#ScribesAndMakers day 1: Does the change to a new calendar year affect your creativity in any way?
Not really. The change to a new month means I have to load a few more blank lines into my progress log file, waiting be filled or completed as each day goes by. That's about it.
#ScribesAndMakers day 2: Vivid?
I'll take this as a prompt for something from my own writing. Here's a snippet of a practice vignette. It's Kevin Wingard's birthday (roughly 8 years before the WIP novel takes place), and Adrian Hardesty and Derrick Devereaux are taking him out on the town. Adrian's gotten them into a very upscale club and asked if there's anything else that would make the night better. Kevin thinks he might hit the dance floor...
#ScribesAndMakers day 4: Share a mondegreen (misheard lyric) you like.
For the longest time, I misheard a line in the Smiths' "There is a Light That Never Goes Out". I heard it as:
> And in a darkened underpass, I thought:
> "Oh, God, my chance has come at last!"
> But then a strange fear gripped me
> And I just couldn't pass.
I thought it made an absolutely banger *triple*-entendre: Not only could he not pass by another car in his own, but he also... 1/2
...couldn't make a pass at the woman he's driving around with... and therefore, couldn't pass as straight. (I initially thought it was only a double meaning, before discovering that Morrissey was gay. Even then, I thought it was clever, but the lyricist's homosexuality adds so much with that third level of meaning!)
Sadly, it turns out my mishearing was *way* more creative than Morrissey's actual line, which is merely "...and I just couldn't ask." Meh. 2/2
#ScribesAndMakers day 5: Make a story or art based on the misheard lyric you shared yesterday
It'd really just be the story Morrissey was already telling in the song. Except a little more clever.
#ScribesAndMakers day 6: How long does it usually take you to decide if you like a piece of visual art?
Sometimes it can be as quick as "the moment I see it", if it's something that I can take in all in a glance. More complex things may take up to a full minute or more, if I have to really inspect the details and get a real understanding of the thing. 1/2
Though I do sometimes change my mind about a piece, after some much longer time. The first time I saw "Guernica", I went, "Ugh, what a gross mess!" (I am not proud of this reaction.) A couple of years later, I finally got the point, and I'm now in agreement with most of the rest of the world in considering it a very powerful artwork. 2/2
#ScribesAndMakers day 7: How long does it usually take you to decide if you like a piece of music?
Anywhere from about two seconds up to the entire length of the song. Usually in the 5–15 second range, though.
It's rarer for my tastes about a musical piece to change, although sometimes I find that something gets overplayed and I get tired of it for a while. But a period of non-exposure will usually get me back to liking it again.
#ScribesAndMakers day 8: How long does it usually take you to decide if you like a book?
Could be as little as a page or two, or it might take me up to a few chapters — let's say, maybe up to 15,000 words or so — before I decide to DNF something. (Given how slowly I read, I should probably learn to pull the ripcord earlier, but I feel so bad about doing so.)
#ScribesAndMakers day 9: Is there a difference in how long it takes you to decide if you like different mediums? Why do you think that is?
I mean, there's a difference just in how I even *measure* the lengths, and there should be, because different media are... *different*.
#ScribesAndMakers day 11: Is your creativity ever inspired by dreams you’ve had? If so, can you give an example?
Yeah, there was this previous answer: https://wandering.shop/@kagan/115543052003675170 I still desperately hope every copy of that play has been purged from the face of the Earth.
#ScribesAndMakers Day 13: Have you ever created a project inspired by a dream? If so, describe it. Oh, Goddess, I'd forgotten... there was this one-act play I wrote, back in college. For a class, no less! I actually turned this thing in for an assignment! Although I forget what the class was. Anyway, the play was the most amazingly cringe thing I can conceive of now, and I blush with embarrassment to recall it.
#ScribesAndMakers day 12: A variation of a guess-the-lyrics prompt from last month: share a snippet of song lyrics and create a poll asking people to pick what song the lyrics are from.
"Here's the song of shear and torsion,
Here's the bloodbath magazine,
Here's the harvest of contusions,
Here's the narcoleptic dream"
#ScribesAndMakers day 13: Reveal the answer to yesterday's poll.
