A Reader Crying in the Subway?

Distant Cousin: Regeneration (DC4) is the newest volume out. Here are some reader comments:


"I thought it was FANTASTIC! Best read I've had in a while. I thought all the elements of suspense, sci fi, domestic drama/comedy were blended just right. I was really touched by [spoiler snip]....her experiences in DC 4 really, well, dare I say it, made her HUMAN. And I admit it, I was shedding tears both in the scene where [snip] and [snip]. I can't imagine what the people sitting next to me on the subway thought. Hopefully that I was just enjoying a good read. So, when's the next one coming out?"

"Over all I give [Distant Cousin: Regeneration] 5 1/2 stars out of five. It was my favorite so far! I like stories that focus on the characters, and not around a central plot. It makes the characters seem more real and it's easy to become emotionally invested in their well being. How can you not like a story when you are actually worried about the characters?"

"You have a great way of balancing the action of the story with the personal experiences of the characters which sets the action in motion. Great ending too."

"Awesome!!! I am 3/4 through this book and am literally dragging my heels about finishing it. I ration myself. The story and characters are just so captivating."

"I love the ending--very cool! So thank you so much for the entertaining, beautifully-crafted read, which also made for lots of south-western nostalgia on my part. Breakfast tacos! Salsa! Cats!"

More comments: "You SUCK!"

Second Installment

Moving Story

Meet Ana Darcy!

People who REALLY enjoy Distant Cousin: a Moving Story

It's always rewarding to hear from people who enjoy the Distant Cousin series. Some have REALLY enjoyed it. For example, there is the amazing case of the man who found an insight into the meaning of his life in Distant Cousin: Repatriation. There was a young woman who found rereading the books when she was ailing helped her to feel better. And now there is the tale of the husband and wife whose imaginative reading of the series has markedly improved their quality of life together. It's a truly moving story!

They live in mountainous country. They have a long, daily commute to work--and there's nothing good on the radio. They began with Distant Cousin, volume 1. Here's a sampling of his comments over the last several weeks.

1. So...[she] read the first 5 chapters to me in exchange for me driving her home this afternoon! She delivered with the entire appropriate vernacular, including the rubbing the eyes and all the hand waving.

Truly one of the most enjoyable rush-hour commutes ever!

2. Doing your book the way are, we only get about 30 minutes a day of reading out loud, so on a good session we might get through fifteen pages. We've completed nine sessions...so that's an average of 13 pages per session. We have agreed to finish the book this way, therefore, we should finish up 21 sessions (four weeks) from now. We always try to end each session at the conclusion of a chapter. That's easy due to the chapter size....it is truly fun. We love the humor. The lingo is believable.

3. I am a big fan of Darcy’s. She exemplifies the best in us.
She is kinda-sorta a Bajan on the hero’s journey and she is truly out of this world. Somehow you were able to articulate that aspect of the human experience in such a way that even us knuckle draggers can identify with her.
Could be why so many people, who are looking for the meaning of life, find your book so comforting.

4. We are on Chapter 16 and I have not looked ahead. We are all enjoying the ride home. You are a very clever guy and DC is enjoyably unpredictable, so there!"

5. We are having a fun time with the "ride home reading thing." Thanks for making all this possible! We both really like DC! I am serious about DC helping me navigate rush hour traffic. It is like music and I don't know why. Maybe it's in the composition. We like a Picasso and don't know why. So there you have it, Al Past = Picasso.

The couple's reports are sporadic, but there will be updates on their progress as available!

Progress update

More comments: "You SUCK!" (A Hoot!)

Reader Cries in Subway

Meet Ana Darcy!

Don't talk to aliens! says Stephen Hawkings. Excuse us?

It was reported today that Stephen Hawkings, probably the most famous theoretical physicist in the world, has suggested that it is almost certain that extraterrestrials exist, and that we had better do all we can to avoid all contact with them.

