It was cold this morning and I’m feeling poorly. I think I’m
getting over it, whatever it is. It's just
cold enough to freeze. A very thin layer of ice coveres the wash buckets. I have a headache. I have a queasy stomach. I
go into town for coffee. The dog has to stay in the truck because I’m not sitting
out side in this weather feeling the way I do. First, I take a sip of hot
coffee. It’s almost too hot (the medium cup was too cold but the little one was
just right). Let the big cup sit for a few minutes while I peruse my email.
That’s better. Good but not perfect. Not the coffee (it’s perfect) – the world
and I. I hate getting old. It’s everything and more that the old codgers have
always been complaining of.
If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at
least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons – Winston
Churchill
About 160,000 aircraft were produced during World War I. The
average service life of an aircraft was about six months
If Hell is lighted it must be by
Neon – Eric Wilson Barker
Ever Kill a Man,
Marlow – Raymond Chandler
The average man is
tired and scared,
And a tired, scared
man can’t afford ideals
‘Ever kill a man,
Marlow’?
'Yes'
'Nasty feeling isn't
it?'
'Some people like
it.'
There is something
compulsive about the telephone.
The gadget-ridden
man of our age
Loves it, loathes
it, and is afraid of it.
But he treats it
with respect,
Even when he is
drunk.
The telephone is a
fetish
I lit a cigarette.
It seemed like a
couple of weeks
Since I had tasted
tobacco.
I drank in the
smoke.
“May I have just one
puff?’
She came close to me
And I handed her the
cigarette.
She drew on it and
coughed
A fly-cluster of
cars
Hovered in front of
The movie theater.
I went to the
drugstore and ate
A chicken salad
sandwich and
Drank some coffee.
The coffee was over
trained
And the sandwich was
as full
Of rich flavor as a
Piece torn off an
old shirt
He had a grip like a
pipe wrench.
He smiled at me
benignantly now.
He was Mr. Big, the
winner, everything under control
‘A half smart guy.’
She said with a
tired sniff.
‘That’s all I ever
draw.
Never once a guy
that’s smart
All the way around
the course.
Never once”
“Perhaps you don’t
ever make passes at women in bars?”
“Not often. The
light is too dim.”
I kissed her some
more.
It was light,
pleasant work
Get it through your
lovely head.
I work at it lady.
I don’t play at it
Cop business is
wonderful uplifting idealistic work
The only thing wrong
with cop business is
The cops that are in
it
After that nothing
happened for three days.
Nobody slugged me,
Or shot at me
Or called me on the
phone
And warned me to
keep my nose clean
“He had a police
record.”
She shrugged. She
said negligently,
‘He didn’t know the
right people.
That’s all a police
record means
In this rotten
crime-ridden country.”
For two people in a
hundred it’s wonderful.
The rest just work
at it.
After twenty years
all the guy has left is a workbench in the garage.
American girls are
terrific.
American wives take
in too damn much territory
It was time for
lunch but I wasn’t in the mood.
I got the office
bottle out of the deep drawer and poured a slug
Nobody came into the
office.
Nobody called me on
the phone.
It kept on raining
I never saw any of
them again –
Except the cops.
No way has yet been
invented
To say goodbye to
them
They had made a fool
of me
But they had paid
well for the privilege
You don’t shake hand
with big city cops.
That close is too
close
Cops never say
goodbye.
They’re always
hoping
To see you in the
line-up
I bought her face
slowly up to my face.
Her eyelids were
flickering, like moth wings.
I kissed her tightly
and quickly.
Then a long slow
clinging kiss.
Her lips opened
under mine.
Her body began to
shake in my arms.
“Killer,” she said
softly,
Her breath going
into her mouth
A smell of kelp came
off the water
And lay on the fog.
The tires sang on
the moist concrete of the boulevard.
The world was a wet
emptiness
Buy yourself a drink
While I shave
We had a drink and
he left
By the back door,
Which he had jimmied
to get in
Down these mean
streets
A man must go
Who is not himself
mean
Been spending too
much money
In a joint that
exists
For that purpose and
for no other
In 1870 the top 1% of Americans owned 37% of the wealth and the top 5% owned 70%. The bottom 60% owned almost no wealth at all. This has not changed much in the last century, except that the richest 5% had increased their share. America contrary to myth has always been a non-equalitarian country. The equalitarian dream has always been just that, a dream. In America you’re free to dream.
Think does not mean what you think –
Gilles Deleuze
In 1918 the amount of money it took for an average American
family to live a healthy lifestyle was $1,600 a year. The average worker
(including any additional income form wife and children) was $1,157 a year
In 1941 half of the new job openings nationally were
restricted to whites. In Indiana, Ohio and Illinois 80% of the new openings
were so restricted.
They were burning beef in their
backyards, brown burly men, with beer cans. The beef black on the outside, red
on the inside – Donald Barthelme – Sixty Stories, 1981 p102
During his rule, Napoleon attended the opera twenty-six
times, more than any other 19th century head of state. He was
indifferent towards German music and towards a fair amount of French music, but
he was passionate about the Italians
I think no one will be disappointed
who visits the country (United States), expecting to find no more … than a vast
continent… and a busy, hustling, industrious population hacking and hewing
their way-through – Frances Trollope – The Domestic Manners of Americans, 1832
Adulthood begins
With money
making
Just enough know-how
Sufficient
for the effort
Money making
Never enough
Never
enough
Never
Money
Marking time
No time to waste
Time is money
Money is time
Its time
Money
Money
Money
And it all ends
With
dementia
Which is itself just
Another
moneymaker’s
Opportunity
The last pirate scum of the western
Mediterranean were languishing in Spanish or Moroccan jails, [or] serving
hamburgers at McDonalds – Arturo Perez-Reverte – The Nautical Chart, 2001 p205
Black males between 5 and 65 in New York City or Chicago
have higher mortality rates than their counterparts in Bangladesh
24% of young Americans (age 25 to 34) live with their
parents (or grandparents). This is up from 18% in 2007 and 11% in 1990. For the
first time in modern history a higher percentage of young people live in
mutigenerational arrangements than do Americans over the age of 85.
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