B.O.G.C.A.A.T.J.

The Pomegranate reading

So, I survived the live stream book reading for THE POMEGRANATE. The cocktail before I went didn't hurt. Actually, it was pretty much a success. There was a good house, we sold lots of books...even a few of Dream Dancer and Lingua Galactica..., and I didn't drop dead from nerves. You can watch it if you want for yourself. The festivities start at about minute 11. Come on; has a synagogue event ever started on time? No.

Understand, I have never watched the recording and have no intention of ever doing so. One look at the first still and I thought I looked like Jabba the Hut with grey hair. However, the crowd laughed at appropriate times, and that's all I really cared about.  Now that I've done this once, book clubs will be a breeze. The first one is always the toughest.

And now, the reviews are starting to filter in on Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes & Noble. All 5-stars at this time, and hoping that will continue. Reviews, folks, are extremely important. Good, bad, or indifferent, the numbers help move the book.

There were some additional surprises worth mentioning. Steve Bannon was taken in custody for Contempt of Congress. Now if people were regularly arrested for Contempt of Congress, a whole lotta citizens of this country would be in jail. Come on, do you know anyone who does not have contempt for congress? Oh, maybe contempt OF is different from contempt FOR. Whatever. Congress is as ridiculous now as it has ever been. Folks, the lunatics have taken over the asylum and no one is running this country.

I listened to a whole lotta Kyle Rittenhouse today. I heard him weeping about how he felt his life was in danger so he fired off his automatic weapon. I heard his defense team rail on about how people were randomly attacking this helpful, civic-minded child who just happened to be roaming the streets of Kenosha armed with an AR-15, specifically Smith & Wesson M&P15. If Kyle Rittenhouse was any other color besides white, he would've been dead in the street. I understand everyone is entitled to the best possible defense, but really people; does all of America look that naïve?

Apparently so.

And speaking of POC and the lack of understanding about the other in this country, if you want a real eye opener, spend some of your podcast time listening to THIS LAND. Start with Episode 1: Solomon's Sword. If you have a strong stomach and can keep from screaming, listen to all the episodes. Keep in mind, this is happening now. Not a hundred years ago. Now. I promise, you will hear stuff you never knew existed. 

Right now, President Biden is fighting an uphill battle with Congress and We, the People. Did you know 49% of Americans think he's doing a bad job managing the pandemic? Really? Is it because he's telling people to wear masks, socially distance, and be wary of crowds? Or because some people like to think their actions have no bearing on other air-breathers? As a nation of sloths, this should be no surprise. 

And those same mouth-breathing-don't-tread-on-me-you-can't-tell-me-what-to-do-with-my-body goodly folks are the same ones who demand control over other people's bodies. Somehow, those troglodytic cretins don't seem to see a correlation between refusing to get vaccinated and forcing women to carry all pregnancies to term. Both are okay IF you're a right-wing Republican. So if you were entertaining the misbegotten notion that "pro-life" (and I use the term loosely) advocates were standing on some sort of moral high ground, you wanna stand down from that putrid hill. This is about controlling other people, specifically women. I keep asking myself how they have come to hate women that much? They don't love women, if they did, there would be stronger anti-rape legislation. There would be gun control. There would be a real effort to preserve life, not destroy it. But what they are really about is destruction according to their whims. They are nothing more than totalitarians-in-waiting. And if that doesn't scare you, well.... maybe it should.

What really makes me sad this week, however, is that it's my dad's 6th yahrzeit. He died on Thanksgiving night, 2015, but the Hebrew date is the one that marks the observance. So this year, it starts on Wednesday night and runs through Thursday day. I truly wish he could've been here to see the novels get published. He was around for Little Miss, but missed Young Sir by several years. There isn't a comma that goes by without my thinking of him. And this year, it's even more bittersweet than usual: the front row at Beth David is now complete. When I say kaddish for him on Thursday at minyan, I will really be saying kaddish for them all.

The Wifely Person's Dad's Tip of the Week

B.O.G.C.A.A.T.J.

Be of good cheer and all that jazz!

Catching Up and Still Breathing

This is a big week for the WP. Tomorrow night, Tuesday, is the launch for THE POMEGRANATE. Come if you're in the Twin Cities, or you can watch the live stream at 7:00 pm Central Time. To say I am totally stressed out having to get up and read my own stuff is an understatement. I am not an onstage person; I'm a director, dammit; I tell people what to do. Yeah, I can act, but I hate it. Not my thing. Yeah, I can write lines and did for about a zillion years, but other than working with an actor to help them say it, forget about it. I am my own worst critic. 

