Tell me something good!

I started to write and complain about the coming cold weather, but decided that I didn't want to be negative today. I want to be positive and add good energy to the world. I want to enjoy the sunny day and get a little work done outside. I need to charge my internal battery to full because I have to be out and with people tonight and I'm not really looking forward to it.

So...
Give me some non-political good stuff!
Send some good energy my way.
Has someone been kind to you?
Have you done something for someone else?
Read a good book?
Seen a good movie?
Help a guy out, would you?

John

Election Results: What Now?

Election results are still coming in and probably will be for a couple of days.
The Georgia Senate race may go to a run-off election (early December) and is at least headed toward a recount to determine if the candidate with the most votes was able to top the 50% mark.
Around the country there was no red wave, although it is likely that House control shifts from Democrat (blue) to Republican (red). It looks like the Democrats will maintain their minimal margin of control in the Senate.
It will probably be a matter of weeks before we are into exploratory committees and declarations of candidacy for the 2024 election cycle. Ugh!

What I'm doing today is:
*  Waiting for an internet service installation (sometime between 8am and noon)
*  Checking the weather forecast and volunteer list for the shelter for the coming week
*  Smoking a cigar and reading a book on the deck this afternoon
*  Practicing a little magic (probably very little)
*  Going to a church council meeting this evening

Pretty much what I do every day.

What is your post election day like?

John

Election Day Privilege

I'll be voting today.
I don't expect any long lines in my small rural community.
And, in spite of being a half Asian Democrat in a nearly all white and deeply red community, I expect no trouble nor obstruction when casting my ballot. To most people, I'm just another old, white guy.

In a recent conversation with someone that is very concerned about the outcome of today's election, I made the comment that regardless of the outcome, tomorrow will find me sitting on my deck, smoking a cigar, sipping some bourbon and listening to music.
This morning of election day I am realizing just how privileged I am to be able to be so unconcerned about the elestion results.

Vote.

John

November's Full Moon

The first full moon of November (for years when there are two) is known as the Beaver Moon. 
It is time to set your winter traps before the small waterways freeze, so that you can have a good harvest of furs throughout the winter. 

This year's Beaver Moon will occur in tomorrow's early morning hours for the Central US and will be the last total lunar eclipse for a few years. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon takes on a deep reddish color and is often called a blood moon, Tomorrow morning's Beaver Blood Moon has generated quite a few comments on various sites. For my less depraved friends, I'll spare you the examples. I'm sure that most of you can imagine what they might be.

Every night, as the moon (in any phase) passes through the sky, it blocks out, or occults, hundreds of other stars and occasionally planets from view. This year's Beaver Blood Moon will block the view of -- yep, you guessed it -- Uranus!

smh

Yeah, this retired guy will be up in the early morning hours to check out the Beaver Blood Moon. To be fair, I'd be up to see it even if I had to get up for work on Tuesday morning. The science of astronomy and our solar system fascinates me. 

John

Oh! The Dreaded Time Change

It means that we'll be hearing the complaints of how early it gets dark (here in the Northern hemisphere) for the next few months. It should be noted that the actual daylight hours don't change from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. Moving the clocks back and forth doesn't change anything when it comes to the earth's rotation on its axis or its orbit around the sun. Days will get shorter for another six weeks or so and then - without doing anything to the clocks - they'll start to get longer. 
Weird how it happens every year like that.

For those that are thinking that the spring will bring permanent DST to the US - that bill was only passed in the Senate. It hasn't even been heard in the House, and so hasn't been signed by the President. No permanent DST is currently on the horizon.

It is a strange thing that we enjoy complaining about things that we cannot change or worrying about things that will happen or not without regard to our concern.
I like my coffee mug saying - God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know when to just go riding!
Sure, there will be days when it's a little cool for a motorcycle ride, but I've got gear for those days if I still want to ride...and I just might.

What are your go-to complaints of things that are beyond your control?
Does sharing them with others make you feel better?
Or do you have another method for dealing with them (like going riding, listening to music, or something more detrimental like excessive drinking or fits of anger)?

Let's hear it.
This is your venting opportunity for the day.

John

What do you watch?

I'm not a big TV watcher. I watch UFC fights about every Saturday evening. Occasionally I watch a hockey game. I watch a few series on my phone while I'm chillin' on the deck, but I don't typically spend a lot of time watching shows.

Recently, Chris and I watched the 7 show series on Netflix called The Watcher. It was pretty creepy when you consider that it is based on a real life story.
I am working my way through the Amazon Prime series The Musketeers, and recently finished the two seasons of El Cid on Prime. I rarely watch more than one show at a time and often don't even finish a whole episode before I decide that I'm going to read or do something else for the time being and watch the rest of it later.

While I do like watching the occasional series, I mostly prefer to read, listen to music, read while listening to music, or sit quietly and contemplate life while savoring a good Nicaraguan cigar and sipping some bourbon or tequila.

What do you watch?
Or do you prefer something else?

John

Tech Challenged

It is a good thing that I can live well without all of today's technology because I really suck at it.
Admittedly, part of sucking at it is being too cheap to invest a lot of money into newer stuff.

Here's where I am:
I've been going through some of my old magic stuff. I've got hundreds (more like a couple thousand) of dollars tied up in books, VHS tapes (yes, they are that old), and DVDs. I do have an old player that I can connect to a TV to watch the DVDs, but would rather have something more portable. I was going to look for a portable DVD player (they still make those, right?) but thought that I have a couple of old laptops with DVD players (remember those) and I could probably use one of those.

