Reinier Vinkeles: Cornelis Ploos van Amstel (18th century)

And Win Every Morning
This is how my thirty-third series ends, as they've all ended, with more of a whimper than a bang. I consider stories that build to a satisfying climax to have been engineered to yield that effect. Since this and every previous entry in my series focused more on my actual experiences, I couldn't engineer such plotlines. I could draw conclusions, however preliminary, but I could never actually know how any of my stories would ultimately turn out because the meta-story I was inhabiting had to remain ongoing; otherwise, their author couldn't be present to create the current installment. Or the next. Life works like that.

With each ending comes the question of whether I'm really up for another beginning. The process of producing a fresh story each morning began with me bumbling, but by the eighth year, it has become fairly smooth-running. I am finally familiar with the mechanical steps involved in crafting a coherent narrative, including the sequence of keystrokes needed to produce the layout and post in four separate environments. Those have almost become preconscious acts that leave ample room for me to consider my content. Only the layout has become a habit.

I intended my writing to be something other than habitual, though. I hoped it might encourage presence of mind. I've experienced varying degrees of success. More than the writing, though, the process by which I discover a fresh topic each morning has never threatened to become anything like automatic or habitual. I peer into the void again every time. I have not developed a pattern or a method by which I propose a story to myself, let alone how I create the resulting content. That's fresh every time and done without a safety net. I consider it a miracle each time I find a fresh story idea, even more so when I post the sucker. Imagine starting every day with that sort of authority before most people have even begun to get out of bed in the morning.

I always wonder when a series ends, whether I want to continue with another new beginning, and I've always concluded that I do. Who wouldn't want to wrestle with the great mystery and win every morning?

——

Weekly Writing Summary

Invitations
"I am not one of them."
This FollowingChapters Story finds me refusing to accept Invitations offering me the opportunity to behave despicably. I would that many more would have refused the similar Invitations they received.

The story describes my confusion at MAGA supporters’ embrace of hateful and vindictive behavior as if they’d been impatiently waiting for permission to misbehave. I observe followers mimicking hostile media, holding unwavering beliefs, and shunning forgiveness and doubt. I see MAGA faith as performative and exclusionary, with submission valued over independent thought and genuine compassion absent. I distance myself from this manner of living.


James Abbott McNeill Whistler: Invitation Card (1882)

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Cadency
"My presence will be best represented there in the future by my absence."
This FollowingChapters Story finds me at a dinner party hosted by a conversational terrorist, one who continually disrupts the "Cadency" of the dinnertime conversation.

The Muse and I attended a dinner where each couple contributed a dish, but our hostess ruined the engagement by monopolizing and derailing conversations with constant, irrelevant interruptions. Previous gatherings with her had been similarly frustrating, including a discomfiting unsolicited Bible lesson. We left feeling excluded and drained, prompting me to swear off future opportunities to dine with her.


Léopold Survage: Plate V [Rhythmes Colorés: Cinq Lithographies Originales in Couleurs (20th century)

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Persevering
"…still as fresh as they day they were preserved, Persevering."
This FollowingChapters Story finds The Muse and I Perservering.

I describe preserving produce as a ritual deeply tied to memory, identity, and perseverance. Every late summer, canning becomes both a connection to ancestral practices and a way to reaffirm relevance and self-worth. The physical effort and recurring tradition provide solace, resurrect family history, and have brought comfort during exile and change. Preserving bridges generations, symbolizing endurance, continuity, and love, with the larder overflowing as a testament to sustaining our past for our future.


Tin can formerly containing tweezers: Archival Material (20th century) Aluminum, Dimensions 8.3 x 6.9 x 6.9 cm (3 1/4 x 2 11/16 x 2 11/16 in.) Collection of Barnett and Annalee Newman - Estate of Annalee Newman - The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation - Harvard Art Museums/Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, Gift of the Barnett and Annalee Newman - Exhibition History: Barnett Newman: The Late Work, Menil Collection, Houston, 03/27/2015 - 08/02/2015

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Loose_Talk
"I just wonder why."
This FollowingChapters Story finds me wondering how to draw some reasonable distinction between Free Speech and Loose_Talk.

