On our recent trip we traveled 3078 miles in 8 days. The Subaru never let us down,
but I don’t want to look at it for a couple of days.
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Listening to a song on the road home we heard the phrase “they didn’t mean a thing,” where the singer refers to some sexual liaisons he’d had “on the side.” Robin and I agreed that we are awfully tired of hearing that phrase in songs and in movies.
Perhaps an affair means nothing to the spouse who utters the words but he or she is wrong in several ways:
- Broken trust means something
- Lies mean something
- Promises count
Perhaps the writers who create the weak dialogue should work a little harder and get away from just peddling cliches.
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The following entry has nothing to do with the previous one. It’s just how my monkey mind swings.
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Back a few years ago I found myself going from blithely sailing on the Sea of Matrimony to poling a leaky pirogue through the Great Dismal Swamp.
At the time I was able to look back and realize that my captaincy had been wanting in enough respects to rival that of the skipper of the Titanic when he told his first mate; “This is so boring I think I’ll take a nap. Wake me when you see the Statue of Liberty.”
So when my crew abandoned ship I could at least partially understand why. But I was sorely wounded and had to blame somebody … so I chose the opposition lawyer. I sent him at least two letters commenting colorfully on his character, profession, and how badly his mother must have raised him. (I believe I might have even asked if that same lady was still plying her trade in that bordello in Calcutta. I can be a terrible person when provoked)
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I thought that John Oliver’s offer to Clarence Thomas was a good one. The following three quotes are from The Guardian article of 2/19/2024.
The late-night talkshow host John Oliver has offered to pay Clarence Thomas $1m annually – as well as give him a $2m tour bus – if the Republican judge resigns from the US supreme court.
“So that’s the offer – $1m a year, Clarence. And a brand new condo on wheels. And all you have to do … is sign the contract and get the fuck off the supreme court,” Oliver remarked. “The clock starts now – 30 days, Clarence. Let’s do this!”
Neither Thomas nor the supreme court immediately commented publicly on Oliver’s offer. Oliver acknowledged he could end up going on “standup tours … for years” to be able to afford paying Thomas’s retirement if the justice accepts the proposal.
I think Oliver should start a GoFundMe account for this public-spirited purpose. I know I’d send him something.
After all, Thomas has given us more than a little evidence that he is for sale. For much less than Oliver is offering.
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I’ve come to like Lenard Mckelvey as one of the few people in the media who have set aside their doomsday clocks and rose-colored glasses and are willing to talk about the present moment we are really in. One of nuances and gray shades and political actors who are not the cardboard cutouts we might prefer them to be.
This guy is an entertainer whose stage name is Charlamagne Tha God. Quite a claim, that. He gave an interview recently which was published in Sunday’s NY Times.
I’ve watched him over the past several years as he grew more popular and more powerful, but still had that core of common sense* that first won my respect.
Good interview.
*That phrase … what to say … how uncommon what we once called “common sense” seems to be these days.
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Little Home In The Valley 