Conventions, Four Horsemen Universe, Shijuren, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Off to DragonCon

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Weeks of 20 August – 2 September

Greetings all

Sorry I didn’t make a post last week. I spent most of last week up in Omaha looking at houses. We’re going to put in a bid later today, I think, depending upon the details. We’ll see how it goes. In past houses, I’ve been on a serious time crunch. I’ve a lot more time flexibility now, so I’m not as inclined to bid full price now. I don’t necessarily expect to get a yes on the first offer, but you never know.

Anyway, it’s an exciting time.

I did write a bit, but it was more in the way of refining stuff that had already been done, so I’m still hovering around 10k on Brief Is My Flame.

My weekend was filled with an SCA event near Omaha. Giulia and I camped, which meant we got a chance to hang out with friends much more than we have recently. We’re also in the process of combining our camping resources, and that’s been somewhat humorous as we both have our ways of doing things. Unfortunately, it rained on Sunday morning, so Giulia has deal with spreading out, drying, and folding a bunch of wet canvas.

She has to deal with it because I leave for my first DragonCon tomorrow.

I’ll probably spend a goodly amount of time at Table 22G. Van Allen Plexico and Brett Brooks have generously offered me a corner of their booth to place my books. Come buy something from all of us.

The rest of my time I’ll be pretty feral. I’ll probably see if I can play in a Pathfinder Society scenario or two. Maybe some panels. Be at Barfly Central a lot. I don’t have any real schedule so I can actually enjoy a con for a change.

I’m also excited to go watch the Dragon Awards, where a number of friends are nominees, especially the military SF/F category. I voted for Cartwright’s Cavaliers by Mark H Wandrey. Frankly, this category was full of books I enjoyed, but the tiebreaker was that it’s the first in Four Horsemen Universe. Yes, I’m now a part of it, so I’m biased, but this is already becoming an awesome sandbox and there’s lots more to come. However, it was a tough choice, given the competition. One of these days I’ll have a military fantasy series set in Shijuren, and I can hope I’ll be in this list myself.

I’m ready to get this party started.

Quote of the Week

Instead of a normal quote like most works, I’ll send you to a Twitter hashtag feed, which is a list of whimsical quotes overheard at DragonCon:

https://twitter.com/hashtag/overheardatdragoncon?src=hash

You shouldn’t need a Twitter account to see that list, by the way.

News and Works in Progress

  • Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

As I said, Van Allen Plexico has graciously allowed me to put my books on a corner of his DragonCon table. If you come by the table, make sure to take a look at his stuff. For those not at DragonCon, here’s his Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Van-Allen-Plexico/e/B002QISYCA/.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Fiction, Four Horsemen Universe, Shijuren

Rob’s Update: Spreading the Word

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Week of 13-19 August

What an eventful week so far!

First, I’ve added those who signed up at Pennsic. Many thanks for all who talked to me there, and I am already looking forward to Pennsic 47. Welcome to my weekly slice of Robness.

The biggest news is that one of the short stories I’ve been mentioning for a while was just accepted to be part of the For a Few Credits More, the second anthology in the Four Horsemen Universe.

The 4HU is one where humanity is one of hundreds of alien races living a loose arrangement whose sole goal is to ensure that the overall peace is maintained. Within that, however, are all sorts of smaller conflicts involving mercenaries, and the universe centers around these mercs fighting in a Byzantine universe of plotting and treachery.

I love it.

You can find these books here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074KHFMQT?ref=series_rw_dp_labf

The cover is here.

FAFCM Cover
Cover for the Four Horsemen anthology For a Few Credits More.

I’ve never been more excited to be called “AND MORE” in my life.

But that’s not the only exciting thing going on here. Rob Saladino will begin recording A Lake Most Deep in audiobook form starting around 1 September. He’ll be doing my other Shijuren novels soon after, too. I don’t yet have any clue when actual release dates will be, because it takes time to do all of this well, but they are a-comin’.

In less productive news, because of my travel schedule, the move, and recovery from Pennsic, I’ve not done much other than lie in bed and contemplate bad things happening to my characters in Brief Is My Flame.

I’m just going to say that I think my characters would prefer me to sit and write than lie and plot, because I’m much nastier to them in the middle of the night snuggled in my bed with my cat sitting on my head than I am typing on my laptop. Far nastier.

