Why a "job" could be good

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Isn't it a fucked up thing that the one thing you detest most is thing you are?  For instance the thing I hate most is really cool people who everyone likes and are just generally rad people. So inevitably because I hate these people I end up being just that, super cool and everyone loves me.  I can't stand it!

I don't know if you can tell by looking at me but I don't have a steady career or "income stream".  I've learned that women seem to like their men to have an "income stream".  Anyways, my point is I'm a late night trivia host in bars.  I walk into a bar with my microphone and PA system and I say, "Hi everyone, it's time for Trivia night!" Then I walk up to every table and say, "Hi, we're gonna play trivia tonight.  We play for free drinks and money.  Do any of you guys like free drinks and money?"  One thing I've learned is that most people in bars like both "free drinks" and "money".

Then I give the table some answer sheets and tell them to come up with a team name.  Usually they come up with something wacky like "Poopy Poop Poo."  Pretty crazy huh?  One team was formed of a few strangers, the two remember-able strangers were the "Big Fisherman" and the "Scrawny street performer" (This guy wore a guitar on his back).  They called themselves "The Beatniks".

As the evening progressed and many drinks were consumed the bar, with my help, was having a very enjoyable time.  On the last round the "scrawny street performer" changed the team name from "The beatniks" To "The beatnik cocksuckers".  I announced this change through my PA system to let everyone in the bar know about this wacky and zany name change.

Very shortly after I made this announcement I felt a squeeze around my neck.  Turns out that the "Big Fisherman" was unaware of his teams name change and he was choking me for calling him a "cocksucker".  My first thought was, "Wow, this guy is choking pretty hard for just kidding."

Then he kept choking harder and harder while yelling, "Why did you call me a cocksucker?  I'm not a cocksucker!!!!!  I'm not a COCKSUCKER!!!!!!!!!!".

The crowd in the bar surrounded us and the bouncer pulled the gentleman off of me.  He just wanted to make sure that I knew he wasn't a cocksucker.

I guess the point of my story is this: It's good in life to have an income stream or as the women in my life like to put it, a "job".  Otherwise you too might get choked, very hard.

Point with the hand

/
I saw this guy I knew who used to make money but now he was working at Starbucks.  I judged him.  Then I became a guy who couldn't even get a job at Starbucks.  If you judge some guy just because he's a loser means that you will become a loser.  I learned that from Jesus.

Did you know that if you point a finger at someone, there's 3 fingers pointing back at you.  That's why I point with every finger in my hand, I point with the whole hand.

When I was hitting rock bottom my guru told me everyone in life has that one incredibly hard problem or issue they have to deal with.  He told me his was a small pimple on his face.

Dance to the DJ

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I don't know if I beleive that God has a plan. It just doesn't seem that fun if God already has everything preordained. Wouldn't that make God kind of nerdy and anal if he had some precise plan and he was just in the sky making sure it all goes according to his word?

I think God is cooler than that. Instead of carrying out some plan I see God mixing it live. I think God is like a DJ in the clouds mixing his tunes on the fly. I'm dancing to this shit. That's an important thing to remember, to dance. You've got to dance to the tune the dj's spinning. Sure you can put some requests in but in the end you've got to dance. You can't stand with your back against the wall.

Today I'm going to enjoy the music.

The prides last walk

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The last standing stillness made
The final mercy in waters of calm
Holding to templates that fade
And pretending the worlds in palm
It's blankets that keep us warm
It's the one's we hate who remove
I'm closing my eyes in the storm
And there's always pride to prove

Empty in a good way
Empty from full
Come or just stay
But always walk cool

Such a lie to keep
it hurts from inside
Going down it's steep
And alone is the pride

The other side of the coin

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I used to get sad when a friend was moving out of town.  It felt like my world was shrinking.  What if more friends move out of town?  Until one day I'm left with no friends.  Then what am I gonna do?  Go make new friends?  I'm too old to make new friends.  I don't like to go out and meet people.

These are the thoughts I would have.

Then a thought occurred to me that maybe my world isn't getting smaller when a friend moves away.  Maybe the opposite is true.  And now that's how I like to look at it, I like to see my world as an ever expanding adventure around the globe.  My world's not getting smaller but it's growing, and it's getting bigger every time a friend leaves.  I have friends in NYC, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Oklahoma, Los Angeles, Indiana, Texas and probably many more places.

I'm not alone.  I'm welcome in many different states, if I so wish to visit.

The lesson for me is: If I think things are bad due to my perception on life, maybe I can look at the opposite angle see that there's that side of the coin too.  

It's near just not here

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Going in unscripted
Not the best plan
How am I depicted?
An uncomfortable man.

Suit is in my favor
That's the lie I tell
Each breath I can savor
As I walk through silent hell

Forget the lines
The laughs of before
It's all the same signs
And the routine is a bore

Holding on to noise
Is the essence of my goal
I'm all the boys
That's the motto I stole

Thoughts are there to steer
It's more than you think
It's putting in the gear
And slipping in the sink

At last I try to end
The biggest type of cheer
After no one's friend
Not here but somewhere near

Let's sell Jesus!

