Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
We’re at the beach today. We rented a house in Waldport. The back fronts the ocean but has several hundred feet of sand dunes between us and the waterline.
I was sitting on the back patio, looking over the dunes, watching the distance waves when three young women trudged up the beach over our dunes. My inherent geezer kicked in. “You kids get off our dunes,” I shouted, shaking a fist.
No, not really. I just raised my glass of wine in their general direction.
Weird how subpar is unacceptable or below standards for so many things, but it’s pursued as a good outcome in golf.
Words. I’m telling you, they’re literally fascinating.
Mood: coolbreezin’
It’s a rarity for us, an overcast summer day. Sunday, August 18, 2024, is also cool. No blue sky and diffused sunshine. Good air quality. Fresh, cool air is a glorious combo.
It’s 59 F now at my house, 71 F inside. Little more rain is expected, and a high of 78 degrees F is forecast.
The cats are lovin’ it (cue that music from those commercials by Mickey D, thanks to The Neurons). Didn’t like it yesterday. Well, Papi didn’t like it. It rained, the wind jumped up, and thunder rolled, cracked, and grumbled. First sound of thunder, Papi was in the house, hanging out in his safe space, which is the bathroom of our bedroom. Tucker, though — ha. Wind was blowing, thunder is adding loud noises, rain is falling, and Tucker is under his bush sleeping space in the backyard, wondering what’s going on. Finally got up, stretched, and sauntered over to the patio, sat, and washed. I petted him; yes, he was wet. He can be a mellow kitty.
More and more polls have Vice President Harris leading Trump. Demonstrating his amazing leadership skills, honed in the playground of his mind, Trump responded with name calling and claims that he’s better looking. As to the latter, no; just no.
Although Hurricane Ernesto didn’t strike the U.S., another house fell into the house in the Grand Banks and NYC closed its beaches due to the currents. That’s the seventh house in four years falling into the ocean in that little NC community, BTW.
Trump had a rally and confused the state he was in. Mentioned North Carolina when he was in Pennsylvania. The headline is, “Donald Trump ‘Confusing’ State He’s In At Rally Raises Questions”. Really? That raised questions? His claims about the airports being captured during the American Revolutionary War didn’t raise questions? Jan 6 didn’t raise questions? Walking out with an upside-down Bible didn’t raise questions? Referring to President Obama when he was supposed to be talking about Ms Clinton didn’t raise questions back in 2023, along with other confusion, or the more recent time, when he confused Willie Brown and Jerry Brown and made up a story about a scary incident didn’t raise questions? His 34 convictions didn’t raise question?
Let’s face it: there will be some who never raise questions about Trump. It seems to include a large portion of the media, and most of the GOP, and almost all of the MAGA base.
Trump also once again disrespected military members. This time he made a ridiculous comparison between the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor. Trump’s claim is that the Medal of Freedom is “much better”. But what do you expect from a coward and bully like him, someone who lacks empathy and brags about how brave he is without ever facing danger?
Continuing with a theme of colors in song titles for my daily theme music has The Neurons excited. “Red!” they shouted today. “Red Rain. Little Red Corvette! Lady in Red! Red Rubber Ball!” I’m sure there are more but a contingent of The Neurons managed to get “Red Red Wine” going in the morning mental music stream (Trademark redlined).
Neil Diamond wrote “Red Red Wine” and performed it, but I enjoy UB40’s 1983 reggae style much better. That’s the one The Neurons are playing in the mental stream.
I’m already drinking me precious — I mean, my coffee. Be strong, remain positive, and vote blue. Here’s the video. Cheers
The ad is based on a poll question:
“A recent poll of swing state voters from The Bullfinch Group recently asked a question that gets to the heart of the ad’s message: Which candidate would you feel comfortable babysitting your kids? Harris was the clear favorite, with 45% picking the vice president, and only 20% choosing Donald Trump.”
Of course, we really want to know who had the other 35%?
Vote Blue.
Sweetfloof (floofinition) – 1. Term for an animal with an especially endearing personality. Origins: 13th century Europe.
In Use: “Maxie was a big lumpy sweetfloof of a dog, greeting everyone he met with a wag and a handlick.”
