It's About Time

"It's about time". 

I heard that phrase this week. The connotation was that some other entity was not operating at the desired speed the Boss expected. She needed something and someone was not delivering. Upon it's completion, her remark was one of exasperation and disdain. I was ecstatic that I was not the focus of her ire. 

Everyone is operating on their own timeline. Point A to Point B. Origin to Termination. Alpha to Omega. That line that connects those two points? Called "time".

Back in the day, due to the plethora of cuckoos in the world, the Swiss decided to measure that ethereal entity. So, they made clocks... And I personally hate them for it.

My dog can not tell time. Her only concept of time is that it was "an eternity" since she last ate. That is the only measurement of time she is concerned with. She has a "schedule" and it is something you could set your watch to. She knows within a 10 minute period of when she gets fed... It's almost spooky.

 

People are on their own timelines... AND they are travelling that timeline at their own velocity... My proof of this theory is thus... When you are running a little late for work, and you hit the road... EVERYONE ELSE IS NOT LATE and they drive accordingly. Slow as shit and directly in your way. Now, it could be a plot to make you MORE late, but that would take a metric fuck tonne of logistics that I do not accredit humans.

Yet another example is the one my Boss was involved in this week, that led to the utterance of the phrase that stuck in my craw. When you have to interact with other humans, when your "paths cross", it could be interpreted as the two "streams of time" have crossed.

As a once brilliant, fictional theoretical physicist once posited, "Crossing the streams would be bad." Egon ("Ghostbusters", 1984, not that shitty remake!) touched on something there... I interact with some people, like, say, Trump supporters, and "try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule of your body exploding at the speed of light." 

When you choose to interact with someone, or you are FORCED to interact with someone, you are crossing the streams. Sometimes it is bad... You get the the "total protonic reversal"... Other times, you banish Gozer the Gozarian, in the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, to a parallel dimension (It's a good thing).

Thinking of time as a "stream" is saturated with symbolism and imagery. I know my Mom, at the moment of reading this will think of the sappy as shit Garth Brooks song "The River", that she asked me incessantly to listen to... At a time when I exclusively listened to everything BUT that song. Mmmm, taste that? SPITE!

"Two ships passing in the night"... Hmmm... Could be a stream/timeline crossing analogy to be drawn there! Also, it was a way old people could talk about a one night stand in old timey songs.

I examine my own timeline, and look at the numerous ways I could measure it... Marriages, Presidencies, World Cups to name a few... And I think of the other timelines that I have interacted with... Some, a single, intersecting point, some lasting a more substantial period, and the timelines that have always been there...

I visualize the lines... intersecting... merging... diverting... Watching them intersect with other timelines... Then there is a party and it is one big ass, shared timeline.

The timelines I try not to think about are the ones that I know will end. The logical, rational part of my brain understands that ALL timelines end... Them's the breaks. No one gets out of here alive... 

The selfish, non-logical part of my brain knows that it is just going to fucking suck and I don't have to accept it. Until I do.

I guess in the end... Choose wisely those who you decide to cross streams with. It is not about what they can do for you or how you can help them. It is not about whether they make you happy or sad...

It's about time.

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If there is one thing people usually wish for more of, it's more time. That and oral sex... 

I have spent my solo timeline, for the last year or so, making it so that when I DO decide to cross the stream of someone special... It will not be a momentary intersection... I would like to be a lengthy endeavor. I feel I am at a pretty damn good place in my life. The one component that I think is missing is someone to share it with.

And, yes, I am fully aware my Mom just read that and agreed. As she would say, 

"It's about time."

For whom the bell tolls,

d

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And as a special bonus...

No One Remembers Bockscar

The most destructive part of an atomic bomb is the initial shock wave and blast radius... The cruelest, more widespread, and longest lasting part is the radioactive particle cloud that is generated from the detonation.

An atomic bomb is usually an "air implosion device". It explodes about 50 to 100 yards above the ground. The blast wave is so extreme, the air itself is scorched and expelled outward with great force. When the air comes rushing back in, due to the vacuum left by the shock wave, the dirt and ash of incinerated bodies,is pulled back in, along with the air. It is then shot upward in a volley of fire and energy. That dust, dirt, soot, and ash... all radioactive. All damaging and detrimental.

