Friday, November 4, 2011

cut the kids in half

A longer writing, condensed and self-censored, of a not-so-daily grind of constant absurdity on the part of both customers and powers that be, of conversations treading different ground, of procrastination and existential ponderings of the way things are and deconstructing the idealism of my surroundings and finding ways to laugh at things like cat vomit on library books and the absurdity of those we serve, and ourselves.

I tried to be creative tonight, but my brain was racing too wildly to focus on picking one color of glaze to paint a teacup and I don't want to dump my cognitive craziness on unsuspecting artistes, and sometimes I wonder if it freaks people out, that ultimately I will say the wrong thing and totally offend someone or they'll get sick of my rants about third world countries and their favorite politicians, because I don't believe in excusing the unexcusable no matter who it is.

And people talk politics and rant about those awful Democrats and scumbag Republicans and I just want them all to shut the hell up. I hate Election Day with every fiber of my being because one party runs the state into the ground and the other runs the city into the ground and then each of the two takes their turn running the country into the ground but I guess it's like that everywhere right?

Governments do shitty things to powerless people, give the perks and the power to their cronies, and the everyday schlubs are left in the middle, paying taxes, pacified by entertainment or too tired or burned out to even bother trying, grabbing for any bone thrown their way and keeping anyone else from getting close.

I feel like my generation is the kids in a loveless marriage and my country is two selfish and immature parents in a marriage falling apart, where the big shiny house built up so fast is a mess and the credit card bills from years of buying the newest shiniest brightest thing are coming in and there's no money left to pay. In every marriage, it's the fault of both sides, and in this case, they're the same people ultimately, but they'd never admit to that, and they're screaming at each other, dangling promises and baubles for the kids, playing them off of each other, instigating fights that distract from the matter at hand, and the spite fences between us and the next door neighbor. It's for the kids, they say, but they're ultimately thinking only about themselves and what they can get before all of it's gone, because it's all going to be gone someday.

Sometimes the kids will take sides, they'll be loyal to one or the other or whichever one fits their immediate needs. Sometimes they just go and hide in the room or in the treehouse in the backyard with fingers in the ears wanting this big long nightmare to go away.

8 comments:

Randal Graves said...

Speak for yourself, I'm not absurd.

The best, most fucked-up part is that some of the kids of this generation will grow up to be the next round of jackass parents. No one learns from history, yo, except to pass multiple-choice tests in classrooms.

By the way, there's still twelve more months until The Most Important Election Of Your Lifetime, sponsored by BoA, Pizza Hut, and Ford. Good thing Quetzalcoatl returns soon after.

Anonymous said...

hey ma and pa what the hell is wrong with y'all?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJrGpGj-j1Q

Commander Zaius said...

that ultimately I will say the wrong thing and totally offend someone or they'll get sick of my rants

Couldn't help but comment on that segment above, made a admittedly bad joke about atheists and bible thumpers at my blog and you would not believe the hate mail I got from both sides thinking I was insulting them while supporting the other.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

everyday schlubs
~

that girl said...

Randal,
oh yeah, we're doomed to make the same mistakes saying we'll be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT than the Boomers or the oldsters they railed against.

Which is why history tends to be taught in terms of names and dates rather than IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU IF YOU DON'T GET THIS.

dmf,
Fishbone's coming through these parts in the next month or so. I haven't listened to a lot of their stuff (though my friends in high school were spinning this in the CD player along with latter-day Sepultura and Nirvana), but I should probably give them more of a listen.

BB,
I totally need to start reading your corner of the internets more because it's really good and it amazes me how thin-skinned people can be when their sacred cows get toppled. I also think people tend to read what they want to read into the writings of others too.

if,
oh poor Sly! I love this song.

Tengrain said...

Sweet baby jeebus!

Cleveland has a larger population than the swine at stately Graves Manor?

Regards,

Tengrain

PS - nice piece of work in your post. While lots of people have the disfunctional marriage metaphor no one took it to the kids (that I know of). Stuff to think about in that.

that girl said...

Tengrain,
Shockingly, yes. It's an honor to have the distinct privilege of knowing Randal in real life.

Tengrain said...

that Girl -

The swine exists? In real life?

I think I need to take up meditation.

Regards,

Tengrain