The New World of Lonnie Mandigo

Planning and journaling. Shower. Started laundry. Breakfast. Cleaned the kitchen and dining room. Cardboard to recycling. Stopped by Best Beef to check it out. Queen's Chopstick for late lunch. Moved smoker onto deck. Processed more of Corinne's photos—almost done. Walked to Suds for exercise, beer, company. Walked home. Ancient Civilizations—Punic Wars.

SESIG—Jon's Parkinson's diagnosis, education changes, what is life discussion, Conway's Game of Life, artificial life and consciousness. Resolved book club scheduling. Investigated turkey broth paste. Unpacked smoker—instructions buried deeply. Picked up new travel backpack. Groceries. Worked on smoker. Walked to Suds for beer, met Michael, Mary, Tim. Michael and Mary gave ride home. Ancient Civilizations—Rome series begins. Finished assembling smoker watching Hogan's Heroes. Woke middle of night, ordered Scottevest replacement.

Book club meeting—scheduling conflicts with upcoming meetings, Dec. 18 is a popular day. Disassembled photo studio. KAI discussion—set objective to give presentation on Jan. 10, 2026. Turkey broth in fridge—should cook down further, make paste. Minecraft—built most of rail bed between Porto Alegre and Telluride. Bus to Squirrels. Met Dave, marine biologist at OSU, discussed living in Corvallis and commuting to Newport. Chatted with Steve—pondered analogy and metaphor with respect to AI reasoning, no clear conclusions yet. Steve brought me home. Ancient Civilizations—Han Dynasty overview.

Corinne photo shoot—got a few good shots, her husband seemed decent, she seemed uncertain, required validation from him. Unproductive afternoon—Joey communicated late, couldn't make Mexico planning, disappointing, watched TV. Dinner with Cathy, Michael, Mary—Michael fixed cod, tasty. Diffusions concert at the PRAx with Cathy, Michael, Mary—saw Bob there, Quinn performed well with his Freddy Mercury look. Mixing problems—voices lost in instruments. Felt like I heard the middle of great pieces—beginnings and endings sometimes abrupt and weak. Elena Ralls performing "Divine" was amazing—voice and style evoked James Bond opening themes. Drinks at Michael and Mary's after the show.

SESIG. Set up studio for photo shoot. First Tuesday lunch with Steve—good AI conversation. Reviewed 1300 word paper, wrote a couple of related papers. Distributed 1300 word paper—good reviews coming back. Drafted version for possible magazine submission. History of the Ancient World —first historians.

Wrote up MFF meeting notes, sent them out. Located storage containers, limited freezer progress. Bought a smoker from Bass Pro in Springfield—big event of the day. Walked to Suds. Beer with Tim and Brian. Brian gave me ride home. Ancient Civilizations—founding Chinese emperor. Hogan's Heroes briefly.