All posts by M.J.

#406: Internet Racism

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #406, on the subject of Internet Racism.

I have previously written quite a bit about discrimination and racism, and about freedom of speech.  I deplore any expression of racism–but I have a lot of trouble with efforts to curtail it by stifling the right to express opinions.  Having read Ray Bradbury’s excellent book Fahrenheit 451 and assuming that all reasonably intelligent well-educated individuals have if not read it at least understood the message it conveyed, I assumed that at least among such people it would be recognized that any effort to stifle speech led directly to dystopian results.

British soccer player Marcus Rashford among those criticized for a missed penalty shot.

Yet it seems I was mistaken in this.

I recognized my mistake watching the British morning light news and talk show Good Morning Britain for July 13th, 2021.  Among the top stories was the unfortunate fact that when England had lost in a major soccer tournament (and I do not follow any sports and care little enough about them that I did not research many of the details) supposed fans went to major social media outlets and posted racist comments about some of the players who had missed critical shots.  The uproar is not exactly because they were criticized for missing shots, but because the criticism suggested that their failures were because they were persons of color.

O.K., that’s plainly stupid.  Maybe it’s an American thing, but blacks dominate many of our sports.  It would be racist to claim that they are naturally better at them (and actually the evidence suggests that it has more to do with their devotion to play at a young age).  Whoever these players are, they are good enough to have gotten on the British national team, and frankly they are inarguably better than any of their critics.  They missed a few shots; that happens.  The critics are displaying their own stupidity through their posts.

However, at least two social media platforms made a concerted effort to remove any posts containing racial slurs about the players as quickly as possible.  Yet the British media thinks this is not enough.  They want those who posted such statements identified and brought up on criminal charges.  They want it to be a crime to express an opinion that includes a negative attitude about race.

Let me turn your attention to Bradbury’s aforementioned book.

The story focuses on a near-term future world and a man who works for the fire department.  It is almost impossible for homes in the future to burn without some kind of accelerant, so there isn’t actually any work putting out fires.  That’s not their job.  Their job is to burn books, and since book lovers can be very devious in hiding books, they burn down the homes of anyone suspected of possessing such contraband.

What is significant for us, though, is how Bradbury imagines the world came to be that way.  The fact is, it is impossible to write anything meaningful that does not offend someone.  Recently books like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings have been accused of racism.  As Bradbury suggests, if you write about mobsters you offend the Italians, if you write about cowboys you offend the Native Americans, if you write about Americans in space you offend the Russians (indeed, the second season of the original Star Trek television series added Pavel Chekov precisely because the Russians were offended that the entire multi-racial crew of The Enterprise had no Russians aboard).  Yet if everything offends someone, and we decide no one is to be offended by anyone, it becomes impossible to write anything beyond the palest pablum.

And so books become illegal because everything is offensive to someone.

Yet the British population wants to make it criminal to say anything via the internet that is offensive, at least to black athletes.  What, though, about offending Italians, or Spaniards, or whoever it was who beat the British team?  That’s also racist.  Offending white players is just as racist.  And before we know it, offending anyone becomes a criminal offense, and none of us can express an opinion about anything for fear that someone else might be offended.  If I say that a particular television show is trash which should insult the intelligence of two-year-olds (and I have said this), I have offended not only the creators of that show but its undoubtedly many fans who enjoy the show.  Yet if I say that a particular show is excellent and worth watching, I have offended those who find the show offensive for some reason.

The opinions of people who irrationally disdain persons who are different from themselves are not worth entertaining–but they are not worth suppressing, either.  They are not worth suppressing because once we do that we give someone power to decide what we are allowed to say.  Who do we want for our thought police?  The wealthy owners of the major social media networks?  Already I know people who have left Facebook and Twitter for MeWe, because the latter promises not to censor their posts.  Already I had a link to an article deleted from my Facebook page because someone (whom I suspect did not read the article) thought it was potentially offensive.

Remember the words of Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes, that “the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas–that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market….”  Remember, too, the words of Evelyn Beatrice Hall, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  If you don’t want the thought police coming to arrest you for expressing your disagreement with someone, don’t empower them to do that now.

*****

Let me provide a few links to previous articles on the subject:

  • Freedom of Expression, a compilation of several previously published articles covering free speech, hate speech, racism, prejudice, and other related issues.
  • #135:  What Racism Is, an examination of the meaning of the word and how it is applied and misapplied.
  • #156:  A New Slant on Offensive Trademarks, anticipating the Supreme Court decision regarding whether an Asian-American band could trademark a name that was considered a derogatory moniker for Asians.
  • #194:  Slanting in Favor of Free Speech, sequel to that, giving the outcome and its implications, and also having much that is relevant to the question of free speech on the internet in connection with a related case.

#405: Versers Converge

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #405, on the subject of Versers Converge.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first six novels, Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel, Old Verses New, For Better or Verse, Spy Verses, Garden of Versers, and Versers Versus Versers, in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the seventh, Re Verse All,  I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.

