J.P.

Angry.

Photo courtesy of CNN.

So last night, after watching hours of news coverage of the insurrection going on at the Capitol Building and then watching the Senate and House proceedings on certifying the vote, I wrote a quick blog entry that was vague. I talked about failure, and shock, and success.

I am very angry.

My mind has been blown since Trump took office four years ago. My mind was actually blown long before he won the Republican Primary. Anyone with any sense or moral foundation knew that a Trump Presidential Administration was going to be an absolute disaster. Yesterday was just the icing on the a feces laden cake we’ve been forced to deal with since this idiot took office.

But thing that blows me away is how rabid his supporters have become. Members residing on my branch of the family tree are so whacked out in love with the guy, and this leaves me stupefied. Four years later, after seeing praise and piety and whatever other word that means “what the fuck” that begins with a “p” heaped onto this guy from the strongest “Christians” on the family tree has me baffled. I thought I was related to stable people. There are too many lunatics in my bloody relations.

However, I like to think that those few around me are not nearly as nuts as the complete and utter idiots that stormed the Capitol Building yesterday. There’s a video of some chick named Elizabeth talking about a revolution but crying because she got some mace in the eyes. I’m surprised the Capitol Police found the time to mace this woman. They didn’t seem very interested in protecting the place; there’s too many video clips and photos of police officers taking selfies with these criminals or opening gates to let them have access to the building. The entire Capitol Police Force needs to be stripped from the top all the way to the bottom. The chief resigned. It’s a start.

Folks are frustrated. I get that. But in no way was Donald Trump ever the answer to this problem. The man has been a television punch line for decades. The man has bankrupted casinos. And not only did millions of Americans find him worthy of the Oval Office in 2016, 70 million American still think he’s doing well enough to get another chance to burn the entire country down to the ground over the next four years.

What the fuck is wrong with you people? Are your lives so miserable that you want everyone else to suffer to make you feel better over your stupefied, miserable, unsuccessful lives?

I’ve been too quiet for too long about politics, especially here on my blog. Yes, I love talking about all aspects of life here, but for life to be pleasant we have to have a strong foundation. Am I thrilled about Joe Biden as President? Meh, I think he’ll do fine. I find Kamala a refreshing breath of Gen-X in a decidedly Baby Boomer game. The thing I’m most excited about is Georgia swinging blue in the Senate yesterday. This is going to be interesting. And ironically, we have Trump’s asshattery to thank for that. But more importantly, I feel like the country may have turned a corner. I think yesterday’s abomination and blight on our history may have pushed enough people in the right direction to get things swung back over towards something that resembles sanity.

I’ll be following politics closely. I want to know what’s going on. And I want to do everything I can as Joe Citizen to help push the country finally into the 21st century. We’re already 21 years into the 21st century and we ain’t got squat to show for it.

Let’s do this.

7 January 2021 by J.P. This Ain't No CNN. 0

No Sleep, Part 2.

And it’s 5:20 AM and I’m sitting in the living room, unable to sleep for the past 45 minutes or so. After watching the events of yesterday (wow, that was quite a week!), I’m still shaking my head wondering what the hell has happened to this country. I openly wept in bed the day after Election Day in 2016 because I knew Trump’s election as president was one of the most dangerous, reckless, and stupid acts the citizens of this country had ever committed. There is no good in that man. And yet, a little less than half of the population thought he did just fine with hundreds of Americans dead from a preventable pandemic, and the crushing of any sense of law and order or decorum or anything remotely resembling intelligence in Washington, D.C.

I have no idea if that last sentence made sense as I can barely see what I’m typing in the dark, but you get my drift.

My dreams have been populated with jumbled scenes mixed with historical context and augmented by memories from my childhood. My brain is yelling at me to “turn it off” but I can’t. At 52 years old I guess I still care too much about my fellow man. Just as I used to have nightmares about nuclear annihilation when I was a teenager in the 80s, my conscience is populated with the concern of what this nation has become.

For a long time I have refrained from going on about politics and talked about anything else. Silence is not the answer. Too many people are being silent on topics and subjects that need to be discussed. The problem is the last four years have been so utterly draining for anyone with any sense of decency for their fellow citizens, or anyone with an IQ higher than the speed limit, that I’ve completely run out of steam for debate.

