Library Update

 Silas once talked about the importance of being well read and how my dear dad had prolly the largest library in the family. My parents definately instilled a love for reading in me from a young age. One i thibk they sometimes felt went too far as i was prone to losing track of time and reading instead of sleeping. Well i also recently learned an Official library is 1000 books or more. So thats one goal, especially since ive def read more than that already, i just dont own all the books ive reae. So i aim to take the title from my dad eventually. Heres the start of it with my 613 current books with more to come. Mostly sci fi, fantasy and history.

Its been awhile

 Oh how so very much has changed. Perhaps this page has died. Perhaps some of you are still here if for no other reason than to remember Silas. Today is a hard day because it is the aniversary of the death of my dear friend and brother "The Wise Adventurer. 15 years have come and gone aince he departes on the next great adventure and it ia hitting hard this year. Combined with the fact that in just 26 days is the Anniversary of our beloved Dream God having returned to Dream, October is a hard month. Clearly im not as good as Silas was as keeping things updated but i will try to do better. Time will tell how successful we are in that.

So much has hapenned in recent years and Ive neglected this page. So an update. Yea i was previously married when Silas turned the page over to me, no that did not work out. Turns out she was an abusive manipulator and thats all that will be said regarding it. That Era has long since ended and im a far better person for it being gone.

I did meet someone else and she is absolute perfection. Its as if our dear dream god could see what was happening from beyond and thus sent me a dream of my own. We have been married for 2.5 years now and after a few years in the land of mouse we have returned to the hills not far from The Kingdom of Butterflies. A beautiful home and beautiful life. I believe I shall dub our new home New Ithaka since the title was passed to me from Silas and i wish to honor that.

Ive long sinced finish my first novel series which remains unpublished as of yet and am occasionally working on a new series which i believe is actually the better series. Ive grown up alot since writting the first and there are parts ill never be quite satisfied with tho my Queen has threatened me many a time that if i tey to change anything else shell give me a stern smack to the head because she loves what ive written. Her live of the work more than the threat has kept my fingers clear of the delete button lol. 

If this post seems to skip around and be a bit disjointed we apologize because it is largely a stream of conscious writing by Phin and the rest are silent as far as written word is concerned to update everyone as well as to distract from the weight today is pushing upon me atm. From the moment i realized what day it was it shoved me deep into my own head about loss and missing those we wish were still here. In writing this amd in truth be told having spent many hours reading silas writting amd reminiscing on the good times with The Wise One and Silas, it has helped in part to alleviate the weight. There have been tears, some of loss but mostly of happy memories and times shared.  

Poetry time: Ive Searched

I’ve searched my entire life

For her soul

Which ive loved before

My search left me in pieces

Broken and unsure

Convinced i wasnt worthy

Convinced none could ever love me

I was the toy for those with other plans

But at my lowest

Tattered and destroyed

Determined to never again let myself fall

I built my walls

I crafted my defenses

The care of practiced chemist

I would not again be a toy

I would be the puppet master

But it was not to be

It was at my lowest

Hiding behind my walls

False bravado shinning

That you crept into my heart

No, thats not right

You didn’t creep

You kicked in the gates

Because you knew, oh you knew

Youd always known that this was Your place

These walls were built to keep others out but also to keep you safe

This heart was waiting for you

Because you too had been searching

Searching for a love you knew you once knew

And at last we have found it

Our fates entertwined

Love that will stand till the end of time

Villain Insurance

Harley: Hey Seraphin!!

Seraphin: yes Harley?

Harley: I’ve just haf a thought about superheroes and villians

Seraphin: this better not have any spoilers from any new movies Harley!!

Harley: it doesn’t! I swears on all my favorite animals.

Seraphin: ok, well in that case the spoiler free floor is yours

Harley: thanks!!

Aight lords and ladies so here’s the thing!

