(I love this poem. A big reason is because it reminds me of all the fun I had with my son when he was little. This was done with a backdrop of people judging me for being a very involved father. I did more than this stuff, but these were when it was play time. People seemed to think this stuff and working are all that fathers are good for. Not changing diapers, bottle feedings, waking up with the child, potty training, reading stories, cleaning, cooking, and the list keeps going. I don’t know. Maybe I should have added that to the poem, but it still works like this, right?)
(Was thinking about the duality of humanity and came up with two poems. I know this makes three poems in a row, but I wanted to get these two out. Enjoy.)
Devouring
And burning
Tearing
And suffocating
With no sense of wrong
Until the effects come home
To humanity’s doorstep
Living outside nature
Out of sync
With Mother Earth
And the universe
They spread
Like an unchecked virus
Is destruction all we know?
Even those who see
Are helpless
To stop the ravaging
Embedded
In our species’ darkest spiral
Pillaging the world
Some for greed
Others out of ignorance
More for trapped survival
Even turning on our own
Where humanity destroys mankind
In the wake of the Great Cataclysm, a new predator will emerge from within Windemere’s shadow.
For fifty years, Clyde has been trapped beneath the earth while the vampire kingdom has been gradually losing its war against the Sun God’s followers. Only Mab believes that her partner survived his holy execution and is determined to bring him back to the city of Nyte. Retrieving the vampiric thief is only the beginning as he comes out of the ground stronger, faster, and possessing abilities that their kind have never witnessed throughout their ancient history. Thrown into the war, Clyde must be careful to hide his true nature while fighting alongside his old friends. Too bad he is having so much fun being free that keeping his secret might be the furthest thing from his mind.
Will anyone be ready for the inevitable rise of the Dawn Fangs?
The title says it all. For those who celebrate, Happy Hanukkah. For those who don’t . . . Happy Monday? That or Happy Hanukkah as well. Can’t tell what we say to people of other religions any more.
The quoll is a small, carnivorous marsupial with 3 species in Australia, 2 in New Guinea, and 1 in Tasmania due to going extinct on the mainland. They are listed as either endangered or near threatened. One of the main causes for their decline is the introduction of the cane toad, which is poisonous. Quolls don’t know any better and will eat this invasive species then die. They are also competing with and hunted by non-native foxes and cats, losing habitat to urbanization, and killed by poison that is placed out for other pests. Interestingly, the poison is a natural one used to eliminate invasive animals, but juvenile quolls have shown to be susceptible as well. Studies are being done to look more into that situation as well as reintroduction plans, eliminating foxes on the smaller islands, and breeding programs.
So, what are some quoll facts?
Quolls mate during winter.
A female will give birth to nearly 30 joeys, but only 6-7 will survive due to available teats. Remember that marsupials give birth and then the rice-sized joeys need to climb to the pouch in order to latch on. So, giving birth to many increases the chances of having surviving children.
A quoll litter can have joeys from multiple fathers.
Female quolls will primarily birth males in their first few litters and then more females in their latter ones.
Males tend to die after the first time they breed.
They reach maturity at 1 year and live around 3-6 years in the wild.
In the early 1800’s they started being called ‘tiger cat’, ‘native fox’, and ‘native cat’ due to their appearance. David Fleay fought to have them be called quolls again in the 1960’s because he felt the other names were misleading. Quolls are not related to cats or foxes.
Their closest relative is the Tasmanian Devil.
Quoll sizes range from 300 grams to 7 kilograms and 25 cm to 91 cm (not including the tail) depending on the species.
Smallest is the Northern quoll and largest is the Spotted-Tailed or Tiger quoll.
While fur color can range from black to light brown, they all have white spots.
Only the Spotted-Tailed quoll has a true pouch. All other species develop a skin-fold pouch during pregnancy.
Quolls are biofluorescent, which means they glow in the dark.
You know which picture I’m showing first:
This is under ultraviolet light, so it is does seem to be exaggerated.
Eastern Quoll (Found on Tasmania, but being reintroduced to mainland.)
The plus side is that I met all of my goals, including working on ‘Phi Beta Files’ and getting Burger King. So, it wasn’t a wasted week even though I had at least one appointment every day and became tired easily. Looks like next week is going to be the same, but I hope to add more walking in if schedule and weather permit.
Let me go a little more into detail about my recovery. So, I still have a deep wound, which requires daily measuring and packing. This means that I’ve gone to wound care or had a nurse come over every day. I used to take Oxycontin for the pain, but I had a bad reaction to it and stopped. Ibuprofen is doing the job as best as it can. As you can guess, it’s always a rough patch and requires some rest afterwards. It’s worth it though because I’m healing correctly and steadily. I will admit that seeing pictures of the wound was kind of disturbing, but at least I saw progress.
The hope is that I will at least be at the point where I can do the maintenance myself at home by the time I go back to work. It’s entirely possible given how much I healed in one week, so another one can get me to that point. There isn’t much pain most days and I can drive myself around. Was getting a ride to my appointments before, but I’m going to do it myself starting this week. Just need to remember where to go. This also means I can hit the mall on the way home for a walk before it opens, which is optimal. Gives me the rest of the day to relax.
