similart:
Good Times {my last temp job}
In late 2019
(before Covid19) I was hired as an administrative clerk with the 2020 US
Census Bureau in Burlington, Vermont. At first, there were only 6-8 of
us. It was nice meeting new people. It was helpful to learn local
lore. Then Gloria started working there.
Gloria was pleasant to talk to, in her 70s,
and seemed to especially enjoy detailing all of her various mental and
physical afflictions and ailments. Although she needed wrist-crutches to
walk, she always had a smile on her face and a kind word to share. One
thing Gloria did not talk about was that she was excessively obese and a
consequence of that was—she did not bathe adequately. Her solution was
to heavily douse the parts of herself she could reach in mind-numbingly strong
lotion-deodorizer and hobble to work. Picture the gluttony guy, from the
movie Se7en, combined with the sloth guy's smell (don't forget the thousands of
little cardboard pine air fresheners).
One of my Asperger's traits happens to be
an extreme sensitivity to odor. It's rarely an issue anymore. Sure
my friends have to lose their habit of wearing cologne or perfume if they want
to sit with me indoors. But except for the occasional requirement to
move my airplane or theater seat when someone like Gloria is nearby—I rarely
have any anger issue. That's my emotional response: if a terribly strong
smell arrives, which I can't escape from, anger is locked and loaded.
Important note: "angry smells" do not make me angry. I need a
trigger. [Metaphor: a epileptic may be prone to seizures, but needs a
flashing light.]
I moved my desk so I
could sit as distant from Gloria as possible. We talked from a
distance. I breathed thru my mouth when anger smells made me start to
feel "snarky". This lasted a month until a new internal "team" was
scheduled to be formed. Six of us, including Gloria and I, were supposed
to train together and then sit together and work on the same project.
Immediately, I sat down in private with the
new team's manager, explained where my individual Asperger's fit into the
broader spectrum, and told him I needed to be de-selected from his new
team. I learned he was nose-blind, had never wondered why no one sat
next to Gloria, and that he was set in his ways (a polite way to
describe an outdated old coot who thought reading aloud was teaching;
kicking the can down the road was managing; and considered
outdated to be a pejorative.) Nose-blind decided I was either
exaggerating or lying and his fix was to keep a few desks between Gloria and
me.
The supervisor
selected to oversee Nose-blind's new team was my trigger. His name was
Fuck. Nose-blind was also clueless as fuck to the irritating,
cringe-awful, personality of Fuck. In our first days of training (as I
listened for hours to Fuck and Nose-blind take turns reading from the manual,
trapped in the training room with glorious sloth-gluttony) it became clear
that Nose-blind had not mentioned to Fuck that he should avoid flashing his
strobe light in my eyes when I'm forced to sit near Gloria.
This is how I
made it almost a full week: I never sat with the team and I constantly
reminded Fuck to stop hovering/irritating/talking/lying/manipulating and
bragging about himself (although he never stopped, he did focus it less in my
direction).
Then . . . as a combination of
feces-urine-sweat mixed with Pinesol-flavored powdered roses and
yeast-infection, linked up with the humidity in my sinus cavity . . . Fuck
decided it was time to kneel on the floor so we could be eye-to-eye and
petulanty insist that I do it the way he told me to do it! Not because
it's logical or correct or in the manual (it's not) but because . . .
I'm your supervisor. And I exploded.
I brought the entire
room of twenty phone-calls and conversations to a halt with my "why are you being such a fucking asshole" question. I asked him several times, in a gradually increasing volume,
until Nose-blind escorted me into the conference room. (Fuck never
stopped chattering into the manual about how I was wrong and he was right.)
Nose-blind was
soon accompanied by the arm (Assistant Regional Manager). The arm was in her
mid-20's, on some form of mood-speed, said like, like, a few too many times,
like in every sentence, and framed her questions in a way that made one thing
very clear: Nose-blind never gave her a head's up about the precarious
conjunction of Gloria, Veach's Asperger's, and Fuck's fuckatude. So as I caught the arm
up to speed, I answered her questions-clumsily-phrased-as-statements and learned she
thought Fuck was fantastic at his job and that Nose-blind's idea to keep "kicking the can down the road"
was the correct course of action. Every time I used the phrase,
Nose-blind got more agitated. (Consequently, I found ways to repeat it.) You say you've no intention of kicking the can down the road, but we are
sitting in the same place we sat weeks ago when I explained my Asperger's the
first time. This is exactly what kicking the can down the road looks
like.) I apologized for my angry outburst. They
told me to take lunch, cool off, and return to work. Instead, I left and
went home.
