Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog, page 36
August 6, 2018
(Unintended) Story Research: “The Independent”
Truck carrying oversized load (SpaceX rocket). Image Source: https://cdllife.com/2018/video-trucking-spacex-rockets/
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Revision Month (i.e., “2nd Draft” Central)
I have stories that I’d like to revise during this month, but I’ve not tried to do multiple projects inside of a single month before and I’m not sure that’s going to work, but I can’t think of any other way. Projects currently awaiting revision include: “Whale Song,” “The Independent” (subject of today’s blog post), “Project Skye,”
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, think that I have the two characters–a brother and a sister who are on the opposite sides of the issue. Still, no Writing so far). Need to find a place to work in revisions–I can draft new material just fine, but I don’t seem to have any time to work on “drafting” revisions.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
The Belgariad David Eddings
Last week was NOT a good week, so I needed some “comfort food” for reading and my go to book for “comfort food” is the Belgariad (followed closely by Diane Duane’s So You Want To Be a Wizard.)
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 5 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 6 (this book has 10 chapters).
Wrote out a fairly extensive list of possible research topics to explore from chapter 5. Really intriguing book.
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Stumbling Upon Research for a Story
As I was watching YouTube videos over the weekend (to decompress from a fairly hard week last week), I stumbled upon a set off “trucking” videos on the site. Now, I’d actually found one earlier in July and watched it for details regarding living in a cab and the “realities” of being in such a small space for trips across country hauling freight. YouTube’s algorithms must have finally caught up with that particular viewing because it started offering other trucking videos over the weekend. One YouTuber, in particular, by the handle of indianajacktrucker caught my eye and I watched one of his videos. That one video gave quite a bit of insight into the trucking profession, covering trucking etiquette, truck stops, parking, why truckers are using their trucks instead of truck stops, food, and even a poignant moment discussing the murder of another trucker who parked in an abandoned parking lot because a “big box” store wouldn’t allow him to park on their parking lot.
The Independent = Project Independence= “Space Truckers” = Real Truckers = Story Research
So, readers of the blog over the past year have heard quite a bit about the story that I wrote entitled, “The Independent.” It was referred to under the name Project Independence & Space Truckers on the blog. It was my attempt to “futurize” the profession of the “trucker” (i.e., what would freight hauling/haulers look like in the future)? Now, this isn’t unique–it remember games like Starflight and Elite (& and from what I hear, Elite Dangerous) were doing something similar as far back as the mid 1980s. However, I’ve not seen it done in fiction in a way that I personally like, so I wrote this story (with hopefully a larger story in mind).
2nd Draft–Focusing on Characters
I’m planning on rewriting the story and focusing more on the characters. Hopefully, now that I have all of the “events” of the story locked down in more or less the way that I want them, I’m hoping to create “Larger Than Life” characters who are at once memorable and realistic. Just by watching this one video (and I’m hopefully going to watch more next weekend when I have more time), I have quite a few ideas for the two main characters and the secondary characters, especially in regards to character traits. Now, I feel like my major task should be to try to come up with Internal Conflicts for the two main characters that they can be struggling with in regards to the story. I feel that this is where I’m weakest at the moment (more on this to come in a future blog post), but now that I’ve written the 1st draft and spent some time away from it, I can see the problems with it more objectively and hopefully work on fixing them to the best of my ability in this new 2nd draft.
Well, that’s all I have time for at the moment. Here’s hoping you have a great day!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
August 3, 2018
Game Mode On: Weekend Gaming (3 Aug. 2018)
Man with a Playstation 4 controller in his hand looking at a Playstation 4 Menu Screen. Image Source: YouTube.com (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MZ1Hn260SQ)
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 23 (+1)
Goal = 3 Pages a week. 20/20 Pages (for artist). 23/32 pages (for completion of 1st issue)
Actual = 2/5 Pages done so far this week.
Wrote a story page last night. Reorganized the project so that it shows Issue 1. Also started putting down Acts and Scenes for a Screenplay version of the story.
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, think that I have the two characters–a brother and a sister who are on the opposite sides of the issue. Still, no Writing so far). Need to find a place to work in revisions–I can draft new material just fine, but I don’t seem to have any time to work on “drafting” revisions.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 5 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 6 (this book has 10 chapters).