What if heroes and villains were real, not like The unbelievable cheeto real but like proper villains like lex luthor, the Joker, and such. Now think about this. Anyone who has ever Actually read what their home insurance covers knows that it doesnt cover things like war or nuclear incidents and the most emphasised flood or earthquake. Now with those last two at least you can buy specialty insurance from specialty companies to cover flood and earthquake because these are things that could happen but your average insurer doesnt cover. Now i know this seems off track but here me out aight

So what if in the comic earth there are specialty insurance companies that sell villian insurance. And “no, no no no, we dont insure heroes specifically but if a hero damages your property whilst fighting a currently covered villian than that is included.” Thats gona be a line you hear alot from your local villian insurance agent. They dont cover heroes directly, only as an incident in regards to villians on your policy.

Now here’s where they get you. Not all villians are covered all the time. The way it works is you get to first choose a package. Do you want the Double Daring? That gives you two villians of your choice and all choices are locked in for the next week minimum and no you cant make a change in the middle of an attack, we heavily enforce binding restrictions in areas once an attack has begun. We also have the Devils Threesome, no we dont mean that sexually you perv, it mean you get to pick three villians instead of two, now we do offer certain discounts at this level for example certain package deals get a discounted rate such as the Gotham Sirens, they are usually seperate entities but as a team up they can be quite destructive so if you choose each of them for this package we do offer a frequent team up discount. We also have the Four Horseman level, you get 4 choices, then the Fearsome Five and the Sinistery Six, this one was originally the Sinister Six but then the actual  sinister six sued us for copyright infringement so we added a y.

Now with these packages you do have to pick specific villians for your coverage and only that villian or villians group in cases like Joker and his gang or minions are covered. Now with this coverage we do cover teams as a single choice. Originally  we had a great example for this with Joker and Harley Quinn they were a package deal but what is true love anymore am i right? Hatley deserves better anyway, but like i was saying, in recent years with thier breakup now they are seperate options but constant teams do count as one so like if Ra’s and the assassins wreck your house thats all covered as one pick.

Now it can get difficult this covwrage can cuz if a villian on your list goes to jail it is your responsibility to update your policy. Premiums are of course going to be higher in the villian’s preferred locations. Also if your property gets wrecked by a team up and only part of the team is on your list we are only gona cover you for the percentage that your listed villians make up said team. SO if two face and penguin wreck your shit but you only had penguin listed youll get 50% covergae.

Seraphin: now wait a moment Harley, this is gona end up getting bery exhausting for people always having to call in and guess what villians might attack next. Why can’t we offer general billian coverage.

Harley: its still a buisness Seraphin, we still have to be able to make a profit somehow and general coverage would bankrupt us in a matter of days.

Seraphin: ok, ok, it sucks but i at least see your point. I almost feel bad for the service reps tho.

Harley: how come?

Seraphin: well think about it like this...

A customer calls in “ hello, i need to file a claim, Harey and her group of Quinns just trashed my house.”

“Oh dear that is terrible, I am sorry this has happen d but unfortunately I see that currently Harley Quinn is not a covered villian on your policy.

“Not covered! What the hell do you mean not covered! I have coverage for the Joker and his cohorts on my plan! This is Gotham! Who would be crazy enough not to have the Joker listed?!?!”

“Well of course Sir, I agree the Joker is a very popular coverage option and rightfully so but with their split up as of 2016 as well as Harley dipping more into the anti-hero roll her classification is only covered with the evolving character endorsement and she is no longer connected with the Joker so you see Sir, while I absolutely sympathize with your situation, unfortunately in this instance you ate currently not covered for this incident.”

“Well this policy is a joke!”

Si2: Did you two really just go through all of this for a halfwitted pun?

Harley and Seraphin: Yup :)

Millennial Talks: Guns and a note on Generations

Harley: Don’t you dare touch my guns Seraphin!! 

Seraphin: Did you purchase them legally?

Harley: well, yea...

Seraphin: Are you properly trained in the responsible use and maintenance of your weaponry?

Harley: yes...

Seraphin: Do you properly store youre weaponry in a safe and/or storage area where those who shouldn’t have access to it can’t reasonably gain access to it?

Harley: yes...

Seraphin: Then congratulations. Noone cares about your guns or that you have them. Your argument is infantile and knee jerk.

Harley: Can I go now?

