adios, aloha.

dear 2014,
        in as far as being dope is concerned,
you were over and done with months ago.
seriously,
it's well past the due and proper time to F* off.
the height of good manners is knowing when to leave,
and you've overstayed your welcome.
i'm sayin',
show a little class, for once,
and maybe take the back door out.
we'd love to say we'll miss you,
but that'll really depend on what '15 bring to the party.
time will tell,
but for now, you gotta go.
                                             your pal,
                                                   albie.

***********
duders,
what in the actual F* is going on?
how is it still 2014??
i mean,
c'mon.
wasn't that all used up around hallowe'en?
it's not just me, is it?
oh, word!
i didn't think so.
nice.
......
anyway,
we're doing what we do,
and while we're at it,
we're riding out the clock on this stoopidheaded year.
i'm thinking on all the good times,
and yeah, neighbors,
there were plenty of 'em at first...
but,
they all fell off along with the autumn leaves!
awwwwwwwwwwww, man.
womp womp.
the styles stay hard in the woodsly goodness,
and they seem harder when those bright spots melt the shadows for a spell.
mmhmm.
for all the fresh-to-death family togetherness
that harvest and maple and i are activating,
there's an equal but opposing force of furiously really-real life
working behind-the-scenes,
trying to wreck my movie checks,
and crap up the causeways and the effectways of our unfolding life and times.
yikes.
the thing of it is,
i'll throw what's left of my loot at the problem,
and we'll stuff ourselves with ALL the treats, until we burst apart at the seams,
before i let us fall apart from dark-dark-dark-black-light pyrolysis.
y'know?
oh.
well, it's complicated,
but,
it distills to this-
there will always be wrenches to choose,
it's just a matter of picking the right tool for the job.
in this case,
we picked a whole lot of driving and eating,
the shared experience of spanning time and space,
and stuffing our faces in a breakneck bread-breaking show of solidarity.
yup.
portland, maine.
the green elephant.
ALL the appetizers.
check the teleport:

yup.
and we each got ourselves a big ol' bowlful of noodoos.
AND dessert, too.
too much is the right amount,
especially when there isn't enough of everything else.
*
it's ticking away.
we're losing light, and heat, and time.
the last few grains are circling the funnel of the hourglass.
and this year has run out of chances.
there's a restart coming, for sure,
and that's good news.
of course, really, that just means there will be more of all of this.
given the alternative,
i s'pose that's not too terrible at all;
never quiet, never soft.....