New album of guitar noise

New album of guitar noise

Posted inMusic, Works by Eric
If you don't check out my music archive blog, you may have missed the latest release from my m2 project, which focuses on ambient guitar soundscapes and walls of sound. Unlike the much softer and more somber Six Stories, released earlier this year, this new one is very raw and ugly. Check it out: m2 Ashes 1) Choking on Ashes (7:18) 2) Sleep Paralysis (8:48) 3) Dry Story (7:11) 4) Are His Defenses Going To Hold Up? (3:28) 5) Climbing Mountains and Falling Short (16:16) All songs (c) Eric San Juan 2009. Free to distribute, just ask. More information on…

Writers, put your work in front of people

Posted inWriting
One of the hardest points to reach as a writer is the point at which you're willing to put your work in front of people and are not seeking validation. In other words, when you're ready for real opinions rather than pats on the back. The praise of family and friends is the bane of the aspiring writer, though too often the aspiring writer does not realize this. Your mother and your close friend tell you your work is good, and you believe it because that's what you want to hear. However, praise for its own sake does you more…

Trunk novel? What the hell is a trunk novel?

Posted inRandom Musings, Writing
Trunk novel. Somehow I had never come across the term, only seeing it for the first time these last few days. Don't know how it eluded me. If you've never heard the term, you'll certainly be familiar with the concept. A trunk novel is an old, unpublished manuscript stuffed away in a trunk (or drawer, or closet, or box, or whatever), in most cases because it's terrible. You pull out your old trunk novel, read it, and remember how bad you were. I can relate to that! My trunk novel -- and dear god I hope I don't build up…
Calvin & Hobbes was the greatest thing ever

Calvin & Hobbes was the greatest thing ever

Posted inComics & Graphic Novels, Geek Stuff, Random Musings
Is there anything in the world that was better than Calvin & Hobbes? I'm not sure there was. Sure, sure, there is eating and sex, but Bill Watterson's masterpiece of a comic strip is right up there. Far more than three panels of humor each day, the full scope of the work will long stand as one of the great achievements of sequential art. And no, I don't think I'm overstating the case.   In 10 years, Watterson evolved his strip from a quirky and funny comic strip that was a slightly edgy, modern version of Peanuts into something wholly…
Lost – On Locke and faith

Lost – On Locke and faith

Posted inTelevision
WARNING: The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the television show Lost. If you have not caught up through season 5, do not read this. It will spoil your enjoyment of the show. Indulge me for a moment while I write about Lost, in my estimation one of television's greatest dramas and something with which I am currently obsessed. Of all the overriding themes of Lost, one of the most powerful is that of faith. Or more accurately, the struggle between faith and reason. The belief in fate and external forces beyond our comprehension, and the disregard of those concepts in…