Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: popping

Foggy this morning in Ashlandia, where the atmosphere is holiday bright. Was 48 F but that chill fog kept it, well, chilly. Now we’re nearing our day’s high temp, 52 F, but the sun has cleared off the fog and presented us with a clear blue sky, which looks sweet over mid-autumn’s colors.

Yes, it’s Thanksgiving, so my mind is rich with memories of Thanksgivings from childhood at my grandparent’s house to later Thanksgiving with Mom and family, to various military Thanksgiving scenarios. One which stands tall is Thanksgiving in the Philippines. I was married but on an unaccompanied tour, so my wife was back in the US, living with her family. I was part of a three-man command and control team, and my shift lead, Sal, invited me to his home in base housing for the holiday. Good friends, good day.

Since I’ve been out of the military and living with my wife on the west coast, we do Friendsgiving. Herb and Debra hosts a number of people from 12 to 20. Don’t know how many will be attending this year, our tenth year of going to their home in the country outside of Talent, Oregon. It’s always a good time, though, and I’m looking forward to being there.

Of course, no memories supplant the ones with Mom back in her home, with my sisters. Mom would start cooking the night before, worrying about the turkey being big enough, starting to roast it dark o’clock in the morning, basting it and fretting it would turn out dry. Never did. She made everything from scratch herself in those days, and you know we had pie and all the traditional fixin’s.

For music on this holiday, The Neurons inundated the morning mental music stream (Trademark wishful) with Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow with “INDUSTRY BABY” from 2020. It’s mostly the chorus going through the MMMS:

I told you long ago on the road
I got what they waiting for
I don’t run from nothing, dog
Get your soldiers, tell ’em I ain’t layin’ low
You was never really rooting for me anyway
When I’m back up at the top, I wanna hear you say
He don’t run from nothin’, dog
Get your soldiers, tell ’em that the break is over

h/t Genius.com

It’s an interesting video for several reasons, and I hope you enjoy it.

Hope your day is excellent, wherever you are, regardless of whether it’s a holiday for you or not. Be strong, stay positive, and lean forward to better times. Coffee is been consumed; other matters await. Here’s the video. Cheers

November 23, 2023 0

Just. Don’t. Stop.

Inspirational Quote # 4909

November 23, 2023 0

A Fine List

Thankfulness A-Z

Jill made a great list of things which she is thankful for. I didn’t change it, but I’d add some personal names under the letters: Keri, Dee, Frank, Lisa, Gina, Pat, Amy, Sharon, Debby, Jonathan, Jessica, Cynthia, David, Andrea, Michael, Barb, Jon, Becky, Brenden, Landon, Colten, Lauren, Audrey, Rhea, Matt, Vince, and many other nieces and nephews. Beer was added under B, and wine is found under W. Knowledge is added to k, and L is amended with learning.

Oh, yeah, you’ll find pizza and pie under P. Can’t forget them, along with writing. You know where it goes.

Happy Thanksgiving.

November 23, 2023 1

November 22, 2023 0

Wednesday’s Wandering Thought

I haven’t been employed for about seven years, and today I find myself nostalgic for that old corporate work routine when I worked from home from 2005 to 2015. I think it’s because I was alone in the house, on my computer, and it was quiet and rainy.

Good times.

November 22, 2023 0

Wednesday’s Theme Music

Mood: uncertain

Man, it started out as a gray, dry, cold morning, on this Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving in Ashlandia, where the people’s mood seems calm. The temperature has climbed from the mid 30s to the mid 40s and the sky has morphed from flat gray to ashy charcoal streaks with blue hints. Gonna get up to 54 F, we’re told but tonight will see lows in the upper 20s. We hear whispers, “Winter is coming again,” and we’re like, “Yeah, that’s how the seasons work here, like clockwork. Where have you been?”

It’s November 22, 2023, from which I can infer that, barring a collapse of time-keeping, November doesn’t have much time left. Then December will crash into us and we’ll slide through the holidays bang into 2024. And what a year that will be! From elections and trials and sports and economics, we hear so much already about 2024 that it seems like it’ll be a mighty, mighty year, or we’ll squeeze through it with a whimper, bang or bust, right?

Which has fueled today’s music, meaning clock, time, and the calendar. Reading news like the rise of Trump’s overtly anti-democratic rhetoric, I think, we’ll see. We’ll see with time whether Trump’s dreams of being re-elected as POTUS in 2024 will be realized. And we’ll see with time if he escapes conviction in the four trials focused on his behavior and evidence that he was breaking the law. Time will tell us if Trump will be able to complete his new vision of building camps for anyone who doesn’t support him, people he calls ‘vermin’, like many dictators do in their quest to suppress their opposition. Time will tell.

Time will tell if Trump then imprisons political prisoners and ends the dream of U.S. democracy as the founders laid out over two hundred years ago. That’s what he wants, and that’s what his supporters agree to, as long as they end up on top as part of the privileged. Demonstrating remarkably pathetic vision of how things work, the people supporting Trump then think life will be great for them, not realizing, or maybe not caring, what their Trump dreams will lead to. Like, how will all of this play with our current allies and trading partners?

