The disappearance of the bagel man . . .
Monday, June 30, 2025. It's the Moon's day . . . A cool start to a warm day in TulseyTown. Forecasts indicate moderate Southerlies and a slight chance for a thunderstorm this afternoon and evening. Low 90's with heat indices in the mid-upper 90's. Northerlies are to visit tomorrow.
Don't fault the poem remaining unfinished.
The bird of imagination flies where it likes.
Be silent. The queen will finish the poem. – Rumi (adapted)
Speaking of finishing. It took Margaret Mitchell ten years to complete her novel Gone With the Wind. It was published on this day in 1936.
Among four political stories people should know about, according to Heather Cox Richardson in her Letters From An American, is one staggering admission by Trump that he allowed the Iranians to bomb the U.S. base in Quatar as retaliation for the U.S. strikes on their nuclear sites.
The week ahead. – Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse.
NOW, the National Organization for Women was founded on this day 49 years ago.
In each of our lives at various points along the way, we find ourselve in the Fog of Not Knowing – a period of transition, a liminal space – when the way, the path, the plan, or the project is not yet clear...Regardless of how you arrive in this place...This period “in between” – whether for minutes, months, even years – is to be respected and honored; it is fertile and full of promise...If you can neet this “void” (it isn't) without grasping for some convenient way out, what you discover will be beyond your expectations and imagination...At the edge if Not Knowing is the beginning of the extraordinary. – Victoria Labame, Risk Forward, Hay House, 2021.
Reading the Times
Unhealthy particulates were found throughout the home
—”The Toxic Homes of Los Angeles,” June 24, 2025
So many things to be afraid of: the space junk of Damocles
orbiting in the troposphere, that worrisome spot
on my friend’s pancreas, the disappearance of the bagel man
[...]
– Kim Addonizio, “Reading the Times,” Rattle (poets respond) online, 6.30.25
Thank you Tchaikovsky . . .
Sunday, June 29, 2025. It's Sol's day . . . The Summer heat returns to TulseyTown.
Stay close to any sounds that make you glad you are alive. – Hafez
Today in 1974, while on tour with the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Ballet in Toronto, Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union, citing artistic reasons. The dancer, actor, and social activist is 77 years old (January) and lives in New York City.
Frank Loesser was born on this date. The composer, librettist, and lyricist was born in 1910 New York City.
Its the birthdate of the author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The aviator and writer was born today in 1900 Lyon, France.
The vast majority of people throughout history have been poor, oppressed, or in some way “on the margins.” They would have read history in terms of a need for change, but most of history has been written and interpreted from the side of the winners. The unique exception is the revelation called the Bible, which is an alternative history from the side of the often enslaved and oppressed people of ancient Israel, culminating in the scapegoat figure of Yesua. – Richard Rohr, Meditations, The Center for Action and Contemplation,
History is writ by them who done the hanging. – attributed to Robert the Bruce.
Navigating The Watercourse Way . . . Making peace with uncertainty isn’t about having more control. It’s about learning how to ride the waves instead of being pulled under by them.
How much more alive can one's thanks bring.
Turn, turn, turn . . .
Saturday, June 28, 2025. It's a Satyr's day . . . After heavy thunderstorms this morning, easy Southerlies, sun andclouds are in the TulseyTown forecasts for the afternoon with upper 80's and indices in the upper 90's.
Today is the birthday of Richard Rodgers. Half of the Rodgers and Hammerstein songwriting team, Rodgers was born in 1902 New York City .
Mel Brooks celebrates his 99th birthday today. The stage writer, comedian and filmmaker and actor was born in 1926 Brooklyn, New York.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born on this day in 1712 Geneva, Switzerland. A philosopher, writer, and political theorist, he made liberty an object of almost universal aspiration.
And, it's Elon Musk's 54th birthday today.
When it comes to Trump's “big beautiful” budget bill now in the Senate, published polls show opponents outnumber supporters roughly two to one. Twenty percent or more expressed no opinion, presumably a reflection of limited knowledge.
There’s widespread agreement that the most vulnerable will take the biggest hit, and it is by design. Under H.R. 1, the annual incomes of the poorest tenth of the population decline by $1,600 on average while those of the richest tenth increase by $12,000 on average, according to new estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
Among other things, the bill weakens public schools by creating a nationwide voucher scheme and slashing support for Medicaid, which covers nearly half our students and 1 in 10 education support professionals. Cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) threaten school meals while cuts in student loan programs make higher education even more unaffordable. The bill also provides a lot more money for even more ruthless immigration enforcement.
Robert Reich in an email this morning called it “the most cruel, harmful, and flat-out immoral piece of legislation I’ve ever seen” and he's been around Washington politics for fifty years.
If you haven't, tell Congress what you think. If you have already, do it again. Do it today. When it comes to election time, assuming Trump doesn't successfully screw with it, remember: We are the people who put these fear-and-greed-based anti-democratics into office and we can replace them. If you are registered republican, don't be afraid to cross over with your vote. You won't have to change your registration.
There are other ways to pack the Supreme Court than trying to increase partisan numbers. – Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse.
Finally, a hopeful sign from the Supreme Court. A unanimous sleeper decision in a case brought by the NRA could blow back on the Trump administration's efforts to target opponents and could have profound impacts on Trump’s agenda.
As long as the world is turning and spinning, we're gonna be dizzy and we're gonna make mistakes. – Mel Brooks