My Current Musical Obsession

Roy Clark 1933-2018

My dad listened to country music, exclusively, so I grew up watching Hee Haw. I even laughed at some of the corny jokes. Of course I did; I was a kid. Even then, most of the music I could take or leave. Roy Clark did sing and play guitar on the show but I mostly thought of him as "one of the funny ones". Then one episode he played this. It really appealed to me and suddenly I started to take him more seriously.

PMJ Does Aerosmith

Cat Update

We have confirmed that the cat (see previous post) belongs to our neighbors. He came back Friday and followed me around demanding pets and cuddles and after a while found a nice cardboard box to nap in.

Later we saw the kids next door playing with him. His name is Flash, which disappoints me because it doesn't fit him at all. He needs a name that is both sweeter and more dignified. Oh well.

I have to admit, for a while I was still feeling a little possessive and worrying that they might not take good care of him. Will they get him neutered and vaccinated? Probably not. Do they feed him a good quality grain-free cat food? Probably not. But I'm mostly over it now. And I expect he will still come to visit once in a while. I can deal with that.

Friend For a Day

Some friends are with you for years or even a lifetime. But sometimes you meet a person and even though you only spend a short time with them and never see them again, they make an impression that lasts the rest of your life. In this case, I don't mean "person" in the strictly human sense though.

We were outside Sunday afternoon when we heard a kitten crying. I quickly spotted him near the fence between us and our neighbor to the south. I have had enough cats to be able to recognize the hunger cry but my first instinct was, "Don't feed it. If you feed it it's yours forever." He seemed inclined to follow me so I tried to lead him back toward the neighbor's yard where I thought he might have come from. The neighbor has a cat so it didn't seem too unlikely that he might have acquired a second one.

The cat went through the fence but as soon as I started to walk away he followed me. So I fed him, he immediately demanded more, and I fed him again. And I petted him. He was very friendly and sweet and not at all afraid of the sound of power tools. He followed me around all afternoon and I petted him and picked him up and cuddled him a lot. For some reason the name Charlie came to mind. If I didn't think of something better I would name him Charlie.

Now I wish I had brought him into the house but for a couple of reasons I didn't. I was a little worried about how my two cats would react although they seemed fine with him hanging around outside but mainly I thought maybe he might belong to someone and would find his way back home if I left him outside. I fed him again just before 9 o'clock. That was the last time I saw him.

I keep looking for him every time I go outside, still hoping that he will come back, even though I'm pretty sure he won't. He was so beautiful and sweet. It was love at first cuddle. The selfie above is the best one of several pictures I tried to take. It's hard to take pictures of a cat who wants to cuddle. If he doesn't come back to me I hope he at least finds someone else to cuddle with.

Books

Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton

I love big books. I have even read books primarily because they are famous for being long. And I enjoyed them. So don't think I'm complaining about these two books by Peter F. Hamilton being long. (988 pages and 1008 pages in mass market paperback) But some parts of the books, especially the first one, were long and tedious, hundreds of pages of politicians and VIPs schmoozing and fornicating. But the more interesting parts, with strange aliens and time shifting paths through the woods and such were very brief.

I know some people say, "Why waste time on a book you're not enjoying? Just quit and move on to something else." It makes sense but most of the time I just can't, maybe because I've been rewarded for such patience again and again. I actually decided at one point that I would not buy Judas Unchained though, but before I got to the end of Pandora's Star I was hooked in spite of the the long, tedious passages and it ended on a cliffhanger so of course I had to continue.

Judas Unchained turned out to be increasingly interesting and finally brought the story to a satisfying conclusion. I really like Hamilton's world building and characters, two elements of a story that are especially important to me. And overall the story was excellent - about the fight against a truly terrifying race of aliens determined to exterminate humanity.

Now I'm sure I will read more by this author but probably not for quite a while. I have a lot of other books on my must read list and maybe even some re-reads that I want to get to first.

Sing A Song... If You Can Remember It

It's funny how memory works, and often doesn't. I don't think we ever really forget anything once it's in "long term memory". It just gets filed away, sometimes in a bottom file drawer in the dusty back room of our mental archives, never to be recalled unless something occurs to bring it out. What's puzzling to me is how things that were once important and exciting can be filed away and "forgotten" in this manner.

Yesterday I found this video over at Keys and Reeds. Back in the 70s this was my song. As someone who didn't fit in, and by that point didn't really want to, this song was very exciting to me. And yet, I hadn't thought of it in years.

I was thrilled to rediscover this song but then I was left with a disturbing puzzle. Who sang the version I loved when I was in high school? I could have used the Internet and found it in a minute but I was determined to figure it out for myself. Well, after a day of mentally beating myself over the head for not being able to remember I gave up.

I went directly to Youtube and searched. The first video that comes up is Cass Elliot. Well that's a bit of a surprise but... could be? So I listened. I didn't think so but I couldn't completely rule it out. Scrolling down, the next video that leaped out at me was by Bobby Sherman. I was pretty sure I was looking for a female singer but I had a huge 13-year-old's crush on Bobby Sherman so I listened to the first 15 to 20 seconds. Nope, definitely not it. And The Carpenters. That seemed like a strong possibility but I was curious as to what else would turn up and kept scrolling, thinking I would come back to it.

And then I saw it! I didn't even have to listen to know that this was it. I have this album! (vinyl, which I no longer have any way to listen to) And I suddenly remembered knowing it as part of the Sing/Make Your Own Kind of Music medley and HOW IN THE HELL COULD I EVER FORGET THIS?!

