Perdóneme, por favor.

The lack of activity today is because I got tied up rather early with significant inspiration for the short story I’m working on.  I hope to offer the first part of it either later this evening or tomorrow.  Then again, it could be next year if I don’t get back to it and find some comfort in what I’ve put together thus far.

One thing I will offer here now is this: You, my faithful readers in blog-heaven, will be offered the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what I intend to be the foundation for much of my fiction to come.  The setting, a made-up town, will ultimately house a great deal of what I will write in the future, and that includes the vast majority of what I hope to publish.

“Write what you know . . .”

Those are the words so often thrown at aspiring authors.  It’s for a reason.  In fact, it’s for a very important reason.  Lack of understanding is readily evident to the most casual reader, and certainly it’s blatantly obvious to those who regularly indulge in written works.

For that reason alone, I am utilizing this story to help me create a world wherein I have absolute authority to generate wondrous and horrible events that will not assault your suspension of disbelief.  Details and environment you see here will be utilized for a great deal of my imagination as I move forward.  That is the selfish part of this endeavor.  It allows me to create—sans disassociation—my own genuine realism to be carried forward and expanded, a place much like Stephen King’s Castle Rock, Maine, capable of supporting whatever imaginative explosion my mind can generate.

So, I will refrain from additional ramblings and return to the text now taking shape both in my mind and in digital form.  In the meantime, enjoy yourselves.

By the way, I’ve decided on a title for this little online excursion.

You’ll soon be engulfed, I hope, by “Darkness Comes to Kingswell” . . .

Oh, and yes, my new little Texas town, Kingswell, is a clear nod to my homeboy Stephen King.

God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh.

— Voltaire

Snow fell heavily around the house that day.  It blanketed the world in loud quiet that my nine-year-old mind could barely grasp.  Silence like that is hard to come by and was a new experience for me.

I could see Grandpa standing at the window watching me as I played in the snowdrifts that grew like wildflowers all over the landscape.  I could barely see his wrinkled hands clutching the cold windowsill.  Even if I couldn’t see them at all, I knew they were there.  I loved his hands.  They were always warm, gentle yet firmly reassuring, always ready to catch me when my latest endeavor to climb that enormous tree in the back yard ended like all the attempts before it—with me falling, although sometimes it was less of a fall and more of a skidding down the rough bark.

I stopped my play for just a moment when I saw him standing there.  I waved and he waved back.  Even through the heavy curtain of white air that separated us, I could see his loving gaze and the smile he offered in return for my own.

For just a brief moment, that picture of him mesmerized me.  The fireplace behind him offered a reassuring glow that seemed to silhouette him against the windowpane with warm amber tones behind his dimly lit countenance glowing from the snow’s reflection.  I was struck by the sight of his white hair and how it seemed to be a halo made of whispers and dreams sketched with gray sunlight.  Even from where I stood I could feel his love for me.  The watchful gaze was nothing more than a gentle reminder of it.

So I turned back to the snow and romped through the powdery wonderland completely oblivious to the fact that it would be his last winter.  I’d never again be stricken by that view of him in the big window, safely cloaked in warmth as I dared the cold to stop me from having fun, and I’d never again be comforted by knowing he would be there in case I fell.  I’d never again relish the embrace of those warm wrinkled hands, those living promises of safety that wouldn’t survive the day.

[Kazon]

This poem, “Sympathy” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, has been dancing in my mind and heart quite a bit lately.

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
   When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass,
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
   When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its chalice steals–
I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing
   Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
   And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting–
I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
   When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,–
When he beats his bars and he would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
   But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings–
I know why the caged bird sings!

I’m horrified to see our spineless and anti-American Congress has caved to the demands of King George by passing legislation that makes torture legal, retroactively pardons those who have engaged in torture prior to this date, grants the president unfettered powers to detain and torture anyone he calls an enemy, and suspends the Great Writ of habeas corpus (the constitutional right of accused people to seek their day in court).  In fact, the bill authorizes the president to determine what constitutes torture, and that means Americans are now free to rape, sodomize, waterboard, electrocute, and perform all manner of heinous crimes against everyone.  And so the police state begins.  With the ability to suspend the rights of anyone at any time, the president now controls more power than any president in the history of our country.  His power has been extended beyond the limitations of the Constitution and law so that he can act contrary to both without concern.  Congress has granted an unnecessary and worrisome increase in authority to the executive branch and intentionally precluded the courts from intervening.  Our course toward a dictatorship is now complete.

Moral cowards in the executive and legislative branches have dismantled our own Constitution and subverted whatever shreds might have remained of the once great American democracy.  We already know we’re not safer, so we keep destroying what makes us who we are for no reason whatsoever.  The terrorists are indeed winning if their point is to destroy our way of life.  Surprisingly, all they had to do was poke us with a stick; we’ve done the rest of the damage to ourselves.

