End of an Era

The end of an era!

No, this is not a reference to a political event, although it would be special if it were the year that Trump and Pence resigned, and we got our first female President (Nancy Pelosi, third in line of succession).

It's not an oblique reference to our deteriorating climate, although...SPOILER ALERT!  Global warming and the adverse effects from it ARE ALREADY HERE!

It's not about the end of a Sports Dynasty.  No, Alabama's professional level football, well, their tide is just gonna continue to roll in, over and over and over again.

Am I leaving Higginson & Paulk?  Are we moving?  Is Game of Thrones ending on TV?  Is Benjamin wrapping up high school?  Well, those last two are true, but not the era I'm referring to.

It's the end of the era of morning blogging.

Yes, in an attempt to return to more fiction writing, starting tomorrow, I am surrendering my morning writing time to my fiction projects, both books, and short stories.  I have slacked horribly on my fiction projects, and it is the best way I can think of to restore a regularity to it.

I intend to start writing on my fiction projects after a morning walk.  On days I go in for accounting work, that will probably be about an hour of writing.  On days I don't go in, that should be two to four hours.

Does that mean the blog will disappear?  No, hopefully not.  But I will have to write on it in the late afternoon, or in the evening.  What effect that will have on the frequency, I don't know.

Blog traffic has been down of late.  It could be the quality of what I blog, but I think it has as much or more to do with social media.  I suspect that Facebook is putting my blog postings on fewer and fewer newsfeeds.  This means the number of people who even see my posts are dwindling.

I may transfer my blog to a site that will allow for advertising.  I was banned from getting advertising money several years ago, and it's been frustrating to not earn money from the blog, even if it was only a couple hundred a year.

I am going to try to use Facebook less, and scroll it less often.  I will continue to post blog stories and the Song of the Day, but I am going to try to post fewer memes and non-TM Strait written articles.  It's tempting to repost the anti-fascist memes I see, especially when we are in such a deep crisis.    But I'll try my best to concentrate my firepower in my blog efforts.  We'll see.  A major theme of my life the last few years has been trying to wake up the Trumpeteers in my life,  It's hard to surrender in that regards.

I am also abandoning my newspaper column efforts.  I've already withdrawn for the last month or so, and none of the groups I used to send them to have seemed to have noticed.  I need to concentrate on projects that will earn at least a tiny bit of money.  I can't say that I won't ever produce a newspaper column - it's just no longer a high priority.

A priority not directly related to writing is to become an audiobook narrator.  That is a dream job for me, and something I believe I could do extraordinarily well,  My hold up is technological, as I have to create the facility and become a sound engineer (at least enough to allow me to record).  If I can conquer that, then choo choo choo!  That train is leaving the station!

So, goodbye morning blogging!  You're a decade old habit I am bringing to an end.

Hello, morning fiction!  It's time to finish writing The Extra Credit Club, and then to start the sequel to History of the Trap!  It's time for new Crowley Stories, and to finally come up with that killer science fiction short that a sci-fi magazine can't resist!

It's time to prove to the naysayers that I CAN make money creatively!

Ok, maybe I'll still be unsuccessful doing that.  But I'm going to try.

By golly, I'm going to try.

2018 In Movies & TV

Please note;  These are for movies WATCHED in 2018, not necessarily made in 2018.  I am presenting them with a minimum of commentary.  I may update later with additional comments.  We'll see.

10) Jumanji (2017) This was a real surprise, easily exceeding the low expectations I'd set for it.  Jack Black is a particular blast, taking on the persona of a male avatar inhabited by a teenage girl.

9) A Patch of Blue (1965)  This Sydney Poiter classic, where he portrays a black man that a blind young woman has fallen in love with.  Shelley plays the girl's mother, blinded by rage, jealousy, and racism.

8) Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)  Like a modern film noir, it builds an imaginative, twisty tale, highlighted by the great acting of Jeff Bridges.

7) Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

6) Hositles (2017)

5) Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

4) The Shape of Water (2017)

3) A Quiet Place (2018)

2) Isle of Dogs (2018)

1) Avengers: Infinity Wars (2018)

Television

10) Supergirl (CW)

9)  The Walking Dead (AMC)

8)  The Cool Kids (Fox)

7)  GLOW (Netflix)

6)  Homecoming (Amazon Prime)

5)  The Man in the High Castle (Amazon Prime)

4)  The Good Place (NBC)

3)  Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (ABC)

2)  The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime)

1)  The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu)

I would love to track my favorite books and comics for 2018, but I did not do as good a job at recording them.  I will see if I can do better in 2019.

