What?
Doctors say this, doctors who prescribe marijuana do, the best way for the body to absorb marijuana is anally.
Does that mean rolling a joint and sticking it up your butt?
No.
It means dissolving cannabis extract in an oil and [putting that in a capsule and sticking the capsule up your butt.] I think. The article at Inverse.com left that crucial part out.
Why be so strange?
Eating it is not that efficient due to gastric acids, and neither is smoking it, actually, plus smoking is obviously dangerous for lungs. Turns out, the rectum is the most efficient manner of absorption. Up to 70% efficiency. However there is less psychoactive effect on the brain, and this is good for people using the drug medicinally.
Buzz kill right there. A small percentage of people, I'm supposing, because that whole "medicinal purpose" is mostly a hoax.
I mean, come on. Ah! Talk to the hand. I'm not even going to argue with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're self-medicating.
Self-medicating the ills of the world. You are the world. Therefore you medicate yourself.
Sounds icky. Do you poop out the capsule, does it drain out into your underwear as you go walking along, or is it completely magically absorbed? How do you push it in there? Does your finger go in too? Is there an applicator involved? Does the gel capsule dissolve as you are filling it? Does oil go on the outside of the capsule too for lubrication to assist insertion? Is this a sexual thing? Is this just another way of being a perv? Is the capsule big? Does it have to be oil? Can I grind marijuana to powder, put that in a capsule and stick that up my butt? Would that powder damage my intestines? Will I need a colonoscopy? Will the colonoscopy doctor go, "Hey! You been sticking marijuana up your butt? Because we get a lot of that lately."
These web pages do not answer the questions they create by offering such scant bizarre facts.
It's a mystery.
I believe I can die now, for I have heard everything. Sticking weed up your butt and it's doctors saying to do this.
You first. Let's get high together. I bet you guys have parties and do this to each other. Do you pay a dominatrix to do this to you? Because I saw a series on Netflix and you guys totally out-perv them. Look, you wrote this crap, I didn't think it up.
We are stardust, we are golden, we are caught in the devil's bargain and we've got to get ourselves back to the ga-ar-den, we don't need this f'k'n shit.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Chocolate éclairs
Surprise your honey.
And your kids.
Or your grandkids.
Step 1: Go to dentist and have your teeth bleached.
Step 2: Ask your husband if it's okay for you to make pastries.
And your kids.
Or your grandkids.
Step 1: Go to dentist and have your teeth bleached.
Step 2: Ask your husband if it's okay for you to make pastries.
Know what would really surprise your honey?
Doing all the dishes. Not leaving a huge mess behind.
Extremely white teeth inside the mouths of old men give me the creeps. Not this guy so much, he's not old, but I just watched a video of Joe Biden.
I really must start showing better judgement in the links that I choose to follow. I know better, but follow through anyway, then hate myself for allowing myself to be so annoyed unnecessarily.
The link went to IOTW Report, a video of Mark Dice commenting on videos of people I purposefully don't watch. It's 3 against 0 so I have no business watching. But I do anyway. And it's worse than all the stuff that already drives me away.
For you see, I am an innocent and sensitive soul, I don't need this f'k'n shit.
Mark Dice yells at his viewers, so just shut up. His point is Biden seems physically weak and running out of gas. (That phrasing opens the discussion for jokes.)
Biden dissembles easily as he breathes. Actually easier now, his breathing is unsteady. He's talking about corporations making billions but paying zero taxes. He smiles disingenuously as he speaks about something unhappy. His facial expressions do not match his messaging. This signals he's not feeling what he is saying.
His mouth says one thing while his face says another. His brilliant white smile is shaped as the Joker, a victim of an industrial chemical accident. His teeth do not match his age. His teeth are not true, his hair is untrue, unsightly plugs covered by implants, the erasure of facial character is false, his smoothened forehead is signaling his visage is false, while his waning voice and his clearly diminishing energy are true. His physical presentation is wholly incongruent. His messaging is a pile of teetering toothpicks. He is not worth the time given listening to him. He will certainly loose.
Robin Roberts with ABC works from shopworn threadbare exhausted memes and tropes, "Trump has a slogan; Make America Great Again, do you have one? "
Trump had a slogan Make America Great Again, now he has revised slogan Keep America Great. Robin would know that if she knew what she was talking about. So she's not worth the time given to listen.
No to Mark Dice for yelling, no to Biden for constantly misrepresenting and being a loser, no to Robin Roberts for not knowing what she is talking about, and yet here I am watching.
So I go, "Dude, wtf are you doing watching this video? Go look at something worthwhile. Go check on your plants. See if they're ready to harden outside. Do something lovely. Surprise the women in your life. Make some éclairs. Do anything else, but don't watch this video in which Biden's super white teeth and schizophrenic disconnected Joker smile disconcerts you.
Chuck Grassley, "Here's where we are."
