Formatting

If anyone ever needs to convert a document into a file format that they do not have the software available for then feel free to email me the document and I will convert it for you. Also, you might investigate Open Office. You can save documents in multiple formats with Open Office. Remember that the library has computers with MS Word if you need to have document in that format and you don't want to send the document to me.

Two calls for submissions

This website is calling for short stories from writers between the ages of 13 and 19. The prize is a Visa gift card and there are only a couple of days left.

If you have a problem with evolution then there is an essay contest here. I almost didn't post that one but the prize is $500.

Another call for submissions

Melanie has forwarded me another call for submissions by high school students. You can view the information here.

Well, Ed, I don't think you have much reason to complain about participation at that LAST meeting. We pwn the world. And since there is no mention of eyes in our newest pass-around story, enjoy:

"You like knitting neddles?"
"I," she paused. "What has that got to do with anything?"
"I don't know..."
"Well...psychologists say that knowing something like that about a person says something about them, like..."
They need to do serious time in Bedlam.
Which is England, as we have learned, where knitting is a common hobby.
"Well, I suppose I am English, therefore I knit, therefore I like knitting needles...why would it matter?"
"So you like to knit which means you like knitting needles. Though I suppose you could enjoy knitting and hate knitting needles which is like being a Beatles fan and thinking Paul McCartney is a wanker."
"Pardon, sir?" she said.
"Paul McCartney is a wanker."
She jumped up, brandishing a knife she'd taken from who-knows-where. "You take that back!" she screamed.
"NEVER!!!"
Paul McCartney then stepped out politely and coughed. "'Scuse me?"
At the very words, a swarm of fighter jets swooped in, a screech breaking the conversation. "The code word was Benny, boys! Idiots."
Then Gary Oldman walked in.
He was dressed like Batman's sidekick Robin(epic fail, Gary Oldman is the COMMISSIONER) and he looked like he had just woke(n -->epic fail again, Ed, wrong tense) up but needed a nap.
"Everyone!" he pulled the cape over his shoulder and yelled, "I am the night, I am Batman!" It turned out it was not Gary Oldman, it was
Tim Roth.

WIN.

Meeting on Monday

Let's all not forget that we are meeting tomorrow. 6 pm. Morrison Regional Library. In Charlotte, NC. At least two members of our Hall of Fame will be there so a good time is guaranteed for all.

Poetry Competition

Hey, I just recieved a flyer in the interoffice mail about a poetry competiton sponsored by the Lanier Library of Tryon, NC. It's called the Sidney Lanier Poetry Award. You can view information on it here. They even have a category for high school students.

A list of lists

Every year I go to this website for his annual lists of annual lists. I'm a big fan of year ending lists and this site lists, if not all, then enough.

Howdy Howdy

If you are interested the New York Times has published their best books of the year list here. I have only read one book on that list and I am only 100 pages into it. I am currently reading the book "Dark Side" about the Bush administration. I won't go into politics here but I am sure you can tell by the title that it is not a book that takes a favorable view of President Bush and his people.

By the way, don't forget that we are meeting this month on Monday, December 22nd. I would like to hear who can make it ahead of time this month. If we are not going to have a full group I will cancel this month's meeting a start over in January. Who is in?

Life Magazine Photographs

I know this has very little to do with writing but I had to share this with you. I've been messing with it for over a week now and it's a gold mine. Google has teamed up with Life Magazine to archive and host the magazine's photo archive. It's amazing and you can lose an hour pretty quickly by doing searches on things that interest you.

For example:

Robert Frost with an ax

T.S. Eliot at his desk.

John Steinbeck with his dog.

Gore Vidal has his morning tea.

And finally, Willie Mays ducking a bean ball. Look out, Willie!!

Howdy

I do hope attendance begins to pick back up. These meetings rely on group participation which is hard to maintain over two hours when there are only three attendees. On the upside, Jake did walk out of the meeting with about five books.

Our last meeting was the weirdest meeting ever cause there were alone 4 people there. Me(hannah), jake, katie, and ed. for half of the time we read and talked and did the exercise. And the other half we spent in ed office eating suckers(which people from the north call them like me and people from the south call them lollipops) and we got free books and free bookmarks!

pip pip cheerio peace out

--Hannah

Meeting Tonight

I meant to send this out Friday but I forgotted. We are meeting tonight at 6pm at the Morrison Library. Who is going to be there?

HEY, ED! No, I'm not posting writing, but rather, a question: was the entry from Ed McDonald of Charlotte in the Forum on the editorial page of the Observer today from you? I remember your last name being McDonald for some reason.

New Online Journal Wants Stuff

Hey, got something that is ready for submission? Check out this brand spanking new journal.

The Poet President

Obama wrote poetry when he was younger. I wonder if he still does now. According to the article he was 19 when these were published in one of them student literary magazines. The article is here and the poems are at the end of the story.

