Bowing Down to Power & the Powerful..

I know I've written about this before; the flaws of Human Nature. The Christians called it "original sin." But, if you are a secularist, you could just chalk it up to our genetic heritage. Tendencies built-into our Human makeup.

Time and again we see Human Beings bowing down to the Big Man. I think we could call it the Big Man Syndrome, or you know, Big Monkey Man (although, sometimes, rarely, it is a Big Woman!). It happens in all realms, Church, State, Business, The Arts, you know any realm where Human Beings congregate.

We have a tendency to bow down to power. We elevate folks to a higher state and then worship them either because they are Powerful, Wealthy, Beautiful, Charismatic, Creative, Intelligent, Loud, Angry, or whatever. Celebrity is a grand hierarchy. Invariably anyone with lots of power will abuse it. It just seems like the natural state of things. Human Beings choosing not to do the right thing, but doing what they can "get away with."

Yes, I suppose Human Beings love a hierarchy. Maybe it helps us survive. Or it's a way of sharing the responsibility of living. We have even invented Gods to have something to look up to, and to bow down to. We do the same with very flawed, tricky, complicated Human Beings too. We should know better, being Human ourselves. There is some weird desire to give up our freedom & autonomy to a perceived higher power.

It is not an attractive attribute. Pretty damn soul-killing too. It has led us to lots of mischief, bloodshed, horrors beyond imagining.  Man's inhumanity to Man (and Woman), I mean, hell, you could write a hefty tome documenting that shite.

A Stain on USA...

The January 6th Committee Hearing Update: Blockbuster Edition.

Yes. The Hearing yesterday was stunning. A young woman, Cassidy Hutchison revealed her truth, and it was breathtaking. She was there. She saw. She witnessed. She testified, under oath. She revealed the sordid details, the depths of corruption, the mob-boss-like- ethic, the screaming, tantrum-wielding, vicious, Little Baby Man ex-Prez, #45, The Nauseous, Gaseous, Dirigble at his absolute worst. Sure, most of us thought that guy was a fucking, pathetic scourge on the land, but, you know, it was all even worse than even we imagined.

Lots of news in this hearing. Young Cassidy may go down as this coup, this scandal's John Dean, who knows?! My takeaway: Yes. It was a real Coup Attempt. Yes, Prez #45 wanted violence, he was fine with the mob murdering VP Mike Pence. From Emptywheel: CASSIDY HUTCHINSON PROVES THAT TRUMP KNEW THE MOB HE SICCED ON MIKE PENCE WAS ARMED

The Nauseous, Gaseous Dirigible ranted, raved, he desired to march to the Capital with the Mob. He wanted them armed. He wanted to stop the certification of the vote. He really did want to stay in office. He wanted to destroy our Democracy in one fell swoop!

And, you know, many people knew. They all went along, the lawyers, the advisors, the GOP Representatives, GOP Senators, the White House Staff, they covered for him, they lied for him, they did his bidding, they looked the other way. They are still covering for him now. So many folks should face the long-arm of the law. Justice must prevail. 

Gob-Smacking Shite, yesterday. Wow. A sordid, disgusting story. A real stain on USA. WTF!?!

Dream-Mission...

This is weird...

My night-time dream-states can sometimes be quite interesting. Last night in a dream-conversation with a dream-Friend, this line was spoken to me:

"Your mission is to document Catastrophic Minds in Catastrophic Times."

What to do with that? Oh man, that "mission," seems a bit too on the nose. But you know, I suppose maybe you can't pick your missions, they just come to you?!

Bifurcated...

We live these strange bifurcated existences. We experience wild-ass dichotomies all the time. We must navigate and try to bridge the divide; our lives, our bodies are the bridge, we live in the spaces between.

So, yesterday was a good example. A perfect day. Sunny, beautiful, the lakefront alive with life and wonder. The message: every moment is precious, and we should be grateful to be alive, aware, awake second by second. If we could truly see the world with total clarity, we'd be in total wonderment and stupefaction at all times. Yes, undoubtably a difficult way to get thru a day, but such is life.

