Turns Out Some Things Can Be Un-Fucked. But Not Everything...

Folk #1: On Monday, this week, I wrote this post: World Gone Wrong. Basically a post about "fuck-ups," near and far. Seems the Universe is so large & diverse, there are forces at work that foster and encourage fuckups. Chaos & Entropy are hard & busy teachers.

Turns out my near to hand fuckups, have been royally un-fucked up. 

A twisted-into-a-pretzel bike chain? 

No worries. Sure, I had to walk that bike across town to the bike shop, a long, winding journey thru the busy streets, but the bike technician put my bicycle on the rack, and in about 3 mins, worked out the kinks and reset the chain. "No charge!"  The bike tech is a serious pro. He doesn't give you any "warm & fuzzies," he just does the work, gives you a little nod of recognition, and gets busy, onto the next thing. It does "take a village." And it helps to frequent local businesses. These folks stand behind their work & their bikes. Gratifying. 

Also, the short-run vinyl vendor who ran an order of 20 vinyl records was deeply apologetic about sending flawed, defective records to us. He assured us that he will re-cut 16 new records to replace the ones that came out poorly, and ship them out next week. Again, refreshing to find someone who stands behind their product & company, and takes responsibility when things go wrong. We were worried we'd have to go to war to find some kind of solution. Nope. Again, the magic words: "No charge." Satisfying.

And, well, the winds shifted, and the smoke in our little town cleared. A gorgeous day yesterday. Lower temps, cleaner air. Felt like "Endless Summer," was back on in full glory. Of course, we are captive to the direction of the wind. Those fires in Canada are raging. But, a reprieve for now. Encouraging.

What about Climate Catastrophe? Oh, well, that fuck up is still on in full force. The Tricky Monkeys aren't even dealing with it. I mean, expect it to get worse, with all kinds of unfortunate consequences across the board. Yikes.

And what about the War? 

Total fuck up. An Expanding fuck up. Clearly our prodiously stupid President and his cowardly boot-lickers are greatly over-matched. Figure that the fuck ups will continue, and continue to replicate & multiply. There is a limit to un-fucking things up, and you need competent, honest folks with smarts & integrity, willing to roll their sleeves up and to do the work, & to make adjustments, recalibrate, renew. This administration is incapable of taking any responsiblity whatsoever. They can never, admit mistakes, they think they can just bullshit & bluff their way past reality. They just constantly lie, shout & rant.  Disheartening. 

So, yeah, a completely mixed bag. Things will often fuck up. The question is, how does one deal with it? In my own little circle things seem on the upswing, in the bigger picture? Fuck no.

Embracing the Arbitrary Nature of Existence...

Folk #1: Funny. A very good sleep last night. No dreams that I can remember. Just a deep submersion into silence, quiet, darkness. Very refreshing.

What am thinking about as I type this morning? I am thinking about the arbitrary nature of our existence. Random. Incidental. Accidental. Shaky. Winding. Circular. Evolving. Devolving. 

Doors, open & closed. 

All the experiences that make a mark on our consciousness. The trauma & drama of having, and being being aware of, having a body.

We construct a narrative arc. We piece together the all of the signs & wonders. We perceive and decide. 

We tell the stories. We dream the dreams.  We crash & burn on the shoals of reality. We modify and draw conclusions. And then we often tear those conclusions up and try on some others. We modify our appearance, our clothes, our attitudes, our opinions. We try to draw a few lines in the sand to stand upon. They slowly vanish under assault from the waves & the breeze & the arbitrary vicissitudes of a well-earned life.

World Gone Wrong...

Folk #1: Things going wrong near & far. You ask yourself, somewhat beseechingly: "What Can Go Wrong now?" Well, pretty much everything. Words like Entropy & Chaos leap into your mind. You know, things like randomness, disorder, failure & fuck-up-ness rear their ugly heads. Seems these phenomena are just in-built in the Universe. As Neil Young once sang: "Rust Never Sleeps." 

Yes, locally, things have been falling apart in my little circle. I keep bringing my main means of transportation, my trusty bicycle, into the bike shop for repair; flat tire, twisted into a pretzel-like chain, gear shifter stuck. How did any of these things happen? I have no idea. A series of little freak occurances. Tiny fuck-ups that led to major fails. 

Also, we ordered up from a boutique custom vinyl shop, a limited vinyl run of one of our albums. The vendor sent us 20 copies. We discovered to our dismay that 16 of them were defective with all kinds of issues. Only 4 copies played without issues. WTF?! Something went drastically wrong with that production run. Yikes.