We already know Republicans are shamefully supportive of this national self-destruction, but Democrats are equally to blame for they could have blocked this bill.  Sure, the GOP would have called it coddling terrorists.  Any liberal worth his weight could likewise have responded with the utter truth: “We are America.  We don’t do this kind of thing.  It’s against our Constitution, our heritage, our democracy, and our way of life.  We will not give up what makes America great as trade for the false sense of security that is promised but never delivered.”

Fear is the new weapon used against our own citizens, and our own citizens out of fear allow it to be wielded like a club bashed repeatedly against everything we stand for.  This step has finally removed all obstacles standing between our old democracy and our new dictatorship.  Our president is no longer bound by the law or Constitution.  Our rights have been suspended.  Our nation has been authorized to use horrific acts of inhumanity against anyone it deems fit needing only to label them an enemy before engaging in such terrors.  We have become the new terrorists.  Anyone who believes this power will not be turned against our own citizens need only look at those already detained to see citizenship does not guarantee safety.

I blame the Democrats for this outrage.  They could have stopped it.  They are the only ones who could have stopped this.  They could have stood up to the ruling party and declared that American ideals are more important than politics.  Instead, they rolled over and played dead in the face of yet another assault on this once great nation of ours.  Shame on all of them, and shame on the majority of Americans for sitting idly on the side and letting it happen, if not outright supporting it.

John Scalzi hit the nail on the head:

I’m proud to be an American, but I’m tired of being ashamed of my government. I’m tired of having to count the seconds until this bilious waste of a president is shoved out the door in January of 2009. I’m tired of hoping that some members of the president’s political party might actually put principle over political expedience, particularly when it concerns the Constitution. And I’m tired of waiting for the opposing party to actually grow a goddamned spine and become an opposing party. I’m tired of wondering why the people we elect to lead us don’t seem to actually understand what it means to be American, and to be moral, and to do what [is] right for us. And I’m tired of having to look so hard for genuine leadership as opposed to the sham idiot version we have now. I feel like Diogenes, and I’m coming up short.

I’m tired of being led by moral cowards. I want better for myself, and for my country.

I’m disgusted and horrified by my own country.  Hell, this isn’t even my country anymore.  These are not the values I grew up with, that I was taught in social studies courses throughout school, that were ingrained in my very being as the natural order of societies based on liberty.  Remember this moment when reports of American soldiers being tortured begin to roll in.  When we authorized it for our own use, we also authorized it as acceptable for use against our military and citizens.  When our soldiers are captured and held indefinitely with no hope of release or trial, again remember this day.  Just picture Abu Ghraib, but put US military personnel in place of Iraqis.  More importantly, remember this day when America’s own KGB starts helping people “disappear” because they are deemed enemies of the state.  And remember this day as the time when the state’s interests were redefined to mean the executive’s interests, for all power now rests in one man’s hands who no longer needs worry about interference by the courts—not even the US Supreme Court.  This is a dark day for our country.

Regrettably, Congress has now opened the door for this president to extend his reign should he so choose.  I’m frightened, poppets, and I can’t understand any American who does not share that sentiment.  I’ve suspected since 2001 that our nation would be overshadowed by a civil war between 2008 and 2012.  I’ve said as much to a great many people.  I believe we’ve now taken the last step necessary to make that a reality.  How I wish I’d been wrong.  I still hope I am.

In the meantime, welcome to Amerika.  The king welcomes you and asks that you swear your eternal allegiance before taking your place as a new monarchial servant.  Please remember to kiss his ring.

[Update] I want to point out something from Coturnix that is unnerving.  He wrote this today:

Many of my friends and neighbors have not experienced, like I did in Yugoslavia of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the gradual transformation from a nice, sweet, proseprous, freedom-loving country into a bunch of thugs duking it out over land and religion. Tito was dead for ten years. Prime Minister was Ante Markovic. Thousands of small businesses were starting up every week. Small people were getting rich. There was ebullience in the air.

Then, in a manner eerily reminiscent of BuchCo, thugs like Milosevic, Tudjman and Izetbegovic hijacked the government and started a civil war, ending with a break up of one big strong country into six small, economically weak and dependent units.

But that was a small country. Who is going to stop the USA? If you leave for Australia, Europe or Canada, you will just feel the effects a litle later than if you stay.

Glenn is optimistic.

He may be right, if we act right now. If not, within three years, I predict that Americans will be fighting Americans on American soil. Just a hunch. An eerie feeling of deja vu from someone who has seen the same signs fifteen years ago.

