My Own Connections Puzzles

Connections is a daily NYT puzzle game. You sort 16 words into 4 groups of 4, by figuring out what certain words have in common. But some words are tricky, and can go in more than one group. You need to find the one solution where they all fit perfectly.

There’s an Archive link where you can play the earlier NYT Connections, and also make your own. The puzzles linked below are ones I’ve made.

On the NYT website, if you guess wrong 4 times you lose, but if you guess the same grouping multiple times it doesn’t count against you. On the Archive site you can guess any number of times, but it counts identical guesses. So you can rack up a lot of guesses if you don’t keep track of what you’ve tried.

Jam’s Connections V
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-Ngb5-aQYRbqTqFH-a-2

Jam’s Connections IV
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-NgWxVigY9Hfc7xVO7CC

Jam’s Connections III
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-Nfl5YPW88Vgj2LpfUoP

Jam’s Connections II
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-Nf9M55SqE0Usj778LnB

The next one is the first Connections game I made. I’m posting it last and with a note, because the feedback said it was way too difficult. Turns out that it’s easy to make Connections that are too hard to win, and it’s also easy to make Connections that are too easy to be challenging. The difficult thing, as Goldilocks would say, is to make them just right.

Jam’s Connections I
https://connections.swellgarfo.com/game/-Nf-MQO2O8RWLUZPJimN

My 100 Favorite TV Shows

This is an update of the list I wrote last year. Much of it is the same, but I made more changes than I thought I would. Please feel free to share which shows you love, which shows you hate, what titles you would have included, and other comments.

1. Supernatural
2. Star Trek: The Original Series
3. The X-Files
4. Fringe
5. Stargate SG-1
6. Farscape
7. Star Trek: Next Generation
8. Twilight Zone
9. Forever
10. Angel
11. Doctor Who
12. Star Trek: Voyager
13. Mystery Science Theater 3000
14. Dexter
15. M*A*S*H
16. Monk
17. The Outer Limits
18. iZombie
19. The Carol Burnett Show
20. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
21. The Daily Show
22. True Blood
23. Misfits
24. Halo
25. Highlander: The Series
26. News Radio
27. The Man in the High Castle
28. The Umbrella Academy
29. Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
30. The Wire
31. Quantum Leap
32. Pushing Daisies
33. People of Earth
34. The Prisoner
35. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
36. Firefly
37. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
38. Psych
39. Sliders
40. Fargo
41. Game of Thrones
42. All in the Family
43. Millennium
44. Medium
45. Life on Mars (UK)
46. Vampire Diaries
47. Haven
48. The Sandman
49. Travelers
50. The Passage
51. The Orville
52. First Wave
53. Shadow and Bone
54. Archive 81
55. Midnight Mass
56. Better Call Saul
57. The Expanse
58. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
59. Kung Fu (1972-1975)
60. The 4400
61. Donahue
62. The Guild
63. Breaking Bad
64. Forever Knight
65. Land of the Lost (1974-1977)
66. Star Trek: Discovery
67. Lost
68. Awake
69. Invisible Man (2000-2002)
70. Dark Winds
71. Sweet Tooth
72. Flash Forward
73. Seinfeld
74. Law & Order
75. Smother’s Brothers Comedy Hour
76. Queer as Folk
77. The Dead Zone
78. 12 Monkeys
79. The Bob Newhart Show
80. South Park
81. Lucifer
82. The Muppet Show
83. Kolchak: The Night Stalker
84. Ironside
85. Preacher
86. The Exorcist (TV series 2016-2018)
87. House
88. Damian
89. Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980)
90. Dark Matter
91. Strange World
92. Alf
93. Dead Like Me
94. Tru Calling
95. The Lone Gunmen
96. Gilligan’s Island
97. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
98. Into the Badlands
99. American Gothic (1995-1996)
100. Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In

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“Tweet” is too useful to go to waste!

Since Elon, in all his wisdom, has changed the name of Twitter to X and is using the mundane word “post” on that platform now, we should claim the word “tweet” and use it to mean any phone text, or any short message on any social media.

