Once Woke, It is Impossible to Be Un-Woke...

Folk #1: It's odd. Being totally Woke, and realizing there are people, movements, political parties, Supreme Courts, who want to crush us. I find it impossible to be Un-Woke. Once you do awake, there really is no turning back. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube. I watch the neo-Nazis, the White Supremacists, the Christian Nationalists, the MAGA hordes and just shake my head. WTF?!  My day to day is an affirmation of Woke-ness. Living in a Progressive Blue Bubble town, just North of Chicago, one the great cities in the world, a thriving megalopolis with an abundance of energy, diversity, and a melting pot of multi-culturalism; it is a total eye-opener, a demonstration and bold experiment in a multi-ethnic, culturally-rich, Democracy, and a lesson in getting along with my fellow Human Beings. It is a magnificent place to live. These retrograde forces seem so contrary and out of touch, and yes, frankly, Evil, so dissonant and at war with Reality, and Humanity. Yes. Being totally Woke. Alive, Aware, Awake. Really, I can't imagine any other way to live, truly, madly, deeply...

Hustle & Flow...

 

Folk #1: Yes. Matt Groening's Life in Hell. Perfect pitch. Bullseye. Constant ebb & flow of existence. Makes me think of that great quote: "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  I do think one thing I inherited from my Father, this failure/success idea, a particular cross to bear. It's a dichotomy & a crossroad. We just happen to live in the middle of it.

Radical Qualities...

Folk #1: Just simple competence, integrity, honesty & realism. Yikes. Those are radical qualities in this befuddling muddle of an era. We all seem to be unmoored from the real. It is a time that tests one's sanity, clarity and judgement. Lots of worry, anxiety and uncertainty floating around in the Heartland. You can walk around town and find beautiful folks from all races, creeds & colors willing to open their heads & hearts. Folks that know that the shit going down is soul-killing, inhumane and a complete dead-end. We are being lied to every day & we know better. When all this terrible racist trash, corruption and idiocy recedes, we are going to have to roll our sleeves up and get to work.

To Be Crazy, or Not to be Crazy?

Folk #1: You watch everyone else gladly, enthusiastically go over the cliff. You wonder what is so appealing? You start to think maybe it's cool, it's necessary, it's the new thing? Maybe you are missing out? Hmmm... you know... maybe it'll be fun? If everyone around you chooses to go crazy, maybe going crazy is the way forward? You take a deep breath, you count to ten, you take another sip of coffee, you stare wistfully and meaningfully, into the dark abyss. Moments tick by. Finally your verdict, you go with Bartelby the Scrivener's "I prefer not to." And,  maybe the more delightfully empathic: "Nope, fuck that shit."

We are those People...

Folk #1: Another beautiful day in the Heartland yesterday. We spent most of the day navigating thru the streets of our neighborhood on our bikes, putting up posters and handing out postcards for our r&r show in July. Funny. You know, we don't have "people" to do that kind of thing, we are those people! We live in the DIY space, where nothing gets done, unless we roll up our sleeves and do it ourselves. It's a way of life, a code for living. Sometimes, it feels like we are just spinning our wheels, and maybe we are, but there really is no alternative. We must do the things we must do. That's the only way we can imagine getting things done. It was all actually quite fun. There is a certain pleasure in walking the sidewalks, conversing with folks, imagining a great show with a full house. You know, living the dream...

Temporary...

Folk #1: We live in the flux and the flow. We learn that nothing, including us, lasts. This is both joy, and pain, liberating & defeating. The only way forward is complete, total, unworried, stoic acceptance. A certain surrender to the temporary nature of all things. Sure. There are moments of enlightenment, epiphany, transformation, but these moments are fleeting, & they easily & quickly evaporate right before our eyes.

Open Head-Space...

Folk #1: Yesterday afternoon we rode our bikes over to our "sun-spot." A little oasis off the lakefront path. It was a totally gorgeous day. All of our problems seemed as tiny as the city buildings way off in the distance, a tiny Emerald City, looking like a child's toys on the far horizon. I suppose it's all about perspective, how you frame things for yourself, & for your friends, getting distance & an open head-space.  That's where you can find clarity & clear-headed-ness. It was magnificent, healing, and fun in a low-impact kind of way.

Stay Tuned for More Idiocy...

