Why do I do these things to myself? I signed up to take the training that certifies one to teach swimming, thereby condemning myself to another month of training that will involve one or two evenings a week, in the pool. Yesterday I fulfilled my daily exercise goal (40 minutes) by 300 percent. Got home, ate like a teenager, went to bed with wet hair. You should see it today.
Ah well, it’s just another month. And I’m not even sure I want to teach swimming. I’m not that good with children, but who knows, soon maybe we’ll need another $19/hour household income. I think I’d rather work in a weed store. Not as hard on the hair.
Anyway, one of the things we did last night was observe/participate in the pool’s weekly special-needs swim, in which children and young adults with various disabilities get wet and work on whatever. Most of them have some form of autism, and when I say “some form” I’m talking about the whole spectrum. I spotted one of my favorites from the classes I lifeguard, a gangly young man who’s making steady progress. This year he learned to dive, and believe me, that was a milestone. Anyway, he’s bright, chatty — last night he was asking his swim buddy where he went to college, high school, middle school, elementary school and preschool — and I feel very optimistic that, contrary to the remarks yesterday by Croaky, the Health and Human Services secretary who’s doing his best to ruin both, this kid will grow up to go on dates and definitely pay taxes.
I was reading about that press conference yesterday. One thin shred of hope I might have in the future recovery of this country lies in the fact these people are so goddamn bad at what they do. I know a few people with children on the spectrum, and judging from their social-media venting, they’re incensed by Croaky’s improv yesterday. One signed off on a wrenching Facebook post with, I can’t wait for this asshole to die so I can piss on his grave. How in the world did he, or anyone else, think it was a good idea for him to not just promise to find the causes of autism by the end of the summer, but freestyle about the terrible burden these people are to society? Pro tip, Bobby: When you climb in bed with actual Nazis, maybe save that for after the third cocktail at a dinner with excellent security and not in a restaurant. (Roy, as usual, finds the grim humor within.)
Throw in the secretary of education talking about “A1,” the attorney general lying through her teeth, the “gold guy” turning the people’s house into Mar-a-Lago (read that, it’s a trip; gift link) and various other fuckups we’ve seen so far, and it’s possible to think it’s only a matter of time, but who knows?
This is likely to be the last post of the week, because tonight? The Derringers and a friend are driving to Toledo to see Bob Dylan. I’ve seen him before, in Indianapolis sometime in the ’80s, and the show was terrible. Tom Petty was the opener and his band remained onstage to play with Bob, and it was one of those shows where I felt…assaulted by the sound. It was loud, it was distorted, it was painful. Today it’s a smaller venue, and I’m hoping 83-year-old Bob is in good voice and has a far quieter band. As always, we’ll see. The point of this evening is the outing and spending time with good people.
So have a great rest of the week, and we’ll see you again sometime Sunday, most likely.
LindaG said on April 17, 2025 at 9:56 am
Dylan was at the FW Embassy Saturday night. It was sold out, so there was no place for ushers to sit. I mostly sat on a chair in the ladies powder room. Super duper security, no cell phones, all tickets had to be on paper. Couldn’t understand him very well, none of his classic songs from the ’60s. Some people left, but he got a mighty cheer at the end. No encore either. Hope you enjoy the show.
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alex said on April 17, 2025 at 10:28 am
In good voice? Was he ever?
Speaking of Croaky Roberts, I suspect Kennedy’s agenda is all about laying blame on vaccines once and for all despite no scientific evidence, and bulldozing whatever’s left of our public health establishment so that purveyors of quack cures can ply their trade without pesky government interference. I’m sure he’s hoping that by September all resistance to disinformation will have been vanquished and that truth will be whatever he says it is.
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nancy said on April 17, 2025 at 10:48 am
I suspect you’re right, Alex. Declare a “suspicious” link between vaccines and autism, suspend all vax requirements, declare victory. The MSM will couch this finding in careful, non-judgmental, experts-differ language, and then he’ll move on to fluoridation and completing his sack of American public health.
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Jeff Borden said on April 17, 2025 at 10:52 am
While Brain Worm Bobby is doing his Josef Mengele imitation, the deportation czar is threatening prosecution and imprisonment of elected officials in sanctuary cities and states, while Attorney General Barbi gears up to go after liberal advocacy groups such as Act Blue and Indivisible. I can’t recall how many times people told me I was being overly dramatic describing a second tRump reign. It appears I underestimated how horrible it would be or how fast it would happen.
