Could be worse.

  I confess I don't get NFT's. Then again, apart from making it easier to buy drugs from certain sources, I really don't get the appeal of digital currency. Both seem like modern manifestations of the Tulip Mania, basing something intrinsically worthless on its perceived value. Granted, things like diamonds and the stock market, in general, have always struck me as a scam, so maybe I'm not the best person to pontificate on such a thing.

 However you want to waste your money to make yourself happy, go for it. I bought yet another harmonica yesterday, a Hohner Marine Band 364/24 in the Key of C. I already had one with soloist tuning but this one has Richter tuning. Apparently, Sonny Boy Williamson II played one. I got the solo tuning by mistake, and I'm not quite sure how this tuning works out, particularly on the draw notes. I don't think it's the same as a Lucky 13 in C.

 Anyhow, one of the recent quirks in the NFT world is pictures of a cartoon lion modified with different colors, clothes, etc. It's a hit on Twitter and, no, I'm not going to link to it. I don't want to encourage this behavior. The selling to-and-fro is getting as much play from the Kids These Days as day trading. A couple hundred bucks for a picture of a cartoon lion. It's not even a particularly good or unique cartoon. It looks like King Leonardo to me.

 As for the cryptocurrency thing, every time someone waxes rhapsodically it sounds more and more like a cult. Several years ago a co-worker tried to talk me into it and I asked him, "Can I pay my rent with it? Will my pot dealer take it? Can I buy groceries with it? No? Then I've got no use for it." Back then, that's about all I spent money on, but I still don't have much use for it. I've always lacked a certain amount of ambition that I figure must be there for that sort of thing to have any appeal.

 You see those guys - often the same guy - who are gung ho about busting ass to make money, to the point where not wanting to make a lot of money is considered a character flaw. I don't know why they feel it's necessary to be so contemptuous of others, because I honestly don't care. Again, I ain't the one. One of the main reasons I wanted to be a writer when I was a kid is that it struck me as an easy way to make rent. It might be, but getting there is a booger. Never did figure out how to do it.

 Speaking of writing, I decided to not worry myself about Gibberish anymore. If I have something on my mind, like this, I'll write something. If not, I won't. And I'm not going to stress about meeting the 500-word count. I get what I need out of the News, even though that will never bring me fame and fortune. This was supposed to spur something else and all it's doing is making me miserable. That don't help nobody.

I can't think of anything clever to put here.

  I think I've got a good start on getting out from under the blue funk I've been for the past couple of months. I don't know it's anything in particular. Maybe that extra shot of Prozac is kicking in finally.

 Whoo boy, the News this week. It's been a depressing one all the way around. We found out Monday that we're further in the hole than we thought when it comes to climate change. Wednesday wasn't so bad as there's been some good progress on the much-need infrastructure plan, but Friday was depressing as shit.

 Y'all. Get the damn shot. Wear the damn mask. Stop gathering in huge groups. Nobody wants to control you or break your will. You're not that important and you're pretty easily led anyway. This has nothing to do with freedom or tyranny, vaccines are perfectly safe, and the idea that this is the first step to future dystopia, a la 1984, it ain't.

 Climate change will probably do it first. People think the problem we'll face is the heat or the rising sea levels, but that's not what'll kick us in the nuts first. It's going to be the prices the Powers That Be will be hiking to compensate for shrinking resources. You think those fuckers are going to go with air conditioning in their dog's house? Hell, no, and you'll appreciate the scraps they let you have. Furthermore, anyone who thinks they shouldn't be the only ones with potable water, you'll call them a goddamn commie. We'll be too busy slitting each others' childrens' throats to buy a loaf of bread to worry about the woke government controlling you.

 Hey, moving on. I watched Slither last night, the 2006 horror movie that crashed when it came out but has become some of a cult film. Michael Rooker is in it and he's always fun to watch. Nathan Fillion plays the hero, and while I've never cared for him in anything else, he plays a pretty enjoyable protagonist. Elizabeth Banks is fine but she has the worst Southern accent I've heard since Jodie Foster's in Silence of the Lamb. Character actor Gregg Henry has fun chewing the scenes he's in and ingenue Tania Sulnier should be in more movies. It's currently streaming on Tubi, so check it out.

 In harmonica news, this guy's worth checking out. The kid's name is Liam Ward and his lessons are fun and easy to process. He's also got a lot of neat licks and tabs to learn on his YouTube site. Check that out. I also bought a Lee Oskar Melody Maker in C. These are tuned different, in that the key of the harp is played in the second position. It's supposed to be good for country, R&B, and reggae, but not for blues. It's a neat little dude, but it's like that Irish tuned harp I bought in that if money was tighter, I'd be sore with myself for buying it. For some reason, I've forgotten how to warble on the harmonica, too. I hate when that happens.

 I'm going to get ahead and pinch this one off for now. I might come back lately, but will probably play some more Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I've restarted it and playing "know what I'm doing" run. Or I might just call it a night and read until I fall asleep.

 Anyhow. Enjoy the weekend. Get vaccinated, stay cool, and keep an eye on the Gulf.

Ain't a pity. Ain't it a cryin' shame.

  I really need to quit sleeping as much as I do. Wake up, eat something, read a little bit, walk around outside for a bit, go back to sleep. Rinse and repeat, maybe throw some video game time or harmonica time or, occasionally, movie time, but otherwise, rinse and repeat. It's not healthy, especially at my age, neither mentally nor physically.

 But honestly, it's all I want to do. Again I'm going to punt the Hohner harmonica run down, but you get what you pay for. I've been getting into the Divinity: Original Sin games and I've made some headway into both, but I don't feel like writing about either. They're good, you know this. I've been re-reading a lot of Hunter Thompson instead of anything else because he's fun to read.

 I don't know why this is, but it is. I'm not in a great mood but what the hell, you know? I'm always, even at my best, slightly irritated about something, whether personal or beyond my grasp. I've learned to live with it. People are giving this more attention, but I still don't understand why people's hairs aren't on fire. The state of Florida is actively threatening teachers and students if they don't show proper ideology.

