Today I got the message I was expecting. It completed the metamorphosis that began January 16, 2013, the day both my parents were diagnosed with cancer. What I was told today was that my twelve-year friendship with someone was no longer “productive.” It’s not a word I’ve ever applied to friendship, but it turns out…
The price of denial
June 10, 2014
In 2013 neither of my parents would acknowledge the seriousness of their illnesses. For them the price of denial was their lives. Today the Iraqis are seeing what happens when you refuse to face reality and change your ways to accommodate unpleasant truths. Iraqi City of Mosul Falls to Jihadists. BAGHDAD — Islamic militants overran…
Frigging dumb limbo mumbo jumbo
June 9, 2014
One of my favorite films is Altered States, starring William Hurt and Blair Brown. It’s about a man who searches for meaning and feels entirely cut off from everybody. I love Charles Haid’s epic rant that ends with, “I’m not going to listen to any more of your cabalistic, quantum, frigging dumb, limbo mumbo jumbo!”…
A role I never envisioned for myself
June 7, 2014
As a child I wanted to be a stuntman. Then I wanted to be a cop. Then I lost my bearings and careened from one desire and occupation to another. There was never a method to my madness; I just had no clue what I was supposed to do or be. And now I occupy…
On Losing Everything, Part One
June 3, 2014
Two days ago I wrote about Ryan Kelly Chamberlain, a man wanted by the FBI. I got the details of the story wrong. He didn’t have ricin, and his car wasn’t rigged with explosives. He was arrested in San Francisco yesterday after leaving a trail ten miles wide. For example, he used his ATM card…
On Losing Everything, Part Two
June 3, 2014
So, what are my thoughts on Ryan Kelly Chamberlain’s letter about losing everything? I think it’s a joke. He’s a joke. Don’t get me wrong: His depression is certainly real. But how he handled his problems is sickeningly self-indulgent. Today a fat, fabulously wealthy bastard told me I was too angry, and I need to…
Why a cat made me believe in reincarnation
May 31, 2014
I’m currently feeding a family of feral cats. I don’t want to, but I don’t see that I have a choice. Today, the cats themselves pretty much told me that I have to keep doing it. I’ll explain what happened. And then I’ll tell you how another cat made me believe in reincarnation. Five days…
That’s not therapy. THIS is therapy.
May 28, 2014
The Isla Vista spree killer was in therapy since the age of eight, including almost every day while in high school. That’s total baloney. He didn’t undergo therapy. THIS is therapy, what I will now tell you about myself. In 1998 I was at the end of my rope. My career as a music journalist…
The youngest doughboy
May 25, 2014
Tomorrow is Memorial Day 2014. World War One began on July 28, 1914, nearly a century ago. For this Memorial Day, I want to remember Frank R. Sauliere, the youngest doughboy to fight in the war. Nobody knows where the term “doughboy” comes from. It could refer to the dumplings that soldiers made from flour,…