November 2004

Jenn has coyly suggested that I start all of the fantasy saga titles with prepositions: To the Wall Over Burning Cities Below the [ominous words] Aboard [some kind of vehicle] Through [a kind of landscape or country] With, upon, amid… Near the End… I think “Near the End” is the most appropriate. My fall-back on […]

I’m off to go work on said writing projects. I’ve also been trolling through the internal job postings board at my company, trying to decide where I want to live in the summer of 2006. It occurred to me today that I have a nice cushy job, in a nice cushy city, and couldn’t I

Roey Thorpe, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, shared a personal story that she believes illustrates the prejudice that a gay person cannot love as truly or as deeply as a heterosexual. The Portland, Oregon, woman said an employee who was grieving over the death of her husband asked Thorpe, “Do your people feel sad

So, John Rickards is deep in rewrite mode, and I must admit that as a mostly-unpublished writer who’s written nine books and god-knows-how-many-short-stories, I find it deeply comforting that even writers under 3-book contracts write shitty first drafts. I spent yesterday working on book two of the fantasy saga, Over Burning Cities, which is shaping

It’s tough. It’s often painful. But you’ll walk down the street knowing you have a good right cross. Need an overview of styles? Look here. For those interested in mixed martial arts, check out some more links here. Trying to find the right school for you? For those in Chicagoland, I recommend my school (of

And then you get us pissed off: According to women’s rights activists in the area (Nagpur, India), men who rape are frequently let off by the courts, and helped by police. This weekend, 50 women — led by a rape victim — burnt down the houses of three rapists who had been attacking women for

So, it’s finally hit USA Today. I’d heard rumors of scattered pharmacists refusing to fill contraceptive perscriptions to women, but now we’ve got a nice article all about it. This should scare the shit out of men at least half as much as it should scare the shit out of women. If you don’t want

There’s actually a competitive sport called wife carrying. Finland – like other geographic locations that are cold and dark half the year – comes up with some bizarre ways to pass the time. They even set up an obstacle course for participants. What’s the background? Back in the day: “Raids on surrounding villages, with the

Ned, the big regional VP, came in yesterday to pick up his mail, and he said it looks like we’ll be ramping up next week – that is, we’ve either just signed or are very nearly signing a contract, and it’s time to pack up the office with employees again and get busy. Yellow departed

On the way home from kickboxing tonight, I was reading Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast (believe it or not, yes, I’m a Hemingway fan). And I stumbled across this lovely passage: “There is not much future in men being friends with great women although it can be pleasant enough before it gets better or worse, and