I meant to have a picture, but I couldn't find one, at least one that included me.
It was fairly successful. I sold a couple of History of the Traps, and I sold out of Crowley Stories - not as dramatic as it sounds, as I only had 3 or 4 to begin with.
I hope to get out there again soon, but I'll have to get more copies of my books.
And I have to write more.
As part of my fun with being retired, I'm watching the earliest movies I can find on TCM and gradually working my way up in time.
Generally speaking, the oldest movie each week is featured on Silent Saturday Nights.
So far, to date, I have seen 48 silent films at a pace of about one per week. The earliest I have seen is from 1906 -
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I have seen several from 1929, the most recent being The Big Diamond Robbery starring the early Western superstar Tom Mix.
He was film's first King of the Cowboys. He made almost 300 films, of which only about 10% still survive. Many of them were lost in the 1937 Fox vault fire. Like many films of another era, it has questionable racial attitudes, portraying Chinese workers in a very stereotypical manner.
I usually watch in segments, anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes daily.
Currently, I am watching Don Juan (1926) featuring John Barrymore, one of the longest-running theatre families in the United States (presently represented by Drew Barrymore).
It was known for its first use of Vitaphone for the film's musical score but not for dialogue. Vitaphone was used a year later for the first "talkie" - The Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson. Don Juan is also known for holding a kissing record, with almost 200 kisses in the film.
I especially like comedies featuring talents like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd.
But that's the good news.
The bad news is that TCM is in trouble. The evil (sorry, it's the way I feel) people that bought Warner Brothers/HBO/CNN/DC) people are proceeding to dismantle TCM, firing many of their top executives, and some hosts may be next.
I'll save my dire disgust for the Discovery people for another post.
If you, like me, are concerned about saving this valuable Americana, please use the hashtag #SaveTCM on your social media posts.
Thanks for hearing me out.
I mean, for silently reading.
A brief cruise around my house revealed a table full of books I own that have been banned or could be banned. Some have been banned in school libraries, some in public libraries, and some would be subject to CRT restrictions (basically, that you could no longer teach the truth in history class).
King James Bible - banned in elementary and middle schools in Utah. It has passages that are intensely violent and others that are sexually explicit. Utah changed its laws so if even one parent objected to a book, it could be pulled from library shelves. In protest of that idiotic rule, one parent decided to ask for a ban of the King James Bible. And, taken out of context, as other objected to books are, he's absolutely right. Once you start down the road to madness, anything can happen.
Maus - this PULITZER prize-winning graphic compelling tells the story of the Holocaust using anthropomorphic characters. It raises the ire of holocaust deniers and has the audacity to display naked mice heading for the gas chambers. I've read hundreds of graphic novels. Maus is among the very best.
A Young People's History of the United States - I got this for Benjamin to get a richer view of history than he was at school (where Nixon was one of the best Presidents ever, and the teacher stated that being gay was a sin). It tells history from the point of view of the average person rather than the elites. I don't know if this book is specifically banned. I also don't think you can find it in libraries.
An Inconvenient Truth - Is it banned? I'm not sure. But I doubt if you can find it in most school libraries. It teaches the truth about climate change, something the political and Christian right don't want young children exposed to.
Waking Up White - a white woman wakes up to the systematic racism she is surrounded by. So, what do you think? You think a book that screams "woke" would survive DeSantis-level scrutiny?
It Can't Happen Here - a 1930s book by Sinclair Lewis, imagining the US where fascism creeps in and takes over. It can't happen here? I would argue that Florida is finding out that it surely can happen here.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - the book's banning has been chiefly perpetrated by leftists, objecting to the use of the n word. Yes, I am a leftist/progressive, but one smart enough to understand the importance of context and what Mark Twain was trying to communicate.
To Kill A Mockingbird - yep. Some places have banned this book, one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century. Don't want white people to feel bad, I guess.
Red, White & Royal Blue - has the unabashed audacity to feature gay characters.
Jesus and the Disinherited - not banned per see, but probably not very wanted in political and Christain right circles, as it connects the light and love of Jesus to those who are disadvantaged and discriminated against and promotes social justice. Many, many churches in the area I live in are much more interested in the prosperity gospel, condemning reproductive rights and marginalizing and demonizing LGBTQ+ people than they are in social justice and inclusion.
The Jungle - this intense book and expose of the meatpacking industry led to reforms that helped protect workers and consumers, including leading to the FDA and the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. Why was it objected to? Why, it's SOCIALISM.
The World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany - two books by John Irving that have been subject to bans. The World According to Garp presents feminist concerns and a sympathetic transgender character.
Good as Gold - I actually picked the wrong Joseph Heller book. It should be Catch-22 which I also have. Explicit scenes and defiance of bureaucracy.
The Public Burning - stunningly raw alternate history and satire of the Nixon Era. This book was banned by government libraries when it first came out. It is rare and difficult to find this book. I'm amazed I have a copy, but I am a big Robert Coover fan.
