Subsequent posts to be found on The Nexus of Misc and associated blogs.
(My Facebook profile still links to this site, and due to a glitch in the new layout, I can't edit that info. So if you got here from there, go ahead and head to the Nexus.)
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Xetum Tyndall Watch Review (Coming Soon)
I recently discovered and purchased a Tyndall automatic wrist watch from Xetum, a new start-up watch company based in San Fransisco. Their current models, the Tyndall and the Stinson, are named after local California landmarks (Tyndall Park and Stinson Beach, respectively), and exude a minimalist, function-centric design aesthetic that I find appealing. (It doesn't hurt that they employ high quality Swiss ETA movements, like the 2895-2 used in the Tyndall, which usually find their way into far more expensive pieces.)
More to come once my package arrives!
More to come once my package arrives!
Friday, January 1, 2010
AkeOme, Dimension Diver's Rockman
AkeOme = Akemashite Omedetougozaimasu = Happy New Year!
I first laid eyes on the figure above in some preview pics from WonderFes 2008 (I believe). At the time, I naively believed that it might be a part of the Revoltech 2.0 releases slated for May 2009. Eventually, I came to terms with the fact that it was a garage kit--i.e. fan made--and that 1) I would probably never get my hands on it, since it would be released on a small scale and only in Japanese garage kit markets, and 2) even if I did get my hands on one of them, I'd have to perform all of the finishing work (cutting away the stray bits of resin, assembly, painting, etc.) myself. I've never been a modeling enthusiast in any sense of the word, and my elementary forays into the hobby (a pair of X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters I've long since lost, a few Warhammer 40K Necrons, etc.) did little to change my apathy. Nevertheless, unabashed Rockman maniac that I am, I vowed to procure one of the kits for myself if one ever popped up on the internet.
Flash forward to this November, when, out of the blue, a search for "Rockman Megaman figure" on eBay yielded an auction for the kit pictured above. It was a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity, and I knew that I wouldn't be the only one who would bid high and often to win it. The fact that the kit originally sold in the doujin markets for 7000 yen made me feel a little better in applying my highest bid (an amount so obscenely large I feel compelled to omit it here . . . though I will say, despite several others sniping bids at the last minute, the final price was less than half of what I was willing to pay. Yay for consumer surpluses!).
After the kit arrived, I took stock of the joint pieces and modeling tools I would need to complete it, and made a corresponding order on HLJ.com. The tools and pieces arrived yesterday, so I ended up spending the last hours of 2009 assembling the figure. I finished around 12:11 a.m., just a few minutes into the new year.
This is what I ended up with. I decided to keep it as unfinished as possible (in part because I probably lack the skills/confidence necessary to clean things up without botching the job, in part because I'm just plain lazy), but pride demanded that I paint the power indicator on the side of the Mega Buster, and paint the eyes white before applying the eye decals (which was probably the most harrowing part of the entire ordeal). I had some experience putting together a jointed figure from a Volks (I think) model I picked up in Japan in 2008, which really made the process this time much easier.
The gray ball joints are from Yellow Submarine, which produces them in gray, dark gray, white, and flesh tones (light and dark). At first I considered painting the joints blue, but the more I looked at them, the better they looked in contrast to the rest of the figure, so I kept them the way they were.
The Dimension Diver team did a really great job on this mold, and I'm quite pleased with the results that even an amateur like me could produce. (They also made a kit for Roll, but, as many other observers have noted, their rendering of her legs seem a little too thick compared to the usual artistic renderings.) All in all, the whole ordeal won't stop me from purchasing another Rockman figure of equal aesthetic quality--or even purchasing the same one again, if a professionally finished one were ever to pop up within my consumer radar. Such is the curse of a lifelong Rockman otaku.
And a parting thought on the subject of Rockman: Rockman 10 comes out in early 2010. Otanoshimi!
*
Ever since I first laid eyes on an article about Mega Man 3 in the Nintendo Power magazine (I must have been around seven), I've been a rabid Rockman (Mega Man's original Japanese moniker) fan, snatching up nearly every Rockman-related piece of merchandise that comes within my range of vision. In fact, some of the first manga I special ordered from Japan were Rockman-related, including the prize of the bunch, Ariga Hitoshi's Rockman Megamix series. My biggest disappointment, however, has been that, in the 20+ years since Rockman was first introduced, the beloved character has yet to be treated to an truly exceptional three-dimensional rendering. Then, about a year ago, I saw it:
Ever since I first laid eyes on an article about Mega Man 3 in the Nintendo Power magazine (I must have been around seven), I've been a rabid Rockman (Mega Man's original Japanese moniker) fan, snatching up nearly every Rockman-related piece of merchandise that comes within my range of vision. In fact, some of the first manga I special ordered from Japan were Rockman-related, including the prize of the bunch, Ariga Hitoshi's Rockman Megamix series. My biggest disappointment, however, has been that, in the 20+ years since Rockman was first introduced, the beloved character has yet to be treated to an truly exceptional three-dimensional rendering. Then, about a year ago, I saw it:
I first laid eyes on the figure above in some preview pics from WonderFes 2008 (I believe). At the time, I naively believed that it might be a part of the Revoltech 2.0 releases slated for May 2009. Eventually, I came to terms with the fact that it was a garage kit--i.e. fan made--and that 1) I would probably never get my hands on it, since it would be released on a small scale and only in Japanese garage kit markets, and 2) even if I did get my hands on one of them, I'd have to perform all of the finishing work (cutting away the stray bits of resin, assembly, painting, etc.) myself. I've never been a modeling enthusiast in any sense of the word, and my elementary forays into the hobby (a pair of X-Wing and Y-Wing fighters I've long since lost, a few Warhammer 40K Necrons, etc.) did little to change my apathy. Nevertheless, unabashed Rockman maniac that I am, I vowed to procure one of the kits for myself if one ever popped up on the internet.
Flash forward to this November, when, out of the blue, a search for "Rockman Megaman figure" on eBay yielded an auction for the kit pictured above. It was a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity, and I knew that I wouldn't be the only one who would bid high and often to win it. The fact that the kit originally sold in the doujin markets for 7000 yen made me feel a little better in applying my highest bid (an amount so obscenely large I feel compelled to omit it here . . . though I will say, despite several others sniping bids at the last minute, the final price was less than half of what I was willing to pay. Yay for consumer surpluses!).
After the kit arrived, I took stock of the joint pieces and modeling tools I would need to complete it, and made a corresponding order on HLJ.com. The tools and pieces arrived yesterday, so I ended up spending the last hours of 2009 assembling the figure. I finished around 12:11 a.m., just a few minutes into the new year.
This is what I ended up with. I decided to keep it as unfinished as possible (in part because I probably lack the skills/confidence necessary to clean things up without botching the job, in part because I'm just plain lazy), but pride demanded that I paint the power indicator on the side of the Mega Buster, and paint the eyes white before applying the eye decals (which was probably the most harrowing part of the entire ordeal). I had some experience putting together a jointed figure from a Volks (I think) model I picked up in Japan in 2008, which really made the process this time much easier.The gray ball joints are from Yellow Submarine, which produces them in gray, dark gray, white, and flesh tones (light and dark). At first I considered painting the joints blue, but the more I looked at them, the better they looked in contrast to the rest of the figure, so I kept them the way they were.
The Dimension Diver team did a really great job on this mold, and I'm quite pleased with the results that even an amateur like me could produce. (They also made a kit for Roll, but, as many other observers have noted, their rendering of her legs seem a little too thick compared to the usual artistic renderings.) All in all, the whole ordeal won't stop me from purchasing another Rockman figure of equal aesthetic quality--or even purchasing the same one again, if a professionally finished one were ever to pop up within my consumer radar. Such is the curse of a lifelong Rockman otaku.And a parting thought on the subject of Rockman: Rockman 10 comes out in early 2010. Otanoshimi!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Chapter Three: Done; Keyboard Woes; Prepping for NaNoWriMo
Reading: Great Fool: Zen Master Ryokan: Poems, Letters, and Other Writings (Ryuichi Abe & Peter Haskel, eds. & trans.)
