What I don't understand is why people have started calling mp3s of interviews/music mixes/etc. podcasts. Why the new term? I don't feel particularly hip and snappy using it. I feel like a freakin' yuppie wannabe. And podcasts make me think of iPods. I think they look sort of silly. Especially those "earbuds."
Anyways, why call it a podcast when not everyone has an iPod? And why do most amateur podcasts sound like the equivalent of a deer caught in the headlights?
Onesome: Painted-- Hey! Are you getting all painted up on Monday and going out and about? What are you dressing up as? ...or are you staying home and handing out goodies? ...or sitting in the dark and wishing they would all just go away? Come on < g >!
Er. No. To all questions.
Twosome: Garden-- In the garden of your mind, where do you go to relax for a few moments? Off to the beach? ...to the mountains? ...to a different world? ...or maybe a stroll though an old Victorian landscape?
I try to blank my mind of everything.
Threesome: Gnomes-- Okay, we have to know: what do you think about garden gnomes and pink flamingos and such? I mean other than there seems to be a local ordinance that you have to have at least one or the other in your front yard if you live in South Florida?
I don't think too much of it. If people want gnomes and flamingos on their lawns, they are free to put them there. I wouldn't want any on mine though.
Writing a novel in a month. The majority of people signed up for Nanowrimoare planning to write a novel--primarily, a long work of prose consisting of original fiction. But every year, there is the debate from fringe and not so fringe groups about what constitutes a novel. Is it simply anything at least 50,000 words? Must it be original fiction? Must it be fiction at all?
The way I see it, it's the spirit of the thing that counts the most. If what you're writing doesn't fit into my definition of what a novel is, that's okay as long as what you're doing is mainly 50,000 words of creativity. You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't try to force your own definition of the novel on everyone else. Epic poems, fan fiction*, non-fiction, biographies, movie scripts, stage plays--you can do all of that but don't tell me that those are novels.
Perhaps the debate wouldn't happen at all if the event was called National Book Writing Month instead. But it isn't and I guess I'm one of those old-fashioned people who believe you should write a novel when it says write a novel and not something else. Would a Chaucer fan club crash a science fiction convention? Would a contestant eat pumpkin pies at a hot dog eating competition? No. While you can argue that Chaucer and sci-fi are both fiction and pies and hot dogs are both food, they're not really the same. Although I don't like categorization as the next person, sometimes, they can be helpful.
*Fan fiction is a murky topic all within itself. It's fiction. And it's original--in the sense that the plot is original, but the characters and/or setting aren't. Fan fiction could be novels--witness the numerous Star Trek and Star Wars books--but most of it are just scribblings of self-fulfillment. I wouldn't say this is in itself bad or good. If people choose to use their time writing fan fiction, I won't argue with them.
There are several interesting arguments for and against fan fiction. The main objection is that the fan fiction writer is playing in someone else's world, that they're taking the easy way out by not creating the characters and setting themselves. Another is the constraints a previously created world sets on the writer. But this is debatable--some writers disregard the canonical rules and others argue that by creating your own world, you still have a set of rules to follow anyway.
Avid fan fiction writers point out writing in someone else's world is like training wheels on a bicycle. They're afraid of falling flat on their face if they start out writing original fiction. To that, I can only shake my head in disbelief. Are they afraid that their own creations will be too stupid for public consumption? I don't really see how fan fiction can prepare you for something original--the only thing to do is to practice. Besides, tons of stupid books actually get published every year and maybe your stupid idea is someone else's genius of a creation.
Anyways, this reminds me of a comment I got a while back about my 2003 Nano novel where the reader compared it to a "good X-files fanfic." My first reaction was more along the lines of "WTF?!" because I don't read fanfic, let alone X-files fanfic (aside: I'm not particularly a fan of X-files) and fan fiction, to me, has a lot of not exactly positive connotations. And dang it, my novel was original! But after thinking about it, I figured it was supposed to be a compliment. At least I hope so.
