Sunday, April 25, 2004

Open market for ideas, thoughts, dreams and recycled genetic iterations

Not trying to be clever, really! I'm just wondering what the hell I'm doing spending my Sunday vegging out when I could be doing something productive; e.g. writing a short story, writing a letter I've been meaning to write, creating a birthday card that's overdue, praying for deliverance from this overburdened financial nightmare I'm living inside, washing those funky dishes, trimming my shaggy hair or just plain soaking up the sunlight and fresh air outside rather than sitting inside this darkened room with the boob tube glowing eerily while spilling out nonsensical dialogue that means nothing to no one.

Ah well, Fuggit!

I've been to Berkeley, I've been to San Francisco, I've been to Casper, Wyo., and Maryville, Tenn. I've been to Moscow, Idaho, and Seattle, Wash., as well as Philadelphia, Pa., Lafayette, Big Sur, Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel, Calif.

I've been to Jersey City, N.J., and New York City. I've been to Denver, Colo., and Sante Fe, N.M. I've even been to Mexico – well, the border towns – and to St. Croix, Virgin Islands. But I still haven't found a place that feels like home to me, except in the arms of the one I love.

And though I was born in Georgia (Warner Robbins), I've never felt 'kinship' in that historic state.

I am lost to this world, it seems, like an alien forgotten during a picnic on Earth, left to wander aimlessly and get by as best as I'm able, though always knowing I don't belong.

Sounds familiar, eh? Yea, it's the 'baby boomers' paradigm (my theory) and it runs through the minds of thousands, perhaps millions of our minds.

All of us born between the last years of the 1940s and the early '60s have a unique connection peculiarly unlike those connections found in every generation of human communities. We all saw the Vietnam War; we all saw President Nixon and the dirty tricks campaign; we all saw the advent and rise of LSD and its popular use – not exclude 'weed,' 'meth,' 'junk' and 'peyote buttons.

Many of us made that long trek to California in the mid- to late-'60s, hitchhiking or driving a VW bus or barely-running Chevy Malibu (oh yea!). And many of us wondered what the hell we were supposed to do about a government that seemed to alienating our generation with hollow appeals to patriotism and loyalty to the system, which many of us despised for its failures and faults.

Arrogant bunch of misguided bonzos, if you ask me.

I always took offense when some redneck called me hippie (yea, my hair was long) having never embraced that back-to-mother-earth philosophy. Guess I enjoyed steak and eggs too much to go for the tofu and rabbit food diet, though much of what my wise sister DID embrace about diet seems to be proving true today, 30-plus years later.

And now my life has come to the point where I'm counting minutes and days until old man death comes to call.

Every moment is precious, it's true, but to maintain that conscious realization 24-7 is difficult, at best, nigh impossible at worst.

But that's another story.

It is almost sunset and I'm going to take a short drive and watch the last rays of the day's light fade into the night.

Here's wishing you the best of dreams and the good fortune to have those "good ones" come true.

Friday, April 23, 2004

In honor of Earth Day I will not litter, or – as we say 'round these parts – "Don't mess with Texas.

Well, it's another Friday night and I'm in a hurry to get to my baby's house. But I've got about 10 minutes to spare so I thought I'd just splatter some verbiage on this blog.

I got a new harddrive (25 Gb) installed in my little iMac; also intalled DivX and Xvid so I can now watch DVD video - very cool! I've got a copy of "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" installed on my harddrive and I have yet to tire watching it. Tarantino is still one of our best directors, without a doubt!

He also has a great sense of humor, which dovetails nicely with his diamond-sharp eye for transition, foreshadowing and lighting to tell as much of the story as the dialogue.

I hope to see "Kill Bill: Vol II" this weekend – maybe Sunday.

I'm wondering if we'll survive, as a nation, the rest of Bush '43's term, let alone another full term with him as president. Seems to me we're in a bathtub of shit in Iraq and his policies seem haphazard at best with regard to that little war.

I feel sad for the soldiers fighting that battle because I'm afraid it's going to become all too clear that Bush had personal reasons for attacking Saddam; reasons that far outweighed any REAL threat presented to America or its allies by that ancient, backward culture.

And now I get this powerless feeling in my gut with each new front page announcement of Marines or Army personnel being sacrificed. It's a bummer, to say the least.

So that's my two-cents and my 10 minutes worth.

I added a link to my co-worker's, Jeff, blog, which I think many will find worthwhile for any number of reasons, not the least being he's a creative guy!

Peace out.

Monday, April 12, 2004

Air America - finally voices from liberals and moderates that may balance the scales of sanity and reason (or try to) against the spittle-flinging, ranting, irrational, narrow-minded, right-wing conservative talk show hosts who propose that anything the GOP or Bush does originates from God, while everything the Dems do is sent straight from hell.

Well, I finally found the AirAmerica radio/Web site - Al Franken, at the moment, is talking about the Medicare prescription drug bill that lines the pockets of big insurance's CEO's and stockholders.

Franken says the cost of the bill will be $550 billion, an amount that is causing an uproar among the GOP and the the Rush Limbaugh crowd because it smacks of liberalism - meaning it's money spent to help the aged, the poor or the disenfranchised. Just think of all the bombs, bullets and high-tech weaponry we'll be undercutting by providing our elderly prescription drugs.

"The O'Franken Factor" with Kathyrn Lamper (sp?) airs between noon and 3 p.m. EST. Check it out if you can. it's worth a listen!

Meantime, it's Monday and I'm off work so I have nothing to do but A. Hang out and hang loose; B. Worry about the bills I have to pay with the meager paycheck I receive; C. Yearn for love and sex; D. Attempt to ladle out a bit of creative word-structures, i.e. poetry, short story, simple rambling, etc; or E. Call my lady friend and ask her if she wants me to help with the flowers. We may get freezing temperatures tonight and she wants her flowers to survive to see another sunny day.

Maybe I'll do all of the above.
I sit here thinking about people, places and events from my distant past and I feel melancholy and fortunate at the same time. I've certainly had more than my share of interesting days and nights, I will admit! Especially my days and nights spent in Carmel by the Sea, California. Beautiful! There's a little house near the bay that once was home to relatives of Teddy Roosevelt ("Bully!"), and where he did a lot of speech writing and eating. A pair of his famous glasses sit perched on a small table that supports an old typewriter and a few books, the titles of which I don't recall.

Franken is on a "banana republic" jag for some reason. He's used the phrase at last four times in the last 15 minutes in reference to America.

I hope we get a station with the cojones to air the show on the radio - though I doubt it will happen since I'm living in the Bible Belt, a bastion to right-wing conservatism. Still, I hope!

It's 1:36 p.m. right now and I'm trying to decide when I should call Debbi. Seems like everytime I call she's in the middle of her exercise routine, which pisses her off and puts me in the doghouse for an hour to two.

Stephen King's "Kingdom Hospital" is definitely better than the Danish? or Netherlands' version, though it was the original. But I hope it picks up the pace a bit. It's moving too slowly! But I'm going to hang with it and give it chance since King pays off more often than not.

Another program that's grabbed my loyal attention is "Deadwood" on HBO. Now I don't get HBO because I can't afford it, but Debbi does so I get to watch it - usually the 11 p.m. feed. Great characters, good acting, fantastic sets and costumes and wonderful scripts, so far. Also worth checking it out if you can.

So that's it for now. Hope your life is blossoming in just the way you'd hoped it would today.

Peace out.