I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
-James Branch Cabell

January 30, 2018 - 11:40 a.m.

Battlestar Letterman

I'm getting better at starting to write earlier I don't know what I want to write today but I know I want to start now. That doesn't sound like a sound writing strategy. I'm listening to Mozart String Quartets, that should inspire me.

One of my new favorite toys is the Google Maps Timeline. I can look at that and know exactly what I did and how long it took; you should know that I'm obsessed with that. I went to Aldi yesterday and looking at Timeline I see it took far less time getting to and from there than I thought. 35 minutes going and 33 returning. It's two buses and a significant walk so that's surprising. I checked because I got home earlier than I expected. I wonder if the police would accept timeline as an alibi. If a crime had been committed I could show them that I was at Aldi from 5:18 to 5:47.

I finally made the pumpkin spice scones that I bought back in pumpkin spice season. It wasn't from scratch, it was with the most excellent mix from Trader Joe's. It is remarkably easy to make, and they are delicious.

I have a new luxury a seat warmer. Plenty of people have it in their cars but I have one on my couch. This is where I sit when I'm on the computer. It's cool in the room and a nice warm cushion feels good and now I am greeted by that every day; it is where Smoke, one of the cats, decided that he likes to take his morning nap. I could perhaps convince myself that he does it for my benefit but that would take a lot of convincing. When I get to the couch he gives me a look that clearly says, "What you want something? You know if you weren't fifteen times my size I wouldn't be getting up; unless it were to eat you." In other words, he's a cat. No matter, the seat is still warm.

I decided to give Battlestar Galactica a shot. I didn't like the original series and saw no need for a reboot, so I didn't watch when it was first aired. I heard that it was nothing like the original series, but I didn't want to jump in the middle and I still had strong doubts. It's streamed on Amazon Prime and I decided that now is the time to give it a shot. I'm an hour and nine minutes into the introductory mini-series and I'm not impressed. I'll give it a chance, it took me a season to get into Game of Thrones but it is now one of my all-time favorites. I'm not optimistic about Battlestar; I find the directing annoying; there is no reason to have a camera circling a mess table while people talk. Worse the imagining of the world is unimaginative. It is way too much like present-day earth. Even though they have intelligent robots and interstellar travel the rest of their technology is not very different than we have now. The design, the TV shows, the way they speak and act, are not at all foreign. It's not doing one of the most important objectives of science fiction and fantasy, taking the viewer to another reality. Even when I thought that Game of Thrones was moving too slowly I felt I was in Westeros, not America.

I also watched David Letterman's new series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. The first guess was Barack Obama. That you must watch. I have always loved Letterman. I love his gee whiz self-depreciating attitude. It worked particularly well with Obama, they have chemistry. You could do a sitcom about them. I have never seen Obama so relaxed. Their conversation ranged from Obama's dad moves dancing to the importance of the John Lewis and the March on Selma. They hit on one of the key elements of the liberal outlook, that they were so lucky; that it takes more than skills, intelligence, and hard work to achieve what they have achieved.

During the day I think of countless things to write. Some never get written because they would make me feel like a scold. Others I realize are of no interest to anyone but me. Sometimes they involve other people and it wouldn't be fair to them. Most often it's because I forget about them. I just remembered what I planned on writing, but I've already written 749 words. It will have to wait. Today I was a television critic, nothing wrong with that. These were things I thought about and that's the one and only necessary element of Wise Madness. It's my blog and I'll write about TV if I want to. I bought garlic Texas toast and bacon yesterday. Guess what I'm having for breakfast.


I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile January 30, 2018
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