Leap Day

February 29th. A bonus 24 hours we get this year. Sure feels like just a regular day. Looking back through the Internet Lounge it doesn't look like I've ever commented on Leap Days. But it's strange to think how different life might look in four years. It's often difficult to long range plan but the general outline is that my son will be in college and my daughter will be just a couple of months away from graduation. My wife may be retired already and I will be just a few weeks from retiring myself. 

At least that's the plan. 

I'm writing this almost as a time capsule item. When I look back at posts and predictions from four, eight, twelve years ago or more I'm always amazed how often I was so wrong. Especially with political predictions, I have been way off more than I have been on target.

So what will February 29th, 2028 look like? I have no idea. Will Dave's Internet Lounge still be online? Will I be near retirement from PubEd? Will my kids be on track for academic success? Will my family be healthy? I certainly hope so. So, here's to another Leap Year. Let's see what happens til the next one.

Dangerous Tea

Green Tea. I drink this stuff every day. I've posted on this blog about my love of Green Tea. Tea, it sounds so innocuous. But the past couple of days my classes have been discussing imperialism and how the trade in tea led to wars and bloodshed.

When the American Colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor the British considered it an act of terrorism. They took tea and the money involved very seriously.

The British started a drug war in China in the early 19th century so they could have access to tea. 

So as I drink my tea, usually twice a day, sometimes I pause and think how much trouble this stuff has caused throughout world history.
 

Cats Know

We watched a documentary about cars the other day on Netflix. Our cat was transfixed. 

 

Eye of Reason

I’ve enjoyed reading through Montainge’s Essays during my breakfast reading. Every day I find his observations thought provoking, witty, prescient and/or entertaining. I liked this little blurb this morning. This was written around 1580 and is as true today as it was five centuries ago. 

Go-To Listens

With so many options for music listening these days it can often be paralyzing to have to choose what to play when driving on the road, washing the dishes or just strolling through walmart on a routine shopping errand. 

Recently my two go-to options for music listening when I don't have any specific direction I particularly want to take is two older shows that no longer produce episodes. 

 

One go-to option is Theme Time Radio with Bob Dylan. This show aired on XM Radio fifteen years ago and I missed it at the time. I stumbled on past episodes a few years ago and love the variety of music choices based on a singular theme each episode. I access it here. 

 

 

My other go-to option is the Live From Here with Chris Thile archives. The show was great but eventually became a casualty of Covid when Minnesota Public Radio could no longer afford to fund it. I listened to many of these episodes when they first played on NPR and even saw a live performance in Austin in person but was surprised how many shows I had missed. I'm glad these shows are available to listen here.

Back in the Saddle…

 Equine Therapy resumed last night for the Spring. 

Doldrums

The last few days been feeling a general lousiness. A bit of a cold although not a full blown cold. Just enough of a cold to feel vaguely miserable. Tired. Unmotivated at work the past few days. Couldn't figure out why...then I remembered.

The Doldrums.

What used to be the fourth six weeks doldrums. Now we are on the much better quarterly system at school so it can be easily missed. But mid-February to early March the doldrums at work hit. A general sense of blah. 

So, got to fight through it. Got to push and plod on. One step at a time. Accomplish one small victory at a time. Small victories. Focus on those for the moment.

The Decemberists Are Coming!

One of my favorite bands is coming to Dallas in May. I have never seen The Decemberists live and I hear they put on an amazing show. I've seen videos of their live shows but I hear the in person experience is transcendent. They are performing in a grand old venue downtown, The Majestic. I saw Rob Bell a couple of years ago here. I'ts a great concert hall. This is an online view of where my seats will be. I fortunately got my seats in the pre-sale otherwise I would have missed out on floor seats. Really looking forward to this show! 

Bond Time

 

Breakfast at Snooze AM

 

Even the Cups

 

A Bad Day

What a tragic shame to see the Chiefs victory parade marred by murder and violence. And the same old shaking of heads acting like we don’t know why these mass shootings happen. We know why these events happen. Missouri has some of the loosest gun restrictions in the nation. MO ranks 38th in gun safety regulations. But honestly, after Sandy Hook when this nation didn’t do anything after kindergartners were massacred…we lost the battle then. 

