Archive

Q: Do you think your vote counts?

Anyone that says voting is worthless is just cynical and proving nothing. While technically it is true that presidential elections are based on the electoral college (which is a fundamentally flawed system of rounding votes up and down), the important thing about voting is that ...

Q: How do you explain life?

Q: Atheists: How do you explain life? I'm one of those rare breeds who believe equally in God and in Science... I evidently see evolution, and I can even go along with the Big Bang Theory, but how do you explain what makes us alive? Or ...

Q: We’re all essentially the same. Agree or disagree?

Q: We're all the same... essentially. Agree? Disagree? And, what evidence do you have to support your answer? A: We have more in common with one another than anything else in the entire Cosmos. The genetic differences between every living human is less than the difference ...

Q: Why do things need to be black and white?

Q: Why do things need to be black and white? I'm talking about logic & religion. The religious and faithful have been called delusional, and the non-religious have been called logical. Why can't a person be smart, logical, and also have a belief in God? I do. One ...

Q: Was religion an evolutionary advantage?

Q: Was religion an evolutionary advantage? I haven't read anything on this topic... so sorry if this is nonsensical. During the beginnings of civilization and cultural development, did the introduction of religion offer any advantages to those who adopted the belief? I don't know much about ...

Q: What book motivates or influences you most in life?

Q: What book motivates or influences you most in life? A: "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan was more influential to me than any book I've ever read. It reawakened the spirituality inside me, opened my eyes to the wonders of science, gave me a sense of self, ...

Q: Should public display of hate be illegal?

Q: Should public display of hate be illegal? A: Not only should it be legal, it should be highly publicized and ridiculed. Someone once asked Jerry Springer why he, a Jew, would give KKK members a platform to spread their hate to a national audience. His ...

Q: What is the meaning of death?

A: Organisms are giant machines, and they require a lot of energy. All day, every day, most organisms spend their time concerned with the consumption and excretion of biological material. And since they constantly reproduce, they are introducing more of these consumers into the environment. Birth ...

The Yahoos at Yahoo! Answers

I have had the same Yahoo! account for over a decade. I mostly had it because I collect accounts at every major website. Most of Yahoo's services are crappy and nerfed, so I've never had much of a need for it. But about a month ...

Q: How come atheists are never haunted by ghosts or spirits?

Q: How come atheists are never haunted by ghosts or spirits? A: We are! Everyone is! The difference is that some people recognize those fears as an irrational and natural part of our biological heritage, so we don't pay them much attention. Our imagination is a ...

Q: What do you guys NOT understand about Islam?

Q: What do you guys NOT understand about Islam? A: Oh my gawd, this is like asking a cave man what he does not understand about quantum physics. If anyone gives you any grief, just send them this link: http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/quran/good/long.html

Why I Am Atheist

We are all born atheist. Once I hit my teenage years I became as devout of a Christian as I could possibly be. I went to church, prayed, and all the usual stuff. When I was in 10th grade I met a guy that had ...

Q: Ever heard of a Unitarian Universalist Muslim?

Q: Ever heard of a Unitarian Universalist Muslim? A: It's not outside the realm of possibility. Unitarians don't demand anything from you or your beliefs, so someone could be *any* religion and still be a part of their church.

Q: Is Bill O’Reilly bipolar?

Q: Is Bill O'Reilly bipolar? this guy realy creeps me out when he gets pissed at his guests A: If he was bipolar we would have more examples of him completely losing it like he did early on in his career. What you're seeing now is mostly ...

Q: If you had a spouse that claimed homosexuality was a choice?

Q: If you had a spouse that claimed homosexuality was a choice? A: If my spouse claimed homosexuality was a choice I would immediately doubt their reasoning skills and seriously consider divorcing them. Then I would slap myself for not realizing their bigotry before I married ...

Q: Has anyone ever seen a ghost?

Q: Has anyone ever seen a ghost? A: No one has ever seen a ghost. Our brains misinterpret the unknown by giving them more reality than they actually have. If there was any proof of ghosts we would've found in the several thousand years that humans ...

Q: Why do couples break up so easily?

Q: Why do couples break up so easily? When a husband and a wife disagree and argue, they divorce and they don't love eachother anymore. But when siblings fight or if someone argue with their parent, they still love eachother and value them as family. ...

Q: Is the human mind capable of grasping the universe?

Q: Is the human mind capable of grasping the universe? A: I don't think the human mind is capable of fully understanding it, but only because we were not evolved for such advanced thinking. It doesn't make a difference in our lives whether or not we ...

