Thirstdaz Theme Music

Through the fog creeps Thirstda, November 11, 2025. 52/57/48 are the numbers for the day: present, high, low. It’s a remarkably narrow range, with fog and clouds gaining the lower hand over the sun’s position as an influencer.

Mom continues to improve and impress, according to sis. Had her first PT session today and did great! Wife, on the other hand, is not doing well, in her words. Not surprising for me. She and stress aren’t good friends. Her anxiety climbs and she becomes physically challenged with a great deal of pain. She’s working through her protocols to cope. As for me, other than physical limitations and restricted diet, I feel fab. Didn’t do much yesterday except nibble on crackers and binge on a series called “Suspicions” with short naps. Found I wasn’t comfortable sitting at the desk, as that strained my abs, so the planned typing didn’t come about. Tried other places and positions but all felt wrong and I didn’t have enough to push through. Part of this is because my wife gave a steady stream of reminders not to do too much. I didn’t want to add to her stress, so I backed off.

I also ate too many crackers, I think. I had some vegan, gluten-free vegetarian broth. No flavor, at all. Really disappointing, so I went back to the crackers. We had picked up some TJ’s garlic-flavored naan crackers, water wafers, and something from Costco, potato crackers seasoned with seaweed. I didn’t think much of the water wafers, but my taste buds highly rated the other two.

Plans today are to catch up on writing, reading, and blogging. I finished reading my last two books, both fiction on my travels. Gravity’s Rainbow is available at long last. Yes, I confess, I haven’t read the classic. Found it in the library system and put it on hold back in July. I began reading a terrific (so far) historical fiction book by Amy Stewart called Woman Waits with Gun. Ironically, I’d purchased it at Half-Priced Books in Monroeville on the 2023 visit to attend my nephew’s marriage in Pittsburgh. I know this because the receipt was inside. It sat in the TBR stack by the bed until I came back from Pittsburgh. I’d just finished a romantasy and a crime thriller and needed a read, and ‘lo, there it was.

Over on streaming land, we are into the latest season of “Slow Horses” and “Down Cemetery Road” and are ready to begin “King and Conqueror” and the latest season of “Diplomat”. This is augmented by “The Graham Norton Show” and rewatching “Would I Lie to You”. I cut the last short because laughing and coughing really rile my incisions.

Today’s music is out of dreamland again. The Neurons, looking over my shoulder as I reviewed my strange and amusing dream, came up with “Rocket” by the Smashing Pumpkins, in the morning mental music stream. That was sort of funny on their part, as I’d been dreaming about being on a spaceship. I’ve gone through this before, dreaming of being traveling in space, then awakening to bafflement about where I am.

Another of my dreams was very short. This was about kittens gamboling on me, mewing until I got up to feed them. I thought there were two kittens but when I put out the food, four more appeared with sharp cries, “Me, too!” I rhetorically responded, “How many kittens do we have,” as one more little grey fluff of floof waddled in. That was all the dream offered.

I’ve been looking at news but don’t have many thoughts on it at this point. Trump is being Trump, as far as I can tell, with all the mendacity, greed, and arrogance that implies.

Hope peace and grace find their way out of the fog to you. My body is suggesting it’s time to lay down again. Think I’ll do as it says. Cheers

Twozdaz Theme Music

Twozda, November 4, 2025, has pounced on us like a kitten hunting a leaf. 51 F in Ashlandia, rain clouds hide the sun. Rain is expected to visit off and on throughout the day. More leaves are surrendering to time, filling the ground with fading, decaying colors.

Mom continues to be lively back in Pennsylvania, according to sis. Which is thought by all of us to be good. Thought I’d share this photo of her from her 90th birthday. Yes, that’s a kitchen knife in her hand.

