A Most Unreliable Narrator Issue #170 it is written in the stars

Weather, childhood dreams, Jane Austen, and Discworld

Dear Internet,

It dawned on me earlier this morning (Saturday) that I did not have this week’s AMUN written for the week. I’m typically good on getting my weekly essay written and edited by Thursday and on the rare occasion, Friday. It just seemed out of order that nothing was written this week. SO, here we are. It’s important to me to keep up the practice of the weekly missives. Sometimes I am about to burst because I have so much to say and keeping it in drives my anxiety up.

I generally do not know what I’m writing for that week as my content is not planned. Sometimes it a myriad of topics and others it’s singular like last week’s treatise on my teeth. It seems this week it’s going to be a myriad of topics.

#

This weekend the Midwest and Northeastern US are getting dumped on with snow. Those of us south of the snow line are getting drenched in rain. As you would expect, the weather is shit. Northern Michigan, where Throbbing Cabin is located, is expected to get 10-12” this weekend with snow on the forecast for the following week. Grand Rapids and west side of Michigan are getting close to the same dumping due to lake effect. My brother is reporting where he lives, mid-Michigan, it’s going to be close to 5”-8”. It's been a very warm winter across the usual snow belt but this dumping is going to make up for the lack of snow.

I love learning about the weather.

On my magic watch (Apple Watch), I track the weather for eight cities (Throbbing Condo, Throbbing Cabin, Grand Rapids, MI; Mid-Michigan, Delaware, OH; Manchester UK, and Edinburgh UK. When I’m traveling to a place and I’m going to be there for a few days, that city gets added (and then later deleted)). I track close friends and relatives because I’m curious as how their outer world is faring. I track Manchester UK because while I’ve never been, the city has shaped my music and pop culture tastes. Edinburgh because it’s my one of my favorite cities in the world though I have a sneaking suspicion Dublin, IE is going to appear on that list.

On my phone, I have four weather apps and four astronomy apps. I need to know what’s happening in the sky. I never thought to become a meteorologist but I did want to become an astronomer when I was very young, but math eluded me and I was undiagnosed ADHD. A few years ago, I put a plan together to go back to college and get my undergrad in a science (two years) and then go on to get a Masters in astrophysics or astronomy (two to four years). If I recall, this would be about a four-to-six-year process and that’s not even including a PhD program. I could not work to complete this and I would be dependent on Mr Lisa while possibly taking out student loans again. I’m so close to paying my current loans off this year that getting saddled with more student debt makes me ill.

If I went back for the zillionth time to school, I would have ADHD drugs which means math nor hard science would allude me. I know I would need a tutor but at least this time around I would get it whatever it is. If I was ten years younger, I probably go ahead with this plan but instead, I have a telescope, join local astronomy clubs, and read books like Physics for Dummies and Starry Messenger.

My other childhood professional dream was to become a lawyer. I remember buying the LSAT prep book when I was still in high school because I knew it was going to take me years to understand reason, logic, and arguing before I even started law school. Those who know me for a very long time are aware that my life choices did not send me down that path. Like becoming an astronomer in my old age, I’ve often thought of taking the LSAT and applying to law school. It would be the same of not working, becoming dependent on Mr Lisa, and getting student loans. Law school is not cheap and could easily rack up over $100K USD for three years of education. Plus, deciding what kind of law to go into and where to practice (each state has its own requirements to be certified). I joked I wanted to work with the underserved which mean peanuts in a salary. Honestly, I don’t think I would mind it.

The third dream was to become a novelist. I had stories galore growing up but again, life choices when they happened kept me on the edge of those novels, but I never pushed over. I would berate myself when I turned 30, 40, and now 50 that I would never make the “Best X under X years” lists.

I have five novels in progress and the furthest one I have is at 10K words. A typical novel is between 50K – 75K words unless you are like the over achievers who go into 100K and beyond.

If you’ve been around these parts for some time, you then know as I get older, writing fiction becomes harder for me to do. In 2023, I’ve written in some form in five issues of AMUN about getting an MFA in creative writing. This is a doable degree because I can write and work at the same time. It would mean giving up free time but it could be worth it. For this degree, I’m stymied by my application packet. I have a zillion examples of creative non-fiction but my fiction is shit even thought pieces have been published. And the reason why this stymies me is because I want to major in fiction and be one of those pretentious assholes swanning around my education and prospects. Writing fiction is a pain in the ass which is why last year I hired editors for my work and then I don’t look at their edits because I think the criticism is going to make me cry.

So, here we are. 28 years of creative non-fiction career that has neither paid or bought me fame.

I may sound bitter but I don’t think I really am. Even though my work captures all my life events since I was 24, I’m proud of what I have produced. Fuck the world for ignoring me.

So, the failure of fulfilling childhood dreams.

To be honest, I may have not become a novelist or hell, a short story writer, but I do live by my pen by writing on financial topics which is boring as shit but hey, at least it’s writing.

Twenty-seven issues on my writing life show that I’m still hopeful about my writing future. In the last issue, I wrote a year in review and my writing intentions for 2024. That dream will not die.

