How I wrote The Book of Blue Daggers, pt.1

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It starts in my dreams.

I had a dream about a dark book, created deep underground in the spray of a black waterfall. The ink was the cracked spoils out of the rocks, the pages pulled from splits in the cave walls. The book had power, influence, a mind of its own. It lacked locomotion, but it had no problem finding someone to carry it anywhere it wanted. It lacked a voice, but it found no issue having it’s influence felt anywhere.

So we start there.

An idea. You get them anywhere.

I had an idea of a dark book that existed in the “real” world.

So how do we create drama and conflict from this? Obviously, someone must want the book! No! Someone desparately, badly, deeply desires the book. Someone MUST have it, and of course, the catch…being found by this person is the last thing the book wants.

But how? What drives that conflict on the page? How can a prevent people from finding it? What can a book DO? It has words…words that people read…that can influence, suggest, corrupt, control.

So, the basics. A powerful book that could appear in whatever way, to whomever it wanted, for inscrutable, dark means, and had power because of it. But someone knows this riddle, and wants, needs, desires that power. But The Book resists it with all of its might.

The Book

Some things I wanted to accomplish with The Book of Blue Daggers.

The primary thing I wanted to do when writing The Book of Blue Daggers was to keep it all in the air. I never wanted to get into anyone’s head, never have anyone remember, never have a period of reminisce, never have anyone think back, reflect, pause the narrative by comparing, thinking, analyzing, or having an expository thought. Indigo Orchestra Press (indigoorchestra.com) understood this too.

What does this mean, practically? Never using “She thought” or “She wondered” or “She remembered when…” Sentences, which make it hard to use certain aspects of the plot.

Marshall McLuhan and SQL

I want to explore an intriguing concept coined by Marshall McLuhan, a renowned media theorist of the 20th century, and its relevance to the world of SQL databases. McLuhan's concept, "the medium is the message," emphasizes the idea that the medium through which information is transmitted shapes our perception and understanding of the message itself.

First, let's briefly introduce Marshall McLuhan. McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher and communication theorist, known for his groundbreaking ideas about the influence of media on society. He believed that the medium, whether it's print, television, or any other form of communication, plays a crucial role in shaping our experiences and perceptions.

Marshall McLuhan

Now, let's apply McLuhan's concept to SQL databases. SQL, or Structured Query Language, is a widely used language for managing and manipulating data in relational databases. Here's how McLuhan's ideas align with the world of SQL:

  1. The Medium: In the context of SQL databases, the medium refers to the structured format, the relational model, and the syntax of SQL itself. McLuhan would argue that these characteristics of the medium influence the way we interact with and interpret the stored data. The relational model organizes data into tables and establishes relationships between them, shaping how we perceive and understand the interconnectedness of the information.

  2. The Message: The message in SQL databases is the data itself. However, according to McLuhan, the medium shapes the way we perceive and understand this message. The structured nature of SQL databases influences our approach to data organization, retrieval, and manipulation. The medium of SQL determines how we query the data, update it, and draw insights from it. The syntax of SQL queries becomes a language that mediates our communication with the data, ultimately shaping the message we derive from it.

  3. Speed and Efficiency: McLuhan often highlighted the impact of media on the pace and efficiency of communication. In the case of SQL databases, the medium influences the speed and efficiency with which we access and process data. SQL queries allow us to retrieve and manipulate data with relative ease, enabling quick responses and efficient data retrieval. This aspect of the medium affects our ability to work with the data effectively and make informed decisions based on the message it conveys.

In summary, Marshall McLuhan's concept of "the medium is the message" holds intriguing insights for SQL databases. The structured format, relational model, and syntax of SQL shape our perception, understanding, and interaction with the data. The medium influences the way we organize, query, and draw insights from the stored information. By recognizing the influence of the medium, we can gain a deeper understanding of how SQL databases shape the message they convey.

Encounters with a Bold Jumping Spider

Found this guy on my porch. Used a Macro Lens to see what he was up to for about a half hour. He (maybe I'm presumptive about gender, I don't know the morphology of Phidippus audax) was less than 0.5 inches long even when extending while moving. No bold jumps, despite the name. 

Relationship between Money and Happiness

Fantastic infographic here, although this source is a pro-investment and heavily marketing trend. 

  • United States is large, has lots of money, and is slightly unhappy
  • Costa Rica is unusually unhappy, small, has less money, fascinating outlier
  • Finland, as usual in these sorts of satisfaction-of-life charts, is doing just fine, hanging out in the above-average group
  • Luxemborg is having a terrible time for some reason
happiness-1070.jpg