“A word to the wise is infuriating.”
-Hunter S. Thompson-
Gravity and Politics
or Borrowing Some Life Advice from the Tick
Politics is a lot like gravity. They both have a weight that may not be noticeable most of time but can be damn near unbearable some of the time. You can ignore both but you do so at your own peril. You may have an understanding of how both work but don’t really understand why they work, they just are. You may be thinking this is an interesting but what kind of advice can be taken from this comparison. The advice I have is borrowed from the creation of Ben Edlund.
These three points comparing gravity to politics got me thinking about a line from the Tick, one of the great underrated comic book heroes of the 80s. The nigh-invulnerable hero said, “Gravity is a harsh mistress.” If you know the Tick you have an idea of what kind of situation lead to this statement (if you don’t know who the Tick is it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if you left now and checked him out). I don’t think the Tick would mind if I substituted politics for gravity. Politics, like gravity, can be quite harsh and knowing this is good advice. I think the Tick would also add, “Spoon!”
-K-
Four Line Blues Poems
“14”
Any trouble I borrowed I now own. Been left for empty. Ain't gonna Save face trying for sorrow. A lying goodbye tomorrow.
-K-
When others borrow on your reputation you’ll seldom see a positive return.
-K-
Authors on Borrowing
Six Bits of Wisdom to Borrow
- “Neither a borrower nor lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend.” -William Shakespeare-
- “The human species, according to the best theory I can form of it, is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow and the men who lend.” -Charles Lamb-
- “Acquaintance (n). A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.” -Ambrose Bierce-
- “To forget, or pretend to do so, to return a borrowed article, is the meanest sort of petty theft.” -Samuel Johnson-
- “Borrow trouble for yourself, if that is your nature, but don’t lend it to your neighbours.” -Rudyard Kipling-
- “Sure, I have friends, plenty of friends, and they’ll all come around wantin’ to borrow money. I’ve always been generous with my friends and family, with money, but selfish with the important stuff like love.” -Richard Pryor-
-K-
Some Thoughts on Borrowing
and What We Pay Back
What do we borrow? Money will come to mind for most of us. If we haven’t borrowed money directly we’ve borrowed it in the form of car notes, mortgages, student loans, and other various lines of credit. But we borrow so much more throughout our lives than just money. We borrow time, favors, circumstances, and so many other things both tangible and intangible. We’re a society of borrowers, but what do we pay back?
We pay interest on the money we borrow but what about the intangibles? What do we pay back on borrowed time or a friend’s good name? We’ve all borrowed. What do pay for that privilege?
-K-
The Return of Coffee Shop Hours
or Drinking Subpar Coffee on Fridays
Most of us have routines and rituals. One of mine is to spend an hour or so every Friday after work at the local bookstore’s café with a book and a cup of coffee. I’ve been going back there for last few Fridays now that the café is open to full capacity. Now that I’ve fallen back into that welcome routine I’ve discovered two things.
The first thing I discovered is that a few moments alone (even in a crowded café) to decompress with a good book before heading home is invaluable. That hour or so allows me to leave work worries at one place before heading to the next. The second is that the coffee at the café sucks. They offer a passable brew, but a year of lockdowns had me experimenting with a variety of excellent brews and now I recognize that the coffee at several places I frequent is not good (and that’s a polite assessment). I don’t plan on changing my Friday routine (I value my coffee shops hours too much) but I’m wondering if I should try to sneak in my own coffee (hip flask in the movie theater style) and just leave a bigger tip.
-K-
You Can’t Fake Passion
At Least Not for Long
This is a follow up, a build, a clarification if you will to my last post. I still stand by the sentiment of that post, but I may have come off as a comic book snob. Maybe I am a bit of a snob when it comes to what I read but most people who take reading seriously usually are (or at least they should be).
In my last post I wrote that some people don’t really read comic books but what does that mean? All too often I’ve seen people read comic books simply because of the title (or title character) with no regard to who the writers and artists are, or they will read a title simply because a particular writer or artist is involved. Unfortunately there are too many writers/artists out there who have no real passion for the books and characters they are working on. These writers/artists may be looking to build a reputation, cross off an item on a bucket list, or have some other motive for involving themselves with a title. The one thing they do not bring to the title is passion. They may fake it for an issue or few but a close reading reveals a certain shallowness, no depth of character or story. No one can read a book that isn’t the result of the writer’s and artist’s passion.
When I tell somebody they haven’t really read a comic book it may be that they haven’t read a book that was written by somebody who was truly passionate about the title and the characters. Hell, maybe I need to tell people that they need to be a little more selective about their comic book choices, to be a bit snobbish. Then they will be able to read a comic book.
-K-
When people tell me they’ve outgrown comic books I like to tell them they’ve never really read comic books.
-K-
