My reading habits have taken a strange turn for the last year, due in part to work commitments and other developments in the publishing universe. In a sense, the habits that I once described in a previous post have changed significantly.
For starters, Dungeon magazine ceased publication sometime in the middle of last year, and took its sister Dragon with it. The culprit was not a question of low sales or a lack of interest in the magazine, but more a case for technological advancement -- it seems that the role-playing crowd, Dungeon's core audience, has largely moved online with the onslaught of MMORPGs and other online games. The result was a "reinvented" version of the two publications, now available to anyone with an Internet connection and a good UPS.
Last year also saw the final hurrah for Inquest Gamer, the only other magazine that I buy at a reasonably "subscription-like" level. Why Inquest folded up remains a mystery to me; it was fairly popular as far as I knew, it was one of the few periodicals that catered to the casual gaming crowd, and it constantly found ways to liven up existing games instead of focusing solely on new releases. I feel that its existence may have been doomed by the spate of gaming-related sites; putting stuff online brings up news a lot faster than the printing presses do.
I'm aware of how much more efficient the Internet can be, but would it kill people to stay with the standard print format from time to time? I'd like something glossy that I could read and re-read on a bus or in the middle of a power failure, thank you very much.
I haven't seen an issue of Games magazine in the bargain bin for some time, and I can't find the current issues on sale anywhere. That implies that the more recent issues haven't been reaching us for some reason -- maybe the magazine cut its print run, or maybe it's been selling out its publications abroad. Whatever the case, the only new periodicals that I see on the shelves seem to concentrate exclusively on Sudoku puzzles, which I personally can't stand.
Finally, I've given up on a lot of computer gaming magazines. This is simply because I'm waaaay out of the gaming loop -- I don't play online games, I don't own a next-generation console, and I have too little time to play anything but emulations of the old Super NES time-wasters. The contents of recent issues are more likely to confuse me than interest me, and I'm not about to drop half my savings on some fast-moving hardware just to catch up.
As you can see, that leaves me with absolutely no casual reading left to speak of. I could just call it a day and delve into the novels and comics that a lot of other people buy, but I just don't see plenty of re-readability in these. So I'm looking at any or all of the following right now:
Reader's Digest. I gave up this little publication ten years ago because 1) it featured a little too many "human-drama" stories for my taste, and 2) I was starting to get irritated by all the "sweepstakes" mailings. My grandmother still subscribes, however, and I leaf through the issues every now and then. So far I've decided that their "Laughter" feature has gotten worse over the years, but their focus on Asian affairs seems to have gotten more pronounced. I'm still sitting on the fence for this one.
Anime Insider. From the same publishers of Inquest Gamer, this sister publication exclusively focuses on Japanese manga and anime, and holds a very similar humorous bent. The catch: I'm not that focused on Japanese animation, and I don't think that this'll hold my interest for the long-term.
FHM Philippines. Yes, I'm aware that it has a certain lowbrow reputation, and I'm aware that at its core, it's a magazine that features women in various states of undress. But I'm also aware that they recently revamped the magazine and its features over the last few months, and as a result, it's shifted at least some of its focus away from the half-naked women. ("Some," mind you, and unfortunately not "all.") In fact, their latest issue purportedly has a list of "fifty reads for guys" or something like that, and I'm dying to find out what the list is like. That said, if anyone could possibly point me to an website that reflects the article's contents, it would save me the trouble of buying the lousy magazine.
Discover. I'll be honest -- to me, the main feature of this magazine lies in the supremely gifted puzzle column on the back page; everything else is merely cake to its ice cream. I'm still trying to decide if a single column (that used to be available online, mind you) is worth my three hundred pesos / nine dollars each month.
Total Girl. Just kidding.
So... does anyone have any suggested monthly readings out there? Does anyone have a magazine subscription that they'd care to recommend? Do give me a hand over here... I've found myself constantly running out of casual reading material for the past few weeks.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Monday, April 07, 2008
Yes, You Can Ruin Your Life
Hello, Inquirer.
First, I would like to express my appreciation for Pam Pastor's article, "Yes, Blogs Can Ruin Your Life", released last April 1st. I felt that it provided a good summary on those pitfalls that bloggers often fail to expect. In addition, I felt that your corresponding examples of controversial bloggers ("Cautionary Tales") gave some excellent real-world support for Ms. Pastor's explanations.
However, I also felt that the article failed to capture the heart of the matter. I felt that it failed to cover one important point that affects not only bloggers but all people in general. That point is a simple one: Each of us is ultimately accountable for everything that we say or do. It does not matter if we are bloggers, or if we are journalists, or if we are politicians or businessmen or writers or merely pedestrians on the busy streets. Each of us has to realize that we are responsible for what we do, what we say, and how we act towards our fellow human beings.
In short, I felt that Ms. Pastor's title was misleading. Our blogs cannot ruin our lives any more than our books, newspapers, radios and television sets can. It is not the physical means of expression that does it; it's the opinions that we express through these forms of media. What we choose to express to the world at large eventually dictates how the world receives us. If there's anyone who can ultimately ruin our own lives, it's us.
In this way, building a blog is really no different from writing an article for a magazine, or hosting a TV show, or merely having a conversation with our friends. In each situation, we have to be responsible for what we say. We have to realize that our words will always have consequences, regardless of whether we're gossiping about a couple of celebrities' sexual orientations, complaining about the behavior of the people seated next to us on an airline flight, or demanding our money back from a friend who we once trusted. We can communicate those words in any medium we want... but when the controversy boils over and the hate comes pouring in, we must realize that it's us -- not our blogs, not our magazines, not our talk shows and certainly not our idle conversations -- who must be held accountable.
Regards,
Sean Uy
http://lengthofwords.blogspot.com
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop
Everybody goes through an "MTV phase," I think. It's essentially the one period in your life when you begin to develop an interest in commercial music. I don't mean a time where you merely begin to listen to songs and all that, mind you -- I mean a time in your life where you actively follow the global music phenomenon to the point of saturation. I mean a time when you don't just listen to the radio -- you watch the music videos, you spend your allowance buying the albums, and you identify distinct favorites among the many artists out there.
My phase came around the late 90's, which meant that I was a late bloomer who didn't appreciate most of the 80's-pop-culture songs that pervaded my teenage youth. On the other hand, it also meant that I was privy to the predecessors of twenty-first-century commercial music: the dance-techno mixes, melodic rap, boy bands / girl bands of all shapes and sizes, and the revival of early 80's rock.
It's strange that, somewhere in all that personal history, one of the most vivid memories I have is of a now-obscure artist named Scatman John.
As you can see, it isn't exactly the most conventional song. It uses a musical technique known as "scat" -- consecutive nonsensical syllables that are strung together to create rhythm and melody. For that matter, Scatman John wasn't called "Scatman John" for nothing -- having emerged from a jazz background, he specialized in this distinct technique.
While we've probably seen scat singing in one form or another (mostly in jazz vocals), the Scatman's songs were something different entirely. His are some of the few instances I remember where the scat technique is used with a techno-like beat... often to devastating effect. The fact that he always seems to do it so effortlessly doesn't help one bit.
Ten years after I first listened to his music, I found myself leafing through the Internet for more background on this artist and whether or not he was still making records. One of the most interesting things I found was that Scatman John -- real name John Paul Larkin -- had a severe stuttering problem that persisted for his entire life. While this must have made casual life very difficult for him -- it was once remarked that he could hardly finish a sentence without repeating the same phrase six or seven times -- it gave him a natural advantage during his performances. If there was anyone who could talk of spinning silk purses out of sow's ears, it was this man.
I mean, just listen to that. Good grief.
I still enjoy his music, mind you, but part of me will always wonder how the heck he does it.
His old hits are largely forgotten now, I think. Scatman John only really made it big in Europe and Japan, where action figures of him were actually sold in the Land of the Rising Sun. Nowadays most of what we get are American Idols and paparazzi-fed pop princesses, but I suppose that talented scat artists are extremely difficult to come by.
Sadly, I also found that I wouldn't be seeing any more of Scatman John's music -- the man himself died in 1999, shortly after releasing only his third album. It means that I'm going to have a long search on my hands if I'm to find any of his original releases.
I do feel good about dredging up his memory from the corners of my mind, though. Here was a very distinct artist with a very unique style, so much that I still remember him ten years down the line. It emphasizes the prospect of making one's mark on his audience through any form of media -- images, gestures, words, music, what have you -- even if you can barely sing the songs yourself for all the nonsensical lyrics.
"I'm Scatman." Heh.
:)
My phase came around the late 90's, which meant that I was a late bloomer who didn't appreciate most of the 80's-pop-culture songs that pervaded my teenage youth. On the other hand, it also meant that I was privy to the predecessors of twenty-first-century commercial music: the dance-techno mixes, melodic rap, boy bands / girl bands of all shapes and sizes, and the revival of early 80's rock.
It's strange that, somewhere in all that personal history, one of the most vivid memories I have is of a now-obscure artist named Scatman John.
Scatman's World (Scatman John)
As you can see, it isn't exactly the most conventional song. It uses a musical technique known as "scat" -- consecutive nonsensical syllables that are strung together to create rhythm and melody. For that matter, Scatman John wasn't called "Scatman John" for nothing -- having emerged from a jazz background, he specialized in this distinct technique.
While we've probably seen scat singing in one form or another (mostly in jazz vocals), the Scatman's songs were something different entirely. His are some of the few instances I remember where the scat technique is used with a techno-like beat... often to devastating effect. The fact that he always seems to do it so effortlessly doesn't help one bit.
Ten years after I first listened to his music, I found myself leafing through the Internet for more background on this artist and whether or not he was still making records. One of the most interesting things I found was that Scatman John -- real name John Paul Larkin -- had a severe stuttering problem that persisted for his entire life. While this must have made casual life very difficult for him -- it was once remarked that he could hardly finish a sentence without repeating the same phrase six or seven times -- it gave him a natural advantage during his performances. If there was anyone who could talk of spinning silk purses out of sow's ears, it was this man.
Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop) (Scatman John)
I mean, just listen to that. Good grief.
I still enjoy his music, mind you, but part of me will always wonder how the heck he does it.
His old hits are largely forgotten now, I think. Scatman John only really made it big in Europe and Japan, where action figures of him were actually sold in the Land of the Rising Sun. Nowadays most of what we get are American Idols and paparazzi-fed pop princesses, but I suppose that talented scat artists are extremely difficult to come by.
Sadly, I also found that I wouldn't be seeing any more of Scatman John's music -- the man himself died in 1999, shortly after releasing only his third album. It means that I'm going to have a long search on my hands if I'm to find any of his original releases.
I do feel good about dredging up his memory from the corners of my mind, though. Here was a very distinct artist with a very unique style, so much that I still remember him ten years down the line. It emphasizes the prospect of making one's mark on his audience through any form of media -- images, gestures, words, music, what have you -- even if you can barely sing the songs yourself for all the nonsensical lyrics.
"I'm Scatman." Heh.
:)
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Disclaimer: April 2008
Hey, as long as we're here, we might as well get started.
Right, then -- everything on this blog is an original work as written by Sean. That means that Sean literally conceived, planned and wrote out every single word, graphic and shredded idea that you see on this web site's blog posts. The only exceptions to this statement involve those items owned by Blogger as owner of this weblogging service, and...
Which Sean?
...Huh?
I said, which Sean?
What do you mean, "which Sean?"
I mean, which Sean? There are two of us, as you can plainly see.
...Er, right. But wait... there weren't two of us before.
Of course there were. There were always two of us. There's you -- the standard, spokesperson goody-two-shoes Sean... and there's me.
You?
Evil Sean.
Oh. Er... I see.
You sound surprised.
It's just that... well... I didn't expect to see you again.
Neither did I. I had to admit that trapping me in that alligator pit was a stroke of genius, especially after you had caught me off guard with that giant mousetrap. After all that's happened, I would think that you're trying to get rid of me.
Ah... of course not. That's rather funny. Ha ha ha.
Hahahahahah.
...
So... are you going to continue this disclaimer of yours, or not?
Oh, right. The disclaimer. Okay... er... everything here was written by Sean, and...
Which Sean?
Er... both of us.
Good. Carry on.
And... uh... some entries on this blog use or reference outside material which was generated by other creators. Whenever this blog uses such an item, Sean will always attempt to include some form of acknowledgement that identifies and promotes the creator of the work.
...
Er... aren't you going to say something?
Why?
Uh... you're Evil Sean. Aren't you're supposed to be the negative, malevolent, alternate-universe version of me?
I am.
Then why aren't you saying anything? I just mentioned something about giving the right acknowledgements to the right people.
Hey, I'm completely against plagiarism too.
You are?
I'm just as much a writer as you are. I don't like my stuff getting taken by other people and used under their names.
Oh. Ah... that makes two of us, then. What Sean... what I do, mind you, is that whenever I use somebody else's stuff, I try to make sure that they get a link, or a byline, or something like that. And if any author out there feels that one of their works was improperly used in this weblog, then they only have to contact Sean for further discussion.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Really?
Really.
Then, well... Sean also doesn't like it if people use his stuff without some form of permission or notification. What we'd like to avoid, to be honest, is a situation where some person out there decides to copy from or use Sean's stuff under their own identity, effectively taking credit for Sean's work.
Which is plagiarism, pure and simple.
Right. We'd also like to avoid any incident where Sean is misquoted, or where Sean's words are taken in an out-of-context manner to mislead people or damage anyone's credibility. That's the only reason why Sean reserves the right to demand permission before having anyone place his writings anywhere else.
So money doesn't enter the picture? You are a goody-two-shoes.
I won't lie -- sometimes money does enter the picture, particularly if the work will enter formal publication, or will be the source of royalties for the originator. But Sean is usually very lenient towards these things; he's willing to let most requests go with little more than a good conversation and the right permission.
So you say.
There's a Creative Commons License on the lower-right-hand corner that contains the conditions towards the use of items on this blog. In a sense, it contains everything that I've explained here and more.
Except maybe for one small thing.
What?
You haven't described what you're going to do to offenders who will blatantly steal your stuff and thumb their nose at us in an insultingly rude manner.
Er... ah... I've mostly given up on that. Usually the presence of my lawyer's enough to deter people like that.
Lawyers are admirable. But there's little that can compensate for a good, old-fashioned beating. I find two-by-fours to be very useful, especially those that have a nail driven through them.
Yes, but...
Or you can mention any number of subtle life-threatening concepts. Immolation comes to mind. Pit bulls come to mind. Watermelons and public rectal exams come to mind. And even if you're too squeamish for those, there's always the old standbys.
Old standbys?
Blackmail. Extortion. Kidnapping. Writing them into your next story as an obviously villainous character and acquiring greater exposure for the issue.
I can't do that. That would be...
...Evil? Hahahah.
Geez. Is that why you decided to show up for this one?
You do your job, and I'll do mine. Besides, this feels kind of nice, threatening your own readers and getting away with it.
Er... ah... that's all the time we have for today, I think. Time for us to go.
Spoilsport.
There's still next month, if you really want to cut loose.
I've got the plans in the trunk of my car.
We have a car?
Of course. How do you think I managed to get out of that alligator pit?
Oooooh. Does it have a mini-bar?
It's got its own bartender.
Sweet.
Right, then -- everything on this blog is an original work as written by Sean. That means that Sean literally conceived, planned and wrote out every single word, graphic and shredded idea that you see on this web site's blog posts. The only exceptions to this statement involve those items owned by Blogger as owner of this weblogging service, and...
Which Sean?
...Huh?
I said, which Sean?
What do you mean, "which Sean?"
I mean, which Sean? There are two of us, as you can plainly see.
...Er, right. But wait... there weren't two of us before.
Of course there were. There were always two of us. There's you -- the standard, spokesperson goody-two-shoes Sean... and there's me.
You?