This is the twenty-third mark Joseph “young” web log post covering this book, covering chapters 133 through 138.  It was suggested that more shorter posts were a better choice than fewer longer ones, so there will be posts every six chapters, that is, every other week, for this book.  Previous entries were:

  1. #354:  Versers Reorienting, covering chapters 1 through 6;
  2. #355:  Versers Resettling, for chapters 7 through 12.
  3. #357:  Characters Connect, for chapters 13 through 18.
  4. #359:  Characters Engage, for chapters 19 through 24.
  5. #361:  Characters Explore, for chapters 25 through 30.
  6. #364:  Characters Learn, for chapters 31 through 36.
  7. #365:  Characters Travel, for chapters 37 through 42.
  8. #367:  Versers Encounter, for chapters 43 through 48.
  9. #370:  Characters Confront, for chapters 49 through 54.
  10. #373:  Nervous Characters, for chapters 55 through 60.
  11. #376:  Characters Arrive, for chapters 61 through 66.
  12. #379:  Character Conundrums, for chapters 67 through 72.
  13. #381:  World Complications, for chapters 73 through 78.
  14. #383:  Character Departures, for chapters 79 through 84.
  15. #385:  Characters Ascend, for chapters 85 through 90.
  16. #388:  Versers Climb, for chapters 91 through 96.
  17. #390:  World Facilities, for chapters 97 through 102.
  18. #392:  Characters Resting, for chapters 103 through 108.
  19. #395:  Character Obstacles, for chapters 109 through 114.
  20. #397:  Verser Challenges, for chapters 115 through 120.
  21. #401:  Characters Hiking, for chapters 121 through 126.
  22. #403:  Versers Innovating, for chapters 127 through 132.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 133, Takano 52

I’m hoping the graffiti will be something different for the reader.  The discussion of attacks and blocks has given me a problem, though, because it’s obvious to me that Tommy would see she could order a weapon from the computer even though it wouldn’t occur to Lauren, and I’m facing the perennial problem that if Lauren teaches Tommy to fight with the same weapon Lauren uses, Tommy will fight like Lauren and my stories will be more the same.


Chapter 134, Beam 109

I had mentally created two disruptions for Beam, and having two trucks going opposite directions was one of them.  I was not certain I wouldn’t lose someone, but I played it out and managed what I think was a moderately tense scene.

It was also a bit of a tricky scenario to envision, and I wound up re-writing because I believed I had the ascending and descending trucks reversed in one paragraph–the descending truck had to pass behind the ascending truck, which had moved out of the lane, and the ascending truck had to return to its left.  I was still making corrections the day I released it.  Anyway, I hope that’s correct.


Chapter 135, Hastings 226

I had been struggling over the question of how to keep Tommy from becoming a Lauren clone, and pulled out my old Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Oriental Adventures book.  I quickly found the kawanaga, and liked it immediately–it was similar enough in name that Tommy could have ordered it by mistake, and it was a flex weapon similar enough to the kau sin ke that Lauren would be able to adapt her techniques to it while different enough that it couldn’t do everything Lauren did but could do quite a few things she couldn’t.  I ran it past Kyler, who agreed that it was exactly the sort of thing he was thinking.

The recollection that Lauren was “into” horses as a girl suggested to me that she probably had handled a lariat at some point, and throwing a grapple is undoubtedly easier, so she could adapt some of those techniques to explain why she was able to use the rope weapon so readily.


Chapter 136, Beam 110

For a while I had in my head that one of the events in the Beam pilgrimage would have to be encountering another large group.  This was that.  I did not know how it would go, but felt my way through it.


Chapter 137, Takano 53

Lauren and Tommy are about to connect with Beam, but I wanted to create the feel of multiple days of travel and practice before they did.


Chapter 138, Beam 111

I had managed to bring Beam up far enough that it was time for him to intersect with Lauren.  The discussion of why he was unaware of her approach but Dawn wasn’t I thought obvious and straightforward.

I intentionally misspelled the name of the other group leader because it would reflect the fact that Beam didn’t care.


This has been the twenty-third behind the writings look at Re Verse All.  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with another novel and more behind the writings posts for it.

#404: The Song “Love’s the Only Command”

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #404, on the subject of The Song “Love’s the Only Command”.

This is another early one.  I remember playing it for Dennis Mullins when I was in high school–well, Dennis is another story.

It happens that our mothers were friends, but I don’t think either of us knew that back then.  He was probably half a dozen years older than I, out of high school as I was getting in, and he played in a popular local rock band.  I never heard them back then, but I saw posters for Some Other Animal, with the four of them wearing furs.  They signed with Epic Records, I’d wager around 1971 or 72, changing their name to Rock Garden, and then with the Jesus Movement sweeping through, Dennis became a Christian and didn’t want to do that music anymore.  Well, I could tell you how it spread, but within a couple months Rock Garden was playing some really good multiple-vocal Christian pop-rock at the local coffeehouse and elsewhere.

But I have to roll this back a bit.

I was probably a freshman or sophomore, and sometimes I would walk home from school rather than take the bus or get my mother to drive me.  Probably most of the shorter ways for me to get home took me past his house, and one day as I was passing I heard him plunking on the piano, and was intrigued, so I walked up to the house and positioned myself on the front stoop to listen.  He was downstairs, I think it must have been a split, but he suddenly realized someone was on the front porch, and he was swiftly up the stairs (tall and lanky) and asking me, politely, what I wanted.  I explained that I’d heard him playing and just wanted to listen, which was apparently fine with him, and I didn’t stay much longer.  But I didn’t know who he was then.

