The Best (or Worst) Laid Plans...

Well, as Jack Benny used to say. We got thrown for a loop last week in my family. My Mom fell and broke her hip. She had it replaced and is in rehab currently. My brothers, nieces, nephews (too bad English doesn't have a collective gender neutral for that level of family), uncle, and dear family friend are taking turns visiting and helping her. 

This is partially why I did not post in this blog yesterday (though I've established and intend to continue a weekly post on Wednesday). I don't think anyone is subscribed, and I'd be surprised if anyone has even noticed the pattern, but it is not a good thing to do in the beginning of what I intend and hope is a long and fruitful tradition, and it was a goal of mine in November to write daily and I missed a day this week.

If I had planned better I would have had a post "in the can" and been prepared for not being able to write on Wednesday.

Something else that happened due to my own poor planning was that I forgot to mention that I participated in Movember again this year in November. That is, I grew a mustache (or let my mustache grow) in November to raise awareness of Men's Health Issues, specifically prostate cancer and dementia.

My Father died of pancreatic cancer, but before that, he had prostate cancer (for which he was successfully treated). My Father-In-Law had dementia and broke HIS hip, which ultimately impacted his departure from our company. I find it interesting that the identical purple ribbon is used for both of these conditions.

My Mom also has dementia, so this story turns round and round.

I planned to raise awareness of men's health issues and failed to use the platform already at my disposal in this blog. 

No plan survives first contact with the enemy even if that enemy is your own poor planning. I'm going to have to up my game.

What are your plans for the rest of the year? How are you going to adjust them once they are put into action?

December Goals and November Review

Goal, er, well a Try

I'm going to first go over the final review of my November goals.

1. Produce more than consume
1. Make 12 attempts to get a short story (there are several possible) and/or “Tabernacle” published by the end of the month
2. Write or Edit every day (defined as Writing = at least 1 word, Editing = at least 1 correction)
3. Make creating apps outweigh consumption apps on my phone (more time)
4. NO YouTube while working
2. Focus on Health
1. Exercise daily (defined as anything >10 pushups)
2. Yoga daily
3. Get to 1 pullup

1. Production Results
1. D- I didn't make any publishing attempts except this blog
2. A I did that 28/30 days
3. B With the limits I made I'll give myself a B for the reduction
4. A maybe about 90-95%
2. Health
1. A about 90-95%
2. B I didn't do as much yoga, but I did start physical training for my shoulder and that was a lot of stretching so I counted that
3. F I didn't really even work on this

For December I want to build on what I have already, but not reinforce failure. Additionally, a lot of these are habit builders. If I have successfully built a habit I don't need to use is as a goal for future months.

December Goals (in priority order):

1. Health
1. Physical Therapy daily (stretch goal: do it twice) 
2. Set up garage exercise stuff (punching bag, drag tires, bag toss, tires for using sledgehammer on)
2. Volunteer
1. Support Scouting America
1. Attend the Northeast Illinois Council (NEIC) Training committee meeting and volunteer for something
2. Attend the Aptakisic District Committee meeting and volunteer for something
3. Contact NEIC Council Ops Officer to see what help they need
2. Attend the Wauconda CERT meeting and volunteer for an event
3. Switch to Spanish from Dutch on Duolingo and get 15 hours (30 min a day for 30 days)
3. Produce - Make one publishing submission

Now that I've made them public you will have to hold me to them. I can't use the endorphins of posting them to make me feel like I've already accomplished something.

If there is something you would like to see me do more of, please let me know.

 

Escape

First I want to say that I learned (or maybe re-learned) a lesson last week. I pre-wrote my blog post on a Google Doc and tried to copy-paste into Blogger. Silly me, I thought since they are both Google properties it would be smooth. It was not. It was mostly because I had bullets and levels of bullets and colors. I think when I write in just text it will be much better.

I have been reading and writing several things this month. I'll start with what and how I'm reading.

For the most part I try to read things I can get from the local library (system). I don't often buy books. I get them by putting them on hold to get the physical books, and I borrow them through two library apps. Through our local library I can borrow things from Libby and Hoopla.