Evil Sean.
Oh. Er... I see.
You sound surprised.
It's just that... well... I didn't expect to see you again.
Neither did I. I had to admit that trapping me in that alligator pit was a stroke of genius, especially after you had caught me off guard with that giant mousetrap. After all that's happened, I would think that you're trying to get rid of me.
Ah... of course not. That's rather funny. Ha ha ha.
Hahahahahah.
...
So... are you going to continue this disclaimer of yours, or not?
Oh, right. The disclaimer. Okay... er... everything here was written by Sean, and...
Which Sean?
Er... both of us.
Good. Carry on.
And... uh... some entries on this blog use or reference outside material which was generated by other creators. Whenever this blog uses such an item, Sean will always attempt to include some form of acknowledgement that identifies and promotes the creator of the work.
...
Er... aren't you going to say something?
Why?
Uh... you're Evil Sean. Aren't you're supposed to be the negative, malevolent, alternate-universe version of me?
I am.
Then why aren't you saying anything? I just mentioned something about giving the right acknowledgements to the right people.
Hey, I'm completely against plagiarism too.
You are?
I'm just as much a writer as you are. I don't like my stuff getting taken by other people and used under their names.
Oh. Ah... that makes two of us, then. What Sean... what I do, mind you, is that whenever I use somebody else's stuff, I try to make sure that they get a link, or a byline, or something like that. And if any author out there feels that one of their works was improperly used in this weblog, then they only have to contact Sean for further discussion.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
Really?
Really.
Then, well... Sean also doesn't like it if people use his stuff without some form of permission or notification. What we'd like to avoid, to be honest, is a situation where some person out there decides to copy from or use Sean's stuff under their own identity, effectively taking credit for Sean's work.
Which is plagiarism, pure and simple.
Right. We'd also like to avoid any incident where Sean is misquoted, or where Sean's words are taken in an out-of-context manner to mislead people or damage anyone's credibility. That's the only reason why Sean reserves the right to demand permission before having anyone place his writings anywhere else.
So money doesn't enter the picture? You are a goody-two-shoes.
I won't lie -- sometimes money does enter the picture, particularly if the work will enter formal publication, or will be the source of royalties for the originator. But Sean is usually very lenient towards these things; he's willing to let most requests go with little more than a good conversation and the right permission.
So you say.
There's a Creative Commons License on the lower-right-hand corner that contains the conditions towards the use of items on this blog. In a sense, it contains everything that I've explained here and more.
Except maybe for one small thing.
What?
You haven't described what you're going to do to offenders who will blatantly steal your stuff and thumb their nose at us in an insultingly rude manner.
Er... ah... I've mostly given up on that. Usually the presence of my lawyer's enough to deter people like that.
Lawyers are admirable. But there's little that can compensate for a good, old-fashioned beating. I find two-by-fours to be very useful, especially those that have a nail driven through them.
Yes, but...
Or you can mention any number of subtle life-threatening concepts. Immolation comes to mind. Pit bulls come to mind. Watermelons and public rectal exams come to mind. And even if you're too squeamish for those, there's always the old standbys.
Old standbys?
Blackmail. Extortion. Kidnapping. Writing them into your next story as an obviously villainous character and acquiring greater exposure for the issue.
I can't do that. That would be...
...Evil? Hahahah.
Geez. Is that why you decided to show up for this one?
You do your job, and I'll do mine. Besides, this feels kind of nice, threatening your own readers and getting away with it.
Er... ah... that's all the time we have for today, I think. Time for us to go.
Spoilsport.
There's still next month, if you really want to cut loose.
I've got the plans in the trunk of my car.
We have a car?
Of course. How do you think I managed to get out of that alligator pit?
Oooooh. Does it have a mini-bar?
It's got its own bartender.
Sweet.
Monday, March 31, 2008
With Intent to Describe
Strangely enough, I seem to have changed two of my Internet profiles within the past ten days.
I made my first change when Abe Olandres's original PinoyTopBlogs experiment got replaced with a new TopBlogs, and I received a fairly polite e-mail to update me on the matter. Sadly, Abe is no longer directly involved with the project... but at least the new TopBlogs setup attempts to resolve the popularity imbalance issue by categorizing blogs according to their proper networks.
I also found out that I had to change my blog's profile on the new TopBlogs listing because the original was far too long. (Yes... even the Internet complains that I'm too wordy for my own good.) For the last six months, I've subsisted on a lengthy description that involved miscellaneous topics and a slight mention of Caesar salad. Now, considering that I only have 255 characters to make my case, I settled on the following:
It's kind of like what I normally do whenever I "fix" my computer.
The other change came about when I took a passing glance at my Blogger profile and noticed that I was still listed under "Internet" and "Project Manager". How I missed that is beyond me -- I mean, I've been in my current multinational job for over a year now. So I logged in, adjusted it to the more contemporary "Technology" and "Systems Analyst - Service Operations", sat back, and saved the changes to my account...
...Except that it wouldn't save the changes. Closer examination showed that the problem was not in the fact that I had changed my industry and occupation -- the problem was that, sometime between the last change I made to my profile and just earlier this evening, Blogger decided to disallow HTML code in its "About Me" area.
Do have a look at the description below and see if you can spot where the offending layout code was:
Give up? The issue was in the paragraph break -- that single one-row valley between the two mountains of words. Placing that single space there needed two tiny HTML commands, which come out in text as "‹br›‹br›".
As it was already fairly late and the profile had already been up for a long time, I made the knee-jerk decision to change it to a single-paragraph description just to solve the problem. So now you're likely to see this new one in its place:
It's still quite a mouthful, but at least it doesn't involve any HTML. And as an added bonus, it's as vague as all get out.
Blogger accepted this new description with my second attempt at saving it, and I started casting around for more things to change. Did I need to adjust the single blog entry at my Multiply account, for example? Was it worth it to log into any of my forum-based accounts and put up a more detailed description of who I was? Heck, did I need to change the name on my primary e-mail account?
In the end, sanity won over any feeble attempts at obsessive-compulsiveness. I'll let my most recent changes lie around for a while, and I'll consider getting back to them after at least a few months. I mean, it's not as though a lot of people read them, right?
Er... right?
Hello?
I made my first change when Abe Olandres's original PinoyTopBlogs experiment got replaced with a new TopBlogs, and I received a fairly polite e-mail to update me on the matter. Sadly, Abe is no longer directly involved with the project... but at least the new TopBlogs setup attempts to resolve the popularity imbalance issue by categorizing blogs according to their proper networks.
I also found out that I had to change my blog's profile on the new TopBlogs listing because the original was far too long. (Yes... even the Internet complains that I'm too wordy for my own good.) For the last six months, I've subsisted on a lengthy description that involved miscellaneous topics and a slight mention of Caesar salad. Now, considering that I only have 255 characters to make my case, I settled on the following:
Sean tries to reason with the rest of the universe, and when that doesn't work, he whacks it with a really big stick.
It's kind of like what I normally do whenever I "fix" my computer.
The other change came about when I took a passing glance at my Blogger profile and noticed that I was still listed under "Internet" and "Project Manager". How I missed that is beyond me -- I mean, I've been in my current multinational job for over a year now. So I logged in, adjusted it to the more contemporary "Technology" and "Systems Analyst - Service Operations", sat back, and saved the changes to my account...
...Except that it wouldn't save the changes. Closer examination showed that the problem was not in the fact that I had changed my industry and occupation -- the problem was that, sometime between the last change I made to my profile and just earlier this evening, Blogger decided to disallow HTML code in its "About Me" area.
Do have a look at the description below and see if you can spot where the offending layout code was:
Sean is a writer who goes about in the guise of a businessman, a creative conceptualist, and a cognitive analyst. In fifteen years of writing experience, he has submitted entries to anthologies, collaborated on story backgrounds for computer games, and experimented with varying approaches to literature. Sean believes that life is a matter of taking the road less travelled, if only to increase exposure to various experiences and meet with a lot less resistance along the way.
All of the above, however, has taken a toll on Sean's sanity. Sean has consequently developed a paranoia of internet plagiarists as well as a habit of breaking down the combinatoric systems of board games. He also likes stuffed animals, which is always an indication that something's very, very wrong with his head.
Give up? The issue was in the paragraph break -- that single one-row valley between the two mountains of words. Placing that single space there needed two tiny HTML commands, which come out in text as "‹br›‹br›".
As it was already fairly late and the profile had already been up for a long time, I made the knee-jerk decision to change it to a single-paragraph description just to solve the problem. So now you're likely to see this new one in its place:
Sean is not an internet celebrity. He is neither a food critic, a gossip columnist, nor a political commentator. He is not an entrepreneur who uses a free blogging service as a means to make money, nor is he an itinerant spammer who foists product promotions on an unsuspecting audience. He is neither an activist nor a spectator. He is neither an instigator nor an irritant. He is neither the hunter nor the hunted. But he tries to tell things like they are, and he tries to do this from a logical and an introspective viewpoint as much as possible. He tries to take in many different opinions as a cohesive whole, and he tries to use this to touch upon many aspects of life. Sean tries to write. Sean tries to be a writer, and that makes him a very dangerous man.
It's still quite a mouthful, but at least it doesn't involve any HTML. And as an added bonus, it's as vague as all get out.
Blogger accepted this new description with my second attempt at saving it, and I started casting around for more things to change. Did I need to adjust the single blog entry at my Multiply account, for example? Was it worth it to log into any of my forum-based accounts and put up a more detailed description of who I was? Heck, did I need to change the name on my primary e-mail account?
In the end, sanity won over any feeble attempts at obsessive-compulsiveness. I'll let my most recent changes lie around for a while, and I'll consider getting back to them after at least a few months. I mean, it's not as though a lot of people read them, right?
Er... right?
Hello?
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Shelf Circuit
Saturday afternoon found me in the middle of the Fully Booked branch in Rockwell's Power Plant mall, looking for reading material.
Despite my constant hangouts at various malls and bookstores, I don't buy much in the way of books. Part of the reason behind this is the fact that I'm a cheapskate -- I'd rather look for collectibles among the local bargain book sales, or failing that, borrow a few volumes from people who have copies. Most of my reading fare, in fact, revolves around magazines and digest-sized works for some reason -- I try to pick up a book only if I feel that it's worth owning for twenty-odd years or so.
On the other hand, that doesn't mean that I don't feel the occasional hunger for something small, economy-sized, and paperback... so Saturday found me in a Fully Booked branch, looking for something that could tide my interest for a few days.
I went about a usual circuitous path through the bookstore, trying to deduce a layout that I hadn't seen in almost six months. The magazine collection caught my attention first, but I quickly discarded the notion after a few minutes of browsing. Fully Booked has an incredible collection of magazines, yes, but they're all about four or five times as expensive as the stuff that you see being sold on the usual newspaper racks.
I then found the comics section, and spent a while looking for a few complete trade paperback collections that I had been recommended. Having just picked up a copy of Metzer and Morales's Identity Crisis last month, however, I felt that I wasn't looking for any graphic novels or manga at the time. If anything, they wouldn't have been good for more than an hour's entertainment at best.
I took my time scouring the fiction area at that point. Normally I first check the Sci-Fi/Fantasy shelves for anything that looks interesting, then move on to the Horror and Mystery stacks, and then have a look at Filipiniana and General Fiction. I look for a lot of things -- new books from personal favorites (Terry Pratchett, Lillian Jackson Braun and Stephen King), just-released volumes with striking cover designs and text synopses, and old works that I had previously enjoyed and wanted to add to a long-term collection. Over an hour of walking around and getting the staff nervous about my presence, I found nothing that caught my eye enough to drag to the counter.
It was at this point that an interesting plot idea came to mind -- what if you had a single random person suddenly give a long, agonized scream while standing in the middle of a bookstore's shelves, followed by an instant where that person's body crumbles to dust? The idea was certainly very raw and would need a lot of explanation, but it felt as though it would be a very disconcerting situation to any reader. If anything, I filed it away in the back of my mind for possible use later on.
Having found nothing that caught my fancy in the fiction section, I leafed through several books in the "novelties" area. This was apparently a catch-all between humor books, picture books for adults and whatever could not simply be placed among the other shelves, and as such, it was a gold mine for anything weird. I ended up picking out a book on the worst technology-related blunders of the past decade (Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser by Rick Broadhead) and asking a staff member if they had any newer copies still encased in plastic. They found that they didn't and apologized, but the book's content was enchanting enough for me to tuck it under my arm and move on.
A few steps before my foray into the children's section, I noticed a massive spread that advertised the Top 100 books ever written (although I never found out exactly who put the list together, and it doesn't match any of my Internet searches). That busied me for at least the next thirty minutes, as I tried to identify each and every one of their titles and figure out whether or not I had read them already. I had obviously plowed through quite a few of them (To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Watchmen, The Metamorphosis, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, among others), but I also wondered about a few that I hadn't read (Yann Martel's Life of Pi and Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase come to mind), and I chuckled at the similarity of titles between Golding's The Lord of the Flies and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
The list also drew my attention to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a copy of which I also tucked under my arm for the checkout counter. I had never read it in its entirety yet, if only because I had this constant nagging feeling that we had a copy in the house somewhere and I had to find it first.
My trip to the children's section was cut short by some raucous laughter coming from the Spiderwick shelves. There was a small clique of sixteen-year-olds hanging out and sitting around there doing absolutely nothing at all. Far from having them bother me, I quickly envisioned another plot idea: What if there was a race of intellectual morlocks that lived within the bookstore at night, stealing titles away from the shelves so that the best volumes would encounter massive shortages in the morning? It was another object to file in the back of my mind as I walked to the checkout counter.
Unfortunately for me, the very polite clerk there refused to give me a discount for what was an opened copy of Broadhead's book. Books Kinokuniya in Singapore had cut me some slack on this years ago, when I bought an old weathered copy of The Book of the Shadowlands (by Alderac Entertainment), and the store gave me a nice discount. Kinokuniya even offered to wrap the book in plastic for me, free of charge -- although with that said, I had to admit that this was no Kinokuniya.
So I exited a two-and-a-half hour sojourn with a couple of books in a plastic bag waiting to be read when I got home. On the way out I passed by a display of paperback copies for The Other Boleyn Girl, now a major motion picture starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. I refrained from leafing through the copies, though. Maybe I would just get another magazine somewhere on the way home...
Despite my constant hangouts at various malls and bookstores, I don't buy much in the way of books. Part of the reason behind this is the fact that I'm a cheapskate -- I'd rather look for collectibles among the local bargain book sales, or failing that, borrow a few volumes from people who have copies. Most of my reading fare, in fact, revolves around magazines and digest-sized works for some reason -- I try to pick up a book only if I feel that it's worth owning for twenty-odd years or so.
On the other hand, that doesn't mean that I don't feel the occasional hunger for something small, economy-sized, and paperback... so Saturday found me in a Fully Booked branch, looking for something that could tide my interest for a few days.
I went about a usual circuitous path through the bookstore, trying to deduce a layout that I hadn't seen in almost six months. The magazine collection caught my attention first, but I quickly discarded the notion after a few minutes of browsing. Fully Booked has an incredible collection of magazines, yes, but they're all about four or five times as expensive as the stuff that you see being sold on the usual newspaper racks.
I then found the comics section, and spent a while looking for a few complete trade paperback collections that I had been recommended. Having just picked up a copy of Metzer and Morales's Identity Crisis last month, however, I felt that I wasn't looking for any graphic novels or manga at the time. If anything, they wouldn't have been good for more than an hour's entertainment at best.
I took my time scouring the fiction area at that point. Normally I first check the Sci-Fi/Fantasy shelves for anything that looks interesting, then move on to the Horror and Mystery stacks, and then have a look at Filipiniana and General Fiction. I look for a lot of things -- new books from personal favorites (Terry Pratchett, Lillian Jackson Braun and Stephen King), just-released volumes with striking cover designs and text synopses, and old works that I had previously enjoyed and wanted to add to a long-term collection. Over an hour of walking around and getting the staff nervous about my presence, I found nothing that caught my eye enough to drag to the counter.
