Notes From The Studonym

A New Collection of Stories~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 18:51:00 +0000

Here is the new book, currently available from Lulu Press:

This is a collection of short stories, novelettes and a few personal essays, including the novella, "The Truth Of Liarsville." In here are contemplations of a small town going down the drain in the middle of nowhere, lamentations of deadend jobs, the recipe for a new mixed drink, homage to a straying cat, ruminations of the effects of social media, the crippling American college debt system, meditation on a hangover, descriptions of backwards small town police abusing ludicrous legislation, a once lost column, a gold heist and portrait of one of the last vaudeville shows in America that takes place in the rain forest of Alaska. The stories range all over, from New York to New Mexico to New Orleans to Nepal to Oklahoma to Portland to San Francisco where people are struggling to find a room held at bay.

Happy Indie Bday, U.S. of A.

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 04 Jul 2018 16:44:00 +0000

I hope besides all the usual celebrations, like the fireworks and grilling and all that razmatazz jazz, which are genuinely good things, this time has you celebrating your freedom in a way where you will use it. Use it to build and change for the better in fitting with your version of the American Dream (and we all know everybody seems to have their own clashing ideas of whatever that is.) Use it, though, and remember those who aren't as free and always act where you believe there can be a better and necessary change, if you can. It's not always so easy to do. Build it together.
         Not to make America great again, but greater than it's ever been.

         Enough of this soap box, anyway.

         This blog's current status is just once in a blue moon now, as we're attempting to broadcast a short reality/variety/travel show called "Reality, Sort Of," 2 times a week, Tues. and Thurs. We've made it for 11 episodes now, and the next one is tomorrow. It's a spontaneous show of life that makes itself, seen through the eyes of my friends and I.
          Here is a link to one of the episodes (UPDATE 2019: this show is currently on hiatus):

Update on the indie movie named the Fortune Cookie Teller~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Sat, 07 Apr 2018 08:36:00 +0000

Looks like several weeks have whizzed by again. This is once again turning out to be a blog that is a "weekly blog" perhaps in an alien civilization where one week is a much longer span of time. Makes me think of Kurt Vonnegut's Tralfamadorian calendar. I just read his bio, "And So It Goes." It was a page-turner for me.

Anyhoo, I hired myself to put subtitles to a nearly 3 hour movie, so my fingers have been typing on a keyboard enough lately. I'm reformatting English and Chinese text, learning new tricks and words along the way. OK, I didn't hire myself. I'm a slave driver to myself, only getting a return of intrinsic value. For me, the whole process is, in my estimation, a 2 week full-time job- nothing, really.

So, concerning the Fortune Cookie Teller, here's the behind-the-scenes lowdown:

In its current state, the Director's original cut, it is a whopping 2 hr. 53 min. It's been split into 2 parts, each approx 1 hr. 30 min. each.

Parts 1 and 2, Version 1, is done. That has English subtitles just whenever a non-English language is spoken.

Part 1 of Version 2 is now done. That has English and Chinese subtitles throughout the entire thing. Part 2 is now in the works.

For the cast and those involved, including various friends who would like to watch it and offer any comment, I am planning to have a worldwide private screening for the original cut as soon as the next part is done. Stay tuned for a Vimeo screening somewhat soon. I should be able to hook you up with a password to a private link.

Also, I just released an album online, under my name: Brett Horton- Airs
along with other stuff going on, so, yes, I do get behind on the blog.
I'll leave the album and more for near future posts, when it reaches more of the
online stores and streaming sites.

You can type it in places like Spotify and Googleplay and soon at other places that I don't
ever use, honestly. I won't even post the direct link here, I trust you can find it if you want. I don't need to hold your hand for you to find a way to rock;)

Enjoy Life, the Spring has arrived, Amigos and Pengyous,

BH

P.S. For all of you saying, wow, that's a longass movie, especially for an indie movie like this, you're right. Ned Toro and the editors, though, are considering shaving off an hour or so and turning it into one flick, at least for any possible film fest submissions.

Another possibility that has been discussed (which is the easiest route) is simply releasing it online, perhaps even as a series of chapters.

Please visit and like the new page: www.facebook.com/thefortunecookieteller

The rest of the arrest:

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 04:45:00 +0000

This is an excerpt from a piece I just wrote. Just fed up here with the general, all-around fucked upness surrounding us all...

from Walking In Small Towns In America

So if you are walking anywhere in Ponca City and have had a drink, beware of the police, or anywhere in Oklahoma and God knows where else, for that matter. It is an Oklahoma statute that officers can arrest anyone with alcohol on their breath for a public intox charge at their discretion. There is no field sobriety test that needs to be given, under the law, and also, an officer isn’t even required to have a probable cause to approach someone walking. The statute has no standard BAC level in regards to public intox, so technically, a person with one or two drinks can be arrested. No proof needs to be given. A person can be arrested for public intox in a bar. Officers don’t carry cameras. If it’s contested in court, it’s just word against word, in most cases.

This is yet another reason that stifles a walking culture in the cities of America and is encroaching on pedestrians’ freedom to walk. Recently, a pedestrian walked from a bar to Walgreens, found it was closed and immediately walked back. This pedestrian was almost back to his destination, walking on the sidewalk, when two police cruisers who had been watching the place pulled to the side of the road and hollered to him. No reason was given for why they approached him and there was not even a written citation given. By other accounts, the pedestrian had not been stumbling, swaying or falling down.

The fine was $160 and 6- 8 hours in a jail cell. He was advised to pay the fine because 90 % of these cases are lost, according to the booking officer. Even if he were to win, the court costs and time taken would’ve not been refunded. The pedestrian’s friend stated that he was once arrested by a Ponca City policeman after having two drinks in a two-hour timeframe, walking through a parking lot, then went to court and won, but still wasn’t refunded the court fees which added up to nearly the ticket. If one is to be proven innocent, the state should refund the citizen all court costs, at the very least. This is just one example. Another story involves a senior citizen who was arrested on suspicion of a DUI. It turned out that he was below the limit, but not until he’d already spent an uncomfortable night in jail, and in the end he was never refunded the impoundment fee for his vehicle. How much money has the legal system taken in this way? Where is the complete justice in the so-called justice system?

This pedestrian went to file a harrassment complaint to the captain of the police and finally learned that he was questioned because there was a call about a suspect that was violating a protective order who had left on foot from Timbers Apartments. However, all the officer needed to do was check the pedestrian’s ID, quickly find out he wasn’t the suspect and just politely tell him to go on his way and be sure to take a cab home. This overreaction by police officers has resulted in a society where the citizens don’t trust the law enforcement and there is no need to be criminalizing walkers in a place where people drive too much anyway.

