Athenor

Athenor, the little brass boy/homunculus from the chapter of the same name in Elf & Bear. If not immediately sentient upon creation, he became increasingly more so, although his creator, Dr. Gilpin, refused to acknowledge it, preferring he remain the simple tool/machine he was created to be. He was named Athenor from the alchemist's forge that he was made in, so you could say in a strange way Gilpin named him after his 'mother.' Of course, tragedy ensued as Athenor came to consider Gilpin his father, and the doctor refused to acknowledge his personhood, always calling him it. Only after the tragedy and heroic sacrifice did Gilpin finally accept him as his 'son.'

From "Capitulation"

Scenes from my short story "Capitulation", one of the Tales from the Bureau of Shadows available on this blog. Senator Lovett, Senator Connover, the outer office of the Department of Extranatural Affairs, and the 'gremlin' on the plane. Hm. I should have removed the phone (they have to use the one in the hall; the Department is in a rather underfunded condition at the time) and persisted in making the gremlin less apelike but still inhuman. But perhaps I quibble.

A Couple More Characters from "Philo the Frog-Boy"

Mr. Joshua Phineas Williams, Undersecretary of the Department of Extranatural Affairs, and Professor Titus T. Wheeler, proprietor of Wheeler's World of Wonders.

 

Enhance!

More old illustrations enhanced by A!. You can see the originals over on my other blog, Power of Babel. Rats in kimonos chain up a cat, a monk works as a scribe, two version of what I've labeled Oracle shows how differently the AI can interpret a subject, the Lorelei lurks in the waters, and a recreation of Renaissance cabinetry.

2021 Diary: The Last of June

6/22/2021: Up at 5:30 AM, prayers and Bible, then cartoons. Today is Kameron’s birthday and he begins going to a job. Gets off at 6 PM, I think. I’m to bake a cake and make Frito pie, neither of which I can [should] eat. Called Parker’s Pharmacy again and made an appointment for Thursday 9:30 AM. Contacted John and he readily agreed to take me. As it turned out, Kam got off at 3 PM and stayed at the auto shop, coming home with Susan. He did well at work (a food bank) and came home happy. As it turned out I decided to eat with them, but moderately. We had a good little celebration. Then Andy attached the new router. After a bit I figured out how to connect, and on we go.

 

6/23/2021: Up at 6 AM. Wash dishes, cook breakfast, cartoons. Think I must defrost the mini-fridge today. And so I did, after I made one of my “big hamburger patties”, with hot sauce, woost, onions, and black pepper. Didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Prayers and Bible at 9:30 AM. The day toddled along, with me checking out a noise for Kameron about 1 PM, starting supper at 3:30 PM, then in the evening helped Kam look up the battery and charger for his computer, as he needs new ones. Made it to 100100 tokens in DQ8.

 

6/24/2021: Up about 5:30 AM. Prayers and Bible. Cartoons. Got ready and went out to wait for John a little after 9 AM. He got there about 9:25 AM and we went to Parker’s. It didn’t take long to get my feet measured, and then John took me to Walmart. Besides groceries I got the complete “Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends” and a King Kong action figure for John’s early birthday present. I also gave John $20 for the lottery as both Morgandy and I had dreamed about him winning the same in the past week. Home about 10:30 AM. About 4 PM went in and fed pets, cooked supper, and Kam and I watched Phineas & Ferb. Went in and washed up at 8 PM.

 

6/25/2021: Up at 5:30 AM. Prayers and Bible. Started Rocky &Bullwinkle [which turned out to be frustrating, as the episodes were scrambled out of order and mixed higgledy-piggeldy with Dudley Do-Right and Fractured Fairy Tales], then cartoons. The day went on as usual, with fried potatoes and fish for supper. Kam had gone to work again today and was acting a little subdued.

 

6/26/2021: Day overshadowed by the passing of Alfred, Donna Loth’s father. It had been expected for a while but was still a bit of a stunner, as death always is. Kenny called me in the evening. Still watching “The Barchester Chronicles” (1982), with Donald Pleasance, Nigel Hawthorne, Clive Swift, and Alan Rickman, and I passed it along to him.

