Compassion, Int’l: Sunday Stealing

tulips

This week’s Sunday Stealing is Compassion, Int’l, which refers to this organization. What the quiz has to do with the entity, I am uncertain.

1. Do you ever have funny dreams at night?
If by “funny,” they mean weird, strange, bizarre, then yeah. And I can have them when I take a 30-minute nap. I remember them for a time but forget them if I don’t write them down. That said, one recent one involved my late father.

Just last night, I played handball, two on two, but we played with full-sized cars that bounced instead of balls. (I used to play racquetball regularly from 1983-2010.)

2. If you could make a law for your country, what would it be?
A salary ratio so that the rich don’t continue to get richer.

3. What would you do if you were invisible for a day?
I’d sneak into some corporate entity and sneak out their documents proving their culpability in, e.g., polluting the air or water or creating other risks for people and/or animals. Then I’d leak ’em to the press. (Or should I post them on my blog first? Hmmm.)

4. If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be?
Elon Musk. And I’d give away 90% of his/my money to worthy entities feeding the hungry, fighting disease et al.

5. What would you like to change about yourself?
I want to eliminate some pain.

6. What is your daily routine?
Currently: I get up, post my blog to Facebook, do Wordle, Dordle, Quordle, and Octotordle, vote for my niece Rebecca Jade in five categories, vote for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame candidates, and check my email. Weigh myself, and take my blood pressure and pulse. Feed the cats, then feed myself. Then it depends.
Perfection
7. What would your perfect day be like? What would you be doing?
Seeing a movie at a cinema, watching a play, or singing in the choir, and then getting a massage.

8. How old were you when you learned to read?
IDK. I don’t recall not reading.

9. What is the most interesting thing you know?
I don’t know that it’s INTERESTING, but I know all of the US Presidents, in order and year of inauguration

10 What makes you nervous?
Being late to take a plane or train.

11. What is your favourite flower?
Tulips. It’s an Albany thing.

12. Have you ever ridden on a horse or any other animal?
Yes, on June 9, 1975, I rode a horse. It was the day after I had my first hangover. Not recommended.

13. What time do you go to bed?
11 p.m., or maybe later if I have projects to finish.

14. What time do you get up?
7:15 a.m., when the cats want to be fed.

15. What is something that is always in your refrigerator?
Eggs, 1% milk, cottage cheese, grapes, and apples.

December Questions for Sunday Stealing

french revolution

December questionsHere are some December Questions for Sunday Stealing.

1. My plans for December 

I’m happy that the church choir is singing in person again regularly. We did sing in late 2021, but it was sporadic; half the choir sang one week, then just the soloists, then the other half, then the soloists. It wasn’t easy to get a musical rhythm. We all did sing on Christmas Eve.

2. How energized I feel at this point in the year. 

It’s cold, and it’s darker for longer. But it’s not awful.

3. The best things about the holiday season 

Music. Singing it, listening to it. BTW, my bud fillyjonk linked to a great piece by the Monkees!

4. Something that changed my perspective on life 

The whole year has been a series of Plan B moments.

5. What I seem to get the most comments about 

Evidently, I am a very expressive singer. Even strangers have commented on it. 

6. The changes I’ve made to my style 

I have no style. Or, more correctly, I don’t care about style to be concerned enough to change it.

7. What gets in the way of my success 

Overcommitting

The fourth estate

8. News sources I trust the most 

I look at LOTS of sources, even ones I don’t particularly trust. It helps inform me how people with different, even, IMO bizarre, thoughts about the world get their ideas. 

9. Fictional characters that would easily fit into my life 

I thought that certain iterations of Peter Parker, the seeming schlub who is unappreciated, would be a friend.

10. My relationship with spirituality 

You’re almost certainly wrong if you think you’ve got it figured out. Mainline churches have liturgies that repeat every three years because one should be taking something new from the stories.

Of course, in my Bible group, we often comment that we’d like to see our pastors tackle some particularly odious passages. We’re in the middle of 2 Kings, some ferocious stuff. 

