For what ails ye

Tonight made chicken noodle soup for my dinner (photo at left). It’s something I’ve made several times in recent years, and often for a similar reason: I had things I needed to use up (like increasingly elderly celery). Yet as I was making it, I was thinking about how chicken soup is often a “go to” when someone has a cold or feels “off”. I wished that it could cure other ills, too.

It’s no secret (since I’ve talked about it in several posts…) that I haven’t had a great run over the past 18 months or so. Things aren’t any worse, but there not exactly much better, either. On the whole, it’s sort of static. That means that this aren’t bad or god—they just are.

I know that there’s no magic to change things, unless time itself counts as magic (and I think it kind of does). But maybe persistence can do what magic can’t. And that’s where time comes into it, since waiting it out seems to be the best option at the moment.

Still, chicken soup couldn’t hurt. It was really nice, too, and sometimes that’s what matters most.

This post was ready to go—until I couldn't open Photoshop on my MacBookPro. A lot of work and time didn't resolve the issue, so I had to use GIMP, which I don't really know, and all of that that tool more than two hours after I finished writing this post. Add it to the list, I guess.

Unsolved mowing conundrum

Last Friday, I mowed the front lawn and did the edges. That happened after many delays caused by lots of rainy weather over the past few weeks. I once again (still?) think it all underscores that it’s getting closer to the time for a change.

The rain delays let the “lawn” grow thick, and it was a lot of hard work to push through it, especially because I had to be careful to avoid stalling the mower—over and over again. By the time I was done, the mower battery was drained, and so was I (I also had to change the line trimmer’s battery, but I had backups; I only have one battery for the mower).

It was quite hard work physically, though arguably not as bad as before I started my daily walks. Even so, I think it’s time to give up mowing the front lawn and hire a service to take over. As I’ve said before, I’ve resisted because I need the exercise, and also because my battery-powered mower is recharged on solar power (so is my line trimmer). The mowing services all use petrol-powered machines.

One the one hand, switching from clean and green mowing to polluting fossil-fuel driven machines feels like defeat, like I’m abandoning my values—in fact that’s the main reason behind my stubbornness on this. On the other hand, I absolutely don’t enjoy mowing the front lawn, so why should I keep doing it?

For now, I’ll still do the back lawn for all the reasons I’ve mowed the lawn up to now. Also, the back is flat and the “lawn” is much less thick than out front, both of which make it much easier to do. I wouldn’t say I “love” mowing the back lawn, but I also don’t mind doing it.

The next day, in fact, I mowed the back lawn, which was even more overgrown (and it took less time to get that way). It isn’t unusual for the back lawn to grow faster than the front, but, even so, it’s easier to mow than the front is. However, Saturday was supposed to be rainy, so I skipped doing the edges along the fence up on the bank, along the side of the yard. I did manage to get the whole back lawn mowed—an area roughly twice as big as out front—without draining the battery.

There’s one more aspect to this adventure: I fixed a problem.

The last couple times I used the line trimmer, the line cut off on one side the bump head, meaning it stopped feeding line. This started happening after a few years of it working completely nomally—the line would completely run out, leaving the bump head empty. I thought I might have to replace the bump head (which isn’t inexepensive, but not horrible). However, I decided to take some [name brand] spray silcone lubricant into the holes the line feeds though. That seemed to work, and the line trimmer worked completely normally. If it starts breaking off again, I should be able to do this again.

Mowing out front was hard, the back less so, and I also managed to fix (at least temporarily…) my line trimmer. It was a variued adventure this time. Now, nearly a week later, I still think that it’s a question of when not if, I hire a service to take care of the front lawn, but I still have no idea when that will actually happen. I guess it many be a surprise to me, too.

The photo is of the tree on my street, the one I can see through the front window when I’m sitting in my chair. Not surprisingly, there were a few leaves I ground up while mowing. That, I’ll admit, was very satisfying.

My brain’s morning intrusion

There have been many mornings when I woke up thinking about something. The subject could be anything, such as, thoughts about a project I’m working on (or merely planning), something in the news I’ve been thinking about, or even about a memory, often a complicated one. The latter is what I woke up to a couple mornings ago.

These morning ruminations are a little weird, even to me. They’re not extensions of a dream, as far as I’m ever aware, but instead it’s almost as if my thinking brain was bored with my sleeping brain and decided to just start mulling over something. Then rest of my brain groggily becomes aware of the ruckus in my head and starts to stir, bringing me with it. I realise that anthropomorphising all this only makes it weirder, and it’s probably not even remotely close to what’s really happening, but imagining the scenario at least gives me a way to perceive why this happens.

