Viral Vicissitudes

Before and After: A Hallowed out Halloween, paranormal precautionary "Get ready, to get ghosted!" As it happens every few years -- 2-4, depending on the terms, limits..."They came and went, overnight...promising lots of treats, then vanishing into thin air...tricked us again!" "The Ghost is clear" As in what used to be allowed, in terms of campaign contributions, cleverly cloaked...no longer..."They've taken all the fund out of it..." All as a result of a call for transparency..."Let me be clear"  "What to do with the leftovers?" A perennial question associated with all holidays involving mass consumption, of various treats, leftover (regifted) fruitcakes, but not around here as I have one more trick up my sleeve...post Halloween post: "Retired Spooks, clandestine costuming"    

The Final Count-down..."down, but certainly not out" Mark your calendars, save the date: Both parts of a two-step process of remaining aware, personal prompts. My own calendar informs me we are about smack dab in between (as in halfway) two Mental Health Awareness months (May '24/'25 just in case you were not aware). And about to begin a week that corresponds to yet another long election cycle, as if there's no end in sight. Meanwhile, world events continue to unfold before our eyes as if we are but spectators to a world stage. And if you dare to look, catastrophic climate conditions ("wacky weather!") are brought right into your home 24/7 thanks to the Weather Channel. Lots to weather, eh? The good news is found in the time-tested idiom "Think globally, act locally". That is, while feeling a bit impotent to impact on the events worldwide, opportunities abound in our local communities to not only have your votes counted, but voices heard. No ma...

Stating: the Conditions, of matters: 🎶Georgia, On My Mind Early and often: The jokes, "hoax!" about how one party tries to get the edge, pull one over on the other...but here, this morning..."just a week away from when the American general election is to wrap up..." and "a few days after Georgians went to the polls, where the results are now being disputed..." These "bulletins" as the Brits like to refer to them, which I heard early in the morning and just as often as it allowed me to make the Russian connections...with the compliments and commentary of BBC... Too States that matter: Georgia and Georgia, too. The one being a former red state, which is now a republic-one, who has at the same time enjoyed being an independent, since 1991, when it succeeded in seceding...The other being granted "statehood" here, as the United States was still becoming a ...thing. A stat that managed to stay relatively free of conflicts until later in 1863...

The story continues... The one whose beginning remains a matter of dispute... No end in site... having left the field of play, being a few of the most "skilled players", complete with gloved hands (wouldn't want to get their hands dirty) -- leaving it up to the QB's and the whole "offensive" line to sort it out... Tempers flaring, blood boiling... Before the official game even began, prior to leaving their respective locker rooms, to face off, on the field of play, the other team..."we have come, to respect"😉 "Lots of pent up emotion..." A seasoned coach, who knows a thing or two, about these "brotherly love'' rivalries, reveries, that emotional memory has a way of keeping stirred up, well past the so-called final whistle... Failed to make the (extra) point: Which is apparently why, they saw the need, for the extra pointing, finger wagging, had butting, balling, brawling... Fracas on the field... failed to take hold... Blame...

The name of the game...who's to blame - back and forth.  The greatest farce, I mean force of nature: sibling rivalry...raising Cain! "Oh (little) Brother, Where Art Thou?" (as if they didn't know...faker!) "Sticks and stones..."  "Use the farce, I mean force...dude!"  When Push meets Shove... as if they needed any introduction. These two forces have been around as long as Cain got brought home to meet his more Abel brother...or something akin to that... "He started it!" The earliest "he-a culpa" known to human beings and their counterparts... The last lick: yet another thing to fight about, as in the last helping or who, after the other one instigated it, got in, what's known in prize fighting, the "knockout punch"... "You asked for it...bro"  "It's a physique-all game" This in state rivalry of ours...     

Weathering, Complaints 2.0  (see 10/17 for full affect, primer in pessimism) Waxing and Waning... "Somewhere, it's raining..." In this wide world. Is their refrain. They, the perennial pessimists, who find a way, through a dark, at least cloudy lens, while the rest of us are trying to enjoy the sunny skies. "Just wait...you'll see..." as persistent, persnickety, poignant, is their nature. While one of the most beautiful months (at least here, in the Mid-westerly states, luck us!), of October, in recent, even distant memory, winds down, wanes (just as the World Series is getting wound up, weather permitting) ... Fall back position: And we all prep to put it (the clock, regardless of our own internal circadian) and whatever voice accompanies it, enjoy an extra hour, in slumber land..."Just wait, in another six months, they'll expect me to...all designed to throw me, alone, off...Well, I for one, I'm not falling for it...!"  Left Me hanging: A...

