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 (just the) "Pretty Pictures" Entries Skeleton Kiwi August 20, 2008 My sister Jenna and I remember a tart soft drink when we were kids called Walkabout Springs Kiwi Juice. Neon green drink in a clear glass bottle. Black label and (I think) a kangaroo logo. I only remember finding/drinking it a few times, but it had such a unique taste that I can't help thinking about it sometimes, wishing I could try it again.  Enjoy Pop Soda!! As far as I can tell, Walkabout Springs is no longer in business (though the company had an energy drink as late as 2002). So Jenna went on a hunt this year to find an alternative, even going so far as to stink up her kitchen, experimenting with a make-your-own-soft-drink kit.  When we got our babies from the shelter in Nov. 2005, they (the shelter people, not the cats) said they (the cats, keep up) were about three months old, so we decided they should share a birthday with me. Which means they turned 3 when I turned 32. Which means a few of these bottles are theirs... And then, just in time for my birthday, she found a little something by the Hadson Toko trading Company and sent me a dozen.  Loki thinks of ways to trick Thor out of her half of the loot. It's got a unique taste (I'm not sure it's kiwifruit, but it's not like artificial orange tastes like orange either), though the one thing I'm sure I remember about Walkabout Springs Kiwi Juice was a stronger flavor. I'm also not used to corn syrup, so that's quite dominant to me, and it's hard for me to know for sure that there's _that_ much difference between this and, say, Sprite. But I'm thinking it's as close to the old Walkabout as I'm gonna get.  Thor's krazi for kiwi! It has a neat Ramune-style bottle, with a little marble you pop out of place in lieu of a cap, which I've never tried or seen up close before. I tried to capture the magic a bit with this animated gif (150kb+).  Uh oh! Sugar crash! Thanks, sis!
 Klean Kanteen FTW: Nalgene No More August 3, 2008 So I'm an early adopter of at least one annoying habit. For eight or nine years now, I've carried around a 32 oz Nalgene water bottle almost everywhere I went. Work. Play. Home. Travel. Clarion. Bathroom. I'd fill it with water twice per day, on average. This. Is. What. I. Drank. Out. Of. I remember going to parties and Jen telling me to put my Nalgene back in the car (I brought it with me out of habit, on accident, I swear!! I do have _some_ social skills...).  I had to pry the Nalgene from Thor's cold, furry paws. I championed the Nalgene, because of its health benefits (hydration, hydration, hydration!), as well as the environmental and financial benefits (purchasing one kickass bottle every two years or so vs purchasing disposable water bottles wherever I went). Reasonable, right? Early adopter or no, I bloomed late to the health risks of the BPAs and the polycarbonite plastics Nalgene uses. I took the "sure, isn't everything bad for you in large enough amounts?" line. But post head injury, I've forced myself to become more aware of everything that goes into my body. And something that's bad for you in large amounts is probably bad for someone who drinks 64 ounces of it per day, almost every day, for the better part of a decade.  One of the "publicity photos" Jamie snapped for me a few years back. Wanted to capture the real me... So a few months ago, I finally switched to a 40 oz stainless steel Klean Kanteen. It's a clear winner, though not without downsides.  Hey, I watch your baby-picture slideshows. You can give five seconds to my water receptacles. My big concern was that the metal would make the water taste tinny, as drinking out of aluminum or eating out of a can does. It doesn't. It's as flavorless as glass, which makes water taste _better_ than the plastic Nalgene ever did. And there's no musty smell that I'd get ever after the third or fourth wash of new Nalgene.  Drink-holder desk attachment. Sorry, ladies. I'm taken. It keeps the water cold--or at least feeling cold--longer, the way a can of soft drink can feel colder than a 20 oz plastic bottle in the same refrigerated case. The 40 oz Klean Kanteen is the same width as the 32 oz Nalgene, so my two accessories (the shown desk-holder thing above and carabiner thing below--I think the latter's a Bottle Belt from REI) are compatible.  Thor finds love again. (The white rope to the cap is a homemade thing, to make it easier to carry, to keep me from losing the cap, and to keep me from having to set the cap down where the cats will lick it.)  