Journal 2007
December 5, 2007
Co-hosted trivia last night. My team heckled me not too little, even though they won. What's wrong with having questions about horror, science fiction, classic literature, cartoons and typography? More interesting to me than sports trivia, commemorative state quarters and US presidents, that's for sure. And I've never seen so many people who've managed to avoid Doctor Who for their entire lives. Questions posted here.
watching: Masters of Horror (Season 1, vol 2 - dir. John Landis, Joe Dante, John Carpenter, Dario Argento…)
December 3, 2007
A large storm system rolled in from the Pacific. It's been raining hard for a few days. High winds at the coast are tearing roofs off of houses and power is out for thousands of homes. The Interstate is closed near Chehalis, WA. Amtrak has shut down along the same north-south route. Here in Portland, we're fortunate enough to just be getting wet without much damage. My basement leaks a trifling amount.
reading: Red Spikes (Margo Lanagan)
November 29, 2007
Nightmares about something… can't recall.
reading: Hellblazer comics (Jamie Delano)
November 25, 2007
Was excited to see The Mist, since Mr. Darabont has been talking about it for at least 10 years and proved he can write and direct good Stephen King adaptations. It was a solid monster movie, and faithful screenplay — except for the ending. The new ending started to be an improvement, in my opinion. I was thoroughly impressed with the empty hopelessness, until the final scene, which immediately made me feel cheated. Suddenly the movie seemed to need a message of meaning attached to it. I'll have to think more about it, but I'm not liking the choices now. I'll just forget the last bit and be satisfied.
watching: The Mist (dir. Frank Darabont)
November 24, 2007
I cannot believe the local library system has Alan Moore's Lost Girls erotica comic series in their circulation. Of course, I had to read them. And look at the pictures.
watching: Bourne Ultimatum
reading: The Lost Girls (Alan Moore)
November 23, 2007
Too much turkey foods with the sister's family. Wendy had to work. Then, the Brit pub was closed -- what kind of sense does that make on such an 'merican holiday? Went to the Chinese food/karaoke/bar up the street, though was not in the mood. Could barely finish a beer. Wendy stayed out late and I could not sleep.
doing: nada
November 21, 2007
Awwww crap. Rejection received on the new story. Sent it back out to someone else. Still waiting to hear on five others.
watching: Feast
November 18, 2007
Finally heard from a magazine about one of my stories. Apparently it was lost in electronic slushpile for an extra month or so, and they promise to read it this week. At least that's not a rejection note.
reading: John Constantine: Hellblazer (collections)
eating: miso soup, bagels, salmon, clementines
watching: Chinatown (dir. Roman Polanski)
November 16, 2007
The rain is here, the gray and the wet. Not so cold just now, but it's coming. One corner of the gutter just outside the bedroom window is driving me crazy, always spilling over. The neighbors were kind enough to build a little tub/pond thing to catch the runoff where the dormer overhangs. Maybe I'll let it go another season. Busy with work and trying to kick this cold. The vaporizer is nice, reminds me of the tents my parents used to make for me with a cot, a cardtable and a sheet. Apparently I contracted frequent respiratory infections.
doing: work (theirs, not mine)
November 13, 2007
The phlegm spirits have possessed me, so I stayed in bed and finished No Country for Old Men. While I follow movie rumors and release dates a little too obsessively, somehow I missed that this would be the Cohen Bros. next movie and its coming out this weekend. I missed the trailer, and don't want to see one because I don't want to associate actors with the characters in my head, nor alter the landscape as I've constructed from the words. Oi, now my eyes really hurt from watching 22 episodes of Rome.
watching: Rome (seasons 1 & 2)
November 10, 2007
Ugh, comin' down with something. Like the condos, traffic and gentrification around here, my sinuses feel the congestion setting in.
attending: Wordstock Festival
November 9, 2007
You've probably noticed TV shows going into reruns. Maybe you've heard in the news that the Writers Guild of America is on strike. It's time the writers get paid what their contribution is truly worth. Sign this petition to show your support.
reading: No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy)
November 6, 2007
Winter trivia has started up again, and I'm excited to co-host tonight. Trying to make it unusual, but fun, but mostly accessible. My first few forays involved some overly specific interests. I'll post the questions here afterwards, which will likely include a question or two about Hallowe'en, the Pacific Northwest, and Kahn Noonien Sigh. Update 11/18/07: questions posted here
doing: trivia
November 5, 2007
Remember, remember the fifth of November.
drinking: Bunnahabhain 12yr
November 3, 2007
The big and excellent Wordstock Festival is happening in town this weekend. I'll not be giving any readings or selling any books, but I'll enjoy the words of many others.
watching: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (what, there was a book?)
