Talent/No Talent...

Is innate talent a myth? 

Ha. Another concept/idea we throw around often that is actually kind of nebulous. "Born vs. made." Hmmm. And actually, you know, maybe irrelevant?

Some folks are just incredibly, remarkably great at certain things. Think Fred Astaire, Michael Jordan, Mozart, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, William Shakespeare, Beyonce, Yo Yo Ma, Barack Obama, Patti Smith, John Coltrane, Andy Warhol, Meryl Streep, Howling Wolf, Herman Melville, Ginger Rodgers, Richard Pryor, Paul McCartney, Leonardo Da Vinci, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jimi Hendrix,  Willie Mays,  Alice Coltrane, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Vincent Van Gogh, Allen Ginsberg, Simone Biles, Otis Redding, Albert Einstein. How did they get to be so good at the things they did and do?  Really, it is a bit of a mystery. And that's supremely OK.

I suppose I am in the camp that believes that everyone has talent, everyone is creative, everyone has the capacity to be good at something. How that is discovered, cultivated, rewarded, encouraged and employed is subject to a million and more variables.

A friend of mine tried to lay the talent label on my head.  And I absolutely refused to accept it. I am a gnarly-sod just built like that. My response, which actually works as my credo:

"You know, the main thing, talent/no talent. I fell in love with creating, writing, playing, singing, collaborating, and just doing what I love to do, as often as I can. You know, I mean, whatever, Damn the Torpedoes!"

A Club I Can Get Behind...

Ha. Ok. I am not a big "joiner." I like marching to my own drum. I am fine being on the margins. I like spending lots of time alone, listening to music, reading books, playing my guitar, writing songs. I don't like big crowds, except when I'm on stage as a performer. Which is an odd thing. Performing for lots of people, connecting via the vibes. That I can get behind.

My preferred club? Artist. I identify with creative people from all walks of life, all countries and cultures. 

But, now, I must admit that this new club & movement is right up my alley:

White Dudes for Kamala Harris! 

Yes. Of course. I mean, I wasn't on the Zoom call, but I am definitely there in spirit. We sent some $ to her campaign too. I definitely feel the surging momentum: Joy, Enthusiasm, Humor, Love. Of course all of her policies resonate with me, but it's also her vibe, her style, her being, that is so exciting and fun. I'm in, all in.

 

Yes. Supporting Kamala is a cool thing. A good thing. A necessary thing. Fun too. Let's save democracy, and let's all roll up our sleeves and work for a better day, and a better America.

Yep. Just Plain Weird...

Maybe the trick is to turn to simple, plain language?

Sensing an existential threat to our little Democratic Experiment. Serious problem, no doubt. 

So, yes, let's go simple. For instance how to explain Trump's suddenly, thuddingly, flailing & failing VP Pick JD Vance? So many simple, plain questions:

Did he really have sex with a couch? Does he really like to watch sexy videos of dolphins?  Does he really want to go to war with women? Does he really want to punish cat ladies? Childless adults? Does he really want to monitor women's menstrual cycles?

WTF?!  I mean, it's all quite fascinating. Such an odd duck. What explains the man? Weird. Very weird. Just plain super-weird. And creepy, right? Super-creepy...

Of course, the other guy on that ticket is a major rival for the weirdness crown. He is constantly blathering about sharks, and electrocution, windmills and Hannibel Lecter, and well, it's hard to keep up with all the drivel that spews from his lips. Weird... super weird... a very creepy, & weird old guy...

America... we can do so much better!

The Sound Gremlins Were Out!

We played a r&r show last night and it was all feedback and bad mix for us. The sound gremlins were out in full-force. The place was totally packed with fans of our band. A truly impressive turnout of humanity on a beautiful summer night. We did our best, but we wrestled with bad sound pretty much the whole set. You know, it does happen occasionally, to even to the biggest bands in the world. We aren't that, just a little, struggling band, fighting to find our voice and audience. Happy to say, there was a soulful, enthusiastic crowd, but the vibe was under assault the whole night; a bit of chaos & noise. A show-killer. No doubt. What to say?! Onward! 

American Dreamer...

American Dreamer...

The inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Yes. I am an American Dreamer.

No, not the DACA type although I totally support their cause: "Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, lived and attended school here, and identify as American. They are integral members of our communities, contributing to various sectors of society through their talents, skills, and dedication. Many live with U.S. citizen children or family members, and most have grown up in the U.S. and were educated in our public K-12 schools. The Dreamer community in higher education includes not just students, but also alumni, faculty and staff."

I was born and raised in USA. Yes, born here, but my early ancestors were immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Germany, France, various undefined Eastern European countries. Common folks coming to the land of freedom and opportunity.

I dream American. I dream America. Don't you? America is an idea, an ideal, a promise, one that isn't always kept, but it's a forward-looking belief & a purpose. I dream of a land, a country that embraces and celebrates the great multi-cultural melting pot of peoples, cultures, races, creeds, etc.

America is work in progress. An experiment. A responsibility. 

I am so happy that the narrative of our 2024 has changed dramatically. Suddenly joy, enthusiasm, excitement for the future is bubbling up. All thanks to the candidacy of Kamala Harris. 

BTW - the alternative is not even conceivable. Trump & Vance = 2 incredibly Vile Human Beings. The choice cannot be starker... 

