Somewhere on an island.

I got up this morning, much like any other morning, fuzzy headed in hair and mind. Made the morning stumble to the coffee maker and drew off my first cup and headed into the living room to go through my morning mail. Usual stuff, 100 messages and only 2 worth reading. Afterwards I did my normal search of my comics to get a good mood rolling and then switched over to read CNN. I find the world is a little easier to deal with after a chuckle or two. It also lets the caffeine seep into my brain a little more. I stared at the top of the page, right hand column as usual but started reading from the bottom of the column to the top, which is unusual. I finally read the very first entry and was hit with it like a ton of bricks: Author Hunter S. Thompson commits suicide.

It struck me hard. I guess a side effect of reading a lot of Dr Gonzo makes you feel like in a way you know him personally. He, in my own opinion, never had the proverbial fourth wall between his writing and his readers. You could take his words and add his voice without a second thought, much in a way I like to think I write. His work got me to stop worrying about “accepted styles” and more about writing what I thought I needed to say. I hate to say this but I feel slightly numb over the whole thing. It is a lot like waking up from anesthetic and realizing your short a body part you were not aware of before. You may have consciously known it was there because you were told it was, but the feeling of its absence is more real that the actual presence it had. Maybe he had more of an affect on my writing than I thought, but I can only now realize it more consciously since he is no longer “here” any more.

But then again, I could be totally off. I think I’ll end this one by swiping a line or 3 from Dr Gonzo himself, commenting on Nixon’s death: “but I don’t believe that and wont, not until I gnaw on his skull with my very own teeth. The nineties weren’t the sixties but they were wild and I personally had signed on for the whole trip.” The nineties are gone and behind us. Perhaps he ascribed to the cyclical nature of time and saw us headed again into a fifties style McCarthyism. Then again, maybe he has finally been accepted into the great club of the immortals and is now kicked back on a white sand beach in a recliner, drinking a drink from some ceramic Buddha with little umbrellas shooting at passing gulls with Elvis as Jim Hendrix plays soft tunes in the background, waiting for Amelia Airheart to call them in for their fresh peanut butter and fried banana sandwiches with side orders of dodo bird. Or perhaps, it just finally got too weird for him. No matter what, it can be said he wrote the ending to his own life and did not let it be written for him.

Where ever you are Dr.Gonzo, enjoy and thank you.

Till next time,
Be mindful and awake.

Hit and Run

First let me post something from a recent comment I received via my blog, in it’s entirety, without any editing:



“LOL ... Those are some old buildings man, And before the floodwall was erected, That main street was under the Ohio several times. These things being considered i suppose the musty odor might be expected. As for the feelings, lol I suppose if you've heard about the place's history and the "Mothman" BEFORE you came into town, you'd either consciously or unconsciously be LOOKING for something (ANYTHING) out of the ordinary, Therefore ... You'd find it surely enough. As for the "Dread" ... WHAT? LOL I have left this place so many times only to have it welcome me back warmly, Dread as in not having a great deal of opportunity for graduates perhaps but then again as iv'e said: Iv'e been around and seen SEVERAL of towns with THAT kind of "Dread" ... Yea this place is alright and i have a hard time imagining a MALE anyway ... being afraid to walk ANYWHERE short of the Little Algiers section of New Orleans or perhaps the Hill District in Pittsburgh and places of the like ... I certainly can't imagine anyone being afraid of a little old rural town with a spook story that's around 40 years old. One last thing ... lol These are POWER plants LOL There are NO NUCLEAR plant's around here. LOL”



It was unsigned. Apparently whomever this was cannot effectively use the shift key for what ever reason and from the amount of “LOL” that has been used can not be bothered to try and make a witty comment without a cymbal crash to clue us in to the fact it was funny.



Now granted, perhaps I did have some preconceived notions before I went to Point Pleasant. I can agree to that, without hesitation, but one does not go anywhere without preconception, unless heavily medicated, as I would most likely recommend for the author of this anonymous comment.



As for questions about my masculinity, I take great offence at this. Prior to such a comment I tried to keep an open mind, but when a poltroon initiates such personal attacks, I have a tendency to loose any objectivity. I would be more than willing to address this with the person who would not even identify themselves at a time and place of their choosing, in a manner of their comfort. All I request is their card and their seconds contact information. I would wager I could call upon any of my friends to second for me, be they male or female. Also, it would be nice to know where to send the flowers when I am finished with them as I feel I would make any correction to their improper attitude most permanent. This is not a threat by any means, as those who do know me know I do not make idle threats. If you consider yourself “man” enough to utter such words, then be willing to stand by them or sulk off into the vast wastes of the net, never to return, like the coward you have shown yourself to be until this point.



And lastly, the power plants comment. I have never claimed to be an expert in the visual recognition of power plants from a moving vehicle. My observation of the plant were mostly of the twin cooling towers that are of the same visual design as many other nuclear plants. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks then to assume it is a duck is not a mental fallacy. If it turns out it is not a duck, then be gracious and admit it is not a duck. So therefore, a power plant, no matter conventional or nuclear, is not a duck.



Till next time,

Be mindful and awake.

PS And learn to use the shift key!