Wrote out a fairly extensive list of possible research topics to explore from chapter 5. Really intriguing book.
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
So, this weekend I’m hoping to do a little gaming (fingers crossed), but before I do, I wanted to update you all on my gaming efforts last week. Before I do that, however, I also want to note that this is the first Saturday of the month. I will be sending my artist the comic book script pages that I’ve done so far and will be sending it to him (along with a collaboration agreement which he asked for–although he did ask for it after we send the proposal to the publisher but I found one that I really like). And now, on to the games:
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
So I didn’t really get very far on this one–I was able to do a couple of “Main Story missions, but didn’t really get to do much in the way of the “side missions.” I have one “main” mission remaining and then it is only the side missions for that province and then I should be finished with that particular province. I estimate that I’ll have about 5-6 more provinces (all 5 star difficulty) remaining, but unfortunately, only playing once a week, there’s only so much that I can get done on such a large (& long) game.
Final Fantasy XV
It really is true–when I get stuck on a game, that’s my brain’s way of telling me to take a break. I failed the mission that had me stumped a couple of more times (mostly due to boneheaded mistakes on my part & relearning the game’s controls), but I was able to get past that mission and back into the open world. There was another fairly long “side” mission that became available and I almost took it, but decided that I’d been away from the story long enough, so I wanted to do the story and (hopefully) come back to it a little later. I was surprised because I spent the better part of a day trying to get past that mission the last time I played.
Call of Duty WWII
Finished this game (single player) a while back, but I try to dip into the multiplayer (Team Deathmatch) once a week just to try to keep up my CoD skills. I’m probably going to be playing this game for a while because I’m not planning on buying Call of Duty: Black Ops IV (I refuse to use Treyarch’s inane numbering IIII for IV. Not only is it moronic, it also confuses the issue–I’ll probably use 4 from now on when referring to it). I’m not buying the new CoD because I’m not buying multiplayer only games anymore–it must have a single player component to rate a purchase and this one is foregoing the single player mode.
Costume Quest 2
So, I made significant progress on this game. I keep feeling that I’m close to the end on this game. It is actually a larger game than it seems. I now have a “younger version” of the antagonist in my party and I assume the younger version will have a hand in reclaiming/defeating the older version, but I’m not sure when that’s going to happen in terms of the narrative, so I’ll just keep trucking along until I see the End Credits screen. Hopefully I close, but if not, it is an enjoyable game and not a slog, unlike Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon.
Well, that’s all I have time for right now, so I’ll talk to you next week! Have a good weekend and happy gaming/writing!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
August 2, 2018
High Tech vs Low Tech
Samsung Smart Classroom. Image Source: Samsung (http://www.upgrademag.com/web/2017/09/21/samsung-deped-reach-out-to-schools-in-rural-philippines/)
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 21 (+1)
Goal = 3 Pages a week. 20/20 Pages (for artist). 21/32 pages (for completion of 1st issue)
Actual = 1/5 Pages done so far this week.
Rough Drafted another page for the comic. Don’t really like these rough draft one day, draft the next day way of doing things, but I didn’t have time last weekend to rough draft out 4 or 5 pages, so I’m stuck doing it this way for now. At least, if all goes well tonight, I’ll be able to write another page in the story (fingers crossed). I did add to the “lore” of the story by adding an entry into the “bible” for the world.
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, think that I have the two characters–a brother and a sister who are on the opposite sides of the issue. Still, no Writing so far). Need to find a place to work in revisions–I can draft new material just fine, but I don’t seem to have any time to work on “drafting” revisions.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 5 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 6 (this book has 10 chapters).
Wrote out a fairly extensive list of possible research topics to explore from chapter 5. Really intriguing book.
