Welcome!
Hi! I’m Jonathan Lovelace, an aspiring author, occasional poet, game designer, software developer, and 2009 graduate of Calvin College. Welcome to the Shine Cycle Online!
Each week, this blog features a new post in each of five quite different “departments.” Since this organization appears to confuse some newcomers, I’ve written this “sticky” post to introduce myself, the blog, and its subjects—briefly here, and in more detail after the jump.
But before that, I should mention the sharing policy (you’re encouraged to link to and otherwise share my work, and permitted to make personal archival copies, but other than that please don’t copy my work) and the comment policy (aside from the usual common-sense items you’d expect, please comment on the post you’re commenting about, rather than wherever you happen to be!); I encourage you to read them.
From childhood, I’ve had a story in my head that I feel called to write. That “big work,” tentatively titled “the Shine Cycle,” is the original nominal topic of this blog, but now is only one of the five “departments”: on Mondays I post background essays about the story and its world (and “writing status updates” about once a month).
I’ve also had poetry “come to me” on occasion since high school. Each Friday I post one of these poems, as I’ve been doing since late 2009. This is the most popular “department” of the blog.
Because I’m hoping to publish a collection of my poetry, I’m a notoriously bad critic of my own work, and most of my subscribers started reading this blog long after I began posting a poem a week, each Thursday from September 2011 to January 2013 I asked for your feedback on a few poems from my archive.
I’m also developing an innovative turn-based strategy/simulation game called Strategic Primer; each Wednesday I write about the game—its design, implementation, development, history, and so on.
Saturday is the day for “miscellaneous”—occasionally excerpts from the Shine Cycle, but more usually essays on a variety of topics.
I’ll describe each of these “departments” (and that term itself) after the jump
2000-2001 Campaign Log: Part 21
It’s been several weeks since the last segment of the annotated log of the first campaign of Strategic Primer, so it’s time for another installment. Continue reading →
“I’ve often wondered”
I’ve often wondered: What if I’d been born
In decades, centuries before this age?
For I am nearly always out of sorts,
Bewildered as to where my path might lie,
And finding values, culture of times past
To resonate more strongly than today’s.But then the Spirit brings this truth to mind:
The Lord, who made me, does not make mistakes;
In wisdom weaving all of history,
He works all to his glory and the good.
And neither this unsettled present age,
Nor any other, is my final home:
I know the Maker made me for himself,
And so of _course_ my fickle heart is restless here
Until I find my lasting rest in him.
This poem … coalesced … this week from yet another recurrence of the opening thought, and then from remembering the famous line from Augustine.
As always, I earnestly welcome your comments, suggestions (perhaps of a real title for this poem?), questions, critique, or other feedback about this or any other part of my work. (In other words, if you liked this poem, or you didn’t like it, or it made you think of something, or … please leave a comment to let me know.) If you liked this, you can follow this blog (click the button at the top of the right-hand column if you’re reading this on the blog), which includes one of my poems every Friday, or read other poems I’ve written here on my blog (starting with those linked from one of the “archive ” installments, since the full archive is by now, at well over a hundred poems, somewhat daunting); I’d especially like to know, as part of my preparations for a collection, which poems you think are my best. You may also share it with others, subject to my sharing policy.
This poem is also archived on my wiki.
Related articles
- “Rest” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Send not …” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Ah, for the olden days” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
Strategic Primer assistive programs development report and roadmap
It’s been almost a month since my last report on the development of my suite of assistive programs for players and Judges of Strategic Primer, so it’s time for an update.
As usual, you can download new the new version from Bitbucket, and if you want to know more details than I list below, you can see the full history in the Mercurial repository.
Shine Cycle Background: The Imperial Military
Regular readers of this blog will remember that much of the events my Shine Cycle plans to cover has to do with long-term but occasionally intermittent conflict between Vaynaheim, the Shine and Wild Empire, and other allies on the one hand and the Dragon Empire and its few allies on the other. That is one of the two main factors that shapes the military forces of the Shine and Wild Empire. Continue reading →
Hymn: “Today Our Lord Went Up On High”
This Thursday was Ascension Day, the day on the Church calendar that marks the anniversary of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. So today we continue my series of posts about favorite hymns with an Ascension Day hymn. Continue reading →
“The feet the prophet once”
The feet the prophet once called beautiful,
That walked the dusty roads of Galilee,
Stood on the Mount of Olives one last time.
