C.G.Ayling

Month: October 2012

  • You heard what?

    Language is crucial to modern man, without which we probably would never have developed further than extended family units.  However, effective communication is much more than mere words arranged into an understandable order.  Indeed, my suspicion is that during primitive man’s early development non-verbal signals received significantly greater attention.

    As language improved, the need for these other skills gradually diminished, reducing them to the subliminal.  However, they’re still there and we still rely on them.  We just no longer pay them conscious heed, perhaps even training ourselves to ignore them – from the mistaken belief that words are all we truly need.  Sadly, the only time this comes close to truth is in the hands of masterful writers.  For the rest of us, the things we say are often a jumbled, incoherent mess understandable only due to instinctual understanding of the non-verbal communications accompanying the gibberish pouring from our mouths.

    According to my wife, and she is right far more often, I said this “I can’t believe how bad these pictures on the TV is.”  Quite rightly, Suzanne called me out – gleefully repeating what she thought I had said.  (Perhaps a little less gleefully than I would have, had it been her who made the error, but there was significant delight.)  After listening to her echoing what she thought I had said, I indignantly exclaimed, “I would never say that!”

    And indeed, I never would – intentionally.  Unfortunately, sometimes our mouths betray our minds, uttering things we aren’t thinking.  (Take that as an admission if you like, subliminally it seems to be one…)  After a few enjoyable minutes of indignation butting heads with glee, and neither gaining ground, my youngest child walked in.

    Appreciating the value of a first strike, I immediately turned to Julia and said “Mom says I said ‘I can’t believe how bad these pictures on the TV is.’”  Julia’s disbelieving eyes sufficed to halt any further explanation.

    Appalled, Julia turned to her mother and asserted “Dad would never say something like that!”

    Since appalled disbelief more closely matches indignation than glee, I immediately claimed victory.  Was I right, or was Suzanne wrong?  In truth, I think we were both correct – sometimes what you think you’re saying isn’t what the listener hears.

  • Location, an arcane art.

    My youngest daughter was in a foul mood this morning, seems our wicked house had conspired to hide her shoes – all searches had failed, with no clues on the whereabouts of the missing footwear.  Since I’ve been the victim of similar malign intent on far too many occasions, I attempted to console her – I failed, Julia’s determination to remain angry prevailed…

    Though my wife expressed deplorable disinterest in our beloved daughter’s plight, in passing she casually inquired if Julia had showered the previous evening.  “Yes”, Julia grouched.

    Two minutes later an evidently satisfied mother returned bearing the errant red shoes.  Suspicious at the speed with which my wife had solved the unsolvable, I turned to Julia and said “Don’t worry daughter, one day you’ll be as good at finding things as your mother is at hiding them…”  Julia’s face cracked, along with her bad mood as she responded “Good one, dad.”

    My wife has an almost uncanny ability at finding the things our house goes to such lengths to hide.  Indeed, a little too good…  I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve often accused her of being adept at hiding things in plain sight.

    With Julia’s crisis averted, my wife seized opportunity to explain her system of echo-location, “Finding things is simple really, just visualize the object you’re looking for – its size, shape and color, then restrict your search to only that.  Another thing that helps, is backtracking where you last remember having the item.”

    I nodded sage agreement, as though I too used these very tactics.  Secretly I thought, “Explain magic any way you will, witch!  I’m on to you – you’re in cahoots with the house…”

     

  • Voting, 2012

    I took advantage of early voting and wanted to share my choices, and my reasoning behind voting the way I did.

    Before I begin, let me say a few things about myself.  I’m very conservative, and believe strongly in personal freedom, offset by personal responsibility.  I’m an independent and consider anyone who votes purely along party lines to be both a dupe, and irresponsible.  They’re effectively abdicating their principle democratic freedom, namely the right to vote, to someone else.  Along with being a freedom, voting is also a responsibility – to evaluate the issues and make subjective personal choices about them.  By voting along party lines, you give away the keys to your kingdom.  Worse, the people to whom you relinquish your rights are biased, and make no bones about being so.

    Considering what I’ve already said, you’ve probably already decided how you think I’ve voted – read on and find out how right you might [not] be.

