Regarding days
Or, in this case, years. As a part of a previous post (found here) which has garnered some … interest … here’s a quick video on the different calendars we’ve had in the world. I’d explain here, but, just watch the video. Take note, in the video it’s explained that the Romans used to have an eight day week. So the Beatles weren’t that far off*.
And here’s another video explaining it all. Or, at least explaining how much bunk the 2012 Mayan calendar ending in 2012.
I hope this brings about some insight as to the different lines of thought on how days, weeks, years, months, so on and so forth have changed over the thousands of years.
*And now, the Beatles.
Quotes to end the year
2011 has been a very tumultuous time. Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, bin Laden’s assassination, Kim Jong il’s death, the increase of fear mongering in the western world.
Image via Wikipedia
So, with all of that I found some quotes which I hope make people think, both inward and outward, and some that I hope help to enlighten, brighten and calm.
The separation of the races is not a disease of colored people, but a disease of white people…I do not intend to be quiet about it. ~Albert Einstein
This next is a poem by Samuel Coleridge, and it fits with the turning of the old year into the new year.
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Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether the summer clothe the general earth
With greenness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree, while the nigh thatch
Smokes in the sunthaw; whether the eve-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon
~From “Frost at Midnight” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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These two relate to me, because I know this feeling when I try to sit down and write. And it also marks how I feel each time I sit down to read. They also happen to be from two of the first western authors that I began reading when I was 12.
Every once in a while I feel the tremendous force of the novel. But it does not stay with me. ~Zane Grey
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For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography, and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time. ~Louis L’Amour
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The Biblical concept of days
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I hear this a lot, that according to those who follow the Bible with extreme faith, that each word of the Bible is taken literally. A very good example is the number of days that God took to create heaven and Earth. Six, in fact. Resting on the seventh.
But what exactly is a day, according to Biblical terms. Days, months, years, weeks, hours, minutes… those are all human constructs. Time didn’t exist until someone decided that there were sixty seconds in a minute and sixty minutes in an hour. And twenty four hours in a day. And so on and so forth. When the solar system was created (I’ll leave it at solar system, because I don’t want to have more than one discussion at a time), according to the Bible it took six days. According to human thought, which is limited in it’s concepts, six days is one twenty four hour period six times. However, the concept of time hadn’t been fully thought of until much, much later. So, as far as anyone is concerned, a day could very well be something like the Jurassic Period. Or the Mesozoic Era.
Science shoots the theory of the Earth only being 4 or 6 thousand years old (or ten thousand at the outset) out of the water. The fact that we have proof that many civilizations existed thousands of years before what many fundamentalists believe is a contradiction. It’s a fact that humans migrated, built cities and civilizations almost one hundred thousand years ago.
But what if days, as described in the Bible, are in fact a period of a few million years? And what if, in fact, God’s resting on the sixth day is in fact what is happening now at this very point. We, meaning humans, were given the ability to think and even hypothesis on things like this, so why don’t we often do that instead of blindly follow something. Do you think we’ll just end up insulting God (which, quite frankly, I don’t think we as an insignificant species within the vast expanse of the universe)? I honestly don’t think we can.
The Day After Christmas
I spent a lovely time with family and friends over the past three days. Which is one of the big reasons why I was not around on tumblr for the past little while. And boy did I have an enjoyable time. Food! And a haul of gifts.
My favourite so far…
My CBC Shirt! That wasn’t the only gift of apparel I received…
It’s called a pooque! A toque. Only with… attachments.
My biggest haul, however, came in the form of reading material.
First, there was the Hunger Games Trilogy.
Then, a collection of books from R. A. Salvatore’s Legend of Drizzt. Yes, I’m a Forgotten Realms geek.
Books in the above form weren’t the only things I got. I raked in a haul of comics as well. First of which, the first four issues of Batgirl.
Then, because it was already known I have Batwoman started…
…issue number four of Batwoman. Followed by…
…issue three of the Huntress mini series. Books and comics weren’t the only things I got! I have videos to watch as well.
Russel Peters, live at the O2 Arena in London, and…
…Alfresco, which features early sketch comedy from Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
But, I think the thing that made me the happiest was something my mother informed me of. I was informed that my book, The Adventures of Black Mask & Pale Rider, is available for lending at the Francis Morrison Library in Saskatoon. That’s the main library for the City of Saskatoon. Mom said she saw it there in the new arrivals section while she was looking for books herself.
So that’s my Christmas, I hope everyone else had a great holiday!
My version of Christmas
At this time of year, many will look to Christmas with joy and hope and laughter. I do to. Many will also partake in the touring of Christmas lights, and I admit I enjoy taking the usual tours around communities to view what people have crafted with their light displays. Can’t forget food. Having a wonderful feast is great and satisfying. There’s also Christmas music.
