Tony Noland's Blog, page 13
July 15, 2014
Word Crimes - nerd love
Weird Al Yankovic has knocked one out of the park with Word Crimes. There are so many beautiful little bits here to warm the cockles of a grammarian's heart, like this:
Watch it in all its glory!
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Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Watch it in all its glory!
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 8, 2014
You don't want me around anyway
Much ink has been spilled on SFWA's decision to side unconditionally with Hachette in calling out Amazon for being a big, mean corporation that is putting their own profits ahead of the profits of other big, mean corporations the interests of helpless authors. In general, this reads as a slap in the face to indie authors who are publishing their own sci-fi and fantasy works without waiting for permission. In contrast, it seems that most of the defense of Hachette is coming from the big name, guaranteed best-seller authors that make Hachette most of their money.
Ironically, SFWA has recently been taking comments on allowing self-pubbed authors entry. That is, they're maybe, possibly, thinking about doing some discussion at some point about deciding on just how high to set the bar. Some of the discussion about just how high to set the bar reminds me of how the Russian judges view ice skating by anyone who isn't Russian. I think this comment sums it up:
SFWA: proudly slamming the car door on its own fingers since forever.
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Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Ironically, SFWA has recently been taking comments on allowing self-pubbed authors entry. That is, they're maybe, possibly, thinking about doing some discussion at some point about deciding on just how high to set the bar. Some of the discussion about just how high to set the bar reminds me of how the Russian judges view ice skating by anyone who isn't Russian. I think this comment sums it up:
Marc Cabot July 8, 2014 at 12:23 pm
If, upon review, the work is professional, the applicant can be admitted.
Punchline of an old joke, modified for context:
Poll Worker, Incredulous: “You can read that?”
Indiepublisher, Resigned: “Yep. It says ain’t no independent authors gettin’ in here today.”
SFWA: proudly slamming the car door on its own fingers since forever.
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Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 7, 2014
Story ideas
I had a story idea this weekend. This is notable only because it's the first such idea to present itself in a long time. Good enough to be worth writing down? Possibly, possibly not. At this point, any idea is a welcome half-cup of water to be drawn from a well that's been dry for a long time.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 4, 2014
1776 - The Signing
Happy Independence Day, America!
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Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 1, 2014
I ran a 5K. Now what?
Not me. Close, but not me.I ran my first 5K last Monday. It was OK. Not a huge milestone or a great accomplishment, as some of my friends predicted. Certainly not "life-changing", as one of my marathon-addicted relatives assured me.It was OK.
I started running in February (or maybe March?) with the "Couch to 5K" app for my phone. The description reads:
Get off the couch with the OFFICIAL Couch-to-5K® training app from Active.com! This oft-imitated program has helped thousands of new runners move from the couch to the finish line. Spend just 20 to 30 minutes, three times a week, for nine weeks, and you’ll be ready to finish your first 5K (3.1-mile) race!I can attest that this is just how it went. When I started, the training program had me run for 1 minute, walk for 2, run for 1 minute, walk for 5, etc. The initial workouts weren't bad, even for a couch potato.
Each week's workout got progressively harder, but never ramped up quickly enough to be beyond my capabilities. It was just enough of a stretch to make it a challenge to be overcome. By the end of the nine week program, I was regularly running more than 5K, three mornings a week.
Perhaps that's why my first official 5K race was anticlimactic. I'd already run that distance several times, so there was no physical accomplishment to speak of. I had no intention of challenging anyone for primacy in the standings, so my time didn't matter much, either. It was slower than my normal training runs, but I wasn't surprised by that.
My left leg hurt the morning of the race, but since my leg had been hurting for weeks, I knew that the pain would go away once I started running. Endorphins, probably. Besides, this was my first registered 5K, and I didn't want to forgo it, or quit after only the first mile. The upshot is that I ran the race anyway, start to finish.
Did it give me a newfound sense of accomplishment and wider vistas of pleasure at having done what I'd set out to do?
No. The most lasting impact of it has been the unremitting, bone-deep pain just south of my left hip. Not a muscular pain, it feels like a hard bruise. Since there's no discoloration, I can only assume I've done something to the bone. The frisson of tough guy pleasure at the thought of having run a 5K on a fractured leg is small compensation for the constant pain.
