Between today’s news, yesterday’s news, the news of the last year, the news of the last ten years, life, the universe, and everything, simply starting to scream is high on my list of things to do. I’m just not sure that I could stop.
I did get a haircut, and I can hear train whistles. I guess things don’t TOTALLY suck.
Tomorrow might be better. That possibility is what gets me up every morning. And prevents a 5150 hold. Well, that and Diet Coke (my caffeine substrate of choice).
Filed under Deep Thoughts, Paul, Photography, Politics
It was a matter of layers.
I was wondering what made that straight line splitting the lower layer of lacy clouds – probably a small plane, but it could be something natural. Or a really freakin’ huge bird…
The solid clouds were pretty stationary, and up at probably 3,000′ or so. The thin, lacy ones were much lower, probably about 1,000 feet or so, and moving like a bat out of Hell toward the north.
Keep looking up! Keep your eyes and your soul open to some of the ordinary and beautiful things up there.
Filed under Photography, Weather
THERE WAS A GIANT, YELLOW BALL OF LIGHT IN THE SKY TODAY, ALL DAY LONG!
There were still a few clouds floating around, but for the most part there were lots of blue areas and the giant yellow ball of light. When I stood in the yellow light it was warm and comfortable.
When I stood in the yellow, warm light I didn’t want to curl up in bed and cry any more. (Okay, let’s get real, two seconds of reading the news made me want to curl up and cry, yellow warm light or not, but that’s a different topic.)
Maybe if we say nice things and make small sacrifices on a rudimentary altar, nothing fancy, just a chicken or two, then the giant yellow ball of warm light will come back tomorrow.
It will be my friend. I think I will name him “Ra.”
Filed under Photography, Weather
I did my usual picture and a couple hundred words of drivel last night and was NOT expecting this morning’s reaction to it.
First, to explain – when I publish one of these daily bits of 100% human-created content (no AI here, and there never will be, well, unless I’m sharing so that I can point and laugh and mock) it goes out to about 770 email subscribers, onto my website, and then to Facebook, Mastodon, Spoutible, Bluesky, Threads, Tumblr (no one was more surprised that I even HAD a Tumblr account than I was!), and Linkedin.
This morning I got an automated email that said that I had a comment posted on my post on Linkedin. (Insert my surprised face here.)
Reacting without taking time to ponder (about two seconds) I was amazed that something I said had violated a LinkedIn policy. COOL! But what was it about brain freeze that had triggered them? I mean, they’ve been fine with all of the times I’ve suggested that our “President” and his evil minions engage in sexual acts that are physiologically unlikely and would require far more contortionist capabilities than I’ve ever given any of them credit for. But they’re upset about brain freeze?
Maybe it was the comment about how we might be living in a simulation that has bugs in the programming and brain freeze is one of them? Did I accidentally stumple on one of the great secrets of the universe and now Big Ice Cream (or its overlord, Big Universal Bug Tracking Customer Support) was going to have to disappear me?
However, after that two seconds of amazement and amusement had passed, I began to suspect that it might simply be fake, a phishing attempt of some sort. Wouldn’t “LinkedIn security” have at least one follower? Is that link even to a valid address?
Huh! Imagine that! I didn’t even know scammers were trolling in Linkedin. I’m happy that Linkedin is aware of it and on top of its game.
On the other hand, isn’t that exactly what Big Ice Cream would want us to think? This might not be over…
Filed under Farce, Social Media
Especially when you’re eating ice cream. Ice cream is by definition a perfect good. How come it can be turned into a nightmare, a horrible, painful thing by brain freeze?
This is proof to me that there is no kind, benovolent, loving, omnipotent God or Creator. There may be a Creator, or we may be in a simulation of some sort, but there’s no omnipotence involved. There are any number of errors or bugs in the system.
On the ultimate scale of horrors, the top billing of course goes to things like childhood cancer or worms that have their larva grow in your eyeballs and blind you for life. Not to mention the existance and ongoing lack of consequences for a whole raft of current US politicians. Despite all of the press it gets in Bible, we’re not seeing nearly enough smiting these days.
But having had a busy, stressful day and persevering and getting things accomplished and rewarding yourself with some quality ice cream, only to be BLINDED by unstoppable pain after like three bites, that’s gotta be up there on the list. And it’s very personal. (Not that eyeball larva isn’t…)
I’d like to talk to the manager, please!
Filed under Deep Thoughts, Moral Outrage, Paul, Photography, Politics, Religion
Oh, god, this office. The guy who was in this office. The stories behind him being hired, and then being fired six months later. The stories I could tell if the statute of limitations on slander ever expires. But isn’t the truth an absolute defense against slander?
I was telling someone about this guy and my experiences with him just the other day. Maybe that subconscious trigger led me to this set of pictures when I was looking for something random to share.
Or, he’s haunting me. Could go either way.
Frankly, if I’m going to be haunted, I would prefer someone much different. More succubussy, for starters.
Filed under Paul, Photography
First of all, my undying thanks to everyone who continues to follow this site and my photos and writing and blaterationings. I appreciate all of the likes, comments, and suggestions, and will always appreciate any and all feedback.
We got a bit of a break from the rain, but while I was out refilling the bird feeders it was drizzling with the sun out, which means rainbows. It wasn’t the brightest one in the world, but you can see the arc out there.
To the south you couldn’t QUITE see the mountain under the clouds, except for a couple of spots where, if you look really close…
The clouds were rolling through FAST, with chunks falling down from the base, indicative of some serious turbulence up there. A good day to not be flying.
Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Weather
To be clear, 2005 for me was like Sirius the star, the astronomical object, not Sirius the satellite music service.
Sirius (the star) is the brightest star (other than the Sun) as seen from Earth, over twice as bright as the second brightest (Canopus). It’s been known for thousands and thousands of years since it’s so prominent. It’s the “Dog Star” and when it appears as the morning star it’s the beginning of summer and the “dog days.” Lots of interesting facts about Sirius and it’s history.
Despite being known and prominent for centuries, it wasn’t until 1844 that astronomers noted that it’s part of a binary star system. The huge, bright star we see is now known as “Sirius A” – there’s a much smaller, much dimmer white dwarf which can only be seen with a good sized telescope that’s known now as “Sirius B.”
This is where I make the comparison to 2025.
“Sirius A” = all of the pain and bullshit that was the world (Russia vs Ukraine, etm…) and US politics (the rigged and stolen Presidential election that no one seems to care about, the Mango Manchurian Candidate and all of his disgusting actions and idiotic, psychotic rantings and misinformation, the billionaires who bought Congress and the Supreme Court, the Epstein files, the National Guard in our cities, ICE, Brain-Worm Bobby and his [literally] insane health policies, and on and on and on and one, etm…)
“Sirius B” = our Forever Home, finding it after years of searching, getting the purchase done, getting the move (more or less) done, and still being amazed on a daily basis that we own and live in such a COOL place!
Given the enormous difference in magnitude between the two, it almost seems inappropriate or embarrassing to be so pleased about the house, given the enormity of the suffering and death around the world and in our country. Yet, on an individual level, it really shouldn’t be ignored or lost in the chaos. Yes, big picture, it’s a tiny thing compared to the potential end of US democracy or the start of the Second US Civil War, but it’s a HUGE freakin’ thing in our personal lives.
So, it reminded me of Sirius.
What about 2026? Well, as I might have hinted at, I think Trump should be in jail for the rest of his life, or tried and executed for high treason, and then we need to find a way to sweep the GOP and our illegitimate Supreme Court out of power and change the rules so this can never happen again. I suspect there might be more than enough bribery, perjury, embezzlement, and other crimes in there to put a LOT of the GOP into cells next to Trump’s. Time to clean house and take our country back. (I wish I knew how to do that, but that’s above my pay grade. I’m open to suggestions.)
That’s the biggest day in, day out, universal objective for the new year, but there’s the usual on a personal level as well. There are always things that I can and want to do better, and since I’ll be hitting one of those “red-letter” birthdays in March, as always I need to do a better job of taking care of myself physically.
We’ll see. The intentions are good. The spirit is strong, but the body is weak.
Stupid body. (And holy guacamole, Batman! That’s a metric shit ton of grey hair. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯)
I hope all y’all get through the New Years’ celebrations safely and in one piece. I’m sure you all have your own list of things to be aware of and improve on where possible – best of luck to you all and may the odds be ever in your favor.
If nothing else, “Project Hail Mary” hits theaters in March. How bad can a year be with that coming out to look forward to? (He asks innocently, fully understanding that he’s probably tempting the Fates with such a statement.)
I’ll see all y’all on the other side.
Filed under Astronomy, Forever Home, Paul, Photography, Politics
Solid overcast today as the next storm moves in overnight, but for a few minutes this morning there was a perfectly positioned thin spot that let some sunlight in to illuminate Mount San Antonio and its fresh layer of snow.
With everything else darker around it, the effect was stunning.
The new incoming storm isn’t supposed to deliver nearly as much rain as last week’s storm did, but we’re still being warned of possible flash flooding and mudslides below the burn scar areas from earlier this year. (We’re not in one of those areas.) I’m not too worried about this one personally, but it will be damp and cold pretty much every day for the next week.
Probably no ice cream trucks showing up for a few days. And anyone camping out on the sidewalk for the Rose Parade in Pasadena down the hill might be miserable. But we’ll be warm and cozy here – not going anywhere!
Filed under Forever Home, Photography, Weather
For years we have gone out to breakfast on Sunday mornings, followed by our major weekly trip to the grocery store. COVID put a hitch in our getalong for a while (we ordered breakfast to go and I went shopping by myself to get in and get out) but now we’re getting back to that routine in Hesperia. It’s nice.
A couple of the places we go are about five miles away, near the post office, so it’s a good chance to also swing by and clean out the PO Box. The place we went this last Sunday is right near the Main Street overpass of the BNSF mainline railroad tracks, which might be one of the taller structures in the area. And it was the first day after the clouds had finally cleared out following the Christmas storm.
While we were waiting for breakfast to get cooked and served, I took a short hike.
That’s the back (north) side of Mount San Antonio, known better as “Old Baldy.”
With several inches of fresh snow, it was beautiful! Too bad that with several major mountain roads closed and washed out by the flooding, no one could get up to the ski resorts there.
While I was up there for five minutes, I also got to see two freight trains, seen here just before they meet going in opposite directions. The one on the left is headed down into Cajon Pass and down the hill into the Los Angeles area rail yards, while the one on the right has just come up the hill and is headed to points east. The main line goes through Barstow, Flagstaff, Kansas City, Fort Madison, and Chicago.
Later, from a lower point of view, i.e., atop the fence surrounding the flood control basin near where I took last night’s pictures of the Christmas lights hanging over the back yard wall, you can see the mountain rising about twenty miles to the southwest of the Forever Home.
I’m thinking we won’t get tired of that view any time soon.
Filed under Forever Home, Photography
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We Love The Stars Too Fondly 