Atop Clingmans Dome, November 2007

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Fri   9 Jan 2009   12:11 am

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 A Peek Behind the McGeheeZone.com Curtain
 Posted:   Thu   4 Dec 2008   12:19 pm   "0!"

There is a reason why I have virtually sworn off politics on this site, but it isn’t what some may conclude.

Lately I’ve been seeing some other bloggers, who shared my opinions about how the Nov. 4 election should have turned out, focusing on things like Barack 0bama’s birth certificate, or trying to answer proggs’ continued pushing of the “Imelda Palin” line because of how much the RNC allegedly spent on clothes for her during the fall campaign.

As far as 0bama is concerned, I am neither seeking to make nice with him, nor to pursue him like a pit bull, simply because it’s not up to me to decide when or whether he succeeds or fails. It’s on him now, and I say let him succeed or fail (with quiet confidence as to which it will be) on his own merits. Questions of presidential legitimacy are exactly what led the Left to its eight-year-long case of Bush Derangement Syndrome, so I say leave that shit alone. Barack 0bama will take office on Jan. 20, and will exercise the powers of that office thereafter for the next four years. Then it will be up to the voters to judge (1) whether he has delivered the Hope™ and Change™ he has promised, and (2) whether the Republican Party’s alternative candidate is any better.

You know what? I think (2) is of somewhat more importance to you and me than is (1). So, I’ll probably resume comment on politics at some point, but not right now. I just don’t have anything useful to say. (Except, you know, what I’m saying here. To my fellow bloggers.)

Let 0bama succeed or fail on his <sotto voce> puny, nonexistent </sotto voce> merits. People will be a lot more willing to listen to alternatives if they’re coming from people who haven’t been nagging them endlessly for four years about what a useless schmuck their new president is.

As for the proggs’ Palin Derangement Syndrome, why let that be The Narrative™ about her? We should talk instead, for example, about how much her campaign appearances in Georgia helped increase Saxby Chambliss’ margin of victory in the Dec. 2 runoff. Instead of answering the proggs’ accusations with counter-accusations, focus not on mythical negatives but actual positives.

Negative campaigning may work, but not in the absence of a counter-balancing campaign of positives.
 

 Let’s Start the Christmas Music
 Posted:   Wed   3 Dec 2008   7:00 pm   "0!"

Up first, a snappy re-imagining of “The Carol of the Bells.”

» Read more Let’s Start the Christmas Music
 

 Writing Again
 Posted:   Sun   30 Nov 2008   4:57 pm   "0!"

I’ve added to this story, despite having apparently painted the plot into a corner during the scene at Shorty’s apartment.

As some may have noticed from reading the other stories—“Don’t Hitchhike” and “Pandæmonium”—not everything brought out in this story will necessarily be tied up before it ends.

Updated:   Mon   1 Dec 2008   00:21

Excerpt:

Somebody who wanted to get ahead in life by mugging people wouldn’t try to mug me, but he didn’t know who I was until I’d picked him up off the sidewalk. He was good enough to give me directions to Creedie’s, in return for which I stopped beating his face in.


 

 Sent
 Posted:   Fri   28 Nov 2008   10:10 pm   "1!"

Do this now. H/t Vodkapundit.
 

 [insert silly ‘meme’ pun here]
 Posted:   Fri   28 Nov 2008   9:30 pm   "3!"

Yeah, I don’t get it either. In the last 36 hours I’ve posted more than I had in the previous week. Maybe it’s the tryptophan.

Got this meme from Local Malcontent.

Do you remember your first favorite song? If so, what was it?

The first song I remember liking was “Get Back” by The Beatles.

What do you refuse to eat?

Anything I damn well want to refuse to eat.

Have you ever injected any kind of drug before?

When I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I resolved to control it with diet because I refuse to consider injecting myself with insulin, let alone any kind of drug.

Do amusement park rides make you sick?

No, the admission prices hit me long before I get near the rides.

Who is your favorite Star Wars character?

Yoda. “Try not! Do—or do not. There is no try.”

What kind of cheese do you put on your sandwiches?

American.

What was the first thing you ever learned how to cook?

Spaghetti.

Did you ever collect beanie babies?

No.

When was the last time you got a haircut?

