Cafe At The End Of Time (8.0)

They call it waiting because something’s supposed

to happen…but what if you’re just there, not doing

anything, but not waiting for anything either...what

do you call that?  “Hanging out” doesn’t seem to do

the trick, because it implies waiting and laziness….

same with other terms like: “chilling”, “cooling one’s

heels” and so forth…they all define the process of mere

being by implying it has something to do with inaction.

People that meditate have lots of terms for that state:

“one pointedness”, “clear seeing”, “cool boredom”…

lots of them…..like the Eskimos have many words for

snow.

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“Heavy air” is when you’re in a situation where

something terrible is likely to happen and the tension

fills the space almost tangibly.  The opening scenes of

the movie “The Balcony”, by Gene Genet, show news-

reel footage of French collaborators surrounded by

liberated French people. Nothing happens in the

footage…but you could feel the emotions from the film. 

I was watching the film because my Japanese buddy,

Roland Fujiyama, took me to the movies to distract

me from the bad LSD trip I was having.  It was a double

feature…the other movie was “No Exit” by Sartre. For

some reason, these two utterly depressing and shocking

movies did the trick. I came out of the theatre a new man.

Then, we went to the burlesque theatre to watch the old

strippers.  There was a three piece band…horn, bass, and

drums…but they didn’t have much trouble keeping up

with the dancers.  Many of these women were probably

there to supplement their social security checks. But they

shook themselves in ways that were marginally

entertaining for us. After that, we just walked around

the rest of the night.  As the sun was coming up, I realized

I had to pee really badly.  I went up to a building and

started to piss….it went on and on. Rolo was jumping

up and down  “Hurry!  Hurry! Daijobu!?”:  I took all the

time in the world.  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Since the sun was coming up,  I felt like I was singing

The National Anthem…. and I was.

                                             ****

I was sitting in the bus station in Minneapolis with some

friends. We were all high on LSD.  We were blowing

bubbles from one of those little plastic containers.  After

about ten minutes, the stationmaster comes over to us and

says:  “Stop blowing bubbles. The old people don’t like it.”

Of course we stopped, but, wow…

                                              ****

I can’t remember how I did anything…how I did plumbing

for thirty years….how I taught…how I acted in plays…it’s

all vague memory…I can’t do it and don’t need any of it

anymore….it all had its purpose…to keep going, I think…

but now, all that’s over, fini, done, gone, because the deeds

have been done in their time…..in the maze of space and time,

and done again:  “In watermelon sugar the deeds were done

and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar.”

Dwight Eisenhower must have been in watermelon sugar…

in fact, he must have been watermelon sugar because of this

quotation of  something he said in a  speech:

“Things are more the way they are now than they ever

have been.”

…and that was in the USA in the Fifties when the United

States was in watermelon sugar and about to go into the

greatest period of watermelon sugar in the history of the

world in the Sixties….when the world freaked out about

the amount of watermelon sugar there was, and,  could

this really be the world?  Well,  the world couldn’t handle

the freedom…as Robert Anton Wilson said:  “Nothing

scares a person more than the thought of watermelon

sugar.” Of course I’m distorting what he said….so? 

Work with me!