I dream America. As Dylan once sang: "I'll let you be in my dreams, if I can be in yours..."

Dreaming & Scheming.

A little extra energy, and well, the dream & scheme machine kicks in. My long-time companion, the one person in this Universe, who probably knows me the better than anyone else, recently remarked to me: "There you go, back to dreaming and scheming."

It's true, always onto the next dream and scheme. Sometimes they are tiny things, a glimmer, a spark, sometimes they are grand designs. The possible & the impossible. Many of my dreams and schemes, maybe even most of them, end up falling by the wayside. Oh well, that's just the way of the world. I think:  generating, always be generating. It's just the natural state of being over here.

Extraordinary Speech...

The extraordinary seems to be happening every day around here. I definitely recommend watching this speech from President Joe Biden, a "kid with a stutter," who grew up to become one of our finest public servants. Best President in my lifetime, no doubt. Every American who cares about this country should watch this, it truly is an amazing, beautiful, extraordiary speech. Thank You Joe!

Dramatic...

Ha. Interesting. Our political landscape has changed dramatically in just a few short days (see 2 previous posts). Seems our planet is heating up and speeding up. Hang on, folks.

Suddenly Hope, Joy, Enthusiasm, Grace, Intelligence, Humor, Intellect, Progressive Values are all front and center. It is so exciting to see the grassroots support for Kamala Harris. She is a dynamo. Accomplished, experienced. Fully-engaged. Such a great contrast to that Fat Old Felon, who promotes Hate & Division.

Seems like a new day. A new dawn. Sure. It's gonna be a battle for the Soul of America. That's Democracy, that's America;. a big, complicated country, with some deep-in-the-bone racism, misogyny, and idiocy too. None of that disappears. But you can feel the energy, the excitement. A dramatic turning of the page to a new chapter. 

Yes. so, gratifying, so good. Like they say, "take nothing for granted," the voters must vote. But you can feel the earth spinning in a new, progressive, hopeful direction. Yes. Indeed.

BTW - Awhile back I did tell my long-time companion that it is "Woman Power" that will save America. I do believe it's true. Just found out, no surprise, that Beyonce & Taylor Swift will be fundraising for Kamala. That is exquistiely beautiful news...

I mean, yes... of course...

It Feels Good...

Not sure who created the above sequence. But it is perfectly brilliant, and on-target. I endorse.

What is that odd feeling/emotion/vibe flooding thru my body? You know the same feeling/emotion/vibe that others in my circle tell me they feel flooding thru their bodies too?

Oh yeah. Of course. It's Hope. 

Funny, the latest developments, (see previous post), Joe Biden deciding to end his campaign for President, and endorsing Kamala for President was like a shot of the best drug you could ever imagine. Or maybe, better, a cloud of good feeling & happiness descending upon all of us at the same time.

Suddenly, everything seems renewed. And possible. 

We are all so clued-in to the events of the world, which often it leads us into a murky stew of worry, unhappiness and doubt. Right now, all of that, for a brief flash, falls away.

So, yes. A celebration. A bubbling Optimism. Hope. Happiness. Progressive Politics on the rise. Sure. There is a hell of a fight going forward. Two very different visions for America. Over here in my little Progressive Blue Bubble, everyone I know is energized and excited. Oh, yeah. It feels good!

Joe for the Win... Amen, Brother...

Big news day yesterday. My favorite President of all-time, Joe Biden is ending his campaign for a 2nd term, and endorsing VP Kamala Harris instead. To say that I am knocked out with excitement and totally jazzed up would be an understatement. Joe is an amazing American. He embodies the best of us. Really. We are lucky to have him in our lives. It is world-shaking news, but I think it's brilliant & essential. This is the way forward to protect our little democractic experiment, and to thrive as a nation.

Let's cut to the chase. Forget the media filter here is Joe's statement:

"My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this." - Joe Biden July 21, 2024.

What an honorable, generous, humble, intelligent, empathetic leader. In this age of selfishness, hubris, overblown ego, Joe rises to the occasion of selfless leadership. Stunning. Inspirational. Wonderful.

And then, there's Kamala's statement: 

"With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else. I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election. And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win." - Kamala Harris July 21, 2024

Oh yeah, now the election, one of the most consequential elections imaginable, just clarified a bit more. I could list a million reasons why electing Kamala is essential, here's one very good & pithy one...  

A Glimpse of a Bigger Reality...

The Big City. I have always felt, and feel so now, even more, that it is Big City America that is the best of us. The great democratic, melting-pot, experiment. Embodied in the rambling, shambling, over-stuffed, metropolises that dot our land.  Vast multi-cultural stews, all cultures, races, creeds mingling in the streets. Thinking especially of New York, LA, Chicago.

I was born in Chicago, my parents lived there briefly, then moved to the suburbs. So yes, as an infant, I briefly burbled & gurgled in the Big City, but as a fully, and sometimes not so fully, conscious adult, I have never actually lived in the Big City. I have worked downtown. I once was a shiny, young, computer salesman working out of an office on Michigan Avenue, and years later, traveling backwards in status & paygrade, I was a lowly, fully-armoured bike courier for a graphic arts shop on a street near the Chicago River. 

