IF you were wondering . . .

Wednesday, March 18, 2026 . It's Odin's day . . . Forecasts for TulseyTown indicate a preview of Summer attractions with strong Southerlies, a sun / clouds mix and 80º by afternoon. A massive heat-dome moves into the area beginning today. Forecasts at or above 90º starting tomorrow through the weekend.

The genuine path of unminding is not a religion for the immature – Zen Master Fen-yang

Today is the birthdate of writer John Updike. He was born in 1932 Reading, Pennsylvania.

George Plimpton was born in 1927 New York City on this day. He was the original editor-in-chief of the literary journal The Paris Review remaining there for 50 years. He was also a writer of what he called “participatory journalism,” predating the “new” journalism of Hunter Thompson and others.

Today is the day of the “Gardner Heist” in 1990. It was the largest art theft in United States history.

Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump continued to demand that other countries help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz for tanker traffic, but one by one, they declined. It is a dangerous business... - Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.

A Note to America's Allies and Friends – Robert Reich, Trump Alone, in substack today.

Why I've waited to comment on the Academy Awards event of this past Sunday: I found myself isolated in disagreement with nearly every award with one exception: “Hamnet” star Jessie Buckley won Best Actress. Not that I found the awarded films unworthy. I saw and enjoyed almost all of them. Clearly the Academy voters saw things through a different lens. C'est la guerre.

While in the mode of self-disclosure: FYI: Just in case you may wonder: On rare occasion when researching the obscure publisher of an archaic quote, I have utilized Perplexity backed up by ChatGTP. If that test fails, I don't use the quote. Otherwise, Ai has played absolutely no part of this blog in its history. Which, BTW, is now 3 years old – January 20 to be exact – with 974 posts as of today, not counting the rare missed ones. And last but not least, my investment: at $33 per month to SquareSpace for the platform that's $1100 over the 3 years and approximately 2 hours of composition for each post. If you're still wondering: SqSp analytics indicate an average of 40 visitors to the site each day over its history, 25 fewest, over 120 on rare occasion. There are 45 of you on the mailing list, so the site is getting regulars from beyond the list. The analytics identify only locale, not url, so unless you send me a note I have no idea who is actually reading. Blind trust and thanks to you reading today,