Strange times, folks! Down is up and up is down. The truth often seems irrelevant in the face of a seemingly lawless administration, the GOP seems to have embraced pedophilia, and the Earth may just be flat after all- kind of kidding about the last one. As if that weren’t enough, my favorite podcaster Marc Maron is ending his podcast WTF in September and CBS is canceling the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There’s a lot more happening, of course, and many nuances to the Late Show debacle, but I don’t have the time nor the emotional bandwidth to get into all of it. That said, I must address Trey Parker and Matt Stone. You, fine sirs, are true American patriots and I salute your bravery and dedication in your willingness to piss people off regardless of political or religious affiliation. Mostly though, I applaud you for hitting Chump in the feels, because the one thing he cannot tolerate is being made a mockery of and you both carried out this mission with expertise and precision- bravo!
These days you have to take positivity wherever you can find it- case in point, the adulterous couple who got busted at the Coldplay concert a while back. Don’t get me wrong, cheating is not a laughing matter- especially when children and wedding vows are involved. However, in this case, with all the horrible people who seem to be doing a great deal of damage with little to no accountability, it is refreshing to see karma play out right before our very eyes- on a jumbotron no less! And because this particular affair played out so publicly, their spouses have the support of an entire nation behind them. I’m no lawyer, but I would imagine that they have enough proof for a slam dunk court case and the opportunities to capitalize on this are many, if they so choose. So yes, I will shamelessly chalk this up as a win of sorts.
On a personal note, I am currently looking for both a job and a roommate. It’s been thirty years since I’ve applied for a job. You know what I used to never worry about? Scammers. Now they’re everywhere, which also makes it challenging oftentimes to know what’s real and what isn’t. Who is truly in need of help and who just wants your information. Who honestly is seeking a place to stay and who is merely preying on the vulnerable and in my case, oftentimes, gullible. I’ll let you know how it goes.
In other news, I was on Facebook a couple days ago and I saw an ad for a handheld water filtration device. The ad said it would provide safe drinking water until FEMA arrives. I fought the impulse to buy a hundred of them- because being prepared for things like the power grid failing just seems like a smart thing to do, and to reiterate, I can be quite gullible. Then I realized that should such an incident occur, there likely would be no FEMA, at least not one that is sufficiently staffed. Also, and no one likes to go there, but if everyone around you was desperate for water and you had something that allowed you to acquire it, what’s to stop people from unaliving you for that cool, instrument of preparedness you bought online? I’ve since decided to stock up on wine in case of such emergencies.
Yes, I know this article took a dark turn, but I invite you to recall how we all collectively lost our shit when toilet paper and hand sanitizer were scarce.
The point is the tide can turn quickly when people are scared and distressed. Most of us do not know what it’s like to be in a life and death situation, myself included. I hope we never find ourselves in such dire circumstances, but given the current state of America it seems anything is possible.
However, though I try to write from a place of honesty and authenticity, I would be remiss if I left you all on such a morbid and depressing note; therefore my fellow humans, I will once again return to this notion: all we have is this moment right here and now. It’s all that’s real. The past is alive, but only if we keep it active in our minds. What lies ahead is merely hypothetical, be it amazing or tragic.
Every day we wake up we have the power to create our own reality with the myriad choices we will make at any given moment. We incur thousands of opportunities to alter the trajectory of our lives on any given day. Tomorrow could be different. We may have fewer freedoms and opportunities, but today I hope you’ll ask yourself what you plan to do with yours and who you’ll impact, be it positively or otherwise in the process, because though The Twilight Zone is a strange place, by no means is it the end.