MAYDAY

It occurred to me that one might be writing about May Day—whether as International Workers' Day, or just the celebration of spring—and leave out that space, between May and Day—and you get Mayday, the universally recognized distress signal. Another example of the frailty of communication, something I've thought about a lot lately, especially in relation to social media and the often confusing and misinterpreted signals, shorthand, and constantly changing conventions of what is still a social space in its infancy (and often seems determined to stay there, or just revel in being infantile). Anyway, just to be clear, this memo isn't a cry for help, no matter how confusing it might be. In fact, I feel comforted in knowing that I can just write this and post it, and if I don't draw anyone's attention to it (via guilt-tripping, taco bribes, or cat photos), it's very likely no one will see it whatsoever.

I woke up this morning out of a dream about being at the dentist; the hygienist was poking that scary pointy thing into a sticky spot, taking way too long, and that, “uh oh, I think I found a cavity” look on her face. There has been no dentist visit recently nor is one on the horizon. The perfectly blue, fall-like sky as I walked home from the library suddenly became stormy and I was caught in a hail storm which would have been kind of funny and even entertaining if it wasn't so cold and I wasn't worried about ruining my electronic devices. My shoes ended up so wet I may as well have been wading in the lake up to my knees. Still, I love weather extremes, and if that was the worst of the day, I should be thankful, I thought.

But most of this day I felt like everything was off. Also, it was one of those days with time passing twice as fast as it should, if you know what I mean. I had a mild migraine headache. I took a nap. I read some from a book by David Foster Wallace, an article called “David Lynch Keeps His Head” about visiting the set of the David Lynch movie, Lost Highway. Kind of an absurdly long article, kind of dated, but highly entertaining and making me sad that DFW is gone. The earlier thing I read today was kind of a random chapter (Chapter 57) of my dormant novel, The Doughnuts, looking for a sign that I should either give up on it and just put it away (forever) or actually publish it as a Kindle book, if nothing else. DFW briefly described the hotel he stayed in while in LA for the David Lynch article, and from just a few brief clues, I knew that it was the Sofitel across from the Beverly Center, a hotel I stayed at a few times and therefore used as a setting for an episode in The Doughnuts: a journalist is staying there while she visits a movie set. It is so close to the DFW/David Lynch situation that I'd be certain anyone reading it would think this article influenced me directly. This kind of freaked me out for awhile, today.

Earlier this year, considering this Doughnuts novel—be it failed and hopeless, mercifully euthanized, or just ignored (by me, and everyone else by extension)—I was thinking, maybe someone will tell me, finally, that I suck and should put my energy somewhere more productive. I guess I wondered if someone told me that, it would either confirm my suspicion that I suck, or else would make me more determined; more aggressive about finding an audience, any audience. So then, when someone did essentially tell me that (not “you suck”—but something along those lines, and I'm not going to be specific, revealing, or give anyone a hard time about it) my reaction has been to waver between one extreme and another. The odd David Foster Wallace coincidence today—if that's not some kind of a sign, I don't know what is. But then, I don't believe in signs. (Do you, imaginary reader?) Maybe not a sign, as in coming from some divine place, but a sign from me—to me.

Time and the Weather

I recently quit the job I've been working at since this beginning of the year. I'm not going to write anything about it directly, or about jobs, in general. It came to my attention once that I was ruled out for a possible job because the employer looked online and saw that I wrote “blogs”—and that apparently freaked them out. Though if they bothered to read the stuff I write they'd see that I don't write about jobs or people I know, and I'm not vindictive or even that angry or critical, and I certainly don't write for revenge or to hurt people. But I guess just the fact that one would publish their opinions about stuff, regardless of how few people read it, that scares some people. Or maybe just the word “blog” scares some people, though now it's widely considered to mean farting in the wind. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about where I worked, what the job was, or the people I worked with, except to say that it was for a company I respect, and with people I was quite fond of, and it was time to do something else for the sake of my mental, physical, financial, and creative well-being.

The successful part about this job—and what I'd hoped would be positive for me—was the contact with a wide variety of people and a high volume of people during a work day. And it was successful in that I came away feeling a kind of spiritual nourishment (maybe I should try church, or volunteering, huh, in the future?) that is kind of the opposite of the psychic numbing that develops day after day of sitting alone in a room isolated, which nurtures fear and paranoia. And while it worked, it also exposed me to some disturbing trends in the interaction and communication of people; this is stuff I've known about forever, but needed reminding, I guess.

