The Hubble telescope has photographed the “Crown of Thorns” galaxy.
Cartography before the horse
My big job tonight is to make a map. My publisher wants a map for the new book. I’m going to try to cobble something together in MS Publisher, showing what’s where, so that the cover artist can make one that looks decent for actual publication.
I’ve always thought that my Viking books ought to have maps, concerned as they are with places that most readers don’t know much about. But I never felt qualified to produce one myself, and could never afford to hire somebody to do it for me.
But my publisher, who is a “boat guy,” wants a map, and apparently he’ll spring for the cost. This means I must toil like a dwarf tonight to put together something vaguely helpful as a guide.
So that’s what I’m doing instead of writing a long blog post.
Let Man’s Soul Be a Sphere
“Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward” by John Donne
Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne,
And being by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:
Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is’t, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.
There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all. Continue reading Let Man’s Soul Be a Sphere
Life Bookends
Everything you do and all that you are are like books on a long open shelf. Without bookends to hold up those various sized books, you’re likely to lose some of them. But fear not. God offers two bookends through faith in Christ Jesus. “One bookend is the righteousness of Christ; the other is the power of the Holy Spirit.“
Blind Spots
God’s Grace Is Free
Tell folks that God gives us his grace without strings, but don’t be a jerk about it like this guy.
Why the Tree in the First Place?
Rebecca started a theological fight while visiting a Sunday School class in Minnesota. This post gives you a summary of the fight so far (you can backtrack on her blog to read a few more details), and the fight continues here.
Why guns are good
Ever wonder why right-wingers are so obsessed with gun rights? Is it some kind of death wish, or sexual compensation or something, you ask?
This article by Robert Avrech over at Big Hollywood explains it all.
How Big is Too Big?
Author Brandon Sanderson is finishing up the popular Wheel of Time series, created and kept on life-support by the late Robert Jordan, and he has submitted 300,000 words to his publisher for the final book. The publisher said that’s too big for a fantasy book and booksellers will complain, so let’s split the book into three books released over the next two years.
Scott Esposito states, “So somebody explain to me how this isn’t about the money.” Brandon Sanderson talks about it at length here.
Remembering Oneself as a Teenager
Franks links to a new poem by a Polish poet on reading what she wrote as a teenager.