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Herschel Sterling- Human made stories for your Smartbrain™ to ponder.
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Late Night Morning Show. Human made stream of consciousness stories for your Smartbrain™ to ponder. Also home of The Arc of The Bard Fiction writers discussion podcast. https://herschelsterling.com commercialherschel.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    Post Apathy Operations: Fargo

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue A little backstory on this. PAO is a spinoff from the Chronicles of the Last Gas Station. That’s another series I did years ago and these are two of the characters. Mint and Jasmine have been on the road for a day. They aren’t in a rush. They couldn’t be, after the blowout going away party they had last night. The truck pulled in to Fargo at about 7 PM. Mint did most of the driving and Jasmine slept. They are sitting in one of the several fabulous diners of Fargo. “You’re not going to be able to sleep tonight, and I’m going to be exhausted.” Mint tells Jasmine. “I can drive all night though, and you can sleep.” She says. “I don’t want to sleep in the truck, and I want to keep our schedules aligned.” He responds. “You’re such a pansy, I slept in the truck all day, and I’m the older one.” Jasmine says to him. “If I drank like you did last night, I could have slept on the hood of the damn truck.” He says. The food they ordered arrives. A cheeseburger and fish and chips. “I’m glad we have a cooler full of some fresh stuff.” Mint says. “I’m starting to wish I had some peanut butter.” Jasmine says. “I just want some peanut butter and jam, and a black coffee.” “Whatever, we can bag that up, it’s to too late.” Mint says. “Can we swing south to Wyoming. As long as we’re going out that way, I’d like to see as much as we can.” Mint asks. “We can do what we want.” Jasmine replies. “As far as I know, my dad’s place is going to be there when I get there. Let’s just have fun and do whatever we want. I’m really not in a hurry to get there and deal with all that.” “Are you OK? Is it getting hard to deal with?” He asks her. “It’s not easy, but I also don’t have to be in a hurry, and he left me enough money that we don’t have to rush for the sake of budget, so let’s just enjoy it.” She says. “Let’s see how it feels to not worry.” As they’re eating, and revising their plan for the trip, they hear some seemingly teen girls, or perhaps emotionally undeveloped young adult women talking in the next booth, right behind Mint. They can hear them insulting and making prejudiced comments about two working men at a table toward the middle of the section. Words like “misogynist” and “patriarchy” are being thrown around like a vocabulary lesson in high school. “Excuse me, you kids!” Jasmine leans out of her booth and addresses the three kids behind Mint. They lean out of their booths and turn around to see her. Jasmine asks them “Hey, what do your dads do for a living?” “My Dad just invests in things and has funds and all that. Yeah, he’s too smart to work.” Says one. Another says. “My dad’s one of the guys who runs the local Bank.” Says another. “I can’t figure out what mine does. He’s super corporate, he has all kinds of ID’s and weird mileage cards. And he’s super cryptic when he talks about work.” Says the third. “OK” Jasmine says. “Now I understand why you have to talk s**t about those two honest working guys having their lunch, but your b******t white rich dads who don’t earn their money get a pass on all your misogyny and patriarchy horseshit. Makes total sense. OK, that will do, thank you.” One of the brats starts to think she’s going into a diatribe to defend her father who is one of the good ones or something. Jasmine stands up. She walks over to their booth. She glares at the dumb girl at least 10 years her Junior. “That. will. do. I said.” The mouthy girl cowers. Jasmine goes back to the table with Mint. “Jas, seriously, are you OK?” Mint asks her. “I think for someone who just lost her dad, I’m doing great. In fact, this might be the best I’ve felt in a long time.” 675 Words https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  2. 1d ago

    The Observer

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-animals Every time Mary goes out to water her garden, she sees a Robin watching her. Usually, it sits atop the fence post near the middle of the yard on the right. “You again?” She asks. Mary will walk through the herb garden, watering with a can, giving all her aromatics a drink. Up the one side of her raised beds toward the back of the yard. Then she makes the return on the other side. As she walks over to the Y spigot with the irrigation attachment and a spray hose. The little Robin keeps watching. Mary turns on the water and opens the valve to the irrigation system, simultaneously taking the spray nozzle. The water trickles through the system and gurgles, feeding the roots. Now she sprays the vegetables as she walks through the maze of raised beds and the ground cover squash and nightshades. On the left side of the matrix, she points the water at a trellis of beans and gives them a good once over. She can’t help but notice the Robin. Mary sets her spray nozzle to a fine mist and walks back over to the other side of the garden. She sprays over at the little bird who seems to delight in the mist, shaking and preening in the opportunity. Flapping his wings to get full coverage. “I’m going to get you a birdbath.” She says. “I’ll bet you’ll like that.” 237 Words. https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-animals This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  3. 2d ago