You can say you “tweeted” on Facebook, if you wrote a post there that was only a couple sentences long.

Planning to text your mom to let her know you got home safely? Tell her you’ll “tweet” when you arrive home.

(This entry is a little too long, but you can certainly tweet on WordPress, as well.)

Think of your own examples. Practice saying it. “Tweet” is short and sweet, too useful to go to waste!

My 100 Favorite Songs

When I started compiling a list of my 100 favorite songs, I thought it would be straight forward. Grab my favorites from my play lists, chuck them all on one list, trim it down to 100, and arrange them with the most beloved at the top. Done! Right? Well, actually, it’s been a journey. I’ll write more about that below the song list.

For most songs I have a favorite version by a particular artist or band. Only a few don’t have performer(s) listed. I didn’t list songwriter(s).

1. White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane
2. God Was Never on Your Side – Motörhead
3. Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
4. Hurt – Johnny Cash
5. All Souls Night – Loreena McKennitt
6. Enter Sandman – Metallica
7. Rainbow in the Dark – Dio
8. Carry on Wayward Son – Kansas
9. Man in the Box – Alice in Chains
10. Don’t Fear The Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
11. Heart-Shaped Box – Nirvana
12. Ohio – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
13. Troy – Sinead O’Connor
14. Renegade – Styx
15. Wellerman – Whole Peeled
16. The Prophets Song – Queen
17. Venus – Shocking Blue
18. The Unforgiven – Metallica
19. Dust in the Wind – Kansas
20. Heart of Glass – Blondie
21. Poison – Alice Cooper
22. Live and Let Die – Paul McCartney and Wings
23. Catch the Wind – Donovan
24. Nobody’s Fool – Cinderella
25. If I Could Turn Back Time – Cher
26. Twilight Zone – Golden Earring
27. Lorelei – Styx
28. Paint it Black – Rolling Stones
29. Locomotive Breath – Jethro Tull
30. Heaven on Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar
31. Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos
32. Coma – Guns N Roses
33. Fare Thee Well – Louden Swain
34. Helter Skelter – The Beatles
35. I Don’t Know How to Love Him from Jesus Christ Superstar
36. Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult
37. The Sounds of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel
38. Annachie Gordon – Loreena McKennitt
39. Pictures of Matchstick Men – Camper Van Beethoven
40. True Colors – Cyndi Lauper
41. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
42. Here Comes the Rain Again – Eurythmics
43. Feel So Differnt – Sinead O’Connor
44. Let It Be – The Beatles
45. Blister in the Sun – Violent Femmes
46. All You Zombies – The Hooters
47. Beds are Burning – Midnight Oil
48. Dream Weaver – Gary Wright
49. Knock on Wood – Amii Stewart
50. Loser – 3 Doors Down
51. The Bodega Midnight Coffee Song – The Maud Gonne Band
52. Mother – Danzig
53. Tubthumping – Chumbawamba
54. Hallelujah
55. Shambala – Three Dog Night
56. Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
57. Famous Last Words – My Chemical Romance
58. Only Happy When It Rains – Garbage
59. Angry Chair – Alice in Chains
60. The First Cut is the Deepest – Cat Stevens
61. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy – Lindsey Stirlin
62. Waterloo – ABBA
63. Season of the Witch – Donovan
64. Outside – Staind
65. O’ Death – Jen Titus
66. Piece of My Heart – Janis Joplin
67. Silent Night
68. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly
69. Down with the Sickness – Disturbed
70. Moonshadow – Cat Stevens
71. Call Me – Blondie
72. What is Love – Haddaway
73. The Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens
74. Like a Virgin – Madonna
75. SOS – ABBA
76. MacArthur Park – Donna Summer
77. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
78. I Saw Her Standing There – The Beatles
79. Kryptonite – 3 Doors Down
80. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
81. Dream On – Aerosmith
82. Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me – TISM
83. Red Right Hand – Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds
84. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
85. Tusk – Fleetwood Mac
86. Stonehenge – Spinal Tap
87. Heaven and Hell – Black Sabbath
88. How Will I Know – Whitney Houston
89. Wheel in the Sky – Journey
90. Life On Mars? – David Bowie
91. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N Roses
92. The Trees – Rush
93. Who Wants To Live Forever – Queen
94. She Drives Me Crazy – Fine Young Cannibals
95. Don’t Cha – Pussycat Dolls
96. Why Does the Sun Shine? – They Might Be Giants
97. Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin
98. Crimson & Clover – Tommy James and The Shondells
99. Jenny Jenny 8675309 – Tommy Tutone
100. The End – The Doors

