danbensen

[danbensen]

The Rising Agent

"Somewhere close by, an LCD display changed from 29 to 30. The oven had begun to pre-heat."

Three years ago, I wrote this short story about an international spy and pâtissier: "The Rising Agent"

Read it here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/culinary-rising-64167378

[danbensen]

The Reef Antlerworm of Chriirah's warmer oceans. While many habitats were destroying during the events of the Fall, certain 'weedy' reefs survived to spread along the drowned coasts.

Antlerworms thrived in the ruble, able to prey on almost anything that moved...

[danbensen]

the invention of hell money by mortals is a huge problem actually since it’s caused terrible hell hyperinflation. king yan, the ruler of diyu, has repeatedly asked mortal princes to implement reforms to stem the tide of remittances from the living, but the dreams of hideous demons chanting about monetary policy sent to various finance ministers seem to have had no effect. attempts to demonetize various forms of hell money have been fruitless, as burned offerings simply materialize in whatever form is currently legal tender in the underworld. king yan has petitioned the jade emperor for permission to invade the world of the living directly to punish mortals for their lack of macroeconomic knowledge, but the request has been held up in the heavenly bureaucracy since the 1890s. so if you do want to make offerings to your loved ones in the afterlife, you might want to try saying a prayer over a usb stick containing a copy of your bitcoin wallet, then smashing it with a hammer.

[danbensen]

A Piece of Cake

"But it worked! Warm in the asteroid’s shell, the yeast started turning carbohydrates and oxygen into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The dough began to rise."

Three years ago, I wrote this short story for Easter, in which a Bulgarian astronaut tries to bake kozunak in space.

Read the whole thing here:

[danbensen]

what's that?

[danbensen]

I must study senjutsu and jujutsu that my sons may have liberty to study gakujutsu and gijutsu. My sons ought to study gakujutsu and gijutsu in order to give their children a right to study geijutsu and gayjutsu.

-Jon・Adamuzu, Edo Period

[danbensen]

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

I enjoyed this book until the narrator went to jail and mended her ways. I put it down at that point, but after a few months I picked it back up and finished it. I would have liked a sharper edge to this story. A wrong harder to forgive or atone for. But I do appreciate the highlight of a bad mental habit: seeing your money as a pile of treasure that you can only deplete.

From my February Newsletter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/february-storge-125139737

[danbensen]

Two years ago, Tim Morris collected all of his illustrations for my story Fellow Tetrapod. Check out some of his speculative evolution here.

[danbensen]

I was both worried and annoyed. Is this what I had to look forward to with my daughters? This sullen incuriosity? This indulgent wallowing in victimhood? Are my daughters going to stay up all night watching disturbing videos and then fail to make their own?From my February newsletter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/february-storge-125139737

[danbensen]

Cambias used to be one of the authors whose books I bought on sight. I still think about The Initiate and its meditation on moral desserts. The Godel Operation wasn’t as thoughtful, but it still had something to say about godlike AI and how not to be an egotist. The sequel, thought, had a hollow space inside it where there should have been an answer to the question, “what’s the point if your civilization is a sideshow to posthuman AIs?” In this, the third book, that hollow has grown enormous. There’s some action, some sex, some death, and none of it matters. I’ll pass on the next book.

From my February Newsletter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/february-storge-125139737

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[danbensen]

"Oh, we don't really care about the other gods. There are so many of them and frankly we don't see any evidence for their existence." "And you do see evidence for Apollo, Dionysus, and Hades." "Reason, madness, and opportunity? Yes. We see them all regularly."

From Wealthgiver

[danbensen]

Etruscan names were top notch

Two Etruscan sarcophagi showing embracing couples.

[danbensen]

As I was reading this to my kids, I kept thinking of Hayao Miyazaki. There's a scene where little princes Sophie and her foolish nurse are fleeing home as dusk falls and the goblins emerge. I could see Miyazaki’s blobby, wobbly-outlined style. I really wonder if he based Sheeta and Pazu on Sophie and Curdy.

From my February Newsletter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/february-storge-125139737

[danbensen]

Into the Looking Glass by John Ringo

Fun and un-serious events occur after portals open up to a whole bunch of alien planets. There were some big ideas – one right at the end and seemingly attached to nothing. I guess, to the sequel? I wish Ringo had treated this book as a first draft and written another that was better thought out. General Pta-pta-pta needed a lot more screen time.

From my February Newsletter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/february-storge-125139737

[danbensen]

I never thought about "before" and "after" that way. Thank you for reminding me that I have a great past before me ;)

Can you point me to any reference works or articles about metaphors for conlanging? I’m a beginner so I don’t know all the right terminology. Thanks in advance

A foundational work you could check is Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson.

It’s a fairly easy read that introduces the concept of conceptual metaphors, which can lead to a lot of interesting directions for you. I’m sure with some searching you can find a free PDF.

Just to give an idea, a conceptual metaphor is a basic metaphorical relationship that is pervasive in a language to the point that speakers don’t notice it.

One of their key examples is TIME IS A LIMITED RESOURCE and the extension TIME IS MONEY. From that metaphor we end up saying things like “spend time”, “save time”, or “waste time”, and generally have a relationship to the passage of time that we might not otherwise have. After all, you can’t actually stockpile a bunch of time — it just ticks on — but it does make sense to think of it this way when most of the population is paid by the hour.

Time is a big source of conceptual metaphors, especially when you get into how different cultures link time to space, but there’s lots more to look at in every corner of language.

[danbensen]

Funnier than Anna Karenina, more insightful than Vanity Fair. I wish it had focused more tightly on Katherine and Dorothy, whose relationship is the sweet counterpoint to the bitter ones with foolish husbands and untrustworthy peers. The conversation between Dorothy and her befuddled old husband is tragically perfect. I wish there was a sharper climax, though, and the superior husband isn't drawn with nearly the detail as the bad one. I definitely need to read it again.

From my February Newsletter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/february-storge-12513973

[danbensen]

Three years ago, I learned about conodonts and made up some of my own. More here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63737156