One second rule: it's on the table for one second, so it belongs to Loki. The Kons of the Klean Kanteen? It's a little bit heavier (though I'm comparing a 40 oz Kanteen with a 32 oz Nalgene; there are smaller models). It's opaque, and there's no measurement lines to tell me how full it is. And I don't like (or at least I'm not used to) the cap options, compared with the wide assortment available for the Nalgene. FWIW, I did have a wide mouth Nalgene, so I don't know whether a small-mouth Nalgene's caps are interchangeable with the Kanteen's. So now I'm the annoying guy who carries 40 oz of water around with him instead of 32. I can live with that.  Sure, Loki likes the Kanteen's shine... ...but preferred (even as a baby!) the Nalgene's chewiness. Why not go with a BPA-free Nalgene? Yes, Nalgene now makes BPA-free plastic bottles. But seeing how they've insisted on the safety of their polycarbonite products up to and after replacing them with bottles they emphasize as BPA-free (as their largest selling point, even!), I think they've worn out any brand loyalty or trust I might have had. That's right, Klean Kanteen. Don't think you can phone it in and automatically keep my business. I'm a mercenary consumer! Note that there's been no recall and that polycarbonite Nalgene bottles still seem widely available in outdoor stores, etc; if you do purchase a Nalgene plastic bottle, look for an indication that the exact one you're purchasing is BPA-free. If I was going to go with BPA-free plastic instead of stainless steel (I think I'm too clumsy for glass), the Kor One looks promising. Supposed to come out this month. Given how much water I drink on a daily basis, I didn't think it would be a good idea to wait any longer.  You put your weed in there.
"Groundbound" in FutureQuake #10 (out now) June 14, 2008  My five page science fiction comic story "Groundbound" with artist Shaun Gardiner appears in the current issue of the British comics-anthology series FutureQuake. Shaun and I are hoping to expand it into a four issue miniseries.  I don't think the book is available from Diamond, but I'll double-check. I'll be ordering a few copies direct on FRIDAY (June 20). If you're in the U.S. and want me to order you a copy (I'll absorb the overseas shipping, if you'll pay for cover price plus a buck or two for "local" postage), just let me know. LJ comments or contact form.  A few quick notes: The script got some heavy tweaking/edits both from editorial before going to Shaun, and afterwards from myself and Shaun after some of those changes (and some of my own idiocy) created some issues I didn't foresee. The changes much improved the piece, I'd argue, and I'll post a few of the more fun alternative solutions we came up with in the next week or so.  I gave the sociopath-protagonist the name "Holly" specifically because I didn't know any Hollys personally when I wrote the script in late 2005. I've since met at least three, including my Clarion instructor Holly Black. Oops.  Also in 2005, not knowing what would sell and what wouldn't, I very occasionally reused science fiction conceits (like maybe twice in a couple dozen pieces). Sure enough, this shares an idea with "Outgoing," which was accepted for publication in Asimov's within a few months of my placing this with FutureQuake IIRC. Two very different stories and not the most important detail in either, but still.  And, finally, I wrote this as a "Future Shock" spec script for 2000 AD, and FS stories have a certain... expectation that comes with the final panel or two. I make no apologies for staying true to that here, but if structure-wise it's hard to identify this as an "Alex" story (whatever that means this early in my career)... 
WisCon 2008: Best Mistake Evar! May 31, 2008 So WisCon was probably a mistake, healthwise. I was beat even before my reading Friday night, and compromised my immune system so quickly and thoroughly that I caught a bug probably from the first hands I  The Clarion 2006 partial reunion. Photo courtesy of Vince, who has a larger version (and his own blog about WisCon) here  Alex does his, um, reading? as JoSelle looks on in horror.  Is Will testing the camera? Or is the camera testing Will?  This made me sad. And I don't think I made a fool of myself too often throughout the rest of the con, though I don't think I've ever felt so self-conscious as I debated with each interaction: do I bring up the brain injury and risk looking like a sympathy whore or do I let this person walk away assuming I'm just a flaky dumbass? Tried both. Felt like a tool either way. Gonna sign me up for next year and see what WisCon's like coherent. And it'd be nice to actually go to more panels, readings, and parties than I reluctantly miss out on. *Watched Recount. Brilliant performances, except for the cringeworthy Gore and Bush impersonators. Overall, allowed me to relive that unique visceral disheartenment of 2000. So... thanks, HBO!
