| Hugo House Needs Your Help |
[Nov. 21st, 2009|03:24 pm] |
It's been a tough year for everyone, but it's been especially tough on those who rely on the charity of others to survive. Many of you know that I volunteer and donate to the Richard Hugo House. The Hugo House is center for writers and readers that offers classes, youth programs, literary events, original stage productions, writer residencies and scholarships to the disadvantaged. There are only three organizations like it in the United States. It's a place of great love and support for those who love the written word, young and old.
In 2009, Hugo House served over 850 youth with creative writing classes and summer camps, and their scholarship fund awarded more than $13,000 to teen writers who would not have been able to attend their programs otherwise. Hugo Writers-in-Residence gave over 350 no-cost writing consultations to the public. And the Zine Archive and Publishing Project (ZAPP), which is the largest collection of handmade and small press periodicals in the nation, reopened in a bigger space upstairs. Those are just a few of the programs donations from people like you will support.
This year, I've been honored by the House as a laureate for the Write-O-Rama fundraiser on December 5th. I'm asking you to pledge whatever you can as a tax deductible donation by clicking here. Just put PlanetHeidi in the designation field and fill out all the other necessary information.
Thank you
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| Pure gold |
[Apr. 5th, 2009|08:54 pm] |
Reminds me of the monday morning staff meetings at my old consulting job.
Words fail me. |
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| My two cubits on BSG |
[Mar. 21st, 2009|05:28 pm] |
I actually like a little religious mystery in my sci-fi. It was one of the great things that I loved about Star Wars and one of the things ruined in Phantom Menace.
For me the BSG finale was all about finding out what was manipulating the characters: A) The Cylon master plan (ala Cavil and Cylon projection) or B) The Hand of God.
I was actually rooting for the Hand of God finale and that was one piece of I was pleased about the end. However the actual execution was pretty cornball. And yeah, I know where they wanted to go - the same place the original series went. Ultimately, that was what made the finale anemic.
Oh well. |
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| Watchmen - What I liked, What I didn't |
[Mar. 7th, 2009|07:19 pm] |
Saw the Watchmen at the Imax. Pretty good, tho I am still mulling things over. This is a comic (not graphic novel, but mini-series of comics) that I bought off the shelf, one issue at a time, back in the late 80's. It was a particular tough time in my life, and Watchmen and Frank Miller's Daredevil: Born Again, kept me going. I've reread the story at least once a year since then. So yes, this comic means a lot to me.
What I liked:
- Deviation from the story, especially the latter half, was actually a good thing.
- Actors did a great job, in many ways taking characters I thought were already full-fleshed a step farther.
- Great special effects - matching pitch-perfect with the visuals from the comic, even the fantastic stuff
- Chopping out of the minor characters (moving some to the Black Freighter DVD) I didn't miss them and they kept the focus back where I did care.
What I didn't like:
- The music was hit and miss. Mostly miss. It was one of those cases where it broke the magic and I could feel the director trying to manhandle my emotions.
- Short-cuts and characters verbally providing the exposition. Maybe unavoidable, maybe not. Still distract.
- Lack of explanations for things (where did Nite Owls gadgets come from? Why so many airships?) In the comic, those were clearly explained, but the plot piece that fueled it was re-arranged in the story.
- Abbreviated origin stories for Rorschach and Ozymandias. I wanted more.
- Overly long sex and violence scenes. Yes, I am getting old, but in the comic they were shorter but I guess that's not good enough for Hollywood.
Final:
This movie was made for people who read the comic. Except still an attempt was made to provide some sense to people who hadn't read it. In way, that detracted. Ultimately, what I like about Alan Moore as a writer is that he writes for an intelligent audience. He expects you to pay attention. He hides Easter eggs, jewels, and little morsels for the reader to discover through careful examination of the text. That kind of writing is magic to me. It inspires so much of my style of writing. It tickles my brain and makes me smile. All of that was scrubbed out of the movie. For a mainstream pop culture movie, yeah, you gotta hit people over the head with things (literally in this case). And there's no time for delicious details. And to that, I just shrug and sigh. Alan's text is there for me to enjoy. So I think I'll reread it again tonight. |
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| Page 56 of John Crowley's Little Big |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|09:52 pm] |
"And his baby August in a sailor suit, who never smelled the sea. He had named him for that month when when the year stands still and blue day follows blue day, when for a while he stopped looking at the sky."
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| Past, tense |
[Jan. 9th, 2009|11:37 pm] |
When I was a kid, I loved sci-fi shows (well, I still do). I remember there was this British show that was like Star Trek that was kind of NASA-ish... Space 1999.