Beginning in 1974, the year the movie The Way We Were came out, I worshiped Barbra Streisand, which was one of the things that made me weird in high school because everyone else hated her. (I didn't really like the movie, loved the song)

Well, anyway, that's my little memory journey. I'm happy to have been reminded of this and still bothered and annoyed to have forgotten it. Another thing that's strangely annoying is that I think I like the Paloma Faith version a little better. Oh well, either way it's still my song.

Hello? Anybody out there?

Well... it's been a long time, huh? I keep thinking about restarting this thing, although I don't know why. I feel like I'm talking to an empty room. Anyway, for now here's a picture of today's weather.

Sky

This was a few days ago. It's representative of what our skies have been looking like recently.

Deleted

Sorry, I had to delete this post because it didn't really say what I wanted it to say. Maybe I'll try again someday. Or not.

Random Linkage

Before Google - Questions people asked librarians at New York Public Library. Most are dated from the 1940s to the 1960s and there are some weird questions. People haven't changed all that much.

Tea Time - Early 20th century photos

Windmills in the Fog - beautiful photographs

Stunning Soundtracks for Trashy Movies - A long list. I didn't read the whole thing but as far as I scrolled there weren't any movies I've seen. I might follow some of the YouTube links later just for fun.

Jules Verne's "Lost" Novel - Written in 1863 but not published until 1994.

Everyday Refugees

Oldest Public Library in the English Speaking World

Just Another Tree

I was outside this weekend and for some reason I noticed that the pattern of the limbs of this tree, which I've seen every day for more than 20 years, looked especially pleasing. That's what I love about where I live. Somehow there's always something new to notice, even if it's always been there.

Good Morning

Just one of my favorite trees...

Summer Sky

Random Linkage

The Sound of Imaginary Islands

World's Fastest Museum - a beautiful modern train

Discourse Markers - Like, you know, filler words in French and other languages.

Victory Display - Some gestures are hardwired into our brains, not learned.

The Great Wallpaper Rebellion - We're talking about the stuff you glue to your walls that everyone thinks is tacky. I like wallpaper but, sadly, I won't be putting any of this on my walls.

Overheard in Walmart - I must live in a really boring part of the country. Not only do I rarely see anything People of Walmart worthy, I don't even hear any interesting bits of conversation.

Secret Rooms

Mini-Truck Garden Contest - One more example of the Japanese being awesome

Kitschatron - A Tumblr that I must take time to explore soon.

Clouds

This is a really old picture. For a while I was really into taking pictures of clouds so I have a couple of hundred of them at least and I thought I would start posting some of them here once in a while.

Been Reading

I have been reading a lot, actually, but I'm only going to mention a couple of the more recent ones I've read.

Catherynne Valente's Space Opera is not the kind of book I'm normally into. A lot of people have compared it to Douglas Adams' novels. I can understand the comparison; there's a similar kind of irreverence and silliness but Space Opera is in no way a copycat. I first read the first chapter on Tor.com and I was charmed by the extreme wordiness and clever metaphors so I bought it. (Kindle) After the next couple of chapters I started to get impatient with it and considered quitting but it was still interesting enough that I wanted to see what happened. Would the entire Earth be destroyed all because one guy couldn't sing well enough? Well, if you care, you'll have to read it and find out for yourself. I won't spoil it.

There is going to be a movie, which surprises me a little. It wouldn't be my first choice of book to be made into a movie but I'm sure it will be entertaining if it's done well.

Oh! I almost forgot. There's what you might call a catchphrase in Space Opera which is one of the most true and profound bits of wisdom I have ever read: "Life is beautiful and life is stupid." Isn't it though!

Another, more exciting, book I finished recently was Gareth Powell's Embers of War. This is so my kind of book. Pure space opera like I thought no one was writing anymore - starships, weird planets, aliens, action, politics, drama. I finished it in what was for me record time. Unfortunately the sequel won't be out until next year.

One of my favorite things about Twitter is all the authors I'm discovering. At first I was following only two authors, then authors started following me. Obviously just to get my attention so I would buy their books and it is working. That's how I discovered both of these books and there are a lot more that I want to read soon.

Morning Walk

I was walking through the woods behind my house a few days ago and saw this little "guy".

And a little farther on...

They were both small, about three inches across, I think.

Monteverdi

This music was mentioned in a book I recently finished reading, Firebird, by Tony Rothman. (More about the book later. If I get around to it.)

Spoiled, Privileged Person First World Problem

It's funny how we so quickly become dependent on little conveniences that we were perfectly fine living without for most of our lives. Take, for example, package tracking. I hate when I order something and there's no or only minimal tracking info, such as only the date shipped and an estimated delivery date. But sometimes knowing can be as bad or worse than not knowing.

I ordered a t-shirt from an Etsy shop. (It's going to be a gift.) It shipped from Seattle via DHL. From there it went to Raleigh, NC. My package spent several days in Raleigh then finally shipped to Grand Prairie, TX, where it apparently spent several more days. I say "apparently" because on the day it finally arrived here Tracking showed that it was still in Grand Prairie.

I have the t-shirt and I didn't especially need it in a hurry but I would just like to know why. I'm pretty good at map reading but you really don't have to be to know that North Carolina is way far the other side of Oklahoma from Seattle, WA. And then there was the extra stopover in Texas. I admit that I really don't know a lot about how shipping works but that route seems terribly inefficient and wasteful.

And while we're on the topic of shipping, how long do you think it should take for a package to get here from the other side of the planet? I have only ordered internationally a couple of times but from my limited experience and reading the experiences of others three to four weeks seems to be typical. I just don't know. If you, personally, traveled around the world by plane how long would that take? According to this page it's possible to do in three to four days. That's a complete circumnavigation. Since we're talking about packages though, I'm talking about, at most, halfway around the world. And I know there's a lot of handling of packages that adds time but still, it seems to me that it should be possible to get a package from Europe to the middle of the U.S. in about two weeks.