At the same time, when we huddled with some of our fellow citizens, speaking of national events, things turned dark. Clouds of questioning loomed above our heads. Fascism on the rise? Are we watching the end of our American Dream? Over here in our Blue Bubble, it is getting difficult to put a positive spin on the direction of this little Democratic experiment.  Human Beings are failing at their jobs.  The question hanging over this beautiful day: Can we get our SHIT TOGETHER?!?

Distill Down the Difference...

Democrats vs. Republicans.

A battle between people devoted to racial justice, multi-culturalism, equality, social & political inclusion & diversity vs. people who don't value those things at all (they are clinging to their white nationalism, bibles and guns).

Democrats vs. MAGA DEATH CULT.

Democracy vs. Fascism.

Over here it SEEMS LIKE AN EASY CHOICE.  As a long-time, life-long American, a "white" (Heinz 57 model), boy born in USA, I throw in my lot with Democracy, Democrats and Progressives of all stripes and persuasions! I can't imagine living any other way. 

When I see anyone, for instance immigrant, woman, LGBTQ+ person, Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, poor, hungry, needy, being oppressed, vilified, excluded, I think: "There but for the grace of God go I."

We are all Human Beings. Equal under the Sun and the Flag. We all, every last one of us, should be treated with respect, dignity, love & charity. Those clinging to a creed of Supremacy are seriously wrong-headed & misguided. They are a threat to all we hold dear. They should be called out, out-voted. They truly are out-of-step with most of America.  The Tyranny of the Loud, Angry MAGA Death Cult must end.

Wing-Nut, Lunatic-Right, Fascist Judges...

The Supreme Court, not so supreme…

Thanks to Republican's successful campaign over the last 30 years or so to pack the highest court in the land with wing-nut, lunatic-right, fascist judges, woman have now been denied bodily autonomy. And the court has opened the door to taking away all of the social, progressive gains made by Women, LGBTQ+ folks, minorities and anyone who chooses an alternate lifestyle, or want to take contraceptives and being in charge of their own health. 50 or so years of social progress wiped away in one retrograde ruling.

Shocking. Breath-taking. Disgusting. Some of these judges lied their way to the court in their confirmation hearings before the Senate. They have destroyed their credibility and the credibility of the institution. What to do? Elect more Democrats in the House & Senate. Refuse to give up Hope. This ruling seems like a major step forward into a new American Fascism. The Supreme Court is so out of step with the broader culture. Those black-robed wing-nuts are living in an earlier century, when only White Rich Men had rights, everyone else, now reduced to second-class standing.

There will be work arounds. This country is too big, too diverse, too progressive to let this stand. Too many Americans stand against this ruling and this court. Time to reform the court, expand the court, pack it with Judges who better reflect the great diversity and reality of America.

More Details of the Trump Coup...

January 6th Committee Update:

I am alarmed, but I don't mean to be alarming.  Still, yesterday's hearing was a doozy. I mean, HOLY SHITE! As the narrative continues to unfold, yes, indeed, we came awfully close to a "rolling coup."

Seems Prex #45, The Nauseous, Gaseous, Dirigible really, really didn't want to abide by the law and constitution. He did not want to help facilitate a "peaceful, orderly, transfer of power" to the man who won the election of 2020, Joe Biden. 

A few lawyers, buttoned-up, conservative dudes held firm against the insane B.S. #45 cooked up to get them to "investigate" bat-shit, trumped up, B.S. A couple of these folks took notes, I guess it's probably not a good idea to try to strong-arm folks who know the law well, to break the law over loony conspiracy theories.

USA was so close to a constitutional crisis. Hard to convey the craziness, the stupidity, the crass, over the top corruption of #45's deranged, multi-pronged, many-tentacled, and supremely corrosive plan. What a stain on the nation. Nixon's Watergate corruption pales in the face of the Trump (attempted, almost happened) Coup.

There will be more coming in July.  I think it is a good guess that lots of folks are going to face the long-arm of the law. All we have now is the Truth, and Justice on our side. I hope that is enough. A major reckoning and cleansing must happen. The story is still unfolding. Stay tuned.

Vision of The Green Man...

My own "Nightmare Alley."

