Tag: Papi

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

4

Monday’s Theme Music – Giddy

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, April 6, 2026.

Feeling giddy and upbeat today. Had a good Easter Sunday overall, marred only by some Internet Interruptus. Today is bright and sunny. 54, a few gangs of small clouds flutter through a blue sky. We expect a high in the upper 70s.

First, bad news: Jackson County declared a drought emergency. Not a surprise. We suffered a snow-drought during the winter. The snowpack we depend upon for our summer water supply didn’t reach 50% in many places. A hot, dry summer is anticipated.

Then I read USA Today online. They invited readers to grade Trump and his cabinet.

While there were some glowing A’s and middling C’s, there was also a deluge of brutally low marks that would cow the cockiest 12th grader. Of the more than 700 of you who sent in grades through March 31, just 28 of you gave Trump an A or a B. About 40 of you gave the president a C or a D, while more than 500 of you gave him an F. (The remaining assessments were nearly all lower than F.)

USA Today noted in another story that Trump blew off another of his campaign promises.

While running for reelection in 2024, he had said that his administration would help alleviate the costs of childcare and fund Medicaid and Medicare. Instead, Republicans have done the opposite by slashing Medicaid funding in the congressional budget. They have no plan to make childcare more affordable for their constituents.

Way to go, Trump voters. Prices are higher, the national debt is higher and growing, and we’re in a war that nobody except Trump and his staff want.

Today’s music is Papi-inspired. He was being frisky, zooming around the living room and down halls, galloping around the bedrooms. Then he came up to me and was suddenly all sweet and friendly.

That brought a song to The Neurons by Jet, “Are You Gonna Be My Girl?”

The version I was singing was, “Are you gonna be my cat?” from 2003. Papi seemed to agree with the sentiment, if his purrs are an indication. Now, though, the song is mired in my morning mental music stream.

Hope you have a strong Monday, one that gives the hope and energy to build a strong week and stack strong months.

Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — April 4, 2026.

Sunshine graces the valley again. 52 F, blues skies, spring. High in the upper 70s projected for our afternoon.

Yardwork and house chores are in my future. Looking forward to being out there and getting things done.

War continues in Iran. The quiet news cycle is about Trump thinking about more cabinet replacements as the war flounders in Iran. Two aircraft were shot down. We’re not sure why the A10 went down — yet — but the F15E Strike Eagle was shot down. Speculation swirls about what type of system took down the Eagle.

Personnelente had a comment on it in “The Price of Folly”: “Iran has shot down several US aircraft: at a minimum an A-10, and two F-15s. Russia is supplying advanced anti aircraft weapons to Iran even as Cadet Bone Spurs lowers sanctions on Russia and backs off helping Ukraine.”

Yes, Trump has baffled us by lowering sanctions on Russia, who supplies Iran with military equipment and advice, along with intelligence support. You gotta wonder…

Papi inspired The Neurons for today’s morning mental music stream. He’d come in from the sunshine and approached for…something. Papi isn’t really a communicator. But when I mentioned treats, he came to rest with an expectant gaze. As I got his treat, I sang out, “Gimme gimme good eating,” playing on a rock song from my youth. That’s Crazy Elephant with “Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'” from 1969.

Hope your day is full of good things for you. My future sees coffee.

Cheers

2

Friday’s Theme Music – Tariffs & Travel

Ashland, Oregon — Friday, April 3, 20226.

33 F when I got up but sunshine was clearing the mountains and trees, lighting up cloudless blue sky. Today’s high will be 71.

With no news from home about Mom, I turned to the net for updates on the world. The US economy added 178k jobs in March. It surprised economists, and it surprised me. Economists warned that the war in Iran could cause problems, because it’s driving up costs throughout the supply chain.

Higher gas prices in the US will also mean less discretionary funding, which could be especially troubling as the US heads into May and the first of the big US travel holidays. Air travel could be harder as airlines such as United cut back flights to deal with increased fuel costs.

The economic is taking another hit from a sharp rise in fertilizer prices, affecting farmers which were already struggling with tariffs, broken trade agreements, and weather issues. Those challenges could result in lower yields and higher food prices at the store.

Not satisfied with high gas, diesel, and oil prices, Donald Trump declared tariffs on prescriptions drugs. Not immediately effective, they come with an opportunity for companies to agree to build facilities in the US to avoid the tariffs.

