Book Club: Big Sleep

Phillip Marlowe

Carmen Sternwood -- pulls wings off flies

Vivian - Mrs. Regan -- calculating, smart

Objectivity, distance as detective model

Maid, cleaning up rich people's lives, tidy morally? maybe not… observer being complicit in the crime… what is his motivation to do this job? doesn't enjoy it much, not getting highly compensated. is marlowe good or bad? Ambivalent?

Vivian cares a lot about… something? Carmen is "naked" always, maybe? Isn't suited for the world she lives in.

Brody and Eddie Mars we've met once each… each is a themed color,

"Doghouse Riley": a reference to something? made up name. "dog house" as in "jail" and "riley" as in "irish", "justice/cops". Repetition. Reassuring himself, defying other people's labels.

Carmen as in the opera. Tragic figure. Wholly objectified. Insane. Unpredictable. Body and emotions, but no brain.

Vivian as in… ? Defined by her missing husband. "Mrs. Regan." Intentional? Manipulative. Brains, veiled emotions. Mannish? Emulating men?

Agnes… silver claws. Blonde, relies on Brody entirely, animal-like in viciousness and loyalty. Not big in brains. Almost Brody's pet. Outraged and offended.

Women are very flat. Women=sexuality=shallow? None of them are old, only one them is actively helpful and she only exists for one page (28).

After the break is a synopsis of what we've read so far. If you're interested in reading or... something, then don't read it! Spoilers and all that.

Quick fake review of "Second Bill of Rights: FDR's Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need it More than Ever"

So. Talking/discussing this book (well, the introduction) with C. Here's some of the comments that came out of it:

There's a difference between "rights" and "privileges", which I guess is important - but much more important to me is the difference between what a healthy, positive society does/enacts/spends money and effort on versus what it chooses to leave alone or up to individuals. But there's an even more interesting distinction, which keeps becoming more and more apparent to me as I talk things over with C. It's this: laws declaring "must not!" versus laws declaring "must!" Another way to look at this, that I really like but haven't finished thinking through yet, is a passive law (one that requires little to no action to enact) versus an active law. An example would be a law against murder (a "must not" or "passive" law) versus a law commanding citizens to pay taxes (a "must!" or "active" law).

The Bill of Rights has an interesting mix of "active" and "passive" language in it. Or maybe I'll stick with the "must" and "must not" phrasing of C. Examples: Freedom of speech, religion, unreasonable search and seizure, right to bear arms (which I don't like, but it's an example nonetheless) are all Must Not rights/freedoms. Right to a job, to earn enough for food/clothing/recreation, of all farmers to raise crops and sell them at a price allowing for a pleasant living, for every business to operate in an environment free of unfair competition and domination from monopolies, of every family to a decent home, to adequate medical care and to achieve and enjoy good health, to adequate protection in old age from nasty events, to a good education are all Musts. (The "musts" all come from FDR's second bill of rights).

I support "must" laws in many cases, but not as rights! They are privileges granted by a sane and healthy society to encourage future sanity and health of its members. "Must nots" I also support, also not really as rights though. I think they are foundations of a strong society and if people want to live in a pleasant environment they are required. But that doesn't make them rights, it just makes them incredibly sensible and pragmatic.

Is eating food a "right" of being alive? No, people starve all the time. But it's unpleasant, and leads to death, and is generally to be avoided at all costs. So a good family (or on a larger scale, a society) provides its members with access to food.

More about the doubly knocked off cards

ABILITIES ON CREATURE/CHARACTER CARDS
Flying (can only be blocked by other flying creatures and characters)
Mounted (can only be blocked by other mounted or flying creatures and characters)
Sly (hexproof)
Survivor (must be killed twice)
Trained (bonus when equipped)
Betrayal (control opponent's creatures and characters for x turns)
Aquatic/Aerial/Terrestrial

ENCHANTMENTS, SORCERIES, INSTANTS
WORDS (enchantments):
As High As Honor
Ours is the Fury
We Do Not Sow
Hear Me Roar
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken
Winter is Coming
Fire and Blood
Family, Duty, Honor
Growing Strong

OTHER ENCHANTMENTS
Water
Sky
Land
Flight
Mount
Sly
Survivor
Training

INSTANTS
Betrayal
Backstab
Slaughter
Leap
Smuggle
Golden Crown

SORCERIES
Chasing Cats (look at target player's hand)
Raise Dead (target creature or character from graveyard enters the battlefield under your control and gains haste and +3/+1. this creature or character returns to owner's graveyard at end of turn.)
Birth Shadows (not exactly sure what this one does yet, but it seems like a perfect sorcery)

Thoughts in the comments please. :)

Card that is more my art and less stolen pictures

Heron wearing roller skates

Part of the intro screen for the game I'm drawing for Chris.

More Pictures!

Most recently (for fun, for me):

And a couple of examples of things for Chris's game:

Tower Attack Pictures

My boyfriend has been working on a tower attack (as opposed to defense) game. It's a nice little idea, and he had some artist/designer people he was working with that I'd hooked him up with through friends of mine. Then they turned flaky, and my boyfriend still wanted to finish up his game. But he had no original graphics to work with. So he asked me if I'd be willing to, and I thought I'd give it a shot. Here's some of my favorite icon things that I've made. (They're all 30x30 px because that's the scale my boyfriend wanted/needed for the game).

From left to right, top to bottom: cardinal, heron, cat, mine, turret, zebra, turret, igloo, sheep, ruined village, penguin.