Author: Michael Seidel

Science fiction, fantasy, and mystery writer. Singer (sorry, no shows) & nudist (in my home). Beer, cat, cheese, coffee, pie and wine friend. Left IBM and Silicon Valley for the southern Oregon life but I miss the ocean. We're too far inland. Gotta move.

Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: upbeat

Greetings from Ashlandia, where the political arguments are on Next Door and the homeless wander the streets. It’s Friday, 7/21/23. 66 F and smoky now. Smoke from the Flat fire to the west (15K + acres, 936 personnel fighting it, no word on containment or lining) is the primary source. The air quality is creeping up into the moderate range and warnings out that it’s gonna be unhealthy for us this weekend. High today will be in the 97 to 99 degrees F — let’s just call it 98 F.

Had an interesting moment last night. I enjoy yogurt with granola as an evening snack. I generally use this cup I bought at a thrift shop about thirty years ago. Cost me a dollar. Use it for my evening yogurt and my morning oatmeal. Wash it out after use, and set it on a pad to dry.

Last night, I began putting the yogurt into a drinking glass situated by my yogurt cup. Almost immediately stopped with a “WTF” demand of myself. Poured the yogurt out of the glass into the cup and washed the glass but it shook me, doing such an absent-minded thing.

And reading this, I think, man, am I a best of habit or what?

We went to the city band concert in the park last night. Wonderful time. I’d been concerned about heat, crowds, smoke. But Lithia Park at 6:30 PM was cool, shady, comfortable, and smoke free, and a pleasant evening was had. The concert theme was children. Children were provided with kazoos, conductor batons, and little bubble blowers, and were instructed and encouraged to use it all. The concert began with an introduction of each of the instruments present, with the players each playing a brief solo so we could hear their instrument’s sound. Some amusing moments as the bass tubas offered us the Jaws warning followed by a little “Baby Shark”

What really impressed me was the children’s energy. Flying up and down the lawn, traveling at the speed of sound around its perimeter, dancing in crazy ways, tumbling and rolling. Amazing.

I got “Oh, Pretty Woman” stuck in the morning mental music stream (trademark fabricated). The neurons introduced it to the stream yesterday afternoon when I came home and said, “Where’s my pretty woman?” Interesting thing is that The Neurons couldn’t decide if they wanted the Roy Orbison version from 1964 — Roy co-wrote the song and was the original performer — or the 1982 cover by Van Halen. I’ve ended up with a mixed tape of the two versions in the morning MMS but I went with an Orbison version. Gotta admit, love how it opens, and the clean sound, along with Roy’s terrific voice. Some terrific backup performers give the presentation a new dimension. Springsteen’s performance cracks me up.

Stay positive and strong as new carbon steel. Got my coffee, and I’m firing up my Friday mode. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Car Dream

I usually dream of sports cars, especially Porsches. Last night, I dreamed I was standing on the side of a divided highway. Seemed like an Interstate. I never saw myself so I don’t know what dream version of me was being offered up.

I was waiting for a car, though. A white Chrysler was coming. I wasn’t familiar with this Chrysler — I’ve never owned one and I would’ve been five when this car was on the road though I’d naturally know them as used cars — but I knew the one coming, a sparkling white convertible from the early 1960s, with a large chrome grill and front reflecting the landscape as it came on, was the car I awaited.

That’s all the dream was, except when I saw it coming, I thought, at last. Looking it up today, here was the car of my dream.

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Arifloofacy

Arifloofacy (floofinition) – Governing or ruling by a small set of animals.

In use: “The novel by George Orwell, Animal Farm, is about an arifloofacy and the changes it brings to the farm’s dynamics, but anyone with pets have probably experienced an arifloofacy in action, or had to deal with it, for example, fending off the arifloofacy while eating.”

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Welcome back to Ashlandia, where the men are fit and the women are fitter.

It’s Thursday, July 20, 2023. In brief, it’s 69, clear but smoky, with a high in the upper 90s, depending on how much smoke rolls in. We’re in the yellow zone of the AQI’s spectrum about how healthy the air is. I’m trying to figure out whether this smoke is coming up from California or over from the Flat fire in Agnes, Oregon. Might be both.

