Good afternoon, Don,
I have been following the King Richard the Third
saga since they discovered his bones. I was glad to know that the good King
Richard finally got his royal burial. The one thing I did not know was that
Benedict Cumberach is a distant relative. And the fact that the DNA sample came
from a 14th generation descendent that lived in Canada is just this
side of incredible. You are right, this stuff cannot be invented!
You talked about the Star Wars trilogy as being a
cinematic cultural touchstone. I like to think that when you say that, you are
talking about the first three movies. I would agree that the first three have
become part of our popular culture. I have to say that I do not believe that
the last three movies are anywhere near as successful.
Don, you proposed that there haven't been any other
series of movies that have touched our culture as much as the Star
Wars movies. I would like to nominate the Harry Potter series. The
books in and of themselves broke records – the movies did almost as well. And
then of course, my favorites - Lord of the Rings. We have just gotten
the last of the Hobbit movies, but I'm not sure that it comes close to the
staggering epic-ness of the other two trilogies.
I have finally completed the online marketing course
that I was taking. I just completed the final for the 12-lesson course. I found
it interesting that the questions asked in the final did not relate to the quiz
questions that I've been taking with each lesson. There was a sense of
disjointedness between the quizzes and the final in that the final was far more
picky, in depth than the quizzes and there was nothing in the course material
to point out that those specific points were more important than anything else
that was covered. In other words, I found the assessment process lacking. Did I
pass ? Yes. Did I learn a lot? Yes. But still – tests should reflect importance
of material in the lessons.
The last assignment is to create a marketing plan –
to answer such questions as an in-depth description of the business - a history
including, products and services, market situation, target audience; and to
understand the threats and opportunities that are available. The second part is
to define goals, strategies and tactics. I will be a while in completing this
project but I think it will be worthwhile when I'm done.
I have been applying some of the information I learned
to Transport 40 which highlights the work of Tamara Narayan. Tamara is one of
our writers who lives on the East Coast and has been writing for Wormhole Digital
for about a year now. Tammy is a pure science fiction writer in that she takes
science and extrapolates it out into fantasy and fiction. She also wrote an
incredible coming of age story, which is included in Transport 40. I think I
like her newest story the best, even though she thinks it's a very raw and
unfinished story. It is the story of two women, a mother who is dealing with an
autistic son, and a wife who is dealing with a husband with Alzheimer's, and
how their lives intersect. It is an incredibly heart touching story.
I sent out some interview questions to Tammy and I
think the thing that is so amazing is how her back ground or former life has
nothing to do with writing! Believe it or not, Tammy is really Dr. Narayan - Dr.
of mathematics! She also had a job at a zoo "flinging smelt to a waddle (Yep,
that's what they're called) of African Penguins." So it is no wonder that
her favorite website is www.zooborns.com.
Now that I'm done with the marketing class, I'm getting
ready to participate in Camp Nanowrimo which starts April 1. This is a spinoff
from the November write a novel in a month challenge. My goal for the month of
April is to write at least 20,000 words for a science fiction fantasy that I
was already have several short precursor chapters completed. That means a total
of 666 words per day. I will pick in April where the story has left off so far.
There's another camp in July, and I am hoping that I will be able to finish the
Tracker series by August.
I have printed out the storytelling packet that I
give my students when they are writing their short stories for myself. I have
12 character questions, story map charts, character stats that includes those
subtle things like quirks, traumas, attitudes weaknesses, dreams/ambitions, guilts...
a page for minor characters and who they are and how important they are to the
story; a beautiful chart to fill in on conflict. Then we get down to the nitty
gritty that happens with a longer story – how does the character change from
the beginning of the story to the end, what precipitates and fuels the change,
what is the quest are they being asked to take up and what happens if they
don't. This story has lived so long in my head, I'm really hoping that I can
finally get it out on paper.
I'm on spring break this week so I'm hoping to be
able to get the house cleaned up, the laundry done, ready for next week to
start teaching again, and all the meetings I need to go to (the school lied
when they said it was spring break) and still find time to write. Everyone says
I should take it easy, relax! What people don't realize, is this is relaxation
for me!
A reporter, Tess Panzer, reported on a man named Alan
Adler. (This fits with your Twain-ism about science, Don). I'm sure this is a
name that does not strike most of us. However, two of his inventions have
become cultural standards – the Aerobie flying disc and the AeroPress coffee
maker. What is so impressive about this man, is the fact that he did not attend
college. However, he did attend and participate in life – he learned from
doing. He is a "Maker". He feels that makers are created as small
children – born from other makers. They spend their lives observing other
people and learning from them. I think is most important statement was: If you don't like what's out there, make
something better.
Have a great week everyone! Looking forward to
reporting how well I've done in Camp Nanowrimo!
Carolyn
All
images downloaded from google images
Most
images featured in previous blogs.
African
Penguins retrieved from www.photovolcanica.com
Pro | AEROBIE® High Performance
Sport Toys retrieved from aerobie.com
AeroPress
Coffee Maker – Firebox retrieved from www.firebox.com
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