I'm at the tail end of one of the worst cases of the flu I've ever had, almost as bad as, if not worse than, the pneumonia I had 'way back in Viet Nam. This one has finally persuaded me to stop smoking. For the past two weeks, I haven't been doing much of anything but sacking out, taking plenty of fluids, and coughing my brains out, with an occasional trip to the grocery store.
How I got to be the way I am Department:
For me, the definitive 60's song was The Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle. It neatly summed up my utter alienation from a psychopathic society. Since it's over 40 years old, call it two generations, I don't suppose it gets much airplay these days. So, just in case you missed it, here are the lyrics:
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never shared.
No one dared.
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools" said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls."
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.
Have things changed? Yes, somewhat. Have things changed enough? Not really.
What really bothers me is the NeoCons trying to take the country back to the 50's. Happy Days and Back to the Future notwithstanding, those really weren't such good times.