Summer 2007. I usually shear it all off when hot weather comes and keep my head shaved or cut very short, but this past summer I didn’t. It’s now just over my collar if I button the top button.

Have you ever been to a bachelor/bachelorette party?

No.

Where are you most ticklish on your body?

If I told you, I’d have to kill you.

Have you ever bailed anyone out of jail?

Nah, let ‘em rot.

What’s the last board game you played?

I play backgammon on the computer. I honestly cannot remember the last time I played a board game on an actual board.

Do you still own any VHS tapes?

Quite a few, but most we’ve also got on DVD since.

Do you shop at JC Penney’s ever?

The last two times I’ve been in one I haven’t found anything to buy. One of those stores was in Fairbanks and has closed.

If there was a real Jurassic Park, would you visit it?

How much are they charging for admission?

Do you ever read the newspaper?

Only online, and only our local paper—no major metropolitan dailies.

Do you eat your mac & cheese with a fork or a spoon?

Last time I had it I used a fork.

Is there any medicine/pill you take everyday?

B-complex vitamins.

How many 20 dollar bills do you have on you right now?

If I told you, I’d have to kill you.

Would you do meth if it was legalized?

I do the occasional times-tables when nobody’s looking. Oh, and you misspelled “math.”

Are you afraid others will judge you, reading your answers to survey questions?

Are you nuts? Who’s ever going to read these?

Do you think 0bama will be assassinated?

I hope not. Let him succeed or fail on his own merits, not as a martyr to the mob that elected him.

Have you ever made out with someone and then never saw them again?

Yes.

Do you drink egg nog?

[hic]

What are you wearing?

Clothes.

G’night.
 

 Biden
 Posted:   Fri   28 Nov 2008   10:38 am   "0!"

One knock that has been made with some justification against President Bush is that he hasn’t used the opportunity of eight years as president to groom a successor—which arguably contributed to the debacle of the 2008 campaign season for the GOP.

I think we will be seeing the same failure by Barack 0bama.

I mean, come on: Joe Biden?
 

 India
 Posted:   Thu   27 Nov 2008   11:21 am   "0!"

That thing you’re all thinking—those of you who, like me, voted for the GOP presidential ticket a few weeks ago—don’t say it. It doesn’t matter who won some stupid election, America is still America. We and our friends and allies are never to be fucked with. Never.

Instead, pray for the innocents caught in that whole terrible mess, and pray that justice comes to those responsible, and that it comes to them in profoundly uncomfortable ways at excruciatingly inopportune times.
 

 [urp]
 Posted:   Thu   27 Nov 2008   11:14 am   "1!"

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

I’m thankful to still be able to travel across state lines without having to show an internal passport at the border.
 

 Have At It
 Posted:   Tue   25 Nov 2008   11:34 am   "0!"

On a trial basis, I’ve removed the registration requirement for posting comments. Depending on how it goes, I’ll decide after Thanksgiving whether to keep it this way, go back to registration only, or switch entirely over to using Haloscan.

The advantage of Haloscan is mainly that the comments are not stored on my server, so as long as the trolling and spam don’t get way out of hand I can be a lot more tolerant than I would be using the onboard comments. However I like, and I think most people like, to be able to peruse comments and the original post on the same page, and that’s not available with Haloscan (unless I quit EE and start using Blogger again, and nobody wants that).

Updated:   Sun   30 Nov 2008   14:38

Decision made: I’ll keep it this way.

By the way, for the benefit of would-be forum spammers who might want to register here, I do check up on registrants whose handles I don’t recognize. One sure giveaway is that your e-mail address has turned up on a whole bunch of other sites at about the same time you applied here, with no content generated that could be found.

Of course, if I do find content, that also gets taken into account…
 

 Shut Up and… On Second Thought, Just Shut Up
 Posted:   Sat   22 Nov 2008   1:01 am   "1!"

I’m no longer going to cut people slack for expressing uninformed but arrogant opinions about things outside their area of expertise, just because it’s outside their area of expertise.

It’s not that I begrudge anyone expressing an opinion, even an uninformed one, about things outside their area of expertise—after all, every opinion I express is outside mine. Because technically, I don’t have one. But I have always felt obliged to approach any subject about which I know little, with as much intelligence as I can bring to bear. I will express uninformed opinions as a means of eliciting knowledge from those who know better than I do, so that I can learn and be able to express an informed, or at least less uninformed, opinion in the future.

