Thirstdaz Theme Music
It looks like we might have some fog today in Foglandia. It’s Thirstda, December 11, 2025. The fog landed on us yesterday morning and has not abated. My friend came out of meeting last night and said, “Wow, this is Jack the Ripper kind of fog.” Our forecast for today, given yesterday morning, promised sunshine and a possible record high in the low to mid-sixties. That was yesterday. Now we’re mumbling about maybe hitting 50 F. It’s 37 F now. The claims made yesterday for today have been shifted to tomorrow. Feels like a con game. Wonder how much of Trump DOGE cuts cause the diminishing weather forecast accuracy?
Another night of intriguing dreams featuring cars, women, and building had me wondering about stuff this morning. Traversing the assimilating and understanding functions of parsing the dreams inspired Les Neurons. “Clocks” by Coldplay floated into the morning mental music stream. The song’s lyrics go, “Confusion never stops. Closing walls and ticking clocks. Gonna come back and take you home. I could not stop that you now know, singing.” Which pretty well reflected part of one remembered dream sequence. Actually, minus the clocks. It was but the sentiment of confusion.
Speaking of the sentiment of confusion, have you heard Deceiving Donny’s recent speeches? Yes, he’s a rambling vocal trainwreck. Naturally, MAGA reactions are, “But Biden.” Always looking to the past, they are, always hunting for an escape route to avoid facing reality. Read a piece which tickled me from MPS, Case Study: In Your Guts, You Know He’s Nuts.
Yes, we know he’s nuts. So does AI as it reviews some sample shitalk outta the great mango babbler. Trump’s probably the greatest babbler the world has ever known. He can babble like no babbler has ever babbled before. People listening to him often remark, “What an amazing babbler. What a stunning babbler.” After listening to Dizzy Donny’s babbling, people often march up, shake his hand, and say, “Sir, that was the most beautiful babbling I’ve heard the pleasure of hearing.” One man said he told Trumpy Dumpty, “In my two hundred fifty years of life, I’ve never heard greater babble coming out of anybody like this before, let alone the President of the United States. What babble! Amazing babble! BEAUTIFUL BABBLE!!!”
I was with friends having a beer and talking last night. One related the death of his brothers. One older, one younger. Both being treated. One was denied Oregon’s “Death with dignity” to pursue assisted suicide because he was being treated and following a course of stuff supposed to fight the disease, etc. But the side effect of said treatment were blood clots which caused strokes, diminishing his capacity to speak, move, breathe, etc. Sickening and exasperating.
On that note, time to rev up the life engine and plunge into my daily routines. Which mostly circulates around going out and writing. Writing is going well but consumes so much life band. My wife is tremendously accommodating of my efforts. She deserves several prizes. Hope I can reward her faith and support with success someday. Meanwhile, onward. Cheers
Wenzdaz Wandering Thoughts
Thinking about my travel packing this morning. Long ago, I developed a habit of packing my toilet bag a few days before I leave. Then I use my toiletries from it as though I’m in a hotel room. In that way, I sometimes realize something was overlooked, and I’m not rushing through packing it at a later time. This is all my own in that I’ve never read about it, subject to memory limitations. I’ve never mentioned it to others till now, either. Wouldn’t surprise me to learn that others do the same.
Follow me for more tips about drinking beer and coffee.
The Boyfriend
Five things about sis-in-law’s boyfriend.
I’ve known my sister-in-law for over fifty-five years. We get along great. She’s been married three times, has two children, and has had three boyfriends that I’ve met. She’s also a successful businesswoman. I wasn’t sure what to expect from her new BF, Norm. We had learned little about him. Here are the results.
- A Florida resident for most of his life, he still lives there, but now in a Key West condo. Originally moved there from western Pennsylvania when he was twelve years old in 1967. We found out he lived in the same general area as me when both of us lived in Pennsylvania as boys. A year plus older, we ended up with much in common via classic rock and musical preferences, along with politics. He’s not much of a reader, but he believes, as I do, that Justified is an excellent TV show. Married twice, with a son and daughter and a granddaughter, along with four sisters.
- An avid golfer and fisherman, he roots for all pro sports in which Pittsburgh, PA, has a team playing. He’s almost fanatical about the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is the team I root for.
- Norm didn’t shy away from having a drink. Beer is his go-to preference. He doesn’t like lagers or IPAs. I introduced him to Caldera Brewing’s porters, Mogli and Pilot Rock. They happen to be two of my favorites. He declared them as excellent.
- He worked as a wastewater engineer in Florida, retiring after 27 years with one plant. He’s pretty passionate about it, too. He retired when he was sixty and then had triple bypass surgery.
- An outraged anti-Trumper, he’s been involved with the Everglades for a long time, working to keep it preserved. So he was very informed about what was going on with Alligator Alcatraz and was passionately anti Gov. ‘DeSatan’. He’s also a fan of Southpark and their brutal take on Paramount, Trump, and the right-wing.
The way that Mr Mackey is hired by ICE, his ‘orientation’, and the depiction of Kristi Noem is so bloody sharp and satirical.
We had a good time. Kept very busy but he was interested in all things Ashland and Oregon, and displayed charm and intelligence.
Floofologica
Floofologica (floofinition) – Inability to rememember a name or term associated with animals. Origins: 1970s United States.
In Use: “One struggle with caring for Sybil’s pets for her while Sybil was on vacation was Chloe’s floofologica. Of the three cats, two dogs, and single bird, the only one whose name she recalled was the bird’s, Amber, because her favorite drinking beverage was amber ale.”