Which I tend to distance myself from.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind Christmas music. For about three hours on Christmas day itself. But the rest of the time, I can totally do without it. My aversion from Christmas music can be blamed on my working ten years in radio. From December 1st right up until Christmas day, the frequency of Christmas music increases. At a few stations I worked for, it would start with one tune a day for a week. Then one tune an hour, then two tunes an hour, followed by three, and then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were crammed solid with 100% Christmas music. There’s only so many versions of Jingle Bells one person can take.
So my tastes changed. I lean more toward classical fair. Dramatic music of certain movies, or video games, that come out around Christmas or announced around Christmas, and I listen to those.
The following is a large sampling of music I listen to around this time of year.
From Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
From Guild Wars 2
From The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Also from Guild Wars 2, the Norn Theme.
Basically, this is usually what I’ll listen to. Not that I don’t like Christmas music, I just got very tired of it after ten years working behind a mic and playing tunes at radio stations.
However, in whatever way you celebrate the season, whether that be Festivus, Christmas, Hanukkah, the Solstice, or just getting together for good food, good friends and good times, have a Happy Holiday Season.
Feel good quotes
You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you. ~author unknown
Just smiling goes a long way toward making you feel better about life. And when you feel better about life, your life is better. ~Art Linkletter
The purpose of our lives is to be happy. ~Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance. ~author unknown
You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. ~Walter Hagen
When you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance. ~Lee Ann Womack
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Locales of Black Mask & Pale Rider: Carrollton, Arkansas
While Pania encounters life in the city of Chicago, Illinois, Shani winds up in a completely different place.
Carrollton, Arkansas.
In the heart of Carroll Country, bordering Missouri, Carrollton is a prosperous community. When Shani arrives, she discovers a good number of farmers, merchants, trades people, and soldiers. The first things she learns about is the conflict between the Union and the Confederacy. That is, after she has a long talk with a gunslinger by the name of Slowhand Johnson about the long vehicles nicknamed the Iron Horse. Shani had never seen a train before she came to Carrollton.
Slowhand seemed helpful enough, and invites Shani to travel with him. He, just as Shani becomes, is a bit of an outcast. People don’t associate with Johnson because of two reasons; he’s a gunslinger who makes his living collecting bounties and because he’s black. The latter has gotten him into trouble with slave runner who thought he was an escaped slave. In fact, he was a slave, but at the age of 19 his master set him free of his own accord. He could have left the territory, but remained on a small ranch where he has some chickens and a small garden, just on the outskirts of Carrollton. People in Carrollton leave him alone, for the most part. They don’t necessarily like him, but they do trust him as he often will assist in some small labour force when construction is needed, or with the local fire brigade.
Shani learns about southern life in Carrollton, and learns about how people treat slaves, both bad and good. Although, she can’t necessarily see what good there can be from having a slave. Many of her questions are directed to Slowhand, who often seems a bit annoyed by the constant questioning.
It is in Carrollton that Shani acquires her accent, to help hide her stutter. She also acquires her knowledge as a gunslinger.
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Locales of Black Mask & Pale Rider: Chicago, Ill.
The main characters are set. Naturally, there will be several secondary characters throughout the story, but we don’t need to go through those at this point in time. But like any story, there are the locales. Places where the characters will go. The first is Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago was founded as a town in 1833 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Watershed. By the 1860s, Chicago had a population of around 125,000, which made it a pioneering city on the edge of the frontier, but also a bustling center for trade and commerce.
It is here where Pania arrives, playing the role of an actress from Europe looking for a theatre company to join. She manages to find one, and manages to find a place to stay at a boarding house (which also happens to house a brothel). Being the adventurous sort, Pania dresses in her finery during the day as she explores the city and takes part in the theatre production that hires her, and during the evening, she wears her more comfortable gear and explores the city from a different view. It is here that she learns of the treatment of Native Americans, the Underground Railroad, and the history of this nation she has come upon.
Pania makes her home in a section of Chicago called Bridgeport. On the edge of this section is a small theatre attempting to make a go of it, but the land it rests on happens to be coveted by an industrialist that wishes to add to his holdings. The boarding house and brothel also resides close by, and is also coveted land by this same industrialist.
As Bridgeport is on the edge of the city, Pania has a chance to not only explore much of Chicago that permits, but she also has the opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside. It is here that she discovers the stage coach routes and the trade routes leading into the city. Small in comparison to the port routes on the edge of the Great Lakes.
