Good morning Martini. Interesting trivia - although the Titan Triggerfish is not found in the waters around Hawaii, the state fish of Hawaii is a different species of Trigger fish - Say hello to the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Interesting bit about how it got it's name.
PRO TIP: When working on New Years Day, do not get into such a hurry to finish the rear corner of the fence you're installing that, while re-positioning yourself to get to those last pickets on the side (the ones 6" from the neighbor's chicken-coop-in-progress) that you accidentally put a 2.5" ring-shank nail into your knee, due in part to your own impatience, and in part to the pile of branches you're sitting on shifting unexpectedly. You might get lucky and miss the knee cap entirely, but pulling the nail out will NOT be fun. Let go of that trigger, even though you don't think you need to.
(It hurts, but it seems to be healing up; had to twist the nail to get it free of the bone, but it did little tissue damage when I yanked it out. Drove myself home and even stopped to see my 89 year old Aunt at family's NY Day gathering; she's doing well. Now it's just a matter of getting coffee to my desk without spilling it, by relying on Laura to take pity on me and carry it for me.)
Whenever I've done something like that; last time, I fastened my thumb to a 2x4 with a 2.5" wide-crown framing staple; I had to remember that Whatever Doesn't Kill Me Hurts Like Hell.
Straddled the bone. It was not easy to stretch to get my side-cutters to free myself.
That was the worst part. My thumb throbbing, pain going off in my head like the bell in the sledgehammer carnival strongman game; and laughing so hard at myself tears were rolling down my face as I wondered what the hell I was going to have to do if I couldn't get my snips.
I just said "DAMMIT!" about a dozen times and "Thank ya Jeezus!" when I found it had missed the kneecap entirely; it didn't even start to REALLY hurt for several hours.
I have what I 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 is a sciatic thing that affects the same leg, which will start to hurt if I walk more than a few miles, and sometimes just decides to hurt on its own; finding a sleeping position that accommodates both pains was fun.
I’m headed to my at-least-for-now job. And it feels like I’m riding into a hopeless battle. I’m hoping and praying it goes one way, but it feels like Al I can do is hope and fight like hell.
Respectfully suggest that you refocus on today, stay in the moment, do what’s put in front of you to do. When we get too far out ahead of ourselves, it’s easy to start thinking of everything that could go wrong. I have learned that the best way to prepare for an unknown future is to deal with the present.
You’ve got a job, and both feet. Wiggle those toes! Say hello to them! Carpe the fucking diem.
I ended up staying awake until 7:30 yesterday morning (working on a bookcase), and my sleep was all over the map plus I couldn’t figure out what day it was. And I didn’t have tabs, a tweener rave, and brunch to deal with, just some cats who seemed a bit bewildered about our changes in meal time, etc. I got to bed about 2 AM and slept about 3 AM and it is now 6:30 AM and I am perky perky awake and ready to accomplish.
Can confirm that Rebecca is A GODDAMN HERO.
Not all heroes wear capes, and if Edna has anything to say about it, none of them do. Some heroes take naps and spend the whole day in their night pajamas. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.
Garth Brooks covered a KISS song at the recent Kennedy Center awards. I couldn't find a clip of it. I'm sure it left everyone in tears. From my search, apparently Garth Brooks is a common performer at these things.I thought he was wealthy enough to not have to do this. Maybe he lost a lot in a divorce.
I recall that when Bud Light did an add with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, that it drew RWNJ backlash and boycott of the beer. Brooks had just opened a bar in Nashville, and he announced that it would serve the Bud Light, and that he didn't want those angry assholes in his joint.
Garth Brooks performs because he enjoys it. He has plenty of money.
I did a corporate gig with him once. It was a fundraiser, sponsored by the non-profit Foundation of a very for-profit company. He donated his appearance.
The sponsors had an elaborate Green Room set up for him, and a bunch of corporate handlers standing by to cater to his every whim.
When Brooks was supposed to be there, I heard a lot of consternation over the radio from the handlers, who couldn't find him. He'd flown his own plane into a local private airport and called a cab from there to the venue, so they didn't get their hands on him via a limo or anything.
I looked around backstage and saw a short guy in a cowboy hat standing with the stagehands, shooting the shit. I let the handlers know Mr. Brooks was in position and didn't need any thing, and I didn't tell them where he was.
He did his 3 songs, hung around shaking hands for a moment; then pretended he had to "hit the head" and was gone.
Nice guy. Never went into the Green Room with the tiny bread and champagne and foo-foo cheeses. Didn't care about that.
EDIT: In fact, I asked him if he wanted anything more than a mic on a stand and a 1/4" cable for his guitar. He said "No, thanks." I asked, "How about a stool?" He said, "That would be nice, but I won't use it." So I handed him a bottle of water. He said, "Thanks." And then after he had left, I found the bottle of water just offstage. He'd never even opened it. Didn't even want that.
"Based on what I've read I'm not allowed to run for a third term."
It's right there in the Constitution. Clear as day, 2 terms or 10 years. And the Constitution isn't this incredibly long or cryptic document. It's like 10 pages long!