So all of that stuff previously mentioned happens, and now I’m a fan of the band, but also writing my own music, and I wrote this song, Love’s the Only Command.  For what it’s worth, I still think that the vocals on it are very like something Rock Garden would have done.  So I went over to his house, must have taken my guitar, and told him that I’d written a song I thought his band could do.  He listened; he liked it.

He did ask whether they could change the words to “open the door”, “because that’s what He said.”  “He said both,” I responded, and he kind of shrugged.

I’d like to say that Rock Garden sang my song at Carnegie Hall, but no, they never sang it.  I’m not even sure why not.  I hope it wasn’t because he thought I was arguing about the lyrics.  But The Last Psalm did it, and it might even have been our signature song.

As to Dennis, Rock Garden did sing at Carnegie Hall, the same night that Danny Taylor and Andre Crouch recorded live albums there.  Then the following week they performed one more local concert, and broke up.  Drummer Peter Hopper went to the Love Inn and worked with people like Phil Keaggy and Ted Sandquist.  Dennis had a solo career including recording a song for Mother Teresa.  Our paths crossed at least once, at some kind of reception I attended where he was playing.

Decades later I gave the members of Collision copies of about thirty-seven songs, and said if there was anything on the CDs they thought we should do, let me know.  Jonathan picked this one.  So Collision learned it, and performed it a few times.  I have to laugh, really, because it will quickly become apparent that all three verses have the same words; I thought it was sufficient variation to keep raising the complexity of the vocals.  But Jonathan asked if we could change the words to the last verse.  Then when it was too late, I remembered Dennis, and thought gee, we could make the last verse “open the door.”  But we never did.

This recording is another of the four vocals over midi instruments mp3s I did when Jessie Oldham asked me to get her a recording of Last Psalm music.  Parts of Ruthann (Mekita)’s high soprano are covered by a midi trumpet.  To this day, a few that remember those days refer to her part on the chorus as “the moose call” and tease me for my vocal arrangement there.

I remember in a Collision rehearsal, one of the early shots at this song, I told drummer Nick that on the last verse the chorus gets quiet right after I sing “scream and shout it”.  When we finished the run-through, he told me I was wrong–I had forgotten that I sing those words twice in that verse, once in the middle and again at the end.  Ah, well.  I can’t always be right.

Love’s the Only Command.

So here are the lyrics.

Haven’t you noticed miracles happen ev’ry day?
Don’t you know Jesus is the only way?
Jesus Himself said, “I am the door.”
And if we follow Him, we’ll know what it’s all for.

Jesus can be your friend.
He’ll be true to the end.
You know God understands.
Love’s the only command.

Haven’t you noticed miracles happen ev’ry day?
Don’t you know Jesus is the only way?
Jesus Himself said, “I am the door.”
And if we follow Him, we’ll know what it’s all for.

Jesus can be your friend.
He’ll be true to the end.
You know God understands.
Love’s the only command.

I’m gonna preach about it,
Teach about it,
Sing about it,
Scream and shout it.

Jesus can be your friend.
He’ll be true to the end.
You know God understands.
Love’s the only command.

Haven’t you noticed miracles happen ev’ry day?
    (I’m gonna preach about it)
    (I’m gonna teach about it)
Don’t you know Jesus is the only way?
    (I’m gonna sing about it)
    (I’m gonna scream and shout it)
Jesus Himself said, “I am the door.”
    (I’m gonna preach about it)
    (I’m gonna teach about it)
And if we follow Him, we’ll know what it’s all for.
    (I’m gonna sing about it)
    (I’m gonna scream and shout it)

Jesus can be your friend.
He’ll be true to the end.
You know God understands.
Love’s the only command.

Jesus can be your friend.
He’ll be true to the end.
You know God understands.
Love’s the only command.

I can only hope you benefit from the song in some way.  I will continue with additional songs in the future.

*****

Previous web log song posts:

#301:  The Song “Holocaust” | #307:  The Song “Time Bomb” | #311:  The Song “Passing Through the Portal” | #314:  The Song “Walkin’ In the Woods” | #317:  The Song “That’s When I’ll Believe” | #320:  The Song “Free” | #322:  The Song “Voices” | #326:  The Song “Mountain, Mountain” | #328:  The Song “Still Small Voice” | #334:  The Song “Convinced” | #337:  The Song “Selfish Love” | #340:  The Song “A Man Like Paul” | #341:  The Song “Joined Together” | #346:  The Song “If We Don’t Tell Them” | #349: The Song “I Can’t Resist You’re Love” | #353:  The Song “I Use to Think” | #356:  The Song “God Said It Is Good” | #362:  My Life to You | #366:  The Song “Sometimes” | #372:  The Song “Heavenly Kingdom” | #378:  The Song “A Song of Joy” | #382:  The Song “Not Going to Notice” | #387:  The Song “Our God Is Good” | #393:  The Song “Why” | #399:  The Song “Look Around You”

Next song:  Given You My Name

#403: Versers Innovating

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #403, on the subject of Versers Innovating.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first six novels, Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel, Old Verses New, For Better or Verse, Spy Verses, Garden of Versers, and Versers Versus Versers, in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the seventh, Re Verse All,  I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.

