Hi there!

I think I’m something like #225-ish on the Blog-hop list, so here goes: I decided to make 2 posts about homophobia. I had a little trouble making a segue from my previous post, so I double-dipped. Also, whoever gets this far will have to have read more than 200 blogs before getting to me, so I needed to keep it short! 

I doubt there’s a gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or transgendered person alive who hasn’t experienced homophobia in some form, or had to hide who they are to keep themselves safe from it. Homophobia isn’t a single malady: it is countless symptoms all throughout our society, at every level. I don’t see an end to homophobia in my lifetime, but I do hope to see a shift toward that inevitable end. I hope for that very, very much. 

I have a very special Scarlet and the White Wolf prize for a commenter I’ll pick at random, so please just leave a note to be entered. The Hop Against Homophobia ends May 20th, and I’ll announce the winner here.

“It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.”

-Rene Descartes

When I was little, my mother told me that love is strongest of all, but hate is “a whole lot louder.”

That’s why, contrary to wisdom and justice both, hate so often wins.

When you know someone hates you without reason, the natural impulse is just to hate ‘em right back. It’s hard not to answer a shout with a shout, a curse with a curse, wrong for wrong.

Kindness is not an abstract. Anyone can be kind to friends and family. Being loving towards those that we love is not difficult, and it isn’t a sacrifice. Being pleasant and making efforts on behalf of others is also not a huge chore. But being kind towards people whom we know don’t actively love us (which is a nice way of saying they hate our guts), well… that’s a hard row to hoe. Why do we even have to do that? What do we owe to the hateful homophobes in the world?

Nothing. We don’t owe them a single damn thing, not even kindness. But we don’t owe them hate, either, and they want us to believe that we do.

When you return hate, in some ways you’re giving that hateful person exactly what they want from you. You’re affirming their desire to be your desire, too. You’re interacting with that desire and allowing them to feed off it, from your source.

Because hate is often a long-lasting thing, many psychologists today don’t believe hatred to be a temporary state of emotion in human beings, but often a disposition toward hating, period.

In other words, haters gonna hate. There isn’t much you can do about that. The only action you’re left with that’s entirely your own is to take charge of the fight. Refuse to feed the negative desires of others, because every ounce of energy you put into hating them back is one less ounce you could be putting toward ending homophobia.

Don’t let them distract you and waste your time, because you, your friends, your family, and everyone reading this who believes that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer folk are entitled to the same rights, privileges, and protections under the law as everyone else, have much, much better things to do with your lives.

Here are some of those better things.

The Trevor Project
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/

It Gets Better
http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

GLAAD
“http://www.glaad.org/

Lambda Legal
http://lambdalegal.org/

The Matthew Shepard Foundation
http://www.matthewshepard.org/

The Point Foundation
http://www.pointfoundation.org/

International Day Against Homophobia
http://www.homophobiaday.org/

I’ve recommended this before to friends who wanted to know where/how to get started in 3D Creation (known just as Building to those of us addicted to it), but in case I haven’t mentioned it here, SOAS (Sim on a Stick) is about the niftiest thing ever. Basically you plug in your USB flash drive, install a few programs onto the drive (all zipped together conveniently and ready for download on the SOAS website) and boom, your own private virtual world is ready for your commands, with endless modifications and customizations available. The only limits are your imagination and how much time you’re willing to dedicate to hone your Building skills.

The reason that SOAS is the coolest nerd thing since pop rocks is because you can take it with you. The compactness itself, the very idea of slinging an entire virtual world into your pocket, is what appeals. I know there are comparisons – for instance, just about any Xbox game will fit into your purse – but unlike other online MMO’s that must have an internet connection or a dedicated gaming console, you can take Sim on a Stick anywhere with you, plug it into any relatively recent computer USB drive, and it should run. By recent, I mean within the last 4 or 5 years. My workhorse desktop is that old (I’ve made a few mods, mainly video card and RAM), and SOAS runs just fine.

This is the brand new world inside my flash drive using the latest build of SOAS. It doesn’t have any homes or structures yet, just a name (I’ve called it The Riverlands. Hello, Game of Thrones). It has mountains and water, and an avatar that I’ve dedicated zero time to customizing. I did quite a lot of work on my last world (Horus), but it was a little buggy (user error, not program) and I managed to mess it up. I wanted to start again with a clean slate.

In case you’re thinking this all looks too complicated for your tech level, it’s not. Building in 3D can certainly get complicated, but compiling the world itself has been streamlined to idiot-proof levels, which is quite handy for us idiots. If you can unzip a folder, you can do this.

I should mention that the latest build of SOAS has the option of not having a viewer compiled with the zip folder. In order to enter a virtual world, you not only have to have the world available, you need a viewer capable of interfacing with it. If you follow the help link into the SOAS website, you can download the Custom SOAS Imprudence viewer that will not only teleport you into your own world (localhost), but many other virtual MMO’s.

