Meanwhile...
While the world goes crazy, life goes on.
Well, another week has gone by, and the world is still going crazy. Meanwhile, life goes on. But before we get into that, here are a few things in the news that caught my attention this week:
It’s a Mad, Mad World…
Once again, the emperor has no clothes, and the sycophants have no brains. Or balls.
Cartoon by Mike Luckovich
Apparently, the idea of changing the Cracker Barrel logo became a hill that MAGA was willing to die on—cartoon by Nick Anderson.
Meanwhile, there’s this.
Cartoon by Paul Noth
And this.
Cartoon by Nick Anderson.
I can hardly think of how to describe what the above cartoons tell us about the situation that we're in, except for one word: madness.
But in the midst of the madness…
Life goes on amidst the chaos, stupidity, and craziness of the news cycle. Whatever the chaos makers are doing, we nevertheless remain inextricably bound to the daily realities and routines that we must continue to engage with - Jobs, medical appointments, finances, relationships, etc.. It's easy to get caught up in the angst generated by both real and perceived threats, forgetting that life still consists primarily of putting one foot in front of the other as we deal with the people and priorities that are directly at hand.
And so, here are some snippets from my week:
On Tuesday, I had to go to the eye doctor. I've been getting a series of shots over the last few months to repair some damage in my right eye. My doctor wielded that syringe like a Wild West gunslinger. Not exactly hilarious. Well, maybe a little. I’m not really sure why all my doodle people look like they are mildly deformed, or on steroids, but there they are.
On Thursday, I had to drive up to Berkeley to see my aunt, who is nearing the end of her life. By the time I arrived, she was pretty much out of it, and I have no idea if she even knew that I was there. It was a sad thing, but I'm glad I made the trip.
I spent a couple of nights in what was my aunt's former law office, now converted into a guest apartment. I don't know what's going on in this refrigerator, but I know that we had fresh batteries.
My favorite amenity in the apartment has to be these lovely, and, of course, highly useful scuba flippers.
My aunt is receiving 24-hour in-home care, and so, quite understandably, the scene in the main house was a little chaotic.
Fortunately, there is a lovely grocery store just a couple of hundred feet from the house, offering an excellent selection of fresh and prepared foods.
I couldn't resist taking a photograph of these, but I didn’t eat any of them. Honest. No kidding.
I did, however, eat this seafood risotto at Agrodolce in Berkeley on Saturday evening. It is a lovely little spot, and the food was delicious.
I made the drive home with exactly one 10-minute stop at a rest area. It was a long drive, and I was enormously grateful to get home, where a mildly insane puppy greeted me. Not to mention my profoundly sane wife.
It's been a lot for me to process. My aunt represents my last living connection to my mother. My cousin was also there, and, while she and I have only spoken on a handful of occasions over the previous 40 years, it was nice to spend those couple of days with her.
Update: Since this post was put into the queue for publishing, I was notified that my Aunt Julie passed away peacefully on September 8, 2025.
It'll take me a while to process all of this, but through it all, I was reminded that no matter what is going on around us, what really matters are the things that are right in front of us.
Hopefully, I will be feeling more chipper next week.
Until then, let us all keep putting 1 foot in front of the other in the direction of the life we are living here and now.
Ray