Do not forward

I’ve been thinking of this Time of Quarantine as a sort of silent retreat. A time for quiet reflection. Only I haven’t been that silent. I’ve been sharing stuff I find online, usually via iMessage. I’m going to try to do less of that. One, there’s a good chance you’ve already seen it and, two, who need one more interruption. What’s the old saying? “If I want any shit out of you I’ll squeeze your head.” I could post random thoughts, observations and links here but it would feel like clutter.

Which brings me to Mastodon. It’s a little like Twitter… without all the assholes. I have complete control of whose posts (they call them “toots”) I see and who sees what I post. If a bad actor shows up, they’re warned to behave and booted if they don’t.

This is an experiment. I might not be able to resist IM’ing some of my contacts. But I’m going to try. And, no, you don’t have to create a Mastodon account to see my toots (cute, no?). You can bookmark this link.

Funny and fast

Barb and I were in DC in 2009 and during a cab ride back to our hotel, we struck up a conversation with the driver and asked about celebrities-he-has-driven. His list included: Telly Savalas, Senator James Lugar and the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

I came across this old post tonight and found this an amusing group of names and shared it with my friend David. Our chat thread (from earlier this evening):

My point here is that genuinely funny people like David are funny fast. They’re quick. And, yes, I realize you have no idea who Telly Savalas is or Carnac the Magnificent.

David Brazeal

A plague is upon us and I have hunkered down (a word one gets to use so infrequently). I’ve been using the time at home to call/text old friends, like David Brazeal. David almost certainly the most amusing person I know. Perhaps droll would be a better word for David. From just one short iMessage exchange:

The biggest hardship right now is that all my usual hypochondria, normally spread out over my entire body, is not centered in my chest and lung area.

This has also been good for me to discover which businesses still have my email address from a purchase I made 7 years ago. I am fully informed of the COVID-19 response plans of every business with which I have interacted since about 2010.

I have seriously neglected my hunting and gathering skills for 50 years.

David’s bon mots have shown up in my post often enough to deserve their own tag.