I Still Don't Sleep At Night

Get it while you can. Read now and, I guess, then we're supposed to forever hold our peace? The soon to be classified documents on 9/11 congressional hearings, many of which are about why they need to be classified, are available now at The Memory Hole. Of course, these are the documents about things like "who are senior members of the government" and who are we referring to when we say "president?" But in there somewhere we may glean what this person who may be called president knew and when he knew it and why he didn't do anything about it.

I thought the blog needed some trash, so it would feel homier to me. Nico Van Hoorn has artistically found a way to photograph bits of trash he finds along the roadside so that each and every piece looks like a simple, well-planned contemporary work of art. " Each day, Mr. Van Hoorn picks up something that fits his parameters --paper, plastic or metal, never bigger than 10 x 15 cm, as flat as possible -- then photographs it and posts the resulting photo on his site. " The result is either art or my living room floor; you decide. And my description of this blog does promise a trip to the thrift store. Today, being Saturday, is a good day to go so off we go to Found Magazine. You never know you may have lost a picture of yourself or even some money.

It wasn't even big news in Illinois but after all these years the ERA finally passed, at least the House in Illinois voted to ratify it in the hopes that it would be resurrected nationally. And guess what? After all these years of consciousness raising, at least one congressman had to ask if the
"change would require taxpayer funding for abortions, legalization of same-sex marriage and installation of the draft and mandatory combat positions for women." The more things change the more they stay the same.

So Martin Scorsese is making a biography of Bob Dylan. I look forward to it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I will also be wondering then, as I am now, if during the interview portion Scorsese will ask him what gives with allowing his music to be used to sell underwear. Just asking. Just asking because it bothers the hell out of me.

And we all instantly know what man of letters he's talking about: "a coked-out prophet in the Book of Revelation, a hillbilly bookworm on speed, a psycho-path with an arsenal of high-powered weapons, a paranoid gun junkie, a womaniser, a drunk and worse." Paul Theroux's reviewof the king of gonzo's latest does the good doctor proud. Of course he does go on to say that, "the truth is far weirder: most of the time Hunter Thompson is a strangely modest man, a serious thinker, a great wit, a superb satirist and a sports fan." He writes that he thinks that "Thompson has remained a writer of significance because, essentially a satirist, he has displayed an utter contempt for power - political power, financial power, even showbiz juice." And this despite the two movies. Another VERY interesting part of this review is the fact that the doctor predicted on 9/12/2000 there would be "a sort of Christian jihad" punishing someone for the attack. I can't wait to read the book.

Entropy does what it can, but I still have my old letters and I'll take them with me to the grave. Doesn't everyone have a collection of beribboned, or not, yellowed letters that get carted from home to home and shoved into a new attic or closet? If all you have are some of this kind of thing, here are someone else's personal letters of reason and heart. Some are thought provoking, some are moving, and some are funny.

We knew Christie Whitman would not hang around for another four years, but still isn't it sort of fun to pretend now that two, count 'em two, Bush spokesliars, have resigned in the same week that something like the Jim Carrey movie Liar Liar curse has broken out in the Bush Camp and the bunch of them are going to have to start resigning because they just can't lie anymore. I'd enjoy watching the resignations come flooding in; I really would. And they would try to lie about why they were resigning and they wouldn't be able to do it. It would be so funny. Grist Magazine predicted last Decemberthat it was more than rumors, and that she'd soon be gone. As they pointed out then, one of her many odious tasks under Bush was explaining to parents why it's a good idea to allow high levels of arsenic in drinking water. And let's not even talk about how "she had to defend the U.S.'s ignominious withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, even after promising European officials that her country would continue to back the treaty" as Grist pointed out. Or keeping a straight face while stating that air pollution will be reduced if utilities go unregulated. She and Ari could swap some big ones with the best down at the liars' club. And now they both have the same need: to spend time with their spouses. Isn't that special? Of course, the terrible, awful, no good news is who will take her place.
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Well thanks again to The Skeptical Blog my midnight confessionis that the music video they brought to my attention has moved me to tears and I'm not kidding. When I hear the leader of our country again state, "Rarely is the question asked is our children learning," I just want to cry. Don't miss it. It's got a beat and you can dance to it if you have the heart. This is a "best of" repeat because I can't find my archives. I just love it too much to let it go away quietlly.