"Here's where we are. The Democrats and you folks in the media are not concerned about the report. I think you're concerned about the results weren't what you expected. And I think we're finding out that everybody was sold a bunch of snake oil, and now the jig is up!" - Grassley pic.twitter.com/QGGXO3lK8t— Jeff DeRiso (@JeffDeRiso) May 1, 2019
Commenters at Diogenes' Middle Finger appreciated this. They say things like "Mic drop." The post is titled "I can't stop laughing, Grassley murdered the media and slowly walked away."
They always overstate things. Grassley didn't murder the media. They're still alive. And kicking. And screaming. And dissembling, misinforming, propagandizing, agitating, being obnoxious, lowering their own worth.
The jig is up.
Some people think the phrase is the gig is up.
Both forms can be grammatically correct for different reasons.
It's always a bit surprising when the small words have so many meanings. Then again, in all languages the most common words become the irregulars. That's why you shouldn't balk at all the common words not fitting the pattern. And that makes sense because so many people are using them the most they're bound to be the ones twisted the most, over time they're accepted irregulars, and their irregularity becomes regular.
Jig is a fast dance, it's also a trick.
So those are two terms that could be the basis of the saying. The dance is up, or the trick is discovered and finished.
Jig is also a device to hold a project in place to be worked on, sawed or drilled such as a miter box, so the pieces all match and fit together when assembled.
Jig is a spinning lure that wobbles when pulled through the water.
Jig is a device that separated ore or coal from waste material by agitation in water, a gravity separator.
jigsaw with a thin blade designed for cutting arbitrary curves such as made in jigsaw puzzles with knobs and spaces for knobs in each piece.
jig or jigging is also a term for truancy.
jig is an undesirable restless on the spot trotting motion of a horse.
* The name of a film
* The name of a band
* The name of children's card game game snip snap snorem
* The goblin protagonist of fantasy novels by Jim C. Hines
* The name of a strategy game published by dubl-Click Software for the Newton MessagePad
* It's an insulting phrase for black people shortened from jigaboo.
* The name of a 1951 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean
* The name of one of the sectors of Gold Beach during WWII Normandy landings.
* It's the phonetic for the letter J in the Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet
* Jig Theater, either dramatic or farce jig, a short comic afterpiece in the playhouses of 16th and17th century England.
* Jig Dog, nickname for Rear Admiral James Ramage, American naval aviator
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
Indecent bonsai
Some would say all bonsai are indecent.
Apart from that, what would you do? I liked it when he angled it upward. And I thought he would remove more of the green tuffs, anticipating the remaining green to fill out and upward at a new angle.
Apart from that, what would you do? I liked it when he angled it upward. And I thought he would remove more of the green tuffs, anticipating the remaining green to fill out and upward at a new angle.
"Let's see what we have in the roots," jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab jab whack whack whack whack jab jab jab jab jab jab, "no beneficial mycelium."
Workers, skill level: high
The title says skill level: God
But that a bit overboard. There a million of this type of video on YouTube. People doing things you'd never imagine.
God made the black dude blind so he'd have no idea how handsome he is. Or maybe it was cutting onions at high speed and in great volume that did it. It's a mystery.
I skipped past the one about frogs. Reminded me of high school biology class and I got a little bit light headed.
But that a bit overboard. There a million of this type of video on YouTube. People doing things you'd never imagine.
God made the black dude blind so he'd have no idea how handsome he is. Or maybe it was cutting onions at high speed and in great volume that did it. It's a mystery.
I skipped past the one about frogs. Reminded me of high school biology class and I got a little bit light headed.
James Holzhauer, Jeopardy! champion
I was going to post about Holzhauer before, now Jack Hellner with American Thinker does from a different angle. The new angle: Charles Lane with Washington Post thinks feels Jeopardy is no longer any fun because there is too much emphasis on numbers. (He won by $18.00 on Monday.) That's another thing that's odd about Jeopardy! The awards are so paltry for the work the contestants do especially when compared with Wheel of Fortune that comes on right after.
[Notice all Wheel of Fortune contestants have a lovely wife and two or three terrific children. That's a requirement, it appears. I'm waiting for the day a contestant says he has a fat ugly lazy wife and five holy terrors preparing to spend their lives in prison, and that he's considering divorce and abandoning his children.]
Jack Heller's post is about Charles Lane's post being indicative of Washington Post's and of Democrats' in general anti-intellectualism. Heller makes some good points but we don't need Lane writing about Jeopardy! to know that.
I'm not certain it's valid. Denver is liberal, I'm surrounded by liberals, and apart from politics they're all very smart. In fact, a long time ago at a party of artistic types, singers, dancers, musicians, mostly, Jeopardy! was on in the t.v. room. People were playing piano and singing show tunes. All of them knew all of the words to all of the songs in Fiddler on the Roof. When they got to the "tradition" part they all hammed it up. I happened to pass through the room at the moment one young man was giving the questions to Jeopardy! answers. Surprisingly, he swept all the categories. "Did you see this before? Is this a rerun, like Groundhog Day?"
