Thoughts

I’m Done…For Now

Posted on

I have been blogging since 2009, when I was living in Texas. WordPress used to be a great place blog. The format used to be really easy to use. That is not true, today. They have shoved the block editor down our throats. In order to keep the classic editor, you have to pay extra money. Even worse, if you want to tweak the settings on your (legacy) theme, you have to upgrade and pay more for that, to get the plug-in that returns your theme back to normal and not “blocks.” I’m tired of this crap. Don’t even get me started on what they have done to the Reader.

This isn’t fun, anymore. I have paid for another year, last month. My history will remain, until the money runs out. WordPress will, ultimately, delete a good portion of blog posts…unless you keep paying, in perpetuity. There is a graveyard of abandoned blogs all over WordPress. Besides my blog posts, I have a library of data from a, now, deceased psychic, Chris Thomas. I would encourage you to read his data, watch the videos and listen to the phone interviews. I also have a documentary on him. If you want to see it, I can provide a link but, it is copyrighted material and you can’t share it.

That’s about it. It’s so much easier to post pictures and talk to people on X (Twitter). WordPress has worn out its welcome with me. I have been hassled enough and I have paid enough. IF things change, I might return but…I doubt it.

I’m done. Goodbye.

~Vic

Of WordPress, Gallbladders & Twitter (X)

Posted on

Hmmm…where to start… After a long absence, I am returning to my blog. WordPress Happiness Engineers have lost their freaking minds. I still operate in the “Classic” editor. I will NEVER use that nightmare of a “block” editor.

Susan Holt Simpson Unsplash
Susan Simpson @ Unsplash

Suddenly, I have these strange, white squares and a “Plus New” symbol.

Screen Capture
Screen Capture

Here is a better link…
SnipBoard Image

I have also had to adjust my Admin Interface Style in General Settings. WP-Admin in the Classic style does not support the “Add New Post” drop-down I need to get to the Classic Editor. I can only get it in Default style. Can things get MORE confusing, here??? I SO miss the days when WordPress was EASY to use. Now, it is a giant PITA. I spent an hour trying to get a “Happiness Engineer” to explain to me WHY everything is so jacked-up. Has anyone noticed how screwed up the Reader is?

I have been gone so long that, I am having to re-learn how to blog. With all the changes, I am struggling to deal with this insane labyrinth. My absence has been due to my Significant Other needing assistance on a grand scale…and me, still battling my gallbladder. He is improving and I am…slowly.

In July of last year, I joined Twitter (X). Bastion of free speech, they said. Everyone has a voice, they said. Right. At the moment, I have been locked out of my account for six days. Want to know why? I apparently threatened YouTube with the word collapse. Musk stated in a post that he was building a YouTube alternative. It sounded good to me. I reposted his announcement and all I said was “@YouTube, you censor too much. I hope you collapse.” Bells went off, sirens started wailing in the distance and blood began to weep from the walls of my house. I was told that I had used violent speech. How in the AF could I possibly be a threat to YouTube??? *facepalm* I am supposed to be freed from my bird cage in a few hours. SMDH. I will continue to lurk, read & share my blog posts but, there won’t be any other engagement. It’s better than FakeBook, which I left years ago. I do still use Messenger.

Later…~Vic

Independence Day 2023

Posted on Updated on

As I sit here and watch the Twilight Zone 4th of July marathon and listen to the fireworks going off in the neighborhood, I was thinking about July 4 posts I had made, previously. There is one…my hissing rant from 2020. I was some kind of pissed off. It’s three years later, now and the world is still insane but, the reckoning has started. ~Vic

Holidays & Observances Image
Image Credit: Holidays & Observances

POTD: Dead Tree

Posted on Updated on

Yeah. It’s a dead tree but, it seems like a nice artistic piece. The owner finally took it down about two months, ago. ~Vic

Dead Tree Art
11-11-2019
Click for a larger view.

Picture of the Day

VOTD: Lost Bees

Posted on

I had no idea you could move bees without making them sleepy. ~Vic

Video of the Day

Cinco De Mayo 2023

Posted on

Cinco De Mayo Image
Image Credit: newsd.in

Yes, I have been gone for a while. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my blog. Sometimes, I love posting and other times, I get aggravated with it. WordPress function does not help the issue.

I have had some health issues but, they are largely subsiding. A change in diet has helped, greatly. I have been blogging since 2009 and abandoned my blog for four years, re-starting in June of 2018. I did a lot of blogging when I was living in Texas and my blog had a different name.

