Monday, August 25, 2025
D+290/218/-1244
1814 British forces destroyed the Library of Congress, containing 3,000 books
1916 US Department of the Interior formed the National Park Service
1944 German commander Dietrich von Choltitz surrendered Paris to the Free French forces, disobeying Adolf Hitler's orders to destroy the city
1950 "Rashomon," a Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, was released
2017 President Donald Trump pardoned Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of contempt of court for racial profiling
In bed around 10, and up at 6:10, after a very rough night with some upper GI distress of unknown cause early on, sharp and throbbing pain in my right elbow radiating down my forearm in the middle of the night, woke with normal back and shoulder pains, and finger stiffness. I woke up tired and feeling lousy, wishing I could go back to sleep. 53°ðŸ˜³, high of 68°, mostly sunny today.
Meds, etc. Morning meds at 8:30 a.m.
Andy called to say that Anne's plan to take Peter to Nicolet to be bused to a JV football game against Watertown wouldn't work because her car wouldn't start. I picked him up and had a nice conversation with him. Then drove up to Grafton to gas up and buy a big tube of mixable transparent white acrylic paint at Michael's. Been thinking of trying a face of Jesus a la Rouault and found myself wondering whether Jesus wore a ponytail. If his hair was worn long, I suspect he and many others did, to keep hair from falling over his face and eyes. Never painted with a ponytail and would probably cause some shock if not outrage. The Savior in a ponytail!!!
Eventually, I tried a knockoff of the Rouault I've had for years. I didn't do it well in terms of likeness, but I enjoyed working on it and like the coloration in the two faces, so I've kept it. I may try it again, but because of the challenge of dealing with the basement stairs, I'll likely stick to watercolor pencils and gouache, and maybe Sharpies rather than acrylic. In looking at it again, I'm reminded of how I made the Christ image look like Beaker, lab assistant to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew on the Muppets, coming out of a barrel. So it goes for people with no drawing skills.
Birthday chat with Sarah and Christian. They called me on a video call just as I left the downtown post office after depositing our birthday card to Anh, whose birthday is Thursday and coincides with Peter's moving into his dormitory at MSOE. I wrote a short letter with the card commiserating with her (and Andy) about the mixed emotions a parent feels when their firstborn (and their lastborn) moves away from home to go off to college. I mailed it at the central PO with the hope that she will receive it not later than Thursday. Sarah forgot about my birthday yesterday, which is surely easy to do, though unusual for her. We started out with a video connection, but quickly lost it, though the audio stayed 5 by 5. They had planned to camp in Italy this past weekend, but changed their minds because of Maxie's broken foot. In October, they will take a cruise to Greece and Turkey.
Israel "accidentally" bombed Nasser Hospital in Gaza City, killing 5 journalists and various medical professionals, and others. Ma nishtanah. Netanyahu uncharacteristically apologized for the "mishap." He disputes the findings of starvation and famine in Gaza. Ma nishtanah.
Outrage is growing over Trump's arming the National Guard troops in D.C., and his plan to invade Chicago and other 'Blue' cities. “So I think Chicago will be our next [stop] and then we’ll help with New York.” Bill Maher is calling it a "slow-moving coup." At least some National Guard officials are raising alarms, also. Illinois Governor Pritzker is speaking of an "invasion." Trump's executive order, released by the White House this morning, also formalizes the creation of specially trained National Guard units in the District of Columbia and all 50 states that can be mobilized quickly for “ensuring the public safety and order.”
The order also directs a task force in Washington led by a White House adviser, Stephen Miller, to create an online portal for “Americans with law enforcement or other relevant backgrounds and experience” to apply to join federal agents in enforcing Mr. Trump’s “crime emergency” order in the District of Columbia.
As of Sunday, there were 2,274 Guard troops deployed to Washington. Only 934 of those troops are part of the D.C. National Guard. The rest have been mobilized from units in Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
On Sunday, Guard soldiers in Washington who were previously unarmed began carrying their service weapons while on patrol, a task that is outside traditional norms for Guard troops on domestic missions.
Today, Geri has tested negative for COVID, but still feels crappy and fatigued.
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