But it's so hard and written in "ancient" language (That's what the Dump said when he couldn't even read the one sentence of the Executive Branch for Nancy Pelosi's daughter's documentary. He complained it "wasn't even English").
It really isn't. I'd argue that any document written in English after 1600 should be readable by native English speakers. The Constitution was written nearly two centuries after that.
I have a PhD in English and taught university and college English and Lit classes for over 20 years.
My students would call Shakespeare "Old English." I'm like, "Naw. You wouldn't even be able to *read* Old English b/c it's a foreign language. Shakespeare, like our Constitution is Early Modern English or.....English."
I really have zero patience for shitters who refuse to learn a thing and are incurious. I have nothing but contempt and scorn for it.
I remember reading some Chaucer in school, which was written in between Old English and the modern day English that came about c. 1600, and there was both the original text plus a modern day English translation. I remember having a real hard time with the original text; it looks like Chaucer made every spelling mistake possible.
I have been reading Shakespeare since I was in junior high and have no problems comrephending Old English. If I'm honest there are moments when I find myself slipping into the same ancient patterns of speech.
Really? Generally speaking Old English is English before 1200, where the French influence from William the Conqueror hadn't fully taken hold yet. Shakespeare isn't Old English, he's modern day.
The man is utterly incapable of even faking a small measure of empathy. ALL that fat fucking facist can do is mock, demean, insult, or threaten.
Just wait until HE finally draws his LAST breath. The Earth will be rocked on its' axis secondary to the overwhelming JOY being expressed the world over.
"This type of city dwellers elitism is why the world is in such a divided state. The further removed you are from real life (survival, getting your own food, shelter etc) the further your head is up your own ass and the smug airs come around you."
Sure, chud. Tell me how so many rural dwellers "get their own food and shelter, etc."
Right. Everybody knows them rural folk are out there foraging for roots and berries for sustenance, and building their crude dwellings from trees they have cut down with their bare hands.
Farmers shop at the grocery store. They have to drive farther and farther to find one, as rural America closes up shop.
Cities and rural areas are different. What they can get away with in the country doesn't fly in the city. Too many people too close together. By contrast, what works in the city doesn't work in the country. Not enough density of population or capital. Which is why, since the 1950s, the goal of the Finance Sector (and, interestingly, the Chamber of Commerce) has been to encourage the depopulation of rural areas.
Soon enough almost nobody will live in a town of less than 50,000 population. The goal is to do mass-scale corporate farming the way they do diamond mining in Canada, north of the Arctic Circle. Shifts of workers go live, as if on the Moon, for 14 days on, 14 days off.
And there's nobody else there for miles.
That'll be far more financially efficient, so that's what they're doing. Shutting off daycare assistance and eliminating Medicare, both on the excuse of fraud, are big steps in that policy direction.
Our whole county is about 50,000 people. Our largest city is roughly 10,000 (though it triples that in the summer with summer people and long-term tourists). Fishing, logging and tourism all drive the local economy.
I don't quite know how to fit this into their equation.
Fishing and logging will continue, they're extraction industries.
Tourism will probably be pretty resilient too, but it's seasonal. You may start to see foreign workers on temporary visas coming in to work Tourism as the population dwindles.
Pretty hard for most locals to survive off-season in touristy areas, unless they're ownership.
Even ownership struggles, since the vast majority of business owners are small biz and sole proprietors. Our largest employers are the tribally-owned casino, the local hospital and the public school system. Other than the casino, not exactly corporate overlords. We have a few fast food and restaurant chains, some Dollar Generals, etc., but only a handful of employees at each.
Tourism is already being affected by both the loss of Canadian tourists, and the fear of many of our citizen-, documented- and undocumented-workers that ICE will fuck with them. People are keeping their heads down, and I can’t blame them.
That's really too bad. Areas like you describe are some of the most beautiful places, at least to my preference.
I hope the hospital is still locally owned, and not part of a conglomerate. And that the tourism industry can provide enough tax base to keep the schools.
In the small towns in the area where I grew up, when the schools consolidated and combined, usually to the larger towns, the smaller towns just emptied out.
I'm sick and tired of these assholes' "Oh yure a city folk!! HURRR HURR HURRR! You live in filth and we kill you eventually!! HURR HURR HURRR DURRRRRR! You wouldn't even eat without us. DROOL DROOL DROOL."
When, as you point out, it is much more complex than that. And the ones THEY vote for are trying to depopulate their precious rural areas.
I grew up in farm country, but my parents were city folk (at least my Dad was); and highly educated with a cosmopolitan perspective. So we never fit in. The first moment I could, I moved to The Cities, and have stayed here these past 40+ years.
I didn't have the right last name, so I'd never have been more than the main person running somebody else's (with the right last name) business, making them rich.
All 8 of my siblings left, for the same reason. If any of us were to ever move back, which won't happen; any of us would be among the top 0.1% wealthiest people in that town.
Not that we're that rich. That most people there are that poor and have no options. Which is why all the kids who can, leave.
