anytime someone approached his register carrying a bottle of Irish whiskey he queried them why they drank Irish to Canadian or Kentucky Tennessee whiskey  or perhaps scotch

he knew why he did
                      members of the The Peaky Blinders gang put a gun to his head for five seasons  and they were always good to their word 

an elderly gentleman who had stood behind a breathtaking young redhead(redheads were rarely breathtaking in his experience) stepped in her tangible space which remained after she left

My it feels like shes still her.

You can say that again man Godness

Godness?

My shorthand for true honest-to-God goodness

My. I believe I like that.

Youre welcome to it but I daresay you wont use it often I cant remember the last time I said so

She was godness.

She was And I also cant remember the last timeif ever I said that of a redhead I am not partial to redheads Or partial to blondes Imagine California blondes dont turn my head

Then boy, you’re like me, you like dusky women.

Dusky Yes I like that  I like dusky women

the old man nodded appreciating their mutual appreciation

And apparently we also seem to appreciate Irish spirits

My. Who are you? Me, when I was a young man?

No Then we couldnt be here together now  Or could we

the old man grabbed ahold of the counters lip before he let loose an awesome belly laugh 

after several moments he was able to sayMy! My my! That was a fine retort.

Thank you It is few an far between that can recognise a retort

Goodness, rather godness lad, how is it you’re working here?

I enjoy myself They pay me to enjoy myself Im rippin them off dont you think

I do. This is the most fun I’ve had buying liquor ever.

Then thats saying something

That’s truly saying something, yes. 

Youre not from here or live here

My. You are perceptive. Is it that I’m lacking my California tan?

he laughed Yes The tan More so the mannerthe way you carry yourself sir

Still? Mum would be proud. She was a bear about carriage and manners. Us children each had our own switches. She’d have us fetch them and stand waiting our turn. She told us, not a one of us, were ever going to reflect poorly on her. Not a one.

I appreciated her sternness later.  

And now.

A big family

There were ten children.

Im the eldest of eight

Then you know. I thought I recognised your mother in you.

Thank you Ill be sure to let her know You realise of course her head will swell

Have her remove her bonnet before you tell her so.

She lives back East with the whole mob They never got the Go West, young man, go West. John Babsone fantastic middle namehuh Babsone Lane Souleactually the whole of his name is quite melodious Then it was rephrasedmade famous by Horace Greeley but the country was already grown up when I was born

You know your history.

No I know trivia particularly trivia that incites me I also read a lot so I have a lot of useless information at my fingertipsplaying at the tip of my tongue I could probably happily commune with a chimp if I had to Tell himNO Drop the feces Therell be no flinging feces today

the old man burst into another bout of his belly laughter 

which proved infectious

he joined in and laughed till he had tears in his eyes

My, my. That was elating. I cannot say the last time I roared like that. I believe you cleared my sinuses, belched old smoke up out of my lungs.

My, my.

recovered he said I suppose we can tip our caps to our vivacious redhead and the space she left us eh

Yes. She certainly rarified our atmosphere. Truly rarified.

As I was saying my mother lives back East Ill call and have her take a seat so I dont floor her Imagining her in a bonnet is a cherry atop a sundae Thank you

You’re welcome.

they vied awhile longer but a line began to assemble

I should regret leaving our conversation, though I do appreciate you’re working.

My regret as well

One last thing. Don’t play Doonbeg if you golf if you visit Ireland. Illegal Russian money aided your president. And he was elated to have it.

Be a good boy, as your mother raised you.

they never got around to the old mans take on Irish whiskey

1046,  Saturday,  28  7. 18

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/trump-inquiry-hears-claim-of-russian-mafia-money-link-to-doonbeg-1.3361639

hed been to Colorado Seattlewas in California where blowin a joint in public was no big deal  its legal

marijuanas legal  its overly-long-delayed legitimacy however grates him

he was for ithad been for it 

it was better than booze

if he had the choice hed opt for it

he just preferred it when it was illegal  loosely enforced

in Chicago the cops just confiscated it

sometimes they dumped it out on the dirt or gravel in front of you  and grounded it beneath the soles of their shoes then told you to beat it

sometimes they pocketed it  and it irked you to know they were going to get high on your dope

if they caught you with a big score  and arrested you  when you were arraigned you found that you were being charged with possessing half or less of what you had when you were arrested

whos gonna bitchinform the Court NO I had five kilosnot two

cops sold off the excess beyond what they wanted for themselves or their friends and family

hell when push came to shove he reached out to a couple of cops that were buddies of his cousin

it helped to be connected to be liked by particular cops

he had to side with the Blue they ran risks civvies didnt they had skin in the game

