tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56151672011-08-08T21:18:00.330-07:00"an imaginary garden with real toads in it"tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1142033433644044232006-03-10T15:01:00.000-08:002006-03-10T15:30:33.696-08:00

I would like to simplify things in my life by devoting the bulk of my time and energy to the few things that are really important and no longer wasting time on things that are not. I would like to better understand myself and my behavioral patterns. Ultimately, I would like to connect the dots, the currents running through my head, because I believe they are part of the same thing. I would like

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1138924642061520372006-02-02T15:56:00.000-08:002006-02-02T15:57:22.076-08:00

As is true of most anyone, I would imagine, there is a short list of people who have saved my life. Here are a few words about a couple of them.I was limping toward the finish line at the tail end of 14 when I met my friend Aaron. 14 was, for me, a daily punch in the gut, and in this I realize I am not so unique. Like the man says, they’re quite aware of what they’re going through, and I was

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1134608267895275862005-12-14T16:43:00.000-08:002005-12-14T17:05:08.540-08:00

Been a long time since I've posted...I guess I'm just not the blogger type when it comes right down to it, which kind of surprises me. You'd think I would be considering everything else that is true about me. But you'd be wrong.Anyway I'm not closing down shop or anything but I'm not going to force myself to write anything if I ain't feeling the vibe. I do enough card punching as it is.I am

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1124932549211896422005-08-24T18:08:00.000-07:002005-08-24T18:17:00.623-07:00

He was misunderstood, the poor bastard. There is, after all, a lot of ambiguity in this direct quote:"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."It really could mean anything. Damn liberal press, always assuming "assassinate" means "kill."God bless you Mr. Pat.

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1124749691960305352005-08-22T15:08:00.000-07:002005-08-22T15:28:13.190-07:00

One of my crazy (but great) friends is fond of saying his ideal life would be that of a "wandering hermit" with no emotional attachments who exists in the world but is not in any real (read: painful) way of the world. (It occurs to me in hindsight that perhaps he's a Buddhist in waiting and has been giving alms at the wrong temple, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.) What he more or less

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1124221068552053842005-08-16T12:28:00.000-07:002005-08-16T12:43:50.886-07:00

Quote of the week from this Washington Post article:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/15/AR2005081500146.html"I ain't threatening nobody, and I ain't pointing a gun at nobody," Mattlage said. "This is Texas."This is from the guy who fired a few shotgun shells in the air outside Cindy Sheehan's protest camp miles from the W Ranch in Crawford, Texas.My passsionate and

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1123548707095504952005-08-08T17:27:00.000-07:002005-08-08T17:51:47.103-07:00

There are two upcoming books I await with a Star-Wars-fan-lining-up-months-in-advance kind of fervor. One is the fourth volume of Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson biography, which will cover the presidency, and the other is the third Frank Bascombe novel by Richard Ford. I have no idea when (or, shudder, if) the Caro book will be published, but the Ford book is due sometime in the early fall. Ford is

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1122661641898459202005-07-29T10:05:00.000-07:002005-07-29T11:27:21.930-07:00

I fucking love "Being Bobby Brown." I think it's the best thing on television. Seriously. If you haven't seen it yet do yourself a favor and set your Tivo right now.In the meantime you can check out this short clip that is perhaps the highlight of the show so far--a brief encounter between Mr. Bobby Brown and (yes, really) the Dali Lama:http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2674764?htv=12This is

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1122513338918860892005-07-27T18:11:00.000-07:002005-07-27T18:18:13.600-07:00

I just spent 45 minutes at the gym watching "The Real Orange County" on the little personal television thing on the elliptical. I then rushed back for a Very Important Meeting with a roomful of Very Important People who have Very Important Cars. They think I'm Very Funny even though I'm fat and drive a shitty dented truck. It's my schtick.Be careful, I want to tell them. Your roots are showing.

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1122410774998169822005-07-26T12:52:00.000-07:002005-07-26T13:48:45.533-07:00

So it's hotter than usual for this time of year, and I just overheard someone on the phone say "it's literally blazing here in Southern California." It's true--the air is actually on fire. I am on fire right now as I sit here typing this on my burning keyboard. Flames are shooting out of my eyeballs. Smoke is blazing out of my ears.I recognize that nobody likes a prissy grammarian dickhead and I

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1121724444285901792005-07-18T14:33:00.000-07:002005-07-18T15:07:24.300-07:00

"You used to be fun. You used to be warped and twisted and hilarious. And I mean that in the best way, I mean that as a compliment."--Lloyd DoblerI've always thought of myself as a generally easygoing guy--from the time I was a wee lad it never took much to make me Happy. Throughout my childhood (and even into my early teenage years) I amused myself for hours on end walking around my parents

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1121198375164002082005-07-12T12:47:00.000-07:002005-07-12T12:59:35.170-07:00

Are you in your body today? Is there something somewhere else that pulls you out and jabs you back in and leaves you dizzy? Where do you wander when you wander away?You don't think you slept well last night but you can't be sure.Would you know if the plates were shifting? Had already shifted?Surely you would care."Because I do not hope to turn again Because I do not hope Because I do not hope

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1121197019876106372005-07-12T12:32:00.000-07:002005-07-12T12:38:31.793-07:00

...shut the fuck up. Really, nobody cares.

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1121098925300995432005-07-11T09:21:00.000-07:002005-07-11T09:36:09.696-07:00

The clarity of a Monday morning always brings some harsh truths to light (though to be fair they're never too far under the surface for this kid--just far enough to prevent corrective action most of the time) but this Monday feels especially cruel already. A slight cold combined with a greasy food-ice cream-alcohol-induced stomachache and a beautiful Southern California day that makes me feel

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1120838943354275082005-07-08T09:03:00.000-07:002005-07-08T09:09:03.360-07:00

Bad bad bad bad mood this morning for reasons entirely of my own making and not worth going into. I should put a warning sign on my desk to protect the nice poor people who wander over my way seeking only help and guidance and get snarly discontent in return. Headphones on, body language as stiff and uninviting as possible. Don't. Talk. To. Me.

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1120755417765623542005-07-07T09:27:00.000-07:002005-07-07T10:06:16.976-07:00

Bob Geldof seems like a sanctimonious asshole, but what the fuck did I ever do for anyone anywhere?On my good days I try to operate under the "first do no harm" principle of human relations, and today with the world on fucking fire again of course I wish everyone subscribed to that philosophy. But the key thing to remember is the "first" part. It's not "just do no harm." Do no harm, and then try

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1120686107645743742005-07-06T14:40:00.000-07:002005-07-06T17:27:57.503-07:00

Howard Zinn on the myths of American exceptionalism:http://bostonreview.net/BR30.3/zinn.html

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5615167.post-1059167795271681012005-07-06T14:35:00.000-07:002005-07-06T17:28:18.573-07:00

Ambrose Bierce, aka The Guy Who Wrote All Those Funny Things, supposedly wrote"There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know."Which, today at least, I take to mean Get Over Yourself. (More specifically, Get Over Yourself Ecclesiastes.)When I was a kid (in my younger and more vulnerable years) my cousin once said that real boredom isn't when you can't think of

tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13490066999117247105noreply@blogger.com