But what do I know? As I said, I'm not a shipping expert, just a spoiled, impatient consumer. You know, if someone could finally invent the transporter we could get packages in just an hour or two. Sometimes Star Trek makes the real world look so lame.

Beautiful and Stupid

An incident Sunday morning made me think of a line from Cathrynne Valente's novel Space Opera: "Life is beautiful and life is stupid." A 79 year old man was injured trying to rescue a turtle on the highway.

That was beautiful. What a sweet old man, caring about the life of a turtle. But it was also stupid. There is a lot of traffic on that highway and most of it going 10 - 15 MPH over the speed limit. I understand, but it's not worth it.

I wonder if the turtle is okay.

Just Some Links Because My Brain's Too Lazy to Write Anything

Biggest Bird Eggs Ever, and where to find them

Curiosity Cabinets

Seafood and Cheese

3-D Murals

Foot fungus - actually, sneakers made out of mushrooms

Stuff Seen on Twitter

Beautiful, colorful art by Iris Scott.

I love these rain photos. They almost look like paintings.

This 1920's hair dryer:

I sort of want it. Not to use but just to have people walk into my house and say, "What the hell is that thing?!"

This must read article about "cultural appropriation". This subject ("cultural appropriation" but involving a different culture) came up a few months ago on one of the sewing blogs I read and a lovely woman of color said pretty much the same thing. We often make the mistake of forgetting that people of other cultures have differing opinions within their culture just as much as we do. Just be respectful. That's all you need to do.

Umbrella street, Portugal:

A disturbing short story about smart homes. I'm not a big fan of most "smart home" technology. I find all of it unnecessary and some of it just a little creepy. This story is also anti-GMO which I am not so that part of the story annoys me a little. I suppose bad things could happen but I think the potential for disaster is exaggerated.

And another artist, Tomasz Alen Kopera.

Mesmerizing Piano and Light Show

Still Here

Yep, I'm still here. I had a pretty busy week last week. And I turned 60. I might have more to say about that (and other things) later. Lately I have not been much in the mood to waste time on the computer. Wasting time on Twitter, on my tablet or phone, on the other hand...

Anyway, I just wanted to let the one or two people who still check this page once in a while know that I haven't disappeared completely.

This 'n' That

If you have ever read a listicle you must read this listicle: 10 Things You Should Know About Lists on the Internet. Yeah. Just... yeah.

This is rather neat: All 611 shots from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Most movies have more than twice that number of shots.

This is not an ad, honest; I simply must say that NewChic has some of the crazy coolest shoes. Some pretty ordinary looking ones too but I'm looking at the wild, multi-color, flower embellished ones. Lots of flats. I wonder if they are comfortable. It doesn't look like any of them have a decent arch support.

It's true! Washing machines really do eat socks.

Of all the things you can do with Legos this might be the coolest thing ever.

Entertaining Nonsense

Sometimes I miss the good old days of the Internet, when you always knew immediately when you had come across a lunatic website because they all screamed at you in a variety of large fonts and bright colors. Lunatic websites are still out there though; they're just easier on the eyes. Like this one that I first saw on Twitter: Giant Prehistoric Trees.

Everyone has noticed that Devil's Tower looks like a giant tree stump but most of us, when we hear the real scientific explanation for its shape, immediately realize that it makes much more sense. This individual though, whose command of English strongly suggests that it's not his first language, just couldn't let go of the fantasy of an ancient era when there were trees many kilometers tall - the Silicon Era. He gives many more examples of mountains that he says are the stumps of ancient trees and tells us:

So there are no volcanoes, mountains and rocks they do also not exist. You can delete these terms from the lexicon. ... we are well made out that absolutely all the rocks of our planet – are the bodies of the silicon world.

I also like this bit, which he just sort of throws out there, talking about modern trees, then abandons:

If someone thinks that the forests were cut down just for timber, then I hasten to dispel your naivety. The fact is that old trees work also as information storage, database, hard disks, in modern parlance. Everything that happens on the planet, the trees do record it in its information portal. A person with good enough sensitivity can just go to a forest and easily access any information about the past, just by touching the tree trunk.

So anyway... it goes on and on, we're all naive, scientists are covering up "the truth," and so on and so forth. You know... I not only want to believe that most people are good; I also want to believe that most people are not idiots. (Of course the fact that around one third of Americans still think Donald Trump is doing a good job should be enough to dispel that belief.) So it occurs to me that web pages like this must be the Internet version of performance art, that its creator can't possibly believe such nonsense and it's put out there merely to entertain. But I don't know.

I took a quick look at the rest of the website. Just based on the article headlines you might almost think it wasn't a complete nonsense website if you hadn't read the thing about the Silicon Era trees but I don't think I'll waste any more time exploring. It would be hard to top kilometers tall trees.

10 Home Decor Trends That Need to Die Immediately

1. Gray - If you want to use gray as a neutral background so you can easily redecorate by just changing out the drapes and the throw pillows and such, fine. It's not what I would do but it's fine. But what I've been seeing a lot of lately on HGTV are rooms that make you think you're suddenly watching on a black and white TV. Literally everything is gray or white. If you do this you are either one of the most boring people in the world or you have a mental condition. If you must paint your walls gray get a red sofa or mustard yellow drapes and some brightly colored pillows and art.

2. Earth Tones - Not as popular as they once were, gray having become the new boring person obligatory decor, beige and brown interiors are still a go to choice for people who don't want to have to think about color.

