There was Cowboy Neal

 at the wheel,

of a bus to never ever land (Garcia-Weir-Kruetzman)

so much happening in the world this day....February 8th....aka Neal Cassady's 97 birthday.

where have you been my blue eyed son ?  fair question....i was unfortunately required to be back in the office last week, which of course disrupts my entire life. hard to believe i did this for 30+ years before the pandemic and rarely gave it a second thought. Alas i am back home and Matteau is back to having daily lunch and snack breaks.

Bizarre story in the news that the media is only half telling. Seems the real mission of the china balloon was to spy on secret preparations for the Sweater Nite 25 Silver Jubilee, probably hired by Mulligan to find out where we buy our Koozies. Plans for the Gala are moving right along, skaters are encouraged to arrive early and thirsty, as this Senior circuit is comprised of Day Drinkers. I turn into a hotel room at sunset. There will be a hot buffet and party favors this year (in addition to the annual Koozies) 

good news/bad news from the state of the union.

the good news is that dementia joe did not shit his pants on national TV, we'll consider that a win

the bad news is the great unifier and chief continued to divide the nation by blaming the republicans for everything bad that has happened and somethings that haven't happened. as he shouted down the booing republicans he promised to provide a list of politicians that wish to eliminate social security.

he took credit for lowering inflation that he created, and for lowering gas prices that soared under his watch. The truth is we live in a country that has the attention span of a gnat, we are hooked on instagram and tik tok and at the end of each election cycle people are still going to vote based on political party, not individual politicians.......and our Republican politicians are no better, they just want their palms greased by a different subset of criminals.  

Potus lamented about fentanyl deaths , which is amazing considering his son is in bed with the china fentanyl manufacturers.....and of course dementia joe and kamala have swung open the doors at our southern border.  

big shakeup in the FDNY this week.....why couldn't this have happened before the letters went in the mail....i could have added a 9th and 10th page between that and the classified documents scandal.

anyway, today is a good day for stiff drink..... Neal Cassady aka Dean Moriarity's birthday......the muse for On the Road (the most impactful book in American History) would be 97 today. It is fitting that he and Kerouac were born at this time of year (Jack March 12th) for as we inch further into February, we begin to feel the occasional spring breeze, we know that Winter is dying, and the earth is about to be reborn. We survived another season of frost , we start to dress lighter and walk faster...the sun hangs on the horizon a wee bit longer and dare i say...we start contemplating packing a cardboard box full of beeer and ice and heading to the Park (or 76th street stairs) on the cusp of a season, the precipice of a party, we know that March can bring cruel temps and unusual snow, but we know what lies ahead in the near future.....open the windows, crank the stereo and crack a Beer.

Escapin through the lily fields
I came across an empty space
It trembled and exploded
Left a bus stop in its place
The bus stop came by and i got on
That's when it all began