he and his wife were involved parents

honestly she was involved

                              he was muscle

she had been her high school senior class president

he hadnt a clue who class president was in any of his four years

their daughterstheir eldest was Student Body president her senior year had been class president the three preceding years their other daughter was class VP first three years also senior class president like her mother 

                                                                                                          he was muscle

but he was involved up to his eyeballs they needed a damn thing he was on it

his parents werent

his wifes parents werent

as a matter of fact throughout high school his parents never attended a soccer basketball baseball game he played in

they didthey did however  attend his freshman year first band concert when he had to play a fifteen–measure solo to open the performance on a baritone sax six weeks after picking it up for the first time

                                                                                          it was their first and only showing couldnt help but wonder if they hadnt expected him to fall on his face

he rationalised their four-year absences because he was the eldest of seven first four in four years took some breathers thereafter

           and because their hands were full when their hands werent full he was obligated but because their hands were full he respected the demands upon them

they did not interfere with his athletics could suppose that was the trade-off

he was good with it

when family growingup rather was open discussion he discovered he was an exception his wife was an exception

perhaps that was part of their solace and attraction also their ribald sex

he didnt feel the need to defend his parents

water under the bridge

he explained simply described it akin to juggling his parents were juggling seven children

                                                                                               When I was taken out of the mix I was one less ball to juggle one less egg to fry  there were rarely few who picked up on one less ball one less testicle to juggle

                  his wife would smile sweetly subtly shake her head

 

Suntime,  Saturday,  2  4. 22

1414,  Sunday,  3  4. 22

Fifth Dimension  One Less Bell to Answer  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBrbu7PvMU0

he asked Moby what time it was

guy always had his iPhone on him

they were sitting in deepseated resin lawnchairs with arms in Mobys backyard  he began contorting to get his hand into his front pocket for the phone

NAH never mind

Moby quit wrestling

                     but while Moby had he imagined a constricting boa wrappedround his arm and torso Wha time would you guess

Suntime.

     Suntime

               Dig it  From here on out whenever I don know wha time it is during the day Im labeling it Suntime

Really?

I am Yamay have a streak of genius  An I mean like it streaks naked on rare occasions

he tilted his head like a dog like one of those dogs on the poster where dogs are playing poker

                                                                                                    You mean it? It’s like a complimentyou’re not quick with compliments.

Anyer not quick 

                 Yes  I meant it as a compliment

Moby tilted his head to the other side

he almost leaned across the table to scratch him behind the ear

                                                                      almost

he asked what time it was because whenever they got together got high had beers something untoward or remarkable presented

           like going to Church and suddenly Christ gets down off the crucifixcan hear his hands and feet POP then drops down behind the celebrant groans a little He stretches He rotates his shoulders turns his hips leans from the waist to touch his toes while Hes down there He looks at his wounded feet and hands shakes his head  wonders if it was worth it 

              then all stretched outwarmed up He dismounts the altar begins running laps round inside the church a stille omgang  silent circumambulation counting laps He raps on the confessional doors the priests and penitents as he goes by

You were saying

I was saying?

About dinner last evening with your Matchdotcom date

She has a name.

Which you need to remember Im good with Matchdotcom  You ate where

She picked the place.

She always picks the place

A burger place.

Lotsa burger places in town More Mexican though

I think it was called Village Burger, on Santa Rosa heading out of town by the college.

Good burger

Yes ohmy, I had an elk burger. They have a variety of burgers, random meats.

Random meats

Yes elk, as I said, there’s also bison, boar, ostrich, salmon . . lamb, turkey . random meats.

Cannibal burger

Cannibal burger?

Roadkill burger

Roadkill burger?

Arya just gonna repeat me yasaid random meats  I was being randomthinking of readily availableaccessible meats squirrel possum coon deer he broke out into song Some cats and rats and elephants but as sure as you were born the loveliest of all was the unicorn  Irish Rovers 

                                                like throwing a stick yelling FETCH but holding a meaty bone in the other hand  Moby was stuck in limbo

aww perplexed lil dog   Jiminy Crickets

                                            Was riffin on random meats

Are you being serious?I never know if you’re serious or not.