Mom, 90 birthday celebration, October, 2025

Today’s music is owed to a dream. This was one of those long, movie-like dreams my mind spins to entertain me while I slip. In this one, I was part of a group of young people. We’d found some books, then realized there was significance to the books, and then, ‘lo, a book was missing. We knew who collected the books, so we thought we’d recreate the journey he took to collect the books. Maybe that would reveal the missing book. We were traveling by train and car mostly, and yes, the travel took us behind the old ‘Iron Curtain’ into previous nations controlled by the Soviet Union. There was romance and comedy along with suspense. It reminded me of the 1980s Dabney Coleman film, Cloak & Dagger.

Anyway, my amused reflection of the dream triggered The Neurons into offering songs about spies in the morning mental music stream. After considering different music, The Neurons concluded that Carly Simon and “Nobody Does It Better” is the best choice.

Dick Cheney died. I was surprised. Thought he’d died in the 1990s. I knew he’d been re-animated to be Veep under Dubya, but I thought that spell wore off once he was removed from office. He was only 84, which also surprised me because he often seemed very old. The tributes will pour in for him. They’ll gloss over what he did to help forge a path to our current mess and speak of his service to the nation. Few will mention how extremely wealthy and powerful he became as part of that service. He did speak out against Trump in the 2024 elections and endorsed Kamela Harris. Just noting that.

Speaking of Trump, the Trump created Epstein Government Shutdown of 2025 rolls on. As someone else predicted, Trump became TACO and yielded somewhat on SNAP. Judges ruled that he must pay it but I think it’s most likely he’s doing it due to voters turning against MAGA politicians who worried about losing their seats, which might lead to the House flipping in 2026. Like others, I think Stephen Miller strongly influences Trump, and that having people die from starvation, even if in red states, is okay with the Regime. Death from starvation will make people more desperate and pliable, is their reasoning. That reasoning then goes, those folks will be willing to work for lower wages and can probably be pressed into service doing jobs that migrant workers used to do. Yes, the Trump Regime is trying to create a class of low-wage slave labor, like we had in ‘the good old days’, and thus help ‘make Amurica great again’. Sickening. Bet Epstein is smirking down on Trump, or up on him, depending on your thoughts about the afterlife.

Breaking News:

Trump Says He’ll Defy Court Order And Won’t Give Out SNAP Benefits

In a Truth Social post, Trump said Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits “will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

There’s the TACO we know! Breaking the law, breaking the law. Not taking responsibility. Blaming someone else, as he always does. And screwing We the People.

Analysis I’ve read said that not paying SNAP will disproportionately affect his beloved MAGA base. Of course, in Trump’s altered reality, SNAP recipients are all scammers, people illegally in the United States, or people on drugs. The Trump Regime dismisses the idea that income-challenged families and individuals, the disabled, and children depend on SNAP. That administration is deliberately, maliciously, and dangerously warped.

Off I go. Hope grace and peace spring out from their hiding places and embrace us all. Till then, I’ll coffee up. Cheers

Who We Are

I awoke with these words in mind, after a dream about robots and yardwork.

There’s a time for everything in this life

A time for living

A time for dying

A time for being

And one for seeing

A time for hearing

A time for bearing

A time for song

A time for bong

And for some, a time for pong

A time to be rich

A time to fade away

A time to laugh, love, live,

A time to run away

A time to come up

And a time to go down

A time for expression

A time to act like a clown

A time for understanding

And a time for listening

And a time for speaking

A time to stand up

And a time to sit down

A time to eat, sleep, and breathe

And a time to stop it all

And sit like dirt in the ground

And fly like dust on the air

And lift yourself out to go somewhere

To live and breathe along the stars

And at last discover

Who we are.

Satyrdaz Theme Music

Suddenly, it’s November — again! Yep, we’ve leaped onto Satyrda, November 1, 2025 in Ashlandia, where the temperature is 52 and sunshine is singing praises to blue skies. The thermometer is expected to hop up to 68 F in our area.

