News, possible items of interest, and random thoughts on various topics. Thanks for reading and please feel free to drop me a line! :-)
Who Is Mistral Dawn?
Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts of the US but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)) where she works as a hospital drudge and attends graduate school. Taken By The Huntsman is her first effort at writing fiction and if it is well received she has ideas for several more novels and short-stories in this series. Please feel free to visit her on FaceBook or drop her a line at mistralkdawn@gmail.com
Agent Thoth succeeded in his escape attempt and would like to tell you about it. Incidentally, if you've missed Agent Thoth's earlier entries, you can find them here: Thoth's Journal
Department for the Preservation and Confirmation of Intelligent Life (DPCIL)
Agent Thoth's Personal Log
Day One-Hundred-Twenty-Eight:
Success! Two
planetary rotations ago, I was able to gain access to the world outside the
domicile through the simple expedient of rushing out of the door when my
hominid-servant had it open for another reason. She was not happy.
At first, there was much flailing about and shouting. I was forced to conceal myself in the nearby
foliage until she calmed down and returned to the domicile. I understand how dependent she has become on
my presence but, even so, her reaction was extreme.
Eventually, she must have realized the futility of
attempting to keep me from my mission and resigned herself to my temporary absence. Once I was certain she was not lying in wait
to capture me, I emerged to begin my studies.
This world is rich in biodiversity, so I well
understand DIPCIL's interest in its inhabitants. I catalogued all manner of
flora and fauna, not all of which is yet in the official database, and my
detailed notes on my findings can be found in my formal expedition report. With a few notable exceptions, most of the
creatures I discovered during this excursion posed no threat to me. I will expand on my observations in my next
entry.
Hilarious, right? And so very true. And yet... It's not really the whole story, is it? Don't get me wrong, I think the song is funny as hell and the gentleman in it, Micah Tyler, is incredibly talented. If you look on YouTube, you can find some of his other work as well, and it's definitely worth a listen. His channel is here: Micah Tyler on YouTube. And as I said, the song makes some very good points about the Millennial generation, but it also leaves a lot out.
First off, I'll start by saying that I was born in 1980, so I may or may not officially be a Millennial, depending on who you ask. ;-) However, for the purposes of this post, I'll count myself as a Millennial. If you follow this blog at all, you know I've written a few posts on American politics and the 2016 US Presidential election. As I've said before, I support Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race and if he doesn't run in the general election, I'll be supporting Dr. Jill Stein. If you want to know more about my thoughts on that, you can read about them here: Why I'm Saying #BernieOrBust.
Unsurprisingly, I've heard a lot from people who seem to think "Millennials just want a bunch of free stuff." Well, let's look at that claim. The "free stuff" that Bernie Sanders and Dr. Stein talk about are universal healthcare and college tuition. Now, if you are of the opinion that it's okay to allow people to die from curable/treatable illnesses or injuries because they can't pay, I don't know what to tell you except that we are so far apart in worldview that it would take a lot more than a blog post for us to find common ground. As far as I'm concerned, access to necessary healthcare is a human right and the US is inexcusably behind in coming to terms with that and taking appropriate action. We, as a society, have the capacity to provide healthcare to all our citizens, and the fact that we are not doing so is disgusting.
As for college tuition, let's take a look at how things have changed over the last few decades. Here's a chart from Buzzfeed on the cost of college tuition vs. minimum wage over time:
Which, unsurprisingly, has led to increases in student loan debt, which is illustrated by this chart from Huffington Post:
And, of course, you've got headlines like this driving even more people to pursue college degrees:
So, I think it's clear that what a person who is entering the workforce needs in terms of training and qualifications in order to succeed in finding a well-paying job has changed over time and has also increased in price. Add to that the fact that many of those well-paying jobs disappeared thanks to the worst economic crash since the Great Depression, a crash, by the way, that was the fault not of Millennials but of older generations, and you have created an inescapable trap for many young people.
Since we, as a society, seem to have decided that overall we need more formal education for our population, doesn't it make sense that we give more people the opportunity to achieve that standard? Isn't that the way to make the best use of our human resources? After all, the return on investment for the GI Bill is estimated to be almost 700% (http://www.djdinstitute.org/h_gifact.html), it's hard to find a better return for our money than that!
