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Dispatches From Dystopia

~ "What man by worrying can add one cubit to his span of years?"

Dispatches From Dystopia

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Has Anybody Here Seen My Old Friend… Motivation?

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by David in Exercise/ Fitness, Existential Despair, Foreign Films, Uncategorized

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#Fassbinder, Film

That is today’s tune.  I am at an ebb.  Given that alcohol and drugs are a suicide run for me and sexual infidelity is not my style either, my two principal diversions are exercise and eating. Add the beginnings of a cold to the mix. So exercise is a complete turn-off. That leaves eating. Or maybe, I will blog.

Yeah, I’ll blog. And drink coffee.  The coffee tastes good. The chair is comfy. I will go back to Rainer Werner Fassbender’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, starring some great German actors, like Günter Lamprecht, Hannah Schygulla, Gottfried John, and Barbara Sukowa. This was a miniseries on German Television (Deutsche Fernsehen. sounds classier, doesn’t it?) but it was released in theatres in the USA.  Fassbinder was a bad boy’s bad boy, i.e. a homosexual drug addict and rather indiscrete about his proclivities. He never got much of a following beyond the art house crowd, here in the America of Ronald Reagan and the 1980’s. 

The story follows the life of a petty thief, Franz Bieberkopf (Lamprecht), who served time for the murder of his lover. It begins with his release from prison for this crime.  There isn’t a lot of moralizing but there is some fantastic cinematic storytelling. 

I have to bear in mind that stories are meant to be experienced in the mind in some fashion. I need not have written a thesis on Fassbinder in order to enjoy this. And I don’t need to mythologize about his angst as a gay artist either.  He wanted me to enjoy this story, I’ll betcha.

So I will blog and watch. And not obsess too much about food. Maybe I will do some ironing and shoe shining, and sublimate my service bottom energy into something productive.

Night Picture

16 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by David in Amtrak, cooking, Uncategorized

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lesbian fiction

It is the middle of the night. Back pain has me awake. There will be no trains to watch till after 5:30 AM.  The Silver Meteor , #98, Miami to New York ,is running late. Then again, it usually runs late, from a little to a lot.  Amtrak tries. They really do.

But for now, as I take a break from reading Behrouz Gets Lucky by Avery Cassell, I decide a selfie is in order. I turn the camera around, so I don’t take a mirror image. I doctor the picture a bit. I look at myself and say, “What the Hell, I’m 66.”

Behrouz Gets Lucky is an entertaining read, about two masculine presenting lesbians who fall in love with each other. Doggone it I love Love. I don’t care much for TV love shows.  I’m partial to Fred and Ginger kind of love stories. Substitute Rita Hayworth or Judy Garland for Ginger. Then again, if dancing is not your thing, Bogart and Bacall are perfect.

“You know how to whistle,don‘t you Steve? You put your lips together and blow.” 

MrsCorC? has a hair appointment in the morning. I will go swimming while she gets clipped. Maybe.  I may just sleep.

I made bread in the bread machine motivated by nothing more than laziness and reluctance to shell out $3 or more for a loaf of marginal stuff. Much as I like the convenience of the bread machine, it’s time to knead my own dough with my own hands.  Maybe make my own scones or beignets. The catch is to bake for somebody else, like my AA buddies. Why the Hell not? Perhaps it will assist in managing my hours a little better.

So where is this picture, you ask?

Here. That vein on the left side (right side?) looks kind of imposing there.

Found In My Tumblr Feed

13 Wednesday Dec 2017

Posted by David in Uncategorized

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http://wisdomoftheholyfathers.tumblr.com/post/168498645939/posting-again-pray-for-us-3

Brush With Greatness

02 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by David in Uncategorized

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My friend John on his previously mentioned cycling excursion took photos of the house where Mother Maybelle Carter and her family lived while she performed in Richmond on The Old Dominion Barn Dance on WRNL-AM 910. This was 70 years ago.

