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 A blog of no uncertain musings. What goes on in my mind is often a source of wonder to me. |
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My mind and my life are wondrous things ... as are yours, I'm sure. I have more slips of paper and pages of notebooks with musings and thoughts than I really know what to do with. Someone, actually several someones, have suggested I start a blog ... or a journal as a means of focusing some of this mental energy. To be honest, I don't even know what the difference between a 'journal' and 'blog' is--or if there even is a difference. Read on, my friends, and you can judge for yourself whether it even matters. And so ....  I'm JACE. Yep ... that's me! And somewhere in all my writings my last name may be posted. But I'll just leave it at Jace for right now. I'm 71 years old and heading full tilt to 72. It's strange that while I'm going through some rather serious medical issues, I still consider myself to be in the prime of my life--pretty good shape physically AND mentally, though I don't run for competition anymore  . I love to ... dang, if I put this stuff here, I won't have anything for my blog.Guess you just have to be patient until such stuff leaks out.  Perhaps 2026, having embraced my retirement, will see more participation in my journaling efforts. Well, one can hope.... |
| I'm finding it particularly difficult to get started here today. Somehow I missed writing an entry here yesterday, though I did comment on another member's blog to satisfy my Blog requirement. It's not writer's block--a topic that's being discussed over at theWriting.Com General Discussion forum. I have more than enough subjects about which to write. I just don't feel like it. Here's something: did you notice the link I just used? At the risk of stealing the StoryMaster's thunder, there's a new link available for displaying item links. It's called Simple. Double click on a link and you'll open a window called Edit Element, which displays the Element Type, the Element ID #, and a Preview. You can find a complete list of available links under Element Type with Simple being the second link. It's my new favorite link! In the meantime ... 7 ... Tribute is today's genre and the 90th one on this remarkable reviewing journey. |
| Last night, I finished watching a 2-hour PBS documentary, "The Making of the American Revolution," which detailed the making of the six-part, 12-hour documentary series about the American Revolution. The series, written by historian Geoffrey Ward and directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt, took almost ten years to make, involving thousands of man-hours accumulating first-person accounts (diaries), artwork and portraits, and maps from the period. Additionally, more than 200 hours of video footage on historical reenactments and the terrain where many of the battles took place along with drone footage and mapping animation were all edited into the final series. As a person with a keen interest in history, particularly the American Revolution and the Civil War, I watched "The American Revolution" series when it first came out last year. Despite the complaints by some about bias in the making of the series, I found the series and the subsequent release of "The Making of the American Revolution" very compelling. I was going to include a personal PSA about the apparent and appalling direction our country is taking currently, but ... oh wait, sorry. I will encourage both "The Making of the American Revolution" and the series, "The American Revolution." Both are fascinating, and worth your time. |
| We're expecting sunny skies and 76 degs today in south-central Missouri. I was informed last night, we're taking Jeanette's l'il Mazda Miata convertible out for a day trip to somewhere in Missouri. I don't know where yet. So, I'm about getting my daily five completed before departing. Catch you tomorrow. |
| Since I'm on a run with blog entries, I thought I'd update my genre reviewing journey. Today's genre is Thriller/Suspense, of which there are almost 7800 items under the Browse By Genre listings. After this review, I'll have ten genres remaining. This reviewing endeavor has been very rewarding, in more ways than just a few gift points. Each of the 85 reviews completed to date has been with 85 different members. Before beginning the each review, I peek into their Port. It's been an interesting activity. Off to the daily races. |
Like Jim  , I also visited my Oncologist on Monday. It was a routine six-month followup of CT scans, bloodwork and a chat with my doctor about the results. Well, the scan results weren't ready at meeting time, but the bloodwork results were in and were fine. Kidney function was a bit down, but expected with only one remaining. I see more water in my future.My wife was more upset that the scan results were not available before we left for home. She worries so much more than I about these things. As for me? What happens, happens. My Oncologist's staff nurse called with the results yesterday. They found a 5mm nodule on my lower left lung and they scheduled a Chest CT scan in early May. When I told my wife, she asked why wasn't the scan being done tomorrow. Yep, concerned. While they didn't actually tell me why the wait, I suspect they want to see if the nodule grows any in two months. So, it's back to the daily WDC grind. Perhaps I better up my memoir writing.  |
| It's March 2nd ... and Day three of a "war in Iran that we didn't start," according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. There's a reason all those old Western movie shoot-outs begin with the bad guys drawing first--the good guys are not the aggressor. Secretary of State Marco Rubio would have us believe that the US needed to strike first because Netanyahu of Israel told us he was going to bomb Iran. Thus, we had to strike first because surely Iran would retaliate against us. Bulls***! So , now the panic has started. Yesterday after a four-hour, round-trip drive to visit my Oncologist at the VA for my six-month scan, bloodwork and, hopefully, routine visit, I had to fill up my car. Within 24 hours of our incompetent government starting a war in the Middle East, gas prices jumped up 60 cents to $2.90 per gallon. You can't tell me that all the gas stations in south-central Missouri (and elsewhere, I'm sure) had all run out of gas and re-filled their tanks with the limited, higher cost gas coming out of the Middle East already. And what about American production? As a pending hurricane or blizzard causes panic with the populace raiding grocery and hardware stores stocking up with supplies to ride the storm out, gas prices jumped more than 20% in 24 hours. What next? Of course, the American public (and the world) doesn't know because President Trump and his administration aren't telling us what the plan is. We receive conflicting information (when it comes at all) from various cabinet members: "We didn't start this war." We certainly did; we bombed selected targets in Iran, including the leadership of Iran, killing, if the numbers are to be believed, up to 48 members of the leadership. "We didn't start this war." Defense Secretary Hegseth said this to the American people after the US bombed targets across Iran and killed many of its leadership. First. Without verifiable provocation. "Iran posed an imminent threat to America." The administration said the Iran regime was planning to strike America first and create a mass casualty situation. Turns out we actually had no such intelligence. Besides, didn't we eliminate Iran's nuclear capability last June when we bombed Iran the first time? "We will not have American boots on the ground." President Trump said last night this situation may now last up to four or five weeks. Do you believe we will prosecute this war from afar? Oh wait, Netanyahu, who has been trying to get an American president to bomb Iran for years, finally found one dumb enough to do just that. So, the US started a war in the Middle East with only one ally in tow--Israel, without a serious plan to prosecute such a war, without even getting Americans in the region out of the way before bombing, without considering how the Iranian people would react, and without any exit strategy what-so-ever. Did we start a war? Consider this. If someone bombed the United States, killed our people and its leadership without provocation, would we consider that an act of war? You betcha! As Iran throws drones and missiles at pretty much every country (eleven at last count) in the Middle East, that's a sure fire sign that we haven't stopped their will to fight. Meanwhile, tighten your purse strings. This ain't going away anytime soon. Costs are going up. |
| I admit it! I didn't watch all one hour, forty-eight minutes of the State Of The Union (SOTU) address last night. I mean there's only so much abuse one's mind can accept. I applaud those who watched the entire debacle. I'm pretty sure the forty-five minutes I watched could have be placed on a loop and a viewer would have seen nothing new. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said in an interview after the SOTU that a Democratic victory in the mid-term elections would in effect mark the end of the Donald J. Trump presidency. While I will embrace that potential result, I fear the "scorched earth" policy sure to happen among what powers the President and his Cabinet are sure to seize and implement. More than they're doing currently. Permit me to unpack a few of the president's untruths: Gas Prices: He said: Prices are "now below $2.30 per gallon in most states, and in some places below $1.99." Reality: As of Feb 24, only four states--Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi and Kansas--had a statewide average gasoline cost at or below $2.50, with Oklahoma at $2.37. According to Gas Buddy only five of 150,000 stations had a price of $1.99. Grocery Prices: He said: Costs are down, including several grocery prices, like beef." Reality: Costs are up across the board. Some grocery costs, like orange juice are up 30%, beef up 15%, coffee up almost 20%, and frozen fish up almost 9%. Food prices are expected to rise in 2025 by 3.3-3.4%, more than last year. Medicare: He said: "I will always protect Medicare and Medicaid." Reality: His 'Big Beautiful Bill' stripped away funding to Medicare, resulting in some 14 million people losing healthcare coverage. Millions more have seen their healthcare coverage costs double or more. Rural hospitals have closed because they have no funding. In truth, I'm relying on the fact-checking of other agencies with these figures. Some of them I looked up online; some of these prices I've seen first-hand, such as gas and groceries. Yesterday alone, I saw gas prices here jump from $2.35 to $2.69 per gallon ... in ONE DAY. And that was in an area from Lebanon to Springfield, MO. Not just 5 or 10 cents. Prices certainly don't come back down by 35 cents a day. Now I can't say that the prices jumped like this because of the SOTU address. But I can't think of any one thing that happened to cause such a jump. Oh, wait a minute--how about the US seizing oil tankers