The Way Things Go

Like Bumper Cars at the Amusement Park!

Some time ago, I wrote:

It’s really all about how it doesn’t matter who reads what I write. What matters is THAT I write. I’m sitting here now just after 11 AM after having spent some time after my morning writing having some breakfast at Daily Provisions where I ended up talking to our head of training, Katie, for a spell. The team there is so receptive to each other. I hope that the experience that I offered to her at a little under three months in was valuable.

What’s really on my mind is attention. When I would “fall in” as a youngster in the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps, the next word after “Fifes and Drums” would be “atTEN-TION! At that point, we’d bring our right heel into alignment with the left and straighten up, eyes front, and we would pay attention to whatever our drum major was indicating we were to do. I’m used to that.

I think we ought to pay better attention to each other generally here on this planet. It is the most generous act. One way that I know that my readers are paying attention is when they do more than just “like” the post. Taking the time to say something about the content, that is so generous and so rare. Here’s your chance to do it privately:

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OK, now that we have that out of the way, I guess the next thing is to say a bit more about life, the universe, and everything. I was doing a bit of amplification of Martin Ciupa the other day that touched upon this:

It appeals to me. This is an interesting construction that reminds me of the way the Germans expresses liking something “Es gefaellt mir...” - this puts the action on the thing that one likes rather than on the “ich” or ego. I could expand on this but, for now, I think I’ll just plop it here and move on to the next thought, because so many are vying for attention. And here’s what surfaced:

History, my friends. I dug a bit into the lyrics for us:

• Hell in a Bucket

  Lyrics By:

  John Barlow

  Music By:

  Bob Weir, Brent Mydland

  Well I was drinking last night with a biker
  And I showed him a picture of you
  I said “pal, get to know her, you’ll like her”
  Seemed like the least I could do

  ‘Cause when he’s charging his chopper
  Up and down your carpeted halls
  You will think me by contrast quite proper
  Never mind how I stumble and fall
  Never mind how I stumble and fall

  You imagine sipping champagne from your boot (note 1)
  For a taste of your elegant pride
  I may be going to hell in a bucket
  But at least I’m enjoying the ride
  At least I’m enjoying the ride
  Yeah at least I’m enjoying the ride

  Ahh miss sweetie little soft-core pretender
  Somehow baby got hard as it gets
  With her black leather chrome spiked suspenders
  And her chair and her whip and her pets

  Well we know you’re the reincarnation
  Of the ravenous Catherine the Great
  And we know how you love your ovations
  And the Z-rated scenes you create
  And the Z-rated scenes you create

  You analyse me, attempt to despise me
  And you laugh when I stumble and fall
  There may come a day I will dance on your grave
  If unable to dance I will crawl across it
  Unable to dance I will crawl
  Yeah, unable to dance I’ll crawl

  You must really consider the circus
  ‘Cause it just might be your kind of zoo
  I can’t think of a place that’s more perfect
  For a person as perfect as you

  And it’s not like I’m leaving you lonely
  ‘Cause I wouldn’t know where to begin
  But I know that you’ll think of me only
  When the snakes come marching in
  When the snakes come marching in

  Ride, ride, ride, ride
  At least I’m enjoying the ride
  Ride, ride, ride, ride
  At least I’m enjoying the ride
  Ride, ride, ride
  At least I’m enjoying the ride

  Played regularly by the Grateful Dead after its introduction in 1983. More recently played by Bob Weir with Ratdog

  Notes (1) apparently Barlow’s original version of this line was “You imagine me kissing the toe of your boot,” but David Gans suggested to Bob Weir that he change it to “sipping champagne.”

Now that is interesting and also distracting as I was so convinced that the line was “erratic scenes” versus “Z-Rated” - but there you have it, from the source at dead.net.

Now we move back a few months to this performance by Holly Bowling. I’ve been supporting her work ever since catching her live for the first time on August 1, 2017.

As I listen to Holly’s performance of “Help on the Way” that opens the clip above, I’m working on scheduling another “Harrowings Podcast” after a fairly long hiatus. Having done that, I’m now past 1 o’clock in the afternoon on June 11, 2026.

I’m listening to TMH in which Roald Dahl is talking about becoming a writer. Everything that comes out on TMH is worth listening to. It’s a great resource on how we got to where we are. Similarly, the work of Maria Popova at the Marginalian is also a wonderful resource for reminding us of the work being done in the collective mind.

I don’t know. I just know how things seem to me. I’d love to hear your perspectives as we go…Onward!

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