So, I recently woke up to my brain thinking about the ASVAB tests the boys in my high school class we’re required to take in 1975 or 76 (I’m not sure which). The test was actually called “Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery”, but I only ever heard it mentioned by its initials—ASVAB—which was pronounced as a word, “ASS-vab”. As far as I know, this was just the way people said it, and the first syllable wasn’t said that way out of spite, at least, not by me. Perhaps it should’ve been.

Wikipedia describes the test well:

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple choice test, administered by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command, used to determine qualification for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. It is often offered to U.S. high school students when they are in the 10th, 11th and 12th grade, though anyone eligible for enlistment may take it.

They go on to say that all branches of the armed forces adopted it in 1976, and that was probably for a good reason: Registration for the US military’s draft ended on April 1, 1975, and didn’t resume until 1980. Young men born between March 29, 1957 and December 31, 1959 were not required to register for the draft. I’m one of those folks who never had to register for the draft.

All of that is the essence of why I was so bitter about having to take the test—it was never about military service for those who chose it, but, rather, about the irrational, immoral, and unjustifiable compulsion and the discrimination. Yeah, that last part was huge for me.

Prior to its suspension in 1975, young women turning 18 were not required to register for the draft. I thought that was indefensible: Why should only young men be (possibly?) denied their freedom and liberty? In those days, most folks in Congress were old white men (well, actually, most of them still are…), and they didn’t think “young ladies” were capable of or suitable for military service, especially combat. It turned out that barring women from combat positions also made it impossible for them to attain higher rank. How convenient for “certain people”…

That same idiotic prejudice extended to the ASVAB: In my high school, only boys took the test, and it was mandatory. As I recall, we were threatened with suspension if we didn’t take the test. I hated and resented the entire experience, and from that moment until I graduated I considered the school administration and Board as adversaries for that reason alone (there were later other reasons, it turned out, because—surprise!—I’ve always chafed at authoritarianism).

Eventually the ASVAB became optional for young women to take, too, probably as a result of their growing emancipation—and the military establishment’s need for recruits. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter stupidly reinstated registration for the draft after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, which was one of his biggest mistakes, in my opinion at the time—and ever since. The new registration still excluded young women (of course?), but it also was retroactive: Anyone born on or after January 1, 1960 had to register, not just those turning 18 on the date of the presidential order or later, as most folks would’ve expected. At the time, I thought that was immoral and unconscionable (it’s easy to be judgemental in one’s teens and early 20s). Back then, I also thought it was because the military needed cannon fodder, but in the end Carter didn’t send soldiers to Afghanistan, but, worse, in some ways, the USA’s covert actions helped encourage the eventual rise of the Taliban—and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the USA. “Unintended consequences” with an exclamation point.

By the mid-1970s, I knew I’d never be part of the military. Actually, one of my earliest memories is of a live draw for the draft lottery, and seeing them draw my birthdate. It sent a chill through me, even though I was probably less than half the registration age at the time. Around 1970, my family and I went on vacation that included Ontario. There, we happend across a Lutheran College (it was either there or another school where I first saw cricket being played—foreshadowing of my eventual adult life?). I thought when I turned 18 I’d chose that college—in Canada—so I could escape the draft. I was around 9 at the time, so I give myself a lot of slack on that reasoning.

When registration for the draft ended (briefly), I was ecstatic: I wouldn’t even have to entertain military service. Let alone ways to avoid it. On some level, perhaps basic and elemental, I understood that I’d never be safe in the military because I was gay, even though I was very deeply closeted at the time. But all of that was about me alon: I never thought badly of anyone who chose military service, I just knew on a fundamental and existential level that it wasn’t right for me.

My morning thoughts in this care were about literally all of that, and as such things often are, it was like an aural blog post. This written version is nothing like by brain’s original intrusion into my morning, not the least because, perhaps against appearances, this post is much less strident than that morning thinking session was. If that morning thinking—lecturing?—was a YouTube video, even I would’ve skipped ahead. But it made me wonder about things I wasn’t sure about—the ASVAB itself, the draft, even how long registration for the draft was (rightfully…) suspended. I ended up learing things, and that’s always a good thing.

Yeah, but, ya know, I really could do without waking up to mMy brain making morning intrusions.

