Well, here I've started my first blog, and find myself without anything to write about.

Most of my writing of late has been inspired by political, or religious ideas which I've long had, but lacked a venue to express. I've also been working on a science fiction story, but that seems to move only slowly forward, in fits and starts, though much more progress has been made than I ever imagined possible before I began writing it. It is interesting to write, especially on a work of fiction, where nonexistent people, places, and events gain a life, and substance all their own, out of nothing but my own thoughts. A scene, or group of scenes, once written down, can then enter the thoughts of others, inspiring their own ideas. Well, if I ever publish it that is.

I've always enjoyed science fiction, which probably goes all the way back to when I was five years old, and saw A New Hope for the first time, during its very first theatrical release, igniting my imagination. My younger brother and I spent many years afterwards building Lego spaceships and fighters, some of them quite elaborate, only to have Dad hold them up and let them go, to pass or fail the dreaded "drop test." This forced us, actually, to build some quite sturdy vessels, which we would test ourselves by dropping them down the stairs. A lot of expensive Lego pieces ended up down the cold air return that way, much to Dad's chagrin, ha! It wasn't until I was much older, however, that I actually started to read serious sci-fi. I went through a long fantasy stage first, with series like The Belgariad, The Lord Of The Rings, and The Dark Tower, then rereading them. This gave me a deeper understanding of the stories, but made me perhaps an overly harsh critic of later movie adaptations, heheh. My first true sci-fi reading experience was Frank Herbert's Dune, a fantastic story that, in my opinion, should be required reading for students. I went on to read other books in that series, but the first, and the third, affected me the most profoundly. H.G. Wells, Arhtur C. Clark, and George Orwell were other authors I liked early on. More recently, I've gotten into John Scalzi, James S.A. Corey, Hugh Howey, and Peter F. Hamilton. I enjoy many other types of fiction as well, but sci-fi will always hold a special place in my heart.

Commenting on Google plus, a recent devopment for me, has provide an unlooked for venue in which to express my political, and religious thoughts. It also has led me to start this blog. I've read a good many opinions here which have resulted in a deep, thoughtful reflection within myself, and also given me the confidence to express my own ideas. But I've also learned that there is no shortage of people who will disagree with me. That's okay because this leads to thoughtfulness as well. Even the more ignorant, and vitriolic opinions can help to turn the prism in my minds eye, to look at things from a new angle, allowing me to define more clearly what it is I truly believe in, and how I myself ought to behave.

Politics and religion can be very derisive, often bringing out the worst in people, but also at times, the best. It does astound me though, how so very smug, and justified people can be in the way they look at things, and how difficult it is to sway their view, even with what I consider to be rational, fact based arguments. A good example of this is the way my Dad and I view climate change so differently. I throw facts and evidence his way supporting my view, and he'll throw facts and evidence my way supporting his. The end result apparently being that we agree to disagree, waiting to see if Greenland's rapidly melting glaciers ever actually wash away their new home in Florida. And this is the way it is anymore with politics and religion, except there seems to be a lot less of the agreeing to disagree than there should be. I'll leave the specifics of my beliefs and ideas for later posts, however, and here bid everyone a good night. Peace be with you.