Well, it wasn't in Cheboygan, MI. Yeah, we're at the rural end of the state, and, yeah, there are a lot of MAGA butthurts, but it is a wonderful place to live, and with the Internet replacing Sears and Roebuck, the worst part is the lack of good medical services. Believe me, nobody here wants to live elsewhere. There are kinds of people whose personal space demands a little more quiet and farther neighbors. Living in cities always made me itch. If we complain a little about "urban dwellers", just take it with a grain of sand, please. You all complain a lot, too, y'know...
And I'll just say that when we were homeless for awhile, my mom made the decision to move us into the woods and not the city. She thought it was better to be poor there with a child than the Hell I would have taken being homeless in a city.
When I drive out to SW MN, which I don't do as often as my mother would prefer, I do daydream about living about an hour out of Mpls. If they had decent internet I might consider it as my career winds down.
I do love the rural plains. City living has its own inconveniences. Especially if you're poor. The city is a merciless place to have an unreliable car, or to not have enough money to put down three months worth of rent to move in (first, last, and damage deposit).
And City Folk do just assume that you have 24-hr/7-day stores, taxis everywhere or buses (or Uber), dozens of clinics, etc.; and if you don't it's because you're too stupid to know any better.
I find more City people incapable of understanding the effects of the lack of density of population and therefore of capital, than rural people who know very well why the streets in Ghent are returning to gravel.
Urban squalor is different from rural squalor, as urban luxury is different too; and I'm no fan of having anyone live in squalor anywhere.
My neighbor is a nice young man and I like him, but he'd be one helluva lot less irritating if we were in a small town, so he was 50-100 feet away, rather than the 20 feet he, his dogs, his small engines and backyard bonfires are from my open windows all summer.
I've never minded the bickering. I find it kind of funny. I do mind the militant self-pity, and the courses of action it sets into motion. Yes, I do understand how hard the living can be out there. I did something about it because it bothered me enough to do so.
There's complaining and then like the OP having utter scorn and presenting a twisted view of what living a "rural" life is like.
City people aren't "soft" and rural people aren't some kind of manly alphas out cutting a swathe in the country with their bare hands and living off the land.
Many apologies if my initial knee-jerk reaction offended anyone, but I'm full-on sick of these people who are ripping up this country over stupid shit (again, not you).
If we taxed billionaires properly and didn't just worry about extracting $$$$ we could have both and have good medical care in rural areas.
Where you select $10 worth of stuff, and the cash register rings up $12! And then adds tax. Which, who knows, is probably paid to the State on the $10 of stuff.
The Reactionaries tell them they're "fighting the good fight," representing the values of a utopian past that never existed. They already hold grudges against everyone who left, which includes all the City People, educated people, professionals, etc.
So they're all set up for the Reactionary scammers. Just as, 100 years ago and more, they were all set up for Harold Hill, The Music Man.
Pokras doesn’t have a loon tattoo, nor any other tattoos for that matter. But he’d become enchanted by loons while volunteering to rescue seabirds after a series of oil spills in New Jersey, and when his colleague asked if he’d necropsy a dead loon on that otherwise ordinary day in 1987, he readily agreed.
Cutting into the bird, Pokras discovered that it had suffered from lead toxicosis, more commonly known as lead poisoning. Loons eat pebbles to help digest food in their gizzard, and this one may have mistaken a lead sinker left behind by a fisherman for a pebble, or perhaps eaten a fish with a lead sinker in its body. In Pokras’s X-ray, the sinker showed up as an unnaturally round ball amid a mess of partially digested fish and shellfish. After the bird ate it, the lead would have leached toxicants into the bloodstream, causing impaired vision, gastrointestinal distress, neurologic issues, and ultimately death.
“This is weird,” Pokras remembers telling his colleague. “We’ll probably never see this again. But if you ever find another dead loon, give me a call.”
I remember having slumber parties, but my Mom's cut off point was 3 AM. She was a teacher, so it only took one "Lights Off and Quiet," with that Teacher Look, to have us all under our blankets. Thank you for bringing back those memories - I loved my slumber parties, and still remember Dad saying, "I don't know why the hell they call 'em SLUMBER parties," and muttering more under his breath. But, he never said, "No." :-)
OMG, me, too! I loved them and my parents were saints, LOL! They would always just stay in their bedroom and let us have the run of the house.
One of my favorite ones was in 6th grade and I had 11 (!!!!) girls over and we divided into teams and each team made a "haunted house." My mom was less than thrilled with some of the mess the next morning and our screaming and giggling throughout the night.
When the Toomush kids were young, I had outlasted my New Years Eve Party enthusisamz, and offered to stay home with them and any of our friend's kids. It became a tradition for about ten years. It was way more fun than going out. As soon as the last one had been dropped off, I'd look around and waggle my eyes: "Are they gone yet? Okay, NO RULES!" For about an hour, there'd be nothing but running around screaming, blowing horns, rattles, etc. Then, they'd start to settle down and party their little asses off nicely. When the parents came back around 2 am, most of them would be sleeping, and the parents would tell me what a saint I was. Little did they know! We had a much better time than they did!...
