I think of a comic strip such as this one from 2009 as “hitting for average.” In four panels, it has no less than three gags. In the first gag, Arlo makes a quip at the expense of Ludwig the cat; the third panel is a sight gag, with Arlo as caveman facing down a saber-toothed beast with what appears to be a seven iron, or perhaps a six; in the fourth panel is the standard punchline. I say “hitting for average,” because it’s like the indispensable baseball player who can be depended upon to get on base with above-average regularity. Of course, it’s the homerun hitters who make all the money.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday.
183 responses to “Evolving Situation”
hc, a lady wears many hats.
and a few different bikinis
I post from five different machines. Two phones, a tablet, a laptop and a desk computer. The blog site requires registering from each. Some were auto filled which is how my name was wrong on one.
Legally I am Jackquline H. But most of my records include Jackie as well, like my medical records.
Ghost sweetie zip haven’t left for St. Louis or Illinois yet. Just got off phone with grandson.
He’s an absolute funny kid. Age 4 and I asked if he’d like to start college? He replied “Not yet.”
emb
I asked Steve for:
Guy Lumbardo and the Royal Canadians
Auld Lang Syne to honor the New Year
.
He did not have and asked for something upbeat – so….
.
BTW Bill Morelock is hosting FF this Friday.
Smigz: Dozens have told me or written me that. If my take on theology is roughly accurate, all may, on the other side, have the chance [even ‘the dark side’, as labeled by this Village].
Old Bear and I have a secret, ‘not revealed until its season’ [specifically, day after tomorrow, on Steve Staruch’s ‘Friday Favorites’, MPR/APR, 3-7 pm, CST, which may also yield one of those teachable moments I mentioned above].
Morphy: Thank you.
BTW, since ‘secular’ means without religion, or not involving religion, ‘non-secular’ means religious, or maybe specifically sectarian.
It may be that some Villagers had not yet run into ‘Pascal’s wager’ and have not since looked it up. Here is Wiki, edited only to remove blue type. The underlining is Wiki’s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager
‘Pascal’s Wager was based on the idea of the Christian God, though similar arguments have occurred in other religious traditions. The original wager was set out in section 233 of Pascal’s posthumously published ‘Pensées’ (‘Thoughts’). [emb may have lost some words in here.] These previously unpublished notes were assembled to form an incomplete treatise on Christian apologetics.
““““““`
The underlining disappeared during transfer from Open Office to this blog. Underlined were: Christian, God, other religious traditions, Pensées, treatise, and apologetics, all words which themselves have Wiki entries.
Peace,
emb, in the village, I’ve interpreted TDS – The Dark Side to mean comments section of UClick/GoComics. Usually, specifically, the Arlo and Janis page of that site. More this than any middle of the road purgatory, or more dangerous warm place.
emb, I’ve had trouble deciding if you read the article as a refutation of the popular, atheistic view of his Wager? That Pascal was not offering a golden ticket to non-believers. But rather laying out a logical framework for the mind, the way a missionary approaches the body.
I also recognize there are entrenched beliefs here. Similar to the word Berliner and whether it is or is not a jelly doughnut.
Personally I like Carrie Fisher’s epithet, :Just say I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my bra.”
Morphy:
TDS: I meant them. They are, despite all, God’s children. Also, many posts there are innocuous, or even good.
Whatever Pascal’s intent, his wager is Christian apologetics, which is why I first responded to it as a topic often bemoaned here, but widely practiced, as is politics. Peace, after all, is Shalom.
BTW, looking back over my post a few days back, what ‘accomplishments’? The only thing listed which might stand out is the implication that I wrote a book, which I did. However, that is not, or should not be, news to the Village. I blew my cover long ago, more than once, so the Village should know who I am, and that I am the author of The Mammals of Minn., Univ. MN Pr., ’82. [I will never cover my expenses with the royalties, which is fine.] I was not advertising anything new.
Other ‘accomplishments’ might incl. various volunteering activities, and donations, again nothing new to the Villagers. I don’t pretend to be humble, to not know my left hand know what my right is doing [as He said], but I was not tooting my own horn, at least not that time
Peace,
‘to not know my left hand know’ = ‘to not let my left hand know’
Morphy, a Berliner isn’t a jelly doughnut. It is, however, the kind of doughnut that’s commonly used to make a jelly doughnut. I know, because I spent several years when I was younger, working in bakeries.
Sadly, today’s marauding beasts mostly travel on two feet but still want to break into your place and steal your stuff, often without any compunction about killing or maiming you and your family in the process. Or they may violently assault you and your family while you are peacefully going about your business in a shopping mall. A golf club could be utilized as a defense tool, but I’d personally prefer one that is more readily available and accessible in those circumstances.
One advantage of being where it has been unseasonably warm for the past several weeks is that people of the female persuasion are going about not all bundled up. (Like Arlo, I hate when “bundling up” happens.) In fact, after several recent observations, I have come to wonder if yoga-pants-and-a-tee may have become the “new sundress”. That outfit doesn’t expose nearly as much skin as a sundress, but it is certainly more revealing in other ways.
And on that subject, I visited five-foot-nine inch tall P&PHS this afternoon, who was wearing skin-tight yoga pants and a fitted top which was barely long enough to cover the lower portion of what Arlo once referred to as “the more interesting parts”. And occasionally wasn’t. Man!
