Southern Accent

 Southern Accent is the prospective name of a new band I'm working with. My friend, Bruce Williams, recommended me to a group what was looking for a guitarist. I spoke to Natalie Sharp, the vocalist on the phone. She explained the band's genre is Swamp Pop and sent me a list of songs they were working up. I knew the term Swamp Pop but had only a vague idea (that turned out to be wrong) of what it was. Swamp Pop is white people performing songs in the tradition of Fats Domino and classic R&B songs from the STAX catalog, e.g., These arms of mine, Don't let the green grass fool you, Walking the Dog, Who's making love? along with others like Hi Heel Sneakers and various country tunes that fit the style somewhat. I particularly enjoyed learning Patsy Cline's iconic Crazy. I find it easy to relate to the songs and am benefitting from the stimulation of learning and practicing them and developing rapport with my down-to-earth colleagues who live in the Prarieville/St. Amant area south of Baton Rouge. I needed this to get me out of my reclusive rut.

Many Wordlers took WRITE as an admonition.

Wordle 800 3/6* 

🕊🟨🕊🟨🟩 STARE WL 16 

   🟨🟩🟩🕊🟩 TRIBE 1 

   🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 WRITE 🕊 

With the auspicious result of my go to starter, I looked at 3 possible answers: ROUTE, TRIBE and WRITE. I suspected Tracy, being an editor, would choose WRITE but after reflection, I discounted ROUTE and decided to guess TRIBE. My wish for getting both words into my grid was realized. 

The invention of writing was a unifying factor that gave tribes a powerful identity and led them to become nations. Muhammad, PEACE be upon him, admired his monotheistic Jewish and Christian neighbors, People of the Book, with their TORAH and BIBLE. Being inspired but illiterate, he dictated the QURAN to Zayd ibn Thabit who was able to put it into writing. And the rest is ongoing history. Peace be upon all of us. ❤️🕊❤️ 

WordleBot 

Skill 96/99 

Luck 80/99 

Streak 35

What's with those cellphone dysfunction dreams?

I dreamed I was visiting West Virginia University with some old Athens friends including Kate Pierson. I got separated from my friends and I wandered around at length through various rooms including an auditorium and book store looking for a staircase we'd come down. I was trying to call Mary Lou but my cellphone wouldn't go to the correct screen. Finally, I found Kate. I asked her. "Who else is with us?" She replied, "You're not with us." Very strange! 

I have similar recurring dreams every month or two. 

The Bad Joke Fish

 Wordle 777 4/6*

Manga Dreams

I have a photo of my middle daughter wearing a Sailor Moon hoodie. She and her older sister were big into MANGA and ANIME during their teen years. When I had the choices down to ANIME and ANODE, I wanted the fantasy world to win out over the electrode. I said to myself, "Surely the editor would pick the fun, creative, imaginative word over the boring one." The only song I can think of mentioning anything like an ANODE is "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, which happened to be the 1st single I owned. Somehow I still have it.

⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩 STARE 96/60/46

🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 ANGLE 99/76/2

🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 ANIME 99/18/1

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ANODE 99/-/🏌‍♀️

"The GHOULs all came from their humble ABODE/to get a jolt from my electrode/They did the Mash/They did the Monster Mash." 

At least the Bot really liked my game.

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 51/99

Streak 13

Manga Dreams

 Wordle 777 4/6*

Manga Dreams

I have a photo of my middle daughter wearing a Sailor Moon hoodie. She and her older sister were big into MANGA and ANIME during their teen years. When I had the choices down to ANIME and ANODE, I wanted the fantasy world to win out over the electrode. I said to myself, "Surely the editor would pick the fun, creative, imaginative word over the boring one." The only song I can think of mentioning anything like an ANODE is "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, which happened to be the 1st single I owned. Somehow I still have it.

⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩 STARE 96/60/46

🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 ANGLE 99/76/2

🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩 ANIME 99/18/1

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ANODE 99/-/🏌‍♀️

"The GHOULs all came from their humble ABODE/to get a jolt from my electrode/They did the Mash/They did the Monster Mash." 

At least the Bot really liked my game.

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 51/99

Streak 

Let the music play on

 Wordle 776 2/6*

"Well, my friends, the time has come

To raise the roof and have some fun

Throw away the work to be done

Let the music play on... 🎶 ("All night long" Lionel Ritchie)

⬛🟨🟩🟩⬛ STARE 96/94/4

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CHART 99/87/🦅

Yay, I got my 2nd consecutive 🦅.

But, that's not what I'm celebrating by staying up past midnight to Wordle. When I posted yesterday, I was awaiting results of a medical test to determine if I had a dreaded illness. In the afternoon I got good news- no death sentence! That puts things in perspective, doesn't it? My luck score today is 💯. 

May your luck equal mine! ❤️🍀❤️🍀❤️

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 91/99

Streak 12

Waiting for the results

I had the CT scan this morning at the Baton Rouge Clinic. I had to drink two bottles labeled "Creamy Vanilla Smoothie" which weren't difficult to put away. The technician ran an IV to send ink into my bloodstream and the actual scan only took a few minutes. Before the scan, I looked at the results of the repeat blood work and noted a spike in the lipase enzyme. That can't be a good sign. But we'll see. I'm ready for whatever the scan shows.

Alarming symptoms.

About 2 weeks ago I got on a scale at home and saw I only weighed 170 pounds. My recent weight has been in the 180-190 range. I decided to see MY PCP, Dr. Waguespack right away. He thought I might have lost the weight while Mary Lou recently was in Greece and Turkey with Jenny for 3 weeks. He told me to start eating more to see if I can recover the weight and ordered a number of blood tests. Lipase, a pancreatic digestive enzyme was slightly elevated.

 At the same time I realized I'd lost down to my high school weight or lower, I also noticed a slight sensation in my lower left abdomen. It isn't really painful but it's a continuous dull sensation like a warning light on your car's dashboard that you see whenever you drive. Between all these symptoms, I decided to go back to the doctor. I saw him today and he ordered a CT scan of my abdomen for tomorrow. This should show whether or not I've got a serious problem. Pancreatic cancer, which killed my father at age 89, is the worst case scenario. I'm grateful he ordered it to end the uncertainty and, hopefully, catch anything serious early.