Monday, November 8, 2021

Yes, I'm Still Around

 I have not forgotten.

But life, as it ever does, moves steadily on. And with that slow march of time comes the beat of change. Quite the tattoo it has been as of late.

This, it appears, is turning more into a life update blog than a writing blog. That will hopefully change at some point, and for now I can rest in the fact that I am in fact writing something and putting it out there, even if it is the somewhat mundane life story (mundane because probably I'm the only one reading this).

At the beginning of August, E was born! And within a month we had moved and started a new job in the Palouse, so yes things are just now beginning to settle. Just in time for us to move from the apartment we've been staying in for a couple months into the house we just bought! Many many important, exciting, and time consuming events within the last little bit here. 

I already know one of my NY resolutions will involve writing. My inclination over the last few years is to begin these resolutions as I come up with them. So yes, beginning soon here I want to be visiting this blog more and more as I journey through authors and tales and leave behind the footprints of my own work. 

This post is shorter than many will be. However, it's an update and a reminder (for me!), not a real literary posting.

Also, I (just today) started an account on World Anvil. I hope to build the settings of my tales there, giving them depth and breadth. On occasion, I hope to post things I write there to here, and vice-versa, so stay tuned! And if you have an account, let's connect!

Thursday, May 20, 2021

The Games pt 1

The boys raced through the street. They could already hear the chanting of the crowds further down in the large Stadium in the center of the city. Tamrick noticed that from the palace they had begun at to this viewpoint of the Stadium, the numbers of people jostling each other had increased dramatically. Stadium-goers vying to get ahead to get the best seats, merchants calling and selling wares, and citizens trying to go about their normal day despite the great commotion the annual games had caused. The Games were an annual holiday that most the city, indeed the empire, took seriously. Tamrick and Achroda had now slowed to a walk, as the running space had vanished.

"Will we even be able to have seats?" Tamrick asked. He looked around at the masses of people from all corners of the empire and beyond. There was no way they would all fit, he knew.

"Of course." Achroda smiled. He opened the satchel by his side and produced a large medallion. "We have access to the Stadium overlook. We simply show the guards this and we will get escorted to seats."

Tamrick recognized the medallion. Baron Miklaeus's insignia was blazoned with gold onto the steel background. The caricature of a flying eagle was known throughout the empire, inciting both allegiances and animosities.

The warm summer's day was intensified by the crowds and the thousands of shimmering specks of wares, jewelries, and weapons. The hub of foreign languages was complimented by the variety of kindreds represented. Tamrick, an Aleread from the West, knew such people existed, but had rarely seen any in the secluded hills that bordered the empire. He was frequently caught staring at an impressively tall Doruk, or the hairy goat-like Venlera. One even growled and lowered his horns slightly, causing Tamrick to catch his breath and quickly move on.

The masses at the front of the gates were at a standstill. Tamrick and Achroda tried to push their way forward, but several angry glares prompted them to stop their efforts. Achroda pursed his lips as he tried peering over the tops of the crowds, looking for a speedier way into the massive stone and wood structure. 

"The gates aren't even open yet." He moaned. As if on cue, the boys heard a massive creaking. Looking up, they saw the large doors swinging open. A massive cheer went up from the waiting crowd. Achroda looked immensely pleased with himself. "Hah. That worked." He paused then said. "The crowd isn't even moving." Tamrick's skeptical gaze alternated between Achroda, expectantly looking around, and the large throng of stadium-goers. A few elves in front of them shuffled forward, and Achroda's smile widened. "There it goes again! The power of suggestion."

"You're insufferable." Tamrick said, rolling his eyes. 

"You're jealous," was the quick retort. "And you know, if you keep rolling your eyes, they'll fall right out." 

The crowd began moving soon after. Guards at the gates kept an eye out for suspicious characters, while others collected the small entrance fee. As the boys stepped up to the table, Achroda held out the medallion.

"The overlook, please." He said confidently.