The process of making the list was convoluted. For one thing, once I started, I realized my favorite songs wouldn’t necessarily reflect my overall taste in music. I wasn’t comfortable with that. I may be drawn to a one hit wonder, or a show stopping ballad, and yet I’d be bored listening to those all the time. So I tried to represent different artists, different genres, different tempos, different times in my life, etc. Music is always linked to experiences and feelings.

I started to make side lists, like my top songs for individual artists and bands, to help me figure out what to include in the top 100 list. Searching for songs allowed me to find some music I wasn’t familiar with, or brought me to interesting articles to read. Working on the list lead to enjoyable and time consuming tangents.

And a smidge about my favorite musical — Although I didn’t list favorite performers for the 2 Jesus Christ Superstar songs on the list, I do have one absolutely favorite cast recording, and that’s the 1992 Australian Cast. I particularly like Angry Anderson’s version of King Herod’s Song, but I didn’t include that song in my top 100, because I hate it in most recordings of Jesus Christ Superstar. I also loved Jon Stevens as Judas, Kate Ceberano as Mary Magdalene, and the whole cast. I saw some of them in a production when I visited Australia in the mid 90s, but it wasn’t exactly the same cast. Side note, I was supposed to see Sebastian Bach as Jesus in a production in 2003, but he was kicked from the tour right before our stop! (I’m an atheist, by the way, don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression.)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

To be honest, Valentine’s Day isn’t my favorite holiday. It was literally made up so companies like Hallmark could make money.

Yesterday my husband had some time to kill, and ended up parked in front of a drug store for an hour. He said he watched one guy after another go into the store, and come out with flowers or something. I suppose it’s sweet, but it also shows the commercial aspect.

But I really feel bad for the people who dwell on their aloneness on Valentine’s Day. It makes romantic relationships seem more important than every other relationship in life, including the all important one you have with yourself.

I’ve found that being in a relationship only works, when you are comfortable with yourself. And when you are comfortable with yourself, you are also comfortable not being in a relationship. It’s a catch 22, to be sure, but the holiday turns your priorities upside down. You don’t need to find THE ONE or your life will be miserable. YOU ARE THE ONE. Love yourself. You can be happy with yourself and by yourself.

Sure, we all need support in our lives, friends or family who are willing to be there for the good times and the bad times. And if you don’t have an adequate support system, you should work to assemble one, even as you learn to be your own best support. Some people also need medical help for their mental health, and you should seek that out if you do.

But binding your needs to the unrealistic Hollywood idea of THE GREAT LOVE, who will be everything for you, and make everything snap into place, is unhealthy and unhelpful. Staying in a bad relationship because you’re afraid of being alone, can be tragic. Your partner should be willing to work on your relationship, and keep it moving in a good direction. If they are not, you may want to find a way out. And even good relationships are not all sunshine and lollipops, lol.

So today, be kind to yourself. Be the greatest love of your life. Discover what makes you happy, and what makes you you. Find things you enjoy doing by yourself. Maybe you don’t think there are any, but you are wrong. You just have to be open to the possibility.

When you love yourself, maybe someone else will, too. But even if you don’t find THE ONE, you are complete. You can have joy, fulfillment, and happiness.

My Relationship with Salt

In the USA we have a love affair with salt. But it’s an unhealthy relationship, and it wouldn’t have to be this way.

