Author: Rev. Joe Dirt

Posted on

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #4,033

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

A New Pandemic

As you probably remember, most of us survived the recent COVID pandemic that occurred at the beginning of another pandemic, the invasive parasitic brain worm known as Trumpism, which in itself was the result of the unnatural mating of incorrigible, rampant, corporate capitalism and dogmatic, religious fundamentalism.

In the last few months a new pandemic has descended on us, this one given the cute name of AI, Artificial Intelligence.  It is everywhere I do not want it to be… like out of control canker sores. IMHO, the movie, Terminator, was prophetic.  I am spending way too much time trying to eliminate AI from my devices to just see it pop up in a different application.  It is reminding me more and more of a “social disease”. It is appearing more and more like the only solution is abstinence from all things computer related.

From the movie, Terminator:

“By the time Skynet became self-aware it had spread into millions of computer servers across the planet. Ordinary computers in office buildings, dorm rooms, everywhere. It was software in cyberspace. There was no system core. It could not be shut down. The attack began at 6:18 p.m., just as he said it would. Judgment Day. The day the human race was nearly destroyed by weapons they’d built to protect themselves.”

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Posted on

Quote of the Day – Señor Anónimo

Quote of the Day… not actually daily, but whenever I encounter one I think worth sharing and there are not too many in sequence. I like quotes as they frequently distill a piece of wisdom into a brief passage, or make other points very succinctly – such as the witticisms of Oscar Wilde.

“I get more liberal with the more knowledge I acquire.”  ~~ Señor Anónimo

This from an acquaintance – well a relative- who wishes to remain, well, anonymous.  After a bit of a rant from them about the current beyond dysfunctional administration, I remarked that he was sounding like a liberal. The above quote was their reply.

Given that they have been a life long Republican and a self-described Libertarian, I found the quote interesting and amusing.

To see more Quotes for Day, visit this link: Quotes for the Day

Posted on

Another Etiquette Question

I was in the grocery store, well Schnucks if you have to know.  I was headed towards the cash registers when I spied a late middle-aged women in front of me who I thought was also headed towards the checkout.  She was very heavy set and wearing yoga pants or whatever those tight, clinging pants are. Just as an aside, I think there should be some social construct that would necessitate that people wearing such articles of clothing should have themselves videoed walking away from the videographer.  If they are good with how they look, so be it.

What caught my attention Continue reading “Another Etiquette Question”

Posted on

Give Yourself to Love

Señora has been carrying around a poem/song for years little realizing it was by one of her favorite singers, Kate Wolf, who passed away much too soon.

Give Yourself to Love

Kind friends all gathered ’round, there’s something I would say:
That what brings us together here has blessed us all today.
Love has made a circle that holds us all inside;
Where strangers are as family, loneliness can’t hide.

You must give yourself to love, if love is what you’re after;
Open up your hearts to the tears and laughter,
And give yourself to love, give yourself to love. Continue reading “Give Yourself to Love”

Posted on

Reading While Blind

There is an anecdote told about Abraham Lincoln rejecting a man suggested for a Cabinet position as Lincoln did not like his face. His advisor remarked that a man is not responsible for his face. To which Lincoln purportedly replied that anyone over 40 is responsible for his own face.

I did a cursory search on the Internet to verify the veracity of this statement.  It may or may not have been said by him.  Similar comments have been attributed to several folks over the years.  It seems to have been a meme current at that time, but I am going with Lincoln.

I have riffed on this anecdote and said something somewhat similar — anyone over the age of 40 is Continue reading “Reading While Blind”

Posted on

From Tompkinsville to Muskogee: A Unique Journey by David Marrs Rush

David Marrs Rush | February 19, 1931 – February 19, 2005 

Author’s note:

I am writing this brief autobiography at the request of my son, David Stephen, who started a web site recently and wants content for it. Herein is my life story, told the way I experienced it and remembered it.

Editor’s note:

After my father passed away, I took his autobiography and had it printed up and copies distributed to various family members.  I’ve taken this opportunity, years later, to put it on line.  My father needed a pretext to write this document which I gave him… no not that thought out.  I did take the liberty of adding a couple images.

The Early Years

I was born in Tompkinsville, KY on February 19, 1931 to Jack and Mary Rush. Since then, I have lived in many places and done myriad things, some I remember with pride, others with regret.

There were eight of us in the family: five sisters, Mickey Florene, Betty Jane, Jackie Nell, Virginia Gayle, Mary Sue; two brothers, Jimmy Earl and Joseph Michael, and of course me. Joseph Michael was born after I left home for the Navy. Mickie died in infancy on March 20, 1930. She was approximately six months old. Jim died February 13, 1989 in Louisville, KY at the age of 45. Jim served in the Army during the Korean War and when discharged attended college and dental school. He was a practicing dentist in Louisville at the time of his death.