Listening: YUI, "It's all too much"
Redraft: Book One, Ch. 4, v.30.0 (on hiatus until after NaNoWriMo 2009)
Looking back through my redraft printouts, I came to the unpleasant realization that it took me a full (read: neither the-better-part-of-a nor even a-day-less-than-a) month to rewrite Chapter Three. Granted, I could only make this realization upon actually completing the Chapter Three redraft at roughly 12:08 a.m. this morning--an accomplishment which fills me with equally inordinate levels of pride and exhaustion--but the cold, clear fact remains that this will likely be the last chapter of Book One I shall rewrite before diverting my creative attention to my project for NaNoWriMo 2009. That I still don't know precisely which story will comprise that project only underscores the need to prepare before I type out the first word on Nov. 1st.
Listening: YUI, "It's all too much"
Redraft: Book One, Ch. 4, v.30.0 (on hiatus until after NaNoWriMo 2009)
Looking back through my redraft printouts, I came to the unpleasant realization that it took me a full (read: neither the-better-part-of-a nor even a-day-less-than-a) month to rewrite Chapter Three. Granted, I could only make this realization upon actually completing the Chapter Three redraft at roughly 12:08 a.m. this morning--an accomplishment which fills me with equally inordinate levels of pride and exhaustion--but the cold, clear fact remains that this will likely be the last chapter of Book One I shall rewrite before diverting my creative attention to my project for NaNoWriMo 2009. That I still don't know precisely which story will comprise that project only underscores the need to prepare before I type out the first word on Nov. 1st.
*
Before I delve headlong into the month-long distraction that is NaNoWriMo, I thought I should pause for a somewhat elegiac note. Early last morning, I came to the sober conclusion that my Kinesis Contoured Keyboard, despite having provided what I believe was the best, most ergonomically sound typing experience of my $1000+ foray into the realm of ridiculously priced keyboards, would have to end up on the eBay chopping block. The reason, infuriatingly enough, lies in its American build quality: the tiny membrane switches at the top of the keyboard, which control hotkey essentials like the function keys and the print screen key--the latter of which I remapped to open My Computer at a key press--have either gone slightly non-responsive, or, in the case of the aforementioned print screen key, hyper-responsive, resulting in my email responses being incessantly interrupted by a never-ceasing torrent of My Computer windows. Seeing as this particular keyboard ranks among the most expensive to have ever crossed my desktop--the only 'board to top it is the Topre Realforce 91U that I'm typing on right now--its failure after a mere two years of ownership becomes particularly distressing. Coupled with the battleship-like build I've come to expect of my Japanese-made keyboards, along with my previous abortive ownership of the U.S.-made Das Keyboard Professional, my outlook on all U.S. keyboards has pretty much soured. A true shame, as no keyboard quite stacks up to the Kinesis Contoured's design. Only its implementation leaves much--too much--to be desired.
(Even as I type this entry, my RSI started to act up, and I was forced to switch to one of the Filco Tenkeyless models--ironically, the one that shares the same Cherry brown keyswitches as the Kinesis.)
(EDIT: and two hours after typing this post, I'm switching the Cherry-brown Filco for the Cherry-black. I swear, if the Kinesis Contoured came in a Cherry-black model, I'd plunk down another $300 just to give it a whirl, despite Kinesis's quality issues.)
(Even as I type this entry, my RSI started to act up, and I was forced to switch to one of the Filco Tenkeyless models--ironically, the one that shares the same Cherry brown keyswitches as the Kinesis.)
(EDIT: and two hours after typing this post, I'm switching the Cherry-brown Filco for the Cherry-black. I swear, if the Kinesis Contoured came in a Cherry-black model, I'd plunk down another $300 just to give it a whirl, despite Kinesis's quality issues.)
*
I'll follow up shortly with my progress in whittling down the three potential NaNoWriMo candidates this year to the one that will, with any luck, grow to 50K words (or more) by Nov. 30th. That and an updated entry on my writing desk, as soon I get it tidied up enough so that it won't break the camera when I take the picture.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Writers' Rooms, Cont'd.
As a follow up to my recent posting on writers' rooms (and my obsession thereof), I present a horribly insatiable time-pit from the Guardian: Writers' Rooms.
Also, as I realize the layout and makeup of my own writing desk has changed since the last picture I've posted here, I should probably upload an updated picture sometime soon. Consider it forthcoming.
Also, as I realize the layout and makeup of my own writing desk has changed since the last picture I've posted here, I should probably upload an updated picture sometime soon. Consider it forthcoming.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Fatalistic Optimism, Bar, Writers' Rooms, NaNoWriMo
It was about a week ago that I received word through the mail that I had passed the bar exam. There have been moments this week--many, in fact--where it all felt strangely surreal. I felt confident enough in my performance, walking away from the test site on the second day, but over the course of the three months I spent waiting for the results, my confidence disintegrated like rice paper in a warm bath. I began to visualize what I would do in the wake of failing the test, steeling myself for a disappointment that, on each successive consideration, seemed increasingly inevitable.
A part of this progression likely stemmed from my outlook on life: hope for the best, but expect the worst. I tend to exercise a sort of fatalistic optimism, largely indistinguishable from ordinary optimism, except that I explicitly force myself to consider the worst-case scenario, and accept that fact that it may very well come to pass. It's the same way that I eventually overcame my adolescent crisis of faith, where I used spend sleepless nights pondering what would become of a human being if there truly is no soul to carry one's consciousness beyond this mortal coil, no God Almighty to guide us, and if the sum total of human life is destined to return to all-consuming nothingness. The thought of a state--if one could truly call nonexistence a "state"--of thoughtlessness, of blindness without darkness, of soundlessness without silence, frightened me unlike any other horror, waking or dreaming. However, somewhere along the way in college, studying the luminaries of Western Philosophy, I somehow managed to come to terms with the possibility, accepted it as a necessary contingency if all that I believed yet could not prove were, in the final calculation, proven to be false. Nevertheless, even as I accepted the object of my deepest-seeded fear, I chose to believe what I had grown up believing, what I've seen and interpreted to be true in every detail of this existence. This was my interpretation of the traditional Christian concept of faith: to behold the wonders and depravities of this world, and choose to recognize the spark of Providence in each of them, a jewel of the divine set in countless facets of an intricate and unfathomable setting, composed of sometimes unremarkable parts that somehow fit together to form a whole beautiful and awesome beyond all human reckoning. The evidence is plain and abundant all around us, though they require a leap of faith in reaching any genuine conclusions; where I see God in his heaven, another could envision Chaos in its entropy, or, even more simply, nothing at all. Even scientific certainties are predicated upon an implicit faith in the reliability of sense perceptions, the inherent reality of the world around us, and the immutability--and knowability--of the physical relationships that bind this existence together. If every conclusion, whether hopeful, pragmatic, or pessimistic, requires the same implicit act of faith, then why not put my faith in the one I want to be so? From this perspective, a leap of faith is perhaps the greatest volitional act an autonomous actor is capable of, the ultimate expression of free will.
Granted, failing the bar pales whiter than alabaster next to utter nothingness, but the adjustment process for me was quite the same. Seeing as my faith--or, at least, plaintive hope--proved well placed in the bar's case, I can only hope my faith in the grander dilemma proves equally true.
And hope I will.
