It's about time . . .

Wednesday, January 21, 2026

It's Odin's day . . . forecasts for TulseyTown indicate moderate Northerlies and a mild afternoon in the 50's. A Winter storm watch goes into effect beginning at Friday Noon extending into Sunday morning.

Lots of birthday notices in the mailbox this morning . . .

Yesterday: Film director and screenwriter David Lynch was born 1946, Missoula, Montana. He died this past week. Another film director/screenwriter, Federico Fellini, was born in 1920, Rimini, Italy; and Astronaut Buzz Aldrin turned 96, born in 1930 Montclair, New Jersey.

Born on today’s date...

Plácido Domingo is 85 today. The Spanish-born singer, conductor, and opera administrator was born 1941 Madrid, Spain.

The French designer Christian Dior was born in 1905, Granville, France.

And, blues singer and songwriter Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter was born on or around this day in 1888 Mooringsport, Louisiana.

Researchers at Harvard University and the University of Virginia have answered a perplexing question: Why do most people reflexively reach for their phones during any moment of downtime? Turns out they can't abide being alone with their thoughts. Some, mainly men, would rather give themselves electric shocks. – Science.

( Understatement: Those who can't stand being alone with their thoughts probably are not readers of this blog. )

Has time always been a line? Turns out: Not always. – Emily Thomas (Professor of Philosophy at Durham University, UK), writing in Aeon.

The Thing About Time

Time is a word, a symbol

standing in the place of an experience

at best ephemeral.

The same holds for the place name,

for that of “space.” Yet we insist

our illusions constitute a quality

we have named “thing.”

“Aye,” there's Hamlet's rub:

naming.

Naming fixes the named with status.

Manana is not the same “thing” as

10:45 a.m. tomorrow, yet

for millions of peoples and years

was a quite adequate name for time,

as was and were the experiences

of sunrise, sunset, and phases of the moon

and seasons, all independent of their names

some with no referent for yesterday,

nor tomorrow. This morning I sent

birthday anniversary greetings to my

long-time friend Sallie. A return email

“thanks” noted I was a whole 7-day week

early and it acknowledged “James...we've never been

tied to linear time.”

Her sign was followed by

an x and an o.

Twice. -- jab