Tag: 2021

Friday’s Theme Music

Mood: restless

Friday has dropped in for its weekly visit, a little jaunty and restless, lookin’ for something to do.

It’s November 10, 2023, in Ashlandia, where the duck ponds are quiet and the park is still. 44 F now, sunshine has dropped it down a notch but still holds the sky, though high thin white clouds lurk, contemplating the valley, planning some kind of mood. Today’s high temperature will theoretically beat the mid to high eighties. Something similiar was rolled out yesterday but with the fog giving us a long, tight hug, it took a long time for the mid fifties to be breached. By then, the sun was beginning to take its shine elsewhere and close for the day.

In a bright spot for today, just 45 days until Christmas.

We had a good laugh the other night in my beer clatch, reminiscing about Trumpisms DJT blurted during his trial. Favorite among the ten of us hands down was his comment talking about why he didn’t receive (accounting) statements in 2021, “I was so busy in the White House with China, Russia, and keeping the country safe.” Wallace, the prosecuting attorney questioning him, “You were not the president in 2021.”

In another bizarre moment, Trump wrote, “Got a really Biased, Nasty, Club controlled, but often overturned, Judge, a Racist, Evil, and Corrupt Attorney General, BUT A CASE THAT, ACCORDING TO ALMOST ALL LEGAL SCHOLARS, HAS ZERO MERIT. A dark day for our Country. WITCH HUNT!”

The CAPS are all his because, like a child throwing a tantrum, he likes shouting. But I agree with him, it’s a dark day for the country, when day after day, Trump is out there spouting crap without evidence, making dramatic declarations with little basis in reality. A lot of it seems projection by Trump about the things he does, trying to pin it on others; we have evidence of Trump being biased, nasty, racist, evil, and corrupt, willing to pursue witch hunts. I think he shows himself to be these things every day.

But what’s saddest and makes it darkest for us is how many people continue supporting him. Of course, it’s not about the bible, nor truth. The majority of Trump supporters aren’t interested in democracy or this nation; these fascists are about keeping their man and party in power so they can glean whatever pathetic privileges and rights they can muster over others, to prop up their tiny minds and retro view of the world. Rachel Maddow was talking about that in an interview about her new book, Prequel.

With all this being thought about, The Neurons furnished the morning mental music stream (Trademark sinking) with The Doors and “People Are Strange”. Seems apt when I’m thinking about Trump and the MAGAs and Republicans who support him.

Stay pos, be real and strong, and keep leaning forward. Here we go, launching into the waves of the day. Enjoy the music, please. I will as I sip some hot, fresh coffee. Cheers, my friends. Cheers

0

Tueday’s Theme Music

Mood: puzzled

I’m careening along through the year, charging toward the next month with barely time to notice this month. So it feels, and has felt.

Today is Tuesday, October 24, 2023 in Ashlandia, where cheese, bread, and wine are made locally and taste above average. Leaves with fading colors litter the ground, crowding against curbs, huddling in storm drains and taking shelter against buildins and in bushes. High cirrocumulus offerings mark the blue sky’s ceiling like small pieces of popcorn. They’re moving east at an impressive clip as more serious looking stratus flow in from the east, heading west. 52 F now, 61 F is the purported high, according to those who know. Rain showers are forecast for this evening.

Songwise, I have “It’s Ok” buzzing in my head, a gift from The Neurons. Overhearing a person actually saying those words in the coffee shop, The Neurons immediately slotted them into the morning mental music stream (Trademark fabricated).

Released by Imagine Dragons in 2021, the song is about feeling different or being different. You know that feeling, right? Probably. I think most people feel it at one time or another, a sense that they’re either lost or out of step with everyone else, maybe confused about the beat they’re marching to because no one else hears it. The song reassures us that being so is acceptable.

It’s okay to be not okay
It’s just fine to be out of your mind
Breathe in deep, just a day at a time
‘Cause it’s okay to be out of your mind, mind

I don’t want this body, I don’t want this voice
I don’t wanna be here, but I guess I have no choice
Just let me live my truth, that’s all I wanna do
Baby, you’re not broken, just a little bit confused

h/t Genius.com

Stay pos, be chill, remain strong. I believe it’s coffee time. Join me?