A part of this progression likely stemmed from my outlook on life: hope for the best, but expect the worst. I tend to exercise a sort of fatalistic optimism, largely indistinguishable from ordinary optimism, except that I explicitly force myself to consider the worst-case scenario, and accept that fact that it may very well come to pass. It's the same way that I eventually overcame my adolescent crisis of faith, where I used spend sleepless nights pondering what would become of a human being if there truly is no soul to carry one's consciousness beyond this mortal coil, no God Almighty to guide us, and if the sum total of human life is destined to return to all-consuming nothingness. The thought of a state--if one could truly call nonexistence a "state"--of thoughtlessness, of blindness without darkness, of soundlessness without silence, frightened me unlike any other horror, waking or dreaming. However, somewhere along the way in college, studying the luminaries of Western Philosophy, I somehow managed to come to terms with the possibility, accepted it as a necessary contingency if all that I believed yet could not prove were, in the final calculation, proven to be false. Nevertheless, even as I accepted the object of my deepest-seeded fear, I chose to believe what I had grown up believing, what I've seen and interpreted to be true in every detail of this existence. This was my interpretation of the traditional Christian concept of faith: to behold the wonders and depravities of this world, and choose to recognize the spark of Providence in each of them, a jewel of the divine set in countless facets of an intricate and unfathomable setting, composed of sometimes unremarkable parts that somehow fit together to form a whole beautiful and awesome beyond all human reckoning. The evidence is plain and abundant all around us, though they require a leap of faith in reaching any genuine conclusions; where I see God in his heaven, another could envision Chaos in its entropy, or, even more simply, nothing at all. Even scientific certainties are predicated upon an implicit faith in the reliability of sense perceptions, the inherent reality of the world around us, and the immutability--and knowability--of the physical relationships that bind this existence together. If every conclusion, whether hopeful, pragmatic, or pessimistic, requires the same implicit act of faith, then why not put my faith in the one I want to be so? From this perspective, a leap of faith is perhaps the greatest volitional act an autonomous actor is capable of, the ultimate expression of free will.
Granted, failing the bar pales whiter than alabaster next to utter nothingness, but the adjustment process for me was quite the same. Seeing as my faith--or, at least, plaintive hope--proved well placed in the bar's case, I can only hope my faith in the grander dilemma proves equally true.
And hope I will.
*
I've been fascinated with the writing desks--and by extension, rooms--of the professional writers I admire, ever since I first laid eyes on a photograph of the late-Robert Jordan's work desk. There is some poignant yet ethereal connection between an author's finished work and the means, process, and--yes--even locale of its creation. One concede that, much in the same way that we as people are largely shaped by the people, places, and events that ensconce our lives, so too must these artifacts, the products of human thought, toil, and rapture, be influenced in subtle but sensible ways by their author's surrounds at the time of their crafting.
I was, therefore, understandably delighted to discover a photo project called "Where I Write: Fantasy & Science Fiction Authors in Their Creative Spaces," which features several well-known authors in their workspaces. It satiates some quasi-voyeuristic urge that I think we all share, to a certain degree; yet at the same time, it also humanizes the works that, when rendered to us void of the human story of their production, can seem like godly, unwieldy things that we are doomed only to worship, an Asgardian fortress or Olympian height to which we may never aspire. It tethers them to the earth, brings them close enough for us to see the cracks, dents, and defects we might otherwise overlook, and forces us to acknowledge that the giants who built them not only were once human, but are human still.
It kindles hope where a hero worshiper and pedestal placer is apt to find an overabundance of despair.
I was, therefore, understandably delighted to discover a photo project called "Where I Write: Fantasy & Science Fiction Authors in Their Creative Spaces," which features several well-known authors in their workspaces. It satiates some quasi-voyeuristic urge that I think we all share, to a certain degree; yet at the same time, it also humanizes the works that, when rendered to us void of the human story of their production, can seem like godly, unwieldy things that we are doomed only to worship, an Asgardian fortress or Olympian height to which we may never aspire. It tethers them to the earth, brings them close enough for us to see the cracks, dents, and defects we might otherwise overlook, and forces us to acknowledge that the giants who built them not only were once human, but are human still.
It kindles hope where a hero worshiper and pedestal placer is apt to find an overabundance of despair.
*
And, on the apt segue that "despair" provides, I should come to acknowledge that NaNoWriMo 2009 is two weeks away. I thought that I would use it to write the historical fantasy I codenamed "Wander," but as the month approaches I increasingly fear that I may still lack the confidence to tackle a story that takes place not in a fantasy world of my own imagination, largely and safely divorced from our everyday reality, but in a doppelganger milieu whose verisimilitude relies so heavily upon its resemblance to the real world. I thought about working on a story in the fantasy milieu I codenamed "The Year of Our Lord," which would be a welcome respite from science fiction, and a way to hone the skills I've gleaned from the copious fantasy novels I've read in recent years, but I fear that that story is not yet ripe enough to pluck from the aether. Lately I thought of writing the first of two "prequel" novels to Book One, which actually may be ripe enough to be written, but a part of me feels that I should focus my efforts on something that lies outside the familiar SF milieu that I've developed and dwelt in these past thirteen years.
In the meantime, this weekend is, once again, to be sacrificed on the altar that is Chapter Three. I'm hoping it will be done before the weekend is; and if it is, then perhaps I can turn greater attention toward deciding which story most deserves to be told next.
In the meantime, this weekend is, once again, to be sacrificed on the altar that is Chapter Three. I'm hoping it will be done before the weekend is; and if it is, then perhaps I can turn greater attention toward deciding which story most deserves to be told next.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Overclocked & Overdue
Re-reading: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Redraft: Book One, Ch. 3, v.30.0
So it's been about two weeks since the last post. As could be expected, the lack of activity is mostly due to the fact that I haven't gotten as much work done on the redraft as I'd hoped--though with any luck, I might be able to make up for some lost time this weekend. If so, another post will be quickly forthcoming.
In other news--all of which, oddly enough, are computer-related--the new CPU heat sink I ordered from Amazon arrived this week, and after working up the courage to open up my desktop again, I removed the old stock heat sink and attached the new one. The new heatsink is nearly three times the size of the original, and required that I remove a vent tunnel from the side of my PC case in order to fit. At first, I was worried that I had done something wrong during installation, because the temperatures seemed to actually be a little higher than they had been with the stock cooler. However, after some digging through the BIOS, I realized the sink's fan was seriously underpowered, running at roughly 10% of its full RPMs. With a small tweak, things started to work smoothly, and I managed to improve my previous overclock (2.0 to 2.4 Ghz) to 2.66 Ghz, all with temperatures equal or better than they had been when the CPU was running at factory settings. Now other overclockers have apparently been able to crank this particular CPU model up to 3.0-3.2 Ghz without resorting to water cooling systems, but I found the system to be a little unstable--and running a little too hot--when I pumped the speed up to 3.0, with what I perceived as only a marginal performance boost over 2.66 Ghz settings. Moreover, at 2.66 Ghz everything from Photoshop to Fallout 3 appears to run just fine, the latter without the occasional drop in frame rates that I encountered at 2.0 Ghz, so I think I'm perfectly fine with the computer's current settings. At the end of the day, the desktop named Episteme now has the following stats:
Case: Antec NSK 4480B
Motherboard: Asus P5K-VM (775 Socket)
CPU: Pentium Dual-Core e2180 @ 2.0 Ghz (overclocked to 2.66 Ghz)
CPU Heat Sink: Thermaltake TMG i1
RAM: 3.25 GB (x2 2Gb Kingston PC2-6400 (800 Mhz))
Graphics: Palit ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256mb
HD: WD Caviar SE16 640GB 7200 RPM SATA
External HDs: x2 WD MyBook Essential 3.5" 7200 RPM (one 500 GB, one 1 TB); Seagate Free Agent 2.5" 500 GB 5400 RPM
Monitors: x2 24" Monitors (Gateway & Unbranded HP (refurbished unbranded, so it technically doesn't violate my moratorium on HP products); each @ 1920 x 1200 resolution)
Keyboard: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless 87-key FKBN87Z/EB w/ fake ALPS "fukka" keyswitches
Mouse: Kensington Slimblade Trackball
Tablet: Wacom Intuos4 Medium
I had been using what has, up to this point, been my favorite keyboard of all the myriad models that I've acquired and used over the years: the Kinesis Contoured. Its ergonomically cupped design, coupled with its brown Cherry keyswitches, really made it a powerhouse for a typist like me. The only thing that could have made it better was if it came in black Cherrys, which I've always found superior in tactility over the "tactile"--though I would call them mushy--browns. However, the Kinesis has a questionable build quality that makes it susceptible to nigh-inexplicable bouts of phantom input, especially around the membrane-type command keys at the top of the keyboard. Once before, an overactive keypad button rendered the keyboard nearly untypeable--it would convert several of the QWERTY keys into a makeshift number pad. Somehow, a thorough cleaning and unplugging/plugging of the keyboard's internals managed to bring it back from the cusp of death, and it served well for about six months. Then, when I was rushing to send an email before heading up to work, it started to actuate the Print Screen button over and over and over again. Now, on a normal computer, these incessant phantom keystrokes wouldn't affect functionality, but I've remapped that particular key to open up My Computer at a single button press, and so it resulted in me being interrupted every other second by a My Computer window. I'm going to try to clean it again in the hopes that the problem once again resolves itself, but even if it does, the unreliability of the keyboard makes me think it's future may lie in an eBay auction. When compared to the battleship-like build quality of Japanese keyboards like the Filcos, Topres, and Happy Hacking Keyboards, the Kinesis--like so many of our consumer goods--put U.S. manufacturers to shame.