The gate keeper looked at the medallion and then at the two boys. "The Baron, eh?" His eyes narrowed as he considered. He then looked at the long line behind them, and waved them on. "Fine. Tifard, escort them to the overlook." He said begrudgingly. 

A soldier stepped forward and also eyed Tamrick and Achroda suspiciously. "In the Baron's name, is that right?" Achroda nodded. The guard took the medallion and inspected it before handing it back. "This way please." 

They took a staircase off to one side of the entrance. Several flights and a hallway later, the guard opened a door to a large, spacious balcony. The large dirt arena spread out before them. There were eight large colored standards in the middle.

Achroda glanced at Tamrick, a slight smile tugging at his mouth. "This is it. Come on, let's find some seats."

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

At Long Last

If at first you don’t succeed, try try again.

Well, at first I tried blogging. Then something happened. Now, three-and-a-half years later, I’m try-try-againing. Things have definitely changed during my brief sabbatical. I’m probably the only one reading this, but I’ll give myself a brief recap of some of the things anyway.

Graduation. Job. Marriage. Homeowner. Dad-to-be.

Moving on. Life is full of twists and turns and excitement. Due to these, it means life can also be busy. I’m trying to set habits for some of the various things I like doing, but it means that I can either spend less time per week on them, or need to space out my self-ascribed schedule. I’m involved in a few different weekly athletic events; I’m part of a writing group; I have a booklist I’m reading through; I want to work on wood skills; 3D printing is still a hobby (but neglected recently); and I want to improve my electrical/coding know-how. On top of that, Staci and I are new homeowners – I’m super excited for finding and starting and finishing projects around the house. I got a guitar a few months back and want to reach a basic proficiency at it. Could be fun to pick up the bagpipes again. Summer is here, and with that additional outdoor activities (I’m looking forward to good ol’ fashioned BBQs again). End of summer, we’ll hopefully have a healthy son staying up with us at night. The list could continue (probably not for very long though, to be honest).

All these things. So why then would I take time to blog? I see it as an avenue to better express thoughts, changes, updates, original literary projects, and the like. Better than say a quick Insta-pic or a FB post. To me, those can be snapshots, and for the most part I give the Jim-Halpert-camera-look if someone has too many words on a post. That’s because to me, those social media platforms are for brevity. That’s why you don’t really see me posting too much, or too long. If you want a quick idea what I’m up to on occasion, follow me there. If you’re ready to be bored with things that I for some strange reason find fascinating or think I wrote well, then this is the place for you. Welcome to my blog.

I'm pretty excited for what I have planned for this (know this, that plans go awry). I've got a couple different literary projects that I hope to populate this blog with. These include short stories and excerpts of potentially longer ones. Some original, others less original. One of my first goals is to pull back the cobwebs and re-examine The Fairytale my brother Ben and I were writing. Perhaps there is still some gold to be gleaned.

I'm also working on a fantasy world. I have a couple different storylines in this. Working on developing what a culture would look like is thrilling. Trying to then stop that and actually write a story that doesn't sound like a history book is the challenge.

Some additional things I'll look forward to writing would be events in my life, or cool projects/stories I've come across, or thoughts and theories that are on my mind. Sooo that basically covers everything. If you stayed this long, you deserve a gold star! But sadly, I'm not sponsored so can't give those out. I'll hopefully post again later this month, but my goal will be at least monthly. I may have my act together enough to do it more often.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Worth a Thousand Words? - A Writtin' Thing

"A picture is worth a thousand words" - a saying we all know. We use this to caption pictures of beauty. "This says it all" - "Can't add anything' - tags we might include after the proverb. But is a picture really worth a thousand words? I was driving from Longview to the coast today, and was the recipient of some fabulous views as the sun set amidst puffy white clouds and green hills. Honestly one of the most gorgeous sunsets I've seen. I snapped a few pictures, thinking about sending them to fellow enthusiasts, when this saying struck me. Could I describe the images I had seen in a thousand words? That's a little over a page of writing.
Perhaps in the days of paintings and perchance spreading into the early years of photographs, pictures were truly worth a thousand words. However, I no longer think they hold that value. Images, being pictures and videos, have taken such a dominant role in our culture that I think more people are prone to snap a picture (or several) with a tagline to describe something - especially over written forms of communication. I think we've lost the ability to verbalise sunsets and sorrows, a prodigal return, a moment of time, a wandering gaze. Pictures are no longer worth a thousand words. What do you think?

