It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I blame Facebook.

That particular website has taken much of the role in my life that Blogger once did for me: connecting me with my friends and allowing me to express snippets of thought or my current mood while additionally occupying me with insipid polls or bemusing applications. But some time ago, Mr. Skaggs (of The M Blog) lamented the sharp decline of blogging going on in our particular circle of friends, largely due to preoccupation with Facebook. While Facebook is fun and has been of immense use in connecting me with old friends, many of which I haven't seen since high school, it doesn't have the journaling feel that Blogger has. I feel a little less self-important when diddling with Facebook, but I think I've come to agree that something's been lost, if only the discipline of analyzing my thoughts on a somewhat regular basis.

In any case, much has changed since I last posted. Marilyn and I are out of Los Angeles, living in the San Bernardino Mountains once more, which brings me no end of joy. Though I miss being near the Campaigners, and I regret that I'm now missing out on the regular Sunday night Freaks-&-Geeks roleplaying sessions with them, but I don't think I can overstate the degree to which the change in environment has improved our spirits. Marilyn is working at UCR now, which makes her far happier than her previous job did. I am also working, much to my delight, doing freelance illustration for real money, with the prospect of more in the future so long as I make my deadlines. We're living in a spare room in my parents' house, which introduces complications and the occasional awkward moments of its own, but without the burden of paying rent, it's proving to be a very good situation for now.

One of the things I'd like to try to do with this blog that I don't think I could do as well with Facebook is to post sketches and other bits of artwork that I do. I've been impressed with the blogs of my former teachers, mentors and classmates, and while I may not yet have the degree of flashiness that they exhibit, I think it's a really good habit to be in. And, of course, I'd like to continue to update my gaming blog, The Head of Vecna. Not that I've done any gaming since leaving L.A. (apart from a very good Campaign LARP Inn), and I don't want to place my gaming interests before my artistic ones, but RPGs are a big part of who I am and I do enjoy reading and writing about the topic.

A little mash-up, pointed out by Gabriel Tetrault (who went to high school with me):

It doesn't happen often, but there are days when I want to kiss Stephen Colbert's ruby lips.

NOTE: Link does not contain kissing.

Couldn't resist this. I normally like Tony Blair, but this...

Perhaps he's been reading Brian McLaren?

On a tangential note, I had to look up the Emergent Movement to remember McLaren's name, and was amused to note that, on the 'Emerging church' Wikipedia page, under 'Definitions and terminology', there's a banner that reads, "This section contains weasel words, vague phrasing that often accompanies biased or unverifiable information. Such statements should be clarified or removed."

Sounds like an accurate definition of the Emergent movement to me.

One of the conservative sites I like to read from time to time is Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood. The conceit behind the site is that it's primarily a collection of articles on political and cultural commentary written by conservatives in the entertainment industry, a fairly small crowd of folks, but with a spectrum of convictions (from libertarian to Objectivist to atheist to Christian to homosexual to etc., etc.) and coming from a range of professions and fields (screenwriters, authors, comics creators, musicians, etc.). Doug TenNapel frequently posts articles there.

Though my urge at the moment is to get screedy and political ("20/20"'s upcoming gun control propaganda piece which promises to tell us why the 2nd Amendment and self-defense are such foolish ideas immediately springs to mind, as well as a slew of President Obama-related behaviors and deeds), that's not really what I wanted to draw attention to. Besides, I alienate my friends often enough as it is.

No, instead, Big Hollywood contributor and screenwriter Russ Dvonch has written two articles on writing plot that I think are worth reading. In the first installment, he discusses the notion of hope and heroism in stories, drawing from such sources as "The Lord of the Rings" amongst many others. In his second installment, he discusses the notion of the moral as it relates to the plot, asserting that every story moralizes, every story has a moral point to make, and the question is not whether your story is going to preach a moral view, but whether it's going to do so aimlessly and messily, or whether it will do so convincingly and well. Given that the second issue is one I've personally struggled over for quite some time, it was refreshing and encouraging to hear someone with some writing experience under their belt explain these things with clarity and conviction.

Prince of Persia by AB Sina

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
While this graphic novel is based on the video game line of the same name - the original game's creator, Jordan Mechner, was the sponsor behind this creative effort - it is a stand-alone story that doesn't require any previous knowledge of the games. A.B. Sina weaves a uniquely Persian-flavored tale that echoes the storytelling style of the 1001 Nights, and LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland's brushwork and coloring convey this flavor expertly while remaining accessible to readers (such as myself) new to this style of tale.

While I don't mean to stigmatize the video game industry, when one mentions that a book is based on a video game, my expectations usually remain low. Prince of Persia doesn't merit being relegated to this ghetto; it exceeds the stereotypical quality of such adaptations and stands on its own as a worthwhile read.


View all my reviews.

I thought some of this was surprisingly relevant to current events. This was made in 1948.

Of the many things I feel like griping about today - most of them to do with our government-sponsored journey to National Socialism (Reagan was right about the most dreaded words in the English language) - I'll instead briefly touch on my dislike of WordPress. Considering how many people are apparently using WordPress with some degree of success, I have to wonder what is wrong with me that I can't make it work?

First, it took me a very, very long time to figure out how to register with WordPress. Blogs which use WordPress - mostly political and cultural-commentary blogs, from what I've seen - require you to have an account before you can comment. But try to find where you can obtain an account, and for the most part you're out of luck. All you'll be offered is a mostly blank login page. Apparently, you can register, but you need to be registered before you can do that.

Most of the time, it was enough of an annoyance that I just decided to pass on commenting on the site in question and go play Warcraft, or something comparatively constructive. But today I really felt like putting in my two cents, so I decided to dedicate myself to a bit of a hunt. How can I register with a blog service that aggressively tries to push me away?

