On The Road With Al and Ivy: September 2023 Compilation Issue

SEPT. 2023 ISSUE:

How Will A.I. Change Art? Part 1-3

Preview: Second Edition of "Knee Deep In Glory"

Preview: On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries (2016-2018)

Note: This series is published as The Space Age Oracle on X

Part 1: How Will A.I. Change Art?

The legal battles raging between Hollywood and upper-level writers and artists are a different battle than what you and I are probably concerned with. Whether or not they get compensation isn't going to benefit most of the artistic community selling stuff on Etsy or eBay, indie music, etc.

For example, do you want a new front room? Don't hire a designer; have the A.I. program give you hundreds of ideas within the budget and where to get the items (or even order for you). Are you a young filmmaker who needs a soundtrack? Just feed the program your script (written by A.I.) and have it create the perfect music.

Now the Talking Heads of Tech will thump their chests and proclaim that the software will have proper safeguards, and only regulated copies will be allowed, abuse will be minimal, and so on. This is the type of spin we all heard when people had concerns about online banking.

The legal issues will be straightened out, mainstream companies will follow the law, and copyright issues will be settled, at least to the satisfaction of businesses and the upper tier of artists. Even upper-tier artists who get compensated will find that their audiences might shrink once people can have A.I. give them similar art.

Most of the art we buy is street level. Most of us can't afford Picassos or have Taylor Swift sing at a wedding. You have a budget, and there's generally an artist that can do the job. Aspiring artists need these levels. That's where all of them get their start on the way to hopefully becoming a star.

So far, much of the press has been from analyst opinions, artists, and A.I. companies. The opinion that counts is those of future customers. What do they think about A.I., and what would they do with it? The opinion leaders have put out a lot of speculation and scare stories about killer bots. Still, some smarter ones say the uncomfortable truth: that the customers will replace human beings. Not maybe, but as soon as the A.I. can do it.

As far as the good? 

Despite complaints about spell and grammar checks, writers have benefitted from it at the expense of editing companies. Almost all indie book covers are designed by artists using software that automates design and execution at the expense of artists who work on canvas and paper. Indies use a variety of software to create and distribute art and market it at the expense of many designers, copywriters, sound engineers, producers, and so on.

Or...would these Indies even exist if they had to pay that considerable support structure?

We know the harm A.I. can do to the art community. The question is, will it create the same opportunity it did for Indies in the last few years? 

In other words, can it lead to an explosion of new artists like Indie writers after Amazon KDP and software made it possible to become a published writer without the expensive approval and support structure?

Is what we think is art changing, and is A.I. part of that?

I've said in past blog entries that technology drives much of the change in art. I'm hardly the first and won't be the last to say it. Rock and roll would have been different without electric guitars, as with the 80s without electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Those instruments allowed artists to create new sounds, primarily for young, upcoming artists.

In other words, is the fight over A.I. actually a struggle by old-school artists and sensibilities about change? Is A.I. a new technology that will be embraced by a young generation already going full blast on social media, and will it be their electric guitar or home computer?

Part 2: How Will A.I. Change Art?

Note: I'm sure you'll notice this series isn't a structured article delivered in parts. I'm exploring the subject like many others are.

The problem with A.I. "scraping" isn't that the output is derivative. Humans scrape all the time. The entire education process is based on studying data, sound, and images already created.

The problem of counterfeit books, like those that purported to be written by authors such as Jane Freidman, which were recently taken down off Amazon, is the age-old problem of bootlegging rearing its head again.The Rock Music Industry is a good example. The first known rock bootleg is said to have been "The Great White Wonder," a collection of demos by Bob Dylan and the Band, which was released later as "The Basement Tapes." There's a lot of history to that bootleg, and it's worth researching on the Internet, but I'll stick to the narrower point of it being the quasi-official start of that illegal Industry.

The early vinyl bootlegs tended to be a limited release, as even with some pressing equipment becoming more accessible, most had to be slipped through a legitimate pressing plant under a fake title. Bootlegging was always a corruption issue, also. Tape and, later on, C.D.s made the process of stealing music easier, as anybody could buy the equipment, and in the present, digital recording has automated the process so a bootleg can be easily distributed worldwide, virtually without cost.

In the case of A.I.-generated art, it's not as simple as being a mean old computer app that steals stuff. It's a tool, and any unethical use is due to humans with the same mentality as bootleggers.The music bootleg was a product that enabled the seller to skip the stages (and expense) of creation, performance, and manufacture.

Almost every artist starts off as a beginner, which generally means studying and being influenced by previous works. Thanks to the sources like the  Internet and mass media (and not because of it), that process produces results that can be seen as original, derivative, or copies and identified as such.

An example would be music. A group like Fleetwood Mac started as a Blues group, developed a style of its own, then went through stages to become major rock and pop stars. 

A.I. not only has the potential to steal a lot of the established chain of talent to produce art but adds the troubling dimension of assimilating lesser-known work. As said in previous entries, the latter can derail the careers of new artists who find their efforts incorporated into an A.I. work.

One could say that A.I. could steal much of an artistic genre's future and be a boon to bootleggers. The potential for exploitation is immense as no matter what anyone says, A.I. is a product of human labor and talent (and greed).

As a matter of disclosure, some of you might wonder why I've moved my blog to X. I moved it due to the controversy over Elon Musk and Reddit limiting access to the API by A.I. companies.

Many here may not like Musk, but the body of my work is at least a little safer from scraping on a site that limits access, and while not perfect, the process of restricting access via restrictions and cost is on the right side of the debate on A.I. scraping.

The issue is complex, and there will be a lot of discussion, so my opinions here are only one voice in the debate.

I think the current generation of new artists will use A.I. more and more and will have to navigate the intricate web of laws and entrenched attitudes to find their potential. Every new technology has and will be abused, but has resulted in new art or advances a genre into a new future.

In part 3, I'll talk about new art forms created by social networks like Tik Tok and YouTube, which are rooted in the older television age.

Part 3: New Art Forms

I talked about new art forms that could emerge from the new A.I. era, and honestly, I don't know what that will be. 

If I did, I'd probably be wrong, looking in the wrong direction, mistaken for a press agent trying to hype an artist or an egotistical self-promoter if I'm talking about my art (which is permissible under the sacred commandments of selling art to the public).

When the first Cave Persons saw a stick and colored clay, it didn't occur to them that drawing and painting could evolve from those objects. 

However, there is a way to see where that new art may come from and who will do it.

One way is to remember the 60s. Uh, that is if you're a Boomer. The rest of you will know it as "ancient times."

At first, the mainstream called boomer music "hippie music," "noise," drug music," and the musicians and fans described as "stoned dirty and smelly long-haired freaks." The Boomers returned the compliment by calling their elders "the establishment," "warmongers," and "hypocrites" and declared that they had no interest in "becoming part of the system," at least until they got past draft age and had to start paying bills.

This cycle repeated when Boomer artists became rich and famous and began to trash-talk Punk and Disco, whose adherents were happy to return the favor. Life is a circle, as they say. So, one clue as to where the next generation of artists who'll create new art forms is to find a group or subculture that the mainstream depicts as young idiots engaging in silly or antisocial antics that make sensible adults shake their heads.

Well, we don't need to look any further than our smartphones, which is good because we hate having to look up from our screens.

One of the places where new art is coming from is social media, particularly sites like TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, or wherever the young hang out. They enjoy the requisite disdain of their elders, so it's a promising area to look.

From an artist's perspective, plenty of interesting stuff is going on.

One form that's emerged is the 15-second video, or "short." That's been around for decades in advertising but is now a staple in social media and relatively new. It bears watching where it can go (or not; it may already be mainstream and boring). As an old fart, my impression is that it's sort of a modern offshoot of photography. It's a captured moment but in live motion. The aesthetics are similar, though I'm sure some photographers might disagree.

I'll go more into social media forms in a later entry, but there's a more controversial example of media that A.I. is revolutionizing, and it's creating the same combination of anger, fear, concern, and controversy that rock and roll and Punk did in their early stages.

I'm talking about "deep-fakes," which have enormous potential and capability to harm, present possibilities that could upend media industries like Hollywood, are already being used in legitimate and illegal projects, and are very controversial.

The concept of deep fakes has been around for centuries, but A.I. appears to be taking it to a new level of potential and fearsome abuse. However, there's no question that it'll be part of the media and the artistic scene now and in the future. There's an adage that the press is generally late in covering a new trend or phenomenon, so it's safe to assume that what we see and hear about deep fakes isn't the cutting edge.

It's a complex subject, so I'll devote an entire entry or two to it in future entries.

- Al HANDA

Preview: Second Edition of "Knee Deep In Glory" (now available on KU)

The first edition was published on Kindle Vella as "Knee Deep In Glory: Vol. 1 - Demystifying Military History," which was a good title for that site but too wordy for an eBook cover.

That edition is still on Vella, and I'll review it and make corrections soon (the first three episodes are free, and it has a complete listing of the chapters ).

The Vella description was "Observations and meditations on warfare and historical battles from a skeptical and contrarian Armchair General. The episodes reflect the author's opinion and should be treated as such by those who disagree. It's one view among many, intended to be informative, thought-provoking, and amusing for the average reader."

As a teen, I loved to read history books and found that military capability determined the fate of most civilizations—wars created and destroyed most nations. Any study of history without that element is incomplete.

There's no need for everyone to become an armchair general. Still, when the taxpayers leave military matters to the Pentagon, politicians, and experts, the downside is taxpayers often allow billions to be spent on weapon systems that don't work as advertised or not at all.

The argument that it's best to leave such things to experts is silly; the taxpayers are on the hook for the cost, and they or their children will have to fight and die in future Wars. Most people have the intelligence to understand why the country needs this or that weapon system, and they have a right to know why any war is necessary. That especially goes for ones started without public debate and declaration of war.

Vietnam and Afghanistan were started by Presidents using their "War Powers," but the soldiers sent to fight certainly knew they were in a War.

There's another effect that ignorance creates; most people will end up trusting the word and expertise of leaders and experts, which is essentially a "Pro Management" attitude and can result in soldiers getting overworked with an increased rate of mental illness and suicide. In World War One, that decline in morale and mental health was called "war rot," where exhausted and worn down soldiers developed "shell shock" and sometimes inflicted wounds on themselves to escape the front.

The modern attitude of thanking service members for their service is laudable, but it would be even better if citizens also regularly asked leadership if the precious resource of youth and courage is being used wisely. Most soldiers rejoin society and are essential to the nation's future. There must always be a good reason to put them in harm's way, and if so, with the proper equipment.

So, does this book address all of the issues above?

In some cases, yes, and other parts are more for history buffs and people who'd like to get what amounts to a primer on some aspects.

The book is only subtly topical, though I make some preliminary comments on the war in Ukraine. I'll talk about more current subjects in Volume Two, starting on Vella sometime this Fall. Reading this book will give the average reader an entertaining glimpse into the world that people like me inhabit; a complete picture of what is happening in the world and not just what we're told is happening.

The United States was born after a violent revolution, survived a major test with a Civil War, and has fought wars since. A future war may diminish or end this Democracy, so knowing some Military History is essential.

However, read and decide for yourself. My only hope is that you read it. I can live with the result.

- Al Handa

Preview: On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Anthology Vol. 1 (2016-2018). Work has begun on the revised Second Edition due out in 2024 and upcoming excerpts on this timeline and in Subscription Section. First excerpt is right after this introduction.

When On The Road With Al & Ivy Vol 1 was published, it was made clear that it was a compilation of Blog entries that were sometimes written weeks apart. 

I did say that the second edition would incorporate other written entries from social media and GoFundMe entries, which would fill in the gaps between the blog entries and provide a sense of what daily life was like for a homeless person. That took a while to collect.

The format will be simple; the original text with the date and then commentary to add details and context. If it relates to a blog entry in the eBook, I'll add the reference to look it up on KU. These pieces, which will be in the revised eBook, will have the working title of On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries.

On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries (2016-2018)

Introduction:

The Journal Entries begin on June 25, 2016. The format will have the actual post as an attachment, and each will have commentary for extra detail and context. The title and book cover used are for this series. The cover will actually be a new design when it officially comes out as the Second Edition.

The posts were on Facebook or GoFundMe, but I've removed the headings. Each has the date in large red text so I could recognize each image in the various apps used To edit. There’ll be some redacting in future posts for legal reasons.

On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries (2016-2018): June 30, 2016

Intro to June 30 Entry:

This is the second installment of three that'll be published on this timeline. After the third, the series will continue in the Subscription section.

The Entry is an attached image file like before. What follows here is my additional commentary.

June 30 was a good day with some hope. I was hired for a job on the night shift, which made it possible to safely leave Ivy alone in the car (with other homeless in vehicles keeping an eye on her). I thought that it was a good first step, and it was.

Note: I've redacted the business name and will do it on any word or term that would identify it or the exact location of these incidents.

I didn't realize that several other homeless around me already worked in retail, some for years, and didn't earn enough to get into an apartment because of the low vacancy rate and the real estate boom in this region. Even more importantly, I didn't realize that even if the Night Manager knew I was homeless, that didn't mean upper management would treat me differently.

What I found out later was almost all of the others who worked had to keep their situation a secret. Many had been fired from previous jobs as soon as it became known or soon after. The usual perception is that many companies are eager to hire people experiencing homelessness. It's more complicated than that.

I would soon find out that the official company policy of being accepting of people without housing didn't mean much to the upper management of this business, but that will be covered in later Journal entries.

The last sentence was the actual situation; buying a new key didn't work. That meant that the problem could be the electronic ignition, which, even on an old Cadillac, was costly to replace.

The Entry was short because the car wasn't running. There was no way to recharge the old iPhone used to type out these entries (my phone was smaller and only turned on if I needed to make a call). Donations had come in, but other than some food for Ivy and me, I didn't dare spend it because there was a future repair bill that would possibly be a lot more than I had at the time.

However, on this day, getting any job was good news. The effect of even a little hope couldn't be underestimated. It was devastating when things completely fell apart over the following two weeks, but hope kept me mentally strong enough not to give up because of days like this, I could tell myself that wins were still possible.

That doesn't mean there was a Hollywood-style scene where I stood up and shouted to the Heavens that the fight wasn't over yet. By the following Journal entry in July, it was evident that I was in profound trouble.

- Al Handa

   August 4, 2023

Here's info on some of my Vella books:

The Quitters

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B09PC3L6PC

I, Ivy

 https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0B3RCBT4D

The Forbidden Lost Gospels Of Murgatroyde

 https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BJ2TW4P1

The Boogie Underground Think Tank: How To Survive The End Of Civilization

 https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BG6LNXTG

The Adventures Of Queen Khleopahtra: Ruler Of Egypt, Time Traveler, and Literary Detective

 https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0BJC122G7

Please check out and listen to my music on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and other music sites. Please add any cuts you like to your playlists!

Delta Snake Review: September 2023

- How Will A.I. Really Change Art? Part One
- At The Movies: Cromwell (1970) And The Nature Of Violent Revolutions

- How To Find The Perfect Headphones - Part 1

- The National instrument of Madagascar 

How Will A.I. Really Change Art? Part One

Note: This was hoping to be another Vella nonfiction book but I decided to run a few of the pieces here then continue it in the Subscriber section.

The legal battles raging between Hollywood and upper-level writers and artists are a different battle than what you and I are probably concerned with. 

Whether or not they get compensation isn't going to benefit most of the artistic community selling stuff on Etsy or eBay, indie music, etc.

For example, do you want a new front room? Don't hire a designer; have the A.I. program give you hundreds of ideas within the budget and where to get the items (or even order for you).

Are you a young filmmaker who needs a soundtrack? Just feed the program your script (written by A.I.) and have it create the perfect music.

Now the Talking Heads of Tech will thump their chests and proclaim that the software will have proper safeguards, and only regulated copies will be allowed, abuse will be minimal, and so on. This is the type of spin we all heard when people had concerns about online banking.

The legal issues will be straightened out, mainstream companies will follow the law, and copyright issues will be settled, at least to the satisfaction of businesses and the upper tier of artists.

Even upper-tier artists who get compensated will find that their audiences might shrink once people can have A.I. give them similar art.

Most of the art we buy is street level. Most of us can't afford Picassos or have Taylor Swift sing at a wedding. You have a budget, and there's generally an artist that can do the job.

Aspiring artists need these levels. That's where all of them get their start on the way to hopefully becoming a star.

So far, much of the press has been from analyst opinions, artists, and A.I. companies. The opinion that counts is those of future customers. What do they think about A.I., and what would they do with it? 

The opinion leaders have put out a lot of speculation and scare stories about killer bots. Still, some smarter ones say the uncomfortable truth: that the customers will replace human beings. Not maybe, but as soon as the A.I. can do it.

As far as the good? 

Despite complaints about spell and grammar checks, writers have benefitted from it at the expense of editing companies.

Almost all indie book covers are designed by artists using software that automates design and execution at the expense of artists who work on canvas and paper.

Indies use a variety of software to create and distribute art and market it at the expense of many designers, copywriters, sound engineers, producers, and so on.

Or...would these Indies even exist if they had to pay that considerable support structure?

We know the harm A.I. can do to the art community. The question is, will it create the same opportunity it did for Indies in the last few years? 

In other words, can it lead to an explosion of new artists like Indie writers after Amazon KDP and software made it possible to become a published writer without the expensive approval and support structure?

Is what we think is art changing, and is A.I. part of that?

I've said in past blog entries that technology drives much of the change in art. I'm hardly the first and won't be the last to say it.

Rock and roll would have been different without electric guitars, as with the 80s without electronic keyboards and synthesizers. Those instruments allowed artists to create new sounds, primarily for young, upcoming artists.

In other words, is the fight over A.I. actually a struggle by old-school artists and sensibilities about change? Is A.I. a new technology that will be embraced by a young generation already going full blast on social media, and will it be their electric guitar or home computer?

I have ideas about that and will discuss them in part 2.

At The Movies: Cromwell (1970) And The Nature Of Violent Revolutions 

The Coronation of King Charles was a joyous occasion for Monarchists and, indeed, for those who long for the days when the nobility is abolished and rank properly determined by levels of wealth like in the United States. 

Such festivities give anti-monarchists a voice in the English media who love everything royalty, especially if they smell blood. Thanks to social media, new stars are born, like Penny Mordaunt, a Tory Boudica in the Coronation ceremony who wore an outfit that even wowed some in the Labour Party. Talk about a bridge between parties!

I'm oversimplifying, of course, but my description is adequate for the purposes of this essay.

The movie "Cromwell," starring Richard Harris and Alec Guinness, was on movie sites, and being in a festive Royal mood, I watched it. Most reviewers rate it as inaccurate and so-so, which makes it like 99% of historical films. It was about the English Civil War between the King and Parliament in 1642.

I enjoy watching English actors chewing up the scenery in historical costumes, so whether critics like it or not is irrelevant.

To an American who's puzzled as to why Britain still has a monarch, reading about the rise and fall of Cromwell explains it. What happened (sorta) in the movie is why most Western Countries keep the military under civilian control.

Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan Squire who became the leader of the Parliamentary Army, known as "The New Model," who defeated the King's forces and became Dictator. His tenure was so unpopular that England restored the Monarchy after his death.

Scholars and intellectuals cite Cromwell as why the Military or Church should never run a country. It also illustrates a point about revolutions, which are generally seen as a glamorous fight against oppression.

Violent revolutionaries often destroy the system they're trying to protect or restore. It doesn't matter if they claim it's about freedom; the new reality is that power is up for grabs (i.e., might make right).

That's why many revolutionary governments become oppressors. If they can do it, so can anyone else. The French and Russian revolutions ended up with an Emperor or Dictator to consolidate power.

You see the change from revolution to military rule in the movie (though it's whitewashed). Cromwell, played by Richard Harris, becomes exasperated by Parliament, which keeps extending its term of office (Congress would love that), and uses the Army to impose what he thinks is the original aim of the revolution.

The English Civil War was about ending the King's power, but as the movie shows, a violent revolution can lose its way when there's only one rule: force.

Regarding the movie, there's only one rule; is it entertaining? In my case, I've seen it several times. The facts are slightly off, but the look and feel are spot on.

-Al Handa 5/11/23

How To Find The Perfect Headphones - Part 1

Sample description: The right pair of headphones will enrich your musical listening experience and lead to endless rediscovery of heretofore buried joy in your beloved music collection.

As you can see, reviews aren't just reviews. You must consider who the writer is, what they know, their agenda, and from what personal experience the information comes from (if any).

This guide should be useful for finding the right pair of headphones. It may just cause more confusion, but if so, as a dedicated Blogger, you can trust that I'll feel bad about it and not remind people that there's a First Amendment.

I think the best way to present this with the least amount of words is as a step-by-step guide. 

Step One: Decide how much you want to spend. There's good stuff in every price range, so stick to your budget. 

The headphones companies just want your money and happily provide gear at every price tier, complete with experts saying it's "great for the price" or "an unbelievable value."  

For example, let's say your budget is ten dollars. No need to be embarrassed about such a small amount, even in America. My backpack spare is a cheap 15.00 set purchased during a Christmas Sale for 9.99.

A spare might be unnecessary if a two-hundred-dollar set gets lost or stolen. People rarely feel like popping in a cheap backup after such a loss. I would, but I'm a music nut.

Your spare should actually be the set taken outside, but there are compelling reasons for having premium cans on your ears while on the go.

That leads to Step Two: Get new headphones designed for the intended use or environment. If you're only going to listen at home while sitting in a chair, forget Bluetooth or any wireless. 

Wired headphones outperform wireless in every price range, and that's the only way to go in the recording studio.

The reason is that music is sorta kinda maybe analog information transferred to digital and has to travel a path to your earphones. A cable transmits the data best as it has the more bandwidth than a wireless signal. 

That said, let's say you want headphones for on-the-go activities; then wireless is an option. You'll give up some sound quality, but that happens once you leave the chair.

Street traffic sounds, for example, are in a frequency range that'll make the midrange and top end disappear and the music can sound tinny. In other words, outside sounds become part of the music.

You can sorta get around that by turning up the volume or wearing a tighter set (or earbuds that block more noise out), but overall music will still sound harsh or thin. That won’t be a problem with audiobooks, of course.

Street sounds can be overpowered by cranking up, the ear space mechanically isolated with tighter cans (the part over your ear), or electronically with noise canceling, but safety comes into play. You can become unaware of your surroundings.

But before you do step two, there's one major factor you have to consider: headphones are conduits that deliver the sound that hardware and software produce. 

If you don't look at that factor first, there's a chance you'll buy more headphone capability than you need. In fact, the right software can make your old headset sound like a more expensive model. 