Happy Nerding!

PS: Okay, I missed Earth Day. Because I spent it planting tomatoes, I think I should get a pass to make my Earth Day post today instead. Yes, I do.

So, we all know what a QR Code generator is. If you have a business card or any print publicity materials, you should have your QR code somewhere on it, and it would be totally awesome if I could convince publishers to start adding them to my print books from now on. While they’re really cool and recognizable just the way they are, it’s even MORE COOL if you have a custom QRC.

Hackaday tells you how to put one together using Photoshop and the QR generator, but the how-to is really long and – IMHO- unnecessary. I just got my code, read through the Hackaday guide to quickly find out where the “don’t touch” boundaries are on the image, and then just pasted a few images inside the “okay” zone.

Here’s the result.

If you have a smartphone with a QR reader app like RedLaser, just put it up to the screen there and let it read the code. Yep. The little crow takes you right to my website.

Now isn’t that neat?

PS: re Big Health Scare has been given the negative by specialists (the problematic and in-a-weird-place lump in my throat has been diagnosed as a benign cyst), so I can stop going to doctors for the time being and head back to writing. Thanks for being patient with  me.

No, not the game. I’m talking about temporary spaces inside the virtual landscapes of MMORPG’s, spaces that are only open for certain periods of time – such as special events – but closed off to the rest of the game ‘verse when the event is over. After the event is over, I like to imagine that those spaces enter a kind of paradox where they patiently await the return of the players, biding time until the space is reenergized by the act of observation, a sort of Schrödinger’s Cat of RPG. The NPC’s are still running through their animation files, particles still emit, the wav files still play, but there are no players to hear them.

If a wav file plays in the mesh forest and there is no level 65 tank to hear it, does it still make a sound? (continued)

Read the rest at Livejournal.com

Comment here, there, anywhere.

I’ve been thinking about Roy Batty lately, probably because I watched The Rite on HBO Monday and Ruger Hauer had a supporting role as the young priest’s father. As usual, RH did a fine job and it was fun watching him. The only other movies I have of him not speaking English are Turkish Delight and Soldier of Orange. A friend sent me this gif file. Don’t know where it came from (other than Bladerunner), but it’s lovely, yeah? You can almost hear him talking about seeing things we wouldn’t believe. 

I really don’t know what to say about The Rite, other than it’s like a horror movie for people who don’t like horror. There isn’t a lot of gore, blood, or shocking things (barring a few obscene phrases that really did make the horror grade),and the Exorcist aura is a bit underwhelming, maybe because the acting is a little too good. Honestly, Anthony Hopkins never made a bad movie, because he brings the good to anything he participates in. No matter how bad it started out, it automatically becomes a lot better when Sir Anthony arrives. The man is gold, okay?

But The Rite left me feeling like I hadn’t watched a scary movie at all by today’s standards, and that’s sad, because this thing would have utterly terrified me at 15. It was interesting and entertaining, but not frightening. Not even as scary as The Mothman Prophecies. I blame movies like Saw personally, which seem to exist for no other reason than to rack up numbers of people who absolutely will not watch it (like me). The Rite had a lot going for it in terms of atmosphere, lighting, score, actors, and even the storyline didn’t suck. Despite that, I was a little surprised that it was rated PG-13 rather than R. Yeah, I know: make up your fracking mind, right?

Fine: The Rite was okay if you don’t expect too much. On scale of 1-10 for just getting a story told to you, it rated about a 5. Don’t expect to be terrified, although el mulo was really creepy. Do expect to be creeped out a few times and repulsed by some of the language and themes, and of course there’s Rutger Hauer angsting and Anthony Hopkins doing the best Pazuzu impression since, well, Pazuzu.

And of course, with that kind of internal pressure, sometimes it’s best to let the lil hater have his way. Because totally awesome on a Wednesday? Pish. I don’t think so. We all have that lil’ hater in our heads telling us that what we do just isn’t good enough and no one is listening, no one cares, you totally suck. Sometimes the only way to get past that runty jagoff is to stick your fingers in your ears and go la la la la la while taking a flying leap.

So this is me: leaping.

Whoo hoo.

This always happens to me. I don’t know the meaning of the word “quickie”. It’s a longie or nothing!

And so, because I really need to sit down tonight and get to the end of this novel while doing some judicious cutting from the beginning, I present you with 3 favorite things.

