Well, I did it,
I got 50000 words written in the month of November.
I'm going to take a day off now. I reached my goal and it'll give me a chance to decide whether I would prefer to keep working on volume 2 or start draft 3 of volume 1... decisions, decisions...
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Long-dormant Blogger
I know... I know...
It's been over a month since my last entry. In my defence it's been a crazy month.
First off... as my twitter feed suggests... I have been job hunting. Still no luck. Still trying. Seriously considering packing it in and going overseas. Probably will if I get my book published.
That's been the other batch of major crazy. I've finished draft 2!
I have been starting to get feedback from my draft 2 beta readers and have a major revision job to do for draft 3 based on their advice.
A revision job I will start... in December.
There is a reason for that, and it is the third reason why I haven't been blogging lately.
This month is November. November means NaNoWriMo and I am an official contestant. My NaNo is the first 50000 (or more) words of volume 2 of Walking the Radiant Trail. We meet some new faces, get to know some old ones better and discover a few protagonists are really total bastards. As such it's a lot of fun to write and very engrossing. Since November 1 I have written 33197 words. (Actually it's a bit more than that but I went and deleted about 1000 so they don't count.)
I have to say that writing at that continuous level of intensity has only increased my love of the art.
My brother is coming back to London tomorrow. Personaly, and this is just me speaking, if I had escaped the evil vortex of despair which is London, Ontario I wouldn't come back for love or money (at least not a second time). Notwithstanding the extent to which I wish I was in Toronto, Chengdu, Beijing, Barry's Bay (living off royalties in the north country) or basically anywhere that isn't this artless, culture-free, hum drum, well I could go on with the invective forever, anyway notwithstanding the fact that I would personally rather be anywhere else I understand his reasons for coming and look forward to seeing him.
I'll try to be a bit more consistent with blog entries from here on out but still do not expect daily posts in November. Too much novel writing to be done.
It's been over a month since my last entry. In my defence it's been a crazy month.
First off... as my twitter feed suggests... I have been job hunting. Still no luck. Still trying. Seriously considering packing it in and going overseas. Probably will if I get my book published.
That's been the other batch of major crazy. I've finished draft 2!
I have been starting to get feedback from my draft 2 beta readers and have a major revision job to do for draft 3 based on their advice.
A revision job I will start... in December.
There is a reason for that, and it is the third reason why I haven't been blogging lately.
This month is November. November means NaNoWriMo and I am an official contestant. My NaNo is the first 50000 (or more) words of volume 2 of Walking the Radiant Trail. We meet some new faces, get to know some old ones better and discover a few protagonists are really total bastards. As such it's a lot of fun to write and very engrossing. Since November 1 I have written 33197 words. (Actually it's a bit more than that but I went and deleted about 1000 so they don't count.)
I have to say that writing at that continuous level of intensity has only increased my love of the art.
My brother is coming back to London tomorrow. Personaly, and this is just me speaking, if I had escaped the evil vortex of despair which is London, Ontario I wouldn't come back for love or money (at least not a second time). Notwithstanding the extent to which I wish I was in Toronto, Chengdu, Beijing, Barry's Bay (living off royalties in the north country) or basically anywhere that isn't this artless, culture-free, hum drum, well I could go on with the invective forever, anyway notwithstanding the fact that I would personally rather be anywhere else I understand his reasons for coming and look forward to seeing him.
I'll try to be a bit more consistent with blog entries from here on out but still do not expect daily posts in November. Too much novel writing to be done.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Partying with Bryan
My good friend Bryan came into town last week and stopped by to visit with me and man, did I have an awesome time. The entire day was pretty much concentrated excellent.
We collaborated on an excellent dinner which Pam quite enjoyed when she got home.
Then Greg stopped by randomly with beer. Random free beer is always the best. When it's some trendy micro-brew from t-dot that's just bonus points.
Afterwards Bryan and I went out to the bars, Pam had to get up early tomorrow so she had to stay home (cry).
We went to Winks but, because of homecoming, we would have been looking at an hour long wait so we went to Scotts Corner instead. We met up with Chris and Chris and Becky at Scotts, had a beer and then went to the Wrecked Room.
