out my front door

This borders the left side of the 60 foot wide or so driveway out my front door.  Spring has sprung.

In real life the sea of color is so intense that it tickles the soul.   Thanks, landlady,  for planting and tending these things.  You have enhanced the beauty of the world.

Oh Thank You, Mrs. President

Never would I have drawn the connection between diet, activity and body fat had not our defacto Queen been so diligent in helping to direct tax money toward efforts to educate us on these highly complicated facts.   Thanks to the M-bomb, I realized that if I ate less, moved around more, and avoided fatso food, I stood a chance of tightening the belly enough to fit into the only pair of dress slacks I own.

That is important because I didn't want to go shopping.  The good news is, it worked.  I am no longer too rotund to fit into the ancient pair of trousers.  So, I can be half way presentable at my friends' wedding.

I should stress, however, that I was never as fat as I appeared in various videos.  Those who were there will attest to that fact, and I have their sworn depositions to back me up.

It is a bit telling, or maybe the opposite of telling, that some news sites have as their #1 headline reference to gay hockey whatever at a time when N.Korea is allegedly promising war, and mischief.  Add up all the war theaters, or police actions, in which the US is engaged worldwide and it looks like a messy recipe for disaster.

How many different theories are out there which explain why we are where we are, doing what we are doing?  That was rhetorical.  I know there are many views on the topic; most of which seem lacking in that they ignore inconvenient facts that cast the theory in doubt.

The scary part is that I rarely get what the official line is on these efforts.  Often it seems the story varies from one agency or official to another.  To me that screams, CON.  YOU ARE BEING PLAYED, YOU PEON.  Maybe it is a thing of, well we'll have to just go there so we can find out why.  Like, we have to pass the bill so you can see what's in it.

OK.  I can't change that.  I can fit into my pants, though, which may be a blessing to society as the option of a shirt and tie with no pants might create issues.

The internet sprint cellular connection is suddenly good.  Out of nowhere.  The antenna is on the way, and may still be good to have.  Besides, the problem could return.  Who knows.

I'm so out of touch with whatever it is that causes people to jump on ridiculous bandwagons that I feel at a loss to even discuss the march toward a collective sort of state run by those who think they know best for all.  We are obviously there.  People do not realize how they seem to invite elite rule and a feudal sort of structure.  Or maybe they do.

And I thought I had self esteem issues.  Maybe I don't when it comes to some things.

People who travel in a pack of armed body guards lecture the rest of us on the importance of not wanting personal firearms.  Their main poster boys consist of a British subject and a billionaire mayor.  And they use the horrific killing of several children as the rallying cry.  Even though the proposed law would not prevent such things.  That is what we call demagoguery.  It is low and a really sleazy way to grab power while people are in shock.  All under pretense that it is for those who will actually not benefit in any way.

And the band plays on, while those who want to appear pious and compassionate march with the parade off the nearest cliff.  Useful idiots is the term for that.  Who coined that phrase?  Lenin?  Not sure.  I believe Karl Marx actually used the phrase, so maybe he gets credit.  Maybe not.  Apparently it is hard to pin down.  Also there have been references in the first half of the twentieth century, from various sources, to useful innocents--meaning the same thing--people who do not realize what they are really promoting, but whose zeal is high.  Tools of an agenda, and suckers for propaganda.

So much pretense.  Oh my gosh, the treasury is too broke to pay the bills without borrowing.  How in the world did that happen?  Must be global warming.

OK.  So I won't be banding together to worry about seals in LaJolla, or occupying Wall Street, or demanding gun laws, or any of that any time soon.  Have at it.

I will be trudging along to deal with my world without the help or advice of my friendly government agencies, which number in the thousands, I suppose.

Since I have played a little bit lately after taking a break, I think I've had enough ego boosts that I could lose sight of reality.  I know pretty much where I stand, so hearing what I wish to be true is a thing to take as kindness, and maybe well meaning ignorance, of others.  But something a bit shy of the real truth.   Either way, I am so spoiled that I wonder what is wrong in any setting in which I am not complimented conspicuously.

I shouldn't admit that, but it is true.  I was at a thing at some guy's house where singer songwriters gather in a big circle, taking turns playing a tune.  Others play along if they choose.  Many of these people have written tunes which were recorded by someone more famous.  Long ago.

They seemed to be locked in the past, like life ended when the folk/hippie era gave way to whatever.  The VietNam war ended and it took away their best source of material.  No more draft.  Of course many of them were more concerned with VietNamese this and that, and we are meanies, etc.  I despised the draft.  Period

I do not find the past to be that wonderful.  Besides, I am here now, and I hope the future is even rosier.  I was a fish out of water in that clique.  It was like people who had died and managed to gather in the afterlife to boast of, and relive, their glory days; which were not that damned glorious, but did contain some noteworthy moments.

They seemed a bit cold toward me and a few others, and I wasn't overly enamored with them.  OK.  I'll call that a draw.   Maybe it didn't help that the lady next to me kept saying  things best left unsaid.   No filter.   I could only hope others did not hear.  I hate the seed of competition being introduced in that setting.  It is like declaring war.

My tactic is to lay back, let the ego-prone do the peacock feather spread, then when it is appropriate I play assertively.  They either decide I'm a threat, if they are that idiotically ego-bound, or they want to know me, or I suck and they know it.  Either way, don't declare war by saying who is best and all that. Not in such settings.

I'm pretty sure most of the nearby folks were too wrapped up in themselves to be paying attention to anything else.  I noticed that many did not really listen and pay attention even when they played along.  It is shocking how many good players do not know how to pay attention when playing with others, and how to just supply a little back up.

Listening to five or six acoustic guitar players trying to play lead at the same time, while three or four others play rhythm or godonlyknows what, is an interesting experience.  Especially since they are all old and supposedly professional or semi-professional level.  And, oh were they such hotshots back in the day.  Barf

I came out realizing that my musical skill and knowledge may be lacking, but I have far better sense than most when it comes to sitting in and knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em in a jam or music setting.  So, I'm glad I went.  I won't be back.