There. Now you know my best kept secret. So if you want to see me freakin' out, by all means, come or tune in. It should be amusing at best. Painful at worst. 

But having this other life as author with a brand new fancy-schmancy website does not absolve me from writing The Wifely Person Speaks. It's like being schizophrenic: I have two very distinct voices - the one youse guys read every week, and the author's voice. And I must confess, I'm still struggling with that new voice. It'll happen. Eventually. I hope. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I am pleased to report that the three sane school board candidates were elected, sending more nutty versions back into the ether. Truth be told, I was seriously worried about this. Schools are our last defense against ignorance.  

Long, long ago, in a
galaxy far far away...

A million years ago, we were toying with the idea of moving to Nashua, New Hampshire, and made a trip to see if we could find a house. One nearby town with gorgeous houses had rock bottom prices. That was a flag for Ziggy and me. What we found out was that the school board in that town had been taken over by raging creationists and they were trying to ban the teaching of evolution in the district. Since there was no open enrollment in the area, people were relocating in droves. Seriously. And they could not give the houses away because no one wanted their kids in that district. This wasn't just over a school board election, this had been going on for several years and the board's balance had turned. I would've put my house up for sale, too. Needless to say, I stayed in Minnesota, Ziggy took a flat in Nashua, and he ultimately telecommuted for several years. 

Now, the lunatic fringe running for school board here did not seem to be advocates for creationism, but their refusal to acknowledge the importance of science when dealing with a pandemic left me with a whole lotta other questions about other positions we might not have been privy to in the run-up to the election. Which may or may not beg a bigger question: 

Are we asking the right questions?

Possibly not because We, the People rarely ask questions of our elected officials. This is not something we're good at. And it's really not okay. 

As We, the People, head into the midyear elections, we had better start asking the right questions, the ones that provide sane answers to the needs of our self-interest. Like health insurance. Like parental leave. Like creating tax revenue streams based on taxation of those who can most afford it. There is a large segment of this nation that doesn't know how to frame those questions, much less how to determine elitist bull-hockey from boot-on-the-ground reality. That mindset elected a GOP governor in Virginia who pledged to ban critical race theory from the public school curriculum on day one....except critical race theory isn't a part of the Virginia public school curriculum. Well, I guess he solved that problem.

That kinda stuck with me for all the wrong reasons. It reminded me of the woman who was touting the great benefits she got from TrumpCare because ObamaCare was terrible and she never could get what she needed from her doctor but under Feckless Leader's plan her health insurance covered everything. "No other insurance needed!" she told the reporter. "I get everything I need from President Trump. He was right to take ObamaCare away." She had no clue that her health insurance plan was part of the Affordable Care Act. I can't help but wonder what she would've done had Feckkless Leader actually repealed the ACA leaving her without any insurance at all. This is just one more part about voting against self-interest that I just don't get. 

Meanwhile, back at the other ranch....

Our little town is getting ready for animal control season. Being we're on the river and have lots of ponds and woods, we also have an exploding deer population. You really can't trap and move a herd deer; it doesn't work that way. So every year or so, the city hired bow hunters to cull the herd. Yesterday, our amazing police chief posted the following on the community Facebook page:

While I am not a fan of bow hunting or any other type of hunting, having lived on the edge of a pond for some 27 years, and having hosted many, many deer families, I know the herd has to be culled periodically so that the majority can survive. Invariably, someone's knickers will get knotted over this, but they need to stand down. 

I think we all appreciate the humor and humanity that Chief Kelly McCarthy brings to our community. I mean, who else would post a picture of a harmonica write this? 

Help Needed!

On Monday 9/20/2021, a resident reported personal belongings were laying in the street. An officer located the belongings and while most of the items were miscellaneous toss-away house goods…

One item didn’t look like it was something the owner chose to depart with.

The officer opened a small instrument case, which housed multiple professional grade harmonicas. The case was personalized with some stickers.

Please share and ask around if anyone they know had their harmonicas stolen.

