Creepy Cyberpunk

Christopher Conte has sculpted and crafted some fascinating cyberpunk creatures and contraptions, some of which you really wouldn't want skittering across your desk, like this mutated stapler:

Or this steam-driven spider:

Check out the full portfolio of his sci-fi inspired artwork. I like his method for approaching new projects. According to him, "I'll see something in a movie and think, 'Wouldn't it be cool if that existed?' And then I'll try to bring them to reality."

Can't get much more direct that than.

I see that smile.

Sorry I didn't mention this contest earlier

As I was busy distracting you all from productivity with nasty, evil games, I forgot to link up this first page contest being run on Nathan Bransford's (literary agent) blog:

http://nathanbransford.blogspot.com/2008/01/surprisingly-essential-first-page.html

Go there for the rules, which, unfortunately, include the deadline of Wednesday (today), 5pm Pacific Standard Time today. So if you've got a first page to post, run over and get it in, just to make Nathan and his contest helper, Holly Burns, that much crazier. I've stuck in the first page of On the Flipside, but admittedly it has a slower start, so it may not catch as much attention. We shall see. Let me know if you post anything so I can hop over and read it.

Good luck!


I see that smile.

Because I am this evil

Some days the words just won't come, no matter how much you threaten, tease, cajole, barter, plead, beg, sacrifice small animals...

You know. The usual routine to get the muse into gear. Sometimes it just won't work, and as frustrating as that can be, it may be the wiser route to stop bashing your head against the wall and let yourself sit back and recoup from your losses. Because after a while you can get so mentally wound up about breaking through to the sheer genius that is your writing craft that you're hampering yourself through the load of stress and expectations you're piling on.

Right now, most of us in this blogging/writing realm don't toil under a book contract deadline, which might provide the proper spur in the rump motivation to get the words flowing. We have to force ourselves to sit down and hash it out each day under our own impetus. Well, I'm here to tell you that sometimes it's worth it to give yourself a break. Let the mind unwind however you wish (though I would recommend a legal method of relaxation).

In light of this, here's a few links to one of my favorite methods...games!

Here are five free, yet incredibly addictive games. Think of them as shiny pebbles with which to lure your muse out of hiding, lull it into having a little fun...so that you can sneak up on it, truss it up, and chain it to the walls so it can never escape again.

Psychosomnium

Speck Oppression

Bloxorz - a personal favorite

Synaesthete

and

Cyclops

You now have permission to take a break and play. However, don't forget to go back to the writing sooner or later. And for those of you who were having a fine stretch of productivity which has now been shattered by my evil linkage...well, you can complain in the comments section if you wish.

I see that smile.

More art to get the neurons firing

Since I did a recent post on art (the painting/drawing type) and how it can inspire your writing, alongside music, other books, films and such, I figured I'd dig up a few other sites for you all to peruse during your down times, in between those muse-inspired bursts of creativity.

This gallery has a bunch of sci-fi landscapes and concept art from various movies and stories, including Serenity, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Alien V. Predator.

Here's a favorite:



Sometimes, if you're trying to set a scene or emotion in your head, having some specific colors or a building layout can make the action easier. I'll often draw a map of a city or sketch out a basic lay-of-the-land for a fight scene so I can coordinate the characters better. But right now, for instance, I'm struggling with a scene that involves a boat, a lake of fire, and a bunch of netting. So I'm trying to give myself a visual anchor, as it were, to hook the scene in and draw it out of my mind. Or just find a picture that works as a seed and lets me build off the basic setup it portrays. No visual plagiarism here. Whatever comes through these eyes gets twisted flipwise and then spit out onto the page.

Do you have any favorite artists that you head to? I'd love to see, and I've got a few more to pop onto the page this week, so stay tuned.


I see that smile.

Today...

...is a day of rest.

Enjoy it.


I see that smile

Rocket Packs for sale

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/01/75-seconds-of-r.html

Start saving up your pennies, because soon this is how we'll be commuting to work each morning.





I see that smile.

The Agent Submission Process

Did you know that while you're crafting the perfect, eye-catching query letter for the Next Great American Novel you've written, literary agents have their own set of letters and proposals they have to develop as well in order to approach editors and publishing houses? Sure, in some cases they may know an editor well enough to just pick up the phone and offer an exclusive look, but in the professional realm of business cards and address books, they have to fax and email submissions just as much or more as authors trying to find representation.

In case you've ever wondered what goes on at the other side of the query letter and sample chapters, Bookends, LLC has done a two-day detail of how they approach their submission process, plus they give a few pointers about what they're looking for in a project they want to represent.

