Word Quilt

I don't sew, but I write. Patching together pieces of my life.

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Hang Loose
Do people still hang loose? That might be a term used by my generation. Maybe young people just hang now. In any case, grandson David wanted to get the most from his full day off. Do you think he was relaxed? I wouldn’t have been, but he was still for quite a while as he … Continue reading Hang Loose →
Rocky Mount
On grandson Nathaniel’s day off, we drove to Tennessee to visit the house called Rocky Mount built by William Cobb. It served as the capital of the Southwest Territory (west of North Carolina) from 1790 – 1792. John had checked the web site, so we were perplexed when there were no cars in the parking … Continue reading Rocky Mount →
Balancing Act
Balancing things seems to run in our family. I knew our grandsons liked to build towers with blocks, but I had not remembered that daughter Lise stacked things in her favor created stacks. She was four years old when I caught her on film. Yes, it was film, and it was a long time ago. … Continue reading Balancing Act →

Challenges in Virtual Reality
As I delve deeper into the world of virtual reality, the more challenges I find, and the more I fall in love with it. For starters, (as I’ve already blogged previously) motion sickness is a serious problem, and there are certain things you can do in your level design to avoid getting sick. For one,…
WordPress UI Design
I found a couple things that I’d like to improve on WordPress’ iOS app. This demo was made with Unity3D, and the UI change was done in Adobe Photoshop CS6. My goal for this demo was to demonstrate my proficiency in interactive user interface design and basic programming. Hope you enjoy! View in Browser: (compatible with Firefox,…
Testing the Portara Engine with Halo 2 Assets
In our new VRMMORPG, we are beginning to test gunplay. While starting to get the guns in order, my programmer asked me to put together a sandbox testing area for guns. I thought to myself, “What has the best, most balanced gunplay in video games?” Of course, the answer is Halo so I dug up…

Episode 1 - Introduction
What is the Byzantine Empire? Why would a Byzantine citizen call himself Roman and not know what the Byzantine Empire was? In this introduction to Byzantine history, Lars Brownworth describes where Byzantium came from and why defining Byzantium is a murky and difficult task.
Episode 2 - Diocletian
The Emperor Diocletian was to erase civil war within Byzantium for the next thousand years but walked away from it all to become a cabbage farmer. Who was this military man and how could he just give it all up? Join Lars Brownworth as the story of Byzantium's first great emperor unfolds.
Episode 3 - Constantine - Part 1
From the chaotic background of the tetrarchy, a vulnerable staff officer would navigate the treacherous waters of the empire and eventually emerge as Emperor. How could such an unlikely man unify the empire under one ruler? In this lecture, Lars Brownworth explores the rise to power of one of Western History's most pivotal figures: Constantine.

The most interesting Viking
Sean asks which of the Vikings was most interesting and why. This is one of those ‘moving target’ questions that will have a different answer each time it’s asked. I’ll arbitrarily limit myself three (or else we’ll be here all day). Part of the fun of writing a book is meeting characters who are radically […]
From Raiders to Kings
James asks (with exquisite timing) if I’m going to write a book about the Normans. Not only is the answer yes, but for the next week (till Thursday the 22 of May) it’s running under a promotional price of $3.99 from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Writing a book is both about telling a story […]
What happened to Tancred’s other sons?
Tancred de Hauteville’s claim to fame is his remarkable fecundity. He produced at least twelve sons, three of whom (William Iron-Arm, Robert Guiscard, and Roger the Great Count) would achieve nearly legendary status and go on to found the richest kingdom of the medieval Mediterranean world. But what happened to the other nine? All but […]

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