I finally found a registration page after Googling the phrase "How do I register with WordPress?" I guess sometimes the most obvious course of action is the most effective. So I've managed to register. Or so they tell me on my "Global Dashboard." Now, I've gone back to comment on the original site I was reading, and it wants me to login. I thought I was already logged in to WordPress, but okay. I put in my screen name and my password.

No dice. "ERROR: Invalid username." I have a tab open to the Global Dashboard which tells me I'm registered and logged in, except that, according to the second tab, I'm not, nor have I ever been, no matter how many times I reload the page and try logging in.

I think I'm going to go play Warcraft.

So, let's see: Run a campaign based on Hope and Change, but as soon as you get into office, behave in precisely the ways you condemned others for doing; claim that you're going to unify the country with bipartisan decisions, and then lambast anyone who disagrees with your policies; punish people for becoming wealthy, demonize corporations, and give their money to people who make lousy financial decisions, claiming that this will stimulate the economy; complain that you've inherited a deficit and then increase that defecit by something like a trillion dollars a year with a massive spending program; meddle with the economy to the degree that even the Russians write you to tell you you're heading down the wrong path; spend taxpayer money on funding and promoting overseas abortions; appoint a slew of people to the cabinet who cheat big on their taxes and, when caught, just blow it off because they're more equal than the rest of us; and pledge $900 million that will very likely find its way into the pockets of Hamas.

Yes We Can!

Iowahawk's fun read of a not-so-fun situation.

I don't know if I really need to comment on Nadya Suleman, the recent mother of octuplets. Her story kind of speaks for itself: of her aggravating, willful stupidity and stubborn denials of the fact that she is living her life sponging off of the goodwill and tax dollars of others. And yet at the same time, she is willing to raise special-needs children, and have a large family in a time when increasing numbers of adults are choosing not to have children at all. She demonstrates (as far as I can tell, peering through the lens of the media) a few admirable traits, but those seem to me outweighed by what I have a hard time seeing as anything but her maddening self-centeredness. Heck, the selfishness calls into question whether those traits that seem admirable aren't, in fact, so pure in themselves.

She now has 14 children, but thinks that she's going to go to school and get her master's degree. In Counseling, of all things.

What can really be said of her, except that this is exactly the sort of person that welfare reformers (and eugenicists) point to as Exhibit A in support of their arguments? I am staunchly pro-life; I don't think those children should be punished for the foolishness (or mental derangement) of their mother. They deserve a chance at life, a home to grow up in and parents to raise them. But this woman needs to be stopped. News reports say that she's gone into hiding because of the death threats she's been receiving (low and vile acts, no matter how much anger one might understandably feel), but she has a website up to receive donations. I'm glad to hear that these children are being provided for out of the compassion of strangers, but utterly frustrated by this woman's attitude that she's done no wrong.

I guess it doesn't really help to make a posting about this, except that this caught my attention and made me want to rant a bit. Aside from holding the fertility doctor responsible for the role he played in enabling Ms. Suleman's unconscionable act (I agree with her mother's choice of words for this), what can be done?

Dad used to take us shooting all the time. We would drive out into the desert and shoot targets, cans, milk jugs, and so on. It's one of my many fond memories of growing up. I think the last time I went shooting was when we took Marilyn for her first shooting experience. Frankly, I think I'm way overdue for another excursion. Guess it's time to call Dad and make plans.

Well, after I get a job, ideally.

In any case, I found something that should make the old target shooting even better, courtesy of Black Man With A Gun.

I read an article on the Washington Times' website this morning on a Tutsi bishop preaching to the Hutu in Rwanda. His message was "Repent and God will forgive you." Given the atrocities that had been committed, I can only imagine how much strength and faith in the Lord it must have taken for Bishop Rucyahana to go and preach Jesus's message to the people responsible for them.

In his words,

"If we are Christians, we don't wait for the pain to go away before we forgive. Forgiveness is hard, yet the cost of the cross is not meant to be easy."

The article is definitely worth reading.

We bought a Wii recently - well, I say "we" bought it, what I mean is Marilyn got it with a gift certificate she earned at work - and got Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Super Paper Mario and The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess to go with it. It's nice to have a game console that requires us to stand up and move around a bit when we play. I usually work up a little sweat whenever I play, which can only be a good thing for sedentary old me.

Anyway, I've been playing Wii Sports every now and again, and while I've been neglecting the Wii Fit, very soon I plan to start making it a regular part of my morning ritual. I had forgotten how much exercising makes me wake up in the morning and require less sleep at night. One of the things I learned that I hadn't previously known, however, is my Wii Fit Age. One of the things that the game figures out is what age you're functioning at, as opposed to your actual physical age. I guess you could say it's figuring your effective age rather than your literal age. In any case, it runs you through a series of tests to determine things like your balance, your reflexes, your stamina, and so on. Now, having been born in 1973, I'm 35 years old until April (yes, I do bitterly hang on to each year these days). But according to Wii Fit...

...I'm 43. Ouch.

Well, that was the first day's opinion. Today, after a bit of Baseball, Bowling, and Tennis, I took a new test within the Sports game and it told me I was now 39. But that doesn't take my weight into account like Wii Fit does.

But the Wii Fit board assures me that it's my good friend and will try to encourage me as I exercise. So that helps.

And Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever." (Luke 1:46-55, ESV)

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby(AD) lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:1-21, ESV)

Praise God, the Creator of the Universe and of all its wonders, that He should love us so much to offer us the complete forgiveness of our innumerable sins against Him; and if that were not enough, to be so generous as to adopt us as His own children, not content to merely set a place for us at His table, but to give us the seat of honor. Glory to Jesus Christ, savior of humanity - may His triumphant return be soon!