These people are so hypocritical – just big, fucking, out of touch, whiny, evil, power-hungry babies – sometimes I cannot figure out how they can be ruling ruining the world. It feels like the fever has to break soon, it just has to.
Anyway, it’s Friday night so fuck them, let’s talk about anything else BUT them.
Anything good happening in your life? Anyone you respect or admire?
What’s your favorite season? How many more weeks do we have before we can stop complaining that it’s too hot and too dry, and start complaining that it’s too cold and that fall is too rainy? When it turns cold, I always feel kind of sad.
Talk about whatever you want, except them – the bad people. :-)
War for Ukraine Day 1,261: Not Actually Going to Be Peace in Our Time
Gin & Tonic
My favorite season is the one we are in.
Soonergrunt
I’m not a lawyer. I don’t even play one on TV. But I’m pretty sure that Pedophile Enabler is not a suspect class.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: lucky you!
I might have thought ski season might be your favorite.
or maybe you’re saying whatever the season happens to be at the time is your favorite?
moonbat
Recent good thing: Gave myself my first Martin acoustic guitar for my *mumble-mumble* birthday. It sounds beautiful even with me playing it and I am in love. So far having zero trouble getting motivated to practice my chords.
Yay!!
ETA This will likely be my LAST Martin guitar too because these babies are not cheap! I cannot believe all the folks on the forums who have five and six guitars. How can they afford to eat???
BenInNM
It’s been a hot week here but if I delude myself I can feel tendrils of fall. I love fall here but if I had to choose I’d pick spring as my favorite season – all the new growth and flowers
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: B.
Princess
I just learned about the huge fire today in the Mosque/Cathedral of Cordoba today. Losing that would be on par with losing Notre Dame in Paris — maybe worse. The Mosque/Cathedral is older and completely unique in the world.
Chetan Murthy
Ha. This week and last, the weather in SF (at least, in Noe Valley) got warm enough that I wasn’t huddled under the blanket at night cursing and wanting to get up and turn on the heat! So it’s good! This has been (so I hear) the coldest summer since 1978. Brrrrr!
Gin & Tonic
@Princess: Oh no! We were there about 10 years ago. All around Andalusia.
Skippy-san
Summer because I can play golf.
WaterGirl
@moonbat: I wish Amir could be here to talk guitars with you!
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: good way to be!
moonbat
@WaterGirl: Me too. That and The X-Files. Amir was a virtual soulmate in many ways. I miss him.
WaterGirl
@moonbat: Amir was a special person. I’m glad you had that connection with him, even though it makes it harder to lose someone.
eclare
@moonbat:
Add Liverpool FC and Amir’s kitty for me.
WaterGirl
@Soonergrunt: more of a lawyer than I am because I don’t know the term suspect class.
zhena gogolia
Dershowitz has an inalienable right to pierogi
Nukular Biskits
Grandbabies.
eclare
I really live in the wrong place because as long as it is not snowing or icing, I love winter. But places I would probably like climate wise generally come with snow and ice. Plus, and I’m sure I’m an outlier on this too, I prefer Central Standard Time, so one more point in winter’s favor.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
I love Spring. All the grass and forbs are green, the flowering trees, all the flowers (especially the ones which like cooler weather), and the weather is lovely, and if not lovely, it rains, which is always a good thing to this Californian. I used to like summer, too, but with climate change, it is now a season of heat and dread and fire. I find April and May are the best travel months too (shoulder season), with the weather good, and the destinations (especially the UK and Europe) not too crowded yet. Also, the airlines aren’t as stressed, so I don’t have travel trouble (knock wood). I like Fall, too, but Spring is the best.
Josie (also)at
This week we have had 4 straight days of rain, beginning with a day of 4 inches of rain. So much rain. Before this we had 2 weeks of “heat dome” with temperatures of over 90 degrees with a heat index sometimes over 100 degrees. I once saw the humidity index at 95. This is not normal . This is in North Carolina.
SpaceUnit
I’m not a summer person. For me it’s just something to be endured.
I mean, I get it. I was a kid once and I can understand why people go their entire lives associating summer with freedom, youth and fun. But at some point it occurred to me that summer is just goddamn hot and uncomfortable.
Can’t wait for autumn.
