Recently And Highlights...

Good day on this Monday May 12, 2014.

Recently some days passed that I did not post or comment on and I'm going to take time in this post to give the attention that they deserve.

Day Of Honour

As most Canadians know and the many who took part in the Afghanistan mission, veterans were celebrated on the recently passed Friday (May 9, 2014) which celebrated their role in the Afghanistan mission which have led to an democratic elections, improved health care and education for many, and the chance to have a handle on their own future. Many soldiers of many different nations took part in the mission and Canada's role was an important part of its success and the future of its domestic efforts to build and maintain a policing force, the building of schools and hospitals and in some cases the education to staff them with trained professionals. None know the price that free elections can cost more so than the Women and Men who fought for them, both domestically and the armed forces who took part in securing the future for those of Afghanistan.

In the upcoming Canadian elections, I hope that most Canadians (or voters in any part of the world) when they consider whether to cast a ballot or not remember the price that our Canadian forces and those of many others have paid to afford the right of others to vote freely in elections, including the Women's vote in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world. When nobody supports or speaks up for a people, they often suffer in silence. The most fundamental freedom that we have in regard to the process of our selection of leadership is the vote. That is where your say and the say of whom you support electorally affects the future of our country, as it does for all countries that support a similar process. To not cast a vote is to not support a process that cost lives similarly. In a democratic process, if you'd like to overthrow the Government, then vote. There are probably many veterans and those who've seen the price of elections first hand. All of my thanks to our armed forces and Policing agencies who took part in the Afghanistan mission. I hope that Ukraine soon may experience a similar success with a minimal price of lives as the choice of their people. 

Maybe the next step for Canadians in securing our freedoms here is to officially investigate illegal and criminally conducted surveillance (by civilians and sometimes by gangs) against other Canadians (yours truly included) especially if its used to cause emotional or physical harm or steal or extort credit for their efforts in some way.

Victory Day

On the same note and same day, Europe celebrated it's Victory Day which was just as much a success and for all Europeans, including those living under Nazi ruled Germany and France that did not concur with the views, aggression or actions of the Nazi regime yet were trapped under their roof. It is without warning that a dangerous ideology might sneak upon us and prey upon our sometimes over inflated sense of entitlement. Such dangers usually rear their ugly head secretly and sometimes in disguise when the prior generation has forgotten about the price paid in lives to stop them. 

Eugenics is one that comes to mind and though it is OK to have pride in one's heritage, it is not OK to fault others for theirs.

Nor is it OK to make someone else that such an ideology feels is lesser somehow take the punishment for someone that the same ideology deems is greater, whether by genetics or competitions not agreed to by a victim conducted outside of law.

Nor is it OK to take someone else's creative works or any of life's efforts for one's own claim based upon a difference in genetics or stature or competitions not agreed to by a victim conducted outside of law.

Nor is it OK to curb or control another person's right of procreation on the basis of genealogy, gender, heritage or culture.

Nor is it OK to pass on the blame for fathering unwanted children to someone who is deemed lesser by such an ideology in order to pay for 'superior blood' in place of the person who originally fathered them, the one who is protected by such an ideology.

Nor is it OK to require someone else to have a 'blood sponsor' from an individual deemed superior by such an ideology in order to be ably accepted by others or be recognized for their accomplishments while the sponsor as such takes the credit them.

Eugenics is not an ideology that I support. Whatsoever.

A dangerous time then and one to be aware of now to be sure and the victor was the human spirit and the perseverance of freedom as it will be for generations to come.

Lest we forget.

Mother`s Day

Another very important day. I hope that all of the Mother's of the world rise to role and importance of their responsibility in ensuring the safe and healthy upbringing of their children such as my Mother and many others have.

One saying that I have with regard to the influence they have upon you from the very beginning goes...

All of us are musical.

We get it from our Mothers.

It starts with rhythm. 

We get that from the sound and vibration of the beating of their heart while we are in the womb.

Next it is melody. 

We get that from hearing or feeling their often musical voice while we're in the womb.

Lastly it is harmony. 

We get that from the chorus of happy voices we hear when we're born, led by that of our Mother.

Happy Mother's Day Mom and all of you Mothers out there.

