What to Value?

Folk #1: Yes. We turned away from the Black Cloud of Shite hovering over & around us, (see previous post), and had a good Sunday anyway. That's the trick. Even though I basically felt like crap I carried on. I played my guitar in late morning, maybe came up with new riff, a seed for a new song. I read a few chapters of a book by Rick Rubin "The Creative Act: A Way of Being."  My partner cooked a fabulous mid-day, vegetarian meal. Then we trekked to a neighborhood bar & community meeting place and enjoyed a late afternoon of music, laughter, love, friendship, joy, crazy fun. We didn't play, we were just a small part of the audience. The bar was stuffed with an incredible array of creative humanity in all it's forms: musicians, teachers, artists, poets, interesting characters all. There was no talk of the shite, the doom, the Idiot, the War. All of that fell away. We got a bit silly, a series of comical conversations; we just luxuriated in the good vibrations. It was all quite life-affirming. The current "leaders," of our country are not worthy. Let me just put down a marker: The Folk, The People, The Common Ones are so much better than those trying to remake the USA into a cruel Fascist Hellscape. A line out of the blue stuck with me: "It's all about values." Yes. What to value? Here's a pretty good list: https://jamesclear.com/core-values. We live in a world of darkness & light. Better to lean to the light, it's good for the heart, the head, the soul. There is goodness everywhere around us. Just need to be open, choose well.

A War on All Fronts...

Folk #1: What is America in this moment? Corruption & Lies. Wild. If you want to know what's happening in the latest chapter of President War Crimes war, you must tune into the statements coming from the Iranians. Crazy. I used to think that Trump's superpower was his ability to lie shamelessly. But I now think his inability to tell the truth ever, is his fatal flaw, and that fatal flaw is harmful to all of us. Trump is at war with the Iranians, the Europeans, the Press, the Pope, Democrats, Sanity, Rationality, & with Truth & Reality. It is an all encompassing war that he can't win, but his relentless raging & engaging in it means that we all lose. Fuck. We are trapped in a doom-loop with President War Crimes, and the Republican Party is sitting on their hands, enabling all of this disastrous dysfunction. We are well, & truly fucked...

Carry On My Wayward Son...

Folk #1: There is a certain peace that comes with the retreat to silence. Overloaded to the point of saturation. A turning away from the insanity & B.S. (see previous post). Processing through the noise. We are onto other things. Carrying on in the face of a decidedly grim reality, and pushing through to another, sunnier, perspective. Picking & choosing where to put one's attention. A survival tactic, a way of Life. Concentrating on the small, near to hand things. The way of Zen. Stripping things down to the essential. A clearing, a healing. 

The Breaking Point...

Folk #1: Yes. It was the week that broke our Lie Detector. Or maybe we should call it our Bullshit Detector? Let's say the terms are interchangable. We are living in the Era of Lies & Bullshit. We are swimming, & drowning in the face of a torrent, a raging river, of Lies & Bullshit. Of course, the tone is set by the over-amped example of our very own President War Crimes and his disgusting, corrupt administration of cowards & fools. Their Lies & Bullshit come fast & furious. Unrelenting. And if they are called out for their obvious idiocies & untruths, they double & triple down. It is quite astonishing & astounding. One cannot encompass the depths of bad faith, bad action, and damned Lies & B.S. of this bunch. Yikes. But, turns out, the Lies and the Bullshit come from every corner, every direction. All the major institutions are suspect. Everything seems unhinged from reality. One must be vigilant, willing to swim through the garbage to try to discern any semblance of truth or fact. It's exhausting. Debilitating. Finally your Detector is over-loaded. You just have to turn it off, & turn away.  "No more, I've had it up to here." Sure, it's a retreat, an abdication, but it seems necessary, just to survive, we must put our awareness somewhere else. So we trek to the waterfront, sit on a bench, bathe in the sunshine and watch the waves crash into the sand. We take a deep breath, and another. Oh, yes. Life.

Leaving Normal Behind...

