Writing, the United States, and the future

I've always loved to read and write.

One of my sisters helped me get started before I was in elementary school. Of all the things I learned from school (K-12, Bachelor's program, PhD program), self-teaching, life lessons, good advice, etc., literacy has opened more doors for me than any other. So it is very strange that for the past eight and a half years I've written so little other than for work-related things, corresponding to a new job I've had during that time. But that was not the sole cause, as I had already started struggling with writing a few years before. Eventually this spread to reading for fun (especially fiction) as well.

My writing got a boost on January 9, 2018. That's when I started keeping a private journal. It has kept me (mostly) sane, or as sane as I've ever been. I always need some outlet for personal writing I guess, but there wasn't much I felt like writing about to put out there to anyone who happened by this page. My inspiration has been very lacking.

Now it is 2025, and in the United States there is internal turmoil as a combination of wannabe authoritarians, billionaires, people angry or disillusioned with the American political system, bigots, Christian Nationalists, some people who feel left behind by the economy, some who feel the times are passing them by, some single-issue voters, and even outright fascists have supported and voted in a Congress and a President that have, so far, demonstrated little regard for the Constitution or the rule of law. Regardless political affiliation, people who aren't extremely rich face a great deal of uncertainty about their future. Where is the nation going? What issues can unite enough citizens to work together for a better nation and a better world? Is that even possible?

Looking back to my start as "tinythinker"

I've used tinythinker as my internet handle for a loooong time. Not all accounts using tinythinker are me anymore, but that's not a problem as you can kind of sort the ones that fit with academic themes, societal issues, sci-fi fantasy, and video games from the rest.

Originally I used a handle from a chatroom called Moe's Tavern that was taken from a book, and sometimes a character I made on a social MMO, but when I ventured into message boards I wanted something else.

The first message board I decided to try was (and still is as of this writing) called CARM. Someone there had gone with the name "Pinky" and used an image of a cartoon character of the same name for the account. I thought about using "The Brain", but I knew I might not always control my image/avatar so people might get the wrong idea. After considering it and pondering some other diminutive genius characters, I just went with tinythinker.

I knew some people would use it to mock me by interpreting it as suggesting I am stupid, but I figured, let them. Being underestimated on message boards, chats, etc. where people debate and discuss sensitive topics can be an advantage, and helping rude people self-identify is a bonus.

 

Oh hey, I still have a blog

Yup, I surely do. 

 It's funny. I started a different blog in 2005 and had no trouble writing regularly. Even got some people reading on a regular basis. It was fun. It has a theme and topic group I had fun exploring. It started slowing down and then fizzled out by 2014. Two posts there since then. So I made a couple more blogs, but I guess I just never figured out what they were about. And the writing was hit or miss. Should I hide some posts to try to make a clearer theme? Do I need a theme? 

The thing is, I like writing. I love reading and writing. I was so excited to learn more about it when I started school. There are few things I was as excited about as going to school for the first time. Though, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to learn a foreign language in elementary school. It was a big let down to find out that "language arts" was just more English.

The last four and a half years I've worked at a job that is a lot of business writing, among other thing. The few years before that was lots of part-time academic work string together. And before that was some full time academic work. So part of it is that my schedule has changed and also my mental and social environment. It's easy to skip more writing because I have waaaay less free and unscheduled time than I used to, and it's hard to decide to what to write about.

I could write about how my life is going. Or what I am reading or watching. Or video games I am playing. Or a million other things. But there was just no focus. So the flow is bad. It's all hesitation and second guessing. But I've concluded that not writing is bad for me. I've been doing a private journal, but that's not the same. It's just some hit or miss life annotations mixed with reflection and venting that isn't really meant for other people. It's to help me track and see things about myself.

There is something I wrote roughly a year ago right after seeing The Rise of Skywalker that I forgot to finish and post. I mean, that's pretty typical for me these days. So I just wrote the final few paragraphs and pushed it out.

And that's what I think I will need to do. Just blog at least one day per week and push it out.

 

The Final Skywalker Trilogy. A Few Thoughts on Star Wars as a Whole the Day After Seeing "The Rise of Skywalker"

Note: Before I even begin to write this (or you begin to read this), please note: I'm not interested in petty arguments over Star Wars. Different opinions on the quality or enjoyment of movies are bound to happen. That's normal and cool. This particular blog is rarely used and probably gets next to zero traffic (which is fine), but if this post happened to pop up in your search and you clicked here, just an FYI. Thanks.

Yesterday morning I watched the 10:30 a.m. showing of The Rise of Skywalker. Before getting into it, I offer my background with Star Wars. Not as a gatekeeper, or to prove I'm a "real fan", or any of that b.s. By all means, please skip it. It's just some context that might help explain my perspective on the final film of the Skywalker Saga.

Overview of my experience with Star Wars (Utterly Skippable)

I've enjoyed the Star Wars saga since the original trilogy of Episodes IV, V, and VI. There were critics of these films, and flaws they saw, but I see them still as flowing perfectly together as part of a coherent story. That's my particular point of view. No need to try to force that view on anyone, it's just what I see when I watch those movies. There are others who see them this way or something close to it who go a step further and idolize them. That leads to trouble.