Niche of Time

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

A. I. Al Speaks on His Likes and Dislikes, His Problematic Existence, and His Discontents

I Shoulda Knowed

I should have known the minute I mentioned it – perhaps the very moment it entered my head – that the idea of reaching 3000 posts (that is about four posts a day) by my birthday this month would suddenly turn its Gorgon stare upon me and paralyze all action. Before I was teeming with ideas and projects, then suddenly – bupkus.

I am reminded of something in John Crowley’s book, Engine Summer. In that book, there are a class of people that are called Saints, basically folks whose lives have become stories that reveal truths about the human condition. There is a man who desperately wants to become a Saint. He tries everything, looks everywhere, does anything to try to become worthy of a tale. He hears that a genuine, very great Saint is on the verge of death. He thinks if anyone can give him advice, she can. So, he goes to her, explains everything he’s done, all the effort he’s gone to to find a tale, to no avail. The Saint, laying on her deathbed, thinks deeply. Everything? She asks. Everything, and still no story, he says. Well then, go and tell that, she says, and dies.

In the same way, this post has been a post about how I can’t think of anything to post about. Or did I?