Let the NaNoWriMo BEGIN!

This year['s NaNoWriMo event begins this November 1st at the Waycross-Ware Public Library!

In the words of Regional Manager Juniper Verrill :

It's only two days to NaNoWriMo! A Kick-Off Party will be hosted at the Ware County Library on November 1st from 3:50 PM to 5:50 PM. Absolutely everyone is welcome even if you haven't joined NaNo yet. We'll have some food for everyone, and I have stickers and bookmarks to give away, plus NaNo bingo cards to fill out towards prizes over the month.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone! https://nanowrimo.org/nano-prep-101





The challenge is to write 50,000 words on a novel or other project in November.  It is a great way to get kickstarted on your dreams, with a wonderful group of people who will support and encourage you.

There will be other events during the month, including the OHC Writer's Guild meeting on November 12th at the Heritage Center.

Other dates include November 7th, 21st, and 25th, and December 10th.

More information as it becomes available. 

Fighting Static Cling: Saturday Political Soap Box 224

Over time, stuff clings to politicians, and no matter how hard they try, the static charge remains with them, and they can't shake it off.

Case in point:

Hilary Clinton is a gifted politician.  She proved to be an accomplished Senator and a gifted statesman as Secretary of State.  She is a devoted Christian, caring, and empathetic.  She has a great sense of humor.  Her judgment is pretty sound, the Iraq decision notwithstanding.

But she has been in the public limelight since 1992.  They started to come after her from her husband's first campaign for President, making fun of her for a statement that she was more than the Tammy Wynette song, Stand by Her Man.  It meant that there was more to her than just the usual house mouse that politician's wives were portrayed as being.  The irony, of course, is she has stood by her man closer than Tammy Wynette could conceive, and closer than the storied marriage of Al and Tipper Gore ( who were the basis for the couple in Erich Siegal's Love Story).

When Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in the 90s, politics became exponentially nastier.  Newty had a foul take no prisoner's attitude about politics, and he did not care who he went after and how hard.  This man of many affairs had no problem leading an impeachment charge against Bill Clinton for lying about a sexual affair.

Fox News became your father's propaganda channel, radicalizing millions, and as the new century went on, spending more and more time turning Hillary into a monster.

Despite this,  Hillary ran for President in 2008 and lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama.

Despite this loss, in 2016, she ran again.  She ran against the foulest and most despicable man to ever run for President.  Despite constant vilification, and surviving constant lies about Benghazi and e-mails, the Russians supporting Trump and running false smears against her on social media (Pizzagate!  She's had a stroke!  She has a kill list!), she actually won the 2016 election by 3,000,000 votes.  But thanx and a hit's tip to an antiquated electoral college designed originally to preserve the power of slave states, she lost the Electoral College by the narrowest of margins.

At the end, she could not survive the static cling that had built up on her.

And although the most extreme example, she is not the only one with this problem.

Joe Biden has a long and storied career in American politics.  With his experience, he is probably the most qualified person to be President of the United States.  But he also has developed static cling over the years.  Some of his votes and positions have not stood the test of time.  They have not aged well.  There is nothing there concerning Biden and his son, Hunter.  Nothing other than a slight stink of white and elitist privilege.  You and I could not get $50,000 for being on the board of a foreign company - we don't have a name to trade in on. Of course, it is hypocritical to the max to have Trump complain about this, with what his own kids get away with.  It's sort of like a serial killer complaining about a jaywalker.

Bernie Sanders, although solid as a rock and consistent in his positions.  has static cling from his run against Hillary Clinton.  Many of the Hillary supporters are still angry as Hell that he dared to run against her.  They imagine all sorts of crimes, including something called Bernie Bros, that honestly, I don't even understand.  Suffice to say they are still constant attacks by Hillary supporters and the corporate press, and some people in the party are going to swallow awfully hard if he is the nominee.

You can see the attempts to build up static cling on some of the newer candidates.  Elizabeth Warren has shaken the idiotic Pochahontas attacks, but Trump will probably persist with them.  As she emerges as the frontrunner, corporate Democrats, Wall Streeters, and Trumpeteers will try to figure out ways to sully her.

Tulsi Gabbard is just learning about static cling, and it is sticking to her about as quickly as I 've ever seen.  I have seen press smears about her from Day One.  She has a unique foreign policy that does not fit neatly into either party, and the knives have come out.  Hillary Clinton calling her a Russian asset was slanderous and untrue.  And it was not helpful, causing Tulsi to fire back with insults of her own.  So y'all are scared that Tulsi will become an outsider and run as a third party? Congratulations, static cling slingers - by isolating and ostracising her, you may have pushed her in that direction.  Well done.

