Friday’s Theme Music — The AI Convergence
Ashland, southern Oregon. Friday, September 25, 2026.
It’s autumn. Several trees in my backyard suddenly have golden leaves curling and browning, falling to the ground, done. 61 F, our peak temperature is 68. Sunshine fills the windows but rainclouds crowd the mountains.
I’m just going to drift for a moment, reflecting on the possibility that politicians begin employing AI agents to secretly replace staff while maintaining a fiction that the staff is still human. The AI agents are given social security numbers of dead children, and are paid as if they’re human employees, but the elected officials pocket it all. And the AI agents inform them on how to ‘read the people’s mood, slicing and dicing multiple buckets of entertainment, news, spending, and saving to refine the political tone and stay in office.
In fact, Trump isn’t real. Just as portrayed in the architecture of “The Matrix” franchise, Trump is an AI-generated distraction, generating more distractions to keep us off focus. Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! is run by AI. No war is going on, and there is no White House. Nor is there Taylor Swift, movies, or football, baseball, soccer games. It’s all AI-generated, live on our screens, delivered to our minds.
As a matter of fact, humanity may have checked out long ago. The planet died; and we’re all AI-generated simulations, wondering where we’re going and what we’re doing. Other sentient species have arrived and are doing autopsies on our dead civilizations, replicating what happened, in effect, bringing us back to life.
For all I know, there is no weather, no Mom calling me to talk in a fading, whispery voice, no sisters sending me texts.
Here is Crackout with “This Is What We Do” from 2004.
Sample Lyrics
I’m breaking a mirror
And I’m buying a new one too
And I’ll talk in a whisper
‘Cause this is what we do
This is what we do
Not breaking a vessel
Not even a race of pulse
It’s not worth getting stressed for
‘Cause this is what we do
This is what we do
And I guess you’ve been there too
For flying
And I suppose I won’t get through
But you’ll hear me
And I’ll say what I will use
‘Cause I’m worn out and nothing’s left to use
I’m making an offer
But it’s one that you can refuse
And you’ll learn how to spot her
‘Cause this is what we do
h/t to Lyricsmode.com
Sorry about the mood. I’m going to go watch some animal videos. They may not be real but they’re warm, funny, and very human.
Time for some digital coffee.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music – Wrong
Ashland, southern Oregon. Thursday, September 24, 2026.
We’re winding September down. Less than a week to go. Autumn continues stealing in, delivering threats of light rain, weaker sunshine, shorter days, cooler temperatures. Clouds give the day a weary bleakness. Sunshine seems like it needs to go back to bed. Yet, today’s high will tap the low 80s F.
Unemployment stayed about the same, while the broader U6 declined a little. Looking at the reports, though, many were associated with local government and schools. In other words, it was because the school year started again. Hospitality service also had some small growth in employment, bouncing back after a miserable summer for that industry, as far as employment goes.
Mom is begging my sisters to let her live with her. She’s also painting a different recollection of what’s happened in the past year. I spent time last night reading my sisters’ texts to me from the early 2026 troubles with Mom. Leaving with my sister, Gina, at the time, Mom was texting me about how unhappy she was, how she wanted to return to her own home and live there. Now she’s telling us — again — how unhappy she is at the affordable living place and wants to move. Texts from last October include Mom’s confession that she while living alone, she kept falling and ended up sleeping on the floor. It really is a no-win period for all involved.
Thinking about Mom, my sisters and I repeatedly focus on ‘what went wrong’. I often hear ‘it’s Mom’s own fault’, but I’ve seen her personality and mental acuity change, along with her memory. Yes, I bemoan Mom’s choices as we tried to get her and her partner to move into a safer space or to allow us to hire someone to clean and otherwise assist Mom. Mom, and her partner, Frank, rejected all those suggestions. Yet…yet, we could not have predicted that Frank would fall down the steps and die. We did worry about it.
‘What went wrong’ seems like the wrong question. Mom aged and changed, as we all do. This is another of those ‘if only’ exercises so many of us find ourselves going through as we look back on our lives.