I am referring to my own inner landscape. Last night I had a dream, although, really "dream" doesn't do it justice. I guess I had a vision, a visitation. It was slightly "nightmarish." I mean that is how I experienced it.  I was in a deep sleep, awoke with a start, got up and walked towards the kitchen of our expansive apartment. 

There, standing in the doorway of the kitchen was "The Green Man:" - “This figure I am convinced, is neither a figment of the imagination nor a symbol, but is taken from real life, and the question is whether there was any figure in real life from which it could have been taken. The answer, I think, is that there is but one of sufficient importance, the figure variously known as the Green Man, Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Hood, the King of May and the Garland King, who is the central figure in the May Day celebrations throughout Northern and Central Europe.”

I must say, my Green Man was intimidating, scary, fierce, super-intelligent:

He didn't speak, he just looked right thru me. I could feel a chill, a shiver run thru my body. I was animated with fear and a certain awe.  He was covered in leaves and branches, he was totally silent, but he opened his mouth and showed me his gritted teeth. He seemed to be in the prime of life, but at the same time, he was older than the hills, primeval, from another time and place. I retreated. Scurried back to bed, shivers of fear percolated thru my body. After a few minutes, I fell back asleep.

What to make of it? Attend to Nature? Attend to my own Nature? Re-connect to the Natural World? I don't know. The Green Man seems to me to be an emissary from another realm that co-exists with us. He lives in the landscape, the forests, the mountains, and in our bodies. We can't ignore him. Or, maybe we ignore him at our own peril.  I like this idea: "Some Green Men are shown with fronds of vegetation issuing form their eyes (such as at Bolton Abbey and Crediton church in England, for example), which can perhaps be interpreted as the artist’s ability to create what he sees."

Ok cool. Maybe I'll go with that...

Common Folks Standing Up to the Bully...

January 6th Hearing Update:

Wow. Things are truly getting interesting.  The Trump House of Corruption is starting to crumble before our eyes and ears. Yes, so far the hearings have been one blockbuster after the next. Yesterday, we got testimony from folks just trying to do their jobs, knowing that Joe Biden won the 2020 Election fair and square, (you know, really, it was a bit of a Biden Landslide), State Election officials in Arizona and Georgia described how they stood up to the bullying of The Gaseous Nauseous, Dirigible and his team of Toxic, Obnoxious Clowns. On the one hand, the common folk just did the legal, necessary, sensible thing:  Count the votes, Certify the votes, Declare Biden the Clear Winner. Simple. Easy. Democracy in Action.  At the same time, it took a bit of backbone to stand up to the onslaught of ranting Bullshit from Prez 45's (the Gaseous, Nauseous, Dirigible), Toxic Team of Bullying Assholes.

From Committee Member Representative Adam Schiff: "We have been blessed beyond measure to live in the world’s greatest democracy. That is a legacy to be proud of and to cherish. But it is not one to be taken for granted. That we have lived in a democracy for more than 200 years does not mean we shall do so tomorrow. We must reject violence. We must embrace our Constitution with the reverence it deserves, take our oath of office and duties as citizens seriously, informed by the knowledge of right and wrong and armed with no more than the power of our ideas and the truth, carry on this venerable experiment in self-governance."

Dare I conjecture, the tide is turning! Finally. Truth and Consequences.  There are a whole bunch of folks in a deep pile of shit. Any of those cretinous fools who went along with the Toxic Gaseous, Nauseous, Dirigible are in severe legal jeopardy. More hearings to come.  Popcorn Time!

Toxic Shit is Not Entertainment!

Another recommendation...

Want to stay sane? Ok, never-mind, maybe that's impossible. Want to TRY to keep your shit together? Best advice: Tune out the Loud, Angry Talkers across the Land. I mean it. We tend to amplify the Loud, Angry, Know-Nothings amongst us. We give them the airwaves: talk-shows, opinion shows, faux-news shows, internet streams and videos, blathering, blathering, blathering. There are whole cable networks, YouTube channels & podcasts devoted to that mind-numbing, totally dumbing-down Bullshit. Even cable networks that more closely align with my political persuasion, chatter away in an angry-making, cynical, sarcastic mode. Even "comics" and "comedy shows" stream this toxic shit. You know, just not funny. Not healthy. Air-pollution. Brain-pollution. Toxic to our systems. I think it's all stress-inducing, and your brain actually seizes up. All that toxic talk, pretending to be smart, makes us all less intelligent. And it's NOT ENTERTAINING! If you want to entertain yourself, listen to music, go for a walk, meditate. I mean you can keep informed. I'd recommend listening to NPR, reading the New Yorker, The Guardian, NYT & Washington Post. Reading is such a good, healthy way to ingest the news. I do think we all should also tune into the January 6th Hearings. Be sure to get your info directly from the witnesses. Try to discern facts directly. Inform yourself without intaking the toxic conversation around the cool, clear, reality.  Be AWARE, ALIVE, AWAKE. Seek the Truth. Yes, we all can handle the Truth. And really our lives, our mental-health, and our inter-connected ecosystem all depend upon it. Loud-Talker Opinions? Yikes! Complete Toxic Shit to be avoided at all costs! Let's keep our heads together, people!

"Woke?" - Sure!

Well... sure...

We all should aspire to be "Woke." 

Alive, Aware, Awake.  

Here and Now. How could anyone choose another way?  It is amazing to me that this is a contentious idea. Sure we should all be sensitive to all Sentient Beings. We should be Inclusive & Embracing of all Human Beings of every Race, Creed, Color & Sexual Orientation.

I suppose it gets a bit dicey on the fringes and margins. What to do with those who Hate? What to do with those who want to destroy Democracy? Who want to Discriminate against Others? Who want to be Free to Oppress?

I suppose we must Lead By Example. Show all Sentient Beings that we all benefit if we Lean to the Light: Equality, Fraternity, Liberty.  Free to Love. Think of those Dissenters as "Sick Spirits," folks who need a bit of Healing.  As Dylan once wrote: "Don't Hate nothing except Hatred."

What it is All About.

What to believe in?

You know it's a dicey thing. Best to believe in True Things.  What's True?  Maybe a clue, what's True is what's Real. What's real? Maybe what's left over when what you believe, evaporates before your very eyes? 

You know, I guess, it's all bit confusing, and complicated. Sometimes you end up believing in things you can't touch, or see, and you are not even sure if they really are real or not.

Last night our band did a r&r show, and it was extraordinary in every way. So, this morning, I can say that I believe in the power of music, and of r&r. I do believe that creating and performing music in a crowded room of enthusiastic souls is exhilarating and healing for all involved. It is an energy, a spirit, a vibe, a real thing, not something you can grasp in your arms, but something big, and powerful, and extraordinary.

It's all mysterious and ephemeral. It's a feeling, an experience that connects a whole room of folks. It is something that seems to  be disappearing even as it is manifesting in the air. The creative vibe; it is an act of conjuring, it's a magic trick. A weird magic to believe in; life-affirming, soul-enriching, it is what it is all about.

The Shite-Eaters...

The Masters of Disinformation have learned they can easily hack the knowledge system of humanity. They flood the pipes with total SHITE. And the media, plays their usual "both sides have a point" game. It is a sick form of entertainment, but, you know, we are all addicted to it in varying degrees. So, if you are paying attention, you have to wade thru waves and waves and waves of complete unmitigated BULLSHIT.  Prez #45 (the Gaseous, Nauseous Dirigible), is one of the greatest purveyors of the Ocean of Shite. And he has a cadre of Assholes who also excel at flooding the public square with mindless, toxic, drivel. And the MAGA Death Cult laps it all up. It is amazing. Gob-smacking. The MAGA Death Cult are the folks who EAT SHITE AND SAY IT TASTES GOOD!  The rest of us can put our big-boy boots on and wade thru the RIVER OF SHITE, we can make our way to the safe Island of Truth & Common Sense. It doesn't take a genius, just a decent, sensible Human Being who is really paying attention, and trusting in our "senses five."

A Quick Summary of Hearing Day #3!

I heard on the radio this a.m some folks just don't have the time to watch or listen to the January 6th Hearings. Too busy with their little lives to care about Democracy. Well, as a public service, let me give you all a quick summary of Day #3!