I was able to make some progress with Darwin & the Joy Path this week. I finished chapter 8 and started chapter 9. With appointments and energy, I’m only able to do one section a day. The snowstorm tomorrow might allow me to do two though, which means I could finish chapter 9 before Monday. Hard to tell since it’s also the first night of Hannukah, so I get my son for a few hours. Can’t stay up late either since I have a morning appointment. Hey, I’ll take what I can get. Maybe I can start a section tonight like I’ve done a few times before, which will increase my chances.
Making progress on ‘Phi Beta Files’ outlines is good too. The challenge here is that I thought up some great ideas for the last two books while I was in the hospital. I was also medicated and repeatedly dozing off, so I only have brain flickers of what I cam up with at the time. Oops. I think I’ll still be able to put something good together. After that, I need to figure out the next ‘organization’ series that I want to start outlining. I have a list with 7 other ideas with one being a mystery. Seems I have them mostly marked as short story style books, but that might change for a few. Can’t even remember what the overall plot for a few are such as the witches and whatever the mystery one is.
One idea that I’m still wondering about is this ‘Lords of Hyperscape’ one. It was originally a science-fiction idea revolving around a video game system that people enter. The heroes were a new team entering the competition league. Moving it to Windemere, turned it into a fantasy concept, which worked for a bit. I switched out computers for illusions and mind magic, but it still has issues. Not sure if the name still fits or if such a competition would be interesting. All I know is that I wanted to do a series that depicts a type of sport or competition in Windemere. I considered it being magic battles, but that didn’t seem very creative. Guess I’ll have to sit on this a bit longer and consider what would be a fun, popular sport in a fantasy world.
Well, I seem to be rambling about ideas, which hasn’t happened in a while. That should be a good sign. This is the last full week of school before the break, so my son has some events that I’m determined to attend. Daily appointments mean waking up early and going to bed early, but that’s good. It means I’m still on my work schedule, so I won’t be thrown off when I go back. Silver linings abound!
Goals of the week?
Continue healing.
Spend time with son.
Write more Darwin & the Joy Path.
Work on ‘Phi Beta Files’.
Try to get a daily walk in at the mall every day.
Puzzle time when I need quiet.
Make vodka sauce for lasagna recipe. (I’m hoping to return to work just in time for a pot luck, so I’m showing up strong. Figure it’ll be a thank you for everything my coworkers have done for me.)
Finish some February blog posts if I can’t do anything else.
One of the toughest parts of a story is considering the morality, which we don’t really pay much attention to. Why? We tend to assume everyone believes in the same concept of ‘good vs evil’. In general, the definitions of what those two sides are can be universal, but things get shaky once you step into an individual’s mind. Some reasons are because:
Two people can look at the same character and see them in different lights. A person who agrees with them will see them as a hero while those who disagree could see them as a villain. For example, the character of Homelander in ‘The Boys’ was seen as the main hero by a percentage of the audience. He was brutal and short-fused, but they thought he was fighting for the right side. Others saw him as an evil version of Superman with an inferiority complex and authoritarian tendencies.
Once you start coloring a character as ‘morally gray’ and keep them in the middle, you will have some people who think they are the bad guy. Others will see them as the good guy. This is colored by a reader’s personal code of morality and what they themselves would do for their own causes. It might not be what the author would do, which is where disagreements can happen.
Everyone has different life experiences, which evolve our sense of morality. This means, everyone can look at a situation and see it through a different moral lens. For example, a person who has been raised to forgive even the most horrible of actions will see a character doing so as strong. One who was raised to never forgive and seek vengeance would see them as weak.
There are plenty more of scenarios, but the main point I wanted to get across is that an author and reader might see things differently. An author can put out one moral code and have it be translated into 100 different ones, except for the one they intended. You never know if this will happen because you can’t always pinpoint every single reader you are going to get. Someone can always show up and think your heroes are immoral for one reason even if you thought they were acting pure. This definitely falls under not being able to please everyone, but it comes with an added headache.
People take morality very seriously and are very likely to be vocal about an author they feel is pushing immoral behavior. This can result in a public fight because the author or other readers decide to disagree. It’s hard not to say something too. This isn’t someone saying the book is badly written. They’re attacking the morality of the book and, by extension, the author, which feels personal. It can also drive readers away more than most types of criticism because nobody wants to read a book that is immoral. Not unless its billed as such.
Is there anything that can be done? Yes and no. An author can work to make the morality of characters clear. Whether it be good, evil, or in the middle, a character needs to be clear in where they stand and stay there for the most part. Establishing a solid morality can lessen the chance of misunderstandings. This goes for every character too and you can have a variety of codes. With more variety, a reader will have some characters they agree with and others they don’t. This reduces the chance of them calling the whole book immoral and prevents them from attacking the author. It’s not a foolproof plan, but it can reduce your future misunderstandings and generalizations.
So, what do other people think about times the morality of authors and readers clash?
(I’m sure we all know people who act like this. Can’t even tell which person I’ve encountered is the one to have triggered the poem. Although, the one about lightning from a cloudless sky seems more serious. Maybe I meant sunlight.)
Avoiding that gust of wind
Strong enough to move a leaf
Keeping your balance
As the tremor shifts some dust
Dodging the flashing lights
That appear from cloudless skies
Staying afloat in the waves
That beat against your shins
Dragging on in the heat
Until the next convenience store
Freezing in the colder temps
That are stopped by donning jeans
Fighting through beast attacks
That leave us soaked with drool
We are the survivors of these trials
Can you say that you’ve seen worse?
Legends of Windemere 