AS I PLEASE XXVIII
Half a week before the winter
The chill bites before it comes
We've another three weeks before the onset of winter, but you wouldn't know it to look at the thermometer here in South-Central Pennsylvania. It's 7:09 PM, pitch black, and the temperature is 24 degrees. I'm about to knock off the keyboard and head to the bar for a pint, because what else can you do in this dismal town on a dismal Wednesday night like this --? -- but first, a few thoughts.
* As you know I began a YouTube channel called Stone Cold Prose one month ago exactly, and this morning it got its 10,000th view and its 100th watch-hour. By the standards of the medium that's a very modest figure, but I seem to be getting a few more subscriptions every day and am enjoying the whole process immensely. I mention this because starting a YT channel has been a dream of mine for years, and I finally made it a reality. Mind you, I did not do this alone. I hired an English bloke named Olly Dobson to guide me through the process and help me with building a personal brand; otherwise I would have counted it among those things I was "going to do someday," and I have quite enough of those in my life. I think we all have, and I would encourage any of you reading this who harbor dreams but are too intimidated or confused to try and make them come true to seek out a mentor. This sort of thing may cost a few bucks, but the more skin you put in the game, the more likely you are to see it through to the end and get what you've always wanted. In my case the money spent was well worth the unfolding reward.
* I went on Amazon the other day to put up my review of Carly Rheilan's superb novel A Cat's Cradle, but they rejected it because some of the words I used went against their "community standards." It used to be this meant you were using obscene language, making threats, etc. Now it means you used words like "obese" or "Holocaust." I would find this funny if it weren't so pathetic. In this case, they flagged the review because I used the word "rape" in a book about a sex predator who preys on children. What the hell was I supposed to call the act itself, I wonder? Is there a benefit to trying to soften the word "rape?" Sure there is -- if you're a rapist, or want to defend one in court. But as an advocate for victims of crime, I rather like the fact that words like "rape" and "murder" and "molestation" are so aesthetically ugly and jarring. The description fits the crimes. So many words are banned, shadowbanned, flagged or otherwise given a Mark of Cain nowadays that it's becoming impossible to say anything online at all. And people wonder why conspiracy theories find such fertile soil in this century.
* Speaking of Amazon...I wrote my first Amazon review in 2000. Today I went on and discovered my entire review history, spanning 24 years and hundreds of films, books, TV shows, products and suchlike, has been erased without my consent or even my knowledge. I'm not particularly upset, nor am I particularly surprised, but I think it sad that this immense body of reviews was wiped out, if only because there was some really good stuff in there, some of which proved grist both for this blog and for my TY channel. I mention this because it is one more argument in favor of owning physical media, something I've propounded on these pages more than once. Nothing you cannot access yourself, without an internet connection, is truly yours - it can be taken away at any moment by hackers, server crashes, or the simple caprices of corporate policy, and there is nothing whatsoever you can do about it. I have some slight hope of regaining this massive trove of reviews a quarter of a century in the making, but if I don't, well, I never really liked Jeff Bezos anyway.
* This is the first Thanksgiving in several years I didn't cook a turkey, and frankly, I'm relieved. Cooking a turkey is a job of work and nerve-wracking in the bargain, because the recipes constantly remind you improper cooking of a turkey can pretty much kill you, and there was that time William Shatner tried to fry a turkey and nearly incinerated himself. I must say I have a 100% success rate with cooking turkeys, but I can't take any credit because the recipes came from the internet. So thank you, internet, for actually providing a service rather than simply deluging me with bad news or reminding me of the huge numbers of weirdos and trolls and psychos out there.
* Speaking of food: on Monday night I began my first-ever voluntary fast. It lasted 36 hours and was not as hard as I expected it to be, but neither was it a lot of fun. I've never been diagnosed hypoglemic but I'm pretty sure I am, so not eating for long period sof time can put me in a right state. Still, I was curious to see if I could do it and what the effects would be. Coffee got me through the morning and early afternoon without difficulty. After that I felt increasingly lightheaded and somewhat stupid, and certainly physically weak, especially as the evening wore on, but the main effect was an inability to concentrate, or perhaps more precisely, a feeling of apathy that made even an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" seem too demanding for my brain. The day seemed dull and tiresome. I slept deeply when I slept, but had to get out of bed at least four times to use the bathroom, such was the quantity of coffee, tea and water I'd consumed all day to keep my mind off the fact I wasn't using my mouth for food. I woke up feeling somewhat better, but my head throbbed a little and I didn't have much strength. I was not however actually hungry, just weak. I ate a very light breakfast of oats, honey, blueberries and Greek yogurt, and then had a proper lunch and a hike, so I am fully restored: the one noticeable aftereffect is that my stomach looks decidedly flatter. (This is probably due to a reduction of inflammation or due to changes in water composition. I really have no idea.) This was an interesting experiment, but on the whole I prefer actually eating food to thinking about it all day.
* If memory serves, I have not actually published anything in 2024, but that does not mean I haven't been writing away. I actually finished the first draft of the third CAGE LIFE novel, wrote a screenplay/graphic novel, and have been toiling away on the third volume of SINNER'S CROSS. I also carved my epic horror novel SOMETHING EVIL into a three volume series, Books 1 & 2 of which will drop on Halloween, 2025, with subsequent releases on Halloween 2026 and 2027, respectively (the books will be available on pre-order). I also had two very successful book signings, one in Greensburg, PA in July, and one in York, PA in September, with soft plans for a third in Wellsboro, PA early next year. There are several other writing projects in the works, too, which I will announce shortly, but in the mean time, please check out my latest YouTube video, WRITING VIOLENCE, at
@stonecoldprose
on YouTube.