Here’s the music. Cheers

0

Saturday’s Theme Music

Scintillating sunshine sprawls across Ashlandia. I’m out of bed with the thought, must be after eight with all this sunshine. No, it’s seven. That’ll change tomorrow.

I ask Alexa for Ashlandia’s weather. “Thirty-six with fog,” she tells me. “Rain showers throughout the day.” I study the clear blue sky as she finished, “High of 56.” I see no fog anywhere in the valley or the hills and mountains. Machine is smoking something again.

Sunrise was at 6:30 this morning. Sunset will be at 6:13. It’s Saturday, March 11, 2023.

We took a friend shopping yesterday. Macular degeneration stops her from driving herself and her husband is extremely limited with multiple health issues, including COPD. He’s always on O2. Took her to Target, Trader Joe’s, Costco. She tipped us with a nine pack of Charmin from the package bought at Costco.

Also stopped at the latest sensation, Crumbs, a cookie place. Bought a five-dollar gourmet. Good cookie, tasty and quality, but not worth five dollars. Also not the most expensive cookie I’ve ever eaten.

With all that sunshine surrounding them, The Neurons came up with “Sunshine”, a 2021 song from OneRepublic. It’s a bouncy tune about sunshine and good vibes and making efforts to change things and be pos.

[Chorus]
Runnin’ through this strange life
Chasin’ all them green lights
Throwin’ off the shade for a little bit of sunshine
Hit me with them good vibes
Pictures on my phone like
Everything is so fine
A little bit of sunshine

[Verse 1]
Crazy lately I’m confirmin’
Tryna write myself a sermon
You just tryna get a word in, life is not fair
I been workin’ on my tunnel vision
Tryna get a new prescription
Takin’ swings and even missin’ but I don’t care

[Pre-Chorus]
I’m dancin’ more just a little bit
Breathin’ more just a little bit
Care a little less just a little bit
Like life is woo-hoo!
I’m makin’ more just a littlе bit
Spend a little more to gеt rid of it
Smile a little more and I’m into it

h/t Genius.com

That’ll work for today’s theme music. Like the song urges, smile a little more, care a little less. Be pos. Coffee is served. Here we go.

Cheers

0

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Warning: this is Tuesday. It is no longer Monday. Nor is it yet Wednesday. It’s certainly not Friday. Also, it’s January. And it’s the year 2023. Oh, wait, it’s 2022. My bad. And it’s the eighteenth. In a way, the date is like sandwich ingredients; you put it all together and see what you have.

Sunrise overtook our valley slot at 7:36 AM and will pass on at 5:08 PM. First light found the temperature to be 31 F. It’s climbed ten degrees since then and expects to climb another twelve before we fall back into shadow.

I heard Lil Nas X and his song “That’s What I Want” from 2021 on the radio the other day and took up singing it to my cats this morning. It’s a good song about desire, hope, and loneliness. I felt it was useful to sing to the cats. They were gathered, waiting for food. I know what they wanted. But I was being perverse.

These days I’m way too lonely
I’m missing out, I know
These days I’m way too alone
And I’m known for giving love away but

I want
Someone to love me
I need
Someone who needs me
‘Cause it don’t feel right when it’s late at night
And it’s just me in my dreams
So I want
Someone to love
That’s what I fucking want

h/t AZLyrics.com

Love the video, don’t you? Football teams in pink and blue uniforms, same sex athletes making out in the locker room.

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the jabs as needed. I’m off for coffee. Cheers

0

Friday’s Theme Music

Zounds. It’s already Friday again — Friday, December 17, 2021, to use its fully nomenclature. I’m staggered that it’s already Friday. What happened to the week? And, just two weeks remain in the month. Just two weeks remain in 2021. We are bolting toward 2022.

Okay, many respond. That’s how calendars work. How we hooman beasts track time for physical needs, work, and play. Why are you surprised that all this has transpired, Michael? Have you not been paying attention?