The Grapes of Wrath - again, history of the average working man going through a historical crisis. Why? Once again, socialism is the scapegoat. This is not the only John Steinbeck book that receives bannings - also Of Mice and Men, for similar reasons.
Caste - this is one of many books by black authors, both fiction and non-fiction, that is being "cast" out of some libraries. This is non-fiction, compellingly explaining the similarities between India's caste system and what blacks and other persons of color are subject to in the US. Again, DeSantis doesn't want true history taught. He wants to return to the Lost Cause Myth perpetrated originally by the United Daughters of the Confederacy at the turn of the 20th century.
The Handmaid's Tale and Oryx & Crake - two brilliant dystopian novels written by Margaret Atwood. They're fiction, but each day their themes - a regime of Christian fascists controlling women and the other showing the results of continued climate change and environmental destruction.
These are just some I could find in a couple hours of searching. There are others I have (or had), including the two dystopian novels that impacted me as a teenager - 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. My 9th-grade English teacher let me read 1984 as a special assignment, and I started a novel as an extension and sequel. Can you imagine that happening in today's schools?
In summary, if you object to a book, don't read it. If you personally don't want your child to read it, you can stop them from getting the book at the library.
What you can't do is tell me what I can read and what my children and grandchildren can read.
Censor yourself and your family all you want. You're doing a disservice to yourself and your family, but you have the right to do that.
But stop telling other people what they can or cannot read.
T. M. Strait
How does my garden grow?
Not at all. Nothing I planted came up.
Except one frond emerged that indicated the potential of a carrot. One solitary carrot. When I pulled it up, it was black and sludgy. And it smelled like a backwoods outhouse.
I'm not a scientist, but I had read enough to know something had gone terribly wrong. Something in the atmosphere was making it difficult to grow crops. And it wasn't just here. It was all over the world.
Much of the world's foods had to be grown in hot houses, green environments where the air and temperature could be controlled. Only purified water was used.
Could the world's needs be met by greenhouse environments alone? No, but everyone was struggling to open as many facilities as possible.
Some of my friends insisted it was just a temporary problem, caused mainly by incompetent growers and using the wrong mix of fertilizers and chemicals. But they weren't having any more luck than I was.
Ender Fenton, down the street, had put up a fancy greenhouse. His success was mixed. The right balance was hard to get. He had to filtrate the water and air, which was hard for one untrained individual to do. Nevertheless, he showed enough promise that others were jealous of his achievement. Jealous enough that last night, some neighbors tried to raid his greenhouse and did devastating damage to it in the process.
No, I was not one of the neighbors. Yes, my family was becoming desperate, but I still had too much civility and pride. I don't mean to sound too noble. I may yet hit a breaking point.
We were in for a tough haul. Not all of us will make it through it.
It's not entirely hopeless. Amateur and small gardens and farms may be becoming a thing of the past, but governments and large industrial agriculture had the potential to thrive.
Of course, scientists could figure out how to rebalance the atmosphere so that it was not so poisonous. Media stressed how hard the scientists worked on it, but genuine breakthroughs and progress remained theoretical.
I came inside from my failed gardening. Little Sarah was coughing, her eyes watering, her nose running. Seasonal allergies, or something more?
Maybe it wasn't just the plants that were being affected.
Yes, we saw our favorite team win, beating DC United 3 to 1!
I'm not sure if I've ever attended a game where they lost. They might want us to attend more often!
Also, we met our working boy, Benjamin, for lunch in Macon. He's only one week in, but he is doing very, very well. The odds of this turning into a regular job after the internship period are very, very good.
We're proud of our team!
We're proud of our boy!
And I'm happy to have a joyous birthday weekend!
Also: the topper is my 14-month-old granddaughter sent me some Snickerdoodle cookies (she may have had some help preparing them, but that's just a guess). They were extra delicious. And I got to read her a story on my birthday!
Woot! Woot!
Special Twiter Questions for those who go directly to my blog - no re-postings on social media!
Don't you feel lucky?
I answer the first five blog-friendly questions asked on my feed.
Question #1
Do you like escargot?
Uhh...snails? Never had it. Probably never will. It might taste fine, but it sure don't sound fine.
Question #2
good morning from Florida where are you??
Well, not Florida...THANK GOD. Georgia is not perfect. I live in a particularly virulent reich-wing pocket, but still not as bad as Florida. Governor DeSantis has turned the state into an intolerant fascistic hellhole.
Question #3
Today I'm thankful for lemonade. What are you thankful for?
I'm most thankful that I have Alison in my life. Then my boys and Paige and my Granddaughter. Having good, loving people in your life - I couldn't imagine things without that.
Question #4
What would Europe look like if WW1 never happened?
Wow! Now that's an interesting question that requires much more thought than I can give it right now.
Would the simmering conflicts in Europe stay near a boiling point, or would a more stabilizing outcome be achieved? Hard to say, but I do know how WW1 was fought and the issues hanging over from that led to WW2.
Alternate History is one of my favorite genres. Currently, I'm reading Joe Steele by Harry Turtledove. It's based on the what-if idea of a Joe Stalin-like figure rising to power in the US in the 1930s. I'm only about 100 pages in, but I'm loving it!