It was at this point that an interesting plot idea came to mind -- what if you had a single random person suddenly give a long, agonized scream while standing in the middle of a bookstore's shelves, followed by an instant where that person's body crumbles to dust? The idea was certainly very raw and would need a lot of explanation, but it felt as though it would be a very disconcerting situation to any reader. If anything, I filed it away in the back of my mind for possible use later on.
Having found nothing that caught my fancy in the fiction section, I leafed through several books in the "novelties" area. This was apparently a catch-all between humor books, picture books for adults and whatever could not simply be placed among the other shelves, and as such, it was a gold mine for anything weird. I ended up picking out a book on the worst technology-related blunders of the past decade (Dear Valued Customer, You Are a Loser by Rick Broadhead) and asking a staff member if they had any newer copies still encased in plastic. They found that they didn't and apologized, but the book's content was enchanting enough for me to tuck it under my arm and move on.
A few steps before my foray into the children's section, I noticed a massive spread that advertised the Top 100 books ever written (although I never found out exactly who put the list together, and it doesn't match any of my Internet searches). That busied me for at least the next thirty minutes, as I tried to identify each and every one of their titles and figure out whether or not I had read them already. I had obviously plowed through quite a few of them (To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Watchmen, The Metamorphosis, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, among others), but I also wondered about a few that I hadn't read (Yann Martel's Life of Pi and Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase come to mind), and I chuckled at the similarity of titles between Golding's The Lord of the Flies and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
The list also drew my attention to Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a copy of which I also tucked under my arm for the checkout counter. I had never read it in its entirety yet, if only because I had this constant nagging feeling that we had a copy in the house somewhere and I had to find it first.
My trip to the children's section was cut short by some raucous laughter coming from the Spiderwick shelves. There was a small clique of sixteen-year-olds hanging out and sitting around there doing absolutely nothing at all. Far from having them bother me, I quickly envisioned another plot idea: What if there was a race of intellectual morlocks that lived within the bookstore at night, stealing titles away from the shelves so that the best volumes would encounter massive shortages in the morning? It was another object to file in the back of my mind as I walked to the checkout counter.
Unfortunately for me, the very polite clerk there refused to give me a discount for what was an opened copy of Broadhead's book. Books Kinokuniya in Singapore had cut me some slack on this years ago, when I bought an old weathered copy of The Book of the Shadowlands (by Alderac Entertainment), and the store gave me a nice discount. Kinokuniya even offered to wrap the book in plastic for me, free of charge -- although with that said, I had to admit that this was no Kinokuniya.
So I exited a two-and-a-half hour sojourn with a couple of books in a plastic bag waiting to be read when I got home. On the way out I passed by a display of paperback copies for The Other Boleyn Girl, now a major motion picture starring Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. I refrained from leafing through the copies, though. Maybe I would just get another magazine somewhere on the way home...
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Ten Prompts
Bear with me, folks. I tried writing on a completely different topic earlier tonight, but my thoughts are otherwise preoccupied by work. What's worse is that whatever space I have in my head that's not being taken up by my office schedule is being occupied by various story fragments. (Yes, I'm still trying to write something for any number of venues -- PGS, the Palanca Awards, and so forth.)
So, for the lack of anything else to write about, I give you those bits and pieces that I can fish out. They're all various prompts for mysteries and crime stories of a sort, and I've tried to keep away from supernatural elements wherever I can. There's no guarantee that I won't use any or all of these, but you're free to take them and do as you like.
And yes, my mind really does work like this. Sometimes I fear for myself.
1. The parents of a family with nine children (all of juvenile age or above) are found dead in their own bedroom, both having been killed by means of a sawed-off shotgun. Evidence shows that they were murdered in the middle of the night by someone in the same house, possibly by one of the nine... except that none of the others was awakened by the obvious noise.
2. Murder victims begin appearing in the Ermita area at the rate of one victim a day. Strangely enough, each of the victims is found naked and missing a single body part. The prime suspect is a deranged surgeon who is obsessed with creating his own Frankenstein's Monster... and the situation is turned on its ear when the surgeon produces an ironclad alibi and offers to assist the investigation.
3. A chemistry teacher in a high-profile school is found dead in her own laboratory. There is nothing that clearly indicates a cause of death, but the expression on her face implies that she died of fright. The body is about three days old and is in a state of decomposition... despite the fact that she had attended all her classes for the past week.
4. The head embalmer of a funeral home is found dead in his own workplace, hooked up to a massive container of Formalin. Evidence strongly suggests that he was killed by a corpse that had earlier been wheeled into the same funeral home.
5. Young people between the ages of 16 and 26 are being reported missing at an alarming rate. Further investigation discovers that all of the victims had seen the same movie at the same theater during its limited run... and the last showing of the movie is expected to take place later this evening.
6. An insurance tycoon dies and leaves his fortune to be divided evenly among his children. Tensions flare, however, when not one but three people show up, all taking on the identity of the dead insurance tycoon and laying claim to his entire estate.
7. A prominent politician is found dead on the floor of an infamous brothel that specializes in sado-masochistic sex practices. Evidence, however, not only shows that the politician was not killed at the place where his body was found... but that the man could have masterminded his own kidnapping and execution.
8. Three men ambush a small-time businesswoman while she returns from the bank with her company payroll. Strangely, the payroll money is untouched and completely intact -- from all indications, the robbers only took the engagement ring from her finger. The victim is gravely injured by the attack and resides in intensive care, unable to communicate to the investigators.
9. Scraps of human skin are found attached to the frame of a massive piece of artwork submitted for a national competition, and the artist is nowhere to be found. The next day, one of the competition's three judges -- a national artist and erstwhile critic -- disappears.
10. A writer is found dead at his own study table, in front of an incomplete copy of his newest novel, which may hold clues towards the identity of the killer. As events unfold, however, it becomes clear that the work is heavily plagiarized from another author's existing work -- an author who was also murdered in the exact same fashion.
.
So, for the lack of anything else to write about, I give you those bits and pieces that I can fish out. They're all various prompts for mysteries and crime stories of a sort, and I've tried to keep away from supernatural elements wherever I can. There's no guarantee that I won't use any or all of these, but you're free to take them and do as you like.
And yes, my mind really does work like this. Sometimes I fear for myself.
1. The parents of a family with nine children (all of juvenile age or above) are found dead in their own bedroom, both having been killed by means of a sawed-off shotgun. Evidence shows that they were murdered in the middle of the night by someone in the same house, possibly by one of the nine... except that none of the others was awakened by the obvious noise.
2. Murder victims begin appearing in the Ermita area at the rate of one victim a day. Strangely enough, each of the victims is found naked and missing a single body part. The prime suspect is a deranged surgeon who is obsessed with creating his own Frankenstein's Monster... and the situation is turned on its ear when the surgeon produces an ironclad alibi and offers to assist the investigation.
3. A chemistry teacher in a high-profile school is found dead in her own laboratory. There is nothing that clearly indicates a cause of death, but the expression on her face implies that she died of fright. The body is about three days old and is in a state of decomposition... despite the fact that she had attended all her classes for the past week.
4. The head embalmer of a funeral home is found dead in his own workplace, hooked up to a massive container of Formalin. Evidence strongly suggests that he was killed by a corpse that had earlier been wheeled into the same funeral home.
5. Young people between the ages of 16 and 26 are being reported missing at an alarming rate. Further investigation discovers that all of the victims had seen the same movie at the same theater during its limited run... and the last showing of the movie is expected to take place later this evening.
6. An insurance tycoon dies and leaves his fortune to be divided evenly among his children. Tensions flare, however, when not one but three people show up, all taking on the identity of the dead insurance tycoon and laying claim to his entire estate.
7. A prominent politician is found dead on the floor of an infamous brothel that specializes in sado-masochistic sex practices. Evidence, however, not only shows that the politician was not killed at the place where his body was found... but that the man could have masterminded his own kidnapping and execution.
8. Three men ambush a small-time businesswoman while she returns from the bank with her company payroll. Strangely, the payroll money is untouched and completely intact -- from all indications, the robbers only took the engagement ring from her finger. The victim is gravely injured by the attack and resides in intensive care, unable to communicate to the investigators.
9. Scraps of human skin are found attached to the frame of a massive piece of artwork submitted for a national competition, and the artist is nowhere to be found. The next day, one of the competition's three judges -- a national artist and erstwhile critic -- disappears.
10. A writer is found dead at his own study table, in front of an incomplete copy of his newest novel, which may hold clues towards the identity of the killer. As events unfold, however, it becomes clear that the work is heavily plagiarized from another author's existing work -- an author who was also murdered in the exact same fashion.
.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Hey! What Happened to My Internet?
With less than fifteen minutes left on my clock at the local Internet café, I've got just enough time for a few words.
First of all, I'm still alive. Thanks for noticing. :)
Second, my home Internet connection decided to conk out yesterday. The cable company tells me that they're doing some preventive maintenance in my area (to which I mentioned, "But the problem's already here!"), and they weren't quite done as of press time. So now I'm lazy, tired, hungry and utterly bored, which probably makes me the most dangerous person in the word.
Third, you'll notice that the PinoyTopBlogs medallion on the lower part of the sidebar has been replaced by something called "TopBlogs". I have not idea what happened here, or if Abe Olandres is still running things, but I renewed the link anyway just so that the sidebar could be kept nice and neat. As of this writing, I'm number 71 on a list of personal blogs, which means that I'm probably number 5,632 on an ever-growing list of Philippine blogs. Sadly, not all of the blogs that I see on the TopBlogs list can be considered "true" blogs -- a lot of them seem to be geared towards advertising, the service industry, and the promotional attempts of several TV shows. Sometimes I wonder if this top blogs thing is really going to work out or not. I might as well ask around...
Fourth, my time is running out. I know that I write extremely slow for a guy who's been doing this schtick for the last sixteen years, but I didn't think that it was this slow.
Heh. Wouldn't be interesting to have a story written from the point of view of a character who literally has only fifteen minutes to write his narration? That would be a great transcendence between the creative and real-time sides of the equation. You'd practically be encouraging the reader to finish the story in fifteen minutes or less. :)
Three minutes, two minutes, and one. I've gotta log off...
First of all, I'm still alive. Thanks for noticing. :)
Second, my home Internet connection decided to conk out yesterday. The cable company tells me that they're doing some preventive maintenance in my area (to which I mentioned, "But the problem's already here!"), and they weren't quite done as of press time. So now I'm lazy, tired, hungry and utterly bored, which probably makes me the most dangerous person in the word.
Third, you'll notice that the PinoyTopBlogs medallion on the lower part of the sidebar has been replaced by something called "TopBlogs". I have not idea what happened here, or if Abe Olandres is still running things, but I renewed the link anyway just so that the sidebar could be kept nice and neat. As of this writing, I'm number 71 on a list of personal blogs, which means that I'm probably number 5,632 on an ever-growing list of Philippine blogs. Sadly, not all of the blogs that I see on the TopBlogs list can be considered "true" blogs -- a lot of them seem to be geared towards advertising, the service industry, and the promotional attempts of several TV shows. Sometimes I wonder if this top blogs thing is really going to work out or not. I might as well ask around...
Fourth, my time is running out. I know that I write extremely slow for a guy who's been doing this schtick for the last sixteen years, but I didn't think that it was this slow.
Heh. Wouldn't be interesting to have a story written from the point of view of a character who literally has only fifteen minutes to write his narration? That would be a great transcendence between the creative and real-time sides of the equation. You'd practically be encouraging the reader to finish the story in fifteen minutes or less. :)
Three minutes, two minutes, and one. I've gotta log off...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Maundy
When I got off work yesterday, I was looking forward to a four-day weekend. I was literally itching for four days of non-stop rest, four days of relaxation, four days where I wouldn't have to use one hundred and thirty percent of my brain for the most mundane tasks.
The fact that I wasn't going out of town for the holidays made my prospects look a lot better. I mean, I wasn't looking at concerns about the traffic, and I didn't have to worry about planning and executing a vacation itinerary. In short, things were looking up.
Then Thursday hit, and the fact dawned on me: I'm bored.
I've been stuck in front of the computer for virtually the entire afternoon now, running my sorceress character through Diablo II for the third straight time, wondering if this is all there is. Part of me wants to write something, but I'd like to spend some time plotting out an idea first. Part of me wants to head back to the office and finish a few incomplete pieces of work, but the rational side of my head just smacks me on the upside every time I think that.
The TV is on right beside me, but besides a single episode of CSI, I've seen nothing but news programs on. At this point, I'm not sure how receptive I am to certain bits of news: I don't care about how the alleged underground struggle against the Philippine president is faring over the Easter weekend, and I can't even muster up enough curiosity to ask why both Bin Laden and the Danish government are getting their robes up in a bunch over some cartoons.
Darn it, I'm bored. I should have gotten out of town when I had the chance, stress or no stress.
Admittedly, I'll get my chance in early May, shortly after my birthday. I have some old college friends who are finally getting married after a ten-year-long relationship, and I'm not about to miss this momentous Event of the Decade. But that's still a month from now, and in the meantime, I'm still bored.
Maybe I'll just head out and see if any places are open today. It's only Thursday, after all, and I figure that there have to be at least a few hangout spots available for people to walk around and think for a bit. It's better than sitting in front of the computer, at least.
Ah, well... might as well dress up. Dame Elemen can wait for a bit...
The fact that I wasn't going out of town for the holidays made my prospects look a lot better. I mean, I wasn't looking at concerns about the traffic, and I didn't have to worry about planning and executing a vacation itinerary. In short, things were looking up.
Then Thursday hit, and the fact dawned on me: I'm bored.
I've been stuck in front of the computer for virtually the entire afternoon now, running my sorceress character through Diablo II for the third straight time, wondering if this is all there is. Part of me wants to write something, but I'd like to spend some time plotting out an idea first. Part of me wants to head back to the office and finish a few incomplete pieces of work, but the rational side of my head just smacks me on the upside every time I think that.
The TV is on right beside me, but besides a single episode of CSI, I've seen nothing but news programs on. At this point, I'm not sure how receptive I am to certain bits of news: I don't care about how the alleged underground struggle against the Philippine president is faring over the Easter weekend, and I can't even muster up enough curiosity to ask why both Bin Laden and the Danish government are getting their robes up in a bunch over some cartoons.
Darn it, I'm bored. I should have gotten out of town when I had the chance, stress or no stress.
Admittedly, I'll get my chance in early May, shortly after my birthday. I have some old college friends who are finally getting married after a ten-year-long relationship, and I'm not about to miss this momentous Event of the Decade. But that's still a month from now, and in the meantime, I'm still bored.
Maybe I'll just head out and see if any places are open today. It's only Thursday, after all, and I figure that there have to be at least a few hangout spots available for people to walk around and think for a bit. It's better than sitting in front of the computer, at least.
Ah, well... might as well dress up. Dame Elemen can wait for a bit...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Made You Look
Having spent the last couple of days looking over various blogs and websites for anything interesting that I missed, I've come to a single conclusion: We apparently can't help but look at the controversial stuff.
This is natural, I suppose. If an item is offensive, vituperative, or just downright inane, then it automatically piques our curiosity. It compels us to look, to watch the drama unfold, and to pull other people into the audience. Even if we're not the type to do so, such spectacles usually prompt us to write about them in some way... which consequently gets our readers clicking on links or retyping addresses in an effort to see what it was that got our proverbial goats.
I find this to be both strange and normal at the same time. There are more than a few intelligent posts out there, and yet I find few references to them when compared to the plain crowd-drawers and the worthless spectacles. We should be reading more of the former and less of the latter, in my humble opinion.
