Warning: May contain trace elements of Tolkien and Rowling.
Warning: May contain trace elements of Tolkien and Rowling.
Remember the American Flu Epidemic of 1918? Do you remember studying it in grade school, or did you go straight from the great war to the great depression?
Yeah, same here.
This particular strain of influenza was actually a pandemic that killed over 21 million people worldwide.
I bring this up because I have a soft spot in my heart for alternate history. I haven’t read much fiction in said genre, but I do like thinking about it. Of note is the “Crimson Skies” universe. Crimson Skies is an alternate version of North America, circa 1937. I say North America because the United States doesn’t exist. Instead, there are nation states. Completely sovereign, and with no central governing body, the nation states constantly bicker with one another over what little resources that they have. One of the factors that leads to the fall of federalism is–you guessed it, the flu epidemic of 1918.
I imagine that this vision of the North America would make it like Europe, only everybody speaks english.
Oh, and there are air pirates. Forgot that small little detail.
Just because I think some of you might find this useful: The Ben and Jerry’s Flavor Graveyard.
Not sure if they’ve discontinued Cool Britannia or Coffee Toffee Crunch? Rainforest Crunch? This is the place to go.
So, there were four of us in the toy store the other day, being mildly disruptive. After we got back, I had the following conversation:
PraxisLoki: That girl working at the toy store was cute!
Yuriko Kinje: Which one? There were two.
PraxisLoki: The one that found us amusing.
Yuriko Kinje: They both found us amusing.
PraxisLoki: Oh right–the one with short hair then.
Yuriko Kinje: They both had short hair.
PraxisLoki: Hrm.
Yuriko Kinje: The one with one arm or two arms?
PraxisLoki: Oh, the one with two arms. The one armed one, though, she was pretty cute, too.Awkward silence
Yuriko Kinje & PraxisLoki: Yeah.
I believe that this is the first time in my life where “number of arms” has been the descriptive tie breaker.
It’s snowing outside. Yesterday was 72 degrees and humid.
I love this place.