I do know the streets intimately. It's like the map of city is imprinted in my head. My companion and I found ourselves back in the streets yesterday. We trained in from our leafy little northern town to Chicago to see the Georgia O'Keefe - My New Yorks exhibit. 

The City is essentially the same, and radically different too. Same looming towers, same architecture, but the tempo of the City is different. Lots of deserted streets in the downtown area, all the action seems to be around Michigan Avenue, and the heartbeat is in Milllenium Park.

The exhibit was exquisite. Eye & head opening. Georgia is primarily known for works from her time in New Mexico, but her "New Yorks" are just as stunning & fabulous. We were dazzled by these canvases. Such beauty, color, detail. Shimmering & magnificent. So surprising. We thought knew the artist, but her New York work is a revelation. Elements of the real and the ideal dancing before us. An uncommon eye. An uncommon sensibility. So inspiring. 

Then we took to the streets and park. Humanity spilling out in every color, shape and size. Bursting with life. It was a bit overwhelming. We found a shady spot under some trees and watched the children play in the water at Crown Fountain. It has to be one of the greatest public art projects ever conceived. Truly interactive. The joy and mad abandon of the children playing in the water is just stunning, and beautiful to behold. 

What is Crown Fountain? 

"Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park is a major addition to the city's world-renowned public art collection.The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out."

What else did we see? A troupe of children jumping rope. It was amazing. Rope-jumping turned into a dazzling, thrilling, high-art-form. Also two human beings dressed as Cicadas doing little Cicada dance-performance. They hopped and strutted around for a few minutes and then crashed to ground and "died." It was pretty funny. And very good. Made us laugh and reflect on the fleeting nature of nature.

We then headed over to Old Town for a meal at one of our favorite restaurants. Old Town is ever-renewed. Not old at all. What used to be a funky, hippie & bohemian strip, is now a very slick, moneyed, super-thriving street. Property values have ballooned. Lots of bling, flowing hair, toned bodies. Young, wealthy, vibrant humans. They all looked like they owned the place.

We walked the streets and said to each other: "We are walking in the future." Yes. Indeed.

Still,  happy to say, our restaurant was there. Essentially the same. Same family owners. The sons, the parents, the grandparents. Over the years, we have made friends with them all. All of us getting older, the generations coming and going. The menu is the same, the food is deliciously-excellent. The decor is pretty much the same, with upgraded tables and chairs. 

Still, it was a bit of a mind-fuck. The past and present, the hours, days and decades of our lives colliding in our heads.The Big City is a time-piece, a recording device, a record, and an illustration of time. You see the past, present & future all at play, knocking against each other in every little element.

Then it was the trip home. We trained and taxied back. Both of us bone-tired, and quite satisfied. That was a good day trip for sure. My companion announced that according to her iPhone, we had walked over 10,000 steps. Ha. So many, so few. Every step counts. It was just a glimpse of a bigger reality. A small, reflecting glimpse. Life.

Maybe Clarity is Just Beyond the Horizon?

Like a fly caught in a spider's web, I am a very Human Being caught between two ideas: Make Sense & Stop Making Sense (hat-tip to David Byrne & Talking Heads).

Often, especially lately, the Chaos that seems to float around in the Universe takes center-stage. Strange phenomena, odd occurances, unfathomable chains of action, seem to roll out with an active sense-destroying force.

One ends up befuddled, gobsmacked, at loose ends; unsure, uncertain. One casts around for an explanation and, well, everything one lands upon seems inadequate. Common-sense appears so very tattered, humble and well, base & common.

My sense-making ability seems to be flagging & faltering, so I naturally reach out to my stop making sense ability. Maybe best to let go the wheel, float for awhile? No snap judgements, no quick emotional outbursts or decisions? You know, bide some time?

The Sea of Possiblity. The Sea of Uncertainty. Sure. Yes. Float. Keep one's head above the water. Breathe slowly & deeply. Paddle. Hang in there. Maybe clarity is just beyond the horizon? Or a life-raft will magically appear? Hmmm... hope dies last...

The morning soundtrack for this post? No, it's not Talking Heads, it's The Clash. As I write I am listening to their bold and inspiring double-album masterpiece, "London Calling." (1979). Still powerful, over-stuffed, funny, brilliant, fiery, & absolutely relevant? Yes. Indeed. And it makes a certain gnarly, hard-earned, sense too.

I Surmise it was a Disastrous Speech. Who Could Have Predicted?! HA!

I was doing other things. Fun, satisfying, soulful things. Didn't have time to listen to that Loud, Fat, Wanna Be Fascist-Baby-Man blathering away on the TV or radio. 

I mean, I'd rather be stuck in the eye with a hot poker.  

Instead I played music in the kitchen, the natural reverb in the room is fantastic, with two co-conspirators & collaborators. Nothing better than two fine acoustic guitars, one Gibson, one borrowed Martin, backing up a very human voice, playing and singing original r&r songs. Very much the good work. 

This morning I did check in to see how the speech went over.  From all reports I hear it was a classic, rambling, idiotic, fucking, mind-melting, disaster. A river of lies, and a fire-hose of bullshit. Hannibal Lecter made an appearance too. Very much on brand for that toxic ball of shite posing as a Human Being. 

I mean, of course, lots of sound fury, signifying something like this...