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Class Assignments–Graduate Teaching Assistant (Year 3)
Now for something completely different–today I’m going to leave off talking about Tai Chi for a while and move to a different form of education/training: Higher Education. As part of my duties as a PhD student, I’m a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA), meaning that I teach up to 2 classes of Freshman Composition each semester. Last semester, I was a GA (Graduate Assistant), meaning that I helped out the English Department by helping a professor do research into various video game articles. Yesterday, we were given our teaching schedules and I have two classes of English 1010 (our version of Freshman Composition) that I’m teaching. I’m ecstatic as I really enjoy teaching writing at the college level. However . . . and you knew there was a however coming, didn’t you . . . however, I just finished “scoping out” my assigned classrooms and they couldn’t be more different.
High Tech vs Low Tech
So, these days, pretty much ALL (or most, at least) college classrooms feature some sort of technology in them. The professor’s podium allows the professor to hook a laptop to it, it has its own computer integrated inside it, should the professor not want to connect via laptop, it has a dvd player, display, and other media/interface ports. It can pretty much display or illustrate pretty any type of media that the professor can through at it (again, generalizing here). These are termed “smart” classrooms as opposed to those with no technology in them whatsoever (the “traditional”) classroom. I personally would term these as “technology enabled” classrooms myself because only the professor has access to the technology. However, what students have access to in the classroom is a different story all together. Only some classrooms are truly “smart” classrooms and those have, in addition to the professor’s media hub/display, there are computers around the room that the students can work at as well. To me, this is the true demarcation of a “smart” classroom–when both the students and the professor have access to technology.
[image error]
While this is called a “Smart” classroom, I consider it a “Technology Enabled” classroom. Image Source: Hostos Community College (http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/Administrative-Offices/Office-of-the-President/Conference-Center/Event-Venues/Classroom-Smart-Classroom)
“Double Dutch” Teaching
Having looked at my classrooms, one is only “technology enabled” classroom (smarthub/display for the professor) and the other is a “smart” classroom (smarthub & computers for students). This is going to be a challenge to teach in successfully. I taught this way Fall 2017 and I tried to create a “technology-rich” curriculum, but while the students in the smart classroom thrived, it was more difficult for the ones in the tech enabled classroom because they had to resort to their phones (only about 1/3 brought laptops to class) and such to view the documents/media online. I often took them to the library (especially on days when papers were due), but it didn’t have the same impact (in my opinion) as them being able to work in the classroom (too spread out, not able to ask me questions effectively).
My Plan
So, in the next two weeks before I lock down my syllabus, I plan to research different ways of teaching. My goal: make my technology enabled class as productive and as enriching as I felt my smart classroom teaching was a year ago. I should mention that my middle school teaching experience included a pilot program where the students where given Chromebooks to use at school (at first) and to take home as part of the education process (later), so I feel that I’m VERY comfortable with technology and integrating it into the curriculum. Perhaps that’s part of the problem, I may be so dependent on tech., that I’ve forgotten how to inspire true learning without it. Regardless, my goal for this year is to make both classes an enriching and rewarding experience for all involved. Fingers crossed and please wish me luck as I try to find the right balance between high and low tech!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
August 1, 2018
Mini-Review: Man of Tai Chi (Netflix movie)
Keanu Reeves and Tiger Chen star in Man of Tai Chi. Image Source: Rotten Tomatoes https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/man_of_tai_chi/
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 21 (+1)
Goal = 3 Pages a week. 20/20 Pages (for artist). 21/32 pages (for completion of 1st issue)
Actual = 1/5 Pages done so far this week.
Wrote the Page that I’d rough drafted the day before. Moving along slowly. Don’t think I can finish the entire first issue by Saturday, but we’ll see.
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, think that I have the two characters–a brother and a sister who are on the opposite sides of the issue. Still, no Writing so far). Need to find a place to work in revisions–I can draft new material just fine, but I don’t seem to have any time to work on “drafting” revisions.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 5 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 6 (this book has 10 chapters).
Wrote out a fairly extensive list of possible research topics to explore from chapter 5. Really intriguing book.
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Exit the 13 Assassins
So, even though I’d taken a Tai Chi class on this previous Saturday and even though I had this movie in my Netflix queue, I wasn’t actually going to watch this movie this past weekend. No, rather I’d intended to watch 13 Assassins, another martial arts movie on Netflix dealing with 13 Assassins who are tasked with killing a poor ruler in Japan’s feudal period. The movie was slated to go off Netflix at the beginning of the month (today as I write this post) and I’d had it in my queue for ages. However, when I sat down to watch it, it was far more violent of a movie than I really wanted at that time. There was a “hari kari” scene at the beginning of the movie and in the next 15 minutes there were two other fairly violent scenes. In short, it just wasn’t what I was looking for after a Tai Chi class and a fairly grueling drive home.
