Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘imaginative fiction’

The heads came off and…the bodies kept marching in place.

It’s rare to see a new, original, Gothic horror video online, with nary a jump-scare in sight!  And I found it just in time to sneak it in before the end of Christmas.  The links above it were provided by Franklin Harris, Jesse Walker, Lucy Steigerwald, Nun Ya, and IncarcerNation (x2), in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

Read Full Post »

On this day two years ago, I wrote:  “I’ve gradually come to the realization that I’m happier now than I’ve ever been for any extended period in my entire life…but having a realistic view of the world requires accepting that it and everything it contains is impermanent.”  Then almost a year ago, the truth of that was slammed home when I lost my best friend to cancer, and just like that the only extended period of happiness I’ve ever enjoyed in this Vale of Tears was snatched from me, never to return.  I’m not saying I’m constantly miserable now, nor that I was prior to my retirement in 2021, but previous periods of happiness were both shorter and far more conditional than that four-year stretch of peace and content.  My readers needn’t worry about me; pain and melancholy have been familiar features of my life for almost as long as I can remember, and decades of experience have taught me the alchemy of turning that darkness into beauty.  In the past year I’ve written more fiction than I have in any year since 2016, including my first novella (which looks like it will turn into my first major series of tales).  This is not in spite of the darkness but because of it; ever since I was a child, the monsters have been the constant attendants of my Muse of Fiction, and it seems foolish to expect that it will be any different in the time I have left.  Creative writing is, in a sense, a form of exorcism, draining off the energy of my inner demons to drive the mills of my art.  The process, however, is never so efficient as to completely dry out that black wellspring, and though I don’t cry for Grace every day any more, in any given week the tearful days still outnumber the drier ones.  As a friend told me soon after she died, the waves of grief never stop coming, they just get farther apart.  And as I’ve said many times in the last year; it’s not that I feel any sense that she died too young or too soon, or that her death was somehow unfair; it’s just that I miss a beloved friend who was a constant presence in my life for twenty-seven years, and whose departure has left a very large hole.

Read Full Post »

Who first used the German word "blitz" ("lightning") to describe sudden, intense bursts of violence? I forget.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-14T19:43:33.619Z

I just can't get beyond the resemblance.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-16T19:29:02.571Z

When cops use profanity at us, think of what they're telling us. Would you ever curse at your boss? No, but he can curse at you because he has power over you. What would happen if you cursed out a cop? But they curse at us routinely. That tells you how they perceive their relationship with us.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-17T08:31:30.244Z

The universe does things on a subatomic level that would get you arrested for bank fraud if you tried the financial equivalent.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T04:59:00.841Z

People suffering from advanced dementia often fall back on old "scripts". It's why your senile great-grandmother calls you by your mother's (or even grandmother's) name, and it's why Trump seems to think he's still on a TV show he did two decades ago.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T18:14:28.117Z

Magnificent. Words that deserve to be included in future editions of Bartlett's.If you're not following Ken, why are you even on here?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-20T18:37:49.142Z

Reporters need to ditch the word "taken" when writing about actions of government thugs.The property wasn't "taken" by goons; it was STOLEN.The person wasn't "taken to the ground"; he was TACKLED.The person wasn't "taken into custody" as if on a date; he was ABDUCTED.Stop soft-peddling evil.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-21T18:12:37.117Z

Reading what people say about Twitter makes me realize that the vast majority online expend absolutely no effort on account hygiene. If they treated their bodies like they treat their social media accounts, they'd never bathe, brush their teeth, or change their clothes, and would eat only junk.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-23T18:27:53.081Z

I will never cease to be amused by the notoriety Fate chose to bestow upon a minor Sumerian merchant of the 18th century BCE.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T18:42:59.559Z

Crypto-moralists believe anything unpleasant must be “good for you”.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-25T08:41:09.810Z

In the late 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was called "the sick man of Europe". Now the American empire has become the sick man of the entire planet.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-26T19:46:57.721Z

I found my own solution to Thanksgiving guest tensions many years ago: I host. Nobody dares start shit in MY house.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-27T17:53:29.116Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-29T03:35:45.932Z

I have lived my life in such a way that I can't picture either of these women accurately enough to compare them in my mind. And I'm very pleased about that.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-11-29T18:42:27.556Z

I block every single MAGA account and every associated lunatic on Twitter the first time I see it. As a result, I now see far more Trumpery on Bluesky than on Twitter, because people keep screenshotting and calling attention to accounts I blocked long ago.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-03T18:04:51.442Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-04T09:14:45.895Z

What's the Greek word for rule by mathematical imbeciles?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-05T18:10:12.603Z

I'm so exhausted by journalists, who should know the meaning of the words they use, referring to people who are not cautious of change but rather mindlessly destroy every Chesterton's fence they can find, as "conservative".

