Month: August 2023

So Apparently I’m a ‘Narcissist’ Now?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I don’t want to get into details, but something perplexing happened to me recently that I need to process. Someone I barely know randomly sent me a video on Tik-Tok that had the same vibe as the Dave Chappelle sketch where the Haters go back in time to call a overseer “a cracker.”

The person said they made a Tik-Tok video specifically to personally “cancel” me for being a “narcissist.”

There is a lot to unpack here.

If I was a few decades younger, having such a thing sent to me — for any reason — would have made me extremely upset. Thankfully, I’m 50 and the whole thing leaves me puzzled rather than alarmed. I just don’t understand what could have possibly provoked such a thing.

I did send the person the second draft of my novel, so….maybe she was offended by some element of it? If that is the case, I have my suspicions as to what might have generated such hostility towards me. Now, obviously, what I should do is just ask the person directly about this matter.

But, meh. I just don’t care enough. It’s situation similar to the Mad Men elevator scene that ends with Don Draper saying, “Well, I don’t think about you at all.”

I have more important things to worry about than if some rando thinks I’m a narcissist. At least if you’re going to yell at me for such a thing, give me a little bit more information.

As it stands, I’m at a loss. Generally, these days, no one really cares about me other than my stalker in California who is obsessed with this blog. That someone would get so upset over anything I might have done to take the time to send me a heated Tik-Tok video purporting to “cancel” me for being a “narcissist” is rather flattering.

But, then, I am a narcissist.

Mulling A Scifi Screenplay Concept

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m officially at an age where I am constantly reminded of how precious my remaining days of life are. I wasted way too many years grieving over the demise of ROKon Magazine and now, here I am, at 50, troubled by all the doors that have closed behind me for good.

And, yet, I continue to be consumed by delusion to the point that I still have hope that somehow, someway, I will “blow up with my DJ money” and pull of a third hattrick — this time for a national / international audience.

As such, I continue to chung away at a mystery-thriller novel that I hope will be the cornerstone of a six novel project. What’s more, despite all the mental energy devoted to such an endeavor, I still find myself dreaming up other story concepts.

That sort of thing just happened to me today when I returned to a time-travel story that has been rolling around in my mind for some time. I like it because it deals with multiverse concept while also addressing some major issues of the day.

The more I’ve thought about the idea, the more I’ve come to realize it has the storytelling dynamic of a screenplay rather than a novel. The thing about screenplays is you can get away with a lot of things that you simply can’t with a novel.

I have long wanted to write a screenplay, but I fear I’ve just waited too long. Or, to put it another way, a screenplay would be something I might be able to pull off once I blow up with my DJ money. I’m delusional, yes, but I am still connected to reality enough that I’m not prepared to spend all that much time on a screenplay when I’m both too old and live in the wrong place for it to ever be produced.

But I just don’t know. I really like this scifi concept enough — and I do continue to have a lingering interest in writing a screenplay — that I might just dabble in writing such a screenplay to get it out of my system.

Some Thoughts On Glenn Youngkin

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Apparently there is a growing sense within the Republican monied class that they need a Great White Hope because of all of Trump’s legal problems. Among the people they’re considering is my governor, Glenn Youngkin. He’s waiting until the fall, after a state election, to decide if he will run or not.

The thing to consider about Virginia is it’s not really a swing or purple state so much as it is two states — one Red, one Blue — fused together who fucking hate each other’s guts. Rural Virginia is all-in with Trump and MAGA to the point that some Red counties in Virginia wanted to secede when we had a Blue governor.

The issue about Youngkin is he has proven himself to be just sort of There. He is moderate in temperment, but not politics. He is very much a MAGA person who would be just as fascist as Trump — and more effective — if he ran and became president. The Republican Party has been consumed by some very dark political forces to the point that the moment there is another Republican President, I don’t see how traditional American democracy survives.

And don’t forget that Youngkin won in Virginia not so much because of his message so much as enough moderate, independent Virginians were tired of having Democrat governors and voted for change. So any success he has had says more about the general ebb and flow of a functioning democracy than him any particular political aptitude on his part.

