Character inspiration from 19th century photographs

I have been trying to come up with drawings of the characters from Millicent Marbleroller. General Crackerhead and Nobbins have been the most difficult, although Mumbleskull has likewise been hard.

I decided that giving Teddy Roosevelt a mustache like Chester A. Arthur makes a pretty decent General.

Wagner - stern face, large face. I was wondering about Nobbins..

Schoepenhauer - if he looked a little happier and not as constipated I would say he is a good Mumbleskull. Needs coke-bottle glasses.

Some guy named Wattles Wallace - inventor of some sort. I was looking for thin faced men to help with the drawings for Admiral Crackerhead.
Pope Leon - another thinner faced man for the Admiral.
Thomas Huxley, an ardent supporter of the theory of evolution, who coined the term "agnostic" to refer to atheism because apparently at the time atheism was carrying a lot of socialist baggage. I thought his stern visage would make a good model for Nobbins.

Difficulties picking a title for the Millicent Marbleroller sequel

This has been a problem for me because the story itself doesn't change venue. The sequel to the book picks up the very next day, and most of the action happens in and around the same location and with the same characters. It is really just an extension of the conflicts that occurred in the first book.

I know I want to follow the same structural pattern for the title... "Millicent Marbleroller and..." - but the "and the WHAT?" is the part that throws me. The way the story is going, I could easily say "Millicent Marbleroller and More of the House of the Toymaker", but that just sounds stupid.

But now that I am into the story I have an idea for a title. I just am not so sure I want to use it. It would follow the same title structure pattern, but it introduces a concept for the book that I did not see coming until I was in the middle of it. The original idea was just a minor plot device, but it was something that was so funny to me that I have kept re-using it and growing it and making it bigger, and bigger and more important to the story. I have thought to use this thing (trying to avoid spoiling it just yet...) as the object in the title... "Millicent Marbleroller and the ". It actually SOUND really good - it is a really wacky title, and I think guaranteed to make people go "What the heck is this about?", so I am really tempted.

However, this particular development took me by surprise when it came about, and I want to share that surprise with the readers. I don't want them to see it coming, but rather have it grow for them in the same way it grew for me as I wrote about it. I am finding this to be a very difficult decision.

Saying "No" on Facebook feels rude... is it?

I just realized something about facebook comments. It was triggered by a rather typical status update/comment situation. A friend of mine set his status to "Should (person) buy the new Camaro?".

I wasn't going to say anything because, frankly, I have no opinion about what that person should do regarding car purchases. I myself don't have much interest in cars as anything other than a utility, and don't really know if the new Camaro is all that interesting or not. But then, I wondered what it would be like to say "No". I then suddenly realized that saying "No" felt inappropriate and wrong. My inner etiquette alarm went off.

So, naturally, I said "no".

Immediately after, two other people posted comments telling this person to buy the Camaro. Nobody chastised me on my negative response - but certainly they were all positive.

Which left me wondering - is it EVER appropriate to say "No" on facebook in response to this sort of question? I don't believe it is. I believe the actual interchange is not really about soliticiting a response geared toward assisting in the decision making. I believe the real purpose of the interchange is positive affirmation - morale boosting, cheering up, etc. The real thing the person was saying was "I want to enjoy something, and this is what it is. I am pretending to ask for opinions, but I am not really asking for you to say anything but 'yes' - thus affirming that I deserve to enjoy myself with an indulgence."

I don't believe we use Facebook status for real decision feedback - we use it for quick, chit chat style small talk. Decision making is for other venues - e.g. discussion forums, mailing lists. But status updates is where you seek quick cheering up, affirmation of your values, etc.

Sometimes, it seems like "No" is the right response, but I would suggest that in this case the question is actually applied sarcastically to be framed as a negative, but really seeking to affirm the opposite. For example "Sally is going to give up on her dreams of becoming a dancer and just join the blasted army!"... which is guaranteed to get "Nooo! Don't do it!" responses, but only because everyone knows Sally isn't serious, she is just frustrated, and wants everyone to know how difficult pursuing her dreams really is and is fishing for a bit of encouragement disguised as railing against a military career choice.

Like always, I state my case here with nothing more than ad hoc observations. I haven't the guts to test the principal to its limits (e.g. by replying "No" whenever someone obviously isn't REALLY looking for an opinion) for fear of losing the few enough friends I have accumulated. I leave such bravery to more spirited souls... say those studying psychology at Berkeley or something.

San Francisco Behavior Pattern? "Helpful" Shout Outs

I saw this happen twice today. We were on the public transit in San Francisco. The first time we were on the N streetcar, in the underground, and were just short of the Embarcadero station. The car had stopped, but the doors had not opened. While we were there, my wife asks me, and one of the people standing by the door, if we were at the stop and if the doors were going to open. The woman turned around and shrugged her shoulders.
Just then, there is this woman's voice nearby that says "We aren't at the stop yet."
I turn to see who spoke. Nobody is looking in any direction. Nobody is looking toward myself or my wife. Everybody is looking down at their newspapers, magazines, cell phones, etc.

Later, we were on the F line (different street car, picks up at the Embaracadero station) and someone starts to try to get off at the back door. He shouts to the driver "Back door!". A few seconds later, someone randomly says "Step on the step" (the doors open automatically when someone steps on the step). Again, nobody is looking at the guy. The guy doesn't turn to acknowledge anybody. Everyone is looking at their own business, books, phones, feet, whatever.

I have never observed this before. Every time I have seen anybody say something to anybody else there is always some sort of acknowledgement of the conversation. A nod. Eye contact. But this was almost like people talking to themselves, which was really weird, because they were technically offering help and instruction, but without directly looking at the person. It was hard to tell if this was "Hey, let me help you.." conversation, or if this was, "Oh geeze, you idiot, can you just get on with it...?" conversation - I try to avoid interpreting behavior, especially when it is so usuual to me.

