
Compassion, Int’l: Sunday Stealing
tulips

Roger Green: a librarian's life, deconstructed.
tulips
french revolution
Here 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
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.
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.
insomnia
The 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.
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.
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
Robert Mueller’s Indictment Song
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
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
Pulp Empire – “A Tarantino inspired Star Wars mashup and remix”
The insidious lure of nostalgia
Snapping dry spaghetti into just two pieces
Now I Know: Why Bird Poop is White
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)’
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
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