Best of 2025, Part I - Books

I like to read. So I've compiled a list of my favorite books of 2025 for those of you who share my literary enthusiasm. My hope is that you may find something of interest in the following list. It's a good list.

Poetry about life in the United States that are more like short stories than poems.

Fun read. Set mostly in western and southwestern South Dakota. It's fiction but lots of references to familiar places and actual events. And some of the characters are eerily similar to real people I've known.

This one is shocking and pretty scary non-fiction. If A.I. continues to develop on its current path we may all be doomed.

Speaking of being doomed, this one is a variation on the theme. It's dark humor and a very cleverly written novel. I couldn't wait to find out what was in that damned box.

More poetry. This time based on Lakota culture. I had the privilege of meeting the author in person. Cool guy. Wonderfully illustrated by Thomasina Topbear.

Another one with a Native theme. A journey of personal discovery.

A work of fiction but the further I got into it, the more I realized this could be real. Possibly a harbinger of things to come. I hope not. 

I didn't write this to be an advertisement but it's true that I acquired all of these from Henry's Books in Spearfish, South Dakota. It's a great little bookstore. Not as huge as Barnes and Noble or Books-A-Million  and not as easy as just clicking on a keyboard to order by mail, but it's also not as sterile or impersonal. People there will actually talk to you, make recommendations and truly appreciate your business. And it's kind of like the record store...it's a place where you can just go and visit your friends. 

Roger O'Dea   12/31/2025

I Know The Future - 2026 Predictions

This will be my first time predicting events for the year ahead. I was inspired by reviewing predictions made for 2026 by some random psychics. And I use the word "psychic" loosely. Their predictions are general, non-specific, and sometimes ridiculous. Here's what I mean -

Judy Heavenly's credits include creating the Blue Dot for National Enquirer. Her claim involves "infusing a blue dot with psychic energy." Just cut it out of the tabloid and carry it with you to the nearest slot machine or lottery retailer and you will win big. Here's what she says about 2026:

President Donald Trump will emphasize America's dominance in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, oil production, and energy independence. Key word is "emphasize." Since he emphasizes everything he says, that one is easy.

Democrats and Republicans will be challenged to collaborate on a renewed economic strategy to restore prosperity. Challenged? Obviously. But challenged doesn't mean they will actually work together to accomplish anything.

Mobile robots will work alongside human employees in warehouses, autonomously navigating aisles to collect packages. Isn't that happening now?

The Toronto Blue Jays will win the 2026 World Series in baseball. Now that one is unusually (for her) specific. BetMGM says right now they are not the favorite. This is one easy to track. And futures bets for 2026 baseball are open now so I might put twenty bucks on it. 

A few more for 2026 from various sources: 

Clint Eastwood will pass away.  Well, he's 95 so...

Several major corporations will announce they've achieved AI systems capable of genuine innovation, not just pattern recognition. Seems like we're already there, or very close at least. We've been headed in that direction for several years.

There will be technological breakthroughs and changes in communication and commerce. Happens every year.

So if that's all it takes to get published, I can do that. My predictions for 2026:

A politician will get caught in a lie, then claim ignorance or "not my fault." I can guarantee that one.

Streaming services will raise subscription prices. Just like every other year. 

Aliens from outer space will make official contact with humans and explain where we went wrong and messed everything up, and tell us how to fix it. That's probably more wishful thinking than an actual prediction.

We will ignore the advice of our alien visitors and try to fight them. They will win the fight, then leave, taking with them our last best hope for saving ourselves...from ourselves. Because we continue to be our own worst enemies.

Evil will persist and evil deeds will increase. But honest and decent people will continue to do good things. 

Residential home prices will tumble. I don't see how a two bedroom, one bath with no garage and no finished basement can continue to sell for three hundred large. 

I will break 90 on the golf course. Don't bet on this one. However, it's not entirely out of the question.

ZZ Top (what's left of them), Buckcherry, and Big Skillet will appear in concert at the Buffalo Chip. Just like they do every...single...year.

