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TRICKS |
WINGS |
IDEAS |
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"Thank you for that lesson." |
Anything else? |
Harvard men are best at this. |
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"How come you have so much stuff?" |
Doesn't matter. |
It must have been my mother She has syphilis. |
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"Are you going to B or to 1?" |
Doesn't matter. |
I never let anyone push my buttons. |
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"Nobody wants to see you naked." |
Anything else? |
Sure thing ... How can you dump someone if you can't see them? |
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All along. |
The movie generation ... If it isn't in a movie, it doesn't exist ... You really are mixed up ... Just don't tell me where you're going ... Don't tell anyone where you're going ... The unpopular side ... Because everything's wrong with me. |
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"Doesn't it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?" (MSNBC correspondent David Shuster) |
All along. |
It's one of the things that'll bring peace to the world. |
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[Someone trying to make you a laughingstock] |
All along. |
Do you feel better? |
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"I told Ricky to watch the puppy!" |
Don't worry. |
I just got home from school! |
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"I told you to watch the puppy, and Jimmy ran over it It's dead." |
All along. |
Don't blame me ... You did it! I didn't kill the dog! You did it! |
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"Earlier in the day, though, he said that his reasons for wanting to extend his term 'should be self-evident.'" [Referring to New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, as reported in The New York Times] |
Doesn't matter. |
Everyone's a part of it. |
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"I would never undermine your authority in front of clients because that would be messing with your masculinity." |
Anything else? |
You can't, because your shoes are too big. |
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"I shouldn't have dogs." |
Don't worry. |
What kind of life is that? |
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"You have no idea what you're talking about." |
Don't worry. |
You'll see. |
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"You have no life." |
Don't worry. |
You know, if you don't do anything, you get weaker and weaker ... Lebanon means, The Land of Milk and Honey. |
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"Richard, people are different and they all have their own way You can't push your way on them or tell them what to do." |
All along. |
I'm not going to talk about it anymore Why should I give away pearls? ... Oh, look at all those colors! ... I'm not taking this seriously ... It's hopeless ... It's a virus talking about an elephant ... People only feel bad when they're not themselves ... A lot of what you feel is not ... It's what you imitated when you were a child ... I know I'm not always right ... Two people with mean mothers are not going to have a very nice time together ... "I'm not a pimple on your ambition and you shouldn't squeeze me." ... We should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings ... People incorporate wholesale the entire personality of the one they think is the most powerful ... One Jesus is enough ... If you imitate anyone else, you'll be you ... They have a name for it ... Monkeys is the craziest people! ... In the old days people had a lot of fun calling each other names ... You just have to let yourself ... You're my kind of artist! ... If you're near the sun, you can grow ... Like a thief that comes in the night. |
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"He's probably too eccentric for the corporate world." |
Don't worry. |
We'd know normal if we saw it, wouldn't we? |
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"He's weird because he only wants one kid." |
All along. |
Nobody has any money. |
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"You're not as patriotic as I am because you're not anti-French." |
Don't worry. |
Don't hate the players Hate the game! |
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"How much do people pay for rent around here?" |
Don't worry. |
I don't think it matters ... Maybe you don't have to know any of that. [Also see, Boredom] |
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"How much do YOU pay for rent?" |
Don't worry. |
You can't move in! |
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"How much rent do you pay?" |
Don't worry. |
You don't even have to be there ... Never buy horses! |
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"Sam, why do you have a basket on the front of your bike like a little girl?" |
All along. |
That's what YOU say. |
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"You should stay away from that stuff! That stuff turns to formaldehyde." |
All along. |
Oh, at least. |
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"I don't know who my dad is porking now; he's always porking someone." |
All along. |
It's like wrestling with a maniac! |
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["Aaaaa-CHOO!" "Oh, you've got a cold?"] "Just a little dandruff flying by." |
All along. |
You can have all the fun you want with it. |
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"Who isn't flawed?" |
Don't worry. |
You're not. |
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"Virginia, why don't you get that?" [Rotating European toilet seat] |
Anything else? |
It would be criminal to waste my life that way. |
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"Don't you want to buy one?" |
Don't worry. |
You can get away with anything when you're old. |
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"Did you buy it new?" |
Doesn't matter. |
You don't need anything. |
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"I don't really buy it." |
Doesn't matter. |
You don't have to. |
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"You bought it used?" |
Doesn't matter. |
More money to manage, huh? |
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["They're totally addicted to them." (Their dog treats)] "So, you are feeding an addiction." |
All along. |
A pain in the ass! |
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"How much do you pay him, one or two dollars?" |
Don't worry. |
I've decided I'm never going to talk about money, and I'm never going to hear about it Gee, that's really great. |
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"That's all right It's only two dollars." |
Anything else? |
Like a buried treasure that never loses its luster. |
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"I'm not accusing you of anything." |
