Look Out!
See more at HeyDoofus' blog!
I can’t believe I’ve forgotten to post about this yet! Some important news from across the Tasman – dinosaurs have invaded Auckland!! Keep an eye on that site, as updates will be posted as they come to hand from our trusty reporter in the field. In fact, there’s even been some evidence of them in and around Melbourne too! I’ve seen ‘em with my own eyes!
The pubs aren't safe anymore!!
So with all this danger in the world, we need plenty of warning signs around to keep the world safe and bad things away . . . kinda like what this guy’s done:
From Engrish.com
Of course, you want to make sure people have got the right idea. Sometimes you need to exactly clarify what you mean, like in this instance:
From Engrish.com
And that’s why I love thesauruses!
Three New Stories and Some Links
I’ve got three new stories up for your viewing pleasure: Lessons I’ve Learnt and Chopper on my Doorstep were written in 2005 when I was working an evening shift job. That was great for my creativity, working from 3pm – 11pm (even if the work was shit) as it was closer to my natural sleep patterns but no good for my social life. I feel a little bad with Lessons I’ve Learnt - when I originally wrote it the disaster was a terrorist bombing (can’t remember which country), and the next day the London bombings happened. Then I changed it to a ferry sinking in the Philippines as I thought that sounded realistic in context, and, well, that happened recently too. I was toying with changing it again before posting the story but what’s done is done – it just bares no connection with recent events.
The Lunch appeared on Worth1000 in a recent three-way comp that had to include the word floccinaucinihilipilification. It came 2/3 and got a pretty good score, but again I fear my style may have alienated people a bit. I like to write about seamier characters and although some people really like that (The Lunch is actually a bit of a homage to Chuck Palahniuk and inspired but a throwaway line from his book Survivor), I also think people find it hard to connect or no how to react to that sort of thing. I’d probably win more comps if I had the ability to grab people’s heartstrings but I’ve never been good with that sort of thing; it’s just not within me to do human interest stories.
Anyway, here they are:
And just a couple of interesting links I’ve come across recently: the Worth Clock, a clock that has a different image for every minute of the day. Fascinating, but highly distracting! And artist Maggie Taylor, who has some nice works on her site.
Two Word Games
I was going to try to post another short story today but that will have to wait. I spent more time then I intended down at the Vic Market and although it was good to get out, buy veggies from hippies, have a late all-day breakfast and watch the world go by, I managed to waste pretty much all of my Sunday. My flat is a mess, I’ve got dinner to cook and lunch to make for tomorrow, a script to study and two stories to write . . . dammit, why are weekends never long enough?!
And speaking of time-wasting, here are a couple of word games you might find fun. Firstly, the Human Brain Cloud. I only came across this last night and I’m already terribly addicted. It gives you a word or a phrase, you you tell it the first thing that comes into your mind, and it builds word-connections based on player input. Apparently it all grew from a single word: volcano. According to my stats, I’m currently 45% original and 55% in tune with humanity. I think that’s a good thing.
Secondly, Wordle. This lets you put text in, and it analyses it to see which words are most often used (discounting the “the”s “and”s, etc). It puts it into a graphic you can edit the look of until you get something like this:
That’s an example from my synesthesia story, and you can see other Wordles I’ve made over here. They’re great for drawing new connections or seeing things you might not have seen in a work, plus they’re fun to make.
Just popping by . . .
Just a quick post as I still have a bit of housework to do yet and a tonne more to write on this damn play – it’s Script Tease tomorrow night and I want to be able to take something for a read (Script Tease is a monthly meeting of writers and actors at Dante’s where we read through scripts in development and get feedback – immensely helpful, laid-back, and non-threatening).
But anyway, I came across a couple of interesting things today. Firstly, the Steampunk Workshop . . . drool! These guys mod stuff to make them look all futurist/modernist/steampunkish and it is amazing. Loads of cogs and gears and etching. Makes me wish I had some mechanical and artistic skills and a place big enough to house it all in.
The second thing I came across today is another eastern European photographer, Andrzej Dragan. Hailing from Poland, this guy is not only a photographer, but a lauded physicist and composer. Talk about over-achiever! Anyway, check out his site (warning: contains sound you can’t turn off). His portraits under portfolio:personal are intense and some of the stuff under advertising is worth checking out too. Sadly, I can’t post an example here but trust me, his stuff is really worth seeing.
It begins here
So, my first post . . . or sort of first post, if you ignore the other one back there.
I’ve been meaning to make this post all week but things have gotten on top of me and this blogging thing is tricky (hopefully this procrastination isn’t a hint of things to come). I’ve tried LJs and diaries before but I’ve never been that good at personal journals so I intend this blog to be more about my work than about me; that said, I’ll no doubt post important or interesting things that happen to me along the way. But what’s more important is my writing, my acting, and all the other things I get up to in the hope of creating something worthwhile and to validate my existence as something more than a lowly office clerk.
Writing is my main passion. I tend to take on more projects than I can handle, but right now I’m working on a full-length play, pretending to proof-read and second-draft my 2006 NaNoWriMo novel, and competing in the text section on Worth1000. I’d be lying if I said my aim wasn’t to one day see my name on the spine of a novel or credited on a playbill, but I also understand I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me until I’m that good so much of this blog will be dedicated to that journey. I’ll also be posting some of my short stories so stay tuned for that.
My other main interests are acting and, currently, belly dancing (but don’t get any ideas about that, I’m really not that great 
). I’m planning on going back to acting lessons as every time I audition I feel terribly under-prepared and sadly I fall into the most common demographic, i.e., female aged between 18 – 25, and I suspect there aren’t many roles for short, pudgy red-heads in that group. I’d love to study full time, or even take on a diploma course part-time, but I just can’t afford that sort of thing on my wage, so night classes it is. I’ve got a few other things simmering away in the background too, so no doubt you’ll hear about it here as well.
Otherwise, you’ll be getting reviews of books, movies and shows and any interesting links that cross my path. To start you off, here’s something I came across on the Articulate blog – Alexey Titarenko, a Russian photographer who takes some absolutely haunting photographs. Having just read the Nightwatch trilogy, some of these photos make the Twilight seem like a very real place.