Onesome: Butterflies-- 'Tis the end of butterfly season, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere (hey, we have readers and respondents in the Southern); what are looking forward to seeing around the yards and neighborhoods in the next few months. (...besides snow, unless that's all you have staring back at you during the Winter months!)
Twosome: are-- Are your sports teams doing okay this Fall? Baseball is down to the final stretch and it's time to chose up sides! ...and football is darned interesting at the six-week mark? No interest? How about curling < g >?
I'm not a sports person. But I can say, "Yay! Curling!", even though I have no idea who's who in sports.
Threesome: Free-- What is your favorite "freebie"? That 'buy one, get one free' sale? ...the ice cream cone from your local shop on your birthday? The samples at Starbucks? Inquiring minds and all that...
Blank notebooks and journals. You can never have too many of those.
I admit that I don't check the posts on my guestbook all that often. And when someone leaves a message, I have no way of knowing when they left the message because the ultra simple Yahoo! guestbook is stripped of all features--including the date and time. Yeah, I should get something more sophisticated, but frankly, most of the messages worth reading are left at the comments at the end of the post.
Anyways, this post isn't about griping about my guestbook. No, it's about site design. A visitor left a message in the guestbook inviting me to enter some sort of website contest called The Rumbles. My first thought was that there was no way that it could be serious--I have the web design skills of a gnat--and that it was just an advertisement for a new meme that I have no inclination or energy for participating in.
But being curious, I checked it out.
Gah! Cutesy girly designs!
Okay, so there's nothing inherently wrong about cutesy girly designs, but they're definitely not my style. Or at least I don't think so. (Is my drooling monster mascot at the side of this blog considered a cutesy girly design?) The kittens and puppies, the borders, the lavender, the adoption graphics, the blinking backgrounds, the cliquey webrings--reminds me of late 90's web design. While fun during that time, it gives me a headache now.
I prefer rather minimalist design nowadays--sites where the showcase is the writing and content and not the frame of the content. Sure, there could be a graphic or two but not so many that it slows down loading and freezes up my browser.
(Author's Note: Digging through previous writings, I found this profile for one of the creators of the comic strip Crippling Depression written in 2001-2002. A far more comprehensive column on all the creators written by Rhonda Hillbery is located here.)
The wall beside Tim Wan's door room is peppered with personal photographs and a large Disney poster of Beauty and the Beast. Most of the pictures were taken in bars with the background illuminated by green or pink neon signs. They feature a grinning Asian male with a dark jacket draped over his lanky frame surrounded by women in tight tank tops, short skirts, and lots of bare skin. His head is shaved, and spectacles pretending to be a pair of slick metal-framed glasses are perched on his nose. Above the pictorial of all his exploits, a computer printout banner proclaims: KAOS Girl of the Month. What girl of the month? It looks more like a harem of twenty.
"It was all his idea. He made me put the sign up," explains Will Findley, his roommate.
"Yeah," Wan easily agrees in a masculine version of valley girl. Apparently, he's hoarding a stash of female pin-ups somewhere in his meticulously clean room. Tim Wan, a third-year undergraduate at Caltech, is a stickler for organization and using up space. Although his roommate's possessions are squeezed into a rectangular plot outlined by the boundaries of Findley's desk, Wan's own belongings--arranged as methodically as library periodicals--dominate the rest of the room. An army of plastic action figures parade in strict formation on a shelf above his computer monitor. A poster of sloe-eyed Christina Aguilera hangs on the neighboring wall.
"Why don't you sit on the couch?" Rey Ramirez, a friend, complains.
Swiftly, Wan replies, "No." He slouches comfortably in his padded gray chair that is a throne on wheels. He's wearing a rumpled navy t-shirt and black shorts. His bare left foot is raised to rest on his right knee. Rather than expounding on the reasons for why he chose computer science as an option at Caltech, Wan launches into his love for comic books and toys. "I used to get the toys to play with, you know. For about a year I stopped. And then I started buying them again because those new Star Wars collectible figures came out. So now I just collect them. I keep them in boxes unopened."
He has pictures of his entire collection that fills up an entire room: Star Wars collectibles, X-Men posters, and Disney princess dolls. Most of it remains in storage at home in Washington. "Tim has unhealthy obsessions with Disney characters," his roommate remarks.
