Moderate Living

The Last Of The Old Guard

Two days ago, President Joe Biden gave his farewell address to the American people.

His presidency was….well – let’s just say the election results spoke for themselves. What I would like to focus on though, besides his warm and gracious speech is something that I greatly appreciated about him and was unique to him and him alone.

But first, I would also like to commend The First Lady Jill Biden. Throughout her 12 years in the spotlight, she was graceful and never overstepped herself even amidst social media becoming a major factor in public perception. Her public appearances and public behavior were befitting of her and her husband’s office – and she did not allow herself to be the mouthpiece for activists disguising themselves as journalists. You simply could not have expected more from her as a First Lady. She represented that office magnificently.

And there is, of course, Vice President Harris who – during the debate with DJT, showed me a side of her that was gracious and human. After that, I regarded her as the type of person that you could start a conversation with at a party and you would end up having good laughs with.

Again, the election results speak for themselves and I’m not here to debate policy. I’m just grateful that President Biden was a leader when it came to a certain person in Europe, just across the border from Ukraine, that I won’t name because I’m not trying to get poisoned. There are just some people, and ideals that you can’t deal with in the regular realms of diplomacy. Not since Presidents Clinton and Bush did we have someone that had a strict “get-off-my-lawn” attitude with said leader. Two have tried to either understand or bribe him, with the latter’s efficacy still in question. But President Biden knew exactly who he was dealing with and it really showed when they sat face to face from each other – he meant business in a way that the 2 prior presidents conveyed differently. President Biden came from a time when the U.S. still had to show some urgency towards that country and the ideals it was trying to spread. And as the Commander In Chief, in our present time where people weren’t as concerned about it as they should have been, he still maintained that resolve. I have my own theories as to why he was as cold and steely as he was with that leader but they don’t belong on this post.

I’ll just conclude, before we transition back to President Donald Trump, that I am grateful for President Biden’s toughness – and just as important, degree of restraint – on that issue which he knew could have become existential if a Wilsonian/Chamberlin-esque, image minded, conciliatory leader were at the helm.

The Most Dangerous Country Song Ever

Daily writing prompt

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

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(names changed for anonymity)

It was around 4 in the afternoon or so when we were able to do the final connection checks for the horse trailers. I was working as a helper during that time and, along with 5 other people, were tasked with setting up & retrieving purchased trailers from the city of Jackson and delivering them to a location just across Memphis into Arkansas.

Jeff, Charlie and I were towing one trailer behind JB, Rick and Dan towing the other one.

We were pretty tired from cleaning the trailers and putting fresh hay in them so by the time the trucks were rolling, I was slumped in the back seat while Jeff and Charlie were in the front. The drive was just like any other drive on any given late afternoon on I-40. We were listening to a classic country music station, no problem there. All was calm.

As time drew on and the sun started to set, we were all just in the zone following JB’s truck barely noticing that a new song had come on.

As we listened to the woman’s voice and her words, we (or at least I) knew it was gonna be a sad song about life. Whatever, right? Sad, reflective country songs are a dime a dozen.

Little did I know…

There was a part of me that wanted to change the station as the song really started to tug at my heart. I wanted to call out to Jeff or Charlie to click the button but I felt like both of them two were also wrapped up in the words. We all really just felt it deep in our souls especially when she sung the chorus. I knew EXACTLY what the third verse was gonna be about and as I heard the chorus I really wanted to tell one of the two to change the station. But it was too late.

As the interstate signs for Memphis appeared, and the sunset now cast an orange hue in the cab, we faced the final verse.

We didn’t just have tears in our eyes, we were full out sniffling and trying to catch ourselves from skipping our breath. I was hunched forward, my tears hitting the floor of the cab, Charlie was looking out of the passenger side window at the sunset scorched fields. I honest to God don’t even know how Jeff kept the truck and the trailer straight.

It was a relief – and somewhat of a catharsis – as the song finally ended and we all could relax again but in a strained silence.

That silence, however, was broken by JB calling on the cellphone.

“Where are you knuckleheads??? We pulled into a stop to get some food and y’all just kept going!”

“Nah.“, Jeff replied. “We’re gonna skip a stop over so we can get the delivery done early.”

I think all three of us were glad we didn’t follow JB and his boys into the truck stop because if he had seen our faces we’d never have heard the end of it. So we just listened to him complain about us going our own way before he abruptly hung up. But we all knew JB. We just let him talk his talk knowing that if he was in the truck with us, he’d be the loudest crier of all lol. We spent the last half an hour or so of the drive recomposing ourselves so we could deliver the trailer. At dinner later on, we – reluctantly – had to acknowledge the power of that song, come to grips with its message.

I’ve never played the song since. And even now, as I looked for the lyrics so I could share it with you, I’ll never forget the depth of sadness I felt during those moments of the roadtrip.

*I know y’all are probably curious about the song so I’ll give you the artist/title – but I really do urge you to think carefully before listening to it lol. The title of the song makes you think it’s a breakup ballad when its actually something a lot more profound – and really intense. And i’m not going to embed the video on the post either because it’s that powerful! 😂🥲*:

Patti Loveless – How Can I Help You Say Goodbye

Winter Updates

We’re in the throes of winter now and I figure I should just post some pictures since I haven’t posted anything in a while using the Photography tag.

photo by: michaeljosephwilliams646.wordpress.com

I took this photo of the new wall calendar in the early morning of New Year’s Day. I found it poignant that the first rays of the first 2025 sunrise hit where it did.

Tuesday, I was doing some tree pruning and tested out a used bluetooth speaker I bought for really cheap on eBay. That’s my phone right next to it to give you a sense of the size of the speaker and just how much snow we had gotten.

Finally, tonight my Ohio State Buckeyes will be playing against the Texas Longhorns for the College Football Playoff Semi-final. As much as I hated to see them lose to our arch-rival in November, I’m hoping we can capture this year’s national championship against Notre Dame. But first we have to beat Texas.

If they can play the way they played against Oregon, I’ll be hopeful. I was very pleased with how the team performed in the Rose Bowl. The Ducks had 34 points put on them before they could even get their footing in the game but by then the damage had been done.

It’s always nice to get a win in beautiful Pasadena, California. Especially for such a prestigious invite-only event.

Polished Product

I just realized you can’t answer a prompt twice. However, because I’m the ultimate techno-hacker person, I was able to screenshot the prompt and set it to this post lol. #ultimatehacker2025 😎😂

Last week, I outlined my recent years long mission of mitigating (or possibly avoiding) any massive upheaval that could upend the current peace & harmony I have in my life.

This time, I wanted to focus on another mission much smaller but carrying an importance of its own.

I’ve enjoyed myself thoroughly through years of canvassing public social media accounts. But I’ve especially come to appreciate people who seamlessly blend in their fantastic website format with equally engaging creative content.

When I started this site, I wanted it to be something like that. Specifically, I want to create a really nice looking website that would complement my (hopefully) successful efforts to create engaging content – whether its photography, video, or even just writing.

Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com

When I put a post out, I always imagine someone with a tablet relaxing on their couch enjoying what they see and being happy to purposely give that content time because it has a degree of profundity or other positive qualities.

I want whatever I put down on this blog to have value to someone without becoming overly technical or – even worse – didactic. This place should have the feel of Amazon.com if you were suddenly gifted $15,000 dollars to just throw around in drunken optimism. But the vessel of presentation, the HTML/CSS presentation of it, should remind one of the pomp, pagentry & opulence similar to the inside of a Cheesecake Factory restaurant – or a Denny’s or Shoney’s; whatever it is that makes the reader happy.

When I’m being asked of my professional qualifications, I want to be able to look the person in the eyes and – without laughing – say “I’m a social media influencer“. And then, when they look at this site, they’ll see how professional looking it is along with its content.

That’s my humble little mission 🙂‍↕️

I Kiss Thy Sweet Lips Chicxulub, My Exquisite Cataclysm

Daily writing prompt

What is your mission?

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I’ve always been fascinated by the infamous Chicxulub meteor. You know, the one that crashed off of the Gulf Of Mexico. It abruptly ended the Cretaceous period of the planet and painfully ushered in the Paleogene period. 3 out of 4 species ended as a result of that disastrous interstellar bomb.

To think, that morning, dinosaurs – and every living being – were just chillin, eating plants (or each other), not knowing that there would be no tomorrow.

I’ve tried to imagine in what form or manner a Chicxulub-like cataclysm would look like in my life (i.e. I get sick, sudden massive car accident, heart attack, ladder fall breaking my back, etc.). I’ve also tried to visualize what effects it would have for me personally & financially. All scenarios are frightening and frankly, look unsurvivable.

My mission these last few years has been figuring out how to counter the effects of such an impact. I need to identify what facets of my existence are unsustainably fragile/dependent and I need to let go of those things. That, or I somehow need to change the fundamental nature of them so that it’s not as fragile/dependent.

I’ve taken care of one very big priority but I’ve also come to realize that it just makes the other unfinished priorities as daunting of a mountain to climb.

