Day: January 7, 2024

Sunday Poser — Online Privacy

Fandango8 Comments

For today’s Sunday Poser, Sadje wants to know…

How careful you are regarding your online security? Do you share details on your blog? Do you think we should share pictures, etc. on our blogs?

I’ve had my online identity stolen twice. Maybe three times. I can’t remember now. I didn’t suffer any huge financial losses, but I had to cancel all of my credits cards and get new ones with new numbers. I had to deal with all kinds of vendors and financial institutions to straighten things out, and, of course, I had to change all of my passwords. So it was a lot of time and effort to recover each time it happened.

That is the main reason I blog anonymously. I want to try to protect my real-world identity to the extent possible. On my blog, people know that I’m an old fart who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, that I’m married, have two kids, two grandkids, and a dog. Also, I’m an atheist, a liberal Democrat, and I’m retired. I suppose, for people who read my blog regularly, there are other details of my like that could be gleaned from what I write and post on my blog.

But you won’t read my real name or see photos of me, my wife, my kids, or my grandkids on my blog. I don’t share precise birthdays, ages, Zip Codes, or other specific details on my blog. What others do on their blogs is their business, not mine.

All this said, I’m not naive enough to think that if someone wanted bad enough to find my real identity, they couldn’t. Of course they could. But why? I’m not famous, I’m not wealthy, I’m just your average Fandango.

JusJoJan — Curiouser and Curiouser!

Fandango34 Comments

Linda G. Hill is once again sponsoring her JusJoJan daily prompt for 2024. Today’s word is “curious.” It was suggested by Dan Antion, who resides here.

What I’m curious about is why more people don’t see Donald Trump for who he is.

On January 23, 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump stated, during a campaign rally in Iowa, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Trump was saying that he could commit cold-blooded murder, a felony, and not be held accountable — at least not by his supporters. He was saying, in essence, that he is above the law.

Now, as he campaigns for president once again, Trump is telling us of his plans for his presidency, should he win. And his plans are extra-constitutional if not outright unconstitutional. He is essentially warning us that he his going to dismantle the American democracy in favor of an autocracy where he is the autocrat at the top.

I’m curious why those Republicans and conservatives who care about democracy in America seem not to care that Donald Trump is out to destroy it. At least that is what he is telling us.

And as Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

MLMM Friday Faithfuls — Cats (and Dogs)

Fandango7 Comments

For this week’s Mindlovemysery Menagerie Friday Faithfuls challenge, Jim is asking us to write anything about cats. The picture above is our cat. Or was our cat. He passed almost two years ago.

For most of my life I had dogs and was definitely not a cat person. But then in 2007, my wife brought a cat into our lives and I fell in love. Sadly, our cat passed away in January 2022, fourteen months after we lost our dog in November 2020. Now we are back, after having rescued a dog in March 2022, to having just a dog as a pet. I love our dog, but I really do miss our cat. And I can tell you first hand that as a pet owner, when it comes to dogs and cats, it doesn’t have to be an either or situation.

In the years that we had both a dog and a cat they were fine together, keeping one another company and living in a sort of peaceful coexistence.

I’ve previously posted this, but for any of you who are considering getting either a dog or a cat (or both), I have itemized, in no particular order or priority, the twenty most important factors you should consider when making your decision.

1. Dogs can be trained quickly, some in a matter of minutes, to obey basic commands like “come,” “sit,” and “stay.” Cats are difficult, if not impossible, to train to respond to directives.

2. Dogs take a long time to housebreak and some never quite get all the way there. Cats can be house-trained in an instant as long as they have access to a litter box; there’s no training to it. It’s instinctive.

3. Dogs will sit, lie down, and heel on command. Cats will smirk and walk away.

4. Dogs come when you call them. Cats take a message and get back to you when they are good and ready.

5. Dogs will give you unconditional love forever. Cats tolerate you as long as you feed them.

6. Dogs will tilt their heads and listen whenever you talk. Cats will yawn and close their eyes.

7. Dogs wag their tails when they are happy to see you. Cats wag their tails when they are stalking prey and are about to pounce, even if you happen to be their prey.