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Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
June 30, 2014
10 Reasons Hobby Lobby Won't Cover Contraception
Since Hobby Lobby is a person now, I asked him (of course it's a HIM) why he won't cover contraception for his females employees. He gave me 10 reasons:
10. Because I don't want you to have it.
9. It's against my religious beliefs.
8. My worldview does not encompass women having the same priority as men.
7. "Volitional performance" only applies to penis, not uterus.
6. That costs me money.
5. All that "women's stuff" is just ick.
4. Because if SCOTUS falls for this, we can bar transplants, too. Which are even MORE expensive. Duh.
3. Go make me a sandwich and don't worry about reason #3. You wouldn't understand it anyway.
2. Nobody in MY family ever used contraception, and this is a family business. With family values.
1. Because AMERICA!
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Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
10. Because I don't want you to have it.
9. It's against my religious beliefs.
8. My worldview does not encompass women having the same priority as men.
7. "Volitional performance" only applies to penis, not uterus.
6. That costs me money.
5. All that "women's stuff" is just ick.
4. Because if SCOTUS falls for this, we can bar transplants, too. Which are even MORE expensive. Duh.
3. Go make me a sandwich and don't worry about reason #3. You wouldn't understand it anyway.
2. Nobody in MY family ever used contraception, and this is a family business. With family values.
1. Because AMERICA!
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Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
June 28, 2014
Editing on the road
I like to make comments on a manuscript with pen and paper, with the classic three-ring binder my preferred format. It gives me room to write long notes on blank paper, make marginal and interlineal notes, and draw frowny faces and multiple exclamation points for really bad writing.
Don't judge me until you've walked a mile in my word processor.
This system works well: notes in longhand, typing in edits and changes on the computer. The one time it doesn't work is when I'm trying to edit a manuscript on an airplane. In general, airplanes are great places to write; they present an atmosphere of monastic isolation for hours and hours on end.
However, while a paper notebook, iPad or small laptop will fit on an airplane fold-down tray, it's too narrow to accommodate my binder when it's open. I've wrestled with this for a while, without success.
Until now.
Presented above is my solution for using a three-ring binder on an airplane fold-down tray. With this one change, the binder fits perfectly. Both sides are squarely on the tray, so I'm neither causing it to flop off the right edge when I write notes, nor am I sticking the left side into my seatmate's drink. For editing anywhere else, e.g. at a desk or table, it functions as a standard binder. Plus, the front cover remains long enough to keep the pages from getting dog-eared when the binder is closed.
As a black-on-white, pocket-knife-and-duct-tape modification, it's a hack in the Brutalist style, but the function-over-form aesthetic appeals to me. You Pinterest types are free do the same thing with precision-cut X-acto knives and color-coordinated tape.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Don't judge me until you've walked a mile in my word processor.
This system works well: notes in longhand, typing in edits and changes on the computer. The one time it doesn't work is when I'm trying to edit a manuscript on an airplane. In general, airplanes are great places to write; they present an atmosphere of monastic isolation for hours and hours on end.
However, while a paper notebook, iPad or small laptop will fit on an airplane fold-down tray, it's too narrow to accommodate my binder when it's open. I've wrestled with this for a while, without success.
Until now.
Presented above is my solution for using a three-ring binder on an airplane fold-down tray. With this one change, the binder fits perfectly. Both sides are squarely on the tray, so I'm neither causing it to flop off the right edge when I write notes, nor am I sticking the left side into my seatmate's drink. For editing anywhere else, e.g. at a desk or table, it functions as a standard binder. Plus, the front cover remains long enough to keep the pages from getting dog-eared when the binder is closed.
As a black-on-white, pocket-knife-and-duct-tape modification, it's a hack in the Brutalist style, but the function-over-form aesthetic appeals to me. You Pinterest types are free do the same thing with precision-cut X-acto knives and color-coordinated tape.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
June 26, 2014
Oceans of red ink
I finished the initial pass of corrections to my WIP first draft. This consists of pretty basic stuff, such as:
determining the genders of certain charactersthe existence (or removal) of other charactersdeciding on the balance of furious vs. suicidal for my MCsettling on the spelling of namesflagging the big sections of tell, tell, tell so I can replace them with show, show, shownoting where I need more action, better dialogueI still need to decide if my MC is merely alone in the world, or if he's "my ex-girlfriend is standing right over there, I can see her but not talk to her" alone.