Other Missed Goodbyes And Hellos

On the content department and in relation to ASMR, which is a video art form that is the equivalent to a treatment at a spa or a healing session with a healing arts practitioner, one of the ASMR artists known as Fairy Char is leaving that art of vlogging to pursue other aspects of life. I'd like to thank her and to wish her all of the best in life and her future. She as what many ASMR video artists share is something that transcends compassion, which itself is a diminishing presence in a world that needs it more than ever. 

Thank you.

If you are interested in the world of ASMR and its pseudo distance healing effects, you might want to check out her vlog and those of ASMR Requests and Heather Feather whose epic productions imply that they're likely capable of writing and directing (and improvising) their own big budget block buster. Watch out James Cameron. For a more down to earth and often artistly inspired view, check out Hailey Whispering Rose (whom herself is multi-talented) and YangHaiying (an inspired artist with a great sense of humour) The One Lilium and for more comedic versions check Ephemeral Rift. Until I can land myself a Qi gong or Reiki instructor, or even a little bit of intimacy with a special someone, this is the best way to heal. Or you could just pay a visit to Yoga Yak.

In other departments here, iJustine has a slew of new videos on her plethora of vlogs and in the new music department, underground sensation SoKo is gearing up to release her new album. Gives me memories of my Goth days back in the golden era of clubbing and alternative.

On television, I've been watching a great slew of shows (time permitting), on TVO (yay, they brought back Big Ideas), PBS for its educational television as well as keeping an eye on the Agents Of Shield which is highly recommended if you are a comic book fan or a fan of any of the recent slew of Marvel films. I still make time for Out There...

On the DC side of things, I've been on DC Universe Online a few times over the last two weeks but I've been laying low in the gaming department in favour of writing and working towards a software release and cleaning up some of my prior applications for release as well. Occasionally catching Cosmos, an excellent heir to the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan legacy. Music has taken a bit of a back seat for a little as has a social life. I'm looking forward to having one of those though I can't remember what a social life looks like but I'll know it when I find it.

Look for some updates to A Lady's Prerogative: Wounded Aerth (which is turning into a whirlwind of controversy and boldness of which I am proud) and Heroes Of Our Own (which grows closer to my heart the more I work on it), and hopefully some to finish off Stories From The End as Rysalin, Trent, Elena, Jen, Stanton, Dave, Cale (and Tweak) deserve an ending whatever it may be just as surely as Foller seeks redemption amongst those he nearly killed. Some interesting twists ahead.

Other than that, I`m just fighting the good fight. I hope you are too.

None of this post or any other post is hate means love by the way.

Stay Safe And Be Well

Brian Joseph Johns

In The Interest Of Consistent Spelling

I fought with this one for a long time and I've decided to rename the story A Lady's Perogative to A Lady's Prerogative. It is in this post that I will underscore my reasoning for holding out for so long and my reason for finally doing so.

There are many different spellings for the many different versions (dare I say dialects) of the English language. For instance the word that residents of the United States might know as Color, is spelled Colour in Canada and under the British dictionaries of the world. Many such words exist with such ambiguities of spelling which are recognized between the different dialects of English as being valid spellings.

Enter the word Prerogative (the apparently proper spelling in of the commonly misspelled perogative which houses the same definition for prerogative in the British, American and World English Dictionaries.

Here is the definition as it is listed on the Google search: define Prerogative complete with a nice little chart of its etymological origins.

1. pre·rog·a·tive

   priˈrägətiv,pəˈräg-/

   noun

   1. 1.

      a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class.

      "owning an automobile was still the prerogative of the rich"

      synonyms:

      entitlement, right, privilege, advantage, due, birthright More

   adjective

   LAWBRITISH

   1. 1.

      arising from the prerogative of the Crown (usually delegated to the government or the judiciary) and based in common law rather than statutory law.

      "the monarch retained the formal prerogative power to appoint the Prime Minister"

   Choose languageAfrikaansAlbanianArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitianHausaHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKhmerKoreanLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianMacedonianMalayMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianNepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSwahiliSwedishTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYiddishYorubaZulu

   

In the case of the its context in the story A Lady's Perogative (now to be known as A Lady's Prerogative) the context had a little bit of artistic license. My intent for its' definition was related to the fact that for many and even well into the ages well past Chivalry and Feudalism, that a Lady who acted in the best interests of people and most certainly the fair representation of other women and their rights takes precedence. 