It turns out avoiding cataclysms is not such an easy thing.

Onwards To 2025

Happy New Year to you all!

Calendar Man (There Really Was A Batman Villain With That Name!)

*TLDR – Too Long Didn’t Read Summary*

I got a calendar that helps me map out my bad days during the year. I have a methodology as to how these days are calculated and I believe people can employ their own ways of divining their numerical rhythm to get a list like mine.

*The Actual Post*

For as long as I could remember, I always wanted a simple, large wall mounted calendar. It wasn’t for the purposes of micromanaging the year but more like being able to articulate macro trends in my life I want to push along or offset.

Last year, a friend of mine introduced me to a life coach/guru that sold a style of calendar she felt I would like. I looked into it and promptly ordered a copy:

picture by: michaeljosephwilliams646.wordpress.com

The calendar has worked out very well for me this year. Here it is, photographed sometime in late September with a 28X40 frame & print for scale (I’ve been struggling with a way to hang this beautiful Athena print and Camilla from https://camillawellspaynter.wordpress.com gave me a suggestion on a non-drywall invasive way to do it. Thanks Camilla!). *Also, this is photographed with a rented Nikkor 135 f/2 DC – absolutely stunning detail capture!*

The calendar’s main purpose is to map out the likelihood of negative days occurring for me within the 365 days of the year given my attitudes towards risk and overall schedule. I have my own “proprietary” (I use this term loosely lol) way of forecasting where these bad days will occur so I just needed a calendar to be able to see it.

I have this complicated relationship with probability and overall skill. It’s tough to explain and I’m not really sure I could articulate it without writing a massive word-meatloaf post.

I made a mistake when I first set up the calendar which will make this whole section sound a bit convoluted – but it’ll help you if you decide to purchase this calendar (I’m not affiliated with this company nor do I get any commission). So, as soon as I got the numerical “bad day” list, I started my corresponding calendar day count. However, I made a mistake in counting those blank boxes – now filled in – as actual days when the reason they had no numbers on them was because that’s where the month ended numerically on the horizontal row. I was already up to November when I realized why the count seemed strange and out of whack.

Anyway, those orange post-its (an optional add-on purchase) were miscounted values and as such, I covered them with the stickers. My other friend made the suggestion to take off the permanent marker underneath the sticker with rubbing alcohol but as I was about to do it, I felt like my friend’s advice may have been a sign and that I should keep these stickers on to define those days as instances where I should press my luck – I feel like my friend is very wise and lucky so I follow his observations closely.

You’ll see that aside from the check marks on the days, there’s a written message in the middle of the box:

“DNE Life” isn’t my stage name as a local hip-hop artist 😂, it stands for Do Not Engage Life. On the days where that’s marked, it reminds me to be especially risk averse. It doesn’t mean I’m going to be curled up in a corner at home, although sometimes I may just do that lol, it just means that I need to be profoundly aware of my surroundings and not to expose myself to unnecessary difficulties. I’m somewhere between superstitious and systematized.

I’ve worked out a percentage, with variance, of how many bad days I’ll have out of the 365 days of the year and I have my computer program spit out numbers between and including 1 and 365. The irony of this methodology is that it is more than likely baseless – but I believe that the only force strong enough to countervail life’s natural entropy is an equal pushing force of quasi-entropy divined from a personal numerical rhythm. I believe everyone has their own unique numbers that they themselves can divine from clues around their lives. *cue twilight zone music* 😂

Soooooooo

My calendar for 2025 has arrived. And sometime this weekend before 2025 commences, I’m going to obtain a numerical list between and including the numbers 1 and 365 to give me the days that I should be very careful of.

Here’s the new blank calendar, different color this year, and with half of my fishing pole for scale:

There was just enough snow that fell in New Jersey a few days ago that we could get the ol’ plastic toboggan out for one afternoon 🙂

Merry Christmas!

May joy and happiness abound in your homes.

May peace and grace guide your hearts to rest.

New Jersey was lucky to have a little pre-Christmas snow. It’s been a while since this has happened. Can’t complain though 🙂

At My Happiest

Daily writing prompt

When are you most happy?

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I’m gonna be upfront about this one – moments with my most treasured loved ones are when I’m most happy.

BUT!

