Alleviate the dread

From Car Window-B&W-Jan 66_adj01-sm.jpg

Here’s a bleak excerpt from my journal for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

… Lots of the stories are about death. Maybe all of them are. Maybe that’s the theme of the book and it’s totally obvious and I missed it somehow. I know he’s known as an existential therapist. There is nothing really to alleviate the dread of our inevitable demise. His personal anecdotes feel measly: “I enjoy the sunsets more.” Whatever. We are all marching toward the cliff.

Peanut butter and jelly

Rob in Mickey Mouse T-shirt, Dad, Grandma_adj01-sm.jpg

Went to the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery tonight to meditate. Some of the thoughts that passed through my mind as I tried to not have thoughts:

“There sure are a lot of Buddhas on the stage. Like twenty Buddhas. Why do they need so many Buddhas? What’s that all about?”

“What’s with the weird sound the guy next to me is making when he exhales?”

“There’s probably 60 or 70 people here. Just sitting doing nothing. If we all worked on something we could get a lot done.”

“I wonder if it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”

“I think I’ll have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I get home. That sounds really good.”

I did have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I got home, and it was really good.

What you give

alex's opening @ et - 003_adj01-sm.jpg

LAST CIGARETTE

smoked my last cigarette
left town with no regrets
I tried to call you but your line was dead

there’s nothing left here for me
lost all the subtleties
my eyes are open but my souls asleep

we fell into
the same traps that I always do
I swore that I
had finally come to recognize
what’s better off left alone
I guess I’m better off on my own

testing life step by step
I haven’t missed an exit yet
written in to what you give is what you get

reach and spill the empty glass
hide a stain upon your past
impressions meant to last
fade away

we fell into
the same traps that I always do
I swore that I
had finally come to recognize
what’s better off left alone
I guess I’m better off on my own

Nobody home

Yonah Schimmel_adj01-sm.jpg

Today’s featured comedian: Rodney Dangerfield!

When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.

My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.

My father carries around the picture of the kid who came with his wallet.

A girl phoned me and said, “Come on over. There’s nobody home.” I went over. Nobody was home!