The ideas of Chivalry that recognize that those of feminine attribution (to be fair in the modern ideas of gender) do not need those of the male aspect or attribution to lift them up to get ahead in the world but rather our support in their effort to further themselves, and to be free from the chains of stigma and cliché often associated with the feminine aspect versus the masculine aspect. A sort of a new idea of Chivalry that includes both the feminine and masculine form of Chivalry, Budo, Dao, Dharma or whatever other term or the various world origins that encompass what one might use to define the concept of a living set of precepts or tenets that some attempt to live by. Whew.

An example of this is the difference between how socially it is common to praise the masculine aspect of promiscuity and sexuality by labelling such a person a stud, but someone of the feminine aspect is labelled a slut. I'm not saying that promiscuity is a way of life that someone should live by, but I am saying that there is an imbalance that often favours one sex versus the other based upon stigma. 

One that I often deal with in my area is the use of the word whore, a word that I'd never use except in explaining my reasons for not doing so. It is another word that regardless of whether the subject of such a label is involved in such a vocation or not, it creates a cage for the person that its applied to. If they are employed as such then if they so choose to leave such a vocation, they are trapped by those who would label them as such and by those who'd apply a burden to it. I myself don't personally agree with that vocation as a replacement for a meaningful and committed relationship (or in my case for any kind of relationship as it is something that I've never taken part in), but I'd never stigmatize someone to the point of being unable to leave such a cage to change their life. There are many such words and many that create a cage for the person that they are applied to. That does not mean that someone should reduce their freedom of speech but rather be responsible with it for it is a great power and as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. I'd rather use that power to break down cages for those undeserving of such rather than creating them for the same but I don't want power, but I can handle responsibility.

So for a long time this is where I chose to hold my vigil on the (incorrect) spelling of the word Prerogative, which of course is nothing other than a Lady's alone or in pairing with their spouse, whatever culture they may be and whatever gender they may be. In the world of the sixteen hundreds getting all of these different ideas and points of view to coincide is another. How much farther have we really progressed if we have the same social hurdles today?

Updates And Other Content

In the way of updates, I've been adding chapters to A Lady's Prerogative: Wounded Aerth although I am still playing with the idea of a rewrite. If you're interested I think that I am about four (possibly five) chapters ahead since my last post. Much like the recent chapters before hand some might be a little bit controversial if you need the warning.

Heroes Of Our Own and Stories From The End have progressed little since my last posted update and while I contend with a gradually rising group seeking to stamp out my work upon those and other stories. It isn't fun when a malevolent group of people attempt to erase you from your own history and take it for their own. But it makes writing Wounded Aerth much more of a statement.

Stay Well And Be Safe
Brian Joseph Johns

Congratulations And Updates...

The Olympics

First of all I'd like to congratulate all of the Olympic athletes for amazing performances in what is certainly a great year for the Olympics. They really are heroes and considering the amount of time and effort that is put into a performance of only a few minutes, they are nothing less than remarkable as are the people that make that possible. Every second of several years of effort leading up to one moment of achievement, though the sense thereof I hope for all such athletes comes from the achievement of having tried rather than having not tried at all. There is only loss for one who does not try.

In The Writing Arena

There have been numerous chapters added to A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth, Heroes Of Our Own and finally to Our Place making this set of updates one of the biggest in the history of this blog. 

In addition I've written a whole slew of new poetry as well possibly inspired by the perseverance of Olympic athletes, the opening ceremonies and a little bit from my own struggles against some real life trolls.

Heroes Of Our Own is going to require a little bit more going over in order to get the quirks out but it seems to be taking on a life of its own. Definitely a recommended read for cosplayers.

On Risque Factor (viewer discretion is advised) there has been at least one new article posted on Social Engineering And Identity Theft that should be read by media measurement specialists and content producers and providers alike as it really gives some clues to the forces currently shaping the internet in terms of content and the obstacles that are likely going to affect the value of content and advertising unless it is at least checked out a bit.

