City of Legends

As part of my withdrawal from Authors Den (just wait, other deletions in the works) I today pulled down and out all my articles, short stories and poems. Hundreds of items.

I saved them all…and am pondering where, when and how to best re-apply them elsewhere (one friend suggest I post all 130+ poems here in a single posting!)

The thing I hate about it was losing the reviews…thousands of them, from friends and rivals, admirers and critics. I liked hearing what people had to say (which is why the dearth of comments here and on Amomancer is so effing annoying).

But, people, let me know what you think I should do…I am sure some of the short fiction and articles will end up on my Random Drafts and Chapters blog, but we shall see.

I will dream of you till morning…

There was a study done a few years ago that said the main difference between merely pretty (which seems to be the average of all standard facial features one is exposed to within their culture) and beautiful was not a higher order of perfection but a slight lack of symmetry.

Those people we define in our various cultures as most beautiful are not those who achieve flawless symmetry through genetics and exercise and regular injections of nerve paralyzing agents derived from rotting food, those we see as merely “pretty” (and occasionally “grotesque”). Beautiful starts from pretty and then, with a few small things moved out of symmetry to create a noticeable ripple barely perceived, in the awareness of the viewer, it steps out of the crowd. In other words, they stand out, they are “striking”.

We don’t like boring people. Boring people may blend in well, but they don’t “Wow” us like we want to be wowed. Think of Ellen Barkin in “Sea of Love” snapping her fingers to communicate the need for the “zap” of instant attraction. The thunderbolt. What we don’t notice on at least a preconscious level we cannot be seduced by or drawn to.

And it isn’t just on the physical side. I know when I first felt a tug towards my partner and friend, my lover, Candy, I started reading everything I could find that she had written (good thing she is a writer, and a good one). It wasn’t poems or articles about pristine fields of daisies that set the tuning forks of my soul humming, it was the pieces about pain, loss, rejection, fear, anger, betrayal, loneliness and determination, even her love of caffeine. The “little things” that really aren’t so little but expose the bare skin under the cosmetic of everyday conversation. Just like the right flaw in the heart of a diamond sets up the gem to bend the light in new and exciting ways, so was I caught by the refraction of the pale white light of everyday life.

Grey became red and blue and gold and green and colours I’d never seem and as of yet still do not have words for. It was…*snap*…the thunderbolt.

We like our heroes and our lovers to be human, to be real, to have the little picks and flaws that make them all the more precious to us. As beauty is everyday elevated by the right nuance of imperfection, a “perfect fit” in love comes from mutual and complementary imperfections, that is where the attraction and the excitement come from. On some levels we are very different people, and that is intriguing and exciting.

I just thought I’d challenge myself with these, picking ten sites I go to on a daily basis:

1. http://www.ipl.org - The Internet Public Library. This is what Al Gore had in mind when he invented the internet. Well, this and getting elected in 2000 (don’t rule him out in 2008 if Hillary stumbles)

2. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com - Television Without Pity. Lively boards and recappers for most of the shows worth watching, all with attitude. Addictive. My name on the boards is "Nemicorn", by the way.

3. http://www.altavista.com - Altavista Search Engine. Yes, google has more sites…but is that always a virtue? And Altavista is the home of the Babelfish translator.

4. http://www.beliefnet.net - Belief Net. Everything you might want to know about any religion. The Belief-O-Matic, which matches up your views with religions, is priceless.

5. http://www.authorsden.com - Authors Den - A gazillion authors, some experienced, some just starting out, sharing their skills and works. A simple browse can net you some remarkable stuff. And, yes, you can find some exclusives of mine on there, including my review of "Sin City"

6. http://www.blogger.com - Blogger - I use this service for my blog http://cityoflegends.blogspot.com and have been delighted all the while.

7. http://www.dogpile.com - The Dogpile Megasearch. Can’t find it anywhere? This searches multiple engines at once for you…when you’re in a hurry, it is a great place to look.

8. http://www.prweb.com - PRweb Press Release Service. You can put out a press release to the world. For free. Yeah, paying a little gets you to the top of the heap and more services, but I’ve gotten response even from free releases.

9. http://www.gamesville.com - Gamesville. Yes, it is a games site. But when you desperately need some brain candy, a good place to unwind, it is the place. And, you can win money.

10. http://www.cityoflegends.com - William F. DeVault’s City of Legends. When I want to read some of my stuff, or see what I’m up to…it’s where I go. Lean, mean and focused on the works rather than bells and whistles. At least for now (I change the look and feel regularly.)

Need a shower, back later.