Category Archives: Generic Rant

Goodbye Instagram ⃰

Posted on by under Generic Rant

I joined Instagram ten years ago this month, mainly to see pictures of family, promote my writing, and publicize philanthropic efforts I participated in. It was useful and fun.

The world has changed.

Most of my family has dropped out of the IG world, there’s no evidence it has helped sell any of my books, and its parent company, Meta/Facebook†, has become an enabler of the US kakistocracy and the miscreants in charge. I can no longer associate with a company someone accurately described as “a diabolical cult run by emotionally stunted men babies, institutionally enabled sexual harassers and hypocritical virtue-signalling narcissists” that is “able to swing elections, target body-shamed teens with beauty products and monetise millions of humans’ hitherto private data.”

I quit.

What effect will my quitting have on these deviants? None. So what’s the point? I’ll sleep better knowing I’m no longer supporting such malevolence. It’s the same reason you won’t find me at Walmart or any of the increasingly prevalent local casinos. I try my best not to support sociopathic behavior anywhere.

I’ll miss a lot of stuff I followed on IG:

The thing is, I can get at most of this stuff online in other ways, as evidenced by the links above. Besides, I survived the first 60 years of my life without IG. I should be able to get by the rest of the way without it. And I’ll have a lot more time, what with not getting sucked into the bottomless void of idiotic videos and photos of life hacks (often life-threatening hacks), people doing stupid things (I do enough on my own), ads for crap I couldn’t imagine ever wanting in a thousand lifetimes (items chosen specifically for me by specious AI algorithms), staged “candid” scenes (presumably made by shameless exhibitionists), AI-fabricated nonsense posing as reality (thus perverting our vision of actual reality), maudlin recollections of the way things used to be (but never truly were), and on and on and on (and on, ad nauseam). It seems as if it never ends. In a sense, it never does. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of time.

Enough. Goodbye and good riddance to it all.

⃰ After a long deliberation about taking this step, I was inspired to finally make the leap by an article by one of my heroes, musician, writer, and all-around Renaissance man, Charlie Peacock. You can read it here.

† We have a Facebook account, but we rarely use it. Nevertheless, that’s going, too.

Whatever happened to shame?

Posted on by under Generic Rant

I’m old, old enough to remember when getting a tattoo was a sign of rebellion, not a sign of conformity. I’m also old enough to remember when people felt shame.

In 1968, faced with a catalog of well-documented and proven abuses, Richard Nixon, for all his faults, faced the music and resigned from office. After fighting all the Watergate charges, he realized that, in addition to losing the trust of the American people and with impeachment imminent, there was no way out of the corner his illegal, unconstitutional activities had painted him into. Finally, he admitted defeat and, waving to the crowd with his trademark double peace sign (a peace he had held hostage for most of his term of office), flew off into infamy aboard Marine One, then on to Air Force One, which lost that call sign somewhere over Missouri on its way to California.

He, along with most of his staff, had been shamed out of office and deservedly so. We as a nation put them behind us and moved forward. This kind of thing had happened before, from Boss Tweed to Joe McCarthy to George Wallace to the embarrassing but more benign shenanigans of the likes of Anthony Weiner.

Things have changed today. In spite of all the charges and failures and lies and convictions and scandals, not to mention a failed overthrow of the American government, no one seems to want to admit defeat or take responsibility. (A friend who is in the know about these things told me that a certain current president has had a Watergate every month and has never been held to account.) The crazies just keep on pushing nonsense about stolen elections, DEI plane crashes, fake news, Democrat controlled weather, birthers, dog-eating immigrants, alternate truth, and countless more inanities.

I doubt these corrupt, shameless scoundrels or their cowardly enablers would bat an eyelash at the accusing words with which Joseph Welch brought down another bully, Joe McCarthy, when he declared,

“Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness… You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”

These people have no sense of decency, so those words would disappear into the vacuum where their consciences should be.

Now those same thugs are running the show again. And they’ve brought along their trillionaire friends (None of those, you say? Just wait; with extensive graft happening already, it’s only a matter of time.) to wreak havoc over the entire globe. Unlike Nixon, whose own party at that time had the ability to distinguish right from wrong and thus ran him out of office, these miscreants are being empowered and encouraged to perform their nefarious acts by their equally unprincipled, spineless accomplices. Now millions around the world will pay for our sins with their lives.

Shame on them.

Shame on us for letting this happen.

More word weirdness

Posted on by under blog snax, Generic Rant

A BlogSnax© post

A few observations on the vagaries of the English language and our (mis)use thereof.

Why is imply a word but exply, meaning to say something directly, is not?

Giving and taking are opposite actions but caregivers and caretakers do essentially the same things.

And while we’re on the subject of words, let’s just eliminate the word literally, okay? It’s way overused, yet generally used in only two contexts: one when people mean the exact opposite (“It literally blew my mind!”) and one when it’s superfluous (“It’s literally the same thing.”).