If we didnt have to wait on FDA approval Id eat  anything

Are you being serious or not?

Are you high

Yes . . I am

Im getting there 

Suntime,  Saturday,  2  4. 22

1306,  Sunday,  3  4. 22

Irish Rovers  The Unicorn  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfhZ4rw6R4g

he worriedworried

                    What shall we do what shall we do the pots dry the ink run out he was frantic  despairing

then as was his deliberate fortune he woke his hypnopompic state turned tail and ran like hell it was only in his dreams that despair occurred to him aneven then  rarely

pots dry inks run out 

what was he going to write

what story did he have to tell

whats a storyteller without a story

whell shit fell into his lap 

Robin Dunbars off base

why religion persists

                      hed ask why myths conspiracy theories and gossip persist they are titillating to be sure antinomian religions provide the dispensation of grace that in which only faith is necessary and mankinds moral law what is right or wrong is of no use or obligation to the religious one fuckin huge fig leaf

he believed Dunbar generalised

                                  “There are at least two reasons why religions persist. One is the fact that, on average, religious people are generally happier, healthier and liver longer. For better or worse, they also have easier deaths when the time comes. Awwyaah YHWH HORSESHIT The other is that religious people are more likely to feel they belong to a community.” 

              cliques he remembered high school people falling over themselves to belong made him nauseous Groucho Marx his priest I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.  give that man a cigar  hed keep one for himself

to be fair he was a reincarnated mountain man

at long last here we go againhe smiled giddily “A way a lone a last a loved a long the end of Joyces Finnegans Wake beginning of it riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by commodious vicus or recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.”

            Dunbar concludes “Thus, you could no more have a world where religion was cast aside as superstition than you could have one without science and stories.”

Anglicanism its last known sin-eater was Richard Munslow who died in 1906 aged 73

sin-eater

         ifya don know look it up

he could lead a horse to water but the horse was welcome to drink or not  NOT his job

middle of the night,  Sunday,  3  4. 22

1144,  Sunday

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/28/the-big-idea-do-we-still-need-religion?utm_term=624945f466a3b220cdc0e306c78ca107&utm_campaign=Bookmarks&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=bookmarks_email

he was going to call it a nightcall it quits  yawn   yaawn  would read a couple more pages  bed

BAM “The future revises all.”  somuch for bed

                                                  it was preceded by Morality is man-made. the retort The term will be understood different in the coming epochs.

The future revises all.                                                        

whell that shot him in the ass

who the hell did future think it was

ifwha preceded it hadnt

                          there wouldnt be that future treadlightly fortunate inheritor  be grateful

not askinya to be submissive

askin politely for acknowledgment

no rewrites

wanna study

knock yourself out

revisions can suggest imply  agendas

scholarship

unearthing

honing

welcome  by all means

a raw diamond

faceted

essentially remains what it was like marble Michelangelo fashioned statues from

                                                                                      he said Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

Morality is manmade

revise morality

unlikely

 

1220,  Saturday,  2  4. 22

2311 or the second time he saw 1111 on the face of his clock,  Saturday

pg222  Pity the Beast  Robin McLean

morality not swayed by Platos Ring of Gyges  

couldnt say he ever read antinomian before  hmm 

                                                      got out his knife and cut off anti knew anti plenty of antis he had distaste for   You wont say hate   QUIT yare supposed to be on my sideNO hate   Several of us residing inside youwhirling on your orbits think yaoughta be willing to admit hate every once in a while ya have strong feelings   I do

