Monthly Archives: September 2010

Doctor, Please — Some More of These

Posted on September 29, 2010 by midiguru

Getting old is a messy, messy business. This is the dark side of modern medical science. People who would once have expired after a few days or weeks of misery can now live on for years. At a certain point, … Continue reading →

Posted in random musings | Tagged | 2 Comments

Those Darn Ivories

Posted on September 22, 2010 by midiguru

Normally I avoid making fun of the writing of non-native speakers of English. But this is so good I had to share it. I was googling around, looking at posts on piano playing as a hobby, and I found this … Continue reading →

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After They’ve Seen Paree

Posted on September 20, 2010 by midiguru

I’ve been working on a new interactive fiction story/game for a few weeks, but I’m starting to lose interest in going on with it. It’s a contemporary dark fantasy on a theme from Greek mythology, and it’s not without points of interest. … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction | 31 Comments

Playing the Piano for Pleasure

Posted on September 13, 2010 by midiguru

Most days, I spend an hour or so playing the piano. I started learning as an adult, so my technique is fairly limited, but I’m accomplished enough to enjoy playing a variety of music — Bach preludes and fugues, sonatas … Continue reading →

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Notes vs. Process

Posted on September 12, 2010 by midiguru

As a hobbyist-level computer programmer, I find Csound very attractive. As a composer, I find Csound almost impossibly balky and difficult to use. The key difference is, I’m an old-school composer. My music is made of notes, which are deployed in … Continue reading →

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In Search of Meaning

Posted on September 9, 2010 by midiguru

As we get older, the prospect that we will accomplish great things in the future begins to recede. Because I have no family, much of my enjoyment in life comes from accomplishing things. I long ago gave up my plans for great … Continue reading →

Posted in random musings | 7 Comments

Shall We Tense?

Posted on September 5, 2010 by midiguru

I’m thinking about recasting the IF story I’m working on, switching from second person, present tense to third person, past tense. I wish I was sure what would be best. The story is less than half written, but even so, it’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Interactive Fiction, writing | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Random Summer Reading

Posted on September 4, 2010 by midiguru

After inhaling five or six Discworld novels, which are great fun but sort of the literary equivalent of a big tub of flavored popcorn, I needed a change of pace. On my literature shelves I found a paperback (picked up … Continue reading →

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Can Interactive Fiction Be Literature?

Posted on September 3, 2010 by midiguru

I don’t often think about literature as such; I only think about whether I like a given book. But there is such a thing as literary fiction, and it’s not the same thing as commercial fiction. Some literature is commercially … Continue reading →

Posted in fiction, Interactive Fiction, writing | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Religion in the Schools

Posted on September 2, 2010 by midiguru

It occurred to me, after I clicked the Publish button on “Lurching & Staggering” this morning, that my point about conservatives preferring ignorance while liberals prefer education was open to counter-attack from a certain species of misguided person. They might … Continue reading →

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