 But no, it's just that wacky Ron DeSantis and his kooky right-wing buddies doing their thing. You almost have to expect it, I'm told. Just because the grubby little punk doesn't pretend to be anything but a cut-rate fascist bully boy because that's what the barking dingbats want. Have you seen the video of "concerned parents" losing their minds at school board meetings over what they think Critical Race Theory is? These are the same people who wouldn't go to a meeting to discuss funding for after-school activities or anti-bullying measures if you held them at gunpoint.

 Kids are great but the parents are invariably assholes.

 Well, enough of that. The midnight hour is sneaking up on me and, frankly, I'm most inclined to just go back to bed. Read a little bit, listen to some good music, and let it ride. I'm obsessed with harmonica music these days. I bet you've I've listened to the same Big Walter Horton collection a dozen times over in the past week. The man had a tone big as all outdoors.

 Fifteen minutes, a little over 115 words. Think, think, think, but the words don't come. When I have something to write about, it's no problem. There's no end to stomach-churning horseshit going on that fits "the News," like that collapsing apartment building in Miami. Goddamn Tucker Carlson asked if it was "intentional" because collapsing apartment buildings are something that happens in "third-world nations." Between this and the "anti-white mania," that people still pay attention to this evil little twit after he got his shit pushed in by friggin' Jon Stewart twenty years ago makes me despair for the republic.

 It's too hot and too humid. I hate Summer in the South. It's miserable here as it was miserable in New Orleans, North Georgia, and Central Florida. I need to figure out a way to spend June through September in Vermont or someplace like that. Stay in the South for the Spring and Fall and head out to the desert for Winter. I'm assuming it's nice in the desert during the Winter. I'm sure it's dryer, anyway.

 I ought to look into that.

You bought it, you name it.

  I keep putting off the Hohner harmonica run down, I know, but I'm going to do it again. I don't feel like I could give it the justice it deserves right now. I want to watch that Paul Butterfield documentary, Horn From The Heart, first anyway.

 Anyhow, the News. Monday was a little bit about the G7 and Wednesday was some background on Juneteenth, which was made a federal holiday. We wrapped it up Friday with how the U.S. Council of Bishops are being assholes about Joe Biden's pro-choice stance when no one but them and the worst people on the planet really cares.

 And they are the worst, don't get it twisted. One of Biden's dogs, Champ, died today and they're having a time making jokes about it. Even worse they're comparing it to the death of his son Beau. I've said it before, I've got no particular love for any president, much less Biden. He's doing a decent job but the job is a shitty one that requires shitty actions as often as not. Most of the "good" any president does - from FDR to LBJ - is to keep the lower classes from hoisting the black flag. The Democratic Party is a part of the problem as well.

 But conservatives are something else, boy. Between this and their spittle-flecked fight against what they think is Critical Race Theory, from the insistence of the Big Lie to the outright refusal to do the very least to get ourselves on top of this COVID business, they continue to show just how much they should be ignored. They bring nothing to the table.

 Some asshole ran his car into a Pride Parade, striking two and killing one. Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill that would remove liability for people who drive their cars into protests if they feel it's necessary. This is just the beginning. Same thing with the gun law in Texas, it's just asking for abuse. I know some are thinking that a Pride Parade isn't a protest, but it doesn't really matter. The very existence of LGBT+ people is an existential threat to conservatives.

 I'm in a bad mood. There's no real reason beyond the Grand Ennui. The family had a nice get-together for Baby Jay and I found out why I'm getting bum notes on the Two Draw, and my brother said he and the wife might come out in July via Atlanta. If that's true, I might be able to get him to get me some smoke. So that's something, not such a bad week.

 I've been sitting on this for a half-hour. I need to get in another fifty or so words. I finally got around to trying out the Mount & Blade games I picked up yonks back. I also gave the Hitman reboot a shot and an old-school RPG called Inquisitor that I don't remember getting. I still can't find my way into the Hitman games and Inquisitor is indeed an old-school RPG, in the Sacred mode. Not bad.

 That's just over five hundred words and that's good enough. I'm not sure what I'm doing with the rest of my evening, but it doesn't really matter I guess.

And if you take more of those, you will get an overdose.

  I really don't have anything tonight, but what the hell. I had thought about doing something on the quality of the Hohner harmonicas I've bought recently, but I think I'll wait on that until Saturday. I was waiting on the Big River harp. It came - and it's a pretty decent little harp, for the record - but I have some thoughts I think need to marinate a bit.

 I'm half tempted to give this a miss. I picked up some Actual Paying Work, two more of those dull-as-dirt lawyer pages. I'd meant to just knock out the easy part of both but wound up finishing the whole kaboodle. So, of course, it was 9 a.m. before I finally went down this morning and all day has been a struggle. There's not much to them, but they're so tedious. I'm finishing up the proofreading while I write this, just to prove I can multi-task.

 Okay, that's one down. I could've picked up more, but man, those things are like pulling teeth. Describing suburbs is bad enough, but when I have to figure out different ways to explain why people need lawyers without repeating myself, whew boy. I enjoy having paid work, but man, I wish I could be doing something else.

 Frankly, I wish I could write something else besides the News. I haven't messed with any fiction since the last stuff came to me in a dream. Maybe I should roll with something from Stellar Tactics because I like that setup. I know I've said it multiple times, but I prefer fiction where the protagonist isn't the Chosen One or the Only One Who Can Save Us. It's one of the reasons I like Rincewind from Terry Pratchett's books. He's just a guy caught up in big things and would really rather not be there. Same thing with Arthur Dent, heroes are overrated. Now, back to work.