We have a bad habit of standing and gawking at things, of promoting passive activism from the comfort of our armchairs, of writing insults from the safety of anonymous usernames. We seem to make sure that there's a healthy distance between us and the short-term flavor-of-the-month for some reason. Maybe it's because we're too shy or too cowardly to do anything substantial about it. Maybe it's because we don't want to invest any direct involvement into something that wasn't ours to begin with. Maybe it's because we're desperate for entertainment, and there's nothing better to watch on TV at the moment.
Gawking is a terrible habit. I feel that we should just plain stop this -- either we take a more direct hand in these matters, or we duck out of the way completely. Any of these two actions seems like a far better option.
So there's a member of the moneyed class inciting a blog-fueled smear campaign against a former boyfriend. So what? Will leaving comments on this person's blog provide any progress on the situation? Hell, no. If we truly hold an interest in the matter, then we should be doing something more constructive -- like physically contacting both parties to bring about a proper resolution. And if we can't? Then, well... we should just stop reading the stupid blog, stop milling around in confusion, and get out of the damn way.
So there's a magazine writer who put up a potentially offensive article aimed at the people who wronged her in the past. So what? Will writing strongly-worded reactions or sending her vile counter-insults improve the situation in any way? Hell, no. If we really want to resolve the issue once and for all, then we should be meeting with this person and her editors in a proper forum. And if we can't? Then we should just ignore her and get on with our own lives.
So there's some guy who walks out of a courtroom, puts up a website, and tries to start a revolution on his own. So there's some guy who kidnaps a busload of kids from his own daycare center. So there's some putz who constantly uses his website to insult the best movies you ever watched. So what?
These are the ones who want your attention. These are the people who try to get a rise out of you, the bullies who take your lunchbox and then ask you what you're going to do about it. They want you to howl, stamp your feet and scream bloody murder. They want you to play their game. They make you think you can win if you play by their rules.
And the trouble is, it's all too easy for us to fall into such traps.
Better not to play. Better to steel your jaw and just walk away. Unless you have some direct stake in the game, unless you can walk in and enforce your own terms, unless you can make some solid mark that won't just bounce off the other guy's teeth... better to hold back and refuse to get roped in.
Our attention span should not be commanded around like a man playing fetch with his dog. Personal interest should be freely given and never compelled. It should be carefully considered and never instigated. Anyone who attempts to do the latter merely tries to play us for fools, more often than not.
This is natural, I suppose. If an item is offensive, vituperative, or just downright inane, then it automatically piques our curiosity. It compels us to look, to watch the drama unfold, and to pull other people into the audience. Even if we're not the type to do so, such spectacles usually prompt us to write about them in some way... which consequently gets our readers clicking on links or retyping addresses in an effort to see what it was that got our proverbial goats.
I find this to be both strange and normal at the same time. There are more than a few intelligent posts out there, and yet I find few references to them when compared to the plain crowd-drawers and the worthless spectacles. We should be reading more of the former and less of the latter, in my humble opinion.
We have a bad habit of standing and gawking at things, of promoting passive activism from the comfort of our armchairs, of writing insults from the safety of anonymous usernames. We seem to make sure that there's a healthy distance between us and the short-term flavor-of-the-month for some reason. Maybe it's because we're too shy or too cowardly to do anything substantial about it. Maybe it's because we don't want to invest any direct involvement into something that wasn't ours to begin with. Maybe it's because we're desperate for entertainment, and there's nothing better to watch on TV at the moment.
Gawking is a terrible habit. I feel that we should just plain stop this -- either we take a more direct hand in these matters, or we duck out of the way completely. Any of these two actions seems like a far better option.
So there's a member of the moneyed class inciting a blog-fueled smear campaign against a former boyfriend. So what? Will leaving comments on this person's blog provide any progress on the situation? Hell, no. If we truly hold an interest in the matter, then we should be doing something more constructive -- like physically contacting both parties to bring about a proper resolution. And if we can't? Then, well... we should just stop reading the stupid blog, stop milling around in confusion, and get out of the damn way.
So there's a magazine writer who put up a potentially offensive article aimed at the people who wronged her in the past. So what? Will writing strongly-worded reactions or sending her vile counter-insults improve the situation in any way? Hell, no. If we really want to resolve the issue once and for all, then we should be meeting with this person and her editors in a proper forum. And if we can't? Then we should just ignore her and get on with our own lives.
So there's some guy who walks out of a courtroom, puts up a website, and tries to start a revolution on his own. So there's some guy who kidnaps a busload of kids from his own daycare center. So there's some putz who constantly uses his website to insult the best movies you ever watched. So what?
These are the ones who want your attention. These are the people who try to get a rise out of you, the bullies who take your lunchbox and then ask you what you're going to do about it. They want you to howl, stamp your feet and scream bloody murder. They want you to play their game. They make you think you can win if you play by their rules.
And the trouble is, it's all too easy for us to fall into such traps.
Better not to play. Better to steel your jaw and just walk away. Unless you have some direct stake in the game, unless you can walk in and enforce your own terms, unless you can make some solid mark that won't just bounce off the other guy's teeth... better to hold back and refuse to get roped in.
Our attention span should not be commanded around like a man playing fetch with his dog. Personal interest should be freely given and never compelled. It should be carefully considered and never instigated. Anyone who attempts to do the latter merely tries to play us for fools, more often than not.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Hiatus? What Hiatus?
Despite my workload at the moment, I haven't quite stopped writing posts yet. In fact, as you have probably seen from my last few articles, I've been logging in late at night just to get some writing done.
The reason behind my recent "hiatus" is actually a lot more circumstantial: It's March. What that means is that my college-level sister, who's a sophomore in a Communications course, suddenly has a ton of papers and other group projects to complete. In this day and age, her generation of students don't merely gather in somebody's house just to coordinate research and construct their final reports. Instead, they do their own digging through home computers and personal Internet connections, and take time out for discussion through tools like Yahoo! Messenger.
On my sister's end, she's been doing this every night now. Usually she manages to last from about 10:00pm (around the same time I get home from work) to 3:00am (around the time I usually nod off). This is far longer than I used to stay up for my college projects -- either we had worse technology back then, or I was a better student than I thought -- but the result is the same: I don't get to use the Internet in the meantime.
And that's why you probably haven't seen me online for a while.
It's the weekend, though, which means that she might not touch the computer for a while. This should give me a few gaps where I can put up some interesting posts... but I shouldn't count on that. She's remarkably studious for a twenty-year-old.
The reason behind my recent "hiatus" is actually a lot more circumstantial: It's March. What that means is that my college-level sister, who's a sophomore in a Communications course, suddenly has a ton of papers and other group projects to complete. In this day and age, her generation of students don't merely gather in somebody's house just to coordinate research and construct their final reports. Instead, they do their own digging through home computers and personal Internet connections, and take time out for discussion through tools like Yahoo! Messenger.
On my sister's end, she's been doing this every night now. Usually she manages to last from about 10:00pm (around the same time I get home from work) to 3:00am (around the time I usually nod off). This is far longer than I used to stay up for my college projects -- either we had worse technology back then, or I was a better student than I thought -- but the result is the same: I don't get to use the Internet in the meantime.
And that's why you probably haven't seen me online for a while.
It's the weekend, though, which means that she might not touch the computer for a while. This should give me a few gaps where I can put up some interesting posts... but I shouldn't count on that. She's remarkably studious for a twenty-year-old.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Crime Stories
Okay, okay... one post tonight. But only because I'm having trouble finding a plot for a crime story.
Yes, crime stories are a part of speculative fiction. You can think of this as a mix of subcategories: Mystery is probably the most well-known of these, whereas genres such as the Whodunit and the Noir have each had their day in the sun. Historically, crime stories have been mostly marginalized and accused of having no redeemable artistic value. That gives them a background that is similar to the fantasy and science fiction that we know and love, and is probably why these genres all get lumped together when it comes to "speculative fiction."
Nevertheless, I'm still having trouble finding a plot for a crime story. Just because one can deal with magic and robots on a regular basis doesn't mean that he can take the sight of a bullet-ridden body in the dead of night.
Seriously, however... I think that my mode of thought is off whack right now. Crime stories need a certain mentality to understand them and outline the resulting plots. Given that my method of plotting stories lies somewhere along the lines of "Ooooh, oooh, what if you had a call center run by vampires?", you can probably see my problem there.
I also have a habit of injecting a lot of needless detail into my work. I've always figured that it helps the atmosphere, but with crime stories it's another issue altogether. The genre always seems to be a lot more complex than it looks at first glance -- packing a lot of detail into its stories therefore isn't as effective as choosing your elements carefully. Mind you, I suspect that I see a lot of mystery novelists on the bookshelves simply because it's difficult to concentrate all their thoughts into a mere two thousand words.
There's also the issue of what crime to choose. I figure that such things as murder, robbery and fraud are old standbys... but they might be too overused for me. If I've seen a scheme executed on TV in some form, then I figure that it's been long done... and unfortunately, I've seen too many episodes of CSI. Or NCIS. Or Law and Order. Or Matlock, of all things.
Of course, the easiest way out would be to simply mix crime fiction with the more fantastic genres... but it's the easiest way out for a reason: it's too easy. Besides, the editors probably wouldn't fly with my adulterating their beloved crime genre with my constantly-flitting ideas.
Then there's always the possibility of sitting back and letting the perfect crime come to me. I don't mean that I'd like to get mugged in the middle of the night sometime, of course. I mean that, at some point in time, the perfect crime encased in the perfect intractable situation with the perfect cast of characters will come to me. Maybe it'll happen before the deadline, or maybe it'll come a little too late. Whatever the case, I'll be thinking about it a little more.
That's it for tonight. I'll go and have a few nightmares to cheer me up.
Yes, crime stories are a part of speculative fiction. You can think of this as a mix of subcategories: Mystery is probably the most well-known of these, whereas genres such as the Whodunit and the Noir have each had their day in the sun. Historically, crime stories have been mostly marginalized and accused of having no redeemable artistic value. That gives them a background that is similar to the fantasy and science fiction that we know and love, and is probably why these genres all get lumped together when it comes to "speculative fiction."
Nevertheless, I'm still having trouble finding a plot for a crime story. Just because one can deal with magic and robots on a regular basis doesn't mean that he can take the sight of a bullet-ridden body in the dead of night.
Seriously, however... I think that my mode of thought is off whack right now. Crime stories need a certain mentality to understand them and outline the resulting plots. Given that my method of plotting stories lies somewhere along the lines of "Ooooh, oooh, what if you had a call center run by vampires?", you can probably see my problem there.
I also have a habit of injecting a lot of needless detail into my work. I've always figured that it helps the atmosphere, but with crime stories it's another issue altogether. The genre always seems to be a lot more complex than it looks at first glance -- packing a lot of detail into its stories therefore isn't as effective as choosing your elements carefully. Mind you, I suspect that I see a lot of mystery novelists on the bookshelves simply because it's difficult to concentrate all their thoughts into a mere two thousand words.
There's also the issue of what crime to choose. I figure that such things as murder, robbery and fraud are old standbys... but they might be too overused for me. If I've seen a scheme executed on TV in some form, then I figure that it's been long done... and unfortunately, I've seen too many episodes of CSI. Or NCIS. Or Law and Order. Or Matlock, of all things.
Of course, the easiest way out would be to simply mix crime fiction with the more fantastic genres... but it's the easiest way out for a reason: it's too easy. Besides, the editors probably wouldn't fly with my adulterating their beloved crime genre with my constantly-flitting ideas.
Then there's always the possibility of sitting back and letting the perfect crime come to me. I don't mean that I'd like to get mugged in the middle of the night sometime, of course. I mean that, at some point in time, the perfect crime encased in the perfect intractable situation with the perfect cast of characters will come to me. Maybe it'll happen before the deadline, or maybe it'll come a little too late. Whatever the case, I'll be thinking about it a little more.
That's it for tonight. I'll go and have a few nightmares to cheer me up.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Flavor Text
The little whiteboard above my office desk used to have the following quotation written on it:
The quotation also happens to be on the signature line of my primary e-mail address. In fact, it's been that way for the last ten years.
I get a lot of surprised looks when I reveal where the quote is from. No, it's not a tidbit of wisdom from a famous historical figure. No, it's not some obscure koan from an unknown branch of Zen Buddhism. It's actually a piece of flavor text from an old Magic card.
From there, I just give a wry smile and point out that it's possible to get great quotations from the strangest places. And that's part of the point, really.
I'm not sure why I scribble these things on the whiteboard above my desk. Maybe I want to find some use for dry markers in an age where all my business communication is done through satellite phones and e-mail. Maybe I'm subconsciously looking for inspiration in the crevices of memory. Maybe I just get a kick out of watching people crane their necks to see what I'm about to write next.
If there's a surprise benefit in these quotations, however, it's the fact that they reveal exactly who the gamers, the movie bums, and the literati are in my office. A man who sees the quote above and marvels at its enlightened meaning obviously didn't have much in the way of tabletop hobbies. A man who sees the quote above and chuckles at the childhood memory probably has first-hand experience of where it came from.
And on my end, it forces me to think a bit... to grasp at what I remember of a gaming life and wonder exactly when I get to start up again.
Presently, the quote on my whiteboard now reads as follows:
This, of course, is not from any distinguished military tactician's texts; nor is it from a Chinese treatise on war and bravery. It's another piece of flavor text, this time from a Legend of the Five Rings card, and it amuses me greatly.
"Everything the wise woman learned,
She wrote in a book.
And when the pages were black with ink,
She took white ink, and began again."
The quotation also happens to be on the signature line of my primary e-mail address. In fact, it's been that way for the last ten years.
I get a lot of surprised looks when I reveal where the quote is from. No, it's not a tidbit of wisdom from a famous historical figure. No, it's not some obscure koan from an unknown branch of Zen Buddhism. It's actually a piece of flavor text from an old Magic card.
From there, I just give a wry smile and point out that it's possible to get great quotations from the strangest places. And that's part of the point, really.
I'm not sure why I scribble these things on the whiteboard above my desk. Maybe I want to find some use for dry markers in an age where all my business communication is done through satellite phones and e-mail. Maybe I'm subconsciously looking for inspiration in the crevices of memory. Maybe I just get a kick out of watching people crane their necks to see what I'm about to write next.
If there's a surprise benefit in these quotations, however, it's the fact that they reveal exactly who the gamers, the movie bums, and the literati are in my office. A man who sees the quote above and marvels at its enlightened meaning obviously didn't have much in the way of tabletop hobbies. A man who sees the quote above and chuckles at the childhood memory probably has first-hand experience of where it came from.
And on my end, it forces me to think a bit... to grasp at what I remember of a gaming life and wonder exactly when I get to start up again.
Presently, the quote on my whiteboard now reads as follows:
"When ten thousand men clash with arms and fire,
It is always a single man's actions that make the difference."
This, of course, is not from any distinguished military tactician's texts; nor is it from a Chinese treatise on war and bravery. It's another piece of flavor text, this time from a Legend of the Five Rings card, and it amuses me greatly.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Disclaimer: March 2008
Okay, pencils out. With over forty disclaimer articles on this site, we're all bound to have learned a thing or two. Just in case, however, the questions below are your standard multiple-choice thingies. Mark your answers on a piece of paper and skip to the bottom of the page to assess your score.
1. What is Plagiarism?
a. The process of copying another person's work and claiming/implying the result as original.
b. A major obstacle to the growth and legitimacy to the creative industry.
c. A brand of Spam.
2. I don't plagiarize other peoples' works because:
a. Stealing stuff that belongs to others is the wrong thing to do.
b. It impedes my own growth as a writer and a conceptualist.
c. I'm too busy copying and rewriting them for my own use.
