The Big Bad Wolf

            Earlier this week, I saw a comment using “the big bad wolf” as a metaphor for a villainous person. As a fan of wolves, my brain started to rant about how wolves are continually maligned, even in this enlightened day and age. Knowing that wolves will avoid humans and only attack them out of desperation makes it somewhat ludicrous to use them as a metaphor for what we deem to be evil.

            Or does it?

            As I considered, the realization hit me that this comparison is far more apt than people realize. When we talk about the big bad wolf, we’re referring to our perceptions on the surface of a situation. More than that, we’re stereotyping, just as we do when viewing any other group as villainous.

            Let’s take a closer look at this metaphor, shall we? The wolf. This is a cunning predator; large and fearsome. It is easy to understand why humans came to fear them. Then came a time when wolves lurked around villages, preying on the weak, because they were starving. This is where the metaphor started. And, yes, wolves are looking fairly evil.

            However, we forget the part where the wolves were starving. They were desperate for food and just trying to survive. In fact, they still avoided attacking humans whenever possible, preferring to loot corpses. In normal circumstances, as I mentioned before, wolves avoid humans as much as possible. They are intelligent creatures, and also very social. Within their own packs, they are friendly and playful. Yes, they are masters of teamwork and extremely efficient hunters, but then, so are humans. The difference is that wolves hunt only for food, and they avoid letting anything go to waste.

            So, our metaphor of the big bad wolf shows us someone who is vicious because of their most visible behaviour. It shows us a stereotype of the worst aspects of a species from a time when they were struggling. However, it fails to show us what they are really like. In normal life, with normal circumstances, wolves are very different creatures.

            Considering this metaphor, my view on it has shifted. When we point at a person (or at a whole people) and say, “That is a big bad wolf!” we are commenting on the most visible behaviour. We are ignoring the parts that we can’t see, and very often don’t even go searching for them. In our ignorance, we have no idea what is motivating the wolf, or forcing it into its current position.

            Yes, I now believe that the misunderstood wolf is the perfect metaphor for that which we fear.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Lonely Pets Club

            My in-laws were away this weekend, leaving me in my usual position as pet-sitter. Now I feel compelled to tell you about this atypical group of pets, because they really are quite amusing.

            First, there’s the dog. At least, genetically he’s a dog – we suspect that he may identify as something else. Possibly a sheep. Many dogs, he’s afraid of thunder, but he also takes it a step further – he’s afraid of rain. And just about any sounds, really, which is probably why he almost never barks. He’s very sweet and friendly, though, and is very good about not jumping up on people who have just come into the house – instead, he prances over and grins at them, truly happy to see them.

            When his family is away, I always get a little concerned about him. He misses them so much that he stops eating for several days – except for the treats he gets every time he comes inside from his walks. Of course, I use every a little loosely here; he usually gets a treat when he comes in, but I sometimes feel compelled to do a little training.

You see, my in-laws came into dog ownership later than many people do and, as a result, they aren’t as firm with the dog as they could be. Therefore, when going for walks, he’s used to his humans stopping and waiting for him every time he wants to sniff a tree or roll in the grass. Having grown up with a dog, I have an expectation that the walk keeps moving, and therefore the treat gets denied if I’m kept out in the cold too long. He learned very quickly that I would tolerate nothing more than on very short roll in the grass, and he may even have noticed that he got more treats when he didn’t hold me up at all.

            Then there’s the cat. The latest, and currently only, in a string of abandoned cats the family took in, he is always a bit “my way or the highway”. In other words, he’s a cat. Yet, once the family has been away for a day, he starts begging for attention. As I’m allergic to cats, he doesn’t get it from me, but it doesn’t stop him from trying. He spends the time I’m in the house following me around, meowing and pointedly rubbing against various objects and making me feel generally guilty about my allergy.

            He has, however, given up on trying to sneak out of the house. Due to tome feral cats he’s feuding with, he has been relegated to being an indoor cat, much to his chagrin. I think that’s his greatest sorrow about my in-laws being away. He’s used to a house full of people who are used to him, so they don’t pay him that much attention, making it relatively easy to slip through a closing door (luckily he can be summoned back into the house with the shaking of a treat container – which is ridiculous; I mean, he’s a cat! Cat’s can’t be summoned like dogs!). He has long since learned that this doesn’t work with me. He doesn’t even try anymore. But he does watch me very closely, waiting for me to slip up...