I'm currently listening to Grave Peril, a Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher on Libby; The Two Towers, a Lord of the Rings book by J.R.R. Tolkien, on Hoopla. I'm also reading Casino Royale, a James Bond by Ian Flemming on Hoopla.

I borrowed several of the Discworld audiobooks from the library, and I'm just about finished with Feet of Clay by Sir Terry Pratchett.

I'm trying to read the physical book of Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice by Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn. I say, trying because it is a textbook and not exactly riveting and light reading.

I am actively working on writing the first draft of two stories. The first has the working title of The Invisible Guild. It's an urban fantasy that is slightly comical and mostly adventurous (along the lines of Dresden Files and The Watch books within the Discworld). The other one is a Science Fiction time travel story tentatively called Joy Righd and GAIL the Time Machine.

You might have noticed that my reading helps fuel my imagination for my writing. Only Archaeology is a non-fiction book and I'm reading that for two reasons mainly: to prepare for the graduate school I'm hoping and planning to attend when I retire, and probably more importantly to convince myself Archaeology and pursuing a PhD in Archaeology are really what I want to do in retirement. This is long-range planning and based on a fierce belief that the world will be in a state that will allow me that path as an option.

How can I be listening/reading so many things at once (for those of you who are asking and not saying, pfft that's not a lot of things at once)? I am consuming them at different times, different ways and different places.

Pratchett is on CD audiobooks and I listen in the only place I still have a CD player, while driving. Tolkien is on Hoopla and because I've read those books before I can listen to them in the background at work or while walking the dog. Butcher is on Libby so I can listen on my phone also while I'm walking the dog or working around the house, but I haven't read that book before so I have to pay attention. Flemming is on my phone or Kindle, but I read that when sitting in the family room in the evenings. I split my time then with Archaeology.

Why am I reading all these things? To fuel my imagination as I said earlier, but there is something more. There is something about reading and writing these types of things: escape.

I'm also listening to J.R.R. Tolkien's essay, On Fairy Stories. That's on YouTube. I'm trying to figure out how to get a print/electronic copy so I can highlight and take notes on it. In this essay he says that we must not confuse escapism as running away. We must think of it as freeing ourselves like a war prisoner or political prisoner frees themselves.

This kind of escapism allows us to recharge ourselves, to be refreshed for future struggles. It also allows us a safe place, like when you are in school, to train and experiment with ideas, methods, policies and beliefs we can use when we return to the real world.

A long time ago I realized Jurassic Park did a lot more to teach Paleontology than almost anything else and JFK changed the national zeitgeist (if only a little). I realized that the common language offered by fiction can become so ingrained in our minds that it becomes indistinguishable from facts. We all know dinosaurs are warm blooded like birds and JFK was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, but he was a patsy. How do we know those things? Because that's what we always thought or knew.

That's powerful stuff. I really do think I can tap into that, I can use it to push our default ideas a little bit in the direction of democracy, humanism, ecological responsibility and that higher technology can help for a start. I'm not going to pretend that my fiction is real (like people eating pets), but just putting it out there in the universe I hope people will start to take for granted these things are good and they are the things we want to try and espouse and/or do.

I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear. The thing I want to leave you with today is something from that book. You have to decide what person you want to be (determine your identity) and prove it to yourself by doing the things that that person does. 

For example, if I decide I'm a healthy person, healthy people go to the gym to exercise so they can be fit and capable outside the gym.

I think that is also true of society. If we decide we are a humanist democracy that respects nature we have to, everyday do the things humanist democracies do. 

Our escapist literature can be our gym to learn how and practice democratic things so when we get out in the real world we can put those ideas into practice. 

In my writing I want to build that gym/sandbox/escapist world for us all to train our brains and hearts in.

GOALS!

Apparently, the work I've set out to volunteer for is difficult to get started. I've spoken with as many people as I can to get my volunteering moving, and…

I have nothing yet to report.

