People Who Say Racism
@YAppelbaum “10. Bottom line? White, working class Trump voters felt culturally displaced and resentful, not financially stressed” PG saw this tweet while drifting away from a problem poem. Before long, he clicked on a couple of links, and read a few tweets. An idea for a post emerged. Who doesn’t want to read another election post mortem? Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Beyond Economics: Fears of Cultural Displacement Pushed the White Working Class to Trump is the study from PRRI. The study focuses on white voters who did not attend college (WWC.) This group overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. Because WWC voters were concentrated in key states, their votes became more important in swinging the electoral vote to DJT. The standard issues were discussed in the report, with one exception.
The report used the word racist one time. Racism was not said. “We’re supposed to make the effort to include everybody else. They don’t have to make the effort to include us. I was hysterical laughing over the thing at Eastern Kentucky University. The black student body had a welcome black event. Well, somebody on campus thought they should have a white welcome event. Well, the black one was okay, but the white one, the whole campus went bananas, and it was racist. Now what is the difference?” This was a boldface quote from “Woman.” It was not part of the study.
It Was Cultural Anxiety That Drove White, Working-Class Voters to Trump is the article in The Atlantic. The article is far shorter than the PRRI report. The article identified several items that appeared to be reasons why WWC voters went for DJT. The words “racist” and “racism” did not appear in this article.
One item was noteworthy. ” … 54 percent of white working-class Americans said investing in college education is a risky gamble, including 61 percent of white working-class men.” It would be interesting to see a study ask the same question to graduates dealing with student debt.
The twitter thread listed some of the key points. 4 Almost everything correlates; only four variables proved independently significant. One was Republican Party registration. Not shocking. 5 The 2nd was deportation. 87% of white working-class voters who want to deport undocumented immigrants voted Trump 6 Third? Higher education. WWC voters who think of college as a risky gamble, not an investment, went 2x for Trump: 7 WWC voters who wanted to protect American way of life, or feel like strangers in their own country? 79% for Trump 9 We found economically distressed white, working class voters were 75% more likely to vote for Clinton—not Trump.
Racist/Racism did not appear in the 11 part twitter thread quoted here. Some people say that calls for deportation are racist. However, most people in America think that racism is about the black/white thing. Discussions of this campaign routinely use racism to condemn anything they don’t like, with a special focus on Islam and Mexico. While trash talk about Islam and Mexico is improper, is it really racism? The more often the word is used, the less impact it has.
@zeynep Such a common historical patterns, that it’s not even surprising. Doesn’t make them non-racist, just makes this kind of analysis misleading
@gershonmarx Just say “racist”, Yoni, it’s way fewer characters.
@YAppelbaum I don’t have the data–racial resentment alone wasn’t independently predictive
@gershonmarx What distinguishes “culturally displaced and resentful” from “racist”?
@CSheehanMiles Aside from racism, they’re freaked out about gay marriage, hollywood, people who are transgender, Christmas and Starbucks. Plus racism
@Rachelia72 And losing their guns!
@CSheehanMiles Thanks! How could I leave that out?
Hank Chinaski Lives
In the next quarter century, the surplus grew, thanks to Bukowski’s nearly graphomaniacal fecundity. “I usually write ten or fifteen [poems] at once,” he said, and he imagined the act of writing as a kind of entranced combat with the typewriter, as in his poem “cool black air”: “now I sit down to it and I bang it, I don’t use the light / touch, I bang it.”
As could have been predicted, it started with a post at Dangerous Minds. The feature was about the late Charles Bukowski, who was called Hank by those who knew him. The writer/drunk had always been a bit of a fascination to PG. Out of the millions of useless drunks feeding the urinals of planet earth, at least one will turn out to have had literary merit.