Sure Lurkalot
Autumn has long been my favorite. As many have expressed, summer gets more and more unbearable every year so it is now my least favorite but damn if those memories of the last day of “grade school” aren’t sweet.
hitchhiker
My grandson, who will be 5 in January, is absolutely wild about color and fabric in his clothes. He’s got a twin sister with much tamer tastes, but that boy will dress himself in ribbons and scarves and fairy skirts all day long. His other nana made him a pink crocheted crown, and he’s figured out how to do bead necklaces and bracelets.
I think that in the very recent past, someone would have stomped this out of him, out of fear that he might not be “normal,” but no one has. It’s such a joy to watch a kid being who he is, even with his kinda conservative grandpa, and nobody messing with his jam.
Recently I had the two of them with me, and we went to use a bathroom at the park. He pointed to the women’s room door and said I should go in that one. I asked him how he knew, and he told me that the picture showed a person in a skirt, so it was the women’s.
I was wearing pants. He was wearing a skirt. I said that women don’t always wear skirts, and he said sometimes they do, and sometimes boys wear skirts too. It was the first time I knew that he’d been privately trying to figure this out.
He’s such a great kid.
moonbat
@eclare: The ancient Egyptians believed that whenever you say someone’s name who has died, you give them life in the next world. So I’m glad that folks on this blog are giving Amir additional lives.
azlib
@Princess:
Wow! That is sad. I have been there. It is quite a remarkable building. The blending of Gothic and Muslim architecture is stunning.
Tim C
I love and admire my son. He’s a much better person than I was at 15. He leads his scout troop, not perfectly, with a desire to teach those younger than himself. He works much harder than I did at that age and I think he’s going to be a bright light that others will follow. My greatest gift the world isn’t anything I did, it’s helping him do the things he will do. Sorry if that’s sappy, but kinda where I’m at in this shitty year of 2025.
Lyrebird
@hitchhiker:
Take a look at the book Princess Boy – not sure if your grandkids would like it, but you might enjoy it!
Omnes Omnibus
@Soonergrunt: You can refuse to serve anyone for any reason except race, creed, etc. You can always bar someone for being an asshole.
WaterGirl
@eclare: funny, the only redeeming thing about winter is snow!
sab
I just took the dog out for her last outing for the night. 11pm and still 75°. Very dry here, and we could smell Canada burning. Very sad and disturbing.
Omnes Omnibus
Autumn, winter, spring, summer. In order.
WaterGirl
@hitchhiker: lucky kid!
Lyrebird
@Tim C
Thanks for lifting up my evening. The kids are my light right now, too, even though they are thus far kinda opposite your son.
I remembered to appreciate mine today in ways they like, and we are okay, and yeah in this shitty year I am gonna take that as GREAT.
eclare
@moonbat:
What a sweet sentiment.
WaterGirl
eclare
@hitchhiker:
That is wonderful.
Splitting Image
I’m up for any season except summer, and will be until I live in a place with air conditioning again.
The Cordoba fire is apparently out, and the building is OK, but I haven’t seen a damage report.
I can get all the pierogies I want, whenever I want. I wish I lived closer to that shithead so I could rub his nose in it. (But if I did, I would be living further away from the good Polish and Ukrainian eateries near where I live.)
moonbat
@Splitting Image: Wonder if anyone has yet had the bright idea to pelt Dersh’s social media accounts with pictures of themselves enjoying pierogies? lol
WaterGirl
@moonbat: or even just pictures of pierogies!!
brendancalling
I’ve lot a lot of really obnoxious stuff going on, so I appreciate the reminder to remember the good stuff too.
While I haven’t been invited to any parties lately either, this Sunday and Monday we lay down drums and scratch tracks for the next five No Good Crowd recordings. I’m very excited about this!
I have a volunteer pepper in the back garden, and it’s beginning to produce. No idea if it’s a bell, jalapeno, chili, or what. I also have a volunteer tomato that appeared late but grew REALLY fast. It’s starting to flower, so maybe I’ll get some ‘maters?
My sunflowers did well this year. I think I mentioned I invested in a nontoxic animal repellent called Repels-All—active ingredient “putrescent whole egg solids.” MMMM, good. Squirrels hate it, bees love it. I’m going to be able to save the seeds once I figure out how to do that.
