Home of the "Little Known Blogger"
The unsolicited, unreasoned, uninformed, unapologetic opinions of Rev. Joe Dirt
I just finished listening to the audio book of Alan Paton’s Cry, The Beloved Country. This is a wonderful book in whatever format it is experienced. However, the reader of the audio book was absolutely perfect, pegging the South African accents of various peoples.
The book was published in 1948 and set in 1946. It is a book of many flavors including that of a cautionary tale. Knowing a little of the history of South Africa after Continue reading “Keep Well, Go Well”
yeah I know you did not ask!
I have no idea if there is a god or not. I am reasonable sure there is not a personal god like they speak of in various religious texts. Given that, I really do not believe there is a devil. However for some reason the lyrics to the Blood, Sweat & Tears song And When I Die comes to mind just about now.
One of my favorite quotes is from the singer/composer/actor Tom Waits which goes a little something like this… “Don’t you know there ain’t no devil, it’s just god when he’s drunk.”
That quote came to me in the middle of the night as I was staring at the ceiling reflecting on current events. I decided if there is any truth to that quote then god must be a binge drinker and he is on a hell of a bender long about now.
yeah I know you did not ask!
After scanning the news headlines this morning I decided there are two courses that should be required in every high school. The first, Civics, so people have some general sense about how our government should function.
The second course would be Civility. Reading about people misbehaving so badly in businesses that have reopened in the middle of this pandemic it seems many folks are lacking in basic manners. I keep thinking of one of my Mother’s pet peeves that she strove mightily to drive into core of her 5 sons…with varying degrees of success, CFOP. Which stands for Consideration For Other People. If she caught you in a faux pas in this regard she had a whole spiel she would launch into wherein the acronym CFOP was repeated an amazing number of times.
Just for good measure a few semesters of US and World History would not hurt also.
yeah I know you did not ask!
Faust Park is a county park about 3 miles from the house. They have the trails at that park open, all of them one way to help with social distancing. None of the playgrounds, bathrooms, carousel,etc are open.
This evening, myself and the whimsical Señora Weinhaus decided to take the wee dog for a walk around the park and through some of the wooded paths. Actually, quite pleasant and for the most part folks were adhering to the guidelines. You are always going to have a few iconoclasts.
Coming out of the woods there were a group of people sitting more or less at the recommended 2 meters of separation. It was obvious they were having some sort of birthday party from the signage. As we got closer I could see it was for an older lady who they had seated in a throne like chair with a chintzy crown on her head. Not that there is an ounce of danger in that direction, but if my kids ever did such a thing…
Anyway back to the story. Our birthday queen had on a mask. As we passed I overheard them talking about masks, probably because they wanted to take the queen’s picture. That is when I heard one gentleman remark, “I have a mask too, but I am saving it for when I drywall.” How utterly tone deaf can you be? He must be the uncle everyone talks about that disrupts the Thanksgiving dinner with his crackpot political views.
My sister-in-law who is Korean, came to this country as a child, posted this on Facebook:
I was walking into the Mustang Walmart store and this customer wearing jean overalls with a big fat belly started saying “Yellow. I see a yellow. Hey yellow. Do you see a yellow. Hey you I’m talking to you”
So I looked straight into his eyes, smiled and walked away. After that he didn’t say anything.
It pisses me off how ignorant people can be! Why is it always The small town rednecks??
FYI – Mustang, Oklahoma is Continue reading ““Yellow. I see a yellow””
El domingo 10 de mayo, aquí en los Estados Unidos, es el Día de la Madre. Así que aquí hay una canción para nuestras madres. Disfrútalo y compártelo con tu mamá.
De nada.
Rightly or wrongly, or maybe just because I am stir crazy, I have decided it is alright to go to the driving range. It is outside. It is very possible to maintain a couple meters of social distancing. What is not so good is the young clerk that is not so worried about her health, and without a doubt the baskets are not going though any sort of a sanitizing wash. Golf balls at ranges are generally washed after they are picked up out of the field, but never the baskets. Wish me luck.
I was there today about half way through my extra large bucket Continue reading “Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it did…”
I was listening to a Freakonomics podcast this morning as I ran on the treadmill. They touched on several things, but one them was an interview with David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. He discussed how a while back he was overwhelmed by all the negativity coming at him in the news, social media, etc. As a response to that he started collecting positive stories, and at the same time limiting his exposure to those sources.
His computer folder of positive stories has turned into a website. I have not had a chance to do a deep dive into the website, but it looks interesting. I know I can use some positivity in my life right now. Here is the link: Reasons To Be Cheerful
This started shortly after my bride retired in 2013. She had spent the previous 35 years teaching Special Education, and earned a much needed rest. The last 3 or 4 years had been tough on her as her role had changed from one she loved, teaching, to one she was less than enthralled with, case management. Same job title and pay, but the documentation for Special Education seemed to have assumed more importance than the teaching in the minds of upper management. What do they say, “follow the money.”
She was at a bit of loose ends initially, as are most retired folks. She started responding to an activity suggestion with, Continue reading “Sure, why not…”
yeah I know you did not ask!
We visited another couple yesterday evening. We went over to their house, sat outside to eat the Chinese food we had ordered delivered. We took reasonable precautions about sharing various utensils and passing things.
Deciding to have social interactions during the coronavirus shelter-in-place mandates reminds me a bit of some of the discussions I had during the 18 years between my marriages. Vague questions trying to feel out our mutual “social interaction” history. Not so vague questions trying to ascertain if we had been practicing safe “social distancing”. How do you feel about being tested? You can imagine.
That was the negotiation we had last night. We decided that none of the four of us had been out much, that we had all used precautions on those occasions when we did go out, and that we had not been around anyone with symptoms… as far as we knew. At least they did not require us to bring a doctor’s report certifying our status!
Strange times we live.