Rhyme, Reason
Today’s NY Post is filled with interesting items. Here are highlights: Jonathon Trugman’s column includes this salient point: “…taxes don’t solve society’s problems, people do.”… A California bill limits freelancers to 35 articles per year in the hope that publications will hire writers full time, another example of government interference in the marketplace, and everyone knows how that almost always goes… A poll reveals 64% of American adults believe a child should be financially independent at 22. 24% actually are… Since 8/17 the NYC One-Time Special Assistance Program has placed homeless families around the country, staking them to a full year’s rent, costing taxpayers $89 million. 12,482 people have been moved. Many return. Some file lawsuits. Officials claim the effort has saved money… A Bronx assemblyman who has sponsored several bills raising taxes owes $25,000 to the state and Feds. His salary is $110,000… The USA has won the prestigious World Cheese Award. The winning entry was produced in the Northwest. France finished eighth, causing great consternation among its populace… A California politician is in the midst of a scandal that involves “throupling,” defined by MacMillan’s crowdsourced Open Dictionary as “a long-term sexual relationship between three people, or the people involved.” Now I know. I also looked up “doxxing,” defined as “search for and publish private or identifying information about a particular individual on the Internet, typically with malicious intent.”
It’s great news that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has gotten what he deserves, and even greater that no Americans were killed in the raid. Unfortunately, I doubt the fight ends here. It probably will continue far into the future.
Here’s a tacky subject with which those past 50 become familiar. I’d been dogged by hemorrhoids for a couple of years. I finally lost patience with the issue and researched what not to eat at WebMD. Red sauce was not on the list, but since I’ve stopped eating it and pizza I’ve been clear for about ten days. Cheese is also supposed to be a no-no. So far, that hasn’t been the case. Pasta is bland enough with broth. I need my Romano. Alfredo sauce and butter have too much cholesterol, and my lone experience with pesto raised a complaint from a former neighbor. I had the feeling she thought I had a dead body in the apartment.
As I work on the novel I hope to self-publish in January, it resurrects past thoughts and feelings. Today it was a song by the Dave Matthews Band that would fit into the book perfectly. Since it came into being years after 1989, when the action takes place, I can’t use any of the lyrics the way I use Iggy Pop’s magnificent Winners and Losers. Here’s the chorus to Rhyme and Reason:
“My head won’t leave my head alone
And I don’t believe it will
Until I’m dead and gone
My head won’t leave my head alone
And I don’t believe it will
Until I’m six feet under ground”
Of course, such thoughts are not exclusive to me/Vito or Matthews or Pop, but the fact one cannot know for sure often leads to a scary sense of isolation. Here’s a clip of Matthews and company performing the song in concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxYtn9Y9FG4
The floating book shop was rained out today, but good luck still came its way in the form of the second best parking spot in regards to the endeavor. I’m set for the whole week, since alternate side will be suspended Friday, All Saints Day. The prime spot has been occupied for almost two weeks by a massive white GMC SUV without plates or stickers. I reported it yesterday to 311 online. I wonder if anyone else has. Since so much time has passed since it first appeared, I didn’t feel much like I was ratting someone out.
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