 All right, that's all I'm fooling with. Maybe more later, but what the hell. I'd decided to get some harmonica repair tools, but an official kit costs anywhere from $120-$350. So, I got some little screwdrivers for glasses and, boom. I was able to fix the Midnight Blue that was dead on Draw 3 and I'm very happy. Also, thanks to this guy, I was able to figure out how to keep from have a dead sound on Draw 2. I'd thought for years I was blowing out harps, but no, it's just persnickety. Ain't that a thing?

 That's a good site, too, by the by. Lots of neat stuff there, so check it out. It's comparable to Jake's site, but there's no end to good harmonica info on the web. I've said it before, but approaching this from the perspective of learning why things sound good when they're used in the proper place is a lot of fun. Learn an instrument, it's the best thing you can do to rewire your head that won't get you arrested.

 I don't know what else. I may come back, but I probably won't. I may call it an early night because I still sort of feel crappy from last night. What a drag it is getting old, indeed.

Back where I come from, where I'll be when it's said and done.

  We got together today to celebrate my cousin's youngest going off to Duke. He's going to play football and track. My family has regular get-togethers. There are 56 of us and, as often as not, most of us make. My brother and his wife, of course, rarely come and the same with another cousin and his wife who lives in California. This is the first time we've gotten together since COVID came to town. It's nice to see them all together and I got to meet the brand-new member of the clan.

  Anyhow. I am sick to death about reading conservative states passing bills banning Critical Race Theory or The 1619 Project, especially since it's obvious they don't know what it is. The guy who pushed the bill in Alabama couldn't explain it and sounded dumber than even someone from Alabama should when pressed. The Mississippi bill failed but it said the country was founded in 1775, which is stupid wrong on so many levels. Y'all, the Declaration of Independence is not a founding document, anyway. Jesus.

 I remember when they got all screwy over Common Core and I'm pretty sure they didn't quite grok that one either. Or Shaira law ten or fifteen years ago, same thing. You go back and read about the Civil Rights area, the same people were claiming that integration was just an attempt to "destroy America." America seems awfully fragile if this is all it takes.

 I'm looking into ways to clean and maintain harmonicas. A full-on kit runs anywhere from $120-$350 when it seems all one would need is a light brush and a sufficiently small screwdriver. I got a dozen or so cloths that come with the harps, so that's taken care of. A lot of folks recommend those repair kits for glasses as they have sufficiently tiny screwdrivers. Daddy had a set of those somewhere but one can pick up a set at Wal-Mart for less than $10.

 I don't know what else. I'm still not free of the whatever-it-is that's been sitting on my head since at least April. I've become obsessed with harmonica music, be it blues, country, jazz, pop, or what have you. With rare exception, it's all I want to listen to. This happens from time to time. Sometimes it's rock & roll or R&B or soul music, and sometimes it's specific eras in one genre, like late '60s/early '70s country music.

 Right now it's harp music. I came across a guy I'd previously never heard of, Kid Thomas. He was sort of like if Little Richard played harmonica rather than piano, that same sort of wild, unhinged passion both vocally and his instrument of choice. If you like that sort of thing, you'll probably like this sort of thing.

 Interesting story, too. Things dried up so he did landscaping between gigs. He accidentally hit a kid with his work truck. From all accounts, it was just one of those things. He was brought up on manslaughter charges but was acquitted. A few months later he was in the courthouse answering a driving without a license charge. Upon leaving the courthouse, he was shot and killed by the kid's dad who'd been hiding in the bushes.

Programming note

  I picked up some Actual Paying Work tonight. Two pieces at 800 words each with the option to do more articles should I choose. They look to be pretty simple on their own with the only challenge is trying to come up with a different way of saying the same thing, essentially, for both pieces. Sort of like writing about baseball. Or tennis, Christamighty, that was a nightmare.

 And since I am still under whatever load of fat made of depression, fear, and self-loathing that's been sitting on my face and farting for the past couple of weeks, this is probably going today's Gibberish. I know, try to contain your grief. Unless something tries to crawl out of my brain, of course, but I'm not going to hold my breath and neither should you. I am thinking of writing something on the downfall of Hohner harmonicas, though. I have to wait until the Big River I ordered gets here, which should be Monday. The mail's being a shitass, though, so who knows. Still haven't got my Paul Butterfield book.

It's too late, she's gone.

  Well, I did it again. It's now 1 a.m. or so Sunday morning, which means I let Saturday's Gibberish slip past me. I wonder if I can honestly say I've not missed a day after doing this a half-a-dozen times. Probably not, but what the hell. Again, no one is paying me.

 Good week for the News, though, despite my general disinclination to deal with reality. Solid stuff all around, though. We looked at the shenanigans going on in the Texas legislature and what they bode for the rest of the country Monday, plus a glimpse into the hundredth anniversary of the Tulsa Race Riots. Wednesday was a look at the possible ouster of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and what, if anything, that might mean for the U.S. Finally, Friday saw us looking at the recently released emails of Dr. Anthony Fauci and how wet it's making Republicans in general. Poor dears. There's so little joy in the average right-winger's life it's nice they get a nothing burger to chew on from time to time.

 The ennui that's been in my pants all week took a hold today and I spent most of it napping, reading, & ignoring the world. It rained off and on, so it was as good a day as any to do such. I'm still working on The Network of Time and I've bought a couple of those Dummies Guides for harmonica, one general and one focused on blues. I figured it was best to cover my options.

 Along with the guitar, I'm putting effort into learning just how to put together a good riff or solo rather than blowing random notes and hoping it sounds good. It did more often than not, but it's still neat to do it properly even if I won't be playing with anyone any time soon. My brother points out learning how music actually works rewires your brain. Seeing as how there's no telling when it'll be until I can get my head bad again, it'll do I suppose.

 Still working on Dragon Age II and I've made it to the second act. I'm interested in seeing where it goes but I really need to head back to Mass Effect before I completely lose groove on that. I've got a number of games on deck but I'm really not interested in anything else right now.

