It’s likely most of you already know of this true story. I just felt I’d make this small effort to keep something great from falling into obscurity;


Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

Dear Editor—

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon


Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Francis B. Church
Editor of the New York Sun 1897

But I ain't. It would be kinda boring and no real excuse.

I just woke from a nightmare.

It was strange and terrifying. I feel an almost compulsion to come back and give a warning. Or maybe it was a terrible vision of what may come to those that care not to learn from other’s mistakes.

You may think of me as some wild haired hermit to have wandered back after so long away, but if you wish to avoid a sad fate please listen;

Somehow, someone thought it would be a good idea to institute a third shift at the library. As you may or may not know, third shift is generally Fridays Saturdays and Sundays. The days are twelve hours long. Since most avoid working weekends and such long hours there’s little supervision over the course of this shift. And with little supervision and so much extra time odd ideas sometimes come to fruition without due reflection.

As it would happen, one weekend Third Shift thought it would be a clever prank to reorganize the shelves into a maze. At first, at least for the first few days on seeing what had transpired everyone was thrilled and amazed at the extraordinary diversion. Soon though the novelty wore off. For most, it was considered someone else’s job to put everything back in place.

A few brave souls did try. The trouble was, those little wheeled carts had gotten lost, or maybe everyone had forgotten how to use the Dewey Decimal System.

Those that tried to put everything back in place focused on just their own areas of interest. It was then that the true nature of the catastrophe that was upon them came to be realized. Well, no, that’s not right. Actually no one realized it. That was my fate as an observer. It was after all my nightmare. Those first efforts had only made things worse.

Subject matter was now fragmented, displaced and scattered. Mixed with disparate interests the confusing maze became a true labyrinth. A single shelf with with a fragment of History blocked in by Theology, Games and Puzzles and Travel. Another shelf with a bit of Geography surrounded with some Young Adult titles, Self Help books and Periodicals. Many more examples were to be found. An entire library, the size of a warehouse shuffled and reorganized like a deck of cards in a Casino waiting to confuse and disorient a gambler. No one could find everything they needed.

In time, and ineffectual individual effort of those with the interest, small sections were made to resemble some form of order, at least in the eyes of those that tried. The trouble was, bringing everything back to the way it was before required direction that nobody bothered to listen to, if there was even anyone there to give the proper advice. Those few that tried didn’t even know the fragmented nature of their own interest that lay before them. The remains were satisfying to them for they knew only what they had found, and settled for that.

It came to be that only small almost hidden sections became frequented by those searching for the information they wanted. For many, it became a simple search for validation of their own ideas, for there was so little left accessible even few came to search. And this was the final irony.

In their quest to get to what they wanted they had pushed other shelves together. Careless of the interests of others they perhaps didn’t realize, or maybe didn’t care that those shelves were left facing each other. Other areas, whole sections were blocked off by those trying to set right what they thought to be the whole of their interest. But that left many other areas isolated leaving so many other books unobtainable. This forgotten lore soon accounted for most of the space in the library.

Groups now tended to congregate in only a few sections. These individuals and even roving bands no longer bothered even communicating with one another. Even the lighting fell into disrepair on those lost and forgotten sections. It seemed almost as if the frequented sections were lit only by small feeble lights, or perhaps campfires lit by one tribe or another. It was a sad and disheartening thing to see.

It was then that I woke up.

It was then that I found that someone had put an empty milk carton back in the fridge.

As I live by myself I can only place blame on myself.

I implore anyone reading this warning, never put empty cartons back in the fridge.

I’m now going back to sleep, still thirsty.

Okay, here it is, the end of the saga that started when I was a kid. I can remember sitting in the theater watching the now famous beginning title scroll with excitement. I had wanted and waited almost a year for that moment. Yes, back then movies like the one Star Wars was were in theaters for much longer stays. Multiplexes had just sprouted and the movie makers were yet to start grinding out enough movies to constantly push older movies off the screens in a matter of weeks. But by then I knew how it went. Instead of taking me to see the movie my parents bought the book as a Christmas present. Another sad bit of irony there. Had anyone told that kid that was me back then that, nearly forty years later I’d be watching the the end credits roll on the movie ending that same saga and feel only disappointment and sadness…

Well, I don’t know how I’d have felt back then. Probably wouldn’t have believed it could go so wrong. But that’s what I felt.

Storytelling is dead. And that’s a shame.

I knew by the end of chapter eight it was going to be bad.

I can sum up why I felt that way in twelve words;

You. Can. Not. Kill. Off. The. Main. Antagonist. In. The. Second. Act!

Someone please tell Rian Johnson before he destroys another franchise.

It was a decent try by Abrams, but there was really too much damage done. As it is it’s an okay movie, and that’s the shame of it. After waiting decades for the conclusion, it should have been and could have been much better than Endgame. Instead its likely to be seen as forgettable as any other movie that got a reboot recently. Thats even more of a shame.

And, well, I think that’s the sad fate storytelling has come to now. I can foresee Marvel squeezing every last drop out of their universe too, instead of just leaving on a fantastic high note. Its likely to be as much of a downhill slide the sequel trilogy has been.