From home, I
compiled and e-mailed a memorandum detailing everything in professional, legal
verbiage. I used many phrases like:
or words to that effect, and, on or about the time/date, and,
requested accommodation for my disability. The following day I
called Nose-blind about the memo and asked about being reassigned. He
acted indignant, put-out and whined, "Veach, it's only been one day!"
The next day:
"Veach it's only been two days!" So I told him, "Weeks ago, when I
requested you not re-assign me,
that was a
clear and reasonable request for an accommodation for my disability. When I did that, I fully complied with EEO guidelines. Now, I
expect you to un-reassign me in accordance with those same Equal Employment
Opportunity Anti-Discrimination Against the Disabled Guidelines." I also
told him that if I didn't hear from him before the weekend, I would make a
formal complaint to the EEO office in Boston. I ended our conversation
with, "It may take months for them to investigate, but I suspect—in the
end—they'll award me back pay, and, their investigation might be uncomfortable
for you and for every highly paid manager (which I said with sardonic emphasis
so, to his ear, it sounded like "Man-ager") who thinks kicking the can
down the road is the proper course of action."
The regional manager
informed me the next day I'd be re-reassigned to admin/clerk duties, and
(so-as-to-avoid Fuck-n-Grace) asked if I could work weekday evenings and full
12-hour days on weekends?
...Good Times...
That was my schedule until covid19
quarantine closed the office. Then
I caught it. When they reopened, I decided not to return. I was afraid the
symptoms might be worse if I were re-infected or, if I was still
contagious but asymptomatic, that I might unknowingly infect others.
After all this unfolded, I became aware of
an odd correlation:
When I talked with people on the phone, informing them
I'd been infected by covid19, everyone who'd gone through life with
a conservative mindset asked initial questions framed with skepticism and
doubt:
Did you get tested? How do you know it wasn't just the flu, if you
haven't been tested?
You didn't have a serious cough? Couldn't have been Covid then,
because I've heard it infects the lungs and everyone gets a cough.
While everyone who'd gone through life with a liberal mindset asked initial questions framed with
concern and recovery wishes:
How are you feeling? What were your symptoms? Any lingering
side-effects?
How long were you bed-ridden? What are your work plans? How's
your wife?
My observations are, obviously,
anecdotal. But they can be succinctly described:
Liberals lovingly
Lavish levelheadedness
Listening, learning.
Careless contemptful
Conservatives constantly
Cause consternation.
Embrace empathy
Encourage, espouse, extol!
Eschew egotists.
Related side-note: When I started
work, I learned Vermont's total population had
been slightly less than 626,000 (in 2010's census). Recently, I learned the 2020 census
identified a slight increase of about 1,250 people (two of
whom were my wife and I). The US death toll from Covid19 will surpass
the entire population of Vermont this summer (two
months from now).
Get a vaccine and wear a mask! The reason you are such a fucking asshole is you lack empathy. It's your fault and it's killing people you egotistical, careless, contemptful, Nose-blind, Fuck.
additional Asperger's:
Memory Tool [Intermediate Edition]
Basic memory tool usage—explained in
Tingle Power - Memory Tool—is a good first-step before trying this intermediate challenge.
Deciphering this image relies heavily on the
senility Alzheimer's dementia (sAd) Music Playlist
(listening to the songs on the playlist is optional)
Begin on the boat
dock ⬆
For the playlist, click this image:
The song titles are
highlighted in the flow-story. Mr Oop's guidance, and the
'62 logo' in the upper left corner, are not part of the story:
A boat dock is the
Main Theme From A Summer Place. The cartoon character,
Alley Oop, is standing in
a wooden rowboat. On top of Alley Oops's club, baby Simba (from The
Lion King) is
The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Simba is dreaming of an old locomotive train with a crazy-'loco'
look on its face:
Loco-Motion. The
smoke from the train forms the shape of a nun and the word
Dominique. She is
singing you rail-y got me (You Really Got Me) on a train track. The
King Of The Road walks off
the end of the railroad track. The king is flying a kite bearing an
outline of a man with the word 'nowhere' is on his chest (Nowhere Man). Windy clouds
blow the kite, as well as a
Spooky looking parachuting
hamster. The parachute's canopy is printed
Thank You in mod
lettering—the other side of the parachute reads:
(Falettinme Feel Mice Elf Again). The shadow of the parachute falls across a prohibited sign and a
pile of sugar (No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature). A highway sign, attached to the handle of the sugar scoop,
reads: Changes. A
long arrow on the sign becomes a fitting room sign near
Father and Son T-shirts
(which bear images of Mufasa and Simba and are riddled with buckshot
holes). Behind the shirts stands
Jenny Simons holding a
shotgun. Jenny—who shit her pants in the show South Park—appears to
be scared of a
Seagull dive-bombing
her. The seagull is
Letting Go of a helium
balloon's string. The balloon contains a strange face . . . inside
it . . .
