Saturday 9: Colors of the Wind

Saturday 9: Colors of the Wind (1995)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This month we're going to recall Summer Songs. These will all be records that topped the charts during August.

1) Number 1 on the charts in August 30 years ago, "Colors of the Wind" is from the Disney hit, Pocahontas. Have you seen it?

A. I have not seen this movie. I seriously doubt Disney does the real Pocahontas much justice, though, given the way it generally rewrites myths and fairy tales.

2) This song celebrates the glories of nature. Have you spent much time outdoors this summer? If yes, what have you enjoyed doing?

A. I have not been outdoors much this summer. It has either been 100 degrees or raining, without much in between. When I have been outdoors, it has been to look at my garden, which is pathetic and is now mostly dead thanks to too much rain, too little sun, and too much heat.

3) Lyricist Stephen Schwartz said he was inspired by the works of Chief Seattle, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Who is your favorite author?

A. I don't have a favorite author. I like a lot of authors. Sometimes I get on a kick, and I read everything I can by an author, then I move on. I've read all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books, and Sue Grafton's Alphabet mystery books with Kinsey Millhone, and I've read fantasy books by numerous authors, including Tolkien, Rowling, Bujold, Goodkind, etc. I've read romances, gothics, nonfiction, classics, and more just this year. I read everything. 

4) This week's artist, Vanessa Williams, came to national attention as Miss America 1984. In the talent competition she sang "Happy Days Are Here Again." Over the years, contestants have sung, recited original poetry, danced, twirled batons, performed gymnastics and demonstrated martial arts. Which of 

your talents would wow the judges?

A. I could play the guitar, but I doubt it would do much "wowing." I'm not that good at it. Maybe I should recite a piece of original poetry?

5) Her family tree includes William A. Fields, who served in the Tennessee House of Representatives in the late 19th century. Are you interested in genealogy?

A. I have traced parts of my family history, and that of my husband, back beyond the Revolutionary War. I have an ancestor who fought in that war and others who fought in the losing side of the Civil War.

6) Vanessa supports the non-profit Dress for Success, which helps unemployed and underemployed women prepare with career coaching, networking and professional attire. Have you ever gone into a job interview found yourself unprepared? Or, if you prefer, tell us about an interview you confidently aced.

A. I don't know that I've ever been fully prepared for an interview. There is always some question that throws me.

 
Let's look at the summer of 1995.

7) 1995's best-selling new car was the Ford Taurus. That summer, dealers were promoting a 6.9% APR loan or $1,500 cash back with purchase. This summer, drivers with good credit might get a better deal because the average APR for new car loans is a little lower. Do you keep your eye on fluctuating interest rates?

A. I do not watch interest rates at the moment as I am not anticipating a purchase. I had a 1989 Ford Taurus that I loved, by the way. Great car. The 1999 model was not a great car, and we traded it in for another Taurus within a year. That car also had the same problem, and we ultimately ended up with a 2003 Toyota Camry because I refused to buy another Ford.

8) English yachtswoman Lisa Clayton made history by sailing solo around the world. It took her 10 months. Would you be comfortable spending months and months alone?

A. I imagine I could handle it, if there were things to do and books to read.

9) Legendary New York Yankee Mickey Mantle died in 1995. How is your baseball team doing this season?

A. I don't have a baseball team.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday 13 #920

A storm isn’t just weather. It’s a teacher that doesn’t ask if you’re paying attention. The wind scribbles warnings in the trees, the light tilts strange, and suddenly the world feels older than you remembered. Somewhere between the first gust and the last drip from the eaves, you realize you’ve learned a few things you didn’t know you knew.

Things a Storm Teaches You

AI Picture

1. How to measure time without a clock.

2. That silence is a prelude, not a void.

3. The difference between watching and truly witnessing.

4. Why dogs pace before the thunder finds them.

5. That power flutters like a candle before it dies.

6. How memory sharpens in the glow of a single flame. 

7.The smell of ozone braided with old stories.

