To the Good!

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Happy Bard day. Well. That’s kinda what it is round here. Officially, according to the reckoning of my youth, the weekday is Ti, but I like Bard Day. Maybe that’s what I’ll call it. Let me explain.

Over here, after sundown, the elder bard occasionally performs. He’s elder in both years and prominence, and once in awhile (but always on the same day) he works his craft. When he does, he brings the goods. Stories, instruments, and beautiful languages, spanning from across the many worlds we have traveled together. A few of the languages in his repertoire still elude me, but then, I get to hear the beauty of the music by itself, and when the lyrics are explained, I love it all over again. Simple idioms taken for granted by their peoples can be so mind-blowing beautiful. Especially the elves. Snobs for sure, some of them, but with music like that, the slip into snobbery could be easy.

Sometimes the elder bard's songs are spiritually revitalizing. Sometimes they are particularly profound, not just in their truth but in the places they take you to explore. Still other times they’re simply playful and whimsical and the best part is the children laughing and singing along. I like the Fuppy one. (Fuppies are what I call the simple play pets of local fairies.) (Non-terrans don’t really get the joke, but it stuck anyway.)

One walks away from the elder bard experience encouraged, cheered, enriched, edified, humored, dazzled… entertained. And the music comes from the heart of a truly wise man. Somehow, it’s like his wisdom adds flavor to the words as he sings. (Bards take note.)

Now I say he is wise, and I say that heartily despite the fact that he is not open to free-will. (I know right!) Someone talked him out of it long before we met. Now, that domino stuff is nonsense, but he more than makes up for it… You know, it’s actually fun that his favorites among the songs he’s collected assume free-will! He appreciates them regardless, and good for him. That's how it should be. In art we try to enjoy the good regardless of the rest. Same goes with people, I suppose. Otherwise, we rob ourselves.

Eh, this is getting mushy or something. Look, I was excited for tonight. I even considered live-tweeting it for you all, but that would probably involve some seriously extended portalry, and you know how I feel about that (or have I mentioned it?). Anyway, it’s just as well. I just finished a huge addition to a longstanding project West of Naptown, so figuring out that portal stuff would be way too much work today. Instead, I’m chipping away at the ol’ Libertarian Anarchy book. Casey’s talking about “conditions for the emergence of law” or something, and I’m not sure I’ll completely agree, but there’s plenty to appreciate.

To the good,

Pen
Ti Bardday 77, 7381

Good Mothers

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Hello dear Terrans. I hope the conditions on your world continue to improve despite the best efforts of politicians. I haven't been over much recently. Exploring the realm over here takes much longer than I originally thought. It's huge! Miagi did good. Anyway, there is news since I wrote last, and this story won't leave me alone. So, naturally, I am foisting it upon you as well.

It's not about a dragon that I may or may not have accidentally trapped underground. It's not about culture clash between elves and dwarves. It's something more down to earth. I met a man who was expecting a baby. None of that terran nonsense, no. A real biological man, so I suppose his woman does most of the “expecting”. Anyway we met, talked, and I extended my best wishes, but when I made to go, he asked me for parental advice! I wasn't sure what to say. Nothing came to mind until after the fact (of course!). So, I thought I’d share a few of them suggestions with you all for practice.

The first thing to come to mind was the importance of a good woman. Growing up, the ol' man was gone, maybe dead, since before I can remember. For many years, the family lived deep in a labyrinthine cavern. (It had once been a refuge from the seafolk that raided the area and abducted people.) We were there so long that my earliest memory of open daylight is as a young man. I mention all that to say that we would not have survived without her fortitude.

A good strong mother is important. So, I'd ask myself: “Can the woman can be happy with less, or is she was the type of wench to put comforts before kids?” And: “Should I get slain or abducted by pirates, would the little ones go without? Would they have to endure a mother soured at her lesser situation, or would she show grace under fire and be their heroine?” Wenches ruin everything, their own houses, their man's work, and they rob their boys of an example of qualities to look for when they grow up. No wenches. Heroines.

Hey, I’m sorry. I just going I know, but I have to wrap this up! Gryph and I flew further than planned, and it is cold cold cold. I have to tend to that fire, so let me just add that probably most men have already chosen their mate, so what can be done in their case? Well, that's why I like how, often, terrans will use the same the word for married man that they do for vineyard man: husband. A man can’t make his mate grow in womanhood anymore than he can force the grapes to grow in grapehood, but in both cases, he isn’t exactly helpless either. Also, when there's truly nothing to do but pray, that seems to work sometimes too.

I hate to cut it off there, but it's cold. Got to go. More later perhaps.

-Pen
58 Ar 7381

A Bit of Poetry

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Dear Terrans, I was working on a letter, but this kind of took over my efforts, so here it is.

Blessed Hearts

It’s a dangerous weather tell
That gets louder and strong:
When local men get it right,
But the man gets it wrong
And bullies the people
Into “radicals”
That court Common Sense.
It can give a man thoughts:

“Bless their hearts
Inflamed by wrongs.
I'll cheer them on heartily
But from out of their throng.
It’s costing me nothing
To tell them all ‘No'.
I'll live for my family
Not die for their goals.”

