Probably Solitaire. I can just take out my phone and play a game. It’s on my iPad, too. Dominos are fun, and so are Cribbage and Pitch/Setback. The grandkids are getting old enough to enjoy some of the classic board games, like Trouble and Sorry, even Blokus. I don’t have the time for or interest in committing to Monopoly, or anything like that. I like games that involve some strategy, but are moreso just fun to play with a few other people.
The Last Bastions
I’m gonna go with the audience’s visceral groan when Stephen Colbert broke the news that The Late Show is finished in May of next year. No replacement host. The show will just not exist anymore.
If anyone is left who thinks this is just a business decision by a network trying to keep its head above water, then you’ve been sitting in the sun for too long.
And The Daily Show, too? Apparently, the new Dark Ages are upon us. I wonder if Colbert will even make it to May 2026. If he does, I hope he goes out with a bang. And Stewart, too.
Hopefully, there will be a network somewhere who will dare welcome them to the fold, if they still have the fire in ’em.
Mostly Basic Fare
I’d like to learn how to make bread. I’ve watched my wife do it many times, but have never tried it myself. It’s an art, of sorts, and a commitment.
Falafal would be on the To Do list. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a general familiarity with the Mediterranean diet and various spice palates, be able to whip up a tasty meal at a moment’s notice, but I’ve never felt inclined to invest the time.
I think I could live on stews and soups.
Easy Choice
Dogs, though cats are less labor intensive and lead a more autonomous existence. As I was once reminded, they’ve been domesticated for about half as long as dogs, and it shows sometimes. And, at least in this neck of the woods, we don’t have to worry about feral dogs.
Absorbed In A Moment
Writing, listening to music, watching a good TV show or movie, reading, sometimes working outside. Quite a while ago, I once sat at the piano for three hours and remember marveling over having been there playing away for all that time.
More Distractions Coming
It seems almost an inevitability that heads will roll. The hand-wringing and wrangling behind the scenes will reveal the latest in a long line of hires to part ways with Donald Trump. Pam Bondi may be safe, Kash says he’s not going anywhere, but Dan Bongino may be shown the door, or maybe he’ll let himself out.
All this because of the Epstein fallout. MAGA faithful are beside themselves because there was no client list reveal—a list that apparently sat on Bondi’s desk, and which the hardcore diehards apparently figured would be chockful of slimy Dems who, they’ve been told, were part of a network of child molesters and sex traffickers.
Intuition and drawn conclusions tell us something different now. Wagons may be circling to protect precious Donald, Teflon Man, who everyone knows often enough hung out with Epstein, who shows up in numerous pics and videos. It’s all causing major consternation among the far right talking heads who thought they had a smoking gun. They still might, but it may be pointing at their not-so-fearless leader.
What a useless bunch. Instead of governing and doing the peoples’ work, all we get is more drama and this sensational drivel that passes for news. Nothing will happen to Donald. Someone else will take the fall, as usual. This is why you have handpicked lackies in positions of power—so they can “disappear” the damning evidence, or at least try to.
Where’s Deep Throat when you need him?
At the moment…
Water in our basement is bothering me. Water doesn’t belong in basements. We had over 4 inches of rain in about 3 hours yesterday, and the saturated ground revealed some shortcomings in our foundation’s capacity for repelling water. In the larger scheme of things, it’s a mere flesh wound compared with what’s been happening in other places around the country and world, but it’s still a pain to deal with.
And of course the ongoing follies and painful reality of the current presidential administration is an ongoing dark cloud. Washington hasn’t seen such crass ineptitude and evil intent since, well, the first go ’round five-plus years ago.
Decalogue, of a sort
The sun will rise and set.
Humans will continue to be brilliant and short-sighted in varying measures for the foreseeable future.
In the absence of love, we suffer.
Time is a construct.
Clean drinking water is a necessity.
There’s no need for all the food prep shows.
The universe is huge.
We don’t all share the same musical tastes.
More isn’t necessarily better.
The earth will survive our gluttony and mismanagement, but we won’t.
Wake-up call
To follow up on yesterday’s entry, the difficulty in Texas is that its leadership often appears to subscribe to the Donald Trump School of Denial and Doubling Down. So, the likelihood that people will learn anything from the July 4 tragedy is dependent on Governor Abbott and his staff being open to a certain criticism and introspection and review—not in order to find a scapegoat but rather to learn something that might help in the inevitable next time.
Even if the Guadalupe event was a rare, perfect storm of conditions, accelerated climate change is here, even and especially in Texas. The once-in-a-lifetime events will be coming more frequently than once in a lifetime. Turning a blind eye and siding with the fossil fuel industry isn’t going to help.
Variations In Routine
Yes.
Security, and adventure on my terms. I don’t need to be scaling a sheer cliff or swimming with Great Whites in order to have a good day. I’m definitely not an adrenaline junkie, never have been. I feel plenty alive most days just tending to yard work, playing with the grandkids, or taking a walk with my wife. I consider the 26 years I spent as a pastor the adventure years, since I lived most every day so far out of my comfort zone.
Kind of boring, I guess.
3 Cents' 