The Joy of Reading

 

I can't imagine life without reading.

And as much as I love reading the written word, that joy can extend itself to braille and audio for those who are blind or have limited eyesight. Even for those with perfect vision, their learning skills and preferred medium may be audio.

I started early. My mother taught me to read before I entered Kindergarten. I was reading information the teacher was writing that she didn't even intend for us - that caused some embarrassment.

By third grade, I was reading out loud to students during the reading time. The teacher learned that the class preferred me to her and that I could hold their attention better. So I read a book about Pocahontas and John Smith, and yes, it was the sanitized fictional version.

I skipped most children's books. The closest I came was the Doctor Dolittle series by Hugh Lofting and the Bobbsey Twins (a girl I liked was reading them, and it gave us a point in common).

By 4, I was reading and collecting comic books. By 8, I was reading science fiction magazines, including serialized novels like Robert Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

By late elementary I was reading all kinds of things, including books that were being weeded out at the Junior High Library  One of those books was Mein Kempf by Adolph Hitler  And that's how I became a Nazi...NOT  I thought Hitler was insane and a dangerous jackass. You see, sometimes you have to trust the moral and ethical basis you give a young adult is strong enough to guide them through a free society.

By early high school, I had discovered dystopian novels like 1984 and Brave New World, and those influenced me. Like Hitler, I realized how off-course we could get when authoritarian forces took hold.

As I grew up, a cornucopia of books opened up to me, from Lord of the Rings to The Game of Thrones, from Stephen King to Sara Pinbrough, from John Steinbeck to Colson Whitehead,  from Joseph Heller to Margaret Atwood, from Philip K Dick to Harry Turtledove.

I usually have 25 to 60 books on cue to read. I have a random number program to determine what I read next. And even if it takes a while, they all get read.

I have a lot of books, but only a fraction of what I've ever had. Over the years, I've given away enough books to fill a library the size of Pierce County's.

As my intense desire to own books has diminished, I have tried to slowly read more books from the public library. I'm up to two or three a month, including the Murder They Read Book Club that I am in (at the public library, naturally).

Books are only one of the important public services the library provides, But it's important to me, and it means so much to those who find $30 to purchase a book out of reach. It provides that great joy of reading to so many, and it helps fulfill one of the main missions of our public schools and libraries - to help provide an educated populace capable of critical thinking and contributing to the foundational strength of our democracy.*

Today, your public library needs your love and support. Make sure everyone you meet knows that you support the local library and that they need to urge local government boards to STOP holding up support and fund the library TODAY.

The situation in the Okefenokee Library Region is dire. If local support is not secured, they could be shutting their doors on June 30th. No more library for avid readers like myself or for those who are using the library for so many other important, special things.**

Reading is a joy. Reading is fundamental. Reading keeps us free.

Support freedom. Support the need for open public spaces. Support your local library.

And ensure that it exists tomorrow.

*constitutional republic, representative democracy, yada yada. God, I hate having to keep repeating this.

**to be addressed in future blog articles. The Strait Line is now wholly devoted to supporting the public library until the current funding crisis is over.

I Wander on a Wednesday

 The blog title is a lie.

At least in a physical sense. I don't intend to go anywhere today. Except for short walks.

Monday, I went to the local library and read a children's story. Tuesday I did my Treasurer thing at the church. Today, I have no outings scheduled.

Not going out does not equate to not doing nothing. I'm writing this now, for example. I have other exercises as the day goes on, including sciatica exercises and the treadmill.

I was out for a walk before the sun rose. It was only about 45 degrees, but I wore sweatpants and my Michigan sweater. I had my earphones on, listening to a podcast.

I'll read today. I will read some online comic books from my Marvel and DC apps. I'll read one physical comic book (today's is Action Comics #1061, and one short story from the current issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. I also may read more of The Matlock Paper by Robert Ludlum. He is most known for creating the Bourne character (like The Bourne Identity).

At lunch, I will watch an episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.  I've been tracking my food this month, recording it on a spreadsheet. This is to help me stay in balance more than anything else. The major goal is to help control my blood pressure and blood sugar. I have lost a small amount of weight, and my blood pressure has improved this month. I hope to keep it up. I have a long way to go.

Then there's always Fibber McGee's Closet. Currently, there is a large number of trading cards I am trying to organize enough to offer in trade to a comic or card shop. I'm really not concerned with making money off them. I don't want to keep them, but I would rather give them away than throw them away.

Was I disappointed by the Lions loss to the 49ers? Yes, but I'm not angry about it. Was it wise for the Lions to keep going on fourth downs? Probably not, but that is what the coach is known for and what brought them this far. I'm not in any way knowledgeable enough to question a coach's decision. I barely understand most of what's going on on the field.

Anyways, that wasn't what the NFL scripted. They wrote it for the 49ers to play against the Kansas City Chiefs and for the Chiefs to win so that Taylor 'n' Travis can endorse Biden and sweep him to a second term. Or some insanity like that. I find right-wingers ten times more confusing than I even find football.