Alex's Pregnancy Prevention PSAs May 18, 2008 I believe the finished two PSAs are currently showing before films in a few NC Triangle-area movie theaters, and will be airing on assorted television stations across the state by the end of the month. If I understand correctly (I get this all third-hand), APPCNC has also licensed/sold the PSAs to other organizations, so you might see them pop up outside of North Carolina as well. "Timing is Everything." This first one is aimed at the younger folk: "Unconditional" This second one is aimed at parents (while I do often cringe at the manipulativeness of heartstring-type ads, I probably only would've had an ethical issue with the job if this was aimed at kids/teens): Yes, that's me. And how's this for apt casting: while technically I could have been Lea's father, I would've been 14 or so when she was born. Third one's also aimed at parents, but it errs on the fun side like "Timing." Here's hoping we get to see it.
LEGO: Steam Dart April 21, 2008 Reasonably Clever hosted a Lego challenge last month: create a Steampunk "impulse buy" set, 50 pieces or fewer, just like they used to have in hobby shops and toy stores near the chashier. I made myself a Steam Dart (click for larger):   Loose homage to my favorite impulse set of all time (says a lot coming from a classic castle gentleman like myself), set 6824 : Space Dart (1984). 
Bias Wars: Headline vs Copy March 6, 2008 That's what I call balanced reporting!  (click to enlarge image) http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/06/clinton-leads-obama-in-texas-caucuses-count/
The Dumb Man as Machinima January 16, 2008 A few years back I narrated Sherwood Anderson's The Dumb Man, released it free with a Creative Commons License. I did it because it was interesting, because I was never sure what to make of something so strange and elusive, complete with a mysterious form (riddle? prose poem?). Of course I got a bunch of emails asking what the hell it was, and I never knew what to say... Except that if I ever thought it was a silly exercise, then today I'm reeeaally glad I did it anyway. Multimedia artist Lainy Voom contacted me last week with what she was working on: she's used it in a Second Life machinima, and it's astounding (and I'd agree with Cory Doctorow's comment: "the most beautiful machinima I've seen to date"). Love, love, love that I could be a small part of something like this, and that a seemingly incidental CCL-licensed work could have such a life beyond what I did with it. Thanks, Lainy!
Almost Made It December 27, 2007 So black ice is real. I lived most of my life on northern Ohio roads. When it comes to ice and similar hazards, I'm an annoyingly cautious driver. Sure, I've pulled myself out of fishtails, and I've pushed myself out of snowy ditches. But black ice? Where the first sign of anything slippery is a complete loss of traction? I've only hit black ice exactly once now: it was Sunday night, coming up 77 from Carrboro, North Carolina to Akron, Ohio, in the last half hour of a nine-hour solo drive.  But once is enough, eh? The driver who stopped and called an ambulance for me said I rolled twice, but I blacked out too soon to corroborate that. Walked away with nothing more than bruises and a mild head injury, if any head injury can be mild. Head's still swollen. Still can't focus for long periods, or stay awake for the better part of the day. But that'll get better. The Honda CR-V's finished after taking the worst of it (2000-2007 with just under 160K miles on it; airbag never deflated, but it saved my life regardless). Got sick of picking broken glass out of my beard, so that's gone, too. My glasses were torn off me in the crash, but better torn outward than inward, I guess. So the year ends the same way it begins, with an ambulance ride to the emergency room. Wheeee! I'm thinking 2008 must have something pretty wild in store, if 2007 is that adamant about keeping us from seeing it. But we're alive. We're happy. We're blessed. Drive safely, all!
