Month: April 2023

‘None Dare Call It Treason,’ MTG Edition

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve given up trying to grok what the hell is going on within far Right circles where they are so partisan that they actively embrason treason if it fits their narrative. I suppose it all has something to do with how Trump is, at least in “vibe” terms a traitor so they feel they have to defend him via proxy whenever they can.

All of this is even more bonkers in the context of the legacy of Ronald Reagan. The fact that MAGA fascists would be “hard” on “wokeness” and amazingly soft of on treason and espionage is simply flabbergasting. Not only is it all very difficult to process, but if our partisan divide has gotten that bad, then it’s just a short jaunt to a National Divorce.

Now, remember, some — maybe most — of MTG’s bullshit is performative. She’s so craven that she’ll say whatever necessary to “own the libs” and stoke the base. I do think that she has the means, motive and opportunity to be America’s true autocrat by way of being ding-dong Trump’s second term Veep. She’s an idiot, but she’s definitely not so dumb that she couldn’t become what is marketed as America’s “Iron Lady” when the time comes.

There are about a dozen would-be autocrat waiting in the wings to do the final consolidation of power once Trump is out of the way. I still wonder if the tradition to autocracy will be peaceful or not. It really could go either way. The point is –we’re entering a very unstable moment in America’s political history. MAGA Republicans, on a systemic basis are chomping at the bit to establish permanent white Christian rule and the only question is if Blues bend a knee when they strike or if they bounce out of the Union in protest.

But, let me be clear — I can’t predict the future. I have no idea what is going to happen.

‘Another Drop of Blood’ — #lyrics to a ‘woke’ #Pop #Rock Song

Another Drop of Blood
lyrics by @sheltgarner
please give credit if you produce or perform

you tell me your gun
has only two problems
rust and the liberal
we’ll I think you’re a fool
I sure do
’cause
our children are dying

your gun is getting rusty
rusty from the fresh blood
of the innocent
rusty blood
rusty blood
can you fire off another round
rusty blood
rusty blood
or are you down for the count

another day another drop of blood
the streets run red with it
(or at least it seems)
but tell me again, Mr.
how can’t handle a little control
is your weapon slippery with all that blood?

your gun is getting rusty
rusty from the fresh blood
of the innocent
rusty blood
rusty blood
can you fire off another round
rusty blood
rusty blood
or are you down for the count

(bridge)
all we want is a little peace
a little peace and quiet
a little peace and quiet
a little peace and quiet
but as long as we cling to our guns
we’ll get neither I’m afraid

your gun is getting rusty
rusty from the fresh blood
of the innocent
rusty blood
rusty blood
can you fire off another round
rusty blood
rusty blood
or are you down for the count

The War of ‘Vibes:’ What To Make Of MAGA’s Fucking Freak Out Over Bud Light & Dylan Mulvaney

So. What to make of this particular kerfuffle. I could care less that Bud Light has decided to work with trans “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney. So what. I don’t see how it’s hurting anyone. And, yet, from the way MAGA “thought leaders” talk about the situation, you’d think Jesus wouldn’t come back unless Something Is Done about this particular situation.

Unlike the more concrete issues of abortion and gun control, much of the controversy over “woke” companies working with the Transgender movement is just…vibes. White (male) Christians are big fucking crybabies and anything they forces them to maybe step outside their comfort zone makes them freak the fuck out.

They don’t like what they don’t like because they don’t like it.

Now, I’ve written a lot before about how there is a specific meta issue with all of this that really fucking bugs me — the fact that there is something of a Trans orthodoxy that is so strict that a lot of well-meaning feel they have no choice but to support fascism.

But I can honestly say I had no clue who Dylan Mulvaney was until MAGA people began to freak out. MAGA has made it pretty clear on Twitter what is going on — they want to make Dylan Mulvaney so “problematic” that Bud Light has to pull out of their work with her.

This is very frothy logic and it definitely comes across as MAGA though leaders sucking their own cocks. The two sides are so siloed in their echo chambers at this point that all the ranting on the part of MAGA about Mulvaney does is make Blues like her more and Reds hate her more.

