that count. Especially if they are tall tails. I tell a tall tail from time to time myself. As such, I totally resonate with your dog. My sofa needs more pillows.


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## The Blue Lotus

Addison said:


> 1)What is it with dogs and dead toys? ..
> 2) And now he has retreated to his throne. Which is the top of the pillows and back of the sofa by the window. He just has his front paws on top, his head resting between them while his rear-end has sunk into the pillows.
> 
> 3) Dogs. Gotta love 'em.
> 
> 4)How in the heck can I, or even he, play with a three-inch long tail of a toy. A toy in which only the tail has survived?



1- IDK, Addison, My Nai guards his decapitated sock monkey like it is part of the crown jewel collection. Mind you, he has a whole two boxes stuffed to overflowing with every toy conceivable, some are even in duplicate if he really, really likes it. Sadly only one sock monkey, dressed like a duck, carrying an Easter Egg, was available when I got him, or I'd replace Mr. Headless Monkey-Duck. AKA - "Dunkey."

2- I was told by our dog's trainer that dogs will seek the highest ground available to show their dominance within their "pack," IE your family. My Nai won't do the back of the sofa sitting unless I'm asleep or someone is at the door. Not that I'd care much if he did want to sit there. So long as he knows who the boss is it's all good.  

3- Pets have been proven to improve quality of life, lowering Blood Pressure, reducing risks for things like Heart Attacks and Stroke, you get more Exercise if you have pets that you have to walk a few times a day, and they help relieve Stress!  So, live long friend, enjoy your pets, shower them with love, and maybe, buy a your pup a new tailed toy. 

4- Have you considered duct tape and a long stick?


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## Jabrosky

I notice that a large proportion of the fantasy books that appeal to me are self-published. I'm not saying self-published books are necessarily higher quality than traditionally published ones, but it seems easier to find books with interesting subject matter in the self-published section. Anyone else experienced this?


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## Addison

I think it's because the publishing companies are...what they are. Let's say your story is a big juicy piece of foot, your favorite food. You've cooked it to perfection, garnished it beautifully, placed it on a great plate and everything. Then you present it to a critic or such before you serve it to the customer (the reader). The critic in this case is the publishing compnay. They look at it, they taste it and give their opinion. As it's their restaurant you're serving in, you have to do what they say, or they do it themselves. They take off the mint leaf garnish. They change the swirls of sauce into stripes, the re-make the meal to fit their tastebuds while still sticking to your initial recipe. Then they present it. 

That's what publishers do. The go in and decorate, re-decorate, so when the book hits the shelves it stands out with their company's flair. This often includes making/editing the inside flap. The description. Whatever you might have had that would appeal to more preferences was been wiped out. 

So it's not the writer's fault, it's the publishers. At least for the initial book sales, then the word-of-mouth helps the story appeal to the readers who were, in a way, edited out. 

....Now I believe I'm steering more for self-publishing than traditional.


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## Guru Coyote

I partly agree with Addison. I think it's simpler though: Publishing companies are, by their very nature as a large entity, rather cautious when it comes to 'interesting topics.' You might call it somewhat conservative.
They need to consider the potential of a work to appeal to a large audience, and not so much to their own tastes. They are not buying for their own enjoyment, but for the assumed taste of a maximum number of buyers.

So, what we as readers might find 'interesting' or 'appealing' might be limited to a fairly small group of people, while what a publisher need is something 'everyone' will want to read. And as readers tend NOT to be a homogenous group - not everyone likes the same things - you can guess where this is going: Lowest common denominator.

(Ok, the thought was simple, only the words I expressed it in... weren't. Oh my. Coffee!!)


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## Noma Galway

It is helping my sister with her spelling bee training that I realize how arbitrary the English language is.


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## SeverinR

Are you saying big companies want the books to change new stories to their ideals and become new binding on the same old story?
Or the big companies don't take a chance on a unique story sticking to the more "normal" stories?


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## Addison

I think its how human characteristics bleed into the company's methods. Not everyone likes change, lots of people prefer things a certain way etc.


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## SeverinR

"County rummage sale group on Facebook, Man selling various shovels, rakes and hoes, all leaning against a wood fence.

I had to post on his ad.

"You can line up your shovels, get your rakes together, no problem, but when your hoes get together, theres gonna be a fight.  Hoes just can't get along."


----------



## Jabrosky

I was just watching _The Scorpion King 2_ on Blu-Ray, and I found the female lead's straw feminist act intolerable. I'm all for female warriors in fantasy, but I'd prefer they be taken for granted in their respective setting instead of loudly proclaiming that they're rebelling against oppressive gender roles. I find that latter theme trite to the point of unpalatable.


----------



## Guru Coyote

Jabrosky said:


> I was just watching _The Scorpion King 2_ on Blu-Ray, and I found the female lead's straw feminist act intolerable. I'm all for female warriors in fantasy, but I'd prefer they be taken for granted in their respective setting instead of loudly proclaiming that they're rebelling against oppressive gender roles. I find that latter theme trite to the point of unpalatable.



One of the rules I made for myself says: "Show the society as it could be, not point fingers at what you think is wrong."


----------



## Gryphos

Why do monarchies still exist? It's the twenty first century for crap's sake; we should have abandoned that archaic tradition long ago.


----------



## Addison

I just made a cake using a new recipe. My first devil's food cake. It would have been six layers but the last one fell apart. During this cake I tried something different. I tried to make it display-case worthy. My siblings and I have been watching "The Next Great Baker" on netflix and they've been nagging me that I should go on the show. (I have zero experience with fondant and such things) So with this cake I spread the frosting a different way and it looked alright. But everything else....yech. If Buddy Valastro say he'd probably cry.


----------



## Jabrosky

I've begun to wonder whether message boards like this are distracting me from more productive pursuits like actually writing. Sometimes I come here for help and other feedback on story ideas, but since I almost always end up scrapping those ideas, there doesn't seem to be much of a point to sharing them with this community anymore.

Mind you, I'm not announcing that I'm leaving the forum for good. I just think I need to cut back on my time here.


----------



## Scribble

I wonder if my motivation to write isn't simply ego, that I crave some kind of recognition and fame, and that leads me to wonder if that isn't truly a worthy goal for my short time on this rock. It seems a very inward goal. or at least that is how I perceive it, and that I should focus more on giving the world a piece of something that will fill it up with more riches, rather than seek to take some riches from it. I am trying to be more _present_, to focus on the life that is around me, rather than being off in a fantasy world. My burdens of responsibility are heavy, and I wonder if I am not simply creating an escape, a sanctuary from them, and the more time I spend there, the less present I am in my actual life.

Sorry if that was a bit heavy, but it's that kind of cloudy day here.


----------



## Gryphos

A sad day for the UK, as Ukip got the most MEP seats in the European elections.


----------



## Jabrosky

I wonder what gender our poster Feo Takahari is. I was going to PM them about it, but their message inbox appears to be full.

Just curious...


----------



## Angelic Randomness

I can't really tell the difference between "Quick Reply" and just "Reply". 


Anyway, it's finally June. It's of my most favorite months of the year. Yes! 
I have a bunch of exams coming up though... Exams are never fun. Especially since when you finish early and they just make you sit around until time's up. *sigh*


----------



## Scribble

Thinking last night about animals that I feel are my "totem spirits" the gull and the wolf... how their natures evoke both the noblest and the basest impressions... and what lessons each has to teach. I thought about the wolf, and all it represents - too many things to mention, b- the lone wolf - the hunger, the loneliness and also what it means to be part of a pack - the comfort, the comeradeship, the sure knowledge of your place in things. And then, the gull - inspired by Jonathan Livingston Seagull, that a creature so pitiable as the seagull could aspire to fly farther and faster than any could believe. These are but a small sampling of the many ideas I was playing with, and I came up with two expressions that I thought could help me focus at this time in my life.

I've been wrestling to find a simple philosophy to focus on. I haven't found anyone else's philosophy or religion able to satisfy me. They all seem to presume too much knowledge about the universe or humanity. I want a simple set of mottos I can use to focus my daily life.

One seemed to be so simple, and I learned it when I was 5 in Cub Scouts... evoking the Wolf.

*Do your best.*

Just that, it's simple. Every day, just do your best on the outside. When I kept the wolf's head totem pole at my house, when it was my turn, I used to stare at it, wondering what it was like in life, and that led me to become obsessed with wolves for a time. Their song always struck me deeply, as if they understood the sadness of the world that I felt.

But I also need a goal for the inside, and I thought about Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and what his goal was:

*Become your greatest self.*

Those are two phrases that are so simple, but carry a lot, for me at least. I can't change the world, I can't change other people, I can only _do my best out_ there, but inside I can in fact _change myself_. I have that power.

I was idly thinking about a tattoo that I might get to represent that, maybe a pair of totemic animal tattoos... then, I started thinking about Siddhartha's river, and how the river is a perfect metaphor for myself and my life, and heck, maybe I would get a sleeve tattoo of a river running down my arm, with elements of my life and goals by it's side, or leaping out of it?

I could put that wolf by the side of it, and the gull flying over and reflecting upon it... in the water could be the hints of faces of my children... over time, I could add to it, adding elements that have meaning for me. 

I dunno, just an idea, thinking about it...


----------



## Jabrosky

Given that reptiles can't digest milk (only mammals can produce and digest it), I wonder if you could use milk to poison a dragon or dinosaur?


----------



## Addison

I think that would just make them sick, not dead. 

I've discovered a new type of alarm clock, compliments of my mother-who-thinks-she's-so-funny. There's actual clocks, you can set an alarm on your cell phone. Some even wake up to the sound of the first train, bus, others to a rooster. Me? I woke up to the neighs and bellows of a very distraught horse, Cali. At first I thought she was hollering for food. Nope. She was trotting around her pasture, throwing her head and trying to see past the house. My mother had her horse out, as did our visiting friend, who were getting saddled up for a ride. So I go out, hold the dog so he wouldn't agitate the horse as our friend got on, when my mom comes around and calmly asks me. "Did Cali wake you?"

She and her friend were laughing as I pretended to be strangling the horse. She's only just stopped, she's still alive, she just realized it wasn't helping her. Tomorrow I think I'll see how she likes it when two dogs with a noisy collars tear through her room fighting over a squeaky toy. Oh yeah.


----------



## Ireth

So very frustrated. Another of my favorite websites is no longer letting me log in, at least on my sister's borrowed laptop, which is the only one I can use right now. It always gives me the same error message: "No sign-in name entered." No matter if I type in anything or not, even if it's not my username at all, even if I type my username and not my password. I'm _hoping_ that if/when I get my own laptop fixed, or more likely get a new one, that that one'll work. But I have no way of knowing right now.


----------



## Jabrosky

Does anyone else wonder if _The Lion King_ would have been a stronger story if Mufasa had died defending Simba from the hyenas in the elephant graveyard? That way, Simba would have better reason to believe his own actions (namely disobeying his father and getting himself into trouble) brought about his father's death, and he'd spend the middle act of the movie learning the true meaning of bravery and kingship during his exile. Sounds much better to me than "I must return to my kingdom because I didn't really do what I thought I did".


----------



## SeverinR

Devils food? Made with real devils?
Angel food? Made with real angels?\


----------



## SeverinR

http://jbrown3920.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/i-writee.jpg

"I write to discover what I know."


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Hannah's almost 2, my cousin's wife is expecting a daughter, so I took apart the crib and am about to give it to my uncle with some assembly required.

My "random" thought of the day: _I will never be a tech writer._

The reason why not is pictured below. I can't call them instructions, but whatever they are, each third of the page is in a different sandwich bag fulla small parts.


----------



## Addison

I came across a pet adoption today. There were two lovable basset hound mix puppies, a 3 yr old boxer, 5 year old Australian Sheppard, and a 3 yr old cross of a dalmatian and...something. I wanted to adopt the two puppies, even if they were enjoying themselves teething on my fingers, and the scruffy dalmatian mix dog. Problem was there were already two dogs at home, zero room for more animals, and no room in the car. 

It felt like fate was having a laugh at me. I've been looking for my own pet for a while, then I walk down to REI from the car and see the sign for pet adoption. Fate! Then I discover I have no way to take them home. Ever feel like fate's messing with you for its own entertainment? It's been happening a lot to me lately. Although it has inspired a crazy idea, pack the bag, load the car and just drive.


----------



## Writeking

My pet dragon died, so I decided to bury him in a pet cemetery - It turned out to be a bad idea.


----------



## Addison

The Lords and Ladies of the house. 
Lord Dad, dominion over the kitchen, shop, downstairs bathroom and spa room, and deck.
Lady Mom, dominion over the dining room, sewing room, master bedroom, upstairs bathroom, and front yard.
Lady Sister and Lord Brother, dominion over the living room, TV, bedroom, garage and backyard. 
Lady Jazzy and Lord Rex, dominion over the hiking trails, sofa, armchair, hallways.
Me, dominion over my bed, all books, and the ottoman.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I saw a bear! A real bear!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Every once in a while, I come across a challenge here, write a really DUMB scene, and get inspired. I just wrote a scene with singing, dancing ogres, and now I'm thinking of including ogres in my story who are just a bunch of jerks. They're not like jerks who deserve to die so the hero slays them. They DO deserve to die, but their jerkiness DOESN'T lead to a fight scene. Like real life jerks, they act like jerks then go away (or you go away), and you don't get to kill them.


----------



## Devor

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Every once in a while, I come across a challenge here, write a really DUMB scene, and get inspired.



That scene was brilliant because of its dumbness.


----------



## Ireth

What does it mean when people say "Pardon my French" after they swear? Is it like saying "Pardon me for injecting random 'French' into this conversation," or "Pardon me for speaking French really badly so it sounds like swearing"?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Hey, you _soufflÃ©! _You just stepped on my _foutu_ toe! I'd kick your _raie des fesses_ if you weren't so _jargonnant_. _Pardon mon franÃ§ais._



HIGHLIGHT FOR TRANSLATIONS

* * *
foutu = freaking
raie des fesses = cleft of the buttocks
jargonnant = jargon-loving
* * *​


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

that last post made my day. lol

So...I found a cool mind thing I would like to share with you guys. If you already know it please don't spoil. 
Connor was convicted of a crime and taken by a man seeking revenge. the man seeking revenge carries a whip and a sword. the man asks Connor a question and says that if connor tells the truth he will kill him with the sword yet if he lies, he will whip him to death. what must he say to stay alive?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

DaFlaminUnicorn said:


> that last post made my day. lol
> 
> So...I found a cool mind thing I would like to share with you guys. If you already know it please don't spoil.
> A man was convicted of a crime and taken by a man seeking revenge. the man seeking revenge carries a whip and a sword. he says that if he tells the truth he will kill him with the sword yet if he lies, he will whip him to death. what must he say to stay alive?





Spoiler: what I would do



Say nothing. Not even in bad French.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Spoiler: what I would do
> 
> 
> 
> Say nothing. Not even in bad French.



lol but that is not the correct answer


----------



## Ireth

I think I know...



Spoiler: the answer?



He should say "You will whip me to death."


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

yes that is the correct answer


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Richard Dean Anderson.


----------



## Aspasia

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Hey, you _soufflÃ©! _



OMG. Cannot stop laughing. I need to use this line in some story someday. Hmm, that Chaotic Shiny generator did give me an ancient Paris setting ... 

Thank you so much for this gem of a post. XD


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

For the record, very little research was done to make that post. I can't imagine a real French person would call anyone a soufflÃ©, though that at least sounds more likely than an American threatening to kick someone's "cleft of the buttocks." That translation made me laugh.

If it turns out that French people really do use French pastry names as swears, please tell me. Then I know how to make kid-friendly versions of my work.

_"Croissant_ you," said Addison Lane. "Go to _CrÃ¨me BrÃ»lÃ©e!"_


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Seriously these French things really make me laugh. they brighten my day. I am sick so you can imagine how important this is to me. thank you Legendary Sidekick.


----------



## Devor

Legendary Sidekick said:


> If it turns out that French people really do use French pastry names as swears, please tell me. Then I know how to make kid-friendly versions of my work.



My grandfather was Italian, and he would curse by naming pasta dishes.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Holy _tortellini! _Your _Nonno_ is-a one crazy _​matzo_ ball! Ah, but the tortellini, that's-a what I _mangiaed_ for-a dinner tonight. And if you-a no like-a the way I add-a the English suffix to the _Italiano_ verb, here's-a what I say-a to you. _Fettuccine Alfredo!_ I break-a you face!

(P.S.- I'm half-Italian, so I feel like I can go further than I did with the French.)


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

lol yes I'm part Italian as well and two of my cousins live there. and my uncle cursed like that as well. this is awesome. I feel like you should make a children's book in which people live in a world made of food and they curse at people like this. lol


----------



## Addison

My grandfather did the same thing and then some. He would swear in German, and even if German he would use rodents and other vermin. He ranked vermin according to the swear. The lowest was mosquito, highest was vulture, if you really got him made it as sewer rat. If you got him really REALLy mad, like Ricky Ricardo, he would start roaring in German. If Hitler saw my grandfather when he got mad there would have never been a second world war. 

Aside from his use of German and vermin, he made an amazing, for-the-gods Black Forest Cake.


----------



## Noma Galway

Writing haiku is a whole lot harder than I thought it would be...


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

> Writing a haiku is a lot harder than I thought it would be...


Yes of course it is
Rather hard to write poems
A haiku I mean

see what I did there?
Lol I'm only joking of course.
This is a haiku


----------



## Warrioress

Do it like a brother...You need a bad girl to blow your mind...Welcome to the jungle....This place about to BLOW!

(Random lyrics in my head)






_We thought you were a myth.

Well, you were myth-taken _

-*Buffy The Vampire Slayer*


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

And now it's time for another one of Legendary Sidekick's
*Stupid Pet Tricks!*​Today, Ginger the Fish jumped out of her tank when I tried to feed her. She tried to bite me or her food or the air or something, then landed on the piano and flopped onto the floor. My wife saved her by picking her up with her hands, thankfully, as the best I could do was cup mine around her to keep her from flopping under the piano.

She's alive.

_♪ Ta-daaaaaaaaaaa! ♪_


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

that must be a very talented goldfish. or is it some other kind of fish? is it a piranha?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Betta fish.

We've had her for about a year now. We were told she'd live anywhere from 2 months to 2 years. No one said she'd die from a  crazy stunt, though. Well… and she didn't. Maybe what didn't kill her made her stronger? It made her smarter anyway. The poor thing was scared, and stayed in the lower part of her tank for a while.

For my six-year-old, it's a great story for her friends. She's learning to look back and laugh since in the end, there was no tragedy.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

that's a nice anecdote.
Ooh more riddles: 
1. I'm tall when I'm young but short when I'm old. What am I?
2. What travels the world but stays in one spot?
3. What is the longest word in the dictionary? (joke-ish riddle)
4. What has 4 eyes but can't see?
5. What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
6. If I have it, I don't share it. If I share it, I don't have it.
7. What has hands but cannot clap?


----------



## Noma Galway

1. A candle
2. an atlas?
3. smiles
4. no clue
5. short
6. no clue
7. clock


----------



## SeverinR

Legendary Sidekick said:


> And now it's time for another one of Legendary Sidekick's
> *Stupid Pet Tricks!*​Today, Ginger the Fish jumped out of her tank when I tried to feed her. She tried to bite me or her food or the air or something, then landed on the piano and flopped onto the floor. My wife saved her by picking her up with her hands, thankfully, as the best I could do was cup mine around her to keep her from flopping under the piano.
> 
> She's alive.
> 
> _♪ Ta-daaaaaaaaaaa! ♪_


Did it play music or was the lid closed on the piano?  Maybe it was trying to play chopsticks?


----------



## Ireth

DaFlaminUnicorn said:


> that's a nice anecdote.
> Ooh more riddles:
> 1. I'm tall when I'm young but short when I'm old. What am I?
> 2. What travels the world but stays in one spot?
> 3. What is the longest word in the dictionary? (joke-ish riddle)
> 4. What has 4 eyes but can't see?
> 5. What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
> 6. If I have it, I don't share it. If I share it, I don't have it.
> 7. What has hands but cannot clap?



4. The Mississippi
6. A secret?


----------



## Reaver

Another riddle:  What gets wetter the longer it dries?


----------



## Noma Galway

A towel


----------



## SeverinR

Usually if it happens here, there is a reason. But in other forums there are those that call on the dark magics and call up from the bowels of the world wide web to summon up a long dead thread.
Guard against the Necroposter.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thread_Necromancy_3038.jpg


----------



## Jabrosky

I am sick of my dad's attempts to force his political beliefs onto me. It's gotten to the point where I can't even click "Like" under an article on Facebook without pissing him off and triggering him to harass me about his opinions. I love my old man dearly and don't have the heart to block him on Facebook, but I'd rather he not pay attention to my Likes on that website. Especially since we've both pretty much made up our minds about what we believe.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

you guys got them all right except for 2



Spoiler: which was



A Stamp


----------



## FatCat

A woman attends a family funeral, sadly her Uncle passed away from lung cancer. While at the funeral, she meets a man, let's call him Andy. Andy and her hit it off, they share many things in common and laugh at the same jokes. However, upon leaving the funeral, she realizes that she never acquired Andy's phone number.

Two weeks later, the woman drowns her six month old child. Why?


----------



## SeverinR

The grammar allergy | uppercaise

Don't kill the poor guy, with bad grammar or axe him with your words.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

> Two weeks later, the woman drowns her six month old child. Why?


I'm going to give two guesses which I assume are wrong but I'm just going to put them out there.
1. Andy is a ghost who possesses the woman, causing her to drown her child.
2. The woman is criminally insane and Andy is one of her multiple personalities who caused her to kill her child. 
I know these are creepy but that's what happens to your brain when you join the Supernatural fandom. :/


----------



## FatCat

DaFlaminUnicorn said:


> I'm going to give two guesses which I assume are wrong but I'm just going to put them out there.
> 1. Andy is a ghost who possesses the woman, causing her to drown her child.
> 2. The woman is criminally insane and Andy is one of her multiple personalities who caused her to kill her child.
> I know these are creepy but that's what happens to your brain when you join the Supernatural fandom. :/



Good guesses, but no. And you should feel good that you didn't get the answer right! This was a question developed by psychologists after interviewing psychopaths (or sociopaths, I get them mixed up) to determine whether someone had that mentality.

The answer is so she can see Andy again, because she first met him at a family funeral, and by killing a member of her family Andy may show up. Most people don't make that connection, and for good reason haha.


----------



## Jabrosky

FatCat said:


> Good guesses, but no. And you should feel good that you didn't get the answer right! This was a question developed by psychologists after interviewing psychopaths (or sociopaths, I get them mixed up) to determine whether someone had that mentality.
> 
> The answer is so she can see Andy again, because she first met him at a family funeral, and by killing a member of her family Andy may show up. Most people don't make that connection, and for good reason haha.


That sounds more like a riddle than a useful diagnosis for psychopathy or sociopathy. But a good riddle it is, as it sure had me stumped!


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

More riddles YAY!!!!
1. A man is found dead in a phone booth in a pool of blood. The glass on either end of the phone booth is broken and the phone is hanging. Just outside of the phone booth is a bucket and a stick.

What happened?

2. A smooth dance, a ball sport, a place to stay, an Asian country, and a girl's name.

What's her name?

3. A man wants to have a party in thirty-one days where he will be serving his 1000 barrels of wine. The only problem is that one of his enemies poisoned one of the barrels. The poison kills any man who drinks any of the wine in about 30 days, give or take a few hours. The man has 10 plants that are also killed by the poison in 30 days and can be used to test the wine. How can he identify the single poisoned barrel of wine?

4. In an apartment complex in New York there are one hundred married couples. When one of the husbands cheats on his wife with one of the other wives, his wife has no idea. With the large amount of gossip in the complex, all of the other wives know he is cheating. If a wife finds out that her husband is cheating on her, she kills him the following morning. Someone anonymously sends an email to all of the wives in the building saying that at least 1 man is cheating on his wife in the building.

 How many husbands will be killed and how long will it take?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________


And GO!!


----------



## FatCat

Jabrosky said:


> That sounds more like a riddle than a useful diagnosis for psychopathy or sociopathy. But a good riddle it is, as it sure had me stumped!



It's a riddle in only that the question demands (for most) an answer that is unavailable. The point is the riddle turns into a mere question of observation of facts. The only two things connecting the conclusion is family ties, yet the question 'why' is not important, it's how. And by that deduction of complete emotional disconnect can be provided by a mere riddle.


----------



## Jabrosky

Fun fact: there is a city in Ethiopia called Gondar, and it is known for old castles like this:






Anyone else in this community think the place name "Gondar" sounds awfully familiar? Here's a hint: it's only one vowel different from one of the kingdoms in one classic fantasy trilogy.


----------



## Ankari

FatCat said:


> Good guesses, but no. And you should feel good that you didn't get the answer right! This was a question developed by psychologists after interviewing psychopaths (or sociopaths, I get them mixed up) to determine whether someone had that mentality.
> 
> The answer is so she can see Andy again, because she first met him at a family funeral, and by killing a member of her family Andy may show up. Most people don't make that connection, and for good reason haha.



Crap. I made the connection.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Two 20th-century villains have turned out to be good guys in their old age.



In the 80s, *Actor #1* worked for Dick Jones–Dick Joooooooooones! But now he's a kindly old man whose child is back from the dead.

*Actor #2* was a shape-shifting killer robot in the 90s, but now he leads a team of nerds to save lives.



Name the actors, as well as the 20th-century movies and current TV shows in which they played the roles described above.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

> In the 80s, Actor #1 worked for Dick Jones–Dick Joooooooooones! But now he's a kindly old man whose child is back from the dead.
> 
> Actor #2 was a shape-shifting killer robot in the 90s, but now he leads a team of nerds to save lives.
> 
> 
> 
> Name the actors, as well as the 20th-century movies and current TV shows in which they played the roles described above.



No clue for 1 but for 2 I wanna say Arnold Swartzenegger but I dk what he's doing now.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Arnold was in the movie with actor #2, but Arnold wasn't the villain. You're on the right track in the sense that both movies are action flicks.

The movies featured interesting villains played by actors who weren't popular and still aren't... but they are on TV now, so I'm glad to see they still have work.


----------



## Trick

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Two 20th-century villains have turned out to be good guys in their old age.
> 
> 
> 
> In the 80s, *Actor #1* worked for Dick Jones–Dick Joooooooooones! But now he's a kindly old man whose child is back from the dead.
> 
> *Actor #2* was a shape-shifting killer robot in the 90s, but now he leads a team of nerds to save lives.
> 
> 
> 
> Name the actors, as well as the 20th-century movies and current TV shows in which they played the roles described above.



1. Kurtwood Smith, Robocop (the original), Resurrection

2. Robert Patrick, Terminator 2, Scorpion.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Arnold was in the movie with actor #2, but Arnold wasn't the villain. You're on the right track in the sense that both movies are action flicks.
> 
> The movies featured interesting villains played by actors who weren't popular and still aren't... but they are on TV now, so I'm glad to see they still have work.



Technically, Arnold was the villain in the first Terminator movie although the first movie was made in the 80's.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Trick said:


> 1. Kurtwood Smith, Robocop (the original), Resurrection
> 
> 2. Robert Patrick, Terminator 2, Scorpion.


I was just watching those shows thinking, "I know that guy," then the next day, "I know THAT guy! What's with all these guys I know?"

@Flaming Unicorn (who is actually a mermaid), yeah Arnold was the villain in T1, but in 1992, college girls cried because the T-800 had to die. I was a college guy, so I'm simply taking the college girls' word for it that the thumbs up in molten steel scene was a tearjerker for some… at least those two girls talking. I wanted to tell the girls, "I now know why you cry, but that is something I can never do," but it was the 90s and suddenly being a sensitive guy was fashionable. Due the confusion, I decided to get married the following decade.

I'm not sure what the 2000-2009 decade was known for. I don't even know what to call that decade. The 2000s (two thousands)? The 00s (zeroes)? Does the current decade have a name? It's 2014, and I just realized I only refer to 20th-century decades by name.


----------



## Tom

I have nothing worthwhile to add to this thread, but I'll add anyway. 
Anyone up for a game of word association? I say a word and you write the first thing that came into your head when you read it.

Word #1: Deplorable


----------



## Svrtnsse

There's a dedicated thread for this already: http://mythicscribes.com/forums/chit-chat/7019-word-association-game.html


----------



## Tom

Okay. Thanks. 
In that case, random thought: Would humans be able to survive in a world with a green sky? Because that would mean the atmosphere allows for light ray penetration different from earth's, and the possibility of harmful light exposure, and yada yada yada....


----------



## Svrtnsse

Crap! It's October. Did anyone remember to wake up Green Day?


----------



## Ireth

Thanks, Svrt, now that song is in my head. XDD

So I started reading Tad Williams' _Memory, Sorrow and Thorn_ trilogy last week (WHY did I not read them sooner?), and I recently finished the second book. But the library doesn't have the third one, and I can't afford to buy it. >_< Not that I want to right now anyway, since I only own the first book -- the second one was a library book as well. But still. Aaaaargh. D=


----------



## SeverinR

"Sometimes I think the process of writing is not to terribly different then the process of being psychotic."
George R.R. Martin


----------



## SeverinR

Ireth said:


> Thanks, Svrt, now that song is in my head. XDD
> 
> So I started reading Tad Williams' _Memory, Sorrow and Thorn_ trilogy last week (WHY did I not read them sooner?), and I recently finished the second book. But the library doesn't have the third one, and I can't afford to buy it. >_< Not that I want to right now anyway, since I only own the first book -- the second one was a library book as well. But still. Aaaaargh. D=


Maybe sample it, until you can find the whole? 10% free.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Svrtnsse said:


> Crap! It's October. Did anyone remember to wake up Green Day?



lol Wake me up when September ends. I love that song.  I actually know the drumline to that song. it's probably the easiest drumline ever. at least at the beginning anyway.


----------



## Jabrosky

Does anyone else find the whole joke that the Middle East should be bombed out of existence disturbing? Even if the call for genocide is tongue-in-cheek, it shows to me an extremely racist mentality towards people from that region.

Here's an example of that joke:


----------



## Noma Galway

Yep, that's pretty messed up.


----------



## SeverinR

Random thoughts drops to page two, I believe this is a first for this thread.  
I am offended!:stomp:

on that note:

America, Please If there is someone that I have not offended, and you take offense to that, I appologize. I intend to be an equal opportunity offender, so I will try to offend you soon, so as you will not be offended for me forgetting to offend you.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Don't worry, I'm sure America is offended.


----------



## Chessie

Its a _fantastic_ day to be an Alaskan. Just saying.


----------



## Svrtnsse

It's snowing?


----------



## SeverinR

Svrtnsse said:


> Don't worry, I'm sure America is offended.



That seems to be the national pass time.

Wrote this because of the bashful bladder people taking offense to the Rob Lowe Direct tv ad.


----------



## Tom

SeverinR said:


> That seems to be the national pass time.
> 
> Wrote this because of the bashful bladder people taking offense to the Rob Lowe Direct tv ad.



Saw that one during Sunday Night Football. It was the Denver Broncos and SanFran 49ers, I think.

The Buffalo Bills are never on Sunday Night Football.

Not that I'm bitter.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Proof that Black Friday is evil! For the first time, I saw Yahoo has a countdown and it said this:






Eeeeeeviiiiiil!!!!!!^


----------



## BronzeOracle

Jabrosky said:


> Does anyone else find the whole joke that the Middle East should be bombed out of existence disturbing? Even if the call for genocide is tongue-in-cheek, it shows to me an extremely racist mentality towards people from that region.
> 
> Here's an example of that joke:



So is that island remaining in the middle of the big watery crater where all the oil fields are??  I'm sure whoever made that graphic must have considered that we still need to drive our cars right? 

Hey speaking of maps, here's two that show a difference - one shows the size of countries based on population, the other based on news coverage (and that's for the Guardian too, not the most parochial of news) - boy do south america and asia get screwed.
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/posts/population.png
http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/GuardianNewsWithoutUK2010to2012_AllStories.jpg


----------



## Tom

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Proof that Black Friday is evil! For the first time, I saw Yahoo has a countdown and it said this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Eeeeeeviiiiiil!!!!!!^



Do we need proof? I've always known it was evil! It's called _Black_ Friday, isn't it? Like a black witch's cat? 

Not that I have anything against black cats. I have one. He's the friendliest cat I've ever met. I've even considered writing a short story about him--something about him being a wizard's familiar.


----------



## Jabrosky

Tom Nimenai said:


> Do we need proof? I've always known it was evil! It's called _Black_ Friday, isn't it? Like a black witch's cat?


Lies! Black is beautiful. It's hot pink you've got to watch out for.


----------



## SeverinR

Jealousy is never good,
Jealousy is entitlement to an individual no matter what and lack of trust in that individual to support that entitlement.
No foundation of a relationship can be built around jealousy. It will rear back and destroy anything built to contain it.
The loved must offer it, and promise not to withdrawl it, it can never be expected or demanded.
Jealousy is lust and power, not love and affection.


----------



## Chessie

Diners should really be nice to their servers. Last time I checked, we're humans too. With feelings. With families we're trying to support by pampering you. And guess what? Customers are almost always wrong. I wish I knew who made that "customers are always right" statement so I could force them to work my job for a day and see what they think afterward.


----------



## SeverinR

Tom Nimenai said:


> Do we need proof? I've always known it was evil! It's called _Black_ Friday, isn't it? Like a black witch's cat?
> 
> Not that I have anything against black cats. I have one. He's the friendliest cat I've ever met. I've even considered writing a short story about him--something about him being a wizard's familiar.


Its not the cat thats bad, its the witch that leads them astray. Apart the witch and the cat are fine. Get them together and the evil comes out.


----------



## BronzeOracle

Gotta love those motivational posters!


----------



## Tom

Just wanted to share a weird and rather offensive conversation I had at college this week. No denying this exchange got my blood boiling. I was wishing I had a convenient set of knuckledusters in my backpack.

Scene: The college cafeteria during common hour. I have my lunch tray and I'm about to sit down. This guy I don't know walks up to me and starts talking. 

Random Dude: Hey, you're Irish, right?

Me: Yeah... (Absently, because I'm trying to figure out how he knows this. As far as I know, I've never worn my "Erin Go Braugh" shirt to school, and my reddish-blond hair doesn't seem like enough evidence for him to judge on.)

Random Dude: Sweet! That's cool.

Me: Thanks. 

Random Dude: So, how many shots can you down? Think you could drink me under the table?

Me: The safe answer would be no, seeing how I'm a lot smaller and lighter than you. (annoyed, because I knew this is where this was going)

Random Dude: That doesn't matter--you're Irish! (jokingly)

Me: I don't drink.

Random Dude: You don't?! Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves right now!

Me: Really? Because I don't give a sh*t if they are. 

Random Dude: Wow, you've even got an Irish temper! (jokingly again. Go away, dude.)

Me: (snapping) Can you please take your cultural stereotyping somewhere else? I want to eat my lunch now.

(Dude wanders off looking slightly hurt, likely wondering what he did to offend me. I try to eat and find I'm no longer hungry because I'm stewing mad. End scene.)


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Tom Nimenai said:


> Just wanted to share a weird and rather offensive conversation I had at college this week. No denying this exchange got my blood boiling. I was wishing I had a convenient set of knuckledusters in my backpack.
> 
> Scene: The college cafeteria during common hour. I have my lunch tray and I'm about to sit down. This guy I don't know walks up to me and starts talking.
> 
> Random Dude: Hey, you're Irish, right?
> 
> Me: Yeah... (Absently, because I'm trying to figure out how he knows this. As far as I know, I've never worn my "Erin Go Braugh" shirt to school, and my reddish-blond hair doesn't seem like enough evidence for him to judge on.)
> 
> Random Dude: Sweet! That's cool.
> 
> Me: Thanks.
> 
> Random Dude: So, how many shots can you down? Think you could drink me under the table?
> 
> Me: The safe answer would be no, seeing how I'm a lot smaller and lighter than you. (annoyed, because I knew this is where this was going)
> 
> Random Dude: That doesn't matter--you're Irish! (jokingly)
> 
> Me: I don't drink.
> 
> Random Dude: You don't?! Your ancestors must be rolling in their graves right now!
> 
> Me: Really? Because I don't give a sh*t if they are.
> 
> Random Dude: Wow, you've even got an Irish temper! (jokingly again. Go away, dude.)
> 
> Me: (snapping) Can you please take your cultural stereotyping somewhere else? I want to eat my lunch now.
> 
> (Dude wanders off looking slightly hurt, likely wondering what he did to offend me. I try to eat and find I'm no longer hungry because I'm stewing mad. End scene.)



Wow. If someone said something like that to me I would be mad too. Especially since I'm part German. Which reminds me of one of my friend's conversations. He was talking with some jerk on Xbox live and he was asking if we were part anything and so my friend said, "Yes I'm part German." to which this jerk replies "AHHH! You're a German! You're going to kill all of the blacks!" At his point my friend was fuming and he blocked the player right away. We were mad because of the stereotyping from WWII and not to mention instead of the jewish it was the blacks.


----------



## Tom

I've gotten a lot of crap for being part German as well. I made what I thought would be a friend, but right after he figured out my last name was German, he did the Nazi salute complete with the "Heil Hitler!" 

Oooo, I was mad. He and I had a very short and unpleasant talk in which I detailed my German grandfather's service in the Army Airborne Division. Our short-lived friendship was over after that.

And if it's not WWII stereotypes, it's drinking stereotypes. "The Irish are merry drunks". "Germans are angry drunks who always have a stein and a bratwurst in hand". "The Scottish are just drunks". Can't tell you how many times I've seen or heard this stereotype, whether from media, in my friends' jokes and conversations, and even from family members!


----------



## SeverinR

The full illustration of bigotry.
Irish-German, I loved visiting Germany. They made a big mistake, a world whopper. But they are not the same Germany they were then.
Irish, I deplaned in Ireland, didn't see anything but the airport, and was more worried about the Russian plane that had just landed as I got of the plane in uniform.  

It seemed like a nice country.

Stereotypes are the average of a whole picture with exagerations. No stereotype fits any individual of any race.(unless that individual is trying to live up to them)
He was a jerk, he was trying to be a jerk.  

btw There are merry German drunks (hard to find them when they talk, because the language is so growl-ee.) I have met some angry Irish drunks. Drunks run the gambit and race has little to do with it.
Jerks run the gambit, there is usually a racist name for the jerk of a race, but all races have them.


----------



## Tom

I agree--as much as I love my German heritage, I have to admit that German is a very angry-sounding language. I only speak enough to get by, but just hearing those sounds come out of my own mouth can be a surreal experience. "Why do I sound so ANGRY?"

What bothers me most about stereotypes is when people internalize them and start believing that about themselves. I've known many people of Irish descent who call themselves "Paddys" and say things like, "I've tried to quite drinking, but I'm Irish, so it never works." It's sad to see people who think of themselves as walking stereotypes. It seems like an awful way to live.


----------



## SeverinR

Sadly, I see people living up to established stereotypes.

People born in the 50's and 60's becoming the stereotypical older person, rather then just being the same person getting older.
I don't mean sayings, I mean dressing and acting like old people were when they were young.
Because I have noticed saying things like: "Enjoy your children, they grow up so fast." "This generation's music stinks." "Kids these days..."

I see it in races also.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Being brought up to believe that the world is supposed to be a certain way, it's really hard to break that mould.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I once dated a girl who, when she found out I was half-Italian, immediately asked me if I was in the mafia.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I once dated a girl who, when she found out I was half-Italian, immediately asked me if I was in the mafia.



Well, are you?
At least halfway?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

There is no mafia.

Not even half a mafia.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Shhhh.....that's just what they want you to think....


----------



## Ireth

There is no mafia? Is that like "there is no spoon"?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick




----------



## Svrtnsse

Shush now. That's like saying there's no lepprikons in Ireland.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I'm half-Irish too... so what're you trying to say? I'm some kind of leprechaun mobster?






*"You touch-a my Lucky Charms, I break-a you face!"*


----------



## SeverinR

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I'm half-Irish too... so what're you trying to say? I'm some kind of leprechaun mobster?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *"You touch-a my Lucky Charms, I break-a you face!"*


Now we know where his pot-o-gold came from.
Organized crime businesses.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I think the pot at the end of the rainbow is from a protection racket.

"Yous unicorns gots a nice shop. Nice view from on top of the rainbow. Yous wouldn't want no accident to happen. If someone should, say, magically remove the purple stripe from the rainbow, that would be not so good for your establishment. Or maybe a flock of fairies might defecate on your potential customers, thereby compelling them to go home and wash their hair instead of doing business with you. And that's what we're doing. Business. Or think of it as profit sharing, while there is still a profit to share. Capiche?"


----------



## Tom

And if you piss off the Leprechaun Godfather, you'll find a unicorn's head in your bed.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

There's one leprechaun godfather who strokes a cat, and that makes him a real badass.

(because he wasn't eaten by the cat)


----------



## spectre

The gang of reverse leprechauns responsible for more cat #can't say that# whoopings (except maybe A.L.F.) than any green loving leprechaun mobster.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

The male:female ratio among Smurfs is worse than that of China!


----------



## Tom

The Avengers have that problem too. (Interesting fact: the uneven male:female ratio in popular culture is actually called Smurfette Syndrome.)


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Today (Christmas!), I think my brother and I had more fun playing video games and Legos than we did 30 years ago. We played Expendibros, an indie game which I downloaded on Steam for free, and brought violent death and American flags to an army of generic enemies. It's a damn fun game (free this week as a marketing tool for "Bro Force"). My Sylvester Stallone character flexed his muscles to break a rope when captured by the boss! We also got lots of laughs when we accidentally blew each other to bits.







My daughter put together a Lego Friends cruise ship, and my brother and I were with her through all 104 steps. (More counting the separately-numbered steps for some major parts.) We taught her how boys play Legos. She didn't agree that dolphins halve people by leaping into their stomachs, or that the token male character was as unsavory as my brother and I made him out to be. We had fun. I didn't feel like a dad playing with his daughter, which is usually the case. We were playing together, and that was it. In the end, the Logo people cruised among the dolphins without any people or dolphins being killed or harmed in any way. I'm still not sure that a slide should lead to the ocean, but my imagination eventually agreed that there isn't necessarily a part of the boat that chops you to bits. So I put away the red circle Legos that represented blood bubbles and played Lego Friends as the designers intended.


----------



## Tom

Wow, it's been a full day.

I got sinfully expensive Copic illustration markers and other art supplies, Buffalo Bills merchandise now that they're officially shut out of the playoffs, and a ton of socks from my little brother. 

I also nearly ruined a chocolate mousse pie, played Settlers of Catan for the first time with my cousins, and talked with them about Doctor Who, zombies, which type of horrror (gory, supernatural, or psychological) we found most disturbing, silver nitrate poisoning (if you don't die first, all your organs turn blue permanenty--skin, eyes, and all!), photography during the Victorian era, guns, fever-induced hallucinations, lava lamps, the Hobbit movies, scarves, and pretty much anything else that crossed our minds. We also considered breaking out the Xbox and playing Halo and Call of Duty, but by that time we were all extremely tired. 

My little brother woke up at 3:00 AM this morning and watched cartoons until the rest of us got up around 7:30. He was miserable and super-sensitive and called one of my presents to him "stupid". He took a nap at our extended family Christmas party this afternoon while everyone else opened presents.

Overall, it was a great Christmas.


----------



## SeverinR

Was at my cousins yesterday,
They started putting together a lego Star wars ATAT walker.
Alot of parts.


----------



## Tom

I just found out I have synesthesia, specifically chromesthesia and the number form aspect. 

My parents always wondered why I said things like "electric guitar looks like a blue lightning bolt" and "all the lower numbers are horizontal, but at ten they start going up like they're on an escalator". I always wondered, too, and I used to ask myself why my view of the world was so different from everybody else's. Now I have a name to put on it. 

Feels surreal.


----------



## BronzeOracle

I've been watching Miyazaki movies with my eldest son (9 yo) and loving it.  Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away.  Talk about films that take you up on the wind of inspiration.  I love being able to share this with him and that he appreciates the slower pace and reflective story lines, the images of nature, it gives me  hope for a generation raised on frenetic media.  Joe Hisaishi's soundtracks are breathtaking!


----------



## Tom

Have you read the book _Howl's Moving Castle_?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Today, my 5-year-old Sabina must have been jealous because she didn't have preschool today, but my 7-year-old and I are done with school vacation. So she played school with me while her big sister Amelia did homework.

Sabina started her class by having me sit at my desk. She then said, "Write 9-1-1 in your notebooks today, class, because we're going to talk about fire hydrant stuff." When she told her students how smoke tells you there's a fire, I raised my hand to ask a question. She had a long, detailed answer, then she told me I asked a very good question. Very good. She rewarded me with a high five.

After she was done explaining how firemen slide down a pole "like we do in the playground," she introduced the class pet, Hannah. Her 2-year-old sister barked, and pawed at Sabina like real dogs do. Like a good teacher, she didn't panic in front of her students. (And rightly so. That's a sign of weakness!) She kept her composure and gave Hannah a doggie treat. She then let me give Hannah a doggie treat. I had to stand in front of the classroom to do that.

Hannah made short work of her doggie treat, put on a bicycle helmet and declared, "I'm going to join the PAW Patrol." (For those who don't know, the PAW Patrol is a team of dogs that wear helmets.) She hopped onto her rocking horse and rode off to a rescue at an undisclosed location.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I'm now a little happier than I was a few minutes ago.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I'm a little more confused than I was a few minutes ago, because I just received a Christmas card from friends in Japan. This was the hand-written message:



> Blessed are you who create natural energy.
> Woe to you who cling to nuclear energy.
> Blessed are you who rely on anti-violent democracy.
> Woe to you who monopolize power with weapons.



Er… Merry Christmas?


----------



## Tom

Reminds me of my grandmother. The second I walked in the door to my family Christmas party, complaining about a cold I'd had for two weeks, she greeted me with, "I have the cure-all of cure-alls. I'll tell you about it later!"

Er...Merry Christmas to you too, Grandma.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

*Best Dialogue Ever: POI "If-Then-Else"*

For those who don't watch _Person of Interest_, it's a show about a Big-Brother-esque machine that its inventor uses to rescue innocents. In the most recent episode (1/6/2015), the main characters were in a tight spot, so the machine ran simulations to try to keep the good guys alive. Time was running out, so the machine "simplified" the simulation. The dialogue during the simplified part:



Spoiler: script and one-minute scene








Reece: "Cooly delivered sadistic warning."

Fusco: "Self-deprecating inquiry into time necessary to infiltrate system?"

Root: "Funny, yet insightful retort."

Finch: "Mildly agitated declaration of mission completion.

"Gentle exhortation to further action."​
Root: "Overly affectionate greeting."

Shaw: "Greeting."

Root: "Transparent rationale for conversation."

Shaw: "Annoyed attempt to deflect subtext."

Root: "Overt come-on."

Shaw: "Mildly embarrassed defensiveness bordering on hostility."

Root: "Playfully witty sign-off."


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

*A Beautiful Lie*

Ten years ago today, a woman replied to an email that started with the phrase, "I'm not trying to date someone on the other side of the world..."






It was a beautiful "lie" which she and I celebrated tonight over bowls of ice cream (with our three daughters).


----------



## Tom

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Ten years ago today, a woman replied to an email that started with the phrase, "I'm not trying to date someone on the other side of the world..."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It was a beautiful "lie" which she and I celebrated tonight over bowls of ice cream (with our three daughters).



This is the most beautiful thing I've seen all day.

Actually, it nicely compliments another beautiful thing I saw today. Arriving home from fencing class (tired, achy, worried about keeping my coaching position, worried about an upcoming tournament, worried about the future of the club) I stepped out of the car and was struck by the staggering beauty of the stars. All my problems vanished for a few amazing minutes while I looked up at them.

It's a freezing, crystal-clear night here, so the stars were bright and hard like diamonds. I could make out Orion in the southeast, and I think I even saw a meteor streak across the northern horizon. 

It's at times like these that I'm totally in awe of life's beauty.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Yeah, I was just taking out the trash. A beautiful, clear night.

In contrast, when I was out a few nights before we left Hong Kong, the sky over Causeway Bay had exactly four stars. I believe they were Sirius, Jupiter, Mars, and Airplane.


Tonight, I told another beautiful lie.

AMELIA (age 7) - "Daddy, do you type the tooth fairy's letter on your computer? Because she uses the same font that's on your computer."

ME - "You can get that font on any computer. Maybe she types it on my computer by dancing on the keys. Or maybe she has her own little computer, and she prints it using a wireless connection."

(Bluetooth. Tooth fairy. Damn… I just thought of that one now. Can't go back.)


Now I have to look up the letter in which Gentle Snowwand revealed her age. And her address. It's a bakery in England. My web of lies is too damn complicated! She's my first kid—I didn't know! And the other two are so close in age they inherit the same convoluted load of crap, so I have to keep piling it higher!

Warning to younger members who are not yet parents: Keep the tooth fairy simple! "Oh, sweetie, I'm sure she'd have written to you if her little fairy arms could lift a pen." Yeah. That's what I should've said.


----------



## Ruby

Hi Legendary Sidekick - how romantic! Was the lovely photo taken at your wedding?

Re the tooth fairy, maybe you can tell your daughter that the tooth fairy is your muse (like Mariya?) and helps you write your books!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Yeah. That was in the morning. We wore Chinese wedding outfits. (The rental company threw in the male outfit for free simply because I said I'd actually wear it if they wouldn't charge me!) In the church, we wore the tux and white. Then she wore two evening gowns at the banquet.

The wedding was 18 hours long. But we made up for the lost time by having a 42-hour day to start our honeymoon. (I'm not kidding… Hawaii is 18 hours east of Hong Kong.)


----------



## Tom

Did you know that when you listen to a song with a strong beat, your heart synchronizes itself to beat in time with the song?

I just experienced this, listening to Avicii's "Wake Me Up". I swear that song is addicting. I could listen to it 24/7 and still get that wild ache of longing in my chest when I hear the opening chords.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Tom Nimenai said:


> Did you know that when you listen to a song with a strong beat, your heart synchronizes itself to beat in time with the song?
> 
> I just experienced this, listening to Avicii's "Wake Me Up". I swear that song is addicting. I could listen to it 24/7 and still get that wild ache of longing in my chest when I hear the opening chords.



I know what you mean. I love that song and it's a good pick me up for when I've had a bad day. For some reason it speaks to me. I also like Fall Out Boy's songs "Centuries" and "Immortals."


----------



## Tom

I had the day off on Friday, so I went to the skating rink. They were playing "Wake Me Up" and I just felt like I could fly. There's nothing like racing across the ice on hockey skates.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

How about racing across the ice while a crack is chasing you?

That happened to a friend of mine when I was ~17. I stomped on the ice from 50 feet away, joking that I was going to send a crack after him. Only… it really worked! It looked like something you'd expect in a cartoon, not real life. The crack went straight at him, and my friend's eyes grew wide. We said "run!" but no one had to tell him. As he ran, the crack "turned" (~a sharp turn, like a ~75˚ angle) in the spot he was once standing and followed him. Of course it was his running that caused the cracking ice to split in that direction, but it was as if the crack was a living thing out to get him. He almost made it to the edge of the small pond. One leg was on dry land when the other went under.


----------



## Tom

Legendary Sidekick said:


> How about racing across the ice while a crack is chasing you?
> 
> That happened to a friend of mine when I was ~17. I stomped on the ice from 50 feet away, joking that I was going to send a crack after him. Only… it really worked! It looked like something you'd expect in a cartoon, not real life. The crack went straight at him, and my friend's eyes grew wide. We said "run!" but no one had to tell him. As he ran, the crack "turned" (~a sharp turn, like a ~75˚ angle) in the spot he was once standing and followed him. Of course it was his running that caused the cracking ice to split in that direction, but it was as if the crack was a living thing out to get him. He almost made it to the edge of the small pond. One leg was on dry land when the other went under.



Scary! That happened to me when I was about ten. My friends and I used to play hockey on a frozen pond, and one year we went out when the ice wasn't set yet. I ended up falling in, and got a really bad fever from the shock of the freezing water. 

That was back when I actually _could_ play hockey with my friends. These days, they're all six-foot-and-higher giants, and I'm pretty small. I'd get smashed if we tried to play a game now!


----------



## Ireth

"Cookies" is a misleading name. They should be called "bakies" instead.


----------



## Tom

Ireth said:


> "Cookies" is a misleading name. They should be called "bakies" instead.



Well, the word "cookie" is derived from the Dutch "koekie", which means "little cake". So technically it makes sense.

In completely unrelated news: I wonder what Limyaael's doing now that she's vanished from the internet.


----------



## LordFalco

My female characters benefit from this observation by a master in the field: "In all my years of practice, I have never precisely deduced what it is that a woman wants."---Sigmund Freud.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Considering what he _thought_ women envy, it's no wonder Freud couldn't figure out what they want.


----------



## Tom

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Considering what he _thought_ women envy, it's no wonder Freud couldn't figure out what they want.



Freud was altogether too occupied with the physical body; he seemed to think that every thought a human being has stems from one bodily urge or another. He treated psychology like it was the study of the body, assuming that every thought has its roots in something the body needs. Why must we tie our thoughts so tightly to our physical selves? Can't the mind be free to wander, to wonder, to dream past the body?

Er, I kind of strayed into existentialism there. And a little griping about why I don't like Freud.


----------



## SeverinR

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Considering what he _thought_ women envy, it's no wonder Freud couldn't figure out what they want.



Never understood why he thought they had peanut envy. Some women even have peanut allergies.

On an unrelated note, people say my hearing has been bad for a while. frankly, I wouldn't hear of it.


----------



## Tom

Do you ever look over your old posts and wince when you realize you accidentally misspelled words and abused grammar? 

I know I do.


----------



## SeverinR

I do that on MS alot and once the time to fix has past, there is no fixing them.
Most other sites you can fix them at any time.

I frequently look at facebook posts and realize I made a mistake, but there I can fix them...most of the time.

But the MS site allows you to make the excuse, "oh, yea I saw that long ago, but I can't fix it." even if you never knew it.


----------



## Ghost

Maybe it's to practice for when we're published.


----------



## Ireth

So, Quasimodo spent his whole life in the belltower of Notre Dame, right? But he couldn't have been the bellringer for all that time, because he would've had to wait until he was big/old/strong enough to reach and ring the bells. So who was the bellringer before Quasi, and why did they stop? Did they teach Quasi how to do the job and then just retire? Did they die? I want to know!


----------



## Jabrosky

Ireth said:


> So, Quasimodo spent his whole life in the belltower of Notre Dame, right? But he couldn't have been the bellringer for all that time, because he would've had to wait until he was big/old/strong enough to reach and ring the bells. So who was the bellringer before Quasi, and why did they stop? Did they teach Quasi how to do the job and then just retire? Did they die? I want to know!


He probably did have a predecessor who taught him how to do it, though they must have left his life soon afterward. Also, Quasi would have needed someone to teach him how to whittle all those wooden figurines (Frollo doesn't seem like the kind who would support such creative ventures wholeheartedly).

Though in both cases, there are those gargoyles to take into account...


----------



## Ireth

True. The thing with the gargoyles, though, depends on whether you interpret them as actually animate or just figments of Quasi's imagination. (I'm still wrestling with how to answer that question in a fantasy reimagining of this story. Only my story involves tapestries instead of gargoyles.)


----------



## Tom

This annoyed me.








Its real name is Orodruin or Amon Amarth, you idiot. Mt. Doom is its Westron translation. Do some research before you insult one of the greatest fantasy writers of the 20th century.


----------



## BronzeOracle

Had Australia Day fireworks last night and festival fireworks the night before - double fun!  My son and I are BIG fans of fireworks.  This year they had fireworks that spun about in the air, I hadn't seen those before.  Also they had these big chrysanthemums that hung in the air - awesome.

Unfortunately firecrackers are banned in Western Australia - they used to be available back in my mum's day but too many people got hurt so they banned them.  Anyone live in a place where you can use them??


----------



## Tom

[Hick voice]Heck yeah. My cousins always stock up on fireworks and firecrackers for their big Fourth of July fireworks show. One year the neighbors had the police called out because they thought we were lighting off fireworks while drunk.[/Hick voice] 

There _was_ a lot of cheering, whooping, and yelling, some of it not exactly sober-sounding, I have to concede.

So, what are some Australia Day traditions?


----------



## BronzeOracle

Haha sounds like fun!  When I was in India I got to use firecrackers for the annual Diwali festival, the whole town sounded like a warzone for two days.  Gotta love India and its festivals! 

Australia Day is traditionally a day for the outdoors - BBQs, cricket, the beach.  For many its celebrating a day off work and drinking lots of beer.  Then its fireworks at night! 

With our colonial past there is some controversy - for Indigenous people its not a celebration but a reminder of a society lost.


----------



## Jabrosky

Does anyone know if authors who publish Kindle books on Amazon.com can edit customer reviews of their work?

Three weeks ago, I wrote a 1-star review of a self-published "historical romance" novel set in ancient Egypt, criticizing it for numerous flagrant inaccuracies and atrocious characterization (especially the male lead). My review was ~700 words long, but when I went to check on it this morning, only the concluding paragraph remained. And since this paragraph started with "All that aside", it should have been clear to any browser with a brain that there was originally more text preceding it. All my criticisms of the book's historical errors happened to be in the excised text.

Luckily I was able to recover my original review in its entirety from a Google cache, but I still wonder who would have tampered with it in the first place. Was it Amazon.com? They didn't send me a message that there was anything against site policy in my review, and I'm pretty sure it had no personal attacks or insults against the author's character. The only other conclusion that makes sense is that the book's author herself, or someone associated with her, was somehow able to cut out my criticisms. If it's the latter, she sure gave me even more reason to avoid the rest of her work.


----------



## Tom

Jabrosky said:


> Does anyone know if authors who publish Kindle books on Amazon.com can edit customer reviews of their work?
> 
> Three weeks ago, I wrote a 1-star review of a self-published "historical romance" novel set in ancient Egypt, criticizing it for numerous flagrant inaccuracies and atrocious characterization (especially the male lead). My review was ~700 words long, but when I went to check on it this morning, only the concluding paragraph remained. And since this paragraph started with "All that aside", it should have been clear to any browser with a brain that there was originally more text preceding it. All my criticisms of the book's historical errors happened to be in the excised text.
> 
> Luckily I was able to recover my original review in its entirety from a Google cache, but I still wonder who would have tampered with it in the first place. Was it Amazon.com? They didn't send me a message that there was anything against site policy in my review, and I'm pretty sure it had no personal attacks or insults against the author's character. The only other conclusion that makes sense is that the book's author herself, or someone associated with her, was somehow able to cut out my criticisms. If it's the latter, she sure gave me even more reason to avoid the rest of her work.



I once posted a critique of an artist's work (back when DeviantArt still allowed anon comments) that pointed out several egregious technique errors and offered what I thought was sensible advice. Several other people chimed in in my favor. Two days later, I looked at the same page to find that my comment--and everyone else's who had agreed with me--had been deleted. Apparently someone didn't want my advice and didn't want anyone else to see that I had pointed out mistakes in their work.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

BronzeOracle said:


> Anyone live in a place where you can use them??


They are illegal in Massachusetts… er, so "no" for me, but I'm going somewhere with this.

However, there is a certain pond where the homeowners launch fireworks anyway. One of my friends has relatives who own a place along the pond, so for a few years, I watched five different households (or summer-home-holds?) launching fireworks that were snuck over the border from New Hampshire.

There was a police cruiser parked near the pond. Why? Because policemen like watching fireworks, too.


----------



## Tom

Legendary Sidekick said:


> They are illegal in Massachusetts… er, so "no" for me, but I'm going somewhere with this.
> 
> However, there is a certain pond where the homeowners launch fireworks anyway. One of my friends has relatives who own a place along the pond, so for a few years, I watched five different households (or summer-home-holds?) launching fireworks that were snuck over the border from New Hampshire.
> 
> There was a police cruiser parked near the pond. Why? Because policemen like watching fireworks, too.



Technically, it's illegal to own fireworks in New York, and you have to go over the border to Pennsylvania to buy them, but the cops don't really care. There's a huge fireworks show at Conesus Lake every 3rd of July called The Ring of Fire. The summer people put on displays that rival Disney's.

THIS is what I'm talking about:







In person, it's awe-inspiringly dumbfounding. 24 hours later your ears are still ringing from the noise--it sounds like a bombing raid in full swing.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Indisputable scientific fact:
*Snots are a base.*

Questionably-conclusive evidence:
My oldest and I were playing with her Magic Science Kit. We mixed acids and bases with beet powder, which turns water purple. Add citric acid, the purple liquid turns red. Add baking soda, the purple liquid turns blue. And of course you have to mix acid and bases. You just have to.

So, after we were done making a mess of the kitchen, I had purple powder all over my finger tips. Before washing off the powder, I had to blow my nose. I did. The wet part of the tissue turned blue.



For science!


----------



## SeverinR

Snot something I needed to know.

Fireworks are legal to buy in Indiana. Fireworks are illegal to use in Indiana. Fireworks are illegal to use in every bordering state to Indiana. 

Walking the 6 blocks to the official 4th of July fireworks display in Indiana was like a war zone. Fireworks of all varieties* going off in the streets near the crowds of people. *explosives, fire sprayers, spinners, rockets, mortars, or all sizes in 2 lane streets with 20-30 people walking in the streets (per block.)
It was at that time, that I realized why fireworks were illegal. Because the world is full of idiots.


----------



## SeverinR

New tv/movie Trope:

when in a factory or basement,1 shot in 10 will find a steam pipe or hot water pipe.

Did laugh at Walker Texas Ranger this evening.
"He's seizing! Grab the crash cart!"

Normal seizures don't need a crash cart. Prolonged seizures are life threatening, they were 20 seconds into the event.

Watching Gotham now, My prediction:
Detective Gordan just kissed a lady, now She won't survive two shows.


----------



## Tom

I had a weird dream last night that I just remembered in the middle of math homework. Some of you guys came over to my place and hung out for a day. It was very strange and kind of fascinating, since my subconscious had the hard job of building a real-life appearance for everyone. Except Legendary Sidekick. He was himself. 

Svrtnsse and I were stargazing on the roof, and Ireth was doing something in the kitchen that involved chemistry equipment and a Lovecraft anthology. I think she was trying to bring Cthulhu to life...Like I said, weird. Legendary was reading through my papers from last semester and red-penning them while muttering about stylistic gaffes. Someone else was reading through my Robert Burns collection; I think it was Incanus, because he was using big words. XD

Then we all went to Comic Con in Buffalo. Why? I don't know. While we were there, Ireth bought a promotional poster for The Silmarillion, which was apparently being made into a movie. It had FÃ«anor front and center, with this insane grin on his face and a Silmaril cupped in his hands. Which is...er...not how one holds a Silmaril. Ouch.

...And then I woke up. Sorry. Feeling rambly.


----------



## Ireth

^ I can't Thank your post, but I approve of this dream. XD


----------



## Tom

Haha. I seem to have run out of thanks too.

I think I had that dream because I've been steeping myself in my writing and frequenting the forums a lot more than usual. I've also been getting to know you guys better, and figuring out your personalities. I'm going to be without internet access for the weekend, and I think I'm going to miss all of you for even that very short amount of time.

By the way, Ireth, you remind me of Limyaael. I don't know why. *randomness*


----------



## Jabrosky

_Jurassic Park_ may hold a special place in my heart, but there's one plot element in it that's bugged me for years: why did inGEN's cloning team make the dinosaurs all female?

You would think they'd _want_ the dinosaurs reproducing in the park. That way they'd only need to clone the first generation while letting the dinosaurs themselves take care of the rest. Furthermore, if dinosaurs were anything like most modern-day birds and reptiles, the males could attract more visitors since they would be more colorful and showy. As it happened, all the dinosaurs in the first movie were drab shades of brown or gray even though the big trend in 1990s paleo-art was giving them more color and hide patterns.

Also, if you listen carefully to the dialogue, the characters aren't even consistent about the all-female thing, except maybe for the raptors. 

"T. Rex doesn't want to be fed, *he* wants to hunt."

Honestly the whole thing, together with the bizarre choice of frog DNA for patching, seems set up to support the "life finds a way" theme. Even if inGEN had a legitimate reason for making their dinosaurs all female, Grant and the kids wouldn't have even found that nest in the jungle if they had opted for crocodilian or bird DNA instead.


----------



## Incanus

Tom Nimenai said:


> I had a weird dream last night that I just remembered in the middle of math homework. Some of you guys came over to my place and hung out for a day. It was very strange and kind of fascinating, since my subconscious had the hard job of building a real-life appearance for everyone. Except Legendary Sidekick. He was himself.
> 
> Svrtnsse and I were stargazing on the roof, and Ireth was doing something in the kitchen that involved chemistry equipment and a Lovecraft anthology. I think she was trying to bring Cthulhu to life...Like I said, weird. Legendary was reading through my papers from last semester and red-penning them while muttering about stylistic gaffes. Someone else was reading through my Robert Burns collection; I think it was Incanus, because he was using big words. XD
> 
> Then we all went to Comic Con in Buffalo. Why? I don't know. While we were there, Ireth bought a promotional poster for The Silmarillion, which was apparently being made into a movie. It had FÃ«anor front and center, with this insane grin on his face and a Silmaril cupped in his hands. Which is...er...not how one holds a Silmaril. Ouch.
> 
> ...And then I woke up. Sorry. Feeling rambly.



Wow, that's quite a dream!!  Good job, remembering it so clearly.  So few of mine survive being translated into words, and even then, they tend to not have much story.  More like bizarre incidents, or instances, that turn into fleeting mists the moment any light begins to be shed on them.  With a few notable exceptions, of course.

Oh, man!  I want a Mythic Scribes dream too!  Where can I get one?


----------



## Tom

My mom is watching LotR for the first time. Even though I've seen it dozens of times, she coerced me into watching it as well, for fortitude.

...Alright. I'm watching it of my own free will. For the two dozenth time.

We're about halfway through The Two Towers. So far, her observations have been as follows:

1. Gollum is creepy.
2. The Ringwraiths are creepy.
3. Saruman is creepy.
4. Frodo's eyes are creepy.
5. The Watcher in the Water is creepy.
6. Balin's Tomb is creepy.
7. Orcs are creepy.
8. Wormtongue is creepy.
9. The Balrog is not creepy.
10. Sam yells too much.

My observations:

1. Frodo is neurotic.
2. Legolas is a show-off. He is also an elf. Therefore he is a _show-elf!_
3. I can ruin almost every scene with a wisecrack or some well-placed sarcasm.


----------



## Jabrosky

Has someone you're interested in dating given you their contact information, but never respond once you try to contact them?

It's happened to me...again. On the first day of classes this semester, I managed to strike up an hour-long conversation with a girl at college, and at the end she gave me her e-mail address. A couple of days later, I sent her an e-mail asking if we could hang out sometime, and after several weeks of waiting she still hasn't replied. Nor has she replied to the friend request I sent her on Facebook around the same time. And to make things worse, even though she was a fellow student, I haven't seen her around college ever since our first meeting.

I wonder if I should send her another e-mail?


----------



## Tom

I would send one, but then wait. Being pushy isn't a great way to get someone to respond to you. (Glare leveled at all of my pushy extrovert friends.) Maybe you should ask her if everything's okay; if you haven't seen her around since the first day of this semester, something could have happened in her life. 

I've personally had this happen, but in a different way. Last semester I struck up a conversation with one of my psychology classmates on the second day of class, and we hit it off pretty well. We hung out on and off through the whole semester, but on the last day of class my friend revealed they had had a family fight and were moving to Virginia. I'm still pretty upset, especially because I can't find 'em on Facebook, Twitter, any social media outlet at all...

If my life were a Hallmark movie, we'd unexpectedly meet again after about ten years and at first not recognize each other, but then gradually fall in love again...HA. As if.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Ten years ago today, I was on a business trip in Germany. My wife, who I had only known for a month by email/phone, was in Italy with an international Catholic group. In addition to racking huge phone bills that week, I ordered chocolates to be delivered to her hotel in Italy.

That was probably my riskiest valentine. (I was never a pushy extrovert.)

For those who haven't seen it, here's what I made for her 4 years ago. It is still the only animation I've ever made in my life.

(Warning: paper-cutout versions of Adam and Eve; flesh-toned paper but no anatomical details. You decide whether that's work safe. There is also music and bad voice acting.)



Spoiler: The First Valentine


----------



## Ruby

Hey Legendary Sidekick, your Valentine's animation video is brilliant! 

Have you thought of doing an animation for the Flat Earth RPG?

BTW how did you make this and how long did it take to do?


----------



## Jabrosky

@ Legendary Sidekick

The humor is a little silly, but I imagine you spent a lot of time and effort making that animation from paper cutouts. I admire that kind of work ethic.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, until Feb 16th DeviantArt is celebrating it by having users upload special artwork and sending it in note form to other users. I've already received two of these "Valentines" and am drawing one of my own at the moment (suffice to say Ammut, that Egyptian heart-eater, is involved).

On the other hand, February is also Black History Month here in the States, but since African characters are already a staple of my art, I don't need a special occasion as a pretext to keep drawing them.


----------



## Tom

Jabrosky said:


> February is also Black History Month here in the States



Funny. My subconscious must have picked up on that--I had a dream last night about a black Boston patriot during the Revolutionary War. He was a former slave named Benjamin, who'd run away from his Tory master and joined the Sons of Liberty. He was a quiet, good-natured guy, and he looked a little like Idris Elba, but younger, and with green eyes. I'm going to try to draw him today.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Ruby said:


> Hey Legendary Sidekick, your Valentine's animation video is brilliant!
> 
> Have you thought of doing an animation for the Flat Earth RPG?
> 
> BTW how did you make this and how long did it take to do?


The way I do Flat Earth art is similar, and mores for the Roll20 stuff that's in the works… I come up with poses that serve multiple purposes and have some parts that move a bit. I'm thinking with a tilt of the head, I can make a climbing pose that passes for a KO'd pose. (For enemies, I like their 0 HP poses to be unmistakably dead.) I doubt I'd make an animation for the game, but I think Roll20's virtual tabletop MIGHT show the characters moving. I'm pretty sure it also has an animated die roll… but I'm not going to play around with it until I have art and am approved as a seller.

(I got the green light, so I'm optimistic.)


As for how I did the First Valentine. Short version: paper cutouts, 375 snapshots, and absolutely no planning! I did the entire thing on a Saturday, deciding what cutouts to make first as well as the purpose of each cutout.

The long version is my reply to my brother on Facebook. I was flattered that he asked, since he's a way better artist than I am!


Spoiler: long version



Between breakfast and lunch...
STEP 1: Make cut-outs of all characters and objects. Adam and Eve have two bodies each, and their heads are "two-faced" so I can move the heads to different positions/bodies and face the left or right. EVERYTHING is made from hearts, including animals and food.

Between lunch and dinner...
STEP 2: Set up backgrounds. I used a tri-pod and a photo album to ensure that the camera would be perpendicular to the paper. I did this step at our parents' house, so Sandra wouldn't see. But the added bonus is that the light directly over their table is perfect.
STEP 3: Take pics. I uploaded 375 pics, and used 367 or -8. For the most part, I was pretty good about deleting photos I wouldn't use.

After dinner, while Mom and Dad were out with the Lahtis...
STEP 4: Animate on iMovie. Most of the animation is 10 or 15 FPS. Some is 7.5 or 6 FPS. And of course there are obvious pauses. A couple scenes, like Adam throwing Eve through a tree, are animated at 30 FPS! Only two scenes--the grazing deer and dizzy snake--have "loops."
STEP 5: Add voices. iMovie lets you do this. The microphone on my computer SUCKS. Voice is played back at 150% to help compensate.
STEP 6: Add music and sound. I used royalty-free music and sound from iMovie. A lot of fighting sounds are sports sound effects. The BLOCK+^+^ finisher sound is a golf swing. Sounds were played at 50 or 100%, while music is only at 5-25% volume.

This was all done on a single Saturday, including...
STEP 7: Upload!


----------



## Ruby

Hi Legendary Sidekick,

Wow! That's really impressive! I've watched it a couple more times on You Tube. I hadn't noticed (before you mentioned it), that nearly everything is in the form of hearts. I like the eyes you used for the snake and the goat, and the heart shaped fig leaves, and that Eve becomes a mermaid at one point. It's comedic and brilliant!

You should definitely make a Flat Earth animation IMHO.


Is it possible to make something like this using an android tablet or an iPad?


----------



## Jabrosky

Anyone else think women complaining about men being "shallow" for chasing after pretty ladies is the female equivalent of men complaining about being "friend-zoned" by women? Surely the underlying mentality is the shame.


----------



## Tom

I've only heard a woman complain about that maybe twice. Plus, the mentality behind it is not of shame. It's usually of annoyance or even amusement. A girl who calls a guy shallow is not wishing she were one of the pretty girls he's chasing after. I once outright asked a friend if she was just calling a guy shallow because she wished he were paying attention to _her_. She blinked at me and said, "Of course not! He _is_ shallow, and I wouldn't want to date him--I want a guy who cares about what I'm _like_, not just what I look like."

I've heard plenty of men complain about being friend-zoned, however, and I have always associated "friend-zone" with a sense of entitlement. The guys who complain about friend-zoning act as if the girl is being unreasonable for turning them down, that it isn't fair of her to just want to be friends. Not every girl a guy asks out is going to say "yes", and that's just how the world works.


----------



## Jabrosky

Tom Nimenai said:


> I've only heard a woman complain about that maybe twice. Plus, the mentality behind it is not of shame. It's usually of annoyance or even amusement. A girl who calls a guy shallow is not wishing she were one of the pretty girls he's chasing after. I once outright asked a friend if she was just calling a guy shallow because she wished he were paying attention to _her_. She blinked at me and said, "Of course not! He _is_ shallow, and I wouldn't want to date him--I want a guy who cares about what I'm _like_, not just what I look like."


Are you sure you want to just take her word for it? Because it sounds to me like the kind of holier-than-thou rhetoric that certain women spout to put down male sexuality. Fact is, men (and probably women too) like to date whomever they're physically attracted to. Without physical attraction, it's not dating, it's friendship.


----------



## Tom

Jabrosky said:


> Are you sure you want to just take her word for it? Because it sounds to me like the kind of holier-than-thou rhetoric that certain women spout to put down male sexuality.



I would take her word for it any day. Women want guys who care about them as people, not just what they look like. I know my friend very well, and she's not the sort to resent other girls for getting a guy. 

"Put down male sexuality"? Pretty much the only sexuality I've seen put down is female. The girls who don't conform to social beauty standards are "desperate" if they ask a guy out; beautiful girls are "shallow" if they turn down a guy who doesn't conform to social beauty standards.


----------



## Noma Galway

Whoa whoa. Okay so I don't usually get in on things like this but I'd like to point out it is perfectly possible to date without physical attraction. I personally am very rarely physically attracted to anyone, but that doesn't mean my romantic relationships are any less valid.

Also, Tom, I totally agree with you.


----------



## Ireth

Noma Galway said:


> Whoa whoa. Okay so I don't usually get in on things like this but I'd like to point out it is perfectly possible to date without physical attraction. I personally am very rarely physically attracted to anyone, but that doesn't mean my romantic relationships are any less valid.



Seconded. There's a world of difference between physical attraction, romantic attraction, and just finding someone aesthetically pleasing. Having a romantic attraction to someone doesn't necessarily mean you want to have sex with them, and wanting t have sex with someone doesn't necessarily mean you're romantically attracted to them. Neither of those has to include finding someone aesthetically pleasing, either.


----------



## Tom

Totally agree with you, Ireth. Finding people aesthetically pleasing is very different from physical or romantic attraction. It's just a "meh, he/she is nice-looking, but I'll continue on with my day" kind of thing. Or, for me, the feeling would be more like, "I want to draw you." 

Even though I'm asexual, I can and do form romantic attachments. Because they're not based on physical attraction, they have to be made up of emotional and intellectual attraction. I want to deeply _know_ and care about the person, not have sex with them. 

Romantic and physical attraction are two totally different feelings, and having one does not equal having the other as well. That's why a lot of relationships fall through--people mistake physical attraction for romantic attraction.


----------



## Ireth

Nice to see a fellow asexual's insight! I only recently realized I'm ace (and that it's a legitimate option), but I've never had more than romantic attraction to people. The thought of having sex with someone squicks me out. I can find both genders equally aesthetically pleasing, but when I've had crushes or romantic ties in the past it's just been with men. On the other hand, I'm not too inclined toward romance in the present, because what if I end up with a guy who wants sex or marriage while I really, really don't? I'd rather not break someone's heart, so it's better, IMO, just to stay out of the dating game.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Nimue is correct.

The conversation has veered away from open-minded discussion and into the realm of insult.

It's never a good idea to label and categorize people with generalizations. 

I'm not going to lock this thread, for the moment. But, if it doesn't steer clear of insulting presumption/expression, I will shut it down. 

Expect infractions in response to any further insult.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

To all members within this thread.

Please do not respond or continue this current line of conversation. It is not fitting in a post labeled "Random Thoughts" & it no longer conforms to the site guidelines.

It's perfectly acceptable to discuss issues like these. However, participants are required to refrain from insulting behavior and maintain an attitude of tolerance, understanding, and open-mindedness. 

Thank you.

TAS


----------



## Tom

A poem I composed, while sliding my way across the icy school parking lot, this morning:

The sun is too bright;
The snow is too deep.
I wish it were night;
I just want some sleep.​
At least this is coherent. Most thoughts I have on coffee-free winter mornings consist mainly of ellipses and half-hearted profanity. 

I was also in a bad mood this morning because, last night, my fencing coach broke some big news to me: the tournament I have coming up this weekend is the last tournament I can go to in Rochester. He told me he thinks I feel too comfortable and safe at the Rochester tournaments. It's time to move up to the big leagues here in Buffalo and in Binghamton and Toronto. I'm nervous. This is a big step in my growth as a fencer, and right now it feels more like a flying leap than a step.


----------



## Jabrosky

First off, apologies to everyone for abrasive and combative conduct three days ago (not to mention my insensitively questioning people's sexuality). From now on, I've decided I should avoid topics that are prone to triggering me like that. I have a tendency to go off when you press certain buttons, so it's best I stay away from situations where those buttons might get pressed.



Tom Nimenai said:


> The sun is too bright;
> The snow is too deep.
> I wish it were night;
> I just want some sleep.​



Simple and easy to read, yet beautiful. At least I can understand the emotion you're communicating, which is more than I can say for a lot of other poetry out there.


----------



## Tom

Fifth place at the fencing tournament Saturday. Though I think that's great, I'm a little unsatisfied with my performance. I lost my first bout 0-5 because I had the jitters, and toward the end of the afternoon I was tired/sore and started slowing down, taking more hits, and forgetting foot- and bladework techniques that could have helped me out. I also had an embarrassing five minutes with a new, untested body cord that fell out of the scoring machine's plug every time I extended my arm. After using a screwdriver to widen the prongs so they'd stay in the plug, I was all set (with my dignity slightly frayed, though).

Oh well. This was my first tournament in a while, and I was a little out of practice, so all in all I think I fared pretty well.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Second reminder:

*Continuation of the discussion concerning people's sexuality is off limits in this thread. *

The topic is appropriate for discussion on Mythic Scribes so long as that discussion is handled in a respectful and open-minded manner. However, it will not be continued within the Random Thoughts thread.

Any posts relating to that discussion will be deleted.


----------



## acapes

Saw this the other day and it was interesting to see Rothfuss' reply and the fact that a reply is even needed, always surprises me for some reason, that narrow-minded readers exist. It's somehow baffling - why limit when there's so much variety?


----------



## Ireth

So this happened about a block from my house:

Home Hardware building in Neepawa destroyed by fire


----------



## Tom

I rolled a snowmobile last night!

The back end slid out while I was braking and the whole thing went track-over-skis. Luckily, I got thrown several feet away. Some snowmobilers coming from the opposite direction on the trail stopped to see if I was okay, and helped me roll my sled back upright. I cracked the windshield, snapped the throttle handle, and busted up the hood a little, but other than that the sled's okay.  I hit my head when I landed, but I don't have a concussion. I'm just really sore today and have a bad case of whiplash. At least it wasn't as bad as it could have been! 

And yes, if any of you are wondering, I'm extremely accident-prone. Incidents like this one are not all that unusual for me, though this happens to be the first time I've rolled a snowmobile. That's a new one.


----------



## Ireth

RIP Leonard Nimoy. May you live long and prosper in our memories, Mr. Spock.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

@Tom, Live long and _for God's sake be more careful on your snowmobile!_



My uncle crashed one when I was 7 and on the snowmobile with him. He sped downhill into a tree stump thinking in was a mound of snow that wold explode into white prettiness.

I thought it was a stump. I also thought he was trying to scare me and was going to go around it. It was when I was about ten feet in the air that I realized the collision was imminent.

I hate it when I realize a collision is imminent.


----------



## Tom

I think my problem is that I have almost no instinctive sense of fear, and a reckless streak as wide as the Great Plains. XD


----------



## Addison

We finally have snow up here! We got about six inches last night. The kids, who stayed up till eleven, were up at six and out the door at six thirty. My little sister buried my kid brother in snow, hoping to scare me. He got dug up by the dogs. Then my kid sister got dumped on by the snow coming out of the snow blower. Two hours of play and they are in their preferred sofas with their ipads. Kids. 

More fun to watch is my black lab. Just a few minutes of playing he looks like a Dalmatian, then a white lab. Now she's trying to eat the snow coming out of the snow blower.


----------



## Svrtnsse

That sounds like a lot of fun. We had about half an inch of snow here a few weeks ago. Probably won't be more until next winter - if any comes at all.


----------



## Russ

If you want some snow you can have some of ours.  No shortage here.  Drifts around the house are taller than I am.


----------



## Tom

Same here! I was looking forward to snow at the beginning of winter, but now I'm sick of it.


----------



## SeverinR

9 inches of snow on the ground (two different snow storms) and now the rain is here.
Thats alot of water coming to a river near me.


----------



## Tom

Today was an interesting day. My dad and I drove out to help a guy stranded on the snowmobile trail just outside town. Some guy doing 90 MPH clipped him on the trail, completely twisting his sled's track tunnel and taking the steering out of commission for the right ski. It was a hit-and-run, too. The jerk apparently never looked back. 

Well, we hauled the snowmobile out of the ditch, and my dad's friend said it was totaled. The kid said it was his brother's...ouch. It was also a new, fairly expensive sled. It's only good for scrap now. However, I'm more concerned about the kid. He was clearly in shock, and from the way he was favoring his ankle I'd say it was severely sprained. My dad's friend took him to the gas station to meet his brother. Hopefully his condition won't get worse once the shock starts to wear off.


----------



## Jabrosky

Maybe it was a good thing after all that I never joined a college fraternity. Margaritas are just about the only alcohol I can tolerate anyway, until they get around to making alcoholic Coke Zero.


----------



## Velka

I remember when The Learning Channel was actually educational and informative. Now it's TLC (Totally Ludicrous Cr*p) and I'm watching "My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding". 

I know I don't actually _enjoy_ this, but it's a train wreck of humanity and I can't look away.


----------



## Reilith

I have just realized how effin' hard it is when you need to create a world from scratch and you have to research flora and fauna and geography and all that. I just had a trip through the interwebs, looking types of animals to use as familiars in my WIP. Why is it I always get in a work mood on a uni night, when I am supposed to get up at dawn the next morning?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Don't research. Make stuff up!




Okay, so maybe that was bad advice. But I'm not totally kidding. When I was discussing a weapon for my Huntress in Nimue's game, she suggested Addison's axe have a "starmetal" core. I don't know what starmetal is to Nimue, but the very word sparked imagery—and it was just the name of a material. Simple, yet brilliant.

So if you can do that with plants, you're all set. I'd suggest "dragon fruit" to start you off, but ten years ago (I mean exactly ten—as in March 12, 2005), I found out that's a real fruit.


----------



## Tom

Hey LS, I found a book you might like. Actually my mom found it. It's called The Moonlight Palace, and it tells the story of a girl living in 1920s Singapore. The girl and her family live in the Kampong Glam, the palace built for Sultan Hussein in exchange for turning Singapore over to the British. It's a good book and a very touching story.


----------



## Jabrosky

Velka said:


> I remember when The Learning Channel was actually educational and informative. Now it's TLC (Totally Ludicrous Cr*p) and I'm watching "My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding".
> 
> I know I don't actually _enjoy_ this, but it's a train wreck of humanity and I can't look away.


Wait until you see the History Channel, or most other "educational" channels. These days, they stand for precisely the opposite of what we used to associated with them.

As for reality TV in general, it's one of those things which only persists because someone figured irritating the public was at least as lucrative as entertaining us. Notoriety is the currency of the 21st century.


----------



## Reilith

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Don't research. Make stuff up!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Okay, so maybe that was bad advice. But I'm not totally kidding. When I was discussing a weapon for my Huntress in Nimue's game, she suggested Addison's axe have a "starmetal" core. I don't know what starmetal is to Nimue, but the very word sparked imagery–and it was just the name of a material. Simple, yet brilliant.
> 
> So if you can do that with plants, you're all set. I'd suggest "dragon fruit" to start you off, but ten years ago (I mean exactly ten–as in March 12, 2005), I found out that's a real fruit.



 Actually I am doing my fare share of research and making up in an equal measure. But everything has to have an origin from something, so I need to research a tiny bit more. I was looking up animals, then magical creatures, etc. And yes, dragon fruit is a fruit - I found out about it in Don't Starve game.


----------



## 2WayParadox

dragon fruit is apparently quite tasteless. it looks really funky though.

also, dragon fruits could be dragon testes, the ultimate aphrodisiac (always a big thing in many cultures)


----------



## Ireth

I've had dragonfruit before. To me it tastes kinda like a kiwifruit, but not nearly so tangy.


----------



## Tom

The first time I saw a dragonfruit, I though it was fake. Partially because I was seven at the time, and also partially because in Western New York, apples are considered exotic fruit out of season.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

2WayParadox said:


> dragon fruit is apparently quite tasteless. it looks really funky though.


Not tasteless at all, they're quite good! Of course, the best stuff doesn't get exported. My wife and I go to Asain grocery stores, but we never buy dragon fruit here. It's expensive and you can tell by looking it's not as good.

(Maybe certain parts of the U.S. and Canada get the good stuff.)


----------



## 2WayParadox

Have any of you had Jackfruit before? 

Jackfruit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now there's an experience. Tastes somewhat in the middle of a lichi and a banana, but it's not the taste that makes this a weird fruit. The flesh if the fruit is sticky and kind of hard to swallow. Like it's stringy. You chew it and all that does is flatten it a bit.

Still, despite its weirdness, I do like me a bit of jackfruit.


----------



## Devor

And here I still have to remind myself that "passion fruit" isn't fake.

It's been years since I've had the chance to really wander around NYC, but if I should find myself in a Chinatown grocery store, how would I pick out good dragon fruit from the rest?


----------



## Ireth

Never heard of jackfruit before! That one sounds interesting.

I have, however, heard of Durian. And I had the misfortune of being close enough to smell it. >_< Ewww. Couldn't bring myself to actually try it, though I had the opportunity.


----------



## Tom

The most exotic fruit I've ever had is starfruit. Nobody but me likes it in my family. It's crisp and a little sour, and the skin feels kind of waxy against your teeth.


----------



## 2WayParadox

Ireth said:


> Never heard of jackfruit before! That one sounds interesting.
> 
> I have, however, heard of Durian. And I had the misfortune of being close enough to smell it. >_< Ewww. Couldn't bring myself to actually try it, though I had the opportunity.



I think the taste and feel of the flesh of a durian could be similar to a jackfruit


----------



## Reilith

This was one of _those days_ when everything is out to get me. My mom is a case for the deepest ward of psychiatry, my PC is dying and I can't even play a game of lol to relax, and then my boyfriend starts acting like a total hypocrite. I don't really think it can get worse than this.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

We had a starfruit tree near where we lived in Hong Kong. It just grew out of the sidewalk, I guess.

Jack fruit… I used to eat that mostly in chip form.

Durians look deadly with that spiky shell. My wife, who normally refrains from vulgarities, used a common Cantonese term for the durian. Literal translation: "cat urine."

Here's one: dragon eye!



Spoiler: dragon eye


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Reilith said:


> This was one of _those days_ when everything is out to get me. My mom is a case for the deepest ward of psychiatry, my PC is dying and I can't even play a game of lol to relax, and then my boyfriend starts acting like a total hypocrite. I don't really think it can get worse than this.


Throw a durian at him!


----------



## Ireth

Any dA users know what's up with the "share to your watchers" button I see when I look at my newest deviations on my profile page? Aren't my deviations automatically shared with my watchers?

Said button, for the curious, looks like this:


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Today, the wife and I went out of town to visit an old friend who is terminally ill. He has a limited few months left and, with a tumor in the brain, his cognition is failing and is expected to degrade rapidly. 

We spent the day sorting through old pictures and memories, and I couldn't help but think of his life as a story from boyhood to the present. That's sounds a bit morbid, I know, but, I mean this in the most respectful fashion. He lived a long and interesting life with a career that put him in contact with power brokers of government and business across the globe.

Maybe that's the power of story, living momentarily in another's life. Seeing the world through different eyes, and connecting. Sharing experiences in ways we can't otherwise.

Just a few positive ramblings from a less than positive, but heart-warming day.


----------



## Reilith

I am really looking forward to today's free time between uni lessons - I'll have three hours to myself in a French themed coffee shop, writing, sorting out through the background of my story and creating my map. This looks like it is going to be a good day.


----------



## Incanus

I'm in a good mood because I finished the first draft of my novella this last weekend.  It's the longest story I've completed to date, and probably the best one yet as well.  It took too long, but that's another matter to address.  Next--edit my pile of short stories, and the novella.  And then--edit again.


----------



## Reilith

Incanus said:


> I'm in a good mood because I finished the first draft of my novella this last weekend.  It's the longest story I've completed to date, and probably the best one yet as well.  It took too long, but that's another matter to address.  Next--edit my pile of short stories, and the novella.  And then--edit again.



How many times do you approx. edit one work? Just curious.

On the other hand, I feel so proud of myself even though I am sleep depraved and will have a long and exhausting day in uni. I finally started the second POV in my WIP and it is smoorh sailing. I knew I was going to find this character easier to write, as he is flamboyant and over the top dramatic at times, which suits me perfectly.


----------



## Jabrosky

You know how the stereotypical fantasy quest is about finding the magic doohickey in a faraway land? Because I swear, that dude who decided to have his characters get rid of their magic doohickey instead was actually bucking the old cliche. I shouldn't even have to name the guy.


----------



## Tom

"Cast it into the fires from whence it came!"

Man, I wish more people would make their doohickeys like the Ring. Most are just pretty jewels or other stuff, and their purpose is invariably good. But the Ring--damn, that thing is _scary_. The way it slowly insinuates itself into your mind, so gradually you don't even feel it happening, is just...unsettling. The movie did a very good job communicating just how sinister it is, which is often hard when you have to illustrate a psychological concept like that in visual media.


----------



## Incanus

Reilith said:


> How many times do you approx. edit one work? Just curious.



My old stuff, which is worthless, I used to do about 3 passes total including the first draft.  Second pass for content, third for improved wording.  Now?  Not sure.  Think I'm going to break it down into smaller jobs and do more passes.  The second draft will still be all about getting the content in line though.  On the other hand, this particular novella is a bit...strange--it's super indulgent and I may want to keep it in WIP form for longer than usual so I can tinker.

Is your WIP a novel, or something shorter?


----------



## Tom

Hey, I almost forgot--Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

_May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand._

I know that's the most common Irish Blessing ever, but _May the Road Rise Up to Meet You_ by Peter Troy is one of my favorite historical fiction novels. If you haven't read it, I suggest you give it a go. You may have to order it off Amazon, as it was published in the Buffalo area and is relatively unknown elsewhere, but it's worth it. 

Well, today is the one day of the year where I (mostly) forget I'm German and let my Irish pride burn like a wildfire! Buffalo's St. Patrick's Day parade is really a sight to see--it's the biggest in the nation. I've been playing Irish music most of the weekend, including Ed Sheeran (I don't care that he's British--ancestrally speaking, he's Irish, so he's good enough in my Irish-American-among-other-nationalities book). I've also drawn a few Irish dancers, though I can never get the wigs right. 

Side note: If I see another group of stupid frat boys wearing strings of tacky shamrock beads and shirts that bear offensive statements such as "Kiss the Paddy!", going around trying to kiss girls and loudly talking about how much they're going to drink tonight, I'm going to start throwing punches.


----------



## Jabrosky

Tom Nimenai said:


> "Cast it into the fires from whence it came!"
> 
> Man, I wish more people would make their doohickeys like the Ring. Most are just pretty jewels or other stuff, and their purpose is invariably good. But the Ring--damn, that thing is _scary_. The way it slowly insinuates itself into your mind, so gradually you don't even feel it happening, is just...unsettling. The movie did a very good job communicating just how sinister it is, which is often hard when you have to illustrate a psychological concept like that in visual media.


I actually did read a pretty good fantasy where the doohickey was an old gauntlet containing an evil god, which possessed the hero's girlfriend once she put it on. But since the story was really about dealing with the consequences of stealing that doohickey, you could say it's more representative of the "cursed artifact" sub-genre.

My own question is why we always invoke these special doohickeys as the motivation for fantasy quests. I think the appeal of the quest story is it lets our characters take a road trip throughout our world, but then must they always be to be looking to retrieve (or dispose of) one particular item of magical import? Why couldn't they be, say, tourists who simply want to see the world, with the conflict being more about their fun getting ruined than saving the world with one item?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, I was writing a paper for a land use planning class recently. And as my mind is wont to do in situations like this I realized that The Hunger Games's system is based on national land use planning gone crazy. My paper is about national land use planning in the US. Needless to say I couldn't help but use the Hunger Games as part of my introduction. So Suzanne Collins and Katniss Everdeen welcome to the altogether boring and convoluted world of legal writing. May the jury be ever in your favor.


----------



## Tom

@Jabrosky:

Maybe we feel safer sticking to old cliches? I for one disposed of the magical doohickey altogether, and my quest is more of a political thing--my MC, the crown prince, embarks on a journey to meet up with a band of freedom fighters, therefore giving them the political backing of his whole country, which he hopes may deter the opposition. ...So I guess my MC is the doohickey in this case. (I think it's technically referred to as a MacGuffin, but doohickey is more fun to write. )


----------



## Ireth

Isn't the continent of Panem supposed to be post-apocalyptic North America anyway? So that kind of fits.


----------



## ArenRax

Tom that sounds like the plot to fable 3......almost


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> Isn't the continent of Panem supposed to be post-apocalyptic North America anyway? So that kind of fits.



It is. I mostly used that opening paragraph as a means of kick starting my writing. While I enjoy the class and the paper is turning out well it was hard to get it started. I may change it I may not. The paragraph Panem shows up mentions how America is infatuated with a national land use planning scheme. It's just fictional. And evil. And not that workable. The paper later proposes a more viable solution and why we need it, or will need it in the near future.


----------



## Reilith

Incanus said:


> Is your WIP a novel, or something shorter?



It is the first of a three part series I am planing at the moment. Novel I guess, but I have no idea how long it will turn out to be. As long as it needs to be I say to myself as I don't want to limit myself on a word count yet. And I do the first drsft edit the moment I start retyping it from paper to PC.


----------



## Ireth

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel sings "I wanna be where the people are", referring to humans who live on land. But... she's a mermaid, an equally sentient/sapient being to a human. Shouldn't merfolk be classified as "people" too? It wouldn't change the flow of the song at all if she'd said "I wanna be where the humans are" instead. That kinda bugs me.


----------



## Tom

You got a point there. Huh, I never thought about that line like that before. But hey, it's Disney. They make lots of gaffes.


----------



## Tom

Double-post because THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS.

So I was watching an episode of Doctor Who, specifically The Sound of Drums in season 3. And in one scene involving American audiences watching the Master's televised speech, something caught my eye. So I paused it. And I took a closer look. 

And there it was.

One of the guys was wearing a Buffalo Bills jersey. Not only that, _but it was a no. 12 jersey, which is legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly's officially retired number._

You have no idea how happy this makes me. The Bills are probably the most under-appreciated team in the league, having the longest postseason drought out of all the teams, as well as an abysmal Superbowl record of 3 losses 3 years in a row. They are the laughing stock of the league, mocked and virtually given a guaranteed loss by most commentators for any given game they play in, despite the fact that they were a formidable team back in the 90's and are now starting to come back. 

To a lot of people, they just don't exist. 

Do you know how happy it makes me feel to see a Bills jersey--no, a _Jim Kelly_ jersey--on a minor character in a TV show from across the pond? 

There is hope yet!


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Old Jim Kelly... from East Brady, Pennsylvania. A mere 30 minutes from my hometown.

Drive through East Brady, it'll take you ten minutes, and you'll see a mural of old number 12.


----------



## DaFlaminUnicorn

Tom Nimenai said:


> Double-post because THIS IS IMPORTANT, YOU GUYS.
> 
> So I was watching an episode of Doctor Who, specifically The Sound of Drums in season 3. And in one scene involving American audiences watching the Master's televised speech, something caught my eye. So I paused it. And I took a closer look.
> 
> And there it was.
> 
> One of the guys was wearing a Buffalo Bills jersey. Not only that, _but it was a no. 12 jersey, which is legendary Bills quarterback Jim Kelly's officially retired number._
> 
> You have no idea how happy this makes me. The Bills are probably the most under-appreciated team in the league, having the longest postseason drought out of all the teams, as well as an abysmal Superbowl record of 3 losses 3 years in a row. They are the laughing stock of the league, mocked and virtually given a guaranteed loss by most commentators for any given game they play in, despite the fact that they were a formidable team back in the 90's and are now starting to come back.
> 
> To a lot of people, they just don't exist.
> 
> Do you know how happy it makes me feel to see a Bills jersey--no, a _Jim Kelly_ jersey--on a minor character in a TV show from across the pond?
> 
> There is hope yet!



Ha wow I didn't know you were into Doctor Who. And I love the way you refer to the British TV show as "from across the pond" lol


----------



## Reilith

Doctor Who - best show there is.

In other news, can a person become tired of being tired? Cause I am and I ain't doing much. I just wanna sleep for a month or so. I feel like I was ran over by a truck.


----------



## Jabrosky

Anyone else wonder if the traditional idea of a love potion is actually almost like a date-rape drug? You're basically trying to get a person to consent to intimacy with you.


----------



## Ireth

Jabrosky said:


> Anyone else wonder if the traditional idea of a love potion is actually almost like a date-rape drug? You're basically trying to get a person to consent to intimacy with you.



Yeah, pretty much. I first noticed that in stories like Harry Potter.


----------



## Reilith

Jabrosky said:


> Anyone else wonder if the traditional idea of a love potion is actually almost like a date-rape drug? You're basically trying to get a person to consent to intimacy with you.






Ireth said:


> Yeah, pretty much. I first noticed that in stories like Harry Potter.



Yeah. I think JKR actually used it as a plot device where a person conceived from that sort of relationship can't understand love, cause they were born from a magically created infatuation. That is why Voldemort was the way he was. It was a bit shifty for me, if related to irl subjects where there are many people born from rape and they are not inherently evil, but for the story it worked.


----------



## Ireth

The love potion was definitely part of the way Voldemort turned out the way he did, but I think there was a lot more to it than that. Maybe if he'd been adopted by a loving family rather than left in an orphanage -- and a Muggle orphanage to boot -- who can say what he would have been like? This is one more thing that makes him a foil for Harry; Harry grew to be kindhearted and loving despite the Dursleys' neglect and abuse, while Riddle/Voldemort was twisted and corrupt from start to finish.


----------



## skrite

SeverinR said:


> To all the bacon I have loved in my life,
> There will always be a place in my heart for you, at least until
> The Doctor scrapes it off.



ha ha ha ha ha!


----------



## Tom

My sister got a lightsaber for her birthday last week. She sleeps with it under her pillow.


----------



## ArenRax

Lightsabers are awesome!
albeit deadly and a painful when you get whacked with one. 
Also very deadly to zombies it seems(heh Last stand dead zone has lightsabers as a premium weapon.)
Strong in the force is she.
Let us all hope that the next star wars movie is Worth It.
All hail star wars!


----------



## Jabrosky

We've  all complained about certain TV shows or book series being formulaic,  but it's been my observation that we don't always like it when those  media stray TOO far from their original formula. This is most true if  they leave the old formula in the dust for good instead of just taking a  short break from it. I remember how, back in 2007, some people didn't  like how that year's Ninja Turtles movie (not to be confused with the  even worse travesty from 2014) had a whole new villain instead of the  Shredder as usual, because they grew up knowing Shredder as _the_  arch-nemesis for the Ninja Turtles. This has convinced me that although  most audiences appreciate a temporary break from an established formula,  that doesn't always mean they want that older formula abandoned  permanently.


----------



## Jabrosky

On an unrelated note, I came across this quote about medieval understandings of magic on Wikipedia.



> Magic is not meant to work but to express wishes, or to encode in symbols a perception of how things do or should work.


--- Kieckhefer, Richard. “The Specific  Rationality of Medieval Magic” In The American Historical Review, Vol.  99, Issue 3, 813-836. 1994, 814.

Wonder if it might be of interest to other fantasy writers dealing with magic systems...


----------



## Tom

Last night I discovered that one of my students is better than both me and the advanced coach. >.<

He's fast, aggressive, and his parries feel like baseball bat swings. He doesn't so much get around your guard as _batter_ it down. Probably if I hadn't already been tired out from a day of classes, I could have figured out some strategies to slip around his blade, but as it was I couldn't keep up with his speed.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I had a dream last night where I was on a business trip to Japan and right before the meeting the dream blacked out. Later I was shooting fire out of my hands and fire-murdering (arsassinating?) zombie esque creatures at a Japanese opera house. I blacked out again and woke up in a post apocalyptic version of Utah, which was rife with snakes. I traveled around what I finally recognized as the Salt Lake Valley and came across a group of homes that looked like they were being repaired. I see my mother-in-law in the house. She breaks down sobbing thinking I was dead for the past 10 years and tells me my wife is at a nearby hospital looking for some supplies. And that my son, twelve years old in the dream, is guarding the west wall keeping an eye out for _them_. I woke up from that dream when my son (barely six months now) started clawing my face.

I'm almost certain I can turn that dream into a book of some kind.


----------



## Ireth

I had a dream last night that was part spy story, part I-don't-even-know-what, and part zombie apocalypse. For the spy parts of it I was an american spy who had perfected his Russian accent by mimicking Star Trek's Chekhov. XD


----------



## 2WayParadox

I'm convinced I got my fantasy because I never remember my dreams. Not even as a child.


----------



## Tom

If you write down a dream or talk about it right after you wake up, you might remember it. I always have vivid dreams, but I only remember them if I "hold" them in my mind--if I think about them, memorize every detail of them, and write them down. The conscious act of writing it down forces your mind to bring the dream to forefront of your memories.


----------



## skrite

Tom Nimenai said:


> If you write down a dream or talk about it right after you wake up, you might remember it. I always have vivid dreams, but I only remember them if I "hold" them in my mind--if I think about them, memorize every detail of them, and write them down. The conscious act of writing it down forces your mind to bring the dream to forefront of your memories.



I have practiced this and found it true also. It is a difficult dicipline, however, because it involves waking up in the middle of your sleep and deciding to grab a pen and paper instead of simply fading off again.


----------



## Tom

It works for me because I'm a night owl and a somewhat strange sleeper. I can snap between fully awake and fully asleep in a few seconds, and vise versa. I always have a notebook next to my bed because I get my best ideas when I'm half-asleep.


----------



## Ireth

That frustrating moment when the first batch of cookies you baked was perfect and amazing, but the second batch doesn't work at all. >_<


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I'm listening to a student presentation about the zoning problems of tiny houses. Apparently, people build these 500 sq ft home on trailers to avoid zoning laws. It's really interesting. But living with one kid, my wife, and of course me in a 600 sq ft. place I can say I need space and fresh air. Let em laugh in my face I don't care.


----------



## 2WayParadox

Did you know it's impossible to legally adopt someone less than 15 years younger than yourself? At least in my country it is. So a 28 year old can't adopt a 13 year old or older. Granted, he'd have to be a father at 15 to make the 13 year old himself, but what if a 28 year old gets together with a 35 year old that had a kid? A 35 year old could have 16 to 13 year olds.

I kind of get the point behind the law, but it feels kind of odd to me.


----------



## Reilith

I just really wanted to share this amazing video with the comunity.






It really struck home with me as a bisexual person.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just saw a commercial for Turn promoting its re_turn_ (ah I'm witty with that word play) on April 13th and I couldn't be happier. I was so happy I made a spur of the moment reference in one of my books.


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> That frustrating moment when the first batch of cookies you baked was perfect and amazing, but the second batch doesn't work at all. >_<


This happened to me with quiche the other day. The first pie was perfect and the second one was horrid with burnt edges. Totally sympathize.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Its name means "awesome warrior."


----------



## Tom

Okay, so I'm not sure what's going to kill me first--the math class I enrolled in this semester, or the friend I hang out with in the cafeteria during common hour. He's a good friend, but he also drives me crazy. 

I am a taciturn German. I come from a taciturn German family. My mother's side, the Irish side, is very chatty, but I took after my German dad. 

My friend is Italian. He talks like an Italian. And my _God_, he could talk for _centuries!_ I swear he says twenty words for every one of mine! I can't get a word in edgewise when we're talking, because he only pauses for breath between paragraphs!


----------



## Philster401

Ireth said:


> The love potion was definitely part of the way Voldemort turned out the way he did, but I think there was a lot more to it than that. Maybe if he'd been adopted by a loving family rather than left in an orphanage -- and a Muggle orphanage to boot -- who can say what he would have been like? This is one more thing that makes him a foil for Harry; Harry grew to be kindhearted and loving despite the Dursleys' neglect and abuse, while Riddle/Voldemort was twisted and corrupt from start to finish.



JK Rowling has stated that voldemort couldn't love because he was conceived under a love potion.


----------



## BronzeOracle

Philster401 said:


> JK Rowling has stated that voldemort couldn't love because he was conceived under a love potion.



I didn't know that - this sends shivers down my spine.  What a HORRIBLE potion a love potion is.  Its like destroying a soul - I can't think of anything worse.  The death curse or poison don't come close.

I prefer Ireth's interpretation, that's something that appeals to our humanity at least.  I wonder why the author decided to make a potion the reason for Voldemort's behaviour.


----------



## BronzeOracle

Tom Nimenai said:


> I swear he says twenty words for every one of mine! I can't get a word in edgewise when we're talking, because he only pauses for breath between paragraphs!



Oh god that was me in my twenties  <cringe>  I've since learnt the art of shutting up, so there is hope for him.  You might have to wait a few years though, which is a LOT of words in between!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

It's 4/4 and post #444. That means it's 4-stanza-poetry time!



* ahem *



Addison Lane works for Karl Dragonsbane.
Her name means "awesome warrior."

She cuts off wyvern's tails and dons their scales
Though she prefers to wear things furrier.

She steals dragon eggs and hobbles away
As fast as her legs can carry her

To the home for insane on Addison Lane.


> Its name means "awesome warrior."


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

PS - Stealing eggs and "hobbling" makes sense if you've played Monster Hunter.





^His name does not mean "awesome warrior."


----------



## skrite

BronzeOracle said:


> I didn't know that - this sends shivers down my spine.  What a HORRIBLE potion a love potion is.  Its like destroying a soul - I can't think of anything worse.  The death curse or poison don't come close.
> 
> I prefer Ireth's interpretation, that's something that appeals to our humanity at least.  I wonder why the author decided to make a potion the reason for Voldemort's behaviour.



I did not know this either, but Ditto !


----------



## skrite

I thnk that its cool how JK kept her worlds seperated. I loved how the Potter books played out, but I also always kinda wondered what turn the story would have taken if Harry carried a colt 0.45 along with his wand.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

skrite said:


> I thnk that its cool how JK kept her worlds seperated. I loved how the Potter books played out, but I also always kinda wondered what turn the story would have taken if Harry carried a colt 0.45 along with his wand.



His last name would be Dresden and he would be the only wizard in the Chicago phone book.


----------



## skrite

Brian Scott Allen said:


> His last name would be Dresden and he would be the only wizard in the Chicago phone book.



very very cool !


----------



## ThinkerX

Went to the area's sole general bookstore today.  Five sets of shelves dedicated to fantasy - four of them geared to YA fantasy.  Several of the YA books are now movies, or soon will be.  A couple of them dealt with concepts I've been meaning to get to since forever, it seems.  I wonder if there is a message in this...


----------



## BronzeOracle

In my local bookstores GRRM dominates.  There's also the usual Robert Jordan, Raymond E Feist and David Eddings - none of which look like they'll be made into movies anytime soon.  Its amazing how these old series are still very much popular.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I was reading my local newspaper today about my favorite football team's spring practices and I realized how far away next season is. That makes me sad.


----------



## Tom

Help me. Yesterday at our Easter party, my cousin played Weird Al's song "Weasel Stomping Day" on his iPod and now I can't get it out of my head! Probably the _worst_ earworm I've ever encountered.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Earworm you say?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Mmm ear worms.


----------



## Tom

You people are making it worse! Don't worry, though, I don't have long to suffer. Tonight I'm going to watch Battle of Five Armies (if all goes as planned) for the first time, so I'll have the score stuck in my head.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I'd just like to say my favorite phrase ever is "I'm up to my ass in alligators." And I have no idea why. I think it's just the image of a man in a hole of alligators that literally reaches up to his posterior.


----------



## skrite

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I'd just like to say my favorite phrase ever is "I'm up to my ass in alligators." And I have no idea why. I think it's just the image of a man in a hole of alligators that literally reaches up to his posterior.



i like this !


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Sesame Street went there.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

That's awesome! Love the comments to the losers!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Sesame Street went there.


I just showed my girls, and my five year old asked all kind of questions. One was a question about why the queen in red wanted to tell her brother on Grover. I had told her that the whiny boy king was her sone and the dwarf who crowned Grover was her brother, but explained that she had another brother, the best swordsman in the kingdom who she loved very much.

Sabina's reply: "If she loves her brother very much, she should marry him."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I just showed my girls, and my five year old asked all kind of questions. One was a question about why the queen in red wanted to tell her brother on Grover. I had told her that the whiny boy king was her sone and the dwarf who crowned Grover was her brother, but explained that she had another brother, the best swordsman in the kingdom who she loved very much.
> 
> Sabina's reply: "If she loves her brother very much, she should marry him."


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

That was pretty much how I answered her.

When her look suggested words were required, I took the Cowardly Dad's Way Out by playing a conversation-ender card: "It's complicated."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

This day in US history: the Civil War ended at Appomattox courthouse. I saw this on my newsfeed and read the comments. That was a mistake.


----------



## SeverinR

"Can we hurry this up, I have a wedding to get too."
"Don't lose your head, Ned."
"It appears, You choked, Jeofrey."
"Bring me a blanket, I think Winter is coming."


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Asking Tyrion to fetch a pillow for his royal bottom was also a reference to something in the books.

No character was spared. (GRRM must be proud.)


----------



## SeverinR

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Asking Tyrion to fetch a pillow for his royal bottom was also a reference to something in the books.
> 
> No character was spared. (GRRM must be proud.)


Still only on middle of book 2. Didn't catch it.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

You'll see in book/season 5. It's probably the least innocent comment of all when you know the context, or maybe second to Robb saying that Grover winning the iron chair (nine irons, five irons...) is "the most horrible ending" he can imagine.


----------



## acapes

Brian Scott Allen said:


> This day in US history: the Civil War ended at Appomattox courthouse. I saw this on my newsfeed and read the comments. That was a mistake.



I once read a few comments on a youtube video.













The pain.


----------



## Tom

I did that once. 

I hated humanity for the rest of the day.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

acapes said:


> I once read a few comments on a youtube video.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The pain.



I made an even worse mistake reading the comments of a video discussing the katana and German longsword. I got dumber for reading that. It was a good ole charlie foxtrot through the whole thing. I learned nothing of value between the qualities of the sword, since the video I watched was highly questionable. And it made me throw up in my mouth a little. _Never again!_


----------



## Tom

The comments for one music video I watched devolved into racism, throwing slurs around, and vicious trolling. I nearly took an axe to my computer in my rage. I don't get disgusted--I get _angry_.


----------



## acapes

Tom Nimenai said:


> I did that once.
> 
> I hated humanity for the rest of the day.




I understand.

To cleanse the pallet, there's this NSFW youtube comment reconstruction that I like:


----------



## Tom

Hey, cool. I'd thank you, but I'm out of Thanks bullets (as LS calls them).


----------



## acapes

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hey, cool. I'd thank you, but I'm out of Thanks bullets (as LS calls them).



Thanks! I understand - they're a bit like hen's teeth 

(a good thing though)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just ate a Peruvian spaghetti dis called tallarines verdes. It's delicious.


----------



## ThinkerX

More snow so far in April than in February and March combined!

Went outside this morning, just one little white patch left no bigger than a sofa.  Went back in, did some chores, did some writing, thought I'd go for a bicycle ride...and there's a bloody inch and a half of snow on the ground (around 5cm for the metric types).  It wont last and is already melting, but still...

Plus, despite writing most of 1500 words today, I'm still on Chapter Two of my novella.  Been on Chapter Two for most of a week, it seems.  Blahhh...


----------



## Tom

I'm going back to the first chapter of my main novel and editing it, _again_. Every time a new plot point crops up, it seems like I have to edit that damn first chapter. *growl*


----------



## X Equestris

Brian Scott Allen said:


> This day in US history: the Civil War ended at Appomattox courthouse. I saw this on my newsfeed and read the comments. That was a mistake.



Yeah.  From reading some of those comments, you would think the Civil War never ended.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> I'm going back to the first chapter of my main novel and editing it, _again_. Every time a new plot point crops up, it seems like I have to edit that damn first chapter. *growl*



I hate it when that happens. I think I've edited my first chapter twice as much as my second and 100 times as much as my last.



X Equestris said:


> Yeah.  From reading some of those comments, you would think the Civil War never ended.



Honestly, for some people, it never has. I knew a guy in rural PA that maintains the South was on the right side of history. We got into a Civil War debate several times since I left and each time it ends with me asking a question he refuses to consider. If the CW was a war of Northern Aggression, why did the South shoot first?


----------



## ArenRax

I had a dream where I was hanging out with Yoda, Mace Windu, and a few other padawans and I had a lightsaber and we were on some cool alien city.


----------



## Tom

I want to hang out with the crazy Scottish Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's probably my favorite character in all of Star Wars.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

You guys, Turn is on and I am happy. That is all.


----------



## Ireth

Ugh, why did I write a Q&A post entirely in iambic tetrameter rhyming couplets? Now I'll have to keep it up throughout the thread just to stay in character!


----------



## Tom

Chalk it up to a momentarily lapse of sanity. Happens to me all the time!


----------



## Svrtnsse

Sanity, or insanity?


----------



## Ireth

Svrtnsse said:


> Sanity, or insanity?



Sanity, I believe. A "lapse of judgment" means you're not using judgment and doing something stupid, so a lapse of sanity would be when you're doing something insane.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Indeed, but which is it?


----------



## skrite

I am very excited. I finally figured out how to fix a problem with my WIP that has had me stuck for over a month. Lost too much hair over this thing, and now, I am back in the game !


----------



## BronzeOracle

Hanging out with Obi Wan!  He is definitely the coolest character in the new Star Wars episodes.

The thing is I'd have to ask him if I could have a go with his lightsaber and I reckon he'd probably say no, mutter something about jedi training and safey blah blah blah.  I'm crushed already.


----------



## SeverinR

Don't know about the new star wars epsiodes, but of Star wars rebels,
Sabine is my favorite, attitude, loves to blow sh-stuff up, and is cute.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So it rained mud yesterday in Utah. Dust storms in the West Desert kicked dust into the atmosphere, then the rains fell and picked up the dirt. You had to use your wiper fluid to clear the droplets otherwise you were driving with a mud soaked windshield. It was gross. Guess what, it's snowing now. Not sure which is worse tbh.


----------



## X Equestris

A trailer for the new Star Wars got released today.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=935593286492273&id=169299103121699


----------



## BronzeOracle

It's almost winter here in the south-west of Australia - we get cool wet winters.  I love the rain here - it's so CLEAN.  I spent a few years in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East and it rained only a few times in a year - when it did, it cleared out the dust in the air and dumped it as mud on your car - time for a car wash!

When we arrived back in Australia last year my eldest son was not used to the frequent rains of a temperate climate - he opened the car window and let it come in.  I said "hey its going to get wet inside" to which he replied "but it might not rain for ages, I want to feel it".  I couldn't help but smile - the diversity of our planet!


----------



## Tom

I stumbled upon a really incredible corner of the world that not many people know about. It's the Broad Street Aqueduct in Rochester, NY, an abandoned aqueduct that originally carried the Erie Canal over the Genesee River. The bridge on the top level of the aqueduct is still used, but the aqueduct itself is drained dry now, and the arches and walls inside are covered in graffiti.








Beautiful, right? I love art like this--the unexpected, the relatively unknown, the sort that makes you feel like you're keeping a good secret. The sort of art that you encounter on an ordinary day and have to take a second glance at. Art like this takes an old thing that's outlasted its usefulness and makes it beautiful again.


----------



## Feo Takahari

I'm not sure where else to post this. I hope it doesn't come across as too arrogant.

Mythic Scribes is by far the least flamey site I post on. There are a few topics that piss people off and lead into circular arguments, but a lot of the time, I'm the one bringing them up. And since most of the flamiest posters have left, I'm now the poster most likely to start arguments. I also have a tendency to panic and think a flame war is going to start when it's not, which confuses and frustrates other posters. 

This is not at all my intention. I find this site, relaxing, a place to get away from all the arguments on other sites. From here on out, I'm going to try to cause less friction.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Feo Takahari said:


> And since most of the flamiest posters have left, I'm now the poster most likely to start arguments.



For what it's worth - that's not how I see it.
Sure, you may have opinions I don't understand or agree with, but from what I can tell you're posting your questions with the intention of trying to understand, rather than to provoke.


----------



## Zephyr

Conflict is fine, and should be encouraged as it allows us to strengthen our convictions and question our beliefs, but the key is to treat people with respect.


----------



## Lunaairis

Tom Nimenai said:


> I stumbled upon a really incredible corner of the world that not many people know about. It's the Broad Street Aqueduct in Rochester, NY, an abandoned aqueduct that originally carried the Erie Canal over the Genesee River. The bridge on the top level of the aqueduct is still used, but the aqueduct itself is drained dry now, and the arches and walls inside are covered in graffiti.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beautiful, right? I love art like this--the unexpected, the relatively unknown, the sort that makes you feel like you're keeping a good secret. The sort of art that you encounter on an ordinary day and have to take a second glance at. Art like this takes an old thing that's outlasted its usefulness and makes it beautiful again.



Thanks for this find. I have been looking for some nice "underground" urban settings for reference for video game levels.


----------



## Tom

You're welcome! It's amazing how many times I've driven over that bridge without knowing what was underneath. 

I have a story set in Rochester, and I wanted the protagonists to go somewhere unusual and sort of "off the grid" for one scene. I think the aqueduct is a great setting for that.


----------



## BronzeOracle

Feo Takahari said:


> And since most of the flamiest posters have left, I'm now the poster most likely to start arguments.



I agree with Svrtnsse - I don't think you are particularly flamey - I haven't seen you attack people, its more trying to understand the matter being discussed, which is a good thing.  I've only seen a few bust ups here since I joined and I can't remember you getting involved in either.


----------



## ArenRax

I think my teacher effectively made half my class depressed. He showed what would happen(on a map)if a Russian Tsar Bomba
(50 megaton version) was dropped on my high school.
everything from bellingham to Portland would be in the blast radius as well as the coast to I think the mountains.
Frickin mushroom cloud is huge though and its Nuclear fallout is low.
Theoretically the Nuclear bomb can have a 100 megaton load but to test it the soviets kept it to 50-55 megaton.


----------



## Reaver

ArenRax said:


> I think my teacher effectively made half my class depressed. He showed what would happen(on a map)if a Russian Tsar Bomba
> (50 megaton version) was dropped on my high school.
> everything from bellingham to Portland would be in the blast radius as well as the coast to I think the mountains.
> Frickin mushroom cloud is huge though and its Nuclear fallout is low.
> Theoretically the Nuclear bomb can have a 100 megaton load but to test it the soviets kept it to 50-55 megaton.



When I was stationed at Ft. Lewis, I was more worried about Mt. Rainier wiping out Tacoma (which it will because the city is right at its base). Then you have the Cascadia Subduction Zone which when it quakes is going to cause at least a magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a massive tsunami.

These events are long overdue from a geologic standpoint and they are going to happen, so perhaps your teacher should focus on this looming disaster.

 Ask your teacher if he knows what mutually assured destruction is and if he truly understands that concept. It's this reason that the likelihood of being bombed by the Russians are so infinitesimal it's absurd.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

ArenRax said:


> I think my teacher effectively made half my class depressed. He showed what would happen(on a map)if a Russian Tsar Bomba
> (50 megaton version) was dropped on my high school.
> everything from bellingham to Portland would be in the blast radius as well as the coast to I think the mountains.
> Frickin mushroom cloud is huge though and its Nuclear fallout is low.
> Theoretically the Nuclear bomb can have a 100 megaton load but to test it the soviets kept it to 50-55 megaton.



This is nonsense. Everybody knows that all you have to do is Duck and Cover. :wink:


----------



## Tom

I had a professor who scared everyone stiff by announcing that in ten years, the Great Lakes would be so polluted that all the fish would die and all of Western New York would be rendered inhabitable by acid rainfall (we get most of our rain from the west, off Lake Erie). Man, he scared us bad. I guess what he meant was "it'll happen if we keep dumping toxins in the Lakes at the current rate we're doing it", but it kind of came off as "it's gonna happen, no doubts about it. Break out your acid-proof ponchos!"


----------



## ArenRax

Reaver said:


> When I was stationed at Ft. Lewis, I was more worried about Mt. Rainier wiping out Tacoma (which it will because the city is right at its base). Then you have the Cascadia Subduction Zone which when it quakes is going to cause at least a magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a massive tsunami.
> 
> These events are long overdue from a geologic standpoint and they are going to happen, so perhaps your teacher should focus on this looming disaster.
> 
> Ask your teacher if he knows what mutually assured destruction is and if he truly understands that concept. It's this reason that the likelihood of being bombed by the Russians are so infinitesimal it's absurd.



He knows and he taught us it since were learning about the cold war.
he just showed us on a thing called nuke maps what would happen if the bomb was dropped on my high school



TheCatholicCrow said:


> This is nonsense. Everybody knows that all you have to do is Duck and Cover. :wink:


lol. we saw the duck and cover video that they showed kids in elementary.



Tom Nimenai said:


> I had a professor who scared everyone stiff by announcing that in ten years, the Great Lakes would be so polluted that all the fish would die and all of Western New York would be rendered inhabitable by acid rainfall (we get most of our rain from the west, off Lake Erie). Man, he scared us bad. I guess what he meant was "it'll happen if we keep dumping toxins in the Lakes at the current rate we're doing it", but it kind of came off as "it's gonna happen, no doubts about it. Break out your acid-proof ponchos!"



lol.


----------



## Tom

You know what? I was just thinking--if elves were real, we'd probably be freaked out by them. 

I mean, in most fantasy stories, they're inhumanly beautiful, with smooth skin and flawless features (e.i., none of the asymmetry we see in normal human facial features). They also have superhuman speed and move more gracefully and quickly than we do. 

Hm. Let's see.

1) Looks almost human, but not quite.
2) Perfect bilateral facial symmetry.
3) Moves in an inhuman manner.

Hello, Uncanny Valley.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hello, Uncanny Valley.


Your link doesn't work.


----------



## Tom

Weird. It should. I'll see if I can fix it.

EDIT: All good. The entry box for the link code already has the http// in it, so the link had two of them.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Tom Nimenai said:


> I had a professor who scared everyone stiff by announcing that in ten years, the Great Lakes would be so polluted that all the fish would die and all of Western New York would be rendered inhabitable by acid rainfall (we get most of our rain from the west, off Lake Erie). Man, he scared us bad. I guess what he meant was "it'll happen if we keep dumping toxins in the Lakes at the current rate we're doing it", but it kind of came off as "it's gonna happen, no doubts about it. Break out your acid-proof ponchos!"


When I read this, I thought of my favorite comic strip as a kid:


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Speaking of acid things, to keep myself sane while my wife and I shop I make sarcastic comments about various items of clothing that, in my opinion are just ugly. None of these items are on people so no need to worry about me insulting a person. It all started when I was at a local Ross and saw a pair of sandals that had spikes on the various straps. I asked my wife if she was planning on being a gladiator (although I should say gladiatrix but I didn't know that term then) because those shoes were awesome for it. Fast-forward to today and I saw shoes that could only be described as leather print hooker shoes. I said, "These shoes scream, 'I make terrible life choices.'" And I heard her and a couple of other people who saw me point those shoes out laughing. 

So to all those that hate shopping and people make you go. Find ugly clothes make funny quips and it becomes slightly more bearable.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

For me, it's the reactions to my kids, especially my two-year-old. I shamelessly flaunt their cuteness in public and I listen for the reactions. Even last week, when Hannah fell on her face at Wrentham Village, I just brushed her off and she said "I'm okay!" It was all oohs and ahs and fun until Hannah had a meltdown on the way to the car.


----------



## Addison

Little girls are cute. Little boys are obnoxious. For example, my kid sister's second Christmas she got to open this jumbo box from our grandpa that held the gifts for all of us. She couldn't find her gift so she's on her tip toes, half-in the box and she tumbled inside. There's a "poof" of packing peanuts and all we see are her Christmas shoes. Then those disappear. The box tips over, pacing peanuts spill like an avalanche and she rides it out. Didn't find her gifts (she was sitting on it) but it didn't matter. She dove right back in and played. Wouldn't let her little brother play in it though. 

Which leads to obnoxious little boys. Anyone with a little brother, or older brother but mostly little brothers are pains in the @$$. Sometimes hilarious, when it's not happening to you. Like the story about my kid sister. A similar thing happened when she was almost six and he was five. This time she was reaching into a party-sized ball pit at our cousin's house, she's off the ground, holding the edge and reaching for her hat. I see him see her and I can see the same dark spark in his eyes that tells me he is becoming a brother. He sets down his cake, gets up, walks over to her -she doesn't see him coming- grabs her legs and throws her into the pit! She screams at the "booger head" who did that. He hurries to the table and sits down, eats his cake and she storms around the pit looking for the culprit while he is laughing like Woody the Woodpecker in his cake. 

That was six years ago and the antics have just grown like Jack's beanstalk. He will now hide rubber bands so he can use against us. Oh yeah, not just my sister, all of us. He's learned fast not to mess with me unless he has either an exit plan or a Hershey bar. Thanks to me, and his idea of writing his own page into my WIP, he knows what an atomic wedgie is. But one time he found a tub of licorice for movie night but the top wasn't sealed so it went stale. At that point he was upset so he slapped it against my dad's arm. Stale licorice is apparently hard, so now he looks forward to stale licorice as much as fresh licorice so he can have sword fights. He will jump onto dad and start wrestling just because he's bored. He will stand on one side of dad as he's resting on the ground and call the dogs all so they'll step and jump on him. He will stand on the stairs with someone behind him until he gets the fart out. 

My kid sister? The most obnoxious thing she's done in all twelve years of her life is draw on her brother, while he's asleep, with a sharpie. Seconded only to painting my dad's nails while he was asleep. 

So yeah, little girls are cute. Little boys, obnoxious.


----------



## Ireth

My youngest brother and sister are the opposite. Little bro is as sweet as can be most of the time. I can hardly get a kind word out of littlest sis. :/


----------



## Incanus

Tortured myself with Battle of the Five Armies last night.  I think I've finally gotten over my disappointment of the ruination of this story because I was able to laugh out loud at some of the silliness.  That's progress, of a sort.  Two years ago, it would have been nothing but groans and head-shaking.

I acknowledge that I am in the vast minority here, but I'm still not sure why PJ gets handled with kid gloves by so many.  Oh well.


----------



## Tom

I was frustrated with Battle of Five Armies as well, though it was certainly not as facepalm-inducing as Desolation of Smaug. I could barely sit through that one; I actually enjoyed Battle of Five Armies for the most part. The depiction of Thorin succumbing to dragon sickness, and subsequent recovery from it, was particularly well-handled, I thought. 

However, I hated the Dol Guldur sequences. The CGI, new camera tracking, and lack of music combine to make it look like watching a video game! I've got no problem with video game graphics, but I shouldn't be reminded of a video game when I'm watching what I'm expecting to be (and should be) high-quality cinematography. I vastly prefer LotR's cinematograpy to The Hobbit's. 

(Most of my complaints about movies are related to stylistic elements, as you might have noticed.)


----------



## Incanus

Yeah, very video-game-ish.

And I just can't help notice the irony with the greed theme.  It's curious that they didn't downplay it.  With the stretching and padding necessary to make this into three films, it appears the 'dragon-sickness' is not something limited to Middle-Earth--


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I haven't seen the Hobbit films, but I don't have to see it to tell you that comparing a movie to a video game is a harsh criticism, which is…






…uh… holy crap. Yeah. Wow. Very much deserved.


----------



## Ireth

Not sure where else to post this, but my mom linked me to this and I really *really* want to go for it. Anyone else?

Short Story Anthology: Call for Submissions | Sorin Suciu


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

A sci-fi writer went from blog to movie rights.

*Read about it* for mixed feelings of hope and envy.


----------



## Jabrosky

And on a completely different note...

One time I had this "comic strip" play out in my imagination about a hungry zombie who was shambling about for fresh brains. He passed by this young woman whom he thought looked kinda familiar, and noticed she was tearfully thumbing through photos of her late husband on her smartphone. Recognizing himself in those photos, he sat down beside her with arm over her shoulder, and said her name (Brianna) out loud. And I think he was handing her a flower like the ones in their wedding bouquet.

I wonder if any of the recent zombie shows and movies have ever considered whether stuff like that might happen in a real zombie apocalypse?


----------



## Gryphos

You know what I hate? Snobs who don't understand that language is a fluid and ever-changing thing. It's like, the way I see it, there's no such thing as 'proper' grammar or 'proper' use of words. To me, all that matters is if the other person understands what you're saying. That's the point of language, is it not?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I found a mouse in the toilet today. He was floating, but his little mouse poop sunk. Since he was dead when I found him, how to get rid of him was simple and guilt free.


----------



## Reaver

Gryphos said:


> You know what I hate? Snobs who don't understand that language is a fluid and ever-changing thing. It's like, the way I see it, there's no such thing as 'proper' grammar or 'proper' use of words. To me, all that matters is if the other person understands what you're saying. That's the point of language, is it not?



We all have our opinions. I guess I'm a grammar snob because I hate textspeke and people that speak improperly. It hurts my brain when people say irregardless instead of regardless, I couldn't care less when they really mean I could care less, probly or prolly instead of probably, liberry instead of library.... I could rant for hours on this but I won't. 

If I offend people by speaking and writing properly so be it. I refuse to dumb down my diction and grammar for the uneducated and lazy.


----------



## Reaver

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I found a mouse in the toilet today. He was floating, but his little mouse poop sunk. Since he was dead when I found him, how to get rid of him was simple and guilt free.



Well thanks a lot Sidekick! I was going to attempt to toilet train my pet mouse until I saw this post. Dammit...now I have to buy the mouse genie.


----------



## Jabrosky

This may rub some posters here the wrong way (even though it was actually something offsite that prompted this thought today), but I believe that in some cases the people calling for "civility" in certain discussions are just playing Chamberlain. Civility and mutual respect are best if everyone in the discussion abides by them, but when you're up against a raging Triceratops in full charge, the traditional squirt-gun just isn't going to work.


----------



## Gryphos

Reaver said:


> We all have our opinions. I guess I'm a grammar snob because I hate textspeke and people that speak improperly. It hurts my brain when people say irregardless instead of regardless, I couldn't care less when they really mean I could care less, probly or prolly instead of probably, liberry instead of library.... I could rant for hours on this but I won't.
> 
> If I offend people by speaking and writing properly so be it. I refuse to dumb down my diction and grammar for the uneducated and lazy.



Oh no, don't get me wrong, some things are stupid, mainly those which physically mean the opposite of how they're being used. 'Irregardless' implies a lack of 'irregard', basically a lack of lack of regard ... so, a regard. Similarly, 'could care less' implies that a  person does care at least a little bit, whereas 'couldn't care less' is fairly clear, implying that a person cares so little that they are physically incapable of caring less than they already do.

Also, in defence of textspeak, I dare you to try to find a 'proper' alternative to the word 'lol', a word which can be used casually in written form to convey 'I understand that you have made a joke, and do find it quite amusing'. There is none. It's actually rather remarkable. I mean, there probably is some really obscure word, but if a person said it either no one would understand, or they'd sound like an absolute knob-end (probably both).


----------



## Reaver

Gryphos said:


> Also, in defence of textspeak, I dare you to try to find a 'proper' alternative to the word 'lol', a word which can be used casually in written form to convey 'I understand that you have made a joke, and do find it quite amusing'. There is none. It's actually rather remarkable. I mean, there probably is some really obscure word, but if a person said it either no one would understand, or they'd sound like an absolute knob-end (probably both).



Got me there. I usually type _haha_. In retrospect it either makes me appear to be disingenuous or sarcastic to the person with whom I'm texting. Either way I end up looking like an absolute knob-end (man do I love British slang ).

And just to clarify, I intentionally spell textspeke that way as a sort of homage to George Orwell.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

After making a post which sort of included a semi-rant about Legolas being in the Hobbit trilogy, I came up with a suggestion for Peter Jackson's next film:

Have Legolas drive by and flip his middle finger out a car window. Y'know, just to get him in the movie.


----------



## Tom

Jabrosky said:


> This may rub some posters here the wrong way (even though it was actually something offsite that prompted this thought today), but I believe that in some cases the people calling for "civility" in certain discussions are just playing Chamberlain. Civility and mutual respect are best if everyone in the discussion abides by them, but when you're up against a raging Triceratops in full charge, the traditional squirt-gun just isn't going to work.



I don't agree. Civility and respect is always important in any discussion, if we want our opinions to be considered valid. I mean, if someone is flinging accusations at me and using offensive, inflammatory language, I shouldn't respond in kind. Fighting fire with fire is just gonna get you burned. 

Instead, I think it's important to maintain civility, even if the other person doesn't, especially in a discussion that occurs in public, or on a forum, or anywhere that other people will see it. If I and the other person are both being vile and accusatory, all people are going to remember our discussion as is "just two jerks butting heads." 

However, if the other person is accusatory and disrespectful and I am not, people are going to be more likely to hold my opinion as the more rational one, because it's obvious that I can maintain a calm, civil attitude even when another person is throwing their own opinions in my face. Fighting fire with water will put the fire out.


----------



## Jabrosky

Legendary Sidekick said:


> After making a post which sort of included a semi-rant about Legolas being in the Hobbit trilogy, I came up with a suggestion for Peter Jackson's next film:
> 
> Have Legolas drive by and flip his middle finger out a car window. Y'know, just to get him in the movie.


...so Furious 8 is gonna be be a crossover with the LotR universe?

Actually I always did want to see a crossover between PJ's takes on Middle Earth and Skull Island. Maybe the latter could have been once part of the "Dark Land" seen east of Harad here?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

May the Fourth be with you...always.


----------



## Ireth

Brian Scott Allen said:


> May the Fourth be with you...always.



And also with you!


----------



## Tom

Aw, you beat me to it, Ireth.


----------



## Incanus

Hello scribe friends, wish I had something upbeat to say today.  Been pretty sick.  No food or sleep for 4 full days, working on 5 now.  I've got a doctor appt later today and hope I can start turning this around soon.  I've never experienced anything like this before.  There's been a comedy of errors involved--the prescriptions I've gotten haven't worked and have in fact only made things worse.  Stopped all those on Sat., but still haven't gotten much better.  Tried a few bites of food yesterday, but most came back up eventually.  Maybe I'll do better today...

I'm sure I'll be back to making my usual useless observations here in a few more days.  Sort of feeling I might want to make a lifestyle change or two after this, though I think this wasn't brought about by anything I did, or didn't do, necessarily.

Hope everyone else is doing well though.


----------



## Tom

Hope you feel better soon! We all miss you and your use_ful_ observations.


----------



## Incanus

I'd just like it to be on the record:  I loathe insomnia.  Just loathe it.  I officially declare it my arch-enemy.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Hang in there, Incanus. It's good that you're seeing a doctor about this.


----------



## Ireth

Argh. I'm at a point in my newest short story where the plot could go either of two ways, and I honestly can't decide which direction to take it in. Tempted to just flip a coin over it.


----------



## Reaver

Ireth said:


> Argh. I'm at a point in my newest short story where the plot could go either of two ways, and I honestly can't decide which direction to take it in. Tempted to just flip a coin over it.



Will it be a loonie or a toonie? Just wondering. Miss chatting with you by the way.


----------



## Ireth

Don't have any toonies on me at the moment, so it'll most likely be a quarter. 

I miss chatting with you too. How've you been?


----------



## Reaver

ARGGH! Canadian quarters!! At first glance they look like U.S. quarters. Then I try to buy a soda from a vending machine. 

KA-KLINK!! Rejected!! I look at the coin and "F**K F**K F**K!!!!!" 

I search my pockets for another U.S. quarter and no luck. I'm forced to put in a bunch of dimes and nickels.


But I digress...

I'm doing well dear friend! How are you?


When we flip a coin in the U.S. we sometimes ask: "Heads or Tails?"

What do you ask in Canada? "Mother Goose or Mean ol' Moose?"


----------



## Ireth

I'm doing well, myself! I'm living with my parents again, mostly to help out with looking after my youngest siblings (though also partly because city life just didn't work out for a number of reasons). Mom's not as mobile as she'd like to be, and Dad's away most of the week for work, which is where I come in. It keeps me busy, if nothing else.  Though I do wish I could find part-time work to rack up some savings. I've applied just about everywhere I can think of, and no luck. 

How about you? Any interesting news (or just new news) on your end?


----------



## Reaver

Sometimes it's very nice to be back home with loved ones. Not much news from my end. I went back to work in Montenegro for about a year then the company's owners decided to liquidate all assets. 

I came home and moved back to Pennsylvania where I was born and raised. That's about it really. Been writing short stories and started working on my fantasy trilogy.

I wish you all the best in your job search.


----------



## Ireth

Thanks, man!

Ooh, Pennsylvania! I've been there! Just once, on a business trip with my dad years ago. Sadly don't remember it too much.

What sort of stuff have you been writing lately?


----------



## Reaver

I've been on this kick of writing stuff from the perspective of characters in the background of epic fantasies like LOTR. For example, from the perspective of an orc after Return of the King, or  Samwise after RotK, or one of the Mumakil riding barbarians.


I like the idea of that and if I can write a novel that way and avoid copyright issues, I'm all in.


----------



## Ireth

That sounds fantastic! Legal issues might be tricksy, though. The Tolkien Estate seems to have a pretty tight hold of their property, and I dunno how generous thy'd be with rights and such. I once proposed to them my idea for a musical version of the Silmarillion, but I got a polite "no". The libretto is still sitting in my laptop, gathering metaphorical dust. As of yet I don't have a score or a composer for it.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Pennsylvania is a beautiful place. Lived there for in various locations throughout central and western PA. I wouldn't mind going back again. Best times to visit are when it's blossoming or in the fall.