"NO Kidding!" No Tom Foolery, Bowery Boys, no child... Without a Christmas... OR , is it, in fact, as a result of all the changes...Better stated, to reflect this trend...No Christmas without little ones... Demo daze:  As in the new demographics that seem to be taking over, as in first found on the ground floor or, to be more accurate by location, in the basements of many houses, where lots of stuff along with their owners, tend to gravitate, given the law of gravity...as well as centrifugal, a-parently, with so many of these gens, going, and then coming back, to live with their folks...."just until..."  Christmas in Jeopardy: As in the answer to..."what RU waiting for...?!" One that might be posed to a contestant as well as all those couples, (gated, most likely) communities, countries, continents, that seem to be shrinking, otherwise atrophying, as in falling birth rates, coupled by not allowing any new young-uns... Baby boom goes Bust!  A lack of labor ...

"You can bet on It!"   It is out of control.  "Ain't It just grand?" Depends, on what you mean by "just"...as in, like, a few million here, a billion there, pretty soon "It” adds up...not to the level of the federal deficit, but nonetheless... MGM: The .org that used to be just in the biz of making movies, with the emphasis then, even still being on GOLD-Win, which eventually moved its operation to Vegas in 1987, taking on the money-ker of MGM Grand, which then, as early as the year 2000, brought us the 'blue smoke and mirrors' imagery (complete with “Blue Men Group”), as in the MGM Mirage. You'd think that would tip us all off. But if that was not enough, betting on everything, where the house odds are, if you stay in it long enough, you'll lose yours... Sporting clays: While shooting round clay targets thrown into the air, from various angles and distances, to mimic different types of hunting, is certainly a setting you might sti...

Laws of Physiques: X,s, Oh's, and Why, interceptors... It can be a physique-all game, after all...requiring a "full team effort!"  Position player, play your position... The one that you, as your parents told you, then teachers, and taking over from there, "you were built for"...a game where opposites both attract and repel and where the force of attrition, rules the day... In terms of engagement: What we the viewers, don't often appreciate, is that in terms of contact sports, it's ironically speaking, quite a limited one...Where the Tom, Brady Bunch, the group who have managed to withstand the punishment of the daily grind out there on what's rightfully called the grid-iron, takes on a mythical quality, as the average lifespan of an NFL player being on what's called the "active roster" (many players riding out their careers on what's called, as the season progresses, beyond the pre-season, the increasing, "disabled list")...

New-tritious value: Food and stuff, with you in mind... Well, ahead of time: Getting well and staying there...remember all the Well-ness craze? Well, I'm here on your be-half, the one that is still seeking to take care of what is still, in 2024, occasionally referred to as my better half... Try this instead: Good for your head...worth a try, after breathing in all that mist, smoke..."yep, on purpose" -- a borrowed quotation from a Bob Newhart routine, pretending to be carrying on a phone convo, trying to convey to the royalty back in the UK, what it's like dealing with the colonists who have discovered, then deliberately decided to inhale...tobacco ("chew on that , for a while, just a pinch between your cheek and gums...") This, among all the other good things to come...from what's in the ideal world of diet-etics... Land of... "Low-fat, cultured, plain, unsweetened, probiotic milk..." along with "raw mono-floral factor 16 manuka honey......

A Sorry State, of Affairs: "Don’t be, be-moaning..." (C 10/14) "We're all alone..." Not exactly his words, those coming out of the mouth of the one that we were all looking to, for words of encouragement...isn't that why they made him the coach, for both pre, post-game speeches that are designed, then delivered, in such a way to get us up, for the matter at hand...? What he actually said was "...no one's going to feel sorry for us, despite these tough #@&*! circumstances...it's up to us to pick each other up..." OK, now we're talking... Depth chart: Where individuals as well as .orgs go to, as in looking down, dig deep into one-self to pull your own-Selfie up by your Meta-forical boot straps, and who, if anyone might serve as less-than-ideal sub, under the circumstances, which frequently occur with minimal notice...given the nature of the game, the mounting injuries that occur even before the first official kickoff of the regular se...

POTENT-ially Danger-US  *** “Halo!” Me again (see 10/11 for different spelling, similar UK? affect) Blackouts - Also experienced as power outages, our increasing reliance on so-called power plants, (e.g. "canna-bliss") which come at the most inconvenient times, but not without warnings, cautions... Liable... "Can cause drowsiness, among other temporary, conditions..." So say the product liable-lists out there...obligating those peddling all this stuff...of unproven value...warnings that are printed in plain sight (assuming strength of readers) on the container (as in our bods, will bio-degrade, after the contents are consumed)...and in plain English, Spanish, Greek (thus, the fine print to make sure all are covered)... Caveat Empty: A good clause, giving pause...Depending on amounts ingested, the resulting blood concentration, respective half-life could, especially if combined with another compound that increases the potency of the first…cut yours, in half… Taking ...

