Monday, August 22, 2005
FAITHLESS??
"No, not now" he slowly, quietly replied, rather under his breath.
"Come" she quietly insisted, beckoning him in a tone similar to cattails on a meadow brushing gently in the breeze.
No, no, I cant…. Not now….
Oh but the opportunity to be with her – her gentle way – her quiet way. To lay securely there in her comforting arms!
The current situation was now unbearable.
The alone-ness The un-salve-able agony of alone-ness.
Among the family…the friends….the shallow mix of politeness and requisite interaction. The fragile balance between gaiety and truth. The uncomfortable compromise.
And then the anger – The Angry One – the anger of unsubstantiated dreams. The continuing disenchantment of the Angry One toward The Accused One, more aptly, the "guilty one".
The unrelenting accusations of the The Angry One – unwarranted, hypercritical, constant.
The unrelenting alienation and frustration of The Accused One.
And again, simply the prospect of leaving The Angry One succeeded in quieting all the critical remarks, the eternal blame, and created moments of peace – created, even more largely, the prospect of peace.
In those moments of calm he then could hear her delicately say,
"Leave The Angry One. Come with me"
And in his mind the volume of the acrimony, of the litany of the explicit failures, the list of the implied failures – today’s, yesterday’s, tomorrow’s - was somehow serenely ushered away.
He questioned himself again. Could real happiness lay within the margins of compliance? of vanquished cooperation?
No, he had failed at that.
Vivid colors sent back through a prism retain their single white light.
A positive viewed thru the lens in reverse has no color: no life – no function – no value.
No, any attempt had been viewed as incomplete, inconsequential, irrelevant.
And again she called ….softer but intractable now, as if she felt his very soul.
"Come now"
And the sadness in his heart collapsed into a nothingness, all the grandness of his imagination, all the broadness of his love, all the tenderness of his touch collapsed into a vacuous entity which sucked at the very nature of his being. And she called again.
He had made his choice….
"One moment" he replied, so softly though, that only God could have felt the trembling in his voice…
"One moment, and then peace!" he called out.
Her outstretched hand reached tenderly for him from the shadow of the dark shrouded robe.
(PART II SOON)
"Come" she quietly insisted, beckoning him in a tone similar to cattails on a meadow brushing gently in the breeze.
No, no, I cant…. Not now….
Oh but the opportunity to be with her – her gentle way – her quiet way. To lay securely there in her comforting arms!
The current situation was now unbearable.
The alone-ness The un-salve-able agony of alone-ness.
Among the family…the friends….the shallow mix of politeness and requisite interaction. The fragile balance between gaiety and truth. The uncomfortable compromise.
And then the anger – The Angry One – the anger of unsubstantiated dreams. The continuing disenchantment of the Angry One toward The Accused One, more aptly, the "guilty one".
The unrelenting accusations of the The Angry One – unwarranted, hypercritical, constant.
The unrelenting alienation and frustration of The Accused One.
And again, simply the prospect of leaving The Angry One succeeded in quieting all the critical remarks, the eternal blame, and created moments of peace – created, even more largely, the prospect of peace.
In those moments of calm he then could hear her delicately say,
"Leave The Angry One. Come with me"
And in his mind the volume of the acrimony, of the litany of the explicit failures, the list of the implied failures – today’s, yesterday’s, tomorrow’s - was somehow serenely ushered away.
He questioned himself again. Could real happiness lay within the margins of compliance? of vanquished cooperation?
No, he had failed at that.
Vivid colors sent back through a prism retain their single white light.
A positive viewed thru the lens in reverse has no color: no life – no function – no value.
No, any attempt had been viewed as incomplete, inconsequential, irrelevant.
And again she called ….softer but intractable now, as if she felt his very soul.
"Come now"
And the sadness in his heart collapsed into a nothingness, all the grandness of his imagination, all the broadness of his love, all the tenderness of his touch collapsed into a vacuous entity which sucked at the very nature of his being. And she called again.
He had made his choice….
"One moment" he replied, so softly though, that only God could have felt the trembling in his voice…
"One moment, and then peace!" he called out.
Her outstretched hand reached tenderly for him from the shadow of the dark shrouded robe.
