caller ID

all this misplaced anger
now looking for a new home
it cannot stay here anymore
I'm changing the locks
getting a new phone number
with caller ID
I'm getting a divorce
I can't live with you anymore

All the fuckin' above, man

Back to fuckin' work, man. It's rough after having four days off. You know what I don't like about my life?

Let me think, farmboy...Maybe work? Lack of money? Songwriting is hard? Loneliness? The political climate? 

All the fuckin' above, man. I wish I wasn't in a fuckin' panic all the damn time. My siblings have the same problem. We all panic and I don't know why. Fuckin' sucks, man.

You know, it's a good thing that we, as moving creatures on this planet, have to sleep. 'Cause it's good to rest and lose consciousness for a while. Makes life a whole lot easier, man.

Because you wake up refreshed?

I don't know so much about that, man. It's just a new start. And I need one of those, every single day.

what I do

what I do is nobody's business
what I do is who I am
what I do is what I want to
and I do not give a damn
what I do is keep my own counsel
think my thoughts
say my words
what I do is tell myself
that someday I will be heard
above the traffic and the noise
beyond my wallet and the bank
with no thought to my background
my class
my name
my rank
I am not just another worker
I have other things to do
I am hope and faith and courage
and so are you

Under the gun

I don't want to write at this moment. I want to eat potato chips and surf the internet and listen to the podcasts I can't listen to because my fuckin' clock radio with the iPod dock is broken. Pisses me off.

So don't write. You can write tomorrow, farmboy.

Really? You mean it's okay? 

You're the boss, farmboy. You don't to ask my permission. Or anyone else's permission, for that matter.

That's hard for me to get used to, man. It's like, I've been thinking lately about how...I know the word, don't tell me...how powerless I feel in my life. Which, I hope, is complete bullshit. 

You're correct, farmboy. It is bullshit...

I don't know, man, I just feel so under the gun all the time. I feel like I'm running as fast as I can and I can't keep up. I'm fuckin' tired, man. I don't know what the fuck I'm rambling on about.

So give yourself the night off, farmboy. We can address all this "powerless" issues later.

Okay, it's official: I don't have to write tonight.

Good for you.

Now, how much you wanna bet that I'm gonna write something?

of service

I was so scared
I was no nervous
God bless
and saints preserve us
I just want to be of service
for the rest of my years
if nothing is worth saving
then we won't be misbehaving
with our current constant craving
before we disappear

observation

sometimes
all you can do
is pray

sometimes
that's
enough

But wait! There's more!

Man. Let me tell you, this living thing is pretty fuckin' strange sometimes. I have the next four days off, I just spent the evening at the coffeehouse where I played and listened and saw friends. In spite of all that, I'm sad and downhearted, and I...well, I need not to fuckin' think so fuckin' much.

You know, it's the money thing and I'm gonna have to start selling things if there's not some kind of change soon. And it's me who's gotta make whatever change it is, but, fuck, I'd be grateful if the world would quit wanting more and more from me, financially.

But wait! There's more! So tonight at the coffeehouse is Joni Mitchell tribute night. And, um, I've having problems writing and now I'm comparing myself to Joni Mitchell. Joni Mitchell is a fuckin' genius, she's a true innovator, you know, man?

I think I know where this is going, farmboy.

Yeah, I know, I'm predictable. And there's one thing I know: You get nowhere comparing yourself with other people. Which, of course, is something I do constantly.

Anyway, really, what I probably need is a good night's sleep and faith that things happen for the better. Like the presidential election.

farmboy, you know everything is going to work out, don't you?

Yeah. But I don't know how.

That's the exciting part.

That's what I've been placing my bets on, man.