Yawn: an archaically puissant moment

I have been so tired after I get home from work, I have not been able to keep up the torrid pace I to which I had become accustomed. I'm not too tired to nip a dangling participle here and there.

I look forward to the day I retire with all puissance... (and I can still confuse that spell checker.) I have friends with really awful work problems and I see my "problem" - just being tired - is not all that bad. Oh heck, tired is bad but bad is relative... ask Michael Jackson.

My home life has never been better and I feel true happiness here. I will hopefully find some time soon to set up some posts. I have reached the end of my reserve backlog with only some highly unedited things to post. I have learned a number of tricks to post Elroy's Homework (and other news postings) with less effort, it is doable in 10 minutes if I have read something worth posting.

Contrary to my concern about the now very narrow corporate media, there are still fine articles being published. It takes research which gets easier as I do it - and I love research.

Good nigh,,,,l;/kjl

Ringtones

I stand by my earlier prediction that every distinct well known sound will eventually be a ringtone.

Today's ringtone: minions

And... while I am on predictions, let me make a completely wild guess prediction:

McConnell loses, Dems and GOP tie 50-50 Senate.  It just somehow seems right for the mood.

The Time I "Met" Harry Chapin

When I was young I thought I was "in love" with a girl named KayeAnne. I wasn't. I did not know what love was until I met Wanda, my wife.

However, that is not the point. :)  I took KayeAnne to a concert. She had little to no respect for me but I found myself in relationships like that for years. Perhaps that is somehow representative of who I was... I don't know.... but that is not the point :) ... we were both to young for the romantic love that we or at least I pretended to have.

KayeAnne loved Harry Chapin and Billy Joel... though I never met Billy. :)  I really did not appreciate Harry Chapin until after that night. I was musically snobby.

Harry Chapin's concert was in Birmingham. He looked sort of like this:

except without the x and copyright stuff this photographer put on Chapin's picture. Harry was not into selling things really. He was more into music and charity. He probably looked a lot like this next photo from our seats:

only even smaller... yep, that looks more like how he looked that night. 

You know, I think I was a bit jealous of my girlfriend's love for him. But not Billy Joel. She was just like a woman to him. I remember distinctly disliking the amulet around Harry's neck... silly memories brought to me by these pictures. It must have been jealousy. I told you I was not ready for love.

After the show he had set up some kind of charity thing where people could stand in line and meet him right beside a donation jar for his charity. I don't remember what charity it was,,, my mind was elsewhere... but I do remember him talking about how important it was... and trying various cute tricks to get people to donate more money that met him. 

I watched a documentary on Greenwich village the other day and passing around the hat was a common thing, yet usually to support the musician rather than charity. Musicians did not "sell out" in the village so they needed the bread. Harry Chapin was a good man with true Greenwich Village values and a charitable streak that clearly placed him in the Greenwich crowd in terms of his values. Harry Chapin had not sold out despite his fame.

From Wikipedia: 

Chapin's social causes at times caused friction among his band members. Chapin donated an estimated third of his paid concerts to charitable causes, often performing alone with his guitar to reduce costs. Mike Rendine accompanied him on bass throughout 1979.

Yep that was the year I, oh yeah, and Kaye, saw him. So I'll guess he had minimal accompaniment. He was, I do remember, amazing. I was young so I took "amazing" for granted.

After the concert... I had to use the bathroom so very bad. Somehow this kept Kaye from getting a good place in line to see Harry. Oh, frigging hell, everything was my fault, even having a close to bursting bladder that I had withstood for Kaye's sake during the concert. Yep... dumb not to go earlier... she saw that.

The line was incredibly long, we were at the end, and Chapin was spending a bit of time with each person. I daresay they all "met" Harry too... but something pretty amazing happened next as we were just about up to his makeshift table. The lights went out... not for a few minutes but for a while. Well, I was certainly going to be blamed for this by Kaye... I felt sick inside... but what happened next was so uniquely awesome. Harry would not leave until he had met everyone in line in the light. So we all, probably 5 or 6 people, stood there in the dark and chatted with Harry Chapin for what seemed like an eternity. People in charge of the arena wanted him to leave... no doubt turned off the lights as well... but Harry would not budge until he had met us all IN THE LIGHT. It was real honest conversation about his music and life. He asked us about ourselves as well.

Soon the lights came on and it really felt like we knew Harry Chapin by that time as we shook his hand. I never got credit for my fortuitously weak bladder. Really, Kaye was not good for me at all. There are some people who are good for you and some people who are not. It took decades to learn that.