SALE - "Spoils of Springfield" to Shimmer December 21, 2007 It's a Christmas miracle! Very happy about this. Shimmer's one of my favorite SF publications these days, if this post (LJ mirror) didn't already make that clear (and, incidentally, they're running their own subscription drive through January 10).  No, Loki, we don't have to do something every time someone holds a subscription drive. 
That's right. Back to bed. "Spoils" is another pre-Clarion humor piece. With zombies. Or class warfare. Or my attempt to write a manga fight sequence as prose. Something. More about it later; I wanna save some stuff for the "reader bonus content" Shimmer runs for each issue.
SF Small Press Arrival Day November 29, 2007
Guess what day it is!
 It's SF Small Press Arrival Day! * 
(*Not a real day.) How do you feel about that? 
Okay. Loki gets Shimmer, because he called it and there are rules, people! 
Thor takes LCRW because she is mighty and demands it to be so! 
And I'll start with Apex! 
But wait! Just what the hell is going on here? 
Two copies of Apex #11? 
D'oh! 
I only have two cats, people! 
Excess copies should be going to new subscribers, not me! Because they only need seven more subscribers this month and they can raise their payrates! Hmm. Don't know what made me think of that just now. Anyway, what am I going to do with two copies (FWIW I did offer to send one back)? 
If only I could give one away! Oh, wait a minute! 
I can! Sweet nectar of being able to do things, I drink thee! Take a bow, Thor! 
Or a bath. Baths are cool, too. Whatever. To get my extra copy of Apex # 11 (which, incidentally, goes up to... naah, too obvious), go read about their Subscription Drive and come back here and be the first to post a comment on LiveJournal. Thassit. No purchase/subscription necessary or test to make sure you've read it or anything. This is the honor system, people, and I'm not going to send my extra copy to a cheater, except on accident. Like how they sent it to me. No animals were hurt during the making of this journal entry. 
Loki and Thor dismiss all rumors about sharing a trailer on the set. They're just good friends and would appreciate it if you respected their privacy. Thanks!
Scott Pilgrim is in my Pants November 14, 2007 Ah, so this is why Harry Potter fans did the whole midnight-waiting-in-line thing. Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, volume 4 was in the store this morning and is now is in my pants:  (Great thing about these jeans is if someone asks me about SC on my walk home, I not only know they're cool, but also that they've been checking out my ass. One of those means they've got taste.) Andrew and Vanessa, owners of Chapel Hill Comics had placed bets on whether it'd be me or one other customer first in the store today to pick said comic up. Strangely I'm bothered neither by this nor for the fact that I was second. Thanks for having, err, faith in me anyway, Andrew. I'll try to read it over lunch. But no spoilers, please. Loki's still on vol 2: 
Intermission - First Screengrabs August 2, 2007    Aha! Now I remember why I was so excited about this action-short, filmed mostly in Providence, RI in 2005. I co-wrote Intermission (working title; like six movies have come out since then with the same name) with my friend, director/cinematographer Steve Milligan. He shot it with one of those unusual camera formats where it's taken two years to get the footage off of the tape without paying a fortune. Editing this thing's gonna be a nightmare, particularly the ADR work. But after my first look at the footage, I'm thinking we can turn this into something fun.
Trinoc*coN 2007 Schedule, What I Look Like Now August 1, 2007
I am soooo outclassed. (If this gets changed between now and Friday, I'll add an "Updated" to the header. Otherwise, look for last-minute tweaks near the registration desk. Visit the Trinoc-coN website for more info.) If you're in Raleigh, NC this weekend and would like to say hello, here's what I look like this morning, according to the self-timer on my camera:  But I might be wearing a hat this weekend. My hair is at that length where it'll stick straight up if I don't do anything, it'll look like a combover if I push it forward, and it requires a lot of "product" to keep back like this. (Though, looking at this pic, I should forget about figuring out what to do with hair now that I have it; I need to work on my smile.) Edit: Okay, yeah. It turns out I'm wearing the same sleeveless shirt that I wore in my intentionally bald photo from the first time I shaved my head in '04. It's comfy.