Favorite Video Game

It’s a series, really, and by series I mean (quite seriously) steampunk legacy. Myst (and the sequels: Riven, Exile, Uru, Revelation, End of Ages ) was a trailblazing game, the precursor and model for much to come. Many other franchises, everything from games (Schizm, Syberia) to social platforms (Second Life) to film (Lost) would succeed in imitating it – in elements, form, artistic style, theme – but nothing ever equalled it. Myst was a labor of love from Robyn and Rand Miller, two brothers who worked together on every single aspect of the first game, creating a fantastic universe where the written word could not only create worlds, but people, animals, and civilizations. But if books could create worlds, then books could also twist them. Contempt of nature resulting in perversion of spirit infuses a great deal of the themes of the Myst games and novels, making it (among other things) a truly Pagan game at heart. As Anna says to Atrus when he’s still a boy: “You must remember what you have learned here, Atrus. I have tried to teach you the mechanics of the earth and stars; the ways of science and the workings of nature. I have tried to teach you what is good and what is to be valued, those truths which cannot be shaken or changed. This knowledge is from the Maker.”

I have all the Myst novels, soundtracks, and games, and the worlds of Myst are some of my most favorite things ever. If you’re curious about the fabled music and graphics of this series, you can check out one of the Myst worlds by playing Myst Online: Uru Live. It’s not a big CPU drag to run on your computer, and the price is pretty good: Free.

Trivia: The main character of Atrus in the video above is played by Rand Miller.

Favorite Comic

Dude, this guy:

I’ve lost count of the series and their order. There was King Conan, Conan the King, The Savage Sword of Conan, and Conan the Cimmerian. I read them all. Or at least, every one I could get my hands on. Robert E. Howard’s Conan is still one of my most beloved fictional characters. He had the sword, the attitude, the destiny, and the muscles to back it up. He’s… just… so…. COOL! Conan will always be cool. If our planet is ever invaded by hostile aliens bent on our destruction, we can just show them Conan, Cimmerian, the unapologetic slayer and lover, born to tread the jeweled kingdoms of the earth beneath his sandaled feet. Then they will go: “Gnak froo mabalaks kliklkilk!” Which translates: “You know, Conan is just so cool. Maybe these Earthlings are really okay, after all…”

Hey, it could happen.

Favorite Thing of the Week

Okay, that’s cheating a bit. But the alternative was choosing my favorite fictional character of all time, and Roy Batty teamed up with Maximus and immediately tried to flush Conan out the airlock, which didn’t work, Conan having countered with a roundhouse camel-punch to the jaw until they were both shut down by Boromir and Cap’n Tightpants. With a wrench. In the landing bay.

And that was just off the top of my head. Don’t even ask about Picard.

Anyway… favorite thing. Pastel Portal. Just go. Check it all out. There’s some awesome stuff there, brought to you by author and artist Mateusz Skutnik.

By the way, if you’d like to see some cover art I’ve done, drop by Jourdan Lane’s page on Amazon and take a look at the cover of Clarity. Yeah, I know: again with the black paint! I’ve done other covers for Jourdan (colorful ones! honest!) and they’ll be available by and by.   

I greatly enjoyed Jourdan’s Soul Mates: Bound by Blood novel and you might, too. Check it out!

More writing on the end of Scarlet and the White Wolf #4 today (title to be announced soon). Have a great Sunday!

More commonly known as the Dogs Days of summer, associated with the star Sirius, believed to be an evil time of year when “the seas boiled, wine turned sour, Quinto raged in anger, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies”. 

I had to look up phrensies, but I’m not arguing with the description. Plainly speaking, this summer sucked. It was hot. Then it was hot. Then it was hot some more. It was unreasonably hot (like “OMG Come ON!!!!” hot) and those aforementioned Dog Days arrived in June rather than July. And that dog, he stayed. He stayed like he could smell bacon in the house, sniffing around the porch, making my AC conk out, melting things in the attic, driving the wasps and yellow jackets crazy. 

For those of you who think stinging insects don’t go mad from heat and start chasing you and diving for your face, well. they do. Usually you can just leave a wasp alone and it will leave you alone, but at 105F, a wasp is likely to do anything, including becoming really aggressive just because you dared to walk by. It’s the vespidae form of road rage.

But Dog Days do have a couple of redeeming qualities. The light begins to slant again in August, painting your window shades with the same bokeh, dappled-leaf effect that occurs in early spring. The days finally become noticeably shorter, and you might even start to notice that the nights cool off faster when the sun sets, and the mornings are cool just a little longer. On the bad side, I didn’t see any fireflies last night.

Enough about the weather. I’m looking at overhauling my website today, and perusing the css file and wondering what I can do to change the look without putting too much work into it. I do want to make the site a little more interactive, but I don’t want it to be a time-suck either. I won’t be hanging out here all day talking about writing. I kind of need that time to actually be, um, writing.

I’m going to be digging up the old photo/poem posts I started making on this blog last year and reposting them soon. Sorry to spam you all with things you’ve already seen, but when WordPress ate my archive last year, I lost all of those posts, and I kind of miss them. I’d like to have them here. I’ll be making new ones, too, as time allows.