At the moment, I feel creatively bankrupt. New story ideas aren’t coming and old ones aren’t calling my name. I usually work on a story based on an emotion, but lately the only emotion I’ve been feeling is tired. Tired doesn’t make for compelling reading.
I’m also of the impression that I need snazzier story titles. Something more catching than say, “The Person.” My titles aren’t usually that bland, but sometimes they are. I haven’t read much Harlan Ellison, but the man knows how to title a story.
Planning for UHR 2006 is well underway. Nominations are due today. Destinations include:
* Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Northern Wisconsin)
* Boundary Waters Canoe Area (Northern Minnesota)
* Isle Royale National Park (Lake Superior)
* Superior Hiking Trail (Superior Lakeshore, Minnesota)
* Rainbow Lakes Wilderness (Northern Wisconsin)
These might be less sexy than previous destinations (North Cascades WA, Death Valley CA, Pecos Wilderness NM, Joshua Tree CA, Red River Gorge KY, and Yosemite CA) but all are quality places nonetheless. I’ve done the Apostle Islands before and will do it again, but the others are all high-quality destinations. I love the midwest and there’s a tendency to ignore the beauty of your backyard.
By the way, has anyone seen the tie-downs for my canoe? I thought they were in the garage but I can’t find them.
Fox Sports has their predictions for the first round of the World Cup posted. So far, we only disagree on Group F—they think Japan’s going through to the second round. I’m not convinced.
I’m also trying to find a site that does a free online World Cup pool. Yahoo! is the official website of the World Cup as they were in 2002, but they had a cool online pool. You could invite a group of people to enter their picks and it kept score. It doesn’t look like they’re doing it this year. They’ve got an Excel spreadsheet that you can download but that requires manually tallying each scoresheet and who wants to do that?
Oh my.
Albright replaces injured Hejduk on World Cup roster
I’m suddenly in a much better mood.
Current Mood – Good, Thanks for Asking | 
Currently Listening To – Bob Dylan – “Bootleg Series Vol. 7 – No Direction Home (Disc 2)”
4 Comments
I think sometimes its cool to have titles like “The Paladin of the Lost Hour”, ” ‘Repent, Harlequin,’ Said the Ticktockman”, “All the Sounds of Fear”, “The Beast That Shouted Love at Heart of the World”.
But sometimes a simple title like: “The Hodag” fits perfectly.
Or to use published examples: “Chivalry” by Neil Gaiman, “Troll Bridge” by Gaiman, “Murder Mysteries” by Gaiman. Sometimes a simple title works best.
I think a good title should reflect the story’s atmosphere (whether it is comical or dramatic), some major event or theme in the story, etc.
Yeah, that’s a good point. Terry Bisson wrote in the afterword to “Bears Discover Fire” that someone (can’t remember who) said that sometimes writing a story is just using the title as a target you shoot for, and that’s how he wrote “Bears Discover Fire.” Which is also a great story and a great title.
I was always partial to Ellison’s titles “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” and “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.” I also really liked the title “The Canadian Who Came Almost All the Way Home From the Stars” by Jay Lake and Ruth Nestvold on Scifiction.
When’s the Portugal trip? That might smack yer slump. I’m interested to see what you think.
Joel and I loved Barca. Didn’t want to come back the UK. I loved the liberal state of mind, the artistic atmosphere, the open plazas for morning cafe con leches and afternoon San Miguels. The ladies were just as nice eye candy as the Gaudi architecture.
We watched the Barca v AC Milan match while there in a local bar. Joel was vociferously cheering for what he thought was the home team. Then realized Barca had their away jerseys on. Typical Blecha.
Arsenal won last night…gonna be close…
We leave next Saturday and we’re gone for two weeks. I think that’ll shake off the funk. Barca seemed more touristy and French than the rest of Spain. Spain’s got some serious regional rivalries and it’s easy to see why–places like Catalonia, Andulucia, and the Basque Country are all completely different. It’s like comparing Alabama with Montana.
Awesome on the Blechaism. When we were there, we watched Barca vs. Real Madrid in the semis of the Champions League in a little tavern. Madrid wasted them and I had to bite my tongue because I’m a big Madrid fan. The guy who owned the place looked exactly like Newman from Seinfeld and he went through two packs of gum, chomping and stomping around the place, swearing and shouting “¡Que mala suerte!” (what rotten luck!) None of the staff took any orders during the game, not even at the bar—they were too busy watching the game. They worked like mad during halftime and as soon as the game kicked off, you couldn’t get a refill on your drink or order any food. Totally Spain. I loved it.