When's the last time you went to the beach?

The surf was just teeming with thousands of little sea-creatures, from sand-fleas to those little shells that bury themselves to scores of dark flitting things that fled your feet almost in the blink of an eye. There were sea turtle nests on the beach, protected by stakes and high-vis plastic ribbons, and while we were there someone found a hatchling and took it to the sea.

We were making a sand castle, digging the moat, and when the tide washed in I saw this tiny little fish, about the length of the word "fish", and half as wide, stuck in the moat, trying to swim out. He was black along the top, and his sides were the flashy brightness of chrome. We tried to get him out of the moat, but he was so small that it took forever, and him just laying there, not being able to breathe in the depleted tide pool. Eventually, after having managed to get him in hand, I figured if he wasn't already dead , that his luck was in, and I threw him into the tide.

I have finally, after years of off-and-on trying, discovered that I can float on my back in the water. I rode the waves for a while.
And, since I am officially old, I had myself buried in the sand. The twins were very helpful to their mother--one threw a handful of sand in my face, and the other, half a bucket of cold salt water. All that was left would be for someone to throw some fire on me, and I would have been the melting pot of the classic Elements.

psst--don't tell nobody, but...

I couldn't give a tin shit what other people say about piracy, and the badness of file-sharing, but there is nothing I like better for helping me to get rid of those fucking songs you wake up with in your head. That way you don't have to request it, or even wait to see if the radio will play. Just search for it on your favorite fileshare, and then download it, and play it until you are sick of it, and then you should be spared of its presence for the rest of the day.

I also have a major issue with music copyright notice. It seems to me that they want to control how many people can listen to their music. The incidences of "tallking up" songs on the radio have increased to the level of near insanity. (Talking up is where the DJ yaks through the intro to the song, and the only real reason for it is to stop home recording of the song) Where will this end? You take a friend to your house, you're hanging out, and then you remeber to show them this awesome album you've bought, but the moment you start spinning it, some dude busts in and wants to see your friend's Listening License for it? I think record companies should concentrate their money-making on live concerts, but instead of charging poor souls a left nut for the front seats, they should just show more shows. Let the radio stations pay more for the access to the songs, and then charge more for ad spots, and maybe cut back on some of the payola.

It's like a book. I buy a book and loan it to a friend. Once friend reads it, it's in their mind indefinitely, a permanent fixture. If their memory is anything like mine, they will remember bits and pieces of what they've read, those parts that stay with them, for the rest of their lives. And it seems to me like to music industry is only trying in desperation to control those parts of the industry that should remain free and intangible. Any artist who supports this attack on art--hell, ANYBODY who does--is in my book telling me that I am no longer free to enjoy the finer things in life. Do you see Arlo Guthrie wheeling in reams of paper against America becasue he heard some kiddy show play "This Land is Your Land"? Did Bocephus bust down the church doors and demand that "I Saw the Light" be removed from hymnals until someone coughs up green to help get him the money his father squandered in life?

Who the hell are these people that they tell us that music is only about money?
It is art, even if only a base portion of it at times. It represents a lifestyle, and a part of that lifestyle is freedom of expression, and freedom to enjoy life where you find it, bot the freedom to pay out the ass for CDs, for concerts, and freedom to be bombarded by overzealous idiotic sponsors to make up for the costs of being able to listen to the hottest new music for free.

Viva piracy!

If I made a career out of music, what I would want most from that career would be lasting memory of the work I did, not a fat bankroll. Any band starts out with the desire to be heard, to have their name in lights on the marquee, and in the hearts and minds of the people. Money is just some sick addiction that the labels throw on to keep the bands hooked to them.

tell no one, Chief Thunder, but I think I'm going insane...

42.
How to reconcile ourselves with this, which is as good an answer as we're likely to ever be given.
I know Lonita hates it, but being obtuse is something I do more for my own amusement than anything else. I like to make me laugh--I think I need cheering up sometimes; and, besides, if you can't make yourself happy, who the hell can?
The Tiger understands my madnesses, and she not only indulges them, but embraces them.
Yes. This entry isn't Pi, but it's definitely a code, a small piece of something that in the grand scheme, at this moment, is even smaller: my life.
Yes. (an affirmation) I am weird--strange, mad, nuts, a cracker gone crackers, to pardon the Southern pun. (get theee to a punnery)