German Christmas Markets

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When I think of Germany, several things come to mind: castles, forests, beer (not my thing, but they are definitely known for it!), and CHRISTMAS MARKETS.

If I were to travel to Germany, I would want to go sometime around the end of November to the middle-end of December, because you can see the castles AND check out the world-famous Christmas Markets.

Nuremberg Christmas Market. Image from www.telegraph.co.uk

I checked out two top-ten/eleven Christmas Market lists, and BOTH list Nuremberg’s Market as number one.

Not only does this Market run from the end of November to Christmas Eve, but it’s one of the oldest Markets in Germany, originating sometime in the early 17th Century. They only allow handcrafted goods (something of which I highly approve!) and there is a parade of the Christkind child at the opening ceremony.

It feels like there is a Market for every style and in every city. You could take a cruise along the Rhine and stop in cities along the way to visit lesser known Markets, you could take a train between the big cities and go to the bigger Markets, or you could take a guided tour specifically geared towards seeing multiple Markets.

Here is a list of the dates for all the Christmas Markets in Germany. I was astonished by the number.

I’m getting excited about the Holidays. Are you?

Are you interested in travelling to Germany this Holiday season? Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel . 

Busy Busy and Paragenesis

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Hello Imaginary Friends,

I’m juggling multiple things at the moment. This weekend is Comiccon Holiday edition, we have another event the week after, I’m doing a bunch of other creative work and finally I have NaNoWriMo, which is kicking my butt.

So in the spirit of not wasting time here’s the first 1000 words of Paragenesis: The Copper Tarnish.

Old Cover from when I thought the book wouldn’t be part of the Aetherverse.

Enjoy and Later Days,

Éric

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I can do this again… I hope

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Hello Imaginary Friends,

Some days staring at the unwritten parts of a novel I freeze and wonder if I can actually do this. In those times I need to remind myself I can and have.

Here’s he list of things I’ve written, excluding short stories and serial stories, for the past 10 years.

  • 2018: Elizabeth Investigates: Mystery of the Dancing Lights, Paragenesis: The Copper Tarnish, and The Café between ‘Verses (All Unfinished)
  • 2017: Dinosaur Road Trip (Finished beta read and awaiting editing)
  • 2016: Paragenesis: The Copper Tarnish (hoping to finish this for nano this year)
  • 2015: Everdome (Accepted by Renaissance and hopefully being released in 2019)
  • 2014: Everdome
  • 2013: Parasomnia (Published 2017)
  • 2012: Elizabeth Investigates: A Case of Synchronicity (Submitted to Renaissance)
  • 2011: Elizabeth Investigates: The Sign of Faust (Published 2018)
  • 2010: Elizabeth Investigates: A Study in Aether (Published 2016)
  • 2009: Veridian Skies (Never going to see the light of day. It’s that bad.)
  • 2008: Veridian Skies

So that means in the past 10 years I have completed 7 novels, had 3 published, and I’m working on another 3. A rough total of 640,000 words.

This is the first and early part of my career and I hope to keep writing and publishing for another fifty years.

It’s important to remind myself that I can do it. I’ve done it 7 times before and I’ll do it again. It’s hard and lots of work but totally worth it.

Ok, peptalk over. Back to writing.

Later Days,

Éric

Blush: Ontario Curriculum Survey

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If you live in Ontario, the Ministry of Education’s online survey on education reform is available ONLY until December 15th!

Image from the completely random www.pae-eu.eu. I just liked the picture.

I mean, you can fill it out even if you don’t live in Ontario. But it asks for your postal code, so your answers might not be counted.

You also don’t have to be a parent of a school-aged child (or any child). But it does ask you how many you have and in what school. I’m hoping that they still count our answers, even if we don’t have a child in school.

In any case, please complete the registration (emails could take up to 48 hours to arrive in your inbox) and then complete the 15 minute survey. Everyone in Ontario is affected by this, whether you have children or not, because the children being taught right now will go out into the world and will interact with us.

Let’s make sure that they’re taught respect, consent, and open-mindedness.

Because let’s face it; not every parent is going to buy Blush and play it with their children. 😛

If you’re enjoying the Blush blogs, consider learning more with Blush: The Card Game from Renaissance Press.

The Definitive Guide to the Western Generations

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Hello Inquisitive Minds,

Here is the absolutely 100% genuinely definitive guide to Western generations.

The Lost Generation

Dates

1880’s to 1900

What they’re known for

They fought in WW1 and mostly felt lost in the horror of it.

Definitive attribute

Sad and disillusioned.

The Greatest or GI Generation

Dates

1900 to 1924

What they’re known for

They fought in WW2 and survived the depression. They were just happy to survive.

Definitive attribute

Doing the right thing or putting their families in front of themselves.

The Silent Generation

Dates

1925 to 1942

What they’re known for

Not fighting in WW2 and being quiet. They mostly wanted to avoid getting called communists. They spent a lot of time working on their careers.

Definitive attribute

Working too much, unionizing, saying “Honey, I’m Home.”

The Baby Boomers

Dates

1943-1964

What they’re known for

Complaining about their grand-kids. Creating unsustainable business practices that later generations can kill. Thinking the post war boom in the economy was normal.

Definitive attribute

Not understanding the crap they left for their grand- and great-grand kids.

Generation X or MTV Generation

Dates

1965-1975

What they’re known for

Killing the radio star with video.

Definitive attribute

First generation to be accused of playing too many video games. Creating monolithic tech companies.

Generation Xillennial or I’m not a Millennial

Dates

1976-1989

What they’re known for

90’s nostalgia. Insisting that they aren’t Millennials. Complaining about Millennials. Something about participation trophies.

Definitive attribute

Not being Millennials or X and really not wanting to be.

Generation Y or Millennial

Dates

1990-1995 or anyone younger and deserving more scorn than the current speaker

What they’re known for

MASS MURDER, Not voting, being entitled, lazy, loud, GET OFF MY LAWN

Definitive attribute

Being really poor and shit on.

Generation Z or IGen or Post-Millennial or Plurals or Digital Natives

Dates

1996-2010

What they’re known for

Being mistaken for Millennials. Not having a buzz worthy name. Cell phone addiction (despite being on it less than their parents and grandparents.) Not being hated as much as Millennials. 90’s Nostalgia.

Definitive attribute

Being sick of this shit… all this shit.

Generation Wikipedia doesn’t have an article and people haven’t named us

Dates

2011-????

Definitive attribute

Asking WTF were you thinking every 3 minutes.

Being hated by Gen X and Millennials in the same way that the Silent Generation and Boomers hated Millennials

Definitive attribute

Being the generation that will have to come up with solutions to the serious fuck up that our government, education, society, and most of all environment is headed towards.

 

There you have it. Any names for the generation born post 2011?

Éric

P.S. This was a work of satire. It is effectively cruel, simplistic, and idiotic to judge an entire generation of people on such narrow lines. But maybe I’m being a little too sensitive. I am a Cancer after all.