Seraphin: you can, but if you do you’ll miss the actual message pst the humor...

Harley: Im a prankster and chaos loving clown Seraphin...

Seraphin: we might piss off Both sides...

Harley: oh! Ok continue!

Seraphin: Thanks...

Ok so here’s the thing. Everytime a shooting happens both sides lose their damn minds. And that is a big part of the problem. People are polarized to A Side. Well my side supports blank or my side supports this instead. Just shut the fuck up. Your Sides is a big part of the problem in this country, but thats another topic for another time.

But heres the gun issue. And ill warn you NRA fans now, read fully or dont bother. And you full on gun hippies who want to “ban all guns”, you aint gona like this much either. But for my larger audience. Those who understand life is not nor has it ever been black and white. It has always been a beautiful and vast specteum of color and nuance.

Now to the issue. Lets start with an easy one to agree on shall we. Schools getting shot up by Anyone is bad! Still with me? Good cuz otherwise youre hopeless and We can’t help you. Now this is where this portion of the issue gets speculative.

How do we fix it?

First off we have to all actually agree this is a problem and work together to fix it. So lets start with this. Children can not legally own a handgun by federal law, and federal lw prohibits the sale of firearms to minors, however in 30 states there is no law about a minor Owning a Long gun, ie a rifle or shotgun, and according to my research thus far, this includes and this surprised me actually, an Uzi depending on its make and modifications.

 Now I’m largely against telling people how to live thier life up unto the point living your life infringes on the life of another or even worse, hurts them in anyway. So I wont say we should change these laws. If Johnny wants Junior to have his own rifle and learn to be properly trained and properly maintain his own gun, thats their business UNTIL IT HURTS SOMEONE ELSE. Then its a problem.

So how do we help this issue? Well for one let’s look at something else that people love to reference during this conversation. Automobiles. People are killed every year by automobiles. And youre right noone is calling to ban them. And Im not calling to ban guns, but i am calling for responsibility. What happens to earn your right to drive, you have to pass a competency test showing you know how, you have to be Licensed and you have to have insurance. Now why do we do these things. 1. Well this ones obvious, we dont want people who don’t know what the hell they are doing operating these one ton death machines. 2. We need to be able to identify you have proven your competency to operate a vehicle and 3. And this is the one well circle back to later, If under Any circumstances you damage someones property or even worse, hurt or kill someone, you are held liable for the damages.

Si2: Seraphin, are you trying to say people are not liable if they shoot someone?

Seraphin: not entirely Si but I see your point, let me explain further.

Yes of course people are liable. Legally those at fault can be tried for manslaughter and murder among other things, but perhaps we can approach it further in a different way. So back to the car example. If Junior, borrows Daddy’s car, legally or illegally, with or without permission, what happens if Junior wrecks and injures someone. Prize for those who said Daddy’s insurance or Daddy has to pay for it. And practically speaking if you wanna see change in the use of something, add in insurance. Regulation will happen Very quickly.

Now again. I don’t care how you live your life. But damn well believe you are responsible for your choices and actions, or inaction in some cases. My proposal is simple. 1. You can own a gun, that's fine, it is you're Constitutionally given right. But to do so you must take a class and pass a test showing you know how to properly use and maintain the weapon as well as are properly educated on the laws regarding the weapon. 2. You must pass an in depth background check showing you are not only a law abiding citizen but also that you do not have a history of violence. 3. You will be required to properly store you're weapon and provide proof of said proper storage. 4. Each gun owner will be required to carry firearm liability insurance with a state minimum level of coverage.

Will this plan work? I don't know, Since it was my idea, I am of the biased opinion that it is at least an attempt in the right direction. Our current attempts haven’t worked out overly well to prevent further attacks and this disingenuous bickering that ultimately devolves into name calling and fruitless arguments is getting us no where.

Harley: Think you managed to piss of everyone?

Seraphin: Well Harley, as long as they consider more options and find it in themselves to grow and become more than this bullshit us and them, then I don’t care if they agree with the specifics as long as they are opening dialogue and discussing ideas rather than blindly bashing one another.