I was always a heavy salter. When I get French Fries, instead of tossing a little salt over the top, I put some salt on the plate and then rub each fry in the salt before I eat it. And I still do, I just don’t eat fries as often.

When I tried to switch to a lower salt diet for my blood pressure, I found many obstacles. I also found that how much salt tastes right to you, has everything to do with how much salt you usually eat. And I found that low salt foods, may not be marked as such in the grocery store.

Here are some of my own observations:

If a food tastes great without salt (or with little salt), the package will not loudly proclaim “No Salt Added” or “No Sodium” or “Low Salt” or the like. Why? I assume it’s because less people will buy a food that says no salt, since people think no salt means no flavor. This is true even for foods that never contain salt in traditional recipes, so taste completely normal without it. If you read the nutritional label, you’ll see the sodium content–you just won’t see it mentioned on the front of the package. Of course reading every nutrition label as you shop is time consuming.

If a reduced salt food tastes horrible, the label WILL loudly proclaim “No Salt” or “Low Salt” or the like. Because if something tastes terrible, the manufacturer knows they have lost the majority of shoppers–so they are now specifically marketing only to those people trying to cut salt. This leaves people with the impression that having to reduce salt, means you have to eat things that taste terrible.

How much salt you’re used to, dictates how much salt you want. After eating a very low sodium diet for just a couple days, say below 1300 mg, I found many foods I normally eat are waaay too salty. In fact some of them actually made my tongue sting! The truth is just about everything you buy in the store that has salt, has twice as much as you’d need to be tasty. But, because every other food maker puts in a lot of salt, if a particular company didn’t, their food would taste bad by comparison. So unless they all reduce salt at the same time, we’ll continue to have this culturally high level of salt.

If you do your own cooking, you can get used to a lower level. Personally, I hate to cook, so I don’t try to stay at a 1300 mg level. But I find that if I can stay under 2000 mg, my blood pressure is normal.

Young, healthy bodies can usually tolerate a higher salt level, but that doesn’t meant it’s good for you. The average person in the U.S. consumes 3400 mg of sodium a day, which is much more than you need.

If you’ve never tried reducing your salt, you may want to give it a shot. It may not be as bad as you think.

If someone tries to sell you a magazine, ask if they need help.

Human trafficking takes many forms. I never would have guessed that someone doing something as benign as selling magazines, could have been forced into labor. But some of these young people are in trouble.

Human trafficking: Mag crew kid at your door could be victim – Al Jazeera America
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/2/24/human-trafficking-victim-mag-crew-kid-at-door.html

For Youths, a Grim Tour on Magazine Crews – NYtimes.com

Polaris Project http://www.polarisproject.org/ the resource hotline is 1-888-373-7888

Do magazine publishers have a responsibility here? Could they refuse subscriptions from these companies?

Years ago, a young woman came to my door, and sold me a magazine subscription that I have not yet figured out how to cancel. I should have asked if she needed help.

You Can’t Fight Terrorism with War

Modern warfare kills young and old, innocent and guilty. Bombing people who are already poor turns difficult lives, into endless nightmares and death. The relatives of those killed are more apt to become terrorists, not less.

The only way we could really fight terrorism, is to make lives better. Make sure everyone, everywhere has food, clothing, shelter, and gainful employment. If we did this overpopulation would not be an issue, because it takes care of itself once people have security in their old age, and access to family planning.

We have the technology to address world poverty now, but it isn’t possible in our greed driven world. We allow those who already have thousands of times their share of the wealth, continue to take advantage of people throughout the world, stealing their labor and their resources.

We need to shift the culture–reward kindness, not ruthlessness. If we cannot do this, there is not much hope for us.

the echo of an ancient god

I am the echo of an ancient god, my monuments long crushed to dust. But my followers thrived, for thousands of years, long before your calendars began. You know nothing of me, or my people–or so you think.

