A public place is a portal...

I took a break from my big non-fiction project over the last week or so. Seems like I've needed to take a step back from it. In the meantime, I've been revisiting some unfinished stories and new ideas. I think the time has been good, but I ought to get back to the big one.

So, the big non-fiction project is a series of essays and tangents that all relate back to the public parks in my hometown. When I started working on it, I didn't expect it to be any longer than maybe 15 pages (typed, double-spaced, one-inch margins). I had a whole bunch of ideas about what it might be, but I didn't think it would really be something that I would invest a lot of time working on. But, while researching the parks, I've discovered that these public places give me access to moments in time that I normally wouldn't reflect upon - moments of my own history, and that of my community. Some of those moments are nice. Some of them are dark, and difficult to write about. The places act like a prism, filtering the components that form a culture, and culture is complicated.

So, back to it...

What an interesting device. I can think of plenty of practical applications, although setting your preferences for every type of item would be time-consuming. That could be a new market: selling custom sixth sense presets that would weigh the values of each individual user. On the other hand, I can also think of plenty of ways that this technology could be used that are of questionable legality. But maybe I've just been watching too much sci-fi.

Society for Procrastination Research: Report #1

The Kappa, a Japanese water-sprite. Image from Wikimedia Commons

The Society of Procrastination Research is an international collective dedicated to art and science of procrastination. It has one official member (me), but I like to think that most people are members in spirit. From time to time, I will share my procrastination techniques, tools, and insights for the edification of the SPR's silent members. This is the SPR's first report.

Wikipedia's "List of monsters"

It's one of those things that I never knew I needed. Not until I stumbled upon it one day and wasted the better part of an afternoon reading about Medieval English Heraldic Beasts. The Afanc, the Cockatrice, and the Basilisk turned me to stone - at least, that's my excuse for my lack of productivity. From Á Bao A Qu to Zzzax, the list describes beings found in mythology, folklore, film, literature, and video games from around the world.