A trip to Google city is made, and quotes from the bard are found, along with the wikipedia page. All of this leads to a New Yorker piece about the gentleman. After nine paragraphs, and two poems, there is the phrase that set off PG…graphomaniacal fecundity.(spell check suggestion:nymphomaniac)
As best as we can figure, g.f. means that Hank wrote a lot of stuff. This is a good thing. PG operates on the notion that if you keep your quantity up, the quality will take care of itself. Hank seems to agree, spitting out product “like hot turds the morning after a good beer drunk.” He seemed to take pride in doing what Truman Capote said about Jack Kerouac…he doesn’t write, he types.
If you google the phrase graphomaniacal fecundity, you can choose from 71 results. The top six apparently quote the article in New Yorker. A blogspot facility called poemanias quotes the paragraph from the New Yorker, with the title “On Bukowski’s afterlife”, while Fourhourhardon reprints the entire thing. Neither provide a link back to the original.
Goliath and Petey Luvs Blog take the same copy-paste approach. The first tries to get you to pay for more reading material. This forum also does the control A-C-V approach, but yields this comment : “He was a contemporary of the Beats, but not quite one of them because he was darker and not as willing to smoke a joint and sing Phil Ochs songs on the lower east side.” The truth is, Hank hated marijuana, and had the classic alcoholic attitude about it. So it goes. Keep and share copies the complete New Yorker feature, but has some other thumbsuckers about Mr. Bukowski.
It is a truism that new media borrows content from old media. Stories, told orally from genration to generation, are compiled into books, which are then made into movies. Plastic panels try to look like wood. The newest new media that old fogey PG knows about is twitter. People tell little stories in 140 characters or less, which go around the world in seconds. With this abundance of media, there are not always enough messages to feed the beast.
On twitter, there are people producing twitter feeds from dead authors. Maybe these wordmongers went to a place with internet access. Kurt Vonnegut (three hours ago) “Busy, busy, busy”. Mark Twain (three hours ago) “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint”. Brautigan’s Ghost (twenty two hours ago) “I cannot say to the one I love, “Hi, flower-wonderful bird-love sweet.”
The deceased content maker best suited to twitter might be Conway Twitty. One slow day two years ago, Yahoo asked peeps Do you think Conway Twitty would have used Twitter? ~ He gave them the idea ~ I think Twitty would tweet, Twitter would be Conway’s, way of of communicating to the world, Twitty would be tweeting his little Twitty head off, ~ I better send out a Twitty Tweet ~ Cute, but a serious answer, probably. A media hound, he’d want to get his name plastered everywhere. ~ If he did that would have made him a ‘Twitty Twitter” ~ Who cares, he’s a twit anyway”.
There are four Twitty Twitter feeds. @ConwayTwitty (Oct. 21,2009) “The Conway Twitty Musical is getting great reviews in Branson!!! . @TwittyTweats (January 12, 2012) “In Twitty City, it never snows. All the men wear gold medallions and blazers. And the women never cry. Unless you hold them.” @Conway_Twitty (February 20, 2012) “My cock is an amphibious assault vehicle” @conwaytwittier (April 28, 2012). “@JasonIsbell How’s the English weather treating your hair? I had the hardest time keeping my pompadour in tiptop shape there.” @twittybirdmoda is written in Japanese. We’ve never been this far before.
The original concept for this post was to spotlight twitter feeds borrowing material from Charles Bukowski. Hank is the beer bard of Los Angeles. He is a hero to many. Out of the millions of worthless drunks populating bars, at least one could write poems. It gives you hope for mankind.
The front page of a google search for “charles bukowski on twitter” yields eight feeds. The original plan was to ignore any that were not updated in 2012. An exception will be for @hank_bukowski (Yeah it’s good to be back). (January 25, 2009) “Yesterday I met Adolf H. in hell. He is fuckin stupid.” “too lazzy these days, too drunk to twitter”.
With the 2012-only rule in effect, we are left with three Bukowski thieves. @BukowskiDiz (May 1) “Curiosidades sobre Charles Bukowski http://migre.me/8UhRf“. @bukquotes (May 8) “all the mules and drunken ladies gone the bad novels march…”. ~ “I always read when I shit and the worse the book the better the bowel movement.” @bukowski_lives (one hour ago) “Basically, that’s why I wrote: to save my ass, to save my ass from the madhouse, from the streets, from myself.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a double repost. Another repost was published May 12. This is probably it for this year.
