Baxil [bakh-HEEL'], n.
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Baxil" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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09:24 pm
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Quick take: "The L33t Starfighter"
"The Last Starfighter" satire fanfic, based on discussion in this f-locked post about hacking "Starfighter" to beat it.
(ETA: Gods. How is it possible that I am the first person to riff on this theme? The Internet was supposed to contain everything, dammit!)
=========================================
The monotone voice again: "A candidate has qualified."
Centauri stared at the screen, muttered something unintelligible, and hit the space bar to acknowledge. "Weapons guidance hack?"
"Affirmative," his computer answered.
"Auto-steer cheat?"
"Affirmative."
"Faked lag evasion?"
"Affirmative."
Centauri rolled his eyes. "Bring him up."
( It's not long )
Current Location: ~spiral
Current Mood:  devious
Current Music: DJ Liljo, "Inspired Reality"
Tags: fanfic, writing
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09:25 pm
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Dragon 0, snow zombies 1
... Wow. I never thought I'd have an excuse to use my zombie icon in context based on real-life events.
The following story is 100% true. And 100% unintentional.
--
While my second job -- at the grocery store -- generally involves me sitting in front of a computer all evening, I've been working a cash register a great deal lately. Due to some poorly timed staff turnover, we're short on closing-time personnel, and I'm one of the few managers who's reliably around during the evening shift.
One of the tiny fringe benefits of this is that the store has developed something of a tradition as the clock ticks toward closing time. The last cashier, at 8:50, will pick up the intercom and announce to shoppers that they've only got 10 minutes left to shop; and at 9 p.m. will make a second announcement that the store is now closed.
The reason this is a fringe benefit is that it's a chance for some improvisational creativity. As long as it's not work-inappropriate, any message that gets the point across is tolerated (if not actively encouraged, depending on who happens to be working). And when it's my turn at the helm, I try to make the messages as memorable as possible.
Tonight, as closing time drew nigh, it was just me and a few other employees in the store. A freak snowstorm had blown in, blown through, and left a rare daytime layer of fresh powder on the ground. Most of our customers had chosen to stay home and stay warm rather than drive through dark, icy streets.
The restaurant and deli had already closed up, but Alicia and Tristan were still there, finishing up the paint job on the rear doors and hallway. I was manning the lone cash register.
It was time for the first announcement. I glanced out the window at the white bushes and sidewalks, and inspiration hit.
"Attention California Organics shoppers," I said. "It's now about 9:00, and I'd like to let you know that the snow zombies have finally broken into the store. We're fighting them off as best we can, but it's time to begin a calm and orderly evacuation. We've got just enough time to check you out if you stop by the counter on your way out. Thank you."
I heard some laughter and cheering from the back of the store. <Not bad,> I thought. <I haven't eaten for eight hours, my blood sugar is in the basement and I could lose a staring contest with a ferret -- but I can still crack a good joke or two.>
After confirming there weren't any customers in the store (or driving into the parking lot), I started going through the usual closing routine: lock door, water and cover produce, turn off freezer case lights. When there was nothing left to do but hit the switches that killed the store lights, I picked up the intercom again.
"Attention California Organics shoppers," I quipped. "Aaaah! The zombies have reached the power generator!" I hung up, lunged for the switches, and the store descended into twilight.
<... Not bad!> I thought, and smiled to myself.
As I pulled the drawer from the cash register and gathered my belongings so I could resettle in the office and count out my drawer, the other two employees clocked out and started walking out toward the rear door. "G'night!" Alicia called out. "Have fun fighting off those zombies."
"I'll be fine," I called back. "I'm pretty sure I brought my shotgun."
Then I started walking through the dark and desolate store.
The very dark store. With nobody in it. Except me.
And the zombies.
Something at the front of the store must have caught my attention. Because just as I was walking into the back hallway, I turned around.
There was a muffled impact against my left arm. I staggered sideways.
I caught my balance and whirled around. Nobody in sight. I glanced down at my jacket sleeve to see a spattered line of bright crimson.
( AAAH! Zombie attack! )
Current Location: ~calorg
Current Mood:  amused
Current Music: "Triangle (Retriangulated)", Bluetech, via net radio
Tags: work, writing
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07:10 pm
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Writing tips: How to edit
A friend of mine, whose writing I admire, recently complained to me:
What I ... don't know how to do is edit my work. Not copy-edit, actually edit it; ... figure out what works and what doesn't and why. ... I have no idea where to even begin working on it.