1. Yes, there was an organized attempted Coup on January 6.

2. Yes, ex-Prez, (45 - the Gaseous, Nauseous Dirigible), was fine with and encouraged the crowd to murder his V.P. Pence

3. Yes, lots of creeps and hanger's on were trying to help 45's Coup attempt.

4. Yes, 45 and his crew of henchmen & women, knew they were trying to do something totally Unconstitutional and Illegal.

5. Yes, at least one lawyer wallowing in the throes of his corruption was pleading for a PRESIDENTIAL PARDON after the Coup failed.

6. Yes, a Supreme Court Justice's wife (Ginni Thomas) was deeply involved, up to her neck in planning the coup. BTW - they have a ton of email's implicating Poor Fascist Ginni. I think she will now have to testify in front of the Committee. Popcorn time!

7. Yes, a Supreme Court Justice (Clarence Thomas) is now under scrutiny for not recusing himself on Supreme Court cases related to #45 and the Coup.

8. Yes, VP Mike Pence actually did the right thing (he was trying hard not to, but in the end he did). Surprise, surprise!

Yes. It was a consequential, informative, gob-smackingly, totally-impressive, mind-blowing hearing. More to come next week!

Stupid Reigns...

Stupid Answers to Stupid Questions...

Question: Are Human Beings going to confront Climate Change?

Answer: Probably not. I mean, yes, of course, with their chins. It's all happening NOW.

Question: Are Human Beings going to make Earth an Uninhabitable Hell-scape?

Answer: Probably yes.


Question: Who will they blame?

Answer: God, The Devil, Anyone but themselves.


Question: Is the Trump-MAGA-Death-Cult one of the worst things to happen to USA?

Answer: Yes, no doubt, there is a long list of bad things, but the Death-Cult is probably in the top echelon, (maybe top three?), of bad, fucked up things to happen to our country. A really, really stupid, mind-numbing, brain-fogging, fucked up phenomena.


Question: Can we roll up our sleeves, get our shit together, and fix things?

Answer: Who the fuck knows? It's a dicey question. Not sure I'd bet on it. Human Beings: Tricky, Complicated, Not as Smart as they think they are.


Question: Eternity... is it a long time?

Answer: Yes. Eternity is a really, really, really, long, long time.

The Big Lie was also the Big Grift!

Back to the January 6th Hearings…

Day Two - It was kind of a blockbuster. Again, most of the devastating testimony was from Republican folks who worked for 45 (the Gaseous, Nauseous Dirigible). You want "bi-partisan," this hearing is definitely bi-partisan.

So far, it is a riveting, life-changing narrative, masterly-presented. 

What was the main takeaway in Hearing #2? 

Not only did our Ex-Prez know his Big Lie (the false claim that the election was rigged), was a Big Lie, he raised $250,000,000 from the MAGA Death Cult for a Defense Fund that DIDN'T EXIST! The Big Lie was also the Big Grift. Most of the money vanished into the deep black hole of B.S.

You wonder if the MAGA Death Cult will ever have that moment of clarity: "OMG, that Fat Fucker not only lied to us, he ripped us off AGAIN!"  I know… not… likely… it is hard for folks to admit they have been suckered.

Yesterday, I turned to my friend and said, "The odds of Fat Fuck being indicted have increased immensely."  As they always say: Follow the Money. I'd bet the FF didn't claim those ill-gotten gains on his tax forms, and, well, you know, where did all the money go?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Less Talk, More Silence...

Ha… 

I think Ludwig Wittgenstein was there well before me “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent”.

I come from a long line of conversationalists. Folks, mostly men in my ancestral line, who like (and liked) to talk. A line of enthusiastic, loud-talkers. I reflect back and think, well, it wasn't all nonsense, but, you know, we'd often get in loud, super-consequential, tooth & nail, verbal arguments about things, "whereof one cannot speak." We thought and fought about things we thought we knew about in a dark fog of "know-nothing-ness."

Was Joe Louis a greater heavy-weight boxer than Muhammad Ali?

Was Picasso the greatest painter? Or Matisse? Or Van Gogh? Or Warhol?

And, by the way, "Why is boxing even a sport?" And "What the Fuck is Art anyway?"

Is Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player of all-time? Well, yes, no doubt, this one is a no-brainer.

