Mort sat in front of his desktop reading an article in the SmartNews. He swiveled his chair to face his mother and asked, “Mommy, what’s wrong with Donald Trump? He’s saying that Kamala Harris is mentally disabled and he believes Harris was born that way. Then he called her stupid, weak, and dumb as a rock.”

“Well Mort, Mr. Trump is 78 years old and many psychiatrists think that he’s on the edge of mental competency. They say he is displaying cognitive decline. It happens to a lot of 78-year-olds. But Mort, do you remember when I told you that Trump  enjoyed insulting women? He gets a kick out of it. He thinks it’s funny and so do those MAGA supporters that show up at his rallies. That makes it hard to blame his behavior on his advanced age. He’s just an awful, mean, old man who doesn’t know the meaning of respect, especially when it comes to women.”

“Well, Mommy at school today, a bully called Jennie stupid and weak and dumb as a rock and she ran out of the classroom crying.”

As Sara looked at her son, her face reddened, her fists clenched and her voice cracked as she asked, “Mort, What did your teacher do?”

“Mrs. Walker asked the boy, “Why did you say those horrible words? Why are he name-calling?

And the bully replied, “If President Trump can call Kamala Harris those names, it’s okay for me to call to call Jennie those names.” Then Mrs. Walker ordered the boy to go to the principal’s office. Then she said, “Billy’s behavior is intolerable and unacceptable. Bullying, name-calling, or insulting other students will not be tolerated in my classroom. I don’t care that Donald Trump said those words. Mr. Trump is not a good example of a human being. If he were in my classroom, I’d make him stand in the corner with a bar of soap in his mouth. Then my teacher left to room to search for Jennie.”

“Wow, she’s a brave teacher to call out Trump that way. But he certainly deserves it.”

“Mommy, will any women vote for him after what he called Kamala?”

“Mort, I hate to say it but some women will vote for him and those women are as dumb as  rocks.”

---

Mort – Spot on! Trump is down and out despicable!

His MAGA followers are despicable as well. Richie

Thumbs up. —William

Thumbs up. —Perry

Thumbs up. —Gary

Thumbs up. —Rissi

Thumbs up. —Aimee

Thumbs up. —Judy

Thumbs up. —Debra

Thumbs up. —Esther

Thumbs up. —Sue

Thumbs up. —Dennis

Thumbs up. —Alan

Thumbs up. —Lewis

Thumbs up. —Bella

Thumbs up. —Rita

Thumbs up. —Joanne

Thumbs up. —Michael

Thumbs up. —Cynthia

Thumbs up. —Steve

Thumbs up. —Bonnie

Thumbs up. —Sandy

Thumbs up. —Jason

Thumbs up. —Michael

Thumbs up. —Arlene

Thumbs up. —Mark

Thumbs up. —Steve

Thumbs up. —Casey

Diana Thanks for sharing. —Mort

Thumbs up. —Mary

Thumbs up. —Howard

Thumbs up. —Debbie

Thumbs up. —Aimee

Thumbs up. —Neil

Thumbs up. —Fabiyas

Thumbs up. —Becky

Thumbs up. —Jason

Thumbs up. —Judy

Thumbs up. —Bonnie

Thumbs up. —Sandy

Thumbs up. —Carolyn

Thumbs up. —Laura

Thumbs up. —Linda

Thumbs up. —Jeffrey

Thumbs up. —Joel

Thumbs up. —Helene

Thumbs up. —Laura

Thumbs up. —Judy

Thumbs up. —Sandra

Thumbs up. —Gerri

Thumbs up. —Lorraine

Thumbs up. —Steve

Thx Mort – as usual it says it all Sandra

Thumbs up. —Coby

Thumbs up. —Diane

I walk into my neighborhood CVS in search of yellow highlighters.

I don’t care if they’re Sharpies or BIC.

I don’t care if they’re fluorescent or if they have Smear Guard or a narrow chisel or if they’re odorless.

As a writer, I need yellow highlighters.

Why? Because it’s hard for me to function without them.

Why? Because while I research, I highlight. As if by yellowing them I now own them.

And while I highlight, I often recall learning how important it is to color between the lines. I realize that my kindergarten teacher made me into a color-between-the-lines-kinda guy.

You got it. She made me a compulsive rule follower.

And I ask, “What if I never went down that road?”

But aren’t most good writers just a bit compulsive?”

Okay, you’re right very compulsive.

And then my daydreaming brain jumps to picture a new box of Crayolas. Yup, I still love crayons and the names the Crayola company gave those colorful wax sticks: the moon (Macaroni and Cheese), the Sun (Burnt Orange), the Earth (Sky Blue), Mars (Maroon), and for the night sky (Midnight Blue).

Recall your fun sharpening crayons, smelling a new box of Crayolas, or watching them shrink and disappear.

As my daydream disappears, I reach the CVS counter. I decide to play it safe. I’ll buy one package of BICs and one of Sharpies.

At the register, I’m greeted by an amiable, smiling young man.

I think, “This guy’s no slouch. He’s standing straight. He’s smiling. He likes working at CVS. He’s happy.”

And when he hears me say. “That’s it.”

His eyes light up and he says, “You have the voice of an important person. Are you famous?”

I smile and reply, “Well, I’m almost famous. I’m the co-editor of a book that’s going to be housed on the moon.”

“Wow! That’s awesome. Tell me more. How do I learn more about your adventure?”

“Go to Lunar Codex. L-U-N-A-R second word C-O-D-E-X. You’ll learn all about it. You’ll even get to hear Debussy’s Claire De Lune.”

“I’m going to do that tonight,” the cashier replies.

I believe him.

And as I head to the door, I say, “Bye. Have fun exploring the moon.”