Technology

One area that recently received some attention from a great television show (Charlie Rose) was an interview that talked about D-Wave, a company that makes real quantum computers which I was completely unaware of. 

Quantum computers are of course computers that avoid the pitfalls of classical and linear computing by taking advantage of qubits, which enable a calculation to be conducted based upon superposition and the collapse of the wave function. It is analogous to computing all the possible solutions to a given task simultaneously or even computing the solutions to such tasks utilizing the time space of other universes running completely concurrent to our own and using one such universe for the superposition of each qubit.

This is some pretty amazing news and I suspect that we are within the next twenty years going to see a revolution that will equal that of all other technical revolutions that came before it including machine intelligence and possibly a complete understanding of human consciousness and its relation to the quantum mechanical properties of the universe.

Imagine having computers that could help us simulate phenomenon that would make the development of cures for disease and testing theories related to technologies like warp travel possible. The engineering of super materials bonded at the atomic level and some other absolutely phenomenal achievements will be possible.

These are some of the possibilities with quantum computing of course the challenge lies in developing techniques to use the concept of superposition in the calculation of these problems. Developing software for quantum computers will become a career with huge demand in the next decade.

Science, Religion And Faith

In the book Contact by Ann Druyan and Carl Sagan as does the excellent movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jodie Foster and Mathew McConaughey, science and religion are put at odds with one another (as they often have) when scientists at SETI receive a message from a distant alien intelligence. Recently science and religion have been finding similar unrest and this is a shame.

In a day and age where more and more developments are leading to new discoveries and taking humankind further into our future, why is it that the two must compete for the right to exist or even to be taken seriously. Mostly its about who has say in the distribution of finances with regard to research and our future as a species upon this planet and our place in the universe. 

Science, Religion, Philosophy and Faith have and always will have an important place in all of our most important decisions for to tread without one is to journey without an important part of ourselves. It is excessive zeal, dogma and pragma that seem to be the real culprits and obstacles to progress. Both the religious and the non-religious are susceptible to disease just as both most certainly benefit from a cure. Both sides of such a debate lose people to death and both sides likely do a some soul searching therein.

One is objective and one is subjective. One is how long have we been here? The other is why are we here? One has a definite answer. For the other the answer is different for each of us. Reconciling those differences is our challenge.

Stay Well and and don't let them make you into the bad one,
Brian Joseph Johns

Olympics

I'd just like say that the opening ceremonies of the Olympics were absolutely astounding and an incredible achievement in artistry, construction and presentation. Watching the presentation of Tolstoy's War And Peace was pretty emotionally intense. The whole scene was incredible and paid homage to Russia's rich cultural history and to one of my favourite if not my favourite classical composer.

It was great to see all of the teams make their entry way onto the stadium floor and I literally got goose bumps when the team of my country arrived.

To all of the countries taking part I'd like to wish you well in the spirit of the Olympics which supports diversity across the board in all aspects as does the place from which I originate and am very proud to be a part of. 

I am a citizen of the world and definitely a child of my place of birth. To use the words of a friend I am as we all are perfectly imperfect.

Let's hope that those representing us all at the 2014 Winter And Summer Olympics are even more so. ;-)

They are definitely the heroes of us all.

Stay well,
Brian Joseph Johns

New Chapters, Some Philosophy, Toronto And Mayor Rob Ford, ASMR, Philip Seymour Hoffman And Something To Combat Identity Theft And See The Real Me

New Chapters

I hope that you all had a great weekend and that the start of the week has been equally good. Last week I had a bit of time to work on A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth and Heroes Of Our Own, both of which received at least a new chapter (A Lady's Perogative:Wounded Aerth received a few).

Just a word of warning that some of the topics in Wounded Aerth being covered are a bit controversial depending upon your beliefs. I would ask readers to remember that it is an in progress effort and that elements encountered in the story now do not reflect the overall viewpoint reflected while we are still early in the plot arc. Ideas are being challenged and will be explored and challenged much further before it is over.

Heroes Of Our Own is my personal interpretation of the superhero genre, cosplay and the fashion industry and definitely pays its homage to all of those areas the of story. It is still early in the plot but it is picking up momentum.

