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
August 28, 2017 - 11:05 a.m. I know there are things I wanted to write about. Will I remember any of them without looking at my list of diary ideas? Did I even add them to the list of diary ideas? I'll do what I always do in these cases; I'll start with my day and see if that triggers my memory. My brain is like the pile of papers with the one thing you are looking for somewhere in it. I did make it out of the house. I didn't plan on it but I had to feed the neighbor's cat. Jane gave me instructions how to find the house and the cat food. I didn't have to find the cat, she found me. She was quite grateful and thanked me before eating. The cats here just eat and complain about the service. I even got a tip. There was a box of cookies on the table I was told I should take back here. They were an assortment of Italian cookies. I'm not going to comment on the original content but there were no chocolate cookies in the box when I got home. It's a block away, a short box. No way I had time to eat four cookies. That's fake news spread by the failing New York Times. I made dinner when I got back, much earlier than I usually eat. I'm always surprised how I can keep making minor variations on roasted chicken thighs that keep it exciting. This time I added some parmesan cheese and a splash of olive oil in the pan. That crisped it up nicely. I also used my usual MSG and garlic salt and topped it with barbecue sauce. I finished eating at 6:30; the Game of Thrones season finale came on at 9. Subtraction would lead you to believe that was two and a half hours. That ignores the theory of relativity. Time is far more complex than that. Five hours later it was 7:15. In another 12 hours 8:12. Finally, after 18 hours and 23 minutes 9:00 arrived. Then the 75-minute episode was over in 8 minutes and 37 seconds. Now I have to wait eons till the final season to begin. Can you believe I resisted watching the show? That I didn't love it for the first season? Now I'm addicted, like an addict. My affections within the show have stayed constant; my favorite characters are Jon Snow and Arya Stark. I did not write down what I wanted to write about. The last thing on my list is "My thoughts on immigration and free trade." That is not what I want to write about. It isn't what you want to read about. I know, I'll write about Taylor Swift. Multiple friends linked to this article, Taylor Swift's New Song Is Worse Than Bad โ It's Irrelevant. The gist is, "How dare Taylor Swift release an apolitical song with all that's going on?" Taylor Swift can sing about whatever the hell she wants to sing about. Every song does not have to be political. Thinking that is just as bad as the people that complain when artists get political and say, "I didn't come to hear a political speech." Everyone knows the story of Ricky Nelson getting booed when he sang serious songs at Madison Square Garden. Less well known is that Phil Ochs got booed at the Garden when he sang apolitical songs. Artists are free to follow their muse. Political songs are difficult to write, most are obvious platitudes or artless rants. Everyone doesn't have the knack of it. Very few have anything original to add. I love political songs. Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie are heroes. There are plenty of people now that carry on in that tradition. That doesn't mean everyone has to. Now if you want to criticize Look What You Made Me Do because it sucks, I'm with you; it's a godawful song. I'm going to try my best to never listen to it again. I'll lament the public's taste but I won't criticize Taylor Swift as a person. She is someone that has taken principled stands. She struck a blow for women's rights in the courts. If she wants to get rich performing musical junk food I'm OK with it. People like to be self-righteous. It feels good. I'm being self-righteous now and enjoying it. That's a signal to stop writing and picking up on this another time. I put it on my ideas list. I was hoping that writing that would trigger my memory, it did, and yet I'm not going to write about it now. The mind works in mysterious ways. I'll write about it tomorrow unless I figure out how to go into suspended animation until Game of Thrones starts up again. I'm considering getting half-priced bagels for the first time in ages. Maybe it can help me survive the long wait till the Game of Thrones is won. I signed the Pro-Truth Pledge: please hold me accountable.
Memories: Not that Horrid Song - May 29, 2018
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