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Character Building: Captain Samuel Williams
Previously, I went over some of the main characters of the rewrite to Black Mask & Pale Rider. Those were looked at as the “heroes” of this tale, which is really kind of off as a description as there are no heroes, nor are there any villains. At least, not in the first book. Now, to look at the main antagonist, the one who will chase Shani and Pania across the States.
Captain Samuel Williams is a United States Cavalry officer. He is dedicated to his duties and does not question his orders if he feels they are fair and presented to him without deception. A veteran of the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, Williams proved his loyalty to the Union. Although the Civil War continued, the President had his sights set on expansion west, and there were unsavoury characters that needed to be taken in to allow this to happen. Two of those included the outlaws known as Black Mask and Pale Rider.
Williams was informed that these two were seen as agitators. Pale Rider would rob stage coaches, hold up law abiding citizens in broad daylight, and it was even reported she had killed a United States Marshal. Black Mask was a bank robber, a cutthroat, a brigand. She was also a gunslinger, and word had spread about her kill count in street fights. Williams was ordered to use whatever resources he had to bring these two to justice. But they were to be brought in alive and made an example of.
Williams was a law abiding man. He knew that word of these two was unsettling to many along the Eastern seaboard. Their capture would help to ease tensions, allow for Western expansion, and even ensure that the British Territories to the north would not look to starting a fight with the Union. The Union and the Confederacy were both vulnerable to outside sources thanks to their own internal conflict.
A good judge of character, Williams hand picked his men. Some had served under him in the past. Others were new recruits that he had heard good things about. Once they were together, they would make their way west to Chicago, where Pale Rider had been rumoured to be holed up. His plan was to capture Pania first, then head south to the border States and seek some assistance in capturing Shani and whomever she might be allied with.
Williams stands a good six feet two inches tall, is an accomplished rider and rifleman. When he speaks, his words are measured and very well thought out, even during tense situations. He has shoulder length sandy blonde hair that is kept neat and clean, just as he does with everything in his life. Even while serving in action, he managed to find time to keep his uniform presentable. Williams is a man who pays a great deal of attention to detail.
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Let it snow, let it snow
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For a while, it was looking like a brown Christmas. We had snow a while back, but thanks to the constant up and down temperatures, that went away quite fast. This past Sunday, however, that changed.
I woke up, went to get my coffee started and have an orange (because I spent Saturday feeling deathly ill and couldn’t stomach anything) and stopped to look out the window. It was hard not to. The sight of white covering everything was really quite odd. Not in the “what the hell is that” kind of way (I save that for May if it snows), but more like the “wow, is it ever bright out” kind of way.
Having the snow before Christmas is sort of the thing to have. I grew up always seeing snow, always having snow on the ground in December. But going away in March (as it should, because by then most of us are sick of it, except for those crazy snow mobile enthusiasts). It just wouldn’t be Christmas if the ground was bare. Which I’ve seen in the past.
Rosetown, looking down main street. In summer, not winter. Prairie Centre Credit Union building in the foreground. Image via Wikipedia
I think one of the strangest times was a little over ten years ago, when I lived in Rosetown. We had a good deal of snow and some odd weather patterns. We already had a white out early December, which made for an exciting time at work and a little harrowing. Christmas came and went, and then along came New Year with some incredibly warm weather. So warm, in fact, that the city of Swift Current and the town of Leader had a New Year’s Eve Golf tournament. I never heard about the results, but I did hear a lot of people went, mostly to say they went golfing in Saskatchewan on January 1st. The lead up to the New Year had been really warm, so the organization was fast, and grounds cleaning took a couple of days so things were ready. And, naturally, most everyone hoping that the temperature wouldn’t just plummet by the time of the tee off.
I’m not holding out much hope that this snow we have now will stick around. According to Environment Canada, we’re supposed to have a high of 5 Degrees Celsius (41 F). A temperature that warm, snow will melt. Won’t completely go away, but the rest of the week looks to be in the same range. Which is kind of odd for December.
Just hope January and February is kind.
Do you trust the news?
That is very much a loaded question.
When a large majority of the news networks today seem to have a political bias, or even a political agenda, it’s hard to find a news outlet that doesn’t pander to politicians. In the U.S. it’s Fox News. In Canada, it’s Sun Media. Those are two of the organizations that I trust the least.
It seems the only news sources that are trustworthy are at the local level. I used to work with different radio station news departments, and one of the major things we always discussed was making sure that our reporting was honest and accountable. News organizations at national levels don’t seem to care about that, leaning more toward sensationalism.
So, do I trust the news? Smaller outlets, yes. Larger, national outlets built in the west, no. I just can’t. Not when it seems sensationalism and lying is the order of the day for what they perceive to be news reporting.