Have you seen the white whale?

No, not New Gingrich, I am referring to the original white whale, ya'll: Moby Dick. Is anyone here interested in an online annotated version of Herman Melville's classic? You know I read that book when I was way too young to understand it. I should read it again. Who wants to start a discussion group?

Howdy From Charleston

I am in Charleston for a conference. It's my first conference and I sat through a couple of informative presentations yesterday. The one on the trouble with verifying the authority of content on the internet was especially good. This blog was not mentioned. I took some pictures yesterday and thought I would share them.

The city's famous bridge. It's beautiful


Me at the Battery. A great park at the southern tip of Charleston.


A sunset view of the city from across the river. Found this by accident, just driving around.


Fort Sumter. I think it's Fort Sumter. It was in the right spot.


A panorama of a view of the city from across the river.


My ladyfriend, Melanie, standing in front of the city at dusk.

Our Next Couple of Meetings

Hello again. Our next meeting is going to be on Monday November 24th at 6pm. Also, in December our meeting will be on Monday, December 22nd. What do you all think of that? Maybe Mitchell will be in town on December 22nd?

More Early Voting

Early voting is now completely out of control. The line stretches around the front of the building as you can see below and then curves around into the parking lot on the side of the building which you can see in the following pictures. Craziness. The wait is at least two hours.

From Drop Box

Here is my poem from October's teen writers night:

As I was reading that poem about all the food

I reach for some of my left over chinese food

But as I look at it

I am no longer hungry

So I sit and stare at my withering flowers 

And now I am going to bed 

And wait for the birds to sing in the morning

By--Hannah

Shared Story

Always a highlight, these are.

There was an eyeball on the floor.
It happened to be sitting in the eye socket of a distressed young man named Bob, who was face down on the floor, nose flattened, as the black-suited men kicked his abdomen viciously.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, through adrenaline in his veins, he pushed himself up and escaped only to drop from 20 stories.
The young man stood, wobbily on his feet...for some reason, he couldn't see through one eye..then he felt someone his shoulder...and a tiny voice spoke to him: "Buddy, you really need to clean your floor!"
"Sorry," he said but couldn't see anything out of his right eye. Suddenly his loose eye fell on the floor beside him.
He fell to his knees searching for his eye. "Hey over here buddy," the right eye called to him. Then he stumbled and felt something squish under his feet.

Alright. Prolly none of you have any clue what this poem is going on about, but Ed asked me to post it 'cause we did these in an exercise at the meeting, so enjoy anyway:

snowflakes drifting onto the bark,
huddling under the ridges
and fruit tumbles from his hand
dislodges the cold white dust from the log
as it bounces off and onto the ground
Kvothe
tattered clothing, hunting knife, ivory skin
dull eyes
freezing mist hanging all around him
everything gone, taken
even the inn...
even Bast.

Yes, it is a fanfiction poem, but I swear there aren't any spoilers, only one book of this trilogy out. The book is, by the way, The Name of Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. READ IT, GODDAMN YOU. It's his frikkin' debut novel and is in the fantasy genre and it's effing brilliant. I think that says something about him.

Meeting Tomorrow

Just wanted to remind everyone that we are meeting tomorrow at 6pm at the Carmel Library. I say again, the Carmel library. You can get information on the branch here.

Don't forget to bring something to read and I hope to see ya'll there. We will also have to discuss our November and December meetings. The fourth Thursday of the month isn't going to work out in those two months for some reason. I think there are a couple of holidays? Some kind of feast and a festival of light, I believe.

T.S. Eliot and Portishead

Eliot reading "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufock" over a Portishead beat. Get down.

Essay from Pratchett on Living with Alzheimer's

You can read it here.

Howdy Howdy

Well, it's been seven days since something awesome has been posted on this blog and, after I post the poem I am about to post, it will still be seven days since someone posted something awesome on this blog. This poem is untitled. Some say that a poem without a title shows a lack of inspiration. I say those people can take a long walk off a short pier.

My old teacher
writes of her brother's passing.
I can feel the ache,
the fear,
when I see my Mother's gray hair,
the Mother that made my friend's swoon
when she was dolled up and fine at 40
arriving at a school function.

Ok last post before I go back to homework I am clearly avoiding...there were some quotes that I liked and wrote down and I wanted to put it on here.

"Always be sincere even if you don't mean it" (3rd fsavorite)

"I married beneath me. All woman do" (My favorite)

"Procastination is the art of keepng up with yesterday" (2nd favorite)

Now that that's out of the way, where are my textbooks.....???

Hello to anyone who actually reads the blog (besides you ed) I was finally able to sort out some of my account stuff (I couldn't log in) and want to post the poem I wrote at the meeting last week.

Our prompt was to write a poem that begins and ends with a quote we founf from Ed's quote books. My quote was by James Branch Cabell.

