I think you are a lot better writer than you give yourself credit for. Of course I'm not much of a writer myself, and I've had 30 more years than you to get there! You do know how to tell a good story, and it's obvious that you've read a lot.
Heh, I used to read a lot, but sometimes in my late 20s I just kinda stopped. I still read the occasional book, but mostly its just listening to lectures or pods. But hey, I will take all the credit I can get. Thanks!
Also you got me thinking so I looked it up. I could have sworn it was shoe, like "putting your foot down" or horse shoes... I think my government cheese is showing 😄 this line was good though "Don't put your foot in your mouth — remember that a shoo-in is sure to win." 🫡
For the longest time when I was a kid I thought Richard Nixon and Ed Sullivan were the same person. It didn't seem strange to me apparently that a former president once had a tv show. I think this is where my problems began. :D
That's a great piece, funny yet poignant at times. Thanks for sharing.
(A little side note - my substack is in dark mode and the black font choice for the headers for each year was not readable unfortunately. Same for the likes/dislikes).
Nice! its things like that that made me even get interested in doing it. I wanted to see what the platform could do, and what it couldn't. Didn't even think about darkmode. Images also resize funny, and do give an option for directional cropping. I know no one really cares about how things look, its the words. But I know more about making things pretty than I know about making sense. :D thanks for taking a look!
After the election the Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future.
To be entrusted with power again Democrats must start listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their disdain for many of the insane positions advocated by my party.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
They believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men in a vain effort to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior. No you can’t camp in this city. No you can’t shit in our streets. No you can’t shoot up and leave your used needles everywhere. Many of our prosecutors will not take action against shoplifting unless a $1000 of goods are stolen leading to gangs destroying retail stores. They release criminals without bond to rob and murder again.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.
I’m can confirm that you understand people, because I understand people and I can see from this peice that we have our fingers on the same pulse of the American electorate. We also think in a lot of similar terms - today’s team blue is indeed the same as the late 90s/early aughts team red.
I mean its possible it is just my memory, or it was my age at the time. But to me the political people knew when in doubt, don't wake up the normies. If you start jabbing your fingers into my day-to-day, give the loud moron at work something to bitch about, or otherwise harshing my buzz, I am going to have to get involved. It's like with kids; go tie your brother to a tree, set shit on fire, play with sharp stuff, but if the volume gets high enough to be heard over my Soaps... dat ass, gonna get got. :D
It’s the same righteous delusion of being 100% morally ineffable. The sources of that theoretical ineffability come from different places on the right and left - the right, from God, the left, from Science and the (supposed) certainty of being totally factually correct. Regardless, that feeling that you are so totally, obviously right, and only backwards knuckledraggers could disagree with you - it’ll always lead to the same mistakes.
You’re correct to point out that, even back in the 90s, there were Republicans who were saying, “we’re leaning way too hard on this God stuff”. We’re finally starting to see some of that on the left now, but I gotta admit, the current left seems uniquely stubborn in learning from its mistakes.
Any time you give morally flexible, control hungry people a source of "truth" or "authority" to point to for justification, its gonna be a mess. Like the hall monitor in grade school, it really amplifies their already present tendency to boss people about. Unearned power is just about the worst thing there is in my opinion.
Well they did earn it in their eyes though, didn’t they? They got the good grades, they got into good schools, they got the degrees, the titles, the credentials - you name it, they did it. At least, the Thought Leaders did. They perused all the hallmarks and institutions of our ostensible meritocracy, they just managed to learn all the wrong lessons from it.
Much like being an asshole, its not up to the person to decide whether they are one or not. :D You can tell when you have earned something because it cost you something to get it. If it wasn't hard to put hands on something powerful, chances are you are in above your head. Idk, its a washy area to be sure. I mean at least running for president is a process that makes most folks age a decade in less than a year. But both with Bush 2 and Kamala, that pain was significantly lessened. But I am just spitballing here.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. It feels like a lot to me and I wondered if people would get bored half way through. How long did it take you to get through it all?
lol, boy I must read really slow. :D I have heard folks say "sad" or something similar, but I don't think I was trying to be purposely gloomy anywhere. What was sad to you? I don't have a good barometer for this kind of thing I think.