Outside of that, the one time I’m REALLY happy is when I have extra money in my pocket from the casino that I can put towards all types of purchases including random Amazon/Ebay stuff 😂

performance by the very talented brother and sister team, Linda and Louis Buzz. you can find them on tiktok

~~~

4 days til Christmas. All I have to do now is wrap gifts.

the best rendition of Last Christmas besides, of course WHAM’s, and I am willing to die on this hill lol

Have a great weekend! 🙂

The Nutcracker, The Broken Spear & The Glue That Holds The Story Together

It’s been a while since I’ve had the dining table this spotless and clean. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I’ll be better about it this coming year. Especially now that I got a chance to enjoy it before putting up the Thanksgiving and Christmas centerpieces.

Speaking of Christmas centerpieces, it was time that I put the nutcrackers and mini Christmas tree up.

It looked really nice but as I took these photos I would share, I noticed that the one nutcracker had a broken spear. I was originally going to leave it as is but the more I passed by the table and looked at it, the more it started to bother me. So I looked for the broken half of the spear in the Christmas storage bins, found it and formulated a fix for the one nutcracker.

When I was working on a busted camera lens during the summer, I decided to experiment with a really powerful superglue called loc-tite. While it didn’t work out with the lens, I decided to try it on the nutcracker spear. I used one of my woodworking clamps to hold down the fused sections and kept it there overnight.

I have to say that this product is a legitimate superglue. I’ve tried other glues before but they generally don’t work as well. If you ever need the best type of glue you can get, I’d recommend this one. Of course, if you know of any other types let me know in the comments.

Without further ado, the fixed nutcracker (albeit imperfect)…and the entire table setup.

It’s definitely because of the ballet but whenever I see nutcrackers, I automatically associate them with the holiday season. That and when I hear this composition from the ballet 🙂

Romantic Life Cake Recipe

Mix all ingredients gently in bowl. Cook at 350 for 1 hour or until perfect golden brown.

2 cups of Catching Up With Old Friends Via Group Chat

2 tbsp of Allowing Another Driver To Make Their Turn Ahead Of You In A Crowded Parking Lot.

1 gallon of Calling Parents To Tell Them You Love Them

3 tbsp of Breathing In The Morning Air As You Bring Out The Trash Bin For Collection

3/4 gallon of Intimacy With A Trusted Partner

and the last ingredient

amount to taste of Late Afternoon Moments That Take Your Breath Away

Harleys In Hawaii

There’s opulent luxury experiences I’ve always wanted. Like relaxing in a Lake Como waterfront villa while being fed carbonara by a beautiful woman from Milan. Or watching the California sunset from the heights of the Santa Barbara hills wrapped in the embrace of a stunning Los Angeles brunette. Or Soaking in a warm bath with a sensual woman from Hokkaido in a Park Hyatt Tokyo suite. All these images, I’ve daydreamed about at least once in my mind.

But what I could never have expected was the powerful image of riding Harleys in Hawaii.

YouTube Music recommended Katy Perry’s Harleys In Hawaii for me a few weeks ago while I was driving home.

At first, I thought it was just ok. But then the message slowly, insidiously made its way into my mind. By the third or fourth loop of the song, it was too late; my eyes were already tight and narrowed behind my sunglasses, I had the seductive duck face expression. My shoulders had timed themselves with the sultry tempo. As the sunset skies slowly started to turn bright violet with wisps of yellow and pink, I was caught in the vibe of the chorus;

you and I

and I

riding Harleys In Hawaii aii aii

….

when the hula hula, hula

so good you take me to the jeweler jeweler, jeweler

(hearing this literally made me blush! i’m not sure how I would react if a lady said something this forward to me – i would probably look downwards and laugh nervously 😂)

…

there’s pink and purple in the sky aiyyy aiyyy

we’re riding Harleys In Hawaii aii aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

My torso moves were now complementing my shoulders and my other arm came to rest on the driver side window sill with only one hand on the steering wheel. It didn’t even matter any more if I passed my exit on the sunset colored New Jersey Turnpike – all that mattered was the feeling of riding Harleys in Hawaii.

~~~

I would have video’d myself car dancing for y’all but I don’t want my account suspended because of overly suggestive content. Also, I don’t think WordPress has a rating icon yet that covers that territory of hypothetical content.

Oh actually, they do…

😂

~~~

Anyhow, after sanity returned to me (read: I nearly missed my New Jersey Turnpike exit), I started to wonder if there were more…..logistically feasible experiences that might mimic Harleys In Hawaii

Can these examples do it?

Nissans In Nebraska

Chevys In Charlotte

Toyotas In Toronto

F-150s In Florida (is this really a novelty at this point??? 😂😂😂)

Hyundais In Houston

If you can think of others, let me know in the comments! I don’t know if there’s anything that can match this experience of Harleys In Hawaii.

To be honest, until I heard this song, I didn’t even know I needed this experience!

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