We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
First year Organic is often viewed as one of the sieves to sort out chemists, biochemists, medical aspirants of all sorts, and so forth. First year Organic does not require Calculus, but it certainly requires a grip on all pre-calc maths. Lots of equations.
As a non-STEM college major, I figured out the tricks of Chem 1 and Organic quickly. It's just logic based on relatively simple math. Here are my tricks: 1. Have a smart study partner to challenge you, and to teach. 2. Approach manipulating carbon molecules as fun puzzles. 3. As with General Chem (Chem 1), make sure you can reconstruct the equations by understanding them, and not by memorization. If you understand them you don't need to trust memorization on an anxiety-producing exam.
My Organic Prof was useless, and the TA grad students were just annoyed with us wasting their research time. They just said "Study the textbook." This Prof seems like a real teacher:
The only people I've heard of who do the Loop all at once are recently-retired people who are working on their bucket lists. Like hiking the Appalachian Trail (anotherr common bucket list item), many people do it in stages.
You have to keep a weather eye out on the Great Lakes.
The lady who did the stand-up we linked yesterday got me thinking about male grooming.
Once men reach middle age, grooming becomes more necessary. Aberrant hair growth is not neat. It's unpleasantly distracting. My barber takes care of those things routinely. He was kidding this morning about the guys who like to keep their giant wings of grey eyebrows. I suggested that it might look distinguished, like a member of The House of Lords. It's not for me.
He didn't know what The House of Lords was, but that's OK. He grew up in Sicily, and, sadly, hates both Sicily and Italy. Likes the USA.
I am an avowed Anglophile. I spent 2 semesters studying there, visited 6 times, and am now listening to the British History Podcast. Britain and its history is just something with which I'm fascinated. I've never been a fan of the monarchy. The Queen, over time, I've come to respect. I'm not trying to say the monarchy is 'good' or that any monarch is special and should be deified or otherwise held in high regard. As Americans, it's hard to square how we could hold the British (or any) monarchy with any good feeling - we cast them off for plenty of reasons.
On the other hand, there are people who dislike the monarchy, and the Queen in particular. Mostly their reasons that aren't very good, because they don't understand the monarchy. The dislike I've seen is related more toward envy or general distrust of the institution. These people usually don't understand the role, the history, the value, etc. Few people know the Royal Family brings in far more than it receives from taxpayers. It's estimated, that the Sovereign Grant costs roughly $1.30 per citizen annually. Of course, this doesn't account for the amount of tax revenue the Royal Family itself generates from the taxes it pays, the revenue generated from tourism to see 'their' holdings, or just money spent marketing them as a 'brand'. They are as much a draw and benefit as it is a glorified 'welfare family' (a joke I used to make when I was younger and spent time there) - they actually pay for themselves when all is said and done. The monarchy's history is messy, ugly and sometimes difficult to fathom based on modern ethical standards. That has more to do with the differences in eras than ethics, though.
I saw a commentary on the Queen's passing. "Despite the colonial injustices perpetrated by the British Monarchy against Indigenous people, I would still like to wish her majesty Queen Elizabeth II — a blessed journey." Since I saw this particular one, I've seen several that are far, far worse (one from a linguistics professor at Carnegie Mellon, which was horrendous and had Sunny Hostin of The View defending. I will skip that one. It was so bad I'm amazed anyone with half a brain defended it. Some people are just truly awful and hateful. So I'll stick to this one comment, because it is more a backhanded compliment than outright hate. Even so, it's still misplaced.
As a kid, I was most definitely not a fan of The Rolling Stones. They were scary hippies making loud music. Eventually, I became a follower of Led Zeppelin, then a punk rock fan by the time I was midway through high school. Devo's version of Satisfactionappealed more to me than Mick's. Sometime around my senior year of high school, I started to gain an appreciation for them, and by beginning of sophomore year of college I attended a concert at Rich Stadium on September 27, 1981. At this point, they were already 19 years into their campaign for great rock and roll. Little did I know at the time I was as old as the band itself. Mick Jagger was 38, which meant he was likely to retire for good within 2 years. After all, he already made it clear he didn't want to be singing Satisfaction when he was 40. I felt lucky to have seen them when I did, on perhaps one of their last tours.
Of course, they played for many years afterward. Bill Wyman retired in 1993. Charlie Watts died in 2021. Brian Jones, the founder, died of a drug overdose shortly after leaving the band in 1969. Despite all this, The Rolling Stones have continued. This was their 60th year, playing concerts delayed by Covid.
Imagine my surprise, as I walked the dog one morning in April, to get a text from Mrs. Bulldog asking "Rolling Stones in Stockholm this summer?" She wanted to see them in Paris, but we didn't have time to do a mid-week trip. Also, Stockholm was supposed to be the last stop on the tour - why not go to possibly their last show ever? How could I say no? Of course you go see The Rolling Stones in Stockholm. Is that even worthy of consideration?
Perhaps it is. Upon hearing our plans, my father said "I'll take a pass." But he'll be 87 soon. My stepmother was impressed, as were most of my friends, that I was willing to travel so far to see a concert. Why not? What's so weird about that? I get to see Stockholm and The Rolling Stones.
Sailing or boating at night is mysterious, dramatic, beautiful. At least one person on board needs to be alert though. While that applies during daytime, much more so at night. Need radar and eyes.
Progress is a funny word. There is no doubt that Homo sapiens is remarkable in the ability to change and control the planet to meet its own needs and wants, with a population boom as a result.
What is the Great Loop? 
As a kid, I was most definitely not a fan of The Rolling Stones. They were scary hippies making loud music. Eventually, I became a follower of Led Zeppelin, then a punk rock fan by the time I was midway through high school. 