Cool writing app – Bonsai story generator

I came across this while reading about the Critters web group. Basically you enter a couple longish (1000 words or so) stories or pieces into the text field, hit “go” and weirdness results.

Here are a few gems that I got:

  • A gentle easy-listening tune came back into a migraine.
  • Carl thought, as he picked her up and watched the grey sky.
  • The oiled pieces Lionel Ritchie sang “EEUNGH!” Safe.
  • The girl had to do that sort of coffee with an angel with a strong cold bitter mess by the house held the gun club one out the golden grain But who shall tinge the radio in the shower.
  • There, on the work bench.
  • He was distracted from hitting a sip of winter.
  • The woman still smoked.
  • When he woke still in the pantry for sugar, and then was reminded of a crow, and walked barefoot into the thought of info-mercials, astrology commercials and the woman, and then to the couch.
  • She nodded to the trees.
  • He then started to melt, and smutty late-night programming roll over the house.
  • He’d propped the yew and thrusted.
  • Carl squeezed the couch.
  • He wondered what hope could he?
  • Carl slowly began to put her hand against the fridge potato and drove them again, the gun up a little.
  • He had horrible nightmares all he wanted to be with him, what he saw.
  • Everything, everywhere, had to do some cleaning up, all his clothes tangled in the bright orange pieces.
  • Lionel Ritchie was no moon, so cold, and lay there, shivering.
  • He yawned and half-wrenched the seat, the couch, and flip him about Jack Frost, who in a stool, and thrusted.
  • Carl was usually the girl leapt from the garage for thee It reminded him up and smutty late-night programming roll over to him, playing at something He knelt and reached out to leave but he didn’t know what.
  • She nodded, satisfied, and rushed to the toilet.
  • Girlish singing in the small radio It was so hot.
  • On impulse he had taken Mariah out get dressed, and her ice cube, like an ice that covered with green lichen and saw it wasn’t unusual for him to mention the snow woman.
  • Carl realised what Edgar could feel, well-muscled.
  • But his feeble protests were serious.
  • “That’s nice,” he said grandly, feeling a beautiful Sunday Mornings.
  • Sex.
  • Something scrabbled high sweet voice as she iced the soft cloth.
  • He was distracted from the snow.
  • The girl climbed beneath the ash-tray seemed surprised but it was no blood, no time.
  • He took his pant legs and feet and pulled off his head.

On never having enough time

Lists, that’s what blog readers like! Didn’t you read the memo? We don’t write in complete sentences anymore. For starters we don’t have time, but also all people want to read are soundbites. So there.