Seems like it was just last year when it was November and we were voting on the nation’s future in the United States. The scandal-plagued, greed monger formally known as Trump, more informally known as TACO – Trump Always Chickening Out — won the 2024 election, to the joy of racists, white supremacists, and reactionaries everywhere. The rest of us were less sanguine about it. Now, just a year after that election, the Federal government is grinding to a halt. Under Trump, the government has been shut down for a third time, and Republicans, ‘led’ by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Hell), are refusing to work. Air traffic control and the military are working on promises to be paid, along with TSA. No worries, they’re just the backbone of safety and security. Thanks to DOGE, multiple agencies which helped farmers and families are struggling to function. Trump has stripped funding away from activities and canceled projects regardless of Congressional approval. Congress, remember, are our delegates, voted into office to work for We the People as our servants, just as Trump is supposed to be our servant.

What a servant. Stealing from us. Wrecking the White House. Trying to rewrite history and wipe out our heritage. Arbitrarily deciding what is a crime and who is a criminal, a total 180 of what is supposed to be ‘the American Way’. Taking bribes. Killing in the name of peace. Hounding and persecuting political enemies without evidence, trying to trump up charges that will stick. Dismissing real and meaningful work in the Department of Justice. He’s fired almost all of the Inspector Generals, who were there to investigate the government’s functions to ensure everything was being done legally. A general sense of disarray circles around D.C. It’s like a storm system building toward a hurricane. Distrust of Trump is growing. Disapproval is increasing as the fog thickens about what Trump is doing and how much is legal. Disapproval is rising as citizens and their families starve, employment falls off, inflation grows, and Trump goes golfing.

We still don’t know what it says in the Epstein Files against Trump. Maybe the Andrew formerly known as a prince can illuminate those things for us. I’d love to see that smirk chased off of Trump’s face.

Just a reminder to Trump, the Heritage Foundation and their Project 2025 wet dream, and MAGAland. We the People said No Kings in 1776. We the People said no to fascists in the last world war. We meant it both times. We the People still mean it.

My dreams featured hills, so The Neurons plugged a familiar song about hills in the morning mental music stream. Mind you, one major dream also featured food. People were plying me with sandwiches and desserts wherever I went, doing so as a way of thanks for stepping up and helping them. The food was so delicious and fresh! Kind of amused me in the dream, as I was just a dog with a bone, organizing things because that’s what was needed and that’s my strength. For a time, Der Neurons did consider songs like”Mean Mister Mustard” and “Long Tall Glasses” in the morning mental music stream. But ultimately, they went with “Over the Hills and Far Away” by Led Zeppelin.

We really need more peace and grace in this world. It’s a struggle to get it with Trump and his agents of chaos and destruction. May peace and grace emerge and grow and spread soon. Till then, be strong. Cheers

Fridaz Theme Music

Good morning, Earthlings. Frida has slipped through the cracks of reality to reach us again. It’s October’s last day for 2025. 49 F, we expect to top out at 62 F. Fog is cozying up around us. Our golden-leafed trees stand out like bright lanterns.

We reached home this morning at 1 AM, this time zone. We turned up the hot water heater and unpacked. My wife then took a hot bath. The two of us were in bed by 3 AM. Travel was great, both going and coming. All flights on schedule, everything on the aircraft worked for us, and the seats were awesomely comfortable. Major shoutout to the unpaid air traffic controllers and TSA who kept it all going. Another shout out to Delta. Special mentions go to the anonymous, friendly but professional and courteous young Pittsburgh TSA agent and our Pittsburgh to Salt Lake City Delta flight attendant.

My gallbladder played nice during the travels and visit. Just finished with the pre-op nurse about what to do before my surgery on Tuesday. Must call Dad today. His birthday was yesterday but I didn’t wish to call him while traveling. He was aware of that, as we’d spoken the week before.

Sister interviewed another realtor to sell Mom’s house yesterday. Also picked up Mom’s prescriptions from Sam’s Club. While there, she told the rep about Frank. He was known there and wherever Frank was known, he was enjoyed and appreciated for being friendly, easy-going, and happy. Sis updated all the records. She reports that Mom had a good day yesterday. Was very sharp. Managed to call the bank and curtail the automatic Verizon payment that was vexing us. Of course, being mentally sharp meant she was also challenging about who was in charge. Mom and sis have a contentious relationship. Dueling pistols across the room aren’t yet ruled out.

