RichC | October 18, 2025
Brenda and I are beach walkers and when in Delray Beach … or any beach for that matter … we walk in all kinds of weather. A week or so ago we were surprised at the heavy erosion along Florida’s Atlantic beaches, which can be somewhat normal with storm surf, higher winds and tides. This […]
RichC | October 15, 2025
What, another “middle age” birthday for Megan? The “middle age” joke has taken on a life of its own when it comes to our adult children. It is kind of fun when “we” are young and in our early 30s (Megan’s 30th Birthday), but I’m starting to think that it could be both an insult […]
RichC | September 22, 2025
Even those who didn’t know Charlie Kirk, now know who he was and the impact he had particularly on young college age students through his Turning Point USA organization. As an outspoken Christian, he has inspired young people to challenge the secular direction of our society and his assassination illustrates how deep the political and […]
RichC | July 28, 2025
Some collectors go for muscle cars. Others chase rare diecasts or obscure dealership brochures. But @Car_Guy_Tom? He had a more refined ambition: cornering the global market on Cordoba keychains. It all began on a lazy Sunday morning at a suburban Chicago area garage sale. Nestled between a box of spark plugs and a velvet Elvis […]
RichC | July 16, 2025
After finishing the book “Kent State: An American Tragedy” by Brian VanDeMark last week, it occurred to me that the tensions in the U.S. aren’t all that different today than they were in the late 1960s and 1970s. Radicals on the political left today (we often see Antifa), just as some with like minds did […]
RichC | July 15, 2025
Let’s start the archive of weekend photos with our immediate family selfies. Taylor, Megan and Gigi were over to cool off in the pool (before the strong storms hit on Saturday afternoon) while KDAE were up in Michigan for a extended weekend having summer vacation-ish fun. It would be difficult to find a much more […]
RichC | July 3, 2025
As we head into another Independence Day tomorrow, I find myself pausing on this Throwback Thursday #TBT to reflect not just on America’s history, but also on the digital trail now spanning 20 years that I’ve been leaving here at MyDesultoryBlog. The Fourth of July has always been more than fireworks and barbecues for our […]
RichC | July 2, 2025
A Kindle book on hold at the library arrived just as I finished the last book (checked out twice), so the timing for a summer read was perfect. Likely I’ll be slow in reading “Kent State: An American Tragedy” published in 2024 and written by Brian VanDeMark, but I will do my best. First off […]
RichC | May 16, 2025
Having tested and used ElevenLabs “text to speech” artificial intelligence software in the past, at newer “Voice Changer” (and clean up) application came available recently. I’m not sure where it might be useful, but I especially liked the “clean up” (removing background noise) and “speaker boost” filter … but unless there is a reason to […]
RichC | May 9, 2025
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, was elected as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8, 2025. His election marks a historic milestone as he becomes the first American to ascend to the papacy. He succeeds Pope Francis, who passed away on April […]
RichC | May 8, 2025
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RichC | March 12, 2025
After excellent comments by retired 4-star General Jack Keane the other day, I heard him again this past weekend with Mark Levin. No matter what your thoughts are on politics or views on foreign affairs, Jack Keane is someone with a lot of knowledge, experience and insight … and his commentary is worth listening to […]
RichC | March 7, 2025
Brenda and I were debating crabs and shells after seeing a couple crabs on our beach walks and finding a beautifully polished Cowry/Cowrie shell (left). I suspected that the hermit crab ate the snail forming the shell and used it for protection and “a home.” Of course I was wrong … but didn’t know it […]
RichC | March 1, 2025
Friday afternoon I listened to Retired Four-Star General Jack Keane talk with David Asman on Fox Business talk about the unfortunate meeting between President Donald Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday. It was an astute observation and worth including. David Asman with Retired General […]
RichC | January 29, 2025
As mentioned Saturday, Brenda and I are focused on better health and walking (relatively fast-paced walk and 6-7 miles). While doing this, my new Apple Watch has a podcast app which connects to my bone-conduction Aeropex headset (also work well for phone calls). Also trying the “screenshot” feature on the watch — image right. Anyway, […]
RichC | January 16, 2025
Last year I was invited by a longtime automotive writer and friend, Todd Lassa (photo), to help with writing right column commentary for a political news site — TheHustings.news. The network of writers and journalists he taps into skew politically left for the most part … and he felt my Republican right-leaning (and pro-Trump/Vance) views […]
RichC | January 8, 2025
Listening to SiriusXM directly on an Apple Watch, especially a cellular model, is not straightforward due to several limitations (disappointing for me) and I have failed at my first attempt to port from one app to another. The current test for some “music” is to try going back to Spotify or Pandora (photo) and use […]
RichC | December 24, 2024
As the hustle and bustle of the holiday season reaches its crescendo, it is all too easy to become engulfed in the whirlwind of commercialism and festive preparations. However, Christmas Eve offers us a moment to pause and reflect on the true essence of Christmas – the birth of Jesus Christ. This pivotal event in […]
RichC | December 12, 2024
Today’s archive post will be quite the Throwback Thursday #TBT stretch … as the photos and Christmas tree subject matter are from last weekend … even though “The Longest Game” podcast forwarded by my daughter Katelyn is a baseball story from years ago (she knows I enjoy baseball). Let’s start with the baseball story from 1981 […]
RichC | October 13, 2024
The Christian mentoring organization Truth For Life, centered around the teachings of Pastor Alistair Begg has a new audio book on marriage call “Lasting Love” that I’ve recently downloaded. I can’t comment on it yet since I’ve not listen to it, but if it is anything like his other books, it should be helping in […]
RichC | October 7, 2024
So let’s just say that I’m impressed with the ability to use Google’s “experimental” AI NotebookLM to not only summarize articles, but also to create fake podcasts (“fake” in search of a better word?) So after preparing a post for Sunday, I mentioned the AI software experiment to my daughter and ask for an article […]
RichC | October 6, 2024
In September, I read a couple of articles (1 and 2) in the Wall Street Journal talking about coyotes in our suburban and urban America and sent a copy to Drew and Katelyn (their camera just picked up a coyote walking by the girls playhouse – click for video). Anyway, we’ve been seeing them for […]
RichC | August 10, 2024
Not that I’m contemplating “doomsday” or ultra-paranoid, but the new book by Annie Jacobsen called “Nuclear War: A Scenario” is indeed frightening and does make me realize just how quickly the President of the United States must make nuclear decisions — 6 minutes. Our military interactions over the past 100+ years have all been quick-strike […]
RichC | August 2, 2024
Have you ever been listening to a podcast that is getting a little long-winded? Oh, there are a few of them resembling those at a Donald Trump for President rally … or more recently, his speech at the Republican Convention. 😉 According to various reports, Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention […]
RichC | June 22, 2024
As the election season nears, the calls and text messages to my cellphone ramp up in earnest. My voicemail message for the past couple of years has been one that indicates that I no longer pickup calls from unknown callers — I don’t mind callers leaving me a message, but have grown tired of solicitations, […]
RichC | May 19, 2024
It is time to face the inevitable that working later in life is not a reality for most people. As I commented on a Barron’s article last week, you “better have a Plan B or even a Plan C” in case there is a health concern that prevent working later in life. From personal experience, […]
RichC | May 17, 2024
With emissions and climate change being the primary concern for at least half the world, one would think that a carbon-free source of 24/7 energy from small nuclear reactors would be on the forefront of alternatives for our energy needs? Obviously mention “nuclear”an images of disasters rush to the forefront, but safe “small” reactors are […]
RichC | May 8, 2024
Late spring yard work and continued Kubota diagnosis and repairs continued over the weekend, but on the 7th, another year for me is in the books; can’t say I’m feeling all that different? But THANK YOU to my family and friends for wishing me a Happy Birthday … and some doing the traditional Howard family […]
RichC | April 12, 2024
Who isn’t … or more appropriately wasn’t … fond of listening to the interesting and smooth-toned audio that was part of National Public Radio (NPR) in the previous century. I spent an exorbitant amount of time in my car back then and listened to static-riddled politically conservative radio talk shows on AM radio and liberally […]
RichC | December 20, 2023
Ok, so I’m not focused this year on “the reason for the season” (or frankly even the secular celebration of Christmas) … therefore it is really time to do something about it. We didn’t even write our Corbett Christmas Letter! Thankfully turning to Truth For Life and Alistair Begg’s teachings and message “It is HIStory” […]
RichC | November 8, 2023
On Tuesday, November 7th, 2023, I actually stood in line for 20- 30 minutes at the polls in order to vote in an off-year election! It wasn’t a big deal, but I wasn’t expecting a line considering I met my son for brunch after his doctor’s appointment and timed it purposely to not be at […]
RichC | October 17, 2023
As I’ve blogged a few times before, when it comes to history books, I enjoy reading and learning about World War II history and those of “the Greatest Generation” who rose to moment to save the world in the 1940s. My focus for the last decade or so has been in studying the Pacific Theater […]
RichC | October 14, 2023
Like most … but depressingly not all Americans … I’ve been heavy hearted and angry this week after Hamas terrorist slaughtered innocent Israeli civilians (including 27 Americans) and took an estimated 150 hostages back to Gaza. I’m not sure how those who side with Hamas and their backers (Iran) can explain away such horrific murder, but […]
RichC | September 28, 2023
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RichC | July 15, 2023
My financial and investment musings have been few and far between lately, but while reading Barron’s Magazine article this past week, it reminded me that we investors often can look to history for insight. If you don’t want to read it, try listening to it — Audio ElevenLabs. ElevenLabs AI reading this content – […]
RichC | July 12, 2023
Enjoyed a long-ish audio field trip shared in the Washington Post last week by Lillian Cunningham. It was educational and a relaxing evening listen while “trying” to read a book (but I could not focus on both). 😉 The Everglades have always been interesting to me. My brother and I dreamt of living on Key […]
RichC | June 14, 2023
I needed another book to read like a hole in my head as the idiom goes, but since the newly released book by Marco Rubio called “Decades of Decadence” hit the bookstore today, I figured that I would “get on the list” at my local library. Lo and behold it was available on Hoopla as an […]
RichC | February 25, 2023
Jack Hough is a favorite Barron’s Magazine writer and #streetwise podcast host wrote “another” interesting investing article and interview this week: U.S. stocks have entered the “death zone,” a top Wall Street strategist wrote this past week. I detected a bearish undertone. The phrase is used by mountaineers to describe heights where humans can’t live […]
RichC | February 1, 2023
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RichC | December 24, 2022
Jane Wells has been a reporter for CNBC (“Janie” as the late Mark Haines called her) that I’ve followed for years while watching business news channels (or should I have said, “is a ‘has-been’ reporter?” – hopefully a little humor that she would appreciate!). Anyway, I always smiled when watching her “quirky” stories and reporting […]
RichC | October 1, 2022
Another interesting story tied to scientific development during World War 2 has crossed my email inbox from WSJ+. This one is about the virtually unknown Mary Sears, “the first oceanographer of the Navy.” Her groundbreaking oceanographic research led the U.S. to victory in the Pacific theater during World War II, according to the summary. I’m […]
RichC | August 29, 2022
Neither photo is mine, but Brenda and I were both startled in hearing the sounds of owls coming from was seemed like inside the house. Great Horned Owl Hoots After we slowly crept around inside our house, wondering where they were, we deciphered that the “hoots” were coming from the fireplace. "Hm, were they […]
RichC | June 17, 2022
When it comes to a headset/headphones, I wear them all the time and am pretty much an Aftershokz guy. I find that I rarely take them off during the day, ever since getting my first “bone conduction” Bluetooth headset. I love nearly everything about the current Aeropex model even as the company updates with newer […]
RichC | June 8, 2022
In keeping with a previous book, I downloaded another book: “Land Of Big Numbers” by Te-Ping Chen. It is a collection of stories … on the “diverse and legion Chinese people” and according to a review, this book offers an “acute social insight” on Chinese history, their government, “and how all of that tumbled—messy, violently, […]
RichC | April 22, 2022
The MP3 format for audio has been used on My Desultory Blog since the mid-2000s and I have contemplated a variety of other opensource options over the years. Compression choices to keep file sizes and streaming acceptable come and go and as we search for quality of audio and bandwidth for streaming becomes less of […]
RichC | December 24, 2021
It is not easy to follow Christ, but His teachings, AND gift of salvation, are what we sinners need. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19 While mailing out our Christmas cards, decorating our Christmas tree and reflecting on this past year, I listened […]
RichC | December 19, 2021
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RichC | October 3, 2021
While slowly getting going on Saturday, the Fox and Friends Weekend broadcast was on in the background. A frustrating … and depressing story … from an older veteran, retired Col Leonard B Scott III, the “Old Ranger,” from Edmond, Oklahoma (who had his flags stolen), caught my ear and irritated me a how some people […]
RichC | September 27, 2021
A couple of weeks ago, Taylor introduced me to a Dan Carlin “Hardcore History” podcasts. He thought I might enjoy them, since both of us particularly appreciate learning more about military history. The series is called “Supernova in the East” detailing the Japanese Empire from pre-World War Japan through WW 2 in six long lectures […]
RichC | September 19, 2021
One of the more inspiring movies in the last decade or so was that based on the career of Katherine Johnson called “Hidden Figures” in 2016. It was compelling enough and about NASA and the Apollo space program that when I spotted the book “My Remarkable Journey: A Memoir” by Katherine Johnson, Joylette Hylick and […]
RichC | September 5, 2021
Last week I downloaded a new library app called Libby that is an Overdrive component for audiobooks for borrowing digitally from the library. I put it to use immediately after checking out the Bill O’Reilly book “Killing the SS.” So far it is very interesting considering I’m only in chapter 2, but love the storytelling […]
RichC | August 8, 2021
Dennis Gartman comments on cryptocurrency (August 3, 2021) and whether or not he is investing in a “Tinker Bell effect” asset. The 3-minute segment with Dagen McDowell was on the Fox Business program “Mornings with Maria.” Dennis Gartman on Crypto – 3-min | 8/3/2021 Dennis Gartman has been directly involved in the Capital […]
RichC | August 7, 2021
Besides making one of those “senior moment” gaffes by switching my mini split HVAC unit accidentally from AC to “HEAT” (I was roasting in my office), I bought a new pair of shoes after being disappointed in the cheaply made pair that I bought last year. Those that read this blog know that I’ve been […]
RichC | July 28, 2021
Perhaps it is my aging eyes, just worn out in the evening … or just too many distractions when the TV is on … but my book reading has slowed a bit. Of the several books sitting next to my chair, on my Kindle or iPad, most have been started, but sit unfinished. So this […]
RichC | February 21, 2021
Rush Limbaugh died on Wednesday of this past week. It wasn’t a surprise to those who have followed his health challenges and in particular a stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis a year previous. He continue his radio work up until the end and left a G.O.A.T. legacy in conservative talk radio that will likely never […]
RichC | January 19, 2021
It’s not “breaking news” that we live in a changing United States of America or that propaganda and control over speech is being used to steer large swaths of the population towards leftist ideology … but what is eye-opening is just how coordinated the powers that be are in opposing the “rights” protected by our […]
RichC | January 8, 2021
A simple blog upgrade project that I’ve been contemplating for a while now was one of my 2021 New Year’s resolutions … so I’m worked on it this past week’s Music Monday post. I’m not sure how long the new button and player will remain unchanged since I seem to keep testing and tweaking it; […]
RichC | December 30, 2020
When it comes to being the first to read a book, I’m not the guy to turn to, but eventually I do get around to some of them. I’m particularly fond of the history oriented books from the last century and “I Marched With Patton” by Frank Sisson fits that criteria. This World War II […]
RichC | December 12, 2020
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RichC | November 8, 2020
The menu “navigational links” just under the header of My Desultory Blog are primarily there for my own short-cuts … and I haven’t changed them for years. A few aren’t really used much anymore, with improved browser bookmarks – one click bookmarks are just much more convenient. This past week I made a change. I […]