Author: Don

Tweets for Today

  • 04:01 Why am I awake??? ♫ blip.fm/~8p2r #
  • 07:11 Ooh, this is gonna be a rough morning. The kind of morning where one falls back on old addictions… #
  • 10:35 Successfully resisted the red-eye temptation! Day will suck, but at least I have that one satisfaction ;)! #
  • 11:04 "The Paganini of Jacob’s Gully" by Carol Emschwiller is the best fucking lit/genre-blended love story I’ve ever read! #
  • 15:31 In the eye of the hurricane at work… #

Via LoudTwitter

Tweets for Today

  • 08:29 I want to float through my Saturday. ♫ blip.fm/~8az0 #
  • 13:01 Sucks that my favorite food stand was *not* at the Farmer’s Market this morning! #
  • 13:04 Not thrilled about the money I spent buying pants this morning, either. But what can you do? #
  • 13:09 Will put off skoolwork until tomorrow. Edits today. #
  • 15:55 Far, far less writing/editing than should’ve been done by this hour. #

Via LoudTwitter

Some Light Reading

Through the hustle and bustle of school, trying to fire off stories to markets, and eeking out some new stuff, I’ve been reading like I haven’t been in awhile. I’ve actually read quite a bit since my last set of reviews, but I haven’t had the brainspace to sit and give more than a passing thought to them before now. So, here’s the latest batch.

This first four pieces are from the Trampoline anthology…

“The Force Acting on the Displaced Body” by Christopher Rowe. A journey always makes a great metaphor, especially when a piece is as well-written as this. It’s a good example of something that skirts around the stricter genre definitions of fantasy. No magic as such–that is to say, no wizardry or the like. I guess it’s more on the lines of myth-making. 5 out of 5.

“Well-Moistened with Cheap Wine, the Sailor and the Wayfarer Sing of Their Absent Sweethearts” by Ed Park. Slightly long and slightly too descriptive for this Carver-lover but that’s my issue, not the story’s. The premise of the story more than makes up for it. You could almost call this piece Soft-Science-Fiction. 5 out of 5!

“Angel” by Shelley Jackson. This is the second or third Jackson story I’ve attempted. I really can’t put my finger on why I’ve been less than enthusiastic, thus far. Any idiot can see how good the writing is. I really don’t know what I’m not getting. As far as this piece though, it read like something calculated to be a bizarro, if well-written, version of Raymond Carver’s “So Much Water, So Close to Home.” Still, the writing rules, so 4 out of 5!

“Impala” by John Gonzalez. Straight-up sci-fi joint–almost! Loved it! Gonzalez took a risk with the choice of POV character, but I still found it compelling. 5 out of 5.

“Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason. I searched high and low for a copy of Mason’s collection Shiloh and Other Stories, and finally found one (actually, three) in a second-hand bookstore around me that I didn’t know about until about a month ago. I see why this story’s a classic. Believable characters in a well-structured piece with the least amount of “writing” necessary. What more could a reader want? 5 out of 5.

“The Garden of Time” by J.G. Ballard. Another classic, this from his Best Short Stories. The line between sci-fi and fantasy blurs with this one because of Ballard’s skillful writing. A little light on characterization for me, though. 4 out of 5.

Tweets for Today

  • 04:00 Awake. Wide awake. Caffeine oversensitivity? #
  • 04:11 I like the new twitter. I don’t like that yesterday’s tweets didn’t ship to the blog via LoudTwitter 🙁 #
  • 07:39 Resolved, there will be no skool work until at least Saturday morning. Editing to do! Goal: submit the latest MS on Monday! #
  • 10:18 Believe it or not, I’m back on the low(er)-caffeine wagon. #
  • 12:00 Revised for an hour before work. Realized everything I wanted to cut should not only stay, but needs to be fucking rewritten!! GRRR! #
  • 15:15 My Put-a-Fork-In-Me-‘Cos-I’m-Done theme of the day: ♫ blip.fm/~84ni #
  • 17:45 Sitting, slack-jawed, with the thousand-yard stare and 45 min. left at work. #

Via LoudTwitter

“All afternoon, those birds twitter twit”

…except for yesterday, when LoudTwitter didn’t ship my “Tweets for Today” here, probably because of Twitter’s update. Here’s the recap.

  • Firefox/Twitter login troubles fixed. It was a goshdern add-on that’s updated its update. I can sleep the sleep of angels, now. 07:24 AM September 18, 2008
  • It’s been two days–I miss writing. 07:24 AM September 18, 2008
  • Fell off the red-eye wagon! I couldn’t help it!! 🙁 about 23 hours ago
  • Sitting in a computer lab in front of a 19″ monitor. I could get used to a 19″ monitor. about 19 hours ago
  • Trying to force myself to take a BREAK during lunch, and not force any writing or schoolwork. But, I’m tempted… about 19 hours ago
  • Would really rather use a legit version of some stats software. But there are ways… >:) about 18 hours ago
  • Tonite’s writing agenda: checking to see if my latest project really can go without 1,250 words, or if I need to leave it. about 18 hours ago
  • Feeling cranky after one red-eye. Well…one red-eye and two additional cups of coffee. about 17 hours ago
  • Attempt to get legit stats software: Denied. Fine. 😉 about 13 hours ago

Tweets for Today

  • 06:58 Planning to miss another useless meeting at work thanks to class! #
  • 06:58 Trying to decide how much to lug around with me today. #
  • 10:29 Weekly discussion sections, I’ve found, are as useful as weekly staff meetings. #
  • 10:30 Couldn’t bear to leave the fiction reading behind today. Did leave the AlphaSmart :(. #
  • 18:12 @GigiVernon U’ll b talkin n l33t-speak next LOL ;). Good luck on the revising!! #
  • 18:12 Been laying off the heavy loads, but could still use a trip to the chiropractor. #
  • 20:38 Staring at the MS and all I see are probability distribution tables. Only myself to blame; it is a skool nite after all. #

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