----------



## Tom

We visited Erie, Pennsylvania when I was younger. Swimming in Lake Erie was fun, but it was during the period when the lake water was really, _really_ polluted, so I got sick immediately afterwards. Not the best memory...


----------



## Incanus

Non sequitur--I got some sleep last night!  Glorious, beautiful sleep.  Finally.  Ahhhhhhh, so much better!  Taking in some food and taking it easy today.  I'm even craving chicken noodle soup.  Plan on going back to work tomorrow.


----------



## buyjupiter

ARGH. Last night there was a Scorpion Incident (tm) at 1AM. I might be responsible for bringing the scorpion into the house, but inadvertently, mind.

We live in a desert. Lots of lovely critters that try to kill ya. And we keep our sodas out in the garage because of lack of storage in the house. I brought a soda in late last night, and felt something stiff and thin on the side of the can. I thought it was glue, like sometimes gets attached to soda cans, so I brushed it off and thought nothing more of it.

Until I discovered all the cats huddled around something in the middle of the night, playing with it. It was a scorpion. I'm terrified of scorpions for two reasons: a) they're arachnids and I don't do arachnids of any flavor and b) they could kill my cats.

So I grabbed a shoe and killed it. The cats are fine--I checked them out every 20 minutes or so for a couple of hours to be sure. The house is sprayed again, but...I found out there is probably a nest of scorpions out in the garage.

*stands up on chair and screams*

I'm not dealing with it. Uh-uh. No way. No how. Last night was unusual because of the clear and present danger to the kitties. But you want me to go out into the garage and--ON PURPOSE--mess with a scorpion nest?

*faints*


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

The one thing I know of scorpions...the little ones are more dangerous.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

buyjupiter said:


> ARGH. Last night there was a Scorpion Incident (tm) at 1AM. I might be responsible for bringing the scorpion into the house, but inadvertently, mind.
> 
> We live in a desert. Lots of lovely critters that try to kill ya. And we keep our sodas out in the garage because of lack of storage in the house. I brought a soda in late last night, and felt something stiff and thin on the side of the can. I thought it was glue, like sometimes gets attached to soda cans, so I brushed it off and thought nothing more of it.
> 
> Until I discovered all the cats huddled around something in the middle of the night, playing with it. It was a scorpion. I'm terrified of scorpions for two reasons: a) they're arachnids and I don't do arachnids of any flavor and b) they could kill my cats.
> 
> So I grabbed a shoe and killed it. The cats are fine--I checked them out every 20 minutes or so for a couple of hours to be sure. The house is sprayed again, but...I found out there is probably a nest of scorpions out in the garage.
> 
> *stands up on chair and screams*
> 
> I'm not dealing with it. Uh-uh. No way. No how. Last night was unusual because of the clear and present danger to the kitties. But you want me to go out into the garage and--ON PURPOSE--mess with a scorpion nest?
> 
> *faints*



You know I think this could turn into an interesting short story, but the scorpions are really demons, and bent on consuming the souls of your kitties, possessing them, and moving on up the food chain to humans. It could be a good horror dealy whosits. As an aside, is there an exterminator that handles scorpions in your area? Because if not the only way to get rid of the suckers if to light your house on fire (this is a joke not actual advice).


----------



## buyjupiter

T.Allen.Smith said:


> The one thing I know of scorpions...the little ones are more dangerous.



Oh yes. This one was 2 1/2-3 inches, so most likely adult. I think. NOT looking it up to see if I'm correct. *shudders at thoughts of google image search*

The reason that the little ones are more deadly is because they're the baby scorpions. Baby scorpions haven't learned how not to inject all their venom in one go, so it's more deadly because its more concentrated. (Although I'm sure there are some species that are all little bitty versions and extremely deadly. Again, not looking it up to find out.)

Of course, in my head, it was six feet long and it breathed fire.


----------



## buyjupiter

Brian Scott Allen said:


> You know I think this could turn into an interesting short story, but the scorpions are really demons, and bent on consuming the souls of your kitties, possessing them, and moving on up the food chain to humans. It could be a good horror dealy whosits. As an aside, is there an exterminator that handles scorpions in your area? Because if not the only way to get rid of the suckers if to light your house on fire (this is a joke not actual advice).



Hmm. As I said on twitter last night: not responsible for nightmares incurred from the posts. (And surprisingly, I didn't have any dreams last night. Thank God.) If you do write this up, let me know, because I might be interested in reading it--I like horror books. I'm definitely not going to, because I'd feel the need to do research on scorpions. Aaaaand, I so don't need to be stuck at my writing desk with my head between my knees hyperventilating because I saw the biggest and most badass of scorpions and they live in my area. (Reading about them is one thing, seeing them? Something totally different.)

Do you think flamethrower+garage might be overkill? Because that's where the nest is. I don't think I have anything out in the garage that I want *that* badly, as that stuff is mostly out in the storage unit. *googles how to build flamethrower*

We did spray the outside of the house and all doors leading into the house, so that should do the trick for the immediate future. And trust you me, I'm examining all the cans before I bring them into the house now. Just because I touched a scorpion with my bare hands last night and didn't get stung doesn't mean that I won't in the future. *shudder & washes hands again just to be safe*

Yeah. I know. I'm pretty bad with the arachnophobia, but let me have this. I'm afraid of three things in this life (arachnids, heights, and planes) but generally speaking because the odds are really good that those three things can be deadly. And I *have* been bitten by a spider before--unfortunately did not develop superpowers as that would've been _awesome_, but I did get a nasty infection.


----------



## Lunaairis

On the topic of flipping coins. I have a special coin I brought back with me from the Czech republic that I use to solve my story's conflicts. One side has a bohemian lion and the other has a crown, so I either feed my characters to the lions or do the noble thing.


----------



## Ireth

That's a cool way to do it, Luna!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

@buyjupiter,
Arachnophobia is completely rational when it comes to scorpions. Glad you and the cats are okay!


----------



## Jabrosky

So I'm taking an Adobe Flash class at Mira Costa College in Oceanside, CA, and I've settled on my big final project being a Flash-animated official website for the Roman legion. Think of it as an ancient Roman version of the US Army's official website.

I plan to have drop-down menus providing prospective legionaries with information on weaponry and other equipment, expectations for camp life and patrolling, fighting techniques and battle tactics, locations of select legionary stations, and maybe some kind of "Most Wanted" list with mugshots of Rome's historical enemies (as if they were terrorists in the vein of Osama bin Laden) back in the day.

Right now it's the station locations and "Most Wanted" sections I'm most excited about. With the exception of one station in Rome itself, they'll all be positioned along the Roman Empire's periphery, with each location's "subpage" coming with its own music loop to set the regional mood. Right now my must-haves are:

* *Rome*, the great imperial capital, for those legionaries who'd prefer to keep the peace within walking distance of the circus. Sample music
* *Britain*, a frigid northern hinterland of fierce redheaded white tribesmen (and women). Sample music
* *Judea*, a sandy desert festering with rebellious religious zealots with a flaming desire to push their infidel oppressors into the sea. Sample music
* *Carthage*, built on the rubble of the old Afro-Phoenician colony, and now a sun-blessed beach city with palm trees and a rich, multicultural heritage. The locals will be agreeably mellow as long as you don't invoke that Hannibal bwoy's name, mon. In which case, they won't even pity you, fool. Sample music
* *Egypt*, the mouth of Africa and the Empire's breadbasket; an ancient land of crumbled ruins, dangerous wildlife, and restless cheerful natives who want to take their civilization back and wash their spears in the oppressors' blood know their place and are always happy to serve usurping barbarians who smell like wet dogs their benevolent Roman masters. Sample music
** Hunnic Steppes*, the open grasslands east of the Empire's northern periphery, which are being overrun by a horde of warlike Asian horsemen. Sample music


----------



## Tom

@buyjupiter: Eek. Hope you can get someone to take care of the scorpions!

Luckily, here in the Northeast we don't have nearly as many poisonous/venomous/downright nasty creepy-crawlies trying to get at you. No scorpions. No black widow or brown recluse spiders. No cottonmouths or copperheads. However, we _do_ have the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake, a lovely specimen who hangs out mainly in marshy areas around the Great Lakes (most notably the Byron-Bergen Swamp) and whose anti-venom is typically not stocked in local hospitals because it's so hard to find. Yay. 

We also have timber rattlers in the Allegany foothills, and those are even nastier. They're considered one of North America's most dangerous venomous snakes, _and they know it._ The little demons are fast and aggressive. I once came upon a nest of them, and just kind of froze in panic, then hurriedly backed away. Thankfully, they didn't notice me, and from then on I've always worn heavy boots when hiking, just in case. Ick.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I saw one really tiny (like three inches) scorpion once in school. It accidentally got squished during a rehearsal. There were a lot of animal lovers that were absolutely heartbroken that such a creature had died. So, I made dead scorpion jokes the rest of the day (some of them may have been Mortal Kombat related). 

As an aside, let me just say driving is by far the most rage inducing experience one deals with on a daily basis where I live. (THE SPEED LIMIT IS 70 NOT 50 @#[email protected]%@$%!). Sorry flashback from...today.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Any bug that whose length can be expressed in inches plural is not tiny. Especially if it stings.

I once saw one of _these_ when picking up my daughters at preschool:








That black needle thing that goes off-screen is  ~3 inches long!







…and used for gathering sap or something. Not stinging. But unfortunately for the megarhyssa, I didn't know it was harmless to humans. My reaction to its presence was… not harmless.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I'm doing some work on vote by mail and its various effects on voting and elections (sorry if this treads too close to politics) but it made me realize that we could make voting as simple as thinking and people still wouldn't vote. And that makes me kind of sad for various reasons.


----------



## Tom

Urg. Today was not the best day.

I got really mad about a guy who hangs around the edges of my circle of friends at school. This kid has been bugging us all year. He insults everyone, tries to pick fights, makes suggestive comments about the female members of our group, and mocks me about my gender identity and sexual orientation. 

Today I was too tired to think up any comebacks to his comments, so I just had to sit there and grind my teeth. (I tried to pull an all-nighter to study last night, but ended up falling asleep with my head on my keyboard at 3.) Nobody bothers to confront him because he's all talk and no real fight, but I'm sick of putting up with his sh*t. I'm going to kick his scrawny ass the next time I see him.


----------



## Ireth

I am SO GLAD it's Thursday night. Dad's home from work now, so I won't have to bear the brunt of sibling-sitting duties for the next few days. It's been a long week. x_x


----------



## Tom

I'm still discovering aspects of my synesthesia that leave me baffled. The other day, I was talking to someone in my math class. We were discussing multiplication, and the tricks for remembering different numbers' tables. I was complaining about seven, and I said something like, "Seven doesn't have a logical pattern, the little b******. He's so unpredictable." 

It just sort of...slipped out of my mouth. The other person sort of stared at me, and asked, "Why did you call seven 'he'?"

Up until that point, I had no idea that I had assigned genders, personalities, and associations to numbers. Once that comment called attention to it, I started noticing myself doing it all the time. I also, for the first time, drew out my number form, and realized how insane my idea of numbers is. :O  And for years I thought this was how _everyone_ saw the world. This...this is almost mind-blowing, guys.

P.S. Here's a number form, for anyone who doesn't know what it is:


----------



## Philster401

That's weird i always thought if 7 as feminine because of it's the lucky number and lady luck.


----------



## ThinkerX

The daughter and I got back from my niece's wedding a little while ago.  After my brother escorted said niece down the aisle, gave her away, and the ceremony concluded, I turned to the daughter (she's 23, probably in the same age range as Ireth and Chesterama) and asked:

'How long before I give you away?'

'Daddy, that's real unlikely.  I'm probably going to be a crazy cat lady.'

'Daughter, you can't stand the cats we have.'  (She's brought home three fur balls over the past few years, we have two left).

'Well, then I'll collect some other sort of animal.  Birds, maybe.  I can knit little sweaters for penguins.'


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Philster401 said:


> That's weird i always thought if 7 as feminine because of it's the lucky number and lady luck.


And that's why 7 must be MALE--the song "Luck Be A Lady Tonight," clearly indicating that Luck is a guy every other night.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I think I understand why there are so many sci-fi/fantasy novels that use an army of really big sentient bugs as enemies. They are relentless horror beasts that deserve nothing but death when they invade my territory and try to steal my food. Recently ants have decided to invade my apartment. We're currently baiting them and I hope that works. That first night I felt like the incredible Hulk. "BRIAN SCOTT ALLEN SMASH!" I hate ants in my house, but I let them live if they're outside and not a threat to anyone. But once they enter my house they have violated my sovereign territory. And like any good sovereign I injure my enemies so that they may not retaliate against me.

By the end of the week future antly generations will sing the Rains of Antemere to commemorate this colony's death!


----------



## Tom

Philster401 said:


> That's weird i always thought if 7 as feminine because of it's the lucky number and lady luck.



Well, it's different for everybody, and the way synesthetes see things doesn't always line up with general perceptions. Sometimes it's funny--I'll see a kids' cartoon or something that anthropomorphizes numbers, and I'll do a double take and think, "That's not right--6 is feminine!" or something like that. 

Here's the first ten numbers and their genders:

1--androgynous
2--feminine
3--masculine
4--masculine
5--feminine
6--feminine
7--masculine
8--masculine
9--feminine
10--sometimes masculine, sometimes androgynous


----------



## buyjupiter

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I think I understand why there are so many sci-fi/fantasy novels that use an army of really big sentient bugs as enemies. They are relentless horror beasts that deserve nothing but death when they invade my territory and try to steal my food. Recently ants have decided to invade my apartment. We're currently baiting them and I hope that works. That first night I felt like the incredible Hulk. "BRIAN SCOTT ALLEN SMASH!" I hate ants in my house, but I let them live if they're outside and not a threat to anyone. But once they enter my house they have violated my sovereign territory. And like any good sovereign I injure my enemies so that they may not retaliate against me.
> 
> By the end of the week future antly generations will sing the Rains of Antemere to commemorate this colony's death!



Combined with the buggy post I wrote, I think we have the calling card of oh it must be Spring. 

Remember, flame throwers are ALWAYS an option.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

buyjupiter said:


> Remember, flame throwers are ALWAYS an option.



Don't tempt me or my wife.


----------



## Devor

At our first apartment, in the few months before we had children, a bug bomb went off right across the hall from us, and overnight we had a thousand black roaches move in.  They scuttled under a crack in the door and were all over the floor, the cabinets, the food, the walls, some of the furniture.  I remember huddling in our beds with that jittery sort of terror trying to figure out what to do about it.  The welcome mat still makes my foot hesitate sometimes.

I don't even remember how we got rid of them.  It must've been some sort of over the counter poison because we didn't call anyone.  But that was a horror I won't be forgetting.


----------



## skrite

Devor said:


> At our first apartment, in the few months before we had children, a bug bomb went off right across the hall from us, and overnight we had a thousand black roaches move in.  They scuttled under a crack in the door and were all over the floor, the cabinets, the food, the walls, some of the furniture.  I remember huddling in our beds with that jittery sort of terror trying to figure out what to do about it.  The welcome mat still makes my foot hesitate sometimes.
> 
> I don't even remember how we got rid of them.  It must've been some sort of over the counter poison because we didn't call anyone.  But that was a horror I won't be forgetting.



oh....dear....God!


----------



## Tom

That is like...nightmares upon nightmares. But you survived to tell the tale! Good job!


----------



## Devor

I remember looking at the alarm clock that night wondering how it got to be 9 pm, only to shriek as a black thing ran across the numbers and revealed the rest of the 8.

I just have to wonder how the people across from us lived before their bug bomb.


----------



## Mars Enyalios

A friend and I talked today about the Hugo awards catastrophe and I came to the conclusion that a lot of people are rude and insensitive.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Devor, I think your cockroach story scared Mars' avatar.


----------



## BronzeOracle

That cockroach story is hideous - like something out of Indiana Jones!  :/


----------



## BronzeOracle

Tom Nimenai said:


> I'm still discovering aspects of my synesthesia that leave me baffled. The other day, I was talking to someone in my math class. We were discussing multiplication, and the tricks for remembering different numbers' tables. I was complaining about seven, and I said something like, "Seven doesn't have a logical pattern, the little b******. He's so unpredictable."
> 
> It just sort of...slipped out of my mouth. The other person sort of stared at me, and asked, "Why did you call seven 'he'?"
> 
> Up until that point, I had no idea that I had assigned genders, personalities, and associations to numbers. Once that comment called attention to it, I started noticing myself doing it all the time. I also, for the first time, drew out my number form, and realized how insane my idea of numbers is. :O  And for years I thought this was how _everyone_ saw the world. This...this is almost mind-blowing, guys.
> 
> P.S. Here's a number form, for anyone who doesn't know what it is:



That is amazing Tom, its a window on how differently people can see things.  Its great you can put it down on paper to understand it - has it shaped your creative expression?  Different perspectives, when expressed respectfully and artfully, can bring incredible richness to society.


----------



## Tom

It definitely has. I've painted a few pictures over the years of the "soundscapes" of different songs. I'm also more likely to use personification, anthropomorphism, and symbols in my writing, just because I do those things in real life to numbers, letters, and other things. I also have a magic system lurking in my notes somewhere that's based on synesthesia. I haven't figured it out yet, but I really want to put it in a story someday.

I love seeing people's unique perspectives. It's just really something to step back, and see all the different views of the world fall into place and become a beautiful mosaic.


----------



## Tom

In other news:

I hit a raccoon tonight while driving home from fencing. Poor little thing...I'm usually not a crier, but I sort of have a soft heart when it comes to animals.  All I could hope for was that it wasn't in pain before it passed. 

It made me think of that Calvin & Hobbes storyline where the two of them find an injured baby raccoon and take it home.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Had a dream I went to work, some weird electrical storm thing happened and I was jettisoned into a post apocalyptic future where my parents were  separated but living down the road from each other, my mom was in hospice care too, I had to track down my wife and kids, and I somehow had to save the world from the "green eyed man" (his eyes were a pure metallic green). To make sense of this I had to find some physicists (who were hiding from view because physics was outlawed, not the laws jus the study) to explain how I got there and how to get home, which coincided with me fighting the green eyed man. Then my baby woke up during the middle of a jackbooted raid on the apartment the physicists were staying in. 

This is the weirdest dream I think I have ever had.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

For all you first-person present tense narrators out there, I just discovered something today. _Divergent_ is narrated in first-person present.

I also noticed the author with a movie deal is guilty of a major FPOV faux pas: the very first scene in the book has the character sitting in front of a mirror.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just saw an ad for the dating site cougar life. And the older woman, cougar if you will, is mocking the younger women for being immature, catty, and dumb. But she comes off as the same. It seems counter productive to me. Unless they're going for irony, in the which case it was poorly done. 

Here it is if you have a need to watch it. CougarLife.com - Bar Commercial - YouTube


----------



## Tom

Legendary Sidekick said:


> For all you first-person present tense narrators out there, I just discovered something today. _Divergent_ is narrated in first-person present.
> 
> I also noticed the author with a movie deal is guilty of a major FPOV faux pas: the very first scene in the book has the character sitting in front of a mirror.



XD That's why I never got into those books. Because of the dystopian setting and the first-person present-tense POV, I've always thought of them as the off-brand version of the Hunger Games--cheap, derivative, and ultimately not as good as the name brand.


----------



## Reaver

Legendary Sidekick said:


> For all you first-person present tense narrators out there, I just discovered something today. _Divergent_ is narrated in first-person present.




I once collaborated with another author on a story about time traveling brothers.  I had to write in second person p.o.v. as one of the brothers who left a sort of diary about future events to himself.

It was incredibly fun to do but it was tough.


----------



## Tom

After going to _three_ weddings this spring (all my cousins seem to be getting married at once!) my mother told me, "I always get so choked up at weddings."

And I replied, "So does Joffrey Baratheon."

She didn't get it. Nevertheless, I felt very proud of myself.


----------



## StoryTypewriter

Tom Nimenai said:


> I'm still discovering aspects of my synesthesia that leave me baffled. The other day, I was talking to someone in my math class. We were discussing multiplication, and the tricks for remembering different numbers' tables. I was complaining about seven, and I said something like, "Seven doesn't have a logical pattern, the little b******. He's so unpredictable."
> 
> It just sort of...slipped out of my mouth. The other person sort of stared at me, and asked, "Why did you call seven 'he'?"
> 
> Up until that point, I had no idea that I had assigned genders, personalities, and associations to numbers. Once that comment called attention to it, I started noticing myself doing it all the time. I also, for the first time, drew out my number form, and realized how insane my idea of numbers is. :O  And for years I thought this was how _everyone_ saw the world. This...this is almost mind-blowing, guys.
> 
> P.S. Here's a number form, for anyone who doesn't know what it is:


I so know what you mean! Seven is also a 'he' in my mind. I am bilingual Spanish - Catalan and we give gender to all words... including objects, foods... you name it. It wasn't until I moved to an English-speaking country and became fluent that I realised that it's not the case in English. For what I understand, it happens in Latin-based languages (not sure about the others). My partner (an Aussie) doesn't speak either one and cracks ups everytime I explain that fork (tenedor) is masculine in Spanish while is femenine in Catalan (forquilla). I know, it's a mess... Thanks for sharing!


----------



## SeverinR

Tom Nimenai said:


> After going to _three_ weddings this spring (all my cousins seem to be getting married at once!) my mother told me, "I always get so choked up at weddings."
> 
> And I replied, "So does Joffrey Baratheon."
> 
> She didn't get it. Nevertheless, I felt very proud of myself.


But Rob and his wife got the point at his wedding, and it was cutting edge.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tomorrow I am taking G-money, my 8 month old, on a 5 hour flight. May heaven bless and keep this kid asleep and barring that may the people on the flight understand our terrible plight.


----------



## ThinkerX

Turning into a sucky week.

This morning I realized the resolution to the climactic scene in my WIP was a sort of blurred carbon copy of the resolution in the previous novella.  Drat and double drat.  Worked out a fix, though not a great one.

Then I heard my cousin in San Francisco died over the weekend, apparently in his sleep.

Added to the make-work paperwork at work...not a looking like a great week.


----------



## Reaver

My condolences ThinkerX.


----------



## StoryTypewriter

Sorry for your loss Thinker X


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

ThinkerX said:


> Turning into a sucky week.
> Then I heard my cousin in San Francisco died over the weekend, apparently in his sleep.


I'm sorry to hear of your loss, Thinker.


----------



## ThinkerX

Thank you for the condolences.  

I had not seen my cousin in years, though we spoke occasionally, and he was about the closest I had to a Beta Reader.  Back in the day - early 80's - we collaborated on a project or three, one kind of fun, another a long SF work that went nowhere.  He spent the past couple of years working erratically on a novel featuring angels (interesting choice, as he was an atheist.)

He was an early computer guru in the late 80's, and wrote half of one of the original books on email.  Later he was a programmer and IT guy for a number of corporations.  When the tech bubble broke back in 2000, his whole world broke along with it - he'd just spent a very long time crafting a complex program of great use, and then had to watch it be destroyed.  This turned his controllable bi-polar disorder into borderline paranoid schizophrenia, resulting in suicide attempts and long periods of institutionalization, along with lots of very powerful meds.  The last few years he stabilized, sort of, spending 95% of his time in an apartment about the size of an average bathroom, emerging only for food or doctors visits.  I tried various things from a distance to at least keep him mentally active, with occasional small successes...but last time I saw him in person, the writing was on the wall, so to speak.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I'm in a memorial park in the South that has several monuments to the U.S. Civil War. It's interesting how the South depicts the War versus the North. The former calls Lincoln's actions an invasion and the latter calls it a quelling of rebellion. This is just one difference. There are so many smaller differences as well. Its so interesting I think I could write a story about two people on two sides of a civil war and how they view each other and themselves. Eventually concluding with them meeting at a battlefield as old men to end the book.


----------



## Tom

You know you're an artist when you catch yourself googling things like "David Tennant's hands" for references.


----------



## SeverinR

https://twitter.com/omgthatspunny/status/574688602233376768

for anyone interested in proper grammar.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

SeverinR said:


> https://twitter.com/omgthatspunny/status/574688602233376768
> 
> for anyone interested in proper grammar.



That brings back my favorite WoW joke. "A guy walks up to me and says, 'I'm a tepee. I'm a wigwam. I'm a teepee. I'm a wigwam. I'm a teepee. I'm a wigwam.' I say, 'Relax man! You're two tents."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Bah, just watched the dance scene in Spider-man 3. I had forgotten how awful that was. *shudders*


----------



## Ireth

Cheese is really bizarre when you think about it. It's rotten, fermented milk, and yet it tastes good. And somehow it can go even MORE rotten, and some people like eating it that way. Weird, man.


----------



## thedarknessrising

Why did they make the decision to open Jurassic Park to the public? We had three movies explaining why that was a terrible idea. Hammond himself said it was a terrible idea at the end of the first movie.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

thedarknessrising said:


> Why did they make the decision to open Jurassic Park to the public? We had three movies explaining why that was a terrible idea. Hammond himself said it was a terrible idea at the end of the first movie.



Because people are stupid.


----------



## thedarknessrising

...Oh right.


----------



## Lunaairis

Where? What? When? Can all be answered by just replacing the "W" with a "T".


----------



## StoryTypewriter

Nice one, Lunaairis! 

Sent from my SM-G360G using Tapatalk


----------



## thedarknessrising

I woke up this morning to find an entire page in my WIP that I don't recall writing. And the weird thing is, it's totally consistent with the rest of my writing. I can literally say that writing is so easy I can do it in my sleep.


----------



## thedarknessrising

I woke up this morning to find an entire page in my WIP that I don't recall writing. And the weird thing is, it's totally consistent with the rest of my writing. I can literally say that writing is so easy I can do it in my sleep.


----------



## Saigonnus

Brain fart perhaps??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Guys, a petabyte is a lot of data and it's frightening.


----------



## Tom

Family reunion season is coming up! Here's what happened at the last one.

My cousin from Georgia: Can't you speak slower?! 

Me: Can't you speak faster?!

Annoyance with regional speech pattern variation is a mutual feeling, apparently!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Three times today I was ninja'd doing something goofy. Did I learn my lesson?

Nope.


----------



## Addison

I woke up ready to write! Smooth out some wrinkles in the revision, write a scene to fill in a gap.

What I accomplished today; cleaned the house, went on a nostalgic disney trip via youtube, watched psych, had dinner, did Mythic Scribe stuff, checked e-mail.

So a day full of procrastination. It's been a disease lately. :[


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Addison said:


> I woke up ready to write! Smooth out some wrinkles in the revision, write a scene to fill in a gap.
> 
> What I accomplished today; cleaned the house, went on a nostalgic disney trip via youtube, watched psych, had dinner, did Mythic Scribe stuff, checked e-mail.
> 
> So a day full of procrastination. It's been a disease lately. :[



In your defense, Psych is a funny show and I love it. From now on you can call me Brian TT Showbiz. The extra T is for extra talent.


----------



## Tom

The other day, a friend and I decided to recount some of the most shameful events of our childhoods. Great conversation topic, right? Anyway, I had the fortune (or would that be misfortune?) of having this gem of a story:

So I live near the Tonawanda Creek--it's right down the road. The summer I was ten, one of my cousins visited from out of state. He and I got along pretty well. One day, just for a laugh, I told him an old Seneca folktale about the Tonawanda Creek. Basically, the story goes that evil spirits live in the creek, and the only way to cross it is by canoe. If you try to swim across, the evil spirits will drown you. Obviously this legend was created by worried mothers who didn't want their kids playing in the creek's fast current. (Its name literally means "Swift Waters".)

So after that, we decided to go swimming in the creek. He was a little apprehensive about it, I could tell, even though he'd told me the legend was lame and he didn't care. Once we got in the water, I dived underwater and swam up behind him, then grabbed his ankles. I didn't pull him under--just gave him a little tug. He freaked out! He was out of the water in two seconds flat, I swear! I felt bad after I saw how upset he was (and after I got in major trouble for it). 

My friend found the story hilarious, but I just sort of sat there cringing and feeling ashamed, even after all these years. Luckily my cousin's pretty forgiving, and we still talk about the "creek incident" at family reunions. 

Man, I was a _mean_ little sh*t back then.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I think the most overused and asinine phrase swimming around on the Internet is "WAKE UP PEOPLE" (or SHEEPLE whichever). Seriously, that is one sure-fired way to get me to stop reading your post or to argue against it out of principle. Several commentators were sing this exact phrase to explain why the legal system was wrong, why the country was falling apart, etc (This came after reading an article posted by Matt Walsh concerning a 19 year-old sleeping with a 14 year-old who represented that she was 17. Seriously that phrase is worse than useless it hurts your point. WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!1!1!1!!11!!!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Today a student asked me how to write a limerick, so I asked her to give me one minute to write one so I'd have something to analyze. Here's what I came up with in that minute.

Tomorrow's the last day of school
It's summer, now isn't that cool?Tomorrow no work
Or your teacher's a jerk​'Cause tomorrow, I'm outta here, fool!


----------



## Aspasia

Seems like I get a headache from computer time a lot faster while on break than when classes are on. I distinctly remember coding all day and having 0 problems, but after a few hours of light Internet / writing I can feel it coming. Unfair! I'm trying to write and all even. Looks like I'll need to get comfortable with handwriting again ...

I need some hobbies that don't depend on my eyes or my hands.


----------



## Saigonnus

Aspasia said:


> Seems like I get a headache from computer time a lot faster while on break than when classes are on. I distinctly remember coding all day and having 0 problems, but after a few hours of light Internet / writing I can feel it coming. Unfair! I'm trying to write and all even. Looks like I'll need to get comfortable with handwriting again ...



Perhaps you should turn down the brightness of the monitor or device and get some anti-reflex glasses. They reflect much of the artificial light. I need some myself. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## StoryTypewriter

Maybe check your sight too.. I used to get headache with brightness to a minimum. The optician told me that it was because my right eye was doing all the work while my left was lazy. I dont need glasses for daily use and I havent had headaches since I got a pair of glasses computer-only to compensate my eyes workload.


----------



## Aspasia

Yup, I've had glasses since I was a child! I should look into that anti-glare coating--they offered it to me last time I got my lenses changed, but it was so expensive I decided I could live without. 

Well, I've got new paper notebooks and pens so I'll try writing by hand to reduce some of that computer time--will be challenging, but probably good for me! I'm powerless against the lure of pretty new stationary.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, last week I was sitting in my chair just watching my son crawl around and explore the apartment. Well, he discovered our book shelf recently, and as is his wont, he pulled out a bunch of books. My kid has seen me read every day since he was born. Well, after telling him no for the fiftieth time about trying to eat my books he push-crawled a copy of _The Alloy of Law_ over to me, used my leg for support (his way of asking for me to pick him up), and then leaned to grab the book that was on the floor. I bend over to pick it up and he opens it to a random page (which just so happened to be page 1). He stares at the page for awhile and turns it to another random page, stares at that one, turns it, and repeats to process a couple of more times. Have to say I think he was "reading" that book. And that made me happy.


----------



## Trick

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So, last week I was sitting in my chair just watching my son crawl around and explore the apartment. Well, he discovered our book shelf recently, and as is his wont, he pulled out a bunch of books. My kid has seen me read every day since he was born. Well, after telling him no for the fiftieth time about trying to eat my books he push-crawled a copy of _The Alloy of Law_ over to me, used my leg for support (his way of asking for me to pick him up), and then leaned to grab the book that was on the floor. I bend over to pick it up and he opens it to a random page (which just so happened to be page 1). He stares at the page for awhile and turns it to another random page, stares at that one, turns it, and repeats to process a couple of more times. Have to say I think he was "reading" that book. And that made me happy.



My oldest is that way. I've always been a nerd (proudly) and never much into sports and the like. I was worried that my kids would get some of my siblings' and wife's family's love for sports and the outdoors and skip over my love of reading and writing. I would have been okay with it, but a little sad. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. My oldest began pretending to read while he was crawling. Now that he's nearly four he has his alphabet down, never tires of having stories read to him and is already sounding out words and on the road to reading. He also loves to make up surprisingly complex little stories. Couldn't be more proud. My younger boy's first word was 'ball' so you can imagine he's a bit more sports oriented, which I am happy about too but I won't deny that, because my older son and I are always reading, my younger son has also developed a love for being read to and will "read" books on his own and that makes me happier still. I won't miss any of his games once he's old enough to play but I'll be more proud to see his good grades that result from a love of reading.


----------



## Tom

Well, this is the last week of fencing until fall! Instead of our normal class routine this week, we're throwing a pizza party for the kids in the beginner class. I really hope to see all my students once we start up again. Unfortunately, even though my coach really wants me to go, I'm too busy this summer to compete in Summer Nationals. And even if I wasn't, I wouldn't be able to even _begin_ to pay the entrance fees and replace all my old equipment! 

So now that fencing is over, I'm replacing it with this new daily exercise regimen to stay in shape:

50 squats
25 push-ups
Running 1/2 a mile

Hopefully I can hit the pool once or twice a week as well, and swim some laps. 



I don't want to do this.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Go for it, Tom. That sounds like something I should do, though for me, I'd flip the push-up/squat numbers. I _was_ doing 100 push-ups and 50 squats (starting at 40/20 and also planks, gut crunches and sit-ups, and increasing the numbers at regular intervals for a year), but I stopped and… yeah, stopping was bad.

My wife and I started again today. Not all that, but walking before breakfast. I also took a 10-mile bike ride early afternoon. I live on top of a hill, so I needed gears 1-4 to 1-1 during the last mile. The other hills are nothing. I suppose my destination was odd. I rode around an old graveyard. Lots of hills, no cars. It wasn't the intended destination, but it was the point that I realized that when I turn around, I'm half done, and that's the easy half.


----------



## Tom

Thanks! Good luck to you as well. 

I'm setting those numbers as my goal for the first few weeks or so, then I'll see if I can up them. I'm also going to add crunches, planks, and other calisthenics as time goes on, and increase the running distance too if I can. I'm a little dubious about the running. I'm not really built for endurance, more for fast spurts of energy, so I'm going to have to pace myself strictly to keep from burning out at the start. I'd like to run a 5K sometime in August, before school starts up again, so I'm building myself up for that.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> Thanks! Good luck to you as well.
> 
> I'm setting those numbers as my goal for the first few weeks or so, then I'll see if I can up them. I'm also going to add crunches, planks, and other calisthenics as time goes on, and increase the running distance too if I can. I'm a little dubious about the running. I'm not really built for endurance, more for fast spurts of energy, so I'm going to have to pace myself strictly to keep from burning out at the start. I'd like to run a 5K sometime in August, before school starts up again, so I'm building myself up for that.


 In short you're "wasted on cross-country, [but] very dangerous over the short distances."


----------



## Tom

For some reason, I started imagining how Southerner would play out if my MC were a centaur instead of human. Why? Absolutely no idea. But it has proven kind of interesting, thinking about how he'd face the same obstacles differently if he had four legs instead of two. It's also been kind of fun to reimagine his horse-reliant, semi-nomadic culture as centaurs. Would they still kill horses for their meat and hide, or would that be taboo? Would they still use tents, or sleep out in the open?

Sometimes I have no idea what goes on in my own mind.


----------



## Lunaairis

Okay this is from tumblr (or reddit I'm not too sure), so I didn't come up with the genius but I'm sure everyone here will love it.



> Reading is just staring at a dead piece of wood for hours and hallucinating


----------



## X Equestris

All of these Confederate flag debates in the past week have been...interesting.  And saddening.  The Internet never fails to disappoint.


----------



## Russ

X Equestris said:


> All of these Confederate flag debates in the past week have been...interesting.  And saddening.  The Internet never fails to disappoint.



It often makes me feel better to just think of them as the death throes of a doomed worldview.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

X Equestris said:


> All of these Confederate flag debates in the past week have been...interesting.  And saddening.  The Internet never fails to disappoint.



Oh my gosh I know. I keep seeing people post that it's not the confederate flag it was just a battle flag, so any criticism calling it the confederate flag is invalid. DUMB.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Scribes,

Though I understand there is no intention here to offend, this is not an appropriate site for this discussion. 

I'll point you toward the Mythic Scribes guidelines on political discussion. This includes all forums on this site:



> Contemporary political discussion inevitably leads to mistrust and division. Asking questions about politics as it directly relates to writing is fine, as is discussing historical political developments for the purpose of research. But all contemporary politics, including hot-button issues, are unwelcome distractions that must be avoided.


----------



## Reaver

I second my trusted cohort's words here.  I'd also like to add that you're welcome to discuss political views via private chat and PM with the caveat that any hostile and or threatening behavior toward other members is a big no-no.

Abandon all hope ye who incur The Reaver's wrath.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Reaver said:


> I second my trusted cohort's words here.  I'd also like to add that you're welcome to discuss political views via private chat and PM with the caveat that any hostile and or threatening behavior toward other members is a big no-no.
> 
> Abandon all hope ye who incur The Reaver's wrath.



I don't know if I should be too scared about your wrath. After all, I just read a book that said aim for the sweet triangle and brand myself with certain runes and then I can run hundreds of miles an hour. So, it can't be that scary.  

On a different note I just watched the Black Cauldron recently, and by rights it should be one of my favorite Disney shows, but it's just so much like every other fantasy story out there that I've read and watched that I could predict what would happen in each act. So, someone needs to sell a book to Disney to make a sweet fantasy movie out of it and rock my socks off to fix this egregious error.


----------



## X Equestris

I found this video of jungle animals reacting to their reflections in a mirror.  It was pretty interesting to see the different reactions.  Pretty sure only the chimpanzees and possibly the elephant realized they were looking at their own reflections.

[video=youtube_share;GaMylwohL14]http://youtu.be/GaMylwohL14[/video]


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I'm very impressed with my daughters' piano teacher. She's been hospitalized for some time, and yesterday, my wife received a call from her husband informing us that "Mrs. D" made the difficult decision to have her leg amputated. Yet, she's been in such high spirits that other patients have been coming to her for strength.

"Mrs. D" is inspirational, not only as a piano teacher—as a person!


----------



## Lunaairis

A random shower thought that just came to me, 'Knee-deep in Wonderland' and 'The girl in the ruby Slippers' sound like titles for crime novels and I'm actually disappointed that there isn't something published with those titles. Oh well, never going to use them so people can do what ever they want with them.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

It's 11:37 and there hasn't been a happy 4th thread!

So, before the day is over, *H**A**P**P**Y **4**t**h**!*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Went to a stadium fireworks show with my wife and kid. Put some noise cancellers on the boy and he slept right through Journey and woke up for the fireworks. He apparently got his entertainment priorities from his mother (who's favorite thing in the world is a good fireworks show) and not me (who would take Journey over fireworks any day of the ding dong week). And the firework show reinforced my thought how I need to write a scene where two people are fighting in the midst of fireworks because that would be awesome.


----------



## Tom

My cousin is singing backup in a Foreigner concert this summer. *green with envy*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So the American Football World Cup is a thing and it starts tomorrow. That should sate my appetite until later next month!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen




----------



## Legendary Sidekick

FACT: Ten years ago, yesterday, I proposed to my wife.

OPINION: It sure would've been nice if I had remembered that fact yesterday instead of a few minutes ago.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Legendary Sidekick said:


> FACT: Ten years ago, yesterday, I proposed to my wife.
> 
> OPINION: It sure would've been nice if I had remembered that fact yesterday instead of a few minutes ago.



When we were married, I made sure my wife agreed that the marriage date made any prior anniversary dates obsolete. A man can only remember so much....


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

T.Allen.Smith said:


> When we were married, I made sure my wife agreed that the marriage date made any prior anniversary dates obsolete. A man can only remember so much....


I could've used this information four months ago when I spent all that time, money and street cred on that @#$%ing Firstkissiversary Gala.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Saturday night - my wife and I saw a ThinkPad ad. I wondered aloud if my next laptop should NOT be a Mac.
Honest to God, in the next minute - I went to my Mac and it crashed in a scary way. I told my wife I must've hurt my Mac's feelings or pissed it off.
Sunday - after crashing for the 4th time, I could not restart my Mac.
Yesterday - I left my house at 12:15 to go to my 1:00 appointment at the Genius Bar.
Six Hours Later - I went home as the proud owner of a 1Tb external drive and a working laptop. My wife, who had met me at the store, was surprised that I was charged only for the external drive and not for the service. She suggested we stick to using Macs.

…



Today - catching up with my online course. I better get out of MS for now and get on with that.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I know Macs may not be the most technologically advanced machines but my old girl has been running well for five years straight now, very little problems. If I have the choice I'm getting another when Heniretta (my Mac) goes the way of all the earth.


----------



## Aspasia

Trying to get a writing group started IRL. Also trying to join a tiny SFF book club that apparently exists in my area too. No responses. Argh! All I want to do is talk about fantasy and scifi with real live humans in real life. Hoping I will get some responses ... it's super hard to start any kind of group and get people to actually come out and do stuff. You'd think there would be at least a few SFF nerds around here!

Oh well, maybe they're just really shy. Respond, please!


----------



## Trick

Aspasia said:


> Trying to get a writing group started IRL. Also trying to join a tiny SFF book club that apparently exists in my area too. No responses. Argh! All I want to do is talk about fantasy and scifi with real live humans in real life. Hoping I will get some responses ... it's super hard to start any kind of group and get people to actually come out and do stuff. You'd think there would be at least a few SFF nerds around here!
> 
> Oh well, maybe they're just really shy. Respond, please!



Perhaps you should put up your location so other Scribes who are located near you can see that and reach out?


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Tried this joke on FaceBook yesterday:



> I'll be signing books tomorrow at Barnes & Noble, South Coast Plaza at 6PM tomorrow.
> 
> Probably best to show up early. Before mall security throws me out.



I thought the joke was easily apparent, but at least half the people commenting missed it completely. 

Made me feel a bit bad as they were so supportive. On the other hand, they don't read carefully but want a signed copy.

Not sure how I feel about that.


----------



## Incanus

Oh, joy, I get to go to the dentist today--

I wonder if my mouth will still be numb by the time I start on part 5 of my novella for editing later in the evening.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So archaeologists have discovered cheese dating back to ~1600 B.C. And the only thing I could think of was,


----------



## Lunaairis

Something has always bugged me about bioshock.

  I have never finished the game. But Yes I know pretty much everything about it.  The whole " would you kindly"  was the reason I never finished. Every time I would be asked I'd try not to do it but the game would always make you do it.  So I got to a point where I was like "well if you are going to give me options but all the options are "do it," "do it," "do it" then I'm not going to play this game." and would promptly turn it off. 

Now since the meaning behind the game is illusion of choice. In me turning it off does that mean I broke their game?

Also I'm no slave.


----------



## X Equestris

Lunaairis said:


> Something has always bugged me about bioshock.
> 
> I have never finished the game. But Yes I know pretty much everything about it.  The whole " would you kindly"  was the reason I never finished. Every time I would be asked I'd try not to do it but the game would always make you do it.  So I got to a point where I was like "well if you are going to give me options but all the options are "do it," "do it," "do it" then I'm not going to play this game." and would promptly turn it off.
> 
> Now since the meaning behind the game is illusion of choice. In me turning it off does that mean I broke their game?
> 
> Also I'm no slave.



I think it was a bit of meta commentary on "why do you follow the orders of that distant mission control voice?"  A deconstruction of why we just blithely follow orders in video games.  Spec Ops: The Line did something similar with "why are you here?"  

And of course, you may not be a slave, but Jack is.  Born, raised, and conditioned by Fontain Futuristics to be an "Ace in the Hole".


----------



## X Equestris

I saw this video on TV earlier.  It's a couple months old now but...

[video=youtube_share;pzXL-KM2UqU]http://youtu.be/pzXL-KM2UqU[/video]


----------



## SeverinR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jY9y_nc0Vs

In Germany, in a few weeks, there will a great party, A rave. Why do I mention it, why do I care?
I was stationed in Germany in 1984, I was part of the Advon team for GLCM Germany.
When I left, the base was almost ready to open. 2 yrs and I never got to see it functional. But I did see all this in the video brand new. Now it sits a relic like the castles, but the Germans invade the closed base annually, for one grand party.  
I see it as a celebration of life. The cold war ended.
So strange seeing the base abandoned, but the beasts of war remain silent and have been removed. 
One day I would love to go to the party, see the old buildings.

Wueschheim Germany 38th tmw - Bing Videos


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I watched some HEMA style fights on YouTube, they were impressive. Although, why don't they have a continuous match set up. That could make the fights even more entertaining.


----------



## Addison

My sister just discovered Pitch Perfect. She's practicing the Cup song and is currently youtube-ing the songs from the next computer. So now her career choice is to be an Olympic gymnast and an award-winning a cappella singer. It's amazing the influence some movies have on people.


----------



## ThinkerX

I got off work a little earlier than usual today and used the extra time to swing by the library on the way home.  Saw better than half a dozen brand new fantasy / SF books on the shelves, read the first chapter or two...then it hit me.

All of the fantasy books featured royal intrigue as a major element.  The kingdom was always at stake.  After a bit I started to wonder...a lot of the fantasy from decades past was pretty much a rip-off of Tolkien's LOTR.  This current crop seems to owe a lot to Martins 'Game of Thrones.'

Two of the SF books were variants on the 'Generation Starship Tale.'  Problem with that, unless you get real creative (and there are past SF authors who have done so), the stories are either set at the very beginning or near the end of the voyage.  

In the end, I didn't check out any of the books.


----------



## X Equestris

Found a scorpion in our bathroom.  Lots of shivers were had.

Funny thing is, I've been writing a story set in a desert that has both actual scorpions and manticores in it.  I guess I have some first hand experience now.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Ahh... Technology free in the White Mountains. Oops...er...almost. Well, just wanted to check in to say that spending a week offline is good for the creative process. I'm only on today because I'm taking an online course and had to post before midnight. While I'm here, I just want to give a shoutout to Reaver for suggesting I put my WIP aside for a week. Not only did that pay off in terms of quality family time, but the added bonus is the WIP benefits as well. I have such a clear vision, some of which I jotted down (the parts I'd otherwise forget).

Okay, so that's my thought for the day. Back to roughing it... which just means going offline. I'm in a luxury condo. Let people without two-year-olds or city-girl wives or minds that work differently than mine sleep where the bears poop. 

Oh, I really do gotta go! I'm on lemonade duty.... Hoo, sure is rough in the mountains. Someone always pours the lemonade for me back home. I'll survive somehow. Later!


----------



## Incanus

It's funny how, even though you're supposed to write most every day, occassionaly not writing for a while is better for your writing, which you should be keeping up on except when its a better idea not to for a while so that it is that much better when you do...  This stuff hurts my fragile brain--best not to think about it too much.


----------



## Reaver

Did I mı̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̨ake you wipe your screen?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Reaver said:


> Did I mı̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̸̨ake you wipe your screen?


My screen is as dirty as this man's eyeglasses!


----------



## Reaver

I love MST3K!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

_Riding with Death_ is my favorite episode.

"MEL-" *punch* "-LOW" *punch* "OUT!" *punch*


----------



## Reaver

Werewolf (a.k.a. Arizona Werewolf) is my favorite.


----------



## Tom

This morning I walked down to the railroad crossing to wait and watch for the Nickel Plate 765, an historic steam train passing through from Bison Yard en route to Corning. 

There's nothing like watching a steam train barrel down the tracks towards you, guys. 

You hear that unique two-toned brass whistle first, and then see the gray smoke billowing above the treeline as the engine approaches. Then it rounds the bend and it's just..._magnificent_. You just feel so tiny and insignificant as it barrels past you, pistons churning and wheels flashing, the ground shaking beneath your feet. Then, when it's gone, you stand there for a few moments in awe, listening to the rails shiver in its wake.  

Wow, now _that_ was cool.


----------



## Philster401

Visiting family in California  was without cell service  for the past two days. I have to deal with this until August 12. Only way I have cell service and data is because we drove to Sacramento for the day now we are heading  back to where we are staying so I will be back without technology except for tv.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Sometimes being a dad means having your daughter's arms wrapped tightly around your neck as her cartoon is interrupted by a tornado warning. I wanted to show her a funnel cloud, since it was distant and not fully formed or close enough to the ground to cause any tragic destruction, but sometimes being a dad means knowing what not to show your child.

And sometimes—yup, back to your show, Sweetie—when you've done a good job as a dad, you need to reward yourself. And that's why, now that my daughter's finally let go of my neck and is back to watching Odd Squad with her sisters, I'm gonna reward myself with a small handful of Cape Cod potato chips.








I'm Legendary Sidekick *crunch* anh I'rmh a lrrgrrndrry drrd.


----------



## Tom

Hey everyone, I finally got on the tumblr bandwagon! I'm Schillerama over there.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Earlier today, my 5-year-old was terrified of tornados. Now she's looking forward to a visit from the Tooth Fairy. (She always leaves a note.)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Guys, the Karate Kid is awesome. That is all.


----------



## SeverinR

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Guys, the Karate Kid is awesome. That is all.


Which one? 
The original? The sequals, the next Karate kid? the remake(Karate kid 2010(Kung fu kid)?
Karate kid, Karate kid 2(Revenge of Cobra-kai), Karate kid (goes to Okinawa) 3,Karate kid 4(Next Karate kid) Karate kid 5 (Kung fu kid with Jayden Smith and Jackie Chan)


----------



## SeverinR

Random thought:
We should all be aware of punctuation, remember life began with a missed period, and it became an exclamation point, with a question mark on the future.


----------



## Saigonnus

I agree with Severin. Punctuation is just as important as the words you choose to use. One example I give my students is:

A woman without her man is nothing. 

Vs. 

A woman, without her, man is nothing.

As you can see adding punctuation can flip the sentence's meaning on it's head! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## X Equestris

Yes, there's quite a difference between "Let's eat, Grandpa." and "Let's eat Grandpa."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

SeverinR said:


> Which one?
> The original? The sequals, the next Karate kid? the remake(Karate kid 2010(Kung fu kid)?
> Karate kid, Karate kid 2(Revenge of Cobra-kai), Karate kid (goes to Okinawa) 3,Karate kid 4(Next Karate kid) Karate kid 5 (Kung fu kid with Jayden Smith and Jackie Chan)



The First one. The others are okay to awful.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Here is a song to celebrate left handers day. It's a song about everyone's faovrite left hander, Ned Flanders.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

I learned a lesson about the value of silence ... 

My family and I were watching something called Weird Inheritance and 2 guys on the show inherited their father's menagerie- a lifetime collection of taxidermy specimens. Almost unanimously, my family agrees there "must be something wrong with you" if taxidermy (or the mere thought of it) doesn't creep you out. I'm open with accepting death (as much as any self-preserving mortal being can be) so I really don't mind. I would never judge someone for just for having a hobby like that and while I would probably never try to learn it, I think it's a pretty neat thing. It's not all that different from bone collections in museums. For future generations, it might even be able to preserve creatures  that will someday be extinct ... It's almost like freezing the hands of time and preserving (at least the appearance) of the animal indefinitely. I think people's discomfort with it is deeply tied to our discomfort over the reality that we too will die. But if you can bring yourself to truly accept that then there's really no reason why it should make you uncomfortable. So they were quiet as - I sat there trying to explain all of this and just when I thought they understood - that I had somehow convinced even just one of them to be just a tiny bit more open-minded - they turn me and say "ew. You're sick."

2 lessons learned ... 
A. Some opinions are best kept to yourself. 
B. My family will always think I'm weird.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

"Her legs are so warm!"

This is what my five-year-old exclaimed after hugging Cinderella at Disney World.

The next day, it was 102˚F, so everyone's legs were warm. My five-year-old asked me where Cinderella sleeps. I said, "I dunno. I guess she goes home and goes to bed." My five-year-old said, "I think she sleeps in the castle." I offered no argument.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Started school today, lots of fun there, and my first major reading assignment is a medieval text (_Summa Theologica_) I've fallen asleep twice trying to read this. Heaven help me. Although the class I am reading it for has given me a couple of story ideas. Looks like I won't be on Mythic Scribes much for the next couple of months. Don't let the fort fall while I'm gone.


----------



## Trick

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Started school today, lots of fun there, and my first major reading assignment is a medieval text (_Summa Theologica_) I've fallen asleep twice trying to read this. Heaven help me. Although the class I am reading it for has given me a couple of story ideas. Looks like I won't be on Mythic Scribes much for the next couple of months. Don't let the fort fall while I'm gone.


Are you at a Catholic University? Can't imagine anywhere else assigning The Summa. It's one of the greatest works of all time but I'll admit also one of the most droll. 

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Trick said:


> Are you at a Catholic University? Can't imagine anywhere else assigning The Summa. It's one of the greatest works of all time but I'll admit also one of the most droll.
> 
> Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk



I should be more specific. I am taking a jurisprudence class. I am reading articles 90-96 or so. It's a bit dense, but I found that reading the answer and on the contrary first then reading the objections with their corresponding responses works to help my understanding. But it did give me a story idea where a person takes on the "essence" of a corporation making the corporation a "person." No idea what'll happen with it, but I'm going to let it marinate for awhile and see what happens.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I should be more specific. I am taking a jurisprudence class. I am reading articles 90-96 or so. It's a bit dense, but I found that reading the answer and on the contrary first then reading the objections with their corresponding responses works to help my understanding. But it did give me a story idea where a person takes on the "essence" of a corporation making the corporation a "person." No idea what'll happen with it, but I'm going to let it marinate for awhile and see what happens.



Terrible choice for a jurisprudence class.  Just horrible.  Wave your finger disapprovingly at your instructor for me...


----------



## Trick

Russ said:


> Terrible choice for a jurisprudence class.  Just horrible.  Wave your finger disapprovingly at your instructor for me...


Those chapters specifically apply to jurisprudence though... So, how is it a terrible choice? I would imagine that introducing various viewpoints would help students form their own opinion. Isn't that what learning is all about?

Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk


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## Russ

Trick said:


> Those chapters specifically apply to jurisprudence though... So, how is it a terrible choice? I would imagine that introducing various viewpoints would help students form their own opinion. Isn't that what learning is all about?
> 
> Sent from my LG-H631 using Tapatalk



I could go on for a while on this one.

The first reason is that is is very distance from modern jurisprudencial theory, and so pretty in applicable for your modern student.

The next would be exactly as mentioned above, to the modern reader it is a snore fest.  Once could choose literally hundreds of more interesting texts on the subject for most students.

Thirdly it is inaccessible.  It is hard to read and dig through meaning that your value for time invested for the beginning/intermediate student is pretty low.

Fourthly it is an original source, which are very hard to interpret correctly without a proper background in the period and period thought, usually learned through quality secondary sources.

Fifthly, for a modern law student, it is impractical.  I pity the fool who cites it in argument in a courtroom today.

Unless you are studying theology it really is a specialized little text in its own little sub world with on generalized application.  It would be like me insisting that the the Battle of the River Kalka in its original  be taught in an undergrad course on european mililtary history (come to think of it the argument for Kalka is better I suspect...).

I am all for the study of the Summa, and I am all for studying different approaches to jurisprudence, but I don't think the Summa is a good choice for a text in either an undergrad course or law school course in jurisprudence.  I have my suspicions why the instructor might have chosen it, but they are not pleasant ones.


----------



## Devor

Russ said:


> I am all for the study of the Summa, and I am all for studying different approaches to jurisprudence, but I don't think the Summa is a good choice for a text in either an undergrad course or law school course in jurisprudence.  I have my suspicions why the instructor might have chosen it, but they are not pleasant ones.



There is a "this is the development of jurisprudence" argument.  But in my experience, works like Summa are usually chosen to criticize them.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Devor said:


> There is a "this is the development of jurisprudence" argument.  But in my experience, works like Summa are usually chosen to criticize them.



Which is exactly what is going to happen in a couple of weeks. The _Summa_ is making a natural law argument, pretty soon we're going to figure out why natural law has fallen so far out of favor.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Which is exactly what is going to happen in a couple of weeks. The _Summa_ is making a natural law argument, pretty soon we're going to figure out why natural law has fallen so far out of favor.



Or not.  The funny thing about natural law is that is the true underpinning of modern international human rights laws...which I hope are not too out of favour.

It is also the foundation of "procedural fairness", and a number of other concepts still very  much key to modern justice.  But many people just don't like to talk about that.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> Or not.  The funny thing about natural law is that is the true underpinning of modern international human rights laws...which I hope are not too out of favour.
> 
> It is also the foundation of "procedural fairness", and a number of other concepts still very  much key to modern justice.  But many people just don't like to talk about that.



I'm not too sure about that. Seems to me legal thought, especially in the US, is trending more and more towards legal positivism. Justices and others may try to couch their opinions by using natural law arguments, but I'm more convinced they believe that the law is what they say it is and not that they are trying to reveal the true order of the universe.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Best quotes from my Disney Trip:

Sabina, age 5: "Her legs are so warm!" (after hugging Cinderella)

Hannah, age 2: "Watch me play a game." _Hannah stands on the rock near hole #9 at the resorts mini golf course. She jumps off, botches the landing, and drops to her knees. _"See? I fell off the game."

Ameila, age 7: "You know when grown-ups say that, it takes away all the fun." (in response to me saying, "You realize the princesses are just actresses, right?")

Here are pics of the kids in costume—which they only wore at night, not in the hot sun, which is why they weren't crying while dressed up.








And here's my favorite quote from a Disney employee. This was at the Laugh Floor, a Monsters Inc.-themed improv show where the monsters call on people in the audience. The first monster is a two-headed monster named Mac and Cheese.

Mac & Cheese: "Next up is the two-headed human!"

The two-headed human was me and Sabina. She was sitting in my lap. All we had to do was set up the monsters by answering questions and letting them run with it. I saluted when Mac (or was he Cheese?) sang the national anthem of Leominster. But of course it's the monsters that do all the funny stuff while audience members just kinda play along. If you're ever in Disney World I highly recommend the Laugh Floor.


----------



## ThinkerX

Ugh...spent most of the last three days in airports or on airplanes.   

Took a bloody funeral to get me out of Alaska.  But is it really a service when only two people show up?  (Granted the third guy is a firefighter and half of California is going up in smoke, but the rest...'issues upstairs' about sums it up.)

Need sleep.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Guys college football is back and my team beat Michigan last night. I am happy. Plus, my boy wore football jammies last night and he looked totes adorbs as the young folk say.


----------



## Tom

The Buffalo Bills lost last night by one measly touchdown. And it was supposed to be a home game, but they had to play at the Lions because the Ralph Wilson was hosting a One Direction concert. That's right. My team was pushed out of their home stadium by a British boy band.

Hopefully last night won't set the tone for the entire season. It probably will, though. Bleh.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Preseason schmee-season. Doesn't have anything to do with the regular season. But then again, it is the Bills.


----------



## Tom

Yes. Exactly. It's the Bills, so undoubtedly they will continue to play in their typical haphazard, penalty-strewn fashion throughout the entire season.


----------



## Incanus

My best writing friend (who I met here at MS) sent me an email yesterday that was over 15,000 words.  It took her 6 hours to write.  I sort of makes me feel... I don't know... honored that she puts in so much effort.  I'm the sort of person who questions the value of my own opinions, but apparently at least one person thinks pretty highly of my input and thoughts.  I almost don't feel worthy--(as a writer) I'm a complete nobody, no credentials; only a pair of eyes and a slightly odd-working, sluggish brain.  I must being doing more good than I think.

(Now if that's not a random thought, then I don't know what is!)


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

+160 rep points for the above. It is awesome when you're not famous, not making money from your work (or not real money) and someone out there (or here on MS) notices your creativity and takes the time and effort to really say it. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## SeverinR

Won't go into why I wrote this, but my Random thought of the day:
"Life sucks less with Grandbabies".  (So I hear any way)

Two weddings down, sent my youngest off to Washington State, and next life changing event...events?
Grandbabies on the way. (Yes, plural)
Days before my oldest daughters wedding, my youngest daughters(the wedding the week before) msg me saying she was pregnant...too. (older daughter announced a month ago)
My reply was: "You know, not everything has to be a competition with your sister."


----------



## Incanus

Wow, thanks Legendary!  That was one helluva rep wallop!  I thought you were just exaggerating when I first read the number.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

It's that six-sided star button (next to thanks), which in my head is called the Sheriff's Badge button. I think it only gives 1 point the first time you use it, then the number keeps going up. Apparently, I press it a lot.


----------



## Chessie

I find it interesting how in many Hollywood movies, novelists are portrayed as these suave, rich, people with a poetic approach to life that have it SO freaking easy. The starving artist is a real creature, and much more prevalent than the authors who make a serious killing at their profession and are able to live in mansions. This portrayal of writers in movies really irritates me for some reason.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Chesterama said:


> I find it interesting how in many Hollywood movies, novelists are portrayed as these suave, rich, people with a poetic approach to life that have it SO freaking easy. The starving artist is a real creature, and much more prevalent than the authors who make a serious killing at their profession and are able to live in mansions. This portrayal of writers in movies really irritates me for some reason.



Yes!

I see this in movies too.

Or another scenario is the author that is a genius and poor but only one small step from fame. These literary prodigies also manage to travel the globe and maintain a host of either rich or intelligent friends who provide them with room, board and high adventure.

If placed in a modern setting, they are shown handing in a paper manuscript to a publisher for cash. Absurd.


----------



## SeverinR

In horror, the writer is usually the crazy person that can't write unless he is inspired by evil or is actually living out his book.
I have seen, in movies, both the rich writer and the poor booze hound trying to finish a book between finishing as many bottles as he.
Writers are never just normal people.  
It is as poor a portrayal as the military Security, most often the USAF SP's that can't keep an individual out of any restricted area, and shoot as bad as Federation Storm troopers.


----------



## Incanus

It's true about writers in fiction.  But really it's true about most occupations used in fictional settings.  Just look at how doctors, musicians, politicians, soldiers, etc., etc. are handled in books and movies.  Even when they're not the main character.


----------



## Russ

I get a kick out of the card games they have on Castle with real writers.  Can't get any more authentic than the real thing!


----------



## Tom

Hey, the Buffalo Bills won yesterday! The veteran defense did their job well, as usual, but the young offense, which has been struggling, managed to pull it together and make some great plays. Tyrod Taylor definitely looks like the right fit for quarterback. I like him. He's smart, and he keeps a cool head under fire. 

Maybe this season won't be a total washout after all...


----------



## Philster401

Congrats, Tom.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hey, the Buffalo Bills won yesterday! The veteran defense did their job well, as usual, but the young offense, which has been struggling, managed to pull it together and make some great plays. Tyrod Taylor definitely looks like the right fit for quarterback. I like him. He's smart, and he keeps a cool head under fire.
> 
> Maybe this season won't be a total washout after all...



The Bills were a huge surprise this Sunday. Good on 'em. Let's see if Super Mariota can keep it up for the Titans.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Green Bay, all the way.


----------



## Tom

MineOwnKing said:


> Green Bay, all the way.



They're my favorite team after the Bills. I also like the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, that's a traditional family loyalty, and for me it's more casual than anything else.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

I'm a born yinzer... Left Pittsburgh at 17, but that's still my team.


----------



## Ankari

I'm a diehars Bucs fan. Boy, the past decade has been a true test of my loyalty.


----------



## Russ

I had a cousin who used to scout for the Steelers so I am a life long fan.

Being in Toronto, we get a ton of Bills coverage.  Thank god for the NFL network.

I would not get too excited about the Bills quite yet.


----------



## Tom

Russ said:


> Being in Toronto, we get a ton of Bills coverage.



Speaking of, I've heard rumors floating around that the Bills have canceled their annual Toronto game. What's up with that?


----------



## Russ

Tom Nimenai said:


> Speaking of, I've heard rumors floating around that the Bills have canceled their annual Toronto game. What's up with that?



Poor ticket sales and crowd response.  I bought the first series and didn't renew.  I am hoping we are working on getting our own team.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Going through Netflix and saw that they listed _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_ as a movie based off a children's book, which is true if you want to both confuse and traumatize your child. So, you know, classic Disney fare.


----------



## Philster401

[video=youtube_share;GWdh-fujOb8]https://youtu.be/GWdh-fujOb8[/video]
Any Yugioh fan new movie notice Yugi's new duel disk.


----------



## Gryphos

Do you ever think that in the future memes will be studied as part of history. Like, will Memology become a serious field of expertise? Will you be able to get a PHD in Memology? Mad ting.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I'm slightly confused by the whole meme thing. When I first heard about it I got it explained as if it's a pattern of thoughts or ideas, shared among a large group of people. It's nearly fifteen years ago though so I might remember it wrong.

These days, when people talk about memes they mostly seem to refer to picture with a funny caption - or a picture that's used for putting captions on in order to emphasise the message of the caption. This may very well fit with my initial impression fo whart a meme is, as you need to be familiar with the picture and the context it's used in. I'm still uncertain about how that relates to the original meaning of the word.

It's funny how things like that change. It's my guess that few people these days think about what the abbreviation LOL stands for, and just use it as a word for expressing how something is funny/silly.

On that not. I'm pretty sure memes as we currently know them (funny pictures) will be studied, and probably already are. It's a big part of online culture, which is a big part of our lives (or well, my life at least), and it's sort of becoming a language of its own. Looking at Facebook it's not uncommon to see "conversations" where the majority of the exchange is made up of captioned pictures rather than text.


----------



## Gryphos

Memes don't necessarily have to be pictures with captions. In fact, some of the best memes nowadays take the form of a specific phrase originating from a video source (usually a vine or something similar).

For example, if you're chilling with the mandem and one of them rocks up with questionably footwear, you might point at the shoes and say "WHAT ARE THOOOOOOOSE?!!!!" And that is a meme.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

My daughters (ages 7, 5 and 3) experienced loss today. Ginger the betta fish died today. We went apple-picking to cheer the girls up, then they were mentally prepared to have a little cremation ceremony in the fire pit. Amelia (7) and Sabina (5) helped gather dry leaves, pine needles and hay to make a tiny funeral pyre. In went Ginger. After a prayer and a few words, I lit the pyre. Hannah (3) sang, "Happy Birthday to you / Happy Birthday to you / Happy Birthday dear Ginger / Happy Birthday to you."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

My little dude had his first birthday party. He loved being the center of attention and eating the frosting of his cake (not his cake). He also played the paper airplane toss game I made. He may have walked so close to the 40 pt hole where he could just push his plane through, but hey he's one. (Cheatin' little stink beating everyone by 100 pts.)


----------



## Gryphos

Deleted for content.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I went and looked up meme in the end: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme



> A meme (/ˈmiːm/ meem)[1] is "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture".[2] A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.[3]



The studying of memes is called memetics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memetics



> The meme, analogous to a gene, was conceived as a "unit of culture" (an idea, belief, pattern of behaviour, etc.) which is "hosted" in the minds of one or more individuals, and which can reproduce itself, thereby jumping from mind to mind. Thus what would otherwise be regarded as one individual influencing another to adopt a belief is seen as an idea-replicator reproducing itself in a new host. As with genetics, particularly under a Dawkinsian interpretation, a meme's success may be due to its contribution to the effectiveness of its host.
> 
> Memetics is also notable for sidestepping the traditional concern with the truth of ideas and beliefs. Instead, it is interested in their success.[2]



The way I understand it, the pictures, expressions, or actions commonly referred to as memes today are more akin to "physical" representation of a meme. Then again I may be putting too much, or too little, thought into it.


----------



## Tom

Svrtnsse said:


> I'm slightly confused by the whole meme thing. When I first heard about it I got it explained as if it's a pattern of thoughts or ideas, shared among a large group of people. It's nearly fifteen years ago though so I might remember it wrong.



Yeah, that's the general definition. In my writing/literature class this semester, we're studying The Odyssey in-depth. One of the things we're looking for is memes in the poem--universal, repeated themes or ideas that resonate across cultures. So far most of the memes have related to the Hero's Journey pattern. It's really cool, actually.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Just cleaned the lofts today. My wife and kids and I now live in the house I mostly grew up in. When I was 21, I scaled the loft over my ex-bedroom in about one second. It was slap-jump-kick-jump, the slap and kick both hitting the top of a six-foot-tall bureau to get me on the nine-foot-high loft. It was only a level or two below the agility of a Jackie Chan corner wall kick.

Today it was more like grab-pull with hand-push wall with foot-grab loft-count to three-stop thinking about what happens if you fall-jump and pull and pray and say three really loud because it makes the physical feat more effective-promise yourself to just bring the damn ladder next time-ah, screw that, I still got it-sort of. It was a level or two above a fireman muttering Danny Glover lines like "Only three days until retirement" and "I'm too old for this shit."

42 is only twice as old as 21. Why does it take me ten times longer to go up the goddamn loft?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

The Utes just crushed the Ducks by 42. I love college football.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

What I don't love is when your train is late by a minute to a hub station and the bus, which has standing orders to wait for the train until it is five minutes late, decides to leave right on time. Which will make you an hour late to your job. Fantastic.


----------



## Tom

You know it's going to be a bad week when you have two exams on the same day.


----------



## Incanus

I've worked on my novel's first draft for exactly 20 straight days now.  Just shy of 12,000 words so far, so a little under 600 a day on average.  Compared to some around here, that's pretty terrible, but compared with myself historically, it is a decent improvement.  It's junky, first-draft stuff, but I think some of it is not too bad--mostly I think the novel is 'working' like it is supposed to.  I expect the first draft to be around 70 to 85 thousand words, give or take a few, so I'd say I'm fairly well underway.


----------



## Russ

The real accomplishment there is the 20 straight days of work.  Even if  you are not producing large volumes of words that kind of consistency is what will get you over the finish line.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

I agree with Russ.

I'll add though, it takes most people 2-3 months to form a habit. Keep at it. Keep your foot on the gas. Keep tracking. 

Your current pace is two manuscript drafts a year. Doesn't sound slow thinking of it that way, does it?


----------



## Incanus

Thanks guys.  I should point out that the 'daily work' part of the habit had already been formed over the last year, writing shorts and a novella.  I've been working about 5 to 7 days a week on writing for over a year now.  Really, I'd almost have to say it's less of a habit and more of an addiction at this point--I get a little grumpy and out-of-sorts on days I can't write.  Thank goodness I've got clear skies ahead--There should be only one day in Oct. that I won't get any writing in.  I'm pretty happy with the way things are working at the moment.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Awesome, Incanus! Keep it up!


----------



## ThinkerX

(Very) rough draft of the current novella 90% finished as of a few days ago, enough to tell a coherent story.  Some chapters stand in dire need of expansion (hence the 90% finished bit), and somehow I ended up with three minor characters sharing the same name (note to self, look a little further down the list when picking names on the fly).  All in all, though, it can stew for a few months.

This novella is the third is a series of six...at least six is the current number.  Looking over the ending, though, and taking a look at the end of the first novella, I have been wondering as of late if I am really writing a series of novellas or a trilogy of two part novels.  For the time being, to preserve sanity, I firmly tell myself these are novellas.


Been doing a bit of outlining/idea bouncing and editing on other projects.


----------



## Incanus

Sounds good, ThinkerX.  I really like the idea of your related novellas.  I can see how, while working on them, different ideas about the overall structure might emerge.  I'm sure you'll see the best to handle it sooner or later.


----------



## Tom

I'm writing a paper right now that contrasts Delacroix's _Liberty Leading the People_ and Picasso's _Guernica_, to show how attitudes towards war have changed over time. And...wow. I'd never realized how powerful _Guernica_ is. Just studying it out of an art book is bringing me to tears over the profound suffering and horror it depicts. I can't even imagine how I would feel if I had the opportunity to see the painting in person.


----------



## Stephyn Blackwood

Recently I had this weird little thought train, and seeing as no one I knew truly appreciated it, I'm wondering if someone on here might.

It all started a couple weeks ago when I finished replaying all of the Mass Effect games, and I was thinking about the whole idea of the Reapers, and how true it is in the sense that history has forever run in cycles. Every great empire has risen to the top and then usually violently brought down i.e The Dinosaurs where brought down by a meteor, Rome by the Germanic Tribes, The Russian Empire by Bolshevik Revolutionaries, so on and so forth.

And then I put the thought aside. Until water was found on Mars... And the little rusty old wheels in my head started turning again. What if... A billion years ago or so (Not factual time-limit, I don't know much about the history of the planets.) Mars was actually a planet much likes ours is today, populated and flourishing with advanced sentient life forms. But, through some kind of catastrophic event, they were wiped out. Now this could be anything, but it doesn't really matter... (That's pretty much the only way that I can link this to Mass Effect. Be really cool if it was Reapers  )) 

But anyway, say.... In a few generations time, Earth goes the same way Mars did. (Because life runs in cycles, does it not?) We as a race are wiped out and Earth is left a barren wasteland with no signs of life. 
Now.... What if, through some astronomical event, like how Earth and all the life forms on it were originally formed, happens on Mars in a billion years time...

And once they have progressed enough to reach our stage... And a little martian man looks up to the skies at a Barren Earth and starts to wonder... Starts to wonder and has the exact same thought process I had a few days ago...

I'd like to thank anyone who got this far through my mad ramblings, and has reached the end of it. You truly are my favourite people


----------



## Philster401




----------



## Addison

Okay I really need to vent. The subject of this post is also the reason of my lack of presence on the site. After finally writing an official "The End" at the end of my story I sent it to an editor. Not a big shot, not a publisher or agent, a proof reader. 

It is driving me nuts!!!:eek2:

I am losing my mind. Seriously sending my story to be read through  microscope to a stranger is.....well refer to the emoticons. The guy said he'd be done between a few days ago to a few days before Halloween. A big gap but it's seeping into my life. I've gone OCD on my book shelf, my desk, my story files, even my clothes. Worst is it's affecting my reading! All the books I never had time to read I've started but now I find myself reading hardly two chapters before I just flip to the last chapter, read the last part of it and put it away! AAAAAA!!

Phew. I feel better now. I'm also on the hunt for a new job so maybe this emotionally over-whelming challenge will drown out the story gremlins in my head. :wink:

Happy Writing.


----------



## Saigonnus

My random thought of the day is why they can't form a commitee of fantasy writers where we contemplate the problems society faces and try to find creative solutions...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Russ

Saigonnus said:


> My random thought of the day is why they can't form a commitee of fantasy writers where we contemplate the problems society faces and try to find creative solutions...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



We already seem to have a large group of people trying to fix our society's problems with magical or fantastic thinking...we call them politicians...


----------



## Tom

God, how did I go from writing a paper on the artistry of Puritan gravestones, to a rather cynical, snarky opinion piece connecting the Puritans' acceptance of literacy with the eventual downfall of their belief system, AND drawing comparisons between that and why modern-day radical conservative Christians limit book choices and media and internet intake? Oh Goddddddddd, how am I going to explain this to my professor...? 

I just hope he'll appreciate my cynicism, seeing how he's the same way.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

@Tom,
Below is the perfect solution. There can't possibly be a better one.

On your final paper for the semester, write the statement: "The Puritans were friggin' idiots, but their gravestones sure looked pretty." Put that in a footnote if your final paper is not about Puritans.


----------



## Devor

Why, oh why, am I wasting time googling Puritan gravest - Ooohh, that's prettier than the viking stones.


----------



## Tom

Devor said:


> Why, oh why, am I wasting time googling Puritan gravest - Ooohh, that's prettier than the viking stones.



I know, right? It's ironic that a culture that discouraged pursuit of the arts left us such beautiful artifacts. I guess we have their morbid obsession preoccupation with death to thank for that.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> We already seem to have a large group of people trying to fix our society's problems with magical or fantastic thinking...we call them politicians...



There's a difference between magical and fantastic thinking to the ideas derived by a fever-dream.


----------



## FifthView

_Lead_ is not _led_.


----------



## Devor

A few years ago, when I first came to Myhic Scribes, I was working on a project with a Viking setting.  I just realized today, when I saw a thread on poetry, that I lost all of my work on this project when my desktop died a few months ago, except for a few handwritten notes and a printout of my work on a poem for it.  I had forgotten all about it and just assumed I had all of my story work in dropbox.

The poem was for a spell cast by a disir at a big turning point in the story.  The spell would transform a handful of the island's trolls into powerful creatures that protect the land, but it had a drawback.  I spent lots of time on it but only came to three good lines:  The drawback.

_But I grieve for my soul, I have failed my role,
For the curse of my spell has unveiled its toll,
Thus the nursemaid of Hel frees Disgrace from his hole._

I figure, since it's all that's left of the work, I might as well share it.


----------



## thedarknessrising

Got my One Ring of Power today. I've got it on a gold chain around my neck. It's so beautiful. It's mine. My own. My...precious


----------



## Stephyn Blackwood

Random Conversation with a friend of mine today:

Me: "Oh, d'you know that Tolkien was writing a sequel to the Lord of the Rings, but he stopped cause it was too dark and depressing for him."
Him: "Oh cool. Why?"
Me: "Cause it was about the corruption and darkness of man, y'know, because there's no more *Ultimate Evil* left."
Him: "Nice.. Wait... Could you imagine he went back to it in a couple years time or something, that'd be so- *Is cut off by my stunned expression* What?"
Me: "Tolkien's dead, mate..."
Him: *Looking completely hopeless and lost with life.* "Wha...?"

Just thought I'd share the stupidity with you guys.


----------



## Tom

The little sibs are upset about Halloween costumes. They wanted to do Star Wars this year (what with the new movie coming out and all), but they waited too long to get costumes and now they're ridiculously overpriced. Guess they'll have to wait until next year.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I can't wait to see my 1 year old win the costume competition for being the cutest little Yoda you ever did see.

Also, I love the show _My Cousin Vinny_. This is one of the best lawyer shows out there. Here is a clip. 




As an aside, I would like to note that this clip is set up beautifully in the first act when Vinny the lawyer eats breakfast in a diner, eats grits for the first time, and the cook explains that it takes 15-20 minutes. So...go watch it when you can.


----------



## Addison

How many of us here can understand a language well enough to watch a foreign film without reading subtitles or hunting for the english dubbed version?   How many of those find they watch such foreign films? How many here look for foreign films in English dub? 

Americans seem to think the great movies are made in the good old U.S.A. (True a lot are shot in other countries but still, you know what I mean.) But I've come across some non-American movies that are great. Top of the list; Krabat. For those who are fluent in German, find it. For those who don't, find it anyway. Germany is the home of the Brother Grimm, the Black Forest, Neuschwatsin Castle and so many fantastic elements. I'm currently searching for more by the same producers and writers. 
There's also "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch". 

I'm trying to figure out which Rosetta Stone lesson to take to further enjoy both movies and books. I'm either going Italian or French. 

Oh, if you're into Fantasy/Horrors or Fantasy Creature Features, check out "Ragnarok".


----------



## MineOwnKing

Addison said:


> How many of us here can understand a language well enough to watch a foreign film without reading subtitles or hunting for the english dubbed version?   How many of those find they watch such foreign films? How many here look for foreign films in English dub?
> 
> Americans seem to think the great movies are made in the good old U.S.A. (True a lot are shot in other countries but still, you know what I mean.) But I've come across some non-American movies that are great. Top of the list; Krabat. For those who are fluent in German, find it. For those who don't, find it anyway. Germany is the home of the Brother Grimm, the Black Forest, Neuschwatsin Castle and so many fantastic elements. I'm currently searching for more by the same producers and writers.
> There's also "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch".
> 
> I'm trying to figure out which Rosetta Stone lesson to take to further enjoy both movies and books. I'm either going Italian or French.
> 
> Oh, if you're into Fantasy/Horrors or Fantasy Creature Features, check out "Ragnarok".



I can understand and speak Brazilian Portuguese somewhat okay. It takes my brain time to switch into Portuguese because I hardly ever speak it but have been slowly learning over the last 12 years.

The only problem is that Brazilian films are pretty limited and pretty lame. I've watched a few of the nightly soap operas that are so popular in Brazil as an exercise but often there is so much slang or street talk that I end up missing jokes or cultural references. 

Some Italian movies are fun or funny to watch and I can usually make out what they are saying without subtitles but again many things are lost.

There are some good movies spoken in Dutch and because so many of the words sound like English words, I can usually figure things out without the subtitles. 

I would go with the Italian Rosetta Stone. Even if the movie is not made in Italy, you can still find Eastern European movies made with Italian voice overs and they are still pretty good.

_Padre Vostro_ is an excellent film. It is voiced over in Italian and is about a young Catholic priest that is dismayed because the island community he is part of, is not producing any babies.

He conspires with the local condom vendor to poke holes in all the packaged condoms and then a chaos erupts on the island that is both funny and tragic.


----------



## Russ

Addison said:


> How many of us here can understand a language well enough to watch a foreign film without reading subtitles or hunting for the english dubbed version?   How many of those find they watch such foreign films? How many here look for foreign films in English dub?
> 
> Americans seem to think the great movies are made in the good old U.S.A. (True a lot are shot in other countries but still, you know what I mean.) But I've come across some non-American movies that are great. Top of the list; Krabat. For those who are fluent in German, find it. For those who don't, find it anyway. Germany is the home of the Brother Grimm, the Black Forest, Neuschwatsin Castle and so many fantastic elements. I'm currently searching for more by the same producers and writers.
> There's also "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch".
> 
> I'm trying to figure out which Rosetta Stone lesson to take to further enjoy both movies and books. I'm either going Italian or French.
> 
> Oh, if you're into Fantasy/Horrors or Fantasy Creature Features, check out "Ragnarok".



I can get by in German well enough to enjoy a film in it, if they are speaking it properly.  I will have to give that film a look.  Thanks.


----------



## thedarknessrising

Drinking some Coke out of my favorite leather tankard, so I raise a toast to my favorite community on the internet. To my fellow writers on Mythic Scribes!


----------



## Addison

Yow, bad Padre. Italian movies are easy to understand because Italians are very good with body language and gestures. I nearly flunked out of Senior Spanish because the new teacher spoke spanish at the spanish speed. As you may know the language-by natives-is spoken at sixty miles an hour.

Speaking of which, as a random thought, I had a weird dream. Not sure how it started (that part's blurry, all I remember is being trapped on an inflatable raft with a jerk who's trying to push me into carnivorous waters. Then I'm with a hot friend running form some monster, we hop into the family station wagon and somehow hit eighty miles an hour and suddenly we're in a Back to the Future sequel. With an ordinary station wagon and we're trying to avoid our past selves without screwing anything up and avoiding the weird-possibly psychotic-family member after both versions of us. As most of us know most horror movies take place in secluded places or in times when help can not reach the victims (blizzard, tsunami, cave in etc), this one was in pubic places with people, who acted like we weren't there. If dreams are the brain's way of telling us stuff then mine is telling me society is no help, and I don't know why it would say that.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Arrrrghhh!!!!

I sent the second draft of my story out to a new beta reader last night. Today, they contacted me to point out that I'd put a chapter in twice - and then a few hours later they told me they'd done it again.

Highly embarrassing.

On a more positive note it means they read almost the entire story already. I hope that's a good sign.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Nothing quite like an icy cold day of fly fishing the Salmon run.

It definitely wiped some stress out of my mind this morning. 

The trees are very beautiful this year.


----------



## WaffleSingSong

The Dragonborn from Skyrim is an otherkin. I mean really, his name in Dragon is "Dovah_kiin_!"

Why do people hate it when they get corrected on something? I mean, should they kinda be saying "Oh yes, thank you! thank you for letting me have the opportunity to be less of a dumbass!" I mean, I do...


----------



## Addison

I'm actually dying a slow death waiting for such a comment from a guy I sent my manuscript to. Yes he's busy, a rancher/technical writer/editor, he said he'd get it back to me-finished, by the end of the month. If he could just send a few messages saying anything-ANYTHING- I'd love it. Even if it was "What's the deal with this character? Why would you make such a flat, terrible character the main character?" I'd be happy!


----------



## Addison

I've come to an understanding about a certain type of author. The type that wishes to write stories for the sole purpose of making money. I've found that either A: They do NOT make money or B: they make money but not in the bestselling, movie rights way they desired. 

The best example is an "I Love Lucy" episode in season three titled "Lucy Writes a Novel". Lucy didn't start her day with a great idea that she just had to get on paper before she forgot like so many. She started her day reading the paper and saw an article about a house wife who wrote a book and got ten thousand dollars. In today's world I'm guessing it would be a lot bigger. 

Anyway she's typing away at the typewriter when her friend Ethel comes in and does a double take when Lucy tells her what she's doing. Lucy shows her the article, Ethel reads and says "So what?" 
Lucy, "Well I'm a housewife." 
Ethel, "It takes more than that to be an author. What are you going to write about?" 
Lucy, "I'm writing about things I know." 
Ethel, "That won't be a novel, it'll be a short story." 
To which Lucy replied with a quote to which authors are- or should be-treated nicely. Lucy, "One more remake like that and I'll kill you off in chapter one." 

Well the episode went on, Ethel, her husband Fred and Lucy's husband Ricky searched the apartment for Lucy's novel wanting to read it as they're a little curious and anxious as how they're portrayed. And rightly so, as they burned the novel. But Lucy, being surprisingly smart, made copies and hid them in places they didn't think of looking. (Taped to the underside of the arm chair, behind a picture, to the bottom of the desk mat thingy). She, and the rest, were surprised when it got a royalty check from a publisher. Oly the hammer came down when the publisher came over himself to tell her they'd made a mistake and they did NOT want to publish. 

It gets better. 

The next day she got a call from the publisher that he has a colleague who wants to use her novel in a book. She and her friends ran to the cellar and went through the bins to find all the pieces of her shredded story and put them together. After spending all night typing a clean copy she called the publisher's friend to make sure it wasn't too late. He said no and asked anxiously if the publisher had told her how her book would be used. He said it was for a text book for how to write a novel, and her story-pieces anyway-would be used in the chapter entitled "Don't Let This Happen to You". 

Ouch. 

So yes, Lucy-if she agreed to that-got some money for her words but not in the glamorous, respectful way she'd imagined. Show of posts, who here is writing for the purpose of making money? I'm hoping to not see any. J.K Rowling, George Martin, Stephen King, Judy Blume, none of the greats, inspirational authors wrote to make money. They wrote because they loved writing and they had a story in them that they wanted to share with as many people as possible. Those stories pay off, with the royalty and other $$ being a bonus. That's why I'm writing, and I'm not about to stop until my stories are out there in the hands of more than my Taki loving brother and his pals.


----------



## thedarknessrising

Last night at work, a friend of mine inspired me to write a book in the vein of Tolkien's _The Silmarillion._ I am both very excited and very nervous to start this project


----------



## Tom

Addison said:


> How many of us here can understand a language well enough to watch a foreign film without reading subtitles or hunting for the english dubbed version?   How many of those find they watch such foreign films? How many here look for foreign films in English dub?
> 
> Americans seem to think the great movies are made in the good old U.S.A. (True a lot are shot in other countries but still, you know what I mean.) But I've come across some non-American movies that are great. Top of the list; Krabat. For those who are fluent in German, find it. For those who don't, find it anyway. Germany is the home of the Brother Grimm, the Black Forest, Neuschwatsin Castle and so many fantastic elements. I'm currently searching for more by the same producers and writers.
> There's also "Nightwatch" and "Daywatch".
> 
> I'm trying to figure out which Rosetta Stone lesson to take to further enjoy both movies and books. I'm either going Italian or French.
> 
> Oh, if you're into Fantasy/Horrors or Fantasy Creature Features, check out "Ragnarok".



Ooooooo, I've heard good things about Ragnarok. I'll have to check it out, as well as Krabat. That one looks interesting. 

I generally don't watch foreign films unless they're dubbed. However, I know enough German to watch German-language films without subtitles. I don't do it a whole lot because I don't find the experience as enjoyable as I would if the film were in English. When you watch a film in your second language, you miss a lot of nuance and depth of meaning that a native speaker would grasp immediately.


----------



## Addison

I've been toying with the idea of putting something on my portfolio. I just don't know what. Seriously, I've peeked at some portfolios and I can't really see the difference/big deal. No offense, I've seen great things but I've seen art when there's a forum for fantasy art and cover art. I've seen pieces of long stories, short stories and a few poems when we have a showcase. 

I guess I'm not really seeing the difference between what's shared in a portfolio and what's shared in the forums. So if someone can point me in the direction of what goes where, I can get started.


----------



## spectre

Addison said:


> I've been toying with the idea of putting something on my portfolio. I just don't know what. Seriously, I've peeked at some portfolios and I can't really see the difference/big deal. No offense, I've seen great things but I've seen art when there's a forum for fantasy art and cover art. I've seen pieces of long stories, short stories and a few poems when we have a showcase.
> 
> I guess I'm not really seeing the difference between what's shared in a portfolio and what's shared in the forums. So if someone can point me in the direction of what goes where, I can get started.


It says pieces meant to be in their final form and as such i should remove mine. I need to improve it. I like the idea of portfolios but i don't know how much people are looking at them. If you feel in a giving nature you can review mine [emoji16] 

Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk


----------



## SeverinR

Russ said:


> I can get by in German well enough to enjoy a film in it, if they are speaking it properly.  I will have to give that film a look.  Thanks.



If you watch a movie in a foreign language, that you don't understand, you will pay more attention to the expressions and gestures of the actors.  You will be surprised about how much you understand.

A friend took me to a "dinner theater(?)" in a small town in Germany. It was a comedy. I didn't understand many words they spoke but I did laugh a lot. I also figured out a lot of what they were expressing.


----------



## FifthView

Totally irrational oddity about me, resulting (I think) from the existence of Netflix and Amazon Prime:

Sometimes I'm so in to television series, that although I marathon-watch them, I sometimes stop just before the last episode or last few episodes of a series because I don't want them to be over.  I don't want to come to that point where I know, _That was all; there will be no more._

This happened with _The Sopranos_.  I've never seen the last episode.  This also happened with _Breaking Bad_, but I stopped several episodes before the last episode.  There are other series.

This also somewhat affects my reading.  Robin Hobb's latest in the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy, _Fool's Quest_, I had on preorder and downloaded to my Kindle in August.  But didn't start it, didn't start it....Because I knew that once I started reading it, it'd soon be over and I'd have to wait, wait, wait for the next in the series.  But I started reading it Sunday and am loving it.  Unlike with television series, I can't see myself _not_ finishing a series of books (unless I grow bored with them, of course), but there's still that dread of finishing them forever.


----------



## SeverinR

Don't be sad for those dancing to their own music, be sad for those that don't hear the music, for they have nothing to dance for.


----------



## Incanus

I've been reading The Grapes of Wrath, and made an interesing observation.  For decades I've heard Steinbeck's prose described as lean, tough, unadorned, and light on adjectives and adverbs.

I just now counted FOURTEEN adverbs on a single page of this book.  And I've also noticed he uses adverbs in dialogue tags not infrequently.  Makes me wonder how he got this reputation.

It seems to me like adverbs and adjectives are looked down on way too much, the advice to avoid them over-emphasized.  I don't think I'll be giving this kind of advice much weight in the future.  They are perfectly useful types of words and have their place.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Incanus said:


> I've been reading The Grapes of Wrath, and made an interesing observation.  For decades I've heard Steinbeck's prose described as lean, tough, unadorned, and light on adjectives and adverbs.
> 
> I just now counted FOURTEEN adverbs on a single page of this book.  And I've also noticed he uses adverbs in dialogue tags not infrequently.  Makes me wonder how he got this reputation.
> 
> It seems to me like adverbs and adjectives are looked down on way too much, the advice to avoid them over-emphasized.  I don't think I'll be giving this kind of advice much weight in the future.  They are perfectly useful types of words and have their place.



Adverbs are a great way to spice up an otherwise boring sentence.

The problem is that they are habit forming.

I have been trying to limit my use of them because although they can make a paragraph sound more melodic, in retrospect, they are more likely to drown out a developing style.

Moderation.


----------



## Incanus

Absolutely moderation.  Moderation in all things, except moderation itself.

I just thought it was something of an eye-opener to realize I use less adverbs than Steinbeck, one of the kings of lean prose.  Basically, I'll be ignoring comments about adjectives and adverbs from now on.  They will neither make nor break any story of mine.  And they are hardly drowning out Steinbeck's style.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Incanus said:


> Absolutely moderation.  Moderation in all things, except moderation itself.
> 
> I just thought it was something of an eye-opener to realize I use less adverbs than Steinbeck, one of the kings of lean prose.  Basically, I'll be ignoring comments about adjectives and adverbs from now on.  They will neither make nor break any story of mine.  And they are hardly drowning out Steinbeck's style.




I'm not a fan of lean prose, Salinger and Hemingway started a trend that became popular with the baby boomers because purple prose was not in tune with the 20th century literary vibe.

I think it will take a few more generations after we are all dead to understand if it is a short term trend or part of a neverending evolution of literature.

I think Chapter 132 of Moby Dick, _The Symphony_ is the greatest sample piece of literature I've ever read and it is in no way lean prose.

Sometimes too much of a good thing is never enough.


----------



## Incanus

Totally with you.  Don't like Salinger, and I really don't like Hemingway.  Gaiman seems to be the same way.  Plain, boring prose doesn't engage me at all.  I love Melville, and Steinbeck (who's not so lean after all--Grapes of Wrath is riddled with adverbs AND contains some beautiful prose).

Thus, I relegate the 'adverb-nazis' to their rightful place.  I will heed them no longer.  Advice that does not map onto reality very well won't be hard for me to dismiss.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Incanus said:


> Totally with you.  Don't like Salinger, and I really don't like Hemingway.  Gaiman seems to be the same way.  Plain, boring prose doesn't engage me at all.  I love Melville, and Steinbeck (who's not so lean after all--Grapes of Wrath is riddled with adverbs AND contains some beautiful prose).
> 
> Thus, I relegate the 'adverb-nazis' to their rightful place.  I will heed them no longer.  Advice that does not map onto reality very well won't be hard for me to dismiss.



An author's style has the potential to become ageless; trends in prose are short lived.

I say go with your gut, get a few fans, and always try to make your next chapter better than the last.


----------



## Tom

Today has been one of those days when my internal monologue is a ceaseless stream of profanity. 

-__-

At least my car battery didn't die at school. 

...

That was Tuesday.


----------



## Miskatonic

Tom Nimenai said:


> Today has been one of those days when my internal monologue is a ceaseless stream of profanity.
> 
> -__-
> 
> At least my car battery didn't die at school.
> 
> ...
> 
> That was Tuesday.



Write some jokes? Or humorous dialog?


----------



## Tom

Miskatonic said:


> Write some jokes? Or humorous dialog?



Perhaps. Usually when a day is going that badly, though, I have to vent. Maybe I'll write some angry scenes where everyone is shouting accusations at each other and boiling over with rage.


----------



## Russ

I prefer the heavy bag.


----------



## Ireth

This is amazing and I think a lot of the Tolkien fans here will appreciate it.

http://i100.independent.co.uk/artic...n-a-copy-of-the-lord-of-the-rings--WJ9UZQ2zdg


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Well, two hours later I just rewrote about 1500 words. I'd call that a successful Friday night.and tacked on 900 to a different WIP. most productive day in a long time.


----------



## Tom

Nice job, Bills. Can't even win against the Jags. Hopefully when Taylor's back things will go better.

Oh well, at least it was amusing to watch British people trying to do the whole "American football fan" thing.


----------



## Russ

I have learned I am a sports addict and this weekend was a massive binge.

South Africa v. New Zealand Rugby (historic loss), South Africa v. New Zealand Cricket (historic win), Penn State over Maryland (win), Steelers lose to Chiefs (loss) and Bayern beat FC Koln (historic win).

No wonder I am getting behind on my writing.

Thank god it is early days for hockey...


----------



## Incanus

I've wanted to write a novel for over 30 years now.  My past attempts were truly awful and not worth continuing.

It is for this reason I feel like celebrating any and all landmarks I make with my current attempt.  As of last weekend, I've made it further than any previous try.  Yay!  Also, it was done in something like one-sixth of the time.  Even better, I show not the slightest signs of stopping (though I've slowed a little now that I'm in the thick of it).  And it's nowhere near as horrible as my earlier writings.

I WILL finish it.


----------



## SeverinR

For every story we write, a story is there that must be written, but must be written at the right time.
For my WIP now is clearly not the right time for me to write it.

Jesters, jokers, clowns and fools is not the right time to write it.
It is an adventure with the backdrop of a traveling entertainment troop. Showing the entertainers ability to make people laugh no matter what they are experiencing in their life. As I wrote the beginning, I realized I included all entertainment except Jokers, jesters, and clowns. So I started thinking of how to write out a person that could make people laugh. I am usually good at snappy comebacks, slapstick and even action comedy. But could not think of anything to make people laugh.

I think it is because of my year of death that I just lived through.  As the Holidays approach, it was just before Thanksgiving I lost my youngest Aunt. It was just before Christmas my Cousin lost her husband to cancer, then I lost my Dad just before Valentines day and returned in time to say good by to my oldest Aunt (the cousin that lost her husband's, mother.) And happy loss occurred at the end of Summer, both my daughters got married. My youngest moved to Washington State to live with her husband in the Navy.
So I think this is the wrong time to try to be funny.

But after a year of death, comes a year of life. I have two new Son in laws, Next Spring I will be a Grandfather for the first time...twice over. My daughter that moved away will be returning, her husband is not re-enlisting. 
So I think it is time to work on other things now. Maybe the light of the future will bring back my humor.
Random thoughts,  not looking for sympathy, just pointing out, life may be telling you, you need to write it, but the time might not be right now.


----------



## SeverinR

I should also thank the people of this site.
I would have given up on writing long ago, if I didn't stop in here regularly.
Well, actually not given up on writing, I've always think of stories. But I wouldn't write them down and just entertain myself with them and forget them.
I may never get published, that's not the goal. I write for my enjoyment. I research and read of how to improve how I write.
So that I will enjoy it better. If I ever get published, that is just extra gravy. I've already enjoyed the meat and potatoes of writing.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I am so happy to read an 100 page article by Wednesday. I'm so happy I could scream. *twitch*


----------



## Tom

I am so happy to work a 7-hour shift on Halloween. Really, I am. Thanks, boss. *Hulks out and trashes everything in sight*


----------



## Saigonnus

I like Christmas as much as the next person, but why must people talk about it now; at the beginning of November as if there is no other holidays between then and now... 

Where's the love for Thanksgiving? Where's the anticipation of spending time with family and friends and eating like hogs. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## MineOwnKing

Saigonnus said:


> I like Christmas as much as the next person, but why must people talk about it now; at the beginning of November as if there is no other holidays between then and now...
> 
> Where's the love for Thanksgiving? Where's the anticipation of spending time with family and friends and eating like hogs.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thanksgiving is still big here. That's the week of deer hunting and the entire state pretty much shuts down for business.


----------



## Ireth

Saigonnus said:


> I like Christmas as much as the next person, but why must people talk about it now; at the beginning of November as if there is no other holidays between then and now...
> 
> Where's the love for Thanksgiving? Where's the anticipation of spending time with family and friends and eating like hogs.



Thanksgiving's over and done with here in Canada. Happens before Halloween up here.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Quote of the Day: "I am a dead man! I wish I still had skin, like I used to have."
~Sabina, age 6, while eating a gingerbread cookie with skeleton-shaped frosting


----------



## SeverinR

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Quote of the Day: "I am a dead man! I wish I still had skin, like I used to have."
> ~Sabina, age 6, while eating a gingerbread cookie with skeleton-shaped frosting


Is Sabina your daughter?
The wip I wrote about above, one of the main female characters' name is Sabina. I liked the character on "Star war's rebels"
named Sabine, but I never copy a name, so when I saw Sabina on a name sight I knew that was her.


----------



## Incanus

Steady as she goes.

Hit another milestone in writing my novel.  I finished Part 1 last night.  That puts me at about one-third complete with the first draft, give or take.  And I did it in under two months, which for me is pretty damn quick.  I'm getting into murkier waters going ahead, but having a complete first draft in 6-7 months doesn't seem incredibly far-fetched at this point.

I may not be cut out for Nano, or for bursts of writing, but the every-day slog seems to work for me; it's adding up.

I'm sure glad that story about the tortoise and the hare exists.  The tortoise is me all the way.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Incanus said:


> Steady as she goes.
> 
> Hit another milestone in writing my novel.  I finished Part 1 last night.  That puts me at about one-third complete with the first draft, give or take.  And I did it in under two months, which for me is pretty damn quick.  I'm getting into murkier waters going ahead, but having a complete first draft in 6-7 months doesn't seem incredibly far-fetched at this point.
> 
> I may not be cut out for Nano, or for bursts of writing, but the every-day slog seems to work for me; it's adding up.
> 
> I'm sure glad that story about the tortoise and the hare exists.  The tortoise is me all the way.



Slower writing equals less editing time.

You're doing great.


----------



## Nimue

Incanus said:


> Steady as she goes.
> 
> Hit another milestone in writing my novel.  I finished Part 1 last night.  That puts me at about one-third complete with the first draft, give or take.  And I did it in under two months, which for me is pretty damn quick.  I'm getting into murkier waters going ahead, but having a complete first draft in 6-7 months doesn't seem incredibly far-fetched at this point.
> 
> I may not be cut out for Nano, or for bursts of writing, but the every-day slog seems to work for me; it's adding up.
> 
> I'm sure glad that story about the tortoise and the hare exists.  The tortoise is me all the way.


I'm even slower, but I wouldn't care much if I could be more consistent.  I'm not sure what I'm doing in the NaNo thread if I'm writing a fraction of what everyone else is: except, maybe, existing in the same time frame.  I'm aiming myself at the end of November not for a finish line, but for the beginning of a habit.  Hopefully by December I can be your tortoise buddy, plodding along on the same road.


----------



## Incanus

Nimue said:


> I'm even slower, but I wouldn't care much if I could be more consistent.  I'm not sure what I'm doing in the NaNo thread if I'm writing a fraction of what everyone else is: except, maybe, existing in the same time frame.  I'm aiming myself at the end of November not for a finish line, but for the beginning of a habit.  Hopefully by December I can be your tortoise buddy, plodding along on the same road.



Ha!  It would be nice to have some company on this stretch of road.  The hares are zipping by so fast I have difficulty in telling them apart.  One blur looks much like another from where I'm standing.  I place my foot firmly down and heave myself foward another inch.  Inches add up to feet, feet add up to furlongs.


----------



## Nimue

Furlongs would be lovely. Thing is, at this point I'm not completely sure if I'm really a tortoise or just a rock that rolls downhill sometimes...  Time to try and stretch those legs and see if I still have 'em.


----------



## Incanus

I think I can 'roll' with this analogy.  For many years I was a rock like you describe.  Somewhere along the way recently, I grew some little nubby-feet.  So really, it's debatable whether I'm a full-fledged tortoise, or just a freshly-footed rock-beast.  Either way metaphors sure are fun!


----------



## Nimue

Conversations like these are how you know we're dumb word-people xD


----------



## Incanus

Sheesh!  Aspiring writers who are interested in words.  What WILL they think of next?  Before you know it, pop musicians will be playing instruments and learning music theory.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

What's a metaphor?


----------



## Devor

Brian Scott Allen said:


> What's a metaphor?



A metaphor is like when I tell my kids I'm writing while I'm really on Mythic Scribes.


----------



## Incanus

It's a meta for lots of things--


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Let me just say that this ethics test I've been studying for is frustrating. I just learned after busting my hump that the 86 I need to score isn't a percent, nope.  It's an 86 in a scale of 150. But, that 86 indicates I only need to score in the 25th percentile. I have wasted 3 hours each evening and each Saturday for the past three weeks when I was scoring well within that range since my first practice test two weeks ago!


----------



## FifthView

So I decided to begin pantsing a project yesterday, rather than outline.  Good news:  it's set in a world I had already created for a stalled novel, so much of that sort of prewriting is already finished.  But contrary to some current Writing Questions threads–or perhaps in line with those–I began w/ a) character development, b) some telling exposition, c) limited action.  Well.  I'm already envisioning some revisions for the opening; but for now, I'm slinging it out for the rough.


----------



## Tom

What color might Faerie blood be? Gold or black or blue? Might they have fangs? 

Also, why do I seem hell-bent on ruining my own childhood? 

If I ever met my childhood self they'd probably be terrified of me and/or angry that I've turned the Fey from Tinkerbells to monsters.


----------



## Nimue

A vote for black!  Think of all the similes, not to mention connotations you can pull in.  Night, deep water, crow-black, blood-black...


----------



## Ireth

Fae blood has always been blue in my mind. Half-Fae, half-humans have purple.


----------



## Tom

Blue sounds best to me, with black pulling a close second. I like the image those colors create, of dark circles under eyes and lips blue from cold. Very sinister. Very dark.

I think I got gold from a short story by one of the Merry Fates; the half-Faerie protagonist's blood is described as "the color of honey". It's something of a perfect metaphor in my mind--wildness and belonging to the woods, sweetness with painful consequences if you're not careful. Or at least, that's what honey seems like to me.


----------



## Devor

If you hadn't listed colors, I would've said green, kind of like this thing below.  I'm not sure it's the best example, but the color would strike me more as magical than black or blue.


----------



## Saigonnus

My rant for today!! Why does the bank have only one customer service agent when the average help time for each one is 30 minutes??? As if everyone has 2 hours leisure time to commit to picking up a replacement card... Which by the way can ONLY be processed by that same stupid lady, and not the manager... [emoji34]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tom

Stephanie Meyer's taking questions on Tumblr! Should I tell her exactly what I think of her writing? :devil:


----------



## Saigonnus

Tom Nimenai said:


> Stephanie Meyer's taking questions on Tumblr! Should I tell her exactly what I think of her writing? :devil:



The truth always works. [emoji13]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Russ

Tom Nimenai said:


> Stephanie Meyer's taking questions on Tumblr! Should I tell her exactly what I think of her writing? :devil:



Only if you put it in the form of a question...


----------



## Saigonnus

Why did you portray the relationship between bella and the two gents the way you did? It has all the earmarks of an abusive relationship.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tom

Not to mention, why all the rampant racism, classism, and outright anti-human sentiments in that little piece of drivel you call a "saga"? 

Madame, I'm the kind of person who always tries to give a book a chance, no matter how bad I find it. Yours, however, I set down in disgust after reading the first chapter in Salvation Army. I considered tossing it in the garbage where it belonged, where it couldn't have the chance to sow toxic ideas about relationships in the impressionable minds of vulnerable teenage girls, but I'm sure the SA workers would have objected to me throwing away merchandise.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

In situations like this Tom I've found leading questions always get a good reaction.


----------



## Velka

Today I was watching a cat video on my phone and realized that radio waves, produced by stars and planets for billions of years, were harnessed by physicists to produce electrical currents at will and gave us our first wireless transmissions via morse code which eventually lead to this point where I can sit in Starbucks and watch cats fall off things on my phone which has the computing power of something that used to physically inhabit the space of a city block.

Technology. Wow.


----------



## Velka

Ok, one more before I go to bed (and by that I mean lie in bed and watch historical documentaries on Netflix until stupid o'clock because that's how I roll).

I just spent the last hour reading Dragon Age: The World of Thedas Vol. 1 and feeling really bad about how I'll never create such a rich and wonderful world with history and races and places and things, but then I realized it was created by a lot of people over the course of many years and this is their day job and they had the time and resources to do it so then I ate a cupcake and felt better about myself.


----------



## Incanus

Seems sort of... slow around here lately.  I suppose everyone is furiously typing or scribbling away at NaNo?


----------



## ThinkerX

> Today I was watching a cat video on my phone and realized that radio waves, produced by stars and planets for billions of years, were harnessed by physicists to produce electrical currents at will and gave us our first wireless transmissions via morse code which eventually lead to this point where I can sit in Starbucks and watch cats fall off things on my phone which has the computing power of something that used to physically inhabit the space of a city block.



Back in the 60's, one of the 'Golden Age' SF writers, H Beam Piper, wrote a novel that revolved around locating a long lost military computer (built about AD 3000, people looking for it a couple hundred years later.)  The missing computer, when found, took up most of a cubic kilometer, had horrendous output (specially trained guys to read the output) and judging from what it was capable of, had the computing power of a 2005ish mainframe.



> Seems sort of... slow around here lately. I suppose everyone is furiously typing or scribbling away at NaNo?



That would be me.  This is my fourth shot at NaNo, and the first time I am anywhere near the word count goal.  I see possibilities for future projects if I am anywhere near 50,000 words come December 1.  Normally, my writing speed is on a par with yours: it took me three months to write the 35,000 word rough draft for 'Empire: Estate.'  That was this summer.

Or in other words, there be hope for you yet.


----------



## Incanus

I think the only reason I can keep up with you is because I write every day.  I bet if we compared how efficient we were in an hour's writing time, you'd trounce me soundly.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I don't think this is political, but if it is I apologize, but holy damn the events transpiring in France are tragic. My heart goes out to all those affected by this insanity.


----------



## ThinkerX

> I think the only reason I can keep up with you is because I write every day. I bet if we compared how efficient we were in an hour's writing time, you'd trounce me soundly.



Does it take you three months to crank out 35,000 not so great words?

I try to write every day.  A really good day is 2500 words.  A really sucky one is 100-200 words.  I had a lot of sucky days writing 'Empire: Estate,' stopped a few times in fact.  'Empire: Capital,' begun during the April NaNo, was also about 35,000 words, and took seven weeks. 

Currently I'm 17,000+ words into 'Labyrinth: Seed.'


----------



## Tom

I'm stuck on a scene at the moment, and I honestly feel that I'm going to have to go back to pen and paper to get unstuck. 

*gasp* 

Pen and paper?! That's _so old-fashioned! _

People will know I was born in the 20th century if they see I'm aware of what pen and paper are and how to use them!


----------



## Heliotrope

I just stumbled upon this thread… 

Don't worry Tom. I do almost my entire outline lining and planning process in pencil. Old fashioned HB pencil. I need the motion of actually writing to open up my right brain. Something about the super sharp pencil makes me more creative. 

Pages and pages and pages and at least 2 months of work usually hand written.


----------



## Heliotrope

I was just thinking about this and thought of some stuff that might be interesting to your monstrous fairies...

Ok, so the reason human blood is red is because we have iron in our blood, and when the iron combines with the oxygen we breath it literally 'rusts' the iron and turns it red. This is why highly oxygenated blood is bright red and the blood that is returning back to the heart is a darker blue/purple. 

So, in order for a species to have black blood the iron in their blood would have to react with sulphur instead of oxygen. That would be interesting in a species. A species that requires sulphurous gas for survival... they would reside in highly sulphurous environments... 



Tom Nimenai said:


> What color might Faerie blood be? Gold or black or blue? Might they have fangs?
> 
> Also, why do I seem hell-bent on ruining my own childhood?
> 
> If I ever met my childhood self they'd probably be terrified of me and/or angry that I've turned the Fey from Tinkerbells to monsters.


----------



## Tom

Heliotrope said:


> I was just thinking about this and thought of some stuff that might be interesting to your monstrous fairies...
> 
> Ok, so the reason human blood is red is because we have iron in our blood, and when the iron combines with the oxygen we breath it literally 'rusts' the iron and turns it red. This is why highly oxygenated blood is bright red and the blood that is returning back to the heart is a darker blue/purple.
> 
> So, in order for a species to have black blood the iron in their blood would have to react with sulphur instead of oxygen. That would be interesting in a species. A species that requires sulphurous gas for survival... they would reside in highly sulphurous environments...



Hmmm...interesting. Hey, on the subject of Faeries and blood, what would happen to half-Fey born with human-like blood that contains iron? All Faeries in folklore seem to be allergic to iron, suffering burns and terrible pain when they touch it. Would a half-Fey with iron-containing blood still be painfully sensitive to it as a normal Faerie (maybe possessing a less extreme form of the allergy)? Or would they be immune to its effects?


----------



## Ireth

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hmmm...interesting. Hey, on the subject of Faeries and blood, what would happen to half-Fey born with human-like blood that contains iron? All Faeries in folklore seem to be allergic to iron, suffering burns and terrible pain when they touch it. Would a half-Fey with iron-containing blood still be painfully sensitive to it as a normal Faerie (maybe possessing a less extreme form of the allergy)? Or would they be immune to its effects?



IMO, they would be less sensitive to it than a full Fae, and immune to some of its effects. It wouldn't be toxic, since it's in their blood, but it would still burn if they touched an iron fence or the like.


----------



## SeverinR

During a test, if you can't find the right answer, look for the left.
(If none look right, eliminate the obviously wrong answers, and what do you have _left._)


----------



## Miskatonic

Wasn't "Random Thoughts" a skit SNL used to do? I think the narrators name was Jack Handy or something like that.


----------



## Incanus

Miskatonic said:


> Wasn't "Random Thoughts" a skit SNL used to do? I think the narrators name was Jack Handy or something like that.



Oh, yeah, I remember that!  Haven't thought about it in years.  I think it was "Deep Thoughts" though.


----------



## Incanus

ThinkerX said:


> A really good day is 2500 words.  A really sucky one is 100-200 words.



I still think you've got me beat.  I've never had a 2500 day ever.  I think once or twice I got 1600+.  In writing my novel over the past 2 months, I've only topped over 1000 on one occasion.  Haven't done under 200 though.


----------



## Svrtnsse

My sister had a daughter and they named the child Eowyn. I'm really quite pleased with this choice (the name, not the having a daughter).


----------



## Miskatonic

Incanus said:


> Oh, yeah, I remember that!  Haven't thought about it in years.  I think it was "Deep Thoughts" though.



That was it!


----------



## Incanus

Svrtnsse said:


> My sister had a daughter and they named the child Eowyn. I'm really quite pleased with this choice (the name, not the having a daughter).



Love the name.

I dated a girl named Eowyn for about 9-10 months or so, a long time ago.  She was a cool, kooky red-head.  I miss her and still think about her pretty regularly.  It was my fault it didn't work out.  I suppose it was a 'timing' issue.  Wherever she is, I wish her well.


----------



## Tom

One of my friends named her daughter Eowyn, and her son Rohan. I like it when people use names with a story behind them...I was named after a Shakespeare character, and one of my other friends after a rather obscure Celtic goddess.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I have stories about naming my daughters, and since having kids I've been more careful about naming my fictional characters. I'm drawing Addison Lane's parents this week. Addison Lane means _awesome warrior,_ her father's name, Edan, is Celtic for _full of fire_ and her mother is Kelcie, which means


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

My six-year-old just asked me, "How do you spell 'ski'? S-E-X?"


----------



## Tom

Quick, dad, do some damage control! :eek2:


----------



## Velka

Just wanted to share this bit of awesome with the universe: I've already wrote over three thousand words tonight and it has been so much fun! It's been a very long time since I have had this kind of word count in one sitting (and I think most of it is fairly good!).


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Tom Nimenai said:


> Quick, dad, do some damage control! :eek2:


On it.

_No skiing until you're married, young lady!_


----------



## ThinkerX

Incanus said:


> I think I can 'roll' with this analogy.  For many years I was a rock like you describe.  Somewhere along the way recently, I grew some little nubby-feet.  So really, it's debatable whether I'm a full-fledged tortoise, or just a freshly-footed rock-beast.  Either way metaphors sure are fun!



Ok 'rock-with-feet,' word counts for many of those doing NaNo have cratered so bad that your WC count for the month might actually be on a par with theirs.  Not sure if its a word sucking Lovecraftian entity or Fallout 4.


----------



## Tom

I have decided to abandon NaNo until I've finished my term paper for history, which is due before Thanksgiving. It seems the wisest course of action.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Starting the morning session with Pavarotti on the head phones.

L'Elisir d'amore: Una furtiva lagrima !!


----------



## Incanus

ThinkerX said:


> Ok 'rock-with-feet,' word counts for many of those doing NaNo have cratered so bad that your WC count for the month might actually be on a par with theirs.  Not sure if its a word sucking Lovecraftian entity or Fallout 4.



So, for good or ill, this inspired me to state:  Why I’m not a Nano kind of person.
(Apologies for the timing of this–the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from pursuing Nano this month.)

1)  I’m far too slow.  The minimum daily word count is at the extreme maximum end of my output.  I think I’ve done over 1600 two times ever in my life.  If I care about what I’m writing (and I do), then I can’t just crap out words that I won’t use.  That wouldn’t get me anywhere.

2)  I can only start work on a project when it’s ready to go, not on some arbitrary date.  I can’t imagine being ready and then having to wait for Nov. 1 to start.  Alternatively, if I’m not ready to begin and Nov. 1 rolls around, it would be a huge mistake to just start anyway.  This is art we’re talking about after all.

3)  For the life of me, I can’t understand why I should start writing something on the same day as thousands of others, keep it up for a month, and then stop.  I guess it’s a social thing?  Or a competition?  I’m drawing a total blank on this one.  I don’t see what this has to do with creative writing at all.

So does this make sense?  Is it really weird that I see things this way?


----------



## ThinkerX

> So, for good or ill, this inspired me to state: Why I’m not a Nano kind of person.
> (Apologies for the timing of this—the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from pursuing Nano this month.)
> 
> 1) I’m far too slow. The minimum daily word count is at the extreme maximum end of my output. I think I’ve done over 1600 two times ever in my life. If I care about what I’m writing (and I do), then I can’t just crap out words that I won’t use. That wouldn’t get me anywhere.



I am not exactly a fast writer either.  When I did the 'track your sprints' challenge by people who'd read '5000 words per hour,' my top speed was about 1100 words per hour, or around half of what others were reporting.  Still is.  Didn't let it stop me.  Yes, I have hit 2000-3000 words a day a few times this NaNo.  But that is because I spend more time writing.  Actual WPH is still 800-1200, if that.



> 2) I can only start work on a project when it’s ready to go, not on some arbitrary date. I can’t imagine being ready and then having to wait for Nov. 1 to start. Alternatively, if I’m not ready to begin and Nov. 1 rolls around, it would be a huge mistake to just start anyway. This is art we’re talking about after all.




Then don't.  

Last year, I started 'Labyrinth: Seed' November 1, had to do a rewrite of another project, and then had my muse collapse from exhaustion along about week 2.  And even before then, my progress stank.  Only got about 9000 words into 'Seed,' less than a thousand words a day.

The first NaNo 'camp' I entered was last April.  But, I was still doing a rewrite for a previous project when it started.  The April Camp NaNo had been underway for a week before I got going on my chosen project.  And then I immediately ran into giant plot problems.  Doing an outline to resolve them took a few more days.  It was the end of May before I finished the rough draft for that project - 35,000 words, only about half written during Camp NaNo.  I failed the word count goal.  I did learn the value of outlines.

The last 'camp NaNo' was the biggest flop of all - three long months to do 35,000 words, with the first 10,000 or so in dire need of revision.  Do the math and compare with your output.  




> 3) For the life of me, I can’t understand why I should start writing something on the same day as thousands of others, keep it up for a month, and then stop. I guess it’s a social thing? Or a competition? I’m drawing a total blank on this one. I don’t see what this has to do with creative writing at all.




For about a three year span, up until last October, I entered a lot of the challenges being put forth in the Challenge forum on this site.  I wrote - and finished - more stories during that period than in my entire previous writing career - three dozen stories, give or take.  The challenges all had different terms that had to be meant.  But (almost) all of them featured deadlines as well.  That deadline - being able to complete a readable story before the clock ran out - did wonders for my productivity.  It forced me to concentrate and stick with a given story until it was done.  

I view NaNo as much the same way - it provides a sort of external deadline for longer works.  



> So does this make sense? Is it really weird that I see things this way?



It does make sense.  But...you went from being a 'rock' to a 'rock-with-feet' apparently by heeding just some of the advice on this site.  Might be time for those feet to turn into legs.  And yes, you will flop.  More than once.  But I believe you can pick yourself up and resume typing.


----------



## FifthView

So checking out office chairs on Amazon this morning, I looked at one of their "Amazon Basics" chairs and saw a negative review with a high "helpful" rating from customers.

A comment under that review from an employee of the apparent manufacturer of that chair said, basically, "Please contact us..." etc.–to be helpful, I guess.

I clicked that commenter's name and saw he's left 5-star reviews on all their own chairs but 1-star reviews for competitors' chairs.

Amazon, basically.


----------



## Incanus

Hey Thinker.  You know, I really have to laugh at myself (and at you and the wonderful Nimue a little--all in the nicest way, of course).  We seem to be trying to outdo each other:  "I'm the one who writes the least."  "No way, I write even less than that."  "Na, look at these horrible numbers of mine."  "But mine are even lower still."  etc., etc.  It's kind of amusing, really.

Even so, I'll give it another shot:  after the first 20 days of writing my novel, my daily average was just shy of 600 words.  Now it's closer to 500.  Average time spent:  about 2.5 to 3 hours a day.  So my WPH is something like 100-200.  And that's consistently, over time.  The only reason this is working at all is due to the day-in, day-out work.

Ironically, it appears Nov. is going to be one of the lowest word counts.  I'm having to spend a handful of days on brainstorming and outlining activities, generating zero prose.  I'd be surprised if I even hit 10,000 this month.  This is all OK, though--to me, quality is far, far more important than quanity.  And I'm all about 'following through'.  I mean to see this thing through to the end.  And I fully expect the first revision (second draft) to take about as long as the first draft.  At my rate, that will be about a year.  Only 10 months to go!


----------



## Lunaairis

I had an outline(a pretty detailed one at that) done for my Nano. I even read it out loud and got some friends to read it to make sure the pacing and action was good. 

I started writing and about 12, 000 words in I realized this isn't the story I want to be telling. I need to finish it though. So I can be satisfied with that I at least tried writing a story this nano. 

To top it off, it seems to be a shorter story then I thought it would be. As I am half way through the story already. So there may only be 15,000 more words left to it.


----------



## Incanus

I don't know why, but I can't seem to issue out 'Thanks' anymore.  Haven't been able to for days.  Did I do something wrong?


----------



## Lunaairis

Incanus said:


> I don't know why, but I can't seem to issue out 'Thanks' anymore.  Haven't been able to for days.  Did I do something wrong?



Have you tried clearing your browsers cookies? or logging out and in?


----------



## Tom

Just got trolled on tumblr for making a post about feminism and fantasy. Now I am mad as hell and aggressively following every feminism blog I can find. Good times!


----------



## Velka

Tom Nimenai said:


> Just got trolled on tumblr for making a post about feminism and fantasy. Now I am mad as hell and aggressively following every feminism blog I can find. Good times!



I love the image that phrase created in my mind: aggressively following - I just imagine you clicking the follow button really hard and shouting F*CK YEAH FEMINISM!


----------



## Tom

Velka said:


> I love the image that phrase created in my mind: aggressively following - I just imagine you clicking the follow button really hard and shouting F*CK YEAH FEMINISM!



Yeah, basically!


----------



## MineOwnKing

Not a very productive day for writing but at least Green Bay won.

Its gotta suck to be a Vikings fan. Even when we gave them Favre they couldn't rise to the challenge.


----------



## Tom

OOOH, BURN! 

Seriously though, why are they called the Vikings? They should be called the Shy Introverted IT Guys. It might reflect their playing better.


----------



## MineOwnKing

I really do feel sorry for them, but I think that fact only infuriates them more.

They've had great players but the chemistry is never there. If you can't win with a young Randy Moss...I mean really, what more do you need.

Getting rid of the crappy stadium might help over time. 

Wisconsin is pretty fired up right now being in the second day of the 9 day gun season for deer. The energy of Packer fans is magnified during this week.

The bars are full of orange hunting jackets tonight.


----------



## Tom

Ohhhhhh noooo, another troll. I just want to go to bed. I don't want to have an argument with someone who thinks patriarchy doesn't exist and the only sexism is beneficial sexism and patriarchy is _a feminist construct._ Oh my god, stop bugging me and go read a f*cking sociology textbook and you'll see that patriarchy is_ a real social system and it exists and it actually effects people. _

*cries*

Here's a thought: If patriarchy doesn't exist, _why are you people so obsessed with telling me so?_


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just finished watching Kill Bill Vol. 1...wasn't that impressed. I mean, it was good, but I honestly don't understand the hype and status the Internet was given this movie.


----------



## MineOwnKing

I'm going on a trip with my wife to the Caribbean. 

It's a romantic get away without the kids but we are not exactly spring chickens anymore. There will be more time on the beach than in the bedroom.

So, now I'm wondering. Do I bring my laptop and work on my manuscript or leave it at home?

It would be nice not to travel with the extra weight, but what if I get there and feel inspired by the scenery?


----------



## Velka

Bring a notebook to jot down ideas when/should they materialize. That way you spend time with your wife instead of writing, and have some fresh new stuff to work on when you get back.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Velka said:


> Bring a notebook to jot down ideas when/should they materialize. That way you spend time with your wife instead of writing, and have some fresh new stuff to work on when you get back.



Yeah,

My wife is very loving and sweet but she is also very brainy and enjoys her space, she's not a chatter bug or clingy.

She is encouraging me to bring my laptop against my common sense and I know her well enough to take a hint hint. 

Notebooks don't work for me. 

I'm just wondering if I will actually want to write or just go to the Tiki bar for cocktails.


----------



## Velka

Whenever I go on vacation I do bring my laptop, but I have an unhealthy co-dependant relationship with the thing. I personally find I don't write much, if at all, on vacation. I usually allocate the time for some marathon reading.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Velka said:


> Whenever I go on vacation I do bring my laptop, but I have an unhealthy co-dependant relationship with the thing. I personally find I don't write much, if at all, on vacation. I usually allocate the time for some marathon reading.



That's another issue I'm having trouble with the last few weeks. 

Every time I start reading another author's book, my brain goes into editing mode.

All I see is mistakes that could be fixed and it pisses me off that some of these writers are successful and can just do whatever the hell they want and it sells.

It speaks poorly on the publishing industry and insults me in the efforts I put into my WIP that may never see the light of day. 

I'm not sure reading is healthy for me right now.


----------



## Russ

MineOwnKing said:


> I'm going on a trip with my wife to the Caribbean.
> 
> It's a romantic get away without the kids but we are not exactly spring chickens anymore. There will be more time on the beach than in the bedroom.
> 
> So, now I'm wondering. Do I bring my laptop and work on my manuscript or leave it at home?
> 
> It would be nice not to travel with the extra weight, but what if I get there and feel inspired by the scenery?



I go to the Caribbean a couple of times a year and always bring my laptop.  I get a great deal of writing done on vacation.

It helps that my wife is a writer and does the same.


----------



## Ban

Found a song of ice and fire cooking site

Inn at the Crossroads 

I knew of the book, but free fantasy inspired recipes? Cool


----------



## Incanus

On an unrelated topic, I was wondering what skooma tastes like.


----------



## Ban

Incanus said:


> On an unrelated topic, I was wondering what skooma tastes like.



Considering kahjiit love sugar and skooma is made from moonsugar i'd say... sugarry


----------



## SeverinR

Banten said:


> Found a song of ice and fire cooking site
> 
> Inn at the Crossroads
> 
> I knew of the book, but free fantasy inspired recipes? Cool





Banten said:


> Considering kahjiit love sugar and skooma is made from moonsugar i'd say... sugarry



To both posts...Sweet!

I also knew about the cookbook but didn't know they had recipes on the site.


----------



## Incanus

SeverinR said:


> Sweet!



Took the words right out of my mouth--


----------



## Ban

Glad to help


----------



## MineOwnKing

My list of Thanksgiving favorites:

Turkey dark meat with gravy,
Stuffing with raisins,
Creamed carrots,
Sweet potatoes with melted marshmallows,
Pumpkin pie,
Lefse.

The meal is not complete without lefse.

Forecast for snow, should be pretty.


----------



## Ban

Just ate Black Pudding. Permission to call myself a vampire?


----------



## Saigonnus

I prefer a beautiful glazed ham (not a fan of turkey), mashed taters, stuffing, cranberry sauce, candied yams, apple pie with a crumb topping, and of course the pickles, olives and cheese for snacks that is typical in my family. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## CupofJoe

MineOwnKing said:


> Lefse


Had to look it up, but now I WANT SOME!!!!!!!


----------



## MineOwnKing

Yeah,

Norwegian tradition.

When I was a little kid I thought everybody was Norwegian, I didn't know we had Swedes too.

We eat lefse rolled up with butter and white sugar.

In Norway they have started using it as a modified hot dog bun. 

You need a lefse grill and the special stick to flip it, there is a real art to making it extra thin and moist.

Over the last 30 years the church ladies get together and make large quantities of it. 

Store bought lefse is terrible.


----------



## Ban

MineOwnKing said:


> Yeah,
> 
> Norwegian tradition.
> 
> When I was a little kid I thought everybody was Norwegian, I didn't know we had Swedes too.
> 
> We eat lefse rolled up with butter and white sugar.
> 
> In Norway they have started using it as a modified hot dog bun.
> 
> You need a lefse grill and the special stick to flip it, there is a real art to making it extra thin and moist.
> 
> Over the last 30 years the church ladies get together and make large quantities of it.
> 
> Store bought lefse is terrible.



Are Lefse like crÃªpes? Or do they taste different.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

My son just helped me shovel the snow on our driveway this morning and I couldn't have been happier.


----------



## MineOwnKing

The Caribbean Sea is hitting the shore just a few yards from my villa, and I wake from my travel induced nap to find my wife full of stories.

She rode a bike to town to get rum and yummies and at the 'store' there was a drunk that wouldn't leave so the owner threw a pail of water over his head.

Locals here are super friendly and speak perfect English. The small plane we took was trippy.

The food is awesome.

Very humid.

Time to start writing.

Just one more sip of rum first.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

^ Jealous. Right now I am getting up at 6 and to bed at 11. It's either work and study and school and study. 5 more finals then I am done like a guy that is done doing things is done.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Brian Scott Allen said:


> ^ Jealous. Right now I am getting up at 6 and to bed at 11. It's either work and study and school and study. 5 more finals then I am done like a guy that is done doing things is done.



Well,

I've been in the work force for 30 years so I guess I deserve a break. Gotta take advantage of my remaining healthy years, especially since the rates are so cheap.

My laptop is full of ants. I'll have to remember not to write outside at night. Too bad, because the sound of waves induces creativity.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

MineOwnKing said:


> Well,
> 
> I've been in the work force for 30 years so I guess I deserve a break. Gotta take advantage of my remaining healthy years, especially since the rates are so cheap.
> 
> My laptop is full of ants. I'll have to remember not to write outside at night. Too bad, because the sound of waves induces creativity.



Hope they don't chew through your electrical...things. Have a great vacation!


----------



## Incanus

I've hit another significant landmark.  As of last night, my WiP novel is now the longest piece of writing I've ever worked on, surpassing my completed novella.  Yay!  I'd say I'm pretty close to half-way through the plot at this point.  It's quite thin in areas and I expect the revision will make the whole thing a good 20,000 words or so longer.  I just can't see all the details the first time through.  Holy crap, this is a lot of work.  No time to stop and wonder whether its any good or not.  Just got to keep plowing ahead...


----------



## Velka

My dog was out in the back yard, barking his fool head off, as dogs are want to do. I went out onto the back deck and yelled at him "You are a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing!" (Yeah, I'm really cool.)

To my surprise, my new backyard neighbour shouts "As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I looked towards the wood, and anon, methought, the wood began to bark."

Naturally I replied, "If thou speakest false, upon the next tree thou shall hang alive." 

We both laughed and wished each other a good night (after I apologized for my dog, because I'm Canadian and we apologize to walls when we walk into them, it's kinda our thing).

I think I'm going to like my new neighbour


----------



## MineOwnKing

Got to hang with Captain Larry today.

He's certainly a jack of all trades and an artist ta'boot. 

Sea captain, poet, rapper, chef.

Says he's almost finished his book of poetry. "It's for the ladies." He said.

Then he recited one of his poems and sang one of his rap compositions.

Very cool person. 

It was worth the trip just to meet him. 

The waves are hitting the beach hard right now. One of the best sounds in the world.


----------



## MineOwnKing

This video on YouTube is really cool.

Warning: contains violence.

https://youtu.be/twvkzugLtu0


----------



## MineOwnKing

I think the female members of this site will appreciate this video.

Very Funny.

https://youtu.be/OTGh0EMmMC8


----------



## Addison

I've heard that the shortening days and stuff effect people. Heck every time there's a full moon out my dad will say "There'll be a lot of Crazies out tonight". Heck if we're out doing something and something happens, someone cuts us off in traffic, someone runs across the restaurant for no apparent reason etc, he'll say "One of the Crazies strayed from the pack". 

Does anyone feel like such things effect their writing? At this moment I'm writing this post hoping to de-clutter my brain so I can finish one friggin scene before I call it a night. It's been like this all day. Trying, failing. I've tried everything that usually gets my imagination in gear, nothing works. I'm a night owl so the longer nights should get my imagination in overdrive but, alas, my muses are out sick. How do you guys remedy your blocks?


----------



## MineOwnKing

Sometimes the brain needs a break, or maybe you're writing a scene that you find boring but is necessary to the plot; that in itself can raise anxiety.

Moon phase can definitely be a factor, along with job fatigue, lack of sun, poor diet, sleeping patterns, stress, kids screaming, menstrual cycle, etc.

One of the advantages to being older, is the possibility of finding balance in your life through routine, family and the responsibilities that follow. Normal sleeping patterns, a boss to hate, making love, these are just a few of the things that can relieve stress, reduce boredom and make writing seem more precious or exciting. 

I have a bad habit of forgetting to drink water. I'll drink a couple of glasses and then the brain starts humming again.

Also, eating tuna and or coconut can unlock dead-bolted creativity. 

I know this sounds silly and can be easily taken the wrong way, but sometimes when I need a jolt of inspiration, I watch one of the Victoria's Secret fashion shows that I have recorded.

Watching Shakespeare helps me too.


----------



## Ban

Monday is Red
Tuesday is Yellow
Wednesday is Green
Thursday is Dark Blue
Friday is Light Blue
Saturday is Grey
Sunday is Brown


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Well one final down two to go. Blech.

In happier news, I passed an ethics exam required before I can sit for the bar so that's a good thing.


----------



## Incanus

Anyone around here seen those videos on Youtube called "Don't hug me, I'm scared"?  (unable to link at the moment.)  I'm not a Youtube nut, so maybe everyone here has already seen this stuff.  No idea.

Anyway, they are a kind of _faux _children's TV show, but very dark and twisted.  Not offensive, but maybe a little disturbing.  My kind of humor, through and through.  They had me in tears last night.  I've only watched the first three so far--I just couldn't take any more.  I'll watch the next two tonight.  Awesome, mind-warping stuff, but likely not for all tastes.


----------



## Velka

A billion ginger cookies later and my Christmas baking is done. I feel ill from eating so much cookie dough and my dog is in a coma on the kitchen floor.


----------



## Ireth

Velka said:


> A billion ginger cookies later and my Christmas baking is done. I feel ill from eating so much cookie dough and my dog is in a coma on the kitchen floor.



Join the club. XD Our freezer is three feet deep in Christmas baking of all sorts. We're finally going to start eating through it this weekend.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Velka said:


> A billion ginger cookies later and my Christmas baking is done. I feel ill from eating so much cookie dough and my dog is in a coma on the kitchen floor.



So are ginger cookies the ones that give or take away souls, I never can remember.


----------



## MineOwnKing

There are many renditions of Stardust, but I find Bing Crosby's to be the most delicate and easiest to understand.

If you guys get a chance to listen, I think you might like it.

It would be a cool song for a Steam-punk Horror, or just a fun ballad to whistle to.



And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart

You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by

Sometimes I wonder why I spend
The lonely night dreaming of a song
The melody haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
Now my consolation
Is in the stardust of a song

Beside a garden wall
When stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
A paradise where roses bloom
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain


----------



## Incanus

Started my novel exactly three months ago (9/11/15).  I'm just shy of 40K words and think I'm more than half done, first draft-wise, since only some of the 'flesh' is getting into this draft.  Slowed down a lot lately, but haven't stopped.  It doesn't appear I will be able to recapture that initial burst that got me my first 20K or so.  At my current rate, I should be able to complete the first draft in another three months, give or take.  But, no deadlines.  If it takes longer, so be it.  One way or another, sooner or later, this thing is going to get done.


----------



## Tom

This is literally the best thing ever. 

How to Study For Exams, According to the Weasley Twins


----------



## Tom

Double-post because I just turned in all my English sh*t and now I'm done except for a few more exams next week, yayyyyy! *dies*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> Double-post because I just turned in all my English sh*t and now I'm done except for a few more exams next week, yayyyyy! *dies*



We need 50 CCs of magic writer juice (caffeine) stat!


----------



## Addison

I'm about to start the beginning of a very challenging writing day. I'm at a point where I know what needs to happen for the story to work from A to Z, but it needs new scenes added (scenes that I'm just not getting excited and passionate about) and a lot of scenes and such cut out. I can't look at the drafts, it looks like a slaughter house.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

The following video shows just how I feel every day during finals season. (I am the yellow haired guy getting kicked)


----------



## MineOwnKing

It was balmy today and quite unlike an average December. Yet the kids remained oblivious to the elements. Their sole focus was in picking out and decorating a Frazier Fur. 

The Pagan tradition lives on, and despite my wallet being fifty dollars lighter, I bask in the consolation of their joy.


----------



## MineOwnKing

_Inspiration Quest_,
Or, _A Shortcut through Musings_ by MineOwnKing

Commiseration with artistic flair, sets literary peers apart from the world, making us special even on the least productive day. Lately I’ve had leisure to reflect on my goals, and in so doing took time to keep an ear to the track. 

I sense a metaphysical vibe in the forum air, viral and contagious. Yep, writer’s block. Inspiration is sought yet words escape the page. The holiday season can be a time of high expectation, a curtain call to the encore of New Year’s Eve. Anxiety intoxicates and we imbibe, oblivious to hangover blues. It builds stronger on the currents of time, cresting atop the falls of Tomorrow-Morrow land. 

Forget about Bartertown, you’ve made it to apocalypse paradise. The blank page is not an obstacle but a portal to inestimable potential. My thoughts come cheap but sincere. For what it’s worth, despite our differences, I believe we all share a rare gift and that in itself is a glimmer of hope in the quest for inspiration. 

_And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.
— William Shakespeare
_


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So...much...snow!! At least 13 inches right now.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So...much...snow!! At least 13 inches right now.



Send some of that my way SVP.


----------



## Ireth

Wish I could remember more of my dream from last night. It had Jack Sparrow in it, and some other pirates, and there was something about a specific phrase that would curse anyone who said it. Oh, and a helpful Chippewa tribe.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> Send some of that my way SVP.



Please take it. We'll be getting as much again tonight the news says. I think we'll have a white Christmas this year.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Please take it. We'll be getting as much again tonight the news says. I think we'll have a white Christmas this year.



Perhaps we could send you some of our idle snow removal equipment from Ontario...


----------



## Heliotrope

In my town in southern BC we don't even have snow removal equipment. We have, literally, a budget of 0 for snow removal. On the odd event it does snow the entire city shuts down. It's pretty awesome actually.


----------



## Chessie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So...much...snow!! At least 13 inches right now.


That's awesome. Snow is great! It's nice walking outside after a good dump because it's so serene.

We had a couple of storms during the weekend. The winds shake our house constantly. Apparently we'll be getting more due to a typhoon.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chesterama said:


> That's awesome. Snow is great! It's nice walking outside after a good dump because it's so serene.
> 
> We had a couple of storms during the weekend. The winds shake our house constantly. Apparently we'll be getting more due to a typhoon.



It really is pretty. I just hate _hate_ driving in the snow. It's awful. People lose their heads when driving in it too and make all kinds of stupid decisions. Couple that with the fact I live near a high school with idiot teenagers losing their heads in the snow and I turn into an insta-scrooge.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Brian Scott Allen said:


> It really is pretty. I just hate _hate_ driving in the snow. It's awful. People lose their heads when driving in it too and make all kinds of stupid decisions. Couple that with the fact I live near a high school with idiot teenagers losing their heads in the snow and I turn into an insta-scrooge.



