Sunday’s Theme Music – Spring!
Ashland, Oregon — Sunday, April 19, 2026.
It’s an amusing but irritating thing. Whenever I type Sunday into WP, it automatically suggests December should follow.
It’s a comfortable, green spring day. Clouds and sunshine are mixing it up. It lightly rained earlier. We’re sitting at 59 F and expect to reach 72.
Mom is still at the assisted living facility. Says she’ll stay there until May 1. Plans after that? She has none. She meets with a social worker and therapists this week. They’ll give their assessments. Mom says the social worker told her that she’ll provide Mom with a ride to Mom’s house. The social worker says she hasn’t spoken to Mom.
Mom’s yard needs mowed. She wonders why her son-in-law won’t do it. This is the same SIL who she accused of doing things to her. The same one she says is hateful and mean. The one who moved her into his house and rearranged rooms to make space for her.
My wife’s elderly aunt passed away, 86. That was the last of her mother’s brothers and sisters. She was a sweetie, religious, a bit conservative, but tolerant and friendly. RIP, Betty.
I think it was on Meidas Touch where I read of the Strait of Schrödinger: the Strait of Hormuz is open and they’re not. Iran boats fired on tankers, another testament to Trump’s marvelous negotiating and planning skills.
How is it Trump’s fault? The strait was open until he attacked Iran. He destabilized the government. Although a hardliner is in power, the factions are stronger now. They’ve seen that blocking the strait is a money-making proposition. A toll must be paid to get through. Thanks, Dozy Donny.
Ever a cliche, Trump warned Iran, “No more mister nice guy.” Apparently, he thinks that dropping bombs, killing a few thousand people and threatening to wipe them out is being ‘mister nice guy’.
I read up about TrumpRx this morning. If you recall, Trump touted this as a historical achievement which will significantly impact drug prices.
- About 24,000 drugs are available for sale in the US. TrumpRx has less than 100 on it.
- A survey of adults showed that two thirds said they’d heard nothing or little about TrumpRx.
This is much like Trump’s other promises, big on hyperbole, short on execution, tiny on impact. Examples of that is his wall with Mexico. Now in Trump’s second year of his second term, 25 miles have been added. But they have big plans…
Trump has canceled Operation LOOK – SQUIRREL! He’s replacing with Operation EPIC LOOK – SQUIRREL! This is because Trump and his planners like using ‘epic’ in their project names. Operation EPIC LOOK – SQUIRREL! has two objectives: stop people from talking about Trump’s role in Epstein’s life and crimes, and to improve Trump’s approval ratings.
Unfortunately, it’s not working for him to date. His approval ratings are tanking. Two thirds of the nation say the nation is heading in the wrong direction.
I have Bruce Springsteen singing “Hungry Heart” in my morning mental music stream. I have no idea why The Neurons are playing it. Far as I could tell, the 1980 song is a jaunty tune about a man abandoning his wife and children. But that’s The Neurons for you: they play by their own rules.
I’m off to Operation Epic Yard Waste Cleanup. Loaded it all up last night. Now it’s time to drive to the disposal center, get in line, and drop it off.
Hope you all have a great day, full of peace, love, and good food.
Cheers
Saturday’s Theme Music – Have A Bite!
Ashland, Oregon — Saturday, April 18, 2026.
Warming up today. 56 degrees, climbing to 75 as the sky goes full blue. After Saturday and Sunday going to the 70s, rain is expected Monday and most of the week, with high temperatures in the mid to upper fifties.
Scanning the news, I read a good piece from Digby, Trump’s El Foldo, about Trump’s Iran deal. They pointed out how Trump raged about President Obama releasing 1.7 billion to Iran.
Trump outdid that, of course, without a shred of self-awareness or irony, releasing 20 billion dollars to Iran according to some news reports. It’s a payoff to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, which were already open before Trump bombed Iran. It’s also a payoff to stop Iran’s nuclear program, which started on a fast track once Trump began his first term and tore up the agreement the United States had with Iran.
That’s the Trump shuffle: one step forward, five steps back.
