Category Archives: Memes

What are you reading?

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Memes

I have been tagged by Dave for this meme:

I. You have to look up page 123 in the nearest book around you.
II. Look for the fifth sentence.
III. Then post the three sentences that follow that fifth sentence on page 123.
IV. And then tag five people, just like you were tagged.

But since I’m finishing revising a book instead of reading a book (which would be the nearest if I were), my sentences come from my next novel, The Love We Share Without Knowing.  The lines are from manuscript pages, of course.  Who knows what will be on page 123 of the book format itself.

The thing is there’s not much to me.  I’m a simple guy.  I’m simple that way on purpose.  There was a time when I thought there was more to the world, that it was good to dream and want things.  

As for tagging five people, I hate to select, and am on my way out to an appointment, so consider yourself tagged.  Looking forward to reading others, because I love this particular meme, and the way it emphasize a small pool of words that sometimes get lost in a whole.

Smart-asses, welcome

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Memes, Politics, Silliness

Jenn Reese has an interesting and fun entry in her journal today that revolves around playing a certain kind of game.  Here’s how it works at Jenn’s place:

Post something positive about a presidential candidate for whom you *do not* intend to vote.

-Giving credit to Clinton for being female or Obama for being black is off limits.
-No snarky or smart-ass answers, please. (Just for this entry — I promise!)

If you decide to play, thanks! 

I think this is a fun game, but feel incredibly compelled to offer a flipside version (without any intent to offend, only to amuse).  So, in my version, say something positive about a presidential candidate for whom you *do not* intend to vote,  but feel free to be a smart-ass (within reason, of course–try to be witty rather than nasty, I guess).

If you decide to play, you should also make yourself go over to Jenn’s entry and do the more honorable version.

Which way do you spin?

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Memes, Silliness, Tests

I just did this right brain/left brain test and am so weirded out.  It’s a test to see which hemisphere of the brain you use more.  Initially I saw the image of the dancer going clockwise, the right brain way of seeing it.   And I watched it and watched it and couldn’t see it the left brain way until I decided to focus on her shadow, and when I looked back up she was spinning counter clockwise.  Then I couldn’t see her going any direction but counter clockwise.  I thought for a while maybe this was timed and messing with me maybe?  So I focused on her shadow again and when I looked back up at her she was going clockwise again.  Then I didn’t even have to focus on the shadow but could focus a little while watching her spin and she’d switch directions right before my eyes.  I am probably freaked out by this more than I should be.  Our brains and eyes and their relationship is so odd, though, isn’t it?

Tell me if I’m flipping out or if this happens to you too.

Take the test by clicking here.

Career Meme

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Blogging, Memes

This test was funny. It actually captures a lot of my interests, even if some of them aren’t exactly what I’d want to do as careers. The careers I’ve dabbled in or something related to are bolded.

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com/
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their “Career Matchmaker” questions.
4. Post the top umpty results:

1. Lobbyist

2. Desktop Publisher

3. Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator

4. Criminologist

5. Librarian

6. Tour Guide

7. Dental Assistant

8. Fashion Designer

9. Anthropologist

10. Professor

11. Activist

12. Public Policy Analyst

13. Political Aide

14. Communications Specialist

15. Writer

16. Print Journalist

17. Artist

18. Library Technician

19. Graphic Designer

20. Medical Illustrator

21. Critic

22. Market Research Analyst

23. Translator

24. Dispatcher

25. Computer Animator

26. Animator

27. Lifeguard

28. Community Worker

29. Religious Worker

30. Funeral Director

31. Hairstylist

32. Foreign Service Officer

33. Clergy

34. Career Counselor

35. Curator

36. Foreign Language Instructor

37. Sport Psychology Consultant

38. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist

39. ESL Teacher

40. Esthetician

My daemon

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Memes, Movies

I think WordPress won’t allow me to embed the visual results for my Golden Compass daemon quiz results for some reason, so instead, you can find my results here, if you like these sorts of things. Actually, the site will ask you to rate the results of my quiz, and if people perceive me differently than how I answered, my daemon can change into a different one, just like the daemons in the series can as a child grows up, before their final character is molded. So rate it. I’d love to see if my own ideas of myself are different from how I’m perceived. Call my kooky, but I’m going to head over to Gwenda’s place right now and see if my idea of her will change her daemon.  I guess it’s one of those wild and crazy nights in Youngstown. It’s a really beautifully designed quiz and website for the movie coming out this December. I’m excited to see it. Yay for fantasy movies!

Challenge

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Art, Change, Memes, Personal, Writing

In an e-mail I just wrote to a friend, I describe a story/project thing that I’m working on at the moment, and how it’s challenging me in all sorts of different ways on how I need to structure its narrative and form.  At the end of my description of this somewhat multi-media story I’m creating, I wrote, “It’ll either be genius or a complete and utter ridiculous thing that fails on all levels. LOL.”

I laughed, but it’s true: it’ll either be something a level up in many ways from anything I’ve written before, or it’ll fail.  Whether it works in the end or fails to work, I think I’m learning more from it about storytelling and writing (I think of them as different processes and activities, joined sometimes for the same purpose) than anything else I’ve written before, and that, if nothing else, feels good to me. 

Have any of you writers out there reading this ever written something that required you to reassess how you go about writing a story before?  What was it like for you?  Can you say if it succeeded or failed?  I’d love to hear what others (not just writers, but if you work in another discipline too) have experienced in their more challenging creative endeavors, whether it’s here in the comments or on your own journal.  (Just leave me a trackback so I can come read it, too!)

A fun test

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Art, Identity, Memes

Not totally accurate on all counts, but fun nonetheless.

drawing personality

What does your drawing say about YOU?

The results of your analysis:

You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn’t actually dishearten you all that much. You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way. You like following the rules and being objective.  You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them. You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

Work in progress meme

Posted by Christopher Barzak in Memes, Writing

Via Ms. Bond, a work in progress meme:

Turn to page 123 in your work-in-progress. (If you haven’t gotten to page 123 yet, then turn to page 23. If you haven’t gotten there yet, then get busy and write page 23.) Count down four sentences and then instead of just the fifth sentence, give us the whole paragraph (that it comes from).

From my third novel, “Yesterday’s Child”:

I was on my way to joining the world it seemed everyone else lived in. It turned out I could pull it off, this human thing. By the time we reached my house, I felt like I’d figured something out. This was how people were, I thought. I felt the glow of hope spread through me, a hope that I wouldn’t always be at the edge of things because of who I was. As Jerrod’s mother backed the car onto the road, as Jerrod gave me a wave as they drove off, I thought the world I was becoming a part of right then was far better than the world’s shadow, where my mother dwelled.