Recovery time: Coming, the knock on the door, publishing, David Remnick, the sock under the bed, my truth era

Wednesday 11/12/25

Trying to get a number of things up on here pertaining to music, film, art, literature, sports, the world, life, the Beatles, horror, the Grateful Dead. It's a lot. That's why there hasn't been Everything wrong with publishing entries and prose offs, because when these other things are done, it's going to be a bloodbath in these pages as per publishing and assorted people therein. I'm trying to clear the decks, because the bloodbath will be taking the floor, so to speak. I have a plan and I know exactly what I'm doing to nail people in the most obvious and thorough and inarguable ways possible.

In 2025, almost all publicly expressed moral outrage is performative. The truth is that if a very bad person that another knew to have done very bad things said, "I'll give you this, pay you that, you'll have x, y, and z going forward," almost every single person would take what was being offered to them. You'd have to go through a million people before you found someone who wouldn't. Things have this strange--or not so strange--knack for all of a sudden becoming different as soon as there's a solicitous knock on your own door.

It's like with publishing. People know how true everything is in these pages that I say about people in publishing. It's right there in the black and white. It's often said in their own voices, isn't it? But people will work with someone they know to be a rapist, for example, if that person will give them the book deal or put them in the literary journal, the latter of which is such a preposterous idea, because what does that matter? Who even sees the work that is bound to be terrible? But people know. They won't express public support, though--not right now; later may be different--just in case they get that solicitous knock at their door.

Truer words, as they say. Truer words.

The thing is: They're only gonna knock if they see you as one of them. Otherwise, you have no chance unless things change, and I'm the best chance for that. Ironic. So what people are doing is enabling very bad people who offer the world nothing. Avaricious, venal, selfish, rage-warped, lying, thieving, scamming, clip joint operating, pathetic, fraudulent in the manner of one bereft of any talent who is entirely dependent on how far others of their ilk will carry them and always know this where it counts the most, cowardly (underline that one, which goes for almost all of them), discriminatory classists, insane careerists and their handlers, system bitches, pretend tough guy silver spooners, unstable hate-mongering adult children, cult member apologists, system adjacent nutjobs, freaks, wastes of life, people you don't want to see near a schoolyard, hacks, charlatans, sinecure gasbags, people who'd prefer you to address them as Your Highness, fossilists, fat-assed naked emperors with the carbuncles in the right place, sex-for-publication traders and the people who say "Sure!", shameless vultures who'll feast on their own, duplicitous chickenshits, and embittered, envious, old bigots whose intelligence quotient is no higher than their moral one.

You are helping them, which is to say, you're hurting yourself if you can actually write and have something for any of us. Because they don't want you anyway, and, again, you have no chance if they don't see you as one of them. You are useful to them only insofar as you remain silent, waiting for the knock that will never come, and helping them get away with being what they are and doing what they do for the reasons that they do it, not any of which has to do with getting the best work to readers, or doing a single damn thing for readers, culture, society, the world.

I'm taken aback by how often people reference generations. Generation this, generation that. "As a member of such and such generation."

I don't even know what they mean or what generation I am. Who cares? You're here. We're here. It's a big group. Generations. Please. Meaningless. It's like horoscopes. Be a person. Be you.

Is anyone them? There's your problem right there. No one is themselves. People don't even know what it means. And any time you cede yourself over to a group, like the characteristics of the group are also your personal characteristics because, in this case, of when you were born, you are not an individual. A person isn't automatically an individual. There are very few actual individuals in the world. Individuality involves having a certain attitude and self-respect and an outlay of effort to be one's self. Nothing else, no one else.

"In my such and such era" people are daft and will never be more than daft. It's usually women who make this statement--again and again and again and again--on social media because social media encourages the vapidity and narcissism of women more so than men, who are bad enough for their own reasons. Social media is a 2-D representation of what is a 3-D world. It's flat-image based. That means photos, most of which are of women by themselves, taken by themselves. That makes up, by far, the largest percentage of all photos in the world now.

