I have a lot of parts in motion.
I like it this way, very very much. It does, however, require that I keep careful track of when projects are due, submission deadlines are approaching, and how many projects I can actually complete both on time and to a degree with which I am satisfied.
I am still getting used to telling people I am a professional writer, but it's true! I am!
Halloween is my favorite holiday, I think, but more on that later.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Daily Thought
I understand Brecht plenty in theory.
It's when I have to read his work that I get confused. Anyone else have similar problems with Brecht... or any other writer for that matter?
Oh and if you haven't already, you should check out the writer's conference at Towson next month.
http://www.baltimorewritersconference.org/
Why do Towson events love thinking they're in Baltimore?
It's when I have to read his work that I get confused. Anyone else have similar problems with Brecht... or any other writer for that matter?
Oh and if you haven't already, you should check out the writer's conference at Towson next month.
http://www.baltimorewritersconference.org/
Why do Towson events love thinking they're in Baltimore?
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
"Serving the Digital Generation" While Preserving our Libraries
It has officially been one week since Comic-con ended but it most definitely doesn't feel like it.
The whole experience was amazing and you can read a kind of overview on kotaku here. I want to write about the weekend, but it's going to take several posts, two of which are going to be interviews I had with pretty awesome people. But today, I want to write about the fact that I'm currently reading Archie and Friends on my iPod.
I'm putting the Archie thing aside because really that's a post in and of itself. What I want to talk about here is the digital generation, and the fact that I don't want to be a part of it when it comes to my reading habits...except when I do. Interestingly enough, I learned this in a panel about libraries.
Let's talk about libraries for a second. I love libraries. I would not have been such an avid reader when I was a kid without libraries. And I love that ultimately, Comic-con is for people who love to read, because it makes me feel like I'm among my people. Come to think of it, it's not really surprising that video games aren't as prevalent at Comic-con as one would expect. Because Comic-con is for readers and lovers of all things Nerd/geek culture.
That's not to say that video games don't have their place at Comic-con because obviously they do, and I would love to talk about the fantastic storytelling medium that video games have always been and continue to be... but again, that's another post.
Libraries are starting to integrate technology more and more, both in how they catalogue their collections, and in the actual contents of said collections. Increasingly, this has included video games, but more relevant to the topic is digital books. The thing that scares me the most is this digitization of previously print forms, because I love books. I love collecting them, stacking them, organizing them and obviously, most of all, reading them. It feels so satisfying to close a book after reading it through, and to put it back on the shelf or pass it on to friends. That's something that digital and audiobooks will never be able to replace.
On the other hand, as the panel went on from the history of digital comics to the present day, the presenters, David Lisa and Michael Maziekien, began talking about comixology and other sites like it. Comics in digital form--who'd have thunk it (as you can see, based on the powerpoint that Lisa and Maziekien showed us, a lot of very important people have been thinking it for decades.)? At a convention that devoted hundreds of square feet to physical comics new and old, here were two men describing how libraries could make comics more accessible by subscribing to online services, keeping everything safely on a screen.
And then, just in case anyone wasn't yet convinced, they announced the Kindle Fire.
Nerds love their comics. But we also love our numbers, and the numbers don't lie. Last year, 66% of the country's libraries offered access to eBooks. Since then, graphic novel circulation has gone down 20%, and circulation of digital comics has gone up 1000% (facts shared with us during the presentation). With numbers like that in an economy like this, where my hometown library has had a hiring freeze for three years and has been cutting back on their hours, I can't really turn away from ebooks any longer.
Now, I can't speak towards what this all means for publishers. Amazon is, after all, attempting to cut out the middle man. And now Barnes and Noble is pulling DC titles from their shelves because of the comic company's exclusive deal with Amazon. After Borders closed its doors this summer, it's a risky move to pull any titles from any shelves, let alone an entire publishing company's worth, but if the Nook can't have Superman, then neither can the literal comics nook at B&N.