Amazing Grace
This story was originally posted by Gartalker and chamblee54. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. It is probably fiction.
Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play my bagpipes at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper’s cemetery in the Kentucky back-country.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost; and being a typical man I didn’t stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.
I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started to play.
The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I’ve never played before for this homeless man.
And as I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, and we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.
As I was opening the door to my car, I heard one of the worker say, “Sweet Mother of Jesus, I never seen nothing like that before and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.”
Cuck A Doodle Do
Cuck is a popular insult. The primary audience is people who take Milo Yiannopoulos seriously. Cuck is short for cuckold, a time honored insult for a man with an adulterous wife. One popular legend has St. Joseph, the step father of Jesus, as the patron saint of cuckolds.
Urban Dictionary has an alternate perspective. “A word used by White Supremacists to solicit sex. Because they believe people whom they call cucks would want to fuck them. … Cuck itself is an onomatopoeia derived from the moaning sound white supremacists make while fantasizing about getting fucked. It is NOT, as some trolls suggests, derived from “cuckold” – a fantastical troll logic only horny White Supremacists would believe in.”
MTV Decoded recently had a video, The Strange & Gross Origin of “Cuck”. The host is natural hair maven Francesca Ramsey. The entertainment has 42,621 views, with 327 likes, and 9,970 dislikes. This is a 30-1 thumbs-down-to-thumps-up ratio.
Frannie says that cuck is the love child of racism and misogyny. Racism says cuck isn’t his kid, and refuses to pay child support. Frannie offers, as evidence, the popularity of cuck pornography. In CP, a white man watches his white wife get fucked by a black man. CP, with productions like Cuckold Creampie Cleanup, is a noted crowd pleaser.
A possible origin for cuckold is cuckoo. This bird likes to lay its eggs in another bird’s nest. How Republican! As for the etymology, cuckold shows “Middle English cokewold First Known Use: 13th century.” Cuckoo comes from “Middle English cuccu, of imitative origin.” At least one source suggests that cuckoo, the bird, is derived from cuckold, the clueless husband.
Frannie’s video has links in the show notes. It is not known what fact is connected to what source. Still, it is better than having no source at all. One of these stories is from BBC news, Cuckolds, horns and other explanations. This article does not mention racism.
“But that gesture – the hands to the forehead, finger and thumb outstretched. How has that become to mean “you are a cuckold”? One explanation comes from the Roman era. Back then, returning soldiers were given horns, symbolising success on the battlefield. But the horns also came to imply failure in the bedroom, and that it was never a good idea to leave a Roman wife alone for too long. A more common explanation is that a horned beast cannot see its own horns. And husbands are often the last to know about their partner’s infidelities.”
This is a possible source for “horny.” But the fun doesn’t stop there. “In Britain, the word “cuckold” is old-fashioned. But youngsters still love to stick their fingers up behind their friends’ heads in photographs, to make them look silly.”
The Library of Congress supplied the pictures for this feature.
The First One Hundred Days
Chamblee54 started in 2005, about halfway through the reign of W. 2009 saw The First Hundred Days, a tasteful piece about the start of the Obama drama. It will be repeated below.
Many pundits are opining about the first hundred days of Donald J. Trump. No one seems to know what to make of it. There was talk about draining a swamp. Maybe he meant training the chomp, or braining the pomp. Outside the rhetoric, and the nervous nellie opposition, there is relatively little action. Lets see how this compares to other first hundreds.
The first hundred days of a presidency is a landmark. At this point, POTUS gets a report card. BHO is approaching this point. The grades he gets at this point depend on the scorekeeper. Democrats seem pleased, and Repubs are buying tea bags.
