Day: March 27, 2022

Who Won The Week — 03/27/22

Fandango17 Comments

The idea behind Who Won the Week is to give you the opportunity to select who (or what) you think “won” this past week. Your selection can be anyone or anything — politicians, celebrities, athletes, authors, bloggers, your friends or family members, books, movies, TV shows, businesses, organizations, whatever.

If you want to participate, write your own post designating who you think won the week and why you think they deserve your nod. Then link back to this post and tag you post with FWWTW.

This week’s Who Won the Week Winner is Ketanji Brown Jackson, an American attorney and jurist who has served as a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 2021. She is a current nominee for the Supreme Court, awaiting confirmation in the Senate.

This week, the U.S. Senate’s Judiciary Committee held hearings for her nomination and from the GOP perspective, it’s been a totally absurd, partisan shitshow. Judge Jackson is perhaps one of the most qualified, competent Supreme Court nominees in decades, certainly way more qualified than either Brett Kavanaugh or Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s last two nominees and now SCOTUS justices.

And Judge Jackson, given the ultra-partisan hatchet job the Republican senators on the committee attempted, comported herself with dignity and grace. I’m not going to go into all the gory details about how the Republican senators embarrassed themselves with their ludicrous cross examination. You can Google it if you want to. Or better yet, read this excellent post from fellow blogger Jill Dennison.

If When confirmed, Judge Jackson will not only have more experience than four of the current Supreme Court justices combined, she will also be the first and only justice with experiences as a public defender. So Ketanji Brown Jackson is, without hesitation, my designation for this week’s Who Won the Week.

What about you? Who (or what) do you think won the week?

Sadje’s Sunday Poser — Real Life

Fandango6 Comments

Real life always takes priority. Blogging is a hobby, a pastime. I love blogging, but I can’t sacrifice real life commitments in order to pursue a hobby.

For example, over the past three weeks, I have missed posting a bunch of posts that combine multiple daily prompts because of the reality of adopting a dog, which has some behavioral problems. She requires a lot of our time and attention, and that has limited my time to read and comment on other bloggers’ posts, and to write my own. And it will probably continue to dampen my blogging productivity until we get her — and us — fully trained.

In another example, yesterday was our son’s 40th birthday, and my wife and I hosted a party for him at our house for a dozen people, including him, his wife, and our two young grandchildren. Our daughter and her significant other, our daughter-in-law’s parents, her brother, and his significant other joined the celebration and cookout, so I wasn’t spending much time in the blogosphere most of yesterday.

So, to answer Sadje’s question directly, when real life takes me away from blogging, as much as I love and am admittedly addicted to it, I manage just fine.

Written for Sadje’s Sunday Poser.

E.M.’s Sunday Ramble Prompt — Finish My Sentence

Fandango7 Comments

It’s time once again for E.M. Kingston’s The Sunday Ramble. Her prompt is based upon a certain topic about which she asks five questions. We are invited to ramble on about that topic however we wish. Today’s topic is “Finish My Sentence.”

1. The greatest feeling in the world is when I:

Fall asleep the instant my head hits the pillow.

2. The one thing that I misplace more than anything are my:

Eyeglasses.

3. When I am stressed out, the one item/person/thing that always makes me get back to feeling okay is:

4. When I am sick, the only thing I want is:

5. Whenever I feel like I am procrastinating, I fix it by:

Adding the task to my to-do list and committing to getting a round tuit tomorrow.

Song Lyric Sunday — The Things You Think

Fandango9 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams is leveraging Paula Light’s suggested topics for songs about gray matter: Mind, Think, or Brain. I happen to be a big Steely Dan fan, so it was a no brainer (get it?) for me to select “Reelin’ in the Years.”

“Reelin’ In the Years” was a song by jazz/rock band Steely Dan, released as the second single from their 1972 album, Can’t Buy a Thrill. It reached number 11 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, and features Fagen on vocals. This song is one of the most popular Steely Dan songs.

It’s about recalling times with a girlfriend and a romantic breakup. In the song, the lead singer is having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that his long-time girlfriend has found another man, and complains that “you wouldn’t even know a diamond / If you held it in your hand / The things you think are precious / I can’t understand.”

The song is also famous for a memorable guitar solo credited to a guest musician. Elliot Randall. Randall, who was not a member of Steely Dan, stopped by while they were recording this and ended up playing the guitar solo. Randall’s guitar solo earned high praise from Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. According to Classic Rock magazine (January 1999), Page has said it is his favorite guitar solo of all time. And in 2016, Randall’s solo was ranked the 40th best guitar solo of all time by the readers of Guitar World magazine.

Here are the lyrics to “Reelin’ in the Years.”

Your everlasting summer 
You can see it fading fast 
So you grab a piece of something 
That you think is gonna last 
But you wouldn't know a diamond 
If you held it in your hand 
The things you think are precious 
I can't understand 

Are you reelin' in the years 
Stowin' away the time 
Are you gatherin' up the tears 
Have you had enough of mine 

Are you reelin' in the years 
Stowin' away the time 
Are you gatherin' up the tears 
Have you had enough of mine 

You been tellin' me you're a genius 
Since you were seventeen 
In all the time I've known you 
I still don't know what you mean 
The weekend at the college 
Didn't turn out like you planned 
The things that pass for knowledge 
I can't understand 

Are you reelin' in the years 
Stowin' away the time 
Are you gatherin' up the tears 
Have you had enough of mine 

Are you reelin' in the years 
Stowin' away the time 
Are you gatherin' up the tears 
Have you had enough of mine 

I spend a lot of money 
And I spent a lot of time 
The trip we made in Hollywood 
Is etched upon my mind 
After all the things we've done and seen 
You find another man 
The things you think are useless 
I can't understand 

Are you reelin' in the years 
Stowin' away the time 
Are you gatherin' up the tears 
Have you had enough of mine 

Are you reelin' in the years 
Stowin' away the time 
Are you gatherin' up the tears 
Have you had enough of mine

FOWC with Fandango — Irascible

Fandango14 Comments
FOWC

It’s March 27, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).

Today’s word is “irascible.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.