 What else? I still haven't got the harmonica I ordered two months ago and the Paul Butterfield book is is going on a week late. The tracker says it left Memphis this morning, so maybe I should see it come Monday. I've about had it with eBay, but I'm not blaming the sellers. This is a direct result of Louis DeJoy's role in screwing with the mail and the Republicans' ongoing attempts to destroy probably the best government agency in history. This isn't just my paranoia, they've pretty much admitted it.

 The sad thing is Amazon is about the only company that has enough swing to make the mail work for them. It's ironic given how much Trump hates Jeff Bezos. Living out in the boonies, Amazon is about the only outlet we have to order anything that can't be found at the local Wal-Mart, and, frankly, that's most things. Ordering directly from the vendor? Sorry, the mail's slowed down to a crawl and it'll be twice as long getting to you if it gets to you at all.

 Ah, but that's definitely a first-world problem. Amazon is evil but it doesn't have to be. The mail is a mess and is probably on its last legs, but it doesn't have to be. People keep wanting to blame Big Tech or Late-Stage Capitalism or Government, but we have the ability to let this happen or not.

 Question is, will we?

I'm not going to waste a good song lyric on this.

 I shut down today, which is sort of a shame because it was a lovely day. A bit too warm, but nice enough under the fan on the front porch. In any event, I wanted no part of it. The blues has a tight hold on me and I couldn't tell you why. It's been a thing for the past couple of days, itself coming off at least two weeks of being grumpy and gloomy in general. Today was just the limit.

 So I kept away from things as much as possible and really have no desire to stay awake or involved. Nothing has any joy or taste to it, I just see things I ought to do or should do or have no reason not to do, but none of them I want to do.

 That means this will be entirely skippable, a minor piece in the Matt Thompson cannon, and mostly bellyaching. I think the main reason I'm so put out is the psychic feedback from the Supreme Court's decision on the marijuana initiative two weeks ago. Sure, it bums me out that I won't be able to get ahold of medical-grade weed. That is a drag and I am desperate to get my head bad.

 But what really gets up my nose is the outright contempt the state is showing the residents. Over three-fourths of the voters - more people than voted for Trump or Cindy Hyde-Smith - approved this initiative, and the Supreme Court kills it on an unnecessary technicality because some bougie white-flight mayor wouldn't get her taste of the profits.

 That and the move by conservative state governments going out of their way to make voting more difficult than it needs to be for no real good reason. Or the bougie honky freakout over Critical Race Theory, which seems to boil down to little more than white folks not wanting to acknowledge we're not the heirs of Jesus we like to pretend we are. Plus, it's just too damn hot.

 I'm already tired of writing about this or, for that matter, writing about anything. I'm about three-fourths into Dragon Age: Origins and have once again hit a point of politics to slow me down. I just want to kill undead monsters, is that too much to ask? I'm still fighting my way through the Judge Severvus book and The Network of Time. There's nothing wrong with either, though the prose in the Severus book is sort of limp and the science book has the same problem all pop-science books have (three-fourths quantum physics catch-up, one-fourths the whole point of the book).

 Shit, I still have about sixty words to get through. Well, I have another harmonica coming. For whatever reason, these expensive harps - the Marine Band, the Suzuki, the Lee Oskar - all seem to have funky reeds on the second hole. Either the draw or the blow or both, it sounds flat. This has always been a problem, though, even 20 years ago when I was playing out regularly. I can't do anything about the Marine Band but I guess I could do maintenance on the others. Perhaps I should spring for a tiny screwdriver or see if Daddy has one somewhere. Daddy was big on tools and we still have a shit-ton of them.

 Anyway. That's word count. Stay frosty, neighbors.

I had something for this, I swear.

  Well, I'll be damned. Here it is, 5:15 a.m. Friday morning, and I have nothing down for Thursday's Gibberish. I meant to do something. Even had a topic mapped out in my head, or at least something to ramble on about. But damn me if I didn't forget. I decided to go to sleep after supper and, whiff, that was it.

 I must've done this week before last. I usually try to get the News done by no later than 8 p.m. Central and usually shoot for around 5 p.m. Unless I have a topic, though, I generally let the Gibberish brew and bubble until close to midnight, and even then it's just to get something down on paper.

 And of course, whatever the hell I had bubbling is gone now. I have no idea what I was going to write about. I guess I'll just wing until I hit word count, if just for continuity's sake. I'm still on track thanks to last week's Actual Paying Work, so c'est la vie.

 Okay, so I'm going to dip my toe in one of the topics I try to avoid, and that's the Israeli-Palestinian business that's flared up in the past week. I avoid it because, as an American, that's got ethnic roots in neither group, I feel we - as a country - have said way too much about what's going on over there that nothing we can say now is of any help whatsoever. Indeed, I think our country's continual bickering does more harm than good.

 My basic stance is "quit being dicks and figure it out," it really shouldn't be that hard. That goes for whoever it applies to. Otherwise, this is something I stay out of. The question of why the U.S. pumps so much money into Israel is another third rail I'd rather not deal with, except to say we're pulling a lot of goofy bullshit in the Middle East and Israel is another pawn in that game. Far as I can tell, anyway.

 That being said, a lot of people engage in racism and antisemitism by picking sides in the conflict when they really don't give a shit about the day-to-day life of someone living in modern-day Israel, be they Palestinian or Jew. Antisemitism is, of course, an age-old sack of shit that we can't seem to shake loose no matter how resilient the Jewish people prove themselves to be. And we think all Arabs are shit even though Palestinians aren't Arabs, but no one ever said racism had to make sense.

 Okay. So much for all that. Again, my stance is "stop being dicks and figure it out," and if you want to pick at that until it turns raw, that's on you, bubba. Moving on, I got some feedback on my lost PowerDraw harp. The nice man is sending me a new one and hopefully, the screwed with postal service won't lose this one. Either way, I'm looking forward to playing with it.

