August 6th, 2007 — Mythology
Monday as always is Mythology day, and it’s that time once again. (And who expected we’d still be keeping this up all these weeks later?)
Today’s myth offering answers a question posed by a fellow called CrazyDave. And you know, I’m not about to mess with him. Guy’s crazy. I was going to go with a different myth this time out, but then he posted this to the last open forum and it just hit me right between the eyes. He writes:
Who are those people who don’t get off when a train reaches the end of the line? (Happens all the time on the Central Line to Ealing Broadway).
As it turns out, there’s a good answer to that, though I rephrased the question just slightly. I’m like that. So, the question is: why do some people stay on the train past the end of the line?
The answer? Follows. Because I am going to tell you.
I kind of like this one. It goes all the way back to story, with actually fewer digressions than normal. Let me know what you think.
Continue reading →
July 30th, 2007 — Mythology
It is Mythology Day once again, and today’s comes from… [checks notes] um… hm. Super Battle Droid.
Look, I’m not going to ask for a clarification. He (or she) might have a blaster. My skin is soft and remarkably unblasterproof.
Anyhow, SBD’s question is simple. Well, actually, it’s somewhat convoluted:
What really happens to the myriad graduate and undergraduate thesis papers after they disappear into the archives of their respective universities, never to be read, cited, peer reviewed, or heard from again?
That’s a good question, and worthy of examination. For reasons I hope will become clear, we will explore it in a myth we call:
The Songs of Books Continue reading →
July 23rd, 2007 — Mythology
Today, we have a myth as suggested by a fellow who goes by Channing, who I know by a couple of other names but “Channing” works as well as any.
Channing asks:
What really is the deal with gasoline prices? Half the time there’s some kind of patent price-jacking going on to coincide with major travel weekends, but the other half it’s like they’ve got trained chickens selecting the price and then the media submits some kind of half-hearted unconvincing post hoc reason as to why they are what they are, either up or down. Who’s really at the switch? And what do they want?
Which is a pretty elaborate ‘question,’ but one I’m going to distill down to the following: what is the real deal with gasoline prices?
More as always after the break, but first, a note on the writing. The first couple of myths were fusions of essays (with digressions) and immediate stories (with digressions). These had their fans, but a number of people thought the combination made them too long and too uneven. And in the end, I am an entertainer, and if my spastic movements look more like a seizure than a dance, it’s time to go back to the soft shoe.
Last week’s myth was entirely story (with digressions), and it went over rather well indeed. This week’s is entirely essay (with digressions), and we’ll see how it does.
Please note, there will continue to be some essays and some fusions, as that’s how my brain works and some myths will require it.
Let me know what you think!
Continue reading →
July 16th, 2007 — Mythology
And here we have the next of our little modern myths. This one is less digressive — it also ended up being longer than I had initially thought, but it’s shorter than the last and it’s a lot more story driven. It also has a few asides here and there, but they’re brief. Let me know if it worked a little better. Or if you preferred the old style. Or if, I dunno, you’re lonely.
This is the first of the myths being told “by request” from the What Myths Do You Want To Hear open weekend thread from a couple of weeks ago. Fade Manley asked the question. I humbly submit the answer.
Continue reading →
July 12th, 2007 — Mythology, Short Story
It’s Random Thursday yet again! It’s time to elaborate on monday’s myth a little.
Well, really what we’re doing is reprinting something I wrote in my Livejournal on my birthday back in 2005. Which actually requires a little backstory. Which seems weird, but there we are.
I have the good fortune to have been born on January the 27th. Besides making me an Aquarius and making my birthstone garnet, this also means I share a birthday with Mozart and Lewis Carroll, among others. It’s the second that we’re interested in right now.
You see, a few years back a guy named Dan Curtis Johnson declared that January 27 should be Down the Rabbit Hole Day on Livejournal. A day where like Alice we all went a little mad, and did our normal LJ posting, only from the world on the other side of the looking glass, however that fanciful nature came to the individual poster.
I found the idea charming and gave it the old college try, despite feeling ill that day (or perhaps because of it. Who can tell). I know some people have learned to despise Down the Rabbit Hole Day the same way they despise Nanowrimo or Talk Like A Pirate Day or many other events that encourage people to act out in public whether they have talent or not.
Regardless, I liked the bit of mythbuilding I did for that year’s Rabbit Hole, and it actually is informing the overall “Mythology of the Modern World” series, so it deserved at least a shot here in the Random Days.
Why isn’t it in the actual Myth block? Because the Myth block is meant to be new writing each week, not reprints of even germane subjects. So there. Nyah.
Anyway. Please enjoy Calliope Jones and the Writer’s Cusp.
Continue reading →
July 9th, 2007 — Mythology
This was one of those nice, simple myths that would be fun to write that turned into seventy five hundred words. Still, I had fun doing it, and that’s a cool thing. If nothing else, it proves that yes, I am still a writer, and that’s always good.
Wednesday, when I described the premise to her, said this might be one of the most elaborate and apocalyptic solicitations to donate to public television she’d ever heard. “The world could end tomorrow if you don’t pledge now — and you get this beautiful tote bag….”
Please enjoy.
Continue reading →
July 2nd, 2007 — Mythology
It’s monday, so it’s time for our second myth of the modern world. I promise you they won’t all be about coffee. I’m not obsessed or anything.
Anyway, with a little luck I won’t be sued over this one….
Continue reading →
June 25th, 2007 — Mythology
This is the first post in the Mythology of the Modern World: an encyclopedia of things unseen in modern day society.
Or “look, in today’s society, the nymphs and sirens who once wielded allure and song to draw sailors to their doom have cell phones and the internet like all the rest of us do. What makes you think the old ways apply.”
Today, we discuss the fundamental underpinnings of the universe. Also, we discuss coffee.
Continue reading →
