Self-improvement is exhausting

On January 31, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn art3 Comments

I remain fully caught up on the “draw every day” project, if only because I drew two pictures tonight. I am beginning to think that the best use of my time might be to actually find some sort of art tutorial thing rather than constantly drawing from .jpg files of animated characters. I can whip up a Buttercup in a hot second but I’m not convinced that being able to draw Buttercup well is the same thing as being able to draw. I remain vaguely terrified of the idea of drawing something unique for some reason. This is, of course, not why I started this project. Fuck fear. But if I’m going to take this seriously I feel like I ought to try and find some sort of resource more useful than thinking of a kids’ TV show I like and Googling good images of the characters.

Speaking of creativity, I left work today after telling my boss that I was only coming back on Saturday if I’d managed to get some writing done in the next two days. Luckily I have nothing in particular that I need to get done tomorrow or the day after, or at least nothing that I can think of (well, okay, I could use an oil change for my car, and I have to take the boy to school both days; I don’t think either of those really count) and so I won’t have any good excuse to not get something done. Then again, I’m really good at generating excuses.

I’ll finish Fonda Lee’s Jade City tonight, so expect a glowing review in the next couple of days. It’s an early frontrunner for my favorite book of the year, I’ll tell you that. I’m considering spending February only reading books by black authors, so if you have anyone in particular you’d like to recommend, please feel free to chime in in comments and make some suggestions.

Oh man

On January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn life

I had a dream last night about not being able to sleep, if you’re wondering how the last couple of days have gone. I just haven’t had much to say lately; sorry about that. On the plus side, I’m about halfway through Jade City by Fonda Lee and it is holy shitballs good, especially for a book that I bought effectively at random.

I was about to post a picture of Mojo Jojo that I just drew as penance for my silence, but my phone is in the other room, and oh god is that so far away. So… uh… here’s an actual drawing of Mojo Jojo.

(Also, this is probably obvious, but those of you who have been around long enough to remember that I occasionally liveblog the SOTU: I won’t be watching. I can’t put up with that thing’s voice long enough to watch. Sorry.)

STATION IDENTIFICATION: Infinitefreetime.com

On January 28, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn Writing1 Comment

I’m Luther Siler. I’m a writer and an editor. Welcome to my blog, infinitefreetime.com.

I’ve written several books you might be interested in, ranging from short story collections to near-future science fiction to fantasy space opera to nonfiction, all available as ebooks or in print from Amazon. Autographed books can be ordered straight from me as well.

I can be found in several different places on the Internet. Here’s the important ones:

You can follow me on Twitter, @nfinitefreetime, here or just click the “follow” button on the right side of the page. Warning: Twitter is where Politics Luther hangs out. I generally follow back if I can tell you’re a human being.
Sign up for my mailing list here.
My author page on Goodreads is here. I accept any and all friend requests.
My official Author page on Amazon is located here.
Feel free to Like the (sadly underutilized) Luther Siler Facebook page here. It’s mostly used as a reblogger for posts.
And, of course, you’re already at infinitefreetime.com, my blog. You can click here to be taken to a random post.

Thanks for reading!

Today’s agenda

On January 25, 2018January 25, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn life

…such as it is:

Get caught up on reading my comic books;
Finish reading Time Salvager, by Wesley Chu (interim verdict: enjoying a lot, but starting to drag juuuuust a little bit);
Read The Only Harmless Great Thing, by Brooke Bolander (a novella, so it’ll go fast, but I’m psyched);
Possibly write a blog post more substantive than this one;
Video games;
Pay some bills;
Write fiction;
Apply for at least two jobs;
Draw a picture;
Be dressed and showered before my wife gets home from work;
Clean up the house a bit, including getting the Christmas tree into the basement.

I’d better get started, I guess.

Explain this to me

On January 22, 2018January 22, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn Politics3 Comments

CHIP is funded for six more years, we’ve got three more weeks to get a clean DACA vote scheduled, and y’all are… mad?

Never mind. Don’t explain it. Y’all are mad because being mad is what y’all do. Funding CHIP is a win, period.

