The writing process and other random ramblings

Have you ever heard a song, seen a landscape or picture and been inspired by it? Have you ever just been moved in a moment by something outside of yourself? Some of you may know that one of my hobbies is that i enjoy writing science fiction short stories ~ but more specifically, stories based in Games Workshop's Necromunda setting. Well, i've been working on what i call my 'novel'. It's really just an overly ambitious short story idea. Well, about two or three weeks ago i was researching for a part of the story when i stumbled across the picture to the left. I had in mind four 'major' characters ~ you know, with other minor ones coming into play in the background, etc. ~ but as soon as i saw this picture i completely rewrote one of them. In addition to having an affinity for the samurai of feudal Japan i have had a love of Elves since i was aware of their 'existence' within literature and fantasy settings. I am not referring to the little Sprite like elves, but those of the Tolkien ilk. So much so that while i was growing up, whenever i played a game with my friends - no matter what that game was - if it was possible to play an elf character 95 times out of 100 that was the character type i was going to play. My gaming nickname was "elf buddy" because of this... and my seemingly incredible ability (i.e. luck) to roll exactly what i needed no matter how long the odds where. Well, this guy here is what is known as an Eldar Ranger. He is the long range scouts for his kind, and conveniently he fit the bill of the archetype Nomad/Scout of one of the main characters. This picture, along with "Tulip's" encouragement of setting reasonable daily goals and my beloved's encouragement to "just do it", has sort of re-ignited my writing of late. Which i am very, very happy about. I do have one concern though. This guy is not the 'hero' of the tale... LOL Last week my favorite team in the whole world, the Carolina Panthers of the NFL, got their rear ends handed to them by the Philadelphia Eagles. It was reminiscent of the drubbing at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals in last years playoffs. Both of those games opened up with a really good drive, grinding it out on the ground culminating with a Touchdown, only for it all to get flushed down the toilet by turnovers. A lot of the blame has been put on the back of Jake Delhomme, and to a point deservedly so. BUT, this is a team sport and i was listening to this past weekend's game... some things i'd like to point out... 13 attempts to Mr. Steve Smith... 3 catches (some of those were bad throws... but these two have been such a tandem in the past...), on one interception the ball was tipped... on the fumble it was a screen pass and the defensive lineman had a clear shot to the QB and popped it lose... which was then returned for a touchdown. Those in the media are already calling for the firing of #17 with severe implications for Coach Fox. Both Coach Fox and Jake Delhomme have been the best in Panthers history... by a pretty wide margin. Now, past performance does not necessarily guarantee future results... but i think it is crazy that people are unhappy unless a team makes it to the championship game every year. I am still dreaming of a 9-7 season for my Panthers. Geaux Panthers! Yesterday i came across Josh Harris' blog and i saw that he blogged about Gollum and man's slavery to sin. I keep a statue of Smeagol on my desk at work. Not because i find it particularly attractive, or because i particularly like the character. I keep it on my desk because i see Gollum as the example of man's depravity... of our addiction to sin. But when i read Pastor Josh's blog on the subject i felt that he put it so much better than i ever did. I was going to quote him in full here... but i am out of time and space for today... i encourage those who stumble across this blog to think about this.