She's seriously good at her job, and we are lucky to have her. Next month, she will celebrate 5 years as our police chief, and I hope she's here for at least another 25. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I'd really like to say "go buy my book," but enough already.

Instead, I'll say if you're reading the book 

and notice something weird with words requiring a capital V,

not to worry. We already know. 

It's getting fixed. 

The Never-Ending Adventures of the WP

Going home for Aunt Cynthia's funeral was the right thing to do. I got to stand in the sand with waves at my feet. I got to sit on the jetty for a while, then stand on the boardwalk talking to my maternal cousins the whole time. I got to eat real Chinese food, and watch the 11 o'clock, not the 10 o'clock news which even after decades in the midwest still feels weird. 

The funeral was incredible, if only because my paternal family was gathered in front of our family plot to see the last space in the front row receive its precious cargo. My cousin Howard summed it up tidily when he said, very simply, "We're next."  

The traditional post-funeral meal of consolation was at Ben's, this time the one in Bay Terrace. Yes, there were copious amounts of pastrami involved. And half-sour pickles. And coleslaw. Lots and lots of coleslaw, all of which reminded me that my palate has never changed and never will.

Going home for about 34 hours was good medicine. I returned to flyover land refreshed, my soul re-invigorated amidst the trials of getting a book out the door. Heading to the airport, I was wiped out. 

I got to JFK way too early for my flight. I stopped at the Delta Club to try to beg my way in without a platinum Amex. It wasn't looking too good when a soft, low, melodious voice came from behind partition beside the gatekeeper said, "It's all right, she's my companion." Turns out, the voice had a companion slot on his ticket and he gave it to me.

Walking around to thank him, he stood....like really stood way taller than me, and looked like he stepped off the cover of one of those romance novels. I told him he was my hero. He demurred. I said, "That's it; you're in the next novel." He smiled. OMG. And said, "I'm game."

I shoulda given him my card. But if the truth be known, he thought he was helping some little old crazy lady. Oh, to be 25 again! 

And speaking of being young again, the Senior Son came into town for Little Miss's 7th birthday. Having the Senior Son around even for a little while was good medicine after the stress of last week. Without a doubt, Little Miss and Young Sir were thrilled to have their uncle wrapped about their little fingers. Senior Son stayed long enough to play a jam gig tonight with the incomparable Moses Oakland at the Midway Saloon in St. Paul. 

I hadn't seen him play since before the pandemic, so I talked my cutie neighbor, Soccer Guy, into taking me to the bar to surprise my kid. Boy, was he surprised! And he wasn't the only one. Soccer Guy surprised me with a couple of roses from the rose peddler at the end of the evening. Truth be known, I'm old enough to be his grandmother....but I had a really good time and I appreciated his humoring me. For the record, Surly Furious is really delicious. 

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the book is launched. 

The new website is up and running:  S. J. Schwaidelson: The Author Is In

And a new Instagram page: sjschwaidelson

Please come visit the new pages. Follow. Like. Subscribe. These things are important to an author. Of course, buy the book. I'm told that you cannot put it down. 

Available in both Kindle and paperback:

THE POMEGRANATE

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

IF you happen to be in theTwin Cities area, 

we're having a reading and book signing 

on November 9th,  7-8:30 p.m. 

at Beth Jacob Congregation, 

1179 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, MN. 

Pillow Talk: The Ultimate Conversation

 If I had any brains at all, I would write: NO INTRO TODAY a la Ziggy, and take the day off. 

The past week has been stressful in the best possible sense, and Sunday, the proof copies of THE POMEGRANATE arrived. Holding the book in my hands is always a total turn on and thrill. There is something uniquely satisfying about holding that physical entity in your hands. Of course, I refuse to read it. Not that it's not good, but I immediately start editing in my head and that's not good. Nope. You just gotta stop when the words are printed on the page. 

The journey of this book from inception to completion has been a long and, for the most part, exceptionally thrilling one for me. It began with a tiny story about a 12th century Jewish girl. Almost nothing is known about the lady except she was snatched on the way to her wedding and ultimately returned to Al-Andalus as an old woman. No one knows what happened to her or how she got from one place to the next. But I was intrigued by the snippet. 