I got a rowing machine off Craigslist a few weeks ago, and it was the best $35 I’ve spent in a while. I have a sporadic bad back and sciatica, and tend to slack on my core work because… well, it’s unpleasant. The rowing machine is a whole body workout, including core. I put on “Murder, She Wrote” and go to town. It’s already showing results. I think I’m going to join my local Planet Fitness. Super cheap, and in my case about 4 blocks away.
moonbat
@WaterGirl: This discussion really makes me want to go to the terminal market with a camera for pierogies!
No One of Consequence
@moonbat: Imma jelly, you lucky ducky! Enjoy that thing! I don’t know my models, but did you get a dreadnought or a more standard accoustic?
-NOoC
Kristine
My favorite season is a combo, late spring/early summer. The greenery is vibrant, some of the flowers are blooming, and the nights are still cool. Too early (usually) for mosquitoes.
I have managed by accident to pull together a garden that flowers pretty much through mid-fall, so I tolerate summer’s faded greenery knowing it’s not the end. But my temp tolerance range has narrowed through the years and the heat just does me in. Plus I hate to sweat, which makes no sense given that I usually work out 6 days a week but oh well.
moonbat
@No One of Consequence: It’s a dreadnought, a D-28. And it is SO gorgeous! I feel like I’m being visited by angels when I pick it up. Sorry to gush so much, but I have wanted this thing for a very long time!
Pauline
I love spring, autumn and winter, but I loath summer. Partly from growing up in the desert heat and partly because I have way too many bad memories of events that took place in the summer. My husband passing away during one of the hottest Augusts that I can remember sure didn’t help.
Did we ever hear for sure what happened to Amir? Just wondering if I missed something.
No One of Consequence
To the post:
I’ll skip my normal sunshiney nature, and spare you the overmuchthoughtandtyped.
I confess, I have always loved Autumn since I have been an adult. Something about the smell in the air, the coming crispness, the reminder that our time here is limited. That endings are more reliable than renewals, but shouldn’t be cherished any less because of it.
I recall that it was in college where I came to the belief that Jazz sounds better in the Fall. I’m not sure why that is. Perhaps it’s just my ears sharing fellowship with my nose and eyes in such a time.
-NOoC
brendancalling
@moonbat: OOOH, what model?
My ’72 D-18 just got a fret job. Picking it up tomorrow.
No One of Consequence
@moonbat: Gush away, my good Person. That is a nice instrument to be sure. Was it selected for you, or did you audition it?
I came into ownership of a Taylor. It’s a cheap dread from 2001, and it sounds better than guitars five times it’s price. I love it, and my son accidentally put his foot through it. But I found a local luthier who patched it up. Still sounds good, and plays phenomenally. It’s my keeper. I had a Art and Luthrie dread before that, and my Taylor was so much easier to play, I parted easily with the Canadian guitar (good though that one was to me).
Very happy for you!
-NOoC
hotshoe
@Princess:
Few minutes ago, France24 news reports fire has been extinguished and the Mayor says “The monument is saved. There will be no spread, it will not be a catastrophe, let’s put it that way,”
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Seasons: depends on where you live.
Back in Central Misery, it was a narrow slice of spring, late April to mid-May when the chimney swifts, hummingbirds and Baltimore Orioles arrived en masse. Then it was fall when the heat and humidity broke, the colors hit.
Here in Denver, it’s the 3 weeks of spring (now that ‘climate change’ has taken effect). At least here, almost year round, it’s far, far better than living in the heat and humidity of either Central Misery or back in northern VA.
moonbat
@brendancalling: It’s a 2025 Martin D-28.
My latest time-wasting obsession is watching youtube videos of this luthier in Ukraine fixing classic guitars. Her name is Tanya Shpachuk and she is a true artisan. You should check her out since your baby is undergoing the process.
Jackie
@Pauline:
Nothing for sure, but he had a couple of hospitalizations and his health was poor. As he always popped back on BJ following his hospitalizations, we’ve come to expect he’s enjoying his guitars in another world. I doubt we’ll ever get closure. :-(
Melancholy Jaques
@moonbat:
Congratulations! I’ve never got past the coveting stage of Martin ownership. I have a Taylor 410 that I am very happy with, but I have specific models from Martin & Gibson if I should ever win the lottery.