Mary the dentists daughterthen dentists gave you suckers or other sweets after they drilled your teeth  no Novocain  that cost a pretty penny  more than his old man was willing to shell out although to be fair he had seven siblings  pretty pennies added up and into that mix they all preferred to eat  what was a little pain to having food no brainer   

Mary he could never remember her last name

after smoking hashMary could afford hashshe was a dentists daughter they tried to roll a No. 2 Ticonderoga pencil with their minds

they gobbled psilocybintried to roll pencils they split pods of jimsonweed from trips she made to California and tried to roll pencils Man, the plants grow alongside the road. Free shit. Amazing. I love California. I’m gonna live there someday.

she didntshe died of an overdose just before he moved to Montana to become a dental floss tycoon she just couldnt dial back her enthusiasm or rather the way he saw it  she could afford her enthusiasm

Mary got fingered by several Jamaican prison guardspart of her patdown when she went to visit a friend of theirs Tommy  who pulled an armed robbery at a night clubhe fired a shot into the air to get everyones serious attention and the bullet ricocheted off something and killed someone really fucked upreally bad luck

she crawled into a low concrete bunker with a dirt floor at the back Tommy slept in one corner and in the corner diagonal from it near the rebarred steel door he relieved himself

Tommy told her as a matter of fact he wasnt getting out aliveno matter how his trial ended  his basic necessitiesif he wanted access to them he had to blow guards for them  Ain’t happenin. I’ll swearI’ll promise to get outget into the yard, but some poor dumb bastard is gonna have his cock bit clean off.

they wrote letters to Tommy when she returned

their letters were returned UNKNOWN

then they heard he was killed trying to escape

Mary scored some opium from someone in the city probably not a copshe ran with horse people who uniquelyto his mind went effortlessly around the world

they fired it up in a dark corner of the Snuggery a bar in Edison Park

the barmaid quickly made it over to their table You can’t do that in here. she told them theyd have to leave if they didnt stop or shed call the police

they ordered a pitcher of Half-and-Half gave her cash for two and told her when she returned theyd give her a couple of tokes

the gal ticked up the fan that turned over their headslaid a smouldering Camel in a tin ashtray at the center of the table served them and got high

he was really into Mary

shed give him head but she wouldnt fuck him

Why

Because you’re seeing my best friend Maureen.

We broke up months ago

No matter. She’s still my best friend and she’s not over you. You broke up with her.

I broke up with her because she wouldnt stop doing angel dust I cant care for someone who doesnt care for themselves Thats a losing proposition

She’s my best friend.

Then get in her head and make her stop

No. She’s welcome to do what she wants to do.

She is  But maybe you dont procure it for herhuh

None of your business, is it?

None of my business  

maybe that was friendship

he fucked his best friends girlfriend and two others girls at an all-girl party in a basement bedroom

somehow he was called in because they were bored when they was picked him up from his place he was pulled into a car with seven women who were dressed in pj’s yanking him in to sit in the back between them their breasts played under their tops like happy puppies    

she ratted on him because she felt bad afterwards

You didn’t think she’d tell me? his best friend asked

I cant see why she would She was the last to have mesloppy thirds

Are you trying to piss me off?

Piss you offYou ought to be pissed off  But not at me   I didnt go looking for her

You don’t think you owe me an apology?

Awright  Im sorry you found out

things are better when theyre illict

she told him she couldnt hold her tongue

she told him there wouldnt be a next time

he told her that must be a tremendous relief to his best friend

there was a next time

she showed up at his place

since she couldnt hold her tongue she said he said hed hold her tongue under his dick  and when she was thoroughly breathless he took her from behind she had a fantastic appleshaped ass  in the behind  because she also said shed never done that before

turned out she never breathed a word of their adventure to his best friend  or rather he never said anything to him if she did

a couple of years later while he was living in Montana his best friend wrote him that he proposed to her

she denied him

She told me no. She said I wasn’t adventurous enough.

he wrote him back Maybe you should have fucked her in the ass.

he wrote him back No. I wouldn’t do that. That’s disgusting.