SO…

I'm going to share my goals for November. A bit late, you're thinking. Maybe it is, but:

1. I'm in the last ten days and I may, just might be able to reach them if I really try and posting about them sort of puts me on the hot seat, AND

2. I made them just before November and my birthday sort of put things on their ear if you catch my meaning. I was spun around and dizzy, but I've finally got myself in the right direction.

I feel like my volunteering is important, but these goals, though not necessarily in that exact direction nor are exact fuel to get me going in that direction, are good for the same reason my volunteering is important and I will explain after I share them.

1. Produce more than consume

1. Make 12 attempts to get a short story (there are several possible) and/or “Tabernacle” published by the end of the month

2. Write or Edit every day (defined as Writing = at least 1 word, Editing = at least 1 correction)

3. Make creating apps outweigh consumption apps on my phone (more time)

4. NO YouTube while working

2. Focus on Health

1. Exercise daily (defined as anything >10 pushups)

2. Yoga daily

3. Get to 1 pullup

PRODUCING

I figure producing more than consuming is important to the support of democracy because 

1. I don't want to be a mindless consumer, doom-scroller, a side-line-attendee
2. I want to produce the kinds of things that 
1. Make people think and think good things about democracy
2. Make people feel good
3. I want to see and read
4. Make me feel empowered in the right direction.

BTW - It's green because green things grow  

HEALTH

I figure focusing on my health will

1. Keep me healthy for the fight
2. Keep my healthy longer for my children and grandchildren
3. Make my mind stronger, healthy body, healthy mind/brain for the fight for democracy
4. Help me feel powerful and empowered

BTW - It's pink for "In the pink of health"

My progress so far:

1. Produce more than consume
1. No attempts at publishing yet, but I have been doing this, and publishing my blog, and there is still time
2. I have been writing every day
3. I don't know if my creating apps outweigh my consumption apps, but I have downloaded Screen Zen for my phone and Untrap for Youtube. Both help me limit YouTube and a few other apps on my phone
4. I've been pretty successful with not listening to YouTube while working now that I've installed Untrap for Youtube.
2. Focus on Health
1. I am very close to having exercised every day at least more than 10 pushups
2. Very close to Yoga daily, or a similar activity
3. Get to 1 pullup - I'm in physical therapy for my shoulder to help me get to this

So you see it is do-able. I could use encouragement because 1.1 is a doozy yet and I could use all the kind words and suggestions I can get.

Thanks all!

Intention, Expectation, and Desire

When I write I consider three things always, whether I INTEND for the piece to be read by others, whether I EXPECT it to be read by others and if I DESIRE for it to be read by others.

I've been making a concerted effort this last half of the year to write something every day, anything.  Because I only count things written as part of stories, not notes, not ideas, not outlines, reminders, or instructions.  This does not mean I only count words I write that will be published.

I desire anything I write to be published or at the very least read by many other people.  I have removed the expectation that every word I write will actually be in the story, but I do intend for them to be.

Simply removing the expectation frees me to write quickly, often, and at volume.  This is my normal mindset for NaNoWriMo novels, I desire these novels to be published, I intend for them to be published, but I don't expect them to be.  This is also the mindset I've been using to keep up a daily output.

Previously the only time I tried to have a daily steady output was in the NaNo Novembers.  The idea of a first draft being so far removed from publishable that it would necessitate a rewrite seemed completely foreign to me.  Now I'm trying to embrace it, or at least tolerate it.  One of my most hated writing adages is, "Writing it rewriting" (credit Hemingway or E.B. White, either way, I don't like it).  That seems like negative thinking to me.  I partially blame the movie Amadeus.  Salieri said Mozart never made any erasures.  Everything was perfect as it left his pen.

Because I've almost always written on a word processor or computer I never really considered anything a first draft, but more like a work in progress.  Now I'm thinking, go from the beginning to the middle and don't stop until the end.  Then go back and change things.  I'm still reluctant to think that anything is strictly a first draft, not for public consumption, or worse still, something to be written only as practice, a first attempt of countless more, as it were.

