kmalexander

[kmalexander]

Creativity Within Stillness

When we moved to the island, Uly was still a young puppy. So, when I began taking him for walks around the area, I usually found myself going without earbuds or headphones. Initially, I did this so I could listen for approaching vehicles, other dogs, mountain bikers, or general hazards a big, silly puppy might be oblivious to. However, as time passed, I found myself increasingly relishing those…

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Some Progress!

All is not quiet in the world of The Bell Forging Cycle, and I’m not talking about any recent Old Haunts or Quiet Corners. Although I haven’t been posting about my series all that much, I am still chugging along. I’ve been steadily making progress on the first draft of Book V. Eagle-eyed readers who follow the tracker in the sidebar (on desktop, it’ll be at the bottom on mobile) will note that it…

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A Flower Post

Spring is in full swing here in the PNW, and the flowers of our garden are popping off! So I figured I’d share some photos of the blooms around the place. Many of these had died back by the time we moved into the place, so it’s been lovely to experience them in person. Most of these came with the property; only the cosmos and the pink rose have been planted by us, but they’re just the start.…

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Uly Pupdate: Gotcha Day!

Today is the 1st Anniversary of the day Uly came into our lives—and it’s been all the better for it. It’s been a shift moving from toy-sized dogs to a full-sized 70lb ball of endless energy, but I can’t imagine any other dog spending time with us here on the island. Here are some pics to celebrate the handsome boy’s Gotcha Day!

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Old Haunts: Close Your Eyes

📍 West Lovat🏙 Level Three🕜 Night ⚠️ SPOILER WARNING, KINDA ⚠️ “There was no victory. There was only disaster.” —Waldo Bell, Gleam Upon the Waves Credits:“Close Your Eyes” by Al Bowlly, Ray Noble & His Orchestra (1933)Other audio and video from original, licensed, and public domain sources. This is just one of many. You never know what you’ll discover in the twisted streets, quiet alleys,…

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Müller: A Free 18th Century Cartography Brush Set for Fantasy Maps

In the early 18th century, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI charged Johann Christoph Müller to produce an “authentic and complete” map of the kingdom of Bohemia. Being no slouch, Müller’s end result was a massive work, done at a 1:132,000 scale and eventually engraved on twenty-five sheets by Michael Kauffer and Jan Daniel Herz, most likely in Berlin. It is from that map that we get today’s set, and…

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How everything became AI slop

I don’t always share many videos here, but I thought this Tunnel Vision video was poignant. I’m grateful I’m off most social media now because, as the video goes into, those services are designed to promote this garbage. Media literacy has faltered globally, but it’s collapsed in the US, where we’ve commodified algorithms to serve the god of shareholder profits, and it’s beneficial for…

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Uly Pupdate, Winter 2025

He’s now eleven months old (almost a year!) and is in full teenager mode. He’s so bright—which is a benefit and also a curse. He’s a ball of chaotic energy, more aware of his surroundings, likes to push boundaries, doesn’t listen at all, and would eat constantly if we let him. He’s a big boy, yet he doesn’t understand his size or strength. He wants to be everyone’s best friend. When he smacks you…

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Some Fantasy Map Related Updates

Wanted to throw together a quick update on some easy-to-miss news from the #NoBadMaps universe. If you have donated to the project through Ko-fi or Patreon, you’re probably already aware. (As always, thanks for your support!) As for everyone else, here’s what’s been happening behind the scenes in my weird little world of fantasy map-related tools… New Typeface Page Launched Yeah, I’m also…

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Myer: A Free 18th Century Settlement Brush Set for Fantasy Maps

Tucked away in the Met’s American Swords and Firearms gallery in downtown Manhattan, there’s a small powder horn on display. These hollowed-out bovine horns were common in the 18th century until they were eventually phased out by powder flasks. Carved into this particular horn is a crude but intricate map of the Province of New York around the middle of the 18th Century. That map, allegedly…

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Trip Report - Lisbon > Paris > Porto

Over the last few weeks, I was struck by how much of the Western world has become a monoculture. Here I am, thousands of miles away from home, and I see people wearing the same clothes brands I see in Seattle, drinking the same beverages, watching the same shows, and listening to the same music from Seattle to Lisbon to Paris, if you get in a cab you better believe you’re going to be getting…

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Forgotten Frequencies, Vol. 1: Lovat - Available Now!

Inspiration can descend like a squall. After I shared a recent Quiet Corner on TikTok, a reader asked me: “Do you have a playlist for reading your books to?” It was a great question! As many of you know, in the past, I’ve put together playlists of tracks from various artists that have inspired scenes/chapters/moments within the Bell Forging Cycle. Yet, even as I shared how to find those, I…

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Happy 2025

Goodbye 2024. Hello, 2025. I am not one to prognosticate much over the future. For the most part, handwringing about what could happen means I’m less prepared to deal with what does happen. Just not worth it, and I have a lot to do. Thanks to all of you who have been dedicated readers of this site throughout the years, supporting my work, and generally keeping tabs on me. I appericate it. I…

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My Reading List for 2024

Last year, I read the most books I ever had in a single year, setting a personal best of fifty-three. This year was—er—decidedly not that. In novels, I didn’t even crack thirty. Life got in the way, big time. On the reverse of that, and perhaps because of, I managed to read significantly more graphic novels. Now, I’m not a fast reader, but I can generally finish one graphic novel in a session,…

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2024 in Ten Significant Photos

Despite some incredible and positive changes in 2024, I will not be sorry to see the year go. It’s been a year. A tumultuous year if I was forced to put a descriptor on it. Those incredible highs were also matched by brutal lows. So, it’s good to reflect and assemble my annual reckoning-via-photographs. For those new around here, this is my annual post, where I look back on the year using ten…

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No (New) Cosmic Horror Gift Guide This Year

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Henry Daubrez (Belgo-Spanish, based Belgium) - Anxiety, 2024, Paintings: Digital Art