he wrote him Sounds like she was right.

things are better when theyre illict

1636,  Thursday,  26  7. 18
1410,  Friday,  27  7. 18

there was a timetheres always a time but she found it difficult to get away from cherrypicking times of those times 

she was writing her autobiography 

she wasnt twentyfive 

and thinking of them reminded her blatantly  Of Opportunity

of her powersher tantalizing hypersexuality 

her innocence

and naiveté   

she wasnt naïve  

she had assets 

she merely applied them for the best returnthe BIGGEST BANG for her fuck 

she was always surprised they seemed hurt afterwardssomehow misunderstanding the sum of the equation  

asif she somehow she took advantage of them 

that they werent worthy of her affections  and intentions

Christ look in the mirrorReally  Its simple  I played ya I played ya exactly like you play others Doesnt feel gooddoes it

she knew their hurt feelings were temporary a ploy 

Its a gamea fuckin game You have to strike your worth early an never let anyone take you down from the esteem you hold yourself in

If you were some kind of Gumby hangin out with a sidekick named Pokeyya fuckin kiddin me? you deserve exactly whacha got Pokey

even if she wasnt blessed with the fortune formulation of her genetics purely accidental she wouldnt let anyone prescribe or define her abilities 

she wasnt going to settle for anything less than what she determined was her due

so what if a couple of old men died under herGood riddance isnt that what they paid for besides their hardons were better dead than aliveIm just sayin  

she didnt suffer being too honest 

to her nothing was better in the world than honesty  cleansing

somehow it never came cheap or natural

it had to be tortured into existence

Oh, what a World! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQJ8WrKnLUs

Little girl?

HA! Little girlmy ass

1410,  Thursday,  26  7. 18

Trump: The Manchurian Candidate

Trump the other Manchurian Candidate though not as popular 
                                                                       a little bummed that he has to backtrackwithdraw his cuddle with Putin at the White House this year hell be long gone before he has that opportunity

he read enough about Vlads history  

Russia is as bad about history as Trumps loyalists their excuse might be State media

                                                                                       Russia recognises 1941 as the year they entered World War II  adamantly disregarding their alliance with Nazi Germany in 1939

when they carved up their share of Eastern Europe  

he read enough of Vlads history to recognise theres a very good chance he turned Trump based on the obvious knowledge of Trumps unparalleled pliable greed his selfishness bordering on sociopath and disdain for the Rule of Law 
no laws in Russiawhy would an authoritarian accept Law

Trump was and is low hanging fruit

the nightthat early afternoon in Russia when Trump was confirmed President of the United States Putin gave everyone with a dick in the Kremlin permission to masturbate Trumps Election (he couldnt hazard to guess how many women were allowed to stroke their clits)

let Trump prove -- beyond a shadow of doubt -- hes not a Manchurian Candidate

he was sorry to say he had no sense of innocent until proven guilty   Americas ways have been perverted 

1844,  Thursday,  26  7. 18

908 days remaining or less

he had a problem although he recognised his problem he taped a poster by a single tab of Scotchtape at its top to his livingroom wall to remind himself maybe notper se he needed reminding but to remind others around him 

the poster was of a burntblack Bill the Cat drawn by Berkeley Breathed sitting flat on his ass under the exclamation  I’ve gone to look for myself. If I should return before I get back, keep me here.

too bad he didnt have it when he was married 

it would have be so fuckin helpful

he could have pointed to it before he began arranged the room

shed say I’ve got something I need to talk to you about.

hed say You bet and he put down the book or magazine he was reading or set the red Bic down on the paper and clipboard he was writing on or turned the television set off if he was watching it or cross the livingroom to record player she began seething take the needle from the vinyl seat it and turn it off then grab a chair from the kitchen set and set it down immediately across from where she sat on the sofa hed sit down  then hed say Awright you have my undivided attention

          and shed go nutsrage at his elaborate staginghow fuckin ridiculous he was being

he didnt ask What did need mean

                                                    

and at the end of her bitter volcanic eruption shed burst into tears stumble off the couch leave the livingroom go up the hall and slam the bedroom door shut behind her

neighbours within earshot thought they heard a gunshot that someone inside the apartment was dead not like they lived in a bad neighbourhood while he rocked drolly back on the chairs two metal legsclasped his hands fingers intertwined behind his head  keeping it from falling off  muttering JaysusChrist JaysusChrist I staged nothingnot a damn thing

he told herreminded her for as long as he knew her that if she wantedneeded his undivided attention that he had to kill any distractions that might pull him away from what she might say Sometimes he told hersometimes youll say something and Ill find myself riffing on itsuddenly absent from the conversationabsent regarding what youre saying

