I was on my way home when the song '@#$ Back Home' by Gym Class Heroes played on the radio and triggered a line of thoughts. We live in a society where everything is close together. Assuming money is not an object, I can be anywhere I want to be on the planet within a twenty four hour period. I can communicate with people pretty much anywhere at will, even those few that are currently in orbit. But it also occured to me that much like smartphones, this closeness has only sprung up recently. As little as forty to sixty years ago airplane travel was not that common. So, could this be affecting people's perception of what depth of investment a trip to Mars would involve? more...

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 10:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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There is a moment in watching tv... No, that's not right by current standards. Consuming media? Let's stick with enjoy a show.  There is a moment in which you realize that those are characters out there.  They stop being real people as their characters and they start being people playing characters. It's this moment where you sit back and stop paying attention to the plot. Your brain freezes and loops around the fact that edge of the screen has fallen away and you can see the grips, gaffers, electricians, makeup artists, and various and sundry staff on the sides. This moment occurred for me while watching the Fifth Doctor.  A random synapse fired, linking this absurdly dressed scientist in an impossible box, to a foaling barn deep in the farmlands of England.  What made it even more surreal was that I had been watching several episodes on PBS since the new Doctor had arrived...err...regenerated, and hadn't made the mental link up yet. To me it was downright stunning! Here he was, 'without a single how'd you do' as I've heard it said on various Brit Coms over the years.  The only thing I could think of when my sister walked in on that Sunday afternoon to see me giggling like a madman at the little black and white tv was "its a shame he wasn't a doctor in both series." (I think that was the moment she may have decided she didn't understand her twin teen brother anymore, but that's conjecture at this point.) I've seen Peter Davison in many other shows over the years.  Heck, I just watched one I hadn't seen before this morning called "The Last Detective". Last is used in the form of 'he was last in line.' here, and I've found that it can be carried forward to another thought.  I've found it very hard to unlink that revelation of actor vs character from him.  I found myself examining how he had changed over the years.  Where does the character of D.C. "Dangerous" Davies end? What part of the role, aside from his general appearance and voice is his? Are actors these people ever split in two by their roles? It leaves me with a lot of questions about why I watch what I watch, or what actors I end up following their career.  It also leaves me asking why we might become enamored or obsessed with various figures in the media.  Either way, a good mystery story has led into a wonderful line of thought on our media oriented culture.  Guess I'll just have to go  consume more  media on the issue!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 02:58 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, once I again I find myself debating various ideas and have the urge to give them some form outside my mind.  Writing descriptions is a start, but I have this urge to try an model some of them to see what they look like.  Off to unreal editor!!!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 01:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Yeah, looks like it's a non-PC, non-360 kinda night tonight.  Some good music on Pandora and a book for the evening.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 06:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Well, even with playing Battlelore on Friday, I didn't get to push enough cardboard or write enough this weekend.  Thankfully, I still have tomorrow off, so we will see what comes of it.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 10:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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And I got to introduce Bran to BattleLore tonight.  He came away really liking the game.   I'm glad.  I have every expansion except 'For Troll and Country' scenario, Creatures expansion, and Dragons expansion. 

That, and I like the Command and Colors system a lot too.  I pointed out that Memoir 44 is a very similar system, and he wants to play that sometime too.  This is when I demonstrated the concept of Epic BattleLore by laying out the maps just to demonstrate the change in scale. 

Yes, I want a reason to pull out these games and play them.  Now if only a few more of my boardgaming friends lived closer to me!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 10:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Most assuredly people are already playing now, as I am seeing various codes going out on twitter, facebook and other social media sites.  Good for them.  I feel no need to compete just to be able to play 2 days early.  I have my ODST disk and I look forward to the beta. 

I expect to find a mix of Halo and Tribes gameplay there.  I'm not expecting the high flying, ground skiing of Tribes, but I do look forward to the classes and gear customization that those games from Dynamix brought us.  The big thing I want it matchmaking for Firefight mode.  I *love* Firefight/Horde mode (from their respective games) and had only stopped playing ODST because I couldn't find any friends to shoot baddies with.

I will probably also dip my feet into the competitive multiplayer waters, but it is unlikely that I will do well.  Thanks to a combination of carpal tunnel (sp?) and work + family, I can't invest the time to get really good at multiplayer shooters.  Though, as long as I don't get yelled at by teammates for not being top of the roster, or listening to how 'gay' I am for the same reason, I'll still enjoy playing against people.

More to come as I get to play.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 07:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Looks like I may get to sell more of my games this weekend to make ends meet. Ugh, that extra charge from DirectTV threw everything off.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 06:40 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Okay, I'm settled in at my desk, emails are caught up, comics have been read.  The only thing that can interrupt me is work (which is expected).  I cannot play World of Warcraft or watch Fringe until I've written...oh... four thousand words.  I suspect that's anywhere from one to three hours of writing.

Time to kick on the Pandora!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 09:13 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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And yet again, I spend my allotted time to write staring at my page.  Had a few ideas I wrote down, but I failed to output any large chapter section like I hoped to.  This is getting annoying.

All the ideas were related to the story, and I think they're good, but the story itself won't flow out of me like it did last September.  I'm missing something.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 08:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bloggity blog blog blag.  Still organizing thoughts.  Hoping to have a thought to post here today.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 11:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm offline for 24 hours.  Just avoiding today.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 09:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've decided that tomorrow, I'm just not going to open email, or web browser.  I'm going to come into the office, put some music on, take calls, and either play a really long single player game like Civ or Sins of a Solar Empire.  April Fools day on the internet has become All Liars Day, with the most clever liar getting the kudos (and relinking around the net).    And I'm tired of it.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 11:41 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Why is it when I walk on a tiled floor, I'm compelled to walk in a 'knight' like pattern?  2 forward and to the right for my right foot, 2 forward and to the left for my left foot.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 04:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This blog entry is the most non-work writing I have done in three months, and I am irritated.  I've had great ideas for all four long form stories I've got partially written, and I just can't seem to get them down on to paper.

Either work/home life is too busy that by the time I've got a moment, all I want to do is unwind.  For me, writing isn't a way to unwind.  I have some downtime at the office.  Of course, the normal helpdesk calls keep me off balance enough that I get little done or can't maintain a train of thought.  I gotta find some way to resolve this.  I feel like I'm going to explode from within if I don't get these stories written. 

There's a part of me that doesn't even care if they're good anymore.  I want to write them so that they're out of my head and finalized on paper and I stop worrying about various plot points.

On the other hand, I do care if they're good.  I'd like to sell the stories as well as make short film or tv series length shows out of them.

ARGH!

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 03:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Okay, a blog.  I guess it comes with posting on Steven's blog here.  May try it out.

Posted by: Tom Tjarks at 05:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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