Will's Good Idea for the Week of 7/12/26

Good Sunday morn, you brave reader(s) of Stroock's Books. We awake meandering and listless with just a soupcon* of angst. 

More blessed rain yesterday. 

Last night was England's biggest win over Norway since King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings' King Guthrum in the 890s. Hmmm...Argentina vs England. The jokes write themselves. We don't know for whom we will cheer [Hey!-Ed]. Shut up, Ed. 

Whoa, Senator Lindsey Graham, dead at 71.  We've always been less hostile to Graham than a lot of other MAGA hats. We admired his work when he was a house impeachment manager back in 98/99. And of course Senator Graham was a friend of the Jew.

In his long career there was a certain respectable consistency to Graham. He remained true (if sometimes very wrong) even as the GOP and the right changed. 

This blog had disagreements with the man too (Ukraine), but now’s not the time. Mensch.

Will's Good Idea (or ideas) for the week of 7/12/19.

Our magazine article query campaign has busted or ghosted. 

Maybe we should write another history book. Pershing in Command never caught fire. Buuuuut we never really thought it would. We've maybe 8 articles, or chapters about various AEF divisions sitting around. Should we gather those into a history? Which is what we planned way back in the teens.

Also...okay, next year, by which we mean 2027, we gotta write something other than World War 1990 and The Great Nuclear War of 1975. Don't know what. Maybe we finally do another To Defend the Earth novel. Maybe something new and radical [You always had a 1066 novel idea-Ed]. More Jake and Patricia? [Na-Ed]. Upon this problem, we shall dwell. 

Okay...looks like our services will be required for some short story compilations next year. It's a start. 

*That's French. Here's where we learned the word, lo those 20 + years ago. 

Saturday Updates

Relax, doomers. We're going back to war. 

We had an excellent week at the gym, but our body is sore, tired. We feel bursitis coming back in our right knee and had better take it easy this weekend. 

What to do in the afternoon, though? 

The things.

No hits on article queries. We think we're being ghosted, actually [You? Never, love. Never -Ed]. 

We had a fine week with World War 1990: Thatcher's War. We began the Dublin assault chapter and like where things are going. World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 59,000 words. 

We began the hippie commune chapter in the 5th nuke novel. Really, it's more of a farm where the young people there have some hippie leanings, but commune is good shorthand. We're sticking with the bikers. The 5th nuke novel is 43,000 words. 

We still need nuke short story ideas.

We had planned a tentpole story for War Night, never happened. Maybe we should think up a tentpole story here? Something that's 15,000 words? But we run into the same problem. Of what and who would we write?

Friday Post Wrap

We got some much needed rain yesterday. At one point there was a real down poor and authorities warned against travel. We took Youngest Daughter and friend to the Donut. Seriously, it was just a lot of rain. 

We being we, we worried about the sump pump not going off when we thought it should. The sump pump was fine. [You ever think of, I dunno, maybe seeing a doctor about the worrying and fretting?-Ed]. Why? It'd just be us talking about our feelings and a prescription. Hard no. No with extreme prejudice. 

We took in a Somerset Patriots game last night. The oppo had scored 10 runs by the 6th inning. Mrs. Stroock was pleased as the oppo was her Reading Phillies. We counted at least five Patriots errors though the official scorer charged them with only two. At times we felt we were watching a little league game. Still, it was nice to get out to the ballpark. 

'Dad! Dad!' Youngest Daughter said. 'I was looking at your books on Amazon and there's this one reviewer who says how much you suck. He goes on for like nine paragraphs.' 

'I know who that is,' we replied. 'You know when I say I have enemies? This would be what I'm referring too.' Usually we would have resorted to immature name calling with comparisons to Yasser Arafat.  But Mrs. Stroock doesn't like that kind of talk around the house, and it is the wise man indeed who does not unnecessarily antagonize his wife, hell hathing no fury and all...' ['Hathing' is not a word-Ed]. Whatever. We recall the facts of the case and move on. That review is 11 years old and 20[?] novels ago. 

DOGE report. 

Same. 

Right now we have a biker gang showing up at our Berkshire hippie commune, which seems a little trite, tropey even. But the bikers showing up does work. Honestly we can change the bikers to whomever we want. The point of the story is how the hippie commune reacts. Meh, the commune is more of a working farm. 

We're working on the Dublin Airport scene in World War 1990: Thacher's War. We think we'll show the Brit assault from one POV character. FCA battalion commander? We don't know. 

Thursday late Post

Good afternoon, people of Stroock's Books. Thursday is upon us. 

Is the war with Iran back on? We feel like the war with Iran is back on. Okay. We have questions. What is victory and how is victory achieved? Did Trump agree to the original ceasefire to empty the Persian Gulf of bottled up traffic? Do the Israelis join in?

Oyster Fuhrer Graham Platner has dropped out of the Maine senate race. Sorry GOP enthusiasts and optimists. Graham Platner is only an issue if he's in the race. The good news is there are lots of DSA freaks and weirdos running for office. It's like the Mos Eisley cantina up there, yo. 

DOGE report.

