Writers are not considered part of the larger ecosystem. Creativity and art are afforded little value in today’s corporate culture. It’s a lie, of course — writers are everywhere. Our work is ever-present yet our role remains unconsidered. The written word is a powerful support structure, and it’s everywhere you look. Magazines, billboards, instruction manuals, marketing copy, and, oh, I dunno, the entire Internet. Nearly everything begins with the written word, and yet, despite this significant contribution, writers and other creatives exist as a marginalized group. Further, our support system is eroding.
Category Archives: Fuzzy Thoughts
Thyroid numbers are good. But blood…
Thyroid numbers are good. But blood pressure is higher. Pulse is still elevated. Should have brought the backpack.
Hobo with a Shotgun
Me: Why does he want a lawn mower?
James: I don’t know.
Me: What is the doctor doing?
James: I don’t know.
Me: Why are they in armor?
James: I don’t know.
Me: Where did the tentacles come from?
James: I don’t know.
Me: Are those slap bracelets?
James: What the fuck?
That’s kind of how our night went. Before this we watched Water.
NPR’s List of Top Science Fiction and Fantasy Books
Hey, look a new book list! So which ones have read? I’m sure you’re (not) curious to know. Unlike most lists, this one has a lot of whole series on it. So pink means I’ve read them or are in the process of reading them. Green means I have them but haven’t got to them.
1. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker’s Guide the the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
3. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles by Frank Herbert
5. A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
6. 1984 by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride by William Goldman
12. The Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer by William Gibson
15. Watchmen by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
22. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
23. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
24. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
26. The Stand by Stephen King
27. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
28. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
29. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
30. The Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman
31. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
32. Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
36. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
38. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys
39. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad by David Eddings
42. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan the Barbarian Series by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
73. The Legend of Drizzt Series by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel’s Legacy Series by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series by Jim Butcher
87. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
Catching up from the Two Job Fog
Getting in the swing of things after my first few months on the new job. Seems to take that long to get into the swing of things. Now I just need to get back to doing…what I’ve been not doing. Which is painting, knitting, and working on RPG stuff. Rpg stuff has to come first. Take a look.
Also got to finish my module for pulp. At least I’m nearly done with that.
Back into the Swing
Blocked by my fears and worldly responsiblies I need to just work though this.
Trying to get back into the habit of things, lots of things. Part of my past year has been dealing with Fibro. I got the results from my MRI. Clean. That’s awesome but it means that this is part of the Fibro/PCOS/Hypo cocktail that is my physical problem.
Basically this is yoga, meditation and daily tarot. Stop screaming. I know I should be meditating with Fibro. I’m working on it. I really am.
I got a new phone, the MyTouch4G and wow. I love it! Visual voicemail, facebook, twitter and contacts have all been integrated. It has a great battery life; I have not run it down once using in for over 12 hours. I keep the screen dimmed though but it’s a very bright screen. Also I downloaded
Lots of people to deal with and lots of people to be.
more apps for it than my old phone since it has way more space. One of the apps I found was Insight Meditation app which allows you to set bells during the mediation and times the meditation. It all so lets you log the meditation notes as well. If you’ve been reading my blog for while then you may remember that I went through an Insight meditation course awhile back. It’s nice to just set the timer and meditate where ever I am.
Will have time for my own creative journey today.
I’ve started tracking my dreams. Again an app called Dream Journal. I find it pretty easy to type on the phone with the keyboard. Don’t have to tap I can just draw a line through the letters and it brings up the word.
Getting back into doing full daily tarot readings. I suppose it was fear that made me stop. Just after Aia got that near deadly infection. The spreads you see in this post are done with the Intuitive tarot over the last nine days. Going from yearly large spreads an only daily one card pulls to full readings feels so much better.
Another Creative day. Will have to deal with some worldly issues as well.
Also posting on this blog. I want to get into posting five days a week. I feel much better once that happens. I expect to attach a reading to every post. I feel like I’ve been quiet with no reason. Silly, no?
With going to the land, packing, laundry, work and writing, the cards are as spazed out as I am.
I renewed my BOTA membership. Can’t wait to start that again. The fool card is from the BOTA tarot. I colored it using acrylic paints. Came out well I thought. Speaking of painting, miniatures!!!! I have a ton to take pictures of and more to paint. I’ve got a full mouseguard set to paint as well. I want to use them for my con games. I may miss most of Tacticon this year, but by Genghis, I plan to have the rules for my fantasy system all worked out. I will get back to posting that on Wednesdays starting next week.
