writer
In university I took small jobs in town whenever I could. It was an excuse to get off campus, it meant a little cash in my pocket, and I got to interact with townspeople, most of whom had strong opinions about my school. The jobs were usually one-offs and involved gruntwork of the handyman variety. One day I might be hauling away piles of old boards, the next repairing a shed or cleaning out a…
A few weeks ago I knew two things about Elmore Leonard: he existed as some sort of novelist, and Gene Wolfe said he was a master of dialogue. Years ago I added one of his books, Swag, to my ereader and promptly forgot about it. I recently rediscovered it, opened it out of curiosity, and was sucked into a world and a genre I didn't expect to enjoy, but absolutely did thanks to Leonard's skill with…
I recently unearthed an old ereader to use while on an extended trip. After denying it the ability to install three years worth of updates (eye roll), I flicked through my old library to see what I could see. I wasn't sure what I was in the mood for, but I thought the usual practice of seeing an interesting book, reading a few pages, and letting my gut decide if I should continue would serve me…
Adding this here since it seems so hard to find online in its entirety. It was perfect. He could do Nothing about it. Its waters Were as clear as his own eye. The grass Was his breath. The mystery Of the dark earth was what went on In himself. He loved and Hated it with a parent’s Conceit, admiring his own Work, resenting its Independence. There were trysts In the greenwood at which He was not…
I used to keep a notepad next to me on the desk. It collected random thoughts throughout the day, scribbles, snippets of things I wanted to remember, idle loops and lines and shapes. Useful on the day to day, and always fun to flip through years later (why did I draw a duck eating a now-dead URL?) This always seemed like a good way to take a load off my short term memory. I never thought of it as…
I grew up in an age when the internet was just emerging. Specials on public television talked about how businesses could use the internet to put their products online and how chat rooms would connect people around the world. There was even a TV commercial that hinted at social change: a couple went on a date and, at the end she handed him a piece of paper with her email on it. ("Email me. Wink.")…
If a friend walks into your house and leaves the door open, you get upset. Doors are meant to temporarily open to let people in, then stay closed the other 99.99% of the time. An open door is an aberration we cannot abide. But it's not that the door itself is open that irritates us. It's what that state signals is likely to happen next--wind and weather and bugs and animals and any ole person who…
Have you ever seen a game, forgotten about it, then stumbled upon it again years later? This happened to me with Black Sigil. 15 years ago this game was kind of unplayable. Today, it's a gem. The 2004 release of the Nintendo DS couldn't have been more perfectly timed for me. It was my senior year at university and I was emerging from a lengthy absence from all things pop culture. I spent the…
or Why I visit the same shelves every week, and you should too No matter where you live, try to find a good used book store you can visit on the regular. It doesn't have to be large, it doesn't have to be a hole in the wall, and you don't have to be a bookworm. Just look for a place you can go to a couple times each month, preferably one with a prominent sign that says "we buy books." This ensures…
I've been thinking about bathos lately. This is a rhetorical device I've seen grow to overuse in recent decades, largely in TV and movies but also as an approach to "humor" in general. Bathos is a cousin to pathos, which is the emotional presence of a speaker and the methods they use to draw sympathy from an audience. With bathos, though, you establish that connection then abruptly switch to a…