It is this reviewer’s opinion that some state legislature should be reevaluated to allow for reimbursement of court fees regarding improper arrests and that there should be some sort of official stipulation concerning public intox arrests.

***

There are many things that need to be changed in this country called America, and this issue concerning a minor incident involving alcohol is nothing in scope compared to the major crises that are now facing us (and have been for a long time!) Still, it concerns basic civil liberties and is indicative of a fatal flaw in our system. There is definitely something wrong in this country, going deeply wrong and everyone must work for change wherever they see they can make even the slightest difference.

As far as this goes, I spoke to a lawyer who suggested it didn’t hurt to try to make it right. He said this kind of racket has been going on for years, especially with the Native American population who commonly walk. He said the only thing that could possibly be done is to change the law. I could visit city hall and find out how to put the issue regarding the statute on the ballot. He was reluctant to involve himself with a complaint regarding the officer, due to paranoia about angering these small town police.

After I’d scheduled an appointment with the captain of the police, there was finally a written report from my two arresting officers. The Captain said that Officer 2 stated he was never speaking up for me, that instead he was just commenting that I was walking and in the report claimed I was swaying. This runs contrary to others’ reports, including a very sober friend of mine who has been around me many times while drinking and says she has never seen me like that. I’m not saying I’ve never swayed before… I’m not claiming to be perfect here. A relative of the said officer who I happen to know stated that one time that officer punched a teenage girl in the face for no reason, back when he was a teenager.

Of course, I would’ve been stunned if I were returned my money. In no way was I expecting it, but it was just the principle. Actually, I used the paper as notes to talk with the captain in person and no form was ever filed. After a discussion about the current laws, I saw, what I’d known all along, that it was futile in regards to that situation, but I had at least gotten the details. To be fair, the captain gave me his card and offered to let me ride around in an officer’s car some night, if I wish. I am not out to denounce all police officers, but I do believe there are a fair share who are overstepping their bounds and there needs to be changes in the system.

This little story here is like a prequel to Ray Bradbury’s great short story, The Pedestrian. I sent an article about this to the Op Ed section of the small town newspaper, of which I am a former employee in the circulation room, and around to various papers in the state, but I doubt if any will dare to publish an article criticizing bored police officers in small towns where not much serious crime is happening. Instead, if you’re walking in a small town in America in the daylight for the purpose of a destination, you will be viewed as eccentric or poor rather than healthy and sound, and if you’re walking after dark, you will be a suspect.

Some night on Earth in time (February, actually)

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 00:07:00 +0000

My friend and I were talking. "We're so damn goofy," he'd say.
Then I would counter, "But we're very serious."
A moment of contemplative silence, then buffoonish laughter.
This recurred at different points of the night.

I just felt like saying this now. No, not trying to expound this into
some greater point. I'm not turning this blog in for a grade. Though
if I did, I'd secretly hope for an "A" but I might more likely get
an, "eh?"

Seeing how this is going, concerning my "weekly" claim, it seems
to me that I would get a definite late mark.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I wasn't around for a bit because I was
suspended for tardiness and absences. How does that work? You get
in trouble for not being somewhere you don't want to be so the punishment
is not being there more? I'll take it.

Honesty is my favorite policy, though, so I must say I'm obviously kidding.

Today I went to the post office.

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 22:50:00 +0000

"Need to blog... Don't really need to blog at all." There's no deadline here. Almost 4 weeks of winter silence and here I say hello. Put a big quotation around the description "Weekly Blog."
   There's a collection of stamps and postcards acquired from the past few years and so I thought I'd send some around and also a couple of packages. I still use old school mail, tried and true, now and then.
   Blog can be a release, blog can be pressure. Each minute that passes when you're not typing a worthy word can be another minute gone, and for what?? An open letter to the public about anything. Yes, I do love to keep in touch and love this free, unlimited way of communication, but often I feel out of touch with the physical, breathing world when fiddling too long with a digital device.
   What can I say? I don't follow anyone's blog- well, I did follow a couple of friends', but theirs are currently inactive, I believe. I regularly read blogs, yes, when I type in a topic of interest and it takes me somewhere and I check out what's been written on the subject and get lost surfing. I have a new album that I'm about to release any day now, and it takes up a lot of time and energy, so I am not always in the mood to regularly post. Yet, I haven't gotten rid of it. Sometimes I become post-happy because I truly delight in sharing with the world.
   Doesn't it seem silly to constantly post everything about yourself, though? That is the norm now, too, I know. It seems like people aren't around their true friends enough in the real world and are seeking a fix of validation in the digital world. Yet, I'm not gonna bitch. It's fun, too.
   This is the "silly season" for my blog, I suppose. Do you ever look up words you already know just to read the meaning of them? How could that word possibly be explained? So I came across:

                                  PHRASES

the silly season: high summer, regarded as the season when newspapers often publish trivial material because of a lack of important news.

Seems like silly season is year-round these days...
I am proud of the students of this country making a stand, though.

BH

Reincarnated Blog~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Sat, 27 Jan 2018 02:49:00 +0000

Back from the dead, sort of. I was never intending to keep this blog down under for good. It's back in some sort of weekly form again, yet never settled on a day. It's a test of endurance, for one. An experiment for my own personal amusement and some others, as well as other purposes, perhaps.

Facebook, I've had it with it. I love it as a way to stay in contact with people whose numbers I've lost, etc, and many post some good stuff, but I think the algorithm has me blacklisted, either because I criticized FB before and/or because I experimented with an ad before. At any rate, my posts never show in feeds anymore. It's definitely not a good way to get the word out about anything that's important to me or any type of creative work or play. It's a huge advertising machine that is playing with people's narcissism and a popularity contest-for-profit. Of course, there's so much potential there and I do love the good things about it, and I understand that things need money to survive, but I am ready for another platform that is more beneficial at least for musicians and the like. Zuckerberg did state that FB was having problems and he was dedicating this year to fixing Facebook, and I hope he does.
So below is my eulogy that I posted on my page that not a single person saw. I aim to be back to the blog next week. Just squeezing this in as unexpected events keep transpiring to keep the blog down. Tomorrow, if I can make it, I will be at a funeral in another state and then at the airport in the next state to pick up a visitor from another country then back to where I left, 6 hours on the road.

