May 9th, 2019

“Me ma wo akye” “Good Morning !!!” to you all in Twi, a variety of Akan, a member of the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family spoken in Ghana.

I am sorry about the delay in this weeks delivery, but my trusty new iMac died a horrible death and had to be resuscitated. That took a few days but she is back with brand spanking new memory and ready to rock and roll.

Loosing weight seems a lot harder than putting it on. It seems to be taking me twice as achieving Jabba the Hut (that is when you are putting your groceries into the car in the Walmart parking lot, your butt crack can literally be seen from space!) status did. The scale is moving the right way but is doing so at a glacial pace, rather the sprint that I imagine when I fantasizing about when I can go to Dairy Queen or Cold Stone again!

I really like letter writing. I happened across a letter written to me by an old friend a couple of years ago, reminding me of how fond I am of her and her demonstration of our friendship by virtue of her letter. It inspired me so do not be surprised if you get something with an actual stamp on it one fo these fine days. Maybe write a letter to your mom thanking her for making your entire life possible. Just sayin…

This week I learned some stuff:
• Today is NATIONAL SLEEPOVER DAY Sleepovers have always played an important role in both friendships and memory making. And of course, DO NOT FORGET THAT THIS SUNDAY IS MOHTER’S DAY !! Do something nice for the mothers in your world.

Website Update:
• Last week for the new Vocabulary Quiz!!
• Second week for the UJT Music Trivia Quiz !
• I did some pretty nifty cooking this week. I updated my Slow Cooker Pork Butt Bar-B-Q.  Later in the week, I managed a very tasty Thai Stir Fry Chicken with Cashews. Yum! I learned how to make Mississippi Mud Pie too, which was fun and tastily decadent in a naughty chocolatey way.

Writing, Ceramics and Painting Update:
• I started two new very challenging paintings this week. One is a German Village cobblestone intersection that promises to kick my butt if the sketch is any indicator (and it is). Also started another one inspired by Chris Spain’s photo from inside a cave looking at the ocean. All the ceramics is drying this week getting ready for bisque and high fire respectively.
• Grandpa Stories is still not re-published.

Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• We have all been traveling down a road or country lane and seen morning glory vines and their beautiful brilliant blue blossoms in the sunshine. The are the devil! As near as I can tell this is an alien life form sent down to weaken our defenses. There are only 3 ways to observe this invading species other than the one mentioned earlier involving a car and high speeds. You can read a book ,.. there are lots of them dedicated to this scourge. You may watch videos – before and after shots of perhaps how a cabin was consumed after an hour long infestation. And finally, those astronauts reporting seeing the pretty bluish Northern Lights need more O2… That is not the Northern Lights! That is Morning Glory Vines being observed eating the planet from space.

Music Update:

I hope you all enjoy this week’s musical selections. I had some sort of neural network glitch and the updates I made to last weeks UJT Radio Broadcast did not stick. When I found out I re-uploaded the tunes and tried saving the changes before exiting this time ..seemed to help.

Go to this week’s UJT Radio program.

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers — Free Fallin’ —From the vinyl!!! — This comes to us fresh from 1969 and their Full Moon Fever album. I miss Tom a lot. The world is a little less happy since he left the building.
• The Allman Brothers Band — In Memory of Elizabeth Reed – From their Live at Filmore East album. I sweet song ..after years of mystery, Greg finally fessed up that Elizabeth Reed was the name of the corner diner waitress who made their sandwiches during the writing of this song. Or so the tale goes…
• Mike Stern — Language — This is jazzy romp through the meadows available to all of us if we just listen. Close your eyes ..its alright.. let it carry you away.. From his “Who Let the Cats Out?” album released in 2006.
• Andy Grammar — Fresh Eyes — Pretty and very tight music. I just like it. From the “Let the Woman” album he released 2007.
• Poco — Keep On Trying — This is one of the most beautiful harmony songs of the 1970s. This one was released on their “Head Over Heels” album in 1975.
• Tedeschi Trucks Band — Until You Remember — There is something so compelling to me about this band’s music. I love her vocals but the sparse tight instrumentation is so powerful. This one is from their “Revelator” album released in 2011. That whole album is great!
• The Ozark Mountain Daredevils – If You Want to Get to Heaven – A song that I had a lot of fondness for back in the day but not enough to buy the whole album for when there was so many great records and so little funding. But through the magic of buying by the song via iTunes ..Weeha! We get to hear it again!

That’s it… Do the best you can;  Laugh every chance you get;  And always remember …  The best is yet to come! 

As always, thank you for being my friend!

James