It's not like the 90s; in 2023, even an inexpensive phone or mp3 player can deliver at least 75% of the desired sound quality if correctly set up. 

I'll cover that in part 2.

The National instrument of Madagascar 

About a month ago, I stopped by an antique store to check out its book section and spotted a Madagascar Valiah on a table with other items. 

The Valiah is considered the national instrument of that African island and is generally described as a zither built around a bamboo tube (see the attached picture). However, it's played like a harp or lyre, so calling it a zither isn't accurate (to me, anyway).

I could tell it was an economy model, but it was intact and playable, and I was always in the market for one, so after some haggling became the harp's new owner.

These things are pretty cool looking, so somebody probably would have bought it for a display, but I feel that even the cheapest instrument deserves to be played, not hung on a wall. 

I'll need to replace the little bridge pieces with better quality wood, at least banjo grade, but other than that, it's ready to go.

I recently uploaded a video short for "Madagascar Summer," it's one of three African numbers that Handa-McGraw International has recorded.

The Madagascar number is one of the most personal because African music drew me back into playing music after spending most of the 80s and 90s writing.

I took a chance on a record by a Madagascar artist named D'Gary and was impressed with his guitar playing. Oddly enough, the first instruments in my new collection were percussion, but I got an old friend, Mark McGraw, to work up a guitar part that was in D'Gary's style and became the Madagascar Summer instrumental.

Justin Vali was another artist from that island, and his specialty was the Valiah and the larger rectangle-shaped Box Harp. I've always liked the various styles of harp music, so his music was an instant hit with me.

That's why I immediately recognized the Valiah in the store (but acted dumb; otherwise, the price would have been less flexible) and made it a point to get it. 

I'll probably never see Madagascar, but musically, I've visited it several times, and I'm sure my new Valiah will take me back there again.

Here's a link to one of many Valiah videos on YouTube. Also, check out D'Gary and Justin Vali. I'll do a piece on Madagascar music sometime in the future, but those two are good examples of that genre.

 "Liva's Valiha / Ilay tany nihaviana (Feom-baliha)"

youtu.be/fH6nihLmF7I

On The Road With Al And Ivy: A Literary Homeless Chronicle - Aug. 10, 2023

Update: On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Anthology Vol. 1 (2016-2018). Work on the revised Second Edition due out in 2024 and upcoming excerpts on X in my X (aka Twitter) Subscription Section. 

When On The Road With Al & Ivy Vol 1 was published, it was made clear that it was a compilation of Blog entries that were sometimes written weeks apart. 

In other words, it was a collection of writings during the period that showed my state of mind and what I saw but wasn't a chronological narrative.

I did say that the second edition would incorporate other written entries from social media and GoFundMe entries, which would fill in the gaps between the blog entries and provide a sense of what daily life was like for a homeless person. That took a while to collect.

I began work on the newly revised eBook last month but have decided that it would be interesting and fun to do it as Kindle Vella style in episodes in the X Subscriber Section. Some of the first completed pieces will be run on my regular X timeline for free.

One reason is that there are different ways to incorporate the additional material, and I'd like to try a format that combines the original text with commentary. I hadn't intended to add the latter but reader comments for the current eBook show that continuity is a concern, and after reflection, I've realized that they're right.

The format will be simple; the original text with the date and then commentary to add details and context. If it relates to a blog entry in the eBook, I'll add the reference to look it up on KU.

These pieces, which will be in the revised eBook, will have the working title of On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries, and I'll use the current book cover as the attached pic.

That might seem like a lot of preliminary detail, but I've set my subscription timeline to show a preview of each item. Having descriptive and standard titles lets those checking out these entries better understand what's there.

The first couple of entries are below with cropped images of the social media entries which should be interesting reading with the commentary.

I think it is relevant also, as the homeless problem seems to have gotten worse, not better, and the discussion in the media has moved more towards depicting people experiencing homelessness as a single entity or headline. 

My book was intended to be "a face," and I think adding detail will make it more so. The body of data could use more "ordinary" stories to give the problem a more human face.

There's a lot of homeless struggling to survive, not just waiting around for help or taking drugs, and while not entirely overlooked, most of the attention is on the media images.

The eBook is still on KU and can be read for free by members. I'll try to schedule a free week soon, also.

- Al Handa

X: @alhanda (Boogie Underground Media)

On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries (2016-2018)

Introduction:

The Journal Entries begin on June 25, 2016. The format will have the actual post as an attachment, and each will have commentary for extra detail and context. The title and book cover used are for this series. The cover will actually be a new design when it officially comes out as the Second Edition.

The posts were on Facebook or GoFundMe, but I've removed the headings. Each has the date in large red text so I could recognize each image in the various apps used To edit. There’ll be some redacting in future posts for legal reasons.

The first entry is short and almost innocuous because I was in shock and reluctant to talk about my situation. 

I became homeless in March, and the money had run out after a few months. A lot of things had happened, and by this date was suffering occasional hallucinations from sleep deprivation, so I was cautious in tone and trying not to come off as unhinged or panicked in my post.

The car had just died the night before, and the best advice I got from the other homeless was that replacing it was a good thing to try first since it used an electronic key. 

The reference to "3.7 miles" was the walking distance to the Cadillac dealership, and my statement about walking two miles a day wasn't about simply wanting to stay in shape. My prescription for high blood pressure meds had run out a month earlier, and the only thing I could think of to replace it in the short term was to exercise every day. 

I had to carry Ivy for most of the two-mile distance because the average temperature in that area was 90 degrees. She couldn't walk further than a hundred yards in that heat. It was hard carrying a twelve-pound dog and backpack, but I figured the more strenuous the workout, the better.

The reference to UB40, specifically the one led by Ali Campbell, is because the admins of their fan site saw my posts and urged fans to support me. Also, my thanks to Twitter (and Facebook) users were because they, many of whom still follow my account, were helping the best they could.

Without that support, I'm unsure how things would have gone two weeks after my situation became critical. By the time of the first blog entry (in the eBook) on July 30, I was stuck on a side street with a dead car.

On June 25, I had a car that had just stopped running, and I didn't know if the problem was severe. After observing the homeless scene for a few months, I knew my situation would worsen without a running car, which it did by the next post on June 30.

- Al Handa 

Note: These entries are working up towards the first chapter in the eBook "On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Anthology Vol. 1 (2016-2018) on Kindle Unlimited," which begins on July 30, 2016. I'll run at least three before the series moves into the Subscription section. Also, some of the incidents I’m describing are alluded to in the novel version on Kindle Vella.

On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Journal Entries (2016-2018): June 30, 2016 (2nd of 3)

Note: These pieces are part of the Second Edition of "On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Anthology Vol. 1 (2016-2018)," due in 2024, and are published here under the working title of The Journal Entries. There's a complete explanation of the project in an early posting.

Intro to June 30 Entry:

This is the second installment of three that'll be published on this timeline. After the third, the series will continue in the Subscription section.

The Entry is an attached image file like before. What follows here is my commentary.

June 30 was a good day with some hope. I was hired for a job on the night shift, which made it possible to safely leave Ivy alone in the car (with other homeless in vehicles keeping an eye on her). I thought that it was a good first step, and it was.

Note: I've redacted the business name and will do it on any word or term that would identify it or the exact location of these incidents.

I didn't realize that several other homeless around me already worked in retail, some for years, and didn't earn enough to get into an apartment because of the low vacancy rate and the real estate boom in this region. 

Even more importantly, I didn't realize that even if the Night Manager knew I was homeless, that didn't mean upper management would treat me differently.

What I found out later was almost all of the others who worked had to keep their situation a secret. Many had been fired from previous jobs as soon as it became known or soon after. The usual perception is that many companies are eager to hire people experiencing homelessness. It's more complicated than that.

