Porthole

22nd week of the Baha'i year 179

21 August

74 at 11:23. Pleasant but will warm up.

Folks at YCC are spazzing out over a doomcast 10 days out. Yes, there could be a major hurricane in the Antilles at end of August. The same ridge that's setting up that scenario could trap rain over the upper MidWest... no one seems to notice that. We see what affects us personally.

I'm heating up cream of bacon soup. Threw in a can of chicken. Will add day-old pieces of bread. I'm good.

82 at 13:19. I'm fine as long as I don't do anything. It's hotter inside.
81 at 20:44. Moved a box or two... tea in the fridge.

A couple visitors from Italy in the building.

Bologna sandwich for sup.

[66a] raw cat scratches / hug bleeding horizons — / incessant fan
[66b] summer's river / saunters by — overhead / thunder rumbles
[66c] somewhere else rain / quenches thirst — here, the vroom / of motorbikes

Bianca mentioned Eesti haiku. I'm not convinced but why not? Posted: "From the window [66]" 

Absolutely worn out and listless. Maybe do one thing before bed?

20 August

66 degrees at 9 am. Market day. Will need a pastry to go with my cold coffee.

Got peanut butter fudge, nut pastry, sweet white corn.

He-talks-to-pears said that they'll be falling off the trees around September 15th. They're well behaved rose-hips-by-any-other-name.

I forgot to check about melons.

Almost done with my fire-and-ice milkshake.

Nice chat with Lundy.

Gary is no longer a teen-ager. Sorry, Gare. It happens...

AQI 41 (good-moderate). There's a haze softening the view. Smoke?

81 degrees at noon. Water.

Language question: is 'roaching' just another slang word for cheating?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/love-sex/what-is-roaching-and-how-to-recogni...

To Harlow: "I have difficulty sorting out the news from opinion pieces or bleached regurgitation.

And the need to rename everything. Roaching? Means cheating. Quiet-quitting = making sure you have time for yourself (saying no to the job).

When Kardashian's new line of tight-fitting jeans that demand a reduction of the camel-toe passes as news..."

BCoF:

With the colors of the rainbow let me speak my heart.
With each hue of the eternal rose let me speak your name.

Roses come in all colors except blue. But lavender will do. The fragrance of Angel Face will make a doubter fall in love. And Oklahoma's petals give a name to its deep red hue.

A pink blush in front of a row house in early December once reminded me of my dearest friend and banished the blues of autumn faced with the onslaught of winter.

Made into an entry: "December's petals [65]" 

90 degrees at 5 but rain predicted this evening with wind and falling temps.

Old poll: "How do you feel about your writing?"   by Rasputin

Supper: microwaved sweet corn on the cob. Delicious.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-moscow-idaho-conservative-christian-reconst...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-christian-schoAol-in-florida-told-parents-th...

67 moist degrees at 11 pm. I heard thunder earlier and we did get a few drops.

19 August

71 degrees at 09:46. No respite.

Priorities: , managed to take a shower before David, our janitor, gets busy.

Barely slept. What traumas will be tip-toed around today? Too exhausted to actively react to anything.

94 degrees at 3-ish. Got up to 97 or so.

To Whirl: "I'm stewing about incompetency... how people in power think that their money and position can make up for their lack of competency. Gotta let it go. Critical thinking is a real existential problem in the USA and elsewhere.

Knowing 50% and assuming that you're right because the other person knows only 30% can lead to not asking questions to understand the entire picture. Lack of critical questioning/thinking is killing humanity and the biosphere they need in order to survive.

Add in a dram, a dollop or a dumpster-load of incompetency stemming from 'power-and-wealth (or my PhD) makes me right regardless' and you have the memes of farmers laughing at city folks asking which end of the bull to milk. Because... *Rolleyes* ...people hold onto their ignorance even when faced with a different, but knowledgable, point-of-view that might reveal the underlying truth."

87 at almost 9. A cloud blocks the red anger eminating in the west. Its screams fade as sweat lingers.

When I left yesterday for tomorrow I stopped here along the way. And this is how the dawn/beginning, the noon/zenith, the sunset/fading that now defines me. Red sketch across the sky/ending-of-the-day the sky-river's ripple headed elsewhere, a nowhere I've never visited but the one that beckons me to fly/soar today. As the untraveled/untrammeled path devoid of footsteps begs to guide me. I put one thought before the other and pray. This moment is mine and mine alone, along the lonely bay they say holds my heart gently as time/breath and seconds sway. I will enter tomorrow with gladness knowing that it too will become a memory of yesterday. [64] (19.august.2022) Posted in "Yesterday seems so close so far away [64]" 

76 degrees at midnight. Another restless night of drink and pee and sweat. So hard to sleep.

18 August

70 degrees at 10. Will it reach 100?

Uneasy rest overnight. Traumas replaying old tapes. I'll need to be careful today.

To Harlow: "I don't trust those who sign up for the military or the police with a Rambo macho-mentality. Serve? I get that, but there are so many ways to serve without killing.

Qualifications to teach children: You can be a vet who's blown someone away; but, don't be woke or black or gay. Brought to you by Saint deSantis and the Floridians (a new Christo-fascist dark-rock band)."

97 at 5:05. Ate bologna sandwich, tapioca pudding, garlic bread.

Interesting Radiohead cover:

Possibly for "Spirits at Lighthouses Contest" :

The rain the fog the foto they took before the moon crashed
life now snuffed or glass-embeded, mangled, the muffled cries
that faded before the light returned to fossils found
strewn among the frosted memories of long-forgotten folks
that once drove headlong through fog and mist, much like us.

Put in "Full moon falling [63]" 

My neighbor Jay has a pacemaker that was turned off and on today: wiped off, wiped on, wiped out. He was supposed to take a nap. I told I had taken a nap for him. We both looked like s***.