The NYTimes has obtained Supreme Court ‘shadow papers’ regarding their shadow docket, where they decide cases with little to no explanation. Did not read the documents yet, but I read the reporters take on them. The most infuriating takeaway:
The conservatives reacted to Obama’s use of power very differently from Trump’s.
Yeah, no shit. We’ve known this. Seeing it in print just stimulates my fury about GOP hypocrisy and double standards.
The rest of the papers seem to show that Roberts’ drive was a personal grudge against the Obama Administration and the EPA, and not about legal reasoning, which is something that we’ve long suspected. Roberts is supposedly thinking more about his ‘legacy’ these days; if so, these revelations did substantial damage.
There are also articles about the huge price increase — from $12.90 to $150 — for World Cup spectators to take the train to get nine miles to Met Life Stadium, Trump’s massive, ridiculous monument to himself (the drunk arch), and how much it’s costing to retrofit Qatari’s gift aircraft.
Everything Trump does stinks of ‘me first’. There is little outside of his braying that is ‘America first’. Sending Vance to campaign for Orbán; America first? Really?
And then, just to fuel that extra edge of anger I feel about the Trump administration:
Hundreds of Fake Pro-Trump Avatars Emerge on Social Media
Sure, tell me again the fable that this is all about truth, justice, and the ‘American Way’.
I remain convinced that all of this is still part of Operation LOOK — SQUIRREL! to keep the public from knowing what Trump did with Epstein, which is why all the files are still not released. Trump’s minions have claimed several times that all were released, only to later reveal that more unreleased files exist. Tell me again that they’re not hiding something.
In a sliver of good news, US gas prices dropped seven cents. The average price per gallon still remains over $4 a gallon.
Is it any surprise that My Neurons have Aerosmith serenading me with “Eat the Rich” from 1993 in my morning mental music stream?
Jean Jacques Rousseau originated the phrase, “Eat the rich”, during the French Revolution. Little ironic that a rock band of wealthy successful individuals advocate ‘eat the rich’.
Lyrics
Well I woke up this morning
On the wrong side of the bed
And how I got to thinkin'
About all those things you said
About ordinary people
And how they make you sick
And if callin' names kicks back on you
Then I hope this does the trick
'cause I'm sick of your complainin'
About how many bills
And I'm sick of all your bitchin'
'Bout your poodles and your pills
And I just can't see no humor
About your way of life
And I think I can do more for you
With this here fork and knife
Eat the rich
There's only one thing that they are good for
Eat the rich
Take one bite now - come back for more
Eat the rich
I gotta get this off my chest
Eat the rich
Take one bite now - spit out the rest
I got a little coffee to wash down a few bites of the rich. I hope you have a significantly satisfying Saturday.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music – Wild Life
Ashland, Oregon — Friday, April 17, 2026.
The clock is running; here we go.
It’s up to 44 from its overnight low of 32 F. Clouds and fog were graying the blue sky but now they’re gone. Unbridled sunshine lights up the green spring world. We’re heading for the upper sixties, they say.
Mom’s deadline is today. 30 days ago, she told the assisted living facility she was moving out. She then started searching for someone to ‘take her home’. It’s been a tug of war since. Today is quiet; no texts from Mom or sisters. I wait on pins and needles.
There’s breaking news — again.
Crude oil prices fell to $90 a barrel based on something Iran was said to agree to. The stock markets were quick to shout good news and go up, but then, that is its modern nature.
We won’t know what it means for a while. Higher oil prices are already embedded in our economic fabric. It will take a while to get it out.
Will the war be over? Will the US military forces leave that area? Depends on what Trump’s bones say.
Even if this war ends, what will happen next? What nation will Trump next attack?
Waiting to see when SOUTHCOM kills some more people in boats in the Pacific.
Still waiting to see what else is in the Epstein files.
Still waiting to see what’s really going on with Trump’s health and mind.
That brings me to “Wild Wild Life”, a 1986 song by Talking Heads.
I’d read a piece about Kavanagh saying, oh, based on Dobbs and original intent, the military draft could be illegal, because it’s not mentioned in the Constitution. That encourage me to scowl and mutter about cherry picking precedence and the dead hand of our founders — all white men — orchestrating our response to modern issues via conservatives who want to turn back the clock.