November 1, 2007
I'm superstitious about working on Hallowe'en or my birthday. Without fail, I receive some kind of bad news at work on these particular days. Since I've accumulated the maximum number of vacation hours, and am actually losing vacation hours, and since the 31st was the last day of the pay period, there was all the more reason to not be at work. But no, several people insisted they needed me there, their projects were too important. So, like a sucker who never learns, I went in to work. Half the day went well, as I unveiled a new design, and they liked it. Then I heard some things unpleasant. We'll see.
doing: work
October 29, 2007
I can't believe Hallowe'en is so close, and so sneaky. There's been no costume inspiration this year, nor any party plans. While walking to a new Indian restaurant downtown I noticed a sporadic trickling crowd of zombies. They appeared unhungry and/or indifferent, and we did not have to use the repeating crossbow, quad-shotgun, lectro-machete, or plasmaTV-trebuchet. Tonight I bought some pumpkins, waiting for their true faces to peek through. I think I'll take Wednesday off and curl up with some Ray Bradbury.
watching: Vampyr (dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932)
October 27, 2007
Trying to avoid turning on the heat for as late into the winter season as possible. The dog is a good natural heat source, and I'm wondering if I can rig up a treadmill power generator for him. Trying to watch the new (used) copies of Seven Samurai and Chinatown, but the sound on my PS2 is wonky.
reading: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)
October 24, 2007
Did you know the # sign is called an octothorpe? So fortuitous that I ran across that reminder today before Trivia Night. And I can't believe I was the only one who knew E.E. Cumming's first and middle names. Winter Trivia is starting up, and I think twice a week might be too much. I'm set to co-host on Nov. 6th.
doing: night of the undead useless knowledge
October 23, 2007
Warren Ellis ran some numbers on sales of some of the bigger SF magazines, and the outlook is grim. He and Cory Doctorow have some ideas about why circulations are dropping. Online magazines seem to be gaining recognition, and as a reader and writer I hope the big mags can keep their readers, regardless of what media. As an editor, I'm glad I started 3LBE up in 1998 as an online zine, because printing and postage are not cheap.
doing: house stuff
October 22, 2007
I'm a little superstitious about looking too long at the spreadsheet where I track my fiction submissions. This time I glanced at it just to count how many stories I have out there — the more the better. And it's six right now.
doing: admin stuff
October 19, 2007
Tonight is the 2nd Annual Ugly Sweater Party. Wendy made some custom invites that are — just trust me — hideous and simple, by cutting out pictures from magazines. Let's see if we can beat last year's winners.
watching: Bottom (with Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson)
October 14, 2007
The most frustrating aspect of graphic design might be the clients. As evidenced by these excerpts from the 2006 Artist’s and Graphic Designer’s Market. So many bad requests here — which may be a clue as to why they need a designer. Sadly, so many I've heard before.
watching: SNL Digital Shorts (IRAN So Far Away, People Getting Punched Just Before Eating)
October 9, 2007
The leaves look like they're on fire, and I wish they would stay a spell.
reading: Spook Country (William Gibson)
October 8, 2007
It's that time of year again when my favorite neighborhood theater hosts the annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. It was sad to hear that Guillermo del Toro couldn't make, but hopefully he'll appear in the future when he actually makes the At the Mountains of Madness movie. Friends were in town, and they obliged me by tagging along. We caught block 2 of the shorts, and it was a mixed bag as usual, with some reminding us how verbose a too-serious adapation of Lovecraft's language can be. A pleasant surprise was Of Darkness, which received surprised gasps and respectful applause. Neil Gaiman's A Short Film About John Bolton was shown as well, and while all were entertained, I could appreciate the subtleties in a second viewing. The event has always lacked a literary quality, except last year when Ramsey Campbell attended. Of course it's a film festival, but I think some readings would be interesting.
watching: Waterworld (ha ha, no really, i kinda like it, with Costner attempting to channel Eastwood's Man With No Name and Dennis Hopper as the villain who's nice to children, and everyone got to play in the water remaking Road Warrior)
October 6, 2007
Indian food, brew & view theater, wine. Long week ends with just rewards.
