Bag of Randomness for Friday, July 1, 2022

  • Just a reminder you may not see hardly if any posts next week since I’ll be vacationing with the kids. But who know, maybe I’ll at least post some pics. There’s suppose to be a lot of travelers this weekend, and airlines have a challenge on their hands. I’ve prepared myself emotionally should their be a delay or cancellation.
  • I called the Ritz-Carlton in DC to verify our booking and get some answers to a few lingering questions. The person who took my call grew up in an adjacent city, Coppell. Small, not so small world. I may or may not have gotten a free upgrade.
  • I spent a lot of time planning what activities to do on what days next week. Even though I don’t want to reconcile, I couldn’t help but think how much fun my ex and I would have had planning such a thing together. Some tours have to be scheduled ahead of time, and what we want to see is scattered all around the DC area, so it was a bunch of, “Well, since we’re here at this time for this tour, such-and-such is nearby, so we should take advantage of that.” But, this is a family vacation and well, she no longer is family. But as I said before, I’ve been planning this trip for at least three years now with her in mind.
  • A woman reached out to me on one a dating app. Her profile stated she was 6’9″. I don’t have any problems dating a taller woman, but I was curious if it was a typo. I couldn’t tell anything from the profile pics, so, I thought I’d ask her, but clarify height didn’t concern me. It must be a sore spot, she unmatched/unfriended me.
  • I wonder if LiberallyLean would be willing to answer this question on his blog – What’s the point of a Supreme Court dissenting opinion? I’ve always viewed as just a means for allowing those who lost some solace in allowing to be heard. Can they be used regarding future opinions? Are they essentially useless and ultimately pointless?
  • I think everyday day this work week, someone I haven’t heard from in a long time has reached out to me. All are friends I made because of this blog. The latest is a soldier who found this blog randomly passing the time while on duty in South Korea and he’s been reading from around 2007. He thanked me for my transparency because it helped him relate and overcome some like obstacles. We actually spoke on the phone for over an hour. It was actually our first verbal conversation, and it was as if we’ve been friends for decades.
  • I’m going to be transparent and admit some ignorance or lack of exposure to great American writing and film. I’ve never seen or read The Grapes of Wrath. That’s right, I wasn’t exposed to either in high school or college. That’s not to say I didn’t know a thing about either of them. I knew it was written by John Steinbeck, set during the Great Depression, and followed a farming family moving from Oklahoma to California. Yesterday, I did a lot of research on it because it was referenced on a Reddit thread about the painting below. For those of you who haven’t read the 1939 novel or seen the 1940 movie, well, uh, spoiler warning, don’t read on. But upon first glance, the painting took me aback. I’m sure it will make you uncomfortable, and in some ways, I hope it does. But this is how the painting was described: “This painting of a woman breastfeeding an old man in a prison cell was sold for €30 million. A man was sentenced to “death by starvation” for stealing a loaf of bread. His daughter breastfed him on daily visits as she was searched. He survived 4 months and was pardoned.” Apparently, the story has been depicted quite a bit in the art world.
  • A friend told me this is a Spinal Tap moment, so I’m guessing no one got fired and will be razzed about it for years – KISS Accidentally Projects Australian Flag on Stage in Austria
  • Germany: Missing 8-year-old boy found alive after more than a week in sewers
  • Trump’s ‘girth would prevent him from actually getting to the steering wheel’ of his SUV, former Secret Service agent says: ‘I don’t see this president ever being able to do that. Ever.’
  • Embrace the CringeWe all have “cringe-worthy” moments in life. Should talk about them more?
    • Embracing the cringe—for example, by sharing stories with friends of your biggest relationship failures or gaffes, or your worst professional moments—is a gift to your fellow humans. It sends a message that despite all of the imperfections and mortifications of the human condition, we survive. We’re flawed, and still worthy of care, love, consideration and attention. This is a more humane, and humanist, way to think about personal failure than to try to spin it, suppress it, or otherwise protect the “brand” that is a life. After all, how do young people learn that it really isn’t the “end of the world” when you embarrass yourself or get ditched?
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