One of them brought it up New Years Eve (the Youngest Toomush Daughter who went out dancing and bar hopping with Mrs. Toomush and I! She remembered how much fun it was, and I had forgotten after all these years!...
They were hilarious parties! I felt so grateful to be allowed to host, and never let on. They came to an end when some of the parents got wise and wanted to party with us. That lasted a couple of years, but was exhausting...
The only time we got in trouble was once about 1 AM, when we decided that going outside in our pjs and doing cartwheels on the lawn, was a good idea. But, even then, it was a mild reprimand. Oh, and we always cleaned up after ourselves, the next morning - some more than others. My bestest friend was very good at cleaning up, even better than I was.
I love the idea of the haunted house! We only ever did Ouija board, with scrabble letters and a wine glass.
OMG, we did Ouija boards too at slumber parties and we lived near a cemetery and a few times we snuck out in the dead of night and did the Ouija board there. *shudders*
I had one sleep over where I couldn’t figure how to unlock the front door the morning after when my parents were asleep, but our Westie really seemed to need out, so my friend and I figured out how to take off a window screen (ground floor) and open the window a bit, and dropped the dog out.
We couldn’t figure out how to get the dog back IN, but thought we were pretty smart.
Your hed gif info: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/toothy-titan-triggerfish
And meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/38445d76-92c7-4402-9d76-abdd9af610cb?utm_source=share
GROUPER BOOPER!
Sure, “triggerfish,” whatever.
Um … that’s a … um … Gemini capsule in low earth orbit? I need more coffee? No *you* need more coffee.
Good morning. We’re one day closer to the end of this shit. I hope we don’t all have to take Gemini capsules and GTFO.
It looks very sus-fishus!
MaraLagoFace Fish
Triggerfish libelz!
A very finny post Martini.
I am deeply triggered.
The Toothy Titan Triggerfish
uses his big white teeth
to munch on his dinner
In the briny deep
Oh look! A Dave's Not Here Man fish!
A Kimberly Guilfoyle fish.
aw, pity the poor fish.
Why do you hate that fish?
Aww, so cute! Let's call him nibbles!
Good morning Martini. Interesting trivia - although the Titan Triggerfish is not found in the waters around Hawaii, the state fish of Hawaii is a different species of Trigger fish - Say hello to the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. Interesting bit about how it got it's name.
https://bossfrog.com/humuhumunukunukuapuaa-hawaiis-state-fish/maui-activities/
You have to say its name in your best Jackie Gleason voice.
I have no idea how to rhyme that one! but, I will work on it...
When I read it, my brain goes right to Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon".
Don Ho wrote a song about that fish.
Triggerfish are such an interesting species!
Demented fishie has a great dentist.
OK the other thing that came to mind were those “redneck teeth”; especially the pacifier ones.
Is it just me, or is that fish actually screaming "THE BEST. IS YET. TO COME!"?
More like, "Please, human, get me an orthodontist."
Fish heads, fish heads. And teeths!
Roly-poly fish heads!
Piranha?! Piranha?! I gotchur piranha right here, Mate.
“What’s up, Doc?”
This fish may be a badass
The meanest on the reef
But I can't help but giggle
At those stupid looking teef.
nice!
If Titan Triggerfish have solitary tendencies, who am I to intrude? Just because they're wild looking creatures with character and appeal?
That fish face appears crafted by nature for figure and likeness licensing...
Thanks so much for that Aretha Frankln clip!
When Cynthia Erivo, the co-star of the "Wicked" movies, is a worthy successor, and that's saying a lot.
PRO TIP: When working on New Years Day, do not get into such a hurry to finish the rear corner of the fence you're installing that, while re-positioning yourself to get to those last pickets on the side (the ones 6" from the neighbor's chicken-coop-in-progress) that you accidentally put a 2.5" ring-shank nail into your knee, due in part to your own impatience, and in part to the pile of branches you're sitting on shifting unexpectedly. You might get lucky and miss the knee cap entirely, but pulling the nail out will NOT be fun. Let go of that trigger, even though you don't think you need to.
(It hurts, but it seems to be healing up; had to twist the nail to get it free of the bone, but it did little tissue damage when I yanked it out. Drove myself home and even stopped to see my 89 year old Aunt at family's NY Day gathering; she's doing well. Now it's just a matter of getting coffee to my desk without spilling it, by relying on Laura to take pity on me and carry it for me.)
(Yes, I have recently had a tetanus shot).
How was everyone else's day?
I’ve learned to be cautious when I’m right at the end of a job and it’s late and I’m tired.
It takes more discipline sometimes to stop than it does to push yourself through.
That was a hell of a thing, and I’m glad for you that it wasn’t worse.
Whenever I've done something like that; last time, I fastened my thumb to a 2x4 with a 2.5" wide-crown framing staple; I had to remember that Whatever Doesn't Kill Me Hurts Like Hell.
Ouch.
Straddled the bone. It was not easy to stretch to get my side-cutters to free myself.
That was the worst part. My thumb throbbing, pain going off in my head like the bell in the sledgehammer carnival strongman game; and laughing so hard at myself tears were rolling down my face as I wondered what the hell I was going to have to do if I couldn't get my snips.
