Month: August 2023

Sunday’s Theme Music

Today’s microexistence is Sunday, Aug 6, 2023. I’m in Ashlandia, where the deer eat everything and many people are annoyed. 70 F now, the bottom line for how high the temperature will go is 89. Sunset and sunrise are now contracting our daylight hours. We’re pushing through August. September lurks, waiting to hustle in autumn for us.

Another night of riotous dreaming was experienced. The most surprising one had me as a young gunman trapped in a suburban house with three others. We had automatic weapons and were in this situation because we’d shot and killed another young man, apparently in conjunction with a gang feud. Now, trapped, we decided we were going to break out blazing and make, a shoot and run to escape. Corporeal I was protesting my dream I’s thinking and behavior, cursing him for being a fool, urging him not to do it. But whatever I urged him not to do, he did it anyway, damn him. Real me couldn’t stop dream me. I twice forced a redo, but it went the same. It felt like the dream scene was my subterranean neurons cooking up a movie to show my battle between different sides of my self.

I awoke, thinking about that dream and others, and ended up ceiling staring in thought. Running with that cue, Der Neurons started streaming “Brian Wilson” by the Bare Naked Ladies (1992) in the morning mental music stream (trademark existential). At least I readily knew the connection this time. One line goes, “So I’m lying here, staring at the ceiling.” Okay, well done, Neurons. Take a mental bow.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of when my wife and I married. Totally other existence when we did, when we were young in 1975. Been a bumpy road. Almost went over a few cliffs. I enjoy her company and have great admiration for who she is. I think she likes me, too, although I exasperate her. Well, she does exasperate me as well. Love is a spectrum, as is hate — hell, marriage and all the emotions are spectrums. We constantly slide back and forth, finding and losing balance, opening and closing the distance between us.

Stay pos, be strong, find the course and follow it, correcting as is needed. Coffee has already slipped past the guards and is supplying The Neurons with needed energy reinforcements. Let’s hear some music.

Cheers

2

Why Do Republicans Hate the United States?

Why Do Republicans Hate the United States? You know they must.

Actions always speak louder than words. Republican Sen. Tuberville, who states, “there is no one more military than me,” is blocking confirmation of new members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to replace the two who have retired. He’s also blocked 301 other promotions and confirmations for important military positions. Perhaps if Tuberville had ever served in the military, he’d understand the chaos and crises this is creating. As he fosters a leadership vacuum in the United States, think of how other nations might take advantage of Tuberville’s intransigence.

Besides Tuberville, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is blocking confirmation of 60 plus State Department officials the same way that Tuberville is blocking the confirmation of military officials. So, they are deliberating undermining the security of the United States in pursuit of their personal political agendas. His agenda: to ‘learn the true origins of COVID-19’. Sure, that’s what he claims, even as information has been provided to him time and again. This is simple pettishness masquerading as concern, doing his best to cripple the country because it’s led by a Democratic POTUS who was lawfully elected to lead the nation.

Whether it’s the debt ceiling, blocking the appointment of judges, military readiness, or stopping the State Department, Republicans continually demonstrate that politics is more important than country. They’re masters of obstruction politics. Last election, they offered no platform, and when in leadership positions, they work hard to savage the US Constitution and Bill of Rights.

So fucking shameful. But that’s what we get from the party who supports a former president who tried to undermine lawful election results so he could stay in office. Even worse is that so many otherwise intelligent and hard-working citizens seem to support these goals of undermining the nation and its founding principles. How else can you explain that these two and others of their ilk are re-elected time, and time again?

14

Independent Floof

They’re an independent floof of independent means,

(At least, that’s how they see it, just between you and me).

Going where they want, doing as they wish,

Eating off of everything,

Especially your dish.

You can tell them otherwise,

And order them, “Don’t you dare.”

And they’ll wait until you go away,

And then do what they please.

And though you may get angry,

You might even get mad,

You know when they’re gone,

You’ll be very, very sad.

1

Saturday’s Wandering Thoughts

He’s in the coffee shop restroom. It has an electronic lock. Press in the code to enter. Each button beeps. Press another button when you’re inside to secure it. A red light means it’s locked.

He can hear someone entering the code. Alarm ticking up, he watches the door. Did he lock it?

His worry amuses him. What will they see? A white man sitting on a toilet. They’ll see his pale thighs. Oh, no!

Inner laughter rolls. It’s the one who walks in on him who will suffer at that sight.

