“If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”  ~ ?

That typically gets attributed to Sun Tzu, but I’ve read “The Art of War” a couple times and it ain’t in there.  I’ve also seen it called “Japanese wisdom,” so who knows who the hell said it.  But here’s the advice I take from it: sure, you can go out and massacre everybody who’s ever wronged you, but then you have to spend the rest of your days in prison, which is no kind of victory.  No…you don’t have to bother: your enemies are all under a death sentence already.  Do nothing and they will still die.  One just needs to be patient.  Just wait.  And while you’re waiting, build yourself an existence that is incredibly cool and is something that they can never be a part of.  Wait.  And watch.
There is wisdom there.  The result is the same, but one path means spending one’s life looking over one’s shoulder and never being able to truly relax again, and the other means simply keeping yourself alive long enough to be able to piss on the graves of your nemeses.
Wait and watch.  Tick tock, tick tock….

N.P.: “Woke Up This Morning” – Alabama 3

I am pleased to announce that it is officially cold in California.  Finally.  Thank God.  To those of you who have been sending me gloating pictures of your snowy lawns for the last several weeks, kiss my ass: this is California…everything here is stupid and dysfunctional.  The Angst is upon me once again.  At least it was yesterday.  Today has been slightly better…I’m working on something that result in some serious long-term goodness for yrs. truly.  It’s a total moonshot, but fingers crossed, please.

N.P.: “Are ‘Friends’ Electric? 2.1” – Information Society

One of my long-term investments finally paid off today, dear reader, and it was a beautiful thing.  For the past two decades, whenever I’ve opened an online account and had to answer those stupid security questions, I always pick “What city were you born in?”  To which my reply has been, consistently, since the previous century: “None of your fucking business.”  Because 1) it’s not, and 2) it’s just not…and if you’re going to be nervy enough to attempt to blatantly extract personal identification from me, you’d better be prepared for an appropriate response (maybe tomorrow I’ll tell you about what my answer is for “Name of your first pet”).
So today I had to call a cable company that I used to do business with.  Our parting was acrimonious.  And it was very clearly final.  But sometimes on the weekends I like to call businesses who have done me dirty and cuss them out again, just as a reminder.  It’s cathartic.  So it warmed my heart, dearest reader, to tell this poor sap who had the misfortune of taking my call and asking me, “sir, for security purposes, what’s the name of the city you were born in?”
“None of your fucking business.”
“Okay…perfect.  How can help you today?”
Poetry.

N.P.: “Man on the Silver Mountain” – Rainbow

Being an adult is such a pain in the hole.  Some days are worse than others, but no matter what day it is, it almost always sucks.  It’s all just so completely necessary while also being completely unrewarding.  Like getting brakes put on your car.  Five hundred bucks.  You know how many things I’d rather spend $500 on?  The mind simply reels at the staggering number of things I’d rather spend $500 on.  Do you know how much…well, ne’mind.  The point is that you can’t even see new brakes.  Whenever I spend $500, I want to be able to see what I got, as a sort of positive reminder of why the bank account is a little lighter than it was.  I mean yeah, great, now the car stops.  For which we’re all grateful.  But it still doesn’t seem worth $500.

N.P.: “Kaleidoscope” – Amplifier

I’m all depressed.  Just blah.  Been this way for a while.  I should activate my illness protocol.  I very rarely get sick, but when I do, I like to achieve maximum dramatic effect: I light candles…candelabra are deployed.  Mozart’s Requiem is played, on a loop, at inordinate volume.  That’s just when I first notice I’m not feeling well.  At the first sign of an actual symptom shows up, I’m begin drinking both whiskey and Nyquil freely, taxing my system, sure, but simply Putting It To any virus that dare think it can survive in my hostile and miasmic system.
Alas, depression is a different animal and would not respond well at all to this treatment.  I guess I just feel like my relationship with depression has become rather stagnant in recent years…I’m actually just bored and irritated with it all the time, and spend most of my energy just ignoring it.  Maybe we need to insert a little drama…spice things up.

N.P.: “Broken Bones” – KALEO

Warte…Eine kleinen Minuten Bitte.  Nobody likes a rigged game.  Dirty pool.  Shady boots.
This will not do.

N.P.: “Face to Face” – Siouxsie and the Banshees

Interesting day in that nobody was around.  Apparently everybody took today and tomorrow off.  No idea why.  It’s fine…I can do my thing without any help.  It was just weird.
Anyway, I voted this morning.  No need for a plan…just went to the place and did the thing.  Took about 10 minutes.  Not sure what all the fuss was about.
After that I wrote a pretty admirable amount.  There may have been an accidental Jack & Coke Icee.  And I may or may not have written a letter to the winner of the election, inviting him over for drinks.  Didn’t see or hear one political commercial today…that was good.

N.P.: “Waiting for the Sun” – The Doors

Wanna know who’s going to win, dear reader?  I could tell you, but that would take all the fun out of things.
But seriously…I know.

N.P.: “Heroes” – Motörhead

I simply cannot take any more of these absurdly patronizing PSAs explaining what voting is and/or how important it is that citizens do it.  That there is a legitimate need for such things (if there a legitimate need for such things) is brutally depressing.
And what the hell is with all this “make a plan” horseshit?  The fuck do you need to plan for?  It’s not exploring the South Pole.  Just vote…if it’s too bewildering of a process, you shouldn’t be voting anyway.
I’ll be voting on Tuesday.  Because that’s Election Day, goddammit.  And early voting is for suckas.

N.P.: “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club