Today’s song comes from Papi and I stepping out onto the back patio. The gingerboy was already out there, grooming and sunning. His satisfied demeanor invited me to join him. I was still thinking about my dreams at that point. As I lifted my face up to the sun, the opening lyrics of “Kashmir” entered the morning mental music stream: “Oh, let the sun beat down upon my face.”

Here’s to you and a hope that peace and grace find and carries you, today and every day.

Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music – Addictions

Ashland, Oregon — Monday, March 23, 2026.

Spring has a solid hold on our stretch of valley. 59 F and sunny, we’re heading to the upper 60s today. Good weather if you’re a feline looking for a sunny place to nap…

I will do more yard work. I did all of my tasks yesterday, including pulling weeds. But the weeds have had a very successful year. If I could sell them, I’d be a thousandaire.

I had to again break off part of this post to create a Trump-centric post. I think Trump voters are addicted to hate, and Trump himself addicted to power. He’ll do anything to elevate himself. Lies, fake information, bragging are not beyond him. Nor is AI generated content showing him to be superhero strong, smart, and healthy. To those of us outside of his sphere, we see these things and shake our head, muttering, “What the fuck?” It’s amazing how many of his base can’t see the truth; it’s more amazing to see how many are willing to lie and just go along with Trump. It’s frankly sickening to see how low they’re willing to stoop to pretend things are going great with Trump in office.

Nothing new on Mom nor my health. Just awaiting developments on these fronts.

I ended up with The Neurons playing “Addicted to Love” in the morning mental music stream. It arose from thoughts that Trump is addicted to hate, and his base are addicted to him. I always enjoy the Night of the Proms series so I was pleased to find this video to present.

Hope your life finds you moving forward, healthy, happy, and safe.

Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music: “Fooling Yourself”, Trump

Ashland, Oregon — Friday, March 6, 2026.

Our temperature is 51 F. Sunshine broadly spreads across the valley as thin gray fog recedes. Today’s high might be in the low fifties, we’re told.

Papi doesn’t care about temperatures. That sunshine provides a warm bathing space and he uses his tongue like he hasn’t washed in weeks.

As I sipped coffee and read the news, I thought about the illusions that Trump and his supporters and enablers entertain. That only whites matter, that history should be rewritten to reject anyone who was not a white, Christian heterosexual. It’s so narrow and foolish; again, I’m reminding that we’re only as strong as the weakest among us, only as smart as the least intelligent in our ranks, only as healthy and wealthy as the sickest and poorest.

Trump initially sold those ideas to supporters but has abandoned them. He ran on a promise of lowering prices, convincing many that he would do so on day one of his second term, improving the economy. Now, asked about rising gas prices after his attack on Iran and its impact on gas prices, Trump shrugs it off.

“I don’t have any concern about it. They’ll drop very rapidly when this is over, and if they rise, they rise, but this is far more important than having gasoline prices go up a little bit.”

I don’t trust Trump’s analysis or promises. Trump has littered the political landscape with broken promises: he would deliver a new healthcare plan in two weeks. He would never golf because he would be too busy working. Mexico would pay for the wall. There would be no new wars. Prices would come down on day one. He would end Russia’s war on Ukraine on day 1. Those are just the ones I easily remember.

Trump also claimed that last year’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities had destroyed them. Now he says the war is needed to destroy them.

While thinking about Trump’s positions and policies, The Neurons filled the morning mental music stream with “Fooling Yourself” by Styx. I last played this on my blog when COVID-19 was raging in the United States.

Back then, I quoted and commented on these statements and beliefs made by a MAGAt.

No worse than the flu and already going away. No, the greatest threat to America comes from “libtards” and their willingness to give everything away (he believes “Obama destroyed America and the economy”). Further, Trump’s recent sickness was really just a cover for him to rise up and finally vanquish the Dems and “libtards”.

Again, I think Trump supporters are fooling themselves. Trump is fooling himself.

On February 19, 2026, Trump said at the ‘Board of Peace’ meeting in the Oval Office:

“And there’s nothing less expensive than peace. You know, when you go to wars, it costs you 100 times what it costs to make peace.”

Nine days later, Trump launched a war that’s costing over $60,000,000 a day for the United States. This doesn’t address the cost of the other nations, such as Iran, the center of the destruction. Nor does it address the cost of lives lost, disrupted, and destroyed, regardless of the nationality, age, or religion.

And after a year in office, the Ukraine War continues.

The video I chose joins the song’s writer, Tommy Shaw of Styx, performing it with the Cleveland-based Contemporary Youth Orchestra. I hope you watch, listen, and enjoy.

