Making a Christmas Tree Story

img_1281As a kid, three of my favorite Christmas tree ornaments were: A wooden castle, a small wooden sled and a wooden airplane with a tiny propeller that spun if you flicked it just right. I would meticulously hang the ornaments on the tree so that it told a story…in my mind. The plane was hung towards the top of the tree, because planes fly. The castle was placed in the middle because it was built on an a hill (or a cloud). And the sled was hung towards the bottom. The story would change from year-to-year, or day-to-day, but essentially a hero would fly to the castle, do something heroic, and then escape on the sled in a dizzying action scene that Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg would be hard-pressed to recreate in a movie. Imagine the speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi mixed with Die Hard and seasoned with the first twenty minutes of Temple of Doom.

Those three ornaments were lost somewhere, but I still create stories for my Christmas tree. Glass balls are planets, metal snowflakes become magic portals, the spaceship is…well, a spaceship.

The idea of creating Christmas tree stories was part of the inspiration for the new Pencil of Stories. This Power Pencil comes with six wooden ornaments that (may) spring to life as you use the magic pencil to tell tales of adventure and pterodactyls. What’s the story behind the girl, the yeti, the jetpack werewolf and the goblins? You tell me.

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I may have lost my wooden airplane, castle, and sled, but I can replace them with new ornaments. The story continues!

The Pencil of Stories and all six ornaments (and a Goblin pencil!) are available now as one set! Click here to visit the store and start writing new, weird, wonderful stories!

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100 Safe Conversations Topics for Thanksgiving (That Are Not Political)

family-fightThis Thanksgiving is gonna be a rough one. Avoid bringing up politics by using any of these topics.

100. What’s more important: Glass or Rubber?

99. Ben Affleck the actor vs. Ben Affleck the director vs. Ben Affleck the person.

98. Prussia.

97. Who’s your third favorite Beatle?

96. “My friend saw Slenderman.”

95. Did the person who invented the high-five know what he was doing? Or was it an accident like penicillin?

94. Whatever happened to the pilgrims after Thanksgiving? Are there still pilgrims? Did they die out like dinosaurs and leprechauns?

93. “Ssssssuper Moon!”

92. [Just start quietly singing TLC’s “Waterfalls,” until everyone joins in and starts dancing around the table.]

91. Internet lists.

Continue reading

My Debate Questions

debate-drawingIf the candidates want my vote, here are the questions they must answer:

If I dig a deep hole in my yard, at what point am I no longer in America? Put another way: How deep is America?

How many people do you know?

Can you tell if my eyes are really closed? [Dan squints tightly, but doesn’t technically close his eyes]

When’s the last time you listened to R.E.M.’s “Stand”? I mean really listened to it.

What’s your third-favorite Bruce Willis movie?

When was the last time you said, “kooky”?

How much does a regular bucket cost?
Continue reading

Freelance Writing Tip #355

No matter how many times you pitch your editor the story, “Opossums Are Probably Dogs That A Witch Cursed,” the editor won’t assign it until you get an actual quote, and quoting yourself, even if you use an Irish accent, apparently does not count as a primary source…even if you totally know the truth about opossums.Possum

Better Than Jetpacks?

I’ve already tackled the Time Travel Paradox, so I’m pretty good at science things. And now I’m confident that I have solved all of our transportation problems. The hard part is done. All we need is some strong rope.

First, let’s cover the basics.

ISS OneAbout 250 miles above Earth, the International Space Station is soaring around the planet at speeds of five miles per second. It stays up there thanks to the Earth’s gravitational force and orbits and maybe a little magic and magnets. Whatever. Point is, it’s up there and it’s moving fast and it doesn’t need a push. It will spin around the Earth forever!

ISS TwoYou can download apps that tell you when the Space Station is over your head and on clear nights, you can see it soar above you. I’ve done it. It’s fun. It looks like a bright star traveling in a very smooth arc across the sky. I waved, but the astronauts never waved back, probably because they’re eating dinner.