Wendy is no less than upset that she has two jobs — at least one of which promised full-time hours — but they call every afternoon to say they don't need her to work tonight. She's been job hunting for full-time work for over a year. This town is harsh for entry-level jobs, and she was wanting to escape the restaurant business.
watching: The Simpsons Movie
October 5, 2007
An interesting article asks ten writers the complex question Is the Net good for writers?.
watching: CSI
October 1, 2007
The media blackout in Myanmar continues at a volatile time. Reports leaking through are frightening and almost unbelievable. My father was a missionary in Burma before the miliary took over (1962), Aung San Suu Kyi was a student in the school where he taught.
watching: Enemy of the State (dir. Tony Scott)
September 30, 2007
Finished up a new story today, one I've been thinking about for… don't know now long. I wrote the first draft over five nights before a work retreat. I was nervous, not because it's been a few years since I've given a public reading, more worrying whether it was appropriate to share this piece with my co-workers. The deadline served me well. And when one someone else jumped up before me to recite a short poem about sunshine and friendship, it set the stage perfectly for my tale about the end of the world. Over the next week I copyedited and fact-checked until it felt done. Sent it off tonight to a big(ger) magazine than I've sent to in some time. It felt good. I'm sure it will find a home somewhere. (He said, grain of salt lodged firmly between his two front teeth, in full knowledge of the fact that every new story he writes feels publishable.) Thought it may take a year or more.
reading: The Road (Cormac McCarthy)
September 27, 2007
The dark is rising. Again.
reading: Slan (A.E. van Vogt)
September 25, 2007
…
reading: nothing
September 21, 2007
Harlan Ellison was welcomed to his home town of Cleveland today, where he spoke at a public library, and later attended a screening of the biographical documentary Dreams With Sharp Teeth. Earlier in the day he appeared on a radio show, listen here.
watching: Tales from Iwo Jima (dir. Clint Eastwood)
September 17, 2007
So tired. Writing. Feels good.
reading: what i'm writing
September 7, 2007
Goodnight, Madeline L'Engle, who introduced me to a tesseract at age 8.
watching: Eddie Izzard's "Glorious"
September 3, 2007
How, in the name of all that's holy could the bartender not see the glaring need to bend the rules, to kick policy aside, to give exception to an special situation? She had no difficulty charging me $15 for a small shot of 14-year-old Oban, but when I asked to have it in a container made of real glass, she refused to let me have it in anything other than a plastic cup if I was taking it outside. Travesty, horror, sacrilege.
reading: The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate (Ted Chiang)
September 2, 2007
Finished a short story and sent it off. The piece that was half-done for nearly two years. The ending came a few weeks ago. Editing and fact-checking and life were necessary steps and distractions. We'll see what the editor thinks. He said he liked my last one, but wanted to see something else. Now we're heading out to the Little Red Shed at McMenamins Edgefield to play some cards, sip on scotch and beer.
watching: Hellboy: Blood & Iron (dir. Victor Cook & Tad Stones), Pro-Life (dir. John Carpenter)
August 28, 2007
'Twas a bad night.
reading: Living Shadows (John Shirley)
August 22, 2007
Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury. Lately, I've noticed two rather stark borrowings from your stories in the movies Sunshine and Apocalypto.
working on: place names atlas (day job thing), making: Sahaptin language fonts
August 20, 2007
Happy birthday, HPL. "Ia Cthulhu f'taghn!"
watching: Solaris (dir. Andrei Tarkovsky)
August 12, 2007
It will be free advertising for the band Megadeth, as we may hear their name mentioned more often. The death toll of Iraqis caused by the U.S. invasion may have reached 1,000,000. Is there a shame counter somewhere on the Web?
watching: Apocalypto (dir. some hater guy)
August 11, 2007
ABC is broadcasting a show based on stories by the Masters of Science Fiction in the almost forgotten time slot of 10pm on Saturday nights. Show your support for science fiction and enjoy some respected stories of the "genre" by checking these out. And don't wait until later in the season, as they only funded six episodes.
reading: Daughter of Hounds (Caitlan R. Kiernan)
August 10, 2007
The bookbinding process is complete and Three-lobed Burning Eye v3 Annual is out the door.
reading: Dogs in Moonlight (Jay Lake)
August 9, 2007
Finally found a copy of Miller's Crossing on DVD. Also a funny rubbery Book of the Dead edition of The Evil Dead. Sure, they are easy to find on Amazon, but these were nice and used and cheap. It's been a few months since I bought new music, and I picked up a Bob Dylan CD and a Son House CD. Ahh, the old old slide guitar.
watching: old KLF videos on YouTube
August 8, 2007
Lately, Wendy and I have conversed often about the topic of "professionalism", as they relate to our fields and our day jobs (her: art, retail, fine dining; me: writing, editing, graphic design). We've relayed to each other the experiences with people who dumbfound us with their behavior. Like the dead zones off the coasts, there seems to be some seasonal rash of stupidity pooling in the valley floor.
