The mind, mine at least, creates melodrama when left unsupervised for too long. Probably some evolutionary device to keep us from lounging in the middle of the road, thinking good, dirty thoughts.
Now, somehow, I've found paradise on a windy rock sticking up in the middle of the English Channel. One of the best parts of this adventure is the discovery that my neighbours, here in Portland, are aware that we're in the best place. I'm a geographer, for heaven's sake. I don't take this for granted.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Turns out the universe is as simple or as intricate as you think it is. It's all just stuff. Trees are falling in the forest with no-one around all the time. The secret, if you can call it a secret, is to enjoy it.
If the rules are made by bad guys, do you disregard them? Sorta' makes you an outlaw, doesn't it?
We all know that we shouldn't judge. We all judge.
If you can make someone happy while enjoying life, yourself, you're successful, in my book.
Spread some joy, give some love. Give some more. Don't worry much about what they think. They don't know any more about it than you do.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Do you have to taste bitter to appreciate sweet? The further along the road I get, the more obvious it seems that there is no divine plan. Some of us only touch the hot stove once. There has to be a beginning, of course, and there's always that darn end. Neither money nor luck can change that.
If there's a purpose, it surely must be pleasure. Yours and everybody else's, too.
Adopt a dog. Fall in love. Sing with the birds.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
You have to be something of an optimist, I suppose, to be much of an anarchist. Now, I'm one who believes that there are a lot more good folks on the planet than rascals. The truly rotten ones, however, aren't often satisfied with taking more than their share. They tend to devote effort and energy towards depriving the riffraff, that's us, of the basic necessities to sustain dignity, sometimes life, itself.
If Mr. Bezos would pay his employees a living wage, he might save a few bucks on bodyguards. Where's the fun in that, though.
Seems to me that a part of the problem, if we can agree that it's a problem, is that those scumbags are only interested in impressing those other scumbags. Now that intelligence, education and honesty are ridiculed, we're working on putting the word "empathy" in that part of the dictionary where we've managed to put "liberal" and "socialist" and "woke." Words merely mean what those guys say they mean, never mind what you learned in school. Turns out alternative definitions are like alternative facts.
If the good guys have a bomb and the bad guys have a bomb, how do you suppose that's ever gonna work out?
Oh, I'm still betting on the decent folks, just not in the short run.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
All that time that I wasted worrying about the demise of rock'n'roll could have been better spent worrying about something else. Now, a few remember and fewer care. It's impossible to imagine what my life would have been like without those three chords and that incessant 4/4 beat.
Now, I'm not about to claim that I made the most of those years. I can tell you, though, that without history through the lens of Chuck Berry and Elvis and The Beatles, my self-identity would be something entirely different than what it is.
My story can be written as the luckiest or the least lucky tale ever, depending on who's doing the writing. Since I seem to be the only one interested, I suppose it depends on the day that I'm writing. On the one hand, I've wasted all of my time. On the other, everything else would have been a bigger waste.
Now those guys ask, "What did you do?," and I answer, " It doesn't matter now, but it did then."
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
How old is too old to be naughty? Why does everybody else's religion seem so ridiculous? Who decides right and wrong? Why them?
If you're going to spend or waste your time pondering the insoluble, choose subjects that don't lead to despair. There is absolutely no reason to wallow in painful affairs.
No event was ever prevented by worry. When I was a kid, they taught me to worry about the bomb. The time that I wasted fretting about it never prevented nuclear annihilation. Now, in a weird twist of nostalgia, America wants to make that perturbation fashionable once more. I, for one, do not plan to fall for that one again.
Sin? Bring it on. I was never gonna "go blind" from any form of self-pleasure. Most of what titillates me is legal somewhere.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
When good kids grow up to be good human beings, we refer to them as "naive" when they don't understand chicanery. The others, the ones who stole your lunch money, look on the empathetic as "suckers." They're pretty sure that you would have stolen their lunch money if you were as cunning and smart as they were.
Those are the ones who look for opportunity wherever they may find it. Religion has always been good for it. Politics, sales... you know the ones that seem to have been around forever.
