C.A. Sanders's Blog, page 16

Things to Know About Me At Parties

I am a hugger. I want to hug everyone. I am very aware that not everyone wants to hug, so I refrain from hugging most people. Sometime I do the awkward “one hand and back pat” hug That refrain turns into not touching people at all, so I end up seeming shy and aloof. I am shy and aloof, but still a hugger. I feel the need to say goodbye to everyone when leaving. I feel the need to hug everyone goodbye when leaving. It takes forever to go when leaving. I will say at least one awkward or inappr...

(In Just Seven Years) Rocky Horror Made Me a Man

Note: I wrote this in 2015, but I love Rocky so much that I felt it needed an update.

 

Some of you will get the title reference. You are my people. Thank you for existing.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show turns 42 this year. I’m not sure if this is old or young, because it’s always been an old movie for me. Even though I’ve seen it hundreds (literally) of times, it’s always seemed like something from the past brought into the present for lonely souls like me. It was a holy relic, and we were th...

Light and Shade

Making art is supposed to hurt. If it doesn’t hurt, dig deeper.

I close most of my workshops with this line. I don’t know if I got it from somewhere (though a quick Google search turned up nothing) or if it’s my own, but it’s true. Writing, painting, composing, whatever, is supposed to be an expression of your soul. “Here,” I say. “Here is a piece of my soul. I cut it out and shaped it with every tool I have. The gap where it was will never close over. Now I am giving it to you. Take it, bec...

Legacy Board Games

I really enjoy the Legacy games like Risk: Legacy and Pandemic: Legacy. I love that each game has repercussions that effect every game afterwards. For example, in Risk: Legacy, the winner gets to place a city or rename a continent and gets bonuses based on that, other countries get bonuses and penalties based on battles that took place there, worldwide events are triggered through battles, etc. It shows the devastation of war, and how future wars are shaped by it. We are all shaped by our pas...

My Weekend: Cheers and Jeers

 

Jeers: Back and Neck pain. Please make this stop. Just pull out my spine and stick a tension rod in there.

Cheers: Geek night on Saturday. Finished an rpg story arc with my friends (we’re playing a superhero RPG). Leveled up. Ate pizza and drank beer. Ended the night with a spirited game of Risk: Legacy. Discovered that falling asleep drunk means that I won’t toss and turn with back pain…still a bad idea.

Cheers: Tailgating at the Jets game. Woke up at 7. Got there with my friends. Was drin...

I Am My Turtle’s Slave

I’ve posted about Shelvin, my pet Eastern Painted Turtle and friend for 34 years (yes, I’ve had him since I was 6), but I don’t think that I’ve ever gotten into our disturbing dynamic. I thought that I was training him, but no, he was training me.

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Shelvin with a suncatcher covering him in a rainbow. The thing that looks like French Toast is his floating island.

34 is a venerable age in captivity for his species (they usually live to 25), but except for a short bout of shell rot 5 years ago,...

But People Want Happy Posts

I know it. When people read a blog on WP, they’re looking for happy posts that make them feel good. And I try. I post memes, jokes, stuff that might bring a smile.

But I don’t feel that way. I rarely feel that way. And as the pain in my neck and back from the accident refuses to subside, creating a feedback loop of pain>stress>anxiety>more pain, I feel even worse.

Yesterday I was overwhelmed with this thought: Everyone that you know and love will die. You will watch them die. You will suffer...

Why I Hate the Term “Indie Author”

Indie Author Day is coming up, and I will be giving a presentation for a local library on writing (as I often do). But I cringe whenever I hear someone call themselves an “indie author.” Here are some reasons why. Feel free to add your own (or refute mine) in the comments

No author works alone: “Indie” comes from independent, and there is no such thing as a truly independent author. While writing the first draft may be a solitary endeavor, everything after that is a group process. An author h...

Which Writer Are You? ;)

I saw this meme the other day and couldn’t resist.

I think I’m a TennyShakes

You Don’t “Earn Respect”

I have noticed a lot of memes going around about how people have to “earn respect” by proving themselves worthy of it. Things like this meme:

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This is a lumbering dumptruck load of self-satisfied bullshit. It’s like saying “I will treat you like a sub-human until you pass my moral obstacle course.” What kind of arrogant bastard thinks that way? How about instead you say “I will treat you with respect until you do something hurtful or otherwise prove that you’re not worthy of it.”

You don’t “e...