For me, the most recent incident involved a writer querying the Three-lobed Burning Eye magazine. This individual's first email began asking questions easily answered by the 3LBE submission guidelines (on the site), followed by his opinions about those rules with which he didn't agree. He couldn't be bothered with the "no simultaneous submissions" rule nor the response time, because then he might have to wait up to 90 days to know whether he'd be published or not. Who was I to delay the soaring rocket of his career?! Guess what, I've been writing stories for 20 years, submitting them to markets and magazines for over 15, and still have less than a dozen published. Every time I send out a story, I wish their response times were quicker. I wish they could make an exception for me, that they'd move me to the top of the slushpile, but I know that ain't gonna happen. Editors are busy people. And being published is not a right.
Read just three market listings or guidelines for any magazines, large or small, and you'd have to be swimming backwards in a giant cheesesteak grease trap while listening to Rammstein at volume 11 not to notice there exists some standard expectations — format your story as asked, submit it with the method described, be courteous, and wait for a response. He asked how many visitors the site received, I responded, and he insulted the magazine by saying it really wouldn't be worth his effort, wouldn't get him the readership numbers he deserved. I suggested a few pro-rate paying magazines he could send to, some of the best in the market like Third Alternative, Cemetery Dance and Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His response was that they looked like "s...." (and had obviously never read them) but he was attaching his story anyway and would wait a short time (of his choosing) for my response. I said I wouldn't be reading the story because he didn't follow the submission guidelines.
Every word in his emails made my jaw drop. I just couldn't believe his behavior. Who am I to say what he was thinking, but I couldn't believe that he was sharing all of his opinion and sourness and perhaps naïvete. In short, that he was being unprofesional. Best of luck with that approach in your writing career, pal. It may bring you publications and/or fame, but I doubt it. And I don't wanna know ya.
reading: Percy Gloom (Cathy Malkasian)
August 6, 2007
For the last few years, the apple tree in the backyard has produced less than five apples per season. This summer, it's dropping apples every night. The grape vine alongside the garage sports leaves as wide as my chest!
watching: Sunshine (dir. Danny Boyle)
August 2, 2007
House is rumbling. …or is it the sky…?
reading: Transcending CSS (Andy Clarke)
July 31, 2007
Despite a few weeks of apprehension, I proceeded with the experiment of (attempting to) bind the Three-lobed Burning Eye v3 Annual. The color printing of the art gallery pages has been expensive (for volumes 1–2), and setup cost at the bindery shop has pushed the production cost over the edge of affordability. For a short print run, it seemed I could do this myself — though I had no delusions about mistakes or failure. How I would love to have an old bindery machine in my basement, or a hydraulic cutter, or an antique book press; but alas, no. With bolts and wingnuts and aluminum strapping from the hardware store, I cut down an old cabinet door and made a book press. (Hmmm, gives pause to the recurring thought of adding photos to his journal.) The tool I could not skimp on was the PVA binders glue, purchased from the charming shop Oblation Papers & Press. After collating and figuring the cover trim, about 10 books are now complete, and production is accelerating.
watching: MI-5 (season 4)
July 30, 2007
Goodnight Igmar Bergman. Goodbye Tom Snyder.
watching: Pickup on South Street (dir. Samuel Fuller), The Killers (dir. Robert Siodmak)
July 24, 2007
Nearly done with a new story. A short that I had started over two years ago, and became completely stuck in the middle. And like every new story, it's my absolute favorite (…right now). Looking forward to sending it out.
sleeping: dreams irretrievable
July 22, 2007
I look, I see patterns repeating.
watching: Muppet Treasure Island
July 18, 2007
My friends and I were humble last night when it was announced that we had scored 44 points for 30 questions of trivia, and the closest team had scored 22. We had made some amazing guesses, though I'm ashamed I didn't stick with my original guess on the Westworld movie question. This high scoring game was boosted by the new Seven Wonders of the World 7-point question, which had been a topic of earlier discussion. Everyone present is still flabbergasted that the Christ Redeemer statue was voted in, and the absence of, well, almost anything else. If you didn't vote, don't miss your chance to do so for the new Seven Wonders of the Natural World.
