Justin Cecil's Blog

“It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it.”  ― Oscar Wilde I’ve written a few blog articles in which I have talked about books that I have read before and recommended (and I’ve also written a few ). Here are a few more books I would like to recommend. 1. “Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them” by Isaac Fitzgerald with illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton and an introduction by Cheryl Strayed When people get tattoos there is oftentimes a story behind them. This short book (which can easily be read in one sitting) includes several different stories about people from a variety of professions and walks of life and the stories behind their tattoos (each of which includes an illustration). The stories range from comedies to tragedies, and include cases of wanting to honor a loved one (living or dead), and also to mark a coming-of-age ritual.  2. “Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object” by Kathleen Rooney This is a...

I’ve been a big fan of science fiction since I was a child learning to read. When it comes to science fiction, one thing that people often ask is, “Does it predict the future?” I would personally argue that it’s not a simple yes or no answer, and I was thinking about this when reading about cottagecore recently.   Ultimately like any genre the writer of science fiction has one major goal, which is to tell an entertaining story. Some of the great science fiction writers such as Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov have also worked as scientists or scholars in their own right; Clarke proposed using a satellite communication system back in the 1940s and was an active scuba diver and underwater explorer, while Asimov was a professor in biochemistry. There have been other writers who have worked in the science fiction genre that barely even went to college; Ray Bradbury never went to college due to the cost, and Harlan Ellison got kicked out after punching a teacher (Ellison was known fo...