I went in for my biopsy today. Good news is they didn’t have to keep me overnight because of low O2 levels like the last time. Bad news is that the spot that concerned them this time is malignant. And my first thought was literally here we go again!
Is it surprising? Yeah, somewhat. But I beat this shit in a different location twenty years ago and I’ll beat it again. Of that I have no doubt. Just not looking forward to the process, y’know? Further good news is that it was caught early, treatment options have progressed substantially over the past two decades and I have a wonderful support group that I did not have in 2003.
Next steps are CT and PET scans and we’ll go from there.
I didn’t have a blog back then so you didn’t get to read about it in real time (probably just as well, frankly), but I had been keeping a daily journal for the previous twenty years. Because I didn’t know how any of it was going to play out, I even gave up that because I didn’t want to it to turn into a morbid, morose pity party.
I kind of know what to expect this time and anything I write about it won’t fall prey to that, but I’m still not sure how much I’ll share with you guys.
If I’ve learned anything over the past years, this is just another adventure in this thing we all signed up for called, “Life.” Stay tuned.
Like a few million other folks, I showed up at the local No Kings protest. We were all there for the same fundamental reason: because Comrade Donald Trump and his cadre of NazgĆ»l have been merrily shitting onā¦well, everything thatās good and promising and hopeful and decent about the US.
Fuck Trump.
People are pissed off about SO MANY things Trump has done (and intends to do). The attacks on immigration, science, trans rights, healthcare, civil liberties, the environment, due process, Gaza (and Israel and Iran and and and), veteranās benefits, free speech, the national debt, the January 6th pardons, everything about January 6th, the assault on education, the assault on libraries, the assault on the very concept of Truth.
No, really, fuck Trump.
But one thread tied all the anger and frustration and resentment together. A deep, abiding rage against Donald Trump as a person. Not only for the horrors heās inflicted on the United States, but a profound loathing for him as an individual. As I wandered through the No Kings crowd, I kept seeing this same sentiment. Fuck Trump.
Also? Fuck Trump.
People really hate this motherfucker and they hate him personally. They hate him for what heās done, they hate him for what he wants to do, and they hate for him who he is. Which, I suppose, is only fair, considering how many people he hates for who they are. Trump has a singular talent for both hating others and being hated.
Seriously, fuck that guy.
Why do people hate him so? Because heās a liar, because he buried one of his many wives on a goddamn golf course, because heās betrayed the United States, because heās got truly godawful taste in everything, because heās cheated on every wife heās had, because heās massively ignorant and unaware of it, because heās a liar, because heās fucked over every person and contractor heās ever worked with, because heās an unrepentant racist, because he hates women, because he loves autocrats, because heās a liar, because heās a coward, because heās never owned a pet, because heās a narcissist, because he pretends to support the military but believes theyāre losers, because heās a liar, because of his stupid fucking red hats, because heās a phony, because heās put incompetent people in positions of power, because he insults everybody who disagrees with him, because heās a vindictive prick, because heās a liar, because heās rude, because of his stupid fucking hair, because he encourages his followers to be violent, because he hates immigrants but hires them to work for his resorts, because heās shit all over the Arts, because heās a liar, because heās cruel and enjoys inflicting harm on others, because he pretends to be a Christian without having an inkling of Christian charity, because heās a sex pest, because heās committed many many crimes but has never been held accountable for any of them, because the people who like him are all massive assholes, because heās a fucking liar.
And the horse he rode in on.
Iām sure Iāve skipped a few dozen other reasons why people hate him. But I think you get the point. People sincerely hate Trump.
But there was another guy at the No Kings event. Bearded guy, dressed all in black, sitting on a granite railing. He was wearing a T-shirt that said āHate Will Never Win.ā I hope heās right. I genuinely hope hate wonāt win. But I also hope the hatred against Donald Trump will get people to stand up for themselves and for others. I hope it will get people to push back against his authoritarianism. I hope it will get people to vote. I hope it will get people to hold Trump accountable for all (or at least some) of the horrible things heās done to this country.
letās start off with a bang ā and put the hero of the day right up top. ladies and gents, I give you the Poet Laureate of No Kings Day.
we did it, folks. an estimated five million of us gathered peacefully coast to coast, to rise up as one and convey a singular message: fuck off, Donny Convict ā youāre not our king.
for fuckās sake, even the No Kings protest in Knoxville, TN ā a city that Trump won in 2024 by 20-plus points ā was larger than the one that showed up for Dear Leaderās ego party.
bro, I got you a present. look, itās a tiny violin ā and itās playing Happy Birthday, You Fucking Loser.
doesnāt Dear Leaderās Slovenian trophy wife look like sheās trying not to burst out laughing?
once again, the Great Bullshit Artist promised spectacle and delivered warmed-over garbage.
when all is said and done, should any of us really be surprised that the guy who failed at running a real estate empire, and failed at running casinos, and failed at running an airline, and failed at running a football team, and failed at running an economy, and failed at fighting a pandemic, and failed as a president, and failed as a human being, has now failed at putting on a dictator parade?
Perhaps by design, though, the day was somewhat more restrained than other displays Mr. Trump has praised, such as Bastille Day celebrations in France.
āperhaps by designā ā yeah, thatās it.Donny wanted his vanity dictator parade to suck. once again, Dear Leader is playing n-dimensional chess on a level that the rest of us smoothbrains canāt hope to fathom.
go peddle that shit somewhere else, NY Times. weāre all stocked up today.
oh, and while weāre doing a little hating on our failed institutions: the Los Angeles Police Department can go fuck itself, royally.
after an entire day of millions of people in thousands of protests, all peacefully exercising their First Amendment right to assemble, and seconds after an MSNBC reporter said, āI want to reiterate this has been 100% peaceful,ā the LAPD ā without provocation, and for no reason at all ā moved in and began firing tear gas and flash-bangs.
fuck those fucking fucks. itās time for more heroes.
I could never really afford LaCoste; in the early 80s, they were $25 a pop, well beyond what my budget would allow at the time. I did have a rainbow of colors from Brittania, however.
At one point I did manage to buy the real deal. It was red, and I never wore it much because I got a size too small and was too naive to realize I could take it back and exchange itāeven after I’d washed it.
June, 1983
In much later years I have been able to snag a few gently used alligators from eBay. Terribly out of fashion these days, but I still love them. Put one on, dab some Halston Z-14 behind my ears and I’m 25 years old with a 31-inch waist again.
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We live in a world that in times past if you saw an outrageous headline online you’d automatically laugh it off as satire. Everything has gotten so fucked in the last six months however that you now actually have to verify that it’s from the ONION and not something that really happened.