Republicans have much less static cling than Democrats accumulate.  Why?  One, they don't have the media machine aligned against them to the same level of hate and vilification as the Democrats do (sorry, right-wingers - it's a joke of significant proportions to consider CORPORATE OWNED media as having a liberal bias).  Two, they just don't care - they're much more interested in power and their policy goals.  Democrats ditch Al Franken for misplaced hands in a reception line - Republicans run pedophiles for Senate in Alabama.  The Christian Reich, after so much bitching about Bill Clinton's behavior, have decided that policy goals are more important than a politician's personal morality. Supreme Court, baby! 

In the past, even the Republicans have had some trouble, at least to the extent that they would often run the next in line (Dole, McCain, Romney), and then be stunned when their regular party favorites lost.

Trump should be like the cat in the photo at the top of this post.  We shouldn't even be able to see him through all the crap that clings to him. A slim majority of Americans do see the crap he has accumulated.  But again, thanks to the vagaries of the Electoral College, he could still accumulate enough narrow wins in state contests that he could repeat 2016 - lose the popular vote massively and still cling to power.

I don't know what to do about it.  Idealistically, as an Independent Progressive, I just want to vote for the candidate most likely to accomplish the policy goals most important to me and do so ethically and with a respect for our Democratic process. Strategically, though, I want to steer away from candidates with too much static cling.  This may be unfair, but unless something remarkable changes in the voting populace,  I think it's something we have to consider.

A Plea From the Future: Flash Fiction

There may be a better time coming.

I swear.

It may not seem like it right now.

But you have to have faith.

The pathways to the future are multitudinous.  There are so many wrong choices you can make.

We could descend into an irreversible path towards authoritarian fascism, or we could turn towards greater planet-wide cooperation.

I have traveled back in time to warn you - you are at a divergent point, and if you don't choose carefully, everything could fall apart.

But it doesn't have to.

You could continue to build walls, dividing humanity and setting it against each other.  Or we could band together and fight for a better world, a world of democracy and greening, where climate change is checked, and we build an economy that leaves no one behind.

The choice is yours.

In one future, democracy is lost and large swaths of the planet are unlivable,  We are constantly in resource wars.  We circle the wagons and make it about ourselves and our survival.

In another future, democracy flourishes, and humanity is greater than the nation-state.  Cooperation leads to the world envisioned in Start Trek - united, we explore the universe.

What is needed?  A small change.  The polling on the removal of Trump needs to be 60% instead of 55%.  Republican support for the President needs to be 75% instead of 85%.  That's it.  That's all it takes.  A few more of the Trumpeteers wake up and smell the horror of the course they are on.

Can you help me do that?

Which future am I from?

I'd rather not say.

I'm hoping your choices will make that clear.


Everything depends upon it.

Bite Into Halloween! Purlie Production's Dracula!

What better way to celebrate Halloween than by coming out to the Okefenokee Heritage Center with a scary and fun play, featuring the premier vampire of all time!

From the group's publicity:

The original, classic horror story! PLUS: Opening Halloween night! Anyone in costume is eligible to win a prize!!!

Almost Halloween!!! Time for the creatures of the night to get their fangs sharpened! Costume contest Halloween night! Shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday matinee.

This sounds like a whole lot of fun!  Everyone involved is working hard to bring you the best show and Halloween experience you can have this year!

Don't miss it!

Blog at Sunset

Why am I doing this?

Should I set the sun on my blog?

Is this something I should think about after 2,000 plus posts and well over a million words?

Nothing stays static, so after a decade here, it's asking me to try out the "new blogger."  I have no idea what that means.  I don't know if that means starting over or not.

Traffic, or visits, to this blog - well, it's not exactly zero, but it ain't been growing either.  I usually get between 2,000 and 3,000 visits a month.  There has been some variation, but that level of traffic is most typical.

The total number of visits since the blog's inception has been just over 350,000.  In other words, what CNN or Huffington Post typically get in less than an hour.

It's been a lot of effort.  Do I enjoy it?  Yes, for the most part.  It's been kind of discouraging ever since my ability to earn advertising dollars was taken away from me. 

The only significant change has been that I get as much traffic generated by Twitter now as I do Facebook.  Facebook has restructured itself so that fewer people see what you post, and if you want them to see it, you have to "boost" by paying them money.

