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Month: May 2025

Weekly Round-up, May 24, 2025

2025-05-242025-05-24 John Winkelman

A large hawk, perched on a power line, holding a robin fledgling in its talons.

[A hawk, having just caught one of the robin fledglings from our back yard.]

Not much to say the week. I was crazy-busy and also got sick, so there wasn’t much to do other than try to stay awake and watch the country continue its rapid slide into fascism.

I found the time and energy at the end of the week to work in our backyard garden. That was when I heard a sudden commotion from the local robins, and looked up to see a large hawk had just caught one of the local fledglings. Better luck next incarnation, little fella.

Reading

Jack Hirschman. William Gibson. Dyrk Ashton and David Estes.

Writing

Nup’m.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Robots, Super Powers
Setting: Ocean
Genre: Literary Fiction

Listening

Robert Plant, “In the Mood”, from his album The Principle of Moments.

Interesting Links

  • “Debating Trump “Ambush” of South African President With “White Genocide’ Lies” (Naked Capitalism) – Emasculated, senile, and impotent white nationalist (but I repeat myself) Donald J. Trump failed to intimidate and humiliate the South African president, and was called out on the absolute lie that is the cowardly false narrative of “white genocide”. Basically, everyone who believes that “white genocide” or “the great replacement” are real needs to be purged from the human race. And the sooner, the better. The world is better off without those racist white trash morons.
Posted in Life comment on Weekly Round-up, May 24, 2025

Weekly Round-up, May 17, 2025

2025-05-172025-05-17 John Winkelman

A Robin fledgling perched on an unused tomato cage in the middle of a patch of weeds next to the foundation of a small garage.

[A Robin fledgling perched on an unused tomato cage in the middle of a patch of weeds next to the foundation of a small garage.]

Spring has definitely sprung here in West Michigan. After a week off from work I am re-acclimating myself to the daily grind. Work was busy, as was life, and everything was made busier by the schedule disruptions of a new crown on one of my teeth, a meeting of the Grand River Poetry Collective, a meeting of the Ann Arbor Science Fiction Convention, and a severe thunderstorm which blew through Thursday evening, which brought almost four inches of rain in an hour as well as several tornadoes.

But other than that, everything was business as usual.

Reading

I read Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems, and am now going through Jack Hirschman’s Front Lines, which I am quite enjoying. This is me making up for not having the mental capacity to enjoy poetry during National Poetry Month.

I just started reading Kraken Rider Z by David Estes and Dyrk Ashton. I know Dyrk from ConFusion, and have previously read his excellent Paternus Trilogy, so I have high hopes for this one. A hundred pages in, and it is pretty good!

Writing

Along with a return to reading poetry, I am writing a little more than usual, which is not difficult because anything more than “none” is more than usual.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Spiritual Beings, Kaiju
Setting: Small Town
Genre: Technothriller

Listening

Simple Minds, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”, from the soundtrack to The Breakfast Club. This was the #1 song in the USA this week in 1985.

Interesting Links

  • “Why the Democrats are still stuck in the past” (Paul Rosenberg, Salon)
  • “Documenting the Damage: 100 Harmful Policies from the First 100 Days of the Second Trump Administration” (Brett Heinz) – Well-researched list of the many ways in which the guillotinable and compostable President Donald Trump, with the full-throated support of every conservative in the USA, is dismantling democracy and turning the country into a fascist oligarchy. This is what all American conservatives – especially the Christians – have wanted since the day America won its independence from England.
  • “Trump can’t do ANYTHING for his base” (Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic)
  • “They Looted Companies — Now They’re Looting the Government” (Lynn Parramore, Institute for New Economic Thinking)
Posted in LifeTagged ConFusion, Grand River Poetry Collective, Simple Minds comment on Weekly Round-up, May 17, 2025

Weekly Round-up, May 10, 2025

2025-05-102025-05-10 John Winkelman

A partly-cloudy sky, reflected in the water of a bog at the edge of Loda Lake.

[A partly-cloudy sky, reflected in the water of a bog at the edge of Loda Lake at the Loda Lake Wildflower Sanctuary.]

I was on vacation last week. I worked on projects around the house. I read a lot. I took some naps. I walked in the woods. It was a good, quiet time.

Reading

I picked up Jack Hirschman’s Front Lines and Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems from The Book Nook in Montague. They are my current porch-sitting reads, and they are most excellent.

Writing

I didn’t accomplish much other than a single poem to close out my most recently-filled journal. It has promise.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Portals, Empire
Setting: Ruins
Genre: Horror

Listening

Ringo Starr, “It Don’t Come Easy.”

Please, remember peace is how we make it
Here within your reach if you’re big enough to take it

Interesting Links

  • “The Half Life of Empire” (Blair Fix, Economics From the Top Down)
Posted in LifeTagged Ringo Starr comment on Weekly Round-up, May 10, 2025

IWSG, May 2025: Fear, Hope, Whatever

2025-05-072025-05-07 John Winkelman

A closeup of a small morel mushroom among blades of grass in an unkempt lawn.

[A closeup of a small morel mushroom among blades of grass in an unkempt lawn.]

