Play News

1) My Puppies In Space is cancelled for now. It was supposed to be in a festival next weekend, but something went wrong in terms of organizing a cast.

2) My Space Cat Graduation, Chicago Edition, is still on. That's Saturday at 12:25 in the afternoon, in a block of short plays presented as part of the Paragon Science Fiction play festival.

3) I saw a preview performance of The Belle Of Amherst at Court Theatre. It's a classic one-woman play about Emily Dickinson, based on her letters, and including a lot of her poems. It's considered wrong to write a critical review of a preview performance, but I don't have anything critical to say. The actress, Kate Fry, who played Emily, was marvelous. I thought the whole thing was very effective. My wife liked it too, and she's not quite the Dickinson fan that I am.

Her life was like a cryptic note,
That hints but does not say.
Confused by all that stuff she wrote?
Just come and see this play.

That Was Close

I may have mentioned that in last Saturday's 50k run, I was pretty sure I had finished just under 7 hours. Well, "just under" turned out to be right. My time was 6:59:50. That made me the last person to have an official finishing time. People who finished after me just get listed as having finished:



It was very close, but...
I made the cut.

The El Train

The el train and the traffic lights transport me
To when I was in high school. I flash back.
Vague memories of yesteryear escort me
As I walk briskly underneath the track,
And contemplate the metalwork that seems
So antiquated, yet still bears the weight
Of bright young riders full of rising dreams.
I do not know, I cannot simply state
The reason why some quality of light
At dusk, downtown, with people all about,
Reminds me so how everything that’s right
Requires stepping forward into doubt.
The world is full of promise. See it glisten.
A song is in the air if you will listen.

Space Cat Appearances on Veterans Day Weekend

I have a ten-minute play being performed soon, about a couple of sentient but catnip-addicted felines. Here are the details.

SPACE CAT GRADUATION. Saturday, November 11, at 12:25 in the afternoon.
The Public House Theatre 3914 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60613
This is a single performance of a play that ran for 4 weeks in Normal, IL in June 2017. Audiences laughed a lot. I was interviewed about the play here.

The ticket to my show includes a viewing of 3 other short shows, running in their entirety from 12:25 to 1:45 pm.

This show is part of the Otherworld Paragon Festival, which runs 40 science fiction plays in 2 days.
Ticket info is here.

So if you happen to live nearby
Please feel free to just say hi.

UPDATE: Sad to say, another 10-minute show I had scheduled, Puppies In Space, has been cancelled for now. It was in another festival. I'm told the director they chose was unable to get a cast together in time.

Sometimes Silence Is Golden

You can fib a fair amount of the time
Without it being considered a crime
But do not lie
To the FBI.
You tell them a story that sounds sort of hokey
And next thing you know, you’re locked in the pokey.

What You Will

I had a million monkeys hitting keys.
One of them typed “Two bees or not two bees.”
I fired him for being such a tease.

50k Report

I ran the Chicago Lakefront 50k yesterday. I've run it before, several times, but never on its Northside route.

It's a no-frills, low-budget, low-cost race. 50k is 31 miles, and here's how they layout the course: They mark a 5 1/6 mile stretch along the lakefront. You run out-and-back once, you've run 10 1/3 miles. You run out-and-back two more times, you've run 31 miles. Simplicity itself, right? You get a 31 mile course from a 5 mile stretch of path. And you only need 3 aid stations - 1 at each end, and 1 in the middle.

It was a chilly day, and I was running in the wrong shoes. I had accidentally left my Hokas at home on the dining room floor, so I ran in my Altras, which I used to run in back in 2016. So I have various excuses for running the course slowly. But I think I came in just under 7 hours, and that was my goal.

At one point, I looked over to the lake and there was a retriever dog swimming in the water, an orange toy in its mouth. It was playing fetch with its owner.

I thought I had a cold hard slog,
But I was glad I wasn't that dog.

Maybe Marlowe?

Who, if anyone, wrote Shakespeare’s plays?
I may just ponder this question for days!

Reflections

"Residents of a Georgia neighborhood said their car mirrors are being targeted by a relentless vandal -- a woodpecker."

Attacking a mirror
May indicate
That your appearance
Isn’t great

Cosmic

From The Independent:

"Our universe shouldn't exist, scientists say. The most elite scientists in the world are still struggling to find why exactly our universe didn't destroy itself as soon as it came into existence. That's what science says should have happened – but it clearly hasn't, since you're here reading this, as far as we know."

