Science fiction, fantasy, mystery and what-not
Trying to catch him is like reaching for sushine in the air
He’s so quick, elusive, it’s just not fair.
Passing us in a blaze of light,
He’s a wingless small animal lifting off in flight.
His burst of speed has no rhyme nor reason,
And seems independent of time and season.
Just as we keep wondering why and thinking where,
He comes back with a purr, his tail in the air.
As with many humans, I’m a fan of the look back. That’s the manuever engaged as you walk away from a chair or table: you look back to ensure you haven’t forgotten or dropped something.
I watch people conduct their look back and happen to see three women leave their table without doing the look back. As I thought that through, I saw a purse hanging over the back of a chair. As I rose to cross to get it and chase them down, the woman hustled back in with an alarmed expression. Hope she’s learned and plans to look back in the future.
BTW, would the look back be a good dance move? I could see it. You might be doing it on the dance floor.
And on the last day of January of 2025, rain fell on Ashlandia.
Yes, it’s Frieda, January 31, 2025, and rain is peppering Ashlandia. 41 F outside, ‘they’ inform us that it’ll edge close to 50 F before day surrenders to night. Visibility is limited by low, white clouds. Can’t look across the valley to see what’s happening there, or further up the southern range, to see if this precipitation has cast its lot with snow anywhere.
I’m happy with the rain, but not all in the household share the pleasure. Papi has traveled in and out in search of better weather. My wife said that at one point, she opened the door for him to come back in, but he acted like he wanted her to come outside. “I think he was saying, it’s raining, come out here and change the weather,” she related.
Alas, we don’t have the weather change app yet so we couldn’t help him. That forces him to go out and in and forces us to open and close doors for his travels. It’s become stale after ten rounds. We might be starkers by mid-afternoon.
Spending of starkers — no, I’m not going into politics yet. Too damn early to burst my spirit with tales from the dark side. I will say that I read that one Trump supporter, a Muslim, approves of Trump’s first days of activity. I’m waiting for the other shoe on that FAFO situation to drop. Like that man who wholly supported Trump’s actions until they came and took his wife away. Then, suddenly, he is crying, woe is me, and personally begging Trump himself to not take his wife away. They just don’t get it, do they? Trump and his minions care for no one but themselves. For that matter, Trump only cares about Trump. And he’ll lie in a breath without a thought. He’ll also speak without a thought, too, as he keeps proving. On further evidence, Trump supporters are like Trump in many ways, unaffected by these policies until it hits them, thinking only of themselves until it hits them, blissfully oblivious to what they say and do until it comes back and bites them in the ass.
The Neurons have brought up a 1993 Billy Joel tune. “The River of Dreams” is playing in the morning mental music stream. It has a sort of Gospel/spiritual flavor infusing it. The Neurons offered it to the stream after I’d gotten up in the middle of the night. Yes, a cat was involved. After taking care of the cat need, I had several needs, involving trips to the kitchen and the bathroom. I hadn’t turned on any lights, but we have several recessed night lights installed. Anyway, I also wandered to the window to check on the rain. That’s when the song came in. Joel sings, “In the middle of the night, I go walking in my sleep.” Seemed kinda apt at the time, in The Neurons’ opinion. Yes, although there are millions of them, the usually speak with one collective opinion.
Coffee is making its way through my systems, delivering whatever help it can. Time to fly. Hope your day is up to your hopes and aspirations wherever you might travel or whatever you do.* Here we go. Cheers
*Certain restrictions may apply.
Flooftwin (floofinition) – Person and animal who bear startling resemblance to each other. Origins: 1960s United States.
In Use: “Among some of the stereofloofs that exist is the meme that bulldogs and their male owners are frequently flooftwins.”
In Use: “Sometimes, in response to a perception that a person and their pet are flooftwins, the human will start dressing the animal in the same style of clothes that they wear.”
The “Letter from God” website has some deets about Trump’s Federal freezes and the MAGAs. Here are some insightful excerpts.
