I was just in the grocery store looking for an impossible-to-find coconut mixture to use in a vintage cake recipe and was passed in the aisle by a woman and two children, probably 3 and 5 years old.

“Cereal is junk.”, the woman pronounces.

“Martha says it isn’t. She says it’s good for you.”, replies the 5 year old girl.

“No it’s not. It’s junk. You shouldn’t be eating it for breakfast.”, says the woman.

“I think it’s good for you.”

“Junk. You should be eating eggs.”

It felt like I was watching the brainwashed in the process of brainwashing.  Actual damage in progress.

This morning I found myself looking at a cloud.  A small cloud, very ordinary in all respects except that it was the only cloud in the sky.  It was odd enough to attract and keep my attention.  It seemed like there was some underlying story there – as if this particular cloud had become separated from its flock and being alone, it didn’t know what to do.  It just hung there, motionless.

The doodle I posted earlier makes me angry, because an hour after posting it I realized there was a MUCH better way to tell the tale.  It’s weird how pacing and rhythm make their way into a silly three panel comic.  It’s like I was playing notes in ¾ time when the song was in 4/4.

-I can’t be the only person who has a stockpile of half-remembered regional television ads that pop up in their brain at odd moments. Weird hair club for men/aqualtic theme park/now defunct restaurant chain jingles and so forth. The kind of ephemera that is untraceable.  I’m *never* going to hear Bobby Hull tell me he lost his hair in front of the whole world so he knows the pain and anxiety I’m feeling. Potions, lotions weaves, toupees, he tried them all.

-Let’s go get coffee and look at the stars.  It’s that time of year. Crickets, dew-covered picnic tables, darkness, and the distant glow of city lights from beyond the horizon.

-The Texas bathroom discrimination bill got thrown out today. That’s okay news. Something positive happened.