I can’t recall a great deal about my life while growing up except for a few incidents, which are burned into my memory. When I was four or five we had a baby chicken for a pet. His name was Continue reading “From Tompkinsville to Muskogee: A Unique Journey by David Marrs Rush”

Posted on

Paul Randolph Rush | 29 October 1953 – 21 June 2025

Began as a Request

Angie, the wife of Paul’s son, Jason, asked me for some fond memories of Paul for the memorial service. This is what I sent her with some additions.   So here goes… in 4000 words or so which does not seem hardly sufficient for nearly 72 years on this planet.

Paul, the Curmudgeon

I say fondly, I say with all kindness, my brother Paul was a curmudgeon. Perhaps the best explanation as to what a curmudgeon is, I encountered in Jon Winokur’s book, The Portable Curmudgeon. In that book he describes a curmudgeon thusly:

“A curmudgeon’s reputation for malevolence is undeserved. They’re neither warped nor evil at heart. They don’t hate mankind, just mankind’s absurdities. They’re just as sensitive and soft-hearted as the next guy, but they hide their vulnerability beneath a crust of misanthropy. …They ease the pain by turning hurt into humor. They attack maudlinism because it devalues genuine sentiment. . . . Nature, having failed to equip them with a serviceable denial mechanism, has endowed them with astute perception and sly wit.

Curmudgeons are mockers and debunkers whose bitterness is a symptom rather than a disease. They can’t compromise their standards and can’t manage the suspension of disbelief necessary for feigned cheerfulness. Their awareness is a curse.

Perhaps curmudgeons have gotten a bad rap in the same way that the messenger is blamed for the message: They have the temerity to comment on the human condition without apology. They not only refuse to applaud mediocrity, they howl it down with morose glee. Their versions of the truth unsettle us, and we hold it against them, even though they soften it with humor.”

I truly cannot think of a better description of Paul.  He had a heart of gold, but the absurdities of the world were often too much for him.

A Baseball Game

For another window in the essence of my brother Paul, I recently discovered Continue reading “Paul Randolph Rush | 29 October 1953 – 21 June 2025”

Posted on

Rev. Joe’s Random Thought #8,232

yeah I know you did not ask!

You should so be blessed – well cursed at times actually – with a mind such as mine, making all these weird connections between my rumored neurons. Just be thankful that I do not share all of my random thoughts.

There are many calendars in use in the world, such as the Hebrew calendar, the Chinese calendar, and the Islamic calendar.  The Julian calendar is still is used in parts of the world.  There may be more that I am not aware of.  Of course, the most common calendar worldwide is the Gregorian calendar, the one we here in the United States are most familiar with.

The Gregorian calendar (and Julian calendar) are divided by the time before the birth of Christ and the time after.  For most of my life this has been BC which stands for Before Christ, and AD  which stands for Anno Domini which is Latin for in the year of our Lord.

Quite some time ago this was decided to be cultural insensitive as there more religions than Christianity.  Currently, the BC has morphed into BCE which stands for Before the Common Era, and AD has changed into CE which stands for Common Era.

Fast forward… Frequently when folks are telling s story or referencing something they will use the phrase, “this was before cell phones.”  Perhaps we should now change our era nomenclature to BCP, Before Cell Phones, and ACP, After Cell Phones.

Or not.

Lagniappe:  There is no zero on the Julian and Gregorian calendars because the Romans did not have a zero in their number system.  This was a later import from the Arabic number system.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Posted on

Pay Attention to History

Pay attention to history.

I sincerely hope we are a better nation than what tRump and his sycophants are attempting to do to our country currently… I sincerely hope so.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley

Posted on

My Mossy Address Book – Revisited

“A rolling stone gathers no moss”

If you were to sum up my life in one phrase the above aphorism might just be it.  I spent the first 18 years of my life more or less as a military brat.  I literally had 13 changes of schools before I graduated high school.  This includes one school that I was in for a single day.  I have described the last 30 years of my working life as that of a computer gypsy, moving around to take different jobs in Information Technology.  I did have a stable period in between (at least as far as physical location) when I lived in Arkansas and we were getting kids through school.

In such a life people come and go.  It is just a fact of life that you get used to.  I do not know how many times I have said to someone, “have a good life”, knowing I would never be seeing them again. I have on occasions tried to maintain relationships over time and distance, but this must be two sided and has very seldom worked out.

I have now reached the age where many of my relatives, friends and acquaintances are passing away.  This is sincerely a sadness just in itself. If a person truly touches you, they take up residence in some part of your psyche.  I have sometimes described this as feeling like I have ghosts running around my soul.    At times it has felt a little crowded in there.

And now add an additional sadness  due  to this technical  age.  After the fact of someone’s death, sometimes much later, I will come across their information in one of my address books or contact lists.  I have such a hard time deleting the information, it feels like deleting the memory of that person.  Sometimes the address/contact card will remain in there for years.  I just cannot delete it.

On the positive side, it does make you stop for a minute and remember the person when you stumble across it.

Sigh.  We march on.

I originally published this 5 years .  The “empty slots” in my address book just keep growing.

Keep well.

Subscribe to Curmudgeon Alley