from Venezuela. Or, staging a military force in the Middle East at a level not seen since the Gulf War in 2003. Or, watching the European Union and Canada shut the US out of any trade deals by finding alternate sources. Or, the President throwing a fit because the Supreme Court stuck down his tariffs as a tax on the people, resulting in him imposing 15% tariffs on global imports to the US. (Note: he actually reduced that to 10% today.) Guess who's going to see a reduction in the items we get from abroad, and an increase in cost of those items we get? Until about 2015, I considered myself a Republican. I didn't agree with every tenet of the Republican Party. But I embraced most of them. But there was something about Donald J. Trump I didn't quite believe. Perhaps it was his TV show. He didn't come across as 'presidential.' Not then, and certainly not now. Color my kids very surprised when I voted Democrat. Lately, I've seen some spine in some of the Republican congressional members. Not as many as I'd like to see. But it gives me hope that the Republican party may still exist. The party as it exists now is a non-starter for me. Frankly, the political future of the US looks rather bleak to me. |
The Quills! Didn't Jeff Whoo Hoo!  and his band of helpers (I'll have to see if I can find who they are) do a fabulous job with that activity.I found myself nominated for one category: Best Reviewer. I didn't win; that honor went to Tiggy  . I've read a few of her reviews and she deserved the win. But I was stunned to learn I received the 2025 Quills Lifetime Achievement Award. ("Note: [Image #2333341] AND THE AWARD GOES TO....."). I'd never won any Quills award before. I can't honestly say I've been nominated before. As far as I can remember anyhow. Thank You to those who nominated me and voted for me. I'll always cherish this award. |
| Today will be genre number 70 of the 96 genres on the Browse By Genre list for my current reviewing activity. Regional! That's today's genre. Before I open the listings to select which item to review, I like to guess how many items will be displayed. I'm surprised more often than not. Which means I don't have a great track record for guessing. Today's guess was under 1000--601 is that magic number of Regional listings. One bit of data I wish now I'd added to my Genre Review Spreadsheet was how many items I've reviewed used all three available genre settings. All I know for sure is not every person uses all three. As I update my own Port (and individual items), I find I'm guilty of the same--failing to use all three settings. I'm changing that now. It should be obvious. Using all three genre settings places your story or poem on three different listings. Use a little ingenuity and you can find more places to showcase your item, such as "The Shameless "Plug" Page" , or find a reviewer off the Most Credited Reviewer list and request a review (provided that person's Review Requests is ON). I'm off to complete my Regional review. |
| It's raining here today. First rain in a very long time. Rain is good--it means the weather is WARMER. Plus, listening to the rain falling is a great way to wake up. Just lying in bed, hearing the drops hitting the window is soothing. Not enough to put me back to sleep, but it does let my mind wander. It's Valentine's Day. While Jeanette and I don't really celebrate this date, we will be heading out for dinner at her church where the youth host a Valentine's Day fund-raising dinner. They cook dinner (likely spaghetti and fixings), decorate the Fellowship Hall, serve the dinners, and clean up. We've attended for at least ten years now, truly enjoying the pampered feeling we get while allowing us to give a little back to the youth group. It's amazing to watch the kids growing up, some of whom are now acting as chaperons of the event. And I opened WDC this morning to find an insightful and in-depth review of my Portfolio by Annette  for her writing activity "26 Paychecks " . Nothing picks up your spirits better than receiving a frank, honest, and meaningful appraisal of your efforts to appeal to the member masses on this awesome site. I've been revising my Port over the past week as part of my goals outlined in this year's "Dear Me " letter. I still have a ways to go, including little gifts sprinkled throughout, so stay tuned. And thanks again, Annette.Now I'm off to complete today's fifth and final daily activity--a review of a random item with Pets as a cited genre by an author I've not reviewed on this review journey. Yesterday I completed my 64th genre, in order, as listed under Browse By Genre. Two-thirds of my way through, I have 32 genres, about one month, left to review. And, I'm okay with the rain lasting all day. |
| Today is the 61st day (out of 96) on my Genre Review Quest (see "Genre Reviewing" }} for background), featuring the Opinion genre. I believe many of us think that an opinion should be rooted in fact. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, that's not necessarily the case. The first two definitions offered are: 1. A view, judgment, or appraisal formed in the mind about a particular matter. But, as most of us can read in social media, in the news, and in conversations between two people meeting on the street, opinion is often couched in emotion.2. Belief stronger than impression and less strong than positive knowledge. Under Browse By Genre, listings with Opinion as a genre number more than 8100 items. My problem was trying to decide which item to review. I do love essays, which seems to include the Opinion genre. I'm reminded by the old quip: "Opinions are like a**holes; everyone has one." And because of that, I resist efforts to draw me into discussions (read, arguments) on social media. Anyway, this first journey of genre reviews will go another month or so. More to come. |
