Another Rumination on Martin Luther King Day

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In the United States, today is given over to the commemoration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s something on which I’ve remarked before, which is not necessarily a surprise; I’ve been blogging in this webspace for a while, now, and I’m getting old enough that things repeat themselves for me anymore. I stand by my remarks at that time; I am really not the person to comment extensively on the commemoration, and it is the case that we’re not near the ideal the man espoused, with many still kicking and screaming (and worse) as they are dragged, slowly, toward it.

It’s a good statue, so I’m using the image again.
Photo still by Gotta Be Worth It on Pexels.com

Why, then, make note of the day as the day?

Because it is a set aside holiday, and as a day set aside, it invites contemplation. Though I did not succeed in my career intentions (yes, plural), I remain a person given to contemplation. A sanctioned opportunity for it is therefore welcome.

Because it is a public holiday, and I am a member of the public, and so there is an effect on me even if I am not the target audience for it.

Because it is an event that will receive and has received much attention, if I do not make at least some comment about it, there will be some concern about me that is not warranted. (This leaves aside the concerns that are warranted, of which there are a few.)

Because I have had more substantive comments upon it, it seems fitting to consider whether or not they still apply. They do, more’s the pity, but a scant few years is too short a time to redress great wrongs without great upset, and such upset is likely to have unintended consequences that will work to the ill of those who ought, instead, to be supported.

There is ill enough in the world without adding to it. Perhaps the commemoration will help. I do not think it will hurt, save those who probably ought to be hurt.

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A Brief Pause before Something Else Happens

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Staring out through the broad plate glass at
The clear blue sky cleared by
Notus groaning at an unexpected time and
Wondering when what is causing his ecstasy will
Make its way my way

It’s coming…
Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com

For now
Nothing is where I can see it
But I can feel it in my bones
Becoming an old man as I am
And the ache is a distraction

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What I Did over the Weekend

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Yesterday (as this posts) was my fourteenth wedding anniversary. It having been a Tuesday, my wife and I knew that we’d not be able to do anything to commemorate the occasion on the day, itself. Both of us work, after all, and neither of us can afford to take the day right at that time. What we did, then, was to go out on the Saturday before. For a while, we had been looking at going out to check out some of the local wineries (the Texas Hill Country abounds in them) and breweries; on Saturday, we took the opportunity to do the latter, stopping off at a few places along Fitzhugh Road west of Austin.

A stretch of the road in question, shown on Google Maps for reference and commentary.

The first stop along our short tour was Jester King Brewery. The approach to it was a bit rough, and the facility shows that it was assembled in stages. Still, the wood-fired pizza looked and smelled good (we ate before heading out), and the beers I had were tasty. Too, there was something of a festival atmosphere about the place, with its open fields, goats, and such, and we were advised by staff of an upcoming event to which we are like to go–taking our daughter with us, weather and circumstances permitting, since it sounds like something she might enjoy. (There were a number of kids of various ages running about the place and petting the goats, as well, so I think there’ll be enough to catch her interest.) It was well worth going to, and I do hope things work out such that we can find our way back over to the place.

The second stop was not far up the road: Beerburg. Getting to it from Jester King was fairly easy, and we decided to eat while we were on site. I’m glad we did; the food was excellent. The beans and rice that accompanied our meals were quite good, the former solid and the latter finely spiced. My wife had a quesadilla she described as the best she’d had, and I very much appreciated my shrimp tacos. The beers were a bit quirky (the mugwort brew, in particular), although, in the brewery’s defense, they had been advertised as being such. I can appreciate experimentation when I know it’s coming, and I’d be willing to taste some of their other trials–as long as I can get more of those tacos!

Afterward, we put in at Fitzhugh Brewing. If Jester King is a festival and Beerburg a wonky local pub, Fitzhugh Brewing is an HGTV home makeover. My wife identified it as evoking the Gaines’s Magnolia in Waco in terms of aesthetic, and she notes it as catering to a demographic in which neither she nor I partake. The beers were decent enough, as was the pretzel we split between us, but none of them were exceptional. It was something of a letdown after the earlier experiences; perhaps if we’d done things in a different order or visited at a different time, we’d’ve enjoyed it more fully.