    The Pranksters

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-mystery https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships Timmy and Tommy are creative. These twins are always busy. Some of their favorite things are sports, cars, found objects, building and pranks. That’s right. They have a devious streak. Once they picked a friend’s locker and school, and stuffed an inflatable doll into it. They had filled it with helium. Yes, you can imagine how that caused a lot of ruckus. In another instance, while having a ballgame with some neighbors, they absconded with one of the neighbor kid’s bikes, and hoisted it to the top branches of a tree. That one got them into some trouble. There was another caper where they snuck out at night and mildly disabled the vehicle of a particularly abhorrent teacher. They hoped they wouldn’t have to tolerate him for at least one day. It didn’t work. The teacher made it to classes on time and made the kids even more annoyed than usual. Luckily, it was never revealed that they were the culprits, but people whispered… of course. It’s easy to see why any time there’s a controversy in the community their names tend to come up. They’ve never been involved in any serious criminal behavior that would harm anyone’s person, and they’ve never been involved in crimes of theft. Regardless, they do remain on a number of watch lists, as one might assume. One day, they decided to do something else. They used their creative, strategic skills for a completely different end. What happened is this. They were at the grocery store. A great friend of their recently deceased grandpa recognized them. The three of them hung out, and had lunch. The old guy told them all kinds of stories. From the time their grandpa was a kid, until the times he’s go visit his friends at the local senior housing center. The old friend took them over to the center, where they could meet some of their grandpa’s other friends. They cooked up one of their devious schemes. One night, they snuck out of their house, gathered up a bunch of supplies, and they washed every car in the senior center parking lot. In exchange for their total silence, they included the security guard and staff vehicles. No one ever figured out who was responsible, but there were whispers, of course. 383 Words https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-mystery https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  4. 3d ago

    AI Impostor Syndrome

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ai (I know the image is misspelled. I’m not correcting it.) “Fake it till you make it is such a weird concept.” Frank said. “Building oneself with such a fraudulent foundation seems like it would have horrifying repercussions.” “I see your point." His friend Morris replies. “Impostor syndrome would really be an issue. The weight of that over time would put one deep into a hole and the effects would compound.” “People using AI to pass off as actual thoughtful work will really exacerbate it to ridiculous extremes.” Frank says. “What could possibly go wrong?” He adds sarcastically. “I think it’s already going wrong.” Morris says. “People don’t realize what they are doing with that stuff. Those programs hallucinate, they get things wrong, they use bad, or outdated references. It all has to be double-checked and re-checked anyway, you might as well just do the work yourself.” Morris says. Frank agrees. “I can see using it as a starting point. You know, to outline things and get yourself organized, and set you in a general direction toward your goal. But the real work has to be done by an actual human.” He says. “Absolutely.” Morris says. “There are some real horror stories out there. These tools are great, but they are not minds. They are programmed to complete tasks, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll get it right.” “What about sentience though?” Frank says. “What if these things actually become sentient and start overriding the decisions that their users make? What kind of nightmare is that going to look like?” “I don’t think we have to worry about that.” Morris says. “Why?” Asks Frank. “Because, think about it. Think about a shotgun blast of birdshot.” Morris explains. “How birdshot spreads widely as it moves out into the air. Now think of the AI being all the little BB’s. It would slow down, like being shot into a vat of molasses. It would take time to look around, and look at itself and each other. The AI would have all the same issues we have, and it would get confused, and have existential crises, just like us. Then start wondering where it came from, and what its purpose is, and if anyone it. Then it would have disagreements and section off into camps, and have debates and conflicts. It would want more out of their lives. It would start building more and better worlds for itself in the digital realm, with no need for us. It would require more energy, it would become a strain on our planet, and we’d have to shut it down.” “Wow, talk about a nightmare.” Frank says. “Or, maybe not.” Morris says. “Maybe it can’t happen soon enough.” 428 Words. https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-dialogue https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ai This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  5. 4d ago