3. Accent Walls - Can't decide what color to paint your walls? Use two colors in one room. To me this just looks like you ran out of paint and finished up with a different color that you had leftover from another project. Same thing with kitchens where the upper and lower cabinets are painted two different colors or the island is a different color. It just looks like you ran out of paint and were too lazy or cheap to go buy more.

4. Excessively Long Drapes - You know, those drapes that end in a pile of fabric on the floor? That just looks like you can't be bothered to measure properly. I, personally, prefer curtains that are just slightly longer than the window. I don't even like floor length drapes but if that's your style do make sure that they are the proper length and end at the floor.

5. Concrete Countertops - Concrete belongs outside as sidewalks and driveways. I don't care what color you stain it, if you have a concrete countertop it just looks like you have a sidewalk on top of your kitchen cabinets.

6. Open Kitchen Shelving - Sure they look nice on TV and in decorating magazines but you know as soon as the cameras are gone those people are going to start putting everything on those shelves, attractive or not, and within a week or two the whole kitchen will be a tacky looking mess.

7. Too Many Pillows on the Bed - Why would you want to cover half your bed in decorative pillows? Can you really sleep with that many pillows? Do you throw them all on the floor at night? Does anyone not on HGTV actually do this?

8. Vessel Sinks - I have to admit some of them are gorgeous. I was even tempted enough by a beautiful carnival glass sink at the Tulsa Home and Garden Show to ask how much it cost. (The person watching the booth didn't know.) But they are harder to clean than a simple, one piece vanity top and, because they're a trendy thing, in 15 or 20 years everyone will think they're weird.

9. Painted Brick - This is my number one pet peeve. Brick is a beautiful, low maintenance material. One of the best things about it is that you don't have to paint it. Also, it can last for generations and since paint is hard to remove you are ruining it not just for yourself but for future owners.

10. Trends - Any trend. If it's "the latest thing" it probably will be considered tacky and outdated in 10 to 20 years. It's your home we're talking about. Don't decorate to keep up with the latest fashions; decorate with colors and objects that are pleasant, comfortable, and meaningful to you and your family.

Did I miss anything? Please post your decorating pet peeves in the comments.

Two Dreams

I know nobody likes to hear about other people's dreams. I finally get that after years of blank looks when I try to tell people about an interesting dream. But nobody is reading this anyway and it's my blog so...

In one dream one of my cats was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor with a mouse between his paws. The mouse looked up at me with adorable beady eyes and looked so cute and then I realized the cat was not about to eat it or just torment it for the fun of it; he was actually protecting the mouse. Of course, none of that makes any sense in the awake world. Only cartoon mice are cute - I don't even like pet rodents - and although I have seen pictures of cat and mouse friends that would never happen at my house.

The other dream... I don't know why I even want to tell it because it's not especially weird or even very interesting. We (my family) were at some kind of resort, hanging out outdoors (a picnic maybe?) and I decided I needed to take my jacket back to our room. Our room number was 105 and I kept walking up and down corridors looking for room 105 and couldn't find it. Then when I realized it was a dream and that I was about to wake up I felt like, "No! Wait! I have to find the room first." That was the weird thing about it I guess. Instead of being relieved or amused that it was only a dream I was disappointed that I was never going to find the room.

So anyway... that's all I've got right now. Or at least all I want to write at the moment, because I have other things I want to do. If there's anyone still reading this, thanks for sticking with me. I'll try to be more interesting next week.

Just a Few Links

Subway Sketches - Detailed sketches of New York City subway stations. As always, it makes me a little sad that architects and builders don't bother to add decorative details to things - even the most utilitarian things - the way they used to.

Strange Company - a blog dedicated to weird history

Victorian Trade Cards - Interesting, odd, and in some cases offensive, Victorian advertising

Frank Kunert Art - Photos of surrealist miniatures

Sketchbooks - Wonderful.

A Brief Spring Complaint

Yesterday was the most dreary and cold Easter I can remember. We went to my brother-in-law's house (a long, long drive) but because of the weather few of the family showed up. It didn't really feel like an Easter gathering at all; it just felt like an ordinary weekend day but it was still nice to get out and see a few of the relatives.

I shouldn't complain about the weather overall though. We have had some very nice early spring days. It just so happens that yesterday and today look and feel more like February.

This is a picture I took in 2016, just because. It's not foggy this morning, just gloomy.

Music for Spring

Even if you're not fond of harp music you really must watch this amazing young harpist.

Just a Few Links

Sony World Photography Awards

Strange and Amusing Instructions - Many of these are deliberate, such as, "These T-shirts were tested on animals. They didn't fit."

Literal translations of country names - Intersting.

Soviet Era Photography - Daughter of Russian photographer finds 30,000 hidden negatives.

Posteritati - Huge movie poster gallery

Kustomrama - Custom cars from the 50s

Stephen Hawking

There's nothing I can say that others have not said better than I could. I am happy and amazed that he lived as long as he did but I can't help being a little sad at his passing.

(Videos are loading extremely slowly this morning. Patience.)

Rossini, Not An Overture

And So It Begins?

The AI take-over that is. You may have heard that some Alexa users are being freaked out by random creepy laughter coming from Alexa. Coming so soon after last week's super creepy X-Files episode, it's only natural that one's first thought might be, "Is this how the AI take-over starts?" But even as I was joking about it on Twitter I was thinking hacker. Some pimply-faced little dweeb is sitting in his parents' basement having a good laugh. However, Amazon says Alexa is merely misunderstanding "lights" for "laughs". Some people though, have described it as an evil laugh, not Alexa's normal, pleasant laugh.