/
Well I guess I have egg on my face don't I?  I didn't get raptured up to heaven.  That fucking preacher said there was no way this couldn't happen.  How am I going to pay rent?  I spent all the families money on those damn whores and now I'm fucked!

What are you supposed to do after the world doesn't end?  It was so comforting knowing the world was going to end.  I usually don't know how life is going to work out and for once I had an answer.  Now I have nothing.  Nothing...except for a wife and two young kids, but who needs any of that bullshit.  I wanted some fucking excitement for a change.  Now all I do for fun is send my kids upstairs for time out while I watch Larry Sanders on netflix.

Oh well, you loose some you win some.

I need to get back into multilevel marketing.   With multilevel marketing you get to be your own boss, you have tons of free time, and you end up with tons of cash!  I tried to start my own MLM one time.  I had a great product, selling Jesus!  Not only could you get rich in my program but you were able to secure your place in heaven once you hit the diamond level!

Let's do this, let's sell Jesus!


My last day

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It's almost time for me to go with Jesus.  I'm really gonna miss you guys.  I'll definitely try to think about you in heaven but I'm kind of guessing that God might make me forget everyone I knew on Earth just because it might bum me out thinking about how you guys have to burn in hell fire for eternity.  Thoughts like that aren't really conducive to the whole ecstasy vibe that we're trying to create upstairs.  If my brain does get cleared of all memories of my old hell bound friends just remember that I do love you and I'm sorry that you're in excruciating pain.  Hopefully after a while you get used to the fire although I have heard that the pain gets increasingly worse for eternity.

Oh well, I guess I have to get going now because Jesus is ready for me.  He's probably outside my door.

I think the first thing I'm going to do in heaven is go into the truth or dare room.  I'm definitely single in the afterlife!

Fuck you happiness

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I'd be lying if I told you I didn't want "Fuck you money".  The thought that I could just tell anyone I wanted to to fuck off, and not care about how it might effect me financially sounds awesome.  That doesn't seem like the best attitude huh?  I don't care.  I like the thought of living for myself and not being forced to comply with anyone's hand of authority.  So you got me, I don't like authority figures.

The truth is I don't know if I'll ever get to have fuck you money but I'm coming to realize that there is a peice of myself that no one can ever really touch, unless I let them.  The inner Duke.  The true Duke.  If I'm cool there then it really doesn't matter what the guys on the outside try to get me to do.

In short, what I'm talking about is "Fuck you happiness".  It's my personal attainable version of "Fuck you Money". 

I'm out of time, going camping with my son's.  Spending time with them makes me happy.  So go fuck yourself.

The Tao of Sidekick

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The sidekick is the easiest job.  Sure everyone wants to be the host.  The star.  But no one really realizes how easy, relaxed and fun it is to be the sidekick.  The host has to stress.  The first one there the last one to leave, his mind is on the show every waking hour and the show most likely occupies most of his dreams and/or nightmares.

But the sidekick, he rolls in late in the afternoon, eats a couple donuts, hits on a few secretaries and then strolls over to the set and stretches out on the couch.  After the show the host is stressing about how it went and what to do for the next show.  Meanwhile the sidekick is tossing the nerf football with a couple of writers and is peacefully enjoying every second of the experience.

When the show starts the host is spinning a dozen plates, his mind working a million miles an hour.  The sidekick relaxes and enjoys himself.  He's having fun!  He kicks back and if he thinks of something funny he shouts it out.  The crowd laughs and everyone thinks he's hilarious.  If he can't think of anything he shuts up and let's the host do the work.

All I'm saying is it's a lot more fun being the sidekick.  It's an easy gig.  It's probably the best gig.

What I'm trying to say is you don't have to be a baller.  You don't have to be the top dog.  Keep the overhead low, keep the free time to a maximum, and the stress to a minimum.  Have fun like a sidekick!  Party like a sidekick! 

The Tao of Sidekick.

More crazy talk

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You think you know?  I've never really thought that unless it was concerning knowing that I don't know.  I'm not even sure about that.  Maybe it's time to get sure about something?  Or maybe it's just good to be a searching soul.  I can't really stand people who know the answer, although I tend to get a lot of enjoyment listening to them.  I have problems.

What am I doing?  OK Duke just chill.  Just write something.  I've got nothing.

Before you're born you don't exist.  Then you are born and you exist.  Then you die and you don't exist.  So life is just an interruption of non existence?

Don't think about this stuff just eat some pizza and go shopping and try your best to get laid.  Is that what it comes down to?  I tried to start a skateboard company with the motto EFW: Eat Fuck Win.  Didn't really take off.

It's about tapping into something.  Something real.  A real moment.  I think the word I want is authenticity.  I want authenticity.  I want to wake up feeling that all my actions and thoughts were real.  Authentic.  Not something that doesn't mean anything.  Find meaning.  What's your meaning.

Enough crazy talk.


