Historical Movie Review: Agora (NOTE: I intended to write something for Good Friday, but this article was on the back burner, so I finished it up instead. It's an odd thing to talk about on this day, but history cannot be forgotten...) I absolutely love history, and historical movies are a lot of fun. I normally prefer historical documentaries, as I like historical facts more than fiction, but I still have a soft spot for historical films. Sometimes fiction can be a lot of…
The Road Map of Language Learning Everyone and their brother has their own method of learning languages (as an adult) and all of them are valid. I have no intention of writing a definitive guide on the best way to learn a language because that really depends on you and how you learn. What I *can* do, however, is help guide you towards the way you may best be suited for learning. As such, this article isn't specific to any particular language and is more of a catch-all guide.…
Stop Saying Ishtar is the Source of Easter Every Easter, a meme goes around saying that the Christian holiday Easter actually comes from the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. This isn't done for scholarly reasons, either; it's meant to be a little “gotcha!” to the Christian religion because some people really have nothing better to do. Here's the thing: no one denies that a lot of pagan practices were absorbed into Christianity. Religions have borrowed from other traditions for as…
Why the Star Wars Sequels are Bad Fiction Part 1: World-Building (The Force) I have a bone to pick with the new Star Wars trilogy. Specifically, it’s an awful trilogy with ardent defenders seeking to slam anyone who disagrees with them as being either a misogynist or someone with internalized misogyny, being unable to appreciate nuance, or being the kind of fans who worship every decision George Lucas ever made. Lots of bad faith arguments abound, and I’m here to lay out…
The Rise Of Slaughter-Free Meat Originally published on Medium.com In 2013 the world's first lab-grown beef patty was made and eaten in London. The cost? $330,000 worth of research! Unfortunately, the finished product was edible but didn't taste quite like a hamburger. One reporter said it was a start, but not a viable replacement for beef at this time. Fast forward to 2018 and the vegan food company Just created the world's first slaughter-free chicken nuggets from nothing…
Could Humans (and Pets) Live Forever? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHIIATt0BaM *Forever young! I want to be forever young! Do you really want to live forever, forever young?* The song “Forever Young” by Alphaville asks the poignant question if you want to live forever young. It posits that old age and death are a sick, cruel joke and remarks that, “Youth is like diamonds, and diamonds are forever.” We're entering an age in which aging may become a thing of the past. While…
How I Learned to Love Flash Fiction In a way, we've all been exposed to what is now called “flash fiction” (stories written in 1,000 words or less) throughout our lives. In fact, you were probably introduced to it through the works of Aesop! As a new writer who was trying to break into publications, I hopped from one online magazine to another. I would check their submission guidelines and most of them would say something along the lines of, “Flash fiction only!” I hung my…
The Ghost Writer (Flash Fiction Attempt) *I was encouraged by a prompt* *I wrote in my flash fiction article* *and wrote this as an exercise. I wouldn't call it a final draft, but wanted some criticism, hence posting it here for feedback. Maybe someone reading will be encouraged to try their hand at flash fiction, too!* https://read.cash/@Shounenbat/how-i-learned-to-love-flash-fiction-e5911edd “Lorraine?” Andrew's voice was always so loud over the phone, even when they were…
How To Write Amazing Dialogue “Hi, I have a real problem with dialogue,” said the nervous-looking young woman sitting in front of my desk. “What's your problem?” I asked. “My dialogue sucks. It feels really organic, but when my friends read my stories, they always look like they're just skimming through the dialogue. One of them even yawned!” “It's probably because you're writing your characters' dialogue exactly like in this example. It's lifeless, nothing but talking heads…
Titanic: An Adventure Out of Time What can I possibly add to the many voices that have cried out about the sinking of this famous vessel 109 years ago? So many people have honored this tragedy in their own way, there's little I can say that hasn't already been said. We have the accounts of passengers and crew, the entire transcript of the communications between the Titanic and the various other ships in the area as she desperately cried for rescue, many documentaries, books,…
Worst Jobs in Ancient Rome: Actress When most of us think of the term “actress” now falling out of favor in terms of the more gender-neutral “actor”, we think of fame and fortune. People who are either on top of the world or diving deep into the abyss of drink and drugs – a pit largely of their own making. We don't think of condoned rape or sexual exploitation. Perhaps in the porn industry, but most have a difficult time seeing any of those performers as real actors and…
Why I’m Switching to Hybrid Publishing I’m working on a novel right now, and in the firm tradition of counting my eggs before they hatch, I’ve been deliberating over how to get it published. We’re standing at a crossroads in the publishing industry now, and I think we may be witnessing a drastic change in the publishing industry. Specifically, there’s a surge of a third publishing option that combines self-publishing and traditional publishing: hybrid publishing. What’s the…
5 Pieces of “Trash” That Turned Out to Be Treasure We all have heard that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but what if this was something most of the world would recognize as a treasure that disguised itself as trash? I’m feeling like delving into some trivia today, so let’s check it out! A Haul of Gold Coins Worth 500,000 Euros Stashed in an Old Piano! One piano tuner had the best day at work ever when he discovered, hidden inside of a piano that had been donated…
How to Do Research Like a Boss! Working on a school report? Writing that novel or short story that’s been nagging the back of your brain? Stuck on that article you’re trying to write for read.cash? Research is one of those things that some people are in love with and some people hate. If you hate doing research, it’s probably at least partly to do with how confusing and overwhelming it can same. The fun part is when your fingers are flying across the keyboard, visions of…
Australian YouTuber Pledges to Buy 111 Tesla Model 3s if Elon Musk Accepts BCH I don’t normally write articles about cryptocurrency, which I know is strange for this platform, but this caught my eye and I had to say something about it! Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KnmUKW9yVE 1stmil.com, the username of this YouTuber, makes some good points. Most people, myself included, would rather hold onto our BTC like gold, or a savings bond, or maybe like a…
Why the Star Wars Sequels are Bad Fiction Part 2: More Bad World-Building Welcome to my next chapter in the ongoing saga of why Disney’s *Star Wars* sequels are bad fiction. This time, we’re going to focus on the rest of the world-building in the Disney trilogy now that we’ve gotten all of the problems with the Force out of the way. I’ve already gone into detail as to why world-building is important in my last article about this trilogy, so I won’t reiterate it here. Go…
An Idea for a New Game I have a problem. I can’t seem to commit to a single thing at a time. I have several articles for read.cash, Medium, and (hopefully soon) Publish0X. I’m also working on two novels simultaneously and have a series in the back of my head to write. I also have three different games bouncing around in my head, and I’ve done some preliminary work on creating some graphics and coding the menu. Unfortunately, a massive financial setback has set some of those…
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