I was living in the dorms; it was Christmas break and I hadn’t gone home, but everyone else had. I’d opened the window in the tiny shared living room of our four adjoined rooms, and lay, smoking cigarettes, on the rug in front of the TV. Alice in Chain’s Jar of Flies played start to finish as the heat from the vents fought the Colorado winter.

I’ve never been one who memorises lyrics, or remembers the name of a song for that matter. I can hardly remember a band’s name. I can remember everything from Jar of Flies.

I went for a walk this morning and listened to The Weakerthans Left and Leaving from start to finish. I won’t bore you with a music review: “inventive, filled with feeling, lonely lyrics and moments misunderstood—songs strung together by simple rhythms that punch above their weight”. Or something equally cliché.

The album reminded me of laying on that rug. Or maybe it was the walking, or the trees with their warning of autumn.

I’ve got this store-bought way of saying I’m ok, and you’ve learned to cry while in total silence.

Watermark - The Weakerthans

It could be that I’m getting older (I am), but it seems doing things intentionally has given way to doing them productively. A friend remarked recently how much they like using AI, because they can workout, chat with it, and be productive. The idea of hamster-wheel exercise machines aside, was the workout not already productive?

I wish I had a socket set to dismantle this morning.

My Favourite Chords - The Weakerthans

There’s a story in a book on Zen where the teacher instructs students that when eating breakfast to just eat breakfast, and when reading the newspaper to just read the newspaper. Later, a student finds the teacher eating breakfast and reading the paper. When asked, the teacher replies, “when eating breakfast and reading the paper, just eat breakfast and read the paper.”

We’ve got a lot of time, or maybe we don’t

My Favourite Chords - The Weakerthans