Driving in snow is easy if you grow up doing it 6 months of the year. 

County plow trucks run daily here. So even if we get buried overnight the roads are cleared and salted by dawn. 

I lived in Detroit for a short while so I know of the idiocy you speak of. No snow removal there.

Edit: Oh yeah, and I like taking a walk after a good dump too.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> It really is pretty. I just hate _hate_ driving in the snow. It's awful. People lose their heads when driving in it too and make all kinds of stupid decisions. Couple that with the fact I live near a high school with idiot teenagers losing their heads in the snow and I turn into an insta-scrooge.



Try living near Toronto, where we get plenty of snow, but we have a high population of people who grew up never seeing snow and people who don't seem to want to invest in snow tires.

But the worst are the people who think owning a SUV with four wheel drive means the laws of physics don't apply to you...

But to me, driving in the snow is fun, I used to rally competitively and once you know what you are doing (left foot braking etc), it can be a lot of fun...except all those other drivers get in the way...


----------



## Chessie

In Alaska, driving in the winter without snow tires is a sure way of racking up towing and insurance bills. There's more ice than snow on the roads and since our city is broke, plow trucks seem to be a thing of the past.

For example, about a month ago we got a super cold spell--then rain---then cold. The roads were like glaciers but never got sanded. Coming down our mountain was terrifying (and I have studded tires), especially since the drive is downhill and winding.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> Try living near Toronto, where we get plenty of snow, but we have a high population of people who grew up never seeing snow and people who don't seem to want to invest in snow tires.
> 
> But the worst are the people who think owning a SUV with four wheel drive means the laws of physics don't apply to you...
> 
> But to me, driving in the snow is fun, I used to rally competitively and once you know what you are doing (left foot braking etc), it can be a lot of fun...except all those other drivers get in the way...



I feel you on that. I got to school where tons of Californians and Texans go. They have bald tires and no snow driving ability. Add in the natives who act like they're the best snow drivers ever and it's hell on earth. So now, because of a generation hotel point donation from a family member, I'm staying in a hotel to avoid the morning icy roads.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Midnight Ramblings of MineOwnKing


From my foxhole in the frozen waste, the horizon remains obscured within darkness. The electronic glow of a laptop reveals my position and I brace for a cross-haired fate. The sniper of Christmas past aims true and I am hit with a bullet of memories. I am floating now, half bathed in dream-scape, flat-lined with reminiscence.  

I see myself twelve winters younger, walking the ancient Roman roads of Ivrea Italy. Hello handsome, I remember you. The cobblestones are slick at night and I see myself brace as the woman that became my wife emerges from the mist. I had almost forgotten today was the anniversary of that moment, such an exquisite ark of hearts swept by an amorous flood.  

Tall, proud and beautiful, she sank her hooks into me. I am indebted to the events of that day. Rich in joy, firm in bond, I greet each new day tempered from the fires of lingering passion. 

_Hang there, my verse, in witness of my love:
And thou, thrice-crowned queen of night, survey
With thy chaste eye, from thy pale sphere above,
Thy huntress' name that my full life doth sway.
_ --Shakespeare


----------



## Lunaairis

if you are excited for the new starwar's movie here's a parody song you may be interested in.

[video=youtube_share;UAMyh8DjCrQ]https://youtu.be/UAMyh8DjCrQ[/video]


----------



## Ban

Begone exams! Christmas here i come!

Verstuurd vanaf mijn LG-E610v met Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Totes jelly banten. I'm starting a 36 hour take home with an hour or so. My wife will become a wide and child fatherless for today and part of tomorrow.


----------



## Ban

You have my condolences Brian. May the gods of the exams look upon you favourably.


----------



## Saigonnus

Sitting at the theater, waiting 45 minutes for Star Wars; The Force Awakens. Thought there would be a line... But nope, got in without waiting. 

Don't worry, I'll post no spoilers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Ban

In the land of Bach and Beethoven, a young Banten went.

His eyes fell upon a steaming white beverage in a shoe-shaped cup.

With vigorous zeal he bought both cup and drink, which cost him quite a cent.

Eggnogg the locals called it slightly before Banten drank it up.

Where has this gift of the gods been all my eggnoggless life, yelled Banten into the skies?

It does not matter my son said Odin with a powerful voice. Just make sure it does not go to your thighs!





And that little abomination is why i don't do poetry 
Is Eggnogg always like 30% or is that a german thing? I always thought it was a soft drink, but this pleasantly surprised me.


----------



## Ireth

Banten said:


> Is Eggnogg always like 30% or is that a german thing? I always thought it was a soft drink, but this pleasantly surprised me.



Now I'm imagining fizzy eggnog... ewwww.

To answer your question, I think it's quite common to have rum in one's 'nog. No idea where it originated, though.


----------



## Russ

In Canada we have always drank eggnog.  Often with rum.

You can make some pretty cool martinis with it as well!


----------



## Ban

That sounds nice, but normal american eggnogg isn't that alcoholic?
I guess i shouldn't be surprised that the germans would add more goodness to an already good drink. Anyway i am in a christmas mood now.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

4 hours of drafting for this stupid final = 13 pages done and about 13 or so to go. Leaving 4.5 hours for editing and citation clean up. Back once more into the breach!


----------



## Russ

Banten said:


> That sounds nice, but normal american eggnogg isn't that alcoholic?
> I guess i shouldn't be surprised that the germans would add more goodness to an already good drink. Anyway i am in a christmas mood now.



No eggnog arrives alcoholic.  You buy the eggnog on its own and add the alcohol to your own taste.  

Now all you have to do is find a good Christmas market to enjoy it in.

Try some ghulwein if you get the chance.


----------



## Ban

Oh i thought it was alcoholic on its own. Interesting, i've never had eggnogg before and you can't buy it here in any supermarket.

And about the gluhwein, i live on the southern dutch-german border. Kind of hard to avoid gluhwein in december


----------



## Ireth

Banten said:


> Oh i thought it was alcoholic on its own. Interesting, i've never had eggnogg before and you can't buy it here in any supermarket.



There are lots of ways you can try to make it yourself. ^^ Eggnog Recipes - Allrecipes.com I don't drink eggnog often, but I do prefer homemade to store-bought.


----------



## Heliotrope

Yeah. In Canada we mix the nogg with anything. Rum is the most popular, but I've seen it mixed with whiskey, rye (Canadian whiskey), cheap scotch, Amaretto… 

I think though, that Canada is next to Germany in our quest to stay warm with booze. Probably Russia is in there somewhere. I can imagine that Nogg mixed with Vodka would be tasty.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Heliotrope said:


> Yeah. In Canada we mix the nogg with anything. Rum is the most popular, but I've seen it mixed with whiskey, rye (Canadian whiskey), cheap scotch, Amaretto…
> 
> I think though, that Canada is next to Germany in our quest to stay warm with booze. Probably Russia is in there somewhere. I can imagine that Nogg mixed with Vodka would be tasty.



In Russia it's about drowning your misery not at staying warm. Little known fact Russians are required to kill a bear at age 3 in order to stay warm. Those that don't are sent off to Siberia.


----------



## Heliotrope

Oh my gosh Brian, that is actually hilarious because my husband is Northern European (Czech) and his dad (Lithuanian) used to tell them all the time about how he was out hunting bears when he was 4 years old!


----------



## Ban

Just made glÃ¼hwein of my own

-almost full bottle cheap win
-nutmeg,cinnamon,cardamom,clove,
-honey
-bit of orange juice
-all the nuts and berries i could find

It tastes nice and my christmas mood has increased even more.


----------



## Heliotrope

My sister married a french man and brought me some vin chaud last year from France… 

I need to get a recipe. Did you just make it up Banten?

Update! Snowfall warning for my town! After I posted that it never snows here! Now I really need a recipe….


----------



## Tom

Wish it would snow here! I was really looking forward to a white Christmas. This unnatural warmth is making my skin crawl--I am a Buffalonian born and bred, after all, and usually by this time we're up to our ears in lake effect snow. 

In other news, I'm done with finals, yay! Now to cross my fingers and wait for my grades to be posted...


----------



## Ban

Yeah i mostly just added stuff that seemed pleasant to drink. However this recipe The Old BearÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s Hot Spiced Wine | Inn at the Crossroads is very similar, so you can follow the proportions on that. It is very simple to make. Just stir the wine till its warm and add the rest. 

Good luck!


----------



## Ban

Tom Nimenai said:


> Wish it would snow here! I was really looking forward to a white Christmas. This unnatural warmth is making my skin crawl--I am a Buffalonian born and bred, after all, and usually by this time we're up to our ears in lake effect snow.
> 
> In other news, I'm done with finals, yay! Now to cross my fingers and wait for my grades to be posted...



Join the christmas fun!

And at least there's a good chance that you'll have a white christmas. Here in the southern netherlands we can prepare for icy cold weather and rain, because father Winter wants us to freeze to death.


----------



## Tom

Thanks! I could do with some eggnog and a good shot of holiday spirit. (Maybe a shot of rum in the eggnog, too...)


----------



## Velka

One more day of school left and then it's winter break! I am so excited! (I'm the teacher.)


----------



## Ireth

Half of the gifts I mailed out to my friends have arrived at their destinations! ^^ Anxiously waiting for the other half.


----------



## MineOwnKing

I guess one of the local theaters here, which has two wings with at least 5 separate projection rooms, if not more, to each wing,  is showing Star Wars in every room and is sold out for some days to come.

They even open at 9:00 A.M..

Wow.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

35 hours later, with only 3 hours of sleep, the final is done. No more school until the new year.


----------



## Tom

Whoo! I got back my history final paper, and I got an A! My professor really liked it! The only critique he had was basically, "Could have used some expansion. Also, your indents are bad and you should feel bad."

Kinda forgot the indents. I did proofread it at eleven at night, after all. :rolleyes2:


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

So you got an A+.

Plus guilt. HAW. (<- Official spelling of the Jerk Laugh.)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

[video=youtube_share;rX7wtNOkuHo]https://youtu.be/rX7wtNOkuHo[/video]
I think you mean haw-haw. 

Or if you're a teacher: https://youtu.be/ON4sOlxvtbU


----------



## Ireth

Few things feel better than seeing a friend's ecstatic reaction to a gift. Especially one that's handmade and took you months to finish.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Brian Scott Allen said:


> [video=youtube_share;rX7wtNOkuHo]https://youtu.be/rX7wtNOkuHo[/video]
> I think you mean haw-haw.
> 
> Or if you're a teacher: https://youtu.be/ON4sOlxvtbU


27 seasons can't be wrong. I stand corrected.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Occasionally I come across a word I've never seen and I like to jot it down.

Today's word is phantasmagoria.


----------



## Incanus

MineOwnKing said:


> Occasionally I come across a word I've never seen and I like to jot it down.
> 
> Today's word is phantasmagoria.



Oh, yeah.  Great word, even though it doesn't really sound like what it means.

I recently learned the word caliginous.


----------



## Tom

Star Wars special features on Google! I joined the Dark Side, naturally...To anyone who hasn't tried it yet, it's pretty cool!


----------



## MineOwnKing

Today is a special day.

Today my family celebrates my Grandmother's 100th birthday.

I am very close with my Grandmother and she lived an amazing life.

Always loving and supportive, like a well of endless hope she was a positive force in raising all the cousins.

She became a one room school house teacher in 1934. She had to ride on her skis to get to the school house and start a fire in the furnace to warm up the building.

Five years later when she got married, she was forced to quit teaching. Women were expected to take care of their husbands and so she was not allowed to work.

After the war she returned to teaching and retired in 1978.

She made life worth living in a multitude of ways.

I love her.

Happy Birthday Grandma.


----------



## Stephyn Blackwood

So... Well...

The new Star Wars is Brilliant, in case anyone was wondering. Just putting it out there


----------



## CupofJoe

Happy Birthday to MoK's Gramdma!
Anyone that makes it to 100 deserves respect and she does sounds a remarkable women [but when aren't they?]


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Had a football party to watch two rivals play in a bowl game. Wife and her family loves the blue team, my family and I love the red team. Frustrating game, but I made some pot stickers and hot dang were they tasty. Favorite football tradition for me right there.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I did it wrong. I saw Helio's challenge to write a 25-word log line, and one of her log line samples was this:


> *Short Term Forecast
> *After discovering a fax machine that can send and receive messages one day into the future, an impossibly inaccurate weather man struggles for career advancement while trying to maintain the space/time continuum.


I came up with a 25-word _story_ based on her sample:




*Short Term Forecast (25 words)*

FAX: The space-time continuum will implode in two days. FAX4D creators take full responsibility and leap from the 88th floor.

FORECAST: It's raining men.


----------



## Ireth

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I did it wrong. I saw Helio's challenge to write a 25-word log line, and one of her log line samples was this:
> 
> I came up with a 25-word _story_ based on her sample:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Short Term Forecast (25 words)*
> 
> FAX: The space-time continuum will implode in two days. FAX4D creators take full responsibility and leap from the 88th floor.
> 
> FORECAST: It's raining men.



You done goofed. But in the best way. XD


----------



## Heliotrope

That was pretty awesome.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Finally got tickets online for Star Wars.

The force is strong with this purchase.

Gonna take my boy today, so nice to share this with him.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Here's a Christmas song remix by my three year old daughter.


Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!



Spoiler: verses 2-97



Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
On a farm Mr. Rice
In a 1-S open sleigh
Hey!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Pro tip: don't teach your 1 year old how to say touchdown and teach him the hand signal. They'll yell touchdown every time they see people raise an arm above their head. They also do so at inappropriate times.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Pro tip 2: Don't let kids accidentally walk in on Shaun of the Dead.

Not good.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Pro tip: don't teach your 1 year old how to say touchdown and teach him the hand signal. They'll yell touchdown every time they see people raise an arm above their head. They also do so at inappropriate times.


PRIEST: "In the name of the Father..."

KID: "Touchdown!"

DAD: "Goddammit."

EVERYONE: (glaring at Dad) "..."


----------



## Devor

Pro Tip 3:  Don't say "sacred poop" in front of a six year old.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Legendary Sidekick said:


> PRIEST: "In the name of the Father..."
> 
> KID: "Touchdown!"
> 
> DAD: "Goddammit."
> 
> EVERYONE: (glaring at Dad) "..."



Are...are you psychic because that is pretty close to what actually happened.


----------



## MineOwnKing

On a more positive Shaun of the Dead note...

Just finished part of a chapter while listening to The Blue Wrath(Bloated) by I Monster.

Greatest zombie music ever.


----------



## FifthView

The last few days I've been thinking about copy-pasting all my comments from Mythic Scribes into Scrivener and finding a total word count, then plotting it into separate days, just to see how much further along I'd be on my manuscript if I'd been working on it instead for those accumulating minutes.

But it doesn't work that way, and I'm too lazy to make the effort the comparison would require.


----------



## Chessie

^Holy cow, then all the time I've spent playing Fallout means I would've had like two finished projects by now.

Oh, well.  I'm actually on the verge of finishing one at the moment, only a bit more to go. I'd be done with it in a matter of hours but somehow, I've hit this fear snag where finishing seems impossible. Lately, it's been: _who wants to read this crap?_ Sigh.


----------



## Addison

I'm leaning toward that same fear snag. Although it's currently being stalled by a sort of "I can't finish this" yapping in my head. My last (please-please my last) revision, to get it done, I have to delete certain scenes and write certain events. Some of the scenes to delete I like, same with the ones needing to be written, but there are scenes I need to delete that I don't like, and I need to write scenes I'm not feeling crazy about. 

That's writing I guess. To make a story work we have to put stuff in that's not in the same "I'm loving this: level as when we started the story.


----------



## Incanus

FifthView said:


> The last few days I've been thinking about copy-pasting all my comments from Mythic Scribes into Scrivener and finding a total word count, then plotting it into separate days, just to see how much further along I'd be on my manuscript if I'd been working on it instead for those accumulating minutes.
> 
> But it doesn't work that way, and I'm too lazy to make the effort the comparison would require.



The comparison also doesn't work (for me) because writing fiction is about twenty times harder than writing a forum post.  I consider one an art, and the other a kind of babbling.  So I'd use a ratio like that:  twenty words of forum post is equal to about one word of fiction.


----------



## Velka

After returning from a weekend in a winter wasteland to spend time with my family I am absolutely baffled/intrigued by the concept of familial relationships. I would never willingly befriend them (except for my grandmother who has dementia and is mad as a box of frogs and absolutely hilariously inappropriate), but due to sharing some DNA I am forever obliged to spend time with those dysfunctional nutjobs.

/adds more rum to her eggnog and is very thankful to be home


----------



## Addison

I know the feeling of a dysfunctional family. Sadly we can't choose our family, but we can choose who we like, don't like, can and can't stand so, yay to that. 

After a long night of a loud, crazy family dinner with an added crazy via my grandfather who arrived early, I now finally have the house to myself. Okay me and the dogs but I've always loved, tolerated and could stand them. Right now one is keeping my feet warm and the other is eyeing my Milanos. 

So I am making this my last post of the day as I turn to my story and the long, chilling barrel of an arduous revision. 
Happy Writing and Merry Christmas everyone.


----------



## MineOwnKing

The day is starting out good.

Found a great deal on a car for the little woman. The heater quit working in hers. Damn that's a cold ride!

Scoring points with the wife definitely makes for a better marriage. Accumulated massive points for the vacation to Belize.

And, kind of like frequent flyer miles, from time to time I get to spend the points.


----------



## SeverinR

The clouds of the year are clearing, the suns first rays are peaking through, a rainbow in the distance promises the storm of death and loss could be breaking.

"I've always hated those bells, they ring for horror, the dead..."
"weddings"
"Exactly"

3 funerals and 2 weddings.

I have 2 grandchildren on the way, a granddaughter and a Grandson.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Some language in the below video but holy crap was it good. Best one of these I think.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Some language in the below video but holy crap was it good. Best one of these I think.



Pretty good.

I like Hodor vs Groot better. 

How do you guys put these videos on here?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

There's an icon in the reply box that looks like a piece of film. Just click that button, copy and paste the youtube address into the space therein provided, and then click okay, then click post.


----------



## Ireth

We now very suddenly have a kitty. A little male grey tabby kitty that I named Arian ("silver" in Welsh). He's adorable, but I do worry about what our dog might do to him. ._.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Christmas gift?

Or did a stray just invite himself to your home? (That's how I got Felix, my cat from 1990 to 2005.)


----------



## Ireth

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Christmas gift?
> 
> Or did a stray just invite himself to your home? (That's how I got Felix, my cat from 1990 to 2005.)



He invited himself over to my cousin's house, and she asked if we'd take him in. Of course we said yes. ^^


----------



## Incanus

No writing for the next two days (well, nights I should say).  That'll be the longest break I've taken on my novel since I started in September.  Time for some quality hanging out with the family.  Though the hermit lifestyle suits me pretty well, it's good to get out from time to time too--and what better time than this holiday?


----------



## Ireth

First photo of our kitty!


----------



## Svrtnsse

Someone bought one of my DJ-sets. They actually paid real-world money to download it - even though you can listen to it for free online. It feels weird, but pretty good too.

I'm pretty sure it's not someone I know. I uploaded the set back in July and haven't linked it to anyone for ages, so someone randomly came across it a few weeks back and decided they liked it well enough to pay for it.

Link is here: Dreams in the Rain :: Beatport Mixes (yes, you can listen for free there)

This is also a little bit encouraging when it comes to the writing. If someone can stumble across and buy a five months old DJ set, then people can stumble across and purchase stories I've written and put up for sale too.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

My brother in law and sister have unleashed hell and fury. They gave my 1 year old a Mickey Mouse clubs themed drum set. I'm going to force choke the hell out of them and plan revenge for next Christmas! And of course my loves it. Yes. Vengeance is mine!


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> My brother in law and sister have unleashed hell and fury. They gave my 1 year old a Mickey Mouse clubs themed drum set. I'm going to force choke the hell out of them and plan revenge for next Christmas! And of course my loves it. Yes. Vengeance is mine!


At least I waited until my grand-nephew was two before I unleashed "The Drum Set".


----------



## ThinkerX

> First photo of our kitty!



So many things to destroy!  And a nice keyboard to sleep on afterward!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

The worst part about reading is when you get interrupted at an exciting part and you can't read the book for the next several hours because you have to work. Stupid work interrupting my reading.


----------



## FifthView

My least favorite part of reading is when I stop reading at an annoying part, and then I can't motivate myself to pick up the book for a few days to finish it—even when otherwise I've been enjoying the book.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I saw Star Wars again. This time it was different. This time, a bunch of dicks were in my seat. So I walked up to some of the dicks and said, "These are my seats. Do you guys have tickets with the same row on them?" The teenage dicks smirked and giggled, but the dick dad (and/or uncle and/or 40-year-old boy) had the audacity to not produce a ticket as evidence but instead flash his phone confirmation. Of course the manager was a bit suspicious because I had tickets in my hand with the seat number and this other guy didn't have tickets, and his tickets were unable to print. Finally, the manager looked up the guy's order and found he had seats A1-10, a.k.a., the break-neck section. Not the best seats in the theater which were reserved by me and two other families.

All this was resolved before the movie began, and this guy insisted the computer gave him the wrong seats because "there's no way I would've bought those seats." I didn't call bullshit because pretending to believe him got him to cooperate. But there was no effing way I was gonna let him go talk to the customer service guy on his own and no way I was gonna give up the best seats to a bunch of jerks.

Am I gonna confront a jerk every time I see a movie twice in a theater? (Last time, it was the Two Towers. I tackled a shoplifter.)


----------



## Ireth

ThinkerX said:


> So many things to destroy!  And a nice keyboard to sleep on afterward!



That's a flat-screen TV, not a computer. No keyboard there. ^^ But there is a printer, and various other things.

In other news: Reading _The Shepherd's Crown_ shortly before watching _The Force Awakens_ was a huge mistake. I am a ball of feels. So many feels.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I saw Star Wars again. This time it was different. This time, a bunch of dicks were in my seat. So I walked up to some of the dicks and said, "These are my seats. Do you guys have tickets with the same row on them?" The teenage dicks smirked and giggled, but the dick dad (and/or uncle and/or 40-year-old boy) had the audacity to not produce a ticket as evidence but instead flash his phone confirmation. Of course the manager was a bit suspicious because I had tickets in my hand with the seat number and this other guy didn't have tickets, and his tickets were unable to print. Finally, the manager looked up the guy's order and found he had seats A1-10, a.k.a., the break-neck section. Not the best seats in the theater which were reserved by me and two other families.
> 
> All this was resolved before the movie began, and this guy insisted the computer gave him the wrong seats because "there's no way I would've bought those seats." I didn't call bullshit because pretending to believe him got him to cooperate. But there was no effing way I was gonna let him go talk to the customer service guy on his own and no way I was gonna give up the best seats to a bunch of jerks.
> 
> Am I gonna confront a jerk every time I see a movie twice in a theater? (Last time, it was the Two Towers. I tackled a shoplifter.)



Did you force choke him? He sounded in need of a good force choking.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Did you force choke him? He sounded in need of a good force choking.


Maybe he choked when he was forced to look up from his crappy front row seat. (Insert jerky, vindictive laugh here.)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Maybe he choked when he was forced to look up from his crappy front row seat. (Insert jerky, vindictive laugh here.)



So this?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Wait. Are you saying that finding humor in my victory puts me on the dark side?


----------



## Nagash

News of Lemmy's death left me a little shaky...

It seems your whole universe shrinks as time goes on and people you knew, loved and/or admired pass away.


----------



## SeverinR

Svrtnsse said:


> Someone bought one of my DJ-sets. They actually paid real-world money to download it - even though you can listen to it for free online. It feels weird, but pretty good too.
> 
> I'm pretty sure it's not someone I know. I uploaded the set back in July and haven't linked it to anyone for ages, so someone randomly came across it a few weeks back and decided they liked it well enough to pay for it.
> 
> Link is here: Dreams in the Rain :: Beatport Mixes (yes, you can listen for free there)
> 
> This is also a little bit encouraging when it comes to the writing. If someone can stumble across and buy a five months old DJ set, then people can stumble across and purchase stories I've written and put up for sale too.



People can listen for free, but at least one person liked it enough to support you with funding for it.  They know that support is needed to fund the arts. Free is nice, but everyone has bills.  
So this is a call to everyone, if you like a persons work, find a way to show that support in dollars, it means more when you can get it for free but you are willing to pay for it.


----------



## SeverinR

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I saw Star Wars again. This time it was different. This time, a bunch of dicks were in my seat. So I walked up to some of the dicks and said, "These are my seats. Do you guys have tickets with the same row on them?" The teenage dicks smirked and giggled, but the dick dad (and/or uncle and/or 40-year-old boy) had the audacity to not produce a ticket as evidence but instead flash his phone confirmation. Of course the manager was a bit suspicious because I had tickets in my hand with the seat number and this other guy didn't have tickets, and his tickets were unable to print. Finally, the manager looked up the guy's order and found he had seats A1-10, a.k.a., the break-neck section. Not the best seats in the theater which were reserved by me and two other families.
> 
> All this was resolved before the movie began, and this guy insisted the computer gave him the wrong seats because "there's no way I would've bought those seats." I didn't call bullshit because pretending to believe him got him to cooperate. But there was no effing way I was gonna let him go talk to the customer service guy on his own and no way I was gonna give up the best seats to a bunch of jerks.
> 
> Am I gonna confront a jerk every time I see a movie twice in a theater? (Last time, it was the Two Towers. I tackled a shoplifter.)


The guy should have tried the mind thing:
"These are not the seats, you seek."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Wait. Are you saying that finding humor in my victory puts me on the dark side?



I'm pretty much convinced that _everything_ puts you on the Darkside if you can't be worried about your own mother that's a slave on a sandy hellhole like Tattooine.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

SeverinR said:


> The guy should have tried the mind thing:
> "These are not the seats, you seek."


I would reply, "I will _tighten_ your restraints, seat-stealing scum!"

But then... he'd still be in my seat!

Damn you, Jedi mind tricks! Even when you don't work, you work!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

That's why you shoot first. Then when video evidence is produced it will magically look like you shot second and that the other guy is a really bad shot.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

I would've whispered the big moment to them as they passed, hoping that was their first viewing.   

Yes, I fully embrace the dark side.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

That is evil... in a good way. Wow...! I didn't even think of the leverage I had.

"You got 10 seconds to get out of my seat, or I start announcing major spoilers. Think I'm bluffing? Find out in 5 seconds, 4... 3..."


----------



## Ireth

That awkward moment when you're going through your novel to revise, and you decide to flesh out a minor character to make him more sympathetic -- and he gets an idea in his head that winds up taking over your novel. Your nearly-completed novel, which you've been working on for five years now and really don't want to rewrite from scratch... But the new ideas are so much more interesting than the old ones.

*flails helplessly*


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

When in doubt, go in the more interesting direction.

I'm not sure if that's good advice, but it's what I do. My old ideas bore me, and when they bore me, there's no passion. Without passion, I write crap. (Maybe I write crap anyway, but it's different if I have fun writing crap.)


----------



## Ireth

I see where you're coming from LS... but it's taken me five years to get this far, and I'd rather keep on with the version I've got and get it ready to send within the next 1-2 years, rather than following the rabbit hole and not being published for another 6-7 years or so. I have other stories to work on; I don't want one to dominate my life for the next decade. The new ideas will work well as fanfiction when/if my novel finds its way out into the world. And if my novel isn't interesting as it is, I'll *make* it interesting, while still keeping certain characters reined in.


----------



## FifthView

Ireth, maybe tone him &/or his ideas down, plant a few seeds that can seem quirky now but can be used in a sequel later, i.e. a type of foreshadowing that will gain more shape/depth in the sequel?


----------



## Ireth

FifthView said:


> Ireth, maybe tone him &/or his ideas down, plant a few seeds that can seem quirky now but can be used in a sequel later, i.e. a type of foreshadowing that will gain more shape/depth in the sequel?



I hadn't planned on writing a sequel, but then, how often does writing go as planned?  We'll see. I'll definitely keep the ideas aside for possible use, regardless. The character in question is a King of the Fae, so it will almost definitely turn out interesting however I do it. ^^


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Ireth, you've obviously still got a passion for your 5-year-old novel, so don't let the new idea worry you. If it's that wonderful, you'll use it later. If it's a distraction, it will fade as you stay the course.


----------



## ThinkerX

Ireth's experience reminds me of how my 10-15,000 word tale has now hit two volumes and 140,000+ words with more to come.

At first, it was, 'well, I need to better account for this.'  Then it was, 'hmm, this guys backstory is both interesting and necessary.'  Plus several, 'Wow, this is cool.  I just gotta include it!'  That was just the first volume.  A lot of that stuff didn't survive the rewrites.  Then I realized the story could and should continue.


----------



## Tom

Going to see The Force Awakens tonight! 

I might have accidentally spoiled Kylo Ren's identity for myself, but as I've fastidiously avoided all other spoilers for nearly two weeks, I'm sure there'll be plenty more new revelations in store to make up for it.  

Also, lesson learned. Never, ever look up a spoiler-y character's Wikipedia page to see who plays them. That innocent-looking little sidebar listing their info (including, I don't know, THEIR REAL NAME)? It is not humanly possible to scroll away fast enough to avoid glancing at it. 

Oops.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> Going to see The Force Awakens tonight!
> 
> I might have accidentally spoiled Kylo Ren's identity for myself, but as I've fastidiously avoided all other spoilers for nearly two weeks, I'm sure there'll be plenty more new revelations in store to make up for it.
> 
> Also, lesson learned. Never, ever look up a spoiler-y character's Wikipedia page to see who plays them. That innocent-looking little sidebar listing their info (including, I don't know, THEIR REAL NAME)? It is not humanly possible to scroll away fast enough to avoid glancing at it.
> 
> Oops.



Hope you like Jar-Jar


----------



## Tom

*spews coffee*

WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY????!!!

OH, _F***_ NO!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

[SPOILER ]Meesa likes the part where Jar Jar slips on a banana peel and causes a twelve tie-fighter pile-up. I LOL'd so hard I had to buy a new pair of jeans.[/SPOILER]


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I loved that part too LS. But the best part for me was when clone anakin talked about sand again. I mean he really made me feel...sandy.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I'm so glad they had two clones of him, so you could have little boy Anakin AND angsty teen Anakin. And man, did he get angsty when he lost to his younger self in that game of Super Podracio Kart. The wacky in-your-face CGI made up for stupid BB8 and his actual-functioning-robotness.

That's my only criticism. Why make a real robot that actually works when you can simulate one?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Helped me realize how right Lucas was to make the prequels so...sterile.


----------



## Tom

So I saw it...and I liked it so much I'm seeing it again with a friend who hasn't seen it yet! I'm still riding the I-just-saw-it-and-it-rocked high, so I haven't really formed any coherent opinions about the plot or characters. BUT IT WAS AWESOME. 

Btw, my favorite part was where Jar Jar crashed the Millennium Falcon.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Hey, you! Go to the spoiler-fest thread before you go and tell everyone how Jar Jar goes to the dark side and becomes Darth Binxorz.


----------



## Devor

Tom Nimenai said:


> Btw, my favorite part was where Jar Jar crashed the Millennium Falcon.



I mean, he crashed it _right into the super friggin' city!_  I'm so glad he got out of that alive - it was awesome!  He'll make a great villain in the sequels.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

_Killed_ your father?... Meesa _is _your father!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooo...........







PS - Happy 2016!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

But can we possibly forget cyborg jabba? That, to me, was just a stroke of genius!!!


----------



## Devor

Brian Scott Allen said:


> But can we possibly forget cyborg jabba? That, to me, was just a stroke of genius!!!



I saw the droid slave girl and thought, "Wow, they went there."


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Cyber Jabba seemed kinda meh after Legolas rode in on his tonton to rescue ewoks with his infallible Jedi archery.


----------



## Devor

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Cyber Jabba seemed kinda meh after Legolas rode in on his tonton to rescue ewoks with his infallible Jedi archery.



Now seriously Sidekick, were sleeping right before that?  I mean, Cyber Jabba was _eating _the Ewoks right before the Jedi arrow-flinging started up.  There were two on the spit, turning over the fire, just like they did to Solo in Return of the Jedi, but with their fur shaved.  The whole theater I was in was laughing and shrieking both.  I mean, you don't get cooler than that.


----------



## Tom

Saw Star Wars again tonight. Friend's reactions were so fun to watch. She was literally on the edge of her seat for the entire thing. She's a huge Star Wars nerd too, so we were both laughing at all the little in-jokes and references sprinkled throughout. I LOVE the way this new installation feels like classic Star Wars. It's so true to the original trilogy--the aesthetic, the creatures, the effects, the music, everything. 

Congrats, Disney, for not screwing up Star Wars.

My new favorite part is Jar Jar taking off his mask for the first time. Such a dramatic reveal! The emotional significance also makes it stand out--up until that point, Rey could effectively separate him from humanity, allowing her to hate what was simply a faceless monster. But when she could see his face, suddenly it became harder to do that. Presented with a face, she couldn't divorce him from his nature as a fellow human being*. She was forced to acknowledge that such a terrible foe could be a person just like her.

*Gungan, but whatever.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> Saw Star Wars again tonight. Friend's reactions were so fun to watch. She was literally on the edge of her seat for the entire thing. She's a huge Star Wars nerd too, so we were both laughing at all the little in-jokes and references sprinkled throughout. I LOVE the way this new installation feels like classic Star Wars. It's so true to the original trilogy--the aesthetic, the creatures, the effects, the music, everything.
> 
> Congrats, Disney, for not screwing up Star Wars.
> 
> My new favorite part is Jar Jar taking off his mask for the first time. Such a dramatic reveal! The emotional significance also makes it stand out--up until that point, Rey could effectively separate him from humanity, allowing her to hate what was simply a faceless monster. But when she could see his face, suddenly it became harder to do that. Presented with a face, she couldn't divorce him from his nature as a fellow human being*. She was forced to acknowledge that such a terrible foe could be a person just like her.
> 
> *Gungan, but whatever.



Loved that reveal, but when she grabbed the Luger from Red Skull and shot zombie Greedo first that was just a stroke of post credit genius. Rey will return in Infinity War and I am stoked!


----------



## MineOwnKing

I saw Stars Wars again today.

Good stuff.

I watched an interview with Daisy Ridley.

Typically I have no problem understanding all the varied accents of the UK.

But Daisy? That's a really, really thick accent. I have trouble understanding it. 

Is it Pikey?


----------



## ushKee

Star Wars was a very exciting experience for me. I didn't really like how similar it was to A New Hope, but overall it was great.

My favorite part was when the alien appeared in the pit at the beginning after BB-8 rolled past it in the sand- that's when you knew it was REAL Star Wars.

Also so glad this guy made a reappearance


----------



## Velka

Back to work today after a glorious week in Mexico. 

Some highlights:
- Standing outside in -18C weather on yard duty, with memories of bathing suits and margaritas flashing between the staccato of my chattering teeth like a dystopian disco ball.
- Being told I have to attend a conference I really don't want to attend
- Having one of my students innocently reveal a huge Star Wars spoiler to me while reading her journal to me
- Dressed for an antarctic expedition, but the heater in my classroom is on the fritz so it was almost 30C
- Two of my plants died
- Coffee tasted like it was wrung out of a damp, week old dishcloth
- Still slightly jetlagged after arriving back home 24 hours beforehand

Good times.


----------



## FifthView

RE: the subject of _tension_.

Just started watching season 1 of the show _24_, a show I'd avoided until now.  Yep, it's good.  _Lots_ of tension.  But I don't think it was intended to be watched in marathon sessions (me: on Amazon Prime.)  A lot of the tricks for throwing kinks into the flow of the unfolding action begin to become annoying.  You know that just as something is about to be resolved, something else is going to happen to get in the way of that resolution.  Or, when chance encounters that could solve a situation are just about to happen, there'll be those two ships passing each other in the night and not seeing each other.  Etc. Etc.  Season 1 is a good crash course in the many ways tension can be created.


----------



## Heliotrope

Tension is something I've also been paying really close attention to, because EVERYTHING I have read by agents and publishers say that the #1 reason manuscripts are rejected is because of not enough tension. 

I am writing a treasure heist book for kids right now, and I wanted to play on some of the tropes of the typical heist story, so I've been have a heist marathon the past few nights. Oceans 12 is a great study in tension. It offers some wonderful examples of 'inherent tension' without it being full of 'episodic tension'. Like, for example: 

- One of the thieves has a past romantic relationship with the detective that is hunting them. 
- The detective hunting them became a detective because she resented her father (who was a famous thief). 
- The detective's famous thief father is helping Ocean and his team. 
- Ocean and his team have to steal enough money to pay back their last hit (who hunted them down) and they only have 2 weeks to do it…. but another thief wants to prove that _he_ is the best thief in the world and challenges them to a competition, promising to pay their debt if they win. 
- Tess (Ocean's wife) has to pretend to be Julia Roberts… but she is seen by Bruce Willis (as himself) and he wants to tag along. 

So it isn't just "We must steal a treasure to pay a debt" and then episodic events in their way… there is a TON of built in inherent conflict to sustain the story and it is awesome.


----------



## Heliotrope

Oh, and another example I read was lately in a book on crafting monsters, about Jaws. 

So in Jaws, obviously the problem is the shark. The _tension_ though comes from the different ways the three men want to deal with the shark. 

Police Chief Brody wants to close the beach. He has young kids, it isn't safe. He is the family man who wants to protect everyone. 

Mayor Vaughn wants to capitalize on the summer tourists, and refuses to close the beach. He has to keep his town alive and because it is a summer town closing the beach means no income. 

Quint, the shark hunter says he will destroy the shark if they pay him… but later in the story we realize that he saw all his comrades destroyed by sharks off the coast of Japan during the war and he will stop at nothing to kill the shark, even if that means sabotaging the boat that he, Brody, Vaughn and Hooper are on just so that he can get close to the animal. 

Whereas Hooper, an Oceanographer, just wants to study the shark and is skeptical about causing it harm. 

Tons of inherent tension. The shark attacks and floating heads of fishermen are just bonus.


----------



## FifthView

_24_ is really excellent in S1.  I think that one general take-away, for translation into written fiction, would be to not use too many overt "tricks" in quick succession.  Each episode considered alone is fine, and with a week between airings, the overall approach works great.  But watching 4-5 episodes in a row in marathon sessions, and the whole season in a short time frame, you begin to see too clearly the many tricks.  It's still an excellent show and rather amazing, and I'm a little forgiving because the general scheme (each episode covering 1 hour, a season covering 24 hours) puts this constraint on the delivery.  I.e., can't solve things too quickly, must draw it out, out, out, out...

One of the "inherent tension" examples from S1 of _24_ would be the fact that it's revealed in the very first episode that elements within the anti-terrorism unit headed up by Jack Bauer may in fact be in league with his opponents, who are also somewhat vague in the first half or so of the season.  So there are red herrings for the viewer, and the MCs themselves are constrained in who they can trust and what actions they can take.

I've never watched any of the Ocean movies, although I've always planned to.


----------



## Heliotrope

Cool. I haven't watch 24 so maybe I will have a look at it


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Going to start a class with Brandon Sanderson in a while. I'm a little excited. 

[video=youtube_share;SvmluRCGv_s]http://youtu.be/SvmluRCGv_s[/video]


----------



## BronzeOracle

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Going to start a class with Brandon Sanderson in a while. I'm a little excited.



I'd like to hear your thoughts on the class.  I was very impressed by The Way of Kings and his classes on youtube - doing a class with him would be a dream come true. 

I like his thoughts on writing success - its not about having a great idea, talent or luck (although these all help) - its all about developing one's craft.


----------



## FifthView

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Going to start a class with Brandon Sanderson in a while. I'm a little excited.



Very cool!  I've only read the _Mistborn_ novels—stormed through them one summer, mostly while lounging in a pool—but have become a huge fan because of the podcasts.  He's extremely good at teaching/discussing principles of writing.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Success in most fields typically hinges on timing.

I would love to have his success.

Good luck with the class.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

BronzeOracle said:


> I'd like to hear your thoughts on the class.  I was very impressed by The Way of Kings and his classes on youtube - doing a class with him would be a dream come true.
> 
> I like his thoughts on writing success - its not about having a great idea, talent or luck (although these all help) - its all about developing one's craft.



I think that the best part about his class is just how empowering it is. He mentioned how when he took this class back in the day 5 of the 22 students got published and are working as professionals. He says that it takes about 10 years while working for 6 hours a week.


----------



## Ireth

Thinking of making a Twitter account for future use promoting my novel(s). Might participate in PitMad or things like that once Winter's Queen is ready to send out. Any suggestion on how to get started? I looked for a Twitter-related thread on here but couldn't find one.


----------



## Lunaairis

Ireth said:


> Thinking of making a Twitter account for future use promoting my novel(s). Might participate in PitMad or things like that once Winter's Queen is ready to send out. Any suggestion on how to get started? I looked for a Twitter-related thread on here but couldn't find one.



make a twitter account(takes 5 seconds. I am not kidding) follow all the publishers/writers you can. post tweets contaning your favourite lines or short blips you have written. Make sure there is room left to give it the hashtag ( # ) New book, or something similar. Then wait. Don't forget you should do this at least once a day. Usually your first tweets will be retweeted by some twitter account who's job it is to spread news like this.  An example being -> New Fantasy Books (@NuFantasyBooks) | Twitter 

after a few days you may start to get actual people who are interested in what you are writing.

Posting pictures that have the same feel of your book also helps. Pictures are internet candy.


----------



## Ireth

Lunaairis said:


> make a twitter account(takes 5 seconds. I am not kidding)



Five seconds... plus the time it takes to decide on a username. XD Not sure whether to go with some version of "Ireth" (or the full name, "Ireth Telrunya") or not.


----------



## Lunaairis

Ireth said:


> Five seconds... plus the time it takes to decide on a username. XD Not sure whether to go with some version of "Ireth" (or the full name, "Ireth Telrunya") or not.



if you are writing under a pen name use the pen name. But i'd suggest using the same name that you are publishing your book under. when people go to the book store and are trying to find your book. (or checking an online catalog) being able to go to twitter and see the authors name by a post about the book you want is very helpful.


----------



## Ireth

Lunaairis said:


> if you are writing under a pen name use the pen name. But i'd suggest using the same name that you are publishing your book under. when people go to the book store and are trying to find your book. (or checking an online catalog) being able to go to twitter and see the authors name by a post about the book you want is very helpful.



Good point. Is punctuation allowed in a Twitter handle? I'm thinking of publishing under my first and middle initials plus my last name.


----------



## FifthView

Ireth said:


> Good point. Is punctuation allowed in a Twitter handle? I'm thinking of publishing under my first and middle initials plus my last name.



There are two separate "names" involved.  One is the username which will be used for your twitter address, and the other is changed under profile. So for the author I.M. Author, the username could be "imauthor" and messages will go to "@iamauthor," and the profile name (display name) could be "I.M. Author." You are allowed special characters in the profile/display name.

Twitter searches both fields when doing a search.  So for instance you can go to Justin Bieber (@badlandsbiebs) | Twitter and you'll see where the username is "@badlandsbiebs" but on the profile it says "Justin Bieber" even though that's not Bieber's account.  I'd imagine you'll find a lot of accounts that use "Justin Bieber" as the display name.


----------



## FifthView

Another example:  J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) | Twitter


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Someday, I'll figure out what I'm supposed to do with Twitter. I have a Twitter account, but haven't actually used it.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

There's a new musical about Alexander Hamilton, man is it good. The music is hip-hop, which I am not usually a fan of, but damn is this a good musical. You should listen to it. Right. Now.


----------



## Gryphos

No joke,  I actually struggled to get through the rewrite of the last chapter of one of my WIPs because I was crying so much. I guess that's a good sign, right?


----------



## Velka

I just found the Netflix ID Bible and I am very afraid of what is about to happen to my productivity, hygiene, and general attachment to reality.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Brian Scott Allen said:


> There's a new musical about Alexander Hamilton, man is it good. The music is hip-hop, which I am not usually a fan of, but damn is this a good musical. You should listen to it. Right. Now.



The founding father? 

That sounds strange.

I guess we know how it ends.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

MineOwnKing said:


> The founding father?
> 
> That sounds strange.
> 
> I guess we know how it ends.


He dies. It's really good though. Love the music.


----------



## MineOwnKing

It's nearly impossible to stay warm. -15 F

I had to shovel snow again today and I was getting frost bite after just a few minutes. 

I wish I could type with mittens on.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Today, I drew a character hanging onto flying pencils. My daughter asked why, so I showed her my source of inspiration. (Missile part starts at 2:00)





EDIT - Apologies for E.Leo whining about autoscroll and such.

I remembered the missiles, but forgot about all of the unique enemies you meet in that one stage. All six stages had several enemies you'd only meet once in the game.

Conclusion: Contra III was awesome.


----------



## Ireth

Monday, I woke up to news that David Bowie had passed away. Today, I woke up to news that Alan Rickman is gone. This is a sad week. ._.


----------



## Tom

We'll all miss the potions master...


----------



## Ireth

Tom Nimenai said:


> We'll all miss the potions master...



Always. /10char


----------



## MineOwnKing

The cover art for the short story I wrote last week is finished.

It's really tight! Very Mad Max.

Hope to have it on-line by next Friday.

I am going to publish 2 short stories every month this year. Even if it kills me.

My second short is half done.


----------



## Incanus

Ireth said:


> Monday, I woke up to news that David Bowie had passed away. Today, I woke up to news that Alan Rickman is gone. This is a sad week. ._.



My thoughts exactly.  Two incredibly distinctive voices we will no longer hear.  Quite a loss.  Apparently they were about the same age too.


----------



## Incanus

MineOwnKing said:


> The cover art for the short story I wrote last week is finished.
> 
> It's really tight! Very Mad Max.
> 
> Hope to have it on-line by next Friday.
> 
> I am going to publish 2 short stories every month this year. Even if it kills me.
> 
> My second short is half done.



Sounds great MOK!  I wouldn't mind having a gander.  Hopefully you will let us know where these are being published?  Maybe?


----------



## FifthView

"And it's a human need to be told stories. The more we're governed by idiots and have no control over our destinies, the more we need to tell stories to each other about who we are, why we are, where we come from, and what might be possible." —Alan Rickman


----------



## Lunaairis

Hmmm, I've been having really ... well I guess it would called 'Nihilistic' ideas lately. No idea why, but just random thoughts. I had not really noticed them till they popped up at New years.

I spent New Years at a party at my friend's house. Slept over with a bunch of girls and we talked till dawn about pretty much everything. We got onto the topic of death and that's when the idea hit me. So I tried to explain it to them it. Yet instead of the the usual 'humms' or 'ahhhs' There was this look in their eyes and a silence in the room.   

I have never really seen fear on a person's face, or felt it.
    When I take a step back to look at the universe it does't scare me but rather amazes me. When I look at all of human history and how little we actually know, I'm excited for all the stories we could tell about it. I don't understand, fear of the unknown or death; which is a sphere of it. But I think in that moment I understood what a fear of death was. 

Maybe it wasn't a random thought but rather my subconscious finally understanding the ending of *The Big Sleep * by Raymond Chandler.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Wanna hate yourself? Digitally color in pointlessly high resolution even when you know you're going to reduce the image to exactly 25%.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

[video=youtube_share;8aefuWGmKTY]https://youtu.be/8aefuWGmKTY[/video]

I think everyone her should start writing like we're running out of time.


----------



## Mythopoet

I think the one thing that the new (2012) TMNT cartoon is missing (over the 80s version) is mutant turtles roaming town in trench coats and fedoras.


----------



## Velka

Just spent the last 40 minutes trying to buy tickets to see Florence and the Machine. Was on Ticketmaster 20 minutes prior to when they went on sale and sat here staring at the countdown timer. The moment they went on sale I tried to buy tickets.... was told there were none available, but to try my search again as some might be released. Rinse, repeat for 40 minutes... each time verifying I wasn't a bot.

Went on Stubhub and a few other scalping sites only to see hundreds of them for sale. 

Apparently I am a bot.


----------



## Tom

Incanus said:


> My thoughts exactly.  Two incredibly distinctive voices we will no longer hear.  Quite a loss.  Apparently they were about the same age too.



Both were 59. I believe both died of cancer. It's a strange and sad coincidence.


----------



## Ireth

Tom Nimenai said:


> Both were 59. I believe both died of cancer. It's a strange and sad coincidence.



Not to be that person, but they were 69. Doesn't make it any less sad.


----------



## Saigonnus

Another tragic loss to the music industry, and the world on general. Glenn Frey of the Eagles passed away today at 67. Seems like the angels are forming a new band. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Why do all the characters in War and Peace have _British_ accents when the story is set in Russia? On a related note why is it in American media when you want to portray "foreign" the accent is British if the characters are speaking English?


----------



## Devor

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Why do all the characters in War and Peace have _British_ accents when the story is set in Russia? On a related note why is it in American media when you want to portray "foreign" the accent is British if the characters are speaking English?



Children learn English as a second language in schools all around the world.  But, at least in Europe, they're all learning _British_ English.  They might be learning it to speak with American businessmen - I mean, I guess I can't really say why they're learning it, but _even if_ - but the UK is a part of the EU, so it would be weird if they didn't learn UK English.

So that portrayal is usually accurate.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Devor said:


> Children learn English as a second language in schools all around the world.  But, at least in Europe, they're all learning _British_ English.  They might be learning it to speak with American businessmen - I mean, I guess I can't really say why they're learning it, but _even if_ - but the UK is a part of the EU, so it would be weird if they didn't learn UK English.
> 
> So that portrayal is usually accurate.


But why do they British accents when it's set in napoleonic Russia. It's not a big thing, but it still is strange to me.


----------



## Saigonnus

Brian Scott Allen said:


> But why do they British accents when it's set in napoleonic Russia. It's not a big thing, but it still is strange to me.



It was made by the BBC... Go figure..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Incanus

All right!!!!

Hit and passed 50,000 words over the weekend.  That's a nice round, largish number and it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  It took over four months to get there, but I think it shows that my 'little-bit-a-day' productivity can and does add up.  Lot's of work to go, but still...


----------



## Saigonnus

Incanus said:


> All right!!!!
> 
> Hit and passed 50,000 words over the weekend.  That's a nice round, largish number and it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  It took over four months to get there, but I think it shows that my 'little-bit-a-day' productivity can and does add up.  Lot's of work to go, but still...



Congrats! Just a bit more and you'll have a proper novel! Keep chugging along and you'll get there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Incanus

Saigonnus said:


> Congrats! Just a bit more and you'll have a proper novel! Keep chugging along and you'll get there.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thanks!  It WILL be a novel.  This version will end up probably only somewhere around 70,000 words tops, so I'm getting close.

Of course, I see it as either an undernourished, emaciated first draft, or a spectacularly detailed outline.  Somewhere in there.  I estimate the finished product will be around 100,000 words.


----------



## FifthView

Home early.  Roads being covered in ice.  Already gave notice that I probably won't be going in tomorrow.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

We're lucky in Massachusetts. Extreme cold, but the good part is not much to shovel and roads haven't been too bad. ...but the winter is still young.

Oh. And the Christmas tree is old. The kids wanted to keep it around for the long weekend, but trash day tomorrow. So I'll be vacuuming pine needles today. Like in a few minutes. Like when I'm done procrastinating _here._


----------



## NerdyCavegirl

As much as I've loved the mild winter, it's kinda nice to finally have some snow. January shouldn't be 60 degrees.


----------



## Incanus

Ogres on the brain.

I've developed some half-classic, half-original ogres for my story.  I'm just now getting into this portion of the book, and it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun to write.

So, everything's coming up ogres.  Good ogres, and bad.  They haunt my daydreams and they bludgeon their way into my story.

Soon, it will be raining cats and ogres, but the more ogres, the merrier!

How does that Willie Nelson song go?  "You are ogres on my mind..."?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Or...

_Ogre the river and through the woods..._

Shut up, me.


----------



## Ireth

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Or...
> 
> _Ogre the river and through the woods..._
> 
> Shut up, me.



It's not ogre till it's ogre.

Or until the fat lady sings.


----------



## Incanus

Oh, dear, I didn't think this affliction was contagious.  My sincerest apologies!

No more, ogre my dead body.

Ogre and out.

See--this is what happens when I let two ogre-clans go traipsing around unfettered in my questionably balanced braincase...

I like to think there's still hope for me, though.


----------



## Saigonnus

I am head ogre heels for all the puns! [emoji41]

I think one of these days I need a makeogre... Get a new haircut fron Grog the Slasher


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Sometimes, authors and illustrators who "made it" aren't too big to help out an aspiring schmuck like me. Author-illustrator Kris Waldherr is among them. I saw her work with ebooks full of illustrations today, asked for advice on self-publishing ebooks, and got advice!

So, I don't know her, she doesn't even know if I can draw or write, and yet she took the time to help me out. A shout-out to Kris Waldherr. I never bought a book from her or knew of her until today, but I can honestly say I think she's awesome.




STEALTH EDIT - Sorry about breaking the pun chain. I guess that joke is ogre anyway.


----------



## Incanus

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Sorry about breaking the pun chain. I guess that joke is ogre anyway.



A necessary evil.

I actually found myself honing in on the word "Makeogre".  Isolating it from pun territory, it could almost, _almost _work.  As in, a term for a busy-body ogre--

_Grog pointed.  "Him Grudz.  We name him Makeogre.  Always busy, busy.  Never stop doing things.  Drive some of us crazy.  He smash things even when nothing to smash.  Him Grudz, Makeogre."_

Yeah, almost, but not quite.


----------



## ThinkerX

Magnitude 7.1 shaker here in the frozen north early this morning.  I had a few books leap off the shelves.  Stores had lots of things leap off the shelves - salad dressing, booze, soda, and more, making huge messes.  Some folks lost power.  A few had to evacuate because of gas leaks. The roadbed for a local highway actually collapsed - just a waist deep trench where a fifty yard stretch of pavement used to be.


----------



## kennyc

ThinkerX said:


> Magnitude 7.1 shaker here in the frozen north early this morning.  I had a few books leap off the shelves.  Stores had lots of things leap off the shelves - salad dressing, booze, soda, and more, making huge messes.  Some folks lost power.  A few had to evacuate because of gas leaks. The roadbed for a local highway actually collapsed - just a waist deep trench where a fifty yard stretch of pavement used to be.



Glad you are okay. Have not heard from my son in Anchorage, but assume he is okay.


----------



## kennyc

"Here's the problem, there are no problems only opportunities."
 - Kenny A. Chaffin


----------



## Ireth

Had a seriously creepy dream last night. It was a dystopian-future type thing, where everyone who wasn't an able-bodied, neurotypical, straight white person was locked away for various purposes. I was initially in some kind of dorm with a woman in her early 20's called Rib -- I have no idea if that was her real name or not, but I like to think that her nickname for me was Heart.

When the evil authorities (one of whom was a Donald Trump lookalike) came for us, Rib protected me as well as she could, and was taken to the same place I was. Everyone else there was either barely pubescent or a small child; I don't recall exactly what Rib and I were there for, given the age difference. At least one of the tween girls was pregnant, presumably by one of the authorities.

I have a feeling there's a book (or at least the start of one) buried somewhere in that dream, but darned if I know how to write it out just now. XD Dystopian really isn't my genre of choice.


----------



## kennyc

Ireth said:


> Had a seriously creepy dream last night. It was a dystopian-future type thing, where everyone who wasn't an able-bodied, neurotypical, straight white person was locked away for various purposes. I was initially in some kind of dorm with a woman in her early 20's called Rib -- I have no idea if that was her real name or not, but I like to think that her nickname for me was Heart.
> 
> When the evil authorities (one of whom was a Donald Trump lookalike) came for us, Rib protected me as well as she could, and was taken to the same place I was. Everyone else there was either barely pubescent or a small child; I don't recall exactly what Rib and I were there for, given the age difference. At least one of the tween girls was pregnant, presumably by one of the authorities.
> 
> I have a feeling there's a book (or at least the start of one) buried somewhere in that dream, but darned if I know how to write it out just now. XD Dystopian really isn't my genre of choice.



Run with it! Great start!


----------



## ThinkerX

> Had a seriously creepy dream last night. It was a dystopian-future type thing, where everyone who wasn't an able-bodied, neurotypical, straight white person was locked away for various purposes. I was initially in some kind of dorm with a woman in her early 20's called Rib -- I have no idea if that was her real name or not, but I like to think that her nickname for me was Heart.
> 
> When the evil authorities (one of whom was a Donald Trump lookalike) came for us, Rib protected me as well as she could, and was taken to the same place I was. Everyone else there was either barely pubescent or a small child; I don't recall exactly what Rib and I were there for, given the age difference. At least one of the tween girls was pregnant, presumably by one of the authorities.
> 
> I have a feeling there's a book (or at least the start of one) buried somewhere in that dream, but darned if I know how to write it out just now. XD Dystopian really isn't my genre of choice.



Sounds like some of the dreams I used to have.

Turn it into a story.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just got back from pistol shooting (with one clip of AR-15) what fun. It also helps for research so I can describe the kick of the gun better in my prose...yeah.


----------



## Chessie

Lately, I've been writing romance scenes while listening to Bryan Adams. It works somehow. Just something funny I wanted to share.


----------



## Saigonnus

I listened to "War Ensemble" by Slayer while writing a combat scene... Strangely it worked too. [emoji16]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

There is no better foot massaging tool than a tennis ball. Seriously, if you get sore feet grab a tennis ball put on the floor and roll it around. It's good for what ails ya.


----------



## Heliotrope

I do that with my hip! I get sciatica and IT band syndrome from mountain biking and trail running, so I lay on my side with a tennis ball digging into my hip joint and it is magic. I sleep with it sometimes.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Heliotrope said:


> I do that with my hip! I get sciatica and IT band syndrome from mountain biking and trail running, so I lay on my side with a tennis ball digging into my hip joint and it is magic. I sleep with it sometimes.



I'm going to have to remeber that for if my wife's sciatica flares up.


----------



## ThinkerX

Gah! Don't know what it is about January, but my writing efforts tend to come to naught during this month.  A couple years ago, it was the disastrous inch-along rewrite of 'Empire: Country.'  This year its the disastrous inch-along rewrites of some of my old short stories. Decided to call it quits with the one before I made it any worse.  And I don't even want to look at the concept piece I screwed around with for a week.  

Maybe I should have followed my first impulse and done something non literary this month.


----------



## MineOwnKing

I have noticed vast improvements in my writing since experimenting with chocolate bon bons.


----------



## Ireth

Just saw Star Wars VII again; it was free in my local theater this afternoon. I spent most of the movie trying not to cry from what I knew was coming. D= And then it did, and I cried.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Today, using the powers of the internet, I learned that in order to compensate for the combined body odor of everyone who beta tested Gears of War 3, you would need an airflow equivalent to a quarter of the discharge rate of the Congo River.


----------



## kennyc

Brian Scott Allen said:


> There is no better foot massaging tool than a tennis ball. Seriously, if you get sore feet grab a tennis ball put on the floor and roll it around. It's good for what ails ya.



I had/have some tendon damage (at least that's what I think it is) in one hand....a golf ball is perfect!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

kennyc said:


> I had/have some tendon damage (at least, that's what I think it is) in one hand....a golf ball is perfect!



Right. And while we are on the lower extremity thing I slipped on some ice yesterday, it jacked my knee up pretty good. It's been sore for a day now and I gotta hobble when walking down stairs. So word of advice, don't look at the ground and say, "Looks like there isn't any ice here." Because ice is an ass and is often clear.


----------



## Ireth

That irritating moment when your little siblings steal and eat ALL the chocolate you'd been planning to use as a writing incentive. When they're not allowed to be in your bedroom in the first place. >_<


----------



## kennyc

Ireth said:


> That irritating moment when your little siblings steal and eat ALL the chocolate you'd been planning to use as a writing incentive. When they're not allowed to be in your bedroom in the first place. >_<



You should have incentivised yourself sooner! LOL!


----------



## Ireth

kennyc said:


> You should have incentivised yourself sooner! LOL!



I had been! I had a chocolate orange that I got in my Christmas stocking, and I decided recently that I'd reward myself 1 slice per every 500 words I wrote. I was maybe 1/4 of the way through it, and this afternoon it was GONE. Right when I'd meant to reward myself for writing another 500 last night. Rawr.


----------



## kennyc

Ireth said:


> I had been! I had a chocolate orange that I got in my Christmas stocking, and I decided recently that I'd reward myself 1 slice per every 500 words I wrote. I was maybe 1/4 of the way through it, and this afternoon it was GONE. Right when I'd meant to reward myself for writing another 500 last night. Rawr.



Dang, that ain't right, them sibs should havta pay-up big time!


----------



## Incanus

Ah, sibs...

What's to be done with them?

Ireth--sounds like you need a new and better hiding spot for your incentives.


----------



## Ireth

Incanus said:


> Ah, sibs...
> 
> What's to be done with them?
> 
> Ireth--sounds like you need a new and better hiding spot for your incentives.



I need a bedroom door, that's what. ._. Preferably something that can lock.


----------



## Velka

Have you ever been so sick that, despite consulting an actual doctor who tells you that it's just a wicked cold, you become convinced that you have contracted a brand new mutation of an illness that will (postmortem) be named after you and pictures of your throat and lungs and sinus cavities will be included in medical textbooks for decades to come?

No? Just me? Ok.


----------



## Incanus

Going to my parents house this weekend to celebrate my pop's 92nd birthday.  He's a pretty amazing guy--I hope I do as well when I reach that age.  I think it's safe to say he's one tough cookie (A WWII vet and someone who has had FOUR open heart surgeries).

Should be fun!


----------



## MineOwnKing

The generation-x'r / Author, emerged from his hole and was blinded by the 21'st Century lights. He spent the next 12 hours trying to create a WordPress blog that was supposed to take 10 minutes to set up.

After posting his first blog he then bashed his head against his cave for another 5 hours because the blog is all screwed up and didn't get any of the cool widgets he worked so hard to add. 

He then saw his shadow and declared to the world, " 4 more weeks of 20th Century."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just made this for the big game today.The filling is delicious I haven't tried it with crunchy bacon on the outside though. Hope it tastes good.


----------



## FifthView

So a current Twitter Trend led me to the discovery that CBS is doing a new Star Trek series, being headed up by Bryan Fuller.


----------



## Incanus

FifthView said:


> So a current Twitter Trend led me to the discovery that CBS is doing a new Star Trek series, being headed up by Bryan Fuller.



Cool.  If it's not like the new JJ Abrams Trek, then I'll be on board.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Incanus said:


> Cool.  If it's not like the new JJ Abrams Trek, then I'll be on board.



So you don't want Star Wars featuring Spock?


----------



## Incanus

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So you don't want Star Wars featuring Spock?



If I'm understanding this question aright, then, yes.

I only watched the first JJA trek movie, but it sure felt like it was being shoved in a Star Wars-y direction, leaving the Trek universe well behind.  Fine for Star Wars, totally unacceptable for Star Trek.

Leonard Nimoy is the one and only Spock.  No one else can do it.

Hopefully there will be an all-new cast of characters for this show.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

One of these days I want to write an article or forum post about what we can learn about storytelling from watching sports. Suffice it to say for now that sports, both individual games and seasons, can teach a writer a lot about story telling.


----------



## X Equestris

Had to let out a chuckle while I was flipping through through the News section on YouTube.  One of FRANCE 24 English's videos used a screenshot from Call of Duty: Black Ops for their thumbnail on a video totally unrelated to video games.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Dear work IT department do everyone a favor and make sure the Internet works after you hook up the computer. That way the guy that needs the Internet to function doesn't have to sit at his desk for 30 minutes spinning in his chair and arguing that mythic scribes updates. Thanks.


----------



## X Equestris

So apparently Harper Lee died.


----------



## kennyc

X Equestris said:


> So apparently Harper Lee died.



Yes. Not unexpected but what a wonderful book Mockingbird is!

great documentary on her here: Watch Full Episodes Online of American Masters on PBS | Harper Lee - Preview


NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/arts/harper-lee-dies.html


----------



## Incanus

Passed the 60,000 word mark on my WIP this weekend.  This tortoise is going to cross the finish line.

(I know--I need to start a thread in the new Writer's Work section about this stuff.  That section didn't exist when I began writing this novel.  I'll start a thread there when I begin the arduous revisions.)


----------



## kennyc

Incanus said:


> Passed the 60,000 word mark on my WIP this weekend.  This tortoise is going to cross the finish line.
> 
> (I know--I need to start a thread in the new Writer's Work section about this stuff.  That section didn't exist when I began writing this novel.  I'll start a thread there when I begin the arduous revisions.)



Good Luck!!


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Incanus said:


> Passed the 60,000 word mark on my WIP this weekend.  This tortoise is going to cross the finish line.  (I know--I need to start a thread in the new Writer's Work section about this stuff.  That section didn't exist when I began writing this novel.  I'll start a thread there when I begin the arduous revisions.)



You're in the home stretch now.


----------



## Incanus

T.Allen.Smith said:


> You're in the home stretch now.



Very much so; I would say 'literally'.

I'm experiencing both excitement and nervous apprehension in equal measure.


----------



## Nimue

Found out today that my kitty had to be put down.  Okay, post-college he was more of my parents' cat, but that didn't mean he wasn't still my sweetheart.  Whenever I came home he'd wake me up with a nose in my face until I let him burrow under the covers.  We adopted him after he came up to me as a year-old kitten in our backyard in Ohio, meowing his little head off.  He made it to sixteen, but had a heart problem and renal failure.  Farewell, fluffcat.  Here's some pictures for no good reason.



Spoiler: kitty


----------



## kennyc

Nimue said:


> Found out today that my kitty had to be put down.  Okay, post-college he was more of my parents' cat, but that didn't mean he wasn't still my sweetheart.  Whenever I came home he'd wake me up with a nose in my face until I let him burrow under the covers.  We adopted him after he came up to me as a year-old kitten in our backyard in Ohio, meowing his little head off.  He made it to sixteen, but had a heart problem and renal failure.  Farewell, fluffcat.  Here's some pictures for no good reason.



So sorry!  I lost one of my two this past fall.  He was about the same age. 
They are just like family.


----------



## Velka

Sorry to hear about your fluffcat. Those pictures are proof of a life well-lived and loved. That's the one unfair thing about pets, they don't live nearly long enough.


----------



## Heliotrope

So sorry Nimue


----------



## Incanus

Sorry for your loss, Nims.  Lost my cat about 10 years ago.  She made it to 18 years old.  Her name was '99', after agent 99 in the old TV show 'Get Smart'.  She was a runt of a thing that could produce some surprisingly loud purring for her size.  I miss her.  Cats are such awesome creatures.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I made another time lapse movie. This one shows the sunset from just outside my kitchen window:


----------



## Tom

Hey everyone! Yeah, I'm back. I hit a rough patch in life early in January and took a break from MS. Now that it's nearing midterms, I'm back! 

I suppose now would be a good time to get this out of the way...So I have several mental health problems, some of which I've known about for years, and others which have just surfaced recently. Aside from ADD, I have an undiagnosed mood disorder that may or may not stem from my extensive family history of depression and bipolar disorder. I fell into a depression this winter and for a while I didn't see a way out. Eventually I was able to drag myself back up, and now my mental heath is finally starting to stabilize. Sorry I left everyone hanging for a while (especially in regards to the Ysgard RP and/or the diversity group). I had to take a step back from everything in my life that was a non-essential to deal with what was happening with my mental and emotional wellbeing. It wasn't fair of me to drop everything with no notice, and I feel bad for that. 

Don't worry. I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere.


----------



## Ireth

Good to see you back, and glad you're doing better!


----------



## Nimue

Oh my gosh, Tom!  I'm so sorry that you went through a rough patch, but it's good to know that you're feeling better, and awesome to hear from you again!  Absolutely do not apologize for taking the time to look after yourself.  Mental health isn't fair, that's for sure, and you've got to be easy on yourself.

Truth be told, I've been neglecting Ysgard myself for the past month, for no such good reason at all, besides trying to scramble after some novel-writing, because I'm completely incapable of doing more than one thing at once (or one thing well, or anything at _all_...)  But welcome back, and I hope you find all the creative juices flowing again.  And I hope midterms treat you well!  Blinking stressful exams.


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Tom Nimenai said:


> Don't worry. I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere.


I'm glad to hear you're in a better place. Depression and bi-polar disorder can be difficult to deal with. I don't know personally, but I have several family members who've dealt with clinical depression and bi-polar disorder, so I empathize.


Welcome back.


----------



## Tom

Thanks, you guys! I'm glad to be back. I didn't have the energy to contribute, but I really missed this community the last few weeks. I'm looking forward to getting back in the loop!


----------



## Philster401

Welcome back! I had wobdered where you had been! And there is no reason to feel bad about not posting. Real life comes before the internet.


----------



## kennyc

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hey everyone! Yeah, I'm back. I hit a rough patch in life early in January and took a break from MS. Now that it's nearing midterms, I'm back!
> 
> I suppose now would be a good time to get this out of the way...So I have several mental health problems, some of which I've known about for years, and others which have just surfaced recently. Aside from ADD, I have an undiagnosed mood disorder that may or may not stem from my extensive family history of depression and bipolar disorder. I fell into a depression this winter and for a while I didn't see a way out. Eventually I was able to drag myself back up, and now my mental heath is finally starting to stabilize. Sorry I left everyone hanging for a while (especially in regards to the Ysgard RP and/or the diversity group). I had to take a step back from everything in my life that was a non-essential to deal with what was happening with my mental and emotional wellbeing. It wasn't fair of me to drop everything with no notice, and I feel bad for that.
> 
> Don't worry. I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere.



Good luck! I understand completely having various levels of bipolar in my family.


----------



## Velka

Hey Tom, glad you're back. Taking time to take care of yourself can be a hard thing to do. Looking forward to seeing you around and good luck with your midterms!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Missed you Tom. Glad to see you back.


----------



## X Equestris

Has anyone else seen this yet?  This has to be the most advanced bipedal robot I've ever seen.

[video=youtube_share;rVlhMGQgDkY]http://youtu.be/rVlhMGQgDkY[/video]


----------



## Ban

_Video removed by moderator._

Not trying to start a political debate, just had to share this, because it is just extremely well done.

Also X equestris, that robot is very impressive.


----------



## Devor

Banten said:


> Not trying to start a political debate, just had to share this, because it is just extremely well done.



Nope, nope, nope.  People can get their own funny Youtube feeds.  No politics. No politicians. No trumped up promises here.


----------



## Ban

Devor said:


> Nope, nope, nope.  People can get their own funny Youtube feeds.  No politics. No politicians. No trumped up promises here.



Aaahh, but it's funny though. The toupÃ©d orangutan just wants to build a wall. 

(But fine, I won't bring the Trumpster up again)


----------



## Svrtnsse

<removed by svrt>

On a different note: Once the baby finally sleeps, babysitting is pretty nice.

EDIT: Let's not argue moderation. I'm sure we can get this thread off track in a more pleasant ways - which is kind of the purpose.


----------



## Ban

Wasn't trying to start an argument. I said that I wouldn't bring it up again.


----------



## Ireth

Svrtnsse said:


> Once the baby finally sleeps, babysitting is pretty nice.



I don't have a baby of my own, or even a baby sibling anymore (the youngest just turned 5), but I can definitely attest to that being true. Especially after a long day of the kids misbehaving.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Sorry, didn't mean to come off as rude. I posted a longer comment initially and then removed that, as it probably would have started some kind of argument.

Now, what's your experience with babysitting?


----------



## Velka

T3s are awesome because I don't feel pain when I really should be feeling pain. The only problem is now I'm thinking far too much about how the brain works and how things like pain are just electrical signals sent to the brain and it's making me wonder if pain is really real or if it's all a figment of our evolutionary imagination to stop us from doing stupid things.

P.S. Be sure to brush and floss every day because getting a molar pulled in your 30s doesn't really hurt at the time because you're all frozen and drooling, but once the freezing wears off it really really really really hurts.


----------



## Tom

This has been an interesting week so far. One history exam, one astronomy exam, hit a deer and lost a fog lamp, discovered my earbuds were broken, found the fog lamp on the side of the road, bought new earbuds, and now I'm going to see Deadpool with friends tonight. 

I think my favorite earbud style might be cursed. I lost the first pair, broke the second, and now I'm on my third...


----------



## kennyc

Tom Nimenai said:


> This has been an interesting week so far. One history exam, one astronomy exam, hit a deer and lost a fog lamp, discovered my earbuds were broken, found the fog lamp on the side of the road, bought new earbuds, and now I'm going to see Deadpool with friends tonight.
> 
> I think my favorite earbud style might be cursed. I lost the first pair, broke the second, and now I'm on my third...



Hope it doesn't involve hitting a deer for each new pair of earbuds....


----------



## Tom

0.0 That would be a very very VERY bad curse.

I don't know if it would be enough to make me buy a different style of earbuds, though. Skullcandy Ink'd are my favorites.


----------



## Nimue

I've had these earbuds for a long time, to the point where the red dye on one earbud has faded.  I go through Apple and Sony earbuds like hair ties, too.  Good sound quality, blocks out a ton of noise, and the little rubber thingies don't fly off the nub when you yank them out of your bag six times a day, as long as you're not using the double-flanged option.  Random plug, haha.


----------



## kennyc

Nimue said:


> I've had these earbuds for a long time, to the point where the red dye on one earbud has faded.  I go through Apple and Sony earbuds like hair ties, too.  Good sound quality, blocks out a ton of noise, and the little rubber thingies don't fly off the nub when you yank them out of your bag six times a day, as long as you're not using the double-flanged option.  Random plug, haha.



I'll put those on the list for my next pair...


----------



## Nimue

Caveat, though, you have to be okay with the earplug-style headphones, because they do go in deep.  I think it's worth it for the noise-blocking though--I do a lot of walking in town and I have a roommate (though I love her, I kinda love absolute silence as well.)


----------



## Tom

I've been using Skullycandy earbuds for years. They've got great sound quality for a low price--and fun colors! My last three pairs have been red with black accents, but I used to have a pair that looked like they were paint-spattered. 

The Ink'd line has a tendency to break, especially around the mic/remote button. But this is one ship I'll go down with, lol.


----------



## Nimue

I do miss the mic/remote on this pair--I'm always yanking the headphones out when I get a call.  But for music-listening, they're great.


----------



## Tom

The remote is indispensable for me, since I'm one of those people who skips songs a lot, but I'd be okay with no mic. That would give me a good excuse for not answering calls.


----------



## Nimue

Haha, trust me, that excuse doesn't work as well as you might hope.  I have a million carefully-curated playlists so I don't need to skip a lot, but I do miss the skippy thing.  This pair actually worked the best with my iPod nano, but I got a new phone with the battery life and hard drive space for my constant music habit, so I kind of stopped using the nano.  When this pair finally gives out I'll get something with a cord remote, but maybe from the same brand.

Sometimes I complain, but then I remember the days of giant Walkmans xD


----------



## Tom

So you're one of those people with actual playlists... I just have one giant playlist where I throw everything. I've tried making more specific playlists, but they never get anywhere. I'm constantly skipping past stuff, going, "Nope, I don't feel like classic rock. Or hip hop. God, what _is_ that? I guess I liked it a million years ago, but why haven't I taken it off my playlist yet?"


----------



## Svrtnsse

I've got playlists for individual characters I write about, or for certain kinds of moods or activities.


----------



## Incanus

Tom Nimenai said:


> That would give me a good excuse for not answering calls.



You're a writer--that's all the excuse you need!

When I'm writing (or editing, or brainstorming, etc.) the white noise goes on, loud.  I try to arrange it so that I don't even hear the phone ringing.  If I do hear it, I don't pick up.  Period.

But then again, I'm one of those weird people who isn't actually thrilled by the idea of having a bell in my home that anyone in the world can ring at any time.


----------



## Nimue

I've got so many playlists, and they're all tied to specific stories or settings.  When the stories change and turn into other stories, the playlists get passed down and modified as well.  Lessee... For my current WIP, I have three Celtic/medieval playlists for setting and story mood, split by generation of music (that is, how long ago I discovered the albums--new music is novel and ripe for story-imprinting, old music is well-loved but already has a lot of connotation, so they need to be separated), one quieter, atmospheric soundtrack playlist for actual writing, and two modern/indie playlists for brainstorming with high emotional content.  There are a few more variations based on purity vs variety of music, which help me concentrate on a single mood (short playlists with a few artists) or branch out (long playlists with a wider spread of artists).

I think if I just hit shuffle on all my music I'd have an aneurysm. xD


----------



## Tom

Well, an unexpected snowstorm blew up, so no Deadpool tonight. 

Heh.

I call it _Deadpool: The Unexpected Snowstorm_.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

tom nimenai said:


> well, an unexpected snowstorm blew up, so no deadpool tonight.
> 
> heh.
> 
> I call it _deadpool: The unexpected snowstorm_.



nobody expects the unexpected snowstorm!


----------



## Incanus

Brian Scott Allen said:


> nobody expects the unexpected snowstorm!



Because its three main weapons are:  fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical... wait make that four weapons... oh, bugger.


----------



## Chessie

I wish we still had snowstorms up here. The past several winters have been pretty warm. I've only gone snowshoeing once this winter and didn't get to go at all last winter. Sucks.


----------



## Nimue

We've basically had a snowstorm for two days up here--everything's closed, except I'm a dang adult that has to go to dang work.  Last week we were getting teased by 50 degree weather.  So close to wearing shoes that aren't boots! :<


----------



## MineOwnKing

Nimue said:


> We've basically had a snowstorm for two days up here--everything's closed, except I'm a dang adult that has to go to dang work.  Last week we were getting teased by 50 degree weather.  So close to wearing shoes that aren't boots! :<



I've worked with a few characters from the UP. I've heard some stories. People eating tree bark to stay alive, no roads, 10 feet of snow.

My heart goes out to you guys.

Still lots of snow in my yard.


----------



## kennyc

"Ireland’s Prime Minister Enda Kenny prepares to cast his vote at a polling station at St Anthony’s School in Castlebar, Ireland, Friday Feb. 26, 2016."

I love that name.... Enda Kenny.


----------



## CrystalCHTriple

I was looking up at the one star powerful enough to defy the light pollution and began to wonder if I was looking down.


----------



## Svrtnsse

CrystalCHTriple said:


> I was looking up at the one star powerful enough to defy the light pollution and began to wonder if I was looking down.



Maybe you were.

In other news, I just did my first 3d fractal rendering last night:







I'm also trying to get an animation going. Here's the preview:


----------



## Tom

Remember how I didn't end up seeing Deadpool Thursday night? Well, we've rescheduled it for tomorrow night, which is no easy feat--making sure that a half dozen college students' class and work schedules coordinate for three hours on a weeknight is enough to give anyone a migraine. 

And now we're hearing there's going to be another snowstorm tomorrow night.

$%*@!


----------



## Velka

Today one of my students, who was reading in the library area of the classroom called out "Ms. Velka, I barked!". Now, this kid is an odd duck, so I didn't think much of it, and reminded him that the library was for quiet reading and to save his animal noises for recess. He then popped his head up from behind the bookshelf and said "No, I barked. I barked everywhere!"

I went over the to library area to figure out what was going on. Turns out he barfed. He barfed everywhere.

I took him down to the office. When we walked in he proudly announced to our office admin that he barked everywhere in the library. She looked at him, covered in vomit, and the trashcan he was holding, and without batting an eyelash told him to be sure to bark into the trashcan if he needed to again.

He nodded knowingly and went to lie down on the cot while she called home.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just got done with a job interview and attended the viewing of a beloved football coach if mine. I hope he's calling power 36 wherever he is right now.


----------



## Heliotrope

Velka, as a fellow teacher.... Lol. 

I teach Middle School right now though, so not so much barking.... Unless it's ironic puking noises made when girls are talking about guys their friends like.


----------



## kennyc

"Through the 1700s, New York’s primary form of entertainment was drinking."

from today's Writer's Almanac


----------



## Velka

Heliotrope said:


> Velka, as a fellow teacher.... Lol.
> 
> I teach Middle School right now though, so not so much barking.... Unless it's ironic puking noises made when girls are talking about guys their friends like.



Unfortunately there is far too much barking involved in grade 2. Especially now as a stomach bug is wreaking havoc throughout our school. My classroom is a petrie dish of disease. 

My washing machine has been working overtime this weekend cleaning the pillows and blankets from my library area and the green-machine managed to save the area rug. I'm just forever thankful that he somehow managed to miss barking on any books other than the one he was reading.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Just got done with a job interview and attended the viewing of a beloved football coach if mine. I hope he's calling power 36 wherever he is right now.



It's all trap plays in heaven my friend.

(former O-lineman)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> It's all trap plays in heaven my friend.
> 
> (former O-lineman)



I was o line in little league, didn't play past that and in retrospect that was a good thing health wise for me, but that was my favorite play. I sealed the inside and got to blast the middle linebacker. I'm gonna miss coachie.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I was o line in little league, didn't play past that and in retrospect that was a good thing health wise for me, but that was my favorite play. I sealed the inside and got to blast the middle linebacker. I'm gonna miss coachie.



You are right about it being the best for  your health.  I have reached the age where I can feel all those old injuries again.  But I would not change a thing.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> You are right about it being the best for  your health.  I have reached the age where I can feel all those old injuries again.  But I would not change a thing.



I sometimes regret my decision, I loved playing, but after discovering a cyst on the bone where my knee rests and almost needing a complete replacement I can't say I made the wrong call. Still, I would love to coach little league. After seeing the difference coachie made in my life and in others I want to be that guy. Maybe when G-baby gets bigger and decides to play.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I sometimes regret my decision, I loved playing, but after discovering a cyst on the bone where my knee rests and almost needing a complete replacement I can't say I made the wrong call. Still, I would love to coach little league. After seeing the difference coachie made in my life and in others I want to be that guy. Maybe when G-baby gets bigger and decides to play.



I coached High School and other football for about 10 years.  Found it one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.,


----------



## ThinkerX

Gah!

Was horrible sick a week ago Wednesday.  Made work a real nightmare. Got better, then came down with the 'intense sniffles' a couple days ago - just as I was finally making some headway on the WIP.  Past experience tells me I'm in for a week or ten days of congested misery.  It also tells me I should lay off the rewriting/editing for a day or three - requires a degree of mental sharpness I don't have.


----------



## Saigonnus

ThinkerX said:


> Gah!
> 
> Was horrible sick a week ago Wednesday.  Made work a real nightmare. Got better, then came down with the 'intense sniffles' a couple days ago - just as I was finally making some headway on the WIP.  Past experience tells me I'm in for a week or ten days of congested misery.  It also tells me I should lay off the rewriting/editing for a day or three - requires a degree of mental sharpness I don't have.



Been miserable for 3 weeks with much the same thing... Sigh...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## SteveW

I had last week off work to celebrate my birthday and guess what happened? I woke up on my birthday with a stinking cold. I couldn't go out to celebrate, all food tasted horrible and the week off was wasted.

But "luckily", I got better just in time to go back to work. Funny how often that happens, isn't it?


----------



## Miskatonic

Love triangles make no sense. If it formed a triangle then each person would be interested in the person not interested in them.


----------



## Chessie

Apparently our calico is terrified of moose. She saw one for the first time today out the window facing the backyard. She fluffed up and raced across the house to the kitchen window, swatted her tail a few times, then went and hid in the bedroom. The poor girl was so scared that it took me a minute to coax her out, then she just went and hid again lol. The funniest part of it though is that even after the moose was long gone, she was apprehensive about peering out the window.


----------



## ThinkerX

Chesterama said:


> Apparently our calico is terrified of moose. She saw one for the first time today out the window facing the backyard. She fluffed up and raced across the house to the kitchen window, swatted her tail a few times, then went and hid in the bedroom. The poor girl was so scared that it took me a minute to coax her out, then she just went and hid again lol. The funniest part of it though is that even after the moose was long gone, she was apprehensive about peering out the window.



Calico:  Dogs shouldn't be that big!

Cat and moose relationship can be odd.  A tabby I had years ago was relaxing in a sort of grass nest just off the driveway when a moose stuck its oversized snout into the cavity to take a closer look at the fur ball.  Cats reaction: I let something THAT big sneak up on me?  Better ease off the catnip. Current fur balls view moose as ambulatory scenery.


----------



## X Equestris

Miskatonic said:


> Love triangles make no sense. If it formed a triangle then each person would be interested in the person not interested in them.



This is a good point.  I guess it would be more accurate to call them love angles.


----------



## Chessie

In case anyone is wondering, Reggaeton is terrible to listen to when writing. I've just wasted my entire morning dancing instead of working. Damned Latin blood!


----------



## Svrtnsse

Dancing is good for your soul.


----------



## Chessie

Ha, yes. It is. But not when I'm facing thousands of words still to write.


----------



## Velka

Day 5 in the beautiful Mayan Riviera. Food is great, drinks are cold, sun is shining, sand is between my toes, and layers of sunscreen are beginning to drive me nuts. All is well, except for the fact that on day 2 the speaker on my MacBook Air blew so now whenever I turn it on it emits a static shrieking noise that makes me feel like bees are in my teeth.

So much for writing this week.

Pros:
Still have my iPad, but I can't write on this thing.
Read 3 books.
Went to Coba yesterday and climbed the 138ft Nohoch Mul (the only Mayan pyramid you can still climb, I totally don't recommend this as it was terrifying and there is no safety precautions in place besides a rope and the steps are narrow and worn smooth by centuries of feet, sweat, and terror), then snorkelled in a cenote and saw fishies.

Cons:
Top Scribe story is unlikely to be complete for the competition.
Current WIP hasn't been touched in days.
Looking at a pricey repair bill when I return.

Cue the world's smallest violin.


----------



## Russ

It's funny how that happens.  My wife and I were in the Bahamas over Christmas and New Years and her Air just died.  She had planned on doing a lot of writing on vacation but ended up reading a lot instead.

Sometimes the powers that be tell you it is time to take a break from writing.


----------



## Velka

The powers that be have an annoying sense of timing.


----------



## CupofJoe

I always get sick for the first few days of any vacation... Why should technology fare any better...


----------



## Chessie

Aye, Velka. Have fun! Who cares about writing when you have beaches and margaritas. Sigh. I wish I was in the tropics right now. It's still [expletive] snowing here. Why Alaska?? Why?!?


----------



## kennyc

Chesterama said:


> Aye, Velka. Have fun! Who cares about writing when you have beaches and margaritas. Sigh. I wish I was in the tropics right now. It's still [expletive] snowing here. Why Alaska?? Why?!?



Well I'm not even in Alaska but supposed to get rain/snow mix here starting in a few hours....


----------



## Chessie

I'm sorry. We're waiting on the 7 promised inches. Geesh. The only reason why we still live here is because my husband refuses to move. I've been trying to sweeten him up to move us to Washington but it's a no go. 

Husband: "But babe, when the drones come we can survive in the mountains. Why do you think I've been training you all these years? Oh babe, don't cry! You want me to take you to Hawaii in the fall?" <--- true story


----------



## kennyc

Chesterama said:


> I'm sorry. We're waiting on the 7 promised inches. Geesh. The only reason why we still live here is because my husband refuses to move. I've been trying to sweeten him up to move us to Washington but it's a no go.
> 
> Husband: "But babe, when the drones come we can survive in the mountains. Why do you think I've been training you all these years? Oh babe, don't cry! You want me to take you to Hawaii in the fall?" <--- true story



I believe it....my son is one of your Alaska State Troopers....currently in Anchorage....but has been various places in that last few years....


----------



## Velka

I am currently formulating a plan on how to gain the iguanas trust so I can sell photo-ops with them to tourists and live down here in a hut on the beach. Sounds like a solid business model, however I've had four vodka & tonics so I'm sure there's a few logistics I will need to work out.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Anybody participating in March Madness brackets this year?


----------



## TheKillerBs

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Anybody participating in March Madness brackets this year?



Already busted. Flipping Purdue...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheKillerBs said:


> Already busted. Flipping Purdue...



Baylor hosed me. Never picking them past the first round again that's for sure.


----------



## Russ

Well if we are talking sports...all I really have to say is:

Super Bayern! Super Bayern! Tor! Tor! Tor!


----------



## kennyc

Do they serve corned beef in paradise?


----------



## Chessie

It's been snowing since early this morning and hasn't stopped. Can't see the mountains in my backyard: snowy.


----------



## ThinkerX

The snowstorm that beset Chesterama yesterday arrived late last night and deposited six inches of snow in my driveway.  Might have to fire up the snow chucker for the first time since the holidaze.


----------



## Chessie

I wouldn't get the blower out just yet. The chinooks have arrived so chances are your snow will melt nicely away in a day or two.


----------



## Geo

Speaking about the weather...

Have your ever ate so much garlic than people start to speak about Italian food and how much they suddenly crave it when you pass by?


----------



## FifthView

My short _Daredevil_ S2 review:

Began with a bang, ended with a whimper.


----------



## Tom

In a culture where the gods are depicted as resembling flawlessly beautiful humans, a la the ancient Greeks, it makes sense to refer to beautiful people as "godlike".

For a culture with horrifying gods with like eight arms and thousands of eyes covering their bodies or other scary sh*t, not so much.


----------



## ThinkerX

Tom Nimenai said:


> In a culture where the gods are depicted as resembling flawlessly beautiful humans, a la the ancient Greeks, it makes sense to refer to beautiful people as "godlike".
> 
> For a culture with horrifying gods with like eight arms and thousands of eyes covering their bodies or other scary sh*t, not so much.


Has somebody been reading Lovecraft again?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

One last time I have to outline. Criminal Procedure and Law of Armed Conflict, you have the dubious honor of being my last law school classes. Suck it.


----------



## kennyc

Well then I guess congratulations are in order!


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> One last time I have to outline. Criminal Procedure and Law of Armed Conflict, you have the dubious honor of being my last law school classes. Suck it.



Curious...what texts are you using for the Law of Armed Conflict?  It is a topic I have an interest in and would not mind getting up to date on.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> Curious...what texts are you using for the Law of Armed Conflict?  It is a topic I have an interest in and would not mind getting up to date on.



We are using the Law of Armed Conflict: An Operational Approach. It is published by Wolters and Kluwer. There is a new edition coming out soon that references some changes to the way the US views terrorists and some other updates. It's interesting. I have liked it so far.


----------



## Chessie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> One last time I have to outline. Criminal Procedure and Law of Armed Conflict, you have the dubious honor of being my last law school classes. Suck it.


Are you still in Sanderson's class? Or was that last semester? And good luck with law finals. ICK.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chesterama said:


> Are you still in Sanderson's class? Or was that last semester? And good luck with law finals. ICK.



I am still in Sanderson's class. It's pretty easy. Just show up, listen, get the A. It really has been interesting for me though. It has helped me out a lot. I think they are going to be posting it up on the YouTubes. Thanks for the well wishes and ick is the correct term on a family website to describe finals season.


----------



## Chessie

Finals were always the worst in college. I stopped at the Bachelor level though. You're brave lol.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chesterama said:


> Finals were always the worst in college. I stopped at the Bachelor level though. You're brave crazy lol.



Fixed that for you. 

Went to get a drink of water found my son fighting his Great Aunt with a toy sword and yelling "Fight, Fight" as he attacked. He's 18 months and knows how to use a sword. I can only blame myself for showing him how to use a lightsaber. And I am not ashamed of this.


----------



## MineOwnKing

Victoria Schwab mentioned me in a tweet!

That's like shaking hands with Herman Melville!


----------



## Geo

MineOwnKing said:


> Victoria Schwab mentioned me in a tweet!



Congratulations! 

wait, do you feel like congratulations are appropriate here? I hope so. I ask because my brother is overly sensitive at being congratulated for anything other than his birthday.

And speaking about congratulations... we went to the theater. A woman in front of us was drunk. When the stage fight was at its best, she felt encourage to join and kicked/punched the woman in front of her... my opinion of the show: the realism was much more than what we were expecting or paid for.


----------



## CupofJoe

Geo said:


> And speaking about congratulations... we went to the theatre. A woman in front of us was drunk. When the stage fight was at its best, she felt encourage to join and kicked/punched the woman in front of her... my opinion of the show: the realism was much more than what we were expecting or paid for.


Some people fell the need to make their own form of entertainment...


----------



## Incanus

Happy Lord of the Rings day!

March 25th was the day the ring went into the fire, culminating in the downfall of Sauron.

It's as good a thing to celebrate as anything else.  Time to tip back a mug of brew from the Green Dragon Inn.


----------



## MineOwnKing

It's also bikini Friday. 

It's a real thing...really.


----------



## Incanus

I own no bikinis--not sure how to celebrate that one... Just stand back and observe I suppose...


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

MineOwnKing said:


> It's also bikini Friday.
> 
> It's a real thing...really.



So indirectly, we're celebrating the testing of the hydrogen bomb?


----------



## Geo

I was thinking that bikini day (that I now realize it's not the same that bikini Friday) was July 05. Because it was in July 05, 1946 when the first bikini (two-piece swimsuit) was presented at a fashion show and given its name.

So, what is bikini Friday?


----------



## MineOwnKing

Bikini Friday is a hashtag on twitter--last chance to Instagram that hot body before Spring Break is over.

I believe it's also celebrated every Friday of the year.

You guys were way off base. 

Try to be more modern.


----------



## Incanus

MineOwnKing said:


> Try to be more modern.



If that means being able to know what bikini Friday is off the top of my head, then I don't think I'm missing much.  I'll need a much, much better reason than that--


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Incanus said:


> If that means being able to know what bikini Friday is off the top of my head, then I don't think I'm missing much.  I'll need a much, much better reason than that--



Modern people Netflix and chill.


----------



## Chessie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Modern people Netflix and chill.


I just finished a Netflix binge over the past week: When Calls The Heart. I cried. I laughed. I rolled my eyes at the singing but it was great. Now I'm thinking of writing a Mountie centered romance in the wild west. Can I add magic to that?


----------



## Nimue

Hahaha, my Canadian friend loves When Calls the Heart!  I've never heard anybody else say they've watched it, but now that I'm reminded of it I might binge it one of these weekends...

But also:  Yes, magical Mountie romance, please.


----------



## kennyc

OMG! "Brokeback Mounties"!!!!


----------



## Chessie

kennyc said:


> OMG! "Brokeback Mounties"!!!!


Lol I could never do that justice. 

Nimue, it's amazing. If you're into that sort of thing, check it out. Although I think the male protagonist looks a bit like a fish.


----------



## Geo

kennyc said:


> OMG! "Brokeback Mounties"!!!!



This is hilarious!


----------



## Heliotrope

Hmmmmm, being Canadian I'm intrigued..... 

But also, in Canada Brokeback Mounties would be the shortest story ever:

"We are in love" 

"Oh, ok. When's the wedding?" 

The End (and every one smokes a joint and drinks some delicious craft beer)


----------



## Velka

Heliotrope said:


> Hmmmmm, being Canadian I'm intrigued.....
> 
> But also, in Canada broke back Mounties would be the shortest story ever:
> 
> "We are in love"
> 
> "Oh, ok. When's the wedding?"
> 
> The end (and every one smokes a joint and drinks some delicious craft beer)



Best. Wedding. Ever.


----------



## ThinkerX

Easter at the homestead with a fair portion of the extended family today.  Took a fair bit out of me - by long tradition, I am the one that hides the Easter Eggs, and the accessible portion of the homestead covers several acres.  Had to go over it several times.

Weird thing was one of the seven year olds did a vastly better job of finding the eggs than the half dozen or so teenagers.  And she didn't cheat, either - just a naturally keen eye, I guess.  She raked in over eighty bucks, more than the teenagers combined.


----------



## Chilari

Easter didn't turn out quite how I'd hoped, but we managed to salvage something. Granny went into hospital on Thursday, urgent stuff (but not too serious - I've spoken to her today and she's well, eager to get home), but that meant Mum and Dad hurried down to France, taking the overnight ferry Friday night to get to her Saturday morning. Which meant the leg of lamb in the freezer at my parents' house has remained there, and the chocolate eggs are still in their boxes.

So Saturday morning I went to Aldi and bought a small gammon joint, which I cooked in the slow cooker in apple juice for myself and my brother, with roast potatoes and cheesy leeks. It was fantastic, if I do say so myself, and at least Easter Day wasn't a total write-off. My brother isn't the most proactive in the kitchen so he'd probably have ended up having egg on toast or cereal or something otherwise. And there was enough cheesy leeks left over to turn into cheesy leek pasta for dinner. I had cold gammon with cheese and a peanut butter sandwich for my lunch today and there's more left for dinner and lunch tomorrow. Also tomorrow, I'll go back to Aldi and scoop up some discounted chocolate eggs.

I need to cook gammon more often. It's so delicious.


----------



## FifthView

I find lately that I'm very free in publicly singling out movies, television shows, and musical artists for negative criticism, but not so much with authors.  I tend to keep my negative criticisms of authors/books general or, in some comments here and there, I may focus on a particular book/author without naming him/her.

Probably this is because I know the personal nature and the hard work that went into the writing of a book.  Maybe I don't appreciate the efforts of other types of artists?

But then, movies and television shows, at least, have so many working parts, so many creators behind them.....


----------



## Addison

My family recently adopted a pit bull/terrier puppy. She's cute, mostly white with a few black spots, black ears and black around the eyes. But do not let the description fool you. The only time she's as cute as she looks is when she's asleep, or too exhausted to bite you. And the way she sits we never know if she's just sitting to look cute in hopes she'll get a treat or if she's peeing. We usually find out too late. Whenever she goes outside she takes off to explore all of our yard and the neighbors' yards. The cutest is when she's asleep, the puppy moves and dreams like crazy. She'll start tucked behind my legs then she's at my feet, then she's at my head, across my neck. 

But she's not a writer's best friend. Too many times she'll grab the power cord, when it's plugged in, and pull until either it unplugs or I stop her. If I have papers and books laid out she'll get hold and run. The little sucker's fast. Worse is when she swipes my pens or mechanical pencils. The problem is she's a little puppy, I'm a full grown person. She knows there's places that only she can fit. 

Final statement, she still has her puppy teeth. For those of you who have never played with a puppy the teeth are friggin sharp! If their puppy jaw muscles were as strong as their adult ones i'd have lost most of my fingers by now. I've given her all kinds of toys. So far she's slaughtered a tennis ball and massacred two squeaky toys. When the frick do puppies outgrow the biting teething stuff? Or better, how does one who wishes to have their hands remain intact stop the puppy from biting?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Damn this computer and it's semi regular restarts. You last until I find a new job and can get a new computer.


----------



## Geo

Addison said:


> ... And the way she sits we never know if she's just sitting to look cute in hopes she'll get a treat or if she's peeing. We usually find out too late. Whenever she goes outside she takes off to explore all of our yard and the neighbors' yards. The cutest is when she's asleep, the puppy moves and dreams like crazy. She'll start tucked behind my legs then she's at my feet, then she's at my head, across my neck.
> 
> But she's not a writer's best friend. Too many times she'll grab the power cord, when it's plugged in, and pull until either it unplugs or I stop her. If I have papers and books laid out she'll get hold and run. The little sucker's fast. Worse is when she swipes my pens or mechanical pencils. The problem is she's a little puppy, I'm a full grown person. She knows there's places that only she can fit.



It seems to me, she would greatly benefit from a bit of crate training (so she can learn that outside is good for exploring but it is also the only place for peeing and playing rough). At the moment we have two dogs.  The oldest one got house-trained in like 3 days (she was an exemplar puppy, all love and cuteness, a complete lady who now sits at my feet while I'm writing), the younger one was a handful... house training took over 3 months, barking control was also a serious training job, but everything started to go better once we got her the right crate and started crate training (no more than half an hour at first, ending with periods of 3 hours between garden brakes). 

And about the puppy teeth... I'm sorry for what you're suffering, I still have a mark on my arm from when the little one confused me with the vacuum, her mortal enemy, and left one of her puppy tooth in as souvenir.


----------



## kennyc

(I'm a collector of quotes and they often get my random thoughts going...)


"I navigate my passage across the first monstrous intersection, where a sign announces the imminent arrival of a dessert parlor named Better Than Sex. I would like to move to the country but the boy refuses. Besides, “the country” exists only in our fantasies anymore. When I was a child, the country was where overly exuberant family pets often found themselves."

 - Joy Williams from The Country


----------



## Ireth

Weird dream of the day: Someone filmed a remake of V for Vendetta with Leonard Nimoy as V. I got to meet him, we had a nice chat, and he gave me two random DVDs. One was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and the other was about an alien race of snowmen who were dying of anxiety because they didn't get hugged enough.

As if I needed any more story ideas. XD


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

You know when you're studying too much when you start having dreams wherein your study materials invade them. I did not want to think about rights of civilian detainees in an armed conflict thank you very much.


----------



## kennyc

Brian Scott Allen said:


> You know when you're studying too much when you start having dreams wherein your study materials invade them. I did not want to think about rights of civilian detainees in an armed conflict thank you very much.



What if you were dreaming instead of Characterization, Description, Narration, Plot? 

This happened to me a tiny bit a few months back. When I was much younger and totally infatuated with computers, programming and electronics I had constant dreams of/in machine code where I was thinking of the op-codes and binary numbers and executing the program in my dreams. 

I actually wrote a story as a take-off from this for a recent contest prompt called "A Legitimate Excuse."   

Good luck with your exams!


----------



## Tom

Switched my final paper from Virginia Woolf to Sylvia Plath, then found out that _both_ of the biographies I need are checked out. And SUNY's interlibrary loan system is hella slow. At least _The Bell Jar_ and her poetry volumes are available. 

ARGH. I am thinking about this paper so much I'm _dreaming_ about it--just like you, Brian. The other night I dreamed I was handing the paper in in class, but when my professor took it he said, "I can't accept this, it's just ten blank sheets of paper." I told him no, he had to be mistaken, I had written the paper and it was there, but when he handed it back to me I saw that it_ was_ blank. 0.0


----------



## kennyc

Tom Nimenai said:


> Switched my final paper from Virginia Woolf to Sylvia Plath, then found out that _both_ of the biographies I need are checked out. And SUNY's interlibrary loan system is hella slow. At least _The Bell Jar_ and her poetry volumes are available.
> 
> ARGH. I am thinking about this paper so much I'm _dreaming_ about it--just like you, Brian. The other night I dreamed I was handing the paper in in class, but when my professor took it he said, "I can't accept this, it's just ten blank sheets of paper." I told him no, he had to be mistaken, I had written the paper and it was there, but when he handed it back to me I saw that it_ was_ blank. 0.0



Tons of on-line information these days....


----------



## Tom

Well, I need to cite two different biographies in the paper, to illustrate how two different authors might approach telling the same person's life story in different ways.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

And now comes the day where I trust nothing and no one. I hope whatever fool invented this day is happy, that son of a motherless goat.


----------



## Geo

The perks of teaching undergrads...

In one of my Physical Chemistry lab sessions.

Student X (she is pre med and she likes to talk about it): OMG, why do I need to learn the metric system... why can't we like use oz all the time??? 

Me: So you don't kill a patient. Fluid medications are measured in ml and concentrations in mg/ml. You need to know the metric system perfectly so you can give your patient the right dosage.

Next day. 

Head of department: Student X was here and complained about harassment. She indicated that you're creating a stressful situation in the classroom by telling her she could kill her patients.

This is a true story, and it didn't happen in April 1st.


----------



## Zelda of Hyrule

Have you seen Ganondorf around here?


----------



## Velka

April first as an elementary teacher is a form of torture the Geneva Convention should investigate.

Child: "Miss Velka our table doesn't have any erasers!"
Me: "Okay, I'll get you some."
Child: _maniacal laugher _"We really do have erasers! April fools! I got you!"

Child: "Miss Velka, my cat ate my homework."
Me: "You don't have any homework, you're seven."
Child: _maniacal laugher _"I don't have a cat! April fools! I got you!"

Child: "Miss Velka, I have pasta for lunch."
Me: "That sounds yummy."
Child: _maniacal laugher _"I really have a sandwich! April fools! I got you!"

Child: "Miss Velka, my tummy doesn't feel good, I think I'm going to puke."
Me: _sighs deeply and rolls my eyes_ "Suuuuuure you are."
Child: _Projectile vomits
_
:headbang:


----------



## Addison

I'm dreading the afternoon. I have forty five minutes before my kid siblings get home from school and I am cringing. They're both pre-teen rednecks with attitude and their favorite prank movie is "Home Alone 1-3". Forget verbal jokes I'm worried about stepping outside and getting a brick to the head, or going upstairs and getting paint can to the face. 

The dog however is embodying the april fool spirit. She's a smart little mutt. She's sat at the door as if to go outside. I open the door and follow her outside only for her to duck back inside as I'm closing the door. She's crouched as if to do her business inside for me to rush her outside only for her to roll in the mud. And, her best prank today, she comes up and nuzzle like a cute dog then snatches a pen, pencil, or worse papers for the work and takes off. Forget spilling coffee on your work, try putting it together after a maniacal puppy runs five laps around the house with it.


----------



## kennyc

**On Fear**

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. 
  - Frank Herbert - Dune - Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear 

The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.
 - T.H. White, The Once and Future King 

I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
 - Sarah Williams

"I saw how men died. I saw how they bore pain. I saw what hope looked like, fear and relief; I saw the dark lines that despair drew on a face; I saw courage and steadfastness. I saw faith shine in the eyes of those who trusted in what I could only think was an illusion and I saw the gallantry that made a man greet the prognosis of death with an ironic joke because he was too proud to let those about him see the terror of his soul."
 - W. Somerset Maugham

"The future was uncertain, absolutely, and there were many hurdles, twists, and turns to come, but as long as I kept moving forward, one foot in front of the other, the voices of fear and shame, the messages from those who wanted me to believe that I wasn't good enough, would be stilled."
 – Chris Gardner The Pursuit of Happyness


----------



## Heliotrope

Kenny... Did you somehow know I was being tested for uterine cancer today? Not even kidding. I'm at the hospital. I open up MS on my phone and I find this. 

Divine intervention.


----------



## kennyc

Heliotrope said:


> Kenny... Did you somehow know I was being tested for uterine cancer today? Not even kidding. I'm at the hospital. I open up MS on my phone and I find this.
> 
> Divine intervention.



Oh My!  Of course I didn't know. I'm sending hopeful soothing thoughts though!


----------



## Addison

I've always been aware of the varying headaches and creative wrestling matches writers face as they write. Until this morning I never understood the insanity that comes with it. I've been banging my head and cursing my notes thanks to a few edits and paranoia about my beginning scenes. Are they in order? Could there be a better order? Is that scene pertinent? It's at a point where I feel like either throwing my work against the wall, including my laptop. Or, the most extreme and the MAJOR clue that it's getting big, deleting all the work and starting all over.


----------



## kennyc

Addison said:


> I've always been aware of the varying headaches and creative wrestling matches writers face as they write. Until this morning I never understood the insanity that comes with it. I've been banging my head and cursing my notes thanks to a few edits and paranoia about my beginning scenes. Are they in order? Could there be a better order? Is that scene pertinent? It's at a point where I feel like either throwing my work against the wall, including my laptop. Or, the most extreme and the MAJOR clue that it's getting big, deleting all the work and starting all over.



Don't do that. if anything just let it sit a while and come back to revisit it in a week or so....


----------



## FifthView

Today I've been thinking of *on the nose*.

On the nose dialogue.
On the nose description.
On the nose action.
On the nose plotting.
...


----------



## Heliotrope

Yep. 

What exactly are you thinking about it? How to avoid it?


----------



## kennyc

FifthView said:


> Today I've been thinking of *on the nose*.
> 
> On the nose dialogue.
> On the nose description.
> On the nose action.
> On the nose plotting.
> ...



Sorry but I can't help but think of other things that might be on the nose....


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

kennyc said:


> Sorry but I can't help but think of other things that might be on the nose....



Are they brown things?


----------



## kennyc

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Are they brown things?



And greenish things....


----------



## FifthView

Heliotrope said:


> Yep.
> 
> What exactly are you thinking about it? How to avoid it?



Mostly, I've been thinking that the term can be used to explain so many things I dislike in my reading experience.

My trouble is that I'm not 100% certain the term can be applied so liberally, whether it is the right term for an across-the-board 

Edit:  Also, if the term is right, then what is the inverse, and how can I use this idea of the not-on-the-nose to improve those various areas in my own writing.


----------



## FifthView

kennyc said:


> Sorry but I can't help but think of other things that might be on the nose....



You see, that's just it!

In a novel, two characters might be speaking.

FifthView:  Lately I've been thinking of _on the nose_.  On the nose dialogue.  On the nose description. On the nose action.  On the nose plotting...

kennyc:  Yeah, I've thought about those also.  People nowadays write so directly!  Everything takes such a logical step, from A to B to C, precise and unveering.  To the point.  Characters say exactly what's on their minds and do not veer from topic.  Description...A character needs to walk down a hall to get to the next exciting conversation, so the author–not wanting a blank environment–has to say, "She walked down the hall to Clarice's room."  Mind you, absolutely nothing else about the hall needs describing.  It's utilitarian.  Oh, maybe she'll be thankful that the hall is carpeted, because it's a cold night and she doesn't have any slippers.  Yeah.  I know exactly what you mean!

VS

kennyc:  Is it a mole?  Queen Mab? I woke up one night with Mab, and let me tell you...her breath doesn't smell like apple blossoms!  She also had this itty bitty mole on her nose, with a hair growing out of it.  I couldn't sleep for a week.​


----------



## kennyc

Drip....drip....drip. Allergies you see.


----------



## FifthView

kennyc said:


> Drip....drip....drip. Allergies you see.



Yeah that came to my mind also, but I was trying to avoid a direct simpatico.*  

*erp, probably not best as a noun.


----------



## Heliotrope

Yep. 

Frustrating isn't it? I started to "get it" when I realized nobody ever says exactly what they are thinking or feeling. Everyone dodges around issues, or makes jokes, or changes the subject, or ignores the statement all together. 

Helio: Hey what do you want for dinner? 

Fifthview: I found a great lamp at Walmart today

Helio: Pizza ok? 

Kenny *nods*: You want to write deep and intellectual sciency poetry later? Pineapple always makes me want to analyze the human condition and how it relates to technology. 

Randomness is the key to off the nose success.


----------



## Heliotrope

And again, I think this is why I love Hemmingway so much. Nothing he writes is on the nose. People can have entire conversations where the "real conversation" is 100% subtext. It is baffling and wonderful at the same time.


----------



## kennyc

From today's Writers Almanac (happy birthday Anne Lamott):

....She writes: “Nothing can break the mood of a piece of writing like bad dialogue. My students are miserable when they are reading an otherwise terrific story to the class and then hit a patch of dialogue that is so purple and expositional that it reads like something from a childhood play by the Gabor sisters [...] I can see the surprise on my students’ faces, because the dialogue looked Okay on paper, yet now it sounds as if it were poorly translated from their native Hindi.”


----------



## kennyc

Heliotrope said:


> And again, I think this is why I love Hemmingway so much. Nothing he writes is on the nose. People can have entire conversations where the "real conversation" is 100% subtext. It is baffling and wonderful at the same time.




Yes! I love :The Hills like White Elephants" (and many others of course - like "The End of Something"). He was a master of this subtext thing.

also I suspect you have/have read "Ernest Hemingway On Writing" by Larry Phillips?


----------



## FifthView

The thread on "old voice" (or literary voice) and the thread on improving description led me to this point of trying to apply "on the nose" to other areas than dialogue, like exposition and description.  The term seems most often applied to dialogue, and the effect may be far more obvious when it occurs in dialogue.  

Those threads inspired me to refresh my memory of _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_.

So imagine that this had been in the book:

The great ships hung huge, heavy, unnaturally motionless in the sky over every nation on Earth, and the people of the Earth panicked.  The ships looked like bricks, entirely unaffected by gravity.​
Instead of the actual paragraph:

The great ships hung motionless in the sky, over every nation on Earth.  Motionless they hung, heavy, steady in the sky, a blasphemy against nature.  Many people went straight into shock as their minds tried to encompass what they were looking at.  The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't.​
In some ways, the actual paragraph goes overboard in the repetition of straightforward description/telling—but it's a setup for that final line.

Of course, some of this effect (generally, not just in the example above) might relate to telling rather than showing, and to "storyteller voice" vs a nondescript narrator voice delivering matter-of-fact exposition (another previous thread!)

Plus, I wonder if this idea of not being on-the-nose could relate to a previous thread on creating tension—when what comes next is unexpected, unusual, a surprise throughout the narrative, this can maybe draw a reader forward?


----------



## FifthView

BTW, I didn't intend to go into so much detail in Random Thoughts.  I considered starting a thread in Writing Questions on the subject of "on the nose," but a) at the time (and still) I wasn't certain the term applied so broadly, and b) consequently I didn't want to inaugurate a misguided thread up there, so I was just throwing it out here....Randomly.


----------



## Heliotrope

Let's do it! Let's start an "on the nose post". I would talk about this some more....


----------



## Heliotrope

Fifthview I found "Hills like White Elephants" in Pdf! 

Have a read. It's very short. It is the perfect example of wonderful dialogue (we had to study it in University specifically because of the wonderful dialogue). 

http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/...s Like White Elephants - Ernest Hemingway.pdf

The subtext is the impending abortion, obviously, which is never actually mentioned. She sees the world full of life "hills look like white elephants" and he sees the world full of death "brown and dry". He doesn't like the way that she sees the world, and bully's her into changing her perspective. 

She dismantles her vision in order to win his approval. She doesn't want to get rid of the baby, but she will do it because she loves him. He becomes a force for death as she, now wooing him, buries her way of seeing as she will bury her child. 

The white space of the story carries all the energy of coercion and the weight of despair without any of the actual "story" being mentioned at all.


----------



## FifthView

Heliotrope said:


> Let's do it! Let's start an "on the nose post". I would talk about this some more....



...maybe!

I'm feeling commitment-phobic at the moment.


----------



## Geo

FifthView said:


> ...maybe!
> 
> I'm feeling commitment-phobic at the moment.



That was very on-the-nose...


----------



## Incanus

GOT TV show:

It is my intention to remain wholly ignorant of any and all details of the further development of this story until I read the as-yet unpublished 6th book of the series.

Basically, I'll need to live somewhere off-planet for at least another half-year or so.  I was wondering if U-Haul rents vehicles capable of interstellar travel yet...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Incanus said:


> GOT TV show:
> 
> It is my intention to remain wholly ignorant of any and all details of the further development of this story until I read the as-yet unpublished 6th book of the series.
> 
> Basically, I'll need to live somewhere off-planet for at least another half-year or so.  I was wondering if U-Haul rents vehicles capable of interstellar travel yet...



Maybe, but they require extra insurance and a promise to use clumsy blasters rather than elegant limb lopping lightsabers.


----------



## Incanus

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Maybe, but they require extra insurance and a promise to use clumsy blasters rather than elegant limb lopping lightsabers.



Not unreasonable.  I can scrape up a few more bucks (credits).  And, I'm not dexterous enough to use lightsabers in the first place--but I can shoot a little better than Jar-Jar, so I've got that going for me.


----------



## Velka

Me: Goodnight brain.
Brain: Goodnight.
Me: ......... 
Brain: ........
Me: zzz.....
Brain: OMG AHHHHH WE'RE FALLING!
Me: !!!!!!
Brain: Just checking.
Me: Damnit.
Brain: So, while we're up why don't we google the Phoenician alphabet, what renaissance paint colours were named, and who invented ice cream? Oh, and while we're doing that, let's think about that time you really embarrassed yourself at work last month.
Me: Okay, that sounds reasonable.


----------



## Chessie

I love when people try to apologize like this: "I'm sorry you feel that way". <---That's not a real apology. Seriously? Friendship access denied. And I've only been awake for an hour already dealing with this crap.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

One final down one more to go.


----------



## Chessie

This is me writing on oxicodone (prescription from surgery):

Alright! My foot doesn't hurt and I haven't fallen asleep yet so let's get some words done!

Type...type...snore...

Wake up with a jolt. F**! Okay...what did I just write? 

She leaned up against the wall, trembling, egg in hand...he said, "what the hell is wrong with you?"
Walls stone. His voice made her feel guilty. Marta not knowing she tried lying to him. Elya stared angrily at the sound of her voice.

Snore...

Shit. I'm awake. Now I need to retype that whole damn thing. Enya should keep me awake. Zzzzz. Okay, maybe not Enya maybe 80s...zzzz....back to Enya....zzzz

Read what I wrote: "He stirred in his emotions body laying dead on the floor. She didn't care her Papa was dead. Dowry important."

                              *   *   *

I don't even know why I'm bothering right now. My husband says that I shouldn't be writing at the moment and accept the fact that for the next few weeks my brain will be mush. Geesh. I've been trying to write for 2 hours now and have written two paragraphs that I've had to delete and type over again. Ugh.


----------



## Incanus

Hey Chessie--there's almost always a silver lining.  I'd say that this is a testament to dedication.  Very admirable.  I usually feel I have to be pretty whole of mind and body to write, though I have my sloggy days like everyone else.


----------



## Chessie

Thank you for the encouragement, Incanus.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Boom, last law school final is done. By this time next week I will have my degree and studying for the bar. 

This is kind of how it feels. 

TFS clip: BUYA MOTHER FUCKER!!! - YouTube


----------



## kennyc

Congrats Brian!!


----------



## Ireth

Congrats Brian!

Awesome moment of the day: I was helping my parents clean out the basement and found a box of old papers and cards. Looked in one addressed to me and found $100! Cha-ching!


----------



## Incanus

Ireth said:


> Congrats Brian!
> 
> Awesome moment of the day: I was helping my parents clean out the basement and found a box of old papers and cards. Looked in one addressed to me and found $100! Cha-ching!



Sweet!  Pizza is on you!


----------



## kennyc

"Writers end up writing stories—or rather, stories’ shadows—and they’re grateful if they can, but it is not enough. Nothing the writer can do is ever enough."
 - Joy Williams


----------



## Deleted member 4265

I think there must be something about me that makes people want to be friends with me and then decide to ignore or altogether abandon me for no reason. Considering how frequently it happens, its getting silly to see it as something wrong with them.


----------



## Chessie

Devouring Wolf said:


> I think there must be something about me that makes people want to be friends with me and then decide to ignore or altogether abandon me for no reason. Considering how frequently it happens, its getting silly to see it as something wrong with them.


I have this exact thing happen to me all the time...and I'm now 38. The conclusion I've come to is that most people just come in and out of our lives like seasons. It also depends on your personality. I'm very loyal but blunt, and I speak truth regardless of who it offends. I do use tender words and try to be as understanding/compassionate as I can be when interacting with other people...but this rubs folks the wrong way most of the time. 

Idk if it's the social circles I used to roam in or what, but most people I met didn't want deep friendship with me. They seemed to prefer friendship with people who would/do kiss their asses, party with them, and have a surface type of relationship. I've had my party days and they got me absolutely nowhere. I stopped doing that shit somewhere around 31, met my husband, got married, etc. When I partied, most of my friendships were fleeting and I have less than a handful of people that I can actually call true friends whom I've known forever. 

I'm currently experiencing what you're going through but it's slightly different. About 8 months ago, I was seriously injured at work (thus my recent surgery). Everyone...and I mean EVERYONE...there except for two people have literally turned their backs on me but stuck the knife in on the way out. There's a whole lot going on and it seems like my ex-coworkers feel the need to make the situation worse by being completely cruel and heartless. I was good friends with a lot of these people. Some went to my wedding. We were there for each other during heavy crisis and etc. It's unbelievably uncool and I've been really  upset about it.

But all we can do is keep moving forward and appreciate who/what we have in our lives. My husband is my best friend and we have a couple of core people in our lives that I would take a bullet for. Maybe several. Those are the people who count, people who are real with you and have always shown that's who they will be for YOU and you for THEM.

So count your blessings, even if there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of them. As I approach 40, the people who count are my family and our friends who we consider such. The average co-worker or person who smiles in my face and says, "let's go for a hike, or coffee, or whatever"....I've decided to let that go for now. Trust me when I say that I completely understand how you feel and how painful it is, but the reality is that most folks only want superficial friendships because they're that way as well. 

It's not you. Life brings us friends in seasons and sometimes, we have good friends for years that we need to cut loose. Over the past 2 years, I've had to do that a lot and it hurts everytime. But at the end of the day, I curl up against my husband and thank God he's there. Someday you'll have a person like this in your life, too, and then the BS won't matter as much.


----------



## Heliotrope

I'm 32 and like Chesterama, this is normal for me and always has been. I'm not necessarily blunt, or b*tchy, or weird, it's just that I'm highly introverted and sensitive… and "feeling" type person. I can only ever invest in one or two close people at a time or else I go into emotion overload. I take on every one else's concerns as my own and go crazy trying to make everyone happy. This combined with being highly introverted is not a good mix. I need my peace and solidarity in order to function… this means that for a lot of people I'm not a _good_ friend. I don't call people _just to chat_, what do you even chat about on a phone that you can't do at a coffee shop? I, like Chesterama prefer to get together with my friends one on one and meet up, or go for a hike. I hate large groups. I hate parties. I get social anxiety. People that are looking for that sort of thing don't stick with me very long because they can go weeks without hearing from me and then suddenly I feel social again and want to meet up… 

I have my husband now, who is my best friend and I invest my energy and love into him and my kids. I have two girl friends who I adore and I see once in a while for dinner or a hike. This gives me plenty of energy to focus on my own needs, my own goals, while still having a satisfying social life and enough peace to keep me sane. 

I hope you discover how to balance your own needs, and hopefully find a core group that you can invest into


----------



## Chessie

Ha, oh don't get me wrong. I prefer to go on hikes over anything else because I love being in nature, but a lot of people can't hang...even if I bring a peace pipe. Alaska is full of flaky people. They'll say, "yeah, take me on the trail" BUT when the day comes they don't want to go, are hung over, or complain the entire time. However, I do love parties. I'm a very loud, chatty, giggly person and so is my husband, so we have bbq and get togethers all the time at our house or go to ones at friends's houses.

But for deep friendships, most people I meet don't want that with me. I don't really drink anymore and spend all of my time writing or parenting or wifeying. I don't have time for fakeness, which is what seems to roll my way. So Devouring Wolf, it's not you, baby. Most people are lame. Seriously.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Thank you all for the well wishes. 

Cute moment of the day. Took a walk with my son to the local library. He fell asleep on the way home. The library is an exciting place people! For the past ten minutes I've been trying to put him in his bed but he refuses. He kind of wakes up, plops his head back on my shoulder and proceeds to fall back asleep.


----------



## kennyc

I hope that was our last snowstorm of the season!

Photos: Parts of Colorado high country buried under four feet of snow; One foot in Denver - The Washington Post


----------



## FifthView

So GRRM is hinting about the potential of a GoT spinoff...

'Game of Thrones': George R.R. Martin has a spinoff suggestion | EW.com


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I think we can all agree to this statement.


----------



## Reilith

Today I ate lentil for the first time in my 23 years. I am confused and amazed.


----------



## ladyfickle

“It is very strange, this domination of our intellect by our digestive organs. We cannot work, we cannot think, unless our stomach wills so. It dictates to us our emotions, our passions. After eggs and bacon it says, "Work!" After beefsteak and porter, it says, "Sleep!" After a cup of tea (two spoonfuls for each cup, and don't let it stand for more than three minutes), it says to the brain, "Now rise, and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature, and into life: spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!”

 Jerome Jerome


----------



## FifthView

Mine just says, "Oh no, not again."

Kindred to the bowl of petunias.


----------



## Geo

Watching my dogs negotiate who goes down the stairs first on our way to the park, I wish my nieces and nephews were able to be so diplomatic, and I know I'm going to wish this much more intently, and with some curse words in between, tomorrow when I put hands to work and fix the gashes they made all along the staircase during their last visit.


----------



## kennyc

I'm completely obsessed with this song! For months now! I just can't get it out of my head.   The lyrics, the melody, the flow is just amazing! This version is from Gregory Alan Isakov, but was written by Sam Beam of Iron & Wine who also has an incredible version recorded at Austin City Limits.






Iron & Wine version - Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger - Live @ ACL - YouTube


----------



## MineOwnKing

If anybody has kids that like Gravity Falls, there is a replica print version of Journal 3 available for preorder on Amazon. It's a hardcover with the six fingered hand, and contains the diagrams from all 3 journals.

I ordered it for my kids, will come at the end of July.

Looks awesome.


----------



## Incanus

I got my very first "smart" phone a couple of weeks ago.

I hate pretty much everything about it.  It's a cheapy, not a name-brand.  Very user-unfriendly--it assumes you already know how to use it.  All I really want is the cell-phone part.  But that function is sort of sidelined by all the other junk in it.  It keeps turning itself on and making random chiming noises for no apparent reason at odd times.  I figure I have to stick it out and get used to it, because before long there'll be some sort of "genius" phone to replace these, and I'll just be that much further behind.

Do they still sell just plain old cell-phones anymore?  If they do, and will continue to, that might be the best option for me.


----------



## Heliotrope

When I was in school I sang in the choir and there was this girl with this beautiful soprano voice. I'm an alto. I tried to sing like her... The classical stuff, and I stunk. I thought I was terrible until I started singing folk music and learned I was decently good. 

Right now I feel a bit like I'm trying to write classical when my heart is writing in folk. The result is not pleasant


----------



## kennyc

Incanus, just don't get sucked in: Microfiction Monday Ã¢€“ 40th Edition | Microfiction Monday Magazine


----------



## MineOwnKing

I still have a baby blue rotary phone you can have. It has a really long cord on it.


----------



## Incanus

kennyc--That would be my first choice, but can it be done indefinitely?

Mineownking--I like my cordless landline phone just fine; works just like it's supposed to.  A cell phone that makes sense would be something I could use.


----------



## ThinkerX

Incanus said:


> I got my very first "smart" phone a couple of weeks ago.
> 
> I hate pretty much everything about it.  It's a cheapy, not a name-brand.  Very user-unfriendly--it assumes you already know how to use it.  All I really want is the cell-phone part.  But that function is sort of sidelined by all the other junk in it.  It keeps turning itself on and making random chiming noises for no apparent reason at odd times.  I figure I have to stick it out and get used to it, because before long there'll be some sort of "genius" phone to replace these, and I'll just be that much further behind.
> 
> Do they still sell just plain old cell-phones anymore?  If they do, and will continue to, that might be the best option for me.



I am not a smart phone guy either.

But the contract that provides my income dictates that I keep a cell phone in the truck.

So, I headed over to Wally World (WalMart) and spent $5 on a trac-phone and $20 for a card that gave me something like 120 minutes for 90 days.  I have bought two more cards since then, and still have over 300 minutes.  Supposedly, the phone has a text function and can get on the internet.  Never bothered with those.  I discovered it could take pictures by accident.  But I can place and receive calls.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

And there it is. No more school forever!


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> And there it is. No more school forever!


Well done!
But now the REAL Education begins...


----------



## Reilith

Going to a wedding today. I am so happy to witness my cousin get married 

Sent from my HTC Desire 820 using Tapatalk


----------



## kennyc

Brian Scott Allen said:


> And there it is. No more school forever!



The school of life is constant and forever.


----------



## Tom

I hate this part of the semester so much. At least my final paper for history is out of the way, and I can concentrate on all the writing I put off for lit. I feel bad that I haven't been active on MS in a while...


----------



## Reaver

Tom Nimenai said:


> I hate this part of the semester so much. At least my final paper for history is out of the way, and I can concentrate on all the writing I put off for lit. I feel bad that I haven't been active on MS in a while...



Don't be too hard on yourself, Tom. Mythic Scribes will always be here for you.


----------



## Reaver

This should cheer you up Tom. Play the video first and dance along with Space Ghost.


----------



## Tom

Reaver, have I ever told you that I hate you?


----------



## Reaver

Tom Nimenai said:


> Reaver, have I ever told you that I hate you?



I believe you just have.


----------



## Ireth

Today a fellow writer suggested I market WINTER'S QUEEN as a romance rather than a fantasy, because the query letter I have for it now focuses mostly on the relationship between the MC and her husband-to-be rather than on action or adventure.

Yeah, because a relationship based on pure greed and hatred between an abusive, murderous asshole prince and the young woman he kidnapped so he could marry her is... romantic? Or something?

People can be so weird.


----------



## Chessie

Ireth, do they live happily ever after? If so, then it IS a romance (fantasy/romance). Good luck with all your querying.  It's crazy how time flies. I remember you writing the novel, commenting about the ups and downs, and now it's in the query process. So cool.


----------



## Ireth

Chesterama said:


> Ireth, do they live happily ever after? If so, then it IS a romance (fantasy/romance). Good luck with all your querying.  It's crazy how time flies. I remember you writing the novel, commenting about the ups and downs, and now it's in the query process. So cool.



Haaaa, nope. Not by a long shot. The abusive kidnapper is the villain; he winds up dead at the end of the book. There is no love interest of any sort. The heroine gets a happily ever after by surviving and escaping him to reunite with her loving family.


----------



## Chessie

Then...that is not a romance.

Strange comment indeed.


----------



## Chessie

Mother F******!!!!

My stupid internet connection just erased an entire hour's worth of writing! WHY?!?!?!!!

FML


----------



## Deleted member 4265

Today I was disillusioned by about a great many things. Most importantly that I've been singing "Head over Heels" by Tears for Fears wrong all these years. Apparently, its "Something happens and I'm head over heels" not "Something happens and I'm better than you"


----------



## Reaver

Devouring Wolf said:


> Today I was disillusioned by about a great many things. Most importantly that I've been singing "Head over Heels" by Tears for Fears wrong all these years. Apparently, its "Something happens and I'm head over heels" not "Something happens and I'm better than you"



Don't feel too bad, Wolf. Up until I was 18, I used to think that one of the lines in "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor was "Took my dime, took my ten cents." 

It's actually "Did my time, took my chances."


----------



## Russ

You should try figuring out the meaning of lyrics in nordic pop like Ace of Base if you want to mess your head some time...


----------



## Chessie

I love Ace Of Base! They remind me of good times, like, when I spent several months living in Montreal at age 15 and listened to their album daily.


----------



## Reilith

I am wondering how to juggle my uni essay that needs to be done until tonight and my extensive need to finish chapter 1 of my story. Ahhh, choices.

Sent from my HTC Desire 820 using Tapatalk


----------



## Aspasia

Finally got to the interesting part of this scene! Though it's stretching out waaaay more than intended.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

6 hours of mowing, 12 hours of being on my feet, several pounds of meat cooked by yours truly, and be nasty neck sunburn later I can declare this BBQ a success. Time to relax and read.


----------



## Incanus

Happy Walpurgis night!

May your bonfires be bright!


----------



## Ireth

Summer is a-comin' today!


----------



## Tom

All of my literature stuff is due next Friday and I am going to die.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

They did it! They finally did it! Kaloo kalay! Good things come to those who wait and I have waited...so long.


----------



## Tom

Happy Star Wars Day, everybody! May the 4th be with you!


----------



## Chessie

Every word I write today is painful. It's one of _those_ days. Only 2500 more words to go, too. 

*groan*

It's so beautiful and sunny outside. I. just. want. to. be. outside. but. it's. butt. sucking. cold. still. why. Alaska? WHY?


----------



## Svrtnsse

Chesterama said:


> It's so beautiful and sunny outside. I. just. want. to. be. outside. but. it's. butt. sucking. cold. still. why. Alaska? WHY?



I have a big warm blanket and an insulating cushion to sit on when I go writing outside. Sure, I look like an old fart hipster all bundled up and with my laptop actually on my lap, but it keeps me warm and comfortable for a while at least.

Then again. Cork is probably a lot less cold than Alaska.


----------



## Chessie

That sounds like an amazingly cozy set up.

And yes...it's currently 50F/10C plus winds up here in our mountain valley. It'll be really warm within a few weeks and then I can sit ouside on the upper deck with my yoga mat and can of bear spray.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Chesterama said:


> That sounds like an amazingly cozy set up.
> 
> And yes...it's currently 50F/10C plus winds up here in our mountain valley. It'll be really warm within a few weeks and then I can sit ouside on the upper deck with my yoga mat and can of bear spray.



It is. You should do it - some time.
Don't forget the fingerless gloves. Fingerless gloves are awesome. I'm even using them indoors these days. Then again, I'm a bit fo a cheapskate and I don't have the heating on other than to be able to get a hot shower in the morning.


----------



## Chessie

It's been ages since I've seen the fingerless gloves. Those are pretty handy.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chesterama said:


> It's been ages since I've seen the fingerless gloves. Those are pretty handy.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Because of a neighborhood party we have three Costco carts worth of stuff. 10 watermelons and 8 pineapples fill one cart.


----------



## Reilith

I really really want to strangle my boss and colleagues for being incompetent and stupid idiots - I have to clean up the mess, and if I don't - I take the whole blame. It's not like I have a life anyway. -.-


----------



## FifthView

Reilith said:


> I really really want to strangle my boss and colleagues for being incompetent and stupid idiots - I have to clean up the mess, and if I don't - I take the whole blame. It's not like I have a life anyway. -.-



In much the same boat–although I don't take the blame.  But if I don't do what needs to be done, then it just doesn't get done, and so I end up doing it just to keep the place from going out of business.  That old saying?  If you give an inch, they take a mile?  The problem with being productive is that too often it comes with a boatload of freeloaders, and before you know it you are the only one paddling a massive boat upstream.


----------



## kennyc

Reilith said:


> I really really want to strangle my boss and colleagues for being incompetent and stupid idiots - I have to clean up the mess, and if I don't - I take the whole blame. It's not like I have a life anyway. -.-



Yep. That's a large part of why I left my last job.


----------



## Reilith

kennyc said:


> Yep. That's a large part of why I left my last job.



I unfortunately don't have that luxury at them moment, as I need the money badly. I just hope it clears up a bit.


----------



## Tom

All of my literature stuff is due Friday. I also have a final exam tonight, one tomorrow morning, and another Friday. I'm dead.


----------



## Reilith

Anxiety over 9000 - working deep into the night for a deadline for work tomorrow - also have a test at uni in the morning and need to get up at 6am.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Holy shit Walter White is an ass. There is nothing to like about him. Why can't I stop watching?


----------



## Chessie

It's 64F/18C here in our valley. Friggin' HOT. Alaska just bypassed spring straight on into summer. People are in shorts already and it's only mid-May!


----------



## Ireth

18C is just warm, not hot! 25-28C is perfect. ^^


----------



## Svrtnsse

Ireth said:


> 18C is just warm, not hot! 25-28C is perfect. ^^



One fried brain, coming right up. 
You want mustard with that?


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> 18C is just warm, not hot! 25-28C is perfect. ^^


Oh, honey. When you're living in freezing temperatures for 6 months out of the year then 64 is scorching!


----------



## Ireth

Chesterama said:


> Oh, honey. When you're living in freezing temperatures for 6 months out of the year then 64 is scorching!



I'm Canadian. I know all about freezing for six months. XD


----------



## Chessie

Ah, yeah! Then you're surely familiar.


----------



## Reaver

Enough with the metric system already.


----------



## Heliotrope

Yay metric system


----------



## Svrtnsse

Reaver said:


> Enough with the metric system already.



Yeah, keep it up and people will mistake us for rational people.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I say we have our own system and call the units Allen. So 0 Allen is freezing and 200 Allen is boiling. Done. I'm a genius.


----------



## Devor

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I say we have our own system and call the units Allen. So 0 Allen is freezing and 200 Allen is boiling. Done. I'm a genius.



That's funny, the Allen is the same unit I use to measure how boring a writing article is on facebook.  Seven Allens is pretty bad.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Devor said:


> That's funny, the Allen is the same unit I use to measure how boring a writing article is on facebook.  Seven Allens is pretty bad.



Note to self, Devor is the first and only target of my impending revolution.


----------



## Chessie

Reaver said:


> Enough with the metric system already.


I totally don't think in the metric system. Google. Google translates everything for me.


----------



## Reaver

When I was known as Little Reaver back in the late seventies, the government tried to get the USA to switch over to the metric system.  I was all like: "What?!?!? And be like Canada with their square wheels, maple syrup on all the food and 24/7 Anne Murray on the radio?!?!? Forget it!"


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Reaver said:


> When I was known as Little Reaver back in the late seventies, the government tried to get the USA to switch over to the metric system.


That was a strange three days.


----------



## Chessie

I wasn't born yet...and didn't live in this country yet...so I don't recall that BUT that would be weird. We're not taught the metric system here as children. Expecting Americans to just switch over to metric system wouldn't go over very well.


----------



## Velka




----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Velka said:


>



Too much money to do a complete change over. It'd have to be slow and it would take years and cost u told amounts of money and what would it benefit. The system is stupid but dammit its too expensive to change now.


----------



## Devor

Brian Scott Allen said:


> It'd have to be slow and it would take years and cost u told amounts of money and what would it benefit.



We, too, could measure temperature down to the decimal and count out up to ten tiny millimeters every time we use the tape measure.  That would be the benefit of an expense measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

Using 12 inches to a foot:

 1/2 foot = 6 inches.
 1/3 foot = 4 inches.
 1/4 foot = 3 inches
 1/5 foot = 2.4 inches (can't win them all)
 1/6 foot = 2 inches

Meanwhile:
 1/2 meter = 50 centimeters
 1/3 meter = 33.333 centimeters
 1/4 meter = 25 centimeters
 1/5 meter = 20 centimeters
 1/6 meter = 16.667 centimeters

If you're looking at a third of a unit, would you rather count up to 33.33 or to 4?

I mean, the metric system is great, especially for scientific areas.  But the imperial system isn't always as bad as it's made out to be.  And contrary to popular belief, the metric system is taught in schools and used regularly in the US in all the places that it actually matters.  There really isn't a benefit to the cost of switching out all the tools and machinery and signage that really doesn't make a difference.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Devor said:


> We, too, could measure temperature down to the decimal and count out up to ten tiny millimeters every time we use the tape measure.  That would be the benefit of an expense measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
> 
> Using 12 inches to a foot:
> 
> 1/2 foot = 6 inches.
> 1/3 foot = 4 inches.
> 1/4 foot = 3 inches
> 1/5 foot = 2.4 inches (can't win them all)
> 1/6 foot = 2 inches
> 
> Meanwhile:
> 1/2 meter = 50 centimeters
> 1/3 meter = 33.333 centimeters
> 1/4 meter = 25 centimeters
> 1/5 meter = 20 centimeters
> 1/6 meter = 16.667 centimeters
> 
> If you're looking at a third of a unit, would you rather count up to 33.33 or to 4?
> 
> I mean, the metric system is great, especially for scientific areas.  But the imperial system isn't always as bad as it's made out to be.  And contrary to popular belief, the metric system is taught in schools and used regularly in the US in all the places that it actually matters.  There really isn't a benefit to the cost of switching out all the tools and machinery and signage that really doesn't make a difference.


Oh great now I have to change my position because I'm an extremely petty revolutionary. Go metric system instant change right now!!


----------



## TheKillerBs

Devor said:


> We, too, could measure temperature down to the decimal and count out up to ten tiny millimeters every time we use the tape measure.  That would be the benefit of an expense measured in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
> 
> Using 12 inches to a foot:
> 
> 1/2 foot = 6 inches.
> 1/3 foot = 4 inches.
> 1/4 foot = 3 inches
> 1/5 foot = 2.4 inches (can't win them all)
> 1/6 foot = 2 inches
> 
> Meanwhile:
> 1/2 meter = 50 centimeters
> 1/3 meter = 33.333 centimeters
> 1/4 meter = 25 centimeters
> 1/5 meter = 20 centimeters
> 1/6 meter = 16.667 centimeters
> 
> If you're looking at a third of a unit, would you rather count up to 33.33 or to 4?
> 
> I mean, the metric system is great, especially for scientific areas.  But the imperial system isn't always as bad as it's made out to be.  And contrary to popular belief, the metric system is taught in schools and used regularly in the US in all the places that it actually matters.  There really isn't a benefit to the cost of switching out all the tools and machinery and signage that really doesn't make a difference.



