Nothing Nullifies Nobody ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

  Nothing nullifies nobody is the phrase that came into my head when I thought of the letter 'N'.  No reason maybe, but I think it has something to do with something I must have been thinking at the time.  I'll explain...

       Not all that long ago there was all this talk about "canceling" people for this or that reason.  There were a few times that I got kicked off Twitter or warned by Facebook for this or that I had said, but I always managed to get back on.  My online reach seems to have diminished since then, but then maybe online activity in the realm of "people I knew" through internet contact have stopped being online as much as they used to.  That's what I've done.  I don't know if there are algorithms that affect me or not.  Or if it really matters for the time being.

      Nowadays it seems like we can never tell what is really going on or what is real for that matter.  It seems to me that the internet should make research and finding true answers more easy to accomplish.  No library hassles or feet on the street searches for data. Information should all be at our fingertips as long as we have an internet connection.  Right?  Seems like it to me and yet I find so much that is untrue or strongly biased that it becomes difficult to know what to believe other than applying my own knowledge and logic.

       Maybe it's always been like that to some degree.  Maybe we would be better off with nothing. After all, nothing nullifies nobody.

       Have you ever felt "canceled" on the internet?   Do you strive for damage control when you see something on the internet that misrepresents you or something else that you feel strongly about?  Would you prefer to start at nothing and learn as you go?

 

 

Music Molds Me ( #AtoZChallenge & #BOTB )

      Music molds me.  It has molded me into who I am throughout my life and continues to shape and form me now.  Music is the potter's hands, my mind is the clay...

    Music has guided me and music follows me.  Music is all around me and has been since my earliest memories. Part of my love of music keeps me doing a bi-monthly blogging event.  That's what I'll be doing in this post for the letter "M"...

Battle of the Bands

 

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.

It's West Coast Vs East Coast!  Which song do you prefer?

Crowfoot - California Rock'n'Roll

  

Ace Frehley  "New York Groove"  (1978)

  

Time to Vote!

         East?  West?  Which song do you like best?   It's time for a Battle of the Bands!  You're supposed to vote on one of these songs.  Which one do you prefer?  Battles are no fun without you the reader participating.    Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands
 
'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Landmark Sounds (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D

Trivial Music Silliness

Results on Tuesday April 22nd

Lee Likes Letters ( #AtoZChallenge )

       Lee likes letters might not seem like a particularly strange statement considering I've been doing this A to Z Challenge since 2010 when I first started it.  My fascination with letters and words goes way back as far as I can remember.  And now I have my blog and I do this blog challenge every April.  Yeah, I guess I must like letters...

       Lee loves logic is probably an even more true statement.  After all, letters are logical.  Letters work together to form the words, phrases, sentences, and so on that we need to exchange ideas and preserve them for future reference.  What a dire world it might be if we had no written language, but that would be illogical. Letters are indeed logical!

        Unfortunately there is a massive lack of logic in this world.  Too many people rely on their feelings to make decisions and form their thinking.  Logic gets overruled by silly feelings that only get us through a moment, but can't carry us through the long haul.  People will tout "science" or "the rule of law" as the arbiters of their thinking and then just go against all of the logic to encourage thinking that makes little sense.  But it feels good one might say.  To that I'd say, feel good now have a massive tummy ache later.  

      Let's think things through and let logic guide the way.  We'll be better off for that.

   Do you allow feelings or logic to rule your decision making?  Does logical thinking annoy you?  Are overloaded with empathy?

Knights Know Kings ( #AtoZChallenge )

      Knowledge is king.  I don't know any actual kings, but if I were a knight I might very well know a king or a queen perhaps. But I don't know any knights either so that's as far as that correlation goes.  However, I do know a lot of things as well as places and people. Or do I really know much of anything?

        Knowing certain things can play a big part in the jobs we find.  Knowing certain people can be even more important in getting a job.   Most of the best jobs I've had in my life I had gotten because of somebody whom I knew.  Like the saying goes, "It's who we know that counts" and I can vouch for that in my life.

