Thoughts of a pompous blowhard, from the ridiculous to the sublime, with a touch of the profane. I write these down throughout the year, making a note of the date and time, mostly to use as .sig. lines in my gmail account. The complexities of life should not be reduced to pithy one-liners, yet the urge is irresistible. I hope you find something here that speaks to you.

For a great definition of 'bloviate,' see:
http://xrl.us/t4gq

So much success depends on taking appropriate action with available resources.
-- 1/08/2006, 2:48 p.m.

Eventually one wearies of the charms of irony.
-- 1/10/2006, 10:29 a.m.

Inspiration is essentially a selfish act, and that’s as it should be. If we only acted on our finer impulses because of their predicted effect on others, we’d never get started because we could never determine for certain whether we’d get what we wanted out of that deal. You can’t control other people’s reaction to what inspires you; you have to act on it because it feels right to you, for you alone, in the moment before you take action.
-- 1/12/2006, 3:13 a.m.; revised, 2/17/2006, 10:13 p.m.

God is a creation of the ego, and the typical politician is a crook. Therefore, the God-fearing politician is the most selfish and vain hypocrite of all, since he justifies his crimes by wrapping their filth within the twin shrouds of the Bible and the flag.
-- 1/14/2006, 11:58 AM

I think words should be appropriated and then stolen back as often as possible. That way, no one gets the upper hand on manipulating with words. Language is one of the few examples of a truly free-enterprise market.
-- 1/20/2006, 9:36 AM

The only thing I expect of life is that it be enigmatic. In that, it has never failed me.
-- 2/2/2006, 12:24 a.m.

It’s not the time spent, it’s the time spent enjoying.
--2/8/2006, 4:04 a.m.

Each day presents us with a blank template. Upon that template we can reveal greatness, mediocrity, or despair in any proportion. Aspire to make as many of your days as magnificent as possible. But give yourself a day off now and then. Try to sprinkle in a few that aspire to nothing greater than pleasure.
--2/10/2006, 2:38 pm

When we are confronted with the face of evil, most of us deny what we’ve seen.
-- 2/24/2006, 11:20 p.m.

Getting a little of something done is still a lot better than getting none of it done.
-- 2/25/2006, 12:14 a.m.

I don’t hate people; I just don’t find much to like about most of you.
-- 2/25/2006, 12:16 a.m.

I tried avoidance and it didn’t work. I tried engagement and it didn’t work. I tried escapism and it didn’t work. I tried playing by the rules and it didn’t work.
What works?
I work.
Everything else is bullshit.
-- 2/25/2006, 12:17 a.m.

If you haven't got anything interesting to say, dammit, make something up.
-- 3/2/2006

Find the heroic in the mundane, and the mundane in the heroic, and you are well on your way to transcending the bullshit of life.
-- 3/4/2006, 5:34 p.m.

Don’t rest on your laurels for long, for eventually they will wither, and with them, you.
-- 3/9/2006, 10:10 p.m.

When I hear the word, “resistance,” as in, “political resistance,” my eyes start to glaze over. My mind goes, “bo-o-o-o-ring!” and I start wondering about things outside the room. Yes, I know, it’s a mental defect belying a lack of discipline. Tough shit. Ultimately, I don’t give a flying fuck about what you’re against. I want to know what you’re for. What are you willing to stand up in favor of, despite overwhelming pressure to the contrary? Persistence, not resistance, is what counts.
-- 3/10/2006, 11:47 p.m.

Celebrity is anathema to revolution. Usually.
-- 3/12/2006, 1:28 p.m.

That’s the damned thing about life. By the time you get it right, you have to leave.
-- 3/21/2006, 9:58 a.m.

I always wanted to be ahead of my time. Nowadays I'd rather just be OF my time. More satisfying, so much less demanding!
-- 4/17/2006, 6:15 a.m.


I hate this world. I wish I didn’t, but there you are. It’s the people in it. Humans ruin everything. No amount of therapy can change that. It just is. So the only way back to Eden is to create one for yourself.
-- 4/19/2006, 4:50 a.m.


War is failure: failure to communicate, failure to compromise, failure to empathize, failure to connect. There are no winners in wars, only those who get hurt worse than others. There is no trust. Borders only show us where we have failed to trust and earn trust in return. No person can be happy who is made to suffer under the tyranny of another. No tribe or nation can be happy under the tyranny of those who have robbed it of the right to live its own life.
-- 4/19/2006, 11:39 a.m.

Men over-generalize about women, and women about men. In so doing, both refuse to see their own limitations.
-- 4/30/2006, 6:00 p.m.

No one likes to think of himself as part of a cultural backwater … unless, of course, you’re INTO that sort of thing!
-- 5/2/2006

In reality, we all only listen to what’s true for us anyway.
-- 5/5/2006, 2:24 p.m.

The muse refuses to be subjugated.
-- 5/9/2006, 8:02 a.m.