May your day find you warm, safe, and blessed with love and good fortune.

Cheers

4

Thursday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Thursday, March 5, 2026.

We’re winding through winter’s last days toward spring in Ashland. History provides us reminders that Ashland often experiences late winter to mid-spring snowstorms. I’d like more snow in the area, especially in the Cascades where our snowbank resides.

Today, it’s overcast with uncertain, flexing sunshine. 48 F, it feels neither warm nor cold, and our high is arcing toward just 50.

My phone has developed problems with receiving text messages all of a sudden. I’ve added fixing that to my todo list. I did get some updates from my siblings about Mom before the system went tango unform on me.

Mom is reverting to the behavior displayed in January. I drift toward remembering who she was and the complex relationships my sisters and I have with her. I contrast what’s she’s enduring with who she was, what and who she was trying to be, and where she arrived as a person. Much of it now is beyond her control. Doesn’t stop my sisters from getting angry about it. But we saw this pattern emerging. There was little we could do, which we learned with time, because we tried to do things to change the course.

I smile at some things, like her potato salad. My wife insists nobody makes potato salad like Mom. My wife tried but when she asked for a recipe, Mom was more about the ingredients and less about the measurements. One thing I learned from helping her make it sometimes was that Mom depended on tasting it and how it looked — color, texture. That’s hard to translate through recipes.

I was just settling into checking on prices, the war that Republicans don’t want to call a war, and other matters when breaking news arrived.

Trump replaces Noem at DHS, taps Mullin for job

I think at first, “about time”. Her arrogance and attitude doesn’t fit with what I look for in public servants. I temper that, though, with the understanding that she was carrying out Trump and Miller’s policies, and generally working as a functionary for Project 2025. It’ll be interesting to see how much this change will actually manifest as change.

On the heels of that thinking, I scoff, but of course Trump has replaced Noem. She’s become a lightning rod for negative impressions about Trump. With his popularity falling, he made her his scapegoat.

Today’s music is “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones. When The Neurons first settled it into my morning mental music stream, I sang it as “Wild Kitties” for Papi’s entertainment. He did not seem entertained.

I’m not sure why the song is playing in me. I can see how its themes and melody is about yearning for another time, for a different outcome, even for hope. I suppose that’s where I reside now — wishing for other things than what now exists. It also came out in 1971, when I was fifteen, so I suppose remembering the song stirs some nostalgia for being back there — young, with Mom, facing a bright future.

I’ll close with best wishes for you and us to stay safe, be healthy and find new ways toward a peaceful, prosperous, and inclusive future.

Cheers

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Tuesday’s Theme Music

Ashland, Oregon — Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Fog is drifting in from the west, slowly painting over the deep blue sky. Sunshine has us at 52 degrees F with a projected high of 61.

Papi has been in and out several times, like he’s expecting it to be warmer outside because it’s sunny but the chilly air keeps pushing him to return to warmth. He’s just executed the classic move of throwing himself down and rolling on his back while he was washing his face.

Relative quiet is drifting from the Mom front. I’ll take it but it’s one of those ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’ quiets.

Quiet is not the word I’d use to describe the middle east as the joint US/Israel attack on Iran apparently encourage other regional nations to try to settle old scores. Afghanistan and Pakistan have border battles going on. US embassies have been attacked. Shipping — including a US oil tanker — have been attacked. Dubai’s airport has been hit.

Reverberations are spreading. Shipping has been diverted from the Strait of Hormuz and the average price of gas in the US jumped 11 cents overnight. The Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ all dropped.

Trump will dismiss growing worries about affordability as blithely as he dismissed military members’ deaths. I’m sure he’ll shrug and call it a sacrifice that has to be made. He’s not personally affected so he really doesn’t care, and it shows in his speech and behavior.

The war was supposed to be pre-emptive to stop Iran’s attacks on the US. I haven’t been able to find those incidents which Trump and Hegseth. I did find the chants from protestors about “Death to the United States”, but damage and deaths weren’t reported after those chants.

Seeing our rooms brimming with sunshine about half an hour ago, The Neurons fired up Cream and “The Sunshine of Your Love” but in the time I took to type this, fog has blotted out the sun and blue sky. The song is one of the major pieces of frenetic power rock which I grow up with as a teen. I went with a recording of a live rendition from the group’s farewell tour, just to see the young faces.

Hope your day carries you forward on positive energy and delivers good news and optimism. I’m off to the dentist for follow up, next phase of getting an implant.

Cheers

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