The Eccentric Realist

Sun Tzu's The Art of War is one of the earliest examples of a genius sharing his thoughts to the world through the written form. More than that, though, it's still a book that can help you out, if you know how to apply its lessons to your own life, as not all in war is about war. 7: Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak Although projecting your strength can be useful for certain situations, it's better to be ambiguous about it. If you wonder how the Soviet Union managed to make it through the Cold War without being destroyed, it's because they managed to convince the United States that they were a powerful military force, stalling long enough to develop a nuclear program.  For the flip side, appearing weak when you are strong will make your enemies underprepared for any confrontation you may have. It's better to be humble about what you can and can't do.  6: Know the enemy, and know yourself The actual quote is ...

Look at this sentence. That was brief, wasn't it? Here's where you should really start paying attention. When your sentences have different lengths without being so jarring, you create rhythm, which is a good thing. It can be a push and pull game; the sentences don't always have to be longer. It's good to give your readers a moment of rest before you add a more complex sentence, though, because you made sure that they could take a breath before you gave them something that would take a larger amount of time and focus. Once you're finished with that, then you can have a bigger drop. Let them breathe.  It's easier to write similar sentences. I should know, I've done it. Say, is this fun to read? I can try to vary rhythm. Play with commas, earlier, later, whatever. You should avoid this, you know. Otherwise, your story will feel bumpy. Your prose must act as a dance Maybe you won't be able to manage this with every single sentence you wri...

Some of you don't have weight to lose. Rather, you're interested in finding some way to avoid gaining weight. Folks always say that you're going to gain weight as the years go by and your body gets slower, but that doesn't have to be true. You can't generate energy out of a void, though, so there's nobody but yourself to blame. Here are a few things that could make you fat. 5: Genetics Before any of you calorie purists lynch me, hear me out. Think about your height for a second. The taller you are, the more calories you'll need to subsist because of the greater amount of mass you need to maintain. There are also hundreds of metabolic processes to take into account. Some bodies are just better at burning energy. That's not to say that you're going to depend completely on this, though, but it's totally feasible that a difference of 100 or 200 calories per day that could be attributed just to metabolism would add up in a year. Jus...

Once you've seen it, you can't really forget 2-D, Murdoc, Noodle, and Russel. Gorillaz has been around in my life for almost as far as I can remember. Damon, of course, has been making music for a pretty long while, but this little project which has grown to a critically acclaimed band started around with a strange album which nobody could really define. It had elements from punk, rock, but all in all its style was pretty alternative to what everybody was listening at the time. They began in 1998 but I remember it was 2001 when they caught my attention. Of course, I was five years old and I was really attracted to the animation style, but as I grew up, and after  Gorillaz  came  Demon Days and  Plastic Beach , and in between those, a bunch of B-sides albums, remixes, singles, and even a dub mix of the first album, and in each of them you could notice a pretty distinct style, which begs the question, what defines Gorillaz? Heraclitus told us that no man ...

Writing is a great art, in the sense that all you really need is a place to put down your ideas. Sometimes the execution is bad, though, and though you might be the next Shakespeare, you're coming across as the next Dan Brown. With that in mind, it should always be in your best interest to refine your skills. Here's how. 5: Using the passive voice This one is big enough to merit its own post. Does the subject in your sentence perform the action, or is the action performed upon it? Although there is a lot that is affected by this aspect in itself, the way to fix it is pretty simple. Here are a few examples. Passive : It is believed by Mexicans that ghosts can speak with us. Active : Mexicans believe that ghosts can speak with us. Passive : I was bitten by the puppy. Active : The puppy bit me. The passive voice can be useful every once in a while, most of all if you want to keep the emphasis in the action, or if the actor is unknown. Otherwise, you ris...

So, Bethesda is making announcements, teasing with their #pleasestandby what could be a new Fallout game or remaster. Considering that it's almost Fallout 3's 10th anniversary, this is a pretty strong possibility. These games are some of the finest examples of storytelling that you could possibly find in any medium, so it's a good thing to learn about its inspirations. It'll also help you calm your anxiety while you wait for tomorrow's trailer. Chinatown (1974) We're starting off with something quite different here. Directed by the crook Roman Polanski, and starring Jack Nicholson, it's more of a neo-noir film rather than the post-apocalyptic theme that you were probably expecting. If you've played through the quest The White Wash , though, then you'll find more than a few references concerning the movie.  A Boy and His Dog (1975) Now, this movie's based on a series of books by Harlan Ellison, a very prolific aut...