That Was The Week That Was

 Many years ago, there was a TV show "That Was The Week That Was" Self explanatory me thinks. It was always funny. Or almost always funny. But that term describes this past week. Indeed.

I am afraid we are just getting started too. I hope not. But I'm not seeing a lessening of the hatred. Not at all.

Anyway, Have a great weekend. Stay safe. Stay healthy.  

No it's not.

I am craving Hot Dogs. So I've got that anyway.

Dear Diary

 Wednesday. One of those days where I feel very sorry for myself. Where I feel broke. And old. And all those other reasons that we as human beings find to feel sorry for ourselves about. Looking at pictures from years past. Fun to do. But today, it doesn't help.

A better day. A long time ago.

 The only thing I retain.

I think I still have the hat.

 In a closet somewhere.

This picture is not helping.

The current state of the country/world, Just makes it more depressing. I miss Florida. 

fin 

The Crux Of The Matter.

 
Wouldn’t it be great if I could write something that took more than 15 minutes of my attention.

I never have. I never will. Such is the true meaning of life for a man
 with the attention span of a gnat.

Of course I’ve never read anything of any consequence from any gnats. Maybe their works are out there. I can’t say I know anything of them.

Who you callin a gnat?

Fin

Journaling vs Blogging

 Journal, Blog, Diary? Are they not all the same? Just in a slightly different version?

Well, I cheated and asked AI about this:

"Journal vs Blog. The main difference is that journaling is a private, personal practice for self-reflection and processing thoughts and emotions, while blogging is a public, interactive platform designed to share content with an audience. Journal entries are for personal use, untangling ideas, and candid honesty, whereas blog posts are crafted for readers, often with a specific theme, and can be edited or updated over time"

"Think of your journal as your private workshop where you untangle thoughts, and your blog as a polished storefront where you present refined ideas to the public. While they are distinct, a journal can serve as a foundation for blog content, providing ideas and clarity for your public posts. "

Ok, so I journal in my head. Constantly thinking about things to write (Blog) about. After 71 years, I have so many memories stuffed in my head. Some good, many bad, but all of them worth recalling. And maybe sharing. 

So my goal is to write about these things that happened.  I'm trying now but so far after a couple or 3 paragraphs, I'm done. So I keep it short. I do not have a true grasp of English, sentence structure, vocabulary, I still have real trouble deciding whether I need a comma or a semi-colon. So as Dirty Harry once said : "a man's got to know his limitations" . I know mine and I play in the kiddie pool of  writing. Bottom line I ain't a writer.

 Still, I love doing this. Lately all day I'm thinking what can I write next? What would Hemingway or F Scott Fitzgerald do? They both drank to excess and they both wrote wonderful books full of wonderful ideas. Maybe I outta start drinking again. Ha Ha I know that's not the answer. But like Hemingway once said: Isn't it pretty to think so? Yeah I agree. It is.

I'm done here for now. I am ashamed that I actually asked AI for help. I swore I wouldn't.

It appears my hypocrisy
 knows no bounds

Dear Diary

 Bizaro world. Grandpa style.

The Doctor Will See You Now!!!

So he thinks he is a doctor?

This photo was taken at Henry Flagler's hotel in St Augustine Florida circa 1900ish? A very bored young woman of means, bored to tears. Ho hum!!! The only thing that interests me in her photo, what was that on her head? Was that supposed to be a hat? How stylish they were. Turn of the 20th century upper class bored tourists in Florida. With Janky hats. And serious attitudes. 

Monday morning

Hemingway  wrote, start with a true sentence, the truest sentence you know,  and you can build from that. Ok, Today we have a really long drive ahead of us. A really really day. Not excited about it. Its just one of lifes things. When you gotta, you gotta. And we're off. Safe travels to everyone that is traveling!

Fin

The Goal Here…

 
Write something every day. That’s my goal. Long or short just write. Don’t care about hits or counts. I’m just interested in satisfying my own writing itch.

I have done this over the years. After about 6 months I quit. Because I get bored. Always. Story of my life.

 Many years ago, my high school guidance counselor for my senior year gave me this: you can do anything you want. Anything you put your mind to. By this time I was a B student. I was smart. This is what she told me. You are so smart but you just lose interest and walk away. I was an A student with a B attitude. Lazy.  At that time as a high school senior, I just scoffed. But she had me pegged. 