PG decided that a look at the last few presidents is instructive. John Kennedy tried to invade Cuba in his first hundred days, with disastrous results. Lyndon Johnson watched The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. (This report is based on PG’s memory. It should not be used as a reference for scholastic purposes).
Richard Nixon moved into the White House. Gerald Ford gave a pardon to Mr. Nixon. Jimmy Carter was portrayed by Dan Ackroyd.
Moving into the eighties, Ronald Reagan got shot in his first hundred days. George HW Bush talked to a rehab center about his son. Bill Clinton tried to get gay people accepted for military duty. George W Bush ignored reports about Saudi students in pilot schools.
PG declines to have an opinion about BHO at this point. The first dog, Bo, made an impressive debut, as did wife Michelle. BHO arguably has worse problems than any of the eight prezzes listed above. How he deals with them is how history will view him. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
333,333,333
U.S. and World Population Clock gives an estimate of the population for the United States, and the World. On April 26,2017, at 13:41:31 UTC, an estimated 324,935,042 people lived in the United States (50 states, and District of Columbia.) The World population is 7,386,876,180.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the time standard used here. UTC is similar to Greenwich Mean Time. “The reference line or starting point, the Prime Meridian, was determined to be the transit circle at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.” UTC is four hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time. The population reading above was at 9:41:31 EDT.
The question for today is: When will the US population hit 333,333,333? Here are some hints: “Components of Population Change: One birth every 8 seconds, One death every 11 seconds, One international migrant (net) every 32 seconds, Net gain of one person every 15 seconds.”
The target population, 333,333,333, is 8,398,291 more than the current population of 324,935,042. Assuming a net gain of 5,760 per day, (one every 15 seconds, 4 per minute, 1440 minutes a day) we will hit the target number in 1458 days. 5,760×1,458=8,398,080, 211 less than the target.
Friday, April 23, 2021 is 1,458 days in the future. 211/4 is 52.75. This gives us a time of 14:34:16 UTC, or 10:34:16 AM EDT. At this time, the population of the United States will be 333,333,333.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Esther Bubley took the pictures in September, 1943. “A Greyhound bus trip from Louisville, Kentucky, to Memphis, Tennessee, and the terminals.”
Google It!
It is becoming a cliche. Someone makes a claim. Someone else asks for a source, asks what they mean, or challenges the bully in any way. The knee jerk response is to say Google It, frequently accompanied by an insulting comment about not knowing how to do online research. Is this the best way to handle the situation?
If you go to the shrine of the search engine, and submit Google It, the first page of results is connected to the information colossus. On the second page, you get the mandatory Urban Dictionary result: “An answer to a question that you are too lazy to answer.” There is also the inevitable arrogant joke-page: www.justfuckinggoogleit.com.
“Google Is Your Friend. All Smart People Use Google. It Appears That You Are Not One Of Them. Someone thinks you are an idiot because you were too stupid to check Google before asking a question. They gave you a link to this site as a joke. The fact that you followed it pretty much proves the point. Hope that helps. Have a nice day.” Idiots Served: 1344482
The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away. “Google does not endorse this site, and is not associated with it in any way whatsoever. I have added an information page” “WARNING: SITE ABUSES It has come to my attention that some sites are redirecting to this one when their users were not expecting it. I have no control over this. The only sites I have control over that have anything to do with this site are http://www.justfuckinggoogleit.com, and http://www.fuckinggoogleit.com. If any other site is sending you here, it is their problem, not mine. They may have been hacked, or they may be playing a joke. I don’t know, and I can’t do anything about it. Please stop sending me e-mail about this issue. Please direct abuse reports or server problems to webmaster@justfuckinggoogleit.com”
Should you respond, to requests for information, with those eight magic letters, Google It? As you may have gathered by now, saying GI is both arrogant, and intellectually lazy. It has bully overtones… I am telling you this, and how dare you challenge me? In a academic setting, GI is not a replacement for a footnote. Links are easy to install. You should show where you get your information.