Casting Call
The casting call is up! No, not actors I think would play the characters if ever Black Mask & Pale Rider became a movie (though, that would be fun to dream about) but the list of character descriptions of the different characters met in the story. I’ll have a few more as time goes on, including Captain Samuel Williams, United States Cavalry Officer charged with hunting down the pair of dangerous gunslingers.
Cast of Characters
Character Building: Shani Wennemein
Previously discussed Pania, Slowhand, Arella, Scales and Verit. Now, it’s time for the other star of the series, Shani Wennemein.
Shani can best be described as a cautious, yet curious elf. While she is cautious, she can also be a tad bold and head strong as well. This may come from her dragon blooded heritage.
She is a quick learner, often observing how things work and figuring it all out in her head. This reason alone is why she becomes such an expert gun hand. Her confidence is somewhat off, however, thanks to the small stutter she has. This stutter gets worse when she is nervous. Thanks to her association with Slowhand Johnson, she manages to become less nervous in the new world she discovers. Also, thanks to her exploration of the town of Clinton, Arkansas where she first arrives, she acquires an uncommon accent for her kind.
Shani’s skin is a pale white, which makes her look deathly sick. Especially when her facial features are framed with her long, raven black hair. But upon closer inspection, one might find that her skin is actually covered in very tiny scales, which almost gives her a reflective look. To fit in with the world around her, she uses a small amount of make up to give her a bit of colour. After a while, however, she decides against using it, especially when she begins riding constantly between towns.
Shani stands at five feet, one inch tall, and while she appears thin, she is quite strong as well as being incredibly agile. Her lithe fingers prove she’s good with springing a lock, which she seems she can almost see the inner mechanism with her wide, hazel eyes.
She catches local lingo quite easily, and manages to create her own sayings, which many find rather humourous. Shani might be rather rough and tumble, but it’s merely part of her nature. She enjoys a challenge, and finds that sometimes a larcenous action is just to see if she can pull it off. Shani is, to put bluntly, a thief. Though, she will state her intentions are more akin to a rogue, someone with adventuresome spirit, and her services are often used to aid many to increase their own security. Most would point out that others do this with the individuals permission, whereas Shani will simply state she acts in a proactive manner.
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Character Building: Pania Alow
Yesterday, I introduced two of the secondary characters to the rewrite for Black Mask & Pale Rider as well as Shani’s companion, Scales. Today, I detail one of the main characters of the story. Pania Alow, a.k.a. Pale Rider.
Pania Alow is, at the time of the story, a young elf (young being relative to elves, as she is 325 years old) with an adventuresome spirit, an opportunistic outlook and a warm heart. She comes from a family of artists, bards, story tellers and singers. She stands about 4 feet 10 inches tall, about average height for an elf, long, blond hair tucked into curls that seem to frame her sharp tipped ears. She always seems to have a smile on her face like she has some secret. Her green eyes help to draw anyone directly to them as she would converse with any other individual. Her frame is quite curvy, though athletic.
Pania has a style for fashion, choosing to wear whatever might be trendy at the time. She does have her favourites, though, such as her attire when she knows that she must face some sort of danger. She will often wear a silken poet’s shirt with a tunic made of elven chain underneath. Soft leather bracers with gold inlay marking her house and her faith. A leather corset around her midsection, with a belt that holds a finely crafted rapier. Later, a pair of leather holsters would be added, holding a well cared for pair of Smith and Wesson Army .32s. Her slacks are made of comfortable cotton, fitting to her form as though hugging her hips. She wears a pair of leather thigh high boots, with side buckles and spurs at each heel. This is topped off with a finely crafted cloak that rests around her shoulders, brown with gold embroidery at the edges.
Pania is very much a swashbuckler. An expert with her rapier, one might say that her form and fighting stance may have been studied later in life by the likes of Errol Flynn. While better with a blade, she knows how to use her pistols, able to combine the practice of sword and pistol in her ability to fight. But that is not all in her arsenal, for she is a sorceress. At first, when she arrives on Earth, she believes the planet to be dead of magic and worries for her companion, Verit. But eventually, she realizes the magic isn’t dead, just laying dormant. Pania is able to draw upon the arcane to heal and harm, to free and confine. Often she uses these abilities to tell a good tale or sing a song, adding an entertainment value to a possible historic tale of adventure.
When she arrives on Earth, one of her first goals is to find the Underground Railroad. She does not understand how humans could own other humans, and she sympathizes with those who would abolish slavery. Unknown to her, these steps she takes put her on a road she never believed she would see.