She may not be the only one. So I'd like to publically offer a few immodest thoughts[1] about where to begin working on it.
First of all, simply by worrying about editing your work, there is one fact you must realize: YOU ARE A BETTER WRITER THAN YOU KNOW.
Re-read that. Repeat it to yourself a few times (substituting the appropriate pronouns, unless you refer to yourself in the second person). There is a reason I wrote it in bold. And it is this:
Worrying about editing means that you CARE about your writing. You do not merely want to produce words, you want to produce CONTENT. You want to enhance your reader's experience. Considering the range of highly paid famous authors who can't be bothered to do this, simply by agonizing over editing you have already outclassed some professionals.
You are a better writer than you know.
But still. Editing is big and complex and scary. Where do you start?
The answer is: Write first, edit second. No, strike that: Write first, period. Let editing drift in organically.[2]
Here are some good reasons why you shouldn't make a point of agonizing about your editing skill:
1) Paradoxically, simply by virtue of thinking you suck, you're better than most people. In between having the ability to assess your own writing skills, and the desire to improve, you're already doing enough right that anything you write in earnest will get you most of the way there.
2) Yes, you think you can't edit, but: Context.
2a) Consider dreck like the "Left Behind" series. This shows that popular acclaim, cultural influence and large amounts of money do not require ANY editing, not even slightly. Seriously, go read some of Slacktivist's ongoing takedown of the series that I linked above. You'll simultaneously feel much better about your own writing abilities and horrified that a major national bestseller could be done with such a total and complete lack of quality.
2b) Consider Isaac Asimov.[3] He wrote 515 titles. Five hundred and fifteen titles. His writing career spanned 1939-1992, or 54 years. This is approximately nine NaNoWriMos per year, sustained, for his entire career. At that pace, it is basically impossible to do the sort of editing discussed above. Now, you're not Isaac Asimov, but you can still take heart in the fact that great, award-winning, wide-ranging writing does not always require editing -- and if you can improve your writing skill sufficiently, you might not need it either.
3) Reputable publishing houses -- should publishing be your intention -- employ professional editors whose entire job is to sit down with the author and suggest/enable these sorts of fixes. That won't help with the "my stuff sucks" feelings that are required by the author's job description, but it will give you an assisted chance to take a novel that's good and turn it into a novel that's great.
4) The editors in 3) above -- and your friends who could offer productive suggestions -- and writer's groups you may want to join -- can't help you edit unless you have source material to work on. Readers who offer useful feedback won't exist unless you give them something to read. In other words, how to "begin working on it" is to -- write more! :)
4a) Even if you never edit a given story, just having it written helps -- you learn what you like and dislike about it, and which of your experiments worked out well. Even if you never finish a given story, just having made the attempt helps -- you see where you stalled and learn what slows and stops you.
4b) The more you write, the better you get at identifying flaws in your writing style. "Hey, my last four stories have all stalled out on romantic dialogue. Now I know what I need to focus my editing mojo on!"
To round out the list at an even five:
5) The best editing that I have ever done has come about thus. I finished writing a story, or hit a stalling point. I let it sit untouched for long enough to have completely forgotten it. I came back later, and saw it with fresh eyes, as a reader. Then I reacted to it as if it were someone else's, criticized (or enjoyed) it accordingly, and took my own advice.
This is a lot easier to do if you're producing enough material to drive old or stuck stories out of your mind. If you keep thrashing at a single tale over and over and over again for months at a stretch, soon you completely lose sight of what simply reading it is like. In order to edit it productively, you have to stop editing, keep writing, and then pick it back up again later.
Besides -- I've discovered some of my own best writing this way. It's one of the greatest joys of a creator to dig back through your old corpus, exhume a few bodies, and then find out that they don't actually stink.
--
[1] Maybe I'm not the best person to talk about editing. After all, by the time I reach the end of a story I'm generally done with it. (On the other hand, I keep a mental sketch of the entire plot in my head from the beginning; I write in second drafts; and I immediately re-read everything I produce and microedit it again; so everything that comes out of my fingers is generally about as polished as it's going to get anyway.) On the other hand, I could argue that that strategy has gotten me this far, and so I've got to be at least as much an expert as anyone else who wishes to speak up on the matter.[^]
[2] This is NOT to say "ignore editing." By all means, get feedback -- experiment -- take advice -- read how-to- books. But these are not things you should worry about, because as you write, you will end up working on individual little pieces of the Giant Editing Puzzle, and by doing a lot of writing instead of a lot of editing you'll end up with a lot more output and just as much knowledge.[^]
[3] Also consider the "Criticism" section of his Wikipedia article. I think we can all agree, if only on the strength of his awards, that Asimov was a great writer. And yet there's plenty to hate about his writing. You will always have legitimate criticism to contend with, no matter how great you get. Past a certain point you have to say "fuck it" and just be a great writer anyway.[^]
Current Location: ~spiral
Current Mood:  motivational
Current Music: Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Dam Would Break"
Tags: writing
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02:57 pm
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Epic Gaming Tales -- CSI: Luvine, Episode 4
[WARNING: Contains brief scenes of graphic violence.]