We wrote one scene in World War 1990: Thatcher's War.

We began a short story about a hippie farm in the Berkshires. We've lots of good characters and have a good idea of where things are going. 

Midweek and (trying) to Mellow

Good morning, reader(s) of Stroock's Books and happy Wednesday. 

Biopsy appointment made. No one seems to be in any rush. In fact, during our consultation the doctor said if we wanted, we could hold  off the biopsy and just get another PSA in three months. So chill. 

The appointment is made. The lawn is mowed. The rain has come. The new AC passed inspection. The car is lubed and the AC fixed for under $300. Writing is going pretty good. The girls seem to be enjoying themselves this summer. Yet we remain uneasy. We don't know why.

Well this is annoying. from The Jerusalem Post: 'This is a sign of what's to come:' Ehud Barak warns of Netanyahu's next move. The former prime minister told 103FM that the government’s decision not to comply with High Court rulings is a sign of worse to come, and called on the opposition to lead a public campaign.' Ehud Barak tried to give the country away to Yasser Arafat in 2000 and only failed because he couldn't find a way to give him enough territory. Camp David negotiation (2000) transcript follows -

Barak, ‘How many of our daughters would you like, Yasser?’

Arafat: ‘I don’t like girls.’*

It's possible that transcript excerpt may be altered, slightly - or may not even exist at all. 

DOGE report.

We've been saying that we need another foreign story in the 5th nuke novel, but do we? Right now, we've stories taking place in: Ireland, Soviet Salyut station, the BAOR, the Canadian DEW line, the Suez. Still, we'd like a story from a foreign leader(s) perspective. 

We did have another good story idea late yesterday, a hippie commune. We may place the commune in the Berkshires. Write what you know, they say. We're working on it now. 

*Homosexual. Died of AIDS.

Damn the Flemings, damn the Walloons

Good morning, Stroock's Books people, and Happy Tuesday.

Temps will climb into...the low 70s today. Wow. We're enjoying the cold snap. 

The girls are home. In their absence We got used to the house being clean and organized. Everything is back to normal. 

Sports wrap: Not even presidential intervention could save the American soccer team. Belgium dominated throughout. The US looked like it was on the backfoot the moment the match began. Losing to a fake country like Belgium...We're sure the Americans will do the honorable thing. 

We saw the matched at a neighbor's house. Our Chindian immigrant neighbors cheered on their adopted home team. One friend from Ghana explained stoppage time rules to us. We had Indian rose flavored ice cream. 

DOGE report.

Just an excellent all-around day. After vowing to focus on the nuke novel we cranked out two scenes in World War 1990: Thatcher's War and finally have a good idea of where things are headed. Exit question: how to handle the Brit assault on Dublin airport?

The First Monday of the Second Part

We had lots of much needed rain here last night and this morning. Right now a light drizzle is coming down. That's four days in a row with at least some rain. 

The fam returns this afternoon, thank the Lords of Kobol. And so begins the second stage of summer. 

Let's just try to stop worrying and relax. 

We watched a lot of World Cup yesterday. Don't FIFA shame us. 

Norway was playing the refs as well as the Brazilians. Brazil is obviously the Kansas City Chiefs of FIFA. We watched the officials do everything they could to give Brazil a chance at a game tying goal. 

Mexico vs England was the best soccer game we've ever seen, which ain't sayin' much. During the last 20 minutes, England's goal was under siege. The limeys made a heck of a defensive stand. We were impressed. 

Overall, were we not entertained?

At The Times of Israel, a profile of Netanyahu's chief electoral rival, Gadi Eisenkot. The headline and subhead: 'Gruff and unpolished, Gadi Eisenkot is becoming the face of the anti-Netanyahu movement. The plainspoken ex-IDF head embodies a shift from the PM’s slick style, which has come to define Israeli politics. But after surging in the polls, he now faces a brutal campaign as Netanyahu’s chief foe...' This is very interesting*. 

Polls remain where they've always been, Bibi's Likud leading followed by Bennett, Eisenkot, and Lapid. At the moment an election would probably result in a hung parliament. But beware Netanyahu enthusiasts, the Bibi fatigue is real. [How would you vote?-Ed]. We'll put it this way, if one wants to make the case for Bennett or Eisenkot, we're listening.  

DOGE report.

Okay, we have a vague outline of the first part of the Dublin op. At least we know what we're writing this morning. 

We spent a good chunk of yesterday working on the details of the DEW line story. The prot-a-gon-ist (IYKYK) is a nerdy kid from Cincinnati who likes electronics and is obsessed with baseball. And he's really disappointed that his beloved Reds were destroyed with the rest of Cincinnati. If you know your baseball history, you know what the Reds were up to in 1975. 

* Yes! 'In terms of one of Israel’s most intractable and urgent issues, integrating its growing Haredi population into mainstream society, Yashar proposes two initiatives: First, expanding national service for all Israelis, including Arabs and Haredim, the vast majority of whom do not currently enlist, with a particular emphasis on military service. Second, mandating the study of a core curriculum (generally including subjects such as English and math) in all schools, including ultra-Orthodox ones that eschew secular subjects.'