Searching for something to say

Feeling like I ought to sleep 

Spinning room is sinking deep 

Searching for something to say

 

Those words were playing in my headphones when I thought, yes I feel that way. Ok, most all time the room is not spinning or sinking but I never know what to expect in these crazy times.

 

These lines come from the Chicago song "25 or 6 to 4" (personal note - I never felt very comfortable sitting cross-legged on the floor)

 

staring too long and hard

 

Like others, I wondered what this song was about. It's about what to write about in your next blog post. No, it was about trying to compose a song over a long night.

 

Life is a struggle even without others creating tragedies such as insurrections, war and other atrocities. Too many issues to cover in a blog post.

 

Tomorrow there will another televised report from the 
House Jan. 6 committee. Are enough people paying attention?

 

 

Can't you just see it in his face?

Here are a few lines from the Monkees’ song “Words” that remind of that former orange headed president and his close friends.

But all I can hear are those
Words that never were true
Spoken to help nobody but you
Words with lies inside

nitty

My guardian angel is still hanging with me and we keep on keeping on. Honestly, I’m very doubtful about this guardian angel thing. But if I have one, no need to piss him or her off.

Eleven years ago the rapture was a viral internet thing.

 

 

Rapture marketing

 

Rapture by robot

 

This rapture idea seems very weird in today's world. I posted about the lack of anything extraterrestrial happening back in 2011. Here’s the poem I wrote about the rapture that didn’t happen. 

 

failed rapture poem by lisleman (May 2011):

Fear was their tool for capture
Of many minds regarding the rapture.
Unlike the time the story was first told
Our media connected world was quickly sold.
I consider myself an optimist
This end date doesn’t show on my list.
But on this day, I here confessed
About the rapture I became obsessed.
So another day I will grow
To watch time’s steady flow.
With much doubt ringing in my ear
Just leave me alone to finish my beer.

Maybe the problem is the devil is in the details. 

 

Often in life you need to get right down to the real nitty gritty. This clip is worth watching to hear Peter Lawford say “interpretation of the nitty gritty”.

 

 

 

words thoughts or thoughts words

What is coming right up, will be left up to you or in other words it is still up in the air. Add your comments below.

 

Do words create thoughts or thoughts create words?

 

Whatever.

 

Probably goes both ways. Occasionally the word/thought cycle spins a few brainwaves that eventually  produce a post.

 

Hey I'm walking here

Brain Squeeze

I offer you a short diversion from the current tragic news of a crazy senseless invasion.

 

😟

 

I'm a poor speller and find many words tricky. I wrote the following sentence to help me with two similar sounding words.

 

I agree with your sentiment about the river sediment.

 

😟

 

Last year I drove my older sister over to a less than desirable area of our hometown. She was on a short visit and wanted to take a few pictures of old houses related to her past.

I said to her, "if anyone asks what you are doing here, tell them you are researching a murder. They probably will ask which one."

 

We didn't need to use that line that day. I plan to keep it handy for future encounters.

 

😟

 

I can't say my words flow much like the imaginary given in the Beatles' song "Across the Universe". 

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me

 

 

Running down a

Running down a dream ? Sometimes I wonder if I'm running down a blog. Do you heard the crickets?

 

running down to a Blues Brothers cover band concert

 

Just today I came across (I don't recall how) a quick little song by Barbra Streisand titled "The Minute Waltz". It has me thinking of people who often run late. In other words running down the clock.

 

Oh if you do go running down the highways and byways, don't forget to protect your ducky.

 

Oh here's a clip of the song that started this post. Dreams are weird.

 

 

Meanwhile

I really don't know what I'll write next but I'll include the following two songs.

Will my next post be about the weather? I don't know yet but I hope it will be interesting. Stay tuned to listen to the tunes.

I'm just a blogger in a web of confusion

If I could sing, my wish would be to say, "I'm just a singer in rock'n'roll band".

their blog would have been fun to read

Recently, I replied to a blog comment with:

“Don't sit on those eggs of ideas too long. Let them hatch!”

Eggs of ideas?

Where did that come from? I don’t know, was it the three over-easy eggs I ate today?

