It definitely is Echinacea time in south central #Iowa! A pretty flower that accompanies you these days in this neck of the prairie.

Well I guess I've got the cleanest raccoons in da 'hood now that I gave them all a good hose-down as I wait on the opossums to come around. Otherwise, it's one of those completely quiet nights on the Iowa prairie; no frog or toad, no cricket, no owl, no coyote, no fox, just one young whitetail buck.

#Statsky I need your help. If you have a consulting gig or been involved in building a (stat. modeling) consulting center, would you be willing to share your business model, sample contracts/terms/conditions, your approach to recruiting clients... esp. in an academic setting, I'd appreciate it!

I need a flute with which I can lead my raccoon terrors away and across the border to Missouri! 😅 youtube.com/shorts/Ahulj...

In a useless mood today; wanted to spend a nice long day in Des Moines, and instead am stuck in Smalltown without a car. I know that idea is decried as socialism in this neck of the prairie, but imagine being able to catch a train to the next bigger city. Trumpist politicians are constantly...

Not even in rural #Iowa, we only speak "American"! 😉 Yesterday at the Iowa Welcome Center/Amish Country Store, I told a Chinese delegation about the local Amish community, and explained to the store owner what the inscription means on the antique German chest he uses as a decorative product display.

Iowa hat Mais-Schweiß—kein Scheiß!! Between the heat and humidity augmented by "corn sweat", the dust of weeks without rain, and the smoke from prairie and home fires in the air, these are miserable days in southern #Iowa. I rode the motorcycle through all that yesterday, and am still done for now.

Shut it, Scott. Nobody should buy from you.

Diese unverschämten Kojoten halten sich einfach nicht an die Nachtruhezeiten!!

Leroy just randomly left his tractor here—and I have an urge to just as randomly stick a "No Parking" sign right in front of it. 😅

Herr @ilkokowalczuk.bsky.social, wir brauchen Ihr Buch dringend in englischer Übersetzung hier in den USA.

Stop fondling his member!

Seeking a dogsitter; alternatively an exorcist: youtube.com/shorts/T2oLr...

A prominent fascist has died, getting off easy, and it's all about him. Nobody's talking about the death of Democracy after 250 years.

Wie bei jeder Revolutuion war es auch 1989 in der DDR nur eine Minderheit, die gegen das alte Reginme aktiv aufbegehrte - heute glaubt eine ostdeutsche Mehrheit aber, wie nach jeder Revolution übrigens, mitgemacht zu haben (aus "Faschismus ist keine Meinung")

Blueberries for Penelope at the Tree Stump Buffet.🫐 #opossum

ideal reading conditions. bookmaxxing, if you will.

What a great find!

Währenddessen in der alten Heimat... 😅

A moto buddy in 🇩🇪 whom I rode with for a good 1.5 yrs – him on his Guzzi or Ducati, me on the R 60/2 or Super Soco – kind of disappeared shortly before I left for the 🇺🇸 in '24, didn't even say goodbye. Now he emailed me, asking half jokingly if I really thought it was a good idea not to be in touch.

#Iowa à l'orange ~

Practicing the "Chicken Reel" while Piper enjoys a chicken meal. 🪕 #opossum

Dear all, I spontaneously grabbed a copy of an Iowa Smalltown newspaper at the cash register of an Iowa Smalltown Hy-Vee, not even knowing of this feature article that basically covers my new job! Starting soon, I will be delivering this cancer research, prevention & treatment program to rural Iowa.

Freshly mowed in #Iowa ~

Piper's oracle bone reading last night foretold a tasty chicken meal. #opossum

As I work on the portrait of my mother sleeping her way through the last part of her life her favourite song The Sally Gardens comes randomly on my playlist and then a butterfly flies into my studio. We are all so fragile and death walks beside us every day we are alive.

It was a fun watch; I enjoyed the French chatter all around, and the friendly bickering between the two parties. 😃 On our phones, messages back and forth between France and Morocco and Iowa.

In Des Moines, watching the match with a group of French and Moroccans, so it might get heated! ⚽

Have you ever had a book rejected by a publisher for being too revolutionary? ('Activisty' in liberal speak). Please send to me at [email protected] and I will check it out for our new press, Hard Rain Books. All kinds of book welcome.

We're sitting outside in a for once cool breeze (it's been hot & humid & dry & dusty in south central #Iowa; rainstorms elsewhere are pushing it in), sipping on margaritas while Piper 'Possum munches on sardines beside us. For this brief moment in time and in the troubled USA, everything is alright.

This is the best email a writer could get, and I treasure it more than any award or review.

This guy has a way of selling cars!

And everyone in his entourage nodds, "Yessir, yessir, three bags full!", and the People cry, "Down with Japan!" (h/t @chrisbrockett.bsky.social)

Detroit always tells the truth

Missed yesterday's Xiǎo shǔ 小暑 Slight heat Here (in the southern hemisphere🌏) it is feels like more than Xiǎo hán 小寒 Slight cold... it's about 2 degrees C. at sunrise Check out our Chart of the Twenty-four Breaths and Seventy-two Pentads of the Year On our Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com/s/16216f98b7

If you think Trump’s corrupt intervention didn’t significantly contribute to #Belgium’s devastating win over the USA team, you don’t understand sports psychology and the power of motivation. #WorldCup

Lecker schmecker! You can see here how Piper spits out berry and fruit skin that she can't digest. #opossum

One more from the 4th of July parade, by our local celebrity photographer. 😉 📸 Jim Doty: www.blog.jimdoty.com?p=40072#more...

You. You out there. Yes, you. The way the world may see you. The way you may see yourself. The way you believe you are. Those are not all of you. You are the best of you. You are the little moments where you shine. Your stellar moments. You are worthy, beautiful and needed. Be you.

C.J. Peters, one of the legendary virus hunters of decades past, has died. In 2018, I traveled to his home in Galveston, Tex., where he told me jaw-dropping story after jaw-dropping story. He had an extraordinary brain and was hugely curious. Such a loss. www.statnews.com/2018/02/20/v...

It is, again, too hot for me to install the a/c; I should get around to it by October. 😅

Cabernet Possignon. 😃 After the municipal fireworks display in town, we returned home to conclude the Fourth outside, gathered around a table in the driveway, in the for once slightly cooler night, with red wine and 'possums; Präriegemütlichkeit. #opossum

Today in electric motorcycle news ... This is so cool ... leaving aside the obvious fact that this guy doesn't know EVs (actually repeats some fallacies) I think Honda's WN7 really is groundbreaking for the potential it has, as in it's the first of the traditional motorcycle manufacturers #motosky

Waiting for the parade to get rolling yesterday.

My parents visiting from 🇪🇺 asked me why this wedding was a daily item of the U.S. "evening world news" all week (usually right before a report of a bear breaking into a structure, or a shark attack), when I've long stopped watching U.S. "world news"...I share @thehermitqueen.bsky.social nausea.

youtu.be/pdi_-KlA3vI Since yesterday.... A bit of North Yorkshire bimbling... #Motosky #Bikersky

This is the place known as 'The Library', a truly unusual place with its own feeling. People visiting this location have contributed literally thousands of messages, drawings, poems and short stories. #motosky

Parading ~

Bereit für den Trauerzug für die US-amerikanische Demokratie...zumindest fühlt es sich so an. 😔

Wer von Euch war die Blockflöte? 😂