While your overarching point is fair, the criticism that a system based on decimals doesn't work as well with fractions using thirds is kind of silly because, well, the system is designed to use decimals. The imperial system is designed to use fractions, mostly in multiples of 2s and 3s. I could make the same critique about the foot using 1/7 of a foot, which is what, 1.71 inches? Doesn't seem so good now. And you would counter, rightly so, that you would never be in a position where you would need to use sevenths of a foot, which is the exact same argument I make about the thirds. Notice how clean the fifth was in metric compared to imperial? It's because, if you converted decimal to fraction, they would be multiples of 2s and 5s instead.


----------



## ThinkerX

Going full metric would put the automotive tool makers out of business...eventually.

I have assorted sockets and wrenches in both English and Metric denominations.  Gets to be a pain sometimes...is that a 10 millimeter or a 3/8ths? At least some of the time its a mix.  I have rulers marked in both millimeters and inches.  Likewise, I note that a lot of the stuff I buy at the grocery store gives both ounces and grams.


----------



## CupofJoe

ThinkerX said:


> Going full metric would put the automotive tool makers out of business...eventually.
> 
> I have assorted sockets and wrenches in both English and Metric denominations.  Gets to be a pain sometimes...is that a 10 millimeter or a 3/8ths? At least some of the time its a mix.  I have rulers marked in both millimeters and inches.  Likewise, I note that a lot of the stuff I buy at the grocery store gives both ounces and grams.


But think of the 20 years of Boom as they get to sell us all our tools again...
And then once we've gone metric we'll have to decide if it is JIS or DIN???


----------



## ThinkerX

I have known mechanics who have bought five digits worth of tools, 99% of which see very little use.


----------



## Devor

TheKillerBs said:


> While your overarching point is fair, the criticism that a system based on decimals doesn't work as well with fractions using thirds is kind of silly because, well, the system is designed to use decimals. The imperial system is designed to use fractions, mostly in multiples of 2s and 3s. I could make the same critique about the foot using 1/7 of a foot, which is what, 1.71 inches? Doesn't seem so good now. And you would counter, rightly so, that you would never be in a position where you would need to use sevenths of a foot, which is the exact same argument I make about the thirds. Notice how clean the fifth was in metric compared to imperial? It's because, if you converted decimal to fraction, they would be multiples of 2s and 5s instead.



Let me put it this way: There's a reason the 10 hour metric clock never happened. The 12 hour shifts work for the same reason above, and 60 is even better.

For 60:

1/2 = 30
1/3 = 20
1/4 = 15
1/5 = 12
1/6 = 10

^ This was how the system was designed, deliberately, by the Babylonians.  They wanted real people to immediately understand how long a third of an hour was.

So yes, the reliance of decimals in the metric system is a tradeoff, with a downside, just like anything else.  Maybe it's really minor in most applications, but it's there.


----------



## Devor

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Oh great now I have to change my position because I'm an extremely petty revolutionary. Go metric system instant change right now!!



I also think bacon is delicious.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Devor said:


> I also think bacon is delicious.



I forgot to mention I'm also arbitrary. Bacon is delicious you firery sky chicken.


----------



## Reaver

Devor said:


> I also think bacon is delicious.



Bacon is one of those gifts of the gods. Even pigs think bacon is delicious.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

^ That is my kid's favorite cartoon. When he just wants to chill I pull out the ole phone, click the YouTube app, and he says "Dance," And we watch this twice in a row. Kid likes the old classics I guess.


----------



## Incanus

Just discovered that Word does NOT put the red squiggly line under the word 'thingamajig'.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Incanus said:


> Just discovered that Word does NOT put the red squiggly line under the word 'thingamajig'.



It's in the dictionary: thingamajig: definition of thingamajig in Oxford dictionary (American English)


----------



## Ireth

Here, have a super depressing anime I found via wiki-walk on TVTropes:


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

My computer is slowly but surely falling apart. My headphone jack died today. Come on computer keep working. I need you.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

NM apparently a setting had gotten changed that made it so sound was not piped to my headphone jack. I have no idea how that happened.


----------



## Ireth

Weird dream of the day: I was at a college overrun by body-snatching aliens (who somehow looked identical to their "hosts" even before the inhabiting), and an alien in the body of my older brother sedated me so the aliens could get me. They cut into my back to get inside me, but for whatever reason couldn't completely take me over. At lunchtime everyone was eating hot dogs that I'm pretty sure were made of human flesh, and I had to act like one of the aliens to avoid suspicion.

I managed to escape and get to my home (which was actually a trailer on the college grounds), while narrowly avoiding being caught by Gollum. An alien got into the trailer (probably with Gollum's help) while I was looking for a way to reverse the body-snatching, which was hidden in a certain Goosebumps book I had; but the book turned out to be the wrong one, and the alien was about to attack me when I woke up.


----------



## Sheilawisz

What a dream, Ireth!

That sounds like an excellent dreams adventure, even though it was creepy as well. I love having dreams like that and I keep my Dreams Journal since years ago, but I have been going through a phase of weak and negative dreams for months and I miss the times when I used to have fun and incredible dreams.

Did you eat anything unusual before going to sleep?

Tuna, lentils, cheese and tomato sauce for dinner work well for me, but the effect wears off after a few nights and the cool dreams disappear. I'll try with Melatonin supplements next, they say that works great.

Do you keep a Dreams Journal?


----------



## Ireth

I don't keep a dream journal. The only thing I remember eating or drinking before bed was strawberry lemonade with real strawberries. I always tend to have the weirdest dreams in the morning right before I wake up.


----------



## Chessie

Store prices are so unbelievably ridiculous. On an innocent search for choc chips (to make oatmeal cookies with yum!):

-house brand choc chips in milk choc, white chip & semi-sweet $2.59
-Nestle choc chips in the good flavors like butterscotch, milk chocolate, peppermint, etc....$6.59.

Are you serious? So I settled on the semi-sweet because there's no way I'm freaking paying 7 bucks for a tiny stupid bag of chocolate chips. BOO thumbs down!


----------



## MineOwnKing

Warning,

Updating to Windows 10 causes serious issues with Hotmail.

I'm dealing with 2 years of lost emails, Junk mail mixed in with normal mail.

It's a nightmare.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just had a dream that I was writing a scene and I imagined said scene with perfect clarity. My MC was starting to kill a bad guy with a pure wood bow and arrow with a stone arrow head. Something went wrong and my MC had to run from the Master of Magnetism himself, Magneto. But then my dream shifted and I was the MC. So I went home, grabbed my kid, and his him in a foster home so Magneto couldn't catch him while I went to go kill magneto and the original target. That was a fun dream.


----------



## Ireth

That odd moment when you realize your MC's comparison of her situation to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" is more accurate than you ever intended. Ariel is Belle (pretty, bookish, genre-savvy heroine), and Fiachra is a cross between Gaston (dark-haired, blue-eyed, narcissistic antagonist obsessed with marrying the heroine) and the Beast (brutish prince who keeps the heroine captive in his castle), which is acknowledged early on. But today I realized also that Vincent is Maurice (heroine's father, considered insane by his peers and for whom time in an insane asylum [rather, the modern equivalent, a psych ward] is a legitimate fear). Wonder if I should hang a lampshade on that too, given how Ariel is such a Disney fan that it actually impacts the plot...


----------



## Reaver

Ireth said:


> That odd moment when you realize your MC's comparison of her situation to Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" is more accurate than you ever intended. Ariel is Belle (pretty, bookish, genre-savvy heroine), and Fiachra is a cross between Gaston (dark-haired, blue-eyed, narcissistic antagonist obsessed with marrying the heroine) and the Beast (brutish prince who keeps the heroine captive in his castle), which is acknowledged early on. But today I realized also that Vincent is Maurice (heroine's father, considered insane by his peers and for whom time in an insane asylum [rather, the modern equivalent, a psych ward] is a legitimate fear). Wonder if I should hang a lampshade on that too, given how Ariel is such a Disney fan that it actually impacts the plot...



I don't want to add any fuel to your fire of doubt but playing devil's advocate, Ariel is the name of the MC in Disney's The Little Mermaid.


----------



## Ireth

Reaver said:


> I don't want to add any fuel to your fire of doubt but playing devil's advocate, Ariel is the name of the MC in Disney's The Little Mermaid.



That was intentional.  Her parents are (or were, in the case of her deceased mother) both singers, and they had hope that she'd share their interest. Also doubles as a reference to Shakespeare's "The Tempest".


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I love this.


----------



## Lunaairis

Caught a crow today. First noticed him this morning- some other crows knocked him out of the sky. I went to check after work if he was still around, and he was. Poor guy has a broke wing. I wanted to take him to the wild life sanctuary right away but they are only open from 8am-4pm everyday. So by the time I caught him it was too late to take him.

I'm calling him Fury. In the morning I'm bringing him to the sanctuary. He's super cute, I wonder if they'd let me house him till his wing is healed. For now I put him in this shelving unit my dad built so we could grow lettuces in the backyard and keep the raccoon's and groundhogs out of the sprouts. 




















I think he must have broken Crow law or something. The other crows were being super vicious.


----------



## Ireth

Awwww, poor crow! Good thing you were there to take him in! <3


----------



## Lunaairis

Update,







Took a picture of this little guy this morning before I took him to the sanctuary. The people that were working there are really nice and turns out they are looking for volunteers. Picked up a sheet so I could sign up. I'd love to help birbs (Yes birbs). They along with bats are my favorite animals.


----------



## Reaver

My dog always looks like he's just about to tell me something really profound but then had second thoughts.


----------



## ThinkerX

Now, I am something of a 'real live dead dinosaur' when it comes to 21st century technology.  Among other things, I still have a landline, prefer paper books to a screen, don't have a smartphone, and use a PC for writing.

But I did take a tiny, hesitant step into the new tech era last week.  Daughter gave me one of these 'Kindle Fire' things over the holidaze, and upon spotting a novella last week that was 'kindle only,' I fired up the contraption to download it.  Main gripe is having to jab the screen so dang hard with the fake pen deal to accomplish much.  

Novella wasn't bad: 'Isosceles Moon,' a sort of urban fantasy/horror.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just learned Brandon Sanderson has written around 1000 words per day since Elantris came out 11 years ago totaling nearly 4 million words.


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I just learned Brandon Sanderson has written around 1000 words per day since Elantris came out 11 years ago totaling nearly 4 million words.


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work...
Need I say more...


----------



## La Volpe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I just learned Brandon Sanderson has written around 1000 words per day since Elantris came out 11 years ago totaling nearly 4 million words.



Wow, that is less than I'd have thought, given that most of his books are big enough to accidentally kill small children with.


----------



## Velka

One of the teachers at my school had a baby on Saturday. She emailed me some pictures, so I put them on the projector to share with my class (she's the music teacher, so they all know and love her.)

One of my little ones raises his hand: "When is the baby's birthday?"
Me: "He was born on Saturday, June 4th."
One of my other little ones frowns and tilts her head to the side: "But that was when he was born, when is his _birthday_?"
I, and most of the rest of the class, just sit in stunned silence for a moment, trying to reconcile her words with reality. I am about to explain, when her eyes suddenly grow wide and she lets out a long "Ohhhhhhhh, your birthday is the same day you are born. I get it now."

This is the same kid who (until recently) identified 22 as twotey-two and (still) insists butterflies go through metaporpoise.

I'm trying my best here people.


----------



## Chessie

Our calico is a sadistic murderer. 

During breakfast this morning, she jumped through the window with a field mouse in her teeth. My husband finds the cats's killing ways to be rather endearing. So he handed her a handful of treats while mousey thrashed around in his final moments of suffering. She'd ripped open his side and well, I nearly lost my appetite.

Husband throws mouse in the bushes and comes back to finish his meal.

Cat goes back outside. She comes in less than 5 mins with another mouse.

NO. The same mouse! She freaking tracked him down and brought him back to the house and he was still alive. So my husband gave her another handful of treats and made sure mousey was put out of his misery. So much for breakfast, eh? Geesh. I don't know why all our cats turn out to be killers who like to bring their victims inside the house. I'm the only person in this house that doesn't find that amusing. Even my son giggles when I ask him to toss them out for me. 

No more cats after these ones die. Dogs from now on.


----------



## ThinkerX

> No more cats after these ones die. Dogs from now on.



Doggies kill things too.  But their prey is bigger: they pack up and kill moose.  Or smaller critters, like rabbits.


----------



## Chessie

That's true, Thinker. Thanks for the reminder. We had a labrador that killed rabbits too. There's this sick feeling that comes along with your beloved pet taking another furry life. -_-


----------



## La Volpe

Chesterama said:


> Geesh. I don't know why all our cats turn out to be killers who like to bring their victims inside the house.


Cats were originally kept as 'pets' for their ability to catch and kill mice, so cats were probably bred for this behaviour. I.e. most cats turn into muricidal hunters. And they're predators by nature, so hunting is fun for them.

Don't know why they insist on bringing their victims back into the house though. Probably because they love you and want to share the moment with you.


----------



## Ireth

It is 5:35 am and I haven't slept yet. Someone's cellphone keeps going off -- there it goes again -- and I don't know whose it is, so I can't even wake them up to answer it. I dunno how much more I can take of it.


----------



## CupofJoe

Ireth said:


> It is 5:35 am and I haven't slept yet. Someone's cellphone keeps going off -- there it goes again -- and I don't know whose it is, so I can't even wake them up to answer it. I dunno how much more I can take of it.


My sympathies. I take it that appropriate non-random violence to the 'phone is not an option?


----------



## Ireth

CupofJoe said:


> My sympathies. I take it that appropriate non-random violence to the 'phone is not an option?



No, they would not appreciate that at all.


----------



## SeverinR

Random thought.
This thread is 3 yrs old(and a month today) now.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, I just had a dream that I was the highest judicial authority in the world born to a witch. The witches in that world were pariahs and witchcraft was outlawed. I came up with a scheme while visiting my mother to get witchcraft legalized but regulated. I really should stop thinking thoughts.


----------



## Ireth

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So, I just had a dream that I was the highest judicial authority in the world born to a witch. The witches in that world were pariahs and witchcraft was outlawed. I came up with a scheme while visiting my mother to get witchcraft legalized but regulated. I really should stop thinking thoughts.



There's a novel in there somewhere.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> There's a novel in there somewhere.



Put it in the queue.


----------



## FifthView

GRRM in awe recently asked Stephen King how he can write so fast.  King's answer:  He commits to writing 6 pages every single day.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

FifthView said:


> He commits


'Nuff said.


----------



## Incanus

Forgot to catch the latest "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" entry which came out yesterday.  So I've got that to look forward to when I get home from work.  Can't wait.  People with this kind of talent should be handed giant sacks full of money and then be left alone and given ample leeway to create.


----------



## SeverinR

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Put it in the queue.



The queue is getting full. lol.

Need to stop writing and edit one of them.


----------



## Chessie

Trying to write a novel with an 8yr old out of school is like trying to eat a warm meal that keeps cooling and cooling.

Holy cow. 5:30am rise time wasn't enough!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I'm now dreaming about the stuff I've been studying. Heaven help me even night time brings no solace.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I'm now dreaming about the stuff I've been studying. Heaven help me even night time brings no solace.



It is the law.  It is beautiful.  Just enjoy.


----------



## ThinkerX

> Trying to write a novel with an 8yr old out of school is like trying to eat a warm meal that keeps cooling and cooling.
> 
> Holy cow. 5:30am rise time wasn't enough!



Summer camp is not an option?



> I'm now dreaming about the stuff I've been studying. Heaven help me even night time brings no solace.



Alas, many of my dreams involve my job.  The more boring parts.  Been that way for a while.  Others are more confusing than interesting.  Only a rare few are 'wow!'


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> It is the law.  It is beautiful.  Just enjoy.



You're right. The law is beautiful. I should be grateful for this opportunity. Not a lot of people get to have the chance to help people the way I will be able to and that is really why I went to law school.


----------



## Ireth

Why do we say stuff is "on fire" when really the fire is on the stuff?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> Why do we say stuff is "on fire" when really the fire is on the stuff?


----------



## CupofJoe

You've got to love working at a place where under a sign "Free to a good home" you find 40 year old copies of Beowulf [in English]; as well as Edda, Fortaellinger Fra Landnamabok and Ynglingerasaga [in (I think) Norwegian].

Okay - does anyone out there want to teach me Norwegian?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> You've got to love working at a place where under a sign "Free to a good home" you find 40 year old copies of Beowulf [in English]; as well as Edda, Fortaellinger Fra Landnamabok and Ynglingerasaga [in (I think) Norwegian].
> 
> Okay - does anyone out there want to teach me Norwegian?



Oh my gosh...old books give me heart eyes.


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> Why do we say stuff is "on fire" when really the fire is on the stuff?


Stop ruining everything with your political correctness.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just wrote around 3k words in 3 hours. That was intense. Too bad it wasn't for my Wip. But now I have a new maximum bar to reach for.


----------



## FifthView

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I just wrote around 3k words in 3 hours. That was intense. Too bad it wasn't for my Wip. But now I have a new maximum bar to reach for.



I'm a slow writer and a slow reader.

I realized my slowness in reading while still a teenager and comparing my speed with the speeds others reported.  (How long to read this or that book?)  I have an odd iterative process that sneaks in; I go back and re-read passages I've just completed, sometimes.  Small sections.  A few sentences or a small paragraph.  It's not every paragraph and might not happen for most of a chapter.  But it happens enough to slow me down.

It's like savoring food, but with words and passages.

This also creeps into my writing habits, as I try to re-savor things I've just written or have written the day before.  Unfortunately this can also mean revising those things.  Then re-savoring them.  Not only with fiction, but with my comments here and elsewhere.

Happens with movies and television too, as I hit the quick "10-second rewind" on my remote or actually go farther back to watch a longer repeat.  Even with things I'm watching for the first time.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I just wrote around 3k words in 3 hours. That was intense. Too bad it wasn't for my Wip. But now I have a new maximum bar to reach for.



3k is around the most I've ever done in one sitting. Took me 4 1/2 hours. My writer friend, though, once wrote 7k words in one sitting...How that didn't kill her I don't know.


----------



## Tom

Hey guys! I'm back! I haven't been active because I've been working as a camp counselor this summer. I'm directing the fencing program at the camp and it's been a ton of fun so far. I just haven't had the energy on my days off to visit MS, but I felt bad for leaving for so long. So here I am!


----------



## adalenia

Welcome back!

I don't know you.


----------



## Velka

Hi Tom!

Glad to hear you're still enjoying fencing. Writing anything new?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, I have this recurring nightmare, it involves me being forced to go back to middle school to complete one class because of some clerical error. It used to be that the dream would end around the first day of classes where I had to juggle one middle school class, as an adult nearing his 10 year high school reunion that he won't attend, and a college class or graduate level course work. Well, I had that dream again last night. But this time I had to do all of middle school or all of my subsequent diplomas would be nullified and I would have to repeat the process all over again. I hate that dream.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just re watched the original land before time movie and I just realized that it's a hero's journey.


----------



## ThinkerX

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So, I have this recurring nightmare, it involves me being forced to go back to middle school to complete one class because of some clerical error. It used to be that the dream would end around the first day of classes where I had to juggle one middle school class, as an adult nearing his 10 year high school reunion that he won't attend, and a college class or graduate level course work. Well, I had that dream again last night. But this time I had to do all of middle school or all of my subsequent diplomas would be nullified and I would have to repeat the process all over again. I hate that dream.



I used to have dreams like that.  Long after high school and college, I'd find myself dreaming about attending class...somewhere. Some people I recognized, some I didn't.  The teachers were often actual teachers from the old days.  Alas, I really bombed those courses, whatever they were.  Only a hazy idea of the subject, no textbooks, nothing but a pad and a pencil.  But I wonder sometimes...last few dreams of that sort, the impression was that I was in an 'advanced' class.  More disturbingly, the last one, I was the instructor.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Me right now: *laughs hysterically while writing the words 'piteous screams'*


----------



## thomaschristeena

If you want to be helped, then help others!


----------



## Addison

Be warned, I am openly freaking.

I am participating in a Writers Digest Boot Camp. Part of the packet I must submit is the first two pages of the story. There's also a query and a synopsis, but the pages are stressing me out. Usually they ask for the first five or ten pages, the first two? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! 

The beginning of my story has been the worst part. Not that it sucks (I don't think), I just can't find which beginning launches the story best. Beginnings are like the launch of a rocket. Too slow and the rocket either blows up or becomes the world's most expensive three person air flight. Too fast and there could still be damage and the story is thrown in the wrong trajectory. So yes, I am freaking out! I have four different beginnings, the first two pages of which only slightly different but the slight could be the difference between death and acceptance. 

Again, EEEEEEEEEEEK! :eek2:


----------



## kennyc

You will learn. That's why they do it that way.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just took a 50 question practice test for my licensing exam next Tuesday and Wednesday and got 45/50. I am feeling pretty good about this. Let's see what happens. In any event, I will be free from this need to study come next Wednesday. Hallelujah.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Just took a 50 question practice test for my licensing exam next Tuesday and Wednesday and got 45/50. I am feeling pretty good about this. Let's see what happens. In any event, I will be free from this need to study come next Wednesday. Hallelujah.



Licensing for what?


----------



## kennyc

Excellent!!! Good luck!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Licensing for what?



Attorney. The bar exam is professional hazing.


----------



## Ban

After having owned Guinea pigs for over 8 years I discovered a few days ago that my Guineas groom eachother. Now I can't stop noticing it.


I had to let that out...


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Attorney. The bar exam is professional hazing.



You don't have articling down there do you?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> You don't have articling down there do you?



Nope. I had to look it up to figure out what it was. That seems a far better method than making people sit for a 12 hour exam spread over two days.


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Nope. I had to look it up to figure out what it was. That seems a far better method than making people sit for a 12 hour exam spread over two days.



Ah...but we have both the written exams and the articling period.  Now that is hazing.

Although at great distance I say that I learned more in three months of articling than I did in three years of law school.

But it is all in the good service of protecting the public from bad lawyers.


----------



## Aspasia

Met up with a friend I haven't spoken to in years recently and had a great time discussing everything from books to Linux distros. My TBR pile has accordingly exploded. I really need to get used to ebooks because my apt definitely doesn't have room for all the books I want to get!

On another note, how did I let someone coerce me into writing a 3 day novel?! This is going to be interesting ...


----------



## Ireth

Upside of Pokemon Go: Plenty of incentive to go out for walks and get exercise, and play with my young siblings (age 5 and 7).

Downside of Pokemon Go: Being woken up far too early by said siblings when they want me to take them Pokemon hunting at seven in the morning.


----------



## Ban

Ireth said:


> Downside of Pokemon Go: Being woken up far too early by said siblings when they want me to take them Pokemon hunting at seven in the morning.



Even bigger downside. Being the only person in your group of friends with a phone too horrible to be able to play pokemon go...


----------



## Ireth

Banten said:


> Even bigger downside. Being the only person in your group of friends with a phone too horrible to be able to play pokemon go...



I am that person. I have to play on my mom's phone. XD


----------



## Ban

Ireth said:


> I am that person. I have to play on my mom's phone. XD



 Life is truly tough for us non-good-phone-having-people 

*cough* Sarcasm *cough*


----------



## Ireth

Banten said:


> Life is truly tough for us non-good-phone-having-people
> 
> *cough* Sarcasm *cough*



Sarcasm noted. It's not that my phone's BAD, it's just not an iPhone or an Android. I'm quite content with my little Nokia other than the no Pokemon thing. XD


----------



## Ban

Ireth said:


> Sarcasm noted. It's not that my phone's BAD, it's just not an iPhone or an Android. I'm quite content with my little Nokia other than the no Pokemon thing. XD



Fair enough haha  My phone is a partly-broken-down LG, which I jokingly refer to as the LG Optimus Prime in an attempt to make me feel like it is still a functional device


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Has anyone ever thought that the reason we have a base 10 number system is that we have 10 fingers and we count on our fingers?!


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Has anyone ever thought that the reason we have a base 10 number system is that we have 10 fingers and we count on our fingers?!



All your base are belong to us.


----------



## Reaver

FifthView said:


> All your base are belong to us.



Good one! My favorite is from Metal Gear on NES:


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Boom, day 1 done. This was the written portion. I ran some numbers and I figured over the whole 6 hours I was pumping about 1666 words an hour. But when my hands were pumping on the keyboard I was cracking at about 2887 words an hour. One more day then I can write again.


----------



## La Volpe

FifthView said:


> All your base are belong to us.



Somebody set up us the bomb.


----------



## Svrtnsse

La Volpe said:


> Somebody set up us the bomb.



We get signal


----------



## Ireth

Weird dream of the day: Just before waking up this morning, I had a dream that someone rewrote "I'll Make a Man Out of You" to be from Shan Yu's perspective ("I'll Make a Hun Out of You"?), and made a Youtube video to match.

Not gonna lie, I kind of want this to happen now. XDDD


----------



## Chessie

Well...I made the plunge into Scrivener. Finally. Let me just say that I recall the learning curve as having been huge last time I played around with it. Yep. It's still hard as **** to use. But hey, one neat thing is that I can write my book in scenes. For a pantser like me that just writes straight through, this will be a huge adjustment. But maybe a beneficial one? It's time to grow up and organize my work like a professional.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

And that's the end of the testing. Now the 8-10 week wait. I feel like I probably passed but who really knows. Now I can write again, lol.


----------



## Velka

Brian Scott Allen said:


> And that's the end of the testing. Now the 8-10 week wait. I feel like I probably passed but who really knows. Now I can write again, lol.



It's been a long haul for you, congrats on making it out the other side!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just chased my son with the app controlled BB-8 toy. He legitimately thinks it's alive. Lol.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just created a new head canon. This also contains some mild spoilers for Stranger Things. The Upsidedown from Stranger Things is a piece of the Nevernever from the Dresden Files and the monsters are fae of the Winter Court.


----------



## kennyc

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I just created a new head canon. ...



No. NO!  Don't Shoot!!


----------



## Addison

I'm ready to blow my head off. 

I can't remember the title of a fairy tale. I remember it clearly but I can't remember the name. I've looked through my books, nothing. It's the tale about the girl, I believe she was a princess, and she had a doll. Due to some deal her father made with a witch, when the girl was old enough she was sent into the woods and lived alone in a cottage. She spent her free time sewing. When she ran out of string in the cottage she reluctantly used the thread from her doll. As she used the doll thread she slowly opened herself to resources (more food, water and such) and when she'd used the last of the thread a path opened int he forest allowing her return home.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?


----------



## Ireth

Addison said:


> I'm ready to blow my head off.
> 
> I can't remember the title of a fairy tale. I remember it clearly but I can't remember the name. I've looked through my books, nothing. It's the tale about the girl, I believe she was a princess, and she had a doll. Due to some deal her father made with a witch, when the girl was old enough she was sent into the woods and lived alone in a cottage. She spent her free time sewing. When she ran out of string in the cottage she reluctantly used the thread from her doll. As she used the doll thread she slowly opened herself to resources (more food, water and such) and when she'd used the last of the thread a path opened int he forest allowing her return home.
> 
> Does this sound familiar to anyone?



Doesn't ring a bell to me, alas, but it does sound fascinating. ^^


----------



## Chessie

Addison, that sounds like a version of Vasilia The Beautiful, except for without Baba Yaga.


----------



## Ireth

Aaagh, you guys, _Finding Dory_ is SO GOOD. No spoilers, but it did a fantastic job of portraying someone (more than one character, actually!) as disabled without making them helpless. It hit all the right notes for a great Pixar film -- I laughed, I awww'd and I cried. Will definitely be looking for this one when it's out on DVD.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Onions I love to eat you, but unless I have my contacts in y'all are the biggest bunch of a-holes. Stop making me cry.


----------



## ThinkerX

My daughter is having her baby in a little over a week.  Decided to do my first major, thorough house cleaning in ages.  Spent the past couple days bagging trash and putting clothes in totes.  Big pile of these in the garage.  House is still a mess.  Doesn't look like I did anything.  Depressing.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Rick and Morty Court Video Is Hilariously Profane, 100% Real | Collider

Don't listen with sensitive ears around. Yes that is a legit court transcript. This is NSFW but it is so funny! I was crying!


----------



## Chessie

ThinkerX said:


> My daughter is having her baby in a little over a week.  Decided to do my first major, thorough house cleaning in ages.  Spent the past couple days bagging trash and putting clothes in totes.  Big pile of these in the garage.  House is still a mess.  Doesn't look like I did anything.  Depressing.


Congratulations! Will this be your first grandbaby?


----------



## ThinkerX

Chesterama said:


> Congratulations! Will this be your first grandbaby?



Yes.  And according to the daughter, he will also be my last grandbaby. Quite a change from her view when she first moved in with me as a teenager (long story), straight out of one of the more repressive religious home schooling programs - back then her goal was to get married, become a housewife, and have ten baby's.  Now, apparently, one is plenty.

In the meantime, though, that still leaves me with a giant pile of trash to haul to the dump.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm up late eating an orange Creamsicle while everyone else is asleep.


----------



## Aspasia

For some reason I always find it difficult to write longer stories, but when it comes to every other form of writing it's almost impossible for me to be concise. I have to WORK to make book reviews shorter than 2k! Yet nearly all my writing is done in <10k, usually <5k too! You'd think I'd have more material & thoughts on something entirely of my own creation than on someone else's, but no ...


----------



## La Volpe

Aspasia said:


> For some reason I always find it difficult to write longer stories, but when it comes to every other form of writing it's almost impossible for me to be concise. I have to WORK to make book reviews shorter than 2k! Yet nearly all my writing is done in <10k, usually <5k too! You'd think I'd have more material & thoughts on something entirely of my own creation than on someone else's, but no ...



So what happens if you write a review about your own story? This must be tested. For science.


----------



## Heliotrope

OMG Chesterama, I love that you know the Vasilia the Beautiful story


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Where did the site go for like 6 hours?


----------



## Devor

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Where did the site go for like 6 hours?



The otherside.  It went to the otherside.


----------



## Heliotrope

The Upsidedown.... (For those Stranger Things nerds like me).


----------



## Chessie

Heliotrope said:


> OMG Chesterama, I love that you know the Vasilia the Beautiful story


I love Russian fairytales! Actually, I'm a fairytale fan in general.  There's also the one Russian tale of the girl who had 2 wicked stepsisters and a wicked stepmother (think Cinderella). Can't recall the name of the story but one winter day their fire runs out. The stepmother sent the beautiful stepdaughter out to get fire, hoping that the girl would die. Instead, the girl hiked up this huge moutain and ended up in the land of the gods in this beautiful forest. She rolls up on the gods having a bonfire and they give her a piece of that fire to take home. Well, the flame is magical and burns the the girl's house down with her wicked family in it. I don't think there was a hot prince involved though. The end.


----------



## Addison

What's with the new new Thanks and Reputation count thing? It was perfect as it was. I logged in and saw I had more than 200 thanks. I was startled and excited, then I saw the change. So, that bubble burst. Still, why the change?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Addison said:


> What's with the new new Thanks and Reputation count thing? It was perfect as it was. I logged in and saw I had more than 200 thanks. I was startled and excited, then I saw the change. So, that bubble burst. Still, why the change?



Yeah I got 84 or something and now I'm confused...


----------



## Ban

The thanks system changed, there is more on this in the "suggestions & feedback" section.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So in the morning I'm going to be auditioning for a musical 

What have I done


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> So in the morning I'm going to be auditioning for a musical
> 
> What have I done



Sounds awesome, Dragon! Would it be more fitting to say "best of luck" or "break a leg"? XD


----------



## Ban

Ireth said:


> Sounds awesome, Dragon! Would it be more fitting to say "best of luck" or "break a leg"? XD



When in doubt, say Best of luck in breaking a leg.


----------



## Velka

At the cottage once again, and wifi is actually working! It's currently raining in biblical proportions, I have Guy Gavriel Kay's Children of Earth and Sky waiting to be read, a half finished puzzle, a lazy dog sleeping at my feet, and entire day with nothing to do. Well, if this rain continues I may have to Google how to build an arc, but otherwise it's catching up on the forums, reading, finishing my puzzle and napping for me today.

Life is good.


----------



## Ireth

Velka said:


> Well, if this rain continues I may have to Google how to build an arc, but otherwise it's catching up on the forums, reading, finishing my puzzle and napping for me today.



If I recall correctly, first you need several tons of gopherwood (whatever that is), and a place to build that's more than 300 cubits long by 80 cubits wide, and 40 cubits tall... XD


----------



## Ban

Pro tip of the day: Don't drink more than 1 liter of black coffee.


----------



## Tom

Velka said:


> Hi Tom!
> 
> Glad to hear you're still enjoying fencing. Writing anything new?



Hi Velka! Wow, sorry it's taken so long for me to respond! After wrapping up the camp season I immediately went tent camping with a bunch of friends--my cell service was good enough in the wilderness to get Spotify and Tumblr, but apparently not MS. It was fun but I'm glad it's over--I REALLY beat myself up as a sports counselor, and hiking and sleeping on the ground weren't doing my injuries any favors. A full summer of fencing, rugby, soccer, football, and hiking will do that to you. 


I have in fact been writing, just not anything new! I think I'm finally done taking notes/obsessively worldbuilding for Southerner, so now it's time to start writing again. I also got a sudden motivation to return to Frostbite, that vampire project I was working on--for Camp NaNo, I think it was.

So how have you been? Writing anything good?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I should probably get a profile picture soon. But I don't like my face. so I guess I'll draw a dragon or something.


----------



## SeverinR

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I should probably get a profile picture soon. But I don't like my face. so I guess I'll draw a dragon or something.


I use my COA from my SCA days.

(Unofficial Coat of arms: 2 fleur de lis rising over sun on mountains. 
My daughters going further then I.  
Which couldn't be official, since my coat would be established before my daughters were born.)


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SeverinR said:


> I use my COA from my SCA days.
> 
> (Unofficial Coat of arms: 2 fleur de lis rising over sun on mountains.
> My daughters going further then I.
> Which couldn't be official, since my coat would be established before my daughters were born.)



Unfortunately I don't have one.


----------



## Chessie

When every word you write today sucks but you keep telling yourself that it's really not _that_ bad...

:throwball:


----------



## Russ

SeverinR said:


> I use my COA from my SCA days.
> 
> (Unofficial Coat of arms: 2 fleur de lis rising over sun on mountains.
> My daughters going further then I.
> Which couldn't be official, since my coat would be established before my daughters were born.)



Can you have an official C of A in the USA?


----------



## Ireth

Found a typo in my copy of _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ today that's apparently really rare and makes the book more valuable. "1 wand" is stated twice in the list of Harry's school supplies on page 53. Wondering if this is legit... and if my copy is of the right edition for said value. XD


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> Found a typo in my copy of _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ today that's apparently really rare and makes the book more valuable. "1 wand" is stated twice in the list of Harry's school supplies on page 53. Wondering if this is legit... and if my copy is of the right edition for said value. XD


Lol I found a typo inside the game Fallout 4 on my Pip Boy. It was a pretty big one, too. Good to see that sort of thing slip every once in a while to remind us that no writing is perfect. Right?


----------



## CupofJoe

Ireth said:


> Found a typo in my copy of _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ today that's apparently really rare and makes the book more valuable. "1 wand" is stated twice in the list of Harry's school supplies on page 53. Wondering if this is legit... and if my copy is of the right edition for said value. XD


It was the first 500 copies in the UK that were supposed to be the *only* ones with the typo. Those First editions are reputed to be work up to Â£20K...
Is your Harry Potter Book worth Â£20k - Bitter Wallet
Now Ireth... How much do you LOVE that book?


----------



## Ireth

CupofJoe said:


> It was the first 500 copies in the UK that were supposed to be the *only* ones with the typo. Those First editions are reputed to be work up to Â£20K...
> Is your Harry Potter Book worth Â£20k - Bitter Wallet
> Now Ireth... How much do you LOVE that book?



I've heard that too; also that it's only those with the numbers "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" on the page with all the copyright info which are that valuable. The numbers in my copy only go down to 4, and another friend has a typo'd copy with numbers down to 7. Makes me wonder if those are still valuable, only less so.


----------



## Ban

Aaaand that's why you buy books instead of ebooks!


My advice: *SELL IT SELL IT SELL IT*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Alright, I read somewhere, not here, that there is no such thing as free will. I find this to be a pernicious belief that allows someone to just commit whatever crime or to not improve themselves because dammit the world is just the way it is and I am a product of that world. Asinine.


----------



## La Volpe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Alright, I read somewhere, not here, that there is no such thing as free will. I find this to be a pernicious belief that allows someone to just commit whatever crime or to not improve themselves because dammit the world is just the way it is and I am a product of that world. Asinine.



Well, I wouldn't exactly say that there isn't such a thing as free will, but the whole concept of "free will" is very nebulous.

I mean, the concept of free will posits that we are free to make our own decisions without interference from fate et al. Okay, fate isn't interfering. But what causes us to make the decisions that we're making? Genetics? Morals learned from other people? Whether one thinks behaviour is linked to nature or nurture, or both, the effects do not seem to be in control of the person being affected.


----------



## CupofJoe

> There is no such thing as free will.


Yeah... that does have the ring to it of "I want to do what ever I want and not take the consequences..."
If you don't have free will, then are you nothing more than an object battered by [predetermined?] events and thereby give up all your "Human Rights"?


----------



## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Alright, I read somewhere, not here, that there is no such thing as free will. I find this to be a pernicious belief that allows someone to just commit whatever crime or to not improve themselves because dammit the world is just the way it is and I am a product of that world. Asinine.



Free will means different things to different people in different fields.  There is some good scientific evidence that we don't have free will in any meaningful sense.  I have not come to fully accept that conclusion yet but there is good evidence out there.

The coolest part is that some of the strongest scientific proponents of the "no free will" school also work very hard on reasoning out why concepts like morality and personal responsibility are important and worthwhile.

Sure some simpletons will grab onto that mantra as an attempted free pass, but the real work in that area is amazing complex and fascinating.


----------



## FifthView

Random writing prompt:

How Cambridge's St John's College was protected from evil spirits- by baring its sole | Cambridge News


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Proud day for me. My son was playing with some of my old Star Wars toys he called Luke Daddy. Damn straight I'm saving the Galaxy. Now he wants to watch Star Wars everyday.


----------



## kennyc

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Unfortunately I don't have one.



Just pick a random head shot or dragonshot offa the public domain interwebz...


----------



## Ireth

Received critique for my flash fiction (entry for the Flying High challenge) today. At one point I mention the goddess Morrighan, who is an integral part of the main characters' backstory. My beta advised me to skip over mentioning the goddess by name, because a) Morrighan isn't actually a character in the piece, but she's mentioned in terms of her past actions, which the MCs are dealing with the consequences thereof; and b) not everyone would understand the mythology (and I'm led to assume she doesn't either).

Quite apart from the fact that having the name in there spares me a word or two of expository explanation/clarification ("the Crone Goddess" or something), I'm not sure what to do with this. Is it really that big of a deal if I include a bit of mythology that someone is led to Google in order to understand? Personally, I'm one who'd enjoy being exposed to mythologies I haven't heard of or aren't intimately familiar with, and if Googling would help me find out more, then bring on the mentions. What are others' thoughts on this?


----------



## Chessie

So I asked my son if he's enjoying school thus far. 

"Nope," he responded.

"Anything interesting you're learning?"

"Oh, some stupid math stuff like rounding."

 Oooookay. Like seriously, this kid hates school more than any other child I've met in my life. The funny thing is that he gets pretty good grades. At least there's that. Lol.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chesterama said:


> So I asked my son if he's enjoying school thus far.
> 
> "Nope," he responded.
> 
> "Anything interesting you're learning?"
> 
> "Oh, some stupid math stuff like rounding."
> 
> Oooookay. Like seriously, this kid hates school more than any other child I've met in my life. The funny thing is that he gets pretty good grades. At least there's that. Lol.



Might be he's just bored. I was a lot like that. I sometimes finished as fast as I could just so I could read.


----------



## Chessie

Boredom is an issue, yes. It's something we're keeping an eye on. But school in general is like a chore to him. Where as most kids we know enjoy going, he gives attitude lol. Oh, well. He doesn't have a choice to not go for another 10 years...


----------



## La Volpe

Chesterama said:


> So I asked my son if he's enjoying school thus far.
> 
> "Nope," he responded.
> 
> "Anything interesting you're learning?"
> 
> "Oh, some stupid math stuff like rounding."
> 
> Oooookay. Like seriously, this kid hates school more than any other child I've met in my life. The funny thing is that he gets pretty good grades. At least there's that. Lol.



Wait, are you saying that there are kids who actually _like_ school? I've never met one of those (except maybe really young ones; i.e. grades 1 to 4).


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm homeschooled, so, maybe I don't know, but...

I don't exactly dislike school, but are you supposed to like it? It's just something you have to do. Does anyone *like* getting out of bed and going to work every day? 

I don't hate school, but it sure as heck wouldn't be my choice of a recreational activity. I need to graduate high school. So I do it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I self-identified as a Ravenclaw in my bio, but I just took a ton of quizzes and apparently I'm half Gryffindor and half Hufflepuff.


----------



## La Volpe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm homeschooled, so, maybe I don't know, but...
> 
> I don't exactly dislike school, but are you supposed to like it? It's just something you have to do. Does anyone *like* getting out of bed and going to work every day?
> 
> I don't hate school, but it sure as heck wouldn't be my choice of a recreational activity. I need to graduate high school. So I do it.



Well, I think there are a handful (or more?) of people that like getting up and going to work. Those that have jobs they love. E.g. full-time authors much of the time. But even accountants et al if they have the personal capacity to love accounting.

The problem with school is that you're forced to do things rather than choosing (or when you choose, you have limited options). Ergo, you have to get up and go do stuff that doesn't interest you in the least. Also, you don't get paid. In fact, you have to pay _them_ so that you get to do stuff that you don't want to do. Yeah. No thanks.


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm homeschooled, so, maybe I don't know, but...
> 
> I don't exactly dislike school, but are you supposed to like it? It's just something you have to do. Does anyone *like* getting out of bed and going to work every day?
> 
> I don't hate school, but it sure as heck wouldn't be my choice of a recreational activity. I need to graduate high school. So I do it.



Homeschooled. That explains a thing or two.  That option pretty much didn't exist in my day.

School was something I endured.  These days, so is work.


----------



## Russ

I really enjoyed school and on most days really enjoy work.

But I didn't think of school as a "recreational activity", but rather the gateway to a super cool place called university.

Also, to me, school wasn't just about the classes.  I socialized, enjoyed clubs, and played a number of sports.  Had a great time and would go back to university as a student for the rest of my life if that was possible.

Of course as in many things YMMV.  I know some fun time authors who find the work a bit of a grind, especially if they are in a two or more book a deal contract.  Could I tell you some stories about R.L. Stein in that regard...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> Homeschooled. That explains a thing or two.  That option pretty much didn't exist in my day.
> 
> School was something I endured.  These days, so is work.



How does it explain a thing or two?


----------



## Chessie

Russ said:


> I really enjoyed school and on most days really enjoy work.
> 
> But I didn't think of school as a "recreational activity", but rather the gateway to a super cool place called university.
> 
> Also, to me, school wasn't just about the classes.  I socialized, enjoyed clubs, and played a number of sports.  Had a great time and would go back to university as a student for the rest of my life if that was possible.
> 
> Of course as in many things YMMV.  I know some fun time authors who find the work a bit of a grind, especially if they are in a two or more book a deal contract.  Could I tell you some stories about R.L. Stein in that regard...


I love that my work is writing. Granted I'm still in the process of eventually getting income from my books vs those I write for, but I'm hoping that by the end of the year my luck will change. Putting in a ton of effort to make that happen. So I do love my work because writing for hours on end beats any job I've ever had. Period.

School was something I enjoyed as well. Even in college I still had a blast. Learning in a classroom setting is orderly, organized, super inspiring, and I enjoy intelligent discussions with people. My husband hated school and got his G.E.D, went to work right away, so I think our kid just takes after him. We know children that love school. Our boy doesn't. He cops attitude about it constantly. The school year just started too so we'll see how things progress but he's only in 3rd grade...which to me seems like a grade most kids enjoy.


----------



## SaltyDog

La Volpe said:


> Wait, are you saying that there are kids who actually _like_ school? I've never met one of those (except maybe really young ones; i.e. grades 1 to 4).



i love school.  Seriously.  Just the baseball part though, unfortunately, not the other stuff lol.  I tolerate math, though I do get good grades.  But I do actually like parts of school aside from the baseball.


----------



## Chessie

Wish I could get in the writing mood today. It's already afternoon and I haven't written a damn word.


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> How does it explain a thing or two?



1 - Public School year is starting, and that tends to be a huge time sink for people your age.  Yet you never mentioned it infringing upon your writing.

2 - You never mentioned 'friends from school.'


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> 1 - Public School year is starting, and that tends to be a huge time sink for people your age.  Yet you never mentioned it infringing upon your writing.
> 
> 2 - You never mentioned 'friends from school.'



1- Ah, yeah, I've always had quite a bit of time to devote to writing due to being homeschooled. Ive been doing some school work over the summer, and haven't fully returned to a normal school year schedule quite yet. 

2- I do have friends though, as every homeschooled kid has to somehow explain to everyone they run into in their lives--yes, other than my siblings. 

Us homeschooled people should wear T-shirts that say "I'm homeschooled, yes I like it, yes I have friends, no im not "lucky," I have to do the same stuff you do, no my parents are not trying to brainwash me, etc. etc." Would save so much time and effort.


----------



## Ireth

Thoughts, prayers and good vibes needed, folks. A friend of mine was hit by a car last night. She's alive and in the hospital, but she's in rough shape from the sound of it.

Bicyclist in serious condition after hit-and-run


----------



## Nimue

Oh no Ireth, I'm sorry!  Best of wishes for her and her family.


----------



## Reaver

Ireth said:


> Thoughts, prayers and good vibes needed, folks. A friend of mine was hit by a car last night. She's alive and in the hospital, but she's in rough shape from the sound of it.
> 
> Bicyclist in serious condition after hit-and-run



That's terrible. Sending positive thoughts her way.


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> Thoughts, prayers and good vibes needed, folks. A friend of mine was hit by a car last night. She's alive and in the hospital, but she's in rough shape from the sound of it.
> 
> Bicyclist in serious condition after hit-and-run


What is your friend's name? I will pray for her.

EDIT: Actually, nvm. Doing it anyway. I hope she recovers well.


----------



## Ireth

Thanks, Ches. Her name is Emily; it's mentioned in the article I linked.


----------



## Steerpike

I'm sorry to hear it, Ireth. I'll keep her in my thoughts.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> Thoughts, prayers and good vibes needed, folks. A friend of mine was hit by a car last night. She's alive and in the hospital, but she's in rough shape from the sound of it.
> 
> Bicyclist in serious condition after hit-and-run



Very sorry Ireth, I too wish my best and will say a prayer for them.


----------



## SaltyDog

ThinkerX said:


> 1 - Public School year is starting, and that tends to be a huge time sink for people your age.  Yet you never mentioned it infringing upon your writing.
> 
> 2 - You never mentioned 'friends from school.'



Hey, I'm home schooled, and school does take a large chunk of time out of my writing.  I only write when I have time, say after homework is finished or on the weekends if I have no projects or stuff to do.  

Another surprise, I have friends too, some are home schooled, some are from public school.

And look, another surprise, I play high school baseball.  But wait I'm home schooled, how is that possible?  There are options with sports for us home schooled kids.


----------



## SaltyDog

Ireth said:


> Thoughts, prayers and good vibes needed, folks. A friend of mine was hit by a car last night. She's alive and in the hospital, but she's in rough shape from the sound of it.
> 
> Bicyclist in serious condition after hit-and-run



I'm sorry man.  Will be in prayers.  Keep us updated.


----------



## Ireth

SaltyDog said:


> I'm sorry man.  Will be in prayers.  Keep us updated.



She's out of surgery (not sure what it was for) and in stable condition now. I'll post more as I find out.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Prayers for Emily. Yes, let us know when she recovers. Great to know she's stable.

This Kenneth is a real creep and a coward; glad he was caught.


----------



## SaltyDog

Ireth said:


> She's out of surgery (not sure what it was for) and in stable condition now. I'll post more as I find out.



Great!  What about the driver?  Was she/he intoxicated?

Anyway I hope she makes a full recovery.


----------



## SaltyDog

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Prayers for Emily. Yes, let us know when she recovers. Great to know she's stable.
> 
> This Kenneth is a real creep and a coward; glad he was caught.



Yeah, hit and runs make me so mad.


----------



## Ireth

Emily's awake and doing okay! She posted on Facebook today. So thankful. ^^


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Hey, I'm home schooled, and school does take a large chunk of time out of my writing.  I only write when I have time, say after homework is finished or on the weekends if I have no projects or stuff to do.
> 
> Another surprise, I have friends too, some are home schooled, some are from public school.
> 
> And look, another surprise, I play high school baseball.  But wait I'm home schooled, how is that possible?  There are options with sports for us home schooled kids.



oh, cool! Yeah i probably won't have as much time once i start all my subjects back.some of my friends have basically no free time because they do so much stuff though.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Emily's awake and doing okay! She posted on Facebook today. So thankful. ^^



yay! That's good


----------



## Chessie

I love how my cat just decides to lay on my notes as I write...

Sure, kitty. Not that I need those or anything.


----------



## SaltyDog

Chesterama said:


> I love how my cat just decides to lay on my notes as I write...
> 
> Sure, kitty. Not that I need those or anything.



Mine does that.  Annoying right?


----------



## SaltyDog

Ireth said:


> Emily's awake and doing okay! She posted on Facebook today. So thankful. ^^



Great to hear!


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> oh, cool! Yeah i probably won't have as much time once i start all my subjects back.some of my friends have basically no free time because they do so much stuff though.



I certainly don't lol.


----------



## Ireth

Anyone know how many stamps I'd need/how much it would cost to send a get-well card from Manitoba to Colorado?


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I think you'll end up paying about $1. Not sure if that's US dollars or Canadian dollars.

We always mail things to Hong Kong. Even a small town post office can tell us what we need—one international stamp for a letter, or weigh and pay if it's a package. I'm mailing out of the US, but I imagine you can show up at a post office in Canada with a letter in an envelope and get an international stamp there, or whatever you need.


----------



## Ireth

Thanks, LS. I'll stop by the post office on Monday and see what they tell me. ^^


----------



## Reaver

Ireth said:


> Thanks, LS. I'll stop by the post office on Monday and see what they tell me. ^^



Maybe this site can help.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Gene wilder is dead

Nephew: Gene Wilder, star of Mel Brooks movies, dies at 83


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Today marks 100 years since the U.S. Marines were established. To those on MS who have served in the Marines, thank you for your service!


----------



## SaltyDog

Sorry for Gene, I don't believe I saw any of his works.  

And thanks for the Marine post, Legendary Sidekick, they deserve it!


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

Blazing Saddles! It's awesome!

(Gene Wilder flick from 1974.)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

SaltyDog said:


> Sorry for Gene, I don't believe I saw any of his works.
> 
> And thanks for the Marine post, Legendary Sidekick, they deserve it!



Young Frankenstein the 1970s Charley and the chocolate factory?


----------



## SaltyDog

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Young Frankenstein the 1970s Charley and the chocolate factory?



Now I remember.  Lol sorry


----------



## evolution_rex

The mutual relationship between human and canine goes back thousands and thousands of years and is one of the most natural, purest bonds humans can have. We have physically evolved along one another, side by side, for millenniums. The common theory is that ancient tribal humans took wolves and bred them for hunting. They helped us find food, and in return we gave them safety and a share of the meat.

My family is not a hunter-gatherer tribe, I was not a hunter, and he was not a wolf, but the bond he shared with our family was just as strong. He was an escape artist when he young, and a little bit of grouch when he got older. He wasn’t the cutest thing to ever exist and he wasn’t a fancy purebred. He was a scruffy little mutt. And he was our dog. And we were his humans.

I was just five years old and begging my parents to get me a dog for Christmas, even though we already had several pets, when he showed up at our grandparent’s door just before the holiday. He’d been with us for fifteen years since then, and during that time he’d seen other dogs come and go, been through three houses, and may or may not have impregnated neighbor dogs on a few occasion, He’d had a lot of lollipops to eat and squeaky toys to attack. He bit me a couple times. I believe, for a dog, that his years were good. And the mere fact that his years were good made them good for us. There was love and compassion between him and the family, and that is what any dog or human could ask for.

RIP Scrappy. He will be missed.


----------



## Ireth

Sorry for your loss, evolution_rex. Having said goodbye to several pets over the years, including multiple dogs, I know it hurts as much as losing a human family member.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

evolution_rex said:


> The mutual relationship between human and canine goes back thousands and thousands of years and is one of the most natural, purest bonds humans can have. We have physically evolved along one another, side by side, for millenniums. The common theory is that ancient tribal humans took wolves and bred them for hunting. They helped us find food, and in return we gave them safety and a share of the meat.
> 
> My family is not a hunter-gatherer tribe, I was not a hunter, and he was not a wolf, but the bond he shared with our family was just as strong. He was an escape artist when he young, and a little bit of grouch when he got older. He wasn’t the cutest thing to ever exist and he wasn’t a fancy purebred. He was a scruffy little mutt. And he was our dog. And we were his humans.
> 
> I was just five years old and begging my parents to get me a dog for Christmas, even though we already had several pets, when he showed up at our grandparent’s door just before the holiday. He’d been with us for fifteen years since then, and during that time he’d seen other dogs come and go, been through three houses, and may or may not have impregnated neighbor dogs on a few occasion, He’d had a lot of lollipops to eat and squeaky toys to attack. He bit me a couple times. I believe, for a dog, that his years were good. And the mere fact that his years were good made them good for us. There was love and compassion between him and the family, and that is what any dog or human could ask for.
> 
> RIP Scrappy. He will be missed.



So sorry for your loss. I know how special a dog can be to you, and how deeply they can touch your life. Dogs are a true gift to humanity.


----------



## SaltyDog

evolution_rex said:


> The mutual relationship between human and canine goes back thousands and thousands of years and is one of the most natural, purest bonds humans can have. We have physically evolved along one another, side by side, for millenniums. The common theory is that ancient tribal humans took wolves and bred them for hunting. They helped us find food, and in return we gave them safety and a share of the meat.
> 
> My family is not a hunter-gatherer tribe, I was not a hunter, and he was not a wolf, but the bond he shared with our family was just as strong. He was an escape artist when he young, and a little bit of grouch when he got older. He wasn’t the cutest thing to ever exist and he wasn’t a fancy purebred. He was a scruffy little mutt. And he was our dog. And we were his humans.
> 
> I was just five years old and begging my parents to get me a dog for Christmas, even though we already had several pets, when he showed up at our grandparent’s door just before the holiday. He’d been with us for fifteen years since then, and during that time he’d seen other dogs come and go, been through three houses, and may or may not have impregnated neighbor dogs on a few occasion, He’d had a lot of lollipops to eat and squeaky toys to attack. He bit me a couple times. I believe, for a dog, that his years were good. And the mere fact that his years were good made them good for us. There was love and compassion between him and the family, and that is what any dog or human could ask for.
> 
> RIP Scrappy. He will be missed.



Sorry man.  We've lost a lot of dogs over the years, and other animals, so I feel and understand your pain.


----------



## Chessie

I'm sorry about your dog, Evolution-Rex. Losing animals is just like losing human loved ones. We build emotional connections and relationships with them. Sometimes, all people have are their pets. HUGS. Feel your sadness, and when the time is right, adopt a doggy and give him/her a good home.


----------



## SaltyDog

Well I don't suggest typing into google worst fantasy books.  You come away thinking "is mine good enough?  Please don't let me be on a list!"  But anyway, I think those thoughts cloud all of us while writing, deep down.  Normally they don't pester me though, but after reading why all those books are failures, I guess there was a prison riot and all the thoughts escaped and were able to run amok.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Well I don't suggest typing into google worst fantasy books.  You come away thinking "is mine good enough?  Please don't let me be on a list!"  But anyway, I think those thoughts cloud all of us while writing, deep down.  Normally they don't pester me though, but after reading why all those books are failures, I guess there was a prison riot and all the thoughts escaped and were able to run amok.



Yeah...I read lots of bad reviews for popular books. They're fun to read, but they also make me terrified deep down of committing the same crimes that the readers reviled in those books.


----------



## SaltyDog

Yep.  I do not want to publish a master piece, in my eyes, then become a punching bag for critics.


----------



## La Volpe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Yeah...I read lots of bad reviews for popular books. They're fun to read, but they also make me terrified deep down of committing the same crimes that the readers reviled in those books.





SaltyDog said:


> Yep.  I do not want to publish a master piece, in my eyes, then become a punching bag for critics.



I've done this before, for some reason. But I like to keep in mind that you're only doing really well once you've gotten a few bad reviews. I mean, there is not a single brilliant work out there without 1 star Amazon reviews that think it's not worth the paper it's printed on.


----------



## Reaver

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Today marks 100 years since the U.S. Marines were established. To those on MS who have served in the Marines, thank you for your service!



The U.S. Marine Corps was established on November 10, 1775 by the Continental Congress and is the official birthday that all Marines, including this one, celebrate. The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve was founded on August 29, 1916. 

Thanks for the sentiment though.











 Young Reaver at Bootcamp. Parris Island, SC 1990.​


----------



## Reaver

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Charley and the chocolate factory?



Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the godawful remake with Johnny Depp.


----------



## SaltyDog

Reaver said:


> Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, 1971.
> 
> Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was the godawful remake with Johnny Depp.



I don't think I saw the one with Johnny Depp.


----------



## Reaver

SaltyDog said:


> I don't think I saw the one with Johnny Depp.



It came out in 2005 and was directed by Tim Burton. It's a weird, unimaginative, shitty remake. You're better off having never watched it.


----------



## FifthView

I pretty much hate remakes or adaptations that ignore the central nature of the source material.  The Depp version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a case in point.  Also, the Ender's Game movie—despite having probably the ideal lead actor (and he did great; the script is what sucked), the movie failed so hard for me.


----------



## Reaver

FifthView said:


> I pretty much hate remakes or adaptations that ignore the central nature of the source material.  The Depp version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was a case in point.  Also, the Ender's Game movie—despite having probably the ideal lead actor (and he did great; the script is what sucked), the movie failed so hard for me.



Ah, yes. Ender's Game. So much potential for a good movie but not even Han Solo himself could save it.

One of the worst adaptations from book to film is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. They claim that Adams signed off on it but he died before it was finished. 

The director and screenwriters had no respect for him.


----------



## FifthView

Reaver said:


> Ah, yes. Ender's Game. So much potential for a good movie but not even Han Solo himself could save it.
> 
> One of the worst adaptations from book to film is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. They claim that Adams signed off on it but he died before it was finished.
> 
> The director and screenwriters had no respect for him.



I've read many positive comments about the Hitchhiker's movie.  I thought I was the only one disappointed by it.

[Edit:  Incidentally, I was referring to Asa Butterfield.  Harrison Ford also was great for his role, but....man I could go on an on about how the script and directing ruined the movie.]


----------



## Reaver

FifthView said:


> I've read many positive comments about the Hitchhiker's movie.  I thought I was the only one disappointed by it.
> 
> [Edit:  Incidentally, I was referring to Asa Butterfield.  Harrison Ford also was great for his role, but....man I could go on an on about how the script and directing ruined the movie.]



The positive comments about Hitchhiker's Guide are by people who've never read the books.  

The casting for Ender's game was good and they did the best they could with the script. However, no matter how good someone is, you can't polish a turd.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

My mind has started toying around with my WIP again and I suddenly have enough questions discussion would alleviate to start 4 or 5 threads...but I don't think it's a good idea to post them all at once...


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> My mind has started toying around with my WIP again and I suddenly have enough questions discussion would alleviate to start 4 or 5 threads...but I don't think it's a good idea to post them all at once...



I don't know, might get some excitement going on around here.


----------



## X Equestris

I awoke to an earthquake.  Definitely the biggest I've felt.  What a wonderful way to start the day.


----------



## SaltyDog

Sounds like it.  How big was it?  Lol where I live the worst we get are droughts and flash floods.


----------



## X Equestris

SaltyDog said:


> Sounds like it.  How big was it?  Lol where I live the worst we get are droughts and flash floods.



5.6 magnitude.  Tied for biggest in state history.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So many questions I can't answer. Two in particular I've already posed to the scribes with no insight gained or ideas sparked. My WIP is at a complete halt because of them and I'm in complete despair...Again, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, that I can't figure these things out...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

An endless labyrinth of unsolvable problems. That's what my WIP is. I wish I didn't have to feel so soul-crushingly depressed about it.


----------



## Saigonnus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> An endless labyrinth of unsolvable problems. That's what my WIP is. I wish I didn't have to feel so soul-crushingly depressed about it.



Normally if I feel like that, I work on something else instead of the soul-crushing work in progress. It keeps me busy, and if inspiration strikes, then I go back to it. For me, it comes in fits and starts, so I just roll with it. I always have 3 or 4 other things to work on. 

Yesterday, for example, I finished the duty schedule for my sci-fi ship's crew.

I hope this helps!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> So many questions I can't answer. Two in particular I've already posed to the scribes with no insight gained or ideas sparked. My WIP is at a complete halt because of them and I'm in complete despair...Again, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, that I can't figure these things out...



Bummer.  How about writing some back stories of your world, or some history?  Could take your mind of your problems, or until you get the ideas rolling again.


----------



## FifthView

@DotA

I'd second SaltyDog.

But instead of backstories (in case that doesn't interest you), you could go ahead and write scenes from you WIP that don't involve, or don't turn on, those points about your story that have you stumped.  Scenes and chapters don't need to be written in chronological order.  Sometimes simply beginning to write will inspire resolution to problems as you work out a scene/chapter in your head while writing.  Besides, you can always go back and edit anything you've written, adding in the bits of world building, foreshadowing, dialogue, characters, and so forth after you've discovered these things while writing other parts.

I understand entirely where you're coming from.  A couple points for you to look at when trying to figure out how this happened:


Trying to design a world and other story elements _in toto_ before writing often leads to the feeling that everything, bar none, must fit together in a _perfect_ pattern and symmetry, absolute tightness, without gaps, and this level of perfection might be impossible at such an early stage and can easily lead to feelings of inadequacy and failure.  Not everything about a story needs to be understood completely from the outset.  You have time to revise, add, remove, reorder, and so forth later.  And there are even elements that will never need absolute clarity and perfection, that won't need to be tied into each of the 100 other elements of your world or story.


Sometimes, these labyrinthine difficulties are a result of introducing unnecessary elements and problems for yourself with your very first conception of a story.  This happens to me all the time, where my initial ideas that form the basis of all the rest of my brainstorming are rather absurd complexities that turn out to be relatively unimportant to a story.  Occasionally they'll eventually settle in, be worked out.  But sometimes I just have to say _To heck with this!_ and remove an element completely.

Good luck!  If all else fails, set it aside, take a break, and think about another project.  I have a couple huge projects on the back burner for this precise reason.


----------



## FifthView

@DotA:

I suppose I should add a third area for you to look at, although it's related to the other two.


_Scope_.  This is another one that hits me almost every single time.  I start out with a story idea, everything's great, and then it balloons.  And balloons.  And balloons.  My current WIP was inspired by the fact that I was having difficulties conceptualizing a character for one of those other projects.  I started a thread about it; some great discussion ensued; and I made a comment about how I should just write a revenge tale because that would be simple re: understanding a character's initial motivation.  And it would be simple.  But then I started adding other elements like broad political intrigue, a foreign power threatening invasion, and so forth–a revenge tale was ballooning into an epic fantasy.  The labyrinth was growing around me.  I've scaled back on those other elements a little, but I'm still working on balancing various elements.  Sometimes a story becomes much easier to conceptualize and write if we remove other elements and focus on a narrower story.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Lots of good advice. 

@FifthView: I relate a lot to most of the things you're saying. I am extremely perfectionist with world-building. That's why it's taken me so  long to figure out these two (well, mostly one) things in a way that satisfies me. Also, the part about scope...Not directly relevant to the problem at hand, but definitely a problem I have. 

I posted the question, "Why must there be humans?" here a while ago. For some reason i'm annoyed by the fact that there are humans in a world unconnected to earth and with no earth creatures, coexisting with fantasy races of my own invention...but no one else seems to think this a problem. Still, I want some kind of explanation, to make the pieces of my world fit together in the airtight way I like...None of my options for remedying this condition are good and most of them destroy quite a lot of the story. 

I could entirely get rid of the fantasy races, but i really hate that idea. You guys have seen everything i'm putting into the winged race and the characters thereof. 

I could make my main characters non-humans, but this would complicate things horribly. There's very little i could change about them that wouldn't destroy the story. 

And most people ive talked to don't even think its a problem. 

Sigh, i try to make progress, but every which way i turn i hit another wall or get tangled in another unsolvable knot...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm thinking i should title it "oozing, festering mess of unsolvable problems," except that it doesn't need a title because it's not a book yet and probably won't ever be.


----------



## FifthView

@DotA:

Maybe *Sanderson's Third Law* might help you out:  Writing Excuses 9.21: Sandersons 3rd Law | Writing Excuses

Summary:

"[Brandon Sanderson] So, Sanderson’s Third Law is that a writer should expand what they already have before adding something new."

Or, "to...dig deeply rather than to build widely."

Introducing 100 distinct and originally unconnected elements means trying to tie them all together.  Introducing a few elements and building off of those, expanding those, finding out how those manifest in a variety of ways, might be simpler.  Because they are tied together already.

Ok, this might not help your particular story, but I'll use it as an example.  You have a race of winged humans and you want another race that will enslave them.  Why start with the requirement that the enslaving race must be entirely separate, very odd in its own unique way?  You automatically introduce the need for an entirely separate biology, an utterly different culture, and so forth.  But what if that enslaving race was related to the winged humans—like a different evolutionary path?  So maybe instead of wings growing out of their backs, they have tentacles growing out of their backs.  (Hah I envision them using these tentacles to scale those floating cities, providing that those cities are situated upon floating hills/mountains.)  You could add a few other divergences as well to make them even more different.*

*Edit:  Incidentally, such a paradigm could also play off your winged humans' idea of genetic merit.  I mean, here's a distant evolutionary "cousin."  So it could be an example of playing off the single element of genetic merit.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm thinking i should title it "oozing, festering mess of unsolvable problems," except that it doesn't need a title because it's not a book yet and probably won't ever be.



Hey don't get depressed with your writing.  Like I said for an earlier thread close to what you are saying, your are a great writer, you just have times when you slump.  As with sports.  As for help, go with what FithView said, some good advice there.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Hey don't get depressed with your writing.  Like I said for an earlier thread close to what you are saying, your are a great writer, you just have times when you slump.  As with sports.  As for help, go with what FithView said, some good advice there.



Unfortunately, getting depressed about my writing is something that happens very often. I've been stuck for more than a year and a half and everywhere i turn there's a new problem. For every problem i solve two more come up. No idea how to get out of this.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Unfortunately, getting depressed about my writing is something that happens very often. I've been stuck for more than a year and a half and everywhere i turn there's a new problem. For every problem i solve two more come up. No idea how to get out of this.



I don't know how to help except to offer encouraging support.  Sorry.  Maybe take up a sport?  (Don't know if you are already doing so.)  That could take your mind briefly off your dilemmas.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> I don't know how to help except to offer encouraging support.  Sorry.  Maybe take up a sport?  (Don't know if you are already doing so.)  That could take your mind briefly off your dilemmas.



Encouraging support alone does mean something  

I *am* going to try martial arts pretty soon.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Encouraging support alone does mean something
> 
> I *am* going to try martial arts pretty soon.



Well good luck with that.


----------



## ThinkerX

> I posted the question, "Why must there be humans?" here a while ago. For some reason i'm annoyed by the fact that there are humans in a world unconnected to earth and with no earth creatures, coexisting with fantasy races of my own invention...but no one else seems to think this a problem. Still, I want some kind of explanation, to make the pieces of my world fit together in the airtight way I like...None of my options for remedying this condition are good and most of them destroy quite a lot of the story.



I did give this a fair bit of thought because it did bother me (along with most of my fantasy world civilizations being roughly parallel to others here on earth).

My solution:

The fantasy world, many tens of thousands of years ago, was a near lifeless rock in another solar system - possibly another universe, which opens up weird cans filled with extra dimensional entities.  Said near lifeless rock was terraformed by alien races about the time Cro-Magnon  man appeared on earth.  Once terraformed, said aliens began stocking said planet with lifeforms from elsewhere, including earth.  First humans were imported something on the order of 6000 years ago, and other groups were transported via starship and portal every few centuries until about 1500 years ago, when the alien civilizations collapsed. The humans were mostly workers and experimental subjects (some of these experimental subjects were genetically given psionic ability, making them 'wizards,' while others became possessed by strange spiritual entities, and became elves.)  

Anymore, the overwhelming majority of the aliens are long gone, though there is abundant interesting rubble to sort through in certain places.


----------



## FifthView

So this evening I've been generating random names with Everchanging Book of Names, copying lists that I like, and then checking the names on Google to eliminate those with more than about 20K hits give or take.

And one name I thought was great, "Muke," but I discovered it's a ship name for two members of 5SOS, so over 8mil hits.

Fangirls strike again.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> So this evening I've been generating random names with Everchanging Book of Names, copying lists that I like, and then checking the names on Google to eliminate those with more than about 20K hits give or take.
> 
> And one name I thought was great, "Muke," but I discovered it's a ship name for two members of 5SOS, so over 8mil hits.
> 
> Fangirls strike again.



Haha! Muke, though? Like puke with an M? What kind of character would that be for? (Sorry that's just what it made me think of...)


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> I did give this a fair bit of thought because it did bother me (along with most of my fantasy world civilizations being roughly parallel to others here on earth).
> 
> My solution:
> 
> The fantasy world, many tens of thousands of years ago, was a near lifeless rock in another solar system - possibly another universe, which opens up weird cans filled with extra dimensional entities.  Said near lifeless rock was terraformed by alien races about the time Cro-Magnon  man appeared on earth.  Once terraformed, said aliens began stocking said planet with lifeforms from elsewhere, including earth.  First humans were imported something on the order of 6000 years ago, and other groups were transported via starship and portal every few centuries until about 1500 years ago, when the alien civilizations collapsed. The humans were mostly workers and experimental subjects (some of these experimental subjects were genetically given psionic ability, making them 'wizards,' while others became possessed by strange spiritual entities, and became elves.)
> 
> Anymore, the overwhelming majority of the aliens are long gone, though there is abundant interesting rubble to sort through in certain places.



My problem is that I can't figure out a solution without going into the need for sci-fi technology that my world doesn't have, or else having to change a lot about the story. I had several ideas:

-humans were created by the dominating race to be slaves from genetic information from the various races (didn't eliminate their rebellious, freedom-craving temperaments though, I guess...)

-humans were the evolutionary ancestor of the races (this could take a post-apocalyptic direction, which isn't that plausible...but, why do they still exist in the same form? Also it doesn't make sense at all.) 

-the fantasy races were artificially created using genetic information from other sources, originally humans were the only race.

-there are no humans (my human characters would need to be changed to nonhuman) 

-there are no nonhuman races (my nonhuman characters would need to be changed to human) 

None seem favorable...


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Haha! Muke, though? Like puke with an M? What kind of character would that be for? (Sorry that's just what it made me think of...)



It sounded good for the sidekick/servant of the villain--maybe. Or some future street urchin.  But I was checking about fifty, sixty names, for various characters and for a pool of names for incidental characters that might come up later.


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> My problem is that I can't figure out a solution without going into the need for sci-fi technology that my world doesn't have, or else having to change a lot about the story. I had several ideas:
> 
> -humans were created by the dominating race to be slaves from genetic information from the various races (didn't eliminate their rebellious, freedom-craving temperaments though, I guess...)
> 
> -humans were the evolutionary ancestor of the races (this could take a post-apocalyptic direction, which isn't that plausible...but, why do they still exist in the same form? Also it doesn't make sense at all.)
> 
> -the fantasy races were artificially created using genetic information from other sources, originally humans were the only race.
> 
> -there are no humans (my human characters would need to be changed to nonhuman)
> 
> -there are no nonhuman races (my nonhuman characters would need to be changed to human)
> 
> None seem favorable...



My fantasy worlds are far from high tech, though that is starting to change in places.  The super advanced alien tech does exist in places, but it's mostly broken or functions poorly at best.  And the time of alien dominance is effectively a myth for most people.  

I also very deliberately chose aliens that are ALIEN.  They are not remotely humanoid.  They do not think like humans, period.  (Though their motivations for terraforming the fantasy planets and importing other lifeforms are superficially graspable.)

There used to be quite a few stories like that, or at least had backgrounds like that.  The one that leaps to mind is Butcher's 'Codex Aleria.'

Something similar might work for your world: an outside force, for inscrutable reasons of its own, imported life of all sorts to a given world, including humans and others.  Some races it tweaked, others it left untouched.  Perhaps there was more than one 'outside force.'  That force is now spent, little more than myth, as are its motivations.  Consider that whole episode a mystery to be explored in a future tale.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> My fantasy worlds are far from high tech, though that is starting to change in places.  The super advanced alien tech does exist in places, but it's mostly broken or functions poorly at best.  And the time of alien dominance is effectively a myth for most people.
> 
> I also very deliberately chose aliens that are ALIEN.  They are not remotely humanoid.  They do not think like humans, period.  (Though their motivations for terraforming the fantasy planets and importing other lifeforms are superficially graspable.)
> 
> There used to be quite a few stories like that, or at least had backgrounds like that.  The one that leaps to mind is Butcher's 'Codex Aleria.'
> 
> Something similar might work for your world: an outside force, for inscrutable reasons of its own, imported life of all sorts to a given world, including humans and others.  Some races it tweaked, others it left untouched.  Perhaps there was more than one 'outside force.'  That force is now spent, little more than myth, as are its motivations.  Consider that whole episode a mystery to be explored in a future tale.



The frustrating thing is that the origins of the races have very little relevance to the story. Except, perhaps, that the humans are enslaved at the start of the story, while the races are almost wiped out. Why enslave only the humans? 

I'm trying to come up with reasons for these things without drastically changing the story. 

I'm leaning toward the idea that originally there were only humans, but the races changed themselves (or evolved naturally, or a combination of both) then the humans were somehow returned to their original state. No idea how, or why, though.


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm leaning toward the idea that originally there were only humans, but the races changed themselves (or evolved naturally, or a combination of both) then the humans were somehow returned to their original state. No idea how, or why, though.



Branching evolution/change.  A population of humans in X location mutated/evolved, but those in Y location did not.

Scientists on our world now suspect that many pre-human hominids evolved in Africa this way, then mated with one another from time to time, which led to more variation but also sharing of various traits.  So a population of one type of hominid in northern Africa, or some individuals from that population, might have mated with members of a different hominid species in eastern Africa, and so forth.  (Although perhaps "species" may not be the right word.  Sub-species?)  This may have occurred many times before humans ever appeared.

I've been a little confused about your society of winged humans, because some of your descriptions make them sound fairly advanced, with some rudimentary science, but in other descriptions they seem less advanced.  So maybe they don't know about genetics, per se, but they do know about breeding.  (They may assign special significance to "blood," for instance, rather than genetics.)  So you wouldn't necessarily have to introduce the idea of evolution.  Think about the way the orcs and Uruk-hai were created in LOTR.  You could use the ideas of corruption, magic, simply "bad breeding over many generations," or something similar to explain the variations.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> I've been a little confused about your society of winged humans, because some of your descriptions make them sound fairly advanced, with some rudimentary science, but in other descriptions they seem less advanced.  So maybe they don't know about genetics, per se, but they do know about breeding.  (They may assign special significance to "blood," for instance, rather than genetics.)  So you wouldn't necessarily have to introduce the idea of evolution.  Think about the way the orcs and Uruk-hai were created in LOTR.  You could use the ideas of corruption, magic, simply "bad breeding over many generations," or something similar to explain the variations.



They understand heredity, that some traits are dominant and others recessive, that like begets like (similar to what Gregor Mendel observed). They don't understand what causes it. 

Their society progressed differently than ours. They are fairly advanced in medicine, but some technologies they never developed because they have alternatives. For example, they don't need electric lightning because they use bioluminescent organisms for light. 

Keeping their cities in the air would require rather advanced technology, though. I'm not entirely sure how they keep their cities in the air, or if it will even require much explanation. 

But, they could have knowledge of evolution. Discoveries could have occurred much earlier. History would be different.


----------



## SaltyDog

I really don't like unsatisfactory endings in great series.  Really, Really don't.  AND that is exactly what the author of a series I was reading did.  Argh.  Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant, just not the way I wanted it to end.


----------



## Ireth

SaltyDog said:


> I really don't like unsatisfactory endings in great series.  Really, Really don't.  AND that is exactly what the author of a series I was reading did.  Argh.  Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant, just not the way I wanted it to end.



Which series?


----------



## SaltyDog

Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy, Brian Stavely.  It was a fantastic read, and I probably should of expected the ending from the way the books were written, the theme, but I can hope right?  Ya know, happy ending, where they live for the rest of their lives in peace.  Nope, lol.  Still a great series though.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> I really don't like unsatisfactory endings in great series.  Really, Really don't.  AND that is exactly what the author of a series I was reading did.  Argh.  Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant, just not the way I wanted it to end.



I have one of these that I hate talking about XD


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I have one of these that I hate talking about XD



It's peeve of me, but you know what's bad?  I'll probably do it in my own story.  Which is worse?  Lol.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> It's peeve of me, but you know what's bad?  I'll probably do it in my own story.  Which is worse?  Lol.



exactly. I'm like "why do i have a right to be upset about this ending when mine probably will be worse"


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> exactly. I'm like "why do i have a right to be upset about this ending when mine probably will be worse"



Lol.  I'm always hoping for a better ending, but how it really turns out?  Only the paper and the pen truly know.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Lol.  I'm always hoping for a better ending, but how it really turns out?  Only the paper and the pen truly know.



I would at least like to leave my main characters and their love interests alive. Scarred and crippled both physically and mentally, yes, but alive. I'm actually scared for the life of one of the MC's love interests. I'm not planning on him dying, but, honestly, do i have any control over it?? It could happen and I would have to just watch. 

After reading a depressing ending that left me depressed for two weeks, i have no desire to do anything similar...I don't want to have my readers invest emotionally in a story only to end it in a cheaply manipulative way and leave them feeling like life is pointless (not to mention poison them against reading my future books or recommending my books...) 

Happy ending? I  would like one, yeah. Happily ever after? Nah. No one gets one of those. Life goes on. You have to live with the scars of your past and carry on into the battles of the future.


----------



## SaltyDog

For me?  I don't know.  Lol probably not.  "I've killed a lot of people, and I'm not afraid to fill even more graves before this is finished."  Says the serial writer.  Lol I don't even know if there can be an ending where the good guys are still alive.  (I wonder if I would publicly committing suicide with my career as a writer if I did that.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> For me?  I don't know.  Lol probably not.  "I've killed a lot of people, and I'm not afraid to fill even more graves before this is finished."  Says the serial writer.  Lol I don't even know if there can be an ending where the good guys are still alive.  (I wonder if I would publicly committing suicide with my career as a writer if I did that.



If you killed everyone, I probably wouldn't read any more of your stuff...not unless you had a very good reason for it...

Indiscriminate killing is a trend, some kind of badge of merit, I think. Something in us admires the nerve and daring of writers in whose stories no one is safe...I really do hate stories where i feel like there's a shield around the main characters, protecting them from the possibility of harm because _the author wouldn't. You KNOW they wouldn't._ But i like quality over quantity. Instead of killing lots of people, make the deaths meaningful and painful and horribly cruel. 

But...I hate books that make me feel awful anyway. All my friends thought I was crazy when i got so depressed over that one book, but it actually had a terrible effect on my mood and I don't want to go through that again...


----------



## SaltyDog

Yep, probably shouldn't do it.  Not that I don't play with the fantasy, of course.  Well, the plot shield is none existent in my world.  One of my big three will die most likely.  What book got you so depressed?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Yep, probably shouldn't do it.  Not that I don't play with the fantasy, of course.  Well, the plot shield is none existent in my world.  One of my big three will die most likely.  What book got you so depressed?



Not gonna talk about it. XD


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I do have some pretty devastating deaths toward the end. A quite large number of them (various depending on how things turn out when i actually WRITE the thing) Also, plenty of torture, mutilation, stuff like that. Fun times.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I do have some pretty devastating deaths toward the end. A quite large number of them (various depending on how things turn out when i actually WRITE the thing) Also, plenty of torture, mutilation, stuff like that. Fun times.



Sounds like it!  lol.  I have a lot reasons though if I want to kill a bunch of people, the setting is in a continent torn to shreds by a massive civil war , so you could imagine all the fun I could have with it, lol.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Sounds like it!  lol.  I have a lot reasons though if I want to kill a bunch of people, the setting is in a continent torn to shreds by a massive civil war , so you could imagine all the fun I could have with it, lol.



Yup. 

I was in a restaurant the other day with my irl writer friend and we were talking about all the people we would kill and how they die and everything...Everyone was listening and staring at us. We were freaking everyone out. It was great.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Yup.
> 
> I was in a restaurant the other day with my irl writer friend and we were talking about all the people we would kill and how they die and everything...Everyone was listening and staring at us. We were freaking everyone out. It was great.



Hilarious!  Man just the picture gives me a smile!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Hilarious!  Man just the picture gives me a smile!



There was this one guy sitting a table away who would lean over to look at what we were doing whenever we got quiet, lol.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> There was this one guy sitting a table away who would lean over to look at what we were doing whenever we got quiet, lol.



lol.  Just planning some mass murders!  Go back to your steak, don't mind us.  Lol.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Anxiety has been bad lately  thoughts, prayers and good vibes appreciated.


----------



## Ireth

I'm sorry, Dragon.*hugs* Thoughts, prayer and good vibes headed your way.


----------



## Lunaairis

*Sending good vibes*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Got the boy a set of little kid golf clubs that should last him a few years. Kid loves to hit the ball but the toy plastic ones we have are for righties and he's a lefty. I'm excited. And in a couple of years it'll be me and him on the course. For now I teach him the fundamentals I. The back yard.


----------



## SaltyDog

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Got the boy a set of little kid golf clubs that should last him a few years. Kid loves to hit the ball but the toy plastic ones we have are for righties and he's a lefty. I'm excited. And in a couple of years it'll be me and him on the course. For now I teach him the fundamentals I. The back yard.



No, baseball is the way to go...
Lol congrats though.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Anxiety has been bad lately  thoughts, prayers and good vibes appreciated.



Sorry DotA, prayers headed your way.


----------



## Tom

Hey guys! It's been a few weeks, but here I am. School just got the better of me for a while. But now that I no longer have a week-late art piece to finish and submit, I think I'm good!


----------



## Ireth

Good to see you, Tom!


----------



## Tom

Hi Ireth! How's it going? I see you and Nim have a new character interview going--it's really good so far.


----------



## Ireth

Tom Nimenai said:


> Hi Ireth! How's it going? I see you and Nim have a new character interview going--it's really good so far.



It's going alright! I'm between revisions of my novel at the moment and waiting on feedback, so RPs are a nice way to fill the space. I'm really liking this one with Nim. ^^


----------



## Tom

Revisions? Excellent! It's always great to get past the actual writing, because then you get to sit back and give it a closer look and decide what you want to change. 

RPs are an awesome way to kill time, I agree. I've been really busy lately and haven't had the chance to participate in any, but I'd like to start up a new character Q&A maybe this weekend. I could use a little brushing up on characterization for my main antagonist, and maybe the secondary antagonists as well.


----------



## Nimue

Tommmm!    How's college goin'?  

I've no excuse not to be drafting, but I got bit by the rp bug nevertheless. I'm enjoying our thread already, Ireth, and the chance to dabble in portals & awful omniscient descriptions, hehe.  It limbers up my writing brain!


----------



## Tom

Hey Nim! College is going great, except for just one class. You know, there always has to be one. It's a graphic design course, something I really enjoy, but the professor and certain classmates manage to make it terrible. But my other classes are awesome! I absolutely love my quirky, irreverent, profane art history professor--but then, I always love history courses and their teachers.

We should try revamping the rp with Sae and Tom, I really enjoyed that one. My story canon has changed completely, so it would be a great chance to see how the new elements worked in a narrative. Tom hasn't changed at all, however. He'll always be the same, lol.


----------



## Nimue

I have to admit I'm like 200% jealous that you're taking so many art & art history classes!  I should've wedged in more, it's not like I'm using my psych major now anyway 

Oh man, dude, I would like that... I've reworked Sae completely as well (including her name, probably?) and fairly recently come up with a reshaped world and plot line for her and Farrun...who I am just being very mean to, the poor man doesn't deserve it.  But I must have my Drama.

Anyway, that whole story concept is still very vague, and it would be a lot of fun to throw that character into something and see what she makes of it.  When you find the time, hit me up?


----------



## Tom

Awesome! Yeah, it's really exciting having so many art courses this semester! I kind of miss my lit and history professors though, and I'm trying to find an excuse to take more classes with them this spring, haha. 

I'm down for an rp, definitely! Meeting the new Sae should be exciting. Tom might be the same character, but his setting has been completely revamped and there are a lot of new elements to play around with. 

Poor Farrun! God, we writers are cruel to our characters. For instance, I just realized recently that I gave Miekkhal what is essentially the fantasy version of Anakin Skywalker's backstory, minus the traumatic limb loss. No wonder he's my angriest character.


----------



## Ireth

Acephobia and hate on the internet makes me seriously angry. _We are part of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, dangitall._ Some people just cannot seem to accept that.


----------



## Tom

I agree, Ireth. The recent developments in ace "discourse" are frankly disturbing. They remind me of the efforts that were taken to deny inclusion to bisexual individuals mere decades ago, and trans individuals in more recent times. It's sad that even a group meant to provide inclusion for people excluded from the mainstream can behave in such an exclusionary manner.


----------



## Incanus

I think nachos should be made with real melted cheese, not queso.  It's important.


----------



## Ireth

Incanus said:


> I think nachos should be made with real melted cheese, not queso.  It's important.



I've never had nachos with queso. Always real cheese. So yummy.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

That's it. After several weeks of tomorrows creeping in that petty pace fro m day to day I have gotten my results back and I have passed the bar. Now to shell out some cash and take an oath and I will have achieved my first career dream of being an attorney.


----------



## Ireth

That's fantastic, Brian! Congrats!


----------



## Heliotrope

W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe (Which became "Feild of Dreams") lived and wrote in my hometown in British Columbia. I recently saw him speak at our tiny public library. 

He passed away today aged 81. 

RIP Kinsella.


----------



## Russ

Heliotrope said:


> W.P. Kinsella, author of Shoeless Joe (Which became "Feild of Dreams") lived and wrote in my hometown in British Columbia. I recently saw him speak at our tiny public library.
> 
> He passed away today aged 81.
> 
> RIP Kinsella.



By choosing to die under Canada's new assisted suicide law he made a statement even in death.

W.P. Kinsella, B.C.-based author of Shoeless Joe, has doctor-assisted death - The Globe and Mail


----------



## Tom

I haven't drawn with my tablet in over two months. Let's see if my muscle memory has survived at all!


----------



## Ban

Broke my hand yesterday. It is apparently broken in  the worst possible place, according to the doctor. 

Because it is broken right at the place where the veins and nerves enter the hand, it hurts like hell. Feels like someone smashed my hand with a boulder and set it on fire afterwards. 

At least I can type, although typing with the right hand is... weird.


----------



## Ireth

Sorry to hear that, Banten! I wish you a speedy recovery.


----------



## Ban

Thank you Ireth.

 I suppose I at the very least have no excuse not to sit down and write for the next 2 months now.


----------



## SaltyDog

Banten said:


> Broke my hand yesterday. It is apparently broken in  the worst possible place, according to the doctor.
> 
> Because it is broken right at the place where the veins and nerves enter the hand, it hurts like hell. Feels like someone smashed my hand with a boulder and set it on fire afterwards.
> 
> At least I can type, although typing with the right hand is... weird.



Dang!  How did it happen?  If you don't mind me asking.  Hope all goes well in the healing process.


----------



## Ban

SaltyDog said:


> Dang!  How did it happen?  If you don't mind me asking.  Hope all goes well in the healing process.



Thank you Saltydog.

I fell off my bike... and there might have been some alcohol involved.



Edit: I feel like I'm in a cheap soap opera, because my guinea pig just passed away as well. Poor little guy had been sick a month before, so I'm glad he made it this long, but it's still sad when they go.


----------



## SaltyDog

Banten said:


> Thank you Saltydog.
> 
> I fell off my bike... and there might have been some alcohol involved.
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: I feel like I'm in a cheap soap opera, because my guinea pig just passed away as well. Poor little guy had been sick a month before, so I'm glad he made it this long, but it's still sad when they go.



Ah, well sorry for that and your guinea pig.  I understand getting attached to little guys like him, I was distraught when my first bearded dragon passed away, lol.


----------



## Chessie

Damn, Banten. I'm sorry about your hand and guinea pig!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So because I am an idiot I accidentally doubled the cake recipe for my kid's B-Day. So we made a full ball and head BB-8 cake. Since it was a ball we attached his candles to a stick and had them sticking out of the cake like in the BB-8 thumbs up scene. It took ten hours to complete and a nervous car ride to the grandparent's to celebrate but it sure was fun!


----------



## Ireth

That's fantastic! I bet the kids loved it!


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> I fell off my bike... and there might have been some alcohol involved.


Dude...that's why they say not to drink and drive.  I had a similar incident in the past when I lived in downtown Anchorage, which is very easy to get around on a bike (towns in Alaska are spread out so this isn't the norm). Went out drinking and rode my bike on a summer evening and crashed into a stop sign on the way home. My bike slid into the intersection but I was able to grab a hold of the stop sign before a car hit me. 

Yeah. I don't drink alcohol anymore.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> That's fantastic! I bet the kids loved it!



Oh, they certainly did. My kid was very proud of it. As soon as we walked in he told his grandpa to look at the BB-8 cake. Still, it was a lot of work and I cursed my own name every few minutes. But it was so worth it. And it was delicious too! Cream cheese frosting FTW.


----------



## Ban

Chesterama said:


> Dude...that's why they say not to drink and drive.  I had a similar incident in the past when I lived in downtown Anchorage, which is very easy to get around on a bike (towns in Alaska are spread out so this isn't the norm). Went out drinking and rode my bike on a summer evening and crashed into a stop sign on the way home. My bike slid into the intersection but I was able to grab a hold of the stop sign before a car hit me.
> 
> Yeah. I don't drink alcohol anymore.



Jeez, that must have been scary. Mine wasn't as exciting. The chain was tangled up somehow and I fell after only a few meters. Turns out even dutch people can't ride bikes with their brain and their chain messed up.


...That probably did not sound as clever as it did in my head.  
Well anyway, lesson learned.


----------



## Chessie

^My life on alcohol was a disaster. I look back to many times I did stupid crap and wonder how on Earth I survived. Once I was run over by an ATV while partying because I was too drunk to realize that I was standing in the way and no one else got to me in time. So glad those years are over for me!


----------



## SaltyDog

Chesterama said:


> ^My life on alcohol was a disaster. I look back to many times I did stupid crap and wonder how on Earth I survived. Once I was run over by an ATV while partying because I was too drunk to realize that I was standing in the way and no one else got to me in time. So glad those years are over for me!



good to hear you were able to pull out.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Currently dealing with a minor attack of My Writing Is Crap Disorder...

Guess it happens to everyone.


----------



## Saigonnus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Currently dealing with a minor attack of My Writing Is Crap Disorder...
> 
> Guess it happens to everyone.



Sounds like me from time to time. I think my problem stems from being a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing. Perhaps the same with you.

I constantly have to tell myself "the first draft of anything is shit." To get through it, and of course, try not to be so hard on myself.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Currently dealing with a minor attack of My Writing Is Crap Disorder...
> 
> Guess it happens to everyone.



Just don't let it turn into my Writing is Crap and I should quit disorder. That ish is fatal.


----------



## Chessie

Heck yea! I got my edits back from the editor and it was much better news than I was expecting. So...I don't totally suck? Huh. She even said I write pleasantly. Nice surprise.


----------



## Nimue

I maintain that if anybody actually tells you that you write like a 5-year-old, they deserve a smack in the mouth, 'cause it ain't true.  ^^


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Nimue said:


> I maintain that if anybody actually tells you that you write like a 5-year-old, they deserve a smack in the mouth, 'cause it ain't true.  ^^



But what if the POV is that if a 5 year old.


----------



## Chessie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> But what if the POV is that if a 5 year old.


I almost just spit out my coffee reading this.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chesterama said:


> I almost just spit out my coffee reading this.



Glad I could help muck up your computer screen.


----------



## Ireth

Just got an update from my friend Emily (the one who was hit by a car), and the dirtbag who hit her has to pay her whole medical bill. WOOHOO!


----------



## Saigonnus

One thing I have always wondered is why many (if not most) colleges or universities force you to take classes you won't need in your given field?

"I want to be a writer!" 

"Okay, here's your trigonometry class!" 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Saigonnus said:


> One thing I have always wondered is why many (if not most) colleges or universities force you to take classes you won't need in your given field?
> 
> "I want to be a writer!"
> 
> "Okay, here's your trigonometry class!"
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Allegedly it's to make you "well rounded."


----------



## Ban

Saigonnus said:


> One thing I have always wondered is why many (if not most) colleges or universities force you to take classes you won't need in your given field?
> 
> "I want to be a writer!"
> 
> "Okay, here's your trigonometry class!"
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



If I may ask. What are you studying? I can't think of any study with trigonometry which someone would attend to become a writer of fiction.


----------



## Saigonnus

Nothing at the moment, just an observation how many universities and colleges attach classes to your class roster that don't really fit with your area of expertise... with what you are studying.  

Like the hypothetical person taking creative writing or something similar and getting told he has to take math classes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Saigonnus

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Allegedly it's to make you "well rounded."



Perhaps... but I am of the opinion they do it only so they can "pad" the schedules so they can make more money... sad really.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Devor

Saigonnus said:


> Perhaps... but I am of the opinion they do it only so they can "pad" the schedules so they can make more money... sad really.



Maybe sometimes.  But when I was in college they made us take a ton of required courses . . . and they were also 3 credits each when they could've been 4 without anyone batting an eye.  I looked at the school's rubric for the difference between a 3 credit and 4 credit, and they fit the definition of the latter.  They were only 3 credits because that's the only way they could fit them all into a student's schedule.

That was just the program I took, though.  I'm sure many others are fudging it the other way.


----------



## SaltyDog

Ireth said:


> Just got an update from my friend Emily (the one who was hit by a car), and the dirtbag who hit her has to pay her whole medical bill. WOOHOO!



That's great!


----------



## Chessie

I am *so* highly annoyed with Scrivener. 



Spoiler: language



It'll make your writing process easier, they said. Your books will look professional, they said. Well, **** it. I can't even get the damn thing to work with me. All of the damn tutorials out there are for Mac and I have pc. So...what then?!?!?!! This is seriously the most irritating, stupid, ****ed up learning curve of ALL time.


---end rant


----------



## Tom

Ughhhhhhh. I really wish OneNote would work properly for once. Because a huge chunk of my day is spent on the go/without computer access, I write the majority of my plot notes and worldbuilding stuff on my phone. 

Well, OneNote just decided to screw me over and disable editing on my main worldbuilding file. Great. It's done this before, but this time it's also quitting the app without syncing to OneDrive. So when I open the app back up, there are huge gaps in my notes where it didn't save before quitting. I can transfer the notes in that file to the main project folder on my laptop and resume notewriting with a new file, but I kind of depend on having the notes there for reference. 

Ughhhhhhhh. 

Overall I just really, really hate OneNote right now.


----------



## Saigonnus

Tom Nimenai said:


> Ughhhhhhh. I really wish OneNote would work properly for once. Because a huge chunk of my day is spent on the go/without computer access, I write the majority of my plot notes and worldbuilding stuff on my phone.
> 
> Well, OneNote just decided to screw me over and disable editing on my main worldbuilding file. Great. It's done this before, but this time it's also quitting the app without syncing to OneDrive. So when I open the app back up, there are huge gaps in my notes where it didn't save before quitting. I can transfer the notes in that file to the main project folder on my laptop and resume notewriting with a new file, but I kind of depend on having the notes there for reference.



I use ABCNotes for that. Kind of like post-it's for phones or tablets. The free version is basic, but you can resize the notes as you want, change color/font or even put marks on them to show importance. 

If just text, Werdsmith could work too, so you can send the work to yourself via email... or maybe onedrive, haven't tried that yet.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Nimue

I feel your pain, Tom.  I haven't had any problems so far with the Google docs app-- docs can be stored offline, and I actually like the setup and appearance for writing, but it doesn't have a notey setup or tabs or anything.  I also use the notes app on my phone sometimes for quicker load, but for the most part my note-taking is stream of consciousness paragraphs followed by paragraphs anyway.  I just scroll through


----------



## Tom

I think the problem is that I'm very longwinded when writing worldbuilding meta, and when a file gets to a certain wordcount the app is just like "...Nope." My best bet is to transfer the notes I have, delete the file, and start over. Other than that problem, OneNote is a pretty good app. It's clean, simple, and really easy to use. I've gotten so used to writing on my phone that typing with a computer keyboard feels slow now.


----------



## Nimue

I think I had a 90k doc on google docs, and while it does take a while to load to the end, it never froze up on me or failed to load.  I might try the OneNote app, though--I used it pretty often on my computer, and only recently began to switch to Docs for the online sync with my phone.  I do like how OneNote can be organized.


----------



## Tom

God knows I need organization. 

So, how are your projects going?


----------



## Nimue

Ahahahahaha.

If I could ask for just one thing from the universe, it would be the ability to stay focused on something for longer than a couple months...  I'm completely hopeless.

Howwww are yours?


----------



## Tom

Oh man, I know how that feels. It's hard to stay focused on one thing for very long when I have so many other ideas pulling at my brain.

I'm taking a break from Southerner at the moment, and I'm mainly working on worldbuilding notes and attempting to give my messy, convoluted plot a facelift. I'm also writing a couple of short stories from the POV of various characters--kind of a project-within-a-project that's focused on discovering who they are as people and how they interact with the cultures and situations I've set them in. If I manage to finish enough of them I'm thinking of putting them in an anthology called Tales of Issadai.


----------



## Nimue

That sounds like it could be cool, and doubtlessly it'll help the story.  There are just times when you need to take a step back and look at the whole thing instead of plowing ahead into a tangle.

Yeah, I've mainly been reimagining a couple old worlds and working on tiny sideways things, although not in nearly so organized or determined a fashion, I think.  I did finish a challenge short story, but it wasn't related to anything else I'm trying to get progress on.


----------



## Tom

Reimagining is always a good way to find a new project. It's fun to look back on stuff that maybe didn't work right the first time and ask yourself what could have been done better, or what ideas you'd incorporate now that you didn't think to back then, etc. I have quite a few projects that came from trying to reimagine old ones. Frostbite, for instance. The original version is very old and very, _very_ bad.


----------



## Incanus

Regarding sticking to a project:

I think I may have a quirk or two about me that may end up working in my favor here.

For one thing, I seem to be unlike a lot of writers when it comes to having ideas for stories.  I have to really, really like an idea to commit to working with it, and I only rarely come up with ideas that I like that much.  That means I’m not often tempted by competing projects.  For instance, I started my novel just over a year ago (first draft complete, doing revisions now!)—it was 9/11/15.  I’ve only taken one break from it so far, to work on something extremely different for two-three weeks.  I may need a few more breaks, and I’ll take them, but I’m DETERMINED to finish.

Another thing is that I enjoy editing.  I like having material to work with, to reshape and polish, to find new connections.  I love playing with words at least as much as playing with ideas.

I don’t know—are these good things?  Probably like most things, an admixture of good with bad.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I may or may not be crushing majorly on my villain. Is this normal??? ....


----------



## valiant12

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I may or may not be crushing majorly on my villain. Is this normal??? ....



Is your villain a human ?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

valiant12 said:


> Is your villain a human ?



...sort of


----------



## Chessie

My husband spotted a wolverine up the road yesterday. A rare treat. They say an outdoorsman can go his entire life without ever seeing one. So this means the cats are on lockdown for a few days...at least until wolverine passes through our side of the valley. They're driving us all insane. Meow this. Meow that. Tag team meow on everyone's lap. Fighting with each other. Sigh. They just want to be let OUT. 

Not gonna happen, kitties. And now we're packing our family for a day out so we don't have to be subjected to their torurous crying. Lol.


----------



## Ban

Chesterama said:


> My husband spotted a wolverine up the road yesterday.



Watch out Chesterama, Magneto might be in the neighbourhood.


Bad jokes aside, this is the kind of stuff that makes me happy I don't have a cat yet. Sure they're adorable and sure they're cuddly, and sure they have cute little paws, and... wait what was I saying again?


----------



## Tom

I can't wait for the leaves to turn this fall. We had an extremely hot, dry summer here so the colors will probably be the most spectacular and vivid we've seen in years. Lots of sunlight means lots of red and orange!


----------



## Chessie

Actually....so we spotted the wolverine shortly after pulling out of our driveway. I've lived in Alaska all my life and I've never...ever...thought I'd see one of them! He was massive, gorgeous, and gnarly looking. Wow. Just...holy cow. 

So this year I've seen 2 rare animals near/in our yard: a lynx and a wolverine. Damn.


----------



## Ban

I hate everything about EU law. There is absolutely nothing remotely fun or interesting about it.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> I hate everything about EU law. There is absolutely nothing remotely fun or interesting about it.



Are you advocating for a Banxit?


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Are you advocating for a Banxit?



I certainly am if it means I don't have to rummage through hundreds of pages of complete gibberish. Those EU legislators really need to learn how to worldbuild properly.


----------



## CupofJoe

Banten said:


> Those EU legislators really need to learn how to worldbuild properly.


I've been in EU project meetings that took *2 DAYS* to agree an acronym! It was four letters long!!!


----------



## Ban

CupofJoe said:


> I've been in EU project meetings that took *2 DAYS* to agree an acronym! It was four letters long!!!



Oh no... 
I think you just managed to define my personal hell Joe.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Cool, i'm a shadow lord now. Must have happened when i surpassed 800 posts.


----------



## Reaver

CupofJoe said:


> I've been in EU project meetings that took *2 DAYS* to agree an acronym! It was four letters long!!!



Sounds like you were attending an Entmoot. Two days would be considered quick for one of those.


----------



## CupofJoe

Reaver said:


> Sounds like you were attending an Entmoot. Two days would be considered quick for one of those.


If it was an Entmoot I can safely say that I'd have had more fun and  "a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burÃºme" would not mean a hill, but "hill" might have the acromyn A-LALLA-LALLA-RUMBA-KAMANDA-LINDOR-BURÃšME...


----------



## SaltyDog

Went to a Holocaust museum and listened to a survivor share her story today.  It was something, folks.  I glad I was able to hear her speak though.  History should not be forgotten.


----------



## ThinkerX

Four more chapters and six thousand more words.  Told myself that back in late May with 'Empire: Metropolis.'  Four chapters and eight thousand words later, I was still telling myself that - just four more chapters and six thousand words.  Didn't finish until the second week of June.

A few weeks ago I started telling myself the same thing with 'Empire: Spiral' - four more chapters and six thousand words.  I was on Chapter then, most of ten thousand words ago.  Now I'm starting on Chapter 20, and once again, I am telling myself - you guessed it - four more chapters and six thousand words.  

Must be a phase or coping mechanism or something.


----------



## Saigonnus

My random thought for the day: Why is it easier for me to write random stuff, or stuff earlier in the chronology, then it is to actually work on one of my WIPs?? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Saigonnus said:


> My random thought for the day: Why is it easier for me to write random stuff, or stuff earlier in the chronology, then it is to actually work on one of my WIPs??
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I've been writing little scenes throughout my WIP for practically forever, but for like two years it's been impossible for me to work on it, starting at the beginning and writing the story in a chronological manner...


----------



## Saigonnus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I've been writing little scenes throughout my WIP for practically forever, but for like two years it's been impossible for me to work on it, starting at the beginning and writing the story in a chronological manner...



Mine is sitting at about 85,000 words, and has been for the last 3 or 4 years. I have another at around 40k without working on it for about the same period.

And of course, I still have new ideas all the time and will write them up, just in case I can use them for something. 5k about a magical cat, 10k about a ship's crew in a post-apocalyptic future, 7k about a one-handed Dwarven gunsmith... and this doesn't count world building. *sigh*


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Chessie

Is there a lot you'll forgive in a book so long as the story is good? I'm currently reading a novel that received some either shotty editing or formatting: words missing, paragraphs lined up funky, sentences cutting off, grammar errors. It sounds like a nightmare, right? But the story is engaging and the errors are minor annoyances at best.

BTW this is a NY Times best-seller.


----------



## Saigonnus

Chesterama said:


> Is there a lot you'll forgive in a book so long as the story is good? I'm currently reading a novel that received some either shotty editing or formatting: words missing, paragraphs lined up funky, sentences cutting off, grammar errors. It sounds like a nightmare, right? But the story is engaging and the errors are minor annoyances at best.
> 
> BTW this is a NY Times best-seller.



I guess I am more hung up on grammar than many (english teacher btw), because it irks me when there are lots of grammatical mistakes. If the POV is that of a 10 year-old, I  suppose I would be more forgiving, but generally, it bothers me whether the story is good or not.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## SaltyDog

I agree with Saigonnus.  I really don't like small mistakes, even if it's a good read.


----------



## Ban

Chesterama said:


> Is there a lot you'll forgive in a book so long as the story is good? I'm currently reading a novel that received some either shotty editing or formatting: words missing, paragraphs lined up funky, sentences cutting off, grammar errors. It sounds like a nightmare, right? But the story is engaging and the errors are minor annoyances at best.
> 
> BTW this is a NY Times best-seller.



That doesnt bother me too much. I am not a native english speaker, so I'm quite accustomed to mispronunciations, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad punctuation etc... I am probably guilty of one of these things myself in these two sentences!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chesterama said:


> Is there a lot you'll forgive in a book so long as the story is good? I'm currently reading a novel that received some either shotty editing or formatting: words missing, paragraphs lined up funky, sentences cutting off, grammar errors. It sounds like a nightmare, right? But the story is engaging and the errors are minor annoyances at best.
> 
> BTW this is a NY Times best-seller.



I'll forgive almost anything if the characters are engaging and make me care about them. I would probably be constantly cringing and rolling my eyes and shaking my head at the book you're describing, but if I really cared about the characters, I would still read. 

The grammar and formatting errors might put me off from recommending the book, though...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Why do i not have an emotional connection to this story i'm writing?


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Why do i not have an emotional connection to this story i'm writing?



Heliotrope said something to me in some thread I can't now find that I wish I'd saved/copied, to the effect that our best writing often comes when we are skating the edge of being absurd/ridiculous/extreme while dipping into our darkest side or most personal side.

I wish I could remember the exact words because it struck me as incredibly important at the time, and I realized that I too often pull back from that edge and in fact probably have a strong tendency to want to avoid writing in that place.

I often start out with a strong emotional connection with a story and then as time passes I discover I just don't give a damn.  But the connection comes back at the weirdest times—usually when I'm nowhere near my computer or don't have the time to write.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I experienced that with the series of valentine's day card I did. The first ones were funny/cheeky/cheerful, but the longer I kept at it, the more serious they became. Deeper and darker - much more personal. At the same time they also became better and stronger - a lot stronger.


----------



## Russ

Chesterama said:


> Is there a lot you'll forgive in a book so long as the story is good? I'm currently reading a novel that received some either shotty editing or formatting: words missing, paragraphs lined up funky, sentences cutting off, grammar errors. It sounds like a nightmare, right? But the story is engaging and the errors are minor annoyances at best.
> 
> BTW this is a NY Times best-seller.



I am easily jarred out of a story.  I find stuff like that annoys me to no end and I stop reading the book pretty quickly.

Was it an e-version?  There really is no excuse for a NYT best seller to suffer from those kind of flaws.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> Heliotrope said something to me in some thread I can't now find that I wish I'd saved/copied, to the effect that our best writing often comes when we are skating the edge of being absurd/ridiculous/extreme while dipping into our darkest side or most personal side.
> 
> I wish I could remember the exact words because it struck me as incredibly important at the time, and I realized that I too often pull back from that edge and in fact probably have a strong tendency to want to avoid writing in that place.
> 
> I often start out with a strong emotional connection with a story and then as time passes I discover I just don't give a damn.  But the connection comes back at the weirdest times—usually when I'm nowhere near my computer or don't have the time to write.



Losing my connection to a story is frustrating and scary. In this case, though, I don't know if I had a serious connection in the first place. 

Honestly I just have no idea where the story is going or what kind of story it is and just...it's scary.


----------



## Chessie

Russ said:


> I am easily jarred out of a story.  I find stuff like that annoys me to no end and I stop reading the book pretty quickly.
> 
> Was it an e-version?  There really is no excuse for a NYT best seller to suffer from those kind of flaws.


Yes it's an e-version. To be honest, I really like the story but it is jarring to suddenly be reading a sentence that cuts off and another paragraph begins. I don't normally write reviews but I'll be leaving one on this book because it seems like a formatting error.


----------



## Sheilawisz

Dragon of the Aerie:

I can identify with your problem. This happened to me some time ago, while I was working on my story _Whispers of the Witch_ for my own Halloween Challenge. At certain point I began to lose connection with the story and the characters, and as a result of that it was really difficult to complete that story even though it's not actually complex or long.

This happened to me because I never had a real and strong connection to _Whispers_ to start with. It was a project for a Challenge and so it was supposed to follow certain ingredients, so I went pretty blindly into the story (what I call a _Let's see What happens_ approach) and soon I was out of sparks to keep working on it.

What did I do?

I decided that it was not the right moment to keep working on that story, and so I dedicated my efforts to a different story which had me pretty fired up back then. I finished that one easily, and then it was time to return to Whispers of the Witch and find a way to negotiate and dance with it at last.

Guess what?

When the right time came, _Whispers_ began to throw great sparks and soon everything was clicking into place. I began to really enjoy the story, it was finished alright (Whispers of the Witch is the sequel to Violet Riding Hood) and since then those characters keep calling me to eventually work on the third and final story of a trilogy.

My advice to you (which I give because I think that we work in similar ways) is to just leave a story aside for some time in case that you do not have enough connection to it.

You never know when the right moment will come, or when you are going to get a sudden Spark for that story... Trying to force it will only give you bad results, so just wait. Meanwhile, you can work on some other stories that you feel more connected to. Also try to get more insight and more feelings related to the story that is failing you.

Never start working on a story if you do not have a clear connection to it. It's not something that will always ruin everything, but you can be sure that a lack of connection from the start will make the work much harder.

Good luck!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Sheilawisz said:


> Dragon of the Aerie:
> 
> I can identify with your problem. This happened to me some time ago, while I was working on my story _Whispers of the Witch_ for my own Halloween Challenge. At certain point I began to lose connection with the story and the characters, and as a result of that it was really difficult to complete that story even though it's not actually complex or long.
> 
> This happened to me because I never had a real and strong connection to _Whispers_ to start with. It was a project for a Challenge and so it was supposed to follow certain ingredients, so I went pretty blindly into the story (what I call a _Let's see What happens_ approach) and soon I was out of sparks to keep working on it.
> 
> What did I do?
> 
> I decided that it was not the right moment to keep working on that story, and so I dedicated my efforts to a different story which had me pretty fired up back then. I finished that one easily, and then it was time to return to Whispers of the Witch and find a way to negotiate and dance with it at last.
> 
> Guess what?
> 
> When the right time came, _Whispers_ began to throw great sparks and soon everything was clicking into place. I began to really enjoy the story, it was finished alright (Whispers of the Witch is the sequel to Violet Riding Hood) and since then those characters keep calling me to eventually work on the third and final story of a trilogy.
> 
> My advice to you (which I give because I think that we work in similar ways) is to just leave a story aside for some time in case that you do not have enough connection to it.
> 
> You never know when the right moment will come, or when you are going to get a sudden Spark for that story... Trying to force it will only give you bad results, so just wait. Meanwhile, you can work on some other stories that you feel more connected to. Also try to get more insight and more feelings related to the story that is failing you.
> 
> Never start working on a story if you do not have a clear connection to it. It's not something that will always ruin everything, but you can be sure that a lack of connection from the start will make the work much harder.
> 
> Good luck!



Hiya, Sheilawisz! Long time no see  

I do agree that it doesn't work to force it. Thing is, I am writing this story mainly to take a break from my other story which I was also failing to connect to. 

However, your example is actually pretty similar to what I'm going through right now. I started writing without much of a plan or a connection to the story, and now I'm starting to flounder some 15,000 words in. I completely neglected world-building and plot development beforehand. Well, maybe it's time to work on that stuff. ? 

It's strange, really. I'm used to my characters living in my head and making a racket up there whenever I take too much time off, but with this story I don't even think about it unless I'm actually sitting there writing. It's really strange. I'm used to being consumed by my stories. Having a deep bond to them. I'm not sure what is causing this absence.


----------



## ThinkerX

> However, your example is actually pretty similar to what I'm going through right now. I started writing without much of a plan or a connection to the story, and now I'm starting to flounder some 15,000 words in. I completely neglected world-building and plot development beforehand. Well, maybe it's time to work on that stuff. ?
> 
> It's strange, really. I'm used to my characters living in my head and making a racket up there whenever I take too much time off, but with this story I don't even think about it unless I'm actually sitting there writing. It's really strange. I'm used to being consumed by my stories. Having a deep bond to them. I'm not sure what is causing this absence.



I used to do that - sit down with a notion in my head and write until fatigue set in, or until I'd written myself into a corner.

It took a while, but that finally changed.  Now, I won't start into a story, especially a longer one, unless I have a fairly clear idea of its course. That is a definite beginning, middle, and end.  

The exception is what I think of as 'concept stories,' short tales or parts thereof intended to provoke my thought about certain notions.  

One I wrote earlier this year revolves around a utterly forbidden zone inside of a major city - just casually talking about it is considered about as tasteful as supporting child molestation.  (Attempting) to enter the taboo zone carries an automatic, on the spot death sentence.  Once written, I started brainstorming just how this situation could have come about. That in turn led to a couple of novella length stories which I hope to get to next year.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> I used to do that - sit down with a notion in my head and write until fatigue set in, or until I'd written myself into a corner.
> 
> It took a while, but that finally changed.  Now, I won't start into a story, especially a longer one, unless I have a fairly clear idea of its course. That is a definite beginning, middle, and end.
> 
> The exception is what I think of as 'concept stories,' short tales or parts thereof intended to provoke my thought about certain notions.
> 
> One I wrote earlier this year revolves around a utterly forbidden zone inside of a major city - just casually talking about it is considered about as tasteful as supporting child molestation.  (Attempting) to enter the taboo zone carries an automatic, on the spot death sentence.  Once written, I started brainstorming just how this situation could have come about. That in turn led to a couple of novella length stories which I hope to get to next year.



Your idea sounds amazing. It immediately grabs my interest and makes me want to know more.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm thinking the reason for my failure to connect to this story is that I'm still living in the world of the last story. The one I'm trying to forget for a while. But how do you make it go away...?


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm thinking the reason for my failure to connect to this story is that I'm still living in the world of the last story. The one I'm trying to forget for a while. But how do you make it go away...?




Combine the settings (worlds) into one.  I did that fairly often in the old days.  My main world is actually a fusion of five or six worlds.  (Planets tend to be pretty big, and most fantasy world maps, contrary to their names, cover only tiny segments of the world.)


----------



## Chessie

No offense but...maybe you worry about too many things/trying to get everything perfect instead of just writing? The only way to learn how to write is by finishing projects, not by stopping and starting new ones. There comes a point in time when you just have to keep going no matter what.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> Combine the settings (worlds) into one.  I did that fairly often in the old days.  My main world is actually a fusion of five or six worlds.  (Planets tend to be pretty big, and most fantasy world maps, contrary to their names, cover only tiny segments of the world.)



Since I'm dealing with totally different magic systems, species and technology levels, this wouldn't be very plausible.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chesterama said:


> No offense but...maybe you worry about too many things/trying to get everything perfect instead of just writing? The only way to learn how to write is by finishing projects, not by stopping and starting new ones. There comes a point in time when you just have to keep going no matter what.



Definitely, lol. I just wish the anxiety/feeling of lack of control would stop. And I'm writing this story to take a break from the last one (I can tell you with absolute certainty that I NEED a long break...almost two years of everything else wasn't getting me past the fourth chapter...) and I am physically, but mentally? The characters of the last one still live in my head, but this new one hasn't colonized my brain in nearly the same way. Thought if I could knock out 2-3 novels before coming back to the big one, my experience would be greater and my confidence renewed. Don't know how it will work and I don't like not knowing. I don't suppose I CAN do anything other than keep at the new project though...

I'm trying to worldbuild. Started a note for this story on my notes app. Interviewed my MC. Trying to find the real meat of the story, the juicy conflict, that can drive my inspiration. This is what happens when you pants it completely....


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Since I'm dealing with totally different magic systems, species and technology levels, this wouldn't be very plausible.



I had to deal with this as well when I fused settings.

First, are all the different races really necessary?  Big mistake by all too many authors is too many races.

Second, time happens.  Same world, different era's.  An old race vanished.  A new race appeared from somewhere.  Some hero or demon did something that fundamentally changed how magic works.   Brilliant inventors launched a technological revolution in one part of the world - but those devices will be centuries reaching other parts.   Or the inverse: an ancient technological civilization collapsed, leading to an age of barbarism.  Or both (which is sort of what is happening in my principle world.)


----------



## Geo

It's funny how after a whole very hot and bright summer I found myself missing cloudy days... sure soon enough I'll have my fill of those but for now... I want rain!


----------



## FifthView

Last night I woke after two hours of sleep from a vivid dream about two not-quite-human side characters, and I now have a much clearer idea of them and plan to give them more prominent roles.  I'm psyched.   This is unusual for me, since I often no longer remember dreams and rarely dream about my characters.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> Last night I woke after two hours of sleep from a vivid dream about two not-quite-human side characters, and I now have a much clearer idea of them and plan to give them more prominent roles.  I'm psyched.   This is unusual for me, since I often no longer remember dreams and rarely dream about my characters.



I love it when dreams are inspiring. Sadly it isn't a common occurrence. I have been working on my WIP for 4 years and have had maybe 3 or 4 dreams directly related to it. Which is very strange, since it consumed my mind so much during much of those 4 years...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Geo said:


> It's funny how after a whole very hot and bright summer I found myself missing cloudy days... sure soon enough I'll have my fill of those but for now... I want rain!



I feel the same. I want to curl up with a good book inside during a long, hard rain.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> I had to deal with this as well when I fused settings.
> 
> First, are all the different races really necessary?  Big mistake by all too many authors is too many races.
> 
> Second, time happens.  Same world, different era's.  An old race vanished.  A new race appeared from somewhere.  Some hero or demon did something that fundamentally changed how magic works.   Brilliant inventors launched a technological revolution in one part of the world - but those devices will be centuries reaching other parts.   Or the inverse: an ancient technological civilization collapsed, leading to an age of barbarism.  Or both (which is sort of what is happening in my principle world.)



They're entirely different kinds of races. Humans with modifications plausible through genetic engineering of some kind vs. magical immortals (not unlike the wizard race i invented for Top Scribe VI) and were-creatures (like werewolves, but becoming various large animals; one character becomes a jaguar, another a grey poodle.) I like internal consistency, so...And no, they're not necessary i guess, but they do add so much to the story that would otherwise be missing. 

The magic system is the main thing. Totally incompatible...

Though i'll end up using one of the ideas for one story in the other, so there is that.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> I had to deal with this as well when I fused settings.
> 
> First, are all the different races really necessary?  Big mistake by all too many authors is too many races.
> 
> Second, time happens.  Same world, different era's.  An old race vanished.  A new race appeared from somewhere.  Some hero or demon did something that fundamentally changed how magic works.   Brilliant inventors launched a technological revolution in one part of the world - but those devices will be centuries reaching other parts.   Or the inverse: an ancient technological civilization collapsed, leading to an age of barbarism.  Or both (which is sort of what is happening in my principle world.)



The whole point was that they're two entirely different stories, completely unrelated to one another, so I could get my mind on a different track. So they're quite different. 

Interestingly, the world for the story I was writing previously actually was a combination of two different worlds I created.


----------



## La Volpe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm thinking the reason for my failure to connect to this story is that I'm still living in the world of the last story. The one I'm trying to forget for a while. But how do you make it go away...?



I don't know if I'll be able to give you any good advice on this -- the moment I start with a new story, I put the old story out of my mind immediately.

However, I do feel that you're very attached to your on-hold story, perhaps so much that you think it is the masterwork of your writing career, and that anything else you write will just be fluff; thus your problem. This is a guess on my part, based on the way you've spoken (typed?) about your story and your experiences with new stories that you write.

Does this sound accurate?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

La Volpe said:


> I don't know if I'll be able to give you any good advice on this -- the moment I start with a new story, I put the old story out of my mind immediately.
> 
> However, I do feel that you're very attached to your on-hold story, perhaps so much that you think it is the masterwork of your writing career, and that anything else you write will just be fluff; thus your problem. This is a guess on my part, based on the way you've spoken (typed?) about your story and your experiences with new stories that you write.
> 
> Does this sound accurate?



The thing is that i form intense emotional bonds with my stories. I think about them even when i'm not writing them. It's not easy to just put them away. I get really attached.

To this one especially, since i've been working on it for 4 years.


----------



## La Volpe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> The thing is that i form intense emotional bonds with my stories. I think about them even when i'm not writing them. It's not easy to just put them away. I get really attached.
> 
> To this one especially, since i've been working on it for 4 years.



So it happens with all your stories? I.e. not just this one you've been working on for 4 years?

The reason I'm bringing all this up is because your situation seems marginally similar to an issue I had with drawing. I found that I, at some point after drawing something, was unable to make any corrections to the picture for fear of ruining it (I know this sounds like it has to do with revisions, but stay with me). So I would make little hardly-visible lines and avoid erasing anything (since that usually just ends up worse) and it would end up not being as good as it could be.

Then I realised that my problem was that when I had drawn something that I was even marginally happy with, I was so sure that I would never be able to draw something that good again, so I didn't want to ruin the one good one that I actually had.

So, what is my point here? Well, perhaps you have a similar issue. In that you have this one Big Idea which you've been working on for 4 years, and you don't think that anything you make will be able to be as good as that story; so your subconscious doesn't want to bother with writing it, since it thinks it'll just be terrible anyway (which, of course, is not the truth).

This might not be applicable to you at all (especially if this happens to you with every story you write), but I thought I'd put it out there anyway.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

La Volpe said:


> So it happens with all your stories? I.e. not just this one you've been working on for 4 years?
> 
> The reason I'm bringing all this up is because your situation seems marginally similar to an issue I had with drawing. I found that I, at some point after drawing something, was unable to make any corrections to the picture for fear of ruining it (I know this sounds like it has to do with revisions, but stay with me). So I would make little hardly-visible lines and avoid erasing anything (since that usually just ends up worse) and it would end up not being as good as it could be.
> 
> Then I realised that my problem was that when I had drawn something that I was even marginally happy with, I was so sure that I would never be able to draw something that good again, so I didn't want to ruin the one good one that I actually had.
> 
> So, what is my point here? Well, perhaps you have a similar issue. In that you have this one Big Idea which you've been working on for 4 years, and you don't think that anything you make will be able to be as good as that story; so your subconscious doesn't want to bother with writing it, since it thinks it'll just be terrible anyway (which, of course, is not the truth).
> 
> This might not be applicable to you at all (especially if this happens to you with every story you write), but I thought I'd put it out there anyway.



With all my large, involved projects (i.e. novels), yes. My connection to the 4-year project was intense but not really unusual. I get really attached; you might say obsessed. The one I've been working on for four years has been my only major project for a long time, so basically it's had my mind to itself for years. It was very important to me. Now transitioning into a new story is hard. I'm still stuck more or less on the last story. 

I have hopes that the new one will be as good, but none of publishing; just letting my friends read. Not much vision at all. I don't know what I want this story to be...which might be a good thing, allowing me to let it become what it is. But anyway, I'm regarding it mainly as just something to do, which makes the writing much easier, but makes it more difficult to get emotionally involved. I NEED to be able to get emotionally involved.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

When it's one in the morning and you need your sleep but suddenly inspiration begins coursing through your blood like liquid fire...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I also forgot the witty thing I was going to post here.


----------



## Tom

Right now I'm preparing a presentation on the special effects in Mad Max: Fury Road and finding it really difficult not to fill the powerpoint with picture-vomit.  Such amazing cinematography.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Clothing is bought. Now we just need a Lorien broach a cheapo one ring and hobbit feet and the boy has his Halloween costume.


----------



## Tom

Oh man, I forgot this paper was due in class tomorrow! I assumed I had tomorrow night to work on it, too.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> Oh man, I forgot this paper was due in class tomorrow! I assumed I had tomorrow night to work on it, too.



Flee, flee for your lives!


----------



## Chessie

Oh, I do so love children, especially when they cough in my mouth and get me sick. Thanks, kid. You're the best.


----------



## Tom

As usual, I'm BSing my way through the paper with sources I found barely five minutes ago. So far it's going spectacularly.


----------



## SeverinR

Tom Nimenai said:


> As usual, I'm BSing my way through the paper with sources I found barely five minutes ago. So far it's going spectacularly.


Some people excel when they are under pressure.  I am sort of this kind. When I get a assignment I would procrastinate, be uncertain as to what I would do it on, then when it came down to the wire, I would find something to focus on, then crank out the assignment.  

Good luck with your paper.


----------



## SeverinR

Looking back,
Since I started this thread, there has only routinely been two common threads.
"Random thoughts" and "what do you listen too?" 

When I posted it, it was just to post some observation and never dreamed it would still be running all these years later.

post #1: date: 5-14-13


----------



## Chessie

My entire family is sick with the flu, and that includes me. I've literally been on my son's bed ALL DAY on this laptop typing away. I have no idea how many words I've written thus far, but it's a lot. Perhaps I should get sick more often.  It's been a productive day even though I feel like hell and it breaks my heart to see my boys sick.


----------



## Ireth

Watching episodes of Kitchen Nightmares on Youtube. The amount of denial some (well, most) of these people start out with is phenomenal. When Gordon Ramsey says you screwed up, you done screwed up.


----------



## Chessie

Is that the guy who put two loaves of bread on either side of a chef's face and said, "repeat after me...I'm an idiot sandwich!"?


----------



## Ireth

Chesterama said:


> Is that the guy who put two loaves of bread on either side of a chef's face and said, "repeat after me...I'm an idiot sandwich!"?



I dunno, but it sounds like it could be. XD Haven't seen that in these episodes yet though!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I wish I could write horror, but I am way too sensitive to read even the tamest horror and if that doesn't describe being a Hufflepuff I don't know what does.


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I wish I could write horror, but I am way too sensitive to read even the tamest horror and if that doesn't describe being a Hufflepuff I don't know what does.



For the pure heck of it, I took some "What Harry Potter house would you be in?" tests recently.  Funny, the majority out me in as Ravenclaw.  Not complaining though, just glad I wasn't put in Slytherin.


----------



## Ireth

SaltyDog said:


> For the pure heck of it, I took some "What Harry Potter house would you be in?" tests recently.  Funny, the majority out me in as Ravenclaw.  Not complaining though, just glad I wasn't put in Slytherin.



Nothing wrong with being in Slytherin. Ambition and cunning do not automatically equal evil. It's what you do with them that count.


----------



## Saigonnus

SaltyDog said:


> For the pure heck of it, I took some "What Harry Potter house would you be in?" tests recently.  Funny, the majority out me in as Ravenclaw.  Not complaining though, just glad I wasn't put in Slytherin.



The one I did put me in Slytherin. [emoji6] 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## SaltyDog

I understand that and all, lol, but still... they are some bad dudes and gals from there.  I prefer Ravenclaw more.


----------



## Ireth

I'm a Hufflepuff. Always have been, probably always will be. ^^


----------



## Saigonnus

Saigonnus said:


> The one I did put me in Slytherin. [emoji6]
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I just took another that put me in Gryphondor. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> For the pure heck of it, I took some "What Harry Potter house would you be in?" tests recently.  Funny, the majority out me in as Ravenclaw.  Not complaining though, just glad I wasn't put in Slytherin.



Pottermore (the "official" quiz put me in Hufflepuff, but I got a lot of Gryffindor results when I took lots of random online quizzes. All my friends say I'm Ravenclaw, but I know I'm a 'Puff at heart.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> I understand that and all, lol, but still... they are some bad dudes and gals from there.  I prefer Ravenclaw more.



I can't be prejudiced against Slytherin, like half of my friends are Slytherins


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Pottermore (the "official" quiz put me in Hufflepuff, but I got a lot of Gryffindor results when I took lots of random online quizzes. All my friends say I'm Ravenclaw, but I know I'm a 'Puff at heart.



I got a lot of Gryffindor too, but more with Ravenclaw.  Only one Slytherin though, lol.


----------



## Heliotrope

I'm all ravenclaw


----------



## Ireth

SaltyDog said:


> I understand that and all, lol, but still... they are some bad dudes and gals from there.  I prefer Ravenclaw more.



There's been bad people from other Houses too. Peter Pettigrew, anyone? Gilderoy Lockhart? (If memory serves he was a Ravenclaw.)


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I have basically every character of mine sorted into a Hogwarts house. My current WIP's heroine is a Slytherin.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> I got a lot of Gryffindor too, but more with Ravenclaw.  Only one Slytherin though, lol.



Many of the quizzes are horrendously biased toward Gryffindor.


----------



## Addison

When I first found the Pottermore site I was sorted into Ravenclaw. When the site changed I decided it would be fun to retake the test and I was sorted into Gryffindor. Hmm. I guess I'm like McGonnagol and Flitwick.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Addison said:


> When I first found the Pottermore site I was sorted into Ravenclaw. When the site changed I decided it would be fun to retake the test and I was sorted into Gryffindor. Hmm. I guess I'm like McGonnagol and Flitwick.



Ehhh, don't take the test too seriously. I'm happy with being sorted into Hufflepuff, but it was only confirmation of what I already knew.


----------



## Chessie

We (my husband, son and I) made the mistake of getting the neighbor's dog accustomed to treats every morning at the front window. Bacon, pepperoni, hot dogs...etc...and our cats stare coldly in the distance as he gets affection and food from us. But now that my husband is working during the day and the kid is at school, Benji the neighbor dog has gotten in the terrible habit of whining at the living room window...RIGHT where I sit and write. So over the pleasant sounds of typing and Skyrim Atmospheres I hear nothing but whining and see a flashing blue collar around a furry gray neck.

I had nothing to give him this morning so yeah, he didn't much like that.


----------



## Tom

Another week of school over and done with! I just want to sleep all weekend. However, I have a date tomorrow and I don't think she'd appreciate that haha.


----------



## Ban

Apparently an old Japanese saying goes: "Where a Dutchman has passed, not even the grass grows anymore."

I feel like I'm a member of a demonic horde or a raging band of orcs now.

...I like it


----------



## Svrtnsse

Banten said:


> Apparently an old Japanese saying goes: "Where a Dutchman has passed, not even the grass grows anymore."
> 
> I feel like I'm a member of a demonic horde or a raging band of orcs now.
> 
> ...I like it



This reminds me of the Groke:







She's cold and evil and wherever she walks the ground freezes. If she sits somewhere for long enough, nothing will ever grow there again.
She's also cold and lonely and everyone's afraid of her and all she really wants is to be warm.

Not saying that applies to you - just explaining the character.


----------



## Ban

Svrtnsse said:


> This reminds me of the Groke:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> She's cold and evil and wherever she walks the ground freezes. If she sits somewhere for long enough, nothing will ever grow there again.
> She's also cold and lonely and everyone's afraid of her and all she really wants is to be warm.
> 
> Not saying that applies to you - just explaining the character.



That must be the friendliest looking "evil" monster ever 

And no... Groke is definitely not me. If I had magical ice powers, I would declare myself the King of Winter and charge people far too much to see me freeze things. 

Or open an icecream factory.


----------



## Svrtnsse

She was a very scary character when I was a little kid: The Groke - Wikipedia

EDIT: and also very sad


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> That must be the friendliest looking "evil" monster ever
> 
> And no... Groke is definitely not me. If I had magical ice powers, I would declare myself the King of Winter and charge people far too much to see me freeze things.
> 
> Or open an icecream factory.



Definitely go with the ice cream.


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Definitely go with the ice cream.



Ice cream would be nice, but the future historians would be so dissapointed in me. 

_For one week, newspapers all around the world wrote about the Dutch wonder Banten, who discovered how to wield unknown and mystical icy powers. Sadly, Banten decided to waste his perhaps magical ability on a failed ice cream factory solely based around him and his powers. When he inevitably became bored with manufacturing ice cream, he attempted to regain the adoration of the people to no avail. The last known records of Banten indicate that he ended up right where he started. In front of his computer pretending he actually ever writes anything, while he actually spends most of his time watching netflix.
_


----------



## Ban

Svrtnsse said:


> She was a very scary character when I was a little kid: The Groke - Wikipedia
> 
> EDIT: and also very sad



Than the storytelling or atmosphere of that series must be really good, because that little purple penguin-whale looks adorable.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> Ice cream would be nice, but the future historians would be so dissapointed in me.
> 
> _For one week, newspapers all around the world wrote about the Dutch wonder Banten, who discovered how to wield unknown and mystical icy powers. Sadly, Banten decided to waste his perhaps magical ability on a failed ice cream factory solely based around him and his powers. When he inevitably became bored with manufacturing ice cream, he attempted to regain the adoration of the people to no avail. The last known records of Banten indicate that he ended up right where he started. In front of his computer pretending he actually ever writes anything, while he actually spends most of his time watching netflix.
> _



Who cares about future historians when you can have ice cream?


----------



## Svrtnsse

Banten said:


> Than the storytelling or atmosphere of that series must be really good, because that little purple penguin-whale looks adorable.



It is.
They're written and sold as children't book, but there's enough depth to them that even adults can appreciate them. I tend to re-read most of the books every few years, and I've got a picture from one of them tattooed on my arm. 

EDIT: ...and I regularly try to convince people around me to read them.
The author is Tove Jansson and the books you ought to read are Finn Family Moomintroll (first) and then Moominland Midwinter after that.


----------



## Ban

Svrtnsse said:


> It is.
> They're written and sold as children't book, but there's enough depth to them that even adults can appreciate them. I tend to re-read most of the books every few years, and I've got a picture from one of them tattooed on my arm.
> 
> EDIT: ...and I regularly try to convince people around me to read them.
> The author is Tove Jansson and the books you ought to read are Finn Family Moomintroll (first) and then Moominland Midwinter after that.



Well I suppose Christmas is getting closer and closer at a rapid pace, so it's about time I start reading something from old scandinavia. Perfect time of year for it.

Writing and creating for a young audience is something I'd like to do at some point in time (another thing to put on the wishlist). The things we see and read at that point in our lives often stick with us for life, if the story is good. Your moominland is my "fox and the hound" or "the land before time".


----------



## Svrtnsse

Writing a children's story is next on the list of new projects to do. There's a side character in an earlier story that will hopefully be a great character for it. I'll try and pull that off in parallel with editing on my more "serious" stories.

...I was thinking of whether to use "adult" or "mature" but both of those words carried some dodgy connotations that didn't quite fit in this context.


----------



## Tom

Who knew I could get into an argument with my relatives over the motivations behind the switch from BC/AD to BCE/CE and whether it's a sign of the "degradation" of Western culture. At this point, I'm not really surprised. I've had arguments with them about almost everything. The only thing that has me worried is that it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Great...


----------



## Chessie

So there's this marsh on the way to our house. We drove down the hill and saw a jeep stuck in the snow. He wasn't even in the ditch...apparently, the boy had driven 50-60 feet into the marsh in an effort to turn around after he slid off the road. It's a steep road but that's why, when it's covered in ice, people go slow. My husband got out of the truck and talked to him. It's..honestly a pretty sad sight (can I laugh instead and say how stupid he was to drive beyond the possibility of rescue?). Mechanic husband says that it'll cost him a lot of money to get the jeep unstuck in its location on frozen ground. When it warms up, the vehicle will sink into the marsh. Apparently its a  tough job for a tow truck. We'll see if it's still there tomorrow.


----------



## Chessie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Who knew I could get into an argument with my relatives over the motivations behind the switch from BC/AD to BCE/CE and whether it's a sign of the "degradation" of Western culture. At this point, I'm not really surprised. I've had arguments with them about almost everything. The only thing that has me worried is that it's not even Thanksgiving yet. Great...



I'm sorry, Tom. This is why I hate the holidays. I hope it gets better for you. x


----------



## Tom

Chesterama said:


> I'm sorry, Tom. This is why I hate the holidays. I hope it gets better for you. x



Thanks, Chessie. To survive this holiday season, I think I'm just going to have to bite my tongue and broadcast my frustrations on the internet via the phone-under-the-table method.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Holding on tight to the quote attributed to Ernest Hemingway, whom I highly respect: 

"The first draft of anything is sh*t." 

Because it definitely is right now.


----------



## Russ

Chesterama said:


> So there's this marsh on the way to our house. We drove down the hill and saw a jeep stuck in the snow. He wasn't even in the ditch...apparently, the boy had driven 50-60 feet into the marsh in an effort to turn around after he slid off the road. It's a steep road but that's why, when it's covered in ice, people go slow. My husband got out of the truck and talked to him. It's..honestly a pretty sad sight (can I laugh instead and say how stupid he was to drive beyond the possibility of rescue?). Mechanic husband says that it'll cost him a lot of money to get the jeep unstuck in its location on frozen ground. When it warms up, the vehicle will sink into the marsh. Apparently its a  tough job for a tow truck. We'll see if it's still there tomorrow.



Don't leave us in suspense...what happened to the truck?


----------



## Chessie

Russ said:


> Don't leave us in suspense...what happened to the truck?


Lucky kid got pulled out that night. His jeep was gone by morning.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I just got a nosebleed, blood streaming down my face...It would have been all over my clothes  and the floor had I not been in the bathroom at the time getting ready for a shower with toilet paper close at hand to mop it up. Do normal people get nosebleeds like this??  

I need a life.


----------



## Tom

Today I gave a presentation on abstract art and almost died from nerves.

I also refrained from dragging Piet Mondrian when I discussed one of his pieces, which should earn me an automatic A. That took a lot of willpower.


----------



## Ban

My broken hand has broken free from its cast!


----------



## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I just got a nosebleed, blood streaming down my face...It would have been all over my clothes  and the floor had I not been in the bathroom at the time getting ready for a shower with toilet paper close at hand to mop it up. Do normal people get nosebleeds like this??
> 
> I need a life.



Actually lots of people get nosebleeds for many reasons.  Some people get them due to deficiencies in their diet.  You may want to discuss this issue with a physician.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Russ said:


> Actually lots of people get nosebleeds for many reasons.  Some people get them due to deficiencies in their diet.  You may want to discuss this issue with a physician.