He laughed and said, "No."
I said, "Dude, you swept."
He laughed again and repeated, "Swept." He thought that was funny. Because he did sweep.
And without that you might mistake him for another dopey musician. But you'd be wrong.
Holzhauer, though, is a w-h-o-o-o-l-e 'nuther level.
Here is Holzhaure in a game of a different format. (chosen for its length)
[Notice all Wheel of Fortune contestants have a lovely wife and two or three terrific children. That's a requirement, it appears. I'm waiting for the day a contestant says he has a fat ugly lazy wife and five holy terrors preparing to spend their lives in prison, and that he's considering divorce and abandoning his children.]
Jack Heller's post is about Charles Lane's post being indicative of Washington Post's and of Democrats' in general anti-intellectualism. Heller makes some good points but we don't need Lane writing about Jeopardy! to know that.
I'm not certain it's valid. Denver is liberal, I'm surrounded by liberals, and apart from politics they're all very smart. In fact, a long time ago at a party of artistic types, singers, dancers, musicians, mostly, Jeopardy! was on in the t.v. room. People were playing piano and singing show tunes. All of them knew all of the words to all of the songs in Fiddler on the Roof. When they got to the "tradition" part they all hammed it up. I happened to pass through the room at the moment one young man was giving the questions to Jeopardy! answers. Surprisingly, he swept all the categories. "Did you see this before? Is this a rerun, like Groundhog Day?"
He laughed and said, "No."
I said, "Dude, you swept."
He laughed again and repeated, "Swept." He thought that was funny. Because he did sweep.
And without that you might mistake him for another dopey musician. But you'd be wrong.
Holzhauer, though, is a w-h-o-o-o-l-e 'nuther level.
Here is Holzhaure in a game of a different format. (chosen for its length)
AG William Barr Senate Testimony on Mueller Report
Speaking of ...
(cross contamination)
If you care to -- and who in their right mind would? -- observe how reality is reversed. Nearly any segment will do.
The affect of Russian interference on our election is real but it was also miniscule. But it's made out to be the main thing. The real crimes of government departments weaponized from within and used against political opponents is entirely ignored to favor imaginary crimes. All this for Democrat voters. The report shows there is no evidence, yet it is used as evidence for crimes that do not exist. The examiner steps beyond his function as examiner and adds his own 2¢ where it is not called for, that is not part of his job. That 2¢ is leaked to two propaganda news outfits, NYT and WP and used to demonstrate the AG behaved out of line, when he did not.
I have a better idea.
Instead, read comments to this obnoxious dancing bear show made by people well aware of the granular detail surrounding it. The Last Refuge. Oldest comments are first. It's quite long. Commenters there are more aware than the senators creating the narrative. They are people who've studied literally for years, and see through the production. It's long but not so wearisome as listening to Democrat and Never-Trump Senators.
A sample:
You just fell for the NYT/WaPo trap .
Here is what happened:
1) Mueller gives a report to Barr
2) Barr determines that it will take too much time to redact, so decides to come with a summary of the principal conclusions. That is what he sends to Congress
3) Mueller then writes the letter, because in Barr's letter none of the details are discussed or even summarized. In later discussions Mueller says he agrees with Barr's statement, but he says he wanted at least the summaries of his report to be made public, because now the press is mis-reporting about him.
4) Barr then publishes the entire report including the summaries, but not just the (executive) summaries
So #3 came before # 4, yet they (NYT/WaPo) want you to believe that #3 came AFTER #4 ...
#3 was a comment on #2, not on #2 + #4.
[Actually, the previous commenter did not fall for the trap, but that's irrelevant to the quality of this comment.]
This comment fairly typifies the depth of comprehension and quality throughout. And the discussion does go on for several pages of comments. Compare that quality to such as The Hill, linked by Drudge (Same page, below CNN ratings dive, an article: Fox News legal analyst says Barr 'probably misled lawmakers in prior testimony on Mueller report. The comments, not the article. ) I'm suggesting comparing quality of comments. The Last Refuge to The Hill on the same subject.
(cross contamination)
If you care to -- and who in their right mind would? -- observe how reality is reversed. Nearly any segment will do.
The affect of Russian interference on our election is real but it was also miniscule. But it's made out to be the main thing. The real crimes of government departments weaponized from within and used against political opponents is entirely ignored to favor imaginary crimes. All this for Democrat voters. The report shows there is no evidence, yet it is used as evidence for crimes that do not exist. The examiner steps beyond his function as examiner and adds his own 2¢ where it is not called for, that is not part of his job. That 2¢ is leaked to two propaganda news outfits, NYT and WP and used to demonstrate the AG behaved out of line, when he did not.
I have a better idea.
Instead, read comments to this obnoxious dancing bear show made by people well aware of the granular detail surrounding it. The Last Refuge. Oldest comments are first. It's quite long. Commenters there are more aware than the senators creating the narrative. They are people who've studied literally for years, and see through the production. It's long but not so wearisome as listening to Democrat and Never-Trump Senators.
