A Catchy Li’l Tune Begets Big Ideas

Daily writing prompt

Write about your first computer.

View all responses

I have fond memories of taking my very first baby steps into the computing world; yep, way back in May of 1999; all courtesy of my Compaq Presario laptop and Hewlett Packard printer. As an aspiring writer, it made total sense to transition from my ancient low tech typewriter which…

• could rarely keep pace with my turbocharged fingers and runaway imagination
• would always ink stain my fingers during the messy ribbon replacement process

I was impressed by the air of professionalism both devices had added to my (hopefully) humorous very first, ever, writing submission, which I had snailed off to New York City’s Late Show with David Letterman. BTW, I did, initially, get the writing staff’s attention (they auditioned me via their snailed back writing assignments).

However… long sigh… seeing how my life’s other obligations were preventing me from pitching a tent outside the Ed Sullivan Theater I quite easily banished myself into obscurity.

Tho I never really felt the need to go online, my trusty 1675 could also spin my CDs, yet, could not do full justice to a few finicky DVDs. Anyway, it was my off-lining it, exclusively, that accounts for it remaining fully functional / corruption free, to this very day.

Now, IF ONLY I could remember where I stashed my word document password list…

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Assimilate This! ~ Quick Limerick

Daily writing prompt

What technology would you be better off without, why?

View all responses

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It’s not so much the smart / dumb phone revolution, itself, that I’m slamming, here. What’s far more concerning is the obliviousness that this tech, all too frequently, inflicts upon its users. The damage report now follows…

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Beyond the marvel of sinew and bones
Is the sensation of dumb and smart phones
Which users smash up to ears
To deadpan / yak with pals / peers
Are they Tech Zombies or Star Trek Borg drones?

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!
Advertisement

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Resistance Is Futile?

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Ever notice how 21st Century tech has assimilated humanity? AI visages and voices have become so real that they’ve become virtually indistinguishable to that of IQ flesh and blood.

Additionally, it’s not uncommon to witness zombified folks milling… correction… staggering about so-called society with cellphones so squashed to their noggins and devices; so firmly clutched by their twiddling fingered paws that these apparatuses (virtually?) (surgically?) have become attached to them!

It’s all eerily reminiscent of the horrifying scene from Star Trek TNG’s 3rd season ending, The Best of Both Worlds cliffhanger where, with the final seconds rapidly ticking down, we discover how the hive-minded Borg ventriloquists have…

• assimilated the assaulted and abducted Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• violated his body into compliance with their unimaginative image
• dubbed their reborn and rebranded useful idiot: “Locutus of Borg”
• rammed their collective hand up his butt to force mouth motions
• thrown their collective voice so he’d drone, “Resistance Is Futile”
• ordered him to force the Federation to unconditionally surrender

My point being that, ever since the 8 September 1966, birth of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek multiverse, it has been his writers’ art-imitates-life screenplays, which have been showcasing human-unkind’s historical atrocities; warned us how folks who fail to learn from their mistakes are apt to tragically repeat them.

Alas, within our AI and device assimilated world, methinks the situation has flip-flopped into life-imitate-art; a world where corporate monster politicians plagiarize / bastardize futuristic sci-fi scenarios. Essentially they’ve become ventriloquists whose for fun and profit endgame is to prod their assimilated, zombified ventriloquist’s dummies butts till they white flag surrender.

For the truly tech savvy, critical thinkers who remain, we would N-E-V-E-R let ’em mind muck us. Instead, we’d use our devices thoughtfully and sparingly. And, whenever our caller ID red flagged anomalous phone numbers, the degenerate AI generated bots could count on their messages going straight to voice mail; going unanswered, too.

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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A Daily Writing Prompt Glitch

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For the second time, in two days, I’ve been denied access to the specific, Daily Writing Prompt response format, which, in turn, means no links to responses from other members of our vast WordPress community, which, in turn, means no more fun.

What gives? Has anyone else encountered the same problem?

About all this malfunction prompts are my following responses:

• No reply to today’s prompt: Who are your favorite artists?
• No reply to future prompts until WP resolves the problem.
• What little fun online life offers has now reached The End!

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Must We Feel Fealty For Computers?

Rating this catchy ditty (stated in typical, American Bandstand parlance), “I’ll give it an 85, it’s got a good beat and you can dance to it.”

