Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Floofpes (floofinition)– Internet slang. Literally, ‘floof tropes’, overused cliches and outmoded themes about animals. Origins: Worldwide Web, early twenty-first century.
In Use: “One floofpes children often heard as they grew up was that they were ‘fighting like cats and dogs’, which many of them doubt as they see videos or personally witness dogs and cats getting along very well.”
Mood: Coffeenical
Slept in, and the overfloofs allowed it. Rising ticks after 8:30, I found a comfy autumn day hunkering in. Blue sky like we’ve seen thousands of time, but is still wondrous. A full sun was encroaching, driving up the mid 50s temperature. We’re due to make a final stop in the mid 80s before the sun finishes business.
This is Saturday, September 28, 2024.
Today’s theme music overtook me from a song’s line. Yeah, unusual, right? Yes, that was snark.
I was reading Things the MAGAs Claim. A wearying trope. Turning off from that, I mentally countered, “Well, you got your reasons and lies.” As the standard morning activities continued on semi-auto-pilot, The Neurons introduced a vocalist singing “Well, you got your reasons, and you got your lies” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark streaming). Wasn’t until coffee blessed my throat that I was like, oh, hey, that’s that Tonic song. What’s that Tonic song? More coffee and I remembered, “If You Could Only See” from 1997.
I figured, oh, I had to have used that before. So, I sat and searched. Yep, December of 2020, I posted this:
I ended up with a political spin on a love song today. The song, from 1997, is “If You Could Only See” by Tonic. It came to me as I read some interview with another Republican insisting that the election is a fraud and everything must be tossed out. They don’t want a do-over, mind you: they just want Trump declared the winner. Never mind any facts that say anything about the election’s validity. Some nefarious, shadowy and powerful individual allowed Trump to be elected four years ago, let him run the country, but now said, “Oh, but enough. We will rig the election so he loses.”
Such bizarre reasoning always prompts wonder in me. Why do they so love Trump? Why do they put so much faith in unproven conspiracies? Why do they believe statements shown to be lies and fabrication?
Yeah, we have theories about it all. It brought some lines from Tonic’s song into my mental stream this AM.
Well you got your reasons.
And you got your lies.
And you got your manipulations.
That sums it up for me. Strange reasoning, reinforced by lies and manipulation. Truly, this song from 1997 is proper for this era in 2020.
Funny that the song fit my mood as Trump lost the 2020 election and declare it had been stolen from him, and now, as he runs for office again, with the GOP doing their best to steal it for him by hampering voting.
Stay positive, be strong, lean forward, and vote blue. Here we, Saturday is underway. Cheers
Neofloofthic (floofinition)– Belonging to a previous animal and now outmoded. Origins: 1865, Sir John Floofbock.
In Use: “She thought that the dog’s toys were neofloofthic relics of another era when she began taking care of her daughter’s cat for two weeks but on the first day, the cat was attacking everything that the dog used to play with.”
Nan shares Mary Trump’s take on Uncle Donald’s latest grift. I was thinking about D.J.T. and his grifts and thought it wouldn’t be surprising if he put out a set of ‘commemorative Presidential Seal watches’. Sure, it’s illegal to use the the seal, and subject to fine. But with the SCOTUS ruling about Trump’s immunity, I’m sure oddsmakers believe there’s a good chance that Trump will do just that.
Long as it’s making him money.
Walking along Ashlandia’s Hunters Park, I encountered two middle-aged women. As I nodded hello and passed them, I swung back to one. “Hey, I like your shirt.”
Her shirt said, “Kamala Harris for President” in an interesting rainbow offering on black.
“Thanks.” She widely grinned. “I bought it online.”
“Do you remember the site? My wife is interested in buying another Harris shirt.”
The woman pulled out her phone. “Here, I can tell you. Yes, Teepublic.com.”
“Cool, thanks. Have a good one.”
“Go, Kamala,” her companion shouted with a big grin and strong fist bump.
I returned both. “Go, Kamala.”
My wife chastised me for ‘using too much soap’ when I was cleaning the cat’s bowls.
I apologized, having been unaware the restriction existed. Ignorance is not a defense, of course. I await my sentencing.
Mood: Frigruff
Some artists got together and painted us the bluest sky. Brill sunshine was dabbed in o’er the goldenish green trees towering across the backyard. Cats and I were well-thrilled with this autumn display, frolicking in a mature way in the 50 something F air. We’ll plumb the mid 80s F today but autumn is bigfooting its presence on Ashlandia.
