It just so happens that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826, which just happened to be Independence Day. It also just happened to be the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which just happened to be the document that Jefferson authored, and also just happened to be the document over which their famous rivalry began. Bitter adversaries for years, they later became devoted pen pals, but to the end, Adams had declared, “I will outlive Jefferson!” even though Tom was seven years younger than he. On his deathbed, however, Adams seemed comforted when he said, in what are alleged to be his last words, “Jefferson survives!”
Jefferson had not survived, however.
Unbeknownst to Adams, his loyal rival had died a few hours earlier, so that Adams’ original prediction did, indeed, come true.There are enough coincidences in that story to choke a Colonial mule.
I love coincidences. . .synchronicities(which are “meaningful coincidences,” according to Carl Jung). . .intriguing juxtapositions of events. . .coinkydinks, whatever you want to call them. Of course, many can be explained away, or theorized away, but where’s the fun in that?! Jeez, we can’t be expected to live in the reality-based community ALL the time, because for one thing, it takes way too long to say.
So, my little coinkydinkums, got any cool stories of coincidences to tell? You do? Wow, what a coinkydink!
The hostess has to go to Topeka (no, no, don’t hate me because I’m lucky), so the cafe is all yours in her absence. Do not behave yourselves. Please use the poll to tell her how you would have liked her to respond to your comments if she were here:
No photos bigger than 300 pixels please, out of mercy for our dial-up frogs.
Put photos in as new comments, if you can, so we don’t over-widen the page.
Unrecommend the previous diary, no matter how much you loved it, and recommend this one. You already did that? What a coinkydink!
Pass out 4’s as if you were giving them to Democrats who fight for our rights!!!
Would a coincidence involving unusual sexual practices be a coinkykink?
Sooo. . .here’s a REALLY weird one. When two of my very best and long-time friends (notice me establishing their credibility here, though I suppose this depends on whether you think I’m credible, heh)were courtin’, they used to play around with the Oiuja board frequently. So they got to be dab hands at it, as our British frogs might say.
Well, one night the OB told them that a UFO would appear at the local airport at a certain time. Not believing it for a minute, but crazy enough in love to try anything once, they drove out there, parked, and waited.
Nothing. Disappointed, but not surprised, they went home.
Next morning, the male half of them went in to the newspaper where he worked as a reporter and heard some sarcastic laughter. When he asked the cause, he was told there had been reports of a UFO that had appeared at the (OTHER) airport that night!
Coinkydink?
Nice photos and stories, Kansas. I read the other day that HBO is doing a 10-part dramatic series on the Adams presidency, as he tried to follow the father of the country, George Washington.
P.S. The other day I read about Abraham Lincoln’s son … hadn’t known he became a Secretary of War and served other cabinet positions.
Ooo, I’m so glad to hear about the Adams series. I wonder who’ll play Abigail. Glenn Close just came to mind.
And I had not known that about Lincoln’s son. I have always tended to forget their other children.
It’s going to be about l00 degrees today. Just when a person wants to be driving on a turnpike in Kansas, right? Well, at least it’s not freezing rain and there are no tornadoes likely.
That London stuff is not looking so minor now.
Good morning, kansas!
I’m a very intuitive person and coincidences seem to happen to me all the time. The most common is that I’ll be driving around and I’ll be humming a certain song in my head, then I’ll turn on the radio and that song will be on! Also, when I wake up in the middle of the night I’ll guess what time it is…say 3:22 AM…and about 90% of the time I am exactly correct.
Now, if those lottery numbers would just come to me….
Anyway, have a good Thursday everyone. Another sweltering day here in NC. God, I am ready for a break!
COFEEE!!!! QUICKLY!!!!!!!
(Glad things don’t seem bad in London.)
Help yourselves!
mmmmmmmmmmmmm strawberries!!!!
I think my entire family has photos of their kids eating a strawberry for the first time. Babies with the berries smooshed and gooshed all over them.
note babies can be allergic to straberries – reason no strawberry baby food…
But this got me to thinkin’.. Uh oh!
