Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Conventional wisdom can get it right many times. But sometimes, you just need to flip conventional wisdom the bird and get on with what you think you need to do.
Mood: spirited
Seems like Indian Summer is on its way here in Ashlandia, where the peaches were sweet and juices this year, and the cherries were no-shows. 64 F now, 82 is today’s high, but get ready; we’re heading into the upper nineties this week.
It’s Sunday, September 10, 2023
Technically, if one can say such a thing for an expression like Indian Summer, it can’t be Indian Summer now, as it’s September, and it’s still summer. According to the sages, Indian Summer happens in October or November, and at least after autumn commences. But they’re not sure about the phrase’s origins, and can only make educated guesses about it. Then, they applied those rules about when it is and isn’t.
Horrific news out of Morocco as the death count after the quake rose and rose. At least 2,000, were killed by the ‘strongest quake in 100 years’, and more were injured and displaced. In other news, someone is killing trees in a wealthy enclave around Sidney, Australia. Locals theorize that someone is doing it to improve their view of the water. Sadly, as one person mentions, property values are all about things like views. It seems totally possibly in this age, doesn’t it? And as another interviewee said, they’ll probably get away with it. Another grrr moment in life.
Playing with Whichbook.net, a tool designed to help you find your next read. I’ve never had a problem finding my next book to read. So many books at there waiting to be read, my problem is that I need to make more time to read them. But that then takes away time from other things. Terrible, ugly circle of time and things to do. But I checked out the tool because I was curious. Twenty-four attributes you can look for in a novel are listed. Things like, “Short, Long”, “Happy, Sad”, “Optimistic, Bleak”. You can select four. A slider feature lets you put greater emphasis on one side of the scale over the other. I suppose it can be useful if you’re really in a muddle about to read or at a lost because you’ve tired of a genre and you’re trying to find something different. It’s interesting that it doesn’t address genre or era.
Once again, The Neurons pried a song out of the vault and tossed it into the morning mental music stream (Trademark fishy) without giving any clues about their logic. In this case, the song began while doing various tasks at home under the general umbrella of housekeeping. Then the song started: “When I think of those East End lights, muggy nights, pink curtains drawn in the room downstairs.” Yes, it’s the 1975 Elton John song, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”. Although other songs came and went for a while as I cleaned, this song arose in the MMMS this morning. It could just be that The Neurons started roaming through my mind as I worked, bored with what I was doing, and brought up this and those other old songs to alleviate the tedium. But why’d they put it back in the MMMS? Another question which I can’t answer.
Time to commence things, like drinking coffee. Stay pos, be cool, be strong. Here’s the music. Cheers
Had a good night sleep and woke up refreshed. Ate well, had some coffee, but I feel tired.
So the question springs up, what makes that happen? Well, I guess it’s the stress of planning trips, making reservations, and taking care of multiple things — even writing — which amounts to being simultaneously pulled in several directions; picture my wrists and ankles being chained to horses going in four directions.
I’ll breathe deep, stay calm, and carry on. Just another insight into how this vessel of mine works these days.
Floofpid Shuffle (floofinition) Modern dance with floofs which requires a person to jump one way to avoid a floof, and then another, starting in a new direction, then changing directions, followed by hopping, turning, and twisting while the floof does its own dance moves.
In use: “Many people owned by pets can stylishly do the floofpid shuffle, but for a real challenge, some add multiple leashes and pull off some really impressive moves to stay disentangled and in control.”
Mood: lifted
Blue sky fall fever is settling over Ashlandia, where the trees are green and the sunshine is warm. 69 F on this Saturday morning, the expected high for September 9, 2023, will climb into the mid to upper 80s, depending upon exactly where you stand in the valley.
Got my car back from its repairs. All seems well. Continuing to prepare for our trip for a nephew’s wedding in PA. All the marriages in this family on my side, sixteen, and this will only be the second one with my attendance, the other being a niece a decade again, if you don’t count Dad’s second marriage. Have attended one marriage on my wife’s side, which is 20%. Couldn’t attend most of the others as I was outside the U.S. on military business.
