Monthly Archives: October 2011
What It Takes to Hurl an Orange Through a Sheet of Water
Posted on October 8, 2011 20 Comments
Or, why restaurant food always looks better in commercials. My favorite quote from the piece: “I make my living basically taking food and painting a reality with it,” says Mr. Somoroff, leaning back in a chair in his office as the team preps another set-up. “And if I succeed in a given moment, you’re going […]
Just Curious
Posted on October 8, 2011 608 Comments
What are you reading right now? (Aside from this blog.) (Also, if it’s something from me, then what did you read right before it.) Well?
My Newest Toy
Posted on October 7, 2011 26 Comments
It’s a storm drain! It’s okay. You can be jealous. It turns out that the drainage tile in our yard was mostly fine — a few crack and slips here and there but mostly good. The contractor fixed those minor things and then put in some additional storm drains so that the water could more […]
BrandLink Communications Has the Internet Drop on its Head
Posted on October 7, 2011 65 Comments
For those of you who follow my Twitter feed this will be old news, but for the rest of you, The Bloggess has an object lesson on why Public Relations people would be well to remember that antagonizing bloggers is something you do at your own peril, and in any event, under no circumstances should […]
The New Resident
Posted on October 6, 2011 118 Comments
The daughter went off to the Bradford Pumpkin Show last night with friends and came home with this, which she won at one of the carny booths. Apparently she wasn’t the only one; at least a few of her friends went home with bunnies of their own. This makes me wish to have strong words […]
The Big Idea: Matt Mikalatos
Posted on October 6, 2011 27 Comments
Zombies and vampires and werewolves are all fantasy creatures — but there are times when you look around at the people in the world and think to yourself, hmmmm. Author Matt Mikalatos knows a bit about that, as his new, humorously theological, novel Night of the Living Dead Christian has its genesis in the real […]
Steve Jobs and Me
Posted on October 5, 2011 50 Comments
The Macintosh was not the very first computer I remember working and playing on — that honor would go to the Radio Shack TRS-80 — but I wrote my very first story ever on a Macintosh. In fact, I wrote it on the very first generation of the Macintosh. My friend Ezra Chowaiki had one […]
It Sucks to Be a Jedi
Posted on October 5, 2011
Yes, if you’re a Jedi, you get cool Force powers. But you know what? That hardly compensates for all the other things about the job that kinda suck. I give up six reasons why it sucks to be a Jedi over in my FilmCritic.com column today. There are probably more than six reasons, but these […]
The Big Idea: Lee Arthur Chane
Posted on October 4, 2011 24 Comments
Author Lee Arthur Chane wishes to suggest that sometimes, one big idea is not enough for a book — or at the very least, it wasn’t enough for his fantasy novel, Magebane. Was he correct? The reviews are inclined to his point of view: The starred Publishers Weekly review claims that “Double and triple crosses, […]
What’s in My Yard Today
Posted on October 4, 2011 24 Comments
Not the usual thing. The reason it’s there, incidentally, is that we need to repair some of the drainage tile that runs through our yard; it’s deteriorated over the years and that means that when we get a lot of rain, it tends to flow over our land rather than under it. This will hopefully […]
Writer Beware and “The Write Agenda”
Posted on October 3, 2011 124 Comments
Many of you are aware of Writer Beware, the fantastic resource spearheaded by Victoria Strauss and Ann Crispin (and supported by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, among other groups), which researches, documents and informs writers about the various scammers out there who pose as legitimate editors, publishers and agents. Writer Beware shines […]
Whatever Notes: October Edition
Posted on October 3, 2011 26 Comments
Oh, look, pumpkins. They’ve begun their two-month moment in the sun: Jack-o-Lanterns for October, Thanksgiving pies for November, and then back to wherever these gourds go for the rest of the year (I think a commune in the New Mexico desert). They’re adorable, they are. October this year is going to be a little hectic […]
Athena and the Owl
Posted on October 2, 2011 25 Comments
There’s a local business called Bears Mill that had its autumn open house this weekend, and so we and some friends went. Among the things there: a small art show by an Ohio artist named Gary Hovey, who makes sculpture out of flatware. One of the sculptures was an owl; naturally we had to pose […]
Holy Crap, It’s October Already
Posted on October 1, 2011 79 Comments
Which one of you thought that was a good idea? Well?
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying