Summing Up and Forging On

I try my best to avoid ai. When it first became widely available I did experiment a little with images. One such program was so sensitive that when I requested a picture of a boy walking on the sidewalk, with no other qualifiers, I was warned that this violation could result in my being prosecuted, were I to persist. I had been writing a story about a poor boy who walked on a sidewalk looking for a piece of wire he could use to secure his flapping shoe sole.

The same program cautioned me about requesting a pic of a titwillow bird.

My book got noticed. A customer in Canada ordered it in September. They kept giving bogus reasons why they couldn't ship it. In late October she told me. I went to Amazon chat, where they told me at first it was delivered already. When I pointed out the messages about delays they told me it's up to her to tell them. So after that they told her the book should arrive on such and such date. Mind, all this since September. Today they refunded her money. I told her Canadian censors must be blocking it. She replied "Exactly." She had just tried to re-order, but they told her it could not be mailed to her address. The book glorifies the 60s peace movement and it takes R Reagan to task for finding humor in the deaths of HIV patients. Among other things. I purposely avoided Israel and Russia hoping the censors would give me a pass. I'm not sure how long US citizens will be allowed to read it.

The customer in question is more militant than me. It may be she alone is the target of this censorship.

Every new project has been stymied in various ways, but finally a new story is in the works. The central character was inspired by Charles Bukowski. This man lives with a dog that he fears and comes to entertain an unexpected guest. But I digress. I know my book is available because I know people who are receiving it. So far all to good reviews but one. The one failed to give a reason for not finishing, but I can understand that not everyone would be receptive. I don't finish a book if I can't enjoy it.

I often turn on the TV when I get up, more for the companionship of noise than to try to get any sensical communication out of it. The Today Show and the similar shows on other channels. I get tired of the jabbering after a bit and turn it off. I believe they talk fast and loud not so much to be understood as to fill the air space. If they were trying to communicate it seems they would study up on elocution.

Wikipedia: Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelling.

Oh well. As I said I do it for human noise because I am in my room alone in the early part of the day.

They may be too busy with alloquy, colloquy, obloquy and ventriloquy to invent eloquy.

A person who once participated on a2k, along with her husband, told me she just got my book. She can't read it because she's legally blind. Her son has volunteered to read it to her. So that's like two readers. Fabuloso.

My oldest sister died today. She was 76. So, of twelve siblings (a mix of full and half) five are gone. Sometimes I feel like I'm on top of a mountain that's being raked by snowy gale-force wind. Who will be next? I never expected to be this old this soon and I hope I have at least a decade left. But the Great Decider ain't me.

“I came out of the wilderness and just naturally fell in with the Beat scene, the bohemian, bebop crowd, it was all pretty much connected. It was Jack Kerouac, Ginsberg, Corso, Ferlinghetti…I got in at the tail end of that and it was magic…it had just as big an impact on me as Elvis Presley.”
~ Bob Dylan, in a 1985 interview

It was the same with me. That's why Highway 61 Revisited struck me so hard, more than any other album in my life. It was the musical embodiment of the above statement. - eb

Sorry for your loss. My immediate family is now down to my older sister (77) and me (74). We both have some sort of bionic parts and have had our share of medical issues. We do share good positive attitudes.

Thanks Rags. It was expected. She was in decline for the past year. Big chunks of my life go with these losses. But I'm stoic enough to keep going.

Extreme heavy rain just passed over. We are warned of potential tornado.

Tell me about it. We had thunderstorms all through the night and the morning in Dallas. We're finally having the autumn rains we haven't had until now and a forestalled winter.

It was a busy and scary weather day but all is quiet now.

The storm killed at least one person.

About A Complete Unknown: I love the guy playing Dylan. Somebody else should be Pete Seger. If you go in looking for facts beyond the meteoric rise of Dylan the artist not much is on a proper timeline or perspective. The greatest departure is his romance with Suze. And last meet with Woody. Still I highly recommend it first as an intro to early Dylan and second because it draws fans back to the time when we first noticed and were hooked for life.

Protect your pet they said. If you are cold they are cold. So it's in the thirties and the heat is on. So where's the dog? Out running the yard. Came in for a quick snack, held it in his mouth and went to the door to be let out. I told the shelter when we adopted he would mostly stay indoors. Not this dog. He lives in the yard. I make him sleep indoors but he would stay outside if I let him. ?????????

He will grab a toy and bounce all over the yard with it. He has killed everything growing there, except the trees and some rose bushes. And he is engineering a hole in the center, almost the circumference of a car tire. Right now it's only maybe four or five inches deep.

My favorite cooking utensil is my cast iron skillet. For years I struggled to keep it seasoned. Lately I discovered via Youtube that the answer is olive oil and salt. I didn't want to use up what olive oil I had on hand. Since the skillet often has a residue of butter, I substituted that for olive oil. Works like a charm. Just heat the skillet, put in some butter and salt and scrub it down, using no other ingredient. Wipe it out. I doubt if any system is perfect, but I'm satisfied with the results I get.