![]() Arlington National Cemetery |
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As we gather around our dinner and picnic tables enjoying the freedom you sacrificed your lives to provide for us, a grateful nation remembers and prays for you and your families… |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | How Trump Won The Fringe Right |
Hold My Hand | |
2020 | I’d Include Health Care |
2019 | Accustomed To It |
2018 | Booking My Trip Into The Expanding Universe |
2017 | Fear Instead Of Convictions |
2016 | Memorial Day – 2016 |
2015 | A Handful Of Reviews |
And You Can Quote Me | |
2014 | Get Wisdom |
2013 | Enjoying The View? |
2012 | Adam’s Rib |
2011 | I’m Sure I Remember That… |
Memorial Day, 2011 | |
Archive for the ‘General Comments’ Category
Memorial Day 2022
Posted in General Comments, History, Leadership, Pictures, tagged Arlington National Cemetery, General Comments, History, Leadership, Memorial Day -- 2022, National Holidays, Pictures, Sacrifice, The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Thoughts And Prayers on May 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »
In Bloom
Posted in General Comments, Pictures, tagged Front Garden, Front Path, Home, Photos, Pictures, Pictures of Home, Roses on May 3, 2022| 2 Comments »
I mentioned in a post a few weeks back that the roses on either side of our front path were budding and would be blooming soon. Well, here they are! | |
It’s early May and today’s temperature is forecast for mid-80s and getting warmer through the week. This is probably as good as they’ll get as the 90° – 100° is very hard on them. We’ll enjoy them as long as they last… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Thrive |
Are You Still Here? | |
2020 | Perceived Wisdom |
Lessons Are Extra And Blondell | |
2019 | Live It |
2018 | Mostly Unconsciously For Most People |
Desperately Ginger Lass | |
2017 | Explaining My Equally Meager Results |
2016 | Every Tool And Every Chance |
2015 | Something That You Love |
2014 | Not Really At All |
2013 | Listening And Deserving |
2012 | I’m Still Not Certain |
2011 | True, False And Useful |
Spring Colors
Posted in Family and Friends, General Comments, Pictures, tagged Front Garden, Images of Home, Pictures, Poppies, Roses, Snapdragons, Spring on April 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Last year, we had our front yard converted from mostly grass to drought resistant rocks (and some plants). Here’s a pre-change image… | |
And here are some shots of Spring’s colors… | |
The flowers on the immediate sides of the path are miniature roses, which have a surprising amount of size variety considering they were all bought and planted at the same time… The ones above are about mid-shin / knee height. | |
This is the tallest and next to it (on the lower right) is the smallest. There are probably a dozen more buds getting ready to blossom. You can’t really tell from the photo, but there are a half-dozen bees doing their thing on this bush. | |
Here’s a better shot of the poppies… | |
A better view of the snapdragons… | |
My wife spends a great deal of energy on the gardens (front and back), but it’s worth it for the up-lifting feeling you get when you see everything in the bright morning sunlight and full Spring colors… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | In Pursuit |
The Music Of Her Laughter | |
2020 | Close, Sustained And Careful |
2019 | #45: Spread The Fear |
Fear The Beards | |
2018 | Slice, Nick, Cut, Bled |
2017 | Like Most Blogs |
2016 | The Window Left Open |
Free Experience | |
2015 | Reality == Perception / (Times Reported * 10) |
2014 | Tear Da Roof Off Da Sucka |
2013 | Exposed Spirits |
2012 | Ow-ow |
2011 | Focused Relatives |
New Year Changes To My Blog
Posted in Blog Changes, General Comments, tagged Blog Changes, General Comments on January 1, 2022| 1 Comment »
For the last 10 years, I’ve been posting personal health / fitness updates on pages under my menu topic “Sweat Equity“. I was doing this to create an open site for me to refer to if I ever needed to, while not having access to my home computer. I have used the pages very rarely – no more than 2 or 3 times per year and I’m fully settled into retirement now so I don’t really have the need for this type of access. | |
As such, I will no longer be updating or adding to these pages. If anything of note happens, I will simply publish a “normal” post. Typically, it will be as an additional post for a given day. | |
I will be updating my “Tributaries and Eddies” section (on my sidebar). Two of the blogs there have (more or less) stopped updating, so I’ll be removing them. One has changed location, so I’m just updating the address. I used to do this updating (removing and adding) every six months, but I’ve kind of let it slide, so this will be a bit of New Year’s housekeeping. | |
Third, for now at least, I will no longer be posting music videos every day. I’ve been doing it for almost a two years and it started off as a “lark” – just to share music (lyrics) I’ve enjoyed. Once I got past a month, I thought, I’ll just do it for year (365 days straight). Then I thought, well, just do it for a full calendar year. Now, that’s done, too… I will post a music / song video every now and then, I just won’t be doing it every day. | |
Finally, I’m going to try to write more posts of my own. I started this blog to practice my writing and to vent at the universe. When I began to run out of bile I began using quotes and book / movie reviews more and more and using the post titles as my “creative” tool. My intent was to express a view / twist of the quote / review with a pun or hi-lite of a few words from the quote(s). This was my way of pretending to be a newspaper headline writer. I feel this was mostly unsuccessful, but I’ve enjoyed trying, so I will keep at it (on post titles anyway). | |
I hope everyone reading this has a prosperous year and that you keep on blogging! Excelsior!! | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Happy New Year — 2021! |
Facing The New Year | |
2020 | Happy New Year — 2020! |
2019 | Happy New Year — 2019! |
2018 | Happy New Year — 2018! |
2017 | Happy New Year — 2017! |
2016 | Happy New Year — 2016! |
Remembering My Brother | |
2015 | Happy New Year — 2015! |
2014 | Happy New Year – 2014! |
2013 | Another New Year’s Thought (In Case It Rains) |
Happy New Year – 2013! | |
2012 | Best Wishes For 2012! |
Where Did You Spend New Year’s Eve? | |
2011 | Happy New Year (2011)!! |
Happy New Year — 2022!