Light years need spaceships

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I feel so close yet light years away.  It's a different world and I'm looking in from the outside.  It's always gonna feel that way until I get with the program.  I've never been a "join life" kind of guy in my natural state.  I'm doing little things.  It starts with the little ones, stay consistent.  This is the mind ramblings from a semi focused crazy man with a blurry goal and a blind path.

I hear it's never easy and that's depressing, but I've got to believe that's a lie.  The people who say it never gets easier don't remember the hard part.  It's been too long for them.  Or they didn't have to experience it.  I want a taste of the nectar (more insane gibberish).

Some things just need to be repeated, but sometimes you need to make tweaks in your ship (now I'm getting messages from the mother ship).  Make an adjustment to your space ship young cowboy, the universe is yours to lasso.

I've been thinking a lot about the movie It's a Wonderful Life.  That's my life.  But it's not going to stop me.  I do have an amazing family and live in a beautiful place, but I still know I can have it all.

Or can I?

I love the vibe

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I love the vibe.
There's a certain frequency that I can sometimes tune into.
It's a delicate knob and if I don't turn it just right it's all static.
But sometimes the beam is crystal clear.
It's like blowing bubbles, a lot pop in the beginning but when you get the hang of it that floating bubble has a perfect beauty to it.
I felt that frequency tonight.
The volume was barely audible but I was given a glimpse into the possibilities.
I'm starting to meditate after yoga now, I think it's going to help me tune in more often.
I love the vibe.

A Miner's Night's Dream

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It keeps resurfacing.  I don't acknowledge it, but it's there.
It's from a long time ago.  We all have stories, and mine is hidden.
I try to unlock it with some key, to open the safe. Why do I care?
My mind won't travel to certain areas, these zones are labeled forbidden.

It's all perspective I suppose, but to me it's a matter of living and dying.
It's two fold yet I can only see one, and many times I see less.
I drive but the tears slow me down, no one should be so hard trying.
This is my love story turned mad, this is my body gone careless.

There's nothing worse than lost time, than memories of waste.
This is my song to your universe, this is an image to explore.
I've developed patterns, but this is a fruit I can taste.
I want the gold, it's there.  I'm mining, nothing more.


We went under

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We went under water.  It's a rush, almost dying.  Coming close to death is one of the times when you truly feel alive.  I've had more than a fair share of times in my life when I thought I could die.  I've known a lot of people who have died.  One of the things I've noticed about people dying is that it's usually them and not me.  Guess I'm just lucky.

The worst is when you're not almost dying and you're not living.  I've had more than my fair share of that.  I learned at an early age how to tune out life.  Hoe to basically just stay numb and allow the hours to float by.  It used to be almost an art form now that I think about it.  I had days alone as a child with no stimulation, just tuned out.

We went under water and I felt alive, so did my 4 year old, he didn't even cry.  Surfing is something that makes me feel better after I do it.  It's important to have a few of those things in your life.  With two young children I'm forced to ask myself what's important to me in life.  What do I want to pass along.  It's also easy for me to do the bare minimum and tune out.  That's why I love it when something spectacularly beautiful wakes me up.

I like my kids getting  familiar with the ocean.  It teaches them a certain amount of respect for their limitations and to me that's important.

I don't have much left in me right now, so until next time.

The confusion close

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The confusion close. This is when the sales person begins to talk circles. So much so that I'm not sure what's going on anymore. What did he just say? Do you understand what he's talking about? I'm not sure what's going on. I don't understand. The circles of words are confusing me. Where am I right now? Who am I? I'm forgetting. Make the words stop. Make everything stop. I can't understand the words. Must go. I can't.

"That sounds great, I'll buy it!"

The confusion salesman strikes again.
/
I'm sensitive. Who isn't?
I'm naive, easily manipulated. Why? I can manipulate people. I do.  Why do I fall for it?  I'm a believer.  I guess I'm like the monkeys.  Or Neil Diamond.  My Dad's favorite was Neil Diamond.
I'm dizzy. I throw up from headaches sometimes.
My eyelids are heavier than a warehouse door. My band played a gig in a warehouse



I've always wanted to own a warehouse.  My own little getaway.

I'm loosing it.

I surfed today with my son.  That's the best thing I have going for me.  No matter how my life is going I think that should be the best thing going for me so at least I've got that right.

I killed tonight, comedically speaking.

I'm the Brian Wilson of nobodies.

I need therapy.


The letter

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My letter scared me.  It was threatening.  I'm already a beaten man, and now this?  How is it that people like to kick others when they're down?

The letter has me stressed.  I'm frightened of people who used to love me.  I've fallen from grace.  These people used to love me, even more than her.

The monster cornered me.  I tried to get away but I couldn't.  She forced the letter on me.  Can you be raped by letter.  If so then I have.  I closed my eyes and took it... The letter.

I couldn't read it.  That's when the rape begins.  Who ever heard of initiating your own rape?  It was my choice to wait, maybe indefinately.

I'm gone and so is the letter.