      Knoxville is where I got my first job just by applying.  I was a student at the University of Tennessee at the time when a summer job ad came up in the newspaper. The position was at a carnival supply company where they were looking for warehouse help.  The boss was an old carny named Kermit and once I said I was a student he proclaimed, "Well, a college boy!  You're hired!  I'm giving the position of assistant manager."   

       That was pretty fine with me even though my new position also required that I'd be doing the warehouse work labor as my main job.  But I also was put in charge of maintaining the showroom and waiting on customers.  It was a great summer job that provided lots of overtime hours during the busy time.  I enjoyed the work and the people there.  I ended up staying there for the next 3 or so years as they were willing to accommodate my school schedule which didn't greatly interfere with the busy summer season when I took off to work.

       Eventually I left that job to take a job with a road show.  That was a job based on who I knew.  I was interested in show business and had some contacts that served me well over the years to keep me employed.  Knowing people helped me get jobs I wanted, liked, or needed--or all three.

       But just knowing a knight would not likely give me an opportunity to meet a king.  Nor would I likely know a knight.  Since knights don't go around in shiny armor or any semblance of that attire as a rule, a knight might seem like you or I.  

       Maybe on some strange night I'll meet a knight who will introduce me to a king.  It would all likely be a metaphorical encounter or just an encounter with people with strange names.  It all might happen.  I doubt it, but you never know.

 

         Who has been the most important contact you've had in your career?   How did you get your first job?  Did you work your way through college?

Just Juggling Jackson ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

    Just juggling Jackson--that's who I am.  I've been that for maybe sixty years?  Since I was a kid of about eleven years old or so.  That's when I learned to juggle.  I was under pressure.  My younger sister had learned, and even my cousin who came to visit that summer.  So I practiced until I could do it--juggle.  I think my father gave everyone who learned to juggle $5.  And now I was part of the family juggling act:  The Juggling Jacksons...

          "Juggler" is how some guys in high school used to address me.  Maybe they didn't know my name, but they knew who I was. My family had been featured in news articles in area papers on various occasions and our juggling act was pretty common knowledge at school. 

        I liked it because it meant extra money for me whenever we played a gig.  Sometimes I'd have to miss a day or two of school to go do shows, but usually it was something we did on weekends.  My sister now says she didn't like doing the shows, but she had more of a social life than I did.  The shows were not only nice income, but I enjoyed doing it.

       My sister eventually left the act and went on with her own life.  Not too long after that I was offered a job in a touring magic show.  Part of my job was to do a brief specialty juggling act.  I basically did most of my father's comedy act as "Juggling Jackson."  No longer the family.  Just Juggling Jackson.

        It was a great life!

       Did you have a particular identity in school related to your talent or something else?  Was this a good influence for you?  What was your favorite family activity when you were growing up?

I Incense Idiots ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Interstate highways are one of the greatest innovations of American history.  It's pretty amazing to think that most Americans can drive a relatively short distance to get on a highway that connects to a massive network of interconnecting roadways that can get us to any part of the country in a fairly effective manner.  I love the U.S. Interstate highway system.  Thank you, Ike!

I Incense Idiots

     I'll admit that I've lost a few friends on Facebook over the years and likely have lost a reader or so on my blog because people didn't like something I said.  Maybe I should say that what I might have said at some time or other completely outraged those who read it.  As far as I'm concerned, they are idiots.  Yeah, if they are silly enough to unfriend me, diss me, dismiss me, or whatever they want to do to me just because I'm logical and they're not then oh well--it's all of our loss even though it's not world-ending loss and it's because they are apparently idiots. 

      Several such people I don't really know, but the ones that I have actually known in real life I kind of wonder if they were really people I could have called friends.  People I thought of as friends for as much as fifty years now won't answer my phone calls or emails.  I guess they are not friends anymore. Or maybe never really were.  I miss them in a way,  But they got incensed over things I believe in.  I incense idiots.  

