The wiggly world of life, “pee-mail,” and politics

Friday, July 24, 2026. It's Freya's day . . . Rain is in the forecasts for Green Country and TulseyTown around the noon hour. Moderate Southerlies maintain afternoon temperatures at a cooler upper 80's with a heat index in the mid 90's.

“You’re trying to straighten out a wiggly world—no wonder you’re in trouble.” – Alan Watts, You Are the Universe In Motion, Shambhala, 2026.

Today in 1911 the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu was discovered.

Jennifer Lopez is 57 today. The global superstar was born in 1969, Bronx, New York. She has built a massively successful triple-threat career as an actress, dancer, and musician.

It's the birthdate of novelist Alexandre Dumas. The author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo was born in 1802 Villers-Cotterêts, France.

Poet, novelist, and mythologist Robert Graves was born on this day in 1895 Wimbledon, England.

Anglican clergyman and hymn writer (Amazing Grace) John Newton was born in 1725 London.

And, mystery novelist John D. MacDonald was born today in 1916 Sharon, Pennsylvania. He gave us the houseboat dwelling Travis McGee.

It's also the day in 1847 that Brigham Young and his fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) arrived in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Valley. The influence of the Mormons on Salt Lake City, Utah and beyond can’t be overstated.

While the GOP is spreading the email about all democrats being communists, it bears recognizing that the closest thing to a communist in the U.S.A. is Donald Trump's worship of Vladimir Putin. So said Joyce Vance, Mary Trump, and Katie Phang who joined in an excellent discussion (video) posted yesterday on Civil Discourse, about life, dog “pee-mail,” politics and “communism.” Worth your time. FYI 3,000 tune in for these.

A wonderment . . .

Thursday, July 23, 2026. It's Thor's day . . . Easterlies and a mild – for Summer – day are in the forecasts for Green Country. Sun, summer clouds, low 90's are predicted for the afternoon in TulseyTown. Heat index in the upper 90's.

Light is in both the broken bottle and the diamond. – Mark Nepo

Today is the birthday of the novelist who gave us the detective Philip Marlow, Raymond Chandler, born in 1888 Chicago.

Have we stepped into a time machine? – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.

Robert Reich is wondering if he's being unnecessarily alarmist about Ai. The Crash of 2026. Posted on substack today.

Having It Out With Melancholy. A poem by Jane Kenyon.

For The Poet

– after Louise Glück's autobiography for the Nobel Prize

What does not change are the terrible extended periods of silence, the anxiety. And, periodically, the elation of discovery, the strange embarking, the adventure that writing is, each poem a journey into unknown territory. Accompanied rarely and only by music. Mahler is good, the Tchiakovsky, Rachmaninoff, Russian Pantheon, as well as the Scandinavians, Leif Ove Andsnes, La Pietà, Bill Evans. Except when it is insanely easy, writing remains elusive. The random has a mind of its own. Always, I am someone longing to be a poet, to make something never heard before, to be taken out of myself. It’s a wonderment.

– jab

Trusting the sun . . .

Wednesday, July 22, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . and moderate Northerlies bring a break in the heat to Green Country today. TulseyTown's afternoon is to be sunny in the low 90's.

Today is the birthdate of the poet Emma Lazarus. Born in 1849 New York City, she was the author of “The New Colossus,” enscribed on the Statue of Liberty in New York City's harbor.

The realist painter Edward Hopper was also born on this day, in 1882 Nyack, New York.

Elon Musk is now in legal hot water. – Joyce Vance, The Week Ahead, in Civil Discourse.

Authoritarianism doesn’t run on one villain alone. It runs on a million volunteers. They are being silenced by you, me and we who refused to shut up. . .That will be the recorded history of this moment. – Miles Taylor, Defiance.

Medical advice? Why we can't trust the usual sources: Who to trust these days. – Joyce Vance in conversation with Dr. Vin Gupta (video), posted to Civil Discourse, 7.20.26. Dr. Gupta listed three independent, trustworthy sources (and none are the CDC or the AMA or the FDA): Gupta's sources : Immunize.org,‍ ‍lung.org , and heart.org.

The Navajo teach their children that every morning when the sun comes up, it’s a brand-new sun. It’s born each morning, it lives for the duration of one day, and in the evening it passes on, never to return again. As soon as the children are old enough to understand, the adults take them out at dawn and they say, “The sun has only one day. You must live this day in a good way, so that the sun won’t have wasted precious time.” – Pema Chödrön, in The Wisdom of No Escape: And the Path of Loving-Kindness, Shambhala, 2018.