Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

How hot was it? 98 here, 100 in Santa Cruz [California] – Global What the...!! I saw something in the last couple of days that said that North Pacific ocean temperatures were similar to those of the late 1970s, which was the worst El Niño event of the last century. Haven't seen any prediction about Atlantic Hurricane season. Likely worse to come for all. "Fasten your seat belts, kiddies, It's going to be a bumpy night!"

Just saw this: "Adiabatic Winds & Tornadoes." Excerpt:

Fire season started in California, and with it comes all-too-applied atmospheric science. The fires are fanned by the Santa Ana winds, an adiabatic wind created by the geography of southern California, while creating temperature differentials that build up in smoke cyclones and firenadoes.

    Interior temp in my room right now: 81, as it was overnight, no A/C in 1970s Berkeley building. Will you have more whine, sir?

[6:02 p.m.] The National Weather Service has issued a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING for Chapel Hill and Carrboro [North Carolina].
    That means conditions are favorable for a strong thunderstorm to produce dangerously large hail or high winds, capable of causing significant damage, in and close to the affected area.
    The weather service advises people in these areas to be on the lookout for threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible warnings.
    Remain alert for approaching storms.

The Flash Flood Warning remains in effect until 9:30 p.m. EDT for Southern Orange County. At 7:27 pm EDT, emergency management reported flash flooding in southern Orange County [North Carolina]. Up to three inches of rain have already fallen. Flash Flooding is already occurring.

It’s so funny (not in the “haha” sense) that you posted "Ask Susan" about "Moristotle's time of retirement crisis" because recently a friend of mine has hit the same wall. For over a year she has been running a blog that is meant to only take two minutes of reading. After 365 postings, she really just “ran out” of material and her drive to write. I actually felt something like that on the last paper I had to write for the semester.

My inability to make a deadline surely added to the heartburn. Sorry about that.

Dear Classmates, My poor health prevents me from sharing our 50th Reunion with all of you.
    I do hope you all have a great and meaningful time together.

My career has devolved over the last decade into a kind of concentration camp: no nourishment, no freedom, regular abuse, and the fear of being killed any minute. It’s become a kind of Survivor game, or an “extreme” competition. It’s not as if I have great options (although even bad options are options). I could greatly reduce my lifestyle and do something else....

I found yesterday's "Thor" piece Thor-apeutic.

The piece quite reThorrected me.

Love means never having to say you’re Thorry.

Someone, I forget who – either Thomas Merton or George Burns (I’m joking) – said something to the effect that the closer you get to the divine, the more you see her sense of humor.

We need more of these: "Costa Rican Lawyer Roberto Zamorra Crusades for the Right to Peace." Excerpt:

Sometimes it just takes one person with a creative mind to shake up the entire legal system. In the case of Costa Rica, that person is Luis Roberto Zamorra Bolaños, who was just a law student when he challenged the legality of his government’s support for George Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He took the case all the way up to the Costa Rican Supreme Court—and won.
    Today a practicing lawyer, Zamorra at 33 still looks like a wiry college student. And he continues to think outside the box and find creative ways to use the courts to fuel his passion for peace and human rights.
    During my recent visit to Costa Rica, I got a chance to interview this maverick attorney about his past victories, and his brilliant new idea to seek compensation for Iraqis. – Medea Benjamin

While there's no "typical" creative type, highly creative people do tend to take risks.
    Part of doing creative work is taking risks, and many creative types thrive off of taking risks in various aspects of their lives.
    "There is a deep and meaningful connection between risk taking and creativity and it's one that's often overlooked," contributor Steven Kotler wrote in Forbes. "Creativity is the act of making something from nothing. It requires making public those bets first placed by imagination. This is not a job for the timid. Time wasted, reputation tarnished, money not well spent – these are all by-products of creativity gone awry."

What is happening to our neighborhood? There is dog poop everywhere on the green. I took my 2 dogs for a walk this morning and saw the usual piles of poop on the side of the green. But, after picking up my dogs' poop, as I went to put it in the trash can at the dog poop bag station, I had to walk around poop piles that were in front of and next to the trash can. This is unacceptable. PICK UP YOU DOG's POOP. None of us with dogs and/or children want to step in dog poop. It is disgusting for you to let your dog poop and just leave it there. Stop ruining the neighborhood for those of us who care. There is no excuse.

Best quote of any era:

The Budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed, lest Rome will become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance. –Cicero, 55 BC

So, evidently we've learned bugger all over the past 2,069 years.

Quite a clever fella indeed. Incredible and so cute! Definitely no such thing as a dumb animal's here! Enjoy these four minutes:


Limerick of the Week:

A day's been missed, the deed is done,
tomorrow'll be another one;
    a third one more,
    then on to four.
(I'm not counting, just having fun.)

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Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean

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