Tonight, we'll continue with the fourth season of For All Mankind, the brilliant alternate history show that my son, Greg, helped edit. We're at about 2003, where we have a working base on Mars, and the President is Al Gore. Those are two things I devotedly wished for that didn't happen.

I know that nothing I'm doing today sounds that useful or interesting. But it's retirement, and I love it.  

Soon, I may need to do something to earn a bit of money. But that's not today.

Maybe tomorrow. We'll see.

Wanderingly yours.

T. M. Strait

P.S.  Grammarly was not functioning this morning. That happens sometimes. Would love to see what it said about my sentence with the triple negative!

P.P.S Grammarly worked this afternoon.  Only had to make a couple dozen changes.  I did overrule it on the triple negative.  Sometimes ya just gotta break the rules.

My Weekly Reading

 Today is my middle son's birthday. Douglas Redwine Strait is 39 years old today! He is an environmental scientist and lives in the Catskill Mountains. More importantly, he is an amazing human being, kind and caring, warm and generous.  

He is also a devoted father and a wonderful husband. He and his partner Paige are supportive and loving.

He is raising my one and only grandchild, Retta Lockett Strait. The parents don't want social media pictures of her, which seems very wise given today's environment. So I can't show you what she looks like. Trust me - she is beautiful, intelligent, sweet-tempered, curious, and loving.

Our recent two-week visit with them was a highlight of my life. Even though I wasn't a Grandpa until age 66, Retta was worth the wait!

The thing I look forward to the most (besides plotting the next trip to see her) is being able to read to her through the magic of Facebook Messenger (or whatever it's called).  

I am planning a reading tonight, hopefully from the book pictured above. We have books where I have a copy, and she can look at a copy at home.

There is so much I am struggling against. The cruel war on the library and the LGBTQ community here is disturbing and exhausting. The fact that we are still fighting these battles in 2023 is depressing.  

I am trying to improve my physical condition, and it's difficult. It's vital that I check my progress each day, but it can be very discouraging, as it was today.

I'm used to quitting or withdrawing when I feel rejected, but as difficult as it is, I can no longer afford to quit when I get negative news.

But enough of that.

Tonight I get to read to my Granddaughter!

Huzzah!

T. M. Strait

All Kinds of Storytelling

 

I love storytelling. All kinds, all forms.

I read. Classics, history, biography, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers. Just to name a few. In addition, I read comic books, graphic novels, magazines, current events, and blogs.

I watch. TV and movies. I don't binge hard - seeing full seasons in a day or two. But I slow binge and see a variety of stuff. I see an episode or two with Alison on most evenings. Recently we finished Season 4 of Orville, and when that was done, we saw the first season of Mayfair Witches (based on the Anne Rice books). Last night we started House of the Dragons, the Game of Thrones prequel. And, yes, I've read the book the series is based on, Fire and Blood, by George R R Martin.

I watch an episode of something after Alison goes to bed (she likes to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep, and it's difficult for me to sleep much more than 5 or 6). I've started Station Eleven, a series dealing with the aftermath of a virus that wipes out most of the population.

I also watch silent movies. I watch them for about ten or fifteen minutes, so they take me a week or so to see. The most recent I've seen is The Passion of Joan of Arc.

You can laugh at me all you want, but I've picked up watching the soap opera Days of Our Lives. I skip over chunks of it - I don't care which character is schlepping with another character. But the show has fantastical elements - resurrected characters, brainwashing, visits to heaven, purgatory, hell, and a mad scientist. There are whodunits, and I love a good mystery.

I perform. I've done a hundred or more community theater productions. I love being a Lector and Intercessor at church. Recently, as a lay episcopal minister, I've even been able to do a couple of sermons.

Most special of all, through the magic of the interwebs, I've been able to read stories to my granddaughter. I've also been able to read to children at our local public libraries. 

Someday, I would like to do podcasts and/or audiobooks. I possess the voice and talent - I do not possess the technical skills. Maybe someday I can find somebody to help me with that.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Thoughts from a Reflective Monday

 

This is a photo that Alison took on her phone as part of a walking tour that was teaching how to best use a phone camera. I like it.

The building is where the Waycross Journal Herald used to be published. It was a daily paper owned by a far-right extremist, sort of a Fox News amplifier.

That owner sold out, and it is now a weekly (or semi-weekly - I'm not sure. I don't get the paper) that is headquartered in a different building.

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It is Tuesday as I write this, but I am reflecting back on Monday. It was a tough day in that I did a lot of studying for a class I am taking concerning racism in the United States. It can be depressing stuff.

One article clarified how the old feudal system was adapted to fit capitalism and how the elite used division and work ethic philosophy to keep control. How they eliminated the roots of European immigrants and replaced it with a kind of Calvinistic, capitalistic outlook - work was primary, rest and festivity were devilish. 

Another article discussed how we were really 11 countries in one, how distinctive in approach different sections of the country are, and how it makes it difficult to decide things together. Some areas are Yankeedom, the Deep South, Tideland, and more. I was already familiar with this and use it to write my Kingdom short stories. They're on this blog. Check it out.