"Bright Things Come to Confusion..." - Wm Shakespeare

"Behold/The Jaws of darkness do devour it up/So bright things come to confusion." - William Shakespeare

Yesterday it was all Shakespearean-like, or maybe Shakespearean-light, drama. Comedy & Tragedy dancing a jig. Is all Life just performance art?

The forest was on the move. Massive, gorgeous trees decamping from a large flat-bed trailer looking for a spot in a holy sanctuary beside a large swimming pool. Fleeting thoughts of  Burnham Wood marching on Dunsinane. 

There were also two close-calls. Automobiles backing out silently, nearly wreaking havoc. A quiet, unassuming street. A certain deadly-mayhem a second or two, and step or two, away from reality.

"The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune."

And I was still raging at the weather, a silly, cartoon-like, King Lear, cursing the clouds, and the blue skies too. The day previous a cloud-burst had ruined an outdoor show. A brief downpour came, and the good vibes had all vanished in an instant. 

"Sound & fury signifying nothing."

Ridiculous. You can't control the weather. What's the point of being disappointed? Human psychology is a murky, muddy swamp for sure. 

All the news is "hurly-burly," and "toil & trouble."  Yes it's true the "bright things come to confusion."

Hamlet's question: "To be, or not to be." Of course, the answer, immediately, yes, despite all the over-amped darkness & shite:  "To be!"

What Might the MAGA King Be? JD will tell you...

Ha. An example of the sad state of our present political zeitgeist. JD Vance, Senator from Ohio, has been added to the Republican ticket as VP. Who is JD Vance? Well, he is a guy who really, really knows who and what the MAGA King is all about. JD is all in, soul, conscience, and any moral compass be damned. As JD says, Trump might be "America's Hitler." Yikes. Fuck. That sounds bad. Hell, JD said it, not me. There's more...

Heather Cox Richardson has a cameo here on JD Vance: 

"He is very young—just 39—and has held an elected office for just 18 months, making him notably inexperienced for someone in contention for the vice presidential slot, especially behind a 78-year-old presidential nominee. In the past, he was a never-Trumper, saying that Trump “might be America’s Hitler,” “might be a cynical a**hole,” and is “cultural heroin,” “noxious,” and “reprehensible,” but he came around to embrace the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen and to say that if he had been vice president on January 6, 2021, he would have done what former vice president Mike Pence would not: he would have refused to count the certified electoral ballots for President Joe Biden."

There's more: 

JD Vance in 2016: “I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place … What Trump has done is change the focus of the white working class from an engaged and constructive politics to a politics of pointing the finger.”

So, yeah, JD, seems to know pretty definitely who and what Trump is, and well, of course, he is all in. He wants to bend the knee to someone he thinks is noxious, reprenhensible, & cultural heroin. What kind of person does that make JD? I have run out of toxic descriptors.

Make America Fascist. The mind reels. Good grief. Dare I say it? We can do better!

From Outrage to Laughter...

I think after a series of unfortunate, unlikely, and frankly, totally godsmacking events, my outrage meter just started smoking, sputtering, and well, it finally gave up the ghost. No more outrage to generate, or to measure. Outrage is now an emotion unavailable to me. I am left with laughter. Deep, genuine, hard to contain, or to control, laughter. I suppose it could have been bitter-tears that bubbled from the shambles of my outrage measuring tool; a deep, in the bone, sadness, but no, it is laughter that has descended upon, and totally enveloped me in a protective bubble.

Let's just say that there are segments of our culture, society, political sphere, entertainment landscape, that have totally gone off the rails. Beyond the pale, beyond understanding. Hard to get one's head around.  It is hard to keep up with the looney-tunes nature of our modern dystopia. And the evil-doers, the bad actors, the world-class assholes seem on the rise; bold, loud, annoying and toxic. And no matter what, they always seem to go dodge, to weasel out of any accountability. It is an affront to any sense of Truth, Justice, The American Way.

It doesn't seem equitable, or good, or fair. Ha. What the fuck am I supposed to do about it? That's the joke right?! Helpless in the face of the madness. The joke really is on all of us. So, anyway, outrage is pretty useless. Laughter is so much better. I don't think the laughter is a surrender, it is just a hard-won acknowledgement of the futility, absurdity & general weirdness of living with Human Beings. Laughter is a useful tool and a healing.

What do I take from all of this? Keep going, head up, smile on my face, meeting the day, doing the best I can. It's a big, complicated Universe out there. Damn the torpedoes. Don't worry about the assholes, they are legion, and finally, you know, they will get what they deserve. Their fate? They have to live with themselves, and be the assholes they truly are. Not an enviable way to be or to live. That is funny. Maybe the laughter opens a crack in the firmament, revealing a glimmer of light, a tiny doorway to a better world? One can only hope. So yeah, I conjure up new dreams, imagine better worlds and better humans. Really. No joke.

What's the Agenda? Turn from Spectacle to Substance...

There is Spectacle. Everything now seems like a sub-set of Spectacle; a zone where everything is "performance and display." Ofen, mostly, it is also hype & style over substance. There are those who create specatacle as a tool of destruction. There folks, in all realms, who purposely throw gasoline on the fire. They are stoking the flames of hatred and division. That is a certain type of entertainment, business and politics. It's a way of generating attention, seeking power, and it is a dastardly-cynical & profitable business model.

