Another oldie but goodie! This was relegated to the drafts folder and I’m once again not sure why.
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Years and years ago, Dana told me that he wanted to move to Sweden or something like that because of how strongly he disagreed with the political climate in Canada at the time. He said he felt out of place in his own country. Back then, it seemed like North America was going off the rails with extremism while Europe still had a sensible head on its shoulders. At the time, I totally agreed and thought Dana was on to something.
But as time went on, I realized that it was no different in Europe — they may have been a few years behind us but they caught up, and have been struggling since with the exact same problems as we have. No matter where you go in the world now, people all across the political spectrum have become polarized and deeply entrenched in their beliefs, think anyone who feels differently is insane and/or a fascist, refuse to work or make compromises with said “fascists,” etc. At this point, I don’t think there is a sane place left in the world.
So today when I was thinking about Dana feeling out of place in Canada back then, I realized that I now feel out of place in the world at large. Like no matter where I go, I will always need to avoid an array of conversation topics so that I don’t have to get into pointless and emotionally-charged discussions about politics and covid that will change no one’s mind and just leave everyone unhappy. It’s weird. It’s not a good feeling.
On the top of Mt. Tzouhalem in Duncan, there used to be a big metal cross that had been there for decades. It was a local attraction, everyone hiked up there and took their picture with it. Don’t ask me why. Anyway, at some point some vandals tore it down, likely due to the church’s involvement in residential schools across Canada and the damage they did to generations of indigenous people. But lots of indigenous people in the area are Christian so some of them were upset to see it gone. This all started a conversation about whether or not to put another cross back up there, which I think was a good conversation to have — figure out what the majority want, and do that. Makes sense to me.
But then some people who thought they knew best and didn’t care if anyone felt otherwise went ahead and put a new cross up there.
Then some other people who didn’t care what other people thought went ahead and painted it rainbow colours.
Then some other people who didn’t care what other people thought went ahead and painted it orange, in commemoration of the residential school shit.
And now, some other people who don’t care what other people think have torn the cross down again.
I think all of this is a perfect example of what I’ve been saying for several years, which is that people really suck at getting along right now. People at all areas of the the political spectrum have really strong opinions and think that anyone who disagrees with them is a sheep, a fascist, a racist, etc, that only their opinion is right and any other opinion is totally nuts and not worth considering. And it’s people like this who keep fucking with the cross in a never-ending back and forth of “what you did was stupid so I’m going to fuck it up now.”
It’s a grim example of where people are at these days. We suck at communication, we suck at understanding other points of view, and we suck at compromise.
The Tzouhalem Cross saga: just another example of one of humanity’s big problems.
Personally, I hate the cross. But guess what, my life will somehow go on even if most people decide it should stay.
I think the US is going to erupt after the upcoming presidential election. Things are already so bad there now, and I don’t think it’s going to improve before the election. I think the situation is going to continue to simmer and occasionally boil over in small pockets, and it will culminate on election night or soon thereafter when someone inevitably loses. Then everyone who voted for the loser is going to claim the election was rigged and completely lose their shit. I wonder if I can make bets about this online. I should ask Bill, he bet online on the last election and won some money. I’d like to get in on that.
The problem right now is that both the left and right are so polarized, so extreme in their opinions and also thoroughly convinced about the other side being totally out to lunch, that no one is willing to concede anything, cooperate, compromise, etc. Everyone wants what they want and everyone who wants otherwise is a fascist — it’s a case of the pot AND the kettle calling each other black. It’s sad and frustrating to see.
I just wanted to note this here so that when shit goes down in November, I can look back and say, “I saw it coming.” I’ll probably just make some popcorn and watch the fireworks then, and hopefully count my winnings.
I just went for a long run and then lifted weights so I’m all amped up. Got a million things running through my head, time for a rapid fire blog post.
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Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I used to hate VD because I felt it was just a Hallmark holiday, a reason for an industry of disposable trash that brainless twats mindlessly bought into.
I still feel like that, and in fact I feel like that about virtually everything in the world now — nothing is innocent, everything is trash — but I now like days like VD because I use them as a cue to do something nice with Jenn. We try to do lots of nice things together already but it’s still hard to stay on top of it, to prioritize our relationship as much as we’d like to. Life is just so busy that it’s hard not to get distracted with other things, so days like VD are a good reason for us to walk to the Swan together and get a heaping plate of chicken wings for dinner. That’s what we’re doing tonight, and I’m really looking forward to it. We haven’t had Swan wings in a long time, maybe a year? I know the service at the Swan is the shits — they can’t get your order right and sometimes it takes forever for your food to arrive and sometimes it’s cold by then and sometimes they don’t come back with the ranch dressing you asked for when you first ordered — but that’s part of its charm. Both Jenn and I wouldn’t have the Swan any other way.
What are you doing for Valentine’s Day, dear reader? That’s a joke, don’t answer it, unless your response is something depressing or morbid like “quietly disposing of my former lover’s body parts,” or “trying to hold this marriage together and not divorce this self-centered son of a bitch.” I just like mocking the bullshit I see on lame commercial blogs. Happy VD.
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One time on a road trip through the interior of BC with Jenn, I saw an adorable little old house in a desolate landscape that had a dead tree in the yard out front of the house. The tree was maybe 10 ft tall and only had a handful of limbs, like half a dozen, and looked like it had been dead for many years. I think about that tree all the time. It was so perfect for that scene and that landscape. It spoke of life, death, time, arid lands, spooky shit, and an overall aesthetic I have a strong affinity for. That tree, its yard, and its house basically looked like it all belonged in a classic horror flick, like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I sometimes think about planting a similar tree here and then killing it so that I can have an eerie dead tree out front of my house too. I know it wouldn’t be the same though so it’s just a pipe dream. Wtf does pipe dream even mean?
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I have a buddy who talked about relationships and compromise once. He said compromise sucked because then no one was happy. I thought it was hilarious and perfect coming from him, but I can’t disagree with the idea more. Jenn and I were just deciding what time to go for wings tonight and I suggested 6:30 (I like sane, normal dinner hour, like 5:30 or 6 pm) and Jenn said 7 (left to her own devices, Jenn will often eat dinner at 10 pm like a complete maniac). So we settled on 6:45 and while yeah, I’d prefer to do it earlier, compromising feels good in itself. It always feels like a victory to me to take both our wishes into account and come up with something halfway — while I may be not entirely thrilled with the small picture of when we’re going for wings, I’m very thrilled with the big picture which is our ability to be considerate of each other. For a person who is innately selfish, each successful compromise is something worth celebrating, I think.
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I have a ton of nostalgia for a lot of music my parents listened to when I was a kid, but I have zero love for Simply Red and Phil Collins. I remember my dad had audio cassettes of both artists in his old VW Jetta and there was absolutely nothing on those tapes I liked at all. This is in stark contrast to The Bangles, Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, The Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, and a bevvy of other cassettes that I loved then and still love now. I just don’t get what anyone liked about Simply Red and Phil Collins. I actually don’t think I even hear Simply Red on the radio anymore or hear anyone talk about him at all. No one seems to give a shit about him. Phil Collins is still always on the radio and I still hate all his shit. It’s funny how some feelings or opinions stick with you from such a young age.
Hate it
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That’s it. Now I can rush off to do the other zillion things beaning around inside my fired up little mind. Adios.
crimson highway 