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So, yeah, this happened this week. But it was a strange week all around.

My TV debut on History’s “The Mega-Brands That Built America” launched Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern. Like Rick in Casablanca,  I was misinformed. I thought, and posted, that it would air at 10. So when I tuned in at 9:45, just to be on the safe side, I was too late to see my segment. I had to stream it Monday morning.

That’s all right, other family members missed it, too. If you haven’t seen it yet, and would like to, you can stream it at the link above or tune on Sunday night. I think it will air at 10 p.m., but check your local listings. Episode 3 (of four, I understand) will debut the same night.

In all, I was pleased and surprised. Pleased: They actually got some decent quotes out of me. (Kudos to their video editors.) Surprised: They didn’t break much new ground from the old “they were trying to make wallpaper” story, although they did use my quote about looking for a material for raincoats. Pleased again: That makes my book all the more relevant. I’ll be continuing on that project over the coming weeks.

On the blogging front, strange things have been happening with my WordPress interface. Suddenly it no longer plays nicely with my primary Brave browser, which won’t open the editing panels. I’ve had to switch back to Chrome.

In trying to find the conflict, I accidentally reactivated the Classic Editor, which changed all my interfaces and confused me for a couple hours. And to top it all off, someone has been trying to log into my site using brute force. I’ve set up some defenses including two-factor authorization.

In other blogging news, I finished the series based on my first year as a freelance writer. I’ve learned a lot: the importance of timely topics, persistence, modesty, and the support of friends. I hope it’s helped you, too.

I’ll be taking time off from the 1979 journal flashbacks for now. The journal takes a break, too. In August 1979 I suspended my journal for a few weeks while I pulled my life together and moved to Bradford, Vermont, to work for the weekly Journal Opinion. I previously posted about the JO here.

As the journal continues, the newspaper moves from being one of my primary clients to become my main employer. The journal entries change, too, from the struggles of a starving writer to the joys and frustrations of a small-town journalist. As I read ahead, the good stuff starts around October, but I haven’t decided whether to begin that as another series. If so, I may take up that series this fall, or perhaps in 2024 if there’s any interest. Let me know in the “What do you think?” box below.

Meanwhile, I have a few essay ideas that I’ll slip in here and there over the rest of the summer. Among them are the sentimental value of somewhat forgotten “September Song” and “Moonlight in Vermont,” my thoughts about using artificial intelligence, and a short thought poem I wrote in 1978 about what other people think.

Otherwise the next few weeks will be taken up by the adventures of everyday living. We hope to travel a bit to visit our daughter and catch up with some friends. We’re also juggling some major household renovations, a seasonal fundraising drive for our church, my usual list of incomplete manuscripts, and a very tenuous business opportunity.

Time to take a breather. Thanks for joining me on this adventure. Until next time!

Howard

P.S. A note for writers and bloggers: I used the JetPack AI Assistant function for the first time on this post. I followed its suggestions that I think made it better. I hope you like it.

In case you missed it …