I am willing to taste any drink once
it is not what is expectedof me
I know litte therefor dare
not take any risk at all
But when I can I will try
Anything at all
I'd have my litlle of
confidence and ego
No matter how much pain
my person goes through
I am willing to taste any drink once

A new XKCD

I haven't link to XKCD in a while. I really like this one.

Sweeet. I'm finally able to post, after my computer stopped being all silly and lame. Well, I'm here! Tis Katie, the semi-noob to y'alls club. You know. The blonde one, short hair, awesome times ten? Huh. Well, whatever. Anyway, I'll pop in and post up that poem I wrote last time derived from the random quote, since, like, that's the entire reason for my posting. Weee!

----------
Let the ear despise nothing,
Nor yet believe anything forthwith.
Quothe lies upon their lips,
To retain such tales & myths
Seems a pleasant folly and
Quick-paced path to death,
But to cast them off and trust
Not words, upon a similar
grave you'll rest.

Though many things one
must not hear, but enough
he has to know–
Divide one's ears by two;
one for truth, another one for bluff.

Howdy

I'd like to thank everyone for coming last night. I think we had a really good meeting with some real nice poems coming out of our exercise. I really hope to see a few of those poems on this blog real soon. Like today, hopefully.

I spoke to Chris last night about Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light" novel. I would encourage anyone that enjoys science fiction to seek this book out. It truly is one of the great science fiction works. The library owns two copies. We used to have one until I ordered another. I don't have much power but what power I do have attempt to use for good. There is a good review of the book at Sf Site.

Meeting Tomorrow

I just want to remind everyone that we are meeting tomorrow at 6 pm at the Morrison Regional Library. Remember to bring something to read. I'll see you there.

If you have an idea for an exercise please let me know. I'm always looking for a new one.

An early reminder for next month: don't forget that we are meeting at the Carmel Library in October. We won't have access to our room here in October due to early voting. The early voting people take over the whole branch in October. It is also just about impossible to find a place to park. If you don't know where the Carmel branch is located you can find the address and a map here.

Rejected!

Over a month ago I sent a few poems off to a local poetry magazine. On Tuesday I saw sitting on the kitchen table an envelope I had self addressed and sent along with the poems. When I picked the envelope up I could tell it contained the three poems I had mailed off. It surprised me how discouraged I felt for a little while. O! the rejection. How could by babies not be good enough for some local rag? The nerve! I reckon I'll revise them and send them off to another publication.

David Foster Wallace

I don't know how many of you have heard of or read anything by David Foster Wallace. He has an enormous book called Infinite Jest that I have yet to read. All that I have read by him have been his essays. If you ever get a chance you should read the long essay called A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again. It's about a cruise a magazine sent him on hoping to get an article out of it. It's an amazing piece of writing. Whenever you read something by him you just could sense you were reading the writings of someone that saw the universe a little more clearly than you did. He could dig a little deeper and then do the hardest thing in the world, write about what he saw and make you understand. A lot of times he would do that and simultaneously make you laugh.

He was found dead on Friday. Supposedly he committed suicide. He truly was a great writer and it's too bad that, at 46, his output has ended. There is a good remembrance of him here. The quote used in the last paragraph is a good example of Wallace's writing.

Different Kinds of Fantasy Stories

I hate to keep stealing from Michael Swanwick but he has a nice post here about different types of fantasy stories.

Another Call for Submissions

Hey guys, here's one for the science fiction writers. John Joseph Adams, who put together a good apocalyptic short story collection recently, has an open call for short stories about galactic empires. Sounds like fun, no?

Meeting This Thursday

Howdy, don't forget we are meeting this Thursday at 6 pm at the Morrison Regional Library. Also don't forget to bring something to read, it can be something you wrote or something you just plain like. See you then.

My Dog is my Hero

Do you love your dog? Have you had a dog that has enriched your life? Is your dog your hero? If so, submit a 850 to 1100 word story to this anthology. Good luck. We have a miniature dachshund that barks at everything that walks, runs and pedals. Can that make him my hero?

Wow, it really is a cult

Check out what some Terry Pratchett fans did for him.

Short Story Contest for the Politically Minded

Actually, it's short short story contest. You can read about it here.

A Poem

I don't remember if I posted this here already or not but it has been revised a little bit so I guess it really doesn't matter. Changes have been to my grammar mistakes.

The Break In

A broken pane,
a window unlocked from the outside.
Empty spaces where
familiar belongings sat.
Here there was an Xbox.
Here there was a box of DVDs.
Here, in this coffee cup, I had cash.
Here, on this rack, I had CDs.
Once I owned the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
(expanded edition)
Now I don't have disk one.

Not a single book stolen.

The October night blows in through
the desecrated back window.
It's an unfriendly wind
we shouldn't feel inside.
Inside it should be candles
blankets and beer.
Now it's police, a chill
and fear.