Today’s music is “Tomorrow Never Knows” by the Beatles, 1966. When I first heard it as a teenager, I was ‘interested’ in its sounds. It was later, while reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead that the song grew more enticing. That took place during my mysticism exploration era, which roughly began when I was nineteen and stationed with the military in the Philippines, and lasted a few years. Never took LSD, but I was instructed in transcendental meditation and meditated each day for over a decade.

I haven’t heard this song in a long time, at least twenty years, I think. Came about today I think because Les Neurons caught me thinking about the beginning of different things. That brought about that long period of the song when Lennon is singing, “in the beginning, in the beginning.” Next thing I know, it’s playing in the morning mental music stream (trademark pretended).

Stay as positive and strong as you can. I can it can sometimes feel like work. Sometimes, it is work, I think. Hopefully, good will come to you from being positive, strong, and shall we add optimistic? I’ve had some coffee, so, sure, let’s through optimistic in there.

Okay, ready? Three…two…one…let’s begin with your mantra. Ooommm. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Flooming

Flooming (floofinition) – Animal’s washing of a human to show their pleasure.

In use: “Whenever Jade began flooming Carrie, she began with Carrie’s hair. Always interested in being part of whatever was going on, Honey the Beagle would join the flooming, eagerly washing Carrie’s face as Jade started on her arms.”

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Mood: uncertain

It’s morning in Ashlandia, where the children aren’t sure but the parents are very confident. Current temp is a little warm for the AM, 74 F. Low 90s are kicked around as the high although one source says it’ll only be 89 F. Like, where do they get that? Well, we’ll see, won’t we? Cool breeze just started kissing my neck, trying to coax me into a better mood. I’ll see what they have to offer.

Another battle of the dreams for my night. Long dreams but once again, I had the one about the house flying through space. Wakin’ from it, I argued with myself. The dream self was worried ’bout the cats being out in space again. Wakin’ self told dream self, relax, we’re not in space. Real tug of war as The Neurons would take one side and then the other.

In world news, things are bad and getting worse. Over to you, David.

Well, that’s how it feels with so many weather disasters underway, along with the war in Ukraine. In good news, many companies are seeing excellent sales. Because that will really matter in the long run, yeah?

Sure. The world will be burning and flooding, almost devoid of glaciers at the poles, and the news headlines will be, Amazon had record sales. And everyone will be like, thank god they can deliver by drones.

Of course, I still write. The world is burning and flooding, but I write on. Just like everyone else, pursuing my own agenda. It’s all crashin’, so what will help me cope and get on by? Well, give me a cuppa coffee and let me write a tale.

See, that’s the thing. While a greater mess happening to the whole of us and our world, each of us are dealing with our private addictions and desires. The big stuff happening is so big and abstract in many ways, so debilitating and demoralizing, we respond by turning to something which we can try to control. At least, that’s my theory. Probably wrong as the decision to end “Firefly”.

Writing has inspired The Neurons’ song choice today. I’m like, what happens now, all the while, entertaining different directions in me head, worrying about where I’m at with it (this feels like a box), trying to bring it all together and to an end without losin’ the plot. Out out that came the James Gang with “Walk Away” from 1971. Makes sense if you look at the song words. Think they’re called lyrics.

“Takin’ my time, choosin’ my lines,
“Tryin’ to decide what to do.”

And that’s what I’m doing, trying to decide what to do, searching for the words and sentences. They’re there, just waiting for them to emerge, kind of worried because they’re not what I expected.

Stay pos and be strong. Here we go, another day in the life of (insert your name here). Coffee is up; let’s go. Cheers

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Felix Floofa

Felix Floofa (floofinition) Originally an expression to convey a ‘lucky animal’, the meaning has changed to reference an animal who brings luck to others.

In use: “Surviving COVID but losing her job, on the verge of homelessness, Sylvia found herself feeling hopeless, but then a little mutt of a brown dog was found at the animal shelter. Despite all logic, she adopted the fellow. It seemed like he was a felix floofa, for she was suddenly offered a job which was a promotion, paying better, and the landlord abruptly grew benevolent, forgiving her the back rent owed and reducing her rent. Naturally, she named the dog Felix.”

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