And round and round we go. Another Sunday fun day in the life. Here are the highlights:
I accompanied Swan on our weekly candy walk. This time, we brought twice as much candy, and I plotted a much longer course. Alas, we dispensed all we could carry in a mere six kilometers (last week, it was five). Still, we brightened the day of a lot of poor youngins, and that’s what it is all about.
Swan spent the afternoon with some friends in Naugsol, and I took care of the Sunday feeding at Hideaway. As usual, we met up again on the Arizona floating bar.
We had our nightcap at Mugshots and then popped into Sit-n-Bull for some takeout. I was in bed before nine and woke up early to see this guy peeking in my window.
I won’t be attending today’s Hash. Instead, I’m going to the pool party at Treasure Island. It’s an SOB-like event, except the girls are in bikinis and competing in poolside games. These are done every couple of months and always on Mondays, so I haven’t been to one in a very long time. So, you’ll get to see something different here tomorrow!
Here’s today’s Quora Q&A:
Q: What’s it like working at a convenience store? What are some tasks you do? What was your most memorable moment while working?
A: I worked in a convenience store back in the 1970s. Graveyard shift (11 p.m. – 7 a.m.). My most memorable experience was the night three guys came in and robbed me at knifepoint. When they took me to the back storage room, I figured I was going to die. Instead, they left me there and said if I came out, they would kill me. They ransacked the store for cigarettes, beer, and the cash in the register, then left.
The next day, corporate headquarters called me to come in for a polygraph to verify I wasn’t involved in the robbery. I told them they could stick their $2.00 per hour job up their ass and quit. Things turned out okay for me after that.
I was not in on it, but I had left too much cash in the register instead of doing the required safe drop, which raised suspicions.
Who’s up for a little humor before I go?
We're captive on the carousel of time We can't return we can only look Behind from where we came And go round and round and round In the circle game
re: running out of candy
Kids (and many of us adults) have an infinite capacity for sweets.
This guy was nursing his wounded cock…must have lost the fight.
I shudder to think of what’s on the blood-spattered table.
Why, yes. Yes, I am!
Well, that’s a cool shot.
I was not in on it, but I had left too much cash in the register instead of doing the required safe drop, which raised suspicions.
That sucks. I’ve never been robbed. I think my bike got stolen once when I was a little kid, but the memory is fuzzy.
I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks[.]
Eating ass: Starter Kit.
We’re captive on the carousel of time
So, something close to a Hindu or Buddhist notion of time. A lot of people used to describe that notion as “cyclical,” but one brave textbook, when I was in grad school, called it “spiral time,” i.e., somewhat circular, but not repeating exactly, which struck me as a more accurate image to apply to the notion. Hindus and Buddhists don’t believe history repeats itself beat for beat; the situation is more like the people who say that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
I looked up James Kavanaugh after seeing what he’d written about time. His view seems pretty dramatic (Karen Armstrong has written about the “drama” of monotheism), so I wasn’t too surprised to see he’d been a priest before quitting the Church. It makes sense that someone steeped in Christianity would see time as a master, a liar, and a death-obsessed tyrant. Joni Mitchell’s view of time seems a bit more abstract by that standard. In fact, her use of the term “circle game” calls to mind the Hindu notion of “lila,” or divine/cosmic play. In this view, the universe has a humorous, playful, random aspect to it, and it doesn’t move in straight lines.
Never understood the allure of cock fighting, but it does seem to be popular in rural parts of Asia.
Thanks for those insights on Hindu/Buddhist notions of time and life’s journey. I don’t know much about either religion, but do their similarities derive from a common foundation (like Catholics and Protestants), or is it just a coincidence?
Kavanaugh has been one of my favorites for a long time. I learned of his former Priesthood long after I became a fan of his poems. But yes, your past and how you were raised are often reflected in your creative outputs. You might enjoy his My Easy God Is Gone poem. Similarly, I’ve always been a fan of Joni Mitchell’s poetic lyrics. She is one of the better songwriters of my generation (although these days, I have to ignore her politics).
It seems I’ve been going in circles my whole life–my fuck ups aren’t always the same, but they rhyme.
Me neither; never been to one and never want to go. But they have cockfighting arenas scattered throughout the area where I live. And on my hikes I’ve passed several huge rooster farms where those birds are raised to be cocks.
I don’t know much about either religion, but do their similarities derive from a common foundation (like Catholics and Protestants), or is it just a coincidence?
Common foundation. Buddhism arose out of a Hindu/Brahmanic milieu, so it shares certain basic concepts and assumptions about how the universe works. That said, Buddhism also subverts some of those basic concepts (like karma and dharma, for instance) and reworks them from the inside out. See here for a Hinduism-versus- Buddhism discussion of rebirth/reincarnation.
That reminds of an old riddle:
Q: What does a redneck Hindu believe in?
A: Reintarnation.
The relationship between Hinduism and Buddhism is reminiscent of the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. Not an exact parallel, but there are thematic similarities.
Sorry:
That reminds ME of an old riddle.
As a former resident of the Great State of Arkansas, my reaction to your joke was, “What in tarnation does that mean?” When I first moved there I was told that Arkansas is like heaven…because no one immigrates there.
Thanks for the additional religious info and insights. I’ve got your old post queued up and ready for a re-read.