And that’s going to be an even greater shame.

Okay, I think its time to call it on this account. The characters I created here were fun and I enjoyed them but I have to acknowledge that right now I'm spending most of my time and energy on another project. I can't say when or even if I'll pick back up here.

Out...

Well, we'd known for some time that a coworker's injury was worse than hoped. It was a broken foot and he had surgery on Monday. So far the added workload due to him being out hasn't been too bad but with spring on the way its not going to stay that way for long. Going to try to keep from falling behind on my reading again but I obviously can't make any promises. I'm hopeful that this new job isn't as crazy busy as the last one, but since this is going to be my first summer at this one I'll just have to see.

Even with that I'm going to make more of an effort to participate in the Thursday Prompts as often as possible. Its really gratifying to see that they're still going strong after so many years. It really says a lot about not only everyone thats joined in even if only for a short time but those individuals that organized it during their time at the reins. Consider my hat tipped to you all.

Now, where'd I leave those Girl Scout Cookies...

5280.

Hehehe

Well I was amused.

Now to try getting caught up on my reading.

I’m usually a very private person but having let everybody in I now have to answer a question. So, what and how much to tell everybody?

Going to post this as a journal to push the other off the table. Everything is going good. I’m back and will be back to writing soon. Those that responded will be getting a note explaining in more detail what happened.

Yeah, that’s how much of a private person I am.

Family emergency has forced me to put everything on hold for an indefinite period. I’ll be checking in as I can but please don’t expect any replies in a timely manner until I’m back.

So I’ve been without a job for two months today and just got the call this afternoon. I start the new job next week. Its been a nice extended vacation but its been feeling like I really need to get back to work too. This one is much closer to home and will probably leave me with a lot more free time too. So, I’ll probably be more regular with the prompts if not real stories in general in the future.

Later…

I’m back in, and they thought something like resetting my password could keep me out.

Well it almost did. And just when I was getting more active again. Fortunately I was able to recreate the same hotmail account I hadn’t used in more than eight years. Lucky for me no one else uses the same name. Go figure.

For a while there I thought I’d have to create another account here and I realized something important. Due to several moves over the years and even more computer fails I have no copies of my own stories. I’ve been a lazy fool to leave so much work in just one spot, especially a spot so prone to things like the recent drama. I’ll definitely be taking the time this weekend to fix that

It had a good run. It was dependable right up to end except for that transmission thing and even then it still did everything I wanted from it. Well everything but back up, but I can understand its reluctance to retreat. Yeah, from a starting point of about 68K miles to 214460 I finally had to put down what went for my workhorse of a car. It will be remembered as one of the best I've ever had.

Anyway, a longer journal a few submission comments and maybe even a story coming soon.

After years of working toward this goal I finally bought a house. It’ll be another week or two of organizing and straightening everything out before I jump back into writing but I’ll be back soon.

Sorry for the shortness, I'd thought I'd have more to say but...busy.

And no that doesn’t mean I’ve somehow reached half the speed of light. I’ve simply piled up a surprising number of outdated but essential calendars.

I guess that means I could officially be accused of being a grey muzzle now. Yet I don’t feel it.

Looking back over the time I’ve had to roam this little third rock from the sun there are things and events that truly stand out. Been to places and seen things that have either left their mark or left me in awe and everything in between.

I’ve had friends that have come and gone and still remember each of them with a fondness that only deepens with time. I can now count the friends that are still with me and regard them with a greater appreciation.

Learned to enjoy the ups and endure the downs with quiet dignity and grace. I’ve accumulated enough knowledge and experience to realize I can only hope to have gained an equal amount of wisdom.

In all I have to agree with Joe Walsh when he says life’s been good to me so far.

So those of us here in the US are just days from voting again. No matter how anyone intends to vote I'm sure we all feel just like this to some degree or other; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojrt.....ure=g-logo-xit

Okay, first thanks to  Wirewolf  SiriusDF and  Steelclaw for the support through the process of doing Golem’s Magic to this point. Thanks to the comments you gave I was able to find the motivation to keep going for the last twenty or so episodes. Right now there’re five more parts written out in first draft form but the time to get them polished up is lacking. To the three of you I apologize but I’ll be putting any further work on it on hold indefinitely. I’ve got other things coming up that’ll be taking up most of my free time.

A friend had their pet cat eat a bit of a common houseplant and died from it. On commenting on his submission I questioned how many plants were dangerous to pets. He looked it up. http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poiso.....ontrol/plants/

It’s shocking how many common plants are unhealthy to downright poisonous to pets. Its nothing to panic over since the majority are mostly irritants but there are some that can do a lot of damage. If you have a pet please inform yourself for their sake.

Don’t know about anyone else but I tend to dream in stories. They’re not just random scenes but actually have a start and an observable arc and an ending. They tend to be somewhat coherent and long enough to tell a complete story. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I tend not to be able to sleep for more than three hours at a time. That hasn’t really changed much for over a decade, until this morning.

This morning as I was waking up the dream went from watching the story unfold to actually visually reading words from a page. Even stranger the story I was watching continued seamlessly without any alteration through the transition to written word. At the end I even knew I was waking with the last words filling my vision. A somewhat pleasant experience for the writer in me.