Sorry, this summary is so brief.  And yes, it is quirky as it is my opinion, and I have admittedly quirky tastes.

I will try to elaborate as time allows.

2018 Year in Politics: Saturday Political Soap Box 199

2018.

A year when the 35 to 40% of us that are Trumpeteers were challenged again and again, their delusions continually being tested by truth and reality, exhaustedly trying to blow in the ever-changing directions of their fearful leader's contradictory and demeaning tweets. 

Deficits soared.

The Stock Market tanked.

Interest rates crept up.

Asylum seekers were vilified as thugs and murderers, and made to look like an army of orcs and trolls straight out of Tolkien.  They were caged and families separated, taken to inadequate facilities, where two young children have lost their lives.

The government is suffering under a purposeless shutdown, trying to force a useless, wasteful Wall that will achieve nothing except make us look like the villains of the world.  And it's 100% on Captain Bone Spurs.

Every element of Trump's criminal enterprise is under investigation, and criminal wrongdoing is being exposed.  The Mueller probe is closing in on him, and Trump is acting like a cornered wounded bear.

And there was the rise to the Supreme Court of this extra-nasty scumbag.  It didn't matter what this sneering creep did - the Republicans were going to put him on the Supreme Court.  What a disaster. Why did Trump want him so bad?  You think it was to criminalize women's reproductive rights and place the government between a woman and her doctor?  Oh no, that was just side gravy.  The real reason is he was the lower-court judge with the most unambiguous record of not believing a President could be indicted, one who would most consistently side with Trump in any court case involving Mueller or others in pursuit of our criminal President.

The environmental health of the nation is being set back as environmental regulations and enforcement are being chopped away.  Global warming is real and already causing damage worldwide, and the USA is leading the way - to an increase in carbon levels and temperature that can only be described as Hell on Earth.

Our President sides with authoritarians over democratically-led countries, even to the point of tolerating the murderous slaughter of an American Resident.  I mean, he was just a reporter, anyway.  Trumpeteers are constantly confused as to who they're supposed to be liking or hating internationally this week, as their narcissistic leader careens wildly between whoever is kissing his butt the most, or providing him the most graft.

He announces the withdrawal of troops in Syria in such a way that emboldens the dictators of Russia, Iran, Turkey,  and Syria, and leaves our allies, the Kurds, exposed and vulnerable to persecution and genocide.  

And the Trumpeteers hang in there.  Inexplicably. Irrationally.  In a way that continues to break my heart and causes me to lose sleep and hope.

And yet, there is hope on the horizon.

The Democrats recapture the house, by the largest percentage margin in the modern era.  They gained a mammoth 40 seats, and are led by an exciting coalition of young progressives, including my personal favorite, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker of the House, the most competent and professional Speaker of the last several decades.  I may not agree with everything she does, but she knows how to vote count and whip up support.  She knows how to lead.  

Things won't be easy.  They won't be pretty.  Trump will blame everything on the Democratic House.  He will foam and spittle and incoherently tweet at them.  The Trumpeteers will circle the wagons.

But there is hope.  So, I can't write off 2018 as a complete loss.

To quote 19th-century abolitionist Theodore Parker in a saying often used by Martin Luther King, Jr. -

 “Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” 

It often seems like we are bending away from justice instead of towards it, but I pray that we rebound, and people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez do give me a glimmer of hope that we will one day right our course.

2018: All About the Me

Theatre

Any year review of me should probably start with theatre.  It's been something I've been doing since 9th grade, and it's a rare year when I haven't been in one thing or another.

From the picture above, you can see the highlight of the year for me was performing as Fester in The Addams Family.  Not only did I get to perform with my son, Benjamin (who played Pugsley), I was able to sing onstage.  The Moon and Me song was a career highlight for me.  It was in my vocal range and had some high notes that I DID NOT MISS!  Great comedic acting?  Check!  Enjoyable singing performance?  Double check!  Dancing?  Uhhhh...in a fashion, yes.  Best I can say about that is....nobody got hurt.

There were other good theater experiences.  I was able to do Love Letters with my good friend, the very talented Julianna Lacefield, for a Valentine's performance at my church.  I played multiple parts in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  I was the railroad conductor and narrator of The Polar Express.