Folk #1: We left "normal" behind. There is no normal. There is only the ever-present NOW. And it's wild, strange, weird. I have this sneaking suspicion that it has always been so, thinking, maybe, the Human Drama is always unhinged? But, I'm not really sure about that. It could be that at this time we truly have reached some kind of peak abnormality. The Universe is extraordinary, mysterious, unexplainable, no doubt. We Humans are just one little example of Life displaying itself in it's many-splendored forms. Nothing really all that special about the Human Species. We are full of ourselves, we tend think we are the Center of the Universe, we are  pretty much misguided, clueless, arrogant, ignorant. I suppose I am a bit skeptical of my Species. Skeptical of myself too. Can I get it straight? Can I find my way? Can I get through a day without fucking up? I am left with: Doing the best with what I have.  You know, Leaning to the Light & Damn the torpedoes.

A Houdini Act...

Folk #1: "Having it," and "Not Having it," Aye, there's the rub. The uncertainty, chaos, and unhinged nature of our present circumstances, plays havoc with our sunny disposition and general well-being. It's a balancing act, a psychic battle, where the forces of "unbalance," seem to be ascendant. It is important to "have" the moments of  one's Life. Each moment is precious. At the same time, the bad deeds, the insanities, the corruption, the stupidites, and total B.S. of our current very fallible Human drama, demands a bit of a retreat, a decided step back, an abdication to a place of silent stupefication and contemplation. "Not having it," is very important, totally essential to good mental hygene too. This Hurly-Burly nonsense is a confluence of confusion, noise, idiocy & deviancy. How to confront these forces of madness, and ungoodness, head-on, and let them go simultaneously? A bit of a Houdini Act.

From the Get-Go...

Folk #1: Yes. It's always been a rigged game, from the get-go. Still, you have to play, find your spots, that's Life. Not fair? Too bad. You take your chances. Damn the torpedoes. Roll the dice. Pull the card. Play. Yes. You Play as if your Life depended upon it. Because, of course, it does...

Undermining the Dolt, the Fool...

Folk #1: Two great stories this weekend. 

First: Democracy & People Power won in Hungary. So beautiful, and feeds Hope for a better day & better way all around the globe. The Authoritarian/Autocrat Orban was defeated in a landslide after 16 years of "illiberal rule." Endorsements from Trump & JD Vance seem to have worked in reverse, the Kiss of Death for the wanna-be strongman. The opposition won by promising to clean up the system, refortify Democracy & Inclusion,  to confront corruption. Not a bad example for the forces of Democracy here in USA. People Power. All it takes is organizing, educating & voting. 

Second: Our Idiot, Failing & Flailing President directly attacked Pope Leo in a post last night. So, so funny. Talk about someone punching out of their class & league. In a battle between Trump & the Pope, my money is on the Pope. As Donald Fagan might put it: Leo is a "Major Dude." Is the Pope "soft on crime?" Hmmm. Remember that other Dude, the one nailed to a cross, one of his last acts was to forgive a thief. Yes. Jesus too was "soft on crime," he was all about "Love & Forgivness." There are 1.422 billion Catholics in the world. Not all of them are politically aligned with the Pope, but I think it's safe to say that the majority of them have great respect for Pope Leo. If you were looking for an "anti-Trump," you couldn't do better than Pope Leo.

Yes. Two great developments that undermine Trump and his misguided adminstration here and around the globe. The sands are shifting under Trump & his delusional MAGA movement. There is no longer any sold ground under that man's feet. Collapse. Yes. One can see it out on the horizon. I say, "Let it come down!"

State of the Folk...

Folk #1: Take it from a well-situated Folk. The Folk are unhappy & restless. Sure, we all can still party; music, laughter, joy, enthusiastic displays of comaraderie, bounded by the bleakness; all that positive hubbub is bounded by a few deep & dark conversations about "What's going on?" There is a weird head-game we are all playing, two competing states of being, fighting it out in our head-space: "We're fine, everything is OK." Vs. "Holy Shit, how did it all go so wrong?!" Then, back to music, funny stories, giddy laugher. We are dangling over a cliff, thanking our lucky stars that we're at least still dangling... until... well... who knows what the future holds?

What Next?!

Folk #1: What happens next?! The Fat Man is going to try to bullshit his way through it. He is convinced that his relentless stream of gibberish can help him bend reality to his will. The Press will eat it up like happy little suberviant lap-dogs. Most of us, the senisible ones, will try to ignore him, and if we catch a stray word or two, we will step away, spit, make the sign of the cross, dance in a circle, curse a few times, laugh & shake our heads "No!" I mean, "Good Lord!"

How Did It Get So Freaking & Bleeding Weird?

