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Entries from March 2008

Random stuff, and gaming

March 30th, 2008 · 21 Comments

I didn’t make it to any of Aggiecon as I devoted myself to catching up on work. I enjoyed hearing about the convention from Reesa and Steve, and last night Reesa and I took in the con’s Rocky Horror Picture Show performance, which was quite enjoyable. Rocky was particularly well played by a handsome and [...]

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Tags: Conventions

Um…

March 30th, 2008 · 26 Comments

“In his lifetime, he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen; once dead, he is not even the ghost he was then.” — Jorge Luis Vorges, “Tlön,Uqbar, Orbis Tercius”
Can someone please tell me what this means?

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Tags: Books · Steve

How to have difficult conversations

March 27th, 2008 · 11 Comments

“General, we haven’t located the SAM battery in that area yet.”
“What’s your point?”
“Until we find it, the air strike seems risky. Perhaps the general would wish to postpone it?”
“Why would you say that?”
“Well, without knowing where–”
“No, I mean, why would you say it? Are you trying to hurt me? I spend the [...]

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Tags: Steve · Writing

Aggiecon

March 27th, 2008 · 13 Comments

Kit, Reesa, and I will be at Aggiecon here in College Station for much of this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

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Tags: Conventions · Steve

On “message,” “theme,” and Stuff Like That

March 23rd, 2008 · 29 Comments

When I’m working on a story, there is usually some background idea I’m investigating; what some might call a theme, although I don’t entirely understand that word.  In practice, it means that at some point in the process–usually pretty early–I discover that I’m using the story as a means to work out or explore some [...]

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Tags: Steve · Writing

Comment of the Day

March 23rd, 2008 · 9 Comments

“If you can’t dance with my brain, what do you think you can do with my body?” — Reesa Brown.

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Tags: Reesa

RIP Arthur C Clarke

March 18th, 2008 · 25 Comments

A friend just informed me about the death of Arthur C. Clarke. I’m sad to hear we’ve lost another grandmaster of SF. I still remember laying in bed in the basement of my grandmother’s vacation house one summer, ignoring my family’s entreaties to go to the beach or interact with them so that I could [...]

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Tags: Books

Kit reviews Indigara by Tanith Lee

March 18th, 2008 · No Comments

My review of Tanith Lee’s Indigara has been published on the SF Site. It’s one of the most negative reviews I’ve ever written, which was a little weird for me. I’ve enjoyed some of Lee’s work but this one was way short of the mark. I hope those who read my review will look [...]

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Tags: Reviews

Omegacon: Poor organization and good hearts

March 16th, 2008 · 11 Comments

They started out by leaving me standing in the airport for an hour and a half. Eventually, I gave up on them and took a shuttle (after calling Reesa to find out what hotel I was supposed to be at). Then they didn’t have a room ready. Then they did have [...]

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Tags: Conventions · Steve

A koan

March 12th, 2008 · 17 Comments

One day the sous-chef said to Alton Brown, “Master, how much kosher salt is the right amount for a rib roast?”  And Alton Brown said, “Dice two cloves of garlic.”  In this moment, the sous-chef achieved enlightenment.

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Tags: Food · Steve

A thought

March 12th, 2008 · 12 Comments

It isn’t our job as writers to understand the inexplicable, only to explain it.

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Tags: Steve · Writing

Cats and birds: an observation

March 7th, 2008 · 22 Comments

If you live with a cat, “played with” means “gone forever.”  As in, “Where is my pen?”  “It fell on the floor and got played with.”  If you live with a bird, however, “played with” means, roughly, “torn into little shreds to the point of no longer being recognizable.”
In other news, I’m on chapter five [...]

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Tags: Steve · Writing

Sentences I Did Not Expect To Hear Today #1

March 4th, 2008 · 8 Comments

“I think I carry tension in places that make it not conducive for me to learn the didgeridoo.”

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Tags: Reesa · Steve

Kit reviews Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky

March 1st, 2008 · No Comments

My review of Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky has been published on the SF Site.
Page by page, Dansky builds the tension. This is not a horror novel with much gore or many appearances by the overtly supernatural. Instead it slowly layers on just enough fear, just enough confusion, and just enough weirdness to keep you [...]

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Tags: Reviews

LOLCapitalist #3

March 1st, 2008 · 3 Comments

Here is the latest in the series…

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Tags: LOLCapitalists

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