2019 may be even lighter, as I am holding off and only doing shows with Benjamin (at least until he starts college in the Fall).

Travel

Regular followers of this blog will know about our trip of a lifetime to Ireland.  Above pictured were my traveling companions - Alison, Doug, and Paige.  I won't go into the trip here,, as that could be quite detailed.  Please follow the tag Ireland for plenty of great commentary and pictures from this sensational trip.

Later in the year, we were able to spend a weekend with my sister, Carol, and her spouse, Michael, at St. Simons.  Time with them is rare, and it was a great weekend just to eat and talk.

Writing

It was a good year in that I got two new things out for sale - Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge and A Christmas With Pegasus (cover done by local professional actress Kennedy Brice, who is roughly the age of the lead character in the story).  I also won first place in both Story and Poetry in the Fifth Annual Okefenokee Heritage Center's Writing Contest.  The story was The Chicken Hut Changes Its Name, and the poem was Step by Step.  Both are available on this blog.

It was a bad year in that nothing I published sold well.  At all,  A real disaster.  And I spent $1600 with Bookbaby thinking it will help not only publish but promote my book.  The results were horrible, and I'm having a hard time coping with taking away so much money that could have been used for the family.

I'm a fair writer, but a lousy publicist.  It's a problem that will dominate 2019.

I've written a good chunk on The Extra Credit Club and I've been trying to market My Europa.

I need to reorganize my writing time, and this will be a significant 2019 goal.

Clubs and Organizations

I remain a participant in the Okefenokee Heritage Center Writer's Guild.  Pictured above is Grace Lee at her 90th birthday party.  Attendance this year has been down, but I remain committed to getting Grace Lee to the meetings.

As I am trying to move away from accounting, I an refusing Treasurer's positions, but Purlie Productions got grandfathered in.  Their commitment to socially relevant theatre productions is a real beacon for this area, and I hope they continue to do well.

Grace Episcopal Church continues to be a cornerstone of my life.  I am a lector and prayer reader there, and I went as a representative to Convention.  I hope to do more for charity in 2019, in conjunction with church activities.

Work

I worked part-time at Higginson & Paulk.  I'm having great difficulty making money creatively (which some of my more cynical friends are not surprised to hear), so I will probably be there for the foreseeable future, working about 40 to 50% work schedule compared to full time.  The people there are very friendly and easy to work with, as long as I don't express myself politically.  It helps make having to continue in accounting much more tolerable.

Politics

It was a tough year.  A lot of scary, dangerous things coming from the Trump Administration, but also glimmers of hope in a new Democratic House coming in, and the Mueller report moving forward.  I spoke out often on Facebook, my blog, and in newspaper columns.  I supported Lisa Ring for Congress and Greg O'Driscoll for State House.  Neither won, but it was an honor being able to vote for them and have choices.

I continue to be depressed by the Trumpeteers in my life.  How they can not see what a foul creature Captain Bone Spurs is, is beyond me.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

T. M. Stait

2018 in Family

Benjamin

Benjamin begins his Senior Year! 

Academics were a challenge his first semester, with four college-level courses, but he came through it very well!  His grades are good enough to keep him qualified for the Zell Miller Hope Scholarship.  One semester to go!

He was in a musical, The Addams Family, one I am proud to have been in with him.  He got to use his beautiful singing voice, and show off his comedic talents.  We won't talk about the Strait dancing skills, although he was better than his old Dad.

He is a first-rate Dungeon Master and has friends over at least once a week. 

The pictures above show the cast of The Addams Family, and then one of Benjamin as Pugsly with Grandma.  I am hooded in the cast picture, as I had not yet shaved off my hair.  What did I look like bald?  Interesting that you should ask.

Back to Benjamin.

Benjamin had a great year.  He learned to drive and has become the driver of his mother's 2004 Toyota Camry.  He has taken up the martial arts. He is an usher and lector at church and enjoys summer camp at Honey Creek.  He is kind and generous, funny and nerdy, and yes, young ladies, he is single and available.

Alison

She sits on the throne of the Giant Causeway in Northern Ireland.

Because, yes friends, we finally got to take our dream vacation - ten wonderful days in Ireland!

Thanks to my son, Doug, who gave us his sky miles, we were able to afford the most beautiful trip of our lives.  Everything about it was extraordinary, from Dublin to Killarney to Belfast, from the Cliffs of Mohr (pictured above) to Blarney Castle to the walled city of Londonderry.  For those that wish to see more, please search out the blog label Ireland, centered around June 2018.

