they yammered back and forth

friend falling over himself to be liked by everyone despite only they were there kept making excuses

pissing him off

                Awright  Then you tell me because I think we agree on the premise

Tell me when the decline of the American mind began

Decline . . .

So we don agree

Things rise and fall, there’s fluidity, things are in flux.

                                                           he was unconvincing

Decline of the American mind  I can say

                                              I can even say I recognised it early on

When?

Advent of reality TV

                     Thas when the toilet handle was pulled  Weve been spiraling down since yet to hit bottomflushed

I liked watching it, I watched it with my family.

My family watched it I sat in the room with them an read

You could read while the television was on you werent distracted?

There was nothing to distract me

                                   Youll remember Im from a huge family a survival skill ability to turn off sound

I liked them, I still occasionally watch ‘em. They’re mindless entertainment.

They are

          I don have a TV

Wha youre watching is our deterioration  Lay on top of it smartphones social media AI brick an mortar outlets goin byebye education online social interaction online interfacing online immediacy impatience

                                                                                               he stopped

Go ahead.

I think not

             I feel pessimism coming on

You havent said your piece

I think everything you mentioned is a sign of the times the way things are going. You got to go along to get along.

An you an your everyones are welcome to it

                                                Ill hold down the fort

he saw the expression in his face

                                      No sweat  Its what introverts do

3PMish,  Saturday,  28  9. 24

0927,  day-between-2-Ts,  9  10. 24

Whoawhoa  whoa  Just a minute please

she smiled demurely

                       was sure she wasnt taught thatmade her  even more attractive

she was a looker                                                                  

Again

A true Biblical stor . .

. . There Excuseme   I apologise for interrupting

                                                     True

she noddedcontinued smiling

                                   glowed

A true Biblical story

                      Ill grant you theyre stories But not true

Of course they are.

this was their first date

a mutual friend fixed them up

hed have to have their friends head checked

                                                Ya kiddinme

another friend said religion shouldnt be dealbreaker

Dealkiller he replied

You ought to go out on a second date.

A second date 

A second chance.

Theyre not equal

                   True aint changin

But you could be empathetic.   I know you got it in you.

Think not

          Youve only seen her I know you youre taking into account her physical assets

Beautys only skin deep

Yahno

        True Biblical stories is a dealkiller

252preferred,  Saturday,  28  9. 24

0843,  day-between-2-Ts,  9  10. 24

Man, you really got a hard on for it.

I do I do

           It appalls me yet most seem cool with ityoure cool with it

It’s progress. It’s technology.

                                Why would you standdare stand in its way?

Perceptions

              You see advancement label it technology science

Me

     I recognise it as a medical awl held up against the flesh of an eyelid held firm to the thin bone beneath occipital orbit where a physician will aggressively rap it with a surgical mallet an perform lobotomies

How dumb can we go

The benefi . .

. . Benefits

              Your take matter of speed saves time supposed accuracy  if asked correctly if programmed correctly

At wha cost

Stupid people

Wholl not be able to think for themselves

                                            An lemme tell ya

There are those who will think for themselves an seek an attempt to lead the herd

Its human nature

    You’ll be one of them?

OhHellno

 

ChatGPT

There’s that hard-on.

Its buddy

It’s buddy? Who?

Wha Captcha

                Sounds like capture spelled C A P T C H A   Know it

It’s not a word is it?

No  Your favourite an acronym a nickname you boasted handed em out as a kid fat kid christened Skinny  you know

What of it?

You tell me wha its short for

irritated I’ve no idea.

Nice

       Irritatin isnt it

Why they irritate me bullshit code between those in the know

                                                                      An I know  You don

 

You gonna say

    I am  I was just enjoying the roiling in your face

                                                         If you choose to remember It doesnt suit you

Why don’t you just say?

Captcha

           Means completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart You know the tests

I am not a robot

    I am a man in the vein of The Elephant Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0tqrlIqNmw

I do.

We wont be for long according to you an your ilk

after 2037,  Thursday,  19  9. 24

0921,  2sday,  8  10. 24

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-is-a-lobotomy#history

    black briefs black bands black ribbons black tshirts black gstrings black bondage

hedonism

heroism

          close but no cigars

letters H E O I S M covered  R  D N not

                                            run down

he wasntwas agile leapt from moving cars

learned how to rollprotect his head

                                        really dug black

vied with red as his favourite colour

he trembled when Vantablack was introduced

                                                  then  now

Black 4.0

          ULTRAbaby

he had two favourites

You can’t have two. You have to choose.

I don

You do.

    if looks could kill

smart  they backed off

                          he remembered more things than he cared to from service two tours

could roll

protect his head

    since he didnt have to choose

he embraced heroic hedonism

                                liked the community he fell in with

sparse

Ill seeya until I don

                     whether a car goinround a corner  wavin bye  a heel rounding the corner of an apartment landing

he lied

        didnt even have to close his eyes to see

he used to be disturbed how he could remember someone but they couldnt remember him

drop them into those kinds of memory

                                           he didnt have to see anybody for months

2037,  Thursday,  19  9. 24

1355,  Monday,  7  10. 24

https://hackaday.com/2023/10/31/black-4-0-is-the-new-ultrablack/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CBlack%204.0%20absorbs%20an%20astonishing,his%20previous%20Black%203.0%20paint.