How to keep writing

Looks like Neal Stephenson found a unique way to keep writing.

Test

This is a test of the email blogging feature.  The future is now.

I saw something on the news and I thought it should be shared. They say they may have found a cure for Alzhiemers. They're still testing it, so it's a maybe, but still. According to the study, in just 4 weeks memory has improved enough to count backwards, ad remember 4-5 names. since a very good author has Alzhiemer's, I thought this was an important post. Maybe not... you decide...

October Meeing

I just had a flash of genius today. Remember how I said October could be trouble because early voting was going to monopolize the room we use? I just talked to the Carmel branch and their room is free on the fourth Thursday of October. Would anyone have a problem with meeting at the Carmel branch? If that is too far out of the way I can also check with the Scaleybark Branch. What do you think?

On Writing

A couple of years ago I read a fascinating book called The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn by Janis Hallowell. It's about a teenage girl who believes that the baby she is carrying may be the next coming of Jesus Christ. It's one of those rare modern literary novels that is enjoyable. It explores many different themes yet still tells a good story. She has a new book out called She Was. I am about to go and ask the brains downtown to buy it for the library.

The reason I mention her is that she has a nice essay here on the nature of writing fiction. It's pretty good with some nice insight. Give it a looksee.

EXTRA BELATED POST

I suppose as the official keeper of the pass-around stories, I should take better care with them.
Anyway, I post them in order according to the alphabetical place of the first letter of the first word of each, just to dispel any notion that either Matthew or I is better because our story came first or kept best for last. As it happens, the one I started comes alphabetically first, so here goes:

Jeremy is a time-traveler, zipping through the conduits of space-time to the '05 time traveler convention.
He decides at once that he can't time travel without his Terry Pratchett Super Duper action figures of Disky Awesomeness (tm).
So, to avoid the almost fatalistic (methinks I spy an incorrectly used adjective) catastrophe of the loss of the possession of his dolls (excuse me, rare collectibles), he, not noticing the passing hours, leaves to go home
and watch the Simpsons instead. "Ahhhh...", he thinks as he lies back on his couch and plants a big luscious kiss on the faces of every last one of his 'rare collectibles'. "If I didn't have my dolls, I bet
my life would be so empty." After all, what is a decent time traveler without their oh-so-perfect do-- ahem, rare collectibles, socks, television, cocoa puffs,
and pie. "My wonderful pie making skills are what led me to you," he said to one of his dolls as he went over to the oven to
get his pie, but as he reached down a piece of hot sizzling peach preserves into his eye. (Lauren, I know that one was you. What did I ever do to deserve this betrayal?)
His super eyes retained no damage and absorbed the nutrients. (Woo! Go whoever that was! Think it was Clare. If so, I see we're channeling some Dr. McNinja.)
"Crap," thought all of his rare collectibles.
With the nutrients, he might be moving on from his rare collectibles...
and get into Raggedy- Ann instead.

#2:

The french toast flopped onto the grill with a "phhpt-skssss." (Guys, check out Matthew's profile and marvel at his lack of creativity. )
The grease spattered up and hit the cook in his eye. He screamed "My eye!!" (Ed is a very straightforward kind of person.)
He ran, half-blind, searching for the first-aid kit.
While the pots thought of (how) snobby the living room furniture are (is.)
His grasping hands found the kit, only for his non-greased eye to register that it was empty.
Empty, that is, except for a ferret
who told him he hated french toast.
But ferrets don't talk, he thought to himself in dramatic soap opera fashion then said aloud "gotta stop drinking the terpintine (turpentine?) after work." (I still wanna know who wrote that part.)
The ferret then stared at him thoughtfully. "I do know how to fix your eye," it said. But the man only shrugged and said to himself "ferrets can't talk."
But the ferret could talk in a slow, weird voice.
A voice echoing the painful tone of Carol Channing,
who at the moment, was disgruntled that her name was Carol Channing, and not something more awesome, like ED or MICHAEL JACKSON or BRITNEY SPEARZ. (?)
That's when the cook finally keeled over dead when the grease reached his brain.
The ferret showed a toothy grin-- since ferrets can OBVIOUSLY smile in this way-- and rifled through the man's pockets and stole his wallet.

Well. And that's that. Maybe one day we'll be metaphorically as well as physically on the same page and be able to churn out a coherent narrative. I say next meeting we do them in first-person POV!

The chorus to a mashed up remix thingy (Burnin Up by the Jonas Brothers) total mash up by me and 2 of my friends. We call ourselves HMH

Here it is:

I'm slippin into the llama
And I'm tryin to keep from stealing a panda
Baby, You make the black sheep hotter
I'm burnin up, Burnin up for you
__________________________
sing your name

--Hannah

A Massive Gathering of Writers

IMG_2073
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

Not often do so many cool people gather in one place.

