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Andrew Johnston
Bio
Educator, writer and documentarian based out of central China. Catch the full story at www.findthefabulist.com.
Stories (73/0)
Distance is a Fallacy. Top Story - May 2021.
TRANSMISSION 53 We've finally done it. After months of sitting alone in this tiny remote outpost - has it just been months? It truly feels like it's been five years since I was sent to this isolated shed on the frontiers of oblivion - I finally have something substantive to report. I have received communication from a non-terrestrial source and, after many rounds of analysis, I can confirm with a <0.01% margin of error that the transmission was from an intelligent source. I have already broadcast the preplanned welcome message and am eagerly awaiting the response, which I will of course pass along to headquarters promptly as I receive it.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Futurism
Eight Moments, Played Off Beat
When we were finally graced with a decent internet connection back in my rural Kansas town, one of the first things I did was find an MP3 site and start looking up tracks. I didn't get too far, instead spending the better part of an hour listening to the same two songs over and over again: "Points of Authority" by Linkin Park and "Running Away" by Hoobastank.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Beat
A Beginner's Guide to Baijiu
In recent decades, Westerners have become well-acquainted with the concept of rice wine, particularly sake, a key component of our cultural obsession with Japan. But the Chinese variety - baijiu, literally "white wine" - is far less known. Baijiu is, in some ways, an oddity: By volume it's the best-selling spirit in the world by a wide margin, yet the export market is all but nonexistent, leaving it little known outside of the country.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Proof
Dissolving Night: A True-Enough Tale
The day of the art walk was an odd pleasant one, and I strolled with abandon beneath the swirly painting of the Midwestern sky, a heart full of beauty and a head full of acid. I can't recommend the psychedelic addendum enough, as it complements the experience magnificently - as you browse the exhibits you'll find that you understand everything, even things that perhaps weren't intentional parts of said exhibits. You'll even be positioned to understand the patrons, those amateur art critics massaging their chins and tossing out the odd remark about contrast or symbolism in an effort to justify all the free wine and snacks they've been cadging. Consciousness being an illusion that the artist manipulates, those people are more a part of the exhibit than an audience, and you can appreciate them as the artist intended.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Potent
No One Wants to Steal Your Book
The 1987 film Throw Momma from the Train follows author Larry Donner (played by Billy Crystal) who is drawn into a Hitchcockian revenge plot. Donner has an ugly grudge against his ex-wife, who stole a manuscript from him and published it under her own name. The book goes on to be a bestseller, granting the ex fame and fortune - and making Donner a prime suspect when she vanishes.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Journal
The Hermit and the Songbird
They flew no banners, the carts that snaked down the narrow, overgrown paths of the Mordenwood, but any who saw them would recognize them as vehicles of conquest. The cart in the lead was open to the air, drawn by draft horses in barding and filled with soldiers and their kit – two pikemen, four musketeers and a driver with a matchlock pistol secreted in his garb, each of them with a cuirass and a steel helmet. Behind it was a carriage with a compartment reinforced with iron bars; two pikeman minded the roof of the vehicle while the captain sat with the driver, wearing his fine steel broadsword and ornate pistol proudly. A pair of men on coursers rode at the flanks, occasionally prodding the thickets with their lancets and sweeping the path ahead.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Futurism
The Western Dawn
There was a cloud following in the wake of the fleet when it came, a looming pall the color of a morning thunderhead resting atop a mountain's crown. This was the sign that the day would not be a normal one, that the world was soon to unfold into something we'd never expected. The sun vanished behind that strange cloud, and when it appeared again it was over a land made new.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Humans
On Squirrels, or: The Joy of the Unwilling Photo Subject. Top Story - April 2021.
There's a story behind my first squirrel picture. I was coming home from a different photo opportunity - a little concert in an indie music store, perfectly lit to the eye but it might has well have been half a mile below the surface to the camera. As I passed through a small park, I noticed a single squirrel skulking around in front of an adjacent business. Inspiration struck: As long as I'm carrying this gear bag, why not try to get a shot of the little furball?
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Photography
The Angel of El Escorial
Originally published in the Wavelengths anthology, June 2018. The notes in the pages that follow are a secret to all but God the Father and their author, Epifanio Artemio Felix, servant of the Holy Mother Church and bearer and translator of the Holy Scripture in the name of Bishop of Rome and the Father General of the Society of Jesus. That I have kept the contents of this pamphlet a secret is my greatest sin, and I have begged forgiveness from the Lord for my cowardice. In the name of my life, my reputation and my station, I concealed the marvel that we discovered in the foothills of Sierra de Guadarrama. In my defense, however feeble, I feared the impact that the entity would have on an empire that stands on a foundation that even still erodes. My prayers are that this information be found in a time of stability when the information can be used to the greater glory.
By Andrew Johnston3 years ago in Futurism