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Post #11

Thursday, 5.3.18
11:19am
36 years old
188 pounds
Denver, CO

This weekend:
Boston. Seafood. Brother. Mom. Home. Heart. Happy.
Portland, Maine. New work orientation. Seeing the headquarters. Meeting my team. Networking. Plugging in to the mother-ship.

So the montage of your life is going to cut itself together in your head, playing itself like film in those moments of mental quiet that are fewer and farther between. The more time we experience, the faster it seems to move, and all of a sudden, those moments that still feel so fresh are three and four years ago, and you're knocking out years at a clip unprecedented. Periods of a few months, a hard labor jail sentence as a child, are nothing to you as an adult. Six months? Be over before you know it. Two years? Pfffft, do it standing on my head.

There were a few things about myself that I had to learn by leaving Boston. The author will not bore you, reader, with what those lessons were - those are private intellectual property. The author will report that these lessons have begun to yield an understanding, and a deeper comprehension has begun to take hold if only in its baby grip for now. Here's another nugget for your brainspace - being poor fucking sucks, even if it means that you're pursuing your happiness. I like being happy. I also like being fed. The karmic wrestling match between the pursuit of my personal truth and my love for cheeseburgers is destined to continue forever, I fear, but I've made my peace with that.

Focus on the journey and the destination will present itself. No anchored ship ever leaves the harbor. Let go. Move on. Let go. Move on.

You know, it's almost like that person who takes pictures of themselves in a mirror in the same room where the toilet is, and then posts those images online for the entire world to judge and like and comment on really ISN'T the "down to Earth" person they claim to be.

If they don't text you back, fuck them, let them go.
If they blow off plans to hang out, or bail at the last minute, fuck them, let them go.
Make time in your life for the people who make time for you. No relationship should be all chase.

I don't like that we're dealing so often in hypotheticals these days. "Can you imagine what the reaction would have been if Obama/Hillary had done this??" Yeah, but Obama and/or Hillary didn't do that, and no one actually reacted because the scenario we're presenting is fictitious. This works the other way, too - "Could you imagine if Paul Ryan or Mitch McConnell put that bill out there?" What the result is is that one side gets all worked up and frothy imagining that scenario in which media pundits rip the ne'er-do-well to shreds, and it makes them real-world angry, which escalates the noise, keeps us apart, and insures division. We are easier to control if we are not on the same page. Deal with this shithead comment. Deal with this dumb asshole. React to this reality. Remind yourself that it couldn't have happened another way because it didn't. Judging the people who do and say whatever they do or say on their own merit is enough and then some, believe me, especially with the group of assholes currently in power. There is more than enough fuel there to keep a rage-fire stoked for quite some time. But so anyway, we keep ourselves separate this way, and that sucks, because after all of this is over, we still have to figure out a way forward together. I saw on Twitter the other day this thing about how China isn't going to level trade tariffs against us - they're planning on going elsewhere for their soybean imports, a move that would take FOURTEEN BILLION DOLLARS out of the American economy. And a bunch of idiots online were like, "Fuck those middle America farmers, they voted for that idiot, I don't feel sympathy for them, you reap what you sow yuk yuk yuk." The shortsightedness and lack of empathy displayed in that sentiment is fucking appalling. First off, this would cripple the economy on a national level, so even if you yourself don't happen to be a soybean farmer in Indiana, eventually this will affect you HARD. Second, we're talking about something that would put HALF the fucking country out of/damn near out of a job and your attitude is to shrug like they brought that on themselves? What an enlightened opinion, jackass. Tell me more about how high-minded you are. Discourse in this country is a disgrace.

You know how I know Trump voters are ashamed of what they did? They won't talk about it. Ask anyone who voted for Obama who they voted for and they'll tell you proudly. Shit, you could even do that for Bush and it's hard to remember this now because our current President is so awful it beggars belief, but people who voted for Bush wouldn't even really hide it all that much. But very few people will proudly admit they voted for Trump. If you think you know a proud Trump voter, ask them to join your for brunch in a downtown or metro area wearing a MAGA hat. Let me know how that meal goes.

St. Thomas Aquinas said that the most dangerous thing in the world was a man with one book. People who get their news exclusively from one source (whether it's Al Jazeera or Fox or CNN or late-night talk shows or NPR, take your pick) have (probably) never heard of or read St. Thomas Aquinas. These two things are indirectly related. St. Thomas Aquinas is also the patron saint of teachers. I promise you that most teachers do not know this fact, and they also don't care. Our nation's schools do not rank well globally. These two things are indirectly related. The author of this blog believes in and subscribes to the newsletter of St. Thomas Aquinas. Please do acquaint yourself with the man and his work.

That's all I've got for now. It's lunch time. It's a rainy Thursday here in Denver. Tomorrow morning, the sun is going to burn away these clouds. Tomorrow, a wave of relief and joy is going to hit me like I have not felt in nearly 2 years. Meanwhile, you guys be nice to one another. This flaming wreck of a ship is going down. Please find the courage, at least, to fiddle.

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