1. Conservative Churches Hit By Freeze
Trump, in his infinite idiocy and corruption, decided to freeze ALL federal grants and loans. This includes SNAP/EBT, TANF, WIC, federal student loans, and other critical programs. In addition, “Mr. Drain-The-Swamp” just fired 15 Inspectors General, the watchdogs responsible for rooting out corruption and ensuring funds are properly used. It’s looting in broad daylight.
But while liberals have been warning about Trump’s cruelty for years, MAGA supporters are only now realizing—too late—that they’ve been played.
2. MAGA Tears Are Delicious
Whether it be freezing funding, deportations, tarrifs, or ending DEI programs, Trump’s voters thought they were electing a savior to punish everyone they hate. Instead, they’re the ones bearing the brunt of his policies.
Did you know that white women were the prime beneficiaries of DEI programs, by far? Lots of Trump supporters in that group.
Get thee on over there. It’s worth the click to read.
It’s funny, sometimes.
My wife picked up a skillet the other day. Washed and dried, she was putting it away. When she turned, the skillet nailed her glass of water on the counter. Put the glass airborne and shattered it into sixteen zillion pieces of glass. Water, Everywhere.
We have hardwood floors in that part of the house — kitchen, foyer, dining room, halls. The glass was cleaned up as best as we could. But. It’s glass.
A few days after the incident, a piece of glass found my heel. Bleeding and pain followed. As the situation unfolded, after almost fifty years of marriage and three more years of being together, my wife asked me, “Why aren’t you wearing shoes?”
I replied, “I don’t wear shoes in the house.”
Yep, it’s funny, sometimes.
My wife has a new laptop ‘puter. “How should I keep it clean?” she asked me. “What should I use? I want to keep it clean. I was terrible about that with my last one and I don’t want to be like that this time.”
“I don’t know how to keep it clean,” I replied, although I had some ideas like, don’t eat while you’re using it.
“But I thought you were a tech guy and knows all this stuff.”
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else. Why don’t you research how to keep it clean? You know, search the net.”
“I am researching. I’m asking you.”
I laughed. “Okay, I’ll do a quick search.”
“See?” my wife exclaimed with a grin. “It worked.”
We both laughed.
Infloofition (floofinition) – The ability to know without direct evidence, rational thought, or inference, what an animal will do. Origins: Middle Flooflish, from the Flooftin, first noted use in 1600.
In Use: “Connie’s infloofition caused her to sigh, put down her novel, and head for the door. Rascal had gone out through the pet door six minutes before, and a fight was overdue.”
In Use: “Taylor put their plate down and went to fetch a glass of tea when infloofition made them rush back to their food just as Munchkin arrived to make it hers.”
Ashlandia is soaking in blue sky and sunshine. The temperature has topped 33 degrees F. But the good weather news is that the conditions causing the stagnant air has ended. Besides causing an accumulation of pollution and reducing the air quality, stagnant air in the winter seems to amplify the cold. Feels like that cold air is just marching walls. Maybe that’s just my impression but when I mentioned it to friends, they agreed that they noticed the same. Anyway, we’ll going to scale the thermometer all the way up into the fifties again. A cold spell is on the way, though. Don’t know if it’ll bring any snow; we still have not had winter snow.
The cats inspired The Neurons this morning. The floofs began singing ‘feed me’ while I was still burrowed in my warm bed. Each took turns entering the room to sing, “Feed me.” Soon, their singing had taken on the cadence of a 1998 song by Sixpence None The Richer called “Kiss Me”. Not long after that, “Kiss Me” chased the dreams out of my head and was circulating in the morning mental music stream. I have no choice but to make it today’s theme music for this Saturday, January 25, 2025. You should mark this day as special, because historians say that there will never again be a 1/25/2025. I don’t know if you believe that, because historians are a flighty bunch, prone to partying and making wild claims.
