Crowded House – Michael Seidel, writer

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, June 17, 2026.

72 F. Our heat advisory has been lifted. Today’s high will be 95, compared to yesterday, which was, what, 95? Today’s low was 59 while yesterday’s low was 61.

I took some time out this morning to check on wildlife warnings. An abundance of bears, and aggressive deer are being reported. No cougars this year (so far). Nothing reported in our immediate neighborhood.

It ain’t over, but out there in G7 land, Trump isn’t looking good. In fact, his appearance makes President Biden’s end of term appearances fantastic in comparison. President Biden looked trim but old; Trump looks old, tired, obese, weary, and depressed.

Trump and MAGA Are Getting Crushed

Lot of noise about the terrible deal Trump made is circulating. As expected, Trump is threatening to start bombing Iran again if the progress he wants isn’t made. So much peace!

Bombing Iran must be kept as an option because Trump is running out of options. He has so much losing going on that Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is in danger of collapsing in a puddle of orange. The ballroom keeps getting negative price. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is sadly reflecting Trump’s poor taste and low abilities, and looks pretty damn ugly. Trump’s Iran War deal seems like a shoddy temper tantrum that brought nothing of value to the world. And prices remain up.

Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:

Just another reminder of all the things Trump claimed and promised and failed to do.

Today’s music came about from doing happy dances to things going wrong for Trump. Quick mental flash: I know some readers would say, well, then, you don’t like America if you wish things bad for Trump, because he’s our President.

Yeah, bullshit. He’s doing it for himself. Glorying himself. Disrupting because it arouses his hardcore supporters. They like it so Trump does it. Making them scream his name satisfies him, and provide succor about the real failure he’s shown himself again to be.

So the song is “Don’t Dream” by Crowded House. Came to the morning mental music stream because I was thinking, yeah, don’t dream it’s over, a warning to myself. Trump is resilient. More Teflon than old Ronnie R. And MAGA is boneheaded, and the GOP are desperate. So, it’s not over till the fat orange guy is out of the White House.

Hope your dreams thrive and fly. Take care of you and yours.

Cheers

“There is freedom within, there is freedom without…”

As I was thinking about my dreams this morning — there’s been a staggering dream surge in the past two weeks — those lyrics from the song by Crowded House, “Don’t Dream It’s Over” (1986), entered my thinking stream.

The song was released at a busy time for me. I was in the military, stationed in South Carolina. I’d traveled a lot that year and the previous year – Egypt, Somalia, Delaware, Florida (multiple times). I’d been assigned to South Carolina (Shaw AFB) in the previous year (1985) after four years in Japan, at Kadena (Okinawa). Then, suddenly, in October, I had notification of a new assignment, for three years in Germany, reporting in December.

Thinking of the dreams and the song just brought all of that surging out of me. Lot of places, lot of flights, a lot of faces, a lot of time away from home and my wife. Since then, I retired from the military (1995) in California and moved to Oregon, worked in start-ups, and then with IBM for fifteen years. It was a chaotic life, but seemed normal.

“Hey now, hey now, don’t dream it’s over. Hey now, hey now, when the world comes in.
They come, they come to build a wall between us. You know they won’t win.”

Yes, but sometimes it feels like an uphill fight to get to where you want to be. Does the battle ever end? I supposed I could simply stop fighting and accept whatever will be.

Yeah, I know, more first world whining. I’ve had more options, freedom, and success than many ever find. I made those decisions and choices. I wouldn’t change it. It brought me to where I am, for better, for worse.

And it’s not over.