COF 258 - dfs-archiver/dfs-archive GitHub Wiki
CRANKY OLD FART #258
leftovers & links
Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023
Oh what a glorious morning!
On my way to the toilet, I saw Dean in the kitchen, for the first time since we sorta had it out a few days ago.
He'd finished preparing a meal or a snack, and was headed into his room. We made eye contact and I waved and he waved, but he said nothing — just what I always wanted!
New Year's Eve is such a tired occasion. The idiots in my neighborhood started shooting off fireworks at 11:45 or so, and didn't stop until 2AM. Some of them might be my downstairs neighbors, and the fireworks in the air were so close, every burst of light was followed by shrapnel hitting the side of the house.
Same thing happened on the Fourth of July, and it frightened me then, but on the Fifth of July I couldn't find any charring around the outside walls, so I'm not going to worry about it any more.
It's only an annoyance, one among a million, but jeez, what are we celebrating, really? Another year older and closer to death.
Cripes, how I hate year-end "year in review" and "best of" lists. It's filler, where journalism should be. If I compiled a list of the ten best ten best articles of 2022, there wouldn't be any lists on it.
I lost most of my lifelong flab a few years ago, from a combination of fasting and salads, but gained most of the fat back during the pandemic because I'm an idiot and love ice cream.
The doctor convinced me that there's too much of me, so I'm returning to the habits that took the weight off. My goal is to drop a pound or two weekly, and my strategy is to eat less, eat healthier, and not eat at all when I'm not hungry. I'm taking at least a day off from food after every day when I eat, which isn't difficult, so long as I don't sit here daydreaming of ham on rye.
So far it's going well. Other than some carrots when I was feeling nibbly yesterday, I haven't eaten anything since the family breakfast on Saturday. A salad is forecast for this afternoon.
This blog is my diary, so I will be talking about this stuff sometimes, and from experience I know that this needs to be said: My body, my choice. I have no interest in anyone else's opinions about how dangerous or foolhardy you believe any of this is.
News you need,
whether you know it or not
• White contractors wouldn't remove Confederate statues. So a Black man did it.
• Thousands of records shattered in historic winter warm spell in Europe
• Republicans get a louder voice on climate change as they take over the House
• Mosquitoes are breeding more and extending their active range thanks to climate change
• "I wanted him to have a positive view of police officers and not all the negativity he sees on TV."
Mystery links
Like life itself, there's no
knowing where you're going
• click
• click
• click
Clicks ahoy
• Wish-Bone salad dressing was once a family business, then sold by turns to Lipton, Unilever, Pinnacle, and Conagra. No wonder it keeps getting suckier.
• Bring back personal blogging
In the beginning, there were blogs, and they were the original social web. We built community. We found our people. We wrote personally. We wrote frequently. We self-policed, and we linked to each other so that newbies could discover new and good blogs.
I want to go back there.
Well, we're right here.
• This quick remembrance form Ace Backwords is the best tribute to Hate Man I've seen yet.
• The first images from the surface of Mars were paint-by numbers
• What's wrong with an empty bus?
♫♬ Mix tape of my mind ♫
• The Air That I Breathe — The Hollies
• Dazzling in the End — Murray Gold
Eventually, everyone
leaves the building
1/3/2023
Tip 'o the hat to Linden Arden, ye olde AVA, BoingBoing, Breakfast at Ralf's, Captain Hampockets, CaptCreate's Log, John the Basket, LiarTownUSA, Meme City, National Zero, Ran Prieur, Voenix Rising, and anyone else whose work I've stolen without saying thanks.
Special thanks to Becky Jo, Name Withheld, Dave S, Wynn Bruce, and always extra special thanks to my lovely late Stephanie, who gave me 21 years and proved that the world isn't always shitty.