The Abandonment of Reason Season

I hereby declare the seasonal holiday madness over as of today. It's time to get back to what passes for "normal" on this best of all possible worlds. I usually manage to ignore the mass lunacy that permeates the atmosphere (not unlike the full moon) from late November through year's end but this year the frenetic vibes really got to me. Mark Twain once said, "The less there is to justify a traditional custom the harder it is to get rid of it." 




In "Hamlet," Marcellus says,

Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes

Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,

The bird of dawning singeth all night long.

And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad.

The nights are wholesome. Then no planets strike, 

No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,

So hallowed and so gracious is that time.

How charmingly innocent. Today the bird of commerce singeth twenty-four seven...but my fear and loathing is not restricted to the commercialization of Jesus' B-day (and other "special days" invented by Hallmark and the florist cartel). It's more about the mindless adherence to custom. Our country is in peril, the rich are running the show, and way too many people actually give a shit who wins a brutal gladiatorial contest between muscle-bound meatheads. The environment is being stressed to the breaking point while "news" channels cover "American Idol" as though it actually merited serious reporting. 

Attention, shoppers and sleepwalkers: wake the fuck up and look around you. There's more to life than mindless conformity. And the clock is ticking.

A songwriter friend once closed one of his compositions with these lines: To make a song is all I mean to do/To fill the hours until the night has passed away/It’s like the day was never coming…