cuteness explosion: A goat cuddles its pig toy

 

Via I have seen the whole of the internet

Vox: how climate change makes hurricanes worse

I keep hearing talking points on the fake news declaring any discussion of climate change as political. See here and here.

Politics ≠ science.

But writing politics ≠ science is declared a liberal talking point, therefore dismissing or even trumping the statement.

It’s sad really.

Science is predicting with great accuracy what’s happening. But that doesn’t matter when the truth is trumped by a political view point. Ugh.

Also: Houston is experiencing its third ‘500-year’ flood in 3 years. How is that possible?

 

John Pavlovitz writes To The People He’s Lost Over This Election

I was particularly struck by this piece written by Raleigh-based pastor, John Pavlovitz. He wrote an open letter to friends and family who he may have distanced himself from after the political events of the past year.

Check out the whole thing here.

I liked these parts (emphasis mine):

Dear Friend,

There’s a good chance you won’t see this, as at some point over the past year you either unfriended, unfollowed, or physically disconnected from me—or I from you. There may have been a decisive severing or a slow drifting apart, but the resulting space between us is the same. Still, I’m hopeful that somehow these words will reach you, because there are some things that you need to know; things that I need to say, if for nothing other than my own sanity.

The first thing I want you to know is that I don’t celebrate this separation. The distance has come with a great deal of grieving. It’s come with heartbreak at the realization of the impasse we reached and the fractures that resulted. This is not something I take lightly or rejoice at all in, in fact it is a profound loss and defeat—and certainly not what I’d have planned or preferred a year ago.

SNIP

I know you may believe this disconnection is about politics, but I want you to know that this simply isn’t true. It’s nothing that small or inconsequential, or this space between us wouldn’t be necessary. This is about fundamental differences in the ways in which we view the world and believe other people should be treated.It’s not political stuff, it’s human being stuff—which is why finding compromise and seeing a way forward is so difficult. 

Habits, to-do lists, charisma, distractions, self-help, self criticism and you!

Today I want to accomplish a lot. And I probably won’t get to everything I want to do.

This is a reoccurring theme for me. Not completing my to-dos.

On my to-do list today is:

• a photography ride downtown (pack a camera or two and just go shoot).
• blog (doing that now).
• Work on/complete a video from our vacation at the beginning of the month
• Go to the studio and fart around
• workout
• Organize my gear
• Cook dinner
• Read in my book
• Study some French
• Journal

I’ve already completed a few things on the list (journaling and reading) and I’m currently blogging.

So sweet:

• blog
• read
• journal

Done-zo Washington! 

So that’s three things down. Kind of. I’m going to blog for a while.

I’ve been reading a book lately called Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin. It’s a self help book about forming habits for different personality types.

My wife Tina read it while back, and it seemed to really speak to her. She bought a copy of it to re-read it (she read the digital version the first time).

Today in madness news

The news outdoes itself every other hour these days. A slow news day is mentioning Trump only a gazillion times instead of a bubbagrillion zillion drillion (a real number).

Let’s drop a handful of news items right here that show just how fucking insane things are in the media, fake or otherwise:

The front of InfoWars right now. pic.twitter.com/XZKkr79I08

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 25, 2017

A Blue Angel scares the bejeezus out of a crowd at last weekend’s Air & Water Show

This short video (not mine) shows a crowd of people staring in the wrong direction when a Blue Angel tears over them in Chicago last weekend.

It’s a fun video to watch and rewatch staring at a different person each time.

No matter how long I live in this city, I will never get over the fear when the Blue Angels or fighter jets rehearse the week of the show and then over the weekend. Fireworks and Blue Angels make me think of the negative aspects of war. I hate it.

They are pretty to look at, but when the planes are obstructed by buildings and no matter where you look, you can only see glimpses of them crossing portions of sky, it’s painfully scary.

Imagine the sound of the jet in the clip above (over and over and over and over) for an hour or more a day for about four days. Yeah. Scary.

The best advice you’ll read all day … and tomorrow … and the next day …

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Today in uplifting news

The “Gangster Gardner” photo via Daily Mail

With the onslaught of TRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMPTRUMP News, I thought it might be a good idea to start a altNews option of links to good stories that promote positivity.

Enjoy!

• HIV/AIDS is no longer the leading cause of death in Africa
• Google starting to prompt users with a quiz if it thinks they’re depressed

• Supermarket Removes All Foreign Food From Shelves To Make A Point About Racism

• Dead stuntman’s family receives HK$5.8m donation from Jet Li
• Teenager who was missing for 11 days walks out of woods unharmed 
• Couple gives New Jersey waitress $1,200 tip on $20 food bill (the note attached is a little bizarre, but still a nice story!)
• Dozens Of Puppies Found Crammed In Back Of Hot Van Outside New Jersey Walmart

• Man who lost wedding ring in sea finds it after it washes up on beach a year later

• Gangster gardener of South Central LA: Former clothing designer trying to end ‘food slavery’ in the ‘home of the drive-thru and the drive-by’ and keep at-risk children away from life on the streets

Via Reddit

My phone camera must be broken. These pro shots of the eclipse are awesome!

I tried shooting the eclipse and basically came up with a bunch of crap compared to his grouping collected by Kottke.

Our view was eclipsed by cloud cover that really sucked. The best I got were blurry little pac-men. I’ll have to post it later.

Check these and see more here and here.

 

Twin Peaks, big fans, contrived art, sado-masichism and you

My favorite show from the 90s was Twin Peaks. It was on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. when I was in my Sophomore and Junior years of high school.

At the time, I worked at a sandwich and ice cream joint called “Mayberry’s” on Lexington Ave in High Point NC. My typical schedule had me working every Thursday night until around 9:45. After work, I would race home to catch as much of the show as I could.

I loved every second of Twin Peak’s madness. The variety of characters. The dreams. The supernatural. The giants. The little people. Bob! Bob! Bob! It was truly a fascinating, and sometimes unnerving and scary show. I’ve rewatched all the episodes many times as well as re-watched the prequel “Fire Walk with Me.”

When it was announced that a new season of Twin Peaks was being produced again, I was through the moon. I waited for it to return and I subscribed to Showtime on Amazon Prime so that I could keep up with the show and revel in it with all its fans.

I’ve watched all the episodes and rewatched several of the episodes. And just when I think, “Yeah! This show is going to be off the hook. IT’s going to rekindle all my feelings for how great it was and no can be!”

That’s when I deflate like a child pulling on the mouth of an inflated balloon.