In case we have not however on another note and just a quick aside for everyone on the topic of Generation, a topic we may address further later. Millennials are not teenagers. The youngest millennials are now 21 by many references but at the very youngest they are 18. We outnumber Baby Boomers and we are doing little with that. Largely we are nostalgic and do our level best to be largely distracted. as a whole we are just trying to survive in the world we found ourselves in. Numbers mean nothing if there is no action. Where we Are seeing action right now however is from this rising generation the oldest whom are 18-20 the youngest are still being born but these teenagers, Gen Z (How original), so just an FYI the generation of 'tide pod eaters' (which isn't a real thing except among the stupidest of people. its a meme, a joke actually) those speaking out and walking out in protest is Gen Z, or whatever name they ultimately end up saddled with. Either way, I wish them well but caution that they not just follow trends but seek to understand the issues and focus their passion and fire into making things better. Perhaps we will more fully address the idea of generations and such another time. We shall see.

Much love to you my friends. Until next time.

Merry Christmas, Happy Yule, Happy Holidays...

A preview of the start of festivities with my family in the Kingdom of Butterflies. Me and King Padre are doing the fusion dance to try and join the yellow beasts into one super beast. Results are indertiminable so far. From all of us in Ithaka, we wish you all a Happy Holidays no matter what you choose to celebrate or believe, much love to you all. Be awesome to one another.
~ Seraphin

My Novel

I got exciting and long awaited news this week. My first novel, which i spent years on, is being reviewed and edited. This is something near and dear to my heart since Silas was the first to ever look it over and give me feedback. Work is underway on the sequel but the truly exciting part is that there is for the first time in a while. Visible progress on all fronts :)
Much love to you all

The Circle: An In Depth Review of Humanity through an otherwise dull film

Spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk....


The Circle is a film that as a whole is largely of little entertainment value. The plot revolves around a single room with a group of individual trapped in one spot. I say trapped because should they exit the circle they are standing in they are immeadiately excecuted by a bright laser type stream,of light.

The group is a seemingly random collection of individuals. However as the story progresses, it becomes clear that these people were most likely placed as a representation of the population as a whole. They appear as any person you might see on the street. Theres a high profile buisness type, a soldier, a cop, a thug, a couple having an affair together, a mother to be, a child and several more.

Now as one of the participants figures out and explains to the group, and by extension, the audience, the circle is not randomly selecting people to kill every few minutes. The movement of everyones hands is causing a "vote" on who dies next.

Now what makes this interesting is that as you watch. Initially it is fractured and chaotic and all you want is for them to stop being idiots and band together.

This is a terribke fucking idea.

Because once they band together, and begin to organize, initially to buy time, they start by voting for the elderly to buy time to figure out whats happening. There is one boy, merely sixteen or seventeen, who sacrifices himself for the group. He doesnt know what else to do and he hopes that mayb this last kindness will help others.

There are a short number more who sacrifice themselves because it is inevitable. They have lost hope but had contributed during their time before it ended.

Now what truly stands out are a few specific instances.

The first being the backlash against the first to try and organize the group, when his methods, as thoughtout, and seemingly reasonable as they may be, when the majority no longer feel protected by his voting dictates, he is immeadiately dispossed of.

This is not surprising, throughout history, those who have been trying to help have been killed for it. Humans protect themselves naturally. Those willing to become a target for others is the exception.

Now the next part that stands out is the cop pointing out a thug who had beaten the crap out of his girlfriend for cheating on him. Now the thug knows admitting anything will get him killed, Because if anything, humans overall are a fairly violent and vengeful race. It is only with effort that we can be better. But i digress, the thug, adamantly denies the claims until its clear he is fucked, at which point he tries to justify it and blame her cheating for his behavior. She smugness of the group when they kill him is very clear.

Now as the group dwindles it basically splits into 2 tribes. Those trying to make it out at all costs, and those trying to guarantee either the little girl or the mother to be make it out. This gets fairly heated and results in several more deaths while further showing some fairly instinctual aspects of the process of death, including bargaining.