This is the mushroom cloud. One of the most indelible icons there is to convey death and destruction. (Hey kiddies... for some time/population killing fun at work, CLICK HERE!!!)

The people atomized in the initial blast... They are the lucky ones. Their suffering is over. They no longer are subject to the horror yet to come.

So... This election...

Whichever way it turns out, there will be the shock wave. Once the winner is declared, a large number of people will die, in a political sense. They will shut down and just cease to exist on the political plane.

The rest of us, who can't just flick that switch... Who actually give a shit about issues and follow the happenings will be mired in the radioactive fallout. Our death will be slow... It will be painful.

The next four years will see AT LEAST one Justice of the Supreme Court nominated by the new President. If one candidate wins, they will probably select Garland. If Republicans still control anything, they will still say that we should wait... Let the American people "have a say"... You know, the SAME BULLSHIT ARGUMENT that has left the court lopsided for the last 8 months.

If the other candidate wins, we could very well see Judge Judy nominated.

The next four years will include a decision to be made about Syria. Syria is the 1,000 piece puzzle of the Beatles "White Album" cover. If any person reading this has a REAL and VIABLE solution of how to deal with Syria, NOW would be a really great time to speak up. I know if one candidate wins, there will be strategy meetings upon strategy meetings. Going over logistical permutations and predictions on a myriad action plans.

If the other candidate wins, it will be a non issue because they have vowed to dedicate the first 100 days to suing all the people accusing them of sexual assault.  

The next four years will be socially tumultuous if something about the law enforcement communities disregard for due process (and meriting out a death sentence for non violent offenses that are not even felonies) is not done... Or even addressed. If one candidate wins, there are plans to address more than one issue. Racial Bias, Criminal Justice Reform, RAMPANT Military and Campus Sexual Assault, and Gun Violence Protection, to name a few.

If the other candidate wins... "Law & Order". That is all we have received. Well... are we talking "Criminal Intent"? "S.V.U."? How about "Los Angeles"? or "Trial By Jury"??? Seriously??? 

The next four years might just see MORE effects of the "hoax" of climate change emerge. I mean besides the crippling California drought... And the increased number and ferocity of hurricanes and other severe weather patterns... And the collapse of entire ecosystems like bee colonies and the Great Barrier Reef... And the erosion of polar ice sheaths at an unprecedented rate... Do I really need to continue? One candidate accepts the findings of 97% of scientists who agree wholeheartedly that climate change is real and human interference is a major contributing factor.

The other candidate is of the mindset that "Gy-nah" is perpetrating a ruse on everyone...  It will be free reign for the corporations that have made their fortunes by making the ground, water and air unusable, undrinkable, and unbreathable.

Four years... A lot of issues and things that will impact this country that I loved enough to dress up in camouflage will have to be dealt with.

I am not trying to convince anyone what is the right way to vote. You have your mind made up. I know most reading this, will be voting against a certain candidate. I know this because this blog is longer than a bumper sticker and not as pandering as a segment of Fox "News".

Wait... I guess I am trying to convince people. I do so because I DO love this country and if one candidate gets in, the possibility that I could get sued or imprisoned for writing things against him, becomes real.

Don't vote for Trump.

_______________________________________

Tomorrow, early voting opens in Texas. I am very thankful that by Wednesday, I should have done my civic duty. 

I am awaiting the inevitable lunch room conversations at work.. 

"Dougie! Didja vote?"

"Of course."

"Who'd ya vote for?"

"That, good Sir, is none of your business, thank you, oh so mucking fuch."

"All right, fine"

"Fine... You wanna know how I voted?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Correctly. And I hope he loses."

Hanging chad, 

d

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Casper, I Ain't

I think I am not going on dates as of late because of the phenomenon known as "Ghosting" (Yeah... THAT's the reason!). Old, married people, be thankful you are getting to skip on this latest trend.

Ghosting is where if the person who you went on a date with just isn't feeling it, they don't let you know any reasons as to why, or if they had a good time, or they were still hung up on their old boyfriend and just weren't as ready to date as they thought they were. Nothing... They just vanish.

On the rare, rare occasion I do pursue someone romantically, there is now a more than good chance that there will be a shift to the ethereal and intangible, usually associated with something dead...

What drives this course of action? Is it cowardice? Apathy in effect?

