Public Posts

Author’s Introduction: Everywhere in the news I’ve been reading about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and programs like ChatGPT will be eliminating thousands of jobs in countless industries. Thanks to recent advances in AI, fashion magazines can create images of fashion models that are so realistic, there may soon be no need for human models. Writers and actors are on strike right now in part because of very real fears that artificial intelligence will make their jobs obsolete. Why pay a few hundred background actors thousands of dollars when movie producers now can just create digital fakes to accomplish the same thing? Why hire writers when ChatGPT can write a complex script in minutes?

It got me to thinking. Is MY job as a humor writer at risk? You tell me. The other day, I asked ChatGPT to “write a satirical humor article about being an American man married to a Canadian woman in the style of Tim Jones’s View From the Bleachers humor website.” (My wife is Canadian.) … and this is what it came up with: More at View from the Bleachers ➜

"I’ve always maintained, rightly or wrongly, that if necessity is the mother of invention, boredom is the midwife of art. Most of my artist pals would probably disagree, but I can only speak for myself. If I were busy with a job or a family or any of a countless other enterprises, I doubt I’d stay up late to find the time to make art". Read more 

Not to brag, but I consider myself an expert in the field of mental health. That’s because I’ve spent two decades attempting (usually in vain) to decipher the complex inner workings of the minds of children – specifically mine... More at View from the Bleachers ➜

I recently made a car rental reservation online through DOLLAR RENT A CAR. But when I reached their rental car counter at a few minutes before its closing time, I learned something very unexpected: DOLLAR RENT A CAR does not rent cars - at least not to me. Imagine my surprise. 
Read the heartfelt letter I sent thanking them for the truly unforgettable experience they put me through.

Memorial Day honors all service members who lost their lives while in service to the United States, during peace and war. It is a time to reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

    "Soldiers Memorial Day"
   Hymn by Mary B. C. Slade

When flow’ry Summer is at hand,
And Spring has gemm’d the earth with bloom,
We hither bring, with loving hand,
Bright flow’rs to deck our soldier’s tomb.

                  (Chorus)
Gentle birds above are sweetly singing
O’er the graves of heroes brave and true;
While the sweetest flow’rs we are bringing,
Wreath’d in garlands of red, white and blue.

They died our country to redeem,
And from the loving earth we bring
The wealth of hill, and vale, and stream,
Our grateful land’s best offering

                 (Chorus)
With snowy hawthorn, clusters white,
Fair violets of heav’nly blue,
And early roses, fresh and bright,
We wreathe the red, and white, and blue.

But purer than the fairest flowers,
We strew above the honored dead,
The tender changeless love of ours,
That decks the soldier’s lowly bed.

                   (Chorus)
We bend and kiss the precious sod,
Swift fall our tears the graves above
Oh! Brothers! from the hills of God,
Look down and see our changeless love.

Written by Mary B. C. Slade in 1870, two years after Gen. John A. Logan first declared May 30th a Memorial Day for decorating the graves of fallen soldiers. Music to her words was written by Perkins, W. O. (William Oscar). In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May. The change went into effect in 1971. Read about the Origins of Memorial Day

Now that I’m retired, I’ve been looking for a hobby to keep me busy and get me out of the house. And I think I’ve finally found it: Searching for Bigfoot.You see, I live in the Pacific Northwest, practically Ground Zero for Bigfoot sightings over the past 50 years. Searching for Bigfoot will get me off the couch and out of the house, so I figure my wife will be all for this idea. Plus, I don’t have to get up before 10am, which is ideal for this job because from what I hear, Bigfoot’s not an early morning riser either. Read how I plan to go about searching for the elusive Big Guy. Wish me luck!

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22 since 1970, to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It is an important reminder that we all have a role to play in protecting the planet. Together, we can create a more sustainable future for ourselves and for generations to come. 
Credit for the Earth Day idea goes to Gaylord Nelson, an American politician from Wisconsin and leading figure in the fight against environmental degradation and social injustice. "It may have been Gaylord Nelson’s idea, but American citizens made it happen”. Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and best-selling author provided the spark for this movement with the 1962 publication of her book, "Silent Spring" which showed the devastating effects of modern pesticides on the natural world. Read more about the origin of Earth Day

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"Back 40 years ago the tulip fields of Skagit Valley looked like a Mondrian abstract, geometrically colorful grids laid out with Mt. Baker in the background, a photographer’s wetdream. A few folks rolled up from the cities, braving the weather and us locals, but not so many the farmers took notice. Like a lot of innocent beauty in this world, the Chamber of Commerce decided to, well, what we refer to today as ‘monetize’ those candy colored flowers. Organize, advertise, centralize — monetize! The town’s surrounding the fertile fields in the Skagit floodplain joined forces, hoping the next flood would be human"..... Read more

Cats living with humans dates back over 10,000 years. But in all that time, there is not a single documented case of a cat ever thanking its human cohabitant. In ancient Egypt, people worshipped cats as gods. To this day, that’s still how most cats see themselves.....Read more