I was invited to attend some online conference, which conference described itself as “a safe space” to talk about whatever bullshit the conference was about.  I immediately deleted the invitation.  Despite their invitation, they really don’t want me there.
Chief amongst my very few fears is ever being labeled a “victim.”  I have an active fear of someday being interviewed on TV because I was present at some catastrophic event and having the Chyron underneath my name say “Victim.”  I would sue the network.
I think a certain (embarrassingly large) segment of American society has it’s entire identity wrapped up in victimhood.  If you take away their identities as “victims,” there’s not much left.  And it people who have been taught and then bought into the notion of victimhood who need to be told by someone else that a certain space is “safe” in order to even consider going there.
Understand that I’m not talking about actual victims of actual trauma here…I’m talking about the delicate little entitled flowers who were raised playing scoreless sports and are now operating under the delusion that the world must bend around their delicate sensitivities so that they never ever be Offended (gasps…clutches pearls).  People whose most significant trauma to date has been the cancellation of SXSW this year.
More often than not, when some entity labels a space “safe,” that merely means you won’t be exposed to any opinions divergent from those of the organizers because differing opinions will not be tolerated.
I would think it would be extremely “empowering” (another term I loathe (because if you are “empowered,” what power you now have was given to you…it wasn’t yours in the first place, it had to be given to you by someone else, which is not real power at all, is it)), to know that whatever space you inhabit is a “safe space.”  You do this by knowing (not telling yourself, not listening to those idiots on The View, or The Talk or Oprah or whatever) it is safe because no matter what anybody says, you are unaffected.  Knowing that no matter what anybody says, you can defend yourself and your ideas and easily demonstrate why the opposition is wrong, embarrassing them in the process if you think that’s what the situation calls for.  And if you can’t do that, maybe it’s time to reexamine your ideas.

N.P.: “Saladin” – Hybrid

Made some headway putting the new studio together today.  Then things kind of got away from me and suddenly it’s nighttime.  Time does not behave the way it used to.

N.P.: “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” – The Police

I don’t really feel like talking tonight, dear reader.  I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.

N.P.: “Fuck This Shit I’m Out (feat. Youngblaze)” – The Theme Song

I’ve got a long list of goals, and there’s some pretty bold stuff on that list.  But they are actual literal goals…things I fully intend and expect to achieve.  But there are two things that sort of stand out as things that haven’t happened yet, that aren’t likely to happen in the normal course of things, but that I would like to do.  These could be said to comprise my bucket list.
1) Ride a horse.  I’ve never ridden a horse.  I lived on a fucking ranch for several years, and I’ve never ridden a horse.  I’ve ridden a goddamn elephant.  Ridden a camel.   But never a horse.  I just think it would be weird to live an entire human lifespan and exit life on this planet without ever having ridden a horse.  No need to get crazy…I don’t need to have an adventure or weird cowboy fantasy.  Galloping will not be necessary.  Galloping will not even be desired.  Galloping actually won’t be tolerated.  Hell no.  I want an extremely elderly horse, maybe slightly infirm.  Just this side of dead.  And not far, just from here to there.  Just far enough so that I can legally say that I have ridden a horse.
2) Fly on Air Force One.  So long as the Presidency is an elected position, I will never be President.  Which is really probably the best thing for all parties concerned.  I’m fine with it.  But I wanna fly on that fuckin’ plane.  It would probably be more valid if there was a President on the flight with me, but that’s not essential.  I know a dude that flew on AF1 once.  He described the take-off like a fighter taking off from a carrier.  Sounded intense.  Anyway, this dude’s a bit of a prick, and I don’t like him walking around being able to say he’s done cooler shit than me.  But never mind  that, I’ve always really wanted to fly on Air Force One.

N.P.: “Somebody Call My Momma” – WWE, Jim Johnston

How long must it go on, dear reader?  How long must this infernal heat insist on sticking around?  “Swamp ass.”  “Swass.” “Balls soup.”    These are not concepts anyone in this hemisphere should be having to attempt to artfully deal with in the beloved month of October.  But here we fucking are, dear reader…triple digits in the fall.  This is horseshit.