Meeting Tomorrow

Don't forget we are meeting tomorrow at the Morrison regional Library. Be there or be absent. Remember to bring something to read, it doesn't even have to be your own writing. I am going to bring a cereal box and read the back of it to you.

Free SF Short Story

It's by John Scalzi. It's set in his Old Man's War universe. You can read it here. Sorry about the missing link. It now be fixed.

Earth from Space

Wanna see a video of Earth from space?

Live Blogging

I was just thinking that at our next meeting I should live blog. That way all of our fans can monitor our progress from anywhere on the planet. Even Antarctica or Romania or right next door.

HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This might be an entirely pointless post, but just to let you know: if you are ages 12-18, get down to Imaginon and submit something to their new literary magazine. (At the Loft.) Anything works, so long's the profanity isn't too bad and you keep the subject matter under control. Fiction, nonfiction, articles, everything goes. Patrice the librarian will love you forever, and me too for successfully getting people to submit stuff.

Keys

Have you ever noticed that when you leave your keys in another room and someone else picks them up you can tell just by the distinct jingle the keys make that it is your keys that are being handled?

Robert Silverberg

This is an author who has not come up in any of our meetings but he is a writer that I have enjoyed several times. He wrote a great book called Lord Valentine's Castle. It's fantasy/science fiction adventure novel set on an alien world where sentient aliens stand in for fantasy creatures and advanced technology stands in for magic. I never read any of the sequels though. I'm not sure why. I think because the book was so good I felt it stood alone so well that it didn't need sequels? Something like that.

He's interesting because he straddles a couple of different eras of SF. He was there with the classic old pulp writers and he helped expand SF in the new wave of the sixties. That comes out in the nice interview with him here.

This is what i read in the meeting from Paris 2005; A novel of suspense. (This is not all of it, but this is the best part.)
"The venison was delicious,pink inside and puent with gamey flavor, graced by a few string beans. The wine was extraordinary, its round, dark taste almost too strong for her, but it matched the venison. It was a man's meal.
 They finished the bottle withsome heavy yellow cheese, Tomme de Savoie. Valerie wiped her lips with the linen napkin.
'I want to sleep with you,' She said.
He looked down at the last of the wine in his glass.
'Someday, when the Revolution is over, I will be able to live again with my wife and son.'
'Let me love you. You will not be the first that i have loved and lost.'
 He looked at her, his eyes steady and sad. 'I am responsible for you.'
'Yes'
'I might need to ask you to die for me.'
She nodded.
'Or, not even ask.'
'I understand.'
She stood up. 'Is this the bedroom?'
'Yes... So, I am seduced.'"
Right here I'm going to leave out most of this, so the blog won't be flagged or anything, but i will say this "He was gentel and efficien..." Hmmmm, I have no idea (hint hint) what that means, and i urge you not to guess either. Contenuing.
"They woke early. He scrambled eggs for her and made taost in an old-fashioned toaster with flat metal sides that folded away from the heating element. He gave her fresh oranges to squeeze for juice and had to show her how; in her family, they had never squeezd fresh oranges. The coffee was hot and strong, with heavy cream floating at the top.
 'You wil corrupt me with toast and orange juice.' she told him, smiling."
And ther you have iit. Enjoy.

Last meeting's minutes/  important facts.
Who was there: Natalie, Mich, Jake, Claire, Lauren, Meghan, Grace, Matthew, Ed, And new member Jamie.
We have a new member, Jamie. Matthew read condensed versions of famous literature. Ed recited a poem that e wrote in 1992, which was published. Mich read a passage from Paradise Lost. Natalie read a section from her vampire story. Jake and Mitch both read "romance" passages from their books, which were quite wierd and hilarious. Ed had us do an exercise were we had to write a sotry like the ones in Mitch's and Jake's books. Claire, Meghan, and Lauren all came in late, but Megahn and Lauren brought in bread and cheese for everyone to share, so they're ok, and Claire was working, so she's excused. Mitch won the exercise, with Jamie and Ed tied in second and close. That's the minutes by Jake Raynor.*

*please note any spelling errors and comment on them, if you have and questons or concerns, please let me know.

Robert Sawyer Lecture on SF

I found this lecture on Robert Sawyer's website. It's an excellent analysis of what makes good and bad science fiction. I highly recommend giving it a listen.

PASS-AROUND STORIES

These made just a little more sense than last meeting's. Kudos once again to our resident perverse minds for not adding eyeless people.

The one Matthew started:
She grasped it firmly, yet efficiently, and (injoke!!11!)
turned on the shower.
The shower was very hot.
She threw her head back and moved her hand for a more secure grasp. (Officially the most perverted meeting ever, by the way.)
Grime, dull like the patina of sin
dripped
down her calves
The dirt swarmed around her on the floor of the shower. (What had this girl been doing?)
She turned the heat up on the shower head. Seeing the steam swarm around her.
She tried to organize her thoughts and feelings.
And failed . Because the shower was that epic. (Sorry, there's no underline option on this typer-majig.)