She managed to work into our conversation three times that her divorce has been finalized and pointedly dropped the name of the club where she and her girlfriends will be celebrating New Year’s Eve. Dang; if I were only a decade or two younger. 🙂
Oh I’m not confused on what a Berliner is. I used it as an example of how things are interpreted differently in the historical context. And further, held steadfastly in spite of new evidence.
If I can share another Jeri story:
Although she failed to teach me flirting and banter, the skills that lead me to the seamstress from earlier, Jeri accidentally instructed me in something more basic. After a few years of high school and beyond, she asked if I knew why she shared rides to the mall and eventually escorting each other when we were not dating someone else. I knew better than to predict, and asked what she meant. Jeri explained it was scary for a young woman to go out and do things in the city alone, but also anti-feminist to admit it. Walking through the mall with me changed how she was stared at. Sure all the boys to men still ogled her, but it only lasted a moment before they looked at me, then looked away. To her, that was a win.
Now you could argue this is just another tactic in the messy war of love. That all Jeri was doing here was to place me firmly in the friend-zone. Could be. Certainly I was behind in development, and could not understand the rules of Lovefare. [that’s wordplay on warfare] But what I got was something else.
I told Jeri I’d noticed. But had to explain to her that when I was downtown without her, no one looked at me at all. Not because I didn’t exist. Just because they don’t have to make eye contact to asses another teen not worth their time in their important adult world. Just having her nearby, even if she weren’t hanging off me at the moment, made me noticeable. And that’s a win to a young man, making his way.
What I mean is that, outside the sometimes confusing labels of race, I had already learned that two sensible humans can, and often do, experience the exact same reality. But leave with entirely different information. Vive la différence applies to lots of viewpoints. But the woman vs. man interaction is the most fun I’ve found.
In reviewing above, I should note without changing the above, Jeri did not fail to teach me banter. I did experiment as a tyro would. It was I that failed to master the skill.
Ya know, after letting this item sit for awhile – it felt right to run it past someone before posting – I’m reminded of a modern pet peeve. The electronic key-fob and its impact on chivalry. It was cheaper to park in the sandlot just one block away by the YWCA, than to park in the garage – both our first cars didn’t warrant the care anyway. I never offered, and because of above it wouldn’t make sense, to go get the car and return to pick her up. But Jeri was surprised that I would always unlock her door first, hold it for her, and close after her ankle was in.
If she was unencumbered and thoughtful enough, she would lean over and unlock my side while I walked around, and I would thank her aloud. I never did explain, before getting a better car, that I worried about the hinges; and seeing her stretched out, reaching across the car was a treat in itself. I found myself distracted from checking the tires as I went around. Never claimed to be a saint. Actually her descriptor, when noticed was, ‘pre-vert’, as in training to be a pervert. Didn’t stop her though. Really liked it when warm weather caused a short buttoned top to ride up and show abdomen above belt-line. Even if it was less than shown at the pool, a glimpse is somehow more special. [I think Jimmy did a daily on this theme.]
I’m still counting it as chivalry.
Jackie and Debbe: I’m currently considering the pros and cons of an “Orange Crocheted Bikini” vs. an “Orange String Bikini”. It may take some time to reach a decision, but I’ll get back to you. 😉
And Jackie, as I believe I mentioned previously, if we ever collaborated on a novel, we could call it “The Ghost and Mrs. Monies”. (Subject matter to be determined)
God grant you peace, Debbie Reynolds.
I really loved Singin’ in the Rain. On many levels.
Sad, just a day after her daughter died. And 2016 still has a few days left in it.
I been tellin’ you people about 2016.
Have you heard about the plan to protect Betty White from dying in 2016? Obviously they worried about wrong ingenue.
It is our age bracket folks. Not Carrie, she was way too young.
And so damned funny and sharp witted. I loved the interview when asked how she got cast in Star Wars. She said she slept with some super geek and she hoped it was George Lucas but she really couldn’t remember.
Funny, hilariously funny.
Yeah, I know Ghost. I just keep trying to say “Good morning, Good morning, we talked the whole night through, good morning, good morning, to you”
2/4 I had to change spelling to remove a ‘u’ from morning. The first and third instance.
“So put on a happy face.” C•8
Ghost I have recovered enough to go see my grandson since I missed Christmas. He says I have driven all over, I can drive there. Not due to go until after New Years.
Sorry your Christmas didn’t go well. Dickens and I spent it in bed. I don’t know that I ate anything or else I don’t remember.
Allstate can’t find anyone in Mississippi to work on Trigger so they are moving him again. I got a love note from Stella in Washington and her Facebook fans, not to mention Wooden Boat running her in the special small boat edition. I am feeling torn.
Something funny happened today at nail salon, a lady from Texas was visiting her married grandchildren (gasp!) And the children she had with her were great grandchildren, not grandchildren as I had thought. I commented concern at her badly swollen legs, dangerously so. Anyway, she informed me that she was 62 and took no medicines because she was very outdoors person and active and when I got to be her age I would be doing well to be in that good shape.
I bit my tongue and changed the subject. The poor male manicurist had just been dumped by his wife who abandoned her and three children, all boys under 6 years. I left her to his tender mercies. Poor him.
Abandoned him and three small boys under six years. The kids were adorable but three between six and youngest was three. I can see her mental and physical duress.
The boys wanted pizza for the fifth night running. Normally I’d be annoyed at small children in salons, despite it happening everywhere. Hard to avoid small children. I recommended today that my daughter stop inflicting my grandson on everyone but engage sitters.
I am softening I suppose. Not that I have ever bitten a child.