Ponderings and Musings

My first “real” sci-fi novel was “The Demu Trilogy” by F.M. Busby. I’ve read the book over three dozen times. I recounted my experience with this book in a blog entry from 13 years ago.

Once in a great while I’ll do a Google search on “The Demu Trilogy” to see what others have to say about it. Usually the comments are not favorable. I find the reviews to be quite pedestrian. I think folks don’t get it or approach the series from a preconceived notion as to what it should be, and then are disappointed when it doesn’t meet expectations. Why should folks have an expectation when they start reading a book?

Recently I was going through the book shelf and came across my only copy of the book; it’s the second copy I’ve owned. I purchased it used back in 1993 after my original copy was eaten by my roommate’s cocker spaniel. I don’t think the dog enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s time for me to read “The Demu Trilogy” again.

I think I read “The Demu Trilogy” at my most impressionable time; there are elements of a casual approach to sex and relationships present in the book that I’ve had in my adult life. I suppose it’s just a manifestation of the way I’m wired, but back in the day I was never one for beating around the bush when I wanted to know if someone shared a mutual attraction. This is what made building a relationship with my husband so simple; I would just say what I was interested in, and he would honestly answer if he was interested in the same sort of activity. There were no games, no coy text messages, no hidden secrets. I knew I loved him, he knew he loved me, we said it, we did it, forever and ever, amen.

Perhaps if we all lived our sexuality honestly the country would be a better place. The problem is, the American soap opera would have never come to fruition.

One of the main hangups with relationships is jealousy. I’ve shared this thought before: jealousy is a feeling that comes from within. It’s an insecurity. It’s competitiveness. No one can make you jealous; only you can make yourself jealous. “What do they have that I don’t?” So many relationships end because of jealousy. So sad. I have several insecurities in my life, but those leading to jealousy are not among them. I’m just wired differently, I guess.

I’m reminded of the hilarity around an episode of “Maude” where a college professor of some sort comes out and says that he wants to sleep with Maude and then the Norman Lear hilarity of dialog ensues. The episode was actually filmed twice, the unaired version starring Bea Arthur’s then-husband Gene Saks.

I digress a lot.

One of the themes in “The Demu Trilogy” has to do with the humanoid race the Tilari. They’re very sexual beings. They are open and honest about their sexuality. Quite frankly, I’m surprised my great-aunt and uncle included this book in the box of books they gave me when I was 13 or so years old. Maybe they didn’t know the contents of the box, after all, this book was sandwiched between two copies of “Everything You Wanted To Know About Sex (But We’re Afraid To Ask)”. I read one of those two copies of that book in the box that was gifted to me by my Uncle Pete; I learned a lot of outdated things about being gay.

If people were just honest about who they are and what makes them tick.

I’m rambling. It’s been a while since I’ve rambled on the blog. Can you believe this blog turned 19 years old last week? Where has the time gone? I started writing this thing when I was 33 years old. Wow.

There is no forethought into the construction of this blog entry. I’m just letting the words flow, uninhibited. My husband says I get too hung up on my inhibitions and that I try too hard to try to fit into societal norms.

COVID-19 prevents us from congregating, but this is the type of dialog I would have with my husband and family around a campfire at the gay campground. We’d all be shirtless. I’d be drinking a craft beer. Something with some octane. Others would be drinking other things. We’d be relaxed.

And then we’d continue the conversation as this blog entry comes to an end.

Monday’s storm definitely followed a marked path through our neighborhood. Walking the blocks to the north of our building, there wasn’t a lot of damage to be found. Small branches here and there, leaves everywhere, but not much beyond that.

South of our building, I’m finding more and more fallen trees, some resting on cars and houses. Power and other lines are still down. Cleanup is well underway, but there are still several streets blocked from fallen trees.

I guess a derecho can follow a defined path much in the manner of a tornado doing the same, though the National Weather Service reported and EF1 tornado touched down just to the east of us.

Perhaps our neighborhood was part of the approach.

So yesterday’s storm was quite feisty. O’Hare showed winds gusting over 80 MPH. An EF1 tornado touched down just to the east of us. I thought the clouds coming over the condo looked quite “swirly” as we watched the storm pass through yesterday.

I was surprised to see exactly how much damage was on streets in our neighborhood when I went for my morning walk. As of this evening there are still areas without power; ComEd is working around the clock to restore electricity to those areas. Luckily we never lost power.

So a very impressive storm blew through. All of our devices were alerting us to a tornado warning and to take shelter immediately. We had secured all the furniture on the balcony and made an exit plan. If it looked like it was going to overwhelm us, we’d go into my office, which is the furthest room from the windows and has a concrete wall.