I haven't been in the Wrecked Room in years and it was sort of weird being back. Anyway it was still the same old Wrecked Room, loud, dark, full of goths, full of cheap booze and full of drunk people I've known for a decade.
Things got a little bit drunk out.
But, alas, I am getting older, I was a total wreck on Sunday and accomplished almost nothing except for recovering from staying out getting drunk on Saturday.
Oh well, made up for it the last two days. Got my post-draft 1 edits inputted for the first four chapters and wrote another insert. Oh, and I have the prologue for Volume 2 (working title: Walking the Radiant Trail: The Great Desert) down.
Don't know if I mentioned this previously but the working title for my oft-mentioned book is Walking the Radiant Trail: The Civilized East - look for it on bookstore shelves...
in a few years...
I hope.
Currently reading We - one of the original classics of Sci Fi. Bryan recommended it and, well, I wasn't going to read that Dan Brown novel. :)
We collaborated on an excellent dinner which Pam quite enjoyed when she got home.
Then Greg stopped by randomly with beer. Random free beer is always the best. When it's some trendy micro-brew from t-dot that's just bonus points.
Afterwards Bryan and I went out to the bars, Pam had to get up early tomorrow so she had to stay home (cry).
We went to Winks but, because of homecoming, we would have been looking at an hour long wait so we went to Scotts Corner instead. We met up with Chris and Chris and Becky at Scotts, had a beer and then went to the Wrecked Room.
I haven't been in the Wrecked Room in years and it was sort of weird being back. Anyway it was still the same old Wrecked Room, loud, dark, full of goths, full of cheap booze and full of drunk people I've known for a decade.
Things got a little bit drunk out.
But, alas, I am getting older, I was a total wreck on Sunday and accomplished almost nothing except for recovering from staying out getting drunk on Saturday.
Oh well, made up for it the last two days. Got my post-draft 1 edits inputted for the first four chapters and wrote another insert. Oh, and I have the prologue for Volume 2 (working title: Walking the Radiant Trail: The Great Desert) down.
Don't know if I mentioned this previously but the working title for my oft-mentioned book is Walking the Radiant Trail: The Civilized East - look for it on bookstore shelves...
in a few years...
I hope.
Currently reading We - one of the original classics of Sci Fi. Bryan recommended it and, well, I wasn't going to read that Dan Brown novel. :)
Friday, October 2, 2009
It's Time to Unite the Left
I am a socialist.
This puts me to the left of approx. 99.9% of the people in the USA and even to the left of the mainstream left wing in Canada.
With that being said I am disgusted with the left in Canada and the USA and not because they are too far to the right.
My disgust with the left in this country is because the leftists in this continent are letting an ultra-conservative minority dictate the agenda.
We have been trapped in the morass of single-issue advocacy for far too long. People on the right identify themselves as "conservatives". People on the left instead have created a dozen names, a hundred advocacy groups, often acting at odds with each other.
Partly the political parties are to blame. The Democrats are a centre right party. In Canada our most left wing political party is the Bloc Quebecois which only fields candidates in a single province because it, like most of the popular leftist movements is a single-issue movement! The next most left wing party, the NDP, has moved so far to the right that they have lost any semblance of support from the modern left.
It's time for the left to get it's act together. American leftists: organize! I know many of you have anarchist leanings and distrust anything resembling authority but, get this, central organization lets you act more effectively at a mass level. I'm not knocking grass-root activism, it's necessary, but it's also necessary to have organization, leadership, people making sure all the activists are pointing in the same direction, working toward the same goal.
Canadian leftists: we need to organize too. We also need a new political party. We need a leftist party that will work openly with the Bloc and that will remain true to leftist ideals rather than becoming the union face of the Liberal party.
An election is coming. After this election we will either be stuck with a Liberal government (conservative) or a Conservative government (neo-fascist). Our best hope is that the bloc sweeps quebec and the liberals take a minority government with a bloc balance of power.
But now is the time to start organizing, not for the election that is upon us but for the one after that. Canada has a vibrant left wing. It's time they got off their collective asses and started marching together for a common cause - taking back the reins of this country from the tyrants.