Was Stanley Kubrick the greatest filmmaker of all-time? Or was it David Lean, John Huston, Orson Welles, Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder?

How would you measure any of these things? How would you know what's what? We all would wield our strongly-held opinions like they were deadly, blunt instruments. 

You know, we all had deep, in the bone, opinions. Sometimes they'd shift, but often we'd just club each other with our opinions and smile.

And then there were the grand concepts that none of us really knew WTF we were talking about:

The Future

Reincarnation

Heaven, Hell, Purgatory

Original Sin

Damnation

Redemption

Economics

Revolution

Philosophy

God, Death, Life

Vietnam War

Iraq War

Gulf War

9/11

The Generation Gap

Meaning and Purpose

Nature vs. Nurture

Life AFTER Death 

Love & Salvation

Topics of the Day

Blind Human Beings stumbling in a dark closet.

We were clueless even about simple questions like: Why are here? What should we do with our time? What to think? Where to go? What's it all about Alfie?"

So yes, well, we filled the air with our voices, thinking maybe it was important, or certainly entertaining, but, nowadays I'm thinking silence, quiet contemplation, sustained moments of staring into the yawning void, would have been beneficial.  You can eliminate lots of topics of conversation right off the bat. Clear the deck of anything you can't pinpoint and verify. Clear the air. Keep it simple. Speak of things you know thereof. You could fit them in a thimble, a shot-glass or a matchbox.

For instance: "What did you do today?" "What did you do yesterday?" "What did you have for lunch yesterday?" "What's for lunch today?" Beyond that, well, it is sort of  dropping into a pointless cloud of unknowing.  What's gonna happen today?  Maybe best to just live and find out.

Laughter & Tears...

Ah well…

It is was an uncommon Sunday. We traveled to the Big City for a memorial service for a fallen friend and relation. It was all about transportation, and the perils of public transportation. 3 trains to downtown, 1 train back. Everything takes longer in the this post-pandemic era. Everything looks a bit tired and shabby. And summer in Chicago means a cold breeze zipping across the river. A June chill. We saw some familiar faces. Years hanging over all of us. We saw a celebration of a life, cut short. An unimaginable illness, unimaginable loss. We all seemed to be just grappling with the basic facts & meanings. No answers. We told stories, we laughed, we hugged, tears welled up in our eyes.  A line my father always used to say: "What's it all about Alfie?" Hung over me. Right?! Not sure what it is about at all. What was the theme for the day? EVERYTHING IS PRECIOUS. It all can (and will) be snatched away in an instant. In the meantime, take care. Do good. Be here now. The rest is just a big Mystery. No sense talking about the big subjects, they are all wrapped in clouds, you know, Life, Death, God, Meaning. It seems clear there are no definitive answers, only existential questions. We have to live with the questions. How to do it? Who knows? It's up to us to Live as best we can, knowing what little we do. Maybe, be kind to each other, try to see the Light, and share it? Contain multitudes. Remember: Laughter and Tears of Joy. Everything is Hard-Earned. That is the best we can do, be True.

Truth-Seekers, Truth-Tellers...

It is obvious to this Humble Observer that the January 6th Hearings are writing history NOW. An event happened, (an Insurrection),  and, even to this day, we are still sifting through the evidence, discovering facts, putting the narrative together. It's a tale of skullduggery and intrigue. The Congressional Commitee is determined to unearth the facts, to discover and uncover the truth, and present it to the world. It is an honorable task. It doesn't matter if some people don't care. It doesn't matter if some people continue to LIE over and over, and swear that there are no facts, there is no Truth, and what we can see and hear with our own eyes and ears didn't really happen. We must not be BAMBOOZLED by the loudest, no-nothing voices. So funny to see that the MAGA Death Cult just refuses to see the obvious. They can yell, and pound the table and swear that their Gaseous Dirigible Candidate was cheated, but it's all just Gaslighting, maximum B.S. They have no leg of evidence to stand upon. I throw my lot in with the Truth-Seekers and Truth-Tellers. Let the facts and the evidence live. We can handle the truth. And we must face it. It is the only way to reclaim and renew the USA and it's always under attack Democracy.

