Using words as spies . . .
Wednesday, August 20, 2025. It's Odin's day . . . and forecasts for TulseyTown indicate real temperatures cooling, if you can call it that, in the 90's, with indices of 100º+ this afternoon.
Dualistic thinking is at the root of our illusions of human perfection. – Richard Rohr, The Center for Action and Contemplation, 7.31.25
MSNBC is changing its name later this year, separating from NBC affiliation.
There may be Spyware in your kid's school syllabus. If student safety software had a dark side, this is it. AI, risk scores and alerts to law enforcement, what could possibly go wrong? – Kim Komando, The Current, online 8.20.25
Heather McHugh turns 76 today. The Pacific coast inventive poet was born in 1948 San Diego, California
The influential author H. P. Lovecraft was born on this day in 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Amd. today's the birthday of Eero Saarinen. The architect was born in 1910, Kirkkonummi, Finland.
Language Lesson 1976
When Americans say a man
takes liberties, they mean
he’s gone too far. In Philadelphia today I saw
a kid on a leash look mom-ward
and announce his fondest wish: one
bicentennial burger, hold
the relish. Hold is forget,
in American.
On the courts of Philadelphia
the rich prepare
to serve, to fault. The language is a game as well,
in which love can mean nothing,
doubletalk means lie. I’m saying
doubletalk with me. I’m saying
go so far the customs are untold.
Make nothing without words,
and let me be
the one you never hold.
– Heather McHugh, “Language Lesson 1976” from Hinge & Sign: Poems, 1968-1993. Wesleyan University Press, 1994.
Treasures in an empty chamber . . .
Tuesday, August 19, 2025. It's Tiw's day . . . and if I read the weatherfeather correctly, today will be TulseyTown's last 100º Tuesday for the year. The slight rain chance this morning has already departed at this ten o’clock hour, yielding to clouds, sun, light breezes and the heat.
Bonkers across the board. – Heather Cox Richardson, posted for today in her Letters From An American.
Bill Clinton turns 79 today. Our 42nd President was born in 1946, Hope, Arkansas.
Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit turns 52. She was born on this day in 1973,Kristiansand, Norway.
The poet Li-Young Lee turns 68 today, born in 1957 Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ogden Nash was born in 1902 Rye, New York.
And, the inventor who developed the first all-electronic television system, Philo Farnsworth, was born on this day in 1906, Beaver, Utah
Virginia Woolf's treasures can be found in a routine of your own.
Echo Chambers
Everyone wants peace, but votes for hawks.
A senator holds forth to an empty chamber.
No one listens. Everybody talks . . .
– Susan McLean, “Echo Chambers,” Rattle, 8.19.25
Even if for a moment . . .
Monday, August 18, 2025. It's the Moon's day . . . TulseyTown forecasts indicate real temperatures above 100º today with moderate Southerlies and a slight chance for a stray thunder shower during the afternoon. Counting down to the season break next Monday.
Emotions…First of all, they are a gift from Creation so that we can touch reality by a way other than the salad scramble of experience. Inside the frame of the smaller self, we tend to make everything a big deal.
We’ve been taught to package our emotions like fast food—served quick, tidy, and with a smile. Americanized feelings. Digestible. Non-threatening. Always paired with productivity... [That] is how we sell emotional healing in the West—marketed like a self-improvement product...But what if the formula is the lie? – Allison Jeanette Briggs. “The Lie of Packaged Feelings.” Tiny Buddha, online, 8.12.25.
The Week Ahead from Joyce Vance's Civil Discourse.
What is clear from the summit is that Trump and Putin badly miscalculated the nature of power in democracies. – Heather Cox Richardson, posted last night in Letters From An American.
Why Trump will fail. The iron law of grovelers and those to whom they grovel. – Robert Reich, online, 8.18.25.
Roman Polanski turns 92 today. The filmmaker and screenwriter was born in 1933 Paris. Robert Redford is 89 today.
The legendary rock festival Woodstock ended today in 1969 near Bethel, New York It attracted some 400,000 fans.
Even if for a moment ...
In a world of noise, confusion and conflict, it is necessary that there is a place of inner silence and peace; not the peace of mere relaxation but the peace of inner clarity and love. – Thomas Merton