2/15/10

Passive Guilt-Tripping

I keep looking at this tab in Firefox and I keep thinking, "I need to do a new blog post" but I don't. So here's a post.
As I obsess over Brandon Sanderson, I come across a variety of interesting things. He has a podcast he does with a couple other writers called Writing Excuses. It's got some really great stuff for an aspiring writer like myself. His two fellow podcasters, Howard Tayler and Dan Wells, have some good work as well. Howard works on a long running webcomic called Schlok Mercenary that's very good. I haven't gotten a hold of Dan Wells book, I Am Not A Serial Killer, but from what I've heard of it, it sounds really good. I just have to wait for the stupid library to get the thing!
Speaking of good books, I recently read acclaimed graphic novel Watchmen, and while I don't intend to read it a second time due to some graphic content, I think its definitely a good book, a great deconstruction of the superhero genre as well as a commentary on some interesting real world issues. Though one of the big points of the book is that in this world full of costumed crimefighters there's only one guy with actual superpowers. The thought keeps popping up, "how do you accurately deconstruct the superhero genre with only one actual superhero?" And Dr. Manhattan's barely even that due to his overall detachment from the human condition. Not that he's not super, it's the hero part that he doesn't really measure up to. Then again, most of the excellently written characters don't really fit the perfect definition of "hero". Just looking at a character like Rorschach can tell you that much. Overall, great book, something to look into if you're thinking about writing superhero fiction.
People like to complain, especially on the internet. Take a spin around most of the comment threads on YouTube to see what I mean. One thing that pops up every so often is that Facebook changes its layout, and people whine and cry about how awful it is and how they want the old one back and waa waa waa. As long as I can talk to my friends and don't get too many Farmville invites, I'm perfectly fine with it.
Going back to YouTube, despite the average commenter lacking an IQ above that of a chimpanzee, there's some truly awesome videos. Three words: Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody. GO FIND IT.