Month: January 2024

The Curious Case Of Modern Gender Politics

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I, on occasion, have hours-long conversations with my far more conservative relatives and one thing that really spooks them is how freaky gender politics have become. They’re Traditionalists and they are at a loss as to how fluid and weird gender has become for a lot of people.

Ethel Cain

I struggle with what to tell them.

I generally support trans rights, and, yet, it can be really difficult to know what the orthodoxy on that particular subject is at any particular moment. As such, people keep coming at me from the cultural Left and it really fucking annoys me. I’m on your side!

I have to say, though, that I really am impressed with Ethel Cain. She’s a trans woman and her music is really, really good. Probably some of the best new music I’ve heard in years. But I have to admit, it takes a moment for me to realize that the heartfelt songs from a female POV are being sung by someone who was is biologically male.

It’s all very curious. What’s worrisome is the always-changing orthodoxy about trans rights so upsets Traditionalists that they are VERY receptive to fascism. I worry a lot about this because trans people are the very people who are most at risk should we become a MAGA autocracy.

I shutter to think about that particular future.

Will The Advent Of Apple Vision Pro Prompt A Vibe Shift?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Is it possible that, by definition, the advent of the Apple Vision Pro headset could lurch us into a new era? While I have my doubts — the thing is still too big and bulky — just its existence does point to a possible New Era.

Apple Vision Pro

It could be that once Vision Pros are out in the wild, that that will spark a shift in the vibe and people will start to dress and act differently than they have the last 20 years.

Just think how different people in the 1950s dressed as opposed to the 1970s. Now compare that to how…same…things have been since around 2001. It’s all very curious. Other than technological changes, not a lot has changed in America except Reds and Blues hate each other to the point that we may be on the cusp of a civil war / revolution.

But, who knows. Some of why I think this MIGHT be a vibe shift is there is a fashion element to the headsets. But, as I mentioned, they’re still too big and bulky. They need to be a lot less conspicuous on your face for them to really take off, at least in my opinion.

The real issue is what happens when AI generated media gets thrown into the mix. Now THAT is going to be lit.

I Have No Idea What I’m Doing With This Novel, Redux

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While things feel like they’re doing pretty well, I honestly have no idea what I’m doing with this novel. But I continue to press forward. I also continue to think about how I need to give my life some structure.

Maybe my novel will be adapted into a movie one day.

I’m very grateful for this peculiar situation I find myself in that affords me the ability to — essentially — be a professional aspiring novelist, even if I have to live in poverty to do it. Of course this particular situation won’t last forever and any number of things that could happen that will, if nothing else, dramatically change the context of what’s going on in my life.

And I continue to grow unnerved with political events that are totally out of my control. Way too many people believe that if only we can defeat Trump at the polls that magically that will be enough to end the threat of MAGA.

My heroine looks a lot like this woman in my mind.

The events of January 6th, tend to make me believe that Trump could very well demand a National Divorce, and as such, prompt a civil war even if we defeat him at the polls fair and square.

As all of these thoughts fill my mind, I also worry about the possibility that AI will make all my hard work…moot…just as I’m preparing to query in late 2024, early 2025. But there would be something poetic if, rather than querying my novel, I’m dodging bullets from MAGA fascists.

But, who knows. It could go a lot of different ways. And, as such, I need to buckle down and work hard. Or, at least, a lot harder than I am at the moment.

Now, To Flesh Out The ‘Fun & Games’ Portion Of The Third Draft

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have finally, tentatively, gotten to the point where I can begin to flesh out the first part of the second act. I may begin to work on the second half of the second act pretty soon, too.

I don’t know yet.

But I am pleased with what I’ve come up with. But, as always, everything is very very fluid until I lock things down once and for all. So, I don’t know. It will be interesting to see how, exactly, things work out.

Yet, I’m very pleased that I continue to be on track to wrap this third draft up on schedule, which would be around April.