It was "Transverse City", the title track off Warren Zevon's very-cyberpunk 1989 album. My TTRPG group used to use this song to kick off our Shadowrun sessions from ~1997–2003.
The bit about "the song of shear and torsion" is my favorite line from a song that has a plethora of them. As a professional architect, Angel Castillo is very familiar with the song of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_stress and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torsion_(mechanics). 🏙️❤️
#ScribesAndMakers day 14: Is there a color you find comforting?
The deep blue of the sky about 20–30° up from the western horizon, a few minutes after the sun has set on a clear day.
#ScribesAndMakers day 15: You are in an art contest (or collaborative game if you prefer) with someone of similar skill level. Choose your 'weapon': pencil, pen, paintbrush, digital pen, or clay.
This reminds me of a contest/game from my past, when I and a few friends were all DJs. We'd do something we called "Iron DJ" (a nod to Iron Chef), where we'd have to pick a theme for a set from out of a hat, and then spin a short set based on that. Themes included... 1/2
...things like "the four elements", "past, present, and future", and a whole bunch of other things I can't even recall right now. They definitely weren't all simple sets of things like that; some were more creative.
So anyway, my choice is DJ equipment! 2/2
#ScribesAndMakers day 16: You wake up to find someone staring at you. Who is it, and why are they there?
It's my partner, who came over to surprise me with morning snuggles.
#ScribesAndMakers day 17: What's an animated movie you love?
_Princess Mononoke,_ by Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli.
#ScribesAndMakers day 18: Vinyl, compact disc, digital, or radio?
Digital. It's nice not to have to lug around lots of physical objects to have music.
#ScribesAndMakers day 20: When it comes to theater, do you prefer tragedy or comedy?
Comedy, although it's a close thing. Watching someone completely ruin their life can be grand and full of pathos, and many of the best soliloquies are from tragedies, not comedies. But in the end, I prefer to walk out of the theater having laughed and had fun rather than having gone, "OMG, can you please not do the obviously catastrophic things?" for a couple of hours.
#ScribesAndMakers day 23: If you garden, do you give away anything that you grow? If so, what do you give away the most of?
I don't garden.
#ScribesAndMakers day 24: What's a work of science fiction that you love? What do you love about it?
I'm going to say, completely unironically: ST:TOS. Maybe it's partly because I grew up on it — and look, I'm not saying *every* episode; some of them were real stinkers¹ — but by and large, the message that humanity can come together, overcome our differences, triumph over the three evils of racism, militarism, and greed, and even ally with alien species in the pursuit of... 1/2
...knowledge and peace, is one that I wish more works would promote, and more people would follow, today. 2/2
1. I know, you're thinking of "Spock's Brain". But "The Empath" is even worse. Hoo boy, does that one suck!
#ScribesAndMakers day 25: You're going on a creative retreat. What's the most important thing you need to bring with you?
My laptop, obvi! I can't write without it.
Okay, assuming "whatever tools you need to do the creating" are considered to be already included, then... what the hell, I'm going with the alexandrite earrings and pendant my sweetie gave me as things to spur creativity.
#ScribesAndMakers day 27: Are you good at threading needles?
No, but I have hardly any practice at it. I'm sure I'd improve quickly if I started sewing on a regular basis.
#ScribesAndMakers day 30: Hogwash?
Folderol! Stuff and nonsense! Indeed, as the kids say these days: that's AI!
#ScribesAndMakers day 31: Share something about your creative work this month.
My first version of chapter 9, scene 1, was a real banger. And then I realized that the whole rest of the chapter would be stronger if I decided the MCs (including the one who was the POV for that scene) *don't* know the thing I'd had her agonizing over.
So I tore it down and redid it.
That's a good capsule summary of my creativity for this month.
#ScribesAndMakers day 1: What's one creative thing you'd like to get done this month?
At least one chapter of my WIP. Preferably two, but I know that's not a reasonable target.
#ScribesAndMakers day 2: Do you have any annual traditions not tied to holidays?
None that I can think of.
#ScribesAndMakers day 3: What's a creative project you would want to give someone for their birthday?
Well, I can bake a pretty nice chocolate cake...
#ScribesAndMakers day 4: Our next featured creator is a comic artist. Tell us about a comic strip or web comic you enjoy.