 I've made a couple of strides in my re-learning process. Trying to build from the ground up, I think, was the right idea. I'm slowly shedding some bad habits and learning more about music theory. Same thing with relearning the guitar. It seems like I do better with feel than the technical side of things. When I played bass, I never went for fancy picking but always slipped right into that pocket. Same thing with guitar; I guess I've listened to so much slide guitar I can fake it, but don't ask me to play a scale.

 Okay, that's word count. If there's anything else, I'll save it for the weekend. Been playing a lot of Star Control, both the original games and the recent reboot. Lots of fun and all four are recommended. And that's that.

Took a lot of courage to let the telephone ring.

  I let the day slip past me again. You know, I used to stay up all night all the time and be able to function just fine. Now if I do, it takes me a couple of days to shake the cobwebs loose and a couple more to get into some semblance of a normal diurnal routine. Ah, middle age, you are a rat bastard.

 I had some Actual Paying Work to do this week. It's why Thursday's offering is, shall we say, light. I sort of bit off more than I could chew, promising myself to 3,200 words rather than the 1,600 I thought I had. I think that gives me due to skipping a day's Gibberish. The News this week was pretty good, though.

 I did a lot on the sour weather the Deep South had this week because, well, there was a mess of sour weather this week. That was pretty much all of Monday. Wednesday started in on the weird civil war going on within the GOP, namely most of the party being pissed off that Lynn Cheney called out Trump and refuses to bend a knee. We followed that thought Friday with a little more on Alabama, Brett Farve continuing to be a sleaze, and the weird gathering of Dominionists Mississippi hosted this Thursday. Good week, check it out.

 Okay, then. I've been finishing E.M. Powell's "Stanton & Barling" series this week, or what there is of it. There might be more coming, I don't know. Long story short. he's a lusty but sensitive messenger who's good with horses, his fists, and the ladies. He's a rigid, straight-laced clerk for His Highness with a brilliant analytical mind and a dark secret that torments him. Together they solve crimes. You have no idea how long I've been waiting for a good time to use that.

 In any event, it's good stuff. I'm a sucker for historical mysteries and these are pretty good. It takes place during the reign of King Henry II after the martyrdom of Thomas Beckett and, as far as I can tell, it's a pretty accurate portrayal of the time. I don't know it's as quite as good as Ellis Powell's "Cadfael" series but it's pretty high tier. Check it out.

 I got yet another harmonica this week, this one a Suzuki Manji in B-flat. That pretty much completes me with the major keys I'd need if I were to consider playing in front of folks on a regular basis, which I am not. I probably could use an F-sharp but I doubt I'll fool with it. I got this because the Manji got good marks from several folks. I don't know, though. I don't like it as much as the Fender or Easttop harps and it's definitely more expensive than necessary. Sixty bucks to a forty-dollar Hohner.

 I'm still waiting on the PowerBend from China. It was ordered the March 9, and it's still not here. Monday's the last day, though, so maybe the second time will be the charm. I know there's no real point in me buying all these different keys, but it's given me a chance to check out some harps I never got to otherwise. You rarely see anything besides Hohners in music stories. Why that is, I don't know, but I imagine it's because they've got the name recognition.

 If I had to pick, I still favor Blues Harps and Marine Bands, but if I were to recommend a first-time harp, got with either an Easttop or a Fender Blues DeVille. A little under 30 bucks but a solid instrument, and you can't go wrong with that. The Fender Blues Deluxe is a pretty good buy for less than twenty, too, so keep that in mind. I do like the Lucky 13 and may think about getting another in a different key. After headache getting that one, though, I'm going to wait a while.

 Learning - or re-learning, possibly - has been fun. I'm trying to rebuild myself from the bottom because a lot of what I learned, I learned the wrong way or perhaps a way that could be easier done some other way. I find myself drifting away from practicing to having a good time with what I already know. I am picking up stuff that sticks, and that's a good thing.

 I don't know if there's anything else. I'm not really playing anything new. And I guess that's it. If you can, call your Mommas tomorrow.

If I had my way, I'd never get the urge to roam.

  I've put this off all evening because I just haven't been in the mood. But it's fifteen after eleven and I should see if I can't get something done before midnight.

 I'm a little burnt out on paying attention to things. Woke, cancel culture, critical race theory, should we be paying attention to Trump announcing he's starting a LiveJournal, blah blah and increasingly blah. I don't know whether this is a result of having a president who's still in the boring phase of his presidency and one who is, well, boring. I can understand a little the idea the Bigtime Press is having trouble dealing with Life After Trump.

 That being said, I can also agree with folks who make up said press' readership saying how goddamn tired they are of reporters trying to keep Trump in the news. Well, trying to make "Biden's people react to Trump" is what they're considering news, apparently. On the plus side, it's always a good laugh when Press Secretary Jen Psaki rhetorically smacks some overpaid goofball's hand for asking a dumbass question about Trump.

 Still, Trump is important to the GOP. They're trying the eviscerate Lynn Cheney and Mitt Romney for their disloyalty to that weird asshole. It's very, very silly. I knew he'd have an outsized impact on the future of the GOP, but this is ridiculous. The flipside of all this is everyone who wants to stay in with the base is a complete douchebag on Twitter while complaining on the Sunday morning television shows how Big Tech and Big Media are censoring them. That geek Josh Hawley actually said while being interviewed on tv by that the reporter couldn't "cancel, censor or silence" him which is what he considers "asking a question clarifying a statement" as he hawks his new "vote for me for president in 2024" book.

 Like I said, tedious. Even more tedious is the drawers-twisting outrage conservatives are having on critical race theory. Everything is CRT. Diversity training is CRT. History that puts forth the controversial idea that chattel slavery was "bad" is CRT. Acknowledging the systematic racism that affected the lives of African Americans throughout the 20th century still has an impact on culture is CRT. Affirmative Action is CRT. 

 It's so dumb. I'm not interested in debating the merits of CRT but, for the record, I don't really see a problem with it. It's driven white folks nuts, though, to the point where anti-CRT types have slipped right over the edge of common sense. I saw one goob claimed writers Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright disproved CRT, which tells me this person not only doesn't know what CRT is, he's never read a lick from the two authors' work. Guess they learned the name of another Black intellectual besides Dr. King.

