Baltimore vs NYC: Immigration & Trade
I used to hate cities. Then I learned how much immigration & trade defined the urban experience. That Baltimore Upbringing, Yo. I grew up in Baltimore, and if you’ve paid...
Eleanor Konik
My Trip to Japan: Vacation & Engagement
I’m so sorry I missed posting two weeks ago, but I have an excuse! You see, I knew I had my Japan vacation, but I wasn’t expecting to get engaged...
Gary Johnson & other Republicans turning Libertarian
I think there’s a strong case to be made for a certain subset of Republicans turning Libertarian. Let me preface this with some vital statistics. I am 28, female, and...
Heroes and Parenting: Achilles vs. Hawkeye
I recently read a Washington Post article claiming that President Obama’s most unusual legacy will be that he was a good father. It rang true for me. We rarely get...
Earth 2: Big Ideas & Bad Characters
As part of my research on colonization stories, a friend recommended Earth 2 to me, claiming it was a better Terra Nova — though I think that was mostly nostalgia...
Ethical Systems: From Conclusions to Reasons
One of the most important things to remember about ethics is that, socially, it is not set in stone. There is no ethical system that is universally accepted, even though...
Colonization: Battling Man, Battling Nature
Lately I have been trying to plan out the latter books of my fantasy series, the Chronicles of Verraine. As with the prequel I discussed, I’d like to have a plan firmly in...
History’s Leaders: Great Men or Sons of Society?
I’ve mentioned before that my novel features a religious element. It’s a central part of the conflict that a small, anti-mage religious sect became very powerful after a cataclysmic series...
Fermi’s Paradox and Mythology as Science
I know a few people who get a real kick out of those History channel shows where they talk about how all of humanity’s greatest achievements are all due to aliens, and...
Exaggeration: History Becomes Myth
It was the Black Company series by Glen Cook that made me realize how often history becomes myth, exaggerated beyond meaningful belief. The Books of Glittering Stone detail a religion...