Of course, it's totally destructive to a healthy society & culture. It a way to avoid actually doing the work. So yes, FREAKSHOW, SHITSHOW, CLUSTERFUCK these are attention-seeking spectacles, ways of hi-jacking & capturing eyeballs and minds. It's ugly, pernicious, toxic, B.S. And it's flooding the zones of our collective realities.

It is a way of destroying the Body Public. It like a nasty, killer-bug, or maybe a cancer floating around in our systems. 

Alternatively, there are still folks doing the good work. Imagining, Creating, Fixing. Experimenting with new ideas, implementing new systems, setting priorities & policies, trying to find solutions to thorny problems. These folks exist in all realms too. They are folks tyring to pull things together, to keep things functioning. They are always looking enhance the state of our human condition. The goal, and it's a heady one, a probably impossible one, but one worth rolling our sleeves up and tackling: Making the World A Better Place for as many as possible.

Of course, we must be careful & humble. Think about the incremental good. Small steps forward. Every good step counts. Lots of this is pushing boulders up a hill. Often those boulders coming tumbling down, but the idea, the approach is to keep going forward.

In the political realm that describes the Biden-Harris Presidency. Two excellent human beings doing the good work, public servants, working for a Better America and a Better World. You know it's a tough job, an impossible job, but it's a worthy, valued, necessary, endeavor. It's sort of boring too. Policy, substance, work, not so entertaining.

So, fuck it. That is the work. What of substance? What of policy? Why cast your vote for  those folks? You know, it's a pretty straight-forward answer. The Biden-Harris Democratic agenda is right on-target. Common-sense. Doable. Admirable. Steps forward to a better America and better lives for the Humans. Can all get done? Well Democracy is messy, it's always a fight, but it is good to know what you are fighting for...

What is the PRO ACT (I had to look it up): "The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act restores the right of workers to freely and fairly form a union and bargain together for changes in the workplace. It is a landmark worker empowerment, civil rights and economic stimulus legislation, and an essential part of any plan to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession."

FREAKSHOW AMERICA...

We have entered FREAKSHOW America. It's a land of gibberish & trash. It's a land of murder & mayhem. Too many guns, too many deranged Human Beings. Flying bullets. Bad intentions. Bad words. Bad shite. 

Sure, still hopeful, (see previous post), it's a firmly contrarian stance, one that is unaccountably hard to shake, but one can't help but notice the grand, fucked-up trajectory of this fabled land. It is tending to a state of grandly, proudly, staunchly FREAKISH. Seems everyone on the sidelines is calling out to you, "Come on in, the water is warm." They promise that you too can be a hyped-up, brain-dead, FREAK. Not the good kind. I say, nope, fuck that... YIKES!

A Warrior Emotion...

“Hopefulness… is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism.” Nick Cave

Indeed. Hopefulness. Great tool, great weapon, great shield. I sometimes wonder where it comes from, how it bubbles up, and how makes itself present in Life, especially in my own Life. 

Sometimes it comes like a weather pattern, it's like a big, bold, overwhelming cloud, a silver cloud of knowledge & possibility that transforms everything. I'm not sure you can summon hopefulness. Can you train it? Can you train for it? Not sure.

Sometimes it's just a tiny glimmer in a bed of black. That little glimmer can be enough. I don't think I can conjure up hopefulness on demand, but I do think I can cultivate myself to be open to hopefulness. At least that's how it seems to me.

Put on a great record. Brew up some killer-coffee. Eat well. Sleep well. Keep myself occupied with doing things I love to do: walking, talking, playing guitar, writing, making songs, making music with my band, reading a great book, learning to live poetically. Always be open to ideas, always open-hearted, open-headed and open-armed. Keeping the artistic & creative impulse alive, always, that is hopefulness in a nutshell, right there.

A Warrior of Love. Hopeful. It's not a weakness, it's a strength. Hope can be floated, and crushed, maybe that's why some shy away from it? The crushing is just part of it, right? You go thru the crush-phase and then, that cloud, that glimmer makes an appearance. You grab onto it.  You "venture into the slipstream," with a pulsing heart, and glimmering, shimmering eyes. Yes. Indeed. You do.

The Moderate Island...

It is so wild. I think so many folks have lost their minds. All this crazy hurly-burly and doom-scrolling and doom-saying in the midst of a very consequential election in the fall. Even some folks I thought were "smart" or "interesting," with some kind of "insight," seem to have gone completely barmy. 

The fucking pundit class is acting like a bunch of chattering ninnies. The rich folks have let their money and positions of power reduce them to egotistical little babies who think the world owes them everything.

The radical stance, one I am firmly committed to: cool, calm, careful, common-sensical. Wielding clarity & clear-headed-ness like weapons against ignorance, and their weirdly hollow-silliness. I turn to minds and voices that have a sense of decency, history, a nuanced perception of reality. There are a few of these folks floating out there in a sea of idiocy and madness.

I used to think of myself as a bit of rebel, on the margins, oh yeah, now that stance pushes me to a strangely moderate island, surrounded by a crazy-making culture of madness. WTF.

Swimming Against...

Sure. As per Wm Shakespeare, in that rightly-famous Macbeth monologue: "... It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Yes, indeed. There is so much angst, worry, doubt, uncertainty in the air. So much hand-wringing, fretting, and nervous chattering.

