Jennifer Rodgers, genius, charmer, hottie.

Old people love cards. Anyone over 70 wants you to send them a card. A holiday card, a thank you card, whatever - they just want that card.

Sometimes I've wondered, why do old people love cards so much? I mean, you can call them and thank them for whatever they sent you, you wish them a happy holidays in person, but anyone with a grandma knows that's not enough. There has got to be a card and it's gotta come through the mail or you don't love them.

Why is that? It's seems odd and unreasonable. Isn't seeing someone in person better than a card.

No. No it's not. And I'll tell you why.

Now, I can't really tell you how I learned this, or the person I found it out from will get in some pretty serious spiritual shit, but every time an old person gets a card - a personal, from a friend or family member card - they get a deferment from Death.

This is how it works (apparently, this all get's explained to you when you turn 70): You get a card from a friend or family member below 70, and when Death shows up to collect you, you can hand Death the thank you or holiday card, and Death will give you more time on this Earth.

How much time? Well, the individual I spoke to was hazy on this - there is some kind of equation that I don't really understand and it's all about your age, divided by the month and some kind of positioning of the stars, the length of the note in the card - I don't really get it, but whatever the situation, you get get more time. You run out of cards to hand Death, you run out of time.

You can't send a card to another senior to get this benefit, you can't send cards to yourself, and you can't directly demand a card. You can, however, remark about how it's common courtesy to send a card, you can tell other family members that you are mad that you didn't get a card, and you can generally act in a passive aggressive way to get a card, but you can't outright demand one, or it loses it's power.

Which brings me around to Jennifer Rodgers and her online art shop!

Jennifer Rodgers makes greeting cards. And unlike the cards you might find in your local drug store, these cards have personality, have a offbeat charm to them which makes them more unique. I always keep a stash of her "Thank You" notes on hand just in case I need to thank someone for something. (I'm lucky enough in my life that I often do.)

You can look at her charming selection here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/JenniferRodgersArt



Send a card. Save a life.

I am 70% done 70% of the projects on my To-Do list.

At the beginning of the year, I wrote up a huge project list, a project list that I added to often. I finished about 30% of this list and worked on the other 70% until all of those projects were about 70% done. Two photo books, several short stories, a podcast, two articles, websites, one comic script, one role-playing game and the first draft of a novel. All of them, 70% done.

It's getting frustrating. And, of course, I have no one to be frustrated with except myself. It's not anyone else's fault except my own that I haven't actually buckled down and finished these projects. As many of you creative types might know, starting is easy - I've even managed to work past that whole "middle" hump - but now it get's to finishing, and something always comes up.

Here's the general template of how it happens - I'm sure many of you are familiar with this.

1. You start Project A - it's freakin' awesome! You are filled with the joy of the New Idea, and motivated with the delight of new project love.

2. You get to the middle of Project A - self doubt, questioning, boredom - but you persist because you are not a weenie, you can do this!

3. Ah! You are almost finished - nearly there, just need the last final push!

4. You need to go see your mother, because it's been a month since you had dinner with her.

5. Your friend just had a baby! Let's go poke it. Aww. Is cute.

6. Carl and Anna's wedding is coming up - where is your gift? Crap! Get on it!

7. Have dinner with Steve - complain about art projects - Steve tells you about this thing he wants to do, Project B? You guys should totally work together on it because he knows this editor and it might get published and it will be awesome. Of course, you agree - I just need to finish Project A first. He says, alright, but remember, Project B will be due in a month. Oh, you say, well, I guess I need to work on that then.

8. DO YOU HAVE THAT THING FOR THE SHOW YOU SAID YOU WOULD HAVE THREE MONTHS AGO OhMyGod IT'S DUE ON FRIDAY GET WITH IT!

9. Go to the show in a blue wig. Meet really cool people. Think about Project A - this weekend, you tell yourself.

10. Realize that you live like a cave-woman. Do the dishes. Wash underpants.

11. Go to Carl and Anna's wedding. It's beautiful. Makes you cry. Write notes on a really nice napkin for Project A during the reception.

12. Lose the napkin.

13. Steve comes by. He lives close now and can check in on you whenever he likes. He asks "How is work going on Project B?" "Haha." you say. "I have lots of ideas!" There is some drinking.

14. Start work on Project B. It's so awesome. You are filled with the joy of the New Idea, and motivated with the delight of new project love.

This is not to say that I haven't finished things this year. I have. Her Side, two art shows, a photo project for a book in collaboration with other artists, shooting a wedding, an article, a few short stories, two book covers and participation in a collaborative photo project which will be appearing in an art show soon. Very exciting stuff. But there is so much more.

I can see the problems here. One, is that I love doing all kinds of things, and really, to get stuff done, one needs to focus. One project at a time. Or maybe two, but certainly not 40.