11. How I feel when I’m being retrospective 

Depends. Sometimes it is with great appreciation that I have good friends, some of whom I’ve known for half a century or longer. Other times it is with regret that I didn’t deal with someone better. 

Artificial intelligence

12. My thoughts on AI technology 

I went to DeepAI and used the prompt, “The french revolution was good.” Here’s the result:

the french revolution was good, I wish I could have played," says the former striker. "You don't go into Spain believing you can go there and play there but I think maybe that was the case.

"The pressure is intense at training because you've got to do everything you can to be successful, because in Spain these days a lot of people do that work and do everything you can to get yourself in top form. So I don't know why we haven't worked hard for some time but definitely the feeling has changed for me.

"The pressure on you in training is intense. I have to go out there and play every minute of any game and try to stay mentally sharp. It's nice to be back at home and feel calm in training or off in the dressing room after all these years."

I find some AI art interesting, but other pieces are rather creepy.

This gets into a whole series of philosophical questions about intellectual property. Plus, what is… knowledge/art/writing/creativity?

13. The odd/weird things I do when nobody else is around 

I don’t think it’s all that odd. I talk to myself, especially when I’m writing. It helps me think. 

14. What do I do when I can’t sleep 

Get up and play Wordle. Read newspapers. 

15. The winter/holiday season tasks I enjoy 

I like buying presents for people who are easy to buy for, such as my daughter. Conversely, my wife is terrible to shop for because she doesn’t hint well.  

My occupation, formerly, obscurely

insomnia

brainexplorerThe next item in the Prompt Book is “What is your occupation? Explain in the most obscure way possible.” I’m going with my most recent one, prior to retirement.

I was an explorer. Early on, I was attracted to exploring. I guess you’d say that I was discoverer-adjacent, or maybe a voyager without the training.

As an explorer, I had this big machete, which I would use to chop down trees, bundle some of the branches, and ship them off to those in need.

Strange thing, though. The forests got thicker. Much thicker. Some of the trees were accessible to everyone, stooped over so that almost anyone could take the branches they needed. This was, in theory, a wonderful thing. The democratization of exploration. Some people assumed that my job wouldn’t be needed anymore.

But then the forest became overgrown. It became more and more difficult to discern which branches were useful, and which were actually just leafy thorns. Now I wasn’t needed to access the low-hanging branches. But my expertise was useful to make sure the branches I did chop were of sufficient quality for the task at hand. That machete became quite necessary.

Poltergeist

Next question. “You discover that there is a poltergeist in your house. How has it been haunting you?”

It has been interrupting my sleep. The damn thing then reminds me of all of the things I did that I should not have, and all the things I didn’t do that I should have. In the former category, if you’ve ever felt aggrieved by something I did, there’s about a 90% chance that I remember it, and an 81% likelihood that I feel bad about it.

It has led to long stretches of insomnia. I’ve needed to eat nothing after about 7 pm and get really exhausted in order to sleep six hours in a row.

Z is for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (sleep)

When children don’t fall into a regular pattern of sleep, parents aren’t sleeping much either.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. oh, phooey…

This is true: I am writing this at 2:30 a.m. a couple weeks ago. I went to sleep, but woke up.

This time, I know it’s because I ate too late. I realize, from experience, that me eating after 7 p.m. is a recipe for nocturnal interruptus.

To put me back to sleep – which usually works for me – I got up and just looked for sleep-related articles, all from the CBS News This Morning program, just to show how significant the topic is.

How lack of sleep affects health and tips for a good night’s rest – October 11, 2017

It’s “frightening” how few young people get enough sleep, expert says – June 25, 2018

New data suggests lack of sleep early in life can raise the risk of heart disease later. Research in the journal Pediatrics connects insufficient sleep in young teens to cardiac risk factors, including high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, and obesity.

In the book “Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams,” published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster (a division of CBS), Matthew Walker says sleep is underestimated as a means for preventing disease.

“For example, even if you’re getting eight hours but are waking up many more times throughout the night or you’re not getting that deep sleep, what we’ve discovered recently is that deep sleep provides the very best form of natural blood pressure medication that you could ever wish for.”