Enter the Man of Tai Chi
After debating with myself for about 5 minutes and scrolling through some more of Netflix’s martial arts movies, I decided to give Man of Tai Chi a try (I had just taken a Tai Chi class after all). It actually wasn’t all that bad. Not great, but not a train wreck either. Directed by Keanu Reeves, the movie tells the story of a young man, who is outstanding in the ways of Tai Chi as a martial art, but not so great in understanding Tai Chi’s philosophy. The protagonist (who is not Keanu Reeves, by the way, although Keanu does star as in the movie as the primary villain/antagonist role) of the movie is ‘Tiger’ Chen Lin Hu played by an actor named who I’ve not seen before but who is expressive in that earnest and determined “Peter Parker” sort of way that many actors are able to bring out in their performances. The movie follows “Tiger’s” descent into the abandonment of Tai Chi ideals by using Tai Chi to fight in tournaments and later, for money.
A Real World Martial Arts Movie
Set in today’s world (the movie was released in 2013 according to IMDB, although I don’t remember if there are dates in the story–I don’t think so, but I could be wrong). This movie takes place in China/Hong Kong and throws a light bit of police procedural in along with the martial arts with a young female detective who is trying to crack the case of this underground fighting circuit even though her boss is telling her not waste her time. As mentioned, Keanu Reeves’ character tempts and corrupts “Tiger’s” character until he is at the breaking point. I will mention that the final fight scene is vaguely reminiscent of the initial Morpheus and Neo “training” scene where Morpheus shows Neo the Matrix for the 1st time. To be clear, it ISN’T their first fight scene I’m referencing, but the first time they “jack” into the “training” simulation. The fights, while stylishly correographed, lack a bit of polish that would have elevated them from good into the great arena (especially the final, climatic battle). There is a master who sees “Tiger’s” character going over to the “dark side” and tries to use Tai Chi philosophy to stop it and their was a Tai Chi move used in the movie that my friend and I had practiced earlier that day, but mostly the movie was a typical martial arts movie.
Still, I enjoyed it all the more for its earnest main character and the fact that it at least genuflected (or bowed in this case) in the direction of Tai Chi as a healing art, not as a destructive one.
Overall Grade: B-
Yes, I’m being a bit generous here–it is a typical martial arts movie and nothing special. However, I like the way the actor transitioned from earnest to “hard” and I’d had the Tai Chi class earlier in the day, so I feel a bit generous and lenient towards this than I might have otherwise.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
July 31, 2018
Tai Chi Experience, Part II
Multiple people taking a Tai Chi class. Image Source: Visit Fairfax (Lawn Tai Chi), https://www.fxva.com/event/tai-chi-on-the-lawn-(free)/22723/
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 20
Goal = 3 Pages a week. 20/20 Pages (for artist). 20/32 pages (for completion of 1st issue)
Actual = 0/5 Pages done so far this week.
Rough Drafted a page and will (hopefully) write it tonight. I usually try to rough draft the pages either Friday night or Saturday, but because I took a Tai Chi class with a friend–didn’t really get to rough draft as I normally would have, so I’m a little slow this week.
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, think that I have the two characters–a brother and a sister who are on the opposite sides of the issue. Still, no Writing so far). Need to find a place to work in revisions–I can draft new material just fine, but I don’t seem to have any time to work on “drafting” revisions.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 3 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 4 (this book has 10 chapters).
