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What is The Blue Honor Blog? – Open Book Blog Hop #73

November 28, 2016 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #73

Pillar Post – An In-depth post that define your blog.

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.

The Blue Honor Blog is, essentially, the section of my website where I keep readers up to date on my projects and bring them fresh content twice a week. The focus of my blog reflects the issues that arise in my books. You’ll find history and historical writing. If you scroll through the menus at the top, the organization covers the topics that I mainly focus on: art, dogs, cooking, Native American and Feminist Issues, guests and the environment.

This space also serves as a means for building out the worlds of Trailokya. A series of posts starting in the spring have illustrated different aspects of the books, making a richer experience for the reader. It also helps me fill out the series companion on Wattpad. Each time I write an article, it almost always fits into a section of the companion, and I can copy it there. The companion is a live document that relies on feedback and continued maintenance.

My blog features artists from time to time. I like to showcase beautiful works of art by friends. Subscribe, and you’ll get one of these features in you inbox this December! I can’t wait to cover this next artist. He’s phenomenal. And, I hope to have one a month for a few months, because I have a few people in mind that deserve a showcase. I also create a lot of the graphics that you see on the site (not the stock art—although I am a photographer and one or more of my works may have been on the site).

Because I commentate politics on my Facebook site, and I cover political issues in my work, it’s only natural that it comes over to my blog. A monthly environmental news round up happens on the last Monday or Friday. I wrote articles about candidates for the presidency, and the coopting of feminism by one in particular. I’m not shy about my political opinions on Facebook, but the blog is much more muted.

The sections on dogs are filled out by useful tips on caring for your pet, as well as the Shagbottom Theater vignettes that I voice. These comedy shorts feature my golden retriever-labrador mix being a diva. It’s a lot of fun.

Other fun stuff on the blog are my recipes and cooking tips. My belief is that anyone can cook, given a clear recipe and proper ingredients. Each recipe I include is practical and easy, to help boost confidence and build out a new chef’s repertoire.

Check out my Bio to learn More!

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Overall, my blog is about getting to know me as a person. The topics I cover are things dear to me. They’re glimpses into my mind and life. So each piece is carefully tended before being released, even if you find typos or grammar issues. I hope you’ll subscribe and join the fun!

Let’s hop on over to see what the other authors’ blogs are like…

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Thanksgiving Traditions – Open Book Blog Hop #72

November 21, 2016 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #72

Thanksgiving traditions – What are your traditions or what traditions would you like to begin. For those not in the US, how about writing about family traditions?

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.

Most families have traditions, but we rarely get to explore from where they stem. Certainly a great deal of the history surrounding holiday traditions is based on the things we’ve learned from previous generations. These are the things that culturally anchor us, make meaning, and lend comfort along with a sense of belonging. This above all else is why we hold so tightly to traditions. So, when someone comes in and shakes up the sense of self and sense of history a person has, it makes a lot more sense as to why that person might react with anger. This is no reason to remain silent on advocating change that will make this world better for all of us. The traditions for my Thanksgiving are staked in history and doing the right thing regardless of the bend of society. Going along to get along can be a dangerous creed.

Each year, it is my tradition to share the history of how the Thanksgiving Holiday came into being, highlighting what followed, and celebrating Native American History Month. As a historian, does anything else make better sense? For a long time, part of my family was under the impression that we carried Native genealogy. Come to find out, after a DNA test on both sides, there is not one trace. How is that even possible? Both family lines appear to have immigrated after 1900.

Despite this discovery, my respect for the First Nations is no less. I spend a great deal of time on social media reading about the issues that affect them, sharing what I can with others, and learning how I can be a more effective ally in the future. You’ll run into my use of the #NoDAPL and #IStandWithStandingRock hashtags if you follow my page. First Nations Issues are American issues, and it’s important that we listen to the people and their concerns. If we ignore them, then we crush tradition, unmoor anchors to our past, enter uncomfortable territory and lose all sense of belonging. That can create a lot of anxiety and depression in individuals, extending to a larger societal issue.

At home, sharing what I know has resulted in a growing respect for what the Native American’s have to say. Among friends and family, I helped to cultivate activism to promote equality. My mother loves Turkey Day. Recently, she said to me, she wouldn’t want to give up having a thanksgiving meal, but that the holiday, she understood, is problematic and she finds it difficult to reconcile celebrating a false history. I feel this, too. When the reality settled in some years ago, that all we were taught in grade and high school was heavily propagandized, the sense of being cheated out of my real American history left me raw. Imagine how the people who have been trampled underfoot by the false narrative feel. We should be angry, but not at having our holiday taken from us, but for being lied to and manipulated. For losing the stories that actually create our foundations.