I just said "DAMMIT!" about a dozen times and "Thank ya Jeezus!" when I found it had missed the kneecap entirely; it didn't even start to REALLY hurt for several hours.
I have what I 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 is a sciatic thing that affects the same leg, which will start to hurt if I walk more than a few miles, and sometimes just decides to hurt on its own; finding a sleeping position that accommodates both pains was fun.
Wait until you find out you were sitting in poison ivy.
It has never affected me, for some reason.
(Now I've said that, it probably will.)
It only affects about half the population. Lucky you! Good luck with the giant hole in your leg.
Thanks.
(I was going to say that "it's a small hole, really" before I recalled that ANY nail hole in one's leg should be considered as "too big"...)
I’m headed to my at-least-for-now job. And it feels like I’m riding into a hopeless battle. I’m hoping and praying it goes one way, but it feels like Al I can do is hope and fight like hell.
Respectfully suggest that you refocus on today, stay in the moment, do what’s put in front of you to do. When we get too far out ahead of ourselves, it’s easy to start thinking of everything that could go wrong. I have learned that the best way to prepare for an unknown future is to deal with the present.
You’ve got a job, and both feet. Wiggle those toes! Say hello to them! Carpe the fucking diem.
FIGHT LIKE HELL KID!!!
Hold your head up high, get in there and get it DONE.
After you clock out leave those bastards wondering how in the HELL they got by without YOU for so long, my friend.
You have to do what you have to to take care of yourself and health. I'm so sorry you are in this position.
In a civilized country this wouldn't even be a fucking choice.
I ended up staying awake until 7:30 yesterday morning (working on a bookcase), and my sleep was all over the map plus I couldn’t figure out what day it was. And I didn’t have tabs, a tweener rave, and brunch to deal with, just some cats who seemed a bit bewildered about our changes in meal time, etc. I got to bed about 2 AM and slept about 3 AM and it is now 6:30 AM and I am perky perky awake and ready to accomplish.
Can confirm that Rebecca is A GODDAMN HERO.
Not all heroes wear capes, and if Edna has anything to say about it, none of them do. Some heroes take naps and spend the whole day in their night pajamas. I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.
Aretha made me cry. Thank you so much. May this new year treat you and yours with kindness. 🫶🏼✌🏻
Garth Brooks covered a KISS song at the recent Kennedy Center awards. I couldn't find a clip of it. I'm sure it left everyone in tears. From my search, apparently Garth Brooks is a common performer at these things.I thought he was wealthy enough to not have to do this. Maybe he lost a lot in a divorce.
I recall that when Bud Light did an add with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, that it drew RWNJ backlash and boycott of the beer. Brooks had just opened a bar in Nashville, and he announced that it would serve the Bud Light, and that he didn't want those angry assholes in his joint.
Garth Brooks performs because he enjoys it. He has plenty of money.
I did a corporate gig with him once. It was a fundraiser, sponsored by the non-profit Foundation of a very for-profit company. He donated his appearance.
The sponsors had an elaborate Green Room set up for him, and a bunch of corporate handlers standing by to cater to his every whim.
When Brooks was supposed to be there, I heard a lot of consternation over the radio from the handlers, who couldn't find him. He'd flown his own plane into a local private airport and called a cab from there to the venue, so they didn't get their hands on him via a limo or anything.
I looked around backstage and saw a short guy in a cowboy hat standing with the stagehands, shooting the shit. I let the handlers know Mr. Brooks was in position and didn't need any thing, and I didn't tell them where he was.
He did his 3 songs, hung around shaking hands for a moment; then pretended he had to "hit the head" and was gone.
Nice guy. Never went into the Green Room with the tiny bread and champagne and foo-foo cheeses. Didn't care about that.
EDIT: In fact, I asked him if he wanted anything more than a mic on a stand and a 1/4" cable for his guitar. He said "No, thanks." I asked, "How about a stool?" He said, "That would be nice, but I won't use it." So I handed him a bottle of water. He said, "Thanks." And then after he had left, I found the bottle of water just offstage. He'd never even opened it. Didn't even want that.
Garth Brooks is a good guy who stands up for LGBTQ rights when most country singers don't.
And that's about all I know about him at this juncture. I like a few of his songs.
Geez . . . let the man take off his coat before you start in with your tiresome bullshit.
•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•---•
"Israel accuses Mamdani of antisemitism on first day as New York mayor"–https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/02/israel-mamdani-antisemitism-ihra-definition
Has Mamdani machine gunned anyone in line at a food bank?
No word if he's had anyone arrested for releasing footage of prisoners being sexually assaulted.
Fuck OFF, Bibi.
Jesus Fucking Christ.
didn't he renounce his membership in Judaism? I'm pretty sure he had a more cosmopolitan attitude (Jesus)....
Fucking fuck fucking static electricity.
I just came in from my walk and took my hat off and my hair is swirling around my head and shocking me every time I brush it out of my face
When you go for a walk, put a dryer sheet on top of your head before you put your hat on.