His hands, still marked where nails had pierced their flesh,
Outstretched in benediction and farewell,
He spoke to give his friends their final charge,
And then was gone, ascended to on high,
Where even now, his task on earth complete,
He sit at God the Father’s own right hand
Until all things are placed beneath his feet.
Yesterday was Ascension Day, so I’ve again tried to capture the event it remembers in today’s poem. I should perhaps mention that the opening line of this is at least the second time I’ve alluded to the famous passage from Isaiah; the other instance was in “Taliesin Before Arthur”.
As always, I earnestly welcome your (further) comments, suggestions (perhaps of a real title for this poem?), questions, critique, or other feedback about this or any other part of my work. (In other words, if you liked this poem, or you didn’t like it, or it made you think of something, or … please leave a comment to let me know.) If you liked this, you can follow this blog (click the button at the top of the right-hand column if you’re reading this on the blog), which includes one of my poems every Friday, or read other poems I’ve written here on my blog (perhaps starting with those linked from one of the “archive ” installments, since the full archive is by now, at well over a hundred poems, somewhat daunting); I’d especially like to know, as part of my preparations for a collection, which poems you think are my best. You may also share this poem with others, subject to my sharing policy.
This poem is also mirrored on my wiki.
Related articles
- “Upon that head”: An Ascensiontide poem (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Triumphal Entry” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Send not …” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Heralds’ Rejoicing” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
Strategic Primer: Eleventh turn summary
The current campaign of Strategic Primer recently finished its eleventh turn. Here’s a summary. Continue reading →
The “New Roman Empire”
The New Roman Empire is a political entity in the Shine Cycle. Its name is something of a misnomer, since it’s not really either Roman or an empire, but the name stuck. Continue reading →
Introducing the “lovelace” overlay
I’ve used Gentoo Linux on my computers for years now. And, since there is interesting and useful software that isn’t in the main Portage tree, on each computer I’ve maintained what’s called an “overlay.” This week, I finally got around to combining those into one shared overlay … and making it public. Continue reading →
“How glorious the subtle sounds”
How glorious the subtle sounds of spring!
At dusk, the frogs, with croaking counterpoint,
And crickets in their chorus greet the night.
This is no masterwork, composed at length
For some profane, mundane, or noble end
By human artistry or mortal wit;
It is but Nature’s flourishes and trills,
Perhaps cadenzas—twiddles, if you will—
Amid the endless symphony of praise
That God the Son—the eternal Word—has made
To please and glorify his holy Father.
This poem came to me this week as I was reflecting on the sounds of spring, especially at dusk. I don’t get to hear that much at home, where everything’s shut up by then and it’s a little too urban in any case, but one night a week at the break during my dance class it becomes immediately apparent as soon as I step outside.
As always, I earnestly welcome your comments, suggestions (perhaps of a real title for this poem?), questions, critique, or other feedback about this or any other part of my work. (In other words, if you liked this poem, or you didn’t like it, or it made you think of something, or … please leave a comment to let me know.) If you liked this, you can follow this blog (click the button at the top of the right-hand column if you’re reading this on the blog), which includes one of my poems every Friday, or read other poems I’ve written here on my blog (starting with those linked from one of the “archive ” installments, since the full archive is by now, at well over a hundred poems, somewhat daunting); I’d especially like to know, as part of my preparations for a collection, which poems you think are my best. You may also share it with others, subject to my sharing policy.
This poem is also archived on my wiki.
Related articles
- “Rain” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “I greet the spring” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Spring” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
- “Sunbeams dance” (shinecycle.wordpress.com)
A Christian Worldview of Fiction
Rewrite, Reword, Rework
The Bard on the Hill
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