I ask but one thing of you, only one,
That always you will be my dream of you;
That never shall I wake to find untrue
All this I have believed and rested on,
Forever vanished, like a vision gone
Out into the night. Alas, how few
There are who strike in us a chord we knew
Existed, but so seldom heard its tone
We tremble at the half-forgotten sound.
The world is full of rude awakenings
And heaven-born castles shattered to the ground,
Yet still our human longing vainly clings
To a belief in beauty through all wrongs.
O stay your hand, and leave my heart its songs!
–Amy Lowell
On and on it goes, where it ends nobody knows. I woke up still breathing this morning, so I reckon that warrants sharing another installment from this journey through life.
Kicked off the morning with the Decay Dance, the first one after a two-week hiatus.
Before heading out, I’d loaded up the crockpot with a batch of beef stew. It was Swan’s idea.
Our evening journey began at It Doesn’t Matter. A couple of newbies in town asked about the Hash, so I showed them the Hash Facebook page with tomorrow’s trail location (the 13 Resort in Calapandayan). I also gave them some recon on places to eat and recommended they check out Baloy Beach and the floating bar during their visit.
After IDM, I took Swan to dinner at one of the restaurants I’d recommended, Myleen’s. Alas, they were out of birria tacos. I wonder what’s up with that? Oh, and that newbie couple showed up shortly after we arrived. That’s a small town for ya.
And then we moved on to Wet Spot. Things went wrong, and then they got worse. And for now, I’ll leave it at that. It was a good reminder to embrace the lessons of a lifetime. I’m at a point of no return, so situational awareness is a must. All I can do is hang on and hope for the best.
It is now February 2016 in the LTG archives. In this post, I share photos from the surprise gathering with the Shenanigans staff at Gino’s Pizza in Itaewon for Valentine’s Day. I’d forgotten about that good time with some good people. Sadly, sometimes it is only in looking back that you realize how grand the life you had really was.
Nine years ago, I was keeping things in perspective:
For Today’s YouTube video, let’s check in with Reekay for his take on the reasons the expat dream in the Philippines may be dying. Well, I got here well after the end of the glory days he talks about, circa 2012, but nothing much has changed since I arrived in 2018. Regardless, I ain’t going anywhere. I’m too old to start over.
My sense of humor is as impaired as it ever was:
Life is full of surprises; the best you can do is hold on and try to enjoy the ride as much as you can. Fuckin’ roller coasters.
Paraphernalia never hides your broken bones
And I don't know why
You'd want to try
It's plain to see you're on your own
Ooh, I ain't blind, no
Some folks are crazy
Others walk that borderline
Watch what you're doing
Taking downs to get off to sleep
And ups to start you on your way
After a while they'll change your style
I see it happening every day
Ooh, spare your heart
Everything put together
Sooner or later falls apart
There's nothing to it, nothing to it
And you can cry and you can lie
For all the good it'll do you, you can die
But when it's done, the police come
And they lay you down for dead
Just remember what I said
Shot in the dark, but the problems at Wet Spot were related to your infantile temper again? Color me surprised I say.
re: the Amy Lowell poem
If I understand the poem, it’s saying, “Please be my ideal of you (“dream of you”) and not some piece of shit.” By the end of the poem, the poet is so stressed out by the thought that the real “you” (whoever “you” might be) is so “unideal” that it’d be better for you not to do anything so that her dream (ideal) of you can continue in her head (“stay your hand and leave my heart its songs”). Basically, it’s the eternal female refrain to the man, “Oh, please be perfect.”
By contrast, men’s poems about women don’t usually wish for the women to be perfect; quite the opposite, men’s poems usually declare the woman is already perfect! (“…and Juliet is the sun!”) This feels a lot like the fundamental misunderstandings that bind humans together with their pets. We think we understand dogs and their loyalty, but it’s likely that dogs simply see us as bigger versions of themselves. And the running joke about cats is that owners think they own their cats, but cats think they own their people. So this poem is one-half of the man-woman misunderstanding: women want their men to be perfect while men know (or at least claim to know) their women are already perfect. And guess which side takes advantage of that misunderstanding.
I wonder what’s up with that?
Spot the error!
Things went wrong, and then they got worse.
I assume an alcohol-saturated temper was involved. I don’t think you really want to “embrace the lessons of a lifetime.” That would require work and self-discipline.
Oh, and I didn’t say “Spot the error!” for the above quote, but don’t use a comma in front of “and then.” Use a comma in front of “then.”
• He erupted with a mighty belch, then he died. (comma-then)
• He erupted with a mighty belch and then died. (no comma)
John,
There’s a reason why my own comments policy says “relevant, succinct, and civil.”
Many of the commentators on here seem to be getting heavy recently, Big John. You’re a decent bloke all things considered in the monger world so I suggest you lighten things up by telling us your favourite gogo anthems.
“Freebird” has always been apt in the refrain of “No!” in the stage’s retort of “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?” “Touch Too Much” and “Always” used to be another common track. Fifteen years or so ago it was Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face” and even MIA’s “Paper Planes” but now I have no idea. So chiming with Kiss’s “People try to take my soul away, but I don’t hear the rap (and I know you hate rap!) they all say”, what are some of the memorable gogo anthems for you, Big Boy?
Aloysius, I don’t visit gogo bars much these days. The only gogo anthem that comes to mind at the moment is, “I can make your hands clap.” The girls sometimes actually move to that one sometimes.
Kevin, I assume you are talking about that Cambodia comment. I deleted it, but I need to do better at the approval stage.
Kevin, loved your insights into the divergence of viewpoints in female-authored love poems versus those written by men. I’d never really thought of it that way before, but it does make sense.
Alright, I’m stumped. I wonder, what’s up with that. Does the comma after wonder work? How about the period instead of the question mark?
I wasn’t really angry, but I did raise my voice. I do that when I’m stone-cold sober and aggravated as well. I consider myself the victim, not the aggressor.
Thanks for the additional comma lessons. I hadn’t considered it, but I see how the comma before ‘then’ works. Although saying, “Things went wrong, and then, they got worse,” is okay, isn’t it?
Tyreese, you are a first-time commenter, and apparently, you know nothing about me. Where and when have you seen my “infantile temper” displayed?
With “I wonder” sentences, you’re declaring your state of mind, not asking a question. This is something I’ve mentioned before.
• I wonder where she is.
• I wonder how I got here, with my pants around my ankles and a puddle of piss mixed with blood on the floor.
Although saying, “Things went wrong, and then, they got worse,” is okay, isn’t it?
Making “and then” into a parenthetical expression bracketed by commas just introduces too many commas (which do mark pauses in this case). The sentence is better with no commas at all. Or take out the “and” and use only one comma, like so:
Things went wrong, then they got worse.
Kevin, oh yeah, now I remember about the question marks. I wonder why I forgot that.
Yep, I like “things went wrong, then they got worse” best.
If you are not serious to Swan, let her go, maybe someone deserve her heart, than stuck on you that full of lies and secret. And you still stuck on your nightmare from you’re past. We know you still love your wife. Why not give you’re heart a second chance with your loving wife, and be happy.
Don’t stuck you’re life that you not sure and untrue, just because you need someone in beside you, don’t use Swan as a option. Poor Swan.
Sandy, no idea what makes you think I’m not serious about Swan. And that “loving” wife you refer to dumped me more years ago than we were together. There is no going back.
Swan has chosen to be by my side, she is not an option. She is a mutual choice.