8. That lightning sketches the sky without permission.

 9. The way thunder rolls like a name you almost remember. 

10. That rain on tin is the lullaby even skeptics believe. 

11. How clouds carry mood as heavily as they carry moisture. 

12. That storms don’t borrow metaphors—they earn them. 

13. The comfort of knowing it will pass, and it will return.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 920th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

August Happiness Challenge Day #12

 

Today I am happy for the young woman who comes and cleans for me once a month. She makes the house feel good, and me feel better about the things I'm not able to do anymore. Hurrah!

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About the August Happiness Challenge

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

August Happiness Challenge Day 11

 

Today I am happy for grocery store roasted chicken. We eat a lot of them. I cannot buy an uncooked chicken and cook it for what I can purchase a pre-roasted chicken for, hot out of the rotisserie. I do not know why this is, but I am not much on cooking anyway, so I am very glad that this option exists.

It makes for a quick and easy dinner.

______________________________________________________________________

About the August Happiness Challenge

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

When Did My Tech Stop Being Mine?

Once upon a time, a girl bought a computer. Then she bought software to put on the computer. At first, that software came on a 5 1/4 floppy disk, then a 3.5 floppy disk, then a CD, then a DVD. 

However it came, I bought a video game or a word processing program, installed it on my computer, and it stayed the same until I decided to update it. Software programs just worked, and I didn’t have to worry about it suddenly changing the rules on me.

Those days are gone. With streaming, there are no rules.

Everything’s a “service” now. My games, my software, my books on my Kindle, even my conversations with AI are all subject to sudden updates, changes, and upgrades I never asked for and can’t refuse.

The technophobes tout this as receiving "new features and security improvements,” but the downside is a loss of control over what is happening, because I can't stop the changes even if the older version of somethign worked fine. 

It also means taht something I enoy could vanish or mutate overnight. Amazon can reach into my Kindle and change anything it wants in a book, for example.

And then there's the learning curve. Suddenly MS Word isn't what it used to be and you have to spend forever trying to remember how to format a document. 

It's a pain. Technology has gone from being a tool into being a landlord we have to live with.

The other day, open.ai upgraded ChatGPT. I had grown used to the language it used, the cadence of what it was telling me. I could recognize a ChatGPT essay on LinkedIn without even reading the thing in its entirety. 

Now the new version has a different "voice." A different cadence. A different personality, even. Microsoft's CoPilot does too. I think it now sounds more like the older version of ChatGPT than whatever it was before. It's like both AIs fell into a vat of witch's brew and came out dripping wet, and each one swallowed a different frog or a bat or something.

Inno Games, which operates one of my favorite city-building games, has taken to making upgrades that users have supposedly asked for, but no one I know ever likes their changes. The changes all seem geared toward making us do more "in game" purchases than enhancing game play. If a company has to make changes, it should at least be honest about why it is doing it.

I feel like I'm in a perpetual beta test. Nothing settles down. Just when you think you've got the hang of Microsoft Outlook, oops, there's a change. Or just when you've settled into Gmail, oops, there's a change. 

The comfort of ownership has been replaced by the frustration of constant change.

This is happening everywhere as we switch over from ownership to lending models with the things we use every day. All of this stuff updates constantly. Even our cars. The updates promise fixes and enhancements, but often they just mean relearning how to do the simplest things.

It’s not just about convenience or familiarity, either. I want to feel in control of what I'm doing. I want to know that my tools - the stuff on my hard drive - belong to me. And I don't want to waste my time having to relearn something that worked perfectly fine before some technical egghead decided to change it.

When your technology owns you, instead of the other way around, something essential is missing.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just want to put on my old favorite game, load it up from my hard drive, and know that it’ll play exactly the same way it did the last time. I don't want to wait for an update. I don't want surprises or changes.

Is that too much to ask?

Sunday Stealing

Let's Do Our ABCs

A. Auto - Toyota Camry

B. Bed size - Queen

C. Cats - Allergic

D. Dogs - Allergic

E. Essential start to your day - A shower

F. Favorite color - Blue

G. Gold or silver - Silver

H. Hand you favor (righty or lefty) - Right

I. Instruments you play - Guitar and I can manage to get a tune out on many others

J. Job title - Retired

K. Kids - None

L. Live (rural, suburb, city) - Rural

M. Meal plans - People plan those things?

N. Nicknames - Sweetie Pie

O. Overnight hospital stays - Multiple

P. Pet peeves - People who whine on Facebook.

Q. Quote from a movie - You shall not pass! (From Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings)

R. Regrets - I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.

S. Siblings - 1

U. Underwear - I wear it.

V. Vegetable you love - Broccoli

W. What makes you run late - Oversleeping

X. X-rays you’ve had - Loads. I probably glow in the dark.

Y. Yummy food - Chocolate

Z. Zoo animal - Panda

 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week. 

