Tag: Information

Tuesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, southern Oregon — Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

We’re mired in a gloomy late spring day. Dull sunshine seeps down through swollen rain clouds. 48 F now; 60 F later.

Despite this cool temperature and rain clouds, the drought is already browning the valley. A wildfire was fought and put out not too far away. The air this morning smells like the remains of a sodden bonfire.

Many of my Pittsburgh family members gathered at the youngest’s house for a BBQ. They also played Kornhole and shared social media photos of the gathering. All my sisters were there with their partners. Most of their children and grands, and their children’s partners. Some were missing, as there was a baseball tournament where they were playing. And other than my sister, the Georgia contingent was absent. Of course, Mom and Frank weren’t there in a long line of firsts we’ll encounter this year.

In Trump Iran War news, the US broke the ceasefire. That was okay, though, because it was the United States, which, under Trump, doesn’t follow the rules and norms. That generally leads to anger, reprisal, uncertainty, and confusion. We’ll see how it goes this time.

The Trump administration labeled these ‘self-defense’ strikes. Funny how self-defense is ‘needed’ when there’s a ceasefire on, and the war is over or almost over, and the US won, which are all things which Trump claimed.

The war is now into it 87th day.

The full Epstein files have not been released.

Prices are rising.

The Epstein ballroom funding is short of its need.

The Trump tariffs ruled illegal by the Roberts Court are being refunded to businesses. Consumers beginning to sue businesses to get their share of the tariff refunds.

I’m reading the novel, “James”, by Percival Everestt. James had a wonderful line:

“Religion is just a controlling tool they employ and adhere to when convenient.”

That summarizes my attitude toward not just religion, but how patriotism is invoked in the US — especially by Trump — and also how I see the Constitution now often being employed.

Of course, ‘they’ do it with team and family, as well: “We’re one team!” “We’re a family!”

True when it’s useful to be true.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Today’s music comes from a glance in the bathroom mirror. I laughed at my reflection. I look less like Mom or Dad than I used to, I thought, and sort of reflected on that. (No, I am not sorry for that phrase!)

Seeing an open door, The Neurons came in with “Mirror in the Bathroom” by English Beat in the morning mental music stream. It’s such a classic 1980s sound for me. Brings flashbacks and smiles.

Lyrics:

Mirror in the bathroom, please talk free
The door is locked, just you and me

I hope for the best for you, your family, home, and region. Stay strong.

Cheers

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Awesome! Jolly! Monday!

Jill Dennison has done it again on Jolly Monday!

I listed my favorite five below. Hope you go check out the rest!

Wake UP Gwammie … It’s JOLLY MONDAY!!!

Yes, that was seven.

It’s Trump math.

4

The Cork Dream

I dreamed I was at my mother’s house. It wasn’t her real-life house but I knew what it was in my dream. Although everything was white, there was little light.

I was trying to open some kind of cistern. As it transpired, I knew that it was wine I tried opening, to see how it was. It was supposed to be red wine.

I was being very careful, meticulous, because I worried about the cork falling apart. But it wasn’t the ‘traditional’ cork stopper, but a round, flat circle.

My youngest sister joined me. She asked what I was doing and I softly explained it as she leaned over me and watched. I had just gotten the safely out when something fell into the wine.

I asked my sister, “Did you see that?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“Was that a piece of the cork falling in?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so.” I sat back. “All that work and I got it out and then it broke and fell in.”

I smiled at her. “Oh, well.”

Laughing, she replied, “I know.”

2

Saturday’s Theme Music

Newport, Oregon coast — Saturday, May 23, 2026.

Yes, mea culpa, I typed up yesterday’s theme music as Saturday instead of Friday. Blame it on the wind. Or blame it on a conversation I was having with my wife about Saturday. Saturday got stuck on the brain like bubblegum on my shoe.

Fog set in yesterday, and then some drizzling — but the wind let up! Today, blue sky is reflected in the water in stretches, making the ocean blue instead of bland rock gray. We have a new record for number of people on the beach at once: the previous record was eleven. Today, we see seventeen, and three dogs.

With the moon still waxing and just reaching a quarter, we’ve had very low tides. Yesterday’s was so low and so far out, I walked a couple hundred yards across beach that’s usually covered by water. Not that you can tell; it’s all sand.

It’s 52 F today. 60 F is a possible high. But we’re heading south again, turning for home, Ashland. It’ll be 85 F there today. The catsitter reports that Papi is enjoying this stretch of sunshine, chillin’ in his favorite shady spaces, snoozing the day away yesterday. I look forward to seeing him but admit that I’m not overly enthusiastic about abandoning this life of leisure by the ocean. I am excited to get back to my writing routine, though. My wife tried to give space for me to write but it was erratic and problematic, if you get what I mean.

We will be stopping for breakfast for a final time at The Green Salmon. Looking forward to it!

Read this article this morning:

Court-ordered release of Trump ballroom donor deal sparks uproar

“Public Citizen sued for access to the funding contract for Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom and prevailed, resulting in the document’s release. The agreement between the White House, National Park Service, and Trust for the National Mall permits anonymous donations and omits the White House from conflict-of-interest reviews. Known donors include Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Google, and Palantir, all with significant federal contracts, and about $300 million has been raised privately to date.”