Umoja at Eno 2007 July 11, 2007  It's the Eno picture tour 2007! Fourth of July was on a hot Wednesday. Jen, Mary, and I headed out to the 28th annual Festival for the Eno in Durham. It was my third time there, Jen's fourth. Not sure about Mary's Eno stats, but she went with Jen last year while I was at Clarion.  This is not a request.  Boo Hanks at Grove Stage. Kickass blues player. 80 years old. The man recorded his first album last year and is currently considering whether he wants to pursue music as a career, after a lifetime of playing for friends and family. God bless him. I hope he does.  The recycle-monsters.  My first deep-fried Twinkie. Been wanting to try one for years. It was okay. Like a warm donut on a stick. The cream turned really watery and gave it a sickening sweetness. Next time I think I'll just go for a warm donut.  Just to show it wasn't all junk food.  The chimney/remains of (IIRC) an old hunting lodge.  The reading of the Declaration of Independence by Durham councilpeoples and organizers.  Giant puppeteers of giant puppets (Paper Hand) lead the parade. Amazing as always. We've seen them a few times over our five years in the NC triangle, but this might be the first time in daylight.  African American Dance Ensemble, who make me seem all cultured because they told the crowd that "umoja" was the Swahili word for "coming together" or "unity."  Baron Von Rumblebuss and Redd Zeppelin on the River Stage. Fun sound, groovy look, and they're local. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for them.  Jen and Mary. What's a river festival without a river? (Actually I don't think that's the Eno. I think it's a stream that runs into the Eno. But we can pretend.)  Remember: only you can prevent forest fire hydrants.
Inconsequential Art - Now Available April 27, 2007 
The first two issues of my humor minicomic Inconsequential Art are available now for a buck each. These are business-card-sized and 12 pages each, including cover. First one features a comic story illustrated by Dennis Culver, plus a one page SF story-poem. Second issue has reprints of an interactive story (think "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure") which first appeared in the humor zine Planet Relish, as well as a fantasy gag cartoon. 
I Have Hair Again April 26, 2007  I'm actually quite happy with it. Thanks, Chia Pet! (This is from a film project that I would share more readily if it hadn't turned out so dreadful. Unlike my beautiful, bountiful hair.) EDIT: Wow. There actually is a Chia Alex. I've got nothing on reality.
Clarion Epilogue: Look Who's Sucking Blood Now September 23, 2006  Ted Hobgood turns me into a super hero and makes me think twice about ever posting another photo again. You outdid yourself this time, my friend. (Source image by Robert Levy can be found here.)
Clarion Epilogue: Final Photodump September 9, 2006
My Own Clarion Sets
Photos by other Clarionites (If I missed any, then it might be because I wasn't sure whether a photo or photo set was meant to be public. Check everybody's Clarion journals regularly. I'll add any more sets as people bring them to my attention.)
Pocket-Sized Prayer Trees on eBay August 28, 2006 
My friend, the artist Janet Chui has some beautiful, pocket-sixed prayer tree paintings (along with some other stuff) on eBay this week. Janet and her husband Jason are leaving North Carolina for Singapore next year, and they could probably use the cash and freedom-from-having-to-move-this-stuff-across-Pacific.And if you lose an auction (as I did yesterday), you can always ask Janet whether a print is available for purchase.
Clarion Epilogue: Imagine What They'll Do With My Crossdressing Photos August 24, 2006 My Chapel Hill buddy Ted Hobgood has determined that Chris's Clarion-volleyball photo was actually Photoshopped. And now Ted has found the original.  Click for a larger version.
Thirty August 17, 2006 So I'm thirty years old. And the cats are one. They're too old for kitten food and Cosmo says I'm too old to wear mini-skirts. I think that's bullshit.
