Amazing Stories: All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Writer

Trying to be a successful writer can be quite difficult. For those of us who hold day jobs, doubly so. My wife is a good example of someone who can hold down a job, come home, and be creative. It’s why she’s published; it’s why she’s a best seller. I, on the other hand, have always struggled to come home, after a shift, and pick up the pen.
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An Analysis of My Twisted World by Elliot Rodgers

Before I get into anything, I don't really recommend reading this. Although several media outlets have called this work a manifesto, which it is in part, it's more of an autobiography, really. But if you're thinking of educating yourself as to what sort of horrors it must take to turn a young boy into a mass murderer and serial killer, I'll save you the time as this book is mostly filled with banal non events and the rantings of a misanthropic malcontent.

Top 6 Things that Never Need to be Said

6. I'm sick with (ex: the flu).
Oh, I didn't know. I thought you were well with the flu. You can add whatever illness you want to this one, but if you say this, you should get checked for redundancy.

5. Washed Off
Really? As opposed to washing it on?

4. It was a dark night.
I can't count how many times I've heard or read variations of this phrase. A Wrinkle in Time even starts out with this cliche. Night is dark by definition. Sure, some nights are darker than others, depending on the cloud coverage and phase of the moon, but it's the most non descriptive description, ever. You're not really saying anything!

3. Tuna Fish:
Oh, you're eating a tuna FISH sandwich. My mistake, I thought you were having the tuna beef.

2. I have the hiccups.
Seriously, you weren't just faking them?

1. I'm Back.
Even with online conversations, I think people can figure this one out for themselves.

The Top 5 Reasons Adults Still Suck at Video Games

There was this time, way back, when I’d laugh at the idea of my parents playing a videogame. I mean, sure, they had some fun with Pacman and Mario Bros., but it was a novelty for them. Naturally, us kids were better because we took to it with the obsessive, hedonistic passion that would’ve made Aleister Crowley proud. So, with all those childhood hours invested, surely we haven’t become the ham-handed controller wielding doppelgangers of our technologically unhip, parents – have we? I hate to break it to you, but here’s five reasons why you now suck at video games.
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Amazing Stories: Being a Geek Today vs Yesterday

The emperor stands before an AT-AT, which rests on the TV stand above a David Tennant Years box set of Doctor Who, above Star Trek: TNG seasons. To my left is a life size replica of R2D2. To my right are book shelves, populated by the likes of Asimov, Card, Clarke, Herbert, Huxley, Lovecraft, Orwell, Martin, Tolkien, etc. But take a closer look, and you’ll find a contact juggling ball, a chain-mail bag filled with gaming dice, two sonic screwdriver replicas, Star Trek insignia badges, little dolls of Einstein and Tesla, an RC helicopter, and a homemade replica of one of Tom Baker’s giant scarves, acting as the cherry to this layer cake of dorkness.

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Amazing Stories: A Rant on Goodreads

There is something wrong, really wrong, when a site dedicated to book-lovers has the same community etiquette and literacy as YouTube’s comment section.

Maybe it’s just another sign of the times: readers no longer really know how to read, commercial books are more passive, digestible in a single sitting even, and nobody seems to be interested in growing up. So much like Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, every book I love lay scorched on Goodreads. Continue reading on Amazing Stories

Amazing Stories Post: On Ghost Hunters

Pumpkin ale and scary tales aren’t the only things which come around this season. Have you heard a strange bump in the night? Perhaps a door mysteriously opened or slammed shut? Or maybe your druidic harvest ritual backfired, summoning an ancient elder thing that is tormenting your life? So what do you do? My advice, read Carl Sagan’s Demon Haunted World. Continued on Amazing Stories