Viral Vicissitudes

  In Pursuit of Trivia, Trivial purse suits - sounds better than karaoke.    Knew wonder (applied to almost every category) …”how did they know that…?” and how did I not know they were going to ask it, the way they did…?” Think, I'd knew butter ("can't believe it's knot...") …after “🎼all the crap I learned in high school” that the answer would be at least tangentially related to “high school musical”🎵 or at the very least, a dairy-related product...after re-viewing thousands of commercials ("Got - - - - ?") Hysterical  - historical category - we just had to laugh…🎶 having seen the photograph, and started counting...to see "how many holes it takes to fill Albert Hall" No wonder we were late...turning in our answer sheet... Care-full, caution, caveats  …”about your wording and your Pro-nounc-i-a-tion…every syllable and word can count…you out…if you missed what in Trivia, where nothing is so trivial, in the "English Language" categor...

B's - first the bees, now the butter-flys - time to Spring! into action... In short, supply... and demand, the basic law of economics, and how much more basic can you get than the birds, bees, and butterflies? All of which, depending on which way the wind is blowing, might find them, 'in thin air' or, putting it in non-climate conditions..."thinning out..." A few years back there was and continues to be cause for concern about the potential impact on our own species, if the bee population continued to decline (not talking Social Security for once) -- as in a lost colonization of pollination... "Butter not"... Apparently not, as in a fleeting flock...flown the coop...herein is the scoop... The B's have it... The ones that we like to mention, as our prized pollinators, along with the so-called "honorable mention" the (long snouted) bats, wasps, and the "only comes out at night" (i.e., "nocturnal") moths...  Make a B line.....

Checks, and their (off) balances:  e-conomy update Rubber stampers , and the bounce they provide  Bottomed (out) lines , and their signatures  Bottom drawers , their liners - spilled out "pork barrel"  Signatories,  and their (same old) stories - "I don't recognize my own signature, anymore..." Don't stop , on my account - talking about re-routing…”checks in the mail” Spiking , inflation, falling interest…mine is gathering steam (.01%, last time I checked)  Compounding, confounding... Let's just say they've taken a pounding... E-Z access... so accessible that even an AI guy got his hands on it... "Check please!" Time to cut our losses, and put our checking account...off line. So much for checks and balances- on to parcel, and partial posts, past history...   

Getting Weight Listed - The Innie's, Outies  "...good things come to those who..." "It's what it's all about You"  Depending on where you are at stage-wise, or personal application process...as in a waiting game... "Check yourself in, look all about"  As in updating your personal resume, transcript, which includes both weighted and unweighted courses which, if you are a college admissions administrator, you peer at with a bit of skepticism (implied: “might want to go back and add…”)…while a personal physician, after viewing your updated personal health history, might simply raise an eyebrow…(implied: “might want to skip a course…”)  "A bit of hokey pokey..." That is, if you ask me why, you got in, or didn’t, get accepted to my college of choice on the first round… you can expect the old “blue smoke and mirrors” routine…Whereas if you find yourself  seeking the services of a cosmetic surgeon…”put your tummy in, shake it all about…” Ot...

 How RU, getting on…3 years on…? (sure seems like it, even though just a matter of months) And just where do you, get off?! (asking me these stupid, inane, driving me insane, questions) Four 'N Affairs: Nope, not, never, none. As in Press conference responses in re-hearse, still comes out terse... Press Conferences, In Jeopardy: "So Mr. P. how should Babylon B?” You state the answer and we'll give you the question, in response... "Get out of  town!" What starts with Z?"  Leavitt-ate...Even when she got mocked, for refusing to ask questions, she managed to come out on top...as she cut the reporter off...at the knees.  Para-Prose: As in a shortened version, outtakes, if you will, from what I heard from the foreign press ("World news from the BBC") on behalf of our own press, and their conferences. A bit re-pressive, if you ask me.

Times, and their tables  - time again for major, minor conferences...   Go, and figure:  Well, you should have all ready - as it’s about or even over-due. In terms of the second formal conference of the school year where/when you will, if you haven’t prepped sufficiently, will get schooled, or even scolded on occasion, when your parents get home or your coach meets you court-side. Or, in the case of the NCAA post season basketball tournament, your home conference might not even get scheduled… Morning announcements:  Which used to come over what was for us the “PA”, and now brought out live, via streaming “Please be aware that in addition to the cafeteria that is also a "multi-purpose room" (remember those?) being pre-empted by a bigger money maker, as in the sponsors that are sponsoring the college level "Big Dance" where once you've arrived at the "Sweet Sixteen" it's as if you've never been...kissed. At least that's what it used to mean t...

