Separate is Almost Never Equal
I understand the argument that, as a society, there are so many grievances we have against one another that we should simply go to our separate corners and go with the "Separate but Equal" stance.
Start Somewhere
Murder in the Age of Expanding Connotation
Refusing to Take the Bait
When the new currency is won by throwing shit at each other, provoking an online fight is the way to go. I'm finding that I don't want to play that game anymore. That emotional intelligence is generally an oxymoron in that emotions tend to cancel out any intelligence in communicating.
Clearing Out the Detritus and Memory Hogging Applications
On my iMac I have a program called "Memory Clean." It's a cool, little third party application that lets me know on my dock how much memory is being used at any given time, which applications are using significantly high amounts of it and has a quick function that "cleans" out the used but unnecessarily overloaded memory so the damn machines can move more quickly, more smoothly, and more efficiently. I like it because A) it works the way it's supposed to and B) it gives me a sense of control I otherwise wouldn't have.
As tired as the "Computer Brain = Human Brain" metaphors are, this is one more of that stripe.
I Believe...
"Why?" Can Be a Cage of Epic Proportions
"When hungry, eat your rice; when tired close your eyes. Fools may laugh at me, but wise men will know what I mean." — Zen proverb
I'm not a zen guy. No—stop it with your assertions that somehow, with all of my bluster and over working that I am actually zen. I read Jeff Bridges book and I. AM. NOT. ZEN. I'd love to be a zen type but I have this die-hard battery up my ass that prevents the natural chill associated with being zen.
However...
It's the Common Ground Rather Than the Differences That Unify Us
"It tastes like chicken."
Why do we do that? Why do we compare a meat we aren't used to, that perhaps sounds alien like snake or crocodile or stingray, to the most common of American meat products?
I'd wager we do that because trying new and different things contains a risk. For most of us, risk is a bit uncomfortable because it has a real chance of tasting like shit. Which upon signaling our distaste, we are immediately judged for our terribly pedestrian tastes and told we are terrible people for sticking to the Olive Garden as fine dining.
Notes from the Post-It Wall — Week of April 23, 2017
I screwed up reinstalling a towel rack. My future as a successful family man is not a promising one.
"School of Hard Knocks" Teaches You Nothing More Than How to Take a Punch
Mistakes and failure are the ultimate teachers but the School of Hard Knocks Degree is a truckload of self delusion, friends. Your ability to eat a shit sandwich and not vomit makes you an expert in exactly jackshit except for being expert in being YOU and your poor taste in sandwiches. And, I hate to break it to you but YOU are not representative of any group larger than that mirror self you notice getting older and saggier every day.
You Are a Jellyfish On the Lip of the Vast Bowl That Holds the Sea
A long time ago, it was commonly known that the Earth was both flat and that the sun revolved around it rather than the other way around. People believed that women who were too emotional needed to have primitive devices masturbate them to relieve their hysteria. Most diseases, it was believed, could be cured by bleeding out the illness or by placing leeches on the body to suck out the sickness. It was commonly held that if one reduced the taxes on the wealthiest, the savings would trickle down to the rest of us.
Today we can look back on all of this and giggle at our collective gullibility in believing absolute unvarnished horseshit.
Official Report: Joe Diffie’s John Deere Green is the Greatest Country Song Ever
It is, at the surface and for everything it’s worth, a magnificent and simple American love story for the ages.
I Believe...
Calling it evil does not educate or calm people down and thus is wholly ineffective as a means for change.
Is It Art or Is It Competitive Therapy? The Paradox of the Slam
I love poetry. My wife is a poet. I love listening to poets recite their poetry. I have amazing memories of Marc Smith thrilling me with his almost preacher-like facility with the spoken word.
I am frequently torn by the child he birthed: Slam Poetry.
It's Sunny Here in Chicago and No One Knows What To Do
I don't know what to do. I'm at a loss. It's nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit. It's Sunny. It's a Saturday in April. And I feel this immense pressure to be outside. And if I'm not outside I internally scold myself for not being outside. So, I go outside on my balcony to write. And I am immediately hit with strong winds and pollutant smells. And I'm uncomfortable. And unhappy.
Today’s Writer’s Life—Heroin Would be Better
I stared at the computer keyboard for a while. I reviewed some notes. I sharpened a few pencils. I drank half a pot of coffee. I chewed seven pieces of cinnamon Trident gum. I read half a chapter in one of the eight books I’m actively reading. I made some administrative phone calls. I went on a refreshing walk with the dog.
Scar Tissue is a Badge
"Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on." — Henry Rollins
Shaping the Artistic Voice
I once read an article that discussed director Frank Galati's early fascination with Greek tragedy and how that has affected much of his work and it got my noggin' to churning. What artistic experiences shape those of us in the artistic community and how does that help to illuminate the overall landscape we see today?
I can clearly see the tendencies behind the work of Kristiana Colón or Nestor Gomez. I can make assumptions about those moments of artistry that shaped the voices of Scott Whitehair and of Annalise Raziq. So I asked myself "what were the five thought-shaping artistic experiences that I see as being seminal in both the work I do and the work I like?" and asked my internal Freud to connect the dots.
The Now Manifesto
There is a spectrum. a number line. upon which all of us exist, in some shade or gradient of human consciousness. Goodness, badness, plus and minus, ebb and flow, all rolled into one unique individual, built by an infinite series of genetic blueprints. Drastically complex nautilus shells. A geometric sequence at the core of all things. A natural algorithm.
Either a Jack or a Jill
Too many guns with too many bullets.
A nearly permanent underclass of black and brown people struggling just to eat and educate their children on wages that make everyone uncomfortable on some level.
Women marginalized across the globe.
Rape culture being redefined.
The homeless.
The hopeless.
The War on...
Drugs
Terror
Women
Deficits
Taxes
Police
The second voice arrived on Thursday morning while Monte was attempting to make toast.