I didn’t celebrate Cinco, today but, noticed that many did. I hope everyone had a good time. At the moment, I am sipping on some wine and watching some really weird movies on Cinemax. I hope everyone has a lovely Cinco Evening/Friday Night. ~Vic

The UK Number Ones Blog Favorite Single: Atomic (Blondie) 1980

Posted on Updated on

Discogs Blondie Atomic Image One
Image Credit: Discogs

Stewart at UK#1s Blog asked his followers which UK #1 song was their favorite. There were so many to choose from but, I am a kid/young teen of the late 70s, early 80s and this was a no-brainer for me. This is, hands down, my favorite Blondie song. Just as a side note, my second choice was Cathy’s Clown by The Everly Brothers.

Released on February 23, 1980, Atomic was the ninth track on side two of the album Eat to the Beat, Blondie’s fourth album, produced by Mike Chapman. Written by Debbie Harry and Jimmy Destri, it was the third single released and the band’s third #1 in the UK Singles Chart. A rock, disco and new wave fusion, Atomic is described as “a cool, electronic enhanced dance number (PDF). Debbie Harry’s laidback vocals blend into the musical wood work.”

Atomic‘, which featured King Crimson‘s Robert Fripp on guitar and Ellie Greenwich on backing vocals, was lyrically meaningless and was described in Record Mirror as ‘vapid and irritating…the best thing about this single is the live [cover] version of David Bowie‘s ‘Heroes‘ on the B-side (12″ UK single).’ “Jimmy Destri wrote this song…” Debbie claimed. “He was trying to do something like ‘Heart of Glass‘ and, then, somehow or another, we gave it the spaghetti western treatment. Before that, it was just lying there like a lox. The lyrics, well, a lot of the time, I would write while the band were just playing the song and trying to figure it out. I would just be kind of scatting along with them and I would start going ‘Oooooooh, your hair is beautiful‘.”

1000 UK #1 Hits
Jon Kutner & Spencer Leigh
May 26, 2010
Page 452

Atomic didn’t do as well in the US. It only made it to #39 on Billboard’s Hot 100, debuting on May 17, 1980 and peaking on July 5, 1980. It may be ‘lyrically meaningless’ but, it is certainly not vapid and irritating. It has a great beat and an energy that is hard to deny. Debbie’s vocals do, indeed, blend well with the ‘musical wood work.’ The single Call Me from American Gigolo had an instrumental version on the B-side and Debbie did some vocal blending with that, too.

The late Gia Carangi was dancing in the video.

POTD: New Year’s Eve 2022

Posted on Updated on

Arkansas River @ Liar's Lodge
Liar’s Lodge (Web Archive)
Buena Vista, CO
Christmastime 2008
Click for a larger view.

This was my view from the backdoor of our room. The lodge backed up to the Arkansas River. It was a wonderful place to vacation for Christmas and New Year’s. Sadly, the lodge had to close, permanently, due to the Plandemic/Scamdemic. It’s heartbreaking. And, as far as I am concerned, good riddance to 2022. I have hopes that 2023 will be better but…it’s not likely. I will be raising a glass of bubbly to the awakening of humanity. ~Vic

Quick edit…this is a companion piece to Walsenburg.

From October 2014

From May 2015

POTD: Cypress

Posted on Updated on

This is a Cypress of some sort but, it is definitely a Chamaecyparis. Pl@ntNet can’t really pinpoint the exact species. It seems to think it is a Lawsoniana. The picture on Wikipedia isn’t helpful, either. ~Vic

Cypress Image
02-13-2020
Click for a larger view.

Picture of the Day

VOTD: Do You Believe?

Posted on Updated on

I picked this up from another blog. I loved The Conjuring franchise movies. Were Ed & Lorraine Warren for real? Are the hauntings real? The guy who posted this video stated that he knew someone that was friends with a family that lived in the Amityville house in the 1990s. They reported nothing weird. He also stated that he had another friend that knew Ronald Defeo, Jr. and that person stated that Defeo was totally messed up. Apologies, up front, for all the adverts…and that stupid fish. Submitted for your approval… ~Vic

Video of the Day

POTD: Carrot Hug

Posted on Updated on

This is too cute. ~Vic

Telegram

Picture of the Day

VOTD: Purring Baby

Posted on Updated on

This was originally posted on June 5. I uploaded the video to WordPress, only to have it malfunction in the Reader…another victim of the “Pro Plan”. This is another video that is stuck as an echo in the Reader (browser) and I can’t get it out. ~Vic

Video of the Day