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To an amazing woman: Jenny Zartman
I’ve been musing for several days what to write about the death of Jenny Zartman. There are the details: that she died in a car accident heading down to Wilmington to be with her cousin early August 5, 2006. There’s the emotional impact: her parents’ immense grief; Michael’s heartrending sadness and infinite helpfulness and patience; my mother’s sad calls to my father, half a country away; Becca’s broken voice over the phone; my own unending shock and sadness and my eleven-hour drive to Charlotte to be with those I love and who love Jenny in their time of grief. I have not stopped thinking of her and Michael during the…
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Midnight linkage
The Escapist – Kill Your Darlings » Whoop-ass. The Escapist – You Got Your Race in My Video Game » Wake up gamers: race is here. The Escapist News Room : E3 is Over » Oh, no! newnumber6: Planescape Thoughts » This is the most amazing set of thoughts on Planescape – Torment I’ve read yet. Drinks with Tony – Chuck Palahniuk interview – Cherry Bleeds » I’m in a Palahniuk mood.
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Uncategorized
Won over by Pratchett
A few months ago, I was cajoled into reading [tag]Soul Music[/tag], by [tag]Terry Pratchett[/tag]. Couldn’t stand it. I got at least half way through, and found it to be boring and the humor contrived. A couple of weeks ago, though, I picked up [tag]Going Postal[/tag], and proceeded to laugh my way through 400 pages of wonderful stuff. I immediately read [tag]Monstrous Regiment[/tag] (WO’s only other Pratchett book here), and although I chuckled less, I appreciated the increased sense of suspense as much as I appreciated Going Postal‘s humor. If WO has more Pratchett books here, I’d be tearing through ’em. As it is, I’ve started Palahniuk’s Survivor, which proves, as…
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Uncategorized
Games Torment me
This summer has been an enlightening one for me in terms of my career as a gamer. (1337 gamer that I am.) For this summer, I started playing Planescape – Torment. Now I have trouble playing just about any other game. I blame it on WO’s quasi-experiment to determine what kind of gamer I am. [tag]Wizardry 8[/tag], which I’d been playing since last fall (dear god, that’s a long game!), seemed boring and annoying after Torment. Turn-based combat doesn’t appeal to me, and never has, although I endured that annoyance for the sake of the character development (and decent plot) of Wizardry 8. [tag]Diablo II[/tag]… well, honestly. WO and I…
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On podcasts
Ah, podcasts. These things have saved my sanity throughout the summer. Some of these are worthy of linkage and sharing. Not all–luckily, since I listen to entirely too many–but some. First, the [tag]Performance Poetry[/tag] podcast I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Amazing stuff. Another favorite of mine is Next Big Hit. The announcer kills me and the music played probably won’t be the next big hit. That doesn’t make it bad, though, really. It tends to be pop [tag]music[/tag] (and there’s plenty of that new rock stuff I can’t stand), but has recently increased the number of R & B and rap artists played. A fun trick is to…