I dreamed last night that I was looking up into a yellow sky. Swirling clouds gathered and came to me like cats expecting a treat. Craning my head back and gazing into the clouds, I heard a voice tell me that the yellow sky would give me power. In honor of that, The Neurons had to come up with a song featuring yellow. Three jumped into the morning mental music stream: “Yellow” by Coldplay, a Beatles offering called “Yellow Submarine”, and that one about tying a yellow ribbon on a tree by Tony Orlando and Dawn. I mocked their efforts. They responded with “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan. That’ll play, I decided.

Our shuttle driver last night brought us up to date on the Ashland weather and major events on our ride home. She talked about the unseasonably wet but warm October we had. She added, “But let’s not talk about climate change, right? Don’t want a goon squad ambushing us for saying something the White House idiot doesn’t like.” ‘Bout sums up Trump’s second term, doesn’t it?

We’re on, what day gazillion and ten of Trump’s Epstein Shutdown of 2025. Democrats are trying to address issues and concerns. Speaker Johnson (R-Hell) refuses to, basically mocking We the People by asking, “What’s the point?” It’s all or nothing for them. Meanwhile, maybe from getting antsy over becoming unpopular, Trump suggested that Republicans nix the filibuster and just move ahead on their own. You know, ignore over half of the nation. Do what they want and move further toward an authoritarian one-party rule. Republicans quickly pushed back against that…for now. But TACO will probably start pulling out the blackmail stuff he has on them. Then they’ll suddenly be all for it. Just as we saw Senator Hawley crow about one thing in op-ed pieces and then turn around and do the crap that he just warned against doing because Trump wanted it. Just as we’ve seen so many in the past flip from calling Trump unworthy of being office to singing his praises. Guys like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Lindsay Graham. Let’s not overlook Veep JD Vance, who compared Trump to Hitler.

Remember this gem revealed by PBS News in Mitch McConnell’s book?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell said after the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump was “stupid as well as being ill-tempered,” a “despicable human being” and a “narcissist,” according to excerpts from a new biography of the Senate Republican leader that will be released this month.

Stupid. Ill-tempered. Despicable. Narcissist. That’s just the exposed part of Trump. Like an iceberg, there’s much, much, much GRRRRR-inspiring stuff about Trump under the surface. That’s why we still want all of the Epstein Files brought out. We want to see what that Smirker-in-Chief was doing with his buddy, Jeffrey Epstein.

Here’s a little floof humor for your October 31 amusement. Papi heard me play this and hurried in, looking around with that suspicious, ‘what’s-going-on’ gaze that floofs sometimes sport.

Hope peace and grace climb free of wherever they’re hunkered down and reprise their impact on our life. Till then, stay strong. Cheers

Fridaz Theme Music

Frida in Monroeville, PA, a Pittsburgh suburb arrives as a near duplicate of our Ashlandia weather. 49 F now, we expect a mid 50s high.

We had successful and straightforward travel. All went as if designed with us in mind. Cool. But, the hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, is another matter. That’s for another post, I think.

Inflation picked up. Not as much as expected. An Economist article included the idea put forward by many economists that companies are sucking up tariffs for the short term. Their reasoning was that Trump was inconsistent, rolling out tariffs, then pulling them back. Also, companies and countries had found some temporary workarounds. The workarounds are ending as the tariff picture sharpens in focus. They expect it to get worse.

Alongside that, Trump announced he’s no longer negotiating with Canada over tariffs. As befits a person of little understanding of negotiating, tariffs, and history, Trump is whining about ads which Canada had in which Saint Ronnie badmouthed tariffs. Trump, of course, cried, “Fake new!” Naturally, he offers no evidence, instead just screaming in infantile all caps in his trage.