Its been a few years since I’ve come across a book that I couldn’t put down toward the end. A while ago I started Pandora’s Star and about halfway through found that irresistible lure to keep reading had me by the throat. I do enjoy that. I especially like books that leave me thinking over it well after finishing. So now I just finished Judas Unchained, its 5:30 in the morning and I know I’m not going to be able to sleep I’m so wired and turning everything over in my head. So far I can’t find a single flaw.

Immensely good read all the way through both books. 2000 pages of great science fiction. So if you like equal parts science fiction, mystery, suspense you’ll find this well worth the time.

The Venus transit is now twenty hours away and the weather forecasts all through the west coast have turned for the worst. There’s nowhere within driving distance from Seattle that doesn’t have less than a 50% chance of rain or cloud cover. With the options shrinking I’m going to have to gamble on finding somewhere close that could have cloud breaks through at least part of the day. Or staying put and watching online. The online option isn’t too bad, http://events.slooh.com/ has a test video up and they’ll have ten or more observing sights available to watch. Pretty slick site, go check it out if you can’t travel.

As some may have guessed from previous journals I’m into astronomy, and the big event this year is two days away. Yeah, you probably guessed it, the transit of Venus. I’ve been - no I mean Venus, the planet.

Anyway, I’ve been planning – transit, as in crosses in front of, pay attention.

So I’ve been planning for this – are you serious? Okay, backing up; Venus, the next closest planet to the sun actually crosses the face of the sun Tuesday afternoon west coast time.

I’d been hoping to watch it locally but the weather forecasts are deteriorating. It’s looking like most of the northwest is going to have rain. Having spent – because you can’t see the sun through rainclouds.

Knowing the likelihood of getting rain on any particular day in Seattle I’ve made plans for this well in advance. I’ve saved up and will be off of work for the first part of the week so I can make a run for the sun. With any – because it doesn’t happen again for more than a hundred years.

Hopefully I can reach a part of the northwest where the weather is– are you serious? Seeing it for yourself, it’s the difference between listening to music and going to concert.

In watching the weather forecasts – never? You’re missing out, and your parents suck.

So far the forecasts say the closest fair weather is in northern Nevada, well within – the state of Nevada, two states southeast from here.

If there’s anywhere west of the Rockies with clear skies I’ll be – what?! You’re pulling my leg, right…

Face it kid, you and your parents deserve each other.



No I haven’t exactly had this conversation, but close.

Well the old computer finally gave up the ghost. Death by motherboard. Went to buy a new one and the prices were lower than I expected so it wasn’t a hardship and I was able to buy it with cash. (Yeah two years out of debt and still going.) Restored everything on the new one from the backup and had everything set up the way I like it in just a few days. Came home yesterday to start it up and remembered the back up program was still frozen from the restore process.

Oh, right. It takes seconds to start the backup process again. I get down to writing something on the current project and in five minutes the computer starts making a slight but very alarming noise. I don’t know a great deal about the hardware but it literally sounds as though something is coming loose in the hard drive. In about three more minutes it freezes. Nothing works to get it out of it’s locked up state so I resort to manually turning it off and it doesn’t reboot.

So, done with that brand having so many quality issues over the past three to four years; two hard drives and one mother board on the old one and what looks like a defective hard drive on a brand new one. Returned it for a new one from another brand without any hassle and get it home to start up the recovery process all over again but there was a problem.

In starting up the backup process again literally minutes before the Toshiba shit itself Cabonite automatically cleared the old restored files and started fresh. When I went to restore everything there was nothing but empty file folders. Eight plus years of pictures, stories, and music went poof. Nothing’s left except the one story I was working on when I restarted the backup process. I know the timing was nothing more than a fluke but it still stings. Can’t help but feel like I was horrible let down by something that I trusted with My Precious.

Toshiba and Carbonite will now and forevermore remain on my excrement list.

The only good thing to come out of this is that one surviving file that did manage to swim to restore island had ten episodes that hadn’t yet been edited. A Golem’s Magic will continue uninterrupted. I’ll understand if only two of you celebrate that announcement. (Hint, hint)

Edit - Thanks to some sage advice I’ve found where they were hiding on the online backup. Restore is now in progress...

Starting a new story that I intend to spend a bit of time on. I hope to post something every week around the Tuesday to Thursday timeframe. 2010 was a horrible year for me as far as writing. 2011 was little better though I did manage to come up with more submissions. Most of the distractions that bogged me down have conveniently removed themselves from my life. What and how those distraction left is another story, but I will say “Karma can be a bitch, baby”. So it’s with a new sense of relief and peace of mind that I’m getting back into the habit.

Also hope to keep up with the reading better this year.

Aside from the typical wishes for everyone to have a happy new year…I got nothin’

Although I do intend to write more than I did 2010. Much more now that having looked back I’ve only managed to submit single piece of work for the year. Helps that I’ll probably have more time to spare too.

Its happy Pi(e) day! Everyone join in the fun; http://www.teachpi.org/.

You may now go about today’s business as normally as you are able.