96 at 6:24... another toasty night ahead. The heat suffocates and wears me out.

77 at midnight. 32% humidity. Horrible.

17 August

68 degrees at 10. I was up late so I'm up late. or .

I'm going to move some boxes, shower and then go to the store.

93 degrees at 3:23. I walked from tree shade to tree shade... like jumping from puddle to puddle.

I remembered to buy isopropyl alcohol and dish-washing (wish-washing = hoping someone will do it for me) liquid. My 'treat' was tapioca pudding. Bought more Mexican instant coffee.

Vagina sculpturing: crafting the perfect camel toe. Labiaplasty by any name can cost $4,000.

https://nypost.com/2022/08/16/designer-vagina-surgery-doubles-in-2022-thanks-to-...

So you wanna look like Barbie Kardashian. Is your Ken-Ken gonna get a snip-snip or a walrus bone penile implant? Google 'baculum'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baculum

Boomerang: kind words wafted on the winds I sent your way, hoping that someday you would send them back... or pay them forward. Not everything returns like karma. But I wish in whispers, keep an ear to the ground, decipher every crack of lightning, the thunder's boom. There's room for you in my heart. I keep the light on just in case. Made into something. "Boomerang [62]" 

Stress: dress, tress, mess, less, watercress.
Quiver: liver, river, sever, fivver, giver, never, waver.

I'm not moving much. My excuse? It's 95 degrees, going on 5 pm.

I detect more interactions here at WDC recently.

Still 95 degrees at 7. I'm going through papers. Progress. Bry is back in town so maybe next week.

This article is BULLs***! https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/10-best-hostels-for-a-stay-in-lisbon-...

$34-200/night... did the writer ever stay in these places? If so... who was paying.

September 13-15 prices are high.

Terrace Lisbon is rated 7.7 and $23/n and is in Belem... which is not the center of Lisbon.
Sant Jordi: 8.5 and $33/n in Arroios.
Poet's Inn: 7.8 and $78/n in Penha de França.
Be Lisbon Intendente: 8.7 and $26/n in Arroios.
Green Heart Hostel: 8.1 and $37/n in Santo Antonio.
Liberty Hostel: 7.7 and $77/n in Santo Antonio.
Party Zone (Bairro Alto): 7.8 and $72/n in Misericordia.
WOT patio: 7.8 and $42/n in Avenidas Novas.
Hotel Petit Lusa: 9.1 and $100-200/n in Santa Maria Maior.
Bluesock Hostels: 8.4 and $28/n in Santo Antonio.

In contrast where I stayed for $25/n in April:
The Independente: 8.7 and $43/n in Misericordia.

My internet is frazzled... laters.

73 at midnight? Too hot to sleep inside.

16 August

64 degrees @ 10. It was a lovely night.

...but a lonely one. Not speaking to many people these days.

91 degrees @ 16:30... I'm wilted.

I had lunch with Kathi, Dalton, Laxmi and Willie. Went downtown to check my mail. My new debit card had arrived so I went to the bank to activate it. Also got $2 bills and $1 coins. Spent some at Butterfly Herbs to get a cherry cookies-and-cream milkshake.

Got free bread at Jimmy-John's subshop.

Sitting in the shade is delightful. Doing anything is frightful.

Received letter from plainsue. I should send some out.

It's still 85 after 8:30. Sun is setting; hopefully it dips below 60 tonight.

$4.19/gallon gas for a couple days now.

I took a nap earlier because I felt lethargic. It didn't help.

Supper: last of the pork roast. Note to self: next time... less spices, dilute vinegar.

71 degrees @ 11 pm.

15 August

Mother's day in Costa Rica.

58°F at 8:30. Got to bed early last night? Up earlier than normal.

If I'm smart... but I'm not...

...finish cleaning, book a trip, enter contests (and not wait till the final moment). It's not like I have any excuses. I'm doing better in spite of the heat and lethargy.

Maybe I should put clothes on first?

No snews that's new. MSN has similar algorithms to Spoosefake: what is trending and most popular. In depth? Important? Skrew that! I need to find a different website.

Al Jezeera: elections in Kenya; economic issues in Afghanistan a year later; Saudi Aramco cash flow up; Muslim concerns in India; African footballers; UK bus drivers; Griner appeals; Suu Kyi charged again in Myanmar... not a word about u-know-hoo on the 'front page'. Separate page for Ukraine. Lead opinion: When covering Afghanistan, what matters is the people: Because they are the broken heart of this story; India democracy; Indonesia press freedoms. Now Breaking: William Rutu wins presidency in Kenya.

MSN: you-know-who, drama, death, violence, click-bait.

To Lilli: "Paul's response resonated with me: a cave not a cavern.

I could live in the back room of a bookstore, where every mote of dust must tell its tale.

I'm dealing with clutter at the moment and it's "difficult". At least I'm not acquiring anything... except boxes... and soon...

When I lived in Costa Rica 10 years ago I was closer to being a minimalist. When I travel, I pack one roller-bag take-on and a backpack. I could travel with less, if truth be told.

At least that's what the Resident Dust keeps telling me."

Plume (prompt for Express it in Eight): a feather in my cap; a river flowing overhead; smoke signals sent from Idado... an upwelling of magma from my heart.

Togldeblox at YCC re Putin: "his personality is also years ahead, to the negative, off the charts, creating new floors in the basement on a regular basis. may his real masculine character be not bent, but rent asunder by the talons of giant raptors." Augustine V suggested adding F22 before 'raptor'. I'm so glad I can comment there now.



—Did you hide the translator in your ear folds like I told you?
—Yes, Dad #6.
—What about your beautiful nose? *sigh*
—Had to have it reduced just like you suggested, Mom #3.

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