Necessary change is coming

Today, US Senator Dick Durnin (D-Illinois), who is also the Democratic Whip in the US Senate, announced he won’t seek re-election next year. I think Senator Durbin has made the right choice. He said, “in my heart I know it’s time to pass the torch,” and I think he’s right. I voted for Senator Durbin all five times, but he’s right: It’s time for a new generation to take the lead.

To be transparent, of course I’ll vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is—assuming I’m still allowed to vote next year (the Republicans’ “SAVE Act”, as written, will probably end up taking away my right to vote). Even so, in my past, I did once vote for a Republican for Senator from Illinois, Charles H. Percy, way back in 1978, the first Federal election I was old enough to vote in. By 1984, I’d been pushed out of the Republican Party by Reagan’s takeover and the party’s lurch to the Right (which is ironic these days because Reaganism would be called “socialism” or “Marxism” by today’s Republicans). So, in 1984, I voted for Senator Paul Simon, and Simon, in turn, was succeeded by Durbin. I talked more about Senator Percy in a 2011 post when he died. And one of the things I praised in that post was that “he pushed for repatriation of the Panama Canal back to Panama”, which underscores how awful the modern US Republican Party has become—and why there’s no why, no how, I coule ever even imagine voting for a Republican for any office.

Senator Durbin did a LOT of good over his career, something many others will point out in great detail. But: He also earned outrage form the Democratic base for his vote for the Continuing Resolution that funded the current White House regime’s criminal acts, something that Senate Minotry Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also was widely criticised for. He, however, has not announced his retirement (his current term as Senator expires in 2028, when he’ll be 77).

So, what happens now? There will, of course, be a scramble among Democratic politicians in Illinois to rise to the top of the heap of potential successors. The Chicago Sun-Time has reported on the leading contenders, most of whom I don’t know anything about [Tip o’ the Hat to Roger Green for the link]. However, in general I’m not keen on any US Representative running for Senate (or any other office) if that would turn the seat into a competitive election. I firmly believe that no incumbent Democratic US Representative should run for another office if doing so could risk losing the seat to Republicans. Saving the republic and preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution is far more important than any politician’s personal ambitions. IMHO.

There’s a lot of pressure on Democratic politicians in Congress to either stand up or stand down. Senator Dick Durbin has chosen the latter, and I completely support his decision and acknowledge the courage it must’ve taken to step aside from a job he clearly loves. Sometimes the most difficult decision is the best one.

The photo above is a cropped version of Senator Durbin's official portrait from 2020, which is in the Public Domain. It's available from Wikimedia Commons.

The weird holiday weekend

Today is Easter Monday, a public holiday in New Zealand, and the conclusion of a four-day holiday weekend. It’s also the weirdest holiday weekend. Still.

I wasn’t originally going to say anything about it this year, especially because I pretty much said all I wanted to in a post on Easter Monday last year, especially my criticism of the wacky and very confusing trading ban rules (most shops are supposed to be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, even though Easter isn’t a public holiday, and no TV ads can be broadcast on either of those days, or Christmas Day, not until after noon on Anzac Day and every Sunday. There’s since been an update to to something I said in that post last year, especially about the ad bans. I wrote:

The current broadcasting minister, a former TV show host of dubious ability as a minister, has blandly promised a re-write of the [Broadcasting] Act (written way before the Internet or streaming services were a thing), but given the chaos under our current three-ring circus coalition government, I doubt it’ll actually happen. I think that ending the ad bans ought to be done as quickly as possible: They make absolutely no sense, deny NZ broadcasters revenue that foreigners still get, and has nothing whatsoever to do with New Zealand workers and days off.

The first update is that the Media Minister I wrote about was sacked only a few weeks after my post (apparently I’m very influential…). Then, in December of last year, her replacement as Media Minister announced that the government would introduce legislation to allow TV advertising on Sundays and public holidays, because the ad bans don’t apply to streaming services (like YouTube) or to radio, meaning broadcast TV is losing money that other media providers can still get. The Minister told RNZ in the linked article,"Traditional media outlets are operating in an extremely difficult environment and as the government, we must ensure regulatory settings are enabling the best chance of success." Indeed. He also said it “could generate approximately $6 million for the industry” which doesn’t sound like much to me. Even so, I think that’s absolutely the right thing to do—though the government hasn’t yet actually passed the bill.