It's a Living Thing!
The thing might be afraid its balloon will pop if it hits the nearby point
of a road sign indicating:
Never Going Back Again. The signpost pierces thru the head of
Peg Bundy (from the show
Married With Children). On the end of the signpost's point is a
large kernel of popcorn with the stem/flag of a musical note (Pop Music). Sitting on the note's stem is a tiny
Emotional Rescue
puppy. Growing out of the puppy's back is a toy taxi labelled ABA
Metro Cab (Abacab).
Which is causing something to
Shock the Monkey on the
roof of the cab. The monkey is holding a pulp magazine in its hand
with the title:
True Danger. Rafiki
stands on the magazine holding Simba overhead, who's saying, "Hold Me Now." An altered see something say something sign, behind
Simba, reads: see
Something About You.
The eye on the sign looks up the dress of a woman holding a 2021 calendar
behind her back (Holding Back the Years). The woman is listening to a heartbeat-heart (Rhythm of Love). The rhythm runs down and vibrates a spine with the
Orange Crush drink-logo on
it. The spine's vertebra transform into the shape of people; the
last of which is a woman driving a crazy faced golf-ball (She Drives Me Crazy). The ball is also being shocked from
The Power button. A
scary seal, emblazoned
Crazy, sits on the waves
from the button. The seal looks at a line of bloody footprints
Walking on Broken Glass. On the far side of the glass, a baby (in a chain-of-life image)
is beginning to stand; above the line of aging people are the Italian
words
Cosa Della Vita. The
elderly man in the image is stooping to listen into an old rotary
phone—Your Ghost
is coming out of the phone's mouthpiece. The ghost is flipping the
finger at an old metal
Carnival toy. The
globe on the top of the toy is the
Real World. Behind
the earth is the moon, which appears to be on a 37-day
Long December page of a
2020 calendar. Standing on the top of the calendar is a weak number
one struggling to lift weights (One Week). The weak #1 is thinking dark thoughts about a woman wearing a
sleep mask and a PRAISE U shirt
(Praise You). The
woman is Dreaming and we
can see a few indistinct dream images. But, we can clearly see the
largest image in her dream, a meditating skeleton,
Breathe. The
skeleton is inception-dreaming about a prohibited sign over two child
skeletons (No Children). Tipping off the top of the prohibited sign, is Asha Bhosle in a
cup, wearing a bead necklace which is overflowing the cup (Brimful of Asha). Almost touching the far end of her necklace: a yogi appears to
Float On air. The
yogi offers pills with a
Feel Good Inc label.
A Crazy white supremacist
with a Q-Anon shirt, MAGA hat,
and assault rifle reaches for the pills. Looming behind crazy is a
person's body in a Led Zeppelin shirt with a cashmere goat's head (Kashmir). He/she is preparing to hit the Trumpist with bicycle
Handlebars. Balanced
on one hand-grip is a large bunch of talking member berries from the show
South Park, they always reply 'I Remember'. The member berries become a circle of cantaloupes (Cantaloop). One of the cantaloupes is pierced by a point of white from a
Liechtenstein POP! canvas (Pop Culture). Appended above the artwork (with the same color scheme) is a
Simple Math
equation. Balanced on the 1+2=3 is a fermentation
Mash Machine and tanks for
brewing. Leaning on the equipment is a huge wooden female sheep
(Would You?...). A
single gravedigger climbs the ewe's back (Lone Digger). Valeria Lukyanova (Human
Barbie) poses in a bikini along the handle of the digger's shovel. A
blow-up-view of Val's bracelet shows Fox Mulder (from the show X-Files)
and his
I Want To Believe poster (Believer). Crushing the poster is a massive woman's head made-from hay with
the word SOUL in her eyes (Hey Soul Sister). The forehead of the sculpture bears tire-tracks from the final
object: a U-HAUL truck (Finally Moving). Painted on the truck's side-panel is Scar, the
Bad Guy in The Lion
King. As an invisible bonus, someone graffiti-scrawled:
I Don't Want This Groove To Ever End
in the dust on the top of the truck.