Then step back, move out a little farther, and the wind currents blowing a certain way, means that ugly toxic smoke from out of control Canadian fires engulfs our little town with unhealthy, toxic, noxious, air. Hiding indoors, wearing mask outdoors, another kind of fuck-up-ness alive in our corner of the world.

Then step even a little farther afield, extreme temperatures from the stupid humans throwing too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, trapping heat, fucking with our goldilocks evironment. Yes. Major fuck-up. Chaos baby, in it's many splendored forms.

Finally we hear that the USA is now again cranking up the War with Iran. Fuck. "What could possibly go wrong?" Oh yeah. Fuck. Everything. Especially because the USA, and it's delusional, seriously-unhinged, & super-uninformed electorate, royally fucked up by electing an incompetent, corrupt, greedy, brainless, quite-disgusting, fucking idiot. Does he know what he's doing? Fuck no.

Let's zoom back in time & check in with the great William Shakespeare, from his play Julius Casear: “Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war…”

Days of uncertainty, chaos, entropy. World Gone Wrong.

Failure, Success, Madness...

"She knows there's no success like failure / And that failure's no success at all," 

Bob Dylan's 1965 song "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" on the album Bringing It All Back Home. 

Folk #1: Yes. A quiet Sunday morning. Thinking about living under a government that is at war with it's own people, and how that same government is desperately, frantically, nonsensically, pleading, threatening, assaulting & punishing folks every damn day, and at the same time, they are demanding that things are great, even though we can see the country is locked in a robust, ever-expanding shit-show, & that despite the evidence of our own eyes & ears, we should all get in line & vote for them once again. Because... well... Fucking... Madness...

I am also thinking about Success & Failure. It is a certain private obsession built into the fabric of my being. I mean, it's embedded in me, not by choice. A sort of cross to bear. I suppose, I would amend Dylan's line like so: "There really is no success, only infinite degrees of failure." 

Not as poetic or musical. But, my experience tells me it is essentially "true." The trick is to navigate through the murky cloud of failure, and deal with it as best one can. 

Revenge of the Stupids Tour...

Folk #1: Think of Trump and his cowardly boot-lickers as the Revenge of the Stupids Tour. Every day it seems we are assualted with more & more stupid shit. It's exhausting. Attacks on our intelligence, on our public health, on our legal system, on logic, truth, and clear-thinking. Most of us know all of this shite is so wrong, and it grinds on one's good cheer. These folks have no idea how to run a government, they are dismantling & looting government while feeding the Epstein Class of Trillionaires & Billionaires. The Stupids are afraid of the American Voters. They are super-afraid of accountability & reality. Think of the extreme temps, the blazing out of control fires, as reality making a nasty comeback. Yes. Climate Catastrophe is Woke. The Trumpers can lie & rant, flail & fail all they want, they can deny & try to con their way out of the plain truth staring them in their fat, blow-hard, faces, but it's all to no avail. I think we finally, mercifully, are reaching the Limits of the Stupid. The Con, the grift, the deep in the bone corruption can only go so far. Sure, lots of folks have been riding the Money Train, but that too is loaded with Bad-Faith, Stupidity & Corruption. Much of our economy now is built on the foundation of Fraud & Theft. What next? The Age of Accountability. It's gonna get really spicy & dicey around here. Lots of hard work ahead. Many of these folks in the current adminstration will finally have to face the music. Let Justice & Accountability prevail. Thinking the Revenge of Reality Tour. The Counter-Revolution in the Head. Welcome to Woke-Ville fuckers...

We Have Cooked Our Own Goose...

Folk #1: Man-made Climate Catastrophe Part II (see previous post). Sure, Climate Change is real, we done did it to ourselves via our industrial ways, burning fossil fuels, factory farming of livestock, & the planet is suffering under extreme heat, too much carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, the heat gets trapped, and everything burns. The Humans have been very poor caretakers of the Planet. Extreme heat leads to super-dry conditions on the surface of the land. Below is NASA's map of fires that are raging out of control in Canada and the USA. The world is burning. And we are the arsonists. Yesterday, because of the direction that the air was blowing, it was so smokey in Chicagoland, the air so unhealthy, folks were directed to stay inside, or, if they asolutely had to go out, to wear protective masks. Lake Michigan was shrouded in a thick, gray, smokey haze. You could smell and taste ashes in the air. My partner and I cancelled most of our outdoor activities. Yikes. The new normal is definitely not fucking normal. We Human Beings have cooked our own fucking goose! WTF were we thinking?!