 Okay. I don't know if I can squeeze out any more. I do have some Actual Paying Work this week, due Friday. I don't know how that will affect this week's output, but who knows. I've been playing The Witcher 3 the last couple of days and I think I've got into the groove of the game. I may have to take a break, though, the thing is so goddamn dense. I'm also bouncing around with a couple of books and haven't found one that holds my attention. Nothing but harmonicas these days, y'all.

And every time I see him, he's just barely getting by.

  I don't really have anything today, so we'll just fill up space while we listen to Charlie Daniels. Too bad it isn't yesterday. I had a flash of inspiration and worked out the background basics of what I think would be a neat science-fantasy tale. It's essentially a Quantum Leap or Voyagers that doesn't involve making sure history goes "like it should" because history - and existence - is fluid. The Many-Worlds Interpretation plays into it, of course.

 Is Voyagers remembered at all these days? I loved that show. Brief synopsis for you kids. Male-model-as-pirate and Punky Brewster's older brother travel through history to make sure it stays on the right path. They have a little pocket watch-looking deal that glows green when everything's okay. It ran for 20 episodes back in '82-'83 and all I remember was the Pirate character (Bogg) saying something would work with "Does Marie Antoinette have great legs," and when pressed by the Kid he said "No, Marie Antoinette had terrible legs," and I've thought about that ever since anytime she comes up.

 It was actually fairly popular, particularly since it was up against the juggernaut known as 60 Minutes. Apparently, it was canceled so NBC could launch a competing news magazine show. The idea was something shifty had gone down at 60 Minutes as happens from time to time, and NBC thought it could snag that market. That 60 Minutes still broadcasts every Sunday evening shows how that worked out.

 Like I said, this was in '82 or '83, so I was seven going on eight when this broadcast. It's also roughly about the same time I saw my first Doctor Who serial - Pyramids of Mars, yes I remember - and the first time I saw Time Bandits. I'm assuming that's where my fascination with time travel and time, in general, came from. I'm currently reading a non-fiction book on the nature of time by Alon Halperin called The Network of Time. So far it's nothing new - to me, anyway - but it's been an enjoyable read, and I have a book featuring H.G. Wells as the protagonist on deck plus a non-fiction book that's particularly about the science of time travel.

 I have no idea why time travel has such a hold on me. I have no desire to revisit my own past and living in any historical time holds no allure. Maybe Nashville during the '70s, but that's about it. Also, one of the ways my protagonist realizes that history has gone awry is him noting that Hank Williams died in the plane crash that killed Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins rather than due to alcoholism somewhere between Knoxville and Canton, Ohio.

 Anyhow. I've spent the last half-hour reading about the 1982-83 television year, so I guess I should wrap this up. I can't really think of anything too interesting to get into. I got my second Pfizer shot yesterday, and I think I'm feeling some effects from it. Nothing heavy, just a general achy/shitty overall feeling. I got in touch with the guy who sold me the Lucky 13 that apparently got lost in the mail, so he's sending me a new one. Hopefully, it gets here Friday. The PowerDraw says it's still stuck in China, but it's got until May 10. I also broke down and bought a Special 20 in F because the music store in Tupelo didn't have one, dammit.

 I've gotten further into Dragon Age: Origins than I ever have. Those games require a lot of time and dedication, and really don't allow for much else. Regardless, it's an exceptional game. That's enough of that.

Sometimes there's a part of me that has to turn and go from here.

  Another week's come to an end. I'm not particularly interested in recapping the week's News, but I do think it was a pretty good week. I did good work on Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict Wednesday and the bill to make Washington, D.C., a state Friday. At least I think so, anyway, do check it out. Monday was basically more "cops shoot unarmed black people" and that shit's getting depressing.

 Another harmonica came today, a Fender Blues DeVille in G. Initial testing is positive. It's got a nice, warm tone and a good feel. Plus, the black matte looks cool. I'd recommend it, especially for a starter harp. It's pretty affordable, usually between thirty and forty dollars before shipping. The Fender Blues Deluxe is cheaper, between ten and twenty dollars, and it's a pretty good harp, as well, if your budget's tight. Honestly, I can't tell which is better. I still maintain the Marine Band or Blues Harp from Hohner is top of the line, but it's nice to have options.

 It should be noted these do have plastic combs, so if that's a no-go for you, something to consider. I'm coming around on quality plastic combs myself. I may break down and buy a Special 20 just to see how it matches up. That one the place in Tupelo has is an F, which is a key I don't have. I'm looking at about $300 in harmonicas on my desk and I'll probably never play the bulk of them outside my room.

 As a side note, my income tax refund and my stimulus check came in all at once. It's a decent bit of change I wasn't expecting. I hadn't received one and I figured since my work was all freelance, it just wasn't enough to make the nut. I figure when my buddy I'm writing for did his taxes and reported money paid to me, it tripped a something or other with the Treasury. So, yeah, a nice surprise and I don't feel as bad about buying harmonicas I don't need.

 Okay. I'm going to leave Biden's recognition of the Armenian Genocide for tomorrow. It is a very big deal, though, as it's been something that's been denied by the entire world's governments for over 100 years. Hitler used that as a reason to justify the Holocaust and it's been a sore tooth for the West's relationship with Turkey. That has always been a bone of contention, particularly since Erdogan took power back in 2003. Almost 20 years in the highest office in the country is never a good sign, I don't care who says otherwise.

 Finally, unless something comes up, I got around to playing Hand Of Fate 2 and it's a good time. I like that whole block-counter fight style like in the Batman games and it makes me want to give Shadow of Mordor another shot. I'm still working on Outward and the first two Witcher games, and I've dived back into Dragon Age: Origins to see if I can get more of it down. I have the first Mass Effect downloaded for the same reason, but these goddamn games are so huge. It's amazing how the technology has advanced, and not just from the Pac-Man or Frogger days. Crazy, man.