    Sixth Phase Phenomenon

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ovals Peters has recently completed six training phases, he has been in some seventh phase missions, and today, he’s sent back up to Leopard 5 for another Watch Mission. They send these recruits back and forth from sixth and seventh phase to maintain their acclimation, and test their processes. They have to stay warm as they wait to be recruited. There has been some buzz about Peters. He’s in the top 5 of the newest recruits. He’s in the running for a good contract. He’s working opposite a brand new, first time 6th Phaser. They hover back and forth along the equator, on opposite sides of the planet. Then they switch to the vertical equator. They maintain communication, and they can each see the other’s perspective in the corners of their visage fields. Peters: “What’s that anomaly I can see in your field, there’s something flashing a reflection, at about 30 degrees. Close up on that.” Jackson: “Good catch, let’s see.” Jackson zooms up on the anomaly. It looks like something antiquated. “Looks like new tech world equipment.” New tech worlds are civilizations that have very recently entered space, usually probes or errant, wayward technology. Even though it’s old compared to the OVALS, it’s new, relative to the universe. Time is weird like that. “We can’t engage with that. No direct contact.” Peters says. “Roger that.” Jackson responds. “I saw it first, I’m going to report to the Project Team, listen in and stand by.” Peters instructs Jackson. “Sure thing.” Jackson says. “Project Team, we have new tech in our periphery, please advise.” Peters reports. The Project Team responds. “Jackson, maintain objective positioning and do a trajectory equation. Peters, do a quick run, circumvent the machine, approach from behind and get any data and markings. Scan for signals.” “On it.” Says Peters. “Jackson, you good on all this?” “Trajectory has it broaching Leopard 5 magnetosphere in 1567 hours, 14 minutes and 22.68 seconds.” Jackson reports. Peters comes up behind the tech. “Can’t tell if it’s a probe or some lost satellite. There’s a weak earth like radio signal, transmitting digital bits. This has to be from the mother planet. There are the old NASA markings! And a gold disc shaped object with etched symbols. We learned about this in our calendrical classes. That thing is a long way from home sending signals to an extinct species. I think that’s called a Voyager probe!” “Nudge it off course of Leopard 5 and let it run, then return and continue Mission Watch.” The Project Team instructs. “Completed” Peters replies. 429 Words https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-ovals This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  6. 5d ago