Interrogation Tent
3:16 p.m.
"My lord!" he pleaded, wrestling against the ropes holding him to the table, face pale and glistening with cold sweat. "I turned myself in to the Guard! I swore I would tell you all I know! Have mercy!"
I picked up a slender knife from the small tray at his side, wiped it against my smock to clear the blood away, and held it up contemplatively. "Indeed you did," I said calmly. "You turned yourself in to the Priory Guard. Strange behavior for an admitted slave trader, wouldn't you say?"
He began whimpering at the sight of the knife. "Please, lord. Please."
"And indeed you shall tell us all you know," I said. I leaned over the table and looked into his eyes. "Start with this, Aerik. What are the names of your three friends -- the ones you say you saw on the ridge?"
( In which the Inquisition uncovers the truth behind the improbable routing of a slaver camp )
Current Location: ~spiral
Current Mood:  accomplished
Current Music: Chopin, "Nocturne in B, Op. 9 No. 3"
Tags: csi: luvine, roleplaying, writing
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04:42 am
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Books vs. films
A peaceful Saturday filled with roleplaying; and a lazy Sunday filled with ... well, basically, laying in bed until sunset. Nice to have a down day once in a while.
I had intended to do a fair amount of fiction writing. Didn't get around to any of it. But I did respond to everyone who asked for an inner-animal guess in my previous thread, which is a good feeling; and I read through the novel The Prestige, on which last year's movie was based.
It was a good reminder of why movies will never be able to fully replace books.
Prestige: The Movie and Prestige: The Book diverge fairly radically from each other. I didn't understand why until I was more than halfway through. Because Prestige: The Book is in itself two separate stories. The actions of the two magicians are told twice, and exactly twice -- once from the point of view of each rival.
It's a book that you cannot read in a linear fashion. Once you reach the second half, you have to read it in parallel -- constantly flipping back and forth to contrast the two retellings of the same scene. You begin to notice that even the dialogue differs when the two characters interacted directly; and it's strongly hinted that, through editing or omission, not one but both of the characters are unreliable narrators, twisting the truth to paint themselves in a better light.
There is no objective or omniscient view of the characters' conflict. You only have their words against each other; and it's that tension that gives the book its impact.
I don't think you can do that in a movie.
There's something about a visual image that forces a certain omniscience. The camera is itself a character in the scene; it observes impartially, it records accurately. To do otherwise -- to have what's on screen be an inaccurate representation of the film's events -- would break cinematic expectation so badly that no major studio would touch such a film with an eleven-foot pole.
The counterexamples are probably few enough to be listed by name; and the only one that comes immediately to mind is Hero, in which certain scenes are later revealed in a plot-important way to be complete fabrications of their narrator. But to have a clearly demarcated wavy-lined flashback be overturned is one thing; to have the central events of the film later called into question is a recipe for audience confusion.*
(Edited to add: "Rashomon" and "The Usual Suspects" have also been cited in multiple comments. It's interesting to note that, so far, every one of these movies is about character(s) telling a story. That extra layer of abstraction is necessary to hew away the instinctive rules of cinema.)
The implicit rules are different in a novel. There is no camera to provide a single, omniscient vision of the plot; there is only a narrator (omniscient or internal) retelling it. There is more freedom to play meta-games.
There's an extra investment to taking stories from the written word, but there's also a richer payoff.
--
* This isn't to say the dramatic reveal can't be done well; cf. The Sixth Sense. But that's not seen events being redefined; that's context being added to chilling effect.
Current Mood:  insomnia
Current Music: "Still Alive (ending credits)" - Portal OST
Tags: books, films, writing
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05:09 am
[Link] |
Epic Gaming Tales -- CSI: Luvine, Episode 1
Greg's Cabin
8:12 p.m.