Google is agenda neutral, unless your program includes sponsored search results. In other words, when someone accepts your dare to Google It, they may find out something you do not want them to know. If you want someone to learn what you want them to learn, you can control the process by including a link. If they want to challenge this, and Google It, they are free to do so.
@ShaunKing 7 people were killed by American police…YESTERDAY. That’s more people than police in most developed nations kill in an entire year. @RealMarr Post the stories, id like to read about them @clanie There’s a thing called the internet you can possibly find them on your own if you’re truly curious @RealMarr Wow lol pretty pissy on a Friday @clanie Suggsting someone do their own research is pissy? You’re too sensitive bro
When the going gets tough, the tough Google It. PG decided to investigate. Seven People Killed By Police was the result. None of the SPKBP involved questionable police conduct. When you shoot at police, they are going to shoot back. @ShaunKing probably was trying to stir the pot with his tweet. A bit of research (actually, a couple of hours worth) shoots his agenda down effectively. Pictures for today’s entertainment are from The Library of Congress.
Seven People Killed By Police
@ShaunKing “7 people were killed by American police…YESTERDAY. That’s more people than police in most developed nations kill in an entire year.” 3:26 PM – 21 Apr 2017. This tweet does not tell us much. Mr. King likes to stir trouble, without citing sources. Mr. King made a similar tweet last year, which inspired a chamblee54 google party, Six People Killed By Police. Pictures for today’s entertainment are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Counted People killed by police in the US. was the ultimate source last year. This fine service closed shop at the end of 2016. The site used to research today’s feature is Killed By Police 2017. It is a numbered list of people killed by police, in the United States, in 2017. At the time this feature is written, police have killed 357 people. The total for 2016 is 1092.
Today’s report will focus on 345-352. The names are: (345) Steve Seagraves, white (346) Marion Lee Holliday, white (347) Jose A. Trejo, hispanic (348) Damarius Butts, black (349) Ray Raymond Valdez, hispanic (350) Robert Lee Clark Jr., white (351) Joel Anthony, white, and (352) Brandon Pequeno, hispanic. All of the deceased are male. None of the eight deaths showed apparent bad behavior by police. Four of the incidents involved an exchamnge of gunfire, with five officers shot. Mr. King’s tweet referenced seven people killed. The eighth, Joel Anthony, died Thursday, after being injured, in a traffic accident, on Monday.
Two of the deaths involve vehical crashes. Joel Anthony,6, died on Thursday, after being injured in a car crash on Monday. The vehicle made a left turn in front of an “Albuquerque (NM) Police Department officer racing to a call…” Robert Lee Clark Jr., 30, led police on a motorcycle chase. Mr. Clark slowed down. A Berkeley County, SC, police cruiser crashed into him from behind.
Ray Valdez, 55, “is a convicted murderer and was released from prison in 2002. Thursday evening Valdez and his girlfriend were involved in a fight, according to police. At some point in the fight, Valdez’ girlfriend was able to break away and flag down a park police officer. She told the officer Valdez had assaulted her while holding a knife. “The officer deployed his taser,” said Chief William McManus with SAPD. “It was not effective. He continued toward the officer. The officer deployed his firearm and fired multiple times and he was struck three times.” The incident was in San Antonio, TX.
Brandon Pequeno, 25, is the closest thing to a “bad police killing” in this story. “…Pequeno, who was believed to be driving a stolen vehicle, rammed other vehicles in an attempt to flee officials and did not comply with the officers’ commands.” A 17 yo female passenger was critically wounded by gunfire. Her relationship to Mr. Pequeno is not known. There are suggestions that she was kidnapped. The incident was in Glendale, AZ.
Jose A. Trejo, 26, shot two police officers before being fatally wounded. “Trejo died at the scene of the 432 Sanders Road disturbance when three Hardeeville (SC) police officers and a Sheriff’s Office deputy were called to the residence around 6 p.m. after a report of a “domestic situation,” (Jasper County Sheriff Chris) Malphrus said. Trejo, a resident of the home, allegedly fired a gun near his mother’s head before police arrived. Malphrus said she was treated for powder burns to the side of her face and eye at an area hospital Thursday night and released. As two officers entered the home, Trejo allegedly exited a bedroom and began firing. …The officers returned fire, killing Trejo. … Deputy Justin Smith was struck by a bullet in the left hand and collar bone … Sgt. Kelvin Grant of the Hardeeville Police Department was struck in the arm by a bullet and on his left side by a bullet fragment.” Both officers are expected to recover.
