The Junk Drawer of my Mind

I realized that I haven’t posted here in a week.  I haven’t really used the computer in the last week. I blame NaNoWriMo burnout. Neat stuff has happened and maybe I’ll tell you about it later. In the meanwhile, enjoy a few random tidbits I’ve found lying around.

My new favorite quote about stories (from this excerpt):

By this, she means one of those children “interested in the imagination and in the relationship between the real and the unreal. They are entirely capable of telling the difference between truth and falsehood, but they prefer the falsehood occasionally.”

My favorite creative protest: 

My favorite new toy-I-wish-I-could-get-every-child-I-know:

Alphabet blocks for budding mad scientists

The Book of Joby, and other things called Joby

I’m back! Did you miss me? Of course not. You were busy hanging out with your own family.

Anyway, I’m back home. National Novel Writing Month is about to end (Marc just came as I was writing this to announce that he’s finished!). For the first time since we started producing Earnest I will have some free time again! And for the first time since November began I can read again without feeling guilty for not writing instead.

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So, umm, my name is Joby. That’s not really a very common name. Compared to say, Bill, or Jonathan, or Luke, say, there aren’t very many people  in this world that I share a name with. Every now and then I’ll be surprised to see my name somewhere. A friend called me up last spring, for instance, to ask why I’d never mentioned that I had my own book. Every now and then I’ll fire up google and see who else is using my name. I knew about Joby Talbot a few years before seeing his name in the credits for Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Tonight I found my strangest namesake yet. Joby Rogers is, it would seem, the world’s foremost Michael Jackson impersonator. Even Mr Jackson himself thinks so, according to this interview:

After viewing one hundred sixteen different (116) possible substitutes, it is the decision I, Michael Jackson, have made to have Mr. Joby Rogers … be my official substitute.

I’m impressed, aren’t you?

Things I did tonight instead of writing

It’s funny, I’ve felt a little guilty for reading a book for more than a few minutes at a time this month, because I’m meant to be writing one. I also feel a little guilty doing anything on the computer other than writing, but sitting here I’m at least in the right place — I’m just about to get to it, I swear! I’ve even got the window open! What’s interesting is I keep catching myself doing more ‘important’ things so it feels like a more solid excuse. I’ve probably written more e-mail tonight than I had in the whole last month. And of course I wrote more words in those e-mails than I had planned on writing tonight.

Did you know that there’s a new Wallace and Gromit short coming out? It’s called A Matter of Loaf and Death  and will be airing in the UK next month. Amazon says that the dvd is coming out at the end of March.

Book View Cafe is worth bookmarking. Twenty or so authors (including Ursula K. Le Guin) have created a place to digitally publish their work — “out-of-print, experimental, or otherwise unavailable work” — and they promise new writing every day.

How did I not know that Nick Hornby released a YA novel a year ago? I came across this review and noticed the early November date before I noticed the year.

Mad Science Means Never Having To Ask ‘What’s The Worst Thing That Could Happen?’

This afternoon I worked on my story with the most beautiful and unexpected background music: a duet of typewriters. It turns out that two friends in the house (The Benders and Andrew Schantz, if you’re wondering) have the same model typewriter and both were willing to lend them to our little marathon novelling sessions. While I fought hard not to be distracted by the internet, Zac and Marc pecked away at their word counts, each of them typing on a Royal Quiet De Luxe typewriter from the 1950s. Aidan, Anna, Arriel and Elizabeth all put in serious time working on their books the even older-fashioned way: pencil. I wish I could show you a picture.

Oddly enough, there’s a huge discrepancy in the word count in Google Documents in Firefox vs. Chrome. I thought I’d lost 600 words somewhere.

Gone Fishin’

Trawling for giant squid? Try Nemo Brand Squid Lure. Guaranteed up to 20,000 leagues!

Looking for inspiration for the steampunk elements of my novel, I was poking around for descriptions of Jules Verne’s Nautilus and found this: a page of model Nautili. I especially love the warning on this entry: although the packaging looks “real”, the manufacturer and the distributor are humourous names!

I’m sorry you missed it– for your sake

Our production of The Importance of Being Earnest is finally over. So sad. It’s been so much fun to play around with a new art. I’ll try and get some pictures up here soon. Obviously I wasn’t in any position to take any pictures (Not that I ever do anyway). 

Now that we’re done I can finally get started on my National Novel Writing Month novel. I’m sure that will be fun, too. Terry Pratchett says writing is the most fun anyone can have by themselves.

Last week Living Waters church (connected to the Shalom Mission Communities) hosted a conference on Christianity and Primitivism with Ched Myers facilitating. I didn’t really get to go as it was in the middle of the work week during our play, but I did get to visit with Jay Beck and Heather Cheezem and at least see a few others I don’t see often.

The little bit of discussion I was able to be part of left me eager to find and read Colin Turnbull’s anthropological works. Have you ever read him?

Well, I’m about 20,000 words behind schedule on my novel. I’d better get stop procrastinating and get to it.