Despite annoying scientists,
The Universe itself insists:
It’s simply true that it exists.

Marathon Mistakes

From Wisconsin:

For the second year in a row, the distance for the PNC Milwaukee Marathon has been wrong. Last year, the marathon course was measured too long... This year, the marathon course fell short.

Best of all, both years they used the same guys to measure the course. Third time's the charm!

The measurement mistake is a small thing, but it can mess up the life of those who are trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Now for a bigger thing, from Italy:

"Italian Runner Wins Venice Marathon After All The Favorites Take A Wrong Turn"

The favorites - a bunch of Kenyans who were leading the race - took a wrong turn because they were following a guide motorcycle - who took a wrong turn. So this Eritrean-born Italian stays on course and wins.

If I had a suspicious mind, having watched too many Godfather movies, I might begin to wonder how that motorbike went astray.

Why did the Italian win?
Could it be the fix was in?

Ugh

There's a piece in today's WSJ (behind-a-paywall) puzzling over how to solve the problem of violent protesters showing up when someone like Richard Spencer (a quasi-Nazi) comes to talk at a public university.

The problem, from the author's point of view, is the expense.

But... what if we just started expelling violent protesters? Or, better yet, arresting them and trying them? I bet it would cut down on the expense.

Quasi-Nazis are a despicable crew,
But communist mobs are detestable too.

Universal Sole Trail Race

Ran a trail 5k in the woods west of my house today. Gorgeous weather. We've had a lot of Indigenous Summer this Autumn, and today was more of the same. It was a dog-welcoming race:



Doberman believes
She’d’ve won the 5K,
If not for the leash
That hindered her way.

Autumn Sunset

It’s earlier than I prefer it to sink,
But such a lovely swirl of pink!

Cult Alert

The NY Times has a story about a twisted version of a self-help cult:

'To gain admission, they were required to give their recruiter — or “master,” as she was called — naked photographs or other compromising material and were warned that such “collateral” might be publicly released if the group’s existence were disclosed.'

That's bad enough, but the headline is the part where women voluntarily submitted to being branded with some symbol based on the founder's initials.

There can be strength in the psychological maneuver known as "surrendering to a higher power" - if that higher power is worthy. As in, for example, exiting Denial and surrendering to the Truth.

But if the higher power is more demonic than divine, then what comes next will be a disaster.

Look your ideal in the eye
And decide
Does it truly deserve
To be held up high?

Low Overhead

Poetry’s the cheapest art.
A pen, a paper, and a heart
Are common things, it’s true.
And if your memory.’s good enough,
You don’t need any writing stuff;
The heart alone will do.

Induction

So now I know why in Hollywood movies it's so frequently the corporate executive who is the hypocritical villain.

Because, in the world that the writers know
It seems to be frequently so.

Don’t Take a Spill

I was reading about an annual race, in Buenos Aires, for people who wait tables. You race-walk holding a tray with a couple of bottles, trying to get to the finish first - without dropping anything.

Waiters who cannot wait
To deliver their trays with bottles,
Walk at a blistering rate,
Sliding open their throttles.

Numbers

I read today there were 1,500 portapotties at the Chicago Marathon. Lots of those were at the start/finish.

And there were about 40,000 runners.

Somehow, it seemed like there was always a line, particularly during the race. So my strategy from the beginning was not to over-hydrate.

Because I had a goal time and I had no certainty of making it!

When your goal is four fifty-nine
And all the minutes count,
Three people ahead in a line
Seems like a big amount.

Organized

So, where was the Screen Actors Guild
During all this stink?
I take it they're not as strong a union
As you might think.

Exposure

Complicit hypocrites preaching
The higher moral sense
Is a form of overreaching
As old as recorded events.

Proof of LIfe

Bureaucracy has trouble admitting to mistakes:

"Spanish woman wants to open up grave to prove she's alive"

Why open a grave? I really would hope,
No matter what the computer said,
You could prove she's alive with a good stethoscope.
"Yep, your heart's beating. I guess you're not dead."

It Happened Just Now

When an ambulance goes by, wailing,
It's mostly never-failing:
My lab lifts up her jowls
And lets out ghostly howls.

Dog Home Again

So that big dog I corralled on Saturday, turns out to be a Canary Mastiff, also known as a Perro de Presa Canario. He lives about 3 blocks away from me. He is back with his family.

A number of people thought he was a mixed breed, but he turns out to be a rare breed.

I liked that massive dog, so I am delighted,
That mastiff and master now are reunited.

