Rorschach Hugging Pikachu – Otakon 2009 Pictures
I’m back from Otakon, the second-largest anime convention in the Western Hemisphere. Feels like the largest, partly because folks are packed into small spaces. Not a compliment. Here are the photos on Flickr. Represented: Silent Bob, Neo, Beetlejuice, Tiger from Kung-Fu Panda, Gambit, a Mind Flayer, several Gundams, Spider-Man, Billy Mays, Dr. Forrester, several Rorschachs, […]
Witnessing a Civil War Battle
On Saturday, I interrupted a wonderfully productive morning to drove up to Frederick, Maryland. Clouds moved in to shelter an otherwise perfect day. I pulled in to Rose Hill Manor, parked my car in the big field, and ran towards the other side of the property, camera in hand. “Rebels in the cornfield!” The cry […]
Comparing Anime Expo and Otakon
I’m just back from Anime Expo 2009, and despite the jet lag, I’m going to try to share the differences between Anime Expo and Otakon (at least, based on my experience with AX 2009 and Otakons 2001-2008): AX’s L.A. Convention Center feels slightly larger than the Baltimore Convention Center. This means more walking, but also […]
The New Workers
I was reading a Wall Street Journal article about the problems of graduating college this year. The author points out that, with the economy, job seekers will have to either make less than they anticipated, or start in a different industry than they wanted to. Good. We no longer live in a society where you […]
How Much Planning Do You Need?
I started reading a Kindle book on organic gardening. And I was immediately put off by 1) the repeated sermons on the evils of chemical pesticides (if I’ve bought the book, I probably don’t need to be sold on avoidance of chemicals), and 2) the insistence on planning. I quote: The Essential Guide to Organic […]
Hitting the “Pause” Button on Giant Armors
Those of you familiar with my Giant Armors project may wonder how it’s going. It isn’t. I’ve been stuck for months. Not with writer’s block, exactly. I’ve known what needs to be done, I’ve just had no creative juice for it. It’s weird. I know how to sit down and work at writing. I know […]
Just A Geek Speaking at PAX
Wil Wheaton is an awesome person, and a great writer (I’m reading his latest book, Just a Geek, and am thoroughly sucked in. And it’s an autobiography). I heard last year that he gave the keynote speech at the Penny Arcade Expo (a.k.a. PAX). All I could find was an audio recording. I sat, dumbfounded, listening to it all, laughing at all the right moments. The speech was human, and emotional, and actually made important […]
Mixing It Up
You may have noticed a completely new homepage here. I’ve decided to make the homepage more of a central launching pad for my online content. This will undoubtedly change more over time (I’m already thinking of adding a Flickr stream). The main advantage is that this new design will let you see more of what […]
The Kindle and Reading Late Into The Night
This is one of the insidious dangers of owning an Amazon Kindle: I stumbled upon yet another book, and read half of it without realizing. The Kindle’s ability to download a free sample chapter of almost any book in its library is akin to a free sample of anything in a restaurant. I can easily […]
The Novel of Metropolis
I’ve been reading Thea von Harbou’s Metropolis, her novelization based on the original script she wrote with Fritz Lang. It was published before the movie was even completed, so this is their original vision. I’m stunned. This is like Ray Bradbury at his best. The characters are memorable, the plot leaps forward like the best […]