Daily writing prompt

Your life without a computer: what does it look like?

View all responses

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As of this post’s timestamp, it pleases me no end to report that I did spend the first 65% of my life sans computer. Suffice to say, I know, exactly, what it looks like. To bottom line it, this, primarily, essentially, still, real world centered guy feels little fealty toward such tech.

Truth be told, I wouldn’t even own such a device were it not for the fact that real world life has become so codependent with / beholden to online existence. Hell, the ONLY reason I broke down to purchase my first PC (OS Windows 98) was due to my broken down, beyond repair typewriter.

True, the word processor’s versatility immediately wowed me (still does), yet, I possessed neither the interest nor inclination for further involvement with the Internet; THAT IS, until my sister wowed me with one incredible birthday present, an iPod; which…

• instantly necessitated full Interweb’s interaction
• landed me @iTunes to condense my vast library
• hustled web-entangled me off to many other sites
• intrigued me with the prospect of self-publishing
• intro’d / inspired me to join blogging communities
• high schooled me amidst MySpace’s vast frivolity
• matriculated me at the far more grown-up Xanga
• eventually got me up to warp speed @WordPress

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To further flesh out the prose, above, check out the poetry, below…

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Meet real world, Fifties born Thomas, the doubter
Whose bassinet was sans Net, Mac and Router
When web was born, at first, he became flouter
Yet, Net still beckoned; made him a blog shouter
Meet CommonSenseTom, angsty crier and pouter
Town Crier trashing Trump; the Jan 6th jerk / lout-er

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Asks Naïve Joey, “How Cool is THAT?”

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“Utterly uncool!”, Sez I

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I recently happened upon an online “chap” named Joey, “who” went on to gleefully spill his “guts”; to unabashedly boast of individuals, who he “affectionately” referred to as his “founders” (essentially his “mommy” and “daddy”). He gushed onward to relate the tale of his not so immaculate conception (decidedly not in vitro fertilization) and consequent, enter our world, unblessed event; all of which had transpired within a totally antiseptic, clean room sphere.

Joey went on and on and on to, first, fess up how in (virtual) reality, he is aka AI; to, next, “flesh out” his main mission in “life”; namely to, on behalf of his cockamamie creators, relate their advert’s goal; namely, to sell their “baby” “Joey” and his “siblings” to anyone who is willing to blow their dough. As part of his final push, he casually boasts he’s so “real” that he has already, diabolically deceived me (98% of all listeners) that he IS who he IS NOT!

To which alarmed, naysayer I now, most emphatically, counter:

LISTEN UP JOEY… Tho you cannot possibly hear me tell you what I want you to tell ol’ “mom” and “pop”, know this: My red alert klaxons blasting message to them, to humanity, is about to surge across the www where nothing ever dies; where, theoretically, eventually, even your “effing” extended family who conceived you, will be able to catch wind of my decidedly anti-AI rant.

Once-upon-a-time… this flesh and blood human, jumped thru all the right college hoops to became a degreed, professional announcer / voice over actor. As such, time is ripe for me to be calling out… correction… railing out against you / your ilk (on behalf of my ilk) for the following reasons…

• conscience barren “you” have made it even tougher for us sentient, scrupulous beings to secure work in an already overcrowded field.
• your ability to merely ape us; to mouth whatever words ol’ mom and pop put into your “mouth”; to utter whatever message they effing please is both disconcerting and dystopian.

Suppose, with a mere touchpad fingerprint, AI geeks command their illegitimate children to speak on behalf of actual, real world tyrants / tyrant wannabes AND these kiddies wind up snagging crowns for narcissistic, autocratic, fascistic freaks?

Hell, nobody would even need to work up a sweat. And, considering how, within Joey’s advert, he also mentions the availability of 30, distinctive, demographics spanning, human sounding voices; all capable of speaking in 23 tongues, why, all that sh… correction… crap could easily translate out as eventual (inevitable?) worldwide domination.

Needless to say, Joey, there’s NOTHING cool about that!
In other words… mindless / soulless AI Joey… THE END!

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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The Heart of My College Era Stereo

Daily writing prompt

What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?