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-05T20:21:41.880Z

"We are not the party of participation trophies…"I hate to break this to you, but…

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-07T03:39:24.651Z

Maybe this misuse of the word "democracy" is a problem of Millennials and Zoomers, who are too young to remember that about half the communist dictatorships of the late 20th century had the word "Democratic" in their names, eg "Deutsche Demokratische Republik" (German Democratic Republic).

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-07T18:47:29.470Z

Mad emperor babbles like a baby: "A pwus pwus pwus pwus pwus!!" {claps tiny pudgy hands and gurgles}

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-09T20:02:40.319Z

Ahem.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T09:23:43.373Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-12T19:50:01.065Z

OK, y'all, we all get it: politicians and partisans are all huge hypocrites who theatrically perform anger when the "other team" does the same thing they do when in power.Find another goddamned tweet boilerplate. Holy shit.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-13T18:34:07.084Z

The problem is that the tech industry is intentionally conflating two different things under the fantasy label "AI". Machine learning is a real, useful tool; chatbots are a toy and a technological blind alley. Conflating the two is like pretending color TV is the same technology as a hula-hoop.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-14T18:46:37.811Z

I'm sick of the idiocy of the term "kinetic strike".As opposed to what, a static strike?

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-16T17:48:03.150Z

My home town, ladies & gents.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-12-18T08:51:51.030Z

 

Read Full Post »

Anyone who’s ever perused my Amazon wishlist has probably noticed that it features a lot more weird, nerdy things than the expensive “luxury” things most guys seem to like buying for sex workers.  That was true even long before I retired, and it’s even more so nowadays.  The reason, as I’ve explained before, is that I put things I actually want on my list, and my tastes run to the odd and nerdy.  In the last couple of weeks, several of my generous readers have sent CDs and DVDs from the list, and several of the DVDs were of old movie serials.  I’m quite pleased about that because, as some of you have noticed, I’ve increasingly turned my back on the modern world this year.  Now, a large fraction of my TV and movie viewing has always consisted of things that aren’t current at the time I view them, and I rarely read any fiction written after I was born (and almost never after I graduated from high school).  But since early summer that’s even more true than usual, and probably half of my current entertainment was created between 1920 and 1960.  Part of the reason is practical; the new adventure fiction series I’m working on takes place in the 1920s and ’30s, so immersing myself in period fiction helps with mood and color.  But the rest of it is purely emotional; this blog and its attendant social media focus mostly on current events, and I needn’t explain how absolutely awful those events have become.  Simply put, by the time I’m done with blog writing every day, I am so sick of 21st century political atrocities and media enshittification that I cannot handle one more minute of it.  So to those of you who have indulged me with these gifts, please accept my heartfelt gratitude not merely for the kindness of a gift, but also for helping me find temporary solace from a world which feels increasingly hostile to me.

Read Full Post »

Premium users can also converse with Satan.  –  Chrissy Callahan

When I opened YouTube in search of something last week, this was at the top of the page.  Naturally I could not resist.  The links above it were provided by Jesse Walker, Ryan Marino (x2), Mike Masnick, The Onion (x2), and IncarcerNation, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

Read Full Post »

As I predicted, my feelings around my birthday were much more complicated this year because Grace was not here to share it with me; I suspect Thanksgiving and Christmas will be harder still, given that I have not spent Christmas without Grace since 1997.  But my friends were here with me for my birthday, as they will be at the other holidays, and my generous readers sent me presents: a new sheet set to replace an old one which had torn, several movies, and DVD sets for The Fugitive, Partners in Crime and one of the Jon Pertwee seasons of Doctor Who.  Two of my friends have a gift for finding things they know I’ll like that I didn’t know even existed; Yellowbird got me a statuette of a cobra, and Jae found me a cashmere sweater and a charming little kid’s book which I viewed as a sort of extra-long Halloween card.  So even though nothing can truly fill the Grace-shaped hole in my life, it’s good to be surrounded by people who care, and are willing to go out of their way to tell me.