I’ve always had the attitude that if I can go to that effort, everybody else can too. As of today, I’m accepting no more excuses.

From now on, if a software coder admits to being, say, a 9/11 “Truther,” I will no longer trust his software. If his judgment, which is independent of knowledge, is unsound, the decisions he makes in writing software may be likewise unsound.

As for performers like the Dixie Chicks, I will no longer say, “...and sing.”

Lack of expertise is, temporarily, an excuse for lack of information—but there is no excuse for stupidity.
 

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Most recently updated fiction projects:

Play Rough, Fight Dirty—Chapter 6
Updated Sat 3 Jan 2009 11:32 am   "0!"

A tale of two new bicycles.

Dance with the Devil What Brung Ya—Part 3
Updated Sat 3 Jan 2009 11:32 am   "2!"

The story continues…

Dance with the Devil What Brung Ya—Part 2
Updated Wed 17 Dec 2008 1:25 pm   "1!"

An unexpected rescue leads to an uncertain bargain.

Dance with the Devil What Brung Ya—Part 1
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 10:43 pm   "2!"

A driver goes missing and the whole world goes to hell.

Pandæmonium
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:57 pm   "4!"

When you claim a name that carries fame, you also take the blame.

Play Rough, Fight Dirty—Chapter 5: Down by the River
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:56 pm   "0!"

Idle hands dig up a mystery.

Don’t Hitchhike
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:54 pm   "6!"

A lethal encounter in the desert. With a bullet in his back, Caleb fights for his life against the elements, a determined killer, and his own fading strength.

Play Rough, Fight Dirty—Chapter 4: Bushwhacked
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:54 pm   "1!"

“Even in his seemingly calm mood, it was a chilling feeling, being looked at by Seth Scruggins.”

Play Rough, Fight Dirty—Chapter 3: Rain, Rides and Wrath
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:54 pm   "8!"

A ride from a girl leads Wiley to big trouble.

Play Rough, Fight Dirty—Chapter 2: All This and a Pair of Pants
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:54 pm   "2!"

Wiley gets a job and meets a girl.

Play Rough, Fight Dirty—Chapter 1: The Suitcase and the Compost Box
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:53 pm   "3!"

Meet the characters and learn a little about the town where they live.

From the LITTLE SPRINGS POST-RECORD: May 23, 1880
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:53 pm   "0!"

More background on Clearwater’s history.

Dark Heart
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:53 pm   "6!"

An attempt in the sci-fi vein to further explore, among other things, the possibilities for nanotech integration—and not of the “gray goo” genre.

The Reluctant I
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:52 pm   "2!"

In this, the first of the exercises mentioned here, the challenge is to write a 600-word story from the first-person point of view, but severely limiting the use of the first-person pronoun. The “I” nevertheless has to be important to the story.

Inorganism
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:51 pm   "0!"

Having recently seen I, Robot, I’ve been inspired to write something based on what I see as a more likely evolution of existing technology—one in which robots as conceived by Asimov don’t quite exist.

Medicine Mountain
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:51 pm   "0!"

An attempt to write about my Clearwater characters closer to the present day than in “Play Rough, Fight Dirty.” Much of Wiley’s backstory from this effort translates into “PRFD,” but some is a little different, and I’m not sure whether I want to finish this story.

Wash & Zoë‘s Wedding
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:51 pm   "0!"

Prior to the release of Serenity, the studio-hosted Browncoats website hosted a number of contests, including one calling for fans’ versions of the vows said by Zoë and Wash when they were married. I couldn’t settle for merely writing vows—I had to write the whole scene.

From the LITTLE SPRINGS POST-RECORD: August 3, 1879
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:50 pm   "0!"

Some very early Clearwater backstory—recounting, after a fashion, events told in a short story I have yet to post on the web.

Just a Slob Like One of Us
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:50 pm   "0!"

Just another post-modern “it sucks to be all-powerful” tale.

Have No Master
Updated Tue 16 Dec 2008 4:50 pm   "0!"

The “noble wolf” is a predator, people!



Wind River Mountains, Wyoming; June 2005

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