Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Bathofloof (floofinition) – An animal, usually a housepet, which encroaches on people when they’re in the bathroom.
In use: “Barney the Beagle was adverse to closed doors in a house but the big ol’ bathfloof always unleashed a storm of howls when one of his people closed the bathroom door on him.”
Genufloof (floofinition) 1. Gestures, sounds, and postures used to earn an animal’s trust.
In use: “Feral or near feral young animals often distrust humans because they don’t know them, so humans will genufloof by lowering themselves, trying to make themselves smaller, while speaking softly and holding out a non-threatening hand.”
2. A posturing system for exchanging greetings shared by animals with humans.
In use: “Whenever Michael and Papi encountered one another, they genufloofed, Papi by first stretching his front legs and then his back legs in long, leisurely moments, and Michael, by squatting down, saying, “Hello,” offering a kissing noise, and holding out a few fingers for the cat to rub against.”
There’s a new business in Ashlandia: Kingston Cannabis.
It’s on the south end of town, by I-5 and the Exit 14 Interchange. The business used to be a U-Haul service center. Before that, it was an automobile service station. Like the U-Haul place, Kinsgston reeks with 1960s era service station design clues.
My wife and I decided to stop there the other day. We were on a mission. Cannabis was not involved. We weren’t interested in THC, CBD, CBG – nothing like that lured us to Kingston. We were there for the food truck.
Garcia’s Tacos.
My wife and I, white as new snow on Mount Ashland, are very fond of Mexican food, especially that part of the food spectrum called Tex Mex. We really enjoy burritos. Tell us that breakfast burritos are available and our eyes light up like the Terminator chasing after John.
Besides Garcia’s food truck, several other food trucks are authorized to park at Kingston’s, including Kat’s Crepes – oh, boy – Yolks and Toast (there almost every Sunday), Desserts1st, Tacos El Paisa, Double B Wings, Laika’s Lox & Bagels, and a doughnut truck called Lil’ Monster Donuts . Yes, a doughnut food truck! Almost as damn enticing to the taste buddies as a Mexican food truck.
The best burritos in Ashland, in our opinion, is offered by Ruby’s of Ashland. They’re downtown, on Pioneer, just a few blocks from the plaza, Lithia Park, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s theaters. Good location, yeah? Yeah. Tres popular place. Next to it is a lovely tap house, Gil’s. Cold brews, you know? Yeah, you know.
So, we ordered Garcia breakfast burritos. Nine dollars each. He gave us a pager for when the meal was ready. Off we went to explore Kingston.
Okay, if you want edibles or smoke-ables, Kingston can serve you. They have fine offerings out of Washington, Oregon, and California. They make many things locally. We didn’t buy anything today but the gummies and cookies were both talking to me. Friends swear by their combination of THC/CBG gummies.
Besides the cannabis offerings, Kingston has a lovely outdoor seating area. Half is covered. New café tables and chairs are set up. Water features and fire pits are set up to counter weather’s influence. The manager told us that they have live music several times a month, with the food trucks coming on site to provide food and refreshments. Besides the seating area, they also had Cornhole set up.
Our burritos took a while. We finally took them home and devoured those puppies. Mine was egg, hash browns, and bacon. It was dry but tasty. Definitely didn’t overtake Ruby’s burritos are the top of the list but definitely worth another tasting.
And of course, there are plenty of other food truck offerings awaiting our judgement. It’s game on.
I don’t care what others claim, if you’re eating raw crunchy veggies, the volume on the televisions MUST be turned up. And it’s not because ‘I’m getting old,’ damn it.
Signed, cranky middle-aged person.
Kinefloofics (floofinitions) – The branch of floofatics concerned with floof activity and motion without reference to the causal forces.
In use: “When a new floof comes around — either as a casual visitor to the property or introduced as a new floofhold member — it’s natural for the other floofs as well as the humans to apply kinefloofics to understand what the new booger is like.” – Excerpt from “Once Upon A Floof; The Relationships Between Humans and Animals”
Acflooftion (floofinition) – the process of adding animals or materials associated with animals, such as food, toys, and furniture, to a location.
