Jim Flanigan Looks at the World
Turning the Mundane into Fundane Since 2015
Yes, it is that time of the year again, when I narrow my list of followers to those that aren’t doped-up on thorazine or any other anti-psychotic drug, sift through the handful of followers that remain, and choose a Follower of the Year. Past winners have been so self-effacing that they have asked me to never mention them again. Actually, it was their lawyers that asked, in writing via a court order.
I’ve given the staff of Jim Flanigan Looks at the World some time off over this holiday weekend to spend time with their children, some of whom also happen to be their nieces and nephews, but they wanted me to pass along this holiday snapshot I took of them at our Christmas party …
Without that good bunch of guys, I would not be able to keep a steady stream of drivel coming your way. Now without their efforts this weekend, here’s the unsteady stream of drivel I have lined-up for your reading pleasure …
Today marks the day that I posted first to this blog 2 years ago. I’d like to think that I started this blog as an apolitical blog with lots of hilarious posts about meteor showers and bath towels. Yes, there were some of those, although hilarious may be a strong adjective to use, but my first 4 posts were actually bipartisan political posts covering Mike Huckabee, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and of course, Donald Trump who was a real joke back then. Some things never change. It wasn’t long before I published one of my all-time favorite Trump posts about illegal immigration. Ah, the good old days when Trump satire still worked.
Before this post devolves into a “best of” post, I want to impart unto/inflict onto my readers all the things I have learned about writing and blogging in these past 2 years.
I ran into a follower of this blog yesterday. Yes, you know who you are. It wasn’t awkward like the time I realized that the cashier at the grocery store was the same woman who I had been watching through her blinds doing Zumba. This follower and I have actually known each other for a couple decades now, and I doubt that she will seek a restraining order like old Zumba Hips eventually did.
However, the meeting was still shocking to me.
I’m taking a short vacation, so I’ve put my blogging on auto-pilot for a couple days. I know, you can’t tell the difference. In some prior blog post I promised not to foist my recently rediscovered musical career and songwriting onto my blog audience. I lied. I am pleased to present to you our website with our first song. You can stream our first song for free, or you can purchase it for $0.99, or you can invest that $0.99 in something worthwhile like 1/2 of 1% of a share of Apple stock or a crappy plastic whatchamacallit from the Dollar Store. I don’t expect anyone to purchase it, but I also didn’t expect anyone to read this blog nonsense. Anyone who does purchase the song gets automatic consideration for Follower Of The Year. Without further ado, experience the musical magic of Sunsets Rising …
I’ve taken a few days off from blogging as I have re-evaluated my blogging and specifically my Trump-bashing. It has been fun up to now making jokes at the expense of Trump, a political simpleton. But it is becoming obvious that he is being manipulated by Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, two evil ghouls who have sold their souls in exchange for political contributions and personal wealth. With visible evidence that Trump is showing signs of dementia, this use of Trump as a puppet for the McConnell/Ryan agenda is, well, to steal a line from Trump … Sad!
As I drove back from St. Louis on Tuesday night, I listened to news that Jon Ossoff lost his Georgia congressional race. Four months ago, that would have been no surprise, but momentum and hope built so that his loss felt like being on the receiving end of a gut punch. Topping that was news of the horrible Trumpcare plan being rushed through the Senate that literally will kill people. People will die because of this McConnell/Ryan plan that Trump will rubber stamp because he doesn’t know any better and will do as told, except in regard to the tweeting.
Let me just start out by saying that the title of this blog makes no sense except that this post is about music and my quest to become one with music. You will only find out at the very end if I reached that lofty goal. I workshopped many alternate blog post titles, and they all sucked as much as this one, so what’s the point of even trying? It’s good enough (maybe too good?) for the likes of us.
Moving on, this is my longest blog post ever, and perhaps the longest ever in the history of blogging. I have no interest in checking, so let’s just take my vague hunch as gospel truth that this is a record-setting post. It is chock full of nonsensical words in a seemingly random order that would rival a Sean Spicer press conference, links to older posts (in a pathetic attempt to increase views), pictures, animated gifs and video links. If you are not up for a herculean, visually-stimulating blog post, bail out now. Warning, do not click the “Continue reading.”
There’s a lot of talk of Russian hacking these days, and not the type that accompanies a bout of pneumonia in Minsk. I’m talking about computer hacking. I know I’ve had my computer hacked previously, but I have no idea why. I have no money. I have such little credit left that when I try and use my credit card, stores make me leave collateral. Go hack someone with actual wealth. Hack my computer and the best you can hope for is to assume some of my debt.
Just recently though, I hacked myself, and in particular, this very blog. Sit back, strap in and get ready for a story that may just change your life, or waste some time. I know it’s one of those two.
My follower list continues to grow slowly, about as slow as a Republican coming up with an idea to advance social justice. I think if I get 30 more followers to this blog, I qualify for cult status! Yay, and pass the Kool-Aid around the compound.
Two very dear friends of mine just became followers of this blog. I want to make it clear to them and to all my followers that it is OK to have regrets and admit mistakes were made. But please don’t change your mind about following this blog. I am so looking forward to the obvious tax benefits when I can finally register as a cult with the IRS.
We got some snow and ice here overnight. It was very icy and slippery this morning as I walked my daughter to school. I’ll bet she can’t wait for her high school graduation this May. Anyway, it was very, very slippery out. I’ll bet you are wondering just how icy and slick out it was. Thanks for asking! It was so slippery out that I not only carried my cell phone in case I fell and broke a hip, but I had 2 cell phones with me in case I broke both hips. Thanks for reading and I hope you appreciate that I thought little enough of this blog post to not include a “Read More” link.
It has been a bit over one year since I started upchucking my written nonsense onto our unsuspecting planet via this blog, and while followers have come and some have gone (aka, the smart ones), I finally have 50 followers. I probably could have gotten 50 the first week by posting pics like this …
Continue reading “Finally Fifty”
The accolades are rolling in for my recent two word blog post.
Jim Flanigan Looks at the World 