Gotta Catch Them All?

Have you tried Pokemon Go yet? I gave it a go, just to see what all the fuss is about. Okay, it's kind of fun, but I found it interferes with conversation too much when walking with friends, and when I'm on my own I'd rather think about my next story, so this one's not for me. I'll keep the app on my phone, though, in case my niece and nephew want to play.

I do like the idea of games utilising augmented reality, and it opens so many possibilities for cool stuff. I'm thinking of trying Star Walk (an app that lets you explore constellations) next, but right now it's still too light out to see any stars. 

Whitman's Civil War: Writing and Imagining Loss, Death, and Disaster week 2

Last week we began by reading some of Whitman's writings about war before and after the Civil War. You can see how his experiences changed him and his writing. There's a difference between imagining something and actually experiencing it firsthand. This led to an interesting discussion about whether you can write authentically about something you only imagined. Especially for a speculative fiction writer, this is a valid question. Sure, you can do research about medieval sword-fighting techniques, even put on armor and get whacked with a sword, but you can never personally experience fighting a dragon. A lot of the time you try to take some experience you've had that might in some emotional or physical way resemble what you're writing about and use that. And try to do a lot of research, of course. For the story to feel real, you have to develop a knack for faking the small but crucial details that help sell the story. I feel that many fantasy and science fiction writers do this quite well, but does the subject matter mean their stories are less real than stories set in the real world?

We also talked about the anxieties writers and artists face when turning disaster and death into art. It's a sensitive subject. What if you hurt people? Trigger anxiety and bad memories? Is it disrespectful to use a disaster or even someone's personal tragedy for story fodder? Depends on how you do it, I guess?  Most people don't want to bear witness to the madness that is the world today, but we're forced to. It seems like every week there's another shooting or terrorist attack, and the war in Syria and the refugee situation make the headlines almost every day. A lot of the time writing about death is the writer's way of making sense of what happened. Speculative fiction as a lens gives some distance. Maybe we fantasy and science fiction writers have it easier in that regard?

The writing assignment had us write about disaster while using some kind of constraint, like doing it in sonnet form, because many experimental and modern writers turn to traditional forms when writing about loss. An interesting and challenging exercise.

Lots to think about.

What about you guys? Any thoughts?  

Iceland: Part 2

Here we go: more adventures in Iceland, as promised. These are the Dverghamrar, Dwarf Stones, which were formed when lava cooled in seawater. This place gave me a strong Labyrinth vibe for some reason.

Here's a glacier (Vatnajokull?) up close and personal. 

You have to respect the glacier. Here's what can happen if you don't. (Sorry about the bad pic.)

I think it looks like a huge block of liquorice ice cream. 

Loved the black sand. It's really something. 

You can't really see it in the pictures, but the sand sparkles in the sunlight like there's bits of gold mixed in it. 

Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon was amazing, too. 

You can see the glacier in the distance. That's where the icebergs come from.

Here are some of the beautiful Icelandic horses. I've only ridden a horse once, but I'd love to go horseback riding with these guys. They were so friendly. 

This is Dettifoss, the waterfall that appeared in the movie Prometheus. (The best thing about the movie, frankly.) They filmed it from the other side, so it looks quite different here.

This is Namaskard. I could only handle the stench for five minutes. Interesting, but you'd need a gas mask to enjoy it. 

A crater lake.

This was my very favourite place on the tour: the Dimmuborgir, "dark castles."

The lighting was bad that day, but these are really something. It looks like a natural citadel full of caves and crevices for nasty things to hide. I was half expecting orcs to come pouring out of the caves at any moment. 

I'll leave you with Godafoss, another beautiful waterfall. The name means "Waterfall of the Gods," and the story goes that when Iceland converted to Christianity, the people threw the statues of the old Norse gods in the waterfall to show their commitment to the new faith.

Iceland is a beautiful, magical country. If you like outdoorsy activities, you'll love it, but you can see it comfortably from a tour bus too. Just wear warm clothes and respect the environment, and you'll have the trip of a lifetime. 

Stranger Things

Just finished watching Netflix's new show, Stranger Things. I'd describe it as The Goonies meets The X-Files. Go watch it, it's fantastic.

Whale Watching

We also went whale watching on our trip to Iceland. I had never seen a whale before, so this was really special for me. 

We saw two humpback whales really close up; one was only about ten meters from the boat!

 Our tour was at Eyjafjord, where they had a 99 % success rate.  I'm not sure of the name of the company, but it's good to have an experienced captain, otherwise you can't get this close. They also made a point of not following a whale too long so it wouldn't get stressed out.

Whitman's Civil War: Writing and Imaging Loss, Death, and Disaster Week 1

Whitman's Civil War: Writing and Imaging Loss, Death, and Disaster, the free MOOC from the University of Iowa, starts this week.

I read up on Walt Whitman, and he's actually kind of fascinating. Born in 1819,  he was an American poet and journalist. His sharp pen and outlandish opinions about things like women's property laws and labor and immigration issues got him in trouble many times, costing him multiple jobs. He also passionately opposed slavery. It's speculated that Whitman was bisexual or homosexual; he denied it, but who wouldn't in the 1800s? His main work is Leaves of Grass, a poetry collection that pioneered free verse and shocked his contemporaries with its sexual content.

During the American Civil War, he worked as a volunteer nurse, and the course will be focusing on his wartime poetry, prose, and letters and how he wrote about all the horrors he witnessed; but this is a writing course, so the point isn't only to learn about Whitman, but to explore the ways of writing about loss and disaster. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

There's still time to sign up if you're interested...

Drabble Time!

Just a quick heads-up: one of my drabbles is up at SpeckLit today. If you want to check it out, clickety-click here.