Friends, if you’re ready to stop fitting into the slots others have assigned you, then you’re ready for The Life 101 Project.
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The Course: https://tinyurl.com/4dbw3t5z
The Podcast: https://tinyurl.com/479zxeeh
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The Daily Dose/September 30, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes From Around Our Human Experience
CAPSULE BINGEWATCH REVIEW: The Blacklist, starring James Spader (NBC, 2013-23): You know, for someone who hasn’t owned a TV in going on three decades, we’ve sure seen a lot of shows, mainly during some idle hours at work after the day’s writing is done. The Blacklist was picked based on reels seen around the internet and we really couldn’t wait to dive into, mainly because James Spader, per standard policy, does his work in a very compelling manner.
Dry, Technical Matter: Spader plays Raymond Reddington, an international arch-criminal who turns himself in to the FBI. Hardly a supplicant, he demands immunity and to work only with rookie agent Elizabeth Keen. In exchange, Reddington will provide intel on other international arch-criminals, some the FBI may not even know exist.
Fly In The Ointment: Reddington’s list of criminals is called the Blacklist, and their elimination makes it easier for Reddington to expand his own criminal empire, a trade the FBI is hardly unaware of and willingly makes.
More Dry, Technical Matter: It turns out the current Reddington stole the identity, and though hinted at, neither his true identity nor his relationship with Elizabeth Keen is ever fully explained. The producers and writers, however, go through an awful lot of trouble to get you to conclude that Reddington is actually Keen’s mother who had some fancy pants surgery years ago.
Get Your Official Daily Dose Rating Scale Right Here: 1 – The very best the medium can offer. 2 – Very Good; 3 – Good; 4 – OK; 5 – A Steaming Pile
Final Rating: 2: If you lack imagination, like we sometimes do, some storylines might tend to stretch credulity, but the show is so well acted by everyone that credulity can easily be dismissed. The Blacklist probably went a season or two too long; Agent Keen dies at the end of Season 8, and if it had ended then, I don’t think anybody would’ve complained. But Reddington, Dembe, Harold Cooper, Ressler, and everyone else all do their work very well.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
Today’s Diary entry is on the house.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has a first at the hotel. Today’s Diary.
…we’ve been knocking around hotel front desks for going on 40 years – since right after we got out of the Navy – and you’d think there would come a time when there would be nothing new to see.
Wrong-o.
———
Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.
Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device.
———
On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1915 – Ground-to-air artillery is used to shoot down an enemy aircraft for the first time in the opening days of the Serbian Campaign of 1915 in World War I. Royal Serbian Army soldier Radoje Ljutovac shot down an Austro-Hungarian plane with a field cannon that had been captured in 1912. Ljutovac was immediately promoted to corporal and later to sergeant, survived the war, and returned home to a career as a merchant. The Central Powers, including Germany and Bulgaria, defeated Serbia in November.
In 1916 – The New York Giants end the longest winning streak in major league history in an 8-3 loss to the Boston Braves in the second game of a doubleheader. It was the first loss after 26 consecutive victories, which had broken the record of 21 consecutive wins established by the Chicago White Stockings – now the Cubs – in 1880. The streak included a tie, and the Giants finished in fourth place in the National League, seven games behind the Brooklyn Robins. The Giants had been 14 games back at the start of the streak.
In 1989 – The Judds are at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the only week with Let Me Tell You About Love. It was the 17th of 24 Top 40 country hits for the duo, their 16th of 20 Top 10 hits, and their 14th and final #1 song. The song also went #1 country in Canada and was Billboard’s 8th-biggest country song of the year.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Real freedom is possessed by those who are not anxious to be rich.
Will & Ariel Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol X: Rousseau and Revolution
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Floyd Patterson defeated Archie Moore for the vacant world heavyweight boxing title in 1956.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Which team holds the record for the longest major league postseason winning streak? – Answer next time!
Editor’s Note: Today’s Diary entry is with Sparrow’s compliments.
It’s Sparrow…An average man passing an average life.
Tuesday, September 29
Get Out Your History Books
It’s been a Jekyll and Hyde sort of week at the hotel: a sold-out weekend followed by two slow nites where occupancy was barely over 50%…Nobody bothered us too much tho, and combined with two easy nites at the hospital, this has been about as easy a week of labor as someone who spends 60 hours on the clock can have.
