Hood

Aunt Bee just reminded me that Stephen Lawhead's latest book is coming out next week--I can hardly wait. Perhaps it is good that I'd forgotten about it so I wasn't agonizing over the wait longer than from now until next week. :-)

I've always enjoyed Lawhead's books (though I don't think I've finished the Celtic Rose trilogy for some odd reason). I've read all of his others, and the Pendragon Cycle are my favourite version of Arthurian legend that I've ever read.

Lawhead can't go wrong writing about the Celts or Celtic Britain (i.e. Wales when in later years), so this looks like a very interesting reimagining (or going back to the roots?) of Robin Hood. I can hardly wait...oh, did I already say that? :-) It does bear repeating.

~Matt

Still alive

Yep, I'm still breathing and I have a pulse (plus I'm typing this post). I'm feeling much better. The cold isn't completely gone, but I've not been taking Advil for a couple days because the pain in my throat is nearly nonexistant (it has gradually disipated over those days). It is a relief not to have to think about swallowing once again! You know, I never had this problem until I came east--perhaps I belong with my heart in California, ;-). But not anytime soon.

~Matt

Ragnarök

Yes, the Norse myth of the end of the world--or at least the battle where all of the gods die. My sci-fi universe is set in the future (quite common actually, ;-)) though I haven't yet nailed down when everything is set. At one point I toyed with the idea of time travel, a mysterious society, and a future destruction of civilization (which might be undone by said timetravelers). I abandoned the idea years ago, but while researching for another project I recently discovered the writing I did on the subject.

I've been thinking about starting a webcomic, partially set in my sci-fi universe. Here is a sample for a prologue to the comic. If this project gets off the ground it will be quite a while from now, knowing how long it takes me to plan things. But I think this might be possible. I'm not an artist, but I think I can make the plots work, and I can make a drawing style similar (but obviously not as good) to that seen in The Order of the Stick (or Miah's Stickromancer for those who read the forums) work with my limited talent.

I think this might be a fun way to explore concepts that I wouldn't otherwise explore in my writing at this stage--some of those ideas that appear too scientifically unfeasable (i.e. time travel) or too fanboyish (from my creation of the universe in high school where it was heavily based on Star Trek and Star Wars technology). Perhaps it wouldn't ultimately be canon, but it would plunge the depths of my writings.

Anyway, 'tis just something I'm working on. Tonight as I watched Eureka I started listing the causes of the destruction of Sol's planets. No, not complete physical destruction (for all), but decimation of the population. When I say Ragnarök I mean that the vast majority of human civilization throughout the stars will be wiped out. A bleak future. What would you do if you knew something like that was coming and it was impossible to stop? That, I think, is the key to an interesting narrator for this project. :-)

~Matt

Study your History

Or you might make something like this:

Can anybody else tell me what is wrong with this picture? The humour of transferring somebody from the Revolution isn't at issue.


The problem is that we have the wrong person! Patrick Henry is famous for saying "Give me liberty or give me death!" Nathan Hale is famous for saying (as the British executed him for espionage) "I regret that I have only one life to give for my country."


*sigh*

~Matt

Good day to be off work

I woke up earlier this morning, then decided to doze off again. When I woke up a couple hours later I discovered that my alarm clock was flickering. The power had been out at one point for about an hour! It was long enough that my sister conducting homeschool with candles and my laptop battery drained and shut off my computer.

On the positive side it is pouring rain (hopefully it will keep up for a while). As soon as I take a shower I'm planning to take a walk wearing my trenchcoat--it has been too long since I've walked in the rain! This might also be a good day to finally replace my boots.

The last pair I bought I've thrown away--they were the most expensive ones at Wal-Mart, but they didn't have leather upppers--they wore out pretty quickly. My current pair are okay except for a crack from side to side through the sole. I hate the fact that the leather on my boots will be fine, but the soles wear out. *sigh* Anyway, needless to say my boots are not currently waterproof. It is high time I find some that are.

~Matt

Word of the Day

After spending four years at The Master's College, I couldn't resist the following when it came up in my Google toolbar as the Word of the Day (from Wordsmith.org).

Tarantism:

An uncontrollable urge to dance.

[After Taranto, a town in southern Italy where this phenomenon was experienced during the 15-17th centuries. It's not clear whether tarantism was the symptom of a spider's bite or its cure, or it may have been just a pretext to dodge a prohibition against dancing. The names of the dance tarantella and the spider tarantula are both derived from the same place.]

I wonder what people at TMC would say if you tried to use this excuse (err...reason?) for dancing. :-)

~Matt

Almost perfect timing

I was just leaving work when my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. It was the other white Matt, my good friend from TMC (now living in beautiful Southern California). We talked for an hour, about everything, from California, to TMC, to sci-fi (we're both avid SG-1 fans, ;-)) and more. Of course I say almost perfect timing because I was interrupted by three different calls on my cell phone and two calls on the house phone once I got home. ;-)

~Matt

Same song, second verse

I must tell you that I wish this day had never come. I thought that I just had a cold, but then two days ago I noticed that my throat was still bothering me. My nose has started to run and I've begun to cough--usually signs that the sore throat phase of the cold is over. Unfortunately I'm repeating something from almost two years ago. Here is a refresher from this very blog:

Springdale, Arkansas 01.06.2005 22:00-22:30

My throat was quite sore today, making it difficult to swallow. As a result I didn't drive, fearing I would be too uncomfortable and distracted.

Nolensville, Tennessee 01.07.2005 22:37-22:45?

We left the house at seven something this morning and by the time we left Wal-Mart with my generic Day-Quill in hand it was 07:30, our designated start time....A combination of Day-Quill and Advil reduced the pain to a point where I could swallow and concentrate easier. I took my turn driving twice, the second for an hour or sow leaving Memphis (in heavy rain).