Hawkings is preparing a documentary for the Discovery Channel in which, according to the reports, it is pointed out that (1) the universe contains billions of galaxies; (2), that we, even with our primitive means of detection, have discovered hundreds of planets around not-too-distant stars in our own galaxy; and (3), that the odds would seem to favor at least some of the billions of stars in our own galaxy, or the billions of stars in some of the other billions of galaxies, would support planets that harbor intelligent life. What kind of life that might be requires still more speculation, but the documentary will point out it could be hostile and contact with it could be a disaster.

As readers of this blog and the Distant Cousin series know, Ana Darcy Mendez, nee Anneyn Darshiell, and two members of her family--her uncle and her sister--are extraterrestrial aliens now living on Earth. They may be even better qualified to speculate on this issue than Mr. Hawkings. They not only came to Earth from another planet, but their ancestors were taken to that planet from Earth approximately 3,000 years ago by non-human extraterrestrials! Ana has described them in one of her interviews (Question 5). We know little about them, but it is known that they were not hostile. Quite the contrary: they seemed intrigued by humans, to the extent that they carefully moved a sample to a similar planet, provided them some basic technology, and then broke off contact except to see what progress they might make over time.

This certainly does not prove that other extraterrestrials, if any, might not be hostile. We might take comfort in the fact that Ana's people have inferred from their earliest memories that these mysterious aliens were not able to travel faster than the speed of light. If it is correct that faster than light travel is indeed impossible, then the incomprehensibly large distances between Earth and most other stars in the Milky Way, not to mention the exponentially more incomprehensible distances to stars in other galaxies, would suggest that our sun will have burned up and taken Earth with it long before aliens roaming through the galaxies happen to notice our insignificant (except to us) planet.

In the meantime, if you have the good fortune to encounter Ana Darcy Mendez at some point, do not be afraid to speak to her. She is NOT hostile!

Meet Ana Darcy!

A Love Poem to a Cat

Ana has a sentimental streak, though it may not be obvious. She tends to guard her emotions. (If you were the first person on Earth from another planet you might guard your emotions too.) She loves nearly all cats, of course, and she almost loves the family's two Rhodesian ridgebacks, but Ana really bonded with one particular cat, and that cat bonded with her: the fluffy Eleanor. The reasons were not obvious to the casual observer, nor even to Ana and probably not to Eleanor (but who knows about cats?).

Eleanor was not demonstrative. She performed no amazing feats of athleticism and was only occasionally playful. She simply was: calm, sweet-tempered, and totally devoted to Ana. She may have been the first living creature on Earth for whom Ana felt unabashed love, which Eleanor returned. They understood each other. Eleanor's tiny grave, in a shady spot in the back of the Mendez compound, is well tended.

When Ana found the poem "Pushkin," by Marjorie Kowalski Cole,* it struck her keenly on first reading. She has reread it so many times she surely has memorized it. Pushkin the cat is not sweet-tempered and not female, but his relationship with his person made Ana's eyes watery. Like Pushkin did for his person (we avoid the word "owner"), Eleanor did for Ana, and, perhaps, vice versa.

*The host site for this poem has unfortunately been closed. Please see the Workaround for another way that usually gets you to it.

Many more poems about cats, believe it or not, may be found in the right column, under the photo of the LOVE sculpture-->

Learning Peace from a Cat

Meet Ana Darcy!

A Musical Palindrome

It's no surprise that Ana is a competent, or better than competent, mathematician, having received early training in math as a toddler on Thomo and having learned to navigate a vessel through the universe. Perhaps that's why she so enjoys the music of J. S. Bach. (We are reminded of her comment that one of Bach's compositions sounded like "the engine of the galaxy.") Of course, she could enjoy the music of Bach simply because it is so surpassingly beautiful....