The last stop on our tour wasn’t on Fitzhugh Road, as such, but the road it becomes as a driver follows it west; it turns to Pedernales Falls Road and then becomes FM 2766. Just off of the intersection of FMs 2766 and 3232, hard by Pedernales Falls State Park, is the Pedernales Falls Trading Post. My wife had long noted wanting to check it out, and I was happy to oblige her (if later than ought to have been the case). The venue offers a vanishingly small indoor space. There is ample outdoor seating, however, and a grill that gives off the most succulent smells as it cooks burgers to go along with pulls from a scant few taps worked by a singularly jovial barman. It’s a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, perfect for a quiet couple of beers of an evening, and perfect for us to have closed out our day on. I think we’ll be going back there, too.

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A Robin Hobb Rereading Series: Entry 381: Blood of Dragons, Chapter 15

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Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

Following a message from Sealia Finbok to Hest, one meant to be held against his return, “Hostages” begins with Skelly conferring with her captain and uncle, Leftrin, about the unlikelihood of success retrieving Silver from the well the keepers have reopened in Kelsingra. She pleads to be tasked with the retrieval, but Leftrin refuses, and further conversation is cut off by the return of the dragons, whose needs must be addressed. Thymara finds herself considering her relationship with Tats once again as the dragons beckon and their quirks are noted, as are ongoing changes in Rapskal, and she joins the others in rushing to tend the dragons.

https://www.deviantart.com/gryphonic19/art/Heeby-757727927
The dragon of the hour?
Heeby by gryphonic19 on DeviantArt, used for commentary

The dragons return to Kelsingra, delighting in the actions they took against the Chalcedeans and asking for reports on progress towards the Silver. Soon after, the ship being escorted arrives.

Leftrin chafes at the arrival of the new vessel as his crew helps to bring it into port. The captives are brought ashore, and Leftrin notes with some surprise the presence of Traders among them as Alise joins him. Calls for executions ring out, and Leftrin argues against them, Alise recognizing that Rapskal has been largely swallowed by the memories embedded in Kelsingra. Amid the confusion, some of the captive Chalcedeans attempt escape and are thwarted, leaving the issue unresolved.

Hest, for his own part, assesses the changes in his situation as he is also brought under guard to Kelsingra. He marvels at what he finds there and begins contemplating what treasures it holds, and then he recognizes Alise among the throng, bristling as she accepts Leftrin’s attentions. He swiftly perceives that the pair have grown intimate, and he begins to plot how he will take control of things. Scanning the crowd for a likely target, he is shocked to see Sedric among the Elderlings and wounded to see his clear affection with Carson. And so he begins to plot revenge.

I note something of a parallel between one of the keepers and the Fool in the present chapter. The note is made that one of the keepers, Kase, came into contact with a small bit of the scant Silver retrieved from the well. A lack of pain and the presence of oddness of sensation are attested. Something similar comes to mind for the incidental contact the Fool had with the Skill-imbued Verity and the subsequent uses of power that resulted from it. Again, I’m nerd enough to appreciate the call-backs and echoes of older texts in the more recent, even if I’m not always skilled enough in the moment to notice them directly.

I note, too, the disparity of textual treatment of characters in the present chapter. The summary above does not entirely reflect it, but the section of the chapter that focuses on Hest and his thoughts is the single longest and most coherent in the chapter; it spans some six pages, while the other sections are three, five, and five pages, so while Hest does not receive a majority of attention, he does have a plurality of it. (A word-count would give more accurate information, of course, but such exceeds the scope of a post to a weblog such as this one.) It’s not necessarily a surprise; he has been figured throughout the Rain Wilds Chronicles as a significant antagonist, petty as he is presented as being, specifically as an impediment both Alise (one of the primary protagonists) and Sedric (a clear secondary, but a strong secondary protagonist) must overcome. Nor is it surprising that the presentation rather heavily foreshadows the coming conflict between him and those he had formerly controlled, although it might have been hoped that his own experiences in servitude and abjection might make him more sympathetic to them and contrite for his own misdeeds. Instead, he seems to be following in the footsteps of Regal Farseer once again, and while it is the case that neither Alise nor Sedric is as capable of ironic cruelty as Fitz or a certain mustelid, there are no few in Kelsingra who are…

