Maybe.
Maybe?
Probably.
Probably.
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1824 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson
Comics: The Walking Dead 5-8
Music: Hearts Of Oak, Ted Leo And The PharmacistsMonth: October 2026
we are blind
The very first poem I wrote in this era of actually trying, over two and a half years ago, was about how the things we don’t acknowledge are the things that take us down.
Governments ignore the masses to ply to billionaires, and the masses get taken in by a populist con man.
Billionaires ignore the long game in favour of short term returns, and when the cataclysm comes, they will be shocked. No one on the ground will; we’ve been tied to the tracks with a train bearing down on us for years.
One domino will fall, and the rest will follow.
Pay attention to the things you neglect the most; they will be the things that bring you down.
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1736 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: The Girl Who Played With Fire, Stieg Larsson
Comics: The Walking Dead 1-4
Music: Heart In A Cage, The Strokesthe fifth was a monday
And a day of reckoning. Do I give up?
Do I move on? Why is every day an existential crisis?
At least, every work day.
How do I move beyond it?
This is the point where the lesson of kindness I sought in Father Lightning should kick in.
Unfortunately, the lesson I’ve learned out of that has become something else. It’s a story about men and women, and how even the best of intentions can blind us if we don’t address the reality around us.
It’s one thing to say you support women and you’re an ally in the face of sexual aggression.
It’s a whole other thing to actually pay attention, and help where it’s needed.
And sometimes, boys, that means leaving it alone. This has nothing to do with the book; our hero should have done more sooner, but with trauma, sometimes, your support must be indirect.
If a women has been abused by a man, is a man who she wants to comfort her? There’s an inevitable mistrust there, in many cases, whether it’s warranted or not. It doesn’t matter.
Sometimes, you need someone who knows what you went through to offer the helping hand. You don’t want to hug someone who might just be your next abuser.
So, do what you can boys, jump in where needed. And if you see any of those boys from Cornell (or their enablers in the police or the administration, feel free to let ’em know what’s what. Fucking garbage people, every last one of ’em.)
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1698 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson
Comics: Cloak And Dagger v5 3
Music: Healthy In Paranoid Times, Our Lady Peacehappy post-birthday, bro
Sorry, I was so caught up in poopin’ yesterday that I forgot completely – except for my post on Facebook, in which I likened your birth to a minor Biblical omen and Empire Records.
(Great movie, by the way. Not on Rex Manning Day! Also, I credit this movie with restoring my love of AC/DC, because If You Want Blood, You Got It is a spirit animal.)
Plus, whatever happened to Rory Cochrane? First, he absolutely nails Slater in Dazed And Confused, then is perfect as Lucas in Empire Records, then… what?
That level of commitment to depth and caricature deserves better.
Anyway, happy birthday, brother. I used to question your anti-social attitude (so much like my own), but you’re retired and not even fifty, so clearly, you knew something I didn’t.
I’ll be working (preferably writing), until I die. Hopefully, I won’t still be working shit jobs to that point.
Also, happy birthday Rory Cochrane, whenever that is, because you deserved better than you got. Here’s hoping for a comeback.
(Please don’t turn out to be a scumbag.)
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1702 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson (damn, this is a dense read, but should be required reading in public schools when discussing Trump)
Comics: Cloak And Dagger: Negative Exposure 2-3, Cloak And Dagger v5 1-2 (great, new powers again - and a baby)
Music: The Head On The Door, The Curepoopin’
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
We gone from Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker to Hallelujah.
Normal bowel movements.
No more violently peeing out my butt.
Too much info?
Really?
God made humans, and all the awful processes inside of us, or so a character in Father Lightning insists.
Of course, he’s possessed and eats people’s entrails, so you can’t trust him.
But then, who can we trust anymore?
All our heroes are frauds.
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1977 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson
Comics: Cloak And Dagger v4 4-6, Cloak And Dagger: Negative Exposure 1 (ugh, Hopeless, hopeless, it's not just the name of our former mayor anymore)
Music: Head Carrier, Pixiesthe day after cleanout
I’m still pooping.
It’s still water.
I thought the Purg-o-dan should be done by now.
It’s what they claim on the package, and online.
Why the fuck am I still filled with wet diarrhea, forty-eight hours hence?
Damn you, Purg-o-dan.
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1866 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson
Comics: Spider-Island: Cloak And Dagger 3, Cloak And Dagger v4 1-3 (fuck sakes, I hate when writers take on their supposed 'white whale', but then demonstrate they don't even understand the basics of the characters, how their powers work, whether one has a corporeal body and then, of course, let's fucking make them hate each other over petty shit, thereby ruining the entire premise of their complicated relationship. I'd heard Dennis Hopeless was a good writer; apparently, I was mistaken. He's a hack who couldn't be bothered to do even a modicum of research to understand the characters he's been given to write, and for fuck sakes, it's not like they have a thousand issues of history to go through - a dedicated writer would have plowed through them in a day or two. How disappointing.)
Music: He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (uh, anyone else ever relisten to this and think, wow, those are some seriously questionable lyrics in Parents Just Don't Understand)cleanout
It’s Purg-o-dan day, and I’ve had nothing but broth and Gatorade.
Some Jello.
There is a flip side to be had, and it runs watery and sudden.
Target: 1700 words
Written: 1338 words, novel: Father Lightning
Read: Proof Of Conspiracy, Seth Abramson
Comics: Marvel Knights Double Shot 1, Cloak And Dagger v3 1, Spider-Island: Cloak And Dagger 1-2
Music: Have It All, Foo Fighters