MAGA is willing to hurt their own macro goals simply because on a tactical basis they can’t handle someone disagreeing with them. And one of the cornerstone elements of MAGA is MAGA is run by the very elites that the average MAGA person hates.

But I suppose it’s inevitable that if there is some sort of MAGA revolution, that we’ll reach the “revolution eating its own young” phase of things.

Any. Fuck MAGA.

Day 12: ‘Sweetspot’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m trying to be as careful with my scene count as possible. I’ve finally gotten the scene counts for each segment of the novel down to just about where I want them to be.

But there is the issue of the length of the individual scenes. I’m worried that even though the actual scene count is where I need it to be, because as I improve as a storyteller my individual scenes are getting longer that in the end, lulz. My fear is I’ll STILL blow past the 100,000 wordcount sweetspot.

With that in mind, I continue to dwell on a second creative tract. I have two strong scifi novel concepts that I need to work out so, if all else fails, I’ll have a novel or two that is just about 100,000 words. That is a lot of work, of course, but the hope is that once I finish my first novel that I will understand the dynamics of how to write a novel well enough that the process of developing and writing a second and third novel will come to me a lot easier.

At least, that’s the dream.

I feel a mixture of terror and excitement over what is going to happen I start to not only the beta reader process, but I also begin to — gulp — querying agents. That’s really going to fill me with a great deal of existential dread because I can’t help who I am. I can be a rather…colorful…character and my fear is that I could write the fucking Bible and agents will lulz representing me once they do a quick due diligence on me via social media.

But the story I’ve come up with is getting darker and spicier. The biggest change between the first and second draft so far is I’m making great pains to establish stakes, so the question of, “Why should I care?” is answered clearly. I’m really trying to make my villians, villainous to the point the Good Guys are Good and the Bad Guys are Bad.

And, yet, of course, I am doing all of this in a vacuum, so, lulz, I don’t know what to tell you. It could be that the beta reader process could be a lot — A LOT — more bumpy than I’d prefer. Who knows, though.

I’m Beginning To Grow Concerned About Gun Violence In America On a Personal Basis

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I now, for the first time, find myself dwelling on what I would do if some whack job started shooting while I’m out. I know in the abstract that this is rather ridiculous, but I also realize that gun violence in the United States is so completely out of hand that I probably need to begin to psych myself up for the possibility that the bullets may start flying.

The fear reminds me of a short story concept I have in which everyone is handed a gun at 18 and you’re required to be packing at all times, no matter what. That definitely seems like the future we’re careening towards — at least in Red States.

Guns are definitely an issue that continues to tear the country apart. If you want to know how Red or Blue a state — or a person — is, figure out their views on common sense gun control. The issue is, of course, that on a systemic basis Republicans continue to lurch towards getting their autocratic future where voting is a lulz and fuck you woke libtard.

When MAGA catches that particular car, that will be the moment of truth to determine one way or another if the United States becomes an autocracy with permanent white Christian minority rule or we have a civil war. It could go either way at this point.

And as I keep ranting about — it all depends on Trump.

Which direction the country goes will ultimately fall in Trump’s lap. He could, unto himself, cause a civil war to happen either by winning or by losing! I’m coming to believe Blues just don’t have it in them to be so bold as to serve papers on a National Divorce. It will be too easy for the would-be leadership of a Blue Nation to simply decamp to the south of France to produce their smug out-of-touch podcasts.

I don’t know. Everything is so muddled at this point. I really don’t want a civil war. I have a novel to try to sell.

The Current State of Abortion Politics Perfectly Sums Up Why America is Very, Very Fucked

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The bonkers state of affairs on the abortion front is a prime example of how America is facing the existential choice of autocracy or civil war in late 2024, early 2025.

The reason is — the Republican Party continues to lose support because of Trump and yet the base of the GQP is so potent that they continue to cling on to the least-popular of agendas. If the United States was a functioning democracy, there would come a point of crisis, a tipping point, where Republicans would finally realize they have to adjust their policy positions so they can get back to winning elections again.

