#AMWRITING #BLOGGING - WE ARE A NATION OF HOLLOW DREAMS

For the last three months I have been in a voluntary quarantine. As soon as I heard about the Coronavirus and the first cases were announced in Seattle, I went straight to my PCP and in our short-hand lingo, discussed triage, supplies and what it all would mean for me, as I'm high-risk. Having worked in a tertiary care facility for four years, I knew that I was way down on the list for any kind of care, other than palliative, and in five minutes, I knew that I would be staying indoors for the duration of whatever this was, until a suitable vaccine was cobbled up, by our health industry.

I just had no idea that beneath the layers of what seemed to be a functioning (albeit, a dysfunctional one) nation, lay fault lines that were well-nigh insurmountable and that, moreover, the Powers-That-Be would not be swayed by a mere Pandemic to let their Better Angels out to save the day. No, all this lay ahead, to be peeled back in an ugly and rapacious manner that becomes uglier and meaner each day.

In early March*, when it seemed that we would have most of our work force staying “at home”, with the exception of the essential workers, and it was being bandied about in the House and Senate regarding Incentive checks and PPP for small businesses, there was also discussion about rent and mortgage “forgiveness” that would allow people to stay in their homes or apartments if they were furloughed. It was called H.R. 6515 and introduced 4/17/2020. This was to take care of folks to make sure that the homeless population didn't worsen, and to keep PEOPLE IN PLACE, during the Pandemic.

*Not precisely sure of the time lines, or when this was first talked about. 

I hate changing tracks like this, but I must at this juncture; one of the reasons I haven't blogged as much as I used to, as everything has overwhelming, but this, this is too much. My fiancé came home the other day from work (he works for the DOD and IS essential) and had a small children's bicycle, and a kids' hot-wheels toy in the trunk. I asked him where they had come from.

We, of course, have no children. We're going to fix them up and give them away; it just breaks my heart to see them.

It turns out that there is an apartment complex about ½ mile from our house, and it is for lower-income people. Our dog, Ripley, always runs over there and plays with all the other dogs when he gets off of his chain, or out of the house; we're familiar with the people there. So, James told me that people are being evicted right and left there. There are toys, clothing; kids' clothing, furniture, all piled up out there. I'm just enraged. What happened to all this “forgiveness” of rent? Is it because we're living in a Red State, but this doesn't translate to a Black or Brown State? Did the money just disappear into some fat cat's pocket up there in Columbia, or Raleigh, or wherever?

The toys are well-used and also well-kept. The children obviously were proud of them.

Every one of those toys is some kids' ruined dream; a failure on the part of this country. We can't teach them, we can't house, feed, or clothe them. What is wrong with this society, and what do we have to fear by teaching everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, to the best of our ability, to be the best that they can be. NO child should have his or her dream, or ideal kicked to the curb by some money-grubbing fat bastard who doesn't need another goddamned dime from the American Public, or from anyone, period!

We have no way of knowing where the families may have gone, or if they're homeless. We're in a small town. So, they're probably in Greenville, or Spartanburg.

The Pandemic laid bare the fault lines that may have remained hidden for five years, or a decade. This country has become a weakened shell; a former chimera of itself. Our infrastructure has rotted to nothing. Bridges collapse daily, killing people in cars trying to cross them. Dams burst, flooding towns; two in Michigan burst last week. We have a golden opportunity to put together another CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) to re-build our infrastructure, yet, our government is so corrupt with nepotism and incompetence and revolving door-ism, if Trump doesn't like the cut of someone's jib that nothing gets done, except some more GOP judges, who are unfit to judge dog shows are packed onto benches, because right-wing matters. If Trump doesn't like the news, he either lies about it, or he lies about what he just said, claiming it was "sarcasm". Who does that?

My baby Glenn, wondering why Mama's crying.

I've said this before and I'll say it again; two of the finest Americans who were at total opposites of the spectrum as regards politics are no longer with us and I'm talking about my parents. My father used to joke about how he was to the right of the John Birch Society and my mother used to say she was a bomb-thrower (Anarchist, for those not in the know), yet, we had some of the best political discourse around our dinner table that I'll never forget, and I'm so goddamned glad they're not here to see this mess of a country. I have a passport and don't think that I'm not thinking about maybe packing it in and making it back to the Auld Sod, as an Ex-Pat, when all of this shit is over. I'm so done with whatever is going on here and I'm not even sure if the U. S. is able to see its way out of the mess that is COVID-19.