Yep.  It's discouraging.

The most significant way for my blog to grow is for people to share my blog posts.  That is rare.  I share any of my friends' blog posts whenever I see them, but that does not seem to be a natural pattern for most.

Thematically, my blog is a problem, because I am all over the map.  I've had some input that the blog should stick to one topic.  Like, only write reviews of Superman comic books, starting with Action Comics #1, and moving forward.  And if I want to write a new topic, I should create a different blog.  Great.  That would mean I would have about two dozen blogs.

I generally write in the mornings, and the blog does kinda bogart my fiction writing time.  That's a balance I've been struggling with.  Some think posting my fiction writing is not good because others may plagiarize it.  Oh, for cryin' out loud!  At this point, I would be flattered if someone considered it worth stealing.

So, am I going to stop doing the blog?

Probably not.  It's too routine.  And I do love the writing part.

But I could see transferring to another platform, or maybe diversifying and having more than one blog.

So, in the words of my favorite candidate -

Nevertheless, I persist!

Kitchen Sink Political Update: Saturday Political Soap Box 223

In looking back as to what number this Saturday Political Soap Box would be, I was startled to see that the last one was in September, four weeks ago!

With so much happening, how could I be gone so long?

Part of the problem is taking the Saturday title so literally, and I have been busy most Saturdays recently.

Another part is the incredible speed with which events are happening, it is hard to keep, to say something relevant and current.

I'm going to kitchen sink it by throwing several topics against the kitchen wall and see what sticks.

The Impeachment Inquiry

We are now to the point that even Mitch McConnell expects there to be an impeachment and Senate trial.  Many recent polls are showing not only a majority supporting an impeachment inquiry, and even some showing majority support for impeachment AND removal!

These are stunning numbers, exceeding any percentage supporting the Clinton impeachment, and rivaling support for the Nixon impeachment (except for near the very end).

It's crystal clear that Trump committed an impeachable offense.  There's no mystery about it.  He used foreign policy to try to leverage dirt (real or fabricated) on his political opponent.  There was even the elusive quid pro quo.  We have the summary transcript of the Ukranian call that makes that undeniably so.  We have a whole bevy of State Department officials that make it clear.  We have Guiliani's Ukranian thug-buddies being arrested.  We have the President of the United States openly resoliciting Ukraine, and even throwing China into the mix. We have the Acting Cheif of Staff Mulvaney publicly confessing at a press conference.

The only defense left to the Treumpeteers is - we just don't care. Preserving our erratic, narcissistic leader is more important than our country.  Loyalty over patriotism.

But some other things are making support among Senate Republicans more problematic.  And that is...


Abandoning the Kurds

An issue that unites all but the most extreme isolationists.  The Kurds were instrumental to us in helping box in and diminish the threat from ISIS.  They put their lives on the line to help us.  And their reward?  To see us turn our backs on them, and let Turkey come and slaughter them.

Republicans who have stayed silent over so many horrible things this President has done have come out in opposition on this front.

Because I opposed the Iraq War so strongly, some may see me as an isolationist.  Bull hockey.  I believe in engaging the world, primarily through diplomacy, but also, where absolutely necessary, through the judicious use of military force.  It needs to be in conjunction with others, it needs to be in support of humanitarian and democratic goals, it needs to have a specific objective, and it needs to further American national interest.  What happened in Syria does none of those things.

Who will ever support us again?

Has the US ever abandoned allies before?  I'm sure, to one degree or another, we have.  That does not excuse or justify this.  And no one, NO ONE, can argue that this is in the long term national interest.

But that's not Trump's only problem.  There is also...

Repeated and blatant violations of the Emoluments  Clause

In the face of everything else, Trump still has the stones (or stupidity) to announce a sweet contract deal for next year's G-7 summit to be held at his own resort, the Trump Doral.

This is such a clear violation of the Emoluments Clause, it can be used in future textbooks to define what a violation looks like.

The Democratic Field

Yeah.  I could nitpick here, give ammunition to my Trumpeteer friends, give them false hope as to think I might turn on one of the Democrats running.  But let me reassure them - there is no one that I wouldn't vote for opposite Trump or whoever the Republicans select.

That said, I still believe a progressive choice is superior to a corporate choice.  But trust me, reasonable Democrats will argue about this endlessly, but make no mistake - when the dust is cleared, regardless of who is nominated, all the chickens will come home to roost.