A sample:
You just fell for the NYT/WaPo trap .
Here is what happened:
1) Mueller gives a report to Barr
2) Barr determines that it will take too much time to redact, so decides to come with a summary of the principal conclusions. That is what he sends to Congress
3) Mueller then writes the letter, because in Barr's letter none of the details are discussed or even summarized. In later discussions Mueller says he agrees with Barr's statement, but he says he wanted at least the summaries of his report to be made public, because now the press is mis-reporting about him.
4) Barr then publishes the entire report including the summaries, but not just the (executive) summaries
So #3 came before # 4, yet they (NYT/WaPo) want you to believe that #3 came AFTER #4 ...
#3 was a comment on #2, not on #2 + #4.
[Actually, the previous commenter did not fall for the trap, but that's irrelevant to the quality of this comment.]
This comment fairly typifies the depth of comprehension and quality throughout. And the discussion does go on for several pages of comments. Compare that quality to such as The Hill, linked by Drudge (Same page, below CNN ratings dive, an article: Fox News legal analyst says Barr 'probably misled lawmakers in prior testimony on Mueller report. The comments, not the article. ) I'm suggesting comparing quality of comments. The Last Refuge to The Hill on the same subject.
Merrill Howard Kalin
This is real.
Through an organization the lad was given airtime for a cooking show. His brother was a teacher at the time and spoke to his students about how great it was that his brother was given a chance to be on t.v. It was a big thing for them. Since then Merrill has passed. All that I got from comments.
Comments to this video are all about cross contamination, the cutting board used to chop salad after chicken was placed on it, but honestly, I think general awareness of this type came after this show was produced. It's a rather old show. It's after this that cooks are seen saying, "Okay, now I'm going to the sink to wash my hands before proceeding." Show after show after show drilling it in ad nauseam. And you're sitting there thinking, "You just now touched the water faucet. You pressed the pump on the liquid soap bottle. So be sure to clean those. Before that after touching the chicken you pinched salt from the little salt well. You touched the haft of the knife. And you touched to bowl and the dishtowel, and you opened the refrigerator and the oven all with your stinking sticky dangerous bacteria-laden chicken-y fingers all over the place. Bleach the whole set with a firehose!"
Merrill speaks lucidly under his breath, "Help me. Get me outta here." He's aware this isn't going as he thought that it would.
I bet that I could have shown Merrill how to make a salad dressing. And I think that because I had up to twenty people at one point over here assembled by Deena to help cater a party for local business owners. They were doing everything, eventually assembled around the extended dining room table making spring rolls. (One girl didn't like mushrooms so she wasn't putting any in hers. She had to be told her preferences are irrelevant. JUST DO IT! Another didn't know to spray oil on the tin foil before baking the little biscuits. Another woman had to be told when to stop stirring the egg yolks into the pâte à choux, yet another grown woman didn't understand "until the bacon is crispy but not burned" she had to be told how long in minutes and seconds) And although in their twenties they knew zero about cooking and had to be told everything. Every thing. Every little thing. Collectively they had zero intuition. And that's not being critical, that's simply stating a fact. It was actually fun once I realized they were all blank slates. We did very well together. And if I can do that with them, then I could show Merrill something so simple as mixing oil with vinegar.
Merrill is charming. If you allow it.
Through an organization the lad was given airtime for a cooking show. His brother was a teacher at the time and spoke to his students about how great it was that his brother was given a chance to be on t.v. It was a big thing for them. Since then Merrill has passed. All that I got from comments.
Comments to this video are all about cross contamination, the cutting board used to chop salad after chicken was placed on it, but honestly, I think general awareness of this type came after this show was produced. It's a rather old show. It's after this that cooks are seen saying, "Okay, now I'm going to the sink to wash my hands before proceeding." Show after show after show drilling it in ad nauseam. And you're sitting there thinking, "You just now touched the water faucet. You pressed the pump on the liquid soap bottle. So be sure to clean those. Before that after touching the chicken you pinched salt from the little salt well. You touched the haft of the knife. And you touched to bowl and the dishtowel, and you opened the refrigerator and the oven all with your stinking sticky dangerous bacteria-laden chicken-y fingers all over the place. Bleach the whole set with a firehose!"
Merrill speaks lucidly under his breath, "Help me. Get me outta here." He's aware this isn't going as he thought that it would.
I bet that I could have shown Merrill how to make a salad dressing. And I think that because I had up to twenty people at one point over here assembled by Deena to help cater a party for local business owners. They were doing everything, eventually assembled around the extended dining room table making spring rolls. (One girl didn't like mushrooms so she wasn't putting any in hers. She had to be told her preferences are irrelevant. JUST DO IT! Another didn't know to spray oil on the tin foil before baking the little biscuits. Another woman had to be told when to stop stirring the egg yolks into the pâte à choux, yet another grown woman didn't understand "until the bacon is crispy but not burned" she had to be told how long in minutes and seconds) And although in their twenties they knew zero about cooking and had to be told everything. Every thing. Every little thing. Collectively they had zero intuition. And that's not being critical, that's simply stating a fact. It was actually fun once I realized they were all blank slates. We did very well together. And if I can do that with them, then I could show Merrill something so simple as mixing oil with vinegar.