3. Who wrote the stuff on this blog?
a. Sean.
b. Sean.
c. Barney, the Purple Dinosaur.
4. Why does Sean acknowledge other writers here?
a. Because Sean feels that they should be recognized for their own works.
b. Because Sean does not intend to pass off their works as his own.
c. Because this is an important part of Sean's plan to become supreme ruler of the universe.
5. Can other writers ask Sean for acknowledgement of their works if they appear on this blog?
a. Yes, if they feel that they legitimately own these works.
b. Yes, if they feel that Sean has not provided proper use or reference to these works.
c. I pity da fool who don't ask for dis acknowleg'ment!
6. What should you do if you want to use a work or an excerpt from this blog?
a. Place a comment under the entry you would like to use, and link to it.
b. Send Sean a formal request via e-mail.
c. Slip Sean five bucks.
7. Why does Sean try to control the use of his works by other people?
a. To prevent others from gaining a profit on works that they do not own.
b. To prevent others from interpreting his work out of its original context.
c. Didn't you read? It's all part of Sean's plan to become supreme ruler of the universe!
8. What should you expect from Sean if you ask permission to use his work?
a. A quick response and no requirements outside of reference or linkage to this site.
b. A civil discussion and possible opportunity for future transactions.
c. Three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
9. What should you expect from Sean if you don't ask permission to use his work?
a. Immediate attention from multiple sources, and possible legal investigation.
b. A short, tersely-worded letter to your blog, e-mail address, and/or immediate superior.
c. Two goons visiting your house to rearrange your furniture. "Next time, it'll be your face."
10. What's that thing at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar?
a. A Creative Commons License, which allows for free use of Internet resources under the correct circumstances.
b. A set of regulations for the free and proper use of Sean's works, including this blog.
c. I pity da fool who don't look at da right-hand sidebar!
Pencils down, everyone. Give yourself one point for each "C" that you have in your answers:
0 points: Congratulations. You understand what the plagiaristic threat means... or at least, you've read the Disclaimers on this blog.
1 to 4 points: How's it going, Beavis?
5 to 8 points: Exactly how you've managed to survive without some irate writer stoving your face in, I have no idea.
9 to 10 points: Dude, you are seriously in need of an Ethics class. Hell, you are seriously in need to spend six to eight years in one. With monkeys.
1. What is Plagiarism?
a. The process of copying another person's work and claiming/implying the result as original.
b. A major obstacle to the growth and legitimacy to the creative industry.
c. A brand of Spam.
2. I don't plagiarize other peoples' works because:
a. Stealing stuff that belongs to others is the wrong thing to do.
b. It impedes my own growth as a writer and a conceptualist.
c. I'm too busy copying and rewriting them for my own use.
3. Who wrote the stuff on this blog?
a. Sean.
b. Sean.
c. Barney, the Purple Dinosaur.
4. Why does Sean acknowledge other writers here?
a. Because Sean feels that they should be recognized for their own works.
b. Because Sean does not intend to pass off their works as his own.
c. Because this is an important part of Sean's plan to become supreme ruler of the universe.
5. Can other writers ask Sean for acknowledgement of their works if they appear on this blog?
a. Yes, if they feel that they legitimately own these works.
b. Yes, if they feel that Sean has not provided proper use or reference to these works.
c. I pity da fool who don't ask for dis acknowleg'ment!
6. What should you do if you want to use a work or an excerpt from this blog?
a. Place a comment under the entry you would like to use, and link to it.
b. Send Sean a formal request via e-mail.
c. Slip Sean five bucks.
7. Why does Sean try to control the use of his works by other people?
a. To prevent others from gaining a profit on works that they do not own.
b. To prevent others from interpreting his work out of its original context.
c. Didn't you read? It's all part of Sean's plan to become supreme ruler of the universe!
8. What should you expect from Sean if you ask permission to use his work?
a. A quick response and no requirements outside of reference or linkage to this site.
b. A civil discussion and possible opportunity for future transactions.
c. Three French hens, two turtledoves, and a partridge in a pear tree.
9. What should you expect from Sean if you don't ask permission to use his work?
a. Immediate attention from multiple sources, and possible legal investigation.
b. A short, tersely-worded letter to your blog, e-mail address, and/or immediate superior.
c. Two goons visiting your house to rearrange your furniture. "Next time, it'll be your face."
10. What's that thing at the bottom of the right-hand sidebar?
a. A Creative Commons License, which allows for free use of Internet resources under the correct circumstances.
b. A set of regulations for the free and proper use of Sean's works, including this blog.
c. I pity da fool who don't look at da right-hand sidebar!
Pencils down, everyone. Give yourself one point for each "C" that you have in your answers:
0 points: Congratulations. You understand what the plagiaristic threat means... or at least, you've read the Disclaimers on this blog.
1 to 4 points: How's it going, Beavis?
5 to 8 points: Exactly how you've managed to survive without some irate writer stoving your face in, I have no idea.
9 to 10 points: Dude, you are seriously in need of an Ethics class. Hell, you are seriously in need to spend six to eight years in one. With monkeys.
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Treatise To Test Top Thoughts
I'm preparing my reviews for Philippine Genre Stories' Christmas Issue right now. I'm aware that I'm already three months late for this, but everybody probably knows about my present concerns at work. Ironically, I picked up my copy of the issue to read over the long December weekends, only to find that the little digest would sit unopened inside my laptop bag while I mollified German, Italian and Japanese clients over the state of their servers.
It turns out that a few people have been doing their own assessments in the past couple of months. I refer specifically to Electrick Twilight Boogaloo and the Bibliophile Stalker, both of whom saw fit to post their lists of outstanding Philippine Speculative Fiction that came into publication last 2007. I'll admit that I'd like to see other peoples' lists as well, but I'm looking at some obvious limitations there: Dean Alfar and Kenneth Yu, for example, organize their own anthologies, so their favorites are already up on the shelves for us to read. Moreover, Banzai Cat feels that he hasn't read a lot of the local works from last year, so a list from him might not make for a very accurate impression. And of course, a lot of other people have their own jobs and deadlines to worry about, so I'll just have to be satisfied with what I can read right now.
As for a list of my own, I'll have to beg the same excuse as the aforementioned grimalkin: I don't think that I've read much of the local speculation fiction from last year. Sure, I've gone through all the PGS issues so far... but I've only gone through a few of the stories from Dean's third anthology, I haven't picked up a single copy of Story Philippines, and I have yet to check out other outlets for these short stories. I don't know how many pieces I would have to read before I can conceive of a "top ten" among them, but forty seems like a nice round number. Or fifty, if you want to stretch it a bit.
I did see a few familiar titles among the two existing lists, however, and I'd like to go over those. It seems that there are places where I will most definitely agree with the list-makers, and places where I'm likely to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. That's not to say that I'm contesting their opinions -- they're welcome to their own thoughts, after all -- but I'd like to have a look at them nevertheless.
Electrick Twilight Boogaloo's list
(Titles in bold are those that I've read.)
-----
1. Dreaming Valhalla (Douglas Candano, Story Philippines)
2. The Saint of Elsewhere (Chiles Samaniego, PGS volume 2)
3. The Flicker (Ian Casocot, PSF volume 3)
4. Excerpt from a Letter by a Social Realist Aswang (Kristin Mandigma, Clarkesworld Magazine Oct07)
5. Brigada (Joseph Nacino, PSF volume 3)
6. Tell it to the Sky (Luis Katigbak, Rogue Magazine Dec07-Jan08)
7. The Ascension of our Lady-Boy (Mia Tijam, PSF volume 3)
8. Reclamation (Angelo Lacuesta, PSF volume 3)
9. MaMachine (Dean Alfar, The Kite of Stars)
10. Homer's Child (Paolo Chikiamco, PGS volume 3)
HM: Carmen and Josephine (Elyss Punsalan, PSF volume 3)
HM: The Scent of Spice (Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo, PGS volume 2)
HM: Noche Buena (Andrew Drilon, PGS Christmas 2007)
HM: The Music Child (Alfred Yuson, PSF volume 3)
While I did like "The Saint of Elsewhere", my problem is that I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly why I liked it. I don't know if it felt symbolic, or if its plotline was revolutionary, or if I could personally relate to it. In any sporting event where you'd have ten judges holding up a bunch of scorecards, this would be a technicality. For me, though, it's a huge technicality -- I have to know why I liked a piece, in addition to feeling that I liked it.
"Brigada" was very interesting. I felt that it fleshed out a pseudo-post-apocalyptic Philippines very well, and it was very easy to understand, for a world that the author had to create from scratch. It had the remarkable aspect of focusing all attention on the main character by leaving a very high body count among the supporting cast.
"Homer's Child" was quite good. It's one of the few stories that gives me hope for the mystery genre around here, despite a flaw in the attention it devotes to needless detail. I could be biased here, though, seeing my personal affinity for stuffed toys.
I felt that the primary strength of "The Scent of Spice" involved the intertwining between two different stories, giving us the impression that each was based on the other and somehow creating a larger, cohesive work in the process.
As for "Noche Buena", I won't give away my review just yet. I did like it very much, though, and I think it should place better than an Honorable Mention. But I haven't read the other works, so don't take my word for this just yet.
The Bibliophile Stalker's list
(Titles in bold are those that I've read.)
-----
1. Beacon (Nikki Alfar, PGS volume 2)
2. Logovore (Joseph Nacino, Fully Booked 2nd Graphic/Fiction Awards)
3. The Death and Rebirth of Nathaniel Alan Sempio (Alexander Marcos Osias, PSF volume 3)
4. Frozen Delight (Marguerite Alcazaren de Leon, PSF volume 3)
5. The Datu's Daughters (Raymond G. Falgui, PSF volume 3)
Charles puts together a list that is entirely different from the previous one. In a way, this is both a blessing and a curse. For one, it indicates the presence of different schools of thought on the quality of Philippines Speculative Fiction. On the other hand, it also implies that there were no truly good stories that can be elicited from a consensus of readers.
With apologies to Nikki Alfar, I must say that "Beacon" never really did it for me. I didn't feel as though it renewed the fantasy genre (which I think that a good creationist universe should be able to do), and I didn't see anything really interesting with the general plot. I still think that "Beacon" actually runs on its style and characterization technique... both of which were truly original, but not altogether story-defining in my book.
"Frozen Delight" raised both of my eyebrows, and it kept doing so until the very end. I felt that it was new, that it was refreshing, and that it deserves its place on the list. It was cute, funny and eventually quite morbid at the same time, and that's no mean feat.
While I'm not about to make a list of my own, I do have some pieces that I'd like to see in one: "Beneath the Acacia" (Celestine Marie G. Trinidad, PGS volume 2) still gets my vote as the best melding of mystery and traditional folktale to come around in a long time. "Muse" (John Philip Corpuz, PGS volume 3) marked its author as somebody for me to watch. "The Magic Christmas Box" (MRR Arcega, PGS Christmas 2007) is likely to see some very good feedback from me in a later post. And if you can find it, "When They Think They Can Fly" (Petra Magno, Heights volume 55 issue 1) has a setting that is executed in the most subtle way that I've ever seen.
But of course, everything here has been my personal opinion. You're entitled to yours as much as I am to mine. And as long as we all have our own stories that we like, then everyone benefits.
It turns out that a few people have been doing their own assessments in the past couple of months. I refer specifically to Electrick Twilight Boogaloo and the Bibliophile Stalker, both of whom saw fit to post their lists of outstanding Philippine Speculative Fiction that came into publication last 2007. I'll admit that I'd like to see other peoples' lists as well, but I'm looking at some obvious limitations there: Dean Alfar and Kenneth Yu, for example, organize their own anthologies, so their favorites are already up on the shelves for us to read. Moreover, Banzai Cat feels that he hasn't read a lot of the local works from last year, so a list from him might not make for a very accurate impression. And of course, a lot of other people have their own jobs and deadlines to worry about, so I'll just have to be satisfied with what I can read right now.
As for a list of my own, I'll have to beg the same excuse as the aforementioned grimalkin: I don't think that I've read much of the local speculation fiction from last year. Sure, I've gone through all the PGS issues so far... but I've only gone through a few of the stories from Dean's third anthology, I haven't picked up a single copy of Story Philippines, and I have yet to check out other outlets for these short stories. I don't know how many pieces I would have to read before I can conceive of a "top ten" among them, but forty seems like a nice round number. Or fifty, if you want to stretch it a bit.
I did see a few familiar titles among the two existing lists, however, and I'd like to go over those. It seems that there are places where I will most definitely agree with the list-makers, and places where I'm likely to raise an eyebrow in curiosity. That's not to say that I'm contesting their opinions -- they're welcome to their own thoughts, after all -- but I'd like to have a look at them nevertheless.
Electrick Twilight Boogaloo's list
(Titles in bold are those that I've read.)
-----
1. Dreaming Valhalla (Douglas Candano, Story Philippines)
2. The Saint of Elsewhere (Chiles Samaniego, PGS volume 2)
3. The Flicker (Ian Casocot, PSF volume 3)
4. Excerpt from a Letter by a Social Realist Aswang (Kristin Mandigma, Clarkesworld Magazine Oct07)
5. Brigada (Joseph Nacino, PSF volume 3)
6. Tell it to the Sky (Luis Katigbak, Rogue Magazine Dec07-Jan08)
7. The Ascension of our Lady-Boy (Mia Tijam, PSF volume 3)
8. Reclamation (Angelo Lacuesta, PSF volume 3)
9. MaMachine (Dean Alfar, The Kite of Stars)
10. Homer's Child (Paolo Chikiamco, PGS volume 3)
HM: Carmen and Josephine (Elyss Punsalan, PSF volume 3)
HM: The Scent of Spice (Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo, PGS volume 2)
HM: Noche Buena (Andrew Drilon, PGS Christmas 2007)
HM: The Music Child (Alfred Yuson, PSF volume 3)
While I did like "The Saint of Elsewhere", my problem is that I find it difficult to pinpoint exactly why I liked it. I don't know if it felt symbolic, or if its plotline was revolutionary, or if I could personally relate to it. In any sporting event where you'd have ten judges holding up a bunch of scorecards, this would be a technicality. For me, though, it's a huge technicality -- I have to know why I liked a piece, in addition to feeling that I liked it.
"Brigada" was very interesting. I felt that it fleshed out a pseudo-post-apocalyptic Philippines very well, and it was very easy to understand, for a world that the author had to create from scratch. It had the remarkable aspect of focusing all attention on the main character by leaving a very high body count among the supporting cast.
"Homer's Child" was quite good. It's one of the few stories that gives me hope for the mystery genre around here, despite a flaw in the attention it devotes to needless detail. I could be biased here, though, seeing my personal affinity for stuffed toys.
I felt that the primary strength of "The Scent of Spice" involved the intertwining between two different stories, giving us the impression that each was based on the other and somehow creating a larger, cohesive work in the process.
As for "Noche Buena", I won't give away my review just yet. I did like it very much, though, and I think it should place better than an Honorable Mention. But I haven't read the other works, so don't take my word for this just yet.
The Bibliophile Stalker's list
(Titles in bold are those that I've read.)
-----
1. Beacon (Nikki Alfar, PGS volume 2)
2. Logovore (Joseph Nacino, Fully Booked 2nd Graphic/Fiction Awards)
3. The Death and Rebirth of Nathaniel Alan Sempio (Alexander Marcos Osias, PSF volume 3)
4. Frozen Delight (Marguerite Alcazaren de Leon, PSF volume 3)
5. The Datu's Daughters (Raymond G. Falgui, PSF volume 3)
Charles puts together a list that is entirely different from the previous one. In a way, this is both a blessing and a curse. For one, it indicates the presence of different schools of thought on the quality of Philippines Speculative Fiction. On the other hand, it also implies that there were no truly good stories that can be elicited from a consensus of readers.
