Things I learned from Star Trek the Original Series.

Star Trek is an endearing universe full of wonder and imagination. But, there are some things everyone needs to take into account should they find themselves aboard the starship Enterprise.



1. Unless you’re the chief engineer or the captain, wearing a red shirt is a bad omen. In fact, in might be best not to crawl out of bed in the first place. Generally wearing a red shirt is like forfeiting your life. If you want to live, wear a different color, unless your name is Scotty, or you’re female. Then you’re safe. I think.

2. Death happens in nearly every episode on some level. Dr. McCoy, AKA Bones, likes to announce a person’s lack of life by proudly exclaiming “He’s dead Jim!” You would think he’d get used to it.

3. Womanizing seems to be a captain’s privilege. Despite there being plenty of other men, Kirk will invariably get the girl. Providing they’re not part of his crew. He doesn’t seem to chase after them. Much. Though exceptions have been made.

4. No emotions mean a lack of interest in something. Spock would like everyone to believe he’s incapable of any and all emotions. His curiosity frequently gives him away, however. With phrases like “fascinating”, and “curious”. Poor suppressed guy.

5. Engineers are miracle workers. Chief engineer Montgomery Scott is often heard telling Captain Kirk, “It can’t be done”. He then goes on to prove himself wrong. Impossibilities are only mildly inconvenient.

6. Life is surprisingly diverse. The ship and crew of the Enterprise are always running into strange beings. Some pleasant. Some not so much. Best not to judge at first glance.

7. Men die more than women. Death visits in nearly every episode. For some reason, the women are largely exempt from that fate. Even if they’re wearing a red shirt.

8. The command crew should always go on scouting missions. Thereby leaving the ship in less capable hands. Besides, the action is wherever the command crew is.

9. Everything is made in Russia. I know this to be true because helmsman Pavel Chekov says so. Although Spock tends to correct him…

10. A captain shirts is made of poor quality. Captain James T. Kirk frequently has his shirt torn to rags or otherwise removed from his person. This wouldn’t happen if the craftsmanship was of better quality.

11. Not everyone is interested in sex. Despite constant exposure to members of the opposite sex, Spock almost never gets the girl (or boy). His suppressed sexual drive is only allowed to come out and play once in a while. That’s OK, Kirk more than makes up for it.

12. Peace is relative. Kirk is known to say “we come in peace”. He’s also known to say “shoot to kill”. Sometimes in the same episode.

13. The universe prefers a certain form. Nearly all aliens look alarmingly similar to humans. I guess our shape is awesome.

Dawn of a New Age

Morning

Most days I'm sleeping when the sun comes up. But the day I took this photo, I had gotten up to answer a call of nature.

Imagine my surprise when I looked outside and saw the burning skies of countless wars raging overhead as I stood in awe.

Fighter planes and alien ships vied for dominance in the otherwise beautiful morning. Their battle waged above where I could not see.

I might've been mistaken, but I'm sure I saw dragons too. Who else could turn the sky to flames? The whole of the world gripped by it's majesty and terror. There was naught I could do but stand and watch, waiting for the world to fall.

Ahh, the birds though. The birds did not seem to notice. Indeed they went about their morning chorus as though nothing was out of place. Perhaps the sky was only an illusion they could not see. Or perhaps they did and choose to ignore the significance.

As with all things, the war and flames came to an end. The sun had risen and washed away the battle that never was but could have been. The beauty that held me enraptured faded in the morning light. A New Age hidden once again with the beginning of the day.

Fighter planes, aliens and dragons would have to wait for sleep once more. For only there is it safe to fly.

Morning

What's in a Puzzle Box?

The Moment 

 Puzzle Box

So I was rewatching the Dr Who episode Day of the Doctor when it occurred to me that the device 'The Moment' bares a striking resemblance to the Hellraiser puzzle box...

Looks like the Time Lords created their own puzzle box and realized, to late, just what it opened. This would of course, be why they had it under lock and key...

Now that would be a fun episode to watch.

FYI, neither of these pictures are mine. In fact, I'm not even sure who took them.