Running Chicago

I ran the Chicago Marathon yesterday and I made my time goal of breaking the five hour barrier. I finished in 4:56.

My watch, a GPS device made by Garmin, seemed confused. It thinks I ran 27 miles yesterday and I heard the same from other GPS watch users. It kept adding distance throughout the race.

It's a good device, within its limitations, but I wished I had my regular running watch on my other wrist. As it was, I had to do math in my head to make sure I was running at the right pace. Unfortunately it gets harder and harder to do math as a marathon wears on.

Anyway, it all worked out. And now I'm headed to work.

I'm feeling great, even if
My gait is admittedly stiff.

Today's Dog Adventure

This dog, a big brindle bullmastiff mix sort of dog, weighing at least 100 pounds, resided at my house for a few hours today. He had a collar, but no tags, and was wandering loose outside my house.

He seemed friendly to all the people he met. And my lab liked him. They ran around our yard together.

But I decided I couldn't keep him overnight. There were logistical challenges, and unknowns. Eventually I took him to the Animal Welfare League shelter in the nearby suburb of Chicago Ridge.

If you want something big to scare burglars away,
This guy can do it all day.

Who Am I Now?

If only I could hack
I'd get my identity back.
Right now it's lonely and sad
On a laptop in Volgograd.

Herbal

My wife had noticed lately... strange cats in our yard. Not strange peculiar, just strange "I don't know whose cat that is".

She was trying to figure that out, when she remembered, "Oh, yeah, I've got catnip growing in the yard."

Other people's kitties slip
Into our yard to have a nip.

Almost the Same Weather?

I ran a marathon 2 and a half weeks go, and I'm scheduled to run another in a few days, and I really hoped that this Sunday would be notably cooler than that Sunday 2 and a half weeks ago, but it's shaping up to be just a teeny bit cooler. Well, every little bit helps

The course will also be a slightly flatter.
But what if I've gotten slightly fatter?

A Name That Stuck

'The Velcro company has some news for us: they don't want us to call velcro, well, velcro anymore... What do they want you to call velcro now? "Hook and loop."'

Velcro
Says hell no,
Please don't use their name.

Too bad
So sad
I'll use it just the same.

Funny Page Coincidence

Today it was babysitting.

Everyday I read the Chicago Tribune funny pages - that is, 2 full pages of cartoon strips. And I am amazed by how often there is a strange coincidence of cartoon topics. Today the word "babysit" came up in 2 different cartoons.

Having noted that, I looked for other odd similarities, and I noticed that "dog" came up in a whole bunch of comic strips - from Dilbert to Blondie to Peanuts... and about 3 more. But maybe that's just the prevalence of dogs in our culture. I'm not inclined to be struck much by all those dogs. But the two references to babysitting surprised me.

I don't think there's a cartoonist conspiracy
So I think this is mostly me.

Tonight

Show is going well.
This audience is swell.

Naturalism

Heard in real life, about real furniture:
Q: "Is that table stable?"
A: "It's strong as a bong."

Baffled

How did genuflection
Take on a protest direction?
To the Catholic in me
It's a mystery.

Bradley House

Visited this really spectacular Frank Lloyd Wright house in Kankakee, Illinois. The house is on a big lot which is on the Kankakee River.

Then we took an electric boat tour of a nice stretch of the river.

Right upon the Kankakee,
Things were looking Wright to me.

In A Hole

I will probably have a claustrophobic nightmare after reading this:

"IU student survives 3 days locked in cave after group forgets him, forced to lick moisture from cave wall"

Spelunker
had to hunker
in the cave
till he was saved
after his club
realized their flub.

That IU as in Indiana University. Is there any chance this is a hoax? The student's name is Lukas Cavar, which seems a little too perfect.

"Somehow" he got separated from his group. "Somehow" they forgot him. He was "rescued" by the cave club - not by authorities.

But big establishment media are reporting the story as true!
So what's a mere blogger to do?
I will report it, too.

New Trix, Old Trix

General Mills is caving in:

"Kids and adults alike expressed their distaste after Trix decided to start using fruit and vegetables concentrates and spice extracts, like turmeric and annatto—instead of Red 40 and Yellow 6 food dyes—to color their cereal."

So, the company is going back to its original vibrant hues, the way Trix were meant to be!

Kids found natural color
Unacceptably duller.

September Warmer Than August

It's not quite Indian Summer yet,
Because it's not quite Fall,
But if the forecast is correct,
It's coming after all.

