Mad, Mad World

We as a country, are in the midst of one of the most trying times in recent history, as a people, as a country we are being tested, and thus far we are not rising to the occasion. There have been huge protests in most major cities, people burning down their own neighborhoods, rioting and pillaging, behaving like rabid animals, they demand the defunding of our police departments and then cry like babies when they have no police to protect them from the thugs and criminals who are taken advantage of these situations. They gather in large crowds everywhere around us, ignoring social distancing, ignoring the mask rules, and then wonder why COVID 19 is spiking again. I am thankful to presently live in a smaller city where presently the citizens haven't completely lost their minds, and there is still some vague resemblance to normalcy in existence, at least for now we are safe, for now. We have seen some amazing examples of humanity in 2020, unfortunately, we have also been forced to witness the ugliest of it as well, and now tt would appear as though all the sane among us can do is to stay diligent,  pray that the sanity of our neighbors can somehow be restored and cling to the hope that we may yet somehow survive it all.

I found my Very first Blog post from 2005. (The Social Edge)

I sometimes go out at night when I can't sleep, Carson City, for the most part, being a twenty-four-hour town, can provide a lot of ways for a person to amuse themselves, anytime day or night, casinos and nightlife, along with a lot of desperate people on the prowl for human flesh. Myself, I prefer to be alone, it suits me, some people it seems will sacrifice almost anything for the sake of human contact, while others like me are quite content existing on the edges of the social stratosphere that society seems to have created for itself. You won't find a whole lot of company out here on the edge, but those of us who live out here, find the view breathtaking. So anyhow, I'm sitting in this casino bar, at this little out of the way table, the beer is cold ( which is always a good thing, ) it's dark and cozy, honey, I'm home. And the game is afoot, from across the room, a young man has spotted a potential target, his eyes meet hers, and for a brief moment they connect, seconds later they somehow manage to meet somewhere in the middle, she gives him a coy look, followed by a quick seductive smile, all of the while studying his every move for any signs of weakness. Together, they find an empty table, to sit, share drinks and exchange personal information, the night ends, and together, the happy couple takes a bow and then exit the stage. The rest of the story is purely speculation but has been played out a million times over, they go to his place and have a few more drinks, they talk about having sex , and then do, only to wake up the next morning hungover and still half-drunk, wondering who in the hell that person lying next to them is. In conducting the business of life, we as a society have grown impatient, we want everything now, and it seems at times as though the real consequences of the hasty decisions that we make, have become little more than an afterthought.

We are afforded every luxury that our technology can provide for us, portable smartphones, fast cars, fast food, and even faster lives, and our senses are bombarded on a daily basis by overwhelming images of money, sex, and power, and it is the pursuit of these images that keep pushing us towards our goals at warp speed, leaving us with precious little time to spend on developing any real social skills. We don't even have the time to stop and communicate with each other anymore, and when such attempts are made, what spews from our mouths couldn't even pass for gibberish, let alone English or any other language for that matter, the faster that we make progress, the faster we can move on to the next conquest. And through it all what seems to suffer the most is our human dignity. If fate truly holds in store for us, some form of poetic justice, simple observation may provide us with some valuable clues as to what that justice might be, maybe if we continue down the path that we are at present on we may eventually end up right back where we started from, a small group of scared people huddled in a circle, in a cold and very dark place out in the middle of nowhere, with each person wondering, which one of them will be brave enough to take that first step towards the light.

Friday, September 30th, 2005.

Shelf Life.. (New Echoes.)

The one tragic flaw in being born a human is that we are all born with a shelf life. From the moment- the very second that we open our eyes, we each take our first cautious steps towards death. Somewhere in between the beginning and the inevitable end, we all find ourselves at some point in the in-between, struggling to find our own place in the world. in our journey we each encounter other people making the same journey. Some good, some bad, some will help us along. and in return we help them, we grow, we learn, we each experience life in our own way. others try to tear us down, emotionally, physically, they try to make us feel inferior, less than whole, always there to point out how we are different than everyone else, instead of pointing out how we are all the same.

We all Laugh.

We all cry.

We all feel pain.

Emotionally and physically.

We are all human. We are fragile.

We all will face the end sooner or later.

Whether or not we choose to face it alone or together

It comes for all of us.

And so if the end is indeed inevitable-

What's the hurry?

Live.. Laugh.. Love.. 

Grab life and hold on tight.. and live it to the fullest.

And do it for yourself- Because no one else can.. or will.


Scratch/ Anthony B