Apparently someone reposted an old 2015 story and gave it new legs, and my news feed has been full of reports regarding a rural town voting a moratorium on solar energy because the panels would, among other terrible effects, suck up all the sun and stop photosynthesis. I think you… When Solar Goes Bad: A Case Study
If you follow my social media, you might have noticed that I’ve been posting ink drawings for #Inktober, and that they’re generally awful. You might have asked yourself why I would do that. Do I know how bad they are, or do I see my work through a blissfully ignorant filter? Is it some sort of prank?
So here’s what’s up with Inktober.
First, in case you aren’t familiar with it, #Inktober is a month for doing one drawing — in ink — and sharing it per day. You can find the brief background and this year’s optional prompt list from the creator Jake Parker. It’s something like National Novel Writing Month, but for visual artists.
Now, let’s recognize that I’m bad at drawing. No, I’m really bad at drawing. The local catchphrase for referring to truly hideous visual design is, “It looks like Laura drew it.” (Don’t feel bad. I’m often the one saying it. It’s not wrong to acknowledge my skills are in other sets.) So why on earth would I do Inktober, which unlike NaNoWriMo specifically requires publicly sharing one’s work?
I’m doing Inktober for several reasons:What is up with #Inktober?
I posted this on my Facebook page and got more reaction than I expected. So here’s an expanded version for your reading pleasure.
For most of my life, I’ve believed the story in my 5th grade schoolbook about Pheidippides running 25 miles from the Battle of Marathon to Athens to declare “We won!” before promptly dropping dead, and that’s the origin of the marathon.
Today I learned that’s not at all true.
A Marathon Legend
From the iconic 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street to Clement Moore’s immortal poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” to Rise of the Guardians (with a great burly Santa) to Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (too awful even for my schlock-loving B-movie taste), Saint Nick has gotten a lot of attention. But there’s another figure who has been consistently overlooked, and it’s time she gets her due.
I mean Mrs. Claus, of course.
And so I am pleased to announce a new anthology of stories all about the lady behind the jolly old elf.Cover Reveal: Mrs. Claus
So we’re going to talk about classic world literature and Open, Sesame. But first, the public service part of the blog!
So you’ve heard by now of the sweeping security breach involving Equifax, who among other things were caught using the user name “admin” and the password “admin.” Seriously.Open, Sesame! Literature & Passwords
On the one hand, I can’t believe we need to have this discussion of how to write female protagonists and balance. On the other, since clearly we do need it, let’s have it.
With the announcement of the 13th Doctor as a female regeneration, the internet slightly exploded. I was actually at a fandom convention during the announcement and heard not only discussion of the announcement itself, but of reactions to the announcement.
We’re going to ignore those who were horrified to discover their Doctor now has girl cooties. They’re easy to ignore — or just borrow for humor, where they’re most useful. Anyway, the haters are vocal but seem to be a minority, or maybe I just have a better-curated network, and I don’t intend to waste blog space on that sort of thing.
But one repeated protest I heard repeatedly in several less-hysterical discussions was, now that the Doctor is a female, the male companions will be written down to idiocy so that she looks clever, and so everything will be less cool and the storytelling will suffer. I found myself saying or typing the same thing repeatedly, so let me just save time and put it here.
This is indeed a huge problem, only the problem is not the Doctor’s personal plumbing.Doctor Who, Writing Female Characters, and Equality.
IT HAS BEGUN.
/Mortal Kombat music plays/
I need your help! Today is the first round of the Equus Battle Royale, and my war unicorns are up!Equus Battle Royale: Fight!
You might recall that I offered a prize for making fun of my awkward pictures. Because I take myself that seriously, all the time. And now, we have the results. The grand prize of three ebooks and a $20 Amazon gift card goes to Alex McGilvery, for his… Contest Results: The Derpening
I was shooting some video and realized I’d accidentally bumped the selfie button while using my phone camera to check lighting. That’s how this starts.
And I thought that expression and that green screen were just too inviting, and so we’re going to play with them.Contest: Derp Me!
There is a phenomenon in which some skeevy lowlife steals a title and often a manuscript from a published book and re-publishes them on Amazon in his own account, trying to fool readers into buying his “edition” of the story and stealing royalties from the author.
Most of the time, though, they do a better job of matching a more plausible cover.Seems Legit.