Don't worry, I believe this one was due to recovering from a cold. 

Many years ago, I used to get them constantly, though. Not anymore.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I just experienced what I think is my first case of plagiarism. In fairness I'm not even sure if I can call it that, but still... 

Whenever I upload a new set to mixcloud I also have to pick out a cover image, and I tend to pick photos I've taken myself (usually with my cell pone).
Today, when checking how my latest set was doing (it gets ranking depending on how many plays it gets) I spotted my cover image on someone else's set. At first I got worried they'd copied the entire thing, music and all, but they hadn't. It's just the picture. 

If they'd uploaded my music and claimed credit for it I'd probably have been upset (I paid for the tracks and spent quite a lot of time and effort putting them together). Now though, it's just an image from my archives, and while it feels a bit cheap of them not to say anything I'm still kind of flattered they liked my image enough to use it to represent their own stuff.

It's a weird feeling.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ummm...how do I upload an avatar? I feel like i had this figured out not too long ago, but now I don't have any idea...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Ummm...how do I upload an avatar? I feel like i had this figured out not too long ago, but now I don't have any idea...



Ok nvm...the toothless pic is cute, I like.


----------



## La Volpe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Ok nvm...the toothless pic is cute, I like.



So do you usually wait until you make 1000 posts before you upload an avatar?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

La Volpe said:


> So do you usually wait until you make 1000 posts before you upload an avatar?



Heehee, I'm just lazy...

Apparently not too lazy to make 1,000 posts, but too lazy to upload an avatar. That kind of lazy. XD


----------



## La Volpe

Well, it's better than uploading a 1000 different avatars before making a post. So there's that.


----------



## La Volpe

Also, where's Banten? I want to ask him something.

People from the Netherlands being called Dutch in English has always been really weird for me. In my home language, the word for the adjective Dutch is either Nederlands or Hollands. And German is called Duits (which matches with the German Deutsch). So I had to learn Nederlands/Hollands = Dutch, but Duits = German.

Anyway, my question for Banten is: What do you call your country in Dutch? Holland? Nederland? Neither?


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Heehee, I'm just lazy...
> 
> Apparently not too lazy to make 1,000 posts, but too lazy to upload an avatar. That kind of lazy. XD




You have finally done it.

(read my avatar  )


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> Also, where's Banten? I want to ask him something.
> 
> People from the Netherlands being called Dutch in English has always been really weird for me. In my home language, the word for the adjective Dutch is either Nederlands or Hollands. And German is called Duits (which matches with the German Deutsch). So I had to learn Nederlands/Hollands = Dutch, but Duits = German.
> 
> Anyway, my question for Banten is: What do you call your country in Dutch? Holland? Nederland? Neither?



I've been summoned.

We call our country Nederland. Holland consists of the two most populous provinces: South and North Holland. A commonly cited reason for English speaking people calling the Netherlands Holland is that early english merchants only traded with cities in these provinces and mistakenly thought the entire Netherlands was called Holland. Similarly it is likely that the reason we are called Dutch in English dates back to the middle ages when we spoke a language called Diets or it could be because we were a part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. 

Hope that helped


----------



## La Volpe

Ah. Curiosity satisfied. Thanks, Banten.


----------



## Ban

No problem. 

I assume you speak Afrikaans then, because you were taught to call Dutch Nederlands. I'm curious to know how much you can understand of Dutch and what sort of impression you get when people speak it.


----------



## La Volpe

I think we'd be able to hold a conversation if we both speak slowly. Afrikaans is mostly based on Dutch (so much that it was called kitchen Dutch by the English in the early days).

Written should be even easier.

So, byvoorbeeld, kan jy enigiets hiervan verstaan?


----------



## Ban

Interesting. I find it personally relatively difficult to understand Afrikaans. I can usually make out around half of the words.


Maar de door jou geschreven zin is goed te begrijpen.


----------



## La Volpe

Hm. That was not as easy as I thought it would be. I got most of the words in that sentence, but the "door" is throwing me, and I only have a wide-angled idea of what you're saying.

Kom ons kyk of dit beter werk as ek 'n langer stuk skryf dat daar bietjie konteks is. As ek moet raai, sÃª daai sin van jou iets in die lyn van: Maar met jou geskrewe sin kan ek goed begryp. So kon jy hierdie verstaan?


----------



## Ban

This is getting quite a bit more difficult 


Voor zover als ik het kan verstaan, klopt jouw vertaling. Daarnaast kan ik het meeste van dit stukje tekst begrijpen, maar ik heb er moeite mee. Je gebruikt andere letters voor bepaalde klanken in jouw taal, wat het moeilijker maakt om alles goed te lezen.


----------



## La Volpe

Interestingly, I find it easier to understand if I read it out loud. As in, Dutch seems to sound more like Afrikaans than it looks like Afrikaans. Though, I've been in contact with at least two Dutch people who spoke Afrikaans to me in an accent, which helps me pronounce Dutch better. So maybe that helps me with understanding the Dutch?

But it would be interesting if you also find it easier if you read it aloud.

(Also, this last paragraph of yours, I understood everything.)

'n Paar goed wat ek sien as primÃªre verskille: Afrikaans gebruik 'n "s" waar Nederlands 'n "z" gebruik. En Nederlands sit "t"s agter woorde wat ons net uitlos. En al die "j"s los Afrikaans ook meestal uit. En een wat my nogals laat sukkel het was die "het" wat in Afrikaans "have" beteken, maar in Nederlands lyk dit vir my iets soos "it".


----------



## Ban

Ik ben het compleet met je eens dat het makkelijker is om de andere taal te begrijpen als je het voor jezelf uitspreekt. Ik vind het wel interessant dat het voor ons beide makkelijker is om elkaars taal te begrijpen door het uit te spreken. Ik zou verwachten dat het voor mij het makkelijkste zou zijn omdat Afrikaans over het algemeen simpelere spelling- en grammatica- regels lijkt te hebben dan Nederlands. 

 "Het" is trouwens inderdaad het Nederlandse woord voor "it".  


Funny how similar, yet different these languages are. Afrikaans is clearly far more than a dialect of Dutch, but it is still mutually understandable to us... Weird but nice.


----------



## Tom

Meanwhile I speak German as a second language, and I could only just barely understand parts of that exchange...


----------



## Ban

Dutch and German are surprisingly different. Even after living near the border for years I can't understand most of German. I suppose people often think that German and Dutch are largely interchangable, but English is actually closer related to Dutch than German to Dutch.


----------



## Tom

I think a lot of the difference is in grammar/sentence structure. I picked up a ton of cognates--both German and English ones--but I just can't grasp the grammar. I know a few Dutch speakers, and they've all told me that they have a really difficult time understanding German.


----------



## Ban

I agree with your Dutch acquaintances, German grammar is rather difficult for me. But I think the major thing is that almost every word sounds similar enough for me to try and guess the meaning of it, but not similar enough for me to guess correctly.

...Haha, that hopefully makes some sense.


----------



## Tom

Yeah, I have the same problem! I can read (not speak) other Germanic languages, but when I do I'm going "Okay, so that means this...maybe...and this word sounds like that one but might not mean the same thing..." the entire time. It's especially frustrating when you realize that word you thought was a cognate actually has a completely different root, and that sentence you thought you had a handle on suddenly doesn't make any sense.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, I start my career in earnest tomorrow. I'm a full fledged adult now. Terminal degree, career in that field, family. It's strange to be at this point in my life.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Yeah, I have the same problem! I can read (not speak) other Germanic languages, but when I do I'm going "Okay, so that means this...maybe...and this word sounds like that one but might not mean the same thing..." the entire time. It's especially frustrating when you realize that word you thought was a cognate actually has a completely different root, and that sentence you thought you had a handle on suddenly doesn't make any sense.



Y'all are better than me, who understands nothing...


----------



## Gribba

When I am around people speaking Dutch I get confused, as it sounds a little like German and yet like Danish/Norwegian and Icelandic and something I can not put my finger on... So I understand some of it and then get lost...


----------



## Gribba

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So, I start my career in earnest tomorrow. I'm a full fledged adult now. Terminal degree, career in that field, family. It's strange to be at this point in my life.



ohh... welcome to the world of adulthood... it is all down hill from that point on... It was a trap and you stept right into it, just like the rest of us...


----------



## La Volpe

Tom Nimenai said:


> Yeah, I have the same problem! I can read (not speak) other Germanic languages, but when I do I'm going "Okay, so that means this...maybe...and this word sounds like that one but might not mean the same thing..." the entire time. It's especially frustrating when you realize that word you thought was a cognate actually has a completely different root, and that sentence you thought you had a handle on suddenly doesn't make any sense.



My family on my mother's side is German, and on my father's side Dutch. So I have a little exposure to both of them. And I was half in the process of learning German, but I got a little sidetracked (though I can probably do a basic conversation in German, as long as the German speaker is _extremely_ patient with me).

Anyway, interestingly, I've found that German grammar is quite similar to Afrikaans grammar, while I have the same issue as you with vocabulary, where words sound the same but mean something completely different. E.g. one that threw me specifically: The German "will" which, as I understand it, means the same as the English "will". But the Afrikaans "wil", which (mostly) shares a pronunciation with the German "will" means the same as the English "want to" or (if I'm right) the German "mÃ¶chte".

And now I wonder if you, Tom, would also find it easier to understand Dutch and/or Afrikaans if you heard it rather than read it?


----------



## Ban

Gribba said:


> When I am around people speaking Dutch I get confused, as it sounds a little like German and yet like Danish/Norwegian and Icelandic and something I can not put my finger on... So I understand some of it and then get lost...



Haha I understand. Someone once told me something along the lines of: "Dutch sounds like a Dane pretending to be an Englishman impersonating a German.". I'm sure you can tell me if that's true 

I've also found that non-Dutch people get a totally different impression of Dutch depending on the accent it is spoken in. Dutch spoken above the Rhine river is more rough and clear than the softer, mumblier Dutch I and my Belgian brethren speak. If you have the time you could search some videos of a Flemish and a Dutch person speaking. The difference is pretty big despite the only change being the accent.


----------



## Ireth

I'll just leave this here:






Happy Halloween!


----------



## Gribba

Banten said:


> Haha I understand. Someone once told me something along the lines of: "Dutch sounds like a Dane pretending to be an Englishman impersonating a German.". I'm sure you can tell me if that's true



HAHAHAHA!!! that is so true... a Dane pretending to be an Englishman impersonating a German and when missing some words, just makes sounds to make it look like a word was being said... 

Danish is a soft language and the Icelandic/Norwegian language is harsh, so when I listen to Dutch, I notice the difference. 
Few years back I traveled in a car from Denmark to Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium (Brussels) to the Netherlands (Rotterdam, Harlem and all the way to Den Helder) and back to Denmark. It was crazy to hear the difference, I felt as the language changed from one town to the other.


----------



## Chessie

The only European language I speak is French, but totally wish I also spoke German. My husband speaks some German and he occasionally tries to teach me phrases/words but they're very hard for me to pronounce. Spanish is my native tongue so I do teach him a lot and he's gotten good over the last several years...enough to converse with my family members in Spanish. Studying languages is fun. In college I took 3 years of Japanese. It was so hard...SO hard. All I remember is "ni-hongo-no" and "neko".


----------



## Ban

...Preeetty sure that Spanish and English are European languages as well. Sorry to be pedantic


I had French for 6 years in high school and I can still only read it. I can't even have a simple talk about the weather. So don't feel bad about your Japanese haha


----------



## Chessie

You're right about Spanish and English being European. But as an American, English and Spanish are on this side of the world. So outside of that...


----------



## Ban

Understood. Those two are the dominant languages over there. But don't forget about the pockets of dutch, french and portuguese scattered around the Americas.


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> Understood. Those two are the dominant languages over there. But don't forget about the pockets of dutch, french and portuguese scattered around the Americas.



Uh...and let's not forget the Native Americans either. They also have their own languages. In my state we just had one village change its name back to the original Inupiaq name.


----------



## Ban

Chesterama said:


> Uh...and let's not forget the Native Americans either. They also have their own languages. In my state we just had one village change its name back to the original Inupiaq name.



Oh yeah, I was just talking about the European languages used over there. 

I sadly know barely anything about native american languages. The only native language group I know anything about is the Sioux language, and even there I doubt I could distinguish it from any other Native language. I wonder how related their languages are though. Something to look up.


----------



## Chessie

Some are related. I know that the Athabascan language is related to the Navajo and Apache languages. Athabascans are interior to coastal Alaska all the way to the Yukon. Native American culture and history is one of my favorite topics that I love to research so...don't get me started.


----------



## Ban

Woah that's far more distance between related languages than I would've assumed. Interesting, I should read up on this. Do you by any chance have any good websites you frequent on the subject or nothing specific?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chesterama said:


> Some are related. I know that the Athabascan language is related to the Navajo and Apache languages. Athabascans are interior to coastal Alaska all the way to the Yukon. Native American culture and history is one of my favorite topics that I love to research so...don't get me started.



What do you mean, don't get you started? It sounds super interesting. I've always been interested in it, but haven't done much research of my own, sadly.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

3 years of Spanish here, that's it  I haven't spoken it in some 2 years and now I hardly remember anything. 

And I had a crush on a German guy once.  (He ignored me.) I only know swear words in German. Swearing in German is glorious. Everything sounds worse, lol. 

That's the extent of my languages knowledge. Pathetic, I know. Having never left my native country doesn't help. 

Which is a shame. I'm fascinated by all the languages of the world and all their different sounds and feels are so beautiful to me. It's so hard to learn a language if you're not surrounded by it, though. Speaking it every day. (Case in point, what happened to all my Spanish knowledge. You can only learn so much about it without living with Spanish speakers. Or moving to a Spanish speaking country. I never even learned all the verb tenses.)


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> Woah that's far more distance between related languages than I would've assumed. Interesting, I should read up on this. Do you by any chance have any good websites you frequent on the subject or nothing specific?



They're also related to the Cree Indians that live in Canada. The reason being these same people came from Alaska/Canada and settled into the Southwest territories, etc. I get a lot of my information from just the internet but especially the tribal websites. Those are the best because they're thorough in educating others about their people. Also, living in Alaska I kind of know where to look and who to talk to. I've had to do a lot of this research for my fantasy world so I can get the indigenous populations as close to Athabascans as possible. By default, I've learned a lot about Inupiaq, Eskimo, Aleut, Tlingit & Haida, etc as well. It's supremely fascinating history.


----------



## Tom

La Volpe said:


> My family on my mother's side is German, and on my father's side Dutch. So I have a little exposure to both of them. And I was half in the process of learning German, but I got a little sidetracked (though I can probably do a basic conversation in German, as long as the German speaker is _extremely_ patient with me).
> 
> Anyway, interestingly, I've found that German grammar is quite similar to Afrikaans grammar, while I have the same issue as you with vocabulary, where words sound the same but mean something completely different. E.g. one that threw me specifically: The German "will" which, as I understand it, means the same as the English "will". But the Afrikaans "wil", which (mostly) shares a pronunciation with the German "will" means the same as the English "want to" or (if I'm right) the German "mÃ¶chte".
> 
> And now I wonder if you, Tom, would also find it easier to understand Dutch and/or Afrikaans if you heard it rather than read it?



I'm mostly Irish/Welsh/Scottish on my mom's side, but my father's family is almost 100% German, some of them only second- or third-generation. I learned German early but I only speak it around my dad's side of the family, so I'm not as fluent a speaker as I'd like to be. I can read and write German pretty well, though. 

Unfortunately, I'm much, much better in general at reading languages than speaking them. I have auditory processing disorder, so even spoken English sometimes trips me up. German is easier for me because it has distinctive sounds and a strong grammatical structure, but I'm not sure about Afrikaans and Dutch. Even with a language I know well I only catch about 75% of the words people say, and I have to rely on grammar and context to piece together what they're saying to me. So it can be difficult to hold a conversation in a language I'm not very familiar with. 

(For some reason, this whole discussion reminds me of the time I held a conversation in broken French with a girl from Quebec while sketching a tank full of manta rays at the Buffalo-Niagara Aquarium, haha.)


----------



## Tom

Banten said:


> Oh yeah, I was just talking about the European languages used over there.
> 
> I sadly know barely anything about native american languages. The only native language group I know anything about is the Sioux language, and even there I doubt I could distinguish it from any other Native language. I wonder how related their languages are though. Something to look up.



I'm familiar with the Iroquoian language family, especially Seneca, since I live in the area settled by the Iroquois Confederation. At present, Seneca and almost all the other Iroquoian languages are highly endangered and efforts are being made to preserve them before they die out. It's such a unique language family that linguists haven't found any solid links between it and other Native language families.


----------



## Heliotrope

^^ This is similar to the language of my home town. My kid is actually learning to sing traditional songs in kindergarten, which I think is sort of cool. 

I live on a pretty major river in BC that connects most of the province, so the first nations people in BC all traded with each other along this same river. It's sort of cool because they all had seperate languages but there was a common trading languate.


----------



## Chessie

So we've been in Oklahoma for the past several days while my husband rests from surgery. It's actually kind of nice down here. The one thing is that we've noticed the locals giving us funny looks. It might be that we don't speak with a Southern twang? Idk. But Muskogee is a rather quiet little area and I sort of like it. Although I'm very ready to head home to my mountainous state tomorrow.

"Oh, you're from Alaska? Is is true they'se gots big guns up thurr?"  Because everyone we've talked to seems to think that our state is just like on the Discovery channel specials and Alaska State Troopers show: big guns, corrupt politicians, somewhat backwoods. It's hilariously true.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

*slipping into writers despair* 

I knew the voices telling me everything I write is garbage that needs to be burned to ashes would come back sooner or later...Hello old friends...


----------



## bdcharles

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> *slipping into writers despair*
> 
> I knew the voices telling me everything I write is garbage that needs to be burned to ashes would come back sooner or later...Hello old friends...



Use that voice in a character - and then kill them off. Wonderfully therapeutic


----------



## Ban

Happy less-than-two-months-from-Christmas!


----------



## Svrtnsse

Banten said:


> Happy less-than-two-months-from-Christmas!



Thanks 

Also, I've found that on social media I see a lot more posts from people who complain about Christmas beginning early, than I see from people actually excited about Christmas being on its way.


----------



## Ban

Svrtnsse said:


> Thanks
> 
> Also, I've found that on social media I see a lot more posts from people who complain about Christmas beginning early, than I see from people actually excited about Christmas being on its way.



I've noticed it too. I guess some people are dismayed by the heavy commercialisation of Christmas. Personally I don't mind. If businesses can make money off of happiness, love and pretty things then I say we let them.


----------



## Saigonnus

Banten said:


> I've noticed it too. I guess some people are dismayed by the heavy commercialisation of Christmas. Personally I don't mind. If businesses can make money off of happiness, love and pretty things then I say we let them.



I personally feel the opposite, sort of. I am perfectly fine with them capitalizing on Christmas. 

That being said, I despise them for starting it soooo early, skipping Thanksgiving almost entirely in the blitz for people buying the next biggest thing they probably don't even need. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Ban

Saigonnus said:


> I personally feel the opposite, sort of. I am perfectly fine with them capitalizing on Christmas.
> 
> That being said, I despise them for starting it soooo early, skipping Thanksgiving almost entirely in the blitz for people buying the next biggest thing they probably don't even need.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I guess that might be the big difference. I'm Dutch so I don't celebrate thanksgiving. The only big holiday we have before Christmas is Sinterklaas, which is essentially one of Christmas' living ancestors. Sinterklaas was one of the big inspirations for Santa Claus, together with the english father Winter and some other mythical figures. I guess that having two heavily commercialised holidays with a lot of overlap is not as grating as having one holiday overshadowed by the other.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Hey, thanksgiving is great. Sweet potato pie!

SO-ONG, SONG OF THE SOUTH, SWEET POTATO PIE AND SHUT. MY. MOUTH! GO-ONE, GONE WITH THE WIND, AIN'T NOBODY COMIN' BACK AGAIN...! 

Sorry. It happens.


----------



## Tom

Sweet potato pie? What depravity is this? Thanksgiving means pumpkin pie!


----------



## Ireth

Tom Nimenai said:


> Sweet potato pie? What depravity is this? Thanksgiving means pumpkin pie!



Or pumpkin cheesecake, at least in my house. Deee-licious. Which we have in October, because Canada is weird. XD


----------



## Chessie

Dude, sweet potato pie is THE pie of all time (and pecan, too). I hate pumpkin pie. Ick.


----------



## Tom

Obviously you've never had pumpkin pie the way true Northeasterners make it. ;P 

We don't make the filling heavy and overpoweringly sweet like storebought pies tend to. It's usually spiced and sweetened lightly to accentuate rather than cover up the natural pumpkin flavor. Add a dollop of fresh whipped cream and it's perfect. Love it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Sweet potato pie? What depravity is this? Thanksgiving means pumpkin pie!



You got issues, man. You need sweet potato pie in your life. I promise.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Or pumpkin cheesecake, at least in my house. Deee-licious. Which we have in October, because Canada is weird. XD



I will eat any cheesecake.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> You got issues, man. You need sweet potato pie in your life. I promise.



I'm pretty sure I'm not the one with issues, Dragon.  One slice of my aunt's pumpkin pie will convert you to the Dark Side.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> I'm pretty sure I'm not the one with issues, Dragon.  One slice of my aunt's pumpkin pie will convert you to the Dark Side.



What, are we competing? I'll eat any pie. Have you ever had sweet potato pie? The good kind with marshmallows on top?


----------



## Tom

Sweet potato pie is too sweet for me, especially with marshmallows. How about apple pie? That's another one of my family's holiday favorites.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Sweet potato pie is too sweet for me, especially with marshmallows. How about apple pie? That's another one of my family's holiday favorites.



Peach pie  

Apple pie is great too


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Sweet potato pie is too sweet for me, especially with marshmallows. How about apple pie? That's another one of my family's holiday favorites.



True, it's veeeeerrrry sweet...


----------



## Tom

Apple pie is especially good with a slice of cheddar cheese on the side.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Apple pie is especially good with a slice of cheddar cheese on the side.



Cheese? Weird...What about ice cream?


----------



## Tom

It's a Northeast thing. Ice cream is pretty good with it too, but nothing brings out the taste of apple pie like cheddar.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> It's a Northeast thing. Ice cream is pretty good with it too, but nothing brings out the taste of apple pie like cheddar.



My roots are Southern; I've never been very far "up north."


----------



## Chessie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Apple pie is especially good with a slice of cheddar cheese on the side.



This sounds yummy. I'm going to try this next time we have apple pie! And regarding Thanksgiving, thank goodness a couple from church invited us to their house for this one. My husband really hates turkey, so all the years we've been married I've missed out on turkey. Not even his mom cooked turkey when they lived here because hubby hates it so much. So yeah...I get to eat it this year woop! Usually we have a roast.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chesterama said:


> This sounds yummy. I'm going to try this next time we have apple pie! And regarding Thanksgiving, thank goodness a couple from church invited us to their house for this one. My husband really hates turkey, so all the years we've been married I've missed out on turkey. Not even his mom cooked turkey when they lived here because hubby hates it so much. So yeah...I get to eat it this year woop! Usually we have a roast.



I'm not fond of turkey either, but then again, I could do without meat entirely. Never really *liked* any kind of meat. :/


----------



## Ban

Sweet potato pie with marshmallows? 

Apple pie with cheddar? 


You're a weird bunch of people. I'm sticking with my cherry, apricot and rice pies. (Not all three combined)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Egg nog pie is best pie.


----------



## Tom

Apricot pie? And you're calling _us_ weird, Banten?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Apricot pie? And you're calling _us_ weird, Banten?



Are we not going to talk about the rice pie? I've had rice pudding (mixed feelings) but pie?


----------



## Ban

Apricot pie and rice pie are wonderful. Regional delicacies.

If you can look at rijstevlaai (rice pie) and not think it's delicious than I don't know what to say


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> Apricot pie and rice pie are wonderful. Regional delicacies.
> 
> If you can look at rijstevlaai (rice pie) and not think it's delicious than I don't know what to say



Can't without tasting it


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Can't without tasting it



Then you know what to bake this weekend


----------



## Chessie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Egg nog pie is best pie.



With rum? It's the only way egg nog is good anyway.


----------



## Ban

Chesterama said:


> With rum? It's the only way egg nog is good anyway.



Is egg nogg ever made without rum? I guess only the alcoholic version crossed the ocean haha


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> Is egg nogg ever made without rum? I guess only the alcoholic version crossed the ocean haha



Yes, it's sold at the store in cartons (with the milk). In my barista days, we would get egg nog for the season and have nog lattes on special. Ick. Ick yuck bleh!


----------



## Ban

That... does not sound good. Ick, Ick, Yuck, Bleh indeed.


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> That... does not sound good. Ick, Ick, Yuck, Bleh indeed.



Those lattes sold like crazy. We had daily deliveries of egg nog to the cafe during the holiday season, which as a barista, was hella lucrative. One wouldn't think it!


----------



## Reaver

Chesterama said:


> Those lattes sold like crazy. We had daily deliveries of egg nog to the cafe during the holiday season, which as a barista, was hella lucrative. One wouldn't think it!



Leaping lizards lass! Lucrative lattes? Alliteration aside, I can't believe that someone as well spoken as you just used the word "hella".

Just kidding Chessie.  Hope you and your loved ones are doing well.


----------



## Chessie

Haha! I hope you're doing well, too Reaver! I do speak with a lot of slang and have to constantly remind myself to talk properly when in public. But ya'll are my friends so....  And yes, up here at least being a barista is a good living for a young person. And right before I married, I worked at a coffee hut on weekends and waitressed the other 5 days of the week and made crazy amounts of money, especially in the summer.


----------



## Reaver

You're right, Chessie, we are all friends here.   My previous post was just a lighthearted barb. I also have to strive daily to avoid slang in public. 

On another note, I have the utmost respect for anyone brave enough to navigate the unappreciated field of endeavor known as the food service industry.


----------



## Chessie

I only miss the money, if that tells you anything. A few weeks ago, my husband and I went out for Pho at this popular little place here in town and they were absolutely packed. People were getting upset at the waitstaff for having to wait to sit down and for their food. One lady sitting behind us got attitude with the poor server, and it took all me not to turn around and say something. It wasn't my business to mind...but I don't miss the 85% crappy part of the job ranging from rude customers to lazy co-workers and burning myself countless times somewhere in between.


----------



## Tom

Yikes, the food industry. I hope I never have to work in it again. :eek2: For some reason people seem to think it's acceptable to be rude to you when you're wearing a restaurant uniform.


----------



## Reaver

Tom Nimenai said:


> For some reason people seem to think it's acceptable to be rude to you when you're wearing a restaurant uniform.



Those are the people who've never seen the movie "Waiting".  One of my cardinal rules is "Always be incredibly kind to those who handle your food."


----------



## Chessie

Reaver said:


> Those are the people who've never seen the movie "Waiting".  One of my cardinal rules is "Always be incredibly kind to those who handle your food."



Not that I've ever messed anyone's food up on purpose, but there are ways food service workers get back at rude customers: taking forever to bring your beer back, cutting you off that beer, making you wait a little longer for service, etc. When people got mad at me I just played stupid "oh, I'm SO sorry." 

As a barista, things were different. One customer at the cafe I worked at was an incredible pain. She was rude, had us remake her drinks every time, and didn't tip well. All of the baristas hated her. She would make out with her boyfriend in the middle of the cafe and shove her hands down his pants infront of children and families. Ick. So whenever she came in for a latte we did little things to her drinks like, fill up the syrup to half the cup or...maybe mix half and half with her skim or...give her decaf instead of regular or...the wrong kind of tea...you get the drift. I was also immature and in my 20s so I wouldn't do that sort of stuff now but I seriously hated her lol. The worst thing was when I switched cafes and she ate at the other one, too. The last time I waited on her she had me send her tuna melt back because it was too creamy. For reals, lady? Tuna sandwiches have mayo!


----------



## Tom

When I worked at a fast food place, they put me on drive-thru, which was...haha, not the best idea. Auditory processing disorder + bad headsets? Not great. They eventually took me off headset, thank god. 

But yeah, anyway, there was this one guy who always came through the drive-thru just around closing time, and I would have to stop prepping for closing to take down his order and get it expedited. He was also kind of a jerk. One winter night, in the middle of a snowstorm, he pulled up and ordered 3 cheeseburgers. I misheard him due to the bad intercom and the wind noise, and thought he said 2 cheeseburgers. When he'd finished his order I read it back to him, and he got so mad when I said I'd entered 2 cheeseburgers instead of 3. So he yells "ONE, TWO, THREE CHEESEBURGERS! THREE!" over the intercom.

Well. Everyone working the kitchen that night had a headset, so we ALL heard him. When kitchen wrapped up his burgers they wrote 1, 2, and 3 on the wrappers, and when I expedited them I put them in three individual bags also marked 1, 2, and 3. When I leaned out the window into the freezing wind and snow flurries to give him his order, I smiled as wide as I could and said, "Here's your one, two, three cheeseburgers!" in the most obnoxiously cheerful voice possible. The look on his face was priceless. Everyone had a good laugh when he pulled away.


----------



## Chessie

Tom, holy shit that's hilarious! AHAHA! I used to love it when stupid people were put in their place. The last restaurant I worked at serves a high class clientel. Many drunk business people there. And where there is drunk there is also stupid. I have so many stories I could tell, but perhaps one of my favorites was a group of drunk dudes from the restaurant next door. One of the guys asked if he could buy me and I said, "hey, let me ask my boss what the going price would be. I'll be right back." And of course, she went to the table with a mighty vengeance and kicked him and his friends out into the winter night. HAHA!!


----------



## Saigonnus

Tom Nimenai said:


> Sweet potato pie is too sweet for me, especially with marshmallows. How about apple pie? That's another one of my family's holiday favorites.



I second this! Pumpkin pie isn't my thing either, don't like the texture. Yuck! 

Give me apple streusel, traditional apple, peach, mincemeat and I am happy. Give me ham over turkey... unless I make the bird.  


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Russ

So I am watching a college football game between Arkansas and Florida on Saturday and Arkansas has this very good wide receiver/kick returner named "Jerry Cornelius".

Now Jerry Cornelius was the star of a number of Moorcock's stranger books and might have been the vehicle for the first "shared universe" type stories as a number of other authors wrote about him and his world.

It was just weird to hear the announcers keep using his name.  It would be like a Tolkien fan hearing "Bilbo Baggins with the 15 yard catch on the out" all day.

Strange experience.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> So I am watching a college football game between Arkansas and Florida on Saturday and Arkansas has this very good wide receiver/kick returner named "Jerry Cornelius".
> 
> Now Jerry Cornelius was the star of a number of Moorcock's stranger books and might have been the vehicle for the first "shared universe" type stories as a number of other authors wrote about him and his world.
> 
> It was just weird to hear the announcers keep using his name.  It would be like a Tolkien fan hearing "Bilbo Baggins with the 15 yard catch on the out" all day.
> 
> Strange experience.



You and I both know Bilbo would be a running back in short yardage situations because he'd go right under the defense.


----------



## Chessie

I wonder if it's possible to infuse my story with rock n' roll. This manuscript is getting written to Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and all sorts of 80s rock.  (this means my fantasy world has boomboxes)


----------



## Svrtnsse

Do it! They'll all have really long fluffy hair and jeans with the knees ripped open.

On a more serious note - it shouldn't be too difficult to give it a bit of a rock n' roll feeling. A lot of that kind of stuff has a fair bit of epicosity and fantasticness infused in it, doesn't it?


----------



## Chessie

I don't think my readers would like it so much.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Make them! :mad2:


----------



## Tom

Well. Today was just craptastic. I'm going to be so happy when this semester is over...


----------



## Svrtnsse

I just caught myself singing along to the music in my headphones... at my desk at work. Fortunately everyone else is wearing headphones too.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Also: Depeche Mode - When the Body Speaks


----------



## Chessie

It's hard not to dance along to Depeche Mode. Well, sway is more like it.


----------



## SeverinR

Chesterama said:


> It's hard not to dance along to Depeche Mode. Well, sway is more like it.


I have that same problem after a few fireballs. (swaying)


----------



## evolution_rex

Anyone fellow Americans unable to write due to anxiety of the election? I'm not trying to get political, I just want to see if I'm the only one.


----------



## Nimue

...you are not the only one.  Imagination...has not been working.  I'm just starting to have room in my head for writing today.


----------



## Chessie

evolution_rex said:


> Anyone fellow Americans unable to write due to anxiety of the election? I'm not trying to get political, I just want to see if I'm the only one.



No, you're not alone. Things are crazy right now and emotions are running high. I could hardly think straight yesterday but forced myself anyway and came 400 words shy of my daily word count goal.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I'm not even American, but it's affected me as well. I'm clinging to this at the moment - and I'm throwing the quote about a lot as well:


----------



## Chessie

I'm just tired of people being jerks to one another for having a different opinion. It's exhausting. So I locked myself out of Facebook temporarily. Let's hope that helps. *rolls eyes*


----------



## Ireth

Canadian here, feeling sick to my stomach over this whole thing. I've already had an American friend ask me if I have room on my couch for them to crash.


----------



## evolution_rex

Svrtnsse said:


> I'm not even American, but it's affected me as well. I'm clinging to this at the moment - and I'm throwing the quote about a lot as well:


That made me feel a little better, thanks.


----------



## Svrtnsse

...and as a bit of perspective: I just heard of a lifeguard friend of mine who had to spend the night in hospital after aspirating sea water while rescuing two people from an overturned boat. Everyone's okay, both the friend and the victims he saved, but it's still a bit of a contrast against everything else.

You all stay safe out there now you hear.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm still not able to really comprehend the results of the election. I was so stressed the night of Election Day I was feeling nauseous.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Svrtnsse said:


> I'm not even American, but it's affected me as well. I'm clinging to this at the moment - and I'm throwing the quote about a lot as well:



I love this.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

evolution_rex said:


> Anyone fellow Americans unable to write due to anxiety of the election? I'm not trying to get political, I just want to see if I'm the only one.



My writings been fine, a welcome distraction really...


----------



## Devor

I know that many people are emotional over the election.  I appreciate that we keep any discussion here tame, and a little vague, in respect for our policy against politics.  So far as politics is concerned, Mythic Scribes should be a place you come to visit because you don't want to think about what happened this week.  So far the discussion is okay, but let's not spoil that.


----------



## Reaver

Because this topic is so polarizing,  I believe that the forum rules apply and should be followed. If members want to discuss current political events, it should be done via PM or private chat.



> Politics and Religion
> 
> Contemporary political discussion inevitably leads to mistrust and division. Asking questions about politics as it directly relates to writing is fine, as is discussing historical political developments for the purpose of research. But all contemporary politics, including hot-button issues, are unwelcome distractions that must be avoided.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Dear mandatory training,

I know how to open a PDF. Thanks.


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Dear mandatory training,
> I know how to open a PDF. Thanks.


Dear mandatory training,
Taking Bribes is a *BAD* thing...
[ In honesty, the bits about what is considered bribery was fairly enlightening... ]


----------



## Chessie

One of our cats has a sadistic desire to drive me batshit when I sweep the floors. She likes to run through the piles of dirt, frolicking throughout the house like a bunny rabbit. It might be cute if having to sweep over what I just did again wasn't so annoying...


----------



## Reaver

Chesterama said:


> One of our cats has a sadistic desire to drive me batshit when I sweep the floors. She likes to run through the piles of dirt, frolicking throughout the house like a bunny rabbit. It might be cute if having to sweep over what I just did again wasn't so annoying...



Ozymandias thanks you for this post.


----------



## Chessie

Is that your cat? Russian Blue? What a beauty!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Reaver said:


> Ozymandias thanks you for this post.



aww! I love cats


----------



## Reaver

Chesterama said:


> Is that your cat? Russian Blue? What a beauty!



Yes. That's my third roommate. He is a Russian Blue. There's also my Bombay, Slick.


----------



## Chessie

What beauties! Ages ago, I had a Russian Blue named Seafort. Unfortunately, he only lived a year due to a condition in his urethra common in male cats, which is why I've had only females since then. I do love Siameses, so have had more of those. Now we have a Siamese "Maya" and a Calico "Autumn The Slayer" because she's a ruthless killer.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Reaver said:


> Yes. That's my third roommate. He is a Russian Blue. There's also my Bombay, Slick.



Beautiful. Black cats are my favorites


----------



## Ireth

Yay, kitties! :3

I have a shorthair tabby named Schnurrbart, which is German for "whiskers". Or possibly "mustache", I can't remember. I had originally named him Arian, which is "silver" in Welsh, but Mom took to calling him Schnurrbart and it stuck. Much to my chagrin. We also have a long-haired grey cat (unsure of the breed, but we think he might be a Maine Coon) named Fluffer ("Fluff" for short), because that's the kind of name a seven-year-old (i.e. my little sister) comes up with. XD


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Yay, kitties! :3
> 
> I have a shorthair tabby named Schnurrbart, which is German for "whiskers". Or possibly "mustache", I can't remember. I had originally named him Arian, which is "silver" in Welsh, but Mom took to calling him Schnurrbart and it stuck. Much to my chagrin. We also have a long-haired grey cat (unsure of the breed, but we think he might be a Maine Coon) named Fluffer ("Fluff" for short), because that's the kind of name a seven-year-old (i.e. my little sister) comes up with. XD



I had a cat named Benny (but we called him Ben Ben.) Sadly he disappeared one day and we never saw him again... :,(


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I had a cat named Benny (but we called him Ben Ben.) Sadly he disappeared one day and we never saw him again... :,(



Awww, I'm sorry. That's rough.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Awww, I'm sorry. That's rough.



I hope he's safe and happy somewhere, and that nothing happened to him.


----------



## Chessie

We had one taken by a Great Horned last fall. That was traumatizing (she slipped out of a cracked window at night). Went out a week later and got the calico. Our cats still go outside but we're way more vigilant about the windows now.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chesterama said:


> We had one taken by a Great Horned last fall. That was traumatizing (she slipped out of a cracked window at night). Went out a week later and got the calico. Our cats still go outside but we're way more vigilant about the windows now.



Oh no! So sorry  

I was scared myself because there's a dog in the neighborhood that's a cat killer (the owners let it run free).  The neighbors all hate it, and have all called Animal Control on it many times, but Animal Control hasn't done anything.


----------



## Reaver

Very sad when we lose pets. My cats are inside cats only.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Reaver said:


> Very sad when we lose pets. My cats are inside cats only.



I wish mine could have been, but we weren't able to keep them exclusively indoors at the time.


----------



## Chessie

Reaver said:


> Very sad when we lose pets. My cats are inside cats only.



When we lived in the city the cats were only allowed in the yard. In the mountains it's a different story. We're the only house on our street. Our nearest neighbors can be heard, not seen, and so we live in the middle of a forest. Not much danger during the day but certainly at night. They're allowed outside during the day for a limited period of time. The only reason we lost one was because she slipped out of a cracked window somehow (we still have no idea how she was able to play Houdini on that one).

Our system isn't without fault though. This summer, I was outside with the calico trying to get her inside and refused to budge/come to my call. She wouldn't move from her spot underneath the porch. When I went back inside, I saw a lynx walking down our driveway. I immediately went outside to shoo it away (yes, I'm pretty stupid). Our cat, smart girl, was actually hiding under the porch and lay completely silent until the lynx left. These cats know the dangers for the most part. But there are times of the year we don't let them out like in the fall when a lot of pets go missing around here. We think it's because all sorts of predators are moving through these valleys in order to get to their winter/hibernating grounds and eat some snacks along the way. For example, the owls move in when the cold comes and leave in the spring.


----------



## Heliotrope

Mines an outdoor cat only. Same circumstance as Chessie. We've never had a litter box for her and cat food is basically a suppliment to her mouse/bird diet.

Oh and yeah, when she was only a few weeks old she almost got eaten by a barn owl, poor thing.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I read an article about a book called LTI (LTI ? Lingua Tertii Imperii - Wikipedia). It's a topic that quite interests me, and which I think is important and overlooked, so the article had me excited. Unfortunately, it was written in a horribly convoluted fashion, making it difficult to read. It's like the writer tried to impress me with his language skills and his use of fancy words, but didn't quite pull it off. 

It annoyed me no end.


----------



## Chessie

Speaking of cats, my entire chest and shoulder area is jacked from the calico. She likes to climb all over me then gets spooked and digs in with her claws. Earlier today, some bunnies were feeding in our backyard and I was carrying her by the window when she saw them. Needless to say, my left shoulder area looks like someone took a knife and tried to make art.

Btw, this is what she does to bunnies:

death.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Our Jack Russell Terrier likes hanging onto one end of a knotted rope while I hold the other end and spin her around me, occasionally lifting her feet off the floor. It's good exercise for me.


----------



## Writeking

Last night, I dreamed I was attacked by squirrels.


----------



## SaltyDog

Writeking said:


> Last night, I dreamed I was attacked by squirrels.



No comment.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Writeking said:


> Last night, I dreamed I was attacked by squirrels.



What color were they?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Writeking said:


> Last night, I dreamed I was attacked by squirrels.



That's a very normal dream compared to most of mine


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

I once dreamed I was being chased by a giant snake. It was about 200 yards long, about an eighth of a mile. My younger brother Steve showed up and beat it up. He was always the strong one. When he  was a senior in high school, he could beat pretty much anyone in the county -- grown men included -- at arm wrestling.

I liked building things with blocks, fixing puzzles, etc. Steve would come along and tear everything down or mess it up. So I'm not sure why I had a sort of hero worship of him, but we were brothers and while we might have been at personal odds sometimes, we'd both staunchly defend the other against outsiders.

Steve's gone now, the telling of which is too depressing to relate here. But he's still with me too.

Damn those attacking dream squirrels.


----------



## Chessie

So our police department accidentally caught our town serial killer. It was huge news yesterday. What a relief! We can actually walk our city trails again without fear of being slaughtered.


----------



## SaltyDog

Chesterama said:


> So our police department accidentally caught our town serial killer. It was huge news yesterday. What a relief! We can actually walk our city trails again without fear of being slaughtered.



Wow!  That's some big news there!  Glad the killer was caught, and that hopefully justice will be served.


----------



## spectre

Yeah but I'm still on the loose!

Sent from my Alcatel_4060O using Tapatalk


----------



## Chessie

Well...he's dead, actually. He tried to kill a police officer and got taken down by a group of them.


----------



## Writeking

Brown and grey.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Can someone who has read stuff I've written name some things I'm not good at? I'm trying to figure out what to try to practice...


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Can someone who has read stuff I've written name some things I'm not good at? I'm trying to figure out what to try to practice...



I would suggest looking at the judgments for your stories in the challenges you entered.


----------



## Writeking

Read a book one time that used pee as a magic spell component.


----------



## SaltyDog

Well...I have been writing tonight.  Woo hoo.  My schedule has been as crazy as ever, and unfortunately, writing has been pushed to the bottom of my huge pile of to do these past weeks.  I am going to try to write more during thanksgiving break though, so I'll have the time.  Now all I'll need to do is actually write...no hard problem right?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Well...I have been writing tonight.  Woo hoo.  My schedule has been as crazy as ever, and unfortunately, writing has been pushed to the bottom of my huge pile of to do these past weeks.  I am going to try to write more during thanksgiving break though, so I'll have the time.  Now all I'll need to do is actually write...no hard problem right?



Yay! Good to hear


----------



## Jackarandajam

Writeking said:


> Read a book one time that used pee as a magic spell component.



Yep, by Vox Day, i forget the name of the book. The Werewolves, right?


----------



## Writeking

ShadowFall by James Clemens.


----------



## Svrtnsse

So I'm tinkering away at my story, and I keep being tempted to use the phrase "it couldn't be worse than" in all kinds of places. Technically, it's fine, but it also feels like it's an unspoken promise to the reader about how it's absolutely definitely going to get worse. 

Which is annoying because it actually isn't so I'll have to write something else instead.


----------



## Chessie

I love how I accidentally deleted my level 108 save in Fallout 4. Stupid. That's what happens when you're a moron that only stores one save. Learning lessons the hard way this week.


----------



## Ban

Chesterama said:


> I love how I accidentally deleted my level 108 save in Fallout 4. Stupid. That's what happens when you're a moron that only stores one save. Learning lessons the hard way this week.



Never use only 1 save with Bethesda games. If the accidental deletings don't ruin the fun, it will be the bugs.


----------



## Tom

I do the same thing with both Bethesda and BioWare games. One of the captions for Dragon Age 2 loading screens is "Remember to save your game frequently!" and I always laugh nervously when I see it. Heh. Guilty. At least DA2 autosaves after every cutscreen...

One instance where it came back to bite me was the time I rode on an autosave for three hours on Skyrim. Never, ever do that. I ended up getting killed by a dragon outside Markarth and loading back to where it had autosaved when I left my house in Windhelm.


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> Never use only 1 save with Bethesda games. If the accidental deletings don't ruin the fun, it will be the bugs.



I know, right?! That was a lesson I should have learned with Skyrim but noooo....

Although I do have a ton of saves from level 19-26, so guess I'm level 26 again. GRRROOOOOAAAANNN.


----------



## Chessie

Tom Nimenai said:


> I do the same thing with both Bethesda and BioWare games. One of the captions for Dragon Age 2 loading screens is "Remember to save your game frequently!" and I always laugh nervously when I see it. Heh. Guilty. At least DA2 autosaves after every cutscreen...
> 
> One instance where it came back to bite me was the time I rode on an autosave for three hours on Skyrim. Never, ever do that. I ended up getting killed by a dragon outside Markarth and loading back to where it had autosaved when I left my house in Windhelm.



That sounds super annoying. I've had some miserable reloads where I had rage quit in the middle of battle and reloaded to some seriously bad shizzle going on...like a Dragon Priest shooting me with lightning.


----------



## Tom

I don't really rage quit, I just keep reloading even after I've died like five hundred times. I'm too stubborn I guess.  There was one time where I was in Valthume, trying to defeat a Draugr Deathlord who was about level 20...I was at level 7 at the time. After getting frozen, hacked to pieces, or roasted to death more times than I could count, I finally just sprinted out of Valthume and promptly ran into the Headless Horseman. I followed him to a barrow, where I then had to fight off a bunch of skeletons and Draugr. 

I think the worst thing in Skyrim is if you have a dog...One time my dog died in a fight and I was so heartbroken I loaded back to a save before the fight.


----------



## Chessie

Ugh Valthume is the worst! And about the dog...I always make them invinsible in the console because I can't handle my followers dying.


----------



## Jackarandajam

Writeking said:


> ShadowFall by James Clemens.



Wow, at least two different pee-pee magicks have been created and published in the world of Fantasy. Who'da thunkit.


----------



## SaltyDog

Tom Nimenai said:


> I don't really rage quit, I just keep reloading even after I've died like five hundred times. I'm too stubborn I guess.  There was one time where I was in Valthume, trying to defeat a Draugr Deathlord who was about level 20...I was at level 7 at the time. After getting frozen, hacked to pieces, or roasted to death more times than I could count, I finally just sprinted out of Valthume and promptly ran into the Headless Horseman. I followed him to a barrow, where I then had to fight off a bunch of skeletons and Draugr.
> 
> I think the worst thing in Skyrim is if you have a dog...One time my dog died in a fight and I was so heartbroken I loaded back to a save before the fight.



Lol I'm that way with any game involving a dog.


----------



## Chessie

Also the reason why Fallout Chloe doesn't take Dogmeat along on her adventures anymore. Although he doesn't die (none of the followers in Fallout can), his painful yelps when he gets hurt are absolutely tear jerking. So he sports his camo bandana and guards her settlements instead and I don't have to cry my way through applying a stimpak.


----------



## Chessie

How about Rex in New Vegas? The cyborg dog idea was by far my favorite. 

I've never played FO1 & 2 but fell in love with Tactics, 3 and Vegas.


----------



## Chessie

Oooh, thanks for the heads up! My husband is a huge Fallout fan and has been playing the games since OG times, just like with TES. He's recommended that I give 1 & 2 a shot someday. I have so many games on my to-be-played list it's not even funny.


----------



## Chessie

Dude, that looks awesome! Thanks for the recommendation. Another game to try out.  I'm assuming it's not on Steam...


----------



## Chessie

That looks right up my alley. Going to look for it on Amazon and see what I can find.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

*wishing I was even remotely a gamer* 

I wanna play Skyrim but sadly I live with an 8 year old who is home all the time so I can't. :/


----------



## SaltyDog

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> *wishing I was even remotely a gamer*
> 
> I wanna play Skyrim but sadly I live with an 8 year old who is home all the time so I can't. :/



You ever thought about Star Wars Battlefront?  Probably one of the best games I have ever played.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> You ever thought about Star Wars Battlefront?  Probably one of the best games I have ever played.



What console(s)? 

I love Star Wars, so...


----------



## Tom

SaltyDog said:


> You ever thought about Star Wars Battlefront?  Probably one of the best games I have ever played.



Battlefront is so good! I have PS3, so I can't play it at home, but I have played some of it at a friend's house. Probably my favorite Star Wars game besides Force Unleashed.


----------



## SaltyDog

Yeah it is Tom!  

And I play on PC through origin, DotA.


----------



## La Volpe

Reaver said:


> For me, it all started with Dogmeat in the original Fallout on PC.
> 
> (Yes young people, Fallout existed before the year 2000.)
> 
> In that version Dogmeat can die, which is why I never took him on dangerous missions. He sure did love riding around the wasteland in the car though.
> 
> Anyways... Good ol' Dogmeat...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Best. NPC. Ever.



I was just about to say, "wait what" to Chesterama's post. I only know Dogmeat through Fallout 1, and he died every time I played. And I give him the skewer of meat every time, even though I know he's going to die a tragic death soon after.

Such a good dog. I try so hard to keep him alive, but to no avail.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I just came across a band called "Dancing About Architectures" which I found to be highly amusing. Unfortunately I wasn't in the mood for their kind of music, but I may get back to it later.


----------



## Ban

Lin-Manuel Miranda to Produce 'Kingkiller Chronicle' Film, TV Series

So apparently the main guy behind the excellent musical Hamilton will make the music for the upcoming Kingkiller tv-series. I guess GoT might finally have a serious rival for its claim to best fantasy show.


----------



## Jackarandajam

Banten said:


> Lin-Manuel Miranda to Produce 'Kingkiller Chronicle' Film, TV Series
> 
> So apparently the main guy behind the excellent musical Hamilton will make the music for the upcoming Kingkiller tv-series. I guess GoT might finally have a serious rival for its claim to best fantasy show.



I hope the show gets a decent budget. I tried to watch The Shannarra Chronicles one... they could have used some slightly more expensive actors.


----------



## Ban

Jackarandajam said:


> I hope the show gets a decent budget. I tried to watch The Shannarra Chronicles one... they could have used some slightly more expensive actors.



Hope so too. I think having such a high quality musician on board is a good omen for the project in total at least.


----------



## Chessie

I find it hilarious when someone tries to me insult me by starting with, "well, you're not as old as I am so..."

LOL laughing @ almost 40...wtf ever.


----------



## La Volpe

Reaver said:


> In a previous post I mentioned that good ole Dogmeat is a playable NPC in Fallout 2. He's in a hidden location in the desert called the Cafe of Broken Dreams. It's one of those random location encounters that you need a high rating in luck to get. That being said, if you find this place and you're wearing the Vault Suit, he'll join you.



I never found him in Fallout 2, but now I know where to look. Does he still die as easily?

The only dog I recruited in Fallout 2 was that robot one, K-9.


----------



## Chessie

I've unfortunately never played Fallout 2 but I do know that he doesn't die in 4 and Rex doesn't die in New Vegas. 

Speaking of Dogmeat, I searched my videos and didn't find one with _just_ him but I do have this one lol: (he's hanging around). This was my co-op tour for a gaming website and some drama had developed during the filming. 



Spoiler: a bit gory


----------



## Chessie

I read somewhere that the next Fallout is rumored to be in New Orleans. If that's the case, I might never see the sunlight again haha! 4 came out during NaNo last year so needless to say, I got 10k into my story and decided the Commonwealth was more important.


----------



## Chessie

I definitely don't play just any ole FPS though. It has to be special since my gaming time is limited.


----------



## La Volpe

Reaver said:


> Dogmeat is very tough in Fallout 2 and does a ton of damage.  There's another robodog in NCR. All you have to do is meet up with the mad scientist Dr. Henry. He gives you a syringe with mutagenic serum and all you have to do is use it on Lenny the mutant. He can be found at the bar to the west outside the NCR gates. After you use it on him, return to the doctor and he'll give you the robodog.
> 
> 
> ******EDIT*******
> 
> I just found the max attainable stats for Dogmeat from the Fallout wiki page:
> 
> *Fallout 1 *
> 
> Hit Points: 50
> 
> Armor Class: 21
> 
> Action Points: 13
> 
> Carry Weight: 175
> 
> Melee Damage: 9
> 
> Sequence: 14
> 
> Healing Rate: 1
> 
> *Fallout 2*
> 
> Hit Points: 168
> 
> Armor Class: 25
> 
> Action Points: 17
> 
> Carry Weight: 200
> 
> Melee Damage: 20
> 
> Sequence: 16
> 
> Healing Rate: 2



Oh, wow. Now I'm going to have to replay that game and get Dogmeat, just to see him kick some supermutant ass.



Reaver said:


> I wish that I was into FPS games but I certainly understand the appeal. The only FPS game I play these days is Doom on my Sega Genesis.





			
				Chesterama said:
			
		

> I read somewhere that the next Fallout is rumored to be in New Orleans. If that's the case, I might never see the sunlight again haha! 4 came out during NaNo last year so needless to say, I got 10k into my story and decided the Commonwealth was more important.



I bought Fallout 3 after I found, played and loved 1 and 2. I still haven't finished it. I love the atmosphere and everything, but the gameplay just isn't what it used to be.
Even ignoring the FPS bit, something just feels off. But if I remember correctly, Bethesda (i.e. the Elder Scrolls developers) bought the rights after Fallout 2 (or Brotherhood of Steel, probably?); so that explains why the gameplay feels so different.

On a related note, have you seen Wasteland 2? (For the uninitiated, Fallout was a kind of a spiritual successor to Wasteland 1; I put a couple of hours into Wasteland 1, but dang, that combat system.) It looks pretty good, and a looks like it'll play a lot like the old Fallouts and Wasteland. I bought a copy a while back, but haven't gotten around to trying it out.


----------



## Ban

Chessie said:


> I read somewhere that the next Fallout is rumored to be in New Orleans. If that's the case, I might never see the sunlight again haha! 4 came out during NaNo last year so needless to say, I got 10k into my story and decided the Commonwealth was more important.



If Obsidian makes the Next Fallout again I will probably never play something else again. That's basically what happened after New Vegas. If Bethesda makes the Next Fallout, I will have fun shooting Supermutants. Either way it's a win.


----------



## Chessie

@La Volpe, we have Wasteland 2 but I've never played it. My husband loves it although he has yet to finish it. I've been threatening myself with playing it for ages now but maybe I just need to do it.

Also...SNOW! Finally snow!!! 

*dusts off her snowshoes*

I'll be heading into the mountains today...yes!


----------



## Ban

Chessie said:


> Also...SNOW! Finally snow!!!



Walking the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.



(This Post apparently made me a Scribal Lord. Fear my Scribal powers!)


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> Walking the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter.
> 
> 
> 
> (This Post apparently made me a Scribal Lord. Fear my Scribal powers!)



New spell powers, too?  I'm imagining your Koala in mage robes lol!

The snow isn't deep enough yet to comfortably snowshoe. But getting outside is great now that it's warmer!


----------



## Ban

Chessie said:


> New spell powers, too?  I'm imagining your Koala in mage robes lol!
> 
> The snow isn't deep enough yet to comfortably snowshoe. But getting outside is great now that it's warmer!



Certainly. I now have the magical ability to sleep for 12 hours straight and smell Eucalyptus from a few meters away.

I'm putting that on my resumÃ©.


----------



## Tom

I think my laptop touchpad is broken. My left-click keeps sticking and it's really annoying. :/


----------



## skip.knox

Have you tried a spell of Unsticking? 

Unstick the Click!

(let me know if that worked; I shall be very excited)


----------



## Tom

I don't know if it would be considered a spell, but rapping on the touchpad while swearing profusely seems to have fixed it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> I don't know if it would be considered a spell, but rapping on the touchpad while swearing profusely seems to have fixed it.



Don't rap on your computer even when frustrated  I ruined a hard drive that way...Lost like 3 half novels and all my ideas and notes!!


----------



## Tom

Haha, nothing will ever kill this thing. I've dropped it, hit it, left it in the car during a heat wave, spilled liquids ranging from water to hot soup on it, everything. It's just like my phone--indestructible. I bought all of my electronics with durability in mind, because I'm a major klutz. I also live a pretty active life, so my stuff has to be able to get beat up and still work.

So sorry to hear about that hard drive! I've never had a hard drive kick the bucket, but I have experienced several crashes that wiped a ton of files. Back in the day when I was still writing on fanfiction.net, the crappy old desktop I was using crashed and I lost all of the fanfics I'd been working on for weeks or even months. Thanks to my FF account, though, I had a ton of it saved online so I didn't lose everything. That incident really drove home the importance of always keeping a backup!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> Haha, nothing will ever kill this thing. I've dropped it, hit it, left it in the car during a heat wave, spilled liquids ranging from water to hot soup on it, everything. It's just like my phone--indestructible. I bought all of my electronics with durability in mind, because I'm a major klutz. I also live a pretty active life, so my stuff has to be able to get beat up and still work.
> 
> So sorry to hear about that hard drive! I've never had a hard drive kick the bucket, but I have experienced several crashes that wiped a ton of files. Back in the day when I was still writing on fanfiction.net, the crappy old desktop I was using crashed and I lost all of the fanfics I'd been working on for weeks or even months. Thanks to my FF account, though, I had a ton of it saved online so I didn't lose everything. That incident really drove home the importance of always keeping a backup!



I swear every writer has a horror story about technology betraying them and files getting vaporized. 

Haha...Your stories remind me of the time when I couldn't find my phone and i suspected it was tangled up in the blankets on my bed so I gave them a flick and WHAM! It hit the ceiling and fell to the floor. Well, I found it. Ive dropped my phone down stairs and everything, but it's still just fine.


----------



## spectre

After picking the series up when I was 14 then abandoning it for almost 2 decades I finished the Wheel of Time tonight. Excellent last three books, especially the first of the three. I've heard Sanderson take criticism but he did all this right. #Bucketlistseries

Sent from my Alcatel_4060O using Tapatalk


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I swear every writer has a horror story about technology betraying them and files getting vaporized.



Yep! I guess it's kind of an initiation rite. 



> Haha...Your stories remind me of the time when I couldn't find my phone and i suspected it was tangled up in the blankets on my bed so I gave them a flick and WHAM! It hit the ceiling and fell to the floor. Well, I found it. Ive dropped my phone down stairs and everything, but it's still just fine.



Oh man, that reminds me of what I did to my phone a while ago. So this summer, I went tent camping with a bunch of friends at Stony Brook State Park. This was like, immediately after I'd been working as a sports counselor at a summer camp for six weeks, so my phone had already been through hell and back. 

We were hiking along the trail beside the creek to the natural swimming pool below the waterfalls, and my phone slipped out of my trunks pocket and fell into the creek. The trail is on a ledge running along the gorge, so it fell a good four feet before landing face-down on the creek bed. Underwater. 

My best friend was like, "Dude, your phone is shot." But when I got down to the creek bed and fished it out, it was perfectly fine! Was still on and everything. (The next morning I almost dropped it into the fire while cooking breakfast, so I didn't really learn my lesson, if that's what the universe was trying to do.)

I must have good luck with technology or something. I've never broken a phone. Which is surprising, for someone whose catchphrase is "I know this is probably a bad idea, but..."


----------



## La Volpe

Tom Nimenai said:


> I don't know if it would be considered a spell, but rapping on the touchpad while swearing profusely seems to have fixed it.



Makes me think of my scroll button issue with my mouse. All of them, actually. One day, the scroll button just magically stops working. I don't know if scroll buttons don't like me or what, because no one else I know have ever had this problem, but it has happened to 3 or 4 of mine. Anyway, I googled about the problem, hoping to get a guide to taking apart the mouse and getting it to work again.

Instead, there was a guy in a forum post who said that you can fix the mouse with "rapid application of mouse on table". It sounded absurd, but several dozen posts on the forum reported that it worked, so I thought what the hell, and slammed my mouse on the table a couple of times.

And inexplicably, it worked. With every one of the mouses that I had scroll button issues with. Thanks, random guy on the internet.


----------



## Tom

I could make an IT guy faint by telling him how many serious tech problems I've fixed with the "turning it off and on again" and "hitting it against a hard surface" methods.


----------



## Chessie

I think my husband broke my toe by accidentally dropping the BOSU on it. 

Sigh. The casualties of marriage.


----------



## Incanus

Hello everyone.

I was away for a little while, but I’m back now.  I may as well mention what happened.

So, I had myself a heart-attack on the evening of 10/9/16, but I didn’t know that’s what it was while it was happening.  It was sort of surprising but not totally unexpected—my dad had this issue and I take after him quite a bit.

Anyway, three days later I went in for a triple bypass.  A bit of an ordeal.  Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in shape for writing during and after that.  It was about a month before I could pick up the pen again.

But, I’m doing well.  I had great aftercare by my family (including not one, but TWO nurses who are sisters).  I’m otherwise healthy, not overweight, non-smoker, and I have no other complications.

I’m back at work (you know, day job) and almost back to normal.

So that’s all for now.  Hope everyone here has been doing well.


----------



## Ireth

Glad to know you're okay, Incanus!


----------



## Incanus

Thanks, Ireth!  I'm really happy to be approaching 'normal' again.  Or course, normal for me is weird for most.  As it should be.


----------



## Nimue

Oh my goodness, Incanus, I'm sorry you had to go through all that!  It's good to have you back--and better to know that you're feeling better.  Take it easy!


----------



## Tom

Good to have you back, Incanus! Take care of yourself.


----------



## ThinkerX

Incanus said:


> Hello everyone.
> 
> I was away for a little while, but I’m back now.  I may as well mention what happened.
> 
> So, I had myself a heart-attack on the evening of 10/9/16, but I didn’t know that’s what it was while it was happening.  It was sort of surprising but not totally unexpected—my dad had this issue and I take after him quite a bit.
> 
> Anyway, three days later I went in for a triple bypass.  A bit of an ordeal.  Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in shape for writing during and after that.  It was about a month before I could pick up the pen again.
> 
> But, I’m doing well.  I had great aftercare by my family (including not one, but TWO nurses who are sisters).  I’m otherwise healthy, not overweight, non-smoker, and I have no other complications.
> 
> I’m back at work (you know, day job) and almost back to normal.
> 
> So that’s all for now.  Hope everyone here has been doing well.



Don't take after Franz Werfel - the guy who completed his magnum opus mere days before his demise. 

'Star of the Unborn' (a truly strange fantasy novel from a couple generations back)


----------



## spectre

Incanus said:


> Hello everyone.
> 
> I was away for a little while, but I’m back now.  I may as well mention what happened.
> 
> So, I had myself a heart-attack on the evening of 10/9/16, but I didn’t know that’s what it was while it was happening.  It was sort of surprising but not totally unexpected–my dad had this issue and I take after him quite a bit.
> 
> Anyway, three days later I went in for a triple bypass.  A bit of an ordeal.  Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in shape for writing during and after that.  It was about a month before I could pick up the pen again.
> 
> But, I’m doing well.  I had great aftercare by my family (including not one, but TWO nurses who are sisters).  I’m otherwise healthy, not overweight, non-smoker, and I have no other complications.
> 
> I’m back at work (you know, day job) and almost back to normal.
> 
> So that’s all for now.  Hope everyone here has been doing well.


welcome back and happy health


Sent from my Alcatel_4060O using Tapatalk


----------



## Russ

Incanus said:


> Hello everyone.
> 
> I was away for a little while, but I’m back now.  I may as well mention what happened.
> 
> So, I had myself a heart-attack on the evening of 10/9/16, but I didn’t know that’s what it was while it was happening.  It was sort of surprising but not totally unexpected–my dad had this issue and I take after him quite a bit.
> 
> Anyway, three days later I went in for a triple bypass.  A bit of an ordeal.  Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in shape for writing during and after that.  It was about a month before I could pick up the pen again.
> 
> But, I’m doing well.  I had great aftercare by my family (including not one, but TWO nurses who are sisters).  I’m otherwise healthy, not overweight, non-smoker, and I have no other complications.
> 
> I’m back at work (you know, day job) and almost back to normal.
> 
> So that’s all for now.  Hope everyone here has been doing well.



Good for you on the recovery going so well.  

I had my MI on Oct 29/2016 and am back at work, back to sports and full speed ahead, feeling better than before, with a quick three stents put in.

Modern medical technology is really amazing.  

Maybe we should start a club or something!


----------



## Incanus

Thanks everyone!  It's nice to be back--not that I post a ton or anything.

Russ--sorry to hear you've been through something similar.  They actually gave me the option for stents, but thought I should take care of this more thoroughly.  The good news is that I may never need a bypass again.

I'm glad to be done with this part of the whole thing, the healing part.  Can't quite ever have the old lifestyle back though.  No more salty snack foods for me!  D'oh!


----------



## Ronald T.

Incanus said:


> Hello everyone.
> 
> I was away for a little while, but I’m back now.  I may as well mention what happened.
> 
> So, I had myself a heart-attack on the evening of 10/9/16, but I didn’t know that’s what it was while it was happening.  It was sort of surprising but not totally unexpected–my dad had this issue and I take after him quite a bit.
> 
> Anyway, three days later I went in for a triple bypass.  A bit of an ordeal.  Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in shape for writing during and after that.  It was about a month before I could pick up the pen again.
> 
> But, I’m doing well.  I had great aftercare by my family (including not one, but TWO nurses who are sisters).  I’m otherwise healthy, not overweight, non-smoker, and I have no other complications.
> 
> I’m back at work (you know, day job) and almost back to normal.
> 
> So that’s all for now.  Hope everyone here has been doing well.



I'm so sorry to hear you had to go through such an ordeal.  That's scary stuff.  But I'm extremely happy to hear you're doing so much better now.  I'm so glad you're able to continue your writing.  I always consider writing a form of therapy -- both physical and mental.  I hope that you have a full recovery and that it happens soon.  If my wishes mean anything to the powers of the universe, then you'll be running marathons before you know it.  

But take your time to heal, fully.  Everything else can wait.

As always, all my best to you, Incanus.


----------



## Tom

I just spent like half an hour freaking out over the sound in my animation final. It wasn't playing and I tried messing with the settings, then converted the sound file to like three different formats, and even considered deleting that section of the animation...

Then I realized I put the sound in the final scene instead of the first scene, and I'd only been playing about half the instant preview to check the sound. Oh my god, I'm so tired....when I figured out what I'd done I started laughing/crying hysterically....What are finals doing to me.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom Nimenai said:


> I just spent like half an hour freaking out over the sound in my animation final. It wasn't playing and I tried messing with the settings, then converted the sound file to like three different formats, and even considered deleting that section of the animation...
> 
> Then I realized I put the sound in the final scene instead of the first scene, and I'd only been playing about half the instant preview to check the sound. Oh my god, I'm so tired....when I figured out what I'd done I started laughing/crying hysterically....What are finals doing to me.



You have my sympathies. I cannot express how glad I am I can say never again to taking a final. You'll get there soon Tom. Just make sure you punch the computer program that caused such frustration in the mouth.


----------



## Tom

Brian Scott Allen said:


> You have my sympathies. I cannot express how glad I am I can say never again to taking a final. You'll get there soon Tom. Just make sure you punch the computer program that caused such frustration in the mouth.



Thanks, Brian. I ended up turning the animation in on time! (Unfortunately, as the program in question was on one of the brand-new Macs we just got in the digital art lab, I did not end up punching it in the mouth.) 

After I'm done with this paper I'm working on, that'll be it for the semester! I can't wait to catch up on sleep. I've been getting to bed at 2-3 am for the last three weeks or so.


----------



## ThinkerX

Incanus said:


> Thanks everyone!  It's nice to be back--not that I post a ton or anything.
> 
> Russ--sorry to hear you've been through something similar.  They actually gave me the option for stents, but thought I should take care of this more thoroughly.  The good news is that I may never need a bypass again.
> 
> I'm glad to be done with this part of the whole thing, the healing part.  Can't quite ever have the old lifestyle back though.  No more salty snack foods for me!  D'oh!



So, just where in your WIP does the heart attack scene go?  Or is that for the next book?


----------



## Incanus

ThinkerX said:


> So, just where in your WIP does the heart attack scene go?  Or is that for the next book?



Ha!  No heart-attack scenes... yet.  But I'll tell you what--I should be able to write characters experiencing great discomfort or pain more convincingly now.  Or characters recovering from dire wounds, or that sort of thing.  Should be pretty genuine.


----------



## Nimue

Incanus said:


> Ha!  No heart-attack scenes... yet.  But I'll tell you what--I should be able to write characters experiencing great discomfort or pain more convincingly now.  Or characters recovering from dire wounds, or that sort of thing.  Should be pretty genuine.


God, seeing that sort of a silver lining is how you know you're a writer.  ^^;;


----------



## Incanus

Nimue said:


> God, seeing that sort of a silver lining is how you know you're a writer.  ^^;;



Oh, yeah.  I think EVERYTHING is grist for the mill.

Still, I won't consider myself a writer until I've published something.  Somewhere.  And I won't be ready to try anything like that for quite some time yet.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I just realized that one of my characters, who was one of my favorite ones and who I was really looking forward to writing, has no place in the story. Her scene has to be cut. I'm sad.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Incanus said:


> Ha!  No heart-attack scenes... yet.  But I'll tell you what--I should be able to write characters experiencing great discomfort or pain more convincingly now.  Or characters recovering from dire wounds, or that sort of thing.  Should be pretty genuine.



Haha! 

But seriously. Every painful ordeal I go through, a voice in the back of my mind is gleefully chirping, NEW MATERIAL!! It's actually really annoying.


----------



## Alyssa

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I just realized that one of my characters, who was one of my favorite ones and who I was really looking forward to writing, has no place in the story. Her scene has to be cut. I'm sad.



There's always a place in the story for a good character. And that's how Julius Caesar took over the USS Enterprise with the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver...


----------



## Incanus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Haha!
> 
> But seriously. Every painful ordeal I go through, a voice in the back of my mind is gleefully chirping, NEW MATERIAL!! It's actually really annoying.



I do the exact same thing.  When I'm not writing, I'm thinking or talking about it.  I had a month of no writing while recovering, so some thinking and talking got done.  I have a writing friend that I speak with regularly--we spend about 1 to 4 hours on the phone at a time--and even that's not enough.


----------



## Incanus

Alyssa said:


> There's always a place in the story for a good character. And that's how Julius Caesar took over the USS Enterprise with the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver...



Wait... I don't recall that.  Might this have happened on the one iteration of the show I didn't end up watching:  Enterprise?


----------



## Tom

I took my last final this morning!! Yes! Done with school for an entire month. Now I actually have time for writing and drawing stuff that _isn't_ for school.


----------



## Saigonnus

Incanus said:


> Wait... I don't recall that.  Might this have happened on the one iteration of the show I didn't end up watching:  Enterprise?



Wasn't in Enterprise that I recall. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Writeking

As writing practice I write wrestling and fighting fiction on Deviantart under the name Fatehound45. It helps to write something totally unrelated to my WIP.


----------



## Reaver

Alyssa said:


> There's always a place in the story for a good character. And that's how Julius Caesar took over the USS Enterprise with the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver...






Incanus said:


> Wait... I don't recall that.  Might this have happened on the one iteration of the show I didn't end up watching:  Enterprise?







Saigonnus said:


> Wasn't in Enterprise that I recall.



I believe that Alyssa was being facetious.  It's like the time Davy Crockett stopped the Germans from bombing Little Big Horn at the Battle of Yavin.


----------



## Alyssa

Reaver said:


> I believe that Alyssa was being facetious.  It's like the time Davy Crockett stopped the Germans from bombing Little Big Horn at the Battle of Yavin.



Awww... why do you have to ruin my fun  . I love the Dune references by the way!


----------



## Reaver

Alyssa said:


> Awww... why do you have to ruin my fun  . I love the Dune references by the way!



Didn't mean to spoil the fun, so maybe this will make up for it:















Dune is my favorite science fiction story and the 1984 film adaptation is my all time favorite.

In my opinion, Frank Herbert is the Tolkien of science fiction.


----------



## Saigonnus

Reaver said:


> I believe that Alyssa was being facetious.  It's like the time Davy Crockett stopped the Germans from bombing Little Big Horn at the Battle of Yavin.



Or like the time Darth Vader choked out Mike Tyson during their dogfight over the skies of Ankhara during the battle of the bulge.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Incanus

Reaver said:


> I believe that Alyssa was being facetious.  It's like the time Davy Crockett stopped the Germans from bombing Little Big Horn at the Battle of Yavin.



I thought as much, but with Trek, you can never be absolutely certain.

Dune ranks very high with me as well.  One of the all-time great books.  The sequels... not so much.


----------



## Ireth

You know you're a Christmas-loving LOTR nerd when you take the time and effort to translate "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" into Sindarin. I already have the first verse and the chorus. I regret nothing.


----------



## Ban

Ireth said:


> You know you're a Christmas-loving LOTR nerd when you take the time and effort to translate "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" into Sindarin. I already have the first verse and the chorus. I regret nothing.



That sounds ridiculously fun in comparison to writing a paper on agricultural policy...

...Otherwise it's probably still pretty fun


----------



## Chessie

I seriously just terrified the cats with my kitchen karaoke performance of Melissa Etheridge's "I'm The Only One."

According to Maya & Autumn, I better stick with the writing.


----------



## Tom

I want to design a Harry Potter bookmark for my sister for Christmas, but I also want to do nothing. And my last final was yesterday and I'm still caught in the "feeling guilty because I should be doing homework" thing. Bleh. :/


----------



## Alyssa

Ireth said:


> You know you're a Christmas-loving LOTR nerd when you take the time and effort to translate "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" into Sindarin. I already have the first verse and the chorus. I regret nothing.



Come on. You can't do that to us. How can you leave us hanging like that?


----------



## Ireth

Alyssa said:


> Come on. You can't do that to us. How can you leave us hanging like that?



Wonder no more! Here are the English lyrics I used, then the verses translated into Sindarin, and then a back-translation into English so you can see how I was forced to tweak things. XD It's not perfect; I'm not 100% sure how some of the words are meant to be lenited, and I had to fudge the rhymes a wee bit, but I like how it turned out!

*ENGLISH*
O come, o come, Emmanuel
To free your captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, thou Dayspring from on high
And cheer us by thy drawing nigh.
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And Death's dark shadow put to flight.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come,  come, thou Lord of Might
Who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
In ancient times did give the law
In clouded majesty an awe.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

*SINDARIN*
Tolo, Erunaven, tolo,
LÃ­n Eruvaethant leithio,
Erib ar edlenn; nÃ®r lantar
An Eruion thio darar.
Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
Erunaven le telitha!

Tolo, Aureithel, e Menel
A na toled lÃ­n tegi gell
Risto i fÃ¢n o fuin dhem
A guruthos natha edlenn.
Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
Erunaven le telitha!

Tolo, tolo, le Brannon TÃº
I ‘waith lÃ­n erin DÃ´l Eru
Anann io annant bith conui
Ne balan a ne chlaur fanui.
Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
Erunaven le telitha!

*ENGLISH (LITERAL)*
Come, Emmanuel, come,
Your Israel to release,
Lonely and exiled; tears fall
For God’s Son to appear they wait.
Israel, you will have joy;
Emmanuel will come to you!

Come, Day-spring, out of heaven
And by your coming bring joy
Cleave the clouds of gloomy night
And the shadow of death will be exiled.
Israel, you will have joy;
Emmanuel will come to you!

Come, come, you Lord of Might
Who to your people on the Mountain of God
Long ago gave commanding words
In power and in cloudy glory
Israel, you will have joy;
Emmanuel will come to you!


----------



## Nimue

I love it, Ireth.  The only thing that would make it better is a recording of you singing it, heheheh

I just put all my MS challenge short stories in my portfolio (WHICH OTHER PEOPLE SHOULD ALSO DO SO I CAN READ YOUR OLD STORIES HINT HINT HINT) and I noticed something of a trend:

*Challenge word count*: 1000-2000 words.

*Me:*  This story could be about anything, but it needs to be brief without a lot of build-up.  Other than that, the sky's the limit.

*Challenge word count* 5000+ words.

*Me:*


----------



## Chessie

I posted one of my lame-o stories in the portfolio a while back. A failure of a story, really. I have many more of those lol.

@Nimue, your story is on my TBR list. You know I'm a sucker for your style, baby. *wink*


----------



## Nimue

Aha!  I will go hunt it down, Chess, but I know you have more up your sleeve that you should post =_=


----------



## Chessie

I'm kind of shy though. -_-


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Wonder no more! Here are the English lyrics I used, then the verses translated into Sindarin, and then a back-translation into English so you can see how I was forced to tweak things. XD It's not perfect; I'm not 100% sure how some of the words are meant to be lenited, and I had to fudge the rhymes a wee bit, but I like how it turned out!
> 
> *ENGLISH*
> O come, o come, Emmanuel
> To free your captive Israel
> That mourns in lonely exile here
> Until the Son of God appear.
> Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
> Shall come to thee, O Israel!
> 
> O come, thou Dayspring from on high
> And cheer us by thy drawing nigh.
> Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
> And Death's dark shadow put to flight.
> Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
> Shall come to thee, O Israel!
> 
> O come,  come, thou Lord of Might
> Who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
> In ancient times did give the law
> In clouded majesty an awe.
> Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
> Shall come to thee, O Israel!
> 
> *SINDARIN*
> Tolo, Erunaven, tolo,
> LÃ­n Eruvaethant leithio,
> Erib ar edlenn; nÃ®r lantar
> An Eruion thio darar.
> Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
> Erunaven le telitha!
> 
> Tolo, Aureithel, e Menel
> A na toled lÃ­n tegi gell
> Risto i fÃ¢n o fuin dhem
> A guruthos natha edlenn.
> Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
> Erunaven le telitha!
> 
> Tolo, tolo, le Brannon TÃº
> I ‘waith lÃ­n erin DÃ´l Eru
> Anann io annant bith conui
> Ne balan a ne chlaur fanui.
> Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
> Erunaven le telitha!
> 
> *ENGLISH (LITERAL)*
> Come, Emmanuel, come,
> Your Israel to release,
> Lonely and exiled; tears fall
> For God’s Son to appear they wait.
> Israel, you will have joy;
> Emmanuel will come to you!
> 
> Come, Day-spring, out of heaven
> And by your coming bring joy
> Cleave the clouds of gloomy night
> And the shadow of death will be exiled.
> Israel, you will have joy;
> Emmanuel will come to you!
> 
> Come, come, you Lord of Might
> Who to your people on the Mountain of God
> Long ago gave commanding words
> In power and in cloudy glory
> Israel, you will have joy;
> Emmanuel will come to you!



This is the best thing ever.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I hate it when I post hysterical/overdramatic posts while I'm panicking over something and not in my right mind and then after I've calmed down reread and realize I've exposed everyone (and, I kind of want you guys to like me!) to my hysterics yet again. I always feel like I have to apologize but again it doesn't feel like it fixes anything to apologize. 

Calmed down...Ok, I haven't been very calm. When there's something going wrong with my WIP I feel like I HAVE to fix it ASAP or else everything is out of control and it's all a mess I can't fix. Having anything go wrong is extremely scary to me and I don't really know how to take a deep breath and walk away. I obsess and obsess and obsess. 

I...wish I wasn't like this.


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I hate it when I post hysterical/overdramatic posts while I'm panicking over something and not in my right mind and then after I've calmed down reread and realize I've exposed everyone (and, I kind of want you guys to like me!) to my hysterics yet again. I always feel like I have to apologize but again it doesn't feel like it fixes anything to apologize.
> 
> Calmed down...Ok, I haven't been very calm. When there's something going wrong with my WIP I feel like I HAVE to fix it ASAP or else everything is out of control and it's all a mess I can't fix. Having anything go wrong is extremely scary to me and I don't really know how to take a deep breath and walk away. I obsess and obsess and obsess.
> 
> I...wish I wasn't like this.



*sends hugs through the interweb*


----------



## Heliotrope

Ireth said:


> Wonder no more! Here are the English lyrics I used, then the verses translated into Sindarin, and then a back-translation into English so you can see how I was forced to tweak things. XD It's not perfect; I'm not 100% sure how some of the words are meant to be lenited, and I had to fudge the rhymes a wee bit, but I like how it turned out!
> 
> *ENGLISH*
> O come, o come, Emmanuel
> To free your captive Israel
> That mourns in lonely exile here
> Until the Son of God appear.
> Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
> Shall come to thee, O Israel!
> 
> O come, thou Dayspring from on high
> And cheer us by thy drawing nigh.
> Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
> And Death's dark shadow put to flight.
> Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
> Shall come to thee, O Israel!
> 
> O come,  come, thou Lord of Might
> Who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
> In ancient times did give the law
> In clouded majesty an awe.
> Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
> Shall come to thee, O Israel!
> 
> *SINDARIN*
> Tolo, Erunaven, tolo,
> LÃ­n Eruvaethant leithio,
> Erib ar edlenn; nÃ®r lantar
> An Eruion thio darar.
> Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
> Erunaven le telitha!
> 
> Tolo, Aureithel, e Menel
> A na toled lÃ­n tegi gell
> Risto i fÃ¢n o fuin dhem
> A guruthos natha edlenn.
> Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
> Erunaven le telitha!
> 
> Tolo, tolo, le Brannon TÃº
> I ‘waith lÃ­n erin DÃ´l Eru
> Anann io annant bith conui
> Ne balan a ne chlaur fanui.
> Eruvaethant, gell ‘erithach;
> Erunaven le telitha!
> 
> *ENGLISH (LITERAL)*
> Come, Emmanuel, come,
> Your Israel to release,
> Lonely and exiled; tears fall
> For God’s Son to appear they wait.
> Israel, you will have joy;
> Emmanuel will come to you!
> 
> Come, Day-spring, out of heaven
> And by your coming bring joy
> Cleave the clouds of gloomy night
> And the shadow of death will be exiled.
> Israel, you will have joy;
> Emmanuel will come to you!
> 
> Come, come, you Lord of Might
> Who to your people on the Mountain of God
> Long ago gave commanding words
> In power and in cloudy glory
> Israel, you will have joy;
> Emmanuel will come to you!



Ireth, this was always my favourite carol. So haunting.lets all listen to Enya and imagine Ireth's lyrics:

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DPHh3nMMu-I[/video]


----------



## Ireth

Heliotrope said:


> Ireth, this was always my favourite carol. So haunting.lets all listen to Enya and imagine Ireth's lyrics:
> 
> [video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DPHh3nMMu-I[/video]



That's one of my favorite versions! Peter Hollens does a fantastic one as well.

O come, O come, Emmanuel | Peter Hollens - YouTube


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Random thought today: Relationships don't suck, it's the bad days, unsolved arguments, and awkward stares after a break up that suck. 





Oddly enough I find my friends continue to go back and do the same thing over, and over, and over again. I recently broke up with my girlfriend of almost eight months which is about seven and a half months longer than average for Lebanon Missouri, and I can barely walk into the band room without people staring at me STILL and it's been four days:/ It was a good relationship but I felt like she was a "push everything out the door" gal and I'm more of a "hey let's talk and we'll decide on [insert subject] because I'm dating you because your a potential wife for me" and so neither of us were gonna change our differing basic values. She didn't like hearing me say that though XD


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
NaNoWriMo WIP!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Can someone explain the Q&A forum to me? Are there rules?


----------



## Chessie

There are directions in the thread.


----------



## ThinkerX

My will to continue with the WIP is fast failing.  It wasn't too strong to start with, when I began it for NaNo.  But I kept at it anyhow, and topped 37000 words by the time NaNo ended.  Told myself I'd try for a thousand words a day for a couple weeks, see if I couldn't finish it.  After all, I was getting into the stuff I considered interesting - the philosophical debate behind the whole story.  That only sort of worked.  Yes, I got in a few good days by my standards.  But most days, I didn't.  It didn't help that work turned into a real bear.  

Today, I sat down with the intent of finishing Chapter 15.  Managed 800 words and just stopped.  Not exactly cause for optimism.

New plan:

Work on this tale for the next week.  Maybe I can crank out a couple more chapters, get things to the point just before the grand climax.  Then finish out with stubs and set it aside for a few weeks.  A break seems to be in order.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Goodness, just had a bout with sleep paralysis that turned into a lucid dream. That was a strange experience.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Well, I love when exes get mad at you for your reason for the breakup and then prove you right two days in a row right afterwardsXD


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NaNoWriMo WIP!


----------



## Tom

New Skyrim character! He's a Bosmer thief who was orphaned in Riften and "adopted" by the Thieves' Guild. I gave him the smallest build but he's down to fight anyone. I started his career by stealing all of the cheese from the inn in Riverwood.


----------



## Chessie

It's been weeks since I've been able to play Skyrim Remastered. There's some sort of issue going on with game drivers not being installed properly something or the other...and Steam is being complicated and difficult to work with. *SIGH* Which sucks because I was thoroughly enjoying the game that worked once then stopped functioning. 

I suppose it's ok. I rather play Fallout anyway.


----------



## Ban

Tom Nimenai said:


> New Skyrim character! He's a Bosmer thief who was orphaned in Riften and "adopted" by the Thieves' Guild. I gave him the smallest build but he's down to fight anyone. I started his career by stealing all of the cheese from the inn in Riverwood.



Fear The Stilton Swindler. The Emmental Criminal. The Gouda Gangster. The Roquefort Robber. The Parmezan Pirate. The Cheddar Cheat. The Manchego Marauder. The Mozerella Mobster. The Sbrinz Prince. The Edam Imam. The Colby Colonel. The Brie Brigand. The Burrata Buccaneer. The Quark Nark. The Limburger Pilferer. 

I think I'm done now.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> Fear The Stilton Swindler. The Emmental Criminal. The Gouda Gangster. The Roquefort Robber. The Parmezan Pirate. The Cheddar Cheat. The Manchego Marauder. The Mozerella Mobster. The Sbrinz Prince. The Edam Imam. The Colby Colonel. The Brie Brigand. The Burrata Buccaneer. The Quark Nark. The Limburger Pilferer.
> 
> I think I'm done now.



I...I don't even know an appropriate response. O_O


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I...I don't even know an appropriate response. O_O



Exactly


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## Saigonnus

You forgot the camembert crook!


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## Ban

No, no the Crook was curdled by the Camembert Camorista last week. These Fromage Felons are out of control.


----------



## Chessie

Ah, yes. The Bosmer thief. I had one of those. She was also a werewolf. Man, that was a load of fun! Nothing better than ripping and tearing through towns and cities in full beast mode. Munch!


----------



## Incanus

Since I have nothing to say today, I won't say it.  That is, other than to say that I'm not saying anything.  Of course, since there wasn't anything to say in the first place, I suppose I didn't have to bother saying there was nothing to say.  But now that I'm actually saying something about saying nothing, it's a little too late, say what you will.

Now I'm confused--what was I saying?


----------



## Tom

@Banten, that was the most perfect response to my post possible.


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## Garren Jacobsen

I think y'all have been sharing Banten's "eucalyptus" a bit too much.


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## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I think y'all have been sharing Banten's "eucalyptus" a bit too much.



You're just assuming that because I'm Dutch and a Koala aren't you?


...I mean it's true, but still.


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## Chessie

All of a sudden, I had an image of a Koala roasting in a Dutch oven... -_-


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## DragonOfTheAerie

How does one learn to throw knives...?


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## Saigonnus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> How does one learn to throw knives...?



Buy some good, well balanced knives and start practicing?? There may be schools for such things but I cannot think of any at the moment.


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## Devor

There are youtube videos.  It's not too hard.  Apparently the difficulty is in figuring out how many times it rotates before it hits so you know the right angle to throw from.  But you've got to have the right knife.  And throwing knives aren't really very good in a real combat situation.


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## ThinkerX

> How does one learn to throw knives...?



Back in the day, I picked up a couple knives, selected a tree in the yard with plenty of open ground behind and alongside it, and started throwing.  I put most of an hour a day into that for a few weeks, on and off.  Judging the rotation thing is tough - also depends on how hard you throw (velocity).  Just hitting the dang tree (1.5 feet thick) from a distance of 20-25 feet is tough.  A lot of the time it'll hit blade or hilt first.  Do that too often with a regular knife and the handle will loosen, come apart.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

The finding knives to throw part might be the hard part...


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## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> The finding knives to throw part might be the hard part...



Any sporting good type stores in your area?

Or failing that, EBAY.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Contemplating writing some "analytical essays" as a worldbuilding feature?


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NaNoWriMo WIP!


----------



## FifthView

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Contemplating writing some "analytical essays" as a worldbuilding feature?



Sounds great!  You could end up with something like the excerpts F. Herbert used at the head of his chapters in _Dune_.  Even if you don't use them in the book, they could help for sorting the logic behind the world, the connections between things from multiple perspectives (philosophical, cultural, scientific, theological....)


----------



## Tom

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Contemplating writing some "analytical essays" as a worldbuilding feature?



Go for it! That's a really awesome worldbuilding exercise--plus it's fun! 

I wrote something similar for Southerner a little while ago. They were called _The Letters of Terma Dithonso_, and they were framed as a series of letters written by a merchant of one of the southern nations, telling his family about the lives and customs of the people he encounters on his first trading venture in the Northern Isles. I had a blast writing them, and they helped me get a clearer picture of how the different cultures interact in Southerner. 

Man, I should dig those out sometime...


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## Chessie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Contemplating writing some "analytical essays" as a worldbuilding feature?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
> NaNoWriMo WIP!



This sounds great, actually. I'm in the process of marinating on something similar for my Magi Moons series. Working on book 2 now, but I would really like some additional material to place on my website and also use as mailing list freebies. It's also a good way of further developing your world and shall we say like, super duper fun? 

@ Tom: sounds like something for your portfolio, eh?


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## Tom

Chessie said:


> @ Tom: sounds like something for your portfolio, eh?



You know, if I manage to find them and edit them a bit, I would definitely put them in my portfolio! Only problem is, they're in hard copy form, probably in a notebook somewhere...I remodeled my room this summer, so nothing is where it's supposed to be.


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## Chessie

It's expensive software so I'm recommending it for someday when you have bank, but Dragon Naturally Speaking will easily help you transfer the notebook writing into your computer. It's the best writing software of all time imo (sorry Scrivener, you've been chopped).


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Tom Nimenai said:


> Go for it! That's a really awesome worldbuilding exercise--plus it's fun!
> 
> I wrote something similar for Southerner a little while ago. They were called _The Letters of Terma Dithonso_, and they were framed as a series of letters written by a merchant of one of the southern nations, telling his family about the lives and customs of the people he encounters on his first trading venture in the Northern Isles. I had a blast writing them, and they helped me get a clearer picture of how the different cultures interact in Southerner.
> 
> Man, I should dig those out sometime...



That also could make a great novel in and of itself? Old letters from a family member or some traveler back to a home land detailing great worlds and new area? The whole book could be series of parchments with 'handwriting' letters? Kind of like The Illuminae Files but letters versus files and interviews


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----------



## Tom

Thomas Laszlo said:


> That also could make a great novel in and of itself? Old letters from a family member or some traveler back to a home land detailing great worlds and new area? The whole book could be series of parchments with 'handwriting' letters? Kind of like The Illuminae Files but letters versus files and interviews



You know, that's a good idea! As I recall, the letters did have something of an overarching plot that could work to tie them all together. I think it had something to do with a storm that struck as they were sailing north. Much of their cargo for trade was damaged, which forced them to spend more time in the north and trade in more cities than they would have otherwise, to make up for it. 

Now I'm thinking about the fun I had writing those...One of Terma's defining character traits was his habit of wandering foreign cities without a guide, which led to some pretty wild incidents. He also had a tendency to make stereotype-based assumptions about the cultures/people he encountered. This was often followed up by him being proven completely and hilariously wrong. And then there was that time he met my MC, Tomrin, and unintentionally insulted him...


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## Incanus

Rogue One:  I don't much like large, densely packed crowds, so I'll do what I did last year.  I went to a Saturday morning showing of Force Awakens, the day after it came out, and there were only about 20 people in the theatre.  Worked perfectly.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom Nimenai said:


> You know, that's a good idea! As I recall, the letters did have something of an overarching plot that could work to tie them all together. I think it had something to do with a storm that struck as they were sailing north. Much of their cargo for trade was damaged, which forced them to spend more time in the north and trade in more cities than they would have otherwise, to make up for it.
> 
> Now I'm thinking about the fun I had writing those...One of Terma's defining character traits was his habit of wandering foreign cities without a guide, which led to some pretty wild incidents. He also had a tendency to make stereotype-based assumptions about the cultures/people he encountered. This was often followed up by him being proven completely and hilariously wrong. And then there was that time he met my MC, Tomrin, and unintentionally insulted him...



That sounds awesome. Do that


----------



## Tom

It's looking like I'm going to be snowed in this weekend, so maybe I will.


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## Chessie

Getting snowed in is the best. Now driving out of it...eh...not so great.


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## Tom

YIKES. You're so right. Friday I had my last final exam, and it was snowing heavily when I left for class. I fishtailed a couple of times on the way to school because my vehicle is old and its auto four-wheel drive is broken, so I now have to manually put it in four-wheel drive...Kinda scary!


----------



## Chessie

Tom Nimenai said:


> YIKES. You're so right. Friday I had my last final exam, and it was snowing heavily when I left for class. I fishtailed a couple of times on the way to school because my vehicle is old and its auto four-wheel drive is broken, so I now have to manually put it in four-wheel drive...Kinda scary!



It is very scary! My car currently has summer tires on right now because my studded ones are frozen solid. Together. There's no getting them out until it gets warmer...like when?! Luckily I have 4 wheel drive but we also live up a mountain, so coming down a narrow winding icy road is a bit intense. Once we get out of the valley, then there's the main road that leads to the highway...but that one is one huge slope that also twists and turns and is narrow. Sigh.


----------



## Tom

That sounds terrifying! I live on a pretty tall hill, with a sharp curve at the bottom just before a stop sign. It can get downright dangerous in winter, especially with the bad roads around here. There's an intersection not far from my place that's been dubbed Suicide Corners locally, for the frequent accidents that happen there (blind hill+state route+low winter visiblity=not good). A girl from my hometown, who was also in my psychology class my first semester, died in an accident not too long ago there.


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## Thomas Laszlo

So I'm the snow thing, it got slightly snowy here, but my truck is reAr wheel drive and it is tiny so it weighs nothing XD talk about fishtails at every light I had to stop!


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## DragonOfTheAerie

*far more southerly dwelling dragon unable to relate to snow posts* 

We've had a patchy snow that was melted by noon and that's it.


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## CupofJoe

It's unlikely to be any time soon but I can't wait for it to snow here. 
If we get 2-3 inches, it is as if the world falls apart for a week...
That said I do have my thermal blanket, bottled water, power bars, torch, and snow shovel in the back of the car.. oh almost forgot about the boots, day-glo water/snow proof jacket, tow rope, gloves, and a fleece top.


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## FifthView

In my area, growing up, every winter had major snows, usually a few.  But global warming (whether caused by man or not heh) seems to be pushing the line northward, and now we can go whole winters without much snow.  Nature being the mischievous thing she is, we still get slammed from time to time.  I'm just glad the polar vortex is northward this time around.


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## Russ

There is a reason we call it the Great White North...


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## Chessie

Tom Nimenai said:


> That sounds terrifying! I live on a pretty tall hill, with a sharp curve at the bottom just before a stop sign. It can get downright dangerous in winter, especially with the bad roads around here. There's an intersection not far from my place that's been dubbed Suicide Corners locally, for the frequent accidents that happen there (blind hill+state route+low winter visiblity=not good). A girl from my hometown, who was also in my psychology class my first semester, died in an accident not too long ago there.



That's terrible. Much too young. I'm sorry to hear that.


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## Chessie

Russ said:


> There is a reason we call it the Great White North...



Our state is called The Last Frontier. Allow your imagination to run wild with that. We're talking knee-deep snows and sometimes deeper. The last few days it's been ~20F at the warmest. The sun rises close to 9am and starts setting at 3:30pm. My plants are dying. It's basically a race of not going crazy until solstice when the light returns.


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## spectre

so jealous  live in alaska. how raw.

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## Ban

Snow? ...I think I vaguely remember that falling here for one day, two years ago.


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## Chessie

spectre said:


> so jealous  live in alaska. how raw.
> 
> Sent from my Alcatel_4060O using Tapatalk



You should come visit! We have a young lady at church that's been here for a month up from Colorado. We were joking with her as to why on Earth she decided to move to Alaska in the middle of winter lol. Adventurous young thing.  

It's not always as great as it sounds, though. Like with anything, there are downsides. The dark being one of them.


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## Russ

Chessie said:


> You should come visit! We have a young lady at church that's been here for a month up from Colorado. We were joking with her as to why on Earth she decided to move to Alaska in the middle of winter lol. Adventurous young thing.
> 
> It's not always as great as it sounds, though. Like with anything, there are downsides. The dark being one of them.



Great for amateur astronomers and for fans of the Northern Lights though...

I  have friends who live up in Alaska, it is hard but fascinating country.  I am about an hour north of TO, in the snowbelt.  Which means I get lots of snow cold but can go to the opera or a hockey game quite easily.


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## Tom

Chessie said:


> That's terrible. Much too young. I'm sorry to hear that.



Yeah, it was pretty awful. It happened over winter break so when I got back to school, everyone was going "Did you hear about that girl...?" I never knew her very well, but I had a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. When I checked the local obits and saw it was her it was like a punch to the gut.


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## Chessie

Lovecraft has an interesting voice...

I feel like I'm being told a story by some rich man in a robe, lounging in a sofa and drinking cognac by his fireplace. In his old Victorian-styled house. Where it's dark. And ambient drone music is playing in the background and the story he's telling is a really creepy one. 

Yeah...not sure what I think just yet.


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## Garren Jacobsen

So I was joking with a cousin that he owed me his first born for getting him star wars tickets. Then my mind got thinking, what if that was common place and was regulated like we regulate loans. Now I have a story kernel for people regularly using their first born as collateral for magic loans. Not sure if I should laugh or cry.


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## Heliotrope

Rumplestiltskin. Very interesting...


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## Garren Jacobsen

Heliotrope said:


> Rumplestiltskin. Very interesting...



But with lawyers.


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## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So I was joking with a cousin that he owed me his first born for getting him star wars tickets. Then my mind got thinking, what if that was common place and was regulated like we regulate loans. Now I have a story kernel for people regularly using their first born as collateral for magic loans. Not sure if I should laugh or cry.



I think people would quickly grow tired off receiving babies in the mail.


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## Futhark

So, Christmas is almost here.  It's summer where I am, 30 degree Celsius plus days, shirts, shorts, thongs (footwear, not underwear, don't know what others call them; flip flops?).  Anyway got the BIG question from the kids.  Is Santa really real?  Got me thinking about different versions from the kids movie the Guardians to Jim Butcher's (?) version where he leads the great hunt for a bit.  Got me curious about what weird and wacky versions there would be if the insanely imaginative people here did a Sanata story.  Wanna share?


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## Saigonnus

I see santa with a model of each and every person on the planet, a direct representation of them in every way. At Christmas, each is put into a machine that judges the actions of that person. It is this judgment that brings either good fortune for the new year, or bad luck. 


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## Futhark

Hmm...
Voodoo Santa with dreadlocks?  Does the machine poke pins in the naughty ones giving them ulcers and arthritis?  Sounds fun.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Futhark said:


> So, Christmas is almost here.  It's summer where I am, 30 degree Celsius plus days, shirts, shorts, thongs (footwear, not underwear, don't know what others call them; flip flops?).  Anyway got the BIG question from the kids.  Is Santa really real?  Got me thinking about different versions from the kids movie the Guardians to Jim Butcher's (?) version where he leads the great hunt for a bit.  Got me curious about what weird and wacky versions there would be if the insanely imaginative people here did a Sanata story.  Wanna share?



I had an idea for a Santa story once. I don't remember the details, but basically there's a secret society at the North Pole involved in protecting some kind of magic that they use to grant wishes. Like, serious wishes. It's extremely dangerous magic. 

Oh! Now I remember. If a kid witnesses Santa Claus after a certain age, they have to be abducted into the order. And in the story there are lots of sleigh drivers but the main guy is "the" Santa Claus and in the story he's a young guy, maybe 25. The MC is one of the kids who had to be kidnapped because he saw Santa and is a sleigh driver now but he has lots of problems and steals the magic to try to fix his problems...

I remember they used animals other than reindeer to pull sleighs. Arctic foxes and seals and polar bears...


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## skip.knox

Funny you should mention it. I wrote one last year. It's called _Dead Santa_. Still looking for a home for that one.


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## Ireth

I watched _Arthur Christmas_ recently and today I had the thought... if the title of Santa Claus is passed down from father to son, what would happen if one Santa only had a daughter? Would she become Santa anyway? If she married a man, would he be Mr. Claus? I think there might be a story in there... The idea of a lesbian Santa Claus (Kristina Kringle?) is also kind of appealing, tbh.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> I watched _Arthur Christmas_ recently and today I had the thought... if the title of Santa Claus is passed down from father to son, what would happen if one Santa only had a daughter? Would she become Santa anyway? If she married a man, would he be Mr. Claus? I think there might be a story in there... The idea of a lesbian Santa Claus (Kristina Kringle?) is also kind of appealing, tbh.



I thought about that! 

Kristina Kringle is a great name.


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## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I thought about that!
> 
> Kristina Kringle is a great name.



I think I'll go with something a little less on-the-nose for the woman in my story. Likewise no Holly, Carol, Noelle, or anything explicitly Christmas-y.


----------



## Saigonnus

Futhark said:


> Hmm...
> Voodoo Santa with dreadlocks?  Does the machine poke pins in the naughty ones giving them ulcers and arthritis?  Sounds fun.



I see it more like a business. Santa in a suit and tie. Good fortune would be good luck, opportunities to accomplish goals, random good things happening. Bad fortune would be car breaking down, bad luck, losing job etc... all depending on just how bad or good a person was during the year. 


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## TheCrystallineEntity

I just watched Arthur Christmas yesterday!


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> I think I'll go with something a little less on-the-nose for the woman in my story. Likewise no Holly, Carol, Noelle, or anything explicitly Christmas-y.



Wait are you writing this? O_O


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Wait are you writing this? O_O



I'm gonna try! The plotbunny is gnawing at my brain, so hopefully I can figure something out.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> I'm gonna try! The plotbunny is gnawing at my brain, so hopefully I can figure something out.



Do itttttttt! 

Is it going to be a lesbian Santa Claus?


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## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Do itttttttt!
> 
> Is it going to be a lesbian Santa Claus?



I'm not sure yet. Might have to actually write something before I figure it out.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> I'm not sure yet. Might have to actually write something before I figure it out.



Thar's understandable. It's still a baby idea, anyway. 

(an adorable baby idea  )


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## TheCrystallineEntity

Strange minds do think alike! I was pondering about lesbian characters in fantasy just today.


----------



## Futhark

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I had an idea for a Santa story once. I don't remember the details, but basically there's a secret society at the North Pole involved in protecting some kind of magic that they use to grant wishes. Like, serious wishes. It's extremely dangerous magic.
> 
> Oh! Now I remember. If a kid witnesses Santa Claus after a certain age, they have to be abducted into the order. And in the story there are lots of sleigh drivers but the main guy is "the" Santa Claus and in the story he's a young guy, maybe 25. The MC is one of the kids who had to be kidnapped because he saw Santa and is a sleigh driver now but he has lots of problems and steals the magic to try to fix his problems...
> 
> I remember they used animals other than reindeer to pull sleighs. Arctic foxes and seals and polar bears...



Love this idea!!!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Strange minds do think alike! I was pondering about lesbian characters in fantasy just today.



We are all strange minds.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Futhark said:


> Love this idea!!!



Thanks  That's always good to hear!


----------



## Ireth

...Brain. Seriously. When I'm poking at a new baby plotbunny, you really don't need to give me a completely unrelated character. Even if she is pretty cool. I could use more black characters in my stories, but when I'm trying to write about Santa Claus, a pirate is just distraction.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> ...Brain. Seriously. When I'm poking at a new baby plotbunny, you really don't need to give me a completely unrelated character. Even if she is pretty cool. I could use more black characters in my stories, but when I'm trying to write about Santa Claus, a pirate is just distraction.



Or IS it...?


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## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Or IS it...?



Exactly what are you insinuating? XD


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Exactly what are you insinuating? XD



Heeeeyyy just don't go and ASSUME a pirate doesn't belong in a Santa story


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## Devor

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Heeeeyyy just don't go and ASSUME a pirate doesn't belong in a Santa story



I can see it now . . . 

"Give us the presents, or the reindeer gets it.  Ho, ho, ha-arrrgh!"


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## Ireth

Funnily enough, I just got back from watching my little brother's kindergarten class in a musical about Santa and his elves teaching a bunch of pirates about sharing and generosity. It was cute, in that cheesy way that's only possible with a bunch of 5-9 year olds acting and singing. ^^


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## DragonOfTheAerie

The pirate totally fits. Sleigh-hijacking, present-stealing pirates!!


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## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> The pirate totally fits. Sleigh-hijacking, present-stealing pirates!!



Only if I find a way to involve time travel. The Santa story is set in the present/possible near future, and the pirate lady's story would be set during the Age of Sail. And I don't want to inadvertently steal from whoever it is that's writing about Blackbeard and time travel, so I'm thinking these would be better off as separate stories.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

^...Wow. That's impressive!  The idea of a Santa pirate made me laugh a lot. 

So, what happens when an exceptionally foolish person decides that he is a wizard even though he has no magical talent whatsoever and parades around in oversized robes and a long fake beard?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^...Wow. That's impressive!  The idea of a Santa pirate made me laugh a lot.
> 
> So, what happens when an exceptionally foolish person decides that he is a wizard even though he has no magical talent whatsoever and parades around in oversized robes and a long fake beard?



Hm....I don't know. A funny story, I'd imagine...


----------



## Ireth

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> So, what happens when an exceptionally foolish person decides that he is a wizard even though he has no magical talent whatsoever and parades around in oversized robes and a long fake beard?



That sounds like it could be an awesome Terry Pratchett-esque book.


----------



## Chessie

My son trying to figure out what he's getting for Christmas:

"Is it a sword?"

"A harpoon?!"

"Oh, oh! It's a grappling HOOK!"

Hmm...how he got all of those out of a 2 x 2 box is beyond me...


----------



## ThinkerX

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^...Wow. That's impressive!  The idea of a Santa pirate made me laugh a lot.
> 
> So, what happens when an exceptionally foolish person decides that he is a wizard even though he has no magical talent whatsoever and parades around in oversized robes and a long fake beard?



Sounds like Rincewind from Diskworld - though he did know a single, extremely dangerous spell to start with.

That said...

Oversized robes can hide lots of stage magic stuff.  Far, far darker tone than what you seem to have in mind, but Tierney's 'Simon of Gita' was essentially a fighter who knew an impressive amount of stage magic ranging from ventriloquism to slight of hand to disguise to hypnotism.

The other approach would be to have the character blunder into a modicum of real magical ability step by dangerous step.  Step one being the episode (an improbably lucky night gambling? walking away without a scratch from a horrific accident?)  that convinced him he possessed magic to start with.


----------



## buyjupiter

I just stumbled across notes to myself that read: "thoroughly Scottish person" and "Dumbledorian". I'm not sure what that even means. A friendly Scottish minister/eductor/college president? Peter Capaldi playing the Doctor? Who knows but now I'm going to have a really interesting time setting up his personality.


----------



## Ireth

Thanks to a wiki-walk and some rambling thoughts, I now kind of want to try writing a story in which the nine (including Pluto) planets of our solar system are in fact the Nine Realms of Norse myth. Earth is Midgard, naturally. Mercury would probably be Muspelheim, the realm of fire and lava, given it's the closest to the sun and thus the hottest. Pluto could be Niflheim, the coldest realm, covered in ice. I'm not sure yet about the others. What do you guys think?


----------



## buyjupiter

Ireth said:


> Thanks to a wiki-walk and some rambling thoughts, I now kind of want to try writing a story in which the nine (including Pluto) planets of our solar system are in fact the Nine Realms of Norse myth. Earth is Midgard, naturally. Mercury would probably be Muspelheim, the realm of fire and lava, given it's the closest to the sun and thus the hottest. Pluto could be Niflheim, the coldest realm, covered in ice. I'm not sure yet about the others. What do you guys think?



Jotunheim would probably correlate well to Saturn [being Titans in Greco-Roman mythos are fairly good cognates for Jotuns in Norse mythos].

But I REALLY like this idea, Ireth! Sounds like it could be a lot of fun to play around with and see where it takes you.


----------



## Ireth

buyjupiter said:


> Jotunheim would probably correlate well to Saturn [being Titans in Greco-Roman mythos are fairly good cognates for Jotuns in Norse mythos].
> 
> But I REALLY like this idea, Ireth! Sounds like it could be a lot of fun to play around with and see where it takes you.



Ooh, I like that! And Venus could be Vanaheim or Asgard.


----------



## Saigonnus

Ireth said:


> Thanks to a wiki-walk and some rambling thoughts, I now kind of want to try writing a story in which the nine (including Pluto) planets of our solar system are in fact the Nine Realms of Norse myth. Earth is Midgard, naturally. Mercury would probably be Muspelheim, the realm of fire and lava, given it's the closest to the sun and thus the hottest. Pluto could be Niflheim, the coldest realm, covered in ice. I'm not sure yet about the others. What do you guys think?



I think the idea has merit, though Venus is actually hotter than Mercury, due to the fact that it had an atmosphere to trap the heat, whereas mercury doesn't. Still fits though for description you have in mind for Muspelheim. Maybe the tree of life could be a magical corridor between the various realms, only accessible by the most powerful creatures.



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## Ireth

Saigonnus said:


> I think the idea has merit, though Venus is actually hotter than Mercury, due to the fact that it had an atmosphere to trap the heat, whereas mercury doesn't. Still fits though for description you have in mind for Muspelheim. Maybe the tree of life could be a magical corridor between the various realms, only accessible by the most powerful creatures.



Here's what I have in mind for the planets:

Mercury: Muspelheim
Venus: Asgard
Earth: Midgard
Mars: Svartalfheim
Jupiter: Vanaheim
Saturn: Jotunheim
Uranus: Alfheim
Neptune: Helheim
Pluto: Niflheim

Though I'm told that apparently the Marvel Cinematic Universe uses an idea similar to this. (I haven't watched those movies aside from the first Iron Man, so I have no idea how it actually works the way they do it.) I like the Yggdrasil idea too. ^^


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That's an awesome idea!


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> Here's what I have in mind for the planets:
> 
> Mercury: Muspelheim
> Venus: Asgard
> Earth: Midgard
> Mars: Svartalfheim
> Jupiter: Vanaheim
> Saturn: Jotunheim
> Uranus: Alfheim
> Neptune: Helheim
> Pluto: Niflheim
> 
> Though I'm told that apparently the Marvel Cinematic Universe uses an idea similar to this. (I haven't watched those movies aside from the first Iron Man, so I have no idea how it actually works the way they do it.) I like the Yggdrasil idea too. ^^



This is awesome. I wonder what our resident Nord Svrt thinks of it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Thanks to a wiki-walk and some rambling thoughts, I now kind of want to try writing a story in which the nine (including Pluto) planets of our solar system are in fact the Nine Realms of Norse myth. Earth is Midgard, naturally. Mercury would probably be Muspelheim, the realm of fire and lava, given it's the closest to the sun and thus the hottest. Pluto could be Niflheim, the coldest realm, covered in ice. I'm not sure yet about the others. What do you guys think?



Ooooo! This sounds great!!


----------



## ThinkerX

Ireth said:


> Thanks to a wiki-walk and some rambling thoughts, I now kind of want to try writing a story in which the nine (including Pluto) planets of our solar system are in fact the Nine Realms of Norse myth. Earth is Midgard, naturally. Mercury would probably be Muspelheim, the realm of fire and lava, given it's the closest to the sun and thus the hottest. Pluto could be Niflheim, the coldest realm, covered in ice. I'm not sure yet about the others. What do you guys think?



Read your Dante.  Third book of his 'Divine Comedy' uses this model to describe the various levels of heaven, though he employed the classical Greco-Roman associations for the planets.  The vision quest model he used goes back to antiquity (Gnosticism) 

Kate Elliot did a variant of this in her 'Crown of Fire' series.

Worth noting that both employed the Sun and Earths moon in this scheme.  (Elliot's works are set on a sort of fantasy alternate Earth.)

I have long considered something like this with fictional planets in an imaginary solar system.


----------



## Futhark

My Santa idea is this: some supernatural being like Baba Yaga has been cursed to perform good deeds of charity once a year.  During the year the glamour is lifted and the creature is free to indirectly influence children to be naughty.  When there are no more nice children who believe in Santa then the curse is lifted.


----------



## Ronald T.

And perhaps the Bifrost Bridge could be the magical path between the planets?


----------



## Ireth

Ronald T. said:


> And perhaps the Bifrost Bridge could be the magical path between the planets?



That would make the most sense.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm working on a short story and I have no idea where to take it. I like the basic idea, but...ugh. Where's the plot??


----------



## SeverinR

To all the Mythic family,
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year,
or what other holiday you observe may the holidays be good to you,
and as always may the new year be more peaceful then the one before.
Glad tidings and good writing to all, and to all a good night.
:wavespin:


----------



## Ban

Merry Marzipan-and-GlÃ¼hwein-Time!


...Oh and I guess this time also has something to do with a baby born in a shed somewhere. But mostly Marzipan.


----------



## Ireth

Merry Christmas Eve Eve morning!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm just thinking, 2017 will have to try really hard to be worse, weirder, and more chaotic than 2016...I'm scared.


----------



## SeverinR

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm just thinking, 2017 will have to try really hard to be worse, weirder, and more chaotic than 2016...I'm scared.


Don't challenge it to be any of those.  No matter how bad 2016 was, it could always be worse. But it can also be a lot better.


----------



## Ireth

Just heard about Carrie Fisher having a heart attack today. Sending her lots of hope and prayers for a quick recovery.


----------



## ThinkerX

Ok, been plugging away 'Empire: Judgment' on and off the past couple of weeks, slowly making progress towards the grand climax despite a marked lack of enthusiasm.  Almost there.

But -

I KNEW right from the start this tale was going to have a substantial epilogue of sorts, as in 10,000 words minimum.  And as I have been inching closer to the climax, tweaking this or that plot element along the way, I realized...

10,000 words isn't going to cut it.  20,000 is probably inadequate.  In short, I'm looking at a sort of wrap-up novella, despite the principle antagonist being out of the picture altogether and the characters being on a completely different planet.    Hmm...maybe 'Empire: Exiles.'   This one differs from the previous six in other ways - like duration.  The other novellas mostly took place in compressed time periods ranging from a couple of days ('Country,' 'Capital') to intense periods spread out over a few months ('Metropolis,' 'Spiral.')  This one will have to be spread out over a period of years, with multiple very short, somewhat intense episodes.  

Drat.  Just when I thought the end was in sight with this series.  On the brighter side, I'm that much closer to the end of 'Judgment.'


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So guys, I'm faced with a decision I have no idea how to make and any advice would be appreciated. I'm a little desperate for the smallest bit of direction. 

Basically, at 80K of my novel, at the eve of the third act, I'm stuck. My shoddy character motivations and crappy plot have given out on me, is all I can say. So far I've done a lot of making-things-up-as-I-go and in hindsight I should have planned. More, at least. But here I am. 

I was rereading my manuscript earlier and...ok. It is SO BAD. So. Bad. I was dry heaving. Not literally but I felt nauseated. 

I have three options: 

-cobble together a character motivation as best I can and shove through the remainder of the book. Pros of this: It's what everyone seems to recommend, it gives me the satisfaction of finishing a thing however horrendous, and I can put off cleaning up the huge mess that is the entire second act of the story. Cons of this: I'll have a huge mess to clean up, I might ruin the story beyond repair, I have no idea how to move forward, and I'll likely hate it. 

-start over, going straight into my (extensive) revisions list, revising from the first chapter and on upward. Basically, starting the second draft even though the first never was finished. Pros of this: I'll feel better about the story being crappy because at least I'll be doing something about it, I'll have the least mess to clean up, and I'll actually know what to do with the third act by the time I get there. Cons of this: there are still countless problems I have no idea how to fix and that I will doubtless get hung up on for days and weeks, I'll have to start my extensive research now, and it just feels dirty to start a second draft without making it to the end of the first. Really unsatisfying. I really want to finish a novel. It would reassure me so much...

-somewhat of a combination of the two: go back and address only the issues that I need to continue this and then finish. Pros of this: I'll be able to get finished kind of soon but it might not be a complete disaster. Cons of this: It'll be really hard to tease out the most pertinent issues from all the other ones. Meaning, I might have to rewrite everything anyway for it all to make any sense. 

I have no option that I favor. At all. They're all equally attractive and daunting. I'm torn between finishing soon and having the satisfaction of "the end" and writing something that doesn't resemble a puddle of cringey word vomit. I was favoring just biting the bullet and finishing it earlier, but...upon rereading...this will need SO MUCH gutting that I don't know if trying to slog my way to an ending is the wisest or most productive choice. Like, I would rather go back and fix the foundation for the ending and write a good ending then write a badly foundationed ending that I have to change completely later.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

My Christmas gifts are suspiciously book shaped...


----------



## Saigonnus

Perhaps Dragon, you could rewrite it from the beginning, only in regards to things you deem to be problem areas, character motivation and anything else. Once those areas are addressed, bang out a first draft, get it finished so you can move on to the second draft without feeling like you cheated. 


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----------



## spectre

merry christmas mythic!

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## Saigonnus

spectre said:


> "The eye that sees cannot see itself."



Unless of course the eye that sees is staring into a mirror. 



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Ireth

Merry Christmas, Mythic Scribes!!!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Merry Christmas


----------



## Saigonnus

Happy Holidays! [emoji1335]


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----------



## valiant12

Merry Christmas


----------



## Tom

Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukkah, guys!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Christmas was a success this year. Grandpa built a tool bench for G money and he got a bunch of new tools.


----------



## Chessie

:noway:

I'm actually really glad that Christmas is over. You can call me the Scrooge of the bunch. I have my reasons...


----------



## Svrtnsse

I can turn off the sound on my phone for another year.


----------



## Chessie

Svrtnsse said:


> I can turn off the sound on my phone for another year.



To be fair...I've been projectile vomiting for 3 days so....


.......................

Thought I was dying.....


----------



## Svrtnsse

Arf, that sounds less than pleasant. I've been working as usual. Means I didn't have time to watch my Christmas movie (Phantom of the Opera) as planned, but I'll do that this weekend instead - or next year. I got to listen to Moominland Midwinter though, and that's the main thing.


----------



## Chessie

Phantom Of The Opera! Such a good movie. I've never read the book though.

Yeah, the worst part about this bug (besides rolling on the floor with stomach cramps) was that I couldn't hold our friend's newborn at Christmas dinner, which didn't stay down btw.  *tear*


----------



## Svrtnsse

Chessie said:


> [...] was that I couldn't hold our friend's newborn at Christmas dinner, which didn't stay down btw.  *tear*



Well, they're just gonna have to have a new one for you for next Christmas then. Tell them!


----------



## Chessie

Svrtnsse said:


> Well, they're just gonna have to have a new one for you for next Christmas then. Tell them!



LOL I doubt it. This is their 3rd and she sounded like she's had enough haha.


----------



## Tom

Chessie said:


> To be fair...I've been projectile vomiting for 3 days so....
> 
> 
> .......................
> 
> Thought I was dying.....




I guess we were in the same boat this Christmas, Chessie, though I wasn't that bad. Hope you feel better soon!


----------



## Chessie

Thanks, Tom. I hope you feel better too. Glad you're not making canvas art with your puke though!


----------



## Tom

The good thing about not feeling well yesterday was that my grandmother didn't try to start an argument with me, which is a first! I think my tendency to look incredibly pissed off when I'm sick kept her away. My cousins and I played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare on the old XBox in the basement for most of the afternoon. Just like old times...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chessie said:


> To be fair...I've been projectile vomiting for 3 days so....
> 
> 
> .......................
> 
> Thought I was dying.....



OH noooo


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Carrie Fisher died this morning at 60. I'm seriously in tears. She helped define my childhood. Star Wars was my first and biggest fandom. RIP you will be missed...


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Carrie Fisher died this morning at 60. I'm seriously in tears. She helped define my childhood. Star Wars was my first and biggest fandom. RIP you will be missed...



2016 can go die in a hole now, kthx.

Rest in Power, Carrie.


----------



## valiant12

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Carrie Fisher died this morning at 60. I'm seriously in tears. She helped define my childhood. Star Wars was my first and biggest fandom. RIP you will be missed...



Thats sad. ):   ):


----------



## Ireth

Let it be remembered that she drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.

Carrie Fisher, 1956-2016 | Ars Technica

Dad ran off with Liz Taylor, Cary Grant lectured me about drugs, George Lucas ruined my life: The extraordinary autobiography of CARRIE FISHER | Daily Mail Online


----------



## Tom

Of all the things that 2016 has taken from us, I didn't expect it to take Carrie. She seemed indomitable. Immortal. Larger than life. Leia and Carrie both have served as an inspiration for me all my life, and I can't believe that she's gone. That I'll never get to meet her in person and tell her just how much she means to me. 

I'll miss you, Space Mom. May the Force be with you.


----------



## Saigonnus

My opinion is that 2016 is a mean-spirited dragon, that even in his death throes, has the strength to deprive us of things we love. 


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----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Saigonnus said:


> My opinion is that 2016 is a mean-spirited dragon, that even in his death throes, has the strength to deprive us of things we love.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Please don't compare this year to a dragon. I'm insulted.


----------



## Saigonnus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Please don't compare this year to a dragon. I'm insulted.



My apologies, didn't mean to offend anyone. I also have always had an affinity for dragons. 

Perhaps it is a hydra, the many heads weaving this way and that as their strength wanes. 

Carrie Fisher's mom Debbie Reynolds just passed away too. Another victim of this sucky year. [emoji22]


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----------



## SeverinR

I wish everyone a happy New Year, I probably won't be back on until next year.

May all the rest of our beloved icons survive this year and the new year be prosperous and hopeful for all.


----------



## Tom

Why did I think trying to revive this old project was a good idea...I have no familiarity with the characters anymore, and the worldbuilding needs a complete overhaul. If the plot didn't have a ton of untapped potential, I wouldn't even bother.


----------



## Ban

I won't be on here to say it at the correct time.  So Happy (early) New Year!


----------



## Chessie

Happy New Year's, Mythic Scribes! Here's to another year of learning and engaging discussions with our peers!


----------



## Tom

Happy new year, everyone! May this one treat us all better than the last.


----------



## ThinkerX

Rough WC for 2016 = 176,000.  To which I can add another 5000+ words of outlines and notes for projects I didn't get too.  Or about two novels worth.  

But with SEVEN works in first draft state (or close to it), 2017 is going to have to be devoted mostly to rewrites.


----------



## Saigonnus

Not sure about my word count... probably close to 200,000 but Happy New Years to everyone and hope everyone can manage more words, more blessings and more good fortune than 2016!


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----------



## Chessie

I had NO idea George Michael died on Christmas. You have _got to be kidding me_! Who will I dance to now!?!?! RIP!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

2016's wordcount is probably close to 150,000 for me.


----------



## valiant12

Happy new year, everyone! 
My word count is ~ 155 000 and I finished  the novel I started December 2015.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I just had a dream I was explaining how Moana was a hero's journey type of story to my two year old and he was responding with cogent questions as to why I was and what elements it was missing and how that enhanced the story. In real life he just talks about the fire monster monster fire (curse that claymation video for making him think all villains reverse their names) and how big the monster was.


----------



## Writeking

I just started working on the second draft of my first novel. Wish me luck.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Writeking said:


> I just started working on the second draft of my first novel. Wish me luck.



Consider luck wished.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Am I the only one who sorts all my characters into Hogwarts houses...?


----------



## spectre

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Am I the only one who sorts all my characters into Hogwarts houses...?


millenials...lol

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Am I the only one who sorts all my characters into Hogwarts houses...?



Nope! XD I've done that with several of mine.


----------



## FifthView

So I called a snow day for myself.  Woke up to an unexpected heavy snow, and I live in a rural area that doesn't get bladed quickly.  Will trade today for Saturday as a "make-up" day for myself.  Freedom.  For now.


----------



## Tom

Why do my worldbuilding notes read like an anthropology textbook?!

(Complete with "this item was used ceremonially because we haven't figured out what it was actually used for" and "we're calling this a fertility idol but really it was probably a sex toy")


----------



## Svrtnsse

The barista at the cafe I'm writing at is wearing a dress that makes her look like a real life version of a character from one of my favourite books, but she's not a reader so the reference would be lost on her. - First world writer problems. 

Edit: Kinda like this - complete with the bun on the head.


----------



## Chessie

I seriously can't stop giggling my way through this scene, which can be referred to as "Good Vibrations" (wassup Marky Mark!).

 Ugh. Geesh.


----------



## FifthView

Lazy days.  During this holiday season I bought myself a decent but inexpensive laptop, and on Friday I received the simple but decent adjustable laptop table I'd ordered, so I'm now sitting in bed writing rather than crouched over my desk.  I could get very used to this.


----------



## ThinkerX

Well, I have reached the 'just three more chapters' phase in the WIP. I tell myself: 'just three more chapters. 5000 words tops. I can knock this out in a week.'

Of course, one week, eight thousand words, and three chapters later, I am still telling myself 'just three more chapters.' 

But maybe this time will be different.  It's the climactic finale.  I have to go a bit slow, because of the complexities.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

The more time I spend on this site, the more I regret that I don't write medieval-era fantasy and that I'm bored by swords. So many resources that are useless to me...


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> The more time I spend on this site, the more I regret that I don't write medieval-era fantasy and that I'm bored by swords. So many resources that are useless to me...



The obvious solution, imo, is to stretch your comfort zone a little, and write a medieval fantasy without swords.  I'm sure it can be done.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Why use swords when you can use herrings?


----------



## Ireth

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Why use swords when you can use herrings?



I hear those are very good for chopping down trees.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> The obvious solution, imo, is to stretch your comfort zone a little, and write a medieval fantasy without swords.  I'm sure it can be done.



I'm bored by both  but I might try it someday...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

My fantasy books are probably going to be impossible to categorize. Is it fantasy, but in space? Is it romance? Is it a story about families? Is it a story about stories? What about the slight horror elements? 
The only thing my books aren't? Cowboy stories!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> My fantasy books are probably going to be impossible to categorize. Is it fantasy, but in space? Is it romance? Is it a story about families? Is it a story about stories? What about the slight horror elements?
> The only thing my books aren't? Cowboy stories!



I relate to this. SO. MUCH. 

I was writing what I thought was a dystopian/post apocalyptic type tale about an all-girls school for assassins. Now there are immortal wizards and the assassin thing has more or less fallen to the wayside. There are also other random fantasy elements and now I'm taking an unanticipated dive into steampunk. Crud. I should have planned. 

The other one is a historical-inspired fantasy that's kinda based on the Lewis and Clark expedition but there are dragons and the native peoples are practitioners of magic. There's a random talking cat. 

I feel like I'll end up a Weird Fiction/New Weird author. I always veer toward the surreal and strange and border on horror, and I tend to blend sci-fi and fantasy. 

I don't know what I am now...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I'm a crystal rainbow fairy star angel kitten. There's always at least one cat or cat-like being in every one of my stories, by the way.  The horror elements are rather subtle, but there are definitely some creepy parts. For the dark force in Book II, I combined everything that scares me: androids [for her mannerisms], puppets [for her movements], masks [for her blank face], dolls [for her posture and floppy limbs], clocks [for her heartbeat, which the main character can hear], and so forth.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I'm a crystal rainbow fairy star angel kitten. There's always at least one cat or cat-like being in every one of my stories, by the way.  The horror elements are rather subtle, but there are definitely some creepy parts. For the dark force in Book II, I combined everything that scares me: androids [for her mannerisms], puppets [for her movements], masks [for her blank face], dolls [for her posture and floppy limbs], clocks [for her heartbeat, which the main character can hear], and so forth.



I have this thing for cat characters too, lol. In one of my stories, I have a talking cat; in the graphic novel I'm planning one of my characters is a chubby superhero catgirl. 

That does sound creepy. O_O


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have around two or three cat-like races in my books, as well. 

The dark force [the Korion Maiden] only shows up twice throughout the entire book [once near the beginning, and again at the very end], but the main character [Kurea] constantly dreams about her, including one where Kurea is standing bolt upright while knowing full well that the Korion Maiden is right behind her [since she can hear the abnormal heartbeat], but is far too scared to move. 
Weirdly enough, the only horror series I actually read is Claymore, but the stuff in that series is terrifying enough as it is!


----------



## Addison

I hope everyone's staying warm and comfy, because in my vicinity it has been tough. We're nearing the end of an intense storm which has dumped more than two feet of snow within the last few days. Also intense winds. Forget hazardous roads, driveways are dangerous. Right now my car is stuck diagonally at the edge of the street. Also, last night, we lost power. It only came back about....three hours ago. So working data-entry was fun, the younger workers discovered pen and paper and hand-delivery. 

the bright side has been snuggling under a blanket with the dog and getting to catch up on my reading. Only without the hot cocoa, the only downside. But seriously guys stay warm. If you don't have a fire place, either stock up on blankets and long-john clothes. Perhaps a battery-powered space heater. Also, maybe a generator. If you are, or know, an engineer or electrician, see if you can use your car battery for power. All it takes is snow to shift off one branch, hit one wire, then DOON, we're ripping off "Revolution".


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, confession time. I like the _Harry Potter_ series. I thought it was good, great even. But I keep seeing posts in various places about how _Harry Potter_ is a way of life and I just don't get it. I mean yeah, it was engaging but it wasn't the best book series in the world. I just don't get that kind of adoration for the series.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So, confession time. I like the _Harry Potter_ series. I thought it was good, great even. But I keep seeing posts in various places about how _Harry Potter_ is a way of life and I just don't get it. I mean yeah, it was engaging but it wasn't the best book series in the world. I just don't get that kind of adoration for the series.



Hmm...I guess it's just easy to get swallowed up in. I mean, once you've taken all the quizzes and figured out your house and your patronus and your wand...

Also, there is so much fanfic to get immersed in...

The books are just so popular, it's easy to find community as a fan. 

I'm a HUFFLEPUFF by the way, and I'm overly patriotic about my house.


----------



## Ireth

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Hmm...I guess it's just easy to get swallowed up in. I mean, once you've taken all the quizzes and figured out your house and your patronus and your wand...
> 
> Also, there is so much fanfic to get immersed in...
> 
> The books are just so popular, it's easy to find community as a fan.
> 
> I'm a HUFFLEPUFF by the way, and I'm overly patriotic about my house.



It also can be a different experience depending on how old you were when you first read the books. I was ten when the first book came out, and I grew up alongside Harry and his friends, so they really have stuck with me even so many years later.

*fistbumps DOTA* Yaaas! Puff Pride!


----------



## CupofJoe

Ireth said:


> It also can be a different experience depending on how old you were when you first read the books. I was ten when the first book came out, and I grew up alongside Harry and his friends, so they really have stuck with me even so many years later.
> *fistbumps DOTA* Yaaas! Puff Pride!


And if you saw the films before reading the books.
I saw the films 1 through 8 and then read the first [and so far my only] Harry Potter... 
It was so different to the films I came close to hating it, for not being like the film. 
Then, like I had with LotR, I realised that they really weren't the same thing and so you HAD to treat them differently.


----------



## Ireth

CupofJoe said:


> And if you saw the films before reading the books.
> I saw the films 1 through 8 and then read the first [and so far my only] Harry Potter...
> It was so different to the films I came close to hating it, for not being like the film.
> Then, like I had with LotR, I realised that they really weren't the same thing and so you HAD to treat them differently.



There's that, too. I had the same experience with LOTR -- I saw the movies first, and while I absolutely loved them and still do, I love the books so much more. They have room to expand on the world more than even a three-hour movie can. The Harry Potter movie adaptations are very flawed, IMO. They cut out so much stuff that it screwed with continuity, not just world-building. Given how the books got longer as the series went on, it might have worked better as a TV series instead, with every chapter or so being its own episode.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> There's that, too. I had the same experience with LOTR -- I saw the movies first, and while I absolutely loved them and still do, I love the books so much more. They have room to expand on the world more than even a three-hour movie can. The Harry Potter movie adaptations are very flawed, IMO. They cut out so much stuff that it screwed with continuity, not just world-building. Given how the books got longer as the series went on, it might have worked better as a TV series instead, with every chapter or so being its own episode.



I would love a HP TV adaptation. I've seen the first three movies and i'm meh about them. I read the books first, so...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> It also can be a different experience depending on how old you were when you first read the books. I was ten when the first book came out, and I grew up alongside Harry and his friends, so they really have stuck with me even so many years later.
> 
> *fistbumps DOTA* Yaaas! Puff Pride!



I was twelve before I even read them  

Puff PRIDE


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> My fantasy books are probably going to be impossible to categorize. Is it fantasy, but in space? Is it romance? Is it a story about families? Is it a story about stories? What about the slight horror elements?
> The only thing my books aren't? Cowboy stories!



I love this! A story I was... *cough* Am, working on is like this. Some of it resembles medieval epic fantasy but other parts in space and yet others romance... (this is a project that is a main story with included short stories and small runoff novels and comic books. I'm eclectic) anyways, the mixture of the genres is addicting!


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----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^It starts in space, proceeds onto the newly formed fantasy planet, has lots of romance, mixes in some horror, and even a teensy bit of apocalyptic stuff. 

I like the LotR movies just as much as the books, but like The Silmarillion even more. Would it sound like bragging if I mentioned that I sometimes read parts of The Silmarillion as a bedtime story? My favourite part is The Tale of Beren and Luthien. 
I also like the Harry Potter books; Prisoner of Azkaban and The Half-Blood Prince are my favourites. I don't like the movies much.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^It starts in space, proceeds onto the newly formed fantasy planet, has lots of romance, mixes in some horror, and even a teensy bit of apocalyptic stuff.
> 
> I like the LotR movies just as much as the books, but like The Silmarillion even more. Would it sound like bragging if I mentioned that I sometimes read parts of The Silmarillion as a bedtime story? My favourite part is The Tale of Beren and Luthien.
> I also like the Harry Potter books; Prisoner of Azkaban and The Half-Blood Prince are my favourites. I don't like the movies much.



I love all of those series and books! I haven't read the silmarillion yet:/ I want to do badly!!


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----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> It also can be a different experience depending on how old you were when you first read the books. I was ten when the first book came out, and I grew up alongside Harry and his friends, so they really have stuck with me even so many years later.
> 
> *fistbumps DOTA* Yaaas! Puff Pride!


I grew up with the books too. And I liked them then. But at the same time I never could get that into it. And it's a little frightening to me, as a writer, that people can get that into something. Because I tell you, if I got JKR famous and people asked obscure world building questions my answers would tend to be along the lines of "Dear reader what do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino? An elephino. (Hell if I know.)"

The other problem I have with it is that she gets an inordinate amount of praise. Again, I am not saying she is a bad writer, I am saying that she just isn't a ground breaking writer. And I am willing to be that the horcrux thing for voldemort did not really enter into JKR's mind until book 5 or 6 and she retconned at least HP and the diary being horcruxes when she realized how cool that would be, but that is just me.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I grew up with the books too. And I liked them then. But at the same time I never could get that into it. And it's a little frightening to me, as a writer, that people can get that into something. Because I tell you, if I got JKR famous and people asked obscure world building questions my answers would tend to be along the lines of "Dear reader what do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino? An elephino. (Hell if I know.)"
> 
> The other problem I have with it is that she gets an inordinate amount of praise. Again, I am not saying she is a bad writer, I am saying that she just isn't a ground breaking writer. And I am willing to be that the horcrux thing for voldemort did not really enter into JKR's mind until book 5 or 6 and she retconned at least HP and the diary being horcruxes when she realized how cool that would be, but that is just me.



I agree, not ground breaking. I think it was the intricate story with which she painted the series. The world building along with the depth of Characters was astounding. I read all seven in fourth grade and I have loved them dearly. I haven't even watched all the movies yet and it's been six years! The books were fabulous and the new script play thingy was almost disappointing to me:/ I enjoy the long form Novel, 500+ page style she always used XD


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## Ireth

Thomas Laszlo said:


> I agree, not ground breaking. I think it was the intricate story with which she painted the series. The world building along with the depth of Characters was astounding. I read all seven in fourth grade and I have loved them dearly. I haven't even watched all the movies yet and it's been six years! The books were fabulous and the new script play thingy was almost disappointing to me:/ I enjoy the long form Novel, 500+ page style she always used XD



I haven't seen Deathly Hallows Part 2 yet. (Wonder if it's on Netflix?) And IMO, the less said about Cursed Child, the better.


----------



## CupofJoe

Ireth said:


> I haven't seen Deathly Hallows Part 2 yet. (Wonder if it's on Netflix?) And IMO, the less said about Cursed Child, the better.


If you've read the book then I don't think I'm going to spoil anything by saying... 
Wait for Neville Longbottom in DH #2! 
He is the real hero for me...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Does anyone here watch Studio Ghibli movies?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Quick, give me a kind of weapon that's liable to snap in two and leave a piece in the wound...preferably something small...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Guys I wrote 5,192 words today, which is more than I've ever written in a day. I was so close to the end I was like "k I'm finishing this bad boy this weekend" and decided to start sprinting it. 

My brain is half dead of exhaustion but I'm so excited because I'm almost finished with my first draft. Its an ugly one but it's a draft. seriously so excited. 

What I'm not excited about? 

-re-reading (I may vomit)
-revising (will be a beast to revise) 
-letting others read it (especially my mom, who absolutely hates darkness and violence of any kind in books and well, my MC kills people, it's a dystopia with plague and drugs, and there are maybe 3 characters that are alive and have all their limbs/body parts?)


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Quick, give me a kind of weapon that's liable to snap in two and leave a piece in the wound...preferably something small...


A Stanley or craft knife. Maybe not era accurate but very good at snapping off when used - inappropriately.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Well, my potentially almost kind of sort of final draft of Book I and II are done. Would anyone like to read them? I can pm you the links [I'd rather not post them on the forum just yet].


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Quick, give me a kind of weapon that's liable to snap in two and leave a piece in the wound...preferably something small...



A glass dagger.


----------



## Ireth

Already posted in the Victory thread, but this bears reiterating. The first draft of _Bellringer_ is officially DONE! :dance:


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> A glass dagger.



Or crystal. That sounds cool...


----------



## Chessie

Ireth said:


> Already posted in the Victory thread, but this bears reiterating. The first draft of _Bellringer_ is officially DONE! :dance:



Nice work, Ireth! Woop woop!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Yay for Ireth!


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

So I've found that being a decent person and having a highschool relationship that function with my worldview is considerably more challenging than any other task I've ever faced myself with I might think. Hmmm... possibly a topic for a speculative essay or long paper... 


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## TheCrystallineEntity

^I...did not enjoy highschool much at all, and I really don't like essays. 

