Dear Everyone I Know,
I'm going to make this short, sweet, and to the point.
If you do not know by now, then it's time that you are informed that the UK has voted to leave the EU. Without knowing a lot about the global economy, I'm sure your first thought is, "I don't get it, why do I care?" Well, one of the main reasons you should care is that the same fear-mongering that has worked here with Trump, actually WORKED in the EU. People who were terrified of immigration decided to secede from the European Union in an attempt to remain safe. This quasi-rational attempt is going to have a lot of negative economic implications across the board. Similarly, if we (the US) are content to assume, because of the polling process, that Hillary is going to beat Trump without actually going out to vote, then the same exact thing will happen in this country. We will accidentally give the election to Donald Trump, and then we will have to suffer the consequences of electing a man who fear-mongers and separates us as people even further. We MUST stay as united as possible. It's the only way we can defeat the idea of hate in a society so bent on imploding.
This also means that we can't allow a 3rd party candidate to steal votes from Hillary. If we do that, we give Trump a better chance of succeeding (sorry Gary Johnson fans, but that's just the truth). I hope all of you will heed this warning, as it is imperative we come together and make sure that more negative history is not a part of our future.
As bad as the EU referendum is, just think of how ridiculous things will get globally with a Trump presidency.
Best,
PatInTheHat
Friday, June 24, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Changed
Awake
Eyes move rapidly
To the right
To the left
What is this?
Where am I?
Shackled to dusty dungeon posts
Am I in Hell?
Or is this just
The bastard's cell?
I can't tell
Must fish for something
A key on this cement floor
With one arm free
All I feel is bitter cold
All I see is nowhere to go
All I know is nothing
Panic
Panic
Panic
How do I survive?
Body shaking
Heartbeat echoes
Drugged
Stabbed in the arm
By this bastard's
Heroine
Saving nothing
Destroying everything
I am a bank
Withdrawing previously unneeded necessity
Depositing vomit in the stale
Dank corner of this
Prize on concrete
I wither
Immobile
I look at death
And I kiss it
Without affection
But with confidence
It will not get me
And I will tease it
Undoubtedly
Until I am found
Though I am not lost
Captured
Duped
Disfigured
Downward spiraling
Going inane
Earnest clown without visible audience
Is this someone's game?
To this thirst
This starvation
I call on the impossible
Instead of breaking these chains
I will break this post
Determined
Willed by feint breaths
One more bang
One more pull
Repeat
One more bang
One more pull
Repeat
One more bang
One more pull
Repeat
One more bang
One more pull
Last breath
- PatInTheHat
Eyes move rapidly
To the right
To the left
What is this?
Where am I?
Shackled to dusty dungeon posts
Am I in Hell?
Or is this just
The bastard's cell?
I can't tell
Must fish for something
A key on this cement floor
With one arm free
All I feel is bitter cold
All I see is nowhere to go
All I know is nothing
Panic
Panic
Panic
How do I survive?
Body shaking
Heartbeat echoes
Drugged
Stabbed in the arm
By this bastard's
Heroine
Saving nothing
Destroying everything
I am a bank
Withdrawing previously unneeded necessity
Depositing vomit in the stale
Dank corner of this
Prize on concrete
I wither
Immobile
I look at death
And I kiss it
Without affection
But with confidence
It will not get me
And I will tease it
Undoubtedly
Until I am found
Though I am not lost
Captured
Duped
Disfigured
Downward spiraling
Going inane
Earnest clown without visible audience
Is this someone's game?