Bouttime

            he worked to give himself some latitude

could have offended himself far worse but it had been away six years on the backside of a page of an article he printed from the computer with the intention of reading more timely

that he read it at all  tuckedaway as it was

                                                he was grateful

the words on the opposite side were bonus

he cut himself some slack

                            there were reams and reams of pages at his feet to either shoulder similar to the shelves and shelves and rooms and rooms of books outside his studio

How nice are you

Im not nice

             Keep it to yourself 

obviously

           he chose not to be good to himselfnot that there were others vying for his attention  few and far between  he didnt he didnt want to spoil himself

                                      spare the rod spoil the child

he was a manchild

as a child a childman

not of the corpus that made up childhood

his plate was steepedshit to get done

                                       elevated to middle management without knowing it had a name

Bouttime

he remembered the words as soon as he read them

                                                       upset him then  as now

owl and hawk mummies on either side of the highway

looked like misshapen balls of crushedbroken feathers

owls

hawks

killed by cars

killed by cars 

   fuckinkilled by  cars

wished they were laden with explosives

                                               an eye for an eye tooth for a tooth

spare the rod

spoil the child

was a good indication how religion marred him

best indication

                 as soon as they were able to comprehendunderstand he told his daughters he  Careful when addressing your Maw  Ill not have you indoctrinated  You become religioncurious  Well get books  You can study

But youll study asif your life depended upon it

                                                   Cuz it does      Not hyperbole

Religion aint education

That’s not the way I was raised. his wife said angrily when he told her as he told her child by child when they came of ability

No

    Though I wish you werent

It did you no favours

1159,  Thursday,  25  1. 18

1306,  Monday,  7  10. 24

he assigned friend two jobs in two weeks

                                                friend

would have to spur himself on because hed be gone the first ten daysno reminding pestering goading

                                                                                                           he preferred to goad embarrass him

aptly call him  pussy

heeled himself from callinim bitch

                                     Datbe a fightin word

it bothered himsignificantly that they were feminine pronouns

                                                                    Almighty Humdinger  cunt

have to admit cock isnt abusive enough

                                           maybe

because women have been abused for so long that only their slang inflicts damage

To women everywhere be it known  I do not use such language against women unless they have tha I understand to my depths  they have earned it

two jobs

Lisa

      arrange a meeting accompanied by his girl friend

have a book he lent returned

                               Before the Big Bang: The Origin of Our Universe from the Multiverse by Laura Mersini-Houghton

    long dismal story short

                             they had a 50/50 arrangement of its ownership and for some fuckinreason he decided to loan the book

So you tell me Why did you do tha without asking me first

                                                               his issue friend did not appreciate his youthful and ongoing entitlement and seemingly was unable to wrap his thick skull understand  that    he was obligated to him

Ya ask first

he just stood there

                     Ya know  In this moment if we opened a real good dictionary an looked up ASSHOLE your photograph would be included with the definition

“2.  a stupid, irritating, or contemptible person”

                                                     Yareally wanna own tha

When I return in two weeks I read it in four days it best be back in your hands Anthen Im relieving you of it for a month or two                                

I wont be loaning it

I don loan books

Welcome to come in an read

Bring coffee

I got plenty of cups mugs

But aint goin out the door

the book was returned in the two weeks no worse for wear

friends girl friend hadnt made arrangements for them to meet Lisa because friend hadnt the balls to ask

he made a point of asking

just so he could say

                      Whell eunuch  Havent asked haveya

   eunuch

howbout tha

                 though

still not in pussybitchcunts neighbourhood

0810,  2sday,  17  9. 24

1204,  Monday,  7  10. 24

SHUDDER

                freakin appropriateconsidering the prior dreampiece

but thats not where this came from

Irish writer John McGahern  The Pornographer

                                                  believes either Ken Bruen turned him onto McGahern or one of the many literary online sites he read informed himhe couldnt say

                                                           he read an awful lot

jotted names titles brief phrases that incited him

                                                    excited him      challenged him

a sharp cuff on the cheek with a kidskin glove

“The shudder that makes us flesh becomes the shudder that makes us meat.”

                                                                                             if that does turn ones head theyre dead

shudder   flesh  meat freshmeat

shudder

           loved the wordloved      the sensation

erotic

fear

appalled

creep

one or all the above

multiple choice

fortunately

             not a test one needs to fear failing

as a matter of fact

throw other descriptors atop them like an obscene slathered sundae treat

                                                                                gobs and clots and lipsmacking

shudders

one might understand his tilted  erotic

                                         cut of cloth   steepedDNA     proud to say

0737,  2sday,  17  9. 24

1055,  Monday,  7  10. 24

not surprised

he was long gonelong past surprise in regards to his dreams

awake

           he antagonised people who refused to see outside the box

was perpetually on the outside looking in

last night

dreamt urban domestic comicbook panels

                                           four characters a middleaged man perhaps his son relative friend and two women contemporaries aged halfbetween the men

animated expressions

                         panel after panel after panel

some coloured coloured incomplete some sepia some blackanwhite

perhaps

          suggestive of emotion  intimacy

one on one

three

never four

no words

no script

    then

          finally

last panel he realised

over it

in an attractive bold font

QUIS NON VIS MORI CONCUBITU

Who wouldnt want to die having sex (in sex)

                                               sounding dangerously close to incest

stupidquestion

0717,  Monday,  10  7. 24

1001,  Monday

names Lisa

               triggered Cat Stevens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVUS6G__6Vk  Sad Lisa

he coudnt shake the songwoudnt consider any woman namedany woman christened Lisa

he didnt say

                 Im not interested

I understand she’s a knockout.

