Monday Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff: A Brief Reprieve

    ...then more of the usual. I'm sweating my brains out while typing this, but didn't know whether I was running a fever again, or truly hot. The Brick brought me an iced tea, and said it was sweltering inside. I've been sick most of the week, so it's hard to tell. We did have some rain, and the evenings have been cooler.

     Just not tonight.

Meanwhile:

A professor uses a trick to flush out AI use during a midterm -- 32 out of 35 students fail. Whoa. (One student did get her grade back.)

The tiniest cinema in the world -- playing silent films 24/7!

A visit to Daniel Chester French's studio.  This is the sculptor who 'did' Lincoln for the Memorial. (Thanks, One Hundred Dollars A Month, for the tour.)

What?  Wyoming and "neighboring states" can be trusted to take care of their own wildlife management?  Surely not...after all, we westerners are too busy wearing spurs and sixguns to know what we're up to around here.

A 'time traveller' gives us his predictions for 2028. Check back then to see if he's right -- or just full of...

Gee's Bend Quilts, reinterpreted by Ralph Lauren?  At least the collaboration is with people associated with the original quiltmakers. 

"Soap is cheap..." and so is staying clean and tidy, even in difficult times. (Thanks, Frugal Girl, for the reminder.)

Have a good week. Back to work -- stay cool.

Uh Oh...

Ummm...And Buck Moon

 "My significant other had ridden the train up to visit me in college the first year we dated. My college town, St Augustine, FL, has a reputation for being haunted. We decided to walk to a pub I liked, so we cut through an alley boarded by a private parking lot, and a bank. It was approaching dinner time, but it was Florida, so it was still very bright outside. When we turned into the alley, there was a woman approaching us from the opposite end of the alley wearing 16th century Spanish colonial garb.

This, in itself, wasn’t unusual. It was Halloween, and St. Augustine is home to a lot of reenactors, and tourist attractions that have tour guides that dress in period-appropriate clothing. What was weird is that she was pressed against the side wall of the bank as close to it as she could without physically touching it. She was wearing a wide brimmed hat, and had her head angled down to hide her face from us. She seemed terrified of us. My first thought was, *calm down, lady. It’s Halloween.*

As we walked abreast of her, I ducked down to look under her hat, and make eye contact, and smile. You know, to reassure her we weren’t gonna jump her or anything.

Instead of features, her face was blurry, like a severely out of focus picture.

I stood back up, and kept walking. It took a couple of minutes for my brain to catch up with what I saw. When I turned around to look at her again, she was gone.

I tried to make sense of this in my head. She must have reached the end of the alley, and ducked around the bank, out of sight. The fading light played a trick on my eyes. Etc, etc, etc.

Hesitantly, I asked my SO (who I had just started dating! I didn’t want them to think I was weird!), “Hey. That woman we just passed… Did she have a face?”

They replied. “I don’t know, but she didn’t have any feet.”.

I'm always up for a good ghost story -- and this ranks with the best of them.

More weird stories here. 

P.S. We are now officially in 'Buck Moon' stage -- go here for more.

"The Buck Moon, July's full moon, received its name from the time of year when deer are growing their antlers before the fall rut. It is also referred to as the Thunder Moon, since thunderstorms are common during the summer.

Additional names for this moon are the Feather Moulting Moon and Salmon Moon, a Tlingit term referring to the time when fish returned to the area to be harvested, per the Old Farmer's Almanac. It can also be called the Halfway Summer Moon, referring to the time of year it rises."

It Happens...

 This is a weird one -- 

      The remains of a flying dinosaur eaten by a 23-foot marine monster -- who was eaten in turn by a 40-foot monster.  The jumbled 'Bag o' Bones' was found in the Australian outback in 2019 by fossil hunters. 

Go here for the full explanation. Kewl.

Really!?!!

 From the Department of "Well, you don't see that everyday..."

One wonders if, after reading the Bible, the 14-year-old is still an atheist. 

Hmmmmm.

True Dat...

 The last comment is actually quite accurate.

We Americans are not only 'mutts,' DNA-wise, 

                       but our language borrows from EVERYBODY.

Monday Stuff On the Way to Other Stuff: Hot and Dry (Again)

      I'd love to tell you we've been up to exciting things -- but we haven't, unless you count taking care of the dogs, putting stuff away, washing clothes...and working on reports. It's still hot here -- and for extra fun, hard to breathe. (Too much humidity, Son #1 says.) It just feels 'dull;' I can't explain it any other way.

     A lightning storm is flashing the skies all around us tonight. Hopefully that means rain. P.S. It didn't.

Meanwhile:

He's built a business removing squatters!  Some interesting ideas here.

Here's what Wilt Chamberlin's old warmup jacket went for.

A six-pack of beer changed this 82-year-old pilot's life forever. Now his case is at the Supreme Court. 

A 'lost' 17th century garden plan reappears... thanks to an ongoing drought in Britain.

An excellent 'how I made it through my divorce' twofer from The Frugal Girl:  Part I and Part II.

As you might know, Gentle Readers, I am not a big fan of divorce. Too often, it occurs when the partners could have worked something out -- and come out better for it. But there are times this just isn't going to work, especially when one (or both) partners are unfaithful. The Mama was divorced, and for good reason. It happens.

Lottery winners pestered by their families --

The loud (and sometimes strident) 'Christian' mom/activist -- who was hiding a secret. 

Some ancient royal tombs reveal a surprising secret! I'll give you a hint: think 'higgledy-piggledy.'

What a family needs to live a middle-class lifestyle in San Francisco... according to Financial Samurai, at least. Any guesses? He says $408,000/yr!

Have a good week. Stay cool.