Seems we are all such little cry-babies. Something about our over-saturated, over-stuffed, consumer-pandering-paradise that turns us all into needy, greedy, little infants. This mad-bad, celebrity-culture is just so silly and stupid.

It seems like we are collectively losing the thread of the narrative. Whatever happened to gumption, discipline, clear-seeing, determination & toughness? Those things now seem so "old world." Out of date. 

Yikes. Do we really need a Big Daddy to save us? What about rolling up our sleeves and doing the work? Remember work? Keeping our feet on the ground. Tuning out the B.S.

Keeping our heads above the roiling surf. Swimming against the enveloping tide of madness.

Resisting, Refusing the Gloom & Doom...

Yikes. Surrounded by the gloom & doom-sayers. It is fear, no doubt. Fear, uncertainty, and misinformation/disinformation flooding the zone. My partner and I tried to conjure up the good vibrations yesterday. We did our best to rally a few folks, to lift them up from the darkness and the world of bad juju.

The goal is to see clearly. Reality is always a battle, or a dance, between the dark & the light. To only see one of the dance partners is to miss the target. The life you save may be your own.

The belief in our home is that you can change the vibe. You can conjure the good. You can influence friends and neighbors, you can be a shining example to all your friends & even strangers, just by being positive, and passing on those positive vibes. We try to live by a certain code. Carry ourselves in a positive way. Live it, be it.

Act as if you are what you want to be. And you will embody & become it.

It all kind of goes with our Meditation Practice. Creative Visualization. It's a simple tool. Imagine. Create pictures in your head with the idea of making that energy, that picture, that vibe a reality.

Energy creates energy. At least, that's the idea, and the practice. It helps that there are two of us. Mutually validating. Of course, sometimes it can go the other way. Look out  below if we both spin out at the same time. A vortex, a black hole of energy. We usually can avoid it. Usually one of us can help the other extricate from the darkness.

Sure, there is always trouble in the world. Doom & gloom is around every corner. Still, we can lean to the light. We can be disciplined, do our best to not falter or fall, and if we do fall, well, fuck, we get back up. 

You know, it's all kind of ephemeral & sketchy. Vibes are invisible, hard to pin down. Still, the vibe-work  is real work, the good work. Conjuring, resisting, refusing to indulge in the gloom and doom. The Universe is  big, overwhelming & complicated. And that's ok. The dark and light contending every day and night.

It is a Hell of a Catch...

“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.” - Joseph Heller, Catch-22 (1961)

Yes. Heller's Catch-22 is one of the seminal works in the construction of my consciousness. I was a wee lad in the late 60's and one day, I aimlessly rifled thru a stack of books that my father owned. I picked up a hefty blue tome, Catch-22 and happily went down the rabbit hole. Heller's masterpiece. A few pages in, and I already had my mind blown. I didn't know that such a novel was possible. It turns out there are very few novels as good as this one.

It's not just about World War II. It's about American consciousness, the dreams, the nightmares. It's about the madnesses, great and small, of Life. Yossarian is the stand-in as the last "sane" man in the Universe, and, well, of course, he's certainly crazy too. How is it that Human Beings will gladly go over the cliff, together and alone? Why are we all so good at driving each other mad? Why do we gather together into groups, small and large, and spin up the whirlwinds of madness? Why do we revel in idiocy, murder, mayhem?

History is a long careening string, and humbling display, of our crazy-making abilities. Often it seems we spend our time trying to convince  ourselves and each other that up is down, war is good, madness and stupidity are required to make it in the world. Heller's book is totally relevant today. It's the same Unvierse. Did I mention it is also totally hilarious? Page after page of mad-cap humor and brilliance. Powerful, vivid, unforgettable. Another key brick in the wall of my consciousness, for sure. Hghly recommended.

Sleepwalking into Fascism. Not Acceptable!

Yes. Weird. A media frenzy about Old Honest Joe. Barely a word about the bloated Fascist heading up the GOP? I mean, WTF? We need a better grade of Political Pundit, and a better Press. Sleepwalking into Fascism is not my vision for America. 

Writer, Historian, Activist Rebecca Solnit, writing in the Guardian:

"Speaking of coups, we’ve had a couple of late, which perhaps merit attention as we consider who is unfit to hold office. This time around, Trump is not just a celebrity with a lot of sexual assault allegations, bankruptcies and loopily malicious statements, as he was in 2016. He’s a convicted criminal who orchestrated a coup attempt to steal an election both through backroom corruption and public lies and through a violent attack on Congress. The extremist US supreme court justices he selected during his last presidential term themselves staged a coup this very Monday, overthrowing the US constitution itself and the principle that no one is above the law to make presidents into kings, just after legalizing bribery of officials, and dismantling the regulatory state by throwing out the Chevron deference.

Trump’s own former staffers are part of the Heritage Foundation’s team planning to implement Project 2025 if he wins, which would finish off our system of government with yet another coup. “We are in the process of the second American revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” said the foundation’s president the other day. This alarms me. So does the behavior of the US mainstream media, which seems more concerned with sabotaging the only thing standing between us and this third coup.

“Why aren’t we talking about Trump’s fascism?” demands the headline of Jeet Heer’s piece in the Nation..."

A privilege, an honor, a challenge, a mystery.