Maybe if Amazon and the dwindling number of bookstores start getting picky about what titles they're going to carry, we as readers will be forced back into the arms of our local libraries. Or maybe everything will go digital and libraries and bookstores will cease to exist. Though I don't think that's very likely.
I'm hoping that devices like the Fire make it easier for us to get content from our libraries. Perhaps this will allow for digital check-out, and then when there isn't a title available in digi-form, digital reserves for physical pick-up. Maybe this limiting of resources in bookstores (and limited bookstores, if they keep closing, though that is definitely not what I'm rooting for here) will mean us book-worms will start meeting up in library coffee shops instead of the Starbucks in the B&N.
I don't know what's coming next, and neither did the Comic-con panelists. But I do know change is on the horizon, and the digital generation is holding the reins. As long as they keep steering towards using all this fantastic technology to better our reading habits, I might actually be okay with it.
Want more on librarians at comic-con?
Here
The whole experience was amazing and you can read a kind of overview on kotaku here. I want to write about the weekend, but it's going to take several posts, two of which are going to be interviews I had with pretty awesome people. But today, I want to write about the fact that I'm currently reading Archie and Friends on my iPod.
I'm putting the Archie thing aside because really that's a post in and of itself. What I want to talk about here is the digital generation, and the fact that I don't want to be a part of it when it comes to my reading habits...except when I do. Interestingly enough, I learned this in a panel about libraries.
Let's talk about libraries for a second. I love libraries. I would not have been such an avid reader when I was a kid without libraries. And I love that ultimately, Comic-con is for people who love to read, because it makes me feel like I'm among my people. Come to think of it, it's not really surprising that video games aren't as prevalent at Comic-con as one would expect. Because Comic-con is for readers and lovers of all things Nerd/geek culture.
That's not to say that video games don't have their place at Comic-con because obviously they do, and I would love to talk about the fantastic storytelling medium that video games have always been and continue to be... but again, that's another post.
Libraries are starting to integrate technology more and more, both in how they catalogue their collections, and in the actual contents of said collections. Increasingly, this has included video games, but more relevant to the topic is digital books. The thing that scares me the most is this digitization of previously print forms, because I love books. I love collecting them, stacking them, organizing them and obviously, most of all, reading them. It feels so satisfying to close a book after reading it through, and to put it back on the shelf or pass it on to friends. That's something that digital and audiobooks will never be able to replace.
On the other hand, as the panel went on from the history of digital comics to the present day, the presenters, David Lisa and Michael Maziekien, began talking about comixology and other sites like it. Comics in digital form--who'd have thunk it (as you can see, based on the powerpoint that Lisa and Maziekien showed us, a lot of very important people have been thinking it for decades.)? At a convention that devoted hundreds of square feet to physical comics new and old, here were two men describing how libraries could make comics more accessible by subscribing to online services, keeping everything safely on a screen.
And then, just in case anyone wasn't yet convinced, they announced the Kindle Fire.
Nerds love their comics. But we also love our numbers, and the numbers don't lie. Last year, 66% of the country's libraries offered access to eBooks. Since then, graphic novel circulation has gone down 20%, and circulation of digital comics has gone up 1000% (facts shared with us during the presentation). With numbers like that in an economy like this, where my hometown library has had a hiring freeze for three years and has been cutting back on their hours, I can't really turn away from ebooks any longer.
Now, I can't speak towards what this all means for publishers. Amazon is, after all, attempting to cut out the middle man. And now Barnes and Noble is pulling DC titles from their shelves because of the comic company's exclusive deal with Amazon. After Borders closed its doors this summer, it's a risky move to pull any titles from any shelves, let alone an entire publishing company's worth, but if the Nook can't have Superman, then neither can the literal comics nook at B&N.
Maybe if Amazon and the dwindling number of bookstores start getting picky about what titles they're going to carry, we as readers will be forced back into the arms of our local libraries. Or maybe everything will go digital and libraries and bookstores will cease to exist. Though I don't think that's very likely.
