Just Doing It

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Daily writing prompt
What’s the most fun way to exercise?
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I don’t very often equate exercise with fun. It’s not that I don’t derive satisfaction from knowing I’m doing myself some good by getting to the Y on a regular basis. It’s just that I don’t spend much time trying to figure out how to make it fun. I just do it, and feel good when I start seeing progress and an increase in strength and stamina.

I suppose the fun quotient is raised when I’m giving horsey rides to the grandkids, throwing a football or playing catch, golfing, working in the yard, or taking a hike with friends.

Nothing More Than Chaos

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I seem to be a glass half empty guy when it comes to Trump and the current state of things.

China retaliates with tariffs of its own, so it is a foregone conclusion that Trump is going to muster his own dumb tit for tat. And China won’t be the only one. It’s all so hard to watch.

To make matters worse, how long will it be before people who show up at these nationwide protests start disappearing? Isn’t that what starts happening—facial recognition software does its thing and your average concerned citizens start not being heard from or seen? Or at the very least, they’re suddenly much less interested in voicing dissent?

Too much? Too dark? Can’t happen here? How can anyone believe that, given what we’ve already seen?

As much as I hope the protests will be enough to sway opinions and effect positive change, I predict the gloves will be coming off shortly. On both sides. Especially once the tariff insanity and market instability start really hitting home.

What the hell is the endgame here? Maybe it’s time for reasonable people to call Trump in for an intervention (insert derisive laughter here).

An Interesting Character

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Daily writing prompt
If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?
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The low hanging fruit might be Tom Sawyer or Atticus Finch, from the days when I read something besides non-fiction.

But since it’s fresh in my mind, I’d have to go with Dr. Martin Ellingham, from the British tv series Doc Martin. He’s a quirky GP, a former top surgeon in London who developed haemophobia, a brilliant diagnostician, a person with impeccable credentials but also a product of an unhappy childhood– at least with his parents. He seems to know only one way to be– rigid though honorable and forthright in his speech and behavior, learning his way in his role in the small but charming English seaside community of Portwenn.

I guess I identify with the Doc’s cold professionalism, or his strict understanding of his purpose, his work– which doesn’t mean he doesn’t have room to grow in matters of the heart, or work on his sense of humor or his ability to read a room.

In General

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Daily writing prompt
What animals make the best/worst pets?
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I would think anything other than the conventional dog, cat, or bird wouldn’t make the list of best pets. A horse is a beautiful animal, but it’s difficult for me to consider a horse a pet. It’s more like a companion, or 4-legged colleague.

I’ve seen the YouTube clips of “pet” mountain lions and wolves and deer, etc. But in general, worst pets would probably be a ferret, snake, most any wild animal– any big cat, bear, wolf, chimpanzee, alligator, wolverine, shark, jellyfish, or a tick.

And I’m sure there’s disagreement on most of this. Except maybe the tick.

(Inevitable) Mismanagement

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Amazing, how the chaos in Washington has mobilized the masses. We all have our thresholds, I guess.

The clueless punks and gaggle of rich bastards need to stop lambasting entitlements and calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme. Such creative word usage, and incendiary laziness.

Technically, though, it is an entitlement, as in we’re entitled to receive the money we’ve been putting into Social Security our entire working lives.

The World Stage

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Daily writing prompt
What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
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Winter– ski jumping, Biathlon, for some reason, maybe hockey and luge. Summertime– certain track and field events, and gymnastics. I’m not as glued to the TV during the Olympics as I used to be.

I’m heartened by the stories of good sportsmanship, and I like the underdog stories– the medal winners who surprise everyone because they defy certain odds and perform beyond expectations.

Civics

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Daily writing prompt
How would you improve your community?
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Advocate for and support the music and arts efforts and the multi-purpose theater, vote for wise land use and open space; utilize our location next to a river, remind people that we live in a beautiful area that has a certain character and its own bit of fascinating history.

Reckoning

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Cory Booker probably needs a nap. I’m sure conservative media have had a field day, downplaying and ridiculing Booker’s 25-plus hour marathon on the Senate floor, perhaps calling it melodramatic grandstanding, hypocritical, or some such thing. I choose to see it differently.

I see Booker’s efforts as a sign of the times, a response to constituents who wanted him and every other member of Congress to do more in the face of the wanton destruction unfolding in Washington and around the country. What Booker did was extreme but necessary, given that Trump, Musk, and the rest are obviously running with the (nonexistent) mandate theme and doing their best to tear bone and sinew limb from limb.

If the goal is indeed privatization, and the rich getting richer while the rest of us are left to gather the crumbs and offer ourselves to the Almighty Market forces, then the rest of us need a champion or two. And the rest of us will inevitably need to get involved, try to send a message to an administration that has made it clear it neither appreciates nor much heeds messages being sent its way.

It’s feeling more like, sooner or later, the streets are going to heat up.