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Character Building: Arella Dorchester
Fourth in a series of character descriptions for the rewrite of Black Mask & Pale Rider. This fourth installment: Madam Arella Dorchester.
As the name suggests, Arella Dorchester is the owner of a frontier bordello. When she first meets Pania Alow, she has a brothel and boarding house that she owns over a tavern on the outskirts of Chicago. It is here that Pania learns a great deal about this red headed southern belle.
Arella runs a clean establishment, and the money she brings in is used to ensure her girls get any and all medical attention that they need. Doctors will often take note of the fact that Arella has a number of African American girls in her employ. Often, she’ll make up one excuse or another, but as Pania finds out, Arella is playing a dangerous game. Her boarding house and brothel is a way station in the Underground Railroad.
As mentioned before, Arella has all the mannerisms of a true southern belle. She comes by it honestly, born into a southern family, she was destined to be a fine lady, and had caught the attention and the eye of many a many in her home of Atlanta. Arella was much more firm in her own opinion, however, an aspect that got her into many an argument with her mother. Eventually, Arella left Atlanta, but she didn’t leave alone. She had met a Yankee when the Confederacy separated from the Union, and together, they made a plan to join up with the Railroad. They learned everything they could. They even had a short relationship that ended when he was killed by a band of bounty hunters looking for escaped slaves.
Eventually, Arella settled in Chicago and opened her boarding house. Which is what it is officially known as. It is here where Pania meets Arella, and the two have a whirlwind of an affair. At the outset, Arella, and her girls, know of Pania as a stage show performer. Until one night that the figure of Pale Rider needs assistance.
The bordello and Arella help Pania, but eventually, thanks to the law tightening regarding brothels, Arella and her girls have to leave. As does Pania.
Arella is an older woman, in her forties, but has all the charm and beauty of someone years younger. Her charm is backed up by wisdom and experience. Arella knows how to handle a gun quite well, having needed to do so while traveling under cover of darkness, guiding escaped slaves to new found freedom. She is extremely protective of the girls in her care, and will not tolerate any mistreatment at all.
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Quotes for the day
A couple of really good quotes, one on treating women characters in comics (and in turn, treating male characters in comics), and the other a response to the statement “Date an Illiterate Girl”.
Image via Wikipedia
By the same token, sexy is not exploitative, and exploitation is dishonest. Reverse that chain and you can see that, whoever you are writing, if you are honest about them, fair to them, and allow them their moments of brilliance, you can create that sexiness without it becoming pandering. Sexy is not a visual trait – that’s titillation. Cheesecake, beefcake, those are entirely visual matters. What makes someone sexy – what makes anyone sexy, in my opinion – is less how they look than how they do. Competence is sexy. Capability is sexy. Confidence is sexy. Smart is sexy. A character who clearly embodies these traits in some capacity or another is a character who is going to be attractive.Bending over to pick up a dropped pen with your ass high in the air isn’t sexy, that’s just a butt shot. We confuse arousing with sexy in the same way we confuse strength with cruelty. A strong character isn’t, by definition, a mean one, but the confusion between the two has lead to a shorthand where the attempt to depict a female character as “strong” translates to “bitch.” They’re not the same. Strength is part of character, as well – those characters who know what they want, know what they’re willing to do to achieve those goals, and who rise again and again against opposition are, by definition, strong.
Greg Rucka (via ComicVine)
Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve. Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow. She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book. Buy her another cup of coffee. Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice. It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does. She has to give it a shot somehow. Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world. Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two. Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series. If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are. You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype. You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots. Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads. Or better yet, date a girl who writes.
Rosemarie Urquico’s Date A Girl Who Reads, a response to Charles Warnke’s You Should Date An Illiterate Girl (AKA Robert Pattinson did not say this)
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Character Building: Clayton “Slowhand” Johnson
Earlier, I posted information about the main companions for Shani and Pania. Those being Verit the pixie, and Scales the pseudodragon. Now, I would like to introduce the people who help Shani and Pania when they first arrive on Earth. We’ll start with Clayton “Slowhand” Johnson.
Slowhand, as he is called, is an old, rugged gunslinger who travels the area that borders the frontier of 1860s United States. He’s had his share of gun battles and his own share of misfortune, even avoiding the gallows a time or two. Slowhand acquired his name because he would never draw first when it came to a gun duel. He’d always wait until his opponent would begin to draw his pistol from it’s holster, causing many to believe that Johnson was slow on the draw. But as Slowhand said, it’s not you draws first, it’s who fires first. And he was always one to make sure his barrels fired first.