The rhythm of the knocking was urgent, though with an odd hesitation. I opened the door. It was my nephew, Jonas. ... Again.
"Mmm?"
"Er, uncle," he said, clearly far more uncomfortable than could have been explained by the earlier accident. "The constable asked me to come fetch you."
"Why?"
"Well, it kind of started after Prostration. Simon --" my other nephew -- "came and found me. Us. He was worried, and so we followed Simon into the woods." Jonas fidgeted, and I noticed the bandages on his arm. "When we got to the scene, the mountain lion was dragging the body off into the woods, but broke off and attacked us. When we killed it, we realized it had torn his throat out. So we all ran back to town and got the constable, who took a good look at the scene and decided he wanted your help figuring it out."
"Alright." I grabbed my cloak from behind the door, along with a few weapons and woodsman's tools. Constable Noname* had called on my well-trained eyes before.
Jonas shifted. "You see, we're not sure it was the cougar that killed him."
"Mmmm?"
"Well, yeah. Simon did see him chasing that stranger away from the house. Maybe that's the guy who killed dad."
"... WHAT? My brother's dead?!"
Jonas cringed. We ran to the crime scene in silence.
( In which a murder is solved )
Current Location: ~/Brainstorm
Current Music: Aerosmith, "Cryin'"
Tags: csi: luvine, roleplaying, writing
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02:51 am
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WUTNWHWL!
Sorry for my silence lately -- been getting distracted with offline things such as Go, video games (Shadow Hearts: From The New World is my latest timesuck) and writing. Yep, writing. Still making slow by steady progress on the Ambitious Cat tales ... I just seem to have a knack for transforming tiny scene sketches into multi-thousand-word monsters.
While the latest story (which stars both Kiasu and the Redeemers -- and a great deal of subsequent fireworks) is still very much In Progress, I ran across a snippet in my old notes tonight that is ready to see the light of day. (For some value of "ready" that includes both "demented but hilarious" and "cringe-inducing," anyway.) It ... well, um, I think I'll just have to let it speak for itself.
So. Never-before-seen SONG LYRICS!
(*A catchy rock riff introduces an upbeat tune of the sort played by quirky yet talented college bands across the nation.*)
This singles bar is getting old.
I don't know why I came.
You look bored too. May I be bold
And ask you for your name?
Me? I'm a creature of the night
A real moonlight child.
You seem like the adventurous type --
Wanna go play ... doggy style?
We can --
(*Suddenly, with no warning, POWER CHORDS! And DRUM FLAILING! The ENTIRE BAND sings in ALMOST-HARMONY! With WOLVES HOWLING! And maybe a banjo, or a theremin, or something!*)
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
With ...
HOT WEREWOLF LUUUV!
(*Back to the normal instrumentation, but more animated this time, and with 82% fewer pretensions of taking this seriously*)
You know, you're right, my line lacked taste
I'm grateful for the clue
You bit me with such canine grace
And fur is just so you.
Another wolf out cruising bars!
I can't believe my luck!
To celebrate this find of ours
Let's go out back and --
(*POWER CHORDS again! Of course.*)
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
With ...
HOT WEREWOLF LUUUV!!
I know you're mad, but hear me out
This meeting must be fate
All these little signs -- like just now, when you threw me through that plate-glass window?
I LIKE that in a mate!
(*BRIDGE! Instrumental n' shit!** A drum solo in the finest tradition of epileptic seizures! Wolf howls! Ambulance sirens! Thrills!*)
You're right, I just can't take a no
But still, you can't disguise
Your tail wagging to and fro
The interest in your lovely eyes
I like your style -- hey, there's that smile!
C'mon, I'll take you home
Why, sure -- we'll chase sticks for a while
Before we bury some bones
As we
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
WAKE UP THE NEIGHBORS!
With ...
HOT WEREWOLF LUUUV!!
Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!
AROOOOOOOO!!!
(*instrumental thrashing and howling, out*)
Anyway: This shamelessly silly TTU song is called
HOT WEREWOLF LUUUV
Written by The Howl in 1997, for their eponymous first album***
--
* This note left intentionally blank.
** Yes, this is how I wrote it out in the original scribbled lyrics page.
*** But, of course, out here in the non-TTU world it was really written by me.****
**** Oh, shit! I probably didn't want to admit that.
Current Location: ~/laptop
Current Music: Yip yip yip AROOOO!
Tags: lyrics, my brain now hurts, ttu, writing
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02:41 am
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From the vaults: Loren Eiseley, and connections
Stumbled across this today while searching my hard drive for some other old writings. I never datestamped the essay, but it's from my college days, which puts it at about a decade old.