The Daily Dose/September 25, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes From Around Our Human Experience
Leading Off will return.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow avoids a disaster. Today’s Diary.
It’s not really that big a deal because the gym has industrial-strength cans that prior experience confirms can, rather easily, handle the technical aspects of the Sparrow Constitutional…
———
Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.
Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device.
———
On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1978 – PSA Flight 182 – service from Sacramento to San Diego via Los Angeles – collides with a Cessna aircraft above San Diego, killing 144 people, including seven on the ground. The collision occurred above the North Park section of San Diego after the Cessna turned off its assigned course and was below and in front of the PSA flight instead of behind it. The collision occurred at about 2,600 feet and was the deadliest US crash until American Airlines Flight 191 killed 272 the following year.
In 1962 – Sonny Liston wins the world heavyweight boxing title, defeating champion Floyd Patterson with a first-round knockout at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Liston would retain the title with another first-round knockout of Liston the following year, before losing it to Cassius Clay – now Muhammad Ali – in 1964. Patterson fought until 1972, losing title fights to Ali and Jimmy Ellis.
In 1961 – Bobby Vee is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second of three consecutive weeks with Take Good Care of My Baby. It was the fourth of 14 Top 40 hits for Vee, his third of six Top 10s, and remains his only #1 song. The song also went to #1 in Canada, New Zealand, and Great Britain and was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. A version by Bobby Vinton peaked at #33 in 1968.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Why should a man be in love with his fetters, though of gold?
Francis Bacon
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em spent 21 non-consecutive weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, the most of any album.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who did Floyd Patterson beat for the world heavyweight boxing title? – Answer next time!
Valued Reader(s),
The Daily Dose will return.
Click here to enjoy today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody.
Vote For Gaylon,
The Daily Dose/September 22, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes From Around Our Human Experience
USA! USA!: We should be ashamed of our collective selves. For over a year we’ve been sinking suspected drug smugglers on the open seas. Plus, we bombed schoolchildren on the first day we started bombing Iran. These attacks have resulted in the deaths of over 420 innocent people.
Dry, Technical Matter: We should be ashamed of our government for doing it, and we should be ashamed of ourselves for tolerating it. Attacking schoolchildren is a war crime, and the attacks on mariners in the open sea violate international law. While not war crimes, they are extrajudicial killings, which is a fancy way of saying they were executed without the benefit of trial, conviction, and sentencing.
Fly In The Ointment: As we note here from time to time, we are in our seventh decade of both TV and fast food being focal points of American life. We are well-entertained and well-fed, which has made us complacent, and as a whole, we Americans are no longer capable of anything hard or great.
FunFact: We are not even capable of the routine anymore, because for a while now we Americans have shown ourselves incapable of holding our elected leaders accountable. Election after election, we send incumbents back to Washington, and year after year the status quo keeps delivering substandard government. Twice we’ve elected Donald Trump president, an ignorant liar and a man of zero moral or intellectual substance.
The Bottom Line: Because we’ve stopped holding our leaders accountable, we’ve allowed our country to devolve into something the Founding Fathers would not recognize, a country that is the biggest partisan, fractured, and bickering mess we’ve had since the Civil War. We deserve better than a government that kills innocent kids and mariners, so let’s get to work. It starts with you and me – we the people – on Election Day.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow takes some stuff for gas. Today’s Diary.
It worked, too; we’re no longer bloated, we feel like we’ve lost 20 pounds, and we’re no longer cutting the cheese every five minutes…
———
Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.
Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device.
———
On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1693 – The last executions resulting from the Salem Witch Trials are conducted in Massachusetts, with seven women and one man hanged. The trials had begun in February 1692 when girls aged 9-17 accused various women of witchcraft, with more than 200 people accused, 30 found guilty, and 19 executed. Later, some of the accusers admitted their accusations had been fabricated, and the Massachusetts legislature later exonerated all who had been convicted.
In 1988 – Janet Evans wins the 400-meter freestyle gold medal, establishing a new world at the Seoul Summer Olympics. Evans won in 4 minutes, 3.85 seconds, with East Germans Heike Friedrich and Anke Mohring earning silver and bronze medals. Evans also won gold in the 800-meter freestyle and the 400-meter medley, and would also win the 800-meter freestyle at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Evans was the first American woman to win four individual gold medals in swimming.