Take something pure and add the term "business" to it, and Voila!- cue the vultures. You know, the music business, the art business, show business.
You don't have to remind me that the are good civil servants, sincere clergymen and so on, but you're gonna have to surprise me to show me a decent guy running a cryptocurrency company, a hedge fund or a health insurance company. Let's don't even talk about politicians.
Yeah, the world, as always, is populated with good guys, who sometimes do bad things, and bad guys, on whom you can depend on doing bad things.
Stick with love. It's your best bet and our last hope.
If I ever use up all this good luck, I hope that I'm gracious enough to keep from complaining. The only dreams of mine that have not been fulfilled have to do with world peace and an end to suffering. At this point none of that would surprise me.
Why do some of us get more than our share?
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
At this point I talk to make sure I'm still alive and I write to prove to myself that I'm not senile. I wore out my mantra decades ago. Doesn't matter much. My limited attention span barely slowed down for anything approaching meditation.
Oh, I'm aware that there are villains out there plotting the end of the world. I take comfort in knowing that there always have been. I'm also reassured knowing that they will all die, even if they don't think so. Fortunately, they seem to have their eye on Mars, not Dorset.
I wish for you the happiness that surrounds me. I've certainly never done anything to deserve this, but as my friend, Leo says, "Don't kiss a gift horse in the mouth."
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Why on earth would you ask someone else about heaven, the meaning of life, lottery numbers or anything else that doesn't have solid, factual particulars in the mix. What would lead you to believe that some other guy knew more about ghosts or happiness or the righteousness involved in some war or another than you do.
Now, you show me some guy who actually danced with a ghost or some lady who keeps predicting winning horses and I'll eat my hat. I'm guessing here that folks who go to school to be told the meaning of life are taught by folks like me who don't know the meaning of life. In fairness, I should point out that I don't believe there is a meaning to life. Well, I'm pretty sure we're here to enjoy ourselves and help all the other living things enjoy themselves, but I don't count that as much of a definition.
Memorize the Golden Rule and brake for critters. Anytime you're stumped with a moral dilemma, consider love as your first option. I believe that pretty much covers it for today.
When the wind blows in Portland, the gods hide. I'm watching gazing balls and flower pots fly across the garden while listening to the best soundtrack to a monster movie ever. I would like to tell you that I'm getting used to it but I don't believe anybody ever does.
It's hard to accept a perfect existence. If it weren't for that pesky notion of mortality and news from the internet of suffering in so many places, I would surely be right there.
Now, if I were you, I wouldn't take advice from the likes of me. However, if you're feeling adventurous and freewheeling today, here's this- Love hard. Love like there's no tomorrow. One day there won't be.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
It's time to convene every naughty thought that has ever used up space in the gyri and sulci of my used, if not well-used, brain. What has worrying about mundane, worldly events ever gotten me? We refer to such matters as "carpet samples" around here.
Nothing, that's what!
Like everyone else, I suppose, I've wasted time and energy worrying about what relatives would think. Job security. Admission to heaven.
Now, here I am with few relatives left and those few made up their minds about me a long time back. I don't really have a job. I mean I played rock'n'roll, for goodness sake. I don't believe in heaven. That is, I don't believe in any pearly gates opening to a glorious afterlife.
This is heaven, this life I'm living. My mind's in the gutter and I'll only wear pants when I want to.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
The more the world falls apart, the more precious my corner of paradise feels. I suppose I could feel guilty. I'm good at that.
Utopia was a concept that always felt right to me. I was naive to the extent that I never considered that it was all fantasy. I signed up for a college course, Idea of Utopia, that I assumed was going to give me the skills to start one or a map to find one. Turned out to be a literature course. I learned a little something of other clueless dreamers who stared out windows and prayed for peace.
Since then I've been exposed to the music business, worked for the government, and talked folks out of buying things that I was paid to sell. All I've missed, I suppose, is the military and the pulpit. I have my limits.
While I never threw in the towel, after this amount of time, I had given up any realistic hope of moving right into some place that I would consider a paradise. I'm used to hearing the folks in Key West tell me, "Oh you should have been here before the Navy," or friends who have gone now declare, "I wish you could have seen Davis Islands before the storm."