This puts me to the left of approx. 99.9% of the people in the USA and even to the left of the mainstream left wing in Canada.
With that being said I am disgusted with the left in Canada and the USA and not because they are too far to the right.
My disgust with the left in this country is because the leftists in this continent are letting an ultra-conservative minority dictate the agenda.
We have been trapped in the morass of single-issue advocacy for far too long. People on the right identify themselves as "conservatives". People on the left instead have created a dozen names, a hundred advocacy groups, often acting at odds with each other.
Partly the political parties are to blame. The Democrats are a centre right party. In Canada our most left wing political party is the Bloc Quebecois which only fields candidates in a single province because it, like most of the popular leftist movements is a single-issue movement! The next most left wing party, the NDP, has moved so far to the right that they have lost any semblance of support from the modern left.
It's time for the left to get it's act together. American leftists: organize! I know many of you have anarchist leanings and distrust anything resembling authority but, get this, central organization lets you act more effectively at a mass level. I'm not knocking grass-root activism, it's necessary, but it's also necessary to have organization, leadership, people making sure all the activists are pointing in the same direction, working toward the same goal.
Canadian leftists: we need to organize too. We also need a new political party. We need a leftist party that will work openly with the Bloc and that will remain true to leftist ideals rather than becoming the union face of the Liberal party.
An election is coming. After this election we will either be stuck with a Liberal government (conservative) or a Conservative government (neo-fascist). Our best hope is that the bloc sweeps quebec and the liberals take a minority government with a bloc balance of power.
But now is the time to start organizing, not for the election that is upon us but for the one after that. Canada has a vibrant left wing. It's time they got off their collective asses and started marching together for a common cause - taking back the reins of this country from the tyrants.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Recipe Time Again - Pasta with Olive / Artichoke Tapenade and Roasted Vegetables
As you may have figured out by now I love to cook. Lately I've been working on expanding my repertoire of Mediterranean dishes, particularly dishes inspired by Greek ingredients. This latest dish is a perfect example.
I am providing a vegetarian option this time. If you feel a need to add meat to it just take a small skinless, boneless chicken breast, rub it with salt, cook on a grill brushed lightly with olive oil and then slice and serve on top of dish.
Pasta with Roasted Vegetables in a Olive and Artichoke Tapenade:
Ingredients:
1 large zuchini
1 large or 2 small red onions
1 sweet red pepper
2 portabello mushrooms
40 kalamata olives
2 whole artichoke hearts
4 tbsp of capers
Olive Oil
Red wine
1 tsp lemon juice
salt
pepper
Tapenade:
Halve the olives and remove the seeds.
Wash capers, separate 2 tbsp
combine olives, 2 tbsp of capers, artichoke hearts, lemon juice and 5 tbsp of olive oil, season with black pepper only (result will be quite salty, no need to add salt to this part) in a hand chopper / food processor, chop until all ingredients reduced to a coarse paste. Set aside.
Roasted vegetables:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut zuchini and red pepper into pieces between 1/2 the size of thumb and size of thumb. If using small onions cut into 8 pieces each, if using a single large onion more cuts may be necessary.
Combine in a casserole dish.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Drizzle with equal measures of olive oil and red wine.
Toss
Roast for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, baste, roast 20 minutes more.
Final dish:
Cook spaghetti noodles as needed.
Cut portabello mushroom caps into 1 inch cubes. Combine in a large frying pan or a wok with roasted vegetables. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
Remove cover, add tapenade, stir and cover again, cook for additional 5 minutes.
Add reserved 2 tbsp of capers, stir and cook 30 seconds.
Serve immediately as is, with chicken breast or topped with parmesan, feta or ricotta cheese.
I am providing a vegetarian option this time. If you feel a need to add meat to it just take a small skinless, boneless chicken breast, rub it with salt, cook on a grill brushed lightly with olive oil and then slice and serve on top of dish.
Pasta with Roasted Vegetables in a Olive and Artichoke Tapenade:
Ingredients:
1 large zuchini
1 large or 2 small red onions
1 sweet red pepper
2 portabello mushrooms
40 kalamata olives
2 whole artichoke hearts
4 tbsp of capers
Olive Oil
Red wine
1 tsp lemon juice
salt
pepper
Tapenade:
Halve the olives and remove the seeds.
