Hidenget(floofinition) – Game played by animals, and sometimes by humans and animals. Fluid rules allow many variations, but the basic tenet is that one will hide and then spring out on the other. Origins: unknown, but observed and videotaped in many homes around the world in the 21st century.
In use: “Michael and Papi love playing hidenget in the morning, with the ginger floof racing off and ducking behind something as Michael breaks off chase and hides. Watching each other, they sneak out and then run towards the other’s position, and one will then chase the other around rooms and down halls.”
Heard from my wife, who heard from a friend that other friends have been stricken with COVID. See, the annual Easter brunch planning is underway. We’re invited. So are the COVID couple. The wife answered the evite that they have COVID now but were hopeful they’d be better by the end of the month. She — the wife — has it worse.
Concerning, yes. As concerning are the ration of natural questions which come with COVID announcements. How’d they get it, and when? When did they test, and how are they both doing? What are their symptoms?
Floofitime(floofinition)1. Time set aside or dedicated to an animal’s needs or activities. Originally used in US households in the 1980s.
In Use: “The dogs know that 6 PM meant the floofitime for their walk, and they weren’t concerned about no stinkin’ snowstorm.”
2. Of or relating to things associated with animals. First observed in Europe in the 1640s.
In Use: “The typical floofitime identifiers — cat and dog toys, beds, and feeding stations — immediately marked the home as a floof-friendly, or floendly, as Mom used to say, home.”
Say hello to my little friend, Wednesday, March 6 2024.
It’s a no day here. No sunshine. No rain or snow but no blue sky, either. No wind. Just a flat gray cover tucked in around our valley.
It’s 40 F now, just 4 degrees short of today’s high, and 11 above today’s low, giving us 35 degrees of latitude. Fortunately, besides being a no day, it’s a slow day. Speaking for myself, of course.
There have been several yawn moments in this week’s news. Republicans might be mounting a campaign to oust Speaker Johnson. What? Can that be possible from the Chaos Party? Of course it can. Yawn. This is not a plot twist. It’s standard GOP formula.
SCOTUS ruled against the 14th Amendment and in favor of Trump. Yaaawwwn. No surprise there at all from that conservative body of ‘originalists’.
The RNC confirmed that they’ll keep booting funds to pay for the presumptive candidate’s legal fees. Yaaawwwnnn. Say what? Wake me up when they quit kowtowing to Trump. I think there’ll be a second coming of Jesus before we see them disavow Trump in any meaningful way.
Haley exits GOP POTUS race. Well, I hoped she’d stay in but — yawwwnnn — she was the last challenger to Trump and under enormous pressures. Not much surprise that she ‘bowed out’ despite my optimism she’d stay in and undermine Trump just a little. Meanwhile — huge jaw-breaking yawn — Mitch McConnell endorsed Trump for POTUS. What next? MTG accuses others of unproven crimes? Boebert’s family has more trouble? Moms for Liberty tries to ban more books? YAAWWWNNN.
It’s so sad. These people and their attacks on our freedoms, and their duplicity, mendacity, and hypocrisy are their established norms. So I’m yawning from the news because the shitshow is the same old, same old bullshit from last week, last month, and last year. It’s the same ol’ bull since Trump emerged and took control of that spineless party. The GOP admires and supports Trump, no matter how many crimes he’s committed, how many times he was impeached, how bigly he lost his re-election bid, how poor his mental acuity seems to be, no matter how many times he’s been married, how much fraud he’s committed, how many lies he’s made, how many false claims thrown around, no matter, no matter, no matter. That’s punctuated not with a yawn, but a disappointed, weary, sigh.
Don’t give into the yawns. Abetted by the press, Trump’s behavior and the GOP, its double standards, and its fascist authoritarian tendencies are being normalized. Rise up, lean forward, and Vote Blue. Vote like it matters, because it does if you don’t want your children’s reading material and education abridged by these white Christian Nationalists. Vote like it matters that we have a government that works, that women’s rights aren’t truncated again and again in the name of someone else’s religion. Vote like it matters that we don’t abandon allies and treaties, and vote like no one can be above the law in the United States, that people must be held accountable. Vote like you like the ideals that a more perfect union can offer us, if we have the strength and keep our vision clear.
Musically, today’s trail begins with Jill Dennison’s blog and not with the plethora of dreams from last night. Jill’s song offering was “Get Together” by The Youngbloods. It’s a song from my childhood and I greatly enjoy it. Then Rawgod posted a comment about the songwriter and included a link so we could read about him. A click later, and I was on Tom MacInnes’s website being reminded of Chet Powers. Chet Powers, aka Dino Valenti of Quicksilver Messenger Service.
QMS was sadly a short-lived group. But before they were gone, they came out with a 1970 song called “Fresh Air”. I loved “Fresh Air” as soon as I first heard it. Reminded me of Santana. I thought, this band is going places, and I was all in. They didn’t, and you can read about the reasons at Mr. MacInnes’s site. Just click the link.
Meanwhile, though, The Neurons remembered “Fresh Air” and scooped it out of memory and dropped it into the memory mental music stream (Trademark coming in 2 weeks, swear to dog). It’s all about six degrees, isn’t it? From childhood to now via the net.