3 days and still reeling about the news of Jarrod Chisum.
He was on the scene with me, and us, through so many pivotal
moments, not the least playing bass with us during my first ever
public performances as a band (though he’d been playing in bands
since he was like 10 years old!) and the first paying gig when I
was 15. Extreme ups and downs, lots of tragic yet definitely lots
of comic, too- some of the funniest moments ever with him.
So many stories- really, a legendary character. I’ll say, we’ll
celebrate your spirit and remember the good times. RIP, Pal.

RIP Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 05:22:00 +0000

If this is to be considered a weekly blog, just barely getting this out in the nick of time before it turns over to a brand new week on Sunday, midnight tonight. Yet here it is. There's still just too many unpredictable interruptions and other deadlines and focuses going on in my world that this blog just gets pushed to the back burner. I am in the midst of all this. It seems I can only commit timewise to places where I am booked. Fuck it. It was a good thing, but not the best run. RIP Blog.

An Account of Unjustified Treatment by Small Town Police

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Fri, 12 Jan 2018 04:58:00 +0000

documenting the bullshit on and off since '11

weekly blog published somewhere between Tues. and Thurs. it seems, if the weary, sleep deprived author isn't falling asleep before typing.

A simplified account:

This past NYE, wanting to avoid any potential drama or trouble, I stayed in and just watched the tube. Concerning some past trouble, the last incident occurring many years ago, I've always been very wary about going out anywhere in my home state, especially small town Oklahoma. Or anywhere for that matter. If I've had a few, always cabbing or riding with someone else or walking or riding a bike.
I was driving one night recently in OKC and as a matter of curiosity and extra caution (paranoia), I bought a breathalyzer at CVS along with double A batteries. It cost $50. After a couple of beers, I blew into it and it read 0.00. It didn't work. I caught a ride to my friends' house a few blocks away and stayed on their couch that night.
Several days later, I contacted the manufacturer and they told me I could send it in to test the calibration or get a refund. What a nuisance. I hadn't had a drink in days, so I had a glass of red wine with dinner and blew. It was still bunk. Feeling stir-crazy, I called my friend and we went to the Fox to watch the OKC Thunder play the L.A. Lakers, joking that we were out for the 10th day of Xmas. We joined a group at the wooden round table that were celebrating a birthday. The Fox closed at 11 pm, which was earlier than usual, so we relocated to Lola's Bar, not too far away.
I got the craving for cigarettes, but they didn't sell them there. The adjoining hotel was barred off, which used to be open back in the day with a vending machine. I asked the others if they wanted some and took a couple of orders, telling them I was going to Walgreens, which used to be 24 hours or at least stayed open pretty late. It is approximately 377 feet away. I crossed at the intersection, walked up to the door and saw for sure that they were closed, then immediately crossed back at the crosswalk on the other side of the intersection, not a car or pedestrian in sight. After crossing to the other side, headlights pulled up across the intersection and a police SUV turned right. As I was walking along the sidewalk, the officer rolled down his window and hollered at me, as he pulled over at the abandoned gas station. Well, this is from the report I wrote a couple of days later:

POLICE HARASSMENT COMPLAINT

On the night of Jan. 3rd, 2018, I went to Lola’s Bar with a birthday group. The vending machine was closed, so I walked approximately 100 yards to the Walgreen’s. I crossed 14^th street. The street was either completely devoid of traffic or nearly so, as it was near midnight. I saw that Walgreen’s was closed and immediately walked back to where I came from, crossing the street on the other side of the intersection, no cars in sight. When I had made it to the other side, a police car pulled up to the stoplight and turned on to Bradley St., where I was walking on the sidewalk. Officer 1 hollered at me from his window as he parked his car. I was about 100 feet from my destination already.

“Where are you going?” he yelled.

“I’m just walking back where I came from,” I replied.

He yelled at me to come over to that side of the street. “What are you doing?”

I explained that I was just walking to Walgreen’s to get some supplies and was walking back. He said he could smell alcohol on my breath. Almost immediately, another police car had pulled up directly behind him and Officer 2 had gotten out of the car. I agreed that I’d been drinking some but was taking a cab. He said that he could take me in on a public intox just by the odor. Officer 2 spoke up for me then and said, “But he is just walking.” That is when Officer 1 barked out the order, “Book him!”

The whole ordeal was less than 5 minutes long. I was not stumbling through the streets. I’d even had a taxi cab pick me up earlier before I’d even had a single drink, and I was taking one back home. There is no proof, no written record, no reason given for stopping me as I was not even jay-walking. Is it possible the officer had a camera with him and that it can be viewed? There was little reason to contest it in court because even if it were won, there would still be court costs involved, and the time spent would be a waste. However, as there was not a single complaint toward me or anyone that I was with the entire night, I believe this is an instance of an officer making an improper arrest, and I can only guess as to his motives.

Therefore, I am requesting that I be recompensed for $500 to quietly settle this. This will cover the $160 fine and my time and trouble. If this is agreed upon, I thank you very much for listening to an earnest request.

Sincerely,

Brett Horton

Yeah, that's the report. After 6-8 hours I was turned loose, advised by more than one party just to pay the fine because even if won the fees would stiff me. I smelled crookedness all around and vowed I would go at this from a different angle, i.e. writing, speaking to the chief of police, which I did. I went to speak to the captain some days later, and he told me what I already knew by reading up on the Oklahoma statute. The police can pretty much do what they want. It's very easy to get arrested walking in a small town, but I wanted to know the reason I was messed with in the first place when just minding my own business and not even given a field sobriety test or issued a written citation stating any probable cause. It's a free country- the police are free to arrest you.

- So more on this next time as I need to prepare for an art show for the month of February at Picasso's Cafe in OKC, which is the reason I am even here still lingering in this area after the holidays have dwindled down- the good news is I am free now and plan to stay this way. It was a minor incident that is over in the scheme of all things, but I am studying up on the legislature and other issues and will continue to write the fight.

First Notes for 2018.

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 08:05:00 +0000

Waking up in the blustery cold icy feet morning, tired, achy limbs, heavy sagging eyes to go fight the loud honking traffic and be somewhere you don't love when the holiday is gone, writing, Ugh, blog- Happy New Year 2018! There will be warm happy times and beds will be soft and cush and always more laughs.

Here, I am just checking in, getting back in the ring. I'm not gonna rattle off a laundry list of resolutions. I know the kinds of things I want to do and just will hope and try to end this year with more $moolah in the bank account than now. The Workshop of Me's are cranking it out in overtime mode right now. There's an art show I'm giving for the month of February at Picasso's Cafe in Oklahoma City, which I am now preparing. I'll send invites out soon.