Recently, someone asked me to describe myself in two words and explain why. I gave four. I remember three which are curiosity, not afraid to fail, and tenacity. Becoming a librarian fulfils curiosity because I have an education and held jobs where I was paid to research on all sorts of topics. Not afraid to fail because in my adult life, I took failure personally but if you do not try, you do not learn and grow. And tenacity because I never let anything go.

I will never give up.

#

If you’ve read down this far, thank you. I know I am particularly wordy today.

A short announcement: A few weeks ago on Mastodon, I posted that I wanted to kickstart an Austen/Bronte newsletter ala like the blog I had form days on yore. The posts would be irregular, maybe a few times a month, and the content would be media reviews, analysis and commentary, listicles. That kind of thing. The tone would be of a pop culture slant and fun with lots of gifs and memes and always about Austen and the Brontes.

I asked how people would read this. The options were email, website, rss feed, or other. Opinion was split across all the options and thankfully Substack supprts all of these things.

Welcome to Excessively Diverting, the Jane Austen and Bronte newsletter! You can subscribe to the newsletter directly, read the issue on the web, and if you are an RSS reader, the site is RSS friendly.

I launched issue #1 on Saturday.

The Jane Austen and the Brontes Newsletter Issue #1 A beginning

Issue #2, the defense of the 2022 adaptation of Persuasion, is set for Saturday, January 20th. I also have a Valentine’s Day issue queued up. My list of topics grows but I’m trying to be on the downlow with this newsletter. Writing two a week can be exhausting.

Anyway, I hope you’ll join me!

Wonderful Thing

Sir Terry Pratchett and Discworld

2023 marked the 40^th anniversary of The Colour of Magic, Pratchett’s first book in his over 40 novels of the world of his making, Discworld.

Discworld is an alternate world where the world (disc) lays on the back of four elephants who in turn stand on top of a turtle (also known as the Great A’Turin) as the world makes its way across the universe. It’s an alternate world where vampires, dragons, witches, and other creatures exist among the humans. The books are choke full of social commentary in subtle ways and before you know it, you’ve got opinions on our world you never knew you had.

The books are both funny, thought provoking, and serious. (His novels are also famous for having no chapters.)

I first started the series back in the late ‘90s early ‘00s by a recommendation of a co-worker. They started me off with The Colour of Magic which I did not enjoy. I read the next few novels and went “eh.” By this point, Thief of Time, book 26, was already out.

I stuck with reading the series as I was promised the series got a lot better and finally, I was getting the joy, wonder, and fascination with Pratchett’s world.

I had a lot of catching up to do.

According to Amazon, on May 13, 2003 I started buying the back catalog of Discworld in groups of three or four. My purchases were every three to four months. By 2005, I was caught up.

Pratchett’s books came out every October. Fall didn’t seem to begin until I had the new hardback of a Pratchett book in my hands. By the time I caught up, Pratchett became an auto buy for me.

Pratchett died in 2015 with The Shepard’s Crown , the fifth novel in Tiffany Aching, a side series, as the final book.

At his death, it is believed Pratchett had notes, outlines, and half-started books on his hard drive. He asked for the content to be destroyed which it was by a steamroller in 2017. Pratchett also stated no new books were to come out and his estate has remained true to that request.

(If you’re watching the series, Good Omens on Amazon Prime, he co-wrote the book with Neil Gaiman.)

New books about Pratchett continue to get published. In 2023, a collection of his stories, A Stroke of the Pen, from his early days as a journalist was published. These stories were written under a pseudonym and are therefore not considered “new.” The book came out on October 10, 2023. I pre-ordered it on October 6^th. I have not read it yet and it remains on my TBR pile on the right of where I am sitting right now and I hope to get to it soon.

There are far too many to list but books about Discworld, and I own almost all of them.

I’m such a fan, I got this art by Paul Kidby tattooed on my left bicep in 2004 or ‘05.

DEATH and DEATH of RATS

(Most people who do not get the reference assume it’s the grim reaper and I’ve tried correcting them to no avail. Once, a stranger lifted the edge of my t-shirt and touched the tattoo. Oh, hell to the fuck no. Last summer at a farmer’s market, Mr Lisa and I were buying cheese from a punk rock goddess when a friend of hers looked at me and said SQUEEK. You can see DEATH OF RATS near hidden behind DEATH’S cloak. In all my years of having that tattoo, she was one of less than ½ dozen people who got the reference organically. And oh yes, DEATH always speaks in caps. Looking at my arm now, it’s time for a touch up.)

Reading Discworld can be overwhelming as yes, there are 41 books and you would have to be a mad person (like myself) to start at the very beginning but keep in mind, the books can be read in any order but you’d miss the in jokes and references if you did read out of order. One thing I do recommend is to read by the sub-series. Discworld Emporium has graciously ordered the books chronologically and by sub-series. The Witches collection, The Watch collection, DEATH collection, and The Industrial Revolution collections are my favorites. I’m not a fan of the Unseen University or The God collections. YMMV.

(I began a re-read of The Witches collection in early 2023 because I was missing Pratchett. Next up is probably The Watch.)

Finally, I have two or three hardcover books personally signed to me by Pratchett.

I’ve gone long enough on this topic, but yes, as you can see, I highly recommend you get to know Pratchett and his world.

SQUEEK,

lisa x