National Novel Writing Month

With 2012 coming to a close, my page-a-fiction a day has been in stops and starts. Now, while I have no intention of joining the actual website, National Novel Writing Month is an amazing motivational tool for lots of writers. So, for the month of November, I'm going to change gears, and instead of chewing through a variety of short stories (most of which I disliked), my goal is going to be to tell an overarching, longer story. Frankly, my biggest worry is that I'll waste a lot of time writing crap.

Fergie Goes Home

I haven't blogged recently due to work and a special guest.

She was deciding if she should stay or if she should go.

Walking Dead: Episode 4 Review

Walking Dead, Episode 4: Review (now that I've played it.) Spoilers. You will be spoiled. Do not go below the fold.

Today in Sweets

Have I ever made a post and snarkily noted "first-world problems?" If not, let today be the first with some news in the world of sweets.

First, the Wall Street Journal, brings us news of something dire in the land of Starbucks. I can't think of a reason we'd be so low on such a vital product, but I do feel for those who cannot get their fix. I like that the WSJ is able to be a bit tongue in cheek about it too: "Then, a 'terrible tragedy happened,' he said. 'I placed my order, and the barista informed me that they were out. I was so distraught.'"

At least, it is tongue in cheek, right? Right? The Romenesko quote reminds me, vaguely, of the story of Russians (or Cubans, mattering on the anecdote) ruefully thinking about the ruling class's incorrect belief that there is bread in the store because they see it in their own. I kind of want to go to a Starbucks, buy a pumpkin spice latte, and then take a picture of it to this blog with a caption: "I don't even like coffee, and I got one."

But, I also don't want to start a riot.

In our second bit of news for today in sweets, MSNBC brings us one of those accidents in science that might revolutionize an industry. Namely, colored honey. Except, well, the people who stumbled upon this discovery have decided that they, well, actually hate novelties and making money, and will instead turn their noses up at the discolored, but otherwise perfectly normal honey. No, really:

"As for the M&M's-infused honey, union head Frieh said it might taste like honey, but there the comparison stopped. 'For me, it's not honey. It's not sellable,'" he said.

Think of it like when you would add food dye to water and set some white carnations in it to get pretty colored flowers. Only, instead of flowers, it is honey. Colored honey could be the wave of the future (something Sarah Hoyt on the Instapundit blog pointed out as well.) Here's my plan. Create a bee-friendly green house filled with candy plants, a la Willy Wonka.

Bam. We've protected bees, and we will be able to sell color-coordinated honey to people who may want green honey. Because it worked so well with ketchup. Look, I'm just the idea guy. But, if a bee keeper, an engineer and a candy magnate want to get together and make this idea come true, I'm only asking for 5 percent.

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Edit: Today in sweets, ice cream goes to space. It is like the world always conspires to give me the best link for any post after I hit publish. No matter. This is the internet, and I can edit to my heart's content. The coolest part of this is that the freezers storing the ice cream double for science research once it gets to space.

... Did you see what I did there?

On Secrets and Worlds

So. My hiatus on the Secret World has gone from "unknown" to "probably permanent." It isn't that The Secret World is a bad game; it does a lot of things well. Character customization is fun, when you can find groups dungeons are quick, fast and challenging. The plot is that better than most MMOs, and stronger than some single player games.

I don't want to rehash everything it did wrong and that it did right. It was an ambitious title, and it succeeded in delivering a lot of things (and failed in others.) This is not a knock against The Secret World, but I only have time for one MMO, and sadly, Guild Wars 2 is that MMO. I like what both are bringing to the genre (that is: more customizable characters, more detailed worlds, ways to dip to play with other characters, etc.)

If someone were to write a history of MMOs, the Secret World deserves an honorable mention. There have been a lot of forgettable MMOs, and a lot of MMOs that promised a lot and petered out. But, from the word go, you could tell The Secret World was a labor of love. Either way, I think that it was a brilliant game (and still is, actually.)

Oh well. Tomorrow, links; next week, back to normal blogging.

Walking Dead Game Episode 4 Trailer

Telltale's Walking Dead has a trailer up for Episode 4 (warning, below there be spoilers.)