Another Big Random Post...

[newnumber6]

Haven't posted much aside from typical comic stuff and dreams. The New Year tends to be the start of a slightly more depressive and isolated mood, so once again, if I'm less talkative than usual, that's probably why. It's not you, it's probably just SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder or whatever).

Book Foo! Finished: Cell, by Stephen King
Started: Big Planet, by Jack Vance

Enjoyed Cell. Like a lot of Stephen King novels, it fell down a bit towards the end, but it was a fun ride. I actually think it's one of my favorites of his. And it was inevitable for me to read it. I can resist a new Stephen King novel. I can resist a 'zombie apocalypse' novel. But put the two together, and I have to read it.

A little more detailed and spoilery thoughts behind the cut (though not terribly spoilery still), along with a selected quote.

I did feel that the 'pure random zombie violence' phase ended a little quickly, but what can after really interested me, just in a different way. And I can sympathize with those who complain that the book didn't really explain anything, but it doesn't bother me that much - what _would_ bother me is if the explanations the characters theorized about were actually proven correct, cause, well, some of them struck me as fairly dumb. But as long as they were characters speculating, it didn't have to hurt my enjoyment of the book.

Anyway, quotage:
"And Clay thought, not without wonder, This is how a man looks when he's deciding that the risk of death is better than the risk of change.".

Quoted because sometimes this is how I feel (although perhaps replace 'lifelong lonelieness', which'll probably lead to death eventually anyway). I know it's irrational, but knowledge of the irrationality doesn't do anything to lessen it.


Anyway, moving on, the book also inspired me to start on my own Great Canadian Zombie Apocalypse Novel! I was walking the other day and was idly thinking about different variations on the zombie apocalypse, how King had a neat one in terms of cause, and so my mind wandered towards what I'd do, and I came up with an idea I liked. Like King, it's not truly 'zombies' and affects a large number of people all over the world at once, but the cause, effects, and who gets chosen vary. That's about all I'll say on it.

Speaking of writing though, I'm back on the horse. After PerExWriMo I decided to take December off and start wrting again in January. Of course, since I hate New Years Resolutions, I couldn't actually start on the first of January. I decided to wait a week. Well, a little more, actually.

Anyway, here's the plan: For now I'm going to write one week on, one week off.

For 'on' weeks, my goal is 2000 words every non-work day. For off weeks I might write if the mood strikes me (and of course, work on my alternaljournal as appropriate), but no compulsion. Maybe edit, but I discovered during my month off in December that the only thing harder than working up the drive to write is working up the drive to edit - I didn't manage to edit any. But since I can't print anything at the moment anyway, it's not all that big a deal. I'll try to get to it when I can, the important thin is it's finished - some time apart from the story won't hurt for editing from a more objective standpoint anyway.

The weeks will start on Thursday - this lets me have my Wednesday long walk immediatley before a writing cycle begins. Walking helps the plotbunnies.

Speaking of that walk, won't go into why, but I got to thinking about Copyright and the Public Domain again. I've mentioned before that eventually, if I became a famous author (yes, I realize that's nearly as unlikely as my 'if I ever got superpowers' imaginings, but bear with me), I'd want to donate a good deal of my work into the public domain so anybody could use it any way they wanted.

Yesterday, though, I thought about (probably not for the first time, but I'm not sure) specifically setting out as a project to create something for the public domain. Maybe alone, maybe collaboratively. Like, for example, some kind of superhero group, with the idea that, because they're in the public domain, they could show up in any superhero universe. If Marvel wanted to throw them in for the main characters to encounter, they could. Likewise for DC. (of course, there are already superhero characters in the public domain, so chances are they _wouldn't_ show up in the big ones any more than the old public domain ones do, but I just love the idea that they _could_). Or any individual member could show up or even, say, join a team of existing characters.

Another idea might be to create a public domain alien world. Write a story about it or a series of stories, all put into the public domain. Then, in the future, any science fiction series could, if they wanted to, have their characters land on that planet.

Or of course creating a new type of horror monster, much like zombie apocalypses pretty much sprang from Romero and Richard Matheson (whose I Am Legend was a zombie apocalypse novel with vampires that were practically the traditional zombies anyway), even though zombies themselves existed before hand.

But in all of these, what would be different is, instead of keeping it for one writer, sharing it with everybody.

Ehh, it's a silly idea in that, again, even were one created, I doubt anybody would use it in any professional capacity, but I'd like to live in a world where they did. Maybe just cause I think I'd probably suck as an actual writer but I think I have some ideas that might be worth contributing that somebody else might pick up on.

Though to a certain extent, there's a history of this working: The Cthulhu Mythos. Although some of the stories themselves remain under copyright, it's almost a public domain horror universe, in that lots of people feel entitled to and interested in professionally writing stories using it. Though I'm not sure if at present, anyone can write a Cthulhu Mythos story without legal problems. Maybe the pastiches and such were done with some level of permission, or maybe some elements are okay for anyone to use and someare not. But it sort of sets the precedent anyway.


I think I have some memes to do, too. Alphabet Meme, stolen from soleta_nf...

THE LETTER A:
Are you available?: Yes.
What is your age?: 28.
What annoys you?: Stupidity in general

THE LETTER B:
Do you live in a big house?: No
When is your birthday?: March 24
Who is your best friend?: Can't say I have a 'best friend'

THE LETTER C:
What's your favorite candy?: I dunno. Sour keys maybe.
Who's your crush?: Don't think I have one at the moment.
When was the last time you cried?: Can't remember. Years and years ago.