Marion Lee Holliday, 64, was killed in Logan County OK. “Holliday had a previous arrest in reference to possession of narcotics. The investigation into whether Holliday had a mental illness and why he was holding the gun is still ongoing… Deputies said they responded to Simmons Rd. and Douglas Blvd. about 4:40 p.m. Thursday in reference to an irate man walking in the roadway carrying a shotgun. Holliday was hiding behind some trees and exchanged words with deputies. Officials said Holliday then raised his shotgun to point it toward deputies, investigators said. Deputies then fired at Holliday, who was pronounced deceased at the scene, authorities said.” “Initial reports indicate that the alleged suspect barricaded himself in a wooded area and was threatening the deputies. … The reported shooting occurred just two days after the sheriff’s office lost one of their own. Logan County Deputy David Wade was shot and killed while serving an eviction notice on Tuesday morning.”
Steven Camacho Seagraves, 40, died in Guam. “The pursuit began at about 5 a.m. Friday at the House of Liberty Game Room in Barrigada, when GPD received a report that a man armed with a gun was at the game room. Officers from Barrigada pursued the suspect’s vehicle. The pursuit ended at Chalan Langet in Dededo when Seagraves lost control and ran off the roadway. Seagraves then allegedly opened fire on officers, who returned fire. Seagraves was pronounced dead on the scene.”
Damarius Butts, 19, died in Seattle, WA. “The suspects robbed a 7-Eleven at First Avenue and Cherry Street about 1 p.m … The suspects had reportedly stolen beer from the store before they were chased out by a clerk. … (This tweet displays the stolen merchandise, worth $28.42) … The bicycle officers, who were nearby, confronted the suspects about two blocks away and a fight ensued … While one officer fought with a male suspect on the ground, the 17-year-old girl struck the officer over the head with a bottle … The suspects then fled, and one fired at police, who returned fire … The suspect who opened fire then barricaded himself in the building … That man was later found dead…” Three police officers were shot, with one critically wounded. This video shows part of the chase.
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#NationalHaikuPoetryDay
A day for haikus ~ A special day for poets ~ It’s snowing on Mount Fuji
A mighty voice cried ~ Get your damn hands off of me ~ You damn dirty ape
Almost stole game one ~ No shot for PG 13 ~ Series over now
An apple a day ~ two-hundred and eight dollars ~ So less than doctors
Branches rise in praise ~ Wind as music floats to heaven ~ Birds sing praises joy
cant do crack today ~ Piss test afternoon Tuesday ~ What color is blue
Climate Change is fake ~ I say as I sip a drink ~ On a Kansas beach
Creation awaits ~ Discover the world God made ~ We will be your guide
Do not woo at me ~ Do not talk during the jam ~ Please shut the fuck up
Drip drip says the rain ~ Kissing the window with soft ~ wet butterfly wings
During Good Friday ~ Learned about Satanism ~ Happy Easter Y’all
Facts are important ~ Alternative ones don’t count ~ Don’t be fooled snowflakes
Fishy sea creature ~ Made of shoes frisbees and forks ~ Earth week Washed ashore
Five syllables here ~ Seven more syllables there ~ ARE YOU HAPPY NOW
Haikus are easy ~ But sometimes they don’t make sense ~ Manufacturing
Here’s a thought for you ~ Aren’t we all time travelers? ~ We’re moving right now
I am hung over ~ I think I’m going to die ~ Never drink again
I cross two bridges ~ every day to get to you ~ and your feathered heart
I got lost somewhere ~ Between your soul and flesh ~ Ignited in flames
I really don’t see why ~ Every possible thing ~ Has a holiday
I’m a simple man ~ Mozzarella sticks keep me ~ Happy and well-fed
I’m ready to write ~ The coffee pot is empty ~ Sign or conundrum?
