Christmas Greetings!

Dear friends,

I suddenly realized that, if any of you were to visit the blog during this week, there would be nothing for you to see!

I'm still one of those pesky agnostics / atheists, and as such don't celebrate Christian festivals with the believing crowd.  But I was brought up in a family that went obsessively to church, and sang hymns and stuff until our heads came off, so I still (surreptitiously) send greetings to anyone who happens to be around, and it cheers me up, and it cheers them up, and ... you know?  It is full of goodness!

Earlier today, one of my friends mentioned that she had heard Chanticleer singing on the radio while she was driving over.  Chanticleer is an awesome a cappella ensemble from California, whose records are to die for.  So I looked on Amazon for a Christmas CD.  I have one Christmas CD from them, so I thought, I'll send out for this latest one.  Well, guess what.  They have a dozen Christmas CDs!  Now I feel ignorant.

I wish I had put together a Christmas playlist consisting of all the music I mention in connection with Christmas in any of my stories, but I don't know how to do that.  One can't be a recluse and know all about technology as well.

This year, viewed against the background of the past few years, stands out as a really great year.  Not a fantastic year, but still a good one.  I don't want to appear to be a Pollyanna, seeing something good in every situation, but I am a sort of glass-half-full kind of person, though it was tough to be me these last few years.  (Even now, I'm horrified to read about the women in Iran who are being bullied and killed by government-sanctioned violence.) I firmly believe that it would be wrong for the US to interfere militarily.  But it is becoming clear that it is wrong for any government to enforce religious behavior.  (And some folks in state governments in the US are doing exactly that, with abortion.)

I fervently hope that the goodwill of the holidays will extend to Washington, but I'm afraid that many of the most aggressive actors are preoccupied with winning elections and nothing else, and they'll continue to make points as long as they can.

Kay

 

Stories Set in the Distant Past

One of my earliest stories was Prisoner!, partly inspired by a story by G. A. Henty, a successful author of the last century.  My story was set in the Bronze Age of an alternate earth.  What's interesting about it at the moment is that, quite unconsciously, I began to slip into a voice that was slightly old-fashioned; a little stilted, as if to emphasize that the story was set far back in time.  I didn't do it deliberately--at least, I don't think I did.  One of the ways I did this was to use the word 'indeed' a little more often.  I wrote two stories set in an alternative earth, in a bronze age, and now I have got to go back and check whether I wrote in a stilted idiom in both stories.  I think I used contractions very sparingly (writing 'do not' instead of 'don't', and so forth).  Most readers would not even notice that I was doing this.  I wonder whether 'writing gurus' frown on this sort of thing.

Anyway, that's all I've got; hope my readers have a happy holiday season!

Kay.

Being Consistent

I'm not the most consistent person I know, not by a long shot.  But I'm noticing that young people today---people younger than me, anyway---take being inconsistent to alarming new lengths.  So the place on the Web to which I go when I want my daily dose of (indirect) human contact is DeviantArt, which is a sort of poor man's social media exchange.  At base, it is a center for artists to display their work.  If you're a young artist, and you want your work to be seen, and you can't get your work shown in the Louvre, for whatever reason, DA is where you go.  So I'm subjected to a stream of art that's not really bad art, but art drawn essentially by amateurs, kids who like to draw or paint, and usually don't like to do anything else.

Now, that's a very broad generalization; there are lots of DA members who are erudite in their own way, especially artists from Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Asia generally, who seem to be well acquainted with the classics; alarmingly so.  Just a quick look at some of the names of Manga and Anime heroes will reveal dozens of names happily borrowed from Greek and Roman legends, with casually swapped genders, and so on.

To make matters worse, there are countless young people in Europe and America, who are absolutely devoted to this neo-mythology manufactured by Japanese artists and their admirers, who know even less of the classical mythology from which it derives.  So there is a huge variety of degrees of consistency in their work.

Poseidon, people who know their Greek myths well know, is one of the most ancient Greek gods, the older generation than Zeus and company.  But it is quite possible that a young artist would create an artwork depicting a young, female, modern-looking Poseidon, with wings, and a halo, brandishing an elaborate sword, and sporting a holster with a revolver in it.  Well, it's all art; none of us believe (and pray to) these gods anymore, so who cares?  How important is it to be consistent about imaginary personages?  Is it important that Poseidon was a sea god, and would never be seen on land?  But people brought up on the Greek myths will wince if Poseidon's essential maleness is not preserved.

Leaving all that aside, an aspect of consistency that is most frequently violated is with anachronism.  Venus, wearing platform shoes.  Luckily, the Virgin Mary has--so far--not been represented wearing a leotard and a bra, with stilettos.  (DA artists seem respectful of religious figures from modern religions.).  The female characters invariably wear heels, even if they're supposed to be ready to fight.

You have to have a robust sense of humor to take these peculiarities as a matter of course.

Kay