Man-Made Climate Catastrophe...

Folk #1: Yes. Incredibly hot in the Heartland. My partner and I have navigated thru the streets and paths under a blazing Sun the last week or so. Even a few hours outside is a challenge, and pretty damn exhausting. I must say, yes, we Tricky Monkeys have totally fucked oureselves Climate-Wise. Burning fossil fuels and throwing massive amounts of carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere have really done a number on our "Goldilocks" climate on Earth. We are seeing ungodly temps all across the planet, and more frequent & violent storms. Madness for sure. How can a Species be so unthinking, uncaring, self-sabotaging? I guess it's Greed, Hubris, Arrogance, Stupidity, Blind Fucked-up-ness. Yes. Book it: Man-Made Climate Catastrophe. Some of us are hoping for a Miracle Cure, a Silver Bullet, but we are fast approaching an irreversible Cascade of Failure on all fronts.Yikes. Those Environmentalists, Poets, sensitive Singer-Songwriters & Hippies were so right way back in the 1960's & 1970's. We doubled down on the Madness. The Future is looking Hot, Super-Fucking-Hot. We were born into Paradise, and turned it into a Blazing, Smoking parking lot. Fuck. Stupid Tricky Monkeys.

Lessons in Summer 2026...

Folk #1: 10 Lessons in the Summer of 2026...

1. Never, ever, rough-house with an English Bulldog.

2. Toast is good; a food-group all it's own.

3. Electrolytes will save your ass.

4. Cooking food became a common practice in the Human Clan for a reason.

5. Listen to the Crazy People to know what's up in crazy-land, & at same time tune them the fuck out.

6. Pay attention to every last detail in your own little orbit.

7. Live lightly & in the moment.

8. Silence truly is golden.

9. Find a buddy, and live & die by the buddy system.

10. "Be humble, it's the Universe, Jake..."

Crimes Against Us All...

Folk #1: ICE is murdering Human Beings in the streets of America. The latest murders happened in Maine & Texas. ICE agents shoot folks down and then lie about it. Often they lie even when the video reveals their crimes & their lies. So obviously wrong & evil. This, of course, is terribly intolerable, horrible; dastardly evil crimes against us all. Think: State Terrorism. We are all under assault. If we are silent, we are complicit. We are all implicated in these crimes. Abolishing ICE is an essential first step. These armed, masked thugs acting with lawless impunity must be charged and tried in the courts. This kind of senseless, inhumane violence coming from a Government Agency is beyond the pale. Any & all politicians who support, and voted to fund this violent agency need to be voted out, shamed, shunned & kicked to the curb. Yes. This violence in our streets is happening in America 2026. Appalling. Heart-breaking. We must stand against this horror-show. Organize. Protest. Vote. Demand accountability. What an abomination & a terrible stain on our beloved country. No time for tears. We demand Justice. NOW!

An Expanding Day...

Folk #1: The expanding days. Yesterday was a long day. It just seemed to expand moment to moment. My partner I were attending to multiple duties. Lots of to-ing & fro-ing. On the go pretty much all day. It was exhilarating & exhausting. We definitely fully experienced the day. The beaches were alive with activity, the paths & walkways busy with humans doing their human things. We just threw ourselves into all of our tasks, chores & responsibilities. We didn't have time to think. It was a day of doing. A working day. Finally, when I had moment, all I could do was sit in silence. Too tired to think. Clarity. Just a bold clarity descended upon me like a halo or aura. What did we accomplish? Not so much. There was the beat, the churn, the pulse of Life. We floated, we flowed, we trudged, we persevered, we stuck to the tasks at hand, put our shoulders to the wheel. We did every thing we had to do. It was a long, long day.

Doing Good, Being Good...

Folk #1: No tears shed for the untimely death of the evil-doers, those who spent their time on the planet making life a misery & chore for other folks; those nasty folks who punched down, and brutalised the poor, the weak, the hungry, the vulnerable, the needy. When one of these folks pass, the first thought: What a terrible human being & a terrible legacy. Sorry to say, there are some folks who are irredeemable. If they are on their way now to meet their maker, well, let's hope they are held to account for their crimes against humanity. Accountability in Big Sky! Some of us really do think we should all go out of our way to make the world a better place; kinder, gentler, more giving, willing to lend a helping hand to our fellow human beings. I think of musical inspirations: Nick Lowe's "What's so Funny about Peace, Love & Understanding," and Jerry Garcia's & Robert Hunter's "Wake up to find you are the eyes of the World."  It's not that complicated, but it does seem to be against the larger trend. Maybe the question on everyone's lips should be: "What can I do to make this a better, friendlier, place?" Doing good, being good just because. Sounds naive, sappy, too hippy-dippy? So be it. Ha, I mean,  Fuck It. It's ok to lean to the Light, to take a stand, to shun & condemn the evil-doers, and to stand with, & root for, the good-doers...