"He has unhealthy obsessions, period," Ramirez clarifies. "He just focuses on something and doesn't let up."
"But he's sensitive," adds Findley. Wan only replies to the comment with a list of his favorite movies and television shows: Braveheart, WWE, and football.
Wan is part of the trio behind the humorous and occasionally angsty comic strip Crippling Depression that appears in The California Tech. The project was spurred onward by a mixture of an aversion to physics homework and a why-not attitude. "During my sophomore year, there was a comic called Vanilla that came out before ours. To be honest, I didn't think it was that good. I thought that we could do better." The strip was inspired by a multitude of online comics like PvP and Penny Arcade as well as the more mainstream newsprint cartoons like FoxTrot and Calvin and Hobbes. For about a term, Wan and another friend, Ben Lee, batted around the idea of doing something humorous about Caltech undergraduate life before conning a freshman to do the illustrations.
"Tim is impulsive and very spontaneous," Lee says of his friend's creative habits. "He blurts out a lot of his ideas. He's funny, and even though he doesn't seem like it, he's sensible."
Mike Yeh, the artist for Crippling Depression, agrees. "He yells a lot and jokes around, but he's nice about understanding that I may be behind on the drawings because of homework."
Wan keeps a notebook to jot down ideas that may be potentially used as plot lines. Anything, from an annoying student in a lecture hall to a weeping student in front of a Coke machine, could become fodder for the following week's strip.
Besides drawing inspiration from real life experience, the characters of Crippling Depression bear an uncanny resemblance to the comic's authors. The character "Tim" appears in a panel about holiday shopping. "I got the new Babblin' Boo Doll!" he exclaims holding up the collectible. "They're this year's hottest toys! She giggles, babbles, and cries!!"
A passing shopper replies, "I bet your sister's going to love that!"
I've compiled a list of fantasy authors that people have claimed to be "overrated." My own comments are included, but if you're looking for something to do, you can take this as a meme. Or you can comment. Are any of the overrated authors that I haven't read any good? Are there any other overrated authors that I didn't include?
Anthony, Piers - I wouldn't call him overrated. Everyone knows his books are fluff.
Attanasio, A.A. - Haven't read.
Bemmann, Hans - Haven't read. Never heard of him either.
Bradley, Marion Zimmer - Haven't read.
Brooks, Terry - I've read two or three books by him and all I can say is, "Eh."
Card, Orson Scott - Ender's Game was awesome. The few other books I've read didn't stick to my mind.
Donaldson, Stephen R. - Haven't read.
Douglass, Sara - Haven't read. But I have a copy of Threshold on my to-be-read pile because I've seen a good review for it.
Drake, David - Haven't read.
Eddings, David - I've read one book which was in the middle of a series. I was not impressed.
Feist, Raymond - Haven't read.
Goodkind, Terry - Haven't read.
Hamilton, Laurell K. - I've only read Lunatic Cafe and some of her Anita Blake short stories. I can't say I was particularly struck by her writing.
Haydon, Elizabeth - Haven't read.
Hickman, Tracy - Haven't read.
Jacques, Brian - I've read a few set in the world of Redwall. At the time, I thought they were pretty good, for novels about anthropomorphic animals.
Jones, J.V. - I've only read The Barbed Coil. I don't really remember much about it.
Jordan, Robert - Haven't read. His huge books scare the heck out of me. You could kill somebody with one of those.
King, Stephen - I have only read his novella "The Langoliers" and started the first chapter or two of Pet Cemetary. I'm not that much of a horror buff.
Lackey, Mercedes - I've read her sporadically, usually just random books in the middle of series. I don't particularly like or dislike her work.
Lee, Tanith - What?! Tanith Lee is great. All hail Tanith Lee!
Martin, George R.R. - Haven't read although have heard people absolutely hating him or absolutely loving him.
McCaffrey, Anne - I've read her older books which I thought were pretty good. Have no idea what her newer books are like.
Modesitt, L.E. - Haven't read.
