Ritual, magic, mystical powers--these things seem to comfort and guide people much easier than facts or science. One of the short stories at the end of the glass bead game features a 'rain maker', a sort of shaman type figure who is in charge of when to plant crops, and is supposed to warn of …
Somewhat redeemed
Glass bead game has made a slight turn for the better. The main character came up with some of the same complaints I had, and left the order of cloistered obsessives to live in the actual world and do something real with all his knowledge--tutor a child. His story now seems to be over now, …
Connect the dots
Reading through this old pile of words, I feel I'm going to have do do a lot of creative interpreting to make it all fit together and make sense. Which is fun. Sometimes when I'm writing I feel like I'm just scattering ideas out there, and I'll figure out how they are all related later. …
Rewriting
That thing I was talking about that had gripped me? Yeah, well, it let go... I'm really terrible at staying focused... Now I've decided to try something new that I've never done in my life... rewriting! I'm going to go back over one of my unfinished novels, clean it up, and see if I can …
Missing the point: Defenders
I just saw the trailer for this new Netflix show combining Jessica Jones, Nick Cage and Iron fist, and it looks terribly tiring and boring. People punching each other and things exploding is the realm of the mass produced super hero blockbusters we're all so sick of. The Netflix super hero shows, for the most …