Persistent Little Flower

Gutter Flower

Ever notice how people rarely, if ever, look up or around? People are either looking straight ahead, down at their feet, or at their phones.

It sometimes feels like looking around and seeing what's out there is a taboo.

Are we all subconsciously afraid of noticing something out of the ordinary?

Take this beautiful little sunflower (pictured left) for example. If I hadn't looked up, I wouldn't have noticed it. The flower was growing all along with or without my acknowledgement. In a place that can't be easy to grow.

These gutters are very high up and hard to reach much less clean. Year after year, I ignore them even though I know shouldn't. Various plant vegetation gets trapped, rots and becomes fuel for seeds to grow in. Most of those seeds sprout into trees that fail to live past winter. Every once in a while, however, a seed gets up there that is a complete surprise to me.

Not only does this sunflower have to survive in poor soil conditions, but it's also exposed to the elements like wind and rain. She's a lone target at the end of a field of shingles.

Outside of the oddity of growing in a gutter, the plant does have a useful lesson to teach. And that lesson is: Regardless of what you're dealt, persist and grow. 

Sun Flower

You will never know what you're capable of unless you try. It can be a scary daunting process but one worth the effort if you succeed.

Even if you don't succeed, all is not lost. Simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again.

Remember, failure only happens when you never try in the first place or give up at the first sign of trouble.

So look around and see what's out there. Instead of looking straight ahead, down at your feet or at your phone.   

Dead Rodent Plunder

Zoe's Rocking Chair

There's a certain level of tolerance one needs to live in the country due to the proximity of wildlife. Unless you go to great lengths to kill everything off, you're going to have to deal with woodland invaders from time to time.

I'm lucky my dog and cat do a fairly good job of patrolling the interior borders of my house for unwanted intruders.

Unfortunately, that patrolling does no good beyond the walls of my abode. So the invasive fuzzies keep attacking my castle, while my guard animals keep protecting it.

Of course, sometimes my dear Zoe (pictured in chair) goes above and beyond the call of duty and stops the invading army of rodents before they have a chance to infiltrate. Her enthusiasm for tracking down and eliminating any and all rodents is quite admirable, if not borderline fanatical.

Take, for example, earlier today. She came with me while I was out doing yard work. Normally I don't bring her with but today I wasn't doing much, just checking on some stuff. She made a bee line straight for the underside of the porch and refused to come out. No amount of calling, bribing or pulling on her lead (once I got it attached) would discourage her from the hunt.

She refused to budge until she caught her prey. The sneaky little bastard was an adult rat that was no doubt looking for a way past my defenses.

Zoe was so proud of herself too. She was even willing to dispose of the body by eating it. So it comes as no surprise how unhappy she was when I took the enemies body away for proper disposal.

She even refused her consolation prize of a tasty dog treat. I guess some things can't be replaced.

The Silence of Night

Northern Lights photographed by my friend Ellen

I have always liked the dead silence of night. though in truth it is not so silent as it is muted. The nocturnal denizens go about their business softly, either hunting or avoiding the hunt. Human activity also dwindles as those who choose these hours to be awake, are in fact, awake while everyone else rests.

The only major sounds are the insects, which never seem to sleep (unless it's cold) and the occasional coyote howl or dog bark. Some birds might announce their presence but even they do so quietly.

It is as if darkness invokes silence in most living creatures. But it is in this nocturnal time that I have always felt alive, felt I belonged.

The subtlety of life lurking in silence is a reassuring sound. Spoiled only by the cacophony of birdsong and human activity once the sun rises again.

:)

I made stuff, aren't I special?

Resister necklace

So, yesterday I set up my Etsy shop. I listed one item just so I could fill in all the blanks the shop had to offer. Why don't they have it so those spaces can be filled out without having to list something?

Now I just need to finish populating my listings with items, so I can go make more. And maybe this time, I'll remember to take pictures along the way instead of waiting...

Once I have my shop list populated, then I can figure out the social media aspect. I suppose I should do that at the same time, but I don't want people showing up for only a handful of items.

On the other hand, if you're really interested, it's called Tripolyrain. Don't be surprised to be underwhelmed if you look it up right now though. It's still under construction so to speak.