First of all, it was kind of jarring to realize how much people seem to hate their jobs; either real displeasure with the job, or maybe the verbal expression of dissatisfaction, and most likely the combination of both. I realize that most people are working because they need the money they are making to get by (same here), and that looking for a job is one of the more frustrating ventures any of us go through in life. That is the reason so many people stick with jobs they “hate.” But to hear, day after day, complaints, bitterness, negativity—though nothing new or surprising to me—this time, it struck me as, “Whoa, this is not a good thing.” The part that hurts the most is when people talk about TIME, and how it is their enemy, and how they wish for it to pass as quickly as possible. Obviously, I realize that it's natural to want to get through the time you are spending doing something you don't like in order to get to the time spent doing something you do like. Still, hearing people constantly refer to hoping “time goes fast” and lamenting time that is “left” and just generally wishing for moments of existence to be gone—it bothered me more than it ever has. I believe that it's more than small-talk—that it's an indication of some really disturbing condition.

And talking about small-talk, something that began to bother me even more was the constant talk about the weather. In some ways, I love that people talk about the weather; maybe because it's an indication that we are all the same in many ways, and we are all simple beings, and we all bow down to something that we cannot control but affects us so much. The fact is, everyone (including me) talks about the weather; everyone from the world's geniuses, leaders, billionaires, dictators to the artists, elite athletes, shit-workers, butchers of human life, and saints. I suppose there is someone out there that doesn't ever talk about the weather—and they are likely to be shunned by society as “abnormal” and “insane.” I worry, sometimes, that even my weather preferential orientation (I like overcast skies and temperature in the thirties, and I love storms and snow) casts me as a weirdo, so I usually keep it to myself in order to “fit in.” But I still talk about weather. “Wow, nice day.” Who can resist? Or, blah, it's been rain for three days straight. Somewhere in the dark corners of comedy there are no doubt grim jokes about people on their way to the gas chamber complaining about the weather.

The pathetic thing about us humans is that each of us has a comfort zone that is narrower than ten degrees Fahrenheit, if you really think about it, and that's kind of scary. We can survive in a little bit larger temperature range, but one that is also tiny, relative to global scale. Even though a major accomplishment of human beings is that we have evolved our technology to the extent that we will be able to exterminate our entire population before nature gets around to it, still, the fact is that a stray asteroid or perhaps the sun meaninglessly issuing a random sun-fart will exterminate us all without ceremony. We don't worry about this because of the scale of time on a planetary level makes the brief appearance of the seven million of us on earth right now fairly insignificant. It will happen at some point, though, and whatever life form comes next won't care about or even notice our carefully preserved artifacts.

But most likely before that happens (unless we really outdo ourselves and accelerate our demise manually) everyone who ever cared about anything we care about now will be gone from all memory. As someone who turned 40 in the year 2000, I've found the time between then and now to be a blink of the eye. Yet, on my last day of work, I approached the time-clock for the last time prematurely and had to watch an entire minute click off before my final punch-out. It was an eternity. In that minute, I felt actual eternity, and in my small, practical, wisdom, I savored it. I wish I had the spiritual wisdom that I could also accept the reality that, essentially, I'm already gone. Failing all that, anyway, I think what I'll do today is be fully conscious when I approach yet another lunch, and I'm going to remember all this, and forget all this, upon first bite. And then I'm just going to enjoy my taco.

All I Need Is Love

Note: My annual Valentine's Day post. If you're happy and content today, stop reading after paragraph one. If you're feeling a little on the fence about this “love” stuff, stop reading after paragraph two. Everyone else, maybe read to the end. Thank you.

One of my earliest jobs was delivering flowers, which I did on and off over the years. For the flower industry, Valentine's Day is like their Christmas, and if you're not directly raking in the profits you tend to get a little soured by the attitude of, “You'd better spend some money on your lover or there'll be hell to pay.” So on this day in the past I've often written (or talked about) some negative take on the holiday, but this year—rather than being the VD Grinch—I'd rather wish—sincerely and from the depths of my heart—happiness continuing for those I know who are in good, positive, loving relationships.

