“…God Have Mercy On The Man Who Doubts What He’s Sure Of.” –BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN (from his “Brilliant Disguise” (1987))

"BRILLIANT DISGUISE" (1987) by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

BRILLIANT DISGUISE” (1987) by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

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Well, My Peeps…

…Bradley Was Taken-To-Task, Tonight.

He Was Coldly (yet thoughtfully) Reminded He’s Not Making The Progress He Should Be On His “Non-Blog” Creative-Writing Endeavors.

And Ya Know Something, Kiddies, He’s Very VERY Correct.

I’m Not Making The Progress I Should Be.

I’ve Let My Emotions Overload My Better Judgment…

…Again.

I’ve Spent Most Of My Time So Worried And Focused On Other Things I’ve Not Really Spent The Time I Should Be Spending On My More Pressing Projects.

In Short…

…I’ve Been SLACKING.

That’s The Only Way To Explain It.

I’ve. Been. SLACKING.

Period.

No One Will Ever Take Me Seriously Until I Have Something To Show For My Efforts.

Will They?

No.

Probably Not.

Until It’s A Reality, It’s Just A Dream.

Correct?

Correct.

So I’m Throwing Myself Into My Work, Again.

It Really Would Make Me Feel Like A Fraud If I Never Completed One Of These Stories.

I’ve Worked So Long, And So Hard On Them.

I Can’t Just Give-‘Em-Up.

I Can’t Just Walk-Away.

I Can’t Just Quit.

I’ve Done That With Nearly Everything I’ve Ever Set-Out-To-Do In My Whole Life.

Talk About A Tough Pill To Swallow.

Ignoring It Has Been Easy.

Realizing It?

Facing It?

Those Have Both Just Sucked Some Major Asshole.

Dealing With It?

I Am.

I So Am.

I Feel Like I’ve Been Wearing Different Masks For A Long Time.

Different Disguises.

I Know That’s Why This Song…

BRILLIANT DISGUISE

by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

…Resonated With Me So Much, Tonight.

I’ve Been Hiding Because I Doubt Myself.

I Doubt Every Move I Make.

I Doubt Every Move I Don’t Make.

I Doubt Every Thought…

…Every Memory…

…Every Known-Fact…

…Every Unknown-Fact.

Doubt…Doubt…Doubt.

For A Man With A Memory As Acute As Mine…

…That’s A Helluva Lot Of Doubts.

I Used To Be So Sure.

Sure Of Every Action.

Sure Of Every Inaction.

Sure That What I Was Doing Was How I Should Be Doing It.

Sure Of This.

Sure Of That.

Sure…Sure…Sure.

I’m Not Sure When The Doubts Set In.

I Am Sure There Has To Have Been An Event.

There Has To Be A Trigger.

Like Anything Else…

…There Is Cause And Effect.

“A” Happens, And Thus “B” Happens.

That Might Be Oversimplifying It, But It Works.

It Does What I Need It To Do.

I Was A Man Who Was Sure Of Everything.

And Became A Man Who Is Sure Of Nothing.

Something Happened Along The Way.

Some Moment.

Some Event.

Some Trigger.

Am I Right About This?

I Am…Right???

This Final Line Of The Song Is What Really Got Me:

-“…God Have Mercy On The Man Who Doubts What He’s Sure Of.“-

I May Not Be A Man Of Faith, But I Can Totally Identify With What’s Being Said.

I Was Sure Of What I Wanted.

I Was Sure Of How To Get It.

I Was Sure Of How It Was Going To Go Down.

I Was Sure Of Myself.

Then, I Stumbled.

Somewhere Along The Way, I Stumbled.

Time To Pull-Up The Ole Bootstraps And Carry-On, Eh?!

Eh, Indeed!!

I Know How To Write.

I Know I Know How To Write.

So Why The Hell Haven’t I Been Writing?

Like My Friend Told Me…

…My Blog IS A HOBBY.

It IS NOT A PROFESSION.

Somewhere Along The Way I Forgot That Little Fact, Also.