Quote of the Week

This week’s quote sort of encapsulates my writing philosophy. I write about people, and whether they are wizards or use fusion-powered starships or wear powered armor, stories are about people.

“War has changed little in principle from the beginning of recorded history. The mechanized warfare of today is only an evolution of the time when men fought with clubs and stones, and its machines are as nothing without the men who invent them, man them and give them life. War is force- force to the utmost- force to make the enemy yield to our own will- to yield because they see their comrades killed and wounded- to yield because their own will to fight is broken. War is men against men. Mechanized war is still men against men, for machines are masses of inert metal without the men who control them- or destroy them.”
– Ernest J. King, as quoted in the prologue (page viii) of his memoirs, Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record (1952).

News and Works in Progress

  • Brief Is My Flame (about 10k)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • Nothing yet this week, but will have some additions to the Wiki tomorrow

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

This week’s Spotlight is on Rob Saladino , who is recording my audiobooks. His IMDB page is here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5238545/ and his Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/thehumblereview. If you go there, you’ll see he recently recorded a biography about Prince. I suspect this is the closest I’ll ever get to Prince.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Music, SCA, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Tired Rob Is Tired

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Week of 6-12 August

One of my favorite Pennsics ever comes to a close today.

The weather has been incredibly nice. Cool, with only a little rain, and yet still lots of cloud cover. The merchant booth has been profitable, productive, and fun. I’ve had a great time singing, and got to see some wonderful things given to fun people.

But at the end of two weeks, especially with packing in all sorts of stuff in the final few days, I must say I’m ready to be home.

It’s been so busy here that I’ve barely had time to write, so I’m only about 10000 words into Brief Is My Flame, but since that means more sales, I am quite pleased. I’m also pleased where the story lines are going. Yes, I’ve done more plotting than usual, but that doesn’t mean the plot is static.

As I did with Where Now the Rider, I’ll be steadily adding a few entries to the Wiki each week. I think these might be a little more revealing, though, as some of the new storylines are coming from different places. We’ll be exploring more of Svellheim, the Seven Kingdoms, the Western Isles, and the Kreisens, so we’ll all get to find out interesting stuff about those places as the plot takes me there.

I love Shijuren. It’s a fun and interesting world and there’s so much more to come.

Quote of the Week

One of my favorite aspects of Pennsic, and the SCA in general, is the opportunity to sing at bardic circles. This week’s quote comes from a Kipling poem which we have turned to song.

For we hold that in all disaster
Of shipwreck, storm, or sword,
A Man must stand by his Master
When once he has pledged his word.
– Song of the Red War Boat, Rudyard Kipling

News and Works in Progress

  • Brief Is My Flame (About 10k)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

I watched Consortium of Genius perform at ConFluence. They were a lot of fun and surprisingly metal. Most bands at SF/F cons are acoustic in nature, but these guys played their music loud and hard. I had a blast, though I think some of the other people were a bit bemused. I especially enjoyed Think Tank and Middle-earth Needs Me.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Personal, SCA

Pennsic Musings

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The last few days of Pennsic are exhausting for me, but they’re also some of my favorite days of the year.

Pennsic generally runs from the last weekend of July to the second weekend of August. The two weeks are named Peace Week and War Week, and they are both wonderful but for completely different reasons.

I often say that Peace Week is the only vacation in the SCA. For those who have never come to an SCA event, you may not realize just how busy and full these events are. You get up in time to do whatever your daily activity might be, which includes classes, projects, fighting, fencing, archery, and equestrian events. Then you shower, get some food, and get ready for whatever the afternoon brings, and this can be laid back (I often take naps), but often involves camaraderie and story-telling. In the evening, the king and queen have a court where they give people stuff, and there’s often a hand-made feast. Then you get to the serious socializing.

That’s a long day, and that’s merely the schedule of a day-long event. Pennsic and other longer events stack similar days, though the royalty only has court on some days, not all. There are other ceremonies though, and every night one group or another hosts a party or a bardic circle or some sort of gathering.

In Peace Week, all of the things that make the SCA fun are available, but it’s far more relaxed. You *can* do anything. You also can choose to not do anything. The Pennsic after I went to Macedonia and England in 2006 I was exhausted, and one night I went to bed at 2:30pm. Not a nap. “I’m going to bed, see you guys in the morning.”