You probably heard about many different activities people were performing/creating (the able-to-stay healthy ones) during the stay-at-home period.

Of course one requires a decent level of motivation to accomplish many of these activities. I need the motivation bar to be set a very LOW. I'm not jumping. More likely tripping.

Now one day I managed to create a video for the grandkids. I had two things - a hope they might find it interesting and lots of pennies. Here's that video:

Today I found a video of a high school kid who built an amazing gadget during his stay-at-home. After watching I thought he probably was in college but according to his profile he's in high school (maybe he didn't update his profile).

He did have candy as a motivator. Take a look at his automated M&M launcher:

Not only did he cover the physics of trajectories but also added in a quick comparison to spring loaded candy launchers. The kid is motivated. I on the other hand, can stack pennies.

whatever NOTICE #2

A Few Clowns Short's first notice was issued back in 2015. It's still in effect but given these uncertain times I believe it prudent to reissue it.

Effective 2015-10-28 2020-06-02, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Lisleman will discontinue all telepathic services. I regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and I thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative. But realistically, good luck doing that since the customer service position was never filled.

Longer term, my proven four pillar strategy and relentless focus on execution will continue to drive this blog toward…

Oh crap, just check in once in awhile. Who knows I might surprise you and assemble a few words into an enjoyable read. 

Meanwhile enjoy some relaxing music.

Don’t Look Back

Too late, I already did. It was More Than A Feeling.

Many pundits talk about the bar being set high or low. Some days I just want to sit at a bar.

Thinking of low bars, consider this. I’ll just dig around in the digital debris of my old posts hoping for an idea.

Yeah, It Don’t Come Easy because I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Finally, I Can See Clearly Now. I found a Bridge Over Troubled Water. You don’t need to Take Me To The River because now I’m In The Mood to write a post.

Do You Believe In Magic? Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.

Hey sometimes you need to Dance To The Music when the Lion Sleeps Tonight.
 

Stop! In The Name Of Love.

But didn’t Michael Jackson sing, Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough?

I Want To Take You Higher.
 
Alright, You May Be Right.
 
Finally, I’m Feeling Good but don’t expect another Emotional Rescue, It's Only Rock N' Roll. Actually, it’s only a blog.

Wordlessly watching

Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin! Thanks to Sly and the Family Stone for that phonetic spelling.

Wordlessly watching
He waits by the window
And wonders

Wordless activities fail to contribute much for my blog. For me lyrically listening to music works well for generating a post. Not necessarily a perfect post, but judgement doesn’t belong in blogging anyway.

wonders what the little girl is wondering

I’ll start 2020 (can you believe 2020 will be the year of perfect eyesight and limited insight) with a non-correlated collection of thoughts and/or observations, and/or sentences.

It might just be me, but I'm noticing more quotes showing up around the transition into a new year. I found this one about exploring. Quote from the late astronomer Carl Sagan:

"The surface of the Earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean. From it we have learned most of what we know. Recently, we have waded a little out to sea, enough to dampen our toes or, at most, wet our ankles. The water seems inviting."

So grant me a billion or so I can fly a rocket to the moon.

As an adult who has traveled beyond our borders and watches a few documentaries, I know not everyone is fortunate to growup with the luxury of having their own room. I gather from the following song (oh this one is from a great musical documentary titled, “Echo In The Canyon”) that Brian Wilson had his own room. I eventually had my own room after my older brother left.



To round off the post (I never write a sharp post, I might hurt myself) I’ll end with a bit of twitter. While twitter speeds the sharing of words, I doubt it helps anyone with their vocabulary or writing skills. Collected tweets by Chicago Tribune columnist, Eric Zorn:

• I never say “It’s the least I can do.” I know in my heart I can always do less
• We need a follow-up song where Dolly Parton comes to her senses and thanks Jolene for taking that cheating dirtbag off her hands
• I’ll tell you who gets a bad rap. Anyone who asks me to do a rap
• His last words were, “You seem upset.”
• Fellas, if you don’t know what you did wrong, do not under any circumstances start guessing
• On your deathbed, tell everyone “pray for me.” Then make sure to leave a note to be opened after you die that says, “pray harder next time”
• Please allow children to believe in Santa. You believe in essential oils and no one is ruining it for you

My past posts related to:
Thank you falettinme be mice elf agin


Wordlessly watching

my local universe

Wow, I almost failed in posting here during the month of November. For about three quarters of the month (BTW I encourage the use of fractions in blog posts) my wife and I were on the road again. We didn't sing the Willie Nelson song but we should have. We weren't making music but were playing music with our family and friends.