Why aren’t there any strawberry chips for cookies? No strawberry flavored coffees? I love coffee and cookie making stuff and love them when combined. Even more so when combined to make ice cream… chocolate chip cookie dough mocha delight ice cream…. anyways…
Why aren’t there any strawberry cookies? But as I think on it — strawberries may not be the best for cookies. Maybe they are best served for daiquiries, margaritas, smoothies, dipping in chocolate, cutting up and adding sugar to make strawberry sauce for ice cream and angel food cake.
And for taking pictures of “baby’s first strawberry”
… okay, I’m done thinking… (for now)
Strawberry cookies! Yeah, no kidding, why aren’t there? I think you should invent them and get rich.
I also think you should show us some photos of babies with strawberries smooshed all over their faces.
Did you do any more thinking today? 🙂
free video hosting?
https:/upload.video.google.com I just did a quick google search and found this one at the top, don’t know anything about it.
How are you doing Tracy, I hope all is well with you and you are not too hot down there in Alabama.
It hasn’t been too hot, the humidity seems to be what gets ya. Most of Dennis in my area has been cleaned up. I have notice the power company around areas where we had wires down, looks like they are firming up the repairs they made to get us all up and running. I picked my Godfather up in Pensacola though on the 15th and thought I would get gas outside of Pensacola going east. No such luck, those folks were still not back online last Friday and no gas stations open. Some formidable oak trees snapped in two also and all the road signs down. Been doing a lot of pruning lately, stuff exploding rather than growing. Couldn’t see the road coming out of the driveway because the azaleas exploded. Things have been pretty smooth going lately. So much going on in the news, I have mostly been reading lately.
OMG! Glad you’re okay.
Fires is the reason my borhter got me a digital camera so I can store pix online, because last years’ fire threats came very close and one time I wasn’t home to move the damn fire box stashed with photos and documents.
Might be good to have for floods, storms too(?)
Keep breathing in and out, lady! xxxooo
we were lucky this round, it could have been much worse, glad you made it through without harm ; )
Morning everyone US side, Evening everyone on the other side of world.
Can’t think of any coinkidinks right now, but if I do I will bring them right here without a delay.
77 degrees at 8:24 Am PDT and it looks to be a hot one, how is it down where you are Aloha, I think you are closer to the ocean than I am.
Hope everyone stays as cool as can be.
Kansas great diary FBC as usual.
Diane, wouldn’t you know I got to witness a great coinkydink today? Here’s what happened . . .
So I make an impulsive, surprise visit to a place in Topeka where I haven’t been or even talked to anyone there for, maybe, five or six years. There’s nobody there I know, but one woman looks at me funny when we’re introduced. A few minutes later I go in where she’s working and she shows me what she was looking at about two hours previously. . .pictures of me! She said, “When you came in I thought you looked familiar, and then I realized I had just been going through all those photos of you!”
She thought it was QUITE a coinkydink! I, who didn’t even know they had stuff about me, was a tad surprised, too. (And no, it’s not the FBI, lol.)
Sometime when I don’t have a fever and I can draw a breath without coughing, I’m going to have to ask you for a more complete explanation of this story.
Because it sounds impossible from beginning to end.
I’m so sorry you’re still sick!! You must get well immediately.
Thanks kansas,
I am feeling a bit better and I’m going to try to work for an hour or two tomorrow.
I feel so pathetic.
Are you by any chance a fan of the new Battlestar Gallactica series? I just started watching reruns this spring and tonight I’m getting to see the beginning on DVD. Wow. It may be the single best first show I’ve ever seen.
How are you entertaining yourself while you’re sick?
I’ve read good things about the new Battlestar Gallactica, but haven’t seen it.
For entertainment, I’ve read too many books, but I’m not sure I remember anything about them. Aand Harry Potter just showed up this afternoon, I found it purely by accident in a puddle after the freak rain this afternoon.
And I subscribed to the big brother live feed. And mister katiebird fixed it so we can watch it from our TV instead of the monitor. So I can lie on the couch watching a bunch of other people lying on couches, it’s a perfect setup.
I’ll lookup the times for battlestar gallactica, I don’t watch enough TV (right now we’ve got Reno 911 on).
Who is the artist responsible for the picture? I like it, it reminds me of my daughter.
I found the original graphic on one site sometime ago and then a few nights ago found someone that had done the same pic in 3d and couldn’t resist.
I surf a lot of sites for pictures of woman – in all her aspects – and download the free stuff. Also a lot of pre-1900 art and 20th century photos.
