...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krf2fyazu_o&ab_channel=Kasroa

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Ah, sobriety - 

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The malignant b*****d,

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Monotonous shrew.

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One cannot let loose the hounds of war

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Upon tedium, and all of its doldrum-horde.

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There are no heads to split, skulls to carve - 

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No axes honed nor spears tapered -

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When met with the mercilessness of monotony

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In all of its games of poker and dice; of tafl, 

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All its backgammon, chess or solitaire,

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All its coffee and sugar,

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Or memories of contrite depravity

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Strewn across a counter of brass laurels

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And all manner of trophied silverware,

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Of triumph-fishhooks, bait boxes of tackle-malady,

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Stacked upon a maple table, in reminiscence or in despair.

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Ah, sobriety -

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You malignant b*****d,

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Soporific shrew;

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Glad am I, to be met again -

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In such a manner of such oblique chance -

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With you.

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(aside:)

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(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-aPp7Kiiyg&ab_channel=Dinerboy11)

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Author's Note

(not meant to be reviewed)

(3-13-3-3)

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

Well, I am going to review it anyway, damn it! I think monotony is a major uncredited force behind many of our troubles. The philosopher Pascal once said something to the effect that all of man's problems come from the fact that he is unable to sit by himself in a room. The reason? It's boring. Boredom forces one to come face to face with his naked being without diversion, and many can't hack that. Thus have many noted men led military conquests; better to spread war and death than to stay home in Macedonia with nothing to do.We might have been spared WW2 if only Hitler had taken up golf.

[Ookpik]

Ah, your reviews are always welcome John, regardless of the caption.

As to Pascal, I'd say it's very accurate - I've heard David Foster Wallace say something similar, and when more than one great mind suggests the same things, it tends to indicate a pattern.

One of my favorite passages on the subject comes from Dostoevsky, in Notes from Underground:

"Of course boredom may lead you to anything. It is boredom sets one sticking golden pins into people, but all that would not matter. What is bad (this is my comment again) is that I dare say people will be thankful for the gold pins then."

The golden pins refer to Cleopatra - who, despot that she was, supposedly used to do it for entertainment.

Notes from Underground is a phenomenal read, and it's one that I'd universally suggest, but the just of Dostoevsky's take was that self-destruction is an innate aspect of the human condition. From his position, even if mankind were to create a perfect utopia, we'd find dissatisfaction in the boredom of perfection and, sooner or later, set about with those damned pins.

In a way, the idea is that human beings can't be trusted to hold a gun, without eventually being inclined to point it at something.

Obviously, the gun in my case isn't really a gun, but it's something I have contend with myself and don't really like making excuses for. Boredom, in this case, is the lesser evil in my mind.

Thanks again for stopping in John. Always appreciated,

-Ook

[Ookpik]

*... something I have *to* contend with... *

There's a fine line - a tightrope, in a manner of speaking - between substance use and substance abuse. And it's a line I have a propensity to dance upon.

Something I have to watch, and don't intend to let get the better of me. But it's what I had in mind when I jotted this down.

-Ook