Newcomb, Robert - Haven't read. Never heard of him.
Paolini, Christopher - Haven't read. I'd hesitate just because the author's a teenager.
Paxson, Diana L. - Haven't read.
Pierce, Tamora - I've only read her Song of the Lioness quartet. The first two books were pretty good, but I was disappointed with the later books.
Pullman, Philip - I thought the His Dark Materials trilogy was brilliant when I finished it. Count Karlstein is hilarious. The Sally Lockhart series is on my to-be-read pile.
Rice, Anne - I have only read the Mayfair Witches trilogy. That was weird. I've only read the first chapter of The Mummy and put it down because I was bored.
Rowling, J.K. - I have only read the first Harry Potter book. I just don't get why everyone gushes about it. It's derivative.
Rusch, Kristin Kathryn - Haven't read. Never heard of her.
Stevermer, Caroline - I don't think she's overrated. She's not prolific, but what she has written is good.
Tolkien, J.R.R. - But he's the guy who jumpstarted the whole genre!
Weis, Margaret - Haven't read.
Williams, Tad - Haven't read.
Added: 10/16 - Elizabeth Haydon, Caroline Stevermer; 10/17 - David Drake, Raymond Feist, L.E. Modesitt
Lawnmowers need gas. With gas prices being rather ridiculous lately (and perhaps becoming more so in the future), what would be the most efficient way to mow a lawn? Assuming that your lawn is rectangular in shape and it takes you a fixed amount of time to mow a certain area, would it be better to mow in a clockwise/counterclockwise fashion or strictly rows back and forth? Let's assume that turning the lawnmower to make another row in the latter scenario takes twice as long as the other.
Onesome: County-- The wild card for today: Do you know approximately how many people live in your county? It used to be that information was only available at the library; I'm betting most of us will be looking it up on the net!
From the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated 2004 population: 141,611.
Twosome: Library-- Do you use the library system where you live? ...or are you one of those who has to own the book (and can afford to)? Students: how good is your school library? ...and do use it or the net for most things?
Of course I use the library as much as I can. It's one of the first places I check. I only buy a book if I really have to or if I want to have a copy with me permanently. As for quick references, I use the net.
Threesome: System-- Hey, what system do you use to store/keep track of your books and music and whatever it is that tends to outgrow its living area? Do you alphabetize? ...sort by color? ...genre?
I alphabetize by author. If there's more than one title by an author, I alphabetize by title.
Geez, that was a pain in the butt. I had to backup all my comments because the guy hosting the commenting system I had installed since 2001 is closing it down. It was really crazy because I had to check all my comments and now they're in this weird format.
For all intents and purposes, though, all my comments are now gone. For the recent commenters (there weren't many since I haven't been posting copiously lately), sorry. All I can say is that this blog is now a clean slate, comment-wise.
Also, I'm not sure what the heck happened with the archives. I still have the monthly ones, but apparently, Blogger has published all my posts as separate archived pages as well when I changed to the Blogger commenting system. Oh well, I am too tired right now to fiddle with it.
* * *
On another note, tonight I got stuck driving behind a motorcycle gang. This sucks because they are slow.
The instigator of the thread basically posits that there is no point to doing Nanowrimo. He says that anyone can join and that what most people will be writing is tons of crap that isn't publishable. There are a lot of other participants who've rushed to defend the concept of Nanowrimo and to that, I say, hurray! If you have to ask what the point is, you've probably completely missed it anyway.
Why does anyone want to write a novel in a month? There are probably as many reasons as there are participants. And who's to say that one reason isn't as valid as the next? Nanowrimo is all about getting the motivation to write and to join a community of writers who understand what you're going through. Sure, any person can join--but why act elitist about it? Part of the writing process is to just get the words down. A lot of people who want to write novels don't even do that.
If you want to join a small writers group who's goal is to get published, then join another group. Nanowrimo's purpose is to get writing. I'm sure a lot of words churned out during November is "crap" but that doesn't mean that nobody's trying. Besides, I don't think such a paragon exists who can turn out perfect prose the first time. If someone really wants to write crap, they can just copy and paste the same word 50,000 times. And editing...well, that's a different process. You'll have to check up on Nanoedmo for that.
