Reveling In The Ignorance

 It's been a long time since I felt like I needed

To search for anything

In fact, I can't remember the last time I felt

That I needed to know the meaning of life

Or the meaning of anything, really, for that matter

I can't remember the last time I had the thought

That finding something that would make sense of everything

Was important

I can't remember the last time I had the thought

That it really, really mattered that I figured it all out

Nowadays I'm content not knowing 

Content not wanting to know

I guess it's true what they say

Ignorance is bliss

The Most Preposterous Conspiracy Theory...So Far

There I was just minding my own business at the gym when a guy I recognized but didn't really know came over and sat down on the bench right next to the one I was using.

"Hey", he said, in a manner that suggested an invitation to conversation, desired or not. "What do you think of the action on Wall Street yesterday?"

I turned to him and shrugged my shoulders and said, "Well, you know what they say, millions are made by people who buy when the blood is running in the streets."

He chuckled a little and said, "Yeah, I've heard that, don't know if that's true or not because I don't have the money to gamble like that, but what do you think about how the Chinese are bringing down the value of Tesla stock?"

I took a few seconds to reply to that because I really had no idea what he was talking about and my eventual reply was just that: "What are you talking about?"

"The Chinese man, the Chinese government, they've spent the past three years working to bring down Musk and it looks like their plan is working. It's so they can corner the electric car market worldwide."

Though I didn't want to be drawn into the conversation I said, "Can't say I've heard anything like that at all - where did you pick up that info?" 

He raised his eyebrows as if it was a shock that I had not heard about the nefarious doings of the Chinese government and then he said, "Yeah, a lot of people haven't heard about it because there is a huge cover-up going on - the Chinese and Korean hackers attack any websites that mention it and have targeted just about every individual social media user who has posted anything at all about it. Some of my friends have been hacked man, so I know it's happening."

I looked at him and with just a touch of skepticism asked, "Have you yourself posted anything about it on Facebook or whatever and then been hacked?"

His reply was something like, "Oh hell no man, I'm not stupid enough to post anything that's going to get me targeted. Only way I'll discuss it is person-to-person, you know, with people I can trust"

"Well thanks for telling me, appreciate that. I'll have to look into it." I said this as I got up off the bench to head over to another station.

"Be careful buddy, this thing is real, don't treat it like a joke - it's real real." He said that with an uncomfortable amount of seriousness as he walked away.

So, here it is, my lazy research into the Elon Musk is being targeted by the Chinese government conspiracy dealio - I'm writing this and posting it to see if I get hacked.

Should be a fun wait.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lakewood Museum Of Discarded Art - The Winterscapes Retrospective

   Just an FYI, the Lakewood Museum of Discarded Art is a semi-regular posting I create to showcase the wide variety of artwork I stumble across at garage sales, thrift stores, church bazaars and other places that deal in original artworks that have been discarded by people who either have grown to dislike them or have always dislike them but are just now getting rid of them.

   Some of these pieces are quite good and some are not. Evaluating art is very subjective and has lead to many an argument, so I'll just post these pics and stand back.

 

 

 

How Archie Dealt With The Yin & Yang Of His Extremes

    In his secret life he was much less open, which made sense as the less he said about anything to anyone, the less chance there was of him accidentally revealing that he was indeed leading a second life that was completely different from the one that the vast majority of the people who knew him would say was his life.

    The small number of people who knew him in his secret life had never had a reason to believe that he was anything but a likeable, quiet man who enjoyed working the night shift at the small convalescent home, walking the halls and checking on the residents, providing whatever support was needed by the institutions medical staff, keeping the common areas neat and clean, and generally keeping busy as best he could.

   He had never met up with any of his co-workers outside of working hours, and he never volunteered anything but the barest of information about himself. Of course HR ran a thorough background check when he was hired, but Peggy in HR said there was nothing in his past that made him stand out or even, to put it bluntly, the slightest bit interesting.

   Which is exactly how he wanted to be thought of in his second life. He wanted to be regarded as a dull as dirt but reliable nice guy. He did not want to form any friendships or even get to know the full names of the people he worked with - he just wanted to do his job, be pleasant but uninteresting, and then go directly home at the end of his shift.

   The home he went to was one he had lived in for over two decades, situated in the heart of suburbia. He knew most everyone in the neighborhood and socialised with them actively. There were a number of them that he regarded as close friends, and some were even closer to him than his own family. 

   On weekends he would join in with several of his friends for various functions, be it a poker night, an afternoon bar-be-que, or maybe a birthday party. There always seemed to be something going on in the neighborhood, and that right there was why he had sought out a night job where he could shut down his social side and just commune with himself. 

   For he was one of those people who both needed and enjoyed being around people, and also needed and enjoyed being alone.

   And that was why he had created his secret life, so he could, as he put it to himself more than actually said it to anyone he knew, "deal with it".

Modern Life Themes

 Minute variations in tonal value

                              Contrasts of tone (light and dark)

                              Reduced to a minimum

                              Maximize the tensions

          Illusion of depth

Juxtapositions of pure color

                            Dramatic light

                                            Extremes

Strong sense of form and structure

Frozen solemnity

                      Gradations

                                  Full saturation

                                                  Stylized starkness

   

Set The Wayback Machine For September Of 1984

   Back in the early '80's when I was in the USAF, the staff of the Graphics department was given the okay to paint murals that reflected our off duty interests, on the interior walls in our work areas.

   I stumbled across these two pics of the mural I painted on the wall behind my desk.

   As can be seen, I painted myself surfing, with two F-15's in the sky behind me. I couldn't surf to save my life, but man did I love surfing. The lifestyle intrigued me to the point where I even subscribed to Surfer magazine, despite being 1200 miles from the nearest ocean and not owning a surfboard.

   Maybe I should get one now...and move to the coast.

   Right.

 

She Never Was One For Simple Explanations

 

The scars she pointed out were from all the wounds time healed

They were big and brutal and told an ugly story

Nothing but the truth she said, and it needed to be revealed

If only so she could understand the pain and put shame to the glory