If You Want to Sit Cross-legged
Sunday, May 31, 2009

and drink a bunch of beer in the sun on Saturday afternoon --- ?

You might want to remember that your ancestors were Scandinavian.

Jus' sayin'

Posted byPortlyDyke at 2:53 PM 8 comments  

A Letter For Those Who are Triggered
Thursday, May 28, 2009

Today, I was participating in a thread about the photos from Abu Ghraib that show graphic images of rape and sexual assault. Several commenters said that they simply felt too triggered by the issue to write a letter about it. I understand this completely, and I volunteered to write a generic draft letter that they could use.

Here it is:

Dear [Name]:

I am writing to ask you to do whatever is in your power to bring about impartial, thorough investigation into torture and abuse of prisoners by the US government. As a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture, our government has agreed to such investigations whenever there is reasonable suspicion that torture has been perpetrated by, or at the command of, any official of our government.

In specific, these are the areas that I believe must be investigated:

1. Any and all connections between White House level policies regarding so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) and the part that such policies played in abuses that were carried out by soldiers and contractors at such places as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
2. Why did the Bush administration proceed with authorizing and carrying out acts that, according to their own legal advisors (documented in the footnotes of a memo dated 5/10/05 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/16/bush-memo-footnotes-defin_n_188008.html) were torture?
3. Why were contractors carrying out such torture allowed to exceed even the administration's own questionable guidelines for these techniques, without being investigated and brought up on charges of torture? Did the Bush administration neglect their duty and/or commit obstruction of justice in this matter?
   
4. Were contractors who were authorized by Bush administration memos to carry out torture involved in training soldiers, interrogators, and contractors at Abu Ghraib?
5. Have victims of torture (some of whom, in Abu Ghraib, were raped and sexually assualted) been allowed the opportunity to seek redress as agreed in Article 14 of the Convention Against Torture? Has a legal system to assure fair and adequate compensation to these victims been established by the US in accordance with the Convention?
6. Have all those who have broken the laws of these United States, and international agreements, been brought to justice?

At this time, I believe that the United States government is in violation of its own laws and international agreements, by virture of neglecting/refusing to thoroughly and impartially investigate these matters.

I request that you uphold your oath to protect and defend our Constitution by doing all in your power to bring investigation into abuses and torture authorized and carried out by officials and agents of the United States.

Sincerely,
=======================
PS -- If you want to "sign on" to this, leave your real name and address in comments (or email it to me, stating clearly that you are authorizing me to add your name/address to the letter) and I will include your name on my hard-copy to President Obama.

Posted byPortlyDyke at 9:35 AM 3 comments  

My Weekly Torture Letter
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

As promised last week, I will be posting my weekly letters to my Congressfolk, President Obama, and the United Nations. Here are this week's letters (feel free to copy and paste in your own missives, and strap yourselves in -- I will be posting every week until something gives).

To my Senators and House Reps (you can find all your congressfolk's information HERE):
====================
Sent to Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, and Norm Dicks.

Dear [name]:

I have voted for you in every election since I moved to Washington State in 2000.

I am writing to ask you – to plead with you – to do everything you can to push for investigation of the torture of human beings authorized by, and implemented under, the Bush/Cheney administration.

I am 52 years old. I’ve lived through assassinations and wars, Watergate and Iran Contra, recessions and bubbles burst, and if you had told me there would come a day when my federal government would authorize torture in violation of its own laws and international treaty, and then neglect to investigate it, I would not have believed you.

I find it incredibly disheartening that this letter even needs to be written, but write it, I shall.

I have heard the rhetoric about wanting to move forward rather than look back, but it rings hollow to me – the mandate that the people of these United States sent in electing President Obama and a Democratic Party majority in the Congress was a clear cry for change. Even Republican officials have distanced themselves from the disastrous policies implemented by the Bush/Cheney administration – policies that have left our nation physically, financially, and morally bankrupt.

When you’ve been through a horrible battle and it’s clear that one of the principal players in your contingent has been dreadfully wounded, you do not just march on. You stop, examine their wounds, and tend to them.

In my opinion, the other wounds to our Constitution (wire-tapping, undeclared wars instigated on the basis of faulty intelligence, etc.) -- themselves no small injuries -- pale in comparison to the authorization of State-sponsored torture.