In other news, Ants of Disrepair have taken up lodging in my window sill. Such encroachment will not be tolerated. As they have no ambassador with which to speak, I shall just open fire with chemical weapons. Thus their encroachment shall end and my borders will remain safe from ill-doers.
:)

Backyard Frolicking

Baby fawn in my yard

I woke up late this morning. Then took my time getting ready. My dog waited patiently like she always does until we were about to go for our morning walk.

She got excited but didn't run to the door. Instead, she ran to the window. I followed and saw this.

Deer family

I live in the country so seeing deer isn't too unusual, but even I rarely get to see a fawn. Much less two playing in my own yard. Children will be children no matter what the species, I guess.

One of the fawns was way more adventurous than the other and kept running back and forth between momma and my yard.

You see videos of this sort of thing all the time on the internet. I got to see it first hand.

Fawn

Wow, did I slack off or what?

Necklace made from a typewriter part.

Sooo, I guess I kinda look like I stopped blogging, fell off the world (because, gravity), or disappeared into some government experiment. Could be, could be. Or I was simply busy pursuing other ventures.

I'm starting an Etsy store, so that's where all my energy has gone. Another website to maintain, product to make (and photograph), policies to come up with, legal stuff to fret over. Get the picture?

So, yeah, I slacked off. Not because I was bored of  random posting here on the interwebs but because I needed to devote my time elsewhere.

Still, I believe failure only happens when ya stop trying to succeed. Falling down is easy, it's the getting back up part that many people suck at.

For a long time, I never tried to succeed at anything. Partly because I didn't believe in myself, but also because I was surrounded by people who didn't believe in me either. Know how much of a downer that is? They actually try to make you feel good about mediocrity.

My mother had even, at one point, told me to do nothing but work and watch T.V.. Her reason? Why not, it's what everyone else does.

Those words haunted me long after she passed away. My own mother had no vested interest in my future. It was heartbreaking. And for a long time, I failed. I failed to create personal goals. I failed to connect with people. I failed to care about anything at all.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my mom (r.i.p.). She just lacked in the nurture department.

It took me close to a decade to get back on track. By then, I realized I was surrounded by people who were ambition-less and didn't want to see me (or anyone else) succeed. Weeding these people out of my life hasn't been easy, but it has been necessary.

The moral of the story? If you're trying, you're succeeding, because if you're not trying, you've already failed.

So if you have to slack off in one area in order to improve overall, I say it's worth it. Just make sure it's one area you can afford to slack off in. Like writing a pointless blog.

Clutter

I suffer from packratitis. Stuff accumulates in various nooks and crannies until there's no room left. Then it migrates to closets. Eventually it takes over whole rooms.

It never seems to go away. I'll shuffle it from here to there. Go through and organize, only to have it wind up hiding under the thin veil of that's been gone through pile.

It creeps out into the open, subtly infiltrating my living space. Before I know it, there's no place for living.

So if you don't hear from me, look under a pile of something. I'm bound to buried somewhere beneath all the accumulated stuff.

Animé and clothes

Captain Harlock. Screen shot from the Anime.

There's something that's been bothering me for a while now. Well, at least the last half hour, and no, it's not my dog.

I've been watching a lot of animé lately and there's something I noticed that is, well, curious. All these people going on wild crazy adventures rarely seem to change clothes. Really?

I get it, school uniforms you probably have lots of those but... Now that I think about it all my favorite characters from every type of genre, all seem to either have lots of the same type of clothes or wear the same ones continuously.

In Bleach, at least the Quincy character Uryū Ishida actively shows he has multiple change of clothes. They kinda make a joke out of it. Fairy Tail is the only other show where characters have a change of clothes. Though there are plenty of adventures where they don't, as well.

Even Trigun and FullMetal Alchemist seem to have an endless supply of similar clothes. 

This isn't a really big deal, trust me. I love the shows and will continue to watch them regardless of their clothes habits. It just gets me wondering what it'd be like to only have one or two change of clothes or all my clothes looking the same.