In Use: “The Mighty Quinn was a sweetfloof with people, acting as if everyone encountered was an old friend.”
2. An animal who was especially loved or tied to others with deep bonds. Origins: 1842, United States.
In Use: “Marcy started out as a service animal for Carol’s father, a geezer who grunted at the world and rarely smiled, but the sweetfloof’s infinite love, patience, and antics, the two became inseparable and his smile began flourishing.”
Maybe it’s just me — ahem — but the sweat incurred in temperatures over 100 degrees F seems to stink more than the sweat of just 80 degrees F. I think it’s probably because there’s a lot more sweat involved when the sun and air takes us into triple digits, and that perspiration takes longer to dry.
Then again, maybe it’s just me.
“Made of Kibble” (floofinition) – Expression among animals to denote something is worthy and can be satisfying but it is temporary, or fleeting. Orgins: circa 1980s, Floofernet.
In Use: “The old tom told the young cat, ‘Happiness is made of kibble, so always curl up and enjoy the day when you can.'”
In Use: “Mama dog told her puppies, ‘Go play, because life is made of kibble, and you will soon be old dogs.'”
I added radish leaves to my breakfast this morning. We bought radishes yesterday at a store. Organic and local, they have the leaves attached. As I was checking out, the cashier told me she’d been told by a Persian guy that eating radish leaves are good for the respiratory system.
So I tried it. Tasted like grass, or wheat grass. I ate lawn grass back when I was a kid. I was curious and wanted to see what cows saw in it. Fortunately, we had little money and didn’t use anything on the lawn.
The radish leaves seemed to have an immediate effect on my airways, as congestion seemed to immediately drop. Could’ve just been a placebo effect, though.
Certainly was interesting to try.
Mood: freshThursnergy
It’s fresh today. Thursday morning finds the thermometer informing us that it’s 62 F. The high will be 79 F, a surprisingly low number for August 15, 2024. Clouds layer part of the sky. Airnow.gov says our air quality is 18, so it’s good air. Nice to see the numbers, to validate what my eyes are seeing and my schnoozer is telling me.
Skimming through the news. Here’s a small sampling.
Earthquakes in Texas — Scurry County. Seems oil related as they encounter saltwater that must be injected deeper into the Earth. The Railroad Commission is investigating, so we know they’ll get to the bottom of it.
Hurricane Ernesto is storming toward Bermuda.
Two astronauts remain stuck at the space station after the new Boeing Starliner failed them. In a way it’s like an old sitcom called Gilligan’s Island. Those folks were trapped on an island for years after a shipwreck when it was supposed to be a ‘three-hour tour’. The astronauts were only expected to be up there two weeks. Unfortunately, the astronauts don’t have the professor there to help them out. He was always coming up with intriguing ideas.
Trump was called out for lying about what the economy was like at the end of his term, trying to make out that it was the greatest in history when it was not.
Ukraine made an incursion into Russia as that conflict keeps going.
Montana’s Supreme Court struck down a 2013 law that required minors to get parental permission before getting an abortion. The Reuters article says the court unanimous opinion was written by Justice Laurie McKinnon. She wrote that “a minor’s right to control her reproductive decisions is among the most fundamental of the rights she possesses” and that Montana had not shown that the law was justified to protect minors. Sweet.
The turnout for the Wisconsin primary was an impressively high 26 percent — highest in 60 years. Geez. It depresses me that 26 percent is an impressive turnout. It’s for the primary, though.
And Bobcat kittens were stealing golf balls.
Dance week continues. I asked The Neurons what song I should include today, and they shoved “The Safety Dance” into the morning mental music stream (Trademark dancing). The 1982 new wave tune was performed by Men Without Hats, a Canadian group. I was overseas when it started charting, living on Okinawa, and they loved the song in dance clubs over there.
Stay positive. Be strong. Lean forward. Vote Blue in 2024. Here’s the dance music. I’m off to freshen my coffee. Cheers
Floofrago (floofinition) – A confused mixture of animal stuff. Origins: Flooftin, 1600s.
In Use: “People who adopt animals as pets often end up with a floofrago of toys, fur brushes, treats, and medicines, frequently stored together on a utility room closet shelf.”
Michael Seidel, writer 