With apologies to Nikki Alfar, I must say that "Beacon" never really did it for me. I didn't feel as though it renewed the fantasy genre (which I think that a good creationist universe should be able to do), and I didn't see anything really interesting with the general plot. I still think that "Beacon" actually runs on its style and characterization technique... both of which were truly original, but not altogether story-defining in my book.
"Frozen Delight" raised both of my eyebrows, and it kept doing so until the very end. I felt that it was new, that it was refreshing, and that it deserves its place on the list. It was cute, funny and eventually quite morbid at the same time, and that's no mean feat.
While I'm not about to make a list of my own, I do have some pieces that I'd like to see in one: "Beneath the Acacia" (Celestine Marie G. Trinidad, PGS volume 2) still gets my vote as the best melding of mystery and traditional folktale to come around in a long time. "Muse" (John Philip Corpuz, PGS volume 3) marked its author as somebody for me to watch. "The Magic Christmas Box" (MRR Arcega, PGS Christmas 2007) is likely to see some very good feedback from me in a later post. And if you can find it, "When They Think They Can Fly" (Petra Magno, Heights volume 55 issue 1) has a setting that is executed in the most subtle way that I've ever seen.
But of course, everything here has been my personal opinion. You're entitled to yours as much as I am to mine. And as long as we all have our own stories that we like, then everyone benefits.
Friday, February 22, 2008
"Phase Three: Profit!"
I am reminded of a saying that describes two types of people in every situation: Those who rise to defend their beliefs, and those who remain by the sidelines. In these times of political uncertainty, I can take a lesson from this saying and bring up the two different kinds of people here: Those who want change and are willing to take to the streets for it, and those who cannot reconcile the idea of change for the lack of alternatives.
It seems that the twin concepts of life and meaning are fickle, however, and in a single e-mail to one of my mailing lists, my eyes were opened to the presence of a third member of the grand audience. Witness, if you will, the excerpt that amused me earlier this evening:
Yes, that's right: You will have people who stand at the forefront of the crowd, screaming their names at the riot police. You will have people who mill around the back, wondering exactly how much longer they have to stay. But both of them pale in comparison to the third aspect: People who will somehow turn a profit out of the whole thing.
I don't mean to insult these people. In fact, the idea amuses me greatly -- the gap between rich and poor may be getting wider, our government officials may all be falling into corruption, the president herself might be involved in a conspiracy to hold power for as long as she can -- but all that will never suppress our ability to find opportunity wherever it can be found. Think of them in any way that you want, I suppose -- they can either be solidly entrepreneurial or remarkably crass to you -- but they're certain to make good money either way.
You're welcome to pass by their site and have a look, of course -- it's at http://deadlythreads.multiply.com. In the interest of timing (which is everything in a country where political issues and scandals come and go in the blink of an eye), if you place an order before the 20th, then they'll actually make sure that you receive your shirt before the 25th. You're going to want to wear it to the rally that will inevitably occur on that date, after all.
No, I'm not connected with them. They just happened to be the high point of a day when I really needed something to make me laugh, and I might as well give them a bit of attention in return. The shirts that you order will most likely lose their relevance in time, and your grandkids will probably give you some strange looks when they dig them up twenty years from now... but at least they'll know that when the chips were down and tensions ran high, we still knew how to do business. That, I think, will still get a laugh out of me no matter what happens. :)
It seems that the twin concepts of life and meaning are fickle, however, and in a single e-mail to one of my mailing lists, my eyes were opened to the presence of a third member of the grand audience. Witness, if you will, the excerpt that amused me earlier this evening:
DEADLY THREADS - POLITICALLY INCORRECT T-SHIRTS
Wear your indignation at our ugly ugly excuse for a government by sporting one of these smashing, original t-shirts for only 350 pesos each.
I don't mean to insult these people. In fact, the idea amuses me greatly -- the gap between rich and poor may be getting wider, our government officials may all be falling into corruption, the president herself might be involved in a conspiracy to hold power for as long as she can -- but all that will never suppress our ability to find opportunity wherever it can be found. Think of them in any way that you want, I suppose -- they can either be solidly entrepreneurial or remarkably crass to you -- but they're certain to make good money either way.
You're welcome to pass by their site and have a look, of course -- it's at http://deadlythreads.multiply.com. In the interest of timing (which is everything in a country where political issues and scandals come and go in the blink of an eye), if you place an order before the 20th, then they'll actually make sure that you receive your shirt before the 25th. You're going to want to wear it to the rally that will inevitably occur on that date, after all.
No, I'm not connected with them. They just happened to be the high point of a day when I really needed something to make me laugh, and I might as well give them a bit of attention in return. The shirts that you order will most likely lose their relevance in time, and your grandkids will probably give you some strange looks when they dig them up twenty years from now... but at least they'll know that when the chips were down and tensions ran high, we still knew how to do business. That, I think, will still get a laugh out of me no matter what happens. :)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The Title Paradox
Some people have written about the process of creating titles already, so I won't tread old ground too much. That, and it's late at night from where I'm sitting, which means that I'd just like to pose this line of thought before I go to bed.
Assuming that you've written something at least once in your life, I figure that you normally assign titles to your works. You could have gotten creative a few times, or you could have just picked the first phrase that came to mind -- either way, you must have chosen titles for any of your works at some point, even if they were sometimes as cheesy as labeling something "Untitled."
I won't ask where these titles come from. More than a few people have written about this precise topic already, and I suppose that we all know that titles are a pseudo-intuitive exercise. We know that titles will come from words or phrases that strike us about the content of a piece -- they may be taken directly from the work itself, or they might be a peripheral observation that has something to do with the content at hand. Whatever the case, these titles are chosen to entice readers, drop subtle hints about the nature of a story or an essay, or merely serve as a placeholder for when everything has to be collated. In short, we know where titles come from.
What I ask, then, is when do they come about? And, for that matter, when do we actually put them in place? I mean, assuming that a title will come in a flash of inspiration (or a knock on the head, take your pick), they can strike at any time. One can have a title in mind even before one begins writing a story, or it might suddenly appear right in the middle of one's writing process, or one could very well end up struggling to find said title even after the story is finished.
Back when I was in high school, I assumed that the best method involved looking over your work once you were finished, and choosing your title only at that point. I mean, this method would basically ensure that you would know your entire work from beginning to end, and thus you would be in a perfect position to choose a title to encompass everything that had been written.
After a while, though, I realized that this wasn't necessarily the case: Sometimes I was already getting hit by a few good titles in the middle of my writing. In fact, as I went on, I found it more and more difficult to come up with a title only after I had finished my work. I can see a definite catch with this method, of course -- finalizing your title might result in your stratifying the remaining parts of your work just for the purpose of fitting it -- but I've had a lot of good titles come up in this way.
Then there are the times when I literally start off with a title and move from there. There's actually a term for this -- "top-down design", I think -- but the logic behind it is a little unstable. Starting with a title to begin with implies that you'll be able to write at least a thousand words about it, and that it'll all somehow make sense when you're done. I find this to be the equivalent of gambling: you make a bet, you roll the dice, and you pray that the sevens come up. I'm not sure if this really works on a regular basis, but I know that I've been able to do it before.
What I'm really wondering here, mind you, is if there's a solid and appreciable method out there for coming up with good titles. My base logic dictates that we really need to finish writing something before we can find the best title for our needs... but this clearly isn't the case all the time, and I'm pretty sure that we've been able to find some really good titles even without the ability to scrutinize a complete piece.
This bears further observation from my part. Or it could just be the product of a fevered mind, running on very little sleep.
And if you're wondering... I came up with the title for this post about halfway through the second paragraph. It's quite a strange thought.
Assuming that you've written something at least once in your life, I figure that you normally assign titles to your works. You could have gotten creative a few times, or you could have just picked the first phrase that came to mind -- either way, you must have chosen titles for any of your works at some point, even if they were sometimes as cheesy as labeling something "Untitled."
I won't ask where these titles come from. More than a few people have written about this precise topic already, and I suppose that we all know that titles are a pseudo-intuitive exercise. We know that titles will come from words or phrases that strike us about the content of a piece -- they may be taken directly from the work itself, or they might be a peripheral observation that has something to do with the content at hand. Whatever the case, these titles are chosen to entice readers, drop subtle hints about the nature of a story or an essay, or merely serve as a placeholder for when everything has to be collated. In short, we know where titles come from.
What I ask, then, is when do they come about? And, for that matter, when do we actually put them in place? I mean, assuming that a title will come in a flash of inspiration (or a knock on the head, take your pick), they can strike at any time. One can have a title in mind even before one begins writing a story, or it might suddenly appear right in the middle of one's writing process, or one could very well end up struggling to find said title even after the story is finished.
Back when I was in high school, I assumed that the best method involved looking over your work once you were finished, and choosing your title only at that point. I mean, this method would basically ensure that you would know your entire work from beginning to end, and thus you would be in a perfect position to choose a title to encompass everything that had been written.
After a while, though, I realized that this wasn't necessarily the case: Sometimes I was already getting hit by a few good titles in the middle of my writing. In fact, as I went on, I found it more and more difficult to come up with a title only after I had finished my work. I can see a definite catch with this method, of course -- finalizing your title might result in your stratifying the remaining parts of your work just for the purpose of fitting it -- but I've had a lot of good titles come up in this way.
Then there are the times when I literally start off with a title and move from there. There's actually a term for this -- "top-down design", I think -- but the logic behind it is a little unstable. Starting with a title to begin with implies that you'll be able to write at least a thousand words about it, and that it'll all somehow make sense when you're done. I find this to be the equivalent of gambling: you make a bet, you roll the dice, and you pray that the sevens come up. I'm not sure if this really works on a regular basis, but I know that I've been able to do it before.
What I'm really wondering here, mind you, is if there's a solid and appreciable method out there for coming up with good titles. My base logic dictates that we really need to finish writing something before we can find the best title for our needs... but this clearly isn't the case all the time, and I'm pretty sure that we've been able to find some really good titles even without the ability to scrutinize a complete piece.
This bears further observation from my part. Or it could just be the product of a fevered mind, running on very little sleep.
And if you're wondering... I came up with the title for this post about halfway through the second paragraph. It's quite a strange thought.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Fifty More Things About Sean (Only Twenty of Which Are Absolutely True)
No, that sense of déja vu that you're feeling is not an error in the Matrix. It does not indicate that something has changed.
This is an obvious sequel to the original list of Fifty Things About Sean (Only Twenty of Which Are True). It's not a meme (although you can try it for yourself), and it's not here for any particular purpose. I just happen to be bored at the moment.
It's easy, really: I have a list of fifty self-referential claims below, only twenty of which are indubitably, undeniably true. It's up to you to figure out which is which, and I'm not about to confirm anything as a result of this post. That's left for you to freely speculate on, and perhaps you'll lose some precious sleep in the process. :)
FIFTY MORE THINGS ABOUT SEAN
(only twenty of which are absolutely true)
1. Once acted as a potted plant in a class presentation.
2. Once addressed a crowd of 200 for a seminar.
3. Once ate two pounds of cheese in one sitting.
4. Once attached refrigerator magnets to somebody else's CPU casing.
5. Once believed that the world would end on December 31, 1999.
6. Once blew up a microwave oven by placing a packet of soap inside.
7. Once brought the proverbial knife to a gunfight.
8. Once built an origami figure that could support five pounds of weight.
9. Once burned a hole into a laboratory table with sulfuric acid.
10. Once collected comic books.
11. Once constructed a working battery-operated motor.
12. Once cut himself with a pair of ice skates.
13. Once danced a can-can with six or seven other guys.
14. Once did lead vocals for a startup musical group.
15. Once dressed up as Godzilla for a childrens' party.
16. Once drew a political cartoon that was eventually published.
17. Once fell asleep in a Ferrari. (No, it wasn't mine.)
18. Once filled an entire attaché case with salted popcorn.
19. Once fixed a computer by hitting it (with a good hard smack).
20. Once got a piece of candy stuck up his nose.
21. Once had an eye operation to correct blurred vision.
22. Once "improved" a jigsaw puzzle by cutting up the pieces.
23. Once jumped off the third floor of a building.
24. Once killed a goldfish by pouring talcum powder into the fishbowl.
25. Once made a shot from the half-court line in basketball.
26. Once maintained a collection of G.I. Joe action figures.
27. Once offered witness testimony for a convicted criminal.
28. Once owned a Trapper Keeper.
29. Once performed a voice-over for a commercial.
30. Once ran with scissors.
31. Once recited background speech for a music video.
32. Once said, "I'm just a lazy peon in the Warcraft of life."
33. Once scraped an entire layer of teflon off the frying pan.
34. Once scripted a twenty-four-page comic book.
35. Once shaved his armpit hairs.
36. Once shot an imaginary arrow from an imaginary bow.
37. Once sold life insurance.
38. Once spoke with a stutter.
39. Once stole a license plate for a scavenger hunt.
40. Once stripped on stage.
41. Once submitted an English essay for Filipino class (and got an "A").
42. Once superglued his hand to his face.
43. Once swallowed a paperclip.
44. Once took six hyperactive dogs for a walk, all at the same time.
45. Once traded an entire collection of stickers for a single playing card.
46. Once tried out for a TV game show.
47. Once used a priceless diamond antique as a paperweight.
48. Once won a years' supply of Ovaltine.
49. Once worked for three hours on a single math problem.
50. Once wrote erotica.
...
This is an obvious sequel to the original list of Fifty Things About Sean (Only Twenty of Which Are True). It's not a meme (although you can try it for yourself), and it's not here for any particular purpose. I just happen to be bored at the moment.
It's easy, really: I have a list of fifty self-referential claims below, only twenty of which are indubitably, undeniably true. It's up to you to figure out which is which, and I'm not about to confirm anything as a result of this post. That's left for you to freely speculate on, and perhaps you'll lose some precious sleep in the process. :)
FIFTY MORE THINGS ABOUT SEAN
(only twenty of which are absolutely true)
1. Once acted as a potted plant in a class presentation.
2. Once addressed a crowd of 200 for a seminar.
3. Once ate two pounds of cheese in one sitting.
4. Once attached refrigerator magnets to somebody else's CPU casing.
5. Once believed that the world would end on December 31, 1999.
6. Once blew up a microwave oven by placing a packet of soap inside.
7. Once brought the proverbial knife to a gunfight.
8. Once built an origami figure that could support five pounds of weight.
9. Once burned a hole into a laboratory table with sulfuric acid.
10. Once collected comic books.
11. Once constructed a working battery-operated motor.
12. Once cut himself with a pair of ice skates.
13. Once danced a can-can with six or seven other guys.
14. Once did lead vocals for a startup musical group.
15. Once dressed up as Godzilla for a childrens' party.
16. Once drew a political cartoon that was eventually published.
17. Once fell asleep in a Ferrari. (No, it wasn't mine.)
18. Once filled an entire attaché case with salted popcorn.
19. Once fixed a computer by hitting it (with a good hard smack).
20. Once got a piece of candy stuck up his nose.
21. Once had an eye operation to correct blurred vision.
22. Once "improved" a jigsaw puzzle by cutting up the pieces.
23. Once jumped off the third floor of a building.
24. Once killed a goldfish by pouring talcum powder into the fishbowl.
25. Once made a shot from the half-court line in basketball.
26. Once maintained a collection of G.I. Joe action figures.
27. Once offered witness testimony for a convicted criminal.
28. Once owned a Trapper Keeper.
29. Once performed a voice-over for a commercial.
30. Once ran with scissors.
31. Once recited background speech for a music video.
32. Once said, "I'm just a lazy peon in the Warcraft of life."
33. Once scraped an entire layer of teflon off the frying pan.
34. Once scripted a twenty-four-page comic book.
35. Once shaved his armpit hairs.
36. Once shot an imaginary arrow from an imaginary bow.
37. Once sold life insurance.
38. Once spoke with a stutter.
39. Once stole a license plate for a scavenger hunt.
40. Once stripped on stage.
41. Once submitted an English essay for Filipino class (and got an "A").
42. Once superglued his hand to his face.
43. Once swallowed a paperclip.
44. Once took six hyperactive dogs for a walk, all at the same time.
45. Once traded an entire collection of stickers for a single playing card.
46. Once tried out for a TV game show.
47. Once used a priceless diamond antique as a paperweight.
48. Once won a years' supply of Ovaltine.
49. Once worked for three hours on a single math problem.
50. Once wrote erotica.
...
