Taking the Day Off

Okay, it's so cold here in NoVa that my brain has frozen, preventing my creative gland from secreting ideas for posts, so I'm taking a day or two off while I develop new topics for 2018.

Have a good day and check back daily for more - hopefully, coherent - thoughts.

Bilbo

Apropos of Nothing

I'd never given it much thought, but it turns out that development of the concept of nothing, or of a number representing nothing (zero), is considered to have been one of the most important events in human history, as discussed in an interesting article I read recently in VintageNews.com. Indeed, nothing is an absolutely vital concept, and yet it was rejected by religious leaders in medieval Europe as being evil, and a symbol of Satan.

I'm sure there's a televangelist out there somewhere who could explain why zero remains a symbol of evil in today's world, but there's more evidence of its importance in understanding current politics. Consider just a few of the many uses of nothing ...

It allows us to document the legislative achievements of Congress;

It lets us comprehend the ethical standards of the Trump administration;

It lets us explain strategic planning at the highest levels of the Trump administration;

And the availability of zero allows us to depict the size of the national debt ... as long as you pile up enough of them to the left of the decimal.

Where would we be without nothing?

Perhaps in rural Puerto Rico.

Have a good and mathematically sound day, safe in the knowledge that you have nothing to fall back on.

More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

No Blog Today

I'm just not in the mood to write anything today.

But please come back tomorrow for the announcement of the Left-Cheek Ass Clown for September. More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Temporarily Closed

Sorry, Dear Readers, but I'm taking a day off from the blog.

Not to worry ... all is well. I just need a mental health day, and since the weather is going to be beautiful in NoVa today, I figured this was as good a day as any to spend outside, digging crabgrass out of the lawn and doing late-summer maintenance on the garden. Winter is coming, after all. 

Have a good day, and come back tomorrow for the announcement of the Left Cheek Ass Clown for the month.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Primary Election Day

Because I'm working today as an Election Officer for the Virginia primary election, and need to be at the polling station by 5:00 AM to get things ready, there will be no regular* post today. If you're a registered voter in Virginia, be sure to come out and vote at your local precinct. Remember, if you don't vote, you give up your right to complain about the results ...

Have a good day. Regular posts will resume tomorrow ... more thoughts then.

Bilbo

* Or irregular, for that matter.

I'm Taking the Day Off

I need to recharge my mental batteries, so I'm taking a day off from blogging. Come back tomorrow for the first Great Moments in Editing and Signage for February.

More thoughts then.

Bilbo

Watch This Space ...

We got back from our vacation trip to Disney World in Orlando last night, and I have to go back to work this morning. Ugh. If you can hold your excitement in check, I'll get the pictures organized and give you a full-details rundown in a day or so.

Watch this space for The Rest of the Story. I promise I'll be back soon.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

I'm Taking the Day Off

Well, no, not from work. From the blog.

I have several things I've got to get done this morning before I leave for work, so I need to take a day off from the blog. Don't worry - I'll be back tomorrow with Cartoon Saturday.

See you then.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Miscellaneous

I have some other things to get done before I head to work this morning, so how about a collection of the latest odd signs and useful clip art?

My son sent me this picture of the world's greatest "boys' bathroom" sign, from Legoland in Germany ...

Stand back, physically and mentally ... Members of Congress will do it, too ...

The GOP has come up with a great logo for their alternative to Obamacare. Oh, wait ... they don't have an alternative to Obamacare. Never mind ...

Political discourse, 2013 ...

I'm going to send this to Ken Cuccinelli, who is the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia. He's got some very specific ideas for his gubernatorial agenda ...

Why, indeed? ...

That's all for now. I should be back to normal* tomorrow.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* Or whatever passes for such.

Thanks, Congress!

Well, don't we have good news this morning?

Yesterday, Wall Street tanked yet again as a result of what one commentator said was an atmosphere of "total fear."

This morning, the Asian markets have taken a steep nose dive as well.

I suppose I could look at the bright side and think that at least the rubble has been swept away from the smoking hole where my 401k used to be. But I won't.

Let's see how the rest of this year is shaping up at the Bilbo household:

Job in jeopardy as a result of automatic budget cuts which will be imposed if the Congressional "super committee" can't agree on "savings" (yes, good luck with that) ... just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas, no less ... check.

Retirement savings pretty much wiped out ... check.

Social Security and Medicare on the ropes just as retirement savings pretty much wiped out ... check.

Ability to land another job in the current economic climate ... forget it. And this article pretty much sums it all up: No One Knows What the Hell to Do About Jobs. Here's the key part of that article:

“The White House's jobs agenda is always, always, a re-branding of stimulus spending. The GOP's "jobs agenda" is always a cocktail of plans they've already proposed, which are never about using government spending or intervention to create jobs, and always about deregulation. Check out the list of job-creating GOP bills - half of them are about opening up new energy exploration or peeling back the post-BP oil spill limits on licensing. Good ideas! Just not representative of a surge of GOP jobs ideas ... The horrible truth is that Democrats are not being stopped from implementing ideas that will grow the economy at double-speed. Nor is it that Republicans are being stopped from unleashing bold new ideas that'll fix the housing or employment crises. The truth is that no one knows what to do in the short term.”

Want some more good news? Steven Pearlstein is here to help: The Global Economy Comes to the End of Its String.

Thanks, Congress! Hope you're enjoying your vacation.

I really need to go dancing tonight to try to forget about this mess for a few hours. It will be a little strange watching the ladies fan themselves between dances, though ... check out this wonderful analysis from eViL pOp TaRt: The Language of the Fan, Updated.