Harry Chapin was good for me. I remember my frustrations with life floating away if only for a short time. His affect on me was huge. He was just an ordinary man who wrote and performed music. He presented himself humbly and well... it was inspiring to think that this great man on stage was just like us.

His was extraordinary music. And it was not for himself but for us, for others. I can think of performers that are probably somewhat that way... but Harry Chapin personified it.

I have tried to have the same ambitions in my life, to live my life for others. And you always come across some people who want to close down your venue or to be upset with you for things that appear to be weakness but are actually simply ordinary human frailties, natural problems or just normal limitations, which can be criticized, accepted, or even loved.

Sometimes you come across people like Harry Chapin... or my wife Wanda. Stick with those people... and emulate them.

Oh if a man tried

To take his time on Earth

And prove before he died

What one man's life could be worth

I wonder what would happen

to this world

Facebook post that really belonged here

I had a nice day at work. People seemed appreciative of even the smallest things. I wish I was somehow the reason for that because I would use my super power to make every day like this.  I am also still writing my fiction project. I am on the 3rd chapter, I have decided it is not blogging material and I am writing it with a Chromebook app instead of in a blog. I read the first two chapters of "Under the Dome" and was so disappointed (I like the TV series and really Stephen King is creative, even if he repeats his creative moments ad nauseum. Birds just kept hitting that dome and falling. Then a chapter heading about the birds. gees) and yet I was inspired at the same time. It was trashy juvenile stuff... the same type of writing style I remember that I guessed King had improved upon by now. I am inspired because I can write juvenile stuff without being trashy. I might be my only fan but I can do that.  
One other thing: perhaps I am just a bad reader but I was at times completely confused as to which side of the dome things were happening... I am still not sure about some events like the lumber truck. At first I thought I had it nailed down that this was outside the dome then logs came down on characters I thought to be inside....  I thought of a much better description of the event from a different perspective that would have added nuance and excitement...but then again... one can effortlessly tweak something someone else has actually created... Also I was reading from a faulty pdf conversion... perhaps...

Like

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  Michael DeVore Do people really say "pickemup" trucks somewhere? Maine or something? I guessed it was some kind of creative attempt at characterization but I just thought it silly.

  7 mins · Edited · Like
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  Michael DeVore Urban Dictionary: the way that a redneck, usually one that hails from the Southern United States, refers to their pick-up truck. The added "'em" is the addition of Southern dialogue to the general name of a common type of truck, and usually makes the p...See More

  6 mins · Edited · Like
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  Michael DeVore Yeah, just as I thought. Shallow characterization. Even a redneck would only use that word in jest not as a standard term

Good Humor

My earlier entry reminded me of something from the past. While I was talking about positive aspects of everyday life, I was not always so lucky to view events as positive... primarily because the events were so overwhelmingly negative. It is one thing to work at a job where you can say... "oh well... I will be late for work"... and quite another to work somewhere that you think "I will be late for work Although it is not my fault, this will have extreme consequences."

I used to work in this environment for almost a year. Any work environment can be bad or good. A lot of this has to do with your own attitude and actions leading up to the bad environment however. Sometimes it is just your boss.

What I was reminded of was a time when I was under such abuse at work that I looked at easier jobs like washing windows or cutting the grass as being preferable to the hell I was going through. I was so stressed in my job that I remember not being able to get rid of my stress after work.

This is no doubt why I looked at my delay this morning with such humor. I was celebrating really.  I am in a new place where it is easy to have a good attitude.

Life Affirmation

I was on my way to work and something happened that made me laugh. It made me happy when all in all it usually would have been an annoyance. Some of this is the wisdome of old age, but I realized the amount of time we waste in the world being upset about one thing or another. There is really nothing in the world that forces you to be unhappy, at least at my level of existance and I hope at yours. I can see things could pretty much force me to be sad but not unhappy. You see the difference?  Anyway....  here is the blog entry on that moment:

http://vinylabyss.blogspot.com/2014/07/esquivel-and-road-grinders.html

On My Current Blogging

My blogs are doing well. Some have found niches that make me proud. I spend a lot of free time here with my little Chromebook setting up future posts and writing. I also have rediscovered my vinyl collection and am having fun going over all my old VCR recordings of CNN backhaul feeds, etc... using my old computer. It is all actually very fulfilling... and would be regardless of audience and lack thereof. I reached far more people doing political memes but I have not given that up yet either. There is just so much to do.

I enjoy writing now. I don't just do it for the final product nowadays but for enjoyment of the process. This is new to me.

And I ask forgiveness for my new fondness towards lack of editing. There is just so much...

Thank you for reading.

again

I'm sick again with the same thing. had to go to a different doctor. He thought I was awful looking into my ears. I think he was distracted by all the neurons firing. ;) He gave two shots and more antibiotics.

