Running After My Hat header image 4

Entries from March 2010

Worth a Thousand Words (Plus the Speed of Light in Parsecs per Month, Times Pi, Divided by Planck’s Constant, to the ith Power…)

March 31st, 2010 · 10 Comments

Per Tim O’Reilly, on Twitter… To quote the site where he found it: To all of you nerds and geeks who — like me — have been unfairly and inaccurately labeled “dorks,” only to then exhaustively explain the differences among the three to a more-than-skeptical offender, I say: You’re welcome. The simple eloquence of colored [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Humor · Language · Ruminations · Tech · The Online World

Beating Yourself to Death?

March 30th, 2010 · 8 Comments

[Image above: Peter Kubik's UFO shaped electronic drums, as featured at the Yanko Design site. The Yanko site says, "This electronic drum produces lighted impressions of your hand in psychedelic colors as it strikes the surface."] When it comes to storytelling, are you a mechanic or a gardener? A little of both? Or something else [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Hearing · Reading · Research/Resources · Ruminations · Style and Craft · Writing

Laughing All the Way

March 26th, 2010 · 6 Comments

From whiskey river: Hiding in a Drop of Water It is early morning, and death has forgotten us for a while. Darkness owns the house, but I am alive. I am ready to praise all the great musicians. Whatever happens to me will also happen to you. Surely you must have realized this from hearing [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Humor · Movies · Poetry · Reading · Ruminations · Writing · whiskey river Fridays

Apostrophizing the Enemy

March 24th, 2010 · 6 Comments

[Image at right from the Celestial Heavens/Might and Magic site] In a comment the other day over at the Querulous Squirrel’s treetop lair, I ad-libbed a suggestion for people facing what are commonly called “nervous breakdowns”: name them. Please forgive the self-citation (which feels to me like a breach of Interweb etiquette): Every “nervous breakdown” [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Language · Ruminations · The Online World · Writing

LitFic: Online Resources

March 24th, 2010 · 3 Comments

The other day, Moonrat replied to a question about the acceptability of collections of “linked” short stories: stories united by a common theme, cast of characters, whatever. Along the way, she wondered what the state of short fiction in general might be, in these days when writers seem so focused on books.* (The comments surprised [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Short Fiction · The Business · The Online World · Writing

Paying Attention to Voice

March 22nd, 2010 · 5 Comments

I may never have to master anything more difficult than thinking, and thinking convincingly, like multiple characters. It’s not just a matter of the word choices and rhythms of their dialogue (although it includes that). And it’s not just a matter of the outward manifestations of their natures — gender, style of dress, and so [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Advertising/Packaging · Language · Paying Attention · Seems to Fit · Style and Craft · Writing

Trouble Hearing

March 19th, 2010 · 10 Comments

[Image: Toothpaste for Dinner, June 3, 2007] From whiskey river: People write letters to me from heaven, but I’m not listening. The hermit said: “Because the world is mad, the only way through the world is to learn the arts and double the madness.” Are you listening? (Robert Bly, “Listening”1) …and (italicized portion): We like [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Movies · Music · Poetry · Ruminations · whiskey river Fridays

Real-Life Dialogue (EDT Edition)

March 16th, 2010 · 12 Comments

[The scene: a suburban home situated somewhere in the (US) Eastern time zone. It is a mild, sunny Sunday afternoon in mid-March, and He and She are seated at their respective computers on opposite sides of a low wall, enjoying the sunshine when they remember to look out a window.] She: [From her side of [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Computers · Everyday Life · Humor · Operating Systems · Real-Life Dialogue · The Missus · The Online World

Fill in the Blanks: Win an Oscar

March 14th, 2010 · 6 Comments

(Hat tip to Denise Doyen, in a comment at the Seven Impossible Things blog.)

[Read more →]

Tags: Humor · In the News · Movies · The Online World

Unfinished Business

March 12th, 2010 · 7 Comments

From whiskey river: A Way to Look at Things We have not yet made shoes that fit like sand Nor clothes that fit like water Nor thoughts that fit like air. There is much to be done – Works of nature are abstract. They do not lean on other things for meanings. The sea-gull is [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Art & Photography · Humor · Language · Poetry · Radio · Reading · Ruminations · Style and Craft · Writing · whiskey river Fridays