Hey folks,

So I thought I could handle recovering from this virus, doing physiotherapy, writing the first draft of my thesis, putting together some short stories, planning my flagship treasure hunt for the summer, taking online courses in cryptography and game theory, playing ice hockey, and keeping up with this blog all at the same time, but it turns out I was wrong. I will be back with sixguns a-blazing by or on APRIL 1, 2012. Until then, if you need sixguns, WARNING: you may be a character in an old-timey Western.

See you soon!

Sooo… this is turning out to be a super-busy time of year for me. I am privileged to be working on something really cool, and also to be working on something a little more ordinary but really cool nevertheless. However, working on both those things and at the same time recuperating from whatever the heck this illness is has left me hardly any time to write a blog entry for this week.

On that winning note, allow me to post instead something I’ve had up my sleeve since last weekend: a desperate plea for YOUR, yes, YOUR help.

You may recall that getting others’ reactions and criticism is an important part of my writing process. I am currently working on a series of urban fantasy short mysteries set around Toronto (mostly the university). My hope is to have nine stories that work both as individual stories and together as a novel — think of my goal as being like a TV season. Only, you know, of a good show.

I’ve finished polished drafts of stories 1 through 3: “Speak of the Devil”, “On the Side of the Angels”, and “Devil in the Details”.  Each story is about 25 pages long. The protagonists are adults, and there’s some swearing and violence. I could really use more eyes on them, whether those eyes are linked to hands that then type out a detailed analysis of every word choice, grammar problem, and plot hole or to ones that type “yep. that was a story.”

So, pretty pretty please wanna take a look for me? On one or some of the stories *?

Or, if you have something you’d like to get feedback on (writing is probably your best bet, but, hey, if you want my even more uninformed opinions on other stuff, I’m game), wanna trade?

If so, then please comment, message, or email me.

But before you do, I want to make crystal clear that just agreeing to receive one or more stories entails NO COMMITMENT ON YOUR PART. You can read them. You can let them sit on your hard drive. You can print them and burn them if you hate me and/or the environment. Although I appreciate any and all feedback (even/especially negative feedback), once I hit that “send” key, it will be as if I have completely forgotten that any such transmission of stories ever existed, and I will not think of them and you together ever again unless YOU choose to bring it up.

The only two things I ask you to agree to are the following:

1) Please don’t show any part of the stories to anyone without my permission, because such things can interfere with seeking publication.
2) Please understand that if you give feedback that I don’t use in my revision, this doesn’t mean that it was bad or that I didn’t read it or that my feelings are hurt. It just means that I have to tell my story, even if it doesn’t match up to the awesome one you can imagine.

Thanks, and hope everyone’s new year is starting off great!

* Some of you who have read “Speak of the Devil” have asked me to let you know when I’ve continued the series. Consider this to be letting you know.

Move over, Shaun of the Dead! There’s another game in town.

Its name is Pontypool, a 2008 film by Bruce McDonald. I originally rented it from iTunes because it was only 99 cents, and I vaguely recalled hearing some praise of it. I knew there were zombies involved; I put off watching the thing because I was scared it would keep me up at night.

Funny thing is, it did. But not for the reasons I thought. Read more »

Movies

Midnight in Paris (**** – liked)
The Tree of Life ( *** -  enjoyed)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes ( ** – found interesting)

Theatre

The Wizard of Oz (***** -  loved)
Private Lives (**** – liked)

Books

Adult fiction:
Postern of Fate (*** – enjoyed)
By the Pricking of My Thumbs (**** -  liked)
Snuff (***** – loved)
The Education of H*Y*M*A*N K*A*P*L*A*N (*** – enjoyed)
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (***** -  loved)
Rumpole of the Bailey
The Trials of Rumpole
Rumpole for the Defense
Rumpole and the Golden Thread
Rumpole’s Last Case
Rumpole à la Carte
Rumpole on Trial
and
The Anti-Social Behaviour of Horace Rumpole (***** – loved) Read more »

Well, Chris Carter? I’m still waiting.

In the meantime, it’s that time of year again: time to go over everything I said I’d do this time last year but probably failed to accomplish by this time this year. Drum roll, please! Read more »

Hooray! You are lucky, because although I’m still sick, I started working on this year-evaluation a long time ago. So it may bear some semblance to being coherent.

Also, to all you Christians and secular-celebraters out there: Merry Christmas! To all you Jews: Happy Hannukah! To everyone else: … ‘sup?

Just kidding, have a great holiday season, whether the holiday you enjoy is religious, cultural, or statutory. See you in 2012! Read more »

So here’s how this whole “being sick” thing is going.

Monday: I AM SO SICK
Tuesday: See the doctor, have another test done, get told to rest.
All through week: Don’t leave apartment. Try to rest, but too much work!
Friday: Test is inconclusive. Still, feel mostly better.
End of weekend: Tentatively leave apartment for something fun but low-key, like seeing a movie or having dinner
next Monday: REPEAT FROM START

The relevance of this to the new Muppet movie is that it will explain why my reaction — “I regret nothing!!!” — is really a sign of how fantastic this movie is instead of just, you know, my own weirdness. Read more »

One of the annoying things about being sick for three weeks is you don’t really have time to write blog posts. One of the not annoying things about being sick for three weeks is you can catch up on some TV. One of the really annoying things about this weekend is me trying to pass off running commentary on the next three episodes of Once Upon a Time as a blog entry. The format is (+/-), because it’s fun. Minor spoilers, marked as well as I can. Read more »

(Hmmm… hope this is coherent. I’ve been supposed to be in bed resting all week, according to the doctor. Although I’m regretfully missing social occasions and staying away from the gym, you can probably guess how well the “rest” part is going.)

Getting annoyed at Star Trek for its implied politics feels like getting annoyed with a puppy for slobbering all over your face as it leaps into your lap and wags its tail enthusiastically. Their hearts are in the right place, bless them. And I can’t fault Star Trek: The Next Generation for its lack of in-depth philosophical analysis on account of each episode being, well, 40 minutes long and written in the 1990s.

Besides, unlike other shows, Star Trek never made irritating claims to be profound or rebellious or Speaking the Truth Everyone Else Is Too Politically Correct To Say, Man. It does what it does because it thinks its ideologies — IDIC, humanism, individual rights — are and should be obvious to everyone. But I did have to turn off a pair of season 5 episodes halfway through because I couldn’t stand to watch them all in one sitting. And I wanted to blog about why. Read more »

I make no guarantees for these newfangled “thrillers” with all their twists and turns and serial killings. But should you ever find yourself in the small British town of Something-Or-Other-By-The-Sea or at an old country estate, and the squire collapses over his tea or the maid stumbles across a body with the missing fish knife stuck between its shoulder blades, here’s how to better your chances.

1) Know everyone’s name. Read more »