The JackB

"When you're in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, 'Damn, that was fun'." Groucho Marx

Stuff

Your Neighbors Are Bad People

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It takes five minutes of conversation to hear the tale of the neighbors who say they believe in a popular conspiracy theory about a patriot known by a single letter.

Five minutes to hear they believe satanists have taken over and are eating and or abusing people.

Five minutes to learn they are prepared to use weapons to fight this scourge and to fight for a way of life that never existed outside of books and movies.

“What do you think?”

“Your neighbors are bad people. Your neighbors are no different from Germans or Poles who turned the Jew next door into the Nazis and celebrated by stealing their possessions.”

“That’s an extreme position.”

“Maybe, but so is belief in a conspiracy theory that is so strong you are willing to take up arms. Be careful with the true believers because they’ll kill you first and ask questions later, assuming they ever think to ask.”

A Reasonable Motto

Found the photo above online in a few different places and captured it. Showed it off to SQ and said “it is a reasonable motto” but got no reply.

Shrugged my shoulders and remembered silence is acceptance or so they say, whoever they is or are.

Would rather debate this sort of nonsense than spend chunks of time thinking or wondering about whether the current chaos can be overcome and or managed.

Suppose it’s time for faith and hope and a willingness to buckle in and buckle down because this ride might get rough.

But rough doesn’t mean impossible or suggest it cannot be overcome so here goes nothing or something.

Bricks In The Wall

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Sometimes songs hit me for different reasons and today I hear this as a son and father.

There are the few who know enough to ask and fewer still who get answers because sometimes you don’t know a damn thing even though you think you do.

Sometimes you don’t get answers, responses or information because I am not interested in hearing you prattle on about solutions that aren’t applicable but sound good because you paint with the broadest of brushes.

Given my druthers I would gladly accept your solution because that would mean this particular challenge could be solved with far less time and effort than it requires but that is not how life works.

And given my dedication and sense of responsibility I can’t half ass this and I am ok with it, sometimes that is how it goes.

But if you asked and I chose to answer I’d describe this as the most painful thing I have encountered but would also say I can see significant progress so there is ample reason to say we are going to get there…eventually.

Bits And Pieces Of Life

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Forty-Two and Forty-three weren’t particularly good birthdays and there was a moment where I wondered if forty-four was going to imitate the previous two but things took a turn I went to bed with a big smile on my face.

It wasn’t the perfect ending but I don’t know that I could have told you exactly what that would have been and I am ok with that. I kind of enjoy and appreciate how predictably unpredictable life can be and have grown accustomed to just rolling with things.

Forty-four years has taught me a lot about life and how much can change in a moment. I have seen friends humbled by moments no one expected and stood graveside as we buried brothers, sisters, moms and dads.

The experiences have changed me and I am not who I once was. Don’t take that as me sounding wistful or upset because I am not. These experiences as the cliche goes truly have helped to make me who I am.

It is how I learned 567 Ways To Tell A Better Story.

Life Happens

Life happens and you take your experiences to build stories you might one day turn into a book. You write about characters and questions and ask yourself if you are telling a good story or not.

You wonder if people appreciate the story about how you knew Sister Mary in the biblical sense and how you helped make her see god. Not everyone can say that nor can they talk about how they made the atheist reconsider their position and not because your hands were on their hips.

Sometimes you just write because it is what you love to do and you figure those who enjoy it will keep hanging around and those who don’t will leave no matter what you do.

That is ok, people come and people go.

Let ‘Em In

It has been a Paul McCartney weekend. Been listening to Band on The Run and Let ‘Em since last night for no other reason than I heard the songs in my head. Heard a few others too and listened to them as well.

Sometimes I think of a song and I go listen because I am curious.

Some people would say it is the universe sending me a message while others classify it in a different way. As for me, well I don’t spend a ton of time wondering or worrying about why the songs pop into my head.

I love music and I find it is a very useful tool for writing. It helps set a tone and spurs my imagination. Sometimes a song will remind me of something or someone and I use that as inspiration for some of my fiction.

Goodbye MCA

It is almost a year since MCA died. Can’t say I was ever the biggest Beastie Boys fan but I have a million memories tied up in a few of those songs and let’s face it Adam Yauch was a contemporary and musician.

But unlike other musicians he didn’t kill himself or die from a drug overdose. His death was different because of that.

