We Need a New John Steinbeck
February 19th, 2011 § 37 comments § permalink
We need a new John Steinbeck in America. Who else is putting class issues into fiction today?
From the Wikipedia entry on “The Grapes of Wrath”:
When preparing to write the novel, Steinbeck wrote: “I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [the Great Depression and its effects].”
Collapsity, Part 3
December 15th, 2010 § 68 comments § permalink
Previously, on Collapsity:
Prelude Part One
Prelude Part Two
Collapsity will be a free download available via Lulu. The following is the end of the prelude and probably the last part of it that I will excerpt. Nobody likes to read long text on the internets, including me. I will put it into ereader form.
After the prelude I planned 6 parts: one for each global average degree of celsius the planet’s temperature rises and showing within each part one particular dramatization of what happens next. Each part is called a ‘level.’ Part six was going to be: +6 Degrees Celsius Plus Meteor.
But the 50k wordcount for NaNoWriMo only got me to the second level. But two degrees extra worldwide celsius is the danger marker – the point of no return. Two more degrees is dramatic enough. So Collapsity on Lulu will be longish prelude plus 2 more degrees.
So here is the end of the prelude:
Collapsity, cont.
November 15th, 2010 § 82 comments § permalink
Collapsity, the new and improved synopses:
Collapsity follows several characters through the end of the Great Recession and on into the eventual collapse of world society and the warming of the planet into the dreaded plus two degrees worldwide average celsius resulting in positive feedback deathspin (and an additional four degrees from there). Tip Wire is a former internet guru who has fallen on hard times visited by an old friend he never actually met who impels him into action: Tip is shown what will happen and must act. Some of the other characters include Layla: East Indian premed student and online adult cam star, Lance Lantern: hunky Dilf with an unhealthy obsession for a specific kind of zombie killing which there is no evidence for, the super rich and very sociopathic incestuous twins Don and Donna, and Athena, a passionate old school environmental activist who might be a little too old school for the modern world. A minivan turns into a caravan, a road trip is ensued, a promised land chased. And on the way Tip plants the seeds of science so that hopefully when – if – mankind raises again, it will never do this to itself again.
[Reminder, per NaNoWriMo rules, this is a first draft, just looked over mostly for typos.]
And now, Collapsity continues . . .
Collapsity: When All Falls Down At Once
November 6th, 2010 § 50 comments § permalink
Hello, all. Thank you for coming. I am appreciating you. This is me – appreciating you. Can I make you a cup of tea? I would, you know. OK, you can answer that later. For now, an excerpt from Collapsity, which I am writing presently for NaNoWriMo. I hope you like it. This is my NaNoWriMo link.
Here is a new and improved synopses to Collapsity:
Collapsity follows several characters through the end of the Great Recession and on into the eventual collapse of world society and the warming of the planet into the dreaded plus two degrees worldwide average celsius resulting in positive feedback deathspin (and an additional four degrees from there). Tip Wire is a former internet guru who has fallen on hard times visited by an old friend he never actually met who impels him into action: Tip is shown what will happen and must act. Some of the other characters include Layla: East Indian premed student and online adult cam star, Lance Lantern: hunky Dilf with an unhealthy obsession for a specific kind of zombie killing which there is no evidence for, the super rich and very sociopathic incestuous twins Don and Donna, and Athena, a passionate old school environmental activist who might be a little too old school for the modern world. A minivan turns into a caravan, a road trip is ensued, a promised land chased. And on the way Tip plants the seeds of science so that hopefully when – if – mankind raises again, it will never do this to itself again.
Top Ten Recession-Era Status Updates You Won’t See On Facebook
November 5th, 2010 § 2 comments § permalink
1. “I’m not falling into poverty, I’m strata-surfin’!”
2. is cleaning my front door of all these pesky notices with words like “auction” and “foreclosure” on them.
3. is scraping resin.
4. is shopping at Goodwill for a disguise to wear to the food bank.
5. has reached such an all-new low credit score, FICO has a hit man looking for me.
6. is thinking maybe those Nigerians in my IN box can help me after all.
7. is checking my EBT balance.
8. is selling all my cds and records because I have them all backed up on my iPod, anyway. And then I’m selling my iPod.
9. is saving money on toilet paper by using my shower as a bidet.
10. is thinking of eating horsemeat . . . and I’m a vegetarian.
“Home” – Recommended
August 3rd, 2010 § 102 comments § permalink
Charming French famille slice-of-life with a shot of Charlie Kaufman.
No Bullshit
March 19th, 2010 § Comments Off § permalink
No bullshit.
One day it occurred to me. It came over my spine like a leaf and tightened suddenly like a vise.
I don’t know if there was some trauma that brought it on. I can’t remember. Maybe I have amnesia. I don’t care. All I know is, I can no longer do any bullshit. I have to avoid it like an allergic dodging bees. If you are allergic to bees, which I am not.
Welcome to Berynek’s 3
March 10th, 2010 § 44 comments § permalink
Curlicue wasn’t looking at me. He was staring at the mirror behind me. “Haven’t seen one of those circus mirrors in a while.” he said. He tilted his head left and right, not taking his eyes off his reflection. “Weird,” he said. “It makes one illusion and then keeps it?”
“Uh . . . ” Oh what the hell. “Gotta be honest here, buddy. That’s not a trick mirror. Your cranium suffered some kind of . . . malady.”
His eyes widened. He ran off to the bathroom.
» Read the rest of this entry «
Welcome to Berynek’s, pt. 2
February 13th, 2010 § 74 comments § permalink
When I got back up from ducking under the counter, I saw the military guys pick up their rifles and run out – typical, while me and everyone left put our eye on the light in the upper corner of the wall closest to my bar. Usually that light shone blue – only when the hull was breached and there was serious danger of depressurization did it go red.
We watched.
We held our breaths.
» Read the rest of this entry «
(added 6 November 2010)