Hanging in there in the Scribe household…though seriously considering spouseicide this morning. He fell asleep on the couch (again), not coming to bed till 3am, which means I had interrupted sleep, which I do not do well with. So I’m foggy (as opposed to froggy) and cranky. This after he promised he was going to be a good boy while he’s off…at this rate he’s going to be around longer than planned, and I’m going to be more of a wreck than usual!
He also did not set the alarm like I requested, so I just got up, meaning we’re not going to have dinner till about 7pm — I’m doing a crockpot recipe since we’ve both got to go to the clinic today (he for blood pressure, me for my annual female parts check). I’m actually teaching him how to do the recipe while I’m on the computer though! 🙂
Not feeling great, but it could just be the wakeup process. The day should go better…
Have a great day, folks — I’ll check back in later…
The original London bombings were two weeks ago today…and the spouse was home from work (sick).
Today, more bombings…and the spouse is again home from work.
Am I going to have to alert Scotland Yard every time he takes a Thursday off?
Pretty spooky. Just make sure he never stays home and that should end all incidents. 😉
uh…if you happen to see some black SUV’s with dark tinted windows pull up in your drive….RUN ….oh yeah, and tell them he abducted you…you don’t know the bum…LMAO
Ok, it’s after lunch, the day has been…well, not what it should be, but what the hell, it’s a day above ground, and that sure beats the alternative ; )
It’s hot, humid, and waiting on the daily afternoon thunderstorm, it’s sooooo dayumed hot that Ol’ Yellar won’t even come away from the shade tree on the lake and be his normal pesty pup self…LOL
Now it’s time for a fresh brewed, fresh ground bean coffee, and a big ol’ slug of Bailey’s….Aaaahhhhh
I’d like a coffee Baileys too… only make the Baileys a Jamieson.
Aaaahh yes, works very well, great minds ; )
what a coincydink…. i just got here just on time…
thanks, kansas!!
Do you require any cream with that? I always carry an emergency flask of Half ‘n’ Half.
Inside me there is a Perry White yelling abuse…. Oh what a wretched situation. My writing partner has withdrawn support from our project…. The Loved One has betrayed me…. oh jesus…. and I watched my career go by me in a stream of other people’s work…. while I lay on the couch in misery……
The world has changed again. The Loved One has caused me an exquisite pain in the heart/gut region. Only brandy from the St. Bernard will do at this point. I am chilled to my mortal soul. Jesus…
I’m so sorry.
Then hate me when thou wilt; if ever, now;
Now, while the world is bent my deeds to cross,
Join with the spite of fortune, make me bow,
And do not drop in for an after-loss:
Ah! do not, when my heart hath ‘scaped this sorrow,
Come in the rearward of a conquered woe;
Give not a windy night a rainy morrow,
To linger out a purposed overthrow.
If thou wilt leave me, do not leave me last,
When other petty griefs have done their spite,
But in the onset come: so shall I taste
At first the very worst of fortune’s might;
And other strains of woe, which now seem woe,
Compared with loss of thee, will not seem so.
William Shakespeare
look for the rising sun, and the light it brings, for with it comes new life ; )
do not stare into the shadows, for only darkness prevails in them.
are you saying that this too shall pass?? oh shit! am i to be a beggar for the Loved One’s favor???? jesus.
should i beg the writing partner to accept my apologies and my revisions???? if i apologize and revise until it is acceptable it will no longer be mine….
i think i’ll suffer through. it must have some cosmic purpose that i cannot imagine…. if i knew the future, the present would pass quicker….
new life??? the dawn???? infidelpig… where is your infidelity and your piggishness now that i need it???
jesus, what a monster all this passion has made me….
step one… who cares
step two… keep your eye on the prize
step three…. there could be a God who loves me
step four…. i loved myself genuinely, and only recently
step five…. i forgot steps five through seven, because i gave them in a list to the Loved One, along with everything else I most valued…. so the key to my happiness lies with the L.O. in more ways than one.
a short suffer, is better than the long humility ; )
move on
what does not kill us makes us stronger….
what a pussy I’ve been….
a short suffer indeed friend…. and lets’s cut the humility down to a minimum… it is so disabling to the workaholic.
there’s other pirhana in this tank….
damned skippy, so let another take a bite….hell, after a while, you don’t even feel the teeth ; )
LMAO…great choice…
the woman I was going to be married to was killed by a drunk driver, that was in 1995. I hope that it helps express some of the feeling you must be experiencing. I know that I spent many years wondering why, what was the reason she was taken from my life.
