I've seen great minds (not the greatest, but sure, great) of my generation build shiny tech dreams in hopes of metaversing their way to some kind of digital utopia while ruining the collective consciousness of a society crumbling around their corporate campuses.
How I got through 2020
There’s a whole lot that goes into a journey through a pandemic. After the halting of normal life, then comes what gets filled into the void. There’s no dates with the lady, nights at the bar, lunch with the fellas, live shows at the club, or hitting up the cinema.
No, there’s only the slow, steady routine of making sure you survive in whatever way you can. And part of my slow, steady routine involved one very important thing: NBA2K.
A steady dose of video game hoops kept my mind active at the times I really just wanted to shut if off, either with booze or television. I can honestly tell you my mind felt productively engaged when in the throws of an 82 game season hoping to make the playoffs with my 40 year old thumbs.
It’s been about 18 years since I played video games of any kind, aside from Beercade outings, which were very much unserious. 15 years since Goldeneye or FIFA or Tony Hawk. And even longer since NBA Jam or Crazy Taxi or anything from EA.
So I was rusty. It took me a bit to understand how video games even worked in the year 2020. And it took some “practice games” before I was able to not get my ass handed to me by the computer on anything that wasn’t the easiest setting. But I eventually got there. It all came back. Like riding a bike you say? Yeah, like riding a bike.
And I loved it.
I love NBA2K.
Why do I love it so much? Because it’s all new again. I look forward to it. It’s exciting. It’s challenging. It’s putting me through the paces and at the end of the day none of it matters at all. Which is so very important. There’s no social media likes or comments of any kind. It’s just me and the computer, 6 minute quarters, the roar of the crowd, and what I can only assume is the best sports game there is.
After the sun sets, work and home obligations are done for the time being, the house is quiet, and I have a sliver of time to do with what I will, I NBA2K with the best of ’em. On the second setting, NBA Finals champion and all.
And that, my friends, is how I got through 2020.
Cynicism Is Our Greatest Enemy
I think cynicism is our biggest foe. As does Billy Bragg. Whether with the youth who don’t vote, the boomers who care only about themselves, the right for its cruelty, the left for thinking everything always sucks, or me for losing hope in America.
We can do better.
Some days I think we will.
This Is What Joe Strummer Trained You For
This is not a time to be dismayed. This is time to go. So says Henry Rollins. It is fucking on. Especially in a pandemic. Especially in the face of police brutality and violence. Especially in a fascist America. Fuck those fascists trying to bury you in mass graves. Do not waiver. Do not give in. Do not let up. Brand Trump must be destroyed. The GOP must be destroyed. We will destroy them. Destroy them for good. And we will rebuild America. Rebuild it for everyone. Rebuild it for all. We will finally make good on all that folklore we were raised with.
Why?
Because there is no other way.
This is time to go.
Now.
The Time Is Now
Daily reminder Donald Trump is the worst America has to offer, as are his enablers who prefer fascism over democracy. They are all cowards and cheats and we will run them out in November (while in masks). Mark my words, their days are numbered.
Gould’s Book of Advertising
When I was set to become an official college graduate, many years ago, I tried to begin my creative career at the hippest shop in town. I knew my actual portfolio wasn’t all that good. It couldn’t compete with the other portfolios coming out of design schools and ad centers. Hence, I tried to double down on the one thing I thought I had going for me: weirdness.
I had just finished reading Gould’s Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan. So I went with a fish theme. That’s really the only reason. The book itself was printed in many different ink colors that aligned with the story told. It was brilliant.
What do you have to lose?
So much. We have lost so much. And there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight to the losing.
As a campaign frame, asking for your vote by asking what do you have to lose is what a snake oil salesman goes with. Or in this case, Donald J. Trump. Our very own P.T. Barnum, charlatan, main character in his theater of the absurd. Think a washed up reality show personality has what it takes to lead the free world? Are you better off than you were four years ago?
There’s a painfully simplistic view of politics we Americans take. We love that question. Better off now, four years in, then we were then. The mark of progress, or something like that. So let’s answer it. Are you better off now, staring down a global pandemic with a terrible government ill prepared and unequipped to lead us out this?
Donald Trump is a conman of the first order. America’s worst person. As he remains in the position of president, at least for now, best to keep in mind all the hugs, weddings, graduations, funerals, sports matches, retirement savings, dinners and movies, pool days, live shows, workweeks, and vacations that we all have lost. Not to mention all the lives and jobs that aren’t ever coming back.
This is your current moment, America. A dark one. Let’s hope we come to grips with it and change course before it’s too late.
