I am so excited to announce that I am publishing a book this fall with Aint-BadcalledTranslations. The book features to of my series, //_PATHandEmergence, and a wonderful essay by Jonathan Blaustein – we’re all really proud of the book that we have produced. We of course though need a little help to bring the book to press for Fall release, so we have gone the route of Kickstarter. Please consider making a donation! Tons of great rewards – or if you can’t make a donation right now, consider sharing the link! Thanks so so much.
New Works’ Kizu table lamp, designed by Lars Tornøe, defies the laws of gravity with a bold combination of geometrical shapes. The charm of the Kizu lamp comes from the hemisphere-shaped diffuser that seems to be balancing upside down on a rounded marble base. The white acrylic shade provides a smooth, pleasant light with no glare, making the…
I warned that some of this would happen. I’m not proud of being unresponsive, but I can’t be responsive if I’ve nothing to talk about, no?
Also, March was an iffy time. I had a commission that went bust, for one (though I fully take blame for that, and also want to give back the refund for it). My real-life job got iffy, then messy (last week in particular was a good example).
But I haven’t lost my spark yet! In fact…I’ve written some new stuff! More details, and some thoughts on what’s ahead (both with me and other stuff) below.
Writing Stuff!
So I made some headway regarding a Dizzydills piece I’d been wanting to do for at least a year. I was inspired by a friend’s writing recently, and I want to translate some of what she projected into the situation that the character in question (Gwen, in case you were wondering). I think it worked well. I’m about 50% through on that one.
I also started working on a much shorter piece. This one…this one might be a bit much though. I’m not sure I want to put this under my name, as I’m mostly known for doing futa and monster work, and this one is neither (for the moment) but is a bit more…taboo. I’ll probably post a poll on this in the future to determine whether I post under this name or a different one for those particular works. Still, it’s a fun exercise, since I’ve self-imposed a limit for the piece. It may turn into something in the future…
I’m also considering a couple other projects, most of them short pieces. There’s one I’m holding onto for now, awaiting a certain product’s release…I’ll spare you the details on that.
Other than that…There’s a prequel to what will eventually become my IA series for Madscientist that I still haven’t finished yet (along with said IA series), as well as a Dizzy story about Sasha I haven’t finished yet. After that, Chapter 2 of A Fun Little Swim…?
Plans Plans Plans
So, the next two weeks are going to be interesting, since I’m not sure if I’ll be writing or just trying to finish up Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (who I borrowed from a friend 11 months ago…go me). After that though…for the second half of May, I’ll be on vacation. First big trip in about 4 years. I’m going to visit friends across the Atlantic, among other things. I’ll be back in the beginning of June. I probably won’t write much (simply because I’ll be staying at hostels…not a good place for writing erotica, really).
I’m also doing paid writing IRL for stuff you will never know about.
Once June comes in…we’ll see what happens. I want to write more, and I have the potential of doing that.
I am going to invest in some writing…equipment as well. Namely, this!
So, food for thought: Back when I was in school, I had an Alphasmart 3000, followed by a Alphasmart Dana. I called it “my typey thing.” (Yes.) These devices I actually needed due to a disability I have (motorneurological impairment in my hands and wrists…makes me write really slow and struggle to do precise movements). There hadn’t been really a “successor” for the Alphasmart since the Neo came out in 2010, and since then the company got bought out and wound up most of its hardware division.
Theoriginal Freewrite was the first attempt at a successor, but despite the nice features (WiFi upload, Cherry Brown keyboard switches, etc.), it looks like an overpriced clunky Alphasmart. I’ve been kinda eh about it. The Freewriter Traveler, on the other hand…now that looks like something good. Small, compact, good keyboard (the Alphasmarts had membranes, while this one has scissor switches), and it fixes a lot of pressing issues with the original Freewrite (namely the lack of cursor keys).
This will help address some matters, namely the issue of distraction while writing on a laptop.
That Gum You Like Is Coming Back in Style (…Or Not)
So, I’ve heard the rumors about Tumblr being put up for sale by Verizon and PornHub being an interested buyer. Unlike some of my other friends in this business, however…I’m apprehensive of the whole matter.
First, some basic realities: Who knows how much Tumblr is worth at this point. It’s probably worth less than the writedown of $230 million at this point, but it’s still a lot of money at stake. I wouldn’t be surprised if, along with MindGeek (the owners of Pornhub), a bunch of private equity firms are in the running with the sole purpose of asset stripping (namely the tech). Further, it would not surprise me if, in the end, one of them outbids MindGeek.
Second, what is MindGeek’s goal here? I suspect the end-game is not that different from any of the other private equity firms. PornHub lacks much social networking functionality, and it’s possible - even probable - that MindGeek wants Tumblr’s social networking tech to create an adult-friendly social network. In theory, that’s great and all. But in practice…let’s face it, PornHub is kind of skeevy, especially when it comes to pirated material. I just don’t trust it.
On top of that..maybe I’m one of the rare examples, but I liked some parts of the “SFW” side of Tumblr. I wasn’t particularly interested in the political stuff (Save maybe the Kim family demonstrating the virtues of the Juche way by pointing at things), but there was more to Tumblr than that. A lot of good regular artists out there, as well as some writers. Most of them never go near the social justice stuff. Some people I know are celebrating this potential acquisition as getting rid of the “SJWs” and shit, but such a view is so damn myopic it’s representative of the worst tendencies that we in the scene exhibit towards anyone who even shows the slightest bit of dissent or disgust at our work/business. We forget that there are people who have absolutely no stake in social justice yet would just abandon the platform because they don’t want to be associated with a porn site. If we’re just gonna say “sucks for them,” then we’re just as much assholes.
Finally…if the speculation is true, this is merely a stopgap. Tumblr is not doing good as a whole. The reason Verizon is selling is probably because ad revenue did not exceed the costs of maintaining the site…and site maintenance is extremely high, likely because it was built on ancient bloated code. It’s possible this site won’t last for another couple years, which is unfortunate.
Of course, that should be where I should say “I’m making progress on migrating elsewhere…” but I haven’t. I’m uncertain what I want to do in that respect. I should probably speak to some people about it, hear what they say. But it may take some time.
Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll try to keep you guys posted on any new developments. Take care!
