March 9th, 2023
“ Dobroho ranku”, or “Good Morning!” in Ukrainian, an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine. I have decided that the UJT will remain focused on Ukraine until we can all rejoice in the end of hostilities. It has been 378 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.
This week I learned some stuff:
- The Prostate Adventure continues. Finished radiation treatment last Friday! Now I just have to get through the rest of the Hormone treatments and we should be done.
- Murphy has mostly settled in. He is still a bit needy where Jess is concerned, except at bedtime when he biomes needy for me to be in bed. We are concerned about his blood test results and will go over it with his doc on Wednesday. He doesn’t seem bothered but we will see.
- I hope everyone printed off the grid and put it on their fridge. Also, I recommend that you set a reminder in your calendar to do it each month.
- I was trying to re-read “The Prophet” by Kahlill Gibran which was kind of required reading in the late 1970s when it seemed so insightful. Today, I tried to check out the audiobook from our world class San Diego Public Library (YEAH!) and was gratified to find a 5 week waiting list for this little volume of wisdom that was published in the US for the first time in 1923. His context is from when Lebanon was a beautiful and peaceful place. Can you even imagine it?
- The new 3 season episodes of The Mandalorian started last week. Naturally being an old fart with a giftedly shitty memory, I rewatched the first two seasons. I really enjoyed watching Mando and the little Grogu make their way across space. In Texas, my youngest granddaughter is as excited as I am.
- March 9th is the 68th day of 2023! Just 299 days till Christmas! Today in 1842, the first documented discovery of gold in California occurs at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush; USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (rebuilt from the engines and lower hull of the USS Merrimack) fight to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships today in 1862; On that same day, but in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to Congress, the first of his New Deal policies; Today in 1954, CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, “A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy”, produced by Fred Friendly; The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York today in 1959; Today in 1960, Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner implants for the first time a shunt he invented into a patient, which allows the patient to receive hemodialysis on a regular basis; Today in 1997, Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day. As the comet made its closest approach to Earth on March 26, all 39 active members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed ritual mass suicide over a period of three days, in the belief that their spirits would be teleported into an alien spacecraft flying inside the comet’s tail: Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights today in 2011; Mickey Spillane, American crime novelist was born today in 1918; Also born today but in 1923,Walter Kohn, Austrian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate; Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union, Nobel Prize laureate was also born today in 1931: Raul Julia, Puerto Rican-American actor was born today in 1940; Today in 1943, Bobby Fischer, American chess player and author was born; Robin Trower, English rock guitarist and vocalist born on the same day but in 1945; Emmanuel Lewis, (AKA TV’s Webster) American actor was born today in 1971; Earl Wilbur Sutherland, Jr., American pharmacologist and biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate passed away today in 1974; Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer died today in 1989; Menachem Begin, Belarusian-Israeli soldier, politician and Prime Minister of Israel, Nobel Prize laureate passed away today 1992; Today in 1996, George Burns, American comedian, actor, and writer passed away; And lastly, Roger Mudd, American journalistpassed away today in 2021.
This week’s Website Update:
• Week 2 for our Vocabulary Quiz
• Last week for the Musical Trivia Quiz
• This week I updated a faulty Chicken Chili recipe and came up with my own Cornbread from scratch recipe. Yum!
• The Home Page quote for this week is from Greg Reid, “A dream written down becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true”.
Writing, Ceramics, Bonsai Trees, Stained Glass, and Painting Update:
• I am detecting a slight upturn in my energy levels but just a bit. I was encouraged by doing the Cornbread last week. Baby Steps… I will try to get something creative and productive done this week.
• I am continuing my streak of slacking off on the paper edits of Grandpa Stories. I just haven’t carved out any time for more chapters.
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
I posted my get-out-of-radiation-treatment-ringing-of-the-bell picture this week on Facebook. Everyone is so nice when the stuff hits the fan. I do it to as a matter of course.. respond to big milestones people post but this time was different, I felt true comfort and peace. Also, I have gotten texts emails and such as well. I am not sure how I can convey how much your response has moved me. Thank you, everyone.
Music Update:
Here we go again, following my musical taste buds through space. So many of my musical heroes are kicking the bucket these days its impossible to keep up. This is the way of things. The Circle of Life but these folks gave us the ever-lasting gift of music.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
• Dire Straits — It Never Rains — This is a deep cut from their, “Love Over Gold” album. This the most lyrics I think Mark Knopfler has ever put into a song. But is the guitar work at the end of the song that makes this song even more special.
• John Mayer — XO — This is the single he released from his “Sing Me to Sleep”. It’s a cover of a Beyoncé song. Very unusual song for John to pick up but he does it well.
• Bob Schneider — Oklahoma — This a deep cut from his great album, “Lonelyland” released in 2001. There really is something special about this guy.
• Balmorhea – Lament — This lullaby comes from this strange little ensemble that hails from Austin, Tx. A young man by the completely overused name of Rob Lowe plays the piano featured so prominently on this song. This is another one of those songs that I can close my eyes and imagine being a leaf floating down a stream of cool clear water past a world that I no longer care to focus on giving up to the current carrying me to my end. This is a deep cut from their, “ Rivers Arms
• Led Zeppelin — Ramble On — This is a deep cut from their “Led Zeppelin II ” album released in 1969. We were all so jazzed by Jimmy Pages Guitar and Robert Plant’s vocals, we almost missed the references to “The Hobbit”.
• James Taylor — Another Day — This is one that seemed fitting as a good closing song for this week’s playlist. Another Day comes to us from Jame’s 1997 release, “Hourglass”.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; Always remember… The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!