Q: What is the email etiquette in this situation?

Q: What is the email etiquette in this situation? I emailed my colleague who happens to have about 4 different email addresses. I used the one she was using a few months ago......but I have a feeling she doesn't check that one anymore. I sent the ...

Q: Why the cross?

Q: Why the cross ?????? Evil is all around us. I get that. Why do people use , in my humble opinion , a negative symbol of Christ? A cross is what he was killed on. I don't want that around my neck. And what is ...

Q: Atheists: Could you argue IN FAVOR of Theism?

Q: Atheists: Could you argue IN FAVOR of Theism? This is more a poll about debate skills than principles. I know from my own debate experience that I rely on the rules of logic to form a sound argument. I also think that I can argue ...

Q: Should we interfere in the process of evolution?

Q: Should we interfere in the process of evolution? Me and my friend were talking about baby sea turtles in which I told my friend that sometimes they die if seagulls or predators come and eat them on shore when their born. She then told me ...

Q: Fellow atheists, I really need some help?

Q: Fellow atheists, I really need some help on this one. I (against some recommendations by others) decided to take an opportunity to tell my mom about my “conversion” or should I say my “reversion” to atheism. She's fine with it. She had me tell ...

Q: Why is the sky orange sometimes?

A: The visible spectrum of light goes from the infrared to the ultraviolet. The waves of the infrared are stretched out and move slower than the compressed and faster-moving light on the ultraviolet side. When sunlight (which is slightly yellow) hits our atmosphere, it is ...

Q: Do limbaugh supporters realize these things?

Q: Do limbaugh supporters realize these things? 1) he has no education, why would you put so much stock in a college dropout. 2) he ducked military service. 3)has 3 failed marriages 4)was drug addicted 5)has made millions dividing this country stirring up hate and racist ...
About These Stories

Ten Terribly Terrific Tall Tales Trying to Trip the Triune is a collection of ten short stories that were intended to amuse, bemuse, and confuse. They include everything from the serious to the absurd, from events which are entirely possible to ideas that are barely comprehensible. All of them were written in 2003, and they were my first attempts at polished works of fiction. Each story was the product of my creative writing classes, so I’ve included an explanation of the assignments that led to each one. They have little in common except that my brain pooped them out, so you’re bound to find something to keep you entertained.

About This Story

The assignment for this piece was to read T. Coraghessan Boyle’s “The Hit Man” and rewrite it using any other profession. It was intended to be a humorous piece about the life of a drug dealer. Special thanks to Boyle for not suing me (yet) for borrowing the idea. Try not to take this piece too seriously. There are a lot of half-jokes and wordplay here that is supposed to mimic the original. It actually got a few good laughs when they read it in class. Hopefully, you will laugh, too.

About This Story

Years before I wrote this piece I started writing a story where the author torments the main character by putting him in various weird situations. I compiled several scenes and moments, but couldn’t quite come up with a plot to tie it all together. So, I set it aside for a long time until I was told to write a meta-fiction story. I pulled out the sections that did not fit my new story and wrote the rest months later.

This was more enjoyable than usual because it allowed me to do something with a story that I’d had a hard time finishing. There are so many things you can do with this idea that I just left it alone because it was so open-ended. This, however, was a satisfying way to compress a book (a lengthy one at that) into a short story.

It should also be noted that the movie “Stranger Than Fiction” came out two years after I wrote this and published it to the internet. I’m not saying they stole the idea from me. I just want people to know I didn’t steal the idea from them. In fact, I was excited to see what it would be like to have a story like mine brought to life, but I was honestly a little disappointed in how it turned out.

About This Story

For this assignment, we were supposed to write from the perspective of someone who is wearing two different shoes and suddenly realizes it. They were also supposed to think that everyone noticed, and that immediately made me think the character would kind of freak out about it. My only fears with this story are that someone might completely miss the irony or in some way think it’s biographical. But like, I swear I’m not, like, represented in that story. Like, no way dude.

About This Story

When I turned in this assignment I messed it up because it was supposed to have three perspectives, and that threw my creative writing class for a loop. Many of them were confused about who was speaking. Because of this, I had the text color-coded for a while, but that took away from the point of the exercise. After all, we can’t expect people to print stories in color.

Anyway, I decided to keep the two speakers in two different fonts (instead of colors) because I wanted it to be immediately obvious that there were two different narrators without having to spell it out for them every time I made a transition.

