The ornery ramblings and occasional fiction of a former political science professor turned author
Reposting in full to prevent disappearance. Two months. We could regale you with stories about what we’ve been doing the past sixty days, but rest assured, you’d be bored pretty darn quick. Suffice…
Source: REBLOG: Second City Cop Addresses Chicago | Chicago Contrarian
Reblogging a reblog. Things are hitting the fan in Chicago.
Once again Leigh Kimmel and I traded prompts for this week’s challenge at More Odds Than Ends. We are at Week 16, where is the year going? Time is flying by and feels even faster with this whole covidiocy thing going on. I will hit my sixth decade very soon. How the HELL did that happen? Where is my life going? My dad used to say, “I don’t feel (whatever age)!” Now I know exactly what he meant and how he felt. I sure as hell don’t feel like I’m 60. I just don’t. So, I guess I’m not. How’s that for age denial? Well, I’m in a new career, so makes sense I should be in a new decade.
Continue reading “Stars”
I linked this at instapundit some time ago. But from the fact that a friend sent me this link today, I presume it’s not widely known. The link I put at instapundit was from American Thinker. …
Source: The Junta’s Abolition of the Constitution
This is a blatant overrun of the Constitution. No, I’m not being overly dramatic. This should horrify everyone. And, most people don’t even know it’s been done, nor will they care.
Reality is complex. The human mind, as a coping mechanism, tries to find order in the chaos, to systematize. Up to a point, this is a highly adaptive reflex, with the human venture which we call sc…
Sometimes, no matter how much we wish it were so, there are no easy answers. Sometimes you have to accept that the ugly reality is the actual reality.
Childhood is filled with rhymes and jingles that are easily remembered and designed to help us grow a sense of self-confidence. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is one. The other that’s been running through my mind recently is “I am rubber, you are glue. Everything you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” Both of these little jingles should be kept firmly in mind these days.
Continue reading “I am rubber, you are glue”Children are afraid to challenge the repressive ideology that rules our school. That’s why I am.
Source: I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated
This is the strongest argument yet for homeschooling your kids. And this connects with the post just below, “Content Of Our Character.”
I had students come to me with the same concerns…they were being graded on their political opinions, not the work they turned in, they were shut down in class discussions for disagreeing with the professor, or they were ridiculed by professors.
I left academia before my university came down to having faculty sign what would amount to loyalty oaths. No, as far as I know they haven’t started that. Yet. It’s likely just a matter of time.
#gladileft
In his now famous “I Have A Dream” speech, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Content of their character, meaning be judged for who they are – on the basis of their own words and actions – and not what they are – black people – which would mean judged on the words and actions of others.
Continue reading “Content Of Our Character”
For Week 14 at More Odds Than Ends, AC Young gave me the perfect prompt to work in a snippet from Magic Abroad, Book 3 of Academic Magic. The prompt is: A hero who doesn’t consider himself/herself a hero; who is brave and courageous, but doesn’t consider himself/herself to be brave and courageous. It’s perfect for Zoe since she is someone who is indeed brave and courageous but does not consider herself so.
Continue reading “Magic Abroad: A Snippet”
Night Mage, Book 2 in the Academic Magic series is now live on Amazon! This one took longer than I expected. I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was procrastinating deliberately. When I finally sat down and forced myself to look at my reasons, I discovered they were a lot like the reasons Marty McFlys’ father gave for not sending his book to a publisher…what if nobody likes it? But, my beta readers liked it, and I trust them. And, I went back to my first book and realized that most people, including perfect strangers, liked it. So, people liked the first one, people I trust liked the second one…publish the damn thing!
I’m working on paperback versions of both books. I just have to get the manuscript formatted correctly and figure out the templates that Kindle publishing offers. Those templates for the covers and the manuscript are extremely helpful, btw.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sarah A. Hoyt and Cedar Sanderson, along with everybody in More Odds Than Ends, and the patrons of the Diner for pushing me to finally finish.
Next up in my plans are a short story for an upcoming anthology along with the Cursebreaker novel. This writer thing is fun!
This week is dedicated to organizing myself and making sure I don’t fall down on any commitments. I realized I have a lot of things coming up, and a lot of due dates. On top of that, I need to quit procrastinating and get Book 2 out! So on that note, the Monday blog post is going to be the weekly prompt from More Odds Than Ends. For Week 13, Fiona Grey and I traded prompts. Hers to me was “I have a lot of work travel coming up and wanted shells in place.”
Continue reading “Gardens and Shells”