As long as people keep lying to themselves and going outside and doing all of the things that are counter-intuitive and playing politics, there is going to be THIS Pandemic. Coronavirus don't care if you're GOP, DEM or INDEPENDENT. It's not about politics. It's not about your stupid freedoms. You're not having a “Rosa Parks” moment, by defying any government's (Federal or State's) orders and herding up together with your friends. Your Civil Rights are not being trampled. Imagine this were WW II. Would you go outside in London during the Blitz, because the German bombs were taking away your rights to stand in the streets and get blown to bits? I thought not. Think on that, this Memorial Day, and remember those who died for us, so we could live.

#amwriting #blogging – POLITICS NOW

I sat here for approximately fifteen minutes looking at this stupid computer screen, just trying to think of a title of this post and I just couldn't come up with one. Possibly because the state of my country has become of such over-weening concern since I returned from Japan and I cannot seem to think of anything else. I've had some minor financial things to do that are to be expected when being out of country, or out of residence for over a month, but that has been nothing compared to the things I've been reading, seeing and then trying to process in some way that make any sense at all to anything I've experienced in American life over some 60-plus years, and I'm coming up with nothing, bupkis, nada, nichdo; my mind is either a confused mess or a blank.

Whether it's trying to create analogies with information I'm seeing now from previous experiences to try and figure out where this is all going and coming up with either a giant hole, or a huge apocalyptic nightmare, or pretend I'm some sort of modern-day Kremlinologist (which I was damned good at, but THIS sucks!) and learning about the Rasputin-like Steve Bannon and the terribad Jeff Sessions (Really?) and the less-than mediocre picks for Trump's Cabinet and his choice for Supreme Court – which 54% of the vote HAD dictated that the previous President should have chosen, by the way, you stupid Democrats, it always circles around to looking like a country and a world, that is close to coming off of the rails.

courtesy:theindystar.com                                        

This is not the REAL cabinet; but the real deal is a whole lot motlier-looking and the people in the real cabinet had on terrible clothes, slouched and looked all together unprofessional, so I found this mock-up on the Indiana Star website of sports figures made up as Trump's cabinet. They'd probably be better than the meatheads he's trying to get confirmed anyway.

I truly wonder if our allies and non-allies have ever stopped to wonder what it would be like to have a less-than great, or even good America on the planet, as I think Donald Trump is determined to make us, by looting the coffers of whatever he can loot for himself and his buddies, with nary a peep from any watchdog agency, Congressional or otherwise. Although Trump is determined to tell us he's going to “make America great again”, there's never been any real indication that it was less than so, and financial and other indicators bear this out.

A very valued and trusted friend has also pointed out to me, that since the end of World War II, our own war dead has dramatically fallen, although our engagements in war zones at times may seem profligate. I am making no excuses for George Bush's hare-brained rush into Iraq and Afghanistan back in 2003, but with the exception of terrorists and terrorist-states, such as ISIS, countries have abided by rules of engagement, which have lowered military and civilian casualties dramatically.

So, it would seem that our own danger, as during the McCarthy years is actually from within, at least, that is how I parse it out. Yes, we have become more divisive and the atmosphere is much more toxic and bellicose; more than I have ever seen and each time Trump issues an edict, signs a directive, makes a phone call, or any move at all, folly and confusion ensues, with back-tracking and alternate facting all the way.

Who in the HELL came up with this Orwellian term? An “alternate fact” is a lie, pure and simple. When Kellyanne Conway babbled some nonsense about the “Bowling Green Massacre” and then Chelsea Clinton called her on it, what did La Kellyanne do? Bitch at Chelsea about some Bosnian shit. That right there is called misdirection and dissembling, and is the first bastion of a liar. What in the FUCK would Chelsea have been able to do at that time, other than possibly find Bosnia on a map? She was a school-girl at the time of the incident and was in no position to be making policy.

Conway never did answer Clinton on Twitter about that; she couldn't because she made it up out of whole cloth. Two men were arrested in Bowling Green on weapons charges, but that is a long way from a massacre. The only thing that died in this fiasco was the truth, and Twitter made the most of it, with hashtags #BowlingGreenMassacre, #NeverRemember and #AlwaysForget, as people held fake vigils for the Bowling Green Massacre that failed to happen. 

Although I'm laughing at the absurdity of this and thinking of the millions that would have shown up to Trump's Inauguration had they not been cut down in the line of fire during this horrendous Massacre that was not reported on, or at least missed us in Japan, I DID have to remember, (or is it forget?) that the news cycles in this country have become notoriously quick and even though I was only gone a month, it's a damned shame I wasn't here to wear a black armband, or ribbon or something for a few minutes in remembrance of the millions slain. Damned shame.

Of course, Twitter, being Twitter, much hilarity is to be had over this nonsense. It's actually a blissful relief and a reminder that all is not dire when you see drivel like this.