There were years of research involved. The Third Crusade was a strange event even in Christian history. Richard the Lionheart was there. Salah Al-Din was there, Maimonides was in Egypt, and despite all the movies and TV dramas, there were a whole lotta Jews in Palaestina during the period. Tiberias and Tzfat were alive with Jewish erudition. It wasn't a stagnant period at all. And Jews came to the aid of Salah Al-Din in an effort to rid the land of the European Crusaders. The more I learned, the more I appreciated the risks taken to retain control of what was then called Palaestina. 

I also came to a deeper understanding and profound respect for women of the period. Eleanor of Aquitaine was a huge presence in the period. She was a piece of work and I love her to bits. She married then annulled her marriage to France's Louis VII, married Henry Plantagenet, produced a passel of kids including Richard the Lionheart and King John (aka Prince John of Robin Hood infamy) amongst others. She outlived Henry II despite his repeated attempts to get rid of her. She was tough, she was direct. She was Queen, and then Regent. No one messed with Eleanor.

Batsheva's (the protagonist) ability to speak her mind is central to THE POMEGRANATE. She had no trouble telling people where to get off the cart. I am equally certain that conversations similar to the ones she has in the book happened between husbands and wives just as they do today. Pillow talk is as ancient as marriage itself. There is nothing new under the sun when it comes to loving partners. That Batsheva can make her opinions crystal clear is not an unheard of skill in any generation; there have always been women like her. G-d willing, there always will be. 

Recently, I was in a conversation about the appearance of the women's rights movement. I maintain that while women's rights have been an issue from day one, it's only in the last 100 or so years, with the advent of mass  media, that our voices have been amplified enough to be heard. This is a no brainer. Granted, the printing press is a big deal if not the actual foundation for mass media, but a bigger deal is having your voice go out over the airwaves to millions of listeners. 

Thinking back to my misspent youth, I can recall with alacrity the first time I heard Bella Abzug giving a speech. Or, rather, a snip of a speech. It was on the evening news. Right around the time she announced she was running for Congress. I don't remember what she said, but I remember how she sounded: like  one of us... a card carrying  member with all the women around me who were beginning to emerge from centuries of gender repression. She said a lot of things during that run, but a couple have remained with me:

People need change. No congressional seat belongs to anyone. It belongs only to the people.

And 

A woman belongs in the house...the House of Representatives 

Battling Bella was my kind of politician: frank, blunt, and open. I even liked her hats...especially her explanation:

I began wearing hats as a young lawyer because it helped me to establish my professional identity. Before that, whenever I was at a meeting, someone would ask me to get coffee.

At one of my first jobs, even though I was a buyer, I was asked to get the coffee at every meeting. I resented it like hell.

The real trick was, Bella didn't say anything new; she said what women were thinking and actually saying for a very long time. Sure, there were glimpses of women who made the system work for them, women like Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I, Catherine the Great.....but until mass media happened, no woman ran for and won elected office.

Let me define mass media: anything that can be seen, heard, or read with days of publication or elocution. Books are the beginning, but until women were quoted (and usually vilified) in the press, heard on radio, and ultimately seen on television, gender roles were pretty much immutable. But that did not mean women were silent. 

The story of Batsheva Hagiz may be fiction, but what she demands of herself and of the people around her is neither new nor anachronistic. The bedtime conversations she has are ones that any woman could've had with an intimate partner at any time during history. Just look at Lysistrata. Sure, it may be an ancient Greek comedy, but it didn't spring from the brow of Aristophanes without some basis in reality.

Here's a fun-filled factoid you probably didn't know. The same year, 411 B.C.E.,  that Lysistrata was produced, another one of Aristophanes plays also made it to the stage: Women at the Thesmophoria. This one is a parody of Athenian society, focusing on the subservient role of women in Athens. Euripides is totally targeted by Aristophanes because of the way women are portrayed in his works. That the second play exists oughta be proof enough that women have been on the edge of revolt for a long time, and the men knew it. 

Even though the plays were produced and audiences attended, we don't know much about public reception because no one printed up the reviews and posted them on FaceBook or Twitter. We may have the scripts, which is a good thing, because that's shining a light onto the sneaky notion that none of this is really new. What is new is the aspect of broadcasting gender inequality. That really only goes back to 1869 when John Stuart Mill, a member of the British Parliament, published his essay on THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN. The key word here is PUBLISHED. In print. On paper. Available to read. This is a huge step. But he does something else revolutionary as well: he credits his wife and daughter:

As ultimately published it was enriched with some important ideas of my daughter’s and some passages of her writing. But all that is most striking and profound in what was written by me belongs to my wife, coming from the fund of thought that had been made common to us both by our innumerable conversations and discussions on a topic that filled so large a place in our minds.