| Did anyone watch the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics last night? It was a most impressive show! Kudos to the Italian Olympic Committee, and the choreographer for the show, and to all those who participated. The ceremony took place at San Siro Stadium in Milan. Additionally, there was a simultaneous ceremony in Cortina d'Ampezzo, featuring the lighting of two Olympic cauldrons: one in Milan and another in Cortina. By the way, announcers mentioned San Siro Stadium holds 80,000 plus people, and it was packed. What a sight to see thousands of phone screens waving in the darkness. I've always loved watching the Winter Olympics. If I had a chance to attend the Winter versus the Summer, I'd bust out the jacket and long johns. This will be my first Olympics while being retired. No scheduled appointments for the next two weeks, so the time difference should not present a problem for watching the events. Cross Country skiing events, Bobsledding and the Luge are my favorites. What are your favorite events? |
| I went into town earlier than normal today as I decided to stop by the car wash first and relieve my poor car of its dingy gray coating of salt, sand and grime courtesy of our recent winter storm to its picturesque maroon color. Those of you in the north country know regular winter car washes are essential to preserving one's paint job and alleviating undercarriage rust. I suppose one winter storm will not destroy my car. But, the wash helps my peace of mind. Now I sit at the local coffee shop doing my daily five. Four items completed and then I got sidetracked--I get distracted very easily. For some reason, cleaning up my Portfolio seemed like a good thing to do rather than my daily review. What a storm that's become. That cleanup is long overdue and one of my "Dear Me" goals. I suppose writing that goal down placed it firmly in my mind, and I thought, 'This shouldn't take too long.' Ha! Four hundred-fifty plus items, including more than 60 folders, groups and forums, should have been a sign. I just spent about two hours nursing my mocha, and barely dented what I was hoping to accomplish. Anyone else in the process of organizing your Portfolio? Any tips? Other than scrapping the idea, that is. I have fewer than half the number of items a Premium membership allows. I can't imagine what a Port with close to a thousand items will look like. I just hope the final organization allows the growth I'll need based on my stated goals this year. I better get that review done. Busy times a-coming. |
| I finished January having accomplished my three major goals for the month. 1. I finished and submitted my "Dear Me" letter with just seven hours remaining. No. 2 capped a rather successful year of reviewing with seven Top-10 rankings on that list. Those medical issues I had from Jan to April put a real dent in my participation on WDC. And No. 3 was (and still is) a most rewarding journey. So far I've reviewed 51 items (since mid-December) for each genre from Action/Adventure to Melodrama, for 51 different authors. Forty-five to go.2. I ended the month as the #1 Most Credited Reviewer for December. 3. I submitted a review each day on my Genre Review quest to write a daily review of each of the 96 genres recognized by WDC, in order, with all reviews of a different author. I covered from Dark to Melodrama during January. So, new month, and the dang temperature is still in the single digits. We have at least two more months before warmer times ... with a few exception, of course. But, my laptop is in a warm room, and I made a fresh gallon of sweet iced tea, decaffeinated per doctor's orders. The latter should last maybe half the month as that dang doctor requires me to drink more water daily. Still, new month! I wish you all the best on whatever writing journey you're embracing. |
| Today, I'm just not feeling it. It's that feeling you don't want to do anything. I'm not sure from where such feelings spring. We're no longer snowed in, so I can get out. I have plenty of topics to work on. And I'm not sick ... in the traditional sense. Just writing these few words is a chore. I keep putting off getting my "Dear Me" letter typed in. Perhaps it's just procrastination taking over. |
| I'm actually proud of myself (as I write this yawning). I woke up at 2:22 am with some thoughts rumbling in my head. I got up (quietly), went to my office and wrote down those thoughts as they came to me. I didn't edit; I just wrote as fast as I could. I haven't read the several pages I filled and I hope I can read my scribbling. I used abbreviations rather liberally so my pen could keep up with my mind. I hope they are apparent to me as I type them into MS-Word. Truth be told, I got back up two more times within minutes of returning to bed as several additional points occurred to me. But I did get everything on paper ... I think. At least I was able to get back to sleep with my mind at ease. I can't tell you how many times I've awoken with some idea or thought in my head, and I didn't get up believing I'd remember it in the morning. I KNOW many of you have done this. Maybe the urge was greater this early morning; maybe I've gotten wiser at recognizing my weak memory. Maybe a bit of both. The sad part is now I have a third major idea penned on paper that needs to be typed in, edited and posted. And with a deadline only three days away, my "Dear Me" letter is one of those ideas. Priorities! They can be such a b***h. |
