Yesterday was a pleasant day away from the news, a welcome break.

Pattie and I wanted to retrieve our scuba gear from where we’d left it stowed in Surf City. We’re still hoping against hope that a trip to Bonaire in December will actually happen, and that’s really a trip that’s all about diving, so we’ll need the gear. I’m also hoping to take a dry-suit class (cold-water diving) in November, as well, so another reason to have the gear on hand in G’ville.

The vet had given us some medicine to help Frankie with car sickness, and we think she’s at an appropriate weight finally, so we gave that a shot. So very happy to say that she didn’t get sick, and also wasn’t really lethargic from the med, either. So that’s a win.

The drive to SC was pleasant, no traffic, no hassles...

Never said better than this.

And this article by David Brooks so deeply disturbing, and so very important to read.

apoc·​a·​lypse | \ ə-ˈpä-kə-ˌlips  \plural apocalypses

Apocalypse comes from Greek apokálypsis “uncovering,” a derivative of the verb apokalýptein “to take the cover off,” a compound whose first element is the preposition and prefix apó, apo- “off, away.”
The second part of apokalýptein is the simple verb kalýptein “to cover, hide.” 
The variant root kol- becomes hal- in Germanic, and the derivative noun haljō, literally “hidden place,” is the source of Old Norse Hel, goddess of the underworld, and English hell (the bad place).
The earliest recorded meaning of apocalypse (in Old English) was in reference to the name of the last book in the New Testament, also called Revelation. It recounts several prophetic visions of up...

This has been a wonderful visit, with lots of time spent with Jackson (and his parents), and some productive time helping out with some home repair matters. What a joy. The only thing missing was Pattie and Frankie, and hopefully we’ll all visit next month, as Joe, Cristin, and Jackson make their way south to visit Greg and Kathy in Florida.

Today, driving back home, and looking forward to seeing my loves there before the night arrives.

Drove up to Scarsdale yesterday, a few days of watching Jackson while his folks attend to some social obligations. [We’re all disappointed that Frankie’s really not doing well in the car-ride department, with quite regular car-sickness. I think we’ll really have to start over from scratch on that; training her to just like getting into the car, etc., as now she runs away from the car. Perhaps when she gets a bit more weight on her, it’ll be ok to use some medication to ease the ride, but right now she’s still a little nothing (8 lbs). So, Pattie stayed in NC with Frankie, and it’s a solo weekend for each of us.]

Can’t bear to sully the wonderful mood of spending the evening with Jackson by even bringing up the absurdity of political matters...

Yesterday’s main event was selling the Honda (to finance the Triumph). The Honda, which Pattie and Tim found/got me in Jan, 2019 as a starter bike, was an absolutely perfect starter bike. On that bike, I put on about 2000 miles, and gained a ton of confidence in riding, putting everything learned in the rider safety course I took Dec., 2018 into practice. The bike’s been up for sale for about a month, since i got the Triumph on Sept. 6. And I’m happy to have made $600 on the sale of the Honda.

The woman who bought it came up from Wilmington, and I enjoyed getting to know her a bit over the few hours she was here–test-driving, getting $, notarizing title, loading bike onto a trailer, etc...

The little anatomy student:

And that little boy has far more going for him than the combined intelligence in the White House right now. This 4-year nightmare continues, worsening every day in ways far exceeding the worst we imagined a few years ago. Just astounding. As the conservative NYTimes columnist Bret Stephens wrote, “my prevailing feeling is that I’m so sick of it. Sick of living in Donald Trump’s Clownverse, or Dramaverse, or Bullyverse, or I-Can’t-Believe-This-Guy-Is-Actually-the-President-verse.”

So I try to steep in the distraction of tending to a puppy. It often works.

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Welcomed a guest to our Composers Colloquium last Friday, as i’ve invited a series of guests to speak to our students over this semester...

As challenging as the week just past has been in our larger world, it’s been more positive and interesting in my local sphere.

I received some incredible responses to “momentum,” and how that idea is manifest if different areas of peoples’ lives. There’s so much wonderful to digest and process, and I thank you for sharing your ideas. I’ve a file building now, with comments properly credited to you, and imagine this a longer-term project. That includes posting your ideas in the future, as that digestion takes place…

Last week brought a wonderful meeting with John Dixon, a colleague in ECU’s School of Theatre and Dance. John has a project in mind.

–John and Teal Darkenwald worked with The Machine Is Neither on a collaboration-commission I put together as part of NewMusic Initia...

Quite a week, this one just past. The world saw the U.S. deeply embarrass itself in so very many ways. Now, with profound irony, those who fought against the most logical of steps to prevent corona virus’ spread are, not at all surprisingly, falling ill. And the messages coming out of the Houses and Senate are truly shameless, on all sides.

Seriously, think about the logic here, and then make noise to your Reps/Senators. Posting on FB spreads the word, but change comes when pressure is felt by lawmakers:

The BUFFETT Rule
Let’s see what people pressure is all about.
Salary of retired US Presidents .. . . . .. . . .. $180,000 FOR LIFE.
Salary of House/Senate members .. . . . .. .. $174,000 FOR LIFE. Nonsense
Salary of Speaker of the House .. . . . .. . . . . $223,500 FOR LIFE. NONSENSE