Wholly Hype-acracy! MLB "kick-off" Buying in... by selling out  Welcome to the (International Premium Channel) pastime Say so long… to commercial TV: and hell-o! to longer commercials...(the length of which allows for occasional glimpses of the game itself)  Sea-Span: The new bball channel, exclusively for the two games each year that are devoted to bringing you the oldest version of what we grew up to know and love..."pick up baseball...get anyone we could find in our neighborhood, choose up sides and play..." Rules that were fluid, that changed as the game, itself, evolved (e.g. "right field out of play, given that we were, in a matter of speaking...short") Whereas here, in mid-March we now find ourselves stretching, to find enough players, and some infielders (read "investors") that we had to go overseas... London Bridge: Which was the first experiment of this type, giving two Never For Long (as in 3.5 years, the career length of the average N...

Feeling a bit disheveled, displaced...dia-sporated even? You and me both, along with our  personal affects Or, perchance, just plain separated... From your loved ones, community, let alone what you once called your homeland. The one from "long ago...before time immemorial..." Prior to you being forced out, with barely enough time to "gather your belongings...you've got 30 minutes..."    Exit Us: Sounds a lot like Exodus, eh? Back in the time of Moses and the bull-rushes, and then Bob Marley devoted some time, writing and reggae-ling us about...𝅘𝅥𝅮"Trod through great tribulation...!" GenX's: The ones that, while we, here, might be inconvenienced, due to inclement weather and such, there are groups of people, if you bother to look around (the globe as the SpaceX-ers can tell you)...have been couped up in refugee camps now, for three generations...These 'shelter-in-place' groups are an addition... Dyno-madic:  Groups who have been, it seems, wa...

"By George..." In the first place: Appearing as an old English oath, such as one that was uttered as far back as Henry VI, part 1... On the second hand: It could, depending on who's issuing, receiving, be presented on stage or even behind the scenes, processed as a minced oath or even expressing wonderment...zeal even! Oh, and... "By the by..." Or, "incidentally" - a statement made before comment made in passing 😔...he, as himself,  would eventually, come out with yet another form... "Buy George" The first form of which "The Goerge Foreman" which eventually sold more than 100 million, with many grilling options, introduced in 1994...which, incidentally (you can substitute "coincidentally" here as another option), the same year that he did another grilling demo, heating up the boxing arena, making......one of the biggest comebacks ever, at the tender age of 45. Followed by, what most of us would consider an early retiremen...

All about the IOC, can't you see... Olympic sized Site-ations... No, not which site but the citations, references, and other forms of embellish-meants that come with Olympic sized Presidential hope-full resumes... Ran, in the family: Only makes sense that you'd want a Samaranch, the branch of the family who already have wealth...of experience, to run against a Wanna-be (closest I could come to Watanabe)...at least someone like Coe, whose eponymous story as a runner...    Roll over Beethoven, Sebastian, and Bach: here is "The newcomer Coventry, rising up to knock out the incumbent..." to be the first female - introducing Kirsty kid (at the "con-tender age of 41") coming to assume the office of the President of the International Olympic Committee...an Olympic feat, at that!

Dis-mantling a Lazy boy - Spring Cleaning Series Hysterical Perspective: Post Ottoman Empire   Movers and shakers: Sometimes they need a bit of being shaken up, to get moving... Inclined, to agree: That when someone is in a reclined position, you are, like astro-NOTS, returning to earth, fighting gravitas...and other forces of their nature..."I'm deep, in thought..." Manual, Labor: Mine was made prior to the ones that come with a remote...showing my age. Political Leverage: "No time for kick-backs, Mr. President - it's time to get back up, for mid-terms..."  Sure sign of Spring: That I started, as part of my spring cleaning, to tear apart something that, in order to "spring forward" you have to start, in the "laid back" position...😕🌞  

God Unleashed! March is reading month, rite? Which means that spelling and their buzzing B's cannot be far B-hind. The signs are all around the schoolyard that alert readers and walkers about what is/not allowed in. We know that the word "God" these daze is seldom uttered inside the school walls. But the dyslexic variety, especially that seen in the 'mirror writing' are sure plentiful. Outnumbering the "Children at play" on some evenings, despite signs to the contrary... Untrained animals: The old saying that it's not the dogs but the owners that are the primary problem, who need more training. The ones that either don't bother to read or follow directions "right out of the gate". If they going to defy a directive and place our...custodians at risk (the ones that end up cleaning what the children track in), perhaps they could at least have the courtesy of coming prepped like all good parents...to pick up what they dropped off.  Posted: ...

