#photos #flowers #bricks

Two of my most favorite things!

More on the bike, this isn’t the only one: Bikes become works of art in Geneva →

😊 🌺 🚴

#photos #bikes #flowers

Maggie’s school year is winding down and yesterday morning I gave her a paper grocery sack to clean out her locker. Because plastic sacks are evil and trashy.

Around quarter to four we had this conversation while I was at work.

Maggie: That paper bag ripped open 😭

Me: On the bus? That sucks

Maggie: Yep

Me: Oh no! I’m sorry!

Maggie: It was all my pens and stuff too. I cleaned it up except for the flash cards

Me: Was the sack not big enough?

Maggie: Idk the bottom just ripped open

I felt bad for her. Being a kid and having your life exposed to all your peers can open up a whole can of humiliating wormy worms. Even by proxy I had an emotional knee-jerk reaction. I never wanted to be vulnerable in grade school. In any way shape or form. I went clear out of my way to stay out of the spotlight. Clear around the block.

And I would NEVER have told my parents about something like this. Around the time I was nine I stopped talking to my parents, stopped looking to them for help in social situations. Stopped confiding in them. Why isn’t important in this story, this isn’t about me. But then again it is. She experiences things and then my noggin maps them to my own experiences. It can almost be like reliving them to a point.

My grade school drama is in the past though and luckily I’ve had spiritual training since then. I’ve mostly learned how to navigate life and so I share the trainings with her as best I can. I was happy that she messaged me, too. The bond between she and I grows when she looks to me for reassurance. And I’m grateful for that. Even if I can’t actually do anything in the moment.

When you don’t know what to do humor, making light of the situation and/or ourselves is a good way to take the pressure off.

Me: SACK, YOU HAD ONE JOB

Maggie: Yep. It is your first day?¹

Me: Haha!

She posted this on Instagram a little while later. Her childhood, her time in school is much different than mine.

Social media isn’t all bad. We just have to use our powers for good.

I’m pessimistic when it comes to these kinds of things so I sent her another message. Because my own horrible school experiences. I guess I wanted to be sure it didn’t play out like most of my involuntary, youthful encounters in the spotlight.

Me: Did your friends really help you clean up your stuff on the bus?

Maggie: Ya

Me: That’s awesome

With closure like that this little Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day. Life does have happy endings, it doesn’t always end on a sour note. With me walking away with a heart full of shame.

Anyways… Maggie and I are similar in some ways, maybe most ways. We’re both irregular and introverted but she’s well on her way to far surpassing me in every olympic event. And so are the kids she goes to school with.

¹ This is a reference to when John Roderick said to another driver, “Is this your first day?” Listen to The Valve, starting about 7:45 in.

Really, you should listen to the whole thing.

#maggie #lettherebehope

How Congress dismantled federal Internet privacy rules

“Trump and the Republicans are doing so many different things on parallel tracks, the news media and activists can’t follow it all,” said Trump adviser and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. “This is by design.”

…

The requirements were modeled after a law passed decades ago by Congress that prohibited telephone companies from collecting customers’ calling histories and selling the information to third parties. “There has been an expectation from the beginning of the telecommunications era that your privacy is not up for sale,” said Sen. Edward J. Markey, (D-Mass.) who fought to preserve the rules.

…

By January, trade groups for tech companies such as Facebook and Google had joined the fight to undo the privacy rules, according to records and interviews. Those companies are regulated by a different government body, the Federal Trade Commission, but they worried that Congress might someday find a way to expand the reach of the rules so that they apply to all technology companies.

Trade groups for large advertisers also got involved in the effort to repeal the law, as did the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Consumer and civil rights groups were quickly outnumbered by their opponents, by a ratio of at least 50 to 1, according to Hill staff and lobbyists.

It’s a long and in-depth but well worth reading. Afterward I felt like Trump and friends were/are engaged in a systematic war for the corporations.

#politics #privacy #facebook #google

First time I’ve ever had a school bus pass me while I was speeding.

🚌🔥🔥🔥 #photos #schoolnews

Peeps, here’s your mouth-is-alive-juices-like-wine Friday jam. This video, this song is what made the 80s the 80s. Just go with it.

I’ve watched it three times and I really feel like I should be on an action adventure chase today. Open markets, river jungles, elephants, all that. But no wiping my face with a sweat rag and then ringing it out into my mouth.

PS- Under the synth arpeggios and drums there’s a funky bass and some tight guitar riffs.

PS- If you want more, read Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like The Wolf” Isolated Tracks.

PS- And Raiders of the Ark, slo-mo table flip.

#musicvideos #duranduran

This is the best way to start a Friday. Really.

Brad, you’ve made my day better than you can possibly imagine. You may feel bad but don’t. Just keep being you.

#worknews #email

Oh ya, this is why I don’t go through downtown St. Charles in the morning.

#photos #trafficnews

Surely Not Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting Sarcastic T Shirt

This “Surely Not Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting” t-shirt makes a great gift for any funny saying, sarcastic, novelty, humor, cute, cool, funny tee shirt or funny t-shirt enthusiast. Whatever your specialty, this shirt will raise eyebrows and elicit smiles. Because everyone wishes they could do Kung Fu fighting.

#this #fashion

I have my shows so whatever, no judgement.

But then she goes to have her shower and the next thing I know I’m standing in front of the TV for ten minutes waiting to see what happens to the werewolf.

#photos #tv