Parents are hiring coaches to get their babies to sleep better – December 1, 2018

New parents face a host of challenges, but one of the most common is dealing with sleep issues. When children don’t fall into a regular pattern of sleep, parents aren’t sleeping much either.

A recent study in the journal Pediatrics found that at six months old, only 43 percent of babies were sleeping 8-hour stretches and at 12 months old, only about 57 percent.

To train their infants to sleep when they do wake in the night, some parents won’t go to their baby’s crib, or may delay feeding. But for others, it is too difficult to ignore the crying.

Also, I heard about Bose Sleepbuds which cost about $250, a bit pricey. Here are some reviews:
New York Times – “tech probably isn’t my solution”
Engadget – helpful but needs improvement (4 stars out of 5)
Techradar – (4 stars out of 5)
Tom’s Guide – They Ruined My Sleep (2 stars out of 5)
PC Magazine (3 stars out of 5)
390 customers on Amazon reviewed it. 5 star 35%, 4 star 16%, 3 star 11%, 2 star 15%, 1 star 23%

AMAZINGLY, 40 minutes of reading about sleeping has made me tired again and… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

For ABC Wednesday

August rambling #2: Fibonacci sequence music

Robert Mueller’s Indictment Song

A friend wrote: “Suddenly, it all makes perfect sense to me. Tubby all grown up=?”
Boston Globe, 22 August 2018: “It’s hard to come up with a satisfactory explanation that doesn’t end up with ‘because he got his hand caught in the cookie jar.'”

The drift towards autocracy continues

“That’s Obstruction of Justice”

How the National Enquirer helped DJT’s fixer keep scandals off the front page

‘Like a State Dinner’: Huge White House Event Honoring Evangelical Christians and he lied to them that he got rid of a law

The 47-page indictment against California Congressman Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret details a shocking list of improper uses of campaign funds and financial mismanagement. The Hunters are accused of spending $250,000 of campaign funds on expenses that no reasonable person would believe were legitimate campaign expenditures

Why peace doesn’t last without women

Trade: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – Jared is to blame

Commission on State Fragility, Growth and Development

Another deadly pandemic is coming — and the United States is not ready

Cancer: It’s Not Always What You Eat, But When You Eat It

Climate change will be deadlier, more destructive and costlier for California than previously believed, state warns

Life After Quitting; Five people on addiction, in their own words

America Soured on My Multiracial Family

Elizabeth Warren stakes out her message

Court Backs Activists Who Feed Homeless

The interwoven systems that shape our destiny even though we rarely pause to think about them

TV debate between William F. Buckley and Groucho Marx

When a Stranger Decides to Destroy Your Life

While We Sleep, Our Mind Goes on an Amazing Journey

Meet The People Who Spend Their Free Time Removing Fake Accounts From Facebook

Ken Levine interviews Peri Gilpin of Frasier, Part 1 and Part 2

A mouse walks into a bar

Jaquandor geeks out

Pulp Empire – “A Tarantino inspired Star Wars mashup and remix”

The insidious lure of nostalgia

Fonts of knowledge

Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart?

Snapping dry spaghetti into just two pieces

Mean Hetty Green

Scrambled eggs in a microwave

Now I Know: Why Bird Poop is White

MUSIC

Music from the Fibonacci sequence

Robert Mueller’s Indictment Song -James Corden

René and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War – Paul Simon (2018)

The Cedar and the Palm,”symphonic picture” Vasily Kalinnikov

Bobaflex – Hey You (Pink Floyd cover)

SEUNGRI – ‘WHERE R U FROM (Feat. MINO)’

A Pentatonix kind of day

Kaze no Torimichi (The Path of Wind) from From My Neighbor Totoro – Joe Hisaishi, adapted for chamber performance

Coverville 1229: The Madonna Cover Story III

The Mamas and the Papas “If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears”

overture to Les Horaces – Antonio Salieri

Inspecta – Jain

The evolution of Dragon’s “Young Years”

Do songs of the summer sound the same?

Inductee insights: Moody Blues

Dirty Prank Calls, Done For $250,000

Newly Released FBI Files Expose Red-Baiting of Woody Guthrie

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