Posted in General Comments, tagged General Comments, Happy New Year - 2022 on January 1, 2022| 2 Comments »
If you’re reading this, it means you’ve survived 2021 and last night’s New Year’s Eve party… Congratulations! | |
A new year full of opportunities awaits us. Let’s all make healthy choices as we try to survive politics, climate change(s) and a dicey economy. | |
Happy 2022, everyone!! — KMAB | |
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On This Day In: | |
2021 | Happy New Year — 2021! |
Facing The New Year | |
2020 | Happy New Year — 2020! |
2019 | Happy New Year — 2019! |
2018 | Happy New Year — 2018! |
2017 | Happy New Year — 2017! |
2016 | Happy New Year — 2016! |
Remembering My Brother | |
2015 | Happy New Year — 2015! |
2014 | Happy New Year – 2014! |
2013 | Another New Year’s Thought (In Case It Rains) |
Happy New Year – 2013! | |
2012 | Best Wishes For 2012! |
Where Did You Spend New Year’s Eve? | |
2011 | Happy New Year (2011)!! |
Seeking Emergence
Posted in General Comments, Music, Philosophy, Quotes, tagged Achievement, Art, Elegance, Frederic Chopin, Notes, Philosophy, Quotes, Simplicity on November 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. | |
— Frederic Chopin | |
[After barely 200 hours of practice, I can not claim to say I’ve played “a vast quantity of notes”. But, in seeking my own “voice”, I believe I am already seeking simplicity. I can (already) see why some become obsessed with playing an instrument and making the music in their head come out. It is very much like the first time you get a computer program to run successfully and then successively pare the program until it feels elegant (to you). — KMAB] | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | 51 Days Until The Moron (#45) Is Out Of Office |
Tearing The Roof Off It | |
2019 | #Impeach45: Once A Buffoon, Now A Bad Joke |
2018 | Good Sense |
2017 | E Pluribus Unum |
2016 | Lacking |
2015 | Chip, Chip, Chip |
2014 | nom de plume |
2013 | The Real Reason |
From The Book | |
2012 | When Young |
2011 | 14 Ways To A Better Judgement |
V Memories From Saudi Arabia
Posted in General Comments, Included Video, Music and Concerts, Quotes, Song Lyrics And Videos By Others, Videos, tagged Binge-ing, Bollywood, Comments, Daler Mehndi, Ho Jayegi Balle Balle -- music video, Included Video, Netflix, Quotes, Saudi Arabia, V Music Video Channel, Vevo, YouTube on November 22, 2021| 1 Comment »
Ho Jayegi Balle Balle |
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Comment(s): | |
A few days ago, I posted about watching music videos on the “V” Channel. I could not remember the name of the artist I saw and enjoyed the most. Well, persistence pays off! I found him… His name is: Daler Mehndi and one of the songs I used to see every day was this one (“Ho Jayegi Balle Balle”). There were a couple of other artists and videos I really liked, but I haven’t been able to pick them out of the line-ups yet. When I first got to Saudi, my family didn’t come out for almost eight months, so I watched a LOT of cable: sports (cricket, tennis, rugby, track), movies, and music videos. As I recall, you could see Mehndi on “V” a couple of times a day and this video AT LEAST every day – if not twice. | |
I don’t speak any Indian dialect, but a quick Google search says this is Punjab. Like the K-Pop video I posted about a few years ago, you don’t need to speak the language if the music / video “speak” to you. As a quick aside, I’ve also read this song is actually a series of songs based on a mega-hit by this title. I’m pretty sure this is the one I remember, but I could be wrong if the video sequels (beat and videos) are all about the same. LoL. | |
I think the “V” experience also primed me for my Netflix “Bollywood” binge viewing a couple of years ago. But, that’s another story… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Sometimes Just Being There Is Enough |
And I Owe It All To You | |
2019 | Or Live For It |
2018 | Happy Thanksgiving (2018) |
2017 | Grateful Humility |
2016 | Obstacles |
Election + 2 Weeks | |
2015 | Done What You Could |
2014 | Impossible To Other Men |
2013 | Just In Case |
2012 | Isn’t This Just Pleasant? |
2011 | No Void In Sight |
Waaaay Before The Movie
Posted in General Comments, Included Video, Music and Concerts, Quotes, Song Lyrics And Videos By Others, Videos, tagged Black Sabbath, Comments, Favorite Lines, Included Video, Iron Man -- music video, Quotes, YouTube on October 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Iron Man |
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Favorite Line(s): | |
Has he lost his mind? |
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Can he see or is he blind? | |
Can he walk at all | |
Or, if he moves, will he fall? | |
Comment(s): | |
I remember first seeing the movie (back in 2008), hearing this song and thinking: “Great music, but I don’t remember a single word from the lyrics.” Truth is, twelve-ish years later… I still don’t. Can you have “favorite lines” if you have to look up the lyrics? Probably not. But the music / song still rocks! | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | I Just Want To Stay Happy |
Fading… | |
2019 | Show Righteousness, Not Fear |
2018 | Sounds Like Politics, Too |
2017 | Resist More |
Conservatives Are Not The Enemy | |
2016 | Two Weeks To Go… |
2015 | Remembering |
2014 | The Creeping Death Of Civilization |
Orange October (X) – A Blue Morning Turns Into An Orange Evening | |
2013 | License Problem |
2012 | Giants Win Game 2 Of The 2012 World Series 2 To 0!!! |
Adage, n. | |
Questions Women Should Ask Before Voting… | |
2011 | What Are You Looking At? |
Boosted
Posted in Family and Friends, General Comments, Health, tagged Booster Shots, COVID-19, Family, General Comments, Health, Vaccinations on September 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today my wife and I both got our COVID booster shots!! We got same day scheduling at the pharmacy in our local supermarket. | |
Six(6) months and two days after receiving our second original vaccination. | |
No ill effects to speak of other than a slight soreness at the shot location which passed after a couple of hours. (That was me. Hil had NO effects.) | |
If everything works out, we should be good to go until next year when they’ll probably have an annual regime in place. Time will tell… | |
If you have not received your vaccinations yet… Get on it! Protect your health and let’s get living our lives back to normal. If you have received your initial vaccinations, but not your booster shot – get it scheduled as soon as you are eligible. Life (and health) is too precious to risk losing it over politics. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Three Down, Four To Go |
Twenty-Four ‘Til You | |
2019 | Two Down, Five To Go |
2018 | Year One, Done! |
2017 | First Day Of Retirement! |
2016 | Revere And Criticize |
2015 | Global Climate Change May Test This Statement |
2014 | Adaptability Won |
2013 | Disappeared |
2012 | Fuller |
Life On The Range | |
More Classics | |
2011 | Stoned Again? |
2010 | Insubordination… And That’s Why I Love Her! |
Losing – Week One | |
Burning Up The Night
Posted in General Comments, Included Video, Music and Concerts, Quotes, Song Lyrics And Videos By Others, Videos, tagged Army Memories, Comments, Disco Dancing, Favorite Lines, Included Video, Line Dancing, Macarena, Marching In Formation, Quotes, The Bee Gees, Vevo, YMCA, YouTube on July 25, 2021| 2 Comments »
Night Fever |
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Favorite Line(s): | |
Here I am | |
Prayin’ for this moment to last | |
Livin’ on the music so fine | |
Borne on the wind |
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Makin’ it mine | |
Night fever, night fever | |
We know how to do it | |
Gimme that night fever, night fever | |
We know how to show it | |
Comment(s): | |
This song is (IMHO) a “classic” disco tune. My “issue” with disco music wasn’t that I didn’t like it (the music). Generally speaking, I liked it a lot (and still do – in doses). My problem was that disco music (/ dance style) became a super-fad while I was in the Army and I had a psychological block against memorizing moves and dancing in formation. I had the same problem when the next “fad” was country line dancing, YMCA and Macarena. The “interesting” thing, for me, was I enjoyed marching in formation – when we had to do it. I just mentally objected to carrying it (acting in formation) over into the civilian part of my life. I still do… | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Your Challenge |
2019 | The Tragedies Are About To Get Worse |
2018 | Plunge |
Time To Meet God | |
2017 | Wealth Within |
2016 | Soaring |
2015 | Gone To The Library… |
2014 | Choose To Lead |
2013 | Not Sent Yet |
2012 | Wall-Crawler Reboot |
Learning To Count | |
On Worshiping God | |
2011 | Emancipated Differences |
2010 | A Little More Technology, Please… |
Think Global – Act Local
Posted in Environment, Family History, General Comments, Pictures, tagged California, Climate Change, Conserving Water, Drought, Environment, Front Garden, General Comments, Home Improvement, Home Maintenance on June 10, 2021| 2 Comments »
So, this was our house last year after the new paint job… | |
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And here it is after updating our front garden to help conserve water… | |
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As you can see, we’ve removed the front grass and replaced it with (mostly) white stone. We’ve circled the two trees with larger riverbed stones and red pumice (like) stones. We’ve high-lighted the roses on either side of the brick path and added river stone edging on the sides. We added a “fake” stream bed curving from near the top of the path, around our big tree, down to the sidewalk. And, finally, we sprinkled various plants in the white stone areas. We hope they will fill out and add a bit of color to the otherwise plain white space. | |
Many (not quite most) of the houses in our neighborhood have already done the same to their front gardens. I don’t know how much money we’ll save, but every drop of water counts in this age of climate change. Over 25 of the last 30 years have been drought years here in California, so our action is long past due. Hopefully, better late than never… | |
And, of course, the best news is: NO more mowing the lawn, while reducing the expense of our water bill. | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Was #IncompenentDonald Born To Be A Diplomat? |
2019 | Have You Planted Lately? |
2018 | Something / Nothing |
2017 | Kindness |
2016 | Dealing With It |
2015 | Too Many Choices! |
2014 | Vini, Vidi, Vici |
2013 | Heroes |
Education, n. | |
2012 | Who I Want To Be |
2011 | Mythic Forgetfulness |
Tweet, Tweet
Posted in General Comments, Included Video, Music and Concerts, Quotes, Song Lyrics And Videos By Others, Videos, tagged Bobby Day, Comments, Favorite Lines, Included Video, Quotes, Rockin Robin -- music video, YouTube on June 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Rockin’ Robin |
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Favorite Line(s): | |
He rocks in the tree tops all day long | |
Hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and a-singing his song | |
All the little birds on Jaybird Street | |
Love to hear the robin go tweet-tweet-tweet | |
Rockin’ robin (tweet, tweet, tweet) | |
Rockin’ robin (tweet, tweedle-lee-dee) | |
Blow rockin’ robin | |
‘Cause we’re really gonna rock tonight | |
Comment(s): | |
The video’s a little slow due to a “longish” intro, but it’s still interesting to see the original performers, even if it is (obviously) lip sync. — KMAB | |
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On This Day In: | |
2020 | Why My Dentist Loves Me |
Live, Learn And Teach Goodness | |
The Lesson Of Trump’s Life | |
2019 | You Really Don’t |
No One Can Imagine | |
2018 | Until Integrity, Decency, Wisdom, And Humility Return |
Just Tell (And Re-tell) The Big Lie Often Enough On Fox News | |
2017 | To Laws, Not Office Or Individuals |
Beast / General / Civil | |
2016 | Patronage |
2015 | For Blogs, Too! |
2014 | Righteous Anger |
2013 | An Irish Blessing |
2012 | But Is It Worth It? |
2011 | Let Us Start |
I Ask For Two Minutes…
Posted in General Comments, Philosophy, Pictures, Quotes, tagged General Comments, Images, Memorial Day -- 2021, Philosophy, Pictures on May 31, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Memorial Day |
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Monday 31 May 2021 |
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[This weekend, when you are celebrating with your family, please take a minute to think about these soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who throughout our nation’s history have made the ultimate sacrifice for us all. Please try to think of them, not as warriors, but as sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters… as part of a “greater” American family – which all (they and us) surely are. | ||||||
I know that Memorial Day is specifically set aside to honor these brave souls in uniform, but please also take an extra minute or two to remember and be thankful for the over 3,600 medical and health care staff around the country who also fought the good fight – just doing their jobs – and who gave their lives in the last year defending us from COVID. They too have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. | ||||||
All five images were found on the web. No claim of ownership is intended or implied. | ||||||
— KMAB] | ||||||
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On This Day In: | ||||||
2020 | At Least A Lot More Gray | |||||
2019 | Walking The Lonely Path | |||||
2018 | The Ultimate Trial | |||||
2017 | Vain Expectations | |||||
2016 | Or Of One Thought | |||||
2015 | What’s In Your Future? | |||||
2014 | Light In Darkness | |||||
2013 | How ‘Bout Just Obeying The Law? | |||||
2012 | Or Maybe Not | |||||
2011 | My Interval Is Too Short! | |||||
5 In 6
Posted in Disclaimer, General Comments, tagged Disclaimer, Games, General Comments, Highly Recommended Game, New York Times, Wordle on June 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
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