Fantasist's Scroll

I’m not really a writer anymore.

When I noticed that Joe Clifford Faust had listed my website under “Resources” instead of “Writer’s Blogs” I was, well, a little miffed. Don’t I have free fiction on my site? Haven’t I submitted to magazines? And even been accepted?! Well, yes, I had one story accepted by a magazine that promptly shut down. More than ten years ago.

More than ten years ago.

Gah! What have I been doing with myself? Not enough writing, that’s for sure. So, I have to reluctantly admit that I am NOT, in fact, a writer anymore. I’m just a “wannabe”. So, now, after not really writing in quite some time. How do I start again? Well, I guess, I’ll start by reading a book by Damon Knight on short story writing. I have it right by my bed. It’s called Creating Short Fiction : The Classic Guide to Writing Short Fiction. And, then, I guess, I’ll have to actually make time to write!

No, really, you can make your own stamps.

And even use them to send mail. Real, regular, normal, “snail” mail. According to this article on Wired News, the U.S. Postal Service is testing out a personalized stamp program that will let you use your own digital photographs or logos to make stamps that have your own message on them. Hmm, I wonder what they’ll censor? And, I wonder how quickly someone will try to make something “naughty”? (Oh, get your mind out of the gutter! I meant something anti-American, you pervert!)

Anyway, it’s Friday, so go have fun with it. Clean fun! (And, yes, this first appeared on my “other” blog.)

You may have noticed a change here at Fantasist.net.

Namely, the fact that there are now advertisements. Well, frankly, it just can’t be helped anymore. So far, in over five years of having this site, less than ten people have bought books from my Amazon.com store, no one has bought anything from the CafePress store, no one has bought anything for me from my Wishlist and no one has donated any money. It’s not cheap to run the place and costs keep going up, so I finally decided that I had to host some small ads. Hopefully, they’re not too intrusive, but they’re here to stay. I may move them around some, but I’m fairly certain that I’ll always have them from now on.
I actually got the idea from Langmaker.com, run by Jeff Henning. He has a few, very tasteful, ads on the side of his site now. And, knowing what I know about the web and costs and such, I don’t begrudge him any of the tiny revenue he must take in from it.

So, now you know.

I knew you could become an ordained minister on-line, but…

I had no idea you could sell your soul on-line! Well, apparently, you can. And, also apparently this is the only way to Make money on the Internet. And, based on how many people have made donations or bought books from this site, I think that’s the only way I might make any money from the Internet!

Anyway, it struck me as funny, so enjoy it, or not. It’s Friday, so it’s your choice!

No, it literally stinks!

According to this article on CNN, there’s a company that makes very, very unusual smells for museums and advertising firms. Most recently, they recreated the stink of a Tyrannosaurus Rex’s breath. But, they’ve done all kinds of things, pleasant and, er, well, less than pleasant for verious special needs. It’s really an interesting idea, when you consider how strongly we tie memories to scent. A very interesting article. And, just the right amount of fun for a Friday!

Notice that I’ve been a little behind in posting?

Well, for that one person who reads this blog, I’ve been busy! As I mentioned in my other blog I’ve changed jobs which has been a little stressful. And, I’ve been Google spammed, so that’s been taking up a bunch of time. But, I hope the new job will allow me more time, thanks to less travel-time on my commute, to write, so it’ll be worth it. I hope. But, I do promise to do better on keeping this blog up to date.

I figure fuel-efficiency is a good trade off.

For speed, that is. Mostly, I don’t want to go anywhere in that much of a hurry. Which is good, because, according to this article on Wired News, hybrids don’t help save gas if you have a lead foot. But, it also isn’t effective if you’re too slow, either. A happy medium is the key to taking advantage of the battery power that makes the hybrid cars so effecient, but accelerating too quickly or slowly degrades that efficiency. So, all this time, the way Coach taught me to drive really was more fuel efficient!

In any case, it’s sort of an interesting article about the new hybrid cars. So, go check it out.

Speaking of drugs…

Okay, no, it’s not the crazy hydroponics ads from High Times! Though, it’s pretty close. According to this article on Wired News, there’s an underground garden in Indiana somewhere that’s going to let researchers grow their pharmacologically enhanced plants without worring about contaminating the general populace. First, I think it’s a good idea to isolate the plants being tested. We have no idea what might happen if these things get loose in the wild, and I’d rather not find out. Second, I also think it’s great that someone has found a way to keep the research going, because it’s important.

Anyway, it’s a great article, so check it out.