Scarcity does not guarantee value, nor does ubiquity denote lack thereof.
-- 5/26/2006, 7:46 a.m.

Coffee and dark chocolate form the foundation for all civilized life.
-- 5/29/2006, 12:40 p.m.
You project what you disown.
-- 5/31/2006

The difference between bravery and arrogance? Perspective.
-- 6/3/2006, 9:20 a.m.

Sometimes the trees really are just the trees.
-- 6/5/2006, 5:01 p.m.

There's probably nothing worse you can call an old man than "stupid."
-- 6/5/2006, 5:09 p.m.

One sign of maturity: doing things that are in your best interest even when you don't "feel like it."
-- 6/5/2006, 5:13 p.m.

Love defies logic, and that's why we want it in our lives. But where there is neither love nor logic, the smart people pack up and leave.
-- 6/7/2006, 12:30 p.m.

Each of us is granted a finite number of good ideas during a lifetime. Don't let too many of yours get away.
-- 6/7/2006, 1:15 p.m.

The greatest good comes from the deepest need.
-- 6//10/2006, 10:51 a.m.

Mostly it's the little, individual problems in life that cause discomfort – don't put off dealing with them until they unionize!
-- 6/10/2006, 11:08 a.m.

No higher purpose than what it takes to feel purposeful.
-- 6/10/2006, 2:55 p.m.

Don't become the kind of person who is spoken about in half-whispers, behind his back, relegated to the secret underground tunnel of private gossip and speculation. Be a part of the human family, a not-so-secret agent for progress, one who causes others to sit up and take notice, and upon his demise, leaves a legacy that causes others to remark, with some awe, "Now there was a man."

Be more than a secret.
-- 6/14/2006, 12:00 noon

A belief is just a wish until it is proven true .
-- 6/21/2006, 2:44 p.m.

Well, I figured there were at least a few of us leaving our fifteen minutes of fame unclaimed, so I figured I'd just stand in for them. Or stand up for them. Or stand out for them.
-- 6/21/2006, 5:35 p.m.

Ultimately I am trivial. Yet, while I am here, it matters that I am here.
-- 6/22/2006, 12:05 p.m.

The way we learn what is a mistake is to live a life. If you refuse to learn from your mistakes, you will be destroyed and recycled, just as with everything in nature.
-- 6/24/2006, a.m.

There is a difference between sound and noise. Usually the difference rests on choice. Sound is what you choose to expose yourself to. Noise is what you agree to suffer through in order to get somewhere else.
-- 6/24/2006, p.m.

The problem I have with jargon and propaganda is that they grant priority to certain words over others. They are words with an agenda -- a not entirely harmless agenda.
-- 6/24/2006, 1:18 p.m.

A committed relationship can survive indefinitely without sex, but not without affection.
-- 6/27/2006, 4:50 p.m.

I consider it a great privilege and compliment to get a reply to one of my emails, for it means that not only did the recipient find my thoughts worth reading, but that she felt compelled to reply with thoughts of her own.
-- 6/28/2006, 11:22 p.m.

We all have problems in life. Just don’t develop a problem with life. Your problems are not life's fault.
-- 6/29/2006, 8:46 a.m.

Sometimes it doesn't matter who or what we blame our problems on, just as long as we do something to end the problem.
-- 6/29/2006, 11:31 a.m.

Life takes time. When we are diligent, life also gives it back.
-- 6/30/2006, 1:25 p.m.

The most outrageous contradictions stand at the crossroad where old beliefs and new possibilities intersect.
-- 7/1/2006, 2:38 p.m.

Do you owe any duty to the past? Only this: either to remember it as accurately as possible, or to forget it as completely as possible. Mindful restraint or mindless abandon: the former path leads to wisdom; the latter path leads to bliss. This is one of the few absolute rules that I absolutely trust.
-- 7/6/2006, 8:14 p.m.

Confusion precedes competence.
-- 7/7/2006, 9:54 a.m.

You spend a lifetime perfecting your technical skills so that the voice of the infinite can speak through you more clearly, more accurately, more efficiently, and more comprehensively – more completely – and in doing so, you become a voice of the infinite. It's really a neat trick. Serve the stars, and in return, you become one.
-- 7/8/2006, 12:41 p.m.

Brilliance in any endeavor comes through dedicated application, until you reach the point where there's no evidence of effort.
That's where I'm headed.
-- 7/8/2006, 12:44 p.m.


I'll say it again, because I know it's true :
There's only one God, and that's the God in you.
-- 7/11/2006, 1:34 p.m.

When all else fails, you can always stall for time by picking your teeth.
-- 7/12/2006, 5:02 p.m.

I'm not really sure what changed. All I know is that at some point, I stopped asking "why" and started asking "how." I realized that the "why" was unsolvable, but that the "how" at least provided a forum for useful inquiry. My questioning felt less futile and more productive.
-- 7/12/2006, 5:39 p.m.

People are nice because they should be. People are kind because they want to be.
-- 7/13/2006, 7:58 a.m. (waking up)

Be here now because it's all you've got.
-- 7/13/2006, 8:23 a.m.

There are many ways to show appreciation. I tend to think of sex as the most deniable, and the least reliable.
-- 7/13/2006, 8:50 a.m.

Try to approach your creativity with the attitude of an eighteen year old kid who hasn't seen everything on the block and doesn't know every effect in the book. Look at your muse through the eyes of someone like that, and you will be able to reach him and perhaps even change his life.
You might even come up with something brand-new that changes your own.
-- 7/16/2006, 1:02 p.m.

Everyone's smart at something … even it it's just at being dumb!
-- 7/16/2006, 6:45 p.m.

Do you ever walk into a room and go, "Wow. Everything in this room is here because of someone's two thumbs?"
-- 7/17/2006, 10:31 a.m.

You can't be driven by anything but desire.
-- 7/24/2006, 7:56 a.m.

The process of life review via one's belongings is tremendous and I think most of us wait until far too late in life to accomplish that feat.
-- 7/25/2006, 9:36 a.m.

The longer your game, the likelier your victory.
-- 7/25/2006, 10:18 a.m.

All the best stories are tales of transformation.
-- 7/25/2006, 10:18 a.m.

Once you stop feeling desperate, you see how whatever you thought you needed doesn't hold up. It's an amazing and freeing way to live.
-- 8/4/2006, 4:00 a.m.

What do you do with your grief not for someone who is already dead, but for the living and what they yet could be?
-- 8/10/2006, 9:01 a.m.

Be wary of those who deal in surfaces.
Be doubly wary of those who extend that from the professional arena to the personal.
-- 8/18/2006, 3:22 p.m.

The more self-esteem you have, the less willing you are to spend your time, energy, or money on unworthy causes.
-- 8/19/2006, 9:39 a.m.

So what is a "worthy cause"?
Any cause can be shown up to be a sham, or a false god.
Some people say that love is the only thing worth dying for. Others say that it's all that there really is. I say, the universe doesn't care about your love. The universe is good at providing feedback, and those who are deluded somehow misinterpret that as love. Don't be fooled.
-- 8/19/2006, 10:22 a.m.

Anyone who has led a full and vibrant life can be described in terms that would make polite society cringe.
-- 8/22/2006, 1:29 a.m.

I'm not a gay man, but I play one in real life.
-- 8/25/2006, 10:23 p.m.

I don't compete. I star.
-- 8/29/2006, 11:16 p.m.

Value is singular; values are plural. When you add up in others' lives, you increase both your value and your values. Win-win.
-- 9/12/2006, 7:39 p.m.

Whenever you face a choice between essence and marketing, go for essence.
-- 9/16/2006, 1:05 p.m.

Most problems in life are spiritual problems.
If something is troubling you, look to yourself for the source of trouble.
-- 9/25/2006, 2:55 p.m.

Acolytes, like cult leaders, always pursue a personal agenda in the name of a greater good. Some are better at hiding it than others.
Some can even hide it from themselves. But that does not mean that it does not exist -- and it will emerge under duress.
The more aggressively an acolyte seeks you, the higher your suspicion of their motives should be.
-- 10/3/2006, 1:37 p.m.

It's not my intelligence that makes me more successful than some people. It's my willingness to learn new things.
-- 10/23/2006, 6:05 p.m.

If it's comfort you seek, then walk a measured pace … because everything is one step away from chaos.
-- 10/30/2006, 11:39 p.m.

It's a drag to be a mystic when your vision's realistic.
-- 11/10/2006, 7:25 a.m.

Own your history or be owned by it.
-- 11/15/2006, 3:57 p.m.

If you don't like the reality you've been stuck with, then go write a better one.
-- 11/16/2006, 12:06 p.m.

Women's liberation has been misconstrue d often to signify permission to engage in the kinds of oafish, gaudy, and tasteless displays of vulgarity previously confined to the markedly less intelligent male species.
-- 12/2/2006, 12:45 p.m.

Try to be engaged rather than just entertained. There is a world of difference.
-- 12/13/2006, 9:36 a.m.

The more you live outside of integrity, the more likely that you attribute authenticity to a performance."
-- 12/17/2006, evening

I do believe that dreams come true , but they tend to be more like fractured fairy tales.
-- 12/21/2006, 11:26 a.m.

If we fully understood how much trouble it would be to accomplish something worthwhile, we'd probably never start.
-- 12/24/2006, 9:35 a.m.

My goal is to make a small imprint and leave a big impact.
-- 12/24/2006, 9:38 a.m.

Regarding the existence of an afterlife: Sure, it's possible, but I see no reason to jump to conclusions.
-- 12/26/2006, 8:00 a.m.

Art will cut thru all the crap of life. This I know for sure.
-- 12/29/2006, 9:28 p.m.

I'm pretty much for real. I don't have time to do more than one of me.
-- 12/29/2006, 10-ish p.m.