If you think they didn't lie in bed discussing this stuff, you've never been married/partnered. 

Women have been subjected to subjugation since the beginning of time. There may have been a reason back when the goal was to be reproducing at a rapid rate because children died. Sure, pregnant women probably needed some measure of protection, although in some cultures, you deliver and go back to work the same day. (At least I had a week off when Senior Son was born.) And I get why men felt compelled to protect their families. This is a survival thing. But once clans, towns, villages, and cities are in place, the need diminishes while the subjugation continued unabated. After all, what guy doesn't wanna be an alpha male? Right?

Yet, by the middle of the 19th century, it was pretty routine for women to work. Men died; women had to support families. Necessity demanded women take on other roles. By the middle of the 20th century, the June Cleaver model was already wearing thin. Father did not always know best. And men still died...or just plain left...and women were de facto head of household. And as late as 1977, I could not get a car loan in my own name. Don't get me started about that.

Them days are gone. But not completely. There is a whole class of deviant men who are working very hard to turn our clocks back to 1902. They call themselves Republican Congressmen. If only their paramours would use pillow talk constructively. 

Read THE POMEGRANATE when it comes out later this week. Next week, there will links to the book and the new website. You'll be richer for the experience. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Learn to spell SCHWAIDELSON.

Before  you know it, that will be a very useful skill.

A bit of catch-up ...and a plea for understanding. Not.

 Let's start with the good news today: the new book has a cover:

If you click on the picture, you can probably read the blurb on the back cover, and yes, that is me in the lower left-hand corner. But there it is in all its glory. Now, the work of designing the interior begins. Have two other books out there, I can tell you that getting the format right ain't easy. Talk about constantly moving parts! There's a glossary in the back, a cast of characters, and a definite need for at least one line map of the Mediterranean basin. My designer tells me not to worry, it's all doable, but this is like sending your baby to kindergarten: you know you hafta, but it's hard to let go. Really hard. Meanwhile, there are two other books awaiting my attention on my desk, and if the truth be known, I am anxious to get cracking on one of those. It's time. I simply have to stop obsessing about this book. With any luck, it will be published in October. 

I hope. 

Meanwhile, back on the planet, Delta Force is taking over, infecting people willy-nilly regardless of age, race, religion, nationality, gender, language, musical preferences, or tolerance for pain. The only thing that seems to get in its way is THE VACCINE. Seems that if you're vaccinated and get a break-through hit of COVID, your illness is significantly less severe, you probably won't end up in a hospital, much less an ICU, and you'll recover more quickly. According to a variety of news sources. As per CNN on August 2, 2021

The CDC reported 6,587 Covid-19 breakthrough cases as of July 26, including 6,239 hospitalizations and 1,263 deaths. At that time, more than 163 million people in the United States were fully vaccinated against Covid-19. 

Divide those severe breakthrough cases by the total fully vaccinated population for the result: less than 0.004% of fully vaccinated people had a breakthrough case that led to hospitalization and less than 0.001% of fully vaccinated people died from a breakthrough Covid-19 case.

Folks, those are some interesting stats. IF you are fully vaccinated AND you test positive for COVID-19, very, very few people land in the hospital...as the article states, less than 0.001% of fully vaccinated people. That does not mean, however, that you cannot carry the disease even if you are completely asymptomatic. You can. And you can still infect others. 

As we approach the new school year, vaccinations are still not available for the under-12 set, so there is a large population who is not vaccinated, nor can they be. Yet. They may not be as susceptible to the disease, but they can still carry the virus. Which means they can pass their little viral friend to the next person. Logic demands that we be especially aware of this possibility and be supportive/respectful of families with younger-than-12 kids. 

On the other hand, families who refuse to vaccinate over the age of 12 also need special consideration. When dealing with a family or individuals who refuse to vaccinate, respect their rather misguided wishes and socially distance at least 300 feet from them. To be perfectly blunt, they should be protected from all family gatherings. You must respect their desire to remain COVID-free by providing them with a zone of anti-contagion. While you are safest wearing a mask in public, you MUST wear a mask around them to prevent them from getting the disease. Schools, malls, public gathering places such as houses of worship or ball parks would be best requiring the unvaccinated to either sit in their own outside section from the vaccine crowd, or not to come at all...for their own protection. They are vulnerable and can easily pick up the infection.