Watching the attack on the Capitol Building yesterday ignited a fire in me again. As I watched the Senate proceedings after control of the building was regained, my eyes misted up as I saw American Democracy in action.

Our Democracy is not a reality game show, to be won by the strongest “team” nor is it scored like a football or basketball game. I know the cable news channels like to announce scores like Joe Biden just made a lay up or Trump just made fumbled the ball, but despite the hysterics of pundits and commentators and “Magic board” operators, poll results are just the results of math equations that have already been completed.

So what does this have to do with sleep? Say what you will about 2020, but at least I was able to get sleep then. In 2021 sleep seems to be a luxury that I currently can not afford. Even as lethargic as I feel right now from a lack of sleep, I still care about this success of this country, this “Greatest Experiment”.

Hopefully I’ll be awake long enough to see the latest outcome.

7 January 2021 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Failure. Success.

So many feelings today. So many shocks. So many insanities. So many failures. So many words.

So many successes.

6 January 2021 by J.P. This Ain't No CNN. 0

Fun!

Remember when theme songs let you know when your favorite show was on? Here’s a fun video to the radio length version of “Making Our Dreams Come True” by Cyndi Grecco. “Laverne & Shirley” was always a favorite of mine (though I didn’t like it when the syndicated version called it “Laverne & Shirley & Company”.

5 January 2021 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Swag.

I’m a dork. I freely admit this. I great joy in geeky, dorky things. We’ve talked about this before.

My Mac and iPhone and iPad are decidedly undorky. While they do what they’re suppose to do, they don’t really excite me in a techy, geeky sort of way. I see these hackers and crackers on television shows with awesome displays and nifty interfaces that beep and boop and I have none of that. I get in the realm of that sort of experience when I use Linux (don’t get me started on my Windows 10 experience at work).

Recently I discovered a cross-platform application called eDEX-UI. It’s a fun little tech experience with beeps and boops and characters flying around. It’s really just a super fancy terminal window (with multiple tabs) but I feel such dork joy when I’m using it. Does it lend credence to my productivity? Yes, it does, because it puts me in a focused type of system administration mindset. And that’s what I need in these days of boring interfaces to technology.

Geek out!

4 January 2021 by J.P. Geek 0

Sleep.

Ah, sleep. The older we get, the more we want it but the less we get it. It’s 5:45 a.m. and I’ve been awake for about an hour. My husband has roamed the bedroom and rest of the condo on and off since I went to bed around 10:00 p.m. It’s what he does. I honestly don’t know how much sleep I got last night. I’d guess around six-ish hours but it wasn’t the quality sleep I’d normally enjoy. I feel rested but I’m going to need a nap during the day. Lunch hour naps are always fun. When I worked in an office I used to find a parking lot near a mall or shopping center and nap in my Jeep. Nowadays I nap on the couch after a quick bite to eat.

There’s an art to napping: too little and it’s a wasted effort, too long and you’re groggy for the rest of the day. Twenty minutes is my sweet spot. If I can get 20 minutes of nap time in around noon I’m golden for the latter half of the work day.

Part of the fun of living in a major city is the sounds of the city at night. Normally if one were to step out on the balcony they’d just hear the whine of civilization: heating units cycling on and off, an emergency siren off in the distance, a helicopter looking for news. But life starts early in the big city. The ‘L’ starts its morning runs around 4:40 a.m. Props to whoever thought running metal wheels on a metal track was a grand idea. The garbage trucks start banging the dumpsters around 5:30 a.m. The neighbors get restless around 4:00 a.m.

I’m going to go for a walk in a few minutes to officially get my day going. At least, I think I’m going to go for a walk. My eyes are starting to feel droopy as I type this blog entry. Perhaps I’ll take that midday nap early and then rearrange my walking and other exercise schedule to accommodate my mood and energy level.

It’s a new year and perhaps a good time to stop being so rigid with my schedule and start going with the flow.

4 January 2021 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Facts.

It’s not often that I agree with Paul Ryan, but I agree with Paul Ryan. The lunatics in the GOP need to get themselves under control and out of the Twilight Zone.