On a totally random note...I'm super excited to write my next book. It's going to be a lot of fun. Basically, there is this girl named Mono with a mystery that no one can figure out, her two dragon wizard healer/knight guardians who are in a passionate relationship with Mono and each other, and this random guy who thinks that by wearing oversized robes and a fake beard he is a wizard...and he also thinks that he's in a fantasy role playing video game. Hilarity all around.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I...did not enjoy highschool much at all, and I really don't like essays.



I enjoy essays, especially about topics I really enjoy or am passionate about. I have yet to write one on democratic-republicanism though


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> So I've found that being a decent person and having a highschool relationship that function with my worldview is considerably more challenging than any other task I've ever faced myself with I might think. Hmmm... possibly a topic for a speculative essay or long paper...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



You may not like hearing this, but I've decided not to even date until i've reached college and it's working out pretty well for me. No stress, no grief. People are flighty and immature at this age (even me) and i've decided i'm in no rush. If you're looking for a meaningful long term relationship, you may not find one because we're all still...kids, really, who don't yet know who we are or what we want in life. So...I'm just saying, there's no rule that you have to find 'the one' now. 

Being a decent person, that's a whole nother can of worms. Lol.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> You may not like hearing this, but I've decided not to even date until i've reached college and it's working out pretty well for me. No stress, no grief. People are flighty and immature at this age (even me) and i've decided i'm in no rush. If you're looking for a meaningful long term relationship, you may not find one because we're all still...kids, really, who don't yet know who we are or what we want in life. So...I'm just saying, there's no rule that you have to find 'the one' now.
> 
> Being a decent person, that's a whole nother can of worms. Lol.



Haha yeah, it's not necessarily about finding the 'one' this very moment but I wouldn't mind a date to prom. The issue is that nobody in my area has values that line up with me enough to even think about such a serious proposal XD


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## TheCrystallineEntity

The four characters are in search of their author...me. Or at least, the character who is also the author in the story itself. The 'wizard' guy doesn't like the way he's written and wants to be a real wizard.
I haven't figured out what Mono, Dia [the dragon wizard knight], and Adi [the dragon wizard healer] want yet. Maybe I should ask them.

Everything has suddenly become very meta.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Haha yeah, it's not necessarily about finding the 'one' this very moment but I wouldn't mind a date to prom. The issue is that nobody in my area has values that line up with me enough to even think about such a serious proposal XD
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Yeah, I get that


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

It's my dog's birthday today. She's 2


----------



## Chessie

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> It's my dog's birthday today. She's 2



Adorable! What kind of dog?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

So if a four-person band of a dragon knight, a dragon healer, an incompetent wizard, and a comatose mystic arrived at your doorstep and the dragon knight explains that 'our friend was paralyzed by a library book, could we come in?', what would you do?


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> So if a four-person band of a dragon knight, a dragon healer, an incompetent wizard, and a comatose mystic arrived at your doorstep and the dragon knight explains that 'our friend was paralyzed by a library book, could we come in?', what would you do?



Let them in of course, common courtesy.


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## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> It's my dog's birthday today. She's 2



Tell her happy birthday from Thom


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Chessie said:


> Adorable! What kind of dog?



Um...no idea. She's a mutt, we got her from a shelter as a pup. Probably some kind of Labrador/pitbull/hound combination...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> So if a four-person band of a dragon knight, a dragon healer, an incompetent wizard, and a comatose mystic arrived at your doorstep and the dragon knight explains that 'our friend was paralyzed by a library book, could we come in?', what would you do?



Let them in, offer them some mozzarella sticks  also ask what book and what library so no one else gets paralyzed...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^The dragon library in the middle of Somewhere.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

A shard of glass about two inches long thrust into someone's throat would kill them pretty fast, right? How fast? Would they be able to speak (I guess this depends on where exactly you stabbed them, but...I can keep it ambiguous...)


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> A shard of glass about two inches long thrust into someone's throat would kill them pretty fast, right? How fast? Would they be able to speak (I guess this depends on where exactly you stabbed them, but...I can keep it ambiguous...)



I would say... it would be sufficient, but you would need Force adequate to break through the tissue and enter the airway OR hit the jugular and they would bleed out in a matter of minutes. The least messy depends. Easiest is hitting the jugular probably. Time is hard to estimate. I've seen plenty of informative articles about different stab wound targets on Pinterest with thorough explanations!


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## Thomas Laszlo

Would it theoretically be a proposal to write Sherlock Esque novels set in the fantasy world of a fantasy series of your own, or another authors creation, with rights of course, and then write under a pen name of a person inhabiting the fictional world and make it like an actual account? So like Lemony Snicket but with a fantasy world 


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Would it theoretically be a proposal to write Sherlock Esque novels set in the fantasy world of a fantasy series of your own, or another authors creation, with rights of course, and then write under a pen name of a person inhabiting the fictional world and make it like an actual account? So like Lemony Snicket but with a fantasy world
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Your pen name can be whatever you want. 

That sounds amazing, btw. Id read it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

GUYYYYYYYS IM DONE WITH MY NOVEL (the first draft anyway) and I want to scream and freak out to my family but they're all asleep! 

This feels amazing. An enormous confidence booster for someone who's constantly doubting her ability to write anything too.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Your pen name can be whatever you want.
> 
> That sounds amazing, btw. Id read it.



Well I understand it can be anything but like... basically I'm saying if someone wrote a "Gulliver's Travels" style book and the author was literally named "Gulliver" lol XD just the mind games you could play! 

Well, I'm doing something similar but idk if I want my pen name to be Shirley XD


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## spectre

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> GUYYYYYYYS IM DONE WITH MY NOVEL (the first draft anyway) and I want to scream and freak out to my family but they're all asleep!
> 
> This feels amazing. An enormous confidence booster for someone who's constantly doubting her ability to write anything too.


congrats, what's it about? got a blurb?

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

spectre said:


> congrats, what's it about? got a blurb?
> 
> "The eye that sees cannot see itself."



Um.  Good question. 

I thought it was a story about an all-girls school for assassins in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. But then the fantasy thing started to take center stage and the technology is like steampunk/1850's and there are zombies and it's pretty weird, really.


----------



## spectre

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Um. [emoji14] Good question.
> 
> I thought it was a story about an all-girls school for assassins in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. But then the fantasy thing started to take center stage and the technology is like steampunk/1850's and there are zombies and it's pretty weird, really.


well congrats on finishing! kudos.

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Would anyone be interested in reading the short "prologue" to a novel I want to write? It'll be... post-modern fantasy sci go thriller genre mashup XD idek what genres all will be included 


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## spectre

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Would anyone be interested in reading the short "prologue" to a novel I want to write? It'll be... post-modern fantasy sci go thriller genre mashup XD idek what genres all will be included
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


i'll read it. put it up in your profile.

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Will do, I hope I have it copied XD I dot feel like opening my iPad again


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## Thomas Laszlo

It is up!!


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## spectre

give me until tomorrow to reply

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## spectre

Thomas Laszlo said:


> It is up!!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I replied. I had to edit it because I used Google's text to talk feature to insert my text and it got all crazy. So it's a short critique I like the story but the rest is in the reply in your portfolio. Have a good night.

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## FifthView

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> So if a four-person band of a dragon knight, a dragon healer, an incompetent wizard, and a comatose mystic arrived at your doorstep and the dragon knight explains that 'our friend was paralyzed by a library book, could we come in?', what would you do?



I'd tell them, _Sorry, I'm all stocked up on crazy here_, but the Bates Motel down the road might have a vacancy and if not, their last option will be the Overlook Hotel about five miles past that.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

spectre said:


> I replied. I had to edit it because I used Google's text to talk feature to insert my text and it got all crazy. So it's a short critique I like the story but the rest is in the reply in your portfolio. Have a good night.
> 
> "The eye that sees cannot see itself."



One thing, I'm using Shirley as a males name XD


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## TheCrystallineEntity

All I have left to do is finish the ending, and then copy-paste stuff I'm keeping.


----------



## Chessie

I just spent an hour digging my car out of 4 inches of snow and it still can't budge out of its spot. I'm seriously ready for spring here.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I was ready for spring back in November.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I was ready for spring back in November.



Me too  but at least it's a pretty balmy 60 F here. (Southerly dwelling dragon.)


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Me too  but at least it's a pretty balmy 60 F here. (Southerly dwelling dragon.)



Same! Missouri baby!


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## DragonOfTheAerie

If I had my way, the temperature would never go below 60.  I love summer, and my idea of summer is "90 degrees Fahrenheit for three months straight." 

I hate, hate, hate cold.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> If I had my way, the temperature would never go below 60.  I love summer, and my idea of summer is "90 degrees Fahrenheit for three months straight."
> 
> I hate, hate, hate cold.



I love cold!








So no writing done today Gonna make up for it at school tomorrow on the Chrome Book


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> I love cold!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So no writing done today Gonna make up for it at school tomorrow on the Chrome Book
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



How does one love cold?!?!

Aww


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> How does one love cold?!?!
> 
> Aww



Well you see, warm blood mixed with two small dogs that are about the temperature of a hot pocket in the oven all year round and a back for naturally overheating oneself a love of the cold becomes second nature Xd


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## Insolent Lad

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> If I had my way, the temperature would never go below 60.  I love summer, and my idea of summer is "90 degrees Fahrenheit for three months straight."
> 
> I hate, hate, hate cold.



So agree! That's why I live in Florida and shall continue to until we are all underwater.


----------



## Russ

I enjoy all four seasons.  I suspect I would struggle living somewhere that didn't have them.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Russ said:


> I enjoy all four seasons.  I suspect I would struggle living somewhere that didn't have them.



Come to Missouri, we can have all four seasons in an hour!


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## Russ

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Come to Missouri, we can have all four seasons in an hour!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Would love to!


----------



## Chessie

Russ said:


> I enjoy all four seasons.  I suspect I would struggle living somewhere that didn't have them.



The same! Although, Alaska really has 3 seasons:

-winter October-April
-snow break up-April-May
-summer June-Sept
-fall optional during September. Our fall is literally like 3 weeks.

Pretty much it's hell here right now. It's supposed to get down to 30 below this week. Right now it's 11F and there's 2 feet of snow that I have to shovel today. Siiiiiggggghhhh. I also do love the cold and the snow. Definitely going snow shoeing this morning. But...the hardest part about winters here is the dark. It's pitch black out right now and will be until the sun comes up around 9am. It'll be dark by 4:30. Sucks.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chessie said:


> The same! Although, Alaska really has 3 seasons:
> 
> -winter October-April
> -snow break up-April-May
> -summer June-Sept
> -fall optional during September. Our fall is literally like 3 weeks.
> 
> Pretty much it's hell here right now. It's supposed to get down to 30 below this week. Right now it's 11F and there's 2 feet of snow that I have to shovel today. Siiiiiggggghhhh. I also do love the cold and the snow. Definitely going snow shoeing this morning. But...the hardest part about winters here is the dark. It's pitch black out right now and will be until the sun comes up around 9am. It'll be dark by 4:30. Sucks.



Wow. Can't even imagine. I hate dark too


----------



## Malik

The running joke around here is that we have four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Winter's Almost Over, and Road Construction. 

The other joke is that you can tell when summer's here because the rain gets warmer. I'm in a microclimate out on the end of a peninsula and it seems to always be foggy and rainy here. Five miles in any direction and it often lets up.

Also, living in a place like this, you get to the point where you realize that you're going to be wet no matter what you do. You can let it stop you, or you can roll with it. It's amazing how fast you acclimate; it's 45 and raining right now and I just got back from a 4-mile run in a T-shirt and shorts. I saw another runner out there doing the same thing, going the other way, both of us soaked to the skin. I won't wear a running jacket or a hat anymore unless it's in the 30's or it's really a goose-drowner. A hot shower, a cup of coffee, and it's like it never happened.


----------



## Ireth

Malik said:


> The running joke around here is that we have four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Winter's Almost Over, and Road Construction.



Sounds like Manitoba, except what you call "Winter's Almost Over" we call "Still Winter". And then there's "that one day in March where it's really warm and everyone gets irrationally optimistic." XD


----------



## Chessie

Malik said:


> The running joke around here is that we have four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Winter's Almost Over, and Road Construction.
> 
> The other joke is that you can tell when summer's here because the rain gets warmer. I'm in a microclimate out on the end of a peninsula and it seems to always be foggy and rainy here. Five miles in any direction and it often lets up.
> 
> Also, living in a place like this, you get to the point where you realize that you're going to be wet no matter what you do. You can let it stop you, or you can roll with it. It's amazing how fast you acclimate; it's 45 and raining right now and I just got back from a 4-mile run in a T-shirt and shorts. I saw another runner out there doing the same thing, going the other way, both of us soaked to the skin. I won't wear a running jacket or a hat anymore unless it's in the 30's or it's really a goose-drowner. A hot shower, a cup of coffee, and it's like it never happened.



45 is definitely shorts weather! Also, my in-laws live on the Olympic Peninsula. We love visiting them there. The climate is so nice and temperate but not hot (hate hot). It's refreshing.


----------



## buyjupiter

Malik said:


> The running joke around here is that we have four seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Winter's Almost Over, and Road Construction.
> 
> The other joke is that you can tell when summer's here because the rain gets warmer. I'm in a microclimate out on the end of a peninsula and it seems to always be foggy and rainy here. Five miles in any direction and it often lets up.
> 
> Also, living in a place like this, you get to the point where you realize that you're going to be wet no matter what you do. You can let it stop you, or you can roll with it. It's amazing how fast you acclimate; it's 45 and raining right now and I just got back from a 4-mile run in a T-shirt and shorts. I saw another runner out there doing the same thing, going the other way, both of us soaked to the skin. I won't wear a running jacket or a hat anymore unless it's in the 30's or it's really a goose-drowner. A hot shower, a cup of coffee, and it's like it never happened.



Substitute "summer" in for "winter" & that's our life here in the sonoran desert. We're in road construction season right now. By the end of February we'll hit almost summer, tho last Feb we had a day that was over 100F.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm seriously considering moving somewhere warm. How did someone like me end up living in such a cold place????


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I'm seriously considering moving somewhere warm. How did someone like me end up living in such a cold place????



Same reason a city boy like me was born in a country town


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## TheCrystallineEntity

^I'm almost the reverse; I love nature, but I currently live in town.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I'm almost the reverse; I love nature, but I currently live in town.



Same.    My soul longs for the wilderness...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I could easily live in Hobbiton or Lothlorien.


----------



## Ireth

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I could easily live in Hobbiton or Lothlorien.



Same. Or Rivendell. <3


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I think I'll visit New Zealand one day [or even live there].


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm reading LOTR now. I really wanna visit middle-earth...I guess New Zealand is the next best thing.


----------



## spectre

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm reading LOTR now. I really wanna visit middle-earth...I guess New Zealand is the next best thing.


Read it for the first time last year. It's a big one! I'm reading the Jaina Proudmore World of Warcraft book, lol.

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

spectre said:


> Read it for the first time last year. It's a big one! I'm reading the Jaina Proudmore World of Warcraft book, lol.
> 
> "The eye that sees cannot see itself."



This will be the first time I've made it all the way through. Feels sacreligious being a fantasy writer and not having read them.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> This will be the first time I've made it all the way through. Feels sacreligious being a fantasy writer and not having read them.



I haven't, beating me XD I read the hobbit in one day though... XD


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----------



## Russ

Ireth said:


> Sounds like Manitoba, except what you call "Winter's Almost Over" we call "Still Winter". And then there's "that one day in March where it's really warm and everyone gets irrationally optimistic." XD



Funny I always heard that Manitoba had two seasons...Snow and Mosquito.


----------



## Ireth

Russ said:


> Funny I always heard that Manitoba had two seasons...Snow and Mosquito.



That's not wrong either. XD


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Well, I might as well admit it...I've only read the Silmarillion and the Hobbit all the way through [my mum read Fellowship to me, and I've only read the ending and the appendices of Return of the King]. I have, however, watched the movies far too many times to count.


----------



## Saigonnus

I first read the Hobbit in elementary school and LOTR in middle school. The Silmarillion was a bit later, but only because  I didn't know it even existed. I was always fascinated and enchanted with fantasy as a kid, so I read tons of other stuff as well. 


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## TheCrystallineEntity

If you could live in Middle-earth and be of a particular race, where would you live and what race would you be? [I'm asking anyone in general.]


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

^Being a hufflepuff, I would probably be a hobbit. 

Unless dragon was one of the options. I would always choose dragon over anything else. 

And...Id have to travel for a few years before deciding that


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

You know you're a writer when...you accidentally gouge yourself with your razor shaving your legs and instead of grabbing a band-aid like a normal person, you just look at the blood streaming down your leg and think, "Cool! I just thought of a new way to describe streaming blood!"


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^I would likely be a [good] Maia of some sort. [I wouldn't choose elf because immortality in the modern sense of the word--endless time--doesn't sit well with me at all.]


----------



## Ireth

I'd be a Hobbit or a Man. Not an Elf, for the same reason as TCE (unless I were a half-elf who could choose mortality). Immortality would wear on me.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Maybe I could be the 'sixth' Istari that no one ever knew about. Erulisse the Pink. :tongue::balanced::angel:

[I used an online Quenya dictionary to translate my name. ]


----------



## Insolent Lad

I think I'd be an Ent. I can certainly drone on endlessly.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> If you could live in Middle-earth and be of a particular race, where would you live and what race would you be? [I'm asking anyone in general.]



I would live in the woodlands as a woodland elf XD


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## buyjupiter

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> If you could live in Middle-earth and be of a particular race, where would you live and what race would you be? [I'm asking anyone in general.]



I'm pretty sure I'd be Eowyn. Just ask anyone who knows me if storming off to battle dressed as a man and swinging swords around sounds like me. (Spoiler alert: it does.)

Otherwise I'd be a mythical entwife. Or maybe Goldberry.


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## Saigonnus

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> If you could live in Middle-earth and be of a particular race, where would you live and what race would you be? [I'm asking anyone in general.]



I would say a human ranger, going anywhere I please.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

So I really love Krav Maga, but 1. I suck at it and 2. I'm not even a yellow belt yet so I feel like I can't say I'm "into martial arts." Like, idk if it's even a hobby at this point, although I'm obsessed. Do I even seem like a "martial arts person?" This has such a macho kind of aura surrounding it and I am, for the most part, small and cute and fond of fuzzy socks and overly sensitive and prone to crying about everything. 

I feel like an obnoxiously slow learner at everything. I'm constantly forgetting everything I have learned. I also seem to be completely oblivious to the distinction between right and left, which I've heard is a kind of dyslexia...so, that's weird. How long does the "I have no idea what I am doing" stage last? Lol. This is why I write; I suck at everything else I try to do. Nothing to renew your self esteem like getting punched in the mouth by a thirteen year old!! 

I actually got so frustrated today that I snapped at someone in my class and then when I got home I felt so bad about it I started crying in the shower. Please understand; there are so many assholes in the world, it's like my life's ambition to be as little of an asshole as possible, and it kills me whenever I do something slightly mean. Kills me. 

On another note I have no idea how I stripped the skin off my knuckles this badly; I WAS WEARING GLOVES. Today I threw two punches and immediately gasped in pain because I'd spilt the scabs on my knuckles and started bleeding again. (It was better after I wore band-aids.) 

(Reminds me of how annoying it is when people try to rationalize away my fear of needles. When I get cut or bleed in everyday life, I'm just like, Oh. Blood. Ouch. I ignore pain and blood more than I probably should sometimes. Needles are a whole other thing. One time I was in a class and we were doing blood typing kits (I'd opted out weeks ago) but everyone else was doing a finger prick and you can't even see the needle and I wasn't even doing it and I felt like I was about to pass out. It's bad. It's very bad. Everyone is like "It won't hurt that much!" And I'm like "Did I say I was afraid of pain? No! I'm afraid of NEEDLES.")


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## Malik

DOTA, I got my ass kicked at a boxing gym a few weeks back by a 14-year old. I'm 46. He got in a lucky punch and I spent the rest of the round just trying to stay vertical. Shit happens.

As for your knuckles, you have to let them scab over and then let the scabs fall off. When that happens, you'll have scars. Then do it again. And again. And again. Eventually the scar tissue builds up and they won't hurt anymore. That's how it is with everything in life.

Krav maga is full of idiots; it's one of the current McDojo flavors of the week and most instructors aren't even doing it right. If it's not working for you, find a martial art that resonates with you. Personally, I found that I enjoy boxing and judo. I enjoyed _savate_ but I was terrible at it; I have short legs and super-long arms and anything that relies on sweeping kicks is a no-go for me. (Seriously; I have a 36 sleeve and a 29 inseam. I look like an orangutan.)

Judo is fun for me because it's a matter of gaining your opponent's confidence and then abusing it. And boxing is three-dimensional full-speed chess with immediate loss/reward. Your thing may not be Krav Maga, or boxing, or whatever. Your thing may end up being one of those flowing dancing-master arts with the ribbons and the aerial kicks where there's no contact. No judgment, here. Martial arts serve two confluent purposes: they make you harder to kill, which they do by making you feel more alive. If yours isn't doing one, then it sure as hell can't do the other.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Malik said:


> DOTA, I got my ass kicked at a boxing gym a few weeks back by a 14-year old. I'm 46. He got in a lucky punch and I spent the rest of the round just trying to stay vertical. Shit happens.
> 
> As for your knuckles, you have to let them scab over and then let the scabs fall off. When that happens, you'll have scars. Then do it again. And again. And again. Eventually the scar tissue builds up and they won't hurt anymore. That's how it is with everything in life.
> 
> Krav maga is full of idiots; it's one of the current McDojo flavors of the week and most instructors aren't even doing it right. If it's not working for you, find a martial art that resonates with you. Personally, I found that I enjoy boxing and judo. I enjoyed _savate_ but I was terrible at it; I have short legs and super-long arms and anything that relies on sweeping kicks is a no-go for me. (Seriously; I have a 36 sleeve and a 29 inseam. I look like an orangutan.)
> 
> Judo is fun for me because it's a matter of gaining your opponent's confidence and then abusing it. And boxing is three-dimensional full-speed chess with immediate loss/reward. Your thing may not be Krav Maga, or boxing, or whatever. Your thing may end up being one of those flowing dancing-master arts with the ribbons and the aerial kicks where there's no contact. No judgment, here. Martial arts serve two confluent purposes: they make you harder to kill, which they do by making you feel more alive. If yours isn't doing one, then it sure as hell can't do the other.



Don't get me wrong. It's fun. It's a lot of fun, and that plus kickboxing amounts to a pretty good workout (which is a great thing when your brain is wired like mine.) Seriously, I never thought I would be involved in anything involving physical activity until this. (PE class in 5th grade poisoned me.) It seems that it's as much a mental discipline as physical (also a great thing with my brain wiring.) For me, anyway. I have to concentrate ungodly hard to piece more than one step of a combo together. So there may be some brain re-wiring going on, lol...although "You're thinking too hard" is something I get a lot now. 

The knuckles aren't fun in the winter when my knuckles split from the cold anyway, so they don't as much scab over and heal as keep re-opening. Or when washing dishes. Ouch. (I can't say I like washing dishes anyway though.) 

Another thing I learned today...My gag reflex and my mouth guard are none too compatible...I was body boxing and all I could think was, "Don't puke. Don't puke. Don't puke." 

I don't know if I should give myself more grace (probably nearly always the case) or if I'm just not a natural. I make an idiot of myself a lot. 

Some guy: "you new to this?" 
Me: "been doing it for 4 months" 
Some guy: "...Oh." 

^literally a conversation I had 

At least I can actually do a push-up now. (I couldn't quite say so several months ago.)


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## TheCrystallineEntity

I used to be a blue belt in Karate. I stopped because I was tired of injuring myself, since I always pushed myself too hard to try to please other people [mainly my mum and my sensei].


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## spectre

I'd definitely be a troll, so I guess I'd live somewhere in the forests. Or maybe at Sauron's place. I'm just a huge human being, so. 

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## ATKH

Every time I think I'm over the fact that I couldn't continue boxing, I stumble upon a discussion on martial arts and immediately feel bad. 

Two years ago, when I'd just moved to a new place but had plenty of spare time, I decided to join this boxing club not far from school. I'm perpetually broke, so it felt really nice to have a hobby with a yearly fee of about fifty euros. The first month or six-ish weeks were super nice, because I got to do all kinds of tough exercises as warm-up and punching a bag properly made my arms sore. After the initial "my arms hurt all the time" phase I was quick to learn new techniques - I soon had a pretty nice array of punches and managed to stay consistent with footwork. 

This is where my greatest problem arose: I was the only girl at the club, so even though I saw guys who'd done a lot less than me get to spar with each other, there was no way anyone would raise a hand (glove) against me because a) getting beat up by a small girl would have been humiliating and b) beating up a small girl would have been humiliating. I tried to soldier on, but eventually dropped off the club before having to pay the membership fee. 

Now I've moved to a place with a really decent boxing club nearby, but there is no way for me to join because on weekdays I am usually occupied by school and getting there from 4 am to 5 or 7 pm and spend what little free time I have sleeping and doing necessary housework. Plus this one would cost several hundred euros a year, which is way beyond my budget.

I keep telling myself that one day, when I have a job with money to spare and life is merry, I will return to boxing and/or rugby, the best two sports I've ever tried. But by then I will be old and out of shape. 

/rant over


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## DragonOfTheAerie

I want a smoothie


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## ThinkerX

Brave women:

The Alaska Life - Last night in Fairbanks........ Photo... | Facebook


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## Thomas Laszlo

ATKH said:


> Every time I think I'm over the fact that I couldn't continue boxing, I stumble upon a discussion on martial arts and immediately feel bad.
> 
> Two years ago, when I'd just moved to a new place but had plenty of spare time, I decided to join this boxing club not far from school. I'm perpetually broke, so it felt really nice to have a hobby with a yearly fee of about fifty euros. The first month or six-ish weeks were super nice, because I got to do all kinds of tough exercises as warm-up and punching a bag properly made my arms sore. After the initial "my arms hurt all the time" phase I was quick to learn new techniques - I soon had a pretty nice array of punches and managed to stay consistent with footwork.
> 
> This is where my greatest problem arose: I was the only girl at the club, so even though I saw guys who'd done a lot less than me get to spar with each other, there was no way anyone would raise a hand (glove) against me because a) getting beat up by a small girl would have been humiliating and b) beating up a small girl would have been humiliating. I tried to soldier on, but eventually dropped off the club before having to pay the membership fee.
> 
> Now I've moved to a place with a really decent boxing club nearby, but there is no way for me to join because on weekdays I am usually occupied by school and getting there from 4 am to 5 or 7 pm and spend what little free time I have sleeping and doing necessary housework. Plus this one would cost several hundred euros a year, which is way beyond my budget.
> 
> I keep telling myself that one day, when I have a job with money to spare and life is merry, I will return to boxing and/or rugby, the best two sports I've ever tried. But by then I will be old and out of shape.
> 
> /rant over



I've never done serious boxing but I've done some at home.

I have never even seen rugby up close, what is it like?? 


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## CupofJoe

Thomas Laszlo said:


> I have never even seen rugby up close, what is it like??


Rugby has been described as "a game for hooligans played by Gentlemen" where as football [aka soccer] is "a game for gentlemen played by Hooligans".
When it's played well it can be full of grace and power.


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## Russ

Rugby is awesome.  I played prop for many years and it is a fantastic game.  Tough, physical, calls for cardio and skill, lots of strategy and the after party is always good.  Go Bokies!!!!


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## Garren Jacobsen

I love watching Rugby. I think it is my third favorite sport to watch behind American Football and freestyle wrestling.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Having a lot of social anxiety right now. I don't even know if it's social anxiety. What would you call it? At any rate I don't really feel like posting on the forums a lot of the time because the voices in my head say "you're just annoying everyone," "you're being a burden," "everyone here would rather not have you around." 

I feel guilt about basically every interaction I have with other people because I'm not adhering to some standard of being a good person that's been created in my mind. Feel guilt for failing the techniques in Krav class, feel guilt for talking to my friends about stuff they probably aren't interested in, feel guilt about showing my friend a song she didn't like very much. I feel guilt about writing this. I feel like because I don't do all these things "right" I'm hurting/annoying/bothering other people and it's a terrible feeling. 

You know, i really want to be the person that is there for everyone, but then it blows up in my face because everyone ends up having to be there for me. It's hard to call for help when you just feel even worse by burdening everyone with your problems. 

And so I haven't been very comfortable posting lately because I hate posting questions and having everyone answer them, and I hate not being able to help people out with their stories...I want to give back to this community instead of just take-take-taking. Same with everything I do.  

Generally I feel like a very high-maintenance person who is always being a problem and I really hate it. 

Anyway. Vent over.


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## Futhark

Hey Dragon, I feel ya.  Sounds like your self-esteem is wrapped up with the concept of being a people pleaser.  I worked so hard to become independent and self-secure that besides my wife and kids I have no close friends at all.  I am still insecure about posting though, because I think, who wants to hear from me?  You should have seen my anxiety waiting for my first reply.  Just know that even if you are high maintenance, there are always others that like lending a hand.  I think a lot of them are on this forum so keep posting okay?


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Anyway. Vent over.



I'm glad you got that out of your system. 

Now go back to writing, and back to posting questions and comments around here.  I like your posts.


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## Futhark

Quick question, how do you quote parts of a thread?


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## Svrtnsse

Like this?


Futhark said:


> Quick question, how do you quote parts of a thread?



At the bottom of each post there's a link that says "Reply With Quote" it includes the post you're reply to as quoted, then you can edit that as you wish.


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## Futhark

Ok thanks I will try that.


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## Malik

If you need self-esteem, DOTA, you can always borrow some of mine. I've got plenty to go around.


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## spectre

Malik said:


> If you need self-esteem, DOTA, you can always borrow some of mine. I've got plenty to go around.


Like the game DOTA? 

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## Malik

spectre said:


> Like the game DOTA?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G550T1 using Tapatalk



DragonOfTheAerie.


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## Svrtnsse

Malik said:


> DragonOfTheAerie.



DirigibleOfTheArcane


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## spectre

Malik said:


> DragonOfTheAerie.


Lol, duh

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## DragonOfTheAerie

Malik said:


> If you need self-esteem, DOTA, you can always borrow some of mine. I've got plenty to go around.



Self esteem? More like relief to my paranoia. I have difficulty reading people and knowing what kinds of things are appropriate to say or do in what circumstances. Being aware of that, I'm constantly having to curtail myself and keep track of how my behavior might affect other people and generally be aware. However, I've gotten too paranoid about it...so I end up thinking almost everything I say is "wrong." But how do you not be paranoid when you make wrong moves so easily? 

Of course, part of this is my underlying belief that I'm not likable for some reason. (I've been indirectly punished for my quirks in almost every peer group I've been in.) So yes, maybe a little self esteem might help...


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Futhark said:


> Hey Dragon, I feel ya.  Sounds like your self-esteem is wrapped up with the concept of being a people pleaser.  I worked so hard to become independent and self-secure that besides my wife and kids I have no close friends at all.  I am still insecure about posting though, because I think, who wants to hear from me?  You should have seen my anxiety waiting for my first reply.  Just know that even if you are high maintenance, there are always others that like lending a hand.  I think a lot of them are on this forum so keep posting okay?



I relate. Gah, I do relate. I just want to keep from messing up, ya know? I try to avoid saying the "wrong" things but what do you do when it all seems wrong? 

Probably long years surrounded by neurotypical teenage girls with whom I cannot relate on any level have trained me that all interests and insights I have are taboo and unwanted. I generally assume I'm being annoying nowadays. Not a good assumption to make.

Not sure whether the solution is "say all the things I'm scared to say" or "don't say anything I'm not sure about."


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Malik said:


> DragonOfTheAerie.



I sometimes berate myself for having picked such a long name


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## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I sometimes berate myself for having picked such a long name



Could be worse. You could have called your self. Balrog Running Around. Or Snape Hates Infernal Teenagers.


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## Futhark

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Of course, part of this is my underlying belief that I'm not likable for some reason. (I've been indirectly punished for my quirks in almost every peer group I've been in.) So yes, maybe a little self esteem might help...



Peer groups?  What are those?  I'm too nerdy for the blokes, not a fan of fishing, sports or loud engines.  Too tough for the nerds (no, I don't care how good your graphics card is).  Turns out I am likeable, witty, generous and sensitive.  Have made some great friends over the years but can never seem to hold on to them.  Self esteem issues?  Hmmm...what day is it?


----------



## CupofJoe

Things every Writer knows AFTER the event....
This is Indexed - RECEIPTS


----------



## Futhark

Don't mean to denigrate nerds or people with good graphic cards.  This is my first experience interacting with others online and I'm still playing with expressing myself in this format.  I am funny in real life (_funny looking at least_).  As to peers I feel that this site can and does provide peers and hopefully, eventually, friends.


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Not sure whether the solution is "say all the things I'm scared to say" or "don't say anything I'm not sure about."



I recommend the latter.


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## TheCatholicCrow

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I sometimes berate myself for having picked such a long name



HAHAHA .... yeah ... we can't really shorten it to just "dragon" either ... got a few of those around here


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## buyjupiter

I didnt realize I'd be using my French skills this much. I thought I was taking a useless class in school. But now I'm using it to flirt & be all chatty. & I've been using my French A LOT in the last six months. (Compared to the first 15 years post-grad)


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## Thomas Laszlo

CupofJoe said:


> Rugby has been described as "a game for hooligans played by Gentlemen" where as football [aka soccer] is "a game for gentlemen played by Hooligans".
> When it's played well it can be full of grace and power.



That's cool! So sorry had to revamp my phone and tapatalk got deleted XD


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## Ireth

My laptop refuses to play or rip CDs anymore. I am most displeased.


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## Thomas Laszlo

Ok some thoughts: 1) School should make exceptions for writers during assemblies and other large events time wise lol so we have time to write XD

2) teens should be able to get some compensation if they have a certain amount of school activities so that they don't have to give up precious time for a freaking job that takes extensive hours


3) They need better ways to have accelerated study programs in highschool. Instead of graduating early what if you had some teachers do before and after school or independent study hours where students could move through material at their own pace and into new classes within the amount of a year so that maybe where a math class might've taken a year now it only takes a semester and then we can move on

4) Highschool students should create a lace where them and their friends can have study sessions and stay all night. So like, a club house sort of thing with beds and a functioning water and electricity system, where they can study and just stay up late studying and sleep well so that their parents aren't awoken by their studying


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## AnonymousNobody

Thomas Laszlo said:


> 3) They need better ways to have accelerated study programs in highschool. Instead of graduating early what if you had some teachers do before and after school or independent study hours where students could move through material at their own pace and into new classes within the amount of a year so that maybe where a math class might've taken a year now it only takes a semester and then we can move on



It's called home school.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

AnonymousNobody said:


> It's called home school.



^That. 

I'm homeschooled and am about to graduate, but I've been homeschooled through my whole life pretty much. I can do my subjects in whatever order, at whatever time, and at whatever speed I wish. I can take a day off and work on the weekends if I want; I can spend all day doing one subject if I get behind in it. I do a lot of my subjects at home, but you can take academic classes, do online programs...There's an unlimited amount of flexibility. 

Also I can do school in my pajamas while listening to electronic music and eating ice cream. 

As long as I graduate, lol.


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## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> ^That.
> 
> I'm homeschooled and am about to graduate, but I've been homeschooled through my whole life pretty much. I can do my subjects in whatever order, at whatever time, and at whatever speed I wish. I can take a day off and work on the weekends if I want; I can spend all day doing one subject if I get behind in it. I do a lot of my subjects at home, but you can take academic classes, do online programs...There's an unlimited amount of flexibility.
> 
> Also I can do school in my pajamas while listening to electronic music and eating ice cream.
> 
> As long as I graduate, lol.



My issue is I want to get into Naval Academy, and to do everything that I am doing currently, and make it there, I have to be public schooled. I couldn't do Band outside of school, I couldn't do tennis as a sport with a team, I wouldn't have any administrative or teacher connections for anything, and I'd graduate in about seven months if I really put my mind to it. I'd be off the mark by about a year XD


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## TheCatholicCrow

Thomas Laszlo said:


> My issue is I want to get into Naval Academy, and to do everything that I am doing currently, and make it there, I have to be public schooled. I couldn't do Band outside of school, I couldn't do tennis as a sport with a team, I wouldn't have any administrative or teacher connections for anything, and I'd graduate in about seven months if I really put my mind to it. I'd be off the mark by about a year XD
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Depending on the state ... homeschooling with a charter is an option (at least it is in California). All the perks of a traditional school (teachers, state testing, clubs and activities etc.) + PJ's & ice cream.


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## ThinkerX

My lovely young daughter (now in her mid 20's, how time fly's) was in a particularly regressive religious home school program during her early teen years.  As best I could tell from the literature, the people behind that program believed a woman's place was in the home, and as such they needed ONLY basic literacy and math skills.

I put her in the public school system upon gaining custody.  They wanted to drop her three grades below what the program claimed her grade level was.  She did graduate on time - but it meant extra classes and summer school - part of that in the form of a summer job at a fast food joint.  Her math skills are still subpar - she bombed a few college classes as a direct result of that, and eventually dropped out.  (At which point the student loan debt kicked in.  Add a baby, and...well, good thing I'm around.)


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> My lovely young daughter (now in her mid 20's, how time fly's) was in a particularly regressive religious home school program during her early teen years.  As best I could tell from the literature, the people behind that program believed a woman's place was in the home, and as such they needed ONLY basic literacy and math skills.
> 
> I put her in the public school system upon gaining custody.  They wanted to drop her three grades below what the program claimed her grade level was.  She did graduate on time - but it meant extra classes and summer school - part of that in the form of a summer job at a fast food joint.  Her math skills are still subpar - she bombed a few college classes as a direct result of that, and eventually dropped out.  (At which point the student loan debt kicked in.  Add a baby, and...well, good thing I'm around.)



Oh wow. O_O I'm not sure what you mean by "home school program" though. Elaborate? 

I've heard my share of negative home schooling stories. Not been directly involved in any--mine and my home school friends' experiences have been extremely positive on the whole--but the "religious cult" kind ARE out there. I'm not going to deny that some are like that. I just seriously wish people didn't think we were ALL like that. Or that none of us have friends. All of us can't even count the number of times we've gotten, "how do you make friends?" "I couldn't do that, I would want friends!" and the like. I've been out with my FIVE friends and had people by chance learn we were homeschooled and assume we were all sisters...

It would be nice if homeschooling got to be more mainstream. The weird looks and questions we all get...


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Oh wow. O_O I'm not sure what you mean by "home school program" though. Elaborate?
> 
> I've heard my share of negative home schooling stories. Not been directly involved in any--mine and my home school friends' experiences have been extremely positive on the whole--but the "religious cult" kind ARE out there. I'm not going to deny that some are like that. I just seriously wish people didn't think we were ALL like that. Or that none of us have friends. All of us can't even count the number of times we've gotten, "how do you make friends?" "I couldn't do that, I would want friends!" and the like. I've been out with my FIVE friends and had people by chance learn we were homeschooled and assume we were all sisters...
> 
> It would be nice if homeschooling got to be more mainstream. The weird looks and questions we all get...



I would love homeschool, I want to study faster than I am, and without all these annoying liferforms... (most of which are a lesser intellect) and I can focus on God more too because I'm not so absorbed in trying to get a friggin A in school because they take wayyyyyy too long. I've thought about just doing a full intensive academic schedule over the summer


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## Ireth

John Hurt passed away today. He'll be missed.


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## Futhark

Now I have people (you guys and gals) that say more than "that sounds good", I'm finally motivated to start my first draft.  Came to the realisation of how much work I have to do to become a half decent writer, then how much more to become a good writer, and it's like, why do I want be a writer again?

"The story of a 100,000 words begins with a single keystroke."  Adapted from Lao Tzu.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Futhark said:


> Now I have people (you guys and gals) that say more than "that sounds good", I'm finally motivated to start my first draft.  Came to the realisation of how much work I have to do to become a half decent writer, then how much more to become a good writer, and it's like, why do I want be a writer again?
> 
> "The story of a 100,000 words begins with a single keystroke."  Adapted from Lao Tzu.



 Good luck! You're gonna need it! 

Actually, you're just going to need gumption, stubbornness and elbow grease. 

This your first novel? It's gonna be hard, but it'll be incredible to see how much you learn and what a better writer you are by the end. You learn a LOT every time you write one.


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## Futhark

Well, I've got stubbornness in spades (which has exponentially increased in my 7 year old daughter, _much to my delight_), which is why I'm afraid to start because I know it will consume me until it's done.  Actually thinking of doing some short stories in the Fantastical 7 Seas and *try* very hard not to overthink it, just have some fun.  Read some fantasy, which I haven't been able to do because I get halfway through a book, start thinking about my story, and don't pick it up again.  "Such is life" - probably fictional last quote of Ned Kelly.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Futhark said:


> Well, I've got stubbornness in spades (which has exponentially increased in my 7 year old daughter, _much to my delight_), which is why I'm afraid to start because I know it will consume me until it's done.  Actually thinking of doing some short stories in the Fantastical 7 Seas and *try* very hard not to overthink it, just have some fun.  Read some fantasy, which I haven't been able to do because I get halfway through a book, start thinking about my story, and don't pick it up again.  "Such is life" - probably fictional last quote of Ned Kelly.



Sounds like your story really wants to be written. Write it!


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Hey, so I just posted about this on The Dragon Writes Again, but has anyone ever considered, or realized, that Science Fiction is essentially fantasy from a different perspective???? Like... if we were two hundred years in the future, present day would be a great fantasy setting... but two hundred years ago, we were living by the current definition of Science Fiction! Abstract theories are my babies XD


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## TheCatholicCrow

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Hey, so I just posted about this on The Dragon Writes Again, but has anyone ever considered, or realized, that Science Fiction is essentially fantasy from a different perspective???? Like... if we were two hundred years in the future, present day would be a great fantasy setting... but two hundred years ago, we were living by the current definition of Science Fiction! Abstract theories are my babies XD
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



That's why Star Wars is a hard one to classify ... you have things like Midichlorians on one hand , and space travel/ aliens on the other.


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## Thomas Laszlo

TheCatholicCrow said:


> That's why Star Wars is a hard one to classify ... you have things like Midichlorians on one hand , and space travel/ aliens on the other.



Yeah but who REALLY even talks about midichlorians? Except of course the creator and the actors XD


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Hey, so I just posted about this on The Dragon Writes Again, but has anyone ever considered, or realized, that Science Fiction is essentially fantasy from a different perspective???? Like... if we were two hundred years in the future, present day would be a great fantasy setting... but two hundred years ago, we were living by the current definition of Science Fiction! Abstract theories are my babies XD
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



It's my theory that they're really no different, or at least are on a spectrum.


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## Futhark

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> It's my theory that they're really no different, or at least are on a spectrum.



Yeah, genre boundaries can be be very fluid, or porous.  Personally I think of Star Wars as science fantasy, but that's because I like hard sci fi, so that's what I think of when when it comes to science fiction.  That's just my 2 cents (which is rounded down to zero now we don't have 1 or 2 cents coins, ha ha).


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## Tom

Star Wars does have its own genre! It's called space opera, and it's usually differentiated from traditional sci fi by a mythic/epic-type plot (seriously,  Star Wars would work amazingly well as a Norse saga), less focus on hard science, and a somewhat romanticized approach to worldbuilding. Another great example of space opera is Jupiter Ascending. (It really gets me when people mock it without realizing that a lot of its more ridiculous premises also show up in Star Wars.)


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## Ireth

Just saw Moana tonight, and I wish I could afford to see it again. It is SUCH a good movie! <3


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## Sheilawisz

Many years ago, I was into Space Stories very much.

I had this huge epic story in my mind, which was all about a mighty and ultra-powerful civilization that had spread their fleet of warships and stellar bases to nothing less than thirty seven different galaxies. They had nearly a million ships, and their weaponry and military prowess were so great that very few opponents could stand in their way.

In general, their science (or at least, what I imagined to be science back then) had granted them godlike powers and their weapons were so dreadful that anything from the _Star Wars_ universe would be a joke in comparison.

I was like: _Wow, this is so great! Wonderful! This is going to be the greatest Science Fiction ever!_

Well, guess what? Imaginary physics do not count as Science Fiction. I could imagine and define in great detail all of those science-flavored concepts and warships and powers and weapons, and still they were never Sci Fi. That story and everything in it were always Fantasy, or what now I like to call _Science Fantasy_.

I think that we need to place a clearer barrier between Fantasy and Science Fiction.

To me there is no such thing as _soft_ science fiction. The so-called Soft Sci Fi is nothing but science-flavored Fantasy, all dressed up with starships and other similar things. Authentic Science Fiction is a very, very different creature... and it attracts me very much, but I doubt that I would ever be able to produce a good Sci Fi story.

Anyway, I do not want to start yet another argument about this stuff like it has happened in this site before. I know you will disagree with me, no worries. I just wanted to post these thoughts here.

And yeah, I like Science Fantasy very much =)


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Sheilawisz said:


> Many years ago, I was into Space Stories very much.
> 
> I had this huge epic story in my mind, which was all about a mighty and ultra-powerful civilization that had spread their fleet of warships and stellar bases to nothing less than thirty seven different galaxies. They had nearly a million ships, and their weaponry and military prowess were so great that very few opponents could stand in their way.
> 
> In general, their science (or at least, what I imagined to be science back then) had granted them godlike powers and their weapons were so dreadful that anything from the _Star Wars_ universe would be a joke in comparison.
> 
> I was like: _Wow, this is so great! Wonderful! This is going to be the greatest Science Fiction ever!_
> 
> Well, guess what? Imaginary physics do not count as Science Fiction. I could imagine and define in great detail all of those science-flavored concepts and warships and powers and weapons, and still they were never Sci Fi. That story and everything in it were always Fantasy, or what now I like to call _Science Fantasy_.
> 
> I think that we need to place a clearer barrier between Fantasy and Science Fiction.
> 
> To me there is no such thing as _soft_ science fiction. The so-called Soft Sci Fi is nothing but science-flavored Fantasy, all dressed up with starships and other similar things. Authentic Science Fiction is a very, very different creature... and it attracts me very much, but I doubt that I would ever be able to produce a good Sci Fi story.
> 
> Anyway, I do not want to start yet another argument about this stuff like it has happened in this site before. I know you will disagree with me, no worries. I just wanted to post these thoughts here.
> 
> And yeah, I like Science Fantasy very much =)



Very few people, if any, write sci-fi that is completely authentic to real science. I mean, you have to extrapolate and exaggerate and handwave at least a little on almost everything in sci-fi, just by the definition of sci-fi. It's speculative. The technology within it often does not exist yet, and often we don't know how to create it, so we must make stuff up.


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## Russ

While there are flavours of sci fi, I do think there is a hard boundary between what should be called science fiction and what should be called fantasy.

Real science fiction is based on science or extrapolation of science.  Hard sci fi does more of the math and tells the reader about it.

I would call Star Wars Space Opera, not real sci fi.

I  have a good friend who both writes Sci Fi for a living and is considered a scholar in the field and he argues that sci fi has more in common with mystery than fantasy despite where they end up in the book store.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

My username has something like eighteen letters in it, if I counted at all correctly.

Also, I wrote 20+ pages of my newest story in only three days!  How did that happen?! I haven't written so much in so short a time since last summer.


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## Sheilawisz

Yeah, sorry everyone for my rant.

What happens is that I almost cringe every time that I read (or hear!) somebody saying that Fantasy and Science Fiction are like two variants of the same thing, or two sides of the same spectrum. To me they are as different as water and sulfuric acid, and I wish that they would always be recognized and regarded that way.

I think that both genres would benefit a lot from having a different place, both at the shelves of every bookstore and in the minds and hearts of people. Science Fiction in particular has suffered because many people assume that any book, series or movie with starships is automatically Sci Fi, when in fact true Sci Fi is much deeper than just a space setting and (in its own way) a very beautiful genre.

My theory is that we get thrown into the same shelves together because Fantasy and Science Fiction have something important in common: We are the _weird ones_ in the world of literary genres, and since both of us are weird then the easiest way to market and categorize us is to try and fuse us together.

I'll continue to propose the new term of _Science Fantasy_ for stories with imaginary science, I think it's great and works just fine.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

My fantasy story takes place on a planet, involves some outer space stuff, reincarnation, and a near cosmic cataclysm [among many, many other things].


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## La Volpe

Sheilawisz said:


> Yeah, sorry everyone for my rant.
> 
> What happens is that I almost cringe every time that I read (or hear!) somebody saying that Fantasy and Science Fiction are like two variants of the same thing, or two sides of the same spectrum. To me they are as different as water and sulfuric acid, and I wish that they would always be recognized and regarded that way.
> 
> I think that both genres would benefit a lot from having a different place, both at the shelves of every bookstore and in the minds and hearts of people. Science Fiction in particular has suffered because many people assume that any book, series or movie with starships is automatically Sci Fi, when in fact true Sci Fi is much deeper than just a space setting and (in its own way) a very beautiful genre.
> 
> My theory is that we get thrown into the same shelves together because Fantasy and Science Fiction have something important in common: We are the _weird ones_ in the world of literary genres, and since both of us are weird then the easiest way to market and categorize us is to try and fuse us together.
> 
> I'll continue to propose the new term of _Science Fantasy_ for stories with imaginary science, I think it's great and works just fine.



I think the whole fantasy and science fiction being on the same spectrum comes from Clarke's third law:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Which, if you consider it, is actually quite believable. You mentioned in your first post that "Imaginary physics do not count as Science Fiction." But two thousand years ago, electricity would have seemed like imaginary physics. But it's still science (even though it would have seemed like magic way back when).

So, my take on this: I don't think Fantasy and Science Fiction are on the same spectrum. (One could argue that Magic and Science are on the same spectrum, but that's a different discussion.) But they do share some similarities. And in my view, they both have a soft and a hard version. I.e. soft sci-fi and hard sci-fi, and soft fantasy and hard fantasy. And the soft/hard distinctions in both are fairly similar. The harder the fiction, the more in explained with rules (and in sci-fi's case, math).

And finally, I think fantasy and sci-fi are generally shelved together (whether in libraries or minds) because many people who like one like the other (in my experience, at least).


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## Sheilawisz

Hello La Volpe.

To start with, I want to say that I love foxes! I have always thought that foxes are cool in their own way, like they are small but still powerful and very smart members of the Canidae family. One of my ideas was about people that could turn into giant foxes, instead of giant wolves... Who knows, maybe I'll do a story like that, someday.

Well, sorry but that saying _Any sufficiently advanced_ is another thing that I encounter often in sites like Mythic Scribes and it annoys me too, a lot. I know what it means, and it can be true (depending on what Magic is like and how it is defined in one Fantasy world or another) but it makes no sense according to my worlds.

Some time ago in this site, a random person showed up saying that eventually all forms of Magic in Fantasy stories would lose all appeal and wonder because technology keeps advancing. I participated in that thread a lot, and it's really not necessary to post that kind of stuff here all over again.

In my worlds, Technology is like a Chess player that follows all the rules and is never allowed to break them, while Magic is a Cheater that moves all pieces like Queens and then stomps on board and pieces alike and will always win the game.

Anyway, that is not what I meant with my description of why Fantasy and Sci Fi are different.

Sure, any imaginary Science Fantasy concept could become a reality someday in the future. It is a possibility that something like my _Violet Energy_ will be discovered, or the Midichlorians, but in that case we could say that any kind of wacky and fantastical science would be a legitimate Sci Fi simply because there is some slight chance that it could be real in the future.

Then, any imaginary science that we come up with would be Sci Fi.

The beauty of Sci Fi is that it's about Science as we know it today, and what could happen with it in the future according to real and serious possibilities. My point is that if we start talking about the kind of concepts that come from free and wild artistic license, then we are working with Fantasy and not Sci Fi.

I love both concepts, both the seriousness and possibility of Sci Fi and the wild fantasies of Fantasy. It's just that I would love to see them regarded as two very different things, like Comedy and Horror.

Yeah, many people that like Fantasy also happen to like Science Fiction and that is part of why we are in the same shelves. I think that it's all about marketing.


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## Thomas Laszlo

Sheilawisz said:


> Yeah, sorry everyone for my rant.
> 
> What happens is that I almost cringe every time that I read (or hear!) somebody saying that Fantasy and Science Fiction are like two variants of the same thing, or two sides of the same spectrum. To me they are as different as water and sulfuric acid, and I wish that they would always be recognized and regarded that way.
> 
> I think that both genres would benefit a lot from having a different place, both at the shelves of every bookstore and in the minds and hearts of people. Science Fiction in particular has suffered because many people assume that any book, series or movie with starships is automatically Sci Fi, when in fact true Sci Fi is much deeper than just a space setting and (in its own way) a very beautiful genre.
> 
> My theory is that we get thrown into the same shelves together because Fantasy and Science Fiction have something important in common: We are the _weird ones_ in the world of literary genres, and since both of us are weird then the easiest way to market and categorize us is to try and fuse us together.
> 
> I'll continue to propose the new term of _Science Fantasy_ for stories with imaginary science, I think it's great and works just fine.



Well, honestly I think we were all talking about the spectrum in a sense referring to the fact that science fiction and fantasy are technically sparked by the same urge for the unknown in our brains. Subconsciously, we don't care if we need special gloves, or if hereditarily we have the ability to become a bender (Avatar the Last Air Bender) we just love that we can move matter without a shovel and breaking our backs for hours! 

In the sense your talking about, I did say early on that there are many differences that shouldn't be discounted. Science Fiction, Science Fantasy, Space Opera (although Star Wars books are technically science fantasy I'm guessing?), And Fantasy, are all flavors of the Human inability to truly explain the unknown abilities of our perception of the Tolkien esque worlds, and the worlds of Star Wars or Star Trek and the like. (Sorry, not much of a science fiction nerd yet. Most of the hard science fiction don't appeal to me.) so in a sense, were all right; There are plenty of differences that are noted, and yes they could benefit from another shelf. BUT from the origin point, they started the same, and then accumulated new styles and have now developed into what we know as mainstream science fiction and fantasy. 


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Sheilawisz said:


> Hello La Volpe.
> 
> To start with, I want to say that I love foxes! I have always thought that foxes are cool in their own way, like they are small but still powerful and very smart members of the Canidae family. One of my ideas was about people that could turn into giant foxes, instead of giant wolves... Who knows, maybe I'll do a story like that, someday.
> 
> Well, sorry but that saying _Any sufficiently advanced_ is another thing that I encounter often in sites like Mythic Scribes and it annoys me too, a lot. I know what it means, and it can be true (depending on what Magic is like and how it is defined in one Fantasy world or another) but it makes no sense according to my worlds.
> 
> Some time ago in this site, a random person showed up saying that eventually all forms of Magic in Fantasy stories would lose all appeal and wonder because technology keeps advancing. I participated in that thread a lot, and it's really not necessary to post that kind of stuff here all over again.
> 
> In my worlds, Technology is like a Chess player that follows all the rules and is never allowed to break them, while Magic is a Cheater that moves all pieces like Queens and then stomps on board and pieces alike and will always win the game.
> 
> Anyway, that is not what I meant with my description of why Fantasy and Sci Fi are different.
> 
> Sure, any imaginary Science Fantasy concept could become a reality someday in the future. It is a possibility that something like my _Violet Energy_ will be discovered, or the Midichlorians, but in that case we could say that any kind of wacky and fantastical science would be a legitimate Sci Fi simply because there is some slight chance that it could be real in the future.
> 
> Then, any imaginary science that we come up with would be Sci Fi.
> 
> The beauty of Sci Fi is that it's about Science as we know it today, and what could happen with it in the future according to real and serious possibilities. My point is that if we start talking about the kind of concepts that come from free and wild artistic license, then we are working with Fantasy and not Sci Fi.
> 
> I love both concepts, both the seriousness and possibility of Sci Fi and the wild fantasies of Fantasy. It's just that I would love to see them regarded as two very different things, like Comedy and Horror.
> 
> Yeah, many people that like Fantasy also happen to like Science Fiction and that is part of why we are in the same shelves. I think that it's all about marketing.



Do people generally write Sci Fi that is based only on well established scientific facts and possibilities? Your definition seems to exclude a lot of things like time travel, interstellar travel, etc etc...


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Do people generally write Sci Fi that is based only on well established scientific facts and possibilities? Your definition seems to exclude a lot of things like time travel, interstellar travel, etc etc...



I think your definition of science fiction is too limiting by using "well established scientific facts" (if there is such a thing).

Science fiction extrapolates from what we know to be possible via science to things that are not inherently impossible based on our current knowledge of science.

For instance a few years ago there was (and may still be) a debate in the scientific community about the missing matter in the universe between the MACHOs and WIMPs.  Now at the time we did not have a definitive answer as to which was correct.  And thus one could safely write sci fi by talking about the extrapolation of either of those theories.

Fantasy involves elements that are inherently unscientific (although as humans we have a desire to systematize things).

The context changes things as well.  Middle Earth is clearly fantasy, while Pern, despite having dragons, is science fiction.

There has been plenty of ink spilt over just how one can achieve interstellar travel or if time travel is really impossible.  In both cases I suggest that both types of travel remain possible within our current understanding of science.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Russ said:


> I think your definition of science fiction is too limiting by using "well established scientific facts" (if there is such a thing).
> 
> Science fiction extrapolates from what we know to be possible via science to things that are not inherently impossible based on our current knowledge of science.
> 
> For instance a few years ago there was (and may still be) a debate in the scientific community about the missing matter in the universe between the MACHOs and WIMPs.  Now at the time we did not have a definitive answer as to which was correct.  And thus one could safely write sci fi by talking about the extrapolation of either of those theories.
> 
> Fantasy involves elements that are inherently unscientific (although as humans we have a desire to systematize things).
> 
> The context changes things as well.  Middle Earth is clearly fantasy, while Pern, despite having dragons, is science fiction.
> 
> There has been plenty of ink spilt over just how one can achieve interstellar travel or if time travel is really impossible.  In both cases I suggest that both types of travel remain possible within our current understanding of science.



That's why the dividing line is so fuzzy. How far can you extrapolate? How much extrapolation is too much?


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> That's why the dividing line is so fuzzy. How far can you extrapolate? How much extrapolation is too much?



Strange.  I don't find the dividing line fuzzy at all.  As long as the extrapolation is rational and supportable you can extrapolate as much as you like, inwardly or outwardly.


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## Thomas Laszlo

Russ said:


> Strange.  I don't find the dividing line fuzzy at all.  As long as the extrapolation is rational and supportable you can extrapolate as much as you like, inwardly or outwardly.



But, what if you think about it like this, the extrapolation may be so small, that it isn't explained and therefore looks like magic and maybe the reader finds it looks more like a fantasy novel? 


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## Russ

Thomas Laszlo said:


> But, what if you think about it like this, the extrapolation may be so small, that it isn't explained and therefore looks like magic and maybe the reader finds it looks more like a fantasy novel?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I don't think what you mean is "small" extrapolation, I think you mean large or long extrapolation or even extreme extrapolation.

While it may seem a challenge in the abstract, practically speaking I cannot recall reading a book that I had a problem with classifying it as sci fi or not, at the time it was published.


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## AnonymousNobody

If they buy it, read it and like it, I don't care if they call it _salami._


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## Sheilawisz

The debate between what makes Fantasy and Science Fiction different to each other has been explored in various ways, and in the end we always come to the conclusion that these literary genres are very similar in some things and very different in others. I celebrate both, and I hope that the world will always love and celebrate them as well.

Some time ago, I read what somebody famous said about it. I do not recall exactly who it was or what were the exact words, but it was something like this: _Science Fiction is about things that could happen for real, but maybe we would not want them to happen, while Fantasy is about things that cannot happen but we would like them to be real._

I think that's a good definition, even though the matter can be much deeper than just that.

These days, I have been thinking a lot about all of this because my next story _Freya 7_ could be a Science Fiction work. At least, that's what I am going to try even though it could turn out to be a Fantasy story after all... It's a story that I look forward to, because it has loads of potential and it's going to be something new for me.

My other idea for a Science Fiction story _Seven Heaven_ is one that I like very much, but I am afraid that my scientific knowledge does not reach far enough to complete a work in that scale.


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## Ireth

Sheilawisz said:


> Some time ago, I read what somebody famous said about it. I do not recall exactly who it was or what were the exact words, but it was something like this: _Science Fiction is about things that could happen for real, but maybe we would not want them to happen, while Fantasy is about things that cannot happen but we would like them to be real._



Clearly that person doesn't read dystopian fantasy. XD I don't know if anyone would actually want to live in a world like Panem or wherever the Maze Runner takes place. Or, heck, anyplace grimdark like Westeros.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Clearly that person doesn't read dystopian fantasy. XD I don't know if anyone would actually want to live in a world like Panem or wherever the Maze Runner takes place. Or, heck, anyplace grimdark like Westeros.



Several of my books are dystopian fantasy, or else the fantastical stuff just really sucks. So...yeah. I don't think I would want to live in any of my worlds above this one.


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## Russ

Ireth said:


> Clearly that person doesn't read dystopian fantasy. XD I don't know if anyone would actually want to live in a world like Panem or wherever the Maze Runner takes place. Or, heck, anyplace grimdark like Westeros.



Arthur C Clarke, many years ago.  I don't think he read much fantasy at all.  Nor do I think he meant it to be a definitive academic definition.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

I don't like dystopian/cautionary stories. Too many of them come true. I'll stick to fantasy, thank you.


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## Garren Jacobsen

Russ said:


> I don't think what you mean is "small" extrapolation, I think you mean large or long extrapolation or even extreme extrapolation.
> 
> While it may seem a challenge in the abstract, practically speaking I cannot recall reading a book that I had a problem with classifying it as sci fi or not, at the time it was published.



So you're saying by that these genres are like porn and we'll know it when we see it?


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## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I don't like dystopian/cautionary stories. Too many of them come true. I'll stick to fantasy, thank you.



Mine isn't a cautionary story...Often people see dystopian as "a future where things have gone bad" when really it's just the inverse of a utopia, the opposite of a perfect/ideal world. A world where society is as BAD as possible. Or, at least, really really really bad. Lord of the Flies is considered a dystopia, but I don't recall that it's futuristic. It explores the worst tendencies of human nature. That's what makes it a dystopia. 

Of course, dystopia has a more slippery definition in common usage. It's often seen as a subdivision of sci-fi, which isn't right always. Most people think of it as "future world where the government is oppressive." But a world can be a dystopia regardless of government. 

It's...well, a word with a lot of different definitions. But a dystopia isn't necessarily a cautionary tale/futuristic/etc. 

In one of mine, the world appears utopian on the surface, but just below the surface it's horrible and dysfunctional. Then, when the characters overthrow the horrible, dysfunctional fake utopia, they discover that what it was protecting them from was arguably worse. It's both dystopian and fantasy.


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## Russ

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So you're saying by that these genres are like porn and we'll know it when we see it?



Very close.

What I am saying is that while the definition may have some potential imperfections in theory, or in extreme  hypotheticals, in practise it is really, really effective.


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> But a dystopia isn't necessarily a cautionary tale/futuristic/etc.



Isn't dystopian fiction a "cautionary tale" virtually by definition?  The story you describe is surely a cautionary tale, perhaps two levels deep but a cautionary tale nonetheless.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

Clannad [the anime, not the band] can make starfish, teddy bears, a certain cat, snow, and _dumplings_ seem like the saddest things ever.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Russ said:


> Isn't dystopian fiction a "cautionary tale" virtually by definition?  The story you describe is surely a cautionary tale, perhaps two levels deep but a cautionary tale nonetheless.



What do you define as a cautionary tale, then? One that demonstrates an example of a society it wouldn't be nice to live in?


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## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Clannad [the anime, not the band] can make starfish, teddy bears, a certain cat, snow, and _dumplings_ seem like the saddest things ever.



I'm curious. XD


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## TheCrystallineEntity

^I suggest setting aside a day or two where nothing too much is going on, and watching all of Clannad Season 1 and 2 on Youtube [in English if you prefer, or in Japanese; I always watch anime in Japanese].


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## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I suggest setting aside a day or two where nothing too much is going on, and watching all of Clannad Season 1 and 2 on Youtube [in English if you prefer, or in Japanese; I always watch anime in Japanese].



I've always wanted to get into anime because many of them seem so weird and cool, but I have really no time for television


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## TheCrystallineEntity

^Oh well. If you don't mind spoiling the entire series, here's the condensed version of Clannad in this video set to music from the anime.

Spoilers for all plot twists in this video [for anyone else looking at this post]:


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## Tom

I always thought Clannad sounded more like an epic set in the Scottish Highlands than an anime...

Anyway, tonight I'm writing my very first paper of the new semester. It's going...interestingly. I'm sick and overtired and it's Monday night. Always a good combination.


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## Ireth

Tom said:


> I always thought Clannad sounded more like an epic set in the Scottish Highlands than an anime..



It does, doesn't it? XD The word means "family", which I think is what the anime is all about, so in that way it makes sense. (Though why they chose a Gaelic word instead of a Japanese one is beyond me.)


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## Garren Jacobsen

[video=youtube_share;zSCOYAJd2PE]https://youtu.be/zSCOYAJd2PE[/video]

Found my theme song for the past 3 months.


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> What do you define as a cautionary tale, then? One that demonstrates an example of a society it wouldn't be nice to live in?



Yup.  Something that says...hey be careful, if you are not cautious we could end up in something like this.

Your story seems to have two levels of cautionary messages.

1) Hey this is repressive, we should strive not to live like this.

2) Make sure whatever is underneath the crappy system you are about to remove is not worse.  The law of unintended consequences should be respected.


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## La Volpe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> <snip>
> 
> Found my theme song for the past 3 months.



This is a hell of a catchy song.


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Russ said:


> Yup.  Something that says...hey be careful, if you are not cautious we could end up in something like this.
> 
> Your story seems to have two levels of cautionary messages.
> 
> 1) Hey this is repressive, we should strive not to live like this.
> 
> 2) Make sure whatever is underneath the crappy system you are about to remove is not worse.  The law of unintended consequences should be respected.



Hmm. Well...I still don't know about that definition. You could get some "don't do this" lesson you can apply to real life out of any story. For example, Romeo and Juliet: 

1) Don't marry someone you met eight hours ago. 

2) When you find your lover apparently dead, wait 24 hours before committing suicide.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

I often stare incredulously when people sometimes refer to Romeo and Juliet as the 'greatest love story ever'.


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## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Hmm. Well...I still don't know about that definition. You could get some "don't do this" lesson you can apply to real life out of any story. For example, Romeo and Juliet:
> 
> 1) Don't marry someone you met eight hours ago.
> 
> 2) When you find your lover apparently dead, wait 24 hours before committing suicide.



The purpose of a cautionary tale is to warn the audience of potential dangers.  IF you think was the purpose of Romeo and Juliet then you are perfectly welcome to think of Romeo and Juliet as a cautionary tale.


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## Ireth

So I have yet another new story idea swimming around in my head. I have the very basics of political dynamics between three kingdoms written out, physical descriptions of natives versus immigrants from other nations, etc; and I know my MCs' genders and orientations as well as their relationship with each other (mostly).

The one thing I don't have? The aforesaid MC's names! *headdesk* Or their kingdom's names, for that matter. They're just A, B and C for now. The MCs are Princess A and Princess B.


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## TheCrystallineEntity

^I have two baby name books at my house. If I am totally stuck for a name and nothing's coming to me, I'll go from A-Z until the best names jump out at me.


----------



## Coldboots

Ireth said:


> So I have yet another new story idea swimming around in my head. I have the very basics of political dynamics between three kingdoms written out, physical descriptions of natives versus immigrants from other nations, etc; and I know my MCs' genders and orientations as well as their relationship with each other (mostly).
> 
> The one thing I don't have? The aforesaid MC's names! *headdesk* Or their kingdom's names, for that matter. They're just A, B and C for now. The MCs are Princess A and Princess B.



I know what this is like.  I'm perfectly fine at coming up with names or have plenty of resources to rely on if I'm not feeling great about naming them.  It's just a pain when you're introducing characters left and right in the middle of writing or brainstorming.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

My main character in my new story [Oeuyia] has the potential to turn into a world destroying-purifying 'super' being, but I already did that in my last story, and I'm trying my darnest to make sure both stories are equally unique.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> The one thing I don't have? The aforesaid MC's names! *headdesk* Or their kingdom's names, for that matter. They're just A, B and C for now. The MCs are Princess A and Princess B.



Don't I know this!! I have a character in Red Nights who I called [guy's name] because I couldn't think of a name for him. He's still [guy's name]. And I still don't have a name for him. Also I have lots of places named City Name, etc, etc...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I have two baby name books at my house. If I am totally stuck for a name and nothing's coming to me, I'll go from A-Z until the best names jump out at me.



I have one in which I have all my favorite names highlighted. Half the back cover is missing, the front covers been taped back on, pages are falling out, the whole book broke into two halves when the binding came loose so it's been taped back together several times, and recently I spilled water all over it so it's water damaged. I need a new one but I've grown so fond of this one.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> My main character in my new story [Oeuyia] has the potential to turn into a world destroying-purifying 'super' being, but I already did that in my last story, and I'm trying my darnest to make sure both stories are equally unique.



I'm guessing you made her name all the vowels on purpose?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Yes, I did, actually. Although so far her name has only been mentioned once in the entire story  Her 'back-up' name [if I ever want to change her name] is Shion.

The main antagonist of my new story, Mio, was unceremoniously labelled 'this character' for days.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Yes, I did, actually. Although so far her name has only been mentioned once in the entire story  Her 'back-up' name [if I ever want to change her name] is Shion.
> 
> The main antagonist of my new story, Mio, was unceremoniously labelled 'this character' for days.



I like Oeuyia better. It's cool. 

My friends mostly know my MC as "my MC" because, y'know, I hate admitting that my MC is literally named after a SAT vocabulary word.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I only just realized that without her heart, Oeuyia will die. That's definitely an important development that came out of nowhere. She will forthwith collapse dramatically in the next scene and have to be carried back.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Don't I know this!! I have a character in Red Nights who I called [guy's name] because I couldn't think of a name for him. He's still [guy's name]. And I still don't have a name for him. Also I have lots of places named City Name, etc, etc...



Oh I totally do this only I usually use letters so it's something like "She went down to H street" or "That's X, he has family ties to the mob." or "Z is lovely this time of year. We should plan a trip."


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCatholicCrow said:


> Oh I totally do this only I usually use letters so it's something like "She went down to H street" or "That's X, he has family ties to the mob." or "Z is lovely this time of year. We should plan a trip."



Man i need to start using this so I can go ahead and write instead of freaking out 


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## TheCatholicCrow

Thomas Laszlo said:


> Man i need to start using this so I can go ahead and write instead of freaking out



Just make sure you Find & Replace when you're done 

I had to start doing this after I spent about 2 months obsessing over what to name the antagonist (I started out with the same name as a protag in another book I was writing and when I made the connection I couldn't let it go ... I needed to change it for my own benefit ... but to what? [Thus was born the Character X habit]) 

First drafts are already hard enough to get through without getting caught up in issues like what to name minor characters. A name usually comes to me within a couple chapters of the characters' introduction. By that point I have a better grasp of who the characters & settings are which puts me in a better place to decide. Write now, name & edit later.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I am as surprised as my characters at recent plot twists.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I am as surprised as my characters at recent plot twists.



That happened when I was writing Red Nights. 

(It felt like a disaster while I was doing it, but pantsing is actually fun...)


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCatholicCrow said:


> Just make sure you Find & Replace when you're done
> 
> I had to start doing this after I spent about 2 months obsessing over what to name the antagonist (I started out with the same name as a protag in another book I was writing and when I made the connection I couldn't let it go ... I needed to change it for my own benefit ... but to what? [Thus was born the Character X habit])
> 
> First drafts are already hard enough to get through without getting caught up in issues like what to name minor characters. A name usually comes to me within a couple chapters of the characters' introduction. By that point I have a better grasp of who the characters & settings are which puts me in a better place to decide. Write now, name & edit later.



Yeah, names are easy to get hung up on! I'm really picky about names, so I'd get stuck for a day or a week every time a new character came in if I tried to name them something permanent. Thus the [guy's name] thing...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Somehow, against all odds, the plot twists sort of make sense and don't directly contradict anything! How that happened is beyond me.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Somehow, against all odds, the plot twists sort of make sense and don't directly contradict anything! How that happened is beyond me.



I was less lucky, lol. I had to clean up a lot, and I still have a lot to clean up in my revision. But, a lot fell together just like that. Stories have a way of knowing what to do. I've found that if you trust them, very often they'll work for you.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm sick, lol. I have a cold. I haven't eaten all day, but I have no appetite.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm sick, lol. I have a cold. I haven't eaten all day, but I have no appetite.



Sorry bro. I'm right there with you. Been sick for about 8 days now  About 3 weeks ago my little sisters got sick - it slowly passed around the whole family (there's a lot of us) and I thought I was in the clear .... but then (while everyone's immune systems were frazzled) someone brought a second bug home and we all got hit.  

I can't offer you any sage advice except that you should try not to spread it  Oh and watch it so it doesn't turn into bronchitis (ain't nobody got time for that). If it does - raw honey & cinnamon should do the trick. 

Don't over medicate but do make good use of Vicks  

But yeah ... I feel you buddy. There there. 

[video=youtube_share;K-Z5wQHGn5g]https://youtu.be/K-Z5wQHGn5g[/video]


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

Made good progress in rewrites / revisions yesterday. Haven't heard from my client in a few days so I decided to take the weekend off & use it for my own book (which is taking me way too long already). To clarify, I'm ahead of schedule on my ghostwritten chapters - this isn't me just being rude.  

Got three chapters posted for critiques (not here because it isn't Fantasy) and edited a couple others. Caught a massive plot hole / opportunity where Car Chase A ends with MC going into police station, & the next chapter started with him coming out (progressing into Car Chase B) ... forgot to put in a scene with MC interacting with police. Seriously ... how the heck did I miss that? I've reread it before too ... so glad I caught it this time around though. Been thinking about everything from a structural standpoint and rearranging scenes accordingly. Not sure if this'll interrupt the flow from Car chase A to Car Chase B ... but it does provide me with a great opportunity to brush up on one of the subplots which I hadn't mentioned in awhile. Plus it just makes more sense for that be in there ... considering he's being investigated for murder, the MC's interactions with police probably shouldn't be glossed over at any point. 

The big murder scene is great (as opposed to the earlier little murder scene) and I couldn't be more pleased with it, but I'll definitely have to rework the beginning of the chapter since I've changed some of the motivations and stuff leading up to it. No worries though - I'm taking some weaker drafts and am pounding them into a page turning beast. Gotta expect that some stuff will change along the way. 

I know this doesn't mean much to anyone (unless you've been reading my book on Scribophile but I don't think any of you are ... it's Author of Death by Stephanie Villegas btw ... in case anyone is interested in giving it a peak. It's my 1950's Noir /Psych. Thriller... about an emotionally unstable pulp writer stalking his coworker, while being stalked by an ex, and trying to keep himself from being a patsy for the mob). I've been told by several people that it feels "like a real book" (whatever that means). *</end self promotion>* Probably not the kind of stuff most of you read (I know) but it just feels good to talk about (I'm sure you understand).  

To anyone reading this - How's your weekend going? What have you been up to?


----------



## skip.knox

TheCatholicCrow said:


> Oh I totally do this only I usually use letters so it's something like "She went down to H street" or "That's X, he has family ties to the mob." or "Z is lovely this time of year. We should plan a trip."



I do the same, with a modification. I use multiple letters, so abc or aaa. Just whatever; as you say, so I don't get distract ... _what's that?_ 

My modification is that I enclose the letters with square brackets. I do this so I don't have to account for every possible letter string across thousands of words. I never have occasion to use brackets elsewhere, so a search on [ will return every place where I need to substitute a real name. 

The greater difficulty, which I've yet properly to manage, is making sure the person [abc] in Chapter Five is also called [abc] in Chapter 12 when he reappears briefly. I have a bad tendency to grab a letter string then forget with which noun it is to be associated. I've tried keeping a separate list, but by the time I hop over to the list, I'm already in Distracted Mode and too readily go squirreling off somewhere. I've tried being disciplined about the choice of letter strings, but that's just laughable. 

In desperation, I've come up with a new plan, which I intend to try out with my new novel. Since I am firmly in a medieval fantasy setting, I know for sure no character is going to be named Jimmy. So when I need a name, I will choose modern ones; diminutives best. I'm more likely to remember that Minor Character #7 is named [Arnold] than I am to remember he is [bbb]. Same for place names, where I'll use street names in my neighborhood, or maybe American city names. Objects may be tougher. I'll torch that bridge when I come to it.

Oh, and for those writing longhand, I use curly braces {word} because they're easier for the eye to pick up. I don't use them typing because, Shift.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

Code brackets work nicely too ... <Obi Wan>  <A> or <Evil Dude> ... as long as it gets changed before I let others read it, it all works for me


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I'm not normally a sports guy, but the Super Bowl was pretty awesome. Lady Gaga had a cool show, Pats turned around an 18-point deficit by tying the game in its final minute and winning the first Super Bowl ever to go into overtime. What's not to like? (Unless you were rooting for the Falcons.)


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

skip.knox said:


> I do the same, with a modification. I use multiple letters, so abc or aaa. Just whatever; as you say, so I don't get distract ... _what's that?_
> 
> My modification is that I enclose the letters with square brackets. I do this so I don't have to account for every possible letter string across thousands of words. I never have occasion to use brackets elsewhere, so a search on [ will return every place where I need to substitute a real name.
> 
> The greater difficulty, which I've yet properly to manage, is making sure the person [abc] in Chapter Five is also called [abc] in Chapter 12 when he reappears briefly. I have a bad tendency to grab a letter string then forget with which noun it is to be associated. I've tried keeping a separate list, but by the time I hop over to the list, I'm already in Distracted Mode and too readily go squirreling off somewhere. I've tried being disciplined about the choice of letter strings, but that's just laughable.
> 
> In desperation, I've come up with a new plan, which I intend to try out with my new novel. Since I am firmly in a medieval fantasy setting, I know for sure no character is going to be named Jimmy. So when I need a name, I will choose modern ones; diminutives best. I'm more likely to remember that Minor Character #7 is named [Arnold] than I am to remember he is [bbb]. Same for place names, where I'll use street names in my neighborhood, or maybe American city names. Objects may be tougher. I'll torch that bridge when I come to it.
> 
> Oh, and for those writing longhand, I use curly braces {word} because they're easier for the eye to pick up. I don't use them typing because, Shift.



Nice catch with the brackets. I use them too. Easy to Find and Replace. 

But I haven't had so many unnamed characters that I have trouble memorizing yet. 

I remember calling a mythological deity [Puffles] in one draft of a story once...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That made me laugh.  I once called the protagonist of my story 'this unnamed person' for quite awhile.


----------



## Saigonnus

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^That made me laugh.  I once called the protagonist of my story 'this unnamed person' for quite awhile.



I typically use "INH" for that. It means "INSERT NAME HERE" and it might be for a place, person or object.


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## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I remember calling a mythological deity [Puffles] in one draft of a story once...



Prepare peasants, Puffles' power produces panic. Prince Puffles Plunders public places. Punishes praying preachers. Purges protesting people. Promotes pimping prostitutes. Prohibits presses. Proliferates plagues. Prevents parades. Pollutes plants. Pulverizes pirates. Perpetually perverts particular pitiful princess-procuring plumbers. Perturbs peace. Perfidiously personifies police.  Pilfers parliament. Pillages planets. Pesters presidents. Pauperizes populations.  Procures prohibited private property. Proliferates problematic preternatural prophecies. Perhaps pummels pets.

Please possess prudence plus patience. 


(I don't know exactly why I wrote that...)


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm a bit nervous about my books, that they might seem ridiculous or impossible to take seriously. I...um...have a rather 'Tolkien-ish writing style, and frequently make up words. I think my third book will just be completely bonkers and silly, for the fun of it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ack! I can't figure out a good enough reason to throw my MC in prison!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I'm a bit nervous about my books, that they might seem ridiculous or impossible to take seriously. I...um...have a rather 'Tolkien-ish writing style, and frequently make up words. I think my third book will just be completely bonkers and silly, for the fun of it.



Hmm...well, some people might like it. A writing style like that may also be appreciated in the children's market too.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Additionally, it has been a very long time since I've drawn anything. I got really discouraged about my drawing and haven't done anything in a few weeks. :/ I need to be practicing though...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> Prepare peasants, Puffles' power produces panic. Prince Puffles Plunders public places. Punishes praying preachers. Purges protesting people. Promotes pimping prostitutes. Prohibits presses. Proliferates plagues. Prevents parades. Pollutes plants. Pulverizes pirates. Perpetually perverts particular pitiful princess-procuring plumbers. Perturbs peace. Perfidiously personifies police.  Pilfers parliament. Pillages planets. Pesters presidents. Pauperizes populations.  Procures prohibited private property. Proliferates problematic preternatural prophecies. Perhaps pummels pets.
> 
> Please possess prudence plus patience.
> 
> 
> (I don't know exactly why I wrote that...)



O_O...just...O_O


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I've found that I need to go back and tell two other stories before my current story even starts, and so it will be hypothetically structured into three parts.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Ack! I can't figure out a good enough reason to throw my MC in prison!



Who needs a reason?  Seriously, the MC doesn't have to have done anything to get thrown into prison. Someone could frame the MC. There could be a case of mistaken identity by a witness that places the MC at the scene of the crime. Those are just a couple of ideas....


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I added many poems and a huge epic saga to my Portfolio if anyone's interested.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Michael K. Eidson said:


> Who needs a reason?  Seriously, the MC doesn't have to have done anything to get thrown into prison. Someone could frame the MC. There could be a case of mistaken identity by a witness that places the MC at the scene of the crime. Those are just a couple of ideas....



Those are still reasons. I'm figuring out HOW she gets thrown in prison. 

She is a criminal, so...


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

^Hence the smiley.

I think the HOW would be by someone stronger than she lifting her up and tossing her.


----------



## Futhark

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Don't I know this!! I have a character in Red Nights who I called [guy's name] because I couldn't think of a name for him. He's still [guy's name]. And I still don't have a name for him. Also I have lots of places named City Name, etc, etc...



Call him Guy!


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Futhark said:


> Call him Guy!



So I have an addiction to Tom Clancy... so I'm thinking about writing from a characters point of view very similar to Sam Fisher or John Clark:/


I want to write fantasy too so I was thinking about how to combine the two... it might be urban fantasy with some thriller etc.... 




OMG IT HIT ME! Time to start writing!


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Futhark said:


> Call him Guy!



That's what my brother said.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I think I have Tolkien Syndrome. For around five years, I'll start a book, stop, rewrite it, stop, try again, give up, start a new one, and so forth.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

I used to be a cup-half-full kind of guy. Now I'm just thirsty.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

^And half the time forgetting where I left the cup....


----------



## Marcus D. Quatas

Here's an analogy for you.
If two dogs were to be set loose in a room, and said room had nothing in it but a steak.
Would the dogs share the steak with one-another, or would their feral instincts divide
the two who are present? A human-being, (I imagine), would most likely share with another human-being. 
Perhaps even with a dog. This is because the human being understands compassion. The human can 
also differ a bad situation from a good one, based on their knowledge of the existence of time. 
However, the dogs, unlike said humans, do not have the compassion, and understanding of the future
necessary to share the steak. 
     What happens to the dogs when they do not share the steak? The answer is primal-anarchy. 
Said dogs are will either fight over the steak, or attempt to steal it from the other..... Maybe that's a good
thing though.


----------



## CupofJoe

Marcus D. Quatas said:


> Here's an analogy for you.
> If two dogs were to be set loose in a room, and said room had nothing in it but a steak.
> Would the dogs share the steak with one-another, or would their feral instincts divide
> the two who are present? A human-being, (I imagine), would most likely share with another human-being.
> Perhaps even with a dog. This is because the human being understands compassion. The human can
> also differ a bad situation from a good one, based on their knowledge of the existence of time.
> However, the dogs, unlike said humans, do not have the compassion, and understanding of the future
> necessary to share the steak.
> What happens to the dogs when they do not share the steak? The answer is primal-anarchy.
> Said dogs are will either fight over the steak, or attempt to steal it from the other..... Maybe that's a good
> thing though.


They did the first part of this test for real with Dogs and Wolves....
The dogs worked out who was leader/stronger and then the winner ate the steak alone and uninterupted. Far more Hierarchical and pack lead.
The Wolves just fought for the steak and got some each... Far more democratic [for lack of a better word] and individualistic.
It appears we [humans] have bred dogs to be so loyal to the pack leader [hopefully us] that they will do it to the expense of their own well being.
I think experimenting on humans like this might be a bit difficult to get through an Ethics Committee. You could make it a game show [but that has probably been done].


----------



## Russ

CupofJoe said:


> They did the first part of this test for real with Dogs and Wolves....
> The dogs worked out who was leader/stronger and then the winner ate the steak alone and uninterupted. Far more Hierarchical and pack lead.
> The Wolves just fought for the steak and got some each... Far more democratic [for lack of a better word] and individualistic.
> It appears we [humans] have bred dogs to be so loyal to the pack leader [hopefully us] that they will do it to the expense of their own well being.
> I think experimenting on humans like this might be a bit difficult to get through an Ethics Committee. You could make it a game show [but that has probably been done].



I was reading a couple of non-fiction books about dogs recently as research for my straight fantasy novel.

Apparently dogs don't form packs like wolves when they go feral.  It appears that we have bred the pack right out of them.


----------



## CupofJoe

Russ said:


> I was reading a couple of non-fiction books about dogs recently as research for my straight fantasy novel.
> 
> Apparently dogs don't form packs like wolves when they go feral.  It appears that we have bred the pack right out of them.


Odd that I've read exactly the opposite... Maybe the pack instinct has been developed/bred-in to such an extent that another dog won't do...
It might be that Wolf-wolf packs are far looser arrangement than a human-dog packs. That was what I took away from the research.


----------



## Russ

CupofJoe said:


> Odd that I've read exactly the opposite... Maybe the pack instinct has been developed/bred-in to such an extent that another dog won't do...
> It might be that Wolf-wolf packs are far looser arrangement than a human-dog packs. That was what I took away from the research.



The inference this book was making was that dogs do great pairing to a single leader now, but don't form packs when released in the wild or when they go feral.

I will try to remember to pull the names of the two books I read on the subject recently and pass them on to you.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Russ said:


> The inference this book was making was that dogs do great pairing to a single leader now, but don't form packs when released in the wild or when they go feral.
> 
> I will try to remember to pull the names of the two books I read on the subject recently and pass them on to you.



Lots of debate on this that you'll find when you're trying to figure out how to train your dog. 

You wouldn't believe how many people think Cesar Milan (the Dog Whisperer tv show) is an expert on dog behavior. He solves leash problems by basically walking the dog while hanging it by the leash (front feet off the ground) until it can no longer fight, and when the dog lies on the ground panting from exhaustion that's a 'submissive' posture and the dog's 'dominance' issue has been 'solved.' Also, he uses shock collars and prong collars, which...well, it just seems counter-intuitive for a method that;s supposedly 'natural' and mimics what happens in the wild. Still, lots of dog owners take this reality TV star's words as gospel.  

The "pack alpha' dog training mentality can get a little weird. For example, they say you're not supposed to show emotion in front of your dog, because that makes them see you as weak...and you're not supposed to cuddle with them or show affection...and you're not supposed to let them sniff anything when you walk them, not supposed to let them in your bed or on the furniture...Also, literally every behavior problem is a dominance issue. Dog jumping on visitors? Dominance issue. Dog has food aggression? Dominance issue. Dog doesn't walk well on the leash? Dominance issue. Your dog is just trying to take your household over. 

I was on a pitbull owners group online and someone was talking about a food aggression issue between her dogs and people were advising her to SIT on her dogs. Sit on them. To establish that she's the alpha. I have on idea how that solves a problem that's going on between your dogs but whatever. 

So, yeah. Dog behavior is a complicated area.


----------



## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Lots of debate on this that you'll find when you're trying to figure out how to train your dog.
> 
> You wouldn't believe how many people think Cesar Milan (the Dog Whisperer tv show) is an expert on dog behavior. He solves leash problems by basically walking the dog while hanging it by the leash (front feet off the ground) until it can no longer fight, and when the dog lies on the ground panting from exhaustion that's a 'submissive' posture and the dog's 'dominance' issue has been 'solved.' Also, he uses shock collars and prong collars, which...well, it just seems counter-intuitive for a method that;s supposedly 'natural' and mimics what happens in the wild. Still, lots of dog owners take this reality TV star's words as gospel.
> 
> The "pack alpha' dog training mentality can get a little weird. For example, they say you're not supposed to show emotion in front of your dog, because that makes them see you as weak...and you're not supposed to cuddle with them or show affection...and you're not supposed to let them sniff anything when you walk them, not supposed to let them in your bed or on the furniture...Also, literally every behavior problem is a dominance issue. Dog jumping on visitors? Dominance issue. Dog has food aggression? Dominance issue. Dog doesn't walk well on the leash? Dominance issue. Your dog is just trying to take your household over.
> 
> I was on a pitbull owners group online and someone was talking about a food aggression issue between her dogs and people were advising her to SIT on her dogs. Sit on them. To establish that she's the alpha. I have on idea how that solves a problem that's going on between your dogs but whatever.
> 
> So, yeah. Dog behavior is a complicated area.



Which is why I completely avoided any dog training stuff and went to the hard science.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Don't take my words as gospel either. If you saw how well-trained my dog is...umm, yeah, my dog is a disaster. She only listens to you when you have cheese in your hand.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Spent last night combing through #MSWL fantasy tweets. Lots of YA showed up, which didn't interest me, but there were still a number of agents/editors who are looking for adult fantasy. Some will even accept adult fantasy with erotic elements.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Banten said:


> Prepare peasants, Puffles' power produces panic. Prince Puffles Plunders public places. Punishes praying preachers. Purges protesting people. Promotes pimping prostitutes. Prohibits presses. Proliferates plagues. Prevents parades. Pollutes plants. Pulverizes pirates. Perpetually perverts particular pitiful princess-procuring plumbers. Perturbs peace. Perfidiously personifies police.  Pilfers parliament. Pillages planets. Pesters presidents. Pauperizes populations.  Procures prohibited private property. Proliferates problematic preternatural prophecies. Perhaps pummels pets.
> 
> Please possess prudence plus patience.
> 
> 
> (I don't know exactly why I wrote that...)



I fell in love with this XD I might have to use a deity "based off of" puffles soon XD


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## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> I fell in love with this XD I might have to use a deity "based off of" puffles soon XD
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



A deity named Puffles who is fond of alliteration.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> A deity named Puffles who is fond of alliteration.



YYYYAAASSSS


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## TheCrystallineEntity

I once had a character monologue an entire paragraph in alliteration.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I once had a character monologue an entire paragraph in alliteration.



V for Vendetta is my favorite lol


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## Ireth

Thomas Laszlo said:


> V for Vendetta is my favorite lol



Agreed. Gotta wonder how many takes it took to get that introductory spiel right. XD


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I once had a character monologue an entire paragraph in alliteration.



I wanna read that...


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Ireth said:


> Agreed. Gotta wonder how many takes it took to get that introductory spiel right. XD



True! And with that inflection! Stephen Fry did a good job too XD


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## Ireth

Thomas Laszlo said:


> True! And with that inflection! Stephen Fry did a good job too XD



So good! And John Hurt (RIP). Heck, everyone was awesome in that.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

> I wanna read that...



As you wish.

"What do you think of my magnificent, majestic, manifested, massive, masterly, measureless, meditative, mellifluous, melodious, memorable, merry, metamorphic, metaphoric, metaphysical, mighty, miraculous, momentous, monstrous, multifarious, musical, musing, myriad, mysterious, mystical, mythical mixture of magic?"

[It's all in alphabetical order because the character is reading from a thesaurus at the time.]


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Check out my poetry chit chat topic!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

It's like my book is turning into a Hydra!


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> It's like my book is turning into a Hydra!



Ouch. When you chop off a head, are you burning the severed neck?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^No, it's just growing bigger and bigger with plot threads all over the place, tangling up like spaghetti! A Hydra made of noodles?  Yay for my weird similes.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> As you wish.
> 
> "What do you think of my magnificent, majestic, manifested, massive, masterly, measureless, meditative, mellifluous, melodious, memorable, merry, metamorphic, metaphoric, metaphysical, mighty, miraculous, momentous, monstrous, multifarious, musical, musing, myriad, mysterious, mystical, mythical mixture of magic?"
> 
> [It's all in alphabetical order because the character is reading from a thesaurus at the time.]


Coincidentally, this site used to be called "Magnificent, Majestic, Manifested, Massive, Masterly, Measureless, Meditative, Mellifluous, Melodious, Memorable, Merry, Metamorphic, Metaphoric, Metaphysical, Mighty, Miraculous, Momentous, Monstrous, Multifarious, Musical, Musing, Myriad, Mysterious, Mystical, Mythic Scribes," but the problem was we only had three members because no one else had the patience to type www.magnificentmajesticmanifestedmassivemasterlymeasurelessmeditativemellifluousmelodiousmemorablemerrymetamorphicmetaphoricmetaphysicalmightymiraculousmomentousmonstrousmultifariousmusicalmusingmyriadmys
teriousmysticalmythicscribes.com


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Ha ha!

There are certain common elements to my books: cats, crystals, wings, nudity, and true love that defies all social norms.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

I played a Pathfinder druid who experienced 4 out of those 5 things in a single chain of events.

CAT: She saved a fairy with a healing spell, and turned into a jaguar to kill the fire wolf that hurt the fairy.
WINGS: She was able to make a wish, so she became a fairy. She shrunk to a few inches tall and sprouted wings.
NUDITY: Her clothes did not morph with her, so she was almost smothered to death by her own clothes. But having survived the ordeal, she went to see the fairy whose life she saved. She wanted to be her friend.
LOVE: The fairy wanted to be more than friends, and assumed that was the reason my character altered her body so drastically (and permanently).


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Legendary Sidekick said:


> I played a Pathfinder druid who experienced 4 out of those 5 things in a single chain of events.
> 
> CAT: She saved a fairy with a healing spell, and turned into a jaguar to kill the fire wolf that hurt the fairy.
> WINGS: She was able to make a wish, so she became a fairy. She shrunk to a few inches tall and sprouted wings.
> NUDITY: Her clothes did not morph with her, so she was almost smothered to death by her own clothes. But having survived the ordeal, she went to see the fairy whose life she saved. She wanted to be her friend.
> LOVE: The fairy wanted to be more than friends, and assumed that was the reason my character altered her body so drastically (and permanently).



Ha! 

I'll do it for my story: 

CAT: I have two characters, sisters, who are werejaguars. And another who is a werelioness. 

CRYSTALS: My wizard immortals' magic is based around a crystal aesthetic. They can summon swords that appear to be made of diamond and two characters get encased in crystal by my villain...

WINGS: At one point my villain summons wings made of crystal, so...There are also flying machines. 

NUDITY:...umm...my poor MC gets dangled upside down and naked from the ceiling in a dungeon by some humanoid rats. Unfortunately, this was not a positive experience. She was rather glad to have her clothes restored. 

LOVE: Uhm...love interest character tragically died before the book begins. So idk. 

This is a weird game.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Cat: The most enigmatic character in the story [Katea] may or may not be a cat.
Crystals: The main character's beloved [Kisa] was accidentally turned to crystal and was horribly scarred. 
Wings: The main character [Oeuyia] has wings like lotus blossom petals.
Nudity: Kisa frequently walks around naked, but that's mainly because she doesn't like how clothing rubs against her scars.
Love: Oeuyia and Kisa are star-crossed lovers [as usual for my books!], especially since Kisa is actually Oeuyia's heart.


----------



## Saigonnus

If you are an Elf and you don't have building blocks. Does that mean you are LEGOless.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That's...about as good as 'They're taking the Hobbits to Isengard!'


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Tales of the Abyss is a surprisingly fun game.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Saigonnus said:


> If you are an Elf and you don't have building blocks. Does that mean you are LEGOless.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



If you are a girl lego person are you a lego lass?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Really?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^Really?



Yes. Also, did you know that Legolas's dad took his legos and so Legolas toy collection was less his legos.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity




----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


>



That still only counts as one...lego.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Sure it does, and I have a cave that I'll sell you--in Menegroth.


----------



## FifthView

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Yes. Also, did you know that Legolas's dad took his legos and so Legolas toy collection was less his legos.



Didn't I see that in a Lego commercial once?  Where the kid said, "Lego my lego!"


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Rawrr.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

FifthView said:


> Didn't I see that in a Lego commercial once?  Where the kid said, "Lego my lego!"



You're thinking of the movie long commercial where the Dad was telling his son to lego his legos and his lego counterpart was trying to lessin the legos ability to lego.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Rawrr.



His wings hurricanes his teeth dagges. His legoness like electrified caltrops if you step on him because your kid left the damn thing in the middle of the floor and the lights are off.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

To quote Honest Trailers; "Nothing compares to the agony of stepping on an actual Lego piece."


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> His wings hurricanes his teeth dagges. His legoness like electrified caltrops if you step on him because your kid left the damn thing in the middle of the floor and the lights are off.



Legos hurt.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm being a good girl and I won't complain and only cry alone.

I need to smile more, to cheer people up.


----------



## CupofJoe

Isn't the plural of Lego... Lego?
Like Deer, Cannon etc?
Seeing "Legos" is just weird.....


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Kimi dake ga suki de ita you.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Twitter

Click the link watch the video. This is the luckiest shot ever.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I seem to be unnaturally good at tragic love stories.


----------



## FifthView

So a couple weeks ago, my niece was already planning her ninth birthday party, and I asked her what kind of gifts she wanted.  With much excitement (literally hopping around) she said she wanted "chapter books."

I had to do a double take.  What was that, exactly?  Her mother explained that these are books with chapters, i.e. what I as kid of that age only knew as "books."

I guess I'm out of the loop.  (But all's well that ends well.  I bought her The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.)


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

So...my books, which have no chapters, are definitely not 'chapter books'. Curious.


----------



## SumnerH

FifthView said:


> So a couple weeks ago, my niece was already planning her ninth birthday party, and I asked her what kind of gifts she wanted.  With much excitement (literally hopping around) she said she wanted "chapter books."
> 
> I had to do a double take.  What was that, exactly?  Her mother explained that these are books with chapters, i.e. what I as kid of that age only knew as "books."
> 
> I guess I'm out of the loop.  (But all's well that ends well.  I bought her The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.)




There's a bit more precise definition than just "books with chapters"; "chapter books" are the interim books between picture books/See Spot Run stuff and full-on YA/adult novels--something like _Little House on the Prairie_ or _Are You There God It's Me, Margaret?_ is probably too advanced to be considered a chapter book:


> For ages 7-10, Chapter books are transitional books that help children move from early readers to full novels. Most chapter books deal with contemporary situations that are familiar to the readers, and are often humorous books.



The New York Times bestseller lists has a list of bestselling Children's Chapter Books, though that's often considered to include a bunch of more advanced YA novels along with actual chapter books (as it is almost everywhere, defining genre is blurry).

EDIT: Oh, and your selection is perfect.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That seems...unnecessarily complicated.


----------



## FifthView

@SumnerH:  Yeah, I found the Wikipedia article on chapter books and a few more links that gave the more precise definition.

Some of the distinction is confusing.  For instance, that transitional level might include more illustrations than a novel but not have a lot of illustrations like books for beginning readers, but I checked out the previews of some top selling chapter books on Amazon, and many of them do not have many or any large illustrations in chapters.

My general impression is that the term isn't perfectly defined, or that chapter books might vary in how they are written, but that they are basically middle-grade level books divided into smallish chapters that allow young readers to take breaks or read a story in smaller chunks.

That said, my niece had already showed me a book from her backpack that she's been reading, a _Little House on the Prairie_ book, and I think _her_ idea of "chapter book" is simply a book with chapters, although obviously something she's capable of reading.  She can read and understand books a little above her age already but apparently reads very slowly still.  Regardless of the more precise definition of chapter books, I'm thinking my choice of gift is good for her level.*

*Edit:  Ah, wrote that last bit before I saw your edit! 

Late edit:  Actually, the top sellers on the Amazon list do have lots more illustrations.  I'd been looking at some much lower down on the list.  I suppose I see a distinction...important if I ever decide to write something like a chapter book.  Which, oddly enough...heh as I was leaving the birthday party, for the first time in my life I thought, hmm, maybe I'd want to write something for kids that age.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

FifthView said:


> So a couple weeks ago, my niece was already planning her ninth birthday party, and I asked her what kind of gifts she wanted.  With much excitement (literally hopping around) she said she wanted "chapter books."
> 
> I had to do a double take.  What was that, exactly?  Her mother explained that these are books with chapters, i.e. what I as kid of that age only knew as "books."
> 
> I guess I'm out of the loop.  (But all's well that ends well.  I bought her The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World.)



I had a similar problem. My niece wanted chapter books. My sister was less than helpful on what that was. I bought her Harry Potter. She's a Pot Head now.


----------



## Insolent Lad

The Thornton Burgess 'Mother West Wind' books I was reading pretty much as soon as I learned to read very much fit the 'chapter book' category — although first published around a century ago. I remembered them fondly and kind of used them as a template (in a broad sense) for my foray into that genre, 'The Contrary Fairy.'


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Doesn't anyone want to read my portfolio entries? What's the point of posting them, then? [Am I being selfish? I apologize if I am.]


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Doesn't anyone want to read my portfolio entries? What's the point of posting them, then? [Am I being selfish? I apologize if I am.]



I didn't see them O_O but idk when i'll have time, i've got a ton of homework to finish right now...

Btw i'm SO sorry i haven't responded to your PM yet, I'll get to that when i can! I kinda sorta forgot...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Don't worry; I have an unusually large amount of free time, so I sometimes forget that other people have homework and such like. 
That's okay.  My book isn't going anywhere.


----------



## Chessie

Oh, Steam. Damn you. I love how when Skyrim works, Fallout doesn't. And when Fallout works, Skyrim doesn't.

*shakes fist angrily*


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

The game I want is rather expensive.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Oh, suddenly I'm a Scribal Lord. How did that happen?


----------



## Ireth

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Oh, suddenly I'm a Scribal Lord. How did that happen?



You reached 600 posts, that's how!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I didn't even notice! As if I needed more proof that I'm more airy than earthly.


----------



## FifthView

So I was just browsing for books on Amazon, and I found an independently published novel that looked interesting, started reading the preview, it looked good...

The very first paragraph of the novel has a sentence that runs for 219 words.....Yikes!  I actually had to stop and count them.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Wow! That's rather excessive.


----------



## Nimue

FifthView said:


> So I was just browsing for books on Amazon, and I found an independently published novel that looked interesting, started reading the preview, it looked good...
> 
> The very first paragraph of the novel has a sentence that runs for 219 words.....Yikes!  I actually had to stop and count them.


I'm really curious if that was going for stylistic effect and whether it worked on that level?  Or any level at all.  Being guilty of breathless sentences myself on occasion.  But that is a doozy...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

FifthView said:


> So I was just browsing for books on Amazon, and I found an independently published novel that looked interesting, started reading the preview, it looked good...
> 
> The very first paragraph of the novel has a sentence that runs for 219 words.....Yikes!  I actually had to stop and count them.



Why? Also, how?


----------



## FifthView

@Nimue & BSA:

Ok, here it is. A guy is on a battlefield, contemplating his death (some smaller sentences before this.  Also, technically, another whole introductory passage in italics.)

It started tame enough, with nothing more than a bullet in the head, quick and painless, though he reasoned someone with fortune enough to die from a bullet in the head hardly ever ended up in frontline infantry where there were mines to contend with, where the odds of stepping on a mine were considerably high--seeing as how two of his good friends, though not particularly good soldiers, had gone that way not hours ago--which could be reasonably painful depending on how his bodily pieces were divided by the explosion, but then he was almost sure he wasn't even lucky enough to go out in a "blaze of glory"--as they'd taken to calling it in an effort at making them all feel better about the prospect of being blown to bits--and  more and more of his blood brothers had been giving it up to septic shock, which was common and likely enough, but far too morbidly humiliating for him to handle, and, anyway, he really had the sense he was going to bite it from something completely outrageous, unheard of, ridiculous, like choking on a chicken bone, but that was also too humiliating for him to handle, and completely unreasonable since they hadn't even seen a [f-ing] chicken in...how long had it been now?​
I may have miscounted before; I was at work.  Why browsing at work for new books to read?  Heh, don't ask.  But I'm too exhausted after typing that out to do another count...

The guy is on a battlefield, and I think this is an attempt to show his frantic, wandering mind.

If you open the preview up, you can see there are a LOT of large paragraphs and sentences.  Author is fond of lots of "which" and "though," always modifying a thought with some additional phrasing.  So reading it is...interesting.  On the one hand, it seems very flabby.  On the other, I wonder if I could let myself just roll with it and see how the story goes.  The kindle version was listed as free for some reason, so I went ahead and downloaded and may give it a try out of sheer curiosity.  (Link for the curious.  Warning:  Has a gay theme and/or romance, so if that bothers you, don't bother...)


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I often have long sentences/paragraphs when I describe things [that is, most of the book], but that takes it to a whole new level!


----------



## Nimue

FifthView said:


> @Nimue & BSA:
> 
> Ok, here it is. A guy is on a battlefield, contemplating his death (some smaller sentences before this.  Also, technically, another whole introductory passage in italics.)
> 
> It started tame enough, with nothing more than a bullet in the head, quick and painless, though he reasoned someone with fortune enough to die from a bullet in the head hardly ever ended up in frontline infantry where there were mines to contend with, where the odds of stepping on a mine were considerably high--seeing as how two of his good friends, though not particularly good soldiers, had gone that way not hours ago--which could be reasonably painful depending on how his bodily pieces were divided by the explosion, but then he was almost sure he wasn't even lucky enough to go out in a "blaze of glory"--as they'd taken to calling it in an effort at making them all feel better about the prospect of being blown to bits--and  more and more of his blood brothers had been giving it up to septic shock, which was common and likely enough, but far too morbidly humiliating for him to handle, and, anyway, he really had the sense he was going to bite it from something completely outrageous, unheard of, ridiculous, like choking on a chicken bone, but that was also too humiliating for him to handle, and completely unreasonable since they hadn't even seen a [f-ing] chicken in...how long had it been now?​
> I may have miscounted before; I was at work.  Why browsing at work for new books to read?  Heh, don't ask.  But I'm too exhausted after typing that out to do another count...
> 
> The guy is on a battlefield, and I think this is an attempt to show his frantic, wandering mind.
> 
> If you open the preview up, you can see there are a LOT of large paragraphs and sentences.  Author is fond of lots of "which" and "though," always modifying a thought with some additional phrasing.  So reading it is...interesting.  On the one hand, it seems very flabby.  On the other, I wonder if I could let myself just roll with it and see how the story goes.  The kindle version was listed as free for some reason, so I went ahead and downloaded and may give it a try out of sheer curiosity.  (Link for the curious.  Warning:  Has a gay theme and/or romance, so if that bothers you, don't bother...)



While not completely incomprehensible, that genuinely lost my attention (and subject-predicate matching ability) halfway through.  Two or three long sentences could have had the same effect...  The style could certainly be read, I'd just hope the author put no really important information in the middle of a knot like that.  Wonder if they had an editor.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Cookies!


----------



## Chessie

Yeah....that seems more like an unedited ramble to me. But maybe it was a stylistic choice, although it seems confusing.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> @Nimue & BSA:
> 
> Ok, here it is. A guy is on a battlefield, contemplating his death (some smaller sentences before this.  Also, technically, another whole introductory passage in italics.)
> 
> It started tame enough, with nothing more than a bullet in the head, quick and painless, though he reasoned someone with fortune enough to die from a bullet in the head hardly ever ended up in frontline infantry where there were mines to contend with, where the odds of stepping on a mine were considerably high--seeing as how two of his good friends, though not particularly good soldiers, had gone that way not hours ago--which could be reasonably painful depending on how his bodily pieces were divided by the explosion, but then he was almost sure he wasn't even lucky enough to go out in a "blaze of glory"--as they'd taken to calling it in an effort at making them all feel better about the prospect of being blown to bits--and  more and more of his blood brothers had been giving it up to septic shock, which was common and likely enough, but far too morbidly humiliating for him to handle, and, anyway, he really had the sense he was going to bite it from something completely outrageous, unheard of, ridiculous, like choking on a chicken bone, but that was also too humiliating for him to handle, and completely unreasonable since they hadn't even seen a [f-ing] chicken in...how long had it been now?​
> I may have miscounted before; I was at work.  Why browsing at work for new books to read?  Heh, don't ask.  But I'm too exhausted after typing that out to do another count...
> 
> The guy is on a battlefield, and I think this is an attempt to show his frantic, wandering mind.
> 
> If you open the preview up, you can see there are a LOT of large paragraphs and sentences.  Author is fond of lots of "which" and "though," always modifying a thought with some additional phrasing.  So reading it is...interesting.  On the one hand, it seems very flabby.  On the other, I wonder if I could let myself just roll with it and see how the story goes.  The kindle version was listed as free for some reason, so I went ahead and downloaded and may give it a try out of sheer curiosity.  (Link for the curious.  Warning:  Has a gay theme and/or romance, so if that bothers you, don't bother...)



I can't even shove my mind through that. But I'm recovering from an anxiety attack, though, so I'm not in prime mental condition.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

^yes, I had yet another anxiety attack


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Super kitty hugs for you.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^Super kitty hugs for you.



Kitty hugs help.


----------



## FifthView

Nimue said:


> While not completely incomprehensible, that genuinely lost my attention (and subject-predicate matching ability) halfway through.  Two or three long sentences could have had the same effect...  The style could certainly be read, I'd just hope the author put no really important information in the middle of a knot like that.  Wonder if they had an editor.



My internal editor kept trying to revise it when I first read it, and this tripped me up more than anything.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

FifthView said:


> @Nimue & BSA:
> 
> Ok, here it is. A guy is on a battlefield, contemplating his death (some smaller sentences before this.  Also, technically, another whole introductory passage in italics.)
> 
> It started tame enough, with nothing more than a bullet in the head, quick and painless, though he reasoned someone with fortune enough to die from a bullet in the head hardly ever ended up in frontline infantry where there were mines to contend with, where the odds of stepping on a mine were considerably high--seeing as how two of his good friends, though not particularly good soldiers, had gone that way not hours ago--which could be reasonably painful depending on how his bodily pieces were divided by the explosion, but then he was almost sure he wasn't even lucky enough to go out in a "blaze of glory"--as they'd taken to calling it in an effort at making them all feel better about the prospect of being blown to bits--and  more and more of his blood brothers had been giving it up to septic shock, which was common and likely enough, but far too morbidly humiliating for him to handle, and, anyway, he really had the sense he was going to bite it from something completely outrageous, unheard of, ridiculous, like choking on a chicken bone, but that was also too humiliating for him to handle, and completely unreasonable since they hadn't even seen a [f-ing] chicken in...how long had it been now?​
> I may have miscounted before; I was at work.  Why browsing at work for new books to read?  Heh, don't ask.  But I'm too exhausted after typing that out to do another count...
> 
> The guy is on a battlefield, and I think this is an attempt to show his frantic, wandering mind.
> 
> If you open the preview up, you can see there are a LOT of large paragraphs and sentences.  Author is fond of lots of "which" and "though," always modifying a thought with some additional phrasing.  So reading it is...interesting.  On the one hand, it seems very flabby.  On the other, I wonder if I could let myself just roll with it and see how the story goes.  The kindle version was listed as free for some reason, so I went ahead and downloaded and may give it a try out of sheer curiosity.  (Link for the curious.  Warning:  Has a gay theme and/or romance, so if that bothers you, don't bother...)



Not the worst sentence I have ever read. I actually kind of liked how it meandered, since he was dying and all. I personally wouldn't have written it, but that's more a style thing. Now, if the book was filled with stuff like this I would be totally bugged. But I kind of liked that. Might do that myself one day.


----------



## Chessie

Sometimes I look at my writing and think, _wow I totally suck why do I even bother?_ oop:


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Me, too, and it's usually when the well of sadness comes back.


----------



## Nimue

Chessie said:


> Sometimes I look at my writing and think, _wow I totally suck why do I even bother?_ oop:


See here, if how much I am looking forward to the rest of your elf story is any indication...you have a lot to give, Chess.  Bother because you have the power to delight people--you do!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

New computers that don't crap out every 30 minutes are nice. Getting all 7000 pictures from old computer to cloud storage not fun.


----------



## CupofJoe

Chessie said:


> Sometimes I look at my writing and think, _wow I totally suck why do I even bother?_ oop:


I am more worried by the people that look at their writing and think _I totally ROCK!!!!:running::running::running:_
They are the ones that scare me....


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> I am more worried by the people that look at their writing and think _I totally ROCK!!!!:running::running::running:_
> They are the ones that scare me....



I alternate between the two...


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I alternate between the two...


That is not always a bad thing. I do that too. 
As long as the switches from _ROCKS!!!_ to _SUCKS!!!_ aren't every 15 seconds... 
Or last for years...


----------



## Incanus

Going to my first writer's convention next month.  Should be... interesting.  Not sure what to expect.

One of the best things about it will be that some of my writing friends are going to attend as well, so I'll be meeting them in person for the first time.

I'm more or less friendly, but I would never describe myself as a 'people person', so I can't say for sure whether this experience will ultimately be a good one or not.  Only one way to find out...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I've never been to a writer's convention.


----------



## Incanus

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I've never been to a writer's convention.



Nor me, yet.

It just so happens that my birthday falls right in the middle of it.  And not just any birthday - this one ends with a 0.  (And it begins with a 5.)  Yikes!


----------



## Russ

Incanus said:


> Going to my first writer's convention next month.  Should be... interesting.  Not sure what to expect.
> 
> One of the best things about it will be that some of my writing friends are going to attend as well, so I'll be meeting them in person for the first time.
> 
> I'm more or less friendly, but I would never describe myself as a 'people person', so I can't say for sure whether this experience will ultimately be a good one or not.  Only one way to find out...



Which one?  I have been to a ton.  Some of them are fantastic.  Just getting tougher with so many like minded people can be a very uplifting experience.

I did that birthday not too long ago myself.  Had a great time and feel better than ever now.


----------



## Incanus

Russ said:


> Which one?  I have been to a ton.  Some of them are fantastic.  Just getting tougher with so many like minded people can be a very uplifting experience.
> 
> I did that birthday not too long ago myself.  Had a great time and feel better than ever now.



Vegas, April 20-23, with Donald Maass as Keynote speaker on the last day.  However, I'll be doing all of it except the Maass class.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I think I might have lexicographer's syndrome.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I feel so much better after writing a ton of angsty poetry. Lol. It's one of my favorite ways to deal with feelings that are out of control. O_O 

Funny thing is, when my feelings are out of control, that's when my poetry tends to be best.


----------



## La Volpe

Phew, I've been away from here (and writing) for quite some time now. But I'm finally getting stuff together again.

I've now started the revision process for one of my novels, and I'm astounded at how many typos I'm finding on the read-through. Anyway, this is the first time I'm (hopefully) actually going to do some proper revision. Usually I just write the novel, then chuck it into the backyard and start with a new one.


----------



## Chessie

La Volpe said:


> Phew, I've been away from here (and writing) for quite some time now. But I'm finally getting stuff together again.
> 
> I've now started the revision process for one of my novels, and I'm astounded at how many typos I'm finding on the read-through. Anyway, this is the first time I'm (hopefully) actually going to do some proper revision. Usually I just write the novel, then chuck it into the backyard and start with a new one.



Good luck! What are you writing about?


----------



## Russ

Incanus said:


> Vegas, April 20-23, with Donald Maass as Keynote speaker on the last day.  However, I'll be doing all of it except the Maass class.



Nothing more fun than a conference in Vegas.

The faculty looks pretty good. too bad you are not doing the Maass workshop, his research is great and he is a fantastic instructor.

Have a great time and perhaps do a report for us when you come back.


----------



## Incanus

Thanks Russ.  I have to say Vegas is one of the last places I would go to of my own volition.  That said, it probably is well suited for conventions of all types.

I had to make a decision about the Maass thing, and perhaps I chose unwisely.  But money is an object, and I'm not really into his message all that much--it's not where I'm headed.  Otherwise, I'd be quite happy to attend.

It's going to be quite an adventure, that's for sure.


----------



## Ronald T.

Incanus said:


> Nor me, yet.
> 
> It just so happens that my birthday falls right in the middle of it.  And not just any birthday - this one ends with a 0.  (And it begins with a 5.)  Yikes!



Happy Birthday, my friend.  I have to admit, I didn't even start writing until I was in my mid fifties.  I was a devout reader and I studied the art and craft of writing for thirty years, but I never wrote anything.  So, in truth, I'm envious of the years you and so many other still have ahead of you...years in which you can create an endless number of fantastic stories.  Never give up, my friend.

And I hope you enjoy the convention.  

I've only gone to one, held in L.A. a few years ago.  I got to meet Donald Maass, and he signed two of his books for me.  My wife, Jane, and I were fortunate enough to be seated at the same lunch table with Donald (eight people at our table).  We shared some very enjoyable conversation.  

And I did go to his seminar.  It was well worth the time.

All my best.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'd like to go to new Zealand one day. I'm craving nature.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Today I've mostly been drawing pictures of flowers to send to the people around me: This Thing With The Flowers ? s v r t n s s e

It's quick and it's easy, and it's made some of my friends both surprised and happy. Try it.


----------



## La Volpe

Chessie said:


> Good luck! What are you writing about?



Thanks.

I'm working on my epic fantasy that I wrote one or two years back. The elevator pitch is: A low-class girl, searching for her brother, is roped into a magic-wielding outlaw's plan to kill an unkillable monster. I originally thought that it was terrible, even after the rewrite, but now that I read it again, it seems quite alright.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

I feel like this may be the most productive thread on this site sometimes


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----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Thomas Laszlo said:


> I feel like this may be the most productive thread on this site sometimes
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Hahaha! for real tho


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

So, not to be a creeper or anything but where do y'all live? I live in Lebanon, Missouri and have never left the country. Been to D.C. many times though


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I live in the Inn Between Nowhere.  [An actual place in one of my books.]


----------



## Futhark

Beenleigh, Queensland, Australia.


----------



## Futhark

Never left the country either, but we say 'never been overseas' because, you know, no land borders with other countries.


----------



## Chessie

Futhark said:


> Never left the country either, but we say 'never been overseas' because, you know, no land borders with other countries.



Alaska is considered an overseas assignment in the U.S. military. I suppose that's kind of right, since you can't get here without using an airplane or ferry...


----------



## Futhark

Chessie said:


> Alaska is considered an overseas assignment in the U.S. military. I suppose that's kind of right, since you can't get here without using an airplane or ferry...



Why?  Doesn't Canada have roads?


----------



## Chessie

Futhark said:


> Why?  Doesn't Canada have roads?


Yes, but there's still ferries. You can't just drive in. And since Canada doesn't allow felons to pass through their country, I've known people with felonies or too many DUIs that have to fly to the American mainland because they can't get through the ferry.


----------



## Futhark

Chessie said:


> Yes, but there's still ferries. You can't just drive in. And since Canada doesn't allow felons to pass through their country, I've known people with felonies or too many DUIs that have to fly to the American mainland because they can't get through the ferry.



I was trying to be smart, got schooled instead, haha.


----------



## Reaver

Futhark said:


> Why?  Doesn't Canada have roads?



They only have one road.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Reaver said:


> They only have one road.



what the heck


----------



## SumnerH

Futhark said:


> I was trying to be smart, got schooled instead, haha.



She's pulling your leg--unless you're headed to a peninsula or island location (e.g. Juneau), driving to Alaska is no problem.  The Alaska-Canada highway opened to the public in 1948, and connects to normal road service into Fairbanks and Anchorage via Alaska state routes 2 and 1 respectively.


----------



## Chessie

SumnerH said:


> She's pulling your leg--unless you're headed to a peninsula or island location (e.g. Juneau), driving to Alaska is no problem.  The Alaska-Canada highway opened to the public in 1948, and connects to normal road service into Fairbanks and Anchorage via Alaska state routes 2 and 1 respectively.



You still can't enter Canada if you're a felon though. I know a couple of dudes who've gotten felonies for DUIs (because well, they're idiots) and they've had to fly to the mainland instead of driving through Canada.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

All roads lead to Canada?


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

I actually live in the place I've named in my profile as my Location. But I grew up in Missouri. Lived much of my life about six miles west of a little spot on the road called Macks Creek. Been to Lebanon, Missouri a few times in my life, but not recently.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Negai to sakura no kaze.


----------



## Incanus

Here in California, we're getting close to 'adjust your clocks for no good reason' time, also known as 'the alternative clock schedule that stays in effect longer than the standard clock schedule' time, again.

Looking forward to the day we chuck this ridiculous practice.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Me, too.


----------



## Ireth

Can't believe it's already been two years since Terry Pratchett passed away.

GNU STP


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Really? That long? Wow.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Who has two thumbs and made baked mac n cheese for dinner? This guy!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

2,000th post


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Yay for Dragon the White!


----------



## Lilly

Water, though seemingly peaceful, is chaotic by nature. Despite the calming feelings it elicits it is a destructive force. The streaming, spraying water carves its path into the earth itself. Even a trickle, if left over time, will leave its mark, a permanent signature for all to see. The crevices, creases, and folds it carves transforms its own path. Every trickle, every drop, every stream, and every gentle flow determines its future, what path it will follow next. Water, however, is not the only chaotic force, nature itself is chaos. Maybe, it is due to this that we as humans find peace in nature and the discord of it. Using it as a release from the strict regimens that we follow. A break from the structure that is human life.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Kimi dake ga soba ni inai yo...kinou made sugu soba de boku wo miteta yo...Kimi dake wo suki de ita yo...Kimi dake to utau uta da yo.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

Grr ... another rejection for my flash. Trying not to lose hope. 
It'll find a home ... eventually. On to the non-paying markets - I guess.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Happy pie day. May you eat pie today since I was an idiot and didn't get a damn pie.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Hooray for Pi.


----------



## Chessie

My husband is being hospitalized for 3-5 days because he's suicidal. This has been our life for 3 months. Writing has been so supremely difficult with all of this going on. I'm on a deadline and questioning whether I'll meet it. Our folks are flying up for the 2nd time this month. Things are so, so hard. Argh.


----------



## Nimue

Oh Chess, I'm so sorry... I hope your husband can get the help and care he needs.  Please remember to look after yourself as well...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I am sending as much love and light as I can, Chessie.


----------



## Chessie

He's in good hands and I know he will be okay. It's just really scary.


----------



## Ireth

*sends Chessie hugs and hope*


----------



## Malik

Chessie, I am so sorry to hear that. Keep being strong. You're doing great.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chessie said:


> My husband is being hospitalized for 3-5 days because he's suicidal. This has been our life for 3 months. Writing has been so supremely difficult with all of this going on. I'm on a deadline and questioning whether I'll meet it. Our folks are flying up for the 2nd time this month. Things are so, so hard. Argh.



I'm so sorry! Our thoughts and prayers will be with him and with you.


----------



## Alyssa

Oh my god, I am sorry to hear that. I hope he gets well soon. You can both do without the stress. Hang in there Chessie, I hope everything starts looking up for you both real soon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## La Volpe

I'm sorry to hear about that, Chessie. It's a really tough place to be for both your husband and you. I've had a bit of experience with this, so all I can say is that I hope he soon gets back to the point where he can be driven by hope again.

All the best for him and you.


----------



## Futhark

I had a psychotic break 5 years ago (I'm bipolar) and became a little suicidal after the medication started working.  It can be a long and difficult recovery, but with the love and support of my wife and children I am in a better place.  The only advice I can offer is to accept help wherever you can and to take some time to care for yourself.  Best wishes from me and mine to you and yours.


----------



## Chessie

Futhark said:


> I had a psychotic break 5 years ago (I'm bipolar) and became a little suicidal after the medication started working.  It can be a long and difficult recovery, but with the love and support of my wife and children I am in a better place.  The only advice I can offer is to accept help wherever you can and to take some time to care for yourself.  Best wishes from me and mine to you and yours.


I'm so glad to hear you were able to recover under much love and support. It's so necessary to have a system like that in place to aid recovery. Normally, I don't like to put my personal life out there like this but I also want people to know they aren't alone when suffering through a mental health crisis. My husband and I went through some tough times in December (exterior circumstances aka life can be stupid sometimes) and basically he just broke. For a strong, healthy, vibrant man, this is a world of difference. We'll make it though. He's really fighting. Thank you for sharing that, Futhark.


----------



## Futhark

You're more than welcome Chessie.  Once upon a time I wouldn't have shared information like that about myself but, as I experienced months in an elevated manic state, I basically cooked my brain and lost my mind.  For a guy who could play chess thinking 5 steps ahead to not even be able to beat freecell (that simple solitaire game), well, it was a humbling time.  However, it also gave me the opportunity to rebuild myself (I think I've lost half my childhood memories, but I can't remember, and they weren't that great anyway LOL).  I feel liberated, a new man.  The point I'm making is; life is strange and you never can tell what positives can come from a negative.  Nurture hope and love; they will bloom again.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Compared to most people, my life has been quite tame so far--except for...well, everything. 

On a more random note, does anyone have any experience writing in the second person?


----------



## Malik

I started working on a children's book with my wife today. A bit of a departure for me.


----------



## ThinkerX

Malik said:


> I started working on a children's book with my wife today. A bit of a departure for me.



Age group?


----------



## Malik

ThinkerX said:


> Age group?



I have no idea. Very young. It's a picture book. She found a tiny frog inside a rose, and then came inside and spent the morning painting it. I started doodling rhymes about toads in rose abodes while making lunch and here it is 7 PM and two bottles of wine later and we've storyboarded the first half of _Rosie the Toad and the Pie a la Mode Overload_. This may just be a way to blow off steam; it's been an intellectually challenging week.

This will probably just be a thing that we give to friends with small children for Christmas this year.


----------



## ThinkerX

Chessie said:


> I'm so glad to hear you were able to recover under much love and support. It's so necessary to have a system like that in place to aid recovery. Normally, I don't like to put my personal life out there like this but I also want people to know they aren't alone when suffering through a mental health crisis. My husband and I went through some tough times in December (exterior circumstances aka life can be stupid sometimes) and basically he just broke. For a strong, healthy, vibrant man, this is a world of difference. We'll make it though. He's really fighting. Thank you for sharing that, Futhark.



Growing up, my cousin was among my best friends, though he dwelt in Anchorage and I in the NW Kenai Peninsula.  We collaborated on a novel or three that went nowhere (this was the era of typewriters, when PC's were far and few between.)  Then he went to college in the states while I remained in the frequently frozen north.  I drove down to visit him once on campus, something like 7000 miles.  

It was then he started saying strange things.  'Sleep is a waste of time' being the biggie. I started getting paranoid letters from him.  One demanded I burn past correspondence, because he was being watched.  This was about the time he started working for a succession of computer magazines.   From there, he went into computer programing in San Francisco, the city he'd call home for the rest of his life.

Matters grew worse.  October, 2000.  I'd just completed the house when I got a phone call from him - from a mental institution.  He'd cut himself and had been held for psychiatric observation.  I almost flew down to be with him - except my bank account was past empty because of the house thing.  He got released, took pills, found another computer job in late 2001.  That company self destructed three months after he started.  Worse, his severance check bounced.  That bounced him back into the mental ward.  After that, there were no more computer jobs, just 'wage slave' type deals, none of which he held for more than a couple weeks.  After a year, he gave up even on those.  

For most of the next decade, he bounced in and out of psych wards and was treated with meds that ranged from 'no effect whatsoever' to 'zombie pills' that drained the life right out of him.  Even with those, his grasp on reality weakened - his long and short term memory went to Hell.  He said people were 'attacking him with their eyes.' His brother arranged for him to be put on Disability.  He moved from a relatively nice 1 room apartment to a hotel room where his bed literally took up half the available space.  

Me? I went through a tough patch myself in those days.  Money, not mental.  Couldn't visit him, though a few times his brother accumulated enough airline miles to send him north. I remember how he almost collapsed walking through a not especially crowded supermarket with me at one point.   Didn't stop me from trying to help him.  I sent him stories.  A 'Where's Waldo' calendar.  Tried to get him to collaborate on a writing project.  The low point was when I called the cops on him because he'd convinced me he'd latched onto a gun.

In 2011, I took the daughter to Disneyland - and we stopped off to visit my cousin along the way.  My first trip out of state in something like fifteen years.  That was an eye opener.  When we left, I told the daughter I thought I'd probably outlive him.  I was right - flew south for his funeral (natural causes, not suicide) a couple years ago.  His brother was the only other attendee.  (Would have been a third guy, but he was a fireman, and half the SF Bay area was literally going up in smoke at the time.)

I still think about him a lot.  Last summer I made him the MC of a novelette that had been bouncing around in my skull for a while.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

[video=youtube_share;3uTCI-XQuqo]https://youtu.be/3uTCI-XQuqo[/video]

IT'S QUIET UPTOWN | Hamilton Animatic - YouTube

So I was sitting at work today, just listening while reviewing documents n stuff. Then I come across this. It's pretty impress to me that someone took the time to do this. In any event, I'm listening then my thoughts stray to my perfectly healthy and happy son. And I get a lump on my throat and tears well up. That never happens. I am cold and heartless about music but this, of all things, makes my tears well up? Why? Because my idiot brain puts me in Hamiltons position in these songs. Asshole brain! Good thing I  secluded in my office.


----------



## Saigonnus

My random thought of the day: I wonder if alien species have surveilled Earth. If so, and they watch our media, what would they think of all the Earthlings vs. Aliens stories like Predator, or Independence Day, or Falling Skies... if they have, would they believe them real history or would they recognize they are only a form of entertainment.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## CupofJoe

Saigonnus said:


> My random thought of the day: I wonder if alien species have surveilled Earth. If so, and they watch our media, what would they think of all the Earthlings vs. Aliens stories like Predator, or Independence Day, or Falling Skies... if they have, would they believe them real history or would they recognize they are only a form of entertainment.
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They'd have also seen Mork & Mindy, Alf, ET, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, Babylon 5 etc.
Not sure if that would make things better or worse...
I'd be more worried about them landing somewhere important and planting their equivalent of a flag, saying "All of this belongs to us now..." or telling us that we've got to make way for a hyperspace express way...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Or that the plans for it were located in Alpha-Centuri for centuries beforehand.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Saigonnus said:


> My random thought of the day: I wonder if alien species have surveilled Earth. If so, and they watch our media, what would they think of all the Earthlings vs. Aliens stories like Predator, or Independence Day, or Falling Skies... if they have, would they believe them real history or would they recognize they are only a form of entertainment.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I've had a related thought. What would future historians think of our depictions of super heroes? Would they think they're our gods?


----------



## Chessie

So, apparently Goodreads won't let be me two people at once. I can't seem to claim the books under my pen name from my main pen account. Now I have faceless books on my main account because Goodreads says I can't claim the others. GRRR


----------



## La Volpe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I've had a related thought. What would future historians think of our depictions of super heroes? Would they think they're our gods?



Well, unless there's some huge loss of knowledge somewhere along the way, that shouldn't happen. The reason we struggle to understand the stone age humans is because there's no convenient records left for us (besides cave paintings etc., which aren't terribly clear). And even with this small amount of knowledge about them, we still got a pretty good idea of how they lived, I think.


----------



## FifthView

Saigonnus said:


> My random thought of the day: I wonder if alien species have surveilled Earth. If so, and they watch our media, what would they think of all the Earthlings vs. Aliens stories like Predator, or Independence Day, or Falling Skies... if they have, would they believe them real history or would they recognize they are only a form of entertainment.



They'd probably realize those shows are a fiction, but they might also be thinking:  "Muwahaha, these tiny humans with their tiny imaginations! They haven't even _begun_ to imagine the horrors we are about to commit upon them!"


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

La Volpe said:


> Well, unless there's some huge loss of knowledge somewhere along the way, that shouldn't happen. The reason we struggle to understand the stone age humans is because there's no convenient records left for us (besides cave paintings etc., which aren't terribly clear). And even with this small amount of knowledge about them, we still got a pretty good idea of how they lived, I think.



In the future, if almost everything became digital, few tangible things would survive an apocalypse of some kind...


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> In the future, if almost everything became digital, few tangible things would survive an apocalypse of some kind...



If that's the case, how would these future historians possibly even know about "our depictions of super heroes" to begin with? 

I think much depends on how far into the future we're talking. We still have a lot of hard copy lying around, artwork and books and the like, protected in durable structures. Three hundred thousand years after the massive extinction event, most of this might be gone, but a lot might survive a few thousand years.

But otoh, this is interesting:  Scientists even now are able to encode a whole book or multiple books in very tiny structures, like synthetic DNA.  Something the size of a small pebble could contain a vast store of history. So even if an apocalypse wiped out our WWW and computers all over the world, whatever, or simple passage of time wiped those out, a future historian might need to find only _one_ such tiny storage device and could still have a vast amount of data about our culture.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

> They'd probably realize those shows are a fiction



Ahem. What about Galaxy Quest?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> If that's the case, how would these future historians possibly even know about "our depictions of super heroes" to begin with?
> 
> I think much depends on how far into the future we're talking. We still have a lot of hard copy lying around, artwork and books and the like, protected in durable structures. Three hundred thousand years after the massive extinction event, most of this might be gone, but a lot might survive a few thousand years.
> 
> But otoh, this is interesting:  Scientists even now are able to encode a whole book or multiple books in very tiny structures, like synthetic DNA.  Something the size of a small pebble could contain a vast store of history. So even if an apocalypse wiped out our WWW and computers all over the world, whatever, or simple passage of time wiped those out, a future historian might need to find only _one_ such tiny storage device and could still have a vast amount of data about our culture.



Shhhh. It's a thought experiment, don't ruin it.


----------



## CupofJoe

FifthView said:


> But otoh, this is interesting:  Scientists even now are able to encode a whole book or multiple books in very tiny structures, like synthetic DNA.  Something the size of a small pebble could contain a vast store of history. So even if an apocalypse wiped out our WWW and computers all over the world, whatever, or simple passage of time wiped those out, a future historian might need to find only _one_ such tiny storage device and could still have a vast amount of data about our culture.


But the future Alien [or even human historian] would have to realise that what they are walking on isn't a Zen Garden but the entire repository of human knowledge. Would they? Unless they know about DNA encryption, it will look a lot like gravel to them. Archivists are looking at going back to basics and using a form of  microfiche etched on to very stable glass. It's a mechanical system that should mean the information is recoverable given only a limited technology.
 It is the other end of the discussions on how to mark Nuclear Repositories as dangerous places for a quarter of a million years. They are looking at making the land itself give off an eerie feeling with infra-sound so you feel ill at ease close by. Words and signs will erode or become unreadable but if you can manipulate landscape to make people not want to live there...


----------



## Geo

It's almost here and I can't wait, American Gods hits the screens in April. I hope they bring it to the city soon enough, even if I don't see hordes of Belgian people rushing -or even wanting- to see it, but I loved the book and since I saw the casting I become convinced it has to be good.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^What's the book like?


----------



## Geo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^What's the book like?



It's a fantasy thriller, so to say. One of my favorite books from Neil Gaiman, different to what he usually does. It's dark in parts and very clever, with well paced prose, and full of little stories in between the main story. I know it's difficult for the movie to make it justice, but the cast choices are good, and even so the movie might be bloodier than the book, I think it could be really good.


----------



## Tom

Hey guys! Whew, it's been a while. I managed to catch my breath after a few weeks of insanity, so I figured I'd check back in to let y'all know I'm still alive. In the couple of weeks (or has it been a month?) I've been away I've started a short story that turned into a novella, procrastinated on writing Southerner, and churned out a couple of mediocre papers for school. The novella's actually going really well, and I'm looking forward to finishing something for once!


----------



## Nimue

Hey Tom, good to see you!  Sounds like you've been busy.  Is this novella in a new world, or the same as Southerner?


----------



## Tom

Hey Nim! Good to see you too!

No, the novella, Sea Glass, is actually set in the real world (with some tweaks of course). Originally its basic premise was that it was a gay, modern-day retelling of The Little Mermaid, but it's kind of spiraled beyond that into its own weird sprawling thing. One sleep-deprived night last month, I decided to write a short story at midnight, which was the worst idea I've had in a while. The result was terrible, but I took the parts I liked and turned it into Sea Glass.


----------



## Nimue

Well that sounds pretty awesome, down to the title.  If you need somebody to read it when it's done, I'd be happy to!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

My [suddenly short] epic poem is nearly done.


----------



## Chessie

And just when we thought spring was just around the corner, here comes 2 feet of snow. It's been snowing without stopping since this morning. Seriously, Alaska. I've had enough of winter! *shakes fist*


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have this daydream that I frequently had when I was younger. I want to make it into a story, but it would basically be blatant wish fulfillment.

So, for a lot of my life I've had these daydreams about this androgynous being, usually a wizard [rendered mute and with a giant claw for a hand, thanks to my earlier Digimon interest, which is still ongoing], who finds a young child and rescues her from a miserable event of some kind [yes, I know, the classic fairy tale fantasy...], and the two live together and/or fall in love...
I'm not sure how this would work as a story, if at all.


----------



## Nimue

As random thoughts go...today my brain brought up how lovely it would be if my existence was scraped from the mind of everyone who ever knew me & I was left in peace to rot in a cave, which...while _impractical_, is a nice concrete image and makes for something of a story prompt.  Can't say self-loathing never did anything for me now

(yes, I know how silly that sounds.)


----------



## CupofJoe

Nimue said:


> As random thoughts go...today my brain brought up how lovely it would be if my existence was scraped from the mind of everyone who ever knew me & I was left in peace to rot in a cave, which...while _impractical_, is a nice concrete image and makes for something of a story prompt.  Can't say self-loathing never did anything for me now
> (yes, I know how silly that sounds.)


Pick the right cave and you could be naturally mummified!!! Just a thought... Any way, think of all the friends you could have while you are in there... Bears, Bats and other creatures of the locality of your cave of choice...
I'm not usually one for RomComs [who am I kidding, I love them] but I liked the way that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind explored memory wiping.


----------



## Nimue

I hadn't even thought of the cave friends!  Bats are pretty cute, in my opinion.  It's just an alluring idea, isn't it... A nice dark, damp, quiet cave, never have to get up again, just watch the weather go by...  I think I have an idea for a vacation.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I like exploring caves in video games, but I wouldn't want to live in one. --In a cave, that is.


----------



## La Volpe

Nimue said:


> I hadn't even thought of the cave friends!  Bats are pretty cute, in my opinion.  It's just an alluring idea, isn't it... A nice dark, damp, quiet cave, never have to get up again, just watch the weather go by...  I think I have an idea for a vacation.



This cave story (no pun intended, for those who get the pun) just reminds me of a segment in _Lost Odyssey_ (a video game) where an immortal character, since she can't be killed, is instead chained up and left alone in a cave on a deserted island.

No thanks.


----------



## Nimue

This is a voluntary cave experience/reclusion from society, La Volpe! Basically the same as a spa health retreat.  Just with more dirt, moss, and crawly things in your hair.


----------



## La Volpe

I rather like the idea of seclusion (being as much of a hermit as most writers allegedly are). Even the memory wiping thing is vaguely appealing (though the seclusion kind of makes it moot, since all the interesting things you could do with no one knowing you is made useless by never talking to anyone again).

But I'd prefer a hut on a mountaintop for my seclusive retreat. I'm not a big fan of caves, for the same reasons I don't like to take naps in air vents that are just barely big enough to fit me.


