Will's Good Idea for the Week of 10/23/22

It was mayhem. With crafts and cake and a movie and popcorn. Shirley Temples were planned but canceled. The last thing this rogue group needed was more sugar. The evening ended with a gaggle of ten-year-old girls parading through the neighborhood chanting, 'Happy Diwali!' led by a blonde little Jewish girl. 

We have a Diwali block party tonight. In a nod to modernity the Bridgewater-Raritan School District is now closed for Diwali. Also Chinese New Year. 

Mrs. Stroock's Phillies beat the Padres 10-6 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the NLCS. Mrs. Stroock is pleased. We think the Houston Astros will cut right through them as they have the New York Yankees. Who are pathetic. Is there a more overrated sports executive than Brian Cashman?

Yesterday we saw an ad in which incumbent Democrat congressman Tom Malinowski calls our man Tom Kean an anti-abortion MAGA hat wearing extremist. 'Stop making Kean sound awesome!' we tweeted Malinowski. 

We mention this because a daily blog needs content but also because this tweet resulted in profile visits which drove traffic to this blog and we see a big sales spike this morning. Coincidence? Sales have been up for a week now. Fuck all if we know why. 

We do know that sales of The Great Nuclear War of 1975 remain stubbornly strong, and we'll submit The Salvation of 1976 MS for formatting this week. We needs must only correct a few things our intrepid editor pointed out, standardize chapter headings, and write the acknowledgments.

In The Final Storm, Eduard Shevardnadze gets on the plane, lands at Tbilisi, and away we go. But maybe he should land, head to an office, and wait a few days while Georgian rebels get ready, no? This takes away some of the immediacy but makes for better timing and pacing. Is this not the solution to the problem? This might take a few days to work out in our head. 

So here's what we have. Shevardnadze arrives in Tbilisi. Prep is already well underway. We meet some cutthroat Georgian paratroops just back from Afghanistan. We meet a Georgian guy scouting the Roki Tunnel. We see the commander of the Soviet 58th Army. We get just a little info on the Turkish front. We meet a Soviet regimental commander. The Soviets see something is going on (to set up the premise) but aren't sure what. Then, BAM! The rebels seize Tbilisi and take the Roki Tunnel. 

We have this nagging sense that we know nothing about Georgia in 1990 and reading a book might add needed detail and context. We must dwell on this. Did we say January 2023 for The Final Storm? We said January 2023 for The Final Storm. We plan, god laughs. For as it is written, we plan, god laughs. We haven't even read through the Battle of the Roki Tunnel yet. 

Sometimes we shake our head and think, 'Why don't we just wright sword and sorcery?' Knights, castles, Goblins, Orcs, lances, swords, banners, trumpets, damsels, horses, chivalry, shield walls, pikes, green fire....it seems so much easier. Of course, we really don't have anything interesting to say. Not really a good idea at all.