Intention

Be as awesome as people think you are.

Sentiment

Sentiment is a weight that tries its best, day and night, to chain me to the past.

יְהוֹחָנָן‎

I will never ask you to choose between your husband and I - I respect you too much to put you in a situation like that.

However, I will say this: if something were ever to happen to your husband - God forbid, but if it did - I am an option that you have.

Cheryl

The way you leaned back and playfully kicked your legs at me, like a little girl on a swing . . . 

Brittany

Sometimes it's hard to separate the emotion from the action.

Socialism / Crutch

Billboard: "We call for a radical redistribution of resources, because economic precarity is another form of harm."

Aunt Deeney: "I hope you're feeling generous, because some of us have made very poor decisions in life, and are therefore much more deserving of your new Mercedes Benz."

No. You earn it or you suffer. Social parasitism is not progress. Neither is adopting the identity of a self-righteous socialist in order to abdicate personal responsibility. 

Daryl: "This is the way it should be. There are two kinds of people in the world: producers and parasites. When a society gets too many parasites, we need the disaster, the tsunami, the earthquake, the war, the flood, the disease to wash away the garbage, to rinse the safety nets of the slugs that use them as a hammock."

Cheryl

You approached me from outside the abyss, reaching in to find me, knowing I needed you.

The Covidiot Chronicles

"I understand that you may get sick and die, and/or someone you love may get sick and die, as a result of our interaction, but I have places to be. Your potential misfortune is of no concern to me." 

People like you help me understand why mass shootings occur.

Embrace The Abyss

Sometimes you have to embrace the abyss in order to transcend it.

Montana

"I thought we were friends."

"I can't, I'm sorry . . . you're too pretty."

I said it jokingly, laughing aloud as I walked away, but I never knew a joke could hit so close to home.

Susan

What motivates me is complex and personal. I do not expect you to understand, nor will I waste time attempting to explain it, or myself. 

I owe you nothing.

Craig

The pursuit of knowledge is never time wasted.

On Vaccines and Morals

I received my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine today. More importantly, I waited my turn. My conscience is clean.

Time

Some people don't begin counting until there is nothing left to add.

Stupid Covidiots / Masks (Or Lack Thereof)

The blatant disregard for the welfare of others is what enrages me the most. That, and the inflated sense of self-importance. 

"Masks! They're so uncomfortable! And I have rights, you know!"

That look on your face when you realized I was going to beat the ever-living shit out of you was absolutely priceless, though I prefer to think of it as the righting of a wrong, a community service of sorts.

Hell, your parents should be thanking me for taking the initiative to do what they obviously never had the gumption to do themselves.

The split knuckles were well worth the knowledge dispensed. Actions have consequences, you idiot, and these are them.

On Vaccination ("War")

The Department of Homeland Security was not included in the initial plans for vaccination via Operation Warp Speed. Although David Pekoske, the Acting Security of Homeland Security, successfully petitioned the Trump Administration for vaccine doses for the department's 230,000 employees, the vaccines themselves did not magically appear out of thin air once this was accomplished. Rather, they were culled from existing stockpiles intended for frontline medical personnel and people aged 65 and older.

The thought of taking a vaccine away from someone who arguably needs it more than myself . . . no, I am not willing to do that. 

Instead, I will double-down on existing preventative measures and continue holding the line, knowing at a later date the eligibility list will expand to include me once those populations most at-risk are successfully vaccinated. I mean, we're already a year into this God-forsaken pandemic, what's another few weeks?

I do not regret making this decision in the slightest. Service is about putting the needs of others before your own. American culture as a whole is grossly narcissistic and self-centered, and Americans love deluding themselves in their own self-serving brand of superiority and adoration. Forgive me for choosing not to play along.

Psychescape

I feel myself sinking into myself, lost in decisions made long ago.

William (Rational Self-Analysis III)

"My defensiveness is derived from a deep-seated sense of inadequacy."

At your age, I would say that you're pretty fucking successful.

"From the outside looking in, people see a young man with a successful career and a lot of money in the bank. I was always taught that money is a by-product of success and that pursuing wealth alone is a fools errand; pursue success and wealth will follow. 

Using these metrics to gauge success, I suppose I have accomplished quite a bit, especially when compared to kids I went to high school and graduated college with. Every once in a while an individual from my past will re-enter my sphere of influence, and damn . . . 

But even when I succeed at something I care deeply about, like releasing a music album, I feel proud in that moment, but I can't hold onto that feeling . . . and then it's gone, and that feeling of inadequacy returns to grind on me some more." 

William (Rational Self-Analysis II)

"I have an answer to your question. It's not a very good answer and you're addressing a very uncomfortable topic, but I will answer it honestly, because I respect you enough to give you the truth.

I have always thought very low of myself. In assessing where I am in life, I feel as though this is all I deserve."

Destanie

Your laughter sounds like angels screaming . . . 

It's beautiful.

Black Coffee Blues

"The lack of sleep is slowly being filled in with rage. I can feel it seeping between the cracks where optimism ends and I begin."