Oh, what a month it has been. Last week was the first week since early March in which I did not have to work at least one 10, 11, 12, 14, etc. – hour day. This week I am on vacation, working through my vast backlog of tasks, chores, and errands. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

April was National Poetry Month, and I made a better showing that in the past few years, with about a dozen first-drafts of poems added to my journal. One or two of them even show promise, which is statistically pretty good.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group question for May 2025 is:

Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

My greatest fear is a writer is that, despite all the drafts of books, short stories, essays, and poems which fill my hard drive and countless old journals, I will never actually complete any of them to the point where they can be considered for publication.

While it is true that if I have time to write a new story I have time to edit an existing story, I easily and repeatedly fall into the trap of believing that I need a guaranteed minimum of X consecutive, uninterrupted hours to even attempt an edit of even the shortest of short stories. I can mull over new work in my head when I am e.g. walking to work or driving to the store for groceries. The new stuff doesn’t need to be written down write away, and much of the creative process is subconscious.

But editing is not the same. To edit requires singular focus.

I am aware that there is no such thing as a perfect moment for specific work; or at least such moments are rare enough that they might as well be snipe hunts. Adequate time is good enough. I understand that in my head, but I don’t yet understand it in my heart.

So there it is: For want of an hour, the manuscript was lost.

One of my goals for my vacation is to print out a large pile of first-drafts which I can carry around and edit by hand in my spare moments at work or sitting around the house. While not ideal, it is much better than staring at the television with a vague feeling of unease as the days turn into seasons and the pile of possibilities turns into compost.

Happy May, everyone. Write well!

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Posted in Literary MattersTagged IWSG, writing 3 Comments on IWSG, May 2025: Fear, Hope, Whatever

Weekly Round-up, May 3, 2025

2025-05-032025-05-03 John Winkelman

The Sixth Street Dam in Grand Rapids, Michigan, viewed from the east bank, just south of the dam.

[The Sixth Street Dam in Grand Rapids, Michigan, viewed from the east bank, just south of the dam.]

This past week was the first in several months in which I worked less than 45 hours. But I had many other tasks outside of work, which kept me quite busy. I have the next week off from work, and have no plans, other than the plan to not plan anything for the week.

Reading

I am slowly reading through Get ’em Young, Treat ’em Tough, Tell ’em Nothing, a collection of short stories by Robin McLean. They’re pretty good.

Writing

Nothing to report on this front.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Aliens, Language
Setting: Border Town
Genre: Solarpunk

Listening

Billy Idol‘s “The Dead Next Door,” from his superb 1983 album Rebel Yell. I have had a snippet of an earworm stuck in my head for a few days, and while it is not this song, “The Dead Next Door” came up while I was searching.

Interesting Links

  • “A Gutted Education Department’s New Agenda: Roll Back Civil Rights Cases, Target Transgender Students” (Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen, ProPublica) – Because MAGA is a hate group which views education as a threat, and views anyone who isn’t a straight white man as less than human.
  • “China Leapfrogging the U.S. in Tech Innovation” (Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism)
Posted in LifeTagged Billy Idol, Robin McLean comment on Weekly Round-up, May 3, 2025

April 2025 Books and Reading Notes

2025-05-012025-05-01 John Winkelman

April was a good month for acquiring books from independent publishers.

April was an okay month for reading. My work-life balance was, yet again, significantly tipped toward the work side of things, which took from me much of my reading time, and left me unable to focus for what little time remained.

I suspect in the coming months I will be acquiring fewer books, due to supply-chain disruption and the inevitable recession and increased inflation.

Acquisitions

Books which arrived at my house in the month of April 2025.

  1. Our Dust Earth (Air and Nothingness Press)  [2025.04.07] – Acquired through a Kickstarter campaign run by Air and Nothingness Press
  2. Gerald Murnane, Barley Patch (And Other Stories) [2025.04.14] – The latest arrival from my subscription to And Other Stories.
  3. Kateřina Čupová (Julie Nováková, translator), R.U.R.: The Karel Čapek Classic (Rosarium Publishing) [2025.04.14] – Reward for a Kickstarter campaign run by the always-excellent Rosarium Publishing
  4. Lesley Connor and Jason Sizemore (editors), Robotic Ambitions (Apex Book Company) [2024.04.21]

Reading List

Books which I read in the month of April 2025.

Books

  1. China Miéville, The City and the City [2025.04.13]
  2. Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America [2025.04.17]
  3. Richard Brautigan, The Pill versus the Springhill Mine Disaster [2025.04.20]
  4. Richard Brautigan, In Watermelon Sugar [2025.04.23]

Short Prose

  1. Robin McLean, “But for Herr Hitler”, Get ’em Young, Treat ’em Tough, Tell ’em Nothing [2025.04.24]
  2. Robin McLean, “Pterodactyl”, Get ’em Young, Treat ’em Tough, Tell ’em Nothing [2025.04.25]
Posted in Book ListTagged Air and Nothingness Press, And Other Stories, Apex Book Company, China Miéville, Gerald Murnane, Kateřina Čupová, Richard Brautigan, Robin McLean, Rosarium Publishing comment on April 2025 Books and Reading Notes

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