Speaking of kissing, coffee and I have made up and kissed. There was just a small spate, brought on by my quasi-firm rule not to drink coffee after 4 PM. It hurt coffee’s feelings. So I had to apologize to it this morning, reassuring it, “Of course I’ll drink you after four.” Had to repeat it a few times because coffee was like, “You’re just saying that.” But coffee finally accepted, and now I’m drinking it again.
Hope you have a strong day in your location, no matter your activity, although certain restrictions about murder and abuse apply. Here’s the song. It’s a solid soft rock-pop offering with delicate folksy overtones. Hope it helps your Saturday on its way. Cheers
I admire the GOTP’s restraint so far. The Grand Ol’ Trump Party is forcing the United States back into th 1800s. Yet, they’re still allowing modern inventions like aircraft, cars, and electricity. Of course, we are speaking of Trump. We know his sense of history is as broken as a rusted washing machine in a weed-infested front yard. He probably thinks they had these things back in those days. In his mind, the shootout at the OK Corral in 1881 has a different slant.
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral pitted Cowboys against members of a loosely organized group of liberals and Democrats called Black Lives Matter on October 26, 1881. Wyatt Earp was the town’s sheriff. His buddy, Doc Holliday had just driven in and finished checking in at the local Marriott. They were planning to do a few rounds of golf. You know, to relax.
They were big golfers in those days. One of the reasons I took up golf was because my heroes all golfed. Though none of them are as good as me. I’m one of the greatest golfers ever. I was doing a round the other day with Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, and Ben Hogan. You know who they are, right? Pretty good, golfers, pretty good. They asked me, Donald, why didn’t you ever go pro? You could have been the greatest. You are the greatest but your name will be left off the record books because you never went pro. But I had other things I was doing. That’s why I never went pro. I wanted to save America and I knew if I went pro, if I became a golf pro, I might not save America. Not because I didn’t want to or because I didn’t have the time or energy. I always have the time and energy to save America. That’s just how these things go. You know what I’m saying?
Now, meeting with Wyatt, the two were waiting for Wyatt’s brothers, Virgin and Morgan, to get in from the airport. After the men got together, they decided to go have a drink to unwind, before they went golfing. They were walking down the street, minding their own business, when a truck full of thugs drove past, taunting them from the windows and making un-American comments about the Bible. A Black Lives Matter banner hung from the truck’s back window, so you know they’re trouble. They’d just, there had just been a big battle, a war, some might even call it, a civil war, fought over states’ rights to carry guns and worship as they pleased. Led by Dems and Liberals, the Black Lives Matter thugs had fought against the states’ rights, cuz they’re not Christians. The Constitution says to honor thy mother and father, but it also says, obey the good book, that’s the Bible, and the lord, thy God. That’s what that fight was all about, the right to worship like a good Christian as you please. Who wouldn’t want that? Nobody. No American wouldn’t.
Well, Wyatt and the boys saw the thugs park their truck up at the OK Corral Diner. Don’t know if you’ve ever eaten at one of those, but they have really good food there, really great food, all-American offerings like spaghetti and meat balls and pizza. I highly recommend eating there. When the thugs left their vehicle, they tore up an American flag hanging by the diner’s entrance before they went in.
Well, that was too much for the Earps and Holiday. They were strong men. Powerful men, patriotic men. They weren’t going to let thugs like those desecrate the stars and stripes. No way. So they marched right into the diner and confronted the Dems and told them they needed to apologize to everyone for what they’d done to the flag. Of course, the others refused, and there was a shoot-out. And Wyatt and his brothers killed them. It became a famous shoot-out, very famous, very well-known, one of the greatest moments in American history, the shootout at the OK Corral Diner. And that’s what it was about, respecting the American flag. And the Bible.
So that’s Trump’s view of history in America. Next: the GOTP is putting forward a bill to change the names of the months used in the United States. January will be renamed Trumpuary in honor of Trump’s inauguration and the way he saved America. July will be renamed Donald.
That way, we can all celebrate the 4th of Donald.
Michael Seidel, writer 