[Writing] Word Count Wednesday 8/28 August 27, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , add a commentFor the week ending 8/28: 353
Not much, but as I always say, it’s 353 more words than I had last week at this time. It seems like there is only one really obvious day for writing. That’s when I get my 300+ words per week in. So, now I just need to work on creating time on a couple other days, so I can get closer to 1000 words per week. I can crank out the 350 pretty easily, but I do it, and then I kind of rest on my laurels for a couple days, and then I get back to where I want to write more, but then I don’t have the time. It’s definitely a pattern, and I’m hoping that being aware of it will help me to change it.
Birthday Meme August 22, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , 3 commentsIt’s not my birthday, but this meme was up over on Chris Roberson’s site, so I’m using it…
Look up your birthday in Wikipedia. Pick 4 events, 3 births, 2 deaths, and 1 holiday.
4 events
1493 - Christopher Columbus first sighted the island of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea
1913 - The USA introduces an income tax
1918 - Poland declares its independence from Russia
1957 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 2. On board is the first animal to enter orbit: a dog named Laika
3 births
1852 - Meiji Emperor, Japanese emperor (d. 1912)
1900 - Adolf Dassler, founder of Adidas (d. 1978)
1957 - Dolph Lundgren, Swedish actor
2 deaths
1954 - Henri Matisse, French artist (b. 1869)
1998 - Bob Kane, comic artist and Batman co-creator (b. 1915)
1 holiday
Japan - Culture Day (originally celebrated as Emperor’s Birthday until the Meiji Emperor’s death in 1912)
Clone Wars equals Awful August 21, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , add a commentI saw Clone Wars on Sunday with my wife and an avid Star Wars fan and his wife (I would have just said two other friends, but I wanted to get in the part about how one is the kind of guy who can beat you at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit in 1 turn). I think Mr. Star Wars Junkie enjoyed it at least a little, but he was also annoyed whenever the droids talked.
Personally, I couldn’t get over the fact that Anakin’s padawan looked just like one of the Olsen twins. I’m sure that was not a coincidence either. I mean that, and the whole thing was another one of those political games for trade routes in space. I think if I were reading a book about it, it would be easier to understand and probably much more interesting. In fact, I just did read a book about it; called Tempest, part of the Legacy of the Force series. It was all about the political intrigue and motives, but the author could take the time to explain things better (even while showing and not telling). But when you (or George Lucas) try to make that kind of thing work in a 90 minute kid movie (yeah, it’s a kid movie), a lot of the political tension that could make it deeper gets lost.
It’s too late to apologize August 19, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , 1 comment so farI made it a rule when I started blogging to never apologize for not posting in a long time. That’s what RSS feeds are for. So, without further apology, let me just say that I got a new dog, and it’s taken me longer to get adjusted to him than it took him to adjust to me (and I’m still not sure that I’m fully there yet). Yeah, I know, I was worried that this guy would get bored from laying around all day while I work from home and turn on his masters in a show of bored ferocity:
But seriously, look at those fangs:
In other news, I started and stopped StarCraft: Nova. I made it through about 50 pages and then just couldn’t handle the writing. I imagine it’s mostly because it was written more for a teenage video game playing audience than a mid-twenties video game playing audience. I did like the concept, though, and it was exactly what I would have wanted to read if a) I were a teenager or b) it was written in a more adult style.
So, now I’ve started A Canticle For Leibowitz. Evidently it’s a classic or something.
[Writing] Word Count Wednesday 7/30 July 30, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , add a commentThis week’s fiction: 429
This week’s non-fiction: 0 (uh-oh)
So, if I write 429 words per week (which seems to be my max at this point), I’ll have 90,000 in only 4 years!
In the mean time… I need to figure out when I’m going to finish all my player profiles for the fantasy basketball draft guide. I guess since I set the deadline of tomorrow, I’m going to be pulling an all-nighter tonight.
Neal Stephenson is an NBA fan July 25, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , 1 comment so farI don’t remember anyone pointing this out in any of the various blog post recaps I read of his seminar at Gresham College came out just after the seminar, but Stephenson said (about 26:08):
It’s a miracle, actually, that Gresham College was able to get me over here during the middle of the NBA playoffs.
I’m really only pointing this out because I am a fan of both Neal Stephenson and the NBA, and it makes me happy to know that Neal (Mr. Stephenson?) is also a basketball fan. As a resident of Seattle, I wonder what his thoughts are on the Sonics moving to Oklahoma City. Well, if he is/was a fan of the Sonics then he probably wouldn’t even have to explain. But, since he grew up in Iowa, I can’t help but wonder if he didn’t become attached to the Bulls during high school (the Timberwolves didn’t exist when he graduated in 1977).
Anyway, here’s the video (thanks Google Alerts!):
[Writing] Word Count Wednesday 7/23 July 23, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , add a commentSo, despite spending 3 days in NYC (working during the day, partying at night) and then driving 13 hours on Saturday (not to mention spending 4 hours in Scranton), I managed to get 446 words this week, topping the 416 cobbled together over the prior 2 weeks.
Another random picture (taken by my wife, painstakingly color edited by me; you can click on it for a larger version):
Add to the Reading List: Karen Traviss’ City of Pearl (Free!) July 22, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , add a commentClick here to get Karen Traviss’ first book City of Pearl for free, available until August 1st. Traviss is the author of four Star Wars Republic Commando books and three of the Legacy of the Force books (of which I’ve read one).
You can preview City of Pearl with this fancy little widget:
The Spirit (from SF Signal) July 18, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : Writing , 1 comment so far
I had just seen some posters up (NYC-style 8×2 glue-up posters) for The Spirit last night, and then found SFSignal’s “At the Trailer Park” (one of my favorite series on their site) with a trailer for The Spirit.
Oh, wait, I still haven’t seen Sin City nor 300. It does look good, though… but not as good as Terminator: Salvation (trailer also featured in the SF Signal post).
[Writing] Word Count Wednesday July 16, 2008
Posted by fanaticalpupil in : The Nine Mothers, Writing , add a commentNow, I didn’t do WCW last week because I was on a schooner, sailing around islands in Maine. I should have been writing (well, at least, I should have been writing more), but instead I read Stephen King’s The Gunslinger. I did at least get through the whole book. And in the mean time (over the past 2 weeks), I wrote 414 words of fiction (for The Nine Mothers). I also got a lot of thinking and note-taking in as well.
And to make this post a little more interesting, here’s a picture I lomo-ized from the trip:
