I read the news today, oh boy

[content critical of transvestitism in Virginia schools deleted]
Poll:  World is a happier place than 2007.  Disagree.  Its getting worse and will continue to do so, even if the economy improves.  Perhaps the poll reflects opinions of “the one percent”.  The truth is, democracy, freedom and humaneness will devolve into anarchy that will be swiftly replaced by a dictatorship.  My prediction for 21st century AD.  Well, Plato said it first.  Sorry kids.
Romney claims to be “severely conservative” which does not sound cheerful.
The most paltry of the culture mavens are in a flurry over celebrity Beyonce’s advertisement for a fashion company that has some racial controversy, or whatever.  Who cares.  WHO CARES???  All of you, just shut up!
Crazy inbred hating-in-Jesus-name church calls off their protest at Powell’s funeral.  Oh good.  One less event where so-called Christians blaspheme and make the church a laughingstock.  One less event where the rest of us are lumped together with a wrong, sickening and illegitimate sect claiming association with the historical Christian church; a day where all of us gossipers, complainers, coveters, blame-shifters and lusters can breathe a sigh of relief that our secret sins were not made the object of some holy war by a band of self-righteous Pharisees who know nothing of grace, God, Jesus, redemption or the Bible.  They are not going to hold up signs that say God Hates Fags and Queers Burn In Hell at the funeral of the tragic situation of the Powell family.  That’s a relief.  It may have had something to do with the 1800 who pledged to picket the church if they went through with their plan.
And finally,
Feds are investigating an alarming, horrifying, barn-burning travesty in which dogs are being made sick by tainted chicken-flavored treats from China.  Go, FDA, go!  And meanwhile.  Watch one or two of the documentaries coming out about how bad a job you are doing.  Maybe in between doggie-snack factory raids.

one memory

I have this memory about my dad, from when I was thirteen or maybe twelve.  I asked him if he would go throw a baseball with me.  We lived in Sydney at the time.  So we went down the street to a park.  It was Balmoral park.  And we threw a ball for a while.

Why do I remember that?  The park was at the bottom of our street in Mosman, New South Wales, Australia.  And I remember that day and that time, like it was some memorable time.  But all we did was walk down to the park, at my suggestion, and throw a ball for a while.  Twenty minutes tops.

It was the same as I would do now.  If one of my kids asked me, I would say, Sure, and would walk down to the end of the street, and would throw the ball, back and forth, for as long as they wanted, and then he would say he’s had enough.  And we would walk back up the hill, to our house half way up, and I would go back to playing the drums, and he would go back to reading the paper with his beer.

From the Journals of Alistair Bugge – an Excerpt

Alistair Bugge is the deranged biographer of Lucy Burden, the arch-villain of the book.

This text is written in a mock deranged, Old English.  Some words are invented.

Three supplicants come to the cave where Lucy Burden, also called Minstrel, lives in exile.  They seek to be partners in wealth and power, but soon learn that they are to be her disciples.  They submit to her lordship and she reveals that she is neither male nor female.  Inside the cave, they find a young man in torment.  The three novices watch from a hiding place as Minstrel does her awful work.

Click here to read an excerpt from my novel project, The Former Hero.