It is clear from the most recent debate that Elizabeth Warren is now the front-runner. At least it seems that way by how the other candidates relentlessly attacked her.  She can handle it.  That comes with the territory.

The one biggest disappointment to me in the Democratic field?  Tulsi Gabbard.  She is not who I thought she was.  I don't think she's the villain or closet Republican or Soviet sleeper agent some are trying to make her out to be, but some of her political stances are not ones that interest me.  If she's the nominee, I would vote for her.  But I don't expect her to be the nominee.  The way she's going, she may not even win back her Congressional seat.

UPDATE: Another sign that events move faster than I post.  I was unaware of the extent of the word war between Tulsi Gabbard and Hilary Clinton.  Nether is shining because of this, but I am more disappointed in Hilary Clinton, implying that Tulsi is a Russian agent.  Not true and not helpful.

I'm so glad to see Bernie Sanders rebound back from his health crisis.  He is stronger than ever.  Even if he is not my first choice, I so appreciate the strength of his voice and vision.  And if he does get the nomination, he will have my super-enthusiastic support.

The Young Constituents and the Waycross News

I can't say enough good things about this group and the vital work they have done in our local area.  Offering young people a political voice in this area, bringing in candidates for a symposium - kudos to you!  This is what participatory democracy is all about!

Shame on the new facebook group Waycross & Blackshear News for tilting as severely to the far right as the recently closed daily Waycross Journal Herald did.  People who post things promoting events for moderates or the left should not feel harassed or intimidated or have their events withdrawn from publicity (whether the withdrawal is done by them or the one who originally put it up).

We need balance in this area.  The Blackshear Times provided some of that.  It also is under new ownership, and only time will tell how much of that neutrality will be preserved.

Also, only time will tell about the new weekly Waycross Journal Herald.  I hope for the best, but I fear the worst.

Have I caught up yet?

Hardly, but It's probably not best to drone on forever, especially with my political posts getting fewer and fewer views.

Nevertheless, I persist.

The Pharmaceutical Click : A Crowley Story

Click...click...click.

The click of her heels echoed throughout the parking lot. They boosted her five inches off the ground, helping her approach a six-foot height.  The Manolo Blahnik brand heels, combined with her indigo dress suit, made her the sharpest looking person in all of Dixon County.

The tight skirt, just above her knees, confined her ability to stride, making her walk a bit like Mrs. Wiggins from The Carol Burnett Show.  Her blouse was cut in a way to reveal just a hint of cleavage.

She did not carry her purse, but she did have a sample case, and also something in a white bag labeled Moonstruck Chocolates.  Carol Mulis was a top pharmaceutical rep for Storey Pharmaceuticals, and she was on a mission.  She was going to increase medical prescriptions assigned by the Dixon Medical Clinic by 25%.  If she could insure that, she could guarantee herself of the next level bonus, well on her way to being the top marketing rep in Southeast Georgia.

Well, one of the top reps.  Carol wasn't really sure where she ranked, but she knew she worked very hard.  Her boss was supportive but always pushing her to do more. That's okay.  Carol was used to that kind of pressure, having spent her youth trying to achieve in the pageant world.  Her height of success was finishing in the top six at the Miss Georgia contest to send a representative to the Miss America Pageant.  Her best outright victory was Miss Vidalia Onion in 2012.

She wondered what it might be like to enter a pageant now.  At 25, she still retained her looks.  Heck, in her humble opinion, she was hotter than ever.  Why just ask any male doctor in Southeast Georgia! The job had certainly sharpened her powers of persuasion, enabling her to ply any trick she could.

She entered the crowded waiting room.  There was a line of people at the reception window.  There were at least a dozen kids sitting in the waiting room, sniffling and coughing. Maybe there was a flu outbreak at the schools.  Carol was grateful for her robust immunity system, but even this was a bit much for her.

She boldly came up to the window, not bothering with waiting in line.  She smiled at the receptionist.  "Hey, Sandy!  Busy day?"

Sandy smiled back, but not as broadly.  "Yep, Carol.  Flu making its rounds at Jefferson Davis Elementary School.  Guess the flu shot didn't cover this one."

"Will Edwin be able to squeeze me in?"  Edwin was the lead physician at the clinic.  Most referred to him as Doc Ranger.  Carol preferred calling Doctors by their first name,  It suggested a more intimate and important connection.

Sandy looked Carol over from high heels to her straight, shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair.  "I'll see.  Meanwhile, have a seat."

