“The world lives by phrases,” said Herbert Hoover. He spoke in the era when men like Edward Bernays, advertising mogul J. Walter Thompson, and government propaganda czar George Creel were making manipulation of the public mind “scientific.” Not to mention all pervasive. Slogans and other simple phrases were handy for taking over people’s brains. One hundred years on, and with Twitter as our bible, we may be the most phrase-driven people ever. But no doubt the pithy quote, ringing slogan, or pseudo-wise saying has always driven humans — and often driven them to heaven knows what. “Hierosolyma est perdita” (“Jerusalem…
16 CommentsMonth: March 2019
Couple of weeks ago a friend backed into my car. She and I both lucked out. Once the black marks, surface scrapes, and dirt were cleaned off, we each had a nearly identical dent about four inches across, but both in tricky spots. She has a handy husband to fix hers. She offered to pay for fixing mine, but I told her it was too small a thing to bother her with. I got a suction-cup puller, which didn’t work (see “tricky spot” above). So I turned to the Great Source of All Wisdom and Distractions to get other ideas.…
5 CommentsAnother bout of thinking aloud … —– Yesterday I had to be “not me” for a while. It left an uncomfortable, ICK, feeling. Nothing dramatic. I had to socialize with a small group of people I barely know or don’t know at all, and I felt compelled to turn on my handy-dandy “not me” persona. This isn’t a deception. It’s just some aspect of me, comprising maybe 5 percent of my personality, that must jump to the forefront in social situations. Friendly and full of both attentiveness and stories, maybe a little eccentric though not crossing any lines, alert and…
19 CommentsSunday. March 17. Seventy-two degrees. Barely a breath of wind. Not a single cloud. And Furrydoc and I walked barefoot on that warm, pristine sand with the dogs. We didn’t write that message in the first photo, but we sure shared the exuberance that inspired somebody to do it. Beaches in this part of the world are commonly socked in or howling with wind (or both) at any time of year. A day like this would be a rare treat, even in July or August. In March? It’s a miracle! My favorite moment was rounding a curve in the cliffs…
10 CommentsJust another little check-in. —– So. I had my Saturday all nicely planned out. Take Ava for her morning excursion. Stop at the library to make a little links post. Come home. Grab lunch. Noodle with a potential book idea. Then, as we were driving to the field in town where we planned to run … Oh, look! Estate sale! And Oh, look! Cute dog at the estate sale! But before I either got to look at the stuff or pet the pooch, half the people there were asking me, “Do you know who she belongs to? She’s been hanging…
7 CommentsWhen I went to once-a-week (or whatever it’s eventually going to be) blogging, I said I hoped my less-frequent posts would contain meaty content — but that the posts would reflect whatever the week brought, for good or ill. Recent days have brought lots of reading, sparking thoughts too formless and unorganized yet to blog. So here’s a little tale about how I plunged down the Reading List Rabbit Hole. NOTE: This piece has Amazon Associate links to the best or most eagerly awaited titles of my rabbit-hole adventure, but I’m not trying to sell you books. I’m just having…
13 CommentsLast weekend I mentioned finding notes on promising blog entries that I never completed or posted. My favorite (but most difficult) was about freedom “superpowers.” I thought I’d turn this topic over to you guys — who are, in aggregate, the cleverest blog commentariat on the planet and therefore far better able to come up ideas than I’d be by myself. So here’s the question, and a crucial caveat: What THREE freedom superpowers would you like to possess for the future? The caveat: I’m not really talking about superpowers, ala Marvel or DC. No laser vision to melt AOC’s tiny…
14 CommentsI walked into the office where our town’s library supporters hold periodic used-book sales. Before I could reach the shelves, the manager — as pleased with herself as a kindergartener on show-and-tell day — handed me a sheet of paper she was about to tape to the wall. The page, torn out of a notebook, held a crude pencil drawing. The picture, though hard to make out, was of a live baby on one hand and a dead toddler on the other. Between them was a figure of a man holding a rectangle, pointing it at the dead child. “REPUBLICAN…
36 CommentsAh, spring. Okay, not quite. But it finally stopped snowing here (after one of the coldest, snowiest PNW Februaries on record — which you Midwesterners will no doubt dismiss as a gentle dusting, barely worth a mention) and I’m making only a quick stop at the library before heading out into the sunshine. —– If I owe you an email, you’ll no doubt notice I’m getting behinder every day. That’s not a new thing for me, but with home Internet gone, I’m really, deeply, almost sinfully indulging in the privilege of not responding to email. I hate to admit it,…
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