Apologies to Gilles Vigneault - 17 February 2022 - Plague Journal Day 707

Micah 6:8
Job 6:15-17
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Perhaps you've noted the rise of authoritarianism in our neighbour to the North (technically also South from where I sit). Prime Minister Justin "Baby Doc" Trudeau is trying to be the boot stamping on a human face - forever. Well, in the tradition of sticking it to the man, or rather collage à l'homme I submit this slight rewrite of a fabulous Quebecois song:

Mon pays, ce n'est pas un pays, c'est Trudeau
Mon jardin, ce n'est pas un jardin, c'est Justin
Mon chemin, ce n'est pas un chemin, il est barré
Mon pays, ce n'est pas un pays, c'est Trudeau

Today's freewrite prompt word is Beam

When I was a young kid, we lived on a court - a street that actually was a circle, but with two exits. It meant that there was little traffic on our street other than locals coming and going, and that we could ride our bikes and play pretty much unsupervised until the streetlights came on. Yes, I was a bit of a free-range child.
Anyway, I remember one evening, as I rushed home in the newly-streetlit gloom, seeing a cat under a car - looking at me with bright, glowing eyes. That was pretty darned freaky - beams of light coming out of a creatures eyes!
Well, Dad explained to me that cats had AA batteries in their tails and that's how their eyes glowed so brightly in the dark. As evidence, he showed me a battery from the kitchen drawer. It couldn't have been clearer, or more obviously true.

I wonder if I ever explained that to Christian. I'll have to ask.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Sweet, Georgia Brown! - 07 January 2022 - Plague Journal Day 666

Micah 6:8
Judges 3:15
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Here a Friday Fun Fact I came across today.
Male cats are more likely to be left-pawed, while female cats are more likely to be right-pawed.
(I have only partially confirmed this, as it's also in the infographic below, but it does sound a bit unlikely.)

It does make me think of my fencing career at university. Phys Ed classes were for zero credits, but I - bravely - took two of them: Rifle & Pistol, and Fencing.

Fencing was really fun and quite physically demanding and rewarding. I had a friend in the class who was left-handed, which turns out to be a huge advantage. After all, he fought essentially only right-handers; and we all did the same - except when fighting him with everything going the wrong way.
I talked with him about taking the course again, but with each of us working with our off hand, thus anticipating both Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black by quite a few years.
It also led to my once annual golf tournament where a different left-handed friend and I trade clubs and play a round going the wrong way. It's quite embarrassing to begin with, but gets quite a bit better by the end. We'll have to restart that tradition soon.

On an historical note, on
07 January1927 the Harlem Globetrotters played their first game. That reminds me of a vacation happening. We were stopped for lunch at the restaurant of a Holiday Inn on the way to Fort Wayne to visit family. The sign outside said something on the order of "Welcome Harlem Globetrotters." Well, there were a few Black men at another table in the restaurant. Mom grabbed all the gumption she had accumulated to that point in her life and asked one of them if he were Meadowlark Lemon.
"No, ma'am," was the reply, and she walked away.
I've always wondered if they really were Globetrotters and she just guessed the wrong one. They might well have wanted some privacy at lunch, after all. I know he wasn't Curly Neal, as he had hair. (Unless he was wearing a wig - he might have been in disguise, or even in cognito!)

Ah, good times with Mom in restaurants. At least we weren't kicked out that time.

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Anthony! - 04 January 2022 - Plague Journal Day 663

Micah 6:8
Leviticus 23:1-2
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

In spite of its being Tuesday, today is National Spaghetti Day! Let's consider it Wednesday Eve rather than Tuesday and maybe we'll all feel more comfortable eating our spaghetti - right, Anthony?

Really, why do we have to wait for Wednesday for a plate of slurpy goodness? I say any day can be Prince Spaghetti Day. Who would vote against that, one wonders.

On a non-pasta, yet also historical note, Austrian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate, all around cool cat, Erwin Schrödinger died on this date in 1961 ... or did he? I'm not going to be the one to open the box and find out!

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Mass Hysteria - 03 January 2022 - Plague Journal Day 662

Micah 6:8
Deuteronomy 22:9-11
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Dogs and cats living together? Mass hysteria... or not.

We may have reached the point where our animal friends begin to tolerate one another, possibly even to like one another!
I'm not saying they're going to curl up together for a nap today, but we've made immense progress on the canine-feline axis here. We had two cats in the living room at the same time as the dog and no blood was shed. (N.B. - no blood has been shed at any time, but they've not been hanging out even remotely together until now.)
In fact, I had Roma sitting on the couch with her head on my lap so I could pet her, and Billie sitting (nicely) at my feet so I could pet her at the same time. When Heidi pulled out her phone to snap a photo, they both thought better of there being any evidence, so they moved away - but we know what happened, and now so do you!

Hope springs eternal, as they say.


Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our insane lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Not Bad - 21 August 2021 - Plague Journal Day 527

Micah 6:8
Psalm 8
Yes, your life matters.

Some of you are still sheltering in place, but fear not: I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?