This is Friday, September 27, 2024.
I’ve circled at the usual AM stops and found some part of me meditating on What Constitutes A Healthy Breakfast? Trader Joe’s sheet cake was inviting me for a taste but that’s not healthy, is it? Well, it could be. Pumpkin and spices. Probably all artificial. But tasty.
Laboring through the morning news. Hurricane Helene did the wreckage as expected. Still rampaging. NY’s mayor indicted. The noble and dignified Trump hawking watches. They say they found the world’s oldest cheese, too. I thought that was in my fridge. I checked; still there. So that’s another example of fake news, innit?
Maggie Smith passed. 89, which is now considered a youngerish sort of age. Suppose because I’m closer to that yardstick. Beloved is an often overused word, up there with superstar. Beloved seems apt for Maggie Smith.
Alice in Chains is dominating the morning mental music stream (Trademark trademarked) with “Would” from 1992. I check and learn, yes, I used “Would” before as theme music, in September in another year. I have detected a trend of having the same songs come to me in the same months of different years. Serendipity? Random psychosis? Bullshit observation? I don’t know. It’d take more study and I haven’t had enough coffee to pursue it past my fingers bashing a keyboards.
I sneeze several times. My wife isn’t here so I need to tell myself, “Godzilla”.
Which inspires Blue Oyster Cult and their ode to the creature terrorizing Tokyo. It’s been pinned as theme music here too and doesn’t feel synchronized to my day, although nothing else does, either.
Then, clicking and muttering, I’m lead to Stevie Nicks’s new offering, “The Lighthouse”. Nicks said that she’d been on the road, listening to a newscaster talking about Roe v. Wade being overturned. Thinking of what it would mean, she had to write a song.
Nicks sings,
Because everything I fought for
Long ago in a dream, is gone
Someone said
The dream is not over
The dream has just begun
Or
Is it a nightmare
Is it a lasting scar
It is unless you save it
And that’s that
Unless you stand up
And take it back
And take it back
h/t to Genius.com
Yes, this feels like a song for today. Hope you give it an ear.
Be strong and so on as we wade through the days, 39 of them, until November 5, 2024. Coffee still tickles my throat in measured swallows. Here’s the music. Cheers
Ashlandia is getting talked up as a place to be in 2024.
First, we had the surprise announcement in August of this year that Ashland is a top-10 town for bicyclist.
“No. 5 ranking in Outdoor magazine could bring in more tourists, outdoor recreators.”
“With a People for Bikes rating of 70 out of 100, League of American Bicyclists gold status and 86 trails dedicated to bikes, Ashland was ranked no. 5 of the top 10 bike cities across the country. A ranking such as this has the potential to bring in more tourists.” h/t Ashland.news
It mildly astonished most of us who live here, but the next news was miiinnnd blowing. Architectural Digest announced its list of “The 13 Most Beautiful Underrated Cities in the World” in the middle of this month. Yes, following the limp foreshadowing, Ashland, Oregon, is included on the list.
Part of the 2018 edition of The New York Times’ “52 Places to Travel,” Ashland is located in the Rogue River area of Southern Oregon. Like much of the Pacific Northwest, the region is celebrated for its natural beauty, which includes Lithia Park and North Mountain Park defined by leafy vegetation and beautiful waterways. Home to Southern Oregon University, the college town is also know for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a local repertory theater that offers a myriad of performances not limited to just The Bard.
Those two pieces are enough to send other places into extreme city envy. But wait, there’s more!
America’s Coziest College Town Is In Oregon
Yes, TheTravel.com also announced this month, September, 2024, that Ashlandia is the United States’s coziest college town.
“This Oregon town features everything a college town should; cozy bookstores, coffee shops, and bars, quaint art galleries, museums, and scenic trails.”
It’s funny to see that written about our town. Hate badmouthing it…buuuutttt…
Our numbers of bookstores and coffee shops have fallen and fallen. We used to have over a dozen coffee shops, along with several excellent bakeries. Those have closed, replaced by vintage stores and retail businesses. Sure, we still have four bookstores but it’s a fall from the half dozen at our disposal in the last decade.
I suspect a PR firm was given some cash to go out and get us on these lists.
I guess we should be proud of our town but I can’t forget when it seemed like a better place.
Michael Seidel, writer 