Not Dead

Just busy. I continue to draw pictures and write, much to the horror of those with the misfortune to be exposed.

Feedback

Feedback is fantabulous. I love feedback.

Today I got a nice chunk of feedback on my latest fictional endeavor. Very nice indeed. It was full of accurate, incisive indications of things that need fixing, and which will be, I think, hugely difficult to fix. Weeks of head-pounding revisions loom ahead. But! It also said the reader enjoyed the story. That makes everything twinkle with pink fairy lights.

Three or Four Problems

So, with just two weeks of distance, I'm rereading and editing. I've read the whole thing again. The last half certainly goes smoother than the first. I wonder if I'll be able to fix that. Other than that, I've fixed the easy problems, hopefully, writing a new scene in the process, and now I have three major problems left. One is a relatively simple problem of characters not behaving in a way that makes sense (failing to realize or know things they should, for the sake of a piece of dialog I wanted to have-- classic darling killing required). Two are more difficult, in that they involve things which are mentioned, but then don't get the air time they need in the story, basically a couple of themes which are shortchanged. That's going to be troublesome to fix, and it also probably means more happening, rather than less.

Can I get this done by the end of the week as planned? Stay tuned...

Deep Thoughts

All a corporation has to do to stand out, to be amazingly, startlingly, outlandishly progressive, is to say that it won't be evil. Just don't be evil. You don't have to, you know, go out of your way to be good. You can even be an irritant, or an impediment. You could be dangerously incompetent. But at least you're not evil.

Come to think of it, it's getting like that for politicians, too, isn't it? Just say you won't be evil. Instant boost in the polls.

Well, it might work if we thought we could believe any of them.

The 44,000

After much round-about writing and rewriting, I have about forty-four thousand words which seem to hang together. However, I'm still not sure exactly what's going to happen next. I can only hope this doesn't end up being another one of those sticking points.

Phoenix Landing

Cool pictures.

Looks like they made it

Phoenix appears to have made it to Mars. Yay for more Mars pictures.

Good Luck Phoenix

Phoenix Mars mission page

Eurovision 2008

Yes, I know it's over. Still, I feel a need to share.

Participants that either didn't make me cringe, or made me cringe in a good way:

Azerbaijan - Only in Europe could this happen. They get points for audacity, but honestly the lyrics are really annoying.

Finland - They rock. A bit too serious, maybe, but they rock.

Greece - Inexplicably, I found myself liking this song, as long as I didn't listen too closely.

Ukraine - Best of the ordinary. That is, compared to the crowd of boring disco-crud, this is actually pretty catchy.

You'll notice I didn't actually like the winner.

Another View on St. Petersberg

Photos. Wow.

(Via Coudal Partners)