This past year has seen a huge cultural upheaval in the United States. We stand at the proverbial crossroads. Seemingly, the nation has chosen to go down a pretty offensive road. Violence in the streets has increased. Respect for women is at an all time low. Minorities are being abused in the open, and their abusers protected. These are things that have been swept under the Nation’s rug. In not dealing with them, they’ve been left to fester, and the infection has become an enormity. Will we chose to face it, or kick the can down the road to the next generation again?

My family will sit down to a table full of food, morose for the unknown future we face. We’re lucky, though, because we are all of the same mind (this wasn’t always the case, but those family members have drifted away with the passing of others). We are also lucky because our home is stocked with plenty of food, while there are going to be those doing without Thursday. I will not have to experience the conversations that many will in the coming days, the ones that cause semi and permanent rifts. The discord resulting may or may not also result in moving forward on conversations that have wrongly been left untouched. Somehow, someway, there is a way to get through to others who think differently and not cause pain or rifts. To find the right path forward. Hate, after all, is based in ignorance. If we can spread knowledge instead, this nation will find peace.

My mom expressed last year that she wanted to volunteer at a shelter. I hope that we get to do this soon. Giving back is the best way to fight hate. Giving love without expectation of returns is not only priceless, but it can save lives.

Let’s hop on over to see what the other authors’ traditions are…

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Change Is a-Comin’ – Open Book Blog Hop #71

November 14, 2016 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #71

Change. How do you feel about it? What are some big changes you’ve undergone?
What are some changes you’d like to make or that you see coming?

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.

What? You thought I’d want to talk about politics, didn’t you? Sorry, but you’re out of luck. Political K says we need a break from anything political for now. Let’s move on to the topic question…

Recently, my apartment was sold out from under me. You might think that isn’t possible, but when you rent from a private owner, they have the right to sell the building at anytime. They don’t have to wait for the building to be vacant.

This is the second time my landlord has done this. In fact, it was just over a year ago that the new one purchased the property. When he did, he proceeded to raise my rent by $200. The third and newest landlord was an uknown, but the fact that the current owner sold the property for $150k more than he paid promised that the rent was going way higher. He refused to sign a rental contract, and I was paying month to month. I figured, if I am going to pay almost $2k in rent (that’s where it would have gone to), then I was going to rent a place that had actual space. You see, the building was an old house built in 1855. Though it was charming for about a grand a month back when I started renting, that charm wore off as the rent went up and the property declined. You could probably categorize them as slum lords. You can definitely say they were overcharging for the space, regardless of being told that was fair market value.

The apartment was refurbished entirely in the 1990s. It had been painted and minimally maintained since. The plugs and switches crackled. Everything leaned. It had a coat of dirt that never came off. The windows were impossible to clean. Stink bugs came in by a dozen every year. There was no central air, only window units that worked like shit and were a fire hazard. The heat was a waste because it went out, so I always kept it low. I froze in my bed at night, waking up shivering, so my mom bought me a heated mattress pad to help. The fridge was probably from the 1990s. It was propped with a block of wood. It froze everything on the top shelf no matter what setting it was on. The freezer refused to stay closed. There was no dishwasher.

I had a great walking route that I took with Sadie—a couple actually. Those long walks through downtown and around the houses in my neighborhood will be missed. Most of all, I will miss my neighbors. They were the friendliest, kindest and most loving people I had ever known as neighbors. I hope that they will keep in touch. To lose people of such caliber is the worst part. There was hardly enough time to get to know my new downstairs neighbor, but she was pretty cool from what I had learned. I’m just vexed by this most of all. They were a comfort every day.

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Did I mention it was charming? The original stove tried to electrocute me. There was a short in a switch on it, and it had to be hauled out immediately. My original landlord responded quickly to any issue, but the last one virtually ignored us unless it was an emergency. So those crackling outlets went to the new owner to deal with. She pushed me out like trash. Karma probably is around the corner for someone stupid enough to buy a house for $150k more than it’s worth and in need of major repairs. Not my problem!

Don’t get me wrong. The old place did have character. I loved the old wood floors. I had a nice nook for an office, which I no longer have in the new place (I just have a wall—maybe I should get one of those cool screens). The new owner moved in the same day I vacated. The girl downstairs was livid with the whole process, but she’s on contract until February, the poor thing. I hope they don’t do major repairs on top of her head. She works from home, and that will be difficult.

I’m angry that I lost my home in the way that I did, but the place was a hole. I’m paying more in rent, but I now have a basement to store things in. I also have rooms of actual size. My dog has a yard! So, as much as change is painful, there are good things that come with it. I still have to rent with a roommate, but we have so much more space that it hardly feels the case. The living room is actually in use. The freezer door closes and the fridge is probably 8 years old not 20. The buildings were constructed in the 1960s, not prior to the Civil War.