The other trouble is time management. After work, I have about two hours of functioning creative time a night, which isn't a lot of time to make serious progress on 40 projects. I'm thinking about taking a month where I don't do ANYTHING. No shows, no conventions, not even dinner with friends - just project work. I've had enough of the 70% hanging over my head.

If I start making announcements about a bunch of things I've finished, you'll know that my strategies are paying off.

In writing, there are a bunch of rules that you're taught when you're starting out - rules that are meant to keep you from writing utter crap. Of course, rules are meant to be broken, but it's good for beginners to understand the rules before breaking all of them. If your a Master, you can, of course, break the rules and do amazing things, but generally, beginners should work within the rules first.

One of the general rules is not to make your cast of characters too big - it makes the plot difficult to follow and many beginning writers cannot make the character voices distinct enough to help the reader distinguish all the characters. Then there is the trouble of introducing a large cast of characters - if you have to introduce a large cast, you have to take a lot of time to distinguish them, to let people know about them so that they can care about your characters - this takes time, and it can turn into a long, boring, info dump that no one will take the time to sit through.

So, the challenges to a large cast of lead characters are to keep it interesting, introduce all of them without losing the reader, make them distinct characters and write them in voices in which they can be easily recognized. See why beginning writers are urged to keep their leads to one or two main characters?

It would take a real Master storyteller to do that kind of thing smoothly. Of course, a true Master might not stop there. A true Master might take it one step further, and give his seven main characters the same name. And the same face.

I heard J.C. Hutchins work before I met him, and 7th Son impressed me in the first few chapters when Hutchins introduced all the characters in a way that kept me hungry for more, but also in a way that made them distinct and interesting. He should teach classes on this kind of thing.

Today, his novel: 7th Son, is live. J.C. has long given his work away to the masses for free. Now his work is bound in paper at last, and I'm happy to say that I'll be buying a copy today. More than anything else, I want J.C. to write more. I want to see more novels from this man - because anyone who can do what he did in the first chapter of his book needs to be creating more amazing stories for the world.

You can read the first chapter of 7th Son here: http://www.boingboing.net/7thson.html

If you like it, I urge you to buy it here, and give J.C. an amazing opening day for his novel:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312384378?ie=UTF8&tag=mwsmedia-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0312384378

And, you know, with every copy of your book you get a free J.R. Blackwell print. Really. Back of the book, author photo. It's my first publication with a major publisher - everywhere that J.C.'s 7th Son goes, so goes my photo of his face. With J.C.'s talent, I have a feeling it's going to travel far.

Yesterday, I had a man ask me if I had to have a gun to walk down the street in West Philadelphia.

Today, I walked to the corner store, where the man behind the counter knows enough about us to notice that my husband got a haircut. Then I saw some friends that were getting ready for a party, so I helped them carry their things down the street. Going home, I chatted with a young lady who worked at the same job I did, after I quit.

I know it's the city, but when you walk down the street and you pass oodles of people who know your name, it feels like a small town.

Dear Charles Dickens,

Thank you for coming up with so many fabulous character names, especially Scadder, Hawk, Lewsome, Craggs and Snitchey. I promise to use them for fun and not for profit.

Sincerely,
J.R. Blackwell

P.S.: Sorry about the Clark Park Statue. I know you didn't want any statues to be made of your personage, but it's here now and we love it. If it's any consolation hardly anyone knows it's there and small children crawl all over it on Saturdays.

Jared Axelrod as Otto Von Chreik of the Discworld Series
Vampire is already pretty cool for me, but if you add in photographer, it elevates to a level of awesome. Add in my husband, and it's irresistible.

Jared is dressed here in a costume he made for the birthday of our friend, Nick Popio, or as it is more commonly known, Nickmas: The Christmas in October. Going to North Carolina is going home, which is odd, as going back to Philadelphia is also going home. I feel I have homes in both places, which is a comforting thought for someone who likes to imagine explosions and portions of landmass falling into the sea. Going back to NC always provides a reminder that I founded the Yachting Club, a club that has such a reach that now Geeks I've never met will tell me all about it.

"There is this club in NC," they'll say, "It's awesome - they put on this convention every year and it's huge and-"

"I know," I say, "I founded it."

Every time I say this, I sound like I'm lying. The club has gotten so big and is so awesome I feel I can no longer take responsibility for it any more. Couples who met in the club have gotten married. I know of two couples who met in the club that are planning weddings right now. When they have children, I will feel in some way a Godmother - not a real one, but a fairy one - or perhaps a Dragon. A Dragon Godmother. Yes.

I can take some honor in it's inception, but the truth is, it's bigger than me now. The only thing I can take credit for is insisting that we not name ourselves based on any one interest (the anime club, the roleplaying club) but that we kept our name, and our charter, open to what may come. While other clubs wax and wane with the interest of the student population, as long as there is a Geek standing at Guilford, there shall be a Yachting Club.

