RIP Arthur C Clarke

Arthur C. Clarke, one of the greatest writers and thinkers of the 20th and 21st centuries, has died in hospital at the age of 90.

I have only read a few of his books (I read, and greatly enjoyed, 2001: A Space Odyssey and then something distracted me before I finished 2010: Odyssey Two) but he has had a huge influence on my life, if only as a byproduct of the influence he has had on the world as a whole.

He was among the first to think about and formally propose the concept of a geostationary satellite, a technology that is the basis of almost all global telecommunication systems, and he was always at the forefront of scientific knowledge. He also brought the concept of space elevators to his audience, an act he believed would leave a far greater legacy than even the satellites.

Really, there's nothing more I can say. He was a great man. Read all the tributes and, more importantly, read his books and you will undoubtedly see why I and so many others think so.

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a bookmarked copy of 2010 lying around here somewhere that needs read...

Completely Random Post

I know, I know, I've not done anything for a week. I've been taking it easy and mostly enjoying it.

This likely means nothing but it seems like something I ought to write down so that I can remember it and laugh. Who knows, it may even amuse you. Whoever you are.

You know the Computing project I've been stuck on for weeks, possibly even months, now?

Well, I just solved the last bug that was stopping it from working properly (it's still a little dodgy but I can get on with the basic testing and so on) and iTunes, working it's way through the playlist marked "Other", switches from Still Alive to What a Wonderful World.

Seemed strangely appropriate.

Not Done Yet

I really should have spent more time today trying to write this thing. One year ago today, I wrote this. Now here I am, one year later, challenge more or less fulfilled, and I can't think of anything to write.

Would it be suitably ironic if I just called this a crappy post and left it at that? I don't think I have it in me tonight to write much more. I'll at least try to do a woodle for tomorrow.

Something's happened now that hasn't happened in a while – I have too many ideas. There are a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head, some related to my experience with TWToday, some related to my various fiction projects, even a couple of solutions to my Computing project code problem (which I really need to work on tomorrow).

The problem is that I don't feel like I can do any of them justice in the time I've given myself, especially given that I'm now very tired and can barely type a sentence without at least three spelling errors cropping up.

I think that's the problem with this one post a day strategy. I'm naturally lazy and keep leaving things too late and even if I didn't, I don't think I'd have enough free time in one day to write some of this stuff down the way I really want it done. That ridiculous sentence is probably the best example of what happens when I get rushed.

Or is it ridiculous? It seemed that way at the time, a mere moment ago, but surely with a bit of proof-reading and editing, I'd be happy with it. Maybe I'd be happy with it now if I simply read it over again. Maybe I could have been happy with it before had my poor typing and tiredness not been putting me in a bad mood already.

Was that the right tense?

I don't care. I can't be bothered going back to fix it.

Okay, I've made a decision. Tomorrow, I'll spend some time collecting my thoughts and writing them down. If I don't have them in a form I like by the end of the day then I'll simply save it, go to bed and work on it some more the day after. I'll also try to find some time to make a woodle and start writing The Grey Line again*. And I have to get something done on that Computing project I keep mentioning.


Crap. I went away for a minute and completely lost my momentum. Anyway, that's the plan for now. Hopefully, it heralds some better quality updates around here as well as the completion (or, more accurately, start of) several other plans and projects of mine.

And with that, I bid you goodnight.

Because I was really starting to get sick of that other catchphrase.







*Those paying attention (which at this point is probably just me and even then only for about half the time) will have noticed that I deleted the all the posts at Corbett's Fiction. I wasn't happy with them and I've decided to go for a whole new method, just as soon as I find the time.