With a binder full of marked up hardcopy, the next step will be to start rewriting the text to implement these corrections. I also need a better ending, but I'm confident that will come.
At some point, I'll have to post a few pictures to explain how I solved the problem of using a 3-ring binder on an airplane fold-down tray . It's an elegant solution, even if it does involve duct tape.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
determining the genders of certain charactersthe existence (or removal) of other charactersdeciding on the balance of furious vs. suicidal for my MCsettling on the spelling of namesflagging the big sections of tell, tell, tell so I can replace them with show, show, shownoting where I need more action, better dialogueI still need to decide if my MC is merely alone in the world, or if he's "my ex-girlfriend is standing right over there, I can see her but not talk to her" alone.
With a binder full of marked up hardcopy, the next step will be to start rewriting the text to implement these corrections. I also need a better ending, but I'm confident that will come.
At some point, I'll have to post a few pictures to explain how I solved the problem of using a 3-ring binder on an airplane fold-down tray . It's an elegant solution, even if it does involve duct tape.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
June 19, 2014
I Hate Strong Female Characters
My pal S. E. Zbasnik asked for some space on my blog to discuss an important issue: how women are presented in fiction. The issue is most problematic in fantasy, science fiction and adventure fiction, but can be seen across genres and types of media. As someone who made it a priority to write independent, kick-ass female superheroes to go along with my independent, kick-ass male superheroes, I'm happy to present her guest post, below.
I Hate Strong Female Characters
Like nonplussed and literally, the phrase “strong female character” has come to mean its antithesis. When people hear it they picture a full fleshed out woman with her own wants and desires. What they get is a woman in a mini skirt and thigh high boots that occasionally punches people.
But, and this is vital, that strong female character, cannot actually save the day. Her entire existence is for the main male hero. She may be spunky and sassy and is always met beating up some guys, but the second she teams up with MMH (main male hero) she abandons everything in her life to help him on his quest. Perhaps she manages to get captured and somehow fully forget how to fight allowing the MMH to do all the cool stuff while she sits around in a metal bikini.
Strong female character is a buzzword. People know it’s something audiences want, so they throw it in for anything. Have a female character? Well, she’s a strong female character!
But, she’s only got three lines and you didn’t even name her beyond “Busty Hottie?”
Yeah, but look, she totally stabbed that one bad guy in the eye. Strong female character!
I stated once that “if your female character doesn't exist outside of the prism of your male character's existence, you do not have a ‘strong woman.’”
Quite a few male writers had to rush to my somnolent twitter feed to inform me I was wrong (of course I am, I'm just a girl), that all of their characters are strong females because they hit things. Sometimes they hit things really hard. Maybe one's like a B cup, a large B cup of course. And then they drop the bomb, “well it passed the Bechdel Test so they're all capable characters, can't accuse me of sexism.”
Let us break down the Bechdel test for those who have yet to hear of it.
In order to pass all you need are
Two named womenTogether in a scene (only one scene necessary)Talking about something other than menThat is bloody it. The point of it was to show how rarely movies passed, that so much of media falls upon the 25:75 ratio. One Sue Storm to the three other fantastics (soulless scientists not withstanding). It was to give data for how rare it is for women to exist outside or to have a point beyond the main male character’s purpose.
The test was supposed to draw attention to the dearth of female characters, instead so many men found it a convenient excuse to prove they can't be accused of sexism.
Throw in a character named Candy talking to another named Mandy about how awesome shoes are, then back to the guys actually saving the world. Boom, Bechdel Test passed. This is a totally feminist work with three dimensional women.
I'm not a big fan of playing the reverse game, but imagine the utter shit fits thrown if all you needed to prove you created a fully fleshed out three dimensional male character is that you have
Two named menTogether in one sceneTalking about something that has nothing to do with womenThis Brochdel Test is passed by, oh, just about every movie in existence. Men can have pasts, they can have motivations, desires, needs, wants outside of sex.
Women have that one scene where the love interest gossips with her best friend, who will probably never be seen again.