Folk #1: Maybe it's because there are way too many people on the planet? Or maybe it's because Humans are burning fossil fuels at an alarming rate, filling Earth's atmosphere with carbon dioxide, causing temperatures to rise, altering our natural weather patterns, making much of the planet unlivably hot, cooking our brains? Or maybe it's the Smartphone, Social Media, exposure to way too many Humans across the planet, driving each other crazy with posting,  posing, taking part in a grand social experiment of soaking our brains in toxic, noxious gibberish, creating an enormous on-line Tower of Babel, amplifing all this pointless & frenzied needing, wanting, grasping? Maybe it's because we are the Crazy Monkeys really good at making each other Crazy with our greediness, selfishness, laziness, insatiable appetites for entertainment, diversion, and self-imposed madness? Maybe it's because we are good at murdering each other, and making each other miserable? Maybe it's because there have been too many wars, too much mayhem, too much inhumanity swirling around in the human realm?  Maybe because... well... just becuz...

Who knows? And what is the question we are begging this morning? Why does it seem like every day things are getting weirder & weirder? You know, I mean, like, dramatically weirder at a faster & faster rate, every moment of every day? Why does it seems that the chaos, uncertainty, unsteadiness, unhinged-ness, the bat-shit craziness is unfolding, unraveling, unmaking our human domain? How, & why, did it get so freaking & bleeding weird?

Strong-Arming the Pope? Hilarious...

Folk #1: It isn't hard to find some humor in the madness. Turns out the Trump Adminstration tried to strong-arm the Catholic Church & the Pope into supporing their stupid, murderous actions in the Middle East. WTF?! It didn't work. The Pope didn't cave to the stupid people. Seems the Pope's vision for the Church, and the teachings of Jesus is quite different than that of the MAGA mouth-breathers. Sort of funny they thought their strong-arming would work on the Holy See. What fucking arrogant pricks &  total fools. The Pope says:  "Search always for peace and reject war." Amen, Brother...

Can't Unring that Bell...

Folk #1: President War Crimes last evening tried to unring that bell that tolled death, mayhem, & destruction in Iran. Thing is you can't unring that bell. Seems our homegrown Madman has backed down for now. But he has revealed the depths of his unfitness for his present job. "Delusions of Grandeur" don't quite catch the flavor of this man's insanity & instability. Even The Pope is calling him out. Fortunately most of the world has reacted with total revulsion to this deeply, immoral and unwise war & war President. President War Crimes cannot erase the depths of depravity embodied in this statement below. It will live in infamy.  

"A whole civilization will die tonight." That is a fucking insane thing to threaten. That is Genocide. Mind-boggling that this dude wasn't immediately impeached, relieved of his duties, marched out of the White House and taken to Emergent Care. An unwell mind devolving into mush. 

Sometimes Irrational Warmongering is Just Irrational Warmongering...

President War Crimes wants to claim victory for the USA. Reality on the ground, and Truth in air, seem to contradict him. Glad World War III has been delayed, but... WTF?!

Mentally Unfit...

 Folk #1: "That man is mentally unfit for the job."

Yes. It is as simple as that. It explains everything. What will President War Crimes decide to do next? No one really knows. Expect lots of huffing, puffing, thrashing, gnashing of teeth, spittle flying, claims of epic success, loud aimless poorly-constructed sentences, lot of flailing & failing with every utterance & action.  Nothing is off the table. There is no table. Violence & cruelty? Yes. We are dangling over an abyss. Yikes. These are the times that test us all. Collectively, we've fucked up big-time. How is it possible this man has this particular job at this particular time? It's like a curse, a plague, a bottomless stupidity, an epic failure, the ugly gift that keeps on giving...

A Journey in Simplicity...

Folk #1: As we waited to see if our homegrown madman is going to war-crime his way out of a mess he made up out of his own prodigious malice & stupidity, we chilled out yesterday. Sure, we were a bit spooked by the idea of "The Idiot," ordering up a nuclear bomb strike on a country of 90 million human beings, a seemingly unimaginable crime against humanity, that suddenly, in the swamp of stupidity seemed sort of plausible, but we tried to concentrate on ordinary things closer to home. What to do?

Luxuriate in simplicity. Things like breakfast & toast. We recently purchased a new Black & Decker toaster. A simple, well-made device, that does one thing extraordinarily well. There is something so good, nutritious, elemental about a perfectly toasted slice of bread. Then, getting out my beat-up, old guitar and unstringing and restringing it with a new set of strings. One of my favorite Zen activities. I have changed strings on guitars since I was a young boy. One of the simple things I am quite good at. It is a relaxing, rewarding, flow activity. I then sat and played guitar for a couple hours in the kitchen. Time just falls away. Alive in the moment to moment. Nothing better. 

