In 2022, Top Gun: Maverick was an exceptionally good movie to me, and many of the film critics whom I respect seemed to agree. Unfortunately, it was also a good movie in a sea of disappointments, which is another thing many people seem to agree on. I am not politically conservative and I believe inclusive … Continue reading A New Writing Experiment
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The Eyeball Conundrum (Codex Vagus: essay 12)
As we watch the unfolding (or rather, the unravelling) of the will-he-or-won't-he dramedy of Elon Musk's bid to buyout Twitter, we are becoming increasingly aware that the platform has deeper unresolved issues than a billionaire takeover. The number of active Twitter users have been at a standstill for the past few years and there is … Continue reading The Eyeball Conundrum (Codex Vagus: essay 12)
Dialogue Challenge
In same vein as the previous post, I once posted a challenge. "Propose a dialogue.(A blank between a blank and a blank about blank)" I got some unique prompts.Try to think how you would construct a dialogue from these prompts before reading my responses. The first one posted was "A conversation between a dolphin and … Continue reading Dialogue Challenge
Teaching and Learning
The phrase "Those who can do, those who cannot teach" is more a phrase to dismiss teachers than to provide useful guidance. The original meaning was intended to instruct students not to become too fixated on ivory tower teachings and put more emphasis on practical experience. It is true that most teachers of economics are … Continue reading Teaching and Learning
The Cure
I cannot say that I am a good science fiction writer, but I keep going back to the genre every now and then. There was a piece I wrote a while ago that I actually sent to a publisher, and was soundly rejected. Sadly I cannot find the original manuscript, so I will have to … Continue reading The Cure
Finding One’s Presence
The great actor and comedian Bill Murray, at the age of 65, was asked in an interview what he wants. He answered "I want to be consistently always there". This was very much in line with my own recent revelation now that I am in the latter half of my fifties. You are not really … Continue reading Finding One’s Presence
The Gal, the Bitch, the Broad, and the Chick
Our perception of women have changed over the years, and so have our vocabulary to describe them. For example, we don't seem to use words like "broad" and "chick" as much these days. It is usually explained that they were dropped from common usage because these words were not polite. But we still use the … Continue reading The Gal, the Bitch, the Broad, and the Chick
Acting and Writing
Kirk Douglas once said that Marlon Brando was responsible for producing more bad actors than any other man. This was because Marlon Brando was an excellent actor with an inimitable style. People who tried to mimic Brando's style invariably failed and became bad actors. One of my all time favorite actors is James Spader. I … Continue reading Acting and Writing
Writing Fiction in English as a Second Language: Code Words.
A single word or image can mean different things to different readers.
Building a Writer’s Mind
Writing a novel is like lifting 500 pounds. Training for it takes longer than actually doing it.
Samurai Novelist 