He Don't Get No Respect

What does Kim think about this Rocket Man thing?

Did he expect respect
From the guy we chose to elect?
I guess that plan is wrecked.

Sounds

The bugs are chirping in the night
While overhead a plane in flight
Generates a distant roar.
It flies away, is heard no more.
A siren howls and is gone.
But the chirping carries on.

How The Marathon Went Today

Today's marathon adventure: well, it was warm. Started at about 70 F and ended up somewhere in the 80s. At the water stations, I would drink a cup of Gatorade cup and pour a cup of water on my head. I'm sure I look a bit comical when I do that, but it feels so good.

Otherwise, the amazingly good thing, was that my legs never cramped. I know I moaned in prior years about my quad-cramping issues. I decided to take a less lackadaisical approach to training this year, with particular emphasis on my quads. So I bicycled more - that hits the quads in particular. I did the "international distance" triathlon that involves the full 25 mile bike ride. And I kept doing treadmill sprints, even while doing distance training. Oh, and I did squats with dumbbells, approximately weekly. And I switched to different shoes. So either some element in there, or maybe all of them combined, somehow prevented the cramping.

Due to the lack of cramping, this "training marathon" actually had a better time than last year's "main marathon". Well, in 3 weeks we'll find out how I do on my main marathon for the year, the Chicago Marathon. It's a flatter course. I hope the weather will be cooler! We'll see if 3 weeks is enough time to recover. I think I took it kind of easy today.

You know,
As marathons go.

Training Marathon

Tomorrow I'm doing a training marathon. By which I mean, I was already signed up for the Chicago Marathon, which is in three weeks. And in my distance training, I've already run 20 miles. Which means that this weekend I should be doing a 22 or 23 mile run, in theory, I think.

So I signed up for the Fox Valley marathon, which also has a 20-miles-only option, specifically designed for people training for a later autumn marathon. But, what the heck, I want 23 miles, not 20, for my training, right? I can always walk the 3 extra miles.

So, I plan to cover twenty-six miles
Tomorrow.
Will I be all smiles?
Or will I be trudging in sorrow?

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

"When you see flies sitting on the windowsill rubbing their legs together, they are cleaning themselves. Flies rely on their compound eyes, antennae and the bristles on their bodies and legs to sense the world around them. They have to keep these sense organs clean so they can fly with precision to find food and mates and avoid predators."

How clean they are -
Our friends the flies!
Some biased folks
Think otherwise.

But just observe
The scrubbing they do
Before they alight
On a pile of poo!

37% Unable

Disheartening news about the residents of this country:

"According to Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center released Tuesday, 37 percent could not name any of the five rights protected by First Amendment, and just about half (48 percent) could name freedom of speech."

This poll
Hurt my soul,
So banning it is my goal.

Maybe They Should Have Given Him Play Money

"Two workers at Wicker Park's Beadniks chased a 52-year-old man who used a toy gun to rob the boutique of a few hundred dollars until one of the employees tackled the man, according to the victims and police."

Robber
Clobbered.

Zzz

I feel like one big sleepy head.
But will I trundle off to bed?
Or maybe walk the dog instead?

I think in fact I have to roll.
I owe that dog a healthy stroll.
And then a snooze will be my goal.

Dictionary Entry Deletion Request

I saw someone use the word, but it's long past time to jettison
"Netizen".

Needs Debugging

Here in the States, we're worried about Irma hitting Florida. But in Japan, they have other worries:

A deadly tick got away Monday after being brought to a news conference held by the Miyazaki Prefectural Government to warn of a tick-borne disease, prompting the governor to apologize the next day.

Tick with sickness
Still shows quickness.

Faux Emily

Because I could not stop my Thought -
I let it "dash" headlong -
Not using commas - as one ought -
When sculpting Word to Song.

I dumped the contents of my brain
Upon the Ground for all
To contemplate with puzzled pain
In God's great Study Hall.

Irksome Inconsistency

Lyrics from a song by Bruce Springsteen, The River:

"Then I got Mary pregnant
And man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteenth birthday
I got a union card and a wedding coat.
We went down to the courthouse
And the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers, no wedding dress."

...So why on earth did HE get a wedding coat, but SHE didn't get a wedding dress? It doesn't seem fair. This has been bugging me for years.

I must admit the lyrics
Tend to get me depressed,
But this is an injustice
That needs to be redressed.

