Tag Archives: Short Length (1-1000 words)

Dec 1 2014

River Raid (HONORABLE MENTION)

Original version: River Raid, released on 1982/08/19 for Atari VCS a.k.a. Atari 2600

Recommended version: River Raid, released in 1983 for Atari 800

Isn’t it amazing how war, the greatest misfortune, often provides the greatest backdrop for a story? Whether it’s an epic tale of a warrior’s fight as in The Iliad, or the slow torment of a man’s mind as in “Lawrence of Arabia,” war has a seemingly limitless capacity for showcasing the ultimate struggle in all its manifestations. It makes sense then that video games, tasking the player with overcoming a struggle, would be so well suited to war. What makes River Raid so special, though, is that it’s one of the first shooters to take place on a “realistic” depiction of Earth. The cover of the manual even appears to be alluding to the mountainous jungles of Viet Nam. So let’s go raid that river!

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Nov 17 2014

Leaders Are Followers

This is an essay I wrote for my leadership class in the Corps of Cadets at Virginia Tech. I found it while organizing files on my external hard drive. With this glimpse into the past, you’ll get to see how far my writing ability has come since 2009.

30 inches per step, at 120 beats per minute? That’s far.

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Sep 8 2014

To Change the World

This was a diagnostic writing I did for my English composition class. I had one hour to complete it; this is the finished essay.

 

Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” However, it is hard to believe that just a few people can make a significant difference. Given the many great challenges that the world faces, it seems impossible to change anything for the better unless one can attract a lot of people and spend a lot of money.

Assignment: Can a small group of concerned individuals have a significant impact on the world? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

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Jun 2 2014

Chirei and the Catbird 地霊と猫鳥

 Amazon.co.jpで買えます。

The English version is on Page 2.

 

この漫画は、宣教師の上嶋まなみと内海みさとと田中えりかと浜町かおるに捧げます。

 翻訳書を手伝ってくれた、オリンみえさんに感謝します。

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Pages: 1 2
May 12 2014

Nibbler

Original version: Nibbler, released in 1982 for arcade

In my Ms. Pac-Man feature I remarked that the 1981 game Lady Bug demonstrated that the “maze chase” genre allows for many different interpretations, and now I’m here to show you that it can be taken in an entirely different direction with Nibbler, a game that makes traveling through the maze steadily more and more restrictive by filling it with a snake. Intrigued? I thought so.

http://futurama.wikia.com/wiki/Lord_Nibbler

Pictured: an unrelated Nibbler.

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Mar 24 2014

Synesthesia

It’s time for another writing challenge! (Here’s the first in case you missed it.) This time around, writers were asked to submit a sentence containing synesthetic elements. Synesthesia is a condition in which a person perceives stimuli as if they belonged to a different sense (e.g. seeing musical colors or tasting sounds). Mixing perceptions like this can add layers of meaning or feeling to what you’re writing; we were asked to demonstrate thus. Here’s mine:

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Feb 3 2014

Japanese Video Game Industry: A Brief History 日本のビデオゲーム業界の短い歴史

sfiiThis is my semester project for Japanese 301. The first video is the finished product in Japanese, the second video contains an English dub, and the third is my rough draft, complete with grammar errors. Enjoy!

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Jan 27 2014

My Six-Word Story (Is Cool)

In the 1920s, as the apocryphal tale goes, Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a story only six words long. He turned out the above story and considered it his best work. In so doing, he revived interest in the genre of flash fiction. Last week an old friend challenged me and others to write our own six-word stories. Let’s take a look at my entry and a few of my favorites after the jump.

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Jan 13 2014

When Caesar Was Thirty He Knelt Down and Cried

A Carpe Diem poem by John
When Cæsar was thirty he knelt down and cried
Before the statue of Alexander.
For when the great general had reached such an age
The world he already had.
This I, too, felt when yesteryear
I looked upon the work of Frankenstein
Which, when its author was only twenty and one,
Was unleashed upon the world.
For what do I wait, I ask myself,
When time as they say is a-wastin’.
When I could be working to have it bound,
Why must I stay and tarry?
Let me instead spring forth to write
And, with my sights set onto it,
Send my work when done to find
A home on many readers’ shelves.
-Written November 12th, 2012