Causality Disruption!

I was just standing there when a silver car whizzed past at high speed, pursued by two different flying saucers. Each one punched a glowing hole in reality and slipped out of this world, and I was drawn after them by the combined slipstream! It may have seemed like months to others, but subjectively it was…

Oh, look, I’m lying with my fingers again. Oh, wait, that’s a good thing! It means this devilish writing block must be lifting! HOORAY!

What, apart from fictional disruptions of spacetime, has kept me from my appointed rounds here? It started with a stumble in my personal calendar– for some reason, I mistook a Thursday for a Wednesday until the end of the writing window, which I enhanced by being entirely distracted from looking in on Friday. The fact that I managed to do almost exactly the same thing the following week.

Thereafter, I found I was in a profound motivational deficit. Work on any kind of writing? But… there’s an assortment of really dumb games on my phone that don’t require any braining! None at all!

I eventually noticed that this behaviour in a diagnosed and medicated depressive might represent something that needed stamping on. So, after a couple of more weeks of poking pixels for momentary positive sensations, I began to get on top of that. Of course, at that point, there’s the daunting prospect of admitting that I’ve let things slide.

TL;DR– Stupidity, bad head chemistry, and childish embarrassment. That’s three to one odds, without including the individual games! I’m lucky to have escaped that fight with all my teeth!

I probably would have avoided wrestling Embarrassment to the ground a while longer, except there’s some good news to share with the world. It appears that the communal delusion that COVID is no longer a problem and that monkeypox won’t become one is now sufficiently widespread that Pelikan Hubs are happening this year!

All hail the majestic approach/avoidance conflict!

I’m still not very happy with the thought of sitting in a closed space with a bunch of people, especially in November when the sniffle season will be well underway in this part of the woods… but I am happy at the thought of playing with a pile of unfamiliar pens among like-minded folks, and of the habitual loot-bags Pelikan provides the stuffings for.

Unfortunately, because (I assume) of the hiatus in hubs, Regina has lost its status as a place known to support a hub, so we have to get enough registrations in before 21 August. I thus want to urge anyone within the sound of my voice… or rather within the area code of my telephone, to rush to the Pelikan Hubs Registration Page and put in a request to attend an event not in one of the pre-loaded cities.

This comes after you get an email to confirm you exist

Of course, if you’re not in convenient driving distance of Regina, see if you can’t get a hub happening close to where you are. The more the merrier! This is not a zero-sum game, in which those who get do so at the expense of others!

I don’t promise an immediate return to consistent action here, but for the sake of my own inner mechanisms I’m going to be giving it a damn good try.

Today’s pen: Lamy 2000
Today’s ink: Diamine Oxford Blue

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Neither a Rock Nor an Island

I mentioned COVID yesterday. We should be free of it by now, but… well, nowhere near enough people were willing to do what it took to stamp on it*. We are, thanks to the economic and political events set in motion in the 1980s, in an era which does not lend itself to people putting aside their personal agenda to further the public interest. I’m pretty sure I was one of those who pointed out waaaaay back when this started that “If you are worried about getting sick, wear a mask; I’m not, so I won’t” enhances the likelihood of transmission, since masks are a lot better at keeping the sickness in a sickie than keeping it out of the uninfected.

This was a problem with the 1919 Influenza too, though, so I can’t (entirely) blame Reaganomics. Rugged individualism, on the other hand, has a lot to answer for.

*Vietnam did a pretty damn good job, with its emphasis on collective action. Just imagine where we’d be now if the rest of the world had shut down for long enough to do away with domestic transmission…

Today’s pen: Sheaffer Targa
Today’s ink: Herbin Bleu Myosotis

Lunch Date

Smart and snappy dressers; what more could you want in dining companions?

There is a current phrase– “Go outside and touch some grass”. I believe, now that grass is visible locally, that I will do just that, with a small supply of cat food on hand, just in case…

Today’s pen: Pilot Elite 95S
Today’s ink: Edelstein Olivine

A Three Hour Tour

If you’re of a certain age, you now have a terrible TV comedy theme-song running in your head. I’m sorry. The combination of a tour and a nautical setting was irresistible.

