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 A blog of no uncertain musings. What goes on in my mind is often a source of wonder to me. |
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My mind and my life are wondrous things ... as are yours, I'm sure. I have more slips of paper and pages of notebooks with musings and thoughts than I really know what to do with. Someone, actually several someones, have suggested I start a blog ... or a journal as a means of focusing some of this mental energy. To be honest, I don't even know what the difference between a 'journal' and 'blog' is--or if there even is a difference. Read on, my friends, and you can judge for yourself whether it even matters. And so ....  I'm JACE. Yep ... that's me! And somewhere in all my writings my last name may be posted. But I'll just leave it at Jace for right now. I'm 71 years old and heading full tilt to 72. It's strange that while I'm going through some rather serious medical issues, I still consider myself to be in the prime of my life--pretty good shape physically AND mentally, though I don't run for competition anymore  . I love to ... dang, if I put this stuff here, I won't have anything for my blog.Guess you just have to be patient until such stuff leaks out.  Perhaps 2026, having embraced my retirement, will see more participation in my journaling efforts. Well, one can hope.... |
| I admit it! I didn't watch all one hour, forty-eight minutes of the State Of The Union (SOTU) address last night. I mean there's only so much abuse one's mind can accept. I applaud those who watched the entire debacle. I'm pretty sure the forty-five minutes I watched could have be placed on a loop and a viewer would have seen nothing new. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said in an interview after the SOTU that a Democratic victory in the mid-term elections would in effect mark the end of the Donald J. Trump presidency. While I will embrace that potential result, I fear the "scorched earth" policy sure to happen among what powers the President and his Cabinet are sure to seize and implement. More than they're doing currently. Permit me to unpack a few of the president's untruths: Gas Prices: He said: Prices are "now below $2.30 per gallon in most states, and in some places below $1.99." Reality: As of Feb 24, only four states--Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Kansas--had a statewide average gasoline cost at or below $2.50, with Oklahoma at $2.37. According to Gas Buddy only five of 150,000 stations had a price of $1.99. Grocery Prices: He said: Costs are down, including several grocery prices, like beef." Reality: Costs are up across the board. Some grocery costs, like orange juice are up 30%, beef up 15%, coffee up almost 20%, and frozen fish up almost 9%. Food prices are expected to rise in 2025 by 3.3-3.4%, more than last year. Medicare: He said: "I will always protect Medicare and Medicaid." Reality: His 'Big Beautiful Bill' stripped away funding to Medicare, resulting in some 14 million people losing healthcare coverage. Millions more have seen their healthcare coverage costs double or more. Rural hospitals have closed because they have no funding. In truth, I'm relying on the fact-checking of other agencies with these figures. Some of them I looked up online; some of these prices I've seen first-hand, such as gas and groceries. Yesterday alone, I saw gas prices here jump from $2.35 to $2.69 per gallon ... in ONE DAY. And that was in an area from Lebanon to Springfield, MO. Not just 5 or 10 cents. Prices certainly don't come back down by 35 cents a day. Now I can't say that the prices jumped like this because of the SOTU address. But I can't think of any one thing that happened to cause such a jump. Oh, wait a minute--how about the US seizing oil tankers from Venezuela. Or, staging a military force in the Middle East at a level not seen since the Gulf War in 2003. Or, watching the European Union and Canada shut the US out of any trade deals by finding alternate sources. Or, the President throwing a fit because the Supreme Court stuck down his tariffs as a tax on the people, resulting in him imposing 15% tariffs on global imports to the US. (Note: he actually reduced that to 10% today.) Guess who's going to see a reduction in the items we get from abroad, and an increase in cost of those items we get? Until about 2015, I considered myself a Republican. I didn't agree with every tenet of the Republican Party. But I embraced most of them. But there was something about Donald J. Trump I didn't quite believe. Perhaps it was his TV show. He didn't come across as 'presidential.' Not then, and certainly not now. Color my kids very surprised when I voted Democrat. Lately, I've seen some spine in some of the Republican congressional members. Not as many as I'd like to see. But it gives me hope that the Republican party may still exist. The party as it exists now is a non-starter for me. Frankly, the political future of the US looks rather bleak to me. |
The Quills! Didn't Jeff Whoo Hoo!  and his band of helpers (I'll have to see if I can find who they are) do a fabulous job with that activity.I found myself nominated for one category: Best Reviewer. I didn't win; that honor went to Tiggy  . I've read a few of her reviews and she deserved the win. But I was stunned to learn I received the 2025 Quills Lifetime Achievement Award. ("Note: [Image #2333341] AND THE AWARD GOES TO....."). I'd never won any Quills award before. I can't honestly say I've been nominated before. As far as I can remember anyhow. Thank You to those who nominated me and voted for me. I'll always cherish this award. |
| Today will be genre number 70 of the 96 genres on the Browse By Genre list for my current reviewing activity. Regional! That's today's genre. Before I open the listings to select which item to review, I like to guess how many items will be displayed. I'm surprised more often than not. Which means I don't have a great track record for guessing. Today's guess was under 1000--601 is that magic number of Regional listings. One bit of data I wish now I'd added to my Genre Review Spreadsheet was how many items I've reviewed used all three available genre settings. All I know for sure is not every person uses all three. As I update my own Port (and individual items), I find I'm guilty of the same--failing to use all three settings. I'm changing that now. It should be obvious. Using all three genre settings places your story or poem on three different listings. Use a little ingenuity and you can find more places to showcase your item, such as "The Shameless "Plug" Page"  , or find a reviewer off the Most Credited Reviewer list and request a review (provided that person's Review Requests is ON). I'm off to complete my Regional review. |