I Love My Blog.

I Have Fun With My Blog.

It Brings Me Joy.

But, In The End, It Really Is Just A Hobby…

…Isn’t It?

Accordingly, I Must Treat It As Such.

Something To Tinker With When The Real Work Has Ceased For The Day.

Right?!

RIGHT!!

Midnight Is Drawing Near.

I Suppose I’ve Said What Needed To Be Said.

I’m Grateful To My Friend For Having The Balls To Just Break-It-Down For Me Like That.

The Best Way To Thank Him, However, Would Be To Excel.

I’m NOT SURE I Can.

I AM SURE I Can Try Try TRY.

Rest Easy, My Peeps.

Friday Is Here.

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😀       😀       😀

ROY ORBISON’s “BLACK & WHITE NIGHT”: The Swan-Song Of A Music Legend

I Haven’t Been Buying BLU-RAY Movies For Very Long.

Perhaps A Year Or Two, Now.

Maybe.

And This BLU-RAY…

ROY ORBISON‘s

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Was My Very First BLU-RAY Purchase.

In Fact…

…I Owned It BEFORE I Ever Got A BLU-RAY Player.

No Foolies, My Peeps.

I Knew One Day I’d Own One…

…And This Was The One BLU-RAY Disc I Wanted More Than Any Other.

There Are Many MANY Great BLU-RAY Flicks Out There.

Some Of The Most Amazing Special Effects I’ve Ever Seen With These Two-Eyes Were In The BLU-RAY Format.

Yet…

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Was The One I Wanted Most.

And I’m So Supremely Pleased With Myself For Making Said Purchase.

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Is Simply…

…Honestly…

…Amazingly…

…Wonderful Wonderful WONDERFUL.

Period.

ROY ORBISON

…Is My Music God.

I’ve Loved His Music Since I Was A Child.

I Know, It Sounds Crazy, But You Have To Know Me To Understand Me.

I Was The Kid Who Rarely Listened To What Was Happening Right Then.

I Was Always More Interested In What Had Come Before.

I Was The Kid Who Got Made-Fun-Of Because My First Two CD Purchases Were…

THE JOHN LENNON COLLECTION

…And…

THE BEST OF HERMAN’s HERMITS

😀

Again…

…No Foolies, My Peeps.

THE ROY ORBISON COLLECTION

…Was My Third CD Purchase.

It WOULD Have Been First.

It SHOULD Have Been First.

But The Day I Went To “CAMELOT RECORDS” With My Dad To Purchase A Copy, I Was Greeted With A…

"I'm Sorry, Sir, We Sold Our Last Copy Earlier Today. Can I Help You Find Something Else?"

😦

I Was So So SO PISSED.

I Couldn’t Believe Someone Had Bought MY Frickin’ CD.

"That Bastard!"

…Was My First Thought.

"No. I'll Find Something," I Said Meekly.

And I Did.

And I Was Happy To Have My “JOHN LENNON” And “HERMAN’s HERMITS” Discs…

…But It Wasn’t The Same.

I Didn’t Get What I Wanted And I Was Angry.

Who Wouldn’t Be Angry About That?!

EXACTLY!!!

You Would Have Been PISSED, Also.

So…

…When It Came Time To Start Thinking About BLU-RAYS…

…I Knew Immediately Which One I Was Going To Buy.

And By Thunder, I DID IT.

I Got EXACTLY Which Disc I Wanted.

No Hassle.

No Disappointment.

Just Bliss.

Pure, Loving Bliss.

Of All The BLU-RAYS I Now Own…

ROY ORBISON‘s

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Is The Most Special To Me.

His Sound Moves Me.

Unlike Any Other Solo-Artist, He Moves Me.

His Voice…

…Which I Admit Is An Acquired Taste…

…Digs Deeply Into My Soul.

ME…

…The Unemotional Bastard…

…The Quiet…

…The Cold…

…The Cerebral Sociopath…

…Is Moved Nearly To Tears When I Hear ROY Perform.

He’s The Only