He is approximately 50 years old, and many will say he is the son of an affluent New York lawyer. Slowhand left home at the age of 20 to explore the new frontier, completely against his father’s wishes. Several bad run ins, and Johnson had to learn to fight. Fortunately for him, he found a mentor that taught him well.
He in turn becomes a mentor for Shani, and even helps to take care of Scales.
While Johnson may be the type of man that Shani would call a brigand, he isn’t a cutthroat. Johnson makes sure his renown is dulled, so he won’t become a target by the law or other gunslingers. He teaches Shani reliance, survival, and how to use a gun.
Johnson is not the type of man to immediately brand someone without knowing a little about them first. He has a knack for filtering out what is truth and what is rumour.
Clayton “Slowhand” Johnson stands approximately six feet two inches tall, and is a tad heavy set. He does not stoop at all, finding that standing tall usually acts as a greater intimidation than any insulting words ever could. His hair is long and grey, often hidden by the weathered stetson he is often seen wearing. His skin is tanned and leathered, not exactly the complexion you would think a man born in New York would have. He speaks in a soft tone, but not because he is a soft man. Johnson knows that a whisper will at times garner more attention than a shout.
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Character Building: Scales
Yesterday, I gave a bit of a detailed description about the additional character called Verit that will become a part of the rewrite for Black Mask & Pale Rider. Verit is Pania’s pixie. Today, I’ll focus on the pseudodragon that is with Shani. He is called Scales.
Scales looks exactly like a dragon, but is about the size of a domestic house cat. Brown and grey in colour, Scales has a long snout, filled with tiny sharp teeth. His eyes are yellow with a black slit and the crown of his head has two long horns that curve down below his jaw. Spikes follow down his spine, growing shorter until they reach his tail, whick tapers down to a point. From the tip of his snout to the tip of his tail, he’s about twenty four inches long, and he weighs about fifteen pounds. His back legs look rather powerful, able to support his frame quite well when he feels the need to stand up on his hind legs. His fore legs, which look more like arms, are equally as powerful and he uses them to rip apart some of his favourite foods, which include apples, oranges, beef jerky and small rodents. His wings measure approximately forty inches, and fold up neatly on his sides. They appear covered in small, glossy scales that shift from brown to red to grey to orange when the light hits them just right.
Scales is rather lazy, which may have come from the fact he was mistreated when Shani found him. Captured by a brigand lord, Scales’ master was killed. As Shani discovered, Scales was the familiar of an old mage. Brigands attacked the caravan the mage and Scales were in, and Scales taken as a trophy. Shani reported finding the encampment, and even reported rescuing Scales, and at first the Mage Academy wanted to relocate Scales to a new mage, but Scales seemed content in staying with Shani.
He has a very neutral demeanor when first seen. He is neither interested, nor does he ignore new people, he just merely watches them, often from his position perches on Shani’s shoulders. Scales is affectionate with Shani, which may have to do with the fact that Shani is an elf of dragon blood. Often, he will rub his maw against her cheek, and he seems to whenever Shani scratches just under his chin. Whenever Shani is on the road and needs to camp for the night, he’ll sit quietly by the fire, almost tending it as he drifts between sleep and consciousness. Thanks to the run in with the brigands, he has taken to being alert while Shani is asleep and will often guard her while resting on a small pile of rocks that he’ll gather together. He is most comfortable when Shani is at home or at an inn or tavern, when he can sleep on a nightstand or nearby dresser, usually curling up on top of Shani’s gold pouch. After a while, Shani had taken to setting out some of her gold or gems she’s found to help make his bed.
While Scales does appear lazy at first meeting, he is quite adept at defending himself and Shani. He will often take flight and use his fire breath to ward off thieves and cutthroats.
When first seen on Earth, when Shani appears in Clinton, Arkansas, Scales is an oddity, and a few hustlers try and con Shani into selling him. Fortunately, Shani meets up with an old gunhand by the name of Slowhand Johnson, who manages to ward off any curious gawkers.
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Character Building: Verit
I did this with Swift Fox, and maybe it’ll help with the rewrite for Black Mask & Pale Rider as well. Pania and Shani remain essentially the same, however, I will put up character descriptions of them as well. For now, here’s Verit.
Simply put, Verit is a pixie. A fairy. A member of the fae folk, and completely and totally a being of magic. Verit stands about 4 inches tall. Pretty tall for a pixie, really. Which might have something to do with her attitude. While around Pania she is curious and happy, and even sometimes gets herself into trouble, around her own kind she’s seen as an outsider.