Worse... I have bug bites on my legs from pulling the bug ridden bushes. They are also reacting badly. I hope I can make it. The shots gave me energy. I was beginning to get a bit depressed. Wanda will be back day after tomorrow... Next time I am going with her!!!

good night all.

CNBC lol

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/06/26/cnbc-caught-soliciting-writer-to-claim-global-w/199903

CNBC is always laughably fun to listen to on my Sirius-XM. I listen to it when the BBC is covering sports. Without the television picture, the full brunt of the bias hits you. CNBC is like "how can we make a profit from this airplane exploding in midair today?" Or "how can we pander to the ignorance of our wealthy viewers to lure them from Fox Business News?"

Now, I cannot listen to Fox News or the ilk even to make fun of them, but CNBC is so transparently funny at times. They are the ignorance of Fox News without the hatred. Hatred and everything else on earth is seen only in terms of potential profit or loss on your income statement.

And then there is "caveat man."   On the radio, they cannot put disclaimers in small print on the screen, because, well, it is radio. And pretty much all of the commercials are fishy as hell and need caveat man. They find an announcer who can read the disclaimers so quickly that it takes up very little time and is just this side of unintelligible. Put three or four of these commercials together and it is just amazingly funny. Caveat man can end a commercial or begin one.

Caveat man® is like:

 "This-is-not-a-public-offering-but-a-prospectus-and-you-could-lose-your-pants-and-end-up-so-poor-that-a-stranger-could-easily-have-an-affair-with-your-wife-who-is-making-claims-not-approved-or-researched-by-the-fda-or-the-tomato-sandwich-of-truth.Void-in-Alabama-Florida-the-Bronx-and-the-boardwalk-where-I-come-from" in 3 seconds.

He is perfect for a comedy routine but I want credit on my income statement.

Something's Awry

I think when I started this blog there were daily entries, with multiple subjects in a list form. I think... I also think I am enjoy reading... or listening to my vinyl album blog more than I should. :) It feels like I am blogging to myself. I often go there to listen to songs I have posted in the past. I am sure I am my own blog's biggest fan. Things must be going a rye... :) I also used to do sandwich puns here. :)

My 4th

I pulled out all the old bushes from one bed, and planted two of the four I need to plant to replace them. I learned that trying to work on the 4th of July meant I had to meet the new neighbors... talk to other neighbors... introduce people... it was a social event with me in the center covered in dirt. :)

Enough...

Ok, I certainly have enough projects started now on the Internet. :)  

And there has been some success in actually finishing projects in my life. I think the Internet projects are mostly ongoing anyway, but the actual life projects are interesting to note:

1.  Turntable is up and running. It is easy to monitor. Everything is set up perfectly. It delivers the most awesome sound. I am really lucky here. This has been a quest for a while. The newer USB turntables are a rip. Buy a good turntable and a good "preamp/usb" box.  It is as simple as that.
2.  Opelika Power Services (terrible name for great service) is definitely the way to go for all our video and internet needs. Everything is now set up. The DVR is simply awesome and the speed of the Internet is as advertised. The customer service is beyond excellent.
3. I love my new receiver and my old one is powering speakers for that turntable. All of my components of my living room should talk to each other as almost all are Sony. They do talk extraordinarily well, but they just don't listen to my commands well.

To be completely finished, I think, I just need to mail Dish back their once great but now vastly inferior DVR.  I am not sure what the next step is in television but... honestly, I cannot imagine wanting more than I have now except in the nature of programming.  The television networks are awful. American television is a disgrace and embarrassment to our nation and democracy. But there are still a few watering holes in the vast wasteland. I have been interested in scripted fiction television for so long, and happily watching Netflix for all programming. I had not noticed the drastic decline in educational/cultural programming (with the exception of PBS, which too has declined, but not to the bottom. I suspect the upper tiers of the channel offerings might be better but... I don't know) I feel like I stuck my head out of my cave after a period of hibernation only to find the neighborhood in tatters.

My wife and I painted the entirety of the inside of the house. That was almost entirely her accomplishment. I did a fraction of a fraction. Vaulted ceiling... nightmare but done. :)

My wife is on the verge of a successful tomato garden. If we settled for fried green tomatoes, she would now be done. That project is well in hand. I have to replace some bushes around our house because of bugs and disease. This is the second time I have tried these bushes... no more. I will replace them with types of bushes that have done exceedingly well. Oh, I do have to cut down one really ugly bush. AND it is just nice to repeat the word "bush" without thinking of disaster, death, and the apocalypse. 

All said... I am pretty satisfied.