"Gimmee Some Truth…" - J. Lennon

Ha. In these politically-polarized times, total Bullshit is given equal time to the cold hard facts. So we get, for instance, the Big Lie, a multi-year campaign where that bloated dirigible, ex-Prez 45 yammers on about totally fictional hallucinations of a stolen election: total fabrication, disinformation, ridiculous, totally debunked B.S. But it turns out for a percentage of the population (30 %?), it is a convenient Lie, an entertaining fabrication, something to cling to as if their lives depended on it. It is appalling. The Big Lie sits in the punchbowl like a very big, ominous, ridiculous, deadly turd. We all have to try to maneuver around it. Maybe best to avoid the punchbowl completely? Best to find an alternate brew. The Truth is out there. It isn't up for debate. Truth is Truth. Why do those folks cling to the Lie? They can't admit they are wrong, they've duped by a total Clown and Fraud? Yes, probably so. The rest of us scratch our heads and wonder: why are so many of my fellow Americans fed up with Democracy, you know, why do those supposed "true Americans" hate so much of what makes America great? Beats me. I think it's a kind of a nihilistic death cult: Trumpism. Yuck. The worst of the worst embodied in one man and one movement. 

So yes, the January 6th Hearings (see previous post), are all about telling, exposing, highlighting the truth of the events that led to the Insurrection. It is a necessary, healthy, important thing to do, to show to the world. The cold hard facts, the basic, simple truth of what happened must stand up against the B.S. that swirls around us. It is not entertainment, it is a cleansing, a truth-seeking tonic for what ails us. Let it come down. What happens when all see the plain truth? Who knows? The Death Cult will probably shut their eyes to it. But it is worth the effort. It is essential. Existential. Fuck the Liars. Fuck the B.S. As John Lennon once sang: "Gimmee Some Truth."

Stunning, Sad, Enraging, Informative...

We watched the January 6th Hearing last night on TV. We pretty much tuned out the the pre & post commentary, and just watched the hearing. It was stunning, sad, enraging, informative. Stirred us up. Made us realize how fragile our Democracy really is, and how close we all came to seeing it crash and burn.  Not sure what happens next, but it seems like lots more folks who were in the loop of this dastardly plot hatched by 45 must stand and face the consequences of the law. As Liz Cheney (?!?) pointed out, there is only ONE PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY (45) who decided they did not want to submit to the PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER.  So after being trounced in the election, 45 waged a crazy-ass campaign, the Big Lie, that even his Attorney General knew was total "Bullshit," to overthrow all reason, logic, common sense, and the Constitution. WTF! That Dude is a plague and a scourge on the land. We must rid ourselves of this pestilence. How to do it? The Rule of Law. Justice. It is supposed to be Blind and it grinds slow, but here's hoping a reckoning and cleansing is coming. Hoping.

My Own Personal Gospel...

I found myself, off the cuff, just spit-balling, improvising in the moment, talking off the top of my head, preaching my own personal creative gospel yesterday to a small group of musicians. We had just finished an astonishingly good session, playing songs together, flying, vamping, listening, responding, creating vibrations with heart & soul, totally alive, aware & awake in a rehearsal room, all connected & inspired, doing the good work.

I talked about energy, vibrations, healing, the power we were conjuring in the moment. I preached how we were all "healers," we were doing essential work that our fellow human beings were thirsting for, and craving. It all came out in a blizzard of words and feelings. I didn't know I was going to speak my truth, there was no forethought, I don't usually let it all hang out like that,  I mean, usually we play together and let the music have the last word, but this was a sympathetic group, folks who I admire, respect and trust, and they often inspire me with their beauty and dedication to their instruments and the music we create together.

So I laid it on thick. The opposite of a "fire & brimstone" sermon, it was a sermon of love and energy, and vibrations, and discipline and fun, and the creative mission. It was a riff on our purpose. There were smiles all around. I think the message landed in hearts and minds. We all kind of glowed. It was a good session.

Gentle, Quiet, Clarity...

The Noise Machine. We face it every day. It is enormous, overwhelming. It blares out at us from every corner. Often, we are just trying to navigate thru the noise to get to some basic gentle, quiet, clarity. It is there beneath the BABEL.