The usual suspects doing the usual grifting in the Golden Age of Corruption under Trump. Interesting to note that only $300 million has been raised to date to build the Epstein ballroom.

Trump’s Iran boondoggle has been going 84 days. Still waiting for another Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! release.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Sure, that’s why he did it. No, he’s not trying to buy loyalty from his base to use as a personal army. Nope. LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Today’s music is “Cake by the Ocean” by DNCE. This came about because we were eating dessert by the ocean last night. Not cake, but lemon bars. Not caring about the details, The Neurons turned on the song last night and it remains in the morning mental music stream today.

Swedes Mattman & Robin produced the song, which is how it ended up with this title. From Wikipedia: ‘The song’s title originated from Mattman & Robin’s repeatedly confusing the phrase “sex on the beach” for “cake by the ocean”.’

Hope your day is charmed with good weather, good food, good company, and good news.

Cheers

6

Black & White, Gardening & House: A Dream

I was working on a house. The house was a modern place, already completed, but I felt that changes were needed. I thought it was my house but sometimes as I worked on it, I thought it belonged to someone else. But I felt very sure that I had the right to change things

The house was white, a modern flat roof box. A breezeway separated the house from a spacious garage. The driveway was white, paved, and in excellent condition.

I decided to change the house’s material. I did so almost without thought – just done. As result, the house, which had been white, was now black or charcoal gray.

Family came by and asked why I did that. My father, who died last year, stopped by and asked why I’d changed it. Doing something else, I absently responded that it was a temporary move and that I would return it to white and could do so whenever I wanted.

Dad shrugged. “Well, whatever you want to do,” he said. “That’s your business. I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”

Those were words Dad often used. Sometimes he said, “I hope you know” rather than “I’m sure you know”.

Dad then took me to a garden section. Plants were growing there – tomatoes, onions, carrots, radishes, lettuce. He explained to me what to plant, where to plant it, how to fertilize and water it.

He left, expecting me to continue. I did so but was dissatisfied. He had a lot of starts which he wasn’t using. My sister came along. I was looking at the plants decided not to use. For example, a tomato plant already had several pieces of red fruit on it. I could see it visibly growing, so I decided I would add additional plants. I talked my sister into helping me. Although the plants weren’t as tidy as what Dad had done, I felt they had great potential.

He came by. I showed him what I’d done. Then, almost as an afterthought, I changed the house back to white.

Everyone could immediately see the difference in the house. They all then clamored for me to do that for their houses.

Dream end.

0

Logging In

I had to go ‘incognito mode’ and log into Gmail. Don’t ask.

I give it my identification. My password.

Okay, my computer tells me. “Go to you phone and click on the link texted to you so we know it’s you.”

I did so.

The computer showed me three numbers in circles. “Now,” it said, “click on the number that corresponds with the number shown on your phone.”

I did so.

“Now,” the computer said. “Hop up and down on your left foot three times and bow to your right.”

I did so.

“Now,” the computer said, “Say Rumpelstiltskin is my name.”

I did so.

I was finally able to log in.

Seriously, I did it all until the hopping part. But I don’t think that’s too far off in the future.

1

The Day

We hit the road at 10:10. Interstate 5 North. Good sunny travel weather, moderately heavy traffic.

A gas stop at Costco in Roseburg returned us to a full tank. Back onto I5 N for a few more miles, leaving it at Sutherlin, now going west through the mountains, to the coast. We entered Florence at 2 PM.

Neither of us had commented on the lack of RVs and travel trailers on the road. They’re usually good for slowing our progress to a snail’s stroll. The rule of the car is, don’t notice something good out loud, or you’ll jinx us.

Lunch was done at a Florence favorite, Traveler’s Cove. After a walk through town, we headed to our hotel. The Driftwood Shores Resort and Conference Center offers okay accommodations. We like it because you’re right on the Pacific Ocean and all the rooms face the beach. We were there for ocean, dude. It’s the waves.

I unpacked my clothes. Set up my toiletry. Arranged my shoes. Hung stuff up and put things into drawers. My wife sat and read her book while I was doing this. This is one of our major differences: I always unpack, like I’m living there. She leaves everything in her suitcase, pulling it out as needed.

We walked the beach, gritting our teeth against a stiff sea breeze. The sun was unblocked by anything, and the waves were strenuous, constantly pounding, noisy but soothing.

Back in the room, I opened a bottle of red wine, poured a glass and watched the waves until, finally, some piece of me whispered, “Let’s go see what’s happening on the Internet.”

So here I am, watching the waves, typing, reading, sipping wine.

The view from the room.

3

The Discussion

Four women were chatting at a nearby table at the coffee shop. Appearing similar in age to me, two women dominated the talking. One was short and slender, with fair skin and dark, bobbed hair. The other was tanner and smaller. Smiling a lot, her silver hair fell around her shoulders.

They were talking about toothpaste. Looking up from my writing, I tuned in as the first woman said, “I put a pea-sized amount on my brush.”

One of the other women, heavy, with dry brown hair that came to her shoulders, loudly, sharply scoffed. “That’s not enough.”

The first woman replied, “That’s what the directions say to use.”

The brown-haired woman snorted. “Everyone knows you’re supposed to put toothpaste on all the bristles, from one end to the other.”

The conversation fell still for several seconds. “Anyway,” the first woman resumed.

I returned to my writing.  

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