8. Dogs will bark to wake you up if the house is on fire. Cats will quietly sneak out the back door.

9. Dogs will bring you your slippers or the daily newspaper. Cats might bring you a dead mouse.

10. Dogs lick you. Cats scratch you.

11. Dogs will greet you and lick your face when you come home from work. Cats will ignore you because you had the nerve to leave them alone while you went out.

12. Angry dogs will snarl and growl. Angry cats will hiss and spit…and growl.

13. Dogs will play Frisbee or fetch with you all afternoon. Cats will take a three-hour nap.

14. Dogs love to go for rides in the car and will happily sit on the seat next to you. Cats hate to go for rides in the car and have to have their own private carrier or they will not go at all.

15. Dogs need you to take them outside and walk them multiple times a day, and they don’t care how hot, cold, rainy, or snowy it is outside or how miserable you are. Cats don’t ever need to be walked, but they also don’t care how miserable you are.

16. Dogs like to be comforted by you when they’re sick or injured. Cats just want you to leave them alone.

17. Dogs can be a comfort to you when you’re sick or injured. Cats just want you to leave them alone.

18. Dogs are social beings. They want to be with their pack, even if “their pack” is your family. Cats are solitary by comparison and their primary attachment is to their territory rather than to other two or four-legged animals.

19. Dogs claws are always extended and become blunt from constant contact with the ground when they walk. Cats have retractable claws that stay sharp because they are protected inside the toes. You’ll want to stay out of the way from cats’ claws. Seriously, stay clear of their claws!

20. A dog’s memory is only about five minutes long. Cats can remember for up to 16 hours…although it seems like they never forget that one time you forgot to feed them.

And most important of all, a dog looks at you and thinks to himself, “You feed me, you shelter me, you love me. YOU must be God!” A cat looks at you and thinks to himself, “You feed me, you shelter me, you love me. I must be God!”

I conclude with the old adage that Jim also mentioned: dogs have owners, cats have staff.

Song Lyric Sunday — Hat’s Off

Fandango9 Comments

For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has asked us to find a song that mentions clothing accessories suggested by Christine of Stine Writing and Miniatures. Assuming a hat is a clothing accessory, I’m featuring Del Shannon’s classic song, “Hats off to Larry.”

“Hats Off to Larry” was written and sung by Del Shannon, which he released as a single in 1961. The song spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 5. This was his follow-up to his hit “Runaway.”

In the song, Shannon is heartbroken when his girl leaves him for another guy. But then he learns his ex has been dumped by her new beau and he’s willing to take her back, but not before he tips his hat to Larry for giving her a taste of her own medicine. He sings, “Now it’s your turn to cry-cry-cry now that Larry’s said goodbye to you.”

The song’s slow intro features Shannon woefully explaining the details of his breakup before he launches into an upbeat rock and roll number, reflecting his joy over his ex’s comeuppance. His label, Bigtop, thought a fast-paced intro would be better to hook listeners, but Shannon was adamant. He said he had to fight for about two hours to get that the way he wanted it. “They didn’t want to listen to me,” he complained. “I was just the singer.”

Shortly after “Runaway” hit it big, Shannon made his major stage debut at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, where he shared the bill — and his dressing room — with Dion, who had a pair of number 1 hits that year with “Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer.” Shannon claims to have written “Hats Off To Larry” in the dressing room that night with Dion and fellow rock ‘n’ roller Bobby Vee present.

Here are the lyrics to “Hats Off to Larry.”

Once I had a pretty girl
Her name it doesn't matter
She went away with another guy
Now he won't even look at her

Hats off to Larry, he broke your heart
Just like you broke mine
When you said we must part
He told you lies
Now it's your turn to cry, cry, cry
Now that Larry said goodbye to you

I know this may sound strange
I want you back, I think you'll change
But there's one more thing I gotta say

Hats off to Larry, it may sound cruel
But you laughed at me
When you said we were through
You told me lies
Now it's your turn to cry, cry, cry
Now that Larry said goodbye to you

Hats off to Larry, it may sound cruel
But you laughed at me
When you said we were through
You told me lies
Now it's your turn to cry, cry, cry
Now that Larry said goodbye to you
To you, to you

FOWC with Fandango — Endearing

Fandango11 Comments
FOWC

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 “Endearing.”

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.