To this thirst
This starvation
I call on the impossible
Instead of breaking these chains
I will break this post
Determined
Willed by feint breaths
One more bang
One more pull
Repeat
One more bang
One more pull
Repeat
One more bang
One more pull
Repeat
One more bang
One more pull
Last breath
- PatInTheHat
Monday, June 20, 2016
One to Ten
First insecurity vanquished
Second hand held to comfort
Third moment that time stood still
Fourth permanent memory made
Fifth future reevaluation
Sixth understated comment on her own intelligence
Seventh inessential dab of makeup to hide her perfections
Eighth copybook kiss that accidentally smudged her lipstick
Ninth time she smiled this minute
Tenth reason to stay through time
- PatInTheHat
Second hand held to comfort
Third moment that time stood still
Fourth permanent memory made
Fifth future reevaluation
Sixth understated comment on her own intelligence
Seventh inessential dab of makeup to hide her perfections
Eighth copybook kiss that accidentally smudged her lipstick
Ninth time she smiled this minute
Tenth reason to stay through time
- PatInTheHat
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Early Goodbye (Orlando)
I am not the face of an important news outlet. I am just some guy that wears trillbies and writes a blog.
That said, I feel, in the short time subsequent to the horrific gun violence in Orlando, obligated to say something about this event.
On Saturday night I was, like many American millenials, in a club/bar of some kind having an awesome time. Around the 2am hour of Sunday morning, I was safely leaving towards home with my friends. We all made it home safely that night, and fell asleep to the peaceful sound of silence.
Those were the first thoughts I had the moment I found out about the shooting. I was instantaneously paralyzed with grief. "This could have happened to anyone," I thought. Friends, loved ones, students, brothers, mothers, and sisters were taken away from us that morning. Though we do not know them like the living loved ones of the victims undoubtedly do, I use the word "us" because they were our friends, loved ones, students, brothers, mothers, and sisters, too. This is how we should view them.
Empathy is a lost emotion that hides behind the shadows of political foolishness and is consumed by fear. We cannot allow that to be true. We currently live in a world where a man named Trump is able to use the death of 49 people as a means to deliver an "I told you so" message without any societal repercussions. His messages, unfortunately, are validated by the millions of people that side with this ignoramus.
It hurts.
To my friends and family: I love you. If these last three years have proven anything, it is that life is more fleeting than ever before. I hope that you or I are not the victims of tragedy, but recent history is telling me that it can happen at any time. Therefore, in case I am unable to tell you before either of us perish, you should know that I love you.
I sincerely believe that I would not have to deliver this somber, morbid message if change happened after 20 children and 6 heroes were slaughtered - among other such mass murders that happen more often than there are NOT mass murders per year - by the same weapons that slaughtered the 49 friends, loved ones, students, brothers, mothers, and sisters in Orlando. In 3 plus years since that deadly attack nothing has changed. Therefore, it should not behoove me to believe that change will happen now, right? There should be change. I should believe that anything, even something, would change. If I lived in Australia I would be able to accept such belief. But recent history tells me that I would be a fool to accept that belief as reality in the "land of the free and the home of the brave."
Outside of these attacks, the majority of the country has spoken. They do not want change. They want governmental status quo, in the name of Hillary Clinton, or 50 plus years of regression, in the name of Donald Trump. That is what the country wants. This is not even a point of argument. It is the truth. (As an aside: I would gladly take status quo - with the hint of social progress as the first female president of the USA - over live-action "the floor is lava" any day.)
Watching Anderson Cooper read off every individual person who died Sunday morning, along with brief stories about them, was one of the most heart-wrenching segments I have watched in my 25 years of life. Is it not sad that these people are a designated blip on the mass-shootings-in-the-US-this-year map? And if change does not happen, that's all they'll ever be. They will have died for nothing. The LEAST we can do as a country is to ensure that these people died for progress. Died for prevention. Died for safety. Died for something more than another, "Oh, hey look, that thing happened again." I'm perfectly fine with talking about these horrific occurrences, but only if talking about it leads to doing something about it. Only if it leads to action.
Because action speaks louder than any moments of silence, any continuing news coverage, and any somber fucking blog post.
Kudos to all of the first responders, to all the heroes that came out of Sunday morning, and to all of the blood donors and donators that flocked to the attention of the suffering people left in the carnage. You are the silver-lining in all of this. You are Orlando.