Wenzda’s Wandering Thoughts
“Priscilla wants Peeps. She’s providing them.”
My wife informed me of these things as we shopped for Easter Brunch ‘garnish’ last week. Chocolates, jellybeans, Jordan almonds, gummi Easter treats. Quite a cornucopia of sugar.
I was glad we weren’t buying Peeps. I dislike the marshmallow concoctions. Recent flavors like Dr. Pepper doesn’t sell them to me. My sister loves them. Especially stale Peeps. Gads.
I joke about Peeps flavors with friends. None of them like them, either.
“What if they were beer flavored?” I asked.
My friends seem horrified and mystified. “How will that work?” one asks. “Will they be sweet?”
“Yes, marshmallow beer,” I answer.
Eye rolling and groans meet this answer.
Priscilla provided a bowl of neatly organized Peeps. She’s always organized. Just her way.
I was staring at the bowl. She joined me. “I don’t see any of the new-flavored Peeps,” I said.
“No.” Priscilla frowned. “I only buy traditional Peeps.”
Hours later, clean up began at the Brunch. It looked like the bowl of Peeps had lost one. I had not seen anyone eating any.
“Want to take some Peeps home?” Priscilla asked.
“No, thanks,” my wife and I sang together.
Priscilla nodded. “We’ll probably just throw them out.”
But I wondered: will she really eat them in secret later?
Thirstda’s Wandering Thoughts
Yes, I’m pleased with my beer group. We’ve been meeting over a decade and a half. There’s no formal membership. Retirees, we just like to discuss science and news while having a beer. Once a week is all it takes. We’re only there for 90 minutes. Sometimes only four show up. Last night, sixteen were present.
Along the way, we began rounding up past the weekly tab of beverages and tips. The excess was set aside to donate to STEM causes. We’ve enlarged that to STEAM. We like to give to local schools and causes to help STEAM programs for children. To date, we’ve given almost $50,000. Last night, we donated $600 to a local school teacher who is starting an outdoors club for fifth through eighth graders. It was especially sweet for us. The teacher, Jim, was a student of one member. The member is a retired biology professor so he was really chuffed to see one of his former students passionately going a greater distance to further children’s education.
We debate as a group, are we beer drinkers with a philanthropy problem, or philathropists with a beer problem?
Playin’ Favorites
I so dislike questions about my favorite. I don’t care about the object: book, pie, food, beer, wine, music, movie…you get it. I don’t declare absolute favorites. I can’t speak for others but IMO, my favorites often slide along a spectrum that’s driven by mood and, or, circumstances. Sometimes memories float up and a song comes on, such as Tom Petty, “Running Down A Dream”, and I think, yes, this is my favorite song. But in another place and time, another song, such as “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd, or “Zombie” by The Cranberries or “Get It On”, is played and it strikes the note for the moment, finding a bit of sympatico with my soul.
I swing the same way with food and beverages. While I have regulars I turn to, they’re not necessarily the favorite. Same with movies — “Unforgiven”, “Bladerunner”, “This Is Spinal Tap”, “Men In Black” — and books — “Catch 22”, “Catcher In the Rye”, “Lincoln in the Bardo”, or series like the Murder Bots or Chronicles of Amber. Novels…authors…genres…
If I have an absolute favorite in anything, it’s
Thursday’s Wandering Thoughts
Yesterday was Wednesday. Per tradition, our local beer group met at a local brewery, Caldera Brewing in Ashland. The group’s name is Brains on Beer. It always makes me cringe, but we inherited that name.
Two new members joined us last night: Darrell James, engineer and novelist, and Dr. Pepper Trail, forensic ornithologist and poet, author of the collection, Cascades-Siskiyou: Poems. Mr. James learned of our group because, besides being a semi-retired engineer, he’s an energetic person who does home repairs for several members. Dr. Trail worked with and for several of our members, and they thought he would enjoy our company.
Whenever new people join us, the telling of the group’s origins is done. And I realized as I sat this morning and thought about last night, the whole story of the group’s beginnings is rarely told.
What is told is that four men came together to talk science and have coffee each morning. They shifted to meeting once a week, at night, to have a beer and talk science and technology. The four men cited are Lt Col Michael Quirk (Ret, US Army), Professor Frank Lang, Dr. Ed Shelly, and Michael Hersh. All are deceased. But while they were the first four BoBs, a woman was responsible for the group being formed.
See, Michael Quirk’s wife was a social worker. Through her work, she noticed that many men age into lonely, solitary lives. She knew that a strong social life helps people remain mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy. So Diane encouraged Michael to start the social group and shift from coffee in the morning to beer in the evening once a week.
Since that start around 2008, we now have 23 members. All are liberals, BTW. It’s not a rule, but that’s how it’s worked out. Ten to fourteen people usually show up each week. We had thirteen last night. We have one person named Bob in our BoBs. From engineers, we now include medical doctors, forensics scientists, microbiologists, botanists, teachers, an ornithologist, journalists, photographers, database administrators, graphic designers, architects, and firefighters in our numbers. We also have three female members. Since we began the habit of rounding up the bill and donating to STEAM programs in our valley, we’ve donated over $43,000 to buy computers, tubidity meters, and microscopes, among other things, while supporting local robotics teams and Ashland ScienceWorks.
And it all started with one woman’s idea.
If you’re ever in Ashlandia, come on by and meet us. We start at 4 PM every Wednesday. We usually collect $20 per person. Your first visit is on us.
Michael Seidel, writer 