Category: coffee

Saturda’s Theme Music

Mood: Fogbound

Rolling out of bed and ambulating down the hall, I checked the windows where my eyes met a wall of fog. Inspiration seizing me, I reversed course and dropped my head back into its indentation on my pillow. A floof’s unending breakfast song forced a reassessment of my moment after an indeterminant amount of additional Zzzs. I rolled back out of my warm coccoon of sheets and blankets and gave it the old Ashlandia try once more.

This is Saturday. January 11. 2025.

Yarp, fog socks us in. 37 F, air stagnation advisory, high of 42 expected, sunshine is being offered if we can slip fog’s tenacious grasp. Then it might be a pretty day.

Or not. As the barista related to me yesterday morning, “I was on the phone with my room mate and she said, ‘Oh, it’s a pretty day. Think I’ll go outside and do something.’ Then, five minutes later, it was foggy and pouring rain.” Yep, and it didn’t stop until daylight no longer let us in on what was going on outside.

The state of fog has fog-themed music energizing The Neurons. But some of ’em were hooked on an earlier thought about breakfast. Shuffling around, The Neurons pulled up Breakfast in America. Released in 1979, the album gained a life in my music rotation. See, this was back in an era when I bought music albums. Through tech’s evolution, the media shifted. Vinyl, tape, CD, whatev, we hooked the album up with the appropriate device and played the album. By then, I was 23 and made enough money that I could drop $8 on a new album now and again. Put it in perspective, gasoline was less than a dollar a gallon and a cup of coffee was usually less than two. Also, phone service was waaaayyyy cheaper and we didn’t have the net. We in the U.S. had cable and paid less than ten a month for basic.

@humanoidhistory

The brave new world of cable TV, 1979. #tv #tx #cable #tech #cabletv #television #hstory #texas #dfw #dallas

♬ original sound – Humanoid History

So you’d take your new album home and play and listen to it while cleaning the house, washing and waxing the car, making and eating meals, and other activities. Happened with sufficient frequency that the songs came to be known in order. Every note and nuance was etched into The Neurons’ aural wetware. Today, they began playing the album for me in my morning mental music stream (Trademark droppy).

First song up is a guitar & keyboard-driven offering to Hollywood, “Gone Hollywood”. Supertramp wasn’t happy about the place at first. Complaints about life and Hollywood interspersed with moody sax playing. Real picker-up with lyrics like, “Ain’t nothing new in my life today. Ain’t nothing true, it’s all gone away.”

But the self-pity fades after the guitar solo and musical bridge. A more upbeat mood takes over. “I’m the talk of the boulevard. So keep your chin up boy, forget the pain, I know you’ll make it if you try again. There’s no use quitting when the world is waiting for you.”

Then there’s the rest of the album. Several hits on there. “The Logical Song.” “Goodbye Stranger.” “Take the Long Way Home.” Yeah, you might know those, if you’re of a certain age and musical preference, or if you drove around with the automobile’s music turned to pop stations in the 1980s.

The fog hasn’t let up but coffee and I made a pact, and it’s going to carry me through the trough of the day. Be good, be real. Here’s the music, and off we go, into the wild gray yonder.

Cheers

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Thursday’s Wandering Thoughts

My wife and I were talking about a study about coffee-drinking. The headline hook: “Limit coffee-drinking to this time window to lower early death risk, study suggests“

What prompted me to mention it to her was this line: “The researchers identified two patterns of timing of consumption: morning and all day.”

I’m a morning and early afternoon drinker, for the record. But she told me that she mentioned it to her coffee group yesterday. All her age or older, they’re intelligent people with good recall skills. As a group, they came up with all the other things we’ve been warned about over the years, only to have them roll over and say, “Wait, our bad. New data is in.”

So, you know, we take this study and its revelation with a little reservation. And maybe a cuppa coffee.