It often seems like a waste to remove the intent that anything you write will be read by a wide audience (or has the potential to).  Why write anything you don't intend to share?  This is strongly my inclination, but I've recently figured out this is not universally felt.  I've long known there are things people write for a single consumer (like a lover, or themselves) with no expectation or intention of them being read by anyone else.  Journals and love letters are like this.  I'm not really talking about that.

Besides, in the back of my mind I do always expect someone will someday get ahold of anything and everything I write and whether I like it or not, they will read it.  It might be a self-destructive feeling because it makes me write while looking over my shoulder, which is not something you want to do when you are journaling, using writing as meditation, or writing something that will be a first draft only.  

That and I'm sort of paranoid anything I write could someday be subpoenaed. 

The rarest thing I write is something I don't expect to be read, I don't intend to be read and I don't desire to be read.  

Can you guess what sorts of things those could be?  

Do you have anything you write with none of the above?  

Write me a comment and let us know.

Καλό Μήνα, Road! Nice to Meet You.

Well, here we are in July already, and a Friday no less.  Happy month (κάλο μήνα as the Greek's say)

What's my new weekly blogging schedule, you ask?  I'm ready to tell you.

It's a simple plan:

1. Week 1:  Military post
2. Week 2:  Stand-alone story
3. Week 3:  Serial story
4. Week 4:  Admin (aka blogging about blogging) or a rant
5. Week 5 (if there is one):  Anything Goes (a joke, or comedy maybe)

I will post on Fridays.

That's the plan and I am poised to move forward with it.

EXCEPT:

Ouch!

My eldest and I were rear-ended yesterday evening.  See the lovely picture?  This didn't really affect this blog, however it does allow me a story that I will classify as an, "Anything Goes."

To the point, we all have plans to hit the road, but sometimes the road hits back.  July has five Fridays and I was prepared with a post for this Friday (today), but I was worried that because I only just posted Wednesday I'd be actually too speedy in this early going.  I mean two post in a week after half a year of nothing doesn't get you, the readers prepared and in place for the new schedule.

Did I mention that it is July already and it is also Friday?

I am going to shift the schedule for this month.  I don't want to keep it this way because there are very few months with five weeks.  I'm going to consider next week as the first week, and post my next military story then (it is written already).  I hope you will all be ready for it.

I know what you're thinking, what is bugging you, what has you curious beyond words, you need to know.

You are just going to have to wait until next week to find out about that bus.

Oh, you want to know about the accident yesterday?  As it happened we were stopped at a red light, not unlike this blog, and when it turned green we were struck by someone who just wasn't paying enough attention (not unlike this blog?).  Everyone is uninjured and my vehicle is drivable, but I can't raise the tailgate so anyone hoping for a visit from Ferris will just have to wait until, "Sunshine" is repaired.

Who is Ferris, and who is Sunshine?  Would you like to know?

Do you like my plan? Do you have any suggestions?

On the Road Again

Why the school bus?  Tune in next week

Wow.  I really need to get on the road again with this blog.

I see that I haven't posted since January.  Why; you ask?  There are several reasons.

1. I wanted to shift my focus to getting enrolled in a Masters program
2. I wanted to hold posting until I had several post pre-written so I could post on a regular schedule.
3. I wanted to work out a story-line that I could work into a serialized set of stories
4. I have some stories I wanted to write for submission and they took priority
5. I didn't just want to write about feelings or rants.  I want this blog to be about stories, mostly my fiction writing, but also some of my personal "war stories."

I think five reasons is enough.  Why am I posting now?  Several reasons as well.

1. I have used #1 above as an excuse for too long.  I have dragged my feet in getting enrolled and I will no longer allow myself to use it as an excuse
2. I have now, finally pre-written several posts
3. I am still working on what story-line will work best, but I have several in the works, and I have gotten on a roll of writing SOMETHING every day for the  last two months.
4. I wrote those stories (or a couple of them at least) they were rejected.  I'm moving on.  I will probably post one of them here broken into a couple posts.
5. This is the beauty of my new plan.