Now, I don't know anyone who really thinks that universal healthcare or publicly funded education is "free." I think most people understand that these things cost money and that money has to come from somewhere. But when the US government gives billions of dollars in subsidies to oil companies and trillions of dollars to bail-out Wall Street criminals, many of us start asking if there aren't better ways to spend that money.
Well, you ask, what about the criticisms in the song? Good question! Maybe they just need to be looked at in a different light. When you think about it, Millennials really have no incentive to buy into the system that exists. After all, the first time many of them approached it, they were kicked in the teeth for their trouble. As a result, it didn't take long for them to learn that the system is rigged against them. And only a fool chooses to play a game they can't win.
So, Mr. Man-Bun-Coffee-Shop? Maybe he's writing the next OS platform that's going to blow both Windows and Mac out of the water. Ms. Yoga-Pants-Selfies? Maybe she's working to set up an environmental conservation non-profit funded through sales of Green cosmetics and toiletries. Because if there's one thing you can say about Millennials as a whole, they're generally pretty good at figuring out how to go over, under, or around the system that doesn't work for them. They've had to be. And just because someone prefers to do their work somewhere other than a cubicle under soul-killing florescent lights doesn't mean they don't work hard.
Most millennials are also often pretty good at networking through non-traditional forums. This is evidenced by everything from how Millennials consume their news to how they entertain themselves to how they interact with others. That's also, by the way, largely why Bernie Sanders was as successful as he was during this election cycle. Something to think about for the future, huh?
But that brings us back to why Bernie Sanders captured the hearts and minds of Millennials. Because, let's be honest, it's pretty hard to get Millennials to put forth a lot of effort for anything they aren't enthusiastic about. The answer to that is pretty obvious, his message resonates with them on many levels. Yes, the idea of universal healthcare and higher education are certainly attractive to anyone who wants to live in a healthy, educated society. But it isn't just those things that score points with Millennials.
By and large, most Millennials understand that we're at a tipping point when it comes to climate change. In fact, we're already feeling the early effects of the damage we've done to our planet. Bernie Sanders has been very, very clear that moving our society towards Green alternatives is a big priority of his, and that he would address the matter on several different levels. Thanks to all that college debt, Millennials are, overall, the most educated generation ever. Many of them understand the danger that we're in and appreciate Bernie Sanders's firms stance on the issue.
Then, there's also Bernie Sanders's plan to "break up the big banks and regulate Wall Street." As I said, many Millennials' first foray into the business world was met with the crushing reality of the Great Recession, and the fact that the jobs they spent so many years working so hard to prepare and qualify for no longer existed. So when Bernie Sanders says he wants to un-rig the game, and level the playing field, yeah, that resonates with people who have been fighting against impossible odds their entire adult lives.
What's the point of all this? To point out that what you have is a sizable and growing group of people who don't trust the system set up by their elders, who are good at finding ways of accomplishing goals that don't require the approval of said system, who have a lot of experience reaching out and connecting with people all over the globe without going through "official channels," and who are clearly looking for a leader. Is Bernie Sanders that leader? Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell. But if not him, someone will come along and lead. If nothing else, nature abhors a vacuum. And when that person, or those people, appear(s) and Millennials finally realize how much they're capable of accomplishing, I think the world will be in for a surprise.
So, are there things to criticize about the Millennial generation? Of course, just like with every generation, we have our strengths and our weaknesses. But it's not really fair to complain that it has taken Millennials more time to become independent than it has other generations when they've had to deal with economic conditions that other generations didn't have to deal with. After all, if all you give someone is a big, steaming pile of bullshit, don't bitch if it takes them some time to turn that manure into produce. Pray for Millennials? Yes! Pray that we come into our own soon. Because you need us and so does the planet we all share.
Today Valarie Kinney is here with us to show you a peek at her story A Mother's Heart, a worthy addition to Combustion, Vanquish,Undeniable Love, Childish Things, Fox, and Burned Toast in the Gems of Strength anthology. Valarie, please tell us a little about yourself and your story. :-)
Valaerie:
Excerpt A Mother’s Heart:
Doctors. Therapy. Daycare.
Delia’s days were filled beyond belief and every second revolved around JoJo. Milestones other children achieved effortlessly were difficult for her boy, but she worked hard each night to help him learn. She repeated the exercises taught to her by the physical and occupational therapists. She held objects and said the names for them over and over, willing him to catch on.