reading: Silk (Caitlan R. Kiernan)
July 15, 2007
As of next month, I'll have been at The Day Job for four years. The vacation days have been building up, and I haven't felt at all rested for at least the last year, as evidenced by my loss of vacation hours by reaching the maximum amount. So I'll take some time off this week to sit at home and write stories, and sleep in, and sip blueberry soda, and read, and strip the paint off the old school desk from my parents' attic, and maybe drive somewhere to camp and listen to the wind in the trees.
reading: All the Pretty Horses (Cormac McCarthy)
July 10, 2007
Oh, rats. After five months, received a rejection for a story. Looked it over, rewrote a few paragraphs, sent it back out to another magazine. The other stories I have out there are finely aged about the same vintage.
drinking: beer
July 6, 2007
Yes, I saw the Transformers movie. Yes, it was dazzling CGI. Yes, the token black (robot) character died. Yes, it was entertaining… though dumber than a bag of broken toy hammers. Yes, I think "real" movies are becoming more like animated films, while animated films are becoming more real (Pixar, Miyazaki).
watching: Transformers (ILM and Michael Bay)
July 5, 2007
Grilled food, drank beer and played board games with friends for the odd mid-week holiday. I think somewhere deep in his chamber beneath the waves, Cthulhu is scowling that I put his brethern over hot coals. Well, bring it on, I say. This world is so selfishly caught up in its own affairs of land and faith that it needs a good giant monster attack. And I'll go on the record for saying I'm glad I woke the elder gods.
reading: A Separate War and Other Stories (Joe Haldeman)
July 1, 2007
The library processing of new materials is finally over, I can finally watch Deadwood. Now commencing with shut down of most body functions, and settling into sofa…
watching: Deadwood (Season 3)
June 27, 2007
I must release a long sigh of jealousy. Of whom could I be more envious? Neil Gaiman for his writing and success with many great comics, stories and screenplays? Or his daughter for traveling with her dad to the set of Hellboy 2 in Budapest to hang out with their friend Guillermo del Toro and eat ice cream?
reading: Blood Music (Greg Bear)
June 23, 2007
The third volume annual of 3LBE is nearly ready for press. This print collection of online issues #9–12 is a few years overdue, but a promise is a promise. Having finally received the hi-res artwork for the last artist, and finished another few passes through the book layout, I realized I had some artwork of my own to do. Issue #12 never received a back cover from the naughty Rew X when it went online, so I'm/he's working on that now. (Hmm, what's the word for collaborating with yourself?
reading: The Museum of Lost Wonder (Jeff Hoke)
June 18, 2007
Friends are good. Friends are fun. Alcohol is not always a good thing. I must be getting old, because I'm beginning to think it's less often a good thing.
eating: Alaska halibut
June 17, 2007
Winners of the 2006 Locus Awards have been announced. Once again I realize I have so much reading to do. But after the final week of spring league ultimate, including an all-day tournament, I was in the mood for pizza, beer and zombies (or rage-induced crazies). Fortunately I finished the sausage mushroom pizza before the goriest sequences of the film ensued. With that done, I can get back to some books... that hopefully don't feature big plot holes and dumb children who endanger the human race. I also remembered that the first 28 Days Later movie was essentially John Wyndam's book Day of the Triffids.
watching: 28 Weeks Later (dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo)
June 14, 2007
Publisher of oh so many good things literary, clever and entertaining, McSweeney's is in trouble and needs your help. Read this for the full story of their predicament. And then help them out by purchasing from their store, or check out the auctions.
reading: Portable Childhoods (Ellen Klages)
June 12, 2007
Since I don't have cable, I catch up with shows like Sopranos and Battlestar Galactica when they come out on DVD. Sure there are ways to find these shows with Bit Torrent and such, but I like to watch them on a quality DVD in the comfort of my living room. So I've been waiting anxiously for a year now to resume viewing the show Deadwood. I kept checking HBO's website, and occasionally the library's circulation list. Finally the release was announced as Father's Day 2007, and I checked the library's list every day for about two weeks. Nothing new, just the first two seasons. Two more weeks went by, and I had a feeling, and logged onto my library account and searched. Suddenly the season 3 DVD set was list. I placed a hold, expecting to wait another four months before a copy came available in the queue. But no, there I was, hold 1 of 1. That's right, I sniped a library hold. Checking in today, there are 272 holds.
watching: the red stinging pulled-back inner lining of my eyelid
June 11, 2007
I have a sty or some equally unpleasant infection in the lower lid of my right eye. It looks puffed up like I was punched, feels like a marble is trapped in there rubbing against my eyeball, and aches sharply when I blink. Sleeping and waking are both unpleasant experiences. But at least I'm not being lured to death by torture by some European models.
