Category: philosophy

i think i’m happy with that

Posted on by admin

Sometimes, I feel like I’m too repetitive.

In The Mungk, it was semi-intentional. The metaphor was for trauma causing hopelessness, paralysis, as the world fell apart around you, and you descended into mindless hell.

In The Conflagration of Boor and Aghast, it’s used for some dramatic effect; Walter’s interactions with the dog, for example, grew increasingly tense, until, well, I don’t want to say until the book is released. It would be a shame to spoil it, if anyone actually cared.

In this one though, it seems out of place, and I feel like I’ve done it a lot.

Like the story could go in a crazy direction, but it doesn’t. I doesn’t really need to, but it’s a paranormal horror novel; it should a little.

I don’t know.

Is it weak? Is it thin?

Fuck, it feels thin.

Perhaps I’m not the man I thought I was.

Perhaps in the next one, one must get truly, truly insane.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1873 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Armada, Ernest Cline
Comics: Capes 3-5, Invincible Universe: Battle Beast 7
Music: Hallelujah! I'm A Bum, Local H (I always wanted to be one of those, though the reality of it has ripped the romanticism away; I think it had more to do with the idea of being happy no matter the circumstance.  A rejection of material things, an embrace of the present, no matter its conditions.  In retrospect, a bit naive, if well intentioned.)

you cool with that?

Posted on by admin

Yeah, I’m cool with that, he thinks, as he finalizes the dying moments before the denouement (or the climax, the philosophical portion of the climax).

Yeah. I’m cool with that.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1183 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Armada, Ernest Cline
Comics: Invincible Universe: Battle Beast 5-6, Capes 1-2
Music: Halfway To Sanity, The Ramones (not me)

soooo tired

Posted on by admin

So, so fucking tired.

How come the universe lets you have crazy dreams all night as a method of processing the sub/unconscious, but doesn’t let you have a goddamn night’s rest?

Huh, universe?

Am I sick of people or what?

Thanks, local mayoral and council candidates, for weeding yourselves out with your pro-AI data farm stance.

I was having trouble sifting through who’s what, and now I know.

There’s a few names off the list.

Fuck AI.

For the record, AI companies – none of you have any permission to use any of my work ever, for any reason, under any circumstances.

Or you can, but the cost is a billion dollars a word.

In other words, fuck you.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1832 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Armada, Ernest Cline
Comics: Invincible 141-144
Music: Half-Hour Of Power, Sum 41

random thoughts

Posted on by admin

While walking today:

Beautiful people are nice, but good people are better than beautiful ones.

People who are both beautiful and good have it all.

Everybody hates them, all at once.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 1710 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Radical Compassion, Tara Brach (I love the idea, not sure Tara Brach isn't a bit Tony Robbins/Eckhart Tolle-ish in reality. That worries me a bit. I had to take advice from con artists.)
Comics: Invincible 137-140
Music: Half-Album EP, NOFX

apple pickin’

Posted on by admin

What a wholesome fuckin’ day.

Brunch and skipping stones on the beach, racing leaves through the rapids of a small stream, then picking ginger golds ripe from the tree.

Doesn’t get much better than that, kid.

Target: 1700 words
Written: 908 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: Anyone, Charles Soule
Comics: Tech Jacket v2 6-8, Invincible 116
Music: Futures, Jimmy Eat World

mausoleums and paranormal mechanics

Posted on by admin

It’s weird; for an agnostic who believes only in what is, I sure write a lot about what isn’t.

Because maybe it is somewhere. In enough universes, enough dimensions, who knows what the baselines might be?

That’s the fun of it. I actually loved the idea of imagination being a primary power source for dimensional travel in Black Science. It makes perfect sense.

And as I struggle to lay the basis of the lore of Nggoth, I can’t help but wonder…

What else is out there?

What else could possibly be?

There are no limits save those we place on ourselves, at least in the dimensional teleports of imagination.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1683 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Invincible Universe 1-3, Invincible 102
Music: Full Swing: Act 1, Various, but mostly for the Big Rude Jake

is kindness only meaningful in anonymity?

Posted on by admin

I’m not sure that’s entirely true, because sometimes, I would think publicity would be impossible to ignore. One isn’t always unseen, and kindness rarely limits itself to one-on-one interactions.

But do we do it solely for the glory? For the good feeling?

I think that’s the rub. It’s okay to feel good about doing good things; one should feel good about doing good things. But it shouldn’t be the motivator, the only reason.

Good deeds done selfishly, in order to feel good, can still do good, however. Of course, it should never be contingent on that.

If it is, it’s little better than running a charity for the social status; it may do some good, but it’s probably more about lining your pockets and getting you access than doing good for others.

In a case like that, the ‘others’ are bound to be neglected.

It becomes about the appearance of good, instead of actual good. I think that’s what a lot of my fellow lefties tend to forget. It’s not the optics that matter. It’s the results.

Hence, why I get pissed as social media liberals, more interested in cultivating a reputation for being on the right side of things than actually being on the right side. It’s why there’s so little rational evaluation of the outrage generated by ‘cancellation’.

(And don’t get me wrong – the right wing are the king of snowflake hysterics. They get their nuts all in a twist over trans athletes that don’t even exist, for pete’s sake, or the “war on Christmas”, which has yet to even become a skirmish anywhere except in their own minds.)

Anyways, my point is, whether people know it or not, it’s good to be good to people. We don’t do it for the glory; we do it because it’s the right thing to do.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds – Matthew 5:15-16.

Of course, that sounds like you need to let everyone know you’re doing good, but hey, that’s a discussion for another day.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 899 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Invincible 95-96, Guarding The Globe v2 2-3
Music: Fueling The Flames Of A Revolution: A-F Records, Anti-Flag

rainy day card games

Posted on by admin

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)

the water

Posted on by admin

Today, I return to the cold depths of Lake Temagami.

I cannot wait.

It’s like anywhere we go with the water – rivers, lakes, oceans or otherwise.

It is the lungs of the earth. The heartbeat.

There is no better way to commune.

Target: 1600 words
Written: 1611 words, novel: Father Lightning

Read: The Stand, Stephen King
Comics: Dynamo 5 22-23, Invincible 64-65
Music: Friction, Baby, Better Than Ezra (what a dick you must have been to have someone name a band after how much better than are than you)

i’m in awe of cj

Posted on by admin

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