KJToo

When I speak of “my young apprentice,” I’m referring to Kyle, who is now eleven weeks old and has decided that he likes diaper changes very much. This is a relief to Laura and I, as Kyle used to pitch an unholy fit whenever we began the process of changing his Tinkle-in-me-Elmo undergirding. He also smiles a lot now, and not just because he’s got gas. He smiles when I do silly things like playing the alien greeting from Close Encounters of the Third Kind on his nose, cheeks and chin.

It occurred to me yesterday, however, that I currently have another apprentice — though perhaps “protégé” might be a better word. This other apprentice goes by the name of Stuart (or s2), and I am in the process of transferring my current duties to him so that I can pursue other opportunities. If the phrase “pursue other opportunities” sounds like workplace jargon, that’s because it is. Generally, when people use that phrase, they mean “find another job,” which is not the case with me. I’m just going to focus on different types of projects once the brain dump to s2 is complete. I could probably be more vague, but obfuscation is a lot of work, and I’m on my lunch break.

One of my apprentices (apprentici?) cries and fusses when he’s hungry, has a tendency to stare at lights and occasionally spits up on himself; the other is a cute little baby.

There you go, s2, you’ve been mentioned in the blog. You can stop pouting now.

Posted March 31, 2006 Comments(7)

Head on over and download the latest draught of Misfit Brew, featuring essays by game designer Sam Chupp, unquiet desperado Chris Miller, master misfit Mick Bradley and a song from musical misfit Rae Lamond.

What is Misfit Brew? Well, in Mick’s words, it’s “[a] podcast from a misfit, distilled in the basement of the House of the Harping Monkey…” It’s a stout, hearty, geeky concoction with no bitter aftertaste. In episode nine, Mick rants about dysfunctional gaming, Chris wishes he could get his game on, Sam extolls the virtues of the misfit, and Rae brings “a magic far beyond all we do here.”

Oh, and if you have to ask, this is John Wick.

Posted March 30, 2006 Comments(2)

The latest episode of The Round Table has been posted over at The House of the Harping Monkey. If you want to hear three adults discuss the mythology of SpongeBob Squarepants and The Rocky Horror Show, head on over to the site and download the episode. Better yet, subscribe to the podcast with your favorite podcatcher (I use iTunes). You do have a podcatcher, right?

Posted March 29, 2006 Comments(8)

After work last Thursday I met with Charley, one of the Cleveland-area Wrimos who blew the doors off 50,000 words back in November. We chatted about writing as we sipped our ridiculously huge “not compensating for anything” café mochas.

Charley brought up an exercise he used to do with his college roommate wherein they would write stories based on a random assortment of words. I’ve done this sort of thing before, so I asked Charley to send me an e-mail with a half-dozen words that I could use as the seeds for a short story.

These are the words that showed up in my inbox last night: dichotomy microverse gulp indictment pests scrape.

Pfft! Piece of cake.

Posted March 27, 2006 Comments(4)

Once upon a time, I was a member of the Science-Fiction Book Club1 and I forgot to promptly return the “Selection of the Month” card2. As a result, one of the books I received was George R.R. Martin’s A Storm of Swords. I probably would have sent the book back, but I’m a huge fan of a series of books that Martin edited back in the 1980’s called Wild Cards.

The Wild Cards series is a sort of alternative history of Earth, one that diverges from our own history slightly after World War II. The key event is the release of an alien virus into the atmosphere; a virus that radically alters a significant portion of the population of first New York City and eventually much of the world. Those affected by the Wild Card virus gain super-human abilities (Aces), become hideously deformed (Jokers), or die immediately (referred to as “drawing the Black Queen”).

Wild Cards is a collaborative universe, with stories written by George R.R. Martin, Walter Jon Williams (Dread Empire’s Fall), Melinda M. Snodgrass and Roger Zelazny (Chronicles of Amber), to name a few. The authors each created several characters that inhabited the Wild Cards universe, from Doctor Tachyon, the alien who brought the virus to Earth to Father Squid, the Joker priest, to Jack Braun, the Ace known as The Golden Boy (and later The Judas Ace).

The series spans seventeen volumes, but I only have the first thirteen. There was also a four-issue limited series comic book published by Marvel’s Epic imprint, which I own in its entirety, and a GURPS supplement, which I do not. Though I thought the comic book was a merely mediocre, I absolutely loved the novels. I’ve re-read most of them at least twice, and went through all thirteen volumes I own last year. The most recent installment, Death Draws Five was published just last month. Volumes fourteen through sixteen have proven to be somewhat difficult to find, but I’d certainly like to complete the set eventually.

A Storm of Swords is the third volume of George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Since I’d enjoyed Martin’s collaborative work in the Wild Cards series so much, I thought I’d give his solo stuff a shot. Rather than jumping into the middle of the series, I went out and picked up a copy of the first volume, A Game of Thrones. I read the first few chapters and then something new and shiny caught my eye, so I set it aside. The novel (which weighs in at 800+ pages) sat on my shelf for several years, until I was looking for something to take to the hospital when it was time for Kyle to make his debut. In the week Laura and I spent running back and forth to the Cleveland Clinic, I managed to read about a quarter of A Game of Thrones, quickly learning that the point where I’d stopped reading years ago was the chapter immediately before the plot took a very interesting turn.3

A Song of Ice and Fire puts the “epic” in “epic fantasy.” In the first volume, Martin is setting the pieces on the board, but it is very clear that the game is already well underway, and has been for quite some time. It’s a big game, too. Each chapter focuses on one character, and eight characters share the spotlight in A Game of Thrones. Six of the characters are from a single family, the seventh is a dwarf who is at one turn admirable and at another replusive, and the eighth isn’t even on the same continent as the others. All of these characters are involved in a “game of thrones,” attempting to prevent one faction or another from siezing control of the Seven Kingdoms, plotting to take the throne themselves, or even simply watching helplessly as the game is played out around them.

I finished A Game of Thrones just yesterday, and I’m itching to run out and buy the second volume, A Clash of Kings. The fourth volume, A Feast for Crows was released last year, but at about eight hundred pages per installment—not to mention dozens of other unread books on my shelves—I’ve got plenty of reading to keep me occupied until it is released as a paperback. Of course, between volumes two and four is A Storm of Swords, which I already own in hardcover and will probably purchase in paperback just to make the reading experience a little more enjoyable. I should keep that in mind the next time I’m tempted to join The Science Fiction Book Club again.

1. Actually, it’s at least thrice upon a time, as I seem to re-join every six or seven years for some reason.
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2. This happened more than once, and I have several books on my shelf because of it. One other that I can recall off the top of my head is Marrow by Robert Reed, which I’ve not read. Yet. [back]
3. Should you happen to be reading/have read A Game of Thrones, I am referring to an event involving a young lad who likes to climb things. [back]

Posted March 27, 2006 Comments(8)