"Thank you!" Carol said, in her chirpiest voice.  Then she handed Sandy the Moonstruck bag through the open reception window.  "Here's a little something to help make the staff's day a little brighter!"

Sandy took the bag.  A nurse behind the Sandy squealed.  "Oh, Lordy, Carol!  You read my mind!"

Nope, Carol thought.  I won't have to wait long at all.

Soon, she'll be showing Edwin the latest pain relief innovation from Storey. It was a new ADF (abuse-deterrent formula) opioid, one that Dr. Edwin Ranger could not help but feel more confident in prescribing.

She was already planning on how to spend her bonus.

Petty Peeves: We Don't Have That

I try to be a good customer.  I really do.

I know how tough service work is and how rude some customers can be.  We've all heard the horror stories.  We've all witnessed bad behavior.

I hate the word "triggered."  It's used often to depict those who get upset if they're political or social world view is challenged.  Nevertheless, it's semi-appropriate for my transformation from good customer to bad customer when this certain thing happens.

And what is that certain thing?

When I ask for an item that is on the menu board at a fast-food restaurant, and the clerk looks blank-eyed and bored, and says, "We don't have that." And they say it in a way that makes you feel like a fool for even asking.

But me?  I don't move on. I should just let it go, but my transformation begins.

Me:  (pointing to the menu board) But it's right up there.

Clerk:  We don't have it.

Me: Shouldn't you cross it off the board?

Clerk:  That's not my job.

Me:  Well, I would like to ask for something different, but I'm sort of scared as to whether you have it or not.

Clerk:  (says nothing.  just looks blankly.  when is this fool gonna finish?)

Me:  (makes another selection, which they must have because the clerk silently adds it to total).

Clerk:  $7.93.

Me:  (quietly raging) Thank you.

Yep.  That's me in fierce bad customer mode.  I thank her again.  I thank the person who hands me the completed order.  I go home and vent to Alison later.


Usually, I'm good.  At a sit-down restaurant, even when service is not so hot, I still tip between 15 to 20%.  The job's not easy.  People have a hard day.  I understand.


But something flips in my head when I'm told blank-eyed like they're talking to a wall, "We don't have that."

Would it be so hard to say, "I'm sorry.  We're temporarily out of that item. May I recommend something else, like our fine Mac 'n' Chips?"

Maybe it doesn't have to be that obsequious. But there has to be something more polite than sneering, "We don't have that."

Don't get me wrong.  It can go too far the other way.  The Stepford Wife-like cheeriness I often run across at Chick-fil-A can be disturbing in its own way.  Sometimes it seems sincere.  Other times it seems forced.

Really.  I'm s better customer than that.  It's just the darn triggering when I hear that cold, uncaring phrase, "We don't have that."

Oh, well.  Luckily, I don't have all that many petty peeves.

Although concerning words that make my skin crawl, we may soon have to discuss "hydrate," which for some reason, is beginning to bother me more and more.

People are strange.

Well, at least I am.

MIni Beach Getaway

Benjamin uses his beach time to hold up the pier.

Oh, so brief!

But oh, so needed.  Our little Fernandina Beach getaway.

Especially for me, leaving almost twelve hours later than everyone else, so I could finish up my run on Murder on the Orient Express.

I got there on Sunday morning, about 1 AM, and was going home by Monday morning at 11AM.

Jut long enough to realize I was somewhere else.

This is a trip that Alison's Mom requested, and we also brought family friend, Anita.

No, we did not kayak, or surf, or fish, or parasail, or even toss a dang frisbee.  We ate, we read, we played board games, we talked, we enjoyed the view.  Alison and I went out to the antique stores.  We watched a Family Feud marathon.

Benjamin did get down to the water.  He's looking good, ladies.  I think he's doing the Freshman 15 in reverse.  Everything t the school cafeteria is labeled for calories, and he's paying close attention.  He's also been doing a lot of walking around campus. Maybe I should go back to college.

How 'bout them ocean sunsets?

Not a long trip.

But, nevertheless, a vital getaway.

Now back to our daily lives.  And, yes, our dogs are glad to have us back!

Post Play Tuesday Tidbits

Ah, yes!

That delightful period after the play when you realize that all the fun is over and that you are really just a semi-retired CPA and not a professional actor.


The glass up above was real sweet, probably the best play souvenir I've ever gotten.  Well, at least since I took home the water tower from the Superman musical I did in high school.

