I can't do what ten people tell me.

 Okay, well. It seems we've got the internet fixed up. Guy came by today and did some rewiring. Of course, the dad-blame internet stayed connected all day today. Typical.

 Anyhow, we're back in business, such as it is. Took Otis and Fuzzy to the vet today so Fuzzy could get his haircut and Otis his check-up. The result is quite satisfying. Fuzzy's half the dog he was and is probably much more comfortable without all that hair. As for Otis, he's got hookworms but otherwise is still healthy as a horse, if a horse was a Jack Russell Terrier. He is getting older, bless his little heart, turns out his hearing and eyesight is going. He's changed a lot over the past year. I still can't wrap my head around him completely ignoring the cats rather than trying to tear them to shreds.

 All right, then, what else is there? Yesterday's News didn't get posted until this morning. I need to re-write one of last week's Actual Paying Work. Little things, just getting into the groove of how it's done. Hell, I don't know what else. I finished The Dispossessed, and I don't think I'd read it before. Regardless, I do like how it presented an anarchistic society as possible but still flawed. Way too many writers would and do take the easy way out and present their utopias as flawless and perfect. This one actually feels more real, and sort of rung true to me with my own problems with the overall "anarchism cultural," whatever the hell that is.

 Like the cyberpunk thing, I really don't feel like I belong there despite my affection for and interest in it. Granted, the nice thing, the appealing thing, about anarchist thought and theory is that there's no real set rules apart from a general dislike of unearned authority and rules for the sake of having rules. Working within the system to change it or even just be able survive without betraying your conscience. Working with what works and discarding what doesn't, with the dual purpose of surviving with your values intact while maybe making the world a slightly less shitty place.

 Man, that book took a lot out of me. That hasn't happened in quite a while, so consider The Dispossessed highly recommended. I admit to being a man of habit and any deviation from my routine gets up my nose. So not being able to use the internet like I prefer - to write, to blog, to research, to listen to music, to work - made me a bit distracted. So I haven't done much the last couple of days besides read that book.

 Beyond that, I don't know. It's been a pretty active day and I'm a bit worn out. I'm half tempted to tie this off here and come back to it after a nap. I'm hitting bottom and can't even come up with a clever folksy colloquialism to describe how slow my brain is right now. I will say I don't care for the new Blogger writing layout, if that means anything.

 Been on a big Otis Redding kick lately. I still think it's one of American Pop Music's biggest tragedies that he didn't get to record more or build on what he started with "(Sittin' On The) Dock of the Bay". I would've liked to think he stuck with Booker T. & The MG's as his band for recording. His touring band was solid enough, but nothing compares. Also, in case it's ever asked, I think he'd have done a killer bee cover of "Highway To Hell".

 Okay, that's word count and my head's killing me. I am tying it off right here. Might come back after a little lie down or if anything clever comes up. Otherwise, we're back to normal business tomorrow. I do have some Actual Paying Work due Thursday, but things are a bit squirrelly there because a client's being a pain. And let me take this opportunity to offer my services to anyone who needs something written or edited. Cheaper than you'll find elsewhere, if nothing else.

Take your pleasure where you find it.

 Before we get too deep into it, I have some Actual Paying Work this week. One piece is due Thursday and another is due Friday. How this will affect everything, we don't know. Either way, we'll persevere. Anyhow.

 It appears the President's attempts to make us all forget 80,000 people have died from COVID-19 under his watch and in large thanks to his utter incompetence hasn't really taken hold. Nobody is really buying this whole "Obamagate" business besides his faithful, and they think he's the Second Coming of Christ. They are, to put it as nice as possible, untroubled by reality outside of what they're told to believe by the White House. It's getting a bit of play from the ding dongs on Fox News, but they do what they're told. Ironically, the best shutdown of that whole business was on Fox News from National Security lawyer Brad Moss on anchor Shannon Bream's watch. Still, I'm sure we'll hear more and more of it in weeks to come. No one's ever accused Trump or his followers of knowing when to quit while they're ahead.

 Been sleeping too much lately. Granted, I've been staying up too late playing Invisible Inc., Phantom Doctrine and Satellite Reign. That last one is a booger. I'm not sure how to get ahead because every time I try to do one of the side quests, I get stomped in the dirt by the cops. I'm sure there's something key I'm just missing. I do like the aesthetic, though. Both it and Invisible Inc. take place in the future, one where corporations rule the world and you control a team of corporate saboteurs. Invisible Inc. is a turn-based thing like XCOM while Satellite Reign is real-time strategy like the Desperado games.

 I say I like the aesthetic, but I've never been able to completely warm to the cyberpunk thing. I think I've said it before, but I don't know where my world would be in that setting. Small-town or rural South, maybe New Orleans or one of the college towns, what does that look like when corporations rule the world, governments are paper tigers if they exist at all, and people can physically "jack" into cyberspace. I fully believe that's where American culture is going, socially and politically, but it's always set in grimy, rainy mega-cities with a slight Japanese flavor. Where do Merle Haggard fans fit in that world, is my question.

 I suppose if I want to know, I should write that story. I forget who said that as writing advice, "write the story you want to read if no one else has". It's like Neuromancer. Neat concept, interesting themes, but not my world so I have trouble connecting. I don't know why it's so for cyberpunk, though it could be that it just doesn't feel that "far out" as opposed to a fantasy setting or space-faring setting. Maybe I just don't dig on William Gibson's writing, which is true. Transmetropolitan works a little better for me, but that's probably more because Spider Jerusalem is so shamelessly based on Hunter Thompson.

 Okay, what else. I'll leave any news for tomorrow. I'm not going to want to do a bunch of research since one of the APW's is going to involve a fair bit of that. Nothing I've read or watched lately has been anything of note. I think I've finally worked the whole "re-stocking iTunes" thing out of my system. Momma went and got a brand-new modem from the phone company, so it seems our internet woes are taken care of. For the time being, anyway. I guess I'm not really in the mood to write tonight, so I'll tie this off here and maybe come back to it if something pops up later.

 Selah

Friday, October 25, 2019

 The rain's moved in and it's been coming down all day. Perfectly suited for extreme napping. However, Tropical Storm Olga has kicked up in the Gulf and is heading our way with more rain this weekend. Fine by me.