• We walked a beach.
• I splashed in the Gulf of Mexico waves.
• We held the newest baby of our extended family.
• We enjoyed a Blue Angels air show.
• We toured a house that George Washington rented once.
• We were held up in traffic jams and confused by Google map directions.
• We samples shots that tasted like pancakes (an excuse to drink before noon).
• We learned historical stories from guides and my brother-in-law.
• We played a new board game with family.

the gulf of Mexico

Garbage collection with a great attitude

Blue Angels

wildlife

shit happens

I could spend more time and come up with other memories of the trip. I don't write travelogues.

I want to move on to a sadder event this month. Like everyone's little local piece of the universe there is good and bad in it. While my local universe was offering many enjoyable moments for me, it had some serious stuff waiting for my attention.

We got a few updates on my uncle's condition during the trip. I don't know, maybe it waited for me. After we settle back in at home, we got the news that my uncle had gone into hospice.

I have posted about my king-of-the-road uncle before. link (there's a good pic of him in that older post)

He is the last of my dad’s siblings. He doesn't live too far away but now his current holding area in only about 2 miles away. He is barely holding on. I visited him twice on thanksgiving (truly, he didn't realize this gave me a reason to duck out of the crazy T-day preparations at our house). I visited with him again today. He struggles to talk but I try hard to listen and prompt him for more.

Today he told me some golfing stories involving my dad and other uncles. He getting other visitors too.

I know we can't hold off what is coming. I don't believe we ever can. He's in his upper 80's. I feel good about my visits. I noticed a little chuckle from him during one visit. I try to make him comfortable. I know I'll miss him but I try hard to be upbeat during the visits. I'm very happy he can recall memories to share.

His beard is growing. I told him he looks like Lincoln. 

Then the jagged edge appears
Through the distant clouds of tears.
I'm like a bridge that was washed away;
My foundations were made of clay.

As my soul slides down to die.
How could I lose him?
What did I try?
Bit by bit, I've realized
That he was here with me;
I looked into my father's eyes.
My father's eyes.
I looked into my father's eyes.
My father's eyes.

 

Notes of thought

I can’t recall anyone ever telling me I write too much. This observation should provide motivation to write more. Yet my motivation withers.

just a short note can mean alot

I don’t believe you need to be a writer to write. Talking is easier but maybe not as effective. Talking doesn’t easily create a permanent record. 

Writing doesn’t flow out of my mind. It's more like small bubbles of thoughts popping up. Just creating occasional blog posts were not always easy for me. A blog post doesn’t require any publisher/editor approval. You can just do it. Of course, just doing it probably won’t mean much to anyone other than the ad agency for Nike.

I did technical (engineering type) writing in my career. Creating a blog post is much more fun.

Those that have written a letter or a note in a card (I wonder if many of future generations ever will) know the process requires more time and thought than talking.

Has the speed and ease of texting changed communication for the future? It does seem so.

Twitter requires less time and thought than any activity except maybe relieving yourself in the bushes after leaving a late night party. The speed of twitter doesn’t provide quality thoughts.

This past week I’ve enjoyed the PBS Ken Burns documentary Country Music even though country music is lower on my musical listening list. Watching this multi-part show, you realize country music spans many different types of music.

Lyrics are poems set to music. The music story presents a number of very descriptive phrasings that since I seldom listened to country music, were new to me.  There are many great songwriters in country music.


from Hank Williams:

Hear that lonesome whippoorwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

from Kris Kristofferson:

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waitin' for a train
And I's feelin' near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down, just before it rained
It rode us all the way to New Orleans

and another one from Kris:

On a Sunday morning sidewalk
I'm wishing Lord that I was stoned
'Cause there's something in a Sunday
That makes a body feel alone
And there's nothin' short of dyin'
That's half as lonesome as the sound
Of the sleepin' city sidewalk
And Sunday mornin' comin' down

One song that exemplifies country music is Will the Circle Be Unbroken. 