This is how we veer off into the absurdity of the New Administration. This is also coupled with the Holocaust Remembrance, that was Jew-free this year. Thank goodness; they've been hogging the whole thing to themselves for years and we KNOW other folks died there, too, in some camps or in battles, or during sieges or something. It was just insane back then, from September 1, 1939 to August 14, 1945, when we finally ended World War II. So, we know some holocaustin' was going on, and it wasn't just Jews, so we just didn't even bother with them this year.

They went the way of Fred Douglass who “has done a really good job” and more and more people are knowing about him all the time, because he's done such a really good job. When Trump talked about him for Black History Month, I completely forgot who he was, and I felt like ole Freddie was right there in the room with me; Trump did such a swell job of bringing him to life. I hope we get to here more such encomiums with such descriptive terms. I cannot wait until he talks about George Washington Carver, botanist, scientist, and an expert witness, who, during segregation was routinely called to Washington, D. C. to deliver expert testimony. He was granted extra time, because it was thought that he would be “slow”. *snort* Trump will tell us that he was a really, really good guy, who does a good job, which would be a neat trick, since Carver died in 1943.

Frederick Douglass? George Washington Carver? Trump's Random Black Guy? Just my hero, Muhammad Ali. All the same to the Donald. I'm sure he thinks Ali "does a real good job, so many people are coming to know him!".

But these along with all of the crazy stories about praying for Arnold during the National Prayer Breakfast, so that he does better on Trump's show “The Apprentice” and hanging up on the Australian Prime Minister, are mere sideshows, to the main issue itself: where is America going with Trump at the helm?

This also raises more questions; will Trump survive four years, or will he finally commit an actionable crime that the DOJ will hop on and appoint a Special Prosecutor to begin Impeachment proceedings? If this happens then, we will have to put up with Mike Pence for the rest of Trump's term. Pence will be a good little soldier – I hope – and just try to keep the ship off the shoals.

I have been done with the GOP for years; I seldom vote for a GOP candidate, and it's generally a local one, in the General election, as I am a registered Independent, but I'm now also done with the Democrats as well. They have had every opportunity to push back against Trump, as did Reince Priebus, ex-head of the RNC (him and his stupid, goddamned, fucking loyalty oath*; that back-fired spectacularly!)  and every other GOP'er who were NEVER, EVER gonna support Trump. From that evil devil Ted Cruz, to bloated Chris Christie, they all fell like a bunch of dominoes before the monolithic Communist juggernaut, much like the oft-maligned Truman Doctrine – which in reality has proven to be wrong.

*The link is an article written by Jason Linkins of HuffPo and is one of the most lucid pieces of writing on this subject, and I highly recommend you read it, if you don't know much about that part of the GOP's history. 

The Democrats just basically rolled over and gave up when HRC lost the election. It was not until their own voter base began to call and email in desperation and in droves - clogging up Congressional inboxes -  and asked them to do something regarding the immigration ban, regarding the seven states and Muslims, that they were finally prompted to act. I was already over them. My own Senator, Bill Nelson, Florida-(D) last tweeted about Gene Cernan's death, until someone booted him in the ass on Twitter and told him to GET BUSY (Don't look at me in that tone of voice!). Really? Gene Cernan, Senator?

But for that, I'm done! Personally I think it best if the Dems just sit back and let Rome burn. I really think this system is so beyond saving that we need a good train wreck to shock everyone out of their complacency and start really taking things seriously. I may not always sound serious and I'm the last person to let a serious time get in the way of my funnin', as we say here in Florida. The fourth estate – mainstream journalism – needs to be ethical and punctilious in its fact-checking, lest it run afoul of the fifth estate – bloggers like me and outliers. We – still speaking as the fifth estate here, need to be diligent in fact-checking what our politicians and media are saying and doing and reporting, because truth is a rare commodity in the political arena and news needs to be fair and unbiased.

Once upon a time, all the news did was report the FACTS, and editorializing was strictly held to be a separate function in any news organization. It's true that newspapers were recognized as conservative or liberal, but they were restrained in their views as such and they were open to printing opposing views. Bill Maher made a very good point about the demonstrations and violence at Berkeley University over the speech that was to be given by famous internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos, invited by Berkeley Young Republicans. Berkeley owns up to the fact that they had an obligation to provide a platform for Milo to give his speech, and they are right, as is Maher. Progressives and liberals do not have a right to condemn what Trump says, hateful as it is, and then quash another speaker for the same thing. Just because someone gives a speech that we may label as hate speech, this does not give us the right to quell the speaker. He/she has that right. For us to defend the 1^st Amendment, means we defend it all the way, not cherry-pick the parts we like; this is dangerously close to Trump territory, who already has a bill in the works that could very well quash parts of the 1^st Amendment. The Fifth Estate is watching this carefully and hopefully, the Fourth Estate is on this, as well.

