Tag: half-penny thoughts

  • Half-penny thoughts — 21feb26

    As I write more prose, certain questions pop up in my head about the decision making process of other writers across multiple medias.

    One of the tropes that always has me scratching my head is that of most apocalyptic tropes — the limited food stores that people are going through, some of it 20-30 (or more years old). It’s as if no one survived who knew hunting/foraging techniques, or were willing to try to do either. They seem quite content on starving day to day or cracking open a dinged up, rusty can of dog food to chase away the hunger pangs. Yet, something as simple and prolific as dandelion greens seems to escape their notice. After a few months’ time, they wouldn’t even need to worry about herbicide residual on the greens (and yet, quite possibly worry about chemical residues in the dog food, curiously enough).

    And I know, most people don’t consider common plants found on lawns and in the wild when they are hungry, but it always seems like a strange omission to not consider forage as a food source. If the world is irradiated, it is one thing to eliminate forage, but a zombie plague? Why aren’t they eating the edible shrooms growing in the forest behind the zombie-infested general store instead of risking their lives for 20-yo dogfood out of a can?

    What do you think? Am I making too big of a deal about it and there are plenty of examples of sensible food consumption in the fictional apocalypse? If you were to be a survivor, what kinds of things you try to learn how to cultivate or forage to avoid cat food tins or dodgy baked beans in a can?

    Extra think to ponder: Did you know there are no commonplace true rhymes for “orange” or “month”? Prove me wrong in the comments, if you disagree.

  • Half-penny thoughts — 05feb26

    I am probably the only person in the world annoyed with this, but the rampant use of acronyms like O.G. (“original gangster”) for everything and anyone, and G.O.A.T. (“greatest of all time”) bugs me in ways that I can’t express.

    Under current usage, someone can apply O.G. to Bob Dylan for his crossover folk/rock music. And there are bound to be people who are certain he is the G.O.A.T.

    The first (O.G.) was the headscratcher when my eldest used it in reference to the post-punk band Joy Division (active 1976-1980). Having grown up in a neighborhood where O.G. meant something entirely different, I made a scrunched up face to let her know that I was almighty confused by what she had said. “Echo and the Bunnymen” was another band that she labeled O.G.

    Now, I’m lame and out of touch, but I was trying to understand just how Joy Division were original gangsters… She then informs me as to the current meaning, which is applied to when what most people I know will think “old school” will work just fine. The Cure? O.G. goth? Wut?

    Don’t get me started as to how silly “greatest of all time” sounds when you critically think about it. Before, now and forever? Really? Will you even remember the person you called a GOAT in three years? And yes, it is bandied about with flash-in-the-pan personalities even more than long-standing talent of all kinds.

    Am I just an old fuddy-duddy? Or do you find some of these things to be just outright silly (“SIXSEVEN!”)? Are there slang quirks that bother you? Do you really hate it when I say “Groovy, man”? Do I need to get to hepcat and quit being so square?

    Please note: I am not mortally offended by any these things, but they do seem quite silly and absurd in terms of slang developments over the years. Keep comments, should you have any, lighthearted and fun.

  • Half-penny thoughts — 30jan26

    An interesting word came my way recently (I “collect” interesting words) and, while I understood the concept outside of the actual word, I didn’t know what it was called.

    That word is “aphantasia”, a condition in which a person cannot visualize mental images, and it impacts up to an estimated 5% of the population. When you say “tree” they cannot conjure up a mental image of a tree when they close their eyes.

    There is actually a spectrum of how well people can mentally visualize things:

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  • Half-penny thoughts — 28jan26

    I feel like being more lighthearted today. Rather than write all kinds of serious words about my thinking on something, I am deciding to post a “just-for-fun” question to see if anyone is interested in a little mock game of truth or dare. Use one of the off-the-cuff examples below to answer my relatively absurd question, or come up with your own response. Please note, they are all not obviously standard responses to the question. Try to keep it in that spirit if you come up with something different.

    Which is sexier in your mind?

    • A tome of dusty old words largely lost to the vagaries of time?
    • A score tucked into a sealed plaster wall from a dead composer that was never recognized for their genius?
    • Petals floating by on a slow-moving stream in a snow-covered landscape?
    • Poetry whispered into a dark room with an audience of one lonely ghost?
    • Fangs of a vampire resting on your skin, but not quite breaking it?
    • Or something entirely different from the above? Be creative, be nonstandard.

