Frog Miscellany--A Product of the Mind of a Disorganized Offender

I haven't posted an article or even a game in a long time. Some might say "Not long enough." My father lived by the dictum "They don't have to like you." I'm taking his advice and putting up an article anyway. Since I don't really have what my daughter's middle school English teachers called a "thesis" (I think they meant "topic" but wanted it to sound better) I'm going to stagger all over the map.

First of all there's I Love to Get up in the Morning, a group dedicated to the insane idea that getting out of bed is fun. It's a metaphor for the delusion that "all things are for the best in this best of all possible worlds." It only has 25 members. It's a good place to post the cutest pix and stupidest jokes that you've received in emails from people you last saw 10 years ago and would cross the street to avoid. You can post anything else you want to there too.

Then there's Blues and Hokum , a group I started on my first or second day here. It presently has 17 members. I'd prefer that articles have something to do with roots music, especially blues and ragtime novelty stuff but I don't moderate it.

There's been nothing interesting. The cats have been relatively quiet. We got a couple of $10 throws at Target. Opal loves them and Otis refuses to touch them. When the evil brown throw is on the chair back that was traditionally his favorite petting station he won't stand on it. He paces nervously on the arms and seat of the chair. He still accepts petting but I can tell that he's not pleased with the disruption of the delivery process.

Grandfatherhood

Umm...At 25 I'm soon to be one of the youngest grandfathers known. Well, I lied about most of it except that I am going to be a grandfather. Our daughter, the charming Name Withheld is due at the end of February. She and her husband are quite excited. The offspring is female. So far the doctors believe that she's human. Her name is Bella. She's never had grandparents before. We've never had grandchildren before. The mixture could be explosive.

My wife, the Lovely and Discerning Naomi Calamese (Not her real name) is looking forward to baby care and has already devoted a lot of time and money to it. Our son in law is half way through tiling the upstairs bathroom floors in preparation for the shower at the end of the month. The bathroom he's finished tiling is getting new paint and a new light fixture. We've already painted the guest bedroom and bought new linens because a friend will be staying with us overnight unless she decides to stay with her friend Debbie.

Naomi has pointed out how much we've increased the value of our house by these improvements. I say "Money now is worth more than money later."

The Presidential Election

Naomi supports Hillary Clinton although she'll vote for anyone that isn't a Republican. She's a little upset about the other Democratic candidates ganging up on her. I've tried to point out that if it weren't Clinton it would be someone else. I'm going to vote for whomever the Democrats nominate. The only question for me is whether I'll despise myself for voting for my choice or just feel slightly guilty.

 Dame Ruth Dickson

One of my favorite members is ill and hospitalized.  She is one of the funniest people I've met here or in the real world.  She sets an example for all of us.  

Departed Members

Some of my favorite Gather people have left or reduced their participation to almost nothing.  Two of them were ejected by management in a very confusing affair that defined arbitrary and capricious interpretation of the TOS by management.  Rather than list them I'll just say I'm glad I met them and understand why they did what they did.  They live on in their fan clubs.