Here’s the music. I’m soaking up the coffee and looking for the sunshine. Cheers
Floofatize – (floofinition) – To change something from being for a human or human activity to one suiting animals. Origins: early 1960s, American homes.
In Use: “As soon as the rescue dog acclimated to his new home, he began floofatizing certain sleeping locations to claim it as his own.”
In Use: “Within a short time of adopting two cats, the patio was floofatized into a catio.”
Hey, Terra fans, welcome to another edition of Tuesday. Today, for the first time ever anywhere*, we bring you March 5, 2024. It’s a robust 37 degrees F right now in Ashlandia but we’ll soon be soaring to 43 F before sun pulls its light from our valley.
All the snow is gone (which somehow triggers “all the leaves are brown” from “California Dreamin'” by The Mamas and the Papas in the morning mental music stream).
Michelle Phillips is the only remaining member alive of the classic line-up.
Rain continues its beat (bringing The Neurons to start “We Got the Beat” by the Go-Go’s in the morning mental music stream) (Trademark coming in two weeks, I swear, and it’ll be the most beautiful trademark anyone has ever seen). But then, thinking about the Go-Go’s, I ended up with “Going to a Go-Go” by the Miracles from 1965.
The version done by the Rolling Stones also floated along the meandering morning mental music stream, though. I prefer Smokey and the Miracles version. It’s just tighter to me, but one can’t easily just dismiss the Stones.
However, another song was in the MMMS, freshly peeled from a pass through the guest room. On the bed in there is a pillow which says, “Be Our Guest”, navy script on oatmeal. Goes well with the dark blue duvet cover. As I glanced its way, “Be Our Guest” kicked up in the MMMS. I knew the song but remembered nothing else about it except it was a while back that I learned it. A net search rewarded me with Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury singing “Be Our Guest” from Disney’s animated version of Beauty and the Beast from 1991.
Odd underlying connections do bring some of these things together more. Besides the go-go connections between the Go-Go’s and “Going To A Go-Go”, and the guest room pillow and “Be Our Guest”, the Go-Go’s debut album, which featured “We Got the Beat”, was called, Beauty and the Beat. Wild how the mind can work. Those Neurons are sly little tricksters.
As I mused through all of that, I wondered what folks remember about things like go-go’s, which were forerunners of discotheques, which were forerunners of discos, which themselves were born from dance halls (at least as I see it), and which begat things like raves and dance parties. That’s my impression of it all from what I recall at this point, just starting on coffee, from my life.
My housefloof, the black and white cat hailed as Tucker, is doing much better as he prepares for his dental surgery later this month. I cut back on his pain med because he was sleeping all day long. I wanted him to be a little more active and eat more, which he didn’t do while asleep. He seems to like the shift and ate very well today.
Stay positive, be sensible, remain strong, lean forward, and vote. The list is getting lengthy. Coffee helps me remember it all. Here’s the music. Cheers
* We don’t really know if this is the first time that there’s been a March 5, 2024 but as far as we can tell from memories and all the records so far discovered, this is it, kids.
Polyfloofmourus – (floofinition) – 1. An animal who visits several different places to exchange love with the inhabitants. Origins: early floofish, specific origins unknown.
In Use: “The big tom was known by several names, like Sketchy, Scratchy, Mike, and Nomad, and made a circuit of the neighborhood homes, stopping by to drop off purrs, accept pets and treats, play with others, and nap.”
In Use: “While Bonnie was Billy’s owner, Billy was naturally polyfloofmourus and visited neighbors to nap and eat, returning home to Bonnie after she came home from work.”
2. A person or animal who loves more than one animal.
In Use: “With cat, dog, goat, hamster, bird, deer, horse, cow, and sheep friends before she was five years old, Kamron established early on that she was polyfloofmourus, and stayed so as she matured and became an adult.
Floiche(floofinition) – A small place, often recessed and frequently hidden, that an animal finds suitable to stay, especially a hiding, sleeping, or spying space. Origins: early Internet, from English, combining floof and niche.
In Use: “A small cat, Quinn demonstrated an impressive jumping and climbing prowess and enjoyed floiches such as behind a stash of snacks atop the refrigerator, on top of books on the shelves, or in the closet on hangers, making finding him a daunting task.”
In Use: “Being a large dog, Bruno Mars’ natural floiches were in the open, typically on his big cloud of a bed, which is why he was so dismayed when the tiny rescue kittens came in and took his bed over.”
In Use: “A clever bird, Roscoe went high or low his floiches and always used cover, forcing people to mount long search parties through the house to discover where he was.”
Floofsent (floofinition) – A state where animals won’t give or will withold approval or agreement, leaving others frustrated and confused; an ambivalent response by an animal caused by conflicting messages with their environment or memories. Origins: United States, early twenty-first century, Internet.
In Use: “One challenge many humans encounter is the animal concept of floofsent, in which they’ll display intentions to agree or accomodate what is being proposed while also demonstrating that something is bothering them.”
In Use: “The eminent floofologist, I.M. Thunken, believes that floofsent is a state animals encounter while trying to address mixed messages their superior senses are communicating to them, or issues of trust generated by their memories.”
Recent Use: “The injured stray dog wanted to trust the people but his floofsent was in turmoil as he confronted his rescuers and felt vibrations reminiscent of his recent tormentors.”
Michael Seidel, writer 