Thinking too much?

This is dealing with not only my trip to Seattle, tomorrow, but also flying to Hong Kong at the beginning of December, for Firsts China Book Fair.

First, Seattle. I'm going through JFK on JetBlue. I've done what I can to prepare for any issues thanks to the MAGAt Class shutting down the government, so now it's just a case of we'll see what happens. I have an extra day I can use to get there, if need be.

My return is on United, through Denver, on Monday. For my own peace of mind, I bought travel insurance for both. Hopefully, I won't need it.

The main deal is the trip to Hong Kong. I'm flying on Korean Air Lines out of Toronto's Pearson Airport. I have to change planes in Inchon, which is a modern airport but still...when I'd go Cathy it was a straight flight. The one positive here is, I'm going business class, so it should be a lot more comfortable.

The issue is getting to Pearson. My thought was to grab a bus in Buffalo and just ride that up, the day before, then spend the night in a hotel by the airport. It means going to the downtown Toronto bus depot and catching a train out to Pearson, where I'd get the hotel shuttle to pick me up, but it seemed straightforward.

Got talked out of that because "going through customs could be hours" (according to the people I'm working for). They said they's take me to St. Catharines, on the Canadian side, and I could catch a train or bus from there. Seems convoluted, but they're the ones paying the bill so...

Thing is, the bus and train schedules suck. Massively. And returning? Even worse. I tried it a half-dozen ways and nothing was happiness, in any way. Even looked into leaving from Niagara Falls, Canada...and that's crappy, too.

I'm so bummed by it, I'm more open to just driving up in my '98 Civic and parking it. But it'll be the beginning of winter and it's a hundred miles. I like to think my car is good for that, but I can't be sure.

It's really ridiculous that such a major Canadian airport doesn't have constant bus or rail traffic to connect it with local cities, like they do in Europe and the UK.

Rough day online...

I really should stay off the internet, because the horror that's building in America is reminding me too damned much of the buildup to The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Which lasted from 1968 to 1998, and killed thousands.

Protestants treated Catholics like shit for decades, refusing to give them even the minimal rights they wanted -- 1-man, 1-vote; decent housing; access to jobs. It reached the point of no return when the People's March calling for those rights was attacked on January 4th, 1969 at Burntollet Bridge. There, with the help of the Constabulary, Protestants attacked peaceful marchers, injuring dozens.

That led to a back and forth that built up to the Battle of Bogside, in August 1969, when Catholics refused to tolerate the insults and discrimination any further.

The British Army was brought in after days of fighting, ostensibly to protect Catholics from Protestants...but wound up taking the side of Protestants and demonizing and attacking Catholics. This gave rise to shoot-offs of the IRA...PIRA, OIRA, INLA, who fought back with bombings and murders and it went back and forth and back and forth and didn't stop until the leaders of both sides finally grew too old and tired to fight, anymore.

And Catholics were given pretty much what they asked for in 1968. Years of death and destruction that could have been avoided by people willing to talk to each other. But Protestant stupidity and stubbornness sabotaged every attempt to end the chaos. And I do lay the main responsibility on them, especially a loud and evil Presbyterian minister named Ian Paisley.

The part that hits me most is, the British Army was blaming the IRA for everything that happened, even before it was a workable organization. It was weak and disorganized, and labeled with the moniker I Ran Away...until it formed into the only group willing to truly defend the Catholic Community from the hate and destruction of the other side.

That is so damned much like how the DoJ blames ANTIFA for the pushback against their tyranny...an organization that does not exist. And like Protestants were allowed to do just about anything they wanted, by the the British Army, same happens with the MAGAt Class.

There was arrest and imprisonment without warrant, interrogations by torture, inhuman confinement conditions, almost all against Catholics...and that bullshit is being parroted by ICE and the DoJ against anyone they please. Citizen or not. White or minority.

The lead in A Place of Safety, Brendan Kinsella, experiences all of this between the ages of 10 and 25 -- the riots, the slaughters, the bombings, the chaos, including arrest, torture, and accusations from both sides that he's working against them. And I fear all of that is going to happen here.

We already have one side rejoicing in the terrorism of the ICE/Gestapo and calling for people to be killed, just like Protestants did in Northern Ireland. Uniformed thugs wander the streets of Chicago and Portland and LA and DC, attacking whomever they want, like the Army did in Derry and Belfast. And the powers that be celebrate this while the opposition is limited to a few voices with little support from their own party.

How long before there are massacres like Bloody Sunday in Derry and in Ballymurphy? Pam Biondi, Kristi Noem and Karoline Leavitt seem willing to champion that while blaming everything on an idea that is not an organization, but by its very name opposes the fascism they want to force on us all. All in the name of the most vile of men, ever. A convicted felon who's molested children.