Clarion Epilogue: They Remember Me August 11, 2006
We rescued Thor and Loki from the shelter in November, when they were three months old. That puts their birthdate in mid-August, so we decided that the three of us (Alex, Thor, Loki) should all just share a birthday. They'll be one year old when I turn 30 next week.
Clarion Week 6: Graduation 2006 August 10, 2006  I'm back tracking a bit to Wednesday night, but I wanted to end talking about Week 6 with the Clarion graduation photos (view the complete set). Thanks to Will Alexander for snapping the above picture of whatever muppet got through the Clarion screening process. Man, I'm missing these people already.  For a more complete set of graduation day photographs, see Livia's Flickr set, though my set's got one advantage: I grabbed the above photo of Livia while she was preoccupied being in it. To those I owe phone calls to: I apologize. Just when I thought my five-week cough was finally gone, it returned with a sore swollen throat. I'll know more tomorrow.
Clarion Week 6: Always Bet on Black (in Mafia)! August 9, 2006 Long entry, but if you want to skip the boring parts there are more, higher-res Clarion Mafia photos here. The last Friday of Clarion was a pretty good day. I made some radical eating changes (giving up cough drops completely, giving up eating almost nothing but toast even though my stomach had trouble handling anything else, switching to bottled water exclusively for the last 36-hours) and by the afternoon I was feeling better than I had in weeks. More about health in a later entry, but the important thing is that in spite of health issues, I never missed a critique session and I read and critiqued every story at Clarion, even the ones I could have taken a free "pass" on. I don't have the sheet handy, but I believe that's 120 stories critiqued or 20 per week. 
Continue reading "Clarion Week 6: Always Bet on Black (in Mafia)!" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, Pretty Pictures, Prose and Poetry Clarion Week 6: Kelly Link and Holly Black Bring the Pain. August 7, 2006  On Friday night, the last night of Clarion 2006, Kelly Link and Holly Black brought the pain. And by pain I mean squirt guns.  Complete photo set here.
Clarion Week 6: Impromptu Twelfth Night Reading August 6, 2006
Clarion Week 6: Kelly Link's The Cannon August 3, 2006
Kelly suggested a few of her pieces, and, time-wise, the only one I'd be able to read in its entirety was "The Cannon" from Magic for Beginners. I read it for the first time an hour or so before the reading, and, because the piece is structured as a series of questions and answers, I asked fellow thespian-turned-Clarionite Will Alexander to read the questions. (more after the jump)
Continue reading "Clarion Week 6: Kelly Link's The Cannon" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, News, Pretty Pictures, Prose and Poetry Clarion Week 5: Fancy Dress Party July 30, 2006
So most of my photos of Saturday night's Fancy Dress Party didn't turn out so well, but here's what I got. Luckily Livia and Vince have already posted their Flickr sets with plenty of manskirt goodness. And I know Robert caught a kickass action-shot of me with Kelly Link, so there should be more coming.
Clarion Week 5: A Laugh Observed and The Happy Dance July 29, 2006 My fifth story went over much better than I expected. In fact, I think even the people who didn't like it, still liked it better than I did. I had worried that the story was too heavy-handed with the theme, but most people didn't even see it. Kelly Link and Holly Black both had very positive things to say about the story, which surprised me as well. I think they both gave this story the shortest critiques they've given all week. I'm not so sure this is a good thing as I'm almost afraid to show them any more of my writing now.
At Clarion so far, I've done two "serious" stories. This is my third "humorous" story.
I'll have to crosscheck my notes to make sure I'm right about this, but I think it's interesting that those who enjoyed the humor in my first piece (the flash fiction I turned in after only a few days at Clarion) have not enjoyed my subsequent humor pieces at all. Which means I'm either really stagnant or really inconsistent in my humor style. After a long week, a handful of us tried to go to a karaoke bar (Fridays at Crunchy's, across from Archives) last night. As Brad put it, they were using a toy karaoke machine that you might give to your child. We couldn't find a table where we could see or hear the "stage," and five feet away from the singer, you couldn't hear the music (and her/his voice only sporadically). So we bailed and went to Harper's, and got some dancing in before bedtime. It's too bad. I'm a better singer than I am a dancer, and it's been about a decade since I've done karaoke. Decide amongst yourselves whether these photos were taken in the critique circle or at Harper's.