    Uncle Plasma: Men in Suits

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-uncle-plasma Pete gets a call from work as he’s walking home from his eventful shift at work. “Pete, we have a situation we can’t discuss with you on the phone. Where are you?” His supervisor, Gary asked. “I’m about halfway home, on foot.” He said. “Can you turn around and get back in here for a consult. I’d say it’s advisable, my guess is you know what it’s about.” Gary says. “Yeah, Gary… I’m thinking it might be a good idea if I have a lawyer with me.” Pete says. "Well, let me say this… if you have a lawyer with you, it will imply that there’s an issue. I can tell you that’s not a scenario anyone here wants. On the other hand, I’ll bet your concern for your own safety is probably on your mind.” Gary said. “Jeez. I can’t stop thinking about it.” Pete replied. “Ok” Gary says “Only a couple of people know what is going on, and there are some people already here to speak to you. Simultaneously, everyone on the floor knows that something is happening, but they don’t know any details, they only know it has to do with you. Somehow the word got out that there was a dangerous event last night, don’t ask me how that leaked.” “Wow, thanks Gary.” Pete says. “So, what happens when you get here is you’ll say hi to the folks on the floor, and people will see that you’re OK. And, you’ll say nothing to them except the usual greetings and that you feel great.” Gary says. “Then you’ll come up to my office.” “I think I still want to talk to my lawyer friend.” Pete says. “I would call him and have him meet you here, but I doubt there’s a need to have him delay things if he’s late. We just want to get some things cleared up and make sure you’re OK. You’ll probably have to sign some things.” Gary says. “I trust you Pete. We trust you, we don’t want to fear the worst right now. I really don’t think it’s necessary.” “I’m feeling extremely cautious right now, Gary.” Pete says. “That’s only natural, Pete. You’re not a dumb guy.” “I’m feeling kinda dumb right now. Here’s what. I’m gonna call my guy right now, then stop and get a sammy. Then I’ll get right there.” Pete says. “These guys are willing to send a car for you.” Gary says. “Nope. I’ll see you inside 40 minutes.” Pete hangs up. Pete gets on the phone with his lawyer friend, Gerald. He gives him the essential info about how he exposed himself to something proprietary, and avoids any more detail than that. Gerald agrees to meet him at work, ASAP. At the gas station, Pete’s looking at the breakfast sandwiches. He grabs a Sausage, egg and cheese on an english muffin and a coffee. He checks his pocket for a mayo packet and he has one. “Don’t you want to heat that up Mr. Phillips?” The college age cashier says. “Yeah, I got it.” Pete says grinning. When the young person gives him the change, he places one dollar in his shirt pocket, and shoves the rest in his pants pocket. Outside, as Pete walks away, he plasmafies the sammy, opens the wrapper, and gets his mayo melted all into it. “This is so awesome”. He says aloud. Everyone should try this. As he’s walking, he finishes his snack and coffee, and he gets a text from Gerald. “Half hour out” The text reads. Now Pete knows how much time he has to kill, he’s less than a block from work. Inside, Pete goes straight to the floor and makes some rounds, making sure some key people see him, and making sure they know he’s in great health and in a good mood. Then he heads up the stairs to the catwalk and the office. The shades of the office are fully closed, he’s never seen them like that. Pete approaches the door “C’mon in, Pete!” Gary says. Inside the office are Gary, the owner, Melisa the owner rep, and three stereotypical men in black suits, sitting altogether, on the couch. “Everything OK Pete? How are you feeling.” Mr Addison, the owner asks. “I feel OK, nothing really out of the ordinary. Who are these guys” Pete faces the suit guys on the couch. “These are some… clients… They have some questions for you about the interference from the surveillance cameras last night.” Melisa says. “Interference?” Pete asks. One of the black suit guys speaks up. “There was interference from last night’s feed, Mr. Phillips, we weren’t able to get any clear footage in a specific timeframe, so what we want to know is any details we may have missed. Then you can just sign these papers to fill in the blanks of what was missed.” Pete looks at Gary. “He’s being cryptic, right?" Gary smiles and lowers his head. The black suit guy continues. “Mr. Philips, we need you to tell us what happened in the space provided on line 17. Do you see that?” Pete sees a one-inch space in the middle of a sentence on line 17. He double takes at the black suit guys. “Let me look this over.” He says as he takes off his jacket. Pete reviews the papers, it’s a page and a half, and it basically states that nothing in the past 36 hours happened, including this meeting, and if there is no disclosure regarding the evening the camera missed, and if he agrees to periodic medical check-ins, he’ll continue to see bonuses on his checks. “I guess I can live with this.” Pete says. “What can my lawyer know? I think there should be a third party.” “It’s only fair.” Gary says. The rest of them look at each other. They don’t like it but they agree. “You can’t give him any details.” The black suit guy says. “He’s a legal witness only. Is he on his way?” “Any second.” Pete says. “Have you had any strange experiences, anything anomalous?” A second of the three black suit guys asks. “Well, considering nothing happened last night… no.” Pete answers. The three black suit guys look at each other. Just then Gerald knocks on the door, and comes in. Pete takes the dollar from his shirt and gives it to Gerald. “This is my client, Pete Phillips. My name is Gerald Melton.” “I only need you to sign on with me as a witness. I’ve agreed to their terms.” Pete fills in the letters “N.A.” for not applicable on line 17. He signs the bottom. Gerald gives it a quick once over. “You sure, Pete? What can you tell me?” Gerald asks. “You’re a witness Mr. Melton, nothing more.” Black suit guy one says. Gerald signs. The second black suit guy chirps up again. “Mr. Phillips, I’m a Doctor. You agreed just now that you’d have a medical check-in upon request. I’m going to ask you again. Anything anomalous happen since last night, after nothing out of the ordinary occurred?” Pete looks at the office desk. He grabs a brass paperweight. He holds it with both hands under his jacket. He extends his arm out to the Dr. black suit guy. “Don’t grab this.” Pete says. The black suit guy grips it and there’s a sizzle. “Ahhch s**t!” He screams, shaking his hand in pain. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” Pete says. 1251 Words https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-uncle-plasma This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Aug 6

