Nov 30th, 2007 by Kimberly
Creative work, because it cannot be separated from our spirituality, inevitably connects us to that which is larger than us, and experiencing the sacred center of life can create a shift in perspective, can bring new insights and understandings that demand something of us.
- Oriah Mountain Dreamer, What We Ache For
(Thanks to seph-ski for passing this along.)
If the stories are right, Outside is a dangerous place. Ravens don’t feed you, animals don’t talk, and mortals may hate you if you’re wearing the wrong clothes. The worst thing is that there isn’t any magic except what you bring with you.
- Delia Sherman, Changeling
Nov 16th, 2007 by Kimberly
I’d heard a lot of fairy tales, and I remembered what I’d heard. If the stories warned me against getting into trouble, they also showed me ways of getting out of it again.
- Delia Sherman, Changeling
Never let the truth interfere with a good story.
Neef’s Rules for Changelings
- Delia Sherman, Changeling
In books you always know the rules. Or at least that there were rules if you could learn them. That’s the difference between stories and real life […]
- Paul Park, A Princess of Roumania
Fiction allows us to slide into these other heads, these other places, and look out through other eyes. And then in the tale we stop before we die, or we die vicariously and unharmed, and in the world beyond the tale we turn the page or close the book, and we resume our lives.
– Neil Gaiman, American Gods
Feb 12th, 2007 by Kimberly
I seem to have found the non-glitchy version of the ljxp plugin, so hopefully this post will not be re-crossposted to LJ every time I edit it or it receives a comment. We’ll just have to wait and see, so here’s a test post with actual content:
The following is from a well-circulated email, which I most recently received on a copyeditors’ mailing list. It illustrates how little grammatical shifts and glitches can have a big impact on what you mean to say. Reportedly, the quotes below were originally posted in the Toronto News, July 26, 1977, and are actual statements from insurance forms where car drivers tried to summarize accident details in as few words as possible . Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s fun to read again and rediscover a howler you may have forgotten about. My personal favorite is #18.
1. Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have.
2. The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intent.
3. I collided with a stationary truck coming the other way.
4. In my attempt to kill a fly, I drove into a telephone pole.
5. I had been shopping for plants all day and was on my way home. As I reached an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision and I did not see the other car.
6. I had been driving for forty years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.
7. I was on my way to the doctor with rear end trouble when my universal joint gave way causing me to have an accident.
8. My car was legally parked as it backed into the other vehicle.
9. As I approached the intersection a sign suddenly appeared in a place where no sign had ever appeared before, making me unable to avoid the accident.
10. I told the police I was not injured, but upon removing my hair, I found that I had a fractured skull.
11. I was sure the old fellow would never make it to the other side of the road when I struck him.
12. I saw a slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as he bounced off the hood of my car.
13. The indirect cause of the accident was a little guy in a small car with a big mouth.
14. I was thrown from my car as it left the road, and was later found in a ditch by some stray cows.
15. A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.
16. I thought my window was down, but I found out it was up when I put my head through it.
17. To avoid hitting the bumper of the car in front, I struck the pedestrian.
18. The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.
19. The pedestrian had no idea which way to run, so I ran over him.
20. An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.
21. A truck backed through my windshield into my wife’s face.
22. I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law, and headed over the embankment.
Feb 9th, 2007 by Site Admin
After setting up a WordPress web site for some friends, I decided to try one out for myself. For the past week, I’ve been busily working out the design, importing the old pages into the new WordPress site, adding plugins, and working out some kinks. Among other things, I’ve added a LiveJournal Crossposter plugin that will allow me to post message both on my web site and on my LiveJournal. If this is your first time visiting, welcome to my new web site. Let me know what you think. All comments, suggestions, and feedback are welcome. Thanks for dropping by!