Here's the first part:

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2008/01/agent-submission-process.html#links

And the second:

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2008/01/agent-submission-process-part-deux.html#links

Apparently, editors hate phone calls. I can understand that. With so much work being online today, it'd be much easier and more efficient if I get something through email. Phone calls distract from the work flow, since you have to pick it up and divert all your attention to the conversation at hand, instead of browsing an email and figuring out which folder it belongs to.

What does an agent need in order to move forward with a project? Enthusiasm! An agent needs to feel the energy of a story in order to communicate it, and so long as they believe an author has potential, they'll keep submitting.

This may give an understanding of why agents reject an overall good story . It just may not grab them in that special way. The story could be cool, the characters a lot of fun, but if there isn't a particular zing that makes them sit up in their chair, they'll pass. Subjective? Yes. Reality? Yup.


I see that smile.

A SF Lexicon

There's an interesting note at the beginning of this lexicon, which Bruce Sterling has been writing and revising since 1990. Now he's posted it online for free, so we can learn from his experiences. But this is what he says:

The Workshop Lexicon is a guide (of sorts) for down-and-dirty hairy-knuckled sci-fi writers, the kind of ambitious subliterate guttersnipes who actually write and sell professional genre material. It's rough, rollicking, rule-of-thumb stuff suitable for shouting aloud while pounding the table.

http://artlung.com/smorgasborg/Sterling_SF_lexicon.shtml

The Lexicon comes in six parts, each focusing on a various aspect of writing, such as character and viewpoint, or plots. These terms tend to point out various problems or cliches found in genre writing, thought they don't necessarily tell you how to fix them should you spot one in your story. That's up to you as the writer, but at least your eye is able to pick issues out once they've been identified.

Some favorites:

Bathos. A sudden, alarming change in the level of diction. "There will be bloody riots and savage insurrections leading to a violent popular uprising unless the regime starts being lots nicer about stuff."

Idiot Plot. A plot which functions only because all the characters involved are idiots. They behave in a way that suits the author's convenience, rather than through any rational motivation of their own.

The Steam-Grommet Factory. Didactic SF story which consists entirely of a guided tour of a large and elaborate gimmick. A common technique of SF utopias and dystopias.

Fuzz. An element of motivation the author was too lazy to supply. The word "somehow" is a useful tip-off to fuzzy areas of a story. "Somehow she had forgotten to bring her gun." (umm...I think I use this one sometimes. Must now go do a word search on my story for the word "somehow.")

Are any of these familiar? Some I've seen before, but some others brought me a new chuckle. Have any you'd like to add?


I see that smile.

No shortage of inspiration

Ever heard of TED? No, not your next-door neighbor. This TED. Technology, Entertainment, Design. It's an annual conference where people come together from across the world, across demographics, across careers and dreams to share their ideas with one another in one huge meeting of the minds. Each speaker is challenged to give "the talk of their lives" and to pass on their passion to the audience, however they can.

From science to art to sociology...these speakers hit on almost every conceivable topic, and then a few you might never have conceived of at all. African fractals, anyone? Advances in prosthetics? Deep-space exploration?

It might do you some good to pick out a few topics you disagree with or oppose, just to see what the people say. They might make some points you didn't consider before and open up your understanding.

A few that caught my eye were Bill Stone's plans for exploring the oceans of Europa, the demo of Photosynth, which totally re-invisions how we might share visual information, and a breakthrough touchscreen interface for computers that will all may be using someday instead of a keyboard and mouse. Incredible stuff. I could watch it all day.

J.J. Abrams is there as well, talking about his love of unsolved mysteries and how that concept has driven many of his creative endeavors, including Alias, Lost, Cloverfield, etc. Bill Clinton is there, as is Al Gore, and so on. They all talk about the things that drive them through life, the dreams that pull them into the future with hope and an infectious energy.

So much potential here, so many fascinating ideas that could launch your own dreams and stories. Let me know if you uncover anything worth sharing.


I see that smile.

David Louis Edelman on writing a novel

Over at DeepGenre, Edelman has posted a second article discussing the way, or at least, his way to write a novel. If you missed the first part, it's here. It involved the basic steps...such as coming up with an idea for a novel in the first place and actually committing yourself to writing it. Without those steps, it'd be pretty hard to write a novel at all, don't you think?

This second article focuses on what to do once you've actually got a draft in hand. Do you send it off to the publisher straight away? If you do, you're either brilliant or ignorant, because very few people can create a perfect first draft without a lot of revision, feedback and editing.