That all triggered Der Neurons to bring “Wild Wild Life” lyrics into the morning mental music stream.
Like sitting on pins and needles
Things fall apart
It’s scientific
Sleeping on the Interstate, oh-oh-oh
Getting wild, wild life
Checking in and checking out, oh-oh-oh
I got ’em, wild, wild life
Spending all of my money and time, oh-oh-oh
On too much wild, wild life
We wanna go and we go where we go, oh-oh-oh
Ah, doing wild, wild life
I know it, that’s how we start, oh-oh-oh
Got some wild, wild life
h/t to musixmatch.com
Hope your wild, wild, Friday is a safe, prosperous, peaceful one for you, maybe with a little celebration and libation. Have the best one you can make.
Coffee, please.
Cheers
Wednesday’s Theme Music – History
Ashland, Oregon — April 15, 2025.
A gray dawn in Ashland. Rain is expected throughout the day as clouds gather and temperatures drift from the low forties to the low fifties. Temperatures are expected to drop into the low thirties tomorrow morning. A frost warning is in effect.
Reason.com reminded us of Trump and the emptiness of his declarations and claims. This one was about the national debt. Ten years ago, Trump said he would eliminate the national debt. Oh, the cheers he got for that.
They asked him, how long would it take? “Fairly quickly,” Trump replied. When pressed for a more specific answer, Trump provided a shocking timeline. “Well, I would say over a period of eight years.”
Analysis showed that Trump was blowing wind. His plans to eliminate the national debt was diametrically opposed to his plans to lower taxes. Lower taxes won.
The national debt was 19 trillion dollars ten years ago. It’s now 39 trillion dollars. President Biden added to it, but Trump has done most of the damage.
Put this in their with the other claims he’s made. That’s he’s the peace president. A unifier. That he was going to replace Obamacare with a much better plan. That Mexico would pay for the wall. That he would lower prices from day one. That he would drain the swamp, eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse.
That he would release the Epstein files on day one.
Sickening how much he has lied and done to destroy the nation. More sickeningly, so many Republicans still cheer him on.
Also in the news, SOUTHCOM reported that they’d destroyed another boat and killed four more people.
It was the fourth attack in four days. No war; no court; no evidence. No judge, jury, ruling. Just Trump ordering the US military to kill untried civilians.
Today’s song comes from 1986. The Neurons had nothing to do with it. I read the news and remembered “Bullet the Blue Sky” by U2. Inspired by what Bono witnessed the US military doing in El Salvador and Nicaragua under Reagan. Much like now, when Trump is using military force in the name of Christianity, morality, democracy, and freedom to kill others. Sadly, this is an American tradition. Trump is just being overt, boastful, and brazen about it.
It’s demoralizing and depressing, but angers me as well, watching Trump tear down our norms and violate the laws, throw his name on everything, build monuments to himself. Meanwhile, measles outbreaks are on the rise, food and gas prices are climbing, and Trump is killing and destroying in our name. Our national debt grows but worse is what he’s done to our reputation and morals.
I hope your Wednesday is filled with peace and grace, and that we can garner the voice and political will to move us toward a better future, like the future we were once moving toward.
Cheers
The Net’s Take: This Week with Trump
Humor, facts, truth, history, reminders…and Melania.
History
The Art of the Deal
Pretty bad people…
Behold, TACO’s Arch
Ah, memories…
USA…not first for Trump…
Friday’s Theme Music – The Circus
Ashland, Oregon — Friday, April 10, 2026.
56 F right now, 62 is our projected high on a day when rain clouds have moved in and await their cue.
Had a big-ass thunderstorm here yesterday. Began with a heavy rain. Not monsoon level — I’ve experienced them in Southeast Asia — but heavier, harder, more intense than we typically experience. Thunder rolled in.
I went out on the porches to check the gutters. There are two places where the water was splashing out. They’re the usual suspects and need cleaned out again.