This is the twenty-second mark Joseph “young” web log post covering this book, covering chapters 127 through 132.  It was suggested that more shorter posts were a better choice than fewer longer ones, so there will be posts every six chapters, that is, every other week, for this book.  Previous entries were:

  1. #354:  Versers Reorienting, covering chapters 1 through 6;
  2. #355:  Versers Resettling, for chapters 7 through 12.
  3. #357:  Characters Connect, for chapters 13 through 18.
  4. #359:  Characters Engage, for chapters 19 through 24.
  5. #361:  Characters Explore, for chapters 25 through 30.
  6. #364:  Characters Learn, for chapters 31 through 36.
  7. #365:  Characters Travel, for chapters 37 through 42.
  8. #367:  Versers Encounter, for chapters 43 through 48.
  9. #370:  Characters Confront, for chapters 49 through 54.
  10. #373:  Nervous Characters, for chapters 55 through 60.
  11. #376:  Characters Arrive, for chapters 61 through 66.
  12. #379:  Character Conundrums, for chapters 67 through 72.
  13. #381:  World Complications, for chapters 73 through 78.
  14. #383:  Character Departures, for chapters 79 through 84.
  15. #385:  Characters Ascend, for chapters 85 through 90.
  16. #388:  Versers Climb, for chapters 91 through 96.
  17. #390:  World Facilities, for chapters 97 through 102.
  18. #392:  Characters Resting, for chapters 103 through 108.
  19. #395:  Character Obstacles, for chapters 109 through 114.
  20. #397:  Verser Challenges, for chapters 115 through 120.
  21. #401:  Characters Hiking, for chapters 121 through 126.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 127, Hastings 224

I kind of stumbled into most of this because I needed something.  They are actually getting close to the truth about the people, but I don’t think it will ever be confirmed.


Chapter 128, Beam 106

I had set myself up for this speech, although I had not rehearsed it.  Even the opening was spur of the moment.  I have not even decided whether he loses anyone when he continues.

I asked Kyler his thoughts, and he said roll a charisma check and use relative success.  Since I specifically don’t use dice to guide the stories in the books, I’m going to have to think it through a different way.


Chapter 129, Takano 51

For at least two days I pondered what I could write for Tomiko, opening the last Hastings chapter and closing it again several times.

I came to these thoughts by imagining the duo walking in the plain hallways and comparing that to walking in our world.  It struck me that there wasn’t even any artwork.  I had been thinking about what I thought about when I used to walk, as home from school and such or hiking with scouts, and I’m afraid I was very internalized.  However, it struck me that other people on walks notice the world around them (I had been watching the BBC’s Springwatch program, hosted by such people) and that Tommy had nothing to notice.  The chapter developed from there.

I feel like the chapters are too intellectual, because I’m struggling to get Beam to the surface and it’s a long trek which has to be broken up with stories of Tommy and Lauren, who are similarly on a long trek trying to get to him.  I’m pushing to get to the end and start the read-through edit–this past weekend I published the last installment of Versers Versus Versers and started posting the support materials, so I’m going to be done soon and needing the next book.


Chapter 130, Beam 107

I was going to take thirty from Beam’s crew, but got confused about how many were in which groups and which group belonged to Tennan Tamis.  I wound up taking twenty five, mostly from his group, then upped it to thirty; I had never established which group lost the people killed in the accident.

Having Beam climb two levels was a push I knew I could do based on his mood–he’s a bit angry about people turning away from him, even before he knows how many he lost.  The third level was an extra I added because I figured I had a chance to push the story forward a bit faster.

I hate bean soup, but the guy on whom Beam is based loves it and frequently when he visits us he makes a big pot of it and leaves it in our refrigerator until it goes bad and I throw it away–but then, I don’t know whether anyone else likes it because frankly I’m generally the only one who really eats the leftovers.

Again I had to adjust the numbers because I had gotten it in my head that there were about a hundred fifty when it was only just over a hundred.  I had to cut down several of the numbers to make it work.


Chapter 131, Hastings 225

The double T image was the first graffiti idea I had; the sun comes from memories of native American symbols, and the spiral was because I needed at least three that were recognizable.

I had set up the paint delivery in the previous chapter but hadn’t mentioned it to Lauren, so this was all surprise to her.  Tommy is experimenting and will probably improve at graffiti over time.


Chapter 132, Beam 108

I had been complaining to myself that at one level a day it was going to take a long time to get Beam out of the caves.  Each level took at least one chapter, and complications usually caused them to take longer but were needed to keep the story interesting.

I was seriously thinking about packing four levels into this chapter by covering two days, but as I was writing I had two significant events enter my head both of which would probably stretch the chapter–one a problem with two trucks going opposite directions, the other a confrontation with another tribe, probably inhabiting one of the apartments.