watching: Hostel part II (dir. Eli Roth)
June 4, 2007
We hung some of Wendy's artwork at Colosso bar and it looks smart. After drinks and tapas, we jaunted over to Le Bistro Montage for late night food. I love their oyster shooters and jambalaya and atmosphere, but we'll not be returning because the following day Wendy found a finger cot in her take home food. How could you not notice a bright pink bandage missing from your finger?
reading: 1984 (George Orwell)
June 2, 2007
Took Grendel down to the Clackamas County Fairgrounds for the NW Working Dogs Expo. Besides seeing other pitties and big dogs, of particular interest to me was the attendance of the American Temperament Testing Society, which I had read about when Grendel was a young pup. The ATTS has not been to the northwest before, and I had always wanted the pros to test Grendel's temperament. After hours of waiting in the sun and meeting other awesome dogs, Grendel went through the 10-part test — and passed with flying colors. I don't know why I was worried, since I knew his temperament was outstanding. He does need some obedience training. He may be naughty, but not nasty, as the media would have you believe.
watching: MI-5: Season Three, The Night of the Hunter
May 30, 2007
Anotherealm online magazine was hacked recently, so my latest published fiction piece is offline until the editor and webmaster can rebuild the site and ten years of content. I'm waiting to hear about three other pieces at magazines that all seem to have decided to change their reading periods and/or hire additional readers, so a few of these have been in their slushpile since January or last November.
reading: nuttin honey (nobody)
May 26, 2007
What the… ? Ashley Wood is illustrating a revived Tank Girl comic? And I didn't attend the goth festival because I really did feel old after helping set up for a wedding and playing two games of ultimate after a full work week.
reading: The Foundation Trilogy (Isaac Asimov)
May 22, 2007
I'm fortunate to be playing spring league ultimate in Portland. I've been trying to avoid the realization that I qualify for masters division age group now. My body sure feels it. In other totally unrelated news, Skinny Puppy is returning to Portland this weekend as part of Convergence 13 — which seems to be a goth festival. Now I really feel old. Okay, maybe it was related. (…and now I'm thinking it would be a hoot to attend).
watching: MI-5: Season Two
May 20, 2007
A good number of popular links on Digg.com seem to be brief lists. And with such intriguing topics like 12 Ways to Hold Your Wii Controller and Prevent Thumb Fatigue, or 8 Ways to Scotch Tape Your Face So It Looks Like P*ris Hilt*n, or 20 Excuses for Why You Were Driving Illegally in the Carpool Lane. I catch myself expecting to find something valuable, like 1 Simple Way to Make the Assholes Step Down Before They Fuck Everything Up Beyond Repair.
reading: Princess of Mars (Edgar Rice Burroughs)
May 19, 2007
Lloyd Alexander passes on. Author of more than 40 books, including the Chronicles of Pyrdain. I read these in elementary school, years before I picked up Tolkein's works. Essential fantasy novels everyone should check out.
watching: MI-5: Season One
May 15, 2007
I'm gradually redesigning each of the owlsoup.com websites, mostly fixing backend code to improve cross-browser compatibility. After the 3LBE magazine site, and then the Legion Press site a month ago, and recently my writer site here, next on my list is the Owl Soup graphic design site. What's there now is still promoting an ambitious independent design studio when I had relocated to Portland in 2001 and was looking for work. I haven't been doing much freelance design in the last two years, don't have time, so my plan is to reduce the site to a simple portfolio.
watching: This Movie is Not Yet Rated (dir. Kirby Dick)
May 12, 2007
The new Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero has been called a concept album about "the end of the world" by frontman Trent Reznor. While I had read about viral marketing materials like a hidden domain name in a concert t-shirt and a faux website or two — the story behind the concept is deeper than just the songs… and continues to develop at the yearzero wiki. Let's do our best not to realize this realistic science fiction near-future.
reading: Understanding Design (Kees Dorst)
May 6, 2007
The Library of America continues to show its good taste in previously neglected literature by granting Philip K. Dick his own volume. It wasn't too long ago that H.P. Lovecraft received his own overdue collection. Neither of these could I have imagined happening when I discovered these writers in junior high, and argued with countless English class teachers for the next decade about (at least Lovecraft's) merit as a U.S. author worthy of discussion in a classroom.
