Somewhere -- though I can't find it now -- there was a place saying it's okay to leave one space between period and new sentence, instead of the traditional two.
I've been accused of being a minimalist, so maybe I'm just falling into character. But I kind of like it. Tighter. Maybe a little more busy on the page but I don't care.
How does everyone else feel about this?
Monday, March 14, 2011
Too Lazy
I'm driving home from White City Plaza, a few minutes away from my house. At the intersection, I'm behind an SUV idling at the green light.
The car must be stalled, waiting for AAA or a tow. When it's safe to do so, I intend on pulling into the next lane so I can pass the car.
As I'm waiting, a fat guy crosses the street, walking toward the idling SUV with a Papa Gino's pizza in his hands. He opens the door to the car, gets in and drives off.
This is what it's come to. We're too lazy to park now. We have to stop our cars in the middle of the street to pick up fast food.
The car must be stalled, waiting for AAA or a tow. When it's safe to do so, I intend on pulling into the next lane so I can pass the car.
As I'm waiting, a fat guy crosses the street, walking toward the idling SUV with a Papa Gino's pizza in his hands. He opens the door to the car, gets in and drives off.
This is what it's come to. We're too lazy to park now. We have to stop our cars in the middle of the street to pick up fast food.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Mockbusters
Last night SyFy Channel premiered Battle of Los Angeles.
Not Battle: Los Angeles that you've been seeing trailers for. Battle of Los Angeles.
SyFy does a lot of work with The Asylum, a studio that specializes in "mockbusters," movies that are ripped off from the blockbusters of the day. They've put out other gems such as Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train and The Da Vinci Treasure.
(In The Asylum's defense, they do also produce some movies with no tie-ins/ripoffs to other current blockbusters, and these actually tend to be good, such as the award-winning
Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, starring Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.)
I did not see B:LA Friday night when it premiered in theaters. I did, however, watch BoLA when it premiered on SyFy on Saturday. There's a creepy monster, spaceships, an alien plot and a general who sounds like Wolfman Jack. Oddly, Los Angeles is obliterated eight minutes into the movie. (Or maybe it's not so odd. Maybe that's part of The Asylum's evil plan.)
The folks at The Asylum should do their next movie about a sinister studio's plan to deceive people into thinking they're watching one movie when they're really watching another.
Not Battle: Los Angeles that you've been seeing trailers for. Battle of Los Angeles.
SyFy does a lot of work with The Asylum, a studio that specializes in "mockbusters," movies that are ripped off from the blockbusters of the day. They've put out other gems such as Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train and The Da Vinci Treasure.
(In The Asylum's defense, they do also produce some movies with no tie-ins/ripoffs to other current blockbusters, and these actually tend to be good, such as the award-winning
Mega Python vs. Gatoroid, starring Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.)
I did not see B:LA Friday night when it premiered in theaters. I did, however, watch BoLA when it premiered on SyFy on Saturday. There's a creepy monster, spaceships, an alien plot and a general who sounds like Wolfman Jack. Oddly, Los Angeles is obliterated eight minutes into the movie. (Or maybe it's not so odd. Maybe that's part of The Asylum's evil plan.)
The folks at The Asylum should do their next movie about a sinister studio's plan to deceive people into thinking they're watching one movie when they're really watching another.
Friday, March 11, 2011
FU NFL
It's looking more and more like the 2011 NFL Season will be at least shortened. Talks between the owners and players association broke down yesterday and the union voted to decertify.
To the players: stop complaining. Anyone who pursues a career in football knows both the short- and long-term health risks associated with it. Nobody forced you into this career. If you don't like it, don't play.
To the owners: you make shitloads of money, and you opted out of the current CBA two years ago. What did you expect would happen? Get a grip.
They have until Sept. 8, which is when the regular season is set to start, so I'm not panicking yet. But this is stupid. There's no reason why they can't come to the table and hammer out an agreement.
Besides, the last thing I want is the Green Bay Packers to be Super Bowl champs for an extra year. (Okay, okay, it's slightly better than having the Pittsburgh Steelers being Super Bowl champs for an extra year, but not much.)
To the players: stop complaining. Anyone who pursues a career in football knows both the short- and long-term health risks associated with it. Nobody forced you into this career. If you don't like it, don't play.
To the owners: you make shitloads of money, and you opted out of the current CBA two years ago. What did you expect would happen? Get a grip.
They have until Sept. 8, which is when the regular season is set to start, so I'm not panicking yet. But this is stupid. There's no reason why they can't come to the table and hammer out an agreement.
Besides, the last thing I want is the Green Bay Packers to be Super Bowl champs for an extra year. (Okay, okay, it's slightly better than having the Pittsburgh Steelers being Super Bowl champs for an extra year, but not much.)
I'm Back
I took a couple days off to finish an excerpt from my novel.
It was a difficult excerpt, for a variety of reasons. It took me some places emotionally that I didn't want to go. I'm getting close to the end, which means this will become something that's prone to rejection letters, rather than a concept or something that's hidden in the back of my closet. And it just didn't come as naturally as some of the other portions of the novel. And as I've noted before, I'm a lousy multitasker.
This means I'm not as perfect as I'd like to be. I can only do so much, and can't beat myself up for it. There are worse things in the world than a failure to multitask -- I'm told there was an earthquake in Japan yesterday, and Charlie Sheen is still Charlie Sheen, and there is still strife and corruption across the world.
All I can do is keep trying to the best of my abilities. I'll try and make up for the lost blog day at some point in the future.
It was a difficult excerpt, for a variety of reasons. It took me some places emotionally that I didn't want to go. I'm getting close to the end, which means this will become something that's prone to rejection letters, rather than a concept or something that's hidden in the back of my closet. And it just didn't come as naturally as some of the other portions of the novel. And as I've noted before, I'm a lousy multitasker.
This means I'm not as perfect as I'd like to be. I can only do so much, and can't beat myself up for it. There are worse things in the world than a failure to multitask -- I'm told there was an earthquake in Japan yesterday, and Charlie Sheen is still Charlie Sheen, and there is still strife and corruption across the world.
All I can do is keep trying to the best of my abilities. I'll try and make up for the lost blog day at some point in the future.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
As Bad As It Gets
Here's how bad it's gotten for me:
Charlie Sheen is writing poetry.
Snooki from Jersey Shore has published a novel.
And I'm still trying to finish my novel.
So using the logic of rock-paper-scissors, I'm a lesser writer than Charlie Sheen or Snooki.
Charlie Sheen is writing poetry.
Snooki from Jersey Shore has published a novel.
And I'm still trying to finish my novel.
So using the logic of rock-paper-scissors, I'm a lesser writer than Charlie Sheen or Snooki.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Multitasking In the World of Writing, Or the Failure Thereof
A realization I've come to in the past few days -- when it comes to writing, it's nearly impossible for me to keep the fiction and nonfiction sides of my brain turned on simultaneously. Seriously. It took me about 20 minutes to write that first sentence.
In the next 24-48 hours I have to send out a packet of about 27-34 pages of my novel to my mentor. All my creative energy is (attempting) to go toward that. This leaves little creative energy for my blog. I fear that this is how it will be for a few days.
I apologize. I've failed you again.
In the next 24-48 hours I have to send out a packet of about 27-34 pages of my novel to my mentor. All my creative energy is (attempting) to go toward that. This leaves little creative energy for my blog. I fear that this is how it will be for a few days.
I apologize. I've failed you again.
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