If we can stand by while people are tortured by our government, if we can know that such a thing occurred, and refuse to even investigate it, I believe that we are not a nation which has established Justice, or secured the Blessings of Liberty -- and with every report released about how the actions of the previous administration has served as a recruitment tool for those who wish to commit violence against the US and its citizens, it becomes clearer and clearer that, far from insuring domestic Tranquility and providing for the common defence, the use of torture has put both our physical safety and international standing at risk.

I will not stand by silently as my government violates law, treaty, the principles of its own Constitution, and basic human rights.

I will be writing to your office every week until investigations into torture are initiated by our federal government – even if this takes years or decades. I will speak to others and encourage them to do the same. I will blog about it and email about it. I will send letters to the United Nations asking them to enforce the Convention Against Torture, to which my country is a signatory, and in which, we have agreed to investigate these matters.

I believe that you know, deep in your heart, that we must investigate these matters, if we are to be who we say we are – a nation committed to justice, democracy, and freedom. I will speak to you, again and again, as an echo of that knowing, and I will support you, and call for others to support you, when you take action on that knowing.

I implore you, as a constituent and a fellow US citizen, to do everything you can to initiate immediate investigations of torture perpetrated by the United States government during the Bush/Cheney administration.

Sincerely,
[PortlyDyke]

===================
Same to President Obama, with a few changes (highlighted in blue):

Dear President Obama:

I voted for you, primarily because I recognized that my country was in need of transformation, and I believed that you were earnest in your promise to protect and defend our Constitution.

I am writing to ask you . . . . .
. . . . ., but write it, I shall.

I have heard in your speeches that you have a desire move forward rather than look back, but it rings hollow to me . . . . (all remaining the same).

=================
Finally, to the United Nations:

His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations
New York, New York 10017

Dear Secretary-General,

I am a United States citizen, appealing to you to enforce the articles of the UN Convention Against Torture in the matter of torture perpetrated under the presidential administration of George W. Bush.

I had hoped that, with a new president leading our nation, my country would at last be brought back into compliance with the Convention, but as of this date, no investigative action has been initiated by my government, even though the Convention clearly states that States who agree to the Convention are required to begin prompt and impartial investigation whenever there is a reasonable suspicion that torture has been performed.

It is clear now that such suspicion not only exists, but that a majority of United States citizens believe that torture has been performed on prisoners interrogated by our government. Even if these citizens believe that this torture was somehow justified, as officials of the Bush administration have claimed, the articles of the Convention are clear – war, threat of war, political instability or any emergency is not a justification for torture.

I believe that the UN must take action, since it seems apparent at this point that the President and Congress are not hastening toward the prompt and impartial investigations which they have agreed to perform.

I believe that my government is in violation of both its own laws and its international agreements.

I implore you to make good on the Articles of the Convention Against Torture.

Here's hoping it does some good.

Posted byPortlyDyke at 10:09 AM 4 comments  

Blotter Blogger -- May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009

By request, I'm back with more from my local police/sheriff's blotter.

I'm sensing some patterns this week, and I've been wondering if the blotter has been thematic -- perhaps even prognosticatory -- all along.

Diving right in, then -- Perusing the top story this week (with exciting! photo), I'm concerned that my idyllic-paradise of a town may be sliding into a Cautionary Tale Vortex:

House destroyed in fire set by children playing with matches.

Digging deeper into blotter, I found further signs of CTV slippage:

Two women drove to a health club on Washington on May 16 and left a 1998 GMC pickup truck unlocked with the keys in the center console. Someone drove the truck to an uptown location and stole a duffel bag containing medications and other items.

A person reported leaving a wallet in a bathroom at a park-and-ride lot May 6, and the wallet was stolen.

Moving on from my ponderings about whether a wallet can be stolen if you leave it in a public bathroom, I was somewhat mollified by the burglary reports, which seemed to indicate that the status quo was being maintained:

Candy was taken May 2 from a Port Townsend home that was burglarized.

Police believe that an intoxicated person tried to enter an occupied room at a motel in the 1800 block of Water on May 10. An investigation found that someone broke into another room and apparently made a cup of coffee and left.