 

6/27/2021: I had been dithering yesterday evening about whether I would skip church today, but in the end, reflex carried my onward. I took my insulin and other medicine before I left. Afterwards the deacon’s wife gave me a ride home, so that really helped, bless her. I spent the day finishing up Barchester, called John to see how things were holding up, and so on. S&A cleared off the last bit of brush from the side of the driveway. We kept expecting rain, but none here so far. Kaitlyn and Ryan appear to have dropped in for music in the park. I have discovered a new diet alternative: pork rinds!

 

6/28/2021: A typical Monday, with clothes washing, egg boiling, and cucumber salad making. They say rain is imminent, but none yet. At 10:30 PM made an HEB order.

 

6/29/2021: At about 9:40 AM the delivery came. Struggled it all in. Got Big Red Zero and pork rinds, among other things. I had also ordered Diet Sprite, but no go. It finally rained over the afternoon, but mostly cleared up by 3:30 PM, when I went in to cook. Some DQ8 after supper. When I went in to wash up, Susan got on my case because since the new router was put in, her name has been turning up on MY E-bay page on my computer (though I never tried to sign in) and then what I look up is put in HER queue. So, I put it back in my name. Now if it turns up like that on HER computer it will serve her right. I didn’t DO anything … although sometimes that the worst thing you can do. Because of the rain I let my AC rest from about 1 – 9 PM. June almost over, and then everything – birthdays, doctor appointments, expected horrible heat – begins again. On the plus side, Kelsey should be moving back closer. I wonder if the move is making Susan anxious.

 

6/30/2021: Last day of June. Up about 5:30 AM. Prayers and Bible. Cartoons (on a musical theme). Very sore and moving slow. Thinking about going to the library bookstore, but heat? Soreness? Left anyway at 9:45 AM and back at 11:10 AM with 6 books. Read “Dogbert’s Top Secret Management Handbook” throughout the day. Also got “C. S. Lewis on Scripture”, his “Space Trilogy”, Thomas a Kempis’ “The Imitation of Christ”, “The Thurber Carnival”, and a copy of The Wee Free Men: The Beginning, being the first two Tiffany Aching books combined (which I intend to give to Morgandy).  About 3:30 PM Susan brought Kam home from work while I was making supper. He seems to be doing well at work. When I went out to wash up, I found Kelsey’s dogs here, so the move is a go! They were staying here the night, but I missed them as they went out to Dairy Queen. Bed about 11 PM.

Notes

Must get to the library bookstore again soon as it’s been a while. Kelsey and Ryan had been living over by the seashore for a while; getting them closer meant we got to see them more often. My old AC was running on its last legs and had to be coddled along. I wonder if Morgandy ever read the Terry Pratchett.

Another Milestone

Another enhancement of one of my 'End of the Year' drawings, a little tradition that developed when I was still drawing on a regular basis. Each summed up my attitude to the passing year and hopes for the next. This was the last 0f 2011. My attitude was rather bleak right then as shown by the tombstone/milestones stretching into the distance. There have been several enhancements of end of the year pictures on NOT already.

If my calculations are correct (and at the moment I'm not too sure they are) this is the two-thousand, eight-hundred, and eightyth post on the Niche so far. Somewhere along the way I've developed the pointless ambition to bring the blog up to a nice round number by my birthday in late July without having to resort to pointless filler too often. I think this post just nudges its way past being pointless. It is, in its way, another, lesser milestone.

Forlan Found!

I had been decrying the fact that we did not have the 'master map' of Forlan available to us, the map we had used to guide our adventures when Goldfire was being written. I particularly wanted it to perhaps form grist and guidance for the scripts I am writing for The Wizard, the Prince, the Warrior, and His Son (must come up with a less unweildy title for the project). We could not even find the binder it was kept in. Well, I was going over Finder's Keep last night (a private family blog started in 2008) when to my wonder I ran across a scan that John had made of it back in the day, a scan that I had forgot even existed! I ran it through ChatGPT, and here is the result. It is certainly no masterpiece of mythopoetic invention when it comes to the names of cities and such, but gee I'm glad to have it! Here it is in the original condition:

I have yet to compare names on the map and see what (if anything) the AI had trouble reading, but I had to post it with trembling hands posthaste, lest it be lost again!