What are these women thinking? Do they think that people find them interesting? Why? Because of the photos? The absence of text or the interchangeability of what they did write with what a billion other people like them also wrote? Or do you think it's that guys will fuck anything that moves? I'm being too charitable there--guys will fuck anything. Movement isn't a criteria. They have no shame, they're not interested in what you think, which doesn't appear to be anything in these cases.

So, again, what are these women doing and what are they able to believe? Because obviously they want to see those likes and get that attention. It must do something for them. When it does, you are broken. You won't be repaired. You're a husk. There's nothing there anymore, despite the statements to the contrary expressed in what I call trite-isms. Here's an example of one I grabbed as I was writing this paragraph, because it's basically all you see so such a thing will be the first thing you see:

I am strong. I am independent. I am also the one who has to take the trash out and kill the spider 😬… but it’s fine. Totally fine.😖#SingleGirlChronicles #IndependentWoman #RelatableHumor #IDeserveSnacks

Another. Same person:

Be confident in how you show up. Today I’m embracing that glow-from-within energy ...feeling beautiful, grounded, and ready to rock some photos like the goddess I am. Confidence isn’t about perfection; it’s about owning your light and walking in it unapologetically.What’s one thing that makes you feel unstoppable today?#ConfidenceGoals #SelfLoveJourney #ModelMindset #ShivaShellene #GlowFromWithin #PhotoshootDay #BeYourOwnVibe #EmpoweredBeauty #ConfidenceIsPower

Bio:

model, actress, inner and outer healing influencer, fitness and nutrition influencer.

Now do you think the people hitting that like button find this nonsense that millions of other broken, vapid people say interesting? Inspiring? Worth reading? Thinking about? Entertaining? And you know the answer is fuck no.

So what's happening then? How can you be so stupid not to know? But you need this? You want this? It makes you feel better? Lifts you up? Despite knowing that's what's happening--as you objectify yourself--and crusty, nasty guys think in their delusions that maybe they'll be granted access to some holes? That's disgusting. And more delusional than disgusting. You have to be so far gone from reality, from a place of self-respect, from even being able to have a clue anymore, to want and need this.

But that's the world, is it not? It's really nothing more than that at this point. It's all some form of this.

People now self-bill themselves as heroes because they took the trash.

I would also wage that most people who constantly discuss their "healing journey" are themselves wreckers of lives with no self-awareness beyond a realization that a victim-based mentality allows them to shirk any responsibility for their own wrongdoing while cultivating the many likes that come with "You go, girl" power from people exactly like them doing the exact same thing for the exact same falsified reasons, and get the likes from fat sixty-year-olds named Rudy who are just hoping to be able to masturbate for a third time today after a little more recovery time. "Follow me on my journey!" Sure.

Another:

For a long time, the mirror reminded me of what I lost— the moments, the people, the version of myself I thought I would always have. But now, when I look, it reflects everything I’ve grown into: my strength, my wisdom, my resilience, and the woman I’ve worked hard to become. Every scar, every lesson, every triumph is there— a reminder that growth is more beautiful than any loss. ✨🙏🏼🫶🏼

And another:

Freshly washed face, spiritually aligned, hydrated, and unbothered

The endless trite-isms of indistinguishable people. Who are they even talking to? None of it is real. They are not real. It's all for attention.

Society rewards this, too. Look: If you have any following on social media, it's because you're not interesting and you have nothing to say. Intelligence, substance, depth, wit, humor, insight, will be met with zeroes. No matter how accessible all of that is. That's the true gauge, social media-wise, of value. Everyone just wants to see shit like their own shit. And their shit is stupid. Mindless, unclever, unoriginal, interchangeable. The same shit in the same language as the rest of the shit. People can only express themselves in what are akin to verbal memes that say nothing.

But it makes them feel better about their broken selves and empty lives. Anything from someone seen as above them, to them, is a threat, a disturbance, something to be upset about, like being kicked in the self-esteem "feels," to put it like how idiots now put it. They're threatened.

Again, look at publishing. Look at a David Remnick, and the type of person that type of person needs to surround themselves with. It's never about getting the best; it's about making sure no one makes you feel worse about your limited self.

The way it should work is people ought not to be threatened. Here's a chance to learn, to grow, to rise up more themselves. Evolve. Have things of greater interest, insight, humor, and entertainment in their lives, to get those wheels of the mind spinning, too, than they otherwise would. It should be win-win.