Let me clarify. You didn’t come off as sad. I just felt sad reading some of the alcoholic parts of the beginnings of your story. Like I said, it sounded familiar.
Roger that. Maybe I talk about drinking too flippantly. I had a slew of professional alcoholics in my family, and by comparison my drinking habits are rather pedestrian. I have gone months without the stuff and hardly noticed, but when times get lean, or I am totally without distraction I can walk that line pretty sloppily. Thanks for the feedback!
I was unaware of that miracle device for the bulk of my life. Hazard orange is like a bug light to me, I can't help it. One day at harbor freight while buying something totally unrelated I saw it poking it's little orange head out of a bin. I think it was like $8. For me it's basically like a "man-rattle". When ever I am messing around on the truck and a rusty bolt or bent panel is giving me fits, instead of grabbing my mini sledge and destroying the problem, I grab that. It not only loosens shit up, but it has this tuning fork type feeling in my mind. Fixes the problem and let's me blow out the lines. Best $8 I spent that year by far 😁 Also I was so confused, was like "where in that giant screed did I mention that hammer?!" 😅
Lol - That I am aware of, the hammer was never mentioned. It was in the photo you posted with your book. I'm that bird who sees every little shiny item in it's surrounds. The hammer, because of it's color, stood out. I've had a very exhausting day, the hammer may have just done the trick, to block every little (big) thing, out of my busy mind.
Oh it is GREAT for that. The dull thud of it slamming into just about anything is very much a therapeutic. Do yourself a favor and grab one, if only to occasionally what a tree or the ground with it.
Lol - That I am aware of, the hammer was never mentioned. It was in the photo you posted with your book. I'm that bird who sees every little shiny item in it's surrounds. The hammer, because of it's color, stood out. I've had a very exhausting day, the hammer may have just done the trick, to block every little (big) thing, out of my busy mind.
Much appreciated. I think it's good being a "not for everyone" person on here. Cause you know the people giving things a look have made it past that particular hurdle and read more than the headline. 😁
The thing for me I think is I know I have antibodies for a rogue red team, idk wtf to do with a rogue blue team. The devil you know or some such. They just need a break I think, and to find some real injustices to fight instead of imagined or exaggerated ones. That's what they are for IMO.
I think you are a lot better writer than you give yourself credit for. Of course I'm not much of a writer myself, and I've had 30 more years than you to get there! You do know how to tell a good story, and it's obvious that you've read a lot.
Heh, I used to read a lot, but sometimes in my late 20s I just kinda stopped. I still read the occasional book, but mostly its just listening to lectures or pods. But hey, I will take all the credit I can get. Thanks!
"...When someone says they are saving you from something, that someone is the something...."
You have a gift, my friend -- this is a laugh out loud line....(amongst many many other good ones.)
Lol I get confused about this app allot, but this was targeted at you https://cluis.substack.com/p/i-took-the-bait/comment/77348609?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7esz7 idk if that link will even work 😅 thanks all the same!
I thought the same thing lol!
This is the most awesome thing I have read in a while.
Aww, thank you water bear, I admire your resilience and pointy little fingers! 🫡
Okay you got me.
This is just nuts (in a good way.)
If self-disparagement was an Olympic Event—and you weren’t shit-faced for the finals—you’d be a shoo in for the Gold.
Or is it shoe in ? I never wrote it out before…
The Shohei of personal gaslighting. 😁
Also you got me thinking so I looked it up. I could have sworn it was shoe, like "putting your foot down" or horse shoes... I think my government cheese is showing 😄 this line was good though "Don't put your foot in your mouth — remember that a shoo-in is sure to win." 🫡
Ed Sullivan used to say “Tonight we have a really big SHOO”
For the longest time when I was a kid I thought Richard Nixon and Ed Sullivan were the same person. It didn't seem strange to me apparently that a former president once had a tv show. I think this is where my problems began. :D
Lol!!!! I remember.