We were also witness to this special moment, where Doug proposed to Paige, in a site researched and selected by Alison.

Alison also got her first new car in fourteen years, this fantastic Subaru Outback.  It's been hard for the rest of us to get a chance to drive it, she loves it so much.

She had a good year at work, settling in with a new head of Nutrition.  She gets along with everyone and is known as the most helpful person in the office.  Working for a living can be a pain, but I think she makes it more pleasant with her generosity of spirit, and with teamwork and friendship.

Boss-A-Man sez - What about me???  Well, the pets had a great year too!  We had our full squad set for the year, no new additions.  They all have their individual quirks, but they all share one thing in common - they love us, and we love them!

And me?  Trust me, I'll get to more me later, in another blog story.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Strait Family.

Tis the Season for Hissy Fit Shutdowns: Saturday Political Soap Box 198

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Let's bring in the Christmas season with a partial government shutdown brought to you by.....

President Donald J Trump

in a special edition of Government by Hissy Fit sponsored by.....

Fox & Friends!

Ann Coulter!

Rushy Limbaugh!

Laura Ingraham!

Don't get me wrong.  I think the WALL is stupid, unamerican, ineffective and an utter waste.  You might as well take 50 billion dollars (an estimate of its ultimate cost) and flush it down the world's biggest toilet.  Ever heard of boats?  Planes?  Ladders?  Overstaying VISAs?  This problem can't be solved by brute force and hate.  You can't "cage children" your way to victory.

But if there's going to be a WALL (correction; the new politically correct term for it, per Trump, is now STEEL SLATS (translation: fence)), then it has to be done the old-fashioned way.  You have to have the political strength to pass it through Congress.  And if you can't pass it through a Republican-controlled Congress dominated by Trump sycophants, when can you pass it?  

Yes, border security is essential.  You never know when you're going to get a flood of Canadians trying to escape the horrors of single-payer healthcare.  Seriously, things can and should be done. And Democrats are willing to do them.  If Trump had any brains, he'd be swapping things out, negotiating and dealing.  But he's not a deal-maker.  He's a temper-tantruming moron, led by the nose by right-wing media, ready to take us all over a cliff just to put a temporary smile on Rushy's face.

Real people are going to be hurt by this.  And at Christmas time.  

Trumpeteers, don't delude yourselves (that may be naive - delusion appears to be your middle name)!  This is HIS shutdown, 100%.  Congress reached a number of compromises, and he negated them all.  He wanted this to happen.  And now it's here, at Christmas, and you and your Presidente. El Capitano Bone Spurs,  OWNS IT.

Despite everything, I do not lose hope in you, my dwindling Trumpeteers. It's Christmas, after all.  Like Scrooge, maybe you'll be visited by the spirits of Christmas (or, if you prefer, the divine love of Christ) and you will wake up with your eyes opened.

Okay, probably not.  Nevertheless...

Merry Christmas!

God Bless Us

EVERY ONE!!!!!

Santa, Can You Hear Me?

Santa, can you hear me?

Do I pray silently? 

Do I speak out loud?  Toward the sky? To the north?

Do I go to the mall and wait in line to talk with you?  I'd sit on your lap, but you might not ever be the same after that.

I know.  You've heard it all before.  But you haven't heard it from me.  And shouldn't that be worth something?

It's not really a material thing, not entirely.  Not there's anything wrong with asking for material things.  I mean, that's the whole nature of what you do, right?  You're not a deity, neither an angry nor a loving God.  Mostly, you're a way for the young to focus their gift lists enough that they can be dealt with.  I won't get it into it, but that can be a real boon to parents.

And people ask for non-material things, some sincerely, some not.  It's heartbreaking when children tell you their wishes for others.  That Mommy and Daddy get enough to eat.  That Baby Bobby's pneumonia is cured.  That Daddy stops hitting Mommy.  That Uncle Dud not be alone with them again.

There are even wishes for world peace, for the end of gun violence, that the poor are taken care of, that the bullies leave Roger alone.

Some wish for gifts for others.  That their sister gets the doll she wants, that Mommy gets a new dress, that the Echols family gets a nice Christmas Ham. 