On the bright side, the Kinesis's persnicketiness has enabled me to get to know my newest acquisition better, a Filco Tenkeyless with the newly revised "fukka" fake ALPS keyswitches. White ALPS keyswitches were renowned for their clicky-clacky feel--about as close to a buckling spring as mechanical switches have come--but, as far as I know, are no longer in production. Another "fake" ALPS keyswitch was previously available, dubbed "XM" by Filco, but it possessed a very balky feel, requiring too much pressure (even for a hammer-stroke typist like me) to be used effectively. The fukka switches are supposedly manufactured in the same facilities as the original ALPS keyswitches, and thus more closely replicate their feel (though I've heard from true connoisseurs that the original ALPS are still a touch better in tactility). purchased this keyboard based on my faith in the users geekhack.org forum, planning to resell my other "fake ALPS" Tenkeyless on eBay if I found the difference definitive, and their advice did not disappoint. This keyboard is a close second to the same model fitted with black Cherry switches, though it's quickly growing on me, and I am generally partial to clicky switches, the only (somewhat inexplicable) exception being blue Cherry switches, which just seemed too anemic to me, and somehow interfered with my usual typing tempo.
Redraft: Book One, Ch. 3, v.30.0
So it's been about two weeks since the last post. As could be expected, the lack of activity is mostly due to the fact that I haven't gotten as much work done on the redraft as I'd hoped--though with any luck, I might be able to make up for some lost time this weekend. If so, another post will be quickly forthcoming.
In other news--all of which, oddly enough, are computer-related--the new CPU heat sink I ordered from Amazon arrived this week, and after working up the courage to open up my desktop again, I removed the old stock heat sink and attached the new one. The new heatsink is nearly three times the size of the original, and required that I remove a vent tunnel from the side of my PC case in order to fit. At first, I was worried that I had done something wrong during installation, because the temperatures seemed to actually be a little higher than they had been with the stock cooler. However, after some digging through the BIOS, I realized the sink's fan was seriously underpowered, running at roughly 10% of its full RPMs. With a small tweak, things started to work smoothly, and I managed to improve my previous overclock (2.0 to 2.4 Ghz) to 2.66 Ghz, all with temperatures equal or better than they had been when the CPU was running at factory settings. Now other overclockers have apparently been able to crank this particular CPU model up to 3.0-3.2 Ghz without resorting to water cooling systems, but I found the system to be a little unstable--and running a little too hot--when I pumped the speed up to 3.0, with what I perceived as only a marginal performance boost over 2.66 Ghz settings. Moreover, at 2.66 Ghz everything from Photoshop to Fallout 3 appears to run just fine, the latter without the occasional drop in frame rates that I encountered at 2.0 Ghz, so I think I'm perfectly fine with the computer's current settings. At the end of the day, the desktop named Episteme now has the following stats:
Case: Antec NSK 4480B
Motherboard: Asus P5K-VM (775 Socket)
CPU: Pentium Dual-Core e2180 @ 2.0 Ghz (overclocked to 2.66 Ghz)
CPU Heat Sink: Thermaltake TMG i1
RAM: 3.25 GB (x2 2Gb Kingston PC2-6400 (800 Mhz))
Graphics: Palit ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256mb
HD: WD Caviar SE16 640GB 7200 RPM SATA
External HDs: x2 WD MyBook Essential 3.5" 7200 RPM (one 500 GB, one 1 TB); Seagate Free Agent 2.5" 500 GB 5400 RPM
Monitors: x2 24" Monitors (Gateway & Unbranded HP (refurbished unbranded, so it technically doesn't violate my moratorium on HP products); each @ 1920 x 1200 resolution)
Keyboard: Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless 87-key FKBN87Z/EB w/ fake ALPS "fukka" keyswitches
Mouse: Kensington Slimblade Trackball
Tablet: Wacom Intuos4 Medium
I had been using what has, up to this point, been my favorite keyboard of all the myriad models that I've acquired and used over the years: the Kinesis Contoured. Its ergonomically cupped design, coupled with its brown Cherry keyswitches, really made it a powerhouse for a typist like me. The only thing that could have made it better was if it came in black Cherrys, which I've always found superior in tactility over the "tactile"--though I would call them mushy--browns. However, the Kinesis has a questionable build quality that makes it susceptible to nigh-inexplicable bouts of phantom input, especially around the membrane-type command keys at the top of the keyboard. Once before, an overactive keypad button rendered the keyboard nearly untypeable--it would convert several of the QWERTY keys into a makeshift number pad. Somehow, a thorough cleaning and unplugging/plugging of the keyboard's internals managed to bring it back from the cusp of death, and it served well for about six months. Then, when I was rushing to send an email before heading up to work, it started to actuate the Print Screen button over and over and over again. Now, on a normal computer, these incessant phantom keystrokes wouldn't affect functionality, but I've remapped that particular key to open up My Computer at a single button press, and so it resulted in me being interrupted every other second by a My Computer window. I'm going to try to clean it again in the hopes that the problem once again resolves itself, but even if it does, the unreliability of the keyboard makes me think it's future may lie in an eBay auction. When compared to the battleship-like build quality of Japanese keyboards like the Filcos, Topres, and Happy Hacking Keyboards, the Kinesis--like so many of our consumer goods--put U.S. manufacturers to shame.
On the bright side, the Kinesis's persnicketiness has enabled me to get to know my newest acquisition better, a Filco Tenkeyless with the newly revised "fukka" fake ALPS keyswitches. White ALPS keyswitches were renowned for their clicky-clacky feel--about as close to a buckling spring as mechanical switches have come--but, as far as I know, are no longer in production. Another "fake" ALPS keyswitch was previously available, dubbed "XM" by Filco, but it possessed a very balky feel, requiring too much pressure (even for a hammer-stroke typist like me) to be used effectively. The fukka switches are supposedly manufactured in the same facilities as the original ALPS keyswitches, and thus more closely replicate their feel (though I've heard from true connoisseurs that the original ALPS are still a touch better in tactility). purchased this keyboard based on my faith in the users geekhack.org forum, planning to resell my other "fake ALPS" Tenkeyless on eBay if I found the difference definitive, and their advice did not disappoint. This keyboard is a close second to the same model fitted with black Cherry switches, though it's quickly growing on me, and I am generally partial to clicky switches, the only (somewhat inexplicable) exception being blue Cherry switches, which just seemed too anemic to me, and somehow interfered with my usual typing tempo.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Slow Going, Check's In the Mail
Reading: China Mieville, Perdido Street Station
Rereading: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Writing: Book One, Chapter 3, v.30.0
Nothing much new to report this week. It's been a little slow going on Chapter 3, as the flashback scene is taking some time to bend in the direct I need it to go. (The problem is a common one for me when it comes to writing scenes with a specific end goal in mind--getting from A to B sometimes takes a few twists, turns, and false starts.) Odds are I'll have to trim down the scene before the end, but first I'll have to finish it.
In other news, I received word that the ASCAP check has reached the dean, which means I should expect a payout soon. It's technically the first money I've made off of my writing, so I'll be sure to keep the stub (and probably scan in the check before cashing).