Get rid of literally and we’ll have room for exply.

My recommended innovation

Posted on by under blog snax, Generic Rant

A BlogSnax© post

Here’s an innovation that car manufacturers need to implement and the sooner the better. It’s kind of like intermittent wipers. But this is way better because it’s also an accessibility feature. Are you ready for it?

Volume control for blinkers.

Like a lot of Boomers who went to one (or way) too many concerts, my hearing isn’t entirely up to snuff. As a result, if my blinkers don’t go off automatically, as is often the case on turns of less than 90°, they stay on indefinitely, confusing other drivers.

There you have it. Get to work Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, and the rest of you guys.

Nag, nag, nag

Posted on by under Generic Rant, Original writing

(A gift post. A little while ago, I found this article filed away as a “draft” in my now deceased blog, “Limping in the Light” *. I must have written it in Days of Yore but never published it. Either I changed my mind or just plain forgot about it. Now it resurfaces to give me a new post with minimal investment. Being the noodge I am, however, it has taken me longer than expected. You can decide whether it was worth it.)

I don’t like nagging and I don’t like being nagged. I don’t know anyone who does. Even the nagger (one who nags, q.v., as opposed to the naggee) doesn’t get anything out of it. (There are those who derive some perverse pleasure from it, but they embody their own punishment.) And it doesn’t work. At best, the nagger gets what was nagged for—with a side of resentment and bitterness—but never what was truly wanted or needed.

Yet I find myself inundated with nagging. Day in, day out, day through, day over, day around. It never ends. No, it’s not from the stereotypical busybody sitcom housewife. There aren’t any of those in my life. The naggers I’m talking about are complete strangers to me. To those badgering bozos, I am less than a number. I am a disembodied statistic in their potential market share. Here’s the problem:

Cable TV** – Don’t have it, don’t want it, won’t get it. I grew up in a time when movie theaters ran ads heralding the prophetic image of a cash-eating box sitting on top of my TV. It came to pass just as they predicted! Paying to watch TV is like paying a fee for the privilege of shopping. (That happens, too, I hear.) Besides, I’m a TV-holic. No one asks alcoholics why they don’t have beer taps in their houses.

Verizon and Comcast don’t get the message. Nag, nag, nag. A week doesn’t pass without getting at least a couple (usually more) ads to sign up for one of their TV plans. I’ve even told them verbally that they are wasting their time and postage. Your cable rates would drop about 5% if they stopped sending me mailings.

Email spam – Fake Rolex watches, generic Viagra, jobs, lower interest rates, college degrees, tech gadgets, not to mention the unmentionables. There is no limit to the crap I am nagged to buy via email. True, those messages all end up in my spam bin only to be deleted, but I know they’re there. Is anyone really responding to these nags?

Phone spam – Lower your interest rates, sell your time-share, clean your chimney, IRS scams, vote for me, give, give, give, nag, nag, nag. Call me without me inviting you to do so and I will refuse whatever you are offering. Actually, I’ll never know because I don’t answer any calls from numbers I don’t recognize. The world would be a lot better off if everyone followed the same practice. (hint, hint)

Credit cards – I average a credit card offer in the mail every day, with batches of up to five arriving in a single day, some for cards I already have. Stop nagging me! If I want a new credit card, I’ll get it, but blind mailings accomplish nothing except cost you, and by inference your customers, large piles of money.

The nagging goes on and on. TV commercials. Billboards. Traffic signs. PC/Windows warnings. I predict that this post alone will elicit at least a few spam messages, “likes”, or “follows”. All of which will be ignored. Nag, nag, nag.

I am pummeled with messages (nags) with all the subtlety of flying mallets. (Thank you, Dave Edmunds, for the metaphor) This is nothing short of brainwashing. That’s the tactic. And you (and I) are the target.

Eventually, unless you are on your guard, you will actually believe that your life will be improved by a Swiffer or Proposition X.X or enhancement pills or this software or that exercise program or some innovative training class. None of them will improve you or your quality of life.

The only thing that would improve my life is if everyone would stop nagging me.

* Perhaps I should resurrect that old blog. The title is once more sadly appropriate, after a long and welcome lapse. Then again, why tempt fate?

** This is the downside of posting an old article. Some concepts from the era in which this was written (not that long ago) are already obsolete. Such is the case with “cable TV”, if you remember what that was. Substitute “streaming service” (e.g. Disney+, Peacock, Max, Netflix, Apple TV, Prime, blah, blah, blah, nag, nag, nag—each one a monthly subscription conspiring to drive you into bankruptcy while frying your brain) or “cell phone plan” and we’re back to the same old song and dance and nag and nag.

106 Years Ago Today

Posted on by under Books, Generic Rant

A BlogSnax© post

In 1919, one of the most bizarre accidents in US history occurred in the city of Boston: the Great Molasses Flood. For the definitive account of the event and its aftermath, I highly recommend Stephen Puleo‘s brilliant book, Dark Tide. Not that it’s in the same league as Mr. Puleo’s fine work, but my novel, A Song in the Storm, which follows a young immigrant girl’s life in the North End of Boston, also mentions the tragedy.