I despise the always tacked on female character in action movies because she's there for one reason, to polish the main character's penis. Once that's done, she's nothing more than an animated set piece, occasionally transformed into a breathing MacGuffin. Oh sure, maybe she throws a punch or two, taps a stick lightly against a rat of unusual size; but if you removed the male character, she would cease to exist. All her motivation comes down to is making the male protagonist happy (ifyaknowwhatImean nudge nudge); without him around she'd stand blank like a Stepford robot in the kitchen, making sad beeping noises, waiting for someone to switch her off.
No, passing the Bechdel test does not mean you have a fully culpable, capable, or even somewhat realistic female character. If you're uncertain and concerned you could try asking another woman and, this is the really important part, listening to her. Don't ignore the words flowing out of her mouth and mentally fill in her criticism with diamonds/babies/yogurt/chocolate/pumpkin spice latte and change nothing. We've been doing this woman thing a hell of a lot longer than you. We may just know what we're talking about.
So I say we need to have a second level of the Bechdel test; if you are basing the idea that you cannot be accused of sexism upon this test, then you need to pass the second level.
Have a named female characterWhose life does not revolve around a male characterDone. Maybe have some pancakes to celebrate?I'm guessing, much like the original Bechdel test, most media will fail.
There’s another approach to creating the false “strong female character” that’s grown in popularity as male writers try to shoehorn in a female character but keep all the interesting stuff with men.
We’ll give them a woman who’s trained her entire life to become a ninja chimney sweep. She’s forsaken friends, love, and a normal life to master the secrets of ninja chimney sweeping. She’s harsh, but witty, with a short fuse for those who waste her time. But this story won’t have a damn thing to do with her. No, it has to be about a white guy, mid 20’s with a bit of a pot belly who is almost a total screw up.
But this guy is destined to be the great ninja chimney sweep hero. You can’t argue with it. It’s destiny. Rather than the girl using her lifetime of awesomeness to defeat the dust monster clogging up the lungs of Earth, instead she must lose two-three weeks of her life trying to train a perpetual fuck up. Because that makes tactical sense, to send an untrained and untested rookie instead of the person who devoted her life to it.
It’s the “girls can’t save the world” trope. She may be confident, she may be talented, she may be terrifying beyond anything the villain can imagine, but she cannot save the galaxy. Only boys can do that. So they take that female character they built up and delegate her back to being the prize waiting at home for the real hero to return once he’s finished falling into winning. Sure, she gets a backstory and maybe even a bit of autonomy, but it means jack squat when all she gets to do with that characterization is stand around waiting for a male character to save the day.
Yet, the creators can run around screaming “Look, we made a strong female character.” She can punch really hard. She doesn’t dream about boys. She won’t need any rescuing. She won’t do any saving either, but that’s not important. All that matters is we made one. We didn’t use one, but we made her.
That is not enough. Boys have grown up watching men save the galaxy for eons, but you can’t let a woman do it? Even if its part of an ensemble, she’s relegated to the half naked hottie that goes along with whatever the leader wants. It’s a guy who’s the comic relief, a guy who’s the muscle, a guy who saves the galaxy. The girl waits around for a kiss and punches a few baddies, but not too many. We don’t want to emasculate the hero.
Because this is the overriding fear with every strong female character. If we let her be too impressive, let her do too much on her own, then she won’t need a male to save her. What if, instead of needing a man, she wanted one around? She wanted one for his friendship, or for his humor, or because he treated her like a person instead of a pile of sexy body parts? Impossible! Give her a stick to swing around, put her in a bikini, and call it a role model for little girls. Done!
This isn’t even touching upon the idea that not all strong women beat people up. Tactics, cunning, or even emotional manipulation can a powerful woman make; but in order for that to happen, a woman would have to be smarter than a man and we’re right back to emasculation terror. Sure, maybe she knows some secret ninja woman moves that allow her to take out a few bad guys. That’s acceptable. But outsmarting some big baddie? Unthinkable!
Girls must always be shown as lesser than boys, even when people are swearing up and down that they’re not by hiding behind “it’s a strong female character.” To admit for a moment that women can be just as capable as men is too terrifying for the average writing crop to admit.
And that’s why I hate strong female characters, who are anything but.