| It's raining here today. First rain in a very long time. Rain is good--it means the weather is WARMER. Plus, listening to the rain falling is a great way to wake up. Just lying in bed, hearing the drops hitting the window is soothing. Not enough to put me back to sleep, but it does let my mind wander. It's Valentine's Day. While Jeanette and I don't really celebrate this date, we will be heading out for dinner at her church where the youth host a Valentine's Day fund-raising dinner. They cook dinner (likely spaghetti and fixings), decorate the Fellowship Hall, serve the dinners, and clean up. We've attended for at least ten years now, truly enjoying the pampered feeling we get while allowing us to give a little back to the youth group. It's amazing to watch the kids growing up, some of whom are now acting as chaperons of the event. And I opened WDC this morning to find an insightful and in-depth review of my Portfolio by Annette  for her writing activity "26 Paychecks " . Nothing picks up your spirits better than receiving a frank, honest, and meaningful appraisal of your efforts to appeal to the member masses on this awesome site. I've been revising my Port over the past week as part of my goals outlined in this year's "Dear Me " letter. I still have a ways to go, including little gifts sprinkled throughout, so stay tuned. And thanks again, Annette.Now I'm off to complete today's fifth and final daily activity--a review of a random item with Pets as a cited genre by an author I've not reviewed on this review journey. Yesterday I completed my 64th genre, in order, as listed under Browse By Genre. Two-thirds of my way through, I have 32 genres, about one month, left to review. And, I'm okay with the rain lasting all day. |
| Today is the 61st day (out of 96) on my Genre Review Quest (see "Genre Reviewing" }} for background), featuring the Opinion genre. I believe many of us think that an opinion should be rooted in fact. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, that's not necessarily the case. The first two definitions offered are: 1. A view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter. But, as most of us can read in social media, in the news, and in conversations between two people meeting on the street, opinion is often couched in emotion.2. Belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge. Under Browse By Genre, listings with Opinion as a genre number more than 8100 items. My problem was trying to decide which item to review. I do love essays, which seems to include the Opinion genre. I'm reminded by the old quip: "Opinions are like a**holes; everyone has one." And because of that, I resist efforts to draw me into discussions (read, arguments) on social media. Anyway, this first journey of genre reviews will go another month or so. More to come. |
| Did anyone watch the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics last night? It was a most impressive show! Kudos to the Italian Olympic Committee, and the choreographer for the show, and to all those who participated. The ceremony took place at San Siro Stadium in Milan. Additionally, there was a simultaneous ceremony in Cortina d'Ampezzo, featuring the lighting of two Olympic cauldrons: one in Milan and another in Cortina. By the way, announcers mentioned San Siro Stadium holds 80,000 plus people, and it was packed. What a sight to see thousands of phone screens waving in the darkness. I've always loved watching the Winter Olympics. If I had a chance to attend the Winter versus the Summer, I'd bust out the jacket and long johns. This will be my first Olympics while being retired. No scheduled appointments for the next two weeks, so the time difference should not present a problem for watching the events. Cross Country skiing events, Bobsledding and the Luge are my favorites. What are your favorite events? |
| I went into town earlier than normal today as I decided to stop by the car wash first and relieve my poor car of its dingy gray coating of salt, sand and grime courtesy of our recent winter storm to its picturesque maroon color. Those of you in the north country know regular winter car washes are essential to preserving one's paint job and alleviating undercarriage rust. I suppose one winter storm will not destroy my car. But, the wash helps my peace of mind. Now I sit at the local coffee shop doing my daily five. Four items completed and then I got sidetracked--I get distracted very easily. For some reason, cleaning up my Portfolio seemed like a good thing to do rather than my daily review. What a storm that's become. That cleanup is long overdue and one of my "Dear Me" goals. I suppose writing that goal down placed it firmly in my mind, and I thought, 'This shouldn't take too long.' Ha! Four hundred-fifty plus items, including more than 60 folders, groups and forums, should have been a sign. I just spent about two hours nursing my mocha, and barely dented what I was hoping to accomplish. Anyone else in the process of organizing your Portfolio? Any tips? Other than scrapping the idea, that is. I have fewer than half the number of items a Premium membership allows. I can't imagine what a Port with close to a thousand items will look like. I just hope the final organization allows the growth I'll need based on my stated goals this year. I better get that review done. Busy times a-coming. |
| I finished January having accomplished my three major goals for the month. 1. I finished and submitted my "Dear Me" letter with just seven hours remaining. No. 2 capped a rather successful year of reviewing with seven Top-10 rankings on that list. Those medical issues I had from Jan to April put a real dent in my participation on WDC. And No. 3 was (and still is) a most rewarding journey. So far I've reviewed 51 items (since mid-December) for each genre from Action/Adventure to Melodrama, for 51 different authors. Forty-five to go.2. I ended the month as the #1 Most Credited Reviewer for December. 3. I submitted a review each day on my Genre Review quest to write a daily review of each of the 96 genres recognized by WDC, in order, with all reviews of a different author. I covered from Dark to Melodrama during January. So, new month, and the dang temperature is still in the single digits. We have at least two more months before warmer times ... with a few exception, of course. But, my laptop is in a warm room, and I made a fresh gallon of sweet iced tea, decaffeinated per doctor's orders. The latter should last maybe half the month as that dang doctor requires me to drink more water daily. Still, new month! I wish you all the best on whatever writing journey you're embracing. |
un: 
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