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Mischief & Halloweenies
Today is what’s known colloquially as “Mischief Night”. People used to run all kinds of pranks on this day when I was growing up. Now, it’s just known as the day that the idiots in Detroit try again (and fail) to burn the city down entirely.
Ideas So Dumb, They’re Scary
I am politically incorrect, that’s true. Political correctness to me is just intellectual terrorism. I find that really scary, and I won’t be intimidated into changing my mind. Everyone isn’t going to love you all the time. ~Mel Gibson
With a razor-thin majority in Congress and a babbling muppet installed in the White House, the Democrats are so flush with power (that they don’t functionally have) that they have been tripping over themselves in enacting their nonsensical policies.
In fact, like kids on Halloween rummaging through a big sack of candy trying to figure out which piece they’re going to eat first, they’ve succumbed to a kind of paralysis of analysis.
This faction wants this stuff and that faction wants to prioritize something else. They’re so hell bent on getting their way first that nobody gets a turn.
One can certainly hope this ideological gridlock continues long enough for the midterms to eliminate their slight majority. Of course, if they manage not to screw with the midterm elections next year, the impending tide change may break loose the logjam that’s currently afflicting them. Hopefully not, though.
In the meantime, Crazy Uncle Joe is still making a pitiful fool of himself on a regular basis. Those who control him are letting this happen. Presumably, it’s a plan to get him Amendment 25’d so they can install VP Harris to replace him. Ick.
Joe Biden ‘needs a nursing home and a bowl of soup’
It’s a bit embarrassing to have our President made a spectacle of on international TV. That being said, the Aussies are enjoying some seriously messed up circumstances of their own. They’re really in no position to throw stones.
Even so, if they think Joe is pitiful and weak as a President of the United States, wait until they actually put Kamala in his place. Of course, that’s what they want (whoever the hell they are). They want someone who has no principles, is completely pliable and under their control. She’s going to suck (just ask Willie Brown) even worse than the mental patient who’s currently there.
Hold onto your seats, things are going to get even crappier than they currently are once they figure out how to get out of their own way and start enacting their stupid, destructive policies in earnest.
Oogie-Boogie Man
The Nightmare Before Christmas – Oogie Boogie’s Song
Halloween is a time for enjoying spookiness and mayhem. For me, it was also a time for stocking up on discount Halloween candy, effective November 1st.
Well, that’s not going to happen this year for obvious reasons. I’ve been improving my diet this year in response to my diagnosis of diabetes.
Nothing like a case of diabetes to put a crimp in your plans for holiday sweets.
Fortunately, there are things like stevia and monkfruit that have been made into alternative sweeteners. I don’t need to go entirely without, but I have definitely toned it down.
More Atmosphere
I’m not certain that I draw from any one culture more than others. Many myths and legends of many different cultures are really the same story when you get to the heart of it. They are often cultural cautionary tales about how we should behave and how we should live. ~Robert Jordan
| So, here’s the scoop on this year’s Holiday Season Serial Romance:
Holly and Ivy are sisters (as I’ve said before) who, deep down, are utterly awful people. Sure, they’ll appear to be typical holiday movie characters doing all the usual things, but it will soon become clear that they’ve got some improvement due. |
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Clearly, I need to hit all of the holiday RomCom beats and put my usual Sentinelsverse spin on the whole thing. It’s got a lot of moving pieces but we know there will be a happily ever after anyway.
I’m working on that even as you read this. Now that I finally have a viable kernel of an idea to run with, it’s time to build up some serious word counts… |
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| I also mentioned last time that I’d like to introduce a Slavic aspect to the Tales Of Olde Auringia.
I’ve been to Russia and Byelorus (both were part of the USSR at the time) and the thing I remember is that it felt so amazingly ancient there. Obviously, the cities felt modern but the stretch of birch forest between the airport and our first destination seemed both infinite and ancient. Certainly, Pennsylvania has its name due to the heavy forestation that still blesses most of my home state, but the stretch of forest we passed through felt like it stretched all the way through Siberia to the far Pacific and Arctic shores. |
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Medieval Russian history was a struggle to survive against waves of invaders from every direction. When they weren’t fending off Vikings or Teutonic Crusaders, they were being overrun by hordes from Central Asia.
The most interesting thing about the Slavic character is that the women are just as ferocious as the men. From St. Olga in history and Vasilisa in legend, the women of the East are fascinating and formidable. |
| Interesting though they are, they were only part of the historical picture and their counterparts will only be part of the Auringian picture.
From the Russian point of view, the Mongols were like real-life Orcs or Klingons. Historically, they kind of were. The discipline was as harsh as their home terrain. Their arrival was as dreaded in Europe and Persia as it was in Korea and China. |
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| As you can see, they have their own form of jolliness and perspective on the history of the Mongol Empire. They’re people with their own culture, history and traditions. They will be represented as such. The relationship between the various cultures will be complex and nuanced.
The goblins are going to be goblins. They’re not going to be stand-ins for any particular culture. I’ve got plans for the various kinds of goblins in Auringia. People might choose to infer a representation, but it won’t be according to my design. |
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Of course, being a high fantasy milieu, there’s quite likely to be dragons and other D&D-style monsters. That remains to be fleshed out later when I’m done with Holly and Ivy and the first trilogy of the Sentinels Tridecology. |
That’s all for now. I have to start concocting the tale of Holly and Ivy before I run out of time. ⌛