Annot using hate strengthens them   Whell thought yawere gonna argue it with Evil   Another word I do not use   Yes another we know mystifies us   Kinda nicedoncha think that I can keep youse on your toes Woudnt really care for flatfooted fighters coming out of my corner

knew anti-

             anti-personnel landmines a whole slew followed that were particularly ugly maiming not killing taking off feet legs cruel disabling weapons if one appropriates weapon loosely  landmines mindfucks

antiabortionists not their right to tell women their rights what they can do with their bodies

nomian a little difference sliced off ian easy suffix  Christian Indian Canadian  leaving a bone of nom nomination or eating food  nom nom 

                          AH honing in antinom(y) contradiction in two beliefs or conclusions that are in themselves reasonable getting somewhere  perhaps one who believes in the contradiction in two reasonable beliefs

Ya better looksee   Yah  I better thanks

antinomian  hmm adjective not noun “relating to the view that Christians of course they are they can do no wrong antiabortionists  are released by grace from the obligation of observing the moral law”

Hmm lemme guess   Catholic Church pronounced and let roll the Inquisition its Inquistors great job if you could get it  a torturer is a torturer is a torturer for hunreds of years 13th to 19th centuries  an Inquistor was antinomian

he would have thought think Jews and Christians odd bedfellows

                                                                      it is Gospel dispensation of grace because faith alone is necessary moral law  that which is right or wrong is of no use or obligation he or she who is antinomian who upholds religious law considers the first five books of the Old Testament  Genesis  Exodus  Leviticus  Number  Deuteronomy to have prophetic authority   Prophetic authority  are these people dreaming   No dreamt and often got away with it   These are clowns you have to contend with   No we have to contend with 

                                                                                                the first five books once upon a time and credited to Moses writing are called the Pentateuch which are also called the Torah

he did not know that

then again he wasnt a mystic

                                rather mystified   Us too   I hear youse

Thursday evening,  31  3. 22

1032,  Saturday,  2  4. 22

Fats Domino  I Hear You Knocking   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haUzFIu8fA4 

theres also Dave Edmunds   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvGIueT0xz4

he sat down to take a load off

he figured itd take him an hour and a half to walk to the coffee shop where hed try out the Matchdotcom match hed been finagled to pursue I dare you. funny how a dare continues to work to be fair hed ignored it five years 

                                                                                                            Whadahell  give it a go thatll get him off my backgetting him off his back would be worth the venture

an hour thirtyfive he was still twentyfive minutes early

he went inside used the restroom returned outside and took a chair at small bright yellow café table

from a canvas bag he carried over his shoulder three books inside a tablet and pens he took the tablet out and began to scribble a thought that occurred to him  not a thought rather an incident

                                                                            he stopped earlier that morning at the market

had to stand in line he was five deep market has seven cashier aisles but only two were operating  Ah corporate America YOU CAN FUCKING WAIT Hell widdem he always carried a book the gal ahead of him sighed turning over her left shoulder she said This drives me nuts.  he smiled Why I carry a book   You look familiar. she said   he looked in her face  she looked familiar too  shed be mortified   Where do I know you from?   suppose he was going to mortify her I work at the liquor store in the Target strip mall  she tilted her head like a cat listening to the earth for gophers   aah a glimmer coming into herface  Tar get it emerged slowly  Mmm all.   Your twentyfirst birthday   OH  MY.   Actually that oughta be Ohmy Ohmy goodlookin girls  Ya certainly ticked off your little friend  she was outraged you were flashing men that night  Colour looks good on you works well with your curly blonde hair freckles   I’m so embarrassed.   Yawerent Made my evening It seemed as you were leaving you were off to continue having a good time  It was a good timeyes   Yes, yes it was.   Were only twentyone once were allowed our crazy  I streaked a girls dorm on my twentyfirst  One of the coeds caught me  See  we all have storiesbetter havehuh Its better than not I was honoured Annow I can say thank you to your face   AWJEEZ, couldn’t resist could you?   Nope its nice to see you again

the three customers before her evaporated  

Your turn kid

Oh. she turned saw it was I suppose . . nice to see you again.

My pleasure

her colour deepened

 

a woman approached him

                             Joe.

she didnt look anything like her picture

                                          he stood to greet her Candy

Yes. Ohmy. suppose she had to say it given hed scribbled about the twentyone year old

Yes

You look exactly like your picture.