            And, finally, there’s my sister-in-law’s bunny. Now, apparently this bunny is pure evil and hates everyone other than my sister-in-law. It certainly seems that way when she’s brought out in public. She’s certainly very skitterish and ant-social. This is common knowledge.

            Yet, when the family away, she becomes the sweetest bunny in the world. When I check on her, she rushes right over to see me – she doesn’t cringe in corners or kick aggressively as her reputation would have you believe. In fact, she’s so happy to see me that she hops in circles!

            I guess it just goes to show that animals miss their families as much as they are missed. Except, perhaps, the bunny. It is entirely possible she’s just luring me into a false sense of security, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

What Change?

            I’ve been reading a series of books called the Death Gate Cycle to Colleen. This is fantasy series (by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman) from the late 80’s and early 90’s that I read once before when I was much younger. It’s one of those series that really proves what I always say about fantasy being the perfect way to take a closer look at human nature.

            This series takes place in a universe where the world has been split into four separate elemental worlds – plus a couple extras, but the details aren’t important for this blog. This happened because of two races of people so magical that they and the “lesser” races believed them to be gods – but the ideals of these two peoples opposed each other, so they were at war.

            The orderly and “goodly” of these two races, afraid of losing the way, cast a spell that tore the world to pieces and reformed it, dumping the chaotic and “evil” race into a magical prison while they were at it. Many of the “lesser” races died in the process, but the “goodly” race saved as many as they could. Unfortunately, the elemental worlds were not self-sustaining, and before the “goodly” race could link them together to work as a team (as they had intended), something went wrong and they began to vanish.

            The story follows a member of the “evil” race, who is one of many to have escaped the magical prison after generations of torment. Under the command of his lord, the first of his people to escape, he is scouting out the worlds in preparation for launching a war against the “goodly” race.

            As he is exploring these worlds, he finds them in chaos – with the three “lesser” races fighting endless wars against each other while the “goodly” race is absent. Then, on the fourth world he visits, he discovers dragon-like monsters who profess to serve him, but he eventually determines that they are pure evil and that they gain power from fear and hatred.

            These creatures get released into the other worlds, where they insinuate their way into the ranks of the “lesser” races (they are shape-changers) and spread chaos, fear, and hatred. They always present themselves as wanting to serve, and whenever confronted by someone who knows what they are, they say “You made us.”

            Then, at last, someone learns how to fight them by pinning down what they actually are. They explain it simply as “they are us.” The monsters are the embodiment of all the hatred and fear the races have of each other, and the more hatred and fear there is, the more powerful these monsters became.

            As I was reading this, I thought, wow... that looks a lot like the issues we’re facing in the world today.

            And, as with today, the way to fight these monsters was for people to put aside their hatred and fear and work together.

            To me, it is an obvious message. But then, this is woven into a series of books that was written over twenty years ago and we’re still dealing with the same issues. Perhaps the time has come to say it louder.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

What is Evil? Really?

            The other day, Colleen asked me how I define evil. My reply was that I don’t, because evil implies someone who does harm through malicious intent. I feel that most people who cause harm do so unintentionally – or, at the very least, think they have the best intentions.

            It did get me thinking, though. If I really had to define evil, how would I do it? What causes people to cause harm?

            Greed was what I came up with first. Greed for wealth or greed for power or greed for anything, really. That’s where evil, if it truly exists, is most visible. It causes people to stockpile money, harming the economy by making less money available to go around. It causes politicians to lie so they can get elected. It starts wars over land or resources. Almost all evil can be linked back to greed.

            Yet, even most of those people don’t view themselves as evil. They feel they’re doing what they must, or perhaps what everyone else is doing.

            That got my mind on the track of how people can cause so much harm and either be unaware or think it’s okay. It brought me to the essence of what motivates people: what they believe. Someone who lives on the streets and must steal to survive might view those who do not help them as evil, and would they be wrong? Is it not more evil to allow someone to starve to death than to help them survive? At the same time, the people being stolen from would view the thief as evil, and would they be wrong? After all, stealing to feed oneself without concern for those being harmed is more evil than choosing to starve to death.