She has pale skin which glows a soft white, not any of the vibrant colours that others of her kind might. Raven black hair, dark but large eyes that are a deep blue in colour, and even her delicate wings are framed in black. Many thought she was not good enough to assist any of the mages within the towers of Stonebridge, or with the prestigious Arcanum Bridge Academy. Eventually, however, Verit found herself in the care of, what she at first considered a bit of a flighty sorceress. Verit’s first impressions were off regarding Pania, because Pania seemed more bardic than one who would require the services of a familiar. But as Verit soon learned, Pania was an adventuresome sort, and one who would often chronicle these adventures in large tomes. At first, Verit wondered why Pania had such a huge library, when it held no tomes of magical spells or long held arcane knowledge. It was more like a library of adventure stories and local histories. After Verit had been with Pania for a year, she finally grew courageous enough to ask Pania if she could read the many tomes within the library. Taken aback, Pania did agree, and often would help Verit pick out her books so she could read at Pania’s writing desk. The same work area that Verit would ensure was tidy and organized.
You see, Verit wasn’t like other pixies. Her physical appearance wasn’t the only reason why she was seen as an outsider, but also the fact that she was well read. That she could read. Not many pixies could read, and even fewer had a grasp on four different elven languages. Verit did, however. And it was a skill that Verit often would help Pania with.
Eventually, Verit began to accompany Pania on her adventures, keeping herself perched up on Pania’s shoulder, holding onto the cloth of Pania’s cloak as they would travel. It was during these times that Verit proved even more valuable. Like all pixies, Verit has a curious nature. This curious nature has allowed her to spot warning signs of danger, look out for man made traps and even spring locks that are difficult to get past.
Verit even proves that she is a quick learner, and will often listen to Pania’s opinions, and others, to the point where she has started to develop her own philosophy on the world around her. Pania does not keep her as a servant. Verit has full control of her own movements throughout Pania’s house, but always stays close to Pania when they adventure.
Pania feels very protective of Verit, and in a way, Verit very protective of Pania.
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More ideas coming
More ideas coming to mind for the rewrite for Black Mask and Pale Rider. I’ve already decided to add Pania’s pixie, Verit, to the mix. Verit is a typical pixie, acting as a familiar to any mage or sorceress. Which Pania is without a doubt, a sorceress.
image by Anne Stokes
This essentially describes the visual of Verit that will appear at the beginning of the story. However, by the time the story concludes, Verit will have imitated aspects of both Pania and Shani and the way they dress. Having her own version of denim slacks, boots complete with little spurs, chaps, a poet’s silk shirt, a corset and a long cloak and fancy hat. Verit will stick very close to Pania, at first because Pania believes that this non magical world called Earth has weakened her, but after a while it’s because Verit works so well with Pania. Verit is a curious little thing, as she can open locks and cast small spells, both of which are extremely helpful to Pania. Verit can also be a bit of a troublemaker, and will be quite vocal with her actions when someone attempts to cause harm to Pania, and in time to Shani and her own companion.
image by butterfrog
Shani will have something very different by her side. Or rather, hanging around her shoulders. A small lizard looking creature, that will add to the elven gunslinger’s fame (or infamy), called a pseudodragon. Not a real dragon, but the creature has all of the aspects of a larger, fully grown dragon. Shani, as it will be explained in the story, will rescue the tiny beast from the clutches of a brigand lord who has been ravaging the roads in Brytilonia. Shani will discover that the tiny creature’s master was killed by the brigand band, and so she takes it upon herself to take care of it. Shani herself being dragon blooded feels something of an affinity for it. Eventually, she calls it Scales, but still waits for the day the pseudodragon will tell her it’s name. Scales is kind of lazy, as he hangs about Shani’s shoulders and will snap at a wayward bug that happens to fly by, or munches on pieces of jerky that Shani gives him. He is rather protective of Shani, however, feeling that he owes it to her for being rescued by her.
When Shani and Pania meet, naturally there will be exploring from both Verit and Scales.
The above images are not exact to what I imagine the two additions, but they are just a helpful visual guide. They are copyright their respective artists (visit the artists’ pages to learn more about the individual illustrators).
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Turn the Page
I’m currently plotting and planning the rewrite and additions to Black Mask and Pale Rider. There will be quite a few changes taking place, but the core of the story remains the same; two elven women who find gateways to Earth from their own world and go on to become notorious gunslingers.
Some of the additions will include:
- Pania’s pixie, Verit, will become a part of the story.
- Shani will have mentioned once or twice she is born of dragon blood.
- A lead up that’s more extensive, before Shani and Pania meet each other.
- Shani stutters, but overcomes this by “acquiring” an Arkansas accent and talking more like her Earth born mentor, Slowhand Johnson.
- Pania first appears in Chicago, and helps a theatre company begin to take a foothold.
