Literature’s Role in Fighting Gen Z’s Loneliness
By Alex Himebaugh
Depression is growing in Generation Z. The Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that depression rates of 12-17 year-olds increased from 8.7% to 13.2% between 2009 and 2017. One factor causing this is the teen’s tendency to replace in-person interactions with virtual ones, a habit only escalated by the pandemic. This replacement falls short of face-to-face interactions since people tend to be less transparent, especially on social media, going no deeper than the surface.
‘Shoot Them in the Leg’ and Other Idiocies
No, If You Have To Shoot, Shoot Center Mass
By David Churchill Barrow
The shooting by a police officer of the knife-wielding teenager in Columbus, Ohio has summoned forth the same absurd comments by media and politicians who know nothing about firearms – and their use in adrenaline-filled situations – that we heard from Joe Biden more than once during the campaign: Perhaps the words of wisdom Miyagi gave to Daniel-San should be given unto them: “You… too much TV.” Since they do watch TV, and presumably the movies shown thereon, perhaps the most famous gunfight in the history of the United States would serve to drive the point home: If you have to shoot, put your target down.
October 26, 1881 – Tombstone, Arizona Territory. All of the participants in this fight were skilled with the powerful weapons they possessed; i.e. .44 and .45 cal. pistols, a 12 gauge double-barrel shotgun, and Winchester rifles. Some of the participants had killed men before this fight, and would kill again afterwards. When the fight commenced, the combatants were only about six feet apart in an empty lot next to Fly’s photograph studio. (Some of the “cowboys” had come through the back entrance to the OK Corral nearby, but that is its only connection to the fight.) The shooting lasted only thirty seconds, but in that time about thirty shots were fired. Consider that for a moment – six feet apart, thirty seconds, thirty shots. What were the hits?
A Bizarre Omen Today of What 2021 Promises…
When a Book and a Few Bucks Find You By Divine Providence
By David M. Swindle
So it was around 7:45 AM this morning, just over an hour until Joe Biden’s inauguration as president, when I set off on the morning walk with Maura, our 10-year-old Siberian Husky who remains very healthy, happy, energetic, and full of love.
Our nation’s pageantry was happening on the other side of the continent in Washington D.C., and it played on the TV when we departed, a bit earlier than usual but Maura had requested it then and I could think of no reason not to comply.
The Paranoid Squint of Tim Powers
By Frederick Gero Heimbach
Tim Powers is my literary hero. He creates secret histories in which historical events are “explained” through fictional embellishments which completely alter history’s meaning. Secret histories have been written by Alexandre Dumas, Gore Vidal, Umberto Eco, and they are especially associated with genre writers like Elizabeth Bear, Steve Berry, and above all, Tim Powers.
Powers’ approach is rigorous. He never allows his fiction to contradict any known historical fact (and he knows a lot). He does, however, allow his fictional additions to make full use of magical and science fictional elements.
Why Is Disney Making So Many Live Action Remakes?
By Tamara Wilhite
Disney has been releasing a series of live action remakes. The “Beauty and the Beast” remake starring Emma Watson is the most notable success to date. The box office total for the live action “Beauty and the Beast” passed a billion dollars at the box office, earning more than the original animated film. It proved that live action remakes – regardless of what you think of them – could be very profitable.
Stubborn Characters When Writing… and Knitting
By Andrea Widburg
Although few would guess it, I am in fact a very methodical writer. I always start with an outline, whether it’s a short one that I can hold in my head or a longer one that I have to write out. Over my years as a lawyer, I’ve written thousands of outlines as a predicate to legal briefs and memos. On occasion, I’ll discover that an argument I set up in outline form doesn’t work in prose, but I can usually make it right just by reorganizing my ideas to improve the flow.
Writing a novel is proving to be very different. I came up with a story based upon my family’s experiences in Europe over the course of the latter part of the 19th century and the first two-thirds of the 20th century — and I put it in outline form. I then built up details about each character and put that information into the outline. Lastly, I did the historical research and into the outline went the history too.
The Author’s Dilemma: Introducing Morality Into the Writing
By Andrea Widburg
One of my cheap thrills is watching the CW show Supernatural. The interaction between brothers Sam and Dean Winchester and their friends, whether angel, demon, witch, or even human, along with imaginative and sometimes incredibly funny plots, has made it an engaging viewing experience.
In addition to the standard horror show and comedy shticks, the long-running show occasionally grapples with moral issues, in no small part because most episodes have the brothers and their friends killing “ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night.” Usually the monsters are presented as appropriately evil, but there have been times when these evil monsters have been trying to reform — and the brothers sometimes offed them anyway. Fun stuff, as I said…
So Where Are You On the Parenting Spectrum: Bulldozer, Helicopter Or Free Range?
By David Churchill Barrow
Lori Loughlin is, of course, the er girl du jour for “bulldozer” (aka “snowplow”) parenting, where mom and/or dad simply annihilate all obstacles in the child’s path. We can all agree disaster that way lies; for both parent and child. Even if no legal lines are crossed – or you are at least not caught crossing them – the emotional and psychological damage can be deep and permanent.
The New Devil’s Dictionary: A Quick Look at the Lexicon of the Left
By Robert Arrington
Beginning in 1881, and extending up through 1906, the American newspaper writer and noted cynic Ambrose Bierce compiled what he called “The Devil’s Dictionary”. It contained wry and sometimes humorous, but always cynical, definitions of words and phrases. The copyright has long since expired, and the entire slim volume can be found at no cost on a number of internet sites.
Bierce suggested his definitions were what people really meant in practice, as opposed to the formal dictionary definitions of the same terms.
One of my favorites is his definition of “bigot.” He wrote that it means “[o]ne who is obstinately and zealously attached to an opinion you do not entertain.”
Although Bierce wrote this definition well over 100 years ago, the mentality that inspired his biting definition is very much with us. This column will offer some examples of how our political left really defines some terms commonly in use, even though the copy of “Webster’s” on your desk won’t include them.
Shamed Writer-Director James Gunn Is Back For ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Are We Groot?
By Rhonda Robinson
Disney reinstating James Gunn as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 ignited a controversy reaching beyond the tarnishing of Disney’s brand. It sparks a question, to which the answer is a social-political barometer. Do we really want to trade redemption for social assassination?