This. . . guy. I started a petition for his recall from Marquette County. He is a "family and faith" values kinda hypocrite and a coward. In the face of this heat, he's closed all of his social media accounts, but not before I informed him I was pitching for his recall. Sometimes, the fifth estate crosses boundaries into the third estate (the vox populi, as it were).

The Berkeley incident also gave a hapless Michigan GOP gorm, by the name of Dan Adamini to remark that “another Kent State” would be timely right about now. Yes, by all means; let's ratchet up the tension in this country from demonstrations to shooting students. Then, we can call out the U. S. National Guard, declare Martial Law and have Missile Parades and we're all done. Curfew's at 6 pm and you'd better be home from your shitty job at Mickey D's, or you'll be shot on sight. That's how you fix this country, by God!

But this new Administration has fostered this sort of thinking and it is now rife and seems to be okay. We can legitimatize the KKK and take them out of their sheets and take away their guns and moonshine and put them in tweed suits and call them alt-Right, but it's still the same old White Supremacy crap. Along with this comes the “it's okay to hate innalekshuals, wimmen and free-thinkers” nonsense, too.

You can see why I would go merrily down this road; we're less than three weeks into The Donald's reign of Terror and the country is in total upheaval, or something close to it. I am no longer proud to be an American and am considering where my next home is going to be. My better 2/3rd's and I have discussed it; lots of muttering over the phone. We still have obligations here in this goddamned place until the end of 2017, so we're trying to behave and not bring chaos down upon our heads before the balloon goes up – another worry. The Donald and nukes; shudder. Maybe we'll end up on an island and just play jazz forever.

In my case, my 2/3rds'll make room for some Beethoven, along with some moonlight, and it will be all right.

Anyway, I've summed it up as well as I know how; I still have little to no clarity on where any of this is going and it's partly because I doubt Trump himself knows what he's doing from moment to moment. I feel better for venting, but that's all. The people I've written about, I will be watching, via my usual methods, which I never discuss. Just know that I have some formidable resources at hand and I also have kick-ass computer skills, courtesy years spent in the trenches at IBM and Verizon, and a good degree. Again, I'm through with any Dem currently holding office and will vote against ALL of them in the 2018 elections; too little too late. I' counting on the GOP to self-immolate by 2018 and we'll hopefully have just seats of cinders who will miss votes and do about as much as they've done as they did during President Obama's terms. But, by then, I may not care. Peace out, and have a good week!

#ROW80 1ST QTR 2016 – A COUNTRY ON THE BRINK

Well, so much for goals. I started a little serial novel, and then damn! If it didn't become part of my own little “Nebraska Creepers” serial. But seriously? It's a good thing I have that kind of psychopathic moxie, because it seems to me, we're headed down a road that is going to produce a singularity, and I may need my ability to let go of every human inhibition to survive. I do believe I posess the flip side of a serial murderer and I can conjure that up easily, if need be. With the country's situation quickly unraveling that may be necessary. Lemme explain, or at least try to clarify.

courtesy:fox8.com

The last time the USA had a Presidential slate like this was with the Dems in 1984, and no one could put up a candidate to beat Ronald Reagan. Every jackleg on this podium is not qualified to be President, and most are incompetent in whatever it is they do. God help us all.

On the one hand we have the GOP. I may as well start with them first, since they're the most obvious. Ted Cruz is running for President and so far, NOT ONE jackhole in power has done ANYTHING about the fact that he is not a native-born American! I personally believe the FEC (Federal Election Committee) is run by no one, or Keebler Elves, or Christ knows who, because back last summer they let a guy named “Deez Nuts” in Iowa register to run for Prez and it turned out to be a 15-year old kid in Iowa who polled 3^rd behind Donald Trump in North Carolina, when “Deez Nuts” asked to be polled, because dems da rules. “Deez Nuts” got the idea when some 17 year old in Kentucky recruited his friend's cat “Limberbutt McCubbins” to run for President and that created some kind of press interest. How fucked up is that?

courtesy:nytimes.com

Okay, so with these two in the Executive Branch, something might get done. Gridlock, back-biting and I suspect, greed, corruption and out-of-itness as regards the American people are at an all-time high. Not that we didn't help, by not checking out the jackanapes who were running for office and that we elected.

So, we have like 70 jillion people running for President on the GOP side, and that's a huge mess, because everyone seems to be waiting for the other guy to denounce Donald Trump, but this guy is not going away. The reality of a Trump Presidency is very real and it's scary, but no one is calling out Ted Cruz on his non-American birth, which should have been done, the minute he filed for his candidacy. When did we get so sloppy?

courtesy:www.bizpacreview.com

Gah! What a pair of feckless gorms! I'm not sure which looks phonier. Don, with that god-awful hair and flappy lips, or Ted and his Bob's Big Boy countenance. What's up with those thumbs? Are they getting ready to ram them up each other's asses?

