Would You Celebrate If He Died?

I had a dream around August 31 of 2024 in which Marty and Harry asked me if I would celebrate if some guy who looked like Lurch’s underfed brother died.

Not sure why I remember any of it because a couple things happened around there that wrecked my sleep.

It is not surprising because when someone shoves a white hot poker up your rear it can mess with you a bit.

That period sticks out a bit and if I really wanted to stick my head back in time I’d read The Hero’s Journey- The 56th Year.

For a while I was infuriated by a number of things some of which were because of my own nature.

The kid who would say “I take this potch and throw it away” grew up to be a guy who sometimes jumped into the fire and let things burn because he was determined to outlast it.

Maturity and time helped move me through that time and made sure I remembered what I had forgotten.

Reminded me of the guy who told me I owed him an apology and my reply.

I told him he would have better luck maintaining a smile while shoving a six foot auger covered in Reaper sauce up his ass and out his mouth than getting an apology.

And I told myself that in less than two years I’d see a familiar face reappear and I was right. I may be slow about some things, but I get there and my pattern recognition is still solid.

Walk The Hard Road

Got the Boss singing Land of Hope and Dreams in my ear and I am smiling because this song is always restorative for me.

Been involved in multiple conversations about the guy in NYC who calls himself mayor and the dolts in his poorly named Democratic Socialists of America.

The organization might have believed in democracy at one point in time but that is highly questionable now as are the people they are trying to put into place around the country.

Can’t say I am surprised to see them crow about the three they put into office the other day or how they ignore the combination of low voter turnout and apathy for their election.

Doesn’t make me happier to see another group of bad people elevated into positions in which they can hurt Americans who disagree with them but not surprised either.

Mamdani is no different than 47, a rich man with grievances who makes promises he has no plan to fill all in the name of an agenda many constituents will dislike.

What disappoints me are the MOTs who think this crocodile won’t eventually eat them too and who support a guy who consistently acts in ways that are bad for us.

But then again I told the MAGA crew their guys would turn on us too and I am not seeing that I was wrong about it.

Go back to those last conversations with the old man and we talked about walking the hard road and I knew then that something was coming.

So I take Bruce’s words and smile because I was built for the storm. Taurus keeps rolling, we plant our feet and move on in spite of whatever comes.

Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder’s rolling down this track
Well, you don’t know where you’re going now
But you know you won’t be back

Well, darling if you’re weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We’ll take what we can carry
Yeah, and we’ll leave the rest

[Chorus]
Well, big wheels roll through fields where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

[Verse 2]
Well, I will provide for you
And I’ll stand by your side
You’ll need a good companion now
For this part of the ride
Yeah, leave behind your sorrows
Let this day be the last
Well, tomorrow there’ll be sunshine
And all this darkness past

And let’s be honest, if you are among the few regular readers you know I am serious when I say I beat the Angel of Death and that I really do see myself on the hero’s journey.

13 Years Later

Thirteen years ago I’d sit in my apartment in Fort Worth thinking about what the future might look like. Can’t say that now looks exactly as I imagined but I do know aspects of it do.

Thought about it when I test drove an SUV in Lewisville and how I was mulling over heading to Grapevine to compare it to a Subaru or a Lexus.

Thought about a time in life when I was much younger that I wanted a Lexus SUV and a time in life when I could barely afford to buy a hot dog at Costco.

Thought about how much changed in that apartment and how many of the things I said I wanted to make happen there have come true.

Not everything has, but that is ok because adventure never goes exactly as planned.

****

I participated in a couple of tests at the gym that made me shake my head in irritation. That torn tendon caused a much bigger setback than I realized. I took a moment to conduct a business review with the guy in the mirror and I gave him hell.

He reminded me to distinguish between vanity and sanity. He wasn’t wrong and neither was he when he said to remember how far we managed to go last year.

So now it’s time to buckle up and reset.

Not all of the news was bad, some of it was good but that didn’t take as much edge off as I’d like it to.

I have to do better not just because it is the right thing for myself but because I think things might get rougher and I don’t hide who I am.

Never expected to be a 57 year old politically homeless man seeing the kind of crap I am seeing here and around the world.

But I am the also the descendants of people who are survivors and I am here because they figured out a a way to manage in much harder environments.

We will too, we’ll find the sunshine again.