I would soon find out that the official company policy of being accepting of people without housing didn't mean much to the upper management of this business, but that will be covered in later Journal entries.

The last sentence was the actual situation; buying a new key didn't work. That meant that the problem could be the electronic ignition, which, even on an old Cadillac, was costly to replace.

The Entry was short because the car wasn't running. There was no way to recharge the old iPhone used to type out these entries (my phone was smaller and only turned on if I needed to make a call). Donations had come in, but other than some food for Ivy and me, I didn't dare spend it because there was a future repair bill that would possibly be a lot more than I had at the time.

However, on this day, getting any job was good news. The effect of even a little hope couldn't be underestimated. It was devastating when things completely fell apart over the following two weeks, but hope kept me mentally strong enough not to give up because of days like this, I could tell myself that wins were still possible.

That doesn't mean there was a Hollywood-style scene where I stood up and shouted to the Heavens that the fight wasn't over yet. By the following Journal entry in July, it was evident that I was in profound trouble.

- Al Handa

   August 4, 2023

On The Road With Al & Ivy Short Take: Great Chapters In Literature: Marcel Proust's Overture from "Swann's Way."

If you want an example of a writer that A.I. would find nearly impossible to duplicate, it would be Marcel Proust. The first chapter feels like he drew random thoughts or subjects out of a hat and then wrote a chapter that connected those in an interesting stream of consciousness that, as rambling as it might seem, gives the reader a clear sense of his personality. 

The opening "Overture" walks a thin line between flightiness and nailing the feat of putting on paper the moment-to-moment images and thoughts of a human mind.

Most psychological novels are highly structured, with well-constructed observations that are insightful, but it's not how the mind works as one's senses move from one stimulus to the next. Literature can be the product of input and reactions laid out and organized with reflection, observations, and context added later in the first written draft. 

That doesn't mean Proust didn't add reflective passages or philosophical observations to his book; it's just that he didn't write the chapter as a structured piece like Joyce's "Ulysses" (which was a different type of work even if both were psychological).

A man who sees a woman walk by isn't necessarily going to contemplate the complexities of the species' survival. He might add a meditative passage later in a WIP that adds detail to that brief glimpse, but that's not how our minds work in real-time.

My first reaction to this chapter was amazement at his imagination until I realized that it was an actual train of thought and not a virtuoso assembling of imagery. We're used to books that describe elaborate internal dialogues (which, of course, can happen in spurts in everyday life) but rarely one where the observations and thoughts are genuinely unfiltered. Proust may think differently, but his mind works pretty much like anyone else's.

His best quality, besides genius, is honesty. By that, I don't mean it's full of juicy confessions but that he's willing to be quite ordinary, following a path that includes the trivial and banal. As a result, the passages seem to have more life and vivacity, which is also a credit to the translator, C. K. Scott Moncrie.

It was very much a chapter written by a human being.

- Al HANDA

On The Road With Al & Ivy Mini-Blog: Thoughts about A.I. generated books.

I was reading an article about the flood of A.I.-generated books on Amazon K.U. and how those are reducing the KNEP payout for legitimate authors. One writer quoted an "expert" who said authors would leave in droves unless Amazon handles the situation.

No, they won't leave in droves.

Kindle Unlimited is an ecosystem that too many writers depend on for income and, just as important, the opportunity to get published works in front of an established audience. 

Until somebody comes along and gives authors the same market and access, K.U. is it, and it's better to root for Amazon to try to fix an unprecedented situation than just get all butt hurt and threaten to leave.

In my eyes, these stories are just part of the obsessive hype about A.I. which ignores the real issues that could kill off K.U. and make people leave; rampant piracy and plagiarism.

A.I.-generated books are, at least at the moment,  an automated form of plagiarism by people who would otherwise steal by other methods. Even the writers claiming it's just an experiment or exploring the new tech know that the algorithm gets its material by scraping published work. 

Those who claim it's just a new technology like the printing press aren't real artists. The printing press revolutionized distribution like the internet has, but you still had to compose a work.

There is a place for A.I. in writing, particularly in genres like nonfiction articles or news, where recycling and borrowing is standard practice. I've seen the same Beatles or Led Zeppelin articles for decades.

Also, news organizations specializing in quickly whipping up pieces on trending people and events will embrace A.I. if they haven't already. There'll be the problem of the tech being used to generate a flood of articles to manipulate trends, but that's only a concern for those who are discerning about their clickbait reading.

One thing that might eventually happen; A.I. bots will be required to generate a bibliography on any nonfiction work.

As far as novelists are concerned, A.I. will initially rip a lot of people off. The fact that Amazon can't control it isn't necessarily due to a lack of caring but because of the overwhelming number of people using bots to create instant books.

The problem of A.I. books will be an ongoing battle. Just right now, technology has shifted the balance of those manipulating the system. That won't last forever, though.

However, as long as society tolerates cheating and winning at all costs, the best that can be achieved is a reasonable level of deterrence.

I must add A.I. tech is being pushed downwards, not up. In other words, even the conflict between content providers and A.I. firms isn't about the individual contributors who often work for free. It's a fight between management teams who may not care if A.I. replaces people. 

There is nuance. A.I. will be like most tech innovations; people won't have much choice. It'll become a fact of life, so areas will evolve where it's an accepted tool. Since users won't have any sense of history, somebody will eventually publish a work that plagiarizes someone famous or who has the means to sue, which'll help move copyright law into the next era. Lawsuits probably create more change than legislators.

An author putting out an A.I. generated book might make money on it but will have to become a shadowy figure constantly changing identities to evade TOS enforcement.

I can't imagine a real writer would want that kind of literary career. For sure, some won't care as long as they make money, and in the United States, there'll be those who admire such unprincipled behavior.

Even a hundred years from now, a person who uses A I. to generate a whole book isn't going to be called an artist or writer. That title is still going to mean something even then.

On The Road With Al & Ivy: Excerpt from August 2020.

Note: I've begun editing a Vol. 2 of the Blog Compilation. This one will contain edited and revised versions of all of the literary essays on this blog site from around 2020 to the present. Here's a revised and edited intro to one about childhood.

Childhood is seen as a time of innocence, but kids often spend it lying, cheating, stealing, and inflicting pain on each other; while parents do their best to contain such impulses until adulthood when there's a time and place for everything. 

It's a time for learning about your place in the world. Look at any toy section, and it's evident that sexual roles are defined early on, and as our perception of the world becomes more mature, we realize the world seems to teach ideals and symbols but not reality. Living happily ever after becomes women doing the cooking on Super Bowl Sunday and men getting to fart anytime they want (which is oversimplifying for the sake of pacing, but within the minimum standard for truth on the Internet).

A child's world, created from curiosity and imagination, is often seen as a transitional phase before assuming the adult mantles of responsibility, conformity, and money-grubbing. Luckily, the grown-up world also teaches ambiguity and hypocrisy to help reconcile virtue and the real world.

If your sense of curiosity survives into adulthood, it becomes a search for truth, and any subsequent disillusionment is just a temporary phase in the discovery process. 

Studying history is the passion that guided my life's journey, from the shiny symbols of childhood to real life, from sacred truths to ambiguity.

It's not easy for children to conceptualize the idea of the past, which is filtered by adults deciding what's suitable for young minds. They avoid violent or erotic content (except in video games and cable TV) or explaining which political party is associated with Satan. Such matters are considered too advanced, so instead, we're taught about stuff like dinosaurs, a politically neutral subject that doesn't need to be taught with any accuracy.

That's as far as it went until I could at least read a comic book, which by fate was the old Classics Illustrated series, which transitioned my love of history into the world of literature, albeit with a lot of pictures and very little text.

