I have just heard the news that cursive writing will no longer be taught in Ohio schools, making it the third state to abandon the skill (behind Indiana and Hawaii). The keyboard is king now, the thinking goes, making unnecessary a discipline that teaches manual dexterity at the fine motor level. In these modern times [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Opinion, Popular Culture, Writing, Writing Methods | Tagged: Current Events, Opinion, Popular Culture, Writing | 2 Comments »
Where to come down on the idea of cussin’ in one’s books? I’ve gotten away from it for the most part, mostly because I’m a Christian and try hard not to use it myself. But I’ve also sat through enough TV versions of films where the language is softened, and for the most part the [...]
Filed under: ...and that's the end of the news, A Death of Honor, Commercial Considerations, Ferman's Devils, Observations, Pembroke Hall Series, Popular Culture, The Mushroom Shift, Words, Write-O-Rama, Writer's Voice, Writing, Writing Cliches, Writing Methods | Tagged: Popular Culture, The Novel, Words, Write-O-Rama, Writing | 1 Comment »
Walter Jon WIlliams is looking for pirated scans of his novels. In this article on Torrent Freak, he explains his rationale, and it’s a good one. Having recently scanned and coded the forthcoming ebook issue of A Death of Honor, I can see the genius of this move. Why bother scanning when there’s someone out [...]
Filed under: Boddekker's Demons, Desperate Measures, Ferman's Devils, Popular Culture, The Company Man, The Essence of Evil, Writing Business | Tagged: Popular Culture, Writing | 5 Comments »
“And lo, all across the land there was a great ourcry, with wailing and gnashing of teeth and shaking of fist, for in the west it was the time of the gramophone, and the people, while they were vexed at what they saw, could not help but watch.“ Once again we find ourselves in the [...]
Filed under: Music, Popular Culture, Television | Tagged: Music, Opinion, Popular Culture, Television | 2 Comments »
Here’s a kind of off-beat thought. It all started when I picked up a huge bottle of Coast body wash at the local drug store, picking the brand because I was familiar with their bath soap, and because the bottle held more than the competing brands and was at least a buck cheaper. When I [...]
Filed under: Advertising, Popular Culture, Writing Life | Tagged: Popular Culture, Writer's Life | 1 Comment »
I haven’t succumbed to memery in quite a while, but there’s one going around Facebook right now that gives me some excellent blog fodder, so here we go. This latest invites us to, in honor of impending Halloween, to name our 10 favorite horror movies. When I was first tagged I thought, I can’t do [...]
Filed under: Memes, Movies, Plotting, Popular Culture, Write-O-Rama, Writing, Writing Methods | Tagged: Memes, Movies, Popular Culture, Writing | 2 Comments »
After much delay at the hands of family matters, I’m back on the case of finishing The Amazing Secret of the Castle Omi La for this year’s VBS. A little bit of history here. The first VBS play I did was The Terrible Misfortune. It was a pirate-themed show. It was influenced by every cliche [...]
Filed under: An Unpleasantness At Lonesome Gulch, Genres & Conventions, Influences, Popular Culture, Television, The Amazing Secret of the Castle Omi La, The Incredible Adventure of the Frozen Man, The Terrible Misfortune, Write-O-Rama, Writing Process | Tagged: Popular Culture, Television, Write-O-Rama, Writing | Leave a Comment »
I figure at least one of these will be right and that I will be hailed as a genius once All Is Revealed… 10) On a previously unexplored part of the island, the Statue of Liberty is found half-buried in the sand amid cries of “Damn you all to hell!” 9) One of the women [...]
Filed under: Humor, Popular Culture | Tagged: Humor, Popular Culture, Television | Leave a Comment »
After seeing James Cameron’s Avatar, I have decided that it is impossible to give it just one overall rating as a movie. There are too many different aspects of it, including the groundbreaking effects. Films like this often turn out to be like the joke about the talking dog – who cares that what the [...]
Filed under: Popular Culture | Tagged: Movies, Popular Culture | 1 Comment »
Here’s a little something I wrote for the blog where I work. I was so pleased with the result that I decided to share it with all of you lucky folks, too. H/T to Dan Sonnier for most of the jokes and the link to the CG. Just in time for Christmas, America is enjoying [...]
Filed under: Current Events, Popular Culture | Tagged: Current Events, Opinion, Popular Culture | Leave a Comment »
