Musica Extremis

06 Jul 2003 - Time Experiments
26 Jun 2003 - Introduction

Millennium Roadtrip

05 Jul 2001 - Grand Subtleties and Evil Gods
04 Jul 2001 - A Use for Kudzu
03 Jul 2001 - Marbled Angels Against Spanish Moss
02 Jul 2001 - Thirteen Foot Gators and the Pecan Scam
01 Jul 2001 - Pelican Watching
30 Jun 2001 - TANSTAAFL
29 Jun 2001 - Holiday Spirit
28 Jun 2001 - Bugs Bunny, UN Peace Envoy
27 Jun 2001 - Appalachian Magic
26 Jun 2001 - I Slept with Your Boyfriend
25 Jun 2001 - Opening Moves

Others

15 Jun 2003 - The Worst of the Worst Voting Scandal
03 Aug 2002 - Incompetence Watch #2
27 Jul 2002 - Incompetence Watch #1
01 Apr 2002 - If I Can't Have You, Can I At Least Have My Gator?
18 Mar 2002 - Manager Me
04 Jan 2002 - The Evil Masterminds in Exile Club
03 Jan 2002 - Leave Me the Hell Alone, Government
13 Aug 2001 - Planes, Trains and Automobiles
12 Aug 2001 - TV Licenced to Kill
24 Jun 2001 - Let's Dream New Dreams
23 Jun 2001 - Internet Anarchy in the UK
22 Jun 2001 - Fame at Last
21 Jun 2001 - Cast Out the Beam
20 Jun 2001 - Pubic Hair in a To Go Box
19 Jun 2001 - The Sweets of Solitude
18 Jun 2001 - Lemonade
17 Jun 2001 - Kyoto Rows
16 Jun 2001 - The Anarchists' Travelling Circus
15 Jun 2001 - The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing
14 Jun 2001 - Emperor, Where Art Thou?
13 Jun 2001 - The Unexpected Thankyou
12 Jun 2001 - Description for a Passive Morning
11 Jun 2001 - Chapter and Verse
10 Jun 2001 - Stoned Porn Stars and Temporary Marriage
29 May 2001 - Left Knuckles: Hate
28 May 2001 - Right Knuckles: Love
27 May 2001 - Lego Arcology
26 May 2001 - Public Soft Toy Massage
25 May 2001 - Grandma to a Village
24 May 2001 - Private Ephemera Detective at Your Service
23 May 2001 - Free Sex with Tom Cruise!
22 May 2001 - The Great Dr Pepper Manhunt
21 May 2001 - Edgar Allan Poe on Junk Mail
20 May 2001 - Pondering Over Jane's Breasts
19 May 2001 - We Pledge Allegiance...
18 May 2001 - This Aphorism Affliction
17 May 2001 - Talk of Freedom, Talk of Ale
16 May 2001 - This Creation Business
15 May 2001 - The Rain Within
14 May 2001 - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
13 May 2001 - Oh, to Be Able to Add CQT After My Name
12 May 2001 - Without Understanding and Never Twice the Same
11 May 2001 - A Modern Day Robin Hood
10 May 2001 - Sage Advice on Kids from One with None
09 May 2001 - Most Open of Diaries, Most Open of Lives
08 May 2001 - Dead as a Dodo?
07 May 2001 - The Day of the Jinx
06 May 2001 - A Mid-Spring Night's Dream
05 May 2001 - Will, Will and Gramma Grace
04 May 2001 - On Courtesy, Chaos and How a Coach Can Train a Bus
03 May 2001 - Beware Falling Pianos
02 May 2001 - The Bumbling Bureaucracy Battling Gene
01 May 2001 - Getting Out of This Country
30 Apr 2001 - A Secret Elven Weather Control Experiment
29 Apr 2001 - The Most Divisive Issue in the World
28 Apr 2001 - Polymath Wanna Cracker?
27 Apr 2001 - Famous for Fifteen Minutes
26 Apr 2001 - A Shameful Attempt at a Blatant Bribe
25 Apr 2001 - Incensed and Censoring the Census
24 Apr 2001 - Stairway to Heaven, Highway to Hell
23 Apr 2001 - The Great Vampire Kitten Conspiracy

The Million Word March

The Million Word March is my long term writing project, inspired by Jerry Pournelle's article on writers and writing.

His advice was pretty simple. Set aside a couple of hours a day, he said, on a PC with no games and no internet connection, and write. More importantly, finish what you write. By the time you've reached a million words, if not before, you'll be a writer.

So I started, back in 2001, to write a piece a day. I set myself an hour to start and finish a piece, and it got easier and easier as time went on, mostly because I got used to the routine. In recent years I've been busy with many things, not least emigrating to the United States, but I've kept writing all the while. While I haven't updated these pages in some time, I am still busy working on the Million Word March.

Some of these pieces are small parts of a larger whole. The Millennium Roadtrip pages comprise a tour I took through the United States in 2000, though I'm unlikely to finish the last couple of articles. The two Musica Extremis pieces are the beginning of something that will become an important project for me in years to come, namely a serious investigation of extreme musical art, but I have another project on the go first.

I've gained enough confidence to tackle a major project, so I am currently researching and writing a full length travelogue through the IMDb Top 250 Films. When I feel it is ready, I will post it here as part of the Million Word March. My rough estimates suggest that the book will comprise around 250,000 words. As of May 2005, I am over 80,000 words in, making my total for the March just short of 200,000 words, or a fifth of the target.

The Million Word March is listed with the most recent piece first, so if you want to start at the beginning, that would be the bottom of this page. My favourite of all my articles is This Aphorism Affliction, but the best could well be Grand Subtleties and Evil Gods, my travelogue of Washington DC. Certainly the most popular seems to be Pubic Hair in a To Go Box, an unofficial top ten list of rules for eating out in public. Wherever you start, enjoy!

My favourite e-mails are always those that come right out of the blue. I've had some wonderful mails in the past from people who wanted to comment on articles they had read in the Million Word March and I'm always happy to receive more. Please feel free to write to me, whatever you have to say about my writing.