Space Savors, Storage Containers #Gravitude: A space saving word that captured the capsule that contained four space explorers, two of which had gone to fetch another too, and had me/US at home savoring earlier times when “We interrupt this program for a special event…Splashdown!” Before space travel become so commonplace that even a Trekkie star trekked out “where no man (and too many women to count now, which explains the sign “please put the seat down…”) along with other space saving devices". Which here on earth is now seeing the storage containers stacking up…absorbing almost every last square feet of spare space… Space, at a Premium : “I imagine there will be a few appearances on interview shows, a few book deals” Yup, as well as a series of new series on space travel. Just when you thought you’d seen it all…”Lost in Space…Space Family Robinson…Groveling about Gravity…Matt, mad on Mars…” comes yet another, featuring none other than the ones that were left, "Stranded in ...

"Ah, ah, ah-choo! I'm so over, this clover..." Wh at a difference a day makes...  Me, along with my luck, ran out:    As my errand list directed, butt found...the ATM no longer full, the bottle return not on empty...a bit clogged, in fact… Where's the rub?  The one that rubbed off, the so-called "Luck of the I-wish" that had me going...out to buy all the Lotto tickets I could get my hot hands on...my luck ran cold, as did the rub-offs I bought... Wait till next year: Will be the refrain from 67/68 college 🏀 teams and their betting fans, now about to March into sheer Madness... Best of Luck: You'll need it, in this racket of choosing the right bracket... Feeling, getting down... On your luck? Well, don't blame me, as I told you "misery luvs company"...as in just under a billion that will join you, in thinking you could out-think Vegas and the odds makers, and the one who dreamed up "bracketology" as a branch of analytics... Butt, ...

Ev'ry rock has its day:   Hard, heavy metal, glam…sham rocks! (anything by "Green Day" today) LOLL! Lots of Lousy Limericks: A rhyming scheme, with a punny theme... Four leafed , for lease... Wherein of the green?  Not a sham but a shame, due to the two parties haggling over funding... "You're in Luck" The newest version of the Guv. lottery brought out just in time, for this annual Irish rite** Happy St. Patrick's Day!   **(psst: your chance of winning is about as good as catching a leprechaun...) 

Bill bored-dumb (third in a Sirius) - states of distracted driving… Tripping up:  Part of my ride sharing of what we encountered along the way, after such a pleasant absence...of billboards...At least the ones that we did not as frequently encounter along the way...down and back to our home state, that collectively sure make ours look, sound, and smell like a "cesspool!". Which growing up we learned was a poor replacement for another waste water reference..."e-w-w-w septic!" which was in turn a substitute for the simpler..."smells like sue-age!" The simplest and most expedient way to sum up..."Fan-duel", "Canna-bliss", and "1-800-trip, I mean, sue your neighbor"... Odder, Even: When being cautioned about what we could encounter a-head, down south bound, that the road signage indicated "look up" for falling rocks😟. Guess the smell of skunk junk, potential loss of life...savings, and threat of law-suits aren't so ...

Battling bromides Batman! Catchy Cliches...Caesar (?) Not so catchy, as an attempt at alliteration, which is another, perhaps overused way to either gain your attention, if not assist your memory... Prosaic platitudes: Which, while it rolls nicely off, your tongue, is yet another crummy combination, of "lacking poetic beauty" with an idea, concept which is intended to convey moral meanings but gets so over-used it loses its intended impact... Taunting tautologies: While maybe not guilty of being overused, still considered "a fault of style...saying the same thing twice, with different words..." Such as "they arrived one after the other in succession" Such as the same conclusion, that it was time for Caesar to cease...and why, every year, on or about the 15th, mid-March...they come marching out, as if it was a seeing soothsayer...   "Beware, my friend...friends like this...watch your back..."  "Just saying..." A more recent casual constr...

Loonie e-clips, unphased   The news and the views of last eve-early morn lunar e-vent, the various phases of the lunar eclipse, most of which were clearly visible from my own street, was a bit overshadowed by other news of Canadian loonies, American dollars, both of which continue to be hotly exchanged, along with tariffs, at the border. The rates of which also have our own Wall Street seeing red. Then there's the phase termed copper orange-reddish, which seemed to be a astrological reminder to me to hang onto mine, as in "every red cent!" Could be worth a mint, in the near future, according to the market forecast, that came across my screen, while watching the moon phase in, then out...eerily familiar.    