Nah, I think I pay too much attention. Maybe I need to let go about.

Ah, it’s sunshine streaming through blue skies obscured with filmy white ribbons. Fog is struggling to establish control, attaining some success among the trees in the mountain’s folds. Snow still reigns over the peaks and ridges, presenting them with a friendlier white majesty. Sunrise kicked in at 7:34 AM and is due to kick out at 4:40 PM. The temperature has climbed to 31 F. Should reach 44 F, which is about where we went yesterday, and is all in accordance with average expectations.

I was watching a small bird threading on and off a tree’s naked branches, a little sparrow beast. Neurons said, “I appreciate what that expression, ‘free as a bird’, means.” Because he was just going wherever, flitting about. Of course, he — or she — couldn’t see the sex from where I was — was in the elements, looking for food, a-flying and a-flittin’ to remain alive.

All that neural activity prompted a song to jump into the morning mental music stream. “Play ‘Free Bird’,” is a shout parodied in movies, but my neurons started jumping up and down, shouting, “Play ‘Free Bird’.” “Free Bird” is a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd that came out in 1974. 1974 is my high school graduation year, so this rocking song was my theme music for that year.

Keep rockin’, stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vaxes and boosters when ye can. I have my coffee, so if you’ll excuse me, destiny awaits. Cheers

0

Wednesday’s Theme Music

I hear raining ratatattating on windows and roofs but it’s a sound held only in my mind. Dawn has broken. 6:29 AM. A slow ascent of mothy light. Shows the smoky particles off well. Gives the sun that fine burnished red tone as it streams past curling tree leaves, through windows.

Drum roll. Today is Wednesday, August 25, 2021. Sunset will be at 7:56 PM. Daylight’s shortening period is accelerating. Minutes are sliced away on either end.

Our air quality ranges around 123 in some parts of town, 250 in other sections. Varies with elements. Wildfires rage around us, miles away, pushing their presence through smoky sunrises and sunsets, terrible air quality. Encountered a woman the other day who’d fled, evacuated. Lost her house from a fire down in California. Only two houses remain in her neighborhood. Enduring the smoke doesn’t seem as bad after hearing that. Still sucks, though.

Dreams aplenty last night. Kept my mind buzzy. From one came a string of CCR songs. “Long As I Can See the Light” led the string. “Stuck in Lodi” followed. “Lookin’ out My Back Door” closed the set. Other songs mingled after I rose and tended the feline gods. Reading news, reflecting upon attitudes and politics, I end up with a 2005 Audioslave song, “Be Yourself” in mind. I enjoy how the song splinters responses to the same situation, shows how different people function (or fail) in parallel during life. One minute is one person’s happiest; it’s also another person’s worse. We’re all living in Schrodinger’s box. We are alive or dead, happy and sad, alert and inert by the second. At least that’s how it feels until I get some coffee in me. Lyrics sample:

Someone finds salvation in everyone, another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself, down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love until the end of time, another runs away
Separate or united, healthy or insane

h/t to good ol’ Genius.com

Had a little coffee. Need a lot more. Be posi. Test negy. Wear the masky as needed. Get the vaxy. Enjoy the tune. Be yourself is all that you can do.

Cheese. I mean, cheers

0

Tuesday’s Theme Music

20:16 – 06:13. Sunset, sunrise. I complete the math in my head. Daylight minutes are falling back. Sunrise is later. Sunset is earlier. An annual thing. Recurring. Yet, I let it dominate morning thoughts like the end is nigh. Probably a product of circumstance. Outside activity is limited. Another high dome is settling on us. Back up to 101-105. No humidity. The drought deepens. Its pervasive effects suck out life. Air quality is unhealthy as wildfire smoke curls up in the valley. Better the smoke than the fire, I remind myself with some weariness. Trying to be positive. COVID-19 cases are also setting new area records. ICUs are overrun. Hospital staff have contracted COVID-19. Then there are personal matters I don’t put in posts.

