Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, April 10, 2022
through
Saturday, April 16, 2022
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It’s Saturday, April 16, 2022
Welcome to the 1,413rd consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Raphael’s Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary
Raphael.jpg
Created: circa 1516 date QS:P571,+1516-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902
About Media Viewer
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Commentary
The near 2 billion dollar rescue plan that Biden got passed has contributed to inflation. For sure. No arguing.
But it also led to America’s faster and stronger recovery from the pandemic than most other nations.
And the heightened awareness of our nation of the importance of labor.
And income is rising faster than inflation.
We will tame inflation.
But we will not tame the demands of America’s workers for a higher share of our country’s vast wealth until we accede to them: help with childcare, free universities, erasing student debt, more weekly income, fewer and more flexible working hours.
We’ve already made some progress in many of these areas.
Overall, we are in a period of historic growth and low unemployment.
Joe, keep at it!!
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Screen time
Watching Dune. 2021 version. I like it.
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Wellness
Thursday morning was a good example of me doing well.
I slept for near seven hours (with several bathroom breaks) and,
after my half-sweet roll and coffee,
I had a small plate of lima beans with butter, salt, and pepper.
The penultimate serving from a pound bag of frozen beans I had prepared a few days ago.
This was the first food I had eaten since 2.00pm Wednesday.
A bit longer than my goal of 16 hours no food, 8 hours of eating whenever you want.
For dinner I stuffed 2 tortillas with duck breast with hoisin sauce and with shredded romaine lettuce, scallions, and celery. It was delicious.
I took my first late afternoon walk of the season, albeit somewhat abbreviated.
My writing projects are not going as well.
I’m applying myself but am struggling to find a rhythm.
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Understanding aging
Yesterday I convinced myself I shouldn’t take my second long walk of the day:
the 2nd walk a nice weather habit for me.
Something I love.
Today, not wanting to.
Tired?
Aging?
We’ll see.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
Y'know, you can't please all the people all the time...
and last night, all those people were at my show.
~Mitch Hedberg
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Jim Pasto:
Hi Dom,
I bought a jar of chaotian pepper with olive oil, etc. from the Asian mart near BU. They are really delicious. I mix them with everything. Have you ever tried them? Highly recommended.
Jim
Blog meister responds: I’ve had something similar, I think. A jar of Calabrian peppers. Tiny babies but super spicy.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night I had an absolutely delicious Dry-Aged NY Sirloin.
w Asparagus, Steamed.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
Blooming Newbury St
April 2022
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Short Essay*
Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, also known as Lo Spasimo or Il Spasimo di Sicilia, is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, originally painted on panel around 1514 to 1516 but later transferred to canvas in the 19th century. It depicts Christ carrying the cross to his crucifixion, specifically the moment when he falls and his mother Mary suffers a spasm of agony, known as the Swoon of the Virgin. The painting's emotion is densely crammed into the foreground, and the background is similar to that of a stage set with distant groups of people and crosses. The work was commissioned by the Sicilian monastery of Santa Maria dello Spasimo in Palermo and now hangs in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
Painting credit: Raphael
The panel was commissioned by the Sicilian monastery of Santa Maria dello Spasimo in Palermo. Painted in Rome around 1517, it was shipped by sea, but the ship had a troubled journey and finally sank. This episode was narrated by Vasari:
...As it was being borne by sea to Palermo, a great tempest cast the ship upon a rock, and it was broken to pieces, and the crew lost, and all the cargo, except this picture, which was carried in its case by the sea to Genoa. Here being drawn to shore, it was seen to be a thing divine, and was taken care of, being found uninjured, even the winds and waves in their fury respecting the beauty of such a work.
As the news of this was spread abroad, the Sicilian monks sought to regain the miraculous painting, but they had to ask for the Pope's intercession to retrieve it. It was carried safely to Sicily, and placed in Palermo, where it acquired great fame.
