Random Monday Musings

Since my brain is feeling a bit cloudy today, I thought I would try to rev it up with some writing here.

Last night we watched The Grey with Liam Neeson. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it was pretty intense, and though you could see shit coming from a mile away, everything that happened still managed to startle me when it was supposed to. I thought the characters were well-done, and over all, it was a well crafted film. Except the ending. All of that build up, and then…cut to black. I felt robbed. Although, if you stayed until the end of the closing credits, there was a quick shot that alluded to an earlier scene. This kind of gave you resolution. But not enough. I give it a 7 out of 10.

In other news, based in part on Keith’s comment on my last post, an idea that has been lingering for a while came forward with some clarity. Look for a new eBook to come soon. On a related note, I have re-priced two of my longer stories. I figure if publications base their pay on your word-count, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to do the same with my self-publishing. And finally, after reading an article about non-fiction seeming to sell well on Kindle, I threw a couple of my academic history papers together and published them. They’re listed on my shiny new Amazon Author page, linked above. I also have a Goodreads author page, but I can’t link to it right now, as my work internet can’t translate that site very well (it’s a long story, involving an out of date version of IE that I can’t upgrade).

Now that the weather is starting to actually look like Spring (though the weather reports keep mentioning “chance for snow”), I am looking at getting outside more and being more active. Related to that, my friend gave me a punching bag that his kids had, but almost never used. It’s a good, heavy one. I need to drag it down to the basement, so I can hang it up and start taking out some aggression. Also, since it’s so heavy, I can wrap old belts around it, and make handles for lifting. Some good strength-training right there. My goal is to be in good enough shape that I can actually look like a superhero, should I choose to dress up for Wizard World Chicago in August.

Speaking of Cosplay, my wife is now an official “D20 Girl.” This is a group who organizes women cosplayers for pop culture conventions. But, rather than hired model “Booth Babes” who don’t actually know much about what they are promoting, these girls are authentic gamers and geeks. So, she will get free tickets to (relatively) local conventions, and will be required to wear costumes. She’s already planning on several options. This is way cool!

 

(By the way, this is not my wife.  Just a girl explaining what they do.)