----------



## Chessie

Honestly, living in a cave sounds rather awesome for a limited time. Just make sure to leave me some fixings for lanterns, cooking, and getting fresh water. I'll also need a machete, a rifle, some ammo, and chapstick.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Cave Story! Ha! That's funny.


Totally unrelated:
It's a big moment. I've never done this before in any story! The couple in my next book might be my first straight couple!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chessie said:


> Honestly, living in a cave sounds rather awesome for a limited time. Just make sure to leave me some fixings for lanterns, cooking, and getting fresh water. I'll also need a machete, a rifle, some ammo, and chapstick.



And the Foehammer or Goblin Cleaver in case you have to go down down to Goblin Town.


----------



## Nimue

Chessie said:


> Honestly, living in a cave sounds rather awesome for a limited time. Just make sure to leave me some fixings for lanterns, cooking, and getting fresh water. I'll also need a machete, a rifle, some ammo, and chapstick.



I'm not entirely sure you're getting the hermit meditation vibe here, Chess--no noisemakers, just wasting away _silently_ and probably using snails for lip moisturization.  *sage nod*


----------



## Chessie

Nimue said:


> I'm not entirely sure you're getting the hermit meditation vibe here, Chess--no noisemakers, just wasting away _silently_ and probably using snails for lip moisturization.  *sage nod*



No hunting? How will you eat? Or are you fasting?


----------



## Nimue

The original brain-prompt was to rot away in a cave, which is a lot harder if we're bothering about nutritious meals, fresh water, and chapstick... Again, not a practical idea, but one of those appealing 19thc Romantic ones.  The sort that vanishes after an early morning without proper breakfast, a la _Three Men in a Boat, to Say Nothing of the Dog_.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Cave Story! Ha! That's funny.
> 
> 
> Totally unrelated:
> It's a big moment. I've never done this before in any story! The couple in my next book might be my first straight couple!



First straight couple? Ha! Was about to say I'd never written a non-straight couple. But now I'm not sure if I've written any couple...I keep killing potential love interests...O_O 

Oh, there was that one short story... 

My poor characters, anyway...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I really should be asleep right now...


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I really should be asleep right now...


A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain
Softly blows o'er lullaby bay.
It fills the sails of boats that are waiting--
Waiting to sail your worries away.
It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain
And your boat waits down by the key.
The winds of night so softly are sighing--
Soon they will fly your troubles to sea.
So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain.
Wave good-bye to cares of the day.
And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain
Sail far away from lullaby bay.
From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

> And the Foehammer or Goblin Cleaver in case you have to go down down to Goblin Town.



Sounds like good advice to me. Though I'd also bring Sting, just in case.



> First straight couple? Ha! Was about to say I'd never written a non-straight couple. But now I'm not sure if I've written any couple...I keep killing potential love interests..


Would the fact that my couples tend to keep dying be seen as unintentional homophobia?


----------



## Ireth

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Would the fact that my couples tend to keep dying be seen as unintentional homophobia?



I would definitely keep that in mind when you write. From what I've heard there aren't many stories with gay couples who both survive and get happy endings, especially lesbian couples. I'm still wary of the "Bury your Gays" trope, with one book in particular in which one of the MC's mentors, who are both POC and LGBT (one is gay, one is bi, and they're a same-sex couple) pulls a "You shall not pass" to allow his boyfriend to get the MC out of reach of the antagonists during the climax. I'm hoping the element of sacrifice will make things easier to swallow, but it's still a worry. I just don't see it as plausible that they both survive.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> I would definitely keep that in mind when you write. From what I've heard there aren't many stories with gay couples who both survive and get happy endings, especially lesbian couples. I'm still wary of the "Bury your Gays" trope, with one book in particular in which one of the MC's mentors, who are both POC and LGBT (one is gay, one is bi, and they're a same-sex couple) pulls a "You shall not pass" to allow his boyfriend to get the MC out of reach of the antagonists during the climax. I'm hoping the element of sacrifice will make things easier to swallow, but it's still a worry. I just don't see it as plausible that they both survive.



^Part of why I'm wary of giving the gay guy lead from my graphic novel idea a boyfriend only to have them break up in the end. 

But none of the romance subplots or relationships generally in that go well, so...

Let's see, one of the characters is a single dad, one of the characters is an immortal who mourns the loss of her mate, and there's a doomed straight romance as well that ends badly. 

But, whatever the story needs, I suppose. 

I'm definitely not discriminatory. I ruin EVERYONE's lives.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain
> Softly blows o'er lullaby bay.
> It fills the sails of boats that are waiting--
> Waiting to sail your worries away.
> It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain
> And your boat waits down by the key.
> The winds of night so softly are sighing--
> Soon they will fly your troubles to sea.
> So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain.
> Wave good-bye to cares of the day.
> And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain
> Sail far away from lullaby bay.
> From Chitty Chitty Bang Bang



Uh...okaaaaay.


----------



## Chessie

Nimue said:


> The original brain-prompt was to rot away in a cave, which is a lot harder if we're bothering about nutritious meals, fresh water, and chapstick... Again, not a practical idea, but one of those appealing 19thc Romantic ones.  The sort that vanishes after an early morning without proper breakfast, a la _Three Men in a Boat, to Say Nothing of the Dog_.



Actually, this reminded me of a t.v. show I watched just recently featuring a cave in Borneo where a man and his adult son went hunting for treasure. The treasure, of course, was none other than the nests of a particular bird species that nests 300 ft above ground. This is how people in that area make money (there's a season for it), and so, the cave is set up with an elaborate system of flimsy ladders. Dad held the ladder while the son went up, criss-crossing here and there...it was terrifying to watch because apparently people do die doing this. Anyway, he made it all the way up, harvested the nests, and made enough money to feed his family for a year and then some. It really makes one value a job that doesn't include maneuvering ladders.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Then again, everyone dies in my books, and since many deaths completely affect the plot, I can't really change it. 

But the heroes do get a reasonably happy ending; once their missions are complete, they return to Spirit and ascend.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Today I finally figured out the lyrics to that AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." It confused me for the longest time. All I could hear was "Dirty deeds and the thunder cheeks..." But thaaaat couldn't be right.  

Actually, you never know. 

Anyway. I can't even tell you how many songs I couldn't understand a word of until I looked up the lyrics. I suppose I sort of suck at hearing things.


----------



## Saigonnus

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Today I finally figured out the lyrics to that AC/DC song "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap." It confused me for the longest time. All I could hear was "Dirty deeds and the thunder cheeks..." But thaaaat couldn't be right.
> 
> Actually, you never know.
> 
> Anyway. I can't even tell you how many songs I couldn't understand a word of until I looked up the lyrics. I suppose I sort of suck at hearing things.



It took me a while to understand Brian Johnson too, it is a little garbled sometimes because of how he sings. I have always been good at my listening ability, so don't feel bad. Axl Rose poses a similar challenge.

By the way, there is a parody of that song... "Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Ireth

Saigonnus said:


> It took me a while to understand Brian Johnson too, it is a little garbled sometimes because of how he sings. I have always been good at my listening ability, so don't feel bad. Axl Rose poses a similar challenge.
> 
> By the way, there is a parody of that song... "Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep."



Let me guess, the parody's by Weird Al Yankovich?  I think I've heard that one.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Saigonnus said:


> It took me a while to understand Brian Johnson too, it is a little garbled sometimes because of how he sings. I have always been good at my listening ability, so don't feel bad. Axl Rose poses a similar challenge.
> 
> By the way, there is a parody of that song... "Dirty Deeds Done With Sheep."
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



With sheep? Hahaha...


----------



## Saigonnus

Ireth said:


> Let me guess, the parody's by Weird Al Yankovich?  I think I've heard that one.



Not quite, it's a little controversial for him. Funny song though nevertheless. [emoji12]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Incanus

I wrote yesterday.

I'm writing today.

Tomorrow I will write again.


----------



## skip.knox

Drove from Boise to Portland the other day and this image popped into my head.

Their snowy sheets all melted away, 
The brown hills blush green


----------



## Ban

Bit of a question here for the non-europeans lurking around. I was just thinking where my interest for fantasy came from and which led me to the comics I used to read as a kid. I know that I was fascinated with the roman empire back then which might have been the result of my voracious reading of the Asterix comics (had all of them). I'm wondering if these comics are popular outside of Europe as well. I've never seen these comics referenced in English discussions which makes me wonder if they managed to cross the ocean or not.


----------



## La Volpe

Well, I read Asterix comics in both Afrikaans and English over here, but since you can get to Africa without crossing an ocean, it might not have crossed an ocean after all.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> Well, I read Asterix comics in both Afrikaans and English over here, but since you can get to Africa without crossing an ocean, it might not have crossed an ocean after all.



A pretty big sea and the length of about one and a half continents isn't too shabby either. Wouldn't have thought that south africa had Asterix as well, although it makes sense that if a good dutch translation can be made that a good afrikaanse translation can also be made.


----------



## La Volpe

Did you guys have Tintin in the Netherlands? We had it in Afrikaans here, but it was called "Die Avonture van Kuifie" because of his hair, ha.


----------



## Ban

Yep, we call him kuifje. De avonturen van kuifje  
Another thing I'm wondering. Is Donald Duck also ridiculously popular down in South Africa. When I was a kid almost half the kids were subscribed to the weekly Donald Duck magazine.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Asterix. Isn't that the little guy who looks like Popeye? I know I've seen the comic before, but it might have only been online.


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> Yep, we call him kuifje. De avonturen van kuifje
> Another thing I'm wondering. Is Donald Duck also ridiculously popular down in South Africa. When I was a kid almost half the kids were subscribed to the weekly Donald Duck magazine.



Not that I know of. I was pretty hooked on Darkwing Duck and Ducktales when I was a kid, though. Can't remember anything duck being popular enough to warrant a magazine though.



Michael K. Eidson said:


> Asterix. Isn't that the little guy who looks like Popeye? I know I've seen the comic before, but it might have only been online.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

^Yeah, does he look like Popeye to you? I think he does. A medieval Popeye.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Asterix? Yeah I've seen those in my local library (U.S.A.) but they seem to be pretty obscure here.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

skip.knox said:


> Drove from Boise to Portland the other day and this image popped into my head.
> 
> Their snowy sheets all melted away,
> The brown hills blush green



I like. And it's so cool when that happens.


----------



## Ban

Michael K. Eidson said:


> ^Yeah, does he look like Popeye to you? I think he does. A medieval Popeye.



I think you mean that Popeye looks like Asterix 
There's a bit of a reverse situation here when it comes to popeye. Honestly I can't tell you anything about popeye except the spinach thing. I'm not even sure if he's a comic book character or a tv-show character. The only reason I know of the guy is because of American pop-culture.


----------



## La Volpe

On second look, they do seem to have a similar art style, I guess.

But Asterix (with potion) would kick Popeye's ass.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> Not that I know of. I was pretty hooked on Darkwing Duck and Ducktales when I was a kid, though. Can't remember anything duck being popular enough to warrant a magazine though.



Hmm I thought the love for Donald Duck might have been a language thing, but I guess not. Here in the Netherlands the character is popular enough to have weekly magazines in every grocery store, annual holiday books with puzzles and stories for both winter and summer and extra thick comics released roughly every month.

Dutch children seem to hate Mickey Mouse though. That guy gets no love.


----------



## Chessie

Darkwing Duck is one of the greatest cartoons ever made. Period. (also Tail Spin)


----------



## La Volpe

Chessie said:


> Darkwing Duck is one of the greatest cartoons ever made. Period. (also Tail Spin)



Ah, that's the one I was thinking of, not Duck Tales. Tail Spin was awesome.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Banten said:


> I think you mean that Popeye looks like Asterix
> There's a bit of a reverse situation here when it comes to popeye. Honestly I can't tell you anything about popeye except the spinach thing. I'm not even sure if he's a comic book character or a tv-show character. The only reason I know of the guy is because of American pop-culture.



Popeye has been around since at least 1929. He's had his own comic strip and tv show. Not sure about comic book, but I think that too. Asterix was created, according to Wikipedia, in 1959. So I think it fair to say that if either character looks like the other, Asterix looks like Popeye.



La Volpe said:


> On second look, they do seem to have a similar art style, I guess.
> 
> But Asterix (with potion) would kick Popeye's ass.



I guess that would depend on who wrote the mash-up. But I can't recall any time that Popeye was beaten once he'd eaten his spinach.


----------



## Chessie

La Volpe said:


> Ah, that's the one I was thinking of, not Duck Tales. Tail Spin was awesome.



I always loved the intro scene where Baloo's plane slides sideways into rocky mountain pass.


----------



## Ban

Michael K. Eidson said:


> Popeye has been around since at least 1929. He's had his own comic strip and tv show. Not sure about comic book, but I think that too. Asterix was created, according to Wikipedia, in 1959. So I think it fair to say that if either character looks like the other, Asterix looks like Popeye.



Don't apply your Popeye-supporting logic to my asterix-loving feelings. Asterix has been around since the Roman times, I know so because the comic book told me. 

 Checkmate


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Banten said:


> Don't apply your Popeye-supporting logic to my asterix-loving feelings. Asterix has been around since the Roman times, I know so because the comic book told me.
> 
> Checkmate



Sorry, you have to do better than that. Popeye was in ancient Greece for the first Olympic games in 776 BC, where he beat up Hercules.

http://popeye.wikia.com/wiki/Popeye_Meets_Hercules


----------



## Ban

Michael K. Eidson said:


> Sorry, you have to do better than that. Popeye was in ancient Greece for the first Olympic games in 776 BC, where he beat up Hercules.
> 
> Popeye Meets Hercules | Popeye the Sailorpedia | Fandom powered by Wikia



Oooh, that's some very good research you did there. I suppose you got me there.

But as your signature says: "The truth doesn't matter. What people believe matters." and I believe that Asterix is an immortal being of divine Gaulishness predating anything even tangentially related to Popeye.



 where did I put those sunglasses again? 

Nevermind, found them


----------



## CupofJoe

One of the things I like [nay... love] about Asterix is that that each language edition is different. I have ALL the original Asterix books and some of them in several languages [I'm not such a fan of the "new" Asterix tales]. For the English language versions the Translators put in new jokes that would work in English but retained the feel of the French language jokes. And some of the jokes are very subtle if you don't know France when the story was written. Store keepers or Roman Soldiers are actually French or European politicians. There is a book that explains them all. I'd hope that the Dutch or Swahili or Welsh versions would have similar tinkering to suit their language.


----------



## La Volpe

Chessie said:


> I always loved the intro scene where Baloo's plane slides sideways into rocky mountain pass.



Ah, good times.



Michael K. Eidson said:


> I guess that would depend on who wrote the mash-up. But I can't recall any time that Popeye was beaten once he'd eaten his spinach.



I was under the impression that Asterix gained speed through the potion as well, but now I can't manage to find any sources for that (Banten, you recall anything about speed?). So maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. Anyway, on further inspection, if strength is the only thing these two have going for them, then it'd be a pretty well-matched fight that could go either way, I'd think.


----------



## Ban

CupofJoe said:


> One of the things I like [nay... love] about Asterix is that that each language edition is different. I have ALL the original Asterix books and some of them in several languages [I'm not such a fan of the "new" Asterix tales]. For the English language versions the Translators put in new jokes that would work in English but retained the feel of the French language jokes. And some of the jokes are very subtle if you don't know France when the story was written. Store keepers or Roman Soldiers are actually French or European politicians. There is a book that explains them all. I'd hope that the Dutch or Swahili or Welsh versions would have similar tinkering to suit their language.




It amazes me how they managed to fit these comics into so many languages. I don't remember the political names you mentioned to have been changed for Dutch, but a few others were. The chief abraracourcix was changed to heroix because the whole world play with "a bras raccoursis" doesn't work in Dutch. The smith of the village Cetautomix was changed for the Dutch audience to Hoefnix. Hoef is the Dutch word for Hoof and the phrase "ik hoef niks" means I need nothing. I think some of the belgian names in Asterix and the Belgians were also changed quite a bit to sound more like flemish/dutch sayings. Overall, most of the jokes hit even as a kid so I assume that the translating work was done very well.



La Volpe said:


> I was under the impression that Asterix gained speed through the potion as well, but now I can't manage to find any sources for that (Banten, you recall anything about speed?). So maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. Anyway, on further inspection, if strength is the only thing these two have going for them, then it'd be a pretty well-matched fight that could go either way, I'd think.



I'm pretty sure he gained superspeed as well and depending on the specific issue they'd become nearly invulnerable as well. To be fair I don't think Uderzo and Goscinny really cared too much about what the limitations were to their powers. Whatever looks good on paper and fits the story.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

So, I got a new baby. She's pretty cute. That's two babies now. Time to play man defense!


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Brian Scott Allen said:


> So, I got a new baby. She's pretty cute. That's two babies now. Time to play man defense!



I think a proper response here would be: "Congrats!"


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I just thought of a sudden vision of a genie trapped in a beer bottle stuck in the mud of the bank of some river in the Deep South. Story seed?


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I just thought of a sudden vision of a genie trapped in a beer bottle stuck in the mud of the bank of some river in the Deep South. Story seed?



Make the MC a drunk frat boy on Spring Break who finds it.


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I just thought of a sudden vision of a genie trapped in a beer bottle stuck in the mud of the bank of some river in the Deep South. Story seed?


A bit of synchronicity going on here...
In a week or two's time it is the 13th birthday of the daughter of a friend and we have been asked to collect beer bottles, 50 in total. The daughter wants to put a messages in each one and throw them into the sea on her birthday. Just to see what happens to them. There is a lot of earnest debate as to when in the tides she should do the deed to get best dispersal.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Went to work yesterday. Saw a bare assed homeless man in my parking garage. Didn't register until I had walked into the building that the homeless man was bare assed. Eye bleach hasn't worked. I need an obliviator.


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Went to work yesterday. Saw a bare assed homeless man in my parking garage. Didn't register until I had walked into the building that the homeless man was bare assed. Eye bleach hasn't worked. I need an obliviator.



Just look at a few dozen more bare asses. By the time you've seen about 30 you'll have forgotten all about that homeless man's ass.


Ofcourse that memory will now be replaced by a bunch of other asses, butt still.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> butt still.



Hee hee hee...*smirk*


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Hee hee hee...*smirk*



 I was hoping someone would notice


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So I'm drawing again after dropping it for over a month. 

Me: *looking at drawing* Her proportions are off! 
Me: *looking in mirror* MY proportions are off!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> butt still.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Rogue 1 is the second best Star Wars movie.


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Rogue 1 is the second best Star Wars movie.


Brave statement that! Almost fighting words
I really liked it but I found it left me a bit flat. Disney just don't seem to be able to do Dark. While the ending wasn't the usual Disney up-beat lets-sing-a-happy-song-over-the-credits conclusion, I still felt it a bit to nice and pretty [trying to avoid any spoilers - someone may not have seen it yet]. And the less said about uncanny valleys the better...
All that said... I'm still going to buy it. So I guess Disney are on to a winner.
BTW What would be #1?
I have a soft spot for Ewoks: The Battle for Endor [in a so bad it's good way]


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

CupofJoe said:


> Brave statement that! Almost fighting words
> I really liked it but I found it left me a bit flat. Disney just don't seem to be able to do Dark. While the ending wasn't the usual Disney up-beat lets-sing-a-happy-song-over-the-credits conclusion, I still felt it a bit to nice and pretty [trying to avoid any spoilers - someone may not have seen it yet]. And the less said about uncanny valleys the better...
> All that said... I'm still going to buy it. So I guess Disney are on to a winner.
> BTW What would be #1?
> I have a soft spot for Ewoks: The Battle for Endor [in a so bad it's good way]



Empire Strikes Back.


----------



## Ireth

CupofJoe said:


> Brave statement that! Almost fighting words
> I really liked it but I found it left me a bit flat. Disney just don't seem to be able to do Dark. While the ending wasn't the usual Disney up-beat lets-sing-a-happy-song-over-the-credits conclusion, I still felt it a bit to nice and pretty [trying to avoid any spoilers - someone may not have seen it yet]. And the less said about uncanny valleys the better...
> All that said... I'm still going to buy it. So I guess Disney are on to a winner.
> BTW What would be #1?
> I have a soft spot for Ewoks: The Battle for Endor [in a so bad it's good way]



I appreciate your avoidance of spoilers. I haven't had the chance to see Rogue One yet.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ireth said:


> I appreciate your avoidance of spoilers. I haven't had the chance to see Rogue One yet.



That one scene when the rebels shoot the storm troopers is just the best!!


----------



## Svrtnsse

Brian Scott Allen said:


> That one scene when the rebels shoot the storm troopers is just the best!!



And the one where that guy does that thing with the stuff! OMG!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I guess I'm buying another video game tomorrow.


----------



## FifthView

One simply can't create a serious superhero television show today and call it _The Six Million Dollar Man_.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Watashi no kokoro no takanaru. Soshite, anata suki de wakarenai. Gomenesai. Demo, anata aishiteru wa. Kore wa ai uchuu.


----------



## Saigonnus

FifthView said:


> One simply can't create a serious superhero television show today and call it _The Six Million Dollar Man_.



Nah, but only because 6 million don't buy enough bionics for a cockroach. [emoji12]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Ban

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Watashi no kokoro no takanaru. Soshite, anata suki de wakarenai. Gomenesai. Demo, anata aishiteru wa. Kore wa ai uchuu.



Ja, daar begrijp ik dus helemaal niks van. Dan zal ik ook maar mijn eigen taal spreken. En zolang niemand een vertaling programma gebruikt of aan de vos vraagt wat ik heb geschreven zal het nooit bekend worden wat hier staat.


----------



## CupofJoe

FifthView said:


> One simply can't create a serious superhero television show today and call it _The Six Million Dollar Man_.


On a comedy show Goodness Gracious Me they did a sketch The Six Million Rupee Man... 
It is about 20 years old and was written and performed by British Asians.


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> Ja, daar begrijp ik dus helemaal niks van. Dan zal ik ook maar mijn eigen taal spreken. En zolang niemand een vertaling programma gebruikt of aan de vos vraagt wat ik heb geschreven zal het nooit bekend worden wat hier staat.



Wel, behalwe vir my. Ek kan dit als mooi verstaan. Joune in elk geval. Die Japanees kon ek niks veel verstaan nie. Ek het net twee woorde verstaan: Watashi - "ek is" (of so glo ek) en Gomenesai - "jammer".


----------



## FifthView

Saigonnus said:


> Nah, but only because 6 million don't buy enough bionics for a cockroach. [emoji12]



Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And then I started to wonder whether in fact that same level of bionics might actually be cheaper soon.

And then I thought that $6 million itself doesn't sound very super, given inflation, so on that basis alone it would make a bad title for a superhero unless it was some kind of silly comedy.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

La Volpe said:


> Wel, behalwe vir my. Ek kan dit als mooi verstaan. Joune in elk geval. Die Japanees kon ek niks veel verstaan nie. Ek het net twee woorde verstaan: Watashi - "ek is" (of so glo ek) en Gomenesai - "jammer".



Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee, burn-dee, flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip.


----------



## Ireth

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee, burn-dee, flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip.



Bork! Bork! Bork!


----------



## FifthView

CupofJoe said:


> On a comedy show Goodness Gracious Me they did a sketch The Six Million Rupee Man...



"We don't have the ideal exchange rate."


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Gersh gurndy morn-dee burn-dee, burn-dee, flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip.



Don't worry I'll translate that. It says: 'Gosh Grundy, on monday tuesday and other tuesday you wore those same flip-flops.'

That rascally Grundy


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Just for fun, I put it all into Google Translate to see what nonsense would come up. Here's the result. 



> Watashi no kokoro no takanaru. Soshite, anata suki de wakarenai. Gomenesai. Demo, anata aishiteru wa. Kore wa ai uchuu.



It is full of my heart. And I do not like to love you. Sorry. But, I love you. This is my life.



> Ja, daar begrijp ik dus helemaal niks van. Dan zal ik ook maar mijn eigen taal spreken. En zolang niemand een vertaling programma gebruikt of aan de vos vraagt wat ik heb geschreven zal het nooit bekend worden wat hier staat.



Yes, so I understand anything about. Then I even speak my own language. And while no one is using a translation program or the fox asks what I will never be known written this guide.



> Wel, behalwe vir my. Ek kan dit als mooi verstaan. Joune in elk geval. Die Japanees kon ek niks veel verstaan nie. Ek het net twee woorde verstaan: Watashi - "ek is" (of so glo ek) en Gomenesai - "jammer".



Well, behalwe vir my. Ek this is understood as beautiful. Joune anyway. That could Japanees ek nie mean nothing much. Ek it just means two Answered: Watashi - "cally" (or so glo ek) and Gomenesai - "unfortunate".


----------



## Ban

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Just for fun, I put it all into Google Translate to see what nonsense would come up. Here's the result.
> 
> 
> 
> It is full of my heart. And I do not like to love you. Sorry. But, I love you. This is my life.
> 
> 
> 
> Yes, so I understand anything about. Then I even speak my own language. And while no one is using a translation program or the fox asks what I will never be known written this guide.
> 
> 
> 
> Well, behalwe vir my. Ek this is understood as beautiful. Joune anyway. That could Japanees ek nie mean nothing much. Ek it just means two Answered: Watashi - "cally" (or so glo ek) and Gomenesai - "unfortunate".





Well... Atleast google translate managed to translate some of the words. Grammar? Not so much 

It's amazing how badly it translated La Volpe's comment.


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> Well... Atleast google translate managed to translate some of the words. Grammar? Not so much
> 
> It's amazing how badly it translated La Volpe's comment.



I am dumbfounded at how bad that translation is (hell, half the words aren't even translated). I suspect that Crystalline didn't use the right "from" language? Maybe?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I did! It was still a mess. I once played around with google translate with some Japanese song lyrics and instead of 'This Memory of You', I got 'memory of mackerel'.


----------



## Ban

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I did! It was still a mess. I once played around with google translate with some Japanese song lyrics and instead of 'This Memory of You', I got 'memory of mackerel'.



To be fair to google translate, it wasn't specified that the "you" wasn't a mackerel.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^True...I guess.


----------



## Chessie

In researching slang and phrases from the Old West: "It's hotter than a whorehouse on Nickel Night."

You better believe that one went straight into the ms.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Translated Lyrics to The Place Where Wishes Come True:
And so I forgot one more thing 
The spring morning when the petals fell 
The sky seen through a broken prism 
I just want to touch them, just want to wish for them

I was laughing, pretending not to notice 
Sad summer dreams 
Melted down and filled the gaps 
Dream after dream

What I was wishing for...

I draw closer and return to your side 
Now only a small insect 
Is just listening with bated breath 
To the quiet song of autumn

"Don't be swallowed up by the twilight and let go of me"

Overtaking the running Orion 
In the end, winter goes 
On the hill road leading to spring 
We were just touching, we were just wishing

We were just wishing

Google Translate Version:

So I also forgot one
Flower winter spring morning
A sky through a missing prism
I just want to hope to touch

I was laughing with a swing unnoticed
Sad Summer Dream
It melts out and fills the gap
A dream again dream

I was hoping

Alright and return it to your side
Quiet autumn song
Only small insects now
Just breath in and hear my ears

To drink in the dusk and let it go

Run over Orion
Winter goes last
On the slope that continues till spring
I only hoped that I was touching

I just hoped.


----------



## Ban

I walked 90km (56 miles) yesterday on shoes that I had never worn. It was the most painful, blister-filled experience I've ever had.

No writing for me today.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

A fleeting, ephemeral dream...


----------



## Incanus

Vegas conference getting close now--I wake up extra-early tomorrow morning and hit the road.  A 9 hour drive as I understand it, so I'm giving myself 11 hours.  Good thing I like driving.

Can't wait to meet my writing friends in person, and maybe make some new ones--

Hard to say how that might go.  In most social situations, I'm a wallflower.  But in a social situation dedicated to a topic I love...?  That's a little different.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

My stories might be too spiritual and genre-busting for this forum. Oh, well.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> My stories might be too spiritual and genre-busting for this forum. Oh, well.



We appreciate diversity.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Thanks.


----------



## pmmg

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> My stories might be too spiritual and genre-busting for this forum. Oh, well.



To the contrary, Spiritual and Genre Busting will more likely excite a lot of people.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Really? Oh. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






 *fidgets awkwardly*


----------



## Tom

*returns to MS a month late with coffee* Hey, everyone! I'm back again. I feel like I'm more of an occasional visitor here nowadays rather than a community regular. School and job pushed my life to the fringes for a while, but I've managed to get things back in line. I've missed contributing to discussions here and I'm excited to be back!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> *returns to MS a month late with coffee* Hey, everyone! I'm back again. I feel like I'm more of an occasional visitor here nowadays rather than a community regular. School and job pushed my life to the fringes for a while, but I've managed to get things back in line. I've missed contributing to discussions here and I'm excited to be back!



Hello! Welcome back.


----------



## Tom

Hey, Dragon! How's it going?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Hey, Dragon! How's it going?



It's been a tough last few weeks, but I'm hanging in there. Been reading a lot


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> It's been a tough last few weeks, but I'm hanging in there. Been reading a lot



Sorry to hear that! Hope things get better for you soon. How's the reading going? I'm re-reading Discworld at the moment, which I'm regretting a bit. Okay, a lot. I just finished _The Light Fantastic_, the second book, and there are still....thirty-nine to go.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Sorry to hear that! Hope things get better for you soon. How's the reading going? I'm re-reading Discworld at the moment, which I'm regretting a bit. Okay, a lot. I just finished _The Light Fantastic_, the second book, and there are still....thirty-nine to go.



Wow. O_O 

I just finished Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, and am struggling to express how I feel about it...

I've been trying to kick a reading slump through reading as much as possible in a short amount of time. I'm still behind on my Goodreads Challenge though...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

> I just finished Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, and am struggling to express how I feel about it...



It was the same for me when I read it. I wasn't entirely sure if I liked it or not. What about you?


----------



## Incanus

Made it to Vegas.  Conference begins in a couple of hours.

!?!?!

What have I gotten myself into this time...


----------



## Ban

Incanus said:


> Made it to Vegas.  Conference begins in a couple of hours.
> 
> !?!?!
> 
> What have I gotten myself into this time...




You seem to be a bit hesitant about this, perhaps a bit afraid? Can we say that there might be some fear and loathing in Las Vegas?


Anyway, Have FUN!


----------



## Russ

Incanus said:


> Made it to Vegas.  Conference begins in a couple of hours.
> 
> !?!?!
> 
> What have I gotten myself into this time...



I am with Banten.  Relax and have a good time.

Then share everything you learn with us!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> It was the same for me when I read it. I wasn't entirely sure if I liked it or not. What about you?



It was so unique and beautiful and creepy, but there was something about it that didn't quite work, and I can't place exactly what that is...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Maybe the plot twists were too easy to figure out?


----------



## T.Allen.Smith

Incanus said:


> Made it to Vegas.  Conference begins in a couple of hours.  !?!?!  What have I gotten myself into this time...



See you there soon!


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Wow. O_O
> 
> I just finished Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, and am struggling to express how I feel about it...
> 
> I've been trying to kick a reading slump through reading as much as possible in a short amount of time. I'm still behind on my Goodreads Challenge though...



Oh hey, I read that book years ago! I actually read the sequel, Sapphique, first without realizing, so I had no idea what was happening through the entire book. It also didn't help that I had a fever and was mildly delirious. But yeah, it is a hard book to pin down. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The characterization was nice but the plot was a little rambly and I....don't know about the style...? It was interesting.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Oh hey, I read that book years ago! I actually read the sequel, Sapphique, first without realizing, so I had no idea what was happening through the entire book. It also didn't help that I had a fever and was mildly delirious. But yeah, it is a hard book to pin down. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The characterization was nice but the plot was a little rambly and I....don't know about the style...? It was interesting.



^Huh. Yeah, exactly. 

Some of the twists confused the heck out of me as well. (You're telling me the Warden and...the Sapient in the tower with the sphere thingys whose name I forgot...are the same person? If so did the Warden poison Attia? Or did I totally misunderstand that? Why did the ring work on Attia but not on Gildas?....) 

I enjoyed it and it was good but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I should given how good it was? Something like that.


----------



## Tom

Yeah, I just remember feeling a vague sense of dislike as I read it that I couldn't explain. A lot of the worldbuilding and plot twists were completely nonsensical to me.


----------



## Incanus

Banten said:


> You seem to be a bit hesitant about this, perhaps a bit afraid? Can we say that there might be some fear and loathing in Las Vegas?
> 
> 
> Anyway, Have FUN!



Great book and movie--of course, I didn't pack a suitcase full of drugs, unlike the original gonzo--

I'm already having fun.  It's gonna be great.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Yeah, I just remember feeling a vague sense of dislike as I read it that I couldn't explain. A lot of the worldbuilding and plot twists were completely nonsensical to me.



For me it wasn't so much a sense of dislike as a lack of chemistry.


----------



## Tom

The concepts were intriguing, but their execution was......ehhh. Definitely could have stood to be thought out a little more. And like you said about chemistry--I don't even remember anything about the main romantic plot. Nothing. Or the majority of the character interactions, for that matter. They all stood as well-developed characters on their own but didn't have any real emotional connection to each other.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Shadow of the Colossus and ICO are two of the best games ever made: true works of art in all areas--sound effects, music, a deep yet minimalistic plot that has nearly unlimited ways to be mulled over and examined, beautiful visuals. --and I've played neither of them.


----------



## Tom

My kind of gamer! I'm good at appreciating games and very bad at actually finding time to play them.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^ I only like specific games; I'm very picky about the things I like. I only have a DS, 3DS, PSP, and Wii. My small game collection includes: Metroid Zero Mission, Pokemon Pearl [my first video game ever], Pokemon Explorers of Sky, Dragon Quest IX [my first fantasy RPG!], Radiant Historia [one of the best games ever in my opinion], Castlevania Order of Eccelsia, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon X, Pokemon Moon, Super Smash Bros. 4, Final Fantasy Curtain Call, Tales of the Abyss, Rune Factory 4, [ditto FFVII and Radiant Historia], Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII [ditto Radiant Historia], Fire Emblem Fates [Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation], Okami, The Last Story, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl. 

What games do you like/play? 


On a totally unrelated note, 
It's a mithril-clad rule that characters do not have human anatomy, sexual organs, or sex of any kind in my books. It's just   :eew: :eew:  :skull: :skull:  utterly disgusting to me. Any characters who do have children reproduce by the intention to create and energy fusion.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^There is, however, [or consequently, depending on how you look at it], lots of brother-sister incest, twin-cest, marrying cousins, gays, lesbians, and non-gendered characters, and everyone is naked except for the ones who wear cloaks, because cloaks are just awesome.

Yes, I'm weird that way.  There's also a peculiar and unique spirituality that is both subtle and unsubtle, but I'm not trying to convert anyone or force people to accept my view of the universe. I'm neither religious nor atheist; undefinable.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^ I only like specific games; I'm very picky about the things I like. I only have a DS, 3DS, PSP, and Wii. My small game collection includes: Metroid Zero Mission, Pokemon Pearl [my first video game ever], Pokemon Explorers of Sky, Dragon Quest IX [my first fantasy RPG!], Radiant Historia [one of the best games ever in my opinion], Castlevania Order of Eccelsia, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon X, Pokemon Moon, Super Smash Bros. 4, Final Fantasy Curtain Call, Tales of the Abyss, Rune Factory 4, [ditto FFVII and Radiant Historia], Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII [ditto Radiant Historia], Fire Emblem Fates [Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation], Okami, The Last Story, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
> 
> What games do you like/play?
> 
> 
> On a totally unrelated note,
> It's a mithril-clad rule that characters do not have human anatomy, sexual organs, or sex of any kind in my books. It's just   :eew: :eew:  :skull: :skull:  utterly disgusting to me. Any characters who do have children reproduce by the intention to create and energy fusion.



that's more games than i've ever played! I only know some online MMORPG's, Donkey Kong Country Returns (which is actually great fun), New Super Mario Brothers, some kind of terrible games adapted from movies by brothers watched, Broken Age (the mobile version, it's amazing but i havent touched it in a month cuz i'm stuck on a part), uh I might be missing some but mostly just my lil brother's games. Oh yeah lego star wars 3 which is kind of boring. (Ive heard other Lego games are better, but I haven't played them.) I would like to venture out into the wide world of gaming but I balk at it cuz I know it would eat my life lol. So I just play whatever my younger brothers play (except Super Mario Galaxy which is boring as far as I can tell.) 

Oh, and some Mario Kart while visiting at friends houses of course. 

Oh yeah, i've played DragonVale for something like 4 years (off and on now) but idk if that counts since it's an app. 

I'm like a weakly aspiring gamer or something.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I am sick. Ugh.


----------



## Tom

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^ I only like specific games; I'm very picky about the things I like. I only have a DS, 3DS, PSP, and Wii. My small game collection includes: Metroid Zero Mission, Pokemon Pearl [my first video game ever], Pokemon Explorers of Sky, Dragon Quest IX [my first fantasy RPG!], Radiant Historia [one of the best games ever in my opinion], Castlevania Order of Eccelsia, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon X, Pokemon Moon, Super Smash Bros. 4, Final Fantasy Curtain Call, Tales of the Abyss, Rune Factory 4, [ditto FFVII and Radiant Historia], Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII [ditto Radiant Historia], Fire Emblem Fates [Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation], Okami, The Last Story, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
> 
> What games do you like/play?



Sweet! 

I'm broke and only have a PS3 right now, so I can't play some of the games I'd like to. I enjoy the Dragon Age and Mass Effect series, Skyrim, Dishonored, Bioshock, Fallout--mostly the big name stuff. I haven't had a chance to play much of anything not supported by the PS3, unfortunately. 




> On a totally unrelated note,
> It's a mithril-clad rule that characters do not have human anatomy, sexual organs, or sex of any kind in my books. It's just   :eew: :eew:  :skull: :skull:  utterly disgusting to me. Any characters who do have children reproduce by the intention to create and energy fusion.



So no human characters? Huh, that's interesting--I'm the exact opposite. I love writing about humans, and as an art major specializing in character design, the human figure is the most common subject I draw. The nature of human beings and how we relate to our physical bodies is fascinating to me, and my writing style is physically oriented--a lot of sensory description and as much of a focus on body language as spoken dialogue.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I just finished another book (I read almost the whole thing just today) and I have been reading so much lately I feel like my brain has been dragged over gravel. 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I'm STILL behind on my goodreads challenge...


----------



## Tom

I can't write another line of this term paper or I'm going to throw my laptop at a wall. If I never have to see Jackson F***ing Pollock's name ever again I will be so happy. He's one of my favorite artists, has been since I was a kid, but this is ridiculous. One of my sources is 800+ pages long. Arrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhh.


----------



## La Volpe

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Shadow of the Colossus and ICO are two of the best games ever made: true works of art in all areas--sound effects, music, a deep yet minimalistic plot that has nearly unlimited ways to be mulled over and examined, beautiful visuals. --and I've played neither of them.



Man, I've always wanted to play Shadow of the Colossus too. But, like apparently everyone here, I haven't actually gotten to it.



TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^ I only like specific games; I'm very picky about the things I like. I only have a DS, 3DS, PSP, and Wii. My small game collection includes: Metroid Zero Mission, Pokemon Pearl [my first video game ever], Pokemon Explorers of Sky, Dragon Quest IX [my first fantasy RPG!], Radiant Historia [one of the best games ever in my opinion], Castlevania Order of Eccelsia, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin, Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon X, Pokemon Moon, Super Smash Bros. 4, Final Fantasy Curtain Call, Tales of the Abyss, Rune Factory 4, [ditto FFVII and Radiant Historia], Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy VII [ditto Radiant Historia], Fire Emblem Fates [Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation], Okami, The Last Story, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
> 
> What games do you like/play?



I have a pretty big game collection. I play a whole bunch of different genres. I'm sure no one wants to know this, but you opened the door with your list, ha.
If we're counting consoles that are by now long gone, my list goes something like this (if we're counting only games that I've actually finished):

On Consoles:
Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, VIII, IX, Tactics (War of the Lions); Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon, Mystery of the Emblem, Blazing Sword; Metroid 1, 2, Zero Mission, Fusion; Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow; Pokemon Red, Gold, FireRed, Ruby, SoulSilver, Platinum, Black, Black 2; Super Smash Brothers Melee, Brawl; Tales of Symphonia, Phantasia; Eternal Sonata; Breath of Fire 2, 3; Mirror's Edge; Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Link's Awakening, Minish Cap, Spirit Tracks, Link Between Worlds, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Wind Waker; Megaman Zero 1, 2; Megaman Battle Network 1, 2, 3; Super Robot Taisen OG1; Prototype; Assassin's Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, 3; E.V.O. Search for Eden; and probably many more that I'm forgetting about now.

On PC:
Fallout 1, 2, 3; Wasteland 2; Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Skyrim; Starcraft 2; Red Alert 1, 3; Diablo 1, 2; Borderlands; Valdis Story; Bastion; Transistor; Mark of a Ninja; Risk of Rain; Starscape; This War of Mine; Dex; Portal 1, 2; Remember Me; Waking Mars; Need for Speed Undercover, Most Wanted; Avernum Escape from the Pit; Lifeless Planet; Limbo; Metal Gear Solid; and probably some more I forgot about.

And then there's a bunch more that I played but never actually finished, including Mass Effect, Dead Space, Majora's Mask, etc.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> On PC:
> Fallout 1, 2, 3; Wasteland 2; Elder Scrolls Oblivion, Skyrim; Starcraft 2; Red Alert 1, 3; Diablo 1, 2; Borderlands; Valdis Story; Bastion; Transistor; Mark of a Ninja; Risk of Rain; Starscape; This War of Mine; Dex; Portal 1, 2; Remember Me; Waking Mars; Need for Speed Undercover, Most Wanted; Avernum Escape from the Pit; Lifeless Planet; Limbo; Metal Gear Solid; and probably some more I forgot about.
> 
> And then there's a bunch more that I played but never actually finished, including Mass Effect, Dead Space, Majora's Mask, etc.



Fallout 1, 2 and 3 but no New Vegas? 

What blasphemy is this?


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> Fallout 1, 2 and 3 but no New Vegas?
> 
> What blasphemy is this?



Ha, indeed. I was a bit disappointed in Fallout 3 because of the massive shift from the original genre. In its own right, it's a great game, just not what I was looking for when I started playing it (later on, it got me kind of hooked). Anyway, I have New Vegas bought and waiting in my Steam library; I just need to get around to actually playing it.

I hear that it's supposed to be much better than 3 -- is this true?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I might just end up buying a visual novel from Japan. Yes, I'm aware of how doomed I am.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> Ha, indeed. I was a bit disappointed in Fallout 3 because of the massive shift from the original genre. In its own right, it's a great game, just not what I was looking for when I started playing it (later on, it got me kind of hooked). Anyway, I have New Vegas bought and waiting in my Steam library; I just need to get around to actually playing it.
> 
> I hear that it's supposed to be much better than 3 -- is this true?



New vegas is in my opinion the best game in the franchise. As it was created by some of the fellows behind the original games, it feels alot like fallout 2. There is choice, actual choice, in almost every quest. The world is truly interesting and internally consistent. The endings vary completely depending on your choices. All paths to the endgame are fun. The story is engaging and makes sense. And unlike in fallout 3, you will actually give a damn about the characters because they are so well-written.

Do yourself a favor and play it. You will thank yourself for it.


----------



## Ban

For the gamers among you, Saints Row 2 is currently available for free on Steam for a limited time. Just a few days ago I thought about buying it so I was pretty excited to see it there. Maybe someone around here wanted to have the game as well.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I don't have Steam. Though since that's the only way to play Clannad...hmm...


----------



## Chessie

Banten said:


> New vegas is in my opinion the best game in the franchise. As it was created by some of the fellows behind the original games, it feels alot like fallout 2. There is choice, actual choice, in almost every quest. The world is truly interesting and internally consistent. The endings vary completely depending on your choices. All paths to the endgame are fun. The story is engaging and makes sense. And unlike in fallout 3, you will actually give a damn about the characters because they are so well-written.
> 
> Do yourself a favor and play it. You will thank yourself for it.



My favorite part of New Vegas was hooking up with Benny and giving him his just deserts as he smoked his cigarette. Then again, I play Black Widow characters in every RP game. Fallout rewards it big time though.


----------



## Tom

Car troubles, school, and an eight-hour shift. I curse this awful day! (Although technically it's yesterday now.) I've got the final paper under control now and I'm going to spend a little time before bed on my personal writing to relax.


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> New vegas is in my opinion the best game in the franchise. As it was created by some of the fellows behind the original games, it feels alot like fallout 2. There is choice, actual choice, in almost every quest. The world is truly interesting and internally consistent. The endings vary completely depending on your choices. All paths to the endgame are fun. The story is engaging and makes sense. And unlike in fallout 3, you will actually give a damn about the characters because they are so well-written.
> 
> Do yourself a favor and play it. You will thank yourself for it.



Sounds good. I'll slot in in after I finish Lost Odyssey and Fire Emblem Awakening.



TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I don't have Steam. Though since that's the only way to play Clannad...hmm...



You... you don't have Steam? If you play PC (or Mac, I guess?) games at all, Steam is a must. It's free, convenient, and has loads of specials all the time.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I don't play PC games. But I do want to play Clannad, and possibly the clean versions of Kanon and AIR.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

If I cough any harder, I shall vomit my left lung. Or at least, I'll end up with a six-pack. My abdomen is aching.

My immune system has failed me yet again.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> If I cough any harder, I shall vomit my left lung. Or at least, I'll end up with a six-pack. My abdomen is aching.
> 
> My immune system has failed me yet again.



Oh, Dragon, that sounds awful! I hope you recover soon. It's no fun to be that sick. In the meantime, if you have Netflix I recommend you curl up in bed and watch a good nostalgic movie. Always makes me feel a little better. My favorites when I'm sick are Coraline, The Iron Giant, The Secret of Kells, Lilo & Stitch, Road to El Dorado, Prince of Egypt, and Treasure Planet (although I think they might have removed that last one). Anything animated, basically.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Oh, Dragon, that sounds awful! I hope you recover soon. It's no fun to be that sick. In the meantime, if you have Netflix I recommend you curl up in bed and watch a good nostalgic movie. Always makes me feel a little better. My favorites when I'm sick are Coraline, The Iron Giant, The Secret of Kells, Lilo & Stitch, Road to El Dorado, Prince of Egypt, and Treasure Planet (although I think they might have removed that last one). Anything animated, basically.



PRINCE OF EGYPT!!! That movie was my childhood. We have it on VHS somewhere. I didn't see it for like 10 years and when I watched it again it was just as fantastic as I remembered. 

As for The Road to El Dorado, uh...I watched that with friends once at a sleepover party at 4 am. I was falling asleep and remember it as of through a haze of delirium.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> PRINCE OF EGYPT!!! That movie was my childhood. We have it on VHS somewhere. I didn't see it for like 10 years and when I watched it again it was just as fantastic as I remembered.
> 
> As for The Road to El Dorado, uh...I watched that with friends once at a sleepover party at 4 am. I was falling asleep and remember it as of through a haze of delirium.



Yes! I have Prince of Egypt on tape too! I haven't hooked up the VHS player in awhile, but now I want to just for the nostalgia value. I used to watch Prince of Egypt at least once a week; it was kind of a hyperfixation of mine for a long time. I actually haven't seen it in...a year now? Hm. Need to fix that. 

Road to El Dorado's not as good plot-wise as Prince of Egypt, but it's hilarious. Probably Dreamworks' humor writing at its best, honestly. When it first came out I saw it in theaters, but didn't watch it again until I was a teenager. For years I was convinced I had hallucinated it all, since I never saw any merchandise or advertising for it after that. The only proof I had that it was real was a toy I got at McDonalds--it was the horse, Altivo, and it looked a lot like the horse from Mulan so I could never be sure.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Oh, wow, that takes me back. I watched Road to El Dorado when I was fairly young, and I mostly just remember the cultural ineptness of the two 'heroes' and the ending, which totally confused me.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Oh, and Coraline I have never seen, but I liked the book.


----------



## Tom

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Oh, and Coraline I have never seen, but I liked the book.



The movie is definitely worth watching. Neil Gaiman collaborated in its creation, so it sticks very true to the book. Laika's one of my favorite animation studios, and their stop-motion animation is exquisite, especially in Coraline. The color theory and stylization alone...amazing.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> The movie is definitely worth watching. Neil Gaiman collaborated in its creation, so it sticks very true to the book. Laika's one of my favorite animation studios, and their stop-motion animation is exquisite, especially in Coraline. The color theory and stylization alone...amazing.



Do you happen to have seen Kubo and the Two Strings? That ones pretty amazing.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Oh, I do want to see that one.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Do you happen to have seen Kubo and the Two Strings? That ones pretty amazing.



Yes, I have! It's probably my favorite animated movie to come out recently (most of my other favorites are from the late 90s--early 2000s). The imagery, especially color palettes and textures, is just gorgeous, and I was really impressed by how seamlessly the CGI blended with the stop-motion. I loved Charlize Theron's performance--it was so expressive, and she did a great job striking a balance between humor and heavier emotions in her delivery. Beautiful score, too. 

Well, in other news...wow. I finished a critical analysis paper on the life and worKS of Jackson Pollock today, and tomorrow...um, technically later today, actually, I have to start a research paper on the origins of the American side of the Abstract Expressionist movement. My stack of source books is over a foot tall. Ach, finals. *collapses of exhaustion*


----------



## Ireth

I'd forgotten how good huckleberry jam tastes. <3 Got two little jars of it from a friend in the States, after first trying it three years ago. Definitely gonna make it last as long as possible.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Thank Peter Jackson and Howard Shore for the LOTR scores. Far over the misty mountains and the one pippin sings in ROTK make for great lullabies.


----------



## Ban

Hi my name is Banten and I'm a Random Generator addict.

I just spent half an hour on a canned food generator. This one to be precise: https://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/random/#type=Can of Food .


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

_May it be
An evening star
Shines down
Upon you_

I'm trying to learn the lyrics to the Elbereth song, but I only know two words so far.


----------



## La Volpe

Banten! You don't post links to random generators in a Random Generator Addicts Anonymous meeting! That's like bringing whiskey to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> Banten! You don't post links to random generators in a Random Generator Addicts Anonymous meeting! That's like bringing whiskey to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.



So THAT's why I was kicked out. I thought these meetings were to celebrate our addictions.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I've only just realized that my big fantasy novel, companion book of short stories and poems, and my 'new' novel are literally just the same story told over and over again with barely anything changed.


----------



## Addison

When it comes to cool or interesting facts, or research to best, worst or interesting things for a story, I find myself going to Watchmojo.com. From cool ancient ruins to what makes the best villain, it's been helpful. Heck it's made list of Top 10 Cliches through almost every genre. I've set myself the challenge to write a fantasy free of the top ten fantasy cliches.


----------



## Incanus

Happy Walpurgis night, one and all!

Try not to stay up too late--


----------



## ThinkerX

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I've only just realized that my big fantasy novel, companion book of short stories and poems, and my 'new' novel are literally just the same story told over and over again with barely anything changed.



Clive Cussler you are.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I used to be a heavy poster but now I see a post I want to reply to but don't have the energy. Or think of a post I want to write but don't have the energy.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

> Clive Cussler you are.


 Huh?

My friend managed to convince me that my belief is not true, so now I feel a bit better.


----------



## ThinkerX

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Huh?
> 
> My friend managed to convince me that my belief is not true, so now I feel a bit better.



You might not be familiar with Cussler: He has written probably a couple dozen thrillers - though I believe most were actually ghostwritten.  Each follows the exact same plot:

First, a prologue, usually featuring an ancient maritime catastrophe.  Then, modern day machinations that bring in Dirk Pitt, a sort of 'James Bond lite' character.  Car chases. Assassins.  Hot girls.  Weird gadgets. A villain who is *always* stinking rich, and *always* engaged in something that intentionally or unintentionally threatens disaster for much of the world.  Dramatic finish.  The elements cited almost never vary.  

The first couple were worthwhile (I was young then.) But reusing the same plot over and over again with almost no variation...that got old.


----------



## Russ

ThinkerX said:


> You might not be familiar with Cussler: He has written probably a couple dozen thrillers - though I believe most were actually ghostwritten.  Each follows the exact same plot:
> 
> First, a prologue, usually featuring an ancient maritime catastrophe.  Then, modern day machinations that bring in Dirk Pitt, a sort of 'James Bond lite' character.  Car chases. Assassins.  Hot girls.  Weird gadgets. A villain who is *always* stinking rich, and *always* engaged in something that intentionally or unintentionally threatens disaster for much of the world.  Dramatic finish.  The elements cited almost never vary.
> 
> The first couple were worthwhile (I was young then.) But reusing the same plot over and over again with almost no variation...that got old.



While I won't go into the overall merits of Clive Cussler, his books are not "ghostwritten".   I think you are using the word incorrectly.

I understand ghostwritten to mean that the real author does not get credit on the project.  Cussler's books which are co-written to various degrees give credit to the co-author on the cover.

And there is something to be said for Clive's success.


----------



## FifthView

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I've only just realized that my big fantasy novel, companion book of short stories and poems, and my 'new' novel are literally just the same story told over and over again with barely anything changed.



This is not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe this is just your brain's way of working through your grander purpose, the theme/story that matters most to you. Everything might come together finally in the end.

I've noticed that most of my early projects have circled around a handful of themes, character types, or general story archetypes. Sometimes these are grand puzzle pieces, only I never had the finished pictures clearly in mind. (I had the colors, the general shapes, but no feeling for the completed picture.)


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I used to be a heavy poster but now I see a post I want to reply to but don't have the energy. Or think of a post I want to write but don't have the energy.



I've noticed that activity has dropped quite a bit lately, across the board. But I've wondered if everyone is simply knee- or neck-deep in a project. I've been sinking deeper in my own.


----------



## FifthView

Chicken-on-the-brain.

My father, who's nearing 70, decided about a year ago to build a chicken house/coop and buy some chickens. Now he has chicken on the brain. Gives him something to do in his retirement. Sometimes, it's all he can talk about, and he relates stories about how one rooster, the dominant rooster, will now chase the second rooster away from the hens, into the woods. My father likes this; I think he identifies.

Anyway, I keep wondering how I can work such a character into my WIP, a man who can tell 100 tales about his chickens.


----------



## Ireth

On May 2, 1998, the Battle of Hogwarts was fought and won. Voldemort was defeated once and for all.

Today, nineteen years later, all is well.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> I've noticed that activity has dropped quite a bit lately, across the board. But I've wondered if everyone is simply knee- or neck-deep in a project. I've been sinking deeper in my own.



That's part of my problem; I have less time to talk about writing when I need to actually write. But yeah...The forums seemed to be much more active when I first joined. 

It's been nearly a year, hasn't it? O_O


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> That's part of my problem; I have less time to talk about writing when I need to actually write. But yeah...The forums seemed to be much more active when I first joined.
> 
> It's been nearly a year, hasn't it? O_O




Well I'm still fairly active.

Procrastinating as always...


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> That's part of my problem; I have less time to talk about writing when I need to actually write. But yeah...The forums seemed to be much more active when I first joined.
> 
> It's been nearly a year, hasn't it? O_O



Over the last week, I've actually had some questions and problems I've considered posting about, issues relating to my current project, but these have seemed like things I needed to resolve on my own. Just that feeling that I needed to work through them by writing, planning, brainstorming, on my own.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

My son just jumped off the trampoline. Two year olds. *shakes head.


----------



## ThinkerX

Russ said:


> While I won't go into the overall merits of Clive Cussler, his books are not "ghostwritten".   I think you are using the word incorrectly.
> 
> I understand ghostwritten to mean that the real author does not get credit on the project.  Cussler's books which are co-written to various degrees give credit to the co-author on the cover.
> 
> And there is something to be said for Clive's success.



Cussler gives credit to his 'cowriters' now.  I was referring to his older works that cited him as full author.  I had doubts about that then and now.

As to popularity, he has three things going for him:

1 - an active, intense writing style with plenty of tension and cliffhangers;

2 - a successful time worn plot;

3 - and name recognition.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Elena and Sophia are two Disney channel shows about princesses that have ever present themes of noblesse oblige. It's driving me crazy and I don't know why.


----------



## SaltyDog

Well...after a long break from writing and this community I've returned.  Unfortunately, due to life and school in general, I have been extremely busy.  So busy in fact that I got to a point where writing lost it's appeal.  But...I'm back at it again, and hope to finish my rough draft by the end of the summer.  I'll also try to be a little more active here with the scribes, lol.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

May the Fourth be with you. Happy Star Wars day everyone!


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> May the Fourth be with you. Happy Star Wars day everyone!



Never seen Star Wars, but tomorrow is Liberation day so I'll celebrate with you anyway.

Plus I like the pun.


----------



## FifthView

Brian Scott Allen said:


> May the Fourth be with you. Happy Star Wars day everyone!



Not 15 minutes ago, a co-worker complained that she was tired of reading "May the Fourth be with you" on her Facebook threads. I responded that I don't spend my time perusing a site like Facebook, but maybe I'd see it later if I visited Twitter....


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have no idea what I'm writing. I might even be writing both the first book and the sequel all at once.  I keep running into roadblocks...


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> *Never seen Star Wars*, but tomorrow is Liberation day so I'll celebrate with you anyway.
> 
> Plus I like the pun.



What.

Banten, how... how could you? And that with an arguably Star Wars-inspired avatar.

Edit:
Also, welcome back, Salty. I almost missed your post there.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> What.
> 
> Banten, how... how could you? And that with an arguably Star Wars-inspired avatar.



Oh no, that's a holiday picture of me offering eucalyptus to passersby. No Star Wars involved.

Just never sat down to watch them. I think I get most of the references anyway and I know how the story goes due to the prevalence of these movies in pop culture, so I never saw the point in actually watching any of them.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SaltyDog said:


> Well...after a long break from writing and this community I've returned.  Unfortunately, due to life and school in general, I have been extremely busy.  So busy in fact that I got to a point where writing lost it's appeal.  But...I'm back at it again, and hope to finish my rough draft by the end of the summer.  I'll also try to be a little more active here with the scribes, lol.



Hiya! Welcome back


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> Oh no, that's a holiday picture of me offering eucalyptus to passersby. No Star Wars involved.
> 
> Just never sat down to watch them. I think I get most of the references anyway and I know how the story goes due to the prevalence of these movies in pop culture, so I never saw the point in actually watching any of them.



I will find you, chain you to a couch and make you a Star Wars fan.


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I will find you, chain you to a couch and make you a Star Wars fan.



Ha, too bad. As is evident from my profile pic, I live in a tree. No couches allowed and i'm not coming down.


Checkmate.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I prefer Star Trek myself. *dives behind the couch for cover*


----------



## pmmg

Trekkies would be part of the Empire.


----------



## pmmg

Banten said:


> Never seen Star Wars, but tomorrow is Liberation day so I'll celebrate with you anyway.
> 
> Plus I like the pun.



Never saw them? Dude, you have some homework to do. You can skip the prequels, and Lucas edited stuff. Just the original releases.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^I'm not a Trekkie, or a Trekker.


----------



## pmmg

Well, you may feel you have escaped fan warfare by not being one or the other, but I must pity you. Lost, the passion is.

I enjoy both, but Star Wars more so than the other. Course, with Star Wars it does depend on which set of movies you talk about


----------



## Tom

Happy Star Wars Day while it still is, guys! 

Today was a busy day full of deadlines, as well as unexpected emotional hurdles as a lot of people in my major I got to know and love prepare for graduation. A bittersweet end to the school year for sure.


----------



## La Volpe

This comic is relevant, I think:
xkcd: Never Seen Star Wars

Also, Tom, does that mean that your birthday is on Star Wars day? Happy birthday and happy Star Wars day then.


----------



## Ban

La Volpe said:


> This comic is relevant, I think:
> xkcd: Never Seen Star Wars
> 
> Also, Tom, does that mean that your birthday is on Star Wars day? Happy birthday and happy Star Wars day then.



Yeah, that's pretty accurate. The Jedi-eating scene was rather good.
But, I really like that scene where Jabba...uh... fought Yoda, with their spaceguns and swords.


----------



## Tom

La Volpe said:


> Also, Tom, does that mean that your birthday is on Star Wars day? Happy birthday and happy Star Wars day then.



Thanks for the birthday wishes! Unfortunately, however, my birthday is the day after Star Wars Day. It is Revenge of the Fifth, though.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

> Well, you may feel you have escaped fan warfare by not being one or the other, but I must pity you. Lost, the passion is.



Live long and prosper, and don't let the fifth be avenged.


----------



## La Volpe

Tom said:


> Thanks for the birthday wishes! Unfortunately, however, my birthday is the day after Star Wars Day. It is Revenge of the Fifth, though.



You must be kicking yourself for oversleeping on that fateful day <your age> years ago. Well, at least you got Revenge of the Fifth, which is like the Dark Side's Star Wars day (or perhaps more accurately, the forgetful Star Wars fans' Star Wars day).

Me, I was born one day too early. My birthday is one day before a public holiday here in SA (though that has its own advantages). Was a real bummer, especially during school when I couldn't sleep late on my birthday.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

After a relatively short period of almost complete freedom from my anxiety, it is acting up again. Earlier I had the misfortune of thinking to myself, huh. I've actually been doing well lately. I haven't been anxious in a long time. Dark thoughts started to crowd in, scrabbling for a hold on something. That happens every time I think "Hey, I'm actually okay..." subconsciously I ask myself, "Am I? AM I?" Then I start thinking of something that might be wrong, something to obsess about and be anxious over...Now I feel tense and paranoid and there is no reason why whatsoever. I feel worried over areas of my life that are better than they've been in months. 

Writing would help keep it at bay. I need to stop wrestling with my own feelings of self-doubt about this next chapter and just write the damn thing. Or write SOMETHING. Even work on ideas. 

Absorbing myself in something helps keep anxiety under control, but the problem is, anxiety makes it hard for me to absorb myself in the first place...


----------



## Tom

Oh Dragon, I hope you're doing better now! Anxiety is a beast of a thing to live with. As someone who had a grand total of three nervous breakdowns yesterday--on my birthday!--I'm hardly the ideal person to offer advice, but let me say that when you feel the anxiety set in, the best thing you can do is try to shake it off. 

Turn on some loud music. Put on a movie or play a video game. Draw, even if it's just scribbles. Write, even if it's just keysmash. Move around--I always go for a run when my brain starts on an anxious spiral. Do anything to distract yourself. A lot of times, if you can recognize and escape that initial feeling of unease, your anxiety won't have a chance to kick in full-force. Anxiety is a pattern, really. Cluing into that pattern and disrupting it does a lot to keep it at bay.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Oh Dragon, I hope you're doing better now! Anxiety is a beast of a thing to live with. As someone who had a grand total of three nervous breakdowns yesterday--on my birthday!--I'm hardly the ideal person to offer advice, but let me say that when you feel the anxiety set in, the best thing you can do is try to shake it off.
> 
> Turn on some loud music. Put on a movie or play a video game. Draw, even if it's just scribbles. Write, even if it's just keysmash. Move around--I always go for a run when my brain starts on an anxious spiral. Do anything to distract yourself. A lot of times, if you can recognize and escape that initial feeling of unease, your anxiety won't have a chance to kick in full-force. Anxiety is a pattern, really. Cluing into that pattern and disrupting it does a lot to keep it at bay.



Thanks, Tom. I'm sorry about all the nervous breakdowns...that sounds terrible! I know how awful things can get. And yeah, last night I was able to shake it off before it got into full swing by plunging into writing. I got a lot of stuff worked out about my WIP, actually. I felt better after a few hours absorbed in that. 

Exercise really does help! I have been better since I've been into martial arts.


----------



## pmmg

As I look at the Who online page (other people do that right?..), I see the google, and baidu spider searching a lot of old threads. Some of them look pretty cool, but the conversations are long played. I am sure if I made a new comment, it would be like, dude, this is like from 2011? But I must say I am a little tempted on some.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^What kind of martial arts are you doing? *curious* I'm a blue belt in karate, but stopped for a variety of reasons. I remember all of the katas, though!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^^What kind of martial arts are you doing? *curious* I'm a blue belt in karate, but stopped for a variety of reasons. I remember all of the katas, though!



Krav Maga, orange belt (comes after white and yellow) thus far. So I haven't been doing it long, but it's my thing.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Nice! 

I wonder what Wing Chung would be like.


----------



## La Volpe

I was in a Krav Maga class once, but it was a bit of a bust (as in, the teacher didn't seem to know as much as he should have). But there was a guy in the class who'd trained in Wing Tsun, so he showed me some cool stuff.

And besides that, I did MMA for a few years. Got punched and kicked in the face on a number of occasions. Fun times (but really, it's more fun than you'd think).


----------



## Ban

Back to the Star Wars thingy, I think this describes my sentiment rather well. 






Or maybe it's just a really funny video I found.


----------



## Rkcapps

love it!! Such obscurity thrown at him and he still gets it!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Sometimes it seems like it's harder to show attraction/love between two characters in books than in manga or anime.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

aaaaaaaand the anxiety is back and worse...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Kitty hugs for you. Mew.


----------



## Rkcapps

Deep breaths. You've got this.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

There's only a handful of love stories that resonate with me. I'm as picky about love as I am about everything else! 

My favourites, of course...

Tessa and Will/Jem [The Infernal Devices]
Thingol and Melian [The Silmarillion]
Beren and Luthien [The Silmarillion]
Cloud and Tifa [Final Fantasy VII]
Zack and Aeris [Final Fantasy VII]
Tidus and Yuna [Final Fantasy X]
Haku and Chihiro [Spirited Away]
Nagisa and Tomoya [Clannad]
Sakura and Syaoran [Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]
Ashura and Yasha [RG Veda/Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]
Clare and Teresa [Claymore]


----------



## FifthView




----------



## CupofJoe

FifthView said:


>


Calvin in my role-model for life.
Hobbes is who I want to become.


----------



## FifthView

CupofJoe said:


> Calvin in my role-model for life.
> Hobbes is who I want to become.



When I was a teen, I bought those book-length collections of Calvin and Hobbes. Also, Bloom County. They might be packed away somewhere still, although I've lost track of them. I was a huge fan. I think they influenced me greatly.


----------



## La Volpe

FifthView said:


> When I was a teen, I bought those book-length collections of Calvin and Hobbes. Also, Bloom County. They might be packed away somewhere still, although I've lost track of them. I was a huge fan. I think they influenced me greatly.



I only discovered Calvin & Hobbes a few years ago, to the detriment of my childhood. It's one of the best (or dare I say, the best?) comic strips I've ever read, and I'm quite annoyed that the newspapers over here didn't print strips of Calvin & Hobbes along with the usual HÃ¤gar and Peanuts strips.


----------



## pmmg

Calvin and Hobbs is great, but I think the Far Side holds the prize for best. My Opinion. Calvin and Hobbs is a close second though.

And if you have not seen the Far Side, you have homework to do.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have all of the Calvin and Hobbes collections. It's a lot of fun to read them.


----------



## CupofJoe

La Volpe said:


> I only discovered Calvin & Hobbes a few years ago, to the detriment of my childhood. It's one of the best (or dare I say, the best?) comic strips I've ever read, and I'm quite annoyed that the newspapers over here didn't print strips of Calvin & Hobbes along with the usual HÃ¤gar and Peanuts strips.


Bill Watterson had very strict rules/ideals on how his strips were printed. And the popularity of the strips gave him the power to say No when he didn't get his way. That limited the number of newspapers that were willing or able to take them.


----------



## La Volpe

pmmg said:


> Calvin and Hobbs is great, but I think the Far Side holds the prize for best. My Opinion. Calvin and Hobbs is a close second though.
> 
> And if you have not seen the Far Side, you have homework to do.



I looked that up, and from what snippets I could see, the Far Side is hilarious. I'd be a hard pitch to knock Calvin & Hobbes off the podium, but the Far Side is at the least a strong contender.

Thanks for the recommendation, I shall endeavour to find more of that.



CupofJoe said:


> Bill Watterson had very strict rules/ideals on how his strips were printed. And the popularity of the strips gave him the power to say No when he didn't get his way. That limited the number of newspapers that were willing or able to take them.



Sigh. Well, what can you do, I guess.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

My anxiety is getting worse. I felt very content and happy this morning, almost like it didn't exist, but I woke up from a nap completely messed up after having a nightmare (I don't usually have nightmares unless I'm having anxiety) and then I very nearly went into an anxiety attack (I was able to calm down a little after spending some time on the phone with a friend). Still. All the worries I felt completely free of earlier today are crushing me in and I feel like I'll never get out. 

I hate my head sometimes.


----------



## pmmg

Maybe you should see a psychiatrist.


----------



## Nomadica

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> My anxiety is getting worse. I felt very content and happy this morning, almost like it didn't exist, but I woke up from a nap completely messed up after having a nightmare (I don't usually have nightmares unless I'm having anxiety) and then I very nearly went into an anxiety attack (I was able to calm down a little after spending some time on the phone with a friend). Still. All the worries I felt completely free of earlier today are crushing me in and I feel like I'll never get out.
> 
> I hate my head sometimes.



I don't know if what I'm about to say will be any help or if you'v already tried it but... 
I have a friend who had such bad depression she was quite suicidal growing up and as a young adult. last time I saw her last summer she was happy. She sold me how she changed her diet, I cant remember the name of the diet but she said it was similar to the GAPS diet which I am familiar with. She said within a few weeks she started smiling. I know a lot of things can cause anxiety and depression. Diet might be one thing to try.  We are just learning about how much diet and the internal flora and fauna effect the brain including anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, psychosis. I've read that most of the bodies serration is created in the gut. It's one thing to explore.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

pmmg said:


> Maybe you should see a psychiatrist.



I have a therapist; my next appointment was supposed to be tomorrow, but it had to be rescheduled to a couple more weeks in the future...not happy at all about that.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Nomadica said:


> I don't know if what I'm about to say will be any help or if you'v already tried it but...
> I have a friend who had such bad depression she was quite suicidal growing up and as a young adult. last time I saw her last summer she was happy. She sold me how she changed her diet, I cant remember the name of the diet but she said it was similar to the GAPS diet which I am familiar with. She said within a few weeks she started smiling. I know a lot of things can cause anxiety and depression. Diet might be one thing to try.  We are just learning about how much diet and the internal flora and fauna effect the brain including anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, psychosis. I've read that most of the bodies serration is created in the gut. It's one thing to explore.



Yeah there are probably lots of factors. For me the anxiety tends to come and go, without any specific triggers. I've pinpointed that exercise helps, but idk if i've looked much into diet yet. Thanks for the suggestions though.


----------



## pmmg

Well. A pschiatrist can proscribe drugs
 and a theraist cant far as i know. Maybe you need more help than a theraist can provide.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

That they need to make Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2 and this time make it set in the 2000s and have some Pixar, Dreamworks, and Illumination characters in it. Could you imagine Gru and Mr. Incredible? Or Maui meeting Poe? Perfect. Or the Simpsons meeting Mickey the Mouse?


----------



## Ban

Making the original Robot Unicorn Attack game my starting page was the smartest thing I have done this year.



"Open your eyes and see. Your eyes are open. Wear No disguise for me. Come into the Open."


----------



## Addison

I recently discovered the perks of Google Docs. After I cleaned up my computer docs and such I realized what writing software I have. In my writing programs I have, Google Docs, Microsoft Pages, Scrivener, Hemingway Editor and ProWriting Aid. So I have two editing softwares and three writing softwares. My dad asked if I need them all. I reviewed them carefully and said, "Yes". Apparently I said it with the same tone as when he asks "Don't you have enough books?" after I come out of Barnes and Noble with a bulging bag of new goodies.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have all of my stories saved as google docs and microsoft word.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

When I'm not just writing the feelings that are on my heart at the time, and am trying to actually write poetry about a topic, it takes me five pages of scribbling random phrases, thoughts and ideas to get five lines of anything usable...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I should be asleep. I am not. I still have like 3 things I want to do (eat, read the latest book I started, go over my ideas again) I DONT NEED SLEEP 

(actually I do or i will in the morning)


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I should be asleep. I am not. I still have like 3 things I want to do (eat, read the latest book I started, go over my ideas again) I DONT NEED SLEEP
> 
> (actually I do or i will in the morning)


As you said yourself. You really do need to sleep.  
Eating is okay [you do need to eat but not within an hour or two of sleep - as it can speed up the metabolism].
Reading a book? Maybe less so [if you are using a Kindle etc as the screen can wake you up].
Go over your ideas? Imagine how much better your imagination will be when you are rested and ready to go...
I've had years of insomnia and anxiety and have to keep very good sleep discipline to get even 4-5 hours a night.


----------



## NeenaDiHope

How others view the life of a writer is light years from the reality. 

People think we are sitting in a cabin, typewriter/computer in front of us, writing the next great masterpiece. 

When in fact our reality is more like this:

Your sitting on the couch/recliner with your laptop balanced just right, typing furiously.

He kisses her fiercely, the passion his kiss invokes is...

"Hey babe where are my jeans? You know the comfortable ones I always wear. I can't find them." (Yelling from another room) 

Aaaaaaaaand now you have no idea what you were just about to write! (Grrrr)

Oh yes, the glamorous life of a writer!


----------



## Tom

Whew! Finals are (finally) over! 

Right now I'm taking time to de-stress and catch up on sleep. I'm also planning on getting back into a healthy routine for the summer, which includes setting aside time for writing and art so I don't get out of the habit. Usually without school to give my life structure I fall apart, but I'm hoping that with better time management and scheduling I can avoid that this summer. Hope to see you guys around more now that I have more free time!


----------



## Incanus

Sad.

One of my favorite musicians just died.  RIP Chris Cornell.  You'll be missed.

Fell on Black Days.


----------



## NeenaDiHope

Incanus said:


> Sad.
> 
> One of my favorite musicians just died.  RIP Chris Cornell.  You'll be missed.
> 
> Fell on Black Days.



That is very sad!! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Aurora

That sucks. A great musician indeed.


----------



## Steerpike

Incanus said:


> Sad.
> 
> One of my favorite musicians just died.  RIP Chris Cornell.  You'll be missed.
> 
> Fell on Black Days.



Was very sorry to hear this. RIP.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Namida ga kobore ochiru no wa nan no sei?


----------



## Incanus

One of the best concerts I ever attended was Chris Cornell performing his first solo record, Euphoria Morning.  It was a smaller venue, but this was the first, last, and only time I had a seat in row A for a concert.  Not a single person between me and the band.  I could see absolutely everything that happened on stage, as well as get a good look at their gear (which, being a musician, I was interested in).  Fun show.

Hard to believe he's gone, just like that.


----------



## Aurora

Incanus said:


> One of the best concerts I ever attended was Chris Cornell performing his first solo record, Euphoria Morning.  It was a smaller venue, but this was the first, last, and only time I had a seat in row A for a concert.  Not a single person between me and the band.  I could see absolutely everything that happened on stage, as well as get a good look at their gear (which, being a musician, I was interested in).  Fun show.
> 
> Hard to believe he's gone, just like that.


Sounds like there were some issues. It's a shame. I grew up listening to Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog was good, also Audioslave is amazing. His music lives on.


----------



## chrispenycate

SeverinR said:


> Random thoughts, philosophy, observations.
> 
> This one I thought of a few days ago:
> 
> "Chasing women is much like a dog chasing a car, when you finally catch one, you don't know what to do with it, or you're dead."
> 
> and:
> 
> "Sometimes a bitch is exactly what you need in your life."
> Batch 433 by SeverinR on DeviantArt


With cars it's easy - you drag them home and bury them in the garden.

This is not considered sicially acceptable with women (for some reason).


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

[video=youtube_share;N5ilhe0Pz2g]https://youtu.be/N5ilhe0Pz2g[/video]

Never have I known I needed something but never knew it until I received it until this exact moment. This musical is wonderful.


----------



## Tom

Went to Nickel City Con today! It was pretty chill--not exactly tiny, but not as huge as the more well-known conventions. I mostly went up and down artist alley, bought a few prints and some pins and buttons. I did get to say hi to Noah Schnapp (Will Byers from Stranger Things) and caught a glimpse of Billy Dee Williams. Overall, it was a pretty solid experience.


----------



## pmmg

Well, a broken AC in my server room at work has left me stranded here all night waiting for the AC repair man. Waiting with no AC totally sucks, but I did finish my first short story in a long while. Currently 600 words longer than the posting guidelines where I want to submit it, but I find a way to rewrite those away.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

"You will have no enemies once you decide to surrender; [true] surrender means not giving into another but giving into love."

"Love is not the opposite of hate. Being whole, love has no opposites." 

"Life appears to be random on the surface, but at the deeper level it is completely organized."

"The whole of reality is contained in the present moment."

--Depak Chopra's The Path of Love


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I will soon own a house. Yay.


----------



## pmmg

Lucky you.


----------



## pmmg

Submitted my first story for publication in, well...maybe in years. See how it goes. If it gets accepted, that will be one goal off my goal list.

Had to cut 400 words to get it into the 1500 word limit, which sucked, so if it does not get picked, I'll be putting them back.


----------



## ThinkerX

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I will soon own a house. Yay.



I wish you well.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

pmmg said:


> Submitted my first story for publication in, well...maybe in years. See how it goes. If it gets accepted, that will be one goal off my goal list.
> 
> Had to cut 400 words to get it into the 1500 word limit, which sucked, so if it does not get picked, I'll be putting them back.



I hope everything goes well for you!


----------



## valiant12

pmmg said:


> Submitted my first story for publication in, well...maybe in years. See how it goes. If it gets accepted, that will be one goal off my goal list.
> 
> Had to cut 400 words to get it into the 1500 word limit, which sucked, so if it does not get picked, I'll be putting them back.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

What flavor do you suppose clouds are?"

Later, during a life and death situation:
"I mean, the answer is obviously vanilla..."


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> What flavor do you suppose clouds are?"
> 
> Later, during a life and death situation:
> "I mean, the answer is obviously vanilla..."



When collected at sunset, they range from peach and orange to strawberry, bubble gum and watermelon.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Thanks to the Order of the Stick for providing inspiration for that joke.


----------



## Tom

It's funny, I feel like something has shifted about the way I look at my writing. I take my work a lot less seriously now, and I'm finding myself having more fun with my characters and worlds. I allow myself to get away with a little self-indulgence now. Maybe that's the key--I was so focused on writing a particular type of story that I lost sight of what I actually enjoy. Hmm. Whatever caused my change in perspective, I'm grateful for it. It's definitely helped my productivity!


----------



## Ban

Tom said:


> It's funny, I feel like something has shifted about the way I look at my writing. I take my work a lot less seriously now, and I'm finding myself having more fun with my characters and worlds. I allow myself to get away with a little self-indulgence now. Maybe that's the key--I was so focused on writing a particular type of story that I lost sight of what I actually enjoy. Hmm. Whatever caused my change in perspective, I'm grateful for it. It's definitely helped my productivity!



And it will likely increase your audience's enjoyment of the story as well. I firmly believe that when an author likes writing a scene then that will rub off on the reader.


----------



## Addison

I forget who said it, but there's a writer's quote that said something along the lines of "No tears in the author, no tears in the reader. No passion in the author, no passion in the reader". So when you write you're transmitting more than dialogue and action.


----------



## Incanus

Man, I really blew it.  My birthday was last month--I should have asked for a covfefe.


----------



## FifthView

Incanus said:


> Man, I really blew it.  My birthday was last month--I should have asked for a covfefe.



You really covfefed up.


----------



## pmmg

Look, you cant use a word like 'covfefed', there might be children present.


----------



## Incanus

FifthView said:


> You really covfefed up.



I guess I'll just have to wait until Christmas...


----------



## Tom

Guys, you're going to make me spit my water in the middle of the break room. That's a covfefe I'd never live down.


----------



## Ban

On a non-cofveve level, this little video is just too good. What a great premise.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm predicting that 'covfefe' is going to end up in dictionaries one day as an actual word with an actual definition. I predict it.


----------



## Tom

Happy Pride Month to all my LGBT+ scribes!


----------



## La Volpe

Banten said:


> On a non-cofveve level, this little video is just too good. What a great premise.
> 
> <snip>



That was very cool. Nice find.


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm predicting that 'covfefe' is going to end up in dictionaries one day as an actual word with an actual definition. I predict it.


covfefe - What happens to a word when auto-correct doesn't kick in when you expect it to.


----------



## FifthView

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm predicting that 'covfefe' is going to end up in dictionaries one day as an actual word with an actual definition. I predict it.



The day the first covfefe comment was posted to this thread, I did a search for the word on Amazon and found 12 pages of products, everything from quickly-made MP3 files to mugs, t-shirts, bumper stickers....I think it'll only end up a footnote in history, but who knows? It might gain more traction unexpectedly.


----------



## pmmg

Well, I wont be buying any mugs.

Clearly, it was a strange thing to post, and clearly there are many who are more than eager to poke fun at Mr. Trump. I thought it was most likely a typo of the word coverage myself, but the WH has said it is a term used in the presidents circle, so it means something to someone. Personally, I think there are more important things to become concerned with than the Covfefe (which now I am sure must mean some type of covert poodle).

Anyway, fun for a day, but a product line? really? I guess, good luck with that.


----------



## Ireth

One of the dorm buildings of my old college burned down yesterday. Nobody was hurt, but the building is a total loss.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Am I a butterfly dreaming of being human, or a can of alphabet soup dreaming of being a cat?


----------



## Addison

To Tweet, or not to Tweet, that is the question.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Addison said:


> To Tweet, or not to Tweet, that is the *#question*.


Fixed it for you.


----------



## Addison

Svrtnsse said:


> Fixed it for you.



Lol. 

I just published my second blog on my site. Thursday is blog day. I gotta say once I set up a calendar of deadlines I've gone from flakey writer, to disciplined writer. The last time I felt this proud...I can't remember. I've graduated college, I have a job, yet this feels better than both. I'm weird I know.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Addison said:


> Lol.
> 
> I just published my second blog on my site. Thursday is blog day. I gotta say once I set up a calendar of deadlines I've gone from flakey writer, to disciplined writer. The last time I felt this proud...I can't remember. I've graduated college, I have a job, yet this feels better than both. I'm weird I know.



That sounds awesome though. Congratulations on getting that ball rolling.


----------



## Ban

Wasps are just a bunch of bullies who dress up as friendly and useful little bees. It's time for biologists to make a pheromone that causes wasps and mosquitos to fight eachother. Maybe that will distract both of them enough to leave me alone.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

We are but ripples in the ocean of the cosmos.


----------



## CupofJoe

Banten said:


> Wasps are just a bunch of bullies who dress up as friendly and useful little bees. It's time for biologists to make a pheromone that causes wasps and mosquitos to fight eachother. Maybe that will distract both of them enough to leave me alone.


I'm with you as long as they can be sure that Bees will be left alone.
This week during some heavy rain, four Bumble Bees came in to my office and just hung around until the rain stopped. They flew around for a while then settled down on a Jammy Dodger I left out for them. When the rain stopped they buzzed off. Delightful!
Scientists are working on how to make Mosquitoes sterile so they can't make little Mosquitoes. So maybe there is "a plan".


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Should be asleep. Instead anxiety is keeping me awake.


----------



## Ban

CupofJoe said:


> I'm with you as long as they can be sure that Bees will be left alone.
> This week during some heavy rain, four Bumble Bees came in to my office and just hung around until the rain stopped. They flew around for a while then settled down on a Jammy Dodger I left out for them. When the rain stopped they buzzed off. Delightful!
> Scientists are working on how to make Mosquitoes sterile so they can't make little Mosquitoes. So maybe there is "a plan".



I fully agree. Bees are delightful little balls of fuzz who work tirelessly to pollinate flowers and make delicious honey. They should all receive tiny little medals for their great service to everybody.

I didn't know about the sterilization plane but now I really hope it will work. Not to sound like a maniac, but I think all animals can agree that a world without mosquitoes is a better world. What good do those tiny vampires do anyway?

Edit: By the way, that was an adorable story.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

They say you can't read in dreams. I think that's weird; I have dreams about reading all the time. i can both read and write in my dreams. 

By read, I do mean i can clearly see and read individual words and letters. I can also write things down in my dreams. I sometimes do that so I'll remember it when I wake up. 

Yes, I'm a lucid dreamer, but it happens even when I'm not lucid dreaming. 

I post this because last night I dreamed I was reading a smutty fan fiction online--well, a fan fiction that sounded like a 13 year old trying to write something smutty, and not succeeding. I even remember the font type and size. (that is, I recognized it, but I can't remember the name.) I'm not really sure what it was a fan fiction *of*. 

1) Why do I have awesome dreaming abilities that everyone says shouldn't exist, and 2) why does my brain choose to use them for incredibly stupid things?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

But mosquitoes feed so many other creatures! What about the bats and dragonflies? What would they eat?

^I've dreamed about actually reading a book a couple times; one even had colour illustrations, but I didn't like how they didn't match up with what I was visualizing, so I made them change.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Yeah, there's a long trend of something bad happening whenever humans screw with nature. 

Humans: *accidentally introduce an invasive species* 
Humans: *try to control that invasive species with another invasive species* 
Second invasive species: *turns out to be more harmful than the first*

Or 

Humans: *thinks an animal is destructive; kills them all*
Ecosystem: *collapses*


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Yeah, there's a long trend of something bad happening whenever humans screw with nature.
> 
> Humans: *accidentally introduce an invasive species*
> Humans: *try to control that invasive species with another invasive species*
> Second invasive species: *turns out to be more harmful than the first*
> 
> Or
> 
> Humans: *thinks an animal is destructive; kills them all*
> Ecosystem: *collapses*



Both scenarios might happen, but it is worth a try. If a vampiric swarm attacked a fictional planet, everybody would be rooting for the guys killing them. Why make an exception for mosquitoes?


----------



## Ban

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> But mosquitoes feed so many other creatures! What about the bats and dragonflies? What would they eat?
> 
> ^I've dreamed about actually reading a book a couple times; one even had colour illustrations, but I didn't like how they didn't match up with what I was visualizing, so I made them change.



Every other insect. Flies for example.

Problem solved, let's get rid of mosquitoes.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Today on "Am I sick, or do I have anxiety?"...


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Today on "Am I sick, or do I have anxiety?"...



Here:  Have some bubble wrap.  If popping it helps, then you know.

(I brought some bubble wrap to gal at work undergoing a 5 kids plus mother-in-law induced nervous breakdown.  She said it helped.)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Took my son fishing at a municipal pond. He loved it. We're fishers now. He caught a two foot carp.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

ThinkerX said:


> Here:  Have some bubble wrap.  If popping it helps, then you know.
> 
> (I brought some bubble wrap to gal at work undergoing a 5 kids plus mother-in-law induced nervous breakdown.  She said it helped.)



Breathing exercises accompanied by relaxing music helped. Also, doing a bit of distracting work afterward.

Facebook never ever ever helps.


----------



## FifthView




----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Such as donkeypit?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^Such as donkeypit?



I prefer dingus McGee.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I prefer dingus McGee.



Doodlenuts!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Doodlenuts!



[video=youtube_share;eWDLCTBwyn8]https://youtu.be/eWDLCTBwyn8[/video]


----------



## FifthView

I keep trying to add to this discussion, but all my comments keep coming out as _grawlix_.

D'Oh!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I learned something about myself today! Apparently, I have an adverse reaction to laughing gas...It was like I was having an out of body experience. I felt like I didn't know where my body was, like I'd been turned into radio waves or a meaningless jumble of energy. I was confused and could barely respond to people talking to me, even after leaving the dentist, and was really dizzy for almost two hours afterward. It made my thoughts irrational and bizarre. (Just ask my friend who received a series of loopy texts that sounded like drunk texts. This was after I got home, mind.)  According to the internet, these things aren't supposed to happen...

It didn't even make me relaxed. In fact, I nearly had an anxiety attack. (While I felt like I was being turned into radio waves. I don't know how else to describe the feeling, but it wasn't pleasant.) 

This is really unfortunate, since dentists terrify me. Maybe they were overdosing me because of That Time I Started Crying In The Dentist's Office.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I really dislike going to the dentist, too, but I have extra trouble because I often neglect to brush my teeth enough. I also react badly to pretty much every and any medication, so...


----------



## Noxius

I have my first final exam tommorrow, and I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, apparently, I have at least some idea what I'm doing since I haven't killed a patient (yet), but I feel like it's not enough to pass. And I have a really big urge to play dead.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Serenity's Out of Gas, we have to deliver The Message, we're late for The Train Job Shindig at Jaynestown on the planet Ariel, this is no time to be telling War Stories, there's way too much Trash and Objects in Space, and Our Mrs. Reynolds has a Heart of Gold, but is Bushwhacked and not Safe. 

Wow. I just managed to make a complete sentence using all of the episode titles from Firefly...for no reason whatsoever.


----------



## CupofJoe

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Serenity's Out of Gas, we have to deliver The Message, we're late for The Train Job Shindig at Jaynestown on the planet Ariel, this is no time to be telling War Stories, there's way too much Trash and Objects in Space, and Our Mrs. Reynolds has a Heart of Gold, but is Bushwhacked and not Safe.
> 
> Wow. I just managed to make a complete sentence using all of the episode titles from Firefly...for no reason whatsoever.


Shiny! It's all the Mudder's Milk you've been drinking.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Serenity's Out of Gas, we have to deliver The Message, we're late for The Train Job Shindig at Jaynestown on the planet Ariel, this is no time to be telling War Stories, there's way too much Trash and Objects in Space, and Our Mrs. Reynolds has a Heart of Gold, but is Bushwhacked and not Safe.
> 
> Wow. I just managed to make a complete sentence using all of the episode titles from Firefly...for no reason whatsoever.



That's a run-on.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^Ha ha. Now if only I had a knitted hat to go with it. 

^You're right. It is.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Happy fathers day to all you dads, honorary dads, dads that be, etc. May you get the frosty beverage of your choice, to play or do the old man game or activity of your choice (mine was golf yesterday will Old Man Allen (OMA)), and to sleep in.


----------



## Aurora

I received my first set of royalties from Amazon in the amount of $30. Ha. It's better than zero dollars and it's honestly kind of cool.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

So what am I waiting for? Honestly, what? In the end, I'm only holding myself back.


----------



## Aurora

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> So what am I waiting for? Honestly, what? In the end, I'm only holding myself back.



Do it! Publishing is fun! It's hard work and takes some figuring out but it's all stuff one can learn. Don't let it intimidate you.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I'm sure glad I found a self-publishing website that is reliable. All that's really left to do is paint a cover.


----------



## Aurora

What website is it, if you don't mind me asking? Because you can do all of that stuff yourself for the most part.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

What do you do when you need to take your contacts out but your infant wakes up if she doesn't feel the pressure of your hand on her chest? Why put the thickest paper back you own on her chest. Thank Brandon Sanderson and his Way of Kings for saving me last night!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^It's lulu.com/create/books. I'm having trouble with the formatting, though; the file I have is too large [as in centimeters, not length], and I don't know how to change it.


----------



## Aurora

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^^It's lulu.com/create/books. I'm having trouble with the formatting, though; the file I have is too large [as in centimeters, not length], and I don't know how to change it.



Yikes, I don't know. Right now I'm only doing ebook and moving to audio. Indie books don't sell print in high numbers.


----------



## Geo

Sometimes is soul crushing to realize that all your hard work means little when the judgment is given by a lazy twit. Just feeling despondent I suppose. Some of the occupational hazards of my day job.


----------



## Tom

Wow, I've been gone for awhile! I just got home from 2 weeks in Albuquerque and I'm extremely jetlagged but happy to be back. Hopefully I'll be able to keep better tabs on MS now. I missed talking with everyone.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^^What do you mean 'Yikes'? 

^Hello! Nice to see you again!


----------



## La Volpe

Tom said:


> Wow, I've been gone for awhile! I just got home from 2 weeks in Albuquerque and I'm extremely jetlagged but happy to be back. Hopefully I'll be able to keep better tabs on MS now. I missed talking with everyone.



Hey, Tom!

Glad to have you back (not that I would have known that you were away, given that I've been quite inactive as well, due to starting a new job). What were you doing in Albuquerque?


----------



## Tom

Hi Volpe! It's good to see you. 

I went down to Albuquerque to visit some friends. I've been to northern New Mexico a couple of times, so we just hung out instead of doing touristy stuff. One of my friends has a Subaru street racer so we did a lot of night driving in the city. 

We went camping up the mountains, too, and got within a mile or two of the Bonita wildfire that's burning in Carson National Forest right now. At night we could see the red glow of the fire just over the mountain ridge reflected off the smoke cover. Some smoke jumpers were stationed as lookouts just up the road from our campsite and we got to talk to them while watching their helicopter drop water on the fire. It was pretty cool!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Is my satire not actually satire or is it that I'm so subtle and obscure in my jokes that no one gets them anyway?


----------



## Addison

Just posted the start of a fun story on Wattpad, seemed fun. Not sure if the story will ever see any real publication but...what the heck. 
If you like, check out chapter one of my story Return of the Magical: Return Of The Magical - Broken Seal - Wattpad


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

"If you don't see the book you want on the shelf, write it." - Beverly Cleary

C. S. Lewis said something similar.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Well, I did it. I mowed my lawn. Not my parents lawn, not a landlords lawn, my lawn. It was blazing. But it was great and my two year old helped with his toy lawnmower. Now it really feels like I bought s house.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

It seems rather quiet around here lately. Or is it just temporal mechanics messing me up?


----------



## Tom

It has been a bit quiet around here. I didn't participate this year, but I know that Camp NaNoWriMo just wrapped up, so a lot of folks have probably been concentrating on that. Or it could be a summer slump. Things'll pick back up soon.


----------



## CupofJoe

End of the College teaching year too. Students are recovering from exams, Academics are marking them [the exams, not the students - that is really frowned upon]... Both are thinking about the summer break and trying to ignore the red date circled in September's calendar.


----------



## Aurora

Tom said:


> It has been a bit quiet around here. I didn't participate this year, but I know that Camp NaNoWriMo just wrapped up, so a lot of folks have probably been concentrating on that. Or it could be a summer slump. Things'll pick back up soon.


No, it's actually just starting. It's July Camp.


----------



## Ban

Meaning without a story will not lead to a story.
A story without meaning might develop meaning

Something I thought of to motivate myself. Hopefully it makes sense to someone else.


----------



## Aurora

Random thought of the day: what would happen if I listened to all of Skyrim's OSTs through the course of writing this novel? Would I be sick of it by the end of the NaNo?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I just realized I've been on MS for over a year. 

Can it possibly have been THAT long??


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^For me it's been about half a year.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm wholly confused by the way designation of good or evil is assigned to talking animal species in children's books and other media. 

Mice: Good 

Rats: Evil 

Wolves: Usually Evil, but wherever they're portrayed as Good they're Lawful Good, a Noble Savage kind of thing. 

Foxes: Chaotic Neutral 

Cats: Usually evil or at least completely self-serving 

Lions: Good 

Bears: Good 

Dogs: Good, except Dobermans, which are Evil

Frogs: Good 

Snakes: Evil 

Turtles: Good 

(as reptiles go lizards are for the most part weirdly absent)

Insects: Almost all considered Good, which is weird considering that most people hate or at least are slightly uncomfortable with bugs. Worms and snails are also Good. 

I guess herbivores are generally good and carnivores evil, which is kind of a simplistic way to see the natural world, but I don't understand why bears are almost universally portrayed as good, as are lions, when both have killed people and do eat meat. Maybe this has more to do with which animals are predators of typical animal protagonists. Idk.

I'm also confused about why certain animals are anthropomorphized more commonly than others. Why mice? Why so many anthropomorphized mice? And rabbits? Why rabbits? 

They're also anthropomorphized to different degrees based on species. A rabbit or frog will wear clothes and walk on two legs like a human. A wolf, sheep, robin or horse won't walk on two legs. Maybe that's harder to rationalize. 

Why am i thinking about this?


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm wholly confused by the way designation of good or evil is assigned to talking animal species in children's books and other media.
> 
> Mice: Good
> 
> Rats: Evil
> 
> Wolves: Usually Evil, but wherever they're portrayed as Good they're Lawful Good, a Noble Savage kind of thing.
> 
> Foxes: Chaotic Neutral
> 
> Cats: Usually evil or at least completely self-serving
> 
> Lions: Good
> 
> Bears: Good
> 
> Dogs: Good, except Dobermans, which are Evil
> 
> Frogs: Good
> 
> Snakes: Evil
> 
> Turtles: Good
> 
> (as reptiles go lizards are for the most part weirdly absent)
> 
> Insects: Almost all considered Good, which is weird considering that most people hate or at least are slightly uncomfortable with bugs. Worms and snails are also Good.
> 
> I guess herbivores are generally good and carnivores evil, which is kind of a simplistic way to see the natural world, but I don't understand why bears are almost universally portrayed as good, as are lions, when both have killed people and do eat meat. Maybe this has more to do with which animals are predators of typical animal protagonists. Idk.
> 
> I'm also confused about why certain animals are anthropomorphized more commonly than others. Why mice? Why so many anthropomorphized mice? And rabbits? Why rabbits?
> 
> They're also anthropomorphized to different degrees based on species. A rabbit or frog will wear clothes and walk on two legs like a human. A wolf, sheep, robin or horse won't walk on two legs. Maybe that's harder to rationalize.
> 
> Why am i thinking about this?



Modern antropomorphized animals in western fiction originate from the medieval and ancient fables of western- and central-europe for as far as I can tell. Stories like 'Reynard the Fox'. My personal theory is that these ancient and later medieval people assigned traits of good and bad to animals and that these judgements simply stuck around. If you think about it all the animals you mentioned that were considered bad have a good reason for being considered such by people back then. Rats can be found everywhere from the wilds to the cities, they are very aggressive and they carry a plethora of diseases which back then included the black death itself. Wolves in Europe were also very dangerous back then. They were numerous, intelligent, strong, lived in areas frequented by humans and were aggressive enough to attack people. It is only in the past couple of centuries that Europeans have killed off the more hostile wolves (and a whole bunch of other wolves). Snakes can be deadly and can bite, but they are probably portrayed as evil due to christian mythology. Cats have long been associated with witchcraft and are notoriously independent 'domnesticated' animals. Neither of those things would sit well with the medieval judeo-christian mindset of western- and central-europe.
Dobermans did not live in medieval Europe so that's a modern invention. 

Other animals simply don't have any strong religious association with 'evil' and were not as prone to hostile behaviour towards humans.


----------



## Demesnedenoir

I've always found the glorification of the mouse fascinating, it's a pest, but it is cute. The rat is less cute, and considered far dirtier than a mouse. I large part of this is what do people tend to find cute. Rabbits are cute, with them fuzzy wuzzy tails. 

Even beyond religion, snakes are just flat creepy and scare people because they surprise folks hidden in the grass.

I would not doubt that doberman's gained their "evil" from two points, Nazis and communist europe after WW2. A guard dog/attack dog breed, they had a reputation as fighters, and once Animal Farm used this, well, it stuck. The basic doberman appaerance doesn't help. They have a rigid war dog stance and look, IMO. 

If cats are evil, not just aloof (because why wouldn't a cat be portrayed as aloof?) it's because a stupid dog person is writing the story. heh heh.


----------



## Insolent Lad

Let's not forget that snakes can be a blatant sexual symbol. We all know what 'knowledge' Adam and Eve got there in that garden. Is that 'good' or 'bad?' Depends on the culture and the individual, I guess.


----------



## Steerpike

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm wholly confused by the way designation of good or evil is assigned to talking animal species in children's books and other media.
> 
> Mice: Good
> 
> Rats: Evil
> 
> Wolves: Usually Evil, but wherever they're portrayed as Good they're Lawful Good, a Noble Savage kind of thing.
> 
> Foxes: Chaotic Neutral
> 
> Cats: Usually evil or at least completely self-serving
> 
> Lions: Good
> 
> Bears: Good
> 
> Dogs: Good, except Dobermans, which are Evil
> 
> Frogs: Good
> 
> Snakes: Evil
> 
> Turtles: Good
> 
> (as reptiles go lizards are for the most part weirdly absent)
> 
> Insects: Almost all considered Good, which is weird considering that most people hate or at least are slightly uncomfortable with bugs. Worms and snails are also Good.
> 
> I guess herbivores are generally good and carnivores evil, which is kind of a simplistic way to see the natural world, but I don't understand why bears are almost universally portrayed as good, as are lions, when both have killed people and do eat meat. Maybe this has more to do with which animals are predators of typical animal protagonists. Idk.
> 
> I'm also confused about why certain animals are anthropomorphized more commonly than others. Why mice? Why so many anthropomorphized mice? And rabbits? Why rabbits?
> 
> They're also anthropomorphized to different degrees based on species. A rabbit or frog will wear clothes and walk on two legs like a human. A wolf, sheep, robin or horse won't walk on two legs. Maybe that's harder to rationalize.
> 
> Why am i thinking about this?



An anthropologist name Mary Douglas had some theories about this when it comes to clean v. unclean animals in human culture and religion. She hypothesized that unclean (or in some cases, evil) animals are those that seemed out of place in terms of categorization. For example, cloven hoofed ruminants may be fine in a culture (cows, sheep, etc.), but a non-ruminant that shares the cloven hoof (like a pig) is outside the boundaries of the category (and it occurs to me that the same would be true of cloven-hoofed human forms, which are often associated with evil). Likewise, the serpent has scales like a fish and no legs, yet it goes on land. 

Douglas was looking at judeo-christian cultural history. I don't know how far she ventured outside of that. But she claimed that the early dietary and sacrificial taboos around the animals of the Israelites fit nicely into this theory of animals within defined categories being acceptable, and those outside of categories (or aberrations in terms of their category) holds up pretty well. 

Of course, that doesn't get to all the creatures on your list, or all cultures, but it's an interesting idea for why some animals may be viewed as they are.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Huh, didn't expect so many people to chime in on my animal thing.

The thing is, these ancient opinions on animals can go so far as to affect support for conservation of different animals. There was a lady commenting on a Nat Geo article about federal protections for wolves saying that wolves should be exterminated because if they were "allowed" to live where people live all kinds of people would be turning up eaten left and right...

...I mean, I'm sure wolves aren't completely harmless, but i don't think we're a major component of their diets either...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I love wolves, cats, and snakes. [and ravens and bats, too, for that matter].


----------



## Aurora

Apparently cats don't have alembic systems. I still love their murderous little ways.

@Dragon of the Aerie: have you seen The Secret Life Of Pets? We watched it recently and it has a lot of the stereoypes you speak of. It was funny too.


----------



## FifthView

Working on family trees for important characters. Simultaneously fun and tedious.


----------



## Svrtnsse

FifthView said:


> Working on family trees for important characters. Simultaneously fun and tedious.



That's kind of how I feel about gardening too...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^^I actually love doing family trees, and have for years. I'm not sure why.

I'm kind of stuck. There's a certain plot twist that I don't know how to write, exactly, but the main thing is that I'm feeling a bit frustrated that I can't seem to tell the story that I've been wanting to write for years--exactly how it looks in my head.


----------



## Aurora

It's rarely to never going to come out exactly the way it looks in your head.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I don't know, maybe I'm more frustrated by the fact that it's a story I've known for years, and it seems personal, so I want it turn out right[ly].


----------



## Svrtnsse

A friend of mine, who's a bus driver, just posted a short anecdote about how he gave a kid a small toy car he'd found in the bus several years ago. The kid had been unruly and not wanting to sit still, so he got the car as a bribe. Then my friend had a cup of chocolate.

It's not a particularly action packed or exciting story, but I still enjoyed reading it. It kinda goes to show how even small and seemingly dull events can be interesting - especially when you know the characters.


----------



## FifthView

He carried around a toy car for several years?

Sounds like a challenge brewing. Write a scene about a bus driver who bribes an unruly kid with an old toy car he'd found on the bus years ago.

[Edit: I might up the ante for the challenge and say that one or the other of the two, bus driver or kid, is not human, heh.]


----------



## Aurora

I'd very much like to stop procrastinating now. Oh good grief.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Anxiety has been grinding me down so much lately, I have little energy for anything.


----------



## Aurora

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Anxiety has been grinding me down so much lately, I have little energy for anything.


I have anxiety too. It's so bad right now I'm averaging 4-5 hours of sleep per night for the past month and sometimes less. It's hell. Just know someone else here understands what you're going through. Mine stems from deep rooted trauma and it sucks.


----------



## Steerpike

Aurora said:


> I have anxiety too. It's so bad right now I'm averaging 4-5 hours of sleep per night for the past month and sometimes less. It's hell. Just know someone else here understands what you're going through. Mine stems from deep rooted trauma and it sucks.



Do you ever take anything to help you sleep? I have always had a sort of general level of anxiety, but it got bad at one point when my daughter was ill. I got very little sleep because I woke up with panic attacks. I was prescribed xanax on an as-needed basis, which at first was every night, but eventually became maybe once every three or four months. I don't know that it is suitable for daily use, but on an as-needed basis it ensured a solid night's sleep, and that was on a pretty low dose (the doc prescribed 0.5 mg, and I decided to break each tablet in half and so was only taking 0.25 mg at a time).


----------



## Aurora

^I don't like taking sleep aids. It hasn't worked well for me in the past and I've tried a few different medications. When things are under control I get more sleep.


----------



## Steerpike

Aurora said:


> ^I don't like taking sleep aids. It hasn't worked well for me in the past and I've tried a few different medications. When things are under control I get more sleep.



That makes sense. I don't think the xanax was actually intended as a sleep aid--it was just to stop the panic attacks. But it made me so tired that I would sleep all night.


----------



## Aurora

Steerpike said:


> That makes sense. I don't think the xanax was actually intended as a sleep aid--it was just to stop the panic attacks. But it made me so tired that I would sleep all night.


I've been given Valium before and that knocked me out to where I couldn't function. Same with Xanax and Ambien. I'm way sensitive to medications in general. Exercise and stress reduction helps me immensely but right now I'm having  a flare up. Just is life.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I may or may not have inspired my son to yell, "Ride for ruin and the world's ending!" While riding a unicorn at a little girls birthday party.


----------



## Aurora

I just watched my Siamese chomp a moth to death and literally swallow it whole.

Such viciousness out of a furry lovable creature often terrifies me. What does she think while she watches me sleep?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Aurora said:


> I just watched my Siamese chomp a moth to death and literally swallow it whole.
> 
> Such viciousness out of a furry lovable creature often terrifies me. What does she think while she watches me sleep?



My favorite childhood pet cat killed and ate a rabbit. She was a mighty hunter, but she never bit nor scratched a person. I do not think your Siamese will eat you.


----------



## ThinkerX

Aurora said:


> I just watched my Siamese chomp a moth to death and literally swallow it whole.
> 
> Such viciousness out of a furry lovable creature often terrifies me. What does she think while she watches me sleep?



As the poet said...

'nature is red in tooth and claw.'

Also,

'nature is a whore.'


----------



## CupofJoe

Aurora said:


> I just watched my Siamese chomp a moth to death and literally swallow it whole.
> Such viciousness out of a furry lovable creature often terrifies me. What does she think while she watches me sleep?


That you control the regular food source in her life... 
We let Dogs live with us. Cats let Us live with them....


----------



## Tom

I finally have my new laptop a full month after my old one bit the dust! I haven't been writing a lot since it crashed, so I'm very happy to be back in the swing of things.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> That you control the regular food source in her life...
> We let Dogs live with us. Cats let Us live with them....



Hey, most cats are only slightly evil.


----------



## FifthView

The night is dark and full of terrors.


----------



## Svrtnsse

FifthView said:


> The night is dark and full of terrors.



I thought it was cold and stormy?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

It thought it was dark and stormy.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> It thought it was dark and stormy.



The night is fluorescent and full of sentient Jello and the howling of were-capybaras.


----------



## Aurora

Svrtnsse said:


> I thought it was cold and stormy?


Cold and stormy like her heart.


----------



## Aurora

My characters are in some serious shit and I have no idea what's going to happen. 

I'm actually starting to worry that things may be so bad even_ I _can't repair them.


----------



## Tom

Decided that since it's summer, it's time for the obligatory annual Lord of the Rings rewatch. One down, two more to go! 

Man, it it feels like it's been an eternity since the day I bought Fellowship and Two Towers for a buck each on VHS at a garage sale. I wish I could recapture the feeling of watching Middle Earth unfold from those staticky old tapes for the first time.


----------



## La Volpe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I may or may not have inspired my son to yell, "Ride for ruin and the world's ending!" While riding a unicorn at a little girls birthday party.



You are a good parent. Carry on.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That is indeed awesome.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Radio Flyer Announces Drivable STAR WARS Landspeeder | Nerdist

I need this. My son needs it. Better go talk to Santa. Or better yet, grandma.


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Radio Flyer Announces Drivable STAR WARS Landspeeder | Nerdist
> I need this. My son needs it. Better go talk to Santa. Or better yet, grandma.


That looks great! What surprises me most is that it took this long for someone to make it.


----------



## Tom

So I haven't had a haircut in a while, and tonight I was excited to discover that my hair is long enough to recreate the impressively tall fauxhawk I had in high school. Can't believe I used to put that much effort into my hair. Of course, that was almost all the effort I ever put into my appearance--I remember all I used to wear back then were band t-shirts, ripped jeans, and scuffed Converse that looked like they'd been to hell and back. Every day. 

Not much has changed, actually.


----------



## Tom

I don't want to be That Guy Who Double-Posts, but.._wooooo. Man._

Not even half an hour ago I had to haul my elderly golden retriever mix out of a ravine after he fell down a slide area and got wedged between two fallen trees just before a sheer drop. He has a neurodegenerative disorder that's causing him to lose feeling and muscle tone in his hind legs, so there's no way he could've gotten out himself if I hadn't found him after realizing he wasn't around.  I'm so, so incredibly thankful that he didn't break any bones. It could have been a very different scene when I reached him if he'd fallen at any other point on the ravine. Oh god. I'm just glad he's okay. 

Wow. Shoving one hundred pounds of shaking, panting, staggering dog up a near-vertical slope is _not_ how I pictured spending my day off.


----------



## Nimue

Oh no oh no oh noooooooo I'm glad he's okay!  That is so scary!  (Sorry I've just got back from a beer festival but seriously.  You poor guys.)


----------



## Ban

Tom said:


> I don't want to be That Guy Who Double-Posts, but.._wooooo. Man._
> 
> Not even half an hour ago I had to haul my elderly golden retriever mix out of a ravine after he fell down a slide area and got wedged between two fallen trees just before a sheer drop. He has a neurodegenerative disorder that's causing him to lose feeling and muscle tone in his hind legs, so there's no way he could've gotten out himself if I hadn't found him after realizing he wasn't around.  I'm so, so incredibly thankful that he didn't break any bones. It could have been a very different scene when I reached him if he'd fallen at any other point on the ravine. Oh god. I'm just glad he's okay.
> 
> Wow. Shoving one hundred pounds of shaking, panting, staggering dog up a near-vertical slope is _not_ how I pictured spending my day off.



Hooray for living dogs! I'm glad yours is fine. Mine is contently stinking up the place next to me.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I'm trying to come up with a name for Roy's coach, and my brain's dead set on calling him Ford Harrison. I need a replacement brain.

EDIT: Fixed it. The coach is now Jenny Ford.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have writer's block...I don't think I've ever had that before. Then again, I've never exactly had a deadline before, either.


----------



## Svrtnsse

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I have writer's block...I don't think I've ever had that before. Then again, I've never exactly had a deadline before, either.



I see a correlation.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Decided that since it's summer, it's time for the obligatory annual Lord of the Rings rewatch. One down, two more to go!
> 
> Man, it it feels like it's been an eternity since the day I bought Fellowship and Two Towers for a buck each on VHS at a garage sale. I wish I could recapture the feeling of watching Middle Earth unfold from those staticky old tapes for the first time.



Me and my bestie are watching the Return of the King at her house tomorrow


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I can pretty much quote 60% of the dialogue from all three movies; I've watched them so many times [the extended versions, mind].


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^I can pretty much quote 60% of the dialogue from all three movies; I've watched them so many times [the extended versions, mind].



^my friend is like that, she quotes them constantly as she watches


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Or I quote random lines at random times. It can make conversations make zero sense, especially since my mum's friend often has no idea what I'm even talking about.  


Why do all of my 'wish fulfillment' daydreams involve the wizard 'love interest' being killed or terribly injured in some way? My mind is so very strange...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I watched The Lion King and Bambi and Fantasia when I was quite little, at my Nana and Grandpa's old house. Looking back on it now, how are the first two remotely family friendly?  8O According to my mum, Bambi upset me so much that for a long time I wouldn't let her out of my sight.


----------



## Tom

I just successfully installed the driver for my old Bamboo tablet on my new laptop! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to because Wacom discontinued their Bamboo line, but they were decent enough to keep the driver downloads available on their website. Good to know my tablet is not useless as I thought it would be. Now I can get back to digital art without any problems!


----------



## Nimue

Woohoo!  I just had to replace my tablet, and the new shiny one is on my desk looking expectantly at me... Still haven't done anything with it


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> I just successfully installed the driver for my old Bamboo tablet on my new laptop! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to because Wacom discontinued their Bamboo line, but they were decent enough to keep the driver downloads available on their website. Good to know my tablet is not useless as I thought it would be. Now I can get back to digital art without any problems!



I have a Bamboo tablet but it's been sitting in my desk drawer for years...


----------



## CupofJoe

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I watched The Lion King and Bambi and Fantasia when I was quite little, at my Nana and Grandpa's old house. Looking back on it now, how are the first two remotely family friendly?  8O According to my mum, Bambi upset me so much that for a long time I wouldn't let her out of my sight.


Kids were tougher back-in-the-day [and I'm only half joking].
The first time I saw Bambi I was 19 or 20 and I balled my eyes out. My girlfriend at the time still doesn't let me forget it.
When I saw Fantasia I was about 4 and children about the same age peed themselves when Night on Bald Mountain came on screen.
I have not seen The Lion King and as it has songs by Elton John I doubt I ever will.


----------



## Demesnedenoir

How are they not family friendly? 

I startedmy daughter off right, watching LoTR by the age of... sheesh, real young. She wouldn't let me turn them off.



TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I watched The Lion King and Bambi and Fantasia when I was quite little, at my Nana and Grandpa's old house. Looking back on it now, how are the first two remotely family friendly?  8O According to my mum, Bambi upset me so much that for a long time I wouldn't let her out of my sight.


----------



## FifthView

When I was a young kid, _Escape to Witch Mountain_ was one of my favorite movies, but even at the time I knew how much it creeped me out. I don't know how it'd play today, heh.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So i earned my green belt in Krav Maga today...


----------



## Tom

Nimue said:


> Woohoo!  I just had to replace my tablet, and the new shiny one is on my desk looking expectantly at me... Still haven't done anything with it



Get using that tablet! I haven't used mine since before spring finals, and let me tell you...muscle memory doesn't maintain itself, lol. 



DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I have a Bamboo tablet but it's been sitting in my desk drawer for years...



Get it booted up and use it! Bamboos are great. They're not the best with pressure sensitivity, but they're easy to use and very durable. I've had mine for three years now and it's just starting to show surface scratches and other signs of wear.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

earlier i was in the bathroom and there was dental floss on the counter and it said "unwaxed" but my brain did a thing and read it as "unused" and i was like well that's good


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

My kitty is very lively today.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Just had a dream where Luke Skywalker, Fire Lord Ozai, and the Joker got in a battle royale. I need help.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^No, you don't. All of my dreams are vivid and very weird.


----------



## FifthView

So last night I was wondering if the White Walkers' swords could penetrate The Hulk's skin.

Superman's skin would be no problem--he's vulnerable to magic.

If Hulk's skin would be fine against their swords, then Hulk and Thor together could probably defeat the Night King's army, although it'd be a drawn out battle.

Wonder Woman could probably use her bracelets to deflect the swords.

I'm assuming Superman could simply pick up castle walls and the like to toss at the White Walkers and minions. Just keep his distance. Maybe he could use his speed to knock the Walkers apart without getting slashed.

Edit:  Ah, I forgot Superman's laser eyes...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

FifthView said:


> So last night I was wondering if the White Walkers' swords could penetrate The Hulk's skin.
> 
> Superman's skin would be no problem--he's vulnerable to magic.
> 
> If Hulk's skin would be fine against their swords, then Hulk and Thor together could probably defeat the Night King's army, although it'd be a drawn out battle.
> 
> Wonder Woman could probably use her bracelets to deflect the swords.
> 
> I'm assuming Superman could simply pick up castle walls and the like to toss at the White Walkers and minions. Just keep his distance. Maybe he could use his speed to knock the Walkers apart without getting slashed.
> 
> Edit:  Ah, I forgot Superman's laser eyes...



I would prefer to have the Human Torch in that scenario.


----------



## FifthView

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I would prefer to have the Human Torch in that scenario.



If only Fox would lend him out!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

How many roads must a man walk down?
42?
Yes, that sound meaningful, let's go with that.


----------



## FifthView

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> How many roads must a man walk down?
> 42?
> Yes, that sound meaningful, let's go with that.



42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.


----------



## Svrtnsse

FifthView said:


> 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything.



Pop Quiz: What's special about 43?

EDIT: This is in the category of utterly useless knowledge by the way.

Adding some extra words so that the answer in the spoiler tag doesn't show up in the Activity Stream.



Spoiler: Answer:



43 is the lowest number (positive integers) not mentioned in the bible. Also,
 this is not an invitation to engage in a discussion about the significance of this piece of information other than as a piece of trivia.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> How many roads must a man walk down?
> 42?
> Yes, that sound meaningful, let's go with that.



...I thought the answer was blowing in the wind...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That also sounds meaningful.


----------



## Russ

Svrtnsse said:


> Pop Quiz: What's special about 43?
> 
> EDIT: This is in the category of utterly useless knowledge by the way.
> 
> Adding some extra words so that the answer in the spoiler tag doesn't show up in the Activity Stream.
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler: Answer:
> 
> 
> 
> 43 is the lowest number (positive integers) not mentioned in the bible. Also,
> this is not an invitation to engage in a discussion about the significance of this piece of information other than as a piece of trivia.



Your answer is incomplete.  43 is a special number because it was worn by the greatest free safety ever to play in the NFL.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Russ said:


> Your answer is incomplete.  43 is a special number because it was worn by the greatest free safety ever to play in the NFL.



That's some kind of sport, right? 


EDIT2: Now that I think about it, haven't we been over this in the past? This rings a bell.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I still haven't learned to fly.


----------



## Ireth

So I just entered Pitch Wars and I'm so freaking nervous you guys. The results come in three weeks. Halp.


----------



## Svrtnsse

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I still haven't learned to fly.



Flap faster.


----------



## Svrtnsse

...it seems like my WiP is going to end with people talking it all out in peace and quiet. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.


----------



## Holman

Svrtnsse said:


> ...it seems like my WiP is going to end with people talking it all out in peace and quiet. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.



They're on an a train, there are so many possibilities, their ends could be so different...

Advice masquerading as sympathy or sympathy masquerading as advice...

In't beer brilliant!


----------



## Svrtnsse

Ah, yes, they're having beer too. That always helps.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Svrtnsse said:


> Flap faster.



I've been trying ever since I was a baby.


----------



## Svrtnsse

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I've been trying ever since I was a baby.



Maybe crystals don't flap? Perhaps you just hover while emitting a low chiming sound?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^My new book is about a race of bird-ish humanoid-ish winged beings, but the main character has her wings fused to her arms. She also has a twin that only she can see.


----------



## CupofJoe

Confucius                     Chinese thinker and philosopher said:
			
		

> Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.


Saw this today and thought it very apt. It maybe from Confucius, or Benjamin Franklin. I don't really care.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I think my cat thinks I'm her kitten. She just licked my hair.


----------



## Aurora

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I think my cat thinks I'm her kitten. She just licked my hair.


I love when they do this. It's how you know you are extra duper special.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Well, yay! She was so happy when I woke up this morning that she sat on me and purred and purred so much.


----------



## SeverinR

"Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein of Gelderland"
So...he's a Gelding?

(Knight's tale)
Random is the title of the thread. lol


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I think my cat thinks I'm her kitten. She just licked my hair.



My dog tried to lick my face. And by my dog I mean my two year old because he was pretending to be a dog. I had to fight him for a good five minutes. He won.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I came across this gallery of photos of indigenous Siberian people. Indigenous People of Siberia Photographed for 'The World in Faces'
The pictures are nice and the clothes the people wear are amazing. I figured maybe some of you could find some inspiration in there.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Svrtnsse said:


> I came across this gallery of photos of indigenous Siberian people. Indigenous People of Siberia Photographed for 'The World in Faces'
> The pictures are nice and the clothes the people wear are amazing. I figured maybe some of you could find some inspiration in there.



That is really cool! The clothing is fascinating!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

So about 1,000-ish Yen is about $122...I can manage that. It'll be a long wait for March 30, 2018...*sigh*


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Good news, about to get anxiety meds prescribed.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I hope I can reawaken the love within me.


----------



## Ireth

Today has been a good day. Got three new books.


----------



## Tom

Camping this weekend was...interesting. On one hand, I got to return to one of my favorite corners of New York and hang out with a ton of friends I haven't seen in ages. On the other hand, I had a migraine for three of the four days I was there, and the neighbors at the campsite next to us got drunk and started chopping down live trees. Which is illegal in state parks here. Oh well. The spectacular glacial waterfalls and dense, mossy old-growth pine forest more than made up for it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ireth said:


> Today has been a good day. Got three new books.



I want to go book shopping, but I have like 30 unread books on my shelf that I bought or received as gifts within the past year.


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I want to go book shopping, but I have like 30 unread books on my shelf that I bought or received as gifts within the past year.


Neophyte! 
I stopped counting when I got to 250 unread books and had about as many left to sort out. 
Some are resources on information you can't find on the web but most are books by authors I like but never seem to get around to reading.
Thinking about it....
My name is CupofJoe and I am a bookaholic. It has been three days since I last bought a book.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Kimi no na wa.


----------



## Tom

What do you call a cartoon character in a hammock?

.
.
.



Spoiler: apologies in advance



Suspended animation.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Anyone got any ideas for a merciless hazing?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Anyone got any ideas for a merciless hazing?



-Licking bathroom floors.

-wearing another person's used jockstrap on your head.

-random butt smackings


----------



## Tom

The most infamous hazing at my school involved laxative-laced coffees handed out on orientation day. Incidentally, this is what got the majority of our Greek life shut down.


----------



## Russ

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Anyone got any ideas for a merciless hazing?



I have served in the military, played on football teams, lived in all male university residences and been a young lawyer at an aggressive litigation law firm.

Unfortunately most of my experiences would get you arrested or sued these days.

Huge amounts of alcohol, chocolate and rubber chickens were involved from time to time.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Russ said:


> I have served in the military, played on football teams, lived in all male university residences and been a young lawyer at an aggressive litigation law firm.
> 
> Unfortunately most of my experiences would get you arrested or sued these days.
> 
> Huge amounts of alcohol, chocolate and rubber chickens were involved from time to time.



Hey this is for a story, not real life...


----------



## Ban

My dutchness is definitely a factor in this, but can we all agree that "*The Hague*" is one of the best city names in the world? Seriously what is a hague and why does it have 'the' in front of it? Fiction has taught me that all things referred to as 'the' are badass.


----------



## CupofJoe

Banten said:


> My dutchness is definitely a factor in this, but can we all agree that "*The Hague*" is one of the best city names in the world? Seriously what is a hague and why does it have 'the' in front of it? Fiction has taught me that all things referred to as 'the' are badass.


*Den Haag* - it is almost as good in Dutch!


----------



## Ban

CupofJoe said:


> *Den Haag* - it is almost as good in Dutch!



Right? The original name *s'-Gravenhage* is also pretty cool, but considerably more difficult to pronounce for most people. While I am at it *s-Hertogenbosch* (the Duke's forest) is pretty cool too.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

i only have to stay up 3 more hours for it to be 24 hours since i woke up this morning. 

i broke my sleep schedule


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> i only have to stay up 3 more hours for it to be 24 hours since i woke up this morning.
> i broke my sleep schedule


Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Last time I stayed up 24 hours it was to watch the sun set and then rise at the summer solstice - which for me was a good thing.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
> 
> Last time I stayed up 24 hours it was to watch the sun set and then rise at the summer solstice - which for me was a good thing.



uh probably bad 

i'm a teenager and our sleep schedule is in no way connected to the sun 

I just decided to stay up super late writing on a day where I'd had to get up
at 5:30.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm feeling extraordinarily restless right now. 
My mum's been making plans--I mean, suggestions--for me about what to do now that the summer's nearly over. I actually already know what I want to do: once we move, I'll volunteer at the library where my aunt works. But I don't know how to tell her this, exactly, because she might go on with "Well, yes, but..." and then I'll feel like I have to defend it, especially since we--that is, my mum--aren't/isn't 100% sure about moving to that particular place, but I already have a something, not a feeling, but something like knowing but beyond it, that we will be moving there within the next couple months. 
I really...I don't mean to be mean...it just happens, so rarely, when I'm frustrated or extremely tired.

I also feel weary, incredibly weary, and it's not a kind of physical tiredness, either. It's more like I've lived for a thousand years... 

I'm more than ready to move.


----------



## Tom

Wow, it's been a long weekend. Yesterday I attended a family wedding, and Saturday night I went to a Green Day concert. They've been one of my favorite bands since middle school and I still can't believe I finally got to see them live. The crowd energy was amazing. I'm not ashamed to admit that it brought me to tears when, at the end of the set, Billie Joe stood alone with his guitar in the middle of the stage and played 21 Guns and Time of Your Life/Good Riddance. Definitely a night I'll always remember.


----------



## Geo

The move is done, new city, new house, same 9 cubic meters of books to put back in the selves... and all the dust they carry


----------



## Addison

I'll be moving too. No later than the first week of October. Before then I'm hoping to win the best birthday gift of my life. A smart typewriter. 

Anyone else want a shot at a distraction free, portable, smart story typing machine? Check it out:
Win Freewrite, the World?s First Smart Typewriter


----------



## Ireth

Today, Sept. 1 2017, marks the end of the Harry Potter series. "All was well."


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

My WIP fails the REVERSE Bechdel Test.


----------



## Svrtnsse

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> My WIP fails the REVERSE Bechdel Test.



There are no males in it who have a conversation about anything other than women?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Svrtnsse said:


> There are no males in it who have a conversation about anything other than women?



There are two male characters (out of a large cast) and they never interact as far as I know, let alone the topic of their interaction. So, yes, basically.


----------



## Svrtnsse

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> There are two male characters (out of a large cast) and they never interact as far as I know, let alone the topic of their interaction. So, yes, basically.



My novella Emma's Story fails the Bechdel Test with quite a big margin, but then that's in the nature of the story: it revolves around Emma's indecision about whether she wants to marry or not.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Actually, there's one scene...They *do* interact. Once. 

Does it count if the male characters don't actually have a conversation, but if one refers to the other with disdain and disgust while he is in the vicinity? Hmm...


----------



## Tom

Dammit! First painting of the semester wasn't finished for critique. I was hoping I could turn over a new leaf this fall, but apparently not. Good thing my professor is flexible about late work...


----------



## Svrtnsse

This morning when I went into the break room at the office to make coffee I saw two of my colleagues standing around chatting. Nothing unusual about that. It seemed a nice an interesting conversation, but I had nothing to add so I didn't really but in to comment.

A few minutes later, when I'm back at my desk, one of the above colleagues sent me a message asking who the person they'd been talking to was.


----------



## Tom

Svrtnsse said:


> A few minutes later, when I'm back at my desk, one of the above colleagues sent me a message asking who the person they'd been talking to was.



Sounds like something I would do...


----------



## Svrtnsse

Yeah, that's what I said too. It's good it's not just me.


----------



## Ban

Some 6 year-old being carried by her dad just screamed in my ear because she was afraid of my dog... 

Time to milk my frustration for writing, at least it's good for that.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

What if Christmas and Halloween were reversed? 

Like at Christmas, you had a bunch of little kids running around in Santa Claus costumes, and at Halloween, you had people dressed as zombies and monsters with fake blood and wounds sitting in malls with little kids lining up with their frazzled parents to sit on their laps.


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> What if Christmas and Halloween were reversed?
> Like at Christmas, you had a bunch of little kids running around in Santa Claus costumes, and at Halloween, you had people dressed as zombies and monsters with fake blood and wounds sitting in malls with little kids lining up with their frazzled parents to sit on their laps.


I don't see much of a difference really. Both are times I try to avoid going out in public. 
The Halloween presents might be more interesting...
Aw.... A Zombie apocalypse Baseball bat/mace with ten inch nails driven through it.... Just what I wanted...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> I don't see much of a difference really. Both are times I try to avoid going out in public.
> The Halloween presents might be more interesting...
> Aw.... A Zombie apocalypse Baseball bat/mace with ten inch nails driven through it.... Just what I wanted...



On the other hand, Christmas gifts would get more complicated. You'd have to buy presents for all the kids in your neighborhood, and instead of writing a christmas list, you'd go door to door.

The universal appeal of sugar really is fortunate.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

How would one go about publishing poetry? 

Also, is there any way to tell if your poetry is any good? It seems so subjective...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

How would one go about publishing poetry? 

Also, is there any way to tell if your poetry is any good? It seems so subjective...


----------



## ThinkerX

> How would one go about publishing poetry?
> 
> Also, is there any way to tell if your poetry is any good? It seems so subjective...



Try your luck here:

Ralan.com - Home Page


----------



## Svrtnsse

I've got this weird urge to describe my main character as "six-foot-four and full of muscles" - I think that means it's time to stop for the night and go to bed. 

He doesn't even have any vegemite sandwiches.


----------



## Svrtnsse

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> How would one go about publishing poetry?



I self-published through lulu.com - I haven't really done any marketing so it's not selling, but I'll give it a go next time Valentine's Day comes around.
I have a few copies for sale at a local cafe, and they sell a few now and then. Most copies I've given away to friends and family though.



DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Also, is there any way to tell if your poetry is any good? It seems so subjective...



If you're afraid to show it to others because it's too personal, that's probably a good indication it's got some merit.


----------



## CupofJoe

Svrtnsse said:


> I've got this weird urge to describe my main character as "six-foot-four and full of muscles" - I think that means it's time to stop for the night and go to bed.
> 
> He doesn't even have any vegemite sandwiches.


 But does he come from Brussels and smiles alot?


----------



## Reaver

Svrtnsse said:


> I've got this weird urge to describe my main character as "six-foot-four and full of muscles" - I think that means it's time to stop for the night and go to bed.



Hey Svrt, are you, by chance:

Lyin' in a den in Bombay
With a slack jaw, and not much to say?


----------



## CelestialAeon

If the reality is actually a sandbox game in spirit of Minecraft, are we playing it wrong? So far it seems that the humanity is more concerned in looping the same loop over and over, based on really short span goals and trying to maximise individual happiness / laziness, no matter what is eventually going to happen on a long time span.


----------



## Ban

Reaver said:


> Hey Svrt, are you, by chance:
> 
> Lyin' in a den in Bombay
> With a slack jaw, and not much to say?



I really want to burst into song now.

Reaver are you trying to tempt me? Because I come from the land of plenty.


----------



## Tom

I recently bought a couple of old Polaroid cameras at a flea market for 1-5 bucks each. Turns out each one is worth about $80-100 in the condition they're in...Nice.


----------



## Aurora

I don't understand when people say they don't read Indie books. They are often indistinguishable from trad pub books if done right. It's kind of offensive when people assume (via their statements) that Indie publishers are piles of shit who don't care about their books or presenting them in a professional fashion. Like, oh, your book looks so professional and it's Indie?

Wow, go figure. I actually care about the art I craft! I find this view ignorant, offensive, and downright rude. Indie publishers care about their work selling to the masses, so that means we have to make it professional.


----------



## CupofJoe

I don't know how I've missed this in previous years but apparently we now take part in AcWriMo... [Academic Writing Month - if it needed decoding]


----------



## Tom

I'm terrified of clowns but I've let friends talk me into seeing the new _It_ twice now. Why am I such an easily persuaded dumbass...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have the weirdest ideas...


----------



## Ban

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I have the weirdest ideas...



Luckily we have an entire forum section for dreams.

 Yaay!!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

A trainee angel lands on Earth...yes, that has story potential. 

In other crystal-y news, omelet rice and leftover waffles for supper!


----------



## FifthView

Cool world building inspiration for a sci-fi tale: Harvard researchers help develop 'smart' tattoos | Harvard Gazette


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Why do I keep trying to talk about things that people don't like, or say is terrible?


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Why do I keep trying to talk about things that people don't like, or say is terrible?



Maybe someone does you just haven’t found that person? (I may have no context so I apologize XD) 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^No need to apologize. I've just been trying and falling over perspective hurtles lately on this forum, if you know what I mean.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^No need to apologize. I've just been trying and falling over perspective hurtles lately on this forum, if you know what I mean.



Totally get it, I’ve been struggling with that in school lately lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Finding perspective hurdles in school is why I had a mostly miserable four years of high school and three and a bit months of near self-destruction at university.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^Finding perspective hurdles in school is why I had a mostly miserable four years of high school and three and a bit months of near self-destruction at university.



Hey yeah I get it lol [emoji23] 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^If you ever need cheering up or want someone to talk to, I'm usually good at doing that.


----------



## Aurora

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^No need to apologize. I've just been trying and falling over perspective hurtles lately on this forum, if you know what I mean.



Can you elaborate? We're not mind readers. If you need something it's best to be clear about it so folks can respond to the best of the abilities.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^It's rather hard to explain...it's mostly social inadequacies on my part.

https://mythicscribes.com/forums/writing-questions/19024-most-independent-comic-book-writers-dont-do-enough-3.html
https://mythicscribes.com/forums/film-and-television/19009-neon-genesis-evangelion.html

I'm either way too polite or not reacting in the right way.


----------



## Tom

How am I supposed to do anything today when it feels like my internal organs are going to fall out if I try to walk? At least I'm off work tonight. I just want to curl up and die.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Kitty hugs for you. I hope you feel better soon.


----------



## Thomas Laszlo

Get to feeling better Tom!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Tom

Thanks, both of you!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Vagueness is coming.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Have been on anxiety meds for about a month. 

Pros: Anxiety is greatly lessened. My coping skills actually work. I can avoid obsessing about things that bother me for hours and hours. My siblings claim i'm much less grumpy and far more likable. I want to enjoy life. 

Cons: I'm sleepy all the time. I have bizarre dreams and wake up multiple times during the night. When I wake up i can't figure out if i'm still in a dream or not. My thoughts often feel slow and muddy. I'm so sleepy I can barely write. Going to bed early doesn't help. 

So far, pros>cons. although a dosage adjustment may be in order


----------



## Aurora

Wow. The new site looks great!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Aurora said:


> Wow. The new site looks great!


It's gonna take some getting used to...


----------



## Svrtnsse

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> It's gonna take some getting used to...


It will, but I think once we do get used to it, we won't be wanting to go back.


----------



## Ban

Site looks great. Only issues I have with it is the chat. It used to show how many messages were unread in the page tab thingy, the chat history also is much more limited and I miss the old 'Wub-Wub' sound.

All in all minor things. Overall the site looks great and works well. The main forum page definitely had a big improvement and has a bunch of new features now.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Someone just linked me this and it's amazing.





If you're not familiar with Line Rider, you can check it out and give it a try here: https://www.linerider.com/


----------



## pmmg

Nice


----------



## Zeppo

That was really neat to watch


----------



## Tom

Internet was down because of weather. Went to the library to send school emails on their wifi. Got home and the internet was back up like nothing happened. Ughhhhhhh, I hate technology...


----------



## Black Dragon

I'm relieved that the site upgrade is finished.  It was a massive effort, 4 months in the making.


----------



## CupofJoe

Black Dragon said:


> I'm relieved that the site upgrade is finished.  It was a massive effort, 4 months in the making.


Well it seems to have gone off with little trauma to us on the outside. So thank you to all involved.
Th new look will take a little getting used to, but that is ENTIRELY my problem
I fear change.....


----------



## Chessie2

Yeah, it's definitely taking some getting used to. Reminds me of walking into an entirely new grocery store when you're always used to shopping at a particular one and then you have to get used to shopping at another. It feels disorienting for a bit until you adjust.

Also, I'm heading down to the place I worked at for 2 days to give them back my uniform. Talk about a bad experience. My resume only has a few jobs on it because I've always worked at places for years and years (last job I had worked there for 7 years). After the first day at this new job, I knew it wasn't for me but convinced myself to give it a try for another day. Second day was even worse than the first. There were a lot of little things that amounted to a big _*NOPE. *_Mostly though, it was the fact that the staff was composed of assholes. Can't and won't be working there ever.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I have a $200 game and game system on my dresser; why do I have Pokemon Blue Rescue Team, a PS Vita and Persona 4 in my Amazon cart? If I did buy the latter, it would be my first Mature rated game...argh.


----------



## TheCatholicCrow

FIRE! 
Hoping to hear from you soon!  

hahaha gets me every time. Have a nice weekend everyone!


----------



## FifthView

So I was fooling around with the Seventh Sanctum's Fantasy Race Generator, and I got this as one option:

_The race of humans. They learn quickly. Oddly, they don't seem to like members of their own species very much. They manage to control a country. A great doom awaits them, and they know it not._


----------



## Tom

Whoo, feel like I fell off the planet for a while. It's been a hectic week, but this afternoon I hiked around and shot some pictures for my photography class. Gave me a chance to breathe again. Now, to work on the class presentation that's due Wednesday...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

After being away for a long time I have one thing to say to y'all:


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> After being away for a long time I have one thing to say to y'all:


----------



## Ban

I saw this on another forum. How cool is this? I'm European and I didn't even think the mediterranean was as big as the US.


----------



## Tom

New fantasy map!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> I saw this on another forum. How cool is this? I'm European and I didn't even think the mediterranean was as big as the US.



Ya done drowned my house!


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Ya done drowned my house!



The mediterranean sea is my welcome back gift to you... Perhaps I should not have dropped it on your house.

And yes Tom I think this could be a great fantasy map!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> The mediterranean sea is my welcome back gift to you... Perhaps I should not have dropped it on your house.
> 
> And yes Tom I think this could be a great fantasy map!


Note to self: after taking over Eternia, burn all eucalyptus leaves.


----------



## pmmg

Meh, I would live. Is that you got Mediterranean Gods? All that water and you still cant get me


----------



## Tom

Buffalo would still be a port city, but this time on a sea instead of a lake. We're used to water, haha. Although based on that map Rochester would be completely obliterated. RIP.


----------



## FifthView

My neighbors and I would be living in a dome under the sea, chuckling together as climate change continues to raise sea levels....


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I've got six written pages of Part 1 that I don't really need, but don't quite want to get rid of them yet. *sigh*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I've got six written pages of Part 1 that I don't really need, but don't quite want to get rid of them yet. *sigh*


Put them in a "these aren;t for the story but Imma keep em anyways" folder


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Great idea. I think I'll take out the best bits and save them for later in the story.


----------



## Tom

For every project I write I have a document called "cuts" in its folder where I just cut&paste all the stuff that didn't work out but I don't want to get rid of. Some of my best material has come from repurposed cuts, and sometimes I steal them for other stories where they would work better.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Tom said:


> For every project I write I have a document called "cuts" in its folder where I just cut&paste all the stuff that didn't work out but I don't want to get rid of. Some of my best material has come from repurposed cuts, and sometimes I steal them for other stories where they would work better.



That's a great idea. I'l see if I can work that into my process somehow.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I have the same thing; I'd totally forgotten about it.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Ya done drowned my house!