In 1661 the painting was acquired by the Spanish Viceroy Ferrando de Fonseca on behalf of King Philip IV, who wanted it placed on the main altarpiece of the Royal Alcazar of Madrid chapel. Then it stayed in Paris from 1813 to 1822, because it was one of the paintings Napoleon took as booty during his war campaigns, and while there the painting was transferred to canvas, a practice much adopted in France during those times. After Paris, the picture (unlike many) was returned and finally re-integrated into the Spanish royal collections, later transferred to the Prado. Its present condition is not very good, mainly due to its change of support. However, its quality is clearer since cleaning and restoration in 2012.
In the past its status as a work by the hand of Raphael has been disputed, but it is now generally accepted as not merely designed but in large part painted by Raphael himself, no doubt with the usual workshop assistance for the easier areas.
Perhaps by royal commission, in 1674, Juan Carreño de Miranda executed this splendid copy of Raphaels original, which was exposed to the public on the main altar of the Convent of Santa Ana of barefoot Carmelites in Madrid. Carreño, renouncing his own style, much looser and more fluffy, faithfully follows the color, the finished invoice and the precise drawing of the original. It belongs and is at display at The Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Friday, April 15, 2022
Welcome to the 1,412th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Gilbert Godfried
Gilbert Gottfried attends a film screening of Life Animated, the coming-of-age story of Owen Suskind - who has autism - and his journey to adulthood. Photo courtesy of Neil Grabowsky, Montclair Film Festival.
Montclair Film Festival - https://www.flickr.com/photos/montclairfilmfest/26127003433/
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Commentary
Now that the first book is finalized, I will set daily goals for my time.
The blog.
Rewriting the second book.
Submitting to one new agent every day for the next 100 days.
Exercise, lifting and walking.
Eating well.
Social life.
Let’s see how well I do.
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Reading and Writing
I am reading the Confederacy of Dunces for my Granddaughter’s online class.
But for a while, my reading is going to turn to New Adult and Magic Realism.
I just bought the first two books.
The first is the seminal One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the second, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow.
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Screen time
I’m welcoming Monday. Two new episodes of “Better Call Saul” are being run, as the last season of that series begins.
How close will this series merge with “Breaking Bad?”
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Wellness
I’m feeling fine. However, see next.
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Understanding aging
Wednesday was a lovely day for a second walk for me in the afternoon.
With the warm weather coming, these second walks are important to my physical and mental well-being.
Except that today I didn’t feel up to it.
I can give you a million reasons why. Legitimate sounding reasons:
I lifted.
I didn’t sleep well two nights ago.
My backpack was very heavy earlier in the day and wore me out.
Then I think of Lady Gaga and my reasons for not doing it seem hollow.
When I bow down to pray
I try to make the worst seem better
Lord, show me the way
To cut through all his worn out leather
I've got a hundred million reasons to walk away
But baby, I just need one good one, good one
Tell me that you'll be the good one, good one
Baby, I just need one good one to stay
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Chuckles and Thoughts
You know when they have a fishing show on TV?
They catch the fish and then let it go.
They don't want to eat the fish,
they just want to make it late for something.
~Mitch Hedberg
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Jim P: Lovely letter you wrote to Kat and lovely reply. Thank you for sharing. Jim
Blog meister responds: We love our children, don’t we?
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Wednesday and Thursday dinners were satisfying remade leftovers: Wed featured a Sloppy Joe with leftover Italian North End Gravy and Thursday featured leftover roast duck in tortillas with sliced scallions and Romaine lettuce topped with hoisin sauce.
Hoisin sauce is a thick, fragrant sauce commonly used in Cantonese cuisine as a glaze for meat, an addition to stir fry, or as dipping sauce. It is darkly-colored in appearance and sweet and salty in taste. Although regional variants exist, hoisin sauce usually includes soybeans, fennel, red chili peppers, and garlic. Vinegar, five-spice powder and sugar are also commonly added.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
ducklings w face masks during the corona virus epidemic
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Short Essay*
Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. His persona as a comedian featured an exaggerated shrill voice and emphasis on crude humor. His numerous roles in film and television include voicing the parrot Iago in the Aladdin animated films and series, Digit LeBoid in Cyberchase, Kraang Subprime in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the Aflac Duck. He appeared in the critically panned but commercially successful Problem Child in 1990.
