You may have noticed a distinct shift in the direction of my postings over the last few days, from the urgency of world news to the more . . . much more . . . mundane. Rest assured that this does not imply a loss of interest in the crucial events taking place in various parts of our planet. Quite the contrary. My morning routine remains the same: hightail it to the bathroom, return to bed, check my phone for emails and clear out the 95% that are pure junk, and peruse three or four news sources — all before finally getting up for breakfast. (At my stage of life, that first order of business is non-negotiable. Too much information? Okay, then . . . onward and upward.)

Strangely, over the past week I’ve seen a definite lag in new news — at least, the sort that I feel compelled to comment on. Perhaps that’s a good thing, since in most cases an event isn’t even considered to be news unless it’s bad . . . or about Taylor Swift. And I don’t have to tell you that we’ve had more than enough of both of those. Of course, there are still the ongoing, never-ending tragedies of the wars — Russia vs. Ukraine; Israel and Hamas vs. each other; Putin and Xi vs. The World; Trump vs. Reality — as well as the health of the British royal family; the latest mass shooting; the ever-worsening climate; the Harry and Meghan soap opera . . . You see what I mean? How much can be written about anything before it becomes the same old same old?

You’re probably wondering why I haven’t commented on the first U.S. presidential debate that was apparently held on Thursday, involving — let’s see now — oh, yes: President Joe Biden and convicted felon Donald Trump. Well, the answer is simple: I refused to watch it, I haven’t read anything about it, and I have better things to do with my time. It isn’t that I don’t care about the election; of course, I do. I simply don’t want to go to that dark place where I’m thinking about the future of the world if either of the two presumptive candidates should win office in November . . . And I don’t publicly comment on my political views in any event. But here for your viewing pleasure are the boys — Joe and Donny — just so you don’t think I’m unaware of what’s going on in the world:

Well, that’s done. So now, once again, onward and upward . . .

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I did find one bit of happy news. The San Diego Zoo has been gifted a pair of giant pandas from China! They are the first in quite a while, and the single bright spot in the otherwise murky relationship between China and the United States. I remember the first pair — Ling Ling and Sing Sing — arriving at the National Zoo in our nation’s capital back in 1972. The lines to visit them were endless, but the viewing was well worth the wait. They were pure joy.

These adorable, happy, playful, simply wonderful creatures have been such outstanding goodwill ambassadors over the years. Too bad they can’t run for president.

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That’s it for today, I’m afraid. I’ll be working on finding something (hopefully) interesting for tomorrow while the globe continues spinning on its wobbly axis. Maybe I’ll get lucky, and something shocking will happen somewhere . . .

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/29/24