Ego Rattling

There is nothing.............and I mean absolutely nothing........as intimidating, as earth shattering and ego rattling, as overwhelming, and as mind numbing in the fear it inspires, than standing at one end of the cereal aisle in any major supermarket.

Venerable Institutions Now Faking It

You know society is dumbing it down to extinction when intelligent sources get lazy.

60 Minutes: These people are really pissing me off. They used to be our "end of the weekend brain stimulation before The Monday Meltdown" source.

Interesting shows, professionally presented that opened up new worlds or exposed corruption in a fun and eye opening way as scum squirmed on national TV.

Shows that taught us stuff or sparked an interest in something new. Shows that broke our hearts and brought tears to our eyes. Shows that made us laugh and introduced us to people who have earned our respect.

Now, you flick up the guide on your all powerful TV screen, check out 60 minutes to see who is on or what the topics are and the guide says "New."

New meaning new show. Not a repeat.

Used to be when the show was a repeat it would goddamn well say "repeat."

Now it says new BUT when you dial up the show they cover three topics - again - saying "When we first aired this episode" blah blah blah. They then go back and repeat the original episode almost in its entirety, and add some postscript at the end. Some sort of update.

This passes for "New."

Shouldn't these people be jailed? Executed maybe?

Sunday night is sacred. It is the end of the weekend for most people and brings on "Monday morning my life sucks" anxiety.

It is almost impossible to enjoy Sunday night because you are thinking so hard about the job you hate and the people you work with who suck.

You turn to 60 Minutes for some diversion and they water down your brain with recycled crap punched up with 30 seconds of new stuff.

And they get paid 16 times what you make to do this?

Time Magazine: Another revered news source. Heavy duty, hard hitting topics covered professionally and in depth.

At least that's the way it used to be.

A very recent issue was called "The Question Everything" issue. Boldly across the top it asked: "Is Monogamy Over?... and 21 Other Questions About the Way We Live Now."

This immediately captured my attention because if they could convince me that monogamy was over I vowed to drop Carol like a hot potato, no questions asked.

Instead they went on to ask: "Do Robots Need Rights? Would You Trade Brains for Beauty...or Beauty for Brains? Should We All Wear Body Cams? Is Etiquette Dead? Are Computers Too Smart? Topless in Public? How Do You Know When You've Made It?"

Are you fucking kidding me?

With all the brain power one would presume to be behind Time magazine, you would expect weighty topics and knee buckling analysis and predictions.

Instead I felt like I was reading a kindergarten primer suggesting dazzling topics for Little Joey to discuss with Smiling Suzy to facilitate his ultimate goal of getting into Suzy's crayon box.

60 Minutes and Time Magazine should be upholding a standard of intelligence and professionalism committed to informing and improving the brain power of the American public.

Instead it seems like they have decided that we Americans are so stupid that they will stoop to our level in order to hold on to those almighty ratings.

A self fulfilling prophesy, my friends.

The more stupid we become as a society, the less intellectual stimulation will be available to us.

And the rest of the world sits and waits and laughs.

Harvey Keitel

At the end of "Thelma & Louise" Harvey Keitel runs after the car as T&L rocket towards the abyss.

What the hell was he thinking?

What was he going to do?

Dead Once Again

After a shower, steam on the bathroom mirror is a definite sign of the death of summer.

An Honest Mystery

In New England, summer is a myth.


(Editor's note: The Doors have two perfect songs to bookend the fantasy of summer. "Waiting For The Sun" and "Summer's Almost Gone.")

Break out the long johns, maw.

Give It A Shot

Hooaa, been a bit wibbly and a bit wobbly in here since I got back from vacation.

Nothing of any substance. No passion.

When I write without passion I feel empty. My best comes from joy and anger and frustration and resentment and rage - my best comes from being alive.

The vacation really slapped me around. It was so pure and unexpected that it purged my soul of all bile. And believe me there was plenty of bile to go around.

It was a dangerous vacation. We could have ended up divorced. All that time alone together.

Instead it reaffirmed the beauty of committing an entire life to another human being. Thirty seven years married ain't nuthin' to sneeze at jack.

There were times when we sat side by side on the porch, overlooking and listening to the ocean, with Carol crocheting and me reading. In joyful silence.

People who know us are saying ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, perfect.

Brief aside: The reading thing was new for me and what a sweet release it was. I can't read when others are around because we are busy socializing. Sipping on cocktails, speechifying over football and politics and life. I read for hours this year, on the porch and on the beach. This is how I would like to spend the rest of my life. With a book in my hand and my toes in the sand.

Anyway...........................Carol and I enjoyed each other's company in comfort and ease.

The vacation was such a release that I have had trouble bouncing back from it. But I think I am coming back around.

We went to the movies last night. Saw "Grandma" with Lily Tomlin and Sam Elliot. At Red River Theatres. A sensitive and quirky life movie enjoyed in our favorite theater. Awesome.

Red River is ours. Two screens and a smaller,  projection-like screen for documentaries. That's it.

No 25 screen cinoplex bullshit. Very intimate. They serve beer and wine which makes it more mature. The typical audience is around our age too, which is great. I got nothing against you kids but the feeling of camaraderie we get there enhances the experience.

As we were walking out I heard a couple talking: "Wow, Lily Tomlin is on a roll. 'Grace and Frankie', now this movie." You don't get the reference and you have never heard of this movie.

I like that. It makes it ours.

So I am staring down an actual weekend. Two whole days. Pretty cool.

There is a poster in the men's room of Red River. Got a picture of James Dean. The quote says: "Dream like you'll live forever, live like you'll die tomorrow."

Why don't you give that a shot?

A Rough & Rocky Start

Bit o' whining going on in here since returning from Paradise.

Nuthin' new, huh?

When will I learn?

Yesterday was Sarge and Cori's wedding anniversary. Tough day for Cori.

Fortunately she has good friends and I believe she was taken out to dinner last night.

Still I'm sure it was a painful day for her.

Today is Jonathan's birthday. He would have been 28. Tough day for Eddie and Kathy.

I spoke to my brother a little while ago. It was a little rough around the edges but he has remained remarkably tough throughout this whole process.

We are coasting towards winter. We are coasting towards anniversaries that we don't want to acknowledge.

Time does not stop. It grinds on inexorably.

Either you deal with it or you don't.