It's an homage to one of my favorite writers, written not only about him but in his style. Though there are a few things about it I'd change today, I've presented it unedited.
We refuse to consider that in the old eye of the hurricane we may be, and doubtless are, in aggregate, a slightly more diffuse and dangerous dragon of the primal morning that still enfolds us.
-- Loren Eiseley, "The Hidden Teacher"
* * *
You probably know that I'm a dragon -- I'm relatively public about it, and I doubt you'd be reading this without knowing something about its author. I'm quite serious about my inner draconity, and I'm quite bitter at being stuck in this bipedal, earthbound form. If I had the chance to switch back to what I feel is my true body, I'd do so in an instant. But I've got a confession to make.
Sometimes I envy humanity.
( For all their faults, they are masters of great beauty ... )
Current Location: ~/brainstorm
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: "Metal Gear 1st Impressions OC Remix"
Tags: from the vaults, writing
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08:27 pm
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Support Ticket #11578: The Adventure of the Muddled Mail
Copied unedited from our tech support queue. I love my job. -B
It was a singularly warm day in the foothills; July sunshine had chased the weekend's unseasonal clouds away, and neither fan nor air conditioner could reduce the dry heat that always put me in a mind of Afghanistan. Perspiring under my summer cottons, I trudged into the upstairs office at 416B Baker Street, to be greeted by an all-too-familiar tuneless scraping upon a violin.
"Holmes," I cried with some exasperation, "Will that infernal racket never cease to entertain you in your idle moments?"
"Idle? Come, Watson," Sureclaw Holmes replied reproachfully, clicking "pause" on the YouTube video of the unfortunately talentless music student. "You cannot tell me that you are so unobservant as to have not deduced the pattern behind my musical habits by now."
"But of course," I replied, dabbing the sweat from my brow and glancing at my pocket-watch. "It indicates that you are deep in thought over some baffling case of grave import. I would wager pf on nccn3 is continuing its vexatious ways."
"Ah, Watson," he replied with a twinkle in his eye. "You would do well to rely upon the evidence of your senses over such trifling hunches! For upon my screen you observe no InterMapper console, nor any terminal windows but one! How then could one of our servers be having issues? No, the case that has my mind so engaged -- like all of the best adventures we've shared -- is one of trifling importance, one I perhaps should not even be dealing with on tech support time, and yet one that drove one of our customers so to madness that he should seek out professional assistance."
( About 2,000 words of this. Blame the muse. )
Current Location: ~yuba
Current Music: "I Saved The World Today," Eurythmics
Tags: best of baxil, geekery, tech support horror stories, work, writing
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01:01 pm
[Link] |
Written for a recent ex-customer
It's not often you get a support call requesting that the user's account be canceled due to, shall we say, wetware failure. But it happens ...
no carrier*
A modem now holds steady at 0 baud,
in summer winds rustling like line noise.
Dust settles on a faded keyboard, poised
askew, a forgotten idol's grey facade.
No monitor sleep light awaits the caress
of mouse, or space bar's careless press.
Spam stacks up, joining griefs and joys
of e-mails past, bookmarks well-trod --
we cannot find a forwarding address.
And somewhere, in an airy corner blessed
with bright wiring, built-in firewalls
(and no need to share the line with voice),
as bandwidth hymns soar in those shining halls,
she checks her websites at the knee of God.
--
* In the finest traditions of modern poetry, the scansion is ragged; proper sonnet metre is so 20th century.
Current Location: ~yuba
Current Mood:  quiet
Current Music: DJ Liljo, "Holy Devotion" mix
Tags: wordplay, work, writing
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09:58 am
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New TTU story!
![[another cat pic]](http://www.tomorrowlands.org/images/lj/AmbitiousCatFollowup1.jpg)
A little something to liven up your Monday morning. And a long one, too -- just over 6,000 words:
Finders Keepers
Its wiki page is up as well.
This was meant to be an Ambitious Cat project, but got a little too ... um ... ambitious, and took on a life of its own. After I take care of a few chores I've been procrastinating on, I'll wrap up the microstories and start seriously adding content to the wiki again.
Current Location: ~yuba
Current Mood:  working
Current Music: Bach, "Allegro - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2"
Tags: ttu, writing
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02:04 am
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The write stuff
Alright, time for a break from the unintentional morbidity ...