    Just curious what folks decide and come up with/decide upon. There is absolutely no motive aside from that. The only condition is that it must actually appeal to you when you post in the comments if it isn’t one of those suggested.

    Either admit one sounds appealing (Truth) or propose your own. If you Dare.

  • Half-penny thoughts — 09jan26

    Do you ever get that itchy feeling that you ought to be up to something but cannot quite put your finger on what, exactly, that something might be aside from some nebulous notions that flutter like butterflies in the summer sun inside the space most folks store their brains?

    Yeah. That’s the prevailing feeling I am getting these past few days: an Ought which is disappointingly lacking in Substance.

    Maybe it is just my rebellious nature itching to get out and do something in light of the recent events that have taken place in my hometown (I moderate my activism to protect my family, but would act up significantly more if I had only myself to be concerned about).

    But that does not feel quite right. If I got involved with current activist events, I’d probably sign up to marshal more than agitate anyway. That feels closer to the heart of this indecipherable vibe I am feeling. Spirit/soul work of some sort, perhaps?

    Well, let’s not worry about solving my conundrum. It’s very likely something I need to get at myself without external help. That’s the kind of vibe it is; internal stuff.

    However, going back to the original thought at the head of this post:

    How often do you feel you ought to be doing something, but cannot think of what that something might be? Frequently? Never?

    And, if you do, are you always able to eventually resolve what that thing is? Or do you just let it go and hope that it comes to you a little clearer after you give it room to breathe?

    Do you ever get vague hints from wherever vague hints are born? Or does the realization come directly/not at all?

  • Half-penny thoughts — 07jan26

    Sometimes, when I look in the mirror or in the work chat camera, I’m a little surprised by who I see there. The person looking back at me appears to be a reflection of myself, except that all that grey and all that beard (not to mention the bushier eyebrows) seems much more gnome that it ought to be for the person I recall being.

    If I’m being generous, I replace the “gnome” with “druid”. However, self-generosity doesn’t come easy, so gnome is of more frequent use. Perhaps there is a better description? I’ll have to think about it (I’ve not quite evolved into a “troll”, but I suspect it will come sooner than later).

    Are you ever surprised by who you see in pictures of yourself? If so, do you think it is generally for the better or for the worse? If you were to use a common word or phrase of less than five words, what do you think best describes your general appearance or that someone might mistake you for being?

  • half-penny thoughts — 05jan26

    I’m probably overlooking quite a few artists, but it sure seems like the vast majority of them these days are very serious about their music.

    That’s not to say that I didn’t listen to and work with musicians in the past who were very serious about their music, but it seemed there were more folks in earlier eras who were a lot less serious about it. Or, they were serious musician who leaned into satire instead of saying things like, “We are artistes, not baboons. Go away and baboon elsewhere.”

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  • h…-penny thoughts — 16dec25

    Dropping hints.

    Again, my head is off in the outer limits where the ozone thins and this might be one of those weirdo (I’m a creep/I’m a weirdo) kinds of subjects to try and hold a discussion around, but I have my personal reasons for asking about people and communicating in hints.

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  • Half-penny thoughts — 13dec25

    Here’s a question for you. I won’t get much into a preamble because it is an oldie (but goodie) that is rattling around in my fat head for some reason or another and I’ve decided that I’m curious on the current state of affairs with opinions on the subject.

    What are your thoughts on the concept of “love at first sight”? Does such a thing even exist, or is it a romantic notions more akin to fantasy than reality? If it exists (for you), does it require the other party to reciprocate that love? Or does it still exist when the feeling is unilateral? What the heck is “love at first sight” anyway?

    As things are wont to do on these 1/2p posts, feel free to go off on your own tangents with your comments, just stick to the concept of “love at first sight”. I have my own thoughts but I am more interested in what you might have to say about it, no matter how mundane or outlandish those thoughts might be. For science! Or, just to satisfy my curiosity.

    And… Go!

  • Half-penny thoughts — 12dec25

    The only thing they feared more than failure was success.

    – appropriated variant of a common phrase, applied to The Replacements

    There are several variations of the above quote from across time; I’m not sure who said something like it originally. There are several people credited with saying something like it. It has been rattling around in my head since I saw it (again), although I cannot say exactly why.

    There’s something somewhat terribly romantic in that notion, isn’t there? That idea that failure is somehow more desirable than success, even if driven by a fear response.

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