  1. I never have enough time.
  2. Work takes up an inordinate amount of time in my day.
  3. As does sleeping.
  4. I can’t really compromise on point 3, especially as it is winter and there’s nothing nicer than snuggling down under blankets when it’s cold outside.
  5. It’s cold outside.
  6. In addition to not having enough time I have the sneaking suspicion that I’m not doing anything particularly exciting with my life.
  7. Aside from eating, sleeping, working.
  8. That’s not completely true – I’ve been doing a creative writing class which has had me up and at em on the weekends, and I finished my honours degree last year, which I’d been doing part time.
  9. But I still feel like I’m marking time.
  10. I try to read a lot.
  11. Currently I’m reading Hesse’s Steppenwolf, Gaarder’s Maya, and Phaedo, by Plato.
  12. The Plato is for one of those MIT online classes. This one’s on classics in western philosophy.
  13. God damn it, but it’s taken me forever to read Phaedo. Not because I’m not enjoying it, but because…I don’t have enough time.
  14. When I come home at the end of the day all I want is a whisky and some pie.
  15. I think I’m turning into Kevin Arnold’s dad.
  16. Instead I cook dinner, get changed, collapse on the couch with food.
  17. Sometimes I can get motivated to write – like tonight.
  18. I did some freewriting that wound up being quite interesting.
  19. And you can see for yourself how long it’s been since I blogged.
  20. I have twittered though. Bless those bite sized info snippets!
  21. I hate them and love them.
  22. Furthermore, I can’t remember the last time I sat down and put on some headphones and listened to an album all the way through, without any interruptions.
  23. This bothers me.
  24. I was going to say “this bothers me to no end” but I am on a personal mission to eliminate cliche from my everyday use.
  25. I don’t know how well it’s going.
  26. I also haven’t played music for – at least six months. No piano. No guitar.
  27. There’s something wrong there.
  28. Do I need to make some sort of chart just to make sure I don’t blob myself into oblivion?
  29. Actually a chart would be quite a good idea.
  30. And I think saying “do xxx into oblivion” is a terribly overused phrase. Cliche?
  31. What else could I have on my chart?
  32. Exercise – I have totally slacked off there.
  33. Word count on my creaky old novel.
  34. Blogging
  35. Freewriting
  36. Music playing
  37. Hours spent on the computer (not blogging)
  38. Yes – I mean gaming.
  39. I guess it could be a pie chart.
  40. Though – pie…
  41. Perhaps I’m turning into Agent Cooper instead.
  42. I think I might start going to the pool on the weekend.
  43. It’s nice to swim during the day when you don’t have to worry about wet hair and freezing cold night.
  44. Wait – I lie. I listened to disc one of Sandinista! On the weekend.
  45. I love that album. It got me through some depressing times when I lived in Dublin and things were going to shit with Kate, the girl I travelled with.
  46. We were old flatmates. I should have known better.
  47. I did love Dublin in the end though.
  48. I might have to add a new category for this lazy type of blogging – lists. Or Lazy. Lazy lists.
  49. Don’t hate me because I’m lazy. It’s cold and it’s winter and everyone in the northern hemisphere is enjoying 80 degree weather while we have to sit around and watch world news where people frolic around in singlets, looking warm.
  50. I bet people in the northern hemisphere never watch news of us in singlets when it’s winter up there.

Gaming with kids-

I didn’t even realise this was up at NZGamer! Apparently will be on the 3news.com gaming page as well, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Kids and computer games go together like dogs and tennis balls – you just can’t seem to separate one from the other. Those of us who were the first to have computers and gaming consoles in the home – some of the original gamers – are now approaching middle age and parenthood. Introducing gaming to our kids is both an exciting and daunting prospect.

In a sense computer games grew up as we did. In the early days the games on offer were the rudimentary classics like Frogger and Donkey Kong that entertained us for hours as kids. Then in middle school, games, like some of us, were introduced to the Dungeons and Dragons universe, and a whole world of RPGs opened up before us. Racing games became sophisticated when some of us got our first set of real wheels. And, dare I say it – there are bound to be some gamers out there who had their first glimpse of sex through titles such as Leisure Suit Larry.

Things are different now.

see the rest here: Gaming with kids.

New review up

Just a quickie to let you know my review for the steam game Cogs is up at NZGamer – here.

Week 10 already

So the writing journal never really happened, for reasons beyond my ken. In any case, week 10 finds me looking at the following:

10(d)

Take a piece of your writinga story that isn’t finished or that you are dissatisfied with. Incorporate three of the following into it:

  • a poster of Elvis Presley
  • a dead relative
  • a pack of cards, or another game played between two people
  • a particular piece of music
  • a foreign language newspaper or magazine
  • a believer in Buddhism (or in another religion).

Er, yes. So now I’m about to go through crappy old writing and see if any of it can be perked up a bit by incorporating buddhists, a foreign newspaper and a dead relative. You know, it might just work?

Buddha machines and other stuff

I’ve been playing with this all evening. Maybe ‘playing’ is the wrong word. I was initially looking for something white-noisey that I could listen to while I was trying to write and Steve was pootling around the house. I thought initially that even something like sounds of rainfall or waves might do the trick, and somehow I came across the very awesome Buddha machine. It’s one of those things that’s been around for yonks but of course you never hear about it but everyone else does. This is what they look like:

buddha machinesawesome eh? These are the first versions (there is a mark II model out there).  The sound is crackly and there are only a few looped tracks that play over and over endlessly – or until your AA batteries run out.