This has been the twenty-second behind the writings look at Re Verse All (and the one hundredth look behind the writings of the Multiverser novel series).  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with another novel and more behind the writings posts for it.

#402: New Jersey 2021 Primary Results

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #402, on the subject of New Jersey 2021 Primary Results.

With 96% of the votes counted, it may be that they have stopped counting because the results are settled.  In fact, on the Democratic side, Governor Phil Murphy was declared the winner with 0% of the votes counted.  Obviously on the Republican side, the 38% of voters who were undecided either made up their minds or didn’t go to the polls.

Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattareli might be said to have swept the Republican primary.  In a four-way race he took over 49% of the vote.  He had been polling (as previously reported) around 29%.  Although he did not quite draw half the vote, he did take at least the plurality in every county, leading the other candidates not only state-wide but everywhere in the state.

The surprise in the race is Philip Rizzo.  Previous polling at 8%, he took a hair shy of 26% of the primary vote.  This being his first foray into the political arena, we might be seeing him again.

Hirsh Singh had perhaps a disappointing run, as he lost a point and a half off his poll number of 23% to pull a half point over 21% in the vote.  It is not clear which of the other candidates benefited from that.

The distant fourth place finalist, former Franklin Township Mayor and Somerset County Freeholder Brian Levine, picked up a point from his 2% polling number to just over 3% in the election.

So Lord willing we will return with a look at our top contenders and other thoughts on the election, between now and November sometime.

#401: Characters Hiking

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #401, on the subject of Characters Hiking.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first six novels, Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel, Old Verses New, For Better or Verse, Spy Verses, Garden of Versers, and Versers Versus Versers, in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the seventh, Re Verse All,  I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.

This is the twenty-first mark Joseph “young” web log post covering this book, covering chapters 121 through 126.  It was suggested that more shorter posts were a better choice than fewer longer ones, so there will be posts every six chapters, that is, every other week, for this book.  Previous entries were:

  1. #354:  Versers Reorienting, covering chapters 1 through 6;
  2. #355:  Versers Resettling, for chapters 7 through 12.
  3. #357:  Characters Connect, for chapters 13 through 18.
  4. #359:  Characters Engage, for chapters 19 through 24.
  5. #361:  Characters Explore, for chapters 25 through 30.
  6. #364:  Characters Learn, for chapters 31 through 36.
  7. #365:  Characters Travel, for chapters 37 through 42.
  8. #367:  Versers Encounter, for chapters 43 through 48.
  9. #370:  Characters Confront, for chapters 49 through 54.
  10. #373:  Nervous Characters, for chapters 55 through 60.
  11. #376:  Characters Arrive, for chapters 61 through 66.
  12. #379:  Character Conundrums, for chapters 67 through 72.
  13. #381:  World Complications, for chapters 73 through 78.
  14. #383:  Character Departures, for chapters 79 through 84.
  15. #385:  Characters Ascend, for chapters 85 through 90.
  16. #388:  Versers Climb, for chapters 91 through 96.
  17. #390:  World Facilities, for chapters 97 through 102.
  18. #392:  Characters Resting, for chapters 103 through 108.
  19. #395:  Character Obstacles, for chapters 109 through 114.
  20. #397:  Verser Challenges, for chapters 115 through 120.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 121, Takano 49

I had Lauren order breakfast to demonstrate that she had learned how to use the computer to obtain food.

This was another nothing happens leg of the journey, but I decided to delve a bit into the background for the world by having Tommy ponder the design of the machine and why the world was as it was.


Chapter 122, Beam 103

Bron’s decision to get the power tools was something of an abrupt choice.  I figured he knew how to use them from the bunker, and he knew they were more efficient than what they were using, and it made sense for him to add them to his cart.

I had envisioned the destructive wake of the mining machine previously, and wanted to continue the evidence that the computer was malfunctioning, so having it destroy the restaurants and head somewhere else made sense.


Chapter 123, Hastings 223

I was on some level filling space as I turned to Lauren musing about guidance and whether she was right in seeking the other verser and dragging Tommy along with her.  I don’t think it was wasted, though, as her musings on guidance are of some value.


Chapter 124, Beam 104

The double reason to have the construction crew stand by the bridge was obvious, but actually I thought of the second reason first:  they would have to be there in case the bridge broke, so they could repair it.  It would be better, though, for that not to be the first reason, and the idea that they should be honored for their work was an easy idea to set first.

I knew these chapters were all short, but it was difficult to make them longer.  The story was being told in pieces.


Chapter 125, Takano 50

I knew it was a training day, and I knew they would be stopping in an apartment block, so I had to wrap my head around what they would have that Lauren could use as training equipment.  I remembered that in my own game Raiden had me walk on the backs of benches; I didn’t remember whether I had included that in Lauren’s training, but it seemed likely and anyway a reasonably obvious option.  The mattresses were not as obvious, because I wasn’t sure whether I had previously said they could or could not be removed, but I wanted Tommy to have a soft surface for rolling and falling, so I decided to go with that.  I still have to do a read-through edit, so maybe I’ll notice if I didn’t make them removable, and I’ll try to reconcile it then.

I had actually thought of pot roast for the last Beam chapter, but didn’t go for it, and then this time I decided that it would work for Tommy and Lauren.  I did not decide whether it was pork or beef, but instead ignored the question.