Follow me for more tips. Or chips. Or not because I may not remember where I’m going.
And it's done. The apartment is clean.
Except that square of faux wood floor by the front door. It's winter in Michigan, and I know a futile job when I see one.
Salute!
I am in fucking awe.
There but for the (dubious) grace of the God of Laziness go I . . .
Hooray! How are you feeling today after cleaning up the possible black mold?
I think I'm good, but it's going to be a while before I'm sure.
I’ve seen mold test kits for sale. No idea how reliable they are.
Spoiler alert: he was looking at the chart upside down.
https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:mtr3pwmbnirvyp3robuicd57/bafkreiadyehvxllpwmwvgpjhhjz24liadbrowxbzzfcgtsyz7sxjdmrwfq@jpeg
"Based on what I've read I'm not allowed to run for a third term."
It's right there in the Constitution. Clear as day, 2 terms or 10 years. And the Constitution isn't this incredibly long or cryptic document. It's like 10 pages long!
MF can’t read an eye chart.
For him that's TLDR.
"Based on what I've read "
Ha,ha, like the moron can read.
But it's so hard and written in "ancient" language (That's what the Dump said when he couldn't even read the one sentence of the Executive Branch for Nancy Pelosi's daughter's documentary. He complained it "wasn't even English").
It really isn't. I'd argue that any document written in English after 1600 should be readable by native English speakers. The Constitution was written nearly two centuries after that.
I have a PhD in English and taught university and college English and Lit classes for over 20 years.
My students would call Shakespeare "Old English." I'm like, "Naw. You wouldn't even be able to *read* Old English b/c it's a foreign language. Shakespeare, like our Constitution is Early Modern English or.....English."
I really have zero patience for shitters who refuse to learn a thing and are incurious. I have nothing but contempt and scorn for it.
And their feet stink and don't luv jayses!
LOL!
An unfed mind devours itself.
That's good!
I remember reading some Chaucer in school, which was written in between Old English and the modern day English that came about c. 1600, and there was both the original text plus a modern day English translation. I remember having a real hard time with the original text; it looks like Chaucer made every spelling mistake possible.
Middle English. That is my area of specialty. XD
Yes, there were no regularized spelling rules. :) :)
I have been reading Shakespeare since I was in junior high and have no problems comrephending Old English. If I'm honest there are moments when I find myself slipping into the same ancient patterns of speech.
I quite like the sound of it.
I do, too. It's lovely.
Really? Generally speaking Old English is English before 1200, where the French influence from William the Conqueror hadn't fully taken hold yet. Shakespeare isn't Old English, he's modern day.
From the People Mag tab:
𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘈𝘎𝘈 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘋.𝘊., 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘍𝘒 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴, 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴, 𝘪𝘯 1963.
Why am I not surprised?
He's a Family Circle cartoon. "It wasn't me. People are saying"
The man is utterly incapable of even faking a small measure of empathy. ALL that fat fucking facist can do is mock, demean, insult, or threaten.
Just wait until HE finally draws his LAST breath. The Earth will be rocked on its' axis secondary to the overwhelming JOY being expressed the world over.
I want to see someone fire back something incredibly ugly at him during a presser and then see the resultant meltdown.
Too bad there isn't one fucking non-coward among the press corps.
I mean, if it's a money thing, the resulting GoFundMe will undoubtedly break records. I'm pre-pledging, right here.
It would also be engaging in underhanded means to get the press pass, I'm assuming.
Get me a plane ticket and a press pass.
It shall be done.
Seriously. Why is there not one decent "Democrat billionaire" who would finance such a thing?
Someone really needs to take up Tiedrich's "what the fuck is wrong with you" challenge.
Days since Trump hasn't proven to be sentient garbage: 0
Also, why am I not surprised Bobby the Lesser hasn't said jack shit either?
Someone should ask him how proud he is about cutting cancer research funds NOW.
He introduced younger family members to heroin. His family has hated him for a while.
If she had only eaten more fresh road kill like he recommended. And injected some steroids every day.
I wouldn't have any regrets if he came down with cancer and no doctors decided to take him on as a patient. I'm mean that way...
"This type of city dwellers elitism is why the world is in such a divided state. The further removed you are from real life (survival, getting your own food, shelter etc) the further your head is up your own ass and the smug airs come around you."
Sure, chud. Tell me how so many rural dwellers "get their own food and shelter, etc."
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FUCKING CHUDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
W/o the cities, there would be no rural nothing. Period.
I WANNA DWELL WHERE I WANNA!
Right. Everybody knows them rural folk are out there foraging for roots and berries for sustenance, and building their crude dwellings from trees they have cut down with their bare hands.
Alpha Males!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Farmers shop at the grocery store. They have to drive farther and farther to find one, as rural America closes up shop.
Cities and rural areas are different. What they can get away with in the country doesn't fly in the city. Too many people too close together. By contrast, what works in the city doesn't work in the country. Not enough density of population or capital. Which is why, since the 1950s, the goal of the Finance Sector (and, interestingly, the Chamber of Commerce) has been to encourage the depopulation of rural areas.