I live in a culture of too many choices and fashion is as much a part of the person as their personality. Still, it makes it easier for cosplay. I mean, if the character only has one outfit, it's pretty easy for someone to identify. 

:)

Wondering off track

Bubbles (I did not name her)

So I've learned that I suck at keeping a self imposed schedule. The consequences of not doing what I set out to do are really immaterial. Still, it's only failure if I stop trying, right?

I heard somewhere that forming a new habit takes about a month on average. So I guess I should focus on writing more, instead of getting distracted by everything else in my life. Not that everything else isn't important, but, it's busy work and not getting me closer to my goals.

I can't really call myself a writer if I never write. Nor will I ever convince someone else that I'm a writer if I have nothing to show for it.

I'm great at starting projects, not finishing them. It's not laziness. It's boredom, distractions and negative feelings about what I'm doing. It's a big hurdle to overcome. I know I'm not the only person to sit in a chair and feel this way, but it sure seems like it at times.

On the other hand, I've gotten a good deal of jewelry made in the last month. Enough that I could potentially sell some somewhere. I've also learned  a great deal about starting a business. So not a complete waste but not perfect either.

Early spring snow

Solitary tree

The weather doesn't always cooperate when I want to do something outside. All last week I was doing yard work but had to stop because of the snow storm that visited today. Ironically, the normally inaccurate weatherman was actually spot on.

Like Fall, Spring is the transition months between hot and cold weather. So there's a lot of atmospheric stuff going on. No, I'm not an expert, but even I can tell when the weather's going wonky.

The warmth from the south battles the cold from the north. And we little lifeforms get caught in the middle. The battle for weather supreme surrounds us as we go about our day. I can almost imagine the various pressure systems and storms being armies of the summer and winter court. Beings of such immense power, that we don't even understand them. We just call them natural phenomenon. No doubt, they rarely notice us in all our noise and lights. We're on the surface. They're in the sky. flying in their invisible crafts vying for control of the heavens.

Perhaps my imagination is a little over-bored but I've always imagined storms and other weather antics to be the result of beings unlike ourselves. So far advanced, that we seem little more than insects to them. Certainly entertaining in our own way, but insects nonetheless.

So the next time the weather is doing something wonky, wave. You never know what sort of beings might be watching.

Yard Work

Wild Turkey Trot

The first day of spring was yesterday but the weather has been unseasonably warm for the past few weeks. So, for those of us who are frozen half the year, this means getting a head start on outdoor cleaning.

This is what I've been doing for that past couple of days; trimming up trees, racking leaves and cutting back weeds. I'm trying to make my yard look purdy, instead of like a **ithole.

When you live in the country like I do, it's easy for nature to take back your yard. Unless you're spending a large chunk of your time mowing and trimming (or weeding and spraying herbicides), random plants, not just dandelions, start showing up everywhere.

Some of these plants are actually kind of nice to have, such as violets. I have a large section under my trees that is nothing but these early spring flowers. Not only are their purple/blue flowers pretty to look at, they also provide food for bees.

Other plants are not only a nuisance but they're invasive as well. We all know about dandelions (which I don't mind actually) but what I'm talking about are those plants that literally choke out native species.

The first year you notice them, there might only be one or two plants. The next year? a dozen or more. They either have prolific seeds or runners, sometimes both.

The worst of these for me is the cucumber vine. Not only is it prolific, but it grows fast too. I had one grow up next to a wild grapevine. I didn't know what kind of plant it was back then. It didn't take long for it to outgrow and takeover my grapevine. Because it drops a large quantity of fast germinating seeds, before I knew it, my yard was overcome.

I'm not one for using chemicals if I don't have too, though I could go that route. Many people do. I personally feel we have too many chemicals already in our lives, we don't need more. So every year I spend some time cutting and pulling unwanted plants, mostly vines, from specific areas so the yard looks neat.