        Have you lost any friends over your opinions?   What is the friend with whom you have had the longest relationship?  As you get older do you find it more difficult to make new friendships? 

        

      

      

Hearing Hymns Heals ( #AtoZChallenge )Or

      How many times have you heard an old hymn, or any other song for that matter, that brought you great comfort and a sense of peace?  I have often.  There is a special power to music...

 Hearing Hymns Heals

         Have you ever felt down, fearful, or some other negative feeling that has threatened to drag you down to the depths?  A death of a loved one?  A loss of a job or situation?  A break up of a relationship?  So much negativity that can hurt you emotionally, mentally, and physically.  What do you do when you encounter such times? 

         I have approached such times in a variety of ways in the past, but more often than not my healing refuge is music.  Perhaps I'll cling to some special song that speaks to me and I'll listen to it repeatedly.  Or I might get distracted from my internal state by a song I hear somewhere that takes me back to another happier time or that has lyrics or melody that seems to speak to my situation specifically.  Or best of all, I might write my own song to address what I feel and what I want to express.

       But just hearing is sometimes what we need to draw us away from our own internal state of glumness, fear, or whatever we might be feeling that steals our happiness.  The sound of an old favorite song can bring a smile.  Recalling a loved one by hearing their favorite song can lift our spirits.  Hearing a hymn that reminds us of better times can comfort us. 

       Music is such a wonderful healing force.  Hearing hymns does have a potential to heal and lift us up.

         What kind of music comforts you most when your mind is at unease?   Do you have a favorite go to song that you like to listen to in order to lift your spirits?   Do you enjoy hearing traditional hymns?

Greeting Great Girth ( #AtoZChallenge & #BOTB Results )

 

Greeting great girth is not a prospect that appeals to me.  I do need to lose a few more pounds--maybe more than a few.  Another twenty maybe would be good.  And the way things have gone with food prices, maybe losing weight is the destiny of many of us.  Oh well, I'm not as hungry as I used to be anyway...

        Grand Buffet read the giant sign that blared across the face of the large structure that had lured us off of the interstate.  The parking lot was filled with the vehicles of other hungry travelers who had likely seen the advertising billboards that spoke to our collective hunger as we neared the exit that promised a great abundance of food to feed our bellies. Somehow an empty stomach can make the mind seem so full of ideas of what we are going to eat when confronted with an expanse of food choices.  

        Back in the seventies and eighties buffet restaurants seemed to become a big trend.  I loved them back then.  I was younger and I could put away more food.  And since I was working on the road most of the time back then, I was eating out most of the time.  Getting the most for my money was always a thing that interested me.  Also a wide selection of food was always something that attracted me. I would pile on the plates of food and savor it all.  Since I was relatively active in my lifestyle at the time, I didn't gain weight too rapidly.  However the weight did creep up on me over time.

      The prospect of greeting great girth into my life was not particularly appealing to me so I've tried to be careful.  I still don't eat properly, but I've actually lost weight in recent years and seem to be holding steady at 210.  Now to get below the two hundred mark.  It will likely happen, but I'm not overly exuberant about a dietary or exercise regimen.  Age will likely bring me there as well as not eating as much,

      Golden Corral Buffet is our choice for bounteous eating these days.  Not often, but when we want to eat a big meal. That's our usual choice.  Not that there are many other choices for buffet dining like we used to have.  There are a  number of Asian food buffets, but my wife is not fond of going to Asian restaurants.  I think it's something she heard once.  We all heard probably, but it doesn't bother me.  I love the flavors in Asian food.  But no Asian buffet for me I guess.  And it's probably for the better.  I can't eat big quantities anyway.  

       Oh, but Asian food!  Large quantities of buffet style servings of rice, noodles, meat dishes, and buffet sushi!  In my fantasy it sounds good, but I guess I'll stick to Panda Express.  On occasion.  Maybe once a month or so?  There's one across the street from where I live. It is an easy choice.