My entire life. With the exception of pursuits that I really wanted, I just walked away. Luckily my smarts were enough to carry me through. And the few things that truly interested me, Air Traffic Control for one, gave me a really good 40 year career. A drifter through life.

So that's me. And so I write. And I will write for a while, get bored, put it down. And I always come back to it. Because writing is one of the things that really interests me.

So for today, That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Stay Cool 

Fin

Isn't It Pretty To Think So?

 Before we had the always popular and vivacious world wide web, we would amuse ourselves by balancing spoons on our noses. No Fussing, no mussing, no drama, no stupid security updates, no twitters turning into X's, no Book of Face. nothing but just goofing around with spoons. 

We had no idea what was coming. And when it started, we thought WOW THIS IS COOL!!! But it wasn't cool. And it is getting worse. AI telling young people what to think. How to act. Giving it's version of God. They are all soaking it up. As we circle the bowl, The words to an old 60's Steppenwolf song come to mind:

"There's A Monster On The Loose, It's Got Our Heads Into The Noose, And It Just Sits There Watching"

Pre 21st century internet days

Can't we just go back to balancing spoons?

 "Isn't it pretty to think so?" a famous line from Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises” It certainly covers a lot of ground. Thanks Ernest!
Stay Cool!!!!

Dear Diary

 Going out for Mexican food with our grandkids tonight. Can’t wait!!

Dear Diary

 21st century ... doesn't do it for me. I gravitate towards early 20th century thinking and experiences.. I'm fascinated by what Getrude Stein called The Lost Generation. Life was different then. Not without it's problems, as a matter of fact in the first 20 years of the century, the world suffered horribly under it's own pandemic. It killed many millions, this coming after what they called the Great War (World War 1 for us) in which millions more perished. Coming out of those events the depression brought world economies to their knees. An entire generation lost everything including any chance of dreaming of a better future. And yet, I feel an affinity for that period in history. Was it better? Demonstrably NO. Different though. People learned to adjust and to get by. Doing without in ways we can hardly imagine today. It was an important period. Absent was the spoiled self centered persons who inherit this new millennium. 

My heroes from those years. The Hemingway's, The F Scott Fitzgerald's, Smart, brilliant, able to explain  about what was going on in their writings.  Each totally screwed up, eventually succumbing to the times in which they lived. Still, to me, fascinating.

I wish I could have been there. Lived it. All of it. 21st Century ... does not do it for me.

Big Rock Candy Mountains

An Example of the popular songs from back in the day. 
Fantasies of life ..simpler ... to dream about .

Fin

Reflections On Life

Isn’t it pretty to think so? Indeed it is. When your plans or your life goes a certain way, you wish it had gone differently, and you’re sad and you think if it had just gone differently and “isn’t it pretty to think so” Kind of says what you’re thinking and wishing.

Hemingway. So many people inside

 

Hemingway… the life of …. Never ceases to fascinate me. He was so many things to so many people. His writing … it’s amazing. You dont even need to have the book cover. One page and you know who wrote it. Also I wish I could sit and drink with him. He was a pro at it.

Weather is not an exact science

 

Last night, today’s forecast was for on and off rain. Starting early.

12 hours later:

Eight o'clock. No riding bicycle  today. Rain forecast. The popular weather company, their app, chance of rain by 8:15. Looking out to a dry neighborhood, I figure I’ll ride till it starts . Then finish on stationary cycle. 8:30 , overcast, cool, a breeze feeling great. Still was that a drop? Just a couple of spits. 9:00 , nothing. 9:30 I’ve done my 16 miles. Dry as a bone. Weather guessers now saying rain by 11:30. Ok so I gas up the mowers . Lawn done by 10:30. Dry …. Weather app says rain after 4pm.

It’s never going to rain today. The National weather service will figure that out sometime late afternoon. Not before. And no this isn’t Trumps fault . Budget cuts. That has NOTHING to do with it. The weather service simply doesn’t have a clue. Never has, never will.

I could have stayed in bed for a couple more hours. But I’ve seen this show before. And everything I wanted to get done is done.

We sure could use that rain though. Maybe someday.

Fin