Taking in the Show  Are you looking forward to November? What? you say. All that bad weather and turkey? Are you kidding? Well, actually, we were thinking about NaJoPoMo, the annual feast of journal-writing here at h2g2. We're hearing a lot of buzz about it onsite: people are hatching plans. There will be serial storytellers (like serial killers, only much more fun), and joke writers, and poets. There may even be chickens. The h2g2 Post will be doing photography, so if you'd like your photo to be part of our album/journal, mail it in with usernumber and a brief description to postteamhg-at-gmail-dot-com. The ones we've seen so far are stunning. Sometimes the Editor just sits there, stunned, after opening the inbox.
We're still in October, and we're still pretending to be kids. This week, FWR versifies on the subject of childhood's all-too-brief one-way trip. I've done naughty things to the Mona Lisa (Galaxy Babe, I told you I'd use that pic), and then I wrote a book report. It's only fifty-some-odd years late. I hope Mrs MacFarland will forgive me. But I didn't think she'd be too happy about Freud showing up in the seventh grade.
Thinking about this month's topic has had a peculiar effect on your Editor. The other evening, I was simultaneously reading a nineteenth-century children's book called Dotty Dimple while watching the Netflix series Mindhunter. Dotty Dimple is a well-written book about a cute little girl who goes from two-and-a-half to four in the course of the story. Mindhunter is about FBI behaviourists who interview serial killers. There's a theme here.
That Dotty Dimple is a dangerous character. During the course of the narrative, she escapes from her family three times, once nearly drowning, manipulates any number of older children and adults, verbally abuses her siblings, commits arson, and attempts to engage in human trafficking. Okay, she offered the local doctor two bucks fifty for his infant son, because she wanted a baby brother, but you get my drift. Dotty's kind of a psychopath. She also exhibits symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder. We laugh at these hijinks. What is wrong with us? All the serial killers in Mindhunter seem to have shown serious signs of disturbance in childhood. Were they just rotten kids? Why does Dotty Dimple get a pass? Because she lucked up and had a Quaker grandmother?
That's when it struck me what a genius our FWR was to come up with this month's Create topic. It could be a good idea for us to go rummaging in our mental attics in search of our inner children. If the roots of our adult contents and discontents are in there somewhere, then maybe – just maybe, mind you – digging this stuff up could help someone.
Or maybe I'm overthinking. Either way, if you've got a childhood memory, or a kid story, or some writing or art you wheedled off a Genuine Kid that you'd like to share with us, please send it along. We may not bring about World Peace, but it will brighten the corner of the internet where we are.
So what else have we got for you this week? Let us enumerate the joys contained herein:
- Willem has brought a Grey Rhebuck to show and tell. We are so grateful to Willem for these wildlife gems, we worry lest we fail to show our appreciation enough. It's beautiful, and it's interesting, and it's alive. Go and learn.
 - Ditto for Awix's movie reviews. If he didn't tell us about these movies, we'd have to go and see them all ourselves, and frankly, we don't like Idris Elba emoting in snow any better than he does. It's a selfless service, in our opinion. This week, there's more snow, and we're still not sure if we want to watch it.
- Icy North kindly sent a nature photo, which he wants you to caption with something other than, 'Well, that's a trip to A&E waiting to happen.'
- Bluebottle is educating us. He's up to the letter P, which is sure to pack a punch in IoW-speak. If he keeps this up, you'll be able to book that trip across the Solent without having to rely on Google Translate.
- We have other quizzes. One of them involves the plots of children's literature. Warning: not for the faint of heart. See discussion of toddlers and serial killers above.
- We have fiction. Boy, do we have fiction. Where does Freewayriding get these things? Well, you see, he was making pasta, and a piece rolled under the range. . . he tells it better, so enjoy the 'Penne Dreadful'. (Nobody around here is afraid of bad puns, and the Editor has gotten used to them by now.)
- SashaQ has a better book report than what I wrote. This one is about telephone etiquette. Pay attention: you might learn something.
 - A few weeks ago now, Your Editor attended the annual car and bike show on Main Street hereabouts. I have a few pictures to share from that outing. Some of you may recognise these objects as automobiles and motorcycles. Not the two little guys in the pram. Those are dogs. At least, that's what the man said they were.
- We have the usual art, jokes, snark, and useless writing advice. Take as directed. Pass along on your social media, because frankly, we are starved for attention. That's why we do these things. Besides, are we less deserving of press coverage than those politicians with the bad haircuts? We think not.
Next week, we will be back with even more Stuff. In fact, because next week is the Halloween issue, we can guarantee some of it will be Scary Stuff. Don't worry, the Editor found the warning labels in the cupboard. We are very responsible. At least, whenever anything happens, they say we're responsible. Us or 2legs. . .
So enjoy your week, don't forget your umbrella or our gmail address, keep warm and have fun out there, wherever there is!
Dmitri Gheorgheni
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