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Shout

Saturday 9: Shout (1985)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This month we're going to recall Summer Songs. These will all be records that topped the charts during August.

1) Number 1 on the charts in August 40 years ago, the lyrics to "Shout" encourage us to "let it all out." When is the last time you raised your voice?

A. Well, it hasn't been lately. I've had laryngitis for a week.

2) This week's featured artists, Tears for Fears, were a duo -- Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith -- who met as teenagers in Bath, the largest city in Somerset, England. Bath has been named one of The Great Spa Towns of Europe. Popular spa treatments include massages, facials, body scrubs and wraps, mineral baths, manicures and pedicures. If you could treat yourself to a spa treatment today, which would you choose?

A. A massage.

3) When they first met, one of the things Roland and Curt bonded over was that they were both raised by single mothers. Who was your best friend during your teen years? What did you two bond over?

A. One of my closest friends in my teen years was Beth. She played piano in the band I was in, and we ran around together at other times and were great friends all through high school. We went our separate ways after I graduated. I only saw her a few times after that. She passed away in 2018.

4) Curt's wife, Frances Pennington, has had a long career in marketing, beginning in the record business and transitioning to fashion. Which industry do you think you'd enjoy more -- music or fashion?

A. Music. I have no clue about fashion but I do know a little bit about music.

5) Roland married his childhood sweetheart, Caroline Johnston. They were together for 35 years, until her death. Do you know whatever became of your childhood sweetheart?

A. One of my sweethearts from elementary school passed away this spring. The boy I went to prom with I lost track of. I don't know where he might be.

Let's look at the summer of 1985.

6) That summer, Chicago teenager Balu Natarajan won the National Spelling Bee. Are you a good speller?

A. I used to be.

7) Tinker Bell took her first nightly flight at Walt Disney World in Florida. Do you recall which Disney movie introduced us to Tinker Bell?

A. Peter Pan.

8) Derek Hough was a baby in the summer of 1985. In 2007 he became a regular on Dancing with the Stars, acclaimed for his ballroom dancing. Are you good on the dance floor?

A. I dance a bit like Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Seinfeld.

9) In 1985, Michael J. Fox became the first actor to have the #1 movie at the box office and the #1 TV show in the ratings. The movie was Back to the Future and the TV show was Family Ties. Have you seen the movie? Were you a fan of the show?

A. We watched it. I don't know that it was must-see TV, though.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

August Happiness Challenge Day #8

 

Today I got myself up and went through the pantry and tossed out the cans that were past their "use buy" date.

Most of them were things we'd never eat anyway. Pandemic purchases, I suspect. Things I bought when the shelves were looking sparse. Anyway, they went on to the landfill. I was glad to get the space back so I can use it for things that we might actually eat.

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About the August Happiness Challenge

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

Thursday Thirteen

I took a long time to get both my bachelor's degree and my master's degree. My bachelors took me eight long years to obtain. It came from Hollins College, and two years later, the college changes its name to Hollins University.

I began working on my master's immediately after graduating with my BA, but then decided I needed a break. I went back to it in 2002 and finally finished it in 2012. I took it a class at a time, as I could afford it and as my work and my health allowed. They were long-term goals, and I met them.

So, without further ado, here is what my effort to obtain both degrees taught me.

1. A degree is not a finish line, but a conversation with time. The degree is just a piece of paper, but it represents the culmination of many hours of work.

2. Eight years can be a pilgrimage, not a delay. While I was at the college for a very long time, that allowed me to seek out different professors and also to become personal friends with some of the professors that I saw from year to year. In a way, I became a fixture at the college because I was there off and on so much.

3. Learning is not linear, and neither is becoming. It took me a long time to find my footing when I went back to school. I was an older student at the age of 22 and married. My life experiences were different from my classmates, who were younger (and generally not as dedicated because they weren't paying for their degree, their parents were).