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Hard vs. Soft
So, today I thought I’d take a moment and detail my experience in the Tai Chi class. It was really a very interesting experience. It was pretty much what I expected: part meditation, part mindfulness, and part martial arts. The class was small, yet friendly, and everyone wanted to really work hard, including me. And for me, that was difficult because Tai Chi isn’t about working hard, its about letting go. Again, this is where the meditation and mindfulness comes in, but Tai Chi is about decentering yourself and letting the stress go. While I’m not a “stress-puppy” (to use slang that went out of vogue at the turn of the 2000s), I tend to follow my late uncle’s advice of “staying Neutral,” (i.e., never too up or too down), so I’m pretty much already decentered to begin with–not meaning that I’m not stressed, I mean, I’m in a PhD program and a poor graduate student again for Peter’s sake, so of course I’m stressed, but I try to “stay in the middle” emotionally, so it’s hard to let go of something I’m not really holding (or only hold it when I need to).
Water vs. Stone
My real problem came in when I was trying to replicate the forms. I haven’t done real karate (with a teacher in a class) in years, no, decades now at this point. I remember as a karate student, I was super accurate with my forms and my “technique.” Perhaps it is just memory clouding my perception of things, but I found myself frustrated when I would miss a movement demonstrated by the teacher. He probably sensed my frustration because he said that someone from karate is going to have a hard time adjusting to Tai Chi. Karate is “hard” meaning that it is precise, hard-hitting, and rigid where as Tai Chi is “soft” meaning that it is more “flowing” and more “elegant” and not nearly as rigid. I found this to be very true as I struggled through some of the hand and foot combinations.
Learning through Unlearning
What I’m glad of, however, is the fact that both the teacher and Tai Chi were forgiving. I tried very hard to mimic the movements, but didn’t get them right all of the time (most of the time, if I’m honest), but the teacher said that to learn one needs to unlearn what one has learned. I know this implicitly, but it was nice to be reminded of it. Whenever I want to master something, I have to basically start over, go from whatever level I am and begin at level one all over again, otherwise I don’t really do that well in whatever it is I’m trying to master. This is what I needed to do in my graduate school (by rereading all of my books on Rhetoric for my MA in English), in my writing (by creating a process by which I draft and revise, write and rewrite, before submission), and now through Tai Chi, by figuring out the intersection between Tai Chi and Karate, and learning one, while drawing on my knowledge and experience in the other, but not letting it interfere with the new learning. While it may be a while before I get to take another class due to my schedule, it was a great experience and I’m glad my friend invited me to come.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
July 30, 2018
Tai-Chi Experience
[image error]
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 20
Goal = 5 Pages a week.
Actual = 4/5 Pages done so far this week.
Didn’t get any more pages done. Intended to “Rough Draft” the next five pages, but was too tired to do so. Perhaps weekends would be better for rough drafting while weekdays better for draft? We’ll try it and see. Perhaps another blog entry in the making
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, think that I have the two characters–a brother and a sister who are on the opposite sides of the issue. Still, no Writing so far). Need to find a place to work in revisions–I can draft new material just fine, but I don’t seem to have any time to work on “drafting” revisions.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
Traveller RPG: FINISHED!
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 3 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 4 (this book has 10 chapters).
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Not a Normal Saturday
So today is not a normal Saturday for me. Normally, at this time in the day, I would either be on the road or already at home, deeply ensconced in a video game. However, a friend of mine asked me to attend a Tai-Chi class today. I decided why not and will meet her in a few minutes to attend the class. Consider this blog entry as the “Pre-Class” experience part of the blog entry. I’ve done martial arts (karate) as a child, but I’ve never really been into the more transcendental arts such as Tai-Chi and Yoga that deal with spirit as well as athletics (or at least as I’ve pictured them). I’ve been wanting to pick up the martial arts again, going so far as to research Tae Kwon Do, Karate, and Wing-Chun in my local area and making phone calls/visiting web pages to research prices, times, and locations, but they never seemed to work out. Well, actually the Wing Chun dojo in Chattanooga (Dojo Chattanooga) looked like it would be a good fit, but that was before I started in PhD school. It is probably still doable, but I don’t want to commit to something that I can’t see through and the June that I just had would have probably been a step too far in terms of actually going to class and training. Or so I tell myself, which is why I find myself on MTSU’s campus on Saturday morning . . . and I’m wondering if this is a good starting point. I guess I’ll find out soon.
I’ll let you know how it went in the next blog post. Stay tuned!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
July 27, 2018
Game Mode On: What’s On Tap for this Weekend
Game Mode On. Image Source: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY2jy8AzUzk
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 20 (+1)
Goal = 5 Pages a week.
