Once Upon A Time…

Like A Rolling Stone
Favorite Line(s):
When you ain’t got nothing,
You got nothing to lose
You’re invisible now,
You’ve got no secrets to conceal
How does it feel,
Ah how does it feel?
To be on your own,
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown,
Like a rolling stone
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On This Day In:
2021	A Tenacious Cycle
	Once Upon A Time…
2020	Kinda Like Posting To A Blog About My Day
	Just A Different Point Of View
	You Be The Judge
2019	I Think I’m Repeating Myself
	It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like X-mas!
2018	No Reason To Turn
2017	Talking Knuth
	Seeing It Through
2016	Hoping For The Best Come January
2015	Adaptive Security
2014	Wants
2013	Side Effects
2012	Just Trying To Earn A Living
2011	Productive Worry

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Love Is All There Is

I Threw It All Away
Favorite Line(s):
So if you find someone that
Gives you all of her love
Take it to your heart,
Don’t let it stray
For one thing that’s certain
You will surely be a-hurtin’
If you throw it all away
If you throw it all away
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On This Day In:
2021	Better To Lie, Get Rich And Destroy Your Country
	Love Is All There Is
2020	You Remind Me Of Someone
	When I Grow Up I Want To…
2019	Running History, But I Don’t Expect Many To Match It…
	It’s Probably Easier When You Live Alone
2018	25 Days Until The November Election
	Old And Young
2017	Universal Soul Sounds
2016	Not Rivals
2015	Dead Sure
2014	Are You Educated?
2013	For Myself
2012	And When I’m Gone…
2011	Complete Conviction

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It Never Was

It Ain’t Me Babe
Favorite Line(s):
You say you’re lookin’ for someone
Who’s never weak but always strong
To protect you and defend you
Whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain’t me, babe
No, no, no, it ain’t me, babe
It ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe
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On This Day In:
2021	Practically Worthless In Every Way
	It Never Was
	Frustrating Incentive
2020	You Too?
	Six Degrees
2019	A Branching Stream
	Day 9: One Day At A Time
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 2)
	Day 1: Redux
2017	Good Blogs, Too
2016	My Prediction For #AmnestyDon
2015	Worth A Try
2014	I’m Feeling It
2013	May I Have A Little More, Please?
2012	Increasing Doubt
2011	You Can’t Touch This

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I’ve Had Enough

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Favorite Line(s):
I don’t have the strength to get up
And take another shot
And my best friend,
My doctor
Won’t even say
What it is I’ve got
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On This Day In:
2020	BLM
2019	Courage And Patience
2018	Push The Envelope
2017	Ents
2016	Are You Sure?
2015	Distracted
2014	What It Takes
2013	We Are
2012	Utopian
2011	Seen Any Black Swans Lately?

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Just A Different Point Of View

Tangled Up In Blue
Favorite Line(s):
So now I’m goin’ back again
I got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenters’ wives
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue
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On This Day In:
2021	A Tenacious Cycle
	Once Upon A Time…
2020	Kinda Like Posting To A Blog About My Day
	Just A Different Point Of View
	You Be The Judge
2019	I Think I’m Repeating Myself
	It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like X-mas!
2018	No Reason To Turn
2017	Talking Knuth
	Seeing It Through
2016	Hoping For The Best Come January
2015	Adaptive Security
2014	Wants
2013	Side Effects
2012	Just Trying To Earn A Living
2011	Productive Worry

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In Another Lifetime

Shelter From The Storm
Favorite Line(s):
‘Twas in another lifetime
One of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue
And the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness
A creature void of form
“Come in” she said
“I’ll give you
Shelter from the storm”.
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On This Day In:
2021	Experience A Simple Whatever
	A Thousand Kisses
2020	Talking Politics With Trump Republicans
	In Another Lifetime
2019	People Will Come
	Change Is Here…
2018	Be My Hero – Vote Tomorrow!
	He Was All Of Us…
2017	Black And White
	Advice For #DumbDonald
2016	Mirror, Mirror
2015	Speaking With Forked Tongue
2014	The Code
2013	Eventually Formed
2012	Remember To Vote Tomorrow
2011	It Sounds Like Chaos Theory To Me

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VOTE – “We The People” Can Save America

The Times They Are A Changin’
Favorite Line(s):
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway
Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside is ragin’
It’ll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
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On This Day In:
2021	Sustainable Development
	Duke, Duke, Duke
2020	#IncompetentDonald Is A Clear And Present Danger
	VOTE – “We The People” Can Save America
2019	Why #45 Is Fated To Endanger Our National Security
2018	Dehydrated
	Dehydrated II
2017	And Some Of Us Have Books
2016	I See No Proof
2015	Whither Tea Party?
2014	Nothing Is Known Absolutely
2013	Decoration Time
2012	The Beatitudes
2011	Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
2010	Back On The Asphalt
	No Sweep – Rangers Win Game 3 by 4 to 2
	Greek Myths For Kids

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Day 8: One Stone

The end of day eight and the (now) most of the way through day nine…  One full day completed into week 2 of juice / blend fasting.
Morning weight:  359lbs.  (on Day 9)
I am down / down “2/14”.  As in, 2lbs down from yesterday and 14lbs down from my fasting start weight:  373lbs (the morning of Day 1).  For those who are British:  I have now lost a “stone” from my starting weight!
Yesterday was a fairly uneventful day: walked the dog (30min), TV (news), blog a bit / watch YouTube / read emails, read a book, go for a swim (1hr, breast stroke), watch the first half of a movie.  Basically, a nice, relaxing day.  Nothing major to report.  Drink my juice / blend too fast, get runs…   This is both good and bad.  Bad:  You got the runs.  Good:  Another day without being constipated.  Believe it or not, THAT is a BIG thing when you are fasting.
So, today is Day 9 and I woke feeling pretty well.  I’m feeling slightly thinner and I’m not having any of the (my) normal aches and pains.  It’s all good…
This afternoon I went to see my General Physician (GP) for my annual health check.  BP:  114 / 64.  HR:  67.  Weight:  350lbs.  BMI:  50.22.  The good news is my blood test was also generally positive, with most bad numbers edging closer to good and good numbers getting better.  So, it’s:  “See ya’ in six months.”
Today I am finishing my last bottle of “juice / blend” so tomorrow I will need to grind up a new batch.  Here’s the menu:  2 bunches of celery, 2 large cucumbers, 2 large onions, 2 bunches of spinach, 3lbs of carrots, 1 large broccoli, water (for blending) and various processed juices (for calories and taste).  The processed juices vary depending on what’s on sale, but normally include V-8 Greens, V-8 Bananas / Strawberry, Apple Cider, Grapefruit, Cranberry and Pomegranate.  None of these have added sugar.  That’s not the same as having NO sugar.  It only means there is none added.  I also add 1 or 2 cans of beans (Kidney, Pinto or Black).  This makes enough bottles for 6 to 8 days of fasting.
Now the first thing any health / juicer person is going to shout is:  “You can’t store juice that long!!!”  Yes!  I know.  I know.  “Traditional” veggie juicing theology (protocol) mandates you MUST drink your veggie juice within an hour of juicing and certainly no longer than the same day.  Well, that’s fine if you’ve got the time, energy and dedication.  I could probably find the time if I had the other two assets (energy and dedication), but – to be perfectly honest – I don’t.  When processes get too complicated, a somewhat lazy stiff like me blows off the process or at least a few steps.  I wish I could afford to have someone else do the preparation before ever juice meal or even every day, but I can’t (afford it) and I don’t have the motivation.  I’ve tried it a couple of times when I first got into juicing and, to quote Bob Dylan:  “It Ain’t Me Babe.  No. No. No.  It Ain’t Me Babe.”  So, I have to focus on what I can:  bunch process the blend and drink it each day.  That I CAN do.
Backing up a bit, some of you may have noticed I showed my weight this morning as 359lbs, but my doctor’s office visit was 350lbs.  What’s up with that?  Well, first I use an analogue scale and they use a digital scale.  I don’t know if they program the scale to discount for clothing or not.  When that is programmed into the digital scale they are normally set for either 3lbs, 5lbs, 7lbs or 9lbs depending on if the person is fully dressed or in shorts and either barefoot or in shoes / trainers.  I didn’t see the nursing assistant punch anything in so if it is programmed it’s probably for fully dressed with work shoes – so the max:  9lbs.  But, for the sake of argument, let’s say it doesn’t have an offset programmed in.  What else might cause the difference?  Standing!
Standing??  Yes.  Standing…  What is the scale standing on?  Carpet or a hard surface?  And, where are you standing on the scale?  Surface can add / drop 5lbs from the reading.  My own scale is on cement.  If a scale is not my own, I try to stand in the center of the scale, as flat footed as I can get and with my weight as balanced as I can be.  On my own scale (at home), I take two measurements daily (each morning):  1)  knees slightly bent, feet flat, but with my weight shifted as much as possible (without falling) over my toes; and, 2)  knees straight (not locked), feet flat, but with my weight shifted as much as possible (without falling) over my heels.  On my scale, the variation between the two is normally 7 to 10 pounds!  It has been as low as 5 pounds and as large as 12 pounds.  (Sarcasm:  “The beauty of using a spring based scale.”)  The first is the high for the day.  The second is my low for the day.
My daily record (these posts) shows the highs.  My monthly “Sweat Equity” page (with daily updates) shows both weigh-ins.  The temptation is to pick the lows, but because I don’t “really” know how accurate my scale is, I don’t want to pick the lows and then show up at the doctor’s office a get a rude surprise.  The last time I was at the doctor’s office, his scale matched my scales low weight for that day.  Today, the doctor’s scale was 2lbs below my low scale weight from this morning (and I was wearing shoes at the office but not this morning).  Which means I got a pleasant surprise!
So, now having read all of this post, aren’t you glad to know there are some folks out there who are WAY crazier and OCD than you are…??
Yesterday I offered up a 20-ish minute video about the math of fat loss.  Today I’ve got a reply.  It’s marginally shorter (17-ish minutes) and I don’t know the presenter or what he is trying to “push / sell”, but I found it interesting, so I’m passing it along…
(Reply Video to:) The Mathematics Of Weight Loss Ruben Meerman TEDxQUT (presented by:  Dr. Sten Ekberg)
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On This Day In:
2021	I Think They Mean It
	An Endless Stream
2020	ITF (365) – Update
	Word Up!
	My Fear: A Second More Tyrannous Term
2019	Reality And Imperfection
	Day 8: One Stone
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 1)
	Day 41: Hiccup Or End Of Days?
2017	Sharp-Edged Beauty
2016	Start, Keep, Finish
2015	Lifetime Friends
2014	Acknowledgement
2013	Longevity, Tenacity and Diversity
2012	What Reagan Really Cared About
2011	Seeming Sane (Or Not)

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Less Can Be More

Today I was browsing around on YouTube, just listening to this and that, and I found a song by someone I think is an under-appreciated artist:  Glen Campbell and the song is “Less Of Me“.
Despite the fact that Glenn Campbell has had a phenomenal career spanning decades (50+ years!) with multiple hits (70 albums), I think he took a little flak for being in the transition period (when country was Nashville and fading) during the ascendancy of Rock / Disco and Rhythm and Blues (aka “Soul”) – in other words – Pop music.  It didn’t help his street cred that he had a variety show on TV.  In the background, Glen Campbell was a terrific musician and song writer who cut his teeth playing as a “session” musician.  Basically, he played a lot of background music for other artists.
Glen Campbell has retired now for health reasons.  I compare him to Willie Nelson (in country music), Bob Dylan (folk / pop music) and a hand full of others whose careers have spanned 50 years, we may never see his like again…
As always, enjoy the words / lyrics, go listen to the song on your favorite music provider and then go listen to some live music.  Support the Arts!  While you’re on my Poems page, feel free to check out some of my poems, some of my favorite poems and speeches (by others) and the lyrics of other songs I like.  Quite a few of them are older songs, some are funny, some are sad, some just remind me of past friends or earlier days.  Enjoy!!
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On This Day In:
2022	Traveling Faster Than ‘c’
2021	Maybe “Creation” Wasn’t That Difficult After All
	C’est Chic
2020	#45: Time Is Ticking Away
	#45 Claims COVID-19 Defeated To Open The Economy
2019	Belief Buffet
2018	Change Is Law
2017	A Dog Day Of Summer
2016	Chances Are
2015	Truer Spoken
2014	Not Quite There Yet (Either)
	Many Colors
2013	Distance, n.
	Less Can Be More
2012	Rise Up!
	The Gift
2011	Artful Courage
2010	A Handful of Lessons…

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Where Are Your Mountains

“Of Bob Dylan“
There are those who do not imitate,
Who cannot imitate
But then there are those who emulate
At times, to expand further the light
Of an original glow.
Knowing that to imitate the living
Is mockery
And to imitate the dead
Is robbery
There are those
Who are beings complete unto themselves
Whole, undaunted,  a source
As leaves of grass, as stars
As mountains, alike, alike, alike,
Yet unalike
Each is complete and contained
And as each unalike star shines
Each ray of light is forever gone
To leave way for a new ray
And a new ray, as from a fountain
Complete unto itself, full, flowing
So are some souls like stars
And their words, works and songs
Like strong, quick flashes of light
From a brilliant, erupting cone.
So where are your mountains
To match some men?
This man can rhyme the tick of time
The edge of pain, the what of sane
And comprehend the good in men, the bad in men
Can feel the hate of fight, the love of right
And the creep of blight at the speed of light
The pain of dawn, the gone of gone
The end of friend, the end of end
By math of trend
What grip to hold what he is told
How long to hold, how strong to hold
How much to hold of what is told.
And Know
The yield of rend; the break of bend
The scar of mend
I’m proud to say that I know it,
Here-in is a hell of a poet.
And lots of other things
And lots of other things.
—    Johnny Cash
From the liner notes for Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album
[Johnny was not a bad poet, himself…    —    kmab]
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On This Day In:
2022	Understanding True Achievement
2021	Avoiding Corners
	Nobody Knows
	A Novel War
2020	First Buds
	To Fly
2019	What If Nobody Believes Them Either
2018	It’s About Heart Not Skill
2017	Winning So Much I’m Already Tired Of It (Not)
2016	Punishing Red Binge
2015	Bits In The Soup
2014	More Beef, Less Bull
2013	Where Are Your Mountains
2012	Spherical Knowledge Of Hamsters
2011	Taking Stock Over Time

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They Follow A Pattern – If You Know What I Mean

I was browsing through my journal (again), looking for more things to post about and I stumbled across some lyrics I’ve already posted and some poems I barely remembered, but which struck me (again).
The song lyrics are to the song:  “It Ain’t Me, Babe“, written and performed by Bob Dylan.  Some break ups are harder than others.  Sometimes the person just doesn’t really meet your needs (or expectations).  Sometimes you just don’t really meet theirs.  It seems to me when I read through the lyrics they brought back memories:  sometimes I’m the singer, and sometimes, I’m the listener.  Check out the lyrics, then go listen to Bob Dylan.  Play a game with yourself and ask:  “Which was I the last time my relationship ended?”
The first poem is titled:  “The Fool’s Prayer“, and was written by Edward Rowland Sill.  I guess at one time this was a very popular poem in America.  I remembered it as soon as I stumbled upon it, but I don’t think I’ve seen it or heard it read anywhere in the last 30-40 years.  So, I was surprised to find it being read on YouTube.  I guess you can pretty much find anything there now.  Without spoiling the ending too much, if the King is truly a fool (or at least the fool in question), why does he know to go pray?
The second poem is a quickie about manners and being polite more than anything else.  Titled “Our Lips And Ears“, and anonymously written, it’s included as a throw-in —  just ’cause I like it…
The final entry is another poem titled:  “Stanzas On Freedom“, written by James Russell Lowell.  We (Americans) live in a Federal Republic.  That has a specific meaning which is quite different from a “democracy”.   Having said that, I believe it is perfectly acceptable to disagree with each others policies and positions, but we should rarely (if ever) questions the other side’s patriotism.  The last bit of the poem says:
“They are slaves who fear to speak
For the fallen and the weak;
They are slaves who will not choose
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,
Rather than in silence shrink
From the truth they needs must think;
They are slaves who dare not be
In the right with two or three.”
The poem was about the abolition of slavery in America.  It asks:  can anyone claim to be free if any among us are slaves?  I would ask the same thing about education, health care, living wages and other civil rights (voting, marriage, whatever)…  Is our society “free” when the only rights we seem to have are the right to ignorance, poverty, illness and lack of opportunity?  I respect the patriotism and religious fervor of those who disagree with me, but I will not shrink from defending those less able to defend themselves in the marketplace of ideas.  Even if all I have are words,  I will be free to speak out.
Some time you will be in the majority and some time you will be in the minority.  Elections have consequences!  Neither side should be intimidated by force or other coercion to withdraw their beliefs.  Both sides should be encouraged to simply (or not so simply) develop better arguments to support their views and to sway additional voters for the next election.  That is what the free marketplace of ideas is all about – in a democracy or in a Federal Republic.
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On This Day In:
2022	40Hrs
	Might I Have A Little More, Please
2021	All I See Are Nails
	More Money
2020	We Will Get Through This
2019	I Asked My Family Doctor Just What I Had
2018	You Have Just Begun To Climb
2017	Equal Protection Under Law
2016	A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion
2015	Or You Don’t
2014	If You Ever Fall…
2013	Glory Days (part 2)
2012	They Follow A Pattern – If You Know What I Mean
	What I Live For (Precis)
2011	Giving

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Rain, Rain, Rain

When I got out of the Army, a friend recommended a book to me about a CIA assassin who was also a zen master (yeah, I know, but just go with me for a second).  Anyway, the guy had a garden built in the middle of his house so when it rained he could sit on a cushion, close his eyes and listen to the rain drops hit the various leaves.  The image has always stuck with me…
While I was in Liverpool recently, I was sitting next to an open window (reading) and the memory came back to me, so I closed my eyes and I’ll be darned if I couldn’t hear the drops striking various things – the window, the roof, the trees, etc.
This in turn got me thinking about “rain” themed songs.  Most are usually about crying over a breakup, but some are not.  It turns out there are loads of songs which use this imagery.  Here are some of my favorites from across my life:
Breakups:
It Must Be Raindrops
Listen To The Rhythm Of The Falling Rain
I Wish It would Rain
Happiness and/or Memories:
Singing In The Rain
I Can See Clearly Now
Alabama Rain
Walking In The Rain (With The One I Love)
Shelter From The Storm
As always, read the words (first), then go listen to the songs/music.  If you agree they’re terrific or just bring back memories for you – drop me a comment.  Don’t forget to buy from your source or go visit someone playing live music.  That’s the best way to support the Arts!!
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When Breaking Up Is Hard To Do…

I was watching the morning news shows last week and it seems there are some mighty gutless folks out there who text message their boyfriend / girlfriend to break up because they just can’t face the other person!!
Let me make it easier on you…   Send them one of these two songs:  “It Ain’t Me, Babe” or “Lover’s Cross“.  (The links are to the lyrics, not to the songs.  Go look ’em up yourself!)
By the way, I still think you’re gutless to not face them, but at least this has got a little more flair!
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Timeless Classics

A hundred years from now, (assuming humanity hasn’t poisoned itself into extinction) the two songs I’ve added lyrics for today will still be getting played somewhere on the planet (or whatever spaceship humanity is on).
As haunting as the lyrics are though, these are two songs which can best be appreciated only by hearing the original versions.  I offer for your reading pleasure:  Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” and The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil“.
On other matters – I’m struggling, but I’m back down to 300 pounds!!  Today, I managed my second 5K this week.  I spent the day in agony (lower back and leg), but it didn’t hurt while I was actually jogging, so I’m grateful for that…
Out in the “real world”, it looks like BP may have finally got a cap on the leaking oil hole in the Gulf of Mexico.  Somehow, we’re supposed to be happy they’ve managed to do it (stop the flow) “ahead of time” — meaning less than 100 days since the well blew.
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