Quoting a lengthy, but excellent online review of the book, “Freak Kingdom: Hunter S. Thompson's Manic Ten-Year Crusade Against American Fascism”...
“Thompson would have been the ideal journalist for this moment. There are almost none whose writings have aged this well. HST would have seen through every ounce of Trump's bullshit in a nanosecond”
And HST came up with the perfect phrase for the new right-wing. He referred to them as, “the New Dumb” before ever they wore red hats to identify themselves. That is Gonzo knowledge.
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| Hunter S Thompson (internet photo) |
Gonzo knowledge is real knowledge. It is unafraid to consider facts and speak from them. Facts that are indeed facts. I live on Earth One where facts are based on truth and science and honest observation.
Honest observation is how I bird as well (I will write much more about that later, but this is getting really long). It is also how I write, although it is mostly personal observation of myself and my “hope to cope” existence.
If you follow along, I have renamed this blog using the tagline: “Gonzo Birder ~ Stay Weird My Friends”. I have written lately about Gonzo Birding and being a Gonzo Geezer. I am getting comfortable with the word and possibly with being the Gonzo Birder.
There is a Muppet named Gonzo. He is very different from Hunter S Thompson who, I am learning more and more was an utterly brilliant journalistic writer. I used to let HST's enthusiasm for guns taint my opinion of him. I should have read more of his work.
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| The Muppet named Gonzo, entirely different thing |
But I also love the Muppets. I live in Australia where the flora and fauna really can look as if it were created in a collaboration between Jim Henson and Dr Suess (Theodor Geisel is a particular hero and influence of mine). Geisel was gonzo before the word was in use.
I also whole-heartedly embrace the word, Geezer in relation to me. Never, ever give me that “years young” bullshit. I am 70 years old. I am a Geezer, I am a Gonzo Geezer.
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| Gonzo Geezer at home and in the Tattoo studio. I have 21 bird tattoos. Gonzo. |
I was somewhat reluctant to refer to myself as 'the Gonzo Birder', but I am slowly working toward doing that in my writing. Putting that ‘the’ in front of anything makes what follows sound a bit grandiose. I am way too f-ing insecure to be tossing around self-aggrandisement.
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| Less than 24 hours out of hospital I got a Lifer, American Golden Plover. That is Gonzo Birding |
However in personal-growth land, at 70 plus, I am finally learning to appreciate some of who I am. It does not mean that I particularly like me. No, not if it was ever so. I keep a healthy level of self-loathing percolating below the surface most of the time, BUT I have learned to at least respect more of my accomplishments. My own validation tends to be the proverbial water off a duck’s back, but not a Cormorant’s back. They have feathers that they can easily water-log which allows them to dive deeper to get food. I love science, but I am going off track here. As I do.
I also love my birder ink. Here are a few of the new ones. I have twenty-one bird tattoos on my arms. Permanent validation in ink.
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| The newest is one of the 'oldest' Urodynamis tattensis (Long-tailed Cuckoo from way back in Nov 2015) |
Speaking of off-track, here is a bit of validation that I can’t really grok. I was on a Zoom call recently with a production company in New York City who contacted me because they are planning to use one of my songs in a play. A Manhattan production company using one of my songs in a real play. Yes, really. There are legalities and forms involved, but those will get sorted somehow but not by me.
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| New York City |
No, I won’t be able to understand them. Not if it was ever so. One of the biggest downfalls in my life is, and I will quote me, “I create, I do not business.”
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| My 1968 one owner (me) D-18 on which the songs were written. My business machine and I did work hard. |
You see, the word “business” can be a verb in my world. I just don’t do it. I will work, but I don't business. Sometimes I am forced to attempt it, but I totally suck at it. And doing ‘business’ has gotten more difficult. It is more and more technology based. My ADHD brain goes monkey shit.
So yeah, one of my songs is to be in play produced by a NYC production company. Kind of difficult for me to wrap my head around, but now I have written about it, thus making it a bit more real. My God, if I did not have my writing, I would go more insane. So I write. Thanks for reading.
Stay weird my friends ❤️