You know, I'm tired of being lonesome, on'ry, and mean.

 It's the first weekend in April, it was a beautiful day, I'm buying too many harmonicas, and I have a back tooth that's working its way loose. Periodontal disease is a drag, kids, don't skimp on those dental cleanings. But, hey, life goes on and I've got dental insurance.

 Anyhow, let's get down to business. I really don't have much to ramble about tonight so we'll try to run out the clock and see what pops out. First off, let's do the News. It was a lot of daily wraps up because it was that kind of week. We looked at our weird Spring weather Monday while touching on the beginning of the Derek Chauvin case and the union fight with Amazon in Alabama.

 Much as I hated to do it, I had to touch on the Matt Gaetz unpleasantness Wednesday and Friday. We also looked at some of the brilliance that comes from the Mississippi Legislature as well as Joe Biden's upcoming $2 trillion infrastructure plan. There was also some good news on the COVID-19 front and yet another mass shooting. And we touched on the MLB's decision to move the All-Star Game in response to Georgia's contentious voting bill.

 There's something to that. Conservatives are outraged that a corporate entity is doing something they don't like and reacting like they always do. That is, threats to never watch baseball again unless MLB does what the government wants. Yeah, that's never a surprise, nor is their glee at Georgia's smacking Delta's wrist for daring to question the state government's motives behind the radical and apparently unnecessary bill.

 This comes as no surprise to anyone. Indeed, it was predictable and will probably have as much an effect as the NFL boycott over the whole kneeling business. It wasn't a whole lot, actually, and last year's pandemic had more of an effect on the ratings than any boycott. I'm sure some folks will actually go through with it, but sports fans are more interested in their preferred sport than the political whatnot that goes on around it.

 It's all so tedious. Honestly, if it weren't for the News, I probably would drop completely out because it has become so boring and predictable. There's news that the Trump people really rooked the rubes that donated to them and the only thing less predictable than that is how little effect it's having on their support of the crooked fucker.

 What else? Well, as I said, I've been buying different brands of harmonicas all week. I've got a Marine Band today to join my Blues Harp, with a Fender Blues, a PowerDraw, and an Easttop on the way. Once my birthday comes - less than 10 days away from being closer to 50 than 40 - I'm going to get me a Lucky 13 Bass harp and perhaps a Lee Oskar of some sort. I figure I'll stick with G's, D's, and C's though the Blues Harp is already an A. I've also made a breakthrough on learning tabs, something I've always had trouble with, regardless of the instrument.

 That's the best thing about learning or relearning something. When you're able to break through some barrier or leap some hurdle that's been hanging you up, and you can do it like it comes naturally. It's like having a superpower. Anyhow, that's good enough for now. Maybe later I'll write some more after I eat something. I will say we finally got fiber optic here and it's nice to join the 21st century in one way, at least.

Take a little trip with me.

  It's the first of April. I never have cared for April Fool's Day mainly because most folks are neither all that funny nor all that clever. I've only seen a couple of April Fool's tweets today and they've been blatantly obvious. I guess living in the bizarre reality that has been the last four years has sapped most people's tolerance for bullshit.

 The Derek Chauvin case is going into its fourth day. Here's a pretty good Twitter feed called Unicorn Riot that's been following the trial. The defense's strategy seems to be not only painting George Floyd as a danger but also that the cops were being threatened by the cops. It's going to be interesting to see what the defense brings because the prosecution is eating them up. A former supervisor of Chauvin has said he went too far.

 Another... interesting take on it is how guilty the witnesses all seem to feel over it, as if they're blaming themselves for Floyd's death. Particularly the young man who originally thought he passed a fake twenty. He was hard to listen to, bless his heart, and it goes a long way in explaining why this sort of thing keeps happening, why police brutality is so commonplace.

 You'll see these arguments online where people who support police brutality and inevitably someone will ask them, "Well, what if it happens to you or someone you love?" Once they get over the claim they'd never do something like that, the pro folks always say something along the line of, "Well, I/they probably deserve it." Think about that. Our culture has this worship of authority so ingrained that we think we deserve to have punitive measures used against us whenever said authority deems it necessary. 

 That's something about our culture we maybe should think about. It doesn't remove or explain away the racial aspect of police brutality or the other aspects of White Supremecy that, but I definitely think it has a structural component to this all-American comment of daily life. Same thing with yet another mass shooting. We for some reason think we deserve like this or, at least, it's a reasonable sacrifice. It should also be noted that the same people who think the cops are justified with what they do are the same ones who lose their shit when they get a ticket for parking in a handicapped spot. Go figure.

 Moving on, we've all had to consider Matt Gaetz's "oh-face" way too much this week. It's come out that he's given to show nude pictures and videos of his sexual conquests to others, even fellow Congress critters while on the floor of the House of Representatives. That's just creepy and gross. I mean, that'd be creepy and gross if he was 21, but for a member of the U.S. legislative body, it's almost beyond the pale. Even if the sexual trafficking of minors charge is bogus, he ought to be bounced just for that. For cryin' out loud, man, try not to act so much like the privileged frat boy douchebag you so obviously are.

 And that's about that. It's been cold but an otherwise lovely day and we finally got high-speed fiber-optic internet. It is nice to rejoin the 21st century. I've been buying more harmonicas, including a PowerDraw harp that I'm extremely looking forward to messing with. Maybe after my birthday, I'll buy myself one of these Lucky 13 harps that are tuned for bass playing.

 I'm having a lot of fun relearning harmonica and guitar. Maybe the best thing about learning or relearning anything - from a musical instrument to a sport to something like painting - is when a hurdle or a block that's been hanging you up and frustrating your progress just melts away. You figure it out and it becomes second nature. It's like discovering you have a super power.

All-night laundromat blues.

