My Toes Are Warm
I had heard the expression "hold their feet to the fire" but it never made much sense to me. Turns out this was a feature of the Inquisition.
Very good — I’ve written about a lot of varied topics — today we can revisit and update some developments…hooray
Not so good — Some of the topics I’ve written about have been casualties of my wild-eyed optimism so we can return to one of my old and absurd topics…ugh
Before We Start
I am also excited to report I am writing a small guest post TOMORROW (Mar 7th) IN ONE OF MY FAVORITE Newsletters by Gayla Gray titled SoNovelicious. It is an awesome inventory of all things books. I learn something new every time I visit and her positivity leads to discovering new and unexpected books to explore. Her Newsletter is all things books. She writes about books, bookstores, and all manner of other book-related topics. Her love of books and desire to connect with readers permeates her Newsletter. Click through to the link if you just love books!!! Make sure you check it out as my little guest post only appears tomorrow so either bookmark the link, or better yet subscribe to SoNovelicious. I was invited to write about my preferred genre, non-fiction History.
Click through to her Newsletter now or come back to this when you make it through my post today. I plan to cross-post it tomorrow for those of you with a Substack account.Click through to read my guest post or just snoop around in a book lovers paradise.
Why We Are Here
Self-help books, PowerPoint, and everyday encounters lead to people saying “accountable” way too much. It is a word teetering on the edge of becoming meaningless due to overuse in my opinion. Today I am going to revisit some old topics I’ve written about where something has changed about how I feel about it. This is mostly lighthearted so sit back and enjoy! This is as close as I get to “being accountable”.
Today’s Story Begins
My posts are across varied topics and sometimes I share bold claims. Today, I will hold my own feet to the fire. Early in this journey, in January of 2022, I wrote a post titled “Nature’s Cookbook”. If it is not your field of study (it was not mine), the magic of DNA is cool but pretty hard to wrap your head around. A perfect topic for me as I like to try and make the unusual accessible. Since I like to cook and bake the metaphor of recipes when it comes to how everything on Earth is made is nifty. The post is about having a small kitchen and a pantry full of twenty ingredients. Chefs have their base ingredients and so do we. Our twenty ingredients (amino acids), mixed in the right proportions can make EVERYTHING we will ever need to thrive. Our bodies are WAY MORE AMAZING than a kitchen though. It turns out our bodies can make about half of the ingredients all by themselves! It sounds simple and amazing to me! It is certainly a lot less imposing than “we are IMPOSSIBLY complex”!
The unbroken chain of ideas from Darwin (Evolution), Mendel (Genetics), Watson & Crick (DNA), and Doudna & Charpentier (CRISPR) have brought humankind to the brink of creation. The understanding of how living things work allows us to intervene to correct errors aka mutations. In a post earlier this year called “Predictions” I wished/hoped for the breakthroughs promised to begin to flow.
Unlike fusion power, a promise for now 75 years, CRISPR is happening and the news is spectacular! It is now only March and the great news has begun:
At the beginning of the 20th century, the American Chestnut tree was overwhelmed with blight and driven to near extinction. A hardwood with nearly ten-foot diameter trunks was largely cleared from the American landscape. Its Asian cousin was immune to the blight but try as we might, arborists have been unable to cross this immunity and bring back this wonderful tree once synonymous with Appalachia. The tree is considered “functionally extinct”. Enter the wonderful new technology of CRISPR and the rebirth of the mighty chestnut is upon us! Here is a Washington Post link to the rest of the story.
In my “Predictions” post I spoke of the scourge of sickle cell anemia. Clinical trials have begun for treating and perhaps curing this disease! Thus far 45 people have been treated and 22 are considered “cured”. This was considered impossible since the dawn of understanding this disease. An edit to a single gene restores life, hope, and a different future for the afflicted. Unlike a drug, such a treatment REVISES the gene. Presumably, this will mean the misery of the inheritance of this mutation can be stopped. In this way, unlike drug treatment, a path to eradication. Hooray. Click here to read more.1
MY CONCLUSION:: CRISPR IS GOING TO ROCK OUR WORLD!
Floundering Post
This Newsletter is called “Why Living Today Rocks” so it is hard for me to dwell on the negative. I will get there but first a bit of fun and upbeat as a lead-in. In September of 2022, I wrote a post titled “Common Sense”. It was a fun one to write but I penned it in the abstract. It introduced some of you to “the Coal Roller”, an offshoot of Neanderthal Man who wants to terrorize other drivers they share the road with. If you are unfamiliar with the “Coal Roller”, either search for it on Google or read my funny story about it. My recent experience lessens my joy about the Coal Roller as now I have witnessed it in person. Ugh.
Something Fun Before the Ugh
Recently, in the return to normal from a few days of heavy snow, I was driving on the Interstate. The roads were in great shape thanks to the yeoman efforts of the legion of plows in our Twin Cities. I have begun to note cities around the country have begun naming their snowplows in deference to the practice here in Minnesota for many years. The contests are FUN and people are creative in their naming. Our most recent batch of newly named plows and their winning names are provided. All things are orderly in Minnesota, it is the Scandinavian way of things. The plows are assigned to the metro areas of Minneapolis or St. Paul and also to the eight surrounding districts beyond the cities. The only one of the names unfamiliar to you outsiders refers to Lizzo, a popular singer from the Twin Cities.
The winning names, in order of vote totals, and their future homes are:
Betty Whiteout – District 8
Ctrl Salt Delete – District 7
The Big Leplowski – District 4
Plowasaurus Rex – Metro District
Scoop Dogg – District 3
Blizzard of Oz – District 2
No More Mr. Ice Guy – District 1
Edward Blizzardhands – District 6
Lest you think I exaggerate the order and organization of this place I live and love, take a look at the website maintained by mnDOT to run the election. Most years, Minnesota leads the nation in voter turnout. We even will vote for snowplows! I have a sometimes-reader who writes a wonderful and funny comedy Newsletter near Los Angeles who will enjoy the new District 4 plow name if he manages to land here. 2023 is the third year of voting; it will take a long time to name the 800+ snowplows mnDOT operates. It’s kinda fun when you encounter one of the monstrosities with a name emblazoned on it.
Back to the Ugh
The snow was piled high on the median as I traveled north into St. Paul. I was driving in the rightmost lane as I was exiting about 1.5 miles ahead. In front of me was a Toyota Prius. We were both exceeding the speed limit but not by a lot. Unfortunately, bicycles, electric cars, and hybrids (like the Prius) have become targets of some of the unsettled and unstable minds in our modern world. The point was we were not holding up traffic by any stretch of the imagination. In my rearview mirror, fast closing on me was a VERY LARGE PICKUP (“A dump truck with leather seats”)! It swept into the adjacent lane as if he were drafting behind me in a NASCAR race. He barreled past me and I could hear and smell he was driving a diesel. He slowed down adjacent to the Prius perhaps 250 feet ahead of me and matched speed with him and then belched an absurd cloud of noxious smoke and then veered TOWARD THE PRIUS as if to force it toward the shoulder. He then accelerated and moved on.
I am glad it didn’t lead to an accident but I was too slow to get my phone out and take a picture of the plate. I am ‘that guy’ who would call 911 and report it with a Google Maps pin if I had recorded the plate. As a lover of history, one of my favorite quotes attributed to Theodore Roosevelt covers my disappointment of not having my phone handy. I don’t feel strongly enough to have a dashcam, but now I can understand why some people feel by filming what we see, we can reach those among us who are filled with doubt or “yeah buts”.
MY CONCLUSION:: THERE ARE ASSHATS EVERYWHERE!
The Poll & Music
Wow!!! Setting out to write about the good AND the bad framed by the old and new sets off an array of CRAZY music range in my head and you can sample it if you wish or dare!!! This is a stream of consciousness as I ponder seeing the silver lining, embracing hope, or resisting circling the drain. All of these are great songs for different reasons and for different moods. If you resist pressing Like, abhor leaving a comment, and fear pressing a link, grab a tune or two and I think they will change your mood today. Skip #2 unless you just want to tell me I got it wrong.
One of my favorite bands, a cynical take on “progress”. Talking Heads RULE!
This song came to me several times as more of an earworm. For a multitude of reasons, one of the worst songs ever IMO. This is dystopia performed by two men who cannot move or dress. Surely a great example of the one-hit-wonder!!! This is the Debbie Downer version of the future (and I reject it). Listen only for laughs. If you do, let me know in the comments what you think.
Whatever age you are born in, you consider yourself uniquely positioned to arbitrate if you are understood. No one said it better than these guys! “Hope I die before I get old” from the band of my youth. This is the proper mindstate for the young!!!
Peering into the future and seeing the best in all things. What an attitude and so healthy! This song lands here because it is the final music in a hilarious movie I enjoyed with my family many years ago. Judd Apatow is just funny. “The Interview” was a genius satire movie! For those who missed it, the studios were afraid to release it for fear of angering Kim Jung-Un.
No Clickbait — Truth in Advertising — Pharrell Williams — Happy
Mark, thank you for the wonderful shout out in your newsletter. I enjoyed working with you on a guest post in my newsletter today; let's do it again someone time soon. Since you are reading more ficiton now, maybe you'll want to talk about a great fiction book you have read. I have enjoyed knowing you since almost the beginning of my Substack journey. You are always so supportive and complementary of SoNovelicious. You are the best!