Its not for lack of attention hed say I suddenly find something youve said so utterly interesting so more engrossing than the context you said it in . . . you only get one shot/do not miss a chance to blow/cuz Opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo . . . Baby its not likely youd appreciate me signaling for a timeout so I could scribble down what you saidhow it enticed me

maybe the crispy Bill the Cat poster would have helped

since his wife died he tried to steer clear of intimate relationships 

if intimacy reckoned he duly pointed to Bill and say Im reminding you right hereright now youve got no excuse or cause to be angry with me Im dead and done with drama You bring it into my house an Ill drag it out by its hair or whatever I can get my hands on first  I dont want any drama period Ive had enough for a lifetime  Im not apologising for what I want 

hed take his hand down from pointing and look them full in the face  Cuz mebbe youll dig what I have to offer

Bill aint up no more

his last intimacy has lasted better than seven years

1446,  Twosday,  24  7. 18

0034,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  25  7. 18

Eminem  Lose Yourself  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFYQQPAOz7Y

the coolblue powderedblue cube on El Camino was losing its icy demeanor  to sized and sawn pieces of reused plywoodvertical patchwork screwed into its stubborn sides

an icecube wounded and scabbing

the blue cube was melting despite built of wood and slathered with stucco that was applied as-smooth-as-a-babys-butt

above the front door now secreted behind plywood were wounds where an awning hung a high rectangle of brighter blue paint  a dismissive shadow

the face of the housethe front door was a foot back from the edge of a public sidewalk and a singlestep stoop just large enough for two kitchen chairs laid on top the sidewalk 

he recalled the small fight between the city and the old woman who lived there the local newspaper carried the story  the city violated her property line and she wasnt going to have it  and when the wind of jurisprudence blew away the feeble smoke clearing her the stoop remained 

                                                if the front door wasnt hidden behind a decrepit sheet of plywood and a posted UNSAFE City Ordinance notice one could read the clipped yellowed article of her victory inside a brittle plastic sheath thumbtacked to it

other metal awnings hung over other windows at the sides of the house and over another doorway that let out onto another stoop to an illkept scant gravel and stone driveway

he never went behind the house  the property was curtailed by a ramshackle stacked threefoot stone retaining wall

an easement paralleling the drive on the opposite side of the house led to its rear 

he neglected remarkably his curiosity out of respect for the privacy of who lived behind the old woman

the awnings at the sides of the house were collapsing which he thought oddthey were stout

                                                                                                 but it seemed since the house was clapped with rancid plywood the old lady removed?dead? that either the weight of the vacant birdnests or the small birds perching on them singing their gay songs had finally defeated them  or that they were sorrowful eyelids that no longer had any reason to remain open and gaze  the support scrolls on either side of the awningslike musical clef notes were squeezed into whole notes or mournful mouths

Ah dismayed he wondered if the old woman had lived alone

                                                                 the coolblue powderedblue cube for her made as much sense to him as a shoe made sense for the old woman who lived in a shoe – she had so many children she didnt know what to do – and they abandoned her as soon as they could

                                                    and her children never looked back

for they were certain their memories for the most part were fabulous fiction and really  really who would have fealty to fiction

woefully he missed the cubes vitality

1310,  Monday,  27  7. 18

1024,  Twosday,  24  7. 18

Trump: "And just remember, what you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening . . .”

that probably goes for yesterdays altered White House transcript and video of reporters Q & A with Putin and Trump in Helinski last week

what you saw and heard never happened

however perhaps the VFW is old and senile and a perfect stage to launch a misinformation propaganda campaign against Americans for Novembers elections

0946,  Day-between-Two-Ts,  25  7. 18

910 days remaining or less

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4741889/president-defends-tariffs-policy-tells-vfw-media

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-white-house-edits-putin-support-for-trump-out-of-transcript-1284716611545?playlist=associated

Trumps trade war is changing the international landscape  and now he wants to dole out $12B to American farmerspatriots  hes hammered

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jul/25/12b-in-relief-to-aid-farmers-hurt-by-ta/