AND the story that I started (best for last):
In a dark alley, Spiderman stands motionless. Far above his head, a brick dislodges...and tumbles downward...
Spiderman reaches out his arm to casually catch it, when a speeding car bounces over the curb and hits him in the chest. MJ yelps.
"No problem," said Spiderman from underneath the car. It'll take more than a Dodge Charger (?) to take me out." "Oh, Spidey," said MJ, "I'm the luckiest girl in the whole world."
Then the brick, which had been dislodged from Spidey's hand when the car hit, bounced off the building and cracked open MJ's head.
"Oh no!" Spiderman said. "I don't have a girlfriend anymore! This is horrible!" He angsted for approximately twenty seconds. Suddenly, Harry Osborne (Osbourne?) walked by. "Hey Spiderman!" Harry said, "Wanna make out?" Spiderman paused, reflecting on his newly-dead girlfriend. "Yeah, OK!"
And in the next state, a taxman's pencil snapped.
"What the hell is this?" Taxman, aka Shithead (pronounced "Shih-theed", you immature people.) "This crap makes no sense! I want to make out with Spiderman, dammit!"
Just then the door burst open, and Spiderman and Harry Osborne came walking in hand in hand. Spiderman was wearing a pink sleeveless costume.
Taxman stared. And stared. And stared. Then decided to purchase his own pink costume and become a super villain in order to make out with Spiderman and Spiderman's large, pink muscles.

That was epic, bees or no. Really, when did the idea that you need bees to be epic come about? (But that does qualify Ros and Guil are Dead as epic: Hamlet, the sexiest bee!)

I urge people to post their horrible romance novel passages on the blog. Do it. Now.

Reading

Before I get into what I wanted to write about I want to remind everyone that we are meeting this Thursday at six pm at the Morrison Library's conference. Everyone better show up because I am on vacation this week and I am coming in Thursday just for the meeting.

As far as that internet messing up our reading skills I do have to say that I do find that I often will print out an article if I want to give it a good reading. Especially at work. I think it's nice that the library doesn't limit our surfing. I find that surfing community blogs like Metafilter and Lifehacker and news sites like New York Times and the Charlotte Observer help me at work. You never know what is going to come at you at the reference desk and you have to be informed and know how to move around the internet.

I did find an excellent post about research habits on the internet here by Scott Karp. He is quoted in that article about the possibility of Google making us stupid. Like Nicholas Carr said in his article about research and reading on the internet we do tend to skim when we read on the internet but, as Karp points out, that is not a bad thing. I think the two styles of reading can live side by side. I skim over internet articles and I'll read some of them closely. I still sit back with a book and let it carry me away.

In some ways the internet can be like television with sites like Youtube out there that allow you to mindlessly watch videos of hillbillies jumping motorcycles over flaming barrels but there are also some pretty amazing and creative videos on Youtube. To me the internet is like any kind of media. It offers the worst and best of what humans have created. It's up to you use it wisely. There is nothing wrong with watching a guy jump a mountain bike into the side of a building but it's not what you want to do with all your time.

I don't want to leave you that. Check out this this video of Donald Hall and Alicia Ostriker. It's about what it means to write and read.

...our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts

According to Nicholas Carr Nietzsche said that. The article I linked to is in the current issue of the Atlantic Monthly and in it Carr ponders what it means for our minds now that we rely so much on the Internet for our research. Diane Rehm recently did a show on a similar topic.

What struck me early in my reading of the article is Carr's admission that he has a hard time getting into deep reading mode. I noticed that in myself but I hadn't thought to ask around of my readin' friends if they were having the same problem. As a TV raised child of the 70's it took me a while to become a good reader. I don't want to the internet to ruin me as a reader.

Cory Doctorow

For those of you that are interested, SF writer Cory Doctorow writes a column for the British newspaper The Guardian. You can view it here.

Hey Jake, where's that story about our meeting?

A SF writing workshop for teens

Check it out here. It sounds pretty interesting. You collaborate on creating a fictional world and it's just down the street in Spartanburg, SC.

The continue-the-story sheet from yesterday's meeting.

A car turned into my driveway
or, rather, into my mailbox
and by car I mean alien spaceship
that is lost looking for...
The magical alien generator that powers all of their appliances eternally!
The alien slowly descended out of the spaceship and I realized it was my...brother!
My brother of course who is not my brother but my uncle who was a secret himself which... (?--I just write things down as they are on the paper, whether or not they make sense)
was revealed to me when Vetinari told Vimes in absolute confidence. Assuming, of course, that "in absolute confidence" means "in bed". But then they...