Onesome: Humming-- Humming a little tune are we? Do you have any new musical finds to share with the group? ...or how about an oldie you wished you could find to add to your collection?
Nothing new. How about Dvorak's cello concerto?
Twosome: Dragonfly-- Do you have dragonflies where you live? If so, are there any local names you've heard of for them rather than the 'western classic'?
Nope. And I don't have any alternate names for dragonflies.
Threesome: Search-- Quick! What was the last thing you searched for on the Net? (...or around the house if you've been holding back here.)
The long version: Actually, I'm not really into doing actual reviews. More like opinion snippets. An actual review spoils things--personally, I don't like in depth analysis of character motivations, symbolism, or authorial philosophies. Aside from the plot, most people (or at least I think it's most people) want to know: do you like the book or not? Of course, I must qualify that question further by saying that if you like depressing fiction or hard military sci-fi or action adventures with lots of lawyers, CIA agents, and a smattering of clowns--you might want to skip this post.
The Poison Master by Liz Williams. First, let me just say that this is an awesome book. Sure, I like other speculative fiction as well, but it says a lot when I automatically put it on my mental "keeper" list--that is, I read a library copy of this book but I'm definitely going to get a copy of my own to read it again. On the surface it's about the apothecary Alivet Dee, a descendent of John Dee, trying to earn enough money to buy back her twin sister Inki from slavery. But on one of her jobs, she gets accused of murder and runs into the mysterious Poison Master who claims that he can help her and her sister in return for bringing down the Lords of the Night. I suppose what I loved most about this novel was the concept--Lovecraftian (in ideas, not prose), occult, and gothic. I haven't seen anyone else work space travel through alchemical philosophy, which on first glance might seem a bit flaky, but Williams not only makes it work but makes it shine.
Tinker by Wen Spencer. The last time I read a book where a melding of traditional fantasy and science fiction sort of worked was back in middle school when I thought Anne McCaffrey was really cool. The world building in this book works as well--here we have a future Pittsburg that's been transported to Elfhome (home to what else--the elves) for about a month and then transported back to Earth for a couple of days when the hyperphase gate allowing travel between the parallel dimensions shutdown. But I have a bit of a quibble with the characterization. Tinker, the eighteen-year-old girl genius running a junk yard, seems too much of a Mary Jane and some of her actions are puzzling at best. A supporting character made a whiplash transformation from trusted friend to would-be rapist. And Tinker's love interest, the elf Windwolf, was too perfect and enigmatic. Windwolf would have fit in nicely in Lord of the Rings but was much too cardboard in a character-centric novel.
Seraphim by Michele Hauf. In an alternate medieval France, demons, angels, and fairies walk among humans. Seraphim d'Ange is on a quest for revenge--to destroy the de Morte brothers, fallen angels in human form, who have terrorized France and slaughtered Seraphim's family and fiancé. She is aided by a family retainer and a mysterious mercenary who has secret reasons of his own for helping her. It's not anything like a reworking of Joan of Arc--Seraphim is a very flawed and damaged young woman who has little faith aside from her anger. There is some comic relief provided by the family retainer, but aside from that, the story is pretty bleak. Don't read this one if you're looking for a quick pick-me-up.
When Demons Walk by Patricia Briggs. A lot of mediocre fantasy makes use of major characters who are assassins or thieves, which to me is immediately a black mark. It takes a lot of effort for an author to bring a cliché into something palatable and most of the time, the author fails. But I'm pleased to say that here, the heroine is no average thief. Shamera is recruited by Kerim, the Reeve of Southwood, to help find the one responsible for the sudden murders throughout the city. But to avert suspicion of her new role, she is introduced into society as his mistress. Aside from the court intrigue and bits of magic--both parlor tricks and otherwise--this is at heart, a mystery masquerading as a fantasy. For the relatively short length, it's complex with some surprising twists, but the resolution is both satisfying and consistent.