All of this interest in Youngkin seems like moved deck chairs on the Titanic to me. Something incredible would have to have happen at this point for Trump not to be the nominee and for him not to win the general in 2024. His victory in 2024 — and the dark, bonkers events that will be caused by that victory — seem to be something of an immutable force of political history at this point.

A Subtle Shift

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

On a political basis, I’m very much the red headed step child of my family. A quirk of my personal history has led me to be far more liberal than my immediate family. I love my relatives dearly, but it’s jarring that people so close to me could have such different political views from me.

It’s so bad that I often think that my personal life would be much, much better if I sold my soul to fascism and became MAGA. It really would improve my personal interactions a great deal.

But, alas, that’s not going to happen.

I bring all of this up because I had of my occasional in-depth political discussions with one of my MAGA-adjacent relatives and I was taken aback by the subtle shift in their political sentiment.

They have been really big DeSantis supporters in the past, but it definitely seems as though they have resigned themselves to Trump being the nominee. What’s more, they were not as quick to dismiss my “hysterical doom shit” about the possibility of a National Divorce if Trump should somehow magical not win the 2024.

My relative inhabits that tiny political sliver of people who are traditional conservatives who really like Trump’s policies, but aren’t willing to look past the issue of electability. This relative desperately wants to win so the “woke cancel culture mob” can be destroyed once and for all.

They don’t think Trump can win. I, of course, think that Trump is 60,000 votes in 5 swing states away from winning. But I do think that the subtle shift in my relative’s political views are indicative of broader forces at work within the Republican Party.

Something is shifting, but what the ultimate consequences of that shift might be, I don’t know.

I’m Growing Worried Trump May Freak Out When He’s Booked In Georgia

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The more I learn about what ding-dong Trump is going to go through when he is booked in Georgia this week, the more alarmed I grow. Trump is already crazy enough as it is, there is a chance that when he sees first hand how bad the conditions are in jail while he waits to get booked that he might freak the fuck out.

I don’t think we appreciate how bonkers Trump could go between now and Election Day 2024. His natural instinct is to lash out whenever he feels trapped and my concern is he might begin to grow ever more transactional to the point that he’s directly telling his followers what he wants them to do to protect him on a personal basis.

The thing about Trump is, you just never know what that fucking crazed idiot is going to do. That, in a sense, is his power. Because you never quite know what to expect, your natural inclination is to assume the absolute worst.

Remember, Trump is an avatar, a vessel for broader problems in the American political system. As such, as I’ve mentioned numerous times before, we have to take seriously a scenario whereby Trump personally is responsible for a National Divorce in late 2024, early 2025 if he should somehow, magically manage to actually lose the 2024 election.

The stage is already set. The two sides so hate and misunderstand each other at this point that I just don’t see how we make it through the 2024 election cycle in one piece. There is a real risk that no matter who wins the election, one side or the other is going to feel they will have to take matters into their own hands because they can no longer get what they want peacefully through political means.

I don’t know what that means, but I do have my uneasy suspicions. It definitely seems possible that if Trump loses in 2024 — which I don’t think will happen — he will throw down the gauntlet and demand a National Divorce specifically to keep myself out of prison.

But, who knows. I sure as hell don’t.

A Ping From A Dark Future

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Sometimes, you see something on social media that makes you sit up and take notice. I saw this on “X” today and was alarmed.


The reason why it alarms me is this type of thinking just the sort of thing that would make America ripe for a “National Divorce” if Trump loses in 2024 and begins to rant Reds have to leave the Union once and for all. The logic is there already, you just need to add the passions of the a presidential election to produce a Secessionist Crisis.

And, yet, who knows? A lot can happen between now and late 2024, early 2025.

‘Go Woke Go Broke’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

One of the alarming similarities between the 1850s and the modern age is how both sides seem obsessed with boycotting this or that thing. Usually, the ones that work are very simple to understand.

Take, for instance, the boycott of Bud Lite that happened as part of the overall Gay Scare of the last few years. It’s a very simple type of boycott — don’t drink Bud Lite unless you want your guy friends to think you’re gay or supporting the “gay agenda.”

This is a very simple message to convey and I can tell you from personal experience that this boycott has really resonated with the people who live around me in BFE Virginia. So, of course, one of the main proponants of this boycott would be seen with, you guessed it, a Bud Lite in his hand.

