Althouse: Sunrise

January 2, 2023

Sunrise — 7:26.

17 comments:

BudBrown said...: Pretty nice; 1/2/23, 11:51 AM
Beasts of England said...: Lovely! :); 1/2/23, 11:58 AM
MadisonMan said...: I've noticed the later sunrise of late. Gained 12 minutes since early December! Every little bit helps.; 1/2/23, 12:26 PM
Saint Croix said...: also, I appreciate all the concern the blog has shown me about my work habits.

(last time it was "slow down or you're going to die")

in truth I have to be careful driving when I get like this, because my head is so full of ideas I get easily distracted

this is the way I've created art for 20+ years. bursts of creativity follows by longer periods of lazy fucker

only way I can do it

also when I get like this I take more risks and fuck up more

that's the way it goes

God bless and good night.

If that "short story" is obnoxious and awful please delete that shit, Althouse, totally your call, no biggie; 1/2/23, 12:35 PM
wendybar said...: Tell me again how we don't have a Deep State protecting the Bidens.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11585719/DoJ-concealing-documents-lay-bare-Hunter-Jim-Bidens-payoffs-China-Russia.html; 1/2/23, 2:52 PM
Inga said...: St.Croix, I love you as a human being, but I’m concerned you are in a very serious manic phase right now. If mania gets bad enough it can provoke delirium. Please call your doc.; 1/2/23, 4:20 PM
BIII Zhang said...: I see Joe Biden is returning to Washington today from the US Virgin Islands.

Same day the Attorney General for the Virgin Islands is fired for suing JP Morgan over their facilitation of finances for Jeffrey Epstein's kiddie rape island.

Nothing to see here.

Move along.; 1/2/23, 4:21 PM
Readering said...: Great day for LA football. Bad day for LA football. (Soon to be wet day for LA football.); 1/2/23, 4:28 PM
Saint Croix said...: When I was at UGA, I had a friend in college named John. We liked to play poker together, and neither of us was the Dumb Guy at the Poker Table. (That's an Ivy-League type lesson for hillbillies in the South. If you don't know who the dummy is at the poker table, it's you motherfucker).

My buddy would piss me off by saying a certain word that is like a country in Africa (or maybe Asia, I failed Geography) if you add a G to the word.

ha ha, now you got to learn geography if you want to be insulted!

And he would drop that bomb all over my car. I think he said it twice, maybe three times in my presence. I'm happy until I lose my shit. And racism annoys the fuck out of me. It's so fucking stupid!

"Stop saying that word!"

But the damn white cracker (here's a quick insult if some black person on the street calls you "cracker" -- I say be a man and take the insult like Jesus -- but if you can't man up like Jesus (and it's tough, oh my God, he's a tough teacher. That is a hard fucking A, you're going to be crying to the priests when you get your grades in Bible study. (Actually there are no grades in Bible study, so people come in and think it's an easy pass/fail course, oh my goodness, you're in for a lesson!)

fuck I forgot my quick insult ("burnt marshmallow")

came up with that one in fifth grade

(actually it might have been fourth grade)

Anyway, he was saying that racist word I fucking hate

and that hillbilly from the small town in Georgia in 1987 would say shit like

"hey, I'm buying Air Jordans for my kids"

(he was in some damn program where you buy shit for the poor)

And then he would ask me, "Do you want to chip in?"

And I'd say, "No." Because my ancestors are from Scotland. And Ireland. And England! So my ancestors know war! (Not to mention a little conflict here in the USA, I forget the name of it).

Anyway, then he would fucking ask me, "Why don't you want to chip in?"

"Because you took all my money at the poker game."

"Wait. How are you paying for the movie, Taylor?"

"I got money for the movie, John." (I'm driving the car). "I got money for the movie. But I can't get nachos or a coke."

"We could skip the movie and you could chip in for the shoes."

"I don't even know these kids!" I yelled. "And I want to watch the movie!"

(I like movies, sue me)

And then -- it's almost like God and my racist friend are doing a tag-team morality joke on my sorry stupid ass -- we drive by an African-American family stranded on the side of the road with their hood up. And my racist friend says, "Why don't we stop your car and help them?"

And I say, "We're late for the movie and I don't know anything about engines. I hate being late for the movie!"

And he said, "We don't have to go to the movie." Real calmly and shit. And I scream, "THAT'S WHY WE'RE IN THE FUCKING CAR, JOHN, TO GO TO THE MOVIE.

I had another dumb friend, who loved to say "kike." I was kind of moping around in 1987, because my Jewish girlfriend had dumped me, and we were trying to be friends. If you're not familiar with the sex lingo in 1987, "friends" means you're not fucking her anymore.