Casual-use burglary is a proud tradition in my little town. A couple of years ago, we had the Sandwich Burglar, who would break into people's houses, fix themselves a sandwich, and leave. These burglaries might have been nominated as "Perfect Crime" material, had the perpetrator's mother only taught them to rinse the mayo knife and crumb the counter. If you come to visit, lock up your bologna -- the Sandwich Burglar remains at large.

Just as I was relaxing a bit, thinking the CTV alert was a false-alarm, I noticed that the County Sheriff's office had apparently been issued an overabundance of "scare quotes", and had opted to discharge some of the surplus in this week's blotter:

A deputy contacted a marina manager to advise him that it was legal to shoot off a small cannon in the marina, which is within a "no shooting" zone, provided the cannon didn't fire a "projectile."

A deputy was asked to check on an "unruly, intoxicated female" who had been "ejected from an aid car" near Port Townsend on May 4. Port Townsend police officers apparently took her to Jefferson Healthcare Hospital so she could be with her husband.

(As an aside: You can't imagine how satisfying it is to place the words "scare quotes" inside "scare quotes". Really. You can't.)

I searched for more evidence to support my CTV hypothesis, but alas, the blotter revealed no more clues to unlock the code. Yet, as it returned to it's usual "An off-duty officer found a belt with geological tools near Blue Heron Middle School on May 13. The owner can claim the tools at the police department" and "A bobcat was chased from the Chimacum High School property May 2", I couldn't help feeling that perhaps I'd stumbled upon hint of some esoteric truth -- and I'll be watching my blotter more closely in the future. The lottery numbers are probably in there somewhere.

Blotter Blogger Parts One and Two at my home blog

Posted byPortlyDyke at 9:17 AM 0 comments  

Why We Must Investigate Torture
Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Part of the reason that I haven’t been blogging is that I’ve felt a bit soul-sick lately.

I know that this is almost certainly not the first time that my government has actually tortured people. It is, however, the first time that my government has done so publicly, accompanied it with brazen justifications – and not a damn thing has been done about it.

I’ve been kind of stunned since it began (seven fucking years ago!), to be perfectly honest. I’ve felt helpless and hopeless at points. It has triggered a lot of things in me (as a survivor of torture), and I’ve wrestled with how to take action in a manner that is not “fighting” anything (I’m a firm believer that “Fighting for Peace is like Fucking for Virginity”).

Oh sure -- I sent letters to my congress-critters way back when -- I had hopes that the new administration would actually do something -- but I’ve come to a point now where I simply cannot refrain from moving into determined and sustained action on this issue. I must know that I have done all that I can to help create the world I want to live in.

So, this post is my first step. It presents the reasons I believe that we absolutely must investigate, and an invitation -- because I want you to join me (action item at the bottom of the post).

As a citizen of the United States, I consider myself a “cell” in the body of this nation – a nation that I believe is very ill at this point. If I am to help my nation heal, I have to become an active agent in its healing. So, here are (some of) the reasons I believe that we must investigate Torture:

Reason #1 – Because There is a Festering Wound in My Nation’s Heart

The argument that we should just “move on” and “look forward”, ignoring the human rights violations of the Bush administration, would be fine and dandy – if it had ever actually worked.

Think about your own life. Have you ever really been able to just "move on" from an act of intentional harm that you perpetrated -- an act that you knew was wrong, either when you did it or after?

These are the acts poison the soul and haunt the psyche, until they are faced and investigated and understood – they are the acts that recovering alcoholics reveal in their Fourth Step, so that they can unshackle themselves from their past – they are the acts that people bring to the confessional and the psychiatrist and the terrifying moment coming clean with the beloved, hoping that love and connection will not be annihilated by the revelation.

They are the acts we are doomed to repeat, if we do not come to understanding of them. They form the dysfunctional patterns that swirl our lives into chaos and drama, if left unexamined -- no matter how much we’d like to pretend that we’ve “moved on”.

Think about the act of physical healing – the tiniest splinter, left untended, either poisons you or festers out, and no disease can be truly resolved until the underlying cause is addressed. You go to the physician, and together, you investigate your symptoms – nothing is treatable until it’s diagnosed, and in order to arrive at a diagnosis and any hope of treatment, you have to tell the doctor the truth, and the doctor has to tell you the truth.

