Sloth, Maybe?

Behold, the deadly sin of sloth! I have allowed myself to be derailed from writing my screenplay because I am playing a strategy game called Sid Meier's Civilization VI. For those not in the know, Sid Meier's Civilization is a series where you pick a civilization (Europe, Africa, Asia Minor, East Asia, the Americas, etc.) and usher them through various, social, technological, and political ages.  You can go from a humble chieftain presiding over a tiny encampment to, conceivably, a space age civilization that colonizes the Moon, Mars, and perhaps elsewhere. It is an engrossing game.  It is world building on the scale of JRR Tolkien.  Correction:  It is world building on the scale of world history. I have for example used the personality of Cleopatra to lead Egypt from a plot of land to a city state.  Then I evolved to multiple city states.  Then I evolved into a nation state / empire.  I built research facilities for medicine, space travel, and a myri...

  I've been working hard... at doing nothing. In the past few days, I have received a PlayStation controller in the mail, downloaded Sid Meier's Civilization VI , and purchased a crowdfunded comic book titled Doc Alpha:  Miracle Child.    So far, I have paired the controller with my computer.  I've browsed over the map of my city state in Civ VI in vain attempts to control trade and troop movements.  I haven't even read the first page of Doc Alpha . I've been following livestreams on YouTube about assorted pop culture detritus.  I'm rapidly losing interest in the content as they mostly bemoan the "death" of everything from Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who to Marvel and DC Comics.  Yes, I know.  The glory days have gone.  Thanks for the update.  Well, it's not your fault I'm watching your livestreams.  You haven't bolted me to my chair and pried my eyes open against my will.  I could just stop.   I've been wakin...

A s the subject line says, I have decided to give up writing.   I do not have the discipline or the desire to work on a single line  of dialogue day to day.   Whenever I see a video about writing craft on YouTube, I do not watch it.   I think it’s because I feel ashamed about not writing for  large gaps of time. My day begins with watching what is called a “livestream” on  Youtube.  It is about stream of consciousness nonsense that  I watch passively.  I then watch something on Netflix and take  a nap afterwards.  Then I walk to a small town to drink  a cappuccino at the local pizza shop. After that, I take the bus home.   I don’t scribble a single l ine, not one letter, not even a keystroke. I dedicated myself to making one entry per day on my blog.  It has  been countless weeks since I have done that.  The blog has been  inert since January. I recently watched a video about an auth...

Broadway in the post-Covid era. Or, my President’s Day weekend in the city! Saturday, February 19th. We settle into John’s mother’s little studio apartment and have burgers for dinner.  The arrangement was that we would sleep over in her place after the IRTE improv show down on W. 44th Street, so that instead of running back to Grand Central for a late train home, we could have quality time to hang out with our friends.  Friends we haven’t spent much time with in over two years.  This was our attempt to come back out from being shut in through 2020 and ‘21. New York City is recovering from the pandemic shutdown, but it’s still ongoing and very bumpy.  We are all used to keeping our masks on and presenting our vaccine cards at admission.  One lead actress in this evening’s comedy, called “Tammy’s Bachelorette Party”, tested positive for Covid and had to stay home in quarantine even though she suffered no symptoms, and another actress was just sick with a cold, so...

S usan and I have a ritual of cuddling up on the sofa and watching our favorite adventure shows.  In the past it was SF and fantasy series like Altered Carbon, The Mandalorian, Wandavision and The Witcher.   Our most recent selections are Peacemaker and The Book of Boba Fett. Peacemaker isn’t wrapping up until February 17th, so today I focus on the last chapter of The Book of Boba Fett, “In the Name of Honor.” It’s no secret that the Western genre is a major influence on Star Wars, and with “In the Name of Honor” it shines through. It opens with Boba making his stand at a bombed out speakeasy with his allies Fennec Shand and Din Djarin - The Mandalorian.  Cad Bane, a bounty hunter and an old rival of Boba’s tries to coax him out into the street for a gunfight.   With his helmet on, Boba is unreadable to everyone except his lieutenant Fennec.   She advises Boba to choose the time and place for his final confrontation with Bane.   The two gunslingers d...

J acques Tardi is a celebrated comic book illustrator and writer.  He has collaborated with novelists such as Jean-Patrick Manchette and Randy Lofficier.  Tardi gave shape and identity to the places, times, and characters described in the abstract text of these and many other writers.  He has produced memorable stories and characters of his own, such as the adventuress Adele Blanc-Sec, who contends with such bizarre creatures as living pterosaurs, surgically enhanced man-apes, and paranormal entities like The Eiffel Tower Demon. However, this review will focus on two of Tardi’s earliest works in a two part volume titled The True Story of the Unknown Soldier.   The first story shares the same title as the volume.  The second story, The National Razor, completes the two chapter compilation.  Both stories are inspired by the events of the first two world wars and the cruelty of “the iconic French guillotine.” The True Story of the Unknown Soldier begins wit...

I. M. Taskmaster, Attorney at Law Last night, I dreamt that I was in a dark room with some kind of judge or attorney or other authority figure.  It had a computer monitor for a face with some kind of digital code running down its façade.  It said to me, “There is only one way to prove you were not complicit in this crime.  Bring this basket of laundry downstairs.  If a single item in it turns out to be missing, your sentence will not be light.”   How is the burden of proof on the defendant? I took the basket and walked out of the dark room with great trepidation.  Then I noticed small items like socks and wallets were falling out.  I frantically picked them up.  Then I noticed there was a tear in the plastic of the basket.  I realized that no matter how much attention I paid to the contents of the basket, something may fall out without my knowing about it.  I realized the scales of justice were tipped against me.  When I woke up, ...