Rereading: J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
Writing: Book One, Chapter 3, v.30.0
Nothing much new to report this week. It's been a little slow going on Chapter 3, as the flashback scene is taking some time to bend in the direct I need it to go. (The problem is a common one for me when it comes to writing scenes with a specific end goal in mind--getting from A to B sometimes takes a few twists, turns, and false starts.) Odds are I'll have to trim down the scene before the end, but first I'll have to finish it.
In other news, I received word that the ASCAP check has reached the dean, which means I should expect a payout soon. It's technically the first money I've made off of my writing, so I'll be sure to keep the stub (and probably scan in the check before cashing).
Sunday, September 6, 2009
CGing Result, Part II
After approximately 12 hours, from pencil sketch (which didn't work out right . . .) to finished CG:
Now, back to Chapter 3 . . .
Now, back to Chapter 3 . . .
Friday, September 4, 2009
Goodfellows, Another Article, Chapter 3, New CG Project
Writing: Book One, Chapter 3, v.30.0
Watched: Monk, Season 7
This week marked my start as a post-graduate research fellow, and things seem to be much as I anticipated. One exception is my on-campus work space, which is lighter on the space (read: virtually nonexistent) that I was led to believe. Not really a problem, as it gives me a rather compelling argument to work from home more often than not, which really is more conducive to editing anyway. So in the end, the others at the office get dedicated work spaces, I--the homebody--get to stay home, and my supervisors still get the finished product they're after. In a way, it's not so different an arrangement from freelance editing, except that I have a dedicated client base built-in.
Watched: Monk, Season 7
This week marked my start as a post-graduate research fellow, and things seem to be much as I anticipated. One exception is my on-campus work space, which is lighter on the space (read: virtually nonexistent) that I was led to believe. Not really a problem, as it gives me a rather compelling argument to work from home more often than not, which really is more conducive to editing anyway. So in the end, the others at the office get dedicated work spaces, I--the homebody--get to stay home, and my supervisors still get the finished product they're after. In a way, it's not so different an arrangement from freelance editing, except that I have a dedicated client base built-in.
*
Crazy as it may sound, with Article Two only recently added to the publication queue, I'm entertaining notions of synthesizing the content from my previous articles with indigenous cultural issues inherent to my fellowship position. It would bridge the gap between my previous scholarship and my current job, and because it's Center-related, would be a boon for the department as well. I've got the go ahead, provided I take care of my editing / cite checking projects first.
So let this be a lesson for law students: when one is writing articles, like when one is eating potato chips, it's really, really hard to stop at just one. (Or two, apparently.)
So let this be a lesson for law students: when one is writing articles, like when one is eating potato chips, it's really, really hard to stop at just one. (Or two, apparently.)
*
Because I spent most of the week getting the hang of my new position, I really didn't make much progress on Chapter 3 until today, and most of that was due to a new approach that occurred to me (and, fortunately, I wrote down) around bedtime yesterday. That's one of the reasons you'll never catch me without some form of notepad and writing implement: you never know where inspiration might strike, and--at least if you have a short-term memory like mine--if you don't write it down right there and then, it's as good as gone.
Because I spent most of the week getting the hang of my new position, I really didn't make much progress on Chapter 3 until today, and most of that was due to a new approach that occurred to me (and, fortunately, I wrote down) around bedtime yesterday. That's one of the reasons you'll never catch me without some form of notepad and writing implement: you never know where inspiration might strike, and--at least if you have a short-term memory like mine--if you don't write it down right there and then, it's as good as gone.
*
I suppose absence does make the heart grow fonder, because when I logged into the blog today, the CG result I'd posted looked a lot better than the last time I laid eyes on it. Coupled with the fact that I now have a scanner for penciled drawings, I might tackle another small but important task: CGing a new avatar pic for this blog and my other various presences on the internet. The current image, while a reasonable facsimile of my real visage, is not perfect, and it's always irked me that I've been forced to conscript another artist's work for my anime-styled image. (That this particular artist has apparently disappeared from the internet does nothing to assuage my wounded honor.) Within the next week or so, I will seek to rectify this situation. The result will, of course, replace my current image, once the deed is done.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
CGing Result
As promised, the result of (roughly, on and off) a week's worth of fiddling with--and cursing at--Photoshop:
I wish I could claim that the oil-painted look was intentional, but it wasn't--my goal was the soft gradients usually seen in manga-style CG artwork. As best as I've divined, that requires a technique of applying brushstrokes at extremely low opacity, and using an equally low-opacity eraser to shape / smooth things out. It's a lot harder than it should be, but I suppose with practice it'll get easier.
Unfortunately, this is all the time I can spare for CG training in the immediate future; I have to get back to Book One revisions, and my job begins September 1st.
I wish I could claim that the oil-painted look was intentional, but it wasn't--my goal was the soft gradients usually seen in manga-style CG artwork. As best as I've divined, that requires a technique of applying brushstrokes at extremely low opacity, and using an equally low-opacity eraser to shape / smooth things out. It's a lot harder than it should be, but I suppose with practice it'll get easier.Unfortunately, this is all the time I can spare for CG training in the immediate future; I have to get back to Book One revisions, and my job begins September 1st.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Publication, Expedited Review, CGing
Playing: Professor Layton & the Diabolical Box (Nintendo DS)
Writing: Book One, Chapter 3, v.30.0
Drawing: Protagonist's profile image (hours wasted so far: over 10)
Watched: Monk, Seasons 1-6; Deji E no Bunpou
I received a publication offer from the Seton Hall University Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law this morning, and quickly set off a slew of "expedited review" requests for the other law journals on my list. This would normally be a simple matter, if I had used Berkeley's Expresso submission system; however, with a fee of $2 per submission, and with me submitting the article to over 100 law journals, I decided to go it alone this time and do my submissions manually, by email. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to send the expedite requests one at a time. In all, it took about two-and-a-half hours to send them all.
My goal in writing the article in question was roughly three-fold. First, I'd been tipped off to the ASCAP competition and cash award. Seeing as being paid for my writing is my desired career path, I figured that would be right up my alley. Second, I was disappointed that, by my own oversight, I allowed my first article to be published in an online-only journal. (In the long run, I did end up with a print copy of the issue with my article in it, but that's another story.) The moment I realized my mistake--which, come to think of it, was about a year ago--I vowed to write another article that would see itself print . . . literally. Third, it was a goal of mine in law school to publish an article that would appear as a search result in both Westlaw's and LexisNexis' law journal databases. The Denver SELJ isn't included in those databases--which, again, I didn't think to check up on until after I accepted the publication offer--so this subsequent article was my only remaining shot. Fortunately, the Seton JSEL is both a print journal, and one that is represented in both Westlaw and LexisNexis, so even if it's the only offer I receive, I'll still achieve the aforementioned goals.
The offer expires on Sept. 1, so if I don't hear back from any of the other journals before then, it looks like my second law article will find its home at the Seton Hall JSEL this fall.
Writing: Book One, Chapter 3, v.30.0
Drawing: Protagonist's profile image (hours wasted so far: over 10)
Watched: Monk, Seasons 1-6; Deji E no Bunpou
I received a publication offer from the Seton Hall University Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law this morning, and quickly set off a slew of "expedited review" requests for the other law journals on my list. This would normally be a simple matter, if I had used Berkeley's Expresso submission system; however, with a fee of $2 per submission, and with me submitting the article to over 100 law journals, I decided to go it alone this time and do my submissions manually, by email. Unfortunately, this meant that I had to send the expedite requests one at a time. In all, it took about two-and-a-half hours to send them all.
My goal in writing the article in question was roughly three-fold. First, I'd been tipped off to the ASCAP competition and cash award. Seeing as being paid for my writing is my desired career path, I figured that would be right up my alley. Second, I was disappointed that, by my own oversight, I allowed my first article to be published in an online-only journal. (In the long run, I did end up with a print copy of the issue with my article in it, but that's another story.) The moment I realized my mistake--which, come to think of it, was about a year ago--I vowed to write another article that would see itself print . . . literally. Third, it was a goal of mine in law school to publish an article that would appear as a search result in both Westlaw's and LexisNexis' law journal databases. The Denver SELJ isn't included in those databases--which, again, I didn't think to check up on until after I accepted the publication offer--so this subsequent article was my only remaining shot. Fortunately, the Seton JSEL is both a print journal, and one that is represented in both Westlaw and LexisNexis, so even if it's the only offer I receive, I'll still achieve the aforementioned goals.