It's scary.

More of the DW's chapter...

This image was made for me by the woman I hired to promote my books. Can't believe how good she made me look.

Now this part continues straight from yesterday's post.

-----------

“You got a suit?” 

I nodded. “Of navy blue.” Which had been carefully tailored to fit, and I had been very careful with. Much of my clothing was fine, but this was Hugo Boss. One is not casual with such. 

“Didn’t realize.” 

“Well...I do not wear my finer clothing when I work.” 

He nodded then removed the tux. The snow was deep and growing dirty from traffic, so we put it on a broad hanger and into a garment bag, then we drove straight to Tidwika. There, I dressed him, again, to as fine an effect. And again, fixed his tie.

And this time he gave me soft giggles as a response.

My own suit was already on-hand; it had been well-cleaned and pressed by the hotel staff, the day before, as had my light pink silk shirt and burgundy tie. My shoes were old but nicely-polished so you could not tell. And when I was done with own ensemble, I know I looked good.

But then, in Hugo Boss, with my face newly shaved and hair freshly cut, how could I not?

I turned to see him looking at me...and the lines of joy on his face came into full view. Giving him a beauty that cannot be described except as a tender sort of pleasure. My poet, within, sprang forth and said, We will remember this...and honor it.

"There," I said, to cover how affected I was, "we now have the appearance of elegant young gentlemen."

He only grinned and off we went to the Great Room.

The ceremony was sweet and simple, set against the tall window looking up the slopes, skiers dancing down for one last run before returning home. Abigail, Bethany and Chloe led Marion up to husband number three...

Who wore what can only be described as Nashville chic, from the glittering designs on the chest and back of his powder blue suit. And the odd cut of his lapels. I would swear I saw Marion’s eyes widen in shock at seeing it.

A justice of the peace from North Bend officiated and we behaved ourselves well during Marion's latest gamble. But from the glances her current husband cast me, more than once, I knew it would not be a permanent union. I hoped she would be happy for a while. 

After the reception, Dair and I returned to the room to change back into our regular clothes. Neither of us had indulged too greatly in the sparkling wine from Washington and Oregon. Nor did we wish to risk ruining our finery. But I had brought with me a bottle of one that was quite acceptable, and intended to sit before the fireplace by the Great Room and finish the bottle. With Dair, were he open to it. 

He was so much easier in that tux, now, I almost wanted him to remain in it. Such a lovely image, he presented. Especially when leaning against the frame of the bathroom door, on one shoulder, hands back in pockets, his face gentle but his eyes lost in thought. 

Finally he asked, “You think people like us’ll ever get to be married?” 

I had just hung up my suit coat and was unbuttoning my shirt. “To those we love? Who can say? There is too much religion in government for the answer to be simple.” 

I removed my shirt and also put it on a hanger. While I had worn a Ralph Lauren undershirt so my silk one would not be too soiled, I still wanted it to be properly handled by a cleaner. 

“Do you not wish to remove that horrible tux?” I joked. 

He shrugged. “I feeling okay enough in it.” He looked me over in a way I was too aware of. “Mom got you to get me into this thing, didn’t she?” 

I shrugged. “I believe she feared you would join the procession in your overalls.” 

He chuckled. “I might have.” 

“Here.” I slipped around behind him and helped him off with his jacket, then put it on a hanger. 

“You take care of things,” he almost whispered. 

I had to nod. “I am not so rich that I can afford to replace anything I misuse.” Then added, “And this is rented.” 

I removed the little black studs in his shirt, careful to replace them into the box they had come in. Same for the cufflinks. As I began to slip the shirt off him, he took hold of my hands. 

I knew what he wanted, but I still joked, “You wish to sleep in this suit?” 

His expression did not change. Only his eyes grew sharp on mine and he drew his fingers up my right bicep and touched my face and my thoughts scattered in a thousand directions as he shifted closer and kissed me. 

“I want to undress you,” he murmured. 

There it was. 

I now had him. 

Owned him. 

Another man to bring into my fold, to add to my list of conquests. And it was not unwelcome. But... 

But I had planned for it to be in his home. In the lodge. In his bed. We had come so close, that day. Four months? Five months before? To join in his bed would have been so much better. Make a union between us more complete and...and so I backed away, smiling. 

I saw fear dash into his eyes as he said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn’t have done that -- " 

My breath was sharp and my heart pounding as I heard myself saying, “Dair, keep in your mind...the gossip you have heard of me...well, I...I am not so good a person.” 