Actual = 4/5 Pages done so far this week. I added a page to the 1st issue last night.
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, No Writing so far)
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
Traveller RPG: FINISHED!
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 3 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 4 (this book has 10 chapters).
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Quick Update
So this is a fairly short blog post on the quick update on what I’m planning on playing this weekend. It may be a shortened gaming weekend, but I’ll try to update you next week on what I actually managed to get through.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands
I was able to clear a “province” last week, meaning that all 4 star difficulty provinces are completely done. I only have 5 star difficulty provinces left (and one that has no rating, but due to its difficulty and number bases, might as well be a five star difficulty region). I still estimate that I have a month or two of playing on this one before I get to the “final” boss. I’ll probably “rant” about open world games in a future blog post, but while I like value for content, I feel this one is a massive game extension type of open world that isn’t necessarily respectful to the player’s time.
Ratchet and Clank (2016)
So, I’ve already covered this in another blog entry, but I managed to finish this game this past weekend. It was a fun reboot/reimagining of the series. I did forget to give it a grade in the blog entry so for anyone who may be wondering, I give it an A. I am very intrigued by what they will do with the upcoming Spider-man game.
Costume Quest 2
I was able to make progress on this game and to move the story along significantly. I’m currently in a “hub” world of sorts where I need to clear out various structures in the world before the next major section opens up. It feels like I’m coming up to the resolution fairly soon, but I can’t quite tell just yet.
Final Fantasy XV
So, re-installed this one on to the hard drive, and am looking forward to trying to make progress on it. I’ve gotten stuck on a section that involves stealth and I keep getting seen and failing the mission. I’ll try it a couple of more times before resorting to a guide or YouTube walkthrough to get past this difficult bit. Yes, I like trying to get past barriers on my own, but I don’t think I’ve played this one since February or early March because of this mission and I like to think that I was getting fairly good at it.
Well, that’s all I have for now–will (hopefully) return next week with another gaming update.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
July 26, 2018
Finished Ratchet and Clank (2016): How It “Re-Visions” the Original Game
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Ratchet & Clank (2016) Box Cover Art with Ratchet and Clank standing on a planetoid. Image Source: Amazon.com
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 19 (+2)
Goal = 5 Pages a week.
Actual = 3/5 Pages done so far this week. I added a page to the 1st issue last night.
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
(Researched an article on Whaling, No Writing so far)
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
Traveller RPG: FINISHED!
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 3 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 4 (this book has 10 chapters).
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Insomniac Games and the Ratchet and Clank Universe
Last Saturday, while I was feverishly trying to find and coral a “structure” for my paper that I needed to turn in Sunday, I finished a game called Ratchet and Clank. While it is for the PlayStation 4, it is a “re-imagining” of the original game which debuted on PlayStation 2. I actually could have finished it the week prior, but held off on the final boss fight as it looked fairly complex and I’d already been playing for a while and was starting to get frustrated by the boss fight. I’m glad I took a break because the boss fight was nearly as hard as I’d first envisioned and I beat it after about half an hour.
Re-imaging = Re-visioning
So, one of the reasons why I wanted to talk about this here and now was because of my previous post on drafts and revisions. Ratchet and Clank (2016), (which will be referred to now on as R&C 2016) represents one way (a great way, in my opinion) of “re-seeing” a work to make it much better. There was a R&C animated movie that debuted with this game and while this game was released to take advantage of the movie, it still was very much its own creation. One of the things that I liked that the designers did was “translate” the game for modern audiences (gamers). Games, their systems, and what gamers expected in 2016 is markedly different than what they expected in 2002 when the first R&C was released. Insomniac, the makers of the R&C series, understood this and revised their game to bring it in line with modern expectations of gaming. In essence, they looked at the advantages of the new technologies they had available to them and used those to their advantage when shaping the new game. The core storyline of the R&C 2016 game is the same as the original R&C game, but the controls, graphics, effects, and music & sounds have all been upgraded to such a level that it doesn’t feel like a “remaster,” but an entirely new game.