/////
S. E. Zbasnik has a new book out called The King’sBlood. It’s got some magic, it’s got some witches, it’s got a black heroine in a medieval setting, and it has more puns per cubic meter than a clown car.
Available at Amazon or Lulu
Check out the goodreads page for more information.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
I Hate Strong Female Characters
Like nonplussed and literally, the phrase “strong female character” has come to mean its antithesis. When people hear it they picture a full fleshed out woman with her own wants and desires. What they get is a woman in a mini skirt and thigh high boots that occasionally punches people.
But, and this is vital, that strong female character, cannot actually save the day. Her entire existence is for the main male hero. She may be spunky and sassy and is always met beating up some guys, but the second she teams up with MMH (main male hero) she abandons everything in her life to help him on his quest. Perhaps she manages to get captured and somehow fully forget how to fight allowing the MMH to do all the cool stuff while she sits around in a metal bikini.
Strong female character is a buzzword. People know it’s something audiences want, so they throw it in for anything. Have a female character? Well, she’s a strong female character!
But, she’s only got three lines and you didn’t even name her beyond “Busty Hottie?”
Yeah, but look, she totally stabbed that one bad guy in the eye. Strong female character!
I stated once that “if your female character doesn't exist outside of the prism of your male character's existence, you do not have a ‘strong woman.’”
Quite a few male writers had to rush to my somnolent twitter feed to inform me I was wrong (of course I am, I'm just a girl), that all of their characters are strong females because they hit things. Sometimes they hit things really hard. Maybe one's like a B cup, a large B cup of course. And then they drop the bomb, “well it passed the Bechdel Test so they're all capable characters, can't accuse me of sexism.”
Let us break down the Bechdel test for those who have yet to hear of it.
In order to pass all you need are
Two named womenTogether in a scene (only one scene necessary)Talking about something other than menThat is bloody it. The point of it was to show how rarely movies passed, that so much of media falls upon the 25:75 ratio. One Sue Storm to the three other fantastics (soulless scientists not withstanding). It was to give data for how rare it is for women to exist outside or to have a point beyond the main male character’s purpose.
The test was supposed to draw attention to the dearth of female characters, instead so many men found it a convenient excuse to prove they can't be accused of sexism.
Throw in a character named Candy talking to another named Mandy about how awesome shoes are, then back to the guys actually saving the world. Boom, Bechdel Test passed. This is a totally feminist work with three dimensional women.
I'm not a big fan of playing the reverse game, but imagine the utter shit fits thrown if all you needed to prove you created a fully fleshed out three dimensional male character is that you have
Two named menTogether in one sceneTalking about something that has nothing to do with womenThis Brochdel Test is passed by, oh, just about every movie in existence. Men can have pasts, they can have motivations, desires, needs, wants outside of sex.
Women have that one scene where the love interest gossips with her best friend, who will probably never be seen again.
I despise the always tacked on female character in action movies because she's there for one reason, to polish the main character's penis. Once that's done, she's nothing more than an animated set piece, occasionally transformed into a breathing MacGuffin. Oh sure, maybe she throws a punch or two, taps a stick lightly against a rat of unusual size; but if you removed the male character, she would cease to exist. All her motivation comes down to is making the male protagonist happy (ifyaknowwhatImean nudge nudge); without him around she'd stand blank like a Stepford robot in the kitchen, making sad beeping noises, waiting for someone to switch her off.
No, passing the Bechdel test does not mean you have a fully culpable, capable, or even somewhat realistic female character. If you're uncertain and concerned you could try asking another woman and, this is the really important part, listening to her. Don't ignore the words flowing out of her mouth and mentally fill in her criticism with diamonds/babies/yogurt/chocolate/pumpkin spice latte and change nothing. We've been doing this woman thing a hell of a lot longer than you. We may just know what we're talking about.
So I say we need to have a second level of the Bechdel test; if you are basing the idea that you cannot be accused of sexism upon this test, then you need to pass the second level.
Have a named female characterWhose life does not revolve around a male characterDone. Maybe have some pancakes to celebrate?I'm guessing, much like the original Bechdel test, most media will fail.