Time will tell if Trump and the Republicans follow through on the plan to fire all Federal employees and then hire back loyalists. Time will tell, if they do, how well the government would then work, and what will happen to revenue if all new people are installed in the IRS to manage the tax code and tax returns. Time will tell how the VA hospitals will do with all new inexperienced administrations, or the FAA, FBI, CIA, NSA, and DHS.

Yes, time will tell if any of these ‘dreams’ are being taken seriously by anyone, and if they are being taken seriously, whether they’ll drive support up or down for Trump and the GOP.

With all that thinking about what ‘time will tell’, is it any surprise that The Neurons cranked up Asia’s 1982 song, “Only Time Will Tell” into the morning mental music stream (Trademark drifting)? I’m on the page with them with this one. With all the crises, wars, problems (like climate change) and divided, polarized opinions about what to do about anything, only time will tell how we, our planet, etc., will end up. Of course, that’s always been the case, but in this hyper information age with bad actors and bots pouring out misinformation, waiting for time to tell keeps many of us anxious, stressed, or even depressed. Guess time will tell what we’ll be like on the other side of 2024.

Stay pos, be strong, and lean into a brighter future. I’ve had coffee, thanks, but wouldn’t mind a warmer, s’il vous plait. Here’s the music. Cheers

November 22, 2023 0

November 21, 2023 1

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Mood: lightly festive

With Tuesday, November 21, 2023, here in Ashlandia, where the restaurants are good and the service is above average, we have another weather shift. 58 F, the sun is shining like summer now as late morning rotates through. We’re expecting highs in the low to mid-sixties today. Only problem is the air stagnation advisory. It ends this evening today but we’ve honestly been little affected by it in our valley this time, knock wood.

Les Neurons are messing with me again. Experiencing sound sleep and multiple dreams last night, I was remembering the latter this morning while putzing through the breakfast routine of feeding the cats and making my breakfast when The Neurons delivered a song to the morning mental music stream (Trademark dated).

I’m detouring here to mention that feeding the cats breakfast includes giving Tucker his hip and joint supplement. He’s an elderly cat now, with a few teeth gone after dealing with gingivostomatitis most of his life. When he first arrived on our porch, hungry, matted, and crying, he had serious mouth infections. We had those treated and some teeth removed and have since kept him on a grain-free diet, which works well in keeping the gingivostomatitis at bay.

But now, being older, he’s stiff with arthritis. His supplement helps, lubricating his movement, stimulating his appetite, and increasing his energy levels, but he doesn’t have the teeth to chew it right, so he often tries and then leaves the wet chew on the floor. So, to give it to him, I crumble the chew into boiling water and mix it with his morning and evening wet food, and he’s lapped it down.

Now, I don’t know if you know cats, but many of them want whatever the other is having. I’ve caught Papi, who is much younger, sniffing Tucker’s treated food with interest. He’s decided he wants a little hot water mixed in with his wet food, too. His thinking, I think, is, another cat is getting it, and if it’s good enough for another cat, he deserves to get it as well. Second, hot water helps keep him hydrated, and enhances the food’s smell and flavor, right? I suppose, because he licks his bowl clean.

Anyway, as I’m doing these things this AM, The Neurons begin playing “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John with Victoria Bergsman from 2006 in the morning mental music stream. I’m not privy to why The Neurons brought that song up. They often don’t share with me, treating my requests with disdain. Maybe they just remembered the whistling or the voices or the song’s message and lyrics, and thought this a good day to hear it again. Honestly, I don’t know, but it’s earned its place as today’s theme music.

Stay positive, be strong, and lean forward with growing optimism that we’ll get over the Trump threat and everything he does to encourage others to come forward as hateful, hypocritical, racist, sexist, homophobic, warmongering, privilege-seeking neanderthals. My coffee is going down smooth and tasty. Think I’ll have some more.

Here’s the music. Cheers

November 21, 2023 0

Monday’s Theme Music

Mood: sufficient

T’was the Monday before Thanksgiving, and all through the town, people were hurrying, rushing around, making their plans to have a good meal, or shopping online to get a good deal.

Yes, it’s Monday, the 20th of November of 2023. This is the last time that we’ll experience this day and date combo until three different things happen. One, time travel is finally achieved, enabling us to return to this date to see what really happened; two, the Recreation Society decides that this will be the day/date that is recreated as a do-over. But I know for a fact that time travel is still a few decades off and the Recreation Society won’t be here for over fifty years. In fact, its inventors aren’t even born yet.

Windy is the word for the weather in Ashlandia, where the wind is charged and sharp, and the cats are unhappy. After dipping to 30 F last night, we’re now up to 45 F under a flash blue sky and sterling sunshine.

Looking out and seeing no rain, The Neurons cranked up “I’m Only Happy When It Rains”, 1995, by Garbage, in the morning mental music stream (Trademark drenched). While it was a bit’o mischief by Les Neurons, who love pranking me before I’ve had coffee and I’m defenseless, I’ve always found IOHWIR to be a terrific sing along rocker. Shirley Manson delivers on vocals with audio sneers dripping with contempt. Terrific fun, and hard to resist as she teases, “Pour your misery down on me.”

Stay positive, be strong, and lean forward into that dark wind until we break through the other side. Pour some coffee down for me. Never mind, I’ll do it myself. Here’s the video. Cheers

PS: The third way we can experience Monday, November 20, 2023, again, is if we come unstuck in time. It’s been known to happen, although they didn’t know it at the time.