He smiles.

And as I exit the store, I think, “I made this guy’s day. He met somebody who is almost famous.”

And he made my day by enjoying my Lunar Codex story.

And this funny story happened in a CVS.

——————————————————————————————————————–

I am proud to say this story was republished in Samuel Peralta’s Lunar Codex website.

Excited for you and your fellow writers.—Sue

Love it!!!–Cecilia

This is one hell of a cool story, Mort! Love it!—Samuel

love how you took a simple errand and made it something very special……Anita

Ha Ha love it.   Yellow crayon

and highlighter always my faves too.—ricki

Great story!! I love a fresh box of Crayolas too. 🙂 

Ahhh, school supplies. Never gets old. and you got to share about the LC! How cool is that?—Amy

Thanks, Mort! Love it.!— Christina

Thumbs up.—Naffy

Thumbs up.—Ruth

Hello Mort,

A most awesome story my friend. It just goes to show ya…Have a great day!—Beverly

Love this!!—Mary

Hi Mort.

Really enjoyed reading. This is great, thank you! —Cara

I thought you were already famous, Mort. Now I find out you’re only “almost famous.” Did you highlight that in yellow and forgot to remove the almost?—David

Walgreens has been calling me out of jealousy. Nice story.—Howard

You made me want to meet this charmer!—Gail

This is great, thank you!

You also highlighted CVS which usually is taken for granted 😀—Regine

Nicely written. It is  also marketing of the Lunar Codex project!—Pablo

What a great story. Loved it!— Susana

Select comment	wooricasinogame.com wooricasinogame.comx lurline_deleniti@gmail.com 66.115.181.131	Great article! Your insights are very valuable, and the way you presented the information made it easy to follow. I appreciate the time and effort you put into researching and writing this. It’s a great resource for anyone interested in this
Select comment	Steve steven.intihar@gmail.com 75.4.209.246	Lunar codex -reading now

Mort, you will always be famous in my eyes.—Joni

Thumbs up.—Karen

Thumbs up.—Joe

Thumbs up.—Geoffrey

Thumbs up.—Bonnie

Thumbs up.—Margaret

Thumbs up.—Marianne

Thumbs up.—Christina

Thumbs up.—Fabiyas

Thumbs up.—Rebecca

Thumbs up.—Rudyard

Thumbs up.—Joseph

Thumbs up.—Sandy

Thumbs up.—Shelley

Thumbs up.—Aimee

Thumbs up.—Neil

Thumbs up.—Richard

Thumbs up.—Howard

Thumbs up.—Max

Thumbs up.—Steve

Thumbs up.—Michael

Thumbs up.—Donna

Thumbs up.—Esther

Thumbs up.—Becky

Thumbs up.—Devorah

Thumbs up.—Sherri

Thumbs up.—Mark

Thumbs up.—Lois

Thumbs up.—Helene

Thumbs up.—Sharyn

Thumbs up.—Sandy

Thumbs up.—Bella

Thumbs up.—Jeffrey

Thumbs up.—Rita

Thumbs up.—Michelle

.

Recently, my friend, Jonathan Rose, gave me a present in the form of a book entitled, Your Lunar Code—The Power Of The Sun And The Moon Signs To Enhance Your Relationships, Work And Life. The book was written by astrology expert Lori Reid.

As I felt the book’s soft paper cover, I realized, “I know almost nothing about astrology except that I’m a Taurus and that I believe astrology is a large pile of brown bull feces.”

Well, Jonathan is a poet and the author of a poem “Launched.” That poem is be found in our book, Sea of Tranquility—A Literary Anthology. And our book is part of the Lunar Codex which hopefully, will launch from Kennedy Space Center on a Falcon Heavy rocket in February of 2025. For those of you interested in the details, the Codex Polaris is the payload associated with an Astrobotic Griffin mission carrying NASA’s VIPER rover, targeting the Nobile Crater, in the vicinity of the Lunar South Pole.

As I thought about this journey, I wondered, “Why did Jonathan give me this gift?”

I stopped wondering when I read the back cover of the book.

It reads, “Predict the future with your newfound knowledge of your signs.”

Jonathan knew I was nervous about the rocket taking off and the rover not crashing on the lunar surface.

He hoped with the help of Lori’s book, I’d be able to predict our book’s future. All I needed to do is study my signs.

Well, I read Your Lunar Code.

And here’s what I learned.

“What’s more, the love goddess Venus rules Taurus and imparts an essential sweetness to this sign. So, being born with the Moon in Taurus makes you especially blessed.”

Well, if I’m blessed the Falcon Heavy rocket will launch in February and it’s rover will land softly and the Sea of Tranquility will rest on the moon forever and hopefully, Earthlings or aliens fluent in English will someday read and enjoy Jonathan’s poem

---

Photo of Hayden Planetarium showing constellations and its projector.

Thumbs up.—Neil

Thumbs up.—Jeffery

Thumbs up.—Naomi

Thumbs up.—Bernice

Thumbs up.—Brian

Thumbs up.—Deborah

Thumbs up.—Joanna

Thumbs up.—Gary

Thumbs up.—Cynthia

Thumbs up.—Sue

Thumbs up.—Eric

Thumbs up.—Howard

Thumbs up.—Mark

Thumbs up.—Jim

Thumbs up.—Richard

Thumbs up.—Bella

Thumbs up.—Laurie

Thumbs up.—Steve

Thumbs up.—Linda

Thumbs up.—Sara

Thumbs up.—Bob

Thumbs up.—Sandy

Thumbs up.—Joel

Thumbs up.—Gail

Thumbs up.—Devorah

Thumbs up.—Bonnie

Thumbs up.—Cynthia

Thumbs up.—Richie