Fans, citizens, and their Duel lingos Let's face off: After standing back-to-back, walking exactly...bang! What a sucker to think your opponent is going to follow the rules..."exactly as they are written...it's all in the spirit of the game, Eh?" As in at least not jeering, if you can't bring yourself to cheer, for the opposition's national anthem...As in the game of hockey, when the opposing player tries to get the "jump" on you in what's called a "Face-off" by looking down... Good old daze: When differences of opinion, and matters of chivalry, in order to settle, once and for all, whether "chivalry is dead" they relied on the gentlemanly exercise of dueling which, like a lot of other customs, were imported, before "customs" and tariffs could be levied. But you can bet in any denomination, whether you're "in for a penny...pound" that gambling and betting, followed closely behind...ergo "FanDuel...

White House Hearing aides: Q & A foul-up to the national address - where won word can... "Have a world of hurt!"  "Did he really call him that, Madame Press Secretary?" Well, what he really  meant to say, but ran out of time..."Anyone who thinks fighting over a region called Domb-ass, is not entitled to share our...intelligence" Point of clarity (a rarity): "You might have heard that someone in the administration said the west wing was full, of lunatics...well, it was something to that (intended) affect...Next! Pressing on (but a byte off): "You might have heard the BBC beat us to the punch, release the promising news that we have reached an agreement with Ukraine (you dummies didn't even know we were at war with them ?!) and now it's up to us to take it to the Russians...kind of hard when their head of state is attending another Russian valet...close enough"  "We're about dumb here" When "Sweet Karoline" ...

Rallies, and their hats Making a come-back: "Turn your hat, cap, around, or simply put it on...backwards" Late innings: Or, even when out, on the campaign trail..."It will be MAGA-nificent!"  "Tally...rally ho!" As in both English translations "A quarry has been sighted, got the fox on the run!"  Speaking Provincially: And seen on an increasing number of Canadian hats...(now that their economy is in trouble...now that they  want to come to us, eh)..."We'll have Nunavut"  

They're called "Frankensteins" for a reason😟. The word on the street - and on bill-boreds... Calling you out: A more potent drug than heroine or another one killing so many of our rising all-stars, in and out of our borders (namely, Fentanyl, in case you haven't heard)...here comes night-a-scenes !!! (as they show themselves not exclusively but especially at night...) Such “street drugs” also characterized, categorized as being...  Highly toxic: To human consumption even at lower dosages. The new release of an older drug that has been drugged back out (“nitazenes” back on the scene after being first developed in 1950’s, which are cheaper to synthesize than heroin or fentanyl while 2-40 X stronger in effects) So why even get started, you ask?   "I got pushed!" As in "The Pusher Man" featured as an uncaring monster by the band Steppenwolf, 1968. A highly morbid reality that it's not actually someone pushing another but more of a "pull"...

  Solar and its panels - hot topic  About time: That you took to read this, as in only a few minutes you took out of your busy daze (sp. correct, for once, given the state this might find you in), while simultaneously trying to do a re-set (busy bodies R US), which that AI guy has the advantage, not having to even get up... Spring forward: Not advised, given how many accidents seem to occur, given how many, despite a lot of advance notice ("caution...no passing zone, slow the hill down!") - maybe try autonomous autos just this one day a year, and then return to the ones that get in our way, pass us as if we are standing still even though we, ourselves, are what's known in psychology and parenting as "testing the limits"... Driving US crazy: "Can't they just settle this, once and for all...?!" A chorus of laments that get heard at least twice per year, regarding the time change. And also, what we would hear if our cars could talk..."don't...

In front of every great woman… Stands a great man… A turnabout on a VERY old and wise saying about great men and who stands behind, supporting, directing, and even detecting - “you can do it…be great one day, one way or another”  Happy International Women’s Day - could NOT do it - at least not in your absence.