Monster for a Day...

Folk #1: I am staying at a lakefront mansion with a couple little furry creatures. It is one of my gigs. There is a superb sound-system here, and an excellent coffee-maker, so I am well-fortified for a nice stay-over. Yesterday, I had a super-busy schedule, lots of to-ing & fro-ing. I was lucky to have a decent night's sleep the night before, so I was feeling totally up to the task. There was a Monster Energy Drink in the fridge, someone else's beverage, something I would never normally drink. I drank it down with gusto. OMG. It was total rocket fuel. I kind of felt like Superman. Pretty sure I could crash through a wall. Now, I am not endorsing this energy drink, it's loaded with caffeine, and I get enough of that with my coffee addiction. I have sneaking suspicion it's not actually a healthy beverage. I told my partner I drank it, and she said: "I forbid you from drinking that ever again." Funny. She is the only person I ever really listen to. Ha! Oh well. All I can say, I flew through the day, sailed through all my appointments, did everything I was supposed to do, & I felt no pain. Early evening I was pretty spent. It was a good day. Still, I know, one needs to pick & choose one's poisons wisely. "Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing..." But Monster for a day, yes, sure that did the trick...

Ping-Pong Ball & Yo-Yo...

Folk #1: Yes. Over here in my little corner of the Universe I am aware of the famous line: "As Above, So Below."  You know, what's happening in the Macrocosm, is also happening in the Microcosm. From the Emerald Tablet: "That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above."

Connected.  To everything. Mysterious & cool. That has been my guiding principle for a long time. A number of years back I had one of those profound epiphanies, walking on a beach, feeling deeply, irrevocably bound and tied to everything in the Universe. It was just a flash, a blast of insight, and an overwhelming feeling, a real, & profound experience of connection. A lightening strike of Wisdom.  Ever since, I know deep-down that I have that in my kit-bag. Not alone. Connected. It's meaningful, one of my deepest, & strongest insights & beliefs.

Nothing has ever shaken that from my grip, a profound knowledge in my being. So what's happening in my little corner? Let's call it the Ping-Pong Ball, or Yo-Yo journey of Life. Up, down, all around. I try to steady myself, but I am on a crazy hayride, or out of control, carreening roller-coaster. Everything is in motion. Flux. Flex. Colliding. Crashing. What is up is down, what is down is up.

Can't help but think I am just reflecting, mirroring, greater forces from above. Like Lou Reed's great song: "I'll Be Your Mirror." It's wild. The trick is to try to stay calm, cool, collected. Watch the grand unfolding  drama on the big stage, and in the quiet corridors backstage too. It's all lightening & thunder, hurly-burly.  Bring on Da Noise, and Da Funk.  Fuck. It's glorious as hell, you know, the Universe, being in it, & of it, right?

Days...

Folk #1: "The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills." - Charles Bukowski. The key lesson I learned from Bukowski? Write. Endure. No matter what. Stick to it. 

All that drinking & fighting? Forget about it.  

Always be working on the next project. Life is too short. The days are running away. Over here we are making routines, and breaking routines. Trying on new things. Open to change. Keeping busy in the creative realm. Writing songs, rehearsing, performing. 

At the same time gravitating to the essentials: Truth, Beauty, Responsibility, Accountability; being a Human Being with Integrity, Grit, Determination. 

All of this sounds a bit old-fashioned, out of step, against the trend. Oh well. No worries on that count. Happy to be different. Realizing we are all on our very own singular journey. We each get to choose our road, our path, and how we will deal with the hurly-burly, & the slings & arrows.

Damn the Torpedoes. The days fly by.

Better? Nope.

Folk #1: This morning I think to myself: "Maybe things are getting better?" Ha. Silly me. Probably not. Looks like things are getting weirder, stranger, stupider, goofier. Think: more corrupt, more unhinged, more chaotic. Cloudier, foggier, more uncertain. There is evolution & devolution. It's a challenge to all of us folks leaning to the Light. If you are a positive, hopeful, optimistic type, you are definitely frantically swimming against a raging current of bad  & thoroughly stupid shite.