Khaki casket explodes ~ Fearlessly sandstorm cursing ~ Churchyard screaming eagles
Lets split the 1st bill ~ I will get the next plus drinks ~ Glass is purple pink
Life is meaningless ~ Purple monkey dishwasher ~ man Haikus are tough
little bird got sick ~ gave her nasty medicine ~ now she flies again
Lon Chaney sans legs ~ Pink tinted and grim ~ Will sing his cherished death song
My fashion stumble ~ Chip clip on cargos weakens ~ Come On laundry day
My New York #Knicks Suck ~ Don’t belong in The Garden ~ Move them to Jersey
Octopus seahorse ~ starfish Animal cookies ~ for little mermaids
“Progressives” deceive ~ The ends justify the means ~ Call out the statists
reading poetry ~ a challenging task for me ~ pass the potatoes
see purple flowers ~ shades of nature bring us joy ~ wait for more colors
She opens her eyes ~ I say good morning cutie ~ restraining order
Striped blue maroon black ~ Colors of the day that comes; ~ ends with rest and dark
Sun shining indeed ~ I hear birds chirping loudly ~ Spring is here enjoy
Swans are so graceful ~ So graceful and so carefree ~ Beautiful are they too
take this day dearest ~ take it and make it your own ~ with your light and soul
The wait is too long? ~ For pizza you’ll wait thirty ~ Cheese means more than meds
There was a burger ~ With bacon had to eat it ~ It was delicious
This is a poorly ~ written haiku from Austin ~ Texas blah blah blah
Time to get unstuck ~ Make paramount investment ~ Be the warm water
twirling round ~ dewdrops in cool grass ~ dancing barefoot in the rain
Vivid quite pensive ~ Nature’s canvas is our classroom ~ Respect all that heals
waiting all day for ~ those damned biopsy results ~ didn’t the phone ring?
Who ‘s gonna die ~ Eeny meeny miny moe ~ Kill your darlings Joe
World is caving in ~ I am under too much stress ~ Please let me relax
You like poetry? ~ Yeah me neither So I guess ~ I’ll just stop typing
yolo photgraphs ~ the library of congress ~ nineteen forty three
Hawaiian Good Luck Sign
Dear Grand-daughter, The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ bumper sticker . I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.
So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper. Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed. I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn’t notice that the light had changed. It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed. I found that lots of people love Jesus!
While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, ‘For the love of God!’ ‘Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!’ What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus! Everyone started honking! I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people. I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!
There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach. I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air. I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant. He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something. Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back. My grandson burst out laughing. Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!! Praise the Lord!!!
A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me. I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.
So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away. Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!! Will write again soon, Love, Grandma. This repost is written like J. D. Salinger. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
This Is Your Life
An all caps graphic washes up on the digital shores from time to time. The author, and copyright status, are not known. It was not written here. Reading it can be a chore, even though it looks cool. It is also selfish… the only opinion that matters is the individual reading it. It doesn’t have a good beat, but you can dance to it. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
This is your life.
Do what you love, and do it often.
If you don’t like something, change it.
If you don’t like your job, quit.
If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life, stop:
They will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love.
Stop over analyzing, life is simple
All emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people,
We are united in our differences.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is,
And share your inspiring dream with them.
Travel often, getting lost will help you find yourself.
Some opportunities only come once, seize them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them
So go out and start creating.
Life is short. Live your dream, and wear your passion.
“Do you have to be a poet? If you don’t have to be a poet, be a prose writer. You’ll get further faster. Poetry — there’s probably more poetry published today than any time in the history of the world. Nevertheless, there is this — people think they have this blindness when they see a line in the typography of poetry, and it just blocks them. So if you can say the same thing in prose, you’ll probably be better off” Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Chamblee54 
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