It helps to have some folks to look over your work and critique it...either a writer's group, or some beta readers, whatever you want to call them. But the real work comes in listening to these people and implementing what they suggest, or deciding not to, without your literary pride getting in the way. He also suggest printing out your entire novel at one point and editing on paper using colored pens and such. This is a toughie for me, but I do agree about his outlining habits. Having a structure set up for the story helps me stay focused.

Any of these suggestions ones you feel you need to work on, or wouldn't work for you?

Don't forget to check out Edelman's website, and the developments for his sequel to Infoquake, Multireal, which is looking pretty spiffy.


I see that smile.

Art I find intriguing

Since most folks are lolling about at home today, including myself, here's a simple diversion from whatever productive tasks you've just now managed to get yourself worked up for:

http://thebrothersart.com/section/2281.html

I enjoy something of the surreal in art because it lets me pick out whatever details I want to see and attach some sort of story or background to the painting. I can see a chess board...maybe a war between good and evil...a conflict between wizards that is reshaping reality...whatever the mind can conjure, it can then twist the art into that mode of thought. It's fun, kind of like those 3D Magic Eye puzzles.

I also find that these types of paintings, where the borders break down and various elements bleed into each other, makes for the occasional inspiration or mental stimulus for a story I'm working on. The painting can portray a particular emotion I'm trying to capture, or suggest some oddity of character or environment that I can then place in a scene.

What about you? Do you turn to visual art as inspiration? I know some writers who sketch and draw while working out a story, helping themselves imagine the world and characters. Other people turn to music to give themselves the energy or mood for a chapter. I like how the various methods and modes of art interweave, a sculpture inspiring a story which inspires a song which then inspires a poem. Do you have any particular artists that you turn to when you want a fresh spark to set an idea on fire?


I see that smile.

Gah.

Computer mouse not working. Much frustration ensues while trying to get anything done involving technology. Off to buy a new one.


Smiles will be seen tomorrow.

New website for an amazing craftsman/artist

I've posted various projects, sketches and other misc. that Alex CF has created in his varied steampunk/old-world fantasy/alternate history vein. He has continued to build incredible sculptures of carnivorous plants, put together kits for hunting vampires and werewolves, some must-haves for the Lovecraft fan, and occasionally some gloves, or other pieces of equipment.

For example...


What is it, you might wonder? Nothing less than a private collection of a cleric who spent his life investigating Homo Wampyrus.

His website, just in case any of you misplaced it, has now moved to: http://www.alexcf.com/

His artwork section is something to behold. If you ever want to get into that "explorers venturing into dark places of the earth that no sane man should ever attempt to unveil" kind of mood, then this guy has the wares you need to browse. Gotta love his attention to detail and the faux history of societies, biographies and biologies he summons up to go along with his art.


I see that smile.

Dusty covers and bent pages

A fun article lists nine bookstores worth a tourist stop. Any of them in your area? I know some guys from Portland who kept telling me about Powell's, so maybe when I visit them, I'll get a chance to drop by there as well.

Cool thing is, I've lived near two of these so far: Denver's Tattered Cover, and The Strand, in NYC. Both are great places to browse through for hours, never quite sure what you'll pluck from the shelf.

What are the bookstores like where you are? Are they bright, shiny and clean with a coffee shop tucked in the corner? Are they dusty and full of book pillars ready to topple on your head at an errant step? What do you enjoy most about a bookstore? Does it need to have comfortable chairs? Friendly staff? Actually have the book you're looking for in stock?

I enjoy going to a Barnes and Noble every now and then, especially when writing at home is too distracting and I need somewhere that won't hook me up with a steady supply of email pings and chores that I've put off for too long. Whenever I go, I always browse the shelves to see what has come out lately and maybe skim some inspiring chapters from some of my favorite authors. Then I get the experience of "I can write better than this," or "I could never write as well as this."

Where do you go to breathe in the literary atmosphere?


I see that smile.

Uncyclopedia- the content-free encyclopedia

If someone creates a useful tool these days, you can bet someone else will whip up its antithesis. Email turned into spam. Social networking turned into a glut of silly videos and online quizzes that correlate your eye color with your love life.

Even Wikipedia now has its arch-nemesis in the form of the Uncyclopedia. Guaranteed to be 100% content free, the Uncyclopedia is full of nonsense articles, ramblings and other craziness that will .

Want to contribute? Go for it. It keeps the free-edit environment going so anyone can add to the madness.

