Writer, Dabbler In Things
Reay As I mentioned in my last post, the first draft of my first novel is going well. Meaning, as far as progression of the word count. As for the quality?That’s a whole other thing. I rewrote the opening three times, trying three different approaches with it, and it still feels weak. The inciting incident–a young … Read more
I hit a couple of notable benchmarks today. This isn’t to be confused with hitting the magic number I mentioned recently. That’s a whole other thing. And not a good one.Don’t confuse personal bests and personal worsts, people. It can’t end well. No, this time the first benchmark, albeit the less significant of the two … Read more
With a wife who’s a teacher and a grade-school kid, it was a little crazy in the ol’ Jespersen household this month, so I didn’t get as much read as I would’ve hoped. Then again, there’s a solid argument to be made that I never do. Here’s the low-down on how September went: ReadOpen Borders: … Read more
As I’d written about back in earlier days of isolation, I’m trying out making some stop motion videos. It’s been a while since I took a crack at another one, in part because I wasn’t able to come up with more than a handful of ideas lo these many months, and in part because I … Read more
My nine-year-old daughter has had some interest in coding for the last couple of years. Now bear in mind, at that age, “coding” is pretty much using a program that lets the user drag and drop pre-set commands into a stacked order for, say, a basic (real or virtual) robot to execute:Forward 1 spaceForward 1 … Read more
(I am learning Danish.) In the spirit of striving to do more productive things with my time, I’ve decided it’s long overdue that I try to start learning Danish. I’m using the Duolingo system, in part because it was the system recommended to me by my daughter’s past French immersion teacher to brush up on … Read more
I’ve just realized how much I enjoy finding art in unexpected places. I knew decades ago that I liked seeing artwork done with spray paint on buildings that you may pass by on a walk somewhere or when the subway zips past the walls of businesses that some daring artist sees as a canvas–I’m reminded … Read more
Open Borders is a bold case for opening all borders to immigration, told in a graphic novel-style format. Written by economist Bryan Caplan, it builds upon fact after fact to promote the benefits of, and counters all common arguments against, letting more people from more countries live and work wherever they want to. Everything from … Read more
My daughter has been expressing interest in playing the Pokémon TCG (Trading Card Game) off and on for years. Mostly on when I can’t play and mostly off when I’m ready to try it out, or when we’ve brought it with us on a road trip to stay somewhere, or have watched videos on how … Read more
It was an unexpectedly bountiful month for reading. Here’s how it broke down: Read:The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy – Rick RiordanHoot – Carl HiaasenThe Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze – Rick RiordanSandman Slim – Richard KadreyMucho Mojo – Joe R. Lansdale Started and stopped:Akata Witch – Nnedi OkoraforNoir – Christopher MooreFatemarked – … Read more