There's also a new album of songs almost made, a collection of short stories I have to put together and just self-publish for now in private. I just want to print them on paper and get them off the digital format for now and it's actually cheaper to publish them in a professional paperback form than a typical computer ink cartridge. I wrote about this once before, how a $20 cartridge was out of ink by the time it was about page 200, but I printed almost 400-pages that cost about a $10 paperback. That's def one reason to self-publish. Also, I watched my director's cut and am making a few quick cuts and making another long, raw version, then will make it into a part 1 and 2 with intermission then maybe shave off a good 30 minutes of fat- many versions because I'm just not sure.

So all these 4 personas are currently at work. Sometime I might drop some of them and just be mainly one for a while. There are other things that keep getting pushed on the back burner that I want to get cooking more soon.

This blog is just ramblings on the down low for whoever happens to stumble upon it. I don't push it too hard and not even sure how to do that without being a pest and that doesn't work anyway. Certainly, social media doesn't help get the word out to anyone in regards to this stuff because it seems to float in stagnant water and it asks me for money to boost the post. Out of curiosity, I checked out a Facebook ad, and I accidentally ran one. I was charged $20 from Facebook and never even hit a "Run ad" button. Sheeit. I noticed the blog had hundreds of more readers than normal, supposedly.

I'll post this and read it later. I also noticed my book here is available on Barnes & Noble now.

Check back soon.

Bottom of the blog plug:

(alternate cover)

This Here Blog~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Thu, 28 Dec 2017 05:30:00 +0000

Sigh. It's a challenge to maintain a regular blog. Not sure if I really have it in me.
There's simply too much I'm doing all at once. Too much going on and not enough
going on- which I have already said, but true. I need a workshop of Me's. There's
always the option to just drop all plans and go sit by the river and whistle and whiddle a
stick and twiddle thumbs and pleasantly drink in the flowing sights and not give too much
of a darn- just simple survival and knowing when and how to laugh about it all.

Here is a link to a writing piece, Dogs of Kathmandu, published the other day in the winter issue of the L.A.- based literary journal, the Writing Disorder. Have a looksy.

Happy New Year, Of Course

Movie Update

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 20:06:00 +0000

I'll toss out two of these in one day since I've been gone from here for a month.

Regarding the movie production as of late, as of last night, there is NOW a "director's cut." It's nearly 3 hours long complete with credits. I haven't even watched it yet. There might be an extra part I will add to it (which will only take a second to add to the edit), provided Bill will shoot it and send it to me. We made a green screen (green bed sheet in his music store).

There may be an abridged version for the short attention span of the masses, might shave off about 30 minutes or so, we'll see. This still isn't even the whole story. There's another one to make in order for the whole thing to be told.

There's always a disparity between filmmaker me and writer me. Sounds about right.

Last month, there was a test screening of a rough version at Flags, the English Pub in Mianyang. I raced the clock to have it ready and at the 90 minute mark it went to "INTERMISSION." But it was a long intermission, I said, because that was it for a few months. There were no credits. I thought about releasing that version first, no credits, just an indefinite intermission.

It made me think of Whitman's Leaves of Grass, how the original edition only contained a picture of him with no mention of his name. There were only a ltd. amount of printings, which he self-published, but still, it found its way into reviews of prestigious publications and baffled people. He continued to rework that and build onto it for the next 40 years until it was a bulky work, eventually putting his name on it. I like that story.

Below is a trailer with some color treatment. I'm still figuring out how to present it, but I will try to screen it somewhere with a private link to online friends.

Merry Xmas,

Brett

FCT Trailer 2 from Red Carpet Walkin' Co. on Vimeo.

www.bretthorton.org

Checking in, mates~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 19:39:00 +0000

This blog was playing hooky here recently. The ambivalent blogger was responsible.
While craving a schedule, something like a weekly show of sorts, a regular routine is just not natural to the chaotic swirl of the blogger's disposition. Though he loves peace and quiet more than about anything these days- no, peace and music. It's the clock, engagements, etc. that incessant ticking and tocking of time, that race against the watch, that accompanying stress, that- it all just drops.

The blogger will now stop referring to himself in the third person and talk in his normal vernacular voice- perhaps normal abnormal voice. Yes, it's me. I'm writing. About 3 times or more I've gone for it: a weekly spot with consistency. Yes, I love that addictive reliability of something like a daily comic strip or nightly or weekly anything, but there will inevitably come a point in time when I won't know what time it is, or even what day of the week it is, and I'll be so wrapped up in something at that given moment that I actually just completely forget all about it, until later.

There are no deadlines unto myself, so why make them? There will be plenty of schedules to adhere to without my own doing myself in. Tickets, though, airplanes, buses, trains, etc., I always make them in time.

A blog, though, is a wonderful electronic public journal. I want to be everywhere always and yet don't want to be anywhere at any given time nor hardly have many people know where I am sometimes. I don't want to cage my words, actions or thoughts into a time slot, yet there is a coziness there that I appreciate... I want an audience across the world yet I want solitude, too. Cognitive dissonance, ha.

What is the point in this blog is somewhat like asking what is the point in life. That question didn't even end in a question mark, was that question even a question, or more likely, a rhetorical one.
It's true that the blogger of Notes From The Studonym (Stew-donym) has a proclivity and affinity for nonsense, yet also digs straightforward direct prose.

The colors of the spectrum look good together.

Frankly, it is about time. There is too much to keep up with- doing it all is a great nearly impossible juggling act and so it's bound to topple over and frequently, so the only thing is just to keep picking up the tricks when they spill and seeing how long you can prolong.

I'm just trying to figure out a blueprint for this blog that would work. Right now, I'm thinking I'm keeping it going as a weekly thing again, still (somewhere around a Tuesday and a Wednesday) but will probably disappear on a sabbatical of sorts for some weeks here and there throughout the year. We'll see how many of these I do next year- I'm making the rules for it, anyway.

Happy Holidaze Around the Globe!

A Reasonable Request~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 00:41:00 +0000

This is regarding a situation that happened in the summertime. There was no mailing address for United Airlines listed online, and the website only had a customer care message box where no one replied. I told myself I would avoid flying with them as much as possible from here on out, but I came across a good deal and decided to take it, knowing I could speak to an agent in person at the checkout counter. She told me they had no mailing address for letters and that it usually takes them 90 days or so to respond. The 90 days is almost up.
My insider told me the best thing to do regarding any issue is to post it, tweet it, etc. because they will want to clear up the bad press. If anyone has any similar story or agrees with me, feel free to comment or forward this along. If this is remedied, it will be updated.
Fight it all one step at a time.

