Dispatches from Oblivion

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." --Anaïs Nin

Golly gee whiz, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Funny to think that I had hoped to do these weekly. Right now, it’s looking more like bi-annually.

I have several reviews and things all in draft status; just haven’t had the desire to finish them lately. I hope that changes.

I wrote the following on Facebook this morning; the more I thought about it the more I felt like it was a little personal for that expanded audience and thought it might make a better Substack post, so here you go.

I got off work yesterday at 3:30 pm. The cat was out of food and the dog was pretty close so I decided that I would go to Glasgow and get some. We've been trying to improve their diet, y'see, and that means buying supposedly better quality food that comes with a higher price tag as well, but I wasn't paying so I won't complain about that.

They only had one cat at the Petsense store; generally, I don't like to look too much at the cats and dogs that are up for adoption because old soft hearted and headed me feels bad for them and wants to get them out but realistically can't afford to do it. Anyway, the cat, who was grey with black stripes and was a female, was snoozing in a box in her cage. I said "Hey kittycat" and she just opened her eyes, yawned, looked at me, and closed them again. Guess spending all my time alone in a cage in a pet store would make me rather blasé about things too. The cat looked like our boy Malloy, one of the Hadden's Legion of Cats who stayed with us for a while.

Anyway, Once I got there and made my purchases, I wanted something to drink. Nothing cold; it was a grey, gloomy, frigid day (hey, a lot like me!) I wanted something warm and sweet, not just black coffee or something like that. I thought of Dunkin' (do they still use the word "Donuts"?) but it was like 5 miles in the opposite direction I wanted to go. There's this new wonderful coffee shop on the Square in Glasgow that I read about constantly for a week or so, but it was too far in the direction I didn't want to go either. Ace Coffee Co.? In another town that I didn't plan on driving back through. I never feel hip enough for actual coffee shops, and besides, when it comes to those kinds of coffee places, I am, as I also am with wine and beer, woefully ignorant of all the hundreds of varieties of types of coffee drinks one can order, much to the embarrassment, I'm sure, of my occasional-barista son. Going to a high-quality coffee shop becomes an exercise in frustration. I have MORE than enough frustration in my life without actively seeking out new sources. But boy, do I ever digress. ANYway, I guess I could have gone to McDonalds', which was nearby, but see the coffee shop thing above, even McD's has too many choices for my old tired brain to want to sort through. Then, a sputtering, sizzling almost-burnt out light bulb appeared over my head- the Five Star Convenience store! They have hot sweet drinks and one of those cappuccino drinks, probably made by mixing powder and water in the machine, nevertheless sounded like just the ticket. So off I went to the 5 Star store, which was not only close but also on my way home. Got to the capp machine, and I was greeted by 8 different flavors from pumpkin spice to salted caramel to s'mores and more. I chose s'mores.

Heading home, I decided to fire up the Demon Spotify in order to listen to a record that I fell hard for roughly 15 years ago despite owning it since the year it was released (1982). The album in question was Heart's mostly unloved, even by the group, PRIVATE AUDITION. It had been a while. So, there I was, sipping and, yes, enjoying my crappaccino and singing along with the Wilson sisters to some of those beautiful, bombastic songs, driving home on 31-E. It felt, well, for lack of a better word, good. I made it home, thankfully, without incident.

So anyway, here it is, I'm awake at 4 in the morning, and felt like writing, just sharing my random thought processes. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. And here, you can sing along too.

"It's come down to feeling
And you're feeling wrong"

Dispatches From Oblivion was intended to be a (as I said) weekly update of what I’ve been watching, reading, and listening to, just in case there’s someone out there, anybody, who was interested. I had intended to perhaps monetize this thing, but I wanted to establish a regular writing schedule and have consistently good content before I opened my guitar case at my feet for you all to throw nickels in as I frantically strummed for attention. I have not yet done either to my satisfaction, so the JBSS remains gratis. Because of many things, not the least of which some dodgy health (both mental and physical) problems, I have failed to do this. But, since, in the immortal words of the late Kenneth Hensley, “Today is only yesterday’s tomorrow” (What the hell does that even mean anyway? Ya got me), I still want to do these once in a while.

Stay tuned.