I was never in the military, so I am sure that anyone who was in the military (or combat) will find flaws in the way I portray them. I’m sure I got a few technical or procedural things wrong, but I feel like I know humans well enough to portray them appropriately.

About This Story

I loved this assignment because I was told to “write the worst, horriblest story you can.” I’m sure it could’ve been worse, but I wanted to make sure someone could enjoy it if they tried to read it. Though I’m sure I missed a few rules, I tried to break every one I could think of, including (but not limited to) grammar, spelling, spoilers, coherency, consistency, honesty, blasphemy, and decency. How many can you find?

About This Story

This assignment was to write a dialogue between two people without using identifying markers like, “he said,” and “said Kari.” Other than that, I don’t think there were any content requirements. My professors were good about that.

About This Story

The assignment was to write about a serial killer doing something mundane, like shopping. I just can’t help but think of things in the future, so the sci-fi aspect it is supposed to be incidental. The main concern my class had was how I wrote out the dialects phonetically. I didn’t see the problem because I always try to write out accents, but this was at the height of the Iraq war and the accent was middle eastern. I promise I meant no disrespect. It’s just rhetorical flavor. If you find it genuinely offensive please tell me why because I would rather re-write it than leave it unfinished because it’s classless or inappropriate.

About This Story

The purpose of this assignment was to help us construct the smallest story without having to write an introduction and to concentrate on developing the story and characters in what was implied rather than said. This piece of flash fiction is generally everyone’s favorite, and I hope it’s not because it’s the shortest. I would also like to mention that the two characters are from my other much larger work, States of Matter.

About This Story

For this assignment, we were supposed to have a three-person dialogue about video games without using quotes or identifying markers. For anyone who’s curious, the game they are playing came out shortly before I wrote this piece, and I spent a lot of time happily killing Nazi soldiers. So, when this assignment came up it was a no-brainer.

About This Story
I don’t remember what the assignment was here, but I know I wrote it for a class. It could’ve been a really vague assignment like “write a 1500 word story with first-person dialogue.” I really don’t know. All I do know is that it was inspired by events going on at the time. 9/11 occurred just a few years before this was written, and we’d only been in Iraq for a year or two. One of my classmates that reviewed the story felt it was a completely unrealistic story, and I’m sure they are right. But cautionary tales aren’t supposed to be warm, fuzzy, and realistic. They’re supposed to be terrifying. It should also be noted that I wrote this two years before World War Z was published, so the “human ramp” idea was my own. Not to say that Max Brooks took the idea from me, but I just want to be clear that I didn’t steal it from him.
About This Story
This was the first short story I ever wrote, long before I'd ever considered the idea of writing as a hobby or career. It's a true story, which I realize means it shouldn't be in the fiction section. But I wanted to include it here because it was my first real attempt at composing a story. This is something that happened to me in high school while I was with a couple of my best friends. I obviously had some growing up to do. When people are young they tend to be, well...generally stupid. At the very least, smart people will do stupid things at least a few times in their lives. Hopefully, we learn from these experiences and use them for future reference. We do things or get ourselves involved in things that, in hindsight, may not have been a good idea. I am no exception.
About This Story

This is the first fictional short story I ever wrote, which was back in 2001. It’s a very short story, mostly just a few moments strung together, about a young couple maintaining a campfire while talking about their lives. Also, I probably took the leitmotif a little too literally.

About This Story
This was my first published short story. It originally appeared in the inaugural issue of The Next One literary journal published by the Texas Tech University Honors College back in 2003. This version has been heavily revised since then, but it retains a majority of the original story. The universe in which this story takes place is open-ended. I have outlined the major events of this world because the main character does not experience these things directly, and I have written a couple other character's stories that I will eventually release.
About This Story

This is a text conversation about subtext.

About This Story
Eminence is a serialized sci-fi novel that will be released one episode at a time until it is complete. It focuses on three main characters who meet up innocently enough only to find themselves a part of a galaxy-wide conflict. It is a story about the nature of life, intelligence, and our chauvinistic view of the world. It takes place just far enough in the future where people are inhabiting other planets, but not so far that they are completely alien to us. The themes will emphasize (among other things) the philosophy, conflicts, and prejudices associated with labeling any kind of intelligence “artificial.” I have already written the first episode and half of the second episode (spoiler alert: there's no ending). There is a third story currently in summary form, and I've completely outlined the remaining six.