But we are not a functioning democracy and the Republican Party is fascist.

As such, I just don’t know how our democracy makes it through the passions of the 2024 election. We’re either going to stop being a democracy and voting will be moot as MAGA consolidates power or we have some sort of National Divorce which prompts a Second American Civil War. Either Trump loses and we have a civil war because Reds leave the Union or Trump wins and we have a civil war because Blues leave the Union.

Republicans hate democracy and they are so beholden to their autocracy loving base that they see democracy as a means to an end — their victory and permanent rule as white minority Christians.

There are no easy answers. No easy solutions. But I will note that I’m almost always wrong, so lulz, who knows.

Could Phoebe Waller-Bridge Be The Next James Bond?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve heard some chatter here and about that Phoebe Waller-Bridge might be tapped to write and direct the next James Bond movie. She already did a touch up of the No Time To Die script and she apparently really impressed the James Bond family in the process.

Given the dynamics of Hollywood, it’s at least within the realm of possibility that Waller-Bridge might not only write and direct the next James Bond, but BE James Bond. How they would pull this particular hattrick off, I don’t know, but that’s why they pay them the big bucks.

They did kill James Bond off in the last movie, so anything is possible. Even though Waller-Bridge would do a great job as James Bond, if a woman was James Bond every “anti-woke” crusader worth their talking head status on Fox News would freak the fuck out in a very, very public manner.

And, remember, there were rumors that the producers of the next Indy movie wanted to use time-travel to reboot the franchise so Waller-Bridge would be the next Indy. Apparently, at least according to the dubious YouTube movie grapevine, that idea has been shelved.

Anyway, it will be interesting how things develop going forward. Waller-Bridge definitely is a very talented woman and of all the people I could think of who might bring back the good olde days of campy James Bond updated for modern sensibilities, Waller-Bridge is definitely at the top of the list.

Give It Up, People, Seoul Was A Long Time Ago & Nobody Cares Anymore

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Living in Seoul as an expat changed my life in a fundimental, existential manner. There was the me Before Seoul and the me After Seoul. And the person who enabled this change, for better or for worse, was the late Annie Shapiro. That hippie weirdo gave me experiences that I could have never otherwise had because she believed in me and believed in our shared dream of ROKon Magazine.

The late Annie Shapiro and me, back in the good olde days when I was young and cute.

I only bring this up because for some weird reason, I continue to get pings on this Website from Seoul. I have no idea why anyone from Seoul would care what I have to say. And, in all honesty, I don’t know if the people who occasionally look at this blog from Seoul even know me, if it they’re some third party who has heard a stray comment about me at a bar.

Who knows.

But the issue is, at the moment, I just want to be forgotten in Seoul. I was going through a really, really rough moment in my life for much of my time in Seoul and I did and said things that I regret. I was “pickled” in the sense that I was drinking way, way, way, too much soju. I was manic and I was self-medicating, never a great combination.

I’m 50 now and very definitely want to look towards the future of potentially being a traditionally published author at some point in the near future. I will admit, of course, that the process by which I’m writing my first novel requires a great deal of wallowing in nostalgia for the Good Old Days of Seoul, even though they sucked a lot of the time.

Anyway, the fact that anyone in Seoul cares enough about me to look at this Website is unnerving. It’s almost 20 years since I first arrived at Incheon Airport for my first tour in the country. The idea that someone in South Korea not only remembers me, but cares enough to see what I’m writing about….is kind of startling.

I was definitely a larger-than-life character at moments during my time in South Korea. I was so nuts at one point, in fact, that someone did a write up of me that ended up in a self-published book devoted to crazy expats. That was kind of tough, I have to say.

I suppose there is a greater-than-zero chance that I will return to Seoul at some point before I drop dead. But if it happens, it will because I sold my novel and it was a big enough success that I will have the funds to return.

At the moment, barring the DPRK collapsing and there being a bubble for ESL teachers there so intense that even a deadbeat like me can get a ticket to teach…it’s just not going to happen.