But since this is about me, I have to continue. There has probably been more written about “failed relationships” than there are cat photos on the internet, but that term continues to be used, and fine if you must, but I'd appreciate if it wasn't used (even in your thoughts) about me. I have failed in nearly every walk of life, but as far as relationships go, I do not consider any of them failures, and I wouldn't change any of them if I could. Not that I didn't make like a million stupid mistakes, as does everyone, but in an overall overview, my intimate, loving, mind-altering, soul-adventuring, and heartbreaking long-and-short-term special friendships, affairs, and partnerships have given me happiness and made life worth living. I feel very, very lucky.

It's funny, I can easily take a personal stand on most things: I'd rather be healthy than sick; I'd rather be working on my own stuff than toiling away for the profit of some faceless company; I'd rather be reading a good book than watching a TV commercial about hair-loss. But when it comes to this basic and most elemental condition of life—in a relationship or not, living with someone or living alone, in love or not in love—I honestly cannot say whether I prefer one or the other. (Which some might say is the problem, I hear you—as in, “No matter where I am, I always want to be somewhere else.”) But it's not that I always feel discontent, it's more the opposite. Whenever I've been in a relationship, I've thought: “I am so happy now, how could I have lived any other way.” But whenever I'm living alone, I think: “This is the way I feel most comfortable, most happy.” Maybe I'm just a glass-half-full kind of guy. But on the other hand, my heart forever aches with longing. There's always a storm on the horizon—though most often it turns into that shitty, 40 degree drizzle and fog. Ultimately, though, I guess, the one thing we can count on (besides eventual death) is that things are just not ever going to stay the way they are right now.

Golden Ratio

I told myself I wouldn't panic until rent was due for December, if I hadn't found a job, so this being the last panic-free day, I'm writing a journal entry. I hadn't intended to only write one a month, and I'm sure no one cares, but in the future, if there is one, I'd like to write journal entries more frequently and (maybe) shorter and about less dire subjects. Anyway, seeing how my very online presence might be under scrutiny by prospective employers, I'm going to refrain from talking about politics, religion, and sports, while making complete sentences, communicating well, getting along with others, and clipping along at about 60 words per minute.

Since 99.9999 percent of jobs come from referrals, it probably makes sense to publicize my situation, because you never know when someone has just heard about the need for a rockstar spreadsheet killer (though also, I realize I'm sacrificing any opportunity for dating). In the meantime, I'm using all the tools in my box (and I even updated LinkedIn un-ironically) going for the one in a million job without a referral. I've been thinking about the most effective time-management ratio for seeking employment, and I've decided on: 3 parts persistence, 2 parts luck, and 1 part panic.

Awhile back I came upon what I called the “Golden Ratio” for fiction writing, which is somewhat related to the Golden Ratio (which either you're familiar with, or can have fun reading about now). It is somewhat based on the “golden ratio” some have proposed for 3 ingredient cocktails, which is: 3 parts base liquor, 2 parts sweet, or flavoring liqueur, 1 part sour, like lemon or lime juice. I think I have that right (though with cocktails, I favor a ratio more along the lines of 8 to 2 to 1, which might have something to do with why I no longer drink, and also I don't care how you make your cocktails—so kind of a bad example).

You can find examples of the Golden Ratio everywhere, like architecture, and the human body, and shells and other things in nature, and a cat's face. Now, mathematicians please don't come at me all crazy if I'm not explaining it correctly, or I am using my own bastardized version; I know it's hard being a mathematician, but lighten up a little. My version, which I came upon to apply to fiction writing is only approximate numerically, but roughly 3 : 2 : 1. It is not unlike the 3 act dramatic structure, proportionately, or some Rothko paintings. Here it is: 3 parts reality (the world as we know it, experiences, events, action, “reality”). 2 parts nostalgia (the ideal, childhood, weather, food, a good song). 1 part weirdness (which is where the funny stuff comes in, particularly that which no one understands).

The reason I'm thinking about this today (besides putting off job-hunting panic) is that in the midst of recent political and social events, the people who don't feel necessarily, “Good, it's over, time to sit back and let the cash roll in,” and are struggling with how to use their increasingly limited time left on Earth, what do you do now? I'm especially thinking about artists. For those whose art is primarily political anyway, maybe the path is evident. But for the abstract painters, inscrutable poets, noise musicians, etc., things may not look so clear. I mean, it's always been confusing, this stuff about time-management, and priorities, family and community, responsibility and indulgence, but it's just gone to like 11.