4. Returning to the classroom, especially years later, is its own kind of courage. It was hard to go back for my masters, but the experience was incredibly rewarding. And there was a great change in the way students interacted from 2002 to 2012. In 2002, I made friends of my classmates during breaks. By 2012, everyone veered off into their own little corner to check in on their phones with family and friends. The classroom experience changed in those 10 years.

5. A BA earned in 1993 and an MA in 2012 are not endpoints, but waypoints. They are markers in my life, ways I can remember what happened when. 

6. The voice you find at Hollins may take years to fully claim. Hollins has a strong creative writing program, but it also could be snobbish. Hollins may not be the place for someone who really only wants to write Nancy Drew books or romances. Hollins is the place to write the Great American Novel (think Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard). It took me a while to find myself and make sure my voice was my own, and not the reflection of my professors or some other writer.

7. Education is not just what you study, but what you survive. Hollins had a major flooding event in 1985, my first year there. The Flood of '85 wiped out the school library and classes ended up being cancelled for at least a month. It was an abbreviated semester, for sure. I personally had to survive many surgeries and health issues that forced me drop out for several semesters. Yet I kept going.

8. The institution may change names, but the imprint remains. I was not all that happy with the name change from Hollins College to Hollins University, but I understood it. The college didn't change with the name change, but it has certainly changed over time as the world has changed. One big difference? When I graduated in 1993, the cars around the campus were BMWs and Mercedes. When I graduated in 2012, the cars were Toyotas and SUVs.

9. Some lessons wait patiently until you’re ready to hear them. One of the courses I took, Imaginative Thinking, stuck with me for a long time. But it wasn't until I was in my 40s that I realized what the professors were trying to teach me - that I could be freer in my expression and less controlled.

10. Your story doesn’t need to match anyone else’s syllabus. I did the lessons, but my homework definitely was different, thanks to my age. Some of my professors appreciated having an older and quite dedicated student in class, others, not so much.

11. That persistence is a kind of artistry. Honestly, if anyone had told me I'd stick to working on my BA for eight long years, I'd have said no way. I used to think I didn't do things long term, but that was definitely long term. (And this blog has been here since August 2006, (19 years!) happy birthday, Blue Country Magic!)

12. That time itself can be a teacher. I learned so much about myself during my journey at Hollins. I learned to think, to understand, to be empathetic. I learned to give myself grace when I was ill and do the same for others. And I learned that eventually, with enough patience and dedication, I could do anything.

13. I wasn't late. I was layered. I took a different route, one I never expected, toward my degrees. I hadn't anticipated marrying at 20, getting a two-year AS degree in 1989 (I took classes concurrently at Hollins and Virginia Western Community College, transferring credits back and forth) and finally my BA in 1993. Nor had I predicted that I would spend so much time in the hospital or have so many surgeries. Lots happened to me. It all made me who I am.

_________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 919th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

August Happiness Day #6

 

My husband took his mom grocery shopping today, and he brought home cupcakes!

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About the August Happiness Challenge

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

August Happiness Challenge Day #5

 

Happiness is a new roof on the house!

______________________________________________________________________

About the August Happiness Challenge

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world.

August Happiness Challenge Day #4

 

Today I am happy that saw a fawn in the front yard and not in my garden. (Sorry, I didn't get a picture.)

______________________________

About the August Happiness Challenge

Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world."

Five Things

Last week, I:

1. saw my doctor for a regular check-up.

2. rode with my husband to Martinsville (a 1.5 hr drive one way).

3. began a project with Chad and Sage.

4. developed laryngitis and a sinus infection.

5. did my normal chores, albeit not as fast as normal since I haven't been feeling well.

In solidarity with federal workers, I started listing 5 things I did last week every Monday. I don't know if they still have to do that, but I have kept it up since it's a quick way to get something on the blog for Monday. Since I don't have a regular job, it's a fairly mundane list.

August Happiness Challenge Day #3

I asked my husband to fix me a piece of piece of toast this morning. I wanted it oven-style in the toaster oven. We have a toaster oven that I don't like, plus I am ill, and he offered to make breakfast. I only wanted a piece of toast.

We keep our bread in the freezer to keep it from going bad before we use it, so he buttered a slice of frozen bread . . . and put it in the pop-up toaster. I glanced over and saw the toaster oven was empty and realized what he'd done.