Good writing. Do more.
Much appreciated. Any suggestions? I get grumpy / excited about a lot of things but I assume the vast majority of it is not something people are into.
That's a great piece, funny yet poignant at times. Thanks for sharing.
(A little side note - my substack is in dark mode and the black font choice for the headers for each year was not readable unfortunately. Same for the likes/dislikes).
Nice! its things like that that made me even get interested in doing it. I wanted to see what the platform could do, and what it couldn't. Didn't even think about darkmode. Images also resize funny, and do give an option for directional cropping. I know no one really cares about how things look, its the words. But I know more about making things pretty than I know about making sense. :D thanks for taking a look!
I care about things looking pretty!
The black on dark mode is like eigengrau right? Not like black black? Gotta find the toggle to turn it on for testing prolly.
I wouldn't know the difference TBH. Looks black to me. :)
Alrighty! I updated some images, take a look and lemme know what you think. :D
Look good. Like the new images! Checking at night with the noir theme
I don't like dark mode things. Hard to read.
Got mentioned in Firehose Roundup ;)
I blame you snek... I blame you! 😅 Well, and Nancy. She is always trying to get me to be less self deprecating 🫡
I didn’t vote:
After the election the Democratic Party (my party) must rethink many of its policies as it ponders its future.
To be entrusted with power again Democrats must start listening to the concerns of the working class for a change. As a lifelong moderate Democrat I share their disdain for many of the insane positions advocated by my party.
Democrat politicians defy biology by believing that men can actually become women and belong in women’s sports, rest rooms, locker rooms and prisons and that children should be mutilated in pursuit of the impossible.
They believe borders should be open to millions of illegals which undermines workers’ wages and the affordability of housing when we can’t house our own citizens.
They discriminate against whites, Asians and men in a vain effort to counter past discrimination against others and undermine our economy by abandoning merit selection of students and employees.
Democratic mayors allow homelessness to destroy our beautiful cities because they won't say no to destructive behavior. No you can’t camp in this city. No you can’t shit in our streets. No you can’t shoot up and leave your used needles everywhere. Many of our prosecutors will not take action against shoplifting unless a $1000 of goods are stolen leading to gangs destroying retail stores. They release criminals without bond to rob and murder again.
The average voter knows this is happening and outright reject our party. Enough.
XXX
That was totally rad, thank you! I also think of them as teams red and blue, and I laughed at the "ick factor" line--I too am not for everyone. 😘
I’m can confirm that you understand people, because I understand people and I can see from this peice that we have our fingers on the same pulse of the American electorate. We also think in a lot of similar terms - today’s team blue is indeed the same as the late 90s/early aughts team red.
I mean its possible it is just my memory, or it was my age at the time. But to me the political people knew when in doubt, don't wake up the normies. If you start jabbing your fingers into my day-to-day, give the loud moron at work something to bitch about, or otherwise harshing my buzz, I am going to have to get involved. It's like with kids; go tie your brother to a tree, set shit on fire, play with sharp stuff, but if the volume gets high enough to be heard over my Soaps... dat ass, gonna get got. :D
It’s the same righteous delusion of being 100% morally ineffable. The sources of that theoretical ineffability come from different places on the right and left - the right, from God, the left, from Science and the (supposed) certainty of being totally factually correct. Regardless, that feeling that you are so totally, obviously right, and only backwards knuckledraggers could disagree with you - it’ll always lead to the same mistakes.
You’re correct to point out that, even back in the 90s, there were Republicans who were saying, “we’re leaning way too hard on this God stuff”. We’re finally starting to see some of that on the left now, but I gotta admit, the current left seems uniquely stubborn in learning from its mistakes.
Any time you give morally flexible, control hungry people a source of "truth" or "authority" to point to for justification, its gonna be a mess. Like the hall monitor in grade school, it really amplifies their already present tendency to boss people about. Unearned power is just about the worst thing there is in my opinion.
