I'm In The Future And I'm Talking To You!

The four of us (Martha, Sarah, Jeffrey, and I) were at dinner and nearly all of us had our jackets on because it was colder than we expected indoors – and I have a jean jacket, which sometimes I'm so comfortable wearing I forget to take it off! – at Perkins Saturday night. We chose to eat there because 1) we like it and 2) kids get to eat free there Tuesday and Saturday nights. So Martha and the kids were sitting across from me after we'd come from our local Hobby Lobby where we picked up some supplies for Jeffrey's Pinewood Derby car to be ready for racing a week from today which we've yet to build. My wife and I remarked it was an inspired choice for Jeffrey to pick out some tiger decals for the car since he's next to earn his Tiger Cub badge. And I need to pay attention to what the kids are saying and doing more, I used to a lot … today's title is what Jeffrey said to Martha when he was done with his cheeseburger and tried to put his head against the windowsill and “hide”.

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men and women stand ready to do violence on their behalf. (saw this when I mailed a letter today on a spare tire cover on a jeep's backside with a Michigan license plate; first time I recall seeing a George Orwell quote on a vehicle that was not some Big Brother derivative)

And THAT dovetails nicely into my relating the subject of the latest Star Trek novel I've read, Peaceable Kingdoms by Dayton Ward (ISBN 9781476718996). It's the fifth and final book in a series subtitled “The Fall”; contributed to by five different authors, events have progressed from the gradual decimation of a species to a cure found for said species, from the death of a leader to her replacement being found to be more than he says he is, from black ops to not knowing who you can trust … gee, I'm wondering if this series itself is Al Gore … excuse me, allegorical for our own time as the original series was wont to be. Still don't know what “The Fall” means there, or what's going to happen next. But an implied renewed focus on deep space exploration for its own sake (to seek out new life and new civilizations, not just to seek allies against a galactic threat) makes it, in my opinion, something to look forward to. Maybe the future is talking to us!

But you've got quite a lot to learn from the past too; that's part of the reason I keep written journals and post like this. And when I was running an errand in Barnes & Noble last week (don't tell Val @ Main Street Books, for God may have mercy on me but my favorite independent bookstore owner WON'T) I saw an awesome marked-down book I couldn't resist. Yeah, I say that a lot. Cartoons of World War II edited by Tony Husband (ISBN 9781435150683) has two things I love and appreciate, history and mockery. Although I only recall laughing once when I read this through the first time – a collection of Allied and Axis cartoons from the prewar years through 1945 (interesting thing: Hitler viewed one British cartoonist's work as so dangerous that he had him high on the list of people to be killed once Britain was conquered), it is worth reading again, and I also think it could be a good springboard to teach my kids about World War Two. For it's a very useful book – it has pictures!

And as Alice said, what good is a book without pictures?

David