Youre gullible

She’s a beach strand girl.

Aint the samenot the same as when you were a kid a teenager

                                                                     Care to agree

I was told . .

. . Know by who

                   I  she  don share the same taste in women

Though you seem mighty curious

I am. She talks her up.

                            Supposed to be quite the specimen, lifter, traine . .

. . Knock yourself out

    You should meet her.

Im not interested

                   Tell your girl friend shes talked about her a lot an we you  we ought to meet her  Not I want to meet her

We

Not I

Youre curious

It’d be easier, we could swing it if you’d say you were interested, changed your mind.

Ive already said categorically  Im not

You could have a change of heart.

Yafuckin kiddin me

                      Know me to change my mind

    No. But that’s not to say it isn’t possible.

Your girl friend doesnt know me well but she knows me enough to know thad be shit  Wrong play

                                                                                                        Say youre interested youre curious shes painted a curious picture

She might reconsider your relationship

                                           No punany

Yea  Maybe punany

    You think?

Hope springs eternal

You think?

    Fuck no

0740,  2sday,  17  9. 24

2107,  Sunday,  6  10. 24

. . . it’s called love.

he was fond of the guytryin real hard not to be too critical but its been too longHell  told him six weeks in it was a no-go hed have bet money

                          Love

Yes. It’s become love.

Friend love

No no.  No.

             Love. Why do you . .

. . Place an adjective at the leadbecause it is

                                                 Its nothing morebeen nothing more

We’d disagree.

No we

       Been nothing more these  two  plus   years

I don know tha don cut it

You have no ide . .

. . Please

             Ive married as you  Ive had children as you   Love

An as you Ive lost love

Drop no idea or Ill knock it out of your mouth

    So quick . . to . vi . . so . quick to think you know.

Not think  I know

                     You oughta know

She calls you  friendhence

                                Friend love

No. It’s more than that.

Hate to shine the light

                         Its not

You don’t know what happens between us.

No sex I do

                 Anthas wha yare holding out forwhich  as she said   I quote  You

I don’t want to risk our friendship.

Youre confused

I’m confused?

Its not love

You don’t get to tell me what I’m feeling.

I know wha it is  Pullin the trigger

                                    I apologise upfront

For what?

Youre doting Calling it love

                               Doting

I believe many people makehave made the same mistake

                                                               Gotta admit  Awfully convenient

True love is rarer than we think

0730,  2sday,  17  9. 24

1203,  Sunday,  6  10. 24

entering following her into the bedroom  Nice comforter Duvet  Which

Duvet. Sounds extravagant doesn’t it?

It does he winked at her

she smiled giggledsoftly Thank you, I’m happy you approve.

he smiled I didnt say tha

                              Eiderdown

It is.  her expression mussed

                                 It’s one of the very few . extravagant things I’ve afforded myself for when fall and winter descend.

it was snowing

Yes I can understand it is comforting

    But you don’t care for it?

I do not 

she walked oversat on the edge of the bed seductivelynot once looking away from his eyes undid the scarf at her throat unbuttoned several buttons of her dress

                                           humored smiled   Now?

Annow howbout we go to my place

                                      Ill throw some blankets down in front of the fireplace we can watch the snow fall through the windows talk you can sip wine Ill sip whisky

A fine ending to our delicious dinner date

she ran her hands her long exquisite fingers across the bed

                                                                 I should bundleup she leaned forward go back out into the cold again?

she was enticing

she was seriously a sharp cookie

                                       Yes you should

firmly You’re joking.

Im not

You have a reason? she was becoming irritated  it wasnt becoming on her

I do

Would you care to say?

he chuckled

            Remains a sore spot all these years later

Understand I appreciate how much you enjoydare say relish  your quilt I do

                                                                                   Im not fond

Will you say?

Of course I will

                 As you know my wife died

She bought our girls eiderdown comforters They thought them the cats pajamascoudnt wait for the cold to come over the years that ensued

Yes.

      As do I.

As do you

            I was happy for them Im happy for you 

I made no bones

I do not like them

And.

My wife bought one for our bed

                                  Which was entirely fairshe liked it as much or more than the girlswoudnt have bought them in the first place if not

So during cold weather I threw blankets down in front of the fireplace an slept there

    You didnt sleep with your wife.

Not with eiderdown on the bed no

So you’r . .

. . Obviously

0700,  2sday,  17  9. 24

1032,  Sunday, 6  10. 24