That's probably enough. So, to wrap things up, I sincerely hope every one of you have a good year in 2026. To my friends close by - let's get together more often. To my friends far away - I miss you, and if it's possible at all, let's make an effort to get together at least once. To my acquaintances - let's try to become friends. We don't need to hang out often or during the off hours at the plant, but knowing someone even just enough to be able to call them a friend is somehow...comforting. In the immortal lyrics of a favorite Bob Dylan song - Stick with me baby. Stick with me anyhow. Things should start to get interesting right about now.

Roger O'Dea    12/29/2025

Fooling Around With Artificial Intelligence: Mixed Feelings

Ever notice some images or videos online or in movies just don't look right? It's likely because they are A.I. generated. You know, the photos look too perfect. Some scenes seem almost unnatural. I don't doubt that A.I. has many legitimate uses, in technology and other applications, but I'm not a big fan in general and treat it with a good amount of skepticism. But, having said that, I found a simple application recently and decided to have some fun with it...starting with some 35mm photo prints I recently got back from the processing lab. I used a thrift store vintage Nikon and a roll of outdated Kodak color film. Here are the originals -

The combination of an old camera and expired film caused the images to be desaturated, grainy and not very sharp. My personal opinion is that those aren't necessarily bad things when shooting film. They can give a picture a little more...personality I guess. And these gave me an inspiration for the prompts I would use when running them through the A.I. photo editing application. My prompt was "Add a dystopian futuristic effect to this photo." Here's what was generated -

The artificially generated scenes actually compliment the original photos and represent the written prompt accurately, and it was kind of fun. So I decided to try an image generating function within the same application. Unlike the photo editing program where I uploaded my original photographs, the image generating program requires only a written prompt without any visuals. I used this original photo as inspiration for a written prompt without actually uploading it -

This was my written prompt -

This was the image generated -

Not bad. But it just doesn't look real. Definitely not like a photograph. More like a painting.

I then moved on to the next experiment. My idea was to ask the program to write a Haiku poem. If you are not familiar, a Haiku consists specifically of three lines with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line and five in the third line. That's a rule. Otherwise, it's not a Haiku. Here's what I got -

Pretty. But incorrect. The last line contains only four syllables. Na-tur's-soft-song. That's four. 

I figured even artificial intelligence is allowed a seemingly inconsequential mistake occasionally. So I gave it a chance to redeem itself by asking a question which I admit is not general knowledge but one I know what the correct answer should be. The question was What Bob Dylan album and song contains the line "Is it rolling Bob?"  The answer received -

Wrong. It's on the intro to the song "To Be Alone With You" on the Nashville Skyline album spoken by Dylan to his producer Bob Johnston. It's a bit of obscure music trivia, but true Dylan fans and rock music aficionados will know this. One would think A.I. should know it, too. If not, it shouldn't try to fake it. 

Okay. One more chance. A simple question. This time it got it right -

To sum up: Do I trust artificial intelligence? Not entirely. But on the subject of chickens...completely.

Roger O'Dea     12/1/2025

Page Points, Book Darts and Good Reads

I like to read. The evidence is in the number of books I own. Some mean more to me than others. You can tell by the number of Page Points, or Book Darts, that are clipped onto the pages. 

Well, that's not exactly true, some of my most favorite books have none. But some have particular lines or phrases that really stand out or have special meaning and I want to be able to reference them easily. I think you will understand why I'm especially fond of these particular passages if you take the time to read them. Maybe they will lead you to find the book and read it in its entirety. Or not. That's up to you. But I will say that my library is open for loans. No membership necessary and no late fees. Shipping available. Returns, however, are mandatory. Or...I will find you. 

Now here are a few examples of what I'm talking about - in no particular order.

Anam Cara by John O'Donohue 

A friend is a loved one who awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you.

Our idea of beauty is impoverished now because beauty is reduced to good looks. Real beauty is a light that comes from the soul. Sometimes in an old face, you see that light coming from behind the lines.

Accidental Rancher by Eliza Blue 

To put it simply, I wanted the world to get so wide, and so quiet, I could hear everything I needed to know in the silence. I have that big quiet now.

Lost Horizon by James Hilton 

People make mistakes in life through believing too much, but they have a damned dull time if they believe too little.