Today’s music is by Oasis. “Where Did It All Go Wrong” is a soft lament about struggling to understand change.
Hope your day goes well — friction free, with good decisions, and wonderful outcomes.
Cheers
Wednesday’s Theme Music — You!
Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
66 F, we have blue skies, contrails, and the potential to hit 78 today, a fallish, warmish day.
One contrail fascinated me. Coming in from the southwest, the contrail cut east over Ashland’s airspace before turning due east for a short distance, then veered northeast. Studying the fat contrail, I wondered what air vessel caused those traces and what they were up to.
My wife and I were quietly reading the news this morning when she began railing about something. Engaged in thought, I didn’t play close attention.
Then she started up about Trump’s ballroom — the one he began building to distract us from the Epstein files, the one he said would be paid for by donors and cause taxpayers nothing. We talked about the story about the architect who quit the ballroom project because Trump, safety, and common sense. My wife was practically snarling when she quoted Trump from the story, “I am the code.”
Yes, I honestly get why that pissed her off. Trump loves claiming he knows more than anyone on topics, declaring that he’s an expert. The results say otherwise.
Your Trump Quote(s) of the Day:
My wife then went on about a pet peeve of hers, people parking in front of our house. One car has been there several weeks, which really gets her going. She says things, “I hate it when people do that.” Seems like overdramatic language to me, and unnecessary anger, but it’s a pet peeve. They’re not overly logical.
Anyway, I began chuckling to myself about her outbursts. Something in her tone caused The Neurons to play “Everything About You” in my morning mental music stream. The hard-rock Ugly Kid Joe song came out back in 1992. It’s a playful take on someone with a negative attitude expressing how much they hate things. They hate the rain and sunshine, beach and mountains, country, and city.
Sample Lyrics
I hate the rain and sunny weather
And I, I hate the beach and mountains too, boo-hoo
And I don’t like a thing about the city, no no
And I, I, I hate the countryside too
And I hate everything about you
Everything about you
And I don’t like a thing about your mother
And I, I hate your daddy’s guts too, boo-hoo
And I don’t like a thing about your sister, no no
‘Cause I, I, I think sex is overrated too
And I get sick when I’m around
I can’t stand to be around
I hate everything about you
As in played in my head, my wife said with a new spurt of anger, “I really hate Trump.” She then added, “And Mitch McConnell.”
So I think the song captures some thoughts very well. Especially when thinking about Trump.
I hope your day is filled with kindness and love, and things you like. May you live long and prosper. *smile*
Cheers
Monday’s Theme Music — United
Ashland, southern Oregon. Monday, September 21, 2026.
Sunny but overcast day, giving it a humid, warm feeling. 76 F, we expect a high in the mid 80s today. It may have rained in parts of town but we didn’t see or feel it.
I’m a little late to this post. Got up and went into novel writing mode, emerging a few hours later. Like, oops — what happened to the time?
I’m pleased that the other networks are responding to Trump’s dictatorial behavior by providing a united front. Backing up a little, Trump raged that three news outlets, CNN, MS Now, and Politico, were putting out ‘fake news’ and declared them banned. Today, basically, the other news outlets demonstrating what the absence of news coverage will mean.
Trump loves the camera. He needs the news programs. As much as he rails against them, without them, Trump would fade away.
Jump to Trump’s new helipad opening today. Without the major news network, it was reportedly very unclear about what was going on. Trump will fume about it and his right-wing news allies will attempt to fill the gap. But the problem with the right-wing news outlets is that they’re right-wing. As much as Trump complains about mainstream media being ‘left-wing’, that’s where most people get their news.
Trump being Trump, though, he’ll often cut off his nose to spite his face, as the expression goes. He probably won’t back down soon.
I’m also pleased by the network moves because my wife was roaring, “Why don’t the other news networks stand up for each other? What’s wrong with them?”
So the move will restore a little peace to my house.
Today’s music comes from a group called The Brotherhood of Man. When I read of the networks’ united front against Trump, The Neurons pulled up the 1969 song, “United We Stand”.