Chapter 126, Beam 105

The potential mutiny of the people struck me, given that they had climbed eight levels and nothing was different.  I’ve set myself up for a Beam speech, which I’m going to have to figure out in his next chapter, but I’m not too worried about it.  I am worried about how I’m going to decide whether he loses people, and who he loses.


This has been the twenty-first behind the writings look at Re Verse All.  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with another novel and more behind the writings posts for it.

#400: New Jersey 2021 Primary

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #400, on the subject of New Jersey 2021 Primary.

I must admit that the primary snuck up on me this year–it’s today, June 8th, 2021, and I only discovered this last night.  So I have rushed through a bit of research to get this for you.  We are electing a governor this year; that’s not all we’re electing, but that’s the big deal.

On the Democratic side, Governor Phil Murphy (pictured) is not exactly running unopposed.  Although his is the only name on the ballot, Lisa McCormick is formally listed as a write-in candidate.  Her name was struck from the ballot due to evidence that some of the signatures on her nominating petition were fraudulent.

On the Republican ballot, there are four contenders, but the leading percentage of voters as of yesterday had 38% undecided.  Otherwise, Jack Ciattarelli holds the lead with 29% of the voters in most recent polls and all the major endorsements.  He has served in the State Assembly, started two successful businesses, has an M.B.A. from Seton Hall, and owns a publishing company.  He recognizes Trump as the legitimate standard bearer of the party until a new leader is elected even though Biden won the 2020 election.  He promises economic improvement for the state.

Some distance behind him, at 23% of the vote, is Hirsh Singh, an avid Trump supporter who believes the 2020 election was fraudulent.  Singh is an engineer with a bachelor’s degree covering engineering science, biomedical engineering, and material science, with experience in the fields of missile defense, satellite navigation, and aviation security.  He has no political experience.

Philip Rizzo is third with 8% of the vote in the polls.  His bachelors from Villanova is in business management, he has held no previous political office, but he has worked in real estate and construction and served as a pastor.  He met with Trump in May at Mar-a-Lago, and compared his campaign to Trump’s 2016 run.

Finally, polling at 2%, is Brian Levine.  Former Mayor of Franklin Township and Somerset County Freeholder, his bachelors degree is in economics, from Rutgers, and he is a C.P.A.  He is running a grassroots campaign.  He says he supports some of Trump’s policies, but that the party needs to take its eyes off Trump and put them on economic issues.

In addition to the governor’s race, both New Jersey legislative houses are up for complete replacement.  Most of these races, though, are uncontested at the primary level, and those that are contested would take too much space and address too few readers to be worth covering here (we have forty districts).

I shall endeavor to provide additional information once the primary dust settles and we know who the candidates are for the November election.

#399: The Song “Look Around You”

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #399, on the subject of The Song “Look Around You”.

This is one of the early ones.  I am reminded that it’s early, because it has brass parts (lost in the mix, but you can hear them in your left ear faintly if you’re wearing headphones).  The Last Psalm had a brass section in the first half of 1973, which dissolved when my seniors graduated.  I remember John Ford on trumpet, a younger trumpet player whose name I don’t recall, Barbara Unrath on french horn, and a trombone player, I think his name was something like Steve Gruber.

For a song that old, yes, there are a lot of anecdotes.  I remember that the trombone player never made it to a single rehearsal.  The funniest was when he invited us to rehearse at his house and was there while we set up and then said he had to go somewhere and left us rehearsing at his house while he went out.

We did the song with The Last Psalm, much the way I did this recording, with Peggy Lisbona and I trading vocals back and forth on the verses and the others coming in for four-part harmonies on the choruses.  The last year John Miller sang with us, a black student who brought a couple of spirituals to our repertoire, but not on this song; but at one of the rehearsals as I was singing the first line, “all you see is darkness”, I hyperemphasized that last word and looked right at him, and we both cracked up and the song fell apart.  But the song stood us in good stead for the entire run of the band.

I redid it with Collision, transposing the brass to the keyboard.  I also wrote a part for John Mastick to play on a euphonium, at his insistence that he wanted to join the band as our second drummer and sometimes brass player, but I think he realized that a hundred fifty miles was too far to travel for rehearsals, and he never made it even to one.  (What is it with brass players, anyway?)  I remember worrying that Baxter would goof, because there’s one chord in the chorus that’s an A minor the first time through and an A major the second time, but he never once got it wrong, which impressed me.  We only had two voices with Collision, but were adding a third in that final year before the band dissolved.

This recording is one of the four vocals over midi instruments ones I did when Jessie Oldham asked me to get her a recording of Last Psalm music.  As I mentioned, I’m trying to sound like Peggy on some of the lines, but her voice is better than that.  Tristan did not list this song among his choices, and perhaps because it seems dated to me I ranked it number thirty for the song itself–but the recording and performance is pretty good, thirteenth on the list, which pulled it up to number 25 overall.

Look Around You.

So here are the lyrics.

Look around you, all you see is darkness.
Ev’rywhere the world is in despair.
‘Though we try to tackle all our problems,
We can’t find the answers anywhere.