Merrill is charming. If you allow it.
Photograph prints
As you know, last year I didn't want to go to my niece's wedding in western Iowa near to Omaha. I made the excuse that it's dangerous for me to fly. Truth is flying just isn't any fun anymore. And planes and people are actually gross. But my family accepted my excuse without any argument. And for reasons of their own, reasons of completeness, I suppose, they really wanted me to be there so my younger brother in California changed his plans for his whole family to fly to Denver instead of flying to Omaha, rent a van in Denver, pick me up, and drive the rest of the way past Omaha to Iowa. And then back.
Damn.
Then I was forced to go. Emotional pressure, innit.
They could have these weddings without me. I wouldn't be missed.
I liked the drive. I liked getting to know my brother's family more intimately. I like my two new nephews. I liked staying at the hotel. And I liked attending the wedding and the reception. And I liked the drive back. I liked all the stops, all the restaurants. I liked the whole experience. And I thoroughly enjoyed all the associated side activities in Denver.
I took hundreds of photos with my Nikon and with my Galaxy phone.
They're very good pictures. If I may say so.
I showed some of them here.
Use that Blogger search box up there ↖︎ [Iowa] if you care to see them.
Now a year has gone by and I see these photo in Photobucket and in Flickr and I think such a shame for them to sit there seen only by me, and unseen by the people who might like them even more than I do.
We share these photos electronically then poof they're gone.
There really is something of value in holding physical copies. Those photo albums really do have their own value. The value of tangible photographs is very real.
That bit at the restaurant will never be re-lived. Truly, that's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. The boy wanted me to play tic-tac-toe, the stupidest game on earth with finite possibilities. I will win every time. I tell the boy he cannot beat me and I will have no mercy just because he's a boy. He will lose every single time. "Come on, Uncle Bo, play with me. Here." He's a persistent little bastard. He shoves the paper my direction and offers a crayon.
"Okay. But every time you lose you have to do ten jumping jacks and repeat, "I'm a little dummkopf, I lose again."
[I wish I had thought of something more positive, but that was spur of the moment.]
The boy lost then flew out of his chair and took position at the side of the table and looking directly at me and laughing, he joyfully performed ten jumping jacks and repeated the phrase with glowing pleasure.
We played again. He lost again. Flew out of the chair again, performed ten jumping jacks again and repeated the assigned phrase again with the precise same glee that he did the first.
We played again. He lost again. Flew out of the ....
We played again. He lost aga ....
We played ....
We ....
We ....
We ...
That kid had me cracking up so hard it was unbelievable. It was simply the most enjoyable thing ever. There was absolutely nothing negative about losing to tic-tac-toe. The game was just a vehicle for him to play with me and to expend energy.
"Hey! You have to do your jumping jacks properly. No sloppy jumping jacks allowed."
He cleaned up his jumping jacks form. He loved doing jumping jacks and repeating the "I'm a loser" phrase that I assigned him. It was all a great game. There was no losing to it. No losing in tic-tac-toe and no losing to jumping and repeating a "I'm a loser" phrase. There was simply no connection to losing.
You know how kids run around a restaurant expending their limitless energy. This boy's energy is expended right there at our table, right there for me. He didn't bother anyone, yet he fully expended his energy. He was entertaining me. And he was hilarious. I hadn't laughed that hard the whole trip. Pure joy.
Real joy.
And that will never happen again.
He'll never be that age again. He'll never be that non-caring about losing. He'll never be that young, that energetic, that eager, that free of the concept of losing, that free period. Truly, something to lock into memory.
And I have the photographs that bring all that back to mind.
They're blurred.
Oh man, I love these photographs blurred. That's perfect.
So I thought, you know what, I actually have two sets of photographs that two sets of people might really appreciate having.
I leaned how fast, how inexpensive, and how easy this is.
I went through the photographs and pulled out all the photos that would interest my brother and his wife and their two kids.
I ran them through Photoshop to correct their tones and saturation, highlights, shadows and the like. I examined them for cropping.
Uploaded to Walmart photo service.
They allow enlargements of two sizes.
The cost is ridiculously low.
Had them sent to my brother's wife.
(because I want her to feel special)
Chose an album from Amazon.
That was the most difficult part because there are a million different album types.
I imagined them owning the album, I visualized them putting it together. I tried to see them inviting their children to help assemble the book. That's how I chose the album book to send them.
I sent the album book to my brother.
See? They're husband and wife, they have to put the two things together.
