Thoughts

  1. Musings on Fritz Leiber

    Here's a rather massive paragraph from the beginning of the book Witches of the Mind by Bruce Byfield, a critical assessment of the overall literary achievements of Fritz Leiber: "In Fritz Leiber and Eyes, the best effort to define an approach so far, Justin Leiber (Fritz's son) takes this diversity (of his influences) for granted. "Fritz simply likes to write a lot of different kinds of things," he explains. "And if half of them are ahead of their time or behind their time or so far out in...
  2. 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...
  3. Horror Story Devices via Fritz Leiber

    First some links to several online articles about how to write horror: Notes on Writing Weird Fiction by H. P. Lovecraft Supernatural Horror in Literature by H. P. Lovecraft Learning to Write Horror From Edgar Allan Poe The ‘Uncanny’ by Sigmund Freud Click "Show More Pages" at the bottom to see parts II and III. How to Write a Horror Story: 7 Tips for Writing Horror @ Reedsy What Stephen King Can Teach You About Writing Great Horror Just to once again try to consolidatre many resources...
  4. Clarity, Power, and Discovery in Writing

    This is actually stuff I've known and been doing (and promoting in here) for a long time. I usually talk about it in relation to journaling and what I call 'writing about a story before you write the story.' In each case they're ways of exploring, structuring, and developing your thoughts about a subject. You can also do that in freewriting if you keep it to a subject and don't just slap down pure gibberish (which is an extreme form of freewriting). I often start a writing session with some...
  5. A way to explain the Dunning Kruger effect

    Put simply, the Dunning Kruger effect says: Beginners are unable to see that their work isn't as good as the work of more skilled artists. First to dispell a very common misunderstanding—it doesn't mean they're stupid. It just means they haven't learned certain things yet. I first ran up against this in drawing, and I think using some visual aids can help get the principle across clearly. One of the ways I've heard it put best is by drawing instructor Robert Beverly Hale in one of his...
  6. Military Youth Camp Days

    When I was a teenager I attended a week long military youth camp. There I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I sucked at guiding an airplane bomb run. (I bombed the wrong city. In theory, not practice.) I got to shoot a .22 long. A cartridge got stuck in the loading mechanism, I thought something was wrong so I raised my hand and the instructor came. He just used force to guide the cartridge into where it was supposed to be. I thought the damn thing would explode in my face if I used...
  7. If a flamingo gets in your yard

    If a flamingo gets in your yard If a flamingo gets in your yard, don’t shoo it away. There’s no need to fear. Cautiously approach, and take some time to really notice it. Pink is a comforting colour, after all. There’s an elegance in their long necks and long legs. Appreciate how it is formed. If there are two flamingos, even better. When the two of them get together, beak to beak, and breast and breast, they make a heart, and we all know what that means. If a flamingo gets in your yard,...
  8. Things that you can’t have just one of…

    Things that you can’t have just one of… Top of everyone’s list is chips (crisps in the UK). That intoxicating mixture of fats and carbs gets me every time. I’m a kettle-chip lover, salt and vinegar. Not everyone likes the vinegar chips, but they are my favourite. And of course chocolate. I got a good supply of Lindt Lindor chocolates for Christmas. Can’t eat just one. Maybe some people can, but I bet it takes will power. Cups of coffee. Gotta have three or four every morning. Recent...
  9. Lithium Ion batteries (rechargeable) and safety

    Recently I was looking into getting an eBike and ran across the fact that many of them are known to suddenly burst violently into flames, either while charging, while riding, or just while sitting somewhere. And not only that, but the flames can't be put out. I posted some info about it on the message board a while back, but I've been looking into it more and I've found some better info now. I mentioned on the Science thread that I have a few flashlights with rechargeable lithium-ion...
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  10. Concepts

    Concepts A concept is whatever my mind can conjure. A mental picture. I have a concept of a cat. It is a four-legged, furry creature, purrs, smaller than a dog. I base that concept on observation. I have a concept of freedom. This requires a lot more input. Freedom is the absence of outside restraints. Freedom is the realization of who my most authentic self is. Freedom releases me. Freedom is valued. Concepts are formed in different ways. The more abstract the concept, the more thinking...
  11. There’s Always More

    So ...remember that guy...the one I wrote about on the other blog post. You know that I talked to non-stop for a whole day until I fell asleep on him that evening and then hadn't heard a peep from him the next day. Well, I heard from him that evening, we actually continued to talk for a few more days before, actually meeting in person. Yeah, you read that correctly, I officially meet someone from the site in real life lol. We have pretty much been together almost non-stop since we met,...
  12. Terrorism

    As far as I know, it was a Danish individual with dual citizenship who burned the Quran here in Sweden, him and an asylum seeker from Iraq. No actual Swede burned any Quran in a way that garnered so much attention, as far as I am aware. There are also conspiracy theories amongst extremists that the Swedish social agencies are stealing Muslim children. And here we are, with extremists chanting death against Sweden and dealing it because of a Dane and an Iraqi. If it wasn't serious I would...
  13. Exploring the origins and psychology of slasher flicks

    Watching Halloween for October fright-fest. This is notes toward a movie analysis, so it contains spoilers, for several slasher flicks. It all just came together for me. I was puzzling all through the movie (once again)—why all the Freudian pathologized superego stuff in all these killers—Michael Meyers, Jason Voorhees etc? Why the weird blending of mother and son in the first 2 Friday the 13ths? I started thinking I should look into the production history of Halloween, maybe it was based...
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  14. What is that song!

    Ever have one of those days where you just cannot get a song out of your head? I have had this song stuck in my head all day. I literally could not hear any other part of it in my mind except for this: " Ever know when the time is right to take the reins. Down the road they're gonna find out anyway but it's too late Ya know leaches like pretending that they're everything they're not. I don't like it, I don't need, I don't want it. " Yeah, that is it, all I can hear, kudos to anyone who...
  15. Can writing be a meditation?

    This idea has been on my mind for a while, just as idle speculation, but now I want to run a bit of an experiment. I know drawing and painting function as active mediations for me, at least at times. It happens when you fall into the flow state, when time seems to stand still or you forget all about it, forget to eat a meal or two becuase you're so absorbed in the creative work, and when you do bring the session to an end you realize a lot more time has gone by than you thought, and you...
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