Not many to choose from, but I’d have to say the early start every morning. The alarm goes off at 5, I sometimes hit the snooze button but eventually land downstairs in my spot on the couch, cold brew poured, laptop on. I proceed to write in my journal, then here in WordPress. This has been the flow for eight years now, with the occasional exception of when we’re away visiting and I may or may not feel like taking a break from this routine. I’m never away for very long, though. The prospect of putting thoughts to paper– or a Word document– always calls me back.
Author: tallthinman72
Flip that switch
So, the economy isn’t as strong as the markets have suggested. Now the chickens come home to roost. Now Trump faces the music and resorts, once again, to lashing out. Maybe it won’t be long before he flips out totally and melts like the wicked witch of the west.
Or maybe he sees the light and scraps his stupid tariff plans.
Partial List
Whether or not God and heaven exist; if any of the current theories about the universe will be proven to hold water, and who will be around to know?; how light and color actually work. Did our ancestors have an innate sense for what was and wasn’t edible, or was it trial and error? What existed before the Big Bang– was that infinitely dense particle sitting on a table? What is the half-life of a Twinkie? Are ticks and gnats even part of a food chain? Will there ever come a time when all cancers will be curable? Will anyone ever live in a moment when we’ve evolved far enough to have been freed of the propensity for war? In a hundred years, will the human race still exist, or will we finally succumb to nuclear annihilation or, environmentally, reach the point of no return and the earth rids itself of its most destructive pest? Will we ever find another planet with similar conditions that’s within a reasonable travel distance to even think about colonizing? Will America make it through the next 3 1/2 years intact? Why do we have to show restraint when it comes to food– why can’t we just eat what tastes good and makes us happy? What is the difference between music and everyday speech? Why do we age? Why death? Will humanity ever be capable of learning from its mistakes? Will we get answers to all our questions?!
Easily Bruised
Does Congress still exist? Does it still have a reason for being? What about the Supreme Court? Is there anyone with the smarts and the gumption to call Donald Trump on his childishness? The latest, apparently, is that he wants to fire the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, because the July jobs report was not to his liking.
Is this just another distraction to divert our gaze from the Epstein files, or is it more the latest example of Trump over-extending his reach because he finds reality so distasteful?
It’s manipulation for all to see. What does he expect the outcome to be? How much power does he think he has? Heavy-handed, myopic leadership can’t tolerate even the whiff of bad press. So the truth tellers must go.
What comes next, doctored statistics?
Everyone sees this, right? Isn’t this a bad place to be?
Now and Again
I paid for a stranger’s meal at Louis Armstrong International Airport. I’ve held the door for many people over the years, returned money or some item someone has dropped or forgotten at checkout, and I assist folks with retrieving items off the top shelf at Walmart.
Nothing of great significance, but random, I guess.
Ramblings and Rumblings
I wish I could be funnier. I’ve been told more than once that I need to take life less seriously and lighten up, but I’m finding that difficult to do. There’s too much going on that should have all of us sitting up and paying attention.
No doubt, the saturation of media content can exacerbate the sense of futility and doom, to the point of causing one to think that everybody is an asshole. That’s not true, of course, but the general atmosphere anymore exudes this sense of everyone being either right or wrong, everyone being either a victim or a perpetrator, weak or strong. That overall, humanity is heading for a cliff because we can’t get out of our own way.
Self-preservation looms large, ignorance and old habits die hard, money still talks, and we‘re all learning the hard way that life’s twists and turns can leave some of us shortchanged, scarred, lacking in social graces and coping skills, walking around with a chip on our shoulder, feeding delusions of grandeur, even posing as President of the United States.
Yup, right now, for me, it’s all about the clown who’s loitering behind the Resolute Desk, who spends as much or more time golfing and pontificating and tending to his own personal well-being than he does doing the work he was elected to do. He’s a walking, talking conflict of interest. I hate to use the word enigma, because that describes someone who’s mysterious in a good and interesting way.
Look around. What do you see? Can you honestly say that things are good in the world? That things are trending positively? I suppose if we turned off all our devices and flew blind and deaf for a while, then we could be lulled into a false sense of peace and quiet. The irony is that we need to connect, we need to stay connected, informed, interested, committed. We’re all being called upon to engage in some difficult work, which includes wading through the volume of bullshit that comes our way every day, sorting through the noise and distractions and finding a truth that resonates, that sticks, that awakens a sense of moral outrage over leaders who suck, who keep fitting that old mold of self-interested, disillusioned, deceptive, lie-through-their-teeth, cold-hearted monsters who have no use or respect for the people who were deceived into elevating them to power.
We should be way beyond tired of this same old, same old…
Magnifying Glass
It’s seeming like we don’t just get an occasional rainy day like we used to. We get deluges that deposit an inch of rain in 20 minutes and either run off or saturate the ground, causing flash flooding and numerous other headaches. And the heat this summer has been relentless—long stretches of 90 degree-plus days with a searing sun beating down, day after day. The feels-like temp was 107 yesterday.
Maybe our spidey sense is getting fried because we get inundated with endless references to climate change. Or maybe it’s just an abnormally hot summer… It is summer, after all.
I’m gonna go with the former. Human-induced, accelerated climate change is real, and most of us are feeling the effects. I’m not even going out on a limb, or sticking my neck out. Gonna leave it at that.
High Stakes
To dismiss out of hand the findings of scientists who actually know what they’re talking about is monumentally stupid. Some might consider it ballsy, but that’s the furthest thing from the truth. Such short-sighted action borders on criminal, and is more the poster child for ignorance than any indication of cooler, more informed heads prevailing.
The poisoned thinking seeping through government agencies has found it way to the EPA, and the latest news is entirely, predictably disturbing, just the latest indication of the wanton and convenient blindness of Trump and the officials he’s managed to place in positions of authority.
And, of course, we cannot forget the iron grip of fossil fuel enthusiasts who still wield a paralyzing amount of power over policy and innovation. The good news is that innovation is happening anyway, renewable energy sources are here to stay, and the general public is, hopefully, beginning to see that light…
… despite the fossilized thinking of those who keep cutting off their nose to spite their face, who insist on playing the role of money-grubbing ogres.
Evolved Habits
The one that sits front and center is church involvement, at least recently. After 65-plus years of attending somewhere, our involvement of late is watching a streamed service, on occasion, from the congregation where our daughter serves as music director. Mom and Dad were always deeply involved in the local Lutheran congregation in town, and so were we when we lived under their roof, and for years after. But not anymore.
My parents were not strict constructionists when it came to observing traditions, besides attending church. Most every other “tradition” involved food and fellowship. Time with extended family was intrinsically important, and it never hurt to have coffee and a goodie or two on hand.
“Look, …”
Last night, I was watching an interview on PBS Newshour with the trade minister or some official of the EU who was being asked questions about the tariff agreement worked out between Trump and EU officials earlier in the day.
It was telling. She was doing her best to put a positive spin on developments, but it was obvious she was trying to show restraint as she wrestled with words that wouldn’t set off the Toddler-in-Chief and force him to reconsider the terms.
She kept talking about “certainty” in terms of countries at least having a better sense for the numbers they’ll be working with. But one could tell the spin cycle was in high gear. Without saying as much, the best she could do was to put some lipstick on a pig, all the while needing to suppress other emotions. The Dealmaker-in-Chief had struck again.
He must feel like he’s on a roll.
Savor it, Donald. The Epstein thing hasn’t gone anywhere.
3 Cents' 