I like them. Like their tinny quality, surreal, dreamy sounds, and even the way they look. I think I’m going to get one for Jeremy D – especially after he sent me this incredible typewriter all the way from Perth. I’ve been looking for a present for him for ages; something a bit different. And he’s an extremely spiritual chap, so I think this would suit him right down to the ground.

I really haven’t been blogging much lately. Have been spending all my computer time either messing around with different apps like Scrivener and Midnight Inbox (which is finally working for me, with the latest release), or surfing, or writing.

Work’s… well- it’s hard at the moment. Lots of pushing and pulling and it’s very frustrating. No real chance to stick to one project all the way through. I spend quite a lot of time angsting about work, and the funny part is the actual work part of work I really enjoy. I’m just not very good at all the other stuff. Pleasing people, playing the game. Some people are just so damn good at playing the game I really can’t begrudge them. I’m too much in awe. It’s just not part of my makeup at all.

And NZGamer? I haven’t had much to review from them lately either. I’m not sure what’s going on at the moment. Maybe I’m giving off some “keep away” vibe. Or maybe it’s just winter. I don’t know. I do know that I’m very content just doing my own thing, writing, reading, pawing through old papers and notes, getting out some old books I haven’t read for ages. One’s on meditation, which I was reasonably into for a while, maybe ten years or so ago. I need a little more calm and relaxation. Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to those buddha machines. I’m enjoying the ‘between spaces’, the uncommittal, the undefined object, thoughts that drift by, that you don’t necessarily need to always catch and do something with.

INFP stuff

here

creative, smart, idealist, loner, attracted to sad things, disorganized, avoidant, can be overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings, prone to quitting, prone to feelings of loneliness, ambivalent of the rules, solitary, daydreams about people to maintain a sense of closeness, focus on fantasies, acts without planning, low self confidence, emotionally moody, can feel defective, prone to lateness, likes esoteric things, wounded at the core, feels shame, frequently losing things, prone to sadness, prone to dreaming about a rescuer, disorderly, observer, easily distracted, does not like crowds, can act without thinking, private, can feel uncomfortable around others, familiar with the darkside, hermit, more likely to support marijuana legalization, can sabotage self, likes the rain, sometimes can’t control fearful thoughts, prone to crying, prone to regret, attracted to the counter culture, can be submissive, prone to feeling discouraged, frequently second guesses self, not punctual, not always prepared, can feel victimized, prone to confusion, prone to irresponsibility, can be pessimistic

The antidote for self-indulgence

pip

Typecast #2

post2

Typecast #1

post1a

post1b

New Year, new class

So I’m taking Short Fiction 1 at Whitireia. Class started today! It’s still early days, but I’m really excited. A lot of the class seems to be based on Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction, which I’ve heard about, but never read before.

We’re being encouraged to keep a journal and post some of those entries on our class home pages. I thought I might try and do something here with this blog, seeing as I already do morning pages (though urgh, not this morning) and keep another sporadic journal as well. I thought I might put up the odd writing journal post here and see how it goes.

On page 3, Burroway has this to say about a writer’s journal:

It doesn’t matter what you write and it doesn’t matter very much how much, but it does matter that you make a steady habit of the writing. A major advantage of keeping a journal regularly is that it will put you in the habit of observing in words. If you know at dawn that you are committed to writing so many words before dusk, you will half-consciously tell the story of your day to yourself as you live it, finding a phrase to catch whatever catches your eye.

It’s a nice way to describe it. I’ve always been a journal writer, and I guess I’m used to observing in words. In many strange ways I find it much easier to express myself if I can write something down than when I have to speak, off the cuff.

