cheerfulmonk.com

He solved the problem.

Ben

August 12, 2026

Ben

August 11, 2026

Ben

Hurray for self protection! (As I have mentioned, I hated baseball.)

August 10, 2026

Meteorological summer, of course. When I looked at the forecast yesterday morning, it looked as if things were starting to cool off.

But no, they revised the forecast by the early evening.

I know the weather here isn’t nearly as bad as at other places, but I’m still glad the days are getting shorter and eventually it will cool off faster at night.

Fingers crossed for us all.

August 9, 2026

at first reminded me of the old saying, “Beam me up, Scotty. There’s no intelligent life down here.”

Wizard of Id

Wizard of Id

Wizard of Id

B. C.

Ziggy

But, of course, lack of intelligence is scarcely the problem nowadays. New discoveries, inventions, and technological developments — many of them beneficial — are changing the world. But human nature hasn’t changed — some people are always going to want wealth and power. That has been going on since the first civilizations.

Is that any reason to lose our courage? I agree with Mary Oliver, we can’t give up.

Don’t Hesitate

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are
plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed
or about to be. We are not wise, and not very
often kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left.
Perhaps this is its way of fighting back,
that sometimes something happens better than
all the riches or power in the world.
It could be anything, but very likely you notice it
in the instant when love begins.
Anyway, that’s often the case.
Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.

So we can still fight back — do what we can to try to change things, even if it’s little, and keep affirming that experiences like kindness, love, laughter, beauty, peace are more important than “all the riches and power in the world.”

August 8, 2026

The Other Coast
Click on image for higher resolution.

August 7, 2026

Do you have a lot of fans?

Yes, it’s a silly joke, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night lately without my fans gently blowing on me. They make a huge difference.

August 6, 2026

the gulls will be sorry when summer is over.

Off the Mark

August 5, 2026

Betty
Click on image for higher resolution.

August 4, 2026

Stone Soup

I asked ChatGPT,

What do people mean by happiness?

And — true to its name “Chat” — it had a lot to say. I like the way it ended:

Given some of the themes we’ve discussed before—coherence, living up to one’s potential, Stoicism, and meaning—I find it useful to think of happiness as an umbrella term with at least three distinct parts:

Feeling good (positive emotions)
Living well (acting in accordance with your values and developing your capacities)
Judging your life as worthwhile (meaning and satisfaction)

A person can have one without the others. The richest lives often include all three, though not necessarily at the same time. During difficult periods, meaning and purpose may remain strong even when positive emotions are scarce, and many people later look back on those periods as among the most valuable in their lives.

That certainly has been true for me. What about you?

August 3, 2026