Chuck Rippel, the gentleman who is re-capping the GE Superadios I bought, reports that one is complete and, while he was able to restore battery connections, the interior of the radio was more badly damaged than just the battery compartment indicated. The radio is working on batteries now, but it was a much tougher job than anticipated. So, reminder boys and girls, don't store battery powered devices with the batteries in them! (HP calculators included.)

Garret Vreeland had some nice things to say about the marmot. Much appreciated. I'd like to see more local blogs in this part of Florida. I've found a couple, but it seems that Twitter still commands most folks' attention, the marmot's included. I plan/hope to make myself scarce there after the May elections, spend more time here and in the Underground.

John P. Weiss offered a meditation on the movie The Whale and honesty in writing. Well worth reading. God knows there's a crying need for more honesty in everything these days.

One of the things I learned in therapy is that the inner voice is a unreliable narrator. Sometimes, not so much recently, but more so back in the Groundhog Day era, it was a struggle to determine who was writing my blog posts. The inner voice, or that other place, from which words emerged that often surprised me. The inner voice isn't just an unreliable narrator, he's often an uncompassionate editor, or a cowardly one. Like a public relations manager.

It is hard to do honest introspection. That's why therapists have a job. We could use more therapists.

Euan Semple is struggling with something along those lines. We wish him well. (Is my use of the editorial "we" an affectation? We wonder.)

AKMA's been chronicling his efforts at pounding the pavement into submission.

A couple of weeks ago, which I only read a few days ago because I was behind in my RSS feeds, Peter Rukavina wrote an honest post about a recent episode in his life, which I imagine took more than a small amount of courage.

There are honest voices in the blogosphere. You have to kind of listen for them. They're usually not the ones competing for attention. And there are more than the ones I've noted in these dispatches. This is just a small sampling.

Cultivate an RSS feed of honest voices, and it'll help to make you a little less hopeless.