![[a cat macro pic expressing my belief that I'm about to out-ambition myself]](http://www.tomorrowlands.org/images/lj/AmbitiousCat.jpg)
It's time for ART TTU WRITING MEME!
To quote ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) summer_jackel:
You give me a brief idea, scenario or just a word, and [optionally] specify which character(s). I will come back with a quick sketch ficbit. The characters you can use are listed below. ... I will take the first 10 or so, or until I get tired of it.
I don't insist on meme spreadage, but if you're an artist/writer and want to, pass it on. If you include it, let me know so I can tag you back. :)
( Further details )
( character minutiae )
Current Location: ~/brainstorm
Current Mood:  calm
Current Music: POTUSA, "Peaches"
Tags: ask me a question, ttu, writing
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01:59 am
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TTU ficbit: Sara and Alex
And to kick off the TTU writing meme, Sara and Alex's first meeting.
He was sitting on the patio in the cold, ears pointed low, arms crossed against the damp wind, staring vacantly at the city lights cupped in the hands of San Francisco's hills. At the sliding of the glass door, his whiskers straightened and his ears swiveled, though his muzzle didn't turn.
( She stepped out into the night ... )
Current Location: ~/brainstorm
Current Mood:  creative
Current Music: Ian Moore, "Us/Them"
Tags: ttu, writing
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07:08 pm
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Notes from the underground
Got hit with a one-two punch today as I opened my my friends list, and the combination has left my reality a bit wobbly. In a good way. In the best way -- where reality and fiction are competing to tell the strangest tale, where you're fighting for balance in the middle as Story gets yanked back and forth, and nobody's quite sure where your footing is going to end up.
First up is the odd story of the Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel, via luna_torquill; a Depression-era project to tunnel in a straight line between the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City*. Originally used to deliver mail, it was reappropriated by capitalists when airplane delivery made its original purpose obsolete.
On the heels of that, tangaroa linked to a Washington Post article where world-famous violinist Joshua Bell took his Stradivarius down to a D.C. subway station and played as a street performer for the better part of an hour.
There are so many (so to speak) "money quotes" in the latter story** that I don't know what to excerpt. It digs in for some brilliant points about the role of context in great art, and what made the audience react as they did. Plus bonus points for name-dropping koyaanisqatsi. But this is one of the lines that twisted the knife the most painfully:
There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.
How much we forget as society programs us into adulthood!
--
* Not really, of course. This is alternate history in the same vein as my Dangerous Waters article, just grounded enough to make the wholly implausible parts maybe worth a second look.
** In a sad, wistful sort of way, this seems to me to be the sort of story waywind tags with "pronoia news network". I really wanted to work that into the main text somewhere, but couldn't make it fit; so consider this plug a piece of marginalia.
Current Location: ~calorg
Current Mood:  unsettled
Current Music: Internet radio from the '70s
Tags: link roundup, magic, writing
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03:20 am
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TWO new TTU stories!
Hey, y'all remember that whole Tomorrowlands Universe thing? The one with the wiki that's been eating my brain for a month and a half? Turns out someone finally remembered its purpose in the first place: A setting for stories.
Stories! Fancy that. So without further ado, let us present the tale of Smith, who ... um ... "stars" in a drama in two short, interchangeable acts:
Ascension | Declination
Read them in either order.
Many thanks to roaminrob for the inspiration -- and for letting me name his story "Ascension" so I could dig for the pun. Thanks also to my muse for forcing me to write "Declination" in response, a 600-word conversation with 19 words of dialogue.
Current Location: ~/computer_desk
Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Royan Crown Revue, "Deadly Nightcall"
Tags: ttu, writing
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04:45 am
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BaMoTTuStoTTwo wrap-up
November's now behind us, and it's all over but the voting.
I refer, of course, to BaMoTTuStoTTwo (my second Month of TTU Stories). It was a nice challenge. This year's 18,500 words didn't quite meet the prolificity standard set by the first attempt's 40,532, but I'm proud with what came out.
Part of that pride is that I tried something I hadn't done with TTU yet: Write stories in its present day. Virtually all of my offerings have been set within a year or two after the Changes. Leapfrogging forward to the era of New Atlantis' raising, and taking a look at a time when therianthropy is fading into uneasy acceptance, was a good way to stretch the world's boundaries.
Another part of my pride is that I also made good on my choice to go all-culturalia this year. (For you readers who haven't been here a while, "culturalia" is the term I've coined to describe my occasional artifacts-from-a-parallel-universe. Fictional non-fiction.) Not only did I produce eight slices of TTU life rather than "stories", I wove them together in a single strand. I mention this because it's worth marveling at how these things can flow out when you find your creative groove.
