Is absolutely vital. As they are the ones who inspire the Audience/Reader to attempt and to Do Great and Important Things.
Yet every Secondary Character is also of enormous import as they are the ones who inspire the Main Character to attempt and to Do Great and Important Things. So in your Own Life, and in Real Life, always be the Main Character, but in the lives of others be a necessary and outstanding Secondary Character.
from Form and Function, The Literate Man’s Guide to Real Life
I am including this post of my First Verse as part of the Daily Post for Sanctuary.
It was inspired a beautiful work of art by a friend which I have linked to at the bottom of the post. Her work is superb.
A Painted Story-Chair of Dreams
A fitting vision does it seem
In which to sit and rock the soul
That wants to wander as it roams
About the misty, darkened night
Whose moon still ambles in the light
Of the countless colored stars
Some close to touch, some still afar
A peacock throne, a thousand eyes
Upon the sea, within the skies
Serpents coiling in the mind
Omens opened up on time
Space the nearness of a sleep
In which the desert dreaming deep
Is as the jungle in its might
Is as the Dawn of Paradise,
Now to twilight as you ride
Upon the waves of shifting tide
The seasons wax and then they wane
Your eyes grow wan their meaning plain
You plan to slumber in the Chair
A Painted Story in the Air
Where Heaven bends to searching Earth
To find you dreaming of Rebirth…
I’ve cleared my entire calendar for November in order to write my novel for National Novel Writing Month. Aside from some type of emergency, and I don’t anticipate one (though you never really do, do ya?), writing my novel will be my chief priority this month.
So my blogging and other social media efforts will likely lag as a result. So will every other non-essential pursuit as the novel will be my Essential Activity for November. Fortunately I anticipate a very quiet month which will allow me the opportunity to write completely without distraction.
I’ve decided to go with THE OLD MAN as my chosen novel.
I intend to produce between 1500 and 5000 words per day, depending upon the day and the way the story proceeds and progresses. I already have much of the plot, all of the sections, and a few of the scenes sketched out.
Because of my broken wrist I will be writing the novel out in long hand on long notepads and my daughter will be typing it for me. I begin as soon as I’ve had breakfast and I walk Sam (my Great Dane) as it’s been raining this morning and prevented an earlier walk.
Congratulations to all of those pursuing writing their novel this month.
See you at the end of the month if not sooner…
I write Children’s books. I do not have the time to illustrate them right now, so I’d love to find an excellent illustrator, but that aside, I write children’s books. So almost every time I go to the library I check out at least two children’s books (picture books I mean, I also read Middle Grade and Young Adult books but that’s another post) to read and study.
Last time I went I got books by Aaron Becker and Graeme Base. Becker’s book, called Journey, was flat out illustration, the entire story was told just in pictures. The book by Base, entitled Animalia, (another favorite of mine by Base is the Waterhole) was both scripted and illustrated, and the artwork must have taken a very long time indeed to perfect. But it is that, nearly perfect. Of the two I preferred Animalia, because of the artwork, but the story in Journey was superior and reminded me of the video game Ico, which was also gorgeous, and had a superb story.
I highly recommend both books.
These are the caliber of artists I want illustrating my children’s books.
Have a great day folks.
This is a photograph I took and then modified to submit to a photography contest one Halloween. I think I won third place for the pic. However I never actually received my prize. Which was supposed to come by mail but never arrived.
It is of one of the first Black and Yellow Argiope (A. Aurantia) to appear near my house, years before I began cultivating and keeping them. I call the photograph, The Descent of Arachnia. After the myth. Below the pic is the poem I wrote to accompany the photograph.
On common web that most uncommon beast
Does descend upon every unwatched fate
And threads which measure out the feast
Of living span do tremble, spin, and quake –
When hearts catch at approaching omen’s crawl,
Every man knows well though spoken not
How deep within his untangling looms,
A tremor from the center of the clot
Which darkens blood and shadows doom
When creeping eyes do find him slumber’s thrall,
Legs, long of aspect, slow, and lithe
Run out patiently with dread approach,
For nothing stems that fang which glides
Like icy limb upon the frigid throat
To close up tight in horrid awe,
She comes like shadow in the colored dark
To pluck the living fibers from men’s veins,
Descended from some ancient Wyrd embarked
Which entwines our bodies round in vain –
For no man e’er escapes that creeping maw;
When Arachnia stoops to make her final claim.
A sketch I did in pen and ink – long, long ago.
Again, another superb effort and a great methodology of graphic encoding. This would have also made a very nice espionage technique. With the pictures being both unnoticeable to most and even when apparent the visual images themselves could have passed encoded information for messaging. And what better way to pass those messages than steganographically? As a matter of fact the very uniqueness of the encoding of the graphic images would have probably deflected attention away from their subliminal use as an espionage technique.
The discoverer would probably immediate concentrate upon (or be channeled to concentrate upon) the mastery and skill required to create the artistic images rather than assume those same images possessed encoded messages – without an extremely good reason to be suspicious. Hence double camouflage.