I propose that someday, future sociologists will point back to creations such as this as another milestone on the road our world is taking to mass insanity. We're getting close...

I see that smile.

A drug that will eliminate sleeping?

Can it be a dream come true if it involves not sleeping? Perhaps you're struggling to catch up on whatever writing quotas/deadlines you've set for yourself. Or maybe you just want to stay up late playing games to distract yourself from your latest writing project. Either way, this haphazard sleeping cycle often leaves one groggy and churning mud in the brain the next day, especially if you have to get up early for work.

But is our good friend, Science, coming closer to finding a cure for sleep deprivation?

While only tested on monkeys so far, a new nasal spray appears to reverse the effects of sleep deprivation, restoring them to a well-rested state.

Instead of providing a stimulant, like coffee or other perk-me-ups, this spray includes a hormone called orexin A. Scientists discovered that a key trigger of narcolepsy was a severe deficit of this hormone, and so some reasoned that if chronic sleepiness was caused by this hormone's absence, perhaps sleepiness could be eradicated by introducing it back into the system. So far, it seems to be working.

Of course, restoring a sense of awareness and mental focus is only one problem of sleep deprivation. This spray doesn't address other issues, such as the body's need for physical recuperation during sleep and other metabolic factors. So while sleep may not be entirely eliminated, orexin A is a big step towards helping students cramming on all-nighters and writers trying to meet deadlines. Though, are we going to see this as an over-the-counter med anytime soon? Not likely, but here's for hoping.


I see that smile.

The Truth about Publishing

Click on Ian Irvine's website link below and look for "The Truth About Publishing" in the left hand panel.

http://www.ian-irvine.com/

What you've got there is an insider's perspective on the before-and-after misconceptions and pitfalls that accompany being published. Some great insight here, plus he blasts holes in the buckets of several common rumors.

Hard truth waits to ambush you here, I will warn you. As a sample:

Most people who write a book will never get it published, half the writers who are published won’t see a second book in print, and most books published are never reprinted. What’s more, half the titles in any given bookshop won’t sell a single copy there, and most published writers won’t earn anything from their book apart from the advance.

And then there's:

Remember the 10,000-hour rule. That’s roughly how much work and practice it takes to become accomplished in any field, whether it be sporting, creative or professional. 10,000 hours is 5 years of full time hard work. To become a virtuoso, triple that.

I find this mirrors the idiom that everyone has a million words of crap they have to get out of their system before they can get to anything of value. Irvine also has a gritty self-analysis to run through, should you be facing rejection after rejection.

As you, hopefully, advance in your career, moving from rejection to acceptance to publication and beyond, his advice shifts to help you keep things in perspective, like how to understand your advance, how to appreciate an editor's wisdom, the book production line, and how to get involved in the post-pub promotion efforts. You should probably read this whole (huge) article a couple of times, focusing on a different section each time to absorb everything he has to say.

For anyone who is wondering, I don't post resources and links like this to try and depress you, even though that can be a side effect. After all, his final lesson is titled "Anyone who can be discouraged from writing should be."

It is sobering, but my belief is that a lot of people flounder in their writing and pursuit of publication because they aren't as educated as they need to be about the standards and processes involved. So if you're dedicated to writing, then full speed ahead; but if this article raises some tough questions, it's worth asking yourself if these are the kind of sacrifices you're willing to make in the long run. The more you know, the more you can be prepared for as you chase after the dream, and the more you can shield yourself against disappoint, so when bad things do happen you can take the hits, shrug 'em off and keep trying your best.


I see that smile.

Advice on how to rewrite

Justine Larbalestier gives her advice on rewriting...not just line-by-line grammar and spelling check, but how to teach yourself to address the big issues of your writing: pacing, character development, chapter arrangement and so on. The big parts of literary surgery that can determine whether your story lives or dies.

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/?p=890

She points out some good tricks, but also reminds us that no matter how many times you scan the document, you always tend to miss something. There are always ways to improve a phrase, or tighten a line. She recommends keeping a list of words that you tend to overuse. For me that'd include:

Just
Simply
Only
Totally
Entirely
Slowly
Turned
Suddenly

And many more. Have you checked your writing patterns? Do you know what phrases or words you tend to use more than necessary? Weeding those out will help immensely, but you can only do it if you know your writing well enough. In a way, you have to study yourself, and be aware of your habits, both good and bad, to perform a better rewrite.