I did not know this. Maybelle Carter was the mother of June Carter Cash

“Shazzam”

02 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by David in Futurism, Smartphones, Uncategorized

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Tags

Technology

I got a text from a long time friend just as I was sitting down to the huevos rancheros I ordered for brunch at my friendly neighborhood trendy restaurant.

He was on a weekend bicycling excursion to where we call The Center Of The Universe, Ashland,Virginia. Virtual Railcam LLC has a camera placed there, so that trainspotters like me can watch rail traffic at home. (Amtrak’s Northbound Silver Star #92 just passed by.)

He texted to let me know he just bought a cookie and would be riding by the webcam. I have known John since sixth grade. We were roommates our First Year at the University of Virginia. We live in the same town and communicate almost daily.  Fifty-plus year continuing friendships are remarkable these days, but  I could not have imagined receiving a text from him, then seeing him wave at me in a live image on a tiny handheld computer fifty four years ago.

Breath-taking. 

The larger point I want to make is that assumptions we have about progress are being outpaced by that actual progress itself. We still cling to Nineteenth and Twentieth Century ideas about the world and exercise little scepticism about them. Malthusian ideas about population growth and food supply were advanced before mechanization, plant genetics, and animal breeding revolutionized agricultural productivity. Think about that.

Do we face a technological utopia or dis-topia? I don’t know. But our visions of the future say more about us today than they do about what tomorrow has in store.

Why Am I Awake?

02 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by David in Bloggers, Catholic Life, Uncategorized

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Friends

Most of you know I go to Nocturnal Eucharistic Adoration on First Fridays. (It’s a Catholic tradition). I choose my Holy Hour between 4 and 5 AM. That means I’m groggy and half-awake for most of  Saturday morning. All in all, it’s not a bad feeling, compelled, to just sit, watch the world, and be with my thoughts.  The contemplation of Holy Hour transfers from Our Lord to the world at large.

I could think about my frustrations, how I’m not getting what I want, such as sex, time with my adult children, and why the Culture isn’t acting the Way I Want It To Act.

Big Parenthetical Aside Coming

(Ironic, isn’t it, that no matter what our values and opinions are, we think our set of values and opinions are the only ones that bring true happiness to people. That assumes that happiness is our primary purpose in life. I will leave that question of what our purpose is open for now)

Rather than dwell on frustration, appreciation is far more worthy pursuit. Friendship. Beauty. Love. For example, a friend brought her dog to AA yesterday. Seeing that dog made me happy. I totally get how therapy dogs can be beneficial.

I just read where two of my blogosphere friends met for the first time. I’m glad, and I wish I could have been there too.

Shirt Find

26 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by David in Uncategorized

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Key Apparel has this dandy Loggers Shirt available on Amazon for around 22 bucks ($22 USD). It is a heavy cotton, good for Winter wear. A change of pace from the flannels I usually wear.  

Tidying Up. 

25 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by David in Uncategorized

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I don’t know why I fight doing housework. I rather enjoy it once I get in the swing. I spent about 90 minutes tidying up the kitchen and downstairs bathroom. The downstairs smells nice, lavender, lemon verbena fragrances. 

I am actually tired now. A nap is forthcoming. 

More later, maybe.

Baby Names?

24 Friday Nov 2017

Posted by David in Baby Names, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Velveeta

Valvoline

Castrol.

Vaseline

Rogaine

Cialis

Enema

Hydraulic

Groin

Yes? No? Any ideas? Additions to the list?

Help.

15 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by David in Uncategorized

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I need to get out of the house. To further that goal, I went to AA, saw lots of familiar faces, shared how I felt, and they were very nice. Then this afternoon I ordered a pizza for dinner, drove to the pizza shop, brought it home. My wife is home, studying.  I am watching trains on the Ashland, VA webcam. The town has put Christmas lights on the street lampposts. This is Ashland. They are and always have been Christmas lights. Thank you very much.

Having that baseline of despair make its presence felt just plain sucks. This is my day off from swimming. Tomorrow I go back. It is one week before Thanksgiving, five weeks before Christmas, six weeks before the New Year.

The sun will come up tomorrow. Yada, Yada. Yada,

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