There But For The Grace Of The Gods Of Weather Go I

On Friday I announced that Tropical Storm Erika was headed my way and might delay today’s entry.  As of today, Erika is but a  memory, having lost organization as a tropical storm long before it reached me, and the weather here right now is gorgeous.  This has prompted some people to make snide comments about weather forecasters being “alarmist.”

I’m guessing that none of the people making those comments live in Dominica, where Erika will be remembered as the deadliest natural disaster to hit there since 1979.

These storms, even “small” ones, have incredible damage potential, and that’s why people who understand that take them very, very seriously.  They’re not being alarmist, they’re being smart, because they know it only would have taken a relatively minuscule path change to have brought Erika (and her rain) over my head long enough to flood me out of my home.  No, it didn’t happen that way, but it could have.  That’s the way these storms work . . . every time.

Never forget that.

“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” Will Be Bad Enough

While I’m pleased to announce that Tropical Storm Erika is approaching my location, this does open up the possibility that Monday’s entry may end up being delayed, so I wanted to give everyone a heads up on that.

“Why am I ‘pleased’ to announce this?” you might be asking.  Two reasons.

One, it’s been a while since I’ve had to make this kind of announcement, and two, because Erika is not Danny, and that means I’m spared from hearing endless repetitions of “Danny Boy” while waiting out the storm.

Or Cliffs

People who claim the “only” way to deal with fear is to charge straight ahead at what you fear, one presumes, have never been afraid of fire . . .

Sometimes Literally

Change has a tendency to occur gradually, but that’s only a tendency; change has the potential to happen so suddenly and/or catastrophically that it can take your breath away.

(I think Edward Gorey expressed this sentiment better, but since I’ve quoted him before, I didn’t want to just use the exact same quote again for today’s thought.)

It’s My Least Favorite Part Of The Process

“So how do you get in the ‘mood’ to write something?” I’m sometimes asked.

Honestly, I’m almost always in the mood to write ‘something,’ but that doesn’t always translate into being physically, mentally, and/or emotionally capable of writing something I think will be good, so I frequently end up taking care of one or more of those states first, then I write.

A better question would be “How do you get in the mood to edit something?”

Bribery . . . elaborate and copious amounts of self-bribery.

This Is Particularly Dangerous For Stage Magicians, Escape Artists And Politicians

As evidenced by my series of short entries last week, my life had gotten pretty busy again.  Fortunately, this week shows promise of being kinder to me, and because today is more sedate, I find my thoughts drifting somewhat idly at the moment.

There’s nothing inherently wrong in “playing to the crowd,” as it were.  With the advent of social media, many people do that to some degree or another on a daily basis.  This doesn’t particularly bother me.

What bothers me is when I start feeling that creeping suspicion that someone is no longer playing to the crowd, and that they have started to actually believe their own act . . .

Or Internet, Come To Think

Patience, thy name is not bird.

– Something I heard myself muttering as I stumbled about for Algiz the Sun Conure‘s food this morning.

And If You Wouldn’t Post It Under Your Name, Don’t Post It

If you wouldn’t write it and sign it, don’t say it.

– Earl Wilson

Perspective

Despite this being a stream of consciousness blog, there are days when I’m reluctant to record here what I’m actually thinking at the time when I sit down to write.  Oftentimes when this happens I simply delay doing the entry until I find thoughts I’m more comfortable sharing or, barring that, I find the certainty that, reluctant or not, those thoughts are what I need to write about today.  Today, however, my schedule doesn’t allow for either of those options.

Sometimes I consider the future of humanity and I despair; it would be a lie to pretend otherwise.

This is still an improvement over my youth when I was certain humanity didn’t have a future.

And Sometimes It’s Not

Yesterday I mentioned my son’s insistence that he have corn cereal for “lunch, not breakfast” despite the earliness of the morning hour.

After I posted that I figured out why he was so insistent.

Once he was done with his cereal, he trotted over with a big grin on his face and asked if he’d eaten enough “lunch” to have an after-lunch cookie.  He knows full well there’s no such thing as an “after-breakfast cookie,” you see . . .

(Yes, I know there was that one breakfast cookie incident, but it wasn’t an “after-breakfast cookie,” now was it?)