larry ellison

Apparently, the pushback on him has cost him billions, as it has Elon.

I wonder if these fuckers still think trying to institute a grift pipeline through fascism is working for them, and if shitting all over the people whose bodies they parasite isn’t just killing the host for the greed.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 23 words

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Invincible 92-94, Guarding The Globe v2 1
Music: FTHC, Frank Turner

and back

The old cats haven’t yet taken to the new cat, despite a week of close confines and no interference. That’s not great.

Poor girl. She deserves better. She needed better.

We’re giving it to her, but the old boys need to chill the fuck out.

Feels like a metaphor for gender politics (or politics of all kinds in the western world), doesn’t it?

Target: 1600 words
Written: 2001 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Dynamo 5: Sins Of The Father 3-4, Invincible 74, Guarding The Globe 1
Music: From Here To Eternity Live, The Clash (my wife saw them open for The Who; I'm beyond jealous)

the long drive home

Can I ask: what possesses some people to risk their lives and the lives of everyone around them?

Example: dipshit ahead of me, in the midst of a Muskoka mid-summer thunderstorm, coming down so hard you can’t see your own hood at thirty kilometres/hour, and he’s fucking tailgating the guy in front of him?

I mean, how fucking dumb can you be?

Apparently, not just dumb, suicidal, homicidal and utterly callous in regards to yourself and the people you’re putting in danger.

Fuck, man. Smarten the fuck up.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 914 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Father Lightning
Comics: Invincible 72-73, Dynamo 5: Sins Of The Father 1-2
Music: From A Basement On A Hill, Elliott Smith

rainy day card games

And other such fun. We did get out for lunch, which was nice, but yeah. If I’m going to be stuck in my cabin all day, maybe it shouldn’t be with the whole gang, and no time to read, and a goddamned plugged toilet minutes before I go to bed (not my fault).

I’ll be honest. I am short-fused when I don’t get that sweet, sweet alone time.

It is something I wish the people around me truly understood.

It is something the world, in its current incarnation, barely understands, with its constant notifications, constant connection, constant updates.

Never was a world more lonely than the one where no one ever shuts up.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 2604 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Invincible 68-69, Invincible Presents: Atom Eve & Rexsplode 1-2
Music: Frizzle Fry, Primus (fuck, I forgot what a killer album this is)

fences

See, that’s what I love about up here. The penchant and desire for kindness and neighbourliness is so strong that the big local scandal is people who put up fences between properties.

Now, I understand the need for fences sometimes. Our Great Pyrenees would be halfway to B.C. if we didn’t have a fence in our backyard.

But I get it. Barriers between people seen as an affront.

How could that not be a wonder?

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1038 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Dynamo 5 24-25, Invincible 66-67
Music: Friends, The Beach Boys (not today, with these fences, apparently)

i’m in awe of cj

As I start the second Faded Sun book, I am again obliterated by the depth of C.J. Cherryh’s creations, the sensitivity of her character creation, the solidity of her cultures, the fluidity of its machinations.

I’ve read a lot of science fiction, and I have yet to find anyone who creates so much depth, so many instantly memorable characters.

Vanye and Morgaine are breathtaking in their complexity; the mri and Sten Duncan fascinating in their mystery.

C.J., if you’re out there, you are far, far too underrated.

I am lost in your worlds.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 800 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Faded Sun: Shon'jir, C.J. Cherryh
Comics: Dynamo 5 15-16, Brit v2 8, Noble Causes 36
Music: Freak Magnet, Violent Femmes

for the record, charity

I don’t think charity is necessarily a negative or that it’s always motivated by selfishness.

My personal opinion is that all charities should exist to solve a problem (solve, not just mitigate), then close up shop and let donations flow elsewhere.

Where money is involved, there will be corruption. That’s an inescapable fact of money.

Where exists the possibility for greed, there will be greed. And greed has no place in charity or kindness.

That’s the point I’m getting at – after all. the Trump family runs numerous charities and we all know they don’t give a shit about anybody but themselves.

Solve the problem and get out. Exist only on what you need to exist; make sure the bulk goes where it’s needed, not where it’s desired.

And remember – kindness need not cost a damn thing.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1617 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Jules Verne
Comics: Dynamo 5 14, Brit v2 5-6, Noble Causes 34 (reading this version of Brit makes me feel like I'm having a stroke; or the writer is having a stroke, or the writer's first language isn't English, and has used 2006 Google translate to create the English dialogue.  The sentences don't even make sense, and if it's for effect, the effect is unintelligible pseudo-babble.)
Music: Frankenchrist, Dead Kennedys (okay, Frank Turner on hold, getting too into it)

charity

Is charity the same as kindness? It certainly can be.

It can also be a way of keeping people dependent. Or making oneself look good at the expense of someone else’s suffering.

Is charity truly kindness, or does that depend entirely on circumstances?

Certainly, there are hundreds of charities that exist solely to be someone’s write-off, a billionaire’s scam, a business where the CEO still pays themselves like a Fortune 500 CEO (see Way, United).

An act of kindness does not have to be charity.

It does not even have to be nice. Sometimes, the greatest kindness is telling someone a hard truth. It may not seem kind, but lying to them, or allowing them to continue to live a lie is far more cruel.

Sometimes, the kindness is in saying nothing at all.

Sometimes, it’s not helping at all. Letting someone find her own way.

Sometimes, charity is another word for condescension. Another word for oppression.

Another word for kindness.

Context and perspective are everything.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 570 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Jules Verne (here we go again with the cannibals)
Comics: Noble Causes 32-33, Dynamo 5 12-13
Music: Undefeated, Frank Turner

she’s here!

Grandbaby for the weekend. Apparently, she’s into watching Twister and Back To The Future, and the dinosaur scenes in Jurassic Park.

I mean, I watched Jaws at eight, so who am I to judge?

I could never judge the generations behind me for trying mushrooms or pot, or getting lousy, stinkin’ druink, let alone their choice of age-inappropriate movie.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1497 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Grey Seas Under, Farley Mowat
Comics: Noble Causes 30, Dynamo 5 4, Invincible 42-43
Music: The Fragile (Right), Nine Inch Nails

the sky is orange

We’re in Mad Max now.

I’m so happy to have been born in an age of enlightenment, the most technologically advanced civilization to ever exist, just in time for the apocalypse.

These things are not unrelated.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 2555 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Grey Seas Under, Farley Mowat (I want this to be a TV show)
Comics: Noble Causes 27-28, Invincible 39, Dynamo 5 2
Music: Fox Theatre, Sublime