Good morning, digital neighbors! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Welcome to day 10 of our Christmas Season, which ends for most on the 6th of January and the Feast of Epiphany, but Catholics push it further to the Baptism of the Lord, which is January the 11th this year! Buckle up, buttercup! Ten lords a-leaping reminds us of the Ten Commandments and God’s rules for our relationship with Him and one another. Many carp at them, but it is hard to argue for a better foundation for a spiritual and moral life. While I would love to preach on the commandments, we are here to talk about other things that I love: words, quotes, and photography. I really love my faith and role-playing games too, but you need to pray and worship with me for a good dose of the first and game with me for the second. I love stories—the REAL one and so many imagined ones. There are too many worlds of imagination that I have visited and loved in books, movies, and games. Onward to words!

I do enjoy words—the play on words, the obscure words, and the often-forgotten words in our vocabulary. It is an odd thing, since I am terrible at grammar and not any better at proofreading. Of late, Grok has been lending a hand with punctuation, spelling, and grammar but leaves my style and writing habits intact. You can, of course, ask it to rewrite how you say things, make it more polished or with a different flair, but then it doesn’t sound so much like yourself. Also, Grok seems to repeat phrases that it finds interesting or fun; ask it to write a paragraph or two and it’s like some college student with a handy thesaurus in tow, trying to make their writing sound more intellectual by using obscure words. I like obscure words, but if you don’t really use them as part of your ordinary vocabulary, so much for authenticity.  I try to write like I talk. What you read is pretty much how I sound in real life. I probably have a preaching voice and persona that is more motivational or inspirational than I am conversationally, but it is still mostly me. I tend to speak more freely here and with less of a filter.  I do my best to exercise tact as a person of consideration.  Once people know my vibe in writing if they find me offensive or boring, they can just happily ignore me while they go elsewhere. I can’t imagine going on-line looking or hoping to be offended, there are few things more retarded.  I think some use anger as a replacement for excitement and meaning in their life, poor substitute.  Sorry for that aside, just trying to make sense of the perpetually offended and waiting to be offended adherents and advocates of humanity.

In 2026, I want to have more fun with words, more reflection on quotes, and more wonderful photographs curated from the internet. I try my best to attribute the photographer and source when possible. I am sure I will still have my occasional rants about the Cabal and everything I despise about it, but I am trying my best to remain informed, engaged, and responsive without being consumed, compromised, or broken.

Your word for the day: ABDOMINOUS

Abdominous – big- or pot-bellied. An abdominous person is literally full of their belly. Why does Grimace from the old McDonald’s commercials come to mind? Abdominous seems a fitting word especially after the holiday glut. I know I need to shed my extra pounds. If you are thinking of losing some pounds, I hope you find a sustainable lifestyle change that allows you to find a healthy weight and maintain it. It is not easy; I have yo-yoed for too many years—a horrible dance of loss and gain. As I prepare to cruise into my 60th year of existence, I don’t want to remain the same person I have been for the last few years, nor do I want to do another season of yo-yo loss and gain. I want to find a sustainable lifestyle (much more disciplined and intentional than the last 3 years or the last 30) and commit to living it. It will mean more NOs than I have chosen to embrace in the past few decades. NO sucks. But so do all the things that come with being a lard-butt—well, to be accurate, a lard-gut. I want to prefer better health over an indulgent life. I said for much of 2025 that many do not want to be healthy, they just don’t want to be sick. I want to leave those ranks and strive for health. Exercise for the mind, diet for the body. Neither really appeals to me, but neither does all the illness that accompanies too much Tom vs. gravity. Less of me is better for all of me. Ain’t gonna be no lords a-leaping with an abdominous figure! Happy Saturday, my friends!

Grok generated abdominous lords a leaping, many deftly defying gravity!