And I believe it was Mitchell that left us hanging there. But I must commend Matthew and Ed for not mentioning any ...eyes...or lack thereof... And also those people who used proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Really, guys! Are we a writer's group or not?

Howdy

I'd like to thank everyone who came to the meeting last night. I had a lot of fun. I hope our two new participants come next month also.

Who has that sheet we passed around before the meeting ended? Whoever has it should post it to the blog. I also hope Jake posts his minutes/news story about the meeting.

Meeting This Thursday

Hey, don't forget we are meeting this Thursday at the Morrison Regional Library. We will be meeting at six o'clock. Be sure to bring something to read, yours or some writing by somebody else. We may have a new person or two and Mitchell will be joining us.

My Dad's New Cell Phone

Do you think I should expand this or leave it short?

My father calls me on his
new disposable cell phone.
My cell, at my home,
only get one bar.
His voice, distorted like
he's calling through time.
From where he stands
in northern Michigan
he might as well be.
I yell into my phone,
even with his hearing aid
he can't hear a word I say.
From his garbled words
I can tell he's more than a little
miffed at the Detroit Tigers.

Poetry Reading

I've been instructed by a friend to let you guys know that her mother is appearing at Park Road Books this Friday at 7 pm. There, you have been told. Maybe now she'll stop bugging me about it. Seriously, her mom, Dana Wildsmith, is a very good poet. You'll probably have a good time if you go. I'd probably have a good time if I went. I don't leave home anymore ever since I moved into a house. Why go anywhere when you are so comfortable at home, I say.

Chinese Poets

I found this nice website via Metafilter. I've always liked Li Bai, although I used to know him as Li Po. Was he consulted about this change?

Reasons SF series start to stink

This is a pretty nice article on why many, many SF and fantasy series eventually jump the shark.

Thunderstorm vs. Volcanic Plume

OK, this has nothing to do with writing, books or science fiction but if you ever wondered what a thunderstorm interacting with a volcanic plume looked like then follow this link. How cool is that? It's a series of photos. Be sure to click the right arrow to see 'em all.

Cory Doctorow's Little Brother

As I mentioned a few days ago Cory Doctorow has a book coming out called Little Brother and it sounds pretty interesting. The book is now in the catalog and I have already put it on hold for Clare (You're welcome). It's set to "on order" so it will be a week or two before it shows up. If you want to investigate the book further Doctorow has a page dedicated to it here.

Searches

I'll have you know that I checked the stats for the blog and someone got arrived here by doing a Google search for "ponytail poems."

New Arthur C. Clarke

According to this story Clarke and Frederick Pohl submitted a novel for publication a week before Clarke died. I've read a few of Clarke's later works and they have, for the most part, been collaborations. I really enjoyed The Trigger and The Light of Other Days, both co-written with Stephen Baxter.

Orson Scott Card body slams Rowling

I really enjoyed this article that Card wrote about Rowlings recent lawsuit. You can read it here. This was the most I have enjoyed a piece of Card's writing in a long time.

A book you might want to look into

Cory Doctorow has a new YA book out and John Scalzi thinks it's the bomb.

New poetry blog

Science fiction writer, Michael Swanwick, started sending his son emails a few years ago to help familiarize him with poetry. After a while a few of his sons friends asked to receive them also. He has now decided to start a blog with the same content as the emails. You can check it out here.

A list (not science fiction!)

Since Grace is tired of Ed's links to SF lists here is a list that should entertain us all: The top fifty cult books ever printed. Pretty amusing list with very little SF. Dune makes the list and how it is described made me laugh.

Strip Generator

I found this pretty neat site that has some original art and a pretty easy interface that allows you to create your own comic strip. It's called Strip Generator. I've messed with it a little. My strips are silly. You can read today's here.

Pictures from last night

Last night we went to the dry fountain and looked for inspiration. Mostly we got horseplay. Funny how that works. We took a few pictures that can be seen here.

Possible new person

We may have a new person tonight so I hope more than one person shows up. Is this a cry for help? Yes, it is.

Short fiction

I love science fiction short stories and right now I am reading a collection called Wastelands. So far I am really enjoying it. My only criticisms of it are that there aren't enough older stories and and that first one by Stephen King was just silly. Other than that it's been a fun read so far.

Today I did find a list put together by Jonathan Strahan of all the science fiction short story collections he could find that are coming out in 2008. You can view it here. There sure are a lot.

Next Meeting

Howdy kids, today is Tuesday the 22nd of April. Today is the fourth Tuesday of the month. That means this Thursday, the 24th, is the fourth Thursday of the month. That then means that Thursday is when the Writers Group will be meeting at the Morrison Regional Library at 6 pm. I hope we have more attendees than last time. Last month is was just me and Matthew. If that happens again we are going to write limericks about each and every one of the regulars that doesn't show up and post them on the blog and record them and post a podcast also.

