Even Dragons Have Their Endings

'So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their endings' - J.R.R. Tolkien

Quick Tips On What To Do When Work Gets Intense

  The are always going to be situations where your workload suddenly decides to switch from "This is rather stressful but I can make it" to "oh god, oh god, oh god why?" When work decides to ratchet up the intensity and make your life painful, here are some tips to keep your brain from leaking out your nose and trying to escape ...

Creative Writing Through UT Tyler #3

   This blog (previously entitled 'Adventures Through Creative Writing') is being changed up a little but to better apply to broader variety of creative writing projects. While I will still finish my next two World Building entries, the next entries will focus on blogging, poetry, Twitter, Tumblr, using other content forums (like Medium for example) and such things ....

The Adventure of World Building Part #2

In the previous blog I spoke about one of the foundational elements of world building - weather! Weather is more than just set dressing, it allows us to explain food and crops, religion, and it can also impact the mood. This next blog will deal with another foundational element - money! While you don't need to completely grasp economics, the following thoughts might help you along ...

So, this one might seem a little weird, but bear with me. In settings that rely on a re-creation of the modern world economy, the US dollar or other forms of currency might be used. This is only logical. Still, other kinds of settings might not only require different fashions of currency, they might also not even use money at all (ala Star Trek) or they use things we might not consider 'money' at all.

The larger point here is that you need to understand what it is your characters do, how they justify their living, and (if you are doing a non-typical setting) you need to account for what/how things get done. Does your awesome photo-journalist investigator drive a Focus or a Jaguar? Do we actually see your main character, the free-lance captain of a space-ship ever get paid when we keep hearing he is debt? For all its faults, Star Wars at least showed what happens when you default on your loans to criminal space slugs.

EXAMPLE: Seeing as how I mentioned I was basing some of my own novel's ideas/plots on a setting very
much like ancient china, I had to be aware of how people paid for ... anything at all! I found out (very interestingly) that silk was so prevalent at a certain point in the history of the Han Dynasty that people actually used it as payment. Sheets of silks were historically a kind of "bond" people paid to other people for goods. I decided an interesting plot point was two different kingdoms use different dyes for their silks (red and blue) to distinguish one kingdoms "money" from another. Each kingdom guards its silk production facilities and the trees that feed the silkworms. This sets up awareness of where/how money is set up. It's not meant to be the biggest point but it is meant to afford the setting some kind of verisimilitude.

In the end, focus on knowing how your characters and how money works. I can't work for free and unless your character happened to inherit a staggering fortune which is held in a goblin bank, know how he/she gets paid. Work from there to see how your character acts when he/she looses his or her job, or when their globe trotting adventure to save the world from space ants has them return to an eviction notice.

The Adventure of World Building Part #1

As an English Major one of the things I am confronted with is the dreaded question - what do you want to do with your life? I long ago decided on Academia as my passion, but I have other passions to vent desires and needs that grading papers and academic level writing cannot fill. What might that be? Writing books!

Being Critical vs Critical Thinking

Everybody knows somebody in a group who, the moment a commercial starts or a celebrity says something, calls out this moment with some kind of statement, mainly that he/she "cannot believe this." They then go on some kind of a rant against said celebrity/product/etc...

College Showcase Week - College of Engineering and Computer Science

   The start of College Showcase Week for the University of Texas at Tyler certainly starts off strong with the College of Engineering and Computer Science! This College encompasses a variety of departments, including but not limited to three departments of Engineering (civil, mechanical, and electrical), Construction Management, Computer Science, and a variety of research-intensive departments!

The Path

   College can be stressful? I am not sure that such a phrase is exactly the kind of wisdom you will find carved on a stone near the oldest human settlements on account of how obvious it is, but there is a lesson that comes from it. College is the beginning of something bigger and better. I know, I know - you probably heard that about High School, too. The thing is, High School prepares you for social interactions with others on a large scale where-as college prepares you for ... well, being you.
So,

Work Ahead ... or Else!

New semester!

New classes!

New deadlines!

While the third thing I mentioned might not seem like the biggest concern when held against things like "Where is my Financial Aid?" and "Why did my roommates think watching You Got Served was a good idea?"

What Scares You?

 

With Halloween upon is it comes time for the age old question "What scares you?" For me loads of movies used to frighten me ( rather easily, I admit ) but now I love them.

The Magic of Music

   Nothing perhaps encapsulates so much about the American college system like Patriot Idol. For those who do not know, Patriot Idol is one event that makes up the tapestry of Homecoming celebrations. Homecoming, much like how an Emperor would return to Rome in glory, sees current students and faculty engage in events to commemorate/celebrate alumni, current students, and the University of Texas at Tyler itself.

Some Steps to Maintaining a Healthy Relationship

    With college starting up again it means that it is time for studying, junk food, and ( yes ) dating. You're going to notice all manner of special guys/gals in your classes, but where before I've brought up some topics about STARTING to build a relationship, it is just as important to know what to do once you're IN one.

Side-Blog - Disney Princes

   So first I need to acknowledge that this post is a counter-blog to the very well written piece by Julia Bodiford which can be found here.

The Return of Fall

   Ahh, the new Fall semester is upon us! Time for buying college-ruled paper, spending financial aid money on things totally not related to school, and for starting new courses and meeting new students. In some cases you even get to meet old friends as they might be starting new paths in life, ie: starting a new college paths, etc...

Taking Time to Say Thanks

   Look, college is a busy time for everyone. Our course instructors take the time to teach the class, plan coursework, grade papers, etc... The office workers ( like those in Financial Aid, Housing, the departmental Offices ) have to keep track of emails, projects, the different Chair/Department Head's needs, and all this is nothing to what the higher ups in Administration work with.

Dating in College & BEYOND – Words of Wisdom

   We’ve tackled this issue before here on our University of Texas at Tyler Blog, particularly with this blog and this blog. I felt like adding to the dialogue of this topic since dating and so-forth has been a rather large topic with my friends over the past few months. I’ve shared some thoughts with then and received some as well.

Meditation & You

   When somebody says to you “I enjoy meditation” what do you think? Some might think of esoteric yogis sitting atop majestic mountains, where-as others might think of hippies chanting in a coffee house. While both of these are not false ideas about what meditation is, they are but one face in the many-sided jewel of meditation.

A Defense of Sci-Fi + Critical Thinking --- PART 2

A Defense of Sci-Fi + Critical Thinking --- PART 2

    So previously Idiscussed a broad idea of ‘what’ Science Fiction can discuss, ie: ‘what is human,’ ‘where are we going as a species,’ etc…

PREVIEW Students Can Learn Anything - Italian History and Cable TV

Students Can Learn From Anything – Italian History and … Cable TV?

   My combined knowledge of Italian history can best be summed up into the following buzz-words: Pizza, World War 2, and Rome. Sadly, limiting a country to such minuscule, almost too-broad-to-be-useful words is a part of my biggest issue with learning History …

Why UT Tyler Students Should Embrace Academic Literature

While trying to find a topic for this blog post, I was inspired by my co-worker Michael's post, “Habits, Practicing Self-Control, and Reading Lists,” in which he discusses his use of reading lists and their implications on time management and creating good habits. While reading this entry on the UT Tyler Student Blog, I realized that my blog post could discuss what makes up my personal reading list: academic literature. 

     Now, before I sound too pretentious to the readers of this student blog, let me clarify what academic literature really is, and discuss why it would be relevant to an undergraduate or graduate student.