It’s that time again! It’s Meerkat Muse time!

Dreams

We begin with a dream that technically could have slipped into the previous Muse, but I hadn’t figured it out (and still haven’t). I was walking near the woods, and there was a river, lined with a wooden jetty and old, abandoned building/house, that I found myself in. There was some kind of kitchen and old units in the room, and I don’t know why I went there, what it was or… well, anything about the place. It was peculiar and I can’t place the dream into any form of context. Such is my wacky subconscious.

The human mind is a curious and erratic thing, at least in my case. I’ve convinced myself that my memory is not what it was (covid is said to have an impact on the memory centre of the brain in some cases), though I may just be being paranoid, and convincing myself of a problem that doesn’t exist. Self-doubt and self-criticism are running faults of mine, and worrying is another.

The Awakening

My publisher has come back to me and, as I expected, there is a lot of work to do. I don’t mind admitting that I was initially a bit deflated by the apparent scale of it all, but as I delve back into the process, I find myself enjoying the challenge once more. There is one small niggle – I am writing in UK English and my publisher keeps ‘correcting’ the spelling! I spoke to them via Zoom the other day and I feel renewed, so to speak. Things are on track, even if the editing process can sometimes feel like homework.

Ukraine

I don’t know how to put into words the horror I feel at this conflict, or the anger I feel every time Russia refers to their ‘special military operation’. Putin and his cronies have landed themselves in a long-term, bitter struggle, despite expecting things to be over quickly, and their ‘special operation’ is going to cripple Russia via sanctions before long, which will affect millions of ordinary Russians, most of whom do not want war (or do not understand that this is a war, due to Russia’s tightly-controlled state media). Ukrainians will suffer far more, thanks to Putin’s lust for territory and his desire to resurrect Soviet-era borders. This is not a special operation, it is a war of conquest, be it via direct seizure of territory or via a proxy, but Putin has vastly underestimated the will of the Ukrainian people to fight, and vastly overestimated the abilities of his own armed forces.

Ukrainians will die and Russians will die too, and all because of the whim of a madman.

Do we step in? At what point does it become untenable to rely on sanctions and nothing more? Russian attacks have destroyed hospitals and killed scores of civilians. At one point their assaults threatened the security of nuclear power plants. It feels as though they’re trying to provoke an incident with NATO, though to what end is anyone’s guess. No one wins if this escalates to a nuclear war. Even if it didn’t go as far as a nuclear conflict, a European-wide conventional war would be devastating, but more so for Russia, based on how much they’ve struggled in Ukraine so far.

The whole situation is a horrible mess.

Meanwhile, the Tories continue to demonstrate how inept and cruel they are. Other countries are opening their arms to the desperate people pouring out of Ukraine, whilst here we are slapping all kinds of conditions on their arrival. We’re doing that whilst the Tories offer up piss-weak sanctions. Why are the sanctions weak? Because a lot of the oligarchs we should be targeting have invested a lot of money in the Tory party. The Tories don’t want to bite the hand that funds them.

Sneaky Stuff

Recently I’ve had attempts to log into my Facebook from locations both near and far that had nothing to do with me. This has led me to take protective measures, and should the person or persons trying to access my Facebook be reading this, kindly don’t. There is nothing for you to gain.

Finally…

The other day the author of Theology Archaeology announced they would stop linking to my site or to Bruce’s site. However it remains to be seen if this is true, for this isn’t the first time some sort of announcement has gone up suggesting they’d leave us alone. Time will be the judge.

Family Time

Over the weekend of the 19th and 20th I met up with relatives that I haven’t seen for five years, due to various circumstances. Saturday night was full of hugs, drink, dancing and merriment. It was great to see so many familiar faces and catch up. Gatherings of my family are likened to the gathering of the clan. We laugh, we drink, we eat and we make memories. We love one another and we’ll always fiercely enjoy these gatherings.

It’s hard to believe it’s been five years, but between my previous job demanding I work every bank holiday, and the pandemic, the opportunity to mix like this has been few and far between for me. We’re a close-knit bunch, and being apart from them for extended periods isn’t great. Hopefully the next occasion to go out will be sooner than five years!

Formula 1

It’s baaaaaack! My beloved F1 has returned, after what felt like an eternity. The first race of the season was enjoyable and the races will come thick and fast this season, so there is plenty to look forward to!

That’s all from this Muse. I hope to have a busier Muse next time! Stay safe and take care of yourselves!