Cory Doctrorow? Who’s that then? … quick wikipedia search later… NOICE!

Still, I was determined I could rig this Kobayashi Maru to affect the outcome. Besides, sampling more pieces would net a better overall result, right? I mean, I am being extremely scientific here. And it is for prosperity’s sake.

According to I Write Like, my novel netted me:

Dan Brown. Meh. I don’t mean to be flippant, it’s just this scientific study wasn’t giving me the results I wanted.

From my blogs, a collection of shorts, and a couple reviews the predominant answer was:

I write like
Chuck Palahniuk

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Chuck Palahniuk. SUH-weet! Not Twain nor Adams, but a comparison I could live with.

Some of the responses that were a nice ego boost were: William Gibson, Steven King, Arthur C. Clark and, God knows why, James Joyce. All things considered, though I couldn’t get the answer I wanted, I did end up in quite an awesome company of writers, who, if I were to get but a smidge of their success and talent, would make me very happy man.

Fingers crossed.

I’m always happening upon, or being turned on to, fun things. The latest is The Sketchbook Project. Here’s a quick overview from the website:

Each artist is sent the same blank Moleskine sketchbook. We’ve only got two rules: first, the book must be used in some way – no sending us back an empty book or a completely different book! Second, the sketchbook must stay within its original dimensions (because we don’t want to have to provide an extra suitcase just for your book while we’re touring the country).

Each book will be given a barcode so we can easily catalog it into The Brooklyn Art Library system. Once we catalog it, artists will be able to track where on the tour their book is viewed and how many times someone pulled it from the shelf – we want to make sure you can stay connected with your sketchbook!

Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the country.

After the tour, all sketchbooks will enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library, where they will be barcoded and available for the public to view.

Anyone – from anywhere in the world – can be a part of the project.

The fee to participate is $25. You choose a theme listed. They send you a moleskine (your choice of color, though they did say there is a limited supply of each). Then you have until Jan. 15, 2011 to fill your moleskine with whatever you want.

I’m no artist, but I thought I’d give it a go. If you do sign up, be sure to let me know. I’d love to collaborate with other artists. If nothing else, we can get a caravan together to make the Austin tour date.

Early Culyer is the baddest man who ever lived.

Never heared of him? Check him at [adult swim].

As morbid as it sounds, the reason is not about being self absorbed and emo, which I am prone to falling into from time to time. Rather, it is because I need a strong reminder to be extra vigilant with my health. The further away I get from that day, the less it influences my actions. Being among those who are incredibly adept at the arts of procrastinating and dismissing the obvious, I need all the help I can get.

My reasons for going to such a gloomy place, rather than some wonderful event, of which there are plenty, would be the recent death of a close friend. Naturally, when someone dies we are reminded of our own mortality, and in my case it is exponentially more so because we are/were similarly diseased.

More than that, I'm tired of being reminded of my mortality through other people's deaths. If I were to return to the day of my heart attack, my reflection wouldn't be from someone else suffering. And, better still, I know I make it. So there would be no death.

Granted, it would be a slippery slope to tread. Dwelling in that place could turn into a crippling crutch. I suppose, like with everything else, moderation is the key. Perhaps, just writing about it, which brings back all the memories, is enough reliving to do what it needs to do, but leaves me in control to get on living the best life I can.

Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create a user-generated feature film, shot in a single day, by you. On July 24, you ahve 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Mcdonald.

The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and will be available right here on YouTube. If your footage makes it into the finished film, you’ll be credited as a co-director and you could be one of 20 contributors brought to Sundance to celebrate with Kevin Mcdonald.

Dust off those cameras and put on your creative hats and help Ridley Scott make the next big thing.

And, Good Luck!

World Cup is a HUGE deal. I’m not even going to pretend I understand how huge a deal, but I will say this, it is a great way to generate hype.

Case in point, super model Larissa Riqueleme offered to run nekkid (under a layer body paint of the Paraguay flag, of course) through the streets of Asuncion if the Paraguay team won. It didn’t. Oh well.

Not to be out done, or loose the chance to get a lot of press (and I admit I’m adding to it here), porn star Bobbi Eden has promised bj’s to all of her twitter followers if the Dutch team brings home the cup. Don’t believe me? Here’s a screenshot of her tweet, or you can go to her twitter stream to check for yourself.

Go Team BJ!

Oh, and while your there, be sure to follow her. You never know…

You are confirmed for the Wildlife Rehab & Education Oiled Wildlife Response Workshop on Saturday July 17, 2010!

Before anyone gets bent out of shape, I’m not doing this to be smug and tell you how bad you are for being a free American. Yes, I do drive/ride in cars that use oil and gas. Yes, I do pollute. Yes, I do eat meat. I am doing this ‘cos I want to, period.

Why would I want to? I used to volunteer at TWRC (Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Coalition), and I even took a few training courses in basic wildlife rehab. Life got in the way of taking it any further, but my recent run in with Whooty Owl rekindled my desire to do something, no matter how small or insignificant. When I saw that WRandE (Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education) offered a course in Oiled Wildlife Response, I thought, Here’s my chance.

To get in (for those who might be interested in doing so themselves), I signed up for their newsletter and waited to be informed about the next class. And I waited. Finally, a few weeks back I got an email with all the details on the next class. I responded as soon as I finished reading the email. There were over 200 people who responded this time around, so I’m really glad to have gotten in.