8-29-17

Dear United Airlines,

RE: eTicket #: 0168600919051

I am writing in regards to an airline ticket that was purchased by Wei Lin from Mianyang, China. This is concerning Flight UA5478 from Los Angeles to San Francisco on 8-1-17, which then boarded on 8-2-17 from San Francisco to Chengdu, China on Flight UA9. There was a 13 hour layover in San Francisco and since we had traveled the west coast, we thought it much easier for her to simply board the plane in San Francisco and return straight to Chengdu, China.

However, she was charged $360.82 to change the ticket. She had called ahead to notify the airline not to cancel her ticket if she didn’t board in L.A. She had already purchased the ticket, and we believe this was not a cancellation or a change that merited the charge fee. This was a quick and effortless fix on behalf of the airline, and then there would have been an open seat available for sale from Los Angeles to San Francisco. After she was charged the fee, it only took the sales agent less than a minute to make the necessary correction.

I hope that you will agree with me that, in all fairness, this circumstance should have been deemed negligible and that the charge should have been inapplicable. Everyone I have informed of this situation feels strongly the same way. Therefore, I am requesting that this fee of $360 be reimbursed. That would be tremendously appreciated. Is the airline willing to reimburse the fee of $360, please?

In this envelope, I have included a copy of the receipt.

I look forward to hearing your response.

Regards,

Brett Horton

Just a Quick Note

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 21:17:00 +0000

Left Chengdu, China at 7:20 pm, Sunday, Nov. 12th,
arrived in Los Angeles, USA at 7:30 pm, Sunday, Nov. 12th

Haven't been on the computer all that much lately.
A lot has happened and not much at all. More soon. 🎵

Post-in-the-works-

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:12:00 +0000

This has slipped my mind as of late, as I'm preparing for a test screening.
Now, I will read and sleep and possibly update this very post on the morrow.

Post fright

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 06:30:00 +0000

Um, uh, I'll check back next week.

😓😱😉

🍻

Somehow, This Happened:

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 12:21:00 +0000

A serendipitous day. On a whim, with the common aphorism about insanity in mind, about,"Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result," there was no reason for something to work that never had before, but it was for some reason attempted again, and it was successful. This is in regards to a PC-partitioned external hard drive cooperating fully with a Mac, which it did. It could both export and import, and this was a pleasant surprise. There must have been some application discreetly installed that also happened to facilitate this.
          Then, a helpful fellow from Ireland immediately showed up at the perfect time (when another issue of compatibility had presented itself, and the next step remained to be seen) to offer technical assistance with a much-needed program that is not in the hands of every ordinary layman.

          The official terminology of this is a teaser. Here is Teaser # 2:

Typos and Trailers~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 03:49:00 +0000

Recently, I noticed that my original published book, Two Too Deep Fools, is now out of print. That's OK with me for I've been hatching a plan to publish a 2nd edition with a different company, with a different cover, and perhaps a color version, as well, as the original manuscript has much color in it and is a bigger size. So maybe two new versions including a smaller, black and white more economical copy.
           That version had a very significant typo, in my opinion, a typo that detracted from the meaning- I mean, it was so much about wordplay, in the first place. Even when I proofread it many times and insisted on new versions, somehow, this typo still occurred. Fateful typo. I foresaw typos happening against my will and my perfectionist side even dealt with this by a form of psychoanalysis in a piece in the very same book: "typo's all right."
   I saw some typos here in this blog and went back to revise, then hunted another one for a while but it eluded me. I shouldn't care so much. Formatting is a bitch.
            Speaking of words, I'll revisit earlier writings now and then and come across something that has an idea that is buried, yet there was something there when it was written, arrived at through the labyrinth, and it is still there, yet has somewhat hidden itself even to me. Usually, I can make it resurface and reveal itself. I can still be cryptic to this day, but through the years I've also amassed a style that is much more straightforward. Plain talking prose. I just like to mix the ingredients and experiment like making word soup. That goes for other mediums, too.
            Speaking of soup, tonight I believe I will experiment with some potato soup.
            Below is the next trailer. Very busy been I do this. (Like when I'm learning a language and mixing up the grammar, as yet unlearned of the grammar rules, but they still understand)

Trailer 3 from Red Carpet Walkin' Co. on Vimeo.

New Movie Coming Soon (er or Later) To a Screen Near You

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 05:32:00 +0000

I'm happy to say that there is a new feature-length movie that I have produced by my own Red Carpet Walkin' Co. entitled the Fortune Cookie Teller. It is part of the Alexander Anonymous canon, which is really just a nom de plume for yours truly, I'll admit.
It's not claiming to be a conventional movie by any means, so I highly suspect it's not for just anyone- that brings to my recollection Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf-

"..So that's it, thought I. They've disfigured this good old wall with an electric sign. Meanwhile I deciphered one or two of the letters as they appeared again for an instant; but they were hard to read even by guess work, for they came with very irregular spaces between them and very faintly, and then abruptly vanished. Whoever hoped for any result from a display like that was not very smart. He was a Steppenwolf, poor fellow. Why have his letters playing on this old wall in the darkest alley of the Old Town on a wet night with not a soul passing by, and why were they so fleeting, so fitful and illegible? But wait, at last I succeeded in catching several words on end. They were:

MAGIC THEATER ENTRANCE NOT FOR EVERYBODY

I tried to open the door, but the heavy old latch would not stir. The display too was over. It had suddenly ceased, sadly convinced of its uselessness. I took a few steps back, landing deep into the mud, but no more letters came. The display was over. For a long time I stood waiting in the mud, but in vain. Then, when I had given up and gone back to the alley, a few colored letters were dropped here and there, reflected on the asphalt in front of me. I read:

FOR MADMEN ONLY!"