Of course, there was the time that I ran into a close friend I only see at Pennsic at around 5:30am on the way to the port-a-johns and after we did our business, we went back to my shade fly and opened a beer. Then we had another. Then someone else came by and had a beer. By around 9am we’d started doing projects… and drinking. I don’t know that anyone actually got drunk, but I finally went to sleep at 4am. A good day, and the kind of thing that happens in Peace Week.

War Week, on the other hand, is full of all the things and you want to do everything. Sleep is for the weak… next week.

For me, the real busy time begins on Wednesday, with Midnight Madness. That’s an exhausting, but fun and profitable evening.

Thursday is even busier. This is the day that Calontir’s king and queen hold Their court. Following court, we host our yearly party. Over the last dozen years or so I’ve been one of the ones primarily tasked with  arranging the bar. I got lots of help, but it’s still a goodly amount of work.

Also, I volunteered to be the herald for court, which means I called in people for Their Majesties and read the scrolls. This is one of my favorite jobs in the SCA, and is a fun honor, but another task on what is clearly a busy day.

Today, we recover from the party, but at the same time we start packing up. My plan is to be on the road at some point on Saturday. What I have to get done between now and then is take the kegs back to the distributor, get my books and booth packed up, and then tomorrow tear my tent down.

Fortunately, I have no specific time or place to get to on Saturday, so I will just do the work and not hurry. Earlier is better, of course, but even just staying at a hotel down the street makes the drive doable.

The end is nigh, and getting nigher by the moment. Thank goodness.

Aesc & Thorn Publishing, SCA

We’re MADDDDDDD!

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At many of the big SCA events like Pennsic, Gulf Wars, Great Western, and Estrella they pick one night, usually Wednesday, to have Midnight or Moonlight Madness with the vendors.

This is an eminently practical thing in many ways, as these events are filled with things to do during the day like fighting, fencing, archery, classes, and the making of many different items. Frankly, many people hardly have a chance to shop during the day, so we pick a day where every merchant is open until midnight and we offer a variety of specials.

On nights like last night it can be magical. It was cool, mostly clear, and the moon was almost full. About as lovely as a night can be, in my opinion. On such a night, thousands of people roam the merchant areas chatting, shopping, and generally having a good time.

As I say, magical.

As I have mentioned before, Master Andrixos graciously allows me to sell from his shop, Calontir Trim. Last year we had fun playing up the MADDDDDDD! of Midnight Madness. We had so much fun, we wanted to get even MADDDDDDDER.

So we did.

One of Andrixos’s personal traditions is that Midnight Madness actually begins when he puts on this hideous Hawaiian-print Byzantine-style tunic of the reign of King Ragnar Kamehamehason. It is embellished with a trim that has longships sailing in front of a island with palm trees. He’s been having fun with this running joke for over twenty years now.

This year, he requested that I provide a tunic of appropriate MADDDDDNESS to match, and he provided the shop girls with their own outfits as well.

This is the result:

Midnight Madness
The uniforms of Calontir Trim at Midnight Madness

So, last night we were especially MADDDDDD! at Midnight Madness.

I had a great time selling in my little section of the shop, as you can see here:

Midnight Madness Setup
My setup at Midnight Madness

It’s a lot of fun, I meet lots of people, and sell lots of books. What more can I hope for?

So, when you see me post something about impending MADDDDDNESS, now you know.

Conventions, Music, Rush, SCA, Shijuren

ConFluence AAR

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Greetings all

This weekend I left Pennsic and went about 45 minutes south to ConFluence. It was a very busy weekend for me.

It started with panel about genre blending. Obviously, this provided me an opportunity to talk about the fun of adding mystery to swords and sorcery, as I do in the Edward series.

Following that was a reading. Again, I did the portion from I Am a Wondrous Thing. It went well, better than the last time I did it. I know I got some sales from it.

Friday evening was generally laid back. Much of my time was spent in the TV Gods: Summer Programming release party chatting with Lee Hillman, an editor of the TV Gods series and a friend of mine. It was a very enjoyable time, especially since they got a pack of various IPAs to share.