I still think the trading bans should be removed from Good Friday and Easter, not the least because New Zealand is now majority “no religion”, but mostly because those holidays don’t have the same sort of traditions like family gatherings that Christmas Day does (the other all-day holiday with a trading ban, plus Anzac Day morning has a trading ban, too). So I’m fine with keeping the ban on trading Christmas Day, but the trading bans on Good Friday and Easter Sunday seem silly to me. At the very least, the TV advertising bans should be ended, and maybe they finally soon will be.

Not just about bread

I don’t often share food photos any more (and clearly not much of anything else, for that matter…), because it’s all so trivial. Yesterday, though, I decided to share a photo (at right) of my trivial lunch to my personal Facebook. In this case, at least, there were reasons.

I made two poached eggs severed on a wedge of homemade (bread machine) wholemeal bread, and topped it with freshly ground salt and pepper and yum-yum sauce (Japanese mayonnaise), which I use on poached eggs because hollandaise sauce is too much work, tbh (I usually just use S&P). All of that is very ordinary, but the bread is the real reason I shared the meal (I make poached eggs most weekends).

I was never satisfied with the ordinary breadmaker bread I used to make, so much so that I even considered getting rid of my breadmaker. However, among my local supermarkets, my local Woolworths doesn’t stock my preferred brand/variety of commercial bread (just the brand’s gluten-free variety),and while the nearby New World does stock it, it sells out quickly. I don’t like the in-store bakery department breads at either chain.

This is an issue for me because the commercial bread I’ve been buying instead of my preferred brand sometimes gives me indigestion, and the ordinary breadmaker bread sometimes did, too (my preferred brand never did, but maybe that’s just because it’s so hard to get that over the past year or two I haven’t had it often enough to find out?). It’s early days for the wholemeal bread experiment, but so far it’s been fine. On the other hand, I’m out of practice cutting it (it makes a tall loaf), and have cut a wedge-shaped slice twice in a row, which isn’t ideal. If I tolerate this bread, I may try using the breadmaker to knead the dough, etc., and then finish it off in bread pans in the oven (to get better sized and shaped loaves). I do hope this works, though.

Occasional indigestion from bread wasn’t the only reason that I stopped posting food photos, though—there were several reasons. First, the same sort of ennui that’s kept me from cretive pursuits like blogging and podcasting, has also left me unspired to cook anything new or different, and so, there hasn’t been anything ne to share. Another reason, though, was eggs.

Prices for all food items when up in the Covid-related economic challenges and supply chain distruptions, and the massive spike in inflation when all the restrictions ended. Eggs were among the things with higher prices, of course, but we also had a fire at a major egg farm that killed thousands of hens, and egg prices shot up. However, egg prices in New Zealand eventually stabilised and have been stable for many, many, many months—despite even bird flu at a South Island farm. All of which means I can have eggs whenever I want, and at reasonable proces. However, I’m aware of how expensive eggs in the USA have become (another all-time record retail price was set just recently). It felt kind like bragging to share photos of my egg means (possibly the most common I’ve share over the past few years).

Eggs also get at another reason I’ve backed off posting things like food photos: All that sort of thing seems so utterly banal and trivial given the slide into fascism in the country of my birth. I’ve shared some things I find funny or interesting, but have deliberately avoided most things that touch even lightly on politics in the land of my birth—mostly, because I have shared expressly, and even sharply, political things to Reels (via Instagram).

It’s fair to say that there’s no reason I should avoid posting about things I’m doing, even if it’s only lunch, but with the world in such dire shape, it’s at least understandable. On the other hand, maybe the distraction of a freshly-made meal or a shopping excursion (or whatever) can help make the bad times just a little more tolerable, even if only for a moment or two. Maybe.

At any rate, I never would’ve guessed that finding a tolerable bread would be so difficult, but, as I often say, I’ve learned that growing older is a never-ending series of aches and pains in places I never knew could have them, and suddenly finding I don’t always tolerate some food I’ve had all or most of my life. C’est la vie, apparently. But all of that is still better than the awfulness all around the world, and maybe that makes celebrating everyday life that much more important.

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5

On April 13, 1985, a charity single reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”: “We Are the World” (video up top) by supergroup “USA for Africa”. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie and produced by Quincy Jones, became one of the fastest selling singles in history at the time, and would be at the top of the “Hot 100” for four weeks. The song was included on the featured the album also named We Are the World.

The song was inspired by the previous year’s charity single “Do They Know It's Christmas?”, which was the subject of my post ”Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 20: Seasonal songs” on December 29 of last year. Harry Belafonte had the idea for an American charity single, and the rest is history.