While I was out there, I saw lightning to the north. As I thought, lightning, boom, thunder cracked through the valley, violent and loud. That storm was right on top of us. We experienced several more sharp flashes of lightning and deep thunder and then it moved on.
I checked on Papi. My poor orange boi was retired to the master closet. No windows there. It’s his standard safe haven.
Stalemate with Mom continues. Won’t sell her house and asks my sister when the house is being put up for sale. Insists that she can live alone, and rejects anyone telling her otherwise. Doesn’t have a plan except to get out of the assisted living place. Which was basically her plan when she lived with my sister. It’s so frustrating.
Melania Trump stormed onto the national stage to insist that she doesn’t have anything to do with Jeffrey Epstein, and put in a demand about helping the victims.
Meanwhile, inflation was up in March to the highest level in two years, 3.3%. Gasoline prices in the US climbed over 21%. It all can all be traced to Trump’s war on Iran.
Trump responded by releasing a graphic, violent, racist video on ‘Truth Social’ and blaming President Biden.
Who is surprised by any of this? This is par for Trump, creating a distraction from bad news, especially inflation and Epstein, and blaming others. Trump has turned our lives into a three-ring circus.
Today’s song is “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes. This came about when I was doing something and my dream surged back to me. I said, “Hold on,” and spent a moment collecting and assembling dream pieces.
But The Neurons, being who they are, kicked “Hold On” into the morning mental music stream. It’s a solid choice. I heard it I think the year it came out. But when I first heard it on the radio, they never told the song’s title or performer. So I listened, memorizing lines, then went back in and did a net search. Glad I did.
It’s also a song I don’t ever hear being played on the radio these days. That’s a shame.
Hope you and yours are doing well, and peace and grace carry you through whatever the circus of life brings to town.
Cheers
My Young Friend’s Thoughts
A young friend wrote this email and sent it out to our group last night.
::sigh:: I feel particularly human today. As I sit at the white kitchen table in front of my computer screen, the light of our day star shines through a faceted crystal as it twirls in the open window, scattering little rainbows everywhere as if the sun is giving me a way to appreciate its beauty without hurting my eyes. I look at the spectrum of visible colors dancing around me and sit with the mirrored spectrum of feelings I’m experiencing today.
Homo sapiens have officially traveled farther away from our blue planet than ever before, and I am beaming with pride for that collective achievement. The Artemis II team represents the best we have to offer, and this mission to push beyond our earthly constraints and explore out into the unknown is the very essence of what it means to be human. NASA’s “Earthset” image was the first thing I saw on my Instagram feed when I woke up this morning, and it genuinely brought me joy to share in a new view of our home world and where we are in the cosmos that has never before been seen or captured by human eyes. This is a monumental moment, and I love it.
Then I saw the list of collaborators on the Instagram post: @nasa, @potus, and @whitehouse. My joy rapidly receded and was replaced by other equal and opposite emotions. Here we’ve got a team of brilliant, dedicated, model humans bravely taking us to the frontier of exploration, and their massive accomplishments are getting co-opted by a demented, cowardly, serial grifter and his pandering White House that exists only to stroke his rotting, intumescent ego. The most anti-science, anti-woman, anti-diversity, anti-progress regime our modern nation has ever suffered is basking in the achievements of people they vocally despise while they try to cut $5.6 billion (23%) of NASA’s budget, a move that would slash their science program in half. The first woman to fly on a moon-bound mission is currently out there making human history on a spacecraft named after a Greek goddess that represented and defended everything quintessentially female, while at home, white Christian nationalists who advocate for ending women’s suffrage and support “biblical patriarchy” are leading prayer services at the Pentagon and gaining political power. The first Black astronaut ever to be sent on a lunar mission is piloting our future into the stars, while an alcoholic, abusive, lascivious, vapid, Fox News host whose greatest recent accomplishment is not sexually assaulting anyone this week, fires Black service members because “woke”. Kind, thoughtful, smart people are out there in the lifeless vacuum of space naming a bright spot on the previously unexplored dark side of the moon after a person they loved and lost, while down here, a senile, malignanat narcissist who rapes kids threatens to wipe out “a whole civilization” in the war he started so he and his billionare buddies could stay out of prison and make disgusting sums of money while helping Israel genocide their way into an exciting new realestate opportunity. This is a monumental moment, and I hate it.