To Watch You Leave
To Watch You Leaving . . . is to know such pain,
it’s jagged edges tearing into my soul.
As a stake from the garden tears into the warm, dark earth.
knowing all the while that never again will I fit myself,
warm with sleep, against your solid back.
Nor hear your steady breathing. Or feel the beating of your heart.
aware in every moment of every day that my dreams,
my future; once tied with silken ribbons to yours, will never come to be.
And the mornings once so silent and hopeful,
us gazing at each other lovingly and so gently
awaiting forever – are now but small pieces of my past.
Your heartfelt love lost to me and you’re eyes no longer shining in mine.
I cry for both of us, my love, because you are lost to me forever.
I know that I’ve lost my place on this earth. My station. My heart’s home.
That I will wander, forever a nomad. Alone and afraid. And in my
troubled dreams watch you leave, again and again.
For the balance of my days.
you are very very good and very very decent to share this with me. that was real love, deep and soul-lasting love…..
And is this how it has been in the ten years since? Have you a glimpse of the purpose of this loss?
yes, for after many years of soul searching, I met and married someone who brings great joy into my life. I will never forget the love I had for the person, whom I wrote this poem for, she had that kind of love for me. The woman that I fell in love with 4 years ago is the most magnificent human being that I know. She loves me and accepts me for who I am, with all my frailities and warts. I truly walk in grace each day that I am alive. I have two beautiful children and a life that I find totally worth living. A far cry from whence I came, almost 18 years ago.
Afternoon everyone. I sure could use a nice ice cold smoothie, strawberries and banana please. Hope all you kids in the heat belt are hanging in there. The sun is fianlly shining in Del Mar and the full moon last night was beautiful9at 2am).
Busy day so just wanted to drop in to say hi to my Boofamily. Seems I never quite make it over to the Cafe. Let’s all go out and howl at the moon tonight heh?
I’m with you aloha, although I probably need another couple of months of working out before I go the full monty. 😛
The goddess loves the body in whatever form…and it sure is liberating to stand in the moonlight in the backyard…free from constraining clothes.
Go for it…
I think I’ll leave the full moon in the sky. hehehe
Cripes WRONG MOVIE to be worried about, peeps! 🙂
Don’t you guys know by now that if you’re out farting around in the moonlight, skinnydipping – something ungawdly monster is going to rip your buns off or eat your brains… or gawd forbid some chainsaw carrying nutcase will make an “example” out of you for all the others left???
Just another tip for your safety and well being 🙂
My favorite coinkydink comes courtesy of Air Force General Jack D. Ripper:
Greets & shout-outs to my comrades here. I’ve been busying myself the last couple days with some writing, including an FBC primer and my latest magnum opus, a technical meta-diary with the working title On the Posting of Images. It’ll be a real page-turner, I assure you, if I ever get it done. I’m pretty good at starting grandiose designs … finishing, not so much. Hope everyone’s keeping cool in the meantime!
is it Sharks? No. (even with warmer waters – more threat)
is it Jelly Fish? No. (I hate jelly fish for personal reasons )
is it vicious rabbits? Um… no. That’s Monty Python.
It’s Bush’s Clean Water Act!
But the pollyanna’s plus side media spin has it that Bush’s Clean Water Act (which allows for feces in drinking water) has had the added benefit of getting kids out of the water and watching reality tv and hockey rumors on ESPN. “I believe Bush has made our children safer because a kid sitting on a couch in front of the tv can’t be eaten by a shark and they can’t drown while watchin American Idle.” Mrs. Redwina Bushwhacked, Biblebelt, Loop 3, Fookeneh, USA
Everybody out of the water!
“The Coast line is for the Oil line” – R. Finery, Rig #25 Endangered Reef, Anywhere, Earth
You too lady. Outta the water. Now!
Don’t think you can TiVO it and watch your hockey game later after your swim, you combatant hussy.