That's where I come in.  I have a present that I want Santa to get to someone.  Someone important.  Someone whose rage and fear is hurting so many.  And it can't just be me that gives it to him.  It has to come from someone magical, someone who can make the gift open up and commence the journey that needs to be taken.

I want Santa to bring President Trump a copy of The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.  And I want Santa to be sure that, as big of a non-reader that Trump is, that he at least starts it, and put it by his nightside, replacing Trump's beloved copy of Hitler's speeches.  And then he when he goes to sleep, Fox News left on, Melania in her own room. that the ghosts come, and that he goes with them, and that he wakes up, like Scrooge did, a new man, a caring man, a changed man.


At this point, it's the only thing that can save us.  A Christmas miracle.  A magical transformation that reforms him and saves the nation.

So, where are you Santa?  I need to get this message to you.  A lonely, frightened, desperate nation needs you.

And if you can't do that, I'll settle for resignation, impeachment or the 25th Amendment.


Just do it quick, Santa.

We may be running out of time.

A Failure to Grasp Privilege

There are some things that I am hoping Benjamin gets experience at before he goes to college.

One of those things is work experience.  I think he needs to know what it's like to work for other people, to have a boss and a schedule, to respond to the public and co-workers, and to get this experience before he gets involved with college work/study programs and internships.

To do this, he will have to get a job.  He could "pound the pavement" as my mother always urged me.  He could do whatever assertive thing it is that teenagers do to get jobs.  Unfortunately, that's not in his nature.

And I can't complain much.  Because it's not in mine.  Never has been, never will be.

I reflect back on my own early jobs, and I find not my own noble efforts, but the influence of what is now called white privilege.  Every early job I got, I got because my Dad paved the way and used his connections to help me get something.

I don't know if it was simply because he was white.  My Dad was the high school principal.  He was well-liked and well-connected in the community. 

My first job he obtained for my junior year was at Dixie Tool & Dye, where I assisted in the shipping department.  I worked after school for several hours a day.  I wasn't horrible, but I was mediocre at best.  I was slow, and I did make mistakes.  My salary was low and remained low while I was there, about two years until I went off to the University of Michigan.  My replacement was a friend of mine who lived near me, Randy Bloomfield.  In the course of the time that Randy had the job, he nearly tripled the hourly wage.  He was much more competent than I was.

My next job, coming home summers from college, was one my Dad also got for me.  It was working night shift at the Vlasic Pickle Plant.  It was hard work, but I was steady, and I got along well with co-workers.  After two summers there, they offered me a permanent supervisory job if I left college.  That wasn't gonna happen, but it was nice to be wanted.  At that point in my life, I did not realize how rare that kind of acceptance and job success would be for me.

My last summer job was at Saginaw Steering Gear, a GM plant.  That had a high rate of pay.  I accumulated enough money to get my first car.  How id the job itself go?  Well, I lasted the summer.  And then was told that they would never, ever hire me again.

The first time I ever so much as had to interview, it was for a teaching job after I graduated from college.  I can't say that it didn't help that my Dad was so well known throughout the state (he was the head of the Secondary School Principal's Association).  Whatever his connections were, they were not enough to save me in the job itself.  After my first year teaching was complete, I was not asked back for a second year.

After I moved to Georgia, I finally got jobs on my own.  It wasn't easy, and I interviewed poorly for most jobs.  My work history has been mixed.  Not really bad enough to be called an outright failure, but not good enough to rise to levels where I was paid well and could take pride in my accomplishments. 

So, the job process has been torturous for me.  And now I find myself in the same position as my father, where I could use privilege to help my son get a job.  And I'm letting him down big time.  I have no real inside tracks anywhere, and I am still an introvert.

I'll try to straighten out and help him.  It won't be easy, for him or to me.

Anybody got any ideas?

Caroling Through the Passage of Time Monday Musings

Another year of caroling with Grace Episcopal Church!

This year Benjamin experimented with his ukelele, playing it during O Come All Ye Faithful.  Well, at least once.  He's getting better at, slowly expanding his song catalog, but it's going to take time.

Living in one place these last twenty-one years, being in the same parish since 1999, you see the passage of time so much more than I was moving around every few years.  Some of the parishioners who were lively and fully participating members are now shut-ins, or at care facilities. Some have been there awhile.  Others have declined sharply in the last year or so.

I need to organize my life to reach out more to our people in need.  It's not easy for an introvert, but I have to figure out a way it can be done.

