Degringolade

In The Weird Tale I maintained that weird fiction is an inherently philosophical mode in that it forces the reader to confront directly such issues as the nature of the universe and mankind’s place in it; in effect, writers of weird fiction are attempting to convince us of their view of the world. I am inclined to suspect that this notion might in fact be extended to literature generally; but even in its more limited context it raises certain issues concerning the nature of language and its relation to the external world. In addition, the precise application of the formula to the work of Lovecraft needs to be explored.

Taken From

H.P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West

By:  S.T. Joshi

Copyright © 1990 by S.T. Joshi.

Published by Wildside Press LLC.

www.wildsidepress.com

I have been reading about Lovecraft lately, not because he is such a great writer, but because of the issues brought up by JMG in the Haliverse series and how I am attempting to do the same thing in the proto-book that I have been writing and some folks have been encouraging.

I think that I am overthinking things right now.  SInce I am admittedly writing a trashy novel without any real meaning in the big world, I am thinking that what I am doing is trying to insert meaning into a literary form/endeavor that might not be suited to that insertion.  Reading Joshi’s book and then thinking about the actual real world of academic study of horror fiction makes me wonder just what the heck is going on.  

I really didn’t realize that people made a big deal and actually studied such pleasant juvenile pastimes as H.P. Lovecraft writings until I started seeing the dribs and drabs of wokester pearl-clutching about the idea that Lovecraft was a racist.  Of course he was a racist, just about everyone in the world was some kind of racist back in the early 1900’s.  I would argue that the same is true now.

I think that the new racism that I would like to address and I am struggling to come to grips with is the racism of the mind.  The current existential struggle of the West isn’t all that dissimilar from the conflict between the Radiance and the worshippers of the old ones in the Haliverse.  The trouble is that in my view the woke crowd is taking the part of the Radiance.

Both sides are to a lesser and greater extent trying to force a way of viewing the world down someone else’s throats.  When I say “sides” I mean the folks on either side of any issue extant here in the USA (Maga/Woke) that claims intellectual and moral supremacy.  I figure that folks in this extended group constitute 70+ percent of the American population.  

The rest of us are just trying to do the best we can.

Back to tempeh.  This is the project for the day:

• Pressure cook black beans for six(6) minutes with a glop of white vinegar and a natural release of pressure.

• Set up “incubator” with layers of towels to diffuse heat.

• Use different rack to give more space for airflow under the bag

• Cool beans in colander for 20 minutes.

• Dry beans on paper towels for 20 minutes

• Into a bag with half a tablespoon of starter.

• Punch bag thoroughly with toothpick to open air holes.  Top and bottom, remember to do this on top of a flat cutting board to make sliding the bag into the “incubator” easier.

• Gently mash down the bag so that it is flat, not too much so there is room for the fungus to grow in the interstitial spaces

• Temperature logger set and placed an hour before the bag hits the rack