Let’s say a friendly astronaut inside the I.S.S. lowers a rope down to Earth, a very strong rope. How does it get to Earth? Not my problem. Maybe it’s shot down to Earth via tiny rocket.

ISS ThreeNow, we don’t want the rope to drag on Earth, ruining our lawns and ensnaring our cars and helicopters, so the astronaut would need to lower it down for someone to grab, and then hoist it up above the treeline.

With me?

So I’m on the ground, and I see the rope and I grab it. And now, I get to travel around the world without using any fuel, just the power of orbiting space stations and science.

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And that’s how I become Space Tarzan and end terrorism.

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The End

This post has been brought to you by PowerPencils.com. When not reinventing the goddamn wheel, I make and sell magic pencils!

Blogging The Chronicles Of Narnia: Part 12

Narna 12Chapter 9: In the Witch’s House
Better Title: Edmund the Evil

I’m not sure why Edmund is evil, but he clearly is. In this chapter, he once again feels sick and repulsed by Aslan’s very name, which leads me to believe he’s genetically prone to evil thoughts and actions, just like serial killers and those who don’t return shopping carts to the shopping cart corral. (I saw you! I saw what you did! I will seek vengeance.)

Here we see Edmund make his way to the Witch’s castle, all the while cursing his brother and sisters and dreaming of Turkish delights. When he finally reaches the castle, he sees a giant lion staring at him!

But it’s only a stone lion, one of the Witch’s victims. Edmund assumes this to be Aslan, and so he pulls out a pencil and draws a mustache and glasses on the beast. That’s like burning a cross, peeing in the holy water, or putting celery in tuna salad! Continue reading

Blogging The Chronicles of Narnia: Part 11

Narn 11Chapter Seven: A Day With the Beavers
Better Title: Try Not To Make a Beaver Joke

The children are following the bird to find out what happened to Tumnus, but the bird suddenly stops guiding them. The children realize they’re lost, with no way of knowing how to get back to the magic wardrobe.

Luckily, a beaver appears and I start laughing because “beaver” is among our funniest words, a word that is equal parts silly and sexual. Just like “ding-dong” and “satan’s love envelope.”

This is a nice beaver. Continue reading

Blogging The Chronicles of Narnia: Part 10

Narn 10Chapter Five: Back On This Side of the Door
Better Title: Digory the Dick

I know this blog is late, but things have been really crazy. I don’t even know where to start! First, I had to make dinner on Tuesday, and so I made spaghetti. And then it started to rain. And then I watched this mesmerizing video of an industrial shredder mangling toys. So…you can only imagine. Anyway, point is I had very good reasons for not posting the blog on Tuesday. You understand. Let’s blog!

Lucy and Edmund pop back into our world and Lucy is very excited because now she has a witness — Edmund has seen Narnia and can confirm its existence. However, for reasons best described as “Nellie Oleson,” Edmund denies ever visiting Narnia and calls Lucy a liar.

And then Lucy goes insane and grows old in a mental institution where she names her toes and then refuses to step on them for they are her only true friends. Continue reading

Blogging The Chronicles of Narnia: Part 9

Narn 9Chapter Three: Edmund and the Wardrobe
Better Title: Witch Way, Did He Run

Sorry this blog is extra-late. Give yourself all 5 Dan Points for the wait. I’ll try to stay on deadline.

Lucy returns from the magic wardrobe and tells the others of her adventures with Tumnus in Narnia, but no one believes her. I don’t believe her either. I never believe children. They always lie. “I can count to a million!” “My friend’s not supposed to have wheat!” “I have a splinter!” “There’s no such thing as true love and monogamy is humanity’s feeble attempt to organize and tame the fiery chaos of biology!”

Silly kids.

Lucy tries to prove that the wardrobe is magical but when the other children investigate, they find it to be an ordinary wardrobe. And then Lucy goes insane and spends the rest of her life making dolls out of her own hair while whispering, “There was no Narnia. I’m a filthy liar. That must be it. I mustn’t tell lies.” Continue reading