I honestly have no idea how long the actual tour would be. I’d sure like to find out, though, even at the cost of constantly clobbering myself on the beams.

Sigh. Oh, to travel and smell the sea again (yes, I know that’s the stink of things thrown up on the shore rotting– it’s a different kind of rot to the local one).

Today’s pen: PenBBS 487
Today’s ink: TWSBI Royal Purple

We Are But Human

I’ve just realized last week’s film was a repeat. Whoopsie!

Speaking of human errors– what about leaving the tops off water-tight compartments? That’s quite the oversight!

Because I’m a slightly silly person, I’m likely to try at least one of the recipes in this playlist. Because I’m not a complete madcap, I probably won’t share the results. My presentation is frequently sub-par.

Today’s pen: Pelikan M600
Today’s ink: Diamine Syrah

I Like Big Planes…

Yes, it’s meant to be a humorous song reference. It’s not dating myself, because it’s a popular song from well after my prime song-absorbing years.

Another dated reference is that episode of The Simpsons in which we’re given a vision to the future, and someone comments on the wrong turn taken by commercial aircraft designers, followed by what I think was a Caprioni multi-wing oddity.

I kind of agree with the sentiment that we’re missing out with our well-tested, computer-verified airplane shapes.

That’s just neat.

Today’s pen: PenBBS 487
Today’s ink: TWSBI Royal Purple

Filthy Peasants!

A useful thing for writers and GMs to consider when they’re world-building– even pre-industrial cultures are extremely complex.

Also, I’m absolutely tickled by the thought that historically-valuable documents with a bearing on events hundreds of years ago were crammed into doors. I’ve found an old newspaper in a 90-year-old house, which is about as close as I can get to the sensation of this kind of discovery in my part of the world.

Today’s pen: Waterman Master
Today’s ink: Diamine Honey Burst

Plastic Surgery

I went and mentioned Godzilla yesterday and now I can’t stop thinking about it. So, like an unthinking lout, I’m going to make all of you think about him, too.

Watching that run-down, I discover to my chagrin that I’ve missed seeing the first Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. That’s something I need to fix!

Today’s pen: Pilot Short (sadly about contemporary with Minya; at least it doesn’t have huge eyes)
Today’s ink: Private Reserve Supershow Blue

Oasis

One might accuse me of contradicting last week’s screed by trying to distract from the appalling events in Europe currently underway.

No. Be aware of it. But take a break. Here’s a guy talking about rockets and space and stuff in an entertaining way, with toys surrounding him.

Right. Be kind to each other, folks. Kindness is the substance the world cries out for most.

Today’s pen: Moonman M2
Today’s ink: Diamine Writer’s Blood

Ignorance is Bliss for Dummies

I’m somewhat repeating a tweet I committed recently, but the situation which prompted it is still in effect.

The eponymous phrase above comes from the summation of “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College“, a poem written by Thomas Grey in the middle of the 18th century. Unlike the modern handwaving about “a few bad apples” (a phrase which is being rehabilitated, hoorah) or the general view of the story of foolish King Canute (which I explain the non-general view in an old post on the writing outlet), the common understanding of the phrase really does follow the source: remain unaware, and remain happy.

I object to this. There is something to it– when I was pursuing therapy for depression, the therapist wondered why I burdened myself with the daily news– but as a rule for living, in the world as it currently is ignorance leads to… well, the world as it currently is. People who shout about deadly surgical masks. The persistent unwillingness to address climate change with vigor. Crocs as quotidian footwear.

To underline my stance, let me offer a sterling example of how ignorance brings the opposite of bliss– painful death!

If you watched that through, I imagine you’ve somewhat less bliss in you than before, and I’m sorry. I’ll offer this as a counter-measure; when you’re aware and attending, the small joys that life offers are substantially sweeter, standing out more clearly from the background of daily worry.

Today’s pen: Parker 45
Today’s ink: Montblanc Royal Blue