I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity.
Edgar Allen Poe

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
- H. L. Mencken

Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so
-Bertrand Russell

What I have been telling you, from alpha to omega, what is the one great thing the sigil taught me โ€” that everything in life is miraculous. For the sigil taught me that it rests within the power of each of us to awaken at will from a dragging nightmare of life made up of unimportant tasks and tedious useless little habits, to see life as it really is, and to rejoice in its exquisite wonderfulness. If the sigil were proved to be the top of a tomato-can, it would not alter that big fact, nor my fixed faith. No Harrowby, the common names we call things by do not matter โ€” except to show how very dull we are ...
-James Branch Cabell

September 03, 2016 - 12:10 p.m.

Annoying People

Wow, I opened Word an hour ago and haven't written a word. That's not good. I'll give myself an excuse, I didn't sleep great last night, I had tummy issues; nothing to worry about. Can I use that as an excuse why this isn't going to be brilliant? Nope, because it's going to be brilliant. Well it would be if I had an idea to write about. I'm going to improvise till something comes to me. That's allegedly how Ray Charles came up with "What I Say?" Hey I'm sitting at a keyboard creating and I'm sort of blind. I'm the next Ray Charles.

Funny day yesterday. I was expecting a call in the afternoon so I didn't go out earlier, a rare day where I felt up to it. The call was well worth it and I really should have gone out and taken a walk around the Island, it was a beautiful day. Today is murky. OK, here's today's plan. I just came up with it. I live in the same building as the Nautical Museum. I have never been to the museum and that's just wrong. It's only open on weekends from 1โ€“4 and I can never get myself to go out then unless I'm going out for the day. Today I go to the museum and report back to you tomorrow.

I wanted to go to Trader Joe's before the storm hit to pick up some things. I had no other plans so I decided to have a nice sit down dinner in the City. I went to Hog Pit NYC for the first time in ages. I ordered my usual, chicken-fried steak. I very often have a usual at restaurants. I get the thing they make better or different than I can get elsewhere. I love the chicken-fried steak sandwich, it's a neuro dish. There are mashed potatoes in the sandwich. There's gravy to pour over or on it. I pour it over. Even though it's a sandwich I eat it with a knife and fork. What the hell is chicken-frying? Whatever it is, it's delicious. The spicy curly it comes with are great. It's a big portion. It was delicious and satisfying. Not only that the service was great; a service issue is why I haven't been there in a long time.

It's only a few blocks from the Chelsea Trader Joe's but I decided to walk down to the one in Union Square even though I prefer the Chelsea location; the one in Union Square has very narrow aisles and is difficult to navigate. But it is easier to get home from and I just wanted to take the walk. It was not just a beautiful day but a beautiful evening. I love walking around the City by myself and just taking it in. Of course I also love walking around the City with someone and discovering things together. They are two separate kinds of experiences and I want both in my life.

Trader Joe's was out of a lot of food; people must be shopping for the storm. I had to get large eggs, I usually order the jumbo. The eggs are much cheaper than I can get on City Island. I got peanut butter cups. That's why my tummy had issues, I ate too many of them.

One of my pet peeves is people that don't know they take up space and that you can't walk through them. As I said the aisles are narrow there so this is an issue. I go down one aisle and one woman parked her cart right next to another woman's. There was no way for anyone to get through. Did she not realize other people are in the store? I think the answer is, "yes." I said excuse me and she slowly moved out of the way. A little while later I encountered her again. This time she had her cart six inches from the shelves and stood next to it, again totally blocking an aisle.

Years ago I started a blog on Diaryland called "Annoying People." It was a blog than anyone could contribute to. My idea was that it was a place to bitch about people like that aisle-blocking woman. It never took off; I guess other people don't feel the need to vent as much as I do. I think about writing about annoying people I encounter every day. Most of the time I think better of it. But today I'm giving myself permission to write about them.

On Wednesday I encountered a winner at the New Rochelle train station. I want to sit in the last car as that's the direction I have to go when I get off the train at Harrison and it's where I get on in New Rochelle. I sit at the rearmost bench. On Wednesday three people were sitting on it and one guy had his suitcase on the fourth seat. I went over and said, "excuse me." He gave me a dirty look and very slowly moved the suitcase. He looked down the platform and said, "There are plenty of other seats." There were but they were not close and in the wrong direction so I said, "I need to be at the back of the train." He glared some more then stood up, so I added, "You can feel free to sit in one of them." He's probably blogging about me now saying that I'm annoying.

I'm not sure if the next too are best described as annoying or creepy nor unnerving. The often takes some time to open the door at the last stop where I get off. As we were waiting for the doors to open this one guy got up and let out a sound. I wouldn't call it talking, "Muhhhhhhhh." It was sort of like a cow lowing except not moo, muhhhhhhhhh. I thought he might be homeless person with mental issues but he didn't look like it. He was neat and clean. Then when I got to the bus stop someone who was probably his brother was waiting. He was on his cell phone and he said, "mwa wa wa wa wa." I'm not saying he was mumbling. That's as well as I can get to what he actually said loudly and clearly.

I didn't encounter just annoying people. On the two women got on at 86th street and said something, I'm not sure what, to get attention for a performance they were about to do. I braced myself and wondered if it was worth getting my earplugs out for. Instead they picked up a fiddle and guitar and made great music. I couldn't make out the lyrics on the noisy train but I wish I could have. They were talented. Just from that short sample I'd say they were better than the average emerging artist at Falcon Ridge. They might be as good as the winners. I was delighted. I got a short but sweet live music fix. They are called Audible Chocolate. Here's a link to their Facebook page, . There are three women in the band but I only saw two. Here's a link to a video that shows pretty much what I saw. Is there a way to embed a Facebook video? I'm going to have to trust you to follow the link and watch it anyway.

I have a new game to amuse myself with on the bus ride home. I close my eyes and try to figure out exactly where I am by picturing the bus route with all its turns and feeling the motion of the bus. I'll open my eyes to confirm I'm right now and then. I'm getting perfect at it. Yesterday I checked to see if I were right on the drawbridge across the Hutchison river, I can tell that because the road gets rough, and getting off the causeway onto the island which I can tell from the curves the bus has to follow. I have practiced being blind or being blindfolded since I was a kid. A common trope on TV shows back then was someone being kidnapped and taken to a secret location and then later guiding the police back there by the sounds and smells of the trip. What I remember best is Get Smart lampooning it. But I also practice being blind, closing my eyes and walking around to see if I can find my way. I do OK. I'm just keeping in practice, just in case. Hey I told you I was the new Ray Charles.

Wow, I didn't have to go to my idea bin at all. I have apparently written 1274 words on a day when I had no idea what I was going to write. Practice does make perfect. When I'm not depressed I can always sit down and write and something will come out of my fingers. I'm not promising it goes through my brain first. I can't have what I really want today, a sausageeggandcheese sandwich as I have no sausages. I'll have to see if I can get some today. So instead I'll have an omelet. Then on to the museum.


I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge:
please hold me accountable.





Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
Wise Madness is Now In Session - May 28, 2018
The NFL and the First Amendment - May 27, 2018
On The Road Again - May 26, 2018
Oliver the Three-Eyed Crow - May 25, 2018



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Horvendile September 03, 2016
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