I felt that if I were to write my "war journal" here I would have to do it in chronological order, and/or this blog would become only that, and my fiction would suffer.  My new plan is to help me write and post on a regular basis, regardless.

I have spoken before about the schedule the Mickey Mouse Club from the 1950s used:

• Monday is Music Day
• Tuesday is Talent Day
• Wednesday is Anything Can Happen Day
• Thursday is Circus Day
• Friday is Guest-star Day

I thought about doing that and modifying it a bit, but still keeping a daily schedule.  I realized now  that daily is far far too ambitious.  I'm going to go with weekly.  I will cover a different topic each week of the month,  This way I can work on things for several months, but always keep writing and posting.

The other new idea is that I'm going to limit my posts to about 500-1000 words.  This may seem very short, but I think it will help me conceptualize and realize the goal.  If I'm thinking I only need to get to 500 words I won't be too intimidated by it.  The other thing I'm going to do is break posts up.  It won't be blindly at 500-1000 words.  I'll search for a natural break, but I will break up longer pieces so that they will provide multiple posts, rather than one long one followed by longer and longer breaks between posts.

Why do I want many posts; why do I want them regular?

Well, this is 507 words so you'll have to wait until the next post,  You will also find out what my new weekly schedule will be.

I hope you're curious.  What would you like to see in my weekly schedule?

13 Worldbuilding Questions: Numbers 11, 12 & 13

Needs

There are three final questions that all deal with needs:

11.What is this society's most ardent need?

12.How does it go about satisfying this need?

13.What would it take to disrupt normalcy on this world?

11. What is this society’s most ardent need?

No society is ever in a state of perfect balance for longer than a microsecond. Figure out what the biggest need of that society is, because it will greatly affect its values and evolution. Does it need energy to fuel its increasing numbers (like we do)? Does it need new hunting grounds because the old ones aren’t fruitful anymore? Or maybe it needs genetic diversification? If the need for expansion is desperate enough, you might have a very aggressive society on your hands that won’t fidget long before invading new territories at great costs. Or maybe your society needs to sort out an internal problem like corruption, disease or dependency?

The Aliens' needs are beyond our comprehension. Why do they do what they do, what drives them, what need are they trying to fulfill?  We will probably never know.

What is our greatest need; we little folk of Earth?   Hiding will do us no good, nor will knowledge.  Do we have any hope of attaining the kind of intelligence or power of these other civilizations?  Homo sapiens certainly does not.  We have neither the longevity nor the mental capacity to reach any level of technology higher than perhaps K level I or II.

Transhumans, or the emergent AI that develops from the AI we birth through the singularity may rise to that level.   Make no mistake, they may rise to a level where they can understand these god-like aliens.  Rising to the level where their needs are something like the needs of the aliens is highly unlikely.  There is no way to tell what is on the other side of the singularity, at least not for humans on this side of it.

I do know because I am the omniscient author do know.  We will ascend through a melding of genetically enhanced transhumanism and technological AI.  The two will become one and move forward to take our place as one of the lowest, weakest, mentally deficient of the star traveling races.  Our descendants may even return through time to perhaps themselves be inconceivable god-like aliens.

12. How does it go about satisfying this need?

The way a people tackles a problem or tries to satisfy a need says a lot about its nature. Is it trying to build or fight its way out of the trouble? Is it willing to risk something else of value? Is it canibalizing its resources or managing them sensibly? Is it indiferent to how it affects the environment or other societies / species? Does it shift its collective attention to evolving past the point of the need in a positive direction, or does it focus on eliminating the problem by any means necessary? Does it think long-term or is it short-sighted?

Now, after you’ve created a basic structure for your world, before you drop your characters into it and let them fend for themselves, ask yourself one more thing. It might help you use that wonderful worldbuilding to strengthen your plot.

There are a few things we can witness whether we understand the needs of the aliens or not.  Some of their needs are satisfied here on Earth and/or with humans.  There are some of their needs that require the use of humans, or at least lower sentient beings.  Some of them (the Extrinsic Ones at least) derive something from our pain, fear, panic, anxiety, anger and despair.  Some of them are roughly the equivalent of Vogons, with complete apathy toward what to them is merely a slight impediment along the path to whatever it is they want or need.