The offer expires on Sept. 1, so if I don't hear back from any of the other journals before then, it looks like my second law article will find its home at the Seton Hall JSEL this fall.
*
I've managed to rework the first two chapters of Book One, but I realized last week that the third chapter will require some extensive reworking. I've learned that an optimal word-count-per-chapter for proper pacing is 1000-1500 words, a rule that I've confirmed with my own reading habits. (The rule can--and, in fact, should, I believe--be broken in the later, climatic chapters, but it rings especially true for the opening ones.) The first two chapters adhere loosely to these guidelines, but the third, in v.29.0, weighed in at 4600+. I didn't see a way to cut it down before, but on the latest reading, I could see how the necessary events and plot elements could be rearranged and condensed, so that what once required no less than three scenes could, potentially, be reduced to a single one.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make much headway in this rewrite, not because of writer's block, but because I've been wrestling with a different creative muse--namely: CG.
I've always wanted to become competent enough an artist to render some scenes from my novels--perhaps even provide book cover art, if the opportunity for such an edition might arise. (Truth be told, I've also entertained the notion of rendering some of those novels in manga form, but the amount of skill and technique I'd need to acquire before that could become even remotely possible would probably take too many years on top of those I'd hoped to spend honing my writing skills. Ultimately, I'd say my only hope for seeing any of my stories in full manga form would be in the form of a licensing agreement with an interested publisher and mangaka. But if it's possible, I'll see it done before the end.) I recently upgraded my Wacom tablet to an Intuos4, so I decided to dedicate the weekend--and, as it turned out, the first half of this week--to acclimating myself to my tools and rendering a test illustration using the various CG techniques I picked up from watching a series called Degi E no Bunpou, a J-TV series that looked at the CGing techniques of several well-known Japanese artists.
I'm still waiting for a recently purchased scanner to arrive, so in the interim I attempted to create an illustration purely on the computer, sketching it out with the tablet, inking it, and then coloring it with Photoshop. The sketching process was relatively painless, and the inking process, while not without its own set of beginner's mistakes and setbacks, was mostly completed by Sunday. However, the coloring process has proven to be a daunting task, on several levels. First, my inexperience with Photoshop really shows through my attempts to replicate some of the techniques featured on Degi E. Second, my limited background in drawing (some classes in elementary school, and an introductory course in my last undergraduate semester) means that I probably lack the proficiency necessary to produce the results I'm seeking, even if I had mastered Photoshop's full potential. The ultimately result is that the illustration (which is really nothing more than a portrait of Book One's main character, for use on his character profile sheet) has taken at least 10 (or, less conservatively, 15+) hours so far, with a significant learning curve still to come. I'm hoping to have it presentable in the next few days, but I'm going to be transitioning back to the Book One rewrites whether it's done or not.
Perhaps I'll post a thumbnail here when it's done. (Or not.)
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make much headway in this rewrite, not because of writer's block, but because I've been wrestling with a different creative muse--namely: CG.
I've always wanted to become competent enough an artist to render some scenes from my novels--perhaps even provide book cover art, if the opportunity for such an edition might arise. (Truth be told, I've also entertained the notion of rendering some of those novels in manga form, but the amount of skill and technique I'd need to acquire before that could become even remotely possible would probably take too many years on top of those I'd hoped to spend honing my writing skills. Ultimately, I'd say my only hope for seeing any of my stories in full manga form would be in the form of a licensing agreement with an interested publisher and mangaka. But if it's possible, I'll see it done before the end.) I recently upgraded my Wacom tablet to an Intuos4, so I decided to dedicate the weekend--and, as it turned out, the first half of this week--to acclimating myself to my tools and rendering a test illustration using the various CG techniques I picked up from watching a series called Degi E no Bunpou, a J-TV series that looked at the CGing techniques of several well-known Japanese artists.
I'm still waiting for a recently purchased scanner to arrive, so in the interim I attempted to create an illustration purely on the computer, sketching it out with the tablet, inking it, and then coloring it with Photoshop. The sketching process was relatively painless, and the inking process, while not without its own set of beginner's mistakes and setbacks, was mostly completed by Sunday. However, the coloring process has proven to be a daunting task, on several levels. First, my inexperience with Photoshop really shows through my attempts to replicate some of the techniques featured on Degi E. Second, my limited background in drawing (some classes in elementary school, and an introductory course in my last undergraduate semester) means that I probably lack the proficiency necessary to produce the results I'm seeking, even if I had mastered Photoshop's full potential. The ultimately result is that the illustration (which is really nothing more than a portrait of Book One's main character, for use on his character profile sheet) has taken at least 10 (or, less conservatively, 15+) hours so far, with a significant learning curve still to come. I'm hoping to have it presentable in the next few days, but I'm going to be transitioning back to the Book One rewrites whether it's done or not.
Perhaps I'll post a thumbnail here when it's done. (Or not.)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Transitions, Submissions, & Vows
Reading: David Anthony Durham, Acacia; Jack Campbell, Relentless (Book 5 of The Lost Fleet)
Playing: Street Fighter IV; Fallout 3 (Point Lookout & Mothership Zeta DLCs)
Writing: TSW, Chapter 2, v.30.0
With the bar over and done with, I plan to build and maintain some serious writing momentum over the course of the next year, rewriting and polishing Book One (codenamed: TSW), completing Book Two (codenamed: CotF), and preparing for this year's NaNoWriMo work, Wander. I also hope to be able to churn out around half-a-dozen short stories, with the goal of getting something published and building up to the membership requirements for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. A part of accomplishing writing goals like those is telling others about them, so that, at least indirectly, those people will help to hold one accountable for meeting those benchmarks. Thus, this blog will see more regular updates--to the tune of at least one per week--to keep me honest and perpetually moving.
Also, on the subject of submissions and publications, I'm currently shopping my second law article right down the Washington and Lee listing, from Harvard at #1 to the fifty-somethings. There's a sizable block of law reviews that I've skipped, primarily because they require submissions via Expresso--which, at $2 a pop, I've decided to pass over for the time being. (While the article should net me at least $600 from the good folks at ASCAP via the Nathan Burkan competition, that egg has not yet hatched, so I'm loathe to spend any more money on publication than I'd otherwise have to.) So far, Yale, Georgetown, and a few others from elsewhere on the list have turned in their "thanks-but-no-thanks" notices, but more are almost certain to follow, so stay tuned!
Playing: Street Fighter IV; Fallout 3 (Point Lookout & Mothership Zeta DLCs)
Writing: TSW, Chapter 2, v.30.0
With the bar over and done with, I plan to build and maintain some serious writing momentum over the course of the next year, rewriting and polishing Book One (codenamed: TSW), completing Book Two (codenamed: CotF), and preparing for this year's NaNoWriMo work, Wander. I also hope to be able to churn out around half-a-dozen short stories, with the goal of getting something published and building up to the membership requirements for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. A part of accomplishing writing goals like those is telling others about them, so that, at least indirectly, those people will help to hold one accountable for meeting those benchmarks. Thus, this blog will see more regular updates--to the tune of at least one per week--to keep me honest and perpetually moving.
Also, on the subject of submissions and publications, I'm currently shopping my second law article right down the Washington and Lee listing, from Harvard at #1 to the fifty-somethings. There's a sizable block of law reviews that I've skipped, primarily because they require submissions via Expresso--which, at $2 a pop, I've decided to pass over for the time being. (While the article should net me at least $600 from the good folks at ASCAP via the Nathan Burkan competition, that egg has not yet hatched, so I'm loathe to spend any more money on publication than I'd otherwise have to.) So far, Yale, Georgetown, and a few others from elsewhere on the list have turned in their "thanks-but-no-thanks" notices, but more are almost certain to follow, so stay tuned!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Law Articles, Graduation
Read: Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America
When I published a law article in a small, online-only law journal, I didn't think much would come of it. But, after googling my name out of morbid curiosity a few moments ago, I found that usual search results had nearly doubled.