Because I don't use chemicals, I've had to redefine what types of plants belong in a yard. While mostly it's grass, I do let other plants grow. Things like creeping charlie, though invasive, grow close to the ground, provide plenty of coverage and even has small  but pretty early spring flowers. Other plants, like violets, grow well under shade. They're perfect for those areas that don't necessarily need mowing every week but you want somewhat neat looking. Even the dreaded dandelion gets to stay in my yard. Though I have to admit, they don't do well because my yard is mostly shaded and they prefer sun. There are others, but those are the main ones.

What do these plants have in common beside normally being considered a weed? They're invasive. But not to the point of choking out all other plants. They're also low to the ground and require less mowing than grass. This means less work for me. I have a large yard, so this is somewhat important.

Having various plants besides grass growing in my yard has another benefit too. I get to see more animals than most folks. Most wildlife, like the turkey pictured above, don't eat grass. They eat other plants or bugs that eat other plants. It helps that I have trees surrounding my property which provide shelter.

All in all, while it might not be manicured to the point of boring, I have a yard that I can enjoy along with nature.

:)

Keeping up the habit

Water Volcano 

I almost forgot to write today. Yard work is such a time suck.

Anywho, Writers Digest is doing a Poem a Day contest for the month of April. As I used to write poetry, I think this is something that I will attempt to do. I believe it will help with the Habit Of Writing.

It's more of an exercise than a contest, though they do have it set up so it can be. If people want to participate, all they have to do is leave their poem in the comments section. Of course, it's not mandatory to do so. Contest winners get to have their poems put in an anthology of sorts. So, nothing to grand. Should be fun.

Still, getting prompts and outside suggestions is as important as doing the work in the first place. It can help overcome writers block and improve ones own writing ability. Hopefully the feedback from the contest is worth entering in the first place.

I honestly don't like reading poetry, though I love writing it. Weird, huh? Most of my early works were written with a song in mind. I.E. I was writing lyrics without any music. I read song lyrics all the time back then. Guess that's why I wrote like I was writing one. My mind didn't really make the connection that lyrics are a form of poetry too.

But, if I intend to get back into writing poetry, I need to start reading some. I have a couple of books of Poe and Eliot. And that is where I'll start. I have a couple of weeks. Best if I brush up on rhyme, meter and all that jazz, before then. The best way to do that is to read the masters. That way, when the contest starts, I'll be better prepared.

:)

Day two in the journey of... something

Red Wing

New habits are easily derailed by squirrels of distraction. Now, I'm not talking about the kind that haunt the trees (though my dog might disagree), I'm talking about the ones that haunt my peripheral awareness.

You know the ones, they hide just out of sight taunting you with things like, housework. Or worse, leisure time in front of one device or another. They remind you of chores left undone, of books unread. Nag you about friends you haven't seen in a while or that show at the local theater. 

They lure you away from whatever it is you're trying to do simply because they can. And when you're fully engrossed in whatever they presented you in the first place, they'll remind you of what it was you were trying to do to begin with. But now you're comfy, or busy doing something else. Perhaps not even home. 

In the end, what was supposed to get done, gets pushed off till tomorrow. Instead of learning a new habit, you reinforce an old one. Procrastination. 

This habit is the bane of all would-be productive people. Like a begging dog, it's so easy to learn. And so hard to break. 

Still, with a little determination and willpower, it's not impossible to unlearn a bad habit. I just need to capture those pesky squirrels and do away with them. Then I'll be fine, really.

Until next time :)

Beginnings suck!

Looking up

Life is an endless loop. Where one part ends another begins. It's very hard to separate events because they all tie into one another.

Yet, this is what I'm trying to do. Start over. Create a new character and begin the game again. Except, the new character has all of the old characters problems. There's a lot that can be walked away from, but I can't walk away from myself.

Recreating that internal part that makes me who I am is seriously difficult. It's like a video game, every character has the same basic stats that can't be changed. The fighter will always be strong. The mage will always have high mana. The thief will always be extremely dexterous. The tropes of games visited upon the real world.

So, where to begin? As every beginning is another stories ending it's hard to see where to draw the line. Still, if I don't, I'll just be walking an endless treadmill of obscurity.

So I guess I'll begin by writing short little blurbs, daily if I can, about whatever random stuff that comes to mind. They won't be long, but that's OK.

:)