Editorial – January 2026 : Elephant In The Room
Hello everyone
The term ‘elephant in the room’ has several meanings. One even has a superstitious undertone. You do a particular action or wear something because you think it brings good luck or, at least, stave off some sort of bad luck. The common one is wearing a particular article of clothing because you had some success while wearing it and want said luck to continue even when it becomes rags by general wear and tear. If it was that lucky, it would never wear out. It even has history before the name because in the early years, amulets were worn for protection. Its the ‘elephant in the room’ because you mostly can’t see the effect it has on events but you wouldn’t want to dare fate without it. That’s still interpretative as a google scan tends to say it’s getting over a difficult situation and said elephant is blocking the path or route.
In more general terms, it’s having something that might protect you but you can’t really see the effects. But that’s not always true. Take vitamins. We know the side-effects if we are lacking any. A balanced diet should ensure that you have all the vitamins you need. It takes a while for vitamins to run down before you need them. Vitamin C is the classic. With no source, you quickly succumb to scurvy. If you don’t eat meat, you need Vitamin B12 from another source and an injection will last 3 months. As I’ve mentioned, Irritable Bowel Syndrome messes up my diet, so I’ve supplemented with particular vitamins to be on the safe side. I also included Vitamin D. Yes, sunlight should restore it but think about the UK where cloud cover is really dense these days so there is good reasoning than superstition. For the record, the others are Vitamins A, C and E. Mostly because they are common and my diet is uncommon and having digestion problems. There is a prescribed medication for digesting milk products which I know works. I was more surprised that there was a tablet containing stomach enzymes. Some become elephant simply because you can’t see the results but as there are no apparent side effects, no reason to stop. I encounter the elephant and work out what I need to survive.
It can be confusing. Take placebos, for instance. Even when you know they aren’t real medication, they can still work. If ever there was an ultimate elephant, then this one shows how much your autonomic nervous system occasionally just needs a push to repair your body than an actual drug and belief rules. You walk around the elephant. I should point out, don’t rely on that happening and always consult a doctor about any medical condition. Placebos are not panacea. There are a lot of body problems that really need medication for them to work. If there was a ready solution, I would have heard of it by now in regard to Irritable Bowl Syndrome. Oddly, you can buy placebos off the shelf but there are no warnings about taking them instead of medicine.
It’s very weird and I’m glad I didn’t try to write this as an article because using examples of not always being able to see something working and something that works without being real, what else can be covered? It even covers faith if you think about it. Afterall, not true it is today or, despite fewer people attending church (other faiths might be available), some still want a Christian burial so edging their bets if there is a gateway to Heaven, even if the rock band AC/DC thinks Hell is better.
If there is a deity out there and elephant-like, wouldn’t he/she/it be the Hindi/Buddhist god Ganesha? No disrespect to any faiths by the way, I’m just looking for an elephant in the room and any faith depends on something with no real evidence on Earth and against all geological evidence. I mean, a flood that engulfed the entire planet would mean global warming has happened much earlier in history and even that would have left some earth-mass out there. I can blow the flatearthers out of the ocean by asking how can we have tides if the Earth was flat and where does the Sun and Moon go when it goes into the distance and out of sight? Would we trust anyone who says something like a burning bush talked to him as sane these days let alone believe? If such events were normal, you’d be having conversations that way all the time. It’s very confusing in any bible where we have such faith in apparently insane people that we wouldn’t have today. That’s a big elephant.
Looking for elephants is easier if you visit some zoos or their native countries. Preserving them alive a lot more difficult. Whether you would want an elephant in a room or not is debatable or just cruel for elephants. You would have to ask yourself why choose to have an elephant in the room simply because it’s a big animal? Why not a giraffe or a rhino or hippopotamus? I’ll exclude any member of the whale family simply because a box to contain it would be an equivalent to an aquarium and that’s too fishy.
If you need something to be wishful about in this new year, don’t let the elephant in the room be an obstacle, just find a way to keep it in check and find a way to beat it.
Thank you, take care, good night and no elephants were hurt in the course of this editorial.
Geoff Willmetts
editor: www.SFCrowsnest.info
A Zen thought: Don’t put off today what you can do today.
What Qualities Does A Geek Have: Quality over quantity.
The Reveal: No one says just how big the room is for the elephant or how it got in there in the first place.
