
HELPING, NOT HURTING
Published January 12, 2026 by Nan Mykel

Oh poo. I thought folks would welcome a little escape from reality, but since Ben didn’t give the answers to me, I’ll do a quick guess and move on.: So as not to repeat myself and use up AI’s valuable time, I’ll just list my guesses here, and ignore formal titles.
________________
POEMETTE
SO MUCH TO LEARN
And to unlearn too.
Whatever at 90
can an old person do??
I wasted one life
and never was me.
A race against time
is waitimg for me.
.
If anyone catchess me in an error, or an additional answer, let me know, and Merry Christmas to you!
I was still trying to thin out my fat files while feeling chastened by another of my errors on Gutenberg last week. (In responding to a comment, I didn’t know who the “author” referred to was, since all of us were authors–all three of us for that matter (authors)….Dr. John Persico Jr, Ned Hamson, and moi.___ At any rate, today’s column has but one major entry, a puzzle, and the answers will be shared tomorrow or the next day. I discovered it in my old files from years ago by another prison staff member, Ben Braden of the Education Department, at Hocking Correctional Facility in Nelsonville, Ohio, now deceased. CONFESSION:: BEN DID NOT GIVE ME THE ANSWERS SO WE BOTH NEED TO GUESS…
4. An emotion excited by the acquisition of expectation of good given to the terrestrial sphere_______
5. Embellish the interior passageways__________________________________________________________________
6. Exalted celestial beings to whom harkened___________________________________________________________
7. Twelve o’clock on a clement night witnessed its arrival_______________________________________________
8. The Christmas preceding all others_____________________________________________________________________
9. Small municipality in Judea southeast of Jerusalem______________________________________________________
10. Diminutive masculine master of skin covered percussionistic cylinders__________________________________
11. Omnipotent supreme being who elicits respite to ecstatic distinguished males________________________
12. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere____________________________________________________________________
13. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute crystal.____________________________
14. Expectation of arrival of populated area by mythical masculine perennial gift giver____________
15. Natal celebration devoid of color________________________________________________________________
16. In awe of nocturnal timespan characterized by religiosity________________________________________
17. Geographic state of fantasy during season of mother nature’s dormancy__________________
18. The first person nominative plural of a triumvirate of far eastern heads of state._______________
19. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted metallic, resonant cups.________________
20. In a different location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn children’s slumber furniture____________________________________________________________________________________________
21. Proceed forth declaring upon a specific geological alpine formation_________________________
22. Jovial yuletide desired for the second person singular of plural by us________________________
Answers surely before Christmas
_____________
BURMA SHAVE
Did your toes ever ache
With a-wanting to kick
But no one’s there but you?
NH
Write poetry? Give me some examples please…(Oh no I think my comma’s bit the dust…) Oh no another idea: Does Grandfather God speak to us in Classic or Gutenberg? I’m talking about the Father of them all; Catholics Unitarians Quakers,,,,,,, Agnostics Israelites (told you my comma was dead didn’t I ?)… Even Muslims and those who believe in stoning miscreants. Or mass killings in the name of a whim.
If I tried to write a poem as a conservative I might be afraid of criticizing the Chief and therefore speak through the mouth of…the War Departmenr. (No truth no need for excuses). …Yay for my brilliant daughter who rescued my sunken comma key by punching it harder.
FOLLOW OH FOLLOW…
Time in your flight. Bring back
my reputation if
just for one night.
Rudeness is a habit
that I cannot eschew
but stop by the back door
I’ve got a bargain for you.
_____________
SEPARATE SUBJECT
Who whitewashed the Epstein files?
Ho hum. Enough for yesterday at 11:12 a.m.
.
I could have called this CASTRATION, but that sounds a little more provocative, doesn’t it? And I’m trying to at least calm myself. No, I’m not going to talk about either one today, [OOPS] but to reflect on how I can build my readership. I don’t believe I’ve availed myself of the platform’s methods, and that’s a pattern with me. (I did nothing to publicize my book). Since I’m forced to use Gutenberg and my helper has given up on me, I’m sitting here again, wishing I could invite my handful of “likers” to a party. The only blogger that told me to get lost and never darken her persona again was because I mentioned her anger. Whereupon she denied she was angry, and to get me hence and never darken her blog again… (I know when I’m not welcomed)…
I’ve started on fish oil capsules to help maintain my vocabulary (though I do cling to those old-timey phrases). My friend in South Africa suggested I join with the dVerse poetry group online, and I did for awhile and even got a poem in their yearbook, but then they changed their entry procedure, and possibly added a charge, either of which might have caused me a problem.
I think it would be nice if all bloggers wrote some kind of obituary of themselves, for use when they “go to their own reward.” It could be serious or comical….whichever you’re in the mood for. (TIP: Leave it in trust to someone who knows how to blog with few memory problems.) REMEMBER: Gutenberg only….Tho I need to remember that not everyone likes things “nice.” Well off the top of my head I have 2 readers from Cincinatti (who never met each other)–0ne in Malta, either 2 in Canada or who both like that country’s emblem one from Charlotte, N.C. (my hometown that was savaged recently by ICE). Maybe a coupla family somewhere. Oh I did mention Charlie the cat’s mistress in Johannesberg. I’m,,,,not going to look, up that spelling–I looked up Cincinnatti recently and Google listed 2 different spellings without mentioning that they were not the same. That’s enough for a 11 p.m. post.
BUT– As I’ve been both watching the tellie and reading the ny times I’ve been amazed that I’ve not seen or heard anyone mention why we’re picking on Venezuela until today. Their oil! If this is the way political science is supposed to work then I’m thankful I stayed clear of it in college. And no one mentioned it until today out loud.
I want to stay a little bit positive so will sign off for today/night.
:
Is it me about to burst or the bubble? I know I’m about to burst…as in the toilet overflowing…but surely the USA won’t be able to continue to live with the “gang’s” selfish quackery much longer! What was that movie about the mafia? So blatant as to skip mention. What do we have against Venezuela anyway? After pointing out that Venezuela is not the problem with fentanyl, silence. While apparently most folks know, it need not be said that Venezuela leads the world in natural gas exports. The silence is deafening as well as stinking. But blatant stealing of another’s oil kinda look bad?
And doesn’t our leader just love tooting his own horn! National park visits free on his birthday but not on
MLK’s birthday or Juneteenth.
_____________
I NEVER SAID….
I was Super Woman–maybe the reverse, and I admire to the hilt those stalwart bloggers for their principled continuation of reflecting current reality. I’ve said this before and I may say it again, but I’m trying to quit being one of the strong bloggers who must suffer. So, knowing that I won’t be likely to keep my resolve, I’m going to share a few lovely memories from my life, primarily from 1961, the year my husband and I caught hepatitis 2 (along with many others) from the UF’s food line. We were advised to take it easy, and so we booked a winter passage along a northern route on the slow freighter the S.S. Marengo. Fortunately no one bombed us.
It was not a luxury liner, and we always got to eat at the captain’s table. Although not a favorite memory, the first strong one that comes to me was lying on the bunk, watching the porthole chains on the inside of the room march left and right, pulled by the gravity caused by the tossing and turning of the boat. The movement was mostly continuous.
Being poor recuperating students, we stayed in a tent and youth hostels,traveling by bicycles (which we sold to a one-legged communiist in St. Remy) and, thanks to brief train trips, also on one Vespa motor scooter, which we were to bring home with us. Being a little less in rolling dough than most tourists, we had mixed feelings when we slept in a tent at Pompeii, and someone set off firecrackers during the night. The next morning when we ordered breakfast at the little road stand, the shopkeeper lowered the tab when he learned we were campers.
The single most moving memory of the entire trip for me occurred early one morning when waking up on deck of another boat, hearing a taunting train whistle far above while the boat traveled slowly and carefully through a very narrow and high-walled passage through the Corinth canal. These memories are fun. Perhaps I’ll include some more another needy day.
____________
POEMETTE
Sorry if this is a re-do. I lose track:
EPHEMERAL
I wrote a poem in the sand
The ocean claimed it back.
I sang a song up to the sky
Blue birds towed it away.
I kept a thought to myself
Dreams featured it last night.
Travel 1961, Corinth, Poemette, Trump,
_____________
I’m not talking Republicans or Democrats–just flesh and blood humans. Can you remember back when our best wish for our child was to grow up to be president some day?
Today I wouldn’t wish it on a dog–That is, not our current president and his collected “hood.” How can anyone willingly trade their precious humanity for merging with behavior typified by
Lying, cheating, double-dealing______
greed______
unfaithful______
rude, lack of statesmanship, name-calling______
threatening_____
braggart, egocentric, illogical, self-agrandisement_____
misogyny_____
Which of the above behaviors would you like your child to engage in? How about you.
NOTE that I did not include underage girls which has not yet been proven.
_________________________
I’m planning on dropping out within the next ten years, and after sewer overflow/black mold I am faced with what to save before then, so my children won’t have to deal with them. (Friends and other relatives are dropping like flies.) There will be a file drawer (of 7) dedicated to Genealogy and another for my 53-year old daughter with Downs Syndrome (currently with incipient dementia). A big mistake I made was not making a copy of all my blog posts. (I see from others–e.g. Jill Dennison and Keith Wilson–that with forethought one could save all their blogs, whereas I have saved none, except probably having access to the most recent one. A moot point, anyhow.
I will keep all photos–known or unknown. I’ll keep only the most current bank, retirement and/or health papers. I’ll keep all significant letters from my past, and gifted art and/or collages I have done and am pleased with (on the wall, not in the file).
I’m torn about my fiction, but not as torn as I am about my interest and pre-blog files. I guess I might rely more on Google (or whatever it’s called now), but I trust the surer sources to anything that might be tainted with AI. (There, I’ve revealed a prejudice but not for the first time.) Let’s see…what can I use all that free filing cabinet space for? Oh yes! My jigsaw puzzles!
The thing is, nobody will have the time or interest in reading my old files or yours either, maybe. It feels like a good time to share a few lines from a workshop (also in my files):
NO NIRVANA WITHOUT SAMSARA
Suicide can be a case of mistaken identity
Without knowing for sure what’s right or wrong, take your best shot.
Unable to get our own way, often we settle for trying to prevent other people from getting their way.
By now, I’m no longer interested in whether or not someone REALLY loves me. I’ll settle for being treated well.
____________________
ODE TO THE OCEAN
At Tybee Island there’s a beach
Sea shells sparkling within your reach
The moon and tide dance together
whether fair or foul the weather.
Dolphin family shows itself,
Camera’s sitting on the shelf.
Some folks do like to ride the wave
Others turn out to be less brave.
Use suntan lotion in the sun,
A bag for shells, everyone!
The beach chair helps if you are old
Salt water too or so I’m told.
Do shut your eyes and hear the sea
Ancient memories capture me.
Lullaby of the sea it sings,
Of climate change and other things.
When all is said and all is done
A trip to the beach is lots of fun.
Nan
Vance, is reported to be in the middle of a conflict between what’s left of the traditional Republican Party and the so-called groypers, a far-right movement of disaffected extremists whose chief representative, Nick Fuentes, is arguably America’s most prominent neo-Nazi. Here is a taste of what you might hear from Fuentes during a typical episode of his show: “Hitler is awesome. Hitler was right. And the Holocaust didn’t happen.” (See Jamelle Bouie’s opinion column tis weekend). How do you pronounce the word “groypers,” and where did the word come from? More to be found on the Internet, https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/P_K0goAI4GjXImYMPXWu7A
________________
GOODBYE A.I.
(Don’t get excited: Wishful thinking on my part.. I just looked at my old copy of “Consilience” and am reminded that E. O. Wilson had faith that mankind would choose not to gamble on it. In his words, “I predict that future generations will be genetically conservative. Other than the repair of disabling defects they will resist heredity change. They will do so in order to save the emotions and epigenetic rules of mental development, because these elements compose the physical soul of the species. The reasoning is as follows: After the emotions and epigenetic rules enough, and people might in some sense be “better,” but they would no longer be human. Neutralize the elements of human nature in favor of pure rationality, and the result would be badly constructed, protein-based computers. Why sould a species give up the defining core of its existence, built by millions of years of biological trial and error? (pp 299-300 and 303).
TODAY’S REFLECTION: This isn’t Wilson speaking now, but myself reflecting on the President of the United States of America using AI to portray himself covering his citizens with his poop. Could that act function as a warning of what could become of us by our own hands/votes/use of AI?
__________
TO HORDE OR NOT TO HORDE?
Aye, that is the query.
Things that have carried our
load of beingness: should
we dishonor them all
by trashing? Leaving us
alone with ourselves? No!
__________
Thanks for stopping by, but I want to let you know I’m a newbie and don’t do things right on this enterprise. Unless it starts out as an accident, I don’t respond to my viewers, limited in part by not having a cell phone. Just thought I’d let you know if I seem to be ignoring you.
Anyhow, just thought I’d say Hi to the Malta transgender. As for my dreams last night, I did retrieve a horrendous memory or realization of mine that I’ve been keeping out of awareness for years. It’s so bad I won’t tell you, but hopefully my realization will help me “earn a better place” if there is one. Maybe my inviting a negative dream was rewarded by a clearer view of a lifetime of my unaware destructive behavior. Can I handle another night of self reflection? idk
______________________
THE GREAT JIGSAW PUZZLE
In the beginning there is chaos,
the boundaries unknown.
As some edges appear, others
remain missing until the end,
when we run out of pieces,
already knowing that some
never existed,
having been lost forever.
Check the box–How many pieces
did we begin with?
Where
did
they go….
Nan
____________
Come see what I share
Welcome to the Anglo Swiss World
EXPRESSIONS
Loves, lamentation, and life through prose, stories, passions, and essays.
Let's Explore The Great Mystery Together!
Second Look Behind the Headlines - News you can use...
choosing medical career; problem faced by doctors; drawbacks of medical profession;patient tutorials
Cries from Jamaica
A place where I post unscripted, unedited, soulless rants of a insomniac madman
CHOOSE LOVE
My Life And Everything Within It
Just Here Secretly Figuring Out My Gender
A Watering Hole for Freelance Human Beings Who Still Give a Damn
"The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible." - Joel Brown
we're all cyborgs now
Seeking Dialogue to Inform, Enlighten, and/or Amuse You and Me