So my dumb idea, for say, posting stuff on, for example, certain popular social media, is to use my personal version of the Golden Ratio (I've always been obsessed with things named “Golden” for some reason; maybe it's the tackiness and irony inherent in that word, which I find funny). Maybe try this: 3 parts political (news, pleas, further reading), 2 parts nostalgia (TBT, cats, food), 1 part weirdness. It is up to you, of course, what you assign to the numbers, and how well you follow it, but worth a try? I know, for me, that I need some guidance these days, and some sanity rules, and organization. I need to feel like people care, but also that people are still their goofy selves. I don't think I can live very long in a world without drinking water, and I don't know if I can live in a world with blood running in the gutters. And I also don't think I can live in a world without abstract painters, inscrutable poets, noise musicians, and weirdness.

Send in the Clowns

Because it's Sunday, and the last day of October (hello, winter!) I'm going to offer a quick 500 words on politics and religion. I realize there is still another day left in this month, but who made the rule that when Halloween falls on a Monday we therefore must dress in costumes for the entire month of October? Not that I'm complaining about that; I would love it if we dressed in costumes for the entire year, as long as I'm not required to participate. Honestly, it's been all downhill for me after the Halloween my mom crafted me a robot costume out of paper shopping bags spray-painted silver—but as an adult, once, I did sport an inspired costume (I was an ermine dish washer who kept spouting “I won't give up my gin until they pry it from my cold dead hands!”) which not so coincidentally was the wakeup call for me to quit drinking (though my last taste of alcohol didn't come until much later, when I accidentally ingested some flat, brown beer I had thought was iced tea at a lunch buffet in Tampere, Finland in 2001).

We have determined that blogging is out and podcasting's days are numbered, and virtual reality dinner parties are still (at least until holiday shopping season, starting Tuesday) only available to the well-heeled, so I'm going to just give up trying to be anything but a dinosaur (not a Brontosaurus, since they were faked—oh, now they're back!—who can keep up? It's like Pluto. There's an idea for a computer-animated movie, Pluto the Brontosaurus—oh, there is one already? Sorry). But I won't give up my pen until they pry it from my cold dead hands. No one has to read this—I'm not quizzing people at dinner parties. The thing that occurred to me recently is that blog entries can often be insufferable because they can be like someone standing at the dreaded lectern (and the PowerPoint assist is just that much worse), except with the blog version the audience doesn't have to act like they're listening. There was a scene in a children's book (can't remember which one!) where someone is allowed to speak for as long as they can stand on one foot, which I think is a good rule (metaphorically only, of course, due to the Americans with Disabilities Act).

The only time I've been in an actual fight is when someone wanted to take my parentheses away. The parenthetical in conversations and interviews can often be the hidden treasure. I was thinking about how I prefer podcasts consisting of two people talking (and even though there are some good ones with one person monologuing, I tend to avoid those). Three or more people (especially when fueled by coffee, cocaine, and the giggles) can get pretty annoying. I also vastly prefer a conversation in an intimate setting, as opposed to those performed on a stage in front of an audience. I'm not sure why, but it's probably because I vastly prefer human interaction as a one on one enterprise, as opposed to a bunch of humans watching a smaller bunch (or one) on a stage (regardless of whether I'm in the audience or on the stage). Small groups really depend on the people involved (if at the virtual reality dinner party you can heave a plate of spaghetti into the face of someone “holding forth”—I'm in). But it's not just the “pay attention to me” thing—people in the act of just milling around also bug me. Since I've written songs, I've had this conflict in my heart. It's OK with me if other people want to amplify, synthesize, and employ accompaniment—but would it be possible (given how the old models are shattered and recast constantly, now) for one person to communicate songs to one person at a time? (Oh, right, that's called sex. Forget I mentioned it.)

September of My Years

I guess Sinatra recordings make good titles for blog entries; I just went for several years without being able to listen to him at all (I am like that with a lot of artists, I have to take years at a time off from a lot of my favorite music), but lately I have been listening to Frank Sinatra. He put out his 1965 album September of My Years when he turned 50, no doubt inspired by a sudden influx of AARP junk mail. Thrust into the job market, as I've recently found myself, I just checked out of the library the most depressing book I previously had no idea existed: Getting the Job You Want After 50 for Dummies. If that sounds like a joke, look it up; it's an AARP publication, and the graphic design alone is enough to make one not get out of bed for a month. Maybe it will be helpful, though—I haven't started reading it yet. Instead I got caught up in the whole, which is better, “For Dummies” or “Idiot's Guide” series debate, which inspired me to speculate on starting my own book series, something like the “For Total Fucking Morons” series (and at least I'd hire a graphic designer that doesn't make you want to go straight for the hard liquor). But of course that inspiration was followed by remembering that NOW, any idea you have, no matter how specific, it has already been put into development by someone else— and these kinds of thoughts, spiraling downward, are enough to make me want to climb under the covers for a month with the hard liquor.