(PART II SOON)
Sunday, August 14, 2005
!*%#>"#*^! DRIVERS!! OR: "ON THE ROAD PART DEUX, What Kerouac Failed to Unfold"
I've been driving for lotza years and now I finally have decided to share my angst, anguish and anger regarding an issue that is and has been near and dear to, I'm convinced, nearly hundreds of millions of us, dead and alive.
You guessed it: Asshole Drivers
Can you relate??
On a recent trip to NYC from Easton Pa, about 75-80 miles, I asked my wife Di to log, as we were en route, the descriptions of driver screwups . I was a little skeptical that we'd encounter enough infractions to allow the creation of a list long enough to actually write a blog.
HA! I had more trust in humankind than was warranted....that's HAD, as in past tense, now; and the list grew to 8 infractors before we were 6.3 miles outta town.
Here are a few you're bound to run into:
#1 - vehicle behind you approaches more speedily than you,
you pull into an adjacent lane to allow them to go on their/(its?) merry way
Asshole Driver #1 barrels up to the side of your car (or just past your back bumper),
Proceeds to reduce his speed until you're both sharing the same MPH.
Now you're unable to get into the passing lane.
And of course there is a car ahead in your lane that you're about to rear end who is doing 15 miles an hour below the speed limit.
#2 - These particular "15 mph-below-the-speed-limit-Asshole-Drivers" are #2 on our list.
#3 - ZDriver races up on you, hell's bells,
you get out of their path, to an adjacent lane
they pass you,
you return to the passing lane behind them,
they drop down to a speed that was slower than you were driving before they raced up,
you try to pass them by passing on the right,
but dont you know? Asshole Driver #2 is awaiting you in the other lane going 15 MPH below the speed limit.
#4 Speed limit - 65 mph
Flow of traffic - 75 mph
Asshole Driver in passing lane - 55 mph
Asshole Driver #2 in other lane - 40 mph
NEW flow of traffic - 55 mph
Blood pressure - ugly
#5 - Phone Darlings - need I describe these calamitous commuters - these blithering, blah blah, blowhards?? You can spot these fools immediately. They're the ones who dont understand that double white lines dont mean dial with abandon as they weave and bob like Mike Tyson.
#6 you're doing 75 in the passing lane,
car in front of you is doing 65,
you head into adjacent lane to pass,
you start to pass,
car you're passing (who was just doing 65mph 10 seconds before) is now doing 80,
of course asshole driver #2 is waiting for you, doing 40mph ahead in your lane,
you slam on brakes,
you go back in the passing lane to avoid #2,
you're now stuck behind Asshole Driver #6 who's decided to punish your attempt to
quit the "team" per se and has dropped now to 55mph.
#7 car has blinker on to exit,
turns on to ramp in order to exit,
decides, no, this cant be right;
well no, maybe it is right;
no, no, it cant be right,
and back in your lane he comes.
of course that was Asshole Driver #2.
HEEEEE'S BAAAAACK
#8 - you're in right lane doing 85
car in front of you also doing 85 has left blinker on;
300 miles later
you're in right lane doing 85
same car in front of you still has left blinker on.
So friends, remember as you drive about, courtesy on the highway is crucial. 'Cause without it, it's just free range anarchy.
Epilogue:
Had only Kerouac chosen to be honest in the description of his travel travails, I believe that a whole generation of beatniks would have remained safe and intellectually engaged in NYC. Instead, he allowed the creation of congestion on the future freeways of California while a generation of surfers, surf music, and San Francisco Giants drained the essence of Hip, Jazz, and baseball right outta NYC and spewed it down all those backwoods roads of all 48 contiguous states to eventually explode into the suburban sprawl we know now as Amerigalopolis.
Good fucking work Jack.
You guessed it: Asshole Drivers
Can you relate??
On a recent trip to NYC from Easton Pa, about 75-80 miles, I asked my wife Di to log, as we were en route, the descriptions of driver screwups . I was a little skeptical that we'd encounter enough infractions to allow the creation of a list long enough to actually write a blog.
HA! I had more trust in humankind than was warranted....that's HAD, as in past tense, now; and the list grew to 8 infractors before we were 6.3 miles outta town.
Here are a few you're bound to run into:
#1 - vehicle behind you approaches more speedily than you,
you pull into an adjacent lane to allow them to go on their/(its?) merry way
Asshole Driver #1 barrels up to the side of your car (or just past your back bumper),
Proceeds to reduce his speed until you're both sharing the same MPH.