      Hopefully, my movie is something more than just madmen can enjoy, or if not, hopefully it's the good kind of madmen. It looks like there will be a few test screenings soon, in the city of Mianyang, where it was mostly filmed. It is still going through some of the editing process and little bits are still being filmed, but a rough cut should be done by the end of the month.
         In other news, I saw the absurd story of McDonald's and Rick and Morty and the super limited edition Szechuan dipping sauce. Anyone else see that? The obsessed cartoon fans crowded McDonald's around America and threw a fit when Micky D's ran out of the sauce to the point where police were called. Szechuan is the Cantonese spelling of Sichuan, which is the province where I spend time at in China. There's plenty of McDonald's here. I wonder if they have any of that sauce?
         I made several teasers and trailers for the movie last week, and I'll post them eventually, but right here is the first little sneak peak:

The New Old West~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 16:51:00 +0000

       Horrific things are always happening and it's the same vicious cycle, the same rhetoric. Good people empathize all around, but it continues. The thing is, these attacks don't surprise me anymore, nor have they in a long time. It's a commonplace occurrence in the USA, which is a tremendously terrible thing. It's gotten to the point where one has heard the news so many times they can find themselves remotely detached, even finding themselves growing calloused.
When I heard the news, I reacted with no surprise- it's when I found out the extent of this one, some actual surprise set in. I dislike the majority of the news and don't really want to be a news commentator here on this blog- everyone everywhere is already always commenting about everything- trying to say something- something that seems futile- and I couldn't say it any better or find another point to make, so I will often stay silent on the matter, at least in the social media world- it's already flooding. Instead I just read and read and think and think. I don't feel like speaking without some action to back it up... and that leaves you wondering what you could possibly change.
Really, it must be worse than the Old West, seeing as how they didn't have automatic rifles back then. I'm sick of so much of this shit everywhere, needless to say. For the longest time, I walk down American (USA) streets with my eyes peeled, watching my back, half-ready to duck at the last second. Watching the cars that pull around the corner when I'm one of the few walkers on the street. It's a non-stop war, and I carry no gun. Certainly it's not on my mind all of the time, because many Americans are peace-loving, but it still will cross my mind it's quite a possibility that I will catch a stray bullet somewhere. So if politicians with hollow prayers aren't going to protect you, keep up your guard.
And where are all of these 2nd amendment gun-toting heroes protecting everyone when the psychopaths break loose? And the media... spreading the killers' faces and giving them the fame they desired- they should lay lower on the pictures.
         I feel more unsafe walking the streets in the USA than most any other country.
   This is a recent chart just drawing you a picture plain as day.
   This surely isn't what I felt like blogging about but when I checked the news and scrolled the feeds the whole world is just absorbed in this, so I didn't feel like going on about something else and changing the subject.
Surely, there is something to do. There's ALWAYS something to do or say: whether it's effective or not. It's more than doing nothing, though. This country should probably take a clue from Australia.
And in other breaking news, RIP Tom Petty. I'm not claiming I grew up with his albums in my collection but I always thought he was cool and, yes, I was prompted to jam him tonight on the occasion of his passing. So many classics, really, and I bet I will be exploring it more, even if it took me til now. I don't think any musician is going to object to you playing their songs through the air on the day they go. We all want that, eventually.
Below is a petition, whatever it can do, and now I will leave this blog silent until next week...

Petition:

The Season Is Changing~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 11:21:00 +0000

Yet again.

Tired on a Tuesday. Hangover Day 2. A Hangover's hangover.
Resting. Recupe. Water. Working while supine (not what it sounds like)
Jet lag/ Lag jet. Laptop becomes a bellytop. It's all a balancing act.
These are the words of the day.

On the wagon. Productive times are here.

Very busy on something which I will reveal soon. It is about to be unveiled
and I will explain more before long.

In the meantime, cheerio and here's another song for ya:

Wood Burning Stove by Brett Horton

Public Diary~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 11:04:00 +0000

       This here is my public diary for those who have braved the binary labyrinth and arrived here deep in this well-hidden chamber. This is mainly for kicks, I suppose, yet also serves a purpose at times and sometimes its purpose is kicks. I assure you my real journal is juicier and much more an in-depth narrative, but that is something that also goes in phases. Sometimes a long run, sometimes closed and unwritten for long epochs.
        The blog has been calling my name again lately, and I have heeded its call. Let's see how long I can keep up a weekly date. Lord knows I've tried these things a few times before and surfed it a while until I wiped out. I am probably the worst person I've ever met at keeping a regular routine, but surely I can get something aligned, right?
         Officially, though, I have never really met myself, at least not like other people meet me, right? Just in the mirror and on screen... I've never seen myself in real life other than reflection and photography. That's something I contemplate sometimes.
         I certainly go off on tangents and scenic detours others don't notice (though others definitely notice things that I don't.)
   Part of me craves being in the public eye on the stage, on the screen, a weekly hello and reach out across the world and another part of me wants to be quiet and private and unknown, full of inner life, like a tree in the middle of a forest.
         The first time this blog was derailed was when I lived in the middle of a rain forest in Alaska. The Tongass rain forest. There was no internet. Just real spiders with large webs in the corners of cabins. Eventually, I got the web rigged up out there, but it was slow, and I lost my stride. I picked it back up, then I ended up in China with its "Great Firewall." Facebook, Youtube, etc. blocked and then finally all of Google. How frustrating it is. That first trip I didn't dabble with a VPN (Virtual Private Network), like almost all foreigners do, and I was just disconnected from it all. It was kind of nice being a virtual hermit, but next round, I sure as hell got one.
Right now, I'm feeling this sometime usually between a Tuesday and Wednesday.
And now, I'd like to introduce you to some friends of mine. Ladies and gentlemen... !

Keeping You Posted~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 05:09:00 +0000

            Today, I am yet again in San Francisco, where I play a show tomorrow at the Hotel Utah, Sept. 13th, 7:30 pm. Looking forward to it as I love that venue. My connecting flight in Minneapolis gave me little time- I found a $20 bill on the ground and told a gate checker. She said, "It's yours now and gave me a wink." Finder's keepers. Thought it was my lucky day. Thought about asking some of the people sitting over at their gate a ways over, then thought, let me check my flight real quick. I only had 20 minutes and had to go to F8 in another concourse, take the skytrain. That was no time at all- maybe it wasn't my lucky day, after all. I walked faster than everyone, even nearly sprinting for a half-second, but I watched my watch and just walked faster.
            "You gave me no time at all," I told the gatekeeper. "I just got here."
            "That's part of the Delta exercise program," he joshed me and closed the door right behind me.
            The flight took off, and I watched a documentary about the behind-the-scenes struggles of stand-up comedians called Dying Laughing (a great doc, btw). It was still my lucky day.

             Continuing the earlier motif concerning fliers, here's some below:

This one below is the final flier for the last show, which only came out at the last minute due to technical difficulties. My friend put it together, so Mario and I might reuse this next time- or retake it on another day- or who knows what we'll do.