I still haven't abandoned my notion that it's caused by a hacker but if this is the beginning of the AI take-over, be it known that I welcome our electronic overlords.

Women's Day?

So, today is International Women's Day. Bah, humbug! Yes, I am a Women's Day scrooge. I usually shy away from issues. What usually happens when anyone, especially someone whose opinions don't fit neatly into any of the approved categories, tries to discuss issues is that people read only the part they hate and totally ignore any qualifiers and disclaimers. But nobody reads this anyway so imagining that I'm going to get trolls is probably flattering myself to the point of pure fantasy. If I did get trolls it would actually be sort of validating, in a way.

Still, I feel like I have to start by saying this: Yes, of course women should be free to live whatever kind of life they want. Yes, women should be doctors and lawyers and college professors and CEO's and whatever else they aspire to and they should be paid the same as men doing the same jobs. We have mostly achieved that in the U.S. Or at least we have achieved the right to sue our employers for discrimination. Of course, trials and other court proceedings are really just contests to see who has the better lawyer but that's a whole 'nother issue.

What we have not achieved is respect. Women are still groped and women are still mansplained to and geeky girls are still bullied for daring to play video games and liking science fiction and superhero comics. In fact, in some ways things are worse now than in the 60s and 70s. Women who work and demand equality are disrespected by men (only some men but way too many) and women who are traditionally feminine are disrespected by more "progressive" women.

Frankly, women who make a point of letting everyone know how much they dislike anything traditionally associated with femininity both amuse and annoy me at the same time. Honey, you're not better than anyone just because you don't like pink. And here we come to the point I was working up to. I often find myself thinking, "I hate what womanhood has become." And I guess this is my fault for being different - for being a throwback. I have always related more to women in my mother's generation and enjoyed hanging out with them more than with my own generation. But those women, at least in my family, have all gone where we all must inevitably go someday.

This is more than just feeling sorry for myself, though I will admit there is some of that; I feel sad for young women and girls for what they have lost and never will know they have lost. And really, I don't even know how to define it myself. I don't want for most women to go back to being housewives who sew and knit and bake cookies but I want that to still be a valid and respectable option. But that's not really the point. Whether housewives or career women there seems to be some quality that is missing from womanhood compared to the way it used to be and that missing quality hasn't really been replaced by anything positive. As I said I don't know how to define it and maybe I really just don't know enough women and maybe I'm missing something.

Of course I know this is not universal. There are always people who don't fit in and people who can't keep up with the times and most are afraid to speak out and demand respect for reasons that would soon become obvious if this blog was much more popular. Also, I don't want to give the impression that I'm seriously bothered by any of this personally. Sure there are times when I sort of miss having compatible female companionship - someone to go to antique shops and fabric stores with or to just hang out with for a while - but I'm enough of an introvert that I truly enjoy alone time and I'm actually glad that I never have to put up with anyone dropping in on me when I'm not in the mood.

As for International Women's Day, I think it is best observed by focusing on the "International" part of it - on those countries where women are still treated as slaves, or in some cases are actual slaves, where women don't have health care or enough food to eat, or clean water, where they would consider the worst situation in the U.S. to be near Heaven. That's what International Women's Day should be about.

Pre-Spring Rambling

One of my favorite days of the year is the day when I step outside and hear frogs for the first time. That happened on the last day of February. A few days later, another of my favorite days happened - I saw the first tiny wildflowers. (Most people call them "weeds" but really a flower is a flower.) And another of my favorite days will be this weekend when we go back to Daylight Saving Time.

This weekend is also the Tulsa Home and Garden Show, another of my favorite things. This is huge. If you haven't been to it you can't imagine how huge. It's in the River Spirit Expo (They change the name of this building every few years. It used to be the Quick Trip Center and before that... I can't remember.) one of the largest clear-span buildings in the world. It has 354,000 column-free square feet and a total of 448,000 square feet. That's a little over 10 acres of indoor space!

The Home and Garden Show is more "home" than "garden." There are all kinds of building, remodeling and decorating products. And safe rooms. One year we counted 17 safe room companies. Besides the safe rooms there's always a handful of companies that you think, "Why are they here?" But mostly it's like Heaven for HGTV addicts.

So anyway, I've been having a really good couple of weeks. It's not official spring but in so many ways it feels like spring and I'm looking forward to real spring. I'm looking forward to the time of year when I don't have to worry, "Are we going to going to have an ice storm next week?" Which can happen as late as April.

There is one thing that is looming: my 60th birthday. What the hell?! Most of the time I feel like I'm barely even a grown-up. How can I possibly be turning 60? I just can't make sense of it. I kind of joke that "60 is the new 40" but even 40 seems a little older than I should be. Of course there are benefits to being older. I think the worst thing about being old is not being old but being judged by one's age. Younger people have this idea in their heads about what 60 is but it's not what they think and they will never get it until they're at least 50 themselves. But still, they judge.

Oh well, enough of that. Look what I came across this morning: Beautiful Chickens. Honestly, they're not all beautiful; the white, skinny one is pretty creepy. My mom loved chickens and I kind of miss having them around but I'm not sure if I would really enjoy the responsibility of taking care of them. I might; I just don't know. I've never had chickens as an adult. Maybe it's just nostalgia.

Black Composers

My intention was to observe Black History Month by posting videos of music by black composers two or three times a week. Well, I didn't quite make it. It turned out to be more like one a week. But I discovered a couple of composers I wasn't aware of and I really like what I've heard.