Anyway, I'm going to take a cue from last time, and give y'all a chance to weigh in on the BaMoTTuStories ...:
Poll #887897 Pick a winner or three
Open to: All, results viewable to: AllPick up to three of November's offerings that you think were this year's best.
* (You can read the e-mail conversation mentioned above, and all of the other stories along the way, by following these links in order: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]. Non-convo posts: [8] [dwivinations]; [9] [Elements].)
Additionally, I'd love to hear any random feedback below. (And/or egoboo -- it's no big sin to have Praise Whore Moments once in a while.) It'll help keep my enthusiasm buzz at a nice high while I lay the groundwork for the TTU wiki.
... Oops, was that my outside voice? :)
Current Location: ~/computer_desk
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: "Don't You Forget About Me," Simple Minds
Tags: bamottustottwo, ttu, writing
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09:12 pm
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*twitch*
Dear Orson Scott Card,
You're fired.
As a member of the Super Secret Cabal of American Liberals Who Control All Media Everywhere, I'm demanding that you turn in your Professional Science Fiction Writer license. Your hideous political opinions might once have been forgivable, but now your descent into the foam-at-the-mouth wing of the Right has brought you to the unpardonable sin of writing prose that makes people go blind:
Reuben Malich knelt over the body and cried out in the keening wail of deep grief, the anguish of a soul on fire. He tore open the shirt of his uniform and struck himself repeatedly on the chest. This was not part of his training. He had never seen anyone do such a thing, in any culture. Striking himself looked to his fellow soldiers like a kind of madness. But the surviving villagers joined him in grief, or watched him in awe.
Within moments he was back on the job ...
Once I've got my snazzy new artificial eyes in, I plan to search the Internet in hopes that someone is giving you the Left Behind treatment1 you so richly deserve. Until then, please refrain from writing anything more, ever.
Let us pretend all you ever penned was Ender's Game, and think of you fondly as that one-hit wonder who immediately vanished back into obscurity in late 1985. Let us never speak of your wingnut alter ego again.
Signed,
Me
Current Location: ~calorg
Current Mood:  nauseated
Current Music: Some DJ Tiesto mix on di.fm
Tags: politics, writing
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11:59 pm
[Link] |
Chapter 7: In which a crazy idea gets taken a little too far
To: "CB Fox" <cbf@feralnet.net>
From: "claw n fang" <redwolves@therimail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006, 22:22:23 GMT -0800
Subject: Re: Getting some DWIM answers
Lucky me, I can't sleep. :-( At least this means I was up to receive both your letters. Might as well respond to them right away and see if that gets me any closer to shut-eye.
( The e-mail exchange draws to a close ...: )
Current Location: ~/computer_desk
Current Mood: finished
Tags: bamottustottwo, ttu, writing
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04:42 pm
[Link] |
The search for search answers (1 of 2)
To: "Fang, Claw N" <redwolves@therimail.com>
From: "Technical Support - FeralNet" <cbf@feralnet.net>
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006, 21:53:17 GMT -0800
Subject: Getting some DWIM answers
Yay new magitech! Hee hee ... sorry to laugh at your frustration with 3T, but you have to admit that's funny :-D
As for the search. Whoah. Let's see if I can explain this.
First of all, I passed it on to Geo, who gave me the dwim lead in the first place. You and Claw met him last year at Jen's wedding. He's on the dwim development team. They love little mysteries like this.
Don't worry, I didn't mention the Gold search. I'm not stupid ;-)
He's getting back to me with what he finds out. I'll pass that on probably later tonight.
But he did explain to me a little about what they call "dwivinations." It's only a few searches that can turn up freaky results like that. If there's too little information available on the web, it will say essentially "I don't know", like with the Discovery location. If there's a lot of information available, it will go for the most reliable, like with the Gold murders. So basically neither of those is going to turn up different results than you got, no matter how you word it. Unless new facts come up and get made public.
btw, my search results for the government search thing were the same. So it wasn't just you.
I also tried out the search you suggested, about latitude and longitude. What it gave me was totp://dwim.mag/search?type=saved&user=justthefox&id=f6aAqj38CehS4b&authas=redwolves, the coordinates of the island the vacation pictures you mentioned were taken on. Those pictures were the first result in the plus sign. So I got a more specific answer but based on the same info. Hehehe ... I guess your search with the Pacific map shows dwim has a sense of humor :)
As for Claw ... I don't know. :( I'm worried too but I'm worried for both of you. You guys have been with each other a long time ... please don't let this hurt you, ok?