                  These below are proof that I am not the cream of the crop at the promo game, as these are now several years old. This summer, I handed out what I thought was the last one and thought "I am finally done with all of these cheapo, flimsy paper, mini-handbills I made ages ago!" Then, back in Oklahoma, I ran across two more stacks. One was curled up and ruined, so I tossed them, but there's this one, still.
   My economical idea was to put 10 on a page and print 100 regular black and white copies at the local Kinko's. It was just 10 cents a copy and with 10 on each page and 100 copies made, there were 1000 tiny fliers made for just 10 bucks.
In fact, he may have been pulling my leg, but I handed one to a fellow in SF once, and he said, "I never look at these things, but since this one is just SO blatantly crappy it actually makes me want to look at it!"
   Being an indie musician, you will sometimes find yourself having to dicker with your own promo, whether you like it or not, and if you don't like talking about yourself all that much (I often prefer to talk to myself in private with my notebooks;) then... well, what do you do? I'm of the opinion now that promo should just be part of your art and have fun with it.
These italics were used in reference to the photographs, but they just kept on going (thoughts in parentheses in italics)

Getting On Antisocial Media~

noreply@blogger.com (Brett Horton) — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 20:04:00 +0000

Getting On Antisocial Media

byline: Alexander Anonymous

Ever since you’ve collected hundreds of friends, you don’t feel that you’re as close to your actual friends anymore. You’re not trying to be so distant. You can say exactly what you want to say at any given time, but you don’t talk to anyone as much anymore. It’s just texting and messaging, predominantly. You happen to post some remark for many different people to see at one time, but often never just share it with the person right next to you and experience their reaction.

How many words some of us will type through our lifetimes now is staggering. We are all novelists now, typing Tolstoy-length stories of our existence, albeit unconsciously, piled up with whatever we don’t delete or lose.

All the average joes and janes suddenly started acting like pseudo-celebrities, and in this day and age the real celebrities seem to be even more pseudo than them. It’s all me me me. Attention-seeking stage hogs. No one’s listening over dinner as they fiddle with their phones. Nobody even realizes what they’re seeing in real life because they are snapping pictures of it. They are not in the true moment because they are busy trying to capture the moment.

No expert even knows how long digital files will really last. Maybe they’ll last indefinitely, but maybe they’ll be gone in a few decades. There is no basis for comparison, being a new technology. You know many a person, including yourself, who has had an external hard drive crash, and all is lost, even in the process of taking that into account and trying to make a back-up. Nothing beats hard copies in a safe, dry storage spot.

You won’t straight out backstab social media, though, because, honestly, you love it, many aspects of it, anyway, but it is like a drug, with harmful side effects. For one, it can distract you tenfold. An example of this is how you are now straying for a minute from this oh so focused article to check your messages… And now you’re back. Just checking to see if this BBQ on the weekend is still happening, so, rather convenient, actually.

This has definitely been scientifically studied by sociologists and psychologists and all that ilk, many times over, as all aspects have of this out-of-sync algorithm. It boils down to this: People aren’t hanging out in person quite like they used to do. They’re simply hanging out on a computer or phone all the time. Everyday is a constant photo session, an attempt to connect with the world “out there,” which is all fine except it becomes an escapist addiction and then there is a lack of connection going on “right here.”

Another detrimental effect is low self-esteem. Social media users can experience a negative feeling of self-worth when they constantly see others doing things which they deem to be more exciting than what they are presently doing, or when they post something and it receives very few or no comments or likes with the corny like button that most people, yourself included, are guilty of using. Or seeing how few views their video has received and how transparently unpopular it is and how apathetic their un-audience is. That is a surefire way for someone to feel that truly no one out there in the great beyond gives a flying fuck. They are only concerned 90% of the time with what they themselves are posting.

Then there are those who receive a fairly great number of positive feedback as they are somehow likely in a niche of over-obsessive smart phone users who have nothing better to do with their time than sift through this never-ending barrage, but in the scheme of a billion-some users, their numbers are teeny-tiny compared to self-righteous celebrities that so many don’t care much about either. That is less time again that they are having in real life with real friends.

Let this essayist hasten to say, it is a fantastic way to keep in touch with friends and share things, and it can be a wad of fun, but why does everyone want to text nowadays? It’s simple. No one wants to talk to each other that often. The majority feels uncomfortable talking to many others, but, with messaging, they can perfect and sugarcoat a message, analyzing it from every angle before sending it, thus, losing the spontaneity and skill of conversation. Maybe we will be even worse at talking to each other in the future. Keep in mind that when this society talks to each other, they most likely need some sort of assistance without feeling awkward as hell, i.e. an alcoholic beverage to loosen the language. Oh well, there can be spontaneity in writing and writing can be a beautiful art.

It is basically an antisocial and artificial society that we exist in, and I say exist because many of us don’t really live. Is it really an antisocial plutocracy wherein the majority of us are merely just pawns? For many- but for many others, they can resist this mold in various ways, such as using social media as an outlet.

Remember how many people’s families and friends have been transported away in a scattered mess due to jobs or the briberies of higher education in this era of post-industrialization, and then you realize how lonely indeed the modern person is, and can see why everyone strives to reach some out-of-reach connection in this frenzied social media age. There are towns with no real communities. Everyone has been sacrificed around the world in the name of Progress and are either propping up or attempting to become the Elite. Our friends are gone. The world is an antisocial place, but we are very social people.

There are those who use social media in the attempt to bring awareness to social injustices around the world in the hopes of alleviating them. More power to these people, but most people are just looking for a laugh. Don’t ever underestimate the importance of laughter, though. The majority of people probably just skim over these posts and then just go on with the business of their day.

Also, there are those who use it mainly to market themselves and their products, and there is nothing too extremely wrong with this, but many users get annoyed with these users if they seem to be solely advertising, as many people are just naturally annoyed by commercials, and this is a whole other sociological study as to the many reasons why.

You see how it is all about money, once again, or at least a huge chunk of it is. Let’s say you are essentially just a musician who uses social media, and that is really the reason why you signed up with it in the first place, and then just got sucked in. At first, it was just a way to share your music with people and keep up with some other underground bands that you liked. Anyone that you considered a close friend, you would just keep in contact with through phone calls, e-mails, postal mail or ideally, in real life. Besides, you’ve always considered anyone that tries to have too many close friends as spreading themselves thin. While it’s good to have many friends or friendly neighbors/acquaintances and be a part of the community, it is not considered an especially valuable attribute to attempt having too many close friends, because you simply don’t have the time for everyone in daily life.

