The June Bugs Me Edition

Slightly Past Summer Solstice 2024

I don’t know why this never occurred to me before — but we get all ramped up for the (official) start of summer, whereupon the days immediately begin getting… shorter? I mean, I realize the length of the days themselves don’t change, just the amount of sunlight contained within two spins of the analog wall clock. But still.

The usual summary of my monthly output is listed below. Reviewing it — I was amazed that, in the span of barely 30 days, we witnessed:

• Trump using his Memorial Day Truth Social post to rail against his various trials and those conducting them — while never once mentioning the soldiers who gave their lives to the service of our country.

• Him subsequently becoming a convicted felon.

• His claim that death by electrocution from a sinking battery-powered boat (which he said couldn’t float in the first place) was preferable to being eaten by a shark. (Sidebar: I don’t think Trump is capable of floating, either.)

• His appearance on a debate stage to spout nothing but lies for 90 minutes — with the NY Times (among others) calling for only his opponent to drop out of the race. (I guess he *is* capable of floating.)

As I write this, we are expecting to hear from the SCOTUS (motto: “Justice For Sale”) on Monday, July 1st (unless it leaks over the weekend) regarding Trump’s claims of absolute presidential immunity.

Sometimes the days just seem longer…

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Let’s get the political content outta the way:

Crestfallen Soldiers (May 28, 2024)

Here it is — verbatim.

Trump denies making the “losers” and “suckers” statements, despite his own Chief of Staff (well, one of ‘em) going on the record to confirm it. During the debate, he somehow answered a question regarding childcare with a rant about how he should have fired John Kelly.

Felon All Right (May 31, 2024)

Will he have to trade his blue suit for an orange one?

The “Democrat” jury Trump railed against after the verdict was, he may not have recalled, vetted by his own attorneys.

Becoming Unmoored (June 11, 2024)

Does this man ever even get near the water?

Trump’s claims since his uncle was an MIT professor, he is also MIT-smart via genetics. Back in the day, I thought about applying to Princeton — so I guess that conveys Ivy League status on me, right?

Old Man / Bad Man (June 28, 2024)

This led to a bizarre exchange between the candidates regarding their alleged golf handicaps.

There is no question this debate was a horrendous moment for Joe Biden. But why it isn’t being touted as equally horrendous for Trump — who barely spoke a word that was true, misrepresented his record, downplayed January 6, made outlandish claims about abortion, etc. etc. etc. — is mind-boggling. But, y’know — he sounded vigorous, so…

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OK, enough of that — let’s move on to the (allegedly) non-political output:

Parlance: A Lot (June 1, 2024)

He was much better-looking pre-moustache.

Another in my series of askew interpretations of pearls of wisdom.

Advice and Content (June 8, 2024)

Of course, no one writes actual letters anymore…

Let me offer you some advice: most of the time, just nod your head politely and then disregard my counsel.

Double Down on This Single (June 12, 2024)

This song — great as it is — is more than the sum of its parts. Click on the image to hear it!

This was an unexpected and welcome change of pace for me — conducting an interview with one of my musical idols upon the release of his latest single. I also had the pleasure a few years ago of writing liner notes for one of Richard’s CDs, “Incognito.” I highly recommend listening to this new tune as well as all of his previous output.

Up above I mentioned something about “(allegedly) non-political output” — besides being a great piece of pop craftsmanship, the lyrics to this tune provide a subtle yet pointed reflection regarding a certain return candidate for high office. But that’s Richard’s output, not mine. As another former White House occupant once garbled, “[F]ool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.” Here’s hoping we won’t.

Trunk Show (June 13, 2024)

One of my attempts at generating an AI image that came out mostly resembling the prompt I submitted.

My attempt at bringing innovative scientific research down to the five-year-old level. So I can understand it.

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I shouldn’t wrap up this newsletter without mentioning Carol and I celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary on June 7. We are still largely on speaking terms, so I’d call this marriage a success!

Thanks for reading and please share if you are so inclined.

Peace out,

JB