“No child of mine is going to be caught dead swimming or fooling around in the water. Water is for poor people who don’t have pools.” – Laura Tush
Bush continuing to protect our children from foul air, risks of skin cancer and stepping on itty bitty shells.
No Child Left on the Beach.
I wish I could give you double-4’s for that post. Outstanding!
That was great, DJ! And timely for my vacation that’s coming up son….ten more days!
What a coinkydink!! Man Ray thought so too.
Botti-CELLO 🙂
I think you’re a genius…
What a coinkydink!! I think I’m one too…. hmmm….
You’re the genius. Me, I’m just warped. 🙂
and below the botti-cello is a monsoon, which would also cause wood to warp…. and then there’s Scotty… warp factor 8… the engines are going to blow !!!
i know what my problem is here… i must be a philosphical determinist… nothing is coincidental and everything is related…. oh geez… it’s quantum physics knocking …. my nemisis.
I’ll just have a quick one before I go back to the mines… and one for you, DammitJanet
CoinkyClinky!
This whole diary was worth it just for CoinkyClinky, not to mention “Beers lookin’ at you ‘kind” lol, even if you guys hadn’t already been so funny. DJ, you are on a roll today!
look at that lightning, crazy stuff here in the evenings!
Now that’s what I call “Static Cling”!
Stay safe!
Mount Rainier from the mid Sound. It’s a sunny summer day in and around the Emerald City, basically the same as this view.
I travelled into town to put Florida mom on the plane towards my siblings. That mountain looked huge down by the airport. Meanwhile our newly one-eyed toto doggie is starting to get his personality back, wagging tails and demanding tummy rubs once again.
Time to put some beers in the cooler for after work. Lordy it’s almost 74F !
Hooray for Toto doggie!
Mt. Rainier.. I always start tearing up when I fly into SeaTac and I can see her. But… ever since fleeing my home during Mt. St. Helens I kinda look at Mt. Rainier with some “man, when she goes – she’s gonna GO!”
Yeah, I think Rainier (which really should be called Tahoma) was recently ranked as the second most dangerous volcano in the world, due to its close proximity to the huge metro area of SeaTac.
It’s amazing how you can be right next to the Cascades, which are pretty majestic in their own right, and (if it’s a clear enough day to see it) Rainier just looms up there on a whole different scale.
-Alan
I’m sorry, Gooserock, but you cannot expect us to believe that photo is real. It is obviously faked, leading us to question all those other alleged shots of Puget. And by the way, where were you during the moon landing, huh?
I think you’re right. The houses are clearly photoshopped!
Nice work capturing the true Puget, Katiebird!
Do you remember back in the late ’90s when there was a minor controversy over a tourism poster (calendar, maybe?) that was Photoshopped to make it look like the Space Needle was right by the water?
(No, I don’t actually live in Seattle now but I did for a few months in ’97, and I intend to relocate to that area within a couple years.)
My father worked for NASA at that time. At the time of the landing I was –surprise, surprise– on a boat.
My father’s position on the whole thing was that it took like 500 workers to launch a rocket in Florida, so there was no way that 2 men could launch one off the moon.
He figured it’d actually be less likely to happen if it was possible–because they could never allow Congress to notice that 498 of the earth launch crew were not really needed.
And once Nixon came in and cut out all but one of the science missions, the expression was born:
And so we end the day with a coinkydink.
Gooserock,I’m sorry to be so stupidly literal here (my excuse is, it’s late and I’ve been to Topeka), but was your dad only kidding, or did he actually doubt?
He was seriously skeptical that they could pull off the return launches but he had no doubts about the missions being real.
I remember as a kid sitting up watching the feed from the first Ranger probe crash-landing into the moon. I guess the Soviets had delivered the first working probe and closeup pictures some time before, but this was 2nd I think, and the first with real time TV shots. Utterly awesome.
I’m much more skeptical about whether Americans made it to the recent polls than to the moon.
It must have been thrilling to have your dad working at Nasa at the time. What a cool thing for a kid. I wish our kids had something as universally exciting as how that felt to us.
Well, if going to Topeka makes a person stupidly literal, I think I’d better pass that city by!
<ducking>
lol! Literally.
And with that, sweet princes and princesses of industry and sloth, I bid thee (these?)good rest.