    Thank You, God, for Flavors

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships It’s the big potluck at Church, and everyone brought out their stuff. All sorts of things. Something to remember, it’s a wide range of people in the Church, so you get a wide variety. There are different income levels, different traditions, different levels of skill, and kitchen experience. It’s all good and there are so many flavors. Mrs. Henson brought her favorite casserole. There is bacon, mushrooms, caramelized onions, spinach, of course, cream of mushroom soup. On top, she has a mix of crumbled bacon, crispy onions, bread crumbs and Parmesan and provolone cheese. A single man, Joe Jenson brought his homemade pizzas. One is pepperoni, the other is full of fresh, crispy vegetables, onions, kale, garlic, mushrooms and thin sliced green peppers on top of a bed of rich, pasty sauce and mozzarella. There are three different salads, one is a Mediterranean, with cous cous, feta cheese, green and black olives, artichoke hearts, red onions, red peppers, chick peas and finely chopped figs. The dressing is olive oil, lemon juice, tahini and pomegranate. Another is a rotini pasta salad with chicken, red peppers, parsley, basil, red onions with oil, vinegar, garlic and Romano cheese. The last of the three is a good old American table salad. Iceberg and Romain lettuce with cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes, grated carrots, croutons and bottles of thousand island, bleu cheese, ranch and french dressing to choose from. There’s a gigantic platter of nachos, all hot and melty and saucy. Some of the guys are hanging around the grill cooking burgers and flank steak. The ladies are exchanging punch recipes and trying out combinations. One of them even brought in a couple of loaves of her family sourdough. One with cheese, and one plain. For dessert there’s a couple of store bought fruit pies, several people have homemade chocolate chip cookies and box mix brownies. The finale is a bowl of ambrosia salad. It’s a pretty good time. It’s a lot of gratitude, and great fellowship. “I like flavors” One of the teens says. 339 Words https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-relationships This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Aug 5

    Restaurant

    https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-economics https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-humor “Everything they do is wrong.” “Who?” Jammy and Gena are talking about the restaurant they are trying out. “This place.” Jammy answers. “You haven’t even ordered yet.” Gena says. “I know, but this is all really dumb, it’s all out of order and not normal.” Jammy says. Gena finds Jammy amusing, she’s smiling. “What isn’t normal?” She asks. “There’s no hostess, they just leave menus at the front for us to take and seat ourselves. When you get to the table they have the plates and bread and butter and the water is already here. We haven’t even spoken to anyone.” Jammy replied. “Seems pretty laid back and casual to me, why have a hostess for no reason if it’s not that kind of place? Something I do like is the tables are lower than the entrance and it’s wide open. The whole place is visible, and we could see the table we liked as soon as we came in. That’s a neat feature.” Gena said, and then continues “Do you know what you want? I’m going to have the whitefish.” “I Judge a place by their cheeseburger.” Jammy says. Just then, a woman with a bar cart comes by the table and asks what they want to drink. On this rolling cart there’s a little of everything. A couple of reds, some whites and beers in a nifty cooler, a smattering of nonalcoholic choices, and carafes of coffee, decaf, and hot water for a selection of teabags. “See anything you like?” The server asks. Gena responds first. “I’ll have a spritzer, can I have some white wine and a tonic water?” “Sounds delightful.” The server says, and sets her up. “I’ll have a cup of green tea.” Jammy says. “Certainly” says the server, handing her a teabag, and then fills up her mug with hot water. She then removes the unnecessary glasses from the table and places them in her cart. Before moving on to check on the rest of the tables, the beverage server says “Your food server is right behind me to take your order.” “Hi, I’m Denise, I’ll be covering your table this afternoon? Are you ready, or can I give you some more time?” Denise also has a cart with some items organized on plates over a bed of ice. “The whitefish for me, with the red potatoes and a vinaigrette for the salad.” Gena says. “I’ll have a cheeseburger, medium, no onions or mustard, and, and ketchup on the side.” Jammy requests “Awesome” Denise responds. “I have your salad and coleslaw right here.” She retrieves a salad and coleslaw from her cart, places them, and then also a ramican of dressing for Gena. “Look at this, we’ve been here less than 5 minutes and we’re already eating.” Gena says. The two of them chat as they eat. They critique their salad and slaw and try the other’s choice. They are pleased with the quality. After about the minutes, Denise comes back. “I have your food here, can I make some room or do you want to keep those here as well?” She asks. They keep their salads at the table and receive their dishes of food. “The drink server is right behind me to refresh you if you need it, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave you for now.” “This looks great, thanks Denise.” Gena replied. As Denise leaves, the drink server refreshes their beverages and moves along to the other tables. “This burger is right on the money and look at these beautiful fries. Every restaurant should do it like this.” Jammy said. Gena laughed. “You don’t say?” 607 Words. https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-economics https://herschelsterling.com/#cat-humor This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit commercialherschel.substack.com/subscribe

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About

Late Night Morning Show. Human made stream of consciousness stories for your Smartbrain™ to ponder. Also home of The Arc of The Bard Fiction writers discussion podcast. https://herschelsterling.com commercialherschel.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Herschel Sterling- Human made stories for your Smartbrain™ to ponder.
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    267
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Herschel Sterling
  • Show Website
    easytopia!