Doesn't matter. |
It's taken for granted. |
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"Are you sure you didn't drop it on the floor?" |
Don't worry. |
It's hard to believe, isn't it? |
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"GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!" |
Anything else? |
And if they don't do it right, scold them! |
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"Why don't you sell your house and buy a house together?" |
Anything else? |
How could someone live a whole life and only know one thing? Say no more! I forbid you to talk about my property. |
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"Hey, Boris, you're going to die, man!" |
Anything else? |
Emerging into the sunlight. |
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"Unhappy with your shortcomings?" |
Don't worry. |
They're nothing! |
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"Your little white dog is beginning to be a problem." |
Anything else? |
I do everything people tell me not to do. |
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"Hey, Daryl, you're holding the newspaper upside down!" |
All along. |
I feel this incessant chatter about nothing is worthless. |
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"You should comb your hair, Peter." |
Anything else? |
Either way you win. |
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[Someone giving you a partial view down their blouse] |
Don't worry. |
There's no rush. |
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"Sorry for the spill!" |
Don't worry. |
It's like perfume to me. |
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"You should wax your eyebrows." |
Anything else? |
The next lesson is hair pulling How to pull hair and scream. |
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"What are you trying to do to me?" |
All along. |
Are you trying to stifle my creativity? |
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"You assume too much." |
Doesn't matter. |
It looks like you walked into a good deal, but you never know! |
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"Thanks for telling me that." |
Don't worry. |
Past a certain point you can't. |
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"You're not listening to me, lady I'm telling you what to do!" |
Don't worry. |
What a relief. |
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"And by the way, it's going to cost you seventy-five dollars to replace that ticket." |
Anything else? |
I'll bet you! |
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"Happy birthday!" |
Anything else? |
It was so nice when I was little. |
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"I hope my singing didn't scare you away." |
All along. |
We lucked out this year! |
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"Just assume I never said that." |
Doesn't matter. |
You're important, too, you know. |
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"Oh, get over it!" |
Don't worry. |
Things are disguised. |
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"You're lucky you weren't disbarred." |
Don't worry. |
They can't get your goat if they don't know where it's tied. |
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"Stop hovering." |
All along. |
Any more butterflies of hate fluttering from level to level? |
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"Why are you so annoying all the time?" |
All along. |
Who wants to go and dress like a goat? |
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"You know what? You're bugging me." |
Anything else? |
So do you still believe everything your mind tells you? |
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"We think we might know what you're TRYING to say." |
Doesn't matter. |
It changes things sometimes. |
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"Gun owners are the new niggers of society." |
All along. |
"Never underestimate the stupidity of the American people." (P. T. Barnum) |
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"What do you do about it, in a nutshell?" |
Don't worry. |
Never start fights with rich guys! ... We never do. |
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"Somebody's taking that cash box! Call the police! Call the police!" |
All along. |
They've been trained to be told what's right and wrong. |
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"Ritchie Junior here!" [Asking you to go along with an oblique insult] |
All along. |
Dreamer! |
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"The assholes are winning." |
All along. |
How do you like that? They're full of shit! |
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"Fucking dickless wonder!" |
Don't worry. |
So nuts, aren't they? |
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"I want a divorce." |
Anything else? |
We should throw a party! We should throw a no diapers party! |
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"I'm getting a divorce." |
Anything else? |
You're a very nice person. |
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"Let's get a divorce." |
Anything else? |
There's something nice about that, too. |
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"Why don't you masturbate before you go to work?" |
Anything else? |
Think of the potential. |
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"Do Italian women use dried salamis to masturbate?" |
Don't worry. |
It's the last thing you want to think about. |
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"How dare you owners be so happy!" |
All along. |
Some people are chosen. |
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"What kind of car do you have now?" |
Don't worry. |
I'm in charge of it You don't have to worry anymore. |
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"You only have a million." |
Don't worry. |
The blues will make you happy, too. |
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"You don't even have a life." |
Don't worry. |
It pays to be an evil genius when you're on the web. |
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"You can't have it all." |
Don't worry. |
It's really not that much, is it? |
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"Have you read anything you said you read?" |
Don't worry. |
Now I neither fall asleep or put people to sleep. |
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"Do you have a/c in your taxi there?" |
Don't worry. |
What more could you want? |
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"Is it expensive? What do you have to pay for an apartment?" |
Don't worry. |
Well, I wouldn't worry about it. |
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"Where are you headed to?" [The hotel doorman wants to know, so later, he can extort a kickback from the taxi driver if it was a lucrative ride] |
Don't worry. |
No place like home. |