Another article talks about white fragility. This is a significant problem in this country. Many whites get riled up if anyone brings up racism. This can be seen in all the censorship efforts of our schools to make sure that no teacher is allowed to teach our nation's complex racial history. Nothing burns me up more than this. The same people who make fun of college students and millennials needing "safe spaces" and canceling culture are the same people who want to CANCEL American History!

There's more, including a story about a little girl asking her mother what happened to all the Indians and her mother answering, "They drank too much."  All of our genocidal massacre of Indians summed up as instead being a native American drinking problem. Sometimes this country makes me so sad.

Outside of the class assignments, I also finished the book The Lost Eleven, about a group of black soldiers in WW2. They were left behind during the Battle of the Bulge, only to be eventually found by the Nazis. Instead of taking them prisoner, they tortured and killed them. It took almost fifty years for this incident to be recognized by the military and the American people.

I also watched an episode of one of my favorite TV programs, DC's Legends of Tomorrow. In this episode, the Legends found themselves in 1943, near an aircraft factory staffed mainly by females. They needed parts for their broken time machine, so the female members tried to get jobs there. The two white blondes got jobs on the assembly line, the white brunette became a secretary, and the two that were people of color had to be janitors. As TV is wont to do, the black female Legend, Astra, somehow gained control of the factory, using work orders to make the factory more efficient. Everything was humming along when she decided to issue an integration order for the assembly line. That caused the few males there to quit and almost all the white females to walk off the job rather than work alongside people of color. I know it was fiction, but it was plausible, and it made me sad, along with everything else I was reading. So sad. So very, very sad.

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And then, I saw a poll that showed only a minority of people believed that Trump was responsible for the incitement and insurrection of January 6th. WHHHHHAAATTT?  How is that possible? What the hell kind of bubble do you have to live in to not know that Trump was knee-deep in trying to overturn the election?

Then I see that Fox News will not show this Thursday night's 1/6 Committee hearings, and I know where that blissful ignorance comes from.

I am down on my hands and knees, begging, BEGGING my Trump-leaning friends, please, PLEASE do not miss these hearings.

Sigh.

They're not going to do it, are they?

I try to remain optimistic, but things look dimmer and dimmer for the home pro-democracy team.

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One overwhelming, sad lesson I'm learning from history -

when it appears things may be getting better, and it looks like positive change is taking hold, remember this...

The Empire Always Strikes Back

Waterfall Wednesday Wanderings

 

Here comes the rain again.

Falling off my roof like a waterfall.

Wildfires.  Hurricanes. Floods.  Drought.  Record high temperatures.

My little corner of the world, Southeast Georgia, is getting off pretty easy compared to many other spots around the globe.

We've had hot days, but nothing that seems too out of range for this area.  We've had enough rain that we haven't had to worry about the Okefenokee Swamp running ablaze.

I won't go on about climate change/global warming on this post.  Either you accept reality, or you don't.  It's happening, regardless of whether you believe in it or not.

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Reading:  The Great Halifax Explosion by John U Bacon.  It tells of a munitions laden ship blowing up in the Halifax harbor, creating the most massive explosion mankind had experienced (only topped by the atomic bomb).  I wasn't sure if it might get too technical, over describing ships and stuff (like Tom Clancy did with 10-page descriptions of submarines), but it's character and story-driven, rather than overly technical. This occurred during WWI.  Yes, I'm reading more about history, and I love it.

Watching:  Just finished The Umbrella Academy with Alison.  I loved it!  Relevant but not as amped as Watchmen, superhero action but not as campy as some of the DC and Marvel stuff.  I'm a huge Ellen Page fan, and it was good to see so much of the story focused on her character.  

We are in the second season of The Carol Burnett Show.  It is incredibly funny, although some things are outdated - the political humor was often more conservative than I remembered. The attitude towards LGBTQ reflected a little bit too much snark.  Tim Conway is a guest star at this point, but not a regular, but whenever he or Johnathan Winters is on, it really kicks it up a notch.  I'm also impressed with some of the older greats that appear - Mickey Rooney, Martha Raye, Don Rickles - I had forgotten what a great sense of comedy, a vaudevillian spirit, that permeates their performances.

I've started the second season of The Boys.  This is adult superhero drama done right.  It presents a chilling world where major corporations use superheroes to achieve their own corporate ends.  It also has one of the oldest tropes in superhero stories - what if the good guy with ultimate power turned evil?  I love Superman, but it's only a matter of time before each writer who handles him decides how clever it is to show what Superman is like if he was evil.  Been there, done that, move on!

Writing:  Blog.  History of the Trap Part 2.  Should be marketing/querying The Extra Credit Club, but I fear rejection too much to deal with it.  Yes, I have a fully complete book, and I am just sitting on it.  If anyone (18 or older) would like to beta read it for me, I would much appreciate it.

Wanderingly Yours,

T. M. Strait

My Favorite Genres 1: Science Fiction

 

What are your favorites genres to read, watch, or hear?

We all have our favorite kinds of storytelling and our favorite ways to receive them. 

Me?  I like all three (read/watch/hear).  But what I prefer may vary from format to format.