Yet association
Brought “guilt” readily.
Suspicion occasioned
At but a chance meet.
His loyalty met
The crooked guards’
Authoritarian violence
And inhumane hearts.

His blessed heart,
Inflamed by wrongs,
Now associates heartily,
Far away from the throne.
It's costing him nothing
And his glad goodbye,
Shames all the abusers
Of the peace that he tried.

-Pen
81 Ar 7380

Inalienable

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Greeting Terrans. It’s been a long minute. I see I missed updates on the slap heard round the world. (Rock Smith.) On the one hand, I am glad. The whole story feels like being stuck between gossipy brats at chow. On the other hand, it seems like quite a test case for differences about getting along, violence, and reconciliation and such. So, I’m not sure how I feel about missing out on the updates.

Back to the first hand, I got troubles of my own. My gryphon is sick, and some enchantress seems to be attempting to drain me of energy. She clearly doesn’t know how much coffee I drink. Recently, I also got a tour of the menagerie, but frankly, I got the impression they were hiding a lot. To what end?

So, the Casey book and I didn’t get a great deal of time. But there is still an update there. I was struck by Casey’s mention that he believes free people can bind themselves. This makes sense to me, but it occurred to me that it does seem to go against the idea of inalienable rights entertained by American terrans. So which way?

Personally, I’ve seen people who’ve chosen slavery for the relief of their debts (and to avoid the public disgrace). I’ve also seen people abducted by their creditors. I can’t abide the latter. But, as for the former scenario… I mean… if they want to, you know? Why not, right? It was even rumored that, long ago, one slave had been king in his own country! Life there was so severe that he chose life as a foreign rich man’s slave instead! Frankly, I wouldn’t have made that call, but he was happy with it. I can imagine the interview:

“So we have one position open. It is 24/7, and you’d have to forsake all legal recourse as a free man, but the position typically comes with those provisions becoming one of my servants, and you don’t have to live in perpetual squalor under the sword of Damocles.”

“Shut up and take my freedom!”

Probably he was hiding from an enemy. But I like my version better.

The question is: what if he wasn’t happy with the arrangement later? One is usually obligated to keep their word, but it could be argued that such an obligation is merely moral, not necessarily legal, not a matter of justice. So, what? Would the royal slave just owe the rich man whatever the material equivalent of whatever his on-going labor would be? Must he re-bargain for his liberty? I’m not sure. One guy says a person has the ability to bind themselves. Another says no. I’m inclined to agree with the first, but the second idea is attractive. I’ll have to think more on this.

Oh, I wanted to mention I collected them little coffee poems and made them into a little ebook. It’s cute. Feel free to check it out. It's around here somewhere.

Well, fare well Terrans.

-Pen
73 Hon 7380

Free-will and Baldness

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Greetings from far far away. I gotta tell ya. It’s been crazy. We got halflings stuck in treasure chests. Dirt tracked everywhere. Beaten tables enduring the further abuse of dwarven slobber. It is not a pretty sight. Weefolk night: not a good idea. Fortunately, I’ve got Gerard Casey’s book Libertarian Freedom to keep me busy. I mean Libertarian Anarchy.

My bad on that title screw up up there. Just, last I was able to manage a bite of the book, Casey was going on about libertarian freedom in that metaphysical free-will sense. No complaints really. Actually I rather enjoyed it. And it reminded me of Tim Stratton, that free-will chap Jeff likes. (Said chap has a video on this subject with some big name called JP Moreland. JP seems like a fun guy. Tim however. I have great difficulty trusting bald men because intentional baldness amounts to an active assault on nature. It’s like, being a manscaper. (I cringe even writing the word.) No. Sean Connery had it right as did that manhood exemplar second only to Jesus Christ: Chuck Norris. To his credit, Tim does allow his God-given manliness a place on his face. Maybe it's the secret of his powers.)

Anyway the free-will stuff was interesting and shocking. Casey talked about dominoism. Dominoism? No. That’s not quite right. Well it was something like that. Whatever it was, it involved the idea that humans are just parts of a huge universe of dominos. (You know, like one thing causing another, causing another, and so on?) Anyway, on that view, a person’s thoughts would amount to mere domino’ery as well. And who would trust that?

So domino people having thoughts and trustworthy ones, doesn’t make much sense in general, and that goes for thoughts about dominoism too. Casey thinks this situation is self-stultifying for the wouldbe domino man. That seems right to me, and dominos is a boring game anyway. But it got me thinking. If free-will is necessary for ideas to avoid being self-stultifying, then that applies to ideas about liberty. Now, it never made much sense to blame folks what they could not help, but it makes even less sense for domino people to do it. This is an interesting line of thought. Casey mentions the futility of debating ethics when the whole conversation has the rug pulled out from under it. I can think of other things that would make it ridiculous. Besides funny hats.

Well, I better get. I don't intend on being here when it's time to clean up this mess. Besides, I have plans. The hunt was good, and the wife is cooking the kill, and if I don’t hurry, it could be gone before I get back. Daylight will be gone soon, too. Have a good weekend, terrans.

-Pen
53 Fi 7380