- Pania hears about the Underground Railroad, after seeing the treatment of former slaves. She takes on her nom de plume, Pale Rider, and acts like a highwayman, stealing from stage coaches of those affluent individuals who can afford it.
- Shani is disgusted by the treatment of the Native Americans and becomes an 1860’s version of Robin Hood, stealing from stage coaches and banks and giving what money she can to the Natives.
- The way the story comes about will change as well. Pania won’t be writing a novel one hundred years later, instead, Shani and Pania arrive back on their homeworld after the events on Earth and are confronted by their families as to their whereabouts for the past two years.
Once all of that happens, the story will move to them both meeting outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And that’s just the first book. Yes, the book I wrote is going to become more like … seven.
So what’s that got to do with the song? Well, like the title of my wordpress blog (and my tumblr for that matter), Turn the Page is rather inspiring. This is one of two songs that have the title, Turn the Page. The other is from Blind Guardian. Turn the page is like the changing of one’s life, as a new chapter begins. Like reading a book. Which is very much the core of Pania Alow, one of the main characters of Black Mask & Pale Rider.
The book I wrote will still be available, I’m not taking it off the market. But I felt this book needed to be rewritten in a way that I felt would be more complete. For copies of that, check out lulu.com, Amazon.com (which must have been so confused by the genre of western/fantasy that they placed it in science fiction), or just cruise over to the book section of my blog. Hey, it would make an awesome Christmas gift. You can even buy it for the Apple iPad through the ibook store.
At some point, I might do the same with Canyons of Steel.
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Stacey Nesbitt, 14, first woman to reach podium in Honda CBR125R Challenge | Driving | National Post
Stacey Nesbitt, 14, first woman to reach podium in Honda CBR125R Challenge | Driving | National Post.
Stuff like this is pretty amazing. Even more amazing is the fact she is only 14. Add onto that, the fact that Stacey has only been racing for 2 years. Stacey actually got into CBR125R racing reluctantly. Her first time in a trial run nearly scared her. Her older sister, Toni, was already a CBR125R racer, and it was after watching Toni race for a year that Stacey wanted to try again.
But How Do You Know It’s Sexist? The #MenCallMeThings Round-Up
Tiger Beatdown › But How Do You Know It’s Sexist? The #MenCallMeThings Round-Up.
I found this article at Tiger Beatdown. I’ve read a few articles from that site before, and it’s one of the places I go to (including STFUSexists over on tumblr) to educate myself regarding the differences in how men and women think (it’s honestly not that hard, merely asking for starters helps).
But it seems now there’s this very dangerous attitude that’s growing and growing. Maybe I just didn’t observe it before all that well, but it’s rather disturbing nonetheless. It also ties in quite nicely with what I talked about yesterday about Mary Sues. The example I used yesterday about taking the Batman origin and change it up for a woman with the only changes being gender, works in the real world as well.
There are masculine and feminine descriptors for people. What are considered the norm are stoic, rational, adventurous, investigative and more. On the other hand, descriptors such as sensitive, emotional, weak and others are focused on negative aspects of a person, and more often than not, related to women. However, if you take stoic or rational and tag them to a woman, they change. They become aggressive and threatening or mean. Because the previous words are often identified with men, while the latter words are identified with women.
That’s something we have to change, both in fiction and the real world. Maybe it starts in one, and moves to the other, but something needs to be done. It’s turning into a large amount of hatred from all corners. The author of the blog, Tiger Beatdown, goes onto say in her post that the amount of hate she’s received. The words are disgusting.
Trigger warning for violent and abusive language.
One of the messages she received, and are similar to ones I’ve seen friends of mine have received for speaking their mind, include; I will fuck your ass to death you filthy fucking whore, you’re only worth ….
I think that first one was most likely the worst, and I really won’t go into more. Needless to say, the messages received included threats of sexual violence, de-legitimizing intelligence, politics, and even gender, calling out as being mean, using name calling, and much more.
So, what kind of ignorance makes a person pick up their phone, send a tweet to someone they hardly know, or don’t know at all, and threatens them with rape. Or calls them a little girl. Or calls them stupid. Are we devolving as a society where we consider half the population as nothing more than sexual objects. And even less if they don’t fit into that frame?
I encourage people to check out Tiger Beatdown, there’s a lot of good stuff there. Same with STFUSexists. Steel thyself, however. There can be many topics which are discussed that are rage inducing. Not against the hosting site but against people that often make me scream “how can you think of doing that”.
What was the worst job you’ve ever had?
I think the worst was working as a clerk at a Mac’s Convenience Store. At the same time it was also good, because it helped me develop better people skills. Sadly, it also made me realize more and more that people are just stupid.