 

my favorite things

Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Blog postings tagged as memory flings
These are a few of my favorite things

Today I've been going back into my blog postings. Fortunately, I remembered to tag many as memories. Since most of my postings have pictures and music clips, the exercise refreshes my outlook.

Relax

One posting, holy toast almighty, caught my attention enough to share the picture I had used in the post once more. Here's the picture below. It was taken in Vienna. I suspect the imaginative sculptor had many weird dreams. The figure looks happy.

Imaginative sculpture 

As it often happens I needed to update a youtube link to a music clip I had included (damn lawyers). I'll also include the updated music clip below.

Browse every blog
Binge every stream
Comment on all my postings
Til you find your dream

(boy I know how to ruin lyrics)

mix up

You have heard of mixed metaphors.

It’s not meta but I gave it a what for. Enjoy my mixed lyrics.

seasonal selection

Mama take this blog from me
I can't write it anymore
It's getting dark too dark to see
Feels like I'm knockin' on Facebook’s door

But as that famous rolling stone sang once, “You can’t always get what you want”.

But if you try sometime
You just might write
Write the post you need

If any group knew how to ask for help, the fab four did!

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my post back off the ground
Won't you please, please comment below?

Now which song should I include? Oh hell, I’ll just mix in another one.

Sweet Blog of Mine

Where it began.
You can begin to knowin by reading the “Short Background”.

I’ve been inclined to make a parody of Sweet Caroline called Sweet Blog of Mine.

Words,
Touching words
Commenting
Touching me
Touching you
Sweet blog of mine, bah bah baah

Yeah someday I’ll finish it.


But for now I’ll just share a picture from the desert.

before the rain

I just got back from a great trip and reunion of many cousins. I’ve been to the desert, got hoarse from a cold with no name. I’m feeling better now. In the desert there was plenty of rain.

Ok how about one more picture. I figured out how to use the panorama mode on my smartphone camera. (click on the pictures to make them bigger)

doing a 180

As you probably know, I love the lyrics of good songs. Sometimes though, I just want to settle back and listen to an instrumental. Meet the culturally confused watermelon man.

turn back time

If I could turn back time, I would write down more of what I experienced so that I'd remember it better today.

Imagine going too far back. For example, an era before electricity was widely available. I don't think I could adjust. No reason to go back further than the introduction of the common kitchen microwave oven.

don't go back to OZ in the winter

Those great moment-in-time pictures offer an easy way to go back in time.

Do you use your blog to go back in time?

I do.

I have used youtube to store a few memories too. 

Back in 2008, I went to the Red Bull (I don't drink the stuff) Flugtag in Chicago. Lots of fun. Remembering this, I wondered if the Flugtag events continued. Yes they did but not as often. Nashville TN. hosted one in 2017. All these digital memories will change retirement in the future (assuming the files don't get lost or formats stop playing).

I took some pictures and a little bit of video. Then I mixed them together with a real corny old song I found.





Here's the song that gave me the post title.




Give it a shot. Finish this sentence, "If I could turn back time...".

Yeah and then there is this

If my posting trend continues, it won’t be long until I’m posting once a year. A lot can happen in a year but then again not much can happen too.

DIY Sir Fartalot

Of course there is the quantity vs. quality debate. Fakebook certainly goes towards the quantity side. Twitter is probably even worse but I’m not on twitter.

I started to write, “stopping time” as a blog recording idea, but no. Time stopped could indicate you’re dead. Capturing time is a better description. Technically, I guess capturing the essence a moment or memory is what happens. In the not too distant past the capturing took the form of letters/notes/diaries. My blog provides a method of capturing time for me and hopefully future others.

Many of my posts are not memorable events but rather thoughts that churned in my brain long enough to be written down. Having watched a Ken Burns documentary or two, I know that a person’s thoughts can be the best way to convey the essence of a moment in time.

