Sunday, November 30, 2008

Random stuff

Wow, it's been a rather long time since I vowed to try writing more. Yeah, that worked out about as well as expected. Too much work. The game is almost done though.

I was going to try to do some astrophotography some time in the last week. Then Vancouver weather happened, which has basically consisted of: clouds, fog, clouds, light rain, heavy rain. I keep thinking I should buy a telescope, but I usually think about this during the winter when there isn't much point.

And that's about all the time I have to write today.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Writing (condensed)

1. I like writing stuff
2. I hate posting stuff I don't think is done
3. I'm a perfectionist - nothing is ever done
4. I'm going to try to post more half-baked stuff, despite the inevitable criticism, and not feel too bad about editing and re-posting better versions later.

See? Much better. :-)

Writing

I like writing. I'm always coming up with plot lines and dialogue in my head. It's just that every time it comes to write something down, it gets a little difficult to actually get everything down the way I was thinking about it, without things going off in weird directions.

The story I just posted could be considered one such thing. This post is another.

What I really wanted to say was, I'd post more stuff like the story below, except I have a problem with "releasing stuff into the wild" if I don't think it's done yet. I'm unfortunately also a perfectionist, and I tend do abandon things before I consider them done.

Part of the point of this blog was to create a place to store all of the thoughts that I was storing on my PDA, but that other people might find at least remotely interesting.

Another point was to explore trying to say things a succinctly as possible. That would effectively require me to take old posts, trim the fluff or things that don't make sense or are blatantly wrong, in an effort to find perfection. I believe this is called "editing," which is something that doesn't happen easily online it seems.

So, I hope to write more, and more importantly, revisit and edit earlier thoughts at some point. Once I find the time. (Everyone say, "good luck with that last part.")

A Story

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Fa, there lived a kind but stubborn king. Through the length of this kingdom ran the river Ga. It flowed from the mountains, passed through the plains, and then passed between two great hills before making its way to the sea. Upon the tallest of these hills was perched an enormous boulder.

During the summer months, the river provided food and water for the people, however, during the winter it would freeze solid or run dry. Winters were very hard, and many people would die of thirst.

One day, one of the king's advisers came to him with a plan. "We will roll that giant boulder down the hill into the valley, creating a dam on the river Ga. This will create a lake, whose water will sustain us through the winter!"

So the king and all of his advisers climbed the hill and tried to push the boulder down the hill. They pushed and they strained. But they could not move the boulder.

The wise adviser suggested, "Perhaps if we dig under the boulder, it will begin to roll down the hill." But the king said, "No! It might crush you, and I can not put any of you in danger."

So they called all of the men of the kingdom to help. They pushed and they strained. They huffed and they grunted. But they could not make the boulder move either.

The adviser suggested again, "Perhaps if we dig under the boulder just a little bit, just to get it started." But the king said, "No! It might crush you, and I can not put any of you in danger."

So they called all of the women and children to help. They pushed and they strained. They huffed and they grunted. They groaned and they moaned. But even with every person in the kingdom to help, they could not make the boulder move.

Finally the adviser said, "Allow me to dig under the boulder. I am willing to take the risk, and my personal safety is a small price to pay for the benefit of the entire kingdom." But the king said, "No! It might crush you, and I can not put any of you in danger."

So the people of the Kingdom of Fa did not get their dam, and there were many more hard years for the small kingdom.

The moral of the story? There is no Ga Dam Fa King way.