Raised By Television

VERSE 1

How many slurs are you allowed to use?

How many drugs are you allowed to abuse?

How many sheep are you allowed to confuse?

How many lives are you allowed to lose?

You watch the box, but never question it

You have a dispute, but never settle it

You never pick apart the stories you hear

Cave in to manufactured crises and fears

CHORUS

Raised by television

Rattling your vision

It’s now your mission

To widen the division

VERSE 2

Fantasy, reality, what’s the difference?

Fucked up adult, why the bitterness?

Nostalgic for your lost brain cells

And your depleted creative wells

Nothing wrong with a good story

Nothing wrong with living the glory

As long as you think for yourself

And not let your life spiral to hell

CHORUS

Raised by television

Rattling your vision

It’s now your mission

To widen the division

BRIDGE

Question everything

The lyrics you sing

The shows you watch

The life you botch

VERSE 3

Pick up a book and learn how to hook

The audience in for more than a look

Go outside and play Seek and Hide

Jump on the rollercoaster, go for a ride

Swim in a lake for as long as you take

Drive around town to musical sounds

When you go back to the glowing box

Keep your wits, be crazy like a fox

CHORUS

Raised by television

Rattling your vision

It’s now your mission

To widen the division

Weird Ass Dreams

***WEIRD ASS DREAMS***

I don’t often talk about my dreams anymore, but since I’m desperate for journal topics and it’s past the three day limit, I think this needs to be said. Last night, I had two of the weirdest dreams I could possibly have. The first one was just plain weird while the second one could be considered a nightmare. You don’t have to worry about me being traumatized or anything like that. But if I don’t share these dreams with you guys, I feel like it’ll be all for nothing. So, here we go…

　

In the first dream, my brother James took me to a theme park. At first I didn’t know what theme park it was, so naturally I envisioned water slides and rollercoasters as I tried to guess this surprise. Turns out it was a theme park based on the idea of Muslims and Jews getting along. I shit you not. Among the attractions were the two cultures sitting in a giant field with each other and going swimming together in an indoor pool. I like the idea of people coexisting peacefully, but there’s just one problem: no rollercoasters. None. Not one fucking rollercoaster. So I decide to send James a text message saying I’m headed for home to find something more fun to do than to hang out at the theme park. He sends one back to me saying that I’m ignorant and uneducated, basically muscling me back into the theme park with a guilt trip. And then the two of us run around the theme park pretending to be Clerks characters. I ate an ice cream cone beforehand, so naturally I gassed out early while James, being the athlete he is, outruns me for miles.

And then you have the second dream, the one I consider to be a nightmare. The dream took place in a massage parlor based on one that’s right here in my home town of Port Orchard. I wish I was making that part up. It’s in a strip mall next to the tobacco store where I used to buy Susan cigarettes. The windows are blacked out and the business sign just says “Massage”. In my dream, I finally decide it’s time to lose my virginity, so I go into that same massage parlor looking for sex. I have to wait in the lobby so that the staff can find me a suitable girl who will be my first lay. Here’s where the sexy dream turns into a nightmare. In the lobby, there are television monitors mounted on the walls. And on these monitors, they’re showing…(gulp)…overly muscular cartoon men from around the world raping each other as well as raping a few animals. I got the hell out of there as soon as I could, but the trauma still lingered. Regardless, James took out his smart phone and Googled a better place to get laid, which is in California. Before I had the chance to drive there, I woke up from the dream feeling terrified of what I saw in the massage parlor.

　

Will I be using these dreams for creative fuel? The answer to that question is the same as any other dream I’ve posted about in Garrison’s Library: no. I kept saying yes during those past posts, but I never got around to it, so I might as well give an honest answer and say no this time. However, the idea of weird ass dreams and nightmares could work in a short story for the WSS. Maybe the guy could go to a sleep clinic and have the worst nightmare in his whole life. He could be possessed by a demon or he could be haunted by psychological demons from his past. I like where this is going! We’ve got ears, say cheers!


***MOVIE DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***

DANTE: Things happened today, things that probably ruined my chances with Caitlin.
RANDAL: What, the dead guy? She’ll get over fucking a dead guy. Shit, my mom’s been fucking a dead guy for thirty years. I call him dad.
DANTE: Caitlin and I can’t be together after this, it’s impossible.
RANDAL: Melodrama seems to come as naturally for you as a normal bowel movement.

-Clerks-

Pre-Paid Rollercoaster Dream

Dreams say a lot about people, even if the message isn’t readily available. For the first time in a while, I had a dream that could actually be explained. It used to be I had weird ass dreams about going back to school or losing my teeth. But this one was something worthy enough for a Garrison’s Library post. I’m dreaming of being at a theme park and wanting to ride a pre-paid rollercoaster. The more money you put in the machine, the faster it will go. Not knowing about this stipulation ahead of time, I put in a quarter and I might as well have been riding on the back of a turtle. When the ride was over, I fished through my wallet for a twenty dollar bill. By the time I found it, the theme park was closed and I didn’t get to go on a fast ride. I told this dream to my sister-in-law Susan and she actually had a good interpretation of what it could mean. The rollercoaster is a representation of my life and the money I put into the machine is the effort I put into improving my life. I put in a quarter and got minimal results. I wanted to put in a twenty dollar bill, but it was too late. Maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me that it’s too late to improve my situation beyond selling 99 cent books on Smash Words. Truth is, I can put any amount of effort into improving my life, it’s all a matter of having the right amount of energy and tolerance for the negatives. But let’s say I didn’t have a twenty dollar bill. I could have just as easily had a hundred dollar bill. A hundred dollars will go a long way in making a rollercoaster ride fast and furious. At the same time, spending a hundred dollars in one place is recklessly wasteful. If I put too much effort into improving my life, I could end up getting hurt. A lot of self-published authors go around the country selling paperbacks out of the trunk of their car. Some of them relentlessly submit their books to traditional publishing houses until they say yes. That would be an example of me spending a hundred dollars on a rollercoaster ride. I don’t have a car, so I have no trunk to sell paperbacks out of. The nearest publishing house that would be remotely interested in looking at my works is in Seattle and I live in Port Orchard. Do I really need to spend a hundred dollars on a rollercoaster ride if it goes so fast I fall out of my seat? If someone would like to tell me what else is there besides shilling my e-books on Good Reads, I’m happy to listen. Until then, I’ve got a whole bunch of quarters burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe some pennies. I might even go full-on crazy and put a wing nut in the machine.

　

***LYRICS OF THE DAY***

“It may seem a million miles away, but it gets a little closer everyday. One world is enough for all of us.”

-The Police singing “One World (Not Three)”