‘It’s a Sin’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There is someone close to me who is on the exact opposite of the culture wars from me. He wants free speech to be absolute unless he disagrees with that speech, then, “fuck you, lib.”

One of the things that really enrages him is the “gay agenda” of the “woke cancel culture mob.” He thinks being gay is a “sin” and the occasional excesses of the center-Left on that front make him apoplectic. I honestly don’t know how you fix that particular problem. In fact, it’s a sign of how the country is tearing itself apart on a macro level.

On a basic level, I agree with this person on a lot of things, but we express our values in a totally different way. But the issue of the “gay agenda” of the “woke cancel culture mob” is definitely something we don’t agree on. I’m extremely blase about such things — I just don’t care — but this person I’m thinking of really gets worked up about it.

When one of the two sides begins to believe that people they disagree with politically are going to hell — that’s not exactly the greatest situation for your nation to be in. The whole situation is fucked up and, as I keep saying, on a macro basis, America is in serious, serious trouble.

If two things happen — a severe recession and Trump getting indicted — happen between now and Election Day 2024, there is a very good chance that Trump will be in a position to, unto himself, cause the destruction of the United States simply by being himself.

But I’m aways wrong, so lulz. Who knows.

‘Character Development’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While I’m reasonably content with where things stand with this second draft of the novel, there is one thing that I really need to work harder on: character. I need to mull on ways to flesh out each of the major characters so they’re not just moods that change as necessary to further the plot.

My dream title for my first novel.

The plot should flow around character, not cause fundimental elements of characters be created out of whole cloth as necessary to keep things going. So, I’m continuing to try to push myself outside of my comfort zone by doing as much reading as possible to flesh out characters.

But, like I said, I am pretty pleased with how things are going. It’s a huge amount of work, however. It’s just sometimes difficult to focus on doing much of anything. Sometimes, I just want to stare out into space and just think. But I have to — have to — stop doing that if I hope to ever finish this first novel in a planned six novel project.

I’m really pleased with the macro arc of this six novel project. It’s all very, very ambitious. To the point that should I do my job right, people will grow really attached to the heroine of the first three novels and want more of her in the second set of three novels when the focus of the story shifts to someone else.

Anyway. Absolutely no one cares about anything I do right now. I could pretty much just walk off the edge of the earth and it would be a few weeks before anyone would notice. But I hope to change that. I want, as they say in the movies, to be “bonafide.”

Don’t Count Malignant Ding-Dong Trump Out Just Yet For 2024

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

There are three things that if they happen in conjunction between now and Election Day 2024 could make Trump a real contender for a second term and, as such, single handedly causing a Second American Civil War.

Indictment
If Jack Smith indicts Trump, then ding-dong Trump instantly becomes a far Right martyr — again — and, as such, he gets a lot of momentum again. Because, as we know, Republicans are in love with “idea” of Trump. They don’t really like Trump as a person, they like what a fighter he is.
A Perfect Storm
If there is a chatbot revolution in the context of a moderate to severe recession in 2023 – 2024, then, suddenly, an indicted Trump really becomes a powerful force in American politics. Again. Even if he continues to be an absolute lazy idiot, if the country was reeling from millions of jobs being rendered moot by a chatbot revolution in the middle of a severe recession…Trump is going to the show.
Ron DeSantis Flames Out
It could be that DeSantis just isn’t ready for a primetime, national audience once he leaves the favorable confines of Florida. He could just not be someone who can handle the direct spotlight of the national press. Who knows.

The Theoretical Power Politics Of Nominating Trump For Speaker of The House

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is very dumb and a waste of time, but I guess I’ve had enough soju that I feel compelled to run this particular scenario. How, exactly, might someone put Trump’s name forward to be Speaker of The House?

Remember, the key thing is, at this point, whomever did it — presumably a Republican — would be playing with fire because Trump might lose. At the same time, even AOC wouldn’t risk nominating Trump– to troll Republicans — because he might win.

But, let’s say, some GQP backbencher grows so frustrated with what’s going on that they go nuts and put Trump’s name up for consideration to be Speaker. This is where things grow curious. If Trump really was a Great Man of History like, say, Hitler, he would be all over the idea of being Speaker, if, for no other reason than he puts him in line of succession to be POTUS again.