In use: “With one floof, little sign of acflooftion is usually noticed, but as more animals join the household, acflooftion accelerates, with more food and water bowls seen, along with toys, pet doors, and things like beds.”
Floofnoulli’s Principle (floofinition) – A principle of floof culture which states that the increase in a human’s stealthiness when they’re preparing, getting, or consuming food directly relates to its tastiness or desirability, and a floof must therefore use more energy to try to get their share of the food as quickly as possible.
In use: “Although apparently asleep, Daisy heard the subtle kitchen sounds. Instantly recalling Floofnoulli’s Principle, she leaped from sleeping position to dead run, sliding to a stop in the kitchen in front of Lisa, who was just about to eat a potato chip.”
Today’s Mood: weary
Q: Is weary a mood?
Sunday, July 9, 2023, has landed on us. Fact of the day: the 14th Amendment was adopted on this day in the US back in 1868. Part of the amendment was dealing with reconstruction, black voters, and the Dred Scott decision. Northern Republicans preferred that blacks not be allowed to vote in the structure and demographics established before the Civil War because southern states would have gained substantial power, creating its own set of problems. These southern states just fought a war to leave the union, and their loss was going to be rewarded with more power? No, that didn’t fly. Hence, the 14th Amendment: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” And off we went, all fixed, right?
Yeah, it’s been a helluva merry-go-round. There are always groups against others having equal rights under the law. More recently, GOP legislators have led creative ways to make voting a problem for the people who don’t vote for them, citing the US Constitution. It reads, in part, “When in the course of human events, political leaders decide they don’t like what people are reading, or fear that some other race will come to dominate, or don’t like it when people declare themselves to be some other gender or prefer a sexual orientation other than what’s spelled out in the First Amendment of the Bible of the United States, then that party and its political leaders have the right to pretend that in the name of freedom and God, they have the right under said document to restrict others from doing these things because gosh, darn, those things are different than what they grew up with, and they don’t have to take it, and have the right to cry and throw tantrums about anything they don’t like until they’re blue in the face, just like Jesus would do.”
And by using that authority as provided and intended, and wholly in the Founding Fathers’ spirit, that’ll fix everything. Everyone will be happy, and peace will rule, and the United States will be Great Again, #1 in everything in the world, which can be achieved by just pretending that other countries don’t really exist, and if they do, they can’t be as good as America because they’re not America.
Whew, glad that’s all cleared up.
It’s cooling this week. 68 F now, the mercury won’t rise to 90 F today. Fine by me. I enjoy cooler hot summer days. I should be happy, then, because the weather conjurers have proclaimed that our high temps will be in the 80s most of the coming week. Side note: we’ve yet to reach 100 F this year in Ashlandia, where the sidewalks are cracked and the people are pissed off. Hope I haven’t jinxed us by mentioning it.
The Neurons have plugged Elton John’s cover of “Pinball Wizard” by The Who into the morning mental music stream. The Who song came out in 1969, part of the rock opera, or ropera, as we say in these days, called Tommy. I was thirteen, and just loved that song with its story of a blind kid being a pinball champion, a story backed by dramatic guitars, swooping bass lines, and crashing drums. A few years later, a movie was made of the album, Tommy, and Elton John was selected to sing the vocals on “Pinball Wizard”, and Bob’s yer uncle.
Stay pos, keep a sense of humor, and lead us not into temptation. I’ve had coffee, thanks, but do help yourself to some. Here’s the music. Cheers
Parroof (floofinition) – ‘Parrot Floof’: an animal or bird which enjoys resting on people’s shoulders.
In use: “Barry became known as Parrot, because the parroof was always seeking to rest himself on Klein’s shoulder, which wasn’t bad when Barry was a puppy barely larger than Klein’s hand, but more daunting when the Tibetan Mastiff achieved his full growth.”
Michael Seidel, writer 