I recoiled in horror when I read that.  Why?  Because I’ve been saying the same thing for five years without the first-hand frame of reference he has, and he sees the same thing I do: civil war looming on the horizon to be realized between 2008 and 2012.

Someday we’ll look back on this moment and plow into a parked car.

— Evan Davis

This picture is hysterical for so many reasons.  First, you don’t even see the whole cat on first glance.  Second, his face is saying one of two things: (a) Oh shit, I got caught! or (b) Um, I need some help RIGHT NOW!  You decide.

You’ll feel dirty after reading this, and I don’t mean dirty in a good way.  I mean unclean like you should go bathe in bleach and give yourself a crushing head injury to get the visual out of your mind.  If you’re at all familiar with the children’s television program called Saved by the Bell, you’ll undoubtedly remember the character Screech (played by Dustin Diamond).  Well, he apparently has his own skin flick where he does a three-way with two women and does things like the “Dirty Sanchez” (if you have to ask what that is, you probably don’t want to know, but you can always go here for the nasty details).  Go ahead and toss your cookies at the thought of Screech in a porn flic and of anyone performing a Dirty Sanchez.  I did.

Mug shot indeed.  Does it get any cuter?

The private space race keeps heating up.  Now there’s a new space travel firm by the name of Benson Space Company.  It’s the latest business jumping into what I hope to be a booming new market.

And in the same breath, Virgin has just unveiled its plans for SpaceShipTwo, including “cushioned reclining seats and lots of windows during suborbital flights.”  You can see some of the concept photos in the article.  Very cool!

The Ultimate Blog Post at Wired.  It’s hysterical.  About the author: “Born helpless, nude and unable to provide for himself, Lore Sjöberg eventually overcame these handicaps to become a handyman, a handicapper and a handmaiden.”  Need I say more?  Good stuff.

The lights went out in Iceland last night for a very good reason.  “Authorities in the capital Reykjavik [turned] off street lights on Thursday evening and people [were] also … encouraged to sit in their houses in the dark, writer Andri Snaer Magnason said on Wednesday. While the lights [were] out, an astronomer [described] the night sky over national radio.”  Why don’t we do something like that?  America’s citizens are so out of touch with nature that such an endeavor would be a fantastic if only small way of trying to remedy that.

Check out this photo of twin lakes discovered on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.  Dubbed “Kissing Lakes” because they are joined together by a small channel, it’s likely the two features contain a mixture of ethane and methane (since it’s too cold on Titan for them to be filled with liquid water).  Contents aside, this is a dramatic representation of how non-unique Earth actually is.  I think we’re getting closer and closer to discovering some kind of life on another planet, and even more exciting is the probability that we will discover it right here in our own solar system.  In addition to the Kissing Lakes, 10 additional lakes have been discovered near Titan’s north pole.

Be sure to visit Friday Ark #106 throughout the weekend for a plethora of links to animal photos.

I stepped outside yesterday and saw our resident lady cat Larenti grabbing a bite to eat.  Unlike so many times before, however, she ran a short distance away when I stepped through the door.  I must have scared her.

So I stood where I was and watched her return to the meal.  Slowly and suspiciously, she started eating again, yet she kept her eyes on me the whole time.  If I moved, she jumped back to a safe distance.  If I stood too close, she wouldn’t eat.  This was all very unusual.

And then it occurred to me.  This was not the same cat.  Sure, this one looked a lot like the female cat I’ve been feeding and befriending, but this one was different.  First, the tabby stripes were slightly more pronounced and the general color of its fur seemed more brown to her grey.  Second, unless she began magically regenerating body parts, her normally clipped ear was now fully intact.

I’ve always been aware of the large number of cats living in this area.  I’ve equally been aware of the diversity in the population.  What I hadn’t been aware of until yesterday was that I may have been seeing two cats who are almost identical while assuming they were the same cat I’ve been feeding.  The new visitor is skittish and not nearly as trusting as her highness, and, as I said, its coat is slightly different from hers.  Nevertheless, in quick glances and passing views, it’s likely I’ve confused one for the other on more than one occasion.

Suffice it to say I gave the feline plenty of room to eat and talked quietly to it while it did so.  After a healthy meal, it went on about its business.  I’ll keep an eye out for this new neighbor and will try to grab a photo or two in addition to identifying its sex (if it wouldn’t mind lifting its lush tail long enough to make that possible).

Another week has come and gone and we find ourselves facing yet another internet quiz.  I’m quite certain these percentages are too low . . .

Modern, Cool Nerd 69 % Nerd, 52% Geek, 8% Dork

For The Record: A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia. A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one. A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd. Nerds didn’t use to be cool, but in the 90’s that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn’t quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and “geek is chic.” The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)! Congratulations! THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST