NOTEFLIX’s Candid Camera shot of The Multicolored Bluebird of Happiness watching the Writer of this post – fast at work. ‘Nothing more fun than watching others at work,’ thinks the Multicolored Bluebird of Happiness. (-circa 2021)
I thought I’d begin this post with some old notes (and questions I had), before I threw them away:
- Remember how some people would say they liked to watch other people work? (You know, doing physical labor.) Now, with everybody working at a computer, that pleasure is gone. Nothing more boring than watching somebody sitting at a desk and staring at a screen. (-1994)
- Studies show: Power Napping is good for your memory. 15 minutes is ok – 90 minutes is best. I must remember to take a nap. (-1995)
- Ptolemy, the Egyptian Astronomer (100 a.d.) set up a navigation system. Homer’s captains sailed by his method. Egyptians, Greeks, Italians, Spaniards – all travelled to parts unknown with Ptolemy’s calculations; but he was wrong, the sun was not the center, nor were the stars fixed…yet the system worked. How is that? Can Science be wrong and right at the same time? (-1993)
- Is Water a Human Right? (-1994)
- I wish they’d stop calling top paying Government Jobs (i.e. Senator, House Reps, Presidents, etc.) “Public Service” Jobs – when so many of these “Public Servants” are in it for the money….more like “Public Trough” jobs. (-1995)
- I’d like to have someone do a study on how Small Mouth Bass feel after they have been “Catch And Released”. I know many fishermen feel good about themselves, releasing the fish, and they must think a good time was had by all…but I wonder. (-1996)
- Wikipedia is fetching 5 billion pages a month in 120 languages. Where is this going? Will all this readily available knowledge and information improve the world? (-2006)
- Americans are obese. Drug addictions are up. The Prison business is booming. The Middle Class is sinking and ‘Trickle Down’ is not working. We have a good, healthy economy; but the people are separated from it. (-2004)
- An article read: China was responsible for emanating 3 Plagues. 1) In the 6th Century…the Justinian Plague. Some historians think this helped bring the Turks to power. 2) The Bubonic Plague…killed a lot of the European population (Mid 1300’s) 3) A Bubonic Plague Wave in San Francisco (1900 -1904) …What next? When? (-1996)
Enough of the old notes and in with the new:
- Constantine moved the seat of power from Rome to Constantinople. A Pope moved his Papacy from The Vatican to Avignon in an attempt to retain Power. Is History trying to repeat itself with Trump’s efforts to move the seat of power from Washington, D.C. to Mar-a-Lago? (-Today)
- There was a time, a few years ago, when ‘Routers’ were the topic of the day and nobody knew what ‘Routers’ were. (But, if you were a buyer of stocks, you had to buy a ‘Router’ company – even if you did not know what you were getting in to.) Same thing with ‘Quantitative Easing’ (Some say it is/was the biggest financial program/transaction in the history of man) and nobody could tell me what ‘Quantitative Easing really was. And remember “Bandwidth”? Nobody I knew, knew what it was; but yet, we had to have it. Now there is Bitcoin (which Buffett has called “Rat Poison”; but some think he is going to buy some anyway, because a whole new wave of Billionaires have been created by it). And Blockchain is really what it is all about. Satchel Paige, the famous Fast-ball pitcher, said he “Never looked back” while jogging …did not want to see who, or what, was coming up behind him. I know what he meant.
- Sometimes I feel like God is on the ‘Back nine’ (golfing term) and having a a tough time making par out there in his new Multiverses and we are here fending for ourselves for a while. There is: The Heat. Water problems. Mass migrations. Idiots running governments. Capitalism running amuck. Race disparities. Wealth disparities and more. And when I mention these topics to people, often they tell me to look on the “Bright side of things”. “Be an Optimist”, they say. I’d like to be that, do that. Skip through the tulips. Can you, Dear Reader, tell me how? There is a comment section available for you at the bottom of this post.
And now a word from MATHUZALA, our Guest Columnist:
MATHUZALA SPEAKS: “It was never supposed to be like this. But then it was never told how it was supposed to be; was it? We will tell you how it is supposed to be and you will be better off. The power is shifting. We are in place.”
(Ed. Note: For those of you who have no idea what MATHUZALA is talking about – you can go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble and buy “THE RAT PAPERS” and you will find what you need to know.
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NOTES FROM TUSCANY: (or “Mona Lisa Slept Here and I Know Why”)
- In a caffe, in the Piazza yesterday, I had a coffee with some people from Amsterdam. They told me their city is in turmoil. Immigration (Race/Religion) problems. Rents are sky-rocketing through the moon. The twenty-something year old at the table would like to travel…leave the Netherlands. Maybe come to the U.S.
- I had dinner the other night with a French couple who had lived in London and now live in Paris. They told me theses cities are not “what they used to be”…rents, immigration, high cost of living, people and government not behaving well with the ‘Virus’. They lived in Manhattan in 2002 – thought the City was great, then. (- It Seems to me our problems have gone Global…)
And now a few quotes:
- “Hey, Look me over/ lend me an ear/ fresh out of clover/ Mortgaged up to here/ Don’t pass the plate, Bub, don’t pass the cup/ when you’re down and out – the only way is up, Bud/and I’ll be up like a rose, Bud…” – Lucille Ball, “Wildcat” (1960)
- “Common sense may tell you/That the ending will be sad/And now’s the time to break and run away/
But what’s the use of wond’ring/If the ending will be sad?” -Shirley Jones, “Carousel”, (1956) - “Oh/The sun’ll come out/Tomorrow/So ya gotta hang on/’Til tomorrow” – Andrea McCardle, “Annie” (1977)
- “My doctor told me jogging would add 10 years to my life.. He was right. I feel 10 years older already.” -Milton Berle, (circa 1950)