When JoJo finally learned to sit up on his own, Delia wept.
She was happy and she was poor. Her waitressing job made it hard to make ends meet. She picked up extra hours when she could and lived on peanut butter sandwiches when she couldn’t. Exhaustion was simply a matter of fact, and the last time she’d slept longer than a few hours at a time had been so long ago, she couldn’t remember it.
But still, she had her little boy, and he filled up her heart. JoJo was her heart.
Sometimes, though, she felt weary of doing it all on her own. She remembered when she could lean into her husband’s strong arms and let him help her through difficulty, and missed it. Missed having a partner to talk over decisions with, and someone to take the constant pressure off. The biggest fight she’d had with David had been when she had found out she was pregnant. He hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of having a child, and in fact, had suggested she terminate.
Still, before that big fight, they’d been happy.
After that fight, she’d been a widow.
Delia was lonely, but she didn’t have time to go out and meet a man. She was resigned to it always being just her and JoJo, against the world.
Most of the time, she was okay with that.
BIO
Valarie Kinney is a writer, fiber artist and Renaissance Festival junkie with a wicked caffeine addiction. She resides in Michigan with her husband, four children, and two insane little dogs. She is the author of Heckled, Slither and Just Hold On, as well as the short stories Copper and Ailith in the KAPOW! anthologies by 7DS Books. Narrator for Dragons of Faith.
Exciting news! The lovely and talented Jessica Wren has made her debut novel, Ice, free through tomorrow!! And who doesn't love a freebie, huh? ;-) I've read Ice, and it's a highly entertaining, imaginative, suspense horror novel with a subtle supernatural twist that I can't recommend enough! If you'd like to know more, here's the description:
Terror has come to Minterville, Georgia. Two large, seemingly harmless families have moved in, and their mere presence is disruptive and unnerving, The residents of the isolated, close-knit community start to wonder: who are these people and what do they want?
By the time they find out, it is too late. A death trap has been set, and a thirty-year revenge plot set into motion. The Minter, the telepathic communication system they have come to rely on, has failed them.
With limited resources and assistance, Police Chief Andy Thompson's hope of a successful rescue fades with each passing minute. While dealing with a violent situation that the small town has never seen before, Chief Andy and the rest of Minterville must also cope with another hard truth: the source of the mayhem lies in the long-ago actions of a community member they love and trust.
Sound interesting? :-) Good! Get your copy for free here:
There's a new giveaway for you to enter with lots of awesome prizes!! :-) It's free to enter, there are over 100 prizes, and the grand prize is $150 cash payable through PayPal!! :-) Now isn't that worth taking a few minutes to check out? ;-) Here are all the details:
Just a reminder, for those who haven't checked it out yet, I've collected all my animal rescue/care posts together and published them as a small book. If you'd like, you can download the book for free from Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, and iTunes.
I'm back with my APC spotlight today, and Joe Compton, an active member of the Authors-Professional Co-op Facebook group, is in my sights! His book, Amongst The Killing, is a suspense thriller, perfect for all you crime/serial killer fiction lovers! Here's the description:
For as long as he could remember Detective Charles Street wanted to be a police officer, moreover a Detective. He wanted to be knee deep in the action, working the biggest cases, and reaping the biggest rewards. He also didn’t think when his dream job came a calling that it would ever turn into his nightmare.
For as long as he could remember Jack Casey just wanted to be free, his own man to do what he pleased when pleased. He too craved the action and when his dream life came a calling, he didn’t think he would meet anyone his equal and definitely didn’t think he could ever have difficulty leave the world he loathed and mocked behind.
Amongst The Killing documents each of their stories, told in their own words, as the moments unfolded when their paths first crossed and their lives intersected. How two men, with two different philosophies, could be so different and yet so connected.
As the ultimate cat and mouse game unfolds, each has to deal separately with the others decisions and the effects it has in turning their lives sideways and upside down. Will one of them crack? Will one of them even succeed? Ultimately the journey may mean more than the game and show both of them the outcome neither was ever expecting.
Sound good? Awesome! You can get your copy here:
Thank you all for stopping by today, and don't forget to check back tomorrow to see what's new in Mistral Dawn's Musings! :-)