Question #5
Have you been alone and felt something sit next to you?
Alison, don't read this one.
Sit next to me? Not that I recall. But I have felt a presence nearby sometimes. You know, like seeing someone out of the corner of your eye.
I have seen or felt something while in bed. Something slapped my foot hanging out of the bed at a bed and breakfast.
The cat sees things that are not there all the time. I wonder if a cat's range of vision is different than ours and can see things, other dimensions or whatnot, that we can't.
I don't believe in ghosts.
But I have seen them.
Actuaries make a lot of money. The insurance industry depends on them to evaluate their risk in making and pricing policies.
Actuaries use mathematics and statistics to measure life expectancy and the risk of insurance companies in making specific policies.
Actuaries can't know for certain about individuals - they can only make predictions about a group and statistical likelihood.
So, please, when I talk about the actuary of American politics, I'm not making predictions about any specific individual. We've had political figures whose lives have been cut unexpectedly short. We've had others who've lived a long time. Jimmy Carter may now be in hospice care but is still with us at 98. Henry Kissinger just had his 100th birthday.
In general, actuaries would agree that the older you get, the more risk you run. Some of that risk is not death but incapacitation, unable to function physically and/or mentally at a level sufficient for the tasks they are responsible for.
Yes, both Biden and Trump are falling into an area of greater actuarial risk. The odds of both being healthy enough to compete vigorously in the 2024 election is not high. Not impossible, but not high.
But there are other places where we run an increased actuarial risk. We have a number of Senators that are in the upper brackets of aging. There are 10 Senators aged 75 to 79. There are five over the age of 80. With the narrow split in the Senate (51 to 49 caucusing for the Democrats), any health crisis could unbalance the Senate.
A case in point would be 89-year-old Senator Finestein of California's recent extended bout with illness that left her unable to perform her duties for many weeks. This made it difficult to impossible for the Democrats to move ahead with judicial nominees, as her vote was crucial in moving them forward.
Different states have different rules for replacing a US Senator if necessary. So, anything could happen.
The following is not necessarily based on death but on enough incapacitation that the Presidential candidate cannot continue running -
In a normal election, Biden should be Trump, but if it is not Trump, then Biden might have a more challenging time. I've seen enough of DeSantis to not believe he is a viable candidate, but he would be significantly younger than Biden. If Republicans are smart enough to run a Republican who is not an extremist on abortion and other cultural issues, they would have an excellent shot at beating Biden.
If Biden cannot run for a second term, the Democrats would most likely run Vice President Kamala Harris. I greatly admire her and think she would be a first-rate President. I am less sure of her ability to run in the hailstorm of negative press and Republican nastiness that would come her way.
Some day, at some point in time, the Democrats will need to turn to a younger Progressive. Of course, my first choice would be Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But it isn't likely for 2024. As younger voters gain voting strength, she and others like her will become more viable.
Change will be coming in our body politic. That is also an actuarial certainty.
It may not be in 2024. But it is coming.
We love our library.
And the library loves its patrons. All of them.
What more could you ask for from a public library?
Filled with books. Filled with activities for children and adults. Filled with love.
Knitting and crochet groups. Storytime and crafts for children, including visits from firefighters and Smokey the Bear. A plethora of book clubs for all tastes and interests. Community services include learning how to use computers and nutrition information. Fun things like Cooking with Andy and Yoga.
And it's all free. Open to every member of the community.
The library is committed to the free flow of information, to research, to the discovery of knowledge, and to the joy of reading and imagination.
The library is divided into sections catering to different age groups - children, teenagers, and adults. Parents have the full right to determine what their children check out to read and what groups or activities they can participate in.
I pray that our PUBLIC library stays open to all, regardless of religion or creed, race or ethnic group, sexual orientation or gender identification.
We should be proud of the Okefenokee Regional Library Director's work to make us one of the very best library systems in Georgia. She has fought hard to keep the library open, filled with love, and servicing the entire community.
The recent resignation of ORLS Director Martha Power-Jones will leave a gaping hole in the spirit of the library. I don't know all the details of what happened, but I know her well enough to know she will be sorely missed.
There are forces in the community that want to make the library exclude and marginalize some patrons. They wish to eliminate displays, books, and book clubs, and curtail bathroom access for some. They cloak their hatred and bigotry in words like "neutrality" and "protecting the children," Orwellian phrases that mean the opposite of what they're saying.
It's not going to be easy. But, I believe, like Anne Frank, that people are ultimately good at heart. That in the long run, love is stronger than hate.
But that might take some time. The strain of repression and ignorance runs strong in this country; sadly, that's especially true in this area.
If you support the library, believe in openness and oppose book bans, and love all of mankind, including marginalized groups, now is the time to speak up. This library (all the branches in the system, including Waycross and Pierce) that loves its patrons needs you to show your love in return.
Now is not the time to sit on the sidelines and hope everything turns out right. Now is the time to speak up and show your support.