I Wonder What Fred Armisen Would Think of ‘So Good’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I understand it, SNL alum Fred Armisen is into punk bigtime — so much so that he was the drummer in a punk band for a long time — so when I heard So Good today, I instantly thought of him.

The only thing about So Good is the one song I really like “I Hate It Here” is so on-the-nose that it sounds like a song from the fictional punk rocker he created who was the only punk who liked Margaret Thatcher.

But, the I Hate It Here track has a very punk edge to it and it has a beat and you can dance to it. And, yet, it definitely seems I’m the only person in the world who loves it.

It’s a great song!

Why Isn’t This A Hit? — So Good’s ‘I Hate It Here’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Given how few people have viewed the video for this song, I think my dreams of “good music” coming back are…delusional. Oh well. So Good is a great new artist. I wish there was some way she could break in the USA, but, alas, I just don’t see that happening.

Why There Is No Solution To Trump

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The reason why there is no “solution” to Trump is our political system is so rotting and broken that we refuse to do the one thing that would douse the burning embers of MAGA — raise taxes.

Here are two “solutions” that we could have to MAGA if we were willing to raise taxes.

Training
If we could train and retrain blue collar men so they can code and once again provide for a family on a single income, then, yeah, maybe we wouldn’t have the “problem” of MAGA anymore.

Child Care
Because many conservatives are moralistic, simplistic twats, they believe that if they can only force women into having children, then all their bigoted, racist dreams will come true. This is totally wrong. If we would just raise taxes, then we could afford the type of extensive child care that might make women actually WANT to have children, despite what a pain in the ass it otherwise is.

Bonus:
National Service
If we had National Service that young people just out of college had to participate in for a year, that would be a way to force people from diverse backgrounds to interact with each other in the real world.

But, again, when conservatives think “taxation is theft,” then, well, it’s difficult to fund stuff like this.

Welp

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It is becoming more and more clear that barring a Black Swan event, the only chance we have to avoid a fascist state in the United State is if Trump loses in 2024 and just fades peacefully into political oblivion.

As of now, in January 2024, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m of the opinion that if every election your democracy has is existential that you’re not a democracy anymore. And that’s where American finds itself.

It seems as though we need to buckle up. Late 2024, early 2025 could be rather momentous.

The Big Ring: Soft First Contact?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

This is all very curious. I know it’s kind of loony and out there to suggest this or that strange thing is “aliens,” but…this Big Ring a few billion light years away is kind of blowing my mind.

The Big Ring

The issue about The Big Ring is it just doesn’t look naturally made. It looks like some sort of intelligence was involved in its creation. But, it’s one of those things were we just don’t know.

It’s not like it’s a signal from outer space saying, “Hi! We’re aliens!” So, it’s too easy for Very Serious People to dismiss The Big Ring as just a fluke that we can’t explain, and, as such, of very natural design.

But I Want To Believe, as they say on The X Files.

I will note, however, that we are entering an election year and just imagine how the political dynamic would change if we did have some sort of Hard First Contact later this year before the election and the issue wasn’t about building a wall, but rather who would be the leader of humanity.

I think the funniest part of all of this is if First Contact happened…and nobody cared.

Well, If Nothing Else, This Novel Is Very ‘Sex-Positive’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Oh, baby.

I may be a smelly CIS white male, but I do know that sex sells. Now that I’m in the first half of the second draft of the third draft of this novel, I’ve come to realize that maybe I need to lay off so much sexxy time.

I say that, then, of course, figure out a way to have more stripper scenes.

Ugh. What is wrong with me.

(Don’t answer that.)

But, if nothing else, at least the stripper element of the novel isn’t just a way to seduce readers into reading in the first act. It’s now something that lingers through the rest of the novel. The thing about strippers, in my experience, is they are very colorful people and, as such, they are great grist for characters in novels.

But, much to my surprise, things are actually going a lot faster than I thought they would for the re-imagined “Fun & Games” part of the novel. I think a lot of this comes from simply allowing myself to daydream rather than stressing out about it.