You and your band became part of Myspace, and while it was cool to post some songs up there and find you had tens of thousands of listens on the Myspace player, after a time you wanted to share some other songs but everyone was being solicited by a million other bands that day, and the new songs only posted in the hundreds, which didn’t look nearly as good when the booking agents came to look at your page. Soon after, it didn’t matter, anyway, because there was a mass migration over to Facebook and no one you knew even touched Myspace anymore, and you had no idea why.

Very frustrating, because it takes a relentless amount of time and energy constructing and maintaining one of these pages. Therefore, for a time you were off the social media in that manner, until it began to feel like you didn’t and almost never did exist at all. A band page was reluctantly created, in part so no one else could steal the name, and then, without being proactive, it just sat there like a stagnant pond. Ergo, the vicious cycle began. First, the embarrassing, universal invite, which sounds more like a plea, requesting that friends in your social network “like” you. Upon enough likes, you can then give your page a personal name.

With your immediate network, you garner a certain number, a certain percentage who will exert the extra energy to click a button, before it fizzles out. Consequently, there is nothing left to do but either nothing or promotion or building. This is what catches people by the balls. If you do nothing, then you look like a nobody. On one hand, why should a normal person really care if they’re a nobody or not? On the other, you can be so high and mighty as not to care what the world thinks, telling yourself that image doesn’t really matter, but it is an unfortunate fact that image is extremely important in the sense that it can ruin a business and a business that isn’t seen at all is dead from the start. Whether a business or a band or what-have-you, people will look at this social media page and say to themselves that there aren’t many likes, so the product or service must be lacking somehow, or a booking agent may see a band and think that they don’t have a big enough following to be booked in their club. In reality, however, if you think about the things you do like, what does it matter if you like the Facebook page or not? Why should they really have a Facebook page anyway? You like a certain band or actor, you listen to their music or watch their movies. You couldn’t care less about their Facebook page. If you want to find out some more about them, you go to their website or read other articles. If you want to eat Ketchup on your fries, then that’s what it’s there for, that’s what it’s good for. You like it. Why in the hell would you want to go like the brand’s Facebook page?

Word of mouth and the organic manner of growth as a natural promotional tool is ideal, but people only know so many people in real life, so there has to be some sort of push. You think you might do the tried-and-true, honest, grass roots marketing approach, then run into dead-ends. For instance, you must first be friends with someone before you can request them to like your Facebook page. This seems legitimate, as no one enjoys being spammed. That leaves two choices. You can befriend mutual friends or strangers at random who appear to have the same tastes you do, and who you think might actually appreciate what it is you are offering, but this is also ineffective. One, Facebook blocks users from sending too many friend requests in a given time and also makes it difficult to ask people who you’ve never really met, as you’re not supposed to do that, and many others are wary of being approached by someone online whom they’ve never met and are suspicious no matter how good your profile pic looks, because especially when it comes to the internet, appearances can be deceiving. At a certain point, you begin to feel ashamed that you have sunk to the level of nothing but a low-life hacker, and that you are so pathetic and insignificant that there is no one out there with any credibility and power that wants to help you in any way. Then you begin to despise everyone and withdraw yourself, and all you wanted to do in the first place was just share something valuable with the world.

If you still haven’t given up, you realize the only way to reach people now, since grass roots marketing online is dead or at least greatly stigmatized, is through online advertisements. It follows that you do an experiment and pay a certain daily amount and then you actually see your numbers begin to rise, even to shoot up. You feel good for a moment. Then you get the feeling that no matter how crappy your site was or who you were, if you were paying money for advertisements, there’d be someone out there blindly liking it. Also, you wonder how many of these likes are even real or if they are fraudulent, which if so, makes you fraudulent. Even worse, you realize that you have to pay for each individual post to be boosted where those who liked your page will even be able to see it on their feed! So you come to the conclusion that there is no point, unless you spend so much money on a daily basis that you just break even and probably not even. Or maybe you’ll bank if you’re lucky, but that’s just like playing the lottery. So why not just go to the casino? Except what you’re really wanting to do is just share something with others who mostly aren’t interested.

It all just begins to feel like some dunderheaded popularity contest, some silly competition, but the only one you’re competing against seems to be yourself.

People make annoying posts and then you have to unfriend them, get into confusions over things that weren’t so advertised in the past, such as relationship statuses, the list goes on and on. Finally, you decide you’ll just get drunk. Earlier, you swore off social media for at least a good portion of the time, but when you get a good buzz you decide you want to see what everyone’s doing. You thought maybe you’d run into someone while you were having a drink, but no, they’re all home on their computers typing away, staring into the blue light of the screen.

You scroll through inane comments and some intelligent ones, too. There actually are a lot of people you like on this thing that make posts you enjoy seeing. You decide that life is short, shorter than ever, actually, and shorter even tomorrow, so you write to an enticing member of the opposite sex and spill your entire sack of beans.

The next morning, hungover, you cringe at what you maybe wrote to someone and contemplate getting a breathalyzer installed on your laptop. After hours of gathering your courage, you can’t avoid the insidious feeling anymore, so you cross your fingers and check your page. There’s no reply. There’s too many other creeps bombasting this person. Except you’re not a creep, but how does anyone else know that? Or maybe there is a polite reply and some flighty plan has been agreed upon, only to be disregarded at the deciding moment due to everyone’s multi-tasking scatterbrains. Or maybe their reply was always intended to merely be leading on, because they get their rocks off knowing they are seen and wanted, but have no intention to ever meet anyone. Or maybe you wrote something really malicious, but you were just joking, but they will never see it that way, and upon the rising sun, they have instigated the insurrection against you.

You think it over and contemplate offing yourself from all social media. You’ve witnessed many a good man and woman who have committed Facebook hara-kiri, social media suicide. The world wasn’t always this way. Instead, you decide on a walk through the park. Seeing the wind causing the trees to dance to the whooshing musical sound of nature, the afternoon light playing upon the branches and leaves, you remember that life is vast, the world is infinitely alluring. Computers only capture it in some form. Sure, you want to write it, paint it, film it, turn it into some song or sculpture, but it is there already to behold in its endless glory, which you often forget about, seized in the grip of hurry and worry. You just have to tell it to someone right this very instant. There is a cafe on the corner and you must tell someone immediately, but when you get there, it is a room full of people sitting at tables, staring at their phones and laptops, wearing headphones, while the band plays on.