  

Do you enjoy buffet restaurants?  Do you have a favorite you'd like to tell us about?  How do you like Asian food?

Battle of the Bands Results

       My first Battle of April 2025 was two versions of a 1931 song that many of us know from the classic film Casablanca.  The song was "As Time Goes By" as interpreted by Rudy Vallee and Binnie Hale.  My preference was for Rudy and even without my vote he would have still won.

Final Vote Tally

Rudy Vallee       8 votes

Binnie Hale       6 votes

Future Fears Fault ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Fearing the future seems like a futile expenditure of energy.  Why fear what hasn't happened yet?  Unless you're going to the dentist maybe.  Or some kind of medical procedure.  Or get your taxes done.  Or--or what?  What could possibly happen?  Lots of things I suppose, but fear won't make it better.  Planning might, but not being afraid...

Future Fears Fault

      For many years, when I was much younger, I feared many things.  I was afraid of people or trying new things.  I was afraid to go certain places.  In essence, I think I was most afraid of failing.  Fear of failure prevents many of us from taking advantages of opportunities or having memorable experiences. The fear of failing can keep us from even trying so that we can be assured that we can't fail when in reality the inaction becomes its own failure.

     If we don't try then we won't fail, but we won't succeed either.  I have had to really push myself to do certain things in my past.  I faltered due to fearing what I was afraid might happen and missed out many times.  But when I did try I often succeeded and that gave me more confidence. If I failed I realized that things just kept moving on and I could try again.  Then I might succeed or continue to fail.  It's just the story of life.

      Maybe I'm not everything that I could have been in life, but I am what I am.  If I missed out on anything I would say it was my future fears fault.  I didn't act at times because I was afraid of something that I thought could or might happen if I kept going forward.  It's the way it was meant to be I guess, but still--sometimes I wonder.  

      And now I don't care all that much.  Whatever happens will happen and that's that.  I'm very much future oriented, but I'm also realistic about whatever limitations I may face.  No point in being afraid about what might happen.  No point in saying it was future fears fault.

   Are you sometimes hindered by what you are afraid might be an outcome?   Do you think the future is fixed?   What do you wish you had pursued in your life that fear kept you from doing?

Everything Evokes Earth ( #AtoZChallenge )

     Even if we were to hurtle through the universe for the rest of our lives and never return to our home planet, wouldn't we measure everything always by Earth standards, Earth memories, Earth in our DNA? 

Everything Evokes Earth

      Earth has always been an anchor for astronauts who have ventured into space thus far in history.  They can usually see it and they remain in contact with their people on it.  They expect to go back eventually.  Perhaps in some future time there will be settlements on Mars where humans will live and possibly never see Earth.  Those who go further might only know Earth as a mythology from forgotten ancestors.  For them perhaps the name "Earth" will evoke nothing in their minds other than what they have learned elsewhere or heard in a song or something.

     Recently I dug into my home library to find a science fiction book that I had purchased while I was still in college.  I never read it, but managed to keep it all these years so I figured I might as well try it. The main character had been born and had always lived in orbit around the moon.  He was returning to a future Earth devastated by world wars.  For me the story was so clunky and dumb and had so many references to language and culture of the sixties that it all just seemed too absurd.  

      Okay, I'll concede the book was supposed to be comedic satire, but I wasn't laughing.  It all seemed so silly reading it now and imagining it was all in the future.  But my point is that everything about us evokes where we are from.  An author in another time might tend to write for his audience about things they do not know or have never experienced, so they have to refer to something more familiar.  In the end that is Earth.

       No matter how high I can jump, I cannot escape the force of the gravity of the Earth.  And even if I fly off into space forever, I will watch Earth recede and keep trying to listen to its signals.  I can never forget Earth.  It's in my DNA.  If there are children, then it will be in their DNA or some collective memory I suppose, but will that go on through time if this imaginary spacecraft continues into forever, into the DNA of those star children of that future.