And, yet, Trump is so very fucking lazy and so fucking dumb that he just doesn’t have the cognitive ability to do an obvious autocratic play like trying to be Speaker. If Trump wasn’t so lazy, he would threaten to primary anyone who didn’t vote for him to be Speaker the moment it became a real possibility.

But, here we are, with Trump sitting this whole process out.

And, yet, I think if he was nominated, he would get at least 60% of the Republican caucus to vote for him on the first ballet. Just that might be enough to pique ding-dong’s interest to the point that he would start demanding he be nominated again so he could win.

If Trump became Speaker, it would be a total fucking shitshow which could very well directly lead to a Second American Civil War if Trump impeached both Biden and Harris then threatened Red States would leave the Union if the Senate didn’t vote to convict.

But, again, I’m really, really overestimating Trump’s cognitive ability. He’s an idiot.

Things Are Going Way Too Slow With This Second Draft Of The Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I need to hurry up, big time, with the writing of this second draft. Things are going well, just really slow. But the hope is that once I get out of the first chapter, things will move a lot faster.

And, yet, I’m such a perfectionist on a structural basis that I sometimes get really mad at how bad things are — at least in my own mind — and throw everything up in the air and start from scratch: even when it’s not necessary.

No one cares about any of this. No one. And, if they do care, I’m sure they’re just monitoring this blog so they can somehow steal my concept. Ugh. Everything is horrible and meh. But, you have to have hope.

I love being creative for the sake of being creative, so the key thing is just to press forward. To keep believing and to keep trying to see how far I can get with this endeavor. The thing I’ve noticed about a lot of successful people in the publishing industry is how bitter they are.

I guess I just want MY opportunity to be bitter because…I’m a success? Just being a mid-tier novelist at this point in my life would be one of the greatest events of my life. At the moment, I just have one alpha reader who finds the first draft of the novel “intriguing.”

Anyway. I have a lot — A LOT — of reading to do. Life is very short, very precious and if you don’t try to do the things you need to do you could very well just be dead before you accomplish anything and then where are you.

Why Do I Keep Playing The Lottery If I’m Not Going To Win?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I got in some hot water with a bartender recently when I went on one of my regular rants about how much I think playing the lottery is worse than porn. Little did I know that she had a direct, personal, connection to the lottery business.

I felt so bad.

Anyway, as the Mega Millions hovers around $1 billion — again — I decided to play, again, even though I feel extremely foolish doing so. It’s not like anyone from my state ever wins the Mega Millions — or Powerball. It’s usually someone from South Carolina or the Midwest. Virginia just doesn’t have much luck in that department.

But I do have a general moral objection to the lottery because of what a horrible fucking regressive tax it is. Just yesterday I saw some poor woman putting $20, or $40 bucks in the lottery machine in hopes of winning. It’s just horrible. But, here I am, participating in something I don’t believe in.

If that doesn’t say something about my psychology, I don’t know what does.

I think some of the reason why I play the lottery is I have such a hyperactive imagination that it kind of pays for itself in the sense that I do a lot of daydreaming about what I would do if I won about $1 billion. Oh, the “disruptive” things I would do. I would change history if I had $1 billion to play with.

It’s better to burn out than fade away as they say, so, as such, i would think up all kinds of different ways to make some of my harebrained ideas become a reality. I might build out a Twitter clone based on Usenet concepts. I might buy a newspaper. I might start a podcasting network in the vein of Gawker Media.

Did I mention I hate being broke?

My Theory About The Real Problem With Picking A New House Speaker

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t know anything about anything, but my general hunch is the reason why House Republicans can’t seem to manage to name a Speaker is what they really want is a Speaker Trump. Or, at least, a sizable number of House Republicans would only really be satisfied if they could put his name up for a vote.

Speaker Trump

Or, put another way, a big chunk of House Republicans want an actual fucking fascist to be Speaker of the House. But because that chunk isn’t 218 votes, we are where we are now — with no Speaker. Because that’s the general sense I get from the MAGA Nazi chatter on Twitter: they really want a far, far Right Speaker who will burn the whole system to the ground in an effort to move us as close to an autocratic fascist state as possible.

It will be interesting to see how far all of this progresses. It will be interesting to see if we have to wait a few weeks for all of this to get sorted out or if it will wrap up pretty quick. At the moment, it seems as though this particular crisis isn’t going anywhere.