Best case... The person doing the ghosting understands that rejection is a big ball of shit to hit someone with. So, in the effort not to be a dick/bitch, they go the route of fading away and becoming uncommunicative. See? They did not stomp on your guts... They did not point out all your faults... They didn't lead you on... Nope. Like a ship in the night, they just sailed on.

Comedian Aziz Ansari, in his brilliant book about modern romance, mysteriously titled, "Modern Romance", talks about the practice of ghosting. In his up routine, he would ask the audience/research groups about how they would like to be told that there is no interest by the other party.

A) Be told up front. Honest and Direct.
B) Go on a few more dates and end things before it get's too serious.
C) Never hear from that person again and all attempts at contact are ignored.

The crowd overwhelming and emphatically indicated that "A" is how they would like to be dealt with. "We're adults, dammit! We can handle it."

Then he would ask the same crowd how they handle it when THEY have no interest in the other party, do they:

A) Tell them upfront and directly that there is no interest?
B) Lead them on for a bit... Delaying the inevitable?
C) Ghost them like a mother fucker?

The SAME crowd would resoundingly pick "C" as their go to method for ending a budding romance.

Ladies, Gents, Others... I give you the definition of hypocrisy.

I was in a group/forum and someone brought up this topic. I equated it to a band aid. If you tell someone, "Not interested", it is like ripping off a band aid... with a Robin Williams level of hairiness.

Getting ghosted leaves questions. "What did I say?",  "What did I do wrong?", or, in my case, "HOW did I offend?" So many ways for me to do so, I just want some idea of exactly how I offended you. I
am not really giving a damn that you ARE offended, just wondering WHICH button I pushed.

One can not be "Angry" at the Ghosters of the world... In the end, they don't owe you shit. There was no contract or statute dictating that further communication was guaranteed. Even if you ended the date with "I will talk to you later" and they said "Look forward to it."

Having been ghosted, you can be puzzled and disappointed... But not angry. Consider the fact that they did you a favor and showed you the merit of their character early on.

I don't think I have ever fully, and truly ghosted someone... If able, I always answer the phone, or reply to a text. The manor in which I reply will convey, quite succinctly, my feelings towards said person. They will be left with little ambiguity as to my feelings towards them.

Ghosting just goes into the myriad games played in the beginning stages of any modern relationship. Now it is "Call vs. texting?", "Showing too much interest vs. not showing enough", "Who cares least wins", "Who pays for what?", "How many dates before we make with the nudity?"... All games.

I know that it is not their sole province, but ghosting is much more prevalent in the youth. I guess the only thing easier to brush someone off on your phone is not to brush at all...

____________________________________

Took last weekend off. I just needed to not do anything. Veg. I am getting election coverage overload. It has only been going on for two fucking years. Thankfully, it is almost over.

Also, Trump is turning out to be an even bigger piece of shit than thought... and I thought he was a colossal piece of shit anyway... The even SADDER fact is that his supporters STILL will not see that they are... just... wrong...

Ugh... anyways... Ghosting is bad, mmmkay?

Who ya gonna call?

d

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Not Tall & Not Sour

Not in a long diatribe mood... So... Think of this as my gift to you... I give you TIME! You don't have to mire yourself in my weird, prolonged mind vomiting.

First... Clinton won the debate. Granted, when going a petulant little shit like King Oompa Loompa, she would basically have to piss herself, while picking her nose, and singing "Walking My Cat Named Dog" by Norma Tanega to lose it.

Also... President Obama was right to veto the "JASTA" or "9/11" Bill. It serves no purpose but to weaken our standing with already tenuous allies in that region. It puts our supposedly beloved by everyone troops at more risk. The Senate overrode the veto... and the NEXT DAY was in "Oh shit!" mode.

"Luke Cage" on Netflix is the primary reason for the shortened time allotted for blogging... Really well done. ALL of Marvel's Netflix presence is really, really well done.

Lastly... I would just like to proclaim that "boneless chicken wings" are FUCKING CHICKEN NUGGETS pre-jizzed on. Gussy it up however ya want... it ain't anything new.

_______________________________

See... All that time saved. I am still of the mindset that 90% of the news in 2016 has been shitty. I hope that last little nugget (SEE WHAT I DID THERE???) put a smile on your face... if not....

I can only tell you that election coverage is only going to last 36 more days...  But then, we will (hopefully) only have to hear about how it was rigged and she cheated.

Hug the kids and spank the wife,

d

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