Holy crap! Those old machines are heavy enough to anchor a barge!
Anyway, the ten year old technology is as slow as a slug, takes forever to boot up, and is more than a little frustrating to work with. I eventually did get the DVD player to work, but will probably end up just buying a portable player. 
However, there were a number of old video files stored on the hard drive that I want to retrieve and save. I found a thumb drive, eventually got the old computer to recognize it and was able to transfer the files to the external drive.
BUT...those old files are in a format not recognized by the technology of my current Chromebook! Ugh!
I don't know if the files would be recognized by any other current technology or a contempory laptop, but I guess I'll do a little research (with my limited knowledge and skills) and see what I can come up with.

If it turns out that I can't figure it out - maybe I'll just fire up another cigar, pour another drink, read a real paper and ink book, and learn magic the old fashioned, tech-free way.

heavy sigh

John

New Twitter

I'm thinking about Twitter and the hub-bub around its purchase by Elon Musk.
I've kept my account and haven't noticed a great deal of difference other than I am seeing fewer tweets from the less conservative news feeds and posters that I follow.

I don't know if it is because they have decided not to use this media or because of a design to limit what I see in the way of more liberal posts. Or maybe it is just an untimely coincidence.
Just an observation.

When I feel like taking the time, I may go to certain sites directly to see if they are posting stuff that just isn't making it to my feed. That would be interesting - free speech says they can post what they want vs ownership saying they'll share certain things less than others.
Hmmm...?

For now I'm not concerned enough to take the time to examine it. Maybe some news feed is already on it.
Admittedly, I am subjected to confirmation bias - leaning into posts that agree with my positions more than those that don't. I do try to be educated about my positions and try not to rely on only a few select sources for information to come to my conclusions, but I imagine most people feel they do the same.

I'll keep my Twitter account for the time being. I'm not going to pay to keep it. I expect there will be more advertising, but that is the cost we all pay for free social media. As with other social media platforms, I have relatively few followers and try to be selective about the accounts I follow. The Musk model of say what ever you want and let the public sort out the truth is too tiresome for me so I fear I may have to abandon Twitter at some point. Differing opinions are one thing; outright lies and purposeful misinformation is another.

Have you noticed any changes in your Twitter feed?
Just wondering.

John

A Love/Hate Relationship

I'm wondering about Love vs. Hate.
Yeah, I'm wondering about the relationship between love and hate -- not the love/hate kind of thing where you both love and hate the same thing or person, but I'm wondering why it is so much easier to spread hate than it is to spread love.

Obviously it is way easier to ignore someone or someone's need than it is to do something.
Is indifference the same thing as hate? Is not helping someone the same as hurting them?
Maybe indifference isn't the same as hating, but it certainly seems to create a breeding ground for hate to fester and grow. Maybe indifference is a kind of passive hate rather than the active hate of actually doing harm to someone. 
It seems that there is way too much of both today.

It doesn't seem like kind, loving words would be more difficult to share than harsh, hateful ones, but we see and hear far too few kind words while being bombarded with hateful and demeaning words.
What would happen if we were all more purposeful about sharing loving words and kind actions?
What would happen if we were less indifferent and more involved in issues of social justice?
What would happen if we all pointed out indifferent and hateful words and actions when we see them?
What would happen if we stopped sharing hateful tweets/posts/memes/etc.?
What would happen if we made spreading love as natural as being indifferent or spreading hate?

Just wondering...

John

Good Vibrations

As I've gotten older I've become more sensitive to the energies that people put out. There are some people that I just like being around. They have a good, attractive energy. 
There are others that are more like magnets that repel one another. I won't say that it is bad energy, more like incompatible energy.
And I think there are even energy suckers - those people that drain the energy and life from those around them.
And then there is everything in between.

I think if we could see the vibrations that people put out, we would find that we either like or don't like each other based on the compatibility of our frequencies - kind of like musical notes that either blend into harmony or make a discordant noise.
And maybe I shouldn't say that we dislike people with incompatible frequencies. We just aren't as attracted to them in ways that make us want to be around them as much as others.

I think that more sensitive people can see or sense the harmony between friends or couples. I think family units can make great harmony and be very close or be dispersed because of the disharmony of their energies. Could understanding frequency differences and bringing in a third person or energy help to bring harmony in our relationships with others?

I don't know.
These are just thoughts I've had for a while.

I'm thinking about them this morning because I was reflecting on the time I spent with friends over the weekend. These were a couple of my childhood buddies that I grew up with but lost connection to as time, distance, and life paths separated us. I have really enjoyed getting together with these old friends over the past couple of years.
It was fun. There was a great energy from everyone. I came away from the night feeling enegized and good. I can still sense the good energy from our get-together even though it has been a few days.

I'm no expert on auras or energies of people. I cannot see the auras that surround us, but I can usually sense when people are closed off or more open. I think there are lots of people that try to disguise themselves (at least their true selves) - some from shame, some out of deceit and bad motivations. Over the years I think I've found the most fake people in churches that I've gone to. I'm not saying that they are bad people. I just feel like they are uncomfortable being themselves in those environments.
Who can blame them?

Just some weird stuff that floats around in my head.

It's November 1st and the first day of what has traditionally been National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). I don't know if it still is or not. Nor do I know if I'll be posting every day of the month or not. 
I'll try posting more often - just because I enjoy it most of the time, but I'm not going to pressure myself into posting every day and I'm not going to freak out over missing a day or two.

Happy November!

John