And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Went people watching at my favorite pub this afternoon: The Tavern at the End of the   World

I drank a lot - of coffee - and wore some too, thanks to a waitress who was a messy   stirrer.

It's a great place to eavesdrop and the coffee is   free

Today the old folks seemed to be holding some sort of meeting about neighbourhood dogs not being spayed - The Bitch   Forums.

Not too interesting, but when you're looking for a story, you have to cast a wide   net

Managed to dodge the poison again today. It's so sneaky with those whispers of oh what the hell, it's just one for the road.

No sir, he doesn't like eet.

Ok, that's not entirely true. He DOES like eet. But he's not having eet. Not today, anyway.

I'm feeling Alice here. It's not about women. Never was.

House hunting.

Well hello again. I'd nearly forgotten there was a sane excuse for talking to myself.

I'm looking for a house. I think so anyway. Sitting here, by a candle, looking for somewhere to start again. All signs point to going home.

But I don't want to.

I don't think.

Also, I'm feeling a little leaky-eyed. Fuck.

This is a whole lot of alone.

I've got women on my mind, too.

One I lost and and one I don't recognize.

I assume this is staged or something. Someone emailed it to me on an account I thought was defunct.

Brain salad, right?

Today is a shit pie.

Dear... me.

Today is a shit pie. Sure it's pie, but... it's also shit. Not really win-win, right?

Bombs in Baghdad

Today there are several families that are ruined because of violence in Baghdad. It's news and it should be.

The sad thing is our apathy in this country. We hear it on the news all the time - in fact tragedy sells newspapers and commercials - but our hearts are hard to it. We just whisper a prayer under our breath that it won't ever get too close to home. We know that it will.

Everyone one of us is a terrorist in that we fight for our own freedom and often ignore the cost to others. We tax the environment, we ridicule others behind their backs, we shop and shop with no concern over the future.

There are those believe the summit in Copenhagen is the coming of a new world order. It would be tough to ignore if the doomsday people hadn't been thumping every drum that's come rolling down the hill for the last thousand or so years. Listen to the hype and you will feel at least a twinge of fear.

Maybe we feel better if we ignore the idea of things like FEMA death camps or unusually long-lasting contrails. Surely these things are bogey-man stories the likes of which our grandparents heard as children?

Maybe it makes no difference. Man is corrupt the moment he finds power, and how he finds power in this world is through money. Money and power are at the root of the world's evils. Take 5 minutes to speak to a homeless person and ask them what happened.

Every person who walks this earth is going to die. In 100 years no-one who reads today's news in 2009 will be alive. With that in mind, how can we live differently?

I don't believe it takes a spiritual awakening of any kind to make the most of life. Maybe it wouldn't hurt, I don't know, but what I know is we are all people in a common struggle to understand "why." One man asks "why am I here?" while another asks "why must I watch my children starve to death?"

We can all enact kindness and affect the life of someone else. Maybe this time of year reminds us of that. So while world governments try to save the world (or maybe take it captive), what can I, as one man, do?

Look at the disparity between our good fortune and the ills that have befallen those around us and see about evening things out, perhaps?

The news will tell us today was especially bad. Don't let that sentiment add to the callousness of our hearts.

Would you kill to save a life?

Would you kill to prove you're right?

Hanging with my boys tonight, gonna drink away some ghosts.

B