And now I have some links to share with whomever wishes to read them:

  1. Do What You Were Born To Do
  2. A Work In Progress
  3. 163 Reasons Why Successful Businesses Are Not Based Upon User Experiences
  4. Can You Write a Funny Post
  5. I Wish Some Of You Would Just Shut Up
  6. 7 Things You Never Say To Mean Moms
  7. Can You Build Community Without Comments?
  8. Write Now The Tales That Should Be Told
  9. There is No Relationship Between Your Bank Account & Your IQ
  10. Do You Ever Delete Posts You Have Published?
  11. What Is The Value of A Comment?
  12. The Ancient Art of Blogging
  13. Writing Is Not The Hardest Part Of Blogging
  14. Children Shouldn’t Be On Facebook- Dad Said No
  15. Be A Better Blogger- Sustain Your Effort Edition

Got to run now For The Night Is Dark and Full or Terrors. Be good kids, Winter is Coming.

Is It Fact or Fiction

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I have received more than one email asking for explanations about these posts:

I Had a Dream
The Story of Two Souls
My Brother- A Lesson in Simple Physics
A Boy Named Mookie

Here is an assortment of songs to go along with those:

This Time– John Legend
Crazy Love (Live)-Ray Charles & Van Morrison
Do Ya Think I’m Sexy– Rod Stewart
The Rising– Bruce Springsteen
Whiskey Lullaby– Brad Paisley & Allison Krauss
City of Blinding Lights– U2
Live Like You Were Dying– Tim McGraw
Secret World– Peter Gabriel
Hard to Handle– Otis Redding
What’s Going On– Marvin Gaye
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough– Marvin Gaye Tammi Terrell
Telephone Line– ELO
If I Needed Someone– The Beatles
The Fire Inside– Bob Seger

A Walk Through The Mall Part II

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A quick comment about this post. Given the activities of the past day I hesitated on writing such fluff but decided that it was time for something a bit lighter. For more background you can read Walking Through The Mall Part I.

As you may recall on my way through the parking lot I encountered a number of different people. The last was the Crazy Broad whose driving skills rivaled a drunk blind man. The brief transcript of our conversation doesn’t quite do justice to her, or should I say that it doesn’t begin to describe how fast she spoke.

Her comments came out in great bursts that were accompanied by exaggerated hand gestures. I imagine that had I grabbed her hands it would have served the same function as a mute button, but I digress.

In spite of the challenges presented by the various denizens who haunt the parking lot I managed to enter the mall. Once inside I strode purposefully towards Macys. I knew that somewhere inside the belly of the beast I’d find what I had come for.

What I didn’t count on was being waylaid again and again by mall people. More specifically I was captured by different members of the Salesraeli tribe. In spite of my best efforts to avoid them their tractor beams grabbed a hold of my ship and pulled me in.

Salesraeli: Sir, do you have a girlfriend?
Me: I have many friends who are girls.

Salesraeli: Have you ever thought about getting them a very nice gift?
Me: I give them the gift of me.

Salesraeli: Look at these products. They are amazing. They are from an amazing place called The Dead Sea.
Me: You want me to give them something that will kill them. Why? Do you want to be my girlfriend?

Salesraeli: Sir, you are very funny.
Me: So is George Carlin, but he is dead now.

Salesraeli: I don’t understand.
Me: Neither do I. What are we talking about.

Salesraeli: Sir, let me show you what these amazing products can do for your nails.
Me: Wow, you are right. That is amazing. The nail that I chew on is really shiny.

Salesraeli: Your girlfriend will love it.
Me: How do you know?

Salesraeli: Because I am a woman and we like to look beautiful.
Me: Wait, are you going to ask me if those jeans make you look fat.

Salesraeli: Look what else I have for you. Amazing mud from the Dead Sea.
Me: Give me a hose and some dirt and I can make amazing mud from America.

Salesraeli: Dead Sea mud is different.
Me: Because it is dead.

Salesraeli: No, because it has special things in it that help your skin.
Me: Boy, I should really give her a special gift for her skin.

Salesraeli: If you buy this for your girlfriend she’ll give you a special gift.
Me: I don’t know.

Salesraeli: This normally sales for $50.00, but for you I’ll give you a special price.
Me: Ok, how does five bucks sound.

Salesraeli: Sir, you really do like to play jokes.
Me: I stopped playing jokes years ago. Too hard on the remains of my intellect.

Salesraeli: I am sorry, sometimes my English is not too good.
Me: That is ok, sometimes my Hebrew isn’t too good.

Oy, this is too painful to continue. Perhaps we’ll pick it up at a later date.