R. Scott Bakker's Blog, page 45

Aphorism of the Day: The best thing any asshole can do is to regularly change their underwear.

Yesterday was the release date for NHL 11 – so hockey night with my buddies was a little more debauched than usual. I kicked some major ass, which means my review for the newest version of the world's best video game is 10 out of 1o.

I have to admit, I'm still on the fence when it comes to this blogging thing. I had a long talk with my agent yesterday, who wants me to talk about the books much more...

I liked John Fultz's comment so much that I decided to forgo what I was originally going to post – a rant about Jonathan Franzen and the 'literature of complacency,' to continue discussing the humanities. John says,

Forget rationalization and reason. Studying the Humanities gives you a basic appreciation for HUMANS…it establishes and hones the natural ability to EMPATHIZE with your fellow humans. It brings you beyond the confines of your own narrow skull/body and helps you understand what...

Aphorism of the Day: Having a blog is like having a second dick: the more fun you have with it, the more people will think you're a wanker.

So the Globe and Mail featured yet another essay (this one by John Allemang) extolling the humanities as a kind of critical thinking factory. Apparently its no coincidence that terror suspects tend to have science and technical backgrounds.

Human brains are rationalization machines. We begin with our conclusions when we rationalize. We start with a claim...

What a knob I am. Here I thought Disciple of the Dog was coming out in Canada next week, when it's already been out for several days. Next week in the UK, and not until November in the US – I'm not sure why, though I trust my Tor editor's judgement implicitly.

I spent some time thumbing through the Canadian edition the other day – the Cringe Game, I call it – and found a positively horrific typo: a line of dialogue inexplicably put in parenthesis. I smell a proofreading rat, something tagged f...

Just got back from New Hampshire this morning… I. Am. Bagged. A friend of mine, Roger Eichorn – who will one day I'm sure become a giant of fantasy once he clears up the pesky matter of his philosophy PhD – got married. And we stayed with another friend, Nick Smith, who along with his wife Nicole, fairly broke his back observing the ancient laws of hospitality.

It was our first longish trip with little Ruby, who had a fantastic time dancing on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean: she is a true...

Aphorism of the Day: One man's dog is another woman's pig – I get that.  (Disciple Manning)

Was up all night drinking, playing ping-pong and playstation hockey – I have that feeling of random circuits sparking. Some hilarious comments on my last post, so I thought I'd post this as a kind of communal reply.

I really wish I had thought of something devilish t0 say to that professor of yore, but I was literally stupefied. Growing up I was the goofy kid who was easy to bully and tease because I...

Aphorism of the Day: Stupid is as Smart says it is.

So Disciple of the Dog is due to be released soon. I'm almost certain that all those convinced of my sexism will be gratified. It hasn't escaped my notice that everyone who has commented on this blog seems to be male. I'm sure some will take this as evidence of my sexism as well. Given that I literally believe that males are – in the majority of modern contexts – the 'weaker' sex, I remain mystified. Given that I've caught myself preferring

I still haven't had a chance to look at the comments… But I will, once my master, the Great God Procrastidemus, gives me permission.

Otherwise, having completely alienated another one of the fine patrons of the coffee shop where I spend my mornings writing, I thought I would talk about the perils of calling smart people stupid.

The conversations almost always start with some variant of the question: "So you think you're a critical thinker?" The most recent one ended with me saying, "I'll shut u...

Time to ease back into the tub.

If you haven't noticed, I have a tendency to fall down the rabbit hole now and again. This time, the catalyst was the final push to complete the final draft of The White-Luck Warrior. I'm not quite done, but in addition to my habit of vanishing into monomaniacal pursuits (an apt description of WLW if there ever was one), I have the habit of losing interest in things on the doorstep of completion…

There was a time when I waged real war against these...

Daily Aphorism I: The only thing worse than other people is the absence of other people. Somebody has to be judged.

Daily Aphorism II: Indiscriminate, peevish nastiness. There's no better tonic for an immobile soul.

I wonder whether anyone has ever pondered the stages of blogging a la Piaget. I think I've reached my first crisis point – something like, generativity versus boredom. Bored with myself, that is. The fact is, nothing really happens when you make your living writing. My wife comes...