Thursday, November 14, 2024

My New Protest - Too Much Lettuce

 Why is it that we always get too much lettuce in store bought sandwiches when we don't even ask for it? It doesn't have a strong flavor and, especially the shredded kind, falls out of the sandwich at every bite.

What's up with that?

I've made it a practice at, for example, Subway, to never ask for lettuce. I prefer spinach. Why? ...well, it's large and leafy and doesn't easily escape the bread boundaries. If they had leafy lettuce, I might give that a try. (Well, at Subway, I'd probably ask for both."

But otherwise, I make this a nation-wide appeal. Either only serve leafy lettuce, or don't default to lettuce at all. If someone wants this all over their shirt and laps while they eat, give it to them in a cup and they can just throw it into the air as they eat. It accomplishes the same thing. 


Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Remembering

I do videos for my cit/town, Agawam. For the past few years, I've done Memorial Days, 911 Remembrance Days, and Veterens Days. They each go through the same kind of program - flag ceremony, speech, bell ringing, and payers - and I try to get creative in how I record the events despite the seriousness of the day. I don't mean creative in a funny way. I mean creative in a respectfully different way.

This year, I was able to position myself almost perfectly for the key moments of the Veterans Day Ceremonies and that's only because I had to learn the hard way during the previous two times. Each one of these has been special and I often have come close to tears despite never having served. The way the vets go through the solemn moments, remembering and reflecting, is heartfelt.

Thank you, each and every one of you, for your sacrifice and service. 


Is The World Laughing At Us?

Unless there was a truly rigged election, the results from last week indicate a highly split voter population. In reading about or listening to the poll analyses, I have to wonder what's become of commons sense. On one side we have the conservatives who say they want things to go back to where they were. No one bothers to say what/where/when that is, but back to something. Then there are the progressives who say we can do better and somehow that's a bad thing? Better is bad? Hmm...maybe?

We have elected a man who I personally would never say was a good man. He has too many character flaw marks chalked up against him. So, does that mean that my side - the side that dislikes him - has marks, too? Are we just as bad when the other side complains about us? What do they see about us that we don't see? ...how will history view us?

NOTE: The image here was created by Haiper AI with the text input "vitriolic behavior of a world leader"...that's all it took to bring DJT into the frame.

And what about the rest of the world? What do other countries think? Are they just waiting for us to fall apart from the crush of our vitriolic nature. Are they laughing at the once, great, powerful nation that thinks it can dictate its rule everywhere...and now we will crumble?

We live in interesting times.

Saturday, November 09, 2024

It's Been A Few Days

It's been a few days since my last post. We've had a presidential election in the meantime and I'm heartbroken that my side lost. I recall, being a New England Patriots fan during the first 20 years of the millennium, that I had many opportunities to feel the happiness of victory and the sadness of defeat. For us, during this time, the cycle between these extremes was short. The expression, "just wait until next year", seemed to match our reality. Pain would always lead to certain exuberance and we counted on it.

Not so much with elections. (And not so much with football now.)

I could certainly be lead to believe that some sort of cheating was occurring. As Bill Maher would often quip, "I know I can't prove it but I know it must be true." Or something like that.

Going back to the Reagan victory many years ago, if you lived through that, didn't you wonder how it was that the Iran Hostage Crisis was resolved right after Ronnie won? WTF? How did that happen. Was there a highly illegal, quid pro quo in there somewhere? I can't prove it, but...

Fast forward to Hanging Chads. WTF? How can the Supreme Court get involved in this? I've read an explanation recently justifying their actions, providing a rationale, but there's that feeling again...

There's Trump's ongoing "it's a rigged election" mantra; he brought it up all the time. I suspect it's his personal rationalization - something he desperately needs so as not to feel like a loser - it's a tool right out of the narcissists mental health toolbox. Did he and his team actually figure out rigging and...

...now, we have 2024. WTF?

Well, I can't say "wait until next year". I'm afraid for this country and how Trump will play the game, fully emboldened by his excessive _______. (Whatever you feel fits there: narcissism, stupidity, ego, lying, rigging.)

Some pundits are saying that the Democratic Party needs to re-evaluate itself...but would that really help? I think we need to accept it - and I know I can't prove it but I just know it's true - that the election really was rigged. Rigged by a convoluted system of billionaire's money, social network manipulations, religious interference, and a woefully under-informed voting public. That's the game the Democrats need to learn to play. Forget education the voters with facts. That's for losers. Overwhelm them with bullshit...and then wait until next year.

Thursday, October 31, 2024

The Gap In My Posts

If you look at the dates of this Blog, you'll see a huge gap between 2013 and 2024. The reason it's there is because in the intervening years I was using Wordpress for my blog. I've kind of explained already why I'm back with Blogger, but I wanted to address the gap. Not many people (or anyone for that matter) follows my blog, and it's more of a historical thing for me. I can do a recap of the highlights...