I haven’t enjoyed the Chief’s victory parades since the first one. I blogged about that four years ago. Players wandering down Grand Blvd drunk and staggering. Kelce slurring his singing into a microphone. Willie Gay stumbling down the street shirtless with a bottle of Hennessy. Even Brittany Mahomes drunkenly jumping into the arms of Clyde Edwards-Elaire. The whole thing was an embarrassment. 

And then it turned tragic. My heart goes out to the young woman who was killed. Hopes for speedy recoveries for those injured. People might not even consider the lifelong trauma a child might experience after being shot. What a horrible thing  

Not a good day for Kansas City.  

Modern Yellow Journalism

 

It is indeed Valentines Day. It is also Ash Wednesday. One thing I'm giving up is consuming news via the internet (or TV). I actually started not reading news websites about a week or so ago. This wasn't easy because that's usually one of the first things I check in the mornings. I would return to news sites or apps throughout the day, often out of routine when I had a spare minute or two in the busyness of the day. 

I have found giving up internet news liberating. I think my blood pressure has improved. I know that I may be missing out on some important current events but the big stories usually still come to me one way or another. It's amazing to discover how little many of the stories on cnn or fox or wherever really have very little bearing on your every day life. You can get by without knowing about every little political squabble in Washington or your state capital. 

Sure, I want to be an informed citizen but our major news sites lead with fear and loathing. If it bleeds it leads. It's the same type of news popular in the late 19th century that led to the Spanish-American War. News is a business, a product to sell. Therefore it is made as lurid as possible to attract consumers. True journalism is hard to find these days. Honestly this is not a new development. Yellow Journalism has been around for over a century. 

So, I'm dis-engaging from the drama. I still go online. And I will occasionally peruse my local paper online (The Dallas Morning News) because they usually present the news a bit more soberly than the national sites. I'll keep up here and there but I will no longer engage with the fear mongering news complex.

Stash Burger

The Smokehouse Burger. With brisket and fries onions. Very nice. 

Dynasty

Never in my whole life growing up could I imagine the Kansas City Chiefs winning back to back Super Bowls and three in five years. A true dynasty. Unreal. Once again, I wish my Dad could have seen this.

Super Bowl Sunday

 

Go Chiefs!

The Wilderness

I understand why Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey is considered a classic work on the importance of wilderness to the collective consciousness of “civilized” society. Abbey’s 1960’s account of spending a season working as a park ranger in Arches National Monument (now Arches National Park) is at turns meditative, poetic, brusque, adventurous, chaotic and always spirited in its defense of open places. I enjoyed it. I will have to check out Abbey’s other works. 

Awkward at Work

 

Moon and Venus

Photos of the moon and stars don’t often really look good. But this crescent moon with Venus to the left was too good not to take. 

IYKYK

 

Bacon Burnt Ends

I had to go over to Love Field the other day and one of the benefits to going to Love Field is that Heim Barbecue is located right across the street. So, after leaving the airport I was able to swing into Heim for some brisket and bacon burnt ends. Very good.

We’ll be right back

Got a new TV a couple of months back on a Black Friday deal and the best thing is it has a channel that shows nothing but Portlandia. 24 hours a day, seven days a week of Portlandia. This is the apex of civilization. It all goes downhill here from here.

Words from Montaigne

I'm  reading through The Essays by Montaigne during breakfast. Just a couple of pages in my Kindle each day. I’m really enjoying them. This passage could be a motto for this blog. 

Ruining our Illusions

 

2-2

 

Guess he didn’t see his shadow today. Guess spring is right around the corner. 

Changes

The top photo is Uptown and Downtown Dallas in 2001. The bottom photo is Dallas in 2023. A lot has changed in twenty years. Like no good parking for the American Airlines Center any more. If you go back just a couple of years into the late 90's I remember the area where the AAC is located was just an industrial wasteland with some train tracks rolling through it. Now it is electric with flashing lights and traffic. Progress? Not sure about that.