Stories From The End as ambitious as it started has slowed although I know the rest of the story from here, it is just a matter of writing it down. I apologize to those who are awaiting the conclusion. See the following paragraphs for an explanation of why the new chapters have been delayed so much.

Wanted: Troll Detection System

Thankfully I managed to write for two days undetected by my personal trolls (people close by that make life and writing like hell) so that was a peaceful experience and I managed to produce some chapters that required the least rewrites. That goes to show you that the act of creating something isn't dependent upon someone else artificially inducing pain or tormenting you while you do. They made up for lost time though after they found out and I'm still recovering from that now. I'm literally in bed sick as I write this.

Philosophy And Polarity And Control

On the philosophy side of things, hate and love might be the polar opposites to balance and alike in their amplitude from perfect balance, but they are not alike in practice. You'll get two very different results by the abundant application of either. 

Love will cause the body to create life prolonging and healing properties within the human body while hate will cause the body to fail in the production of what is necessary for good health. 

Beware of those using abundant hate to transform the world or to build an abundance of such that they later consume for themselves by reversing the polarity and consuming it as love. 

During that process what was formerly love becomes hate so they're still leaving everyone else with all of their residual leftovers of that negative emotion. 

Beware of others that consider it necessary to keep a balanced quota between the exceptions that you show to those that are dear to you and others who are not. Getting away with things that you would only accept of those very dear to you is often the means that such a group believe that they can use to control you. 

We could learn a lot from the Far East and other parts of the world in regard to their respect of these ideas as well as those who in western philosophies and faiths that have learned stave off the ideas of hate manifesting as a means emotional consumption and for emotional manipulation of others.

The Mayor Rob Ford Scandal: Taking Back The City

A good example of people using this as a method of control is the recent bad publicity that the city of Toronto and its Mayor experienced in controversy by giving exception to and being blackmailed by a gang and a crack dealer. 

To the people involved they believe that the citizens of Toronto are now under the Mayor who is under a crack cocaine dealer and that a crack dealer is in charge (he's subverted the Mayor of a major city of four million people). 

The only way to deal with such a thing is to deal with it in the like. I think that it takes a very goofy person to deal crack cocaine in the first place and worse, it takes an even goofier person to lure women into selling their bodies to pay for their addiction to it.

Now by me, a computer nerd referring to crack cocaine dealers in such a way, that does not mean that I expect the subservience of the citizens of Toronto or its Mayor because I took it back from a crack cocaine dealer. I don't expect anything at all except a bit of peace and quiet and for the world to look at the city for what it is, a great place to live, visit, shoot movies, enjoy the diversity and selection of hospitality, live the night life and do business and that like most cities in the world has its growing pains and share of bad elements.

I just happen to believe that the citizens of Toronto are not garbage bags for a crack dealer. I voted for a Mayor (though I won't say which one I voted for). I didn't vote for a goofy crack dealer so I am taking back our city and giving it back to the people of Toronto and its voters and the Mayor.

Also, nobody in the city or in the world is my garbage bag so don't take this as my attempt to do anything like subvert others to me in any way because its not. I wrote these paragraphs, nobody else did. The words left my mouth not anyone else's. Its my gift to Toronto and none of it is hate means love. Said as it is meant.

I'll still go outside and lead my life as usual, unafraid.

ASMR: A Chance To Heal

For those of you looking for a cure or a means to rebalance the damage that one might experience as a result of being subjected to an abundance of hate, see ASMR on youtube or check my Channels And Sites page and the Healing And Well Being and ASMR section to find places to heal. Thanks to all the people involved in the process of helping others to heal emotionally.

Philip Seymour Hoffman

My condolences to the family, friends and fans of Philip Seymour Hoffman who died recently. You might remember him from his performances in The Big Lebowski, State And Main (with Julia Stiles and Sarah Jessica Parker), Capote, Mission Impossible III (my personal favourite of that franchise next to Mission Impossible II, featuring Michelle Monoghan, Maggie Q and directed by J.J. Abrams) and Hunger Games: Catching Fire with two more Hunger Games productions still to come featuring his character from Catching Fire. You are already missed buddy.

Need For Speed: World

I've been putting off my review of Need For Speed: World, an MMO driving game but suffice it to know that I have played it and it is a great MMO sandbox driving experience. A full review is coming for certain.