-----------------------------------------

I attended Christmas in the Cross, with a vendor booth filled with my books.  I did not do well,  Early rains kept the crowd down in the morning, but later in the day, there were more people.  Even when the crowds were better, my booth was mostly ignored.  I know.  I get it.  Many people don't read anymore. 

I may need to rethink things.  I may need to readjust.

We'll see.

-----------------------------------------------------

Accounting work is fading for the year.  I have a couple more assignments I want to take care of, but then it should be wrapped up for me until 2019.  I don't even have to go to prison this year - woohoo!

That should give me plenty of time to rethink my approach for next year.

I know that it sounds lazy to y'all, but I don't have any real objectives in mind for the rest of the year, except family, church, reading and a little writing, some TV and movies, and to rethink what it is I really want to do.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

The Joy in Giving

There are many negative aspects of Christmas.  Yes, it is over-commercialized.  It can be a season of loneliness and depression for some.  Some family gatherings are treasured, but some can be gut-wrenching. There can be disappointment in what one gives and in what one gets.  Expectations can be set by your family and peers that are almost impossible to meet.

Christmas gift giving, in and of itself, does not have to be one of the negative aspects.  It can be a reflection of love and caring, of sharing and generosity. 

There are many pitfalls in gift-giving.  They can be too extravagant, hurting a family's budget, increasing personal debt and anxiety.  They can be done in too tic-for-tat fashion - if I do X for Bob, then I have to do the equivalent of X for John.  If Bob does X for me, then I must match dollar for dollar what I do for Bob.

The value of a gift is not measured in its material worth, but in the joy it brings others.  It is a demonstration of showing "I care about you."

Gifts can be for family.  They can be for friends, co-workers, fellow church parishioners.  They can be for those in need, in your community and around the world. 

The greatest gift of all was given to us by Jesus.  He took on the mantle of humanity, showed us what giving and sacrifice was, and lighted the way to the true path.  Love God, love your neighbor.  A simple message that has reverberated through the last two millennia.  A message of love and hope, kindness and charity, caring and sharing. A beacon of light over a sometimes dark and challenging world.

Be careful with your gift-giving.  Do not be caught up in the commercialization.  Don't match for matching's sake.  Don't worry about all your presents being material. 

But do give abundantly.  Give with joy.  Give to make the world a better place.

Have a blessed Advent and....

soon it will be Christmas Day!

T. M. Strait Big Christmas Sale at Christmas in the Cross!

Come to Christmas in the Cross this Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM!

At the Okefenokee Heritage Center!

T. M. Strait will have a table and will be doing a once a year

INVENTORY BLOWOUT!!!

(yeah, like I'm a car lot or something)

History of the Trap!  Great YA Novel!  Regular $15...for this event only $10!!!

Here Comes Tommy!  Autobiographical tales that are funny and poignant!  Regular $10...for this event only $7!!!

Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge!  Interrelated short stories set in an imaginary town on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp!  Regular $20....for this event only $15!!!

All these great books are being sold at pretty much replacement cost!

ALSO!!! A limited number of A Christmas with Pegasus featuring a cover by Kennedy Brice!  The perfect gift for that special young lady in your family - only $5!!!

Put a little T. M. Strait under your Christmas tree this year - you and other treasured readers in your family will be glad you did!

Lake Be Gone

It's gone.  The lake is gone.  It really wasn't a very big lake to begin with, more of a glorified pond.  But now it is a series of intermittent puddles, tree stumps, and muddy earth exposed.

There were very heavy rains a couple weeks ago, and a small earthen dam protecting the lake partially broke, and the lake has slowly drained away.

We don't live right night to the lake.  It's within sight of our house, though.  Well, if you stand at the edge of the far right corner of our yard.  That's as close to luxurious lakeside living as we get.  Now, we don't even get that.

I'm not a reporter, just a musing blogger.  So I don't really know when it will be fixed.  Alison says she has read that it needs to be fixed by spring.  No kidding.  If not, it will become one of the world's largest incubators for mosquitoes.  That stuff is stagnant, and it's gonna get real nasty when it warms up.

I've changed my Christmas wish list to asking for mosquito netting.

UPDATE:  Daylight come, and the lake still be gone

My Rarest Feature: Tuesday Tidbits

Pixie and Ellie, in Mama's chair, contemplating the power of the unrelated photo, selected simply to boost blog views.