Saturday morning started with my signing session at 10am. At that hour, I didn’t expect much, but this was the most successful signing session I’ve ever had.

After that, I had a bit of a break until my next session. I spend much of that time trying to write. Not my best writing session, mostly because my mind kept wandering, but it wasn’t completely unproductive.

Starting at 2pm, I had three sessions in four hours. The first was perhaps the most intimidating for me, a discussion of exoplanets and how we can use them in our fiction. It was intimidating because everyone else on the panel were astrophysicists or geologists, except for the guy who was both a scientist and an artist. Then there’s me. Still, I held my own, because to a certain extent, the philosophy of things is always relevant, and I am a philosopher.

One fascinating thing came out of the discussion that I must mention. I do not generally like elves and dwarves and such in my worlds. For someone who writes fantasy, I don’t like magic to be, well, magical. I want everything grounded in a scientific basis. This, by the way, is why I was chosen for the panel in the first place.

However, one person at the end, and I’m sorry I didn’t get her name, pointed out that throughout the panel we’d been focused on the macro side of things, not the micro end. As often happens for me, the right thing said at the right time helps my mind make a jump and I finally have a justification for elves.

What if elves are the result of a micro-organism that causes a mutation? That makes sense to me, and maybe I’ll add them to Shijuren after all. I’ve already got some plans from interesting mutations that already exist in the human genome, but it’s nice to have more options.

I moderated my next panel. This one discussed writing in someone else’s sandbox. Since I’d like to turn Shijuren into a sandbox, I wanted very much to participate in this so I was happy to moderate the panel. I think the most important thing we decided was that all participants need to respect the sandbox and its contributors. People who just jump in without that interest and respect show up all too obviously.

At 5pm I participated in a whimsical panel where we created Vogon poetry. This year’s theme was the limerick, so we created a number of those. Yes, we had one that started, “There once was a Vogon from Nantucket.”

The one limerick I can remember off the top of my head went:

There was a Vogon named orange
Who gurgled one morning in purple
He heard a mime rail
About the slime trail
Amidst callipygian silver

I will say, it didn’t make my intestine want to strangle me, so I think we’ll need to do better.

Saturday evening I watched Consortium of Genius’s show. They were a lot of fun and surprisingly metal. Most bands at SF/F cons are acoustic in nature, but these guys played their music loud and hard. I had a blast, though I think some of the other people were a bit bemused. I especially enjoyed Think Tank and Middle-earth Needs Me.

I had met the lead singer and the bassist earlier in the day because we are all Rush fans. In the category of small worlds, I found out they are friends with Beth Waggoner Patterson, who I’ve met at other cons who is also a Rush fan. Had I not known ahead of time that the bassist was a Rush fan, I would have guessed after hearing his complex bass lines. Good stuff.

Sunday morning involved two sessions. The first at 10am discussed the Ten-Volume Trilogy. We all shared our own experiences with our worlds taking a life of their own. Yeah, that means lot of stuff to come in Shijuren.

The last thing I did at the con was a Kaffeeklatsch where I discussed the Martin Koszta Affair again and how I can use it to inspire fiction. I was shocked to have so many attendees, actually, as the way they set these up they were designed to be intimate discussions involving less than ten people. I believe I got a full dozen, who seemed to really enjoy what I did. I’ll keep doing this panel as long as people keep enjoying it.

After that I got back on the road to return to Pennsic as quickly as I could. I enjoyed ConFluence quite a bit, but I was ready to get back to the Middle Ages.

Conventions, SCA, Shijuren, Sports

Rob’s Update: Pennsic’s First Week

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Week of 30 July – 5 August

It’s been a wonderful first week of Pennsic. Part of that is the weather. It’s topped out at around 85, which is hotter than I like but is certainly not unbearable. In fact, it was so nice on Friday and Saturday that I got all of my setup and nesting done. Usually, the heat makes it a slower process and I still have work to do on Sunday.

My traditional Monday night bardic circle went very well. The first song started around 8:30 and I shut off the big torches at 3 or so. There was a good solid crowd of about 30-40 and we never stopped performing. That’s not shabby.

Monday was also Dad’s 77th birthday. I took a moment during the bardic circle to tell some stories about him.

