Kipling

I came across this poem in an article about Rudyard Kipling and his son who died during World War War I, the first "war to end all wars." Kipling wrote an amazing poem about his dead son a year later. The
article is here and the poem is below and in the article.

My Boy Jack (1916)

Have you news of my boy Jack?'
Not this tide.
'When d'you think that he'll come back?'
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Has any one else had word of him?'
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

'Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?'
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind -
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

From Last Night

At last night's meeting we did a fun exercise where we played with Roger Zelazny's Rule of Three. This rule states that when describing a character all you need to do is mention three things about the character at a time. This is enough information to give the reader an idea as to the nature of your character and leaves enough unsaid to allow the reader to use his imagination. One of the types of characters we desribed last night was a dark lord and/or dark lady. Here's mine: "He carried a sword as long as a lightning bolt, his steed could eat whole villages and he used his sinus cavities as a prison for his most dangerous enemies."

Anyone else want to contribute some of what they came up with last night?

Ursula Le Guin quote

From the book about the craft of writing called Steering the Craft: "Somebody asked Willie Nelson where he got his songs, and he said, 'the air's full of melodies, you just reach out...' The worlds full of stories, you just reach out."

OK, more of a Willie quote but I like the idea of Willie and Ursula collobarating even on this tenuously.

Meeeting tomorrow

I done sent an email out. Don't forget we are meeting tomorrow at 6 pm. Be there or be even more square.

Feeling Tired

Because of the flooding last night I didn't get a lot of sleep. OK, I'm exhausted. I wrote this in a few short sessions.

Being Tired

What did you say?
No, I am listening. Really.

It stormed and the dog couldn't sleep
he whined and wanted to play
with the cats. The cats don't like him.
He moves too fast and wants to play
all the time. Cats only play
when they decide.

When I turn my head too fast
I almost lose my balance.
I've heard lack of sleep
can cause brain damage.
I know a guy (no it's not me)
that is in a lot of trouble in the future.
He spent his thirties half asleep at work.

Occasionally when I speak I sound
unsober and confused
A quick shake and I'm out back
and lucid until it happens again.

The air conditioner sounds like
an engine room.
Outside
everything is hazy and in soft focus
What was I just doing?
How long have I been sitting here?
If turtles walked upright would
they waddle like real fat people?

A long time ago I had a good night's sleep
and it was good.

Fairty Tale Generator

They didn't have one of these when I was a kid.

Harry Potter Lexicon

Since we are on a Harry Potter kick (that's never happened) here is a website I saw in a friend's email. Maybe you guys are familiar with it already, maybe it's no good. I'll let you Harry Potter readers decide.

Article on a Harry Potter convention

This post is for Maggi.

Trade your old books

I just read about this on Metafilter. Looks interesting.

100 Best

Penguin Classics picks the 100 best books by categories in honor of Penguin's 60th anniversary. I have to confess I haven't read a majority of the books on this list.