Something To Verify My Identity In Person And Online

I made a video recently and posted it to youtube in hopes of clearing up some of the issues related to the form of identity theft that I've encountered during the process of trying to flesh out and protect my online persona as well as my in person identity.

Basically by watching it you'll learn a bit more about me and the very modest bachelor pad that I live in where I do most of my writing. You might learn some personal details about me that you might not (or might) want to know but all in all it verifies my identity and as the writer of these stories. You can also put a voice to my words.

I am 46 years old, 6 ft tall, 155 lbs and sometimes wear glasses and sometimes not. I am single and have been for four years. I am monogamous and have never been promiscuous in a relationship. I have no criminal record or charges. I do not use, buy or sell narcotics and that definitely includes crack cocaine. 

After that you might be able to have a good laugh.

Stay well,
Brian Joseph Johns

New Chapters to A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth

There are new chapters to A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth if you are interested. We find Jasmer and Yirfir figuring things out in Unruly Plans and we follow Nelony through Nelony's Night. As well a very in depth pursuit into the life of Shaela with a chapter of her namesake. I sincerely hope that you enjoy them as it took many tears to complete these chapters.

For those of you who'd like dessert, you could always check out the additions to Heroes Of Our Own which has received a cleanup and rewrite of some of the original material as well as additions. Some of you might even begin to recognize it from other places if you know me and my pursuits well enough.

I'll add to them sparingly over the next few weeks.

Enjoy!

Thank you to all my readers.

Brian Joseph Johns

Nostalgia finds root here.

Here's some greetings from a distant past.

A stone house 'pon where magic found root by way of a ning and a hen.

As well 1973, I'll be on heights if you can from down the hall remember me.

All the best to the Kingslake and Woodbine crew! I miss you all and you're in here all of you!

I like the night but I really I've loved the dawn.

I shan't don another view as terrific as you thrice plus two as nice.

Jam is great with bread but we had nothing but jam and thankfully it was instrumental.

We go through stages like the peels of an onion.

Update

Hello to any loyal readers that I have out there in this wonderful cyber world that has made the world a smaller place by some degree, though I wish it was smaller as I'd likely have friends that were a bit closer.

I thought I'd let you in on a little bit of what is going on and why there is a delay in the writing of the forthcoming chapters to A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth and Stories From The End and a few others I've been working on and started.

First of all in case some of you didn't know there are a large number of people who make it a game competing for the credit for what someone else does online. It has become like a modern form of identity theft where your own identity is swapped with that of someone else and often to your detriment and their benefit. All of this happens locally and for what I put out mostly a lot of bad comes back. I have a feeling that this is something that may be going on many places and that I am not the only victim.

I've actually had the same thing happen with my activism as well with some people locally taking credit for my online efforts for Amnesty International in terms of letter writing on behalf of prisoners of conscience. Many people take part in such activities so when someone does such a thing it really makes a mockery of the effort as a whole. In this case not only did it affect my sense of contribution but it also affected me financially costing me a sizeable sum of money. I've since restricted my participation in such activity though I would say that others should not be discouraged.

Anyway I have decided that until this activity stops or until I relocate to somewhere more peaceful, that I am indefinitely ceasing work on any of the stories on this blog. I apologize that this affects the readers and others who peruse this blog, those who are among my most valued allies and many friends. Thankfully I don't have any children or dependants whose lives would be affect by such a thing.

Risque Factor will from time to time contain my efforts to expose this activity in order to help others who are victim to it understand it a little bit better as well while keeping it away from conspiracy and paranoia and more concentrating on that aspect of it being a social phenomenon. Some of the more recent articles apply to this research effort.

Any, for the time being I'd like to add some more inspirational women to the list that I'd not mentioned only because they were a part of this whole thing way back in the beginning. Tina Fey and fellow comedienne and actor Amy Poehler were a part of that from their work on Saturday Night Live and many other great performances. Speaking of comediennes I'd also like to mention Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara of SCTV fame, both who are multi talented performers and have a wide variety of memorable recurring characters.