  Surge of Dirge, Lots of Laments, LoL... Talk about Monday Moaning... Common Constant Complaints : Well, they're at least becoming so, to the point of losing their intended impact...all the grousing, never satisfied, no matter what the conditions...as in weather, for a starter... "Don't get me started!" The complainants, that are never at a loss, of things to come up with that are either "too hot, freezing cold...why can't they get it right?!?!?!" All this before, ever even getting out of bed to see if, indeed the "sun would come up tomorrow...🎵" To them it just doesn't seem to matter which side of the bed they finally arise from... Pessimist Prelude: As in "this is, I can just tell, that this is gonna' be another one of those days..." Which, in my office, from this bleating bunch can also be seen in retro-spective..."It was the worst day of my life, Doc..." To wit, "That's what you said last session, whic...

"HIGH...LOW!"  "Oh, Hello" From above, as in the aforementioned, otherwise captioned one liner that finally caught my attention as to a two-word summary statement of the best and worst of how, why, we are in the state(s) we are in... Counting Crows: Otherwise, in other words, what has everyone crowing about, the wonders, the medical miracles, and then, once that was accomplished...the ultimate pot-luck! Mary-meant: What we thought we were buying into, sold on, when we, the voting public, voted first to allow for limited use, then what these daze, is referred to as "unfettered access" 😁 to Ms. Mary Jane...taking off all restraints, unleashing all inhibitions... Captive Chorus: In the words of the one and only...Cheryl Crow, from the self-titled "If It Makes You Happy..." Comes the chorus, also known as a refrain, repeated often to retain (helpful under these circumstances)... "If it makes you happy It can't be that bad If it makes you ha...

Speaking of Un-presidented... Veep, on bracket creep: The press present pressed persistently, after running out, of patience, to get the one and only, who through an "unprecedented" primary-free process, by-passed the usual path to become a naturalized...candidate. Brought to you by (who else could bring all this together?)... "Uni-Vision"! And  w here else but in the state of Nevada, via a town hall meeting, where she can finally "let me be clear..." that what is said in Vegas... "As I said..." What will indeed be unprecedented, when she finally answers the question that she was posed to... Just had to get this in, too good to pass up, after I was hard pressed yesterday, to find something that was not "whether" related, whose occurrence actually filled the bill..."never done or known before..."

UNprecedent press re-lease... They finally got it right: "We tend to use the word unprecedented  a little too often, too casually, to the point it loses its intended impact on the target audience..."  Well said. Clear, precise, without any advice. Just what, how, who, when...allowing us, the listeners, readers, come to our own conclusion, as opposed to being bled, led to it..."if it bleeds, it leads..." De-pressed yet? "You must, just feel..."  "Hold your tongue" Depending on where and when you hear this, are directed to do so, it could be part of a procedure to explore your oral cavity, which could, if you don't show the ability to do so on your own, be assisted by a "depressor". Whereas in the context of using some self-control in the form of discerning when to refrain from "saying things that might upset people" comes more via suppressed speech... "Unspeakable..." Or, in other words, "when words just don...

Human Resources...resourced, and out. Occupational Otherwise Occupied Guidance...  On Hold, getting old: And you thought YOU  waited on hold, had your application sent "upstairs...for further consideration" Now, as Mr. Paul Harvey used to intone...you're going to hear the rest  of the story... Protracted Personnel Postponement: As to why, you haven't heard back...in what used to be measured as "quite some time" whereas current aspirants curiously mention "in a minute"...In either case means, "take a number..." As it's a... Long Line: One of the oldest excuses in the book, the one that serves mostly the occupant (also designated, signified as "on red", waiting for green, after which the door swings open so you can finally go...) -- as well as those late arrivals..."a long line at the checkout, gas station, checkpoint at the border..."  In-valid: Take it any way you want, whether as a commentary on the applicant now,...

Zones of Influence, a nation of Reg-You-lations. Drop off: All ready, well covered (9/25)...well 'stated' 😀...😟, as in "we'll take it from here..."  No Wake: Blanket immunity..."I dozed off....was in a land far, far away, as in a real deep sleep…” REM𝅘𝅥𝅮! End to end zone coverage:  Your own...home. Protect it, even when your backs are up against theirs...on the other hand finding you jumping into the hands in the stands of your own homies...it's almost insect-ious! Available, found in aisle 3 of your local hardware store... Balls and... Depending on your perspective, where you stand, as a stake-holder, and how you call it out, could find you out walking the picket line, or in another direction, depending on where the "Home" or "Visitors" showers are located...thrown out even before the ball is batted..."ejected!"  Region-all coverage: Fall fashion, what's showing here and there, throughout the halls of higher learning, a...

