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What brings more peace than the company of a friend? Nothing. I watched on a Tuesday night as groups of those who love one another spent time with each other. For a Tuesday it was surprising. So many people flooded the spaces of social interaction, and everyone had someone to confide in. The pool table was filled with friendly competition, and smiles of those who care not for a competitive nature but improvement and companionship. Everyone smiled, fake smiles, I think not. Th

Happiness That word. More fleeting than the relationships we make and lose. I stood outside for more than an hour. I’m in the cold, warmer than most, I am not shivering. She made me shiver though. If you frequent this vacuous blog, you know who she is. If not, maybe I am writing about you. I went to a play tonight. A very small venue with a small budget. They optimized art. I enjoyed watching the actors' happiness, even more than their performance. It was actually good, their

Some of us are having a good beginning to this New Year. I imagine most are not. I saw the same familiar faces that frequent that bar downtown. The regulars who come out to find what is needed in their souls. I am here with them, so know I am not writing with judgement. I am writing from an even more depraved station than them. I was honored tonight. Invited to watch three musicians work together and create new music for the masses. Something completely original. It is intere

I left our town for eight hours today. I traveled to a place which holds nostalgia, love, hate, regret, and loss in my heart. It was near surreal. Fear had kept me from returning to this place longer than any other location from my past. Fear, such a futile and irrelevant emotion which holds such sway on us all. There is nothing to fear once we glimpse from a disconnected perspective and an understanding that all things move on, that we will be fine. What brought me back? Wha

Well shit. I began my evening witnessing Bath Salts Jesus. A resurrection of the worst kind. I write about him with an air of sympathy and futility. He had blasted off on whatever fantastical substance he got his hands on. His shoes had not approved of his decisions, ripping themselves off and disappearing. I can see his socks in my mind now. They were so destroyed it would be more appropriate to say he was barefooted. I guess you could say they were “holy”. Shit joke. He got

As the year, woe another year, comes to a close. There leaves another place of community in our town. Momona, a place of delicious food and friendly people, closes its doors. I was lucky enough to find a seat on their final day of business, not for lack of trying previously, the wait was normally too long and I am not one for patience. The food was wonderful. My ramen spicy, warm, a portrait of flavor. I sat at the bar and ate alone, not that the place was empty of patrons. T

Christmas Eve into Christmas Day, Chico has been embraced by the strongest strom of this year. The wind breaks trees and strains the walls of every building. There is a creaking in every foundation; a struggle of human structure against the ravaging of nature. I stood outside at four Christmas morning. Trying to find some semblance of philosophical beauty our ancient ancestors had. Be it Zeus angry at our transgressions, Thor expounding his strength, Indra fighting some unkno

It is a Saturday, a rare day for me to embrace. Invited to a show which neither patrons I know showed themselves, I still stayed for the art. Arriving whilst the band prepared, their faces held a complexion of melancholy. Of course, preparation is the most boring part of one's endeavor. With their instruments aligned, sound check was a pleasure for an observer like myself. Their demeanors have swapped to those looking forward to what will come. They spoke no words, no introdu

It is always an honor to be blessed with the smiles of strangers and acquaintances. There is much positivity in the air. The few dramatic issues of certain patrons were solved with haste and all felt well. A boy, that is what he is; he fell outside to the street while spewing vomit all along his path. A trail of mistakes. He laid on the ground as one lay in their bed. His stomach contents coating his arm and face. I decided to call him Chunky and had fun deciphering what he h

A dichotomy. The night before was empty, tonight was swarmed. Police and paramedics try their best to take care of the masses, yet all they can do is stand around with a show of force. A woman stood alone on the sidewalk. Her barf covered the cement in front of her. She came with friends but she is isolated now in her drunken stupor. She knew not where she stood. Hurling and hurling, the fire department arrived for her. A group eventually materialized to take her away. Were t

The fog has lifted. Rain has washed it away. The wind has returned and the stillness has gone. Trees rip from side to side battling the conditions for their own preservation. The same as the rest of us. Chico is devoid, vacuous, desolate. It is only a Tuesday. Only another day. I see the same faces, the same smiles, the same demeanors. Cliques come and go, a few stay for a moment, many linger for hours. What do we search for? Something to fill our empty nights, our blinded si

Chico, authoritarian with its heat and dominating with its cold. The streets are near empty on a Friday December night. Quiet, quiet as a grave until the right door is found. Artists communed at a singular spot. A poorly lit venue which only Google or locals can find. As the seal of a simple door is broken, the music floods out breaking that Chico silence. Argus, a beautiful venue. A bar which has made its mark on the streets and the locals. It sits almost hidden, right off B

A comedy show began as I walked to the back patio for a smoke. I was asked if I was a comic but they quickly learned, I am not. The group of comics were friends of each other. It was small and intimate. There was no care of quality. Joke be bad or joke be good, there was always a laugh. Most were sympathetic; a small support to those who do their best. Stand up comedy is the hardest form of art after all. It is always nice to see people support one another. I left after an ho

The night began quiet. I stood alone on Main Street. The fog accentuating all things. A lone street artist played a beautiful melody from his guitar and I felt at peace. Such a rare feeling. Then came chaos. The streets became flooded with the degenerates of a Wednesday night. They poured out of their respective establishments. Yelling, stumbling, and more yelling. A small man, tear drop tattoo on his face, started a fight at one bar. He came out screaming and posturing as if

It was quiet tonight. The only screams heard were those of the schizophrenic which Reagan gave to us. The fog laid heavy on our city. The lights refracting their beautiful colors through the moisture which touches us all. It was peaceful. A hockey game was played in the town center. The cheers and yells of exuberance were a nice touch to add to the silence of the night. I took myself to my favorite establishment. An old watering hole which has been in operation for much longe

It is the middle of the week. A lone bar surrounded by industrial businesses and abandoned buildings. Young women dance inside. They dance to country music in unison. All with the same step as a cult follows a ritual. There is no emotion. The occasional flare with the standard steps, maybe, anything unique, certainly not. The personality has been sucked away so they may drift into their homogenized community. A few men dance alongside them, though I should call them boys. The