3 January 2021 by J.P. This Ain't No CNN. 0

Fake.

In case you can’t tell, that’s 1980’s pop sensation Taylor Dayne in the middle of the photograph. She’s had some work done and her lips are very shiny and taut, but that’s her. This photo was taken at the Trump New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-lago. Notice no one in the photo, or the background of the photo for that matter, is wearing a mask. It’s part of the tradition of the Trumps hosting a Coronavirus Super Spreader Event. Taylor will probably have a GoFundMe page by the end of the month asking for her fans to help out with her medical bills.

I haven’t figured out if Taylor Dayne was a paid participant at this MAGA Brouhaha or if she paid the $1,000 fine to go as a guest. Reports vary. Also at the party was Terri Nunn of the musical group “Berlin”, probably best known for their song from the “Top Gun” soundtrack. I have confirmed that Terri Nunn did perform at the event. She sang the famous “Take My Breath Away” at a Coronavirus Super Spreader Event where there’s a really good chance that at least some of the population will be on ventilators by the end of the month. You can’t make the depth of this irony up. The fact that a group named “Berlin” was at a MAGA event is just the cherry on top of this pile of idiocy.

Both Ms. Dayne and Ms. Nunn make a living appearing at LGBTQ+ Pride Events across the world. Folks from all spectrums of the rainbow cram the streets to watch both of these women perform on makeshift stages wrapped in alcohol company logos to hear them croak out their tracks from 30+ years ago to a DAT Tape (I know “DAT Tape” is redundant) being pumped through very large speakers, as folks much younger than their songs gyrate with their abs and other assorted body parts poking through glitter-fied body suits. As a former member of the Radio Corporate Machine, I can safely say that I know Ms. Dayne and Ms. Nunn make a decent amount of cash to appear, but they talk about that being secondary because they’re really there for the LGBTQ+ fans. The check that could buy a car is just secondary to their cause, their purpose, their mission. They sing and perform from the heart.

Except they don’t. Because anyone with a heart or love for the LGBTQ+ community would not be paying to attend or being paid to perform at a Trump New Year’s Eve party at Mar-A-Lago with a bunch of maskless, ghoulish future corpses at a MAGA Super Spreader Event.

Look, back before Trumpism replaced decent Republican behavior I could easily see both sides of the political spectrum. Any human being with a decent moral foundation doesn’t profess their love for the LGBTQ+ community and then start accepting money from or paying money to Trumpists to go to a party in the middle of a global pandemic that has killed 1.84M people world wide, with over 350K of those deaths taking place right here in the United States.

I sincerely hope Taylor Dayne and Terri Nunn will both be overlooked by Pride Committees when we’re allowed to have such events again, because their professions of love and support of the LGBTQ+ community are weak. They’re not there to support the cause, they’re there to collect a paycheck. Nothing more, nothing less. There are artists much more caring and giving to the LGBTQ+ community worthy of our attention. Taylor and Terri are fakes.

Shame on both of them. And don’t support their impending GoFundMe campaigns. They obviously both have the money.

3 January 2021 by J.P. Gayish. 0

Todd!

I’ve been watching clips of the revival of “One Day At A Time”, which premiered back in 2017 and was canceled after four seasons (three on Netflix, one of Pop!) in December. The show is really good. I don’t know why the show was canceled, but I look forward to catching up on the seasons.

Todd Grinnell plays Schneider. In this incarnation he owns the building. Admittedly, Todd is quite feast for the eyes. Enjoy!

2 January 2021 by J.P. Gayish. 0

Back Roads.

The weather is not favorable for VFR flight this weekend. VFR stands for “Visual Flight Rules”. This is means we can see where we’re flying, as opposed to IFR or “Instrument Flight Rules”. Under IFR we’re flying mostly on instruments. I am not an instrument pilot. Yet. Goals.

Since we were grounded today, we went for one of our Saturday drives. West of us they’ve seen a lot more snow and ice than we’ve seen here in The Windy City. We drove on the prairie around DeKalb County, which is about 60 miles to our west. I captured some photos along the way.