Much of the terror of our situation living in their universe is that we have no way of satisfying the ultimate need we have of living peacefully, of understanding even a part of what these great races want from us, of having even the slightest chance of avoiding whatever fate they decide for us, or even when they have no consideration at all for us, and our fate is doomed regardless.  We can't begin to start to satisfy our greatest needs; thus ending all hope and giving way to ruinous devastation for those who even barely understand what is really at stake.

The rest of us can live in blissful ignorance, until our planet is ended with a proverbial bat of an eye.

13. What would it take to disrupt normalcy on this world?

And I’m not talking about the moon crashing into the surface of the planet, or the ground cracking open and unleashing a geyser of demons into the world. I’m talking about what a single individual—your protagonist—can possibly do that is so disruptive that it turns him into enemy number one? Now how can you drive him to do just that, unwillingly or unavoidably? And what happens next?

Ah, here's the rub.  The moon crashing into the Earth, or the ground cracking open and spewing forth unspeakable horrors is exactly what could happen.  What could my protagonist do to become the worst human who ever lived, someone so vile that Stalin and Hitler would cringe, cry and hide?  Simply seek some of the knowledge of the Great Alien Races, attempt to commune with them, accept allegiance with any that bother to contact us.  Collaborators, scholars, cohorts, devotees, conspirators, worshipers, and supplicants are all supremely dangerous because they are tapping into powers and knowledge that will rip them and all of us apart, often physically and minimally emotionally, spiritually and mentally. 

There you have the 13 worldbuilding questions.  Honestly I don't feel like this fleshed out my horror universe.  Perhaps it didn't because so often authors don't really give the universe a proper scale.  The universe is one world often.  It is one land and maybe two peoples in conflict.  The whole of the universe in the books and stories are there to serve the characters and their venue.  The focus is orders of magnitude less than what the real universe is.  This is fair enough.  In reality what do any of us care about the explosion that caused the Horse Head Nebula?  How much can a supernova thousands of light years away affect us?

But in my universe these do matter and they do affect us.  In fact they are but tiny pin pricks in the vast power and destructive capacity.  These things are coming to get us, by design or through negligence and there is nothing we can do about it.  We may or may not be lucky enough to realize they are on the way before we all die in the most horrible, painful and  demoralizing way possible.

13 Worldbuilding Questions: Numbers 9 & 10

Mentality
9. What are some core moral values of this society?

Do people care about basic human rights and freedom of speech? Do they value competitiveness or conformity? Do they value art predominately, or science? Are they interested in other cultures or species, or are they xenophobic? Do they value tradition over progress or the other way around?

Because this is everything, it's hard to talk about.  I think it might be best to describe those aspects of this universe that makes it a horror story setting.

Do the aliens care about human rights; certainly not.  Do they care about freedom of human speech; do you care about freedom of tree speech (okay there are some that care about trees almost in that way, but there might also be aliens that care about humans in that same, save the trees attitude, if they could only get here and had the power to actually do something for us)?

Some of the most powerful aliens are conformist in that they've gathered together to form a sort of hive mind, on the other hand, they can be insanely competitive towards other species.

Art, as far as we can comprehend their concept of art would be on an almost immeasurable scale (at least for the Originator Race).  Creation of an entire universe to their own tastes is to them, art itself.  All the art in our universe ever created they take credit for, as it occurred in their creation under their rules with the materials they ultimately created.

On the other hand, science is an art to them.  The greatest art of all is most likely power and knowledge.

The Originators feel they own all the races.  They spend no time or effort attempting to know of or understand let alone aid or communicate with any lesser civilization, even one at KS V level.

The Deific Race think of themselves as high-minded but perhaps they are more akin to the angry god of the Christian Old Testament, one, but many; loving and condescending; but vengeful and controlling.  They feel they deserve a universe of their own and demand such respect as well as every aid in achieving this.

