ratiocinations out of thin air and elsewhere
RATIOCINATIONS OUT OF THIN AIR is the title that I wanted for this blog. But it would have been confusing as most people don’t know what “ratiocination” means and few would bother to look it up. So we’re stuck with my name with “dot com” tacked on and this is the introduction to that blog. [Continue reading]
No Sweat
(A poem by Ananda)
I am tired of the excuses.
I am uninspired by the same song.
Seems like everybody wants a quick fix.
Seems like nobody wants to put in the work.
No pain, no sweat.
No gain, no loss.
Seems like everybody wants the promotion
but nobody wants to climb that mountain. [Continue reading]
(A poem by Ananda)
Grow up, Peter Pan!
You can’t stay in Neverland forever.
There will be a day when the dust rubs off;
you’ll hit the ground and look up at the stars;
you’ll sit and wonder, “Where did my life go?”
‘Cause you’re no longer a Lost Boy,
just an old pirate creeper playing little boy games. [Continue reading]
SIX SMALL INDEPENDENT VIDEO RENTAL STORES could be found within two miles of our apartment in Bellevue, Washington. While each store carried the requisite hits to pay the rent, each also had unique titles that reflected the tastes of the owners. A couple even had small rooms in the back where little kids weren’t allowed. [Continue reading]
AN ARTICLE ON YAHOO NEWS caught my attention. “Guy offers a drink to girl at a bar, then refuses to pay for it” was published in 2020 and quickly racked up thousands of comments. Unfortunately, the article is poorly written and incomplete but based on the title it was intended to stir up Yahoo readers. [Continue reading]
HAVE YOU READ AN ANSWER ON QUORA or a comment on Facebook or a whole damn article on someone’s blog where they assure you that “I have done the research” but somehow manage to get all the pertinent facts wrong? That is because there are different definitions for terms on the internet than everywhere else. [Continue reading]
“ARE LIBERALS READY for us MAGA Republicans to retake this nation in 2024? We are going to pass so many laws restricting them that their heads will explode.” That was the question/statement/declaration on Quora to which I responded in a manner that I hoped was entertaining and not seem insufferably silly. [Continue reading]
HISTORY NEEDS TO KNOW that former Lieutenant-Governor of Texas Ben Barnes has acknowledged being involved in an effort to get Iran to hold the American hostages so that Ronald Reagan could win the presidency in 1980. This is known as the October Surprise and there is a trail from this through the Bushes to Barnes. [Continue reading]
SOMEONE IN THE REAGAN CAMP approached the Iranian hostage takers in 1980 about not making a deal with President Carter until after the US elections of that year. Why wasn’t this story followed by the media and others for years except for a few people? And you know what they called us, right? [Continue reading]
IMAGINE A DARKENED ROOM. Perhaps it’s your apartment which, with the lights on, is unimpressive. But it’s nighttime and all the lights are out. In the darkness, it’s . . . different. There is a single candle burning, giving off an illumination that softens everything. Little can be seen but a lot can be felt. [Continue reading]
I’M CALLING LOCAL VENUES to rent a hall so that I can put on the first-ever Donald Trump NFT Collectors Convention. It doesn’t have to be a yuge hall because, unlike with comic books or records, I don’t need room for dealer’s tables because NFTs don’t take up any room because they’re not really real. [Continue reading]
MY WIFE LOVES STORIES ABOUT WITCHES, whether novels by Alice Hoffman and Katherine Howe or movies that are scary or funny. For Halloween, I ordered several witch movies from the library, including the comedy classic Bell, Book And Candle. Among the DVDs were two with Nicole Kidman: Practical Magic and the non-witchy To Die For. [Continue reading]
SEARCHING FOR IMAGES ON THE INTERNET for one project often leads to some very unexpected discoveries. In this case, I was looking for some sharp photos of a couple of rather rare Elvis Presley records from the ’50s when I came across True Strange magazine. There I saw what looked like a hint of prescience. [Continue reading]