The first inspirational book was Church's version of Homer for children. I checked it out so often from the school library that the librarian hid it to ensure others could enjoy it until she realized I was the only kid who read it.

I didn't check it out so often because the book was so good, but because, at first, I couldn't understand it. It was above my reading level. It was a process of enjoying the illustrations at first, then gradually being able to read them later. I realized that illiteracy locked the door to this exciting world, so improving my reading skills became a priority. 

I was eventually able to read three or four grades above my level. I could have cared less about it (as an achievement) except that it finally made old historical classics available to me and, with it, a fuller view of the world.

August 2020 Entry

ontheroadwithalandivy.blogspot.com/2020/08/on-roa…

On The Road With Al & Ivy Mini Blog: Announcing The New Subscription Section on X

I'm happy to announce that the Subscriber Timeline on X is now running. As promised in the earlier announcement, I won't constantly pester everyone to buy a subscription, but a description is necessary.

The rate is set at .99 cents a month, which is paid through the Google Play store and Apple. The nice thing is that you can buy a monthly subscription or, if you like the content, stay on as a regular subscriber. It's up to you.

I hope and will deeply appreciate it if X users try it for at least a month or two and see if it's worth staying on. 

What delayed everything was I couldn't see what the Subscriber TL looked like until it was approved. Once I saw it, it was like the regular free stream of tweets in chronological order. Thinking about how the premium content could be loaded took a little time.

Rather than load all the material in at once, I've decided to tweet it at regular intervals with standard headings so it's obvious which are blog tweets and other stuff like the serial fiction. I intend to load new content at least five days a week.

As of now, it's mainly two features; the edited essays that will be in a future eBook "On The Road With Al & Ivy: The Literary Essays (2018-2020), and around four of my current Kindle Vella books, which can be published elsewhere as long as it's not free. The monthly fee makes it premium.

By August, there'll also be audio and video features loaded.

The Literary Essays will be from the Blog entries during the two years of 2018-2020. The original format was like a magazine, but such issues won't work as chapters like the current eBook On The Road With Al & Ivy Vol. 1. 

The Blog became eclectic, so it'll be more readable as discreet pieces and not huge 4500-word essays. Each entry has a clear title and description of the topic(s) covered.

The Vella Serial book chapters will be loaded regularly until each is complete. One reason for including these is that most who read the chapters preferred it not to be in Vella, and secondly, these stories were only available in the U.S. 

The latter is a big deal as some of my oldest Twitter friends are from overseas, and it was frustrating that they couldn't read my serials.

The initial serials will be "I, Ivy," "Queen Khleopahtra," and "Knee Deep In Glory" (which will be loaded best chapters first as it's not chronological).

I picked the three that were the least linear and were written in such a way that one could read the episodes out of order, like a regular situation comedy or cartoon.

I'll add more next month, but some of the serials will be taken off Vella and published for free in the regular Twitter timeline. Ones like "The Lost Gospels Of Murgahtroyd" and "Boogie Underground Think-Tank" were formerly regular blog features, so they are being made free again.

I'll post regular updates on what's being loaded into the subscription section, so if you don't subscribe now, maybe something will come up that'll make it worth trying it out.

I'm sure you've all seen how richer the content on my account has become after moving the On The Road With Al & Ivy blog here. That won't change. I want this account to be one everyone wants to follow and enjoy.

The Subscriber Section is an enhancement but also an attempt to make this feature-laden account sustainable, so I hope you'll try it.

Even if you don't, I'll appreciate all support via retweets and word of mouth.

On The Road With Al and Ivy: A Homeless Literary Chronicle - Dec. 13th, 2018

"Homer died two hundred years ago, or more, and we still speak of him as though he were living...the others he wrote in his epic of the Trojan War. They are mere shadows, given substance by his songs; which alone retain the force of life; the power to soothe or stir or draw tears."

- Robert Graves (Homer's Daughter 1955)

I celebrated a half million views in the November blog entry, and this month should see another milestone; the completion of the final draft of the book.

It'll still need to be line edited (and possibly refined as a result) but I decided last month that it was time to finish. I remember good friend, author and editor, Melody Ramone, once telling me that there'd come a time when it felt "finished" and added half jokingly that I'd also might be sick to death of the manuscript.

That was certainly true, though being "sick of it" in my case is more a case of the musical equivalent, which is feeling that the work is as good as it's going to get and will risk becoming worse (or boring) if it keeps getting fussed over.

When McGraw and I worked on music for our Handa-McGraw International albums and YouTube channel (Electric Fog Factory), we differentiated between music for recording and live work.

We always stopped jamming and trying out new arrangements on a recorded piece when it felt right. After that, it was all about getting the right take, and technical perfection was always secondary to feel. For example, on the YouTube channel there are several numbers that were intended as demos, but never replaced. That's because a finished version hadn't been done that had the right feel.

My book is similar to an album, mainly because the artistic sensibility is musical. It had stopped being a chronological journal by the second draft and became a work driven by a musical sensibility.

...empathy, sympathy, and pity...

I also avoided passages, particularly about characters, that delineated some sort of main theme or "timeless" concept. There are several in the book whose lives are instead described dispassionately, or without judgement (as much as possible).

A neutral stance isn't always easy to achieve, because of the natural desire to steer the reader into feeling a particular emotion, particularly sympathy. There's temptation to slant or change the characterization to do that. Which isn't forbidden in a novel, of course, but not desirable in my case.

The neutral stance is the most empathetic. That can result in passages where the reader might ask, is Al condoning what the character is doing or lacking any pity for the person?

There are parts of the book, for example, where a person eating out of a garage can is described in detail. Not just the physical minutiae, but the mentality. It's a scene without declarations of shock or horror, and written from the point of view of an observer who was also hungry, felt hopeless, and could understand where the scavenger was coming from.

I found that the first drafts of the scenes (added in the fifth run through) were as good as those would ever be. Every attempt to revise it took it further away from the raw, effective description and "judgement" began to creep in.

It was transitioning away from a mentality that could only exist in that moment to a mannered one stemming from the detachment that comes later when being able to eat well. My view of those incidents also differed between the early incidents and those seen much later. 

In the earlier passage, I was seeing it for the first time, the second was after being among the homeless for several months and had a clear idea of who scavenged food and why. 

It is a stark, visceral act to scavenge food, especially in front of people. My own feeling is that it should never happen, that society must make sure that no one is ever forced to do such a thing. That's obvious to anyone with even a shred of humanity.

To write about it from my point of view would risk making it about me and my feelings. To describe it from their point of view, humanizes the image, and requires a dispassionate lens, but in the end tells their story in a way that has a chance to be revelatory. The pathos is greater if the character isn't turned into an archetype. 

When the later incident didn't shock me, it wasn't because I had "become hardened," or self involved. There was an understanding among many of the homeless that anyone that desperate should be helped. How some did so could strike you as weird, but motivated by a humanity shaped by the moment. There was one collective effort for a mentally ill scavenger, described in the book that at the time, struck me both as very eccentric but filled with human warmth.

Food and water was offered freely, particularly if the person was new, and being stingy was a rare act in the circles I traveled in. In the summer months, for example, friends would come by and make sure we had cold water to drink and enough to eat.

...acceptance...

The main thing people gave each other was acceptance. 

Most homeless are acutely aware that they're being judged, often harshly. If they saw a person going through a garbage can, they almost never interrupted the act. I go into more detail about why in the book, but there were good reasons for that. 

The best time to approach the person, as a fellow homeless, was later on when the person was done. For one thing, there were various reasons a person could be doing it. Some had nothing to do with hunger. 

One reason was that we lived among a great many who were mentally ill. Some were harmless, some weren't. Interrupting a mentally ill person at a dumpster could trigger a unpredictable reaction, particularly at night. 