Over on the Dems' side, it ain't lookin' much prettier. The smaller the margin, or the farther behind Hillary falls, the shriller she sounds and the more she flails around. She also is carrying some pretty hefty baggage that MUST be addressed when she takes office. Bernie was right at the beginning of the Debate Season (why must there be debates like, every other minute?) when he said “forget about the emails” at THAT juncture, he was right, but as more and more information comes out, it looks like Hillary did some pretty shady stuff. Also, I do not believe that she really and truly has the people's interests at heart. It boils down to trust and I no longer believe her. I do believe Sanders and I'm with him now.

courtesy:npr.com

Not to turn into a catty bitch, but ME-OW. That coat Hillary has on is eye-scorching and she apparently got it from Dolce-Gabana and wore it everywhere. It's hideous! One other thing, Sanders got 60% of the Primary Vote in New Hampshire, and Hillary only got 33%, yet she won more delegates, due to the stupid system they have with the Super delegates, whatever in the hell those are. No wonder the system is broken. It allowed George W. Bush to "steal" two elections and that whole system needs revamping.

Sanders is a populist in the truest, most old-fashioned sense of the word. He understand what this country is going through and while I do not believe this can be fixed in two Presidential terms, we can start the correction. I believe Obama, being a realist knew this when he took office and knew he was going to take heat for it in his second term. This mess took 40 years to take hold; it will not be fixed in six years. A new approach is needed and Sanders knows this.

courtesy:en.wikipedia.org

The Right Honorable Judge Scalia was very conservative and he spoke plainly and sometimes roughly, but all who knew him said he was a kind man and took his responsibilities very seriously. Who wouldn't being a judge on the highest bench in the country. Liberals had nothing good to say about him. Although I may seem to have a liberal cant, I am an Independent and NEVER vote platforms. He wrote opinions that I often agreed with, and I'm sorry he's gone. Most Supreme Court Judges live to be eleventy-billion years old. President Obama is correct in trying to name a replacement as soon as possible. It is one of his Constitutional duties, and the ninnies in Congress need to shut their pie-holes and read the Constitution. The House Whip needs to send them to bed without their Scotch.

And now, we have the sudden, unexpected death of Antonin Scalia and the whole of the Republican Congress goes batshit insane and tells Obama he CANNOT install a replacement. What horseshit. This is the LEGISLATIVE branch of our government telling the EXECUTIVE branch of our government what it can or cannot do with the JUDICIAL branch of the government.

courtesy:co.telegraph.uk

Geeze, President Obama has gotten gray since taking office. No wonder, dealing with all the shit he's had to take. He still has like 300+ more days. He's probably counting the minutes.

I do not believe any of these pinheads who are hollering that Obama CANNOT appoint a replacement have read the Constitution and it's time they did so. The 3 branches of government were created separately to keep any one branch of government from holding too much power or garnering it. If Obama backs down and gives in, this is tantamount to saying, “Okay, Legislature, I guess you rule here.” What nonsense.

This is the kind of stuff that brings on civil unrest and we're not all that far from that scenario. We have para-military groups within the police that act with impunity. Not all police are bad. My Aunt and Uncle's family are rife with people in law enforcement and they know their responsibilities are to the citizens they protect. You will find no more such honorable and extraordinary men and women who put their lives in harm's way.

courtesy:funnyjunk.com

A cute picture; we actually have parties with our District 3 Tampa Police, about four times a year. The fact that I live in a highly dangerous area is one of the reasons, but these guys know our names, know who lives where and they do check up on us. After the thwarted home invasion here, they've been by to check up on me. Tampa is NOT a small town, but this 'hood has a small town mentality.

However, in Ferguson, Baltimore and elsewhere, there are horrible problems with the police and they are more apt to kill a citizen and concoct some story later. There are “dark” places in Chicago, where people are held against there will, with no formal charges, thus abrogating our last true civil right that defined the difference between us and either a fascistic or tyrannical state. This may not be occurring on a National level, but we need to unshroud these mysteries and pull all of it into the light. Does Rahm Emanuel know of this? Being Obama's friend and confidante, how far up does the rot go? I'm not insinuating anything; merely trying to connect dots.

courtesy:www.slate.com

No one wants to see a military state, but with the passage of the Patriot Act, oodles and oodles of money went to local and state law enforcement and certain of the agencies ramped up their equipment, armor and weapons, beyond anything that would be needed against the local citizenry. Either through oversight, or planned, we have the mechanisms in place to become a police state, over a "terrorist act"; it won't take much