Here are some of my favorites.  To voice some of your own, please comment here or on Facebook/Twitter, and/or go to my Facebook group, Polls R Us.

1) Science Fiction

No big surprise there. I like to read science fiction and watch on TV and the movies. Not big on science fiction audio or podcasts.

Science fiction is a very diverse field, with a wide variety of sub-genres. Some of my favorites -

Alternate History - omg, do I love this stuff!  It's probably my single most favorite thing to read.  Prominent examples include The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K Dick, The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth, multiple novels by Harry Turtledove.  Television shows that play with this theme that I love include Sliders, Fringe, Counterpart, Timeless, and Legends of Tomorrow.

Corollary themes to Alternate History include the Multiverse concept and time travel. Alternate histories may or may not include these ideas, but the main idea is to present a what-if imagining if history turned out differently.

Near Future -  I like stories that extrapolate where we may be going in the near future if certain trends/threads are followed.  Many of these are dystopian and/or cautionary, but they don't have to be.  I love classics like 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. One of my favorite books of all time is The Stand by Stephen King, with his vision of a world experiencing a deadly pandemic.  But I also like more optimistic visions of the future, including Star Trek.

Time Travel - wait! Didn't we already cover this one? Well, kind of.  But the bulk of time travel stories don't really try to tell alternate histories.  Some go to the future.  Some deal with more personal stories (Somewhere In Time, Time After Time).  Many are self-absorbed in time paradoxes.  The most annoying try to demonstrate how immutable and hard to change time is (11/22/63 by Stephen King).  I like some of these, but I like them less than the alternate histories.

Space Opera - large scale, melodramatic, epic scale, sometimes mythic in their structure.  The very best example is the Star Wars saga.  Often, they can have a western overtone, or at other times have similarities to high fantasy (things being centered on quests or versions of royal families).  They have to be well done for me to enjoy.

Hard Scifi - this is science fiction that bends over backward to suggest a scientific rationale for what it's doing.  Some examples I've read include Foundation by Issac Asimov, World War Z by Max Brooks, and Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke.  Movies I've seen in this group include 2001:A Space Oddysey and The Martian (both also books).  I'm more selective with this group.  As a general rule, I don't pick these up unless the theme and/or author sound interesting to me.

First Contact - the aliens are here.  Sometimes for good, sometimes not. E. T.?  Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind? - two of the good kind.  V? Independence Day?  Alien?  Oh, just the start of the bad kind. Movies of this theme are legion!  My favorite is the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. "They're here!  You're next!"

Don't mess with Mother Nature/Science -  the first and one of the greatest works of this type is Frankenstein by Mark Shelley.  These range from atomic radiation monsters (Godzilla) to ecological disasters (Outbreak, Soylent Green), and can't forget the new rage - zombie movies/stories (once again - World War Z (hey, some of these overlap!), Night of the Living Zombies, and The Walking Dead.  Armageddon/apocalyptic themes abound here, but they can also be in the other subgenres, especially near future.

Military/War SciFi - Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.  That's about all I got.  Maybe the movie Enemy.  I would say that military SciFi is my least favorite kind.

Okay, I meant for this to cover more genres, but I got carried away.  It took me four separate writing sessions to get this far!

The solution?

I'll make this into a series!

Up next time - fantasy!

A Wednesday Wandering Mishmash

 

Well, it's been a while since I've done one of these.   One of the most important things to me in writing is consistency in schedule, and I have not been able to attain that.  How I get around in the morning varies from day to day.

When I first started writing the blog, nigh on ten years ago, I wasn't walking in the mornings.  It was the first thing I did before anything else.  That's not true anymore.  I get up and walk with Cocoa Bear.  After that, things differ wildly.  Sometimes I'm gearing up to go to work.  Sometimes it's to go to the church for my church treasury position.  Sometimes I have other errands to run.  And sometimes I'm just looking aghast at the news, wondering if whatever fresh Trumpian horror I'm witnessing will be the thing that finally causes the Trumpeteers to turn on him.

I'll try to get better.  I'm trying to restructure, especially to get back to more fiction writing.  My bestseller*, History of the Trap, deserves a sequel, and I have been working on that, but not as much as I should.  I'm slowly turning into George RR Martin.  But I won't give up.  I'll do my best to refocus.

Personal Health

I'm doing ok.  My diet is not where it should be, but I've kept up with exercise, and my vitals are pretty good.  Both my blood pressure and blood glucose are pretty stable, at least by my personal standards.

I would rate my exposure risk to COVID-19 as reasonably low.  My work uses some caution, mask-wearing is common, and interaction is minimal. Alison is careful, but she does work for a school system that is back in session, and troublingly, they do not require students or staff to wear masks.  Alison works at the Board office, where there is not as much exposure, and she is good about wearing a mask and social distancing.  Benjamin is at college, and they seem to be taking it more seriously than some of our other learning institutions.

Democratic Convention

I haven't watched it all, but what I have seen has been pretty sweet.  This virtual convention has parts that play on TV better than an in-person convention.  The roll call, where each delegation announces their vote total in their home state or territory, was really kind of nice.  I love the roll call votes, although it has been a very long time since there has been any suspense.  