“So I’d have pay you...” 

My normal response would be to say, No, but my winter coat is so old, or I cannot think about that, right now, my shoes are so worn and in need of replacement. This time? I was wounded, deeply. He had heard the gossip...and it had taken hold of him...and...and...

And could think of nothing to say, except, “Non, never would I take money from you for that.”

Today's work on DW...

Leading up to January 1, 2001:

A week later was to be Marion's third wedding. At Tidwika in their Great Room, well-cleaned up after the previous night’s New Year's party. The very idea made Dair grumpy, for a silly reason. Marion asked him to be her Best Man. Meaning, he must wear a suit. 

“I don’t have one,” he’d growled. “I never wear them.” 

“Once won’t kill you,” she’d snapped back. “And I want you presentable for Jack.” Her soon-to-be husband. Who had, apparently, modeled for many romance novel covers, if one went by his looks. A face carved from granite. Dark hair touched with white. A physique to make mine look pale and weak, but on legs that made him appear top-heavy. 

Dair was huffing into irritation so I joked, “So then will I call you Mrs. Mellander?” 

“You do and I’ll make you into a Miss Lécuyer.” 

We both laughed, lightening the mood. 

But Dair still snarled, “I’m not buying something just to wear it one time. Or are you already planning on husband number four?” 

Marion turned to him and snapped, “Adair Carwyn Llewellyn...” 

So I cut in with, “You rent. Something in classic black? A tux, perhaps. En ensemble?” 

That made Marion smile, hopeful. “Oh, baby, that would be so lovely.” 

“But...but where can we get one here?” he asked. 

I held up a finger. “First, with Nordstroms we will check.” 

“In Seattle?” 

“They have the annex on the West End. We ask there.” 

Dair snorted and huffed off, leaving me with his mother. Who turned to me and murmured, “If you can make him presentable, even just for the pictures...” 

I chuckled. “Have faith, Marion.” Then I wandered down to my room at the Shamirs’. 

The very next day, I had to all but drag Dair to the Nordstrom's annex and found them most obliging. Despite him being in his overalls. I convinced him to remove them and stand there in his boxer briefs and undershirt so they could take his precise measurements. 

He looked so adorable, and I know he would hate to hear me say that. But his fine legs swirling with just the right amount of hair up to a lovely rear that curled around to a strong back. The young man with the tape measure was enjoying himself, greatly. So very amusing. 

The tux arrived on New Year’s Eve, so we stood before a mirror in the shop to make the final adjustments. Through all of which Dair rolled his eyes and growled, like an unruly beast. I could not believe how much I enjoyed this. I managed to convince him that the purchase of dress shoes and a fine silk handkerchief were worth the one-hundred dollars; the shirt and tie came with the tux. 

To no surprise, he did not know how to prepare a bow-tie. 

“Never had to before,” he muttered. “Got any I can just clip on?” 

The clerk blinked, in horror, and I waved him away before turning Dair to me. "You never had to wear a tie?" I asked as I slipped a loose one around his neck. 

"The regular kind, a couple times, but they were already made and clipped onto my collar." 

"Oh, mon dieu,” I chuckled as I pulled and wrapped and tucked the soft silk. He was such a little boy. “The one time mon pere suggested a clip-on to maman, she all but died from apoplexy. Much too low-class and unbefitting of a Lécuyer! She had gran’pere come to show us how. Which he did. Several times until Reynard and I could manage it, ourselves. Which made maman very happy. Shall I help you to learn, as well?" 

"I don’t wear suits and sure as hell not bow ties." 

“This is not a suit,” I sighed, finishing the tie. “It is a uniform to please your mother. C’est tout.” I turned him to look at himself in the mirror. 

He sighed. “Yeah, yeah, it’s not gonna hurt me, I guess. It’s just...Gareth’s the I’m-a-suit guy and he’s not even comin’. I’m the one backin’ her up.” I said nothing, in reaction; did nothing. “That wife of his...well...at least she let my nieces be in the wedding party. Probably because she wants details about how it went down.” 

I gave him a gentle nod. “It will be his loss, and he will see this in years to come.” Then I grinned and saluted him in the mirror. “Et pour ta mère, nous qui sommes sur le point de mourir, t'honneur."

He laughed. "What?" 

"C'est un proverbe. A proverb. It means..." 

"Wait, wait, wait...lemme work it out. Uh...mourir is to die, nous is we...oh, oh, We who are about to die salute you!" 

I nodded. "You learn French?" 

He smiled at me, murmuring, "Just a little. Um, un petite peu. Helped me in France."

