Back to the Beginning

I dutifully return to the A's and B's. Thus we have Advisor, Anice (which I can't help think is pronounced Anika), Argola, Argument, Astride Attack, Astronomy,  Ban Ban Caliban, Batrachian, Bookstall, and Brother Blessing. Batrachians have their own peculiar backstory, starting from a dream of finding an ancient square lake which is drained and found to be artificial and inhabited by a warren of frog-like, belligerent, intelligent monsters.

2021 Diary: What's the Deal with April?

4/14/2021-4/15/2021: Much time confounded in the days leading up to the Shanafelt/Babel trip to Colorado. On the 14^th got a load of stuff from HEB. In the evening Amy suddenly reveals to me that I need to let her know if I got a stimulus check before she could finish my taxes.

On the 15^th I scurry around trying to find my Direct Express balance, then finally realize stuff is sent by my phone, and find my stimulus was sent on the 7^th. Send Amy the data. The day was cooler and near the evening a little drizzly. Went over stuff with Susan in the evening, about the pool, the dogs, and her E-bay account. By the evening 10 PM or so all was settled.

 

4/16/2021: Up about 5 AM and went in to bid everyone bon voyage. Left about 5:10 AM, and I went back out and lay down again. Saw a few cartoons and drifted off. Up about 7:45 AM, checked the pool, had donuts fer breakfast, turned off the safety lights. Pretty damp weather, but not exactly raining. Will check mail at 9 AM.

Mail not there at 9 AM; checked at 10:30 AM, and mail and packages on the porch. Various little chores like washing dishes, taking recyclables out. About 11:30 AM laid down for a nap. Awoke as by instinct at 1:12 PM. Started a load of wash, brought Ginger in. Almost immediately she peed on the rug, but so what? Finding the empty World Book shelf a good room divider.

Susan called at 5 PM to say they had landed in Roswell and to keep an eye out for a package coming this evening. Brought Ginger’s bowls in. Made some Knorr noodles with tuna. Spent most of the evening between 6 and 8 waiting for the package. Saw a big old raccoon walking across the driveway. I gave up at 8 PM, came in and finished eating supper. Suddenly about 8:25 PM the dogs started barking, so I went in, saw the box had finally come, set up the lights and closed the house. Came in to find that Ginger had pooped at last. Now almost 9 PM. Prayed, Bible.

 

4/17/2021: Up by 6 AM to watch cartoons, the house open and fan going, and pretty cold! Tried to keep Ginger warm though. Went in about 8 AM to cut off lights. Fed pets.

Rest of the day ate too much, but not heavy things. Cereal, grapes, olive loaf sandwiches, a banana, popcorn. Got packages off porch and then mail about 10:30 AM. About 11:30 AM contacted Kelsey on FB about maybe a visit, but at last, no.

Lost the first auction on Ebay, then won the next. About 8 PM turned on the lights and locked up the house. Ginger pooped at last. Now 8:42 PM.

 

4/18/2021: Stayed home rather than going to church. Prayers, missalette. Pool pump went off. Called Andy, put hose in hot tub. Day draggled along. Got Susan’s E-bay in the evening. Still eating too much; spaghetti in the evening. Nice and cool all day.

 

4/19/2021: Up at 5 AM. Shower. Cartoons. About 10:30 AM the pool guy gets here. Let the Rotts out afterward. Washing clothes. Now 2 PM. Ordered PS2 paddle, Hobbit Trilogy, and The Man who Killed Don Quixote from Walmart.

 

4/20/2021: Got HEB order.

Notes

Well this April seems to be following the same pattern, except no-one is on vacation and I have no elderly and incontinent Chihuahua to care fore. But the weather is that same iffy, neither/nor damp grayness. Everything seems both contingent and uncertain, and at the same time unchanging. 

