I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me — that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter — except to show how very dull we are ...
-James Branch Cabell

August 24, 2014 - 11:55 a.m.

Beds and Brontosaurs.

I did not have a good night's sleep and I don't know what to write about, both these things made me put off writing longer that I like. I'm now going to do something you are never supposed to do, write without knowing what I'm going to write. I'll let the tale grow in the telling

It was a rare Saturday where I had no plans. Then Heather called me and asked me to help putting together an Ikea bed. I went over in the late afternoon. Let's just say that Ikea does not do their job very well. Their instructions are done with just pictures and they don't point out details that need to be pointed out. There were pieces that I thought were symmetric that weren�t. There's a left and right that are not labeled. You have to notice every detail of the picture not just the part you are working on. Then things are not machined precisely. The dowels don't always fit in the holes. The asymmetry made me undo two legs but fortunately by then I had gotten used to the idiosyncrasies to switch them without too much trouble. Halfway through comes a part that requires two people. It should have mentioned that in the beginning. Fortunately I had two people to help me as it actually required six hands. Then came the last step inserting two screws to attach a bracket to the frame. The problem was there were no holes in the wood for the screws to go into. To make things worse the holes were right near a wooden support and there was no room to work so I couldn't apply enough leverage to get the screw to cut a hole. Luckily Heather had a drill with a small enough bit. But as there was no room to work I had to drill the holes at a slight angle. It worked. Of course all the stupidity on Ikea's part made me feel smarter when I finished.

I got rewarded first with dinner. There were mashed potatoes and bison chili. I thought it might be good if they were mixed together. I was right! This was true synergy, better than either alone. Try it you'll like it.

Then we got my sure-fire reward, ice cream. I didn't know what was good in Williamsburg so I did what we all do now, I followed Honor's advice and Googled it. I found Odd Fellows Ice Cream. It had rave reviews so we headed out. Heather's mother Debbie drove. I'm never sure if that's a good mood as I didn't know what parking was like there. It was difficult but not impossible The parking gods apparently still owe me from my last human sacrifice before my car was wrecked. Maybe they feel guilty because the car was wrecked while it was parked. We parked half a block away in a spot that didn't requie parallel parking.

The store is an interesting mixture. It looks and feels very traditional but they have foo-foo flavors, They had virgin olive oil ice cream. Not for me of course. I had chocolate and milk chocolate caramel in a home made waffle cone. The ice cream was great and wonderfully creamy. No it isn't Cones but it's as good as anyplace else. They just opened a store in the East Village by my usual haunts.

The one we went to was on Kent Street after the ice cream I suggested walking over to the water, it's half block from the East River. I knew there'd be a great view of The City. I was right.


Uptown


Downtown

I never noticed the bright light on the top of the spire of the World Trade Center. I think it's like a lighthouse and rotates. Hard to tell but it comes and goes. I think I actually caught it in the pic. Is anyone else impressed by how well my phone camera with its tiny lens takes pictures I low light. I did switch to the low light setting. It always pays to know how to use your camera.

When I downloaded those pics from my dropbox I noticed some other recent photos I never showed you. Here's the Empire State Building from Madison Square.

I wish I remember what store I saw this in. It is part of a theme that will always make me laugh.

I did not arrange that. It's how it looked in the store. And that now forces me to link to this old entry, Love Among The Dinos. See how much I love Emilie? I obviously would only debase myself out of love of someone else, not because I'm totally perverted.

I fell in love with dinosaurs before I could read. I remember my father reading my dinosaur books when I was a preschooler. I remember my first trip to the Museum of Natural History. I was actually disappointed as I thought dinosaurs were as big as the Empire State Building. That disappointed didn't last long. I still love dinosaurs. I still go to the Hall of Dinosaurs every time I go to the museum. The first thing I ever wanted to be was a dentist. I'm was a very strange child. But that soon got replaced with the dream of being a paleontologist. I would love to go on dig.

So somehow this tale grew from Ikea to dinosaurs That's what I call evolution.

A huge number of people have visited Wise Madness today. The counter is at 99,956. There's decent chance it will hit 100,000 today. If you are lucky reader 100K take a screenshot of the counter and post it as comment on Facebook or in the comments here. I bet it will be some bot. But if it is human who lets me know I will give you the ultimate prize, a shoutout!


I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile August 24, 2014
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