The Puissant Race is expansionist, imperialist, and elitist.  They desire the downfall of everyone and everything because they know they are incapable of creating their own universe. Where the Deific Race is looking to build a new universe, the PR is looking to destroy this one.  Where the DR are bent on overcoming this universe, the PR and intent on owning and controlling every aspect of it.

This is all unknown and unknowable to us.  We have no way of discovering it on our own.  These races have no intention of explaining themselves to us, even if they know of us.  Even if they tried our minds could not understand it.  For the most part what I have written is a pale comparison, a childish impression, a dim shadow in a room so brightly and widely illuminated the only hint of an impression of the things casting shadows is the almost imperceptible dimming of the light.

10. How do their values affect their mentality on a personal level?

"...how the mentality of a native differs from yours, based on what the core values of his society are.
For example, if he grew up believing everyone is reincarnated, he might not fear death as much as someone outside of his belief and might be more ready to risk his life. Or if he was brought up to value tradition and history, he might be reluctant to change his ways even in the face of adversity. He might be heavily xenophobic, due to a history full of brutality from foreigners (or alien invasions), and so he might be extremely suspicious of your other-worldly character. All of these things will influence this native’s decision making process, and thus influence the plot..."

I may be starting to sound like a broken record, but these civilizations, these races are beyond our feeble comprehension.  That's part of what makes them frightening.  We can't understand how their civilizations affect individuals, or if they even affect individuals at all.  Their speed of communication and interconnectedness may make the concept of individuals irrelevant.

That in and of itself is an indication of the kind of things question 10 is asking however.  They are all so very powerful and working so closely it undoubtedly affects the components of the civilization (i.e members, or individuals for lack of a better word).  Do they simply feel too crowded; do they feel a lack of privacy or self-determination; do they feel a warm fuzzy, happy feeling as a part of the hive?  I think all of these descriptions are far too simplistic.

What can you be sure the components of these civilizations will do, nothing.  You can be sure of nothing.  To us it may seem all random or chaotic.  

A better way of looking at this question is how do these races affect individuals of our planet.  We mostly don't have any idea of their existence, and any hint of their ultimate power, knowledge, intelligence and complexity frightens people out of their minds, literally.  Their minds could melt and at the very least they will break and plummet into insanity.

13 Worldbuilding Questions: Numbers 7 & 8 continually continued

This is part 3 for:

Culture

  7.  What's the predominant culture?

  8.  What's the current form of societal normalcy?

I've covered #7 in the last two posts, so now: what is the current form of societal normalcy?

This is a universe created by the whim of a race beyond our capability to understand just how little we are capable of understanding them.  We can't even conceive of how little we can know of them.  My defining them as a power mad race is the slightest hint of a shadow of an infinitesimal portion of what they truly are.

"...the Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose."  J.B.S. Haldane

From our incredibly limited point of view, the universe is based on chaos and power madness.  It was designed from the ruins of a previous inhabited universe, completely destroyed and broken down into component energy states and potentialities, to be recreated at the whim of a race driven insane from their own knowledge and power.

That is, if we could even get enough information to know that much.  Currently we are incapable of even knowing as much as I described in the previous paragraph.

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." - H.P. Lovecraft

Are we are sitting on our planet, fat dumb and happy?  Not in the slightest.

"The universe is trying to kill you."  Neil deGrasse Tyson

The relative calm and predictability of a massive nuclear explosion, billions of years old, a wildly careening molten debris ball and a host of corrosive chemicals is homey and comfortable.  Where creatures killing and eating each other constantly and death is constant, painful and continuous is normal and reassuring; that's physical normalcy.

What about society?  There are good people, right?  

Sure, there are.  The mass of people are sheep, simple, unreflecting, calm and sure.  There are also good people; strong and brave heroic sheepdogs trying to herd and protect the flock who are utterly impotent in the face of this universe.

But that is not all.

"Man is a wolf to man."  Roman proverb.

Sheep, dogs and wolves all vunerable in an open field with only the unsympathetic sky above; getting no protection at all from what appears to be non-stop anarchy.  That is societal normalcy.

