Independence

Spurred by post on another site, hat tip to The Brooks Review, about ownership of data.

Started more than 25 years back, and think, in internet years, that’s a virtual millennia, but at that point, I stuck with maintaining my site as a home base, as a root source, as a catch-all for what I do.

Think: this was before my URL astrofish.net. Even before there was blogging.

Independence

The point of it all?

Who owns the content?

And what happens when a particular “platform” craters, goes off-line, or just diddles with your data?

Always been a question, and the simple answer, I own my material. Simple enough, starts here, and ends here. The other point, though, in my own defense?

There are very few Shakespeare-quoting, fishing guide professing, liberal Texans who write horoscopes in broken grammar. While I shoot for a transparent style, yeah, not happening, not by now. Still have fun, though.

Independence

When I ran astrofish.net as a subscription site with its paywall? The only way to log in was via the site’s interface. No “Log in with …” WordPress, LinkedIn, FaceBook, Apple, Twitter, or any other kind of third party engine. Independence and transparency.

For years, I jealously guarded my client list, both e-mail and postal, more worried about privacy than the average millennial. While still secure, I doubt I’ll ever be sending postal again. Post-pandemic, new rules. However, the notion of owning one’s own content, that remains.

Being platform independent is a clear advantage. It’s also “growth-oriented,” and most important? Independence is sustainable.

Independence

Terms and Conditions

Home is where the books are

Always a lovely bit of introtrospection from a premier British author, Home is where the books are…

Of special interest, we both have Under the Volcano in that same place.

Home is where the books are — in times like this? What we all need.

A perfect tonic — The Portable Mercury Retrograde.

Portable Mercury Retrograde: astrofish.net’s Mercury in Retrograde

Dream Girl: A Novel

Dream Girl

I think — memory is porous — it was the The Duchess who first floated the author’s name in front of me. Might’ve read some other works, don’t recall. Sounds correct to my ear. All about that voyage of discovery and how I gather new material to read.

“It’s more Rod McKuen than William Carlos Williams, but it has a sort of bare-bones charm.” Page 10.

Just out of the prologue, but a good enough start. Post-modern intelligence is a hook.

“The novel had been changed forever by film and television; there was no going back. The question was how to go forward.” Page 103.

Earlier in the novel, there’s a question of whether a man can write from a woman’s perspective, and the novel does poke at that, especially with a real female author writing from a male author’s perspective as the frame for the narrative.

However, as a sub-plot item, how the nature of the novel has changed, with the presence of TV, film, and now, electronic streaming for narrative forms. Side idea, not a major piece, but it is a complex novel.

Halfway through the novel, maybe just a third, I paused and searched for the author’s name, hitting the wiki page and staying away from the author’s site. Drawing from that wiki page, portions are a little self-serving, and I was totally unaware of Tart Noire, a subset of mystery, crime novels with strong female leads, nor, was I aware of the long series with by the author of such. Got introduced to the Stephanie Plum series by a co-worker, but after a single novel, I stayed clear of that series. Not that I didn’t like it, just, I have an image to uphold. More my mistake.

I like strong female leads. Half my clientele fits that term, maybe more.

“Magicians are allowed to safeguard their tricks; why aren’t novelists?” Page 192.

You would think.

Felt like I was more than halfway done before I realized this was going to be a literary murder-mystery crime-thriller. Not sure how many bodies would drop, nor if this merely marked the death of a beloved figure in literature.

I stayed up late to finish the book, means it’s good.

There’s a highly intelligent (Aquarius) author at work, in a really good form, and terminal twist asa the end.

Dream Girl

Dream Girl: A Novel

Truly a paragon of customer service. But I beg to differ, the sandals are not “almost new,” after being retread at the factory?

Piper Sandals

My Piper Sandals are better than new.

Been ten years¹, and maybe more…

Piper Sandals

1. Been more than 20 years, Pecan Street Fair, old Austin — a Virgo influence. ↩

Additional Notes

Do not unplug your horoscope while it is updating as this can cause an interruption in the horoscope service.

astrofish.net/travel

the Portable Mercury Retrograde

Portable Mercury Retrograde – Kramer Wetzel

Aquarius 2022

Aquarius 2022 start January 19, 8:40 PM (local). The perfect card? Despite Mercury in retrograde?

The Thoth Deck, the Star Card. At the Rim, in San Antonio. See astrofish.net/travel for details.