Reading more today about the slow speed overthrow of democracy in America. Since Twitter went to X and throw off its controls, Chinese and Russian disinformation bots have ramped up production and influence. I read this in Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letters from an American” for September 7, 2023. Here are some of her pertinent words:
“A report published last week by the European Commission, the body that governs the European Union, says that when X, the company formerly known as Twitter, got rid of its safety standards, Russian disinformation on the site took off. Lies about Russia’s war against Ukraine spread to at least 165 million people in the E.U. and allied countries like the U.S., and garnered at least 16 billion views. The study found that Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook, all owned by Meta, also spread pro-Kremlin propaganda that uses hate speech and boosts extremists.
“The report concluded that “the Kremlin’s ongoing disinformation campaign not only forms an integral part of Russia’s military agenda, but also causes risks to public security, fundamental rights and electoral processes” in the E.U.”
Coupled with Google and Meta’s decisions that they’re going to allow AI generated fake political ads — with suitable ‘disclosures’, of course — and the sea of confusion and disagreement is bound to overtake us as surely as a storm surge during a hurricane in Florida. But don’t worry, we’ll have shiny toys to play with.
But today’s most heartbreaking story has to be the quake which slammed Morocco. Over 1000 dead at this point. Rescue missions and supply deliveries will ramp up soon. Hope there are no aftershocks.
The Neurons have gifted me with “Wait” by White Lion (1987) in the morning mental music stream (Trademark classified). Again, I don’t know what kicked the song in there. White Lion was a big hair band with a sound similar to several other bands of the era and a strong Eddie van Halen guitar influence. I haven’t heard this song in years and years, I don’t believe. It was never deeply in my hearing rotation so its arrival this morning is startling.
Stay pos, be strong, and be true to yourself. Coffee is being consumed already. Here’s the music. Cheers
I had car problems this week. They look like they’re now resolved, but a comment by a friend reminded me of a surprising recent trend, at least locally.
Three friends all had cars with a cracked windshield this year: Ford, Subaru, Toyota. None knew how the windshields broke, they just noticed cracks which were getting bigger. For each, it meant getting the windshield replaced, which was a high price and lengthy time, especially for the Toyota. Windshields are infrequently just a glass piece these days. They often have electronics and sensors embedded in them, or they’re linked to systems. Replacement requires a special machine and a specially trained individual to take out the old and put in the new and connect and calibrate everything. The machine required to replace the Toyota windshield was broken and required specialized repairs, which took months. In the case of the Ford, the specialist was out for a few weeks for reasons unknown.
I remember the old days, when a guy came to our house and replaced the windshield in an hour in the garage. My, how times have changed.
Friends of ours who live about a mile away in another neighborhood related that they came out to a bloody yard the other morning. They speculated that a bear got a deer. Seems both animals enjoy the apple tree in their yard. No carcass there; I suggested it may have been a cougar but it was related to me, no, they found a huge bear dump in their yard, so they thought it was a bear.
Then they remembered, hey, they have security cameras! Let’s see what they show. Well, they showed a deer bounding up to the apple tree and a cougar pouncing on it immediately. The camera recorded the scene as the cougar carried the carcass down the street, across into a neighbor’s yard, and into a wooded ravine.
That’s life, some days. Made me want to order my cats, you are never going outside again. But the young ‘un makes life miserable for us when we keep him in. Poor excuse, but that, too, is life.
The Floofy Hop (floofinition) A dance done by animals and humans where the animals try to intercept the humans, get their attention, or herd them one way, while humans attempt to continue on the path of what they were trying to do.
In use: “Whenever Bob went to feed Lucifer, they had to do the floofy hop as Lucifer cried for his attention, entwined herself through his legs and around his ankles, and threw herself on her back on front of him, forcing Bob to turn and turn again to avoid stepping on the floof.”
Michael Seidel, writer 