if you don't want this level of complexity to end:
The Ballad of Sancho y Panza (by El Diablitos)
For several years (prior to our
Portland-to-Vermont move) my wife was both the lyricist and the lead vocalist for El Diablitos. Her stage name was Pamela Flores. I made a video of their song,
The Ballad of Sancho y Panza, from my latest artwork (HEXGRID ⦇19 × 11⦈ ÷ 2 ≈ 105). All music, guitars and engineering are by the band's lead-honcho: Tony Guerrero.
more Pam:
I Have A . . .
I have a pin badge. But I don't wear it.
I have a NEUROLOGICAL hidden disability.
I have Asperger's. Somewhat impairment.
I have a PHILOSOPHICAL inexorability.
I have asked persons. Who care a whit.
I have an EPISTEMOLOGICAL sensibility.
I have a keen eye.
Nonplussed by yer shit.
I have a CERTAIN DIABOLICAL proclivity.
I have awareness.
Disparaging to hypocrites.
I have a TAUTOLOGICAL poetic versatility.
I have a grim adage. Hurts
when I share it.
similar:
A Music Playlist Keeping sAd (senility Alzheimer's dementia) Away
This 62-song playlist
is me memory-flexing and sAd combatting*—which occurred not only
during the exercise of digging, stacking and bolting shiny-bits to shadow-bytes (resulting in a spiral staircase climbing thru my years) but, hopefully, re-occurs during my future listen-thru's.
If you don't already know: my biggest fear is losing the me of my memories. Worse, would be to not be cognizant of it happening as it's happening—to lose and never miss things that I consider intrinsic raises my hackles. The reason this doesn't feel like an unreasonable apprehension is because my elderly female ancestors succumbed to sAd and all my male ancestors died before they were elderly (so even though I'm now officially an elder, I have no way to know if ...metaphor about shitting one's pants and wondering where's that smell coming from?...).
I'm turning 62 years old. With emphasis on that last word. But. I have an extra skip in my step (♬appy ♪ay to-me) because I'm the first in my male ancestral line to make it to gov't-bonafide old'nuff to collect monthly social security retirement benefits.
Since so many of my memories are nostalgically-attached to music, I set a few guidelines to make composing this playlist a challenge:
- One song—released during each year—which had a memorable impact on me.
- First priority has been given to songs listened to repeatedly during the year of their release.
-
Alternatively, songs "discovered" after their release are listed in the
year of their discovery.
- Last resort: placing a song in the year of its release when it was memorable later (e.g. 1959).
- No song for the current year (a 63-song playlist would bruise my design aesthetic).
- Sixty-two songs / 62 different artists (solo-artists/samples, separate from their bands, allowed).
- Describe at least one memorable personal first from each year.
- Include a snippet of lyric relevant to then-me (which doesn't have to be related to the personal first).
List to this entire playlist (4 hours 20 minutes) on YouTube by clicking the image. Or—for those less interested in the full dose of this elderly creative philosopher's flashbacks—cherry-pick from the below titles/artists:
1959
Theme From a Summer Place, Percy Faith Orchestra
- my first year alive
(no memories) this was played on
family's 45rpm record player
(for years) to put me to sleep
. . .