Caught...

Folk #1: Sure. I am caught. Like a bug (call me Kafka). In a spider's web. Suspended between the world I'd like to live in, and the one I do live in. Whiplashed between Hope & Reality. Every day I have to make the choice to not be overcome, overwhelmed, blinded by either one. Holding both concepts, ideas & visions in my mind at all times. Totally present, alive, aware, awake, while simultaneously being entangled in the silky tendrils of the spidery web. Sure. I am a prisoner, and a Free Being. Free to serve & to live life to the fullest. I reside in the web, and can envision a world without webs. Clear-eyed. Present. Lost & found in the moment to moment.

Lied to & Conned, Every Damn Day...

Folk #1: Ha. I think I get it. Early morning. Still dark out. Sipping my coffee. Distilling down the reality confronting me. I am not a perfect person by any means. No one is perfect. Human Beings are all works in progress. We all have flaws, quirks, contradictions, failures, it just comes with "the living." Living a life is a process of discovery, discovering the ways of the world, and our own very particular human qualities. But, it is clear, clear as a bell, that we all are being lied to, and conned, daily by terrible people who hold the levers of power. Terrible people in charge. Terrible people much more flawed than I, more flawed than many of us. We see the good & the evil and the evil seems to be in the ascendant. Now, really, in some ways no one is really in charge, but on the other hand, all of these folks in positions of power in Government, Law, Financial Markets, Business, Pop Culture, etc. seem to revel in their lies & corruption. They do it for profit, success, and luxury. It's an ugly business. A rigged game. And it seems to be working for them. So, I am left in this weird state, knowing that I'm just a humble human being, trying to do my best, feeling like my commitment to Truth, Reality, Honesty, and a Better Way, somehow holds me back. "Who am I to think I am any better?" But, I do. I see the lies, the con, the terrible people who seem to be thriving and I am disgusted. I turn away. I think "I am in it, but not of it." It is certain path, a certain sense of integrity, & also a cross to bear. Maybe like a mission? Living by a certain code, holding my self to account, and well, damn the consequences, damn the torpedoes. Still, in the back of mind, I wonder, would I be happier if I were living the lie and the con too? What if I just let it all in? "Go along, get along." Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Not in my nature. One consistent theme in my life, recalcitrant, gnarly, uncooperative, argumentative. I am not a joiner. I am ok being different. I am decidedly not going along with the herd. That's just me. Ha. Something seems to have gone terribly wrong in the human realm. Maybe it has always been so? The battle between the Light & Dark?  I wonder, will the tide actually turn? Can a new Enlightenment emerge? Can the more honest & competent folks ever get the upper hand? Hmmm... maybe... a reckoning, a renewal, a cleanse? Hard to know. But, really, not so hard to imagine...

Reaching for the Words...

Folk #1: Let's write down the words. How to describe Trump's shit-show for America's July 4th 2026 celebration? Vile. Stupid. Ridiculous. Silly. Nutty. Ugly. Weird. Un-American. Gnarly. Humiliating. A clusterfuck. A joke. A pointless display. Sure, this President will be remembered long after he is gone. But the memory will be a sick vapor, a horrific nightmare, an odiferous cloud of stupid. A person will need to manufacture a long litany of descriptive words all circling around the idea of a living, rotting corpse, surrounded by the overpowering stench of Vile & Disgusting Human Hubris, Arrogance & Failure. We will all marvel at how we survived it all. 

All His Shadowy Enemies Dancing in His Empty Cavity of a Head...

Folk #1: Good Lord. Last night our porcine, super-corrupt, rotting from the inside President, hauled his ballooning carcass to South Dakota, and gave a speech railing against the Communists. Sheesh. Add them to the growing list of all the shadowy enemies dancing around in his yawning cavity of a head: Antifa, Woke Algae, Sandwich Guy,  Trans folks, Garden-Variety Woke-Folks, Reflecting Pool Vandals, Common Hard-Working Americans, Barack Obama, any Democrat, our favorite Marxists - Groucho, Chico, Harpo, & of course Karl, all Blue Staters, The Pope, Common Sense, Immigrants, Gravity, The Poor, Windmills, Bruce Springsteen, Solar Panels, Hilary Clinton, Bad Bunny, Truth, Integrity, Taylor Swift, Honesty, Anyone Willing to stand up & call out his idiocy, and all the aimless, scrambled ramblings of a Mad, Wanna-Be Dictator & King. 