Irma

When I was driving to the airport in Fort Lauderdale yesterday, I could see there were lines at gas stations along the way. I have a friend who lives outside of Naples, out in the sticks, and he says the stations are now running out of gas. And this is for a storm that may not hit Florida at all, and not for a few days yet.

Well, at least there has been plenty of warning.

I hope it's all a false alarm,
And Florida feels no harm.

Convolutions

Uber driver introduced me to not one, but two
New conspiracy theories. Well, not really new,
But new to me. Or maybe not. 
Maybe I'd heard them before and merely forgot.
You may think this sounds a little dense,
But I like to forget what doesn't make any sense.

Irma Threatens

Here in Florida, people buying supplies
In case Irma hits this week.
But I plan to flee to the friendly skies
Before any weather turns bleak.

Swim Report

I had a nice long swim today in Naples, Florida, in calm Gulf waters. It was raining, a little, while I swam.

Compared to Lake Michigan, where I swam last week, the water was so warm, and so salty.

Also, this time, I wasn't in a race
And so I leisurely set my own pace.

Rainbows in the Everglades

Search for pot of gold

Never gets old. 

Should I Do The Triple?

When I was attending the mandatory course talk for the Chicago Triathlon, the speaker asked for a show of hands of those who had already done the Chicago Triathlon 10 times. I raised my hand.

No one doubted me. Let's face it, I look old enough!

But I wondered whether I actually was sure of that number. So I went back to my race log and counted. Yep, well over 10. And, as I thought, I had raced all 3 of the distances: International, Sprint, and Supersprint. Also, from my notes, I raced a couple of times where the course was shortened. I had forgotten, but I remember that one year the swim conditions were terrible, and they shortened the swim course drastically.

Anyway, they now have an event called the Triple Challenge, which involves doing all 3 distances in one weekend. I have to admit, I'm tempted. It's actually less distance than a half-Ironman. Well, to be technical, the swim is longer, but the other pieces are shorter. And... it's broken up into 3 piece over 2 days. So you can kind of catch your breath between the races.

The real reason I'm attracted to it is that you are in the very first batch of people to start at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. No waiting around! I waited around till 8 a.m., old person that I am, because they wanted to let the fast young people go first. But just by signing up for the Triple, I would get into the first wave or so for the International. They have to do that, so that you can be finished with the International in time to join the last wave or so of the Sprint race.

Hopefully I will talk myself out of this.
It would be a strange way of pursuing my bliss.

Like Auntie Fa?

People are uncertain how antifa should be pronounced.
I'm worried if I say it wrong I'll end up getting trounced.

Not News

I find That overly slanted news
Is boring. It makes me snooze.

Fiery Art

'Someone set fire to the large "REAL FAKE" sculpture that sits near Chicago's Trump Tower on Friday afternoon, forcing firefighters to come out and wash it down.'

From past reports, this sculpture wasn't created with Trump in mind, but it may well have been placed with Trump in mind.

Even when art
Fails to inspire,
Please do not
Set it on fire.

Of course, political art vandalism is becoming a thing in the USA. Mostly people are tearing them down or writing messages on them. But in Chicago, fire seems to be spreading. This is from last week:

"Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) on Thursday accused President Donald Trump of emboldening vandals to set fire to a bust of Abraham Lincoln that has stood as a symbol of freedom in West Englewood for nearly a century."

With anonymous vandals, it's actually hard to be sure of motivations. There have been plenty of "real fake" hate crimes in recent years, although those seem more common at colleges.

Arson on art
Is a local trend.
I'm worried about
Where it might end.

Mrs. O'Leary
Had a bad cow.
But our fire department
Is better now.

Wish List for Sunday

For the Chicago Triathlon,
It would be great
If they could paint lines underwater
To help me swim straight.

The Overcrowded Museum

I've seen people, all northerners I think, proposing that all the statues of Civil War generals be put in a museum. I think they imagine that all these works are artistically significant, and that there's a big variety of statues. But I rather fear there are a lot of statues of just a few people: Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis. With here and there some generalized "confederate soldier" statues. We've got a confederate soldier statue here in Chicago, at a mass grave of confederate soldiers who died in the big POW camp here in Chicago, Camp Douglas, which is sometimes called the north's Andersonville. Prison conditions, by most accounts, were frequently deadly.

They lie beneath the Illinois loam.
These men who didn't go marching home.

Oh My Ears

Free speech is at its best
When I'm the one doing the talking.
But it's an unpleasant test
When my opponents are squawking.