Do you repeat core thoughts and ideas in the same paragraph or page?
Do you drown your story in verbose descriptions that breakup the pacing?
Do your characters all sound the same, or repeat the same basic actions to accompany their dialogue?

These are key questions to apply to your revisions, and once you figure out the answers, you can keep them in mind for when you begin your next project and perhaps avoid those pitfalls so it is even easier to revise and rewrite the second go-round.

One of Larbalestier's comments that caught me was this:

A good question to ask yourself is whether a word or phrase or clause or sentence or paragraph or chapter needs to be there. If deleting it doesn’t affect the flow of the story then why is it there? Kill it! This is my favourite kind of rewriting. Pressing the delete button is easy and fun.

Fun? Actually, I agree. Done right, revising can be as exciting and involving as the writing itself.


I see that smile.

I don't understand...

How you can wake up to a sixty degree, sun-shiny day, and have the weather report promising 2-4 inches of snow by nightfall.

I'm not arguing, since we be lovin' the snow, but right now this day has some serious catching up to do if it's going to live up to its reputation.

Other than this tiny rant, I'm taking a break today, because this is my blog and I'm allowed to do that.


I see that smile.

Weird News Weekend

For the first WNW of the year, we've got some fun articles floating around.

First, an amateur scientist claimed on his blog that he had been experimenting with a man-made radioactive element and had successfully developed a component used in nuclear weapons. When officials came to take away his gear, they found his claims unsubstantiated, and fortunately, his experiments hadn't exposed his neighbors to any dangerous levels of radiation. In fact, it wasn't necessarily the project he was working on that got his lab confiscated, but the fact that his parents, with whom the 22-year-old man was living at the time, contacted authorities and asked them to remove the equipment from their property. Classic.

Then there's this guy, who tried to get through airport security dressed as a priest while carrying several kilos of "holy sand." Ahem. Cocaine. Yes. Police are still uncertain whether the man is actually a member of the clergy or not, but the packets he had strapped to his body definitely didn't come from the riverbed of the Jordan.

Lastly...well, you should just read this one.

Teen derails tram after hacking train network

That's the weird news for this weekend. I wonder what else will happen this year. I'm sure it'll be a boring one, the way things are going, right?


I see that smile.

A different kind of author interview

Since we saw a humorous piece from Patrick Rothfuss yesterday, here's another chance to delve into his mind with this author interview conducted by the Concurring Opinions website. It's not like most author interviews you see out there. It doesn't focus on the inspiration for his fantasy world, or publishing issues, or literary agents.

Instead, Rothfuss is asked about various legal matters in his book, like, how does the justice system work? Are there ways to govern magical use and education? What rules control the economy?

Intriguing stuff, and maybe it'll get you thinking about some issues in your own story that you hadn't really considered before.

http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/2007/12/an_interview_wi.html

Rothfuss does make the point that a lot of the legal and policing issues in the book are all background aspects. They aren't an overt part of the story, but he has obviously thought about them, and so can explain a point if asked about it. Otherwise, the information given in the story remains relevant to the plot, and everything else becomes cursory.

This is the level of detail, research and thought I enjoy seeing in a story, and try to include in mine, if I can. I'll admit, I've never given a ton of world-building effort to mapping out an entire legal system, but it sounds like a good challenge.

What about you? Are the governing laws of your world thought out? Is their a judicial system? Some sort of council? No idea? Are there any other areas of a story that you think tend to be glossed over or ignored...like the plumbing system or the economics?


I see that smile.

A flowchart by Patrick Rothfuss

I haven't had a chance to actually buy and read The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss, despite all the rave reviews it's received across the Fantasy-reading realm (though I do plan to rectify this soon enough). I have been impressed by the snatches I've scanned in browsing the bookstore shelves, and so I decided to visit the guy's website and browse through his blog.

Love the guy's sense of humor and devotion to his geekhood and all the trappings thereof...and he should probably go ahead and trademark the beard.

Anyways, I came across this in one of his long-ago posts and it made me laugh enough I figured I should share it. This is a flowchart he's devised that shows the thought/action process surrounding a package arriving at his house, sometimes being something he ordered, a book to be signed by a fan, or otherwise.

I'll wait here while you enjoy...

http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/uploaded_images/Flowchart---cropped-732395.jpg

...

...

Now that you're back, let's all say the one thing I know is on our mind.

"Heh. Eaten by a grue..."

Oh, and if you've read the book, let me know your opinion of it. Otherwise, I'll read it sometime this year and get a review up.


I see that smile.