We learned to observe first before acting.

Several of the people who became friends had observed me for a few days before approaching. Some weren't sure I was "all there" because of my severely bad haircut at the time, constantly talking to myself, and the odd habit (to them) of carrying Ivy instead of using a leash (not to mention constantly talking to her also). There were reasonable explanations for the above, of course, but they couldn't know that. 

Being constantly short of sleep and good meals, often in fear, sometimes angry, and being dirty created a feral mindset that showed in the early drafts. My prose at some points could have been alternately mistaken for a motorhead rap, a paranoid who saw danger at every turn, and most valuable to my book, a realization that, at least in the present, he was one of them, had to live with them, and that they were just people like him. It's a mood that was worth preserving.

...the Ivy chapter...

For example, I'm glad I wrote the chapter about Ivy's death in the early drafts. Writing about it now as it really happened then would be difficult. The existing chapter captures the physical impact of devastation that fades with time.

One key point that the original account captured was that after Ivy died, an important link to sanity was gone. Admitting that I "lost it" is easy, but keeping in the actual thoughts and behavior of that moment that cycled rapidly through anger, ingratitude, pain, and even blasphemy would be a tempting candidate for self editing. Also, for several hours, I lost all awareness of my surroundings, and disregarded every precaution normally taken in a homeless area at night. 

There was shock, then a raw paralyzing fright that set in once the adrenalin was gone. Even as she died, I could still at least hang on to the notion that superhuman effort or desperate prayer might work, because even long odds sustain hope.

There's an old term, "staring into the abyss," that captures it perfectly. The dreams of the previous four months died that day, yet on that terrible night after it all happened, what actually ran through my mind surprised me even then. It wasn't suicide, getting numb from drugs, striking out in anger, or any of that. I'd have welcomed apathy at that point.

I think that any of us who has such a moment, where a stark truth hits so hard that it renders everything meaningless, and I think it's different for everyone, has to reaffirm something at their core, whether it's faith or a choice, and move into and through that "void."

The term "reaffirm" is a big theme in the second half of the book. There was a decision made four months earlier that turned out to be relevant that sad night, and pulled me out and forward. Like a ship that had been in a terrible storm, found itself well off it's path, but knew it's course and continued the journey. Though it's not always obvious, there's a path that starts in the first chapter all the way to the last.

The first draft ended in February just after the one year anniversary of becoming homeless. In fact, the ending had already been written. I considered leaving it that way, but decided that Ivy was too important to the story and kept writing, something another writer would understand.

She projected so much personality and helped galvanize so much help. If my writing ability is up to the level of ambition in this book, then perhaps you'll be rooting for me to succeed for at least pity's sake, but will most certainly admire Ivy's great big spirit. She started off homeless as a pup, but only got more indomitable no matter what life offered. Make no mistake, she knew we were homeless.

In the larger sense, everything I want to say in the book is there, and it's time to finish it. If all goes well, I'll be able to tell everyone that the final draft is completed on December 31st.

"Nothing, including alcohol, ranked as high as coffee for the Civil War soldier. Men drank it before, during, after, and in lieu of meals. Many wrote of it in letters home, praising the soothing qualities of a pistol-hot cup of grind."

- Thomas R. Flagel (The History Buff's Guide To The Civil War)

Coffee is one of mankind's great loves. It's regarded both as a necessity and a luxury worth paying extra for drinks that have less coffee in it. Most of the world actually prefers tea but like soccer as opposed to NFL football, it'll never replace coffee in the Western Hemisphere.

It only took me a few weeks of living in a car to regard coffee as just an occasional indulgence.

One problem with coffee is that makes you go to the bathroom too much. Going to the bathroom out there was often a real hassle. The other problem is that it's pricey by the cup. Even at a place like MacDonald's where it costs a buck, that was a day's worth of decent meals for my dog.

I eventually started buying a six pack of eight ounce generic cola for a dollar fifty for any needed caffeine boost, and most mornings that did just fine. Part of the reason that worked was because I was primarily a tea drinker for most of my life, so while I liked coffee, it wasn't irreplaceable.

Also, caffeine wasn't a useful drug out there. It could be tense enough, particularly at night, and if I could relax enough to sleep for a few hours, then that was more important. If sleep didn't come that night, I needed to be able to nap during the day.

I missed a lot of things but coffee wasn't high on the list, and have to admit, that was a surprise.

"And honey is the holiest thing ever was, hive, comb and earwax, the food for glory..."

- James Joyce (Finnegan's Wake)

Now honey, that was a different thing altogether. I wasn't a big fan of the stuff in regular life, but out there it was invaluable.

Bread is a cornerstone in any cheap diet, and a good loaf in a variety of flavors can be had for a dollar. Honey is perfect because it's affordable, makes bread taste great, and can be kept in a car as it doesn't spoil.

Honey has a different aura than other cheap foods. For example, beans and bread are quite filling and nutritious, but let's face it, it's still beans and bread. Now, bread with honey on it, well, that's like a snack at home with all it's comforts.

A nice cheap sweet snack was no small thing. Other amazingly cheap goodies, like oatmeal cream sandwiches, could turn white sugar into a punishing experience. I finished a box by scraping out the filling and just eating the cookies, but the joy was less than transcendent.

I don't consume much honey now, but like my dearly departed Birkenstocks, it was a friend when I needed it.

"How fleeting are the wishes and efforts of man! How short his time! and consequently how poor will his products be."

- Charles Darwin (On The Origin Of Species)

Alpha types tend to interpret "survival of the fittest" as a validation of aggression or masculinity, which is really more Nitchzie (or Ayn Rand) superman stuff. It is a part of natural selection, but the concept is more nuanced.

Being the biggest baddest dude may help get the women interested, but that only meant that he could win a head butting contest with other males. Assuming they fight fair.

Mankind didn't survive because of physical prowess. If we had depended purely on alphas, we'd have been on the desert menu for saber tooth tigers after their main course of he-men. The list of animals that can kick a human butt in a fair fight is long and beyond the scope of this blog entry. Though making such a list might be fun...maybe in a future blog.

What enabled us to evolve into beings that can create thousand dollar hamburgers and shoes was the ability to form groups that could forget political differences long enough to use their intelligence to manufacture weapons and gang up on the savage beasts (most of whom are heading quickly towards extinction, particularly if their body parts are thought to increase male verility).

Looking at the world now, it's obvious that man's main enemy and competitor on the food chain is man. Darwin noted that the competition within a species is more intense.

An invasion by martians might give mankind a reason to unite, but with our superior intelligence and egos that verge on God complexes, any resistance would be crippled by large numbers of people who'd prefer to collaborate and profit by treachery.

Idealists who believe in our innate niceness might scoff at that, but given the large number of people who wish they could become vampires or believe E.T.s built the pyramids, it's clear that the seeds of treason will always be present.

Well, maybe that is Darwinism after all. Like I said, the subject is full of nuance.

Anyway...the reason I discuss capitalism so much is that it is, in the Western World, more than God, the true state religion. Out there in the streets, it was a word that had a lot of relevance.

Like any philosophy or doctrine, capitalism often becomes what people say it is. Much of my early anxiety and fear of the streets was due to Hollywood and literary depictions of it being a tough place ruled by apex predators. Which, as I've said in the past, was found to be only partly true.

Capitalism is really about money. Nothing else.

Sure, there's things like power and status but none of that happens without money. Where that money goes and who gets it is only part of the doctrine. The comparisons to Darwin and survival of the fittest just tends to be one of many platitudes to keep the other 99% quiet and respectful.

The various species on this planet actually survive because of a multitude of successful strategies, but the main one is intelligence. "Street smarts" isn't just about being amoral or a supreme BS'er to survive. Most of the survivor types in my book were smart enough not to play the usual games.