It’s clear that the entirety of the Republican worldview is done in bad faith and specifically designed to “own the moment” no matter what. It’s thinking like the “go woke go broke” campaign that is probably going to lead to uncontrollable global climate change.

Things suck and there doesn’t seem to be any solution. Though, of course, the astrology for dudes known as The Fourth Turning would suggest that in 2024 we’re going to decide matters one way or another.

Yet Another Eerie Tik-Tok ‘Coincidence’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

A few days ago, I was talking to someone about the “old way” one would get information about a movie. You would flip open the local newspaper, find the ad for the newspaper you might be interested in and go from there.

Well, this conversation crossed my mind again recently and lo and behold, that very same day I was pushed a video on Tik-Tok that detailed that exact process. It was so specific to what I had talked about that I was taken aback.

Now, obviously, there are three possible explanations for this odd situation.

One, it’s just a coincidence. I’m reading into all of this a lot more than I should and let’s move on to something else.

Meanwhile, there is also the idea that Tik-Tok is actively listening to our conversations using our phone’s mic. If this was happening, it would be alarming for a number of reasons, least of which would be the national security implications of a Chinese company with ties to the CCP listening to the conversations of millions of Americans. (Not that I don’t think American Big Tech isn’t doing the same thing as well.)

The THIRD, most bonkers idea, is digital telepathy — Tik-Tok is reading our minds. I don’t believe this is happening — don’t believe it’s even possible to do — but these weird “coincidences” involving Tik-Tok seemingly knowing my inner monologue happen again and again to a surreal degree.

Anyway. Something unusual is going on, I just don’t know what.

I’m Having A Lot Of Problems Describing The Male Romanic Lead of My Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve spent so much time thinking up what the heroine of my novel looks like, that I’ve totally dropped the ball when it comes to my male romantic lead. I just can’t settle on what he looks like.

My natural inclination is to make him a “proxy me.” But, in general, inserting yourself into your novel is Not Cool. So, I find myself dwelling on how to describe him in a way that makes him seem real in people’s imaginations as well at Not Me.

I only even think this up because one of my Beta Readers noted that I had really fleshed out my heroine, leaving my male romantic lead wanting. So, in this third draft I’m working on, I’m going to really give his appearance some thought.

It’s a real struggle, though, because describing a male is just not all that interesting to me, which, of course, is what members of the “woke cancel culture mob” would say was a “tell.” They would say that I’m so obsessed with thinking up a heroine that I want to fuck that I don’t have time to worry about what her love interest looks like.

Ugh.

Anyway, things are otherwise going well with this novel. I am working my way through the new scenes I’ve come up with and will soon reach the point where Something Happens.

At This Point, The Only Unknown Is How Severe The Political Crisis In Late 2024, Early 2025 Will Be

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I was shocked in 2020 when history managed to pull a fast one on me and came up with a Third Way. In the years leading up to the 2020 election, I could never have predicted that not only would we have a pandemic, but Trump would be too dumb and lazy to do some pretty basic autocratic moves to stay in power.

As we approach 2024, the key thing we all have to remember is because of the Electoral College, the fascist nature of the Republican Party is obscured. It’s just not readily obvious what’s going on — the Republican Party is a fascist party, while the Democratic Party is a hodge-podge of center-Left pro-democracy special interest groups.

Because of the ebb and flow of politics and history, it’s inevitable that the fucking MAGA Nazi fascists of the Republican Party will gain power again. The only unknown at this point is if it will be deranged ding-dong Trump would tries to transition us into autocracy, or if it will be a younger, more focused and polished fascist who does it.

So, really, it seems as though the only known unknown of 2024 is how bad things will get. Will we just peacefully transition into a MAGA autocracy, or will we have some sort of civil war (Reds) or revolution (Blues.) The third option — that of us just punting our structural problems down the road another four years, just doesn’t seem all that viable.

The United States is a lot less stable than one might think and at this point it seems like just an issue of which side, Left or Right, feels that they can’t stand the current political arrangement.

I no longer think Blues will leave the Union if it comes to that,but rather do something a lot closer to a revolution. My gut tells me that Blues, because they don’t have the deep historical echo of the Civil War in their collective political race memory, would rather reimagine the United States than leave it — hence a revolution.

But who knows. I sure as hell don’t.