 

"What are you doing, are you trying to burn the house down and kill us?" I cried, as well as someone with laryngitis could cry. He realized what he'd done, popped the bread out, and then had to spend 1/2 hour cleaning the toaster out as it was greasy with melted butter, not to mention a build-up of crumbs that he grumbled about.

I made my own toast in the toaster oven.

Today I am happy that the house did not catch on fire from the toast.

Sunday Stealing

 

About Blogging

1. When are you at your blogging best – a.m. or p.m.?

A. I don't know. I blog at all hours.

2. How many blogs do you have? Please include the links in your answer.

A. Just this one.

3. Do you prefer silence when you compose your posts and write your comments?

A. I either want it silent, or I want music in the background.

4. What's the grossest thing you've ever spilled on your keyboard?

A. Just water.

5. Ever posted while intoxicated?

A. I have not posted while intoxicated. I don't drink.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

August Happiness Challenge: Day 2

 

"Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world."

Today I am happy that my friends Chad and Sage agreed to work with me on a project. (Shhh. It's a secret, for now!)

Saturday 9: Jive Talkin'

Saturday 9: Jive Talkin' (1975)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

This month we're going to recall Summer Songs. These will all be records that topped the charts during August.

1) Number 1 on the charts in August 50 years ago, "Jive Talkin'" was originally called "Drive Talkin'," because it was inspired by the "chunka-chunka" sound the Bee Gees' car made as it rolled over the bridge from Biscayne Bay to Miami every morning. Tell us about a drive you make regularly. What do you love, or hate, about it?

A. I drive regularly to the grocery store. I don't love it or hate it; it is just the way to the grocery store. If I go left from the driveway, eventually I make another left, and I'm on a curvy road that has no middle line, and you wave at people as you pass them if you feel like it. If I go right, then another right, the road has been updated and has a line, and even turn lane lines, and eventually it turns right onto a major 4-lane highway. This way is 1 mile longer than the other, but if my husband and I leave at the same time, and one goes left at the end of the driveway and one goes right, we used to end up at the stoplight on Catawba Road at the same time. Now there are two stoplights between my house and Catawba Road if I go to the right, so I doubt we'd end up at Catawba at the same time.

2) Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb always enjoyed singing together and as kids, practiced their harmonies in the bathroom because that's where the acoustics were best. Do you sing in the shower?

A. I do sing in the shower.

3) Early in their career, the brothers wrote and recorded a radio jingle for Coca Cola. If we were to peer into your refrigerator right now, would we find any carbonated beverages?

A. You would find my husband's Diet Dr. Pepper.

4) Though their sound depended on tight harmonies, all three Bee Gees were heavy smokers, which is bad for the throat. Do you smoke? Are there smokers/vapers in your life?

A. I do not smoke, nor does my husband. I do not know of any smokers/vapers in my life.

5) Robin Gibb agreed to perform on the CD Sesame Street Fever so his kids could meet Cookie Monster. Who is your favorite Muppet?

A. I do not have a favorite Muppet, but I will say Frog because he sang that lovely song about rainbows. "Why are there so many songs about rainbows, and what's on the other side? Rainbows are visions, but only illusions, and rainbows have nothing to hide."

6) In addition to younger brother Andy, who also scored hit records, the Bee Gees have a sister, Lesley. Unlike her siblings, she didn't go into show business. Instead, she became a dog breeder. Tell us about a dog who holds a special place in your heart.

A. When I was a child, we had many dogs. I think my favorite dog was Major, a white poodle. His mother was Heidi, a black poodle, and she gave birth to Major. I don't know if Major was the dog I saved from the water when it was a pup, but I have always thought he might have been. When I was 7, Heidi had her pups, and one night I heard a noise, and I got up and one of the pups had crawled into Heidi's water bowl, and it wasn't moving. I got it out and wrapped it in a towel and went to wake my mother. She and I massaged the pup and it came back to life. As an adult, I only had one dog. She was a pup I picked up at a flea market, a mix of an Eskimo Spitz and a terrier. She was not an affectionate dog but she was my dog. We kept her outside because of my allergies and honestly, she seemed to prefer being outside to being inside when I put her in the garage on very cold nights. She died in early 2001 at the age of 17, which is quite old for a dog. It took me a year to stop looking for her when I pulled into the driveway.