Re-visioning Leads the Way
This is what I hope to accomplish with my writing projects and my new process of going through the outline/rough draft, 1st draft, & revision draft stages. Something that remains true to the original vision of the story that I had in mind and that excited me when I originally wrote it, but that, by using techniques and experiences that I learned/engaged with since the original story was written, I can create something that retains the flavor of the old, but is light years beyond the old. Re-visioning, or simply revision has that power. Through revision, one can shape a story and mold it into something beautiful. The problem with revision is that it can be ever on-going. There has to be a point when it comes to a stop so that one can market it and move on to other projects and ideas. For me, I’ve stopped the process too soon, ending at the first draft stage and not really going back to “re-vision”/revise the project as deeply as I could. I’m hoping that 3 really strong passes at a story will help me 1) get past the 1st draft on the market syndrome that I’ve fallen into in the recent years, and 2) not get stuck in the mode of continuous revisions, however, where I keep picking at it and picking at it, while not actually submitting the stories.
Sorry for such a long blog entry–perhaps it will make up for the one I missed yesterday. Will try to get back on a regular schedule as soon as my schedule becomes a little more regular. Have a good day.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
July 24, 2018
Writing It All: Roughing It, Writing It, Revising It, Submitting It
The Writing Process. Image Source: Teachers Pay Teachers – https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Circular-Writing-Process-Chart-3304077
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 17 (+1)
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft) (Researched Article, No Writing so far)
Goal = 5 Pages a week.
Actual = 1/5 Pages done so far this week. I added a page to the 1st issue last night.
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
Traveller RPG: FINISHED!
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 3 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 4 (this book has 10 chapters).
Here is a summary from Amazon: “In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book’s topics range from the “alien” experience of blacks in America to the “wake up” cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.”
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Writing It All
This year is all about trying different things to jump-start my writing career. Yes, I said career, as I would like to grow myself to become a novelist in addition to a scholar, but right now, one thing at a time. I realize that I simply don’t have the time (at the moment) to devote all my energies and resources to writing, but I’m really good at focused work on 1 project at a time. My goal then is to rough draft a story, write a story, edit a story, and submit a story once per month (1 X 12). I’ve come to the realization that I’m slow in terms of writing speed and the level of detail that I want in my writing takes time. Even these blog entries take a while to develop–the writing/drafting isn’t bad, but “tagging” it, slotting in categories, finding an image, sometimes linking to YouTube or Amazon, and well, I can sometimes spend an hour to hour and a half creating one blog post.
Roughing It
For me, this is probably the easiest part of the writing process. I can come up with tons of amazing ideas. Two Saturdays ago, I came up with 4 separate ideas that could become projects later on down the line (of course, I only wrote down 1 of these, so the other 3 still exist in the nebulous realm of my mind taking up space and brain power–note to self: need to jot them down , put them on paper, and out of my mind’s eye). My goal is to formally “rough draft” a project monthly which means that I simply write down a (possible) beginning, middle, and end for a project that month.
Drafting It
This is where my focus has been for most of the Spring and Summer. I’ve really concentrated hard on trying to get WORDS ON A PAGE. I’ve worked diligently on this and have completed 2 First Drafts and I’m working on the script of a graphic novel (1st issue in comic book terms). I’m working on getting it more consistent by doing it “daily.” Right now, I write for four days a week (M-Th) and I try for 250 words in a session = 1000 weekly. Now 600 words is about where I top out at in one session, so my goal is to try to slowly increase over my time in grad school to 500 words and maybe boost that to 5-6 days a week, but that’s an aspirational goal–I’m not there yet.
Revising It (“Re-visioning”)
This one is where I’m really up to snuff yet. I’ve done some preliminary research on a story that I’ve wanted to rewrite for while (every since I received feedback on it at MTSU’s Writing Center), but I haven’t had the time in the past two weeks due to the large paper that I had to write. I find myself wondering if it is even worth “saving” or if it is beyond hope and to put it away as a learning exercise and move on to revising a different story?