As graduation nears, and after my change of heart regarding private practice, the possibility of pursuing a career in legal scholarship--most likely in Intellectual Property or Legal Writing--has pressed itself upon me. The cardinal rule of entering the at-times Byzantine world of law faculties is simple: publish, publish, PUBLISH!
(Seeing as my dream job is being a novelist, you might detect a pattern here . . . .)
To this end (and because I want to see my legal scholarship in actual--rather than electronic--print), I've devoted a good portion of this semester toward writing a follow up article. And, as luck would have it, a prof. has encouraged me--and given me the sources I need--to expand a class paper into yet another full-length article, again dealing with the same area I've eeked out as my own scholarly playground: fan-based activities. The first will almost undoubtedly earn me a few hundred bucks worth of a cash reward--possibly more, if I have any success with a national competition. And, with any luck, both articles will see publication by the Fall.
When I published a law article in a small, online-only law journal, I didn't think much would come of it. But, after googling my name out of morbid curiosity a few moments ago, I found that usual search results had nearly doubled.
As graduation nears, and after my change of heart regarding private practice, the possibility of pursuing a career in legal scholarship--most likely in Intellectual Property or Legal Writing--has pressed itself upon me. The cardinal rule of entering the at-times Byzantine world of law faculties is simple: publish, publish, PUBLISH!
(Seeing as my dream job is being a novelist, you might detect a pattern here . . . .)
To this end (and because I want to see my legal scholarship in actual--rather than electronic--print), I've devoted a good portion of this semester toward writing a follow up article. And, as luck would have it, a prof. has encouraged me--and given me the sources I need--to expand a class paper into yet another full-length article, again dealing with the same area I've eeked out as my own scholarly playground: fan-based activities. The first will almost undoubtedly earn me a few hundred bucks worth of a cash reward--possibly more, if I have any success with a national competition. And, with any luck, both articles will see publication by the Fall.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Implicit Association Test
I took a Gay-Straight IAT as part of the reading assignment for my Law & Psychology class next week. The results:
Find this IAT and many others at http://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit.
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Find this IAT and many others at http://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Fall 2008 Grade Report
I set an uncomfortable precedent for myself in the fall of 2006, receiving the highest grade in my Legal Practice section. The onus fell on the next semester to repeat the feat, but was ultimately unrealized. Then, the focus became to repeat it the following fall--an event again unrealized, albeit much more narrowly. The final permutation of this precedent coalesced into a desire to reflect my mastery in my chosen--I like to think of it as "sovereign"--area of law with the highest grade in Intellectual Property, or at least the first A+ final grade of my law (or, in fact, my entire) school career. (This was due in part to the grading scales applied in college and high school, but the emblematic nature of the "A+" grade, I think, mitigates those niggling factors.)
Also, on a smaller level, I hoped to get at least an A- in my Child Law class, as I had opted to take it for a letter grade in an attempt to bolster my overall GPA into more solid cum laude territory. (My whole matter-of-pride preoccupation with graduation honors I will reserve for another day and entry.)
Today, the grades for these two classes were reported:
Children and the Law: A
Intellectual Property: A+*
*highest grade in class
Ergo:
"Victory is mine!"
Also, on a smaller level, I hoped to get at least an A- in my Child Law class, as I had opted to take it for a letter grade in an attempt to bolster my overall GPA into more solid cum laude territory. (My whole matter-of-pride preoccupation with graduation honors I will reserve for another day and entry.)
Today, the grades for these two classes were reported:
Children and the Law: A
Intellectual Property: A+*
*highest grade in class
Ergo:
"Victory is mine!"Mood: tired, but pleased
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Oct. 31st, NaNoWriMo, Exile, "Marriage"
Reading: Ender in Exile, Orson Scott Card
Yes, Oct. 31st came and went, and I still don't have a 2nd draft of Book One. But I sucked it up, and started on Book Two promptly on Nov. 1st. I was making good time, too, until the proverbial shit hit the fan in one of my clinic courses, and I was forced to take a week's hiatus from noveling.
So I find myself behind the eight ball yet again.
I'm going to try to get as much as I can done this weekend--if I can coax a good 9000 words or so per day, I'll be back on track for the full 50K by Nov. 30. Gambaru!
Yes, Oct. 31st came and went, and I still don't have a 2nd draft of Book One. But I sucked it up, and started on Book Two promptly on Nov. 1st. I was making good time, too, until the proverbial shit hit the fan in one of my clinic courses, and I was forced to take a week's hiatus from noveling.
So I find myself behind the eight ball yet again.
I'm going to try to get as much as I can done this weekend--if I can coax a good 9000 words or so per day, I'll be back on track for the full 50K by Nov. 30. Gambaru!
*
The recent protests regarding the 52% to 48% passage of California's Prop 8 have pushed me to step up onto my soap box. I usually avoid venting my political views, but it seems that the distinctions that I find to be key to the issue are often overlooked or trodden upon by pundits on both sides.
To begin with, I side with the gay and lesbian viewpoints in that their civil unions should be granted the same rights under the law as traditional married couples. Simply put, it is constitutionally required under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, and, even without the Constitution, the time-honored principles of equity, I think, would vindicate their request for equal standing.
Nevertheless, I believe the passage of Prop 8 was a good thing.
The key battleline that most people tend to overlook is one of semantics. The institution of "marriage" extends back into antiquity; it is a cultural touchstone that has shaped human society since the dawn of time, and will likely continue to do so indefinitely. At the same time, inextricably bound up in its cultural significance is its religious meaning--it's no coincidence that the vast majority of marriages take place in churches, and are conducted by religious officials. For a great segment of the multitude of religious perspectives out there, there is spiritual and theological significance bound up in the union of a man and a woman. In this way, the term "marriage" itself is, at its core, a religious one.
Therein lies the danger in the gay and lesbian activists who clamber for their "right" to "gay marriage." They couch their demands in arguments for equal protection, but in demanding that the government sanction their expansive conception of marriage, they seek to have the government impose their view of this quintessentially religious concept upon those whose religious views endorse the traditional viewpoint. That goes beyond the rights ensured by the 14th Amendment; it trods upon the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion, by demanding that the government impose their conception of marriage upon the masses, or, at least, endorsing it over the traditional conception. Either way, the government finds itself in a position of intermingling matters of church with matters of state, something the founding fathers would find scandalous, and antithetical to the core values of our democracy.
Thus, I find myself in the position of affording gay civil unions equal status under the law as married couples, but insisting that any government recognition of the status of those civil unions restrict itself from treading upon the religious conception of marriage. Some may warn that drawing a distinction between "civil unions" and "marriages" is analogous to the "separate but equal" fallacy of the civil rights era. But I disagree. The inherent weakness of the "separate but equal" doctrine was that the separate institutions provided to whites and blacks simply were not equal--the problem, essentially, was logistical in nature. Here, the separation of the terms "civil union" and "marriage" is semantic: it allows the government to grant equal rights to gay and lesbian unions--rights they are constitutionally due--without taking the extra and unconstitutional step of endorsing the religious viewpoint underlying those unions at the expense of those who favor the traditional conception of marriage. It ensures that neither side of the debate has their constitutional rights abased.
This distinction between "civil union" and "marriage" need only be legal in nature. If U.S. culture grows to include gay and lesbian couples within the popular purview of "marriage," that is something for our culture itself to decide. But the legal distinction must be drawn, lest we, in our zeal to uphold the rights afforded by one amendment, despoil the rights espoused by another.
To begin with, I side with the gay and lesbian viewpoints in that their civil unions should be granted the same rights under the law as traditional married couples. Simply put, it is constitutionally required under the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause, and, even without the Constitution, the time-honored principles of equity, I think, would vindicate their request for equal standing.