Here I am, with one of my rarest features, Tuesday Tidbits.  The name is relatively stupid, so maybe it's good that it's rare.

FAMILY

Doug visited last night.  He got a work assignment in Waycross and spent the evening with us.  It was good to see him.  He and Paige are heading to Montana for Christmas, so it's nice that we got a chance to see him now.  

BenJerMan's last day of school for the year is today.  Yeah, I know.  That sounds weird to say, being it's December 11th.  He has college courses that ended Monday, and he gets some credit for attendance or good grades or something - I couldn't understand all of it.  He tried to explain it to us, and we kept asking him to repeat it.  We had to stop because he was getting upset.  So, although it seems unlikely, it's for real.  He'll be home from December 12th to January 8th.  Might be a good time for him to get a job.

Alison has her Christmas party at work today.  That seems early, too, but Doug said his work's was last week.  Mine won't be until December 18th.  Tonight is the Writer's Guilds.  Party Party!

READING

I am reading City of Bones by Michael Connely, part of his series of novels featuring Los Angeles Detective Harry Bosch.  It's the same basic plot used on one of the seasons of Bosch, a TV series I have watched.  I don't usually read a book after I've seen it as a movie or TV show, but I'm going ahead anyway.  It's a book  I got from a library sale where you can get a bagful of books for $5.

I have a good number of books available to read.  I have a unique book selection system that involves random numbers that give the several dozen books I usually have waiting to select from an equal chance.  Some people find this OCD disturbing.  I find it fun and exciting.  

THEATRE

I got nothing.

I finished being the narrator for The Polar Express, which I loved doing, but I have nothing else scheduled until Valentine's and re-performing The Love Letters.

I did not try out for Beauty and the Beast, as Benjamin did not want to be in it.  Two more opportunities are coming up - A Midsummer's Night Dream, and the WACT spring murder mystery.  As it is Benjamin's Senior year, I will try out for whatever Benjamin tries out for.  He may not try out for anything.  We'll see.

TV BINGEING

We just finished Homecoming, a well-crafted suspense drama starring Julia Roberts.  We are now starting the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel - it's a fun show with snappy dialogue and many funny moments.  Its sense of period is excellent

I'm also seeing Nightflyers, a secondary effort based on a George R. R. Martin story.  Too many sequences where you're not sure what you're seeing is real, or a delusion.

WRITING

I'm having a tough time returning to fiction writing.  I am down and discouraged.  I can't get in the rhythm of it, and sales of my existing projects are devastatingly disappointing.  Yes, yes, yes.  I know I should do more to promote my books.  Many of the ways just involve tossing away more money, with little return to show for it.

I'm going to need to rethink all of my plans to earn money creatively and move more away from accounting.  I'll do something.  I'm just not sure what yet.

POLITICS

Amazingly, I don't have much to say right now.  Let's let Mueller finish up and see where we are.  Let's see how much power and influence the Progressive Democrats have in the House.

I cannot fathom people who are still sticking by Trump.  But that's been true for a long while now.  The attachment of the Trumpeteers just gets more amazing (and disgusting) every day.

-----------------

Well, that's enough tidbitting.  I see I used amazing twice within two paragraphs.  Sigh.  I'm not a first-tier writer.  Nevertheless, I persist.

Christmas's Opening Bell Monday Musings

One of my favorite events of the season, The Polar Express, was this last weet weekend at The Polar Express.  I get to do what I love best, reading aloud, particularly reading to a group of eager children.

I was assisted this year by both Julianna Lacefield, and Emily Beck, who is pictured above standing next to The Polar Express.  Both held up pictures of the book and brought in sound effects that enhanced the story.  I helped the children participate in the story by asking questions, and by answering theirs.  My favorite answer was when I asked for the names of some of the reindeer, and one little girl answered, "Elsa!" 

If I was smart enough to figure out how to make a living doing these kinds of reading events, I would.  I love them.

This year, we also had Santa with us!  Here he is with two of the very best young actresses of our area, Emily Beck and Marin Jeffords.

-----------------------------------------

The other big news of the weekend -

A national championship comes to Atlanta!  

2018 MLS Champions

Atlanta United!

Thank you so much

Greg and Doug Strait

for helping introduce us to this marvelous sport!

Today Is All About the Benjamin!

Happy 18th Birthday, Benjamin Sloan Strait!

Yes, now even my oldest boy is a MAN!