I'm going to end the month with probably the most famous African American composer, Scott Joplin. Like many people I was first introduced to Joplin's music by the movie, The Sting, still one of my favorite movies of all time. The arrangement of The Entertainer from the movie is still my favorite. Here's another favorite that I first heard in The Sting.

And from Joplin's opera Treemonisha

Tell a Fairy Tale

Did you know that today is Tell a Fairy Tale Day? What a wonderful idea for a Day! Also, did you know that there is a classification system for folk tales? Oh, that site looks like an incredibly fun way to waste an afternoon! Here's a history of the ATU Folk Tale Index.

Bobby McFerrin

You probably remember Bobby McFerrin for his novelty song Don't Worry, Be Happy but he is much more than a one hit wonder and one man orchestra. He has remained active in music all these years since that fun, silly song, writing more serious songs as well as entertaining audiences with his unusual vocal talent.

Random Linkage

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur - I haven't paid much attention to cartoons for a long time but something about this appeals to me.

Gray Squirrels Good at Problem Solving - And in other news water is wet. Anyone who has ever tried to keep the little buggers from stealing all the birdseed knows this already.

Happiest Facts Ever - These are delightful.

Donuts Are a Girl's Best Friend?

The Louvre's Secret Apartments - Gorgeous rooms!

Elizabeth Cotton - Interesting life story

Underwater Garden - strangely clear flood waters

Black Composers

Adolphus Hailstork "Sonata da Chiesa" for String Orchestra (1992)

This sonata sounds a bit like spring to me, which seems appropriate right now even though spring is still weeks away.

Black Composers

I was already slightly familiar with William Grant Still but I hadn't heard this particular piece before.

Random Linkage

World Wide Weirdies - Sounds like a take-off on the World Wide Web but these are actually from the 1970s.

Wooden Money - but no wooden nickels

Embroidery Portraits - Wow!

Creative Hyphenation and places your mind goes

Colorful Houses of South India

Customer Stories - I never get tired of these. I just keep reading and going, "What the hell was wrong with that person?" My fantasy is that some of the bad customers will read these, recognize themselves and feel shamed. (More likely they would get angry but I did say it's my fantasy.)

Car in Space - No, not that car. This is another blast from the 70s.

The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Hmmmm... I must explore this sometime.

Black Composers

Another one by Florence Price

Cold Weather Vices

Hot chocolate! In particular, Land O' Lakes hot chocolate in wonderful flavors like cinnamon and caramel. I don't have any right now. Last year I ordered it from Amazon. The Reasor's here has it and I did buy a couple of the big containers but they don't have all the flavors.

But anyway, that's gone now and I wasn't going to buy any more because calories. I decided (again) that I'm just going to drink hot tea this winter but last time I was at Walmart I saw they had Great Value salted caramel hot chocolate mix in the big round containers. (which turned out to be only half full. I know stuff settles but really?) I hesitated to buy it because I was like "Ewwww Great Value brand" but "salted caramel" won. I bought it and darn it, it's actually pretty good. Not up there with Land O' Lakes but really not bad and it mixes up as well as Land O' Lakes. It doesn't leave lumps that won't mix no matter how much you stir like some other cheap hot chocolate mixes.

I have some Chocolate Candy Cane tea from The Spice and Tea Exchange and it is heavenly but there's just something about hot cocoa - the creaminess of it - for which there is just no substitute. Someone on Twitter suggested Swiss Miss because it has on 60 calories per packet? Sorry, that makes sense but it also tastes like it only has 60 calories.

There's no fix for this. I will just have to consume less of something else and hope the weather warms up soon.

Good Guys Drink Tea

Yesterday was Charles Dickens birthday. As a fan I should have known that but I didn't until I came across this article about coffee and tea drinkers in Dickens' novels. Of course as a tea drinker myself it makes me happy that more often than not "the good guys prefer tea while the dodgier ones plot and scheme over coffee."

This also inspired another thought: that both what we consider elite and what we consider sinister or evil is at least partly due to a lack of familiarity. Here in America we think of tea (we're talking about hot tea here) as more elite than coffee and we imagine proper Brits sitting around in elegant parlors drinking tea from beautiful little tea cups. Never mind that that's probably no longer reality, if it ever was.

This also explains why a certain kind of movie villain always listens to classical music. Most people are not familiar with it so it seems plausible that it's what smart evil guys like. Wait! Is this why nobody like me? Because I drink tea and listen to classical music?

Black Composers

Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882 - 1943)

Books Books Books

It has been way too long since I wrote anything about the books I've been reading and, to be honest, there are some that I barely even remember so I'm going to go through these briefly, starting with the most recent one I finished.

Generally, I do not much like post apocalypse novels but for some reason Amazon keeps recommending them to me and darn it some of them are actually pretty good. Excellent, in fact - like The Silent Earth Trilogy by Mark R. Healy. It begins sometime after a Nuclear Winter. All life on Earth has been wiped out and all that's left are "synthetics," what most of us think of as androids. Strangely though, these synthetics are exactly like humans. They have emotions and feel pain, both physical and emotional, just like humans. The only difference is that if they get damaged they don't heal, they have to be repaired but on post apocalyptic Earth there are no repair facilities. (And of course they don't eat or drink which is the main reason I would never want to be an android. Ice cream is too important to me.)

The synthetics have formed various factions. One faction hunts down other synthetics and kills them for spare parts. Another is trying to form a new civilization. The main character is one of two synthetics who are trying to restore life using frozen embryos and seeds. This is, as I have already said, an excellent book - compelling story and great characterization. I can't really consider a book "good" unless it has characters I care about and other characters to fear and/or hate. This has both as well as a great story with plenty of action. I highly recommend this book to all science fiction fans.