Nevertheless, I believe the passage of Prop 8 was a good thing.
The key battleline that most people tend to overlook is one of semantics. The institution of "marriage" extends back into antiquity; it is a cultural touchstone that has shaped human society since the dawn of time, and will likely continue to do so indefinitely. At the same time, inextricably bound up in its cultural significance is its religious meaning--it's no coincidence that the vast majority of marriages take place in churches, and are conducted by religious officials. For a great segment of the multitude of religious perspectives out there, there is spiritual and theological significance bound up in the union of a man and a woman. In this way, the term "marriage" itself is, at its core, a religious one.
Therein lies the danger in the gay and lesbian activists who clamber for their "right" to "gay marriage." They couch their demands in arguments for equal protection, but in demanding that the government sanction their expansive conception of marriage, they seek to have the government impose their view of this quintessentially religious concept upon those whose religious views endorse the traditional viewpoint. That goes beyond the rights ensured by the 14th Amendment; it trods upon the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion, by demanding that the government impose their conception of marriage upon the masses, or, at least, endorsing it over the traditional conception. Either way, the government finds itself in a position of intermingling matters of church with matters of state, something the founding fathers would find scandalous, and antithetical to the core values of our democracy.
Thus, I find myself in the position of affording gay civil unions equal status under the law as married couples, but insisting that any government recognition of the status of those civil unions restrict itself from treading upon the religious conception of marriage. Some may warn that drawing a distinction between "civil unions" and "marriages" is analogous to the "separate but equal" fallacy of the civil rights era. But I disagree. The inherent weakness of the "separate but equal" doctrine was that the separate institutions provided to whites and blacks simply were not equal--the problem, essentially, was logistical in nature. Here, the separation of the terms "civil union" and "marriage" is semantic: it allows the government to grant equal rights to gay and lesbian unions--rights they are constitutionally due--without taking the extra and unconstitutional step of endorsing the religious viewpoint underlying those unions at the expense of those who favor the traditional conception of marriage. It ensures that neither side of the debate has their constitutional rights abased.
This distinction between "civil union" and "marriage" need only be legal in nature. If U.S. culture grows to include gay and lesbian couples within the popular purview of "marriage," that is something for our culture itself to decide. But the legal distinction must be drawn, lest we, in our zeal to uphold the rights afforded by one amendment, despoil the rights espoused by another.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
ノベルの2nd Draft: Communications Blackout
Thought I should make at least one post in September. Basically, I have just a little over a month left to complete the second draft of the novel by my self-imposed deadline (Oct. 31st!), all the while juggling my law school responsibilities at the same time. As a result, the going is . . . well, going to be tough, so I'm instituting an official blogging communications blackout until Oct. 31st or the 2nd draft is in hand, whichever may come first.
Here's hoping it's the latter--and peace until then.
Here's hoping it's the latter--and peace until then.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Expresso & Publication
Watching: Macross Frontier #19, The Middleman #10
Reading: A Feast For Crows, George R.R. Martin
No word count for today. Too busy gearing up for the start of the semester.
Reading: A Feast For Crows, George R.R. Martin
No word count for today. Too busy gearing up for the start of the semester.
*
About three years ago, when I first sent out a slew of short stories to various SF periodicals, I took the advice of Stephen King (and several other authors) and established a "rejection" folder, for all of the rejection letters I would receive. And soon enough, the letters arrived for me to start my collection. All of them are the standard form letter--the only minor exception being a letter from the Writers of the Future contest, which included a handwritten note consisting of three words: "send more soon!"
Well, my novel gobbled up my off year, and then law school came by, so I never did.
Flash forward to this summer. I had a law article burning a hole in my pocket--the fore-mentioned seminar paper focusing on doujinshi, fansubs, and fair use--but refrained from submitting it on the promise of my seminar professor, who promised that he would contact his students during the summer in case any of them wanted to further refine their papers for future publication. Well, come August, and I still hadn't heard anything from him. So, on a whim, I decided to send out the paper as-is.
A note on the Expresso website is called for here. Berkeley Press has a wonderful submission hub website, which allows you to easily submit your law articles to over 500 law journals with the click of a few buttons. The only limit on the number of submissions is the size of your wallet: Expresso charges $2 per electronic submission, minus the first, which they send for free. I checked off mostly IP law journals, and sent it off.
For the first week, I received two rejection emails, and one email noting that I had submitted to a journal that only accepted student-written pieces that were authored by its own students. (Chalk that one up to an overactive clicking thumb.) Another rejection followed a few days into week two. Feeling a bit desperate, I took a (figurative) axe to my paper in order to trim it down to the rather tight space requirements of my alma mater's law review, and sent the resulting frankenstein to one of our EICs.
Then, early this morning, I received a different sort of email from one of the Expresso law journals, entitled "Offer of Publication."
While the sight of that email left me positively giddy, never for a second did I forget that the battle is only beginning. Yes, with an offer in hand, I can be assured that my paper will be published in a scholarly journal, and that I now have a publication credit add to my resume (my only other published piece was in the high school literary magazine, hardly worth a line or two of precious resume real estate).
There are, however, considerations to be made. The accepting journal is relatively new, and, from my own investigations, doesn't seem to be represented on Westlaw or LexisNexis's online databases. As a result, I would much prefer to see my article published in a journal with greater name recognition and/or a wider sphere of distribution. So the tool of choice to exact a response from as-of-yet silent law journals is the "expedited review request."
Through Expresso, one can contact all of the law journals that one has submitted to, and inform them of your standing offer and its acceptance deadline. With that deadline in mind, you then request that the journal "expedite" its review of your article, so that you'll know whether they want it before you have to give your response to the initial offerer.
So, while publication is now all but certain, it's still a waiting game.
The acceptance deadline is September 8th.
I'll keep you posted.
Well, my novel gobbled up my off year, and then law school came by, so I never did.
Flash forward to this summer. I had a law article burning a hole in my pocket--the fore-mentioned seminar paper focusing on doujinshi, fansubs, and fair use--but refrained from submitting it on the promise of my seminar professor, who promised that he would contact his students during the summer in case any of them wanted to further refine their papers for future publication. Well, come August, and I still hadn't heard anything from him. So, on a whim, I decided to send out the paper as-is.
A note on the Expresso website is called for here. Berkeley Press has a wonderful submission hub website, which allows you to easily submit your law articles to over 500 law journals with the click of a few buttons. The only limit on the number of submissions is the size of your wallet: Expresso charges $2 per electronic submission, minus the first, which they send for free. I checked off mostly IP law journals, and sent it off.
For the first week, I received two rejection emails, and one email noting that I had submitted to a journal that only accepted student-written pieces that were authored by its own students. (Chalk that one up to an overactive clicking thumb.) Another rejection followed a few days into week two. Feeling a bit desperate, I took a (figurative) axe to my paper in order to trim it down to the rather tight space requirements of my alma mater's law review, and sent the resulting frankenstein to one of our EICs.
Then, early this morning, I received a different sort of email from one of the Expresso law journals, entitled "Offer of Publication."
While the sight of that email left me positively giddy, never for a second did I forget that the battle is only beginning. Yes, with an offer in hand, I can be assured that my paper will be published in a scholarly journal, and that I now have a publication credit add to my resume (my only other published piece was in the high school literary magazine, hardly worth a line or two of precious resume real estate).
There are, however, considerations to be made. The accepting journal is relatively new, and, from my own investigations, doesn't seem to be represented on Westlaw or LexisNexis's online databases. As a result, I would much prefer to see my article published in a journal with greater name recognition and/or a wider sphere of distribution. So the tool of choice to exact a response from as-of-yet silent law journals is the "expedited review request."
Through Expresso, one can contact all of the law journals that one has submitted to, and inform them of your standing offer and its acceptance deadline. With that deadline in mind, you then request that the journal "expedite" its review of your article, so that you'll know whether they want it before you have to give your response to the initial offerer.
So, while publication is now all but certain, it's still a waiting game.
The acceptance deadline is September 8th.
I'll keep you posted.
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