ㅁ I start awake to a sudden sound. Well, rather, the sound's memory... the sound was a dreamed event. Still, it made me sit up. Awake, in moonlight. What kind of sound? A plonking. Unknown cause.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #3054 “Surrender”
ㅁ Unmotivated. So much so that all the words decomplexify.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #111
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“The kids might still do yoga and say namaste, and they still think there’s a universal consciousness that’s ultimately identical with their own self—but they’re no longer interested in renouncing desire or achieving union with the divine. They don’t want to escape the material world. They don’t want enlightenment. They are driving their bodies like cars, and they have no interest in getting out.” – Sam Kriss
Caveat: Poem #3053 “Leave them”
ㅁ The stones are unturned: you really can't go looking under each of them.
– a pseudo-haiku.
5
Caveat: Poem #3052 “Conversations that must be had”
ㅁ We need to discuss the roadside grass, that grows beside my daily drive. The grass seems unimportant: green, perhaps non-native. But as winter comes, with heavy rains, it turns gold, flaxen, pale.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Links #110
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- Yeah, that’ll work out, for sure (Syria)
- Excellent long read on history, urbanism and fertility in South Korea
- McDonalds will teach you what you need to know about America
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent.” – Issac Asimov
Caveat: Poem #3051 “Automatic fail”
ㅁ I don't want to be that old guy who's complaining... wait, that's a complaint.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3050 “Treeless”
ㅁ "Where have the trees gone?" They told me they missed the trees that I used to blog.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #109
Here are some links I found interesting – with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“Si Luigi Mangione mató a ese CEO, imaginense de lo que Waluigi Mangione sería capaz.” – Sergio
Caveat: Poem #3049 “Not necessarily accurate, though”
ㅁ cool weather predicted giant snowflakes on my phone's little weather report thing
– a tetractys.
Caveat: Wut
I’m overwhelmed and close to burn out.
I’m feeling very gloomy at the moment.
Caveat: Poem #3048 “Growth mindset”
ㅁ The economy can keep growing, even if we run out of stuff. Like a currency unit in, e.g., Zimbabwe, it is unbounded. Reality a canvas for our hopes.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #3047 “A declaration of intent”
ㅁ I shall prefer to take a rest. I'm stressed, from working far too hard. I think a day of nothing's best. I shall prefer to take a rest. I'll sit and meditate, depressed. I'll watch the ravens in the yard. I shall prefer to take a rest. I'm stressed, from working far too hard.
– a triolet.
Caveat: Santaized
Santa came to the gift store. Unfortunately he was a bit early this year (he had scheduling conflicts), so he wasn’t the big hit he’d been last year. Anyway we still had a fairly decent sales day. Christmas season is in full swing. What life choices did I make such that at age 59 I run a gift store in Alaska that plays Christmas music all day long? I look like a mentally unstable elf.
Caveat: Poem #3046 “Just so many random ghosts”
ㅁ Really I'm just an alien here. The people gathered around me are remote, unknowable. But they all feel the same. At least, I guess so. They, too, wonder: what is this? Why here? Now?
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Links #108
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- The Nobot
- Tiny steps to building state capacity in Chicago
- Too much effort was expended in producing this, no matter how much effort that was
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“어째서 사람이 이 모양인가” – South Korean Conference of Catholic Priests, in response to the recent failed auto-golpe by president Yoon [“How can a person be like this”]
Caveat: Poem #3045 “What to say…”
ㅁ i called my mother not actually easy so much bitterness
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Amnesty
This crazy thought occurred to me, as I think about the brouhaha over the Hunter Biden pardon, in the news currently.
Per that linked blog post, Biden should pardon everyone who is potentially subject to DJTs retribution. But! Biden should also pardon DJT and all of his crime-adjacent-friends. Wait, really? Yes. DJT and his crime-adjacent-friends are going to get away with it all anyway, right? That’s somewhat of a given, at this point. So if Biden preemptively pardons them, up to and including the emperor himself, it rather takes the wind out of their sails as far as accusing Biden of illegitimately deploying pardons to benefit his own “team”, and bypasses all the inevitable both-sidesing in the media. We could call it a blanket amnesty on the whole giant Red-Blue culture war. DJT gets to start with a “clean slate” – we can see how long that lasts. He’ll make a mess of his clean slate on day one, is my guess.
Caveat: Poem #3044 “The winter solstice only 2 weeks off”
ㅁ A rainy morning emerged like Aphrodite from the purple clouds.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #107
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- Gonzo at the failed Korean auto-golpe
- Handwriting over typing
- “Either we embrace the value of life, of nature, or we do not. Not to do so is monstrous, a philosophy suited to absurd killer sci-fi robots and mad Cthulthoid gods.” – Eugene Earnshaw
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“Craig, Alaska: Where everything is a little bit half-assed!” – G. Klein, a local booster in my town.