I will not be working on the Deepwater Horizon Response. In fact, every email has had this disclaimer:

Please remember this workshop DOES NOT mean that you will be able to respond to the current Deepwater Horizon Response.

This is fine with me. I wanted to do this before I knew about Deepwater Horizon, though it would have been good to go straight out and put the training into action. Apparently BP has all the people it needs.

Honestly, I would hope that I would never have to use the training, but I know there will be a time when my help will be needed. In fact, there have been many other times were volunteers from WRandE have responded. Here is a quick list from their site:

Wildlife Rehab & Education personnel have been responding to oiled wildlife since 1984. More recent spills include the following:

• An inland spill in Mississippi in 2000
• A spill in the Houston Ship Channel in September, 2001
• A pipeline spill near Lafitte, Louisiana in April 2002
• A pipeline spill in the barrier islands south of Cocodrie, Louisiana in February 2003
• A pipeline spill in the Natchez, Mississippi area in October 2003
• A pipeline spill in Grand Isle, Louisiana in November 2003
• Pipeline spills in Venice, Louisiana after Hurricane Ivan in September 2004
• A spill affecting nesting brown pelicans due to a tropical storm in Louisiana in June 2005
• Several spills in Louisiana due to Hurricane Katrina in September 2005
• Largest oil spill in Southwest Louisiana history in the Calcasieu River/Ship Channel
• Two spills in Louisiana in 2007
• A spill in the Mississippi River in New Orleans, LA after a tanker and barge collision in July 2008
• A spill involving brown pelicans after Hurricane Gustav in September 2008
• Fuel oil spill in Galveston, TX after Hurricane Ike in September 2008 affecting osprey and brown pelicans.

So, in a couple weeks it looks like I’m gonna be putting on some rubber clothing and learning how to properly scrub some dirty wildlife. Hmmm, I wonder if Mike Rowe’s ever done this job?

The location for this cache is really interesting. I had visited this cemetery previously on a photo safari, but had not really known about it’s history. Rather than spoil all of the fun of the discovery, I’ll leave the story to be uncovered by those of you who are curious. If you are going to check it out, I highly recommend you bring a camera. The following pictures do not do it any justice, but will hopefully whet your whistle.

Happy adventuring.

What is geocaching?

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online.

Sounds pretty cool, huh?

I thought I’d give it a go and then report on how it went. I have to say it is quite fun. It’s something you can do by your lonesome, or with your friends, family, pets. It’s something that can be as easy as walking through your neighborhood, or as challenging as rock climbing. Best of all, it’s free. Mostly.

Like most things on the interwebs these days, there’s a free membership and there’s a paid membership. Right now all I’ve been doing is working on the free side of things. If this proves to be enjoyable enough, I’ll pony up the $30 for a years membership. Of course, I’ll also give you the skinny on what’s good, bad and ugly about the paid version.

Also, when I wrote free, that’s assuming you have a GPS device. As I have an iPhone already, I’m not counting the price of the iPhone as necessary to do this. If you have a smart phone with GPS capabilities, which I believe most smart phones do now, you’re good to go.

I don’t want to get into the debate on whether the iPhone is worth getting just for this adventure, it just happens to be what I own. They make a geocaching application for the iPhone. I’m sure there are similar apps for other smart phones. Like the membership, there is a free app and a paid version. Again, I’m working on the free side. If I go the paid membership route, I’ll also purchase the app, which is $10. As above, I’ll give as honest a review of the paid app as my devious little heart will allow.

All that said, even if I were going to go the paid route, it would only be $40, which isn’t too bad.

Now, to the adventurin’…

When I found the website last week I went straight to the app store and downloaded the free app. I went through the quick walk-thru and found a cache less than a mile away, Spring Branch Creek. This particular cache’s details can be found here.

As I was at work I had to wait to go see what I could find, which turned out to be a good thing ‘cos I was able to get Vicky into geocaching, too. After work she and I ran over and found the cache. We fumbled around quite a bit, not ‘cos of the description, or GPS or anything like that. It was purely ‘cos this was our first time and didn’t know what to look for. I was quite the squeeling Japanese School Girl™ when I found the cache. We signed our names and left a multicolored bead braclet and took a pin that reads: “Not all who are lost are wandering. The smart ones use waypoints.”

If you’re looking for something fun (and FREE) to get you out of the house and like a bit of adventure, I highly recommend geocaching. If you do decided to give it a go, look me up. My user name is aeryk.pierson.

Last Friday I was unable to get Chopping Mall and therefore substituted Nightmare on Elm Street. According to the email there was a group of people, 16 in number, who showed up specifically for Chopping Mall. Nightmare on Elm Street, though an 80′s cheesey horror in it’s own right, is no Chopping Mall. They were quite disappointed. Enough so to seek me out and voice their frustrations. This is AWE-some! It would appear that I do have people who come out specifically to see the shows I program.

It’s Karma, really. When I realized I couldn’t get the movie I told myself, “Who’s gonna miss Chopping Mall? Nightmare on Elm Street will suffice.”

I’m glad I was wrong.

NOTE: if you were one of the disenfranchised, I’m not happy you were let down, I’m happy you are a viewer and hope you remain so. Anytime a movie is canceled I put it back into rotation the next time (I plan movies on a quarterly basis) until it gets screened. Have no fears, Chopping Mall will be back in the rotation.

In the meantime, you can get all the movie listings through September here.