Killian's Blog/Website/Whatever

New short stories inevitably mean new ridiculous research. I'd say it's annoying, but it really isn't. I kind of love it. Sure, it can be distracting to fact-check when you're in the writing groove, but knowledge is its own reward! In the spirit of new discoveries (and also because I'm in a coffee shop*), I'm going to blog about some fun stuff. Hopefully you find it as interesting as I do. If not, then I'm sorry. But only a little sorry. 1. Russian Currency "1976 remint of a 1923 Soviet Russian golden chervonets"  --image & words from wikipedia Specifically, the c hervónets . I had first encountered this Soviet currency while reading The Master and Margarita** , but since it was so obviously a form of currency, there wasn't much point in my looking up a more technical definition. Boy, was I wrong! The chervónets has a very interesting history. The name, itself, dates back to the early 1700s, but the use I have in mind came about durin...

How To Spend One's Birthday: a List 1. Wake up at 10:30 2. Have significant other make breakfast 3. Decide that you want another tattoo 4. Draw a tattoo 5. Go to the closest tattoo parlor to your house 6. Get tattoo 7. Celebrate grandpa's birthday with extended family (the regulars, plus one or two you are just meeting for the first time) 8. Eat lots of different cheeses 9. See the last Harry Potter movie 10. Cry during the last Harry Potter movie 11. Re-read Franny and Zooey for the nth time, until very sleepy 12. Sleep zee tattoo

The road trip to Arcata, CA (and a few other places thereabouts) made me think of this poem by Dylan Thomas. I'll let photos and the poem do the talking for me, I think.  FERN HILL (dylan thomas) Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green, The night above the dingle starry, Time let me hail and climb Golden in the heyday of his eyes, And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves Trail with daisies and barley Down the rivers of the windfall light. And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home, In the sun that is young once only, Time let me play and be Golden in the mercy of his means, And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold, And the sabbath...

I'm just going to go ahead and give myself the green light to actually be excited, on the internet, about one of my projects. My mystery is so exciting, guys--maybe not everybody's cup of tea, but I actually think it's pretty great. And that's amazing. Granted, I am not of the opinion that my writing is bad; the struggle is with most of it just feeling  off in some regard. Writing a serial, however, has freed me from the confines of perfection. If I write myself into a corner, editing past chapters will not save me: I am forced to write myself out. Like MacGyver, but with words instead of toothpicks and duct tape and bedframes-turned-slingshots or whatever the heck. -img from leninimports.com -quote dictated to me by Dickens' ghost So challenging! So rewarding! And I have also discovered that I can, occasionally, be hilarious. I spend most of my time on this blog (and in my head) worrying about "art".* What I don't spend nearly enough time doin...

I love Amtrak. Everyone knows this. I am horrible at keeping my love a secret, and Amtrak is a recipient of my mad, mad love. Trains , people. They are the way to travel. Having spent every weekend for about a year traveling on the 509 and 516, I know what I'm talking about. Daniel and I are visiting NYC and Ithaca in October (a little bit business, a little bit family time) and I have--by magic--convinced him that we should take the train out there. Not that it took much convincing, but, you know...some people don't like the idea of spending three days on a train. I , however, LOVE IT . When we've hammered out all the deets, I'll be sure to make you all jealous. Aside from the usual writerly business, and because it turns out that we're going to be traveling a TON in the next few months, I've been thinking about getting a new camera. I love taking pictures, but my phone (and its "retro effects"--cool as they may be, I shouldn't have to use t...