Stephen Fry — writer, actor, all-around personality — has revealed that he will be making a series for BBC2 on language — Planet Word. I haven’t seen a good documentary about language, where it comes from, how we speak it, the variations of it, whether languages are dying, whether we are better at speaking thanContinue reading “On Stephen Fry’s New Television Series”
On Movies When I Was Twelve
Courtesy of Dayton Ward, “The ‘When I was 12’ movie meme thing.” Here’s how it works: go to Wikipedia (as the most convenient resource), and copy the list of movies that were released in the year when you were 12 years old. Mark in italics the movies that you’ve seen. (Not necessarily that year.) MarkContinue reading “On Movies When I Was Twelve”
A Tale of Two Baseball Caps
Yesterday, the Stars & Stripes Washington Nationals Baseball Cap arrived. Baseball teams started wearing patriotic baseball caps on national holiday weekends a few years ago. (And yes, the Toronto Blue Jays have their own patriotic cap, with the Maple Leaf instead of the Stars and Stripes.) Despite my love of the Cubs :cubs: I don’tContinue reading “A Tale of Two Baseball Caps”
On Story Ideas Rattling Around
When it comes to writing, I like to play with form. I’d point to “The Spindle of Necessity” as perhaps the pinnacle of my “playing with form” — the story is a four-part Socratic dialogue, complete with scholarly introduction (and, had I the room under the word cap, it would have had footnotes!) — butContinue reading “On Story Ideas Rattling Around”
On Friday Morning Randomness
This week, we’ve had pleasant weather. Until today. Today is going to be a scorcher. Temperatures at the triple-digit mark. And then! Maryland was struck by an earthquake! With all this bad in the world, with the Earth itself being greatly wroth, what’s a person to do? What can a person use to distract himselfContinue reading “On Friday Morning Randomness”
On Writing Styles I Emulate
Here we are, nearly a month past Bloomsday, and what do I discover? I write likeJames Joyce I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing! James Joyce! 😎 Except that it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald I really try and emulate… :-/ Thanks to David McIntee for the link…
On Baseball’s Sad Lexicon
Exactly one hundred years ago today — July 12, 1910 — one of the most famous poems about the Chicago Cubs :cubs: was published in the New York Evening Mail — Franklin P. Adams’ “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”: These are the saddest of possible words: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” Trio of bear cubs, and fleeterContinue reading “On Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”
On Writing Fiction at Stupidly-Short Lengths
This morning at Shore Leave I will be on a panel, with Dayton Ward, titled “Writing Fiction at Stupidly Short Lengths.” I described this panel, a few days ago, thusly: Learn about Twitterfics, Drabbles, and Flash Fiction as writers talk about creating stories at super-short lengths that make conventional stories look like War and PeaceContinue reading “On Writing Fiction at Stupidly-Short Lengths”
On My 2010 Shore Leave Schedule (Reprise)
Shore Leave begins today. Shore Leave, the media science-fiction convention held in Hunt Valley, Maryland each and every mid-July. :spock: Last week, I posted my schedule, but for the convenience of my three fans, here’s a reprise. 😉 My schedule for panels looks like: Friday Meet the ProsHunt/Valley Hallway — 10pm-MidnightIt’s the traditional author meet-and-greet;Continue reading “On My 2010 Shore Leave Schedule (Reprise)”
On Carl Sagan’s Insight on the Universe
Following up on yesterday’s post on atheism, philosophy, and man’s place in the universe, Carl Sagan weighs in with his own views: Sagan was inspirational to me when I was young. He remains, nearly fifteen years after his death, an inspiration. His wisdom and insight are missed.