The chill bites before it comes
We've another three weeks before the onset of winter, but you wouldn't know it to look at the thermometer here in South-Central Pennsylvania. It's 7:09 PM, pitch black, and the temperature is 24 degrees. I'm about to knock off the keyboard and head to the bar for a pint, because what else can you do in this dismal town on a dismal Wednesday night like this --? -- but first, a few thoughts.
* As you know I began a YouTube channel called Stone Cold Prose one month ago exactly, and this morning it got its 10,000th view and its 100th watch-hour. By the standards of the medium that's a very modest figure, but I seem to be getting a few more subscriptions every day and am enjoying the whole process immensely. I mention this because starting a YT channel has been a dream of mine for years, and I finally made it a reality. Mind you, I did not do this alone. I hired an English bloke named Olly Dobson to guide me through the process and help me with building a personal brand; otherwise I would have counted it among those things I was "going to do someday," and I have quite enough of those in my life. I think we all have, and I would encourage any of you reading this who harbor dreams but are too intimidated or confused to try and make them come true to seek out a mentor. This sort of thing may cost a few bucks, but the more skin you put in the game, the more likely you are to see it through to the end and get what you've always wanted. In my case the money spent was well worth the unfolding reward.
* I went on Amazon the other day to put up my review of Carly Rheilan's superb novel A Cat's Cradle, but they rejected it because some of the words I used went against their "community standards." It used to be this meant you were using obscene language, making threats, etc. Now it means you used words like "obese" or "Holocaust." I would find this funny if it weren't so pathetic. In this case, they flagged the review because I used the word "rape" in a book about a sex predator who preys on children. What the hell was I supposed to call the act itself, I wonder? Is there a benefit to trying to soften the word "rape?" Sure there is -- if you're a rapist, or want to defend one in court. But as an advocate for victims of crime, I rather like the fact that words like "rape" and "murder" and "molestation" are so aesthetically ugly and jarring. The description fits the crimes. So many words are banned, shadowbanned, flagged or otherwise given a Mark of Cain nowadays that it's becoming impossible to say anything online at all. And people wonder why conspiracy theories find such fertile soil in this century.
* Speaking of Amazon...I wrote my first Amazon review in 2000. Today I went on and discovered my entire review history, spanning 24 years and hundreds of films, books, TV shows, products and suchlike, has been erased without my consent or even my knowledge. I'm not particularly upset, nor am I particularly surprised, but I think it sad that this immense body of reviews was wiped out, if only because there was some really good stuff in there, some of which proved grist both for this blog and for my TY channel. I mention this because it is one more argument in favor of owning physical media, something I've propounded on these pages more than once. Nothing you cannot access yourself, without an internet connection, is truly yours - it can be taken away at any moment by hackers, server crashes, or the simple caprices of corporate policy, and there is nothing whatsoever you can do about it. I have some slight hope of regaining this massive trove of reviews a quarter of a century in the making, but if I don't, well, I never really liked Jeff Bezos anyway.
* This is the first Thanksgiving in several years I didn't cook a turkey, and frankly, I'm relieved. Cooking a turkey is a job of work and nerve-wracking in the bargain, because the recipes constantly remind you improper cooking of a turkey can pretty much kill you, and there was that time William Shatner tried to fry a turkey and nearly incinerated himself. I must say I have a 100% success rate with cooking turkeys, but I can't take any credit because the recipes came from the internet. So thank you, internet, for actually providing a service rather than simply deluging me with bad news or reminding me of the huge numbers of weirdos and trolls and psychos out there.
* Speaking of food: on Monday night I began my first-ever voluntary fast. It lasted 36 hours and was not as hard as I expected it to be, but neither was it a lot of fun. I've never been diagnosed hypoglemic but I'm pretty sure I am, so not eating for long period sof time can put me in a right state. Still, I was curious to see if I could do it and what the effects would be. Coffee got me through the morning and early afternoon without difficulty. After that I felt increasingly lightheaded and somewhat stupid, and certainly physically weak, especially as the evening wore on, but the main effect was an inability to concentrate, or perhaps more precisely, a feeling of apathy that made even an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" seem too demanding for my brain. The day seemed dull and tiresome. I slept deeply when I slept, but had to get out of bed at least four times to use the bathroom, such was the quantity of coffee, tea and water I'd consumed all day to keep my mind off the fact I wasn't using my mouth for food. I woke up feeling somewhat better, but my head throbbed a little and I didn't have much strength. I was not however actually hungry, just weak. I ate a very light breakfast of oats, honey, blueberries and Greek yogurt, and then had a proper lunch and a hike, so I am fully restored: the one noticeable aftereffect is that my stomach looks decidedly flatter. (This is probably due to a reduction of inflammation or due to changes in water composition. I really have no idea.) This was an interesting experiment, but on the whole I prefer actually eating food to thinking about it all day.
* If memory serves, I have not actually published anything in 2024, but that does not mean I haven't been writing away. I actually finished the first draft of the third CAGE LIFE novel, wrote a screenplay/graphic novel, and have been toiling away on the third volume of SINNER'S CROSS. I also carved my epic horror novel SOMETHING EVIL into a three volume series, Books 1 & 2 of which will drop on Halloween, 2025, with subsequent releases on Halloween 2026 and 2027, respectively (the books will be available on pre-order). I also had two very successful book signings, one in Greensburg, PA in July, and one in York, PA in September, with soft plans for a third in Wellsboro, PA early next year. There are several other writing projects in the works, too, which I will announce shortly, but in the mean time, please check out my latest YouTube video, WRITING VIOLENCE, at
@stonecoldprose
on YouTube.
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ANTAGONY: BECAUSE EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO MY OPINION
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