Well they did earn it in their eyes though, didn’t they? They got the good grades, they got into good schools, they got the degrees, the titles, the credentials - you name it, they did it. At least, the Thought Leaders did. They perused all the hallmarks and institutions of our ostensible meritocracy, they just managed to learn all the wrong lessons from it.
Much like being an asshole, its not up to the person to decide whether they are one or not. :D You can tell when you have earned something because it cost you something to get it. If it wasn't hard to put hands on something powerful, chances are you are in above your head. Idk, its a washy area to be sure. I mean at least running for president is a process that makes most folks age a decade in less than a year. But both with Bush 2 and Kamala, that pain was significantly lessened. But I am just spitballing here.
Thoroughly enjoyed this read. Keep writing.
I really appreciate you taking the time to read it. It feels like a lot to me and I wondered if people would get bored half way through. How long did it take you to get through it all?
Maybe 5-10 minutes? You struck a chord that resonated with me. Authentic, funny, candid and sad at times, but captivating. I enjoyed it all.
lol, boy I must read really slow. :D I have heard folks say "sad" or something similar, but I don't think I was trying to be purposely gloomy anywhere. What was sad to you? I don't have a good barometer for this kind of thing I think.
Let me clarify. You didn’t come off as sad. I just felt sad reading some of the alcoholic parts of the beginnings of your story. Like I said, it sounded familiar.
Roger that. Maybe I talk about drinking too flippantly. I had a slew of professional alcoholics in my family, and by comparison my drinking habits are rather pedestrian. I have gone months without the stuff and hardly noticed, but when times get lean, or I am totally without distraction I can walk that line pretty sloppily. Thanks for the feedback!
I can also relate to that lol!
Waste of time….
100% agree! I tried to make that clear up front, but maybe my writing fails even there 😁
Wow - May I borrow that dead-blow hammer, please?
I was unaware of that miracle device for the bulk of my life. Hazard orange is like a bug light to me, I can't help it. One day at harbor freight while buying something totally unrelated I saw it poking it's little orange head out of a bin. I think it was like $8. For me it's basically like a "man-rattle". When ever I am messing around on the truck and a rusty bolt or bent panel is giving me fits, instead of grabbing my mini sledge and destroying the problem, I grab that. It not only loosens shit up, but it has this tuning fork type feeling in my mind. Fixes the problem and let's me blow out the lines. Best $8 I spent that year by far 😁 Also I was so confused, was like "where in that giant screed did I mention that hammer?!" 😅
Lol - That I am aware of, the hammer was never mentioned. It was in the photo you posted with your book. I'm that bird who sees every little shiny item in it's surrounds. The hammer, because of it's color, stood out. I've had a very exhausting day, the hammer may have just done the trick, to block every little (big) thing, out of my busy mind.
Blessings ~
Oh it is GREAT for that. The dull thud of it slamming into just about anything is very much a therapeutic. Do yourself a favor and grab one, if only to occasionally what a tree or the ground with it.
Lol - That I am aware of, the hammer was never mentioned. It was in the photo you posted with your book. I'm that bird who sees every little shiny item in it's surrounds. The hammer, because of it's color, stood out. I've had a very exhausting day, the hammer may have just done the trick, to block every little (big) thing, out of my busy mind.
Blessings ~
Much appreciated. I think it's good being a "not for everyone" person on here. Cause you know the people giving things a look have made it past that particular hurdle and read more than the headline. 😁
It's funny, I say it all the time, but writing it out and reading it made it sound broken to me 😅 maybe I needed italics or something 🤔
The thing for me I think is I know I have antibodies for a rogue red team, idk wtf to do with a rogue blue team. The devil you know or some such. They just need a break I think, and to find some real injustices to fight instead of imagined or exaggerated ones. That's what they are for IMO.
Btw, I can't believe you made it that far. Best compliment I have gotten all day 😅
That line stood out for me also.