General

  1. Fiction or Non-fiction

    The problem I'm coming up on when writing my story is that it's one of those stories that tries to teach about real life in a roundabout way. But I can't think of many fictional stories that have really been able to impact a persons understanding of the real world in a meaningful way. There are many stories that have many relevant things to reality in it, but contemplations about those things never really rise beyond the work itself, but is usually discussed only in relation to it. The...
  2. Reading Tracker 2024

    I am now at 82% of my goal! I have read or listened to 41 books out of 50! We're almost there! So far I have dipped my toes into newer horror titles, Ray Bradbury, Orson Wells, Terry Prachett, Sarah J Maas, to name a few. It's been a great summer of reading so far, and I wonder how many I'm going to end up hitting before I get to the end of the year Always exciting!
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  3. The Stanislavski System and Method Acting

    One of the most important tenets that led to Chris Claremont's success as a writer was the fact that he was trained in acting. I've been trying to find anything online where he talks about what type or style of acting he studied, but so far haven't been able to. But I believe it must be some variation of the famous Stanislavsky System (which in the US has a variation, taught by Lee Strasberg, called Method Acting). This is deeply psycholgical, character-driven stuff. Most of the powerful and...
  4. Logan Analysis

    Scuffed shoes in closeup tell almost the whole story—things are very much 'run down at the heels' for Logan these days, Plus the way he holds his feet and walks, more a pained shuffle than the spirited gait we expect from his earlier appearances. This is not the Logan we’re used to. His hair is all messed up, and he seems to be drunk or half asleep. Plus right here at the very beginning we see one claw won't come out all the way. Going into a fight and he can't get it all the way up. It's...
  5. The Nature of Human Nature

    Since a profound Humanity turned out to be the connecting factor in all of my favorite superhero stories, it only makes sense to move to the next question—what exactly is it that makes us human? It just so happens this morning YouTube dropped both of these videos into my feed:
  6. Netflix Daredevil Analysis—The Dual Self

    The Dual Self At the simplest level a superhero is two different people because they have a secret self (the superhero). They live as an ordinary human being, and also as a crusader for justice who has special abilities. In the eighties, like many aspects of superhero comics, this idea got upgraded. I don’t know where it first happened, but I noticed it in the Tim Burton Batman movies—the idea of Bruce Wayne and Batman being two different people had become more complex and psychological. It...
  7. Crafting Horror

    Sooooo... I've been taking a lot of notes. I haven't even been able to interact with the site much since I've...just been taking notes. I felt that creation begins with an idea, but I wanted it to be unique. Like Lovecraft, I wanted something to push the boundary. Yes, everyone says there's nothing new under the sun. They're wrong. There's nothing new that they know of. Just like, before Lovecraft, there probably wasn't anything much like what he wrote. Maybe some things that glanced on...
  8. Looking into Cormac McCarthy

    I've read most of Child of God, that I found when I was researching the Lyrical Novel. I intend to finish it soon, just haven't got back to it yet. It's pretty harsh and brutal, and the only redeeming quality I can find so far is the language, which is often beautiful and indeed poetic. A few days ago—I forget what prompted me—but I bought the Kindle version of The Road and started reading it. It feels even more poetic, and filled with connections between symbols and images and ideas etc. I...
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  9. Hello Predator—Meet Prey! You'll get along famously

    Finally I've found a good and fairly comprehensive video on this subject, something I've tried many times to elaborate on throughout this blog. Iain McGilchrist seems to be just about the only scientist concentrating on this subject today, aside from some low-key research groups doing studies nobody ever hears about (unless they look into McGilchrist's work). He's its popularizer, the way Carl Sagan and Neil DeGrass Tyson are for astrophysics and science in general. Several times I've...
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  10. A Phantom for My Opera?

    Some days when I doubt myself and my abilities to write I think of employing a ghost writer. But in a bit of a different setup. I will write the first draft and then the potential ghost writer can refine it to a readable/enjoyable state. I love storytelling, and I love the creative process. But my produce just isn't up to par most of the time. Training is like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. I read, I watch, I practice... I learn? Yeah, sometimes I do learn. But I will continue to...
  11. The Desperate Search for a New Idea...

    I think I have it... Not a truly different idea in that it's completely unheard of on any level.. But I had quit story-telling for a while because I couldn't think of something genuinely new and interesting. Different in terms of style, structure, and idea. As a fiction writer...I tend to want to create something. To flex my imagination rather than offering stylistic renditions of the same types of stories. Only problem is...I think I will never complete it in time. I know...cryptic....
  12. Word Of The Day

    Today's word of the day is ZEN. I refound my Zen today. I didn't even know I lost it. I was mowing the lawn, giving it a scalp cut, 1st cut of the spring. This is where you cut it at the mower's lowest setting, trim off all the dead so it can grow back green for the spring. I was transfixed atop the riding mower doing a repetitive task, the drone of the engine, gentle breeze in my hair. I'm back in the groove again. A calm & peace came over me, & I was reminded of when I worked as...
  13. Temporary Blindness -True Tales

    SoberDate 8041 A couple nights ago a series of thunderstorms rolled thru our area at nighttime. Around 11pm I got up for a late night snack from the fridge (a cheese stick) when the power went out. I ate my cheese and went back to bed. Around midnight, my wife awoke to use the bathroom and the 1st thing she noticed was it was pitch black, no light from the clock, no nightlight from the bathroom, no light outside from the streetlight. Nothing, just total inky blackness. Now mind you,...
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