Celebrating forgetfulness . . .
Saturday, January 17, 2026. It's the Satyr's day . . . Strong Norterlies make for a blustery cold day in TulseyTown. Sunshine will share itself with a few clouds and low 40's. Wind chill this morning was in the 20's. By evening forecasts indicate the chill to be in the teens.
When you realy “don't know,” , , , what happens?
Enlightenment isn’t something we march toward, and one day, somehow, we grab it. Enlightenment is the ending in yourself of that hope for something other than life being as it is. . .now. – Charlotte Joko Beck, “Just Snow, Just Now,” Tricycle.
Today is Benjamin Franklin's birthday. He was born in 1706, Boston, Massachusetts.
The term military-industrial complex was first used by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his Farewell Address today in 1961.
The calmness of television new anchors is teaching all of us not to feel the horror we are witnessing. – David Ignatow, “A First On TV (for Walter Cronkite).” The complete poem, originally published in Poems 1934–1969, Wesleyan University Press,1970, is available online only on audio.
The madness of King Trump. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
A society must assume that it is stable, but the artist must know, and he must let us know, that there is nothing stable under heaven. – James Baldwin in The Price of the Ticket, reckoning with the immense creative process that is humanity,
And, today is the birthday of William Stafford. The poet – on my very best list – was born in 1914 Hutchinson, Kansas.
At the Un-National Monument along the Canadian Border
This is the field where the battle did not happen,
where the unknown soldier did not die.
This is the field where grass joined hands,
where no monument stands,
and the only heroic thing is the sky.
Birds fly here without any sound,
unfolding their wings across the open.
No people killed—or were killed—on this ground
hallowed by neglect and an air so tame
that people celebrate it by forgetting its name.
– William Stafford, “At the Un-National Monument along the Canadian Border” is from The Way It Is: New & Selected Poems. Graywolf Press 1998.
Smooth operators . . .
Friday, January 16, 2026 Smooth operators . . . It's Freya's (Frigg's) day . . . Roller-coaster weather is in the forecasts for TulseyTown's weekend. Starting today, moderate to strong Northerlies are indicated bringing a cold front to the area. Mainly clear conditions while temperatures vary in the extreme: Today 50's, hard freeze tonight, blustery fridged Saturday, harder cold Sunday morning but a milder day, followed by another cold Monday. The week following settles down into freezing mornings and afternoon 50's. Winter in Okieland.
A scholar tries to learn something every day; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily. – Alan Watts
Aphrodite … seems less the goddess of human lovemaking, and more the goddess of the symbiotic fusions between species that create biological novelty. Aphrodite presides over a romance that transcends anthropocentrism. Or perhaps predates it. – Sophie Strand, “Aphrodite: Saint of Symbiogenesis,” in Make Me Good Soil, 1.16.26
What you can do to stop ICE's mayhem, outlined by Robert Reich, online, 1.06.26
Don't take the bait. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse, 1.16.26
Don Quixote was published on this date in 1605. The novel by Miguel de Cervantes is considered to be the first modern novel.
Novelist, essayist, and cultural critic Susan Sontag was born on this day in 1933 New York City.
The poet and memoirist Mary Karr is 71 today. The author of The Liars' Club was born in 1955 Groves, Texas.
Sade is 69 today. The Nigerian-born British singer and songwriter was born in 1959 Ibadanin Nigeria . . .
. . . and, way ahead of Trump and Epstein.
The wind has no name. . .
Thursday, January 15, 2026 . It's Thor's day . . . The Winter roller-coaster continues in the forecasts for TulseyTown. Southerlies return with sunny skies and mid 50's ahead of another cold front and a deep freeze this weekend. As I write in this morning hour, it's nighttime in Jakarta, Indonesia where another of my besties lives. Mid 70's and thunder storms are forecasted for them after their sunrise.
Meditation is not about “getting control of your mind.” It's about letting go of the compulsion to control.
Martin Luther King Jr., was born on this day in 1929 Atlanta, Georgia.
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth I took place on this date in 1559.
The British Museum opened today in 1759.
Yesterday, a Federal panel in Los Angeles upheld California’s New Congressional Maps, siding with Gov. Gavin Newsom in a decision that will help Democrats counter Republican gerrymandering in Texas. Republicans are expected to appeal.
What you can do, beyond party politics. – Robert Reich, Mobilizing America, online 1.15.26
Winter Haiku
Creation whispers.
Winter rustles in last leaves.
I call it the wind.
– jab