I leave you with this John Green video in remembrance of the fallen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkypKKtjfMU
- PatInTheHat
That said, I feel, in the short time subsequent to the horrific gun violence in Orlando, obligated to say something about this event.
On Saturday night I was, like many American millenials, in a club/bar of some kind having an awesome time. Around the 2am hour of Sunday morning, I was safely leaving towards home with my friends. We all made it home safely that night, and fell asleep to the peaceful sound of silence.
Those were the first thoughts I had the moment I found out about the shooting. I was instantaneously paralyzed with grief. "This could have happened to anyone," I thought. Friends, loved ones, students, brothers, mothers, and sisters were taken away from us that morning. Though we do not know them like the living loved ones of the victims undoubtedly do, I use the word "us" because they were our friends, loved ones, students, brothers, mothers, and sisters, too. This is how we should view them.
Empathy is a lost emotion that hides behind the shadows of political foolishness and is consumed by fear. We cannot allow that to be true. We currently live in a world where a man named Trump is able to use the death of 49 people as a means to deliver an "I told you so" message without any societal repercussions. His messages, unfortunately, are validated by the millions of people that side with this ignoramus.
It hurts.
To my friends and family: I love you. If these last three years have proven anything, it is that life is more fleeting than ever before. I hope that you or I are not the victims of tragedy, but recent history is telling me that it can happen at any time. Therefore, in case I am unable to tell you before either of us perish, you should know that I love you.
I sincerely believe that I would not have to deliver this somber, morbid message if change happened after 20 children and 6 heroes were slaughtered - among other such mass murders that happen more often than there are NOT mass murders per year - by the same weapons that slaughtered the 49 friends, loved ones, students, brothers, mothers, and sisters in Orlando. In 3 plus years since that deadly attack nothing has changed. Therefore, it should not behoove me to believe that change will happen now, right? There should be change. I should believe that anything, even something, would change. If I lived in Australia I would be able to accept such belief. But recent history tells me that I would be a fool to accept that belief as reality in the "land of the free
Outside of these attacks, the majority of the country has spoken. They do not want change. They want governmental status quo, in the name of Hillary Clinton, or 50 plus years of regression, in the name of Donald Trump. That is what the country wants. This is not even a point of argument. It is the truth. (As an aside: I would gladly take status quo - with the hint of social progress as the first female president of the USA - over live-action "the floor is lava" any day.)
Watching Anderson Cooper read off every individual person who died Sunday morning, along with brief stories about them, was one of the most heart-wrenching segments I have watched in my 25 years of life. Is it not sad that these people are a designated blip on the mass-shootings-in-the-US-this-year map? And if change does not happen, that's all they'll ever be. They will have died for nothing. The LEAST we can do as a country is to ensure that these people died for progress. Died for prevention. Died for safety. Died for something more than another, "Oh, hey look, that thing happened again." I'm perfectly fine with talking about these horrific occurrences, but only if talking about it leads to doing something about it. Only if it leads to action.
Because action speaks louder than any moments of silence, any continuing news coverage, and any somber fucking blog post.
Kudos to all of the first responders, to all the heroes that came out of Sunday morning, and to all of the blood donors and donators that flocked to the attention of the suffering people left in the carnage. You are the silver-lining in all of this. You are Orlando.
