My first little-j job and my first upper-case Job were in Retail.  Once graduated to JOB Job, I quickly learned that two sets of numbers emanate monthly from the buying offices and sales floors of each department: PL and ACT.  PLAN and ACTUAL.

APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY is also a popular theme in literature.

Lemme just review the ol’ To Do list.

One thousand words per day.  Yes, well.  Last entry: March 6th.  NONE in February.  But I TWEET.  That counts for SOMETHING, no?  Whaddya mean, NO?!

QUIT SMOKING was a PL headliner.  I am not only smoking more than ever, I am leaning toward deciding there being no POINT in further tormenting myself about quitting.  I ENJOY smoking, and I not only don’t EXPECT to live as long as I formerly thought, I don’t WANT to live as long as I formerly thought.  How d’ya like THEM apples?  It really IS that bad, in my considered opinion.  And I do a LOT of considering.

BOYCOTTS:  I’m working on that.  Starbucks, McDonalds, EXXON, ARCO (BP), bottled water, several others.  I am nowhere near Spartan, but I AM getting stricter.  Self-discipline is crucial.  It takes a lotta lotta discipline to be free, and self-discipline ain’t exactly an Alcoholic’s strong suit, I can tell you THAT.  I am DISADVANTAGED.  Waaa! Waaa! Waaa!  Where are my BENEFITS?

STARBUCKS/CAFFEINE/ENERGY DRINKS:  I am drinking much less coffee.  (Page ONE of Charles Schultz’s book is self-serving claptrap.  I closed the book and remain PISSED I wasted that money.)  But as with smoking, I am drinking more energy drinks than ever, primarily “5 Hour Energy.”  Incidentally, this veteran of three-plus decades of hand-to-hand combat with Alcoholism sez this over-the-counter, available-to-minors elixir is addictive, if Addictive Nature you have.

Although I can rationalize continued smoking, energy drinks are, for me, a RIDICULOUS use of money and vital organs.  If I am tired, I can sleep. Anytime, anywhere.  I don’t LIKE to sleep, but I’m a GOOD Sleeper.  If I would sleep, I would feel energized.  Food works the same way, I regret to report.

The PLAN was to quit both nicotine and caffeine and I still WANT to quit both because I want to A.) see how I feel; B.) spend sparingly; C.) deny tax revenue to Government, which I believe is D.) addicted to money = power; E.) increasingly heavy-handed; F.) getting downright scary.

I am DONE with air travel.  I WILL NOT FLY until governments and airlines restore Reason and Dignity to the process.  Period.  People who are still flying for pleasure, leisure, vacation, personal gain or the hell of it are VERY MUCH PART OF THE PROBLEM.  ”Modern” Coach Air Travel (think STEERAGE) coupled with pervy TSA manhandling is DEGRADING, and supports my suspicion that Americans would file onto BOXCARS if someone wearing a uniform and badge gave the order.

JEFFERSON STATE:  I have not made one call or sent one email.  I have also not heard one radio plug for Volunteers or Events or read one story about progress or activity.  I HAVE received one invitation to a shopping network from a name formerly associated with Jefferson State, which speaks volumes.

But I remain as sure as I can be that a CHARTER STATE WITH A CLEAN SLATE is exactly the kind of laboratory where the kind of experiments that NEED to be conducted CAN be conducted, if we would restore Reason to governance and Innovation to commerce. MOREOVER, Obama’s recent deference to STATES’ RIGHTS on Gay Marriage in New York makes it RIDICULOUS to suggest that the people of Northern California and Southern Oregon don’t have the right to forge a new American state that better reflects the values, ethics, aspirations, methodologies and general druthers of the Americans who LIVE there.  Jefferson State makes sense AND cents as our 51st state.  It is shovel-ready, ideologically coherent and economically sound.  Millions and millions of spanking fresh NEW FLAGS will be a boost in morale AND a shot in the arm. Perhaps a CONTEST for the art.  Maybe we can insinuate a coupla corporate logos into it.

I recognize a bad mood when I wake up to it, so I’m not saying I’m MARRIED to this campaign slogan.  Maybe it’s too incendiary but, with an eye on gettin’ er done, maybe it’s the right amount of inspirational.  Whaddya think?

JEFFERSON STATE

Makes more sense & cents than PUERTO RICO.

On balance, it seems I have not accomplished much, and that is surely how it feels much of the time – not least because the overwhelming majority does not acknowledge work as work unless it MAKES MONEY.

But there ARE some notable changes.

I am in the virtual wilderness, a million figurative miles from Beverly Hills, Century City and West Los Angeles, and I do NOT have cabin fever.  Of course, I also do not have a cabin.  But I gotta think TRAILER TWITCHING would set in before cabin fever, and I’m not wiggy on that account either.  But then I DID acquire the trailer next door, and that makes a BIG difference for both space and sound — which experience sez are key components to PEACE OF MIND.  For me.  I’m playin’ for ME now, and you should be too.  Playing for YOU, I mean, not for me. Donations most welcome, however.

Checks are good if your check is good.  Small bills rock:

IMPLAUSIBLE ENDEAVORS LLC
8306 Wilshire Blvd., PMB 46
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

I pay an accountant for bookkeeping, tax returns and mail pick up.  Which I think is pretty sporting of me on the Economic Stimulus front, considering I have hauled in $520 from writing online, whereas I have spent, oooh, in the vicinity of $200,000.  I am a VERY big fan of Specialization of Labor, and I am WELL schooled in the need to SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY.

My writing will be READER SUPPORTED, or it will not.  I can’t write for free forever.  Not after getting bushwhacked by Merrill Lynch, which came after getting bushwhacked by foot surgeons, which came after getting bushwhacked by an uber rich, lying, cheating, welching, conscienceless Republican AIPAC member, which came after battling back from the gates of alcoholic hell.

Poor me, poor me, pour me another drink, eh?  I HAVEN’T resorted to drinking, THAT’S an accomplishment.

It is sad but liberating that there is now NO ONE ON EARTH against whom threat can be made in order to manipulate my decisions, mitigate my speech or compel my silence.  That IS pretty remarkable, when you think about it.  Not an ACCOMPLISHMENT, certainly, not a happy turn of events.  But a Major Change, to be sure.  It ratchets me toward the non-negotiability that underpins I DID IT MY WAY . . . which, let us be frank, is the “let’s keep this party polite” rendition of DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO and GET OFF MY BACK.

DENIS DIDEROT: No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason.

DENIS DIDEROT:  Watch out for the fellows who talk about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under their control.

DENIS DIDEROT:  Evil always turns up in this world through some genius or other.

DENIS DIDEROT:  The general interest of the masses might take the place of the insight of genius if it were allowed freedom of action.

DENIS DIDEROT:  The good of the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty. It is to the state what health is to the individual.

DENIS DIDEROT:  Morals are in all countries the result of legislation and government; they are not African or Asian or European: they are good or bad.

DENIS DIDEROT:  Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation, and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.

DENIS DIDEROT:  Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.

DENIS DIDEROT:  Every man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.

My sentiments exactly.