"With the doctor you met?"

He blushed and stepped back, slumped his shoulders a little, slipped his hands in the trouser pockets and muttered, "So does this really work for you?” 

Oh-la, he made such a lovely image, I could not help but whisper, "Oh, Dair, you are so much better looking than I." 

He laughed, said, "Liar. Now let’s see your tux."

"I am not in the wedding party, so I wear my own suit."

It's the end of the world and I'm writing a book...

It really hit hard, today. Mainly because of the abject stupidity of the MAGAt Class who worship Felon47 and revel in him giving rein to their racism and hate. And I see no end to it unless that POS dies in the next three weeks. Then maybe...maybe we'll survive.

Because there is no talking to people like that. They are not open to reason or reality. They too busy enjoying the pain and suffering they're causing. MAGA is a new religion, and just as vile as the old ones.

And it's not just in America. It's all over the globe. Bloggers and commenters in Africa and Asia and Europe and South America choosing the side of terrorism over simple human decency. We're out to kill each other for no more reason than we can. Guns. Drones. Whatever.

I was reminded of John B Calhoun's theory of Behavioral Sink, which he came up with while experimenting with rats...and later, mice...regarding overpopulation. A few rodents were put into a confined space and provided with plenty of food and water, where they overbred to the point their behaviors were altered and they couldn't function. (The link provides a much better description).

I actually wondered if earth was an alien scientist's experiment along the same lines?

What's funny is, I began thinking about this after I found and rewrote one section of Dair's Window that I needed: when Dair and Adam get ready for Marion's third wedding. Initially, I'd had Dair dressing Adam in a suit because he'd never worn one, which was totally wrong. Adam knows class. He's used it to make his way in the world. So I switched it, and it worked out a lot better.

In fact, the moment they finally connect in bed will now come after the wedding, where it just builds from the night and the joy and they support for each other, starting on January 1, 2001. Much better timing.

I went through a rough few moments lost as to what happens when and where is best for it, and this is helping. I've even worked up an XL Spreadsheet for the years 1996-2010 and decided to not have Dair go to trial for beating up Bobby. Just preliminary hearings and delays.

It may be futile to keep going on it, but I can't change now.

Then in honor of Diane Keaton, I watched First Wives Club and loved it. Again. Got it on DVD.

I have hundreds of DVDs. I need to sort these things out.

Incomplete...

Well, it appears sections of Dair's Window I thought I'd written either were not or are hidden somewhere in another file. I figure I have maybe 60% of it in order but I'm missing moments like when Dair and Adam are dressing for Marion's third marriage...and Dair is very uncomfortable in a suit but Adam is dragging him through the process.

There's also a bit where Adam comes up with an idea for making Marion's ski lodge a go-to place year 'round by focusing on the Snoqualmie Indigenous Culture and having special events throughout the spring and summer, into fall. Which I know I wrote but is not in either of the ring binders...and I cannot find the file.

I'm also missing the actual part where Dair is put on trial for nearly beating a guy to death. Someone firebombs Dair's lodge and all evidence points to this jerk named Bobby, so Dair confronts him and they start trading blows...but Dair is the better fighter and loses control and would have killed him had he not been stopped.

Probably all buried in one of the massive number of story constructions I've got. So next is digging into every single solitary file I have to see if I can pull together everything I need to tell this story.

God, I have no sense of order in my life. 

I am a fucking psycho...

I'm in the foulest mood...and I can trace it to receiving a letter from my apartment insurance company telling me my premium hadn't been paid so would be cut off, when I had paid it. So I called them to find out WTF...only you can't talk to a person; you have to deal with their roto-voice bullshit, first. So I just went ahead and verified that way that it's been paid and tossed the bullshit in a folder.

And could not shake my anger over this. So it's probably good I didn't get hold of someone in customer service. I'd have wound up as an example of a male Karen on someone's tik-tok.

Feeding this anger is the MAGAt Class continuing the shutdown in DC until after the 20th, all to protect the pedophile puke in the White house and some of his rich buddies, not to mention a few assholes on the GOP side. They don't want to release the Epstein files to show who paid that monster so they could rape kids.

Of course, it's messing with me. I'm supposed to head for Seattle on the 17th. I guess that all depends on whether or not air traffic controllers are on the job, again. 

I'm also approaching my usual this is all fucked up mindset for Dair's Window because I can't find things I know I wrote. And me telling myself to take it easy only pisses me off, more.

So I dumped everything and ran errands -- getting quarters for laundry from my bank, returning a key to the Caladex office, grabbing some groceries I needed at a Wegmans and having an avocado roll. Normally, that last bit would settle me...but they didn't have any 20oz bottles of DPZ available...and that got me really going.