I had mixed feelings about the song at the time. Just as with “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, I appreciated that famous people are often in the best position to raise money for charitable causes, and I absolutely supported that. However, the song itself didn’t grab me, even though the chorus was catchy (at the time I felt it was catchy in an annoying way). So, I never bought the single or the album. On the other hand, I thought the lyrics weren’t as lame as for “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, even though I liked that song better. I think the biggest reason for the difference in my reaction to the two songs 40 years ago us that “Do They Know It’s Christmas” was first, which made it feel fresh, and perhaps that made “We Are the World” feel like a bit of a retread for me. I was much choosier in what I liked back then, and arguably much harsher in my opinions about pop songs.

I have one particular purely personal memory of the song. A friend and I were discussing it, and he said that it was “ruined” when Brice Springsteen first started singing his part. While neither of us were fans of his, unlike my friend, I quite liked a lot of his songs. The vocal I disliked was Bob Dylan’s first section. Over the next forty years, I eventually liked most of Springsteen’s work, and even bought some of his music, making me not exactly a fan, but certainly “fan adjacent”. However, that wasn’t the case with Dylan’s music. I’ve said many times that my pop music tastes have constantly changed, broadened, and mellowed over the course of my life, but I never said my taste became all-inclusive. Somethings really don’t change.

“We Are the World” (the song) reached Number One in Australia, Canada (3x Platinum), New Zealand (Platinum), the UK (Silver), and also on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, as well as on their “Adult Contemporary”, “Hot Dance/Disco 12 Inch Singles Sales”, and “Hot Black Singles” charts (that last chart name sounds more like an 0900 number from those days…). It was also Number 27 on the Billboard “Mainstream Rock” chart, and reached Number One on the Cash Box “Top Singles” chart. The song was certified 4x Platinum in the USA.

The album We Are the World reached Number 6 in Australia, Number 6 in New Zealand (Platinum), Number 31 the UK, as well as Number One on the “Billboard 200” (3x Platinum). It didn’t chart in Canada.

This series will return May 11 with the next Number One from 1985.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025

Another friend is gone

This morning when I checked Facebook I learned that Tom, a friend I met through podcasting back when I first started, had died during the night my time, while I was asleep. That sort of thing has happened many times over the years, but this time I knew it was coming because we’d been told his cancer journey was nearing its end—but knowing that a loss is coming never makes it any easier, of course.

I met Tom through podcasting, and listened to his podcast, “Ramble Redhead”, that featured interviews of folks who were part of or connected to the LGBTQ+ community. In 2007 he asked to interview me after I started my podcast for that reason (surprisingly, moving to the other side of the globe for love isn’t all that common…). His was the second podcast I was on, after Paul Armstrong’s ArcherRadio. We lost Paul last year.

Tom was also the first podcaster I met in real life, way back in December 2007 when I was in Chicago to tie up a few loose ends. Tom and his partner at the time drove from Indiana to the far Northside of Chicago, where I was staying, so we could meet, have lunch, and hang out. It was an awesome—and unbelievably cold—day. The photo was taken on Northalsted across from the LGBT+ community centre that didn’t exist the last time I’d been in Chicago.

After that, we were often both on Paul’s ArcherRadio group shows, and frequently caught up online, especially on Facebook. He and I were also part of the Pride 48 Network of LGBT and LGBT-friendly podcasts, and we both participated in the live streaming events. Nigel and I always hoped to attend the in-person streaming events, but never got the chance, and so, Nigel never got the chance to meet Tom in real life. However, when I was in Chicago in 2007, we rang Nigel so Tom could say hello, and he spoke with Nigel like they were old friends, even though they’d never spoken before. That was just Tom. A few years later, they were both on shows with me (my own live shows, I think? It was a long time ago…).

Tom was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, radiating positivity and support for others. As the years passed, we didn’t chat online as much as we once did, but even so I could tell how happy he was when he met and married his husband, Roger. Just as I understood what Tom was feeling then, I also understand what Roger will be going through now, and that, too, breaks my heart.

Tom was loved and admired by so many people, especially in the Pride 48 family. He used to end his podcast episodes by saying, “Just remember, a crazy redhead in Indiana loves you.” For so very many people, it was definitely mutual.

Farewell, my friend.

The photo up top is from a January 2008 blog post about my trip to the USA I mentioned above. This post is a revised version of what I posted to my personal Facebook page.