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.