Let's look at the summer of 1975.

7) That summer, producer Lorne Michaels was auditioning talent for the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. This band of comedic performers would premiere that October in a new show called Saturday Night Live. In the days before DVRs and streaming, Saturday Night Live was considered "appointment television," a show you wanted to catch when it aired so you made sure you were in front of a TV to hear "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Is there a show you go out of your way to watch when it airs? Or is most of your viewing either recorded or streamed?

A. We watch The Voice live, but we also record a lot of things these days, or stream.

8) The top movie at the box office that summer was Jaws. Have you seen it?

A. I don't think I have ever seen Jaws. Nor have I ever wished to.

9) In 1975, Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles was having a career season and won the second of his three Cy Young Awards. In 2012 he put all three trophies up for auction. As proud as he was of the awards, he said, "My priorities have changed," and the money would help pay for college for his grandchildren. Think about your belongings. Is there anything you would never part with at any price?

A. Belongings are just things. I don't know of anything I hold that dear. There are people I hold that dear, but not things.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

August Happiness Challenge, Day 1

 It's time for the August Happiness Challenge. Here's a brief explanation of the Challenge: "Each day in August you are to post about something that makes *you* happy. Pretty simple. And, it doesn't even have to be every day if you don't want it to be. It's a great way to remind ourselves that there are positive things going on in our lives, our communities, and the world."

 You're invited to join me. Visit me with a link to your daily August happy, and I'll come read it. I've found that experiencing other peoples' everyday pleasures is a great mood lifter.

It helps if your August Happiness Challenge posts are marked with an icon. Just something that means "happy" to you. Thanks to the Gal Herself for reminding me of this.

Happiness for today: a loving husband who is willing to go pick up my antibiotic!

Thursday 13

What Writing Online Has Taught Me

1. Tone is a slippery beast. Even punctuation can steer a reader’s entire interpretation. It's not just about word choice; it’s the undercurrent of mood and intent. Online, it's shaped as much by what you leave unsaid as what you emphasize. White space matters, too.

2. People read with their own story in mind. When I write for this blog, I know I'm not just writing for myself. My words are filtered through however many eyes view it. Every reader brings a unique lens, colored by their past, their mood, their assumptions. What feels universal to me might land as deeply personal to someone else. Or they may not get it at all.

3. Silence is feedback too. A post that gets crickets might still echo in someone’s head. Lack of response doesn’t mean lack of impact. Sometimes quiet is how people process resonance. I know I have read blog posts that I haven't commented on but I have still thought about later.

4. Readers remember how you made them feel, not how clever you were. Cleverness may impress but feeling builds connection. That emotional trace is what lingers. However, I do like to be clever on occasion.

5. Most comments reflect more about the commenter than the content. Engagement is often projection. It can be affirmation, resistance, curiosity, or even loneliness disguised as critique. I comment sometimes just to say, "I was here."

6. “Delete” is underrated as a creative tool. Deletion isn’t failure—it’s refinement. It makes room for clarity, authenticity, and sometimes mercy. Occasionally, a post is just bad and needs to come down.

7. There’s power in a slow, quiet post that doesn’t try to trend. Slowness invites depth. And quiet writing resists the urgency of clickbait culture. Choose intimacy over impact, though I never know how that may land.

8. The internet doesn’t forget, but people do. I try to write about things worth remembering, even if I'm the only one who will remember. The idea of digital permanence can be misleading. Human memory is fallible, selective, and emotional.

9. A typo won’t kill you, but a dishonest tone might. Small errors are forgivable. What readers sense instinctively is whether you’re being real. I try to always be real, but I also know I hold back sometimes.

10. Nostalgia hits harder online. It turns writing into collective memory. When I evoke the past, I am inviting invite others to remember their own.

11. Posting is an act of hope. Every time. Hitting publish is a belief that someone is listening, that words still matter, that connection is possible. I still don't know if anyone will read my posts, but the stats count tells me people do. I am grateful that people find something in my words.

12. The algorithm is not your muse. It does, however, love drama and bullet points. Algorithms reward attention, not integrity. Hopefully my muse brings something deeper, such as truth, curiosity, or joy.