Anyway, he was trying to piss me off. And I let it go the first time. And I let it go the second time. The third time he said "kike" I pointed a finger right in his face and I said something like, "You better not say that word in front of my ex-girlfriend." And he calmly said, "Why not?" And I said, "You know I love her, you dumb fucker, and if you piss me off, well, anything can happen." And that's actually very true which is why my family doesn't have any guns in the house. We go with the dog.; 1/2/23, 4:48 PM
rehajm said...: So we spent the afternoon on the couch watching the Bruins win the Winter Classic. Classic…

The CPA/MST at the other end of the couch was curious and spent the time going through Trumps returns. (You don’t have to believe me but believe me the CPA/MST at the other end of the couch is more than qualified to pass judgement on Trump’s tax returns)…and found only one quibble with the…well, I’m not going to throw the Assholian Left a bone…

Just know it was in no way criminal…; 1/2/23, 4:49 PM
Saint Croix said...: When I worked a summer in a gas station, one of the black guys who worked there, an old man named Odell, called me "white boy."

He was 65. (Just a guess). I was 18.

It was an interracial job (it's the fucking South, all the jobs are interracial, holy shit).

Anyway, in retrospect I can see how Odell made his mistake. He might have thought I was 17. Because 18 and 17 are pretty close.

That age line is actually a big deal. For instance, if you fuck somebody when they are 18, and you fuck somebody when they are 17, one of them gives you huge orgasms and a big smile on your face, and the other one sends you to prison. But obviously "black boy" was a little awkward with a man who is 65 years old.

My black friends my age (who never called me "boy") didn't say shit to defend Odell. They didn't say anything. The old white guys, on the other hand, were hooting and hollering and laughing at my sorry ass.

"I wouldn't say that to Odell!"

"He's got a gun! In an ankle holster! Watch out for Odell! He'll shoot your ass!"

(Odell probably thought they were laughing at him, and I thought they were laughing at me. Our conflict had zero escalation because everybody was fucking laughing except me and Odell).

"I don't give a damn," I said, morally outraged. "Don't call me white boy. I hate it. I hate it. I hate racism. It's so stupid. Please don't call me white boy, Odell. I lose my temper."

(I don't know how big Odell was, he was on the small side. I clocked in at 6'2", 220 pounds, and I was skinny as shit).

The next day was a new day, and me and Odell were friends again. I was shaking his hand and apologizing for calling him "black boy." He didn't apologize for shit! But he was laughing and saying, "That's okay. I don't give a shit about race, too!" And then I asked to see his Derringer, or whatever the fuck it was. And he pulled up his pants leg and showed me the smallest gun I've ever seen in my life. My dick was four times bigger than his gun. (I might be exaggerating slightly). I was seriously confused. "Why do you have a gun at work?" I said.

"Robbers and shit," he said. "When the shooting starts, hide behind me," he said.

"That's okay," I said. "If there's shooting, I'll hide behind a car." So he didn't apologize to me, and I didn't promise to hide behind him like a skirt-wearing person.

See how sensitive I am! I said "person"! For instance, maybe Boy George wants to hide behind Odell. That could happen. Although it's highly unlikely in Charlotte, North Carolina, the #2 financial center in the world ("we try harder, and we're polite").

If Boy George gets mad because some black guy calls him "white boy," I'm going to laugh and laugh and laugh. (It might be a generational thing?)

And I'll say shit like, "Boy George! You're name is fucking Boy! And you're white!"

And he's like, "That's not my pronoun! That's not my pronoun!"

And now I'm rolling on the floor, laughing. "Odell can't see your pronoun. I can't see your pronoun. Nobody can see your pronoun! You're going to have to tattoo it on your forehead."; 1/2/23, 5:41 PM
Michael K said...: SC got beaten today by Tulane. SC has had no defense all year but today a back fumbled a kickoff and it wound up setting them up on the 1 yard line. This resulted in a safety which made the difference. I don't consider it my team because the new coach brought his team with him via the transfer portal.

When Pete Carroll took over, he coached the losing team into a winning team and Norm Chow made Carson Palmer a Heisman Trophy QB. This coach sent all the SC QBs away to Ole Miss and Pitt.; 1/2/23, 6:04 PM
Owen said...: The pic makes Madison look like Iceland. What is the temp?; 1/2/23, 6:40 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Right now the temp is 31. It was maybe 33 when I went out this morning. Didn’t feel cold at all.; 1/2/23, 6:57 PM
gadfly said...: wendybar said...
Tell me again how we don't have a Deep State protecting the Bidens.

There is no Deep State. You are deluded.

Just because Trump dreamed up the Deep State to name his opposition doesn't turn his imagination into existence.; 1/2/23, 9:00 PM
Saint Croix said...: Best photo of 2023?!; 1/2/23, 9:48 PM
n.n said...: What are El Niño and La Niña?

El Niño means Little Boy, or Christ Child in Spanish.

The warmer waters cause the Pacific jet stream to move south of its neutral position. With this shift, areas in the northern U.S. and Canada are dryer and warmer than usual. But in the U.S. Gulf Coast and Southeast, these periods are wetter than usual and have increased flooding.

...
La Niña means Little Girl in Spanish. La Niña is also sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Niño, or simply "a cold event."

EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION

EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO)
DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION
issued by
CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER/NCEP/NWS
8 December 2022

Synopsis: La Niña is expected to continue into the winter, with equal chances of La Niña and ENSO-neutral during January-March 2023. In February-April 2023, there is a 71% chance of ENSO-neutral.

Heads, the wrong prediction. Tails, the not wrong prediction.; 1/3/23, 12:02 AM