It makes you wonder what we would don if there was a major domestic or international crisis that would require the entirety of the Federal government to be functioning.

It also makes one wonder what a Speaker Trump would be like in practical terms. I think it would be a complete shit show — just like the first Trumplandia — and it would be a lot of Trump thrashing around looking for an excuse to crash the economy and or impeach as much of the Biden Administration as possible.

If An Equitable Answer From A Chatbot Is ‘Woke’ We’re All In A Lot Of Trouble

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the more recent pings from a very dark future is how the intellectual framework for a massive battle over the supposed “wokeness” of chatbots like ChatGPT is now being built out on Twitter in real time.

It definitely seems as though the battle over “woke chatbots” could be the “critical race theory” of 2023 – 2024. The reason why I say this is from just my own personal use of ChatGPT, the answers aren’t really “woke” at all so much as rather equitable.

It’s just that we live in such an era of hyperpolarization that any answer on the part of a chatbot that isn’t hate filled like MAGA itself is considered “woke.” So, in the end, I think one of the aims of the next Republican Administration is going to be to regulate chatbots so they don’t “indoctrinate” people.

I find it darkly amusing that MAGA people go apeshit about how they want free speech, but the moment someone wants to espouse their own free speech that doesn’t fit MAGA doctrine, then, THEN it’s “indoctrination.” MAGA can be so wrapped up in its own bullshit that they don’t even realize what fucking hypocrites they are.

Anyway. Lulz. We’re doomed. Buckle up.

Having An Obsessive Personality Sure Does Help With Writing A Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m really pushing my writing ability to the limit with this novel. As such, I find myself being thankful for how obsessive I am. I keep doing the same thing over and over again in a slightly different way in hopes of meeting the very high –and very arbitrary — standards I have set in my mind for elements of this novel.

Writing this novel is existential to me at this point — it’s not like I have much of anything else to do — so I keep working. Everything is going reasonably well, but I really, really am struggling at times with the various Rube Goldberg Machine elements of developing and writing a story as big as a novel.

The biggest issue I have at the moment is there are some structural elements to this novel’s beginning that I have to make seem essential, when they’re pretty much just needed so when Something Finally Happens (the inciting incident) you, the reader are so invested in the characters I’ve come up with that you get excited and want to finish the novel.

It’s just a real pain in the butt to write these structurally required scenes because you pretty much have to make up bullshit out of whole cloth that you know is doing nothing more than engaging the reader for the main event. Maybe I’m being a little to hard on these scenes, but they are a real pain in the butt to make interesting.

But they (usually) have / need to exist.

If they don’t you get to the meat of the story, but the audience just doesn’t care. This is why often time thrillers start off really slow, the kind of simmer for 20,000 or 30,000 words while you establish character, place and tone. Hell, if you’re Stieg Larsson, it’s not 30,000 words it’s 70,000 words you spend building up to some sort of point.

I just can’t afford to do that. I’ve got to balance things.

My Hot Take On The Clusterfuck Going On In The House of Representatives Right Now

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Just from what I can glean on Twitter, it seems as though the crux of the problem when it comes to electing a new Speaker is this: all the momentum is with the fascists, but the fascists don’t have the votes. So, you have a situation where a core group of MAGA fascists won’t be placated unless they elect an actual Nazi as Speaker.

But they don’t have the votes, there is some of a standoff going on between the fascists and the moderates how are queasy at the naming an actual fascist as speaker. It will be interesting who blinks first on this subject. I’m seeing a lot of chatter within far Right MAGA circles around Chip Roy. He makes Jim Jordan look like AOC and, as such, is perfect for what the dyed in the wool fascists want in a Speaker.

Really, what MAGA Republicans want is to cut out the middle man and have a Speaker Trump.

It could be that the House is going to give Trumplandia levels of “entertainment” when it comes to being out of control and generating vast sums of bullshit. Once they figure out who the Speaker is going to be, then the which hunts will be gin about “the Big Guy” and the border “crisis.” The number of people in the Biden Administration who are probably going to get impeached this year will be shocking.

And remember — we’re in for a moderate to severe recession this year and or next, which would be a perfect storm if you want to get the public behind successfully impeaching a president and or vice president for made up bullshit.