Foucault's Vacuum

If you visit here with any regularity, you’d know I don’t go link crazy with other writer’s blogs. Not because I’m an egomaniac (I am, but that’s not involved), but because I’d rather spend my time actually writing than “networking” or “collaborating” with other writers online and seeking their approval. Writers are intolerably self-absorbed creatures and their praise is just a outward recognition of similarity, not always an appraisal of good craftsmanship. Usually.

So in the interest of paradox I’d like to direct your attention to my friend Matt’s new chapbook. I got it in the mail yesterday along with some lovely trading cards. I suggest you consider going to his site, then spending $5 on the book. You’d probably spend that money on something stupid like cigarettes or Top Ramen for a starving child. Matt makes coffee for a living, so it’s like providing sustenance to the needy anyways.

Of less consequence is a new design for my portfolio site. Once again, Internet Explorer 6 causes my eyes to itch and fall into my stomach from having to write hacks for the simplest of code.

There’s been some talk going around (in my head) about the place of cursing in what I write. I usually don’t curse in real life except in my more careless or uncharitable moments, but I don’t see how my intentions and habits would need to cross over to characters about which I write.

I don’t want to bowdlerize (too tacky), nor do I want to insert a “Robert cursed” descriptor that would break the flow of a nice quoted tirade. There’s a middle ground. Written dialogue isn’t exactly mimeographed from real life dialogue (how many “uhhhs”, “likes”, or stuttering pauses do you read compared to what you hear?), so swearing should be used sparingly regardless, I think, else it would lose its power. I would include swearing if it gets across what I want a character to say – just as with any other situation. I would graphically describe a murder if it helped to illustrate the killer’s unrelenting inhumanity. I wouldn’t if I had devised a better vehicle.

Additionally, as a Christian, I shouldn’t be any more averse to having my characters swear any more than I am having them plot murder or cheat on their spouse. How poorly calibrated are my character sanitizing skills if I have Carla say “darn you” instead of “fuck off”, right before she fires a bullet into an innocent person’s head?

That’s just my personal view. I don’t expect every Christian to follow something rather open-ended, theologically. This is merely submission for consideration, for Christians and others.

Below are some opinions with which I don’t all agree with 100%, but regardless I found them helpful.

Mike Duran:

I mean, if we’re not telling the truth about our characters, what else are we fudging on?

Keep Me In Suspense:

How do you create profane characters without resorting to profanity? Or should you, um, dern the torpedoes and use the profanity the character would use?

Pam Meyers:

The author can show through narrative that the characters are using rough language and do it in such a way that the reader knows the kind of language being used without being subjected to it.

I wrote something new, but you have to search for it. It will be worth it, though. Reading it is more fun than watching Bill Gates and an Asian Elvis impersonator in their tighty-whities, organizing their 45 collection on shag carpeting and giggling uncontrollably. Only a little bit more fun.

Cryptic hint: the code is the key.
Another hint: header tag.
Another hint: just view the source code.

…many a barrister-avoidant grammarian were able to guiltlessly indulge in a misdemeanor.

Found at the 3 PNC Plaza construction site in downtown Pittsburgh.

I took the liberty of stripping away even more design by re-theme-ing and editing the new theme. There’s only one image (not counting the rare image in a post) and only one color.

Now to start writing more…

Work has been picking up quite a bit, and I have my obligations at Buzzgrinder, Noisecreep, and the book. So things here have been quiet – but they will return.

In the meantime, here’s a passage by Reinhold Niebuhr from a book I recently read for a book club (another pleasant time-taker).

This faith in the sovereignty of a divine creator, judge, and redeemer is not subject to rational proof, because it stands above and beyond the rational coherences of the world and therefore cannot be proved by an analysis of these coherences. But a scientific and philosophical analysis of these coherences is not incapable of revealing where they point beyond themselves to a freedom which is not in them, to contradictions between each other which suggest a profounder mystery and meaning beyond them. A theology which both holds fast to the mystery and meaning beyond these coherences and also has a decent respect for the order and meaning of the natural world cannot be a queen of the sciences, nor should she be the despised handmaiden of her present estate. Her proper position is that of the crucified Lord, who promises to come again in great power and glory. The power and glory are not a present possession. That is indicated by the fact that accusers and crucifiers must always pay inadvertent tribute to the kingdom of truth, which they seek to despise.

If you’re like me (and hopefully you’re not), you almost always have an online dictionary and thesaurus open on your browser. Unless there’s a special case it’s pointed to dictionary.com – both resources are accessible there. I’m sure there are better ones but I’m too comfortable with that site.

Until it threw me a curveball in the form of a banner ad that featured the Visual Thesaurus. It looked interesting so I checked it out.

It’s a GUI thesaurus, basically. You search for a word and it brings up the search term and a tree of synonyms, their proximity to the search based on the proximity of meaning. Then you have the rollovers for definitions, etc. It was awkward at first but you only need to do a few seconds’ worth of glancing to see all the words; much faster than looking through a comma’ed list.

Unfortunately, it’s not free and the trial only allows a limited number of searches. I don’t think it’s worth it for my needs, but it may be for someone else’s.