So I bought an almond croissant, said Fuck it all, and self-indulged. I'm trying to keep my blood sugar down and that will mess with it...but right then I needed joy instead of deprivation. And it was so fucking good.

But son-of-a-bitch, I was still pissy...until I stumbled across this guy. He centered me. Completely.

Marcus Balliette...un homme au France et un trés beau mec...by way of Miami. Shit, he made me fickle enough to think he's a better look for Adam in DW.

Which he is. He's got the beauty and a touch of that French arrogance. I could see any man going for him, gay or self-proclaimed straight.

Sorry, Arnaud, but you been replaced.

Et je suis un merde.

Major gaps...

Now I know what Dair and Adam look like, I feel a lot more comfortable with the story and all that happens. I can feel it, better.

The worst part about going over a draft of a book you set aside some time ago is seeing how sections it needs are not there and have to be filled in. Which also means it's going to get longer. But before you can figure out what the story really needs, all the background has to be there.

So I'm reading through and suddenly we jump from Dair and Adam finally connecting in the bedroom to Adam protecting him from Sarah's gossip by going after her cousin, Bobby. She's never liked Dair, even though she's married to his older brother, Gareth. She thinks he's been favored over Gareth and is doing all she can, subtly, to drive him out of town.

So Adam goes head to head with her, and she backs down. For now. But I need more of a lead-up to it. Right now, it's like one of those this has to happen here to keep the story going things, and I don't like that. There's also indications she's talking Adam down so he won't get odd jobs over the summer...which is damaging his ability to make a living.

I need to handle this more carefully. I've made notes, and I've fought back the impulse to deal with this issues now, putting them off till I'm done reading everything I have. But it's not easy.

I mitigated it by staying in bed and using my bed tray all day. Nice and cozy...if not so great on my butt.

Serendipity...

I stumbled onto the perfect image of Dair. I'd been thinking of using Kyle Krieger for that but it didn't feel completely right. Too old and well-built.

I considered a few other guys, including a Spanish doctor, and no one fit. I was about to settle on Ben Cohen when I happened onto Derrick Henry.

He's got the right face. He's a few years older than Dair, but that doesn't matter. This picture just stopped me cold...because it's a Dair expression. And attitude. Open and happy, almost like a golden retriever. Doesn't hurt he's got a nice body, too.

Now I'm letting the story expand as it wants, through this draft. The next draft may be to fill in some plot holes and add clarity. Adam's story progresses nicely, if a bit lumpy. I have what I think is a blunt, almost brutal confrontation between Adam and Sarah, Dair's homophobic sister in law.

I need to be careful about one thing -- teen boys being used for sex. Adam is thrown out of his home when he's 15, and winds up placed in a foster home where the man running it sells the boys there for sexual favors. The age of consent in Canada, then, was 14...so long as their partner wasn't in a position of authority over them. 

In Washington state, it's 16, with the same provision. Also included? Adam stumbles onto a group of kids who're selling themselves for drugs and cash, run by a homophobe named Bobby, and helps one get out of that lifestyle. 

Just to be clear, I'm not into guys under the age of 23. I can't even begin to understand the attraction to teenage boys...or girls. But it seems some assholes, like Felon47, are really into that...right down to 12-14 year olds..and that's a real turnoff, to me.

Got my work cut out for me...

What I've written on DW, so far, is going to take a fair amount of work. I'm still dealing with Adam's time up to and while he's in Fairview. Then comes setting up the conflict between Dair, a snarly brat named Bobby, and Sarah, his sister-in-law. It's okay but needs some aspects to be better established so it flows instead of lumber.

Adam has decided to get as much as he can out of Dair, and acknowledges actually cheating him on work he does on the lodge. And is not sorry...until Dair defends him against Sarah's smarmy gossip. Then he starts to feel protective of Dair.

All this will need at least half a dozen rewrites to even begin to read properly. 

I wonder if I should do the book in 3 parts...or four, maybe? All in one volume. It would be thick, at the rate it's going. I'd like to cut at least 20% out to streamline it...but when I do that I wind up adding more. Like this poem Adam writes after being shaken by watching Vertigo:

Adam I have been 
And now I am him 
In fullness and in grace. 
His visage still my face 
And yet is not... 
For I now renew 
In ways yet untrue. 
Embers burn within. 
Once again, 
I am him 
And I can but begin 
And be forgot.

There will be many more of these.

God, I'm tired. I didn't sleep, last night, and only got a  4 hour nap, this afternoon. Going to bed early.