“May you live in interesting times.”
They say that is an ancient Chinese curse, but like so many things we like to believe that it’s total bullshit. It’s no more “ancient Chinese” than the secret in the old laundry detergent commercials. Or spaghetti.
And who cares, right? The era we are living in now is being described as “post-truth,” which is certainly interesting, if not really all that new. We’ve been living “post truth” for a long time. The difference now is that people can find out for themselves. But they don’t. Or they don’t care because the lies serve their needs and desires. Politicians and community leaders used to lie all the time and we just had to take their word for it. In the information age we can fact check them, and we do, but they still lie constantly. And no one does anything about it.
So fuck it. And fuck them.
(And fuck me, if you get the opportunity.)
The world is a mess. And what can I do? I write stories about people who love sex having sex and being happy about it. Is that helpful? I’d like to create art that soothes a tired and injured humanity, but I’m not sure if the world is ready for what I have to offer. My version of “peace on earth” is very similar to “piece of ass.”
So anyway, the year is ending and in many ways it feels like the world is ending. I just hope it goes out with the right kind of bang.