I skip to the final portion because "tribal conflict" and "us vs them" is a whole other topic, and the final portion is where it really lands one to the gut.

Seriously tho, if you want to watch the movie and hate to have the ending given away. Stop reading now!
I'm serious, im about to discuss the ending of the movie.
You've been warned.

Now as i was saying, the ending here is a gut punch, Especialy if youve been spending this movie trying to decide howd youd survive this same type of ordeal and ended up on the side of, I prolly can't so we save the kid or unborn.

So it comes down to one of the "I must save them" tribe, the kid, and the mother to be. And right here is where it fucked me up. The dude explains that he cant be the one to decide which of them dies. So it comes down to the LITTLE FUCKING GIRL! Who this entire time has been terrified and crying and afraid she would be next, which she almost was a few times. This terrified little kid, who barely understands the world, in this moment is the greatest and saddest of humanity.

She chooses to die, to give the baby a future! This scared little girl, gives up her life for another. Shes amazing! So its right here where it kicks you in the teeth and spits in your face, because this is not a feel good film but a pschological head fuck representation of humanity. And its fairly accurate.

So the guy tells the girl its ok and that hell go with her and as he yells at her to "go now" and she jumps from her circle, to be killed, the guy remains unmoved and votes for the mother to be, killing her as well and saving himself.

A snake in the grass the whole time. Humanity easily seeks out and destroys its blatant enemies, while embracing, to its destruction, the enemy in our midst. People have the ability to be either great or terrible. And tho this ending is a kick in the teeth and saying, see, all that work to save them was for nothing. And that may be, but it doesnt lessen the sacrifices of those who tried, because as we see in the final moments, amongst other survivors back on a normal street. Other groups did save the mother to be or the kid. So it may not work in Your group, but remember yours is not the only group.

Basically, never give up, because you might fail, but failing is not the worst that can happen to you. Also, people suck, but they Can be so much better when they try.

Philosophers Society: The Beginnings.

The first meeting of the Philosopher's Society went very well. We have begun with questions to get to know one another. We are a group who tend to expand on topics and find tangents to those topics, however we remain productive as we get to know one another further. We have diverse backgrounds, diverse opinions and experiences and i believe this will serve our discussions well as we go forward.

Today began with a basic 101 of what Philosophy is, what common fallacies are and a look at inductive and deductive reasoning. A good site for understanding fallacies is: www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com

Philosophy is the study of ways to address fundamental questions in all other fields. Basically, question everything. Do not merely accept something, question it. Ask why or how. Learn from those we are speaking with. This does not mean we must agree with them, but it is a downfall that in recent years the ability to discuss and debate without attacking the other person has been lost.

One of the keys that I believe is needed for this is Active Listening. We should stop listening just so we may answer or retort. We must listen to other points of view in order to understand what they are saying. Many misunderstandings can be avoided by actually listening to anothers point of view. Furthermore, we may learn something from the experience should we be so lucky.

We went on to discuss briefly our backgrounds, where we come from and what our upbringing was like. We did this to better understand where each person is coming from in the discussions down the road. We have the advantage that with our diverse group, We examine and believe in different things. We acknowledge things in different ways and analyze things differently. Our group holds individuals who ascribe to varying beliefs from christianity to atheism and even pantheism. Beliefs ranging from the strictly provable to the intuitive. Skepticism to mysticism. We acknowledge that we do not agree with one another on things, there are things some of us may find unbelievable or even unrealistic, or close minded. We do not however attack one another, we discuss and we learn one anothers views. The more we learn of others, the better we may peacefully and successfully function in the world.

We will be deciding on a topic in the coming weeks for our next meeting. We further decided that the Society shall meet once per month for our discussions.

The Dream God Returns to Dream

The Dream God has now returned to the realm of Dreams. Silas left this realm yesterday afternoon. He is now one with the universe and we wish him well on his travels, whatever those may now be.

The impact Silas had on my life was significant. From an early age i remember looking up to Silas as this cool and mysterious uncle. I had no idea who he was in my early years or what it was that he did but he played guitar and sent me CDs so i was in. I still have Wind on the Waves and Blurb and they are some,of my most inportant posessions and memories. I remember I use to cruise down windy Tennessee backroads with the t-tops down listening to the music and getting lost.