Fortunately I don't have any hard liquor (or a bed, for that matter) and fortunately I have this blog (or journal)! The thing I've learned about these things (blogs/journals) is that if I do the wise thing, like write something and put it aside, then go back to it a little later, I'll be struck by how pretentious and insufferable it is and throw it away. So what I've learned to do is check it for spelling and typos, of course, but then immediately publish it and NEVER GO BACK AND READ IT. You, the reader, then, can laugh with me or laugh at me (or not read it)—it's entirely up to you! One interesting (to me, and maybe only to me) thing I've been doing is going back to my old notebooks (some are way old, like starting when I was 12) and re-typing the journal entries and then posting them in the “Memoir” section of this website. I've made it a little confusing, deliberately, because I'm kind of queasy about this whole venture (because these journals are sometimes very boring, and sometimes extremely embarrassing). In the “Memoir” section I am chronologically recording the oldest journals, and then on another site (called “Notebook Journals”) I'm including more contemporary journals (where the writing is a little more mature, but the proximity a little more uncomfortable).

One interesting journal I just typed (not sure if I posted yet, but maybe, or soon) was an entry from when I was maybe 16 or 17 and a couple of friends and I went on an early morning bike ride downtown (really early, like 3 AM, so actually still nighttime). We did a lot of exploring, took pictures, etc. but then also witnessed what we thought was a drug deal, after which someone in a car followed us, either to harass us or scare us, or who knows. I don't remember if I wrote about this at the time, or just thought about it (and talked about it to my friends) but when we set out on our adventure that morning, we considered taking along a handgun “for protection” but decided against it. And later, when we found ourselves terrified and hiding from this person in the car, we considered what we would have done if we had had the gun. I remember thinking I might have shot at the person who was harassing us. As it turned out, the person just drove away, nothing came of it, and we never did find out if they were really a menace or just someone goofing around, and the whole “drug deal” thing was just our fabrication—but at that point I told myself “I should NEVER carry a gun.” Not bad advice to myself for a dumb kid (for whom many, many more dumb and much dumber episodes were to come).

As my initial inspiration for this journal entry today is the Autumnal Equinox, I want to share one more thing about the miracle of the seasons (my favorite thing about the Midwest is the nature of the seasons here, and thunderstorms). It has come to my attention that a lot of adults who should know better think the beginning of autumn is when the candy corn appears on the end caps at grocery stores (as if by magic). I realize that it's confusing; people start back to school (an event which SHOULD mark the beginning of fall) during the month of August, but that is just not consistent with actual seasonal changes. So for future reference I am including a quick and easy (as it corresponds with the months) guide to the seasons, at least as I see them in southern Wisconsin (depending on your particular location, your seasons may vary).

Early Winter – November

Winter – December, January, February, March

Late Winter – April

Spring – May

Summer – June, July, August, September

Autumn – October

Enjoy your last week of Summer, and Happy (short though it may be) Autumn!

Here's To The Losers

At some point I gave up and just used the word “blog” – a word I had avoided using because I think it's an ugly, crude sounding word (I realize it's a shortened version of “web-log” – which also sounds kind of ugly, as well as dated at this point – and do people even know that, anymore?) I preferred to use “online journal” – which is too long, and probably just confuses people. So I eventually conceded to blog, just kind of giving up, but now I'm aware of the disdain people have for the idea of a “blog” anymore – it's a thing whose time is over. I hear people talking about blogs like they're hopelessly outdated jokes, and referring to “bloggers” with disgust. To say that someone is “blogging” is like saying (I'm unable to come up with a suitable metaphor here) they're doing something that's pathetic, no one cares about, is behind the times, uncool, and possibly irresponsible.