Whatchu reading and watching, Tom?

Recently finished Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Godwin.  It was a great analysis of the leadership of four of our Presidents in time of crisis and is the center of my most recent Saturday Political Soap Box.  

Currently, I am reading The Black Ice, the second of Michael Connelly's Bosch novels, about a homicide detective in the Los Angeles area.  I have read a number of these (some out of chronological order), and I am drawn to the character and writing style.  

I am watching the second season of Krypton on DC Universe.  I am a huge fan of Superman, but not always of stories set on Krypton.  DC Universe is probably the streaming app I use most.  I'm also watching the old Wonder Woman series featuring Lynda Carter.  DC Universe also has a lot of digital comics, and I love reading those - have read Batgirl, Batman Adventures, and Harley Quinn.  I'm not reading as much Superman online, because I've bought most of those as they came out, and have purchased less Batman over the years.

Alison and I are watching Truth Be Told on Apple + TV, starring a pretty stellar cast led by Octavia Spencer.  She is a podcaster investigating a compelling case, and both Alison and I are a little irritated at the conclusions she jumps to, airing damaging information that hurts people's lives.  She should wait until she has the whole story, but for some reason, she doesn't listen to Alison and me.

Well, I could wander on and on, but I should save some writing time for The History of the Trap Volume 2: Restoration, Rebellion, and Revolution.

I'm only in the restoration part.

Wanderlingly yours,

T. M. Strait

Southeast Georgia Winter Tuesday Tidbits

This morning, it was 29 degrees, and the feels like was 23!

There was a tiny bit of frost on my car.

It was a little chilly, or as my Southeast Georgia friends would call it, a MEGASTORM!

It won't stay that cold for very long.  It rarely does.  There is no snow.  When it drops this low, it's a dry cold.  When it warms back up to the 60s?  That's when we will have precipitation.

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Personal Health Week Two:  weight continuing to slowly creep down, same with blood pressure, and finally, glucose levels have joined the decline party!  Still have miles to go, and I have to accept that the changes I'm making are permanent.

Saw myself in a mirror at church and realized, with horror, that the part that I am most eligible to play is Alfred Hitchcock. Oy.

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Streaming?  Season Four of Van Helsing.  One of those I started and now, by God, I am going to see it through.  Not the worst series in the world.  Just good enough to keep me intrigued enough to see what is going to happen next.  At least the vampires in it are not glowing boy toys.

Reading?  The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. This is a trial/legal drama, one that was made into a movie a few years back with Matthew McConaughy.  This may be how he got to be a sponsor of Lincoln cars and do all the those Lincoln commercials.  Trust me, the book makes a lot more sense than those bizarre commercials.

Movies?  Saw Dolittle at the theatres.  Look, it's a children's/family movie, so you can't expect perfection.  It was entertaining, with some impressive celebrity voiceovers.  Robert Downey Jr.'s accent, however - it would have been better just to claim that Dolittle was an American living in England.  Growing up, the Doctor Dolittle books were my favorite children's literature.

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The trail to convict and remove the greatest modern evil this nation has ever faced starts today, or as Midnight Mitch McConnell calls it, the Big Nothing.  He'll do everything thing he can to shunt it aside, make it run at one in the morning, short circuit it, bury it, and proceed to Trump's grand exoneration speech.

And my Trumpeteer friends will be going, "See?  We told you there was nothing there!

Sigh.  The whole world has become the OJ trial, with each of us seeing only what we want to.  Trump's entire team is filled with TV lawyers and performers designed to obscure and deny the truth.

If nothing else, we'll get to find out if the term moderate Republican means anything anymore.  I don't know what disgusts me more,  The rabid true believers like Lindsey Graham, or the woosies who feign objection and then just faint and fall in line.

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Benjamin is back at college once again.  Alison is at work.  I'm working more, although I am stubbornly taking today off.  How much more I can do that, I don't know.  But I need to begin serious editing of The Extra Credit Club.

Oh, and there might be a trial or something on TV.

Or, thanks to Midnight Mitch, I might need to gear up for a late night.

Advent Falls Monday Musings

Now we are at Advent.

Advent time of year!

The first Sunday of Advent was yesterday.  Advent covers four Sundays.  Above is one version of the four candle display used in our church to represent each Sunday. An additional candle is lighted each Sunday until all four are lit on the last Sunday of Advent.

It is a season of reflection and preparation for the arrival of Jesus and Christmas.

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This year, the day after Advent, Fall finally Falls!  The projected high today is a very pleasant 56, well within the range of temps that make me feel like it is Fall.  It will not last.  Low to mid-70s will return by the weekend.  That might not sound too high to you, nut it is enough to make the gnats dance again, and enough to make going outside unpleasant.  But we may finally be headed to where Fall-like days outnumber the late Summer-like days.

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My expectations were too high.  Once again, OSU crushes Michigan.  There were moments where it looked like it might be competitive, but they did not last, and eventually turned into just another old-fashioned beat down.