Thank you

I don’t look like my picture . . I can’t help myself it’s a favourite snapshot of mine. I should post one more recent.

Yes A cup of coffee a croissant muffin biscotti I understand their bakery is very good

Yes, please, a biscotti too would be nice.

Cream sugar

Yes please.

Ill be right back don let anyone take off with my bag

when he returned he saw a bright penny on the patio underneath the table before where they were sitting

he set Candys coffee plate of biscotti several creamers sugars down his black coffee down excused himself and doubled back to the penny

she watched him pick it up

returning to the table he remarked he was a penny wealthier

Do you often stop to pick up pennies?

Since I was a kid they could get ya something back then 

                                                             Habit

I can’t remember the last time I did.

Any idea why

Oh I don’t know, I suppose because it’s only a penny.

Might be a lucky penny a harbinger of something good coming your way

I don’t believe that.

I don believe in religion

                         Good to have limited beliefs Wha do you believe in 

Well, I do believe in church, and religion.

Where ya stand on sex and politicsmight as well knock off the big three which people urge others not to share in mixed company or when meeting a first time

It seems you, seems you haven’t baffles, no restraint.

Nope Occurs in my head comes out of my mouth  Were adults

Yes. Adults. However . . I must say I’m . more . . reserve.

I have no reservations

                        Look at us not even half our coffees sipped           

Maybe it wasn’t a lucky penny after all.

                                             Are you superstitious?

Not being religious knocks out superstition  No I am not

However you called it a lucky penny.

Turning a phrase nothing more

                                 Got any small talk I like foreign films black and white films noir

I’m not a fan of foreign films.

swing and a miss  

walkingreading on his way home after Candy and coffee he found a onehunred dollar bill

                                                                                                 lucky penny

approximately 1400hrs,  Thursday,  27  1. 22

1703,  ReggaeFriday – April Fools,  2022

they had beersmaybe too many beers  but they were celebrating

                                                                      they crushed April Fools Day

fooled family and friends like they were braindead or somethingdidnt recall April 1st was April Fools

dummies

conversation slurred off to politics

Moby sat backspine a little akimbo on his stool We’re drinking, how’s it we’re talking politics?

Me On me  Trust me youll appreciate it

                                           I figured were lubed enough to go there Yasee Senator Blumenthalcats a wealthy man estimated hunred million or moreyasee him questioning Judge Jackson

You’re still going on about the hearin . .

. . I am I made an investmentIm invested in her selection wanted to see for myself how low some Republicunts CUNTS were willing to go  Scraped bottom

Invested how . .

. . Historic man History  Bout fuckin time the Supreme Court had a black woman on it An now the Court will have its hands full because shes wicked smart  smarter than them  an shell embarrasswipe the floor with Thomas hell think shes an uppity broad  Man ought to stand down or croak

Tell me how you really feel.

I feel like another whisky an beer

No whisky for me. Another beeryah.

Barkeep Two more beers an a double Redbreast neat for me Put it on Mobys tab

What? Why am I buying?

Cuz ya didnt see wha I sawhear wha I heard anya should have 

                                                                    You can correct meNO April Fools correct me if you saw Blumenthals first day questioning thirty minutes

No. I did not.

Thank you Ya should have  My breath caught

bartender stopped off their drinks

Bennie Thank you

Yabetcha Joe

he hoisted his beer Heres hoping hes okay

Who’s okay?

Blumenthal

What was wrong with him?

Comon Toast  To Blumenthals health

To Blumenthal’s health.

they touch glass gingerly they were inebriated

What’s with Blumenthal?

He held in pencil in his right hand which only magnified its shaking He aint that old midseventies if I had to hazard a guess

Hazard.

Midseventieswhy ya fuckin with me  Aint gonna throw me off my game   I aint you

Whadaya mean you ain’t me?

Wha we hazarding

Hazarding?

