Category: Personal

Controversial Beliefs

  • Evidently, the most controversial belief I hold is that I am a woman. This one may get me killed at some point, or cause me to move to Europe. And then get me killed.
  • I think I would like to live in a small one-bedroom apartment in Bergen, Norway with Karen.
  • I think Yes’s Fly From Here – Return Trip may be one of the band’s best albums. We’ll talk more about this one at some future point.
  • I think when Donald Trump is dead and gone, all of this crap about him is going to come out and I think the world at large will be collectively mind-blown by the depravity the man has inhabited his whole life.

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Zeitgeist 11/25/25

It’s been 62 years and a couple of days since Kennedy was shot and killed, most likely by the CIA. Just this morning, I was thinking about how it feels to me like we’re living in the 125th year of the 20th Century, especially here in the US. I think all of the concerns of post-WWII America are still with us. We just keep dancing around the same old things — burgeoning fascism and the plight and willingness to fight of everyday people in this country to keep what we and our forebears have fought for in the past. I honestly can’t say what we’re headed for, but I know we’re still recycling our past, which is not sustainable.

I hope we manage to break the cycle of resentment and corruption that seems to be the biggest impetus acting on what’s going on in the world, but there’s no guarantee that we ever will. I’m convinced that if we don’t manage the feat, we’re in for a hellish time going forward – not that the 20th century has been such a picnic up until now.

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I’m playing my bass again

That’s been interesting. It had been long enough that my fingers wouldn’t do precisely what I wanted them to when I picked the thing up after a decade away from it. It’s nice to have the thing in my hands again, and this little combo practice amp I bought sounds better than my old live rig did.

I got it cleaned up and restrung by the guy over at Replay in Turner’s… Ray, I think his name is? I may be wrong about that. He has not been super-supportive, but he did do a moderately good job cleaning up my bass. He seems sure I’m not going to stick with it, and told me when I’m ready to sell my Rick to let him know. Thanks dude, I’ll keep that in mind.

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I just finished a revision to the novella I’m working on, and resisted the temptation to go right back to it. I definitely have more work to do on the thing, but I think that the story will benefit from my taking a little time to process. That being said, I admit it might be a year before I get back to that particular story.

In the meantime, I’m beginning the selection process for a chapbook. My conception of the thing right now is that it will look like a volume of poetry, and it will contain a few short poems, perhaps, but most of it will be prose. My idea is to walk the line between fantasy and creative nonfiction. Some pieces will be clearly on one side or the other of that line, but I’m hoping to find some way to synthesize the two things together. Based on the work I’ve found so far, I should be able to accomplish the feat for the 16-20K words I’ll need. Once I get that done, then I will go back to the novel for another pass.

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Finally, my wife’s health struggles continue. She’s keeping up her spirits as she spends sooo much more time interfacing with the health care industry than anyone would ever want to, feeling the impact of the various problems she’s in the midst of fighting. She’s still active and hardworking, which is amazing.

I am so glad we are together, she makes my life better in countless ways. She says I do that for her, and I am trying to believe her. I’m skeptical sometimes, but I do try my best to be helpful and supportive. I love her like nobody’s business.

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That’s about all I have for now. I’m going to try to be a better correspondent. People seem to like when I post here, so I promise to try. Do me a favor and leave a comment once in a while? The occasional like and subscription are also much appreciated.

TTYL.

Zeitgeist 3/5/25

Annie Haslam puts me in mind of Jacqui McShee

I’m listening to Renaissance’s Ashes are Burning from 1973. I read it as harkening back to Vanguard Records kinda stuff. Honestly, if you like Pentangle, you’re going to love this. Jon Camp is one of those Rick with a pick™ guys and is melodic in that Chris Squire/Paul McCartney way. Annie Haslam definitely puts me in mind of Jacqui McShee, but making mathy, orchestral music.

Really nice. I’m midway through side two of this thing, so I feel like I can say that this is a truly great pop/prog album.

I’m thinking about this theory Krystal Ball put forward that suggests that Trump may actually be trying to cause a recession. I think maybe so. Maybe that’s what’s happening.

Our options are these: he’s doing it intentionally OR he’s just that stupid. I don’t know which to believe. Much will be decided over the coming weeks. I’m praying that the upshot is that Trump is just a stupid muhfuggah, and that Elon Musk makes Pumpkin Spice Palpatine look like a friggin genius. (A big friggin OMG DUDE to whoever came up with the name “PayPalpatine” for Elon, btw.)

That’s my favorite conspiracy theory.

My LEAST favorite theory is that Trump is a Russian asset. I don’t believe it for a minute. Second worst possibility is that Trump and Putin see each other as equals, and Putin’s rule is the closest analogue to what Trump wants.

He might get it. <shrug>

Novel Progress Report 1/15/25

Just, you know, how it’s going..

So, here it is, January ’25. The world is about to enter a long, dark corridor. Really, we’re pretty much in that corridor already, but we’re about to turn a corner and whatever dim light there was behind us is going to be cut off.

We’re entering an age where human life will be much less valuable. The people are on the ropes. What are we going to do? What can we do? Time will tell. I hope what’s coming is at least a good story.

Into this dark January I continue to work on my novel-in-progress provisionally entitled A Curse of Romans. I’m giving it about 3 hours a week right now, but it is a consistent 3 hours a week, and has been since 2022. I’m a little over 3/4ths of the way through a 4th draft. I keep thinking I should devote more time to it, but whether I do or not, I intend to get it to a final draft, probably 3 or 4 passes away.

This current draft is about getting my facts straight. I’m consistentizing my worldbuilding (which was improvised in the first draft), I’m trying to make the characters a little bit more interior-logical, line-editing some because some things I did on the fly were obviously bad and it’s embarrassing, plus I’m rewriting two big sections, one of which I did earlier and one of which is upcoming – i. e., the ending. The current ending must be scrapped and replaced.

Next draft will be a scene-by-scene out-loud retelling in the narrator’s voice. Draft five is shaping up to be crucial. That will be the one where not only will I be reading each scene aloud, I’ll be applying the Stanislavsky stuff that my MFA seminar was about. If I don’t get intentions right, the whole thing will fall apart. Also wondering if I should acquire a kilij, which my narrator character uses.

So yeah, it’s difficult, I’m going slow, but the work is going well. I like what it’s about, I like my characters, and I think this is a good story. Of course, anyone who ever eventually reads the thing will decide.

Current listening: The Mob Rules by Black Sabbath.