7 Personal Rules for Fantasy Writing
I think that I've been delving into the high fantasy genre for almost as long as I've been writing.
For the uninformed, "high fantasy" involves your basic, medieval, knights-and-wizards-type of setting. These are the kind of stories where people like Conan, Legolas and King Arthur hang out, a sort of alternate Middle Ages where Renaissance Faire garb would probably be the norm. (This lies in contrast with "low fantasy", which twists the modern world as per Harry Potter, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and the Highlander movies.)
Sixteen years after I first started out, my memories of my first works are more than a little hazy. The first "serious" short story that I ever wrote was actually set against a biblical background, and placed a slight spin on a quasi-religious event. From there, I went into science fiction because it seemed as though nobody was writing it at the time. I remember actually avoiding fantasy for the first couple of years or so because I felt that it needed a lot of work in order to pull off: Setting counts for a lot, after all, and it's the sort of thing that takes time to craft.
I think that the one primary inspiration, the one thing that motivated me to write fantasy was David and Leigh Eddings' Belgariad series. I had read a couple of other fantasy novels before, yes, but the Belgariad gave me the idea that there was more to the genre than merely putting together a universe and creating some characters to play around in it. In a sense, I hit upon the truth that makes most fantasy works palatable: In order to immerse yourself in them, you have to be able to empathize with them.
One decade, three fictional universes and more than a few attempts later, I have more than a few guidelines to work with. At this point, I'm proud to say that I can probably spin off a short piece of the high fantasy genre without first having to spend ages working on a setting and a history. That's not to say that I've stopped toying with universes of my own creation -- as evidenced by the number of "Antaria" links on the sidebar -- but I feel that I can work on both long- and short-term fantasy work as of the moment.
I try to follow a strict set of rules for high fantasy in this regard. These, I think, are "rules" in the sense that I try to break them as seldom as possible -- I feel that they're too critical to what I feel is the underlying logic and structure to a plausible work. As a result, I try to stick to these rules whenever I put the physics of a fantasy setting together, and I inevitably look for these personal standards when judging a work of the genre. In a sense, this is why I feel that high fantasy is so difficult to get right: I have all these unwritten requirements in my head that give me something to look for whenever I read somebody's work.
I suppose at least now I'll be writing them down for once. I'm aware, of course, that any of these rules can change with a simple paradigm shift. More likely than that, however, I'll probably end up adding more to this list over time.
1. Cut down on the details.
High fantasy requires a lot of details. These stories usually involve completely imagined settings, after all, and most of them are spun from nothing but empty air itself. Beyond that, you have to get the physics, history, and sociology right... and considering that you'll have a lot of gaps left over after you're done, you're going to have to explain those away, too.
As a result, it's extremely tempting to overburden a reader with these details: I mean, you spent months figuring out the politics and economy of that nice kingdom you put together, so why let it go to waste? You created an entire history, description and set of drawings for that suit of armor your protagonist wears, so how could you tell the story without describing it?
The catch is that all of these details ultimately amount to highbrow "fluff". It's all interesting when taken in a scholarly context, I'm sure, but you're not aiming for that here -- you want to tell a story. Unless something is absolutely critical to the story -- or unless something helps contribute to atmosphere or characterization -- I try to leave it out. I mean, I ramble on for long enough periods of time, and I'd rather not run the risk of boring readers further.
2. It may be a different setting, but it's the same humanity.
Humans are humans wherever they may exist, I suppose. Most high fantasy involves humans in some way, presumably because it's easiest for us to foresee and narrate their actions. I believe, however, that this also gives an opportunity to make the work speak to the reader and get him to put himself in the characters' shoes.
Empathy is the key word here, I think. When presented with a story that takes place in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar events, I believe that a reader will immediately try to latch on to its most familiar aspects. With most high fantasy, I think that this involves character empathy more than anything else: They may be looking at a completely different universe, but they'll still expect the human characters to walk, talk and act as humans would normally do. A reader may not know how it feels to, say, hold a two-handed broadsword, cast a spell, or fight a shambling throng of undead... but they'll understand situations where a character makes a promise, talks to a superior, or comes to the aid of friends.
3. The nonhumans must have a purpose.
One of my greatest pet peeves involves the use of nonhuman races in a human capacity. I mean, I don't see the point of having elves, dwarves, and orcs walk around in the same universe as a human contingent, especially when they're characterized according to existing aspects of humanity. Why have a graceful, fragile, long-eared elf when you can just as easily have a human character with those precise qualities? Why have a short, tough, bushy-beared dwarf when you can just as easily use a human counterpart? The whole thing just confuses me.
While I'm willing to accept the presence of sentient nonhuman races in high fantasy, I feel that there should really be some purpose to their presence there (apart from acting as set dressing). Tolkien, for example, used an alliance between humans, elves and dwarves to emphasize a united stand among completely different cultures. I'd like to see a little more thought go into the use of such races in fantasy literature, other than the "they just happen to be there" argument.
4. Use magic.
If there's anything that makes fantasy "fantasy" for me, it's the use of magic. Magic is the duct tape of literary concepts: You can mold it to whatever definition you choose for your setting, and you can use it to plug any gaps that you might find. You can leave it as part of the background so that you can focus on other concepts (as Tolkien did), or you can give it some significant screen time (Jordan's The Wheel of Time series comes to mind). Without the use of magic, a high fantasy universe runs the risk of being relegated to a purely medieval setting.
That's not to say that you literally need magic to write a plausible fantasy story, of course. (George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series practically doesn't use the stuff, as far as I know.) But I find it difficult to pass off high fantasy as "high fantasy" without it -- it's the sort of thing that I simply don't find in any other genre.
5. Some technologies are indispensable.
One of the things I realized a long time ago was that, while fantasy literature might usually reflect a medieval setting, it simply does not provide an accurate picture of what medieval times were really like. Inns were not built like hotels with taverns to match. Dungeons with hidden treasure most certainly did not litter the countryside. Female adventurers did not go around wearing skimpy costumes that supposedly passed for "armor".
What I mean to say here is that I find it difficult to consider a plausible high fantasy setting without working some modern innovations into the picture. I'm not saying, of course, that people should try to work cars and trucks and vacuum cleaners into their feudal kingdoms. What I'm saying, however, is that we can sneak in a few contemporary concepts and technologies without breaking our stuff in two.
I know that scissors have to exist in any proper fantasy universe, for instance. I mean, without scissors, you wouldn't have proper clothes and costumes for the characters to wear. You wouldn't have proper hairstyles. Heck, you wouldn't have such things as ribbons or tassels or bows. I can make arguments for a few other things: Dental floss (otherwise your characters wouldn't have all their teeth), disposable paper or parchment (for all those books and scrolls), and gunpowder (because even if you don't have guns, you're likely to have explosives in some form).
We don't have to go into the details of why the stuff exists, to be honest. I think that we can -- and should -- suspend belief for these small things just so that our worlds can work the way we want them to. I don't think that the readers will mind, just as long as everything makes a sort of sense.
6. Equalize the genders.
Granted, the concept of gender equivalence obviously isn't limited to the high fantasy genre. I think, however, that the genre finds great benefit in using gender equivalence, perhaps more than anything else out there. When a high fantasy story turns an existing convention on its ear -- say, a female warrior as a main character -- then we're far more willing to accept it as part of the imaginary setting than we are, say, a female CEO of a major software corporation. Or, if you will, a male editor-in-chief for Cosmopolitan magazine.
The opportunity to perform a good bit of role-switching, I think, is too good to be ignored. It can result in some unprecedented casts of characters, or some situations that have never been seen before. I feel that stories that revolve around stereotypical archetypes (male barbarians, female sorceresses, and so forth) are missing out on a lot, as a result. There's some real potential here to shake things up and explore uncharted territory in terms of character interaction.
7. The stories should work by themselves.
Finally, I'll admit that it's not easy to cut a work of high fantasy down to size. Considering that you've created an entire universe and its corresponding population to play around with, it's easy to plot out some grand epic and start scribbling it down.
While you can probably accomplish such a task (and novelize it, to boot), I feel that it's not a very attractive way of going about things. First, you have an enormous task ahead of you -- it's like working on your first book and deciding right off the bat that you're going to put together two thousand pages of text. Second, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to finish it -- and if you suddenly lose interest three months and three hundred pages later, you've effectively wasted an entire setting. Third, the readers are almost certain to find that later installments of the story will make no sense unless they've read through several previous installments.
The only solution I can think of at this point would be to make sure that the individual stories can stand on their own. If you can finish a novel in one go, then that's all the more better for you. Otherwise, I think that we're better off serving our stories in bite-size pieces. Knowing that any story can conceivably be read independently of the others doesn't just take away a restriction on the part of the readers -- it also gives new readers an avenue to jump in.
Beyond these rules, however, I must consider that these are personal standards more than anything else. They're guidelines, and innovation often means scrutinizing these same guidelines for new and interesting ways to break them.
I might follow these items to the letter right now, but for all I know, I might be spending my next seven years figuring out how to make their exact converses work for me. After all, any genre is in a constant state of evolution. That the fantasy category happens to reward anything that is newer and more different than any previous works is an even better prospect for the rest of us.
For the uninformed, "high fantasy" involves your basic, medieval, knights-and-wizards-type of setting. These are the kind of stories where people like Conan, Legolas and King Arthur hang out, a sort of alternate Middle Ages where Renaissance Faire garb would probably be the norm. (This lies in contrast with "low fantasy", which twists the modern world as per Harry Potter, the Spiderwick Chronicles, and the Highlander movies.)
Sixteen years after I first started out, my memories of my first works are more than a little hazy. The first "serious" short story that I ever wrote was actually set against a biblical background, and placed a slight spin on a quasi-religious event. From there, I went into science fiction because it seemed as though nobody was writing it at the time. I remember actually avoiding fantasy for the first couple of years or so because I felt that it needed a lot of work in order to pull off: Setting counts for a lot, after all, and it's the sort of thing that takes time to craft.
I think that the one primary inspiration, the one thing that motivated me to write fantasy was David and Leigh Eddings' Belgariad series. I had read a couple of other fantasy novels before, yes, but the Belgariad gave me the idea that there was more to the genre than merely putting together a universe and creating some characters to play around in it. In a sense, I hit upon the truth that makes most fantasy works palatable: In order to immerse yourself in them, you have to be able to empathize with them.
One decade, three fictional universes and more than a few attempts later, I have more than a few guidelines to work with. At this point, I'm proud to say that I can probably spin off a short piece of the high fantasy genre without first having to spend ages working on a setting and a history. That's not to say that I've stopped toying with universes of my own creation -- as evidenced by the number of "Antaria" links on the sidebar -- but I feel that I can work on both long- and short-term fantasy work as of the moment.
I try to follow a strict set of rules for high fantasy in this regard. These, I think, are "rules" in the sense that I try to break them as seldom as possible -- I feel that they're too critical to what I feel is the underlying logic and structure to a plausible work. As a result, I try to stick to these rules whenever I put the physics of a fantasy setting together, and I inevitably look for these personal standards when judging a work of the genre. In a sense, this is why I feel that high fantasy is so difficult to get right: I have all these unwritten requirements in my head that give me something to look for whenever I read somebody's work.
I suppose at least now I'll be writing them down for once. I'm aware, of course, that any of these rules can change with a simple paradigm shift. More likely than that, however, I'll probably end up adding more to this list over time.
1. Cut down on the details.
High fantasy requires a lot of details. These stories usually involve completely imagined settings, after all, and most of them are spun from nothing but empty air itself. Beyond that, you have to get the physics, history, and sociology right... and considering that you'll have a lot of gaps left over after you're done, you're going to have to explain those away, too.
As a result, it's extremely tempting to overburden a reader with these details: I mean, you spent months figuring out the politics and economy of that nice kingdom you put together, so why let it go to waste? You created an entire history, description and set of drawings for that suit of armor your protagonist wears, so how could you tell the story without describing it?
The catch is that all of these details ultimately amount to highbrow "fluff". It's all interesting when taken in a scholarly context, I'm sure, but you're not aiming for that here -- you want to tell a story. Unless something is absolutely critical to the story -- or unless something helps contribute to atmosphere or characterization -- I try to leave it out. I mean, I ramble on for long enough periods of time, and I'd rather not run the risk of boring readers further.
2. It may be a different setting, but it's the same humanity.
Humans are humans wherever they may exist, I suppose. Most high fantasy involves humans in some way, presumably because it's easiest for us to foresee and narrate their actions. I believe, however, that this also gives an opportunity to make the work speak to the reader and get him to put himself in the characters' shoes.
Empathy is the key word here, I think. When presented with a story that takes place in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar events, I believe that a reader will immediately try to latch on to its most familiar aspects. With most high fantasy, I think that this involves character empathy more than anything else: They may be looking at a completely different universe, but they'll still expect the human characters to walk, talk and act as humans would normally do. A reader may not know how it feels to, say, hold a two-handed broadsword, cast a spell, or fight a shambling throng of undead... but they'll understand situations where a character makes a promise, talks to a superior, or comes to the aid of friends.
3. The nonhumans must have a purpose.
One of my greatest pet peeves involves the use of nonhuman races in a human capacity. I mean, I don't see the point of having elves, dwarves, and orcs walk around in the same universe as a human contingent, especially when they're characterized according to existing aspects of humanity. Why have a graceful, fragile, long-eared elf when you can just as easily have a human character with those precise qualities? Why have a short, tough, bushy-beared dwarf when you can just as easily use a human counterpart? The whole thing just confuses me.
While I'm willing to accept the presence of sentient nonhuman races in high fantasy, I feel that there should really be some purpose to their presence there (apart from acting as set dressing). Tolkien, for example, used an alliance between humans, elves and dwarves to emphasize a united stand among completely different cultures. I'd like to see a little more thought go into the use of such races in fantasy literature, other than the "they just happen to be there" argument.
4. Use magic.
If there's anything that makes fantasy "fantasy" for me, it's the use of magic. Magic is the duct tape of literary concepts: You can mold it to whatever definition you choose for your setting, and you can use it to plug any gaps that you might find. You can leave it as part of the background so that you can focus on other concepts (as Tolkien did), or you can give it some significant screen time (Jordan's The Wheel of Time series comes to mind). Without the use of magic, a high fantasy universe runs the risk of being relegated to a purely medieval setting.
That's not to say that you literally need magic to write a plausible fantasy story, of course. (George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series practically doesn't use the stuff, as far as I know.) But I find it difficult to pass off high fantasy as "high fantasy" without it -- it's the sort of thing that I simply don't find in any other genre.
5. Some technologies are indispensable.
One of the things I realized a long time ago was that, while fantasy literature might usually reflect a medieval setting, it simply does not provide an accurate picture of what medieval times were really like. Inns were not built like hotels with taverns to match. Dungeons with hidden treasure most certainly did not litter the countryside. Female adventurers did not go around wearing skimpy costumes that supposedly passed for "armor".
What I mean to say here is that I find it difficult to consider a plausible high fantasy setting without working some modern innovations into the picture. I'm not saying, of course, that people should try to work cars and trucks and vacuum cleaners into their feudal kingdoms. What I'm saying, however, is that we can sneak in a few contemporary concepts and technologies without breaking our stuff in two.
