The wonderful Sharp Little Pencil wrote a response post to my recent piece about neighbors. Hers is entitled The Noisy Neighbor and the Quiet Neighbor. This reminds me of an earlier period of blogging when the late Dustbury and I would inspire to write and expand ideas. Occasionally, Jaquandor and Arthur still do that with me.
And speaking of the guy who moved from Illinois to Kiwiland 26 years ago, he is celebrating his 15th anniversary of blogging. (As I noted to him, blogging that long is a sign of a crazed individual.)
In truth, I’d recommend the entirety of Arthur’s output in September. It is the month in which he deals with grief – two years or 104 weeks since the death of his husband Nigel. But he also addresses the idiosyncrasies of measuring time. (BTW, on that specific subject, see also John Green’s piece How We Spend Our Days.)
Also, I need to check out the book about and co-written by, my friend Diana de Avila, called Soldier, Sister, Savant. As one of the reviewers noted, “She survived a deadly motorcycle accident while serving in the military police; she overcame her devastation when diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; and one day, she awakened as an acquired savant.”
Linkage
Seven Days in January (General Milley)
As a juror in a criminal trial, I had to see the world differently
Disney Princess Theology and Talking About White Supremacy
CIA Factbook
Heroes of Ireland’s Great Hunger
Goodbye, Larry Elder
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Lukashenko
Patient questionnaires do no good unless we have the resources to provide useful responses
Two-Thirds of Recent First-Time Fathers Took Time Off After Birth
Forbes: The 25 Best Places To Enjoy Your Retirement In 2021. I’m unconvinced about several of these, especially those located in a desert.
The Meaning of Recurring Dreams
Psalms 3:16 and the Mandela Effect
In Memorium, 2021 Emmys
Peter Palmer, the living embodiment of Al Capp’s Li’l Abner, has died at the age of 90.
William Shatner reacts to various impressions of William Shatner…
The Top 10 Micro-Photos of 2021
Now I Know: The Officially-Living Person That Doesn’t Exist and On the Power of Listening and How to Stop a Menacing Walrus and
The Man Who Went the Wrong Way Into the History Books and
Why (and How) a Dead Man Committed a Murder and Ask the Elves for Permission First, OK?
MUSIC
Feeling Good – Nina Simone
Spellbound Concerto by Miklos Rozsa
Worried Blues – Gladys Bentley
End Title from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Ed Sullivan Show clips, all showing up on YouTube in 2021:
In A MellowTone Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong
You’ll Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini) – Ella Fitzgerald It Ain’t Necessarily So – Cab Calloway You Keep Me Hanging On – Vanilla Fudge
Never My Love – The Association
Up On Cripple Creek – The Band A Girl Named Johnny Cash – Jane Morgan
Coverville 1371: Cover Stories for Florence + The Machine and Beyonce
That Beach Boys mondegreen can get mon-de-violent
Related to the cartoon you posted: I say there are three types of people in the world, and you can determine who someone is when you are carrying a heavy load (figuratively or literally):
the first group pretends they don’t see you have a heavy load
the second group sees it, and goes, “oh you’re strong, one more thing won’t hurt” and dumps something else on you (avoid those people)
the third group asks, “Hey, can I help you carry some of that?” and even if there’s no way you can offload stuff onto them, at least it makes you feel lighter to know someone has asked.