But I never did like the word, or self-apply it, so I don't really care if it dies. I'm using the word “memo” here (which is short for memorandum, which is a written note or communication – but a word that is appropriate in the fields of business, law, and politics – so essentially I'm using it wrong, here). (I could possibly endeavor to coin my own word: “memorandom” or “memorandumb”– but that would just confuse people more.) When my friends and I opened a punk record store (Garbage Inc.) in 1981, we began typing a daily, ongoing journal on the store typewriter (anyone there could choose to go sit and type, there was always a piece of paper – usually the back of a flyer – in the machine). We called this the “Garbage Memo” – and I'm not sure, but I think that name came from Keith Busch, as he started it with “Memo:” – and then went into an alcohol fueled, profanity-ridden account of the day. So it's with a bit of nostalgia and fondness for past times and lost friends – as well as a similar disdain for correct usage – that I use the term “Memo” here.

“Podcast” is another word I avoided using for a long time (for one thing, it always bugs me to use brand names, like iPod, or Walkman) (for another, it makes me think of “pod-people” – though, I think the battle against pod-people is a losing, or lost one – we may as well just give up at this point). Some have said that “blogging is out, podcasting is in” – which seems to be the case – but I don't find them mutually exclusive any more than reading an article is the same thing as listening to a radio show – and also this seems incredibly shortsighted, as you can already see the trend of podcasting marching to the cliff of now (it's probably already over the edge, and I'm just behind in mentioning it). I don't know what's next (and it's probably already here and I just don't know about it) – maybe virtual reality dinner parties. Anyway, I avoided podcasts for a long time, but then tried a few, and soon came to be dedicated to many. I used to really look forward to the Fresh Air or Charlie Rose segments with artists (musicians, writers, filmmakers, etc.) which seemed too few and far between. But now, one can easily satisfy several hours a day (if you have a really long commute) on just that kind of subject matter – and you can find even more long form, intelligent, (seemingly) unedited discussions of history, politics, philosophy, and on and on. I guess it really is kind of a golden age for smart, articulate people who like to drink a lot of coffee and talk a lot, and for those of us who want to fill hours of listening without spending a dime, except for a device on which to listen.

For me, listening to people talking leads to reading (further about subjects they are talking about), and reading (current interests, obsessions) leads to more reading, and also more listening to more podcasts. One thing doesn't replace another. Hopefully the virtual reality dinner party won't replace the flesh and blood dinner party (though I can't remember the last time I was invited to a dinner party). For me, writing a blog/journal/diary/memo is something I've always done, and never considered it would replace writing fiction, for me, because I've always loved fiction (reading and writing). You hear people say that fiction is out (it's over, through) and maybe for some people, they have no interest in reading fiction anymore, and that's okay, because it's a personal preference. It does kind of alarm me when I hear that, though – not for careers of fiction writers, or the fiction publishing industry, but for the people who say they no longer read fiction. Part of me feels like they have been led astray, and could, with some guidance, and love, find their way back to an activity which, for me, is more important than any other. For me, I can't imagine a life without reading fiction. (But then, there was a time when I couldn't imagine a life without drinking beer... and I haven't had a beer, now, since 1992.)

The golden age for anything is brief and usually gone before you even have a chance to appreciate it. There is probably someone saying (tweeting, podcasting, broadcasting, micro-casting) right now (or last week/last year) that virtual reality dinner parties are dead. The theatre has been dead for centuries (though depending on what passionate person you talk to, there is nothing more exciting than theatre, right now) – but people find narratives somewhere (because, of course, without narrative, we don't exist). I feel like we live in a highly verbal time (maybe it's just that the coffee has gotten stronger, but maybe it's designer pharmaceuticals) – people are smarter than ever, and they're letting you know it. People are dumber than ever, too. No one reads anymore. But more people are writing more words than ever in history! Here's 1000 more words no one is going to read. Here's to the losers! I was just thinking something – about quiet, silent people – about how “Shutting Up” is a lost art-form – and whatever happened to people just being quiet? Of course, it's not an art-form, and there are plenty of people who do choose to keep their thoughts to themselves. The quiet people have always been here and always will be – they're here right now, holding all of this up – but we don't notice them because they know how to shut the hell up.

Full Moon and Movie Screenplay

The full moon definitely causes insomnia, but maybe more so for me because I have no curtains, and the moon, on certain nights, is shining right in my window down on my face as I try to sleep. When I finally did sleep last night I had a vivid, exhausting dream about writing a movie screenplay, and it was one of those dreams where it really feels like a separate reality and you're just working and working and you feel like you're on to something, and it's exhausting. First of all, I have to apologize to my late cat, Louis, because this misappropriates his story, but I'm sure he'd forgive me (seeing how it's a dream). Second, apologies to Todd Solondz, whose latest movie, Wiener-Dog, I saw two days ago, and which I have obviously misappropriated things from as well, though subconsciously (hey, it's a dream).

