Jan Notzon's Blog, page 23

Finished

I've finally finished my fifth novel, "Suffer Not The Mole People". It is my longest if not my best.

It involves a subject that I had almost no experience with: immigration from Poland. I only had the barest skeleton of the story of my ancestors who made the voyage. Consequently, it involved a TON of research. (Whew!)

It is now with the editor (and has been for a while; I'm getting a little anxious, but then, it's a long one.) I didn't set out to write such an extended story but it just turned out that way.

It explores the importance of family, what it takes to take on such a perilous enterprise, and it allows for some ruminations on what truly fills us as human beings.

I do hope my readers will enjoy it.

Wise Words

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

--Martin Niemöller

Tolerance

I'm greatly concerned at the intolerance I witness from every direction nowadays.

Could I make an appeal to all my fellow humans across the globe (and particularly my fellow Americans):

Might it be possible for each of us to not see anyone with whom we disagree as an enemy? Of being worthy of dismissal as stupid and even of our hate as evil?

I find this certainty that "we're in the right" to be a quite dangerous trend. People are losing their jobs not just for disagreeing, but simply for adding a caveat or codicil to the present dogma. It is happening across the country. And, I imagine, in others.

This is how totalitarianism starts, by projecting evil onto anyone with whom we disagree. Because as evil or idiotic they merit suppression, exclusion, censorship.

In the words of Rodney King, "Can't we all get along?"

History Repeats Itself

When I was in college many of my fellow students called policemen "pigs", hated them, and we all believed that all we had to do was get rid of them, and all authority, and we'd all live in peace and harmony. In the words of Joni Mitchell we'd get "back to the garden" (of Eden).

Consequently, we had the huge crime wave of the '70s and '80s.

In the words of The Who, "I get on our knees and pray/We don't get fooled again".

A Challenge

I'm finding the novel I'm now writing now particularly challenging. I've had to research farming methods in the 19th century, trigonometry, the history of Poland, political philosophy and now all about sailing three-masted square-riggers from Bremen, Germany to Indianola, Texas (I may cheat a little and make it Galveston).

To all who read this, do you know anyone with knowledge of square-rigged sailing vessels? They are obviously more awkward to maneuver than steam ships and I'm wondering if to get to the Atlantic they would brave the Strait of Dover or head north around the British Isles. I would think it likely that it might have to sail into a westerly wind.

I have no idea how narrow the Strait is and I haven't found the answer (to the question of which path a square-rigger would take) on the internet. So, if you happen to know the answer or know someone who might, could you contact me?

Thanks,

Jan

Interview

Hello to everyone! I recently did a podcast interview. If you have the time (Is that a serious question? as Nancy Pelosi might ask), please give it a listen. I think you'll enjoy it.

https://charlottereaderspodcast.com/u...

All the Best,

Jan

Where's Waldo

I am currently reading (or trying to read) The Federalist Papers, and finding it rather torturous. I suppose I have to consider the differing style at that time. But I find I have to read one of the papers and then read it again to get the whole of it.

Alexander Hamilton I find to be particularly hard to follow. Here is an example of a sentence;

"The quantity of taxes to be paid by the community must be the same in either case; with this advantage--if the provision is to be made by the Union--that the capital resource of commercial imposts, which is the most convenient branch of revenue, can be prudently improved to a much greater extent under federal than under State regulation, and of course will render it less necessary to recur to more inconvenient methods; and with this further advantage, that as far as there may be any real difficulty in the exercise of the power of internal taxation, it will impose a disposition to greater care in the choice and arrangement of the means; and must naturally tend to make it a fixed point of policy in the national administration to go as far as may be practicable in making the luxury of the rich tributary to the public treasury in order to diminish the necessity of those impositions which might create dissatisfaction in the poorer and most numerous classes of the society."

Perhaps the reader can play a game like "Where's Waldo", and see how many dependent clauses he can find in that monstrosity of a sentence.

Where's Waldo

I am currently reading (or trying to read) The Federalist Papers, and finding it rather torturous. I suppose I have to consider the differing style at that time. But I find I have to read one and then read it again to get the whole of it.

Alexander Hamilton I find to be particularly hard to follow. Here is an example of a sentence;

"The quantity of taxes to be paid by the community must be the same in either case; with this advantage--if the provision is to be made by the Union--that the capital resource of commercial imposts, which is the most convenient branch of revenue, can be prudently improved to a much greater extent under federal than under State regulation, and of course will render it less necessary to recur to more inconvenient methods; and with this further advantage, that as far as there may be any real difficulty in the exercise of the power of internal taxation, it will impose a disposition to greater care in the choice and arrangement of the means; and must naturally tend to make it a fixed point of policy in the national administration to go as far as may be practicable in making the luxury of the rich tributary to the public treasury in order to diminish the necessity of those impositions which might create dissatisfaction in the poorer and most numerous classes of the society."

Perhaps the reader can play a game like "Where's Waldo", and see how many dependent clauses he can find in that monstrosity of a sentence.

The Sunday Heebie-Jeebies

I haven't had a serious case of the Sunday heebie-jeebies in such a long time. But today, on this excessively lonely Sunday afternoon I need the help of the group, "Bloggers Beating Depression".

I thought I'd learned to control my temper many years ago. But when faced with (self-imposed) humiliation that should not have been humiliating, that damned demon came out, alienating a core group of friends.

It's really too bad that there are no "do-overs" or mulligan shots in life: one stupid mistake or loss of self-control can wreck years of work. Why is it that the demons always attack most fiercely on Sundays?

Magazine article

Here's a link to a feature on me in South Charlotte LifeStyle Magazine.

http://www.southcharlottelifestylepub...

And it snowing like fury here in The Queen City! Yay!