This, that, and the other this...a loss of humor...

"Just because you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town!"
- George Carlin (1937-2008)

SO, I wake up this morning, KNOWING that the day isn't looking so well right from the get-go due to an e-mail I got last night. I turn on my computer, open Yahoo, and low and behold the first thing I see is that my comedic hero, George Carlin, has passed away.

While that may not mean much to some of you, for me it's a big deal. I have had 2 favorite comedians in life - George Carlin and Mitch Hedberg - and they are both now dead.

These two geniuses gave me more than Santa Claus has over the years. And those gifts can be revisited, thankfully, through DVD and CD... However, the creativity lost by their deaths is something that can't be replaced, and I do feel that we are worse off not having them in this world.

But rather than dwell on the loss anymore, I want to celebrate their lives through their greatest quotes...and spinning my life around them:

The planet is fine. The people are fucked.
- George Carlin

Let's look at how the rest of the day went... I was on conference calls all day to resolve a work issue that never should have happened in the first place. I had someone screaming at me on the phone because they wish there to be a traffic light outside one of the stores I look after (somehow this is my fault). One of my dogs is pretty sick and can't keep food down... *sigh*

Whatever...

I know in my heart of hearts that I can't change anyone who has a Death Wish, I guess, but I just want things to go smooth and for people to do what they are told and taught...and NOT TO BE A MORON. In this day and age, relationships and jobs and money are too fleeting to go and fuck it all up. Enjoy life, do the best you can, and then try to do a little better - there is always room for improvement. People ARE most certainly fucked. Which one will you be? The fucker or the fuckee?

Try to be neither... Just be a good person to yourself and others... I sound like such a filthy hippie...

"I don't have a girlfriend, but I do know a woman who would be mad at me for saying that."
- Mitch Hedberg

I really think I am over dating again...not like I was ever 'pro dating'. I hate it...but I guess to find someone to watch movies with regularly it's necessary. I'm in the dating pool now...right now I think its the shallow end... (A fine play on words if you ask me) I'm not going to say if there are 'persons of interest', but I will say that I have a fondness... Just never know what direction it's gonna go... The last person I wrote about went hideously bad....and I knew it was just a matter of time before it did go bad, but I am always hopeful.

I am the occasional optimist...

I was just telling someone tonite that everything I like is bad for me: Gambling, Smoking (not that I really like it, but I do it regularly), soda, red meat, women... So I figure, when I like someone, they must be bad for me - mainly because I like them.

I'm an idiot.

"Most people work just hard enough not to get fired and get paid just enough money not to quit."
- George Carlin

Well, I can sympathize... Perception is key here... I make just enough not to quit, but I work pretty damn hard. That is MY perception - can I say that my overseers agree? No, but I am hopeful.

This is part of the larger issue of "you don't REALLY know what others think of you." Some don't care, some do. I am one of the people who do care about that more often than not. I want to be good at what I do and I want people to recognize that. I never wanna be "that guy" - the one that people talk about when they aren't around. I know when I do that it isn't the nicest or most complimentary of conversations. I can only imagine what people say about me...

I'm Paranoid

"You know, you can't please all the people all the time...and last night, all those people were at my show!"
- Mitch Hedberg

I really can't be everything to everyone - and that pisses me off. I guess that is one of the reasons why I get so stressed out. I want to do well, I want to impress, I want to succeed, but if things are getting in the way, then I really can't be all those things to everyone. While I know that nothing in this life is perfect, and that shit happens, I am fairly convinced that it shouldn't happen as much as it does. I accept it, but I don't have to like it. I certainly don't embrace it, but I see it for what it is. I just hope others do, too...

I'm a worrier...

"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."
- George Carlin

I'd like to think that I am 'above average' with regards to this - but I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

I have made my fair share of bad, dumb, poor, and piss poor decisions, but I TRY to learn from them as much as I can and move forward. What I DON'T do is let go of things, or switch off, and THAT is what pulls be down (pushes me up?) on the stupidity ladder. I really don't know where this particular psychosis comes from, but it's here, and it sucks...

I'm in need of therapy...

"I like to play blackjack. I'm not addicted to gambling, I'm addicted to sitting in a semi-circle."
- Mitch Hedberg

I never really had a true understanding of addiction until I became an addict myself. Yeah, smoking is an addiction, but that is, like, an almost acceptable addiction - not saying its good for you, but for me it gets me outside :-)

Gambling is a different story...it's weird - it's a bad addiction, but its the only one where the possibility exists of walking out with more than you walked in with. I never saw someone put down a needle and magically win more heroin.

Now, I said the POSSIBILITY exists...it's always possible, but in the gamblers mind, winning only means there is more to lose that they didn't have before. I love the action...while there is money in the machine, I always have a chance of winning. The minute I leave, I start to feel pain - bad pain. It's like when you scratch yourself so much you bleed, then you keep scratching cause it feels good, but the minute you stop everything starts stinging and throbbing and you wanna scream.

I guess the same is true for drug and alcohol addicts. I witnessed a friend of mine going through DT's the other night (he has a bad alcohol issue and is TRYING to get better). I felt so bad - there was nothing I could do. I thought, "If this is what people go through when detoxing, then I can see why they don't stop". I get a similar feeling leaving a casino. It's bad. I need be more in control. Thankfully I have tempered that issue, and am getting better every day. I'm actually able to walk in a casino and not lose every cent I have to my name. It's nice.

I'm a recovering addict...

"No one knows what's next, but everybody does it."
- George Carlin

I most certainly don't know whats next...if I did, I think that would take the mystery out of everything and kinda kill some of the fun.

I want the power of 'selective clairvoyance' - to see the future of what I want when I want. I don't need to see into the future for stuff like what my next bowel movement will be like, or what I will eat for dinner tomorrow. What I DO want to see is my career, bank book, etc... This way I know what I am in for. People say "If you saw into the future then you'd be able to change it". Well, that is complete bullshit, because then that isn't the future you saw - it's just a prospectus of what the future could be. I want the real, firm, future to be seen - this is what it is... I think that would be helpful...

I think too much...

I'm gonna leave off with 2 quotes that I love from these freaks of comedy nature...

"I'm sick of following my dreams...I'm just going to ask them where they are going and hook up with them later"
- Mitch Hedberg

"The future will soon be a thing of the past"
- George Carlin

...As we all will be George. You will be missed by many, myself near the front of that line... Make sure you go get a drink with Mitch...

As usual, feel free to comment since no one does...

Peace

- Mike