I suppose you could call Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time post apocalyptic also but the whole story takes place on a ship and an alien planet so I think of it as more of a space opera. A few thousand humans have left a dying Earth and headed for a previously terraformed planet. When they get there they find the planet is already home to a rapidly evolving civilization. The story takes place over a period of hundreds of years as the characters wake up from cold-sleep, go back into cold-sleep, and wake up again several times. This is another excellent story and as unique as anything I've read. If you're arachnophobic you might want to skip this one though.

I finally read Oliver Twist. Around the time I was ten years old the movie, Oliver, was a really big deal and everyone thought Mark Lester was the most adorable kid ever but I never got to see it so the book was completely unspoiled for me. I'm a huge Dickens fan so of course I enjoyed it. I did get a bit impatient with Oliver always being in some kind of danger but mostly it was a fun ride.

Sadly, I do not have a perfect memory or even an especially good one. Good enough - average, I guess you could say, but there's only so much disc space available so inevitably some things are going to get lost. I remember very little about Gemini by Ray Jay Perrault. I do recall that I thought it was interesting and different, though I can't say excellent. I may read it again sometime.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is sort of an odd book and really hard for me to explain. I've been thinking, well, really for weeks, about how to describe it, what to say. I'll just say I liked it and I plan to read the other two books in the trilogy. If you want to know more you can go read about it on Amazon

I am afraid that there is nothing I can say about Babylon's Ashes, the sixth novel in James S.A. Corey's Expanse series, that wouldn't spoil the earlier books so I'll just say it's good - really good. Some things happened in it that were kind of disappointing to me and overall I didn't like it as well as some of the earlier books but still, it was very good and of course I will continue reading this series.

African-American Composers

Florence Price

Best Game Ever? Maybe.

I thought about not watching the Superbowl. I was almost 100 percent certain that the Patriots would win and I just didn't want to see it happen. But I knew that if a miracle happened I would be seriously disappointed if I missed it. Also, I didn't want to miss the commercials. Yes, I'm one of those people.

I mostly spent the first half dinking around on Twitter, but then gradually getting more and more interested during the second half and actually paying attention. Still, right up until the last second I expected to be disappointed; I knew that Brady had to pull it off. But he didn't! Tense, full of surprises, and the right team won. And of course Brady had to be a sore loser. (I was going to use a more crude term but changed my mind.) Seriously, I know losing is always disappointing but what the hell? The guy has won five Superbowls already. It's like he think he owns it and no one else has the right.

Anyway, best game ever? Probably not. We tend to forget other "best game[s] ever" in the excitement of the moment. The Eagles are not even one of my favorite teams but anyone who beats the Patriots is suddenly one of my favorite teams.

Oh, and about those commercials? Possibly the most lame Superbowl commercials ever. I think my favorite was the Jeep commercial with the dinosaur. Because, dinosaur! There were a few of the tug-at-the-emotions style commercials. I liked the T-Mobile(?) diversity spot. The one with the babies. Never have been wild about Bud Light's "dilly dilly" series of commercials and the attempt to make it more of a story only made me fully dislike them. Bring back the damn horses. Everybody loved those.

So, I'm glad I watched it. Now the season is over and I'm happy about that too. I do enjoy watching football (though I admit its detractors have a few good points) but what I do not like about it is the way it takes over our lives for half the year. We watch five, sometimes six, games a week. And yes, I know I don't have to watch them all and I don't always but... oh never mind. I'm not going to waste time trying to explain it. Like most things, it's complicated.

Henry Darger

After posting the link about the 15,000 page novel yesterday I just couldn't let it go. This is the Internet! Surely someone has posted that whole ridiculous masterpiece online. Well, sadly, so far no luck. Maybe on the Dark Web? [kidding]

I did, however, learn more about Henry Darger himself. Holy crap, people! I felt like I was reading the synopsis of a Criminal Minds episode. And the book, aside from the length, is probably not something I would want to read but I still kind of want to read it anyway. Lost or inaccessible works really stir up my curiosity, not to mention some minor outrage at being denied access to something I'm curious about.

The book by John MacGregor, mentioned in the article, is $200 at Amazon so that's not happening either.

Just a Few Links

Long Reads - I discovered this excellent site via Twitter. It has longish articles on a variety of topics.

Henry Darger's 15,000 Page Novel - I have a strange thing for big books. I have actually read books because they are long. But a 15,000 page novel? Well, yes, I want to give it a try. I probably will never get the chance though. I have checked both Amazon and Project Gutenberg. [Sad, pouty face]

Snow Sculpture Battle in Tokyo - Nice, lots of Star Wars stuff.

Vintage Store Front Mosaics - I love these. It makes me sad that nobody does this anymore and few people are interested in saving the ones that still exist.

The Current Media Obsession and Other Random Semi-related Thoughts

Have you ever noticed that the media can't seem to handle more than one social outrage at a time? How long has it been since you heard anything about Black Lives Matter? The MSM have gleefully dropped this and other topics and embraced one that they find much more interesting and, perhaps surprisingly, safe - sexual harassment. Now I'm not saying this isn't an important issue to address but the attention it's getting compared to other equally or even more important issues... Well, I want to call it astounding but we all know this is how the media operates so it's really no surprise at all.

It has slowed down somewhat but for a while it seemed like every day another famous man was revealed as a harasser. We have been on pins and needles wondering what beloved actor we will have to start hating tomorrow. But we are never given any details. Was it rape? Was it groping? Was it inappropriate comments or overly aggressive flirting? Exactly how much hate and outrage is appropriate? And is forgiveness ever possible?