Cool Event

Some kind people let me borrow
Their special specs
For solar effects
So my eyes will still work tomorrow.

Toeing the Line

Cut a hole in my shoes
To make room for my toes.
No more black toenail blues?
Well, we'll see how it goes.

Here's how it looks:


I was actually following internet advice on this. You see, I really like this new pair of Hoka shoes, and they seem to be great for distance running. But...

Well, 2 weeks ago I ran 16 miles, in these expensive Hoka shoes, and felt unusually good, except for my a few of my toes, which felt unusually bad. They were bruised under the nail. Now you might think that the right thing to do is to just buy bigger shoes. But these shoes were sized correctly in most respects.

So, yesterday, I made this radical modification, and ran for 20 miles, and it went really well, and my toenails seem fine. Really, it's was like running in cushioned open-toed sandals.

I thought of one more benefit - yes -
Now my shoes weigh even less.

Safety First

If everyone in the country tried
To see the eclipse, would we tip to one side?
As for me,
I'm going to watch it streaming on TV.

Solar Lunacy

The moon has a lot of nerve,
Proposing to block the sun.
It really ought to swerve
And leave the eclipse undone.

In Fact They May Find It Annoying

I have found that a lot of white people enjoy talking about their racial guilt trips, but that African Americans rarely find much of value in these travelogues.

No matter what you heard
In your class on sociology
People aren't sitting around
Waiting for your apology.

Trying to Understand

There was violence on both sides. True.

There was only deadly violence on one side, from one person.

Who was marching on that "Unite the Right" side? Were there decent people on that side? Trump apparently said there were. I mean, I'm sure there are people who would like to preserve the statue of Lee for various reasons which are not, in fact, racist. Were there a lot of such people at the rally? Or were they avoiding the rally because it looked to be led by a bunch of neo-Nazi pro-Confederacy types? I can't tell, and it doesn't seem like any reporters are working the angle of exactly who was at this mess.

There's a group that is described as alt-right or far right, called Proud Boys. I want to quote from their website:

'I hope they all enjoyed the little “street performance” with their KKK pals. THANK GOD THE PROUD BOYS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT.' (Lots of NSFW swear words at the link.)

If you're thinking of marching with Nazis,
I really suggest you don't.
You may believe it will work out well,
But history says it won't.

Dogged Determination

How to lick the last bit out?
Just stick in your furry snout!

Feathers vs. Fur

I'm listening to an owl, just after midnight. It's a barred owl, judging by its call. I hear my yellow lab barking back at it. She finds the hooting disturbing, I'm not sure why.

The hooting from the owl
Incites my dog to howl.
Oh, you silly pup,
It's time to shut up!

Sword of Damocles

I saw where David Brooks, the NY Times columnist, was calling for the CEO of Google to resign.

I do find this turn amusing.
I suppose he will be refusing.

Someday

Susan Rice, late of the former administration, writes in the NY Times:

"First, though we can never legitimize North Korea as a nuclear power, we know it is highly unlikely to relinquish its sizable arsenal because Mr. Kim deems the weapons essential to his regime’s survival."

So, we won't legitimize, but we expect North Korea to remain a nuclear power. We will accept, but not approve. I suppose that matters a little, but I wish it mattered more.

A lot of us imagine the current world order proceeding more or less as it is now. But I do wonder what would happen if North Korea dropped even one nuclear bomb on an American city. It could change a lot of things very quickly. I think it would make our reaction to 9/11 look like a minor eruption of force and fury. I don't know what would happen. I don't imagine anyone really does.

I wish the missile defense systems
Worked better than they do.
Maybe then I wouldn't be sharing
These worrisome thoughts with you

Cumulus

Up there in the sky -
What is all that stuff?
Well, to my eye,
It's a mountain of fluff.

Rebranding

There was a story in the news today that a certain chain had a plan to shorten its name.

The company plans to go nuts
And drop the alliterative "donuts"
To rebrand just as Dunkin'?
Man, I call that flunkin'!

Formican Melody

What music does an ant hum?
I hope he drones an anthem!
And if he won't, just plant him
Beneath the spiky Xanthium.

Drawback

One thing about autumn marathons is a bummer:
You have to start training in the summer.
Maybe it's me, but I'd rather not
Run run run when it's hot hot hot.

Unpretty Situation

Wacky local story:

"Escort wasn’t the ‘brains’ behind spending of $5.8 million with exec’s credit card, lawyer says"

They blew an awful lot of money that wasn't theirs to blow. Now it looks like they might be trying to blame each other. But I can't see pinning either as a mastermind, under the circumstances.