This is what I mean by feeling particularly human today. I’m feeling absolutely everything right now and it’s wonderful, and horrible, and joyous, and infuriating, and inspirational, and disgusting, and just, overwhelming. And here we all sit today, uncertain of the future because our collective fates lie in the tiny, decaying hands of a greedy, failed business man with a full diaper and an empty heart. There’s a nonzero chance that everything changes today, and I wanted to share my perspective in case anyone else was feeling the gravity of this moment in a similar way but hadn’t expressed it. I love this planet with everything I have, but I hate the world we’ve made.
Tuesday’s Theme Music – Hang On
Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, April 7, 2026.
54 F right now under light clouds skirmishing with blue skies, we’re anticipating a high of 75 F.
It’s a whirlwind morning. Sis is picking up her car from its body shop repairs AND taking Mom to the doctors at the same time. It’s a high-wire act.
Meanwhile, sis has been assisting Mom and is now suggesting maybe Mom should live alone, maybe with help from Visiting Angels.
More critically, Trump is escalating his rhetoric against Iran. After practically vanishing for a few days, he emerged to bless the people of Iran while threatening to kill them. So sane. So smart.
How seriously do we take Trump and this threat — and what can we do. His whole approach to the war he started with Iran has been one of his patented crazy weaves.
Mock Paper Scissors brought us the highlights about Trump and what he’s said about his war. “We’ve won, we’re close to winning, it’s over, close to over, here’s a deadline — and another — and another — and another.” It’s like dealing with a drunk relative when you’re trying to tell them it’s not safe for them to drive.
Trump is loving it in the spotlight. Judging from their silence, Republicans seem to like it as well. They’re saying, “Yes, threatening to destroy another nation, basically for existing. That’s exactly what we Christians voted for in 2024.”
What is interesting as well is that Trump was losing ground with Evangelicals — until he attacked Iran. Now he’s gaining ground with them again. I cringe to think how happy they would be if he actually nuked Iran.
What was that Trump said about no more wars? What was that about being a unifier and peace president?
What was that Trump said about lowering prices? That was before he decided to start bombing Iran, which raised prices for air travel, food, and anything related to gas and oil.
What was that Trump said about bombing Iran in 2025 and obliterating their nuclear program?
We still wait for the full release of the Epstein files, too. How many times has that been promised?
Today’s music came from the thought I had upon reading several Trump posts, “Something has you going tonight.” I thought that because his crazy level seemed to be higher. Was he hopped up on sugar or off some secret meds they’re given him, or enduring a UTI?
Eavesdropping on me, The Neurons pulled that line out of an April Wine song, “I Like to Rock”. That began playing in my morning mental music stream. Then I had to sit back and think, what is that song?
My mind refused to cooperate, holding my thinking for ransom until I gave them coffee and a chocolate biscotti. Then they finally identified the song and band.
Hope peace and grace come our way, and lands on Trump without getting blown out of the sky, and helps him see reason. Fingers crossed, right, that he doesn’t escalate us into WWIII.
Cheers
More Foolish Thinkin’
April Fool’s Day?
Or just the regular fool?
Donald Trump drops hint about potential plan to add 6 new states to US
When I read that aloud to my wife, she replied, “Is that an April Fool’s joke?”
I laughed. Her suggestion made sense.
I read the article for more information. It referenced the flag on Trump’s proposed Miami library. Apparently, it has six extra stars.
My guess is, it’s a standard Trump error. He’s a sloppy thinker, leading a cabinet of sloppy thinkers. Putting too many stars on the US flag aligns with their sloppy trends.
Just as likely, it’s another attempt to distract us from the Epstein files, and — or — how badly Trump’s Iran War is going, along with rising prices, legal rulings going against him, rising measles, and falling approval ratings.
When you think about it, things are going bad for Dizzy Donny. If he follows his previous patterns, he’ll make some new bizarre announcement.
Maybe six new states, even.