Although syrupy, its sentiment serves today well.
Sample Lyrics
For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We’ll be together, together, you and I
Trump feeds off creating tension and especially thrives on being contentious and divisive. It always gives me a laugh to remember him saying that he wants to be remembered as a unifier.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Now eighteen months into Trump’s second term, we know that history will not describe him as a ‘unifier’. The way he attacks and divides people — including members of his own party — it’s almost like he doesn’t understand the definition of ‘unifier’…
My wish for you today is that life treats you well and rewards you with love, joy, good health, and good food.
Cheers
Sunday’s Theme Music — Guns, Guns, Guns
Ashland, southern Oregon. Sunday, September 20, 2026.
We’re sitting on the cusp of autumn at 78 F, anticipating a rise to 90 F, so sunny and blue that you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s the middle of summer.
But the changing leaves on the trees defy that assessment. And the night temperatures have been coming down…cooler…cooler.
Sunset comes more quickly, and sunrise seems to lag.
It’s summer’s end, autumn’s beginning.
Seasons don’t slow Trump down! First, he tells us that he’s built the world’s greatest military, seizing all the credit, as though he conceived and built everything while selecting and training every soldier, marine, sailor, and airman.
Then, while building the White House ballroom on the site of the East Wing that he illegally tore down, he embellished his ballroom dream, declaring it would be ‘drone-proof’ with a drone port, a military installation with snipers.
Now Trump is saying the same thing about the new Arch he wants built.
Trump says new arch will also deploy drones, position snipers and store ammo
Who are all these invaders Trump is fearing that he’s obsessed with adding snipers to everything he builds?
Well, wiser heads suggest that Trump is pitching the security angle because the beautification scam isn’t working any longer.
More cynical people like me like me believe that it’s a three-prong attack on common sense and decency. The reasons include both of the previous reasons, but it’s also another distraction as part of Operation Epic LOOK SQUIRREL!
Trump using the security angle for the arch does make sense; when courts heard about ‘security concerns’ after the Epstein ballroom construction had been halted, they yielded to Trump.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
It’s classic, irritating Trump to me. On the one hand, Trump boasts of building the world’s most powerful military and proposes a huge military budget. On the other hand, he’s reducing the US military power as ‘rifles and pistols’. As if we don’t already have stealth fighters and bombers, ICBMs, space and other space, land, and sea-based weapon systems.
He is ridiculous. So are his supporters, especially those zealots, the MAGAzens.
All this Trump thinking about wars, guns, and shooting provoked Les Neurons to bring JoJo Gunne into the morning mental music stream. The band was named after a Chuck Berry song and the song came out in 1972. No much to the lyrics, to be honest, but it’s upbeat and easy to sing along with.
I hope this is a good day for you, using whatever metrics are meaningful to your life.
Cheers
Saturday’s Theme Music — Talking
Ashland, southern Oregon. Saturday, September 19, 2026.
Summer is serving up a last hurrah, taking us into the high 80s today and low 90s tomorrow. Sunshine crowns the multi-colored trees and serves up against a deep blue sky.
I’m going to pass on writing about Trump and politics today, so it’ll be a short post.
Today’s music is “Talk of the Town”. It’s in the morning mental music stream after friends and I were talking about the plight of the bears here in southern Oregon. “Talk of the Town” is a 1980 song by the Pretenders. If I was writing about the current national situation, it would be a good song for today.
Sample Lyrics
The rules and such never bothered you
You call the shots and they follow
May this day and every day find you safe, free, healthy and happy.
Cheers
Friday’s Theme Music — Storms
Ashland, southern Oregon. Friday, September 18, 2026.
Another Friday reached, another week trickling toward the end. We drift further into autumn in the northern hemes as they moved toward hot weather south of the equator.
Today has Ashland at 68 F with 83 F on the blue horizons. Leaves are not falling from trees yet, but colors are swarming into the green. Maples are already shimmering with dark reds.
All quiet with Mom and my family. I texted Mom and received one to two words in response. Nothing from any sisters.
