Addicted to arrows

Ack! Must...stop...playing...Bowmaster!

It's a "defend the castle" Flash game—enemies march inexorably toward you, and you have to "slingshot" your arrows at them by pulling back on the mouse to set the angle and strength of your shots. That's a pretty standard game mechanic, but with each victory you earn gold for buying upgrades—fire arrows and bomb arrows and lightning arrows, and your own little foot soldiers (which are far, far too easy to shoot in the back) and cavalry and trebuchets to march on the enemy position.

It's one of those "Oh, just one more level!" games, which are great when you want to zone out, not so great when you're supposed to be writing. Eep! But the slow march of my tiny warriors is so hypnotic....

Metaphor Man

Writing is like this: I approach a frozen lake, and step out onto the ice. Walking around aimlessly, I know I need to break through the ice and dive into the water, but it looks so cold and dark and frightening that I can't steel myself to do it. Sometimes I hang back for ten minutes or fifteen or half an hour—sometimes for an entire night, thinking all along "I'll dive in in just a moment" until I'm thinking "Well, there's no point diving in now, I'd just have to get right back out." The longer I wait, the more unwelcoming the water looks.

Once I finally gather my nerve and dive in, and the shock has worn off, I discover the water is actually quite warm, and my muscles enjoy being stretched, and there are interesting fish and weeds and crustaceans here and there. I lose track of time, swimming about, and when I come out I'm refreshed and pleased.

But I know I'll be walking on the ice again next time, making minute adjustments to the footers or re-re-checking LiveJournal or changing a word or two before hitting command-Z, and it'll be just as difficult to dive into the water as it was the last time. I wonder if that ice will ever disappear, or whether my goal should simply be to remember more readily how nice that water feels.

(Two pages in an hour tonight, and I finally got to that scene break. Take that, Bowmaster!)

Ho Ho Hodgman

Attention netizens! John Hodgman reading John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise is, for a limited time, available as a free and seven-hour download from the iTunes Store. Jonathan Coulton is a bonus guest performer. Hurry!

If you aren't familiar with Hodgman, here is your chance to become so. He is "...and I'm a PC" in the recent Mac ads, and also the Daily Show's Resident Expert. His book contains complete world knowledge, plus information on furry lobsters and hoboes, nearly all of which is not true. I rarely laugh so hard as I do when Hodgman is speaking. This comes at a very good time, as adfamiliares and I will clock something like thirty hours in the car for the holidays, and we will want something to occupy our brains.

Bonus: Sufjan Stevens offers a free holiday single for download this week! I am spreading the gospel of Sufjan this holiday season; he is an amazing songwriter who writes hauntingly lovely songs about zombies and John Wayne Gacy and the Sears Tower. Also, apparently, about Christmas.