“I know people talk about freedom, but I learned growing up … with freedom comes responsibility. The decision to be unvaccinated impacts someone else.”

It seems the President and I are of a mind on some things. That quote above is from his remarks on Thursday announcing new plans for stepping up the pace on vaccinations in this country, including the requirement for Federal employees and contractors to be vaccinated or submit to regular (one or twice weekly) COVID testing. It echoes my particular mantra about how citizenship involves both the rights that self-professed “patriots” shout about from the rooftops, but also the responsibilities to the collective whole; the public good. We organize as communities: local, national, global (there’s a reason the Boy Scouts of America require all three citizenship merit badges for Eagle rank) in order to improve the circumstances for the everyone; we’re stronger together than apart, and the Founders of this nation, flawed as they were, understood that concept and used it as a founding principle; read the primary sources-it’s pretty explicit. Given the positions the above-mentioned “patriots” crow on about, it’s clear that they haven’t done so.

I know I sound like a broken record here, but please, go get the shot if you haven’t. Take precautions. Wear the mask. Do the responsible thing for yourself and others.

Speaking of responsibilities, yesterday afternoon I paid a fairly tidy sum to get a new clutch for my car, and was able to do so without going (further) into debt because I do the responsible thing and save. You should do that. It still hurt a bit spending that much, but all the same, I’m glad to have my car back.

As for that last thing in today’s title, I’m planning to go play an open mic tonight at my neighborhood brewery because I need to shake off some more rust before next weekend’s concert gig, plus, I just want to play in my local. And, the excellent Boka Taco truck is going to be there, so I’m having tacos for dinner.

As for tunes this week, it’s pretty Canadian, which I’m perfectly cool with. Also, some interestin solo stuff from people you don’t often think of in a solo context, and it leads off with what I’m considering the official song of summer ’21 because every time I hear it on the radio, it earworms me for days:

1. “Chaise Longue” – Wet Leg
2. “If I Had a Rocket Launcher” – Bruce Cockburn
3. “Overkill” – Men At Work
4. “7 O’Clock” – The Quireboys
5. “Respect the Wind” – Eddie Van Halen
6. “Bodhisattva” – Steely Dan
7. “Take It So Hard” – Keith Richards
8. “Hollywood Nights” – Bob Seger
9. “Say What You Will” – Fastway
10. “Beautiful World” – DEVO
11. “No Myth” – Michael Penn
12. “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” – Crash Test Dummies (feat. Ellen Reid)