View all responses

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I’d say that a Fisher 180 Stereo Receiver, soon to turn 50 years old (come its Black Friday 11/23/73 purchase date), certainly does qualify as the oldest thing I still use daily. True, I dare not touch any of its control panel’s switches and knobs (lest I upset their “sweet spots”), HOWEVER, I can live with settling for the only “control” that’s left; the “on-off” power cord, itself.

But oh, the magic that materializes, before my very ears, whenever this tech (aka the heart of my college days’ sound system), is copping its 120 volt jolt buzz; that “wow” moment all courtesy of both hardwired ElectoVoice 13A speakers (purchased on that same bygone Black Friday).

Yep, that component combo’s one-two punch can still kick rock and roll butt with the best of ’em.

Transcending the tech, naturally, are my concurrent, overwhelmingly powerful, sentimental vibes.

How so?

Well, each time a playback component (turntable – cassette deck – even a CD player) interfaces with the 180, I cannot help but flash back to my distant past’s most memorable moments, which had been playing out alongside my fave music of that same bygone era (it’s not hyperbolic to dub such tunes the soundtrack of my life)!

For a better understanding of all that’s rattling about my cranium, how about zoning out with “Static”; a vintage episode from Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone, (air date 03/10/1961), where the protagonist is experiencing similarly nostalgic feelings for his own unique tech (vacuum tubes and all – ha ha). Check out the storyline synopsis plus the star credits / main protagonists particulars…

“A grumpy old man discovers an antique radio that plays programs from his youth — but only for him.”

Stars Dean Jagger and the disembodied
voice of Bob Crane portraying a radio MC;
View outtakes & read Wikipedia rundown

06/18/23 Google Search

This often grumpy old man’s nostalgia,
best summed up: Those were he days!

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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All On Apple’s Watch

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I just managed to WATCH an online advert; one which extols the strong points of owning the Apple WATCH Series 8; italicized, capitalized words to emphasize my main point; namely, how WATCH can be both noun and verb.

Granted, what follows tends to sound a bit paranoid / Orwellian, but, let’s hash out that noun and verb anyway; how it all brings to mind that designing Apple has designed a WATCH to WATCH each wearer; in a way too intimate manner. All in all, this sounds way too damned creepy. Consider how this device can not only track down each wearer’s locale, but also, meticulously record human biorhythms.

I mean WTF could be more intimate and intrusive than a WATCH maintaining a WATCH-ful eye that zeroes in on the menstrual cycle; you know, just to officially document each and every ovulation and (even creepier / alarming) all missed periods / suspected pregnancies.

And you gotta already know that such medical data could really come in handy, once it falls into the wrong hands; aka the current crop of misogynistic, intolerant, stalker, Trumper Republicans; entities renown for being religiously “pro-life”; i.e. ONLY from conception to birth.

Yep, the split second that ol’ umbilical cord gets cut, it’s then high time for these meddlesome bastards (mostly knuckle dragging, crotchety males) to hightail it back (on all fours?) to their man caves.

Indeed, postpartum, these control freaks don’t give a flying F about whether or not hard working mommies and daddies are able to find permanent, full time living wage, benefits included jobs; locate affordable child care facilities; establish a well-fed, good life for their children; ensure humankind winds up with endless generations of well-schooled, critical thinkers who’ll blossum into happy and healthy adulthood; become lifelong, productive citizens within their communities; wind up well-respected up till the very last breath they’ll take.

One would think that pro-lifer legislators / leaders would make it their top priority to usher in and sustain an environmentally, medically, ideologically and socioeconomically sound global community.

Yeah… right… such a realm exists ONLY prior our alarm clocks going off each same old, same old day.

Seeing how my non-invasive Casio Databank 150 WATCH (manufactured and purchased back in 1997) is now telling me it’s high time to round trip this here 3-minute read; regrettably so, we’ll now be exiting this post’s fleetingly, ethereal Nirvana and reentering our ever-present, daily grind Dystopia.

Long blog short, if/when we eventually wind up All On Apple’s Watch, expect a society that’s even more intrusive than it already is; where even non-wearers of this new device, once in close proximity of the wearers, will translate out as the needless tracking of substantial segments of our populace.

Such an existence doth seem reminiscent of some lyrical “sentiments” re an obsessed stalker…

“Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you.”