       I say "that future" because that's what it is.  Everything evokes Earth.

     What do you feel most connected to?  Where would you want to spend the rest of your life if you could choose anywhere and any situation?   Do you enjoy reading dated science fiction?

 

Diving Down Deep ( #AtoZChallenge )

 

      Deep diving looks interesting enough, but I've never been daring enough to try it.  For one thing I'm not overly fond of water activities.  And then also, I don't want to die...

Diving Down Deep

      Don't ever expect to find me deep diving in the ocean or anywhere else.  Drowning is one of my fears and I don't want to dive into deep waters.  If I want an idea of what the experience would be like then I'll watch a movie or documentary about it and never get wet (unless I spill my drink on me).  

      On the other hand, I love deep diving in the mental sense.  I can totally get lost in research.  Or just random googling for that matter.  Sometimes when I want to know about something enough to research it then I'll go on one of those deep diving expeditions into the depths of the internet or reference books. I love reference books and have many throughout my home.  Once I get started on a research quest I can get lost for hours.  And I never come close to drowning.  That's the kind of deep dive I desire.

    How about you?  Do you like research?  Do you find yourself getting immersed in the internet and books?

      

Climate Change Craziness ( #AtoZChallenge ).

       Climate change is real.  It's called weather. And it changes.  Seems like when faced with an inability to control things around us, some people will resort to some crazy changes thinking they have control of things.  And then things change.  What a crazy world!

Climate Change Craziness

     Call me what you want, but I'm not on board with the climate change hoax--at least not to the extent that some are.  I don't deny that humans contribute to climate change and I'm all for trying to come up with solutions.  Logical solutions that make sense economically as well in every other way.  

        Am I caught up in the cause?  Not in any big way, but I do my part.  I just don't go to extremes like some wackos in our society.  Most of those people are probably more anarchist than anything constructive and meaningful to the rest of us.  And if they have true passion then they are grossly misguided in their efforts.

     Climate change solution hoaxes are everywhere and they cost someone billions or even trillions of dollars--usually you and me the taxpayer.  I think about the huge solar power generating facility that I'd seen pop up in the desert at the California/Nevada border a number of years ago--the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility. 

      For miles as one approached from either direction on I-15 highway, one would be practically blinded by the brilliant light that emanated from a tower amidst a vast field of what I had thought to be solar panels--3500 acres of them covering an area of 5 square miles.  Then after researching I found out that they were not solar panels but special mirrors aimed up to where one can see that blinding light where there is a large tank of water that is set to boiling by the reflected light.  It sounds crazy to me, but that is another one of those crazy ideas that came out of the Obama years that is now being dismantled because it is not practical.  I could have told them that.

       Now they have a field of mirrors to dispose of.  Thankfully they are close to Las Vegas and not so far from Los Angeles.  I'm sure they'll find somebody to take the mirrors, but they'll never get the money back that they wasted on this project.  But that goes for most of the other climate change nonsense that corrupts so much of the world governments these days.  

       Keep working on things folks.  Some good things are happening and some that make little sense in the grander scheme of things.  Listen to the science.  And I mean all science.

        Do you have any particular fears related to climate change?  Do you believe that it will take something far bigger than humans to destroy the Earth?   Is there a climate change solution that you have found to be particularly absurd?

  

     

     

 

Bring Beer, Bob! ( #AtoZChallenge & #IWSG )

 

     Back before cell phones you just had to guess what to do.  Plans were necessary to put together any organized event and everybody just did what they figured was best after that.  Now we can just call on our cell phones to check in.  Want me to bring anything?

       Back in the day as they sometimes say, cellphones would have been real handy.  Now it's hard to think about not having a cellphone on me wherever I am.  Connecting and keeping up is pretty easy now for the most part.  I could have used that access when I was on the road working in the eighties.  I had to conduct my business in phone booths or motel room phones.  A lot of change was required since that's what those phones took.