I leave you with this John Green video in remembrance of the fallen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkypKKtjfMU
- PatInTheHat
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Cineol
When a body is
Translucent
Like a
Clear
Glass prism
It emits the most
Beautiful and
Exuberant colors
As light fights its way through
To create
Specific
Art
That can only be shown
Through that body
Alone
The rays begin to
Shine through
Touching and then
Consuming
A nearby observer
Who was previously
Bound
By other-worldly
Facades like
Stars and
Constellations
That are nothing more than
Once-existent
Fire balls of gas that
Wish upon a
Young child
To give them
Meaning
The Sun
And the abundance
Of clean
Oxygen
That allows us to
Breathe in
Beauty
And feel warmth
Are the only
Nobles
And other stellar elements
That tell the truth
Because we feel
Their touch
And consume
Their energy
Every body that we know
Is stellar
But only
One
Body
That we find
Can
Without a touch
Release quick-fire
Adrenaline rushes
Like the
Eucalyptus
For the starving koala
That instead fill our
Hearts
With the energy of passion
Forever
Relinquishing
The stomach pains of
Loneliness
And despair
- PatInTheHat
Translucent
Like a
Clear
Glass prism
It emits the most
Beautiful and
Exuberant colors
As light fights its way through
To create
Specific
Art
That can only be shown
Through that body
Alone
The rays begin to
Shine through
Touching and then
Consuming
A nearby observer
Who was previously
Bound
By other-worldly
Facades like
Stars and
Constellations
That are nothing more than
Once-existent
Fire balls of gas that
Wish upon a
Young child
To give them
Meaning
The Sun
And the abundance
Of clean
Oxygen
That allows us to
Breathe in
Beauty
And feel warmth
Are the only
Nobles
And other stellar elements
That tell the truth
Because we feel
Their touch
And consume
Their energy
Every body that we know
Is stellar
But only
One
Body
That we find
Can
Without a touch
Release quick-fire
Adrenaline rushes
Like the
Eucalyptus
For the starving koala
That instead fill our
Hearts
With the energy of passion
Forever
Relinquishing
The stomach pains of
Loneliness
And despair
- PatInTheHat
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
The Kracken
- For Lauren. Forever friend and companion. Happy birthday. -
The small cephalopod
Could be heard roaring
From the dark depths
Of an above-ground trench
Without support, the small,
Yet cunning cephalopod
Learned to walk on dry land
To inhabit the outer world
The triumph made the
Conquest of kings and queens
Pale in comparison, since
The cephalopod was alone
Once the brave cephalopod
Marked it's territory on earth
The darkness called out
And the squid went in
You see, a cephalopod
Can breathe in the darkness
Without fear of seemingly
Sure and probable suffocation
So while it may seem
To make sense on the surface
To fear an entrenched, earthly cephalopod
It should, instead, be rejoiced
The roars from the cephalopod
Signify the death of incognito
And selfish monsters that
Believe the darkness is for them
But the cephalopod can see
Through the turgid gluttons
That prey on the misinformed
Behind the red eyes of fear mongering
Because the cephalopod once feared
The dregs of the ocean
And the monsters that lied
On the bottom of those trenches
And the cephalopod conquered
Each and every one
Of the killing breeds
That connived death in the sea
The cephalopod had come
To do the same on dry land
To fix the discontent
And remain there, permanent
So, you see, the cephalopod
Is here for you and me
Here to conquer our dark
In a world of un-jest insanity
- PatInTheHat
The small cephalopod
Could be heard roaring
From the dark depths
Of an above-ground trench
Without support, the small,
Yet cunning cephalopod
Learned to walk on dry land
To inhabit the outer world
The triumph made the
Conquest of kings and queens
Pale in comparison, since
The cephalopod was alone
Once the brave cephalopod
Marked it's territory on earth
The darkness called out
And the squid went in
You see, a cephalopod
Can breathe in the darkness
Without fear of seemingly
Sure and probable suffocation
So while it may seem
To make sense on the surface
To fear an entrenched, earthly cephalopod
It should, instead, be rejoiced
The roars from the cephalopod
Signify the death of incognito
And selfish monsters that
Believe the darkness is for them
But the cephalopod can see
Through the turgid gluttons
That prey on the misinformed
Behind the red eyes of fear mongering
Because the cephalopod once feared
The dregs of the ocean
And the monsters that lied
On the bottom of those trenches
And the cephalopod conquered
Each and every one
Of the killing breeds
That connived death in the sea
The cephalopod had come
To do the same on dry land
To fix the discontent
And remain there, permanent
So, you see, the cephalopod
Is here for you and me
Here to conquer our dark
In a world of un-jest insanity
- PatInTheHat
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