The one distinct memory I have of that show that still I carry to this day was of a nightmarish alien monster with a big glowing eye and tentacles. The monster somehow sucked people into it's mouth and the spat their horribly digested bodies. As an adult, I thought back and realized that it was just a child's imagination writ large and it couldn't have been that scary. They'd never show something that on television. And yeah, as a kid, I'm sure I just made it worse in my head over the years. Stupid campy 70's television.
Then I ran across this clip on YouTube.
I was wrong. This was, and still is as scary as ever. |
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| Wish List for Super-Creatives |
[Dec. 12th, 2008|02:05 pm] |
- Make reference books, cuz we can't possibly know it all
- Bump keys why let locks limit where you can explore?
- Home DNA kit, make your own monsters
- Robot Toddler kit, not a robot kit for toddlers
- Prop FBI badges, for entertainment purposes only! (wink, wink)
- Trebuchet plans, a nice weekend project
- Lego Deathstar, cuz childhood never ends.
- Personal submarine, for beneath the surface lies the future.
- Jacob's Ladder, show the neighborhood your idea of Christmas lights
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| Seen@Work |
[Dec. 12th, 2008|12:36 pm] |
SAS-70 audit going on here. Not so much fun.
Secretary walks by the cubes where me and the auditor are sitting.
She's dragging a very large white sack with something heavy in it.
(probably the office Christmas tree)
I turn to the auditor and say:
"That's the last auditor we had. He asked too many questions."
well, I thought it was funny |
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| Hillybilly Hoe-down |
[Dec. 2nd, 2008|07:23 pm] |
Aug loves this book
Which involves reading the lyrics to a square dance. Well, you can't actually read them. You must sing them.
I, of little singing-ability, base the melody on the only possible cranial reference I have to this kind of music. Specifically, this:
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| I have no idea why this happened, but they can review this entry too. |
[Nov. 18th, 2008|08:26 pm] |
Dear Withholding Pancakes author,
Our editors recently reviewed your blog and have given it a 7.5 score out of (10) in the Personal Blogs category of Blogged.com.
This is quite an achievement!
http://www.blogged.com/directory/personal-blogs
We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style.
After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 7.5 score.
We’ve also created Blogged.com score badges with your score prominently displayed.
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| Why haven't you updated this blog, your security blog, or the web-comic author comments? |
[Oct. 27th, 2008|08:01 pm] |
My typical day
- 7:00 am - August wakes up
- 7:01 am - August demands breakfast
- 7:02 am - Feed August
- 7:20 am - Clean off August
- 7:21 am - Pack lunch for August, self
- 7:22 am - Bathe, dress, answer work email
- 7:45 am - Help August get out the door with mommy to daycare
- 7:55 am - Walk dog
- 8:05 am - Drive to bus stop
- 8:20 am - Park, walk to bus stop
- 8:23 am - Miss bus by 30 seconds, wait
- 8:30 am - Catch second bus
- 9:00 am - Arrive at work
- noon - Eat lunch at desk, work thru lunch
- 3:00 pm - Realize I need to leave soon, panic
- 3:30 pm - Race to bus stop
- 3:32 pm - Miss bus by 30 seconds, wait
- 3:40 pm - Catch second bus
- 4:02 pm - Arrive at bus stop, run to car
- 4:07 pm - Race to day care
- 4:18 pm - Arrive at day care, attempt to pick up August
- 4:34 pm - Finally get August in car, head home
- 4:45 pm - Arrive at home
- 4:46 pm - Play with August
- 6:00 pm - Feed August
- 6:30 pm - Clean off August, hand off to mom for nite-nite
- 6:31 pm - Cook dinner
- 7:00 pm - Eat dinner
- 7:30 pm - Clean up after dinner
- 8:00 pm - Get on computer, get back to work
- 9:30 pm - Work done, now my time is my own!
- 10:30 pm - Time to sleep
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| Prescience |
[Sep. 26th, 2008|03:18 pm] |
Back in the 2000, a Republic friend and I were debating the upcoming election.
Her comment to me was, "Gore and Bush... they're pretty much the same. I mean the only real difference will be in appointing Supreme court judges, that's all." |
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| Wisdom of the crowds |
[Sep. 2nd, 2008|02:39 pm] |
Having a tough day and I needed some advice... so I asked Google's auto-complete thing what it thought Justice is.
Here's what I got:
- Justice is blind
- Justice is service csi
- Justice is coming
- Justice is served walkthru
- Justice is truth in action
- Justice is done
- Justice israel
- Justice is lost
- Justice isaac ejiofor
- Justice is worth it lyrics
All I can think is the third bullet is most true right now. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. Maybe my lyrics are different.
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