Who was the 'brains' of this spending spree?
They both seem sort of short-sighted to me.

Rumors

There are a rumors that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is considering an entry into politics.

Billionaire considers second job.
Pay is so-so. Hope he's not a snob!

Smoke

I was driving home mid-day Sunday, and I encountered a big white cloud of smoke the length of my city block. I stopped twice to make sure I could see through it safely while driving. It smelled a bit acrid, like burning rubber or something. I thought it must be from a malfunctioning vehicle that had driven ahead of me. But I never saw what vehicle that might have been.

A little while later, a fire truck came down my block, and proceeded to drive around the area a bit. I think someone had made a 911 call about the smoke. But the firefighters couldn't seem to find the source.

Where's there's smoke,
Fire is expected.
But this time
It couldn't be detected.

Puzzled

I've puzzled over agonized progressives who proclaim their need to re-understand the world they live in. It seems sincere, despite the fact that all that happened was they lost a close election between two unpopular candidates.

But their belief that they are on the side of history did take a hit. The mystical embrace of the forward march of history is a common progressive belief. It's why they call themselves progressives - because they have allied with the winning side which is the inevitable future. All this goes back at least to Marx.

When history takes an unexpected turn
It must mean you have something new to learn.

To Unfold

The power to unfold much like a flower,
Unpeeling and revealing what's within,
Is not attained by all, for many cower
Afraid that what they hold untold is sin.

Dunkirk

I haven't seen the movie yet. But I'm thinking about the actual event, after reading this review.

It was spectacularly successfully retreat,
Which set the Nazis up for defeat.

Return to Manteno

The way I so often win first -
Both best for my group and the worst!
When there's no one your age to compete,
The trick is just to complete.



The swim for this triathlon takes place in Lake Manteno, starting from the Manteno Sportmen's Club, in beautiful Manteno, Illinois. Years ago, in the late 90's, I did a triathlon here a couple of times, although the course layout was different - and longer.

That old triathlon seemed to get discontinued, but... At some point, they seem to have restarted as a triathlon venue - without my knowledge somehow! Anyway, it's only about 40 minutes from my house, and it's a convenient, friendly triathlon. So I'll be back. Maybe next time there will be someone else in my age group.

If there's someone else my age in the race,
I may have to settle for second place.

Contest

Who is the richest dude in tech?
It's Gates and Bezos, neck and neck!
I'll ask the winner to write me a check.

Ancestry Again

Hanging around on comparative family tree sites, I have a lot of visible overlap with a few people who arrived in the 1700s in Virginia from the British Isles. It's fun to read their names and dates and ponder the vast chain of ancestry.

Nowadays the family tree fans are trying to verify the branches with DNA data. Most official family trees, over time, will bury some family secrets concerning true parentage. This seems to be less often the case than many skeptics had expected, as it turns out.

In my case, for example, people with whom I share a family tree branch are also popping up as DNA relatives on 23andMe.

But some people pop as distant DNA relative - third to fifth cousins - and neither of us have ANY idea of how that came to be.

Allegedly, I have a Native American ancestor, on my mother's side apparently. What tribe, I don't know.

I'm hoping that its Pottawatamie,
Because that word sounds cool to me.

Geography

For what it's worth
I'm told the earth
Is not really flat
Like a big welcome mat.
But in the Midwest
It's what I'd've guessed.

Bizarre Sentence Of The Day

"I mean, look, I don’t mean to be rude, but most of the reason I went gay is so I didn’t have to deal with nutty broads." It's from an old "Milo" article on Breitbart about the future of "sexbots".

I hate to try to think about a statement like this. But, he's got me doing it.

"I don't mean to be rude"... actually, of course, it's hard to imagine how a careful writer can refer to "nutty broads" without "meaning to be rude". There might be good reasons to be rude, but, let's face it, "nutty broads" is a tilt to the rude side of the force. It's a little ruder than "crazy females" and a lot ruder than "emotionally disturbed women".

Next... he "went gay". Well, from where? Maybe from "bisexual" or from some custom category like: "I think of myself as straight, and I find women attractive, but I also find men attractive".

As an aside, I have the impression that women who date gay guys often do experience emotional distress.

Finally I ask
What man will want to bask
In the admiring glance
Of a robot without pants?

Ancestral Voices

23andMe now claims
I have Sardinian genes.
I must admit, I cannot say
Exactly what this means.
But tell me please, might it explain
Why I like sardines?