Gottfried hosted the podcast Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast (2014–2022), which featured discussions of classic movies and celebrity interviews, most often with veteran actors, comedians, musicians, and comedy writers. The documentary Gilbert (2017) explored his life and career.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Thursday, April 14, 2022
Welcome to the 1,411th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Mitch Hedberg
Picture of Mitch Hedberg
Susan Maljan - Original publication: http://maljan.com/portraits/f4hdw05ilxp4bj3hgs835zgojldt6f Immediate source: http://www.oxygen.ie/mitch-hedberg-a-tribute/
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Commentary
While plans are being put in place for a memorial service for her grandmother, my daughter
Kat started her new job as Press Secretary to State Senator Brad Hoylman. She’s immersed in the daily events of NYC. She totally loves it.
You can read more about him here: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/brad-hoylman/about
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Reading and Writing
I sent my second submission out on Tuesday.
Jerky. It took half the day.
I will smooth out the process.
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Screen time
Monday nights episode of “My Brilliant Friend” was wonderful.
What a great series.
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Wellness
Three nights of good sleep.
One night very bad.
Monday night was very bad, 1.0 hours.
I trudged through the day with difficulty.
Hopefully I’ll sleep well for the next three nights.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
I haven't slept for ten days,
because that would be too long.
~Mitch Hedberg
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from me to my daughter Katherine I’m responding to a call she made informing me of the passing of her grandmother:
My dear girl,
I have the fondest memories of you growing up and defining a very close relationship with your grandmother. You were very young but even so, you made plans to visit, including time and day and transportation to and from. You discussed your plans with your mom. And you never skipped a beat, overcoming all obstacles and visiting them regularly.
And when you couldn’t get there physically, you took the time to speak on the phone with them for hours at a time.
You were a dutiful and loving granddaughter and must look on your relationship with her with great satisfaction. Be sad, yes. For her, for your grandfather, and for yourself, as that bonding is released. But not for anything you failed to do. Nor for the love your shared. You were lucky to have it. Wise to appreciate it.
I’m proud of you.
Love
dad
Blog meister’s daughter responds: The day after thanking me for my email, she sent this:
“I’ve returned to this email many times the past few days. Thank you again.”
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
My roasted duck came out perfectly.
Will be serving it with mashed cauliflower, a green salad, and gravy.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
kat and driver’s license
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Short Essay*
Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 30, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.
Hedberg's comedy and onstage persona gained him a cult following, with audience members sometimes shouting out the punchlines to his jokes before he could finish them. Hedberg died of an accidental multiple-drug overdose in 2005.
*The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Thursday, April 14, 2022
Welcome to the 1,411th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Mitch Hedberg
Picture of Mitch Hedberg
Susan Maljan - Original publication: http://maljan.com/portraits/f4hdw05ilxp4bj3hgs835zgojldt6f Immediate source: http://www.oxygen.ie/mitch-hedberg-a-tribute
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Commentary
While plans are being put in place for a memorial service for her grandmother, my daughter
Kat started her new job as Press Secretary to State Senator Brad Hoylman. She’s immersed in the daily events of NYC. She totally loves it.
You can read more about him here: https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/brad-hoylman/about
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Reading and Writing
I sent my second submission out on Tuesday.
Jerky. It took half the day.
I will smooth out the process.
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Screen time
Monday nights episode of “My Brilliant Friend” was wonderful.
What a great series.
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Wellness
Three nights of good sleep.
One night very bad.
Monday night was very bad, 1.0 hours.
I trudged through the day with difficulty.
Hopefully I’ll sleep well for the next three nights.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
I haven't slept for ten days,
because that would be too long.
~Mitch Hedberg
_____________________________________
Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from me to my daughter Katherine I’m responding to a call she made informing me of the passing of her grandmother:
My dear girl,
I have the fondest memories of you growing up and defining a very close relationship with your grandmother. You were very young but even so, you made plans to visit, including time and day and transportation to and from. You discussed your plans with your mom. And you never skipped a beat, overcoming all obstacles and visiting them regularly.
And when you couldn’t get there physically, you took the time to speak on the phone with them for hours at a time.