I had eight guitars until last summer when I started to thin the herd as I moved toward retirement. I am down to four and holding. It takes a lot of will power to resist buying another one. Retirement leaves so much time for imagining.
What sort of songs are you playing?
HypersphericalCow
I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, and while most autumns were not particularly impressive (you wouldn’t make a basic cable series there), some were literally glorious. Colors I didn’t believed actually existed in nature.
Doc Sardonic
I miss Amir as well, his journey into the guitar helped restart mine. Playing is difficult now as my hands are failing me, but the GAS is strong and I may have one from scratch guitar build left in me. I hope I do…
No One of Consequence
@Melancholy Jaques: Now you made me go look: mine’s a 2000 Taylor 414.
moonbat
@Melancholy Jaques: I’ve read many debates about the comparative virtues of Martins and Taylors. They both sound wonderful in the head-to-head match-ups I’ve listened to, but I’ve just always wanted a Martin.
Right now I’m playing anything I can find a chord chart for, but mainly in the soft rock category. I began by playing a classical guitar eons ago, but I’ve always wanted a steel string. Now, I’m building my calluses. lol
HypersphericalCow
@moonbat: There is a wonderful anime series, “Haibane Renmei”, set in this odd liminal place. It’s heavily implied that these five girls died under tragic circumstances, and this is the place their souls stay until they can figure things out. I highly recommend it.
SpaceUnit
@HypersphericalCow:
Yes!!
I grew up in western PA as well. I live in Colorado now. Autumns tend to be quite fleeting here. It drives me crazy.
Rusty
@Omnes Omnibus: SCOTUS in 303 Creative carved a big hole in public access laws and said you can discriminate in more personal services on first amendment grounds of compelled speech. Jackson gave an example of a photographer could refuse to take Christmas pictures of a black fa.ily under that ruling. There is also the SCOTUS cake case, on religious grounds you can refuse service. If you can refuse to sell gays a cake, you can also refuse to sell a Jew a perogie. No difference (selling a Jew a perogie would be endorsing the Jewish faith, when they really all need to convert to evangelical Christianity). I don’t think most people really understand how much the reactionary six have undermined our anti-discrimination laws.
moonbat
@HypersphericalCow: I duckduckgo’ed it and it looks interesting. Thanks for the rec!
eclare
This is a small thing, but I signed up for a delivery from The Peach Truck that is arriving on Sunday. The business has been around for years, picking peaches in southern states and delivering them to southern states.
I love a really good peach, but I can never seem to find them. I ordered the smallest shipment, twelve pounds, I hope they’re good!
thepeachtruck.com/pages/about-us
Rusty
@hitchhiker: this is beautiful. Thank you for sharing. I hope no one ever exstinguishes the light your grandson embodies.
sxjames
This summer here in Portland OR has been pretty pleasant, actually. Dry but not to hot.
My favorite time of year / place to enjoy it has to be mid-autumn in the high desert country of eastern Oregon. Warm days, cool soft nights. Not a lot of color, but the landscape has a stark beauty all its own. Of course, the fact that my childhood was spent in in that place might have something to do with it…. :)
Soonergrunt
@WaterGirl: In legal terms, a suspect class refers to a group of people who have historically faced discrimination and are therefore entitled to heightened judicial protection under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Classifications based on race, national origin, and religion, for example, are generally considered suspect classes.
Union officers have to have an understanding of this concept because we occasionally have to intervene on behalf of a Bargaining Unit Employee who may either be a victim of, or accused of violations of civil rights laws, employment law, or agency regulations.
Soonergrunt
@WaterGirl: In legal terms, a suspect class refers to a group of people who have historically faced discrimination and are therefore entitled to heightened judicial protection under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Classifications based on race, national origin, and religion, for example, are generally considered suspect classes.
Union officers have to have an understanding of this concept because we occasionally have to intervene on behalf of a Bargaining Unit Employee who may either be a victim of, or accused of violations of civil rights laws, employment law, or agency regulations.
kalakal
West Central Florida has several ways you can identify the seasons
Hurricane, Not-Hurricane
Dry, Wet
Perfect* – Sauna
*The weather in October, November and Feb through April/May is fantastic .