Now you're unable to get into the passing lane.
And of course there is a car ahead in your lane that you're about to rear end who is doing 15 miles an hour below the speed limit.
#2 - These particular "15 mph-below-the-speed-limit-Asshole-Drivers" are #2 on our list.
#3 - ZDriver races up on you, hell's bells,
you get out of their path, to an adjacent lane
they pass you,
you return to the passing lane behind them,
they drop down to a speed that was slower than you were driving before they raced up,
you try to pass them by passing on the right,
but dont you know? Asshole Driver #2 is awaiting you in the other lane going 15 MPH below the speed limit.
#4 Speed limit - 65 mph
Flow of traffic - 75 mph
Asshole Driver in passing lane - 55 mph
Asshole Driver #2 in other lane - 40 mph
NEW flow of traffic - 55 mph
Blood pressure - ugly
#5 - Phone Darlings - need I describe these calamitous commuters - these blithering, blah blah, blowhards?? You can spot these fools immediately. They're the ones who dont understand that double white lines dont mean dial with abandon as they weave and bob like Mike Tyson.
#6 you're doing 75 in the passing lane,
car in front of you is doing 65,
you head into adjacent lane to pass,
you start to pass,
car you're passing (who was just doing 65mph 10 seconds before) is now doing 80,
of course asshole driver #2 is waiting for you, doing 40mph ahead in your lane,
you slam on brakes,
you go back in the passing lane to avoid #2,
you're now stuck behind Asshole Driver #6 who's decided to punish your attempt to
quit the "team" per se and has dropped now to 55mph.
#7 car has blinker on to exit,
turns on to ramp in order to exit,
decides, no, this cant be right;
well no, maybe it is right;
no, no, it cant be right,
and back in your lane he comes.
of course that was Asshole Driver #2.
HEEEEE'S BAAAAACK
#8 - you're in right lane doing 85
car in front of you also doing 85 has left blinker on;
300 miles later
you're in right lane doing 85
same car in front of you still has left blinker on.
So friends, remember as you drive about, courtesy on the highway is crucial. 'Cause without it, it's just free range anarchy.
Epilogue:
Had only Kerouac chosen to be honest in the description of his travel travails, I believe that a whole generation of beatniks would have remained safe and intellectually engaged in NYC. Instead, he allowed the creation of congestion on the future freeways of California while a generation of surfers, surf music, and San Francisco Giants drained the essence of Hip, Jazz, and baseball right outta NYC and spewed it down all those backwoods roads of all 48 contiguous states to eventually explode into the suburban sprawl we know now as Amerigalopolis.
Good fucking work Jack.
Monday, August 08, 2005
DA HELL??? FREE SPEECH??
I tried to find an email address to send my response to Bill O'Reilley's column (see blog below) and much to my surprise, it was more complicated than I'd imagined. In creating a supposed forum by being on TV, you'd think that there would be a desire to create a healthy dialogue among viewers. Well there is, sort of...
Only thing is, in order to leave a response on Bill O'Reilley's site, first you must be a MEMBER!!And membership has its price - yupp, five bucks! So in order to just get a response/gripe of yours to this guy, you have to become a supporter of his club.
Now I'll be damned if I'm going to contribute to his right wing agenda, especially just to disagree with him.
Ahhh, but that's the rub. See, the only people who ARE going to contribute (intellectually and financially) are already staunch O'reillyites. And of course that means respondents are going to be heavily weighted toward Bill's agenda. Just what Billy wants. What a sleazy way to control the media.
That's no way to support healthy debate.
Hell I thought it was alarming when people started charging for water.
But it really stinks when free speech aint even free any more!!
Sunday, August 07, 2005
In Response to Bill O'Reilly's Sunday Editorial 8/7/05
Essentially, Bill is saying that perverts/the ACLU and the lack of church attendance is responsible for the decline of "moral outrage" and hence, activism in the USA today.
Bill -
I disagree with your position on the ebbing of "moral outrage" in America.
I believe that the problem we face in the U.S. isnt so much a lack of caring individuals as much as it is a lack of appropriate channels available to our activist-oriented citizens.
Let's face it, the torrential inundation of "issues" reported to the American public by the overabundance of TV news shows is enough to numb even the most sensitive viewers. Simply reporting more news at this point merely adds to the stunned, vacant stares of our citizenry. I take issue with the fact that there is no option provided to viewers as they are passively and endlessly bombarded.
