Star Wars The Force Awakens

Loved it!

A brilliant homage to the old movies.

I won't say any more right now.  Just go see it if you haven't!

Inversion in Slovakia

Inversion from a nameless little peak close to Roháč (Near Puchov, Slovakia). And yes, we're above the clouds. Unexpected and spectacular.

Nanowrimo 2015--58,000 words written

Just validated the rough draft of my 2015 Nanowrimo novel!  

Didn't quite finish the plot, but got 58,000 good words written, and will soon finish the story too.

Got inspired.

Had fun.

Feel proud.  

E-books vs paper books

Great quote from Eric Carle, author of kids' books:

"I like to hold books and touch them.  But in the future, who knows? When they invented papyrus, someone probably said, 'Storytelling was so good. Why did we have to go and put it on papyrus?' But one thing doesn't change: It's the story that counts. The medium doesn't matter."

Nanowrimo 2015

Haven't been posting the last couple of weeks because I've been...WRITING!  A lot.  I'm doing Nanowrimo again this year, and I've written 28,000 words since the beginning of November.  I hope to make it 30,000 by tonight.  It's exciting.

The book is fantasy (surprise surprise), and the magic is more powerful than in any of my other books--or at least the power one man holds.  But therein comes the issue:  if such magic can fall into the wrong hands, is it better to destroy it?  Or risk using it for good?  Because, of course, the best of intentions can collapse in the face of great power.  

Halloween Funnies

In honor of Halloween, I wrote some Halloween Mad Libs and asked my students for random verbs, nouns, adjectives, numbers, foods, etc. to complete the story.  Here are some of the best bits.

On Halloween, some people dress as monsters, superheroes, languages, shop assistants, or baby fish.  To decorate their houses, they carve faces on big pineapples and hang elephants from the ceiling.

Children walk from house to house and say "trick-or-woman."  Then people give them bananas.  Sometimes children collect up to 8 pieces of candy.  If they eat it too quickly, they feel extraordinary.

On Halloween, be careful. You might see a monster. 

Vampires are especially friendly.  They often wear pink clothes and like to drink milk.  To protect yourself from vampires, you should wear a necklace of carrots. 

Zombies are not dead and not unexpected.  They swim very loudly.  They like to eat octopus.  Stay away from them.

Werewolves are people who dance with penguins when the moon is pretty.  They have 666 legs and resurrect very fast.

Ghosts are also common on Halloween.  It is very hard to smile at a ghost.  Usually they can't magnify you, but if they scare you, you may have a leg attack.

Halloween is a very fun holiday.  Just be safe and don't talk to books you meet in the dark.

The tiny things you discover when you travel

Here's a beautiful tiny flower I found today on my hike--an October flower as big as my thumbnail that seems to sprout from a delicately veined balloon.  Almost alien.

I have no idea what it is.

But that only makes it more beautiful and mysterious.