Then I wandered over to the living room to hang with our little flock of birds, and spun vinyl records (Frank Zappa's "Hot Rats," Drive By Truckers "Live at Third Man Records," Van Morrison "Astral Weeks," U2's "Unforgettable Fire)." We recently purchased a new Audio Techinca turntable. Yes. We are excellent shoppers, doing our part the keep the economy going. The turntable is another very well-made thing, that does one thing absolutely perfectly. Although, I am a big fan of CDs, there is something unique about a vinyl record spinning on an excellent sound system with a powerful amplifier, and professional speakers. Mastering Engineers master vinyl records to different spec than CDs. There definitely is more "air," less compression, on vinyl. Analog vs Digital. No need for debate. I think they are both fine formats, but they are different. The physicality of a needle running thru the grooves, it's the experience, the real-ness that stands out. You can hear it, feel it, no doubt. Quality.

Then we watched Tom Hardy in elaborately constructed, beautifully filmed series, "Taboo." A dark, engaging, very well-made series. Hardy plays a character, that the other characters in the series call "the devil himself." A man who has done bad things. Really, really bad things. And somehow he is so compelling you can't help but go along for the ride to see how he is going to work it all out. He totally embodies this character. Hardy is so present, so real, armed with such weight, gravity and gravitas. He truly is one of my favorite actors. 

Anyway, that was our Easter. A turning away. A journey into simplicity. We never left the house. You know, it was a day to renew, recharge, refresh. At least that was the general idea. Now, what fresh fuckery must we confront, process & endure this week?

Jesus, God, Devil, The Future: Mirrors...

Folk #1: Easter 2026. Is it significant? What does it mean? Nothing? Just another Sunday? A day of renewal, rebirth, Resurrection? A day of rest & leisure? It's up to us. We all get to decide for ourselves. The world seems unsettled, on the verge of catastrophe. Maybe that has always been the case? Chaos, Uncertainty, Randomness are always floating around us. From the dawn of Human consciousness there are always those who claim "the end is near."  Maybe it's a natural Human desire? Freud's "death wish," wrapped around the "will to live." The End. In a way, it is true, it is always true, there is always an endless cycle of Endings & Beginnings.  Our lives happen in the "in-betweens." Reflecting on my two previous posts, Jesus, God, Devil, The Future, Hope, Hopelessness, Love, Hate, Life & Death. These are all Mirrors. We live in a grand Hall of Mirrors. Everything we see is a reflection of our own consciousness. That must be one of the most consequential, primal insights that a Human Being can embrace & digest. It inevitably should lead one to a certain Wonder & Humility. "We see the World not as it is, but as We Are."  We can try to do our best to see clearly, to cut thru the noise, the hurly-burly, to see thru the looking-glass, it is an inward & an outward process, simultaneously. It is complicated, there is mystery and the great Cloud of Unknowing; these phenomena surround & envelope us, they are the air we breathe, the clothes we wear, the mirror that we carry with us always.

Literary Critic Hat...

Folk #1: Last thought on the previous post. Putting my "literary critic" hat on, the Jesus Story is just a weak script. A sloppy effort. Too many authors. Pretty damn implausible. Too derivative. For a good overview check out Joseph Campbell's classic book about heroes & myths: "The Hero with A Thousand Faces."  (1949). 

There are so many better, well-conceived narratives out there, better through-lines, more cogent plots, & character development. If you are looking for a hero, or a role model, or just really interesting character, you'd do much better with Ulysses, Beowulf, Frodo, Grendel, Luke Skywalker, Holden Caulfied, Yossarian, Billy Pilgrim, Tom Joad, Dean Moriarty, Sal Paradise, Don Draper, King Arthur, Marcus Aurelius.

Want to read weighty tome that will change your life? Alter your own space, time & dimension? Try Crime & Punishment, Infinite Jest, Moby Dick, The World According to Garp, Blood Meridian, Catch-22. Sink into the Human Realm in all it's glory.  

The Bible is pretty over-rated. It has some interesting verses, over-amped scenes, but that old book, is all over the map. Messy, contradictory, misleading. How much ignorance, intolerance, murder & mayhem has that book unleashed over the centuries? 