I have mentioned in the past that we've pretty much just given away our III, IV, V, IX and XIV Amendment rights, with the passage and the extension of the Patriot Act. Most of us are all too familiar with the “slippery slope” theory, or as we cross one line, it becomes easier to cross others. They're not easy to retreat from and if we are serious about “making corrections” we have to really look at where we are and be bluntly honest with ourselves. We didn't get here by being proactive and caring about what our country means to us.

courtesy.usmagazine.com

There was a time when I felt proud to be an American; that time has long gone. In a way, I'm glad my parents are deceased. They set great store on being Americans, as many immigrants do, but they would not be proud of this country. They could not look around and say, "yes, I recognize this; this is MY America!" They would just hang their heads in shame.

We can stand up and thrill to Lady GaGa singing the “Star Spangled Banner” as jets fly overhead and Super Bowl L commences. We can tell ourselves that America is still great, but it's a hollow lie and if anything, we have become the enemy. We do all of the nefarious shit that we hold against our villains and we delude ourselves, when we talk about our “generosity as Americans”. We may be so in the specifics, but in general? We are monsters; we have no compunction about bombing other countries, taking out civilians and in some cases, killing our own people in the name of “national security” or as “collateral damage”. None of it is worth it, but we, The People ceased caring long ago. We have turned ourselves over to The State, and the only reason the State exists is to ensure the existence of the State.

#ROW80 WEDNESDAY CHECK IN – LIVE! BLOGGING FROM MY HEAD

The title says it all. In a desperate attempt to come up with some kind of topic, and since my WIP is pretty much lying doggo at the bottom of a lake, for the time being, until I can get past some of whatever the hell is going on in my life, I'm taking the lazy way out.

Yup, just record all the random shit that pops into my head, as so many bloggers do from Fashion Week, the Super Bowl, the Curiosity landing on Mars, and my favorite, the GOP convention. The convention graced us with its presence here in Tampa, last summer, and had the gall and hypocrisy to troll up and down in their stretch limos on Nebraska Avenue, looking for not constituents, but the hos and the crack, while trumpeting and fum-fawing about “family values” and all of their other platform-type argle-bargle. Those limos looked like a Hollywood Premiere, or maybe Prom Night; same diff. It was also typical of the GOP to blame the lack of enthusiasm and the ultimate loss of Mitt Romney to Tropical Storm Debbie. Then, they blamed the Republican Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey for not showing up at some rally or another, because he stayed at home to help his state after Hurricane Sandy. Sheesh.

We need to do away with these bastards on the grounds of sheer hideousness, never mind their space-ship politics, although they have some seriously warped ideas about everything and no rational arguments.

I sat here in my little room and “pretended” to live-blog, but not nearly as well, nor as hysterically funny as Chuck Wendig's #fakedebate, which was a true howl. But, the best thing I got out of that whole craziness with the GOP cluttering up Tampa, was connecting with Jason Linkins who writes political analysis for Huffington Post. Turns out he was in town, in Ybor City, enjoying a pizza and tweeted about it. I saw it and tweeted back. He ACTUALLY responded! I've been a fan of his writing and analysis for a long time. He's funny, and oh, so bright and can make really dense issues clear. Rock on, Jason!


Trying to figure out our own HARTline bus schedule was a nightmare. Plus, there were so many trucks with bullhorns hollering “VOTE FOR ROMNEY,” it reminded me of the old-timey campaigning on the hustings, when LBJ would race around Texas and drum up votes. These guys just competed with the boom boxes, making everything unintelligible and louder. But, I digress.


Blogging In My Head


11:30 pm: Uninstall and re-install HP software for the 85th time. While doing so, stumble across all the shit Uninstall left behind. Boot into Safe Mode and zap all the HP shit. Whilst doing so, discover that all the PATH statements still have that goddamned JAVA . Delete from strings and save. Reboot and pray. Yay! It worked; still have the touch!

Startin' to hate these guys, too. Perfect install, eleventy-billion times. This white elephant scans, but won't save, so I save it as a screen-shot and it's great. And don't talk to me about the Martians at Customer Support.

12:00 am: Scan “Mel Bay's Ukelele Chord Book. Gag gift, trying to find Asleep At The Wheel “Ida Red.”

Mel Bay has a book for every single instrument ever made; zithers, balalaikas and probably krumhorns and bagpipes. Here's a joke. Q: Why do bagpipers walk when they play? A: To get away from the sound. My dad's rolling around in his urn in the 8th Air Force Cemetery, right now.

12:30 am: Still looking for that stupid song, the gag won't work without the song. $%$^(#


12:32 am: Starting to feel crappy. Test sugar.. HOLY SCREAMING SHIT!!! 335 WTF???