The Bulldogs have done very well this season, and only have to win the SEC championship against LSU to ensure their place in the college championships.  A simple task, I am sure.

I sm pulling for Wisconsin to upset Ohio State.  I'd rather the Big Ten not have a representative in the college championship than it be OSU.

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What am I watching?  A lot of stuff.  Castle Rock (shades of Misery and Salem's Lot!), The Dublin Murders (since we spent a ten-day vacation in Ireland we know think of it as our second home), The Purge, Servant (an Apple + series by M. Night Shamallayn), and, of course, the best current program available, the show with best editorial coloring in the business, For All Mankind.

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What am I reading?  Testaments by Margaret Atwood, the follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale.  End the mystery about what a Pence administration would be like and read it today!

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We had Benjamin with us from Tuesday night until Sunday afternoon.  It was a great visit, and it won't be long before he is back home for Christmas bock - only about two weeks!

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Real Men Reading

I've always loved to read aloud.

In third grade, the teacher let me read to the class from a book about Pocahontas.  She was so impressed (or maybe just relieved she had somebody else to do it) that she let me finish the book out, reading a new chapter each day.  My fellow students enjoyed my reading, to the point that they forgave my lousy, uncoordinated attempt at sports.  I"ll never forget the kid who told me, "That's ok you're not good at baseball, Tom.  You read really well.  I wish I could read as well as you!" Children can sometimes be cruel and insensitive, but that boy's kindness has always stuck with me.

Over the years, I've done a lot of community theatre.  It's been a blast, but for me, there's nothing like reading a good story in front of a group of young students.  When I was invited to read at an event at Blackshear Elementary School, I jumped at the chance.

The program is Real Men Read.  It brings in men of the community to read in front of different school classrooms, and a bring a positive role model to the children. Positive male role models, particularly in reading, are somewhat rare in our society.

It's a mix of facts and stereotypes.  There are a growing number of households where children are raised by their mothers, with no male in the household.  Often, when men are in the home, they spend less time engaged with the children than the mother.  And, overall, they spend less time reading to the children.

The stereotype is that men don't read much unless it's required for work.  I don't know how true that is.  There are indeed men who don't read, but I don't think it's by any means universal.

It certainly wasn't universal for this event.  I thought there might be less than half a dozen men that would turn out.  I was wrong.  There was around twenty!  They came from all walks of life.  Some had children who were students at the elementary school.  Careers varied, from blue collar to white collar.  There was the school superintendent, a newspaper publisher, maintenance men, mechanics, an accountant (that would be me) - the whole range and scope of men and their varied professions.

It was a joy to get in front of a classroom and read.  I read to a first-grade classroom, and then to a combined two Kindergarten classrooms.  The children were very well behaved, and they listened with rapt attention.

The joy of reading is perhaps the most important trait a child can acquire.  Nothing opens up the world more than reading.  Nothing fires up the imagination and takes you to more places than a good book.  You are never alone if you can enjoy reading.

Thank you, men of Pierce County, for helping to bring this joy to so many young minds.

As many men that were there, there was still not enough to go to every classroom.  Some of us had to go twice to cover it all (which I did not mind one bit!).

If you got a hankering to help out with this, contact your local school.  I'm sure they'll have a program for you to help out with.  There are plenty of school children who would love hearing you read.

Meanwhile, take the time to read to your children (nieces, nephews, grandchildren, Sunday School kids, etc.).  Our lives are busy, but we need to make the time for it.  The joy of reading is one of the greatest gifts you can give.

With Ms. Thornton's 1st grade class.  You see?  I'm even shorter than you thought.  Fatter, too.  Oh, well.  Like my fellow third-grader said way back when, "I wish I could read as well as you."  We all got our gifts.

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.

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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.

Crew Cut Wednesday Wanderings

It's coming back.

Not too bad for only about 10 days.  Almost to the crew cut level.

And, yes, it is readily apparent that I'm not the master of selfies.  If my nose was any bigger in this picture, it could have its own zip code.

Shaving my head was not an easy decision to make, but I think it was worthwhile for the part.  It kept the focus away from people speculating about my bald cap rather than concentrate on my character.  Even Alison, after seeing the play, felt it was the right thing to do to truly capture Fester.

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My chompy schedule is wreaking havoc on establishing a writing routine.  There is no chance for restoration as long as tax season goes on, and I may be going into another play that should keep my schedule disrupted through the beginning of May.  Then there's the trip to Ireland.  Then it gets close to the summer audit I said I would help the office with.  This carving out time is more difficult than I thought it would be.

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Grammarly, which has been helpful, really wants me to buy their premium service,  Well, as long as I can't get it to work on the primary program I write in, Microsoft Word, I'm not likely to buy it.  With the level of program I have, when it does bother to show up, I only take its recommendations about half the time.  Yes, right or wrong, I often overrule its judgment.  That may disappoint some grammar purists, but I have a better idea of the message I am communicating and how I want to present it than does a robotic grammar program.

At least, that's the theory.