But Jesus died that we might live.
You know He gave His life, ’twas all that He could give.

Many people say there’s no solution
To the problems that we all must face:
Sex and drugs and crime, war and polution,
And the hatred in the human race.

But Jesus died that we (that we) might live.
You know He gave His life, ’twas all that He could give.

He gave His love to me for all time,
So why is it that I can’t give Him mine?
He said He loved me, too,
And all I gotta do
Is ask Him in, believe in Him, and let His love shine through.

So it’s time that you made your selection,
And decide which way you’re gonna go.
Do you want to go your own direction,
Or let Him lead you to this peace I know?

Jesus will give you peace, I know.
Jesus will give you peace, I know.
He’s the Prince of Peace,
The Lord of Love,
He’ll give you peace, I know.

I can only hope you benefit from the song in some way.  I will continue with additional songs in the future.

*****

Previous web log song posts:

#301:  The Song “Holocaust” | #307:  The Song “Time Bomb” | #311:  The Song “Passing Through the Portal” | #314:  The Song “Walkin’ In the Woods” | #317:  The Song “That’s When I’ll Believe” | #320:  The Song “Free” | #322:  The Song “Voices” | #326:  The Song “Mountain, Mountain” | #328:  The Song “Still Small Voice” | #334:  The Song “Convinced” | #337:  The Song “Selfish Love” | #340:  The Song “A Man Like Paul” | #341:  The Song “Joined Together” | #346:  The Song “If We Don’t Tell Them” | #349: The Song “I Can’t Resist You’re Love” | #353:  The Song “I Use to Think” | #356:  The Song “God Said It Is Good” | #362:  My Life to You | #366:  The Song “Sometimes” | #372:  The Song “Heavenly Kingdom” | #378:  The Song “A Song of Joy” | #382:  The Song “Not Going to Notice” | #387:  The Song “Our God Is Good” | #393:  The Song “Why”

Next Song:  Love’s the Only Command

#398: New 2021 Face Mask Rules in New Jersey

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #398, on the subject of New 2021 Face Mask Rules in New Jersey.

As of Friday, May 28, 2021, Governor Murphy has lifted many of the enforced COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place over the past year–but not all of them.

Last year, on the day before Halloween, we went to a costume store and they told us we had to wear masks.

O.K., that’s probably the last opportunity I will have to tell that joke, so I hope someone giggled.

I am among those who thought the restrictions were a bit too strong.  For example, CDC guidelines stated that respiratory patients such as asthmatics and people with COPD should not wear masks due to the danger of hypoxia, but only some facilities had signs suggesting that persons with relevant medical conditions were excused.  Also, there is good reason to believe that anyone who had the virus and beat it was thereafter both as immune and as non-contagious as someone who had been vaccinated, but no credit was given to that and persons who had been infected were still vaccinated despite evidence that such people had more severe reactions to the vaccines.  But reason is returning to New Jersey.

Speaking of reason, although there will not be legal enforcement, the governor has expressed his hope that those who have not been fully vaccinated (two weeks after the final vaccination injection of any version of the vaccine) would continue to exercise precautions including masks and social distancing.  I find this a bit amusing.  Granted that there are people who have been thus far unable to obtain a vaccine, I am inclined to think that many of those who have chosen not to be vaccinated believe that the entire virus story is a scam and precautions are nonsense.  However, that is the hope.

At the same time, not all restrictions have been lifted, and they are not all being lifted simultaneously.  Here are some of the highlights.

  • The state no longer requires the wearing of masks in public spaces, such as retail stores, restaurants, bars, theaters, and similar establishments.  However, businesses with public areas are permitted to retain such restrictions if they desire.  So it might be that your local grocery store will want you to be masked and observe social distancing, and they are allowed to require that, but the state no longer mandates that they do.
  • Similarly, social distancing is no longer required in a long list of public facilities and functions, including retail stores, personal care services, gyms, recreational and entertainment businesses, casinos, and indoor gatherings including religious services, political activities, weddings, funerals, memorial services, commercial gatherings, catered events, sports competitions, and performances.  However, once again businesses overseeing these facilities can retain the restrictions if they wish.
  • During this crisis it has been unlawful to order food or to eat or drink while standing in bars and restaurants.  That restriction has also been lifted.

These restrictions have all been terminated as of Friday, May 28th, 2021.  There have also been gathering size limits on all indoor gatherings, set according to the type of gathering and the size of the venue, but all these are lifted as of June 4th, 2021, restoring all venues to their licensed capacity limits.

Now for those restrictions which have been retained.

  • Masks are still required in all health care facilities, including long-term care (e.g., nursing homes), medical offices (e.g. doctor visits, physical therapy, labs), and hospitals.  This is consistent with CDC (Center for Disease Control) guidelines.
  • Masks are also required in facilities hosting or housing large numbers of persons, including correctional facilities, homeless shelters, child care centers, youth summer camps, and schools from preschool through twelfth grade whether public, private, or parochial.
  • Business worksites and offices that are not open to the public still must enforce the restrictions.  If you work in an office that does not entertain clients or customers in your area, you are still required to follow both masking and social distancing rules while at work.
  • Restrictions remain in effect in all government offices, including those which are open to the public such as government benefits programs and motor vehicles.
  • Masks must be worn on all forms of mass transit, including trains, buses, and planes, and at the connected railway stations, bus terminals, and airports.  This again is a CDC regulation, and probably outside the authority of the governor.  There is a good reason why activity on airplanes is regulated by the Federal government (Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, we have just entered New Jersey air space, please affix your required medical masks while we are crossing the state).