Mine too! Aaaa!


----------



## Tom

Nothing can ruin something you love quite like doing a class presentation on it...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So today i discovered that I have synesthesia. Or, more accurately, I discovered that not everyone does. 

Apparently not everyone has a color for every day of the week, month of the year, number and letter! Weird. I'd always had strong opinions about what color those things are. But I never realized that there was anything strange about it. 

for instance: Monday is yellow, Tuesday is sky blue, Wednesday is orange, Thursday is indigo, and Friday is purple. i've always taken that for granted. But apparently there are people who will be like, "what?" when you ask what color Wednesday is. Or worse, they'll say it's green. Ew! That's not right at all. 

The most interesting aspect of mine has to be that I see my relationships as color coded, at least those with my friends. Friends that I've known for years have changed color over time. My oldest friend was blue when we were little and matured into green; now he's golden now that we've reconnected. One of my friends is pale blue and another a cinnamony burgundy. My other guy friend is vivid pink. I have no idea why.


----------



## CupofJoe

Tom said:


> Nothing can ruin something you love quite like doing a class presentation on it...


Early on in my so-called career I was told never to research a subject that I loved. Liking or being interested in a subject is essential but not a deep or emotional engagement. Six months in you'd hate the thing you loved.
A generalisation I know, but I don't know many people that research what they care most about.


----------



## Sheilawisz

CupofJoe said:


> Early on in my so-called career I was told never to research a subject that I loved. Liking or being interested in a subject is essential but not a deep or emotional engagement. Six months in you'd hate the thing you loved.
> A generalisation I know, but I don't know many people that research what they care most about.



I have been researching chemical warfare in its many facets for more than twenty years. I know it's terrifying and awful, and yet I feel this dark and irrevocable fascination for the subject... The more I learn about chemical weapons and how they have been/could be used the more I want to learn about them, it has no end.

The same happens to me with swords, certain celestial bodies like the Moon, Neptune, Uranus and Titania and in general with mysteries and cryptozoology stuff like the Beast of Gevaudan (thread coming soon!), Yeti and Bigfoot, the Mothman incidents, supernatural phenomena of many kinds and various other subjects that are of great interest and love to me.

Another good example is this horrible deadly disease that virtually nobody cares about in most of the world. I have researched it as deeply as possible since it was mentioned in a famous movie from 1995, and the interest never ends.

That infectious disease is central in the plot of my story _Winter Hollow_.

Joan the second daughter of King Edward III of England is a subject of intense love and total fascination to me. I have gone desperate trying to research as much as possible about this extremely unknown person since 2006, I could never learn enough about her and she is the protagonist of a Fantasy trilogy of novels that I enjoy and love like crazy.

I know that I am unusual, and I love it.


----------



## CupofJoe

Philip Pullman: Rules of writing from man behind His Dark Materials
"Author Philip Pullman is returning to the world of Lyra Belacqua with his new trilogy The Book of Dust, the first instalment of which was released at midnight.
La Belle Sauvage: The Book Of Dust Volume One is published on Thursday, Pullman's 71st birthday, and comes 17 years after the last instalment of his previous trilogy.
While Lyra, from His Dark Materials, is one of the key characters, the action takes place when she is six months old. She is being sheltered by nuns but then 11-year-old Malcolm Polstead steps in to protect her on his canoe, La Belle Sauvage.
So what are the tricks of the trade that has made Pullman such a success - and the tips he can pass on to budding writers?
He spoke to the BBC about his lucky pen and why he can work to the sound of a pneumatic drill, but never to music."


----------



## CupofJoe

Sheilawisz said:


> I know that I am unusual, and I love it.


And that is all that really matters....


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> So today i discovered that I have synesthesia. Or, more accurately, I discovered that not everyone does.
> 
> Apparently not everyone has a color for every day of the week, month of the year, number and letter! Weird. I'd always had strong opinions about what color those things are. But I never realized that there was anything strange about it.
> 
> for instance: Monday is yellow, Tuesday is sky blue, Wednesday is orange, Thursday is indigo, and Friday is purple. i've always taken that for granted. But apparently there are people who will be like, "what?" when you ask what color Wednesday is. Or worse, they'll say it's green. Ew! That's not right at all.
> 
> The most interesting aspect of mine has to be that I see my relationships as color coded, at least those with my friends. Friends that I've known for years have changed color over time. My oldest friend was blue when we were little and matured into green; now he's golden now that we've reconnected. One of my friends is pale blue and another a cinnamony burgundy. My other guy friend is vivid pink. I have no idea why.



...But Wednesday is green. Glorious orange is to be used for Dutch monarchs not for days of the week.

Monday is red. Tuesday is yellow. Wednesday is green. Thursday is dark blue. Friday is light blue. Saturday is grey or silver. Sunday is brown or gold.


----------



## Svrtnsse

I thought Tuesday was grey, and Wednesday too?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Mondays are black.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Everyone says Wednesday is green. That idea is repugnant to me. :/ 

At least many people agree on the shade of Thursday.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I find synesthesia quite interesting.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> So today i discovered that I have synesthesia. Or, more accurately, I discovered that not everyone does.
> 
> Apparently not everyone has a color for every day of the week, month of the year, number and letter! Weird. I'd always had strong opinions about what color those things are. But I never realized that there was anything strange about it.
> 
> for instance: Monday is yellow, Tuesday is sky blue, Wednesday is orange, Thursday is indigo, and Friday is purple. i've always taken that for granted. But apparently there are people who will be like, "what?" when you ask what color Wednesday is. Or worse, they'll say it's green. Ew! That's not right at all.
> 
> The most interesting aspect of mine has to be that I see my relationships as color coded, at least those with my friends. Friends that I've known for years have changed color over time. My oldest friend was blue when we were little and matured into green; now he's golden now that we've reconnected. One of my friends is pale blue and another a cinnamony burgundy. My other guy friend is vivid pink. I have no idea why.



Eyyyy! Synesthesia buddy!

I've had synesthesia for as long as I can remember, and apparently it's more common in people with ADHD. Mine is sound-color, which means that I see colors and shapes when I listen to music or even hear random sounds (the doorbell is blue and yellow). But I also have color association, which is what you have, and number form, which arranges things like the alphabet, number sequences, and calendars into patterns or shapes. For me, people and names have specific colors. My best friend's name is sky-blue, and another friend's is dark red with a gold haze.


----------



## Ban

Svrtnsse said:


> I thought Tuesday was grey, and Wednesday too?


*Blegh*



Brian Scott Allen said:


> Mondays are black.


*Blegh again*



DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Everyone says Wednesday is green. That idea is repugnant to me. :/
> 
> At least many people agree on the shade of Thursday.



Wednesday makes me think of trees, so it's green for me and always has been. 



Tom said:


> Eyyyy! Synesthesia buddy!
> 
> I've had synesthesia for as long as I can remember, and apparently it's more common in people with ADHD. Mine is sound-color, which means that I see colors and shapes when I listen to music or even hear random sounds (the doorbell is blue and yellow). But I also have color association, which is what you have, and number form, which arranges things like the alphabet, number sequences, and calendars into patterns or shapes. For me, people and names have specific colors. My best friend's name is sky-blue, and another friend's is dark red with a gold haze.



Out of curiosity does your (and Dragon you too) color associations also extend to members of this forum? I'm kind of wondering what color I would be.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> *Blegh*
> 
> 
> *Blegh again*
> 
> 
> 
> Wednesday makes me think of trees, so it's green for me and always has been.
> 
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity does your (and Dragon you too) color associations also extend to members of this forum? I'm kind of wondering what color I would be.


Gray


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

What about me? I can't really imagine what colour I might be.


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Gray



Grey.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> Grey.


Sigh, Euros. Gray dang you!


----------



## skip.knox

A quick look at my avatar will show I'm B&W


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Eyyyy! Synesthesia buddy!
> 
> I've had synesthesia for as long as I can remember, and apparently it's more common in people with ADHD. Mine is sound-color, which means that I see colors and shapes when I listen to music or even hear random sounds (the doorbell is blue and yellow). But I also have color association, which is what you have, and number form, which arranges things like the alphabet, number sequences, and calendars into patterns or shapes. For me, people and names have specific colors. My best friend's name is sky-blue, and another friend's is dark red with a gold haze.



Apparently it's also common among people on the autism spectrum and among writers/artists. The sound one is cool! I don't have that one.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Banten said:


> *Blegh*
> 
> 
> *Blegh again*
> 
> 
> 
> Wednesday makes me think of trees, so it's green for me and always has been.
> 
> 
> 
> Out of curiosity does your (and Dragon you too) color associations also extend to members of this forum? I'm kind of wondering what color I would be.



Only close friends as far as I know. The vast majority of people I'm familiar with don't have clear colors.


----------



## Sheilawisz

CupofJoe said:


> Philip Pullman: Rules of writing from man behind His Dark Materials
> "Author Philip Pullman is returning to the world of Lyra Belacqua with his new trilogy The Book of Dust, the first instalment of which was released at midnight.
> La Belle Sauvage: The Book Of Dust Volume One is published on Thursday, Pullman's 71st birthday, and comes 17 years after the last instalment of his previous trilogy.



Joe, thank you very much for sharing that link with us. I have never read Philip Pullman's stories, even though I enjoyed very much _The Golden Compass_ at the movie theater in my birthday back in 2007. I have always lamented that they never produced movies about the rest of that series, it was something very sad for me.

Now that I read about how he experiences stories and writing them down, it makes me feel great to discover that I have many things in common with him. Especially points 1, 2, 4 and 6 resonate with me a lot, that's almost exactly how I work too.

About point 3, I also know what the rhyme of a paragraph has to be even before I get the right words for it. The difference is that I love listening to my favorite music while I work on a story, and the right music has a very powerful effect in my creative process and my enjoyment of the narrative.

Now I want to get the entire book series about Lyra Belacqua and her journey.


----------



## Tom

Banten said:


> Out of curiosity does your (and Dragon you too) color associations also extend to members of this forum? I'm kind of wondering what color I would be.



Sometimes it does! Usually I only associate people with colors after I've known them for a while. Banten, you're forest green. Sheila is lilac, Dragon is electric blue, and CrystallineEntity is pale yellow.


----------



## skip.knox

Omigosh, @Sheilawicz, please do read _His Dark Materials_. My daughter-in-law gave me the set some years ago and I devoured the story. The ideas, the characters, the prose, all of it is magnificent. I have read some criticisms. To me, they're like quibbling with Beethoven. Just sit and listen!


----------



## Ban

Tom said:


> Sometimes it does! Usually I only associate people with colors after I've known them for a while. Banten, you're forest green. Sheila is lilac, Dragon is electric blue, and CrystallineEntity is pale yellow.



That's really interesting. I can definitely see the color connections here strangely enough. Not sure why, but they all seem to fit.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> Sometimes it does! Usually I only associate people with colors after I've known them for a while. Banten, you're forest green. Sheila is lilac, Dragon is electric blue, and CrystallineEntity is pale yellow.


Now I'm curious as to my color.


----------



## Nimue

Do me, Tom! 

Synesthesia is so fun to hear about, and it always makes total sense...I remember coming up with colors for numbers and the days of the week as a kid, but it was a deliberate effort.  And while I can't seem to listen to music without generating images or scenes, I think that's a writer/reader/daydreamer problem, not an extra sense!


----------



## Reaver

Tom said:


> Sometimes it does! Usually I only associate people with colors after I've known them for a while. Banten, you're forest green. Sheila is lilac, Dragon is electric blue, and CrystallineEntity is pale yellow.


We've known each other for a while now, Tom.  What color am I associated with?


----------



## Tom

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Now I'm curious as to my color.



I'd say you're a dark blue-gray, Brian. Kind of the color of water with a shadow cast on it. 



Nimue said:


> Do me, Tom!
> 
> Synesthesia is so fun to hear about, and it always makes total sense...I remember coming up with colors for numbers and the days of the week as a kid, but it was a deliberate effort.  And while I can't seem to listen to music without generating images or scenes, I think that's a writer/reader/daydreamer problem, not an extra sense!



Haha, of course! I always see you as a vibrant, earthy red-orange, almost terra cotta. 

Having synesthesia that affects music is kind of mind-boggling, even though it's something I've lived with for as long as I can remember. It's not so much an image as this feeling that the music is pinging off your synapses and creating something entirely different. I don't _see_ it so much as _sense_ it. I...don't know how else to describe it.


----------



## Tom

Reaver said:


> We've known each other for a while now, Tom.  What color am I associated with?



Hey, Reaver! I associate you with dark red. The longer I know someone the richer and darker their color becomes.


----------



## Nimue

Tom said:


> Haha, of course! I always see you as a vibrant, earthy red-orange, almost terra cotta.


Nice!  Unfortunately I'm not a redhead in person, just in John-William-Waterhouse avatar. 

There must be some kind of video that attempts to simulate synesthesia with a piece of music...okay, I admit, all I can think of is that scene in Ratatouille where the tastes are translated into shapes and colors.  Deep, Nim.


----------



## ThinkerX

Tom said:


> Sometimes it does! Usually I only associate people with colors after I've known them for a while. Banten, you're forest green. Sheila is lilac, Dragon is electric blue, and CrystallineEntity is pale yellow.



Well, after reading through the prior entries a bit, I am curious: do I have a color?


----------



## Devor

If it's not rude of me to join in with the others, I'm curious as to whether I have a color - and did you mention one for yourself?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Now i'm a bit frustrated that I have to know someone really well and for a long time to see their color, lol. When I try to think of your colors I just think of the colors in your profile pics, mostly. 

I like being electric blue though. I find it interesting since my hair is dyed blue irl.


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Now i'm a bit frustrated that I have to know someone really well and for a long time to see their color, lol. When I try to think of your colors I just think of the colors in your profile pics, mostly.
> 
> I like being electric blue though. I find it interesting since my hair is dyed blue irl.



I actually think it might be a similar thing for Tom. The color descriptions he gives are on the whole related to the colors in our profile pictures. Brian's primary color is black, Nimue's is an auburn red and so forth. The interesting part to me is that it seems like his brain adjusts the associated color the more he gets to know someone. The primary color in my profile picture and my previous one is the beige-brown of the koala, which seems to have morphed into a forest green over time for Tom. This doesn't explain how Chrystalline became pale yellow or how you became electric blue. I believe those are purely derived from your personalities.

Gods I love psychology. Really should have done my bachelor in that.


----------



## Tom

ThinkerX said:


> Well, after reading through the prior entries a bit, I am curious: do I have a color?



I'd say you're mint green, Thinker. 



Devor said:


> If it's not rude of me to join in with the others, I'm curious as to whether I have a color - and did you mention one for yourself?



Yours is alizarin crimson. For myself, I don't know if I can pin down a color. Probably cobalt blue.


----------



## FifthView

I remember when I was 19, walking down the sidewalk of a busy street in San Francisco, new to the city, and some fortune teller psychic was hawking her services, told me to come in and she could read my future. I said no thanks with a smile and kept walking. She yelled after me and said she could even read auras — "Your aura's _black_!" At the time, I had a passing knowledge of various new age ideas, and that made me pause in my thoughts. But I kept walking.

Edit: Not a comment on other color related posts in this thread, heh, just a memory triggered by them.


----------



## skip.knox

Which triggers a memory in me. It's from some long-forgotten sitcom, probably dating to the 70s, when "Jesus loves you" was more common a catch-phrase than it is today. The character, intensely frustrated with another character, glares at them, on the verge of erupting, and manages to splutter out, "Jesus ... _likes_ ... you."  

Still makes me smile.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> I remember when I was 19, walking down the sidewalk of a busy street in San Francisco, new to the city, and some fortune teller psychic was hawking her services, told me to come in and she could read my future. I said no thanks with a smile and kept walking. She yelled after me and said she could even read auras — "Your aura's _black_!" At the time, I had a passing knowledge of various new age ideas, and that made me pause in my thoughts. But I kept walking.
> 
> Edit: Not a comment on other color related posts in this thread, heh, just a memory triggered by them.



I wonder if people who can read auras actually just have synesthesia?


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I wonder if people who can read auras actually just have synesthesia?



Huh, that's an interesting theory. I personally have to know someone pretty well to get a color impression from them, but I'm sure there are other people with synesthesia out there who can assign colors to people upon first meeting them. 

Last year, a friend dragged me to the psychic fair that was being held not far from the college, and there was this one woman there who claimed to be able to read auras. I was pretty skeptical until she described mine as how I saw it in detail, down to the last tone shift. Not sure how much of that psychic stuff I believe, but I was impressed.


----------



## CupofJoe

Two or three of my friends can see auras as part of their spiritual beliefs. And one in particular will set next to you for a chat and start teasing out your aura like they would do if you had long hair and wanted them to brush it. It was strange the first time they did it, but it is just their way of saying hi and being nice to you. 
As I can't see auras I can only attest to their belief in them.


----------



## Chessie2

My MIL and I went for a morning walk with some church ladies. It was 50 something degrees, a bit breezy but nice. One of the ladies had a coat, gloves, and hat on and was shivering. She turns to me and says, "This isn't cold to you, huh?"

HA! NOPE. Let's just say moving to Washington has taken us back about 5 months in times of weather. This is Alaskan spring baby! (so long snowy Alaska, I hear the snow just won't stop piling on hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa)


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

For some reason, I associate certain words with food.

Awful = pie
Angry = macaroni

Is anyone else like this?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> For some reason, I associate certain words with food.
> 
> Awful = pie
> Angry = macaroni
> 
> Is anyone else like this?



Do you strongly dislike pie? 

I don't really experience anything like this.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

No. I love pie and macaroni.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Question: Suppose werewolves are real. Would they ever turn into a wolf if they just kept ahead of the full moon by, say, flying on a super fast jet?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Question: Suppose werewolves are real. Would they ever turn into a wolf if they just kept ahead of the full moon by, say, flying on a super fast jet?



What if a werewolf traveled to the moon?


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> What if a werewolf traveled to the moon?



Super werewolf


----------



## Chessie2

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Question: Suppose werewolves are real. Would they ever turn into a wolf if they just kept ahead of the full moon by, say, flying on a super fast jet?


No! The magnetic pull of the moon will affect a werewolf whether he's on a plane or on land. Duh.


----------



## Incanus

I'm done working on Part 3 (of 5) of my Novel.  Yay!

I'm taking the night off.  I'm thinking of rewarding myself with sushi, and watching Lawrence of Arabia (which takes an entire night to do).


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Guys, I did it. I finally got to use a quote I have been banging around in my head for a month now. Someone said Happy Halloween to which I replied with a humbug. They asked why and I replied, "If I could work my will, every idiot who went about with Happy Halloween on his lips would be boiled with their own pumpkin spice and buried with a witch's broom through their heart." It was glorious.


----------



## Devor

Thank you, bed bugs, for teaching me what vampire pee looks like. I'm sure that'll be useful in my writing. Hahahaha.......

Oh God, I'm being serious.


----------



## Incanus

Blah.

Inspiration has flagged.  Energy is low.  Novel is not as good as I'd like for it to be.

Wondering if I should:  just keep writing and try to push through, or, take a break - either not writing for a little while, or working on something else.

Guess I'll start by trying to push through.

(I'm remembering someone here who I don't know that said a few months back that writing a successful novel was really, really easy to do.  For me, it is one of the most difficult things to do.)


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Purr cat purr.


----------



## Aerielle Max

Yes, I agree with this: "Sometimes a bitch is exactly what you need in your life."


----------



## pmmg

Happy halloween works for me. And i was just thinking, what is missing from my life and now i feel i have my answer.


----------



## pmmg

Hey, its just me and 48 robots on the site at the moment . Robots are great but i wonder why they keep asking if my last name is connor?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

What are anti-waffles? Who knows?


----------



## pmmg

I think anti-waffles are have raised squares, that lets the syrup spill away from the waffle onto the plate, and not into the little craters. And what good is that?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

No no no, anti-waffles are pancakes. The waffle's archnemisis


----------



## pmmg

I knew there was a reason i did not like pancakes. Go team waffles.


----------



## Ban

Anti-waffles are a bunch of floating cubes of bitter and salty dough.


----------



## CupofJoe

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> What are anti-waffles? Who knows?


Because I couldn't resist... I googled "antiwaffle" and the mighty Google's first suggestion? 
A Horse Blanket...
Now I'm really confused...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

The opposite of a waffle would be slimy on the outside but hard on the inside, would be bitter and salty, and would have raised squares instead of sunken ones! Or maybe it wouldn't be edible at all...

Maybe it would be a waffle-shaped hole in space-time, canceling waffles when they come into contact!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^When one of my main characters made anti-waffles, and the anti-waffles accidentally touched normal waffles, both versions vanished.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

pmmg said:


> I knew there was a reason i did not like pancakes. Go team waffles.


You shut your whore mouth. Pancakes FTW.


----------



## pmmg

Ah, I see that pancake sympathizers come from dark places, but you will all be waffled when our truth goes marching on. 

Next they’ll be saying pineapple belongs on pizza. Lame. 

Waffles!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I prefer pancakes.


----------



## CupofJoe

*Crumpets!!!!!*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I prefer pancakes.


I have found my Evil-Lyn.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

CupofJoe said:


> *Crumpets!!!!!*


No. You are wrong.


----------



## pmmg

I think we can all agree that crumpets are wrong. Still, waffles.


----------



## CupofJoe

Oh no no no no. Crumpets are perfect... Toasted and then buttered with LOTS of butter and a little Damson Jam with a side of crispy salty bacon... Cold morning heaven! Or a great after-walk snuggled by the fire snack... Okay now I'm hungry.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

CupofJoe said:


> Oh no no no no. Crumpets are perfect... Toasted and then buttered with LOTS of butter and a little Damson Jam with a side of crispy salty bacon... Cold morning heaven! Or a great after-walk snuggled by the fire snack... Okay now I'm hungry.


Knowing what a crumpet is is also a prerequisite to understanding cricket.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I remember a time when I was a younger man. Falling back was great, I got my hour of sleep back. Now? The kids wake up after the same raw number of hours slept but disregard the numbers on the clock. 

Let me sleep for one more hour! 

But alas, that is not to be.


----------



## pmmg

As i wrote on my facebook, ill vote for anyone who promises to do away with dst.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Where to find gluten-free crumpets? I have no idea.

Nandemonaiya.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Where to find gluten-free crumpets? I have no idea.
> 
> Nandemonaiya.



Is a crumpet like a crepe? I don't even know.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

A crumpet is a [primarily] British food.


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Is a crumpet like a crepe? I don't even know.



They are not. Crepes are soft, thin pancake-ish things. Crumpets are soft, thick... also pancake-ish things.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I tried to post a picture of one, but it wouldn't let me.
Crumpets have holes that soak up butter and are great for smearing honey or jam on top.


----------



## FifthView

Apparently, "chock-a-block" is the British spelling, and "chockablock" is the American. From what I can gather after a couple searches. 

(Oxford vs Merriam-Webster.)


----------



## Tom

All this talk of baked goods is making me want to bake scones. My cousin's wife gave me recipe for maple-lavender scones and I really want to try it.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Boo's curled up in a woven basket. *cuteness overload*


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Boo's curled up in a woven basket. *cuteness overload*



Aww! 

So we have some semi-feral cats that we feed, but do little else with. One of them had kittens (she's one of the wilder of the cats and won't let you near her) and apparently refused to take care of them, or was unable. Anyway, I think the others died, but we saved one and named him Winston Purrchill. So now we have a cat. If a very little baby one. 

Winston is about five weeks old, and we're feeding him with formula. He likes to nom feet and hands. If you tap your foot, he'll hunch down on the ground and "stalk" it, then jump on it. He's a brown tabby with beautiful markings and a super thick, plush coat. He's so soft, when you pet him you can just feel all your worries melt away. Until he starts trying to eat your hands, of course... 

Winston lives in an unused Jacuzzi tub currently. he's too little to jump out, but that will change really soon.


----------



## Tom

Winston sounds similar to my cat, Rascal! He's also a brown tabby with gorgeous markings. He's a nervous wreck who spends all day when I'm at school or work sleeping on my bed because he's afraid to venture far without me, and then when I come home he acts as my second shadow. He'd probably be too clingy and high-strung for anyone else, but I love him.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Winston sounds similar to my cat, Rascal! He's also a brown tabby with gorgeous markings. He's a nervous wreck who spends all day when I'm at school or work sleeping on my bed because he's afraid to venture far without me, and then when I come home he acts as my second shadow. He'd probably be too clingy and high-strung for anyone else, but I love him.



They all have their quirks of course, but we love them still. 

Same with people


----------



## Ban

When a writer stubs his toe in an empty house, does he make sound?

Yes, yes he does. He turns into a cursing pirate even.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> When a writer stubs his toe in an empty house, does he make sound?
> 
> Yes, yes he does. He turns into a cursing pirate even.


I take it you know this from experience?


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I take it you know this from experience?



Yes indeed, a very recent experience in fact. Recent enough to still have me pirate cursing a tiny bit.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> Yes indeed, a very recent experience in fact. Recent enough to still have me pirate cursing a tiny bit.


Stop stubbing your toes then.


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Stop stubbing your toes then.



Only one good stub is needed.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> Only one good stub is needed.


Ah, but you will stub it again. You should try not to.


----------



## Ban

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Ah, but you will stub it again. You should try not to.



Ah of course that's what went wrong, thank you sensei. I will keep this great wisdom close to me.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Banten said:


> Ah of course that's what went wrong, thank you sensei. I will keep this great wisdom close to me.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Somehow I feel that fantasy writers are an exceptionally weird bunch.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Somehow I feel that fantasy writers are an exceptionally weird bunch.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


>



From me, weird is a compliment. I enjoy being called weird. 

It's better than being called normal, isn't it? That's about like someone saying, "You're so common-place," or "You're so ordinary."


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> From me, weird is a compliment. I enjoy being called weird.
> 
> It's better than being called normal, isn't it? That's about like someone saying, "You're so common-place," or "You're so ordinary."


It's the Somehow part. I think it's a given we're weird. I mean, who writes books. Weird people.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> It's the Somehow part. I think it's a given we're weird. I mean, who writes books. Weird people.


 
Lol...

It seems that sometimes I am sarcastic without knowing.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Wyrdness is wonderful.


----------



## SeverinR

I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not the dullest either.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

SeverinR said:


> I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not the dullest either.



I'm not the brightest tack in the drawer.


----------



## Ban

SeverinR said:


> I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not the dullest either.



Hey now don't say that. You're an all-star.


----------



## Chessie2

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Wyrdness is wonderful.


Birds the wyrd, baby.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm not the brightest tack in the drawer.


I’m not the sharpest knife in the crayon box.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Brian Scott Allen said:


> I’m not the sharpest knife in the crayon box.



why are there knives in the crayon box? that's not safe


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I've written 133 poems now. 

Sounds impressive but only a small fraction are any good, likely. 

I think I wrote five or six tonight...I don't remember properly lol. So tired. Anyway, I did a couple really dark and a couple really whimsical. One was about a girl (me) climbing a ladder to the moon and watching the earth, drinking a glass of warm milk and wearing slippers, and conversing with an astronaut. He asks, "What are you afraid of?"


----------



## CupofJoe

Now I know what I truly am...
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - Virus


----------



## valiant12

Why is facebook suggesting to me some complete strangers in the people you may know section ?
I never seen these people, we don't live in the same city, and all of them are ugly losers. I bet facebook sugest hot sucsesfull people to most users.


----------



## CupofJoe

valiant12 said:


> Why is facebook suggesting to me some complete strangers in the people you may know section ?
> I never seen these people, we don't live in the same city, and all of them are ugly losers. I bet facebook sugest hot sucsesfull people to most users.


My FaceBook account is very old, back when you could use aliases, so I am not me or even CoJ. 
FB's algorithm still managed to pair me up with a friend/collaborator of the guy I work/share an office with, who isn't on FB under their own name either...


----------



## Ban

Here's a little non-rhyming poem I wrote for my blogsite-thingy, which I wanted to share. Hope this is the right place  


Something to write on a Big Stone

⊕ This is my stone ⊕
It is not special, unless you wish it to be.
It is mine, only because I say it is.
I think it is a stone because I’ve seen other stones.
It might not be a stone.
The only way to see if this is a stone is to break it open,
⊗ which I do not recommend because it is my stone ⊗


----------



## Chessie2

My father-in-law is shucking crab in the kitchen and I hear our Siamese crying her heart out all the way across the house.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Kimi dake wo...kimi dake wo...suki de ita yo.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

It's happened to all of us. It's just past midnight and you can't find your master list of ways to kill people. 

#imawriteriswear 

That aside I just spent twenty minutes bookmarking important stuff in my notebooks with sticky notes because i have like 20 of them and none are organized.


----------



## Tom

It feels like I haven't been on MS in so long, wow. School got very intense toward the end of the semester, but yesterday was my last day of classes! A friend and I went out to the Irish pub near campus to celebrate and we were there for more than two hours. It felt so amazing not to worry about deadlines...


----------



## SeverinR

I wonder if I wrote something, if people would read it? (It doesn't work on Facebook)


----------



## pmmg

Well, ignoring that...

A human and an elf walk into a bar, but the dwarf laughs and walks under it.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Heh. 

A Bone Alchemist walks into a bar...and falls apart.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

No one's here again.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> No one's here again.


I am always here.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^That's good.


----------



## ThinkerX

My Dad died this morning at 3 am in his homestead home.  He was 84, a 'pillar of the community' sort, one of the original homesteaders in the area, welder on the trans-Alaska pipeline, master electrician, expert mechanic, helped found the local volunteer fire department.  I strongly suspected since last Christmas that 2017 would be his last year, though I dared hope otherwise.  He is survived by his wife (91 and still going strong), myself and my two younger brothers, plus more younger relatives than I can easily keep track of.  This was one of the things that had me too distracted to focus on writing the last couple of months.


----------



## Nimue

I'm sorry, Thinker.  It sounds like he lived a great life. Best wishes for you and your family over the holidays: I hope you can all spend time together.


----------



## Ankari

My condolences ThinkerX . From the way you describe him, he left quite a legacy. That is all we can do in this world. Be strong. Celebrate him this holiday season.


----------



## Ban

Rations for various RPG Races (From wats6831 on /r/RPG)

For anyone around here who is as invested in food as me, the threat that I linked to shows pictures of what someone imagines trail rations to be like for various fantasy races. It's pretty great, here's one example for gnomes:


----------



## Russ

Keep it up Banten, I could get addicted to those kind of photos.

I am invested in food as well


----------



## Ban

Russ said:


> Keep it up Banten, I could get addicted to those kind of photos.
> 
> I am invested in food as well



I'm in the GRR Martin camp when it comes to food. I almost like reading about fantasy food more than actually reading fantasy. If I find another one I'll be sure to share it


----------



## pmmg

Given the multitudes of Orcs that get slain in the course of an adventure, I would think their rations would show up more in the rations of others.


----------



## Ban

pmmg said:


> Given the multitudes of Orcs that get slain in the course of an adventure, I would think their rations would show up more in the rations of others.



Would you really trust the food standards of an orc camp though? I prefer my meat without maggots.


----------



## Devor

I would also be pretty leery of where that meat came from.... "unknown origin" means a corpse.


----------



## pmmg

See, this is exactly the type of systematic bias that keeps Orcs living in the wilds and on the outskirts of civilization, and never enjoying the benefits. Its no wonder they are always so angry and wanting to kill everyone.


----------



## Russ

I blame Tolkien and Gygax....Green Lives Matter!


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

Banten said:


> Rations for various RPG Races (From wats6831 on /r/RPG)
> 
> For anyone around here who is as invested in food as me, the threat that I linked to shows pictures of what someone imagines trail rations to be like for various fantasy races. It's pretty great, here's one example for gnomes:



I'm glad to see they threw in a few coins for the gnomes to gnaw on.


----------



## Orc Knight

Banten said:


> Would you really trust the food standards of an orc camp though? I prefer my meat without maggots.


 As the possible resident orc here, I am most affronted you think our food has maggots in it.


----------



## Chessie2

Orc Knight said:


> As the possible resident orc here, I most affronted you think our food has maggots in it.


Orcs eat cooked food. Diced human hearts in a honey glaze would be a delicacy.


----------



## Orc Knight

Most meat with a glaze or a bar-b-q. Though I suppose, if the maggots are thick enough for the fry pan, waste not. Throw around some peppers, spices and onions and maybe a fresh bit of bread or biscuits and it's a right good meal.


----------



## CupofJoe

We'd better get used to eating Maggots, insect and the like... They are the foods of the future! and Algae...


----------



## pmmg

CupofJoe said:


> We'd better get used to eating Maggots, insect and the like... They are the foods of the future! and Algae...



Im okay with starving to death in some scenarios.


----------



## Ban

CupofJoe said:


> We'd better get used to eating Maggots, insect and the like... They are the foods of the future! and Algae...



Not sure if I am quite at the "Yay maggots!" level yet, but I don't mind some fried mantis every now and then. Tastes like popcorn!


----------



## Devor

Banten said:


> Not sure if I am quite at the "Yay maggots!" level yet, but I don't mind some fried mantis every now and then. Tastes like popcorn!



As disgusting as it sounds, I bet maggots can be cooked to have a delightful pop when you bite into them.


----------



## Tom

I might have to brush up on some unusual cooking skills myself, if the storm this weekend is as bad as it's supposed to be. Yay, maggots!


----------



## Tom

You know, I should have realized before I started it that making an 11x14" colored pencil piece in one day is a bad idea. It took 8 solid hours and now my arm is burning like hellfire. I also need new pencils, since I haven't replaced them since my advanced drawing class last spring. My background color was shaved down to a stub by the end.

Well, they say hindsight is 20/20....


----------



## CupofJoe

Devor said:


> As disgusting as it sounds, I bet maggots can be cooked to have a delightful pop when you bite into them.


Just think of them as really pale Prawns...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

"We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!"

I'm surprised that no one mentioned that line yet.


----------



## Thoras

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days!"
> 
> I'm surprised that no one mentioned that line yet.


----------



## Michael K. Eidson

I just realized that hindsight is two years from now.


----------



## Svrtnsse

That's the funniest thing I've read since I sat down to write half an hour ago.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Send good vibes. My wife, my baby, and I have the flu. Yay.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Send good vibes. My wife, my baby, and I have the flu. Yay.


Oh dear. 

I'll make sure to have a hot toddy for you all when I get back home from work. Hang in there.


----------



## CupofJoe

Brian Scott Allen said:


> Send good vibes. My wife, my baby, and I have the flu. Yay.


Lots of fluids and keep warm [not too warm though...] and get tissues with Aloe Vera. Your noses will thank you...


----------



## Chessie2

The sun finally came out today. I can't recall the last time we had a sunny day. I think Washington might still be too far up north for me.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Tom said:


> You know, I should have realized before I started it that making an 11x14" colored pencil piece in one day is a bad idea. It took 8 solid hours and now my arm is burning like hellfire. I also need new pencils, since I haven't replaced them since my advanced drawing class last spring. My background color was shaved down to a stub by the end.
> 
> Well, they say hindsight is 20/20....


Let's see it or it didn't happen


----------



## Tom

Dark Squiggle said:


> Let's see it or it didn't happen


It may look pretty, but it's the product of blood, sweat, and tears.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Tom said:


> It may look pretty, but it's the product of blood, sweat, and tears.


I have never even tried to get such rich color out of a pencil. If I were to try to draw something like that, I'd start with pencil, but finish it with pastel or crayon. Here is my current work, it took me about 30 minutes so far. 100% Oil pastel. I am awed by how much effort that must've taken you to do in pencil.


----------



## Tom

Dark Squiggle said:


> I have never even tried to get such rich color out of a pencil. If I were to try to draw something like that, I'd start with pencil, but finish it with pastel or crayon. Here is my current work, it took me about 30 minutes so far. 100% Oil pastel. I am awed by how much effort that must've taken you to do in pencil.



Nice! I love how soft your lines are, and the vibrancy of the colors. I never had the finesse for pastels--I always smear them or manage to muddy the colors. 

I really hate colored pencil, but I needed a new piece for my portfolio (the old one was looking a little...sad next to my current work), so I forced myself into it. The key to getting good saturation out of 'em is to press down until you develop carpal tunnel and then just keep layering until you've got this thick, waxy coating on the paper. I was not lying when I said my arm was _burning_ afterwards.


----------



## Nimue

Dang that’s lovely Tom! Is that metallic gold paint? The colors turned out fantastic but you’ve hit on one of the reasons I can’t be arsed to do anything but digital art...upsize that brush and scribble in whatever you need!  I hope you’re looking after your hand/wrist health—take breaks, stretch those tendons according to a medical guide, and do hand-strengthening exercises!  I’ve just seen multiple artists on social media start developing hand problems even in their mid-to-late twenties so be careful  Yes, I’m a grandma, so sue me.


----------



## Tom

Nimue said:


> Dang that’s lovely Tom! Is that metallic gold paint? The colors turned out fantastic but you’ve hit on one of the reasons I can’t be arsed to do anything but digital art...upsize that brush and scribble in whatever you need!  I hope you’re looking after your hand/wrist health—take breaks, stretch those tendons according to a medical guide, and do hand-strengthening exercises!  I’ve just seen multiple artists on social media start developing hand problems even in their mid-to-late twenties so be careful  Yes, I’m a grandma, so sue me.



Thanks! Yes, it is metallic gold paint--it's called Liquid Leaf and it looks exactly like the real deal when you apply it. My art buddies and I got obsessed with it a couple semesters ago. Makes anything look 10 times fancier!

Unfortunately it's a little late for my wrists--I've had carpal tunnel for a while now, thanks to high school sports injuries and years of typing on a bad keyboard. Stretching and wrist braces helped rehabilitate them to a certain extent, but they still hurt a lot when I draw or type for long periods of time.


----------



## Nimue

Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, that really sucks... At least you know about it now and know to take steps against it.  Do take breaks! And maybe switch to paint instead of pencil for swaths of paper, eh?


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> It may look pretty, but it's the product of blood, sweat, and tears.



Wow. Gorgeous.


----------



## Tom

Nimue said:


> Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, that really sucks... At least you know about it now and know to take steps against it.  Do take breaks! And maybe switch to paint instead of pencil for swaths of paper, eh?



Yeah, it does suck...I do my best to prevent flare-ups, but it's something I've learned to live with. This was my first time working extensively with pencils in...god, over a year, so I definitely wasn't used to the stress it puts on my wrist. 



DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Wow. Gorgeous.



Thank you!


----------



## Chessie2

It always trips me out when readers add my book(s) to their 'currently reading' list on Goodreads. Like, will they enjoy it?

!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Reaver said:


>


I will quite possibly hunt you down and gut you like a fish for this.


----------



## Tom

Reaver, I kind of want to gouge my eyes out now. Thanks.


----------



## Ban

I donut c the issue.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Banten said:


> I donut c the issue.


You spelled _ocean_ wrong.


----------



## Tom

I really wanted to take the only intermediate film photography class my professor is running this semester, but I thought it conflicted with another class. I just found out that it does, in fact, work with my schedule and that it's still open for registration!! I'm deliriously happy right now.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Scribes, my anxiety is very bad right now. I feel sick and dizzy and frightened. Prayers, kind thoughts, encouraging words, recipes for comfort food, and photos of cats are all greatly appreciated.


----------



## Svrtnsse

How about an otter? It's a feisty one and it'll bonk your anxiety on the nose.







As for comfort food. I just made myself a hot chocolate with chili and ice cream (I also had whiskey in it, but I'm not sure that's a good mix for you)


----------



## Orc Knight

Not sure I can say much that still comes off as sounding trite, but you can pull through it.


----------



## Svrtnsse

...and I don't know if this is your kind of music, but I think the message of this song is pretty strong. It's about keeping it together and pulling through even when things are bad.


----------



## Nimue

Oh buddy, I'm sorry.  Breathe and reach out to somebody.  I hope you feel better soon.  

I don't know if it helps, but I like to go to rainymood.com, which is just the sound of rain and thunder and suggests music to listen to alongside it, and turn it up until I can't hear anything else.  Sending peaceful-as-a-sleepy-kitty vibes your way...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Thanks guys. 

I'll try the song, Svrt, theres not much music that's not my type  

Nimue, I tend to turn to a youtube video with rain sounds and native american flutes  There's also a website that simulates cat purrs.


----------



## Svrtnsse

A song on a similar theme, if you're into music, is this one. Admittedly, I've not picked up on all of the lyrics so maybe I shouldn't say too much, but there's a few lines that stand out.
_I'm not afraid of what it feels like.
I'm not afraid of it at all._​_




_


----------



## Devor




----------



## Ban

Devor said:


>



Well done Devor, that is the most adorable thing I've seen all day.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Adorable you say? WeRateDogs™ on Twitter

Normally I try and stay off twitter even on a good day, but the WeRateDogs feed is a never ending stream of adorable - at least if you like dogs.


----------



## Chessie2

Nimue: you're speaking to my heart, dearest one. I absolutely adore cats. <3


----------



## Nimue

Those pictures came just from skimming my Tumblr queue, so uh...agreed.  Cats are my favorite creatures on this benighted planet.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I love kitties.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Here is a picture of a kitty very much like the last one I had. He got pretty big before i had to let him go on my cousin's farm. I loved him, even though he did eat a lot of things he should not have.  Catty was a foot long when I let him go and is probably much bigger now.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Dark Squiggle said:


> Here is a picture of a kitty very much like the last one I had. He got pretty big before i had to let him go on my cousin's farm. I loved him, even though he did eat a lot of things he should not have.  Catty was a foot long when I let him go and is probably much bigger now.



Slippery pond kitty!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Is it to live for? I wonder...


----------



## Tom

How about them Philadelphia Eagles, eh?


----------



## CupofJoe

Tom said:


> How about them Philadelphia Eagles, eh?


Were they playing?


----------



## Tom

CupofJoe said:


> Were they playing?


You might say so, yes.


----------



## CupofJoe

These National Parks Could Be in Middle Earth


> Dan Bell is a biologist with a knack for map-making.
> Bell doesn’t draw just any old map, though. He likes to draw national park maps, and he pulls inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien. Anyone who’s read The Lord of the Rings series or The Hobbit is familiar with Tolkien’s elaborate maps that help guide readers through his imaginary worlds. Imagine that but in the United Kingdom.


----------



## Tom

Thoughts would be appreciated for my cat right now. His back legs are paralyzed and the vet thinks he might have a spinal chord injury.


----------



## Nimue

I’m so sorry Tom... is he an older cat?


----------



## Tom

Nimue said:


> I’m so sorry Tom... is he an older cat?


No, he's about 6 and he's always been healthy. We think he might have been stepped on by our dog, who has a spinal condition and doesn't have full control over his back legs anymore. Good news, though--the kitty came home this afternoon! I've been at school the entire day so I have no idea about his condition besides that he's home, but it's a start.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Kitty hugs from me and Boo.


----------



## Chessie2

I'm sorry about your cat, Tom. My heart goes out to you and your kitty. Hugs.


----------



## Tom

Thanks. He's doing a lot better now, but he'll have to go back in for an MRI. The vet thinks he might have a herniated disk.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

sending love and healing for your cat <3 I hope for a full recovery.


----------



## CupofJoe

Tom said:


> Thanks. He's doing a lot better now, but he'll have to go back in for an MRI. The vet thinks he might have a herniated disk.


I've had one of those. My sympathies and good wished goes with him.


----------



## Ban

Worldspinner: Fantasy map making and world building this site might be fun for anyone looking into some fantasy worldbuilding ideas. They're still working on it, and much of it isn't finished, but it's fun for what it is.

Edit: aaand maintenance.

Edited Edit: And can someone please include the lizard dwarf I made in Heroforge in one of their projects.


----------



## skip.knox

That Worldspinner site looks pretty cool and well done. Still working on it, though? The copyright goes clear back to 2014!


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Blah blah blah Tidal Wave!


----------



## Tom

Okay, who else thought the Pyeongchang opening ceremony was cool as hell? A blend of ancient and modern, eastern and western...spectacular and definitely a great representation of South Korea. Can't wait for the games to start in earnest--I of course have a preference for Team USA, but I also root for Canada with just as much enthusiasm, since I live so close to the border.


----------



## CupofJoe

Tom said:


> Okay, who else thought the Pyeongchang opening ceremony was cool as hell? A blend of ancient and modern, eastern and western...spectacular and definitely a great representation of South Korea. Can't wait for the games to start in earnest--I of course have a preference for Team USA, but I also root for Canada with just as much enthusiasm, since I live so close to the border.


And those Drones!


----------



## Tom

Well guys, my cat Ranger passed away in the night. He'd been in pain the day before and I think he just gave up. I know it's probably for the best, but it's hard to say goodbye.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Well guys, my cat Ranger passed away in the night. He'd been in pain the day before and I think he just gave up. I know it's probably for the best, but it's hard to say goodbye.



I'm so sorry Tom


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm so sorry Tom



Yeah, I think he just didn't want to go through it anymore. Poor buddy.


----------



## Tom

Looks like someone's going to have to perform some thread necromancy here...


----------



## Svrtnsse

In the category Similes That Didn't Quite Cut It:


----------



## Tom

"Didn't quite cut it"? Short, eloquent, powerful...what's not to like?


----------



## Svrtnsse

Tom said:


> "Didn't quite cut it"? Short, eloquent, powerful...what's not to like?


That's what Gimli said.


----------



## Tom

I just hit the submit button on my BFA application and I'm so nervous I feel sick...Let's hope I have the right stuff for this program.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> I just hit the submit button on my BFA application and I'm so nervous I feel sick...Let's hope I have the right stuff for this program.



I'm in the midst of college applications so i totally understand the submission jitters O_O I already got rejected at my top choice for a school, so...Good luck...to both of us...!


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm in the midst of college applications so i totally understand the submission jitters O_O I already got rejected at my top choice for a school, so...Good luck...to both of us...!


Good luck, Dragon! Hope all your applications go well. 

I'm transferring from my old school to a new one to continue at a higher level, so I'm definitely scared that I'm not up to their standards. I was accepted by my first choice but I still need to submit a separate application to their BFA department. They're pretty picky about who they let into the program because it's so intensive.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Good luck, Dragon! Hope all your applications go well.
> 
> I'm transferring from my old school to a new one to continue at a higher level, so I'm definitely scared that I'm not up to their standards. I was accepted by my first choice but I still need to submit a separate application to their BFA department. They're pretty picky about who they let into the program because it's so intensive.



Yikes. 

I'm trying for lots of creative writing scholarships so i've had to put together portfolios and stuff and i keep thinking about whether  they're good enough or not...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm happy for Tessa and Scott today.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Who's Tessa & Scott?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Canadian olympians who performed yesterday and won gold in team figure skating.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I am utterly mesmerized by nature documentaries. Nature and all its creatures are so awe inspiring. I cannot look away. 

Lots of fantastical creature inspiration too.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

We're all guilty of this at some point: stating our own opinions as if they are the 'true' opinions and the only opinions that matter. I certainly have, and then I feel guilty afterwards. I do try to be careful not to, but who hasn't slipped up in that regard? I at least try to just avoid the things I dislike instead of complaining about them, but the way the internet is, I'm often hesitant to express my appreciation and excitement of the things I like, not knowing if someone might start ranting about how bad they are. 
Anyway, none of this really has anything to do with anything.


----------



## Orc Knight

That moment when you have a hundred thoughts crash together and you just want to sleep because your mind becomes a train wreck. Of many trains. And possibly a space shuttle one.


----------



## pmmg

Saw this on the road in front of me today, does anyone else see the irony of this?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

How many boards could the Mongols hoard if the Mongol hordes got bored?


----------



## Tom

I have a joke: What do the Star Wars prequels and Mary Queen of Scots have in common?


----------



## pmmg

They both disappointed their target audience?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

They were both contrary?


----------



## valiant12

Sad ending ?


----------



## pmmg

They both set expectations they did not live up to.... Kind of like posting a joke with no punch-line?


----------



## CupofJoe

Maybe this is old hat [no pun intended] but which Harry Potter Character are you?
I came out as Luna Lovegood. Yes I admit I see Nargles.


----------



## skip.knox

I came out as Batman.


----------



## pmmg

I drew HP himself, who I thought was kind of a whiney do-nothing, but....I'll go for their write up of having a passions for justice and truth. Somehow this decided is was also an INSJ, which is close, but I think I am more an INTJ.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

I got Luna, but I could've told you that without taking this test. I'm a a bit of a skeptic, but otherwise it fits me perfectly. She was always my favorite character anyway.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Apparently I'm Luna, too. No surprise there.


----------



## Ban

A dangling participle walks into a bar... • r/writing This list should get a groan/laugh out of you.

Exhibit A: *Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”*


----------



## Chessie2

Kitty is driving me up the wall today wanting in and out of the room. She can't decide what she wants so now she's locked in here, sitting by the door waiting for me to open it. 

Sorry, kitty. I'm tired of your indecisiveness!


----------



## skip.knox

Kitty is always decisive. What it wants when in is out; when out, in.  Simple.


----------



## Incanus

Farewell Stephen Hawking----

I didn't just buy A Brief History of Time and put in on my shelf.  I actually read it.  Twice.  Great book.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Incanus said:


> Farewell Stephen Hawking----
> 
> I didn't just buy A Brief History of Time and put in on my shelf.  I actually read it.  Twice.  Great book.



I'm that person who just has it on my shelf. There are a terribly large amount that way...as yet unread.


----------



## CupofJoe

Alas for Stephen Hawking, I bought aBHoT, read aBHoT, and then bought three more books to try an understand aBHoT. 
Or maybe that was his point... To get people thinking about Physics. It did that.


----------



## Incanus

Oh my, I certainly have a good deal of unread books on my shelves too!  Just not that one.

The reason I ended up reading it twice was because I think I understood about 10-15% of it the first time.  As a slow reader, I had to stop with the science books when my writing began to take off.  Now its history and reference books and biographies and whatnot.  So much to learn----


----------



## Ban

I've been filling the chat with cute animal videos I found, but I don't want to leave the rest out.

https://i.redd.it/pecy9iiyvrl01.gif
"Hey, pet me."
New toy • r/RedditInReddit
I sits where I fits and I lay where I may. That's all cats say. • r/RedditInReddit
Guinea pigs roll out - Create, Discover and Share GIFs on Gfycat


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Ack. This happened a few days ago but it's been hurting me more and more. My friend told me the other day not to hug her in front of her sister or mom because they think I'm a lesbian...??? Imagine being so homophobic that you don't want best friends to hug each other in front of you. The best/worst part is, I'm not even gay?? Maybe it's the pixie cut??? Martial arts???? The fact that I'm not prioritizing getting into a guy's pants over everything else in my life?????? I don't know. Anyway, it's really hurtful. i wonder if she's indirectly signaling that i'm making her uncomfortable too? How can I tell? Should I back off? idkkkkk. Have i broken some kind of boundary somehow? I'm so bad about seeing those. 

To clarify, I live in an uber-conservative southern state where a lot of people seem to think gays can "turn" people. Zombie-fashion, i guess? 

I want out of this stupid town so bad. 

anyone down for writing a satirical piece about the gay apocalypse? it might make me feel better


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Ack. This happened a few days ago but it's been hurting me more and more. My friend told me the other day not to hug her in front of her sister or mom because they think I'm a lesbian...??? Imagine being so homophobic that you don't want best friends to hug each other in front of you. The best/worst part is, I'm not even gay?? Maybe it's the pixie cut??? Martial arts???? The fact that I'm not prioritizing getting into a guy's pants over everything else in my life?????? I don't know. Anyway, it's really hurtful. i wonder if she's indirectly signaling that i'm making her uncomfortable too? How can I tell? Should I back off? idkkkkk. Have i broken some kind of boundary somehow? I'm so bad about seeing those.
> To clarify, I live in an uber-conservative southern state where a lot of people seem to think gays can "turn" people. Zombie-fashion, i guess?
> I want out of this stupid town so bad.
> anyone down for writing a satirical piece about the gay apocalypse? it might make me feel better


If someone says they don't want to be hugged, don't hug them. I have a very tactile group of friends where hugging cheek kissing and even hold handing is common and I hate hugging, cheek kissing and hand holding. So they know not to include me most of the time. I don't mean like like or love them any less. I relent when I feel comfortable but that isn't often. [relent - even my choice of words is defensive...]
As for people thinking that you are gay, there is nothing you can do about that. They will think how they will. For a long time, I thought a Russian student I knew was coming on to me because they always held my hand when we talked, but apparently its a thing in parts of Russia.
Personally, I'd ask your friend if you've missed something because I'm terrible at working that stuff out as well.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

CupofJoe said:


> If someone says they don't want to be hugged, don't hug them. I have a very tactile group of friends where hugging cheek kissing and even hold handing is common and I hate hugging, cheek kissing and hand holding. So they know not to include me most of the time. I don't mean like like or love them any less. I relent when I feel comfortable but that isn't often. [relent - even my choice of words is defensive...]
> As for people thinking that you are gay, there is nothing you can do about that. They will think how they will. For a long time, I thought a Russian student I knew was coming on to me because they always held my hand when we talked, but apparently its a thing in parts of Russia.
> Personally, I'd ask your friend if you've missed something because I'm terrible at working that stuff out as well.



She's told me it's okay, but people don't always say what they mean.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

A new name for The Big Bang: the Horrendous Space Kablooie!


----------



## CupofJoe

Someone at work has just given me a copy of "An Introduction to Elvish And to Other Tongues and Proper Names and Writing Systems of the Third Age of the Western Lands of Middle-earth as Set Forth in the Published Writings of Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien". 
For no reason - just because...
I am truly touched by the niceness of people!


----------



## Tom

My laptop and Photoshop CS3 met today. They do not like each other. I don't understand why--my laptop meets the system requirements (and then some), but Photoshop won't get past the damn boot-up screen. All I want to do is process my camera raw files outside of school...


----------



## Tom

Tom said:


> My laptop and Photoshop CS3 met today. They do not like each other. I don't understand why--my laptop meets the system requirements (and then some), but Photoshop won't get past the damn boot-up screen. All I want to do is process my camera raw files outside of school...


Update: Two hours of frantic research has taught me that CS3 is only compatible with Windows OS older than Vista. I have 7. So much for saving money on a lighter weight program than newer editions...

Technology: 1 
Tom: 0


----------



## Dark Squiggle

This is why I dislike the big companies. If my graphics tablet had a Linux driver, I'd've kissed windows goodbye long ago.


----------



## Tom

Adobe is the worst...they know they're industry standard, so they basically get to set all the rules. And no one can object to them because as of right now there's no real professional-quality alternative to Photoshop. I could say a lot more but I'm going to stop myself there, lol.


----------



## CupofJoe

Tom said:


> Adobe is the worst...they know they're industry standard, so they basically get to set all the rules. And no one can object to them because as of right now there's no real professional-quality alternative to Photoshop. I could say a lot more but I'm going to stop myself there, lol.


At home, I'm running CS3 on Win10 with no problems... It was installed on Win7 and then I upgraded.
I agree that Adobe suck. At work we used CS3, 5 and then 6 with no problems until Adobe pulled a plug somewhere. Then they died. Now we have to lease the software under Creative Cloud and have a real bugger of a job to get some of it to load and run on the network PC. At least it means I never have to hot desk... So there is a silver lining to that cloud


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Gimp and Krita are both really good. IMO Krita is a better painting program by far than photoshop, if a bit clumsier to learn (I am a beginner with this, so take what  I say with a grain of salt.) both are free and opensource, part of the GNU project, and  will run on windows, mac, and most linuxes I think you can even use Gimp through your browser. If you have a chromebook, though, you would probably need to switch to linux.


----------



## Tom

CupofJoe said:


> At home, I'm running CS3 on Win10 with no problems... It was installed on Win7 and then I upgraded.
> I agree that Adobe suck. At work we used CS3, 5 and then 6 with no problems until Adobe pulled a plug somewhere. Then they died. Now we have to lease the software under Creative Cloud and have a real bugger of a job to get some of it to load and run on the network PC. At least it means I never have to hot desk... So there is a silver lining to that cloud


Really?? How'd you get CS3 to run on a 64-bit OS? It just refuses to open on mine. I'm thinking about getting CS6 instead, since it's the version I learned on in high school and my laptop isn't compatible with Adobe's CC software.

Speaking of CC, I still can't believe Adobe has stuck with the subscription-based model after all the criticism they've gotten for it. What a ripoff.



Dark Squiggle said:


> Gimp and Krita are both really good. IMO Krita is a better painting program by far than photoshop, if a bit clumsier to learn (I am a beginner with this, so take what  I say with a grain of salt.) both are free and opensource, part of the GNU project, and  will run on windows, mac, and most linuxes I think you can even use Gimp through your browser. If you have a chromebook, though, you would probably need to switch to linux.


I used GIMP for a while. Didn't like it. It's cluttered and the workflow wasn't intuitive. It also lacked some key features I needed for photo editing--the right color spaces, for one, and a couple of filters/layer options/etc.

I haven't tried Krita, as I have a couple of painting/drawing programs I got through tablet software bundles. I've heard good things about it, though.


----------



## CupofJoe

Tom said:


> Really?? How'd you get CS3 to run on a 64-bit OS? It just refuses to open on mine. I'm thinking about getting CS6 instead, since it's the version I learned on in high school and my laptop isn't compatible with Adobe's CC software.
> 
> Speaking of CC, I still can't believe Adobe has stuck with the subscription-based model after all the criticism they've gotten for it. What a ripoff.


A Rip off it certainly is. But as they say... "It ain't my dime that payin'"
Adobe's CC is the industry standard for a lot of things and sometimes there is a reason you need to have one file that can be shared and opened in a dozen countries and languages.
I think my own CS3 software runs in the Win7 32bit emulation, but I don't see a difference. It just works for me... 
I'd beware of anyone selling CS6 as I think it's been killed by Adobe. It was for us at work [hence us being ransomed into using CC].
If you have an urge, take a look at Serif Software. Admittedly I haven't used their new software but their older software was very good and very [very] cheap. Admittedly they gave me a full set of everything [for evaluation] that has let me upgrade to the newest version for the at least 15 years...  So I do have a slightly warm Hygge*** feeling for them, but I know of entire PhDs layed-out, graphed and image edited by Serif.
*** Hygge is the Danish word for cosy, warm and comforting [and all things nice].


----------



## Tom

CupofJoe said:


> A Rip off it certainly is. But as they say... "It ain't my dime that payin'"
> Adobe's CC is the industry standard for a lot of things and sometimes there is a reason you need to have one file that can be shared and opened in a dozen countries and languages.
> I'd beware of anyone selling CS6 as I think it's been killed by Adobe. It was for us at work [hence us being ransomed into using CC].


I get why CC is a good idea, but the subscription-based model rankles me. To keep using Photoshop (and to keep your files from being locked) you have to pay a monthly fee that adds up to well over the full cost of CS6...PER YEAR. That's patently ridiculous. 

Adobe don't sell CS6 or offer it for download anymore, but if you have a valid serial number and an installation disk they'll still allow you to activate and register it. With CS3, I found out that they took their activation servers for it and CS2 offline (because they were getting super old), and that's why my copy refused to work. They offer a service where you can trade in your original serial number for one that doesn't require the activation server. Unfortunately, the copy I bought had already been used so my serial number was rejected. Bah.

I'll have to look into Serif, though. I'm always up for alternatives to needlessly expensive stuff.


----------



## CupofJoe

Dragon [Aurora] over Norway
And you wonder how some stories get started...
Courtesy of NASA APoD


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Peace is... a happy kitty sleeping in a sunbeam.


----------



## Adela

ADOBE! Wow! I forgot how one had to type in a serial number with every disk to get the software to upload. UGH! Graduated with a Graphic Design degree in college. It's done me absolutely NO good. Think I had ONE paying job and I used Illustrator. Does that one still exist?

Of course, all my training was on an iMac that has since crashed. I'm all about Windows now. How things change.


----------



## Insolent Lad

Adela said:


> ADOBE! Wow! I forgot how one had to type in a serial number with every disk to get the software to upload. UGH! Graduated with a Graphic Design degree in college. It's done me absolutely NO good. Think I had ONE paying job and I used Illustrator. Does that one still exist?.


Still does, still sort of the 'standard.' But I've always used and preferred Corel Draw.


----------



## Adela

Insolent Lad said:


> Still does, still sort of the 'standard.' But I've always used and preferred Corel Draw.



Surprised. We learned on other things like Quark and Flash in ye olden days. My web design professor just showed us Dreamweaver during our final exam! We didn't even get to use it.


----------



## CupofJoe

I have found the other use for the Interweb...
78rpm Records Digitized by George Blood, L.P.
The first use is of course Mythic Scribes [and not playing Little Big Snake for six hours].


----------



## Tom

Writing a Term Paper at the Last Conceivable Minute: A Novel by me. Look for it on Amazon and the shelves of your local bookstore.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

No matter how long I am away this site will always pull me back in. I love all everyone here. Except Brian Scott Allen, he's a douche that is here too intermittently to earn my love.


----------



## Tom

Yeah, that Brian guy is a piece of work...


----------



## Chessie2

*Sigh*

So many stories. So little time.

I often wish there were like 3 more of me.


----------



## Ban

European country names in Elvish • r/europe European country names in Elvish. Do I need to say more?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> Yeah, that Brian guy is a piece of work...


Yeah, I'm glad that guy left. Tool.


----------



## Ban

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Yeah, I'm glad that guy left. Tool.



Have you heard about this new Garren guy though? Not sure about him. He smells fishy.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ban said:


> Have you heard about this new Garren guy though? Not sure about him. He smells fishy.


That's because I ate fish just barely. You ignorant slut.


----------



## Ban

Garren Jacobsen said:


> That's because I ate fish just barely. You ignorant slut.


Come at me you cobbled together bones dressed up in a sack.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Ban said:


> Come at me you cobbled together bones dressed up in a sack.


I am muscular and sexy.


----------



## Ban

Garren Jacobsen said:


> I am muscular and sexy.



That may be so, but


----------



## Chessie2

Garren Jacobsen said:


> I am muscular and sexy.


Yes, you are! HAHA


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

An army of cliche ghosts would be most ineffective.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Can someone try to find me the word with the most convoluted etymology? 

I was just thinking about "chocoholic" and how it's a portmanteau of two words with two utterly different origins.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> An army of cliche ghosts would be most ineffective.


Especially if they are the chair stacking kind. Those guys are laaaaaaaaaaame.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Best love song ever? Yes!


----------



## Orc Knight

Heh. What timing. I spent most of last night watching that except for the last episode.


----------



## CupofJoe

Warhammer Kid's books...
Why does this strike me as wrong on so many, many levels...


----------



## Ban

CupofJoe said:


> Warhammer Kid's books...
> Why does this strike me as wrong on so many, many levels...


Might you say

It's heresy?


----------



## Orc Knight

CupofJoe said:


> Warhammer Kid's books...
> Why does this strike me as wrong on so many, many levels...



Because you know what the Warhammer world's are like. Which the article does point out.


----------



## Tom

It's now officially the Glorious 25th of May. GNU Terry Pratchett.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

We have holiday here. No busing in honor of Treacle Mine Road.


----------



## Legendary Sidekick

To all the men and women who served, _*thank you!*_


----------



## Orc Knight

For those Pratchett fans out there.


----------



## Ireth

Orc Knight said:


> For those Pratchett fans out there.



O.O **grabby hands!!**


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

i'm so lonely i want to scream for ten minutes straight


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I feel the same way, often.


----------



## Tom

Does anyone know if Camp NaNoWriMo starts today? I can't remember if it takes place in June or July.

EDIT: Glanced at my email right after posting this and it is in fact in July.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm a bit excited for July's Camp NaNo. I think I'll use it to write the first book of my next series.


----------



## Tom

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> I'm a bit excited for July's Camp NaNo. I think I'll use it to write the first book of my next series.


I'm very excited! If I don't have Sea Glass finished by the end of June, I'll use Camp NaNo as a boost to get to the end of that. The remaining word count will go towards kicking off the reboot of my high fantasy project. This thing's been on hiatus for a full year now and it's time to get it going again.


----------



## srebak

I’ll be blunt and come right to the point; for the longest time, like many people, have been associating June with the last day of school. Except for a good period of three years back when I was living in Alaska where the school year was ended in May. But for the longest time for me otherwise the school years for me have always ended at a point where Fathers’ Day was just around the corner. Because of that, even now, when I have long since graduated from High School, I still hold that as my deadline to reminisce about my last day of school memories (nostalgia and all that rot, you understand).

But the problem that I have just recently begun to experience is that it feels like the last day of school periods in the world around me have begun to change so drastically. I mean, after I finished high school in Virginia, my mother was at last able to retire from her job and thus we have since moved back to California. However it was only within recent years of living here that I was able to learn about just how the schools that my nephew and nieces all go to let out and thus I figured out that they let out in the month of May down here. Now then, it was due to the mere purpose of nostalgic feeling that I would reminisce about my last day of school memories in the month of May, due to three years worth of the stuff happening in Alaska where the school year also ended in the fifth month of the year, so I was willing to let that discovery slide down as unimportant. However, just today, when I was looking at the calendar for the high school that I graduated from not too long ago, I discovered that not only did the graduation date for seniors move up to the second of June, but the last day of school for the underclassmen was also moved up, which left a full week in between those two dates and my previously established deadline, Fathers’s Day.

When it comes right down to it just feel so late for the party as it were when it comes to getting into the mood for 2 of June’s most well known occurrences and events, and I just needed to talk to someone about it and get some feedback about it.

So please reply to this post if you have some words to say about it


----------



## CupofJoe

June!? May!?!? Try the last week of July! That's when British state schools break up [it might be different in NI and Scotland].
What is strange is that British schools [from my limited knowledge - it was a long time ago] hold their High School Prom in May and June so they are over and done with before the end of year Exams. Having a party and then doing the exams seems so very wrong...


----------



## Yora

I really got to do some reimersion to fan the flame agains. Going to watch The Empire Strikes Back for the 10th or so time.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

srebak said:


> I’ll be blunt and come right to the point; for the longest time, like many people, have been associating June with the last day of school. Except for a good period of three years back when I was living in Alaska where the school year was ended in May. But for the longest time for me otherwise the school years for me have always ended at a point where Fathers’ Day was just around the corner. Because of that, even now, when I have long since graduated from High School, I still hold that as my deadline to reminisce about my last day of school memories (nostalgia and all that rot, you understand).
> 
> But the problem that I have just recently begun to experience is that it feels like the last day of school periods in the world around me have begun to change so drastically. I mean, after I finished high school in Virginia, my mother was at last able to retire from her job and thus we have since moved back to California. However it was only within recent years of living here that I was able to learn about just how the schools that my nephew and nieces all go to let out and thus I figured out that they let out in the month of May down here. Now then, it was due to the mere purpose of nostalgic feeling that I would reminisce about my last day of school memories in the month of May, due to three years worth of the stuff happening in Alaska where the school year also ended in the fifth month of the year, so I was willing to let that discovery slide down as unimportant. However, just today, when I was looking at the calendar for the high school that I graduated from not too long ago, I discovered that not only did the graduation date for seniors move up to the second of June, but the last day of school for the underclassmen was also moved up, which left a full week in between those two dates and my previously established deadline, Fathers’s Day.
> 
> When it comes right down to it just feel so late for the party as it were when it comes to getting into the mood for 2 of June’s most well known occurrences and events, and I just needed to talk to someone about it and get some feedback about it.
> 
> So please reply to this post if you have some words to say about it


I went to uber-traditional Jewish highschools - they end at the beginning of the month of Av, which usually falls out at the end of July. I was always jealous of those who got off in June


----------



## CupofJoe

Some days I really miss some things...




Today I aim to misbehave.


----------



## Ban

The Council of Elrond the rest can be found here, it's a bit too long to all post here.


----------



## pmmg

Um yeah.... I think I'll just go with Elrond.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Happy Fathers' Day to all you dads out there.  May the golfing be good, the jokes be bad, and the meat be delicious!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I am seriously considering posting one of my WIP's in Showcase in chapters, but i am nervous. I have considered this many times before.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^So have I.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

What I'd like to see is a story featuring both mythological figures and a genre savvy protagonist. It at least would save me some frustration of mentally shouting at other, non-genre savvy protagonists, 'Look, it's so obviously Odin/Zeus/whomever!'


----------



## Chessie2

Happy Father's Day! 



Garren Jacobsen said:


> Happy Fathers' Day to all you dads out there.  May the golfing be good, the jokes be bad, and the meat be delicious!


My poor husband is sick as a dog and our son attacked him with a water gun. But not just any water gun. We're talking the monster of all water firearms that sprays two different types of streaks. Completely soaked. Lol.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chessie2 said:


> Happy Father's Day!
> 
> 
> My poor husband is sick as a dog and our son attacked him with a water gun. But not just any water gun. We're talking the monster of all water firearms that sprays two different types of streaks. Completely soaked. Lol.


Kids are jerks. My son was asked what my favorite thing to do was. He replied, "Nothing. He doesn't like to do anything." And my brother's kid said my brother was special because he was bald. Kids man.


----------



## Chessie2

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Kids are jerks. My son was asked what my favorite thing to do was. He replied, "Nothing. He doesn't like to do anything." And my brother's kid said my brother was special because he was bald. Kids man.


AHAHA! Wow. That's some harsh burns right there. Sure you guys don't need some burn cream for those insults?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chessie2 said:


> AHAHA! Wow. That's some harsh burns right there. Sure you guys don't need some burn cream for those insults?


It's what I get for raising a smartass.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Garren Jacobsen said:


> It's what I get for raising a smartass.



The sickest burns come from small children. The worst part is, a little kid is just being baldly honest.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> The sickest burns come from small children. The worst part is, a little kid is just being *baldly *honest.


I see what you did there.  And it's true. Although, my son was wrong. I like to do lots of things. Playing with him is one of them. Sleeping is another. Writing books is another. Conquering Eternia is great fun as well.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Garren Jacobsen said:


> I see what you did there.  And it's true. Although, my son was wrong. I like to do lots of things. Playing with him is one of them. Sleeping is another. Writing books is another. Conquering Eternia is great fun as well.



I like eating. Especially ice cream


----------



## Chessie2

Garren Jacobsen said:


> It's what I get for raising a smartass.


Tell me about it. -_- Mine is currently on the bed bouncing his little body around while he plays his gameboy and I'm trying to write. Siiiiigh.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

All y'all have children and meanwhile i am a children. 

*remembers i am a legal adult* 

*throws fistful of mac and cheese at responsibility*


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> *throws fistful of mac and cheese at responsibility*


 ^ I still do this as an adult.
*side eyes his disgustingly non-edged lawn and weedy grass* Not tonight.


----------



## Tom

Psh, responsibilities are for losers. If I can pretend I don't have any they don't exist.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> Psh, responsibilities are for losers. If I can pretend I don't have any they don't exist.


My one-year-old tries this when she is hiding. I don't think it works.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Psh, responsibilities are for losers. If I can pretend I don't have any they don't exist.



I can't seem to physically corral them all into my head at once.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I can't seem to physically corral them all into my head at once.


Well duuuuuuuh, responsibilities are clearly metaphysical. Gotta metaphysically do so. Silly dragon.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I can't seem to physically corral them all into my head at once.


That's why I write extensive lists of everything I have to do...it's the only way.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Well duuuuuuuh, responsibilities are clearly metaphysical. Gotta metaphysically do so. Silly dragon.



Damn. Gotta astral project now. *procrastinates that too*


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> That's why I write extensive lists of everything I have to do...it's the only way.



I have several different ones lying around. I try my best. But you're talking to someone who has to set a phone reminder to remind her to eat during the day.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I have several different ones lying around. I try my best. But you're talking to someone who has to set a phone reminder to remind her to eat during the day.


Burn the lists. Only way to be free of them.


----------



## Chessie2

The World Cup is seriously cutting into my writing time. -_-


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

It's raining like crazy outside.


----------



## skip.knox

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> It's raining like crazy outside.


Which made me envision rain falling in different colors, falling up or sideways, or maybe just drifting around in circles. As long as it's not raining like crazy inside, it's all good!


----------



## Svrtnsse

skip.knox said:


> Which made me envision rain falling in different colors, falling up or sideways, or maybe just drifting around in circles.


<insert comment about typical Irish weather here>

Except today. There's not a cloud in the sky.


----------



## skip.knox

I'm just back from two weeks in Scotland, where the weather is much the same as in Ireland, only more Presbyterian. ;-)


----------



## Tom

Buffalo has been chilly and wet so far this summer. I'm starting to think that all the Irish immigrants who settled here (including my ancestors) brought their homeland's weather with them.


----------



## Chessie2

Well, hell. It's been in the 80's and 90's here in Wenatchee. Yesterday & today it's been cooler. Definitely pays to live in one of the driest spots in the country and I'm surely not missing in rainy cold Alaska or the Olympic Peninsula.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> It's raining like crazy outside.



Here it has been pouring for three days.


----------



## skip.knox

Hey, Chessie!  I just drove past, day before yesterday, coming home from Seattle to Kuna, Idaho. Pretty dry over here, too, in the middle of the Great American Desert.


----------



## Chessie2

skip.knox said:


> Hey, Chessie!  I just drove past, day before yesterday, coming home from Seattle to Kuna, Idaho. Pretty dry over here, too, in the middle of the Great American Desert.


Seattle. Ugh. *shudders*

I hear Idaho is pretty amazing. We almost moved there before we found Chelan.


----------



## Svrtnsse

We had a Yellow weather alert the other day, for temperatures up to 27 C (80f). It's very warm for Ireland.


----------



## skip.knox

Chessie2 said:


> I hear Idaho is pretty amazing. We almost moved there before we found Chelan.



As with all Western states, it's so big that there's much variety. Northern Idaho is much like around Wenatchee--fir and pine, scattered lakes, plenty of snow in the winter. Southern Idaho, otoh, is desert. Yeah, the Sawtooths are dramatic, but mostly it's a thin layer of soil over basalt and sagebrush for days. This is disguised somewhat by the flow of big rivers--the Salmon, Boise, Payette, and most of all the Snake, which spawns a network of canals and attendant farms. Get five feet beyond the reach of water, and it's back to sagebrush and rattlesnakes. Go a thousand miles south and it looks exactly the same.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Svrtnsse said:


> We had a Yellow weather alert the other day, for temperatures up to 27 C (80f). It's very warm for Ireland.


That's what temperature my house is when I get home from work. Y'all are weak.


----------



## Tom

Svrtnsse said:


> We had a Yellow weather alert the other day, for temperatures up to 27 C (80f). It's very warm for Ireland.


It hasn't gotten above 70f in a week or so here. We had a scorching hot spring--in April we jumped from a snowstorm to 90f weather and a wildfire alert in the space of a week. It seems like summer so far is trying to balance it all out.


----------



## Chessie2

skip.knox said:


> As with all Western states, it's so big that there's much variety. Northern Idaho is much like around Wenatchee--fir and pine, scattered lakes, plenty of snow in the winter. Southern Idaho, otoh, is desert. Yeah, the Sawtooths are dramatic, but mostly it's a thin layer of soil over basalt and sagebrush for days. This is disguised somewhat by the flow of big rivers--the Salmon, Boise, Payette, and most of all the Snake, which spawns a network of canals and attendant farms. Get five feet beyond the reach of water, and it's back to sagebrush and rattlesnakes. Go a thousand miles south and it looks exactly the same.


It sounds amazing. We looked heavily at Idaho before falling in love with Wenatchee (plus my husband scored a really good job here). Being from Alaska, this is all new to us. My son still gets excited when he rubs the sagebrush and it smells like sage, lol. We found this awesome trail in East Wenatchee that loops around the Colombia River and has all these interconnected streams with lush trees & vegetation (and snakes!!) that we wade in almost daily. Let's just say that none of us miss Alaska anymore.


----------



## skip.knox

You have the two best things about the Pacific Northwest--mountains and the Columbia River.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Now it's sunny and cheerful out. How about that.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Svrtnsse said:


> We had a Yellow weather alert the other day, for temperatures up to 27 C (80f). It's very warm for Ireland.



80 Fahrenheit?   

*Southeastern American cackling* 

During May our air conditioning was out and it was 85 in the house during the day for a few weeks. Luckily we got that fixed before it got into the 90's outside. Our pool got too hot to swim in.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> 80 Fahrenheit?
> 
> *Southeastern American cackling*
> 
> During May our air conditioning was out and it was 85 in the house during the day for a few weeks. Luckily we got that fixed before it got into the 90's outside. Our pool got too hot to swim in.


Seriously, 80 degrees. That's a fine summer evening here. Best golf weather is about that temperature. 80 degrees. Pfft. Come talk to me when it's a hundred out.


----------



## Tom

Tom said:


> It hasn't gotten above 70f in a week or so here. We had a scorching hot spring--in April we jumped from a snowstorm to 90f weather and a wildfire alert in the space of a week. It seems like summer so far is trying to balance it all out.



NEVERMIND. It's been 90f the last two days. _I don't want this._


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Broke 100 today. Welcome to Southeastern New York.


----------



## Tom

Dark Squiggle said:


> Broke 100 today. Welcome to Southeastern New York.


Not quite there yet in Western New York. It's 90 again today. I can live with the fact that winter lasts almost six months here, but this heat is killing me.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I thought Pacific Rim: Uprising would be terrible, but it was actually pretty good.


----------



## Tom

I think I pulled a muscle at work this weekend. One of my feet hurt so I was compensating for it as I walked around all day, and now the outside of my calf hurts. This job is so bad for my body. Walking on poured concrete floors 35 hours a week takes a toll.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> I think I pulled a muscle at work this weekend. One of my feet hurt so I was compensating for it as I walked around all day, and now the outside of my calf hurts. This job is so bad for my body. Walking on poured concrete floors 35 hours a week takes a toll.



Ouch. It seems to me like everyone under 35ish is aging prematurely. Too much stress. Too much of this harsh, unnatural world.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Ouch. It seems to me like everyone under 35ish is aging prematurely. Too much stress. Too much of this harsh, unnatural world.


To be fair, I also have multiple sports injuries from high school and hypermobile joints. And I wear converse instead of proper footwear because I'm vain. Those are definitely contributing factors. But yeah, everyone my age is so tired all the time. It's depressing when you're supposed to be in the prime of your life and you already feel like your body is falling apart around you.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

It's in the high 80's here. Humid and the clouds are heavy and swollen with thunder, but no rain yet.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> It's in the high 80's here. Humid and the clouds are heavy and swollen with thunder, but no rain yet.


I think we're going to get a thunderstorm here any minute. Everything's gone ominously still.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> To be fair, I also have multiple sports injuries from high school and hypermobile joints. And I wear converse instead of proper footwear because I'm vain. Those are definitely contributing factors. But yeah, everyone my age is so tired all the time. It's depressing when you're supposed to be in the prime of your life and you already feel like your body is falling apart around you.



Us millenials/Gen Z are a barely surviving bunch and all anyone does is bitch about how lazy, ungrateful, and stupid we are. 

Like happy birthday dragon, want to constantly question whether your mental illness, attention issues and executive dysfunction exists or if you're just lazy and undeserving of life and work yourself into breakdowns trying to feel normal? No? Too bad.

Lol about the converse though.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> I think we're going to get a thunderstorm here any minute. Everything's gone ominously still.



I love all kinds of stillness, but ominous stillness is a favorite.


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I love all kinds of stillness, but ominous stillness is a favorite.


Ever felt the tingle _just_ before a lightning strike?


----------



## Ban

In news that probably everyone in the world knew: mortal engines is getting a movie. Looks like fun.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

CupofJoe said:


> Ever felt the tingle _just_ before a lightning strike?


No, but I have danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.


----------



## Tom

Garren Jacobsen said:


> No, but I have danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.


Have you ever won a golden fiddle from the devil down in Georgia?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> Have you ever won a golden fiddle from the devil down in Georgia?


Once. Contrary to popular belief, he is not a good fiddlist. But hot damn can he plink a tune on a piano.


----------



## Tom

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Once. Contrary to popular belief, he is not a good fiddlist. But hot damn can he plink a tune on a piano.


How much monetary value does a golden fiddle have, I wonder?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> How much monetary value does a golden fiddle have, I wonder?


Is the fiddle hollow?


----------



## Ireth

Tom said:


> How much monetary value does a golden fiddle have, I wonder?



"The value of a golden fiddle is computed as follows:

A violin has a volume of approximately 2,408 cm3, including 2,300.4 cm3 in the body and 107.8 cm3 in the neck.  We excluded the bow, strings and bridge from our analysis.  Gold has a density of 19.3 grams/cm3, which means a golden fiddle weighs 46.47 kg, or 105 pounds (1,685 troy oz.). The financial impact of rosin was negligible.

The market price of gold (as of March 27, 2014) is $1,313.00/oz. , so 1,685 oz. of gold is *$2,212,752.32.*"

Thinking of Selling Your Soul?  The Value is Right Here! | Mike Blake Is Unblakeable


----------



## Tom

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Is the fiddle hollow?


Not sure. All I know is that the fiddle is apparently worth a human soul, but I'm not sure how much a soul is worth in US dollars.


----------



## Tom

Ireth said:


> "The value of a golden fiddle is computed as follows:
> 
> A violin has a volume of approximately 2,408 cm3, including 2,300.4 cm3 in the body and 107.8 cm3 in the neck.  We excluded the bow, strings and bridge from our analysis.  Gold has a density of 19.3 grams/cm3, which means a golden fiddle weighs 46.47 kg, or 105 pounds (1,685 troy oz.). The financial impact of rosin was negligible.
> 
> The market price of gold (as of March 27, 2014) is $1,313.00/oz. , so 1,685 oz. of gold is *$2,212,752.32.*"
> 
> Thinking of Selling Your Soul?  The Value is Right Here! | Mike Blake Is Unblakeable


Hot damn! Time to learn to play the fiddle, summon the devil, and challenge him to a duel!


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> Not sure. All I know is that the fiddle is apparently worth a human soul, but I'm not sure how much a soul is worth in US dollars.


No. It is worth the soul of that person. You can sell a home for a peppercorn if you wanted, but the home isn't worth a peppercorn objectively. A human soul is worth at least two golden fiddles.


----------



## pmmg




----------



## Garren Jacobsen

My son keeps asking me to play songs that are about super random little boy things like king fu and pirates. I’m pretty certain it’s a competition at this point. I’m winning.


----------



## CupofJoe

Ireth said:


> The financial impact of rosin was negligible.


Someone who has never bought violin resin 
And I found out, that you can get rosin that has gold flecks in it. It makes the bow hairs sparkle - don't know what it does to the sound.


----------



## Futhark

Hi Everybody,

Just realised its been almost a year since I posted anything.  I know I'm the 'strong, silent type', but that's pushing it.  Still, it's been a very busy 12 months, but worth it, as the future is looking brighter and a whole lot calmer.  Fingers crossed I get to focus on myself for once and get writing.  I have a lot of new learning to apply to my outline, mostly from K.M. Weiland's website, and another site that actually explains dramatica theory in a way that a human being can process.  I'll post it here for those that are interested.

Bye Everybody.

How to Write a Novel


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Ireth said:


> "The value of a golden fiddle is computed as follows:
> 
> A violin has a volume of approximately 2,408 cm3, including 2,300.4 cm3 in the body and 107.8 cm3 in the neck.  We excluded the bow, strings and bridge from our analysis.  Gold has a density of 19.3 grams/cm3, which means a golden fiddle weighs 46.47 kg, or 105 pounds (1,685 troy oz.). The financial impact of rosin was negligible.
> 
> The market price of gold (as of March 27, 2014) is $1,313.00/oz. , so 1,685 oz. of gold is *$2,212,752.32.*"
> 
> Thinking of Selling Your Soul?  The Value is Right Here! | Mike Blake Is Unblakeable


You are not calculating the empty sllace in the body, forget about the porosity of the wood.


----------



## Ban

If anyone happens to be writing in a setting with near-unearthly levels of rainfall, here's an interesting piece of clothing I stumbled upon. It's a knup and it is used in the Meghalaya state of India.


----------



## CupofJoe

Has anyone else been to the website Shorpy?
I think it's amazing and for a non-US resident a great resource for what America looked like back-in-the-day.
This image The Aviatrix: 1939 is currently on my office wall.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

h e l p

so something has happened??? when i was 15, i was both the person i was when i was 12 and the person i am now in part. but now i am not the person i was when i was 12 though still partly the person i was when i was 15 

idk i just had this massive epiphany earlier about how I can't really access 12 year old me anymore, like for a while i was both the present me and the past me, but now the past me is very foreign and i read my writings from that time as entirely from the outside and not at all partly from inside. 

It freaks me out.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> h e l p
> 
> so something has happened??? when i was 15, i was both the person i was when i was 12 and the person i am now in part. but now i am not the person i was when i was 12 though still partly the person i was when i was 15
> 
> idk i just had this massive epiphany earlier about how I can't really access 12 year old me anymore, like for a while i was both the present me and the past me, but now the past me is very foreign and i read my writings from that time as entirely from the outside and not at all partly from inside.
> 
> It freaks me out.


Happens. It gets worse (but also better).


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> h e l p
> 
> so something has happened??? when i was 15, i was both the person i was when i was 12 and the person i am now in part. but now i am not the person i was when i was 12 though still partly the person i was when i was 15
> 
> idk i just had this massive epiphany earlier about how I can't really access 12 year old me anymore, like for a while i was both the present me and the past me, but now the past me is very foreign and i read my writings from that time as entirely from the outside and not at all partly from inside.
> 
> It freaks me out.



And to add to the horror, all the cells in your body replace themselves every 7 years. You're a walking ship of Theseus.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I feel i would love to start something like...themed brainstorm threads. So, one that's just a massive supply of prompts, one that's for settings, one that's for characters, that anyone can add to or elaborate on...

Idk, sometimes i want to talk about ideas for ideas' sake, not as part of a story, but as something that could become a story.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Repost from reddit. Someone made a map of Antarctica if it had been located in the north pacific: r/MapPorn - [OC] A Map of Antarctica, if it were located in the North Pacific instead of at the South Pole.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Hahahahahaha!

Ghana giggles over 'Wise Vagina' village


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> h e l p
> 
> so something has happened??? when i was 15, i was both the person i was when i was 12 and the person i am now in part. but now i am not the person i was when i was 12 though still partly the person i was when i was 15
> 
> idk i just had this massive epiphany earlier about how I can't really access 12 year old me anymore, like for a while i was both the present me and the past me, but now the past me is very foreign and i read my writings from that time as entirely from the outside and not at all partly from inside.
> 
> It freaks me out.



What if you are all versions of you, and what if everything is the present moment, including memories?


----------



## FifthView

When you get home from grocery shopping, and the very first item you take from one of ten bags is a package of Keebler Coconut Dreams cookies so you have to pause, open it, and eat about ten before putting up the rest of the groceries.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

We got hamburgers for the guests, and then got hot dog buns. Oops.


----------



## CupofJoe

I've discovered a new favourite word...
*Tsundoku* meaning "buying reading material and piling it up unread"
I don't know how many books I have and will read one-day [but have not yet]. It is a lot.


----------



## FifthView

Should I be worried?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

FifthView said:


> Should I be worried?


Yes.


----------



## pmmg

Wow, just got a call from a very nice woman in the publishing industry. I had to transcribe it but she said all of the below:

_Hello, good afternoon, 

I am leaving a message for the author Patrick Green 

Patrick this is Irene Z**** from readers magnet and I am calling about your book entitled 'The millionaire Journey: A guide for anyone to reach Financial Freedom'. This was published last year under the genre of business and personal finance. Your book, Patrick, was highly recommended to us by professional book researchers. Due to your amazing average customer reviews on Amazon having five stars and we are very much interested in representing this in the literary industry cause we believe your book has potential. It would be great if we can talk so we can share to you our plans, our goals for the book. We are hoping if we can come up with a best platform for this material. Give us a call back at XXX-XXX-XXXX ext. XXXX..."

_
This is really great, BUT.....there is one small detail. I never wrote such a book. And further, anyone taking my advice on how to become a millionaire need to do more research. And whatever they figure out, they can tell me.

Not sure if this was a scam, she seemed like a real thing, but clearly she has me confused with someone else. Bummer. If she wants fantasy fiction, somewhat traditional, with male patriarchy and religious themes....Ah well.


----------



## Chessie2

The viscacha. A real life pikachu. We saw one on t.v. the other day and I couldn't believe my eyes. Absolutely repulsive, lol.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Who here besides me doesn't do rewrites, and simply adds and patches and crumbles bits and pieces of your stories instead of rewriting the whole thing?


----------



## pmmg

Well...I suppose ive done it mostly the way you describe. A whole rewrite, maybe once or twice. But I am not sure re-write is really the most accurate word. Its more kind of like heavy editing.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

Some people do total rewrites, and it kind of amazes me.


----------



## pmmg

Well, I have heavily edited to the point that it might be almost no original words were left behind.... But I don't think I would do a complete rewrite unless it had gotten lost, or the story just was not working (which, incidentally, seems to be the case with my current WIP).


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

I'm stuck in a quagmire of unfortunate implications revolving around a nihilistic madman, his ghost, his actions in the past, and flimsy justifications that only create more problems, and I don't know how to get out.


----------



## pmmg

I would think more problems would be good.  Best advice I can give is write through it. If it don't work, you can cut a bit and go a different way.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

How are more problems good?


----------



## pmmg

Heh heh....problems a character creates for other characters makes for good stage business and character interactions. Add complexity, and motivations and makes people want to know how it all plays out.

Problems like, he is just not working in this story, less so.


----------



## FifthView

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> Who here besides me doesn't do rewrites, and simply adds and patches and crumbles bits and pieces of your stories instead of rewriting the whole thing?



I'm going to do a total rewrite for the 24K or so words of my 2017 NaNo project. I'd by no means finished that tale, was only about a quarter of the way into it, anyway. But it was bloated in parts, and in the eight months since I abandoned it, I decided I wanted it to have a different POV character and be written in first person. So..


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

pmmg said:


> Heh heh....problems a character creates for other characters makes for good stage business and character interactions. Add complexity, and motivations and makes people want to know how it all plays out.
> 
> Problems like, he is just not working in this story, less so.



I meant problems for me, not for the characters.


----------



## FifthView

Ermahgerd.

Patrick Stewart to Return as Capt. Picard in New ‘Star Trek’ Series for CBS All Access


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chessie2 said:


> The viscacha. A real life pikachu. We saw one on t.v. the other day and I couldn't believe my eyes. Absolutely repulsive, lol.



That rabbit is stoned out of its mind.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I love martial arts, but it's gotten to where i dread going days ahead of time. 

So before i do Krav i have a general fitness class and the guy who coaches it half the time...well, I have him blocked on facebook, but that's for irrelevant reasons...he has this completely pointless sadistic habit of turning off the fans and air conditioning in the building while we're working out? Certainly a jerk move, and more so since they've told him not to do it and he does anyway. Anyway, it was 96 degrees out once when he decided this was a good idea and i felt like I was about to pass out at the end of class. So there is that. It's literally just too grueling to enjoy now. I used to take pleasure in exercise but now I very nearly loathe it. 

Also the curriculum has steadily been moving away from Krav and more into..completely unrelated general martial arts. Including taekwondo forms and things with weapons which i strongly feel are only there so we will have to buy more equipment. I would gladly take a separate class on the other stuff, but the self defense is getting phased out almost. The price of water bottles from the fridge has gone from one dollar to two. 

And I hate it because it's a good community! Everyone is amazing except for that one guy and this bratty kid who insists on doing the techniques wrong and starts hitting as hard as possible out of spite if you don't let him have his way. They kinda spoil things sometimes. But everyone else has been so damn supportive.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Sounds like it's time to find a new gym.


----------



## Chessie2

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> That rabbit is stoned out of its mind.


It's not a rabbit.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Chessie2 said:


> It's not a rabbit.


You spelled _smeerp_ wrong.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chessie2 said:


> It's not a rabbit.


It's a space station.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Chessie2 said:


> It's not a rabbit.



I know it's not, I was making a joke...misidentifying animals is a meme...anyone?


----------



## Svrtnsse

Meme? That's the thing with the oats, isn't it, brother?


----------



## pmmg

I thought it was a duck.


----------



## Ban

I'm finally organizing all of my pdf's that are scattered on my computer, but now I'm stumbling across some old writing I thought I lost. What a wonderful sleep-deprived night


----------



## Chessie2

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I know it's not, I was making a joke...misidentifying animals is a meme...anyone?


Lol gotcha. That animal reminds me of a platypus though: it's in the chinchilla family but looks like a rabbit, has a squirrel tail and hops around like a kangaroo. So weird.


----------



## Dark Squiggle

Wallaby.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I've had this scene idea kicking around in my head since I first read Wheel of Time. It's about a soldier from the US getting transported to a fantasy world, US military stuff and all, and interacting with some of the fantasy nobility/royalty there and being totally out of place. But no story can make that work...yet. It just makes me laugh at the thought. Buddy guiding him and giving advice, "It's customary to greet the king how you would greet your ruler."

"Dude," salutes, "this is how I salute my ruler." Stops saluting. "And he ain't even a ruler. More like some dude my people elect and I can say all kinds of crap about him and my head won't be sitting on a pike. Not to mention how I would address him as my commanding officer."

"Just do that. I will explain everything to him. He'll understand."

Walks into court. Salutes and holds it. 

"Welcome far-flung traveler, and who are you and from what kingdom do hail from?"

Holding salute, "Sir, I hail from no kingdom, sir. I hail from the United States of America, Los Angeles, California. I am Captain Carl Townsend of the 101st Airborne, sir."

"...you can stop doing that."

Moves to at ease.

"What are you doing."

"Permission to speak freely sir."

"Granted."

"Honestly, I have no idea. I'm not even from this same planet and lost and confused and just want to go home. And, to be honest, your highness, I'm a bit freaked out by the fact you have zombies doing all the menial labor."

"What else would you use a corpse for?"

Could be a fun fish out of water story.


----------



## Tom

I recently bought a new printer and it just told me that there was a "fatal error" during installation. Of course.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Tom said:


> I recently bought a new printer and it just told me that there was a "fatal error" during installation. Of course.


----------



## Chessie2

THAT is my favorite part of the movie! It makes me cry from laughter every time I see it, so freaking hilarious.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Which movie is it from? The clip looks familiar, but I can't place it.


----------



## Chessie2

TheCrystallineEntity said:


> ^Which movie is it from? The clip looks familiar, but I can't place it.


Office Space.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

...and here I was thinking of the wrong movie entirely.  Oh, well.


----------



## Tom

...And now, after I finally scraped together enough spare cash to buy ink cartridges, it's telling me there's an ink cartridge error.


----------



## FifthView

Ran across this tweet today:



> me: i would die for you
> hozier, an intellectual and poet: i would be a tree that you cut down and use to fuel the fire with which you burn the corpses of your enemies


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

serious question: why can fantasy authors seriously not resist including rape in their novels 

i'm trying to read more and it's not going too well


----------



## Ban

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> serious question: why can fantasy authors seriously not resist including rape in their novels
> 
> i'm trying to read more and it's not going too well



I think that might have to do with the type of fantasy you're reading. I haven't been reading fantasy for a bit, but I can't imagine the entire market was taken over by such topics in the last few years.


----------



## Tom

This weekend I went to a flea market and found a copy of Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, which I actually reread recently. Here's the thing--I wasn't consciously looking for the book, and when I pulled it off the shelf it was only because I noticed it was by Terry P. I didn't bother to read the title. It wasn't until I paid for it that I realized which book it was. The universe is a funny place.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> This weekend I went to a flea market and found a copy of Soul Music by Terry Pratchett, which I actually reread recently. Here's the thing--I wasn't consciously looking for the book, and when I pulled it off the shelf it was only because I noticed it was by Terry P. I didn't bother to read the title. It wasn't until I paid for it that I realized which book it was. The universe is a funny place.



Sounds like typical ADHD shit tbh. I've accidentally shoplifted before because I wasn't paying attention so i mean... 

On that note, i am seeing my new therapist again tomorrow and i intend to ask her about getting evaluated for ADHD because she brought something up about it a while back.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Sounds like typical ADHD shit tbh. I've accidentally shoplifted before because I wasn't paying attention so i mean...
> 
> On that note, i am seeing my new therapist again tomorrow and i intend to ask her about getting evaluated for ADHD because she brought something up about it a while back.


Yes! Ask to be evaluated! It's a pretty straightforward process. I was diagnosed super young but when I started going to my adult doctor she reevaluated me to make sure I hadn't been misdiagnosed. All I needed to do was talk to her for a few minutes, and fill out a one-page questionnaire. And I took one look at the questionnaire and went "oh yeah, everything here applies to me."


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> Yes! Ask to be evaluated! It's a pretty straightforward process. I was diagnosed super young but when I started going to my adult doctor she reevaluated me to make sure I hadn't been misdiagnosed. All I needed to do was talk to her for a few minutes, and fill out a one-page questionnaire. And I took one look at the questionnaire and went "oh yeah, everything here applies to me."



My previous therapist wouldn't even evaluate me because i scored so high on the ACT...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I have a confession, I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE arts and crafts. I have hated them since I was four. Coloring? Sucked then sucks now. Gluing on googly eyes, blows. Pipe cleaner things, stupid. Multicolored paper to tear into various shapes, lame. Pottery? Stupid. Wood carving, also stupid. It's all just the worst and I hate it.

So, go to the library with the kids, just me. Megan is busy with other things. We get their books and this wonderful helpful librarian says, come do arts and crafts. Now, Graham hears that and says, "What are we doing?" Well they're making egg carton animals. So of course he has to do it.  All my dad senses are screaming no GTF out of there. But, the boy wants to do it. He begs and begs and begs and I relent. Okay, let's go do it.

So I enter into a realm that is utterly beyond me. A realm I had successfully avoided for most of my post-elementary school life. It had been a glorious 18 year run. But now I am thrust into my own personal version of hell. 

But to my wonderment, it began well. Kids were listening, helping. Maeve wasn't a hellian. Great. Then she wants to color, I let her. We were using markers because paint is always a bad idea with these to and markers were my last option. Maeve gets bored and gives me the marker she was using. Great, clean happy easy. 

Ah, but then the demon arose in her. While I am crafting, miserably I might add, spider legs from pipe cleaners. My frustration rises and so does my determination. Maeve gets onto the table. It's okay, she just wants to see whats happening. I get the piper cleaners sufficiently situated to function as something resembling spider legs. I look up.

My tiny little Toddlebops, my little pride and joy, has a marker open, a lovely purply-pinkish one. And my cute curly-haired stinker has covered her mouth area in so much marker she looks like a red-haired Joker-baby. And the night spiraled downward. 

Graham insists we need to glue the legs with a hot glue gun because the model one did it. But, he needs to add googly eyes. But oh no, anytime he gets the least bit of glue on him he needs to find the paper towels. Then I have to wash Toddlebops's face, which I do. Then the boy asks a question, I look away. A completely different marker adorns my baby's face. I wash her face again. I carry her off, fit. The boy wants to not carry the books or the spiders. I force him to carry the spiders. I carry the baby, the books, and my patience is thin. 

We get to the checkout stand, his arms are tired he can't carry the spiders. I checkout the books, Toddlebops is calm standing there staring at something. I pick her up. Fit with blood curdling scream. I turn into Bad Dad and tell her to stop. She stops, patrons stare at me like I'm a heartless bastard (true but hurtful strangers). Boy now wants to carry the books, but cannot carry my 500 pager. I got a squirmy baby, two poorly made spiders, and a 500 page book in the parking lot.

We made it home. They survived. I survived. 

So, long story short, arts and crafts suck and I hate them. And it is all their fault a pleasant library trip turned into my own personal version of hell.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> My previous therapist wouldn't even evaluate me because i scored so high on the ACT...


I'd like to have words with your previous therapist...


----------



## Orc Knight

So, hurricane happened. Got some writing done with no internet around when not at work. So, I made about a page. But hey, hurricane is mostly over and internet is back and my area is all right for the most part.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I hope this fantasy novel i am going to read will enlighten me to the minutiae of the author's sexual fetishes!

...said no one ever. 

And yet...-_-


----------



## pmmg

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I hope this fantasy novel i am going to read will enlighten me to the minutiae of the author's sexual fetishes!
> 
> ...said no one ever.
> 
> And yet...-_-



I am pretty sure that is not true.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Sports fans are the whiniest bunch of babies. Team loses and they act like the world is going to end. Holy hell. (This coming from a guy that loves watching various forms of sports ball.)


----------



## Tom

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Sports fans are the whiniest bunch of babies. Team loses and they act like the world is going to end. Holy hell. (This coming from a guy that loves watching various forms of sports ball.)


If you're a Buffalo Bills fan, on the other hand, you only act like the world is going to end when they _win_. We've learned to keep our expectations low over the years.


----------



## Orc Knight

Aren't your Bills against my Vikings today?


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Orc Knight said:


> Aren't your Bills against my Vikings today?


The bills just stomped the fighting Scandinavians of Minnesota.


----------



## Orc Knight

Can I be not surprised by that? Because I'm not.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

pmmg said:


> I am pretty sure that is not true.



Well, i'm not saying it, at least. Or thinking it. lol


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Sports fans are the whiniest bunch of babies. Team loses and they act like the world is going to end. Holy hell. (This coming from a guy that loves watching various forms of sports ball.)



Star Wars fans come close. :/


----------



## pmmg

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Star Wars fans come close. :/



Hey.... somethings are just important. Let the same powers get their hands on harry potter and see if a few others dont whine.


----------



## CupofJoe

pmmg said:


> Hey.... somethings are just important. Let the same powers get their hands on harry potter and see if a few others dont whine.


Still, I think Whovians win out. Some of them still haven't gotten over Christopher Eccleston... 
And now a w.o.m.a.n. [I have to spell it out in case it frightens them...]


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

pmmg said:


> Hey.... somethings are just important. Let the same powers get their hands on harry potter and see if a few others dont whine.



I don't like the new stuff, but I just...avoid it. It's not like the books got changed. I can ignore the Cursed Child and all that.


----------



## FifthView

Contemplating a new post in Writing Discussions called "Don't Be Squeamish! An approach to creating dynamics."

Still sorting ideas. I've had the problem of not committing, pussyfooting, even vagueness, tentative steps in the past; but now I'm thinking the better approach is simply to go for the jugular every time, chapter by chapter by chapter—if not scene by scene by scene!


----------



## Orc Knight

It'll be right bloody then?


----------



## pmmg

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I don't like the new stuff, but I just...avoid it. It's not like the books got changed. I can ignore the Cursed Child and all that



Is this in reference to hp?  I did not know they had new stuff. I was never really a fan of hp.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Yesterday i got the results of my evaluation back and talked abt it with my therapist and i am diagnosed with ADHD and according to my therapist it is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, an explanation for...a lot of my entire life. 

It's not like it was a surprise or anything. "I can space out for ten minutes straight in the middle of writing down a simple math problem, have to stop and do push-ups and jumping jacks in the middle of completing assignments to avoid exploding, and need half an hour of cooldown after half an hour of sitting at a desk working or else staying on task starts to feel like a hot iron is being held to my entire existence? What could this meean????" but like. it's nice that there is a reason i struggle with school and everything despite supposedly being super-gifted. Besides just laziness or Being An Awful Parody Of A Person. My therapist wants me to at least have the conversation with my doctor about meds. 

On the one hand, I don't know how i would feel about meds. On the other hand, it would be nice to be able to actually function in day to day life.


----------



## Svrtnsse

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> On the one hand, I don't know how i would feel about meds. On the other hand, it would be nice to be able to actually function in day to day life.


I hear you. I've had a few friends explain their reluctance to meds. I think it's definitely something worth talking over with someone who knows about it though.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Svrtnsse said:


> I hear you. I've had a few friends explain their reluctance to meds. I think it's definitely something worth talking over with someone who knows about it though.



Yeah. My reluctance is mainly due to the fact that i already take two other medications and refilling them on time is hard already :/ It's a lot to keep track of. But i have to face it that i'm going to college soon and I doubt college work will be manageable for me.


----------



## Chessie2

College is all about having good study habits, attending class regularly, communicating with your professors if you're falling behind or struggling (or will be absent more than one class), sitting in a part of the classroom where you will be less distracted like the front if possible, and using whatever resources are available to you as a student to help you succeed. This means counselors, extra time in tests if you need it, tutors, etc. Just these basic things will foster in you the ability to manage your studies. Also, remember to have fun and treat yourself once in a while.  What makes college hard is the course load + homework, which is doable if you have the right habits in place.

(Sorry for sounding like a mom but college is more manageable than a lot of people realize. You don't need to be brilliant in order to succeed)


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

There are few things more frightening than watching your one year old strip her diaper off and run away stark naked and be unable to do anything about it.


----------



## Orc Knight

Sometimes I can be cruel. Like tonight. But if people would just read signs they'd be a lot better off.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Word of advice, don't take claritin in the middle of the day after staying up coughing all night from a particularly heinous bout of allergies unless either 1) make sure they are non-drowsy or 2) are prepared for a 5 hour nap.


----------



## Orc Knight

Moving sucks. That is all.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Orc Knight said:


> Moving sucks. That is all.


It does indeed. Commiserations.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Utah toddler puts $1,000 in the shredder

Kid would die.


----------



## CupofJoe

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Utah toddler puts $1,000 in the shredder
> Kid would die.


I'd go for the parents first. The Kid was just being "helpful" [from a certain point of view].


----------



## FifthView

Sitting too long staring at the screen always exhausts me, regardless of what displays on the screen. Mental fatigue. At least when I'm writing my WIP, I've accomplished something by the time the fatigue sets in. But today, though I was prepped for this, I ended up reading and responding to too many other things on the Internet, and now I'm fatigued and I've accomplished -- not very much. And I'm ready to put the computer to sleep.


----------



## Chessie2

I puked twice while writing a sex scene tonight. Yeah, I'm hella sick and also way stubborn. Gotta do what needs to be done, even at the cost of my sanity. Not the best sex scene I've written either. It's too short (like 3 or 4 paragraphs) but I couldn't manage anything longer with overwhelming f*** nausea.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chessie2 said:


> I puked twice while writing a sex scene tonight. Yeah, I'm hella sick and also way stubborn. Gotta do what needs to be done, even at the cost of my sanity. Not the best sex scene I've written either. It's too short (like 3 or 4 paragraphs) but I couldn't manage anything longer with overwhelming f*** nausea.



Puking during sex scenes. One must wonder what kind of kink that helps.


----------



## FifthView

Chessie2 said:


> I puked twice while writing a sex scene tonight. Yeah, I'm hella sick and also way stubborn. Gotta do what needs to be done, even at the cost of my sanity. Not the best sex scene I've written either. It's too short (like 3 or 4 paragraphs) but I couldn't manage anything longer with overwhelming f*** nausea.



I just wrote a "morning after" scene, to open my Chapter Two, in which sex almost happens again—but for the proverbial knock on the door. Alas. Didn't puke, but I was surprised that the scene came so well to me. I'd been dreading trying to write it. Is this a decent way to introduce the new POV character, in a second chapter opening? We'll see. Turned out well so far, because I managed to introduce the things I wanted to introduce, to that point in the chapter.


----------



## Chessie2

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Puking during sex scenes. One must wonder what kind of kink that helps.


I have a deathly stomach flu, which is horrible timing because I'm in the middle of my novel where kissy faces abound...and I'm so, so sick. UGH.


----------



## Chessie2

FifthView said:


> I just wrote a "morning after" scene, to open my Chapter Two, in which sex almost happens again—but for the proverbial knock on the door. Alas. Didn't puke, but I was surprised that the scene came so well to me. I'd been dreading trying to write it. Is this a decent way to introduce the new POV character, in a second chapter opening? We'll see. Turned out well so far, because I managed to introduce the things I wanted to introduce, to that point in the chapter.


Morning after is basically mandatory #2. That's where I'm at today, too.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Looking into short stories. Read I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. Being the great friend that I am, I texted my friend, "Want to never sleep again?" He said "sure." 

I'm kind of an awful person. 

On a different note, i'm a little fascinated by how little incredibly f**ked up bizarre shit bothers me in books, when I can barely get through scenes with abusive parents, animal death, any kind of injustice, etc. I have had literal panic attacks over hearing about things that happened to other people because I'm what's called hyper-empathetic. Can't put my stuffed animals on different shelves because they'll get lonely. Can't kill bugs. Literally cannot stand the entire world because I feel like I am feeling the pain of every person alive. I react viscerally to the feelings of others. Yet i somehow find myself seeking out the most messed up and horrific stuff in the weird/speculative realm and just being like, "cooooool." Also some of my story ideas have people, and me, like. "Holy shit. What's _wrong _with you." 

Maybe I should check on that friend...


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^I know how you feel. I'm hyper sensitive and hyper emphatic, yet it's a constant struggle to keep dark elements out of my books and to keep the books themselves from spiraling into depressing slogs.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I'm on this new medication (for ADHD) and it's definitely not supposed to do this but a few hours after I take it it puts me right to sleep. Knocks me out cold. It makes me super dizzy and lightheaded and kind of brain-foggy before putting me to sleep, as well. Needless to say I'm going off it. It's not supposed to make me fall asleep or do anything of the sort but when I take it i end up literally being unable to hold my eyes open within a few hours.

So earlier today i slept like 3 hours in the middle of the day and now it's the wee hours of the morning and I don't feel like sleeping. I guess thats what happens when you sleep the day away.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I drank a mango spinach smoothie earlier, felt healthy as all get out. Then ate pizza rolls. Do they cancel each other out?


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> I'm on this new medication (for ADHD) and it's definitely not supposed to do this but a few hours after I take it it puts me right to sleep. Knocks me out cold. It makes me super dizzy and lightheaded and kind of brain-foggy before putting me to sleep, as well. Needless to say I'm going off it. It's not supposed to make me fall asleep or do anything of the sort but when I take it i end up literally being unable to hold my eyes open within a few hours.
> 
> So earlier today i slept like 3 hours in the middle of the day and now it's the wee hours of the morning and I don't feel like sleeping. I guess thats what happens when you sleep the day away.



I'm glad you've got a diagnosis, but that really sucks that your meds aren't working for you. What medication were you prescribed, and what dosage? I'm currently on 60mg of Strattera, which is working amazingly well. It's a non-stimulant so it doesn't have a lot of the side effects of stimulant meds.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> I'm glad you've got a diagnosis, but that really sucks that your meds aren't working for you. What medication were you prescribed, and what dosage? I'm currently on 60mg of Strattera, which is working amazingly well. It's a non-stimulant so it doesn't have a lot of the side effects of stimulant meds.



Omg, Strattera is what i'm on lol. Its only 25mg, so i'd hate to see how unconscious 60mg would make me... 

I'm really sensitive to lots of medications. I'm on 5mg of lexapro for anxiety, which is a lot lower dose than is usual, but it works.


----------



## Tom

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Omg, Strattera is what i'm on lol. Its only 25mg, so i'd hate to see how unconscious 60mg would make me...
> 
> I'm really sensitive to lots of medications. I'm on 5mg of lexapro for anxiety, which is a lot lower dose than is usual, but it works.


My doc started me at 20mg, and I had to ask to have the dosage bumped twice because it didn't have any effect on me at all. I'm tolerant/resistant to a lot of medications, so I have to have high doses of anything (even anesthetic, which I learned after waking up in the middle of surgery).

With Strattera, I'd try it for a little while longer and see what happens. It tends to manifest side effects like drowsiness, nausea, etc, for the first few days, but once you adjust they usually go away. The first weekend I started taking 20mg I was low-level nauseous and lightheaded for hours, and just like you I'd just pass out after taking a dose. It took maybe 3 days for my body to get used to it, but after that it was smooth sailing. When I started the 60mg dosage I was dizzy for a couple days, but again it went away pretty fast. Hopefully it'll work out for you too.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Tom said:


> My doc started me at 20mg, and I had to ask to have the dosage bumped twice because it didn't have any effect on me at all. I'm tolerant/resistant to a lot of medications, so I have to have high doses of anything (even anesthetic, which I learned after waking up in the middle of surgery).
> 
> With Strattera, I'd try it for a little while longer and see what happens. It tends to manifest side effects like drowsiness, nausea, etc, for the first few days, but once you adjust they usually go away. The first weekend I started taking 20mg I was low-level nauseous and lightheaded for hours, and just like you I'd just pass out after taking a dose. It took maybe 3 days for my body to get used to it, but after that it was smooth sailing. When I started the 60mg dosage I was dizzy for a couple days, but again it went away pretty fast. Hopefully it'll work out for you too.



Hmm. Hope so.


----------



## CupofJoe

Had a great [nearly lucid] dream with multiple characters and and interweaving story line. I woke up so excited but by the time I found something to write with, it was all fading away. There was a woman [queen, goddess, priestess, magician] riding an enormous phoenix, I remember that much... it left sooty foot [claw? talon?] prints in the snow.


----------



## Chessie2

This morning I woke up to tiny claws pawing at the back of my neck. Our 2 month old tortoiseshell was fast asleep wedged between my husband and I underneath our pillows. Life can be really sweet sometimes.


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

^Aww.


----------



## CupofJoe

Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are being brought to life as a TV series
"The Watch is in the works."
I think my day just got a little better...


----------



## Dark Squiggle

CupofJoe said:


> Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are being brought to life as a TV series
> "The Watch is in the works."
> I think my day just got a little better...


Will it be live action or animated?


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

CupofJoe said:


> Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are being brought to life as a TV series
> "The Watch is in the works."
> I think my day just got a little better...


O.O

WAHOO!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Growing older is wild, i'm finally rereading my WIP from a few months ago and suddenly realizing my MC is an immature idiot.


----------



## SeverinR

You ain't crap, if your not number two.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Weird fiction authors seem to have a few broad varieties of monster: 

1. I N C O M P R E H E N S I B L E B Y T H E H U M A N M I N D 
2. Once human travesty of twisted flesh 
3. Deep Ocean Thing


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So my brothers film class did a music video (wherein one of the boys in his class sang a christmasy love song to another boy, which i'm shocked was let slide in such a conservative area...maybe people really are changing and getting more accepting?)

This post is about how my brain won't stop going lAAASST CHRIstmas i GAVE YOU MY HEAAAART
AND THE very next dAAAY
you gave it awaAAAAYY
tho.


----------



## Svrtnsse

Writing is fascinating The outline for what I'm writing at the moment can be summed up as "generic smalltalk" and then one of the characters goes and says something that's going to have ramifications for the remainder of the story - if not the entire series. I love it when that happens.


----------



## Tom

Freshman art majors are possibly the most annoying people on earth (I should know because I was one). There's a group of them cackling like hyenas in the studio next door while I'm trying to work on my final project and it's getting....uggghhh.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Me reading about horrific monsters, people dying in revolting ways, nightmare-inducing body horror and creatures made of repurposed human body parts, all sorts of abominations, gore aplenty, parasites, the screams of damned souls: nice 

Me reading about a kid getting bullied or a parent being emotionally abusive: mood ruined for a whole day, struggles to even keep reading at all, probably starts crying while doing something unrelated because i thought about the book,


----------



## TheCrystallineEntity

So many Anthropomorphic Personifications, so little time.


----------



## skip.knox

Found today. The illustration comes from Maurice Sendak.


----------



## Tom

I'm venturing out into the great white north to work at the library computer lab. Wish me luck. Hopefully I won't be eaten by polar bears.


----------



## skip.knox

No, you will be eaten by hopeful polar bears.


----------



## Tom

skip.knox said:


> No, you will be eaten by hopeful polar bears.


I wasn't eaten by hopeful polar bears! And I finished my last assignment of the semester...I'm so happy.


----------



## Tom

Merry Christmas, scribes!


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

Why do I have the urge to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody?


----------



## Orc Knight

Because you're just a poor person, nobody loves you, ally-oop, ally-oop?

And for another thought, unexpected things to be learned at the Ranger Institute (week long school for parks people like me). Storytelling. And the base of it being told from over the camp fires. Nice little learning tidbit.


----------



## ThinkerX

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> Why do I have the urge to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody?


because it pertains to your current masterpiece


----------



## Demesnedenoir

And I just noticed a first (as far as I know) for one of my books... it picked up an also bought on Amazon of a writer/member of this forum: Michael J. Sullivan!

That was kind of cool, even if he doesn't seem to have the time to post here often anymore. Success has a way of robbing folks of time.

That's my strange randomness for the day, LOL.


----------



## CupofJoe

For those of us based in the UK. This afternoon's Money Box is about the economics of being an author. It is a phone-in so if you have questions... and will be available to listen to for 28[?] days after broadcast.


----------



## CupofJoe

Ooooh Double posting!
If anyone wants an image to go with their character, then this pace may be of interest...
thispersondoesnotexist.com
All the images are made by an AI. So the person does not exist. Just reload the page to get a new image.
I find it strangely addictive...


----------



## Svrtnsse

CupofJoe said:


> Ooooh Double posting!
> If anyone wants an image to go with their character, then this pace may be of interest...
> thispersondoesnotexist.com
> All the images are made by an AI. So the person does not exist. Just reload the page to get a new image.
> I find it strangely addictive...


Strangely addictive indeed, and a little bit scary. 
Would have been cool to be able to "save" a person in order to be able to get different expressions and angles - but I guess at some point there might be a paid version for that... 
(what, me cynic?)


----------



## Demesnedenoir

Not really so different from most high fashion models... not exactly real, heh heh. 



CupofJoe said:


> Ooooh Double posting!
> If anyone wants an image to go with their character, then this pace may be of interest...
> thispersondoesnotexist.com
> All the images are made by an AI. So the person does not exist. Just reload the page to get a new image.
> I find it strangely addictive...


----------



## Demesnedenoir

Actually, I could see this opening a short story... somebody looking at pictures of people who don’t exist, and their photo shows up, heh heh. Maybe that’s why itsaddictive, waiting to see if you are the one who pops up next.



CupofJoe said:


> Ooooh Double posting!
> If anyone wants an image to go with their character, then this pace may be of interest...
> thispersondoesnotexist.com
> All the images are made by an AI. So the person does not exist. Just reload the page to get a new image.
> I find it strangely addictive...


----------



## Chessie2

CupofJoe said:


> Ooooh Double posting!
> If anyone wants an image to go with their character, then this pace may be of interest...
> thispersondoesnotexist.com
> All the images are made by an AI. So the person does not exist. Just reload the page to get a new image.
> I find it strangely addictive...


It's also somewhat creepy but I digress...


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

So I haven't been in Krav Maga since August and now I am like, vibrating with misery because I miss it so much. I haven't been able to work out because i have been very sick so that is Terrible, but...do you ever feel like you'll die if you don't get into a fistfight with someone immediately


----------



## CupofJoe

DragonOfTheAerie said:


> but...do you ever feel like you'll die if you don't get into a fistfight with someone immediately


Honestly no... but there again any fight I've been in hasn't been a martial art but a fight to survive [Okay, a fight to run away and hide].
I do miss swimming until my arms ache if I'm not well enough to go swimming.


----------



## Chessie2

It has snowed here for like 2 straight months. Eff this. We moved out of Alaska only to live in the snowiest place in Washington state. Seriously...I am ready to live in Malta or the Caribbean.


----------



## pmmg

I dont think washington is far enough south.  In my version of washington (DC).  Just the threat of snow causes everything to close down. And two inches is a big snow.  Snowed last night but i can still see the pavement.


----------



## Chessie2

I agree that it is still too far north. We're thinking Utah, Arizona...maybe Palm Desert? Idk. Somewhere winters are mild.


----------



## ThinkerX

Chessie2 said:


> It has snowed here for like 2 straight months. Eff this. We moved out of Alaska only to live in the snowiest place in Washington state. Seriously...I am ready to live in Malta or the Caribbean.


and miss out on the long brutal winters so essential to your stories?


----------



## Ban

Chessie2 said:


> It has snowed here for like 2 straight months. Eff this. We moved out of Alaska only to live in the snowiest place in Washington state. Seriously...I am ready to live in Malta or the Caribbean.



It was 20 degrees celsius even here in the netherlands last week.


 sorry


----------



## Sheilawisz

Chessie2 said:


> It has snowed here for like 2 straight months. Eff this. We moved out of Alaska only to live in the snowiest place in Washington state. Seriously...I am ready to live in Malta or the Caribbean.





pmmg said:


> I dont think washington is far enough south. In my version of washington (DC). Just the threat of snow causes everything to close down. And two inches is a big snow. Snowed last night but i can still see the pavement.





Chessie2 said:


> I agree that it is still too far north. We're thinking Utah, Arizona...maybe Palm Desert? Idk. Somewhere winters are mild.



Well, I am almost sure that you guys would love my beautiful Pachuca! The weather here is rather unusual, but I love it forever. We get to enjoy a daily combination of warm days and cold nights all year, so the city never becomes too hot and never too cold either. Also, we have wind almost everyday and the often crystalline air provides a wonderful view of the mountains.

Tired of brutal winters? Pachuca does get cold sometimes, but the day quickly warms up even after the coldest nights. Tired of brutal summers? Guess what! While searing heat can take place during two or three months of the year, sunset comes and the temperature drops immediately. No hurricanes here! No tornadoes! Very few insects and bugs! Nice supermarkets and shopping mall! Also, the city is pretty much safe from dangerous quakes.

The downside is that we do not have actual seasons, sunlight is extremely dangerous and our mountainous air can sometimes be dry enough to cause frequent discomfort and even nosebleed in those that are not used to something like this.

If you miss the North, we have conifer forest up in the mountains that resembles those of high latitudes very well. The city has almost anything that you could need, cost of living in general is low and there are tons of nice places nearby to visit in the weekend.

Sorry, that was expat me talking... but yeah, you definitely should move here! =)


----------



## Chessie2

Sounds like a nice place.


----------



## Chessie2

ThinkerX said:


> and miss out on the long brutal winters so essential to your stories?


Oh, I do so love torturing characters in blizzards. 

Reaver, summers are gorgeous here. They are also hotter than hell but I like that. It's the gray in the winter that massively triggers my S.A.D.


----------



## Sheilawisz

Chessie2 said:


> Sounds like a nice place.



Pachuca is a nice place for sure, very peaceful and I would even call it lovely. The only problem is that the city's weather is a bit extreme by Mexican standards, and locals always complain about it. Also, most expats prefer to live in more moderate climates like those of San Miguel de Allende and the famous Lakeside community.

I do not understand those people, Pachuca and other similar cities are the best!

If you enjoy summers, then Pachuca would not be the best place for you. June to September are all part of the rain and storms season, which is way colder than the hottest time of the year represented by April and May. The rain then recedes and Frost Season starts, lasting all the way back to March and then April once again.

Curiously, Liverpool and other similar stores still sell their season-themed clothing even if real seasons do not exist here.

The near constant wind, freezing nights, nearby mountains and beautiful forests to visit have all been very important, satisfying and inspirational for me as a Fantasy writer.


----------



## Ban

*Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines is getting a sequel! *

To those not in the know, this game has been a cult classic ever since it came out in 2004, despite the failure of its production company Troika and despite countless bugs. People managed to accept all of that simply because the game has such phenomenal storytelling. My PC can't even begin to handle this game yet I'm still beyond excited. WOO!


----------



## Futhark

Me when I was young.  Girl says ‘Want to come over?  There is no one at home.’
Me.  ‘Nah, I got stuff to do.’

Eight hours later.  ‘Oh, wait..,’


----------



## CupofJoe

Futhark said:


> Me when I was young.  Girl says ‘Want to come over?  There is no one at home.’
> Me.  ‘Nah, I got stuff to do.’
> 
> Eight hours later.  ‘Oh, wait..,’


The invitation to "Help me Babysit" was too often refused...


----------



## Chessie2

I find it entertaining that our cats like to watch each other constantly. They watch each other eat. They watch each other play. They watch each other fight. They watch each other use the bathroom, get pettings, jump on counters, destroy shit, get in trouble, etc. They instigate battles and if two are engaged in a fight, the third will jump in and swat. If the kitten is chased by the calico, the siamese will chase the calico out of the room. If the kitten harasses the siamese, the calico will chase the kitten, and so on. I find their behavior intriguing.


----------



## Futhark

Ban said:


> It was 20 degrees celsius even here in the netherlands last week.
> 
> 
> sorry



Autumn in Australia

Installing...
Installing...
Installing...

Installation Failed.  Continuing 60+% humidity and 30 degrees Celsius (in the shade).


----------



## CupofJoe

Happy Tolkien Reading day....


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## Black Dragon

CupofJoe said:


> Happy Tolkien Reading day....



I wasn't aware that this existed.  But now that I know about it, I love the idea.  I support anything that exposes people to the writings of Tolkien.


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## CupofJoe

After a day away from the web [and other forms of news], I come back to see and read about Sri Lanka...
I won't despair about this world [been there, done that], but sometimes it takes more work than others to see the good that is around us.


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## Ned Marcus

CupofJoe said:


> After a day away from the web [and other forms of news], I come back to see and read about Sri Lanka...
> I won't despair about this world [been there, done that], but sometimes it takes more work than others to see the good that is around us.


And just when the trouble seemed to be over.


----------



## Orc Knight

I know I have not the greatest writing habit, but it's strange when I write almost a thousand words for some papers for a short presentation on fish and fishing of all things for work and can't put any other writing to pen. So to speak. On the other hand, presentation and fishing afterwards.


----------



## Chessie2

I've been playing with Japanese cooking and finding it simpler than I realized it could be. At first, it seemed so intimidating. I'm really enjoying the bento box lunches and I went ahead and ordered some seaweed wraps from Amazon to make wraps and sushi. Want to try the sandwiches next, eventually the curries. It's my new creative feat, lol.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Chessie2 said:


> I've been playing with Japanese cooking and finding it simpler than I realized it could be. At first, it seemed so intimidating. I'm really enjoying the bento box lunches and I went ahead and ordered some seaweed wraps from Amazon to make wraps and sushi. Want to try the sandwiches next, eventually the curries. It's my new creative feat, lol.


I love cooking new stuff. I am on a huge smoking kick. Made a brisket for Easter. It was delightful.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Interesting article on kidspeak slang creeping into the English language:

Why Grown-Ups Keep Talking Like Little Kids


----------



## CupofJoe

No research into Dragons...
In some ways a sad day for us all.


----------



## Ban

Viva hollandia, netherlands won eurovision finally!


Ok back to fantasy I guess


----------



## Futhark

What is it with archers and eyepatches in fantasy?  Don’t people know about depth perception?


----------



## Orc Knight

Haven't really noticed that trend, actually.


----------



## Futhark

Oh, it was just a game my son was watching.  There’s a bit of satire involved I think; the Skeletons keep ‘losing their head’, cause it’s not attached, all the archers wear eyepatches, stuff like that.  It wasn’t a serious observation  but I have a head cold and lots of work to do, so I’m procrastinating.


----------



## CupofJoe

Futhark said:


> Oh, it was just a game my son was watching.  There’s a bit of satire involved I think; the Skeletons keep ‘losing their head’, cause it’s not attached, all the archers wear eyepatches, stuff like that.  It wasn’t a serious observation  but I have a head cold and lots of work to do, so I’m procrastinating.


The number of times I've nearly had my eye poked out by someone [absolutely not me] not paying attention when using a bow... I'm not surprised.


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## Orc Knight

According to a kid, apparently I, as a common park worker can put people into 'Baseball Jail'. I have great powers for a non-sworn. And baseball jails.

Some context: I was locking up parks and told people still there that I was going to lock them in.


----------



## Futhark

^ Sounds like the government officials we have.  It’s not what they’re _legally_ allowed to do, but what they can get away with.  So if they’ll let you lock them in, I say ‘Go for Gold’.


----------



## CupofJoe

Just read that Roky Erickson has died. About three years ago I had the chance to see him perform in London. But some family event [that doesn't seem so important in hindsight] meant I had to give away my ticket. And if you need to know why I'm so upset...
Two Headed Dog


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Look at this cute little guy.


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## Jez

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Look at this cute little guy.



Just your normal night over here in Australia.


----------



## Futhark

Jez said:


> Just your normal night over here in Australia.


Well, not every night.  Pygmy possums are pretty rare.  Guess we know why, huh?


----------



## Jez

Futhark said:


> Well, not every night.  Pygmy possums are pretty rare.  Guess we know why, huh?



Good point! It explains a lot.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

I know a bunch of you said I would grow out of liking first person and I insisted it wouldn’t happen, but now so many of my writing projects are multi-POV that first person is practically unviable, so...congrats, you were at least partially right? I have no wish to figure out how to distinguish three different first person narrators in a single book and I would hate that passionately as a reader. 

But in all honesty, with Red Nights I am now annoyed with my protagonist’s voice and want to distance myself from it, and I’m considering multiple POV’s. Endless Sky, on the other hand, is going to be narrated as the protagonist telling the story of her life in her old age to the listener/reader, so first person works perfect there. 

Something about the MC of red nights just makes all previous iterations of her unbearable to reread; she just seems immature and way too impulsive to be alive every time I write her. Also, I was going through a depressive episode when I wrote that last draft and now I don’t care for it to be so dark and edgy. Actually I don’t care for grimdark. The Lies of Locke Lamora is a good example of how to pull off a dark, violent, Edgy tale without being depressing and woe-is-me. 

I wish I could pull off 3rd omni but tbh that feels like TOO much distance sometimes and how do I hold onto a consistent Narrator Voice 

I used to prefer having one protagonist and on some levels I still do, but my last couple projects had multiple and I really like the freedom of being able to switch POV’s, and explore multiple personalities/characters in one book. Being in one character’s head all the time can be tiring. I *do* think one POV character should be the default because reading a story that switches between three POV characters when it’s not even necessary is a chore, especially when the author cultivates subplots for the supporting characters to hold them up that aren’t even needed...


----------



## FifthView

There are times I think I'm weird, and times when not so much.

But I really liked the new CATS trailer. Why are so many freaking out about it? Not scary in the least, and rather magical in its way.


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

FifthView said:


> There are times I think I'm weird, and times when not so much.
> 
> But I really liked the new CATS trailer. Why are so many freaking out about it? Not scary in the least, and rather magical in its way.



I would need to combine my medications in a most discouraged way to dream something like that fevered nightmare of tiny crawling naked people.


----------



## Chessie2

My son said that I'm going to own ten cats when I'm an old lady. Then he laughed.

Is this what he thinks of me?! That I'm a crazy cat lady?! Half of the cats in this house belong to his father!


----------



## skip.knox

No one ever says crazy dog man. Nor, I should hasten to add, do they speak of a sane cat lady.

I wonder when older woman owning far too many cats became a trope.


----------



## FifthView

I wonder if it's because dogs are pack animals and cats are generally solitary in nature.


----------



## Orc Knight

You just have to teach him that none of you own the cats. You're just there for their benefit.


----------



## Chessie2

FifthView said:


> I wonder if it's because dogs are pack animals and cats are generally solitary in nature.


Not entirely accurate, I'm afraid. Cats live in colonies of individuals related to one another. They are social creatures but also supremely territorial. New cats who are not recognized by the other cats in a colony will be alone because they are not part of the group. The feral colony in our neighborhood shunned a stray who appeared one day back in the spring (he has since been adopted by our neighbors). When we fed the ferals, they would either allow him to eat first and kept their distance, or he ran when they were already eating first. They never interacted except to run away from one another. The stray is social with us while the ferals are social with one another. Think of a lion pride. It works the same way.

At home as pets, it works differently. The cats, not often related, will like certain individuals vs others because they are then housemates instead of family. This is why you'll see them fight even though we consider them to be part of a (human) family.


----------



## CupofJoe

We have a local elderly couple known as the Pigeon Crazies...
Every day. they feed pigeons, and the occasional sparrow [and once in a while a seagull, apparently].


----------



## Orc Knight

Today I saved a snapping turtle. Then named it Bob from Accounting. And I kept all my fingers. Good day.


----------



## Maker of Things Not Kings

I've got a thing for common garden snails.  Whenever one came inside on a lettuce leaf from the garden (usually so tiny we almost didn't notice them until they were drowning in vinaigrette) I'd save them, raise them in a makeshift terrarium then release them back into the_ wild _after they became egg producers. Used to give them the run of the place at night because they never seemed to wander far from their home/food source and you could always find them by the glimmering snail trail they left behind. Most took a turn around the desk or up the wall or a plant and came back or settled in for the night on the underside of a leaf. But then one did venture off somewhere and we never found it and I started to wonder what might happen if one of them got lost inside and then laid their eggs (usually they produce 100 or more at a time) where we could not see/find them.   See, like spiders and people, I love the company of one or two. . . but not a hundred.


----------



## CupofJoe

Saw this picture this morning...
Storm King






And I want to WRITE A STORY!!!


----------



## Jackarandajam

A life is made peaceful by one deciding, shrewdly, which lies are passably safe to believe.


----------



## Chessie2

Anyone up for some word sprints here or in chat?


----------



## Ban

Blue dude, you viewed the lewd food feud queue? Woo... Who threw two ewe shoes through Wu's roux?


Who designed English and can I speak to the manager?
Bloody great vowel shift.


----------



## Hir i-Chorvath

“Two blind men waited at the end of an era, contemplating beauty.” -Hoid


----------



## DragonOfTheAerie

It's now exactly one month since I moved into my college dorm. I feel slightly more sane than I did initially. It took me a while to figure out how to find time to eat, sleep, and shower.


----------



## CupofJoe

Probably sharing WAAAAAY too much but I wanted to tell some people a strange thing that happened to me this morning.
For the first time in a long time I drank coffee and it tasted nice... it didn't hurt to drink it... I was enjoying the Ethiopian blend and not needing a caffeine fix. I've been dry for 10 days and that is the first time in longer than I can remember that that has happened.
The two may [ahem] be related.
Along with that it is a Friday, so winning all round.
And as an aside - You have to try Ethiopian coffee. It is like no other coffee you have tasted, sweet, soft, gently, mellow but still strong. 
And I don't think that is the sobriety talking.


----------



## Svrtnsse

CupofJoe said:


> And as an aside - You have to try Ethiopian coffee. It is like no other coffee you have tasted, sweet, soft, gently, mellow but still strong.


Once you start getting into the finer points of specialty coffee, there's a lot of interesting tastes and varieties to discover.


----------



## CupofJoe

Svrtnsse said:


> Once you start getting into the finer points of specialty coffee, there's a lot of interesting tastes and varieties to discover.


I am lucky enough to work with people that travel the world and often they [are very kindly] bringing back a small bag of coffee for me. 
But this coffee is on a different level. I've got to find a UK source as the air-fares to Addis are likely to be pricey...


----------



## blondie.k

Why is it that where the doldrums of writing are, you never see them in reading?


----------



## CupofJoe

I've seen rainbows on each of the last four days going home from work. Will today make number 5?
I'm not hopeful but I live in hope!


----------



## Hir i-Chorvath

The Black Pipers Kaladin Soundtrack is _finally_ back on Spotify!!! I am so excited!


----------



## Zander Willmore

In response to the cat talk. (I know I am late to the party) I rescued a stray cat.  A couple in a car just dropped him off on the side of my road.  I have been feeding him for a few months and about two weeks ago he walked into my house and has never left.  My other cat that I have owned for a year is giving him a rough time.  Swatting at him and not socializing with him at all.  I am hoping the longer the new cat stays in my house that Mugger the first cat will get used to him and maybe get along with him.


----------



## CupofJoe

Zander Willmore said:


> In response to the cat talk. (I know I am late to the party) I rescued a stray cat.  A couple in a car just dropped him off on the side of my road.  I have been feeding him for a few months and about two weeks ago he walked into my house and has never left.  My other cat that I have owned for a year is giving him a rough time.  Swatting at him and not socializing with him at all.  I am hoping the longer the new cat stays in my house that Mugger the first cat will get used to him and maybe get along with him.


How is the feline turf war going?


----------



## Zander Willmore

A little better..Mugger my first cat still hisses at Garfield the new cat but they have stopped fighting.  They will get used to each over as time goes on I hope.  I love both cats and want them to get along.


----------



## CupofJoe

My sister used to own a farm and there was a farm cat [called *Tom*]. One day a new cat arrived seemingly from nowhere [the nearest house was about a mile away]. There fights and hissing matches for about a month as Tom stood his ground and fought off the interloper. Then one morning my sister came down to see them both curled up in Toms basket/bed. The new cat was hence named *Jerry*. They were inseparable ever after that.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Doctor Who and the T.A.R.D.I.S.

you should click the link.


----------



## Tom

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Doctor Who and the T.A.R.D.I.S.
> 
> you should click the link.


Sounds like something someone who linked to a rickroll would say.....


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Tom said:


> Sounds like something someone who linked to a rickroll would say.....



If it’s. Rickroll I will change my profile to
Heman.


----------



## Yora

I realized all my favorite works of fiction are bleak horror stories.

And I really don't want to write anything like that. I clearly have the wrong reference pool.


----------



## Tom

The universe hates the Buffalo Bills. Proof: after losing their lead in the 3rd quarter but then kicking a miracle field goal to tie with the Texans in the last 20 seconds of the game, they choked within the first 5 minutes of overtime and lost. C'mon guys.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Hey hey hey, I need this.

Utah man builds bulletproof stormtrooper suit with 3-D printer


----------



## Devor

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Hey hey hey, I need this.
> 
> Utah man builds bulletproof stormtrooper suit with 3-D printer



Sometimes it's like we've already passed Star Wars in technology.


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

Devor said:


> Sometimes it's like we've already passed Star Wars in technology.


Admittedly in canon the armor couldn't be pierced by slug throwers. And, if you go legends, the armor usually save the troopers from truly lethal blows. They often just needed to float in the diaper tank for a bit.


----------



## Devor

Garren Jacobsen said:


> Admittedly in canon the armor couldn't be pierced by slug throwers. And, if you go legends, the armor usually save the troopers from truly lethal blows. They often just needed to float in the diaper tank for a bit.



I rather meant the 3D printing, but then again, I suppose the fleet in RoS makes more sense if they were mass printed...


----------



## CupofJoe

Just saw this on the BBC  website... "VAT on digital publications, including newspapers, books and academic journals to be scrapped from December"


----------



## chrispenycate

Which December? Actually, I rather approve of the idea, when it comes to feeding my Kindle, and consider it just, as dead tree books don't carry VAT.


----------



## Ned Marcus

CupofJoe said:


> Just saw this on the BBC  website... "VAT on digital publications, including newspapers, books and academic journals to be scrapped from December"


Do you have the link?


----------



## Ned Marcus

I've found it. Good news.


----------



## Incanus

Tonight I'll be writing prose for the first time in about nine months.  I will be kicking off a new novel, or at least testing out some new ideas.

I'm a bit nervous; I have no idea how this might go.  Could get anywhere from 0 words to 1500.  Or somewhere in between.  Will being out of practice make me stumble and fall right off?  Or will months of pent up creativity cause me to break out running full speed?

I'm open to either possibility.  Almost ANYTHING might happen...


----------



## Garren Jacobsen

I sprained my ankle awhile back. I am putting
It in a bucket of ice due to some over use swelling. It hurts like hell but the swelling is going down rapidly.


----------



## CupofJoe

Garren Jacobsen said:


> I sprained my ankle awhile back. I am putting
> It in a bucket of ice due to some over use swelling. It hurts like hell but the swelling is going down rapidly.


RICE — Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation


----------



## Chris O'Brien

"Life is such a waste of death..." 

Ankhus Raznar, Advocate of Necromancy


----------



## Ban

If anyone happens to be a fellow fan of both George Michael and the Elder Scrolls.


----------



## S.T. Ockenner

He was an attractive, middle aged man with umber skin framed by green tipped curls. His mustache was rather absurdly bushy, yet also rather well groomed. His hair framed his broad shoulders, which were encased within a grey buttoned shirt with faint white dots patterned across it.


----------