Today’s warm sunshine is appreciated. Nicely complements my morning coffee. I usually take it black but my physician suggested that I need more protein in my diet. I now pour some chocolate protein shake into my morning coffee, resulting in a protein mocha, more or less. *smile*
I go through headlines, plucking out information, studying the runes, peering at the tea leaves, hoping for revelations.
Fox News Poll: Squeezed by costs, frustrated voters turn to the Democrats
Iran war has cost $45.1 billion, Pentagon tells Congress
Karoline Leavitt’s new Trump line becomes accidental rallying cry for Dems
Trump bans CNN, MS Now, and Politico from White House
Another Great Lake is renamed to mock Trump’s Lake Ontario decision
‘I don’t want you to stand with me and the MAGA movement today’: Trump sends urgent fundraising appeal
The omens show a divided nation and a desperate, flailing Trump. Even as I wonder about that, I remember that Trump has always enjoyed being confrontational and combative. He likes to appear defiant and is often bullying, no matter what the circumstances are. He’s rarely conciliatory.
Basically, though, most Republicans still seem to support Trump, according to polls. For a significant part of the GOP coalition, the economy is not the central objective, and his lies and broken promises are not a problem. These are prices they seem willing to pay for cultural dominance, institutional transformation, or the defeat of their perceived enemies.
My overall sense is that we’re in the lull in a storm. More stormy weather is coming.
Der Donald is doing his best to keep us distracted and angry. This week, Trump floated conjecture about demolishing the Kennedy Center because he can’t have his name on it. How very Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! of him. Of course, with any Trump declaration, he can swing swiftly from rhetoric to destruction. Court orders were quickly sought. Whether they’ll slow Trump is debatable. He always claims he’s for law and order but has shown that he doesn’t think it applies to him.
Today’s song is about storms but it came about yesterday. As my wife and I chatted about the novel “John of John” in our home office, we heard thunder. Or it could have been thunder. Maybe it was a passing truck.
Going to the window, we looked out on a confused collage — stormy clouds, bright sunshine, blue sky, distant rain veils. We stayed a bit, continuing to chat but heard no more thunder and saw no lightning.
All that culminated in The Neurons recalling a 1974 Deep Purple song, “Stormbringer”. The song stayed in the morning mental music stream as I read the news and drank my coffee. Part of that is because whenever it’s sunny but rainy, my wife and I look for rainbows. “Stormbringer” references riding a rainbow.
Hope you find a day of rainbows, peace, and good health. Here we go, into another one.
Cheers
Thursday’s Theme Music – Seeing Through It
Ashland, southern Oregon. Thursday, September 17, 2026.
Sunny today, but cloudy. 66 F for the moment. 100% chance of thunderstorms, the weather seers tell me, with a high of 78 F.
Mom is back home in the assisted living facility. Suffering laryngitis and diarrhea. Resting in bed, she said, because she feels very tired. Mom has three appointments coming up. She has three medical appointments coming up in September.
I have a new appointment next week. Changing PCPs because my current PCP is leaving to go into private practice, focusing on peptide therapy. I meet my new PCP next week. Hope she turns out to be as good as my last one. Will lightning strike twice?
As expected, Trump launched some more Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! this week.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
I’m not a lawyer but I’ve watched some TV. You’d think that if evidence came out about this plot that any law-abiding, intelligent individual would ensure the authorities had it so that due process could take place and law and order maintained.
No. Not Trump. Instead of doing that, Trump went on social media to bray about it. Which tells us that it’s more fact news. Just another distraction. More Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!
No surprise that Trump launched a fresh distraction. War in Iran is going into seven months. That’s completely contrary to how long Trump said it would take, all after promising, “No new wars.” Stories are emerging that the United States suffered more damage than previously revealed.
Prices are creeping up. The Fed increased interest rates, contrary to what Trump wanted.
Trumpapalooza was affected by low attendance and low energy. Trump is at odds with recent CEOs that AI growth needs to slow down and perhaps be regulated.
As icing on Trump’s very bad month, part of Trump’s very bad year, his administration displayed Space Force uniforms which are being heavily mocked for their fascist look.
