Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
He picked through the shirts hanging in his closet, looking for one which suited the weather and his plans, and finally selected one. Didn’t look great on him, and not real happy about the pattern, either. He didn’t even understand why he bought it. Oh, well.
He went into the other room. His wife walked by and touched his shoulder. “That shirt always looks so good on you.”
Ah. Puzzle solved.
Doors ajar, windows open, cool morning air flows through the house. It’s 64 F out but will strike the upper nineties today. We’re bracing for the weekend when triple digit are expected for the first time this year for us.
Meanwhile, we’ll enjoy this day, because it’s here, and we are, too. It’s Thursday, June 23, 2022. Sunrise came as expected, just after dark thirty this AM. Sunshine will rule until sunset, just before 9 PM this evening.
I have “Barracuda” by Heart from 1977 in the morning mental music stream. I remember that one friend at the time of the song’s release hated this song, just hated it, always complaining because everyone thought Heart was Nancy and Ann, and that enraged him. I realized that he didn’t hate the song, but the group. Around then, I noticed him veering sharply toward racism and sexism and curtailed associating with him.
The neurons brought “Barracuda” forward because of a quote I’d one read from one of the Wilson sisters about “Barracuda” being based on another group’s song. She said, paraphrasing, you steal or borrow what you love and make it your own. I’ve observed it countless times in rock music and novels. I’m doing it my novel, because that’s how it works. I don’t call it stealing or borrowing: I call it inspiration.
Stay positive and test negative. Papi just came in and reminded me that it’s time for coffee. He’s right. Such a smart cat. Cheers
FOLS (floofinition) – Internet slang for ‘Floof on lap syndrome’, when having an animal on one’s lap prevents or discourages people from doing other activities.
In use: “His phone rang, but it was across the room, and he was FOLS, with his new puppy sacked out on his lap, so he just let it go to voice mail.”
He checked ‘The Decider’ website to see what they recommended to watch on Prime. The Decider’s first recommendation was for a show on Hulu. Their second recommendation was for the old movie, Top Gun.
He decided The Decider was a waste of time.
A sunny flourish and a burst of heat and the calendar was made redundant, useless. We knew summer was here. The weather announced it via blazing sun, clear skies, and a sharply scaling thermometer.
Tis Wednesday, June 22, 2015. Tis summer. Nonetheless, the sunrise was at 5:35 AM and sunset will be at 8:51 PM, about the same as the day before summer began. It’s 67 F right now, with a wonderfully friendly and sweet cool breeze tempering the sun’s attitude. The cats love it. I went with the two into the backyard. After some washing (I didn’t participate), they rolled around on the patio. A scrub jay arrived. They abandoned their domestic posturing and proclaimed they’re mighty hunters, so beware.
Somewhere in all of this, the neurons introduced CCR, aka Creedence Clearwater Revival, and their song from 1970, “Up Around the Bend”. It’s pretty straightforward rock and roll. I first heard it when I was fourteen, and the song still entertains me. Hope it entertains you as well.
Stay positive, and hopeful, even optimistic. Test negative. Wear a mask as needed, and take other precautions. Act like you care about your friends and family and be responsible. I try to, with mixed results, then I try again. Now the neurons are singing the coffee song. Here’s CCR. Oh, it’s lifted from Youtube and a show called American Bandstand. They’re having a dance contest. I love this look at 1970s era pop culture – TV, music, fashion, hair, dancing, all rolled into one scene. The music doesn’t start until about 3:42, but you might want to see what it was like, at least for some, for a moment, back in the day. In reflection, I guess today’s theme is nostalgia. Cheers
Solstice! The Musical.
Today is the first day of summer and the longest day in the northern lats, while the opposite holds — winter, shortest, etc — in the south. Your experience could be different. Tracking sunrise and sunset shows some interesting info about the lengths of the ‘day’. By day, of course, we’re speaking of the hours between sunrise and sunset.
Watching the weather dude on the news last night, I learned that our average temperature for yesterday is 83 F, that the record, set in 1972, was 104 F, that last year, we’d been mired in a string of triple-digit days and the temperature for last year was 102 F, and this year, it was 78 F. Locally, I only briefly experienced 74, according to my system.
Today, Tuesday, June 21, 2022, is clear and sunny. Highs today will reach around 86 F, which is about our average for the date. Sunset will be at 8:51 PM and sunrise was at 5:35 AM.
I have a song by ELO called “Hold on Tight” stuck in the morning mental music stream. The neurons started playing it for me after I awoke, thought about a dream, and then forgot it later. Snorting and snickering, pointing at me, muttering, “What a doofus,” — they are quite juvenile and not very supportive — they began singing, “Hold on tight to your dreams.” The song came out in 1981, when I was transitioning from living in Texas to living in Japan, on the island of Okinawa, in service to my country. I enjoy the song’s throwback rock and roll vibe.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as the situation warrants, and so on. Time for my first cup of summer coffee.
At 11:45 PM, the cats demand they be let out of the house. The light is turned on and the landscape is scanned for threats. Deer are okay but they’re not out there. No bears, cougars, other cats, foxes, raccoons, or skunks are seen, but a lone opossum wanders along the back patio. Sorry, kitties, we’re going to keep you in a bit and give the opossum time to move on.
Michael Seidel, writer 