He owes you an explanation but you don't even know he was involved with whatever happened. Don't assume he lied until you have a chance to talk. If you think it would be easier maybe I can ask him. Let me know.
And look ... I hate seeing you like this. Maybe it would help to come over on Saturday and we can spend the night? I know it's been a while ... I don't want this to be awkward, I never did. But you've been having some rough times. I'd hate myself if I couldn't make the offer. Getting some of this off your chest or maybe getting a little distracted might do you good?
Love you, wuffie. Things will be ok.
## ## ## CB Fox, Systems Analyst and Senior Technical Support ## ## ##
Phone (510) 555-HOWL ext. 144; cbf@feralnet.net; on-call 9am-9pm Mon-Sat
# FeralNet - The nation's first theri-run ISP, serving the S.F. Bay Area
Open to all * Quality service * Dial-up, ISDN, DSL. http://feralnet.net
Current Location: ~calorg
Current Mood: writiful
Current Music: Moonman, "Galaxia (Solar Stone remix)"
Tags: bamottustottwo, ttu, writing
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04:36 pm
[Link] |
The search for search answers (2 of 2)
To: "Fang, Claw N" <redwolves@therimail.com>
From: "Technical Support - FeralNet" <cbf@feralnet.net>
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006, 21:54:02 GMT -0800
Subject: FWD: Re: That search we were talking about
And here it is.
-- Forwarded Message -------------------------------------
To: "CB Fox (Feralnet)" <cbf@feralnet.net>
From: "George Sinclair" <geosincronous@dwimail.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006, 18:16:34 GMT -0800
Subject: Re: That search we were talking about
> > A mystery indeed! Do you mind if I do a
> > little digging and blog about your friend's
> > search?
>
> Should be alright :) But just in case, maybe you
> should take his name out of it entirely, and any
> context for the search? I know he wants his
> privacy.
Fair enough. Here's what I posted.
Subject: A dwivination Discovery
Tags: dwivination, tinfoil hat, current events
Regular readers of our dev-team blog already know that one of our favorite games here at bwim is trying to puzzle out "dwivinations," those search results that are so counterintuitive or bizarre that even magic seems insufficient to explain them.
Another stellar example comes to us today by way of a friend of mine who just got hired to dwim-dev. (Congratulations, and see you in the office!) He related to me a search that someone shared with him regarding the New Atlantis Project's recent run-ins with the U.S. government. Take a look at totp://dwim.mag/search?type=saved&user=geosincronous&id=f55HX2aOTp95dB and tell me that didn't send your jaw to the floor.
For those of you following along without magitech or who are too lazy to click on the link, that would be a dwiv for "Why isn't the government magically searching for the Discovery?" (the Discovery being the NAP's flagship on their island-raising mission; great reading on them in the current Vanity Parade.) The top link goes to www.annapolis-usna.edu/journal/archive/2006-09-27/06jackson.html (subscription wall; BugMeNot). In a nutshell, a September news brief about a history professor being injured in a natural gas leak.
As others have written here, us non-digital beings can easily create ways to link two seemingly unrelated events -- albeit implausible and/or uncomfortable ways. We just don't expect our computers to have that same power. And they don't; search results follow a strictly logical and verifiable process. While DWIM's searches are based on proprietary magical technology, that magic serves exactly two well-defined purposes: Organizing the end user's thoughts, to distill vague desire for knowledge into a coherent question with a coherent answer; and comparing that question against a database of human-generated knowledge.
It can't know anything we don't already know; it can't play the what-if games that lead us into conspiracy theories. It can only search for and connect public facts. The chain that DWIM follows unrolls from question to partial answer to refined question to better answer, etc. It can't go anywhere the facts don't lead.
So how did it make the seemingly conspiratorial link between the continuing inaction of the world's most powerful government and a single barely notable pipe failure? As usual, the results of dev-team research are below the fold, to give readers a chance to scour the Web themselves before seeing the "official" conclusions.
( Read more ... )
Readers, feel free to flesh out the research or post questions below. As always, we welcome your dwivination submissions at dwim_dev@dwimail.com.
- geo
Current Location: ~calorg
Current Mood: writeiful
Current Music: "Secrets," Mike Oldfield
Tags: bamottustottwo, ttu, writing
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