I want to thank Kayla Dixon and Mamie Jackson for giving me the opportunity to do the entertaining part of Constantine Bouc.  It was a fun part, and they let me fly my hambone high.  You are extraordinary Directors, and you helped compile an amazing stage crew as well.

My ending was abrupt...I went to Fernandina for a brief vacation with the family, leaving Saturday night right after the play - Alison and Benjamin were already down there, with Alison's mother and family friend Anita.  I did not participate in cleanup on Sunday afternoon and the cast party.

We are already back from our little beach trip, and my usual post-play depression has not been too high as I have not been back to work yet.  I night go today. Or maybe tomorrow.  Yeah, tomorrow sounds better.

I don't think it spoils much to tell you what my favorite lines of the play are.  They are said by the detective Hercule Poirot:

No, it is not!  It is not that time!  I have never in my life turned my back on the law!  Do you understand that, Colonel?  The law must be obeyed or we become barbarians!  It is 1934, Europe is changing and there will be chaos! There will be nothing left of us and we will have to start again!  I cannot support this!  I cannot agree to this!

Yeah, Monsieur Poirot.  I kinda know how you feel.

Indie Author's Day

Please come to Indie Author's Day!

At the Waycross/Ware County Library this Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM.

From the Library's event listing:

Each year, libraries and organizations around the world welcome local indie authors, writers, and their communities in for a day of education, networking, mingling, writing, open mics, panels, and so much more! Everyone is invited to join us at the Waycross-Ware County Public library for our indie author event on Saturday, October 12, from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM! All ages are welcome.


I will be there with my FOUR books:

Adventures in Time And Space

Here Comes Tommy

Crowley Stories: Swamp's Edge

History of the Trap


ALSO:

Information about the OHC Writer's Guild

Juniper Verrill for NaNoWriMo

Many, many great local authors


Come on out and discover the tremendous local writing talents of Southeast Georgia!

Slowing My Roll Wednesday Wanderings

That's me trying to smooth some riled passengers of the Orient Express, Trent Dixon as Hector MacQueen, and Levi Herrin as Samuel Ratchett.

Oh, oy.  Is my mind cloudy this morning!

First, let me confirm.  This is Wednesday, right?

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

Ok, unless my phone and calendar are wrong, this is indeed Wednesday.

I'm not sure how that happened, but ok, I'll go with it.

I slowly roll into the week, with three more performances starting tomorrow.  If you haven't seen the play (which is all but about 100 of you), you really need to check it out.  It's a fun, fast-moving play.

My thanks to Julianna Lacefield and Kimberly Beck for coming to see it, and for the positive feedback about it,

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

I can see from the picture above that I am a big boy, weight-wise.  Sigh.  Hard to change much at my age, but I'll see what I can do.  The foot pain has started to recede, so maybe I can resume a more rigorous exercise routine.  Which, of course, if I overdo, it will cause the foot pain to come roaring back.

Sigh.  What a mess.

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

My fiction writing, particularly on The Extra Credit Club, has come to a crashing halt.  It's a shame, as the first draft is about 95% complete.  Somehow, once and for all, I need to restructure things so that I have a routine fiction writing time.  I don't know why that is so difficult.

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

I have not done a TV Fall preview like I usually do.  It's hard to tell what a new season is anymore.  Everything is so scattered.  I have sampled three new broadcast network shows, each with letter grade - Emergence (B), Perfect Harmony (B), and Evil (C).  The Good Place is my favorite returning show.

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

Obligatory political part that my Trumpeteer friends wince and skip (or decide to unfollow or unfriend me) - I would argue, of course, that he committed a lot more impeachable offenses than just the Ukraine thing, but it is easily understandable, already well-evidenced, and something the Trump side can not deny, only obfuscate.

The idea that the President and associates can simply refuse to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry is patently ridiculous, and a cause of grave constitutional crisis.  You really think Trump is right in refusing to cooperate?  How would you have reacted if the Obama administration completely stonewalled the Benghazi hearings?  What if, instead of being mercilessly grilled for 11 hours, Hilary Clinton simply refused to show up?

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

Wanderingly Yours,

T. M. Strait

Hell Week Complete: Monday Musings

My character, Constantine Bouc, tries desperately to absorb information from the highly intelligent superstar detective, Hercule Poirot, played with superb flair and confidence by Eli Varnadore.

Hell Week!