As usual for me, it's too late for bad luck. I've got my girls and I stumbled into paradise.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Ramblin' Jack says a cowboy never walks when he can ride. Me? I walk to town because I can't drive on this side of the road. I can use the exercise, anyway.
There are villains amongst us. I suppose there always have been, probably always will be. Their weapons seem to be money, misinformation, politics, fear and religion.
What are the odds that we will survive them this time around? That last bunch had the bomb. This year's bunch has added AI to the mix.
They sit back and watch us beat each other's brains out for the opening act. Christian vs. Muslim, Sunni against Shia, Republicans and Democrats, men and women, ad nauseam. I wouldn't bet any money on the meek, but I wouldn't be a part of any other team.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Go outside when you can. Count stars, talk to animals. Save insects when you get the chance. Smile at strangers every time.
I don't know much, but I know happy is better than sad. Way better.
There's always going to be something going wrong. Sometimes we can do something about it, sometimes we can't. Joyful memories of what we've lost are the sweetest souvenirs.
Tell the ones around you how much you love them. That's just making souvenirs for later.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
I've probably spent as little time doing what I didn't want to do, to stay alive and impress others, as a fellow can get by with. I suppose that I'm just running out the clock now. Maybe I always was, but I know it now.
If I've ever made someone smile or if I've ever helped anybody feel loved, I've served my purpose. In my book, ambition's overrated, status is silly.
Oh, I am rich by my measure. I have failed at ending war, protecting all animals and mending all broken hearts, but I've tried. I don't know- maybe I've always had too much ambition.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
What a sweet world this almost is, huh? No matter which side of whatever fight you follow, there's some fool out there peeing upstream, just to show you that he can. I can assure you that this was the case in the good old days, too. These are somebody's good old days.
Of course you can't merely tune it all out. Empathy won't allow it. Don't fret about that, either- the species won't last long if we get rid of the last of the empathy. You don't want to end up as the poster boy for doing away with it, do you? I'm looking at you, Leon.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Does any of it matter? Does it matter whether or not any of it matters?
If you need to worry, I can find plenty of things to keep you occupied. Nothing is set up to be fair. If the cheaters at the top are toppled in some glorious revolution over the weekend, new tyrants will be in place before the blood is dry on the guillotine blade.
Now, if you choose to be happy and your chemical makeup is alright, that's an option, provided that you don't live in a war-torn region of the world. Of course, that's getting trickier as more investors catch on that armaments make great investments.
You're gonna have to make mortality something to celebrate and it's as good a time as any to accept that what your neighbours consider pets are just dinner on another continent.
The privilege of being able to say goodbye and mean a final parting is rare. In fact, the one that is filling my heart today is one of the very few in my memory after a long life filled with everyday partings. When I think of my good fortune, having shared so much with so many, I am overwhelmed.
Yeah, I believe in every one of those hokey t shirt and bumper sticker axioms.
If I don't see you again before one of us disappears from the planet, please know that it has been my pleasure sharing the ride. If I ever hurt your feelings or if I owe you money, I'm sorry. If you're waiting for that last verse that I promised, well, I had good intentions.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
The heat waves in the UK would bring out the winter coats in Florida. This is home now. If I had written that six months ago, it would have been just more of my maudlin babble. Now it is joyful boasting. Oh, I check in on school shootings and the slide of the dollar, and I miss friends.
This is where I hang my hat now, though. My world revolves around my Kate, and I can't get along without Vera at my side.
I hope you smile when you think of me.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
There's enough of everything but time. Funny thing is that there's no such thing as time, nearly as I can tell. Isn't time merely a concept, a tool that makes it possible to experience sensory experience?
Feel free to change your mind about anything at any time.
Oh, I'm aware of the contradictions in my rambling. Don't wait for love, love first.
The Mad Max series would all seem like utopian fantasy tales now, I suppose. I should probably feel a bit guilty, cutting and running, living in a remote little paradise off the south coast of England. I don't.
Cars are ugly, ignorance is fashionable and science is not. War is perpetual and the planet has pretty much given up, Mother Nature waiting for man to finish it off, dropping the big one or killing off the species one at a time.
