Thesis Revisions!

I just finished revising my thesis and really bulked up on actual content instead of tables :) Darn, this blog is turning into a real variable resolution TIN model -- too many mental processes in a short time!

And now off to relax briefly before I pedal to the metal again (and no, I'm not referring to my car or bike...)

Oh and I have a tentative title for the Dunheasa sequel: Telcontar Restored. I won't say much more about it yet until I write a few more pages.

Dunheasa FAQ Part 2 and a Few Alumni Pics

I've been getting a lot more questions about Dunheasa, so here are some of the most common ones.

Q: Is Moenia a real group and is that snippet of "Manto Estelar" an actual song or one that you made up? And why did you pick Moenia's songs of all things? What do they sound like -- any "mainstream" bands to compare them to?
A: Moenia is indeed a real group and "Manto Estelar" is one of their songs. I just really like their songs and I just happened to be listening to a lot of Moenia lately. The best comparison would be Depeche Mode (another band I really enjoy listening to), although a lot of their really early songs also remind me of Erasure. (Is my taste in music THAT far from mainstream to have almost everyone ask?)

Q: Did anything really happen between Joanne and Thomas? And is anyone attached to Captain Greywolf? If so, is it Brik-Roc or Moreth?
A: I'll let you (my readers) decide.

Q: Where do you get the inspiration for some of those names? What language(s) are they from and what do they mean?
A: A lot of Tolkien, some Gaelic and other random European languages I've been exposed to. Here's a break-down by characters I've been asked about most:
Cylithera -- I heard that name once somewhere, not sure where but I really like the name. In the world/languages of my writing, it roughly comes out to "Keeper of the Sacred Moonlight"
Iliiryana -- Inspired by a mishmash of Russian names as well as a bit of Gaelic and another character in my writing, Ilithara (see "Idiocy and Innocence" on my webpage). Again, in the world of my writing, her name comes out to roughly "Huntress of the Shadow", while "Ilithara" is "Dancer of the Shadow".
Soronthrel Cuthalion -- Almost straight from Tolkien, her name roughly comes out to either "Eagle-friend of the mighty bow" or "Eagle-maiden of the mighty bow".
Firianna Celethorn -- Inspired by a mixture of Gaelic and Tolkien's languages. Her name roughly comes out to "Little Hawk of the Silver River".
Telcontar -- Straight from Tolkien and it comes out to "Strider" or "Wanderer".

Come on people, you can also comment too, although I do enjoy the e-mails too!

Oh, and by the way, from top to bottom on the photographs: Elisa shooting my 30 lb Martin X-200, Yvette shooting my 40 lb Ragim Little Hawk (my personal favorite for now!), and me shooting my 40 lb Samick Woodsman. I took them out to do a bit of archery during alumni weekend. It was a real blast hanging out with them and sharing the joys of archery!

Dunheasa FAQ

I've been getting quite a few questions about Dunheasa so here's a list of the most commonly asked questions.

Q: How do you promise Dunheasa?
A: doon-che-a-sa (note that the "oo" is like "loon" or "moon" and the "ch" is the German "ach" or the Scottish "loch" not the "ch" like "chair"). Alternatively it can be pronounced as doon-hee-a-sa. Also, note that the "ee" isn't as long as the "ee" in "cheese" but it's somewhat shorter, a cross between "ee" and the short "e" in words like "bet" or "get".

Q: What language did Dunheasa come from? And what does it mean?
A: It was inspired by Scots and Irish Gaelic. In the actual languages, it has something to do with shadow and darkness, but in the mythology of my writings, it's more like "shadow-land".

Q: Are any of the characters based on real people?
A: Yes! A few are actually the people themselves, albeit in the future. Most of the characters are composites of several people I know. I even make a bit of a showing in both versions of the story.

Q: Are Cylithera Eaglestrike and the Eternal Huntress the same entity?
A: Yes. In the mythology of my stories, there's a deity known as the Eternal Huntress who has taken on many incarnations as the pantheon shifts around thanks to great heroes and villains. The current incarnation is Cylithera Eaglestrike (and no, that's NOT the same one as me!). Speaking of which, I picked my pen-name as Cylithera Eaglestrike after this character.

Dunheasa Revision and Other Stuff

I've done a bit of a revision to Dunheasa, mostly in the Prologue and with Captain Greywolf. As always, comments are always welcome. Out of curiosity, which version works better? I'm a bit torn about dealing with Captain Greywolf -- any takes?

Also in the works, not sure when I'll finish & post them:
-- A quasi-sequel to Dunheasa revolving around the three "kids" in the final chapter. I won't say too much yet because it's still very early, but I can promise any linear combination of the following elements: random parodies of some of my favorite pop culture icons, deeds of derring-do, bizarre transformations and/or sheer nerdiness.
-- A full-blown Killer Parakeet story where he's the shining star. 'nuff said.

And now back to the regularly scheduled thesis work!

Small May Update

Just thought I'd put a little blurb. It's really feeling like a TIN model where the resolution (or frequency of posts) varies with how much stuff is floating around in what's left of my brain.

First... Keeping the Ranger in check has been helping a lot with my work, but it's also taking its toll on me in the form of greatly increased caffeine intake.

Second... Depending on how fidgety I get as I keep working on my thesis, I may be posting a revised version of Dunheasa. Thanks to all of you who've given me input!

Third... I've got another Do Not Attempt At Home story. So what happened was I decided to take advantage of some insomnia I got hit with and was working on trying to develop a method of differentiating soil from vegetation pixels for the tram data. Only thing was, I didn't realize that the insomnia would be very much like a binary system. I put on a bit of music, only had 4 songs in my queue for whatever reason -- Whap-Pa and Dulce by Radu Sirbu, and Nu Ma Las De Limba Noastra and Noapte Fara Somn by O-Zone. Anyway, I fell asleep while working up the data and I got called really early in the morning. Let's just say whoever was on the other end was very confused and it wasn't until after the other person hung up and just sent me an e-mail indicating that I was singing "in some really strange language" when I picked up the phone... along with some random stuff he wanted to tell me about river ecology. Moral of the story: Don't fall asleep while listening to something THAT catchy!