Where We Write

Aug 202010
 

This morning Laura RT’d an article titled Where We Write: The Merits of Making Do. It’s a pretty awesome piece talking about how some folks try so hard to make the perfect writing environment instead of actually writing. I think I’ve been doing that too.

This summer I got rid of my cable so I’d watch less TV. Now I have to see what Netflix has to offer or watch something online. So I’m not wasting my time watching garbage marathons any more.

Then I got a laptop so I could move around freely to write. No longer tied to the desk! But then I couldn’t write. I sat in the living room with all this great light and no TV channel surfing distraction and just stared at a blank screen. I ended up trying to write at the desk in the corner of my bedroom again but man, that felt confining. And then I started to pace. Thus has been my summer. Bleh.

So while I wasn’t busy trying to make aesthetic changes (pretty bobbles and the right pencil cup) to my writing environment per se, I was locking myself into where to write. At home.

Some of that changed with the start of a writing group. I have to write away from home then. But a real change came when my upstairs neighbor sounded like he was stomping on my head with combat boots. Oy! I had to get away. I took the laptop outside to a park/playground. I sat at a rickety picnic table (pictured). Behind me a basket ball game went on. At another table kids talked and one kid bounced another basket ball. It was noisy but expected noise, thus white noise really. And I was finally able to write.

The dumb thing is that I ignored that and have been trying to write in my living room again. Yep, I’m an idiot.

The beauty of the laptop is the travel it allows us and really, I need to embrace that more. I mean, duh, wasn’t that why I got said laptop anyway? I will have to write more in parks and playgrounds. I may even start checking out some libraries since that sounds fabulous too. I think the variety of scenery will do me some good. It’ll also help with being less isolated since that makes me stir crazy at times too.

What about you? Where do you write?

Short Film: The Damage Done

Aug 102010
 

Yeah, yeah, all I seem to post are videos lately. Been one exhaustion filled summer and then there’s the whole “I’m a short film addict” thing. :P

Anyway, I liked this one. Visually pretty and I always love a nod to the type of story the secret reveals:

The Damage Done is a western short by Rainfall Films. It premiered at the 2010 DVX WESTFEST, where it won 1st Place.

A hired gun is tasked by the local sheriff to apprehend a bank robber in a hostile area of 1890 New Mexico. The dangerous assignment is complicated by a personal secret which the gunman is trying to protect.

The Damage Done from Rainfall Films on Vimeo.

And strangely now I miss the gruesomeness of Deadwood. This is high tea tame in comparison. :P

Short Film: Descendants

Aug 092010
 

A pretty creepy and surreal short animation:

“Descendants” is a 14 minute animated short about the wish of attaining the unattainable and about the fact that something good can evolve from something evil.

The two main characters are flowers (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg and Christy Scott Cashman) who grow on the edge of a clearing next to one another. One is old and jaded by a mysterious history – the other one still young, vivid and curious. Destiny has brought these two together and it seems as if they would exist without possibility for change, until one day a visitor to the clearing brings something unexpected to their lives.

Descendants from Goro Fujita on Vimeo.

For info on the making of Descendants >>

(via SF Signal)

Hans Zimmer & Johnny Marr Live at the Inception Premiere

Aug 082010
 

Pretty awesome performance:

The track is “Time” from the Inception soundtrack.
Hans Zimmer (piano) and Johnny Marr (guitar).

Full performance can be seen here:

The video took a while to load so heads it that it might do so for you too. The performance starts at about 8 or so minutes in (after the red carpet event). It’s well worth the wait. Awesome indeed! And the soundtrack itself is pretty amazing. I, of course, had to download it today and have been listening to it on repeat. :D (Kinda made things interesting when I was trying to write a scene with a bored character and I’m hearing all these intense sounds that so don’t fit with that scene. Made me want to make the character get up and do something a bit more kick ass. Hah!)

Howl’s Moving Castle Papercraft

Aug 082010
 

Check out this papercraft of Howl’s Moving Castle! It’s awesome:

The project looks too daunting a task for me, but here’s someone who built it in 72 hours across 3 weeks. He recorded a time lapse of the construction, which is pretty awesome to see:

Howl’s Moving Castle from Ben Millett on Vimeo.

If you’d like to give it a try yourself, you can download the papercraft here.

(via Cubeecraft)

Transformer Owl

Aug 072010
 

I love this! I came across this video on Tumblr (a site I’ve become pretty addicted to for random inspiration lately):

They’ve altered it from the original as seen on Discovery’s Animal Oddities blog, but their added text makes it funnier–and a little easier to understand.

Discovery’s blog explained what’s going on with the owl:

You might not know that small owl species are sometimes on the menu for larger owl species.  When faced with the barn owl, which is only slightly larger than itself, the Transformer owl puffs itself up to look as big as possible in an effort to scare the barn owl away.  When faced with the second, much larger owl, however, it does the exact opposite.  By elongating its body, flattening its feathers and squinting its eyes, this little owl mimics a dead branch in the hopes of camouflaging itself from the larger bird.  It’s a pretty amazing and odd-looking adaption, wouldn’t you agree?

This little owl looks so much more like a mini Dracula than a branch! :P

Video: Sky Sailing “Brielle”

Aug 012010
 

The soft visual elements in this video are somewhat hypnotic and soothing. I love all the paper airplanes and the watercolor background:

Sky Sailing’s (or rather Owl City’s)  website