Good in the Small things

Daikumaryu Gaiking

It would seem that I am not alone in noticing The Inversion. (but I take credit for the cool capitalized name.) Odd set of feelings at work- Partly I feel vindicated. When you get a sense that there is something amiss on a vast scale it's a good idea to take a step back, and try to make sure you're not just seein' things. We often joke about people with paranoid delusions, but when you encounter the real thing it's very creepy.

I was going to a storefront Serenity Hall some years back. It was right when the first Gulf War was starting, and America was pushing Sadam out of Kuwait. A young guy took the podium- looked to be in his early twenties, and neat enough that he didn't look like he was on the street. He identified, but within the space of a minute he was telling about how he was receiving radio messages from Sadam Hussein in his head, and that he had contacted the CIA, but the agents are still tailing him because he knows too much...

After a couple of minutes someone took him outside. Nobody who saw it thought it the least bit funny.

anyway-



Like I said. Before you start writing about mass insanity, it's a good idea to make sure that you're not the one who's nuts. But Dr. Sanity is not nuts, and neither are the people who left comments on it here at the wfb. That still doesn't mean that I'm not nuts, but it does indicate that I'm not the only one to see it. It would seem, to borrow a phrase from the Lizardoid Master, that there is indeed, a 'bad craziness out there'.



So what can you do? That's the real question. Get in the political game? Engage the forces of The Inversion, and act like some noisy old crow on someone else's blog? I don't really have an answer. If the society lurches toward cultural suicide what can you do to dig your heels in against the pull? Focus on what is True...



Watch me sling some advice that I won't take- no. Forget it.

I'm generally doing pretty well when I can keep my focus on the regular details of daily living. Shopping. Fixing food. Paying bills. Once in a while straighten up the house, and change oil in the cars (which I need to do). Get out and walk. Work when I can. Even so, I was glad not to get a call this morning. The coffee pot broke. The internet was depressing. I had a case of the blues, and all the energy of calculator battery. I drove down to the corner. Old John was there. He had nothing to do, so we drove down to the frame shop to see Mary. But Mary had already left. The Boulevard was choked down to one lane in either direction, so we cruised back along the side streets. Soon the jacaranda trees will be in bloom and those neighborhoods will be lined in giant purple bouquets. But not yet. Today it was all just spring gray.



Got home, and found the house insurance bill. There went next month's check. And just when I thought we were going to get some breathing room. I know. Be grateful that there will be a check to cover it. Still. I said fuck it, and went out again. Sat and had coffee at another Starbucks. Didn't want to talk. Drove home, and picked up a burger for my mother. The boss had called when I was out. I got a gut drop, because I was tired enough that I didn't want to go pull an eight hour shift, but broke enough that I couldn't turn it down. Besides it was already after two. I called back. It wasn't for tonight. It was a day assignment this Friday, and a week long assignment next week at The School By my House. Couldn't be better. So if we don't get ahead in May, there's still a chance for June. Nothing left for the afternoon except to sit here, and let the day flow out onto the keyboard. Mary will be home soon. I got some Chinese bao muffins with barbeque pork to steam before dinner. Life is good in the small things.



JWM