December and January is a bit cold, and the rest is unbearable
Soonergrunt
Deputinize America
We went and hung out with our best friends after our shitty workday on their boat.
Of course, by definition the best boat is your friend’s boat – so long as you do stuff like pick up the dinner ticket and bring good snacks and proper bourbon, you don’t have to maintain it.
After boating, we hung out at the bar on the river and there was a rocking band. They closed their final set with Lit’s “My Own Worst Enemy”, a particular favorite of mine. We danced a bunch and saw an old friend from a friend group that we traveled with 25 years ago.
Deputinize America
@moonbat:
I have four, and was prohibited from bringing any more home….
Omnes Omnibus
@Rusty: You avoid the issue by letting him know that you aren’t selling to because he is an asshole and then making sure you sell to a shitload of other Jewish people.
Ohio Mom
@Soonergrunt: Wow. Earlier today in the post about FdeB, you came up — were your ears burning, I said then I missed Sooner Grunt and here you are! Welcome back!
WaterGirl: in addition to tomato paste and pesto (I am not impressed with the pesto though), you can also get anchovy paste in a tube. Much less mess than wrangling an anchovy tin open and risking olive oul spills as you dig out the anchovies.
Matt McIrvin
A couple of weeks ago we took a long weekend to visit family in Virginia. It was great seeing my parents and my sister’s family again, but most of that isn’t for this blog. Had a lot of great food around Richmond. What I can rave about, though, is that on one day some of us went back to my former home amusement park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and I rode a bunch of the roller coasters they built since the last time I was there over 30 years ago. Great stuff– lots of parks have many coasters, but BGW is a rare one where essentially all of them are good, from the family rides to the huge thrill coasters. They really went for quality, and it’s a lovely, mostly well-themed park too. Also got a ride on an old favorite, Loch Ness Monster, which they refurbished last year with some cute upgrades to the theming. It still holds up.
Melancholy Jaques
@moonbat:
That right there is the reason to own multiple guitars. They each feel & sound a little different.
Melancholy Jaques
@eclare:
I’m in southern California and I struggle to find peaches as good as the ones that were common back in Ohio.
Melancholy Jaques
@Soonergrunt:
Footnote 4, Carolene Products, discrete and insular minorities. I had so much fun in law school.
eclare
@Melancholy Jaques:
And my Kroger here in Memphis boasts of peaches from California! I hope these are good, I have recipes for a peach salsa, peach and pork tenderloin skewers, and of course if they’re good enough, just stand over the sink.
FastEdD
My old friend Terry Reid passed away Monday at age 75. His first semi-famous song was No Expression, so I went out to the lake today and recorded a video of it. I’m not the incredible singer he was, but I had to get it out of my system. I learned that song 55 years ago, so it only took one take.
youtu.be/S23nlG-kd2g?si=zEaaVfr_CsN4IzrT
eclare
@FastEdD:
What a beautiful tribute.
bjacques
Last month my brother and his fam came to visit Amsterdam, then a week in Paris. The nieces had a blast visiting the Rijksmuseum and now I’m their favorite (if only) uncle.
Kelly
I had a float trip followed by some beach lounging and a potluck with a bunch of my cousins yesterday. We played together as children now we can play together as retirees. We’re kayaking with a granddaughter(11) and grandson(13) tomorrow
FastEdD
@eclare: Thanks. He meant a lot to many of us.
WTFGhost
I respect and admire everyone who understands that the most important thing we can do in these dark days is to celebrate love, kindness, and compassion.
eclare
Hot dog! My power is back! I was sitting in my car watching TV on my phone and charging my phone when I noticed my backyard lights were on.
Hmmm, my dishwasher was midcycle when it went out. Guess I’ll see what happens.
RevRick
@moonbat: A former parishioner is now a Global Ambassador for Martin Guitar. He’s travelled to Chile, China, Costa Rica and Germany.
WaterGirl
@Soonergrunt: Thank you for that!
WaterGirl
@FastEdD: What a lovely thing to do. That spot is beautiful, too!
WaterGirl
What a lovely thread this turned out to be! Thank you all.