THE LETTER D:
Do you daydream?: To a probably unhealthy degree.
What's your favorite kind of dog?: Poodles, I guess? But not the ones with their hair cut all froufrou.
What day of the week is it?: Thursday.

THE LETTER E:
How do you like your eggs?: Scrambled, generally, or omeleted.
Have you ever been in the emergency room?: Yes. I had a seizure my dad freaked out.
What's the easiest thing ever to do?: Breathe, I guess.

THE LETTER F:
Have you ever flown in a plane?: Yes
Do you use fly swatters?: Sometimes
Have you ever used a foghorn?: ...I say, I say, no.

THE LETTER G:
Do you chew gum?: On occasion I will, but generally speaking I don't.
Are you a giver or a taker?: A little of both, I guess.
Do you like gummy candies?: Sure, but I prefer sour gummy stuff.

THE LETTER H:
How are you?: I am. How are you?
What's your height?: Average. Don't have measuring elements.
What color is your hair?: Brown

THE LETTER I:
What's your favorite ice cream?: Mint chocolate chip or cookies n' cream.
Have you ever ice skated?: Yes, when I was young. I decided I did not need to learn how to travel on ice with blades on my feet, after running into a lot of walls.
Would you live in an igloo?: If I had to, I suppose. Probably not by choice.

THE LETTER J:
What's your favorite jelly bean?: I dunno, red?
Have you ever heard a really hilarious joke?: Yes. However, I can't repeat it here.
Do you wear jewelry?: No.

THE LETTER K:
Who do you want to kill?: Nobody comes to mind.
Do you want kids?: I don't see it as being an issue.
Where did you have kindergarten?: Gypsumville, Manitoba, I think.

THE LETTER L:
Are you laid back?: Yeah
Do you lie?: Sometimes, I try not to though.
Have you ever been to London?: Only London, Ontario. And I'm not even sure about that.

THE LETTER M:
What's your favorite movie?: I dunno. Serenity, just for the sake of discussion.
Do you still watch Disney movies?: I don't seek them out, I might see one if it's on.
What type of music you listen to?: I don't.

THE LETTER N:
Do you have a nickname?: I don't think so, unless you count aliases.
Favorite number?: 6
Do you prefer night over day?: Yes. I sleep at nigh, and sleep, perchance to dream.

THE LETTER M:
What’s your one wish?: Super powers. At least right at the moment. Ask me again in an hour and I'll give you another one.
Are you an only child?: No.
Do you wish this was over?: Not especially.

THE LETTER P:
What one fear are you most paranoid about?: That people are judging me, and negatively so. I know that they're not even thinking about me most of the time, but I'm still paranoid.
Do you love the color pink?: No.
Are you a perfectionist?: Yes about some things, no about others.

THE LETTER Q:
Are you quick to judge people?: No, with people I tend to take a long time to judge.
Do you wish you were a Queen?: No.
Have you ever rode a quad?: I don't think so. I'm not sure what a quad is in
this context. I've been in a 'quad', but I doubt it's the same kind of quad.

THE LETTER R:
Do you think you're always right?: Sort of. I think it's natural - if I thought I was wrong about something, I'd change my mind, wouldn't I? But I try to remain open to the possibility I might be wrong.
Do you watch reality TV: Some, yeah.
Whats a good reason to cry?: Zombie apocalypse. Also, "ninjas killed my family".

LETTER S:
Do you prefer sun or rain?: Rain, because it comes with clouds.
Do you like snow?: Not especially.
What's your favorite season?: Fall or Spring.

THE LETTER T:
What time is it?: 7:50pm, approximately.
What time did you wake up?: 8:30 a.m. or so
When was the last time you slept in a tent?: Years and years ago.

THE LETTER U:
Do you own an umbrella?: No.
Can you ride a unicycle?: I've never tried, so I assume, yes, I can.
Have you ever said someone was ugly?: Probably as a kid. I try not to say
such things (even if they are true) nowadays, even behind someone's back.

THE LETTER V:
What’s the worst veggie?: Wax beans. At least, cooked. Or spinach.
Where do you want to go on vacation?: The Moon.
Where was your last family vacation to?: Hmmmm... Darien Lake I think.

THE LETTER W:
What's your worst habit?: Avoid things, procrastination.
Where do you live?: Toronto, Ontario, Earth
Who's your hero?: Can't say as I have one at the moment.

THE LETTER X:
Have you ever had an x-ray?: Sure, of course.
Have you seen the x-games?: No.
Do you own a xylophone?: No.

THE LETTER Y:
Do you like the color yellow?: Not especially.
What year were you born in?: 1978
What’s one thing you yearn for?: Love, and the ability to actually see the wonder in the world that _could be_.

THE LETTER Z:
What’s your zodiac sign?: Aries.
Do you believe in the zodiac?: No, except to the extent that other people's belief in it can affect them in ways they might not even be aware of.
What's your favorite zoo animal?: Probably the big cats, especially the black jaguars.


Do I have any TV foo to do? I don't think so. Nothing's really been new. Torchwood finale sucked, btw, I'm done with the show. New Grey's Anatomy tonight though.

Comments

When hsould we plan our departure?

[(Anonymous)]

Hi


G'night