My Unending Fascination With Placebos Continues

Usually when we think of placebos, we think of pills, but sham surgery has actually been studied a fair amount - it is used to create a control group for studies that try to determine how well real surgery works. That is, you are able to answer the question: does a sham version of this surgery work as well as a real version?

"A pill can provoke a placebo effect, but an injection produces an even stronger one. Cutting into someone appears to be more powerful still."

As for me, I'm hopin'
Not to get cut open.

Reviews of All Mixed Up NYC

We received a simply lovely review from Rachel Rocano at Drama Queens Reviews: Fresh Fruit Fest births “All Mixed Up”

"The script was both funny and poignant with messages evident and for the coffee shop discussion later."

"Ensemble cast was superb"
Ah, what a lovely blurb!
"Really enjoyable piece"
Please, go on, do not cease!

We also received a very thoughtful and enthusiastic review from Walter Donway:

"Romantic comedies are not tragedies, which this situation seemed to be becoming; they are entanglements of frustration, rage, maddening personalities, and even danger from which the characters somehow emerge and find love or some reconciliation with life. John Enright's brilliance is that the audience hardly could ever believe that this contemporary ambush of innocence in the equivalent of a PC firefight would end well."

On Facebook, my wife posted a photo of me with my hands clasped together in front of me, at a restaurant table, as if in prayer. It was taken on Sunday afternoon, before our last performance. Someone asked if I was saying grace, but I replied that I was praying to Dionysus for big audiences and good reviews.

For what I have received,
I would not dare complain,
God of theater.

I wrote with spirit cleaved,
But prizes after pain
Taste much sweeter.

T-rex Specs

Some scientists are now saying that T-rex couldn't really run fast. They're saying that the average human could outrun one of them - if only humans had coexisted with the mighty dinosaur carnivore.

Of course, it's all speculation. What we need is genetic reincarnation, along the lines of Jurassic Park.

Once we bring them back
We can bring them to the track.
I have to admit, just seeing that face
Would motivate my feet to race.

Jayden K. Smith

A Facebook friend sent me an urgent warning about Jayden K. Smith, a hacker who, if you let him become your Facebook friend, will take over your computer.

I'm not sure how that's supposed t work. And some apparently responsible reporters are saying that the warning is itself a hoax:

"There is no evidence of any account with the name Jayden K Smith going on sprees of adding users, and even if there were, they would not be able to hack into an account just by becoming a friend."

But I prefer to believe my friend.

Jayden K. Smith!
Not sure who he's with,
But all the best hackers
Have government backers.
I blame a cabal
From out of Nepal.

Closing Time

After three days of genial madness,
The show has closed. We had fun.
It all went well, but still some sadness
Comes when the fun is done.

We Opened

We had a good New York premiere
And one of the major factors
Which you can glimpse right here
Is a gaggle of gifted actors.

Program Panic

I had an adventure getting the theater programs designed on Fiverr.com. I wanted bi-fold 8.5 x 11, to slip inside the general "festival program".

I had 2 different people work on it. And both did something odd about the paper.

One designed it for 11 x 17. And the other designed for the right paper size but designed it to fold the long way, not the short way, even though the example of "how we did it last time" clearly folded the short way.

I'm sure I could have been more specific, blah, blah.

Anyway, got a working version, much better than I could have done, took it to a local printer, and the programs look great.

When time is so tight
Trial and error
Gives me a fright,
A slight touch of terror.

Plus Or Minus

Negative thinking
Can be powerful too
But it's not the kind
You hope comes true.

Tick Tock

My time machine,
Even at full power,
Only moves forward
At sixty minutes per hour.

Porcine Terpsichorean

If a pig
Had a gig
To dance a fine jig,
Would he snort
And cavort
In ecstatic transport?

Visit

Our grandson came to stay with us
But now he has gone back.
He made us chase around too much,
But now we feel his lack.

Scientists Investigate Why Monkeys Refuse To Talk

The Washington Post reports on scientific efforts to figure out why monkeys and apes don't make noises that sound like human speech. "Scientists figured there were two likely sticking points. Either the brain was not wired for speech in nonhuman primates, or their windpipes were shaped the wrong way."

Quick-skim spoiler alert: Seems like it's more of a brain issue.

Why can't monkeys generate speech?
Somehow the stuff stays out of their reach.

Parrots, of course, at least make the sounds,
But full understanding is out of bounds.