0

Saturday’s Theme Music

Salutations, and welcome to Saturday in Ashlandia, where the growers’ market is open and the coffee is brewing. It’s the 5 of August, 2023. We’re feasting on the cool mountain air and the remnants of the night’s chill offerings. Just 70 F at the moment, today’s high will gallop up to the low nineties. Air quality has been an off and on issue as the wind and fronts deliver wildfire smoke to the valley. It’s clear now, the and skies are not cloudy.

I asked Bing’s AI app yesterday, “Where is the smoke in Ashland, Oregon, coming from?” The AI’s answer really impressed me. It said, “It can be coming from anywhere.” It then went into a history of fires and smoke from previous years. I’m really worried about AI taking over. It’s gonna drive us all crazy with non-sensical answers and then slide into control after we’re all babbling idiots. Some of us are already pretty close to that edge.

Stampeded by dreams last night. The most vivid and everlasting was one in which I realized there was a serial killer. Nobody else was aware. That annoyed me, so I tracked down the serial killer and stopped him. Not sure how that last was done. Seemed to be off the dream stage. But I came back and told everyone else about the serial killer and stopping him without specifying why. I finished by informing them, “Now we can move on and get things done.”

Out of that, The Neurons inserted “Bette Davis Eyes” (1981) by Kim Carnes into the morning mental music stream (trademark insanity). It was a big song that year. In May of ’81 we moved from San Antonio, Texas to Okinawa, Japan, as part of my military service, and that song was being played everywhere. As the song looped through my head today, bringing back memories of those days, and I fed the cats, dressed, and made brekkie and coffee, I demanded of Les Neurons, “Why that song?” They smugly replied, “You know why.” I think they’re in cahoots with the AI to drive me nuts.

Stay positive, be strong, and persist. The coffee has already been sampled and I can assure you, it’s the real deal. Here’s the music. Cheers

3

Friday’s Wandering Thoughts

He read an abstract about the effects of chewing gum on mood and concentration, and then perused a paper. The abstract stated, “Recent evidence has indicated that chewing gum can enhance attention, as well as promoting well-being and work performance.”

Well, he could use all of that! He immediately went out and purchased several packs of different gums for his own experiment. One immediate finding was that gum prices have skyrocketed since he last purchased gum. But if it helped his attention span, well-being, and performance, it would be worth it.

0

Floofrock

Floofrock (floofinition) – 1. An animal which is dedicated to a routine or extremely loyal to another animal or individual.

In use: “Rising at six thirteen in the morning every day, immediately checking on everyone in the household, and then insisting on punctuality for every meal before going to bed at exactly eleven PM each night, Jack was a floofrock par excellence.”

2. A person or organization who displays consistent devotion to the care, rights, and well-being of animals.

In use: “The many people who foster animals are a floofrock of the movement to stop animal abuse and animal testing. Their work is slow but persistent, and results are coming in.”

0

Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: positive

We’ve flipped the page over to Friday, August 4, 2023. It’s sunny and 67 degrees F in Ashlandia, where the buses are regular, and the schools are above average.

Papi the ginger wonder floof has forgiven us for going away at last. In a fine mood, he’s galloping about, playing games with me. Seems quite happy, though we worry about him. A cougar was photographed on someone’s front porch less than a quarter mile away. Another person noted that the neighboring housing area has had four cats disappear in the last few days.

Lot of road construction going on in Ashland. ADA ramps being added, roads repaved and striped, drain systems being addressed. Feels like there’s no main road where you don’t encounter a short delay for construction. Not a bad thing; employs people, improves the town’s appearance and makes it more inviting, and addresses problems which could cause damage or significant wear and tear on vehicles, along with ensuring that the systems function right when rain and snow seasons arrive. Think a lot of it was postponed during COVID interruptus.

Politics and legal matters still absorb a lot of my downtime. Most are related to Trump and how the GOP and Trump supporters respond to the indictment onslaught. While Trump and others are being charged with obstruction for knowingly spreading multiple big lies about the election being stolen, other Republican politicians continue that song with pause. This with the revelation that a Georgia billionaire who backs the GOP and supported Trump now saying that he no longer will because Trump et al keep making the same claims about stolen elections without offering any evidence.

That brings me to a Bob Seger song, “Turn the Page”. I feel like, come on, you’ve lost in court time and again for lack of evidence. Time to move on and turn the page. The Neurons agreed, plugging the Seger tune into the morning mental music stream (trademark re-discovered), It’s a fine song about life on the road as a performer.

Now give me a C. Give me an O. Give me — oh, just give me the coffee. Stay positive, be like a tree. Remember that expression? Here’s Seger and the band. Time to get moving. Cheers

0

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