Fantasist's Scroll

I LOVE Friday the Thirteenth!
Why? Well, mainly because I’m perverse and everyone else seems to distrust it. Also, over the years, I’ve complained about my bad luck so often that I used to say the only time I had good luck was when everyone else had bad luck. So, Friday the Thirteenth, became one of my “lucky” days. Not sure how this one will turn out, but I’m hoping for the best!
Oh, and here’s a link to why everyone else is afraid of Friday the Thirteenth.

Hey, why not click that link. After all, what else could go wrong today?

More art!
Yeah, I seem to be stuck in a “water and rocks” phase, but that’s mainly because the free version of Vue d’Espirit that I’m using has very limited materials and objects from which to choose. Still, it is fun to mess around with now and again. I’ve been thinking “nature themes”, lately, but I’ve also been messing around with some more, well, abstract stuff as well. It’s a little strange, like most modern art, and, again, defined somewhat by my limited toolset, but, I think it’ll turn out okay. In the meantime, you can enjoy this simple scene.

Okay, this is more “science-fiction” than fantasy, but…
Aw, it’s Friday and I need a cool link for you all. So, here is, thanks to Gizmodo, a link to an article about a moisture ‘vaporator. Yeah, that’s what I said! This compact device pulls water out of thin air, just like, well, science-fiction. So, now, it’s not impossible for me to concieve of water “farmers” on Mars, or even more distant planets. How cool is that?

Cut me some slack! It’s Friday and the link is fun, so click on it!

I need strange, metaphorical symbols.
I’ve been thinking about surreal imagery lately. Things like the anthropomorphic caterpillar from Disney’s version of “Alice in Wonderland” and the dancing mushrooms from “Fantasia” keep popping into my head as wonderful symbols of some strange story that’s hiding just below the surface of the “real” story. And, too, William S. Burrough’s work with the exterminator/giant cockroach theme has been a frightening inspiration as well. Not to mention the “bug” in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”. So, I’ve been thinking about doing something similar. Taking a list of semi-random symbols and imagery and mashing it into a story. And, I’m going for something very Dali-eseque, but in a literary sense. Of course, the challenge is to get the symbols to use. The stranger, the better, I think.
And, now, gentle readers, here is my plea: Give me your wildest ideas in the comments. Suggest the strangest, most disturbing, funniest, most unusual symbolic references you can think of. As long as we keep it “family friendly”, anything goes. But, you have to give me their “true” meaning, as well. For example, “A giant, talking, anthropomorphic caterpillar => The main character’s SuperEgo”. (Actually, that may just be where I start…) So, there we are.
I’m open to suggestions!

Or, at least looking like you do!
I’ve always loved sleight of hand and optical illusions, so plans for a gravity-defying room really tickled my fancy. It’s actually an old trick and not more complicated than attaching things to a wall instead of setting them on the floor, but the pictures alone are cool. And, the author gives you some handy hints for ways to make it look good if you want to try this yourself.
Hmm, an upside down room in my house…. Naw, it’d never sell if I had to get out later. But, the idea sure sounds like fun.

Yep, that’d be me.
I did this with a free version of a neat 3-d program called Vue d’Espirit. And, I did it all myself! I’ve really always wanted to do this kind of thing, but, well, personal reasons kept me from getting into it. If I showed too much interest, it was frowned upon by someone I cared about, who saw it as a kind of competition. Which is sad, really, because we could have had fun doing this together. Or, maybe not. In any case, it’s something that has interested me and, when I saw this free version in a magazine, I decided to play around with it. Not bad, considering it took me about an hour and I used nothing but free software.

Why is this fun?
Because, it’s an American military German Phrasebook from World War II and it contains phrases like:
“You will be rewarded”, though they translate it to the German for “I will give you money”.
But it also has, “Don’t try any tricks!”, “Don’t shoot!”, and vocabulary for everything from “goggles” to “undershorts” to “a laxative”.
Yes, indeed, everything that a soldier could need to know in one tidy, little phrasebook.

Where was this when I put together my own conlang phrasebooks? Ah, well, at least it’s out there now. Have fun!

A very geeky Friday Fun Link.
Ever wonder about languages that use something other than alphabets or close analogs to alphabets? Ever wonder how those languages are going to survive in a modern world where technology developed for very different languages dominates? Yeah, me, too. I’ve often tried to imagine what a kanji typewriter-keyboard might look like, for instance. Well, now I don’t need to wonder. Thanks to the website Japanese in the Age of Technology, I know what it looks like! This: Japanese Keyboards.

Well, it might not be as “freaky” as my usual Friday Fun Link fare, but it’s still cool, so click the link!