For example: NBC's The Fleecing of America reports how the American taxpayer is led to slaughter on a routine basis.
I believe that as an intelligent alternative NBC, shows like yours, and all the other shock news affiliates would be doing the American public a service by providing after a news segment, a Specific Bulletin Board/Email address. By doing so, people whose "moral ourage"/sensitivities were propelled toward action by that particular news event, would have the means to contact like minded souls and even similar minded financiers to attempt, and perhaps eventually, to accomplish something relevant.
Reporting more news isnt going to create less apathy. Its like the old joke about the long winded lawyer's speech - "The only way he could have said less was if he had spoken more"
To me, the first step toward establishing moral connectedness is to enable the individual to believe that there is power in one's personal activism.
PS - oh yeah Bill, dont ever doubt the passion of the American people. I AM the people, just as my family and friends are, and the passion is alive and burning - all we need is the bridge. Let's see what YOU can do.
Bill -
I disagree with your position on the ebbing of "moral outrage" in America.
I believe that the problem we face in the U.S. isnt so much a lack of caring individuals as much as it is a lack of appropriate channels available to our activist-oriented citizens.
Let's face it, the torrential inundation of "issues" reported to the American public by the overabundance of TV news shows is enough to numb even the most sensitive viewers. Simply reporting more news at this point merely adds to the stunned, vacant stares of our citizenry. I take issue with the fact that there is no option provided to viewers as they are passively and endlessly bombarded.
For example: NBC's The Fleecing of America reports how the American taxpayer is led to slaughter on a routine basis.
I believe that as an intelligent alternative NBC, shows like yours, and all the other shock news affiliates would be doing the American public a service by providing after a news segment, a Specific Bulletin Board/Email address. By doing so, people whose "moral ourage"/sensitivities were propelled toward action by that particular news event, would have the means to contact like minded souls and even similar minded financiers to attempt, and perhaps eventually, to accomplish something relevant.
Reporting more news isnt going to create less apathy. Its like the old joke about the long winded lawyer's speech - "The only way he could have said less was if he had spoken more"
To me, the first step toward establishing moral connectedness is to enable the individual to believe that there is power in one's personal activism.
PS - oh yeah Bill, dont ever doubt the passion of the American people. I AM the people, just as my family and friends are, and the passion is alive and burning - all we need is the bridge. Let's see what YOU can do.
sm'other vacation pics I like
no message or massage - the medium's just the medium
1. top pic - the light was truly special this evening and tho the smaller size may not capture it, the original had that feel.
2. sunset heaven off the back deck
3. sarah my niece, in thought
4. me'n'ma hammin it up
Saturday, August 06, 2005
return from vacation plus added excitement - storm pics
damn, just got
back from vacation.
basically did doodley squat:
vegged out on the beach, imbibed a
moderate quantity of different types of
alcohol, played scrabble, and then felt pissy,
I guess mostly from not having done any
of the things I really'd like to do while on vacation.
Next year I think I'll go down to the shore for only a few days and then go to concerts (or clubs) in the city to see musicians I wanna see/hear, or maybe go to Alaska, or take a cool course at Omega. Baseball camp with the Yanks'd be really fun - or a jazz guitar workshop. I'll have this little blog to remind me.
But Hey, the beach is great - I love the water/environment - it's beautiful. As I tell/told all them "city chicks" :) Raina brought down to the "beach": the ocean is a healing medium, jump in and let the magic work on you. Some jumped - some didnt. I jumped. I jumped often.
I fortunately did accomplish something on my "Always Wanted To Do That!" list. I got several photos of lightning striking on the ocean. Shit! I tried to get it w/a MOVIE camera last year and couldnt capture any strikes in the midst of a huge storm. But last night I succeeded in getting 4 shots with a digital camera (thanks for gettin that for your mama Raina). A coupla of the ones I took I really like and one of those I immediately applied as my screen saver. I think my Bro-in-law, JB, may have gotten one on film. Hope it worked out for him too. It was very exciting. (I took over a hundred shots, shots that missed capturing the "moment". But w/digital, deleting's a snap so I kept shootin, deletin, shootin,etc - the camera only takes about 8 or 9 shots befor I have to delete the crappy ones)
