I’ve been accused of Christian paranoia, what with my evolving interest in ‘end times’. That’s not good, not that I’m concerned about any slight to myself, which WOULD be paranoia, only that by dismissing it as Christian nonsense, chances increase that nothing will be done to prevent it. There are at least two problems with the characterization: I’m not very Christian and not very paranoid, either; pretty freakin’ rational, in fact. Fear of persecution? Not me. My doors are wide open, and I rarely meet a person that I don’t feel I could be friends with. (More …)
Every summer seems to have a song that defines it. Last year it was certainly Pharrell’s ‘Happy’, of course, despite claims otherwise from Iggy Azalea or some other such nonsense. Previous winners include Foster the People’s ‘Pumped-Up Kicks’, MGMT’s ‘Kids’, ‘Black and Gold’ from my favorite one-hit wonder Sam Sparro, and ‘Summer in the City’ from Lovin’ Spoonful back in the day, as they say. This year is disturbing.
“I’m in Love with my Life” by Phases is making serious inroads on the indie charts this summer. But what does it mean? ‘I’m in love with myself?’ That’s what it sounds like to me. On the other hand, my favorite indie song from the UK, ‘Ladybird’ by Beach Baby, sings in the refrain, “I don’t wanna live for nothing;” so who do you think defines the zeitgeist, and is better prepared for the changes about to take place on the surface of this planet that we call Earth, Tierra, Zameen, Prithvi, Bumi, Lokโลก, Shijie 世界you name it?
People are in motion; the great migrations that signal the end of civilizations have already begun, with people washing up on the shores of Greece, Italy, Australia and Thailand, washing up in boats operated by people smugglers, but washing up nonetheless, lining up to cross borders with dollars in hand and babies in tow, with nothing too much, so nothing much to lose… Welcome to 460 A.D.
Meanwhile we in the developed world sit on our hands, not knowing what to do with them. We are wealthy beyond belief, yet bored beyond recognition. Eschatology does not develop in a vacuum. Welcome to the future.
I realize now my major fault in this world: I want everything to work out, and refuse to believe that it won’t, or it can’t, woulda coulda shoulda if I had my way, equals a world without evil and a heaven without conditions, without terms or even definitions, depends on expectations, hard to believe that there’s someone I can’t get along with or a gadget without a price tag, a movie without laugh lines or TV without sight gags…
it will take a miracle, though, at full price with no coupons, for this half-baked society of half-breeds and half-asses with a half-life of a generation and halftime at dark-something: thirty to pull out of its malaise with dignity intact as a matter-of-fact and as a matter of dead men walking, that’s us, without prayers or preconditions, stumbling blindly through the darkness of ignorance and fear without so much as a clue as to what the future beckons…(More …)
Now that it’s been proven that political orientation is not genetic, can I refer to myself as Progressive Independent Social Democrat–Questioning? I’m tired of just being PISD all the time…
I’m no great fan of silly love songs, but sometimes they get it right, whether person place or thing, sometimes you have to just let go of the thing you love, you have to beat a strategic retreat, just in order to live another day just to fight another battle. Sometimes you have to let any act of aggression go right past you, let it fall of its own weight, while you slide one foot out the door and one foot under the aggressor just for kicks, just because, just in case you need a fall-back position as a caretaker of love, the best kind knows no possession knows no advantage knows that to possess it is to kill it anyway so just resign yourself and enjoy the ride no keeping the day job, beats an eight-hour day behind four gray walls for the next fifty years lucky if Uranus makes it even once around the Sun…
Last night was a pretty special night sky when you can see the Full Moon right after twilight in the East, then pirouette west and see Jupiter and Venus, evening star and its stunt double sucking face at about the same thirty degrees above the horizon, getting all star-struck with rumors of Bethlehem and other buzz-food swirling about the star-crossed lovers so close so far only some half-billion miles between them on a good night Venus always close to the sun from our perspective Jupiter free to roam far and wide in its twelve (Earth) year orbit around the sun, so only catches up with Venus (from our perspective) as catch can, even better is that July will have another Full Moon before the month is over, Blue Moon, way cool, as long as the clouds will allow it…
ONCE UPON A TIME, back in my high-test high-stress days, sturm und drang, stormy and stressful, not infrequently the case in Flagstaff, Arizona, weather-wise but pound-foolish, I had a vehicle without a speedometer, so I never really knew how fast I was going, just whatever felt right no small consideration in an old cargo van where nothing ever feels exactly right, it most at home when hauling firewood not ass…
So back in those stormy days of trying to start-up a bizniz from scratch 1987-92 if I remember correctly I got speeding tickets regularly like once a year approximately and every time I was clipping along at exactly 78mph/126kph, once that even in a 55mph zone in California, 65 the norm on Interstates then, so quite pricey the final settlement cop seemed surprised that I wasn’t drunk driving like a maniac in his opinion in his home state but I guess he never tried to get home to Flagstaff after leaving San Fran at 15:00 without the advantage of fancy wheels or hindsight…
Long story short after five years of that something had to change of course not a sustainable bizniz plan getting speeding tickets every year so the last time I got stopped for speeding going up I-17 from Phoenix to Flagstaff, the Native American policeman noticed my ‘Free Tibet’ bumper sticker (remember them?) and asked if I was Tibetan so I thought about it then said ‘no’ of course but he didn’t give me a ticket and I never got stopped again for speeding I’m better now no not really THE END.
For an entire segment of the population to be granted equal rights in one fell swoop is a glorious thing, whether it be people of color, immigrants or LGBT (sounds like a sandwich; I’m hungry). The love between two people is probably the most beautiful thing in the world, whether male or female in tandem or in unison, or universal agape, mouth wide open. But religious groups have a point, too, in their feeling that they have been dealt a blow. They have, in many cases. No major religion ever envisioned this in their view of the ‘sanctity of marriage’. Culture wars continue.
Proponents of same-sex marriage have never been satisfied with the concept of ‘civil unions’, whatever the exact terminology, and there’s logic in their rejection of any ‘separate-but-equal’ solution. But we also have a strong tradition of the separation of church and state, and to force a preacher, pastor or priest to perform the rite of marriage on a LGBT(Q?) couple may be going too far, if that is indeed ever the case. I certainly agree that same-sexers deserve all the rights, but maybe not all the rites. (More …)
Ron Hendricks
8:36 pm on June 28, 2015 Permalink
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Have been following your posts via email for some time now. Just thought I would let you know I enjoy reading what you have to say. (Perhaps it is because I usually am in agreement with your opinion). Keep up the good work!
Kc and 
Ron Hendricks are discussing. 
streaming consciousness... 
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