Onto the Next Thing...

I can't help myself. It seems I'm always onto the next thing. It seems like an attitude, a proclivity, a modus operandi, that is embedded deep in my being. I think it is a healthy way to engage with the world. But not sure I have a choice in the matter. It just seems like a part of my makeup, like having blue eyes, crazy hair. I wonder to myself, has this tendency always been so? Yep. Pretty much. At least I think so. Maybe it's a by-product my impatient nature, my natural curiosity, my over-stimulated brain? Whatever. Onto the next thing. It is sort of guiding principle to live by.

Working On It...

Ah yes. I try to be common-sensical. I do think it's good to keep my feet on the ground. To keep my head clear. To live in the moment. To stay clear of the dark clouds and soul-killing negativity. It is important to accept loss, to take in the darkness, to integrate it, to lean to the light and BE RESILIENT! It is essential to be completely Human. To realize there is no perfection. We must understand our limitations, our flaws, our quirks, our blind-spots. We must know that we are blind, but at the same time we can try to be vigilant: ALIVE, AWARE, AWAKE. We can navigate towards the LIGHT. In some ways that is our JOB. To gravitate and cultivate the LIGHT. It is a MYSTICAL notion. Yes. I am a common-sensical MYSTIC. Humble. Uncertain. Working on it.

Shadow Self...

One morning this week my good friend asked me: "Do you ever struggle with your Shadow Self?"

My answer: "Every... damn... day..."

No Counting for Me...

I remember reading a Saul Bellow novel, and if I recall correctly, a character in that novel remarked that "Life is not a business."  It is not about numbers or $. You know, life doesn't really add up.

Right. It's not about sums and summing up. Life is about living. Human Beings tend to count. We count the days, the years, we look back on anniversaries. I think all that counting is counter-productive, contrary to living a fully-realized life in the moment.

I don't like to count. I just really want to live in the moment. No sense in accounting, summing up, totaling, etc.  Live. That is my thing. And if you live in the moment, you are in the glow of the mystery or as Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote: “If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present.”

Best to be Open-Ended...

I am big believer in believing, but, you know, believing is a tricky thing, you have to be very careful in picking and choosing what you will entertain as a core belief. It so easy to get lost in cul-de-sacs & rabbit-holes; to chase after ghosts, chimeras and unicorns. We are tricky beings. We are so easily fooled, we love to fool ourselves too. We are susceptible to lies and the big fancy liars. There are political movements and political parties (for instance the death-cult lemmings of the MAGA GOP), that has gone hook, line and sinker for the biggest, most ridiculous and soul-killing lies. They refuse to face Truth and Reality. Truly a scourge across the land.

What to believe in? Best to be open-ended & open-minded.

Suggested things in which to believe:

A Better Day.

Grace & Kindness.

Humility.

Reality.

Truth.

Creativity.

Imagination.

Hope.

Democracy.

Equality.

Humor.

Discipline.

Hard work.

Good deeds.

Improvisation.

Music.

Laughter.

Love.

Common Sense.

Responsibility.

Way too much disinformation & noise out there. And Bad Actors. Assholes. A Legion of Assholes. A Plague of Assholes. Best to avoid and work around the Assholes.  We need a Fierce Optimism. A willingness to roll up our sleeves. To apply ourselves. To try to do the things we can do to the best of our abilities. Every day! Damn the torpedos!

Reality is the Teacher...

Reality is the teacher. And the doing, the facing, the enduring is putting the lessons into action. We lose our way when we get hung up on clinging to what we want, to what we believe, to our ideas, our fantasies, all that's in our heads, in the face of the MAGNIFICENT REAL.

We must use our senses five. Maybe our senses six? 

Alive. Aware. Awake. To everything. The connections of everything. Life is big, bold, complicated, more than we can take. We take as much as we can. We are in it, of it. It's a personal thing, but we must not take anything personally.

Reality. The teacher. Every day, every moment of every day, a lesson.

Wit...

Let us keep our wits & wittiness about us. A dose of humor, a dollop of laughter. Not cynical laughter. Genuine. Bellyful. Laughter of Wonderment.