Trump says he’s ending trade talks with Canada over TV ads

“The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts,” Trump wrote on his social media site. “TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”

Of course, for some reason, the US national deficit shot up a record rate to a record number. Doesn’t have anything to do with PINO Taco, of course. yes, snark.

US hits $38 trillion in debt, after the fastest accumulation of $1 trillion outside of the pandemic

After a solid day of traveling, a good night of sleep, and some weirdly interesting dreams, The Neurons rewarded me with Pat Benatar singing “Heartbreaker” in the morning mental music stream.

Off to see Mom shortly. First, food somewhere, I think. I’m waiting for my wife to finish dressing before we go about it. Hope peace and grace finishes its break and finds you, me, the nation, and the world in general. Till then, cheers.

Another Book Dream

I was sitting somewhere, familiar to me in the dream, but unfamiliar to me in real life. Several acquaintances came up and chatted with me. On a white wall to my left were six pieces of art. One woman asked, “What are those.”

I explained that they were books in progress with a smile, that needed to be finished. She selected one, took it down, and started flipping through it. Suddenly she started. “That character has my name.”

Yes, I acknowledged. “You were in mind when I named the character.”

She continued through the pages. “I like this. You should finish it.”

I nodded. “That’s the plan.”

She passed the piece to another person who asked for it. The second person went through it and said, “I like this, too.”

She handed it to me. I flipped it open and began going through it, then stopped. “I know how this ends. It just came to me.”

Both stared at me. “It just came to you?” one asked. “Just like that?”

“Yes. I’m going to finish this now.”

I spent the rest of the dream writing and rewriting that book. It took some weird turns. At one point, I stopped to watch golfers. Green, brown, and orange golf balls were in use, and they were playing on a mountain, hitting the balls down toward greens in valleys far below. After one teed off, the watching gallery emitted a long and low moan of appreciation and then began hitting golf balls down into the valley.

“What are they doing?” a woman seated with me asked.

I smiled. “They’re hitting golf balls down. I think they’re supposed to help locate the original ball.”

“How?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

I went back to work on the book. Sometimes as I worked on it, the print on the page was purple. Other times, the pages flared in bright purple. Yes, purple prose came to me in the dream, to giggles.

By the dream’s end, the novel was finished. I awoke very satisfied.

Fridaz Theme Music

So we come to Frida. Frida’s here at last. However you might feel about it, the day is sure to pass. Might go slow, might be low, or it could be blindingly quick. Whatever happens on this day, there could be some that make you sick. But if you persevere and get through again, you might come away with a win. So try a smile on your face, then set your pace, better yet, make it a grin.

Yep, it’s Frida, October 17, 2025. 45 F in Ashlandia around my home, we’re learning toward an upper sixties high. 70 F might be found for some. Depends on the winds and the air, the clouds and the sun. As of now, sunshine is dashing off the huge old oak’s golden leaves across the street, startling brilliant against an unmarked blue sky.

Awoke from a solid night of zee and some startling, vivid dreams, and arose in a spirited mood. Thinking about the past, present, and future, The Neurons gifted me with a Bryan Adams song which captures my Frida energy. They projected “Summer of 69” into my morning mental music stream, offering a rocking early morning. Feel free to look back and sing along, if you’re old enough to look back, and know the words, ‘course.

Coffee is plowing the body with its offering. Hope grace and peace climbs out of the shadows and leaps forward to help us all as we launch into the No Kings protests this weekend. Just for the record, the Ashland No Kings II rally doesn’t have permits, but many are planning to be there to exercise their rights.

Here we go. Cheers

Mike Johnson Accuses No Kings Protesters of Blatantly Exercising First Amendment Rights

The Book Dream

I heard someone reading from a book in the next room. Several women began talking about how it moved them. I thought, I want to know what this book.

