22.1.24


Trumpvirus
              no fucking way hed let it go

the former couldnt call him a man
                                   owned it
onemilliononehunredthousandninetythreeanfortytwo Americans 1,193,042 are dead today

when he last checked 7January  onemilliononehunredninetyoneansixtyfive 1,191,065 had died

a difference of onethousandninehunredseventyseven 1,977 or onehunredthirtytwo deaths 132 a day
former could care less

   the former could care less
                                 he was still around  kicking

waking every morning he checked his newsfeeds
                                                   Nope  the clown was still around

1618,  Monday,  22  1. 24


he liked raw gumption

was like big dumplings in homemade chicken soup or dumplings on the side with freshcreamery butter freshground peppercorns

was like chunky potato soupskins left on like heavy beefstew like heavy chili and buttered cornbread like tiered vegetable cheese lasagna
                              gumption
heavy in his belly
stout
        bold initiative


on-line dating
                he queried five words that describe you in descending order

hed give the site a month
not once
           gumption

he dropped it


he was invited by a friend to see a movie with a group of his friends hed be odd man out

they had a bite at Cajun restaurant first

in line standing behind a couple they were having a disagreement that they entered the restaurant with he told her Will then, buy your own dinner.   I didn’t bring any money.   Too bad, huh?

he gently thumped her shoulder with the back of his hand

she turned

Gotya covered

Thank you. she turned back to her boyfriendhe had also turned to face them He’s got me, he’s got my dinner.
   And you . . . you can go to hell.                                                                                             
overhearing her he thought Girls got gumption

she turned to him again
                          Why I’ve put up with his shit this long . . well . my father taught me gumption, and I’ll be damned why I didn’t go to it sooner.

Relationships demand compromise

Tell him that.

he sidestepped her to face him directly  Relationships demand compromise

he replied You don’t know me, you don’t know us; I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your sorry advice to yourself.
   he turned his back on him

her shoulders formed a thruline between them

soft tears glazed her eyes
she kept them
                  clearing her throat I’m sorry.

No sorrys please

No. I’m sorry because I’ve developed an appetite.

Im happy to help

Helping me more than you know.

Thas thanks enough

   How the hell did I misplace my gumption?

he smiled

she smiled bigger such a joy   delicious dimples  she lightedup
                                                                     Doesnt matter Found it now

Sunday afternoon,  21  1. 24
1237,  Monday,  22  1. 24
The Tokens  The Lion Sleeps Tonight  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQlByoPdG6c


. . . yasay anchorite I says anchoret neither say achoress  lets call the whole thing off
                                                                                            he sighed deeply  Arya an idiot
But you are like a hermit.

A hermit

You don’t see people socially.
I see you

Who else?

No one else he would have left it at No one but he liked how else soundedhow it felt in his mouth  But an anchoret is a big swing an a big miss  Ya know wha it isyah

A recluseas I said . a hermit.

Theyre someone whofor religious reasons withdraws from secular society
                                                                                 Yaever meet anyone more secular more salacious more fuckyou than me

   I . . Iah . I can’t say that I have.

Ill assume you didnt understand the religious aspect

I did not. Though . . someone said.

Go find someone an set em straight afteronly after ya find out for yourself   DO  NOT take me at my word

You’re good for your word.

No matter Learn for yourself  Youll be able to carry the wordyourself more true
                                                                                       Neverever take anyone at their word
Hell I didnt take my parents at theirs

  Not your parents?

No  I take no one at their word

1600,  Reggaefriday,  12  1. 24
1124,  Monday,  22  1. 24

21.1.24


                                                                   Mie kind of grrl
though continents apart

they run in the same circle
                               ostensibly


You ought to be ashamed of yourselves
                                            those who prefer to shame sexuality need to pull their heads out of their asses
hed be patience with them
                            hell
hed even help em showerwash their hair bringem round
                                                              convince em
they were the perverts

if consenting adults
                       nothings  off the banquet table
those
       shy ones at some orgyDISmissed
wouldnt be missed

Where the freaks
his freaks
              patience

eventually theyd find each other again despite efforts to keep them apart

think of beadspearls of mercury from a broken thermometer
                                                                 they find each other again innately  intimately

1958,  Sunday,  21  1. 24
2146,  Sunday
Charlie Rich  Behind Closed Doors  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHaLjPP4bok
Gary B B Coleman  The Sky I Crying  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Gt46aX9Z4

fingered phonekeys looked up   Wha
                                         that wasnt Medford Oregon Medford Idego
Idego
        looked suspiciously like alterego to him   Agree
Johnny on the spot Whaever yasays boss

No Either agree or disagree

Bit of a stretch

Awright   Options

they huddledup
                 skull crammed with alteregos Mariachis freespirits freethinkers
a communalcluster