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Mood: Sobersunnyreflectin’

Welcome to Thursday, Jan 9, 2025. We started out with the weather duplicating yesterday’s Ashlandia presentation. Sunshine lit up the bare trees, highlighting some frost, conveying a late fall scene. Walking through the house, I was thinking about how nice it was to experience early morning sunshine again. Temperature was 43 F, etc. But within an hour, fog was stealing the sun away from us and hiding out the blue sky. I thought, man, what kind of game is nature playing with us?

That thought triggered The Neurons. Within a few sips of java, The Neurons had Queen performing “Play the Game” in the morning mental music stream (Trademark late). Released in 1980, I remember listening to this song for the first time with two cousins in San Antonio. Both younger than me, both are deceased. One, a slender blonde guy, from a heart attack without warning at 43. The other, a slender dark-hair person who sparkled with wit and kindness, from cancer at 64. Sobering morning thoughts.

On the heels of those sobering thoughts were worries about the folks of southern California. Being in the Pacific Northwest, many who live in this town have California connections. Friends and family live down there. They work down there as musicians, nurses, doctors, teachers, and professors. So worry over the California fire scene is rampant up here.

The fog has lifted again up here. It still swirls around down in the lower elevations. It’s always interesting to go a mile into, traveling down a thousand feet in elevation to see how different the weather is.

I forgot to mention that I received the Christmas cards my parents had mailed me from San Antonio, Texas, and Pittsburgh, PA. The cards came in the Jan. 6 mail delivery. That DeJoy has really done wonders for the US Postal Service.

Coffee and I have struck a bargaining agreement. On my end, I’ll heat the water and put the ingredients together. On their part, the coffee will navigate my body and boost my energy. Here we go, on into 2025. Enjoy the music. Cheers

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Foggyday’s Theme Music

Mood: newsfogged

The fog has been another move on us, taking it to eleven. Can barely see the houses on the other side of the street. What can be seen is smeared as the fog acts like petroleum jelly on a phone lens.

Ayep, this is Twosda, Jan. 7, 2024. 38 F outside with fog and rain, and going up to 46 F. Stagnant air warning in effect, rain expected. Man, t’is nothing when you look at the storm hitting a huge part of North America. Snow and ice are having their way with many U.S. states. Flights are being cancelled, snow is accumulating, traffic is a mess as snow plows and police cars get stuck in some places. A state of emergency has been called in parts of at least seven states. Good to have a president in President Joe Biden who knows how to react to these situations. At least for a little while longer. After 1/20, prepare for a blizzard of bullshit, regardless of what’s going on.

Don’t think ’bout going to Canada to escape it, neither, as blizzards were ruling up there as well.

Meanwhile, a friend in Alaska reports, “Another major melt combined with high winds and rain. In January. Which is normally our coldest month.” Their temp was 40 F although it felt like 24.

Saw a headline: “Meta ending its fact-checking program”. Like users weren’t aware that they checked out of fact-checking months ago. Then came more: “Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday said the social media company is ending its fact-checking program and replacing it with a community-driven system similar to that of Elon Musk’s X.” My brain went, hahahahahahahahahahaahahah. Then it added, hahahahahaha. Well, they’re fooling someone with that proclamation. I suspect those being fooled are either low-information individuals – LOIs – or right-wingers who declare up is down because that’s what PINO-elect Trump tells ’em.

I’m off Facebook for the most part. Check on friendlies around the world on it. Don’t share nor post. I only issue emojis for certain folks and their situations. I don’t use Instagram, or Threads. I’ve shifted to Blue Sky and Mastodon for texting and most of my social media thrills.

But to say that Meta is moving to something similar to X. Wow. X, where Elon Musk lies and threatens and then asks for everyone to be more positivie in their posts. Man, that’s downright capital P Pathetic.

Today’s music came from the car radio. It seems like every time I got in the car in the last week, this song was played. I’d drive to library and it would immediately come on. Return home twenty minutes later — a six minute drive at 25 per — and they play it again. It’s like, how many times will they play this in one day? Like they’re watching me and announcing, “Okay, he’s in the car, go, go, play, play “Too Sweet” now!