Yes. There's that idea of trusting your gut. Just knowing that something is really right, or really wrong. A sneaking suspicion, a sinking feeling, a dazzling revelation. There is a gut/brain connection that sends an undeniable feeling of revealed "truth" that floods your body and brain. Ignore intuition at your own peril.

At the same time, we are always swimming in uncertainty: "a state of limited knowledge where it is impossible to exactly describe the existing state, a future outcome, or more than one possible outcome."

It is a natural element of the Universe. The Sea of Uncertainty. Sure. Yes. The Human Realm is all about limits, limits to knowledge, wisdom, insight. We really don't know what we don't know. We really don't  know what we do know.

We are arbitrary, uncertain, tenuous, temporary, shaky beings in a roiling, boiling soup of experience. We are beings of experiences. Each experience is unique. We are uniquely singular beings experiencing everything. It's a hell of a way to live. A privilege, an honor, a challenge, a mystery. 

Great Worry. Great Uncertainty. Vote Blue.

We are pulling our horns in a bit. Chilling. Turning to Art, Poetry, Literature, Music. Taking care and being careful. The Arts have always been a refuge and an inspirer. The best of Humanity can be found in the Humanities. 

Tuning out the madness, and the media frenzy. Sure, my favorite President Old Honest Joe is old. No shit, Sherlock. But he is also a great President. Our best Hope of keeping our Democracy healthy & thriving. 

Smarter people than I are predicting dire consequences if we let the blathering Fascist heading up the Republican Party win this upcoming election. Something I just can't stomach or entertain. Trump = Vomit-Inducing. What are the stakes?

Timothy Snyder, Historian & Author of "On Tyranny," - Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century kind of lays it out simply and cogently. Yeah, "hair on fire," "pants on fire," WTF.  

Great worry. Great uncertainty. That goes with being a Wide-Awake Citizen of the Globe.Yikes!

It's All Right

Yes. I pretend to be a "keep calm carry on" kind of person. But, really, at heart, I am quite the Excitable Boy (hat-tip to Warren Zevon).

Yesterday, was a Holiday. Which meant time to reflect and listen. I listened to my heart and played various versions (Willie Nelson, Allen Toussaint and Paul himself) of Paul Simon's great song American Tune:

I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered

I don’t have a friend who feels at ease

I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered

Or driven to its knees

Oh, but it’s all right, it’s all right

For lived so well so long

Still, when I think of the road

We’re traveling on

I wonder what went wrong

I can’t help it, I wonder what’s gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying

And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly

And looking back down at me

Smiled reassuringly

And I dreamed I was flying

And high above my eyes could clearly see

The Statue of Liberty

Sailing away to sea

And I dreamed I was flying

I started the morning in a pool of tears. I have been working thru this idea that a part of the American Dream has died (see previous two posts). I have been walking around in a cloud of pissed-off-ness, (reminded me of my young late teenaged pissed-off years), and then, the sadness descended. It was a bit of a renewal yesterday. The tears were actually a necessary cleanse. I found myself crying for all those suffering in the world, for the deep fucked-up-ness of humanity.

In the afternoon we biked the lakefront path. All the common folks were out in full force. Playing, cooking, dancing, prancing, living. Yes. It seemed the world was seething with overflowing Life. And in times of crisis my partner and I always turn to art. We listened to Bruce Springsteen's fabulous, over-powering, life-affirming "The Rising," (2002), "Rise Up!" And we watched Robert Altman's masterpiece movie, "Nashville" (1975).  Final song, "It Don't Worry Me." But of of course, we are, and always have been rightly worried about the health of our little American experiment.

Listening to and watching all that great work was a total healing, a renewal & a rebirth. Funny, how great art works on the heart and soul. We also had a Mexican Fiesta dinner, celebrating our multi-cultural melting pot miracle. The best of America, folks and cultures from all over the world meeting, melding  & feeding into the life-blood of America.

This morning: calm, cool, collected. Back to Paul Simon:

Oh, it’s all right, it’s all right

It’s all right, it’s all right

You can’t be forever blessed

Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day

And I’m trying to get some rest

That’s all I’m trying to get some rest

Paul Simon (1973)

The American Dream, Tattered, Battered, Manhandled...

Funny. It's July 4th, 2024. Independence Day. Should we be celebrating? The Supreme Court just manhandled (also see previous post), the Constitutional Order of this little Democratic Experiment in which we reside. Is that Irony?

There have been a few voices, I especially think of Teri Kanefield, Heather Cox Richardson, Timothy Snyder, professors, writers, historians who have been warning us that the Law will not save our Democracy, or our sorry, godforsaken asses. Reading these learned folks will make you smarter. Unlike the flailing media, the blathering, talking-heads, the political pundits, the TV legal eagles who are almost always wrong about everything, and who will most definitely make you dumber and more confused.

Only the informed practice of Democracy will save Democracy. Voters, an informed populace, voting for their own interests and those of their fellow citizens, folks voting for folks who respect the rule of law, the Constitution, and the Progressive agenda of Human Rights for all Humans. AND voters voting out the folks who betray that trust and those interests.

Contrary to the Supreme Court, despite their anti-constitutional cloaking of Presidents in a bubble of immunity, Presidents are not Kings. They can be voted out, they can be impeached by Senators and Members of the House who are dedicated to good government, responsibility, the rule of law and accoutability. If Presidents, Senators, Representives betray the voters, the common ones, the Citizens of America, those failed politicians, can be thrown onto the dust-heap of history. Of course, Supreme Justices, aren't really supreme. They are just human beings too. Flawed, biased, partisan. Giving them life-time terms seems to be a major fucking fly in the ointment of our Democracy.

The law is written by humans, interpreted by humans, wielded by humans, defied by humans  Often the law has been used by the powerful to protect the powerful and to punish those less powerful. It can be a nasty tool of oppression. It is a tangled web. How to get better Judges who interpret the law with respect for equal treatment, justice and a progressive agenda? Elect enlightened leaders who then appoint enlightened judges. Not a quick fix, not easy, for sure.

And often the voters get it wrong. 

They vote against their own interests, or they vote for clearly flawed Human Beings who turn out to betray the solemn oaths they swear to. Sometimes, lately, sadly often, those elected Public Servants let that power go to their heads. Mayhem, bad action, bad blood, corruption, and dastardly bad policy can result. Turns out the present day Republican Party is headed up by a very good example of a deeply corrupt fuck. And he has an army of wanna be corrupt fucks too.

One can only hope that the better angels conspire to send that mofo and his movement packing. But, you know, in a Democracy, sometimes your side wins, and sometimes your side loses. That's the way the thing works. No matter what, you have to keep your head, and stand up, and speak for the things in which you believe. And vote. Sure it's seems a bit paltry, a drop in the ocean, but it's the thing to do. And of course, keep Hope alive. Hope dies last. Lean to the light. Take care. Don't give up the fight. That's fucking America. 

Naseous Ball of Shite...

When I was a kid, my father would often lay a bit of Vince Lombardi wisdom on my gnarly, frequently alienated brow: "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going."

That line would annoy the hell out of me. Now, of course, it is one of my go-to mottos. Although, it is a bit of a mystery, just where are the tough going?!  I have been in a bubble of pissed-off-ness ever since the Supreme Court unveiled it's naseous ball of shite, their recent Presidential Immunity Ruling.  Tough to swallow. My reaction: Tough Times, Tough Shit.

I am not a Constitutional Scholar, or a lawyer, just a concerned Citizen with a fairly good reading comprehension. At least according to me. Suddenly, I come to the conclusion that I have been wrong about everything. The hard-core, right-wing fanatics on the court have made an audcious power-grab and fundamentally altered my understanding of good old USA. Instead of this magnificent idea of equal treatment under the law, we are now being told that the law is designed to protect the powerful and to punish everyone else. Like I said, FUCK!

No one is above the law. 

Ha. That was the basic idea. Well, the court, in a 6-3 ruling trashed that idea. Gob-smackingly disappointing & infuriating. They have carved out a broad bubble of immunity for Presidents. Yikes. I am not a hair-or-pants-on-fire-type, but this seems fundamentally un-American. Our little Democratic experiment is being destroyed from the inside out.  

Don't take my word for it. Let's turn to Sonia Sotomayer, one of the black-robed judges who laid-down a "pants on fire," furiously damning dissent:

“The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, and possibly the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution,” Sotomayor wrote.

“Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.

“Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today.

“Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done. The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.” - Sonia Sotomayer

Disillusioning...

Some days you are just out to sea. Floating, flailing, unsure if there is a way to get back to shore. "Everything you know is wrong." That was the theme, the motto yesterday. All the news of the day was bad, Humans in positions of authority looked like corrupt, bad-faith actors willing to trash our little American experiment. It was all deeply disillusioning. WTF?! I fall back on Dylan's great line: "Power and Greed and Corruptible seed seem to be all that there is..."

I am with the Decent Old Man...

I am going to wade into the messy fracas. Not always smart. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone likes to pummel you with their opinion. It's just a very Human thing. There is a lot of heat, worry, & mindless chatter about Honest Joe and this recent somewhat faltering debate performance. Remember it wasn't really a debate, as usual, just an ugly, not very informative, hyperbolic TV spectacle.

Sure Honest Joe is old. 81 years old and counting. He's getting older every day, I mean, every minute. His clock is ticking, no doubt, just like it's ticking for each and every one of us. So anyway, it's not a surprise that he is old, he was old in 2020 when he crushed his opponent in the election and he's older now. Everyone seems to forget that in 2020 Joe ended up with an impressive popular and electoral win, more votes than any other candidate for President ever, more general election votes than anyone else in the History of the USA.

And Honest Joe has been a very successful President. A long list of accomplishments. He has a fabulous record and a great team. Has he slowed down a bit? Sure. But one bad TV performance is not the story. A great champion for Democracy, and America, that's the story.

Of course, it's the other guy who should be hounded out of the race. You know the Toxic-Racist-Fascist-Ever-Lying-Fountain-Of-Ugliness-Stupidity-Bad-Faith-Etc. That guy is a threat to our way of Life & Governing.

So sure, I see clearly. I see can look closely at Honest Joe and I have to adjust my own view on things. Let's say, it's now Honest Old Joe. Amen. I am with the decent Old Man. I mean the Old Guy is the Guy, the one person with the best chance of  defeating that Toxic-Black-Hole-of-Shite. Honest Old Joe is the man of the moment. Like it or not. Yes. Fighting for Democracy and a Better America. 4 more years. Damn the torpedoes.