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Am I still reading?  Yes.  I am reading The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz, the fourth in a series of books centered on Lisbeth Salander, the eccentric computer whiz.  The original author, Steig Larsson, passed after his first three books were just starting to become popular.  So far, I'm enjoying it, and I'm at about the halfway point. 

I'm also reading World So Wide by Sinclair Lewis, a progressive fiction writer from the first half of the century (Main Street, Arrowsmith, Babbitt).  It is his last novel, published posthumously in 1951.  I'm early on, and can't say too much about it yet.  A man loses his wife in an auto accident and decides to lose himself by touring the world.

I'm also reading Superman Omnibus Volume 3, with stories from 1941 and 1942.  The buzz of World War II is there, with Nazi saboteurs playing a role in many stories.  Remember, Superman was created by two Jewish kids from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel, and Joe Shuster.  Even though many of the stories are often illogical and far-fetched, there is also a human quality to Clark Kent and Lois Lane and the others around him, that makes the stories more touching.  In those early years, Superman used his Clark Kent reporter's role to help uncover injustice and defend the disadvantaged.  To me, that is when the Superman comics are at their best.

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I've wandered enough for today.  Tax season beckons, and the more time I get in now, the less time I will have to do later.

At least, that's the theory.

Wandering away now,

T. M. Strait

Ads That Make My Brain Short Cicuit

Last month, we switched to a new service for our television channels, going from satellite to a streaming service.  It only costs about 40% of what we were paying for satellite, and we receive many of the same channels, and all the ones we most frequently watch.  There is one small flaw to it, in that it is harder to skip through commercials.  I am seeing a lot of ads that I would have fast forwarded through under the old system.

Besides some of them being very repetitive (some services use the same ads in virtually every break), and the usual mess with so many of them being for drugs where over half the commercials are warnings for all the horrible side effects you risk, there are some early standouts that have me riled up, and my brain short circuiting. 

Number One is the girl who smarily asks "What's a Computer?" in an ad for a high powered laptop/tablet hybrid from Apple.  Really?  You don't know what a computer is?  And do you have to be so blithely arrogant about it?

It makes you want to reach through the screen and give this child, who has been wandering alone throughout the city, a big what-for! But then I remember, this isn't her fault.  She's just an actress giving a line in a way that the directors and producers probably chose out of dozens of takes.    This is what the creators of the ads wanted.  This is what executives of Apple approved and greenlit.

It's amazing how many people in line to stop this thing, looked at it and said, "Yeah!  That's what we want!"

Number Two (good description) are the ads that Jon Hamm is doing for H & R Block.  First, when I sit down to relax and watch something, the last thing I want to do is be reminded that it's TAX SEASON. But beyond that, is the idea that this supposedly first-rank A-List celebrity is out shilling for early refund loans.  No!  No! A thousand times no!  Early refund loans are just a scam for the company doing them for you.  You lose a chunk of it just to get it early, and if the refund doesn't come through in the way you think it would (late or not the amount hoped for), you're the one on the line for the difference.  You've gone from lending the government your money tax free (which is what happens when you deliberately arrange your taxes in a way to generate large refunds) to paying usurious interest rates for getting an advance on your interest free loan to the government.  Jeesh, Jon Hamm, have some dignity!

Listening is the new reading

Sorry.  I couldn't find a meme for this one.  Audible has a new ad suggesting that the most successful people in our society read a lot.  True.  Maybe.  But I don't read to be "successful".  I read because I LOVE TO READ!

It proposes that in our busy world, the way to read is to listen to audio books.  It directly equates reading with listening.  Ergo, listening is the new reading.

NO!  NO!  A thousand times NO!  I have nothing against audio books.  I hope to do some audio books soon, of mine and other's works.  Reading aloud is, all modesty aside, the thing I do best (well, at least of those things I can talk about here).  And I understand their popularity.  I used to listen to some audio books when I had to cross Atlanta in order to get from home to work.

But, it is not the same thing as reading!  No, it is not.  Listening and reading a book are different things.  One is auditory. The other is looking at words in print, and translating them into grand stories, enveloping your mind and being into other worlds. 

Can a listener get absorbed into other worlds?  It's possible, but ask yourself why so many want  audio books?  It's so they can multi-task while doing it.  Walking, exercising, hosuehold chores, drving, rote computer work.  Get too absorbed and you might wind up in a ditch or smashed on the highway.  Not so with reading books.  You submerse yourself into the world you are reading about. 

So go ahead, Audible.  Promote yourself.  I'll sure appreciate as I get started in narrating audio books.  Just don't equate listening to reading.  It's not the same thing.  It's just not.

Reading Railroad: All Aboard The Polar Express!

I found a new love Saturday, or perhaps it was just rekindling an old one.

The Okefenokee Heritage Society held an event Saturday afternoon, centered on the reading of The Polar Express.  There was also hot cocoa, ornament making, and silver bells.  The Depot was decorated for Christmas, including a Christmas Tree, a decorated mantel with operating fireplace, a toy train set, and, of course, the Heritage Center's real train, with a bell that rings.

