I just saw a dog fart, bark at his butt, and try to hide. His butt came with him.
Galadriel
I know what it is you seek.
But I lack the inspiration to do it.
Misplaced Outrage
I’m reading a bunch of Lovecraft, and that guy was just neurotically scared of everything. He died in his forties of basically anxiety. He was scared of immigrants, true, and had a hell of a way of naming cats. But he was also scared of people who lived in England, people who lived in New England, people who lived in New York, the south, the west, and the southwest, to say nothing of Asia, South America, Oceana, and over yonder.
He wrote a story about a hyper-intelligent color. The alien was a color. I forget if it killed people.
I have a hard time attributing his efforts to anything more generalized than nutbaggery. Had he killed people or something, that would have been different. But he didn’t. He sat in his little flat and wrote weird stories.
Milestone Thoughts
I’m about to file for a patent. That’s a thing.
Recess
After several days of rest, I put a few thoughts in order.
First, I’m not sure if I want to move forward with TiH. It’s at a good stopping point right now, and while there’s a lot more plot available, it has a satisfying ending. I’m going to let it cook for a little bit and decide.
Second, I’m going to read to understand, not to rebut.
I often talk about people who only listen to argue, and this something I’ve often criticized Stephen Breyer for. I know a lot of people who listen to me talk so they know when they can say something to make the conversation about them again. For too long I’ve read like that. I’ve read things to see how the other writer got a plot point across, how they handled an interaction, or displayed a scene. I’ve read nonfiction about lightning, politics, and geography. I have not read much for the joy of reading.
I’m reading for the joy of it for a little bit. I’ve got a few favorites I’m going to reread. I’m going to try to read some new stuff. None of this is intended to be useful, but it is intended for simple fun.
Now it will help, because hard-copy books focus the mind. When I have pages in my hand, I can’t alt-tab away and look at the news. The focus is useful, but the content will be for fun.
Third, but ultimately, I’m going to relax for a little while. I don’t do that well. It’s time to decompress, reset, and do some maintenance. Life is moving, and I’m going after it. But a ‘season’ of TiH is done and out for editing. At the very least, I learned something about writing.
I learned I don’t like solo main characters. I like a bunch of the little buggers all pinballing off each other.
I do like keeping a setting for a few scenes. I want to introduce a room, a statue, a field of battle, or the places between stars, and be able to go back to that locale for another scene. I want to dive into the people doing the stuff, and if I reuse a room, the characters can start interacting again with less description.
I like magic. I like really, really complicated magic.
Thank you all who stuck with me. Something is coming. I will let you know shortly.
Down Time
I had a big project due Friday, 8/25, and instead of working over the weekend like usual, I’m slacking off. Been tootling around Denver and central CO doing little.
It’s been so nice.
I’m intending to take some vacation between September 1st, when my next huge project is due, and the start of the academic year, about 9/11. Tempermentally I’m not very good at vacationing, but it does seem to be necessary.
PSA
I just found out hallucinations after taking Benadryl as a sleep aid are a thing, and that is something I definitely needed to know other people got too.
Self Insertion
In the end of days when I meet my maker, I will ask, “God, why was life so hard?”
And God will say, “Because you suck at paperwork.”
And I will say, “Okay,” and go politely sit on a bench to wait my turn.
The was a form to skip the bench. I filled it out wrong.
Gondola Rescue
Good news out of Pakistan.
Funny how a tragedy averted barely makes waves. Still, they were big waves to those six kids and the two adults.
Mondays
Good luck everyone. Days are dark, but they always have been. Keep going.