    In the interest of reducing the onset of potentially fatal boredom, I’ll restrict this post to the more important issues on my particular ballot.

    President – Score: Barack Obama 0, Mitt Romney -9.  No contest, and not because I think Obama is doing a good job, actually I think he’s wasted an extravagant amount of my tax dollars and achieved precious little.  However, the thought of returning to the warmongering excesses of the previous eight years is frightening – I definitely don’t want to go back to the way things were.  Romney’s every word shows him to be a rich man with no intention of paying his fair share.  I am yet to hear what his “plan” to turn things around is.  Here, let me click my fingers and create 12 million jobs – there you are, 12 million jobs created!  Oh dear, what’s that strange gassy sound – could it be the sound of virtual reality deflating…?  Nope, in good conscience I just can’t cast a vote for someone who clearly has no plan worth sharing on how to solve the financial debacle in which we currently find ourselves – sorry, but giving yourself and your cronies a fat tax cut isn’t a “plan”.  My litany of negatives against Romney goes on, and on, and on but that is the main issue I have with him.  Bottom line, I’m not voting for Obama – I’m voting against Romney.

    U.S. Senate – Score: Sherrod Brown 5, Josh Mandel -20.  I have no problems with the way Sherrod Brown has voted on any of the major issues.  I have massive reservations as to the character and integrity of Josh Mandel – whom I consider to be an incompetent Treasurer of State desperately trying to buy his way into the “old boys’ club” using political cronyism as coin.  Mandel is too young, and too evidently prone to corruption.

    U.S. House of Representatives – Score: Pat Tiberi 8, Jim Reese 0.  I find Pat Tiberi to be fiscally conservative and generally responsible, my only real concern is his tendency to blur the lines between church and state.  I know virtually nothing about Jim Reese.

    Ohio House – Score: Donna O’Connor 5, Mike Duffey 0.  I found much more information available on what Donna O’Connor stands for than I could for Mike Duffey.  Donna’s goals align well with my own, she is a long time teacher (a profession for which I hold the highest esteem), and she seems concerned by the unashamed bias toward the wealthy evidenced in current Ohio politics.  From impartial information I can discern, Mike Duffey is just a politician, (a profession for which I hold low esteem).  In a way I am sorry to see Donna transition from a laudable profession into the mud-pit of politics, but I wish her well.

    State Issue 1 – Convention To Revise, Alter, Or Amend The Ohio Constitution. No.

    State Issue 2 – State-Funded Commission To Draw Legislative And Congressional Districts. Yes, right now there is frantic gerrymandering by the winners of each Ohio election as they seek to ensure their supporters get an unfair advantage in the next election.  Both parties are guilty of this abhorrent behavior.  Voting “yes” on Issue 5 changes this into a more efficient and equitable system.

    State Issue 48 – Dublin City School District, Bond and Tax Levy.  Yes.  Dublin Schools are some of the highest rated in the nation, I don’t want to see that change.

    State Issue 56 – Franklin County Office on Aging, Tax Levy. Yes.  It takes money to provide services to the aged, who deserve to be treated with dignity.

    ~C.G.Ayling – Please, take the time to vote, and vote as your conscience dictates.

  • Cheated, by desire

    In response to a comment by Tina Onu on my seldom visited FaceBook page, which read “When is the next book out? I have finished reading the second book and I felt cheated because it ended and I wanted the rest of the story.”

    Hi Tina, thanks for commenting. I’m pleased to hear you want the rest of the story, and saddened you feel cheated.

    If history teaches us anything, it is that we seldom learn from history – bearing that lesson in mind, it took me almost a year to release the second novel.  Assuming that faulty precedent, I anticipate releasing the third novel in the series around May of 2013 – however, I must warn you that though you will have a much deeper understanding of Malmaxa, Book III is unlikely to complete the tale of the Seizen and the multiple characters I hope you are coming to know.

    As you no doubt realize, Malmaxa is a very complicated story.  I like to think of it more along the lines of tapestry formed by the threads each of the multiple storylines within the whole comprise.  Once these threads successfully merge into a coherent whole, Malmaxa will be revealed.