Well it’s day one of my morning writing routine. My goal is to write from 6-7 every weekday. I thought my kids got up at 7 to go to the basement to watch YouTube. Apparently, it’s 6. H went to J’s room sometime before 5:30 so they could strategize about whose channel they would watch and how often they would take turns. I asked them to keep it down so mommy could sleep. I had the first of my morning defecations, ground some coffee beans (sorry mommy), ate a banana, mixed two packets of stevia into a mug of Starbucks medium roast, now here I am. Damnit, I can hear the TV sound coming up through the vents in my office. Let me close those vents. Still hear it. How am I supposed to meditate when I can faintly hear some 30 year-old hilariously playing Minecraft for the entertainment of my grade schoolers. And didn’t I tell those kids a couple weeks ago it was YouTube Kids only from here on out? Oh well, I’ll put the smack down later, or not, I’m not that great at parenting.
I’ve been glued to everything related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It all makes me very sad but I can’t pretend like it’s not happening. I need to find more ways to help. I’ll put a reminder for myself to donate some money to a worthy charity later. I was watching 1971 on Apple TV last night as I sucked down some vape pen in the playroom. Dad was 23 and mom was 20 at that time. I think Dad was done with college, had a motorcycle, and was going on adventures but i’m not sure. Mom was in nursing school in Syracuse. I know they were dating. Maybe that was during the era when dad and his buddy would visit mom and her friends in Syracuse and mom would get annoyed at dad for ignoring her to sip on beers with his buddy. I need to confirm so I can draw the parallel to all the stuff going on in the world at that time. The music during that time was incredible. Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Neil Young, so many people with something to say and so many people listening. Back then we were fighting in Vietnam to stop the spread of communism and the young people were like, “fuck that, what do I care if Vietnam becomes all communist? I shouldn’t have to die to protect this democracy that’s run by an authoritarian crook named Nixon.” Now we’ve got this guy Putin telling Ukraine they aren’t a free democratic country and that they need to come back under the wing of Russia like it used to be when Putin was a kid. There’s always going to be some rich asshole wanting all the power. Peace never seems to last. Nothing is ever fair. It’s hard to know the will of the people when so many people don’t care or won’t say.
I wonder if the USA will break into smaller countries like Europe has done over time. We could all migrate to a section of the country that best aligns with our values, create countries and trade agreements, then live peaceably. Psych! You dumb rube. Like you just said, there is always going to be some rich asshole trying to horn in on a utopic vision. Mom always said to turn the other cheek growing up. Well that turned me into a giant pussy. I laughed off bullies, pretended like getting my books knocked out of my hands or my tie yanked down didn’t bother me for the sake of peace. So the bullies kept bullying and I kept crying in my room at night. I should’ve shown confidence and punched someone in the face. Take the school suspension, ass beating, and tension with my peers in order to establish some respect. Sure they’ll apologize at the 20 year reunion if they’ve grown, but I don’t take solace in the fact that I had a higher level of maturity as a high schooler.
So should we punch Russia in the face because Ukraine wants democracy? Or should we let Russia take some land and make that a haven for the Putin lovers, then send the western democracy lovers to their own section of Ukraine to set up shop? Preserving world order is a bitch. I really don’t want America to get nuked.
The Family Record 