   Nope
he dug thathey were succinct oneworded
                                           something he had to work on he was loquacious subject to rant  didnt know when to quit
ramrods don
                however
thas whaya get when a dam bursts
when he goes he goes
                       little maiden with her finger in the dike  washedaway

   he hoped theyd find her body
fishfood
aquamation
             not hefelt a way to treat terrestrialgrounded remains

for himself he saw a tasty pyre
                                maybe a bit perverse  someonesweatin basting turnin the meat
if he were therenot the meat
hed eat
       knew where the carcass had beenhad been fed had ingested  had maintained itself   not injected with steroids antibiotics   fleshspoiling inside out


   Medford Alterego
                        woudnt be a bad state to come from

1023,  Sunday,  21  1. 24
1655,  Sunday


So . . you’veah heard of theah . Flynn Effect?

cocked his headsmirked  Flynn Effect   Nah Cant says I have
                                                                   Though if I may
Yaever catch yourself

he shrugged  Catch myself?
Yah

Iah . . . Iah don’t know what you mean.

he appreciated his pause  asif he actually gave it some thought  Yaoughta

   You read somethingsomething tha obsesses you anya think I need to know anrather than just saying albeit your segue your inference   I ought to anif I don Im deficient
                                                            Im gonna guessHAdeduce according to your few tropes  Effect Statistics  Yare determined to tie IQs to things you believe are measureable which ad nauseam  ya know I coudnt care less  anwhich ya also know  rather than effectively saying So I’ve been reading statistics and there’s this thing called the Flynn Effect.

Rather than being accusatorial yacoud try to be informative
                                                               No matter   Carry onsally forth
That’s not what I’m sayin . .
. . Save it for the jury Im judge  Ill overrule
                                                Explain to me Flynn Effect

Long story short. We’re getting smarter.

Flynns not moving the goalposts

Goalposts?  What do you mean?

Is onehunred still the gold standard for average mean intelligence

It may have been adjuste . .
. . Standards shouldnt be adjusted
                                     Why theyre called standards  baselines
Experts can adjust . .
. . Not standards
                  Lowing standards give away the game If anything they ought to climb educational tools are evolving not that I would evolve with them  I got books

They’re experts.  You won’t concede to experts?

I havent heard the argument although  commonsense tells meexperience tells me  what goes up will come down

   Is there an opposite Flynn Effect

Opposite?

From where I stand lookin out over across America People are getting dumber  Ansome seem to welcome it   Tell me wha to do   JUMP   How high they cry

   I'm not familiar.

Please Find out before yautter another word

You can . .
. . No  You
            Yabrought Flynn to the table your ball   Or arya gonna leave an take it with ya so the game cant go on   Like a little bitch

1555,  Reggaefriday,  12  1. 24
1514,  Sunday,  21  1. 24

P!nk  Whataya Want From Me  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAn0VfB2H5s

etc. doesnt please him

etcetera
          hes cool

recently a friend texted him geol figured he ought to be able to deduce what he meant

  :   :  What is geol?

he texted back  :  :  geology.

  :  :  Are you so lazy that you have to save three keystrokes? Jeez.

he despised IL had been Ill. he wrote Illinois  Ind. was Indiana as he wrote it then IN  Ohio didnt have a three character abbreviation likely his friend may have written Ohi then it became OH

didnt buy intodidnt dig abbreviations nicknames
                                                    any more than acronyms

friend texted  :  :  BS

he replied  :  :  Bachelor of Science? balance sheet? bill of sale? British standard? bowel sounds? breath sounds? bitchslappin him Bishop Suffragan?  

  :  :  What the hell? Why do you have to be so difficult?

  :  :  Why don’t you write what you mean? Each BS I wrote is legit.

  :  :  Bullshit.

  :  :  Ah.

  :  :  You’re not going to say?

  :  :  What?

  :  :  Bishop Suffragan.

  :  :  BS  Aw, a bitch huh?   Look it up.


etcetera
          late Middle English  Latin from et “and” and cetera “the rest”
usually at the end of a list that is too tedious or cliched to give in full
                                                                        rabid Marketing fine print at the bottom of the page

Bub Got a magnifying glass

For what?

The fine print

Ohplease, you’re not really going to read it.

Oh Okay  Ill take it

You haven't signed. You can't have it until you've signed.

Oh  Okay Whadoes it say

You have to read it.

Have you read it

I’m not the purchaser.

Oh  Okay   Yawanna sell it to me Read it to me
                                                         thawas the kind of prick he was being made out to be
not that he minded it one iota
                                not one

1804,  Saturday,  20  1. 24
2355,  Saturday

20.1.24


. . . rolled his eyes
                     
I saw tha comin

You really believe in that?

Im not talkin reincarnation Talkin prologuewha comes before
                                                                 Maybe thabehind the screen thas come down to me

Behind the screen.
                         What the hell are you talking about?