Wash capers, separate 2 tbsp
combine olives, 2 tbsp of capers, artichoke hearts, lemon juice and 5 tbsp of olive oil, season with black pepper only (result will be quite salty, no need to add salt to this part) in a hand chopper / food processor, chop until all ingredients reduced to a coarse paste. Set aside.
Roasted vegetables:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut zuchini and red pepper into pieces between 1/2 the size of thumb and size of thumb. If using small onions cut into 8 pieces each, if using a single large onion more cuts may be necessary.
Combine in a casserole dish.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Drizzle with equal measures of olive oil and red wine.
Toss
Roast for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven, baste, roast 20 minutes more.
Final dish:
Cook spaghetti noodles as needed.
Cut portabello mushroom caps into 1 inch cubes. Combine in a large frying pan or a wok with roasted vegetables. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
Remove cover, add tapenade, stir and cover again, cook for additional 5 minutes.
Add reserved 2 tbsp of capers, stir and cook 30 seconds.
Serve immediately as is, with chicken breast or topped with parmesan, feta or ricotta cheese.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Carlos Santana Update
One little tidbit I only found out after publishing my blog yesterday:
Carlos Sanatana has some history of involvement with cults.
Now, of course, he got out - broke off contact with Chinmoy but one can't help but noting the influence that Chinmoy's theology seems to retain on the theology of Architects of a New Dawn.
Again, nothing to conclusively state that Santana is trying to start a religion with him at the centre but, again, a somewhat disturbing indicator.
Moving on to other topics;
I'm at a bit of a loss for something to read. I finished with the Simon R. Green novel I was reading before a while ago and have been picking half-heartedly through Rob Roy ever since. Thing is that Rob Roy is more research read than it is read for pleasure and my usual light read authors, Stephen King, Steven Brust and Jim Butcher haven't produced anything new in a while that I haven't already read. Barring magazine releases this leaves me at a bit of a loss. I wonder if anybody in my readership would like to recommend a book to me. Leave me comments.
Carlos Sanatana has some history of involvement with cults.
Now, of course, he got out - broke off contact with Chinmoy but one can't help but noting the influence that Chinmoy's theology seems to retain on the theology of Architects of a New Dawn.
Again, nothing to conclusively state that Santana is trying to start a religion with him at the centre but, again, a somewhat disturbing indicator.
Moving on to other topics;
I'm at a bit of a loss for something to read. I finished with the Simon R. Green novel I was reading before a while ago and have been picking half-heartedly through Rob Roy ever since. Thing is that Rob Roy is more research read than it is read for pleasure and my usual light read authors, Stephen King, Steven Brust and Jim Butcher haven't produced anything new in a while that I haven't already read. Barring magazine releases this leaves me at a bit of a loss. I wonder if anybody in my readership would like to recommend a book to me. Leave me comments.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Possible Cult Warning!
I recently had a group brought to my attention. This group, called "Architects of a New Dawn" is purportedly a social networking site founded by Carlos Santana which claims the mission statement of "creating a new global network, driven by extraordinary music and powerful media content. It is designed to engage people of all walks of life to work together to create positive change in the global community where love can replace fear and where peace can replace conflict."
Sounds like huggy hippy stuff right?
Well some warning bells go off.
To start with let's look at this article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
In it Santana says "I want the audience to be reminded that before they had all this stuff, this DNA and flesh and bones, they were made out of light."
Now one of his band members brushes this odd comment off, stating that Mr. Santana tends to "speak in metaphor" however the comment seems less metaphoric when you consider that the 62 year old guitarist says he plans to become a minister when he turns 67 and then says he is disaffected by the feelings of sexual guilt he thinks came from his Roman Catholic upbringing.
He never mentions what faith he intends to be a minister in... more on that later.
In this video Santana describes Architects of a new dawn in terms of faith and invites people to "create a new substance, a new reality, a new perception for this planet".
In this video he talks about a "sense of divine purpose" and states he plans to launch a 24 hour TV channel as the ultimate goal of Architects of a new dawn.
