Hello. Everybody safe and well? As I'm sure you know there are people protesting the current shut-downs and social distancing. They're actually protesting to have a better chance to contract the virus that may hospitalize or even kill them. Beyond that, they're protesting to have a better chance to contract the virus and pass it on to others so the others, including their own family members, can come down with COVID-19 and maybe be hospitalized or even killed.
I'd like to think that American citizens were not this stupid in the past, but I'd probably be wrong.
I saw a Facebook posting about how it seems the virus can be caught in bars and hair salons and movie theaters and restaurants, but not at gas stations, grocery stores or hardware stores. This was a sarcastic objection to the shutting-down of some places but not others. I hope people reading that, or producing that, recognize the difference between essential services and non-essential services. Buying gasoline, food, or tools is essential. Getting your hair cut, eating out, or seeing movies, going bowling, etc. is not. It gives you all an idea of how spoiled we've become as a people. Our entertainment and leisure rivals illness-free living for importance.
So, for you protesters and whiners, everybody is going through the same thing. It's tough on those who've become unemployed, especially in the leisure and hospitality business. And I'm still working, so you may think I have no idea how bad it is.
Well, I do. I was unemployed for a full year back last century, and at that time we had three children. We had to move to a cheaper home and file for food stamps. Our car was repossessed. So I do know how rough it can be. But those of you who are just tired of the shut-down, suck it up! You've still got it better than the large majority of people world-wide. Count your blessings instead of your troubles and spend time with your families now that you have the opportunity. Go fishing, or walking, or gardening. Read! Learn things! Explore subjects or points of view you've never done before. If you just gotta drink, do it at home.
It occurs to me just now that the above rant might be entirely wasted. The readers of my blog are all intellectually superior, disinclined to lapses in logic and courteous concerning the welfare of others.
I finished Koontz's Brother Odd. It is definitely worth reading, and he always has a surprise or two, but I find that the final solution to the problem, the ultimate take-down of the bad guy, is sort of anti-climactic. In From the Corner of His Eye, this was also the case. The final fate of the insane serial killer is accomplished by a mere gesture of a child. In Brother Odd, the mad scientist is...well, never mind. I don't want to spoil it in case you want to read it, which I do recommend.
The climax in Odd Thomas was much better—more action, a longer passage of time, more tension. That was a great climax and even a surprise in the after-climax wrap-up.
As for my writing: It didn't take DAW anywhere near three months to decline Saving Atlantis. Shucks.
As a writer, I'm used to rejection. Actually I got used to it even earlier, in college, about every time I asked a girl out for a date.
TOR and Flame Tree Publishing are next to receive my effort.
I've finished (for this initial draft, anyway) the scene I was working on for World to World. Now onward and upward. One thing I did do in that scene was set a forerunner for a situation I anticipate in Book 2 (No title for that one yet).
That's it for today. I need to go into the basement and begin phase 1 of the war on the spiders: wiping out the webs. After that, phase two will be spraying the area with a mixture of water, dish soap, and peppermint oil.
Thanks you for reading, and please read something else. Page and Spine is starting two new tabs this Friday: one called "The Itch," which will be an "unleashing" of Lee Allen Hill, one of the best short story authors writing today. The other will be a tab dedicated to science fiction and fantasy that takes the place of The Reading Lamp. Check them out!
Almost forgot! My horror story, "Switch," will appear in Black Veins Anthology, a digital collection from The Great Void Books. Scheduled to be released May 15.
I'd like to think that American citizens were not this stupid in the past, but I'd probably be wrong.
I saw a Facebook posting about how it seems the virus can be caught in bars and hair salons and movie theaters and restaurants, but not at gas stations, grocery stores or hardware stores. This was a sarcastic objection to the shutting-down of some places but not others. I hope people reading that, or producing that, recognize the difference between essential services and non-essential services. Buying gasoline, food, or tools is essential. Getting your hair cut, eating out, or seeing movies, going bowling, etc. is not. It gives you all an idea of how spoiled we've become as a people. Our entertainment and leisure rivals illness-free living for importance.
So, for you protesters and whiners, everybody is going through the same thing. It's tough on those who've become unemployed, especially in the leisure and hospitality business. And I'm still working, so you may think I have no idea how bad it is.
Well, I do. I was unemployed for a full year back last century, and at that time we had three children. We had to move to a cheaper home and file for food stamps. Our car was repossessed. So I do know how rough it can be. But those of you who are just tired of the shut-down, suck it up! You've still got it better than the large majority of people world-wide. Count your blessings instead of your troubles and spend time with your families now that you have the opportunity. Go fishing, or walking, or gardening. Read! Learn things! Explore subjects or points of view you've never done before. If you just gotta drink, do it at home.
It occurs to me just now that the above rant might be entirely wasted. The readers of my blog are all intellectually superior, disinclined to lapses in logic and courteous concerning the welfare of others.
I finished Koontz's Brother Odd. It is definitely worth reading, and he always has a surprise or two, but I find that the final solution to the problem, the ultimate take-down of the bad guy, is sort of anti-climactic. In From the Corner of His Eye, this was also the case. The final fate of the insane serial killer is accomplished by a mere gesture of a child. In Brother Odd, the mad scientist is...well, never mind. I don't want to spoil it in case you want to read it, which I do recommend.
The climax in Odd Thomas was much better—more action, a longer passage of time, more tension. That was a great climax and even a surprise in the after-climax wrap-up.
As for my writing: It didn't take DAW anywhere near three months to decline Saving Atlantis. Shucks.
As a writer, I'm used to rejection. Actually I got used to it even earlier, in college, about every time I asked a girl out for a date.
TOR and Flame Tree Publishing are next to receive my effort.
I've finished (for this initial draft, anyway) the scene I was working on for World to World. Now onward and upward. One thing I did do in that scene was set a forerunner for a situation I anticipate in Book 2 (No title for that one yet).
That's it for today. I need to go into the basement and begin phase 1 of the war on the spiders: wiping out the webs. After that, phase two will be spraying the area with a mixture of water, dish soap, and peppermint oil.
Thanks you for reading, and please read something else. Page and Spine is starting two new tabs this Friday: one called "The Itch," which will be an "unleashing" of Lee Allen Hill, one of the best short story authors writing today. The other will be a tab dedicated to science fiction and fantasy that takes the place of The Reading Lamp. Check them out!
Almost forgot! My horror story, "Switch," will appear in Black Veins Anthology, a digital collection from The Great Void Books. Scheduled to be released May 15.
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