So, is this a San Francisco thing? A big city thing? I don't know if ANYBODY reads these blog postings, but if anybody from the SF area, or from somewhere this behavior is common reads this, let me know.

Facebook status postings: maybe there are only five?

There is something about Facebook social networking dynamics that seems to motivate a patten of similarity in postings, be it status updates, comments, or notes. The status updates, in particular, seem to feel like they come from the same categories regardless who the person is. This seems to be phenomenon one may observe at other social venues (e.g. how people act at church versus at a party at work versus at a party in downtown versus if they are interviewed on television versus when they are with family, etc. etc.), so it is not altogether unexpected. What is more interesting to me is how much the mode of the social context affects the flavor. Here is a non-authoritative, non-exhaustive ad hoc attempt by me to categorize some of the Facebook status categories I have seen:

"Homey feelings"
This status update is to publicly share with others the fact that deep down inside we prefer the "quiet, low key benefits of life at home" in contrast to the goal-oriented, high energy, pop-buzz lifestyle we experience at work, observe on television or that exists in some other mode or venue. Some examples of this type of posting might be "Jolene is hunkering down on a cold-rainy day. MMM!! Hot chocolate" or "Stephen is looking forward to a quiet morning with the kids".

"I am just too busy"
This status update is to publicly share that you too participate in "too busy to exist" life, and that you have just about had enough. You want everyone to know just how tired you are because, gosh-darnit, you are being stretched way too thin. The context of "busy" is allowed to extend to anything, be it life at home "Gretel is exhausted from helping Jeret with his algebra. Help!", to life at work "Christof is pulling another all-nighter writing Weenus reports!" to the social calendar "Zando feels stretched too little butter over too much bread after dancing naked for three days at burning man."

"I am above it all"
Pick a societal phenomenon and publicly declare that you are too good for it. Irony is a big payoff here, so if the societal phenomenon is directed at social networking then all the better. The irony deepens even more if you are incredibly guilty of whatever you are publicly declaring yourself too good for. Great examples, "Marcus is done with cel phones! Wait until you get out of the car and talk face to face you dolt!", "Mira doesn't want to know your status."

"I am so freakin' connected"
Drop names. Drop references. Go places and tell people where you went and who you saw. The purpose here to demonstrate for everybody that are more connected, hip and socially cool that most around you. This particular status works really well when disguised as a "I am just too busy" status. Hip examples, "Merlot thinks the Society for Creative Anachronisms just isn't what it used to be..." and "Lizzie is just back from the VIP presentation of 'Live With the Osborne Family' and is too tired after all those caviar and vodka shooters."

"I am enigmatic, strange, and smarter than you"
The purpose of this status update is to have people simultaneously say "Wow, this person is SO smart!" and ask "What the heck are they talking about?" Drop names, drop references, but unlike "I am so freakin' connected", which necessitates people understand your references, make sure that the names and references are so non-sequitir and lacking so much context that everyone will feel like an idiot for not being able to follow you. Frequently, meaningless semantic phrases can substitute for obscure references. Examples, "Gregory isn't going to do what they are telling him..." or "Felicity was but isn't unless she does."

Finished my alien decoder puzzle game

The link to the game is below:
http://wayneroseberry.com/Apps/alientileslider.html

You slide tiles with symbols around inside an alien keypad. The symbols are alien letters that correspond to English characters. The keypad is hooked to a decoder that says if you have managed to form a word with the symbols.

Below the keypad is a series of English words written with the alien symbols. Based on the word combinations matched above you have to figure out what the matching words would be below. Not all of the symbols shown below are guaranteed to be on the keypad, so sometimes you have to use some logic beyond the obvious to figure out what the words are.

I've been distracting myself with game programming

Somehow I got it in my head that I wanted to do javascript programming. I also had a game idea that was stuck in my skull and I needed to see it done.

The game is based on sliding tile puzzles, except that instead of the tiles containing parts of a picture, they contain letters. You get points if you form words out of the tiles. The longer the word, the fewer the clicks. The words go left to right and up to down. You are constrained by number of clicks.

I wrote the first game in C# as a Windows application to get the algorithm down. This is just because I am more familiar with Windows programming than web programming. The game was really ugly because actually making an attractive UI in Windows takes a lot of work. Once I got the basic logic down I stopped.

The javascript version of the game is some seriously sloppy coding. This is through pure lack of knowlege about javascript. I would want to do something a certain way, but not know how to do it (what syntax, command, object) so I would do it the stupid way. I also immediately introduced browser bugs (won't work in FireFox), which really annoys me. The problem I have is that getting it right is a matter of arcana. My opinion is that if the underlying technology (i.e. HTML, Java, etc.) were GOOD there would be no such thing as browser incompatibility. But no, its a loosey goosey form of programming that requires developers to memorize all sorts of detailed facts to get everything right. Fooey. Yes, I know... read, read, read.

Anyway, the javascript version is far more attractive than my original. This is because layout, and graphics are easier to tweak on a web page, so I was able to make a UI that looks more like a physical puzzle. Fun!

I then got an idea for doing the same thing, but making the tiles non-alphabetic like some sort of substitution cipher. The problem, then, would be to figure out what the letters were by accidentally forming words and then using logic to determine exactly which tile made the word. So, I modified the game - I took away the click limitation, changed the puzzle to look like some sort of alien hardware and changed the letter tiles to look like some sort of bizarre alphabet (I took one of the fonts that is all diacriticals and rotated the letters... they started looking latin and wound up looking totally alien).

The games are located here: http://www.wayneroseberry.com/apps