They were thrilled with the photos and with the album. I made very good choices all around. I did very well with the enlargements. I had enlarged the very photos they would pick themselves to enlarge. They were very pleased to have the photos. And the photos caused them to recall specific incidents they had forgotten.
We did a lot of things together. Things we wouldn't want to forget. For example, I coaxed the boys to cross a road and climb up a tree at a rest stop to get the boys out of the shop and away from my brother so he could rest for an hour. The photos of the two boys in a tree are a treasure. His wife with me thinking that's a good idea is also a treasure.
They climbed at Red Rocks directly behind a sign that read "no climbing on the rocks"
Come on! That's an amazing photograph.
Dinosaur ridge.
The monkey bars at Washington Park.
The acorn war at Red Oak rest stop. These boys in motion are poetry. And I have the photographs that show it.
The whole family was on the phone telling me how excited they were to have these photographs.
Win.
That whole thing came out much better than I expected.
And I couldn't believe how cheap the whole thing was.
100 headshots in b/w when I was modeling thirty years ago were much more expensive than this. The cost of photographs has gone way down over the decades. Way way down. Now you can get them in all kinds of forms, as posters, on canvas in all sizes, on glass, as puzzles, shower curtains, pillows, t-shirts, on cups, you name it. It's ridiculously inexpensive.
So now a second set of photographs is being printed right now for the wedding itself for my niece. And the same kind of photo album. Different photographs from the same set but centering more on her family, her parents, (my sister), her brothers, their participation in her wedding, the church, the reception, all the people who I don't know that she invited. I don't expect the same reaction from her, but I'm certain she'll be happy to see them suddenly appear in her mailbox from out of the blue. Something to hold in her hands for the rest of her life, that means more to her than it does to me.
Damn.
Then I was forced to go. Emotional pressure, innit.
They could have these weddings without me. I wouldn't be missed.
I liked the drive. I liked getting to know my brother's family more intimately. I like my two new nephews. I liked staying at the hotel. And I liked attending the wedding and the reception. And I liked the drive back. I liked all the stops, all the restaurants. I liked the whole experience. And I thoroughly enjoyed all the associated side activities in Denver.
I took hundreds of photos with my Nikon and with my Galaxy phone.
They're very good pictures. If I may say so.
I showed some of them here.
Use that Blogger search box up there ↖︎ [Iowa] if you care to see them.
Now a year has gone by and I see these photo in Photobucket and in Flickr and I think such a shame for them to sit there seen only by me, and unseen by the people who might like them even more than I do.
We share these photos electronically then poof they're gone.
There really is something of value in holding physical copies. Those photo albums really do have their own value. The value of tangible photographs is very real.
That bit at the restaurant will never be re-lived. Truly, that's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. The boy wanted me to play tic-tac-toe, the stupidest game on earth with finite possibilities. I will win every time. I tell the boy he cannot beat me and I will have no mercy just because he's a boy. He will lose every single time. "Come on, Uncle Bo, play with me. Here." He's a persistent little bastard. He shoves the paper my direction and offers a crayon.
"Okay. But every time you lose you have to do ten jumping jacks and repeat, "I'm a little dummkopf, I lose again."
[I wish I had thought of something more positive, but that was spur of the moment.]
The boy lost then flew out of his chair and took position at the side of the table and looking directly at me and laughing, he joyfully performed ten jumping jacks and repeated the phrase with glowing pleasure.
We played again. He lost again. Flew out of the chair again, performed ten jumping jacks again and repeated the assigned phrase again with the precise same glee that he did the first.
We played again. He lost again. Flew out of the ....
We played again. He lost aga ....
We played ....
We ....
We ....
We ...
That kid had me cracking up so hard it was unbelievable. It was simply the most enjoyable thing ever. There was absolutely nothing negative about losing to tic-tac-toe. The game was just a vehicle for him to play with me and to expend energy.
"Hey! You have to do your jumping jacks properly. No sloppy jumping jacks allowed."
He cleaned up his jumping jacks form. He loved doing jumping jacks and repeating the "I'm a loser" phrase that I assigned him. It was all a great game. There was no losing to it. No losing in tic-tac-toe and no losing to jumping and repeating a "I'm a loser" phrase. There was simply no connection to losing.
You know how kids run around a restaurant expending their limitless energy. This boy's energy is expended right there at our table, right there for me. He didn't bother anyone, yet he fully expended his energy. He was entertaining me. And he was hilarious. I hadn't laughed that hard the whole trip. Pure joy.
Real joy.
And that will never happen again.
He'll never be that age again. He'll never be that non-caring about losing. He'll never be that young, that energetic, that eager, that free of the concept of losing, that free period. Truly, something to lock into memory.
And I have the photographs that bring all that back to mind.
They're blurred.
Oh man, I love these photographs blurred. That's perfect.
So I thought, you know what, I actually have two sets of photographs that two sets of people might really appreciate having.
I leaned how fast, how inexpensive, and how easy this is.