 Well, I did it again. I nodded off reading after supper and woke up after midnight with not one word written. This is the second time this has happened, the second time this month as a matter of fact. It's always on Gibberish days when, admittedly, had I something I felt needed pontificating on, it would already have been written.

 But no, nothing was coming today and, to be quite frank, nothing's here now. We're getting our weekly flood outside but that's almost become boring. I need a shower and as soon I wake up fully, I'll take it. For the nonce, I'll babble on until I catch word count.

 I was doing pretty good today, too. Woke up and hit the gym instead of waiting until the afternoon when I probably would have slept through it. Otis and I took a lovely early afternoon constitutional. I need to do something to change my sluggish mood, and I guess the only thing I can do at this point is to take advantage of the nice weather. The Psych Doc said I need to spend more time outside anyway.

 Anyway. I'm spending too much money on harmonicas, which is actually a sentence I have written before. I maybe shouldn't have bought that Blues Harp, especially since it was in A. That's an okay key, but not as useful as C. Played in second position, it works for songs in D, but that's not quite as useful. Of course, I'm not going to be playing with anyone soon but it's the principle of the thing.

 I've got a three-pack Hoodoo Hohner Blues Harmonica set that was super cheap. Apparently they're not great, but I just want something to blow on. The video I just got through makes them look really bad. Ah, well. The case looks nice. The Bluesband is decent for less than $10, but the fact is you get what you pay for. I may break down and just buy a Marine Band, but the East top makes a pretty decent affordable one. Maybe I'll wait and I buy myself one or two for my birthday. That's an idea. I got that Blues Man in A, maybe buy a Marine Band in C, and perhaps a Fender or a Lee Oskar in G. I've never played one of those.

 Boy, this is riveting stuff, but this is about as interesting as my thought process got today. One of Florida's dirtbag U.S. Representatives, the odious Matt Gaetz, went from announcing he'd take a job with Newsmax rather than run for re-election to being accused of sex with an underage girl. At least one, maybe more and maybe Tucker Carlson is involved.

 And for the record, I only call it "sex with an underage person" for legal reasons. It's rape. Sex with a minor is rape, especially if you're a 38-year-old man. There are allowances for 18-year-olds having sex with 17-year-olds that fall into a gray territory if one wanted to be an asshole but that's neither here nor there. This is not that situation.

 In any event, I am not terribly interested in digging into that dude's trash. He's a nasty piece of work and has shown he's something of a douchebag a number of times before all this came to light. Politics and the media is my beat but this sort of thing is... distasteful. I cannot for the life of me understand why people, mostly dudes, engage in this sort of behavior. Even among us plebes, big generation gaps like that never really work, do they? I remember a friend back in Athens who was pushing 40 and dating a 22-year-old. Sweet girl and he was a nice dude, but it was a fiery relationship, to be generous. Both were much happier after they split up. Another similar situation, every time I saw him away from her - and he worked at a CD store, so I saw him a good bit - he looked wore plumb down because they were always scrappin'.

 I'm not going to lie. In my early thirties, I went out once or twice with a young woman in her early twenties. It never lasted, though, for one reason or another. Usually because I was too weird for them after the initial blush or because - and I don't want to be insulting here - she just acted too young. People need to date close to their own age until their mid-thirties and then stick with the seven-year rule. That's half your age plus seven is the lower limit. For example, I'll be 46 next month so my lower limit would be 30. That's still a pretty big stretch, come to think about it.

 It doesn't matter, anyway, because I ain't dating anymore. I don't know if that's the reason I'm not interested in sex scandals - I was going to bring this back around somehow - because I've never been interested in sex scandals. Of course, this wouldn't be a sex scandal so much as a rape scandal, which makes it even more distasteful. But it will be news for the next couple of days.

 And that's word count so I'll be hitting the showers.

I never read it in a book, I never saw it on a show, but I heard it in the alley on my country radio.

  Despite the warnings of the Channel Nine weather guy, we pretty much missed out on this week's Big Storm that was scheduled for today. The area was under a tornado watch for most of the day but except for a good, hard mid-morning rain and a persistent mugginess, nothing serious happened.

 Unfortunately, folks in Alabama seem to have caught what we're supposed to have gotten. Reports are still coming in and while it does seem as nasty as what South Central Mississippi caught last week, it was bad enough. Since it's still doing its thing, we'll wait until tomorrow to see how it all washed out.

 Regardless, I spent the day acting like we were getting some foul weather. That means I read a good bit, played some Baldur's Gate, and napped copiously. I haven't had much Actual Paying Work lately because my main vein doesn't need me right now. I know I ought to put some more effort into getting outside work but since I don't really need to - that is, it's not what needs to keep me fed - I don't want to and ain't going to. I'm not really enjoying doing any writing apart from The News. Figure that out.

 So with that in mind, I don't have much to go with here. I rambled on about guns and the country's national delusion Tuesday, and I'm sick of writing about that. Suffice to say, if the rest of the country is fine with things like they are, well, there's a reason I don't leave this hill all that often unless I have to.

 For example, I had my twice-a-year check-up and, for the most part, everything is working as well as it can be for a not particularly active man staring his 46th birthday in the face. Just writing that sentence put me in such a black mood I had difficulty finishing it. I don't usually bemoan my aging or my lost youth, but my afternoon nap brought the "nobody likes you and, indeed, are tired of your shit" dream. I never know where that comes from, as I'm a fairly likable chap. Most people who actively dislike me for whatever reason are generally jackasses on many other levels.

 Anyhow. So much for all that. I've no desire to go diving into my own bellybutton any more than I care to do anything else but blow my harps and pick my guitar. And now I'm just fooling around on my harp, trying to play the riff from The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "If You Wanna Get To Heaven." Just like normal, when I try to follow others' instructions I stumble and get frustrated. However, when I play it on my own, it might take me a bit to get in the groove but I make it there eventually.

 And honestly, I don't know of a better metaphor for my entire life nor a better place to end.