1960
Alley Oop, Hollywood Argyles
- my first interaction with a newspaper
(referred to as the Sunday Funny's in our house)
I enjoy the ones that don't require words to understand
he lived a long time ago
1961
The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh), The Tokens
- my first "I understand all the words" non-nursery rhyme song
(not easy replacing the itisy bitsy spider)
in the jungle ... near the village ... hush my darling
1962
Loco-motion, Little Eva
- my first car trips; car seats don't exist so I stand between the seats
on 'the hump'
(in the backseat) and my new-born
infant
sister (Nanett) is held in
someone's arms
my little baby sister can do it with me
1963
Dominique, Soeur Sourire
- my first awareness of foreign countries and different languages, which I
learn to translate (poorly) in
high-school freshman French class
(ten years later)
s'en allait tout simplement
(over the land, he simply went or went simply)
1964
You Really Got Me, The Kinks
- my first sleepwalking nightmare
(a giant clown swinging in the leafless trees behind my house like they are the jungle-gym monkey bars on the playground)
you got me so I can't sleep at night
1965
King of the Road, Roger Miller
- my first trip by passenger train
(sleeper-compartment Massachusetts to Iowa and back, with my mother and
three-year-old sister)
third boxcar, midnight train
1966
Nowhere Man, The Beatles
- my first moves; new schools, and new friends are disappearing faster
than my baby teeth; new step-dad
(three different schools and four different houses this year)
knows not where he's going to
1967
Windy, The Association
- my first visit to a big city
(Chicago, 'the windy city') this
song played in heavy rotation on the radio
(communal pickle barrel restaurant; dinner with step-dad's friends;
their petulant child's name: Wendy)
who's reachin out to capture a moment
1968
Spooky, Classic IV
-
my first pet hamster, which I named Spooky [given to me, dead, on xmas eve by my parents; it's
replacement was Spooky II (Spooky VI died in 1979) my parents were not
intending to teach me
Memento Mori, at 10]
just like a ghost, you've been a hauntin
1969
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), Sly & The Family
Stone
-
[my first
Mondegreen]
my first crush
(Janice Brailer, not her twin Janet)
and I listened to this song at my first spin-the-bottle party
thank you for the party but I could never stay
1970
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature, Guess Who
- my first awareness that adults were incompetent hypocrites unaware
they're terrible at raising children
(the call's coming from inside the house)
lonely feeling, deep inside; find a corner, where I can hide
1971
Changes, David Bowie
- my first after school job
($1.25 hr)
and my first overt disregard for adults
So I turned myself to face me (turn and face the strange) ... don't
wanna be a richer man
1972
Father and Son, Cat Stevens
- my first artworks are created
(stones glued and painted to look like people)
you're still young (that's your fault) ... I am old, but I'm happy ...
think a lot ... your dreams may not
1973
Jenny, Chicago
- my first verbal and physical abuse / assault
(beat-up by my summer-job manager)
sad but true, z' always someone waiting just ta shit on you
fly all around 'til somebody shoots you down
1975
Letting Go, Paul McCartney/Wings
- my first kiss after a date
(in my parent's car, in her driveway)
ahh, she tastes like wine, she's human bein so devine
sailin away on the crest of a wave ... slippin an slidin (it's a givin
thing) floating downstream
been down one time, been down two time
1978
Peg, Steely Dan
- my first discovery of what became a life-long passion
(double-feature art films)
it will all come back to you; it's your favorite foreign movie
1979
Pop Muzik, M
- my first cat
(white with spots of caramel-orange, named Popcorn, nicknamed him
'Pop') and my first college law class (based on my awareness that I probably won't be able to feed myself with an art degree)
wanna be a gun slinger, don't be a rock singer, eanie meany miny mo
1980
Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones
- my first art gallery show
(UW-Milwaukee student show)
promises were never made to keep
1981
ABACAB, Genesis
- my first co-habitation, first marriage
(immediately followed by my first pregnancy)
think I'm to blame? (you want it - you got it) or reflection of someone
else's name
1982
Shock the Monkey, Peter Gabriel
- my first child is born (my son, Bram, was such a beautiful purple)
there is one thing you must be sure of, I can't take any more
always in time, but never in line for dreams
1984
Hold Me Now, Thompson Twins
-
my first breakup
(and first failed marriage counseling and first amicable divorce)
look at our life now, we're tattered and torn; we fuss and we fight and
delight in the tears
1985
Something About You, Level 42
- my first illicit affair
(fraternizing with a junior soldier was forbidden)
making mistakes is a part of life's imperfections ... is it so wrong to
be human
1986
Holding Back the Years, Simply Red
- my first adrenaline fueled chase, while driving a military police sedan
(eventually caught the stolen TransAm after 35+ miles; driver ran into a
Georgia forest swamp and got away)
I'll keep holdin on, I'll keep holdin on
1987
Rhythm of Love, Yes
- my first assignment as an undercover investigator