I felt privileged to be the conductor of The Polar Express, and read the story to the children that attended the event.  Not to sound conceited, but I knew that I was a good reader.  What I didn't know was that I would manage to have such a positive rapport with the children.  I thought, being relatively shy, that I would stick to the story and not interact with them much.  I was wrong.  I enjoyed engaging them and bringing them into the story.

I owe a great deal to my storytelling teammate, Julianna Lacefield.  She got the children organized and engaged, ready to hear my story. She has a background in children's education, and was a tremendous help in getting them started and helping me hold their attention.

Julianna is a gifted storyteller in her own right, and I hope there will be more occasions where she and I can help bring great storytelling to children.

There were many that helped this event a success. Barbara Griffin stationed the delicious hot cocoa, where there was also candy canes and cookies.  Lamar Deal helped put together the silver bell set, and brought the toy train, and other antiques that helped set the right mood.  Elizabeth Welch, the OHC Director, was the brains and organizational spirit behind the whole event.  Bravo.

Two of my favorite people were at the event, Kimberly and Emily Beck.  Kimberly has been a friend for more than a decade now, and watching her daughter, Emily, grow up to be such a fine person and top-rate actress, has been a great treasure. They attend many of the events that I and/or Benjamin are in, and it means a lot to me.

This is a picture from a few months ago, where Emily was singing a song a song from The Addams Family musical.  She is playing the part of Wednesday Addams, fitting the part to a tee.

She tried out last week for the part of Wednesday Addams for the upcoming musical to be put on by the Waycross Area Community Theatre.  If they do cast her, WACT couldn't make a finer choice.


Retirement, for me, is about finally getting to spend more time doing the things that I love.  And I have rediscovered that one of things that I love to do most is to read to children.  I know it won't make any money (and I do need to make up a slight shortfall in the money I need to bring in - retirement income covers most but not all of what I need to make), but I love to do it, and I hope I can do more of it.

So, for those reading this who would like to utilize my reading talents, and Julianna's as well, please get in contact with me!  I stand ready to entertain and educate!

Searching the Stacks

Bookstores are rapidly disappearing.  Those that survive are increasing their display of other merchandise.  Games, apparel, greeting cards, writing supplies, toys, etc., are becoming almost more prominent than the books themselves.

If you are fortunate enough to stumble across a new author you like, good luck finding any more by that writer.  Unless the author is one of a handful of favorites, you're not likely to find any follow-up titles.  The depth of collection is no longer a bookstore concern. 

You might be able to request a book, and they may be able to order it for you, depending on the quality of the bookstore.  Whether someone wants to go through that, or just order the book from Amazon, is an open question.

The same holds true for many public libraries.  Their shelf space is being reduced, as their budgets are cut, and more and more users are coming for other things, particularly computers with internet access.  But you can request books that are not there, and you may be able to get the title, using the inter-library borrowing system.

But the reduction in access to books, especially the joy of browsing, may be even more widespread than I first thought.

My son, Benjamin, is a junior in high school, and we have begun touring different college campuses.  It's early, but we wanted to give him plenty of time and information to consider his options.  One of those we toured recently gave me quite a shock.

It was a pleasant campus, big but contained in one area.  If Benjamin went there, he could easily walk or bike to wherever he wanted to go. We took a walking tour with a student guide, and she was friendly, informative and humorous.

The highlight of the tour was the university library.  It was a big, modern building, and was four stories high.  Compared to the library at the first college we toured, it looked impressive.  Our guide took us in the building.  We stayed in the lobby, but I could see much of the first floor from where we were.  All I saw was a very large study area for students.  I looked up through the clear glass window of the second floor.  What I saw were more study spaces.

I'm usually quiet and shy during these tours, but I had to ask her, "Where are the books?"  She told me there were a lot of books on the second through fourth floors and that, if you requested a book at the library desk, that a robot would help find it and bring it to you.  I think she thought I would be impressed that the school was modern and fancy enough that a robot could do that.  I was not.  I was horrified.

"Do you mean there are book stacks that a student cannot browse themselves?" I asked.  She answered that there were areas the students could not browse, but there was a small section of books that they could look at if they wanted to.

This blew my mind.  My favorite part of going to college was wandering the labyrinth of bookshelves at the huge University of Michigan library.  I had no plan.  I had no purpose, other than to wander through history, our world and other worlds, and see what surprises I could run into.  The whole idea that students may not be able to do this any more left me shattered. 

After the trip, I tried to explain to several people my feelings about this.  I basically got dismissed as being old-fashioned and out of touch with the way the world works now.

Maybe.  That doesn't stop me from thinking we've lost something special.  Something you can't get from an e-reader, or an online store, or a robot.  Searching the stacks, being driven by a sense of intellectual curiosity, discovering a hidden gem that changes your life or way of thinking; this seems special and unique to me.

I'm going to miss it.  Finally, a change in our culture that makes me feel old, and kind of depressed.  I regret that my son may have either have none or only limited opportunities to search the stacks.

There are still a few places left, a few used bookstores that are big enough to get lost in, some larger public libraries that have not yet limited shelf access.  I'm going to continue to go on quests to find them and cherish them.

As long as there still stacks to search, I will be there.