It has been two years and two days since I last posted on this blog. The last post was a detailed description of me running around my back yard dressed like an escaped mental patient for the benefit of my father’s trail camera. I suggest you read it as it is pretty funny if you like stories about morons doing moron stuff. In those two years, the trail camera has disappeared, most likely due to a lack of interest on my father’s part, my back yard has become laden with toys and I am still an undiagnosed mental defective.

Have I missed this blog? Yeah, kinda if I am being honest. I miss posting things. I like when someone says, “that was funny” or “that was interesting.” I am a simple man. I like when people like me. Which brings me to the meat and potatoes of this post: people either love me or hate me and the ratio isn’t particularly close. It leans heavily towards hate.

There are plenty of reasons to dislike me. Perhaps it is the fact that I am outspoken in my calling out of people’s irksome natures. Could be that in any argument, I tend to go for the jugular by the second statement. Possibly that I am a lot taller than most folks and I find that little fellas and little fellettes tend to be rather ornery. Listen, spokesperson for the Lollipop Guild, get mad at God for making your diminutive. It is not my fault that you’ve never heard the words, “hey can you move over? I can’t see over your head.” Also, it isn’t all easy going for the tall. For instance, I don’t think I could ever comfortably drive an Aston Martin. Think about that for a second. That is pretty rough.

I am guessing it isn’t my height or my acid tongue which tends to drive the masses away from me. Neither is it my odor. I take pride on not walking around with a miasma of plague-like funk emanating from my pores and clothes. Nay, dear reader. It has to be one thing and one thing only: my disdain for the idea of laying low. Let me explain. First off, I have mellowed greatly since I became a dad. I am too busy to go ten rounds with either friend or foe on the interwebs. Secondly, I have learned the great truth that arguing with someone rarely ever changes their mind. It is more like two fighters just trying to bloody the other’s nose before the bell rings to sound the end of a round. Sort of a waste of time, really. Lastly, when I do post or say something, I do not care what someone’s reaction may be. Not that I am completely misanthropic but the idea of people having to keep quiet as to not step on the proverbial toes of someone else is a new concept in modern society and one that I really don’t care for. Let me expand on that.

In the past people could navigate the relatively choppy waters of social interaction by simply avoiding certain topics of conversation. Remember the old, “no politics, no religion” agreement? Well that has well and truly gone out the window. It used to be that personal opinions about basically anything were kept in the home. When in social situations, “hot takes” were to be avoided because after all everyone had gathered for the purpose of enjoying themselves, not listening to someone’s laborious treatise on any given subject. Today, we spend much more time online then we do in social situations. In fact, due to covid, for the past couple years a lot of people have spent more time online maintaining a virtual profile than they have living in the world and maintaining a real life profile. So the rules have changed and now I know what basically everyone I am connected with on social media feels about basically everything. The problem is, I neve wanted to know any of this stuff. Now, I could simply scroll by and ignore which is what a lot of folks do in order to maintain their sanity but I have never claimed to be sane in the first place so I tend to dig.

In conclusion; big mouths including myself will always be loathed. The heat in which the loathing exists will be especially warm if what you are saying makes sense. People are incapable of admitting that any opinion other than their own is even worthy of examination. Of course you didn’t ask for my opinion but I didn’t ask for yours either. I am just playing by the rules that are constantly changing as we go. Cyber life today is one never ending game of Calvinball. Therefore, if me defending / attacking / criticizing / praising something or someone offends you; cool. Please let me know. I’m serious. I will listen to what you have to say, respond, and then continue living my life in the manner I so choose, saying whatever I’d like. It is not because I don’t love / respect / admire you. It is because this is Thunderdome. This is the world that we have collectively created. I am just trying to survive as are you. However, in the words of the poet E.E. Cummings in “I Sing of Olaf Glad and Big” … “there is some shit I will not eat.”