The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer 

I recalled how, many years ago, it was access to information and movement that seemed our greatest luxury; nowadays it's often freedom from information, the chance to sit still, that feels like the ultimate prize. 

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs 

And finally you get to put the record on the turntable, it spins in limbo a perfect second, followed by the moment of truth, needle into groove, and, finally sound.

...a twirling melodic arch so beautiful it steals your own breath. (This line is from Bangs' Rolling Stone Magazine review of Van Morrison's album Astral Weeks). 

The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin 

The artist's only responsibility is to the work itself. There are no other requirements. You're free to create what you will.

Ultimately, your desire to create must be greater than your fear of it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote 

Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.

Wilderness Essays by John Muir 

But it is in the darkest nights, when storms are blowing and the agitated waves are phosphorescent, that the most impressive displays are made.

The Mind's Eye by Henri Cartier Bresson 

One must always take photographs with the greatest respect for the subject and for oneself.

Polishing the Mirror by Ram Dass 

We don't necessarily see things as they are. We see them as we are.

On The Road by Jack Kerouac 

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!"

I have many more but I'll stop here. It's late. And I have more reading to do before I sleep.

Roger O'Dea     11/14/2025

It's 93 Miles To Pine Ridge, We Got A Full Tank Of Gas, It's 108 Degrees and We're Wearing Sunglasses - Hit It.

No, it wasn't Jake and Elwood - the Blues Brothers, it was Larry and Roger. Not brothers as in born from the same mother, but brothers nonetheless. Friends who, somewhere along life's highway, became brothers in spirit. The occasion was a road trip to see the 57th annual Red Cloud Indian Art Show. We had planned on attending the opening and artist reception earlier this month, but the timing didn't work out for us. 

It was hot. The temperature peaked at 108 as we crossed the Badlands on the way back.

In spite of the temperature, we managed a couple stops to take in the scenery and relax on a broken down boardwalk in a broken down town.

The show itself was pretty impressive. It was first organized in 1965 with the help of Jesuit Brother C.M. Simon. He founded the Red Cloud Heritage Center in 1982. Brother Simon served the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge for 42 years before his death in 2006. 

My favorites were this one by Roger Boer, Oglala Lakota -

And this creative piece by Ray Janis, also Oglala Lakota, featuring acrylic paint on a 1950s vintage Bingo card. Brilliant. 

We were both very impressed with a photograph titled "Self Portrait" by Keshena One Star, Rosebud Sioux. I couldn't get a quality picture to show here but, trust me, it's worth a visit just to see it. A simple but at the same time a deeply complex and emotional photo.  The exhibit continues through August 10th, and I highly recommend you make time for a road trip to see it.

Any visit to Pine Ridge wouldn't be complete without a stop at Big Bat's, where you'll likely find at least one rez dog hanging out.  

It was a good day.

And, for those of you who don't get the many pop culture references in my stories, the Blues Brothers were popular figures first appearing on Saturday Night Live in 1978, followed up with a movie in 1980.

They were on a mission from God. Maybe that's what actually motivated myself and Larry to make this trip together. It was certainly a major topic of conversation. God, that is. Not the Blues Brothers.

Roger O'Dea     6/21/2025

Hands Off - A Photo Essay In Three Parts

I came to take pictures. But the longer I stayed, the more I felt myself become less of a spectator and more of a participant. The messages, the diversity, the sense of community and common concerns, all contributed to a serious, but quite enjoyable experience.

THE FIRST THIRD (with a nod to Neal Cassady)

All ages and backgrounds...old hippies, young activists, veterans, educators, families...they were all there.

SECOND THIRD (my favorites)

There was also one that I didn't get a photo of but thought was pretty good. It read "Honk If You've Never Texted War Plans" Good one.

FINAL THIRD (Variations on the theme, but worthy of mention)

As a final note I should mention there was a small contingent of the loyal opposition isolated on one corner. I went over to talk to them and found them to be intelligent and very friendly...while being dramatically outnumbered. 

Overall, it was an excellent example of peaceful protest. The only police intervention required was to move people out of the street median for safety purposes. I was actually impressed by the large turnout. Especially for an overwhelmingly "Red" state, county and city.

Power to the people. Right?

Roger O'Dea     4/6/2025