It seems that the government could reopen in the next day or two, which will come at a cost. You know the Republicans weren't going to give in and eventually the Democrats would have to, or would, anyway.

Speaking personally, not having the Monument has been bad for me. It is clear to me that I need it right now at this point in my life. Of course, that says a whole bunch of other things about what my life, as such, now is, and the hanging-on component to it. I don't have a rope, I have a thread.

When it does open, what I think I'm going to try and do is try and get my body to believe/go along with the idea that I never stopped and it's no different than if it were October 1. I don't want some time-taking ramping up process. That means I'll have to grind through at some much later in the day hours after being up for a long time. You can run stairs on any stairs, but for me, it's still like the stairs of the Bunker Hill Monument are the only stairs.

People who write "finna" sound so smart and cool. Will I sound smart and cool if I write finna? What do you mean no and that I'll sound like I'm trash? Are you sure? Huh. Really?

I think people outside of New England are being a little unfair to the Patriots. People in New England, for the most part, are going way overboard with the Patriots, but I guess that is to be expected.

I'm not homer and have written of what I've thought were mistakes and inadequacies, as well as concerns, but I don't think you can just say it's their schedule that has resulted in their record. Why? Because you tell me who a really good team is? I don't think there are any. So then it's about being the best among the field of teams.

Anyone who has a good record is going to have beaten a bunch of bad teams. That's the nature of the league in 2025. Someone will surge for the stretch that matters most, and they'll win it all. The timing will be a lot of it. Not everything, but a considerable amount. I think I've been pretty clear in saying I don't think the Patriots are that good, but I don't think many teams are better and I wouldn't feel comfortable trying to positively ID one or two who are. We'll see how it goes.

Vrabel was very aggressive on Sunday. Rather at odds with the guy who called for that punt I hated so much in Week 1. It works, you look smart. It doesn't, you look clueless. Or reckless. Or both. On Sunday, it worked. But it only worked because the players bailed him out. Like on that fourth-and-goal play at the end of the first half.

The Patriots burned a down, which is crazy in my book. You're tempting the football fates with that kind of thing. Then they couldn't punch it in the next two downs, and you end up with Maye taken a big drop and throwing an end zone fade to Diggs who had to go up, making this great catch, twisting body, and somehow get both feet in bounds? That's a low percentage play. Yeah, it worked. But what if it hadn't? You can't count on that working. That's not a good plan, that's a fortunate bail out.

I still think Maye could easily get hurt and be done for the year, but he can take a hit. Or he's willing to, anyway. He'll stand in there to make the throw and then get popped. That is a quality you need to have. Brady was good at it. He'd just keep getting up. Maye was fortunate he wasn't Bledsoed Mo Lewis-style at one point, though, as he ran towards the sideline and kind of pulled up.

The Bruins won their seventh in a row last night over the Leafs again. It's been a strange start to the season. Lose six in a row, win seven in a row. But you know what? It's easy to root for scrappy teams that play hard, are difficult to play against, and overachieve, even if they don't ultimately achieve all that much. You can get invested in a team like that.

Is that who the 2025-26 Bruins are? To be honest, I don't know who they are right now, so I won't pretend like I do. What makes it even stranger is they're not winning how I thought they'd have to win, which is with good defense and goaltending. They give up a lot of goals. I haven't checked the most updated stats, but going into yesterday, their team GAA was over 3. Last night was a 5-3 victory. That feels like a typical, median-y type final score for them of late. Expect this year to be Morgan Geekie's career year. He could get like 43 goals.

Helps me some that Thanksgiving is a bit later this year. I have much to write pertaining to the day, in between everything else I must write and am writing.

Haven't turned the heat on yet but the time draws nigh. Trying to see how far I can go. Cold right now at the desk here at quarter past four in the AM. Sweatpants, sweatshirt, socks, beanie. I'm fine like this, but would be uncomfortable without one of those items. Well, could spare the beanie, probably. I find that a beanie keeps me on task. I don't know why. The containment factor, perhaps. Like it locks your head in, which is a metaphor with physical component for how you should lock in.