The other day we celebrated Bad Poetry Day. Today is Poet's Day, a day to celebrate the poet in each of us, as well as our favourite poets and poems. Perhaps you can find a way to do a public reading of your favourite - I'm going to grab my Oxford poetry book and belt out a rousing rendition of "I Am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra" by Ishmael Reed at some point today, even if my cats are the only audience. After all, cats should love anything with Egyptian imagery since those folks worshipped cats back when.

Now go celebrate a poet - and be one!

Keep Calm and Don't Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

The Eyes Have It - 13 May 2021 - Plague Journal Day 427

Micah 6:8
Isaiah 55:10-13
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I was thinking about Jack (my cat) the other day as I rubbed my itching eye. (Frigging Allergies!) The trees are conspiring to make my life miserable, and they're doing a pretty good job of it, from a rhino-ocular perspective. This has to be one of the worst tree-pollen seasons I can remember, and my eyes are not at all happy about it.

The itching is one thing, the crusty mornings are another, and I actually had to take an antihistamine the other day for the first time in years.

Why was I thinking of Jack? Well, as you may know, he has glaucoma, and I have to put drops in his eyes two or three times a day (depending on which eye we're discussing). His right eye gets a bit runny fairly often, and I have to believe he's not feeling much better than I am in that regard.

I also think of Billie (our new dog), since a couple times recently on walks we've gone through an area where I noticed an odd "aroma" in the air, and not long after had semi-asthmatic feelings. I think we were under trees both times, and it may well have been a cloud of tree pollen (one supposes is may also have been some kind of chemical treatment that had been applied to said trees). At any rate, I'm not enjoying this part of the season, and am looking forward to its swift ending.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

A Great Place - 03 May 2021 - Plague Journal Day 417

Micah 6:8
Luke 8:22-25
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today - the Monday of the first full week of May - is Great Lakes Awareness Day. I feel very privileged to live here in Great Lakes Central (that's the State of Michigan - Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam, Circumspice!). While I'm not actually on one of the five (count 'em - five!) Great Lakes, I do live just inland from the main Great Lakes connector lake, and I have visited all the Great Lakes as well as that source of paddling voyagers, Lake Nipigon. This is an amazing part of the world, and I feel blessed to live here. Now if we can just keep the Asian Carp from infiltrating ..

On a more domestic, home-bound note, today is also National Lumpy Rug Day. I'm afraid we have a lot of experience with lumpy rugs here at Cleveland, and when one perpetrator passes on, another takes his or her place.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

Rice and Cats - 16 October 2020 - Plague Journal Day 218

Micah 6:8
Exodus 20:4-5
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I came across this news item in a marketing and advertising newsletter:

Mars Food has announced it will change the name of Uncle Ben’s by early 2021, rebranding it as Ben’s Original and removing the image of Frank Brown from the packaging. New YouGov BrandIndex data suggests that the changes to the brand have been positively received. Following the announcement, Uncle Ben’s Word of Mouth Exposure score grew 9.6 points to 12.3. Its Reputation score also increased 6.1 points, while its Impression score also increased by 6.9 points.

So what happens the the family of Frank Brown, now that they won't be receiving the royalty checks from the use of his image on the packages? Frank was a Chicago area maitre d'hotel whose portrait has been used for decades. (One supposes today's reformers consider him too ignorant to have been offended by his portrayal as himself.)


In perhaps less contentious news, today is Global Cat Day, so felicitations to our feline friends. Further, today is also National Boss Day. Coincidence? I think not.
Let me refill that water bowl for you, boss.

 

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

03 September 2020 - Plague Journal Day 174

Micah 6:8
Numbers 13:25-27
Yes, your life matters.

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I have a fairly odd cat. Jack is almost more like a dog than a cat - he wags his tail when he's happy, comes when called, sits when told (before getting his meals or treats, generally). All in all, he's not a normal cat.

He does like his dairy products, though - especially yogurt. As many of you no doubt know, cats really dislike citrus fruits. One of the suggestions to keep them away from Christmas trees is to hang oranges on the tree. Jack, however, loves these Chobani yogurts: Lemon Meringue, Orange Cream, and Key Lime. He bugs me when I'm eating them to give him his share, and he always cleans the bowl.

There are two other flavors, though, which he prefers to the citrus ones: Honey and Coconut. Yesterday Jack finished my honey yogurt at lunch with his wonted gusto. Now I discover that yesterday was World Coconut Day (sadly, I didn't realize it then), so for a belated celebration, we had some coconut yogurt today, and again, the tub was clean as a whistle. (How did that become an expression? I've heard dirty whistles from time to time.)

So there you go. By the way, Jack's not totally abnormal. He loves getting into boxes and bags, just like a typical cat.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.
The mental health issues related to our lockdown and the pandemic are especially hard for people with depression. NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, has a 24 hour helpline: 800-950-6264.

22 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 102

Micah 6:8
Genesis 1:24-26

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

As semi-chronicled in the previous two entries, we worked hard and had a pretty successful outdoor online worship service yesterday. Now the work begins for the next one. We'll be trying very hard to make this all a lot simpler. We shall see.

In the meantime, today is Take Your Cat to Work Day! This is actually a lot easier for many of us these days than it used to be. In face, it's hard to go to work without those feline coworkers in these days of working from home. If only my house were cold and I really wanted those furry furnaces nestled in my lap.

Oh well, I'm sure they don't mean any harm. (Or do they?)

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.