Yes, the song is “Too Sweet” by Hozier from just last year. After hearing it so often, I think The Neurons got hozierfied. Cuz now I’m walking around the house with the tune in the morning mental music stream (Trademark fogged in):

I think I’ll take my whiskey neat
My coffee black and my bed at 3
You’re too sweet for me
You’re too sweet for me
I take my whiskеy neat
My coffee black and my bed at 3
You’re too sweet for mе
You’re too sweet for me

h/t to Genius.com

Many people — especially those of an older gen. — will call this an earworm. I call it a brainworm. I believe this is one of those instances where I must share the song with others in order to release from my head.

Coffee and I had a kitchen counter summit. Terms were agreed for the day. Here’s the music. Into the fog I go. Cheers

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Fogda’s Theme Music

Mood: brandnufogncoffee

We’ve slipped into foggy bottom or foggy bottom slipped over us. Fogda, Jan. 6, 2025. 40 degrees F, sunshine has taken some time away, apparently, giving us over to clouds and rain. 56 F is the projected high. An air stagnation advisory has been slapped on us.

Yesterday turned into fine, sunshiny day. Of course, we were slightly out of town for most of the afternoon, and in a slighter higher elevation, visiting our friends for a party. Good cast of characters, and the house is beautiful. The owner joked that it was a two-bedroom five two hundred square foot home with five fireplaces. Main house had a beautiful small living room and a large living room which used to be the original owner’s home movie theater. That was a natural for that original owner as he owned a chain of movie theaters. Finances crashed and he quit using the house during COVID. The owner related that everything had quit working and they needed to repair and replace multiple things when they bought the home. But they did the job and it showed. There’s also a .5 acre fishing pond, heated pool, a separate artist studio, two-bedroom guest house with a two-car garage, and an RV parking garage with space for three RVs, which cracks up the current owner. “Definitely something we don’t need,” he said. It’s about eight minutes out of Ashlandia. A hallway off the foyer has his and hers coat closets, along with a guest closet.

Papi continues losing fur at a startling rate. He’s not going bald or anything; fur keeps growing in to replace it. We don’t know what’s going on. His appetite is good, he’s as perky and conversant as ever, and he looks good. We keep thinking, must be the weather, but he’s never done this before. We eye him for signs of things going amiss. If it’s there, we’re missing it.

Today’s song was born out of texts swapped between Mom, me, and a sis in the Pittsburgh, PA, region. They had snow coming down, impeding traffic, limiting outdoor options. The Neurons took the opportunity to start “Snow (Hey Oh)” by Red Hot Chili Peppers in the morning mental music stream (Trademark blizzard). The 2005 song is about getting a fresh start. Hey, it’s kinda still a new year, new month, new day, and a new government administration in the U.S. Okay, I kind of choked on that last one. I’ve always enjoyed this hard rocker. Easy to follow and sing along. And hey, it’s also about surviving, so there we go.

Be chill and don’t thrill. Coffee and I ran into each in the kitchen and swapped some spit. Hey ho, listen to what I say yo, it’s a fresh new day. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Grenday’s Theme Music

Mood: Coffeerockin

Good morning to you on this Grenday, January 5, 2025. It’s a foggy-cloudy-sunny-raining day out there. Eastern sunshine is narrowly prevailing, giving us a grey Sunday, or Grenday. Currently, we’re sitting at 42 F in our valley with a high of 51 F possible. All this is an improvement over yesterday. It saw us have a few minutes of sunshine. Hours of subsequent cold rain turned it into a gloomfest.

So today is better! Not better than places which are warm and sunshiny, but better than places smothered in ice and snow, wrecked with winds and burdened by freezing temperatures. Yes, definitely better than them.

A bright spot is that snow has accumulated in the mountains in southern Oregon. Our snowpack is at 164% of normal. That’s good news for the summer, as we depend on that slow melting ice to keep our cisterns, reservoirs, streams, and rivers filled during the long hot months when rain is rarely experienced. And it’s good to have the ground soaked again against another drought striking up. The wet ground and vegetation is a significant buffer against wildfires starting and spreading. So, it’s all good news, as long as it can be sustained for another month. That puts me at a point of grimacing agains the rain and mildly chilly temperatures with its gloom, and cheering for it for what it brings us.