The knowledge of this is one of the things that pushes me forward. The Yachting Club deserves a founder that can live up to it's greatness. They deserve a founder who they can point to with pride. They have bloomed since I left, as so must I grow, so that I can deserve them.

Which is all a round about way of telling you that Hub Magazine has published my debut role-playing column in their 100th issue. I am very proud to be a part of this fantastic, free, science fiction magazine. The column is called "Roll the Bones" and you can read it here:
http://www.hubfiction.com/2009/10/issue-100/


"We begin naked, the rest is role-play."

One of my photographs was in Acting 201, a show put on by the Midwives Collective last Friday night. Each participating artist was given a line and then asked to create a photograph based on that line. My line was "It's gonna be really easy" which evoked the feeling of someone who was both powerful and overconfident. Who is both powerful and overconfident, I thought to myself, as I prepared to take the photo.

Of course, because I am me, I thought of a Supervillain.



This is Dr. Mercury. Dr. Mercury is an insane star child and chemist. She is the kind of person who would believe that a overly complex plan would be very easy, who would fight someone on a rooftop and who would have blood on her teeth.

The opening was very cool - a big crowd, lots of really cool art on the walls, and, one of the most fun parts of an art opening, we got to dress up! Jared dressed to match my hair, and I got dressed based on a dream I had. This produced some snappy outfits, if I do say so myself.

The Midwives themselves are a cool group of women. Talking to two of them after the show, it was obvious how devoted to art they are. They are committed to education, to sponsoring thought provoking work over work that might be commercially viable, to supporting local artists, young artists, female artists, and to opening up the art world to many different visions. Talking to them was refreshing in a way that surprised me. I didn't even know I was thirsty.




( Below the cut: A photo my mom took and Jared walking away dramatically )

Yesterday was my first wedding anniversary. Some say that the first year is paper, and for Jared and I, that was true, because we spent the day surrounded by protest signs. We marched on Washington DC with the National Equality March, and really, I can't think of a better way to celebrate our own commitment to each other than to help other people gain the legal rights that we enjoy. What a pleasure it was to be surrounded by love! I feel newly inspired to work locally towards the goal of equality and justice for all people. What a wonderful day!

The above photo was taken by a handsome guy who was there with his boyfriend. We traded taking photos when we marched in front of the White House. Thanks, handsome guy!


( March on Washington )

Good Morning Internet, it's my birthday!

Above is a recent picture, taken by Rae Winters. In it, I'm underwater, which is pretty awesome.

I woke up this morning and my husband handed me this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/b625/ It is even more awesome when you are holding it in your hot little hands. He also made me a truly awesome costume which I will soon take a photo of to show the world it's awesomeness. It needs the right background to reflect how cool it really is.

What do I want for my birthday, internet? Hmm. Well, perhaps if I took your photo, you could put it up as an icon for today. That would be pretty cool. An internet full of my photos. :-)

But mostly, what I want is to see my good friends and to eat sugary things.

Tonight, I feast.* MWAHAHAHAHA!




*On vast amounts of pasta.

Last night I dropped off a piece at the Midwives Gallery for their show "Acting 201". The premise of acting 201 is artists using a prompt to act out a moment. The prompts consisted of a single line that the artist would then interpret to take a self portrait. The artists were free to interpret the lines however they chose.

My line "It's gonna be really easy." brought up visions of someone who is overconfident in their own power. Of someone embarking on a task that should be difficult for someone else, but for them, will be, or they think will be, a lovely piece of chocolate cake.

For me, this prompt summoned up a vision of a Supervillain. Supervillain's are utterly self confident, make grand statements an again and again, believe that this time, this time, it will all be so very easy.

So the entry is a Supervillain, blood in her mouth, a black blade in her hand. The show is for one night only, on Friday, October 9th, three days after my birthday and two days before my first wedding anniversary. The show starts at 6pm and goes to 10pm. There will be lots of local artists present and, of course, the Midwives Collective, which is full of delightful ladies who are committed to art and local artists.

I saw a young lady with turquoise hair yesterday and I became intensely jealous. Oh, stupid social strictures that require "normal" colored hair within a business environment. I don't mind the paycheck, but I would love to have turquoise hair.

I would still wear a suit! Promise!

Seriously. I would love to dance the Macabray.


This is what we'd need:

Graveyard, Town Square, Outdoor Field.
(I think I know a few graveyards we could use)

At least 12 people willing to dance on camera
(might be able to rustle this up)

A choreographer
(Don't know any - unless some of you have talents you're not telling me about)

A selection of at least 6 period costumes
(Yes, but they are all in my size)

Someone willing to hold a camera
(Might be able to find)

A video editor
(May be able to beg)

A group manager
(need a dedicated super-organizer)

A director
(Know a few, none of them local)

It would be so amazing to have a spooky dance performed and taped and shared. To gather a group of artists to create something just for the purpose of making something awesome that people in the world will love. It's weird, having the desire to create things that are essentially fan fiction in dance form. It would be awesome, but is it worth the time and effort and energy to create something that is fan fiction (in dance form) of someone's work? Wouldn't it be better to spend the time working on my own artistic work? But if it's fulfilling, is it worth it anyway? Is taking the time to create something with friends and artists, no matter how derivative, always worth the time and energy? Would most of us have just played video games anyway?