| Well, though not receiving the full measure the weather folk promised, we did get about six inches of snow. That will suffice my needs for the moment. Those who may not know me, know I complain about the lack of snow here in Missouri. I miss the snow we used to get in Maine. South-central Missouri just doesn't get much snow; but we often get ice. At least this storm, the ice was way south. My daughter lives just south of Dallas and she sent pics of the sleet and ice they receive. Sorry, Val, but you can keep it. That said, now a whine. It's too dang cold to be outside shoveling snow. Usually when we get any snow, the temps are in the teens and 20's. I can bundle up for that. But right now the temp is minus 12 wind chill. And it's supposed to get colder tomorrow. I did try out our leaf-blower on the snow last night. It works great on powder up to about two inches. Beyond that, it tends to blow the top layer which just blows back into my face. Even the path I shoveled to the mailbox is all covered over. It's a good day to get some writing done. |
| Today marks the 40th consecutive day of my reviewing quest to review all 96 genres as recognized by WDC. That also marks 40 different members reviewed. It isn't as hard to find members I've not reviewed on this journey as I thought. I've run the gamut in the cross-section of members from Registered Authors to Senior Moderators. As for the genres, I'm using the list under Browse By Genre. I've had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of where I've been and who I've reviewed. Turns out I shouldn't rely on my memory, even from one day to the next, to remember what I've done. As an update of the most and least used genres to date, I offer the following: Most: Emotional (64,050 items), Experience (36,900), and Fantasy (36,672) I was very surprised at the low number of Genealogy choices. I thought that topic carried broad interest.Least: Genealogy (279 items), Finance (333), and Fashion (427) Today will be one of my favorite genres--History. So, I better get to it. |
| It's been four days since my last entry here. Man, a lot can happen, even overnight, in just one day. (No, I'm not going to list all the headlines. They're probably just depress you. But we did watch the national news last night, particularly the weather report. Apparently, there's some major snow heading across Chicago heading toward the northeast and the Atlantic coast. Some places, like New York, already had major traffic issues, including serious crashes with injuries. What I noticed was the wispy snow-laden clouds that passed quickly across Missouri on the national map. This morning I got up just as some snow started falling here. We don't expect much ... but it sure looks peaceful as the big flakes fall. Our cat doesn't like snow and was waiting by the door to come in. I read just the other day that cats sleep 13-16 hours per day to store energy for prowling. Guess that's what he'll be doing today. He's eaten breakfast, drank some water and is now curled up in a corner. And I've got some writing to do--my daily review (under the Food/Cooking genre), Task 2 for "26 Paychecks " , and my "Dear Me: Official WDC Contest" letter. Busy day ahead. |
| Well, the first round of NFL playoffs are in the books. As a Kansas City Chief's fan, it was a particularly difficult year, especially seeing Mahomes going out with a serious injury in the last weeks of the season. But our demise was foreseen, like small cracks in a dam that eventually give way. Our O-line (offensive line) has been hit or miss for some time. With a no. 9 pick in the Draft this April, it will be our first single-digit pick since a no. 1 pick in 2013 after a 2-14 season. Fact, we've been riding high winning the AFC West Division for the past nine seasons. In fact, since 2010, the Chief's have won ten division titles with the Broncos winning the remaining five. Time to re-build--that's the word teams use after having a down season. Whatever one uses, some changes must be made. With the exception of the Los Angeles Chargers losing to the New England Patriots, every game went the way I hoped. The Chicago Bears, making their first playoffs since 2010, beat the Green Bay Packers. (My daughter loves the Bears, so I have to root for them ... a little); the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the San Francisco 49'ers (had to root against them for that little rout in last year's Super Bowl); and the Houston Texans whipped up on Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburg Steelers. I guess it was nice to see Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills finally pull off a playoff game win on the road. But then Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrows, and Patrick Mahomes were not in the playoffs this year. Allen always plays well in playoff games ... he just can't get that W. With the Chief's out of the picture, it's a toss-up who to root for. My wife is going for the Denver Broncos (that traitor). She says it's to keep the Super Bowl in our division and for her good friend who was a Broncos fan even when we beat them up badly over the years (Shari passed last year). Honestly, I like the Bears (for my daughter), though I think they'll have to bring their defense with them to the game--they gave up the most points of any team in the playoffs and were eighth of 14 teams in offensive scoring. So, Broncos vs Bears in the Super Bowl. Any thoughts? |
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