So it’s been a shit weekend

On January 21, 2018January 21, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn life1 Comment

…the kind where you get into a shouting match with a co-worker in front of customers that’s mostly your fault but is just enough his that you’re more likely to jump off a building than apologize, then go home early because fuck it and spend the rest of the weekend filling out job applications. I am tired. Tired. Physically and emotionally fucking exhausted.

But hey, I drew a stupid little picture tonight. So there’s that.

Hooray for metaphors!

On January 20, 2018January 20, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn Stories2 Comments

(Writing this at work, on my phone, so expect typos and formatting nonsense.)

I had a dream last night. I was at the Student Union at Indiana University, where I went to college, and I came out over this large staircase they have in the back of the building.

The stairs led down to desert, which is not there in the actual building. I got halfway down the stairs and realized that ahead of me there were snakes– sidewinders, specifically– as far as the eye could see. Thousands of them.

I turned around, and the path behind me back to safety was full of angry hornets. Where I was was moderately safe but I still had to kick a snake away or swat a stinging insect every few seconds.

I stayed there, growing gradually more terrified, until I woke up.

Shut up, brain.

Some short #reviews

On January 19, 2018January 19, 2018 By Luther M. SilerIn Reviews1 Comment

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SHORT REVIEW THE FIRST: Raven Stratagem, by Yoon Ha Lee. Funny story about this book: it’s the second in a series that is going to run at least three books– I think the third one was just formally announced– but it was the first one I bought because occasionally I’m an idiot. One of the disadvantages of ordering damn near everything I read from Amazon is that once in a very long while I order a sequel to a book I haven’t read without realizing it.

So, anyway: the first book? I three-starred it, once I ordered and read it, mostly because I couldn’t wrap my head around the technology in the book to save my damn life (all of the tech in the book depends on a common understanding of the calendar, except fifty times more complicated and weird and unique than that sounds) and as a result I didn’t get the book all that well. It was one of those things where I didn’t blame the book– it’s not the book’s fault that it’s smarter than me– but I wasn’t looking forward to the sequel.

Well, despite still not really being able to wrap my head around the technology, I’m either used to it or it’s backgrounded a bit more in this book, because I’ve blazed through it and I’m enjoying the hell out of it. I’m not quite done, so I suppose things could still go to hell– but I’m liking Book Two enough that I’ll probably revisit the whole series once Book Three comes out, and I think you should start with Ninefox Gambit and go from there.

SHORT REVIEW THE SECOND: I’ve talked about The Witness a bit here already, but now I’ve beaten it, or at least played it to the point where it does something that is so bullshit that I decided I wasn’t playing it any longer. It ends poorly, but the hundreds of puzzles that lead up to that poor ending are of generally entertaining and challenging caliber, with most of them proving a level of difficulty and feeling of achievement that keep me moving and playing. There were definitely a few that I cheated on (I don’t have ego about this shit any longer) but for the most part it’s one of the most solid puzzle games I’ve played in quite a while. The ending is bullshit, but the game saves itself right before it pulls the bullshit on you, so if you’re of the type to be able to wait once you know the game is beaten, do that and go solve all the other puzzles that aren’t in the main, objective-based walkthrough. Not a 10/10, but you should still try it out.

SHORT REVIEW THE THIRD: Now this one is a 10/10. Despite the stupid name, Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of the best games of this generation. I got it at a stupid-deep discount for only $20, but I’d gladly have paid full price. The premise is laid out pretty clearly on the cover there: you’re fighting robot dinosaurs with a bow and arrow. If you don’t reply “I’m in!” after reading that, you and I really can’t be friends. The combat took a little getting used to but gets really interesting and deep after a while (any game that can have me regularly using five or six different weapons at different points of a big fight is a game with a good combat system) and literally my only complaint about it is that some of the animations are a little janky. I never did get used to watching Aloy walk anywhere; they probably should have cleaned up that basic animation a bit. The plot itself is dense and multilayered and fun, post-apocalyptic pre-apocalyptic done right, and they managed to remember that people of color will survive along with the white folk. Extra points for Aloy herself, who is as compelling a character as I’ve played in a video game in quite some time– probably since Joel in The Last of Us. This game is worth getting a PS4 for if you don’t have one, guys. That good.