Gordon Sumner • Every Breath You Take • released by the Police in 1983 [Read All Lyrics Here]
‘

Oh, btw, one last lyrical sentiment…

“Just because you’re paranoid
Don’t mean they’re not after you”

Kurt Cobain • Territorial Pissings • released by Nirvana in 1991 [Read All Lyrics Here]
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Nuff said?

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Be humans Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Clear as a Bell (A.G.)

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Preface: It is quite telling how the posting of these very words got delayed, substantially, by tech woes. Here’s the rub…

I live… no… strike that… I exist within a hard-to-believe-this-is-actually-America, tech dead zone; the Land of the Modem’s “light show”, which defiantly blinks red and videos chronically buffer; The Land of the Landline that’s frequently awash with static.

Obviously, red indicators rarely mean ready and raring to go and, clearly, crackling noises are not especially conducive to Clear as a Bell (as in Alexander Graham) conversations.

Factoring in my past drive thru my hometown, it didn’t take me long to troubleshoot…

Part of the Problem… to spot the non-perpendicular, rotting wooden utility poles, strung out with sagging wires. Even more YIKES-worthy, in one case, with nowhere to re-connect the cable, the overwhelmed line technician merely opted to coil it up; to hang it all up (literally and metaphorically); i.e. head back to punch out the time clock and then head off to happy hour to tie one on.

Even critters are too smart to risk life and limb with this infrastructure. Our feathered friends rarely roost / hang out there (be they buzzards, sparrows, or anything in between). As for our furry friends, no pooch would dare to lift his leg there!

Additional Part of the Problem… My alleged Internet Service Provider has a drastically different idea as to what terminology to loosely assign to their disingenuous I – S – P acronym. To e.g. that…

• I = Inter Net (as in bury)
• S = Service (only the CEO)
• P = Promptly bilk / bill Patsies

Indeed, scant days ago, this Patsy promptly paid the monthly bill they had so promptly sent me; all in good faith; i.e., going on the (overly optimistic) assumption that their recent hefty rate hike would wind up prudently targeting their crumbling infrastructure.

In other words, not to further feather the nest of their CEO, who I’ve aptly dubbed Mister Magpie. And it’s a sure bet we’d never discover Mr. M perched atop any of his crummy cables.

Why Magpie?

As we know, magpie, as defined by the New Oxford American Dictionary, is “a person who chatters idly” and, as for chatter, that means “to talk rapidly or incessantly about trivial matters.”

Yep, all in all, that sums up, yet, one more…

Critical Part of the Problem… namely, we, the bill payer patsies, are dealing with communications specialist cons who can only clearly communicate, to us, concisely, how greedy they’ve been, still are, and shall remain forever.

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Be people Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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Streams, Currents and Eddies

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To both paraphrase and “weave” my slight web enhancement into astronomer and author Carl Sagan’s timeless wisdom…

Both books and blogs, like seeds, can lie dormant for lengthy stretches and then flower where and when least expected.

Upon awakening yesterday morn, I discovered such a phenomenon via a WP pingback notification. WOW! Some of my own thoughts, sown nearly six long years ago, had actually taken root and bloomed; all courtesy of a previously unknown (to me) www denizen, who had deemed my content link-worthy; to whom I now extend my undying gratitude.

Such a pingback also solidifies one of my beliefs; namely, that once we channel our sentiments thru the vast www’s streams, currents, eddies, etc., they ripple endlessly. Indeed, courtesy of screenshots and the copy / paste function; or perhaps even via “mere” word of mouth, what we have to say may endure forevermore.

Stated more colloquially…

“They say nothing ever really dies on the Internet!”

They

Hence, in a sense…

We, who www share our intellectual property, just might achieve intellectual immorality.

Well… unless, later today, ignoranuses [sic] opt to launch and instantly lose WW-III.
Well… until ol’ Sol, in its Red Giant death throes, incinerates Earth in 5 Billion years.
Uh… whichever comes first…

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Be people Vaxxed OR Unvaxxed, We
can still shed and spread the batcrap
crazy contagious coronavirus which,
in turn, spawns new variants; which,
in turn, could, eventually, render the
available vaccines worthless; which,
in turn, will drag out the pandemic’s
needless suffering, illness and death!

HENCE… this easy as pie, cover your
nose and pie-hole/hole-up heads-up:

Stay Publicly / Properly Masked!
Stay Safe at Home!
Stay Healthy!

-30-

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