So we have not returned to normal, but we are a significant step closer.

#397: Verser Challenges

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #397, on the subject of Verser Challenges.

With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first six novels, Verse Three, Chapter One:  The First Multiverser Novel, Old Verses New, For Better or Verse, Spy Verses, Garden of Versers, and Versers Versus Versers, in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book).  Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages.  Now as I am posting the seventh, Re Verse All,  I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights.  This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed.  You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them.  Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.

There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.

This is the twentieth mark Joseph “young” web log post covering this book, covering chapters 115 through 120.  It was suggested that more shorter posts were a better choice than fewer longer ones, so there will be posts every six chapters, that is, every other week, for this book.  Previous entries were:

  1. #354:  Versers Reorienting, covering chapters 1 through 6;
  2. #355:  Versers Resettling, for chapters 7 through 12.
  3. #357:  Characters Connect, for chapters 13 through 18.
  4. #359:  Characters Engage, for chapters 19 through 24.
  5. #361:  Characters Explore, for chapters 25 through 30.
  6. #364:  Characters Learn, for chapters 31 through 36.
  7. #365:  Characters Travel, for chapters 37 through 42.
  8. #367:  Versers Encounter, for chapters 43 through 48.
  9. #370:  Characters Confront, for chapters 49 through 54.
  10. #373:  Nervous Characters, for chapters 55 through 60.
  11. #376:  Characters Arrive, for chapters 61 through 66.
  12. #379:  Character Conundrums, for chapters 67 through 72.
  13. #381:  World Complications, for chapters 73 through 78.
  14. #383:  Character Departures, for chapters 79 through 84.
  15. #385:  Characters Ascend, for chapters 85 through 90.
  16. #388:  Versers Climb, for chapters 91 through 96.
  17. #390:  World Facilities, for chapters 97 through 102.
  18. #392:  Characters Resting, for chapters 103 through 108.
  19. #395:  Character Obstacles, for chapters 109 through 114.

History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.

Chapter 115, Hastings 221

I’m still struggling to create interesting story, and having Tommy discover the history of the world provides backstory for them and for Beam, who was never interested enough to look for it.

I find myself writing about food not because I’m hungry but because I know they have to eat and sleep and it breaks the monotony of travel.


Chapter 116, Beam 100

I was not sure how much to cover in this section, but I had decided that Beam was going to create a construction crew which would be useful on the surface, even though I had no idea what I would be doing on the surface.  I wound up postponing the bridge building partly because I didn’t like the way it was shaped in my brain and didn’t want to start it, even though I had no idea what Tommy and Lauren would be doing.


Chapter 117, Takano 48

I was struggling with the effort to find something different, and decided that a utility control room would be different.  Once I’d decided that, and knowing that I needed to include physical training, I envisioned the pipes as tools for training, and went with the balance skills.

When I was a child, our next door neighbor had what we incorrectly called split rail fences (they were properly called wooden post fences), and we–my brother, my sister, the girl next door who was my brother’s age, and I–learned to walk on them, forward, backward, eyes open and eyes closed, maybe, if memory serves, jumping on them.  The hardest thing I remember was negotiating past the roses, but different slats had different shaped surfaces and posed different challenges.  Then once we’d learned enough, we began teaching the other kids in the neighborhood how to do it.  A lot of that is being channeled in this training session, although some of it comes from my imagined gameplay when I first started playing Multiverser.


Chapter 118, Beam 101

I had been writing this and stopped abruptly when I realized that I had been envisioning it as if the entire crew was at the top, but I had only brought up three plus Dawn and Beam.  There were only a few corrections–I had had Beam address Bron at one point–but I wasn’t sure how big a mistake it was so I set it aside, went to bed, and fixed it in the morning.

I felt like this chapter was dragging on, not letting me get past the dull stuff, until finally I managed to get to bringing Bron up and I could break it.


Chapter 119, Hastings 222

I decided to reverse the teacher/student relationship mostly to do something that would be at least a little different in this chapter.  Besides, it makes sense for Lauren to want to know how to get food in this world without being totally dependent on Tommy, and for her to want to learn more about using computers.


Chapter 120, Beam 102

The bridge design sort of came together in pieces.  I kept visualizing it a bit different.  I had actually typed that the planks ran parallel to the edges of the hole, but immediately decided that they had to run across the hole, and changed it before I’d finished the sentence.

I knew it would take more than one day to finish, and I knew that Beam was the sort of person who wouldn’t stop work until he had to, so to get him back for dinner I had to deplete the lumber.  This would also send him back to the hardware supply and use part of his next day, although less than they had used previously.


This has been the twentieth behind the writings look at Re Verse All.  If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with another novel and more behind the writings posts for it.