But I was tired and decided I would get in bed for a nap. Just after I did, a woman entered the room. She was fully dressed but her clothes were tight, with a very low cut and revealing, sheer, flowery top. She told me that she’d been reading that book and asked if I minded if she got in bed with me. I answered that I didn’t think she should but she ignored my answer and got in bed on the other side. She moved up against me and suggested, maybe we can kiss and cuddle some. No, I replied, though I was tempted. She kept making more and more provocative suggestions. I started to give in. Would it really hurt just to kiss and cuddle? But I knew myself, knew that I’d get excited and would give in, so I again said, no. Then, I left the bed, because she wasn’t going to stop.

I went off through the house to find my wife to tell her what had happened. When I told her, she barely gave me any attention and changed the subject. I went on, talking about the book. I wanted to know what that book was and who wrote it. Saying that, I went to find the book.

That’s when the dream ended.

A Water Dream with Deux Chats

This was a variation of a dream which I’ve had several times. It’s been several years, as best as I can recall. Basics include a water related disaster while I’m in a huge building. The building’s purpose is never fully clear, but it reminds me of modern office buildings.

Toward the dream’s end, I look out a window. The building is on a shoreline but raised above the beach. From my vantage, I can look down and across. I see deep blue water lapping at the upper level of rocky breakers. It’s clear that water broke over those breakers but has receded some. “Oh my god,” I said, “I didn’t realize the water got that high.”

The person I’m speaking with agrees, and tells me it was much higher. The building had been evacuated. Almost everyone was gone. I decide the time is right for me to get out. But I know where my car was parked. I know that area was flooded.

Then I think, wait, I had another car parked on another level. Do I have the key? Yes, I do. Good. Just need to reach it.

I go to use some stairs to go down. They’ve been severely damaged. Pipes and wires are exposed, blocking part of the way, and some of the wall has been knocked over. I attempt to go down one side but the way is blocked. Seeing another way, I precariously cross from one side to the other as others watch and anxiously call, “Careful.” But I make it without issue.

Going down, which in real life seems wrong but made perfect sense in dreamland, I reach my old car. It gets muddled here; the old car is sometimes an old green Mercury Comet sedan I drove as a teenager but it’s a silver Nissan 200 I once owned at other times. While I’m confused while remembering it, it seemed straightforward in my dream.

I start toward the car when three women interrupt me. All are dressed in the Air Force ‘office’ uniform that we used to wear, a light blue shirt with insignia, ribbons and awards, and name plate, along with black shoes and dark blue pants. Their uniforms are immaculate. One is a stranger, one is my sister, and the third is an actress. But they’re just friendly strangers in the dream. The one who is my sister says, “Can you answer a question for us? We’re trying to figure out if running the radio slows down a Formula 1 car.”

The actress says, “I think it would slow down a NASCAR racer but they’re still pretty fast. They can go three hundred miles an hour.”

Several responses bounce around my head. Like, Formula 1 cars don’t have radios in the way she’s talking about, which becomes clear as she explains that she thinks drivers probably enjoy listening to music. I tell them that race cars don’t have radios that play music and that it would slow them down anyway. They thank me and start talking to one another. I go on.

As I approach the car, two cats appear. They are Jade and Roary, two cats who once lived with us but at different times. They’re well, healthy, with their tails up. Neither make a noise but are waiting for me to get into the car. I open the door. They stand aside as I get in and start it without problem. Looking across the parking lot, I see another car I used to own, a blue Mazda RX-7, and think, wait until I tell my wife about that. Then I tell the cats, “Come on, get in.” They hop into the car, and I put it into gear. Dream end.

Not my RX-7 but one just like it, one of three I owned at different times.

Thinking about it, though, I was dismayed. I thought several negative aspects were being presented to me. But a voice in my head said, “Let’s talk about this dream.” Summarizing, the voice tells me, you have at least two more lives left, represented in the two cats. Also, you’re not as close to death as you sometimes think. Your old car represents you. Your car was unexpectedly remembered, found, and then started without problem. You’re being helped by female energy from three different but related sources. The water was high but it’s receding, and things will get better.

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