I have dealt with depression for my entire life. I suffered from it before I even knew what it was; some of my earliest memories are staring at the ground, feeling empty and sad for no reason. My first suicidal ideation happened when I was in 6th or 7th grade and before that I imagined … Continue reading (Mental Health) What The Chemicals Feel Like
(Mental Health) What Is Depression, Anyway?
On the weekend before last, I walked all night to raise money and promote visibility for suicide prevention and related issues. There were more than a thousand people with me, all dedicated to this cause because they had been touched by mental illness and the havoc it can wreak over the lives of people who … Continue reading (Mental Health) What Is Depression, Anyway?
(Writing) Episodic Pacing
I LOVE the rhythms of episodic storytelling. There's the anticipation of setting the scene, the cold open that makes the play for your attention and emotional investment right away, and the momentum that builds through a number of scenes, action set-pieces or conversations that build to a climax that ties the entire episode together through … Continue reading (Writing) Episodic Pacing
(Personal) State of the Jackalope, May 2016
The past couple of months have been marked by the death of various tech around the burrow and the attempts to replace them. Now that Bigwig (my desktop) and Hazel-rah (the new laptop) are settled for a while, I can get back to the business of writing and I'm tremendously excited about that. Hazel-rah is … Continue reading (Personal) State of the Jackalope, May 2016
(Movie Review) Mice in Australia, A Bookworm and Her Monster, and a Djinn with ADD
The Rescuers Down Under (1990) Remember that hot second in the 90s when Australia was the coolest thing ever? It was a strange moment in pop culture -- all of a sudden, Paul Hogan was awesome again, and boomerangs were a fad, and Yahoo Serious was unleashed on the world. I'm still not sure why … Continue reading (Movie Review) Mice in Australia, A Bookworm and Her Monster, and a Djinn with ADD
(Writing) Marvels of Character
One of the benefits of holding myself to a regular writing schedule is being able to quickly identify the things I should be working on. The first couple of chapters of THE CULT OF MAXIMUS feel a little boring to me, and that's mostly because my main character -- Officer Thomas Beck -- is so … Continue reading (Writing) Marvels of Character
(Personal) Retaining Mindfulness Under Stress
So far this year has been an obstacle course, as I've mentioned a few times here. Work has flared up significantly as I shift positions and my company makes fairly major changes on an organizational and product level; priorities have been shuffled accordingly, and even though I'm getting better at juggling many things at once … Continue reading (Personal) Retaining Mindfulness Under Stress
(Personal) Where I Stand
I thought that 2016 was going to be different. With the launch of the Jackalope Serial Company and a host of opportunities for this little black geek to write stories for anthologies specifically for him, I had prepared for a big focus on storytelling. Now we're entering the middle third of the year, and the … Continue reading (Personal) Where I Stand
(Personal) Seeing the Future
The last time I went to an optometrist was about four years ago. When they checked my eyes, the doctor said she saw something that she would want to keep an eye on; she also wanted to know if I had any family history of certain diseases. That was the first time I heard about … Continue reading (Personal) Seeing the Future
(Personal) What I Learned by Being Alone
There's this idea in Buddhism about the Noble Eightfold Path -- after you've taken every step along the path, what comes next? You've attained Right View and Intention, Right Speech and Action and Livelihood, Right Effort and Mindfulness and Concentration. Where do you go from there? You attain Right View after that. Like the wheel … Continue reading (Personal) What I Learned by Being Alone
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 