In particular, she treasures several recordings of Bach's Musical Offering, a famously cerebral composition in which Bach seemed to be exploring the farthest possibilities of the fugue, far beyond anything ever done by any other composer. We must admit that we have found the piece interesting, but not so compelling as to become one of our favorites. Ana, however, was profoundly affected by a video clip which illustrates the theme of the piece in a most unique, and visual, way.

We must admit she has a point about the Musical Offering. Even for the casual listener, the clip reveals the theme of The Musical Offering (shown above) in such a way that, if it isn't perfectly transparent, it can easily be appreciated for the immensely intricate and clever creation it is. Any music lover should find it as mind-bending as Ana does. It amounts to a musical palindrome, and a three-dimensional musical palindrome at that.

The clip is on a site called "Strange Paths: Physics, Computation, Philosophy," which sounds forbidding enough to put most of us off. If that weren't enough, the description of the presentation is even more dense:

"In the enigmatic Canon 1 a 2 from J. S. Bach’s 'Musical Offering' (1747) (also known as 'crab canon' or 'canon cancrizans'), the manuscript shows a single score, whose beginning joins with the end. This space is topologically equivalent to a bundle of the line segment over the circle, known as a Möbius strip. The simultaneous performance of the deeply related forward and backward paths gives appearance to two voices, whose symmetry determines a reversible evolution. A musical universe is built and then is 'unplayed' back into silence."

Do not be put off by that description! The actual performace is exhilarating. If you would like to hear and see an example of what Ana calls "brain frisks," click (or right click, to open in another window) this video clip.

(Editor's note: Ana had to look up the word "cancrizans." It's from a Latin root meaning "crab," as in "cancer," the astrological sign for which is a crab. In this case, "cancrizans" means "moving sideways," like a crab!)

Meet Ana Darcy!

Easy (?) Cat Puzzle

Here are some new kitties born at Julie's Jungle this month. Can you name the species of cat? You can if you've been following this blog. They're graceful, beautiful, and make active, affectionate pets.

To be sure, you shouldn't mind if your kitty jumps to top of your refrigerator, the better to check things out. You also shouldn't mind the occasional, playful snag. Note the spot of blood on Julie's arm, and the claws on the wee kitty to the right. Pointy bits aside, it's all in good fun.

We have no knowledge that Ana's family is looking to include one of these gorgeous cats in their menagerie. Then again, we have no knowledge that they're NOT!

You'll find the answer to this puzzle, if you need it, and a look at what they grow up to be, here. There are lots more pictures of these wonderful cats, and several other unusual species, in the right column under the picture of the blue-eyed Siamese.

Meet Ana Darcy!

A Poem about Commercial Air Travel

The Mendez family subscribes to a number of magazines--Scientific American and the New Yorker, to name two. Both Ana and Matt love the longer, well-written New Yorker articles, but Ana has yet to find one of their poems she's enjoyed. She asked Matt why that would be and Matt had to admit that he generally skipped them himself. They weren't on his "wavelength," he said, "too deep."

Ana is still learning Earth's cultures, to be sure, and poetry would doubtless be one of the more difficult areas to understand, for an outsider. Thoman poetry, like their society, is generally more rule-bound than ours, having definite metric patterns, stresses, assonance, and even some rhymes. It is often lyrical, and makes frequent use of metaphors, but seldom as freely associative (and as delightful to Ana) as modern English poetry.

If you've sampled Ana's favorite poems here on her blog, you might have noticed that for the most part they are clear and direct (as direct as poetry usually is), and they contain some innovative thought or observation worth thinking about. That's what she likes: that sudden insight, seeing something familiar in a new way. For example...

...those who know about Ana know she travels by air from time to time. Once in a while she charters planes when circumstances require it--money is not a problem for her, fortunately. Most times, she flies commercial. She immediately took to this poem, written through the eyes of a person waiting to board a flight, which she has done many times. Anyone who's flown on a commercial airliner would probably enjoy it as well.

Passengers, by Billy Collins

Meet Ana Darcy!