It's the pleasant little nickname that community theatre people have for the week when dress rehearsals blend into performances.  Dress rehearsals Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday nights, followed by performances Thursday-Friday-Saturday nights, topped with a Sunday matinee.  Whew!  Since many of those involved have busy day jobs, it can be quite exhausting to follow up daily work with busy late nights at the theatre.

Why do we do it?  The love of putting together something special for the whole community, of sharing our creative talents of spending time in another time and place, transported from our everyday lives. That, and the craft table*.

Some are old hams like myself, addicted to performing.  It's been a delightful contrast to my accounting work, and yes, the applause is a large part of it.  Some love the backstage aspect - getting the train to run on time, and keeping everything on track.  Some are brand new, getting involved in the theatre experience for the first time.  In this play, all the newcomers (or relative newcomers) are doing extraordinarily well.  I hope we will see them all back again soon!

As outstanding production as this is, and as good as many recent productions have been from different theaters in the area, it is getting where fewer and fewer people attend.  Times are changing, and theatre attendance is fading.  I don't know what can be done about it.  I pray that it revives. I cannot imagine community life without local theatre.

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

Atlanta United finished second and will be in the MLS playoffs!  For their last game, they had Josef Martinez back (who scored) and beat the New England Revolution 3 to 1.  First team they face in the playoffs?  The New England Revolution.  Sometimes it just works out that way.

I guess the Atlanta Braves are in the MLB playoffs.  I think they're playing the St; Louis Cardinals.  Sadly, I've sort of lost track of baseball.  

The Atlanta Falcons scored 32 points...and lost, the other team scoring 53.

The Michigan Wolverines beat Iowa 10-3.  Iowa was ranked ahead of Michigan, so I guess that was a good outcome.  I'm not sure how I feel.  They won't be National Champions.  They won't get in even if they win out and beat Ohio State.  They'll put in three SEC teams before they put in Michigan.

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Not much to say on the Trump mess.  If you're still on the Trump trail, you need to check your moral compass.  It's broken and needs repairing.

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Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Crowley Updated: A 2019 Primer

The last we visited Crowley was in the early spring of 2014.

What has happened since?

Remarkably, as politically extreme as she is, Dotty Mathers is the 1st District Congressional Representative.  She edged the more moderate millionaire farmer from Brantley County in the primaries and demolished her Democratic opponent in the general.  Since then, Dotty has continued virtually unopposed, her bizarre proposals occasionally making national news.  She is a faithful supporter of Trump and is often on the front lines of defending him.

Franny Goodkind successfully became a CNA and is working at the Crowley Baptist Retirement Center, where she much beloved by all.  She is studying at Coastal Pines at night, working towards becoming an LPN.  Her relationship with Adam Garnett did not withstand the test of time,  breaking up in 2018.

Tabitha Steel dropped out of South Georgia College after a year and became involved with a handsome conman, an expert in Ponzi schemes, and in selling worthless export/import items at highly inflated prices.  They moved to Thailand, where his import scheme, in conjunction with the Thai mafia, took off big time.  So, in Tabitha's dream where she was choosing between Captain Kirk and Yul Brynner, it looks like she chose the King of Siam.

Tabitha's father died in his fields, of a massive heart attack, in 2017.  That was the last time she was in Crowley, for her father's funeral.  The two Steel sons, Abraham and Johnny, took over the family farm, running it jointly.  Six months ago, they sold it, finally beaten down by the changing weather patterns and the Trump tariffs.

When it looked like tolerance of the LGBT community was growing. Angela divorced her husband in 2015 and married Grace Scope in 2017.  The times were already changing back again, and the school system forced Angela and Grace out, using other made-up charges as an excuse.  Grace eventually got a job in Glynn County schools, but Angela is still looking.  Despite the pain, they are happy but considering moving from Crowley. 

Coffeetown, USA - the chain beanery that replaced the Honey Dew, went under in just two years.  The building has remained empty but was purchased recently by a pair of local investors.  Much of Crowley awaits to see who invested and what it will become, but right now, all of that is shrouded in mystery,

Mattie Goodkind did not beat Sarah Rachel Crowley Franks Steel Compton's longevity record of 105.  She died on March 15th, 2015.  Mattie did follow Rachel's tradition of dying on her birthday, turning 104, on that day.  She did not suffer the indignity of collapsing into her birthday cake.  She did, however, go out cursing like a sailor.  Do not go quietly into the night - that was her motto - and she lived up to it.

