VENICE, CALIFORNIA, 1981-1982

Toward the end of 1981, Jill and I, having been recently married, left Austin for the bigger pond of Los Angeles. She flew there free via DHL; I was to follow after on the Lunar Cycle, a Triumph Bonneville. Lunar only made it to Pole Number 14, 8 miles east of Harper, Texas. I took the Greyhound.


This is the city; Los Angeles, California, and I'm not Friday. It's the city of Lights and dazzled I's; the city of a million answers looking for a question; where women dress grotesquely to insulate themselves from the chill wind of the practiced line; where cocaine is a second currency, and rich impotent cokeheads call callgirls just to share their snow; city of the absurdity of all logical extremes.
Insanity is there for the taking; fortunately, it is optional. Insanity provides income for the sane and enterprising. It provides insights and examples for the thoughtful student of society. It supplies a counterpoint to the conservative reactionary, urging the intelligent toward a reasonable center.
Whenever the logical extreme is visible, it hastens change; the search for a viable alternative. Like high voltage and atomic power, Los Angeles can be used for good as well as ill.
--captain rat, March 15, 1982

Repetitious rhythm is the essence of the act of love,
which poetry is always, conciously or unconciously,
trying to simulate.
--Yeats

Nobody sees the ordinary until it is too late.
--James Joyce

Impregnate pauses; sanctify clauses.
___________________
Eat me, said the bread.
Eat me, said the cheese.
So I ate until they were gone.
Eat me, said the woman.
So I ate until she came.
And then, the Universe said Eat me.
So I looked inside myself, and found that I had.
--captainrat

The best fins in the world would do a camel no good.
--Asimov


Two men were on a train. What's in the basket? said one.
A mongoose, to eat the snakes.
What snakes?
When I drink a lot, I see snakes.
But those are imaginary snakes.
Yes, I know. And this is an imaginary mongoose.
This is the essence of both psychiatry and religion.



SIGNS
Curb your dogmatism.
Missing points shall be returned to their owner.
Inquire within.


Women don't have to worry about getting bald.
--Jan Horne, Austin, Texas


You can have your liver, and eat it too.
--Portnoy


Say the magic word and the Duck will come down and give you $100.
--Marx


Every string which has one end also has another end.
--Finagle


You must take the bull by the tail and look the facts in the face.
--W.C. Fields


Everything which is not compulsory is forbidden.
--The Mgt.


Have we a hold on Reality, while They do not?
Reality uses vaseline: 'Twill come off in your hand,
Leaving you to wipe it on your genes.


The only truly maladaptive behaviour is that which brings no joy.


Much that is enlightening is done in the dark.


Life is a deep, deep well, if you can dig it.
Life is a mystic number, if you can digit.


Fate's fickle finger writes, and, having written, moves past.
Only then do you know if it has goosed you in passing.


Man the ramparts--they're running rampant!
Raise the ramps; raze the tramps!
The ram parts are in the ewe parts!
The Tramps are on the Ramps, having T!
Send them no letters. Send them CAPS but no bills!
The Power Company will cut off their ecleticity.


I fell off a precipice into a preposition,
And found it was a 4-letter world.


The ultimate in self-fulfillment is coming into one's own.
--Onan


Image

Do we make and project our own image, or do others do it for us? No matter what we project, the image will be altered by the mind of the receptor. So, we must create the image, and then try to correct it when it is misperceived. Perhaps this is a superflous activity that stands in the way of real achievment.
Thou shalt not make graven images.
--God
What this advice may really mean is that individuals are constantly in flux; that the image, projected or self-held, that is valid one second may not be the next; that, rather than try to hold ourselves to a given self-concept with a set range of looks, action, and attitude, we should be willing to rethink at any moment what we are and what to do.
Naturally, there are constants about anyone. These tend to be very important traits, such as character, intelligence, talent, etc. But these do not stand in the way of flexibility.

Come to me, my melon-colored baby...



First Impressions of Cocaine
Interesting. I think I understand why someone doing coke might call an escort just for company. It does rather make one want to talk to somebody. But, all things considered, I'd still rather have the money it costs than the coke. It's pleasant, but it doesn't make me want to reach for my wallet and look for a dealer.
There are things I'd rather do, like make love. I don't find it easier to write while using it. In fact, it slows me down, and does nothing at all for the quality.

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