reading: The Art of Whitenesse (Howard Waldrop), The Deep (Claire Nouvian)
May 5, 2007
Suddenly — abbracadabbra — a new web site design. At first, I fiddled with the stylesheet in minor ways, having been increasingly unhappy with the 10-pixel text, and the difficulty in rendering consistent font sizes in various browsers. I tried to resist the succubus of redesign, I held at bay the terrible lure of whimsical overhaul. My only goals were to fix the type size and increase the line spacing. But the window size was too small and archaic for the average monitor size nowadays, and the black background was just wrong for a site that featured words. After the dust settled, everything looks different here, but I'm glad, because I wanted a change. And I just wanna write, dammit.
watching: The Killing (dir. Stanley Kubrick)
May 1, 2007
Not much has changed in Lincoln, Nebraska. The urban sprawl continues to drain the life from the downtown area, and many neighborhoods. We made great progress sorting my parents belongings, including heirloom furniture and items from my dad's stint as a missionary in Burma 1958–61. The tasks were exhausting, especially with the 91° weather and humidity. I managed to escape for awhile to catch the last day of the Chris Ware comics exhibit at Sheldon Art Gallery. They also have a permanent collection of comic art which featured some amazing original pieces from Winsor McKay, Walt Kelly, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
sleeping: zzzz…
April 27, 2007
My siblings and I will soon journey back to my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. There we'll aid my parents in sorting 38 years of stuff that has amassed in the attic, basement, closets, garage and other crannies and nooks as they prepare to move. It promises to be hard work. I haven't been to Lincoln in over three years, and am curious to see what has changed.
watching: The Grifters (dir. Stephen Frears)
April 21, 2007
Dreamhost, my webhost has "gone green." They've purchased carbon credits, and are henceforth carbon neutral. Some of the commentors on their blog are kvetching about this, and they can shut up.
reading: DMZ #2: Body of a Journalist
April 20, 2007
Our local library branch was graffitied with the words "So it goes. Killgore Trout 4/12/07."
reading: top secret government documents
April 19, 2007
Someone's gone and made a documentary about Harlan Ellison called Dreams With Sharp Teeth. Now all you lazy sloths who haven't bothered to read him, can watch him. Also, I found mp3s of an excellent HE interview by his buddy Robin Williams. (Compressed .rar archive of 9 segments.)
reading: More Than Human (Theodore Sturgeon)
April 12, 2007
So it goes. Goodnight, Mr. Vonnegut. We liked you here.
watching: Grindhouse (dir. R. Rodriguez & Q. Tarantino)
April 7, 2007
The thing that wouldn't die. Is it one of my new short stories? Is it a B-grade horror movie? Is it one of Rob Zombie's new songs? No it's the annual report at my day job. It drags on and on and on and on. Luckily I found this awesome song about what graphic designers have to endure on the job, and my current pain wasn't so bad.
March 29, 2007
I was blessed with the opportunity to co-host trivia night again yet again. Read my new questions here.
March 8, 2007
The baffling and amusing titles of some books are so odd that they may win the Bookseller/Diagram Award. My favorite from the finalists this year is The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification. A list of past winners.
February 28, 2007
I'm over a year late on publishing the third print volume of 3LBE. Since I publish them under Legion Press, which has been haunting me for a website update for too long, I fixed that up (with CSS and divs!), and am now accepting orders. I'll enjoy assembling a book, and Rew X will undertake the cover art as usual.
February 28, 2007
I co-hosted trivia night again. Test yourself on my new batch of questions. (A secret: sometimes I "retconn" this journal… adding entries retroactively. So my previous trivia hosting experience is captured on January 18.)
February 26, 2007
Finished stripping paint from and sanding the first door. I quite like it.
February 24, 2007
I stumbled upon a mention that Skinny Puppy released a new album last month. It seems to be available on iTunes, though their official website hasn't been updated for two years. Update: their first live appearance seems to be at a goth festival in Portland the end of May. Although I feel 15–20 years too old for such a social event, it might be fun!
February 22, 2007
Oh how I like sleep.
February 20, 2007
Tasked with redesigning some old websites at work, I've been learning a great deal about how web coding and design is changing. Developers insist that building sites with tables is dead, everything should be done with CSS and divs now. It didn't take long to grok this, and then a few weeks to learn and apply it in practice. The frustration has been the exceptions to the rule. How much easier would it be for all of us if web browsers were just more compliant with web standards? Of course new technologies are developed with experimentation and testing of new features, but sometimes I'm convinced that if Microsoft were making physical widgets, they would create new units of measurement with each release, as though the metric system and U.S. systems didn't exist.
February 15, 2007
I haven't been this sick in a few years. The congestion is endless. No drug seems to help. Wendy has been making me excellent chicken soup. I can hardly sleep.