Folk #1: One has to wonder: "Have we finally hit bottom on the idiocy of this Idiot President?!" You may think it's a loaded question, or maybe it is an impossible question, with an unknowable answer. We are swimming in a vast sea of idiocy, how will we ever know if he, & we, have sunk to the absolute lowest level? How will we know if there is a bottom and an end to this idiot & his madness? I think his new war on Algae, and imaginary vandals is a signal event. Really. Yes. So, so stupid. So, so idiotic. So representative of one man's steep cognitive decline. You can't fake this kind of stupid. Funny as hell too. Yes. All our thoughts and prayers are with the Algae. This fascist creep is just flopping around like a dying fish out of water. Yikes. Finally, I suppose there is an answer: "No, there is no bottom to this Idiot's Idiocy!"  I mean, stay tuned, our timeline probably can & will, get much, much stupider, & idiotic. No limits, no bottom, pure, deep in the bone, stupid.

The Saga...

Folk #1: Don't underestimate a Human Being's desire to push around & beat down other Human Beings. Seems like it's  a tendency buried deep in our genetic architecture & psyches. The Bully Complex. Also, it is clear that the voracious desire to accumulate money & power, and then to use this money & power as weapons against those less monied & powerful, is upfront and central to our present circumstances. The In-group always beats up on the Out-groups. Big vs Little. Rich vs Poor. Powerful vs the Powerless. The Haves vs. the Have Nots. What to do? Try to navigate around these powerful, monied forces. First: see clearly & diagnose the problem. Second: Organize, Unite, Be fucking Woke to the Max. Human Rights, Human Equality for all. Sure, Tax the Rich, feed the Poor, take care of each other. Better Angels, and all that. But, for sure, realize this is an ongoing saga & battle. The forces of Enlightement vs. the forces of Darkness. The war is never won, it's always morphing, evolving, in various stages of The Latest Chapter: Humans being Human.

Signs of Catastrophic Failure...

Folk #1: Signs that you are fighting a losing battle: 

When the algae  just turns against you.

When they start taking your name off of buildings.

When plague & pestilence descend upon the land.

When the Screw-worm feasts on cattle.

When a small country brings a big country to it's knees with drones & mines. 

When the Ayatollahs suddenly own the Strait of Hormuz.

When the President dicovers there is a "b" in the word "dumb."

When even the farmers in Iowa start wondering "WTF?!"

When the only people supporting your idiocies are in on the grift.

When everyone in your administration is stabbing someone else in the back.

When your rage, hate, whim & fury are totally useless and funny.

When you are the lamest of lame ducks, flailing & failing, and everyone is laughing at you.

When Truth, Reality, Common Sense, Science & Math are at war with you and your administration.

When you are barely more popular than Ebola virus and testicular cancer.

Rocking in the Free World with Algae!

Folk #1: Of course, when it comes to the cage match between the bullying, flailing & flailing President vs Algae definitely put us on Team Algae! Ha. You might think this is a trivial issue, (although 14 million bucks ain't chump change), but, oh man, the symbolism is just perfectly, gorgeously-rendered karma. "Rust Never Sleeps, Sucker!"  To watch as the Pretend Strongman rages against Algae, well, you couldn't find a better metaphor for this totally fucked up time. Trump is claiming that vandals, Antifa, Democracy-loving sabateurs & shady, dark, left-wing forces are conspiring against him, aiding and abetting the Algae. Ha. It's Nature, baby! Nature is a hard Mother. Time & Nature is turning Trump's brain to mush. Shit Happens! Rock on Team Algae, the Nation's Lonely Eyes turn to you!

Help Each Other...

Folk #1: On the road yesterday. A journey to the West to take care of some very sad business. It was quiet in the car, no small talk, just feeling-very-sad vibes. We were on our way to do something that had to be done.  Being responsible Human Beings means sometimes doing the hard things without complaint. Stiff upper lips and all that. Although, must say, copious tears were shed. Neither of us were looking forward to the coming event, Life & Death for one of our little flock; a beautiful, resiliant, tough little bird dangling at the end of her rope. She had lived a life of steep challenge every step of the way. The difficult decision had finally been made, the last day for our little friend. She had been living with an icreasing number of life-threatening maladies and it was getting quite dire for all of us. Riding down a shady street, big, beautiful leafy green trees looming over us. A gorgeous blue sky winking overhead.  Just one of those days. Memorable. I casually turned to look out the car window, and there on the lawn, in front a of friendly, rickety-looking home, a stark, black, wooden sign, decidedly homemade, with words written out in luminous, glowing white:

Help 

Each Other

Yes. Sometimes it is all quite simple. Heartbreaking too...

The Era of the Sharp Blade...

Folk #1: Reality. It is a hard teacher. We seem to be living in the world of Bubbles. Bubbles of Ignorance. Bubbles of  Unconscionable Wealth. Bubbles of Great Inequality. Bubbles of Lies. Bubbles of Corruption. Bubbles of Disinformation. Bubbles of Cruelty. Bubbles of Racism. Bubbles of White Supremacy. Bubbles of Silliness. Bubbles of Irresponsiblity. 