We had a good meal of chili and cornbread, though because of my throat I couldn't finish a full bowl [:(]....Hopefully I can get to sleep before the Ny-Quill I took at 19:10 wears off :).

Today wasn't fun at work--but thankfully I was outside. Without medicinal help it is much preferable to spit out excess saliva rather than swallowing it. Swallowing anything requires conscious effort.

This evening I was desparate, so I took two Advil. To my amazement the pain is gone. I'll be sure to stay dosed up tomorrow! The only problem (one I can definately live with) is what feels like a bit of phelgm at the back of my throat that no amount of clearing my throat can dislodge completely.

~Matt

A moment of silence

Please. Sci-Fi Channel has announced that as of the end of this (unprecedented tenth) season they are canceling Stargate SG-1. Fortunately Stargate Atlantis will still continue. This, I believe, is a very bad idea. I love sci-fi, and SG-1 is one of the funnest shows on the air. It isn't in the same category as B-5 (high drama, excellent plotting and arcs), but it is great fun. It has wide arcs and awesome characters. It might go over the top sometimes, but that is part of the fun. It would be a tragedy if the show were to actually die. The rest of the season (after they break for the fall/winter sometime in the next month or two) will not air until March. Hopefully that means there will be some time for the producers to hopefully find a new home for the show. Unlike when idiot executives cancelled Firefly or Crusade. Grrrr....

~Matt

Pluto

Apparently Pluto is no longer officially a planet. I'm not really sure that I care, however. Pluto has been labeled a planet for far longer than I've been alive, for several generations of school-children. I think that what one person said after 2003 UB313 was discovered is true--that planet is more than merely an astronomical definition, it is a cultural word. Planet really means what we as a culture use it to mean. I might change my science fiction writings to correspond with this "development," or I might "have it overturned" in the future. ;-) For the time being my instinct is to ignore the pronouncement and still talk about our solar system of nine planets.

What do you think?

~Matt

Gasoline

I just filled up my van yesterday. Well it was only down to three quarters of a tank, but I try to fill it up at that point to keep the cost of each fill-up low. I've been paying near to $3.00 for a while now (in the two eighties and nineties) so I was quite excited when I was able to fill up for $2.689 a gallon! 'Tis crazy in some ways to be excited over that price when two years ago it would have seemed way too high, but that is how life goes.

~Matt

High School

I just re-discovered the following text. During high school (in a process too long to relate right now) I created my own science-fiction universe, something that I'm still developing. This is a fragment of a story that I started, but never completed. I haven't worked on this since sometime in high school, so please forgive its unpolished nature.

Tour of Duty [story title] 9736 TO [corresponds to 12542 AD on the planet Terra Oceanus]

An agonizing scream tore through teh chill evening air and with a shock of recognition I realized that it had emanated from my own raw throat. As sharp daggers of obsidian probed the raw flesh of my back I was able to analyze this and other perceptions with a detached and logical calm. The exposed skin on my arms and legs: raw, torn, and bleeding from the Alterian thorns and briars, screamed its own horrible melody. The soles of my feet were also in agony, their surface jagged with white flecks of bone leering out--released by the frantic dash over hot metal and pounded into shards by the long run through gravel, briars, cacti, and stone. To this rising cacophony of sensations was added the numb pain of my head and back, stinging from whips liberally applied in attempts to wrestle information past my recalcitrant lips.

At the end of my second wind, squinting my battered eyelids against the fierce setting sun, I had found it. rather my bloody torn feet had stumbled over the edge of the precipice and had tumbled my aching body down into the void. Mercifully my mind had slipped into unconsciousness as soon as the object, THE OBJECT, had seemed to rush up,eagerly, to smash into my skull.

Alone, unmourned, unknown; I felt myself slipping gradually sliding into oblivion. Had it all been for nothing? Was this to be the end? To find that which I had spent all I had gathered in my long life to find, as that very life slipped away? To have the object of my quest within my grasp and be unable to seize it? No I would not give up! and with that thought a madness took control of me, an insane desire to grasp it, even if it was the last thing I did. The madness sank deep roots into my consciousness and after expelling all though of pain it gathered unknown reserves of strength and sent them coursing to my tired, torn, throbing muscles. With a last surge of power, and however powerful it seemed at the time it was but a shadow of my previous might, I heaved my torso upright and turned toward IT. My miraculous reserves, however, drained from my muscles and failed me. I slumped over it, limp and unconscious.


As far as I can recall I came up with the genesis of this fragment (the painful description at the start) one morning while taking my shower before school. I don't remember much else except that the character was supposed to be impossibly old and perhaps involved with some form of time travel. I might pick the story up again some day, rework it into another plot, or both. I have no idea what will happen right now.

~Matt

Web Albums

I have just uploaded six different background pictures to a Picasa Web Album. I have an extensive file of bakground images that I have downloaded from the internet for my own personal use--mostly of different animals and natural scenes. When I think that one of the pictures I have taken merits inclusion (where most of my pictures are just for memories) I rename it and transfer it to my "Nature and Wildlife" folder. I'm planning to go through my digital pictures to find more images, but in the meantime I have uploaded the six that I currently have to the web. You can access them through the album linked below. Please feel free to download any of them and use them as a background image.

~Matt

Scenic Backgrounds

13 Photos

Blue?

Yep, they're blue french fries. My mom just sent the picture from my sister in Idaho. She has been making these from her blue potatoes for a while, but she hasn't sent me a picture. Thanks for taking the picture mom! I'd love to see them in person, they look quite fun! But I can't quite see McDonald's changing their menu, ;-).

~Matt