my careless contagion

You could call this a New Year's post: a bit of a look back and also standing on the edge of a new year, hoping for the best.  Let's start from right here, right now. I can't adequately explain what I'm going through because I lack perspective. Anytime we go through something that feels like change we momentarily lose perspective. That's why I felt the need to temporarily isolate myself from influences such as social media and greatly diminished my computer use. (No, it hasn't affected my ability to send my mom memes.) What I can say is something in me broke, leaving my attitude toward God and others changed. I have a strangely calm feeling similar to dissociation but without the disconnectedness. I feel tremendous peace. God showed me why I often attempt to do such hard things against all odds. Hard to explain. Best to save the explanation for later. What I know is it feels important and am committed to doing my part so God can finish the work He started. Doing...

If you harbored any questions about my sanity, you are now likely alarmed. Because, once again, I'm choosing to write about retro/vintage stuff. By now you should be used to it, so tag along and have some fun, if you like. Or hang out on the brain-rot that is TikTok while the rest of us have fun. Those are your options.  I have no idea what the above advertisement says, but it makes me want that boat of a Mercedes. What a good-looking vehicle. Clearly, this is not from our era. A lot of what drives my retro obsession is nostalgia. (And I could keep writing these forever, but, hopefully, this is the last one.) If I was lucky enough to be one of the 1% of people who owned a car in that era, I sure hope it would have been a Mercedes like that. This is the traditional role of advertising. It makes you aspire to something. Now, not so much. It's more of a social re-education thing going on. But, at its core, advertising is propaganda. True then and now, regardless of what they'r...

Haha, I know what you're going to say: "Not again, Joshua, you silly-head." Mind your manners, reader! You don't have to partake. Go read your Reader's Digest or something. I'm on a proverbial roll, whether anyone is along for the ride or not. The above advertisement seemingly tells me how to get the girl of my dreams (you know who). What a wonderful service. I mean, that's advertising at its best — getting what you want. I wish it was always so easy. Sometimes advertisers forget to uphold their end of the exchange. After all, we exchange money (which is the fruit of another exchange, when we give our time to our employer and get said money) for goods and services. We expect those goods and services to be delivered as expected. So, where's my girl? Oh, right, you want some money first. Let me find an ATM ... and, in the meantime, y'all enjoy this trip down memory lane. Or your Reader's Digest .  Who knew it would be so easy to add some "fo...