There’s another approach to creating the false “strong female character” that’s grown in popularity as male writers try to shoehorn in a female character but keep all the interesting stuff with men.
We’ll give them a woman who’s trained her entire life to become a ninja chimney sweep. She’s forsaken friends, love, and a normal life to master the secrets of ninja chimney sweeping. She’s harsh, but witty, with a short fuse for those who waste her time. But this story won’t have a damn thing to do with her. No, it has to be about a white guy, mid 20’s with a bit of a pot belly who is almost a total screw up.
But this guy is destined to be the great ninja chimney sweep hero. You can’t argue with it. It’s destiny. Rather than the girl using her lifetime of awesomeness to defeat the dust monster clogging up the lungs of Earth, instead she must lose two-three weeks of her life trying to train a perpetual fuck up. Because that makes tactical sense, to send an untrained and untested rookie instead of the person who devoted her life to it.
It’s the “girls can’t save the world” trope. She may be confident, she may be talented, she may be terrifying beyond anything the villain can imagine, but she cannot save the galaxy. Only boys can do that. So they take that female character they built up and delegate her back to being the prize waiting at home for the real hero to return once he’s finished falling into winning. Sure, she gets a backstory and maybe even a bit of autonomy, but it means jack squat when all she gets to do with that characterization is stand around waiting for a male character to save the day.
Yet, the creators can run around screaming “Look, we made a strong female character.” She can punch really hard. She doesn’t dream about boys. She won’t need any rescuing. She won’t do any saving either, but that’s not important. All that matters is we made one. We didn’t use one, but we made her.
That is not enough. Boys have grown up watching men save the galaxy for eons, but you can’t let a woman do it? Even if its part of an ensemble, she’s relegated to the half naked hottie that goes along with whatever the leader wants. It’s a guy who’s the comic relief, a guy who’s the muscle, a guy who saves the galaxy. The girl waits around for a kiss and punches a few baddies, but not too many. We don’t want to emasculate the hero.
Because this is the overriding fear with every strong female character. If we let her be too impressive, let her do too much on her own, then she won’t need a male to save her. What if, instead of needing a man, she wanted one around? She wanted one for his friendship, or for his humor, or because he treated her like a person instead of a pile of sexy body parts? Impossible! Give her a stick to swing around, put her in a bikini, and call it a role model for little girls. Done!
This isn’t even touching upon the idea that not all strong women beat people up. Tactics, cunning, or even emotional manipulation can a powerful woman make; but in order for that to happen, a woman would have to be smarter than a man and we’re right back to emasculation terror. Sure, maybe she knows some secret ninja woman moves that allow her to take out a few bad guys. That’s acceptable. But outsmarting some big baddie? Unthinkable!
Girls must always be shown as lesser than boys, even when people are swearing up and down that they’re not by hiding behind “it’s a strong female character.” To admit for a moment that women can be just as capable as men is too terrifying for the average writing crop to admit.
And that’s why I hate strong female characters, who are anything but.
/////
S. E. Zbasnik has a new book out called The King’sBlood. It’s got some magic, it’s got some witches, it’s got a black heroine in a medieval setting, and it has more puns per cubic meter than a clown car. Available at Amazon or Lulu
Check out the goodreads page for more information.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
June 16, 2014
While I was gone: WTF
Iraq fell apart. This has brought the U.S. and Iran closer together. +2 on the WTF scale.
Eric Cantor fell apart. Can't be Speaker of the House if you're not in Congress. +6 WTFs.
The World Cup did not fall apart. (Or maybe it did. Hard to tell. I don't really pay attention to futbol.) 0 WTFs.
I feel hellishly jet-lagged and 10 pounds heavier after this trip. Few things could be less surprising. -7 WTFs.
My e.mail Inbox is overflowing. It'll take me most of the morning to clear it out. -4 WTFs.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Eric Cantor fell apart. Can't be Speaker of the House if you're not in Congress. +6 WTFs.
The World Cup did not fall apart. (Or maybe it did. Hard to tell. I don't really pay attention to futbol.) 0 WTFs.
I feel hellishly jet-lagged and 10 pounds heavier after this trip. Few things could be less surprising. -7 WTFs.
My e.mail Inbox is overflowing. It'll take me most of the morning to clear it out. -4 WTFs.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