Brad Bird on Ollie Johnston

One of the classic Disney animators, Ollie Johnston, passed away recently. A personal favorite of mine, Brad Bird, wrote a nice piece on Mr. Johnston for an animation blog. You can read it here. I post it here because it's a nice piece of heartfelt writing. Don't you think?

I understand he is the last of what they call Disney's Nine Old Men of animation.

People don't use Google?

From the smart people at Metafilter I found a chart displaying which search engines are used the most. You can view the chart here. I use Google exclusively, which do you use?

Web Comic

Have you ever heard of Exploding Dog? This guy accepts submissions of short pieces of text and then draws a single panel cartoon to illustrate it. Some of them are quite good. You can view them here.

Physics fun

Have some online physics fun here.

Alternate History

I like a good alternate history. I mean, who doesn't? The big ole "what if" of science fiction turned back on our own history. Just imagine how different the world would be if there hadn't been a Morrison Writers Club? It frightens me to even think about it. You can read a nice write up about alternate histories here. I've read "The Man in the High Castle" and "SS-GB" and enjoyed them both. Of course the grand daddy of alternate histories is Harry Turtledove's "Guns of the South." Modern day white supremacists travel back in time and give the South automatic weapons. They win of course. Anyone else read alternate histories?

The Internet's True Purpose

It appears that god created the Internet mainly for the creation of lists. I found one created by the UK newspaper called the Telegraph. It's a list of books that should be included in every library. Silly me, I was unaware that there was such a thing as great romantic fiction. You learn something new everyday, as my old Dad says.

Our New Logo

What do you think?

Advice from Robert Sawyer

You gotta walk before you can run says Mr. Sawyer.

May meeting

I went ahead and scheduled our May meeting for the fifth Thursday in May, the 29th. I hope everyone comes and gives Mitchell a big hug.

Digging a hole at Stonehenge

First excavation at Stonehenge since the mid 1960's is going on now. You can read about it here.

Meeting in May

Mitchell has axed us if we can meet on the fifth Thursday in May. The room is free that night and I don't see any problem with doing it. What does the peanut gallery think?

So basically I'm gonna be self-obsessed and ridiculous for a moment. Is that OK? I certainly hope so.

See, here's the thing. I haven't been able to go to a meeting since December. This is a fault of the UNC system, not of mine. Regardless, I have been absent. And now, at the first meeting I might be able to attend since, let me remind you, December, I'll be out of town.

That's right, ladies and gentlebeans, I'll be in Louisiana on the fourth Thursday of May. Now, my business there is my own, and besides is not the topic of this post. That topic, then, is a question.

Would it be remotely possible to have the meeting the third or fifth Thursday of May instead? Yes, I'm asking two months early. I have no idea if it's even possible to know such a thing this far in advance, but I also have no idea how much advance notice might be required, so I'm hedging my bets.

Top SF series

I'm a big fan of lists. Here's one I haven't seen before. It's a list of the best SF series. You can view the list here. I've heard about the Lensman series by E.E. Smith but I have never read an of them. I like old SF so I should at the very least read the first one.

Writers night was a big bust this week. It was just Matthew and me staring at each for half an hour. We talked bad about everyone that didn't show up and then we went home.

Meeting on Thursday

This is a little late but I want to remind everyone that we are meeting Thursday at 6 pm at the Morrison Library. Bring something to read and I'll see you there.

Poster for new Indiana Jones movie

You can view it here. Have I mentioned yet how badly I want this to be a good movie?

Arthur C. Clarke's Birthday Message to the World

I haven't had a chance to watch this yet but it's gotta be good.


Last Harry Potter Movie

Will be shown in two parts.

Star Go Boom

There was a gamma ray burst from a star recently and it was actually capture live on tape.

Wikihistory Story

Hey guys, there is a really funny short story floating around the nerdy community websites. It's called Wikihistory and you can read it here.

Something I am working on

I stayed away for a long time
if I didn't go back then I wouldn't
be able to drive by her house and know
I could not turn into her driveway.
I wouldn't see a lawn where her garden
had always been.
See someone else's car in the driveway.

If I'm not there then she still is
she's the cat in the box,
still walking every morning,
tending that garden.
She just hasn't called in a while.
Probably busy.

I visit her grave for the first time
in the spring of last year.
This fall, at a family reunion,
I see how alive she is in the eyes
of my aunts and uncles and my sister
and my Dad.

We take a family picture on the deck.
I hit the timer on my camera and run
back to the gang. Standing close
cramming us all in the frame,
touching each other, feeling alive
we could say her name if we needed
to smile.

More Arthur C. Clarke

So far the best tribute I have seen was written by David Brin.

Joe Haldeman has a nice memory of him here.

RIP Arthur C. Clark

Just saw that Arthur C. Clarke has passed away. He was the last of the giants.