Good morning, and a happy Tuesday to you, too! Today is Tuesday, August 10, 2021. 2021 is hurrying by as a year but it’s gonna leave a mark.

For music, I’ve been sucked into a song by The Calling, “Wherever You Will Go” (2001). This was a cat issue. Tucker insisted upon being my bodyfloof, right there at my heels as I walked down the hall, jumping up on the desk when I sat to type, etc. I processed the usual requests – “Are you hungry? Do you want a treat?” Petted and brushed him. Gave him some nip. But he hung with me. Guess that’s what he wanted. Which prompted the song.

Stay positive. Yes, it’s hard, innit? Is for me. Life can be a wearying business. Especially if you’re like me, staring at the smoke, contemplating COVID-19, struggling to write, pondering the imponderables. But stay positive. Rant a bit. Let it go, if you can. Test negative. Wear the mask when it’s needed. Get the vaccination, please.

Here’s the music. Cheers

0

Sunday’s Theme Music

After peeking in through windows at 5:38 AM in Ashland with shy pale goldens, the sun boldly shouldered in, shouting, “We got your sunshine. We got your daylight.” Such a bold sun plans to put out browning, sweat-inducing heat, don’t you know. Temperatures will hunt the lower nineties before the sun, still in its place, disappears from the valley at 20:39.

Got the darkness trying to throttle me. It’s a debilitating but brief trough experienced when I ponder what’s the use of all this nonsense? I was walking as it struck, like a bolt into my soul, just before sunset last night. Because a wildfire is being fought and people evacuated, I was thinking about wildfires and water shortages. Many new homes are being built in Ashland. Development is the daily cry as the trucks lumber in with supplies and workers busy with foundations and walls. We were already being told to conserve water. Now there is less water to be divided among more households.

Dev is good but with that shrinking water base, we also have an expanding wildfire season. Before COVID-19 shut down activities, wildfire smoke did the same, cratering the local economy becoming an annual thing. The first time it happened, businesses dismissed it as a one off. Second time, some pulled the plug. Third time, dark mutterings about what are we going to do were heard.

City council lacks the leadership to move out of this mess. Frankly, the mess is bigger than them. Is it climate change? By the time sufficient data is collected, we probably won’t be around to know. Meanwhile, the new houses being built are closer together as land becomes a precious commodity. Streets are narrower. Traffic density rises. Did I mention that a two-lane state highway longitudinally bisects the town? Only one way in and out, not a reassuring realization for planning evacuations. Every street feeds into it.

With the darkness and these bleak realizations colliding, on came an old song by the Smiths. Here are the lines.

This town has dragged you down
And everybody’s got to live their life
And God knows I’ve got to live mine
God knows I’ve got to live mine

h/t to Genius.com

The 1984 song is called, “William, It Was Really Nothing”. Yes, it’s really nothing; just a little darkness nibbling the psyche. Stay positive (you know, like me!), test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the vax. Cheers

0

Friday’s Theme Music

The welcoming committee began tentative sounds a few minutes after five thirty this morning. 5:39 AM came, and with it, the sun’s first official appearance of May 28, 2021, in Ashland. Clouds departed. Cool mountain air muted the sun’s efforts, but warmth of around seventy-eight degrees F is anticipated before the closing ceremony begins, ushering the sun away at 8:37 PM.

Today finds me hooked on a 1968 anti-war song, “Sky Pilot”, by Eric Burdon and the Animals. Out walking, I heard a small airplane passing overhead. Studying it brought “Sky Pilot” to mind. This is pretty ironic; “Sky Pilot” isn’t about aircraft. It was that chorus that ricocheted through me: “You can never, never, never, reach the sky.”

Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as required, and get the vax. Speaking of the mask, the whole approach has unraveled around here since the CDC made their new mask policy announcement a few weeks back. Witnesses attest to people entering stores with a mask on, per the stores’ signs and policies, and then promptly removing them. Pretty undermines the spirit and intent, doesn’t it? Store managers report they’ve been directed by their corporate law offices to pretty much leave it alone.

Here’s the music. Cheers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZklnDvd_vfQ&t=108s

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