Soon enough almost nobody will live in a town of less than 50,000 population. The goal is to do mass-scale corporate farming the way they do diamond mining in Canada, north of the Arctic Circle. Shifts of workers go live, as if on the Moon, for 14 days on, 14 days off.
And there's nobody else there for miles.
That'll be far more financially efficient, so that's what they're doing. Shutting off daycare assistance and eliminating Medicare, both on the excuse of fraud, are big steps in that policy direction.
Our whole county is about 50,000 people. Our largest city is roughly 10,000 (though it triples that in the summer with summer people and long-term tourists). Fishing, logging and tourism all drive the local economy.
I don't quite know how to fit this into their equation.
Fishing and logging will continue, they're extraction industries.
Tourism will probably be pretty resilient too, but it's seasonal. You may start to see foreign workers on temporary visas coming in to work Tourism as the population dwindles.
Pretty hard for most locals to survive off-season in touristy areas, unless they're ownership.
Even ownership struggles, since the vast majority of business owners are small biz and sole proprietors. Our largest employers are the tribally-owned casino, the local hospital and the public school system. Other than the casino, not exactly corporate overlords. We have a few fast food and restaurant chains, some Dollar Generals, etc., but only a handful of employees at each.
Tourism is already being affected by both the loss of Canadian tourists, and the fear of many of our citizen-, documented- and undocumented-workers that ICE will fuck with them. People are keeping their heads down, and I can’t blame them.
SO, basically, things are … well, let’s just say:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LTHVNq1QmpQbdtYccZGHTCdFI2j5YD3i/view?usp=sharing
That's really too bad. Areas like you describe are some of the most beautiful places, at least to my preference.
I hope the hospital is still locally owned, and not part of a conglomerate. And that the tourism industry can provide enough tax base to keep the schools.
In the small towns in the area where I grew up, when the schools consolidated and combined, usually to the larger towns, the smaller towns just emptied out.
I'm sick and tired of these assholes' "Oh yure a city folk!! HURRR HURR HURRR! You live in filth and we kill you eventually!! HURR HURR HURRR DURRRRRR! You wouldn't even eat without us. DROOL DROOL DROOL."
When, as you point out, it is much more complex than that. And the ones THEY vote for are trying to depopulate their precious rural areas.
I grew up in farm country, but my parents were city folk (at least my Dad was); and highly educated with a cosmopolitan perspective. So we never fit in. The first moment I could, I moved to The Cities, and have stayed here these past 40+ years.
I didn't have the right last name, so I'd never have been more than the main person running somebody else's (with the right last name) business, making them rich.
All 8 of my siblings left, for the same reason. If any of us were to ever move back, which won't happen; any of us would be among the top 0.1% wealthiest people in that town.
Not that we're that rich. That most people there are that poor and have no options. Which is why all the kids who can, leave.
Well, it wasn't in Cheboygan, MI. Yeah, we're at the rural end of the state, and, yeah, there are a lot of MAGA butthurts, but it is a wonderful place to live, and with the Internet replacing Sears and Roebuck, the worst part is the lack of good medical services. Believe me, nobody here wants to live elsewhere. There are kinds of people whose personal space demands a little more quiet and farther neighbors. Living in cities always made me itch. If we complain a little about "urban dwellers", just take it with a grain of sand, please. You all complain a lot, too, y'know...
And I'll just say that when we were homeless for awhile, my mom made the decision to move us into the woods and not the city. She thought it was better to be poor there with a child than the Hell I would have taken being homeless in a city.
I loved it (I was 8 or 9).
When I drive out to SW MN, which I don't do as often as my mother would prefer, I do daydream about living about an hour out of Mpls. If they had decent internet I might consider it as my career winds down.
I do love the rural plains. City living has its own inconveniences. Especially if you're poor. The city is a merciless place to have an unreliable car, or to not have enough money to put down three months worth of rent to move in (first, last, and damage deposit).
And City Folk do just assume that you have 24-hr/7-day stores, taxis everywhere or buses (or Uber), dozens of clinics, etc.; and if you don't it's because you're too stupid to know any better.
I find more City people incapable of understanding the effects of the lack of density of population and therefore of capital, than rural people who know very well why the streets in Ghent are returning to gravel.
Urban squalor is different from rural squalor, as urban luxury is different too; and I'm no fan of having anyone live in squalor anywhere.
My neighbor is a nice young man and I like him, but he'd be one helluva lot less irritating if we were in a small town, so he was 50-100 feet away, rather than the 20 feet he, his dogs, his small engines and backyard bonfires are from my open windows all summer.
I've never minded the bickering. I find it kind of funny. I do mind the militant self-pity, and the courses of action it sets into motion. Yes, I do understand how hard the living can be out there. I did something about it because it bothered me enough to do so.
There's complaining and then like the OP having utter scorn and presenting a twisted view of what living a "rural" life is like.
City people aren't "soft" and rural people aren't some kind of manly alphas out cutting a swathe in the country with their bare hands and living off the land.
Many apologies if my initial knee-jerk reaction offended anyone, but I'm full-on sick of these people who are ripping up this country over stupid shit (again, not you).