N.P.: “Jailbreak” – Thin Lizzy

Started “construction” on the new studio, aka The Death Star (corny, I know, but it really does kinda fit).  It should be up and running by Halloween.

N.P.: “Murder Death” – De Staat

I rather enjoy having a legal department.  Still looking for an assistant, a valet/hype man, and someone who knows how to cut curly hair.

N.P.: “Candy Girls” – Drop Your Weapon

Only children just demand things that may or may not exist and/or be possible. This is a direct result of playing scoreless soccer and receiving participation awards.   If you find yourself anywhere “demanding” anything, understand that you are in no position to demand anything.  If you don’t like something, you’re going to have to do more than just demand other people change it.  If you don’t like something, then you need to go change it.  You’re an adult, you claim to be intelligent…why are you demanding other people do things? Shut the fuck up and go do them yourself.  If you don’t like the way your community is policed, become a police officer.  If you don’t like the laws as they are written, run for office or go to work for the legislature and get new laws written.  If you want more books and movies featuring characters of a certain race, then start writing those books.
This won’t happen for two reasons: 1) the sheep in the mob have zero interest in actually fixing the problems they claim to care so passionately about.  These problems are just the excuses they use to “justify” their violence.   In fact, it behooves the cause for the problem not to be solved, because if the problem were to be solved, they would have less to bitch about.  Which is all they do: bitch.
If they were to actually try to solve the problems they are demanding everyone else change, they would quickly learn two things: 1) becoming a police officer, a legislator, or an author is an unbelievably difficult thing to do, and despite what their parents, teachers, and all their participation awards have been telling them, they aren’t capable of “being anything they want.”  They cant get into a position to affect the change that they’re demanding: not because the system is racist…It’s because they themselves lack the necessary intelligence, education, talent, common sense, et cetera, to achieve these things.  And 2) not all problems have solutions.  There are certain aspects of the human condition that can never be “solved.”  Racism, sexism, violence, crime, poverty, injustice…these are all things to certain work against and try to reduce, but they will never disappear.  As long as these are the causes, the mob will never run out of things to demand.
The way to actually change these various problems, by the way (not that anyone asked), is not to try to stop or eliminate them…no, that would be foolish. No, the solution is to acknowledge sexism, racism, et cetera, as unfortunate realities, legitimate problems that aren’t going away, and then educate people on how to deal with it when confronted with them, and from there, build a society where instances of these problems occur fewer and fewer times.
What the mob is doing now with its demands is tantamount to a group of people protesting crime.  They’re marching in the street demanding an end to crime.  And they’re “teaching” their kids that the way to stop crime is to march in the streets demanding an end to it.  Then, when they figure out that their protesting did nothing to stop crime, they start committing criminal acts to “raise awareness” about the ongoing presence of crime, and things then continue to spiral stupidly out of control until you have a complete lawless situation, the exact opposite of what they were trying to achieve in the first place. What they should do (which is what any rational person does), is acknowledge that evil lurks, that there is and will always be crime, and then train yourself and your family how to handle it if it happens to them.

N.P.: “Let the Insects Rule” – Powerman 5000

Not much to report today, dear reader.  Whiskey, wings, and writing.

N.P.: “All American Alien Boy” –

‘Sup, reader?  Okay, full disclosure…I was gonna write this whole thing here tonight, but today the fine people at the Prince Estate released the Super Deluxe version of Sign ‘O the Times.  The remastered double album is there, of course, but then something like 50 previously unreleased tracks!  Fifty!  I’ve been listening to this goddamn thing for over 8 hours now.  I was supposed to have been writing that whole time, but I haven’t written shit, because I keep having to run to the keyboard (the one with the black and white keys) to play along.
Oops…yeah…gotta go again.

N.P.: “Blanche – 2020 Remaster” – Prince