Caveat: Poem #3043 “Take it or leave it”
ㅁ not worth dying for, this life of tribulations; but that's the set up.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3042 “Above the clouds on the evening flight from Seattle to Ketchikan”
ㅁ the world appeared curved the horizon a red gash then the airplane turned
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #106
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- Publick Universal Friend
- I lived in Mexico City almost 40 years ago. The expat scene appears unchanged.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“I wouldn’t be so hard on you if you were stupid.” – Jeff Hawkins (my stepson), speaking to his son.
Caveat: Poem #3041 “The trucks going by at 5 AM”
ㅁ the smell of diesel makes me weirdly nostalgic for paris, or seoul
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Poem #3040 “Events down the driveway”
ㅁ Some chickens came and grazed the yard, the dog became excited, then. He lunged, but all the birds stood guard. Some chickens came and grazed the yard, the night was coming, sky was starred. The dog returned to where he'd been. Some chickens came and grazed the yard, the dog became excited, then.
– a triolet.
Caveat: Poem #3039 “Greatness”
ㅁ The architect was antisocial. She suggested that the problem lay with everyone else. She was arrogant, too. "The people don't know how genius manifests around us."
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Links #105
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“we’re all on our own journeys and as you read these words you bring your unique self and have unique thoughts and feelings, really these words do little, what you’re experiencing is mostly a performance, a show that your brain puts on, just once, just for you, I hope you’re paying attention.” – blogger who goes by “dynomite”
Banalities.
We’re having a very traditional day-after-Thanksgiving, here at Juli and Keith’s. Keith is watching football. Juli and Karen are making pies. Wayne is … being Wayne. Watching videos on his iPad. Though he and I took a walk down to the river this morning. We saw some salmon. Wayne wished he had his fishing gear with him.
Blackberry pie:
Caveat: Poem #3038 “Historical events”
ㅁ The world constructed an architect, placed her beside other beings, awaited her creations. Fantastic towers rose, and deep labyrinths, were then inscribed in waiting, empty fields.
– a nonnet.
Caveat: Poem #3037 “A polite suggestion”
ㅁ They can move to Mars. It might provide a challenge and keep them busy.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: Links #104
Here are some links I found interesting- with minimal comment.
- US education-level attainment progress since 1970 is just credential inflation
- Merry Thanksgiving. Enjoy your turkey!
An illustration from the internet.
A quote.
“It is in the interest of tyrants to reduce the people to ignorance and vice. For they cannot live in any country where virtue and knowledge prevail.” – Samuel Adams
Caveat: Poem #3036 “Intentionality”
ㅁ A fan of chaos, I will deliberately be disorganized.
– a pseudo-haiku.
Caveat: So you’ve heard
We finished the last of Arthur’s various appointments with specialists at the VA hospital in Portland, this morning. This last appointment was with audiology. They admitted that their past efforts had fallen a bit short – which was reassuring. Nevertheless, we have had to schedule a follow-up appointment for February, back here in Portland. So we’ll have to travel at that time.
The diagnosis is not far off from what I expected. He’s “profoundly deaf” in the right ear, and “severely impaired” in the left. I’d actually already concluded that he must be deafer in the right than the left, given occasional unintentional experiments. Interestingly, Arthur lucidly commented that it made sense – he observed that the right ear was often “closer to the helicopter” – as a pilot, I guess the volume from the engines was stronger on the right side?
I’m moderately hopeful (but not extremely hopeful) that they have understood some of the behavioral issues that prevent Arthur from successfully using fancy, smartphone-connected hearing aids, due to his challenges in taking on new (unfamiliar), “fiddly” interfaces, etc. He can’t even activate his smartphone successfully. Basically, any technology newer than what he was comfortable with circa 2018 is going to be completely unlearnable. I’ve seen this with his efforts with his computer, with his banking websites, etc. “Updates” that alter the user experience render the new version unusable for him.
So despite the suffering and inconvenience, we’ll be traveling back to Portland in February.
Meanwhile, he’s without hearing aids (the repair I attempted to the ones we wrecked in the washing mashine last week didn’t stick, and both hearing aids were entirely nonfunctional as of two days ago). They will attempt a “repair” of the broken ones, which they’ll mail to us, but I’m not very optimistic on that front.
We now look forward to a couple Thanksgiving feasts, and return travel to Southeast Alaska next Monday.
As a postscript… one small lesson: never report the loss of just one hearing aid to a healthcare provider; always report both lost, that way you’ll get a proper pair as a replacement, instead of a mis-matched singleton.
Caveat: Poem #3035 “Internal clock? What internal clock?”
ㅁ Sleep happens whenever. Earth's timekeeping... not relevant in this oneiric space.
– a tetractys.