A man near the end of his rope is pushed over the edge when he has to take his sick cat to the vet to be euthanized, because he cannot afford the expensive operation that may or may not save the cat's life. After saying goodbye to the cat, he doesn't stick around for the end, but instead, in his bitterness, returns with a time-bomb, which he hides at the vet's office, but set for a time after which he is sure his cat will already be dead. Then the man heads off to a local coffee shop, because by now he is without sleep, exhausted, and just needs coffee. While in the LONG line at the counter, he gets a call from the vet, and they happily explain to him that they decided they love his cat so much (because the cat IS like the sweetest, most friendly and loving cat on Earth) they decided to just go ahead and give him the operation for free, which they have just performed, and it was successful, and now the cat is resting in recovery.

The man, of course, freaks out, and he starts to admit that he set the bomb, and warn them to evacuate, but then realizes his phone has died and he is talking to no one. He gets out of line and starts asking around at the coffee shop, which is full of people working on laptops, if anyone has a charger for his particular phone. Mostly he gets indifference and annoyed stares, but finally a kind old woman produces a charger from her purse. The man then starts hustling around, looking for an outlet, but finds they are all covered with those metal plates they cover outlets with. He then interrupts the line at the counter and asks an employee about the outlets, who explains that they covered them all because they were just being used by homeless people. The man is incredulous, but then remembers to get back to his task. He again starts bustling around the shop, now in a panic, and finally just plugs the phone charger, uninvited, into a USB on the side of the closest person's laptop. The person protests, but the man is so desperate, the person with the laptop allows it.

By now the man is so fatigued, as he still hasn't had coffee, that he falls asleep waiting for his phone to register a charge. When he wakes up, he looks at his phone, which has come back to life, but now the charging cord has somehow become tanged with the mouse cord being used by the person with the laptop. There is a long, kind of slapstick, comic segment while they get the cords untangled. Finally, he calls the vet's office back, but gets no answer. Now he notices some people are gathered around a TV in the coffee shop. There is some breaking news about a terrorist attack: a bomb has gone off at the office of a local veterinarian.

This was as far as I got, but in my dream I decided that it was the end of the first act, and I needed to figure out where the story went from there. Then I woke up. As I slowly regained my awake person senses, the idea, which seemed brilliant in the dream, became gradually less appealing. This is the way ideas in dreams often go, unfortunately. It's also the way screenplays often go, and is one reason I don't try to write them anymore. You come up with a good first act, but then where does it go from there? There are so many good ideas that once they are committed to paper no longer seem like good ideas. So many first acts with nothing to follow.

620 Express

I meant to write about the 620 Express on June 20th for no other reason than the date, but I guess I lacked enthusiasm on that day, or else had too much coffee. Anyway, "620" is the secret code for coffee, if you didn't know that, and it's also the time of day (AM and PM) when I see the time and tell myself, "Time for coffee," and also, "Time to get on with things, or get on with the next thing." I wouldn't blame anyone if they were over it, this endless talk about coffee, and onto more important ideas in their lives, but I'm a simple person and like rehashing the same shit that gives me pleasure. There is really no excuse to write about it, but the good thing is there are NEW PEOPLE all the time (360, 000 born every day!) and each one of them hopefully will get to experience joy for the first time, at some point, and before everything gets old for them everything will presumably first be new.

I read a humorous article recently with the title Maybe Just Don't Drink Coffee about how it's impossible to keep up with the coffee trends, and trying to just causes anxiety, etc., and it's funny while having good points, and ends by throwing its hands in the air and settling for a Diet Coke. Which is actually what a lot of people do. And everyone knows, right, that Diet Coke is Pod People Fuel? Well, now you know. Then I read another article (which I can't find now, but there are TONS of these articles out there) about how we should drink a lighter roast coffee at room temperature and all that. Far from being annoyed by all the reassessments of coffee habits, I am endlessly fascinated, because really, it's no simple thing, a simple cup of coffee, and you can follow your obsession if it amuses you, why not? Every time I stay at someone's house I seem to adopt a new coffee method. Even quitting altogether is sometimes attractive. The biggest single improvement in my life was when I switched to exclusively black coffee, no cream, milk, or sugar (though for awhile I drank hot coffee with butter).