And this is much more than an illicit affair, or a drunken disaster. This is much more than a splinter.

If any individual you knew told you that they had performed the same acts that the Bush administration sanctioned – would you shrug your shoulders and say: “Well, that’s in the past -- let’s just move on”?

I know that my country harbors many forms of "disease" in parts of its body – racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, classism, religious intolerance, greed – the symptoms of which have been sometimes chronic and sometimes acute -- but we have pretty much always at least claimed to be seeking a cure.

Even as a person facing a number of these oppressions, I've held on to the hope that that claim was genuine. Through assassinations and wars of invasion, through Watergate and Iran-Contra, I have stubbornly believed that the United States could one day fully manifest as the healthy body implied in the purity of this embryonic phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . . . ".

The national identity that most US citizens have clung to – the myth of our role as defenders of freedom and paragons of democracy – has been steadily eroding for years now, as leaders of our nation tiptoed up to, and then stepped over, the slippery slope of these oppressions. Descending into State-sponsored, State-justified torture means, to me, that we are approaching the awful bottom of that slippery slope.

Go ahead -- say it, out loud, that way -- State-Sponsored Torture.

I think we need to say this out loud to ourselves, and to hear it broadcast from our televisions, and blared from the floor of Congress, so that we can face reality -- the diagnosis is in, and we're sicker than we thought.

There is a festering wound in the heart of my country -- and that’s a dangerous place for deep infection – very dangerous indeed.

Reason #2 – Because There Is an Enormous Log In My Nation’s Eye

When you criticize your neighbor for doing despicable things, and then invade their home under the pretense of getting them to stop doing said despicable things, and in the process, do similarly despicable things – you look like an arrogant, hypocritical, disingenuous asshole.

Depending on your despicable acts, you may also look like a criminal arrogant, hypocritical, disingenuous asshole.

Even if you get away with it and no one turns you in, everyone in your neighborhood who heard you bitching earlier is going to know, and they are going to see right through your claims of moral superiority and righteous intention and ending tyranny and blah, blah, blah.

Until the United States cleans its own house, the entire world will rightfully suspect us of being exactly what we are being: Arrogant, hypocritical, lying assholes. A nation that doesn’t believe in its own Constitution or laws. A nation that is, at once, meddling busy-body and bossy, obnoxious teenager, throwing its weight around and refusing to take responsibility for its actions -- with a penchant for torture.

Finally, and perhaps most pragmatically, there is this reason to investigate:

Reason #3: Because We Said We Would, and then We Said We Would Again

The UN Convention Against Torture was signed by President Reagan in 1988, and ratified again in 1994. The United States has not withdrawn from the Convention, and is still bound by it. The Convention says, among other things, that:

"“torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.”

But . . . But, Waterboarding isn’t torture!!!

Doesn’t matter. The arguments that waterboarding is not torture, specious as they are, make no difference, because the Convention goes on to say:

“Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 shall apply with the substitution for references to torture of references to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

But . . . But . . . Ticking TimeBomb!!!!

Doesn’t matter.

“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."

But . . . But . . . . I was ordered to do it!!!!

Doesn’t matter.

“An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.”

We just want to move on.

Well, poor us -- too bad. If we are to honor our agreements as a nation, we must investigate – because we say we will.

"Each State Party shall ensure that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction."

I won’t even go into the clauses that state that we will give victims of torture the right to redress and adequate compensation.

Suffice it to say that it is completely clear, even if an investigation was made and the acts committed under the Bush administration were found, by the entire world, not to be torture (and pigs could fly)– the United States – my country – WE – have an obligation to investigate -- promptly and impartially.

I believe that my government is currently in violation of its own laws and international treaties.

====================

So, here is my invitation to action.

Beginning this week, and continuing every week until an investigation is underway, I will write a letter to my congressional representatives, President Obama’s office, and the United Nations.

I will request from my reps that they push for investigations with every ounce of their strength. I will tell them that, if they do not, I will not vote for them again.

I will request from President Obama that he order investigations. I will tell him that, if he does not, I will not vote for him again.

I will request from the United Nations that they hold my nation accountable to the UN Convention. I will request this as a citizen of a country which I believe is currently in violation of both its own laws and its international treaties.

