I’ve never mistaken my hobbies for real life. I’ve always craved real life, even when I didn’t have one. I’ve sought out life, even when I didn’t know how. I’ve always tried to live real life, even when I didn’t have a clue. I travel a lot. I talk to strangers. I eat their candy. —Walter Jon Williams Go read… Read more →
Tag: quote
Noted Quotes
A couple of quotations from my web reading recently: “I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture.” –U.S. Attorney General nominee Eric Holder (via) “Watch half a film. Ring someone up, ask them about their dreams. Make your life as patchy a discourse as possible.” —M. John Harrison, explaining something about writing “If only it were all so simple!… Read more →
All that foil-folding work for nothing…
At some past jobs, although not so much at this one, I’ve been the guy that my co-workers referred to as “tinfoil hat security guy”. I was the one who worried about cookies and tracking before most people did (and well before we all just gave up because Google knows everything about us), who raved about TIA and Carnivore, who… Read more →
Smart Things: Gene Wolfe Knows The Score
The Commercial vs the Artistic in writing – is there a genuine difference between these two philosophies or are they artifical attributes? Are they in opposition, and if so, can they meet? The difference seems to me very genuine. The error is to think them antithetical. The purely commercial writer writes for the editor. The purely artistic writer writes for… Read more →
He dug it
“Don’t play everything (or everytime); let some things go by. Some music just imagined.“More background info here. Read more →
Utterly random points
So, I thought the barbecue sauce guy was weird, but he has possibly been surpassed by the eggbeater bandit. New Walter Jon Williams books are automatic buys in this house (as you know if you’ve been reading for a while), and now he’s not just selling me his books, he’s putting anime on my Ziplist. I may have mentioned that… Read more →
…as long as it catches the mouse
If you look at every one of these [derivative] products, they make sense. But in aggregate, they are bullshit. They are crap. They serve to cheat people. I have to say it: you have to do something about pay in the financial system. People in this field have way too much money. And this is not right. It hurts to… Read more →
The natural reward of taking time to do anything well
“Demanding a significant investment of time and energy on the part of the consumer, it [the book] has always fit somewhat awkwardly into the world of mass entertainment.” You know, it seems like every one of these “end of publishing” articles has a couple of nuggets in it. Like Englehart’s noticing that the book is a much less easily consumed… Read more →
We are not beginners, we will not be fooled
“Books are not Hollywood, to the general astonishment of agents and corporate suits. They are intimate, unpredictable agents of delicious rebellion.” I’m not sure I buy the thesis in Osborne’s piece, but I really would like the believe I live in the world that this quote from it describes. Read more →
A Thought To Help Me Stay Calm
Most are engaged in business the greater part of their lives, because the soul abhors a vacuum and they have not discovered any continuous employment for man`s nobler faculties. —Henry David Thoreau Read more →
Sf Writers Say Smart Things: Sterling Again
“But, although we’re very good at giving ourselves things to buy, we’re not very good at understanding ourselves. We don’t really know what we want. And that’s really a cultural vaccuum there–it’s kind of a lack. And it’s becoming sinister.” —Bruce Sterling The most stinging part of this observation is that the idea that self-knowledge is a key part of… Read more →
They way they are supposed to.
Since 2001 I’ve had less use for Christopher Hitchens than I used to. But hey, I’ve got even less use for Pope Inquisitor and his attempts to pull the Roman Catholic Church backwards in time. So if Hitchens wants to get snarky on the practice of indulgences, as he does in the latest Free Inquiry, I’m going to enjoy it… Read more →
SF Authors Say Smart Things: Speaking Of Wisdom…
You know what I’m tried of? Cynicism that blocks honest attempts to improve the situation. People trying to seem soooo “plugged in” and “been around the block” by acting like shock and anger are inappropriate and even childish reactions to deplorable, illegal, and occasionally reprehenisble behaviour. I could try to make this thought clear, but since immensely talented writer Emma… Read more →
The research mindset
I am so jealous of all the people working at the LHC this week. However, the best thing I’ve seen that’s LHC related this week was Hawking talking about his $100 bet against the project finding the Higgs boson. Why do I think it’s the best thing? Well, look at this part of his comments: I think it will be… Read more →
I’ve been waiting to hear exactly that
“Our mission is to restore America’s influence and position in the world. We must use all the weapons in our arsenal, above all, our values. President Obama and Vice President Biden will shut down Guantanamo, respect the Constitution, and make clear once and for all, the United States of America does not torture, not now, not ever.” —Senator John Kerry,… Read more →
