blueskiesandfireflies

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The friendship of Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin

Robert Jordan (James Oliver Rigney, Jr.) was the author of The Wheel of Time, which was published by Tor Books. In March 1997, he wrote a letter to GRRM’s editor, requesting a signed copy of A Game of Thrones:

I see in “Locus” that George says he thinks he can no longer finish the story in a trilogy. Good. Not that his story will be longer, but that he isn’t going to try shoe-horning his story into the form everybody seems to say such stories must follow. Writing what you want to write, in the way you want to write it, isn’t easy when lots of people are telling you that you can’t do it that way because it isn’t done that way. 

In the 1990s and early 2000s, “Robert Jordan was a significantly bigger name in the fantasy genre than Martin, so his endorsement carried a lot of weight.” [x]

The inscription in the signed copy that Robert Jordan received from GRRM:

May your winters all be short, and your summers bountiful

A Storm of Swords (published Aug 2000), Tyrion V:

Bronn scanned the ranks of the approaching Dornishmen. “The last’s a golden feather on green checks.”

“A golden quill, ser. Jordayne of the Tor.”

Tyrion laughed. “Nine, and well done.”

Robert Jordan’s ninth book, Winter’s Heart, was to be published in November 2000. Upon its release, it immediately rose to the #1 position on the New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list, making it the second Wheel of Time book to reach the #1 position on that list. It remained on the list for the next two months. [x]

The name of the current lord of the Tor is Trebor, which is “Robert” spelled backwards. [x]

Myria Jordayne, heir to the Tor.

Harriet McDougal Rigney, Robert Jordan’s wife and editor:

No, I don’t correct inconsistencies. Robert has a wonderful assistant, Maria Simons, who helps enormously in this regard, together with her sidekick Alan Romanczuk. Robert writes long lists of questions for them, and they come up with the answers in time, so that inconsistencies mostly just don’t happen. Maria also checks all proper nouns in the manuscript against our own super-glossary, and picks up the occasional glitch that way.

A Feast for Crows (published Nov 2005), The Kraken’s Daughter:

“Archmaester Rigney once wrote that history is a wheel, for the nature of man is fundamentally unchanging. What has happened before will perforce happen again, he said.”

In The Sworn Sword, part of The Tales of Dunk and Egg, Lady Rohanne Webber of Coldmoat has her hair tied in a long braid and tugs on it in moments of high stress, similar to the character of Nynaeve al’Meara in Jordan’s Wheel of Time novels. [x]

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It's been a little while since I posted, and what better way to start making a comeback than with a photo from my first Gov't Mule show in six years. Johnny Winter died today, so they have played a couple of fantastic songs in tribute to him.

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We set up a game of Dominion designed to let you chain together as many actions as possible, and @blueskiesandfireflies managed to draw his entire deck in one turn. He ended up winning, but even if he hadn’t, I think he would have been satisfied with that crowning moment of silliness.

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Happy Star Wars day!

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Advertising pays more than a lot While the teacher's selling pies in the parking lot It's a very strange world With some well-hidden crimes

Strange World Spock's Beard The Kindness of Strangers

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Oh hey, not a big deal, but the hubble took a picture of a star that’s nearing supernova status 

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New Years, New Experiences

First of all, yup, this is one of those posts. One of those where the person apologizes for not posting as much as they should and promises that they are going to do more. I've been really bad for the past couple months (read: worse than my usual terrible self) at using social media (tumblr, facebook, twitter, etc). While I'm not usually one for resolutions, that's one of mine this year. So this post is serving as somewhat of a disclaimer. I'm going to try to post more here, but the things I'm most passionate about are music and books. This probably means more music posts than anything else, but there's a new book by Brandon Sanderson coming out soon, so there will undoubtedly be a bunch of Cosmere fandom stuff around then. 

My life's been a little weird over the last couple of months. I graduated from college. I had to start thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. That decision ended up being put off for about six months. So I've basically been hanging out with friends, anxiously trying to relax. Yeah, that's about as counter-productive as it sounds. I finally got around to applying for jobs, and for most of that process I was pretty much a nervous wreck. Apparently, it didn't show, because I ended up getting a job offer, which I have since accepted. So we'll see how that works out. It's going to be weird not having a ton of free time, but it will probably be good for me. 

Being back home for a while, I have also realized that I am terribly out of shape. The first couple runs I did while here, I was fine, but it's the built up exhaustion now that's getting to me. So there's resolution number two. I'm going to work out more this year. I can't rely on high school cross country to carry my fitness through the rest of my life. 

Mostly, I'm excited for this coming year. it will be a year of new experiences. Living and working in the "real world," not being on an academic calendar, having to get to places more than a quarter mile away. Basically, the way I feel about 2014 is the same way I feel about the Superman vs. Batman movie: cautiously optimistic. 

And speaking of music... lets start the new year off right.

Here's a song by Neal Morse about choosing a path in life. I'm not a huge fan of religious lyrics in general, but Morse does such a good job of writing lyrics and melodies that fit together that I don't care at all that this one is a little heavy on the religion. I wish I could find a live performance on YouTube, but there doesn't appear to be one. 

If a half-hour song is not up your alley (which I totally understand), then here's June by Spock's Beard. Not quite as long, and probably with less appropriate lyrics for the new year, but it is beautiful. Absolutely mesmerizing. I can listen to it on repeat for an hour at a time, and this version has a stunning acoustic guitar intro. Morse's voice is having some trouble during this show (I think he was a little sick), but he still goes for it on the vocals. 

Let's all have a fantastic 2014!

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hey you

stop scrolling and just look at this picture of a baby giraffe

okay that’s all carry on

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Robert Downey, Jr. consoles a young boy in tears because Iron Man isn’t in his costume.

… I don’t know who looks more distraught: Downey or the kid

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All of them. And oddly enough, the Justice League. It’s weird.

Joss on who dies in Avengers 2 (X)

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I’d say that’s a hell of a spoopy crack in my pumpkin.

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X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer

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actual picture of actual one direction fans 

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer houses…

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Browsing through the featured games... Can't believe the odds that both (all three?) of those names are in one game.