I will invite everyone I know to do the same.

If you'd like to join me, I'm glad to share my letters with you. I'll be publishing them at Teh Portly Dyke, as well.

Posted byPortlyDyke at 1:49 PM 5 comments  

Comedy TONIGHT!
Sunday, May 10, 2009

OK -- Scroll down to the next post to view the broadcast -- I'll be starting the broadcast at about 6:50 -- you may have to refresh the page to get the password box to come up. Password is: TehFunny

See you soon! (Gad my palms are sweaty!)

Posted byPortlyDyke at 6:14 PM 1 comments  

Check Out "Sit Down Comedy" on Sunday, May 10th
Saturday, May 9, 2009

Hey everybody! Woo-Hoo! Ever since I started releasing those old standup routines of mine on youtube, I've been thinking about exercising my comedy muscles again -- so . . . . . . .

I'm doing my first-ever "Sit Down Comedy" broadcast on ustream this Sunday (tomorrow - 5/10/09) at 7 pm. You can watch it RIGHT HERE at my blog (scroll down)! Just visit Teh Portly Dyke at 7 pm Pacific time (8 pm Mountain, 9 pm Central, 10 pm Eastern) on Sunday, 5/10/09 -- I'll be broadcasting live via Ustream fer shits and giggles. (Show up a little early -- I'll be warming up the crowd.)

If you want to be able to heckle me (via chat) while I'm being Teh Funny, you'll need to tune in at my home website or at my ustream channel page, where a chat widget is available (yes, it's a funky chat widget, but hey, it's free).

No matter where you view my sit-down comedy, you'll need this password to see the broadcast: TehFunny (case sensitive). (You won't need this password until I actually start broadcasting tomorrow night, when a password box will pop up on the screen below)

I hope that you'll join me -- and may I repeat: WooHooo!!!!

Free TV : UstreamYes! ^^^^ Right up there^^^^ I WILL be TehFunny! (7 pm PST 5/10/09)

If the ads bug you, just click their close box -- I have no control over the ads, because the service is free and that's how Ustream makes its money. I will attempt to mock them appropriately where appropriate.

Like Teh Funny? Tip me!

Posted byPortlyDyke at 6:05 PM 1 comments  

Moar Blotter
Thursday, May 7, 2009

OK -- So, longer-time readers of my blog may remember my penchant for the police and sheriff's blotters in my hometown newspaper (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read this post).

Last week, I was talking to a friend on the phone and we fell into the inevitable "reading each other things hysterically funny things from our respective hometown newspapers" thing -- so I thought I'd share some of the recent Police and Sheriff's blotters entries with you (because they're just too good to keep to myself). Please note -- the blotter entries are verbatim. My comments in italics.

Sunglasses, a flashlight and other items were stolen from an unlocked 1996 Geo Metro in the 500 block of 22nd on April 27. (Poor thing -- probably left the Metro unlocked hoping that someone would steal the CAR.)

A 41-year-old man called police to report that his 47-year-old live-in girlfriend was "running her mouth" on April 27. Police made a report of the verbal dispute. (No comment, lest my Beloved turn me in for "running my mouth".)

A 44-year-old Port Hadlock woman and her 20-year-old son got into an argument about who would pay for the gas related to a landscaping job they were doing in the 1500 block of Lawrence on April 29. Police took a report.

A Hadlock woman called to compaint about her 15-year old daughter not behaving on Jan. 18. She called back before a deputy arrived and said to disregard her issue.

(RE: The two entries above -- please refer to my first blotter post, which contains one of my favorite blotter entries ever -- the woman who called 911 to report that "her relatives were annoying her" -- I will simply repeat: REALLY?!? You can call 911 for these things? Who Knew?)

On the night of April 29, a 23-year-old transient woman said she was robbed of $40 in the parking lot of an apartment building on Gaines. Police and a witness were unable to locate the suspect. At 3:40 a.m. the next day, police were called back to the same building, where a resident complained that the woman, who used to live there, was keeping people up by using the laundry equipment. (Because, apparently, reporting these two things in the same entry maintains Cosmic Balance -- since we all know that transient-being-robbed is offset and utterly neutralized by transcient-keeping-people-up-by-using-the-laundry-equipment.)

