• As you may have heard, I wrote a book called, “Use All The Crayons!” So today’s theme is … Colors! (This and other books available at www.ChrisRodell.com).

• And as you also may have heard I’ve written a book called, “Evan & Elle in Heaven & Hell.” I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Say, Chris, what’s the amazon review count up to?” Funny you should ask. It’s now up to (languishing, really) 27. And my streak of 26 5-star reviews has ended. It ended when some anonymous reviewer gave it, yikes, a one-star review. As a balm, I like to imagine they were confused and thought they were saying, “This book is No. 1!”

• If you’ve read the book, please, I urge you to review it. It is my understanding a book needs 50 reviews to get noticed by amazon marketers. In order to review for amazon, the reviewer must have purchased at least $50 in product over the past year. I’ll not endorse fraud (yet), but if you’ve not purchased the amount from the ungodly conglomerate find a feisty niece or nephew who’s likely spent $20,000 to $30,000, much more than I’ve ever earned writing books, and have them review it.

• Thanks, again, to Mike B. and Stan S. for understanding how the Substack model is supposed to work. I write a little, you pay a little.

• If any of this makes you smile, please do something that’ll make me smile.

Today’s theme … Colors!

• Red & blue states are behaving like conjoined twins fighting over whose turn it is to use the penis they share. They tolerate no compromise and revel in scorched-earth tactics that guarantee the only one who's getting screwed is one another.

• Does the CIA consider it a red flag when countries choose to fly red flags?

• I woke up today again wondering if the Constitution for Concord grapes begins, "We the purple …"

• Nelson Mandela graciously forgave jailers who kept him wrongly imprisoned for 44 years. Try and extend the same courtesy next time a stranger strands you at a stale yellow light for 30 seconds.

• Scientists will in 10 yrs figure way to harness hate as renewable energy. Good: it's green. Bad: Driving someone crazy will be civic minded.

• I wish I were a famous Hollywood director so one day I could shoot a scene with Robert Redford driving a red Ford.

642 News that a gray whale migrated a record 14,000 miles should convince some enterprising real estate agent it’s time for gray whales to consider relocating.

912 Be positive and associate yellow as sunny, not surrender. And paint the walls in at least one room yellow to remind you of sunshine on even the dreary days of winter.

• Seeing a vivid rainbow over Latrobe this morning reminded me of the Sunday school lesson that the phenomena was God assuring that everything's going to be all right. It's good to know on these days when so many feel truly godforsaken, like He's Holy Ghosted us.

• Just once, I'd like to be in the clinic and hear the tech declare, "I'm here to draw blood!" have her don a beret, produce an easel, scribble furiously and hand me a paper with every spot covered in crimson red.

Randoms …

• If they gave the death sentence for killing time could you live forever?

• Podiatrists with empty appointment calendars are light on their feet.

• I guess I can understand the rationale, but it's still jarring. Wikipedia lists Charles Manson's occupation as "singer-songwriter" and he is thus in their eyes professional peers with Taylor Swift.

• I’m amazed to learn germs can jump nearly 6 feet. This would be remarkable if germs had legs. But they do not. How do they do it? Six feet! It would be like me broad jumping from here and landing in Denver. ESPN ought to organize germ olympics. I'd watch.

• Irony of living in these uncertain times is how so much uncertainty could produce so many who are absolutely certain they're never wrong

I welcome your donations. Please consider supporting me with some tangible appreciation (PayPal, Venmo, 874 Solomon Temple Rd., Latrobe, Pa, 15650).

"Use All The Crayons!"

Today's theme ... "Colors!"