Today’s song is an upbeat one. Last time — only time — that I shared it on here was when the lovely Quinn was diagnosed with lymphoma and living out his final month. Such a sweetheart, but that’s how life treats us all, regardless of how we live or our merits and debits. Unlike then, the cats are not to blame for the song’s morning mental music stream (Trademark spinning) residency. Jimmy Eat World came out with “The Middle” in 2001. Written when the band had been dropped by their first record company, it’s an upbeat rocker with some affirming lyrics.

Hey
Don’t write yourself off yet
It’s only in your head you feel left out or looked down on
Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don’t you worry what they tell themselves when you’re away

It just takes some time
Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be alright, alright

h/t to Songfacts.com

Today, the song emerged after I witnessed the clouds moving out, letting the sunshine wax bright.

Coffee and I have achieved cofftente. It’s kind of like detente but it’s not. Here’s the music. Hope an awesome day carries you through to tomorrow. Cheers

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Satrda’s Theme Music

Mood: Sleepsatisfied

It’s the fourth day of the year, Jan 4, 2025. Satrda. 38 degrees F. Cloudy. Blue sky has been banished. The meek, subservient sun does little to warm and light us. We’re prepped for another day of rain with a high of 48 F. But, corresponding with my sister in Plum, PA, it’s not bad. They received a few issues of snow yesterday and then dealt with a snow squall. Monday is forecasted to be a heavy and cold snowy day for her. She’s worrying about patients canceling and travel issues. So, rainy and gloomy will suffice.

Today’s music is “Green Tambourine” by the Lemon Pipers. Came out in 1968. I was twelve. The song became a hit and was rotated on all the regular pop stations heard on transistor radios and car radios. With all that exposure, I remember it well. Don’t know why it’s in my morning mental music stream (Trademark old). I slept heavily last night after feeling pretty gloomy yesterday evening. Didn’t have any cat visitations that I know of. No wind or wife disrupted my Zzzs. No need for visiting the bathroom during the night, and nothing amiss with my foot and ankle broke into my sleep. Only one dream floats around my noggin, and tambourines aren’t featured. The song just rose up as I went about opening blinds on another dull day, feeding cats, and making breakfast and coffee.

I enjoyed this video. Such a black and white throwback, including a sexist commercial for ‘Neet’ hair removal cream. Look how young Dick Clark appears. Check out the clothes and dancing. Trippy.

Coffee and I are doing our daily two-step. Hope your weather and fates are kind to you wherever you are. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Tursda’s Teme Music

Mood: Yawninspired

It’s a nice day for a white sky, Billy Idol might have sung for today. A flat white sheet mottled by gentle grey moguls hangs loose across our valley. A little blue slips in from the far western edge on my field of sight. Sunshine chips through where it can, coming in with a fair facsimile of light. 46 F, windy, it rained last night. Might rain today. Might achieve a 51 F high.

This is Tursda, January 2, 2025.

Many are not aware that January has an interesting populist origin to its name. The first part of the year in the nothern hemisphere was often dark, cold, and quiet except for storms. Outside wasn’t a hospitable place. Inside caves, huts, and other primitive dwellings, not much was going on, either, as a lack of light, Internet, and decent heating kept folks huddling. Those first months became known as Jawnsuary. That j was actually a y; the period was Yawnsuary because they were so dull and boring. Later, the first month of the year became known as January to appease the god, Janus. Winter festivities were promoted to lift people’s spirits and change their attitudes. Religious leaders told people, “The cold, darkness, and suffering is good. It helps you appreciate the light and warmth that comes later. Snow is good. Look at all that you can do with snow. Have a drink, you’ll come around.” High priests built the first snow churches, snow men, and snowballs. Religious leaders led the way in going outside to have fun in the snow. That’s why religious leadership often wore heavy black, red, or blue robes. To stay warm outside, and to be visible in the snow. That’s a fact, jack.