I went through the photographs and pulled out all the photos that would interest my brother and his wife and their two kids.
I ran them through Photoshop to correct their tones and saturation, highlights, shadows and the like. I examined them for cropping.
Uploaded to Walmart photo service.
They allow enlargements of two sizes.
The cost is ridiculously low.
Had them sent to my brother's wife.
(because I want her to feel special)
Chose an album from Amazon.
That was the most difficult part because there are a million different album types.
I imagined them owning the album, I visualized them putting it together. I tried to see them inviting their children to help assemble the book. That's how I chose the album book to send them.
I sent the album book to my brother.
See? They're husband and wife, they have to put the two things together.
They were thrilled with the photos and with the album. I made very good choices all around. I did very well with the enlargements. I had enlarged the very photos they would pick themselves to enlarge. They were very pleased to have the photos. And the photos caused them to recall specific incidents they had forgotten.
We did a lot of things together. Things we wouldn't want to forget. For example, I coaxed the boys to cross a road and climb up a tree at a rest stop to get the boys out of the shop and away from my brother so he could rest for an hour. The photos of the two boys in a tree are a treasure. His wife with me thinking that's a good idea is also a treasure.
They climbed at Red Rocks directly behind a sign that read "no climbing on the rocks"
Come on! That's an amazing photograph.
Dinosaur ridge.
The monkey bars at Washington Park.
The acorn war at Red Oak rest stop. These boys in motion are poetry. And I have the photographs that show it.
The whole family was on the phone telling me how excited they were to have these photographs.
Win.
That whole thing came out much better than I expected.
And I couldn't believe how cheap the whole thing was.
100 headshots in b/w when I was modeling thirty years ago were much more expensive than this. The cost of photographs has gone way down over the decades. Way way down. Now you can get them in all kinds of forms, as posters, on canvas in all sizes, on glass, as puzzles, shower curtains, pillows, t-shirts, on cups, you name it. It's ridiculously inexpensive.
So now a second set of photographs is being printed right now for the wedding itself for my niece. And the same kind of photo album. Different photographs from the same set but centering more on her family, her parents, (my sister), her brothers, their participation in her wedding, the church, the reception, all the people who I don't know that she invited. I don't expect the same reaction from her, but I'm certain she'll be happy to see them suddenly appear in her mailbox from out of the blue. Something to hold in her hands for the rest of her life, that means more to her than it does to me.
NYT announcing their collective antisemitism.
By way of cartoon.
When first shown this cartoon I gave this ten seconds of thought and dismissed it as too poor a cartoon to have any affect whatsoever. It's just stupid. Poorly conceived and poorly executed, as a child trying and failing at making some unworthy political statement. It wasn't worth examination.
But then I saw the cartoon on every site that I visit. And no-one bothers to analyze the cartoon because there is nothing to analyze besides naked vitriol. All the sites agree this is NYT making itself part of a wider liberal overt anti-semitism. That's the subject discussed. How it got published, and the lame response.
The cartoon puzzled me. Why a dachshund? There is nothing in the breed that I know about that links it to Jewish people or to Israel. Bred to flush out badgers. Is that a negative thing? The leash is loose, is the dog leading Trump or is Trump taking the dog for a walk? If the leash was tight then it could be seen the dog is pulling Trump.
But the real Trump that is obvious to all observers isn't pulled anywhere by anyone. To suggest that he's led by Netanyahu is ridiculous. In fact, by observable action, Trump has led the entire western world in its relation with Israel. Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem for example. Other nations followed Trump. Netanyahu did not lead Trump into that move.
If the sunglasses are meant to suggest Trump is blind, then a dog on a leash is not a guide dog. Those dogs uses braces not leashes. A leash would be ineffective. It's like the cartoonist doesn't even know how guide dogs work.
Netanyahu's eyebrows are a bit arched, but arched eyebrows hardly characterize Netanyahu. They're a very poor cartoon indicator. I honestly didn't now who the cartoonist meant to represent. The real clue being in the Magen David on the dog's collar.
Trump is actually quite tall, not so short-legged as a dachshund. To suggest Trump is short is insane.
It is an extremely poor political cartoon especially compared with the veritable mountain of anti-semitic cartoons of the last ninety years. It does not contribute to what we already have. Disgusting as the sentiment, it still generated quite a few serious minded cartoons. The globe wrapped up in an octopus' arms representing Jews for example. The repulsive representations of Jews with large hooked noses. And this theme of a Jewish leader leading a western leader around has already been done. So this cartoon is derived from previous cartoons, the motivating thought unoriginal. It is not an original idea or an original cartoon.
I just totally sucks as a cartoon. There is zero quality to it.
And there it is. All over the place, all at once. As if it has any importance.
When first shown this cartoon I gave this ten seconds of thought and dismissed it as too poor a cartoon to have any affect whatsoever. It's just stupid. Poorly conceived and poorly executed, as a child trying and failing at making some unworthy political statement. It wasn't worth examination.