I’ve almost finished a scarf and hat set for Aia’s Schweethart monkey. I’m working on a 
my first knitted shawl. And I have another 2oz of yarn spun!! Rose pink wool from that same felting wool set I’m practicing on. It’s pretty and will go into the remnants blanket I will be starting soon. I have poodle fur from a friend. This will be the first fur I’ll have to card myself. Since I have carding brushes (RE: Large dog brushes). I can’t wait to try. I think I may have enough to make a scarf out it for the friend who gave it me. My spinning is much more consistent now. I do want to get a lace weight spindle for the soy fiber I have also waiting to be spun.
Painted with acrylics, BOTA Fool
Tatting has eluded me. I did finally get the flip and got the knots on the right string. However I haven’t’ been practicing enough and I still can’t get a circle without accidental picots. May I can bring that book with me today. We’re going down to the land tonight. First time in the new house. At least for me. My work schedule has been keeping me from most weekend pursuits. J. took the next two days off so we could go.
All in all things are going well. I am nearly done with my first complete novel. I screwed up and did the revisions on paper first. I will never do that again. Live and learn I guess. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My current goal is to get that send out by the beginning of August. I am excited. I have been working on the second novel AND a few short stories. I think I will have to trunk Get ‘em Where You Can. I have no markets left to send it to though the response to it has been good it still hasn’t been accepted. It did win honorable mention in the Writer’s of the Future contest. Go me.
TourdeCure for Diabetes
My nephew was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of four. His mother is riding in the TourdeCure for the American Diabetes Association. Consider donating as a sponsor on her and CJ’s page.
No Man is an Island
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me. Because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for who the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
–John Donne
Jorge Rivera, Filled with So Much Win I Cannot Tell You
A few weeks ago I was running my Serenity game. This was the first day of the new reboot, and they all had new characters. Before we started, the I asked B., the new ship captain, if he had rules for his ship or any NPC requests for crew. He said, oh since we didn’t talk about it, anything was fine.
Hilarity ensued.
M. named two of the characters including Jorge, the well-meaning security guard. I hopped on the Googles and found a picture.
This last weekend I was asked to bring up his picture again for players that missed it. This time I clicked on the website it was from.
Hilarity ensued.
I’ve had other, throw away NPCs, that have become characters through the shear will of the players. Most notably Sammy Wu, who has had some incredible moments as a PC in my Con games. This includes the best out-of-the-ass character speech ever imo.
The picture of Jorge I chose turned out to be UFC Conquistador Jorge Rivera, who was taunting the word with his Acapella Apocalypse video.
I don’t watch UFC, I have never heard of this guy before but suddenly our Jorge became him. Aspiring singer, and a lover, sometimes fighter. I could no longer let him leave the ship in obscurity. We still need players for Serenity. Anybody want to be Jorge?
Here’s the video. It’s just all full of win.
Genghiscon Wrapup – Reevaluating My Games
I know, Genghis was almost a month ago. I’ve been trying to parse this out in my mind.
I run two games at conventions right now. One shots in Serenity rpg and a satirical fantasy game in Cortex rpg. I’m having two issues. I’m running out of ideas for Serenity games and MW productions has moved away from Cortex to the more complicated Cortex Plus.
To complicate this, my Serenity games are usually full of players, and I have trouble running more than one of my fantasy game for lack of players.
Outside of the con, I’m having trouble getting players for my Serenity. It’s going into 10 years since Firefly debut on Fox and we only have a small stream of material work from, most of it fan made and it doesn’t all mesh together.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do exactly but I would like to move my fantasy game away from Cortex. I don’t like everything Savage worlds has done so I’m toying with the idea of writing my own set of rpg rules. I like rules light, fun games.
So if I do this, I’ll probably do this out in the open to allow comment. I’ll tie my fantasy world to it even though it’s gone through D&D 2nd ed, 3.0, 3.5 and Cortex. Hrm. What to call it though? Hrm.
As for Serenity, I’m not sure. I have to come up with ideas. I love running it, but I’m pushing the limits of the universe. I’m at the point where I’ll be creating the universe and I’m not sure I want to do that.