Nepflooftism (floofinition) – Favoritism given to one floof over others.
In use: “Although cats, dogs, and pig shared Shari’s domicile, her nepflooftism kept her Cockatoo a happy bird.”
Thursday’s Wandering Thought
His eyebrows had transmorgified once more. As a youth, he had pleasant eyebrows — two clean, mildly arched lines populated with fine, neat hairs. Later, his eyebrow hairs thickened and a unibrow developed. He didn’t much mind the unibrow because he was often favorably compared to another unibrower, actor Tom Selleck, a flattering comparison. His forties found his unibrow’s center fading. Meanwhile, thicker brows appeared. A wild bramble of hairs took over. Suddenly the comparisons shifted from Selleck to the Soviet leader, Brezhnev, or television commentator Andy Rooney.
Those brows faded and changed, too. Now his brows had taken on another actor’s look, developing a Sam Waterston flip, where the eyebrows darkened and thickened again, but pointed up.
Like his eyebrows had their own life and pursued their own style. He wondered what they were going to do next.
Thursday’s Theme Music
“Out in the fog, the fog dancers begin moving. They only appear when it’s foggy. The thicker the fog, the more fog dancers there will be. They want humans to come out, walking in the fog, so the fog dancers can grab them and make them one of their own. If you become a fog dancer, you’ll dance for the rest of your life and never see sunlight again.
“That’s why I don’t go out in the fog.”
I don’t remember this, as I apparently did it on a whim, but my sisters insist that I told them this story when I was about twelve. My three youngest sisters said the fog terrified them for years. They said that I also said that adults know about this and that’s why they don’t go out into the fog. It worked well because Mom would always say, “Oh, I don’t like the fog,” and shiver whenever she looked out and saw fog.
As I said, the sisters claim that I told them this, and I don’t doubt them. Sounds like me. I think of it today because pretty deep fog is out there. Some trees and bushes look like fog dancers.
Remember the movie, The Fog? The sisters said that as soon as they heard of that movie, they remembered my tale.
It’s December 22, 2022. Just three days before the C holiday. And then, boom, the after Christmas shopping rush begins. It’s nutty.
36 F out there today, with timid sunshine squirming through the fog. S’posed to rain today. That’s the weather rumor. 49 F is to be our high before the sun peters out of the valley at 4:42 later today, just seven hours and five minutes after the sun kicked over the eastern mountains.
Got “Rockafeller Skank” by Fatboy Slim from 1988 occupies the morning mental music stream. I know exactly when The Neurons turned it on this morning. I’d raised the blinds, looked out and saw the fog. The Neurons responded to this by opening, “Right about now, the funk soul brother, check it out now, the funk soul brother.” Fog and funk. Sure, makes sense. I think The Neurons are losing it on some days, but I enjoy the song. Not many lyrics and easy to learn. I had a friend a few years after this song was released who always insisted, “That’s not really music.”
Stay positive and test negative.
Another DIY Project
I noticed that the air blowing out of our furnace vents seems weak this year. Something needed to be done. Shouting, “To the net,” I did some research. The first thing I did was change the filter, which helped — that rascal was filthy. I then set a calendar reminder to check and change it every three months. Then I visited the crime scene for clues.
Our furnace is a Tempstar L9 unit horizontally mounted in the attic above the garage. I’ve been up there to deal with problems before so I’m comfortably familiar with it. It’s our original unit, so it’s almost sixteen years old. I’m embarrassed to admit, the blower hasn’t been cleaned since the capacitor failed ten years ago. I decided to do two things, based on research: clean the blower and increase its speed.
Both were easy, with the second part being easiest. The heating and cooling systems use the same blower and ducts (yeah, duh). But the wiring on my system can only specify that one of them has the higher blower setting, and that is the A/C. So I switched it so the heating has that setting for the winter. Before I started messing with the wires, I perused the manual’s wiring table and instructions and then photographed the original wire placement with my phone. I’ve learned to do that last anytime I’m dealing with switches and wires. It’s saved my butt a few times.
Now it’s all much improved. I’m once again grateful to the net and its helpful videos. Finishing, I set another calendar reminder for the summer, so I can go back up in there and switch over the wires for the air conditioning. Have a good one. Cheers
The Writing Math
I finished writing a novel today. It’s the first draft, so work will be required, but after that, you’ll be able to find it in a bookstore, library, computer, or in someone’s hand, pending editing, finding an agent or publisher, or self-publishing, and time.
It was fun work. Rewarding. I’m one of those pantsers, so I write a lot to learn a little. In my case, I wrote 200,000 words. I’ve already identified ten chapters for removal. See, besides being a pantser, I’m a wanderer as I write, rewriting, polishing, and editing as I explore the story. Still, more editing is needed for continuity, pacing, all those pesky grammar elements, and all the things that create a better novel.
Its total word count did surprise me. I knew it was a big book as I wrote it — come on, I’m in the forest, but I know how deep in the woods I am and can see all those trees around me. I was more surprised because I only actually put ass in seat in front of keyboard about two to two and a half hours per day. I started this thing about seven months ago, and time was taken off. for family emergencies, vacations, social obligations, and spousal duties. But seeing that final number prodded me to rush to a spreadsheet and do the numbers.
You can see, I didn’t write many words per day or hour. It’s amazing how much it adds up. Perseverance and persistence counts.
Now I need to pause, celebrate a little, and then begin executing the next phase. Cheers
Wednesday’s Wandering Thought
He always defends what he says by proclaiming that he’s just giving ‘the unvarnished truth’. But when others deliver the unvarnished truth to him, his defensiveness spikes to Mt. Everest levels.
Not a great surprise, as he lives in a very varnished bubble.
Solstice Theme Music
Happy gray, foggy, rainy Solstice! Yes, it is the Solstice, December 21, 2022, summer solstice down south, winter solstice in my realm and other northern latitudes. Our sunleak began at 7:36 this manana. The leak will be done sometime after 4:42 this abend. Our temp is now 40 F after enduring a low of 36. We’re gonna spring up to 46 before sinking back down to 36 F for the night.
Lovely Solstice weather but the weather doesn’t matter on Solstice. This is a day for renovating energy and dreams, for looking ahead to the light and celebrating. I might even go dancing in the rain. Depends upon how my bones feel once I get out there.
The cats have decided that they’re not going out much any longer, because it’s not very warm out there. They sometimes forget, go to the door and demand exit. But the greeting scene prompts them to vent an irritated noise, whirled back and retreat into the hourse. I feel better with them inside, so I’ve no complaints.
Spent time reading about Trump’s tax returns this morning. Was thinking about starting a business, selling nothing, and writing off losses. That sounds like genius. It also sounds illegal. My business would probably be discovered within a year, maybe two, and then I’d be written off as a con man. Then again, maybe I’d run for Congress, make some more grand claims, see where it takes me. It’s Solstice! A world of possibilities awaits.
For Solstice, Les Neurons began pumping “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham (from about thirty-eight of Earth’s trips around the sun) into the morning mental music stream. Sure, why not, you crazy neurons. I don’t know what they’re thinking, but I’m going with it. It’s a rousing song. Maybe it’ll wake me more fully up.
If the song won’t do it, maybe coffee can help. I’ll have some Solstice coffee, please. It’s the same French roast which I drink every day, with a little splash of Solstice dust. My wife also made almond tartlets for her exercise class’s holiday extravaganza, and designated two for my consumption. One awaits me. I think it’ll go swell with coffee. Confidence is high on that as I’ve had them with coffee before.
Let’s get this day started. Stay pos and test negative. Here’s the tune. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 