2015 - I wrote about my songwriting, my mom's paintings website, my move to smaller and lighter cameras, and something about computer storage.

2016 - something about Adobe Slate and Topaz Impressions, then the Valley Photo Center, complaining about my Xfinity TB box, my first Mac Mini (which I bought for Lee), and something about Browsers.

I Got A Letter Asking Me To Appear In Newport, RI's Municipal Court

What? ...why did I get this "Court Appearance Date" letter from Newport, RI? I had to call right away to find out. It turns out, someone has/had a "moped" for which they could not prove insurance coverage. Apparently, this happened in early October.

Well, I don't have a moped and I wasn't anywhere near Newport. So, it's not me. On the other hand, I don't know what might happen if I don't go there, or at least try to find out what's going on. I did just that.

  • I called the Court Administrator who provided some information (after looking up the "ticket number").
  • The CA connected me with the Records Department.
  • The RD connected me with the Traffic Department, but there was no answer
  • So, I left a message.
After a couple days I called back and spoke with Dee at the Records Department. She said she'd try to get the officer who issued the ticket to call me to explain what's happening.

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Inspiration - things to think about

Now that I'm switching back to Blogger, I thought I'd migrate a page from the old site that I thought was interesting...

Good Karma

This is what The Dalai Lama has to say for 2006. All it takes is a few seconds to read and think over. Do not keep this message. The mantra must leave your hands within 96 hours. You will get a very pleasant surprise. This is true for all, even if you are not superstitious, or of whatever religious belief/ Faith.

Instructions For Life

  1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
  3. Follow the three R’s:
    • Respect for self,
    • Respect for others and
    • Responsibility for all your actions
  4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
  5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
  6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
  7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
  8. Spend some time alone every day.
  9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
  10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
  11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
  12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
  13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
  14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
  15. Be gentle with the earth.
  16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
  17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
  18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
  19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

The More Things Change...

Yes. The more things change the more they stay the same. And, here I am, back to one of my original blogs. This one comes from Google via their Blogger offering. I've done web pages manually and hosted static pages on AWS and Goggle's My Drive. I've done it using Drop Box way back. (I think they disabled that.) I'm pretty sure I started with Blogger way back when.

Of course, one of the top blog hosting sites is Wordpress and I still use it for many of my larger website efforts. But, it's designed for more complex sites and not so much for single pages and I find I need smaller sites as I get older (smaller dreams maybe?)...besides, it's always fun to change things up.

I have my rcdanek.us URL pointing to a simpler Google Sites page page where the design philosophy is similar to what Blogger offers, simplicity. The URL used to point to Wordpress and I find many people get confused at how to use Wordpress. I've stopped trying to convince anyone.

I'll probably change my mind next year. I dunno. I'm so wishy-washy. 😁


Monday, July 15, 2013

My Open Mic Update

I met Bill Martin last year. He had posted on Craig's List that he wanted to jam. I contacted him, we jammed, and have been doing open mic's in the recent months. Bill has a nice singing voice so he does most of the singing. I have a couple songs that I do. We tend to stick to three venues and try to stay active each week. In Westfield one evening, a reporter came in to do a story. It appeared in the Chicopee Herald and it was the photo of Bill that she chose for the article...


Sometimes at open mic's, you get help from other musicians. At Patti's 410, which has their open mic on Thursdays, we often have bass guitarist, Al, back us up...


...and, if there's a drummer handy, we get that kind of help, too.

Many times, though, if Bill's not available and I feel the courage to go solo, I will get up and do some original material. I heard, once, that your songs aren't good until you hit your 1000th. I'm so far from that many that I will likely be churning out crappy songs for some time. I do think, though, that they keep getting better, so I'm encouraged.

So, even though my ears still feel some discomfort when the music gets loud, I can tolerate the quieter acoustic sounds.

What's really been nice for me in the last year is that I've met some really nice folks in the open mic scene. We all keep showing up, encouraging one another, and listening and learning.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

My Poor Ears

My band mates and I have parted ways. It's not because I wasn't having fun, it's because things got too loud, and my ears started to hurt. Really. During some of the practices (we hadn't played out as yet), I would feel pain. So, I had to quit. Now, I'm more acoustic. My friend, Bill, and I practice once a week and hit an open mic almost weekly. He has a good singing voice and I try. My song writing had gone into a funk for a while, but I wrote two new songs in the past few weeks so something is rekindling. As far as rock and amplified sound, I have to cool it. I can still play, but at very low volumes. Some of the open mics have a rock element and I have to watch what I'm doing. If I sit too close to the PA or stay too long, it's probably not going to help my ears. But I'm aware and so far so good. I also jam acoustically with my friend, Ken. He started the band effort in the first place and although I can't play his style for rock anymore, he's so good on guitar that jamming is awesome. So, all in all, I won't be a rock star. I may be a singer/songwriter of sorts...but I have to keep it mellow. And I have enough opportunity with friends and venues in Western Mass to make mellow just right for me.