It's an oldie but a goodie: I'm still enjoying Questionable Content (https://questionablecontent.net/) I'm still impressed with how much Jeph Jacques has managed to change the comic while still keeping it so much the same.
@kmherkes When I first saw "Miri", I didn't see the problem with it.
In my defense, I was maybe 8 years old?
I forget when it was that I saw a little of it as a post-pubescent, rather than pre-pubescent, person and went "yikes".
But anyway, yeah. Not enough yikes in the world for that one.
@kagan lol yes, "not enough yikes in the world" is a great description.
I was probably the same age as you on first viewing and also loved it (an episode all about kids? AWEsome!)
As an adult, even as a teen, yeaaaaah, no.
Oh, no, poor Dad!
I mean, could've been worse, but still.
How strange that multiple people seem to have always ended up seeing only ONE trek episode.
@ElyseMGrasso Wild.
I mean, if I were to be told, "You can only ever see 1 TOS episode ever again in your life. It will always be this one. Make a list of the top 10 episodes you'd choose," that one would probably be on the list (albeit near the bottom). So yeah, like @kmherkes said, could've been much worse.
That ep is a bit difficult to take seriously, but that's okay; it doesn't really *want* to be taken seriously. It's just 48 minutes of fun, start to finish! 1/2
@kagan I’m an unreconstructed original series fan. I think it has more good episodes than The Next Generation, and by a pretty wide margin. And its peak episodes blow NextGen’s out of the water.
TOS did finally get lapped in quality by Babylon 5, but B5 was arguably playing a somewhat different game, so the comparison may be unfair.
The only season of Trek I’ve seen which I think surpassed the first two of TOS is the first season of Picard.
@mrawdon "More good TOS eps than TNG" is a bold claim... and now I'm looking over episode titles, trying to see if I agree or not. It's a hell of a thought exercise, and I think I might have to rewatch all of both shows to come to a final conclusion.
I *do not* have the time for that in my life right now. But props for the boldness!
I agree B5 was: 1) awesome; 2) playing a different game.
Haven't seen any of _Picard_ yet.
@kagan My top ten original series episodes, in the order they come to mind:
The Doomsday Machine
The Ultimate Computer
The Menagerie
Court Martial
The Enterprise Incident (yay season 3 had one great episode!)
Amok Time
Arena
Balance of Terror
Errand of Mercy
The Trouble with Tribbles
Outside looking in:
City on the Edge of Forever (good ep; I am not as ga-ga over it as many are, and I have no opinion as to whether Ellison’s original script - which I have read - would have been better)
Mirror Mirror
Space Seed
Day of the Dove (hey, another S3 episode!)
(The Tholian Web is also good!)
I guess my favorite NextGen episode at this point would be “Q Who”. I wasn’t a fan of the show the first time around and it’s aged poorly.
@mrawdon And I think there are at least a few TNG eps I haven't even seen once yet.
So, if I had to try to answer your original statement ("more good episodes than..."), my methodology would be:
Watch each series. For each episode, just assign it "good/medium/bad". Yeah, broad bands, but that's okay, and that seems to be what was set up by the statement. And there's no restriction on how many assignments of any given type can be made; if one thinks a show is full of good episodes and... 3/4
@mrawdon ...has hardly any bad ones, well, that's okay! That's what we all *want*, right? So no bell curve or stack ranking here. But do the votes honestly.
Then check the numbers. (Both absolute and by percentage, since 79 episodes vs. 178 is not really fair.)
It sounds like a fun project, but a time-consuming one. Maybe when I'm retired or something. 4/4
@asakiyume Yeah, I've never seen anything by Studio Ghibli that I didn't like, and I had to debate for a while before settling on this over _My Neighbor Totoro_ or _Spirited Away_, but this one is tops for me.
Although if you asked for my favorite *single scene* from an animated movie, it'd have to be that train ride across the water in _Spirited Away_. Just breathtakingly beautiful.
@kagan And the MUSIC from that part of Spirited Away is one of my favorites from Joe Hisaishi (though there are many contenders.
Yeah, the dreamlike nature of that ride across the water is really something.
EDIT: the music wasn't quite right for that -_-
Cat. Waiting for pets, and breakfast.
Kagan MacTane (he/him)
Walter Thinman
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Kem Herkes
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