The Real Lance Brown

My vocabulary used to expand

But now it just seems to

What’s the word…

Contract.

John August, writer of Big Fish and Go among others, gives a 10-step procedure for how to write a scene.

Paul Rosenberg posted on Fr33Agents about how libertarians (and any other group with a like viewpoint) make some basic group dynamic errors that serve to hold them back–the biggest being that they tend to communicate mostly within their own thought-circles.

I grew bored with the endless flow of philosophical and political cross-talk that seems to dominate most libertarian message boards and email lists. Most of it is about finding divisions in between people in the movement, rather than commonalities, which is not especially helpful if you’re trying to grow the movement into something stronger. And, as Rosenberg discusses in his post, navel-gazing over the views we already hold in common doesn’t help much either.

Cheap Talk & Group Dynamics: How Libertarians Fail.

This is a cool story from Inc. about a guy who has revolutionized what’s normally a pretty standard-issue business: the local pizza joint.

Lessons From a Blue-Collar Millionaire.

Thanks to Ruth Schwartz for bringing it to my attention.

Into old-school real-time strategy games? Electronic Arts is now offering the first 3 Command & Conquer games as free downloads: Command & Conquer Classic. Have fun!

Reposted from ProjectSimplify.com:

The ninety-ninth issue of the Project Simplify newsletter The Simplifier, titled “The First Step Toward Rational Living”, is now archived on our newsletter archives page.

(There is also an audio version of this newsletter, available here.)

Here is a brief summary of the contents:

1. A Note From Shawn
It doesn’t get much simpler than this
2. Upcoming/Current Events
3. Our Featured Quote
by Eleanor Roosevelt
4. Project Simplify Says So
Getting back to the foundation; Unwanted phone calls and junk faxes; and Simplification Rules
5. Lifestyles of the Natural & Professional
Handbook Table of Contents and New Logo
6. The Not-So-Simple Life
The World’s Largest To-Do List

Read the full issue here.
Listen to the full issue here.
Subscribe to The Simplifier here.
—
This issue features another edition of my column “The Not-So-Simple Life”. You can read the full column here.

The most recent issue of Project Simplify’s newsletter The Simplifier (which I co-edit and write for) is online.

Here’s the web version: The Simplifier #5.3 – Clearing the Way!

And the audio version: The Simplifier #5.3 Audio Version

This issue includes the latest edition of my column “The Not-So-Simple Life”–it’s the last section.

Ensnared in my regrets, I see
A bitter face looking back at me
The face is my own, and the bitter is too
And my regrets ensnaring me is nothing new
But something is rising– or rising again
My strength is returning like a long lost friend

Like a long lost friend who has shown up too late
Who can only observe the unrolling of my fate
And stand helpless, restrained, watching through glass
As I continue to stand, and then fall on my ass
Again and again, and again and again and again
Just beyond the reach of the help of my friend

-1/05/06

It didn’t seem super-easy to find a simple list of the Twitter accounts for the cast members of NBC’s “Community”, and since I was already following them all, I took a moment to make a Twitter “List” featuring them. You can follow it here: Tweets from the Cast of Community (@FreelanceLance/cast-of-community). The accounts of the actors are listed here: Cast of “Community” on Twitter.

I will keep it updated with additional cast members as they become available. Please let me know if you know of any additions by posting a comment below. (I don’t know all the actors’ names off the top of my head, but I don’t have accounts for the Dean, or Vaughan, or Britta, or Danny Pudi a.k.a. Abed. Or Chevy Chase, but I’m not holding my breath for that one.)

NOTE: NBC has also created Twitter accounts for the characters that the actors play; this list does not have those accounts, nor @NBCCommunity‘s, nor that of Dan Harmon, the creator of “Community”, or anyone else behind the show. It’s just the actors–currently: Joel McHale, Allison Brie, Donald Glover, Yvette N. Brown, and Ken Jeong. I thought it could get too crazy and unfocused if I opened it up to all the crew and “creatives” behind the show. But you should follow Dan Harmon too probably, right?

The following will not appear in the “Lifestyles of the Natural & Professional” section of the upcoming issue of The Simplifier:

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Oh, to be the young upstart! The new guard, the fresh blossom; it’s so inspiring and exciting…to beat the crusty, lame, old, creaky…

I’m speaking, of course, of the feud between the Project Simplify and Natural Professional Facebook “fan pages”. We (The Natural Professional) are totally crushing Project Simplify! I mean, they’ve had a fan page since like 2009 (and I don’t mean December 2009)—and we already have more than twice as many fans. And we’ve only had a fan page since like 2009 (and I do mean December)!

Just to be clear, we (Project Simplify) are proud to see our little N.P. having such early success, and we’re totally not jealous at all. (Because, of course, we know we’re largely responsible for said success.)

Well, that’s very big of you, Project Simplify, and we (The Natural Professional) would like to point out that PS is totally not old and dusty and archaic at all. And we will absolutely try to remember them when we get rich and famous.

Hey—no need to get nasty! We Project Simplify have a few cards we could play too—you The Natural Professional might want to remember that…

You see what we (the Shawn Tuttle and Lance Brown) have to deal with here? Simplification can be so ironic!

I don’t know exactly how to settle this feud, but I can tell you—and this is confidential—that Project Simplify is genuinely happy to see the blossoming of The Natural Professional’s presence on Facebook, and would like to encourage you to become a “fan” if you aren’t already. It will work out its jealousy issues in time. ;-)