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basset said on April 17, 2025 at 11:44 am
Only time I’ve seen Dylan was in early ‘74 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, backed by The Band and still had some voice left. Only a very few times have I seen an audience explode in the way that they did when he sang “and even the president of the yoo-nited states must sometimes have to stand naaay-kid!”
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ROGirl said on April 17, 2025 at 1:14 pm
Basset, I saw Dylan with the Band on that tour at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor.
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Jenny said on April 17, 2025 at 1:22 pm
My bucket list will include pissing on a few graves in the future as well.
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Sherri said on April 17, 2025 at 2:08 pm
I expected a second Trump administration to be very bad, and even I underestimated how bad it would be. I also underestimated how quickly people would fold rather than stand up.
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Dorothy said on April 17, 2025 at 2:37 pm
Dammit alex you beat me to that snarky comment!
I am surprised you’re going to see him again Nancy after saying how bad the previous show was. I apologize if this offends anyone but Dylan’s appeal has always escaped me. Yes maybe he’s a genius poet. But as far as performing? Meh. I can’t even say he’s an acquired taste. I think he’s a horrible singer.
We have good friends whose son is 42 and is high functioning autistic. He bags groceries for a living. Has very few friends. He lives with his parents; they worry about what will happen to him when they’re gone. His brother’s wife has called him retarded and other terrible names in front of her own 3 kids. She has ostracized our friends with her nasty comments. And she works in a school district with middle school age kids. One would think she’d be more open minded. Then again, look where we are with who occupies the White House. And we all know the kind of people who voted for him.
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David C said on April 17, 2025 at 3:34 pm
My bucket list will include pissing on a few graves in the future as well.
I was wandering around a cemetery in Appleton, WI and ran across Joseph McCarthy’s grave. I was tempted. I debated if I should spit on it or give it the finger. I gave it the finger. Spitting is for kids and baseball players.
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Jason T. said on April 17, 2025 at 3:47 pm
From the Wall Street Journal article:
“Trump has affixed a gold Trump crest over the door leading into the White House from the colonnade, a recent visitor said”
A gold.
Trump.
crest.
Like he owns the fucking place.
My God, Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, because I think I’m coming down with it. Maybe RFK Jr. can find a cure for that next.
My wife asked me if I thought Trump had any redeeming qualities. I said, “he makes carbon dioxide. That’s good for plants.”
But I see he’s gotten rid of the plants in the Oval Office anyway. There goes the only positive contribution he made to the world.
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Julie Robinson said on April 17, 2025 at 5:07 pm
Linda, I heard the same thing about Dylan’s concert in Fort Wayne, and also that it was pretty short. I’m kinda with Dorothy on him, but I also just dropped a pretty sum on Broadway tickets. To each their own.
Our daughter and a group of religious activists spent the day outside the immigration court, where they sang, prayed, and offered foot washing to everyone. That’s what Jesus told followers to do when they met for Passover during what Christians now call Holy Week. They got permission to gather as long as they didn’t use amplification. Some of them didn’t have papers when they originally came but are now citizens. Still, I think they might have felt more than a little fear.
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Dexter Friend said on April 17, 2025 at 6:15 pm
I saw Bob at Centennial Hall before it became Savage Hall on the UT campus in 1977. His merch shirt was circus animals and balloons with a giraffe dominating the artwork. That night he had a huge band and sang songs none in my party of 4 had heard or even read about, and 3 of us were huge Dylanistas.
I did not give a shit…I had seen Bob Dylan.
I did see fantastic harmony whenever I drove all over hell to see CSNY or only David and Graham. And every word was heard. I miss David.
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Sherri said on April 17, 2025 at 9:03 pm
An interesting analysis of what the possible quid pro quo looks like between Trump and Bukele:
https://open.substack.com/pub/asharangappa/p/whats-the-real-quid-pro-quo-with?r=2h24&utm_medium=ios
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Deborah said on April 17, 2025 at 10:07 pm
I’ve been to more Dylan concerts than I can cope with. My husband’s a big fan, the last couple I said no thanks, my husband went with a friend.
What is it about dictators and their domiciles? Really overdone and in poor taste. Fake gold everywhere. So tacky.
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Sherri said on April 17, 2025 at 10:35 pm
Trump is deep into the details of gilding the White House. But…
At the White House on Thursday afternoon, when asked by a reporter whether he would move to return Mr. Abrego Garcia to the United States, Mr. Trump said, “Well, I’m not involved.”
From then NYTimes story on Van Hollen getting to meet Abrego Garcia.
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Sherri said on April 17, 2025 at 11:06 pm
This is troubling, especially when you consider the probability that it has been repeated across multiple agencies: https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security
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Deborah said on April 18, 2025 at 7:51 am
This is pretty cool, happening this week in northern NM this week and crescendos this weekend https://apnews.com/article/good-friday-pilgrimage-catholic-church-new-mexico-9283699d129d4a72a519ae21df0240cf?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=share
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Deborah said on April 18, 2025 at 9:14 am
Calling the Department of Redundancy Department about my last comment.
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Little Bird said on April 18, 2025 at 9:24 am
I’m concerned that they aren’t just going to stop enforcing vaccines, but ban them altogether.
Also, I am autistic. It’s a spectrum, not a line, so the phrase “high functioning” doesn’t really apply. I used to work, and I used to date. It’s a different (and genetic degenerative) disorder that eventually precluded me from working.
Seems to me he and his brain worm are more of drain on our resources than millions of tax paying autistic people.
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SusanG said on April 18, 2025 at 10:44 am
For the past six years, my post-retirement hippie jobs have been working with the IDD (intellectual and development disabilities) community. From an early age, I had an Anne Sullivan complex-so sue me.
I get one of two responses when people find out what I do. It’s either, “you’re such a good person to work with those people,” or “they’re violent, aren’t you scared.”
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Sherri said on April 18, 2025 at 12:23 pm
People aren’t a burden on the community, they are the community. You’d think that someone who grew up in the family that created the Special Olympics would be more cognizant of that, but apparently from a young age, RFK Jr was different.
When your own family calls you a predator, I don’t guess it’s surprising that you regard the differently abled as mistakes to be culled from the gene pool.
I’m also waiting for an interviewer to call Musk on his alleged concern about humanity and the birth rate. It’s not the birth rate of humanity he’s concerned about.
Eugenicists, every one of them.
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David C said on April 18, 2025 at 1:47 pm
When Rose and Ethel saw how RFK Jr. was turning out they went into the back yard and practiced rolling over in their graves.
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Little Bird said on April 18, 2025 at 2:15 pm
A little clarification about autism be a spectrum rather than a line. A line might go from negative 10 through zero and up to ten. Where you place on that determines how “functional” you are. But that doesn’t really work for autism. Autism is more like a color wheel. I’m good at some things, and less so at others. When you connect the dots of each “symptom” you get a shape. And no two people have the exact same shape.
Here’s a link that might explain it better.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-autism-spectrum-disorder/202208/autistic-linear-spectrum-pie-chart-spectrum
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Dexter Friend said on April 18, 2025 at 3:32 pm
To add to the Easter theme, I watched “Quo Vadis” straight through this morning. I had never seen it. Damn good movie. Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr.
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Deborah said on April 18, 2025 at 5:32 pm
I went to pick up my redesigned Musk Rat sign and they screwed up my order so they had to send out for it to be printed from another Fedex printing place and I went to the Starbucks next door to wait about 45 minutes for it. Then they brought it to me in the Starbucks and the place cracked up, I was a little embarrassed. I redesigned it to be bolder and bigger and it’s laminated for rain protection. I thought it would be ironic if I got hit by a Tesla on my way home. I had it rolled up though so it wouldn’t attract negative attention.
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Sherri said on April 18, 2025 at 8:07 pm
I went to grad school in computer science at Carnegie Mellon. I met a lot of people there who could easily be described as “on the spectrum” or “neurodivergent”, whether they had formal diagnoses or not. To the point that since that time, when people have warned me that someone I’m about to meet “is on the spectrum”, they seem pretty normal to me.
Now, I recognize that there are degrees, and in fact, some friends of mine from grad school have a child who is incapable of independent living, though neither of them had stood out as particularly neurodivergent.
I suspect that environment also plays a part, and I don’t mean in the sense of toxic exposure, but in the sense of to what degree can we shape the environment to suit our particular neural idiosyncrasies? For example, it seems to me there’s been an explosion in adult diagnoses of ADHD since the pandemic, and I suspect it’s because the pandemic caused a tremendous upset to normal coping mechanisms.
But RFK Jr’s take that neurodivergence is something to be eliminated is just disgusting.
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