I believe that the questioning of authority is a duty and responsibility. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands.
DEAR READER:
I owe you some words. Thank you for pausing here as I begin to pay my debt.
I might want to meet you, live and in person. I might be your penpal. I might praise your work or learn a lesson from you. Maybe we’ll help one another with something in this life.
I was a hippy wannabe. I was a Vietnam protester. I watched classmates from my hometown live out the words of Country Joe: “Be the first ones on your block to have your son come home in a box.” I heard my first twenty-one gun salute while Taps played as they lowered a classmate into the ground in my hometown. This happened more than once. This stuff moved me. Moves me. Made me. Makes me.
My hair was long but my grades were good. One day I realized that a half century had passed. Today I realize there's a lot left to realize.
I make great margaritas, but I rarely drink them today. (INSIST on 100% blue agave, and I recommend reposado.) I made the best beer and ale, according to the German Beer Purity Law. (less is more) I bake bread the same way.
I count carbohydrates, and I count money. I am irritatingly cheap for months on end, and then I have a luxurious spending spree. I want the best, the very best.
I believe the following about money: (1) more is better than less, (2) sooner is better than later, and (3) when the stuff is changing hands, it’s always best to be present.
I think the ACLU is annoyingly extreme. I think the ACLU is extremely important. I support their work. I wonder why people know more about a dead Playboy bunny than they know about Guantanamo. I wonder why people know their favorite sports players but cannot name a government representative. Who won the game?
I believe that we all have strengths and weaknesses. This includes you and me. This includes respected and admired artists and “leaders.” Picasso was a whoredog. Jefferson lived way beyond his means and sired children outside of marriage with those that he had immorally enslaved. This is a very long list that I won’t post here.
Sometimes I amuse myself by watching the grass grow or watching backyard wildlife. I’d rather be a forest than a street. I love picnics.
I want to change a hundred things. I’ll concentrate on the top two or three.
I want to see the world around me, hear it, smell it, taste it, touch and feel it.
Do you know where the nearest National Forest is? Do you know where the nearest National Park is? Do you know where the nearest National Wildlife Refuge is? Do you know the difference? Did I say I love picnics? Let’s pack the car and drive across the USA.
Ride your bicycle more!
Play your music loud!
Turn that music off!
If you listen to my radio seven days, you might think seven people live here. Variety.
"If it don't fit, don't force it," Daddy Ray, my great-grandfather. He left me a rifle, at a time when it was an honor and the proper thing to do.
"If you mess with shit, you're gonna get some on you," Mama Ray, my great-grandmother. Did I mention my interest in genealogy? Sometimes it's easier to find your way if you know where you came from.
I walk through old cemeteries and admire the stones, plain and magnificent, granite and marble.
For reasons not perfectly clear, I am attracted to New Orleans, the South Carolina coast, and various shades of blue.
“We have seen that many peoples have been used to observe an annual period of license, when the customary restraints of law and morality are thrown aside, when the whole population give themselves up to extravagant mirth and jollity, and when the darker passions find a vent which would never be allowed them in the more staid and sober course of ordinary life.”
-Sir James G. Frazer (1854-1941)
I didn't know that they knew me so well, but two British songwriters were thinking about me:
Peter, "I can't sing, I ain't pretty, and my legs are thin."
Paul, "You may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer."
What do YOU want to do? I love life and name a few interests to the left. What shall WE do now?
RIGHT NOW . . . let’s communicate, in some form, if you’d like. Send a note...
The storyteller observes and works from this:
Just beyond "street smart" and "street wise" lies "street brilliance."
Despite its brilliance, this is eerily close to total darkness.
Some will emerge; many will perish.
(The "Psychles: In the Club" blog series is temporarily unavailable. Call or write for more information.)