A flood of molasses sounds almost comical, but with 150 injuries and 21 fatalities, ages 10 to 78, it was anything but.

Christmas Profile

Posted on by under blog snax, Generic Rant

A multi-talented friend of mine made this sketch about a hundred years ago, give or take fifty. Recently, I unearthed it from deep in my archives. It deserves exposure so that it might perhaps prompt meaningful Christmas reflection for some amidst all the Santas, reindeer, and hyper-consumerism of this faux joyous season.

Like it or not, Jesus is in fact the reason for the season.

May you be blessed by Him this Christmas and always.

Thanx again (again)

Posted on by under Generic Rant

Looks as if I’ve got a tradition going. For the last two years I’ve written Thanksgiving Eve posts listing things I’m thankful for. (See here and here for some background.) Why not keep it up? It’s not like folks will get sick of something that only happens once a year or that I’ll run out of things to be thankful for before I run out of years. Besides, it’s good therapy to take a break and count my blessings.

So, here’s this year’s list of obscure stuff that mean little to others but are a big deal to me:

  1. Yahweh
  2. LOML
  3. The Kids!
  4. Grandchildren!
  5. New writing projects
  6. Still upright
  7. Still cycling
  8. Sleepovers
  9. Vineyard Square Wheelers swan song
  10. Huge family Thanksgiving celebrations
  11. Babysitting, even for non-babies
  12. Family photo book
  13. My right leg
  14. Weird lobsters
  15. Father-Daughter Shopping Day
  16. My bench on Edgartown Harbor
  17. Trekking poles
  18. Single-story living
  19. Helpful friends and relatives
  20. Simplifying life
  21. Memory Box
  22. Supper & Study
  23. Adventures
  24. Max and Leo’s
  25. Cycling partners
  26. Summer Street Grocers
  27. Pompano Beach Club
  28. Pressed Cafe
  29. Chelmsford Center for the Arts
  30. Puttshack
  31. Bar Harbor with the whole gang
  32. Problem solving lunches
  33. Surprise drop-ins
  34. Surprise run-ins (Acadia, Cafe12, Java Room, etc.)
  35. BFRT extension
  36. Solar eclipse road trip
  37. Salt Rock Chocolates
  38. Vineyard Square Hotel and (especially) Suites
  39. 13 MPH
  40. House phones
  41. Dewey
  42. Better World Club
  43. Scrolled
  44. James & Peter
  45. Clam runs
  46. Talented friends like Jerry
  47. The Bike Shop
  48. Brief getaways to MV
  49. The John Alden and The Original
  50. Salted peanut butter/butterscotch cookies
  51. Sunday connections with a Jive Turkey
  52. One last meal on Pater
  53. Sunsets
  54. The Bike Ferry
  55. Elizabeth Warren
  56. Fried chicken sandwiches
  57. Generous people
  58. Lessons and Carols
  59. Francis Collins
  60. Ad blockers
  61. Tello
  62. Whoonu
  63. The Holderness family
  64. New rail trails
  65. Don’s encouragement
  66. The remnant who refuse to bow to a false idol
  67. Gingerbread houses
  68. Faith… in things unseen
  69. Hope… when there seems to be little reason to
  70. Love… the greatest of these

Sorry. I usually list a couple dozen items but I got carried away. Y’know, I could go on and on with things we normally take for granted like sunsets, music, my car, an abundance of quality food, potable water on tap, climate control, waves, hugs, friendship, memories, pizza, light, ad infinitum. But there aren’t enough electrons to cover everything to be thankful for. They come at us fast and glorious. Don’t miss a single one.

God bless you.

Mexico is building a wall!

Posted on by under Generic Rant, Original writing

As one of her first moves as Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum has declared that she plans to build a wall along the border with the USA and she expects them to pay for it.

“We proud Mexican citizens are tired of all these people coming from the US ruining our country. They send rapists, mentally ill, liars, felons, misogynists, sexual predators, and bigots. Admittedly, the only person fitting all those descriptions is the newly elected president of that morally bankrupt country. But with that buffoon in charge, can more like him be far behind? Stay out of our country! They’ve never even had a woman running the joint. How backwards is that? Hello, losers! It’s the 21st century!”

They’re eating the Taco Bells!

That’s not all that concerns her. She continued, “As if all that weren’t enough, they’re going to come down here and try to open up Taco Bells. Taco Bell!! In Mexico! Are they kidding? Why not open a Red Lobster in Maine? Or Papa John’s in Naples? We’re Mexican! We know how Mexican food is supposed to taste and that ain’t it!”

She concluded by declaring, “Keep your crappy food and your corrupt leaders and their reprehensible ways out of Mexico. Stay behind that wall and pay up when the bill comes!”