Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 13 Feb 25 - 07:22 PM Maybe I am wrong about this, but there are things about the current US situation that remind me of Brexit, of all things. I've been talking with one of my friends about this, my friend sees things a little more clearly than I do. He has pointed out that one outcome of current decisions and directions is to put the US in a state of isolation in the world. And Brexit has had an isolating effect, to be sure, upon the UK. I have a new appreciation for the British mudcatters and the circumstances that went out of control for them. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 07 Feb 25 - 04:53 PM Sorry about the news triggers, Mrrzy, but glad that you got off the meds in one piece. Keep on keeping on. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Feb 25 - 04:04 PM For even the most robustly healthy among us these are the times that will try Keep your head down and stay healthy, and when you do come up for air, make it matter. Write a letter, send an email, make a call, and count that is the thing that you can do for the day that will contribute to making a difference. Pace yourself. I have worked out diet and supplements that help me feel better, and that includes the limit of one alcohol per day if at all. This is not the time to deploy crutches. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 07 Feb 25 - 02:23 PM Hmmm. Noticing a lot of free-floating anxiety running around behind my sternum, and my shrink just came down with the flu... I was going to tell him about it this afternoon. Dad was working for USAID when he was killed. Not reading the news much these days. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 05 Feb 25 - 07:55 PM I'm back off the meds, at least. Handling the world, mostly. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 02 Feb 25 - 05:12 PM My meds are strictly controlled by the treatment program I'm in. Can't even take vitamins without their say-so. I'm allowed Vitamin D for its impact on depression. I get my meds dispensed to me in a two-week supply, twice a month. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 02 Feb 25 - 11:20 AM I have some of the small pill caddies here, in the bathroom with my morning prescription, and in the kitchen with vitamin supplements. In the last year I've explored what Dr. Daniel Amen calls "nutraceuticals," one I particularly like is derived from green tea. Because things are as dramatically stressed these days I got out another small caddy and put the daily recommended dose (with food) of a couple of those so I don't lose track and overdo. Even with those things you want to pace yourself. And in the next four years, we'll be pacing ourselves mightily. (Hopefully in two years we can put the brakes on the worst damage by flipping the house and the senate). All of this because alcohol is too destructive a product to use to self-medicate. #StayAfloat indeed. Not awash. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Donuel Date: 02 Feb 25 - 10:38 AM I must say I am not being entirely satirical that you are here today because of thousands to near-impossible-infinite miracles. Some you can remember but most are secret. It's just accidental you are not an egret. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Helen Date: 01 Feb 25 - 05:51 PM OMG. What a freaky coincidence! "You don't know this music!" Our amateur Irish/Celtic music session group has been together for over 40 years and in the last few years we have had two new members who have put the music out of sync, mainly because they don't actually like Irish and Celtic music, and they don't "get" (i.e. understand) the rhythms and feel of the different types of Irish and Celtic tunes and try to impose their musical conceptions onto the tunes to the point of ruining the actual tunes. My plea for them to rethink their understanding of the music has been, "You don't 'get' this music!" A small few of us have broken away from the main group and started a more caring and sharing group, with good communication and negotiation, and an appreciation and understanding of the music we like to play. I created a little motto: Music COALESCES. Creating (an) Open Active Learning Environment. Social, Cooperative, Enhancing Skills. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 01 Feb 25 - 02:54 PM Lip-synching by the illiterate bass? He does more than lip-sync. Sometimes he listens to the melody in the soprano section and sings it an octave or two down. Other times, He listens to that other bass, the literate one, then follows him. Literally follows, vocally, so he is a split second late. And the bass section is divided between those who follow the literate bass and those who follow the equally loud illiterate one. It makes the bass section rhythm really sloppy, and the director has to call the men out several times in the course of a schedule of rehearsals. I've known the director, during the rehearsal, to look the illiterate bass in the eye and say, in front of the group, "You don't know this music!" Calmly, he says it, but it gets said. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Helen Date: 01 Feb 25 - 01:38 PM keberoxu, I agree: "From the First Nations standpoint, the world has been out of balance ever since the European colonists showed up in this hemisphere." And for the southern hemisphere as well. SRS, I've done the same. I started wearing an old Amnesty International t-shirt in the week of Invasion Day (aka Australia Day). I'll have to get some more relevant t-shirts. Also for a number of years, to commemorate First Nations people who served in the military but were not fully recognised compared with white people, I have crocheted Remembrance Day poppies in the Oz First Nations style, black over red with a yellow circle in the middle Australian Aboriginal flag. So I have pinned one of those poppies on my shirt every day during the week of Invasion Day. I have noticed that the black, red and yellow are in some of the US First Nations symbols too. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 01 Feb 25 - 12:43 PM Lots of atheist shirts, for that reason. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 30 Jan 25 - 03:01 PM I've refreshed my t-shirt collection with messages from the Alt NPS folks, from the Planetary Society, and from the Internet Archive. I'll have to see if the ACLU has shirts also. It's a small thing, but it's out there when I'm at the gym or in the store, and on occasion someone pauses and steps back to comment "great shirt." Message delivered. We need to not hide these interests when the boogeyman is in office. The only time I don't wear a message t-shirt is when I'm at work or giving a tour at the museum. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: The Sandman Date: 30 Jan 25 - 01:53 PM Trump and Greenland is ridiculous, he seems to want to have europe as an enemy |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 30 Jan 25 - 01:33 PM Helen's post reminds me of Koyaanisquatsi, or however you spell it. It means world out of balance, and it's the name of a film from maybe twenty or twenty-five years ago. The word comes from an indigenous language. From the First Nations standpoint, the world has been out of balance ever since the European colonists showed up in this hemisphere. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Helen Date: 30 Jan 25 - 12:30 AM Yes, anything could happen in the next four years. The world might be back on its correct axis again. Wouldn't that be lovely! :-) |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 29 Jan 25 - 11:59 PM Mine has to be renewed in 2026, but who knows what the state of the US government will be by then. Nothing remarkable on it so probably no difficulty. If yours is good until 2029 or later you might not have a problem. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 29 Jan 25 - 03:27 PM My passport already has X as gender. It hasn't been rescinded yet but I bet it'll be bloody difficult to renew, being personae non gratae and all that. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 27 Jan 25 - 12:44 PM Yesterday a group of four friends, all former university employees, came over for lunch. In the group disabilities are represented and there are members of the LGBTQ population, and we were verbally tripping over each other in the pleasure of being able to freely vent and share ideas about moving forward in this most recent Trump era. Our lives are all fairly stable, but we fear for friends and family and are planning how to help them and how to be politically engaged (without getting doxxed by the MAGA crowd). Stay safe, everyone. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 21 Jan 25 - 11:29 AM Might be a big circle! I hope the new space accommodates it. Staying afloat in the US just got more difficult. King Donald wants to take apart the social public and private network. I guess he hasn't taken a drive down the main drags in many American cities now to see how many homeless are already out there (largely due to the extra funding that came about during COVID not being renewed by the GOP congress last term.) |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 20 Jan 25 - 11:52 AM Sing in a circle facing away from each other, was the covid-era advice |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 14 Jan 25 - 03:22 PM We think the publicity did it, we work hard at getting the word out locally. What I so often hear is that someone attends a concert, likes what they see and hear, and then joins the group. It's only too true about contagious illness and choral singing. A lot of us are taking our chances doing this. Especially now the rehearsal room is getting so crowded. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 14 Jan 25 - 02:58 PM That's good news - what do you suppose sparked the interest in all of these new participants? Good publicity about the program, or did all of them decide they needed to get out more and this is their chosen activity? Either way, it is good news. I hope everyone goes in healthy and all are vaccinated to the eyeballs to avoid spreading colds, flu, Covid, RSV, etc. in those crowded quarters. Singing is one of the activities most likely to spread contagious stuff. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 13 Jan 25 - 08:53 PM Indeed! |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 12 Jan 25 - 07:40 PM Another chorus rehearsal tomorrow evening. The chorus has a happy problem: there are so many new people that there is hardly enough space for everyone in the rehearsal room. Actually our director is beating the bushes in town for a different place to rehearse that won't cost the earth. But too many people is a fortunate problem to have, far better than too few. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 10 Jan 25 - 06:58 PM So, Kipling in Vermont, I looked it up, quick and dirty-like. The Vermont sojourn had to do with Kipling's marriage; his in-laws lived there. A brother-in-law ruined the whole experience and Kipling left, but not before he and his wife had two daughters born to them there. If you saw "My Boy Jack" on public television, you know about John Kipling, the son. This latter was born later, in England, after the Kiplings fled from Vermont. That said, the Kipling house is still there and is held in trust, with furnishings of the period. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 10 Jan 25 - 04:33 PM Mrrzy, He was, but it was a really weird time. Helen, that is most likely. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Helen Date: 10 Jan 25 - 03:36 PM No, I don't think the keto diet was the culprit, but the person on the diet might have been using supplements and meal replacements while on the diet, and they were the culprits. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 10 Jan 25 - 11:04 AM I had no idea that Kipling had been in Vermont. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Jan 25 - 06:37 PM Good point, Helen. The named item in supplements often have something else for a synergistic effect, like Vitamin C with a side of Vitamin D3, or Omega 3 and Vitamin A, etc. I've just looked at my supplement bottles - the calcium, Vitamin D3 and B12 are directed by my doctor, all OTC versions. The few that I take manage to give me near the recommended amounts, though I get about 350% of the D3, and the B12 bottle tells me that 5000 mcg is (!) 208333% of my daily requirement. The magnesium I take has inactive ingredients including glycerin. If it isn't made from bones then it is vegetable glycerin (made from coconut) that I avoid. Nothing on the bottle makes vegan claims so I will assume it is beef not coconut sourced. In your article she talks about being on the Keto diet - that in and of itself shouldn't be a culprit. How she gets her protein (via processed foods versus simple meat, egg, dairy sources) is probably the problem. I avoid most processed foods, and stopped taking iron because I'm eating more meat these days, keeping beef to about once a week. We would get more Omega 3s from various meats if they were grassfed, and chances are most of mine isn't, so I take an Omega 3 fish oil supplement. (Animals fed grain to fatten them end up with more Omega 6 from the grain.) Staying afloat - starting up a new 12-pocket folder for organizing bills and printouts of payments, receipts, etc. Tidying accounts, looking to see if there are new features I can be using. Taking a clue from all of the folks having to race from their homes in California and making sure the one file box that I would take with me if I had to evacuate is complete. I live in tornado alley on a creek next to a bunch of woods - it isn't inconceivable. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Helen Date: 07 Jan 25 - 01:56 PM Hi all, I hope you had a good silly season. Happy New Year! I caught a bit of a news item yesterday about Vitamin B6 toxicity caused by taking too much B6 so I searched for an ABC (Oz) News article and found this one from a couple of years ago. High levels of vitamin B6 in supplements, weight-loss products can cause toxicity, chronic illness It appears that the resulting symptoms are not picked up by many medical professionals. This article also mentions a woman who was on the keto diet, including taking various supplements and taking meal replacement shakes to lose weight and she started having some very worrying symptoms. It took a long time, and a lot of medical consultations before one of the medical professionals suggested checking her blood and found a toxic level of Vitamin B6. I just thought it might be worth checking out, especially if anyone here is taking vitamin supplements, or other foods or drinks which include Vitamin B6, and which might increase the risk of excessive Vitamin B6 total intake. FYI, I take a Magnesium supplement with other vitamins for leg cramps which includes Vitamin B6, and now and then I take a multi vitamin, but usually not even once a week. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 04 Jan 25 - 01:59 PM The license plate tags have been delivered, complete with sticker. It took something like ten weeks for the order to be processed and delivered, but now they are here. Big sigh of relief. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Donuel Date: 04 Jan 25 - 11:11 AM Moving to where idyllic village life in Green Mountains that enhance privacy and visitors is desired, I would choose Vermont. It is where Robert Frost, Rudyard Kipling, Sinclair Lewis and other authors built homes. It holds the open secret of other authors' residences. If you choose this road less traveled it may make all the difference. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 31 Dec 24 - 12:06 PM Indeed, keb! |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 30 Dec 24 - 03:32 PM Mrrzy, grand that things are more stable with your meds. Here in New England, we've had enough precipitation in this county that we have had our status changed from severe drought to moderate drought. So much for staying afloat . . . |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 29 Dec 24 - 01:54 PM 65° here today, Fahrenheit... We are titrating down on the meds. Much better. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 25 Dec 24 - 06:11 PM Where I'm staying, we had a combination Christmas/Hanukkah dinner, complete with singing around the menorah. A good time was had by all, even if the apple crisp could have been a little better. (besides, there's chocolate candy around) |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 22 Dec 24 - 03:29 PM Winter solstice and no turning back, not even for the weather. It is bitterly cold outside and there is a coating of snow on the ground. The choral concert was a success, although it was difficult to warm up the church sanctuary for the concert with the subfreezing temperatures outside. Still we had good attendance and the audience received us warmly. Now we get a couple of weeks off, until it's time to rehearse for concerts in the New Year. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 20 Dec 24 - 06:44 PM We are getting thick powdery snow overnight. Just in time for tomorrow's choral Christmas concert, a fresh coating of white snow on the landscape. And it is to be bitterly cold, single digits Fahrenheit. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 18 Dec 24 - 11:58 PM I put the faucet cover back over the back yard spigot after doing some work this week that required a hose. We haven't quite actually had a real freeze yet; the basil is still green in the pots on the driveway side of the house though some of the sweet potato vines have slumped from the cold. Odd weather this fall. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 18 Dec 24 - 09:25 PM And now we're having a steady soaking rain, which is needed. of course, it may freeze overnight ... |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 18 Dec 24 - 05:42 PM It snowed for 10 mn one day, lovely |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 16 Dec 24 - 03:14 PM Two choral concerts down, one to go. We've had two snowstorms here, and each was followed by a warming period that melted all the snow. This melting is happening now, after a few inches of snow last night. At least we are getting some precipitation, the rain is badly needed as we are in the severe drought category. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 10 Dec 24 - 07:16 PM Well, I now have the title to my new[er] car. All i need now are the replacement license plates, until then there is a paper license tag in the rear window. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Donuel Date: 10 Dec 24 - 06:50 AM Keb, your observations of Nov. 30 assume that other people do things according to your own motivations and thoughts. This is a normal bias, but it does not reflect reality very well. For example, if you assume an extraterrestrial has the same motivations and thoughts as we do, you would probably be misled. The same bias happens when looking at another unusual culture. It is practically a miracle, like falling in love when communication works perfectly. When friends are different species the bonds seem extra special like a man and dog, a gorilla and a kitten or a horse and its goat friend. No the world does not share our thoughts such as What the world needs now is love sweet love no not just for one but for everyone... peace on earth, good will to men. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 09 Dec 24 - 08:30 PM Keb, totz fun! Normal, for Main St... |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 08 Dec 24 - 04:45 PM The TODAY show has been and gone a couple of days now. I was passing by when they were shooting, and heard this huge cheer by all the people in front of the cameras. Lucky for them, the weather cooperated, good conditions. Today is the last day of the Norman Rockwell act, tomorrow Main Street will be back to normal. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Mrrzy Date: 05 Dec 24 - 04:10 PM Now lemme tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachussetts. -Arlo Guthrie, somewhere in Alice's Restaurant |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: Stilly River Sage Date: 04 Dec 24 - 07:27 PM Keb, I like your observations of Nov. 30. Good post. |
Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't From: keberoxu Date: 04 Dec 24 - 06:08 PM I'm staying in the town of Stockbridge which is about to have the Today show descend upon Main Street. It's about recreating a scene from Norman Rockwell. I'm doing my best to stay clear of the whole shoot. |