February 10, 2007
I saw a commercial for the Bridge to Terabethia movie, complete with a visual assault of giant CGI characters, and I was just sad. To define all the richness of childhood imagination created by that book just seems a crime to me. I wonder if they'll keep the original story and ending. I want a whole new generation of kids to cry the way I did when I first read the book.
February 8, 2007
My parents have decided to sell the house in which I grew up. I'm getting slightly misty about the whole affair.
February 6, 2007
It's that time of year again to assemble the annual report at The Day Job. Everyone's sharing their ideas with me about how this one should be very different and creatively structured, because, as we know, everyone is a designer. Thank goodness too, because, despite my title, I'm not really a designer. I suggested that we should look at some best practices (to utilize some of their corporate buzz jargon), which meant that we should study some design-award wining examples of annual reports. We don't, I was informed, have any funds to purchase any design annuals. Then I remembered about those things called libraries, and found such books as I sometimes drool over on the fourth floor of Powell's. I was excited for a few days, but have a sinking feeling that I'll simply be told what to assemble. Like I said, it's a good thing I'm not really a designer. tag:bitchingaboutworkagain
February 2, 2007
I'm finally getting down to reading Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass. It's been on my really-oughta-read-that for a long while. So far, I like the panserbjørne.
January 28, 2007
Caught up on birthday celebrating with friends. Finally went to a restaurant on my to-try list, Fife, which turned out to be very tasty for some, and oddly disappointing for others. Then today finally saw Pan's Labyrinth, which I've been waiting for since del Toro mentioned it would be his next film away from Hollywood. Awesome.
January 26, 2007
For two years or so, I've been wincing at the thought of investing $500 in a Silent Paint Remover, since it sounded better than my experiences with heat guns or chemical strippers (hmm, chemical strippers, is that my new band?). Then I found a website by someone who had made one himself from the heating rods of an old heater. So I built one this week, and began to attack decades of old paint on the doors of the house. The paint bubbles up like old Rick Baker special effects, eeeeek! Oh how I prefer the texture of wood to paint.
January 23, 2007
You gettin slow, old man.
January 20, 2007
It's been over a year since the last one, but I posted the new issue of Three-lobed Burning Eye magazine. (For readers not in the know, it's the magazine for which I serve as editor, and one of my alter egos serves as cover artist.) The big wait this time was for a few good stories. I experimented with some new art techniques, and CSS-based layout. Check out issue 16.
January 18, 2007
Every Tuesday night I participate in one of the many local pub trivia nights. Most of these are not extreme (there are no teams with uniforms) though they can become competitive -- or at least there's the opportunity for the drunken shouting arguement about whether Emily Dickens is close enough to the real answer to receive half a point. The team composed of my friends includes a good, even distribution of superpowers knowledge: there's the guy who talks to fishes knows everything about sports, the lady who turns into buckets of various liquids or non-power tools knows '80s pop culture and current events, the guy whose bald head emits red beams of energy knows art and literature , and the guy who can lift entire continents without the piece he's holding break off seems to get nothing wrong. Occasionally the regular trivia hostess asks for co-hosts, and I volunteered for this week. Then Portland experienced a huge blizzard of four inches that shut down the city. None of my regular team could make it, the hostess couldn't make it, but the place was packed. I ended up hosting all thirty questions. When I noticed my full team wasn't arriving, I swapped out the kryptonite questions designed to challenge their particular mutant powers areas. And still, the trivia participants that night were quite challenged. I later sent the questions to my team, and they agreed they were more difficult than usual, though they still amassed more points than the winning team. Test yourself on the trivia questions here.
January 11, 2007
Fuzzybutt the cat exhibited a growing lump near her back left leg. Wendy and I lamented that it was a tumor. The vet diagnosed the swelling as an abscess, and cleaned out the wound. Later in the week FB received 14 stitches after the dead tissue was removed. Now she's walking around with a blue lampshade-type collar and the experience is affecting her balance in a humorous way when she jumps off the desk or bed. We're glad she's okay, and she's gained a few nicknames like FrankenFuzz.
January 9, 2007
I can breathe now, and sucking on zinc tablets gives me a buzz. Sadly, I haven't been able to taste anything for over a week. I really miss enjoying food.
January 5, 2007
My sinuses are so congested that it's difficult to think. Lying down is not comfortable, but my body is achey and I'm exhausted. I get sick once every 1.5 to 2 years, and it's usually a doozey when it happens.
January 1, 2007
I've been borderline sick since Xmas, so we spent New Year's Eve indoors, tending the fireplace, Wendy knitting, and catching up on sixth season Sopranos.