Observation: Now here’s something to think about. Look at the ‘Alien’ film again and how could Kane scream as his lungs are shredded by the junior xenomorph breaks through his ribcage?
Observation: Now in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, the HAL 9000 reveals it was activated in 1992. In 1998, it was installed in the USS Discovery. Has anyone put any thought into how was that done? I mean, was HAL turned off and booted up on-board or as it kept awake throughout, running off batteries? The point I’m making is it had been turned off, then it would have been familiar with some elements of it before Bowman disconnected it.
Observation: ‘A Message From Mars’, a silent movie from 1913 is the UK’s first SF film, although the plot appears to be based off Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’.
Feeling Stressed: There’s another year to look forward to. Twelve months and counting as to whether it will last.
Submissions:-
If you think having free books to review isn’t enough, how about reading them months ahead of everyone? I mean real months. Beats a time machine. I am seriously recruiting if you have time in your hands and like reading.
I did think that having a lot of text about submitting material to SFCrowsnest would attract those with a compulsion to read and understand things the geek way. The main problem with the Internet is that it tends to encourage less reading, so time to take a different approach. The original notes will be left on July2009 editorial although the links aren’t likely to work.
With your cover email, tell me something about yourself so I don’t work in a vacuum. The boss in the tower, also called Stephen Hunt, describes me as a ‘Dutch Uncle’ in that I’m good with advice and can explain when I see something that is wrong. Egos should be left at the door as I’m only interested in your talent and how to improve it.
Reviews:-
I always have a clarion call for new reviewers and if you have the yen to learn, you’ll quickly get the ropes if you’re never done it before but you must show me a sample, especially if you can follow my guidelines. We can usually get paper-based books in the UK but if you live abroad, then you might have to stick with ebooks. If you’ve picked a book we haven’t reviewed, then it stands a better chance of being used so use the SFC search engine to see first but I need to see how you would write for us.
The obvious qualification is a desire to read regularly and like to tell others about the book without giving away too many spoilers. The benefit is access to free books for the price of a review.
I want to give you the opportunity to get things right so look up the Review Guidelines link: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/so-you-want-to-write-reviews-for-sfcrowsnest-what-you-need-to-know-by-geoff-willmetts/
Fiction:-
Although we can’t pay for submissions, what we do make up for is exposure. Only the Sci-Fi Channel gets more hits than us so it’s worthwhile getting us on your writer’s CV. Please avoid samplings from book’s you might be writing or have had in print elsewhere as I do check. New original work is best and whether I accept or reject, you will be told of any problems I see so you look your best and a grammar check that is equal to the pro-world. Even the boss finds me scarily accurate.
Flash or One-Page Fiction:-
Speaks for itself. The shortest fiction possible is also the toughest to write as no word must be wasted.
Link here for details: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/one-page-stories-or-flash-fiction-submissions-instructions-by-gf-willmetts/
Short Stories:-
The definition of a short story is anything up to 30 pages and then it becomes a novella. Bear in mind you want other people to read it on-line, stay somewhere between 5-20 pages. At least digitally, you don’t have to go double-line as HTML will do that automatically but think about being concise. If you want to send an attachment with these, then ask first and send as a TXT file as it removes most tetchy virus codes.
Look up the Short Stories Link by linking here: https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/so-you-really-want-to-write-an-sf-story-an-update-by-gf-willmetts/
Finally:-
The worse problem I see any samples is poor grammar. Although I don’t want you to think I seek perfection, the less work I have to do, the easier it is to focus on other problems you might have. It will also serve you in good stead if you ever approach paper-based publishers because they will send back any bad grammar samples because it’s not worth their time.
Good grammar is the tool of any writer. Don’t just depend on what you remember doing at school. There are plenty of decent grammar books out there, so remind yourself of the rules. If you think there are far too many to remember, get the major ones right before moving to the next so it becomes second nature.
This link, www.sfcrowsnest.info/the-guide-to-better-grammar-from-the-harrowed-hand-of-gf-willmetts/ will show you the common problems.
To submit, use our email address by joining the spaces as shown here: letters @ SFcrowsnest.info and use the subject matter as to what you’re submitting.
If you have any pastimes that can be used to pass the time in captivity, let me know and we’ll see if it can be turned into an article.
Comments directly to reviews should still work as before.
Good luck
Geoff