The razorthin gossamer the veil between being alive an not-alive

   Not-alive.
                Dead.

Whas dead

What’s dead? Are you kiddin’ me?

Its openanclose quotemarks dead  to us who are living
                                                               Beyond us Dead  Since I aint died I don know wha dead is
Anya don know either

Of course I do.

Youve died

No.
No
      Then you have no source no evidence to draw from yaknow shit  You have an uninformed opinion anwha have I told you about them

Don’t say.

Id rather not  Tedious


Thank you.  I thought you might.


Past is prologue. What’s your pointyour . screen . or veil?

You know me yaknow my habits proclivities know my hint   my social habits

he laughed out loud
                     Social habits? What social habits?
I said it was a hint
                       Run with it

   Run with zero social habits.

And wha man  a bigger hint nineteenth century man   do I remind you of

Nineteenth century.
                      You know its the twentyfirst century.

I know yare draggin your feet

   Listen, I don’t want to play.

Keep your nifty little mind open to the evidence
Evidence?
             What you’re going to lay on me from beyond alive not-alive is evidence?

For my formation yes

Formation? Is this a soul thing?

I told you it has nothing to do with reincarnation
                                                      Where were you roaming before you came here

Roaming? Fuck. I wasn’t roaming anywhere.

You were The author Big Bang fashioned you
                                                  Youve been in text since the beginning of time
I have no free will free choice?

You do Of course you do
                            If you were a storytelleryoure not but if you were or a writer youd know characters are stubborn  Think bottle rocket Yare a bottle rocket yare goin off like a streak  Ohfuckno Up Hard left hard right veering
I said like a streak Who the hell are you

Stubborn They create themselves


   No thanks. That’s working too hard.
                                            A nineteenth century man.

Evidence is I read I write I walk I research I swim I exercise prefer solo projects I prefer my company to others

Amen brother.

Mountain man
                 If I were to approach the four  no six women Im closest most intimate with an ask them  theyd agree

A mountain man?

Unfettered independence

A mountain man?

Ya donsee tha

Awright. What have you.  What do you think of my formation, as you say?

A worrying gadabout
                        Upside A gadfly  Ruffled shirts puffy sleeves likely a stylish powdered wig done up with ribbons
Wow!
       Thanks.

Bro Shoe fits wear it

1547,  Reggaefriday,  12  1. 24
1412,  Saturday,  20  1. 24


bullshitting
           leaning againstbetween cars under a sicklyyellow cone of streetlight

during gaps in scats of conversation they could hear crickets somewhere in the surrounding darkness
                                                                                                            They’re lucky.
Lucky? How are they lucky they’re bugs?

No no, I should have said they’re a symbol of good luck.

   Crickets?

In China.
           They’re also believed to be a symbol of prosperity, wealth, and abundance.

Weel fuck, we certainly enjoy an abundance of neither.

Speak for yourself

Like you got a pot to piss in.

I got wha I need

Like need is sufficient?

Listen to this guy wouldya, got what I need.
                                               Man, you lack ambition.

You two are ambitious

It’ll come.

Damnright.

Ambitiously waitin on your old man to die leave you scads of cash

they both deadeyed him
                            he shruggedOooh Frightening  I coud knock the snot out of bothya at once

You think.

he hefted himself off the red Ford Starliner  Know
                                                          Gents Care to dance

they remained flatback against a yellow Chevy Nova

   I could shoot you in the face.

Run home to your Daddys house Ill wait

I could kill somebody . you.

If yave killed somethin yacoud kill somebody
                                                   Whaveya killed

I went hunting onc . .
. . Nobodys talkin to you
                          he gave him steelyeyes had known both since boys they knew he worked summers on farms ranches in Illinois Indiana and Wisconsin
                                    then shifted eyes to killer
Killed
         Im all ears

I’m just saying I could.
                           I could if I had to protect my family an frien . .
. . Friends

   crickets chirped


chirped

Me


chirped

 Yeah. You.


silently he leaned back against the car rolled his shoulders surgeries made them ache when he got irritated 

Say.  You two are a real pair.

   Yah
         Howbout dem apples
 
1102,  Saturday,  20  1. 24


contending with Oblivionthe Oblivion
                                          he used humour ifya he didnt laugh hed cry  liver an onions

                                                                                          ob liv ion
                                                                                            See

  saw


seesaw

merrygoround

swingsanslides

anjunglegyms

white cotton pants

white crew socks

Converse gymshoes

spitshined oxblood pennyloafers

crewcuts

pigtails bobbed bangs ponytails
                            Youth

slippedpast lookinforward to being on his own


on his own
              slippedpast 
in the rearview mirror


skys darkening
                 Oshit 

Its not the sky

1501,  Reggaefriday,  12  1. 24
1038,  Saturday,  20  1. 24