{"id":179685,"date":"2026-01-08T17:02:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/?p=179685"},"modified":"2026-01-08T17:02:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T17:02:45","slug":"a-slow-start-to-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2026\/01\/08\/a-slow-start-to-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"A slow start to the year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A few hiccups&#8217; and we are off ploding slowly down the lane in the winter sunshine and as usual chaos reigns in world affairs. The usual aches and pains kick off which is of course no surprise.<br>It&#8217;s tiring though at a very tiring time of year. I ordered some new glasses as my prescription has changed very slightly but managed to mess it up. Fortunately the online checking system caught the error. I had put a plus instead of minus sign next to one figure, but all is well now we hope. I was able to correct the error via an online advisor. I will find out in a week or so if all is well.. amazingly a day later they have arrived and are fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And here is this week&#8217;s musical offering  \ud83c\udfb6 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/soundcloud%253Atracks%253A2241427643&#038;color=%23400e0e&#038;auto_play=false&#038;hide_related=false&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;show_reposts=false&#038;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/dianastone\" title=\"Diana Stones Glasscage\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\">Diana Stones Glasscage<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/dianastone\/still-fire-inside\" title=\"Still Fire Inside\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\">Still Fire Inside<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I have been thinking I should get more into video to help promote my music, a few little experiments with AI have been fun but I think I need a green screen and have now ordered one. It was not expensive so a low risk experiment really.  A friend has one and uses it to great advantage so that might be the way to go to make things a bit more interesting.<br>I have got into a dreadful mood today for no particular reason at all. Winter crap kicking in I suppose to be honest. Its always a fight this time of year for me. I just need to avoid getting a little unhinged from too much of my own company which seems to be the problem at the time of writing. I have just finished a recording. It might be complete crap. Who knows? I have let it loose upon the unsuspecting world to do its worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdiana.stone1%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02EbeSFVLCUBZP6eggkqqkTbzgwFLTUg86LW41cTDGKas22VZXtm2jDSiH2M2dwQdTl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"498\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdiana.stone1%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0rMYiccHdUcVGRywrpuZ4gV9X75Xc1gDszySUAKMSp9SUK7oqq4sk4HaUFnn36gxXl&#038;show_text=true&#038;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"293\" style=\"border:none;overflow:hidden\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><br><br>Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was killed when an ICE agent shot into her vehicle during an encounter Wednesday morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shooting took place on a snow-lined street where an ICE vehicle had gotten stuck, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. A \u201cmob of agitators that were harassing them,\u201d blocked them in and attempted to impede their efforts, Noem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of those vehicles was being driven by the victim, who proceeded to \u201cweaponize her vehicle\u201d in an attempt to run over an officer before he opened fire, Noem said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Noem defended the agent\u2019s actions, state and local officials strongly disputed claims that the shooting \u2013 which was caught on video \u2013 was done in self-defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The shooting has spiked already-heightened tensions in Minneapolis, where around 2,000 federal agents were deployed this week as part of the Trump administration\u2019s latest immigration crackdown. The deployment came on the heels of accusations of welfare fraud in the Somali immigrant community raised by a conservative content creator on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good lived in the Twin Cities with her partner, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported citing her mother, Donna Ganger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRenee was one of the kindest people I\u2019ve ever known,\u201d Ganger told the newspaper. \u201cShe was extremely compassionate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s taken care of people all her life,\u201d Ganger added. \u201cShe was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good was a mother to a 6-year-old child whose father died in 2023, according to the Star Tribune. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody else in his life,\u201d the child\u2019s grandfather told the newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Good spent most of her life in Colorado and briefly moved to Kansas to live with her parents for a time after her husband \u2013 a military veteran \u2013 died, her father Tim Ganger told The Washington Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe had a good life, but a hard life,\u201d Tim Ganger told the Post. \u201cShe was a wonderful person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking to CNN affiliate KMGH, Good\u2019s uncle Robert Ganger, said news of his niece\u2019s passing was especially difficult for the family since Good\u2019s older sister was celebrating her birthday on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Born in Colorado, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, 37, was a mother of three who had recently moved to Minnesota, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one\u2019s life for friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyverses.net\/john\/15\/13\/nkjv\">John 15:13<\/a><\/strong><br><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few hiccups&#8217; and we are off ploding slowly down the lane in the winter sunshine and as usual chaos reigns in world affairs. The usual aches and pains kick off which is of course no surprise.It&#8217;s tiring though at a very tiring time of year. I ordered some new glasses as my prescription has &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2026\/01\/08\/a-slow-start-to-the-year\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A slow start to the year<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":179702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musings"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/moutiand.png?fit=1338%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6NRDR-KK9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2009\/07\/24\/birthday-blues\/","url_meta":{"origin":179685,"position":0},"title":"Birthday blues","author":"diana Stone","date":"July 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Date Posted: 15th January 2008 Current mood: quixotic January and my Birthday approaches. I shall be making efforts to ignore it as much as possible in the vain hope that it will go away, as time seems to be passing very quickly now. I am still up to the usual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;history&quot;","block_context":{"text":"history","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22411,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/10\/17\/difficult\/","url_meta":{"origin":179685,"position":1},"title":"Difficult","author":"diana Stone","date":"October 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Sometimes it's just weird and tiring. Well today it's like that. \u00a0That plus the fact there seems to be a form of collective insanity especially in the good old U of K. Lots of anger, fear and paranoia. For me personally things are going a bit pair shaped, I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fallen Leaf on path","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5781\/22002353389_ff715c42db_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5781\/22002353389_ff715c42db_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5781\/22002353389_ff715c42db_z.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":177901,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2024\/09\/08\/time-passing\/","url_meta":{"origin":179685,"position":2},"title":"Time Passing","author":"diana Stone","date":"September 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I got struck nostalgic again, and it's difficult not to get sucked into that treacly void of often false comfort that provides so often. Well we got it over the line for one season or so and once we stood on the shoulders of giants :)Nobody wants to leave the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/new-delta-ladies1.png?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/new-delta-ladies1.png?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/new-delta-ladies1.png?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/new-delta-ladies1.png?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/new-delta-ladies1.png?fit=1200%2C603&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":175433,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2022\/08\/20\/its-the-time-of-the-season-for\/","url_meta":{"origin":179685,"position":3},"title":"It&#8217;s The Time Of The Season for&#8230;","author":"diana Stone","date":"August 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I am now 4 weeks past my covid infection (which lasted 3 weeks in total). I feel very fatigued and I am still getting headaches too. I have gone back into rehearsals with the bands I am in and that's has been far more tiring than I was expecting it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Orchard The Trio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/It-goes-like-this-1024x498.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/It-goes-like-this-1024x498.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/It-goes-like-this-1024x498.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":981,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2011\/01\/06\/still-very-tense\/","url_meta":{"origin":179685,"position":4},"title":"Still very tense","author":"diana Stone","date":"January 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Its been a very tiring week and I am running on empty to a certain extent. I have\u00c2\u00a0 a couple of gigs this weekend which I need to do but it will be a strain. Just have to grin and bare it I suppose. Usually this time of year around\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bi-polar&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bi-polar","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/bipolar\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":176054,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2023\/09\/28\/where-are-we-now-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":179685,"position":5},"title":"Where are we now report","author":"diana Stone","date":"September 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"So, it looks like the eye problem will be around for a while and I will need to make a few adjustments to manage how I can get back to business as usual in the longer term. Its a bit tiring to be honest. In the meantime time I will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/car-sit-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/car-sit-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/car-sit-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/car-sit-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/car-sit-1.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179685"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179707,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179685\/revisions\/179707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}