The Don Days of August

I always thought they were called the dog days of August, because that was when hydrophobic dogs ran the streets. Think "To Kill a Mockingbird."

But, actually, the term goes back to the Greeks. They had already named the brightest star in the sky "Sirius." Sirius is the anchor star in the constellation Canis Major. Sirius rises in the early night August sky in the northern hemisphere. The Greeks thought that was just enough extra heat to make August, well - August.

Sirius is magnitude 1, and all other stars are lesser (don't confuse this with planets .. another animal totally!). The Latin name for the dog star is Cannicula.

In the spirit of full disclosure, my last two dogs were Sirius (1993-2005) and Cannicula de la Bastille (Nick-Nick) who is now 16 in human years.

But, politically, August can be a bad month. It was bad for Bush-2 with respect to the events leading into 9/11.
August 2017 will be known as the month Donald Trump totally destroyed himself. The Guns of August? Nay, the tweets and mouth-diarrhea of August.

Houston (and America), we have a problem. This man is over the edge. He is the rabid dog on the summer streets of Monroeville, Alabama. Foaming at the mouth. Snapping at anyone and everyone. Staggering from one lie to another, like a hydrophobic cur. Or a drunk, with Steve Bannon trying to hold him up. Shitting on the country, like a dog shits on your lawn. Actually, worse.

Shop keepers close up. Barbers turn off their poles. Mothers herd children into hot houses.
Mad man running like a mad dog. Man with the satchel. Man with the codes. Man with an insane Nazi whispering in his ear.

Postcard from Hell

Drove through north Greenville County (SC) today: Travelers Rest, Marrietta, Slater, and Cleveland. There were FAR more pickup trucks than usual flying Confederate flags from their beds. Especially in and around Travelers Rest. Quite disturbing, actually.
My car is clean. No bumper stickers at all (I do have a South Carolina Vietnam Veteran license plate). But I drive an old Prius. I'm afraid that may mark me as an outsider in their little corner of Hell.

It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks - Acts 9:5

Get this man's finger off the button. Quick. I have done one mad, bad war. I never want to see another.

Great news for older users of Photoshop/Lightroom! And it is not what you think.

My wife, Dr. DemoTex, is at the American Psychological Association convention in Washington, DC, this week. For her, it is three days of nothing but continuing education (CE) courses to satisfy requirements to keep her licenses in several states. To hear her descriptions of some of these courses, my eyes roll to the back of my head. Not my cup of tea.

But she had to call me today, after what she considered a most interesting CE session. Seems that some psych-types did a study on 70 year-olds. Usual control groups, but here is the meat. Some of the "seniors" learned quilting. Some learned Photoshop/Lightroom. Some learned both quilting and PS/LR. Those learning Photoshop/Lightroom showed enhanced cognitive abilities over the other groups.

Good news for me. I study Photoshop and Lightroom every day. I am good with both, but I use several online tutorials to get in deeper .. every day. Glad to hear that it is helping my 69.5 year old brain. But I thought it was, all along.

A Photographic Metaphor for the Trump Administration