Clarion Week 5: Ten More Days... July 27, 2006 ...til I see my babies again.  I've become such a sap in my old age.
Clarion Week 5: Happy Birthday, Roomie! July 25, 2006 Felice, my Clarion suitemate*, turns 23 today.  *Pictured above with birthday flowers sent from her boyfriend. Yes, due to a dormitory clerical error, I'm rooming with someone much prettier than I expected
Clarion Week 5: Jim C Hines and the Picnic July 25, 2006
Because I was a bit distracted during his visit (Jen was around), I'll point you to the man himself for the blog post about his visit: here. And about half of what he talked about, he also covered in his essay on landing anthology invites. We finished the day with a few volleyball games. As with chess and pool (where I proved able to consistently sink the 8 ball before I was required to do so), it's been years since I played, and Clarion has reawakened my interest in the game. Not that I'll do anything about it. At least I hope I won't. The last thing I need is another hobby. I know, I know. It's Tuesday and I still haven't said a word about Kelly Link and Holly Black. They're both here for two whole weeks, though. I'm pacing myself.
Clarion Interlude: Saugatuck July 24, 2006
Jen came up for a visit and we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary in Saugatuck and Butler, right near Lake Michigan. We found out too late to go that it's got one of the best freshwater beaches in the States, but we still had fun. Our four-year-old camera broke on the way out there, so we actually replaced it Saturday, which means I'm more likely to be able to take photos that will look okay at better-than-web resolutions. (more photos, etc. after the jump)
Continue reading "Clarion Interlude: Saugatuck" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, Pretty Pictures Clarion Week 4: Misc Photos July 23, 2006  One final photo dump to close out last week. Enjoy or ignore.
Continue reading "Clarion Week 4: Misc Photos" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, Pretty Pictures Clarion Week 4: Jamming with Joe Haldeman July 21, 2006
Tonight was poetry and music night courtesy of Joe and Gay Haldeman. Tough that it came on a night with five stories to critique, a few of them pretty long, but it was a good stress reliever (or exacerbator, depending on how difficult it was to squeeze in writing a poem this week). And I got to jam with Joe, so I'm a happy man. (more after the jump)
Continue reading "Clarion Week 4: Jamming with Joe Haldeman" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, News, Pretty Pictures Clarion Week 4: My Contribution to Hell Week July 20, 2006
My fourth Clarion story will be critiqued in the circle tomorrow and I just got a chance to see it on paper vs the computer screen. How can anyone miss this many typos just from not printing it out before submitting it? Sorry, all.
Clarion Week 4: My Fourth Clarion Story & The Clarion Tree July 20, 2006 Finished my fourth story (about 5,000 words) yesterday morning. I'm not at all happy with it, but I'm finding there's enough in my hastily-put-together Clarion fiction that my fellow students are able to teach me things by critiquing it, even if the stories themselves are undercooked. And the parts that are there I'm unsure enough about that I'd like to see if they're working at all. I'm uncomfortable writing this much sex-related stuff, too much teenage angst, and this unlikeable protagonist, but maybe that's all going to add some interesting tension to the piece. We're here to try new things, right?
Tonight's a poetry slam/party thing. Joe and Gay Haldeman randomly served us a topic and poetry form on Sunday and we'll read the poems tonight. I got cloning for topic and a limerick series for form. I usually hate limericks because they're so easy and unpublishable, but this morning after feeling so drained I was glad it wasn't something that required more thought. Gay says Joe brought his guitar as well, a Martin Backpacker, which I think is the nylon string version just like mine. I hope we'll have time to jam tonight, but I know we've got at least five stories to critique and at least two of them are in the 9,000+ word range.  Too fried to come up with a story for the tree-hugging pics of classmates Felice Kuan and Shveta Thakrar. But they turned out well, and it'll beef up another short post. Click for a larger version of this last photo.