Day 11: Shut Up And Write

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As my writing and storytelling ability improves, my desire to talk about what I’m doing decreases significantly. In fact, the only reason why I even keep writing about writing on this blog is I’m 100% extroverted and I can’t help myself. But for that specific character trait, I would probably go completely dark until I finished this second draft.

Sigh.

What continues to bother me is how much uncut, pure grade bullshit can be found within the so-called online “writing community.” Not only is there way, way, way too much conspicuous existential angst from writers who don’t seem to like or want to write, pretty much all the “advice” I find online can be boiled down to, “Whatever works for you is wrong.”

It’s very, very frustrating.

It’s come to the point where I am now aggressively ignoring as much of the online writing community as I can. And, honestly, I probably would leave social media entirely but for the fact that I’m so bereft of any social interaction in the real world that social media is a vice I’m willing to suffer.

Anyway, things are getting really, really good with this novel for no other reason than it’s getting dark, spicy and has clearly defined stakes now. It’s required a major overhaul of the first half of the novel, but I’ve finally reached a point where I’m reasonably content with what I have.

The main issue is, well, writing. I have to get outside my comfort zone and be willing to work harder to finish this second draft if I have any chance of getting it done by July 1st. I’m already 11 days into this process and I’m still lurking around the first chapter. It’s all very frustrating.

I’m not getting younger and if I don’t keep throwing everything up in the air just because things aren’t perfect, I’m going keep revising the first few chapters of this second draft to the point that it will be a year from now and I will be no closer to finishing.

So. I really need more structure in my life. I need to establish metrics and meet them. I’m hoping that writing a blog post like this every day will give me some sense of accountability so I actually do, in fact, write.

Will There Be A ‘MAGA Revolution’ Starting In 2024?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

America is spinning out of control so fast that I sometimes think all that we don’t know if it will be MAGA or Blues that decide to leave the Union starting in late 2024, early 2025. I spend a lot of time assuming that if such a thing happens, it will be Blues who do it.

And, yet MAGA sure does enjoy mentally masturbating about Red states leaving the Union. So, yet again, let’s contemplate what a “MAGA Revolution” might look like in the context of the 2024 presidential election cycle. The issue for me is, MAGA really is fading in popularity to some extent. Or, to put it another way, that core 38% of the Republican base has such a stranglehold on Republicans that when the time comes that, unto itself, might be enough to cause Red states to leave the Union.

The key thing that would prompt Reds, rather than Blues, to leave the Union would be if ding-dong Trump won or not. If Trump won the 2024 election — which definitely seems he will one way or another — then the possibility that Blues will begin to leave the Union increases significantly.

But if Trump somehow loses, then I could see a situation where he rants and rants and rants about how yet another election was “stolen” from him and he, as such, causes Red states like Texas, etc, to begin the process of leaving the Union via secessionist conventions.

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Dalton, Ga., on Jan. 4, 2021.

If it has to happen, then of course I want the onus of secession to be on Reds. Then Blues get to keep the USA brand and we have every moral obligation to keep the Union together, just like we did during the first American Civil War. But something I have to keep reminding myself whenever I run these Second American Civil War scenarios is I just can’t predict the future to any specific degree.

There’s every reason to believe that if there was a National Divorce that it would be successful for various reasons. And, what’s worse, the DPRK could aggravate things by lobbing a few H-Bombs our way as we’re in the middle of tearing ourselves apart. And, what’s worse, if the US is having a civil war, WW3 would, by definition, begin to happen around the world.

But we have to appreciate that on a systemic basis, the Republican Party is chomping at the bit to either turn the United States into an autocracy or force the issue of a National Divorce. And that existential choice will come to a head one way or another as part of the 2024 election. At the moment, I just don’t see how Trump doesn’t win in 2024, which would cause Blues to think about leaving the Union.

And, yet, I just can’t predict the future — I sure did a bad job of it in 2020 — so I suppose something could happen that causes Trump to lose the 2024 election and, as such, prompts discussion within MAGA Reds about leaving the Union. It really could, at the moment, go either way.