Sunday Matinee

The idea of female Orcs is actually canonical to the books (at least the later versions of the books, when Tolkien had more time to ponder the matter); it says Orcs reproduce 'after the Manner of the Children of Iluvater' (in other words, they bump uglies). The idea of them springing out of slime pits was cemented in the minds of those who only watched the Jackson movies. The concept of sea-serpents (and indeed other water monsters) has always fascinated and horrified me. They seem to rise up out of the unknown like 'monsters of the Id' from the hidden recesses of the mind.

Fantasy vs. Reality: The Eternal Struggle

Miramon sighed. “That is true. There is no marriage for the maker of dreams, because he is perpetually creating finer women than earth provides. The touch of flesh cannot content him who has arranged the shining hair of angels and modeled the breasts of the sphinx." - The Silver Stallion.

In the Wastelands

Once again, AI supplies legs for a legless dragon (a Wyrm) in the Wasteland. Some of these are more curated than others.

Some Wubble-Yous and a Zed

I decided to start from the bottom of the list today and so we have wolves, witches, wizards, woses, and wogglebugs, and last of all Zeb and Me. Unless you make a strict point of it, the AI seems to think all dragonlike creatures have four legs, and witches and hags tend to be smoothed out into pleasant old ladies, which makes me speculate about company policy. Most of my prompts have to be negative: No Music, No Magic Effects unless specified, No Talking unless specified. Most of the animation generation direction, if left on its own, reminds me of the Harold Zoid school of production.

'Warnie': Into the Archive

Inkling, Historian, Soldier, and Brother: A Life of Warren Hamilton Lewis by Don King

The first full biography of Warren Lewis, brother and secretary of C. S. Lewis (2023, 435 Pages)

Detailing the life of Warren Hamilton Lewis, author Don W. King gives us new insights into the life and mind of Warren’s famous brother, C. S. Lewis, and also demonstrates how Warren’s experiences provide an illuminating window into the events, personalities, and culture of 20th-century England. Inkling, Historian, Soldier, and Brother will appeal to those interested in C. S. Lewis and British social and cultural history.

As a career soldier, Warren served in France during the nightmare of World War I and was later posted to Sierra Leone and Shanghai. On his retirement from the army, he became an active member of the household at the Kilns, the residence outside Oxford that he co-owned with his brother and Mrs. Janie Moore, and he played an important role in the relationship between his brother and Joy Davidman, the woman who became C. S. Lewis’s wife. A talented writer and accomplished amateur historian, Warren also researched and wrote seven books on 17th-century French history.

Inkling, Historian, Soldier, and Brother examines Warren Lewis’s role as an original member of the Oxford Inklings—that now famous group of novelists, thinkers, clergy, poets, essayists, medical men, scholars, and friends who met regularly to drink beer; discuss books, ideas, history, and writers; and share pieces of their own writing for feedback from the group.

Drawing from Warren Lewis’s unpublished diaries, his letters, the memoir he wrote about his family, and other primary materials, this biography is an engaging story of a fascinating life, period of history, and of the warm and loving relationship between Warren and his brother, which lasted throughout their lives. – Amazon.

I ordered it on April 4th, and it arrived on the 9^th; I had not expected it until the 14^th. It is the first new book I’ve bought since February 21^st, so that’s a sort of record for me lately. The first time I became aware of it on Amazon, it was $50; but it finally came down enough for me not to feel guilty about ordering it: $24.87. It is in pristine condition, but being from a university press it is in teeny-tiny, eye-straining typeset. I opened it to discover that it had been signed by the author, Don King (no, not the one who might first spring to mind), and so joins my little collection of autographed copies. Just the name, no inscription.

Warnie has always interested me as being what you might call an ‘ordinary’ adjunct to the Inklings circle, though as this biography points out, that might only be in comparison to such titans as C. S. and Tolkien. Quite extraordinary in his own right, a published author in a time when merely being ‘Jack’s’ brother would have cut very little ice. Though of course it is mainly the Inkling connection that draws me to his biography now.