Saint Astrodome

Felling good and getting a little head start on Elvis week.

It's been forever But in my own peculiar way I've remained loyal To the pancake houses of L.A.

Not going to blame my upbringing or my ethnicity but my relationship to my faith always had certain challenges.

Towards a reckoning of metaphor.

The spiritual home and parish of Saint Domey-de-la-Grace.

I liked the sweet stuff I liked the stodgy stuff And rarely got enough

Discovery in art is often not one of simple reward (like going to favorite restaurant) as it may bring us closer to the paradoxes of expression. The tragedy of Twain, the cynicism of Thoreau, the carelessness of Shakespeare . . . that kind of thing.

Not that one needs to keep underlining and highlighting and italicizing their mistakes but, for me, making amends with the past was the start of being grateful for today.

Just a chicken fishin' in a pond.

In retrospect, being a devoted reader and prone to depressive jags, getting into the poetry of Sylvia Plath in college feels as inevitable as a seven foot tall person finding basketball. Plath's poetry did not directly influence my life anymore or less than the music of Judas Priest (I mean she is not to blame) but I think it helped lead me further towards books and out of some of the dead ends of my backwater town. Nothing but gratitude but, all the same, Plath's poetry is not something I still get down with now that I'm older and emotional theatricality is so overabundant in social media culture.

Hollywood has a long, wonderful tradition of altering the classics of literature. They will do it even when trading in on the prestige of the source material. Sometimes the change is really exciting (Frankenstein the 1931 movie is likely better than Frankenstein the 1818 novel) but, probably more often, it leads to stark alterations that try to fit the book into cheesy paradigms—none more hilariously so than the 1930 film version of Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

familiarity breeds contempt

Rick Cellino and Steve Barnes dissolved their partnership in 2020.

No party is as good As not being at that party

The Summer continues on In its shining and glorious pace But very few things could get me To leave my air conditioned place

I will not cheese my future’s past As I live in simple hope That we renew the Astrodome And blend some piney Astro soap

Un-waffle my heart Say you'll stick to my side Despite my taste in pods Despite my taste in syrups And stack up the good days Un-waffle my heart