I had a terrific surprise yesterday. I found an Amazon.com package waiting on the foyer table for me. I tried to guess who it was from, but I would have never guessed. Three years ago I wrote a review of a fantastic magical mystery tour of a book called, don't you love it, The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living: A Novel by Martin Clark. I hope the review made up for it's lack of eloquence with its enthusiasm. It was missing a chunk of quote that I can only attribute to brain damage, since I wasn't linking in those days. But Judge/Novelist Martin Clark fascinates me: How can he be a proper Southern judge and write so well about taking a walk on the definite wild side? I mean I can't help but think he writes about what he knows. You can't fake it or it would come through as fake. It's a very knowing book about lots of things. I called it a cosmic journey I believe. Read my review and read the other reviews, and see if you don't feel like checking it out. In the meantime, I decided what the hell, I'm feeling lucky, so I posted my lengthy wish list right up there with my links.

Well, even though I don't sleep at night, I know some folks do. For their benefit I will now provide a Dr. Seuss rhyme (don't scan it too closely if you're fussy) about Whoville and Grinches and some people you're bound to recognize. I am proud to say that most of my values haven't changed much since the Sixties. I may not recycle religiously but I don't pollute, much anyway. I ride a bicycle where I want to go. No big, fat SUV sitting in a garage somewhere waiting to cause another oil war. I am not a big consumer: I mostly shop at thrift stores. It's amazing what people toss; I guess because the newness is worn off. Fine by me. I like the funkiness of things. The personality. Anyhow, do what you can today. Always, always vote. And don't forget to stopand write. Letters are better than e-mail, but e-mail is better than nothing. Phone calls are always good. I mean do you really believe those 68-70% popularity polls the smirking chimp gets? With his war on poverty; i.e. the poor? And you ain't seen nothin' yet. What does the man have to do for America to wake up from its American Idol Big Mac flag-waving dream and see all that they've lost?

Well I hate to bring it up since only RadioUseLand has the RSS feed(and Blogger Pro, my mistake--I'm new at this) so I can't link the New York Times articles I am about to refer to. But I'm sure everyone will be talking about yesterday and today's weblog stories. Yesterday's was okay. It was a fluff piece about the problems of dating a weblogger. I know I sure would have let a cheating ex or two have it--and the bitches they rode on too. But today's article was about NY blogs. It was about what you'd think. I guess the big one is Gawker, a name dropping rag about people you don't really care about. Sean Hayes was seen dining at a restaurant with a man. Wow, really? The links are weird too. NY Times described it as, "a voyeuristic, media-obsessed, gossipy and occasionally creepy blog" which got my interest but I was disappointed. New York City Bloggers is a community of a couple of thousand of bloggers. Looks like lots of interesting blogs. I will be browsing. Voted best blog (by his friends) in the NY Times article about NY blogs: whatevs.org is hip and trendy if you're a twenty something guy. It was all beyond me, but I did learn what trying to have sex on cocaine is like for a guy.

This just in: The office spokes-liar, Ari Fleischer, has had enough. He has recently married, and his new wife told him that no, he wasn't imagining it; his nose really is getting longer. How did he manage to live with himself this long?

This little exercise helps get the writing juices flowing. And I love reading the other people's work. I wrote one man a fan letter and told him I knew he was a real writer. He wrote me back, and I could tell he was touched. There is real talent here. And it only took sixty seconds.

When Christians talk about God blessing America I always feel they mean them and their kind. They don't mean me. They don't mean you. They certainly don't mean foreigners. And the people in other countries are very nervous when King George starts throwing God around. How much of a fanatic is he? I read one article in the New YorkTimes that being reborn is just part of the package because he is a recovering alcoholic. Well, I know the type. They pound on the bible like they used to pound on the bar. And George does hate the evil doers. I wish he'd go to AA and save his fundamentalist Christian notions for his Sunday congregation. He doesn't get it that God is not an American, and people in other countries are well aware of this. British playwright Harold Pinter recently called Bush a "hired Christian thug." He does seem to see himself as doing battle against the forces of evil. Iraq's shock and awe was a small scale Armageddon for him. And it happened in the cradle of civilization--how convenient and how symbolic. Hosanna top gun dog.

Keeping regular hours kills me. I don't like getting up in the a.m. too much. I didn't make it to work the last couple of days because I was up all night. And I don't drink and I don't party. I just sit and play on the computer. But nobody bothers you at night--at least since I asked my IM friend to give me a break. That used to scare me: I'd be in my own world and then that AOL sound that no, I wasn't alone after all. He would drop in several times a day. Finally, on the day he dropped in before I even had coffee, I just had to tell him I'm a hermit by nature. That's why I like the night time. You can be alone. No phones ringing. No e-mail even. For sure no one knocking at your door. No one complaining that you're always on line. Hushabye to you and sweet dreams. I'll look out for you dreamers as long as I'm up.