13 Worldbuilding Questions: Numbers 7 & 8 continued

Culture

  7.  What's the predominant culture?

  8.  What's the current form of societal normalcy?

In the previous post I explained how I measure the alien civiliations (and ours).  In this post I want to tell you about the most significant (aka predominant) cultures.

I've described the Originator Race in previous posts, but according to the scales I just established I thought I should include their rating.
SQ:  +25
CL:  8d
KS:  VI

The Deific Race is just slightly younger than our universe and only slightly less powerful than the Originator Race.  They're purpose is to destroy the current universe adn install a new one of their making.  They want to make something like stargates to collapse our existing universe, bringing about it's destruction and releasing the energy for their own purposes.

The DR are a community intelligence that uses spore-like devices (not purely physical or energy, but bundles of information and intelligence) to reproduce and infect.  They interact with races like Homo sapiens when one of these spores comes in contact with some human at least at genius level.  Anything less would destroy the infected mind.

The DR are almost beyond time, having learned to bend and manipulate it to their own devices.  They don't know death and can take any amount of time to do things.

The DR make use of all the most advanced forms of communications.

SQ:  +20
CL:  8c
KS:  V

The Puissant Race (PR) are another transcendent race who have moved beyond their physical bodies, but are not a communal intelligence.  Because of this they will probably never reach the level of the Deific Race and they know it.  This makes them bitter and envious.  They have turned their concerns to controlling everything in this universe.

The entity Aachiang in "Bellwether's Asteroid" is a member of this race.

SQ:  +18
CL:  8b
KS:  IV

There are aliens who frequently visit earth, but they are so powerful and alien that we don't recognize their present.  These are the Extrinsic Aliens (EA).  The EA are a galaxy-wide presence and force, not limited by time or set physical bodies.  

They have individual personalities within their communal intelligence, able and needing to create physical bodies to act as avatars to interact with the physical universe.  

They are capable of creating portals, or stargates.  They can even use these to move data directly into someone's mind, with a similar affect of psychic powers.

SQ:  +16 
CL:  7c
KS:  III

13 Worldbuilding Questions: Numbers 7 & 8

Culture

  7.  What's the predominant culture?

  8.  What's the current form of societal normalcy?

What is the predominant culture in the universe?  I suppose that depends on your definition of predominant.  Obviously the most dominant is the Originator Race.  On the other hand, they are so powerful and intelligent that they don't normally interact with humans, at least not in a way that is understandable to humans.

There are several other very powerful species and some are even in our galactic neighborhood.

Before I do it would be best if I introduce several methods of measuring intelligence.

The first is the Sentience Quotient (SQ).  This describes just how quickly information is gathered, interpreted and a decision can be made on.   Per Wikipedia, it is, "the relationship between the information processing rate (bit/s) of each individual processing unit (neuron), the weight/size of a single unit and the total number of processing units (expressed as mass)."  Homo sapiens SQ is +13.  All earth animals are within a few points of this while earth plants are around -2.

The next measure of the civilizations in my universe is the Cognizance Level (CL).  This is how the civilization interacts with its environment.  Each level is divided into four letter levels:
a.  Awareness of the environment at that level
b.  Being able to respond at an individual level
c.  Manipulating the environment
d.  Understanding the environment fully

The overall levels are based on the description, scope of the environment:

1. Immediate Environment
2. Extended Environment (outside of senses)
3. Community
4. Self
5. Time
6. Cosmos
7. Physical Ability
8. Meta-Cosmos

Humans are probably a 4c.

The last measure of the civilizations is the well known Kardashev scale (KS).  Simply:

0.  (Carl Sagan addition) A civilization capable of using a mega watt

I.  A civilization capable of using all the available energy of their planet

II.  Using all the energy of the home star

III.  Using all the energy of the home galaxy

IV.  (questionable addition) Using all the energy of the universe

V.  (even more questionable, but probably necessary for my universe) capable of using all the energy of several universes

Humans are at about 0.724.

I think I should break it here and talk about the individual civilizations, or races in a second post for these questions.