Get out and VOTE today for the obvious reasons. But get out and vote for another less obvious reason. When 2026 rolls around, you know the GOP (guardians of pedophiles) will resurrect their endless campaign of purging voter rolls. Given their blatant disregard for the law, you know they will designate you as an "inactive voter" if you miss this year's off-cycle elections.
Even if it is only one ballot measure or one school board race, take 10 minutes and vote. It will help to protect your right to vote in 2026. Visit your state's Secretary of State website to see if there is a primary in your district and your polling place. Keep in mind, some districts have different polling places for federal elections versus state and local elections.
Here I go again on my own... In a world with so many different ways to express yourself, going back to blogging (which is dead from a commercial standpoint) seems a little pointless. Gone are the days where search engines would find blogs, scan their key words and have them near the top of their results list. Most everyone who will take the time to peruse these pages is someone who already knows me. In fact, most of us met (virtually at first) from reading each others blogs. I would read a blog, then search their list of followers and would read and follow others. Communities formed around common themes and grew organically. Sometimes, we'd form our own private communities (The Wild Onion Cafe) to share amongst ourselves without the world watching (a basic form of what would become Zuckerberg's Nightmare). IF you stumble your way across this blog, or get invited from a "friend of a friend," then Biindigen.
But why? I'm sure a big part of it is the search for that sense of community. I don't have that anymore. At 94 years old, Momness doesn't remember my name. My brother and I (who have never been close) live in the same city and rarely see or speak with each other unless it's about Momness. I found a glimmer of community during the No Kings march in October. You're my tribe and sometimes I'd like to share things more in depth than just 120 characters.
Another big part is to express some of my creativity to the world. Reformatting the look and style of a blog was a challenge, but fun. Writing for the sake of writing... trying to be funny when I feel funny, serious when I feel serious, scared when I feel scared, and vulnerable when I feel vulnerable. The ability to do these things personally for people who I know I can trust, and anonymously for people I don't know that I can trust, presents a freedom I can't find on today's popular social media platforms.
So what will be here... THE ARCHIVES! Yes, this is the former blog with all of the former content. The only things I've changed are the url (to be less conspicuous) and the template format (to keep things fresh to the eye). Like in the past, new posts will probably be every few days. I put down a few new ones while shaking out the bugs before going back live. I'll also be bringing back some recurring themes, like JB & The Brain. Similar to before, it will be stream of consciousness. Funny, sad, topical, newsworthy, or somewhere in between; you'll never be quite sure what you'll get on a given day. And that's The Essence of Bobness.
Way back in the past, 30 years ago, I would go to my bosses home to help him celebrate Halloween. "Celebrate" is kind of a loose term.... he and I would grill outside in the front yard (steaks, chicken, lamb chops, etc.) and hand out candy to the trick or treaters while his wife took his two girls throughout the neighborhood to trick ot treat. As you can probably surmise, there were plenty of adult beverages in the coolers while we were holding down the fort. Since this was Florida, there was also plenty of OFF spray and citronella candles to ward off the swarms of mosquitos after sundown.
Good times and good memories with good people. (As an aside, that year we did lamb chops it was amazing). So many years since I can remember being not happy, but at least "at peace."
When your small space in existence, and the world in general, is a depressing mess; you cling to any small victory. My garlic have gotten a good start this fall.
I’ll have to mulch over them this week as the snow will soon begin to fall and the hard winter freeze will set in.
Hopefully when spring comes, I’ll be here to clear the mulch and watch them bloom into beautiful flowers and delicious food.
Holy crow.... it's been so long since I visited this place that I've forgotten how to navigate it. It's going to take a while until I get back into the swing of things. So consider this a construction site until I figure things out again and get them where I'd like them to be. But while you wait #FuckIce.