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All along. |
Do you have a cleanliness disorder? |
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"If you don't mind my asking, how much do you make in a year from a taxi medallion?" |
Don't worry. |
It all depends how angry you are. |
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"Whose rude child is that at the end of the table?" |
All along. |
Are you the woman I bit at the last full moon? |
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"Nice way to say curb your dog." |
All along. |
I'll get a plastic mirror so they can see themselves ... That's too much to ask, huh? ... It's another world, you know? ... They didn't go to Church, huh? ... I don't even have to ... I usually look. |
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"What database do you use?" |
Don't worry. |
Hey, I'm a Dartmouth man! We're beyond all that. |
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"Who's the head of your Y2K effort?" |
Don't worry. |
Don't knock the Ivy League! |
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["I've lived in fourteen different states."] "Is your father in the military?" |
Doesn't matter. |
Show me a point, and I'll move the Earth. |
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"We can't go wrong being ourselves, or so I've heard." |
Don't worry. |
Just let it play out. |
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Don't worry. |
That's what happens when you get old If someone bugs you, you just slam the door. |
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"You're losing us in this last paragraph." |
All along. |
I stay awake at night, listening to the wind. |
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"What the hell?!? If somebody can make some semblance of sense of that last guy's website please post and let me know what I'm missing! I'm quite perplexed by it, actually. And a little worried. I don't understand... .. ... ." |
All along. |
It cured me. |
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"Don't be too quick to judge people now." |
Doesn't matter. |
Go ahead and judge 'em! They don't care ... You might as well call a spade a spade, and an asshole an asshole. |
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Don't worry. |
They judge themselves by what they do, and if they do well, they think they're great. |
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"I'm lost." |
Doesn't matter. |
You probably have some innate sense of goodness or decency. |
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"You lost me." |
All along. |
The whole trick is to have tools and not answers. |
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Anything else? |
Whatever happened to sitting around the fireplace and doing nothing? |
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Don't worry. |
You could learn an awful lot from that. |
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"You're fired ... 'as a result of disruptive and insubordinate behavior towards your direct supervisor.'" |
Anything else? |
Well, according to MY attorney, "You have reduced the information and resources which you previously provided." |
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"You're fired!" |
Anything else? |
Don't trust your relatives! |
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"Then you're fired!" |
Anything else? |
Tell that to a piece of pottery! |
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"The honeymoon is over." |
Anything else? |
Who's the master the machine or the man? |
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"Get your tongue out of my mouth!" |
Anything else? |
The secret room in the basement where screams cannot be heard the ropes that do not leave burn marks. |
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Doesn't matter. |
Whatever's closest to you. |
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"We're making a change." |
Anything else? |
I'm dying to hear ... Home run! ... That was over the wall ... You win ... That's what happens when you're old. |
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"You're making my family look bad." |
All along. |
A tragic waste. |
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22-MAY-1999. If you're like most people, you don't remember insults. Even if you hold one in your mind, you'll notice something like a hand reaching up from your unconscious and snatching it away. That's very clever! Just don't read any Freud. (1.) Perhaps ninety percent of your mind's potential is occupied in this way, just sitting there in a trance, poised to snatch unpleasantness from your awareness. It knows what's best for you. Right?
Then we notice a curious thing. The successful people in life seem to exhibit what you might consider cavalier stupidity or peevish immaturity. Remember Kojak, or Perry White on Lois and Clark? (Could those actors stimulate earliest memories of our father?) Or what about some of the Congressmen and women you see on TV? (Could the tensions we feel at them remind us of our mother?) Yet here we continue, trying so hard to be smart, to be grown-up, and to be liked.
One thing we know: The troubles in our lives are finite. We've seen almost everything more than once. As a matter of fact, maybe we can trace each of our problems back to an origin. Then we can brush aside disturbances almost before they begin. With any luck, we can reprogram a small portion of our memory-snatcher to help us. First we have to understand it. But wait a minute. Isn't our unconscious solving our problems already by helping us forget? Like a big goof it does! We need to remember. Unfortunately, the big memory-snatcher buried other things as well. It buried childlike wonder, magical abilities, keen insight, high-resolution perception, and tremendous energy. Along with pain.
Perhaps we can get under the lid of our consciousness and defuse its energy with some honest responses, so it has a chance to come out of its trance, recognize itself, and make our wildest dreams come true.
1. Freud, Sigmund, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. Trans. Alan Tyson. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1960.
19-APR-2013.
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As follows
CODE WORDS: accusing, addiction, annoying, arms, assume, b, bear, beginning, [blouse], bought, bugging, buy, comb, curb, dandruff, database, die, disbarred, divorce, fired, flawed, floor, formaldehyde, freedom, have, headed, hovering, judge, junior, [laughingstock], lesson, lost, making, masculinity, masturbate, medallion, military, nutshell, ourselves, over, owners, paper, paragraph, patriotic, perplexed, pimped, plastic, police, porking, probably, puppy, rent, replace, self-evident, shortcomings, singing, spill, taxes, telling, together, tongue, trying, two, upside down, Virginia, wants, wax, who's, whose, winning, wonder
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