(black-market and drug suppression team)
and my initial advanced-training application was rejected
(for Apprentice CID Agent school)
innocence no answer ... in this situation: I have found you in
1988
Orange Crush, REM
- my first physical signs of mental stress/anxiety
(back muscle seizure / heart palpitations / arrhythmia / incapacitating migraine / one
mini-stroke)
I've had my fun and now it's time to serve your conscience overseas
1989
She Drives Me Crazy, Fine Young Cannibals
- my first calculated insubordination (my
letter to the MG)
and my subsequent first opportunity to witness a miracle
(BFR)
waitin round's killin me (runnin out of time) things go wrong, they
always do
sgettin'sgettin'sgettin'sgettin kinda hectic
1991
Crazy, Seal
- my first too-odd-for-words investigation
(false
rape allegation
which hinged on a coincidence)
but we're never gonna survive unless we get a little ... crazy
1992
Walking on Broken Glass, Annie Lennox
- my first assignments travelling*
throughout Europe as a protective service agent
(bodyguard for NATO commander in
20+ countries)
know that I might bleed ... nothing left to fear ... doing really well my
dear
1993
Cose Della Vita, Eros Ramazzotti
(Italian: the matters of life) - my first recognition of
favorite cities and places to visit
(Musée d'Orsay in Paris;
as well as Florence, Venice, Siena, Naples and smaller cities
throughout Italy)
all the memories we’ve had ... I want to remember, I can never
forget
1994
Your Ghost, Kirsten Hersh/Michael Stipe
- my first offensive driving course
(Nürburgring, DE)
i-think-last-night-you were driving circles around me
1995
Carnival, Natalie Merchant
- my first career self-sabotage [Although I hated being a protective service agent (labelled* babysitting grown-ass adults by a co-worker) I loved the travel; I decide to return to criminal
investigation supervision]
have I been blind-have I been lost-inside myself and my own mind
1996
Real World, Matchbox 20
- my first assignment as a unit commander
(Special Agent in Charge)
well I'd shout out ... boy don't make me wanna change my - tone
1997
A Long December, Counting Crows
- my first scuba diving
(open water PADI certification, obtained during a winter vacation in
Negril, Jamaica)
it's been so long since I've seen the ocean - guess I should
1998
One Week, Barenaked Ladies
- my first awareness of the term Asperger's
(although I realized how much it fit me, it would be many years before
I admitted it to myself and still more before I talked about it
openly)
I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve
1999
Praise You, Fatboy Slim
- my first significant family (genetic?) poor-health confirmations
(my father, Leverett, dies at age 60 and my maternal grandmother is diagnosed with Alzheimer's at
age 80)
we've come a long, long way together; through the hard times, and the
good
2000
Dreaming, BT/Kirsty Hawkshaw
- my first success at lucid dreaming accompanied my first
long-form-scribble pen/ink drawing
(full drawing)
walk with me, the future's at hand ... one taste is never
enough
2001
Breathe, Télépopmusik/Angela
McCluskey
- my first danger-pay deployment "NATO peace keeping" assignment
(7 days-a-week for seven months; Ops Officer Kosovo/Macedonia)
another day ... I'm used to it by now, I'm used to it by now
2002
No Children, The Mountain Goats
- my first contested divorce
(and my first military pension check)
I hope I lie: and tell everyone you were a good wife
2003
Brimful of Asha, Cornershop (Norman Cook Remix) - my first online dating foray (U-date)
eventually results in a successful partnership
(eighteen years later and there aren't sufficient words of
praise)
she's the one that keeps the dream alive, from the morning past the
evening to the end of the light
2004
Float On, Modest Mouse
- my first serious
car accident
(SUV flipped end-over-end, at highway speed, during a massive Arizona
hail storm)
which became my first blog post on s n a p p e r h e a d (my first blog)
bad news comes, don't-you-worry, even when it - lands
2005
Feel Good Inc, Gorillaz
- my first digitally rendered artwork
(sarah in the pity
- based on, and derived from, my significant other who consistently
seems to be incessantly imbued with unforeseen unplanned serendipitous
events)
got a new horizon, it's ephemeral style
2006
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
- my first visit to Manitoba, Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Tetons
(grizzly bears, elk, owl, red fox, bison, black bears, bald eagle,
moose, wolf)
having the time of your life ... no coincidence I've come (I can die when I'm done)
2007
Kashmir, Led Zeppelin
- my first "I would have paid $1000 for a ticket" event
(London benefit concert with John Bonham's son, Jason, on drums)
because Zep is the only band I regret not seeing when I had the
chance
traveler of both time and space to be where I have been ... across the
sea of years
2008 Handlebars, Flobots
- my first recognition of the world-impacting importance of a US
presidential election
(Obama-Biden vs McCain-Palin—after the Bush wars—who was president, now, had significance)
the strings that control the system ... end the planet in a
holocaust
2009
I Remember, deadmau5 and Kaskade
- my first
santacon
(the dichotomy of making fresh memories while drenching brain cells in
alcohol . . . I will always remember the four rules of santa
rampage!)