Finally, Trump claimed Ukraine and Russia said they wouldn’t attack diesel facilities any longer. Both nations denied any deal such as Trump suggested and continued their attacks.
That leads us to ask — again — why did Trump make that public claim? Did US intel get it wrong or did Trump hear someone wrong? Perhaps Russia and Ukraine lied to Trump and said they would, to make him appear weak and out of touch.
Or perhaps, truthfully, Trump just pretended this is what happened in order to make it seem like he’s relevant.
These positions and calamities have led to declining support for Trump and his policies. Of course, something from Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! was needed.
We’ve seen enough of Trump to see through his deceptions.
I ended up with Bob Dylan singing “Masters of War” in my morning mental music stream. I think the 1963 release accurately reflects how Trump behaves, hiding, making claims, while destroying our world.
Sample Lyrics
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
May your spirit carry you through these times to happier places and a more comfortable and secure life.
Cheers
Wednesday’s Theme Music – Moron
Ashland, southern Oregon. Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
Summer’s pullback continues. Thunderstorms are forecast for the area. With a temperature now of 64 and a high of 78 F, we’re leaning toward the cool side.
Sour mood again. Sorry. Apologies.
Mom is being discharged from the hospital. She’s to return to Heritage Grove assisted living. My sister, Gina, is taking her. Gina reports Mom is loopy and confused. They have her on O2. It feels like it’s a setup for another mess, which leaves me and my sisters down. With all of Mom’s issues, we know that only one thing can resolve her problems. The weariness just drags on.
Likewise, Trump news is a drag on the soul. His EPA is repealing pollution limits on fossil fuel power plants. Speaking with Trumplike stupidity, an EPA administrator said, “”The days of Biden and Obama working to destroy natural gas and coal are over.”
Yeah. That’s what Presidents Obama and Biden were doing. Sure. Had nothing to do with climate change. BTW, 2026 is set to go down as the hottest on record. But please, let’s put more pollutants in the air and water so that what we breathe and drink harms our health. People are already struggling with healthcare costs. Let’s load more problems. That’s Trump’s backwards thinking.
Never mind the history books full of stories about smoke from burning coal darkening the skies. Forget rivers on fire and cancer rising as industries dumped their pollutants into water systems.
And please, do ignore all the studies which show that improving the air and water quality led to increases in productivity.
No, Trump and the GOP are just going back in time, dragging us with them.
And what’s hilarious is that Trump wants more AI because he thinks the Chinese are pulling ahead. Without knowing how AI can generate profits and without regard to what all those AI centers can do to our health and environment, Trump wants to bull on.
It’s sadly funny but he’s amazing stupid, greedy, and short-sighted. But as said by many, because the truth is clear, Trump only cares about Trump.
Your Trump Quote of the Day:
Gosh, yes, Donald Trump, once you say, beautiful, it changes everything! Why, that’s amazing! You ARE such a genius, you idiot.
Here’s a photo of an American city back before the EPA was created, along with the regulations to protect the air, land, and water. You’re a fool if you can stand in that, look around, breathe in, and call it beautiful. As a 70-year-old, I lived through that air in my childhood and survived, and don’t want to see us go back to those days.
But when it comes to facts, truths, and history, Trump is an utter moron.
Which brings me around to my morning mental music stream. I don’t listen to a lot of Primus but I always liked the premise of “Moron TV”. Released in 2011, it’s a diatribe against how TV is used to shape children’s opinion. While that’s the focus, I think politics share this methodology, especially the Trump and MAGA crowd.
Sample Lyrics
Just when I thought I’d seen it all
They pull a cretin from the shelves
And flash that filth under their nails
To make us feel better about ourselves
Well that one’s fit for a sex tape
Well that one’s fit for a dad
Well that one had more babies
Than anyone’s ever had
That one married a rock star
That made all little girls squeal
And that one want to be president
Cause she’s got more eye appeal
May your day come dressed in peace and grace and you finish with joy and happiness.
Cheers