(Every day, I come up with ideas like this, and then wrestle myself into doing my own stuff. If I made every internet video I ever thought of, I would have a huge collection by now.)


Inspired by:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/09/bet-you-thought-i-was-oh-hang-on-i-used.html

All I'm saying is that if Mur Lafferty is kidnapped, we should check the abandoned toy factory/carnival/chemical factory/trainyard/watertower outside of town.

Mur Lafferty's "On Love": http://isbw.murlafferty.com/2009/09/25/on-love/


PS: Come in costume.

Supervillian, Star-Child, M.D.Ph.D.

A villain can be many things – from the casual cruelty of the hobbyist to the concentrated machinations of an expert. But Arching, the true Arching of a hero, that, my friend, takes love: blackwell.livejournal.com/268457.html


( Dr. Mercury: M.D. Ph.D. )

A villain can be many things – from the casual cruelty of the hobbyist to the concentrated machinations of an expert. But Arching, the true Arching of a hero, that, my friend, takes love.  Oh, it’s often thought that it’s hate, boiling rage or vengeance that fuels the rivalry between a hero and villain, but this is only the surface of the grand story. Deep down, beneath the rage, beneath all that fire and vitriol, must be love. You must love your hero, my friends; you must love her like she is your own child, like she is a part of your soul. When another villain tries to kill your her, it is jealousy you must feel. When she falls in love, you kidnap her lover because she cannot give so much time and attention to someone who isn’t you. Anyone who dares take her attention from you must be destroyed.

But you can be no mere stalker. No mere obsessive. You must make yourself worthy of her – you must shine as her darkened mirror – you must glow in her refracted glory. It is through you that she is great – because she can defeat you, is she all the more glorious.

You must follow her, watch her, bide your time with her, adore her, memorize her movements, impersonate her. You have to make her costume yourself, as she must have done, sewing together the spandex and leather, slipping into that smooth fabric, the shine against your skin. Look at yourself in her skin, her flesh – you are inside her now, you wear the mask that is her face and you know her at last.

At some point, you will team up with her. She will be persecuted, condemned – driven from her sanctuary by the mob that once exalted her. You will be there for her, as you’ve always been. You will help her hunt down those that have hurt her and you will destroy them together. But then, after her enemies have been struck down, you will betray her, because you can never be just an ally, because you love her, you love her with every ounce of blood that pumps though your blackened heart.

If she falls by the hand of another, you must destroy them for daring to touch what was yours. And if you kill her, if you crush her heart in your hands, if you burn her to nothing in acid, if you do manage that, you must follow her into that night because you are dead without her, nothing, burned away.

To Arch takes love. Anything else is just playing games.

"The only people for me are the mad ones. The ones who are mad to love, mad to talk, mad to be saved; the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars." -Jack Kerouac

Sometimes, in my dance around the internet, I see the usual hatred and disgust for people who look, act, feel or live outside of some unspecified mainstream ideal. I see this, and I'm reminded of this quote by Jack Kerouac. I am so glad that I know the mad ones - I am so honored that my life has lead me to the people who burn. I am so lucky that I get to see people who create, who desire, who are passionate. I'm glad I get to talk to people for who make me push myself forward. I am glad that I know people who strive, not to be normal, not to fit in, but for an elusive, intangible greatness, for whom life is an art that they can master, but never perfect. I am glad they do not conform. I am glad they worry more about what is right than what is in fashion. I am glad that I know the risk takers and heart breakers. I'm glad it's not simple or easy but weird and hard and oh, so glorious.

Congratulations to Megan and Andy! Thanks for letting me shoot your beautiful wedding.

Photo by Rae Winters
Post by J.R. Blackwell
Models: Dan and J.R.

Original Here: www.flickr.com/photos/10088739@N08/3892497131/

( On Black )

Photo by Rae Winters
Post by J.R. Blackwell

Original Here: www.flickr.com/photos/10088739@N08/3892497141/

The hardest thing about underwater modeling isn't holding your breath, it's floating. The body seems determined not to sink, to bring you to the surface. If this looks like I'm actually holding this young lady underwater, it is because I am.

Things I learned this weekend: How to know, from the shifting of her shoulder muscles, when a young woman wants to breathe again. The cold that makes your fingers tingle is a sign to stop swimming. That to introduce two cool people to each other is one of the delights of living.