P.S. - 224 words...

Friday, October 6, 2017

The Writtin' Thing

I was recently challenged to write. Write about…well, almost anything. Get things to paper (figuratively). Express thought in coherent organisation. Math, history, arts, sciences, hypothetical, it doesn't matter what, but get something down and practice. So that's what I'm gonna try to begin. Fridays are going to be fun. Not because of anything besides the fact that I'm going to have something written, whether or not it's relevant to an "audience" but simply trying to communicate. Short scenes drawn from an every day occurrence, weeklong prepared works, poems. Regardless the content or genre, it will be original. So, here's to another resolution to writing! I'm going to call this series…


The Writtin' Thing

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Christmas Poem

I know it's been quite a while since last  I wrote - largely, that was due to the fact of school. Then it was due to lack of inspiration. However, I hope (as a pseudo-New Year's Resolution) to get back into writing somewhat frequently. Here's something I penned the other night. Please let me know what you think!


Oh glorious heavens, arrayed tonight
You show the Maker's power and might.
Your dance does show the King's design,
With eyes that saw the tales I pine

For you, oh pinpricks in the sky,
Were there upon that winter's cry.

You heard the angels tell of grace,
To those despised of Israel's race.
You beheld their rev'rent praise,
As they beheld th'Ancient of days.

And you were there when from afar,
The magi followed your tell-tale star.
And as kings of earth did homage bring,
You slowly danced to heaven's King.

For God did place you up above,
To show His never-ending love.

Now when eyes to you are turned, and rest,
We shall know that we are ever blest.
For as the rainbow does the sky adorn,
You were there as Christ our Lord was born.


PS - The first and last stanzas are like a prologue and epilogue. The couplets are the bridges to the main part of the poem, the two central stanzas.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

What would you say? Part I

I'm currently taking a worldview class that's being taught by my brother Ben. I've taken it before, but the material is excellent, and always worth revisiting. Anyway, as per any worldview class, we take a look at other worldviews, and try to see how they got where they are. However, they can be boiled down into what we like to call the "Red Shirt Analogy." It all starts with someone trying to persuade another that a certain shirt is red...

Image result for men's red shirt

It runs like this. The first person tries to convince the second person that the shirt is red. The second person contemplates it, and then accepts the statement, "This shirt is red." Presto, discussion over.

Image result for diagram of the eyeThe second scenario is not the same. Here, the first person tries to convince the second that the shirt is red. However, the second person smiles sympathetically and proceeds to explain to the first that his (the first's) eyes have "a visual aid impairment wherein your retinal photosensitive ganglion cells that send signals along the retinohypothalamic tract to the suprachiasmatic nuclei and to the pretectal area to control pupillary light reflexes might be lacking the photopigment melanopsin..." and if you weren't lost before, you are lost now. Obviously, with all these big scientific terms, and the fact the second knew them, the first thinks the second an authority on the matter, and believes him instead (not so with Mr. J however!). After all, what would you say to a response like this?

The third scenario: the first tells the second "This shirt is red," to which the second replies "What shirt?" "Uh, this one, in my hands!" "What shirt?" "Right here, feel it?" "What shirt?" Obviously, the problem here is that the second doesn't even see the shirt, and in fact is in rejection of the shirt. He is, in a way, "blind to the shirt." How do you prove that a shirt is there? What would you say to these responses?

The fourth scenario is a profound example of denial. The first tells the second "This shirt is red." The second responds "No, it's blue." And then, despite the fact that he admits other similar colors to be red, the second still adamantly states "No, that shirt is blue." What do you say?