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Jack’s Delayed

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Though the skies are hanging grey
And the fall has fled away
There’s been no snow for children’s play
It’s clear that Jack has been delayed

Not the local scenery…
Photo by Stijn Dijkstra on Pexels.com

That Jack has not visited yet
Is not something many regret
But I would never care to bet
That he this place would all forget

As old men drinking coffee know
Jack has appeared and had in tow
A baggage train that caused great woe
And left a mess ere he did go

But forecasts say he will pass by
More oft than not; they give the lie
To wisdom held ‘hind wrinkléd eye
Though kids still hope Jack will come nigh

The holiday season might be nearly past,
But there’s still time to get hold of something that lasts:
Words that will remain before people’s eyes.
I have them on offer, as is no surprise…

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Yes, Virginia, It’s Another Office Piece

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I mentioned in my previous post that I’ve taken up work in a new office in Johnson City, Texas. Writing about my office spaces is something of a tradition for me, as attested here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, if not in other places. (I don’t have the car anymore.) So it’s sensible enough that, as I’m settling into the new situation, I ought to give some attention to it.

Because you need to see it.
Photo by Kevin Elliott

As might be guessed from the picture, there’s still some filling-in to do. That will come as clients start to do so, and I expect that will start to happen soon. Word will get out that I’m here and that the office is open, and people will start having what they need to have for me to work my work with them. (Of course, local folks who need some writing work done already have that in hand, and I’m here, waiting and ready to help them with it.) But for now, I’ve got a comfortable chair, data access, and space in which to work–almost all inside, and with only a little heavy lifting! It’s a good setup, and one I look forward to having for a good long while.

I’ll note that, yes, the kind of work that I’ll be doing here is not the kind of work I’d imagined myself doing those many years ago when I went off to college or those not-as-many years ago when I went to graduate school. It’s not the kind of work I’d imagined doing when I moved to New York City, or to Stillwater, or back to the Texas Hill Country. It’s not even the kind of work I’d imagined doing when I moved to Johnson City a few years back. But it’s work for which I have trained and in which I am increasingly confident and skilled. It’s work that needs doing for a great many people for reasons I’m not about to get into at the moment. And it’s work that doesn’t have a lot of people willing or able to do it well in the part of the world where I live–yet.

That’s why I’m here, now, doing what I’m doing. And that’s what this new office space is meant to provide.

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On the New Year 2024

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Here it is, the first of the year. As I write this, a cup of coffee steaming on the desk in front of me, I feel a sense of hope for the coming twelve months. There’re things going on that don’t necessarily impact this webspace, and I’m largely looking forward to them. Most notable is that, starting tomorrow, I’ll be heading up an office in Johnson City, Texas, where I have lived for a while. The office builds on the skills, abilities, and training I’ve already got, and I have the hope that, in the coming months, it’ll become a thriving part of the local economy.

Stop on by!
Image from Google Maps, used for commentary

I’ll admit to some concern about the endeavor. It’s been a while since I was management, after all, and there’s some rust to knock off. Too, any new business endeavor carries with it some risk, and while I do still have some insulation, it’s not as abundant as might be preferred. Further, there’s a bit of a wind-up period to be expected, and while the work I’ll be doing is just coming into season now, it’ll take a bit for the business to get out into the town and well known.

So much said, I’ll continue to offer the services I currently do. I’m still happy to take commissions for written-to-order pieces that do not use the rampant theft involved in AI-generated work, creating unique texts to meet your needs. Poetry, essays, memoirs, works of fiction, ad copy, press releases, business and technical documentation–I’m happy to work with you on any or all of them to help you craft the best possible work. Reader-review and copy-editing are also available, as always, as is support for writing instruction.

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A Little Bud

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It was something we’d known was coming for a while
Kind of hard to miss, really
And it’s likely for the best
He’d not been having a good time of it for some time
Though he still got up
Tail wagging
Last time we were over there
And there’s something to that

He was a good boy
For a good, long while
And he’s worth the tears

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No Gamble

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I didn’t win the lottery with
The ticket that I bought from
Proceeds of a scratch-off that
Filled my stocking recently

Something like that…
Photo by Waldemar on Pexels.com

That matters little enough
I’m used to not having the money
And in the games that really matter
I’ve come out pretty far ahead

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