Werewolf boys and vampire queens

This has become eerie. If you remember from a pre-vacation post (did that confuse anyone else?), I listed an article about a Russian boy who had been found living among wolves, feral in all his mannerisms, and who escaped from the center in which he was being tended...presumably to return to the wild.

Now, not only that, but there's this: Lured Into Darkness

LaCallia Wiggins was a 15-year-old prodigy at Drury University when she was approached at a library by a band of self-styled vampires who claimed they could tell she was a vampire queen in a previous life. She was royalty to them, and so, on their invitation, LaCallia visited the group's hideout beneath the city, watched them drink each other's blood and otherwise saturated herself with vampire lore.

Other interesting elements rose: This gang claimed there was a war coming between good and evil (where have we heard that before?). They planned to awaken LaCallia's vampire heritage in a bloody Halloween ceremony, but when LaCallia's mother couldn't reach her daughter, she filed a missing person's report, and LaCallia was picked up by the police. When she returned home, however, she acted liked a different person--calling other people "humans" with disdain, hissing like an animal, and so on.

After some counseling, it seems LaCallia has returned to reality, but other troubles have risen up in the form of death threats, being approached by strangers saying she's going to die, and more. She's dropped out of school to keep from being harassed and to protect herself. A nasty situation for anyone to be in, much less a 15-year-old girl.

This is a smart girl. A prodigy, by all accounts. She read lots of fantasy as a child, and it's this facet of the story that struck me most: when explaining why she eventually went along with the group's vampire fantasy, LaCallia said, "You always wish things in books could come true. "These people make it seem like those things are true. You have to tell yourself it's not real."

Wish fulfillment. Stories coming to life. What writer doesn't sit down and dream about a world, a style of magic, or some amazing legacy that they'd love to possess? Thing is, for a writer, it's easy (relatively speaking) to channel all that desire and imagination into the page, into that character who does become the vampire queen, who does become a central figure in the fight between good and evil. These are common elements in fantasy, and a lot of people are extremely familiar with them to the point that we know mythology and superstition more thoroughly than the laws and political systems that govern our modern reality. I've seen the Internet forums where people claim vampire lineage, or some other supernatural creatures, and they are entirely serious. It has become a lifestyle for some that consumes all aspects of their life.

I'm not sure if I'm presenting any kind of problem/solution here. I just wanted to raise this story to people's attention and see what you think. How do the boundaries between the storytelling type of fantasy and the fantasy that consumes the mind break down? Would you consider it healthy for someone to indulge in this kind of roleplay (or realplay, in their minds) if it boosts their confidence, so long as they never went overboard with it? Where are the lines drawn, or are there any lines to be drawn in the first place?

I'm glad to know LaCallia made it out of her journey into the darkness somewhat safe and sound, if a bit mentally battered, but what about all the others who are still down there?


Do I see a smile?

The Fix

Yow. Didn't realize it's been a week-long break for me. That's a first for this blog. I'll soon be getting back on track with some story ideas, writing inspirations and other such things, but since my last post involved a particular addiction, let me show you a few ways it got satisfied...for the time being.

Sometimes it's really hard coming home from a getaway like this.


I see that snow.

Mountain withdrawal

Anyone else experience this? Maybe it's not mountains for you. Maybe it's ocean withdrawal. Or clean air withdrawal. Who knew that a particular geography and weather pattern could have so much of a hold on one's mind? For me, NYC is just a big city. Weather there is just puddles on a sidewalk and harsh winds down the skyscraper wind tunnels. Colorado is a land, and weather here is snow and brisk rain and incredibly sunny days that reveal the whole front range peaked with white.

There's really no competition. It gets in your system and every time you get a chance to come back and do some snowboarding and hiking, you start to wonder why you ever left.

Where's your addiction?


I see that smile.

Happy New Years

It's officially 2008, and we're off again, this time to lose ourselves in the mountains of Colorado. A little snow action, hopefully.

Did you make any resolutions? Anyone? Seems like that tradition falls a little more out of favor every year, though there are always a few who make their lists, and even a few who stick to them. My parents have started doing something slightly different, in that they don't focus on a list of ten or more resolutions, but on a single word that sums up what they're trying to improve about themselves during the next year. Like "patience," or "generosity." Then it becomes a creative challenge to figure out how best to fulfill that word as the year moves on and all the new opportunities spring up.

Any words that you all would like to claim? Perseverance is always a good one for me, and I think I'll stick with it for now.

Blogging may be spotty over the next week, as I'm unsure about internet availability where we'll be.


I see that smile.