Our Eating Habits!

Jasper here, with a quick post about food! I will refrain from making any extraneous commentary on the current state of affairs, and simply present the evidence!

I believe you can see for yourself in the time-lapse footage below that one of us always eats conservatively, leaving some food in the bowl for later. However, someone else has the rather disagreeable habit of always devouring every last scrap on his plate:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAiH6b1jkp4

All I'm saying is, if starvation ever occurs, it will not be my fault. So there!

Comic Book Report: World War Hulk (Various)

That's it? Really?

The above is my overall reaction to this recent Marvel line-wide crossover event. I mean, first of all, the title is completely misleading. The story doesn't involve the whole world (it's only Manhattan), and it's not actually a war (just a couple days of superheroes clobberin' each other).

It's not even really about the Hulk, come to think of it. I mean, yes, he is the inciting event which causes all this mayhem, but in the end, it's not really about the not-so-jolly green giant or Bruce Banner. There are a few good moments here and there, but in the end, we gain no real insight into either character.

And the way in which Earth's heroes finally stop Hulk is almost a literal deus ex machina--even Marvel's editors acknowledge this, in a Mad Libs-style interstitial page in the Damage Control collection. But hanging a lantern on a weak third act doesn't make it any less of a cheat.

Friday Flash Fiction: "New Sensation"

I blame DASH2 playtesting, and Bob Schaffer in particular, for this week's random title. Now I can't get that damn INXS song out of my head.

Read "New Sensation" at 512 Words or Fewer

No SnoutCast Today

New episode in two weeks. Apologies for the delay.

Meanwhile, you can listen to some Nebula Award-nominated short stories from Asimov's.

Friday Flash Fiction: "Ghost Patrol"

This week's short is an excerpt from a story I'm revising for my Clarion workshop application. (I need two stories to apply; the other one will be an expanded version of "Martian Standard Time.") And yes, I did steal the title from an unrelated 2008 puzzle hunt event. Wish me luck!

Read "Ghost Patrol" at 512 Words or Fewer

1,772 miles

Last week, D and I drove down to the San Francisco bay area for the Game Control Summit and to see friends. We saw quite a few people at the GC Summit, but also did our best to squeeze in other visits--which is how we ended up having breakfast, dessert, tea, and dinner, pretty much one right after the other, on Saturday.

We went to opening night of Foothill College's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which is a great show, and made even more hilarious by my fellow Richter Scale David Mister, who plays William Barfée; had lunch with Pauline and Brian, who just got engaged (she ran a birthday/proposal treasure hunt for him, natch); and I got in-person critiques from various "beta readers" on my novel manuscript.

Finally, on our way home, we stopped at Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park in Napa to scatter Bayla's ashes. That was the reason we drove instead of flying. I'm glad we did it. Bubbling Well is the same place where Amber was laid to rest, and now our girls are together again.

Friday Flash Fiction: "Fight or Flight"

Story's up. I'm going to bed.

Read "Fight or Flight" at 512 Words or Fewer