Putting it into arrears - Military and its Brass (speaking brazenly) A man and his mission - “Put them out, of commission” Joint Chiefs...dis-jointed, no longer appointed Rear Admiral…out, flanked by me, the CIC Brigadier general…in, the brig More General-Lee speaking..."all but forgotten..." Sergeant Major...sent down, to the minors  Midshipmen…out of commission, gone over-bored Aide-de-camp-meant...past tents Penta- gone...the new Geo-metrics Sargent at arms..."Restore the natural order in this House...show this (gentleman) out” All back, to ship shape...dis-mantled “all, planks to me" Reallocations, new vocations -  Part of the new federal offensive, in the Department of Defense😕

Iconics...or Ironics, in the Career Development Domain Iconic or ironic, or combo of both...  your choice -- that in an effort to reduce the federal work force, another was added, to the pay-roll...? One who comes in already at the top, of the pay scale ?!😖 Doesn't it strike you... as odd (or is it more a co-incidence?) that several who joined the unemployment line, who had just recently begun to strike out...in the burgeoning career category of cyber-security, are leaving the field, citing "I just couldn't hack it..." And secondarily, "looking for something with more job security" 😕 Speaking of Security... back with more from the front, as on behalf of those charged with keeping U.S. - feeling secure (?). 

( correcting) the King's speech, and the righters, as well... Parenthetical, all hypothetical (as what he meant, despite what he said, in my own words and emphasis) - it's why they invented parentheses, right?   S/L Pathologists (the slash reflecting the word AND), which should  be underlined, given it was both the pronouncements, as well as the length that should have been, the subject, of his pro-tracted...address... While we were (watching his French) - the usage of which has become more global over the years, was originally, historically (you can substitute the word "hysterically" here Mr. President, for better affect) - a term which is a a subtle request for forgiveness after using taboo language (one of his trade-marks) and one which originates from the 19th Century, when it was applied quite literally...."I meant every word I said!"... At least someone (a Loyalist to the Crown Royal) was listening - "He uses the English language for leverage...

  Weathering a Tariffic Tuesday- Singing in the Reign... I love Tariffs in the springtime𝆔 where I can take in the Arc de Trump, without "The View"   Oh and how I love O Canada 🎝 the cool new flag, featuring the Maple lease 🎵 Oh, way down, in Mexico... never really been so I don't rally know (Taylor made) In Need of Accompani-meant? - a shout out from behind the podium... Ode to Joey... "Shut up Man!" 👏 Marching fourth... when "taking the fifth" can't come soon enuff...

Do-nuts and dues when paying a visit to the Oval Office...to stop the fighting. First and for most, the do-nuts: "...read anything into it..." In fact, don't read anything at all. We'll provide a handout if we want you to..." "...try to write my wrongs..." I go off the top of my head and I never stand, corrected..." "whatever you might think of me... don't  ever  try to tell me how I'll feel..." It's a (hyper!)sensitive area. "give it a second thought..." As it will be lost on me, whatever you are thinking... "get backed into a corner" don't ever cower, even when getting tag teamed, by "that creep, plus his veep!"   Oh, and don’t forget… to sign the guest registry. Paying your   Dues  include ... “speak, only when spoken to…” Now, repeat, after me...I will show gratitude, to my host... "leave, buy the back door..." In that order. My personal out-take: "If a head of state is trea...

Fibers and their optics, de-nuded - a night out, with Oscar... Pre-show pre-empt post...  Read, carpet treatment...   (Warning) - bound to be Wicked, butt first… Red carpet give a-weighs, cover-ups ...“You look maw-velous, so much lighter in your step than last year…tell us your secret…” Sulkers and skulkers …Those that either by choice or come so (Glenn) Close, but go home empty handed, stay off camera… Nasty talkers, mid-night stalkers …No, not a new category, but why they had to add time limits, as well as a slight time delay...“bleep!”  de la Renta - tuxes, dresses, and the accessories that get returned after just one wear - May as well just buy it, given the price of de Rent, these daze... Back with more trip and fall hazards, 'till then... "carpet diem!" 

Minerals and their rites  - "Now t hat's  the spirits!"  Feeling grate-full nyet? If not here, where else could you go and get such great treatment? Making the grade: As in what I already knew and had experienced from home improvement projects with my dad, and then got further instruction and background in "Industrial Arts" -- that there were different grades of "sandpaper" for different uses...some of which were for grating, rougher wood and grain, whereas the so-called "finer" grades were for finishing off a project, as in "smoothing things over" (getting the application here?)...     And on into Earth Science: Where we got advanced education in the actual composition of sandpaper, which included, of course, "abrasive materials", some of which are byproducts of mining...  Logics and Logistics:  So, it only makes sense that if one were coming to discuss a fair deal involving mined minerals as well as a meeting of the mind...