Tomorrow is Cartoon Saturday ... maybe I'll feel better then. Don't hold your breath.

Have as good a day as you can. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

(aka, Mr Crankypants)

I've Got Nothin'

Well, it does happen from time to time.

I can't think of anything to write about this morning that I feel like trading my time for. The Blog Fodder file is full of ideas, there's plenty of stuff in the news, and I'm still angry at $@#! Republican ass clowns and at arrogant religious bigots everywhere, but I just don't have the energy to resist the call of breakfast and the Sunday paper.

So...

You'll just have to get your daily ration of grousing, complaining, and general crankiness somewhere else today. Try Mike's place, or Jay's.

But since I have to have something here, how about this candid shot taken by my daughter yesterday ...

Is it great to be an Opa or what? Yes, I'm wearing a pink scarf. It was Leya's idea. Really.

By the way, don't forget that tomorrow is Valentine's Day - that anti-male conspiracy launched by the sinister cabal of florists, jewelers, candy-makers, and greeting card printers to force men everywhere to spend money to stay on the right side of their ladies. More on that tomorrow.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

Not-Much Sunday

It's a gloomy, cool, rainy day here in Northern Virginia, and I am low on energy, both physical and intellectual. Therefore, I will just toss together a potpourri of disjointed observations and comments to fill up the space until tomorrow when - hopefully - I will be more alert.

1. I've been looking on Craig's List for a free-lance sorcerer/sorceress to put and enormous curse on the person who shut down the entire Capitol Beltway at I-66 last night for some sort of non-evident construction. It turned our joy at the quick escape from the Wolf Trap parking lot into much teeth-grinding misery as we crawled along I-495, then tried to see the small and carefully-hidden detour signs back to 495 once we'd been diverted off onto I-66. If Dante were alive today, he'd create a special circle of Lower Hell for the individual responsible for this.

2. Here is a picture from last night's performance at Wolf Trap of The Return of the King with live orchestra and chorus...

Sorry, but this was the best my poor iPhone camera could do in low light. Just wanted to give you an idea of the great seats we had. It was a tremendous show - I love the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy in general, but the presentation with live music and chorus took it to a whole new level. If you have a chance to see the films presented this way, by all means, do it. And if you can, do it in the company of two beautiful ladies and a bottle of wine, after a nice planked salmon dinner.

3. I need to get my hair cut today. This is an ever-frustrating ritual because the people at the Hair Cuttery insist on using black drapes to catch the falling hair, and gray hair shows up embarrassingly well against black. Sigh. I guess I shouldn't complain, though. At least I still have my hair. Well, most of it, anyhow.

4. I couldn't wait until next Cartoon Saturday to share this cartoon that appeared in today's paper ...

I think Jean-Luc will appreciate it especially.

I guess that's all for now. Sorry for the disjointed and probably unsatisfying post, but I just can't be both handsome and intellectually witty every day...some days you just have to take one or the other.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

And Another Week Comes to An End...

It's Friday. Finally. Actually, as Mike has already reminded us, it's Friday the 13th. Here is a picture of how this week has been:

As my Father might say, if this week would have been a fish, I'd have thrown it back after catching it. I need a vacation, or I need to retire to some nice, remote, pastoral town and get a job sewing strings on tea bags or something. But I'll just settle for going dancing tonight, seeing the Lego exhibition at the National Building Museum tomorrow, and getting my grandchildren fix on Sunday.

Then it'll be Monday again, and we'll start the whole professional kabuki dance one more time.

Yes, I'm feeling tired and cranky this morning, a condition not eased by the rain pouring down outside. Blergh, as Andrea would say.

So this morning, I've got nothing. I'm going to just skip today and start planning for Cartoon Saturday. I'm sure you'll understand. You can visit one of the other blogs for now, and come back tomorrow, when I'll be in a better mood.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about doing a one-time Q&A post like Jay has done. If you have a question you'd like to ask your favorite curmudgeon, ask it as a comment on this post or e-mail it to me - bilbo_the_blogger(at)yahoo(dot)com. If I get enough interesting, non-pornographic questions, I'll answer them in this space next week. If I don't, well, I guess I'll just write about something else.

For now, enjoy your Friday. More thoughts tomorrow, when Cartoon Saturday arrives to usher in the weekend.

Bilbo

I'm Taking Friday Off

From blogging, that is.

I have a lot to do this morning before heading out to slay the work dragons, so I'm going to just take a day off from the blog. I know you'll understand. And if you don't, well, there are about 200,000,000 other blogs out there to choose from. You'll probably be able to find one you like.

Anyhow, Cartoon Saturday will be here tomorrow. See that you are, too.

Have a good day. Back tomorrow.

Bilbo

I Got Nothin'

Write this down on your calendars, folks: today is the day Bilbo has absolutely nothing to say.

I got nothin'.

My creative glands are not secreting. I have a vast file of blog fodder from which to choose topics, and I'm not interested in any of it this morning. My muse has mosied on.

It's not a catastrophe, though, because I can use the time I'd normally spend blogging to write more Christmas Cards, draft up the long-overdue issue of our dance studio newsletter, and continue the ongoing archaeological dig that is my attempt to reach the actual surface of my desk.

Check back tomorrow. I'll have something. I promise.

Have a good day. Come back tomorrow.

Bilbo

P.S. - aren't you impressed that I can spend this much effort saying nothing? I ought to run for Congress.

B.