      Then there were the camping trips in the seventies with my Tennessee friends.  We would frequent campgrounds in the Great Smokies where we would sometimes set up camp for several days as friends came and went.  Newcomers to the camp would bring whatever supplies they figured they or someone else might need.  There might be food, but mostly beer.  I didn't drink much back then so the beer was of little consequence to me.  But most everyone else enjoyed their beer.

       Yes, the cellphone would have been a real game changer.  In fact I can hear it now:  "Bring beer, Bob!  We're running low!"

  The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 
     The co-hosts for the April 2 posting of the IWSG are Jennifer Lane, L Diane Wolfe, Jenni Enzor, and Natalie Aguirre.

April 2 question - What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with?

        I'm not much on fantasy and very rarely read it.  Forget the fantasy characters.  I think I'd rather go back to have an adventure with some of my old friends from the past.  Sometimes the past seems like a fantasy anyway so that's enough for me.

Aspects And Age ( #AtoZChallenge & #BOTB )

      A to Z starts now on my blog with this post.  Hope you'll follow along as I merrily roll and I hope if you have accepted this April Challenge that you can keep up.  I'm going to try to struggle my way through this and keep up.  We can do this!

 

Aspects of Age

     According to my AAA card I have been a member of the Automobile Club for 43 years.  It's kind of funny to see something like that.  I can recall a time when I thought 43 years old was rather old.  When I turned twenty that would have been the approximate age of my own parents.  Getting to that age myself didn't seem all that comprehensible to me back when I was twenty or so.  And now, I'm not only passed that age, but I've been a member of something for at least that long.  

      The aspects of aging confront me on a daily basis.  I still feel pretty physically well and I think I still have my mind.  Others might feel differently, but they probably don't really care much anyway. The fact is that as long as we are alive, we are aging.  After all, it's better than stop aging.

       And as I think I've heard said somewhere, "Age is relative".  Every once in a while Age will whomp me on the back of the head as though to tell me, "Hold it old fellow, you can't do that anymore" and I respectfully take heed.  Unless I get so stubborn that I don't.  Maybe someday age will do me in. Probably so.  But I'm not the only one...

Battle of the Bands

 

        Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens each month on the 15th and on some there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month.  My blog is one of those with a second Battle excepting over these summer months.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.

As Time Goes By

     And doesn't it though!  This song is most often associated with the 1942 film "Casablanca" but it was actually written a decade earlier and recorded a number of times before the film classic came out. Here are two of the earliest versions.  Which do you like best?

Rudy Vallee  "As Time Goes By"  (1931)

      Fun fact:  In 1978 I had dinner with Rudy Vallee (and others) in Huntington WV where he was appearing as part of a 50th anniversary of the opening of the Keith-Albee Theater.  In retrospect I am disappointed that I didn't pay attention to this legendary star and engage him in conversation.  At the time I didn't know that much about him nor did I care.  Part of the difference between the younger and older me.  Rudy made the first recording of this classic song...

 

Binnie Hale  "As Time Goes By"  (1932)

      Another early version of this song was recorded a year later by this female vocalist who has been mostly lost to history.  I'd never heard of her before, but I like her style.  Did Tiny Tim get some influence from her?...

Time to Vote!

          Yes, time is running out.   It's time for a Battle of the Bands!  You're supposed to vote on one of these song versions.  Which one do you prefer?  Battles are no fun without you the reader participating.    Hopefully you have an opinion of some kind.  You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours. I don't know if anyone else will be doing a Battle this time around, but you can still check out these sites.


Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:

 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands
 
'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 

Landmark Sounds (Diedre Knight)

BATTLE OF THE BANDS BY DEBBIE D 

Trivial Music Silliness

Voting Results will appear in my Tuesday April 8th post!

And now let's A to Z!!!