Today’s music started last night when I, reading some news reports, dubbed some people as crazy. I know, it’s not nice, and often maligns people with genuine mental health and emotional issues by lumping those who are deliberately delusional, greedy, evil, and corrupt in with them, such as certain right-wing leaders. Anyway, catching a sniff of those thoughts, The Neurons came up with Gnarls Barkley and their offering, which is just called, “Crazy”. It’s playing now in the morning mental music stream (Trademark impaired). This song is not to be confused with the song, “Crazy”, covered by Patsy Cline, and written by Willy Nelson. They do have things in common in their lyrics, like believing something which is a delusion. I’ll include them both so you can compare the two different but impactful songs.

Stay groovey and be hip. Coffee and I have renewed our vows for 2025. Here’s the music. Let’s go get ’em. Cheers

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Wezda’s Theme Music

Mood: Firstdayfever

It’s a day of firsts. First day of bloated rain drops clunking down on us. First day of gray fog tongue lapping around everything, licking up the sunshine. First day that it’s 38 degrees F with light rain and a high of 46 F on the afternoon’s horizon. First day of Butter Butt (aka Papi the ginger blade) whining for freedom and first day of Tucker (pronounced Tuck-ah) begging to see what I’m eating. Yes, it’s Jan. 1, 2024. A new year.

Today’s music was heard in the car yesterday. Hooking a few loose Neurons with its vocals, they began whispering and humming it throughout the evening. By this morning, they’d swayed other Neurons into joining them. Now they’re all singing it together in the morning mental music stream (Trademark first).

I knew little of the song or the performer. Looked both up when I came home yesterday. The song, “Lose Control”, was released by Teddy Swims in 2023. June. It peaked at number 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 in March of 2024. News to me; it was relatively fresh to my ears but my wife knew it. Guess I wasn’t tuning into the right stations. I’d not heard much of Swims and the net tells me that he didn’t get much recognition until this song made it. Well, I’m happy he’s achieved success with it. Hope you enjoy.

Continuing my day of firsts, I must finish my first cuppa coffee, take my first shower, do my first shave and my first exercises. We’re not really ones for celebrating a new year. The shadows cast from 2024 shave our hopes for the new one. Today’s festivities won’t be about welcoming 2025. We’re instead taking an ice cream cake to a friend’s house to celebrate her birthday. I will echo what a friend passed on to me: courage.

Cheers

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Twosda’s Theme Music

Mood: Coffeemollified

This is it, 2024’s final day. Twosday, December 31. Seems ordinary in every way when I just look out the window.

Winter has descended. Our temperature is muscling to 30 F. The high will be 42 F. Sun shimmers through fog’s pearly teeth. Frost crisps grass blades into white shoestrings. No snow or rain falling. While walking in late afternoon yesterday, though, I looked across the valley. A fog line huddled against the mountains at about three thousand feet. Above the fog, a snowy mountain ridge turned apricot by the setting sun stood sentry. Now that, I thought, looks cold.

My Neurons took to quizzing me as I took care of brekkie duties, asking me who starred in different televsion shows and movies. Yes, I agree, it’s an odd thing to be doing. Then they pivoted, “Okay, who sang the ‘Friends’ theme music?” Easy peasy, the Rembrandts, right? “Now name the Supreme Court Justices, smart guy,” The Neurons returned. Before coffee? I protested. That’s hardly fair.

Today’s music was brought in by The Neurons when my wife and I were driving home from a shopping expedition yesterday. The radio played Luke Combs’s version of Tracy Chapman’s song, “Fast Car”. My wife commented that it revitalized her sales, especially after the Grammies, when Combs and Chapman performed the song together. We then talked about how good her first album was. That resulted in The Neurons installing another song from the album, “For My Lover”, in the morning mental music stream (Trademark tariff protected).

Coffee is now approaching The Neurons with a peace offering. Yes, it’s caffeine. Usually sufficiently mollifies The Neurons into being more companionable. Hope your final day of 2024 is memorable for you in good ways. Here’s the music. Cheers

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