My followers spoke my many names, and brought me offerings of fruit and meat. They were good people, raising beautiful children in sunny valleys. Singing their stories in the night air, by the warmth of the fire.

In a way, you were there. You scurried and squeaked, and stole bites from the food on my alter. Even then, your kind sought the companionship of other species. Some of our children kept you, as cherished pets. You trilled when scratched behind the ears, and left gifts of dead dragonflies. You heard the stories of my people, but you did not understand.

I thought I was the strongest force of nature, but I was wrong. I could not save my people. When they perished, my body, too, eventually faded away to nothing. I miss it–my first, true body, in the form of my worshipers–my crown of feathers, and my massive tail.

I thought time itself would end, then. But it did not. My spirit, broken, wandered for what seemed like eternity. Slowly I started to notice, once again, the landscapes I passed by. The world would sometimes surge with life, other times be largely barren, and then it would all start again.

I started to accept the cycle of life. I started to care for these creatures, even though they were not my people, and I knew they would not last forever. Some had the beautiful feathers of my people, and lived in sunny valleys.

One day I looked a creature in the eye, a being that stood on 2 legs, as my people had long ago. I had never seen its like, and yet, there was something familiar.. And then I knew. The playmates of my children had become this. And, though you had not understood the stories of my people, you sang stories as well. Perhaps some impression still lingered, somehow, through the ages.

The more I listened, the more I cared. And, strangely, I started to feel the sun again. I became solid again, but I was no god. For a time this saddened me. But as the sometimes fearsome gods of your people started to rise, there were times I was thankful for my anonymity.

My form adjusted over the years, to change as your people changed. I have lived with you since, as one of you, except that I do not bear children, and I do not die. I do not know if there are others like me. I do not know if I will outlive you.

I only know that life is all around me, and I try to celebrate it all, past, present and future. I miss my people, but I try not to mourn too often or too long. Perhaps in some way, they have lived on, as well. I do not understand why I am here now, but I am thankful for each day.

I tell you these things knowing you will not find me, and you will not know my true name. But I am here, the echo of an ancient god.

Bill Cosby

I love Bill Cosby. He had a positive influence on my life. But it’s clear now that much of his image was a carefully constructed lie. Not only have 35 women told their stories, but a man who worked for Cosby said one of his jobs was to pay off women.

Some people say we shouldn’t accuse Cosby, because in our justice system, he’s innocent until proven guilty. Well, I say these 35 women are innocent. They are not liars. I am sick and tired of rape victims being treated like they’re the criminals. In our country the evidence must be weighed in a court of law for a conviction, and that’s a good thing. But that doesn’t stop me  from having an opinion.

Perhaps you are among those who say the women should have come forward at the time. Even though you don’t believe 35 adult women now, if one teenager had come forward at the height of Cosby’s popularity, you would have believed her and been supportive? I think that is unlikely. I think the people who believe Cosby is innocent now, would most likely have believed the same then. She would have been hated and vilified, receiving even more animosity than these women are today.

Some of the victims were as young as 16 when they were raped. I’m sure Cosby picked many young women who were insecure and far from home, lacking a good support network of friends and family, making it hard for them to deal with the trauma of rape. And, actually, not all of them were silent, although no charges were filed.

Not to mention that 16 is a very young age to have to give up your chosen profession, and to accept that the rest of your life will be difficult, no matter what the outcome. Anyone who had come forward at the time, would never have worked in Hollywood again as anything but a sad curiosity. You know what happens in a situation like this. They may get offers to be in Playboy, or worse. They’re never offered real roles again. If one of the young women had come forward, she probably would have fled the spotlight when it was over and still been badgered by people who blamed her, and called her a liar, even if Cosby was convicted.

The statute of limitations has run out on these cases, there will be no criminal trials. In 2006, Cosby settled a lawsuit from one victim for an undisclosed amount of money. There will be more lawsuits, from women who want the truth to come out. And we need to listen. Shouting them down won’t encourage future rape victims to report crimes. It adds insult to injury, and ensures that rape will continue to thrive in the shadows.