I know that scissors have to exist in any proper fantasy universe, for instance. I mean, without scissors, you wouldn't have proper clothes and costumes for the characters to wear. You wouldn't have proper hairstyles. Heck, you wouldn't have such things as ribbons or tassels or bows. I can make arguments for a few other things: Dental floss (otherwise your characters wouldn't have all their teeth), disposable paper or parchment (for all those books and scrolls), and gunpowder (because even if you don't have guns, you're likely to have explosives in some form).
We don't have to go into the details of why the stuff exists, to be honest. I think that we can -- and should -- suspend belief for these small things just so that our worlds can work the way we want them to. I don't think that the readers will mind, just as long as everything makes a sort of sense.
6. Equalize the genders.
Granted, the concept of gender equivalence obviously isn't limited to the high fantasy genre. I think, however, that the genre finds great benefit in using gender equivalence, perhaps more than anything else out there. When a high fantasy story turns an existing convention on its ear -- say, a female warrior as a main character -- then we're far more willing to accept it as part of the imaginary setting than we are, say, a female CEO of a major software corporation. Or, if you will, a male editor-in-chief for Cosmopolitan magazine.
The opportunity to perform a good bit of role-switching, I think, is too good to be ignored. It can result in some unprecedented casts of characters, or some situations that have never been seen before. I feel that stories that revolve around stereotypical archetypes (male barbarians, female sorceresses, and so forth) are missing out on a lot, as a result. There's some real potential here to shake things up and explore uncharted territory in terms of character interaction.
7. The stories should work by themselves.
Finally, I'll admit that it's not easy to cut a work of high fantasy down to size. Considering that you've created an entire universe and its corresponding population to play around with, it's easy to plot out some grand epic and start scribbling it down.
While you can probably accomplish such a task (and novelize it, to boot), I feel that it's not a very attractive way of going about things. First, you have an enormous task ahead of you -- it's like working on your first book and deciding right off the bat that you're going to put together two thousand pages of text. Second, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to finish it -- and if you suddenly lose interest three months and three hundred pages later, you've effectively wasted an entire setting. Third, the readers are almost certain to find that later installments of the story will make no sense unless they've read through several previous installments.
The only solution I can think of at this point would be to make sure that the individual stories can stand on their own. If you can finish a novel in one go, then that's all the more better for you. Otherwise, I think that we're better off serving our stories in bite-size pieces. Knowing that any story can conceivably be read independently of the others doesn't just take away a restriction on the part of the readers -- it also gives new readers an avenue to jump in.
Beyond these rules, however, I must consider that these are personal standards more than anything else. They're guidelines, and innovation often means scrutinizing these same guidelines for new and interesting ways to break them.
I might follow these items to the letter right now, but for all I know, I might be spending my next seven years figuring out how to make their exact converses work for me. After all, any genre is in a constant state of evolution. That the fantasy category happens to reward anything that is newer and more different than any previous works is an even better prospect for the rest of us.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
This Post Has Cake In It
Yes, Valentines' Day is coming up next week. As nice as I imagine it might be for couples around the world, that still doesn't change the fact that it's a corporate-manufactured holiday designed to sell overpriced flowers, hawk overly expensive chocolates and, in certain cases, force a general overbooking of local hotel rooms. In addition, it's an agonizing holiday for single people all over the world, which means that while dozens of men and women out there are enjoying the fruits of massive spending, an equal number of people are organizing "singles-only" tours where they can go out, drink themselves silly, and then go to bed feeling sorry for themselves.
Being one of those creative bakeshops that is nonetheless willing to take advantage of the unfortunate masses, my family bakeshop offers a special something or Valentines' day every year. This year, it happens to be a small circle of pastries meant to be given as a gift to peoples' loved ones. Or failing that, you could always eat them yourself. They might not ease the pain of utter loneliness or the shattered consequences of a bad breakup... but hey, you'll at least have something to chew on? Right? Er... right?
Seeing that I am a single man who has unfortunately fallen in love with these pastries (this is an appropriate figure of speech, yes), I planned to pick up a few of them as giveaways this Thursday. The only question involved who was supposed to receive them. Giving one of them away to everybody in my office (a crowd of more than thirty people) would be a trifle expensive; Counting out a small number of recipients would leave me open to post-Valentines' demands ("What do you mean, you didn't get me one?"), and considering that these wouldn't be available after Thursday, I definitely have some thinking to do right now.
Complicating the matter is that I have at least two choices on the table right now. The first one is a solid-looking candy-shell heart, which looks like the samples below:
Yes, they're nice. We offered the same thing on Valentines' Day last year, and they were so popular that we decided to give them a second go.
The large candy hearts are actually hollow -- they're essentially a sugar- and gum-type candy shell that, although non-chewable, are perfectly capable of melting in your mouth for a while. The insides are filled with miscellaneous hard candies, which means that even if you have to break your heart (so to speak), you'll still find it a sweet enough prospect in the end.
What I particularly like about these is that their shelf life is a lot longer than the other "pastries" I encounter. The hearts are likely to last for at least a week before they start getting stale, and even then the candies inside will still be edible -- you'd just need the simple expedient of a jackhammer to get them out. Still, they're pretty good for people who want to display them a bit before breaking them up.
The second choice I have is the cake whose picture you see at the start of this post. I have another picture here, in case you'd like to have a look:
These cakes are actually a little small -- about the size of one's fist -- but they're made of lemon chiffon covered in strawberry fondant icing (I think), so I imagine that they taste fine. They're not bad for occasions where you expect the recipient to eat them immediately after the gift-giving. In short, they'd be perfect for the perpetually-hungry co-workers in my office. They're cheaper, too.
Of course, being a single man, I'd normally be nursing the (alleged) pain and loneliness of my situation by chewing on these myself. It's too bad that I don't have the sweet tooth that forces me to take advantage of the family bakeshop. As a result, well, I'll have to see whether or not I'd like to give these out.
And, just in case I turn out to be too busy this Valentines' Day... I wish you all a nice holiday, whether you have someone to spend it with, or not. Chin up, and don't eat too much of the sweet stuff for your own good. You'll want to look good for next Valentines', after all.
* No, I haven't suddenly sold out and gone commercial on you. But I am bragging that I have access to almost limitless amounts of this stuff for a good price. That's got to count for something.
Being one of those creative bakeshops that is nonetheless willing to take advantage of the unfortunate masses, my family bakeshop offers a special something or Valentines' day every year. This year, it happens to be a small circle of pastries meant to be given as a gift to peoples' loved ones. Or failing that, you could always eat them yourself. They might not ease the pain of utter loneliness or the shattered consequences of a bad breakup... but hey, you'll at least have something to chew on? Right? Er... right?
Seeing that I am a single man who has unfortunately fallen in love with these pastries (this is an appropriate figure of speech, yes), I planned to pick up a few of them as giveaways this Thursday. The only question involved who was supposed to receive them. Giving one of them away to everybody in my office (a crowd of more than thirty people) would be a trifle expensive; Counting out a small number of recipients would leave me open to post-Valentines' demands ("What do you mean, you didn't get me one?"), and considering that these wouldn't be available after Thursday, I definitely have some thinking to do right now.
Complicating the matter is that I have at least two choices on the table right now. The first one is a solid-looking candy-shell heart, which looks like the samples below:
Yes, they're nice. We offered the same thing on Valentines' Day last year, and they were so popular that we decided to give them a second go.
The large candy hearts are actually hollow -- they're essentially a sugar- and gum-type candy shell that, although non-chewable, are perfectly capable of melting in your mouth for a while. The insides are filled with miscellaneous hard candies, which means that even if you have to break your heart (so to speak), you'll still find it a sweet enough prospect in the end.
What I particularly like about these is that their shelf life is a lot longer than the other "pastries" I encounter. The hearts are likely to last for at least a week before they start getting stale, and even then the candies inside will still be edible -- you'd just need the simple expedient of a jackhammer to get them out. Still, they're pretty good for people who want to display them a bit before breaking them up.
The second choice I have is the cake whose picture you see at the start of this post. I have another picture here, in case you'd like to have a look:
These cakes are actually a little small -- about the size of one's fist -- but they're made of lemon chiffon covered in strawberry fondant icing (I think), so I imagine that they taste fine. They're not bad for occasions where you expect the recipient to eat them immediately after the gift-giving. In short, they'd be perfect for the perpetually-hungry co-workers in my office. They're cheaper, too.
Of course, being a single man, I'd normally be nursing the (alleged) pain and loneliness of my situation by chewing on these myself. It's too bad that I don't have the sweet tooth that forces me to take advantage of the family bakeshop. As a result, well, I'll have to see whether or not I'd like to give these out.
And, just in case I turn out to be too busy this Valentines' Day... I wish you all a nice holiday, whether you have someone to spend it with, or not. Chin up, and don't eat too much of the sweet stuff for your own good. You'll want to look good for next Valentines', after all.
* No, I haven't suddenly sold out and gone commercial on you. But I am bragging that I have access to almost limitless amounts of this stuff for a good price. That's got to count for something.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Within the Next Five Minutes
Someone decided to point out that a good number of my posts from last month involved descriptions of my love-hate relationship with work. In short -- I spent a good chunk of the last thirty days being a whiny little person.
As a result, I made a little resolution with the coming of the first days of February: For at least this month, I'll hold a moratorium on any mentions of my day job. That means that I'll force myself to find more interesting fare for people to read about, and you won't get to listen to me whine for at least a good ten posts.
When I realized this resolution, though, it brought my mind back to the fact that I never did post my resolutions for the New Year. For that matter, I think I wrote them all down somewhere and then promptly forgot about where they were... which means that I've obviously gotten a head start on what most people do about their resolutions. Nevertheless, this post could serve as a nice substitute.
So what I'll do right now is organize my goals for the next few spans of time. Make of them what you will, but beyond my preventing myself from constantly complaining about my day job, these are as close to resolutions as we'll probably see:
Within the next five minutes: Organize thoughts properly. Finish answering e-mail.
Within the next thirty minutes: Finish writing this post.
Within the next one hour: Get some leisure time in, for once. Continue reading that novel on Alexander the Great that you keep putting off.
Within the next twenty-four hours: Get some sleep. Finish the week's work in such a way as to not worry about it over the weekend. Scribble down notes for a short story.
Within the next week: Pick up a good book for one's collection. Get some more sleep. Organize an initial list of venues for story submissions and start planning things out. Reserve plane tickets and a hotel room for that trip to Bacolod City that you're planning for later this year.
Within the next month: Write at least one short story for the blog. Get some more sleep. Stop spending so much money on trying to forget about work. Play a few more board games. Get together with friends more often.
Within the next six months: Get more involved with the family. Set aside some vacation time (most likely for Bacolod City). Talk to the Philippine Copyright Office regarding standards and practices. Submit something to the Palanca Awards.
Within the next year: Write more stuff. Submit more stuff. Attend at least one workshop or discussion-type group on modern literature. Get my name in at least two books somewhere. Organize life properly -- tell myself exactly what I want out of it.
Well... I never said it would be easy.
As a result, I made a little resolution with the coming of the first days of February: For at least this month, I'll hold a moratorium on any mentions of my day job. That means that I'll force myself to find more interesting fare for people to read about, and you won't get to listen to me whine for at least a good ten posts.
When I realized this resolution, though, it brought my mind back to the fact that I never did post my resolutions for the New Year. For that matter, I think I wrote them all down somewhere and then promptly forgot about where they were... which means that I've obviously gotten a head start on what most people do about their resolutions. Nevertheless, this post could serve as a nice substitute.
So what I'll do right now is organize my goals for the next few spans of time. Make of them what you will, but beyond my preventing myself from constantly complaining about my day job, these are as close to resolutions as we'll probably see:
Within the next five minutes: Organize thoughts properly. Finish answering e-mail.
Within the next thirty minutes: Finish writing this post.
Within the next one hour: Get some leisure time in, for once. Continue reading that novel on Alexander the Great that you keep putting off.
Within the next twenty-four hours: Get some sleep. Finish the week's work in such a way as to not worry about it over the weekend. Scribble down notes for a short story.
Within the next week: Pick up a good book for one's collection. Get some more sleep. Organize an initial list of venues for story submissions and start planning things out. Reserve plane tickets and a hotel room for that trip to Bacolod City that you're planning for later this year.
Within the next month: Write at least one short story for the blog. Get some more sleep. Stop spending so much money on trying to forget about work. Play a few more board games. Get together with friends more often.
Within the next six months: Get more involved with the family. Set aside some vacation time (most likely for Bacolod City). Talk to the Philippine Copyright Office regarding standards and practices. Submit something to the Palanca Awards.
Within the next year: Write more stuff. Submit more stuff. Attend at least one workshop or discussion-type group on modern literature. Get my name in at least two books somewhere. Organize life properly -- tell myself exactly what I want out of it.
Well... I never said it would be easy.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Disclaimer: February 2008
I sense much fear in you.
...
Remember... fear is the path to the dark side.
Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? A flaw more and more common among writers. Too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced ones.
A writer's strength flows from the Source. But beware of the dark side. Ambition, desire, jealousy; the dark side are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.
Property of Sean are all things here. Created, website was, by his own two hands. Dreamt, maintained, held. All original. All things written here, written by Sean. His writer's strength flows from the Source.
Still acknowledged here are those things not written by Sean. Names they have, links if possible. If use by Sean offends writers, then writers may contact Sean. Remove works, perhaps. Save works, perhaps. A mysterious thing for all, the Source is.
But fallen, the shroud of the dark side has. You must unlearn what you have learned. Copy others' works to pass as your own, you should not. Steal others' works, you should not. Misquote for selfish purpose, you should not. Words are free for all, and must be shared. Must not be taken.
Control... you must learn control. Take things from this website, but ask before you use it. Rule of honor, that is. Ask before using, or use and then ask. Lenient, Sean is. Compensation, he usually asks not.
No. Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.
You do not believe it. That is why you fail.
Steal things from this website, careful you do not. Too far Sean's eyes see. Catch you, he will. The way of the Source, revenge is not... but demands, the law must have. Justice there must be. Chase you to the ends of the universe, he shall... for Sean's ally is the law of copyright, and a powerful ally it is.
License of Creative Commons lies below and to the right. Read it, you must. Know it, you must. Live it, you must.
No more training do you require, I hope. Already know you, that which you need.
May the Source be with you.
...
Remember... fear is the path to the dark side.
Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? A flaw more and more common among writers. Too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced ones.
A writer's strength flows from the Source. But beware of the dark side. Ambition, desire, jealousy; the dark side are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will.
Property of Sean are all things here. Created, website was, by his own two hands. Dreamt, maintained, held. All original. All things written here, written by Sean. His writer's strength flows from the Source.
Still acknowledged here are those things not written by Sean. Names they have, links if possible. If use by Sean offends writers, then writers may contact Sean. Remove works, perhaps. Save works, perhaps. A mysterious thing for all, the Source is.
But fallen, the shroud of the dark side has. You must unlearn what you have learned. Copy others' works to pass as your own, you should not. Steal others' works, you should not. Misquote for selfish purpose, you should not. Words are free for all, and must be shared. Must not be taken.
Control... you must learn control. Take things from this website, but ask before you use it. Rule of honor, that is. Ask before using, or use and then ask. Lenient, Sean is. Compensation, he usually asks not.
No. Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.
You do not believe it. That is why you fail.
Steal things from this website, careful you do not. Too far Sean's eyes see. Catch you, he will. The way of the Source, revenge is not... but demands, the law must have. Justice there must be. Chase you to the ends of the universe, he shall... for Sean's ally is the law of copyright, and a powerful ally it is.
License of Creative Commons lies below and to the right. Read it, you must. Know it, you must. Live it, you must.
No more training do you require, I hope. Already know you, that which you need.
May the Source be with you.
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