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. Space opera is a bit hit-and-miss for me. Mostly it's a coordination between plotting and character motivation as well as holding the story up to my mental yardstick which is mostly comprised of Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy. (Asimov wasn't a great writer, but he sure came up with some interesting ideas and plots.) In Shards of Honor, the astrocartographer Cordelia Naismith gets stuck on a newly discovered planet with Aral Vorkosigan, the leader of the Barrayarans who've ambushed her expedition. There's a lot of things going for the book--survival, honor, love, intergalactic war--but somehow, it didn't work for me. I guess my feelings for this book is best summed up by one scene--where Cordelia semi-drowns a psychiatrist in a fish tank in an attempt to escape.
Alice at Heart by Deborah Smith. Although it's light reading mostly concerning the relationships in a southern family, this one shouldn't be overlooked. Alice Riley is the family outcast--she lives in a cabin high in the mountains where she can swim in the water all day and eat butter for breakfast--and her unusual abilities eventually force her to find the people she came from. The three Bonavendier sisters are Alice's half-sisters who have reasons for keeping to themselves on an island just off the coast of Georgia. And a distant cousin, Griffin Randolph, is searching for the answers to his parents' death twenty-five years before. The narrative is unusual as it switches from first to third person, but it allows the reader dawning insight on the characters all the while getting introduced into a whole new take on mermaid mythology.
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull. On her way home after the breakup with her boyfriend as well as her band, Eddi McCandry finds herself pursued by a faerie creature called a phouka and drafted into the long-running war between the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. This novel is Bull's debut work, but it has since launched many imitators of this urban fantasy subgenre (the first one that comes to mind is Holly Black's Tithe which has younger characters and grittier setting). The characterization of the faeries is decidedly unhuman--which can at times be cold, cruel, and chimerical. The story is quite well crafted despite the somewhat problematic climax which makes a faerie war in the middle of Minneapolis exciting rather than ridiculous.
You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister. Aisling Grey must deliver a dragon statue to one of her uncle's clients but instead finds said client murdered and the statue is stolen by a strange man named Drake Vireo who claims to be an Interpol agent. With her papers confiscated by the police, Aisling is stuck in Paris trying to clear her name and get back the stolen statue. Aisling is the typical MacAlister heroine: mostly ditzy with occasional flashes of brilliance. But it is the secondary characters which make this an amusing read, particularly the demon that Aisling summons who comes in the form of a talking dog who goes by the name Jim. Aside from eating and humping people's legs, Jim delivers zingers about Aisling's ineptitude as she gets herself entangled in Paris' underground occult community.
The Royal Treatment by MaryJanice Davidson. It's chick-lit that's more like the result of an alternate history crossed with People magazine. In a parallel universe where Alaska became a sovereign country instead of another state in the Union, Christina (the "e" is silent) Krabbe has just been fired from the job of a cook on a cruise ship when she stumbles onto King Alexander who's doing some fishing. Although with the exception of Christina, the locals know exactly who the king is despite his disguise. The king takes a liking to the displaced American and schemes to fix her up with his son Prince David who is more of a marine biologist obsessed with penguins than a royal. The rest of the novel is a string of comic wackiness as the foul-mouthed and assertive yet sensitive Christina gets swamped with wedding plans, pre-marital counseling and a very eccentric Alaskan royal family. Funny, but the heroine is far more grating than sympathetic.
Curse the Dark by Laura Anne Gilman. This is the second novel in Gilman's Retrievers trilogy. Picking up from where Staying Dead left off, Wren is contracted by an organization called the Silence (who monitors the activities of another organization, the Cosa, which is comprised of mages) to investigate the disappearance of a cursed manuscript originally in the keeping of the Catholic Church. The disturbing thing about the manuscript is that all the people who've read it have gone insane and died. Compared to the first novel, the narrative is a bit fractured as we jump locales from Italy to the New York Public Library and viewpoints from the Silence, other secondary characters, and Wren and her partner Sergei. The author appears to be juggling too many different lines at once--perhaps the fault of sequel-itis--and hopefully may be resolved in the next book.