feeling the past moving in ... hold to the time that you know ... add to
the memory you keep
2010
Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), Us3
- my first time to play disc golf at a professional course
(Horning's Hideout)
drip-trip, flip fantasia ... you move your feet (biddy biddy bop)
2011
Pop Culture, Madeon
- my first favorite mashup song
(the
dance video
with Nathan Barnatt is priceless)
hole in the world ... time goes by, so slowly, time goes, time goes, time goes by
2012
Simple Math, Manchester Orchestra
- my first philosophy readings become studies; this song
(and video) best capture my
brain's struggles and its failure to comprehend what it's choosing to
focus on.
what if I was wrong and started trying to fix it? ... been trying to get to where we’ve always been?
2013
Mash Machine, FAROFF
-
my first 700+ days of continual work finally finished
(beginning in 2011 I/we delivered newspapers a few hours every
morning; 7 days a week, with no days off, for almost two years)
I ain't happy ... days destroys the night ... kickin your can
all over the place
2014
Would You...?, Touch and Go
- my first wedding/honeymoon done the right way
(two bands, belly/hula/burlesque dancers, a DJ; pot-luck/open bar; two
weeks: beach cabin then ocean resort then mountain resort, hot tubs
& fireplaces)
Ahmm...
2015
Lone Digger, Caravan Place
- my first custom-ordered-from-the-factory automobile (matte grey/black cabriolet smart with all the baby-booty-bells and
mini-crackerjack-box-whistles; with 7 speakers it's a rolling
stereo)
baby can you move it round the rhythm cause you know we're living in
the fast lane (speed up)
2016
Human, Rag'n'Bone Man - my first donation to a presidential campaign
(others failed to Feel the Bern)
and my first smart car road-trip
(with my cat, Cecil; 5000 miles)
and first reconnoiter-vacation
(to Vermont)
don't ask my opinion, don't ask me to lie (don't put the blame on
me)
2017 Believer, Imagine Dragons - my first full
solar eclipse
experience, first extremely low spring tide, and my first volunteer
"work"
(in the Oregon Humane Society's cattery section)
First things first: Imma say all the words inside my head ... write down
my poems for the few
2018
Hey Soul Sister, Train
- my first permanent estraingement from my sister
(Kim) after she revealed her
covert narcissism
following the death of my friend
Carol
(who also had Asperger's; this was Carol's favorite song)
you have a one-track mind, like me ...
you see, I can be myself now finally
2019
Finally Moving, Pretty Lights (Etta James)
- my first "blind move"
(no: local place, friends/family or employment; two cars, two cats,
Oregon-to-Vermont)
and my first meeting with my two sons
(Bram and Ian)
oh sometimes, I get a good feeling - yeah
2020 Bad Guy, Billie Eilish
- my first
intentionally rude verbal altercation with a supervisor
(as a US Census Bureau clerk, I asked one why he was being a fuckin
asshole, told another she was a terrible supervisor)
I do, what I want, when I'm wanting to ... so cynical ... (duh)
*
I don't want this groove to ever end (by LTJ Xperience)
-
this 63rd song is my
first intentional lie [mandatory because
Rob Gordon
(quoted below from the film rather than the show) and it was
rch-close
to being 420! So this eerily appropriate 8 minute song-with-a-perfect-title added the correct ending emotional tone and the correct running time.]
. . . oh, yea: asterisked words are spelled the correct British way (combatting with a single 't' sounds-to-my-eye like com-bate-ing; labeling—single l—also sexual, too close to labial; and travelling with one 'l'? It's just bloody jarring in'it?)
the making of a good compilation tape is a very subtle art
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