"But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience."

- George Orwell (Essay: Why I Write)

I generally write out of sequence, as for whatever reason, the parts and passages tend to spill out of the consciousness in seemingly random order. That might be due to playing music, which may seem linear but isn't always so in the composition stage.

I wrote out the first draft knowing that the book wasn't opening in a satisfactory way, but kept writing, figuring to address it on the next run through. It was on the fourth pass where the first chapter really came together.

The second draft mainly added all of my thoughts and opinions, which would have resulted in an annoyingly subjective stream of consciousness book...but it was important in that the passages did delineate what I wanted the book to "say" and by the fourth draft was taking those mini essays out and putting in actual story, dialogue, and character actions to not only show what formed those opinions, but doing it a way that lets the reader decide what it means.

There were incidents that turned out to be connected to other passages and it was surprising to realize that there were things going on that weren't comprehended at the time.

For example, I saw things at the county social assistance office that seemed like simple friendly interaction between the homeless and gangs and totally missed the well oiled operation where dealers not only obtained ebt cards for sale but literally harvested homeless druggies for their monthly checks like sheep for their wool.

Also, as I constructed the story of one young woman, the various passages when combined showed her being groomed to become a truck stop hooker and that she was in fact being guarded and not just partying with the same group of guys. The final night she was in the area ended up in a scene that took on a much darker aspect than planned.

Part of the process was becoming more aware of what really happened so as a result, the decision was made to leave in descriptions as seen then, but tied together with better hindsight, with no later judgements or attempts at pathos. The reader can make their own judgement and conclusions, and even better, get a glimpse into their own feelings and attitudes by their reaction to the stories.

I'm still working that part out, how to describe the story as I saw it, and not as I see it now.

"Civilization has increased man's producing power a hundred-fold, and through mismanagement the men of civilization live worse than the beasts." 

- Jack London (The People Of The Abyss)

George Orwell saw Jack London as a person who truly understood fascism because of his atavistic Darwinian sensibilities. He also understood London because like him, he was also an "unreliable" socialist who saw the real world as opposed to trying to fit it into a doctrinal lens.

Both actually went in and lived in poor slum areas, and at times were among the homeless (though both had a different experience with it) and wrote about it. Homeless literature, particularly the first hand experience type, isn't a new phenomenon.

London did it when he was a successful, well off writer, and took the precaution to create a safe house during the early homeless phase of the book writing. There were points where he used it rather than tough it out on the streets, though one couldn't fault that as the intent was to create a first hand account rather than a memoir.

He wanted to understand slum life in London, who was living it, and portray the actual people and what they were like. What he saw deeply affected him. This was clear later in the book, when his feelings about the economic system and attitudes that made such a poor class even possible in a rich society came out. 

The focus was on people and their stories for the most part, and the understanding that poverty created a lifestyle that literally trapped people in it. Even more importantly, he was perceptive enough to realize that the poor wasn't one big group but several subcultures.

Orwell, who was inspired by London, engaged in similar forays into poverty zones and developed a similar take. Like his predecessor, the descriptions were detailed and remarkably free of judgement or preaching and more powerful because of that.

Orwell wrote two books, "Down and Out In London and Paris," and "The Road To Wigan Pier," both still worthwhile reading. The first part of the Wigan Pier book, which describes his experiences working among the Welsh Coal miners is a masterful, a true classic.

The second half of the Wigan Pier book, is a bit off topic, but worth describing. It assumes a devil's advocate role and discusses the faults of English socialism, and succeeded so well that the publisher of the book, a Socialist, felt it necessary to add a disclaimer that Orwell's essay in the second half didn't reflect the mainstream socialist view.

One of the offending passages said that socialists were perceived as sandal wearing "bearded fruit juice drinkers trying to eek out a few more years" of life, which also shows that the health food craze isn't a new phenomena.

As I said earlier, both he and London were considered "unreliable" socialists.  

The thing that affected me the most wasn't their descriptions of privation. A typical lunch before homelessness was often just beans, or cheese and bread. I didn't necessarily see having to eat a can of pork and beans in a car as a hardship.

What hit me was how important the mental aspect was, and the crippling effect of hopelessness and apathy. My own scariest moment wasn't due to any of the crime that was around or any physical threat.

It was when it hit me that the situation could be my life and future. It stemmed from a single incident that, in a manner of speaking, triggered an avalanche. A loss that any normal person might shrug off but felt cataclysmic at the time. That didn't happen to London, who could leave anytime. However, he did see that hopelessness was crippling, and that it was accentuated by the lifestyle. 

...the night life...

In one instance, he tried to stay out that night and sleep, then try to find a job in the morning. Instead, he had to join the multitude who were constantly chased out of doorways and parks, and finding that the police finally let them sleep when the parks opened during the day. Exhausted, and hungry, and with rain coming, he gave up and went back to the safe house. 

Seeing the homeless asleep on park benches during the day in America is generally dismissed as booze or drug fueled stupors, and certainly, that can be the case. Just as often, though, it's because they had to stay moving during the night, but for different reasons than London described. 

I devote a couple of chapters to that. I've stressed the importance of having a car in past blogs, that keeping it in running condition was the priority. The reason was that without it, I could end up on foot, carrying as much of my belongings as possible along with Ivy and in constant danger of being mugged at night.

In those chapters I reconstructed the night routines of various people that I saw. I know about it because during that six week period when my car was dead in the water, I had to think about what would happen if it was towed. There was at least one store manager who was trying his best to get the police to do that even though it was parked out on the street.

So, I watched the night people, where they went, their routines, where the safe areas were, etc. I didn't really think that if it came to being a back packer that it would stay that way for long. There were a couple of RV and car homeless that would have taken me in if that happened.

The problem was, that was an option only if they were still around.

For example, a couple and a woman who was part of an enclave, would dog sit Ivy so I could try to get a job, but the couple was chased out of town by the sheriffs department, the other by some store management and police. 

So suddenly within a two day period, no dog sitters. That's how unpredictable life was out there. I had to assume that if the car went away, we could be on our own for some period of time, and that it was dangerous to simply wander about without any plan or knowledge of the night scene.

The basic rule of survival on foot at night was either have a safe place (not to sleep, that would be stupid to do out in the open), or keep moving (at least until the "safe time"). 

The transient sleeping in a park archetype was described in London's book, and is still seen today. His comment is still relevant. He asked those who might assume it was just a lazy or dissolute person to realize that it might actually be the exhausted sleep of someone who'd been harried and moved along all night by the police. Once he experienced the night they had, they became real people and faces.

I can add, you would sleep out in public because bedding down in a private place is potentially very dangerous. Sleeping in an isolated hiding place is the equivalent of walking through dark alleys at night.

What I want to do is present the reader with faces and lives. Instead of an image of an unfortunate herd suitable for framing in a 90 second news spot or web article that mainly quotes business and property owners, it'll have stories like that of a young homeless woman escaping abuse and probably headed for a life of prostitution, drugs, or criminality. Put there by people who aren't homeless, and as a prostitute, serving members of respectable society not interested in helping her. 

Her story and others like it should say all what needs to be said. I think good decent people, like the ones who helped me so much won't need to be told what they're seeing.

I hope the book does a good job of letting you all see what I saw.

- Al Handa

  Dec. 13, 2018

...cover reveal for Hide In Plain Sight...

This is the cover for the upcoming book, Hide In Plain Sight, hopefully out sometime in 2018.

-Al Handa

djboogieunderground@gmail.com

The Al & Ivy Homeless Literary Journal Archive:

There are earlier blog entries on the Delta Snake Review section of this site that aren't on the On The Road page:
http://deltasnake.blogspot.com