Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
He always defends what he says by proclaiming that he’s just giving ‘the unvarnished truth’. But when others deliver the unvarnished truth to him, his defensiveness spikes to Mt. Everest levels.
Not a great surprise, as he lives in a very varnished bubble.
Happy gray, foggy, rainy Solstice! Yes, it is the Solstice, December 21, 2022, summer solstice down south, winter solstice in my realm and other northern latitudes. Our sunleak began at 7:36 this manana. The leak will be done sometime after 4:42 this abend. Our temp is now 40 F after enduring a low of 36. We’re gonna spring up to 46 before sinking back down to 36 F for the night.
Lovely Solstice weather but the weather doesn’t matter on Solstice. This is a day for renovating energy and dreams, for looking ahead to the light and celebrating. I might even go dancing in the rain. Depends upon how my bones feel once I get out there.
The cats have decided that they’re not going out much any longer, because it’s not very warm out there. They sometimes forget, go to the door and demand exit. But the greeting scene prompts them to vent an irritated noise, whirled back and retreat into the hourse. I feel better with them inside, so I’ve no complaints.
Spent time reading about Trump’s tax returns this morning. Was thinking about starting a business, selling nothing, and writing off losses. That sounds like genius. It also sounds illegal. My business would probably be discovered within a year, maybe two, and then I’d be written off as a con man. Then again, maybe I’d run for Congress, make some more grand claims, see where it takes me. It’s Solstice! A world of possibilities awaits.
For Solstice, Les Neurons began pumping “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham (from about thirty-eight of Earth’s trips around the sun) into the morning mental music stream. Sure, why not, you crazy neurons. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but I’m going with it. It’s a rousing song. Maybe it’ll wake me more fully up.
If the song won’t do it, maybe coffee can help. I’ll have some Solstice coffee, please. It’s the same French roast which I drink every day, with a little splash of Solstice dust. My wife also made almond tartlets for her exercise class’s holiday extravaganza, and designated two for my consumption. One awaits me. I think it’ll go swell with coffee. Confidence is high on that as I’ve had them with coffee before.
Let’s get this day started. Stay pos and test negative. Here’s the tune. Cheers
The differences between them are growing after almost half of a century being together.
The Jack Spratt nursery rhyme goes, “Jack Spratt could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between the two of them, they licked the platter clean.”
It feels to him like they’re living in a modern version of that, with heat substituted for food. She needs the high heat. He’s fine barefoot and in a light sweater, the heat at 66 F. They put the heater on for her even as she dons more and more layers of clothes, and he strips down.
It’s like, “Mike S doesn’t feel the cold, his wife could feel no heating. And so between the two of them, he sweats as she is freezing.”
Long, thin shadows slash the ground as sunshine creeps out of the mists like a forgotten movie star. Monday has come on us again, regular as a calendar. It’s December 19, 2022, and the southern Oregon temperature hovers at 27 degrees F. The sunny disposition of the twenty-four-hour cycle commenced at 7:35 this morning and will be completed with the sun’s turning away at 4:41 this PM. These are colder days than we’re used to, on average. It’s 27 F now, but we’re used to the bottom being 31 F. The highs are closer to average, 46, and that’s what we’ll see today. But this extended period of temperatures dipping into the low to mid-twenties is a winter flavor that we taste in the winter months, but not every day, and it’s not winning me over as other things that I taste every day has done, such as coffee. It’s not like the cold temperatures are delivering some wonderful winter scenes of snow to give it that holiday feel. No, autumn colors have fled. Although grasses are green, the annuals are brown and naked. The land just looks weary.
Yeah, in a darker place today, a culmination of matters which really don’t matter, but try telling that to your brain and emotions, yeah? Yeah. Has me thinking of 1991. 1991 was a transition year for me, coming back from Europe to the U.S., and re-developing my relationship with American culture. 1991 seems like yesterday, as does 1985, and 1975, and many other years, but are all receding further into my past.
Today’s reflective, melancholy mélange has The Neurons playing a 1991 tune by Yes called “Lift Me Up”. Music groups have their own life cycles and Yes has a long, complicated existence. Two versions of Yes as a group were out there for a while, arguing over the right to be Yes. This song is off an album called Union with songs from both Yes factions. It was a real Yes mess but I like this Yes song. It has the usual progressive nuances which occupy every Yes song. Hope you enjoy it and it does a memory thingy for you as it has for me.
Stay pos and test neg. Endure and get on through the lows and highs, however much they swallow and lift you. Now, where is my coffee? It feels like a coffee day. Of course, so does every day, IMO. Here’s the 1991 music, courtesy of 2022 technology and commerce. Cheers
He read the coffee shop’s employee instructions for washing their hands. This was in the restroom. The final step of their hygiene guidance was to use a paper towel to turn off the water. These were part of the instructions posted on an air dryer. The restroom had no paper towels.
It struck him as funny that they stopped with turning off the water using a paper towel which wasn’t available and didn’t mention opening the door. With what were the employees to seize the handle? Apparently, the door handle was safe, where the water handle was not.
Michael Seidel, writer 