A sad day in the world of dressage. The WEG 2006 medal winning mare was euthanized after breaking her foreleg in the pasture. Here is an article for more info.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Aces in the Hole
One of my roommates is taking a creative writing course, and that has got me thinking about writing, and somehow my mind wandered into the common plot cliches and storylines that I run into in my favorite genres of science fiction and fantasy. It strikes me that even though some people complain about formulaic fantasy plots, the old "farm boy gets sucked into epic struggle between good and evil and along the way discovers that he has more to do with the chain events than he realizes, by virtue of hidden heritage or ability"story arc, some kind of formula is what makes fantasy fantasy. It isn't fun if the hero is the hero from the beginning. It's more fun to watch the protagonist learn and grow. The point at which things get dull is when things are too formulaic, and sound like identical stories with different names for characters. To me, the best fantasy stories are the ones in which the author has applied the "standard" formula, and really personalized it, put their own stamp on it. Another thing that can make less than excellent fantasy stories dull is when the protagonist gets every break in the book. If the task is too easy, the story is boring, plain and simple. Either give the hero faults in physical ability, or give him an emotional/mental struggle to battle throughout the plot.
So, here's my theory of Aces.
No one character can hold all the aces and have a story be engaging. The villain can't hold them all, or the hero would get crushed by the end of the first chapter, or, by the first commercial, if we're talking cheesy TV movie. The hero can't hold them all, or the villain just isn't that scary. No, the aces have to be distributed, maybe even moved around, throughout the "cast" and the plot. Maybe have the hero start with one ace, oh, say, hidden royal lineage, and meet a mentor, who passes along another ace in the form of some skill or other: magic, swordsmanship, whatever, then maybe pick up another ace or 2 along the journey, trinkets, talismans, bits of knowledge (I'm not restricting the story to a single deck here, by any stretch of the imagination). Perhaps even take an ace from the villain at some point, or lose one, or lose them all and need to rebuild to have a prayer of survival at the final climactic confrontation that will decide the fate of the universe, or whatever kind of climax your fantasy preferences lean toward.
Probably not that original of a theory, but the mind can come up with strange things during that minute-thirty while you're swishing mouthwash...
Anyway, I've rambled enough for now. For more random info along this same topic, Google "Hero with a Thousand Faces", and check out this link for an amusing list of fantasy cliches.
So, here's my theory of Aces.
No one character can hold all the aces and have a story be engaging. The villain can't hold them all, or the hero would get crushed by the end of the first chapter, or, by the first commercial, if we're talking cheesy TV movie. The hero can't hold them all, or the villain just isn't that scary. No, the aces have to be distributed, maybe even moved around, throughout the "cast" and the plot. Maybe have the hero start with one ace, oh, say, hidden royal lineage, and meet a mentor, who passes along another ace in the form of some skill or other: magic, swordsmanship, whatever, then maybe pick up another ace or 2 along the journey, trinkets, talismans, bits of knowledge (I'm not restricting the story to a single deck here, by any stretch of the imagination). Perhaps even take an ace from the villain at some point, or lose one, or lose them all and need to rebuild to have a prayer of survival at the final climactic confrontation that will decide the fate of the universe, or whatever kind of climax your fantasy preferences lean toward.
Probably not that original of a theory, but the mind can come up with strange things during that minute-thirty while you're swishing mouthwash...
Anyway, I've rambled enough for now. For more random info along this same topic, Google "Hero with a Thousand Faces", and check out this link for an amusing list of fantasy cliches.
Bog-Standard College Confusion Continues (Yay Alliteration!)
At least all of my classes seem to be at least conquerable, if not downright fun. Business Statistics might even be okay... I walked out of the first class with a definite "this might even be fun" vibe, not at all like the "God help me" vibe after the first class of Business Calculus. I love how the classes that are most likely to be challenging (and/or dull) tend to start out with new material in the introductory class, and the classes that I'm actually eager to start reading or hearing lectures on draw out the intro and syllabus review for the whole period.
Amazon has let me down (almost) for the first time EVER. I ordered a couple of textbooks from them, figuring since I was ordering from Amazon itself it wouldn't take an insane amount of time to ship... yeah. Anyway, here I sit, still waiting. As long as they get here by noon tomorrow I'm in the clear, but my developing ulcer doesn't quite believe me. I did snag an amazing deal on a book that I thought that I would just use the online version of to avoid the cost... so that consoles me a little. I never feel like I get the same use and information from studying a computer screen that I do from holding an ink and wood pulp book in my hands. Maybe on top of young and bitter I'm old fashioned.
Anyway, I found the map online somewhere, and thought it was worth a laugh. :D
Monday, January 18, 2010
Back At School!
The Spring Semester starts today! I'm already studying in earnest, and I've only been to one class, lol. I refuse to be madly scrambling and cramming for exams this time. I don't have Business Calculus dragging me down this time, either, so I'll have more time to devote to classes that I can pass well in if I put the time into them. I miss Scout already, and after less than 24 hours back at school I can't wait to see my pony and my family this weekend (Weather behave... I mean it...)
Anyway, in honor of the new semester, a bit of academically-themed humor...
At New York’s Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator.
At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.
“Al-gebra is a fearsome cult”, Ashcroft said. “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like “x” and “y” and refer to themselves as “unknowns”, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.
“As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle,” Ashcroft declared.
When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.
“I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence,” the President said, adding: “Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line.”
President Bush warned, “These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex.”
Attorney General Ashcroft said, “As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is uncertainty of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks.”
Anyway, in honor of the new semester, a bit of academically-themed humor...
At New York’s Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator.
At a morning press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.
“Al-gebra is a fearsome cult”, Ashcroft said. “They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like “x” and “y” and refer to themselves as “unknowns”, but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.
“As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle,” Ashcroft declared.
When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, “If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes.
“I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence,” the President said, adding: “Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line.”
President Bush warned, “These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex.”
Attorney General Ashcroft said, “As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is uncertainty of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks.”
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Second Chances in the New Year!
Well, I've just had an excellent bit of luck! I had planned on entering an essay contest last fall, but I ran out of time to complete my essay since I was writing two term papers for classes at the same time. Yesterday, I get an email from the school saying that the deadline has been extended to January 15th! Kind of odd, the original deadline was in November, and I hadn't heard a lick about it since the deadline passed. Anyway, I'm starting to get a little bored with no schoolwork to do (and the weather too nasty to do much with the horses), and I could definitely use the chance at the prize money.
Scout had his shoes pulled and hooves trimmed yesterday, and he was remarkably good, considering that he's riding high on weather/footing induced stall rest. I expected him to be swinging from the light fixtures, honestly. He stood like a gem, with minimal fuss over stretching his hind legs out. Something else I can polish on while I'm home. Stretching all of his legs might do him good, anyway, as much as he's stuck standing around right now.
Hope the new year is off to a good start for everyone!
Scout had his shoes pulled and hooves trimmed yesterday, and he was remarkably good, considering that he's riding high on weather/footing induced stall rest. I expected him to be swinging from the light fixtures, honestly. He stood like a gem, with minimal fuss over stretching his hind legs out. Something else I can polish on while I'm home. Stretching all of his legs might do him good, anyway, as much as he's stuck standing around right now.
Hope the new year is off to a good start for everyone!
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