12:33 am: Make a sandwich; eat sandwich. Why in the hell are those birds cheeping on Hulu+ oh, it's the Cheep-Cheep commercial. Some shit about insurance? Who knows. At least it's not those fucking bears.


12:40 am: JC pops up. Blink, blink. He fumbles for his shoes. “You okay?” I ask. “Yea, gotta pee.” I say, “my sugar was 335!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!! But I ate a sandwich” JC, not being quite awake, says, “That's nice.” He trundles off to pee.


2:00 am: Binge-watching the 4th season of the “Good Wife” on Hulu+ I feel like a bat, up all night and then sleep until 3 or 4 pm. Ick. I always think of my stand partner “Somnambula.” This was when I was a touring musician and spent 9 or 10 months of the year on the road. When I first met “Somnambula,” we were playing in an orchestra that was like the “101 Strings,” or the “Cascading Strings,” or as we called it, the “Castrating Strings.”


We played all that schlocky kind of music, light opera, operetta, or crap like the “Yellow Rose of Texas” where we had a 100-voice choir that shouted it's way through these masterpieces. Anyway, we were playing some idiot waltz, and damned if “Somnambula” didn't just fall asleep in the middle of an oom-pah-pah measure (violas were the pah-pahs; if anyone EVER practiced this crap, they needed to go back to remedial viola school. One of my roommates, another violist, told me about a violist on another tour who DID practice that shit. She and I were like OOOOOH NOOOOO!) Beethoven you practice. You sight-read this crap.


Anyway, “Somnambula's” switch went to “off” and stayed there for about 16 measures. I could see him out of the corner of my eye and he looked like a still life. Then, his switch went to “on,” and damned if he didn't come right in where he was supposed to. I got used to it. Every viola player I have ever known has had a screw loose somewhere, including me. “Somnambula” would be all bright-eyes and wide awake at 4 am, but during the day? Forget it. Once, he didn't make the bus call, and the bus captain went back into the hotel to look for him. My dear, belated friend Spencer said “He's probably hanging by his toes in a closet somewhere.” I still laugh.


4:10 am: I have a “practice studio” kind of set up in the back of the apartment. My preference would be in the living room, but JC has his computer and TV there. This will work, I can open the back door and watch the birds and possums and raccoons. Not so much tedium awaits, it's building stamina and running patterns. Ugh.


4:22 am: Pick out JC's clothes for tomorrow (today, really) and set out copies of his medical release, so he can go back to school. Living a riveting life, but I like to do things for him.


4:25 am: Pondering on how to mess with the NSA some more. New trick. You have to have 2 cell phones, but one has to be a throwaway prepaid. Call that one, leaving it open and hide it somewhere: dumpster, trash can, close or far in your city. Talk on your phone, using lots of cryptic numbers, and phrases. Parts of adverts and catalogues are perfect for this. Do this enough times, someone will show up at your door. Let them know you've been receiving coded messages on your dental fillings. It really helps if you have a couple of your windows covered over with tin foil, as I do, because of the heat factor, but this will work just as well.


5:02 am: When did advertisers decide that “idiot music” was the norm? Da-de-da-de-da-de clapclap Da-de-da-de-da-de clapclap (repeat 87 times in the key of Happy) It sucks so bad; it's worse than Mozart. Well, maybe not. Even I can write better music than that and I stink on ice. “A Prius for Everyone,” is the flamingest worst. It sounds like music composed by a bastardized Atari and a Mattel Jack-in-the-Box.




5:03 am – 3:00 pm Sleep and badly. Sugar still a pain in the ass. Fasting sugar is 158. WTF? Still, I have a dr appointment scheduled and blood work to be done. Getting old isn't for weenuses.


3:00 pm to 6:00 pm: Hunt for stupid reference in one of the “Asleep at the Wheel” tunes on YouTube, where during a vamp, 2 of the fabulous guitarists throw around this deathless badinage; Guitar player 1: “Look, Mel Bay has a book on Learning to play the Guitar in 3 days!” Guitar player 2: “Let's buy it!” All gleefully said, as they hammer through some of the finest Texas Swing and I can't find this GODDAMNED SONG. I have Mel's Uke book and even his Balalaika book, but I'll be damned if I can find this stupid song! Without the book, my very carefully scanned and arty(!?) cover will have no meaning, kinda like my life, right now. Just kidding.


7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Oh boy, chili dogs and “World's Dumbest ________ .” This show is guaranteed to run forever, because there is no shortage of stupid in this world. And even when you can see the outcome from 2000 miles away, they go right ahead and do it anyway. Some commit serial stupidities; 3 or 4 times. Unreal.