Pick & choose wisely Grasshopper. Be careful what you put into your head. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Don't Need a Messiah to Know Which Way the Wind Blows...

Folk #1: Non-practicing Catholic Boy here. Good Friday brings up weird memories. A wee child sitting in a wooden pew, watching an enactment of the Stations of the Cross. Dare I say it? Weird shite. Sure, it was strange theater, but never quite understood the point. Poor Jesus, he seemed to get a raw deal. He was an ambitious Jewish Boy who didn't know his place in the world. Smacked down and brutalized in some crazy-ass entertainment. An elaborate ritual of suffering & guilt. This ritual brutalization came across as oddly celebratory. What kind of story was this supposed to be? "Son of God," crucified by the Humans. Yikes. Crazy. This wee lad was totally confused. WTF?! Seems we should have retired this old story long ago. He lived, he suffered, he died, he rolled away the stone, and flew the coop. Rumor was he'd come back, sit on a throne and rule. What kind of drugs were those story-tellers huffing? Yikes. What do they call that kind of thing? A wild yarn? An Old Wives Tale? Retire Jesus, put him out to pasture. The embrace and the persistance of this old, contradictory, implausible narrative is amazing, weird, and probably a sign of our Human imbecility, fallibity and gullibility. We just want to believe what want to believe. Damn the torpedoes. Our ability to embrace B.S. is astonishing. Yes. As I grew up, I gravitated to Buddhism. Meditation. Zen. Seemed much cleaner, clearer, a better way forward. Not so much something to believe in, but a way to conduct yourself, and to act in the world. I left Jesus behind, he was a Gloomy Gus who was treated poorly by the powers that be. Sure he preached Love & Forgiveness, he lived with fisherman, hung out with thieves & whores. He did a few good works. Chased the money-changers from the temple, turned water into wine (party-time!), raised the dead? Hmmm. That seemed like a stretch. Still. Maybe this whole saga was just a cautionary tale? Don't claim to be something you are not? Step out of line, you will be crucified. Do the work, be humble, fly under the radar. Cultivate your garden. Humility. Grace. Love. Forgiveness. You can embrace those things on your own. You don't need a Messiah to know which way the wind blows. You can work on being an honest, giving, compassionate Human Being by doing your best to be a fully engaged Human Being. Yes.  Lean to the Light. Embrace the Good. Be Woke. To the max. Not for some reward later on. You will not be redeeming your soul for valuable prizes in a golden paradise. Fuck that. Be Here Now with all your heart, head, & spirit alive in the moment to moment.

Decidedly Grim...

Folk #1: I went to bed early, read a great novel, Hamnet, (2020), totally crashed out, then slept like a baby. I knew that the crazy guy was going to go on TV to say crazy things about the war in Iran but I just didn't give a fuck. Up early this morning, catching up now, I suppose we are now clearly in late-stages of rage, madness, dementia & delusions of granduer. What happens when a great nation is firmly in the grip of an aging, disintegrating, addled madman? Yikes. That is the burning question this a.m. And as a follow-up: How bad can all this get? Hmmm. Making hash and crashing the economy, sinking our reputation across the globe, destroying alliances, getting folks killed for no good reason. Sheesh. The prognosis is decidedly grim...

Cherish the Good...

If you dip your toe in the pool of ignorance & madness every day, what does that do to your mind? Does it  irreparably damage one's psyche? Does it permanentely cloud once's consciousness? Can one "break one's own brain?" 

Not idle questions. Actually quite important & of the moment. Absolutely on-target in our present circumstances. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." 

You think to yourself: "Surrounded by the stupid, the cruel, the insane can't be good for me." Yes, seems obvious that spending time with stunted, twisted and deeply unwell humans can be detrmental to one's well-being. Seems easy to sink into the black-mire of madness.

How to protect yourself? A cool detachment helps."In it, not of it."  Remind yourself of what is actually  important: truth, reality, gravity, kindess, intelligence, empathy, compassion, music, poetry, laughter, love, forgiveness, responsibility, humility, grace.

Be sure to plunge into doing the things you love to do, and do them as often as you can. Know that there are other humans, just like you, seeking a better way & better day.

A working thru. A certain discipline. A determined strength of mind. There is beauty & wonder to be found around every corner, but it's important to watch your every step, pay attention, and cherish the good.