I cant speak much to Silas' professional achievments tho I've heard they were impressive. In fact, i cant rightly even tell you what position he held. None of that was important to me. The man i knew was an inspiration to me, a confidant and a soundboard. I was priveleged enough to perform as an actor and dancer for his concert in Cincinnati and to get to spend time with him in studio. Those were dreams of mine that i was lucky enough to obtain, thanks to the Dream god Silas.

He loved alot, he had high hopes for the future. He said the more we talked and the more passionately I discussed ideas and theories he didnt even know I was aware of, the more hope he had. We discussed politics, Asimov, and various other theories and ideas. I loved those talks. In truth it is largely remembering those talks that has inspired not only the millenial discussions but also the philosophers society.

He was right, change is needed, we may not have always agreed on whay direction or the details of that change but its time for change. And, at least for my part, he helped inspire it.

The world seems a little darker at the moment because we have lost a great and loving man. But with any star, they seem dim and far away until a brilliant supernova illuminates it and sweeps through its vicinity, changing nearly everything they touch and even birthing brand new stars.

Silas can never be replaced. I miss him and I will always love him, ill never forget the things he taught me.

Safe Travels Dream god. Well see you down the road Silas.

Pokemon Go Explained

Pokemon Go, coloquilaly referred to as PoGo, is a free to play, location based, augmented reality game for iOs and Android. The game uses your mobile device's gps to locate, capture, battle, and train creatures called Pokemon. Almost anyone with children in the last twenty-one years can attest to the prevalence of the card and video game.
PoGo was developed by Niantic with the cooperation if Nintendo to take Pokemon into augmented reality world.

Now from a player perspective the way this works is you download the app and login. Once logged in for the first time, a player catches their first pokemon before going off to try and catch more. The premise of the game is to get out of the house, explore the city and area and to catch and battle pokemon while doing so.

Further information on the finer details of gameplay and the system can be found here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go

Now as I was asked previously about the reports that PoGo was used by Russian agents in order to create a stir with the prior election, Id like to address that report here.

The report, as I have found it, according to both Forbes.com and CNN, boils down to this: a Faux Black Lives Matter group called "Don't Shoot Us", which is linked to a Russia linked Facebook account. While I lack the intel and resources to confirm or deny what a Russian group, official or not, may have done. What was reported by Forbes.com is thus:

"The group had presences across YouTube and Instagram as well as Facebook, but one of the most bizarre actions the page took was on its Tumblr site. In July 2016 when Pokémon GOfever was at its peak, Don’t Shoot Us created a contest that asked users to travel to sites where police had killed black victims, take over a nearby gym, and station a Pokémon there named after a police violence victim. Then you’d screenshot it, send it in and be eligible for Amazon gift cards."

According to the report, there is no evidence anyone ever entered the contest.

Those aiming this obvious attempt at using tragic instances to try and create a further media buzz, not to help solve the issue, but to cause further tension, clearly did not research the type of person they were aiming at.

There are two main types of player for PoGo, Hardcore and relaxed. Hardcore players are generally only interested in progressing as fast and efficiently as possible, their goal being to dominate the game. Relaxed players tend to be in it more for the fun, the comraderie and/or the exercise. No matter the style, players tend to not to be overly political in regards to playing. They are playing for fun, not to make a statement.

Past just the players, there is no way, within the app in order to message from one player to another. There is no evidence Niantic had anything to do with this attempted event and it is confirmed that all arrangements were made via third party sites. Even tho this did not directly involve Niantic they are reportedly actively looking into the matter proactively.

All that appears to have happened is that organizers attempted to capitalize on a growing world wide phenomon in order to make a stir.

The Philosophers Society

I have taken the advice of those that liked Millenial Discussions and expanded it. Following the idea from one of my early posts, I have reached out to a multitude of friends and we will begin holding court soon for the pure purpose of discussion and debate on various topics. Stay tuned. More to come on that as we progress forward.