Read Full Post »

Assault…is discipline when you’re a juvenile.  – “Officer” Blake Willer

This is among the best examples of Donna Jean Godchaux’s work with the Grateful Dead, so how could there be a more appropriate sendoff for her?  The links above it were provided by Ryan Marino, C.J. Ciaramella, Radley Balko, Ryan Marino again, IncarcerNation, Carol Fenton, and The Onion, in that order.

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

Read Full Post »

Some of your human visitors could probably take some lessons in behavior from him.  –  Priscilla Lange

As usual, I found an appropriate seasonal video too late for Halloween.  The links above it were provided by T. Greg Doucette (“solidarity”, “memoriam”, and “kids”); Jesse Walker (RIP); Mike Siegel (“Baskervilles” and “money”); and IncarcerNation (“cops”).

From the Archives

I find paywalls distasteful, and so many people find this blog valuable as a resource I just can’t bring myself to install one.  Furthermore, I find ad delivery services (whose content I have no say over) even more distasteful.  But as I’m now semi-retired from sex work, I can’t self-sponsor this blog by myself any longer.  So if you value my writing enough that you would pay to see it if it were paywalled, please consider subscribing; there are four different levels to fit all budgets.  Or if that doesn’t work for you, please consider showing your generosity with a one-time donation; you can Paypal to maggiemcneill@earthlink.net or else email me at the same address to make other arrangements.  Thanks so much!

Read Full Post »

Diary #800

Usually, I look forward to my birthday, and October tends to lift my spirits from their summer doldrums.  But this year it has been difficult; October is the start of the rainy season here, and I suppose the quiet and dark are making the house feel especially empty.  My annual tradition of watching horror movies every night in October also feels emptier than usual without my friend here to share them with.  I still remember the first time I saw The Haunting; I’d read about it but never seen it, and I found the VHS tape at Big Lots (this was either ’98 or ’99) so Grace and I watched it together on Halloween night, sitting on this old Danish modern couch I had at the time.  As it got scarier we slowly moved closer together, and in the infamous knocking scene, we both jumped and grabbed each other at the exact same moment Julie Harris & Claire Bloom did onscreen.  It was something we laughed about for years afterward, and even though we rarely sat on the sofa together to watch movies in her later years (because she needed the support of her own chair), she was still a very definite presence in the process, from selection to scheduling to discussion.  As a result, it’s just not the same any more.  It’s a small thing, I know, but it’s a good example of how a close friendship sends roots and tendrils into every part of a human life, ensuring that practically every part of life afterward is a keen reminder of its loss.

Read Full Post »

I’ve always been dedicated to the idea of this as the time of year for spooky fun.  So every year I collect all the spooky, creepy or scary content from the previous year into one place just before Halloween.  If you’ve come to my blog in the past year, or don’t remember previous editions, they are “Trick or Treat”, “More Trick or Treat“, “Tricks and Treats“, “This Trick’s a Treat”, “Tricky Treats“, “A Trickle of Treats”, “Tricking and Treating“, “Tricks for the Treat“, “Tricked Out Treats“, “Tricks and Treats and Such Small Deer“, “Trick Treatment“, and “Treats and Tricks“.  Horror, death or Halloween-themed columns of the past year included Diary #763, “The X-Files“, “The X-Files, Continued“, Diary #781, and “Gere Curam Mei Finis“, and there are creepy or spooky-fun videos in Links #747, #750, #787, and #798.  A collection of seasonal links and creepy tweets appears below.

Doctor offers to help lonely guy get a girlfriend.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2024-11-02T19:05:03.939Z

It's especially designed to hide pervasive rot under a beautiful, polished surface that will last without change for decades.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-04-08T07:34:22.931Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-17T17:22:30.905Z

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-08-20T03:52:04.139Z

So long, Mommy.

Maggie McNeill (@maggiemcneill.bsky.social) 2025-10-13T02:17:15.023Z

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »