AS WE GET OLDER

GONZO JOURNALISM

Gonzo journalism i is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" was first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style. 

Gonzo journalism tends to utilize personal experiences and emotions to achieve an accurate representation of a phenomenon, as compared to traditional journalism that favors using a detached writing style and relies on facts or quotations that can be verified by third parties. Gonzo journalism disregards the strictly edited product favored by newspaper media and strives for a more gritty, personable approach—the personality of a piece is just as important as the event the piece describes. Use of sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and profanity is common.

SIESTA KEY ORCHIDS

LITTLE BUG....BIG TROUBLE

Lyme Disease is carried by Ticks, mostly very small Deer Ticks. They are very common in Nantucket. If one gets on you and you remove it right away, you will probably not catch the disease. If you do not notice it for a day of two (and they can be much smaller that this guy on the finger) your risk increases. Fortunately, the treatment if started immediately is simple, inexpensive, and generally effective. If you see a ring around the Rosy rash like this one, that is fairly diagnostic. It is not the only rash pattern and if in doubt, there is a lab test you can get to see if you were exposed.

Avoid walking through bushes, especially ones where animals such as deer congregate. This is basically anywhere on Nantucket, except for inside some buildings. You never know if you are going to have a self limited version of Lyme, but there are enough people who get serious lifelong problems with the untreated disease so...DON'T RISK IT. They may not be able to transplant your heart at Cottage Hospital but I think they can diagnose Lyme pretty well.

CANDLE WARNING

Remembering my youth and the BB gun I had and the ladders I climbed on to repair the two story roof I distinctly remember NO WARNING LABELS on anything. Nothing on the gun like "do not put this in your ear and pull the trigger" or on the ladder either.

Nowadays, there are warning labels on EVERYthing. My recent purchase of some candles for home decoration and illumination revealed these labels on each candle. I should not be surprised. Viagra comes with a warning that it does not prevent diseases. Are we a nation of MORONS?

HIBISCUS in my YARD on Siesta Key

BOYZ in da HOODie

Symbols mean something. The Hooded Sweatshirt aka HOODIE is a symbol of thinking you are or maybe actually are a Bad Ass, THUG, or Gangsta.

Today, there are gatherings all over America of people wearing Hoodies in solidarity of the one month anniversary of the shooting of a young man in Orlando. I don't have an opinion of whether Mr. Zimmerman a latino, was justified in shooting the young black male who was wearing a hoodie or if it was a crime that should be punishable by improsonment. I do know that even though I am fairly large guy, with military and police training, my antennae go up whenever I see young men of any color in a group all wearing this article of clothing.

When the tension level goes up, mistakes and impulsive actions like drawing a gun and shooting, are more likely to occur. I am not blaming the victim any more than I would blame the female college student who was raped on her way home in the dark, inebriated, partially clothed, but I DO KNOW that simple risk management suggests that there are always things one can choose to do that will lessen the likelihood of something bad happening. Not wearing a hoodie is one of these choices. Wear one at your own risk (to a degree). By the way, I did not photo-shop this photo, this is actually a Hoodie that is for sale on the internet.