#vss365 My latest intern answered the door. He came back a moment later. "Who was it?" I asked. "Package. Special #delivery. It says 'Candygram for Mongo'." I jumped out the window without opening it first, barely ahead of the explosion. I'd need a new intern. This time, one who's seen the classics.

Adding up in my head.... ... not counting free copies of books ... somewhere between 450 and 500 dollars. How about you? (Bear in mind, a hundred years ago, that amount would cover expenses for one person for 6 months. It took me about 6 years to earn that. Most successful year was $125.)

I remember when a writing teacher asked us to raise our hand if we've made more than $5 from our writing. Three of us did. We were told that's enough to put us in the top 1% of most successful writers through history. A little hyperbole, but not far off. I still think about it.

I saw "SCOTUS Opinion" in the trending topics. My first reaction was, "Oh, God. Now what?" This is not a good sign, regarding the highest court in the land.

I know how offensive the image is to American Christians and I don't care. It's a true reflection of who they are.

#vss365 "Just run. We can timebounce in ten minutes." "It's not my fault." "Just run." "It's not." "Just run." "I always #adorn my hats with rhinestones." "Just. Run." "How was I supposed to know that Bedazzling my hat meant I wanted to marry the leader of the tribe?" "Just shut up and run."

Timeline cleanser:

The tiniest ray of hope has appeared.

Timeline cleanser for word nerds: The first 3 letters of Sweden and Denmark spell out Sweden. The remaining letters spell out Denmark.

The ICE agent who killed Renee Good is Jonathan Ross. He was outed by Kristi Noem who told her audience enough about his history for people to be able to identify him. That's the woman in charge of our national security, revealing a man's name they were trying to keep secret, in less than 24 hours.

"As someone who grew up reading Asimov's robot books, I never thought we'd be on a timeline where the First Law of Robotics would be: A robot may not injure our company's profits, or, through inaction, allow our company's profits to come to harm." ~ D. G. Marshall

Palate cleanser (figuratively and possibly literally): "I once absent-mindedly ordered Three Mile Island dressing in a restaurant and, with great presence of mind, they brought Thousand Island Dressing and a bottle of chili sauce." ~ Terry Pratchett

The makings of a coverup. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the FBI forced it out of the investigation of the Minneapolis ICE shooting that killed Renee Nicole Good. How can the federal government be trusted to investigate this given Kristi Noem & Donald Trump’s lies about this?

As predicted, the #FBI got involved and is covering up #ICE malfeasance in the #Minneapolis #Minnesota #murder of Renee #Good, denying Minnesota investigators any access. www.kob.com/ap-top-news/...

Before I sign off for the night, another timeline cleanser. Sometimes, you need to hang on when everyone else has given up.

Yes, killing peaceful protesters is a sign of tyranny. www.nbcnews.com/world/iran/t...

Her name was Renee Nicole Good. ICE murdered Good. If you tried to sell that story, an editor would make you change the name for being too on point. Reality is whacking us upside the head with a 2x4 to make us pay attention. #Minnesota #Minneapolis #ICE #murder

I'm gonna turn off social media for the day before I say something that will get me arrested.

We've seen this kind of thing before in history. ICE just summarily executed someone who opposed them in a car. Next time, they will kill an unarmed protestor on the street. The time after that, they will fire indiscriminately into crowds, killing people, at a distance. "For their safety."

There's video on Threads is you want to see it. It's worse than you think. www.threads.com/@vincedmonro...

#vss365 "Did you ever listen to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's non-Christmas album?" "They had a Non-Christmas album?" "Well, at least one. Do you like Beethoven?" "Not really." "Oh. Well, I do. They did an album about his 10th #Symphony." "He had only 9." "And therein lies the tale...."

Timeline cleanser - a classic car from the Austin TX Car Museum.

#abftp theme idea that needs a bit of research: Bands who had members leave before they got big. For some, they did several albums before they left. Some interesting stories there. You could start here (but it's not complete - Fleetwood Mac is entirely missing): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

On this anniversary of her death, let me just say that Ashli Babbitt was a traitor to the United States of America and got what she deserved - an ignominious death in the midst of a violent criminal attempt to take Congress hostage and overthrow an election. #J6 www.nbcnews.com/video/capito...

#vss365 "You look #spooked." "Literally. I just saw a ghost. And I don't believe in ghosts." "What ghost did you see?" "It was Ben Franklin." "As in, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin?" "Yup. He looked disappointed. And he spoke to me." "What did he say?" "He said, 'I guess you couldn't keep it.'"

#vss365 "You look #spooked." "Literally. I just saw a ghost. And I don't believe in ghosts." "What ghost did you see?" "It was Ben Franklin." "As in, Founding Father Benjamin Franklin?" "Yup. He looked disappointed. And he spoke to me." "What did he say?" "He said, 'I guess you couldn't keep it.'"

#vss365 Have y'ever seen "Unidentified Flying #Oddball"? "I have. Takeoff on Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee story, right? Why bring it up?" "I've - uh - identified what time zone we're in." "So? When are we?" "How are your Arthurian era language skills?" "Nonexistent." "We need to timebounce. Now."

On Truth Social today, King Donald the Orange said, in all capital letters, "NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!" Personally, I take that as an official waiver of his SCOTUS immunity and he can be charged with crimes for illegal acts performed while President. What do you think?

Sounds about right.

Seen on Threads:

Yeah. That tracks.

50 years ago. I'm still fond of most of these. A few I've forgotten.

#vss365 "I know he *looks* #clueless but...." A loud crash interrupted the p.i. He continued, "...he's also really clumsy." "Why do you let him stay?" "Found the murder weapon!" the sidekick shouted at the top of his voice. The p.i. smiled grimly. "Because he's the luckiest s.o.b. I've ever met."

#vss365 " #Balderdash!" the mustachioed man said when I asked what year it was. "Oops, 1926," I muttered. I reset my Timebouncer. I bounced forward to a desolate American city. At first, I wasn't sure when I was. Then I saw the newspaper. March 2026. Crap. I bounced out of there as fast as I could.

Why I don't bother dieting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknZ...

I was considering the USA's sneak attack on Venezuela without declaring war, like what Japan did to the USA on January 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy. It reminded me of #B5, but I don't expect King Donald the Orange to have a redemption arc like G'Kar. He's more of a President Clark.

Everything old is new again. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFvx...

The most chilling phrase Trump has said in his various statements and interviews: "Nobody can stop us".

Why I don't bother dieting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kknZ...

#vss365 Being Chief Conjurer is like being an #abstraction of a sorcerer. It's more about the idea of magic than the reality. Most of the time. As I considered the murderous pixie, I mused that, sometimes, it was like being an underworld boss. "Feed her to Pan," I said. "No!" Tinkerbell screamed.

This made me laugh with schadenfreude:

5. journeys and journaling

To misquote Roger Zelazny: There are people out there who want you dead. Piss them off by surviving.

#IncludeChargePepperHeavy "I'd like a small sub. Sausage and pepper. Heavy on the pepper. And a diet cola." "No charge," she said. "Why?" "A man who orders that is alone in the world. And that's just too sad for words." I said nothing as she gave it to me. As I placed it on my wife's grave, I cried.

#vss365 Being Chief Conjurer is like being an #abstraction of a sorcerer. It's more about the idea of magic than the reality. Most of the time. As I considered the murderous pixie, I mused that, sometimes, it was like being an underworld boss. "Feed her to Pan," I said. "No!" Tinkerbell screamed.