Turnover

June, goodbye. 

Hello, July. 

Bigfoot

There's a new book out. I saw it today at the library: Monster Trek: The Obsessive Search for Bigfoot. It's from the U of Nebraska press, and I suspect it's gently skeptical.

The books's blurb begins: "Bigfoot sightings have been reported in every state except Hawaii."

He's visited all the other states in the nation!
Doesn't Bigfoot deserve a Hawaiian vacation?

Alliterative

Old English verse - an assault on the ear. 

Consonants clanging like rocks in a can. 

Rhythm so rough that you're ready to retch. 

Stop it, you yell, but it's just getting started. 

No Substitute

There's nothing like data in hand

To disprove claims that are canned. 

50th Reunion

I attended a 50th reunion for my elementary school class yesterday evening. Had a lot of fun. Someone had preserved a mimeographed "prophecy book" in which it turned out that my occupation was Parakeet Psychiatrist.

In that alternate life
When a pretty bird goes insane
I am the man brought in
To diagnose its brain.

Brentry

Is it too late, to let England in as the 51st state?

Suicidal

Sinéad O'Connor, a singer with a big hit and a stretch of fame, is now living somewhere in the Chicago area, and she is making news in a scary way:

"Chicago police received a call from police in Dublin, Ireland, stating that the singer had apparently threatened to jump off a bridge in Chicago."

Don't take the dive.
Stop, please, and think.
It's a cold dirty drink.
Step back from the brink.
Stay alive.

Cognitive Dissonance

An oddly disguised purported gay lover has come forward in the Orlando murderer case, claiming the act of terrorism was really revenge against Puerto Rican gays.

So from listening to this alleged buddy with benefits, I'm supposed to infer that all those pledges of allegiance to the Islamic State were just... a way to disguise his true motives?

Well, I'm willing to believe that the killer was full of hate,

But that's just one more reason to support the Islamic State. 

Misdirected

My daughter, who no longer lives with us, got a letter at our house, which had, printed on the outside, this message: Important Medicare Decision Coming Up For You!

It's not Official Correspondence from the Feds. It's somebody with a product to sell, I can tell. 

It's rather early in my daughter's life. 

Somehow they've got her mixed up with my wife!

Motivation

The Orlando terrorist, in his 3 calls to 911, in which he was so insistent about declaring his allegiance to the Islamic State, somehow didn't say anything about wanting to kill gays or Latinos in particular.

Beware of thunderous lectures

Based on early conjectures. 

HFD

As a father you get all the fun of bringing new life to the earth, 

without the extra exercise of personally giving birth.

Life

My wife is now a grandma, which makes me... 

Almost the same word but with a P.

Trouble Ink

A local Will County employee has been charged with pilfering and reselling thousands of dollars of printer ink cartridges. 

I'm not sure how many cartridges that is. They always seem expensive. 

Liquid gold,

Lifted, resold. 

Cold Front

I felt the cold roll in
Upon a sudden breeze.

A drop of ten degrees
Raised goosebumps on my skin.

Unreal

When you see pigs fly

Across the blue sky

You've gotten too high. 

Putting the Pain in Campaign

Let us unleash memes upon each other,
as long as none of them insult my mother.

Could This Be The Year?

It's June and the Cubbies are leading their league. 

I hope that July does not bring great fatigue. 

I hope that in August they haven't gone bust. 

An autumnal pennant - I'd say that's a must!

Sunset 50k

You do 5k and then, 

You do it again and again,

Till your total of loops is ten.

Here's me completing a charming 50k in Valparaiso, Indiana. I came in second to last, but won my age group, since I was the only finisher in that group. 

Copleston's History of Philosophy

There's a massive history of philosophy, running to probably 4500 pages, by Frederick Copleston, S.J., a Thomist Jesuit. I've had it on my shelf staring at me for the longest time. And for some reason I picked it up the other day and now I'm 110 pages in. I'm through the pre-Socratics. I'm into Socrates!

The first history of philosophy I ever read was the one by Bertrand Russell. It was kind of an eye-opener for me. I was in high school, so I didn't know anything. Russell was a very chatty guide, very opinionated. Copleston is a more sober guide, careful about giving his opinions, although he definitely gives them.

Copleston seems to be the most encyclopedic of the popular histories of philosophy. I have the sense that he is sometimes approached more as an encyclopedia than as a book to read through. Well, we will see if I can keep it up to the end.

Why am I reading this book? Why now?

I don't know.
But here I go.

Humor Not Fully Globalized

I was reading a bit about a contemporary French playwright. There was a story about her being worried whether she had been translated quite correctly into English, since English audiences were laughing at different points in the play than French audiences.

I figure it wasn't really about the translation,
just different senses of humor in each nation.

The Not So Good Shepherd

Lambs on the lam:

"A flock of over 1,000 sheep was spotted roaming through the city centre of Huesca, northeastern Spain on Tuesday after escaping from their shepherd when he fell asleep."

Yes, cute video at the link.

You snooze,
you sleep,
you lose
your sheep.

Running to Gain Weight

After a long hard run, a day or two after, I find my weight goes up, by a few pounds. This is not what I expect, except that I have come to expect it. I think it has to do with my leg muscles being sore - inflammation or something, extra water retained in my quads and hams.

I don't know why, but without fail
my weight goes high on the scale.

Ok, I googled it, and my hypotheses are proposed by others as well. I didn't see a scientific study on the topic, but it's widely reported as an effect.

It isn't just me.
I have company.

Link Seen

"Celebs react"... to something Trump said.

Of course, he's a celeb too.

I resisted the urge to click on the bait.
I think it's wiser to sit and wait.
In about a week we'll no longer care
What they felt was so important to share.

The Eviller Twin

I went to see The Eviller Twin today, a play, by Sue Cargill, about identical twins, one of whom was indeed, it turned out, rather evil. It was a comedy, of the dark variety. I found it quite enjoyable.

The identical twins were played by two women of only passing resemblance, and matching wigs, but that worked out fine. In effect, you were just asked to imagine that they were identical. I think as a writer I would have hesitated to do something like that, but as an audience member I accepted it right away.

The other question in my mind was whether the word was "eviler" or "eviller". It turns out they're both acceptable, somewhere or other, though I would always be inclined toward saying "more evil" for the comparative.

I think it's better with the double L,
since that gives eviller something in common with Hell.

The Producers

We saw a very funny production of The Producers this afternoon. I meant to buy tickets for the evening show, but somehow bought tickets for the matinee. Good thing I doublechecked the time this morning! 

Anyway, we had great seats, which maybe we wouldn't have had for the evening show. The show says it has something to offend everybody and I think that's right. 

Being offended is not the end of living.

And laughter is a gift that keeps on giving.

Backlash

I think this is true:

"Americans admire protest movements and civil disobedience, but they draw the line at violence, so harassing and beating up Trump supporters could do him a lot of good."

Somehow, while it's right wing violence that the pundits mostly fear,
it's left wing violence that more often decides to appear.

Fake But Effective

"Medical mystery: Why are placebos becoming more effective?"

Improvement is most pronounced in the USA.
Placebos are getting better - hip, hip, hooray!
Or are we getting more trusting? No one can say.

Rat Fink Kid

Son drops a dime on dear old dad:

Massachusetts boy, 5, calls 911 to report 'Daddy went through a red light'

Putting him up for adoption
may be the best option.