But then I saw the cartoon on every site that I visit. And no-one bothers to analyze the cartoon because there is nothing to analyze besides naked vitriol. All the sites agree this is NYT making itself part of a wider liberal overt anti-semitism. That's the subject discussed. How it got published, and the lame response.
The cartoon puzzled me. Why a dachshund? There is nothing in the breed that I know about that links it to Jewish people or to Israel. Bred to flush out badgers. Is that a negative thing? The leash is loose, is the dog leading Trump or is Trump taking the dog for a walk? If the leash was tight then it could be seen the dog is pulling Trump.
But the real Trump that is obvious to all observers isn't pulled anywhere by anyone. To suggest that he's led by Netanyahu is ridiculous. In fact, by observable action, Trump has led the entire western world in its relation with Israel. Moving the US embassy to Jerusalem for example. Other nations followed Trump. Netanyahu did not lead Trump into that move.
If the sunglasses are meant to suggest Trump is blind, then a dog on a leash is not a guide dog. Those dogs uses braces not leashes. A leash would be ineffective. It's like the cartoonist doesn't even know how guide dogs work.
Netanyahu's eyebrows are a bit arched, but arched eyebrows hardly characterize Netanyahu. They're a very poor cartoon indicator. I honestly didn't now who the cartoonist meant to represent. The real clue being in the Magen David on the dog's collar.
Trump is actually quite tall, not so short-legged as a dachshund. To suggest Trump is short is insane.
It is an extremely poor political cartoon especially compared with the veritable mountain of anti-semitic cartoons of the last ninety years. It does not contribute to what we already have. Disgusting as the sentiment, it still generated quite a few serious minded cartoons. The globe wrapped up in an octopus' arms representing Jews for example. The repulsive representations of Jews with large hooked noses. And this theme of a Jewish leader leading a western leader around has already been done. So this cartoon is derived from previous cartoons, the motivating thought unoriginal. It is not an original idea or an original cartoon.
I just totally sucks as a cartoon. There is zero quality to it.
And there it is. All over the place, all at once. As if it has any importance.
GAWL!
How did that crap cartoon even get published?
Now NYT political cartoons have become as insipid as their crossword puzzles have become.
I wasn't going to bother mentioning any of this because the cartoon isn't worth mentioning. But then tonight something happened that was terribly similar and I was all, omg, this is one of those convergent bizarre coincidence things happening again, or something.
I was only outside for ten minutes or less. I had only walked down the street, crossed Broadway, then walked on the other side in the return direction half a block when I encountered a tall thin black man dressed in full black with a very long stick tapping his way with one shoulder leaning heavily away from the street coming my direction. He was having a difficult time walking.
I said, "Hi."
He was concentrating deeply. Negotiating a set of stone planters smack in his way. His stick was not red-tipped, rather, it was white with a tan band at the end. He was so blind that he didn't even know that his walking stick has the wrong color tip to designate him a blind person. In America.
Maybe he's a foreigner. Maybe foreigners have different color canes for blind people. This was right in front of the hostel.
No sunglasses. His eyes were really messed up. As if they were gouged, and set into spirals.
He did not respond to my greeting.
But the weirdest thing of all, I still can't get over this, he was walking his dog on a loose leash. The tiniest fuzziest little black poodle you ever saw in your life. The same as this stupid ass anti-semitic cartoon. The dog couldn't possibly be a seeing eye dog. Worst seeing eye dog ever!
He was simply walking his itty bitty dog, no larger than a rat, and using his tapping cane independently.
That's the thing with blind people, they don't all do the same thing. A blind woman I met at the Shetland Sheepdog obedience training class used a German shepherd guide dog but no tapping cane. She told me the cane slows her down.
And this tall man who uses his cane but not a seeing eye dog really was rather slow in tapping out those two planters.
Child's Power Wheels + Makita drill battery
We got a power wheels for $15 because it didn’t work so bryan took out the old battery and hooked up a much bigger battery and now that thing hauls ass.... Bryans not allowed to be left alone with power tools🤦🏼♀️ pic.twitter.com/FkkZZ7zEhq— Mama B🐝 (@Bayrieke) April 28, 2019
Later in the Twitter thread (click the blue bird to read it) Mama B. says her husband hooked up the Power Wheels to a Makita drill battery.
She also said within minutes her husband was tearing apart his drill. That doesn't make sense because the batteries are separate. No need to tear apart anything. Just use the battery. They clip into the handle. There are usually two batteries so when one needs recharging the second is used, and back and forth they go on the construction project, like these Power Wheels. The kid will wear down the battery in fairly short time boom the second battery is already charged.
What's impressive is how fast the toy car goes. Man, those drills are strong.
If you do click the blue bird and read the thread, then you'll notice ils ne comprennent pas much about batteries. One commenter said her husband used a car battery because they last a lot longer.
Another interjects, you do know that car batteries are recharged by the car's engine.
Yeah. I knew that.
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