While hospitals cannot turn away the unvaccinated, an unvaccinated person entering a hospital zone should automatically be directed to an area separated from the rest of the ER or lobby. Again, this will lessen their chance of picking up the virus from an unsuspecting vaccinated person. 

What actually worries me the most about the recent uptick in infection and hospitalization is not knowing the unvaccinated are the ones bearing the brunt of this outbreak, it's what comes next. I talked to my cousin Dr. Tom tonight about a number of pandemic issues...and for the record, he agreed with BBBruce who said hospitals cannot just turn away unvaccinated people (my idea for triage.) But Dr. Tom did talk about something that's been niggling at the back of my mind: what comes next. 

Viruses mutate. That's what they do. Delta is but one mutation. There will be more. They will all do something ever so slightly different. Are we nimble enough, scientifically, to match that mutation? Or are we looking down the road to worsening contagion as the new mutations develop? There is so much "we" don't know, that the most reasonable way to prepare for the next wave is to pay attention. To mask when we are advised to do so. To be agile enough to have teams working on vaccine boosters and variants. Every year, the flu shots are tweaked for the latest version of that disease. Perhaps that's what will happen fo COVID: each year, a new booster ups the game against the latest mutant. By the way, that's what science does. It's what they're supposed to do. Scientists are supposed to investigate problems and find new solutions. 

If you are not vaccinated, that's your choice. I can respect that. In turn, you should respect your need for separation and stay away from those of us who have vaccinated, both in public and private settings. We are safe unto ourselves, but we can still infect you. This is for your own protection as much as ours. I would hate to learn I inadvertently infected, sickened, or worst case, killed you because I was an unknowing carrier and I was physically close enough to pass the virus to someone with no defense. And wouldn't that just be a shame. 

Just get the damn shot and save your world. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Next time you find yourself at a cemetery, take a walk until you find the old graves,

the ones from the mid-20th century and before. Notice all the baby and children's headstones. 

Then walk back to the modern section and notice how few baby and children's headstones 

can be found amongst the more recent graves. Sure there are some, but very few.

This is because of advances in medications and vaccinations.

Almost no one dies of pertussis, measles, or polio in this country, do they?

From Chesed Shel Emes Cemtery

Following Tangents

Henry & Eleanor together at 
I love that she's reading a book and he's asleep.

As some of you gentle readers know, I write novels. Two are in print, and there is a third in production. I am heavy on research and accuracy, especially in the new book where I am dealing with real events...even if they happened at the end of the 12th century. This means I have spent much of the last few years studying maps, travel times, battles, and armor. I confess, I'm better at clothing parts than almost anything else...years in the theater can do that to you, but I happen to find that particular time period fascinating because so much was happening and almost everything we read about it is from a single perspective: that of the Crusaders and the church. Life at the end of the 12th was messy, bloody, disease ridden, smelly, toxic, and really, really colorful. I love the people who populated that period: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Salah ad-Din, the Jews of al-Andalus, and the tribes of the Maghreb. Of course, Eleanor is my all-time favorite kick-ass heroine. She was one tough cookie who managed to pretty much live life on her terms. She was a force of nature, out-dealing both her husbands, and especially by outliving Henry II who was, even by history's loose standards, a total putz who couldn't keep it in his pants. 

I always thought Peter O'Toole did a fine job capturing his essence in THE LION IN WINTER, while Katharine Hepburn was a great Eleanor. Thank the playwright/screenwriter, James Goldman, for the fabulous script. I feel like I've spent enough time with those two, Eleanor and Henry, to think they must've sounded much the way Goldman wrote them. Their disagreements were legendary, as were how they behaved toward each other despite producing a whole lotta kids, 8 in all,  including King Richard the Lionhearted and King John - aka Lackland -  who happens to be best remembered for being the usurper-villain in the Robin Hood stories. Never mind that he was the one who signed off on the Magna Carta, but who's looking, right?