The Bubbles seems to emerge & rule with no worries about Common Sense, Truth or Gravity. Folks start thinking it will be Bubbles Forever. Then one day The Sharp Blade of Reality rears it's gnarly, ugly, but very Enlightened Head. The Sharp Blade starts doing it's pointy, nasty work, popping Bubbles left & right. We have come to the Era of The Sharp Blade. 

The Conman is exposed as a Fraud & a Loser. Declaring a Win, when Everyone can see it is a humilating Loss. We all knew, in our Heart of Hearts how this would all begin to end. Humiliation & Failure. Over & Over, & Over. It is refreshing when Folks start speaking Truth to Power. A big Bubble popped! Expect many more to come...

I mean. Ha. Ha. Ha. Even a Republican Senator can smell the stink of failure & defeat from a mile away...

Stoic, Skeptic, Zen Warrior...

Folk #1: "You are a Good Man, Charlie Brown."  Thinking good thoughts for a better future. Over here I am doing my best to be a stoic, a sunny-fried skeptic, and a totally dispassionate, Zen Warrior. I have been recalibrating & refocusing my daily meditation practice: visualizing death in a million ways. Oh, no, not what you are thinking. Ok. Yes. Maybe it is what you are thinking; it's understandable, it's the question on everyone's lips in my little progressive, blue-bubble town, but that is not the only thing I'm thinking. I have been conjuring up scenes of my own death in a thousand, quite dramatic ways. Falling off a mountain, attacked by a murder of crows, drowned in a raging river, arrows in the back, torn apart by a pack wolves, struck down in an epic Captain Blood-type sword fight, trampled underfoot by a herd of wild-ass buffalo. Funny. It's all quite liberating. A deep cleanse. I have found a certain icy-calm center, deep in the murky depths of my own being. Think classic Ego Death. The craziness of the moment to moment seems like silly, pointless, easily-dismissed & ignored white noise, super-easy to overlook & to tune out. This over-amped, ridiculous, comedic-tragedy channeled through our deeply corrupt, toxic clown? Vapor. Mist. Fog. 

Simple Formula...

 Folk #1: America in 2026: Decadance, Rot & Weakness. Thank You President Trump & GOP!  What is the Trump brand?! It has always been the same - Failing & Flailing!

Fallen Off the Mark...

Folk #1: Early thoughts this a.m. Maybe we are well & truly doomed? UFC fight on the White House Lawn? So epically stupid, disgraceful. Hard to be  totally outraged though, my outrage meter is broken, it's all too mind-numbingly idiotic to get twisted over. Fuck that shit. And what brought on this sordid spectacle? Laziness. Stupidity. Racism. Selfishness. The constant need to lie to others & to ourselves. Catering to the crazy idiots amongst us. Seems everyone is out to make an easy buck. Folks are willing to sell their souls and fuck over their fellow Human Beings for a chance at the silver cup, the golden goblet, the big score. It's is easy see the betrayal, the disgusting display of needing, wanting, grasping that is trumping all that is right & good. Yikes. I feel like a character from another story, another time, another place completely.  I never considered myself a moral paragon. But I recoil in horror at the state of the state. What the fuck happened?! How did we all go so wrong? I know there are others like me, folks who still value truth, grace, intelligence, kindness, love, honor, discipline, hard work, courage, a fiery commitment to a better world. I saw video of folks celebrating the New York Knicks finals win in New York City, and I am reminded of the beauty of a multicultural, radically, racially diverse community of souls living side by side in harmony. Still living the promise of a melting pot America. So yeah, my sense of doom is bounded by my sense of possibility, resiliance, imagination & creativity. Fuck it. We can reclaim the dream. I still believe. But it helps to also see clearly just how far we have fallen off the mark. And yes, we have really, really fallen...

Move on from the Clown...

 

Folk #1: Back to politics. And the wretched state of the nation. It is funny. The more this man wants the world to fall at his feet in abject adoration, & fear, the more he is seen for who & what he is; a Toxic Clown, embodying corruption, cruelty, bullying, lawlessness, gutter racism, incompetence, & prodigious idiocy. Finally, you just can't take this guy seriously. He is a damaged, unwell, Clown. He is not as svelte as the cartoon above depicts him. He actually is quite bulbous, over-stuffed and hideous in appearance. A super-ugly, Toxic Clown & not funny, not powerful, not awe-inspiring, instead, pathetic & deeply repulsive. Much of the time we can tune him out. But he is a plague, a cloud of toxicity hovering over the USA and the World. Yikes. All the worst qualities of a human being are alive in this man's aura. You do not want to be this guy. You do not want to listen to this guy. Every word he utters is most often a bald-faced, easily disproved lie, and listening to him speak actually makes one stupider, one word at a time. We can do so much better. We have to move on from this Clown. This is no time for Clowns. We human beings need to get to work. The good work. A better nation, a better Union, listen to our better Angels...

