life does seem hazy lately. like i’m supposed to be doing something, but i’m not. it’s like i’ve arrived at a stage in my life where everything is here, everything i could ever want. it just feels like it’s been like this for so long, and that it couldn’t possibly last this long. it also feels like i may have adjusted my standards to fit the way things are right now, but it’s tough to analyze the subconscious like that…it brings my secret desires to fruition in it’s own time.

day to day, living life in acceptable manners, within my and other people’s limitations. it’s strange when the main desire in your life steers from the esoteric towards the mundane. more than anything, i just want things to continue the way they have for the past year or so, and there’s no reason that they can’t, which is a bit of a change for me. i’m still open to suggestion, but i’m just waiting for it, not seeking it.

i like waiting for nothing though, it brings a sense of solace.

There’s been alot of yelling going on with health care lately, and rightly so, it’s pretty important. But all this rhetoric about public option, death panels, whatever, is all the same kind of thing when it comes to policy debates. What I did find interesting though is the strategy. I noticed right off the bat that all the town hall screaming smacked of all the stuff I used to hear on Democracy Now, but I didn’t really connect the dots. Then I heard a story from the show On the Media that spelled it out for me.

Conservative activists have gone and taken a page from a pretty prominent progressive book called Rules for Radicals, and basically adopted the tactics that progressives use. Yell. Cause a public scene. Come out swinging with the big questions. These are things progressives have been doing for a bit with environmental issues, education, gay rights, any issue that normally gets pushed to the back burner and ignored.

Just like Obama utilized what he wanted from conservatives in how to win an election, conservatives are now cherry picking out ideas from liberals they can use to stall policies they don’t like. The interplay is just fascinating, as good ideas are implemented, and bad ones aren’t, in a nice little example of the evolution of ideas, a sort of social darwinisim. it cracks me up a little, actually.

who says there’s no bipartisanship?

full disclosure here. I’ve been listening to this radio show Too Beautiful To Live (TBTL to us tens) for a little over a year and a half here, but never really talked about it, with anyone. A closet ten, i would say. I was OK with that though, I didn’t think i could get anyone to listen, as it’s a show that is impossible to explain (The closest description is something akin to the Seinfeld of radio) and takes a few weeks of listening to appreciate. even then, it might still not be appreciated, it can be a little overly-hip at times. there was a huge community that listened and contributed to the show though, which was probably the best part.

fantastic! i don’t know why, but that word felt compelled to start this post. it just sounds good right now, has some good connotations. makes me feel better about everything, because it’s fantastic!
it’s kinda funny when i come here out of sheer boredom, it’s just a different feeling. like hmm, what to type now? hmmmmmm, indeed. good stuff.

last night heather and i went to the atlantic crossing, brought some cupcakes, ate some food, drank some beer, shared some good times. the bartender was giddy that we brought the cupcakes, it’s amazing the power those cupcakes have over people, and it’s always nice to be in the good graces of the bartender. weekday nights are just more relaxed as there tends to be a more regular clientele, whereas the place gets pretty overrun by college students on the weekends. they have every right to, but i’m gettin’ old and cantankerous, and college kids just seem to be so uptight and standoffish these days. it might just be the living in seattle though, i don’t think it’s just the college students who are uptight and standoffish.

on the walk back we ran into kevin, a transient who has been hanging out under the interstate around where i live. he’s a bit crazy, but as far as i can tell, a good person. a month or so ago, he sold me a crystal ladybug for 3 bucks, and it’s supposed to bring me good luck. it even came in this red, silklined box and everything. it’s a pretty amazing ladybug, to say the least. just needed to superglue on the three out of four legs it came with, and it’s ready to bring good fortune. a perfect gift for the lady, he told me.

but i ran into him again, and heather for the first time, and we had a nice chat with him about us, as how he was looking for bus fare. we gave him a couple of bucks, and we shared some laughs as he said that he was going to say we should be married if we weren’t yet, since we looked like brother and sister. he also said he was a vet (a marine, in japan and korea) and he told me that i looked like a marine and if i wasn’t i should go sign up. this lead into him more recently being a jazz musician, which i had no reason to doubt. when he said he was a jazz musician i asked him if he played the guitar (as he was holding a guitar case) and he looked at me like i was an idiot and said “no, i’m a percussionist”. i almost lost it right there, but i went and internalized that laughter. he told us that now we’re married we should be having kids, where we agreed heartily, and then we parted ways for the night.

i’ve had lots of good conversations with homeless people, and some frightening encounters as well, but in seattle, all the people are mostly harmless, and just looking to get by. i can relate with that. i look at myself, and everyone around me, in this eternal struggle to get by, and i can’t begrudge them at all. people just need to realize just how lucky they are to have all of this freedom to invest their energy into whatever distraction strikes their fancy, no matter how mundane it seems. or important it seems, for that matter. there’s plenty of appreciation to go around here.

find it where you can.