9:00 pm – 11:00pm: Trying to kill the Boss in “Death of Chivalry” quest. Here comes the fail-boat, toot-toot! After I die for the 3rd time, I say “the hell with it,” and decide to watch season 4 of “The Good Wife,” on Hulu + for awhile.


09/19/2013


2:00 am: Off to bed; JC is going to have surgery on his wrist tomorrow and I am going with him. I know he's scared; he has a low threshold to pain and it is worrying him. So, I'm going to keep him company and distracted, because I do love him so.

P. S. I finally got the dr. authorization for my Cymbalta, today. 7 weeks. Unreal.

ROW 80 POST 41 – THE RISING OF A DARK NIGHT, PART 1

This title, as all my titles, is a deliberate play on words. Beginning with the tragic and horrific shooting at the Batman "Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado on July 20^th, 2012, we now have witnessed the bookend, at least I fervently hope, but I fear that is going to be unmet, at the Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut, where little schoolchildren were the apparent Big Bad, in what has become a depressingly, horrendously, all too-familiar script. 

Unfortunately, even the Batman can't fix this.

I hardly ever, ever write about current events. The fact that I feel compelled to do so, was driven by this one picture; this undid me. Not the Batman. But the Brinkers. I owe dadblunders much. He has been such a wonderful presence in my life. He and his family. They are a reminder of all that is bright and warm and hopeful in life. Families just as great as theirs were destroyed last night. Never, ever forget that. That's how this post came to be. Shame on me for ignoring all other tragedies of this ilk. Shame on me for not speaking out. For not thinking "it will never change." Of course it won't if I write and do nothing. It will never happen again.

Along with the ever-increasing body count, we also have the ever-increasing screeds and alarums coming from the nuts of the right-wing and the NRA, who keep insisting that NOW is not the time to discuss gun control. If not NOW, then WHEN? The last time, 3 days ago, was not the time. It’s never the time; it will NEVER be the time according to the NRA. 

In fairness, the NRA does promote gun safety and proper usage, but is tangled up with the usual gang of idiots, who vow to hang on to their weapons until they are pried from "my cold, dead hands." That time can't happen soon enough for me, if the recent carnage is any indication of their stability.

All the worn shibboleths are trotted out: “Great, when we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.” And, “Our 2^nd Amendment rights guarantee us the right to bear arms.” Fine. Terrific! But, I’m pretty sure, that as with ALL of our Bill of Rights amendments and the wide language employed deliberately, so that states’ interpretations could be employed, this did NOT mean, "let's use school children for hunting practice."

Let’s get real here. The 2^nd Amendment, like all of our amendments uses porous language, purposely to allow it to be used as framework to construct a tighter law. It does not mean, “Gee, let’s just use it to mean whatever the hell we want it to mean and fall back on it whenever we fuck up!” I’m talking to you, GOP and NRA. 

Just because you all think you look sexy as hell running around waving your Glocks and .387 Magnums doesn’t confer you with sexy, or power, or a big wang, either. No one is going to rape your dog or steal your kids. The fact that we have dead school children, CHILDREN killed DELIBERATELY makes no impression on you whatsoever? If I sound provocative, I mean to. I think it's time to bring it on and have a good old-fashioned brawl. Let's put aside polite discourse, since that's getting us absolutely no where and y'all are doing whatever the fuck you want to do anyway. 

I call bullshit on your stupid, neanderthal attitudes, GOP and NRA! Are you listening to me, you morons? You are a bunch of white, mean-spirited, lick-spittle, cock-sucking assholes. You take it up the ass for every corporation and big business concern going and you're too pussy-whipped to stand up and say "THIS IS WRONG!" It's wrong to allow the allow killing machines, i.e. Assault Weapons (side note: CT DOES have an Assault Weapons Ban, so fair is fair.)

Now, having said all of that, I have to put on my devil's advocate hat and state that, the barn door is open, the horse is gone. I realize that these types of guns are easily bought on the black market and through gun lords and once procured, there you are. Still, this illustrates the very point, I think  what I'm trying to state in my confuse-a-what style is this: just because the horse is gone, doesn't mean we burn down the barn. We need to figure out how to corral the horse; carefully. Careless got us into this mess.

But, aside from that; what kind of cold-hearted bastards are you, GOP and NRA, that you cannot put yourselves in the positions of these families who are grieving over their lost children, their brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers and weigh the costs? Are you that granite-hearted? Are you that alienated from the human family? Don’t you see your country is hurting? This affects all of us; we are all grieving and diminished by this tragedy and your response is “Oh, this isn’t the time to talk about gun control.” Then, tell me, when is it the time? When one of your sons or daughters dies by a gunshot? How about then? Is that the time?