Clinton, South Carolina, Sunday, January 26, 2020, 11:21 a.m.

Two characteristics, thoughtfulness and dread, characterize my awakenings.

Arriving to consciousness is shortly followed by coffee and medication, and it usually makes me think. That’s why I’ve gotten in the habit of posting on Facebook each morning and writing a blog when I’ve got time and am particularly coherent. A blog requires more comprehensive thought.

In January, this old writer’s thoughts turn to automobile racing, and two turns around the clock of racing are going on this weekend in Daytona Beach, Florida, which Ken Squier used to call the Birthplace of Speed, and it is certainly where it is born each year.

Twenty-four hours of Rolex was a welcome break from 24 hours of news. Endurance racing wasn’t on constantly. I watched most of a weird John Huston movie, bits and snatches of several basketball games, and SNL, which I thought unusually entertaining, that is, until a lovers’ spat between Ketchup and Catsup occurred near the end.

What did I learn from a Saturday of TV and guitar strumming?

There are more owls on TV than in the outdoors. Good commercials become bad commercials after the first thousand viewings. A suggestive line was actually cut out of Blazing Saddles, as impossible as that may be to believe.

When Lilli Von Shtupp, “the Teutonic Titwillow,” asked Sheriff Bart, “Is it true what they say about you people?” his censored reply was, “I hate to disappoint you, ma’am, but you’re sucking my arm.”

The reason I stumbled upon this nugget of naughtiness was I was looking up the Hedley Lamarr line that describes my mornings: “My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.”

And is just as satirical.

So now I’ve got the four races within a race that run all day and all night on TV in the background, and I pick out occasional comments, such as about an hour ago when one of the analysts used a word that has never been used in 71 seasons of NASCAR, “caveat.”

 

If you enjoy my insights about racing and other subjects, make a small pledge of support. Rewards are in place for pledges of $5 or more. If 1/10 of my followers and Facebook friends pledge $1 a month, I’ll be set. Read all about it here.

If you yearn for my writing in larger doses, I’ve written quite a few books. Most are available here.

Lightning in a Bottle, the first of my two motorsports novels, is now available in audio (Audible, Amazon, iTunes) with the extraordinary narration of Jay Harper.

My eighth novel, a political crime thriller, is called Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. It’s right up to date with the current political landscape in the country.

My writing on other topics that strike my fancy is posted here.