The story explores the tension between the ideal of free speech and the reality of offensive, careless talk, referred to here as Loose_Talk. It explains that while free speech might be valued, actual communication often pushes boundaries of civility and offense, sometimes unintentionally and sometimes not. Libel and slander laws prove difficult to enforce, and the responsibility for civil discourse remains largely voluntary and personal. The distinction between acceptable and unacceptable speech remains tenaciously subjective and often unenforceable. I identify Hate Speech as a clearly negative phenomenon, though some individuals and subcultures take pride in offensive or ignorant expression. Ultimately, I argue that defending free speech requires broad tolerance, even of speech that we might deeply dislike or find offensive.


Lucian and Mary Brown: Untitled [man giving speech in rain] (c. 1950)

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Corrupting
"Those who insist upon living in glass houses must restrain their public actions."
In this FollowingChapters Story, I fail to make sense of the Corrupting influences around me.

TI depict corruption by those in power as deeply destructive, damaging both individual character and public trust. I accuse the current administration of flagrant and repeated corruption, disdain for rules, and persistent denial of obvious wrongdoing. I lament that their behavior transforms governance into a zero-sum game, encouraging systemic inequality and distorting both morality and legality. While some hope for eventual accountability, I strongly sense that society suffers as a result, especially when corruption becomes culturally and politically normal.


Cornelis Anthonisz: The winged pig in the world (1541 - 1545) — Allegory of the corrupt world: winged pig standing on imperial apple. Second pig eating from trough.

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Irony
"These lessons will be lost on even the very best of them."
This FollowingChapters Story finally gets around to espousing the underlying purpose of our administration that can't seem to properly administer anything: The proper administration of Irony, an overview of an incumbent's responsibilities.

The story humorously describes the absurd requirements for leading an “administration of Irony.” It claims that such leadership demands obliviousness, refusal to acknowledge mistakes, and flagrant self-contradiction. Followers must be blindly loyal, creatively lie, and foster confusion. The administration thrives on public failures, serious denial, and legal jeopardy, all while believing in their own moral purity and silly infallibility. This satire prescribes leadership styles that are arrogant, delusional, combative, and resistant to criticism and transparency.


Attributed to Cornelis Anthonisz.: The wise man and the wise woman (1540 - 1545) — "Imaginary performance. Man and woman with all their attributes, represent many virtues and biblical metaphors. A woman with horse legs and hooves holds in her right hand a stand depicting the crucified Christ and in the other hand a can, a lock on her mouth, a dove on her chest and a snake around her waist. Man with compass and scale and dog at his feet. Left and right of the presentation text in Dutch."

—

This writing week involved tying up loose ends. As I neared the end of this series, I sensed that I'd missed a few critical points and rushed to include them before the autumnal equinox shut down my efforts. The weather turned marvelous. The Muse's sister and her husband visited. The never-ending porch project moved closer to its imagined and long-awaited conclusion, only to discover a fresh twist that would delay completion for another period. Each delay qualifies as normal complicated project behavior. I wished I could still be naive enough to get angry over the latest delays, but I just can't muster that reaction while keeping a straight face. Stuff always happens.

I wondered whether some people had been anxiously awaiting their personal invitation to join the insanity in Invitations. (I hadn't been. Neither had you.) I complained about conversational terrorism in Cadency and swore to avoid repeating a sorry performance. The Muse and I completed the last of our seasonal 'putting up' in Persevering. I complained about what free speech seems to have become in Loose_Talk. I groused about the persistent corruption masquerading as reform in Corrupting. I ended this writing week ironically, posting a job description for the clowns currently in office. The primary requirement to properly administer an ironic operation must be obliviousness. Our incumbent possesses this in spades! Thank you for following along.

©2025 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #FollowingChapters, #PureSchmaltz