A 53-year-old man parked his 2003 Chevy truck in front of a food vendor in the 2400 block of Washington at noon on April 30 to have lunch at a nearby restaurant. The food vendor asked him not to park there, police said, but he declined the suggestion. When he returned, he found a chunk of asphalt on top of his truck with a note telling him not to park there. Police are investigating. (This entry drives me to distraction -- was the chunk of asphalt wrapped in the note? Was the note held down by the asphalt so that it wouldn't blow away? Inquiring minds need to know.)

OK -- the next three are filed under -- zuh??

A 27-year-old man reported that a painting he had on display in a Water Street coffee house was stolen May 3, but it might have been a misunderstanding, police said.

A pistol was found at Snow Creek and turned over to authorities April 26. It had not been stolen.

A Quilcene woman returned home April 29 from a vacation and found her house in disarray. She determined a relative was responsible and declined to pursue charges.

(And on that last one -- So, not only can I call 911 when my relatives annoy me, but also when my house is in disarray?)

Meth was said to be a problem in Hadlock on April 24, a woman told deputies. (Well, I should say so.)

Carpentry tools and power tools were reported taken from a weekend cabin back in February. (Reported in the May 5 paper, but apparently, the blotter was so thin this week that we needed to include a three-month old report. Maybe someone complained. "Hey! I didn't see my report in the blotter three months ago! Unfair! 15 minutes! I was told 15 Minutes of Fame in the brochure!")

A Hadlock woman said a truck turned a corner April 25 and a sheet of glass flew off and broke into the roadway on First Street. The woman said she swept the glass off the roadway and the owner denied losing anything from the vehicle, but a half hour later the woman flipped off the driver, and that caused a brief argument to ensue requiring deputy patrols. (I love my little town, where professional police reporting includes the phrase "flipped off the driver".)

A dead raccoon was found March 30 in a trap left in the woods at Middlepoint and McCurdy Point Road. (When I read this to my friend, all I had to do was clear my throat, indicating a new entry, and speak the words "A Dead Raccoon" to induce rflmao.)

A prowler was said to be outside a home in Ludlow on April 5 and making coyote noises. A deputy saw no sign of a prowler. (It probably _was_ a coyote (or a dog who was part coyote -- heh-heh).

Tips and the jar they were in were stolen April 6 from an espresso stand in Discovery Bay. (As my friend said: "When they find the $33 in small bills and change on grandad's dresser top, they'll be like -- 'Well phew! At least we know he didn't steal it -- because he doesn't have the jar'.")

A tie was found burnt in the middle of North Jacob Miller Road on April 9. There were no other signs of a fire or problems in the area. This is definitely in the top ten for my all-time favs, but read below to see why I don't think it may not make the final cut. Even though it's probably not the Best Blotter Entry EVAH, it does have a very nice Twin Peaks-ish ambience going on there.

Now -- Drum Roll, Please! My current front-runner for Best Blotter Entry EVAH (though surely it may be knocked off its pedestal as the saga of my little town unfolds) is:

A woman said two Mormons came to her door Jan. 21, and she was concerned that they might not be real Mormons.

I heart my tiny little town with an unrivaled fury.

Posted byPortlyDyke at 11:00 AM 1 comments  

My Blog Has Fallen and It Can't Get Up
Wednesday, May 6, 2009

I honest to fuck don't know what it is -- I just don't seem to be able to blog lately.

It's not for want of ideas and notions and things to say -- in fact I'd say it was the opposite -- there is a constant swirl in my head -- a cacophony of concepts that vie endlessly for blog-space.

Perhaps I'm just too egalitarian for my own good. I can't decide which one should go first.

So I'm blogging tonight in the hope of blasting out whatever clog is in the pipes.

I haven't even been able to comment much at my favorite blogs -- every time I start typing something, I think: "This is of no pertinence or interest to anyone", and as often as not, I simply scrap the whole thing.

It's true -- I really have been focused elsewhere -- working, gathering myself, trying to think what direction I want to go next. I've been pondering big issues like Life and Death, and who I am now, and who I've been in the past, and who I might want to become in the future.

Here's hoping this post is some magic wand that gets me back blogging.

Posted byPortlyDyke at 10:41 PM 9 comments