Within Architects of a new dawn you find an acceptance of several of the dumber and more dangerous new age beliefs, such as the belief that the world will end in 2012.
Finally, at this page, we see a huge countdown clock calling for all the "architects" to participate in a daily "global prayer for peace".
Ok, so there is the raw data. So the question becomes why do these things concern me, why do they make me say "this could be a potential cult"?
Well, let's look at the defining characteristics for a cult:
1) A cult is a religion.
With all the talk of new realities and divine purpose it certainly looks like Mr. "I want to be a minister in 5 years" Santana is trying to start a religion.
2) A cult has a charismatic leader.
Santana is unquestionably charismatic.
3) A cult may attempt to impose undue control over the daily activities of its' members.
Daily synchronized prayer clock. Doesn't matter where you are in the world or what else you are doing it's time to go pray for peace.
4) A cult may make undue monetary demands on its' members
Haven't seen evidence of that yet but I somehow doubt that record sales for Supernatural, Santana's last hit record (recorded before a California divorce) will be sufficient to start his peace and love TV network.
5) A cult may have a syncretic theology.
New age star-body stuff.
Christianity sans-sexual guilt.
"ZOMG teh world iz endingz on 2012" Terrence McKenna bad-trip bollocks.
Yeah, I think that is pretty syncretic.
Lots of cults preyed on hippies. Now the hippies are all older baby-boomers and have much more money than they did in the time of Chandra Mohan Jain, they are perfectly primed for a net-savvy, would-be cleric to come and take their money for his prostelytizing TV channel.
Is "Architects of a New Dawn" a cult? The jury is still out. But there is certainly cause for caution and concern.
Sounds like huggy hippy stuff right?
Well some warning bells go off.
To start with let's look at this article in Rolling Stone Magazine.
In it Santana says "I want the audience to be reminded that before they had all this stuff, this DNA and flesh and bones, they were made out of light."
Now one of his band members brushes this odd comment off, stating that Mr. Santana tends to "speak in metaphor" however the comment seems less metaphoric when you consider that the 62 year old guitarist says he plans to become a minister when he turns 67 and then says he is disaffected by the feelings of sexual guilt he thinks came from his Roman Catholic upbringing.
He never mentions what faith he intends to be a minister in... more on that later.
In this video Santana describes Architects of a new dawn in terms of faith and invites people to "create a new substance, a new reality, a new perception for this planet".
In this video he talks about a "sense of divine purpose" and states he plans to launch a 24 hour TV channel as the ultimate goal of Architects of a new dawn.
Within Architects of a new dawn you find an acceptance of several of the dumber and more dangerous new age beliefs, such as the belief that the world will end in 2012.
Finally, at this page, we see a huge countdown clock calling for all the "architects" to participate in a daily "global prayer for peace".
Ok, so there is the raw data. So the question becomes why do these things concern me, why do they make me say "this could be a potential cult"?
Well, let's look at the defining characteristics for a cult:
1) A cult is a religion.
With all the talk of new realities and divine purpose it certainly looks like Mr. "I want to be a minister in 5 years" Santana is trying to start a religion.
2) A cult has a charismatic leader.
Santana is unquestionably charismatic.
3) A cult may attempt to impose undue control over the daily activities of its' members.
Daily synchronized prayer clock. Doesn't matter where you are in the world or what else you are doing it's time to go pray for peace.
4) A cult may make undue monetary demands on its' members
Haven't seen evidence of that yet but I somehow doubt that record sales for Supernatural, Santana's last hit record (recorded before a California divorce) will be sufficient to start his peace and love TV network.
5) A cult may have a syncretic theology.
New age star-body stuff.
Christianity sans-sexual guilt.
"ZOMG teh world iz endingz on 2012" Terrence McKenna bad-trip bollocks.
Yeah, I think that is pretty syncretic.
Lots of cults preyed on hippies. Now the hippies are all older baby-boomers and have much more money than they did in the time of Chandra Mohan Jain, they are perfectly primed for a net-savvy, would-be cleric to come and take their money for his prostelytizing TV channel.
Is "Architects of a New Dawn" a cult? The jury is still out. But there is certainly cause for caution and concern.
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