Adjustments are still underway. They will likely continue for months as a new routine is adopted. New routes for walking are being explored.

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Another good thing…I found some old decorations I forgot I had, or couldn’t put out and they’re now decorating my new place and it looks wonderful in here. More in rent, but more space, clean, comfortable, sunny, a yard and basement…I have a flower box to plant in. I can do an herb garden. I think I might plant a tree.

Let’s hop over to see what changes the other authors have dealt with…

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Idioms – Open Book Blog Hop #70

November 7, 2016 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #70

Idioms – figures of speech – For example, what does “in a New York minute” mean, where did it come from, what does it mean to you? (I think this might be a fun way to highlight our different cultures).

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.

There are a lot of idioms to choose from. Many we don’t even realize fall into this linguistic distinction. Several stand out as interesting twist of words. Of these, I have chosen to explore Dark Horse. Dark horse has a few personal meanings for me, but first, let’s go over it’s origins and meaning…

“Dark Horse (n.) in politics, 1842, an image from horse racing, in which dark is used in its figurative sense of unknown.

Moonraker is called a dark horse; that is neither his sire nor dam is known. [Pierce Egan’s Book of Sports, London, 1832]”

—From the Online Etymology Dictionary.

Dark Horse: One who was previously unknown and is now prominent.

—From the IdiomSite.com

Growing up in Saratoga Springs, New York, horses figured prominently in the day to day. If you’re not familiar, Saratoga is well-known for horse-racing. It’s not an institution I support, now that I am more knowledgeable about the practices surrounding it. In fact, I advocate to shut it down. The animals are misused—drugged, traded, and bred to make investors rich. The interest is not on the athleticism of the horse or jockey, not even the team the horse and jockey make, but rather on the purse. Last meet, there were 9 horses put down, five in the first week of the nearly 2-month show off. The insurance settles up with the investors, but they’re protected by having their money on what is basically a corporation. Each barn has a number of horses, and they’re all replaceable. Some argue that, they’re treated like kings, but that simply is not true.

Another meaning to me relates directly to the second definition by IdiomSite.com. My goal as a writer is to become increasingly visible to readers, or the Dark Horse that suddenly appears on the scene after years of effort. With each publication and year that passes, that goal grows closer than ever.

A couple off shoot facts that relate to the origins of Dark Horse:

The idiom Dark Horse was coined just a couple years before the start of the Victorian Era (1837 – 1901), the period of my first novel, Blue Honor.
There is a dark horse on the cover of Blue Honor.
The Trailokya Trilogy explores the great unknowns.
I do political commentary on Facebook.
Dark Horse (by Mila Mason) is the title of one my favorite songs.
Intertext, like the above points, was the theoretical analysis applied to my graduate studies..

Let’s hop over to see what idioms the other authors have brought out for you…

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Happy Halloween – Open Book Blog Hop #69

October 31, 2016 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #69

Halloween or related. Feelings, traditions, memories.

Welcome back to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop! If you’re new to the series, the authors included are grateful for your reads and appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Be prepared to become a regular reader.

Back on the 24th , and even in September, I spoke briefly about my favorite holiday, which just happens to be Halloween. This time of year is so inspiring. Maybe it’s the thinning of the vale, and that allows the muses to speak to me more clearly. I enjoy, mostly, my morning commute when the trees are changing colors and fuchsia skies light up the view like fire. I don’t, however, relish the snow that came a few days ago. Here in upstate New York, that can very much be a part of mid to late autumn.

Growing up with parents who wanted to make the early years of their children a beautiful experience helped pave the way for my love of the Fall and it’s most popular holiday. Getting in touch with our roots from tribal Europe is a wonderful offshoot. Until I was old enough, however, much of that was off the table–because a great deal of paganism is misunderstood and miscategorized.

Beyond historical roots and theology, and even learning, there was a lot of love. Baking with mom was nearly a ritual. From the apples that we picked in September, we’d still be making pies. My brother and I would help mom make sugar cookies shaped like bats, pumpkins, owls, cats and ghosts! Going to the pumpkin patch came next, to pick our jack-o-lanterns, maybe find a rare decoration to add to the collection, and bake the pumpkin seeds. Soon on the heals of that, or possibly before, our costume were either constructed by my mother, or picked out at H alloween Hall. It was more exciting than Christmas. Well, okay, AS exciting. Now, shopping and decorating for Halloween is more fun than Christmas to me now.

Once the jack-o-lanterns, costumes, baking, decorating and candy were secured—the watching of the Halloween movies commenced. Usually this entailed sitting around to catch Peanuts on CBS. Yes, I have jumped in a pile of leaves (without the wet sucker). The horror classics like Dracula and some other old films were also included. Mom likes Arsenic and Old Lace as well as Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, while more recently she’s take to Bell Book and Candle. You’ve probably read that all before!