Most of these recommendations come with the territory of “living in a society flush with books.” They are a given, yet I want to assume that, if you want to write a fiction novel, you are out-of-this-world stupid and in need of guidance. The links are to free copies online where available, otherwise it’s an … Read These 50 Books Before You Write Your First Fiction Novel
A bit late in mentioning this, but Tom Woods addressed Slate’s “unanswerable” question to libertarians nicely here (with some follow up here and here). An introductory quote is below. The scattery Stefan Molyneux also provided a decent video answer here. If I can offer an uneducated answer: the reason nations don’t “do” libertarianism is because … An Unanswerable Question Rebuffed
Via Media Bistro, an infographic (.pdf, ugh) on how high school reading lists have changed over time. The immediate conclusion is that kids aren’t as easily attentive to words on a page as they are to whatever shiny device is eating their free time up like so many Pringles, so they aren’t able to process … What High Schoolers Read Now
I got rid of the annoying Google ad in the sidebar, for no other reason that I just didn’t like the aesthetics of it. I was actually starting to make some money off of it but it would be another few decades until I would see some return from it. In its stead I replaced … A Blog Design Update of Some Interest
I rewatched this movie last night on the Crunchyroll channel, but it’s also on Youtube for free in its entirety (see above), in decent quality. It’s worth watching, even if anime isn’t your thing, because it has the sense of a semi-sci-fi movie from a Western producer…but animated. It helps to think of it as … Movie: The Place Promised In Our Early Days
Related to one of my recent posts about art inside the church, I came across this gem posted in a Facebook group. While not really single-church related it bears out the attitude of gatekeeper Christians needing to sanitize expression. Here we have Vengeance Rising’s Destruction Comes, released in 1991, with the cover as it should … Vengeance Rising’s De-Awesomed Artwork
It was the day of all days. I planned on finally exerting some of my blossoming masculinity on the two callow lads that were a year my minor. I was picturing how awesome I looked in my “confidence headband” when I slipped on that damned log and fell. They ran away, but I found a … A Short Excerpt of the Internal Dialogue of a Young Video Game Hero
Consider the first two paragraphs of this post, “How to Discourage Artists in the Church” from The Gospel Coalition: Many Christian artists live between two strange worlds. Their faith in Christ seems odd to many of their friends in the artistic community—almost as odd as their calling as artists seems to some of their friends … Why Your Pastor Thinks Your Painting Is Stupid
From a NYT article on the decline of certain word usage in literature: I’d like to tell a story about the last half-century, based on studies done with this search engine. The first element in this story is rising individualism. A study by Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell and Brittany Gentile found that between … Those Words Do Not Mean What You Think They Mean
Consistently hit-or-miss James Altucher‘s new book, upon first release, will only be bought with Bitcoins, the currency of choice of libertarian doofs everywhere. It’s supposedly the first of its kind to do that. Many people who self-publish right now are simply uploading their files and hoping for the best. I am self-publishing as if I … James Altucher Wants Your Bits
I’m posting a Twitter-sized summaries of each book of the Bible on my Twitter (and Facebook, too), one a day, in order. Right now I’m on Deuteronomy, but eventually all 66 books will be drained of meaning summarized. When I’m done I’ll post all the Tweets for any one-stop Bible study pleasures that need to … I’m Hacking Away at the Bible to Meet All Your Short Attention Span Needs
She chattered on with the appropriate disposition of a teenager displaced onto another world. This time she had to convince him that people on her planet dressed up like he does, just for fun, and got together in conspicuous groups to ogle one another. He ignored her as best he could when trying to vibe … Story: Luck Intensification Program
I started reading the series in the late eighties, right in the midst of that pre-pubescent sweet spot where one instantly relates to fictional character one’s own age. Garion, the main protagonist of both of Eddings’ series, was about my age around when I was reading the first few books, so my identification with his … Book Series Review: The Belgariad and The Malloreon
Came across this one-two gem between Lewis and Tolkein, on Christianity Today: “Why C.S. Lewis Was Wrong on Marriage (and J.R.R. Tolkien Was Right).” And while it’s technically about divorce (their generation’s “gay marriage,” if you will), it still has similar applications. That CT sided with Tolkein is no shocker—just look at the post title. … C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkienn on Gay Marriage
I wanted to try one of these because I’m usually not super hungry in the morning and it was more convenient than making something the night before (or the morning of). AMRAP bars are fairly new to the market and the ingredient list was attractive. It’s very dense but chewy, not crumbly or crunchy. At … I’m Not a Foodie Food Review: AMRAP Bar
Via mine own two eye-orbs and then Tobias Buckell here, Amazon hopes to make all those unedited conspiracy theory e-books look a little more credible. More info here, but here’s a screenshot from that post: Eh. It’s a step forward from what amateur writer-cum-designer people can come up with, but nothing beats what professional designers … Amazon’s New Book Cover Maker Might Invoke My Gag Reflex
More here. Schrödinger’s cat found him sleeping, buried under the covers, and she wondered if her species’ curiosity could work in the other direction. — Jay (@Jaybreak) March 13, 2013 He was the Pol Pot to her Eva Braun. — Jay (@Jaybreak) March 8, 2013 Their host spoke little but his voice set Amanda’s teeth … A Bunch of Story Tweets from the Last Few Months
If you consume anything fictional—movie, TV show, book, video game—you’ll know that if you come across any situation in the story that’s too good to be true for the protagonists, the situation is probably based on a lie from the pit of one of the lower circles of hell. After a few episodes of The … Surprise! That Utopia Was Actually A Festering Hellhole
Below is something I wrote in an email to a friend, and I guess it’s something that I think the world at large needs to read. I apologize for the crassness. About the piss: I was typing my response e-mail and stood up to do something mundane, then I had an additional thought and found … A Post About Urinating
Wintery Knight has a good summary-type of post on the view of early church on Jesus’ divine nature, using the 1 Corinthians and Phillipians letters, Mark’s gospel, and then hitting the Q document. One of the strongest historo-logical (?) arguments, I think, against the Jesus’ divinity is that if you put crucial passages in chronological … Jesus’ Divinity as Embellishment or Doctrine