"if jesus saves . . . "

it's old news i guess, but i just learned that trump has a "spiritual adviser" --- don't you want to just die now? of course she is a prosperity-gospel grifter --- i just will never understand how such an objectively irreligious and amoral person as him could become the evangelical christianists' messiah --- in their willful ignorance, they are too stupid to be ashamed of themselves

if jesus saves, well he'd better save himself / from the gory glory seekers who use his name in death   --- jethro tull

a fine way to spend a saturday evening

i had an excellent evening at the symphony with ms kidd --- we went primarily for hector's symphonie fantastique, which was purty great --- but alex turney's short "city of ghosts" was the best ----

playing our trump card

a big chunk of our government has been shut down for over a month now --- is this how the world's greatest liberal democracies fails?

"frankincense, wine, and a sacrificial cheese"

i should have gone to the trouble to drag out the tripod for the super blood wolf moon eclipse, but i didn't

battered and bruised

the last twelve months or so have taken a toll of sorts on me physically --- xmas 2017, the heart attack and new stent, all of which worked out okee dokee in the end

then the night before i left for the redwoods-and-volcanoes excursion to california in late may, the trunk lid slammed down on my head, necessitating a few hours in the emergency room sewing it back up ---

in october when we were in cdmx for dia de muertos, we were sightseeing and, not watching where i was going, i tripped over a knee-high street bollard --- i got about the twenty-fifth big ol' knot on my head, but didn't lose consciousness, and only minor headaches afterwards --- 

then the other day i had the bright idea of meeting mary and her dogs at arabia mountain --- i had guinness and her little shit, and as we were coming down the mountain, they decided i wasn't moving fast enough and took off, which led me to trip and fall over and for the little shit to get away --- finally found him after, understandably, much screaming and crying by mary --- the bruise on my arm is the most awesome one i've ever had --- the one on my hip is not quite as awesome ---

and, no, alcohol was not involved in any of these events --- i'm not sure what i could have done to prevent them either, other than sit home

and wonder of wonders, i can still say that i have never broken a bone, although the condition of my prefrontal cortex might be kinda sketchy by now ---- most miraculously of all, thanks to medicare and blue cross, i had no co-pays except for a few extra meds ---

another day in paradise

the country is going to shit, and will continue to do so until that asshole is out of office --- immediately, friends who are federal employees are starting to freak out about this stupid shutdown, and parks are getting beat up and ruined (what, for chrissakes, makes someone want to saw down joshua trees at joshua tree national monument?)

like dog, i sometimes wonder which end is up these days

the ides of january

dog and i met mary and her mutts at arabia mountain this afternoon for their introduction to one another --- her big mutt was a big energetic mess --- the little shit and guinness were great together, until i fell over and the little shit got away and charged off down the mountain with mary screaming and crying behind --- fifteen anxious minutes and he was found --- thank you, sweet baby jesus --- i got some sore spots but nuttin broke, and she did not lose the little shit

read it, dammit

a really great, short read for these times

a monthly touchstone in my life

an excellent evening at ecco with the susans and don ---

anybody need a book?

one of the great benefits of retirement is the luxury of purty much unlimited reading, although sometimes i'm afraid i'll wind up like the colyer brothers --- i updated my reading list from 2018 --- in no particular order, but the ones in boldface are highly recommended --- best in show is memoirs of hadrian ----

1. Scott Weidensaul, Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds (1999)
2. Marguerite Yourcenar, Memoirs of Hadrian (1954) 
3. Jonathan Barden, A History of Ulster (1999)
4. Michael Lewis, The Fifth Risk (2018)
5. Steve Inskeep, Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab (2015)
6. Craig Childs, Finders Keepers: A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession (2015)
7. Marc Morris, A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain (2016)
8. Peter Irons, A People's History of the Supreme Court (1999)
9. Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps that Explain Everything About the World       (2015)
10. Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House (2018)
11. Ulysses S Grant, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S Grant (1885) 
12. Alistair Moffat, Bannockburn: The Battle for a Nation (2014)
13. Ziaddin Sardar, Mecca, The Sacred City (2014) 
14. Michiko Kakutani, The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump (2018)
15. Jean Manco, Ancestral Journeys: . . . . from the First Venturers to the Vikings (2015)
16. Craig Childs, Apocalyptic Planet: Field Guide to the Future of the Earth (2012)
17. Craig Childs, Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America (2018)
18. Michael Pollan, How to Change Your Mind: .... the New Science of Psychedelics .... (2018)
19. Catherine Nixey, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World      (2018) 
20. Douglas Preston, Cities of Gold: A Journey Across the American Southwest in Pursuit of Coronado (1992)
21. L. A. Vocelle, Revered and Reviled: A Complete History of the Domestic Cat (2016)
22. Caleb Everett, Numbers and the Making of Us (2017)
23. David M. Gwynn, The Goths: Lost Civilizations (2018)
24. Walter Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin, An American Life (2004)
25. Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey (2006)
26. Walter Isaacson, Einstein (2007)
27. Jonathan Kandell, La Capital: The Biography of Mexico City (1990)
28. Walter Isaacson, Leonardo da Vinci (2017)
29. Marvin T Smith, Coosa: The Rise and Fall of a Southeastern Mississippian Chiefdom (2000)
30. Bettany Hughes, Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities (2017)
31. Jonathan Conlin, Tales of Two Cities: Paris, London and the Birth of the Modern City (2013)

ruirnt tires

coming back from publix, i hit some weird pothole that tore an irreparable hole in both passenger-side tires --- that makes three tore-up tires since i've had the car

alrighty then . . .

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

they admit that brain damage is only one contributing factor to making people fundamentally stupid but it helps explain a lot

gotta leave

getting it together to go anywhere can be stressful, but it is generally worth the effort i guess --- 27 december through 2 january, during which we generally had a good time, doncha know

happy new year!

we didn't walk quite as far on new years day --- just under 30,000 steps over 12.89 miles and 48 steps, but that got us out market street to noodle around castro street, then up and around the hills to the haight and more noodling around and from there back downtown--- perfecto weather --- we noted very few derelict buildings, which is the upside of having a city with no middle class

winding down a crappy year

we did a lot of looking on new years eve, beginning with a visit to barbary coast, one of the new "dispensaries" --- wheeeee! --- then down to the ferry building and the embarcadero, coit tower, down to polk gulch and back over to downtown --- fitbit sez we took just over 31,000 steps to cover 13.5 miles and 59 floors