If we taxed billionaires properly and didn't just worry about extracting $$$$ we could have both and have good medical care in rural areas.
From Dollar General?
Where you select $10 worth of stuff, and the cash register rings up $12! And then adds tax. Which, who knows, is probably paid to the State on the $10 of stuff.
Ghetto gougers of rural America
And the droolers vote for it. Can't get enough of that floppy GOP fascist dick.
The Reactionaries tell them they're "fighting the good fight," representing the values of a utopian past that never existed. They already hold grudges against everyone who left, which includes all the City People, educated people, professionals, etc.
So they're all set up for the Reactionary scammers. Just as, 100 years ago and more, they were all set up for Harold Hill, The Music Man.
And MARION the LIBERRAN don't ferget!
It's all Hank Williams, Jr.s A Country Boy Can Survive.
It's gross. And of course many of them are pointy headed idiots and won't question it.
This. Exactly.
Looney Tunes
Mother Jones
@motherjones.com
Lead kills the beloved birds, and the fix could be easy. But the gun lobby won’t let that happen.
https://bsky.app/profile/motherjones.com/post/3mbh6yx2d262k
From the article:
Pokras doesn’t have a loon tattoo, nor any other tattoos for that matter. But he’d become enchanted by loons while volunteering to rescue seabirds after a series of oil spills in New Jersey, and when his colleague asked if he’d necropsy a dead loon on that otherwise ordinary day in 1987, he readily agreed.
Cutting into the bird, Pokras discovered that it had suffered from lead toxicosis, more commonly known as lead poisoning. Loons eat pebbles to help digest food in their gizzard, and this one may have mistaken a lead sinker left behind by a fisherman for a pebble, or perhaps eaten a fish with a lead sinker in its body. In Pokras’s X-ray, the sinker showed up as an unnaturally round ball amid a mess of partially digested fish and shellfish. After the bird ate it, the lead would have leached toxicants into the bloodstream, causing impaired vision, gastrointestinal distress, neurologic issues, and ultimately death.
“This is weird,” Pokras remembers telling his colleague. “We’ll probably never see this again. But if you ever find another dead loon, give me a call.”
"My favorite part is Carole King loooosing her miiiiiind"
I dunno, Barack tearing up just killed me.
I dissolved into tears as well.
I do LOVE that man to bits.
Happy New Year to Donna Rose and Lu!
I remember having slumber parties, but my Mom's cut off point was 3 AM. She was a teacher, so it only took one "Lights Off and Quiet," with that Teacher Look, to have us all under our blankets. Thank you for bringing back those memories - I loved my slumber parties, and still remember Dad saying, "I don't know why the hell they call 'em SLUMBER parties," and muttering more under his breath. But, he never said, "No." :-)
OMG, me, too! I loved them and my parents were saints, LOL! They would always just stay in their bedroom and let us have the run of the house.
One of my favorite ones was in 6th grade and I had 11 (!!!!) girls over and we divided into teams and each team made a "haunted house." My mom was less than thrilled with some of the mess the next morning and our screaming and giggling throughout the night.
When the Toomush kids were young, I had outlasted my New Years Eve Party enthusisamz, and offered to stay home with them and any of our friend's kids. It became a tradition for about ten years. It was way more fun than going out. As soon as the last one had been dropped off, I'd look around and waggle my eyes: "Are they gone yet? Okay, NO RULES!" For about an hour, there'd be nothing but running around screaming, blowing horns, rattles, etc. Then, they'd start to settle down and party their little asses off nicely. When the parents came back around 2 am, most of them would be sleeping, and the parents would tell me what a saint I was. Little did they know! We had a much better time than they did!...
How wonderful for the Toomush kids!!
One of them brought it up New Years Eve (the Youngest Toomush Daughter who went out dancing and bar hopping with Mrs. Toomush and I! She remembered how much fun it was, and I had forgotten after all these years!...
What a great tradition! That is awesome. :) :) :)
They were hilarious parties! I felt so grateful to be allowed to host, and never let on. They came to an end when some of the parents got wise and wanted to party with us. That lasted a couple of years, but was exhausting...
The only time we got in trouble was once about 1 AM, when we decided that going outside in our pjs and doing cartwheels on the lawn, was a good idea. But, even then, it was a mild reprimand. Oh, and we always cleaned up after ourselves, the next morning - some more than others. My bestest friend was very good at cleaning up, even better than I was.
I love the idea of the haunted house! We only ever did Ouija board, with scrabble letters and a wine glass.
OMG, we did Ouija boards too at slumber parties and we lived near a cemetery and a few times we snuck out in the dead of night and did the Ouija board there. *shudders*
I had one sleep over where I couldn’t figure how to unlock the front door the morning after when my parents were asleep, but our Westie really seemed to need out, so my friend and I figured out how to take off a window screen (ground floor) and open the window a bit, and dropped the dog out.
We couldn’t figure out how to get the dog back IN, but thought we were pretty smart.
Great memory!
OMG that is a classic young girl story right there, LOL! So adorable. XD XD XD