You were a dutiful and loving granddaughter and must look on your relationship with her with great satisfaction. Be sad, yes. For her, for your grandfather, and for yourself, as that bonding is released. But not for anything you failed to do. Nor for the love your shared. You were lucky to have it. Wise to appreciate it.
I’m proud of you.
Love
dad
Blog meister’s daughter responds: The day after thanking me for my email, she sent this:
“I’ve returned to this email many times the past few days. Thank you again.”
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
My roasted duck came out perfectly.
Will be serving it with mashed cauliflower, a green salad, and gravy.
____________________________________
Pictures with Captions from our community**
kat and driver’s license
Getting her driver’s license some six years ago was a big event for both Kat and I.
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Short Essay*
Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 30, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.
Hedberg's comedy and onstage persona gained him a cult following, with audience members sometimes shouting out the punchlines to his jokes before he could finish them. Hedberg died of an accidental multiple-drug overdose in 2005.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Welcome to the 1,410th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Charles Fort, 1920
Fort is perhaps the most widely known collector of paranormal stories.
public domain - public domain
Charles Fort 1920
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Commentary
Death comes to all of us.
Yesterday to my daughter’s only living grandmother.
After a lifetime of happy, hard work.
And recently, of great sacrifice.
My daughter was the perfect grandchild, regularly visiting and talking to her grandmother on the telephone.
She’ll be sad. Naturally.
But when you’ve lived well, treated those around you with love and consideration, accepting loss is made easier.
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Reading and Writing
I’ve finished my Query letter and, in humility, I will say that I am very pleased with my work.
It’s a fitting introduction to the manuscript that took me so many years to complete.
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Screen time
Am enjoying Sanditon on PBS Sundays.
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Wellness
After a good night’s sleep, third in a row, I am no longer feeling tired.
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Understanding aging
Legs.
Legs hurt, toes to thighs.
Regularly.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
Wearing a turtleneck is like being strangled by a really weak guy, all day.
Wearing a backpack and a turtleneck is like a weak midget trying to bring you down.
~Mitch Hedberg
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
Several new bloggers have joined us.
Blog meister responds: It's a delight to have them.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night I had an open-faced roasted chicken club.
Pretty messy but delicious.
In the evening I roasted a duck for dinner on Tuesday and beyond.
I also steamed cauliflower to mash with oatmilk instead of mashed potatoes.
Lose nothing to taste but gain enormously in health benefits.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
prep for Boston marathon finish line, April 11, 2022
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Short Essay*
Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.
Notable paranormal beliefs include those that pertain to extrasensory perception (for example, telepathy), spiritualism and the pseudosciences of ghost hunting, cryptozoology, and ufology.
Proposals regarding the paranormal are different from scientific hypotheses or speculations extrapolated from scientific evidence because scientific ideas are grounded in empirical observations and experimental data gained through the scientific method. In contrast, those who argue for the existence of the paranormal explicitly do not base their arguments on empirical evidence but rather on anecdote, testimony, and suspicion. The standard scientific models give the explanation that what appears to be paranormal phenomena is usually a misinterpretation, misunderstanding, or anomalous variation of natural phenomena.
An anecdotal approach to the paranormal involves the collection of stories told about the paranormal.
Charles Fort (1874–1932) is perhaps the best-known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained paranormal experiences, though there were no doubt many more. These notes came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science. From this research Fort wrote seven books, though only four survive: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931) and Wild Talents (1932); one book was written between New Lands and Lo!, but it was abandoned and absorbed into Lo!
Reported events that he collected include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events; falls of frogs, fishes, and inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects; mysterious appearances and disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat). He offered many reports of OOPArts, the abbreviation for "out of place" artefacts: strange items found in unlikely locations. He is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.
Fort is considered by many as the father of modern paranormalism, which is the study of the paranormal.
The magazine Fortean Times continues Charles Fort's approach, regularly reporting anecdotal accounts of the paranormal.
Such anecdotal collections, lacking the reproducibility of empirical evidence, are not amenable to scientific investigation. The anecdotal approach is not a scientific approach to the paranormal because it leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence. Nevertheless, it is a common approach to investigating paranormal phenomena.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Welcome to the 1,409th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Uncanny.
Repliee Q2 is an uncannily lifelike robot, developed by roboticists at Osaka University.