Autumn by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Autumn by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Winter by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Winter by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Spring by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Spring by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Summer by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
Summer by Robert Mudie / Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa
A few days ago Colleen Theisen who helps with outreach and instruction at the Special Collections & University Archives at the University of Iowa shared an amazing gif she made that demonstrates something called fore-edge painting on the edge of a 1837 book called Autumn by Robert Mudie. Fore-edge painting, which is believed to date back as early as the 1650s, is a way of hiding a painting on the edge of a book so that it can only be seen when the pages are fanned out. There are even books that have double fore-edge paintings, where a different image can be seen by flipping the book over and fanning the pages in the opposite direction.
When I realized the book Theisen shared was only one of a series about the seasons, I got in touch and she agreed to photograph the other three so we could share them with you here. Above are photos of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter which were donated to the University of Iowa by Charlotte Smith. How much fun are these? Keep an eye on the University of Iowa’s special collections Tumblr as they unearth more artificats from the archives.
Update: Because this post is getting so much attention, here are some more amazing fore-edge paintings found on YouTube.
Whoever created this baby (book) was a person after my own heart. If only it was encoded in multiple ways and written in six different languages. Maybe though it was.
And to be honest this looks like a Medieval attempt at something like I’m attempting with my New Media Project. Or even a very primitive form of God Technology.
Sure, the Amazon Kindle might have dynamic font adjustments, and it can hold thousands of books, but can it do this? Printed in the late 16th century this small book from the National Library of Sweden is an example of sixfold dos-à-dos binding, where six books are conjoined into a single publication but can be read individually with the help of six perfectly placed clasps. This particular book was printed in Germany and like almost all books at the time is a religious devotional text. The National Library of Sweden has a fantastic photo collection of historical and rare books where you can find many more gems like this, and this, and this.
Update: And if you really like amazing old book discoveries, you should be following Erik Kwakkel, the Medieval book historian at Leiden University in the Netherlands, who originally unearthed this story. (via Neatorama)
Sigurd, talking to the birds, about the slaying of Fafnir
This guy’s work is absolutely incredible. I can really admire someone this good at their work. I highly recommend you take a look at it.
My hometown city. And there is excellent reason to be extremely proud of it. It is a superb place for Business, Art, Music, and Beauty.
It is an wonderful thing to live in the South.
And as a friend said this is but the tip of the iceberg…
Edwin McCain shows off his favorite places in Greenville
Because it’s Pink Floyd. Actually, I hope it is closer to their earlier work than their later work.
Pink Floyd Roll Out Plans For ‘The Endless River,’ First LP in 20 Years
“‘The Endless River’ is a tribute to Rick Wright,” says Nick Mason. “His playing was at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound”
Courtesy Pink FloydPink Floyd, ‘The Endless River.’| September 22, 2014 After months of rumors, Pink Floyd have finally announced the details of their new album The Endless River, which hits shelves on November 10th. It’s the group’s first new release since 1994’s The Division Bell. According to a press release, The Endless River is a “four-sided instrumental album,” though one track, “Louder Than Words,” has lyrics by David Gilmour’s wife Polly Samson. It was produced by Gilmour, Phil Manzanera, Youth and Andy Jackson and is available for pre-order right now.
The project began with Gilmour and Floyd drummer Nick Mason sorting through music they recorded with keyboardist Rick Wright (who died in 2008) during the Division Bell sessions. “We listened to over 20 hours of the three of us playing together and selected the music we wanted to work on for the new album,” Gilmour said in a statement. “Over the last year we’ve added new parts, re-recorded others and generally harnessed studio technology to make a 21st century Pink Floyd album. With Rick gone, and with him the chance of ever doing it again, it feels right that these revisited and reworked tracks should be made available as part of our repertoire.”
Still one of my favorite films of all time.
In the past three days I have written four poems (Three Strangers, Fall Is Not a Season, two untitled as yet), five songs (Waking in the Grave, I Took My Guns, A Hoard Did I Encounter, I’d Really Like to Know, one untitled so far), part of a new sci-fi short story (Proximal), dialogue for my novel (There is a Road), an essay, several aphorisms, 20 or so measures of music, made several blog and message board posts, started a couple of papers, outlined a new Ebook (The Trainable Man), sketched out part of a map, and wrote up part of an invention draft.
That’s a pretty good clip even for me.
For some reason I’ve just been hot over the past few days. You get that way sometimes.
My father was an inventor and tool and die maker. He worked in metal his whole life. God he’d love this.
To see more go here:
John says he loves the textures and moods he’s able to convey through his artwork.
Mapping the Ancient World little by little...
Growing cotton, corn, and character
Galilean Aramaic in the Context of Early Christianity
Submit your logline pitch and we'll make sure it gets seen.
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From one GM to another.
A Writer's Workshop
The Filidhic Literary Blog of Jack Günter
Fantasy maps and mapmaking tutorials by Jonathan Roberts
The Filidhic Literary Blog of Jack Günter
books for kids about families, friendship, feelings and funny stuff
The Filidhic Literary Blog of Jack Günter
The Middle Ages in the Modern World
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Wyrdwend 
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