Coming out of the election hangover.

I think we all can agree that the last month or so has been exhausting. Whatever your persuasion the election heightened the state of constant chaos that we’ve been in since November of 2016. What I call the Uber Media World (that reality that is a combination of the public media driven by political events, corporate interests, and personal self delusion (ie that “I am involved”) starts to seem

The Ballard Locks in Seattle, from salt water to fresh.

to have a heartbeat during the run up to elections. There is a rhythm to it, which varies little from network to network, social media to social media. But the rhythm is constant, like the distant beating of jungle drums, or the faint rush of hummingbird wings. This “reality” is delivered to my home 24/7, through increasingly diverse delivery systems—television, tablet, laptop, or phone. Studies show that we become addicted to the devices, that just as surely as tobacco or speed, our glands produce dopamine that hits our brains as a stimulus. And we start to feel depressed or anxious when we don’t have our electronic stimulus at hand. So instead of relief when the election is over, we might feel—sad? Depressed? Uneasy?

And with this guy in the White House, there were only a few hours before he demanded our attention again, a petulant child who will not accept the blame for the cookies that have disappeared when no one else is home.

In working on our second installment of the On the Rocks saga ( we're calling it Straight Up), we are hoping to delve deeper into the character of the dictator Thadeus Tubwell. As with most dictators, all slights are personal, all events are reflections on the ever present “Me!”, history a chaotic funnel, a downward spiraling tornado that lands at the ruler’s feet, leaving him to bask in the eye of the storm bathed in shafts of light.

A few live out their lives in this state, but for most the storm jumps away, leaving them exposed to their enemies, people, fate.

For two years we’ve had a model to work with, delivered every day to observe, curse, and learn from. Our task, it would seem, is to make our Thadeus believable to our readers—hard to do in our current reality. But we like our characters, and while I personally have gone through a period of distraction, Toynbee, and Lyme, and Natasha whisper to me at night--- “We’re not done yet, when are you coming back?”