Arborvifloof (floofinition) – Plants that attract animals or that animals enjoy.
In use: “Many people discover that Christmas trees erected in their house are an arborvifloof as pets gather around them, sniff them, and often attack it.”
Ziggy Starfloof
Ziggy Starfloof (floofinition) – Flooftional character created by David Floowie, a Flooflish singer, songwriter, actor, and musician. David Floowie used Ziggy Starfloof, an androgynous, bi-sexual rock star being from another planet in his stage act as an alter ego in 1972-73, and as the basis for an album concept and documentary.
In use: “David Floowie released his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Starfloof and the Spiders from Mars in 1972; the album is considered to be one of the greatest flock evidence in pop history.”
Korea & IBM Dream
My old buddy, Randy, was a dream guest last night. He passed away in 2016 from colon cancer so seeing him was a surprise.
The dream started with an IBM conference. I worked for IBM and sometimes dream of them. In this instance, I was at an annual meeting. A product announcement was made. IBM’s stock price jumped a dozen dollars. We were all happy, looking forward to the future. Then, hours later, it was back down to where it had been, $77 a share. I saw that in red on my phone and told everyone, “That’s what always happened.” That started a thinking process for me: maybe I should be shorting IBM. I continue thinking about that during the dream.
Meanwhile, we needed to go to another location to meet and eat. We were taking our cars. Mine was a dark blue Audi S7. I was so pleased to have it in the dream. An older woman had a dark blue car as well. She had a window cut out. A note written in black marker on an orange piece of paper was by the hole, along with a cup. The note said that she would appreciate donations for tolls.
We all took off driving. The woman left first. I was third in line. I knew the road. Realizing we were coming up to a corner that would be slick with ice where it’d be easy to spin out of control, I slowed down. Others passed me.
One of those cars crashed. Coming up on the scene, the other driver was laying in the ice and sludge, alive but injured. I stopped my car, put on my emergency blinkers, and jumped out to help him. Other cars were coming. Hurrying out to meet them, I used hand signals to warn them to stop, then I went back and helped the other person.
We reached the hotel restaurant. I realized we were in Korea. I saw Randy across the room. He looked just as he did the last time that I saw him. I called out, but he kept going. My co-workers and I got in line to order food. I was second in line behind someone whose order was being filled. For some reason, though, the servers ignored me and started taking others’ orders. That enraged me. I started to make a comment but the manager realized what was happening and had someone hasten over to take my order. I didn’t know what to order though. I eventually asked them for a food that I didn’t know. I thought it was potatoes but they told me no, it isn’t potatoes. They asked me if I wanted sauce and different things added. Since I had no idea what anything was, I told them, yes to everything.
Taking my food on a red tray, I went to find a table and saw Randy again. This time he saw me and came over to chat. I invited him to join my group and introduced him to a couple people. Reaching the table, I realized it was broken. Setting my tray off to one side, I turned the table upside down. The legs had come lose. The screws were there, so I said, “Screw it, I’m going to fix this.” After re-attaching the table legs and tightening the screws, I turned the table over.
We all put out food on the table and sat down to eat. That’s where it ended.
Wednesday’s Theme Music
Today is Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Sunset was at 7:14 AM. Sunset will be about 5:37 PM. Nice having that increased daylight. Winter’s worse aspect for me is that late sunrise and early sunset. Those effects are pronounced on this side of the mountain, where mountain narrows sunshine’s impact. The temperature is up to 34 degrees today with the high of fifty-five coming later today.
Randy was in my dreams last night. I’ve written about him before. A year older than me, he worked for me at my last military assignment. After he retired, he became a successful businessman. Colon cancer cut that career short when he was sixty.
He and I had a lot of fun together. Randy was a big Boston and Van Halen fan. I think he leaned toward Van Halen by a few degrees, probably because Van Halen had a larger body of work than Boston, but it was only by degrees. Anyway, I decided to go with one of his absolute favorites, “You Really Got Me”. Lord, what do you think of that attire? Definitely part of the big-hair rock era, innit?
Stay positive and test negative. Wear a mask and get vaccinated. Here’s the sound.
Gesfloofulate
Gesfloofulate (floofinition) – An animal’s use of dramatic gestures instead of making sounds to make a point.
In use: “Dogs and cats often gesfloofulate with their tails, with one wagging it to display happiness and the other one holding it high and straight when happy.”
Tuesday’s Theme Music
Sunrise was at 7:15 AM on this mildly winter Tuesday. Sunset will come at 5:36 PM in Ashland, Oregon. The temperature has already climbed to 37 degrees F and a high of 55 is anticipated.
Today is February 9, 2021. COVID-19 cases continue to drop in our county. Yesterday, we had only eight. Deaths are scaling back, too, with no new ones reported yesterday. Jackson Country remains in the extreme category, though. People walking along the streets often don’t have masks outside of downtown. Everyone in a store is masked. I haven’t been to a restaurant or other business, so I can’t address them. Vaccinations for those eighty and over begin this week.
I was thinking of 1991 this morning, collateral product to dream reflecting. February of that year, I arrived in my new duty station at Onizuka Air Station in Sunnyvale. I didn’t know that it would be my last duty assignment, that I would decide to retire after a few years. I’d been part of a spy unit in Germany in my previous tour; when the Berlin Wall came down, the mission went away, and the unit was decommissioned. I volunteered to go to the Gulf for that buildup but was denied. I instead rotated back to the states.
Hitting the Bay Area and the United States were new experiences, again. I don’t recall specific music when I arrived in the Bay Area. I remember that it was pouring rain, an end to a drought. Onizuka was a few acres dominated by the Blue Cube in the middle of sprawling aerospace company facilities. I’d gone from working with C-130s to working with satellites. In Onizuka, there was no flight line, a first for my military career; all the platforms I worked with were thousands of miles away in space. There would be no more daily roar of aircraft taking off.
Anyway, I looked up some songs from 1991 as I thought about it. “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak jumped out at me. No special reason; it’s just a reflective song for a reflective moment.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask, get vaccinated, and look forward. Other times are coming. The one constant is change.
Floofpiece
Floofpiece (floofinition) – One who speaks for animals.
In use: “He began by feeding stray dogs and providing them shelter and fresh water. Soon, he’d moved on to to becoming a floofpiece, advocating chipping pets so they can be found again, heightening awareness about abandoning animals or leaving them in the cold, and creating social media posts to unite lost animals with their people.”
Otis Floofing
Otis Floofing (floofinition) – Floofmerican singer/songwriter respected as one of the greatest Floofmerican floop singers. Inspired by Gospel music, Otis Floofing influenced many artists who came later.
In use: “Passing when he was but twenty-six, Otis Floofing’s first and only mainstream number one single, “Sitting on the Kitchen Table”, was released after his death in a plane crash.”