We spent most of the storm on the balcony with our backs to the upwind wall, though at one point we came inside due to the force of the wind. We watched patio furniture fly off the roof deck next to the clock you see in one of the photos. The trees around us bent over in ways we’d never seen before. It was a very impressive site.

Then, in less than an hour, it was over and by evening the winds had completely died down and the sun was out.

It was probably the strongest wind I have encountered and part of me wishes I was out on the prairie chasing the storm.

So I focused on relaxing this entire weekend. We didn’t go flying, I didn’t embark on some sort of weekend project, we didn’t try to go out and have a drink or eat and end up dealing with the stress of maintaining distancing and the like, we just had a weekend of downtime.

It’s just what we needed.

I’ve had this habit of trying to maintain a certain level of productivity as well as not missing out on life (something I’m more aware of as I get older) during the weekend and I feel like I haven’t given myself a chance to relax. The world is stressful enough these days, why add extra stress when we don’t have to?

Hence, a weekend of doing very little. It was quite nice.

This shop in our neighborhood is keeping their message simple, clear, and concise. It’s brilliant marketing. I wonder how many potential customers take a self inventory before walking into the place. How many get worked up into a huff and take their business elsewhere? I’m sure the owners of this location don’t want the latter in there anyway.

Too often I see folks sharing images of receipts with tips of minimal amounts because the server wore a mask or they wanted their waiter or waitress to go back where they came from. I find it difficult to wrap my head around this concept. I didn’t pay close attention in Sunday school but I know there’s something about “Do unto others…”. Perhaps the cranky folks that leave bad tips with hateful messages think they’re above the commandments. They’re certainly not acting Christian.

So many false prophets here in these “United States”.

I’m occasionally amused by science fiction/alien arrival movies that assume visitors from another planet would start their visit here on Earth in the United States. We don’t have a particular large land mass. We barely qualify for “world leader” unless you want to talk about deaths during pandemics. I should think aliens would be more interested in smart cities, bullet trains, and societies that have universal health care. So many American movies have depicted aliens arriving to this planet as hostile. Years ago, back in the LiveJournal days, someone mentioned there would be no other reason for a race to cross the vastness of space for any other reason than hostile military reasons. It’s like crossing the ocean from Europe to a new land in the west.

I’d like to think everyone should just be kind to their neighbors.

I took a ride through rural northwest Illinois yesterday. My journey took me almost to St. Louis, following mostly backroads, until I decided to turn around and head back to Chicago. It was a mostly relaxing experience. I find it interesting to drive through the small towns in the Land of Lincoln.

Once outside of Chicago, a common theme in lawn signs is “Pritzker Sucks”. These reference Governor Pritzker, who in my opinion, has done a very good job in leading efforts to keep the pandemic at bay. The lockdown and subsequent measures have been unfortunate, especially for the economy, but if I had to choose, a business can be rebuilt or replaced, a human being can not.

Not even human beings that don’t seem interested in gaining or sharing intelligence.

The big installation shown in the photo is found along Interstate 72, somewhere between Quincy and Jacksonville. I’m not surprised at the size of it, when you don’t have much you make prideful displays of something. But I couldn’t help think how much more valuable the funds used to build that sign could be to someone that couldn’t afford a meal or the neighbors that couldn’t afford their medicine. For many, compassion has been replaced by idiocy and ignorance. This makes me sad.

Of course, the makers of that Trump sign have every right to build and display their political allegiances in such an egregious manner, just as I have every right to write this blog entry.

I’ve been trying really hard not to complain about the pandemic, or Trump, or the riots, or the idiots that are cheering on Nazi-like activity from our Department of Homeland Security.

My mood jumps up and down, a lot. These swings are much more frequent than they used to be. I can’t comprehend how people can still be “on the fence” about who to vote for. I can’t comprehend how people can still support the worst president in the history of the United States. Children in cages, mayors of major cities being tear gassed, a non-existent response to a global pandemic. And these idiots still think Trump was sent by God.

It’s hard to continue to maintain this blog but I continue to do it. It will soon be 19 years old. I’ve been blathering on about life for 19 years!

Who’s the crazy one?

I told Earl I should write my autobiography just to do it. While the main title would be “Trip The Moment Fantastic”, it’d have a subtitle that says, “You Really Have No Reason To Buy This Book”. As the Abba song goes, “I’m nothing special, in fact, I’m a bit of a bore”. But here I am still writing in a blog for 19 years.

Eccentric? Yes.

I won an award at work today. I was one of three recipients of a Quarterly Leadership Award. The announcement was made during an All-Hands Call today. I had no idea my name would be included on the PowerPoint presented through the Zoom interface.

I am only as strong as the team I lead. I thanked my team for their support in accomplishing our goals together. I have a great team with hard workers and a lot of brains.

Today was a good day.