I certainly don’t consider this blog historical significant. However, I do wonder will some future bot will scan and digest large volumes of postings to get a sense of historical events, social movements or just daily life in the past.

Emergency cabinet at a great store for odd stuff

Then there is this -
Deputy Cows helped chased down a suspected car thief in Florida recently. (IMHO, I think FL has the most dumb criminals in the nation)

Bits of memory

For over more than a decade of blogging I’ve discovered:

• New words - I suspect I would be finding new words/terms even if I didn’t have a blog. I think the blog writing helps because while checking my spelling I’ll stumble on to new words. A recent one was “tittle”.
• I’m able to confuse myself - I’ll start out with one idea for the post and finish with unplanned thoughts only to notice the original idea is lost in the shuffle.
• Blogging is useful for memories - backing through your old postings helps recall events and there position on your life’s timeline.
• Youtube video clips are constantly busted - This is annoying. Often a post less than a year old might fail to show a youtube video that was part of the post. Who you gonna call? Tubebusters?

Grandkid pictures always lighten up the blog

I saw only the first movie in the series - didn't need more it was great

Recent headline in Chicago Tribune:

Willis Tower getting new elevators: Here are the ups and downs

Appears that a pun can still get through the editor.

Have you heard of this social site called Nextdoor? Surprisingly, I found out about the site from a postcard in my physical mailbox. It reminded me of when you joined AOL via a floppy disk that was mailed to you.

A post found on the Nextdoor social site:

Has anyone had mice exclusion done? If so, how expensive is as it? Exclusion involves sealing all entry points and fixing the gap between the garage door and the garage floor

I'm glad the Nextdoor poster explained mice exclusion. I had never heard that term before. But if the mice are excluded where to they go? to the neighbors?

Well hopefully this post vs. the original idea of getting philosophical ended up better.

 

blogging by a liar

Get back Jojo.
Get back to where you once belonged.

I was just getting back to some old postings. (hey that was a warning and the last old post warning you'll receive) As I dug through my stale digital HTML ramblings, I found this gem from 2015. Here's a revision. (oh if you know Jojo send him over) Please hold your comments until the comment section appears below.

👇

Don't worry about the little flamer.  He is a nice dragon.

Writing is a burning thing
And it doesn’t help me sing
Bound by wild desire
I posted words of fire

I fell into a bloggin ring of fire
I went down, down, down
(but not past the comment section)
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The blogging liar
The blogging liar

The comments can be sweet
Give a facebook like or a tweet
I fell for readers like a child
Oh, but the fire went wild

I fell into a bloggin ring of fire
I went down, down, down
And the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns
The blogging liar
  It’s hot sauce I’m a liar.

tricks treats do you have them

Most of this post was written back in 2015 for Halloween that year. So excuse me if I recycle this post. Most of my thoughts are recycled.

We still enjoy Halloween in our neighbor. Luckily there are young kids around and a couple of our grandkids come by too. There was a period after our kids were becoming adults, the number of young trick-or-treaters noticeably dropped off. It seems the number is back on the rise again.

Of course, Halloween celebrating has changed over the years. If you would like to read/discuss the Halloween changes check out Pam's blog post - the link.

I dropped the old man in our porch chair for Halloween

In the paper (you know that thing you can read but comes from natural trees and doesn't need to be plugged in) today there was a story about Halloween in this one Chicago neighborhood where the local churches bus the kids in.  Homes can get a 1000 or more visitors. Too much traffic I think but it would be an event to see the street filled with costumed kids.

In the story the term "Halloween hater" was used. I guess they are out there but I don't understand why anyone would be a Halloween hater.  Yeah, you might not get into the spirit of spirits and costumes but a hater? I suspect anyone like that probably hates kids too.

Halloween should be fun and enjoyed.

Our youngest much more than a decade ago

The guy passing out candy in this youtube clip has much more patience than me. He does manage to scare a few kids. Funny - I think the oddest thing about the clip is a guy wearing a pumpkin on his head for that long.





There is something happening this weekend much scarier than the ghosts, skeletons, and political characters out on Halloween - Daylight savings change disaster arrives Sunday morning. Be prepared.