Chasing Soundwaves...

Folk #1: We are working on a long-gestating musical project. I play guitar and write songs for a very loud, anarchic, garage-rock band. The lead singer, my bandmate & musical collaborator, is also a fabulous lyricist. His lyrics are always edgy, funny, insightful.  I come up with chords & riffs to complement and propel these lyrics into the atmosphere. The bands consists of the two us, plus another guitar player, a bass player & a drummer. Excellent, full-on, rocking musicians all. The five of us, have melded over time into quite the powerful unit. We finally, after many, many years of playing small clubs and bars are recording an album. We have ten original songs that we laid down in incredibly well designed & appointed recording studio. We are in the process of mixing now. You would think it all be quite straight-forward, but, funny, this process is always a bit of a battling windmills, Quixotic-quest; a certain endlessly-expanding, deeply disorienting, rabbit hole. Chasing soundwaves. There is a little bit of science, and a little bit of art in the doing. Trying to nail down something that can't be nailed down. Soundwaves are complex & interesting. You'd think it would be easy & logical, putting all elements in their right place, but turns out, there is no "right place," instead, the process is sort of mysterious & spooky. We all have various devices & systems to listen to mixes, and there is no consistency across stereo systems, or headphones. There are dramatic differences. Each device has it's own unique tuning which emphasizes different elements. All of our choices, preferences, and judgements alter the end result. Everyone in our band has listened to various stages of mixes, and we all hear different things. It's another case of the more you pay attention, the more you focus on something, the more close-listening one does, the more it all gets murky, hazy, uncertain & fungible. Finally, you just have to make solid choices, drawing a line in the sand, throwing down a marker. Emphasisng one element can crowd other elements. Certain instruments & soundwaves emerge & some disappear. So strange. There is a lesson there. No doubt. Finally, you just have to decide, to make the call. Deciding on one bold choice after another, out of ever-expanding, uncounted number of choices. Ultimately, you have to say, damn the torpedoes, this is it! Finishing the project is just a matter of  determination & will. The road taken, and all the many roads not taken. You know what you have, and you know what you have left behind. It ain't easy, but it's very much the life we live. It's all in the mix.

Cheering on the Collapse...

Folk #1: Yes. This is the era of Dumb & Dumber. Billionaires becoming Trillionaires, and all the little folks applaud, burn with envy, pile their cash into the pockets of the super-wealthy, and dream of becoming super-wealthy too. Seems everyone wants in the easy way: The Grift, The Con, The Ponzi Scheme. It's ugly, soul-killing, yes, & very fucking dumb. It takes a village to care for, pamper, and support a Billionaire. There are no self-made wealthy people. Not in this Universe. What happens when all this market madness, wealth feeding off wealth, crashes & burns? Of course, the little folks will get hammered, the Billionaires & Trillionaires will probably be bailed out somehow. I mean, fuck, let's hope not. Maybe, a New Dawn, a New Era, AOC's "Every Billionaire is policy Failure," is a market crash away? Is it poor form, in bad taste, to cheer on Collapse? Maybe, but, Fuck These People.

The Smart Ones, And the Cliches...

Folk #1: I log onto the internet and surf around to see what all the "smart" people are thinking & saying about current events this morning. Funny. Not sure I can actually locate any smart people. It occurs to me that the people don't seem as smart as they think they are. Lots of cynicism, sarcasm, and unknowingness floating in the ether. Maybe events are just too stupid, weird, contradictory, murky, spooky, strange for the people to digest? Lots of madness & idiocy all around. Events are just bouncing off our heads, colliding around like a furious little hurricanes? Lots of hurly-burly, "a tale told by an idiot." There is the floatsum & the jetsum. Yikes. I fall back on my favorite go-to cliches: when the going gets tough, the tough get going, no one ever promised you a rose garden, damn the torpedoes, love they neighbor as thyself, run to daylight, one day at time, fake it to make it, may the force be with you, you are the eyes of the world, today is the first day of the rest of your life, what's it all about Alfie, I stick my neck out for nobody, don't tread on me, someone kills your partner, you got to do something about it,  different strokes for different folks, I know nothing, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, all that glitters is not gold, it's hard out here for a pimp, you take what you need and you leave the rest, take it easy,  but take it, keep on truckin', what the fuck?!, we truly are the tricky monkeys, people just ain't no good, we have met the enemy and it is us, you don't know what you don't know, life it's complicated, everything happens for a reason, even if you don't know the reason, oh yeah, the Universe doesn't need reasons, there ain't no why, it just is, and of course, it is what it is...