Me? I've never had it better. If this is the grand finale, I surely got a good seat. Just my luck!
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Two things can be true. Don't you get tired of hearing it. Eleven things can be true fercrissakes! Nothing is important. Everything's important!
I have overthought almost everything for my entire life. I say almost because I got hit by a car when I was three or four years old. Maybe I should pay more attention to traffic. I was just in Paris for the first time and missed being run down by a bicycle every few minutes anytime that I was out of the hotel for more than two or three minutes.
Since I haven't managed to stop war or end suffering, maybe it's time to watch the movie that's on my screen. The hand that I've been dealt has always been perfect. When I have wished for things, impossible things, my wishes have always been granted. Other than the aforementioned peace and suffering bits, I've run out of things to wish for. If I don't have it, I've had it, and it wasn't so much.
Love like crazy and then try to love more. Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Sometimes, some things are gonna go wrong. I believe we can all agree on that. We're all gonna die someday. Pretty sure we can go along with that one, too. Oh, I wish it weren't so, but I have finally figured out that my wishing isn't going to change a thing.
From here on out I'm going to try my best to just enjoy the cruise. I'll avoid some cake in an attempt to hang around a little longer, and I'll keep my pants on occasionally to keep from ruining someone else's day. I don't remember anyone losing sleep over me working too hard or worrying too much.
When it comes to politics or money or religion, count me out. Oh, I believe what I believe and I spend what I have. I wish nice, smart folks ran governments. I don't much care for a lot of what I see, but my life is beautiful. I'll help when I can and I'm always ready with a shoulder to cry on. Meanwhile, I'll pet every dog that I pass on the street and I'll keep my mind on the good stuff without feeling guilty. I hope I can serve as an example of some kind.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Isn't it funny how yesterday's problems don't seem like much today. The most important thing on your agenda today is that thing that you spend most of your time thinking about. Now that I've had my blood test, I'm pretty much out of things to worry about. I plan to spend the rest of the day with my head in the stars and my mind in the gutter.
Don't run out of things to dream about.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
How will we look back on this time? Well, how will you look back. Life expectancy in the UK for a man is 79. I'm 78 and change.
Since the fifth grade, I've known about meanness. Based on the number of bullies at Roosevelt elementary school in Tampa in 1956, I estimated that there might be one bully in any group of 100. (Make that 50 if the group is all male).
Oh, I certainly know that girls can be cruel, but we're talking here about pulling wings off June bugs, not sending notes about cooties.
Now, as I watch footage of grown ups praising some god that I don't recognize, huddled in prayer over taking away food and medicine from poor people so that bigger bombs can be built without billionaires having to chip in, my heart breaks.
Most of our consciousness is consumed with thoughts of stuff, isn't it? Cars, houses, clothing, investments, bills, dinner, ad nauseam. Much of the rest goes towards mortality in one sense or another, ours or someone else's.
All the rest is the good part, the joie de vivre.
The healthy mind wanders towards the gutter I suppose.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
Is there a sadder sound than the song of a flock of seagulls? Maybe. I've never heard it.
Some of the eras of great art preceded the major wars. The joy expressed when peace returned to a land always lasted until it began to fade with treaties in shreds.
Now, war is perpetual. How much is due to profit? Who knows.
They taught me about the Crusades in school. Not much.
When you watch the religion that you grew up with appropriated for greed and power, there's a special kind of heartbreak unleashed.
When immigrants and the poor and people of color are villainised while jerks who have amassed vast fortunes are lionised, my world seems to wobble on its axis.
Is there a sadder sight than democracy being replaced like yesterday's skirt length by tyrants and despots? Maybe. I've never seen it.
In my lifetime, capitalism was mostly good.... until the rich decided they needed the crumbs, the scraps. Oh, well.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war. Seems almost trite now, compared to when Lottie first told me. Means more to me than ever.
At this stage, every trip to the USA is likely to be my last. Fortunately, my memories are re-enforced with kindness and sweet interaction with friends, old and new. Of course I fret about the ones that I didn't get to see this time 'round.
Back home in England, life is quiet. Enchanting and quiet.