Bobby Ray played one glorious season as a backup quarterback for the Georgia Southern Eagles, busted his knee again, dropped out of college, and now splits his time between Delco Auto Sales and Swamptown Vapes.  He and Racine Steel coupled and uncoupled multiple times, but they have now been apart for about three years.  Maybe this time it will stick.

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I consider Crowley Stories my finest writing achievement.  The general public did not agree. No, I have not received negative comments about it (one person was concerned about from whose point of view the first story, Dark Days, was told from).  I just have received very little feedback. Although I must concede, what I have received has been very good - just not enough to make it a big seller.  Since I did it through BookBaby, I have less control over the marketing, and that is very frustrating.

Bottom line is, I don't know if they'll ever be another Crowley book.  But I enjoyed doing this update, and hope to do some more, for those of you who do appreciate my forays into the world of Crowley.

So...

more updates to come!

The Truth About My Political Expression

Those who know me primarily from FaceBook see that I am not shy in my political expression.  And unfortunately, as the Trump years have progressed, it's become less about the issues that are important to me and more about MY GOD HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT THAT VILE DISGUSTING DESTRUCTIVE MAN?  CAN'T YOU SEE WHAT HE IS?

What you may not know is that, in my personal life, I talk about politics much less than you think.  It's not that I don't want to.  It's that I'm afraid to.

I live in an area that is still, to this day, solidly behind Trump.  I have progressive friends, thanks to church and Purlie Productions, but for the most part, I am outnumbered and taking a tremendous risk if I open my mouth.

My work ranges from moderate conservatives (who still reluctantly support Trump) to far-right extremists, who are often backed up by their Christian Right religious environment.  It's not that they can't talk about politics.  They can.  Even with clients.  It's that I can't talk about it.  Seriously.  If I do, I could be reported and in big trouble.

Part of the reasoning for this reaches beyond politics.  Although I can write and respond fairly well in print, I am a poor debater in person.  My heart beats faster, and my blood pressure rises, and my emotions get the best of me.  I get loud and strident and less coherent.  I wish I were a better person.  I really do.

This extends into church as well.  I am fortunate to go to an open church, and it probably has a higher percentage of progressives than any other church in our area.  There are people that I can talk to and not have to worry about being attacked.  But that is not everyone.  We have many Trump-style conservatives in our parish as well.  I do not go to adult Sunday School anymore because I couldn't seem to control myself.  Others were dropping out, and I felt like it should be me that withdraws and not them.  So I conceded Sunday School (well, that and transportation issues).

The theatre, particularly WACT (less so Purlie), is a no-politics zone.  This is not only to protect my fellow thespians, but it is also so not to disrupt my own concentration on my part.  I have to stay focused in order to do a good job.  The older I get, the more important my focus is.  Multi-tasking in theatre does not work well with me.

On Facebook, I rarely engage Conservative memes. I don't see the point, as I do not have all day to go back and forth and upset them and upset myself.  On my own memes and postings, I get a few Trumpeteer responses, but I think most Trumpeteers do not respond or have unfollowed me to some degree.

I saw one this morning that tried to list a bunch of so-called climate predictions over the last few decades that have been proven wrong.  It was written with tremendous bile and hatred, nastily dismissing Alexandra Occasio Cortez as a waitress and making fun of Greta Thunberg.  This viewpoint was endorsed by someone I knew who I had talked to for years (before the full ban on talking politics and issues had gone into effect) and whom I thought I was reaching to some degree.  No.  They were still full-fledged climate deniers.

You don't have to look at predictions to know things are going off the rails RIGHT NOW.  Sea levels are rising NOW.  Mass extinctions are going on RIGHT NOW.  Extreme weather events are happening RIGHT NOW.   Glaciers and ice caps are happening NOW.  Global temperatures are rising NOW.  Greta Thunberg is angry for a reason, and you choose just to smart off about her.

It has not been easy being quiet.  It has caused more stress and internalized anger than I have ever experienced.  People I know who seem like good and decent people have sold their souls to a cultural philosophy that will end democracy and wreck the planet.

And even as impeachment becomes clearer and clearer, it gives me little joy for dealing with what I am surrounded with.  If 90% favor impeachment, I will still be living around the 10% that stand firm with him.

Sometimes, it's more than I can take.

I'll continue to strive to be quiet around my Trumpeteer friends.  But here on my own blog or social media?  Sorry.  I'll guess you'll just have to unfriend or unfollow or scroll past it like it's not there.

But if you ever do wake up, please let me know.

I need to have a little bit of hope.