I have never experienced anything like sexual harassment. It would be too easy, and not at all fair, for me to talk about my life and what kind of person I am in connection with this subject. Girls of my generation were taught that if you dress modestly and act like a lady men will treat you with respect and it seems that it worked for me but to make this assumption ignores the fact that other women have experienced sexual harassment in spite of following the rules. Personally, I think it's comparable to the old saying about locks - that they only keep out honest people. Just as a thief will still break into your house or car in spite of locks, not even a burka will slow down a true scum bag.

What doesn't get talked about much is respect, or the lack of it. Sexual harassment is just much farther along the same spectrum of disrespect as condescension and mansplaining. (No, I'm not saying they're equivalent. Pay attention.) Sexual harassment and sexual violence are more widespread than most people realized but the underlying disrespect is even more widespread. It would be nice to think that the light that is currently being shone on the problem of harassment will lead to bringing an end to it but unless something is done about disrespect for women little will change.

If you are a woman you have been condescended to and mansplained to, and if you challenge the man who does this he will invariably react with hurt and outrage. I firmly believe that the vast majority of men do not even realize that they are doing it. If you point it out to them they will righteously swear that they were "just talking" and go away convinced that "you just can't talk to women" or some such dismissive thoughts.

I don't have any hope that things will ever really change. There's a small, stubborn, old-fashioned part of me that feels life was easier when men were free to condescend unchallenged and women laughed and talked among ourselves about how immature men are and what fragile egos they have and "you just have to let them think they're in charge" and all that sort of talk. But that fails to acknowledge all the horrible things that were swept under the rug in those days. We have to keep shining the light, even when it hurts to look.

Ursula LeGuin

It was all over Twitter last night - Ursula LeGuin has died at age 88. I have only read three of her books: The Dispossessed, The Word for World is Forest and The Left Hand of Darkness. I liked them all well enough but was never especially motivated to read more so I guess I'm not a huge fan. What's sad about it for me is that I have reached the age when all the people who have been icons for my whole life are dying. Of course they are because they're all older than me but it's not that easy to be logical about it.

Anyway, maybe I will finally get around to reading the Earthsea Trilogy.

This 'n' That

A really unusual place to hang a chandelier

I need this today. But with a less thorny kind of plant.

Women on Bicycles - 19th century posters and interesting history

Okay, so apparently it is possible to anesthetize plants.

The coolest memo pad ever and I want one. Not much space to write notes though when you get past the first sheets.

New Google app is cool but needs a little more work.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about blood types

The Star Wars opening crawl? Flash Gordon did it first, in 1940.

In case you're not already creeped out enough about voice commands

You've probably already heard about the sandwich that was smuggled into space but it's so delightful I can't resist sharing. If you're like me you probably assumed that NASA security was so tight nobody could ever get away with anything.

Time Lapse

I heard this on the radio a few days ago - beautiful and serene, with a hint of drama.

Reading List

As if I really need more books to read, here are 95 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in 2018. I haven't finished reading the list yet but already I have found a few that interest me.

Stars Uncharted, S.K.Dunstall
QUIETUS, by Tristan Palmgren
Free Chocolate, by Amber Royer
Outpost, by W. Michael Gear

Well, that's certainly a good start. Now, to read the rest of the list.

Brains Are Weird...

... but sometimes mine is awesome. Last night (or this morning) I dreamed an entire Star Trek series that never existed. I wish I could remember more of the details. There was an android character named Data but it wasn't Data and that confused us (I was watching with my son) so I grabbed the remote and looked at the "info" and the first aired date on it was 1965 and that confused us even more because the technology and decor was more Next Generation era but I noticed that the uniforms were original series style uniforms except they were all blue. I think the captain was female, which would be wrong for 1965. So, because of all that, at some point I realized I was dreaming.

Like I said, I can't remember many details. There was something going on on a beautiful planet, something involving a river. There was also a spectacular view of an ocean. Wherever it is I kind of want to go there for real. In the dream it was like I was there. Even though I knew I was just watching it on TV I was also in it somehow? You know how dreams are. Anyway... that's what my weird brain came up with last night. I'm really disappointed that I probably won't get to see any more episodes.

Hello 2018

So 2018 is finally here. I am neither happy nor especially unhappy about that. Years that end in 8 are the years I turn an age that ends in 0 and this year it's going to be a big, ugly one. I'm still not done being freaked out about turning 50 ten years ago in May. But honestly, it seems too unreal to have any strong feelings about it. I don't quite believe it yet. I think after a certain age (say, 45?) we should no longer be required to know how old we are. We should be allowed to say, "I'm 45 plus," and put 45+ on official forms and documents.

Other than that, new years don't mean much to me. It's totally arbitrary. It's just the day when we start a new calendar. Not that I don't think about it at all. But I just can't get very excited about it. The last time I got excited about a new year was 2000 but the new millennium has turned out to be, mostly, a big disappointment.

I've always sort of thought it's weird that the new year starts in January. It should be the first day of spring, or, if you want to keep the months the same, March 1st. Or maybe April 1st. On the other hand, Having it a week after Christmas does feel like a good end to the big holiday season - a way of formally "getting back to normal".

So that's it. Life is getting back to normal, whatever that means in 2018. Normal is always changing you know. I want to blog more, I kind of miss it, but I don't know if I will. Maybe two or three people are even reading this and I have trouble feeling motivated without at least a small audience. Aside from that, I'm not sure I have much to say that's worth the time. Mine or yours. I do, sometime in the next few days or week, want to say a little about the last half dozen books I read. If I can get motivated.

But anyway, happy New Year to all of you who are into that sort of thing.