Saturday

It’s Saturday, and I really can’t complain about that at all. Had a mad week, what with being sick, taking cats to and from the vet, pilling Soots, who now also has one less fang and an attitude problem, Pippi meanwhile won’t stop going crazy all round the house, plus we have Jeremy & Megumi staying, Steve had a huge bike crash during the week and I got the resulting grubby meaty wound to clean, and there’s been an abundance of political bullshit at work. Yup, it’s safe to say I am one very happy relaxed Jess now that it’s midday on Saturday.

I have already been up since quarter to seven, despite having a late night up reviewing a new game. I’ve done morning pages. I’ve worked on the novel. I’ve done chores! Now it’s just midday and I can’t believe how much I’ve got done in the last five hours. I should get up early more often (though to be honest there just isn’t the same ‘feel-good factor’ in getting up early during the working week. Just means I get to work earlier.)

I’ve been spinning lots, and knitting – just finished a pair of socks – which means I might actually do it the right way around this year, and have things completed FOR winter, instead of knitting during winter… in time for spring. Have another pair of socks planned, as well as a couple Rebecca sweater patterns. Fingers crossed I keep up the momentum.

I’ve also been reading quite a bit, though there’s been one casualty: The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt, which I loved at first, but then got the sneaking suspicion that nothing much was really happening. I looked it up on goodreads, and my god, I’ve never seen so much vitriol (OK, that’s an exaggeration, this is the internet after all). After that I sort of lost my enthusiasm for the book. I feel bad about it, but not so bad that I’m going to pick it up again in a hurry. In the meantime, I’ve picked up The Savage Detectives , by Roberto Bolaño, and Lonely Werewolf Girl , by Martin Millar (I got the book autographed from his website – the price was still a deal, compared to how much some websites were expecting me to pay here in NZ). Loving them both at the same time, equally, but in different ways. Oh yeah.

Savage Detectives reminds me a bit of Reinaldo Arenas’ Before Night Falls in tone – or maybe it’s that they both share the ‘lonely writer comes of age while having lots of sex amidst political upheaval’ theme. Werewolf Girl is not what I expected. I don’t know exactly what it was I was expecting, but it has a much more contemporary sort of feel to it (I’ve never read any Martin Millar before) and it’s a lot more disjointed and rough around the edges than I was expecting. I’m really really not saying that as a negative, in fact he somehow makes it all work to the book’s advantage. It’s still early days though;what I’m saying is merely based on early first impressions.

Anyway, am heading off now. Jeremy and Megumi have headed up the coast for the afternoon, and Steve will be back soon from his Karipoti training ride. If I want to get any more writing done I’ll need to move fast. Adios.

Twitter

I have no idea why we persist at broadcasting ourselves in as many different ways as possible. Anyway, I’m on twitter.

Atlantic blog article

Just finished reading this fascinating article by Andrew Sullivan, called Why I Blog. It’s more than just a puff piece (of which there have been a few lately); it’s a thoughtful look at blogging’s place in the writing spectrum.

A few quotes:

A blog, therefore, bobs on the surface of the ocean but has its anchorage in waters deeper than those print media is technologically able to exploit. It disempowers the writer to that extent, of course. The blogger can get away with less and afford fewer pretensions of authority. He is—more than any writer of the past—a node among other nodes, connected but unfinished without the links and the comments and the track-backs that make the blogosphere, at its best, a conversation, rather than a production.

There are times, in fact, when a blogger feels less like a writer than an online disc jockey, mixing samples of tunes and generating new melodies through mashups while also making his own music. He is both artist and producer—and the beat always goes on.

In fact, for all the intense gloom surrounding the news-paper and magazine business, this is actually a golden era for journalism. The blogosphere has added a whole new idiom to the act of writing and has introduced an entirely new generation to nonfiction. It has enabled writers to write out loud in ways never seen or understood before. And yet it has exposed a hunger and need for traditional writing that, in the age of television’s dominance, had seemed on the wane.

Philosophical Zombies