It can mimic such human functions as blinking, breathing and speaking, with the ability to recognize and process speech and touch, and then respond in kind.
Brad Beattie at the English-language Wikipedia
Repliee Q2. Taken at Index Osaka Note: The model of Repliee Q2 is probably same as Repliee Q1expo, Ayako Fujii, announcer of NHK.
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Commentary
These are not happy times.
Democracy around the world is failing.
And the greatest threat to our democracy that America has ever faced, Donald Trump, is alive and well.
I pray that God spares us and takes him soon.
For those Republicans who are empowering him. I say “Shame on you.”
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Reading and Writing
I am reading
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Screen time
I like Sunday’s TV: the Celtics last game of regular season, and
another episode of Sanditon.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
I'm a heroine addict.
I need to have sex with women who have saved someone's life.
~Mitch Hedberg
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Wellness
After one night of an hour’s sleep, the last two nights have been excellent, six hours each.
But that didn’t seem to help me on Sunday afternoon when I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
Strange.
After my second 15 minutes nap, virtually back to back, I checked out covid symptoms.
I typed in: “covid symptoms”
I got back this:
Most common symptoms include:
· Fever
· Dry cough
· Tiredness
Less common symptoms:
· Aches and pains
· Sore throat
· Diarrhea
· Conjunctivitis
· Headache
· Loss of taste or smell
· a rash on skin, or discoloration of fingers or toes
Serious symptoms:
· Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
· Chest pain or pressure
· Loss of speech of movement
So, tiredness way up in top three most common symptoms.
But I don’t have a single other symptom.
I‘ll just keep napping until I don’t need to.
But be alert.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Jim Pasto:
Yes Dom. “Magical Realism’ fits your novels, perfectly.
And I can think of no better words to describe rigatoni and meatballs than ‘magical realism.’
And, later, Jim says, “Rigatoni is my absolute favorite food of all. Truly.”
Blog meister responds: Cute. Very cute, Magical realism and rigatoni. And, yes, I agree. Love, love, love rigatoni. Chewy.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Roast Game Hen for dinner.
Simple with Mashed Cauliflower and Steamed Asparagus for vegetable.
___________________________________
Pictures with Captions from our community**
Blooming Newbury Street
April 10 2022
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Short Essay*
The uncanny is the psychological experience of something as not simply mysterious, but creepy, often in a strangely familiar way. It may describe incidents where a familiar thing or event is encountered in an unsettling, eerie, or taboo context.
Ernst Jentsch set out the concept of the uncanny later elaborated on by Sigmund Freud in his 1919 essay Das Unheimliche, which explores the eeriness of dolls and waxworks.
For Freud, the uncanny locates the strangeness in the ordinary.
Expanding on the idea, psychoanalytic theorist Jacques Lacan wrote that the uncanny places us "in the field where we do not know how to distinguish bad and good, pleasure from displeasure", resulting in an irreducible anxiety that gestures to the Real.
The concept has since been taken up by a variety of thinkers and theorists such as roboticist Masahiro Mori's uncanny valley and Julia Kristeva's concept of abjection.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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It’s Monday, April 11, 2022
Welcome to the 1,408th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
Neil Gaiman
Gaiman in 2013
Kyle Cassidy - By email
Author Neil Gaiman
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Commentary
I’m reexamining the characterization of my manuscript as New Adult/Fantasy.
The New Adult/Fantasy books I am scanning are far removed from what I am writing.
Mostly they read like the pulp fiction they are.
Neil Gaiman. We know him for Coraline, Stardust, American Gods, and Good Omens among others.
His books fall into the genre of Magical Realism.
He is a master at the category.
So I looked it up.
According to Wendy Feris whose analysis is generally accepted by Magical realism novels have five characteristics:
1. An "irreducible" magic which cannot be explained by typical notions of natural law.
My manuscript deals with the religious, so, ‘yes’ to that.
2. A realist description that stresses normal, common, every-day phenomena, which is then revised or "refelt" by the marvelous. Extreme or amplified states of mind or setting are often used to accomplish this. (This distinguishes the genre from pure myth or fantasy.)