13. Writing for applause is a soul drain. Write for resonance. Resonance isn’t just agreement; it’s that hum beneath the words when someone reads and thinks, “I feel seen.” It’s an emotional echo, a shared vibration between writer and reader, even if they never meet or respond. It means someone else thinks the way I do.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 918th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Trust the Algorhythm. What Could Go Wrong?

In her July 26, 2025, Letter from an American, Heather Cox Richardson wrote: 

Hannah Natanson, Jeff Stein, Dan Diamond, and Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post reported today that staff associated with the “Department of Government Efficiency” are using artificial intelligence to eliminate half of the government’s regulations by next January. James Burnham, former chief attorney for DOGE, told the reporters: “Creative deployment of artificial intelligence to advance the president’s regulatory agenda is one logical strategy to make significant progress” during Trump’s term.

How do the technology billionaires go around with confidence that their AI is so great when it obviously is not?

I have been playing with ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot for months now. I have pushed ChatGPT with various questions. I have examined it about space, time, reality. I have asked it stupid questions, not stupid questions, and everything in between.

About 90 percent of the time, ChatGPT does a good job.

It's the other 10 percent of the time that is the concern. At least that much, maybe more, ChatGPT in particular simply hallucinates and makes up stuff. It fills in "facts" that aren't even there. It creates fiction out of thin air.

CoPilot, which is a lesser AI, doesn't generally do this, and for research or what-have-you, it works well. It's not as in-depth as ChatGPT, but I don't expect it to be because I know it's more for home and public use.

Regardless, these things are not cut out to reform the federal government.

AI models do not think. They parrot, repeat, and possibly anticipate, but they do not think. They cannot perceive that cutting air pollution controls, say, would make asthmatics out of a certain percentage of the population, and outright kill some of us who already walk around with an inhaler.

They are no better than the programmers who program them and the data they use to do that.

This is a marketing issue. The tech billionaires are so sure their product is great that they're trying desperately to sell it for what it is not: a "human" brain.

What they think it can do and what it actually can do are not the same thing, and this is not going to bode well for the population.

These billionaires and the companies they run have a huge financial stake in making AI seem like a revolutionary tool that can do everything from write poetry to manage economies. The more the public and governments believe that narrative, the more funding, stock value, and influence those companies gain. It's not about truth. It's about sales.

The public in general, and even some of the executives in these big companies, do not understand how large language models work. They think it’s intelligent in a human way, but it is really just advanced pattern matching and prediction based on training data. An AI model doesn't "know" anything. It doesn’t "understand" laws or ethics. Not the way I do. And not the way you do, either.

These same people also believe that every complex human or political problem, whether that is poverty, racism, bureaucracy, or inefficiency, can be "solved" with software. This is an incredibly flawed way of thinking, but these self-made "men" see themselves as the smart guys who should be in charge of everything.

And if you're a wanna-be authoritarian in charge of a dying democracy, and you want to rapidly dismantle regulations and other things that your guy pals dislike, then AI offers a convenient tool. 

It can also be the scapegoat. The leader can claim efficiency and modernization while gutting environmental, labor, and consumer protections. And if things go wrong, he can blame the AI model.

AI models have no accountability. No one has yet sued open.ai because ChatGPT told them they had cancer when they didn't, or vice versa, or whatever it might take to force such lawsuits to come into play. Even so, the AI model itself isn't going to go to jail, and most likely neither will the programmers. They'll just say, "oops" and that will be the end of it.

AI models are not accurate or nuanced enough to handle legal, regulatory, or ethical interpretation. I have experienced its flaws in a myriad of ways in the last several months. It can hallucinate facts, miss tone, misunderstand nuance, or completely misread human intent. Now imagine that happening with laws on toxic waste disposal, disability rights, or air travel safety.

AI is powerful, but it is not magic. Nor is it wise. It has no wisdom except, again, what the programmers give it. Using AI to "reform" the government is dangerous. Not because the technology itself is dangerous, but the hubris of those who wield it without humility or caution can cause great damage. 

When billionaires or government officials use AI as a hammer to smash through democratic safeguards, the public must push back and demand human oversight, transparency, and ethical guardrails.