I will freely admit that Tuesday was not my most active day, since I actually fell asleep around 5:30. I did come into the shop and arrange all of my stuff and lay all the electrical cables out. Tonight, we actually run all of the lights. Then I basically went and napped. I got up for dinner, but that was about it.

Yesterday, I got some serious work done. I’ve decided that the best way to write both Brief Is My Flame and None Call Me Mother is to focus on a single thread at a time. I wrote I Am a Wondrous Thing straight through, and I ended up re-arranging everything. This time I’m going to write a thread until I the returns diminish, then go off to another. Presumably, the next thread will inspire ideas in other threads, and eventually I’ll weave them together.

The first thread I’m working on is Eleonore in Demmen and Demmenkreisen. I’ve gotten a few thousand words written in that thread and its prompted my next thread, which will go through Svellheim.

Tomorrow, I’m off to ConFluence, where I have a busy weekend planned.

Friday 4pm: Genre Blending Panel
Friday 6pm: Reading
Saturday 10am: Autograph Session
Saturday 2pm: World Building with Exoplanets Panel
Saturday 4pm: Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox Panel
Saturday 5pm: Vogon Poetry
Sunday 10am: The Ten Volume Trilogy
Sunday noon: The Martin Koszta Affair

It will be weird leaving Pennsic for this long, but it’s going to be a good time.

Quote of the Week

This weekend is the NFL Hall of Fame weekend where the 2017 enshrinees are inducted. This week’s quote comes from one my favorite players of all time, Dan Fouts. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.

“Now that I’m retired, I want to say that all defensive linemen are sissies.” – Dan Fouts

News and Works in Progress

  • Sent in a short story in for an anthology. I’m waiting for a response. Waiting is hard, that is all.
  • Several thousand words into Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

One of the people I’ll meet this weekend as I’ll be on panels with him is William Keith, Jr. He’s written several military SF series, including some under the pen name of Ian Douglas. I’m a big fan of the Star Carrier series and the Heritage Trilogy. You can find his stuff at: https://www.amazon.com/Ian-Douglas/e/B001IGLZMC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1501810168&sr=8-1

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

SCA

Rob’s Update: The Elephant and Castle

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Week of 23-30 July

Greetings all

I’m writing this at the Elephant and Castle pub in Grove City, PA. This is my normal place to visit the night before Pennsic. It’s got decent food, wifi, tables with outlets, and good beer on tap. Oh, and it has a dozen or so hotel rooms attached to it.

This place rocks.

Anyway, I will work and relax before heading over to Pennsic tomorrow. Hopefully, by tomorrow evening, my tent will be set up, though I won’t completely nest until Saturday, maybe Sunday.

I talk more about my Pennsic plans in this blog post. Suffice it to say it’ll be two weeks of working all day and singing all evening. I might drink a beer or two.

Speaking of blog posts, my Random Musings after my birthday was one of my favorite posts. If you haven’t read it, it’s here.

I’ve teased that I’ve been writing a short story for a while. It’s in the final crafting phase now. I’ll talk more about it soon.

Other than that, my life has been focused on moving. We’ve found some great houses and will probably put in a bid next week. Exciting stuff. Obviously, I’ll talk about all of the house shopping stuff in a blog post, but I want to wait until a contract has been accepted.

Yes, I’m superstitious about announcing stuff until I know things for sure, why do you ask, Two Dogs?

Speaking of announcing stuff, they have Victory’s HopDevil IPA, one of my favorites here at the Elephant and Castle…

Quote of the Week

Of course this week’s quote had to be about elephants.

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.

– Groucho Marx

News and Works in Progress

  • Major progress on a short story
  • Plotting for Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

I’ve spotlighted her before, but Cedar Sanderson and her husband Sanford Begley let me crash at their place last night. I had a delightful evening sitting and chatting on a dark porch drinking Tullamore Dew with cool people. She is a writer, artist, and photographer and you can find her stuff at http://www.cedarwrites.com/.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Personal, SCA

Pennsic Plans

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I leave for Pennsic on Wednesday. Yes it’s a bit early, but if I take my time on long trips I can also stop for writing.

This will be the third Pennsic (along with a Gulf and a half) that I will sell my books at Calontir Trim. Many thanks to Andrixos for giving me the space.