Nice way to celebrate the American dream with visions of American Nightmare. Ha. WTF! Of course, we stand with those in opposition to this corrupt & corrupting Bigot & Idiot. To say this man is out of tune & out of time, is a grand understatement. A bumbling, quacking, super-dangerous, Lame Duck wasting our precious time. Yikes! Happy 4th of July. Something tells me, "this too shall pass."

Snakes on the Loose...

 

Folk #1: Yes. Of course. A snake eating it's own tail. A perfect symbol for our present, lawless, totally unhinged era. Actually the "Orobourus is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth; the snake's skin sloughing symbolises the transmigration of souls. The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol." 

But I am repurposing, reframing it this morning: a snake eating it's own tail, an act of self-immolation, a symbol of self-consumption, feeding off our own entrails; unbridled, unhinged, deeply corrupt & corrupting. A vicious loop of blatant consumerism. 

Hell, it's my blog, I get to pick my definitions, symbols & meanings. 

The latest news tells us that our rotund, porcine, rotting from the inside, super-corrupt  & corrupting President is blatantly profitting off of his office.  Trump & his family have made billions on Crypto since his election in 2024, which is frankly balls-out corruption beyond belief, bribery on steroids. Of course, he should be impeached, prosecuted, and imprisoned, I mean, if we had any intergrity, grit, and fair-dealing here in the USA. Might have to wait for the Mid-term Blue Wave to sweep in a new Congress. It's totally disgusting, but not really surprising that the porcine one is feasting on us all. Will anyone do anything about this? Who knows? Seems we are all too busy chomping on our own tails, betting on our phones, riding the AI bubble, cashing in our chips. Fuck that shite.

The Positive Tools of Negativity...

Folk #1: I used to be a "Yes," Person. You know, living under the banner, idea & code, that every "Yes," would open a door, lead to a new experience, & a positive way forward. Embracing that Long-Form Improvisation idea of "Yes... and..." It keeps the scene going, & can lead to unexpected detours & hilarity.  One solid "No," and the whole thing comes crashing to a halt. I must say lately, I have become a a very positive "No," person. It seems sort of radical and out of synch with the bigger cultural, global, trend, and kind of contrary to my usually quite "positive nature."  Is it just me? Out of sorts?! The whole world seems to be deleriously unhinged; every day seems to take us farther down the rabbit-hole of lunacy, we all seem to be getting a little madder, strangely-bizarre, crazier, & deeply-unmoored from reality. It has pushed me in the other direction. Clinging to reality, gravity, levity, and swimming towards some kind of solid Truth. Feet on the ground, "touching grass," spinning vinyl, staying off my phone as much as possible, being much more discerning about my every day choices. Committing to living in the analog world. Maybe I'm doing more determined goofing off? Playing my guitar, sitting on benches on the lakefront, staring at the lake, chatting with all the folks passing by on the path. More disciplined meditating, and finding myself in long rambling conversations with my partner. I resort to all my happy tools of negativity, reaching for those powerful words, you know, all those easily conjured magic spells & incantations: "No,"  "Nope," "Not gonna do it," "I prefer not to," "No fucking way," or even, "Fuck no," & "Fuck that," and yes, for sure, "Fuck these lame-ass, corrupt people..."

The Golden Calf President & His Racist-Creep Bootlickers...

Folk #1: "racial grievance + scapegoating immigrants."Right. Not the America we Love over here. As we see it, America is a land of immigrants who have come here from all over the world. We welcome the immigrants. They are our Brothers & Sisters, Fathers & Mothers. Except for the Native Americans, the First Nation's peoples all of our ancestors were immigrants. They helped build this country and make it the wildly diverse, and thriving place we know and Love. We still think of America as the Land of Hope & Promise. And being "Born in the USA," is a happy circumstance, a privilege, a burden, a responsibility & an opportunity. The America Dream is under attack from the Golden Calf President, and his nihilistic, racist-creep bootlickers. They want to fundamentally change the character of our country. This attempt to sort through the human population and declare certain people are not welcome is a dastardly terrible moment & movement. Fuck these people. I still have Hope for a better day & a better way, but that Hope is under relentless attack every damn day. Who will these creeps oppress, assault, imprison, deport, demean, today? All of us are under assault. It's pretty pathetic, and terrible. I suppose the upside is that we see so very clearly what we are up against.

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.