Friday’s Theme Music
At about 5:51 AM on May 14, 2021, the sun walked onto the Ashland stage and said, “Hello. Welcome to Friday.” Birds burst out in song. Cats and dogs yawned. Many people turned over and privately promised themselves, “Just one more minute of sleep.” The sun will continue walking across Ashland until 8:21 PM, sprinkling warm sunshine across people’s shoulders, animals’ fur, flowers, and others who ask for it. Vowing to keep it cooler than the past several days, the sun said, “Today’s high in Ashland will be about seventy-seven degrees.” Polite but scattered applause answered except for one woman who kept yelling, “Woooo!”
The mind channeled a 1975 Eagles song to the forefront. “One of these Nights” made it to number one that year. It came into my head last night because I was thinking about what I want slash need slash should do. I promised myself that I would, “One of these days.” That morphed a little sloppily into “One of these things is not like the other,” because of the things that I was addressing. But breathing in the cool dark air while admiring the stars and thinking about what’s out there, out came the Eagles song.
Stay positive, test negative, and get the vax. Wear a mask? Well, we’ll see. CDC and state guidance is changing in the U.S. Some are dubious. Others are exuberant. I slide the spectrum between the two.
Have an excellent day — or night — wherever you are. Cheers
Sitfloofational
Sitfloofational (floofinition) – Dependent on a set of circumstances or conditions regarding animals, especially prevalent with development and pets.
In use: “Their ability to travel was sitfloofational, requiring them to find someone they trusted to care for their pets while they were gone.”
Thursday’s Theme Music
Welcome to the day, by international standards, which is the fourth day of the week, Thursday. We count Sunday as the first day of the week in my house, so Thursday is the fifth day of the week. Regardless, it is May 13, 2021. Sunrise, by scientific observation, came to Ashland at 5:52 AM and sunset will follow at 8:20 PM. Outside, we’re expecting a dry, warm, spring day, with temperature pushing into the lower eighties.
We saw 40 new cases of COVID-19 in Jackson county yesterday, continuing the roller-coaster trend. Our seven-day average has declined to thirty. Thirty-six percent of Oregonians are fully vaccinated. Almost fifty percent have had at least one shot.
Dreams were of a wide variety last night. They featured a great deal of domesticity like shopping and house-cleaning, but also trended to having broken machines (like vacuum cleaners) and broken remote controls. Must go through the debrief about what it’s all about.
Today’s music choice comes from Chris Rea. Released in 1986, “Let’s Dance” was a small hit in the U.S. for him but made into the top ten in several other countries. I always like the jaunty tune. Feels optimistic. That summarizes my mood: optimistic.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax. Cheers
Self Portrait 2021
Looking into the future. Apparently not too happy. Lot of Dad showing up in my face, along with sagging jowls, wrinkled flesh, receding hair, and graying beard. Like how the light catches my scars on my forehead from my halo device. Damn this thing called aging, anyway. Pass me another beer, please.
Facebook, Again
Ran into the craziness that we call Facebook once again. Once again, I’m questioning myself, WTF are you using that platform.
Backstory goes, I read an article in the Daily News: “Students for Trump founder John Lambert sentenced to 13 months for posing as lawyer”
The article is about John Lambert. John Lambert, 25, posed as Eric Pope. Here’s the story from the paper:
He was a Student For Trump, but definitely not a lawyer.
A judge slammed the founder of Students for Trump as a “cold-blooded fraudster” before sentencing him to 13 months in prison for posing as a lawyer.
John Lambert, 25, pretended to be Eric Pope of the Manhattan-based firm Pope & Dunn. He falsely claimed to be a graduate of NYU Law School with a finance degree from the University of Pennsylvania and 15 years of experience in corporate and patent law.
The baby-faced scammer from Tennessee admitted to running the racket from 2016 to 2018, which targeted people who had little or no experience seeking legal advice. Victims sought Lambert’s help through the freelancing website Upwork. He earned at least $46,654 through the legal advice he was totally unqualified to give.
Judge Valerie Caproni called Lambert “a cold-blooded fraudster who cared not a whit about the victims of his fraud.”
I thought, I’m going to share this news on Facebook.
I couldn’t. Facebook said it violated their community standards. Said something about spam, fraud, and security. I replied to the screen, “What?”
I read the article again and vetted it with multiple sources. It was true. Was it spam? Not by my definition, but perhaps by the Facebook wonders. Security? Apparently, it thought that I could be a bot.
Why?
That wasn’t explained.
But I tried one more time. Presto. The article was posted.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
Sunshine came to Wednesday, 5/12/21 in Ashland, Oregon, 5:53 AM. The light quickly exposed the night for what it was, a dark place where many go to rest. Few can resist the night; it rolls in, and they start yawning. Their eyes begin closing as night’s magic sweeps over them. Their heads soon nod. Slumping, their breathing deepens. As people fall into heavy slumber, night’s minions quietly move in, resetting reality. Night’s efforts will begin again at 8:22 PM. Meanwhile, daylight will strain to keep the borders secure.
Channeling Mick Jagger and the Stones today. Began by thinking about time, hurry, and rushing around, leading directly to some “Tumbling Dice” lyrics.
Always in a hurry, I never stop to worry
Don’t see the time flashin’ by
Honey, got no money
I’m all sixes and sevens and nines
Say now, baby, I’m the rank outsider
You can be my partner in crime
Baby, I can’t stay
You got to roll me and call me the tumbling
Roll me and call me the tumbling dice
Baby, oh my
h/t to Genius.com
Although I like the studio (’72) version better for tempo, piano, and familiarity, watching performers play their music in concert fascinates me. The little side winks, grins, and double-takes are extra flavoring, bringing in a sharper human side. So I went with with both a studio version and a 1974 recorded live version so you can hear the difference and decide which you prefer. With either, it’s a good party moment when they come to that chorus, “Baby. I can’t stay.” People enjoy belting that out.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, and get the vax. Cheers
Exflooftable
Exflooftable (floofinition) – 1. Animal who is capable of being activated by and reacting to stimuli.
In use: “Many kittens, puppies, and other young are exflooftable, but grow out of it as they mature, so the exceptions are often considered adorable adults.”
2. People who are readily roused into action over concerns about animals.
In use: “The net is causing more people to be exflooftable as they witness heroic rescues of drowning or dying animals and decide, they, too, can be a difference.”
Michael Seidel, writer 