At this point, we kind of have an idea how things will be arranged and how things will go. I will have a table just big enough for my wooden display box and my laptop. I set my phone up as a wifi hotspot (as I’m doing right now at Brewbaker’s) and basically have full functionality.

I then spend from about 10am to 5pm in the shop, selling to whomever comes in, and writing when they’re not there. I got a huge chunk of Where Now the Rider written there last year, and I hope to get a ton of progress on Brief Is My Flame done this year.

This year will be a little funky, however, as I leave on Friday morning to go to Pittsburgh for a Confluence (http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/), coming back on Sunday night. I’ll be doing a full convention description and AAR while I’m sitting in Drix’s booth, actually.

In many ways, this is one of my most enjoyable and productive times. I’m sure it will seem odd to most of you who work a 9-5 kind of job, but having a designated time and place to go to work for a couple of weeks is actually quite enjoyable for me. I’ll freely admit I don’t want a permanent 9-5 schedule, but for stretches like this, it can be brilliant.

Plus, after working, I get to relax a bit and then enjoy some of the Pennsic fun with my friends. Pennsic may never be solely a vacation for me ever again, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have fun.

With that, I should do some writing. I know I owe you a full update, by the way, and I will do a combined two week one tomorrow.

Have a great day, everyone.

 

History, Personal, Sports

Random Musings of the Day

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Today is 17 July, 2017.

I had a great birthday yesterday. My mom came up to Omaha, and she, Giulia, and I roamed around open houses. We all love house shopping, but I’ll admit I’m ready to find one and get a move on.

In 1453, the Battle of Castillon concluded, thereby ending the Hundred Years War, which of course lasted longer than 100 years (116 to be exact).

It’s hard to overstate how momentous that time was for all of Europe, especially since it includes the Black Death and the Fall of Constantinople (on 29 May).

One my personal favorite thoughts of the Hundred Years War is the time when I was walking through Monmouth Castle, which is where Henry V is born. I doubt I’m the first visitor to walk around the remains, which are not all that extensive, and recite the St. Crispin’s Day Speech loud enough to hear it echo off the stone.

I will also say I did *not* chip off a piece of the castle wall to bring a piece home. Nope, didn’t chip off a chunk.

However, I am geeky enough that if I ever go to Istanbul I’m likely to sing Istanbul, Not Constantinople as I walk through Hagia Sophia and the Imperial Palace area. And if I make too much noise, well, it’ll be nobody’s business but the Turks.

Back to yesterday. I really enjoy going through the Wikipedia daily pages where they list interesting events, birthdays, death days, and such things for each day.

Is it hubris to wonder if some day the 16 July entry will have my birthday on it? Probably, but I still do it.

There are some fun and interesting things that happened on 16 July, besides me entering this world. Joe DiMaggio hit safely in his 56th game in 1941. What’s really fun from my perspective is that streak started on 15 May, 1941. My mom was born on, you guessed it, 15 May, 1941. How cool is that?

On my first birthday, 16 July 1969, the Apollo 11 mission lifted off from Cape Kennedy. It landed on the moon on 20 July. My dad’s father, also named Robert Howell (but called Bob), was born on 20 July. How cool is that?

In 1862, David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first ever admiral in the US Navy. Of course, he’s famous in part for the “Damn the torpedoes” quote, which he uttered in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Currently, the USS Alabama, BB-60, is moored in Mobile Bay. When I was about six or so, my grandfather (the aforementioned Bob), took me to see it around my birthday. I have loved warships ever since. How cool is that?

As a Dallas Cowboys fan, I find it fun that Jimmy Johnson, former coach of the Cowboys, was born on 16 July in 1943. I loved watching him pound opponents game after game with Emmitt Smith, who is one of my favorite players ever. Obviously, he was great for the Cowboys, but he was born on 15 May, 1969, which was both a great and terrible date. On the one hand, he and mom shared a birthday. On the other, he was the first athlete who I consciously noted was younger than me.

But Emmitt was not my favorite running back of the time. That would be Barry Sanders, who was born on 16 July 1968 in Wichita, KS. I watched him play in high school because, shockingly enough, we were in the same class, though I went to East and he went to North. Still, how cool is that?

I suppose I should write instead of simply letting my mind wander, so I’ll just stop here. Have a great day.

 

Opinions and fiction of person misplaced in time.

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