In 1990 – Wilson Phillips is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the second and final consecutive week with Release Me. It was the second of seven Top 40 and Top 10 hits for the group, their second of four Top 10s and their second of three #1s. The song also went to #1 in Colombia and Canada, peaked at #36 in Great Britain, and was Billboard’s 19th-biggest song of the year. Their self-titled album was at its peak position of #2 on the Billboard 200 album chart
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
…for when manners decay the nation decays with them.
Will & Ariel Durant
The Story of Civilization Vol. I: Our Oriental Heritage
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Babe Ruth led the American League in earned run average once, 1.75 in 40 starts in 1916.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What album spent the most weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 in 1990? – Answer next time!
It’s Sparrow…An average man passing an average life.
Monday, September 21
Better Early Than Never
Even tho the paving that was delaying the drive in at nite is now done during the day, we are still leaving at the old time, so we were in the hotel for a nice session of drinking coffee on the couch and watching Robert work.
The Daily Dose/September 19, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes From Around Our Human Experience
GAYLON FOR CONGRESS…VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN: One issue that rears its head every two years is term limits. Many people believe they are a cure for our nation’s problems, but we don’t. There should be no barrier between the people and the candidate they want.
Dry, Technical Matter: Several states have term limits on governors and legislators, and their governments are still partisan, bickering messes. Federally, only the president of the United States is subject to term limits: two full terms, which was enacted after the country collectively soiled itself after FDR was elected to four terms.
Get Your Official Daily Dose Policy Right Here: The very best form of term limits are our regular elections. Every two years the entire US House and roughly one-third of the US Senate are elected, and every four years we elect a president.
USA! USA!: Friends, if we don’t like our government, we only have to look in the mirror: we elected everyone there. We can’t blame incumbents, lobbyists, or the media because none of them fills out our ballot; we do, and we keep electing partisan, fractured, and bickering messes, so that’s what we keep getting. Every two years we dutifully ship back to Washington the same people who got us in this mess in the first place.
The Bottom Line: You and me – we the people – are the very best form of term limits. The country we want starts with you, and it starts with me, and it starts November 3. We deserve better than the government we have now and it is time we started demanding it at the ballot box. Because if not now, when? If not us, who? And if not here in Colorado’s 2nd District, where?
Editor’s Note: Gaylon is the Libertarian Party’s nominee for Congress from Colorado’s 2nd District. Visit his campaign site here.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has a scratch on the top of his head. Today’s Diary.
Dylan strongly suspected it was a cat scratch, but we can’t recall Bandit near the top of our head, and we really cannot think of how we got it…
———
Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.
Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device.
———
On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1982 – The emoticon is used for the first time on a bulletin board at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh by Scott Fahlman. Fahlman suggested using :- ) and :- ( as markers for what were and were not jokes. Fahlman did not originate the idea, though. Some rather dull sorts have long debated whether colons/semicolons and parentheses used by poet Robert Herrick in 1688 and Abraham Lincoln in 1862 were emoticons, standard punctuation for the times, or typos.
In 2017 – Major League Baseball establishes a new record for most home runs in a season. Alex Gordon of the Kansas City Royals hit MLB’s 5,694th home run of the year, breaking the record established in 2000. Baseball’s 30 teams combined to hit 6,105 home runs that year, and the record is now 6,776, done in 2019.
In 1981 – Diana Ross and Lionel Richie are at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the sixth of nine consecutive weeks with Endless Love. It was the fifth and final #1 song for Ross and the first of five #1s for Richie. The song is also in its fifth of seven consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart, peaked at #7 in Great Britain, was Billboard’s second biggest song of the year, its 3rd-biggest of the decade, and ranked 18th on Billboard’s 60th Anniversary Hot 100 in 2018. In 1994, a version of the song by Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 and at #7 on Billboard’s soul chart.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
…{for} my greatest skill has been to want but little.
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Judy Garland had 16 hits on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart – a predecessor to the Hot 100 – from 1940-55, including six Top 10s.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What is major league record for most triples in a season by all teams? – Answer next time!