I'm hoping that devices like the Fire make it easier for us to get content from our libraries. Perhaps this will allow for digital check-out, and then when there isn't a title available in digi-form, digital reserves for physical pick-up. Maybe this limiting of resources in bookstores (and limited bookstores, if they keep closing, though that is definitely not what I'm rooting for here) will mean us book-worms will start meeting up in library coffee shops instead of the Starbucks in the B&N.
I don't know what's coming next, and neither did the Comic-con panelists. But I do know change is on the horizon, and the digital generation is holding the reins. As long as they keep steering towards using all this fantastic technology to better our reading habits, I might actually be okay with it.
Want more on librarians at comic-con?
Here
Saturday, October 15, 2011
I'm a Betty
Quick off schedule post about how I was at an Archie Comics panel this morning and about how adamantly I am a Betty. Yes, adamantly is the word I want to use there.
I used to have a sweatshirt that said "I'm a Betty" with Betty on the front of it. It was awesome, but it shrank in the wash to the point I couldn't wear it anymore and I had to get rid of it.
They gave out a bunch of free Archie comics at the panel, including some of the "Life with Archie: Archie gets married". I love me some Archie, but I had totally missed the weirdness of the Archie/Betty/Veronica love-triangle. I was probably about ten the last time I went crazy and read all the Archies in the house, which is a lot because Grammy used to get them for free at the publishing office in which she worked.
It's always going to be Betty, by the way. There just is no other way to be.
More on Comic-con tomorrow, when all this lovely weirdness is over.
I used to have a sweatshirt that said "I'm a Betty" with Betty on the front of it. It was awesome, but it shrank in the wash to the point I couldn't wear it anymore and I had to get rid of it.
They gave out a bunch of free Archie comics at the panel, including some of the "Life with Archie: Archie gets married". I love me some Archie, but I had totally missed the weirdness of the Archie/Betty/Veronica love-triangle. I was probably about ten the last time I went crazy and read all the Archies in the house, which is a lot because Grammy used to get them for free at the publishing office in which she worked.
It's always going to be Betty, by the way. There just is no other way to be.
More on Comic-con tomorrow, when all this lovely weirdness is over.
Friday, October 14, 2011
NYCC, Day Two, and the weekly Round-Up
Here is some of what I did yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwSIlGaQRsA&feature=related
and here is some more of what I did yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwSIlGaQRsA&feature=related
That's Petah's youtube channel.
Today I did Star Wars things. And then some Robot Chicken things.
I handed out almost all of my business cards, which is both awesome and frustrating because uh I still can't figure out my printer. Anyhow, I'm very sleepy and I've got nothing particularly exclusive to report, except that Ashley Eckstein is incredibly sweet and nice and I'm going to buy her t-shirts tomorrow.
I'd like to get some Sims Medieval in before bed, so the weekly round-up is also going to be very short:
Books: I started reading The Geography of Bliss, which my Mom is supposed to be reading with me. So far, so good. I'm only twenty pages in,though. I've got my eye on a couple new books that I'd like to buy tomorrow, we'll see.
Games: I bought my own Minecraft account this week. Once my life slows down a little, I'll be jumping on the game more to play with the boys. I want a Beauty and the Beast castle. And a Tardis.
Movies/Television: Robot Chicken Season 5 is coming out on Blu-ray next week. Want. Oh, and tangentially related, Cody and I bought a collection (yes a whole collection) of Totoros today. Family photo: http://instagr.am/p/QKoZO/?ref=nf.
Hopefully there will be a nice "my first con" diary piece up on Kotaku on Monday. I've got a few pieces I'd like to post early next week, too, and expect to be able to see photos and videos up soon. I've gotten kind of addicted to vlogging, and it's a disease I honestly thought I would never catch, but it's so highly contagious that just being around Peter all day while he vlogs away has given me a case, and a pretty severe one. Don't be surprised if a sister youtube channel ends up happening sometime in the next few months.