Clarion Week 4: Tobias Buckell Visit July 19, 2006
Author and Clarion alumn Tobias S. Buckell came to visit Clarion this weekend. We workshopped in the Cleveland-based Cajun Sushi Hamsters critique group together, and I haven't seen him in about six years. His visit overlapped our last few days of Nancy Kress. A handful of photos after the jump.
Continue reading "Clarion Week 4: Tobias Buckell Visit" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, Peers & Peerless, Pretty Pictures Clarion Week 3: Chess with Kress REMATCH! July 16, 2006 
After Tuesday's chess game with Beggars in Spain author Nancy Kress, she requested, nay, demanded a rematch. After some delays that neither of us will admit were due to cowardice, we finally met again in Owen Hall to settle some scores. (more after the jump)
Continue reading "Clarion Week 3: Chess with Kress REMATCH!" Filed Under: Clarion, Journal, News, Pretty Pictures Clarion Week 3: Chess with Kress July 12, 2006
This week's author-in-residence Nancy Kress is a chess nut (as opposed to a chestnut), and she expressed interest in playing a game yesterday. I was the only volunteer. We were pretty evenly matched. I think she's a recent learner and it's been years since I played. I'd forgotten how fun it was.
Tonight she gave a reading of her new story "Endgame" (sold to Asimov's, but not yet scheduled) at the Archives Book Store in East Lansing. In her introduction she explained the story's genesis as a byproduct of learning the game of chess. She said she wasn't very good "as Alex can tell you" because I (barely) beat her in our first game yesterday.
Nancy and I have a rematch tomorrow. In lieu of my fourth story, I should work on my to-be-famous last words tonight.
Clarion Week 2: The Cyclotron July 8, 2006 
Yesterday a bunch of us (including our author-of-the-week Michael Swanwick) got a tour of MSU's Cyclotron. Our fearless director Liz talked about it in her LJ a bit, and I'll let Wikipedia explain the rest. It was Friday afternoon and my brain was fried after a six hour critique session, but it was still interestering, what little I was able to absorb. And I took my camera out for the first time at Clarion.Complete pictures. I also posted lower-res versions to Flickr, but I'm new to this service and it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. And Steve G. posted more pics as well.
Otherwise Pandemonium Screening at Duke April 28, 2006 Extremely short notice, but I recently got word that a cut of a Otherwise Pandemonium, based on a Nick Hornby short story, will be screened on Duke's campus in Durham around 5:30 today. I may not know where exactly until I actually get there, but I'm posting this more to brag than to encourage anyone else to come. (more after the jump.) 
Continue reading "Otherwise Pandemonium Screening at Duke" Filed Under: Acting, Carrboro Area, Journal, News, Peers & Peerless, Pretty Pictures Loki - Glamour Shots with a Camera Phone April 15, 2006 Finally done with a huge pile of work. So what's something meaningless I can do without getting up from the computer? My Treo has a camera and these are the best shots I've taken in the five months since I got it. The only reason they don't look even worse is thanks to Photoshop's color correction abilities (and the low, low resolution threshold required for the web). So these pictures of Loki (taken as rapidfire as the Treo allows) are either disgusting or adorable. I love my baby, but I'm leaning toward the former.    
First Catmas January 29, 2006 They were four months old over Christmas. Since the boarding places were all filled up even before we decided to adopt them, that means we got to spend Christmas as a family. Two nine hour car rides and adjusting to a new place.  
The Sag December 29, 2005  So Carrboro writer and actor Jeremy Pinkham wrote a short film about a guy driving sag for his wife's first century (100 mile) bike ride. I had the honor of helping him rewrite it/polish it up, and then playing the main part. We shot it at the end of November under the direction of Steve Milligan. Word on the street is that I'm the editor.  As an actor, I worked with Jeremy on Balloon Animals, which Jeremy performed in and helped write, and which Steve Milligan shot.  As a writer, I worked with Steve on the script for Intermission, for which Steve ended up casting Jeremy in a small part. |