Submitting It
This too has been a weak area for me. Now that I understand that I’ve probably been submitting my stories too soon in the writing process, I’ve decided to slow down in my submissions. I currently have 0 stories out at the moment. This is probably too harsh. The way I’m presently writing, this is going to take me months to create a story with the level of polish that I hope (keyword = hope) will make me 1000% more competitive in the writing market while other stories that I’ve written will languish until I can get to them. I need to find one place a month and just submit a story that I feel good about and that matches the guidelines of the market. If I submit more than one, great, but you can’t be a published writer if you never send anything out to publishers.
Well, that’s all that I wanted to highlight today: showing some of places where I’m strong in the writing process and some places that need work. Reflecting minds want to know how well they’re doing and what strategies that they can use to improve and if there’s anything that I love reflecting on, its the writing process.
Have a good day
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
July 23, 2018
Finished Traveller RPG! Mini-Review
Traveller RPG Book Cover – Picture of Spaceship with a planet and stars on a black background. Image Source: http://rpgknights.com/category/rpg/traveller/
Word Count (What I’m Writing); Updated every 2-3 Days (mostly)
Project Ship of Shadows (Graphic Novel) Page Count: 17 (+5 past two weeks)
Whale Song Revision (Fantasy Short Story) (2nd Draft)
Goal = 5 Pages a week. Working on Rough Draft for the next 5 pages on Fridays/Over the Weekend.
Actual = 3/5 Pages done last week. I wanted to do more, but I had a 5000 word paper due by midnight Sunday, 22 July 2018, so I simply didn’t have enough time to really work on it as I would have liked. Still, I did manage to write fairly consistently, even if it isn’t reflected here as I wrote other things (for a school setting).
Currently Reading (What I’m Reading); Updated Weekly (mostly)
For Fun:
Transhuman edited by Mark L. Van Name and T. F. K. Weisskopf
Just started this anthology – it was given to me at a LibertyCon some years ago, but I’ve just now gotten around to reading it. I may not finish it/read all the stories, but so far, I’ve read the first story and liked it.
Traveller RPG: FINISHED!
For School:
Afrofuturism (by Ytasha Womack) : This book describes the academic genre of Afrofuturism (essentially African American Science Fiction that deals with social issues in culture). I just finished Chapter 3 today and I’m at the beginning of Chapter 4 (this book has 10 chapters).
Here is a summary from Amazon: “In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book’s topics range from the “alien” experience of blacks in America to the “wake up” cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.”
For Research/Personal Development:
Great Aircraft of WWII by Alfred Price and Mike Spick (for Project Skye)
Great Aircraft of WWII is a book that I’ve had in my collection for sometime–I’ve glanced at it periodically, but never read it cover-to-cover. Now, with Project Skye, I intend to do just that.
Stepping Away from It
Sorry for not writing. Unfortunately, I still had an outstanding project due on July 22 and I spent much of the week trying to make sure that I was ready for it (I wasn’t, but that’s a blog post for another time). Regardless, it put a damper on my writing endeavors. I still wrote creatively (for the most part), but didn’t really have enough time left to pull together a blog post. Still trying to do these posts ahead of time, but some weeks that’s not an option, so it is sometimes difficult to get blog posts updated in a timely manner.
In a Galaxy Far Away
On Friday, as I was lucky enough to finish the Traveller RPG that I’ve been reading for most of the month. It was the book that I read after finishing Oathbringer. The tagline for the book is Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future. I enjoyed the book and believe that it would make a good game for those who are interested in playing either a Space Opera or Hard Science Fiction campaigns.
Space the Final Frontier
One of the things that I like about this game/system is the fact that it allows for one to play a generic Sci-Fi campaign or to tailor make a campaign to match any one of a number universes. There is an “imperium” that could be tailored for a Star Wars like rebels vs empire-like war. However, the best use of the game would be to create a campaign that is much more like an adventure game in space. Elite, Elite Dangerous, or even a “Space Cowboy” world like Firefly would be the best use of this system if one truly wanted to adapt the system to a specific universe.
For my money, I’d probably try to work and to create my own campaign for this rule set, using the “history” and “setting” to try to create something new and fresh.
Overall Grade: B
Sidney
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight in the anthology Fae, Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Amazon Associate Disclaimer:
I earn a small commission on the purchase of these items.