Anyhow. I've got to go plug in everything I own so it's charged up for tomorrow--so far I've held off on buying anything (except Totoros... but those were already on a list of things to purchase) but tomorrow there will be a significant chunk of change left with various vendors. I've got my eyes on a few books, I've got to get presents for the Leebert, there's a book I think Maxwell will really love, and I have to go back to Ashley and buy shirts.
I think I can keep the "cash spent" number pretty low--I've avoided buying food at the convention center by bringing a sandwich and a refillable water bottle, and I've gone wandering around the show floors reminding myself that unless something REALLY jumps out at me, it will be there the next day and if I really want it that badly I'll remember where I left it.
It's definitely time to go play Sims Medieval before bed. Night!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwSIlGaQRsA&feature=related
and here is some more of what I did yesterday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwSIlGaQRsA&feature=related
That's Petah's youtube channel.
Today I did Star Wars things. And then some Robot Chicken things.
I handed out almost all of my business cards, which is both awesome and frustrating because uh I still can't figure out my printer. Anyhow, I'm very sleepy and I've got nothing particularly exclusive to report, except that Ashley Eckstein is incredibly sweet and nice and I'm going to buy her t-shirts tomorrow.
I'd like to get some Sims Medieval in before bed, so the weekly round-up is also going to be very short:
Books: I started reading The Geography of Bliss, which my Mom is supposed to be reading with me. So far, so good. I'm only twenty pages in,though. I've got my eye on a couple new books that I'd like to buy tomorrow, we'll see.
Games: I bought my own Minecraft account this week. Once my life slows down a little, I'll be jumping on the game more to play with the boys. I want a Beauty and the Beast castle. And a Tardis.
Movies/Television: Robot Chicken Season 5 is coming out on Blu-ray next week. Want. Oh, and tangentially related, Cody and I bought a collection (yes a whole collection) of Totoros today. Family photo: http://instagr.am/p/QKoZO/?ref=nf.
Hopefully there will be a nice "my first con" diary piece up on Kotaku on Monday. I've got a few pieces I'd like to post early next week, too, and expect to be able to see photos and videos up soon. I've gotten kind of addicted to vlogging, and it's a disease I honestly thought I would never catch, but it's so highly contagious that just being around Peter all day while he vlogs away has given me a case, and a pretty severe one. Don't be surprised if a sister youtube channel ends up happening sometime in the next few months.
Anyhow. I've got to go plug in everything I own so it's charged up for tomorrow--so far I've held off on buying anything (except Totoros... but those were already on a list of things to purchase) but tomorrow there will be a significant chunk of change left with various vendors. I've got my eyes on a few books, I've got to get presents for the Leebert, there's a book I think Maxwell will really love, and I have to go back to Ashley and buy shirts.
I think I can keep the "cash spent" number pretty low--I've avoided buying food at the convention center by bringing a sandwich and a refillable water bottle, and I've gone wandering around the show floors reminding myself that unless something REALLY jumps out at me, it will be there the next day and if I really want it that badly I'll remember where I left it.
It's definitely time to go play Sims Medieval before bed. Night!!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
New York Comic-con Heart's Me.
My knees are sore.
My printer is not cooperating.
There is a Sailor Moon poster on my wall.
I should have been in bed like an hour and a half ago.
I would not trade this for the world. Tomorrow, day two begins. Check the twitter throughout the day, I'm going to TRY and be vigilant about updating but the internet at the center is really quite terrible.
My printer is not cooperating.
There is a Sailor Moon poster on my wall.
I should have been in bed like an hour and a half ago.
I would not trade this for the world. Tomorrow, day two begins. Check the twitter throughout the day, I'm going to TRY and be vigilant about updating but the internet at the center is really quite terrible.
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