All the best and hopefully this matter will be resolved soon,

Brian Joseph Johns

A New Post On Risque Factor

I thought that I'd take a moment to notify some of you who might not know about one of my other blogs which is called Risque Factor. Just like the name implies, it covers some mature themed content and social issues that might not be suitable for all readers.

The latest post is a rather important one entitled Love Is... Secrets

Thank you for your time and do enjoy if you decide to take the risk in checking out the Risque Factor blog. 

Brian Joseph Johns

A Lady's Perogative: Control Wars

Coming soon...

Where Are Those Updates?

Just thought that I'd say hello after rising up from the depths of slumber. I've been doing battle with some of my own personal demons and they tend to get annoying at times. Maybe I'm just getting a trip into the depths to shelter Nelony from experiencing the same thing in the upcoming chapters of A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth. None of the stories have received any updates recently and I'm expecting that they will within a week or two, although I believe I said the same thing last post. Hopefully this time I'll be alleviated enough to actually get to writing it. 

I've been dodging a group of people who've been trying to imply their influence over the story and its progression so that part has been difficult. The rest of the Wounded Aerth story and the following book A Lady's Perogative: Control Wars will cover some very intense and pertinent material to modern times and cover some themes that are a part of current life everywhere including mine, hence the stories.

Until that point I wish you all the best!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone had great holidays and got a chance to take a break and be in the presence of those they love regardless of what you celebrate at this time of year.

I had the chance to visit with family and friends, though not as many as I would have liked to but I still had a great time having my butt whooped at Scattergories and playing and singing carols. Speaking of board games, check out Geek And Sundry, which puts celebrities in modern day board game and video game matches against one another in friendly competition and hosted by Wil Wheaton.

My New Years plans didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped, but it was still nice to make sure that some one else that I care about was doing well and that's the important thing.

My writing schedule is going to be a little bit messed up for the next little while as I deal with some other things in life and I feel like I've already paid the emotional investment for the next few chapters of A Lady's Perogative: Wounded Aerth so hopefully that won't be too taxing on anyone else. 

I'm working on a software package that should be released sometime in the near future as well if things go as planned so bouncing time around between that, writing and some other volunteer activities for good causes (which have kind of slowed after someone in my proximity stole my identity for doing such resulting in a personal financial loss for myself). 

Modern identity theft can take on some very disturbing methods and modes as more people figure out ways to impersonate and benefit from your online identity in public, and do the same with your public identity online often damaging one or the other. As a single guy who struggles for what he makes, that can be pretty damaging especially when you're hit like that during the holiday season. For those of you out there, heads up for such activity in your proximity as your identity has value and identity impersonation has become a modern risk both online and offline.

I have plans to jump back and forth between stories and finally finish Stories From The End within the next two months if I get the peace and the right frame of mind. The frame of mind part is rarely a problem but having peace enough to write is difficult as I'm sure that there are many people that can attest to that. Relocation may soon be in order if things work out correctly and that will most likely have a positive effect upon the timing of completion as the biggest hurdle right now is in my living circumstances. Great apartment and management in the midst of difficult elements for aspiring writers.

Some other ladies that have recently crossed my mind with regard to notable influences upon A Lady's Perogative that I have forgotten to mention in the prior posts are Jamie Lee Curtis whose roles and performances have always been overwhelming in terms of her boldness and beauty (I recently saw a deserving tribute to her work in film) and Sofia Coppola (I saw The Godfather: Part III recently in which she performed, not to mention her many directing credits and cameos) and Maggie Cheung (her inspirational history in film and for her performance in Hero alongside Jet Li, Tony Leung and Donnie Yen). Also in Hero is Zhang Ziyi, a great actress and a trained ballerina. I highly recommend the film Hero as it is a work of visual art and inspired many great filming techniques behind modern film making, art direction and direction of photography like the film Elektra. Elektra is a Marvel superhero inspired martial arts action film starring Jennifer Garner (she was already mentioned in the previous post). Elektra was the love interest of and of course fought alongside Daredevil in the movie of the same name which was directed by Jon Favreau who of course directed Iron Man and Iron Man 2.

As well, I'll be posting a review of Need For Speed: World, a great massively multiplayer online racing game in the next week or two.

Until then stay well and all the best.

Brian Joseph Johns