Ha! Game Developers Know the Darnedest Things:

I've been a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls games since Morrowind, and probably would have been playing Daggerfall and Arena if I owned a computer at that point. Either way, it's hard not to be blown away by how much Bethesda packs into every one of those games. I always knew there were a bunch of cultural influences, but it never occurred to me to check some of the slang in the game.

For example, Dunmer (or Dark Elves) call the player's character, 'Sera' throughout the game. They will say things like, 'Hail Sera!' as the character wanders through towns. It always seemed like a unique word to the world and helped entrench the player in the epic scope of the game.

This morning, for some reason, I decided to Google the word 'Sera' and discovered a link to the Arabian word Seera. Turns out a 'seera' is an Arabic word that describes a biography (i.e. The Seera of Prophet Mohamed) but can also describe the journey through life. And of course, Morrowind is the story of the player's journey to his destiny. What a perfect way to marry a real life word many would not be familiar with to a concept in the game!

Writers tend to do this on a regular basis. A good example of this (as he is with many other interesting writing techniques) is Robert Jordan. An easy example is Jordan giving the Dark One a real name of Shai'tan, which is similar to Shaitan (or the Devil) in Islam. Jordan drew off real figures and names scores of times through the Wheel of Time, including a very interesting homage to General Robert E. Lee in The Great Captain Gareth Bryne.

Either way, I'm even more impressed with Bethesda than I was before, and wonder what other cultural Easter Eggs they've included in their worldbuilding.

Slow going and Fake Excitement:

Over the past couple weeks, it's been slow going on every project I'm working on. The novel isn't moving like it was a couple weeks ago, fixing the short story is taking far more time than I anticipated, and even exercising seems laborious. Work is dreary and draining. School is somewhat better, but not where I need to be. It's almost all just 'blah'.

Generally, when things like this occur it gets to the point where I start to feel resistance in anything I try to do. Ever try to lift something that shouldn't be that heavy, and yet it is? That's where I am.

My martial arts instructor taught me a trick that works well in times like this: Fake excitement.

My first reaction to this was a small amount of skepticism. Only a small amount. Master Park is an amazing person who was one of the catalysts for a dramatic turnaround in my life. So when he talks I listen, even if I'm not sure I believe what he's saying. When I follow the logic eventually I come to the conclusion he's right.

So how does one fake excitement when they don't feel it? It's as easy as it sounds. Approach a project and and decide to be excited about it. "Woo-hoo, I'm cleaning my house!" "I just can't wait to dig into this huge pile of work!"

It sounds cheesy but it works.

For example, over the weekend my to-do list was enormous. Instead of allowing myself to get overwhelmed, I decided to get excited. Not only did I get everything accomplished, I discovered something very interesting about the main character of my novel. Fake excitement when I ask struggling to make progress gave me a new internal conflict, and it's made me genuinely excited to get back to the keyboard.

Speaking of which, it's time to fake some excitement so I can drag myself to the gym.

The Obligatory Government Shutdown Post:

I feel the need to comment on this, mostly because I'm getting bombarded with messages telling me why one side is wonderful and blameless while the other side wants to kill orphans and kick little old ladies or other such nonsense. Since I'm an American and I have skin in the game, let me pin down how I see it:

First, understand that the various sides to this argument all have some measure of blame. No individual is a saint, let alone any particular group. Everyone contributed to at least some of the issues that lead to the shutdown. Who is at fault? Basically all of our elected officials and the Presidential appointees, both those currently serving and the ones who left during the first term. 

Second, can we agree that the main conservative/liberal parties have irreconcilable differences? I'm sure there is middle ground somewhere but the desire to find it is less than the desire to one up 'the other side' in soundbites. Are we all Americans in the end? At one time I thought so. Now it seems to me that we've devolved into bickering cliques who see no redeeming value in 'the other' who dares to have a different point of view. 

It's also important to note that these guys are all talking a completely different game behind the scenes. Reading books on contemporary politics written from a detached, moderate point of view (yes, there are a few) indicates there is a huge difference between the public persona and the behind closed doors men and women. Sort of like how WWE Superstars are not the same person as the character they portray in the ring. 

The difficulty here is that most ordinary people only listen to the soundbites or read blogs/watch news that portrays their particular ideological slant. The mobs of Rome have no idea what goes on in the Patriarch's home. They only hear rumors and innuendo, along with the flowery speeches in the Capital. 

The million dollar question is: How does this play out in the end? 

In my opinion, the shutdown will have far less impact than what will be reported. (Remember how the sequester cuts were going to destroy the economy? Yeah, not so much.) Will it hurt our credit rating or damage the stock market's run? Maybe. Does that matter? Your guess is as good as mine. 

I see some sort of face saving move in the coming days or weeks. One that would allow both sides to claim some sort of moral victory, but can be easily twisted by pundits on the wings. The President will be the savior who delivered the masses from the grip of the evil Republicans, while the Republicans will show the Despot in Chief and his cronies that the middle class is ready to fight the expanding Federal Government. All of which will be nothing more than theatre and ammo for the upcoming midterm elections. 

And none of which will actually solve a darned thing.