"Speed is just a question of money. How fast can you go?" That's the sign at the auto mechanic in the first Mad Max movie. I think it applies to a lot of things, and of course I'd like to only buy the best quality coffee beans (grown and picked by blissful farmers) and roast it at home, only dark when it makes sense and not to hide inferiority. And then massage it into powder and cold brew it in a NASA vacuum simulator and enjoy it while floating in a sensory deprivation chamber. Most often, though, I don't even measure the grounds I throw in my Mr. Coffee, and then I just try to pound a few cups before I start screaming at car alarms and leaf blowers. Every day should be a miracle, but it doesn't always have to be a symphony. Sometimes it's just nice to know that I'm enjoying my cup of coffee—even if it's kind of crap—more than that guy over there, not because of the coffee, but because of me.

Doughnut Day

There are a billion people in the world (probably more, but we can't even process a number that big) but I only know maybe 100 of them. Still, that's a lot of people, 100. And as it turns out, today was National Doughnut Day, but I didn't find out until way later, and by then it was too late. Of course, as soon as I heard about it I started seeing stuff everywhere, all over the internet, where to get your free doughnut and all that. Which got me thinking, do people really care about the free doughnut? How much do they cost, anyway? Do they not usually buy them, but then do on this day, not because they're free, but because it's an event? Anyway, the thing that got me was that no one told me. Not one of these 100 friends thought, Oh, I should mention that. Doughnut Day. But then I started thinking, Maybe no one mentioned it because I had given them my completed novel, The Doughnuts, and they either haven't read it, or have, and don't like it, and the mention of doughnuts therefore becomes awkward. Best not to even bring up doughnuts! Or maybe they know I'm Gluten Intolerant and can't eat doughnuts anyway, so what's the point?

Forgive Me

I'm still working on this new website. It's been kind of fun, when it's going well. Nothing is all that difficult about it, but of course, for me, I will find difficulty. But for the most part, it's looking pretty good, but some days I just don't want to deal with it. A few things weren't working out and I over-reacted, freaked out, and got a stress-related backache.

What has been most fun has just been trying out some ridiculous stuff, and writing some crazy and dumb shit, not worrying that anyone will see it because I've only shared this with like two people so far. So I figure I can write anything I want to and there will be a chance to edit it or delete it. Then it occurred to me that I might like the whole thing better if I never actually showed it to ANYONE. Which, of course, misses the whole point of having a website.

So I guess I have to start putting this website address here and there, since my old one has gone down, as the hosting expired. I guess the way I should approach things, which is the way I should approach all writing, is to write something in a draft, then come back to it and edit it. It's amazing how often something that seems OK when you write it comes across as ridiculous, foolish, and bad, later on. I thought that maybe the older I got, the less this would happen, but no. I'm just as capable of bad writing as I've always been.

So, I've got to go through and change some stuff NOW, I suppose, because I wrote and posted some pretty lame shit. But I'll fix it. That's OK. I want to try to free myself from constant self-doubt and criticism and just have fun. But I do want to have the option to go back and erase the mistakes I've made when a little TOO goofy. Anyway, the one place that I'm not going to do much editing is in this "Memo" section... because the idea here is that it's like what I might be writing in a notebook in a coffee shop, and so of course may well be boring or insane. So, anyone who might read this, if there is anyone reading it ever, please forgive me.

420

I'm painfully aware of the date, 4/20, and always make a joke about it, and even go on and on sometimes, even though I haven't smoked marijuana since 1989, and am not inclined to return to it any time soon (even then, I wasn't much into it).

Anyway, this is my first observation on this day, which happens to be the day I'm first creating this "blog" or "online journal" for my new website, which I'm working on right now, with quite a lot of impatience and frustration. Not that it's that hard, and in fact seems fairly easy, it's just that there is a lot to it, and I'm generally not fond of spending too much time tinkering around with anything technical, from computers to automobiles to musical compositions. Fiction writing is what I'm interested in; that's what I want to spend my time tinkering with. But for some reason it seems we have to all be good at all the things we're not good at.

I'm not even sure what sense it makes to have some kind of blog on this new website, but if nothing else, this might be a good place for me to complain about leaf blowers.