  Grit, Grind, Guts...Glory - Geez! Forces E-ssential In-Gredients: Many of which start with the same letter which, if strung together, could, while initially sounding more like an alliteration, end up spelling "V-I-C-T-O-R-Y...Victory, Victory, that's our cry!" Which readily, still comes to mind, as one the first cheers we heard, from both the side-lines, as well as standing out on the field of play, waiting for the next... Gate-keepers: Which also starts with...without with the game couldn't even begin...a G-factor which is becoming a focus of more attention these days...making things like games, more "access denied"...in the form or parents..."turn it off, go to bed...put your phone on the charger..." On into the school setting, where we met not only the classroom teacher "no time for fun and games anymore..."  But even out, on what, where we met our very first Oxy-MORON: "Before you can start to play, you have to recite the Rules...

"I can tell..."  By the looks of... What UR wearing... Inside and Out... Body Language... Hystorical Hangover: At least since what's still, on our modern-day calendars, considered the turn of the Century, the day after, as in the day that people around the world, started to come to work, show up at school, a bit down..."in the tooth" or otherwise, worldwide, after a day of stretching lips, mouth wide, we find, almost as if it comes naturally, our mouths downturned... Frowny face: Well, not quite, as in using some of the same, slightly different, than the ones we overused on "International Smile Day..." Which, based on the look of surprise, caught you off guard, as in what you missed out on yesterday... AOK: Which, at least yesterday, stood as "Acts Of Kindness" or whatever might have brought a smile to the face of the stranger, the office mate you avoided the rest of the year, cubicle couple that UR... "Gimme a grimace": A now, comm...

  Frivolity of Yutes: These cats can play ! New Orleans... may be known for its rich heritage of jazz, but we here also boast some of the best clubs...as well as "cool cats...man!" Takes me right back, to a saying and a time here in Motown, we were also, in unison, saying ('68, '84)) "Bless You Boys!" As in... Boys will be... boys before they go on to be younger men and eventually, reach full adulthood...stature. The former and the "young adulthood" stage which has been around in my professional life as a developmental stage, since about the time I entered that stage, myself. A stage that both the Lions and Tigers, with some of the newest arrivals, are reminding us of, re-igniting our imaginations...of our own yute...(I was reminded in the closing moments of the clean, two game sweep, as in "Astron-nomic!" that no one on the current roster breaks the 30 something threshold)...   "Where were they...?" You ask, as in where did the...

Code name: Charlie, middle initial H. For the love of Pete! Hard to believe that one with his stats, would be a holdout...otherwise held out of the Hall of Fame... Guilty pleasure:   The one thing that seemed to be in the way -- his penchant for betting...on sports. Odd, eh? Man before his time: A saying that, among others, befits his style of play, as in running even when he was granted, a walk... R.I.P.? Hardly, not when "Hustle" becomes you, as in a moniker you earned, due to out-hustling... A Rose, like no other... a new saying, I made up (well, borrowed to be more accurate, for you fact checkers out there) just for this occasion, on the passing of Pete Rose and how, after being tossed out even before being allowed in, the "powers that be" are now, capitalizing on his one weakness and turning it into a whole new industry, as in running with it... Odds on favorite: The odds that he'll finally get even by getting voted in -- post humorously... For Pete's S...

"RESOLVED!" It's no longer...open, for debate! Time's up! It's about time... that these middle class folks finally did  grow up and treat us accordingly... Talk to U.S. ...as if were grown adults, mature individuals, not just group us... Show us... some real  class.  Answer... "the damn question, just for once!" 

Well...come to Octoberfeast, Detroit Style! River frontage: While the state is surrounded by the Great Lakes, the “fair city" (as one mayor used to refer, introduce it, otherwise used as a "catch phrase") of Detroit now also boasts the top-rated River Walk. As well as the most beautiful aquarium (as in Belle Isle, a well kept secret even to lots of homies). Only fair, given all the dry years, we've endured...not just during what used to be called "Prohibition"... Bloodletting: In and around a city which used to be known more for its crime...figures. But now the sea of red is associated with two sports franchises that, after a sustained period of grumbling and growling, have clawed their way back, into contention... Blackout: What the TV executives are calling for, mandatory office wear, given the rise in ratings, the national attention being given to our town and its crazed, rated one, if not the best fan base...which, in the case of those tracking us here,...