Packing for a trip to the States and I'm sadly aware that I'm going back to a different place than the one I left. When folks here in the UK hear my drawl, they tend to slowly shake their head and a sorrowful expression takes control of their face.
The USA, never perfect, seems to have always been the good guy. When Uncle Sam has gotten it wrong, e.g., Viet Nam, the Edsel, Milli Vanilli, he seems to have always dusted himself off and gone on with the good stuff. We're talking here about the home of rock'n'roll, Moon Pies and monkey races.
Of course I look forward to seeing friends and family. I've quit hearing from anyone so if they aren't addicted to some social media platform, I'm unaware of any personal news. Two weeks is a short time to catch up on a lifetime's memories.
If this reads like some sad sack's moaning about the good old days, I apologise. We're all pulling for you, America. I don't hear that full-figured girl yet.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
The concept of mortality serves as a governor on bliss. In the mix with guilt and shame and religious mumbo jumbo, it keeps pants on, skirts down and noses to the grindstone.
Well, sir, I suppose I'm about as guilty as the next fellow and I'm seventy eight years old. The life expectancy for a male in the UK is 78.6. I'm not about to be caught with any of that, " shoulda' done more of this, shoulda' done more of that," drivel on my lips at the end.
Seems to me we were born for joy. Ignore the distractions.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
If you have to ask the meaning of life, you're probably missing the ride. Believe me, you know as much about it as the highest paid guru in the business. Dave Bartholomew told us all we'll ever need to know.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
There are folks at work whose daily activity affects my well-being. They don't know me. Their time is spent arguing with cohorts, lying, conniving, cheating and preening. Their endeavours more directly affect the affluent, who give them enormous amounts of money, legally and otherwise, to influence their decisions.
Am I bragging when I tell you that I enjoy life more than politicians and tech bros?
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
If truth weren't fleeting, maybe we would all be enlightened. I've had all the secrets revealed to me. More than once. It's a lot like keeping your eye on a floater, isn't it. As soon as you try to focus, it's moved on. Gone in a flash.
This much I have learned- the secret's not a secret. I've yet to see hate bring happiness. I've never seen a "good war." If there's any such thing as too much love, it has escaped my view.
All those trite, bumper sticker platitudes are the wisdom of our age. You can't memorise them all. Just be nice and keep your mind on love. That should pretty much cover it.
No worrying that I've ever done has benefitted me or anyone else. Oh, I'd give it up if I could. Wouldn't we all? If the world consists of worriers and non-worriers, I guess I'm lucky enough to be on the non-worrier team. Still though, I find myself fretting about death, anxious about climate change, agonising over politics.
I want to giggle like the gurus and play naked at the beach. Stuff's gonna happen and my worrying won't change it.
Interesting times and rainy days. Blogs, social media, streaming channels, AI. Alcohol, drugs, ultra-processed foods and hot pickles. Self-driving cars, self-checkout and pandemics.
Maybe I'll read for a bit and stare off into space. Then maybe it will be time for another meal.
The illusion of control is the original cosmic joke, isn't it?
Hold on for the ride. It's better to err on the side of kindness.
Pardon me if I don't take any of this seriously enough. My background in wringing my hands at ringside prepared me for just this moment in history. Oh, how I fretted when the villain slipped the illegal, foreign object into the ring, hidden brazenly in his trunks! Funny how I always seemed to see it immediately and the referee never detected it until the blood splattered all over the front row!
Of course I lose sleep worrying about folks losing their jobs, their healthcare, their family members. It breaks my heart to see families split over political babble.
If I could wave a wand and fix it all, I would. Meantime, I will enjoy the life that that I live and keep my mind on the love that I have.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
That rumble and bumble in your head, that's your conscience. Maybe it shows up as a tightening in your gut. You came from the factory with some sense of right and wrong, some degree of what we call empathy. At least most of us do.
The Google road to empathy is congested lately, with searches for Musk and psychopathy, Trump, social security and vaccinations. Don't try to get there faster by searching for "easiest countries for immigration" or "rental costs in Portugal" either. Jammed!
I wish I had sound advice for you.
Give us peace on earth and end this dreadful, dreadful war.