But have no fear!  Collectively, Doug & Greg & Benjamin & Me - we are still THE STRAIT BOYS!

You can take the 13-year-old off the driver's license ID, but you can't take him away from his comic books, movies, RPG games and carefully miscrafted puns!

18 years ago, Benjamin emerged, big (close to 9 pounds), but strangely reluctant to breathe.  He at first only did it when prodded.  He spent his first few days in Savannah at the Memorial neo-natal care unit.

But he soon was back with us.  And he's been pretty solid healthy.  A little asthma and a nut allergy, but otherwise very strong, with few down days.  He's missed remarkably little school, maybe a day or two every few years.

He's never been much of an athlete.  He played a season or two of teeball/baseball, and several of soccer.  He, unfortunately, inherited the Strait Gene of athletic success.  But never fear!  He has taken to martial arts and is doing moves that would hospitalize his father (if he was foolish enough to attempt them).

He is a cradle Episcopalian, a devoted attendee, and faithful believer.  When he was younger, he would also go to Blackshear Presbyterian for their Wednesday night activities.  He loves church summer camp at Honey Creek, having gone at least seven summers.

It has been one of the great joys of my life to be able to have performed community theatre with my son.  From Alice In Wonderland when he was just in early elementary, to last year's turn together in The Addams Family, I can't think of anything in theatre that I have enjoyed as much.  I hope he continues to have it as a hobby, and I look forward to attending his performances.

Another hobby that has been growing with him is Dungeons & Dragons.  He has become quite the dungeon master and has assembled a great group of friends that participate in his games.  That's another Strait gift - an outsized imagination!

Next year, he starts college.  He has already been accepted at Georgia Southern and Georgia College, with the University of Georgia still pending.

His major interest is psychology, blended with an interest in computer science and robotics.  This may change as he progresses, but I think it is an intriguing and imaginative place to start from. 

So, are Mama and Daddy ready for him to fly the coop and head off to college?

Doesn't matter.  It's going to happen, and we can't slow it down or stop it.  

He's a man now.

Receding Strait Lines

The waters recede.

Our flood, such as it was, is fading away.

The dam on the lake near us was damaged.  The lake looks slightly drained.  What waters escaped went in the opposite direction of where we live.  Even so, I have mostly heard of flooding on roads, not in homes.  That is a good thing.

Benjamin has gone back to school today, after two weather days.  There are still some closed roads, but not enough to deter school from opening.  They have runned out of free days to take - the rest will cause loss of other days previously scheduled off.  What with the changes due to global warming, they may need to rethink their days off policy.  They may need to move to an "act of God"  standard where some days may not need to be made up. Because I think this is going to happen more and more.

I have to rethink my non-accounting work strategy.

My books and eshorts are not selling well.  This is probably due in part to quality, but also due to incompetence in promotion.  I find it difficult to promote myself.  I am not good at it, and most of the strategies I've considered involve risking more money.  So, although I enjoy writing, it may never provide a way out of accounting.  This saddens me a great deal. 

Will I stop writing?  No, of course not.  Enumeration or not, it is a lifelong passion I cannot stop.

What I do with my writing time, a writing time I need to better structure, that may change.

I need to redesignate the time that I write, and the writing projects I work on, and how I market it what I have.

I spend a good chunk of my writing time preparing and writing pieces for this blog, The Strait Line.

But I have to ask - to what end?

I have well over 1,700 blog postings online.  I am adding three to five posts a week.

To what end?

I keep waiting for my blog traffic to increase, but my average traffic remains stubbornly the same - an average of about 3,000 views a month.  Sometimes it's a little more, sometimes it's a little less.

Most views are under 100.  Some are only around 30.  Sharing makes a huge difference, but people rarely share my stuff.  When they do, like my endorsement of Lisa Ring, or when I publish a friend's child's winning poem, I may get several hundred views.  But for the most part, no one likes, no one shares, no one comments.

I post a ridiculous meme, political or otherwise, the likes and comments skyrocket.  If I post a family picture, the numbers go through the roof.  I'm jealous of my own posts.

So, I don't know what to do.  The Strait Line is still a good engine for publicity (theoretically), but it is also a tremendous absorber of writing time.  I have to rethink things.

I'm not sure how it will come out.  Until I figure out how to make some money out of creative processes, I feel like a failure.  I'm not giving up.  But I have to rethink.

The Strait Line may recede.  Or it may not.

Can't tell yet.