            Both sides have merit, yet neither will budge from their positions. Their views and beliefs are set in stone. They each know with certainty that they are good, and the other is evil.

            So it was that I arrived at the best definition of evil I could come up with.

            All it takes to be evil is to believe you are right and that there is no possibility you are wrong.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Cultural Shifts

            My parents recently returned from a trip to China and I was particularly struck by the stories about the current cultural structure they have. They are currently in a transition from communism (where – at least in theory – everyone is provided what they need, but no one really owns anything) to capitalism (where people earn money based on their work and their job and use that money to buy whatever they need or want – or just stockpile it). Since this is a rather extreme mix, they've ended up with a fascinating mash-up of the two, with an odd class system in the middle.

            In the cities live the “citizens”, who have money, rights and all those sorts of things. They own and rent property – although the prices are extremely high and the spaces are small – and function much as we in the Western world would expect.

            On the other hand, out in the country live the “peasants” – mostly farmers who are paid very little and own nothing. Yet, at the same time, they live in houses free of charge and often these homes are nicer and have more space than those of the privileged “citizens”.

            In this system, the “peasants” who work very hard and sacrifice much can buy their way into being a “citizen” – the tour guide was one of these and had made the proud step with much hard work and with the help and sacrifice of his parents. The people seem very proud of their transition into capitalism.

            What I found most interesting about the current state of the system is how close it currently is to ancient Rome. There they had slaves. There were rules about how they could be treated and at a certain age they could be released. They even (at least legally) had the ability to save up money to buy their way to freedom and possibly even a citizenship (if I'm remembering correctly).

            The sad part, though, is that with the change to capitalism, China is starting to lose its artists. In a system where everyone is provided for equally, there is plenty of room for people to focus on developing talents and artwork – and beyond that, there is no need to charge for that art what it is really worth. Switching to a capitalistic system, the artists need to make an hourly wage for their work. With all the detail and care that goes into any given piece of art, it is rarely possible to sell it at a price where someone will actually buy it. So, the artists of a country largely defined by its art are slowly fading away.

            The same problem has struck in the farming community as well, causing a food crisis for the country. Many farmers are abandoning rice fields in favour of fishing, where there is much more money to be made.

            Hearing about this culture and its shift is very enlightening and inspiring to me as a writer, creating my own world and cultures. However, as a resident of this world, I can’t help but feel sad about it. The world leans so heavily towards capitalism, where money is valued above all else. There’s an emphasis on getting as much money as you can, regardless of whose toes you step on to get it. The worst part is that it gives the impression of working well, so many people get behind it and cheer it on – especially the people who have figured out how to make the system work for them and don’t see everyone left behind.

            But where would we be if everyone managed to get the system to work for them? What if all the “unimportant” minimum-wage workers suddenly up and vanished, having found a better way to live? Who would flip our burgers? Who would cash us out and stock the shelves in grocery stores? Who would grow the food?

            Capitalism is clearly not the way to go. They say money is the root of all evil and all you need to do is look at the world to know that it is true.

            What will work better instead? Honestly, I don’t know. I've put a lot of thought into it and every time I think I have a solution, I find a way that human greed will turn it against itself. But I keep hoping and thinking. Perhaps someday I will come up with the answer, or someone else will. Then it will be our turn for a cultural shift.

            Until then, all I can do is share my insights and hope that they might make a difference.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Grey Area

            Recently, my wife and I have started re-watching the show Boston Legal, which is an excellent comedy that deals with many issues that are still prominent today. However, the one thing I like the most about this show is how it makes us look at the grey area. Not that mushy grey area that rests between our ears, but the grey area of morality resting between right and wrong; good and evil.

            We, as humans, are often very quick to judge most things, grouping them into “right” and “wrong”. The problem is that, when it comes right down to it, there isn't a strict dividing line between the two. In fact, there’s a very big mass of grey right in the middle.

            For example, in one episode of Boston Legal, an elderly woman with no relatives had fallen under the legal guardianship of a man who put her in a home and was living off of her assets. When the main character (a lawyer) tried to solve the problem legally, the man was able to stall – and then put the old woman’s house up for sale.

            The main character – a man with a strong sense of justice but is not above unscrupulous methods – hired some thugs to break into the man’s house (stolen from a different senior) and leave him tied up in a chair so he’d know what it was like to feel as helpless as the old woman did. Then, after about an hour, the main character came in and forced the man to sign papers to release the lady from his control, returning her assets to her.

            As an audience, we can’t very well condemn the main character for his actions. He, himself, regrets them, but good won out in the end. The man was clearly in the wrong, victimizing seniors. He was a terrible person. Yet, at the same time, what the main character did was wrong as well. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but everything turned out for the best.

            The more we look at what’s right and wrong, the more we can see falling into the grey area. We tell ourselves that there are universal laws of good and evil, but there are other cultures out there with their own universal laws of what’s right and wrong. Everything shifts a bit, from place to place, religion to religion, even from person to person. Who are we to declare that our set of universal laws are the ones that are true?

            When I think about what rules must be universally accepted, the first thing that comes to mind is killing another person. I simply cannot fathom how anyone could say that, morally, killing a person isn't wrong. Yet, there are people who don’t see a problem with it. There are countries with capital punishment, cultures that reward killing people and so many people fighting wars and killing each other. Clearly, it is not a universal truth that killing a person is bad.

            For everything that is truly bad, a justification can always be found somewhere. Likewise, for everything that is truly good, a reason can always be found to explain why it was bad. Examining things closely enough, everything blurs. Eventually, everything becomes grey. Does evil really exist? Does good?

            Perhaps there really is a universal law of right and wrong out there. I could be that it’s ours. Or, maybe, we simply haven’t found it yet.

            We’re too lost in the grey area – the mushy one that rests between our ears.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Phones are Evil

            I’ve never liked phones – calling or answering them. I admit that they are a convenient method of communication, but other than that they’re a nuisance and downright rude.

            Not many people think about it – because we were brought up with them – but phones are an invasive force we allow into our lives. We string them throughout our homes and, these days, carry them with us everywhere we go. This wouldn't be a problem if they were only used for emergencies, but having a phone is so natural that people don’t even think before picking one up to call someone.

            So, let’s go over the basics. The average person works a 9-5 job, so calling them between those times is a bad idea. You might think you can call them before that, catch them before they go to work, but if you think that you truly haven’t thought it through. You see, what the average person is doing at that time is their morning routine – involving getting ready for work, eating breakfast and transporting themselves to work. Interrupting them during any of that is not only rude, but it could slow them down and make them late for work. Any earlier and they’re sleeping.

            Okay, so calling in the morning and during the day is out, what about in the evening? I’d like you to pause your reading for a moment and turn to the person beside you (be they imaginary or not) and ask them at what time they and/or their family eats dinner (or supper, or whatever you feel like calling your evening meal. Assuming you eat). The answer will most likely range from 5 to 7 (depending on how long it takes to get home from work). Now, if we allow for an hour to eat, that pushes us back to 8:00. 5-8 involves coming home from work (Don’t get me started on talking on the phone while driving. Admittedly not everyone drives, but do you really want to be talking on the phone in a public area where anyone and everyone can eavesdrop on you? You might think other people don’t listen, but they do), preparing food and eating it. Calling then is, once again, rude and can delay meals or other plans.

            Yes, yes, so from the time the alarm goes off in the morning (let’s say 6am) to the time people are certain to be done eating (8pm) people are too busy to be receiving a call. What about later than that? How about you turn to that (possibly invisible) person beside you and ask them what they do in the evening after dinner. Social plans? Movie? TV? Playing a video game to relax? Reading a book? Getting caught up on favourite blogs? The point is, the next two to three hours are the only time during the day that Mr or Ms Average has to spend on them self. How rude do you have to be to call them and interrupt them during that time?

            Now, depending on a few variables, that is 6am-10pm that is unavailable for calling if you don’t want to rudely interrupt something important. Any later (or earlier) than that and you’re messing with bedtimes and waking people up. Thus, there is no appropriate time to make a phone call, simply because you have no idea what you are interrupting.

            That’s just the calling side, though! As someone answering the phone, have you ever stopped to think about how often the call has interrupted something you were doing? The worst part is always that you don’t know who’s calling (well, okay, call display solves that for some people) or how long the call will take. Not that it matters, because you’re obligated to answer – it’s rude to ignore the phone when it rings.

            Have I missed anything? Probably, but that’ll have to do for now; I have to go answer my phone.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.