Yer idea

Hazarding.

Yah

Hazarding.  Hazarding.

he let him hang himself

I know this.

Yado

Ha – zar – ding.

Ya don get the bell

Bell?

Ding

he haahedexhaled

Comon Yer killin me  Ya truly need a hint

No no. I got this.

Eventually

Hazarding.OH  Blumenthal’s age.

Bingo

       Head hurt

A bit. It does.  I had to think mighty hard.

Yah Not yer specialty

Say . .

. . Save it  Blumenthals shaking

Ohyeah that’s right, what of it?

Im just saying I noticed Then I think he did too because suddenly he set the pencil down I hope hes well  Hes sharp I like him

No, I didn’t see, I did see a snippet of him questioning her but not the shaking.

Ive been thinkinbout it

                         I can see an upside if he does have the shakes

Upside? What’s possibly an upside?

Actually two

Two possible upsides?

Im happy you asked

                      One he pleasures his wife with his hand involuntary twitching I could imagine might be welcom . .

. . Jesus . .

. . Don interruptTwo He could give me a hand job

JESUS. 

Im just sayin

              Im sayin if someones spastic might juswanna take advantage of the situation throw it in the best possible light While Id prefer a female spastic giving me a hand job I wouldnt say say no to guy 

                                                                                              Its just a hand job 

Jesus.

Just sayin

1456,  Thursday,  31  3. 22

1033,  ReggaeFriday – April Fools,  1  4. 22

Who  Won’t Be Fool Again  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDfAdHBtK_Q

when Republicans feign that their party is equivalent to the Democratic party

which he hears too often 

which is a lie

               he usually smiles sighs  takes a deep breath letting the moment breathe like an inferior wine lets their banner or standard unfurl cut from whole cloth thin diaphanous fibers  so that the slightest breeze can lift it 

                                                                                                                    then he asks the speaker What do you stand for?not against  what are you for? What is your partys platform?their holistic approach their ideas ideals solutions to support or combat our complex sociopolitical socioemotional topics or issues

What do you stand for?

it is not unfair for him to sayto cite Republicans indulge hatred grown from tilled soil seeded with fear

 

                                                                                                hatRed v. benevolentBlue

2207,  Thursday,  31  3. 22

this cat ran into him at a bar

hed seen him beforerubbed him the wrong way 

                                                 he couldnt help but wonder if women were ever rubbed wrong likewise

don know them but watching them you take cues theyre unappealing put ya off saying put him off minimised his derision his distaste he always went wide around him 

could care less

Excuse me.

motherfucker

               acted like he didnt hear

Excuse me.

had to be deaf to miss that  couldnt lie  played the jukebox

                                                                he turned his shoulders rightsquared up Ya talkin to me DeNiro was talking into a mirror ran on a screen that hung inside at the back of his head

Yes.

     I don’t know you but I’ve seen you around.

Ive been around

I thought I’d come over and introduce myself . . figure we frequent some of the same places.

Seen ya with friends Seem entertained

You’re not.

I am not I prefer my company  Im entertained

So you’re antisocial.

Anti don cut it

So I’m interrupting you.

Yare

Too badyou know . cut yourself off from others.

Ill take it under advisement Youll excuse me

                                               he turned back towards the bar  it was an old wood bar  fine grain  rubbed worn  took years and years of love and slopped liquor to render its character  he liked to touch it  

evidently he didnt like being excused

                                       You know what your problem is?

he loved being told what his problem was

                                            but he didnt encourage it

You know what your problem is?

first time he knew of an echo in this bar wasnt particularly cavernous

Your problem is your better days are behind you.

  best days 

             provocation

Because you never had best days.

he thought when this clown walked away hed be certain to chalk thistally it up as a best day

a cold beer and a whisky always taste better with a Fuck you! at your back  cat was the anti 

6AMish,  Thursday,  31  3. 22

1204,  Thursday

Chris Stapleton on the jukebox  Tennessee Whiskey  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAThXFOy2c