Club High Castle Pre-Pandemic

I'm going to be blunt: I could care less about Black Friday, and "I am thankful for..." posts are about as entertaining as waiting in line at the DMV. Does this make me a bad person? I mean, I am grateful for what I have and all... With all the fear, hype, and false quotes floating around these days about special IDs and compulsory badges, here is a little "what if" writing experiment. I refuse to defend a certain business man gone politician, but he never suggested IDs and badges. Photo of the DMV is credited to coolcaesar at wikipedia commons You are number 54. You watch as the ticker at the DMV flashes 52. Good. Just two more to go, and you can hurry up and get on with your life. You shift the paperwork in your hands as it makes an annoying crinkle sound. 53 You double check that you have everything. In the name of security, the DMV wants everything short of a blood sample. Whatever. You just want to get on with your life and go to that new cafe...

I promised myself I'd never post about anything controversial on here, but...It's a cup. I work hard to make sure I've got the necessities and plus a few extras. There are important things in life worthy of getting upset about, and then there are the petty annoyances like customers behaving badly and chilly rainy days deserving of a complaint here and there. I got home the other day to find the Internet in an uproar over the color of a cup. A CUP! Is this what we've become? A nation who whines and loses it's marbles over a cup? For those who are wondering what the heck am I talking about, Starbucks recently released its special holiday cups. Instead of the regular festive designs, they opted for a minimalist approach. Photo courtesy of Starbucks Look at those evil cups. They're up to no good in their plain red dye! The nerve of them. They are the battalion commanders in the War Against Christmas. The ironic thing is that Starbucks still sells i...

The nights grow longer as November rears its sleepy head. Both star studded images used in this graphic are amazing photographs by hubble/Nasa Let's say you own a telescope, and one chilly November evening, you are gazing at the night sky. As you shift to adjust your hoodie, you accidentally bump your telescope. It swings slightly downward. Shrugging, you lean forward and peer through it only to discover a celestial wonder previously unknown to humanity. Image credit:  ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Heart pounding with excitement, you document and record your findings. You can't feel Fall's nippy grip anymore because your blood is pumping with the thrill of this discovery. Your hoodie suddenly feels stuffy, but you don't care. You found a new star! What kind of star is it? Is it a sun to another solar system? Could Vulcan lay just beyond its white glare?  What are you going to name it? Why? How old do you think it is?...