Methinks that in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air.
Not to sound like I was raised by protestants, but I think those kids who argue that it’s animal abuse to put working dog breeds to work doing the tasks they were bred and born for have simply genuinely never encountered the concept that they, too, could be genuinely happier if they could do work they found wortwhile and enjoyable. Like engaging in useful and constructive activities might genuinely make life better than a life of doing absolutely nothing because nobody’s making you do anything.
Blue Heelers are herding dogs. When I had one, he decided his job was to herd our flock of cockatiels. I didn’t ask him to, and in fact tried to dissuade him at first, but it worked out pretty well and kept him from getting bored. Not sure how well things would have worked out if we hadn’t had something for him to herd and protect.
If you don’t give your working dog a job, they will assign themselves one. Unfortunately, that job may sometimes be eating the couch.
The difference between a well-trained herding dog and an untrained herding dog is that a well-trained one won’t start herding before you tell them to, and stops herding when told to do so. Herders will herd because herders must herd. I was there the first time my sister’s dog (a shepherd breed) saw sheep for the first time. I swear I saw him blink like he suddenly remembered something, and instantly knew what to do. Genetic memory just clicking into place.
Everyone deserves to experience that at some point in their life. Blinking like a sheep dog seeing sheep for the first time. “Oh, right, so this was what I was supposed to be doing.”
I’ve been out of it all day, feeling strange, like I’ve been having day-long déjà vu or a chemical imbalance in my brain.
And now I know why: the sun! The blasted sun came out after several amazing overcast days. It just completely ruined my flow from earlier in the week.
Since it’s Black History Month, I’m making sure you folks know about Mike Pondsmith.
Mike designed, amongst other things, Cyberpunk 2020 and its wonderful spin-off Cybergeneration. He designed the critically-acclaimed Castle Falkenstein. A black man kicked off interest in two incredibly white-dominated genres in a white-dominated hobby is a remarkable achievement.
Which is why it bugs me that I didn’t know he was black until a couple of years ago. I figure the least I can do is make sure other folks know too.
I’m actually kinda angry at the collective hobby for never communicating this to me before now. I recognized his name and of course immediately recognized the games he’s designed — Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 and Castle Falkenstein are profoundly important and influential works. I don’t think there was much at all in the way of steampunk in the TTRPG world prior to the latter’s introduction (and after it came out I remember arguments over whether or not it “counted” as steampunk).
Mekton 2 was the first time i remember seeing a black dude on a RPG cover
If anything, the OP’s description is underselling Mike Pondsmith’s influence.
The guy is single-handedly responsible for creating enormous chunks of the tabletop roleplaying hobby: from Mekton, the first giant robot RPG; to the Urusei Yatsura-inspired Teenagers from Outer Space, the first anime style slice-of-life RPG; tothe above-cited Cyberpunk, the first cyberpunk RPG; and even to Castle Falkenstein,
which is often labeled a steampunk RPG, but is more properly considered as one of the foundational works of the then-nascent gaslamp fantasy genre.
In a just world, the name Pondsmith would be spoken in the same breath as Gygax and Arneson – he’s Kind of a Big Deal!
In the colossal, cathedral sized water tank beneath the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, several heads of Medusa have been used as pillar bases for the past 1.500 years. It is not entirely known where the heads came from, but they were believed to be taken from some other Roman ruin. The heads are upside down or sideways to inhibit the power of the Gorgon Medusa’s gaze.
The water tank’s existence was forgotten for hundreds of years, despite being beneath the Hagia Sophia. When it was rediscovered, explorers found fish inside of it.