I confess, I love the research. I love digging into weird stuff, following tangents, and filling my head with wacko-factoids. Yeah, I'm usually pretty good at trivia, too, but this is different. When I was doing the research for Dream Dancer, I spent hundreds of hours in the libraries at the University of Minnesota because the internet was in its infancy and for the early research years, Google didn't exist. Yeah, I used Mosaic and some library-sharing sites, but they were in their user unfriendly period and answers were not fast or reliable enough. I did make some good friends in the U of Mn School of Mines and Metallurgy, especially in their maps library. These guys got so excited about my weird questions, that I had all sorts of help finding answers. It was fun. Whereas I was inventing a culture and a people for Dream Dancer, the characters in the new book lived in a real historical period in real places with some pretty real battles. Sometimes that made stuff easy, other times, it made it impossibly hard to make sure I was getting it right. Since lots has been documented, I was swimming in the sea of info-overload. 

Lately, it feels like it's enough already. The book has been through continuity, line, and copy editing, as well as a trip through the machete machine. I am in the death throes of getting this tome out the door to the woman who will do the interior design as well as the cover. I am just about ready to lock it down and send it off. I'm really excited about this, and really tired of looking at it. 

Retiring didn't mean I was gonna stop working. If anything, I'm working harder these days. There are three novels behind this one in various stages of completion, and one of them actually gets the most attention since it will be next. That one's about an art lawyer. And yes, I have a team of legal eagles who have been great about answering the endless stream of questions I send out. With any luck, that one will go to editors sometime next winter, probably around February, but don't hold me to it. I'm terrible with deadlines. 

Enough whining.

Apartments at the Rodney

I do want to mention the collapse of the condo building in Surfside. Until the folks retired to Delray Beach, we spent a whole bunch of Thanksgivings about 5 blocks from the building, at an oddly magical place called The Rodney. I have great memories of my whole family...aunts, uncles, cousins, all taking apartments along the row...and running amok. The Rodney was totally out of place amidst those gleaming buildings. I used to wish my folks would buy a place in one of them. They were so glamorous with their shining white balconies, with chandeliers in the lobbies visible from the street. Oh, to be on the ocean side and stand looking over the water. But having grown up on the South Shore of Long Island, I was pretty familiar with salt-water erosion. We saw it on a small scale at our beach club where every year, some structure was in need of new concrete and general "realignment." As I listened to the reports on the news today, they were talking about the same stuff our earth-sciences teacher was talking about in high school: the importance of properly established run-off paths, sand settling, stuff like that. And I have to wonder why in this day and age, when a report about just this issue was filed in 2018, no one acted on it. We have enough deep-earth-discovery technology that testing for stability should be routine on a sand bar...and that's exactly what Miami Beach is. This is a tragedy that could have been prevented with proper maintenance. What is wrong with our nation that a structure with routine safe inspections can fail catastrophically like this one? Are we so focused on cheap that the price of life is not even in the equation? Where are our priorities?

Maybe that's easier to answer than one might think. Our priorities have moved away from science into fantasyland not only with vaccinations, but with infrastructure as well. It's easy to call the pandemic the big lie...as long as someone you love hasn't died from it...the same way it's easy to ignore the cracks in the roadbeds of bridges or on the walls of tunnels. It's also about cutting costs, saving a buck, and accepting okay, not best, practices in construction. It's about pseudoscience replacing fact-based medical practice. Look at any penis-enhancing drug, or miracle weight loss beverage. Someone is buying that bull-oney hook, line, and sinker. 

We have become easily deluded into believing whatever slick nonsense is on television or the internet. We have chosen to believe the snake-oil salesmen because they wear expensive-looking suits and Rolex watches...real or fake. Doesn't matter because we are a gullible people, a nation of dupes. The sheer number of telephone scams people fall for should tell you something right there. The princes of Nigeria may be gone, but yesterday, I got a voicemail telling me there was an unauthorized charge on the credit card assigned to my Amazon account and to press 1 to report it. Not even the DO NOT CALL lists work. Clearly, I'm not the only one who thinks we are patsy nation. 

I don't see a lot of hope out there on the horizon for straightening out the priorities of this country. There is no middle ground any more, and too many MAGA hats are still running the GOP. Unless that changes, or the Senate goes blue, this stalemate will go on for yet another election cycle. I wish President Biden luck in his quest to get the GOP to move on any issue. Even one would be a baby step in the right direction. You just gotta hope.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you don't recognize the number, don't answer the phone.

If someone is for real, they will leave a message. 

Duh.