had a good chat with the therapist

she told me she liked my idea for the podcast but was worried about its ability to make money

i said you and me both, gurl.

but then i said, ive been in jobs where the companies were in financial peril and i hung in there

the entire time i was at the LA Times they were in bankruptcy plus Chicago was trying to destroy it plus all these other entities were trying to hurt it.

this is nothing new.

whats new is i will have a smidge more control over the outcome

i wont have to have things approved

do you know how insulting i took it to have certain things approved in my life?

i was all, didnt you hire me because im the expert of this shit?

havent you seen me turn loaves and fishes into mcribs?

we got this.

and then when i did it, months later i had to do the whole approval process over again.

maybe its how i show up in the world.

maybe its because i dont speak the way they want or say the things they want

or ESP the things they wanna silently hear.

doesnt matter any more.

they’re doing their thing and i wish them well, i honestly do.

but as soon as i get this damn tape recorder which is in DTLA right now waiting for the UPS man to bring it to me

imma start living my life.

is it wrong to say you miss people

i feel like it isnt wrong but people try to make you feel badly for admitting it

i mean my friends dont, but thats why theyre my friends

everyone else though

and i dont care what they think but i also dont want to be

super abnormal

i dont mind being sorta weird

but crazy is not acceptable

it is not crazy to miss people.

it’s human.

which, technically, is crazy.

the pete sousa movie is incredible

i cried.

and it was inspiring.

one thing i have always admired with politicians is how they can remember peoples names.

if im ever in an office again i want to make a little game out of remembering everyones names because even though i try to be friendly with everyone, probably the greatest show of respect is to remember everyones names.

i just get so scared that i will say mary instead of juanita or something.

the other thing i loved about the film was Pete said he was on call 24/7 for 8 years.

it reminded me of this hollywood agent i watched a few interviews with.

he has a max of 30 clients and he has a simple rule with them, if he calls them and they don’t pick up or call back ASAP, it’s over between them.

likewise, even if he’s giving an interview, his ground rule is he will always pick up or text back ASAP if they contact him.

so even in his interviews he is checking his phone constantly.

because of that, he’s a renowned agent and people are fighting to be repped by him if someone falls off.

i’d like to be that reliable to someone.

i would like the people i work with feel like they are as important to me as if obama texted them.

why not?

even at my busiest, really, how many phone calls did i get?

it can be done.

i believe people are more good than bad too

I see a lot of people watching old baseball games on YouTube, and that’s fine. But this morning I watched Barack Obama’s last press conference as POTUS to see if I could notice any differences and similarities to the pressers we have been watching recently.

I had forgotten that the last question that he took was from a reporter who had been covering him for a very long time. The context is HRC had won by 3 million votes, but, thanks to the Electoral College someone else got to be president.

Imagine your favorite sports team soundly thumping its opponent, but losing due to some ancient rule that today makes no sense, and now the coach has to answer questions from the press in the “loser’s” locker room.

This part struck me as something you’d have expected a speech writer to have crafted over some time, but it just eased out of him.

“I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe that people are more good than bad. I believe tragic things happen. I believe there’s evil in the world, but I think that at the end of the day, if we work hard, and if we are true to those things in us that feel true and feel right that the world gets a little better each time. That’s what this presidency has tried to be about.”

 

ive been watching people on youtube who flip things

they’ll go to garage sales, thrift stores and estate sales and buy things and run home and sell it on ebay.

the more professional ones will also have an amazon seller account so they can sell them there too.

watching these guys made me want to see if i could first sell all the crap I have in my house and then maybe i could think about being a junk flipper like my hero fred g sanford.

as i was watching one of these guys i noticed i had this Obama action figure, still in the box, under the tv.

so i looked on ebay to see how many other people were selling them. Just one guy… for $190 shipped.

like me, the guy is super honest and mentions that a corner of the box is slightly damaged… just like mine is.

but inside, obi wan obama is experiencing no drama.

for some reason i went to amazon to see if they sold it there still, after four years, and not only do they, but it reminded me that that’s where i bought this… for $16.34

however their resellers are selling it for between $400-$450. so this is what i’m thinking. i’m thinking about writing a less dramatic ebay headline than

Obama Star Wars Rare Jedi Knight Figure Purple lightsaber New In box has damage

and list it at $325. i’ll show them the minor blemish on the corner and if they choose to go for the $200 one, fine. scram. now i have the lowest price Obama and i will profit over $300.

millions of people love our greatest black president.

there are two who want this super rare weird action figure.

To the students of Parkland, from Barack and Michelle Obama

We wanted to let you know how inspired we have been by the resilience, resolve and solidarity that you have all shown in the wake of unspeakable tragedy.

Not only have you supported and comforted each other, but you’ve helped awaken the conscience of the nation, and challenged decision-makers to make the safety of our children the country’s top priority.

Throughout our history, young people like you have led the way in making America better. There may be setbacks; you may sometimes feel like progress is too slow in coming. But we have no doubt you are going to make an enormous difference in the days and years to come, and we will be there for you.

Barack Obama Michelle Obama

last night, the first night of president elect Pussy Grabber, the people marched

day 1they marched in Seattle and Portland and New York City and Chicago

and Oakland and Frisco and when they took to the streets in LA they took the most important street, the Hollywood Freeway.

they held signs that said Fuck Trump and Not My President

but my favorite was one that simply said NO

because that’s what i said when i heard the first result Tuesday evening.

No, not like how you feel when you drop your triple scoop ice cream to the ground accidentally when you’re 10 years old

but how you feel when the richest guy on tv slaps that ice cream from your hand

and millions of your countrymen and women applaud.

the cops were no match for the protesters in NY and LA because there were far too many pissed off Americans. this is a president who has no clue and doesn’t want a clue. for every lie from Hillary, Trump lied 20 times. But his supporters don’t care and they’ll tell you they don’t care. seemingly what they care about is Them and only Them. and by Them i mean people who look like Them who didn’t feel that the previous president was them.

but how was Barack Hussein Obama, a half black half white kid raised by his mom who got a scholarship to Harvard and then worked the mean streets of the South Side of Chicago not them? was he too smart? is that why they relate to Trump? did they feel intimidated by the Community Organizer? or did they feel uptight that America didn’t need a full white guy to fix the place?

first a black and then a woman? was that the white man’s fear? were they afraid that this would be the beginning of the phasing out of the Bro Culture?

we don’t know because they lied to the pollsters, they lie to the press, and when asked now why they voted for the man with zero experience, all they say is Because He’s Going to Make America Great Again.

when George W was reelected this blog turned its header black. i was just as confused then as i am now. back then i wondered how people who saw four years of 9/11 and its pathetic aftermath could reelect an imbecile liar who mishandled pretty much everything that he touched. i was despondent, i was angry, i was confused, and i felt alienated from the country i loved.

but out of that suffering came Obama.

the Light.

they say sometimes you don’t appreciate things until it’s taken away.

the ironic thing about the millions who voted Trump is in a few years tens of millions will look back and say holy shit Obama was amazing and i took it for granted. i am so sorry.

yes you are sorry.