Something That Happened.

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Stories by Harold, in a variety of formats - including text, audio, video, and podcasts.

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Thursday, September 11, 2003

Regrets...
I've had a few.
But then again,
Too few to mention!

--"My Way",
written by Paul Anka

When I hear that song, I think of Frank Sinatra, and sometimes Elvis or Sid Vicious -- all of whom have been known to perform, in their own unique manner, that wonderful song. Wonderful because -- though I don't always enjoy hearing it, I've heard it so much -- the song is a wonderful personal anthem. That's something we all need: a personal anthem. A song that praises our individuality; a mark of devotion to oneself. After all, they say you're going to have a helluva time loving anyone else unless you've first learned to love yourself, right?

This is not to replace your love for your God, or your spouse, or your family. I'm simply saying that we all need to give ourselves a bit more self-love at this time of year. (No, not that type of self-love !) Too many of us beat up on ourselves throughout the year, and then nearly destroy ourselves at year's end. No wonder there are so many suicides during the Holidays; the messages bombarding us are to Buy Buy Buy and to Give Give Give -- but what if you have nothing to give but love? If you have a dearth of that good stuff, then you'll have a bitch of a time spreading it around to your neighbors.

So be good to yourself, whether you're Christian, Pagan, Wiccan, Athiest, Hindu, Islamic, Mormon, Podcastin, or otherwise. Don't take the pills, they won't do you or anyone else any good; you'll simply miss out on the Next Big Thing (which may turn out to be Your Next Big Thing). Just do things your own way, singing that little hymn as you do so:

For what is a man,
What has he got?
If not himself,
Then he has naught.
To say the things,
He truly feels,
And not the words,
Of one who kneels.
The record shows,
I took the blows
And did it my way!

Saturday, April 17, 2004

Before we continue, I must mention a quote I recently came across:

"You are a socially isolated individual who desperately wants to communicate with a substantive imaginary world."

This quote was discovered in the book How to Be Alone, by Jonathan Franzen, and was delivered to the author by Shirley Brice Heath, a linguistic anthropologist who had been studying audiences of serious fiction for several years. The quote expresses a theory of Heath's regarding readers who are are most likely to become writers. As Jonathan Franzen saw it, Heath's words were revelatory of his own experience; they were a glimpse inside his being. It was an epiphanic moment for me as well--I am also the person described.

posted by Harold 4/17/2004 03:23:00 AM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Friday, April 16, 2004

And remember, always remember--not everything you read, see, or hear is true. Only what you touch is true. But I'm lying to you--what you touch may not really be there. It may be a figment of your imagination. So the only truth is what you smell--unless what you smell is rotten, of course, in which case you must reconstruct that smell until it fits your level of acceptibility. Which means you've distorted the truth--after all, what smells rotten to one person may smell delicious to another. So the only truth is what you can sense beyond the realm of your five senses--a sixth sense, if you will, a gut feeling, an instinct. Unless you have chronic ulcers or bad instincts...

posted by Harold 4/16/2004 01:18:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

That is what this blog has become. An expulsion, a defecation. There is nothing here but useless information; it is a repository of wasteful matter. It is filthy and unorganized. It is rejected material. It is nothing that I wish to be associated with. Therefore, it is time to change, once again, the composition of this blog. We will begin anew.

posted by Harold 4/16/2004 01:03:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

A bad talk show on Internet radio in the background. A cold cup of coffee on the desk, my bowels beginning to urge me. I head to the restroom.

posted by Harold 4/16/2004 11:58:00 AM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Please don't forget to vote for my Internet radio station in the Best of Live365 Awards! The deadline is Thursday at 5pm Pacific, so if you like me, cast your votes today!

posted by Harold 4/13/2004 07:08:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Sunday, April 04, 2004

That's where I spent the weekend. Away from the city.

posted by Harold 4/04/2004 10:58:00 PM | 0 Comments | Links to this post

Businesses in Huntsville, Alabama

I once posted, in this space (this right column), the following:

If I had friends they would be listed here

That particular bit o' text, that silly and idiotic phrase, was repeated a dozen or two dozen or so times and was intended to be temporary. I had been working on a project -- a new layout for this blog -- and had intended for that text to be placeholder content. That is, the text was supposed to temporarily replace the content that had previously occupied this column (which was a list of links to friends -- that is, other blogs and web sites I linked to). I didn't know what content I was going to place into that (this) space, so I placed a bunch of duplicate phrases here as a placeholder so that I would remember to fill in this space again later.

At the same time, I thought I was being cute with the heading:

NEW & IMPROVED FRIENDS!

The fact remains: I still don't know what content to put here, in this column. Links again? Pictures? Video? Audio? ~~Ads? Oh, hell no!~~ It hasn't come to me yet, but I'm sure it will eventually, and when it does it'll come quick and (as usual) with consequences.