The manuscript is set in our New Adult world into which phenomena are introduced. So, ‘yes’ to this.
3. It causes the reader to be drawn between the two views of reality.
The manuscript deals with our reality, God’s true reality, and the Fantasy world of fairies. So ‘yes’ to this as well.
4.These two visions or realms nearly merge or intersect.
Planes of existence in our story definitely intersect. ‘Yes’.
5. Time is both history and the timeless; space is often challenged; identity is broken down at times.
And ‘yes’ to all of these.
My manuscript is New Adult but also Magical Realism.
Important information to give an agent to amplify her snapshot of the manuscript I am pitching.
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Screen time
Saturday night I watched Coraline, a single episode of American Gods, and Stardust to put myself in a Gaiman frame of mind.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
Is a hippopotamus a hippopotamus, or
just a really cool Opotamus?
~Mitch Hedberg
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
The recent emails concern the readiness of the query I’m to send out to agents.
I am waiting one more response
Blog meister responds: On Monday I will find and research my first submission.
Then I will send it out and commence the wait.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
I had leftover Meatballs and Rigatoni.
That is one satisfying meal.
Still a bit of leftovers.
I’ll make a Sloppy Joe dinner later this week.
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Pictures with Captions from our community**
My dear friend Grace, she now from Dallas, in Texas, had our first great conversation since she moved there a year or so ago.
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Short Essay*
Magic realism (also known as magical realism or marvelous realism) is a 20th-century style of fiction and literary genre. The term was influenced by a German painting style of the 1920s given the same name.
As a literary fiction style, magic realism paints a realistic view of the world while also adding magical elements, often dealing with the blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality.
Magical realism, perhaps the most common term, often refers to literature in particular, with magical or supernatural phenomena presented in an otherwise real-world or mundane setting, commonly found in novels and dramatic performances.
Despite including certain magic elements, it is generally considered to be a different genre from fantasy because magical realism uses a substantial amount of realistic detail and employs magical elements to make a point about reality, while fantasy stories are often separated from reality.
Magical realism is often seen as an amalgamation of real and magical elements that produces a more inclusive writing form than either literary realism or fantasy.
The term magic realism is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous, and Matthew Strecher (1999) defines it as "what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe."
The term and its wide definition can often become confused, as many writers are categorized as magical realists.
Irene Guenther (1995) tackles the German roots of the term, and how an earlier magic realist art is related to a later magic realist literature; meanwhile, magical realism is often associated with Latin-American literature especially in Colombia, including founders of the genre, particularly the authors María Luisa Bombal, Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Miguel Ángel Asturias, Elena Garro, Mireya Robles, Rómulo Gallegos and Arturo Uslar Pietri. In English literature, its chief exponents include Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, Alice Hoffman, Nick Joaquin, and Nicola Barker. In Bengali literature, prominent writers of magic realism include Nabarun Bhattacharya, Akhteruzzaman Elias, Shahidul Zahir, Jibanananda Das and Syed Waliullah. In Japanese literature, one of the most important authors of this genre is Haruki Murakami. In Polish literature, magic realism is represented by Olga Tokarczuk, the 2018 Nobel Prize laureate in Literature.
* The Blog Meister selects the topics for the Lead Picture and the Short Essay and then leans heavily or exclusively on Wikipedia to provide the content. The Blog Meister usually edits the entries.
**Pictures with Captions from our community are photos sent in by our blog followers. Feel free to send in yours to domcapossela@hotmail.com
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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It’s Sunday, April 10, 2022
Welcome to the 1,407th consecutive post to the blog
existentialautotrip.com
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Lead Picture*
War of the Worlds
The alien invasion featured in H. G. Wells' 1897 novel The War of the Worlds, as illustrated by Henrique Alvim Corrêa
Henrique Alvim Corrêa - http://monsterbrains.blogspot.com/2015/04/henrique-alvim-correa-war-of-worlds.html , see also: https://fineart.ha.com/itm/paintings/henrique-alvim-correa-brazilian-1876-1910-livre-premier-l-arrivee-des-martiens-from-the-war-of-the-worlds-belgium-edition-/a/5213-71264.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115
Martian Fighting Machine in the Thames Valley, from The War of the Worlds, Belgium edition, 1906 Pencil and ink on paper 12.875 x 10.25 in. (sheet) Not signed Various study sketches verso The War of the Worlds Archive This illustration is featured in Book I: The Coming of the Martians, Chapter XIV: "In London," 1906.
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Commentary
This is a very exciting moment on the way to getting a book published. I am drafting a letter to agents containing the information they communally seek. It requires understanding of the vocabulary of the trade and a willingness to work to get them the information they want.
But by Monday, I should begin sending Query letters out, hoping that I’ll find an agent who likes my work and is willing to represent me to publishers.
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Reading and Writing
I am reading books that might be considered examples of my own manuscript. The idea is to compare current books for marketing purposes.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get,
I'll never be as good as a wall.
~Mitch Hedberg
Wellness
On Thursday night I went to bed at 11.00pm.
I woke at 12.30pm as is typical for me.
Once every five days or so I can’t get back to sleep for the rest of the night.
This was one of those.
I spent 10 minutes in the sauna.
Returned to bed feeling sleepy.
Tossed about for seven minutes and got up.
I took a hot shower.
Returned to bed feeling sleepy.
Tossed for about seven minutes and got up for good.
I made breakfast and by 2.15am I was working on marketing my manuscript.
I worked productively for the entire day.
I qualify as an elite sleeper, this being a relatively new designation for someone like me.
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
or text to 617.852.7192
This from Colleen G:
Hey Dom,
It's been a while since I pestered you with my thoughts. The world is awakening fast and furiously, but it's good--keeps me off the streets:)
I hope you are well and I just had to push myself into your inbox briefly when I saw you "true crime" information because in these serious times with so much to mourn and feel overwhelmed with my mind seems to seek out a laugh or a bit of comedy wherever it can be found. Like a pig hunting truffles--I have my nose to the ground and will dig out the most humble of opportunities to laugh. Needless to say I always enjoy your humor quotes.
Anyway--I'll get to the point. ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING!!! If you have not seen or heard of that show--hear about it now. If you have heard of it and just not gotten around to watching it, this is a strong suggestion--nearly as strong as my suggestion that you read Gentleman in Moscow, but for completely different reason. Where that book was everything literary and beautiful, a written masterpiece in a more serious (and yet humorous at times) sense, Only Murders in the Building is the perfect antidote to today's world. Two greats: Steve Martin and Martin Short. I LOVE those two and that certainly goes a ways in my loving this series (which I believe is on Hulu). I am not a fan of Selina Gomez, but what I don't like about her and her demeanor is actually perfect for the role she plays in this comedy/mystery show. If you are not hooked immediately, which I do not believe I was, keep watching. Truly the writing is hilarious and the characters are wonderful and it was a serious I was so sad to see end. If you saw the movie, KNIVES OUT, this is along similar lines in pitch perfect comedy writing and just such a wonderful escape from this world, but while being contemporary within this world's setting and time period. It also helps that while there seemed to be an increasing amount of foul language in the later episodes, it is not something you will feel guilty about or that will make you grieve humanity, like say Game of Thrones or Succession, etc. It is not a soul sucker.
It is a twelve thumbs up for me and I am counting down the days until the next season starts. The last episode will likely make you laugh out loud and is a perfect finale.
I hope you'll find it and watch it, but savor it because you'll be sorry if you binge watch that. Good comedic mysteries only come around so often, so enjoy it.
That's it for now.
Cheers,
Colleen:)
Blog meister responds: Watched it on your recommendation. As you promised, I did enjoy it. Thanks, Colleen.
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Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday I did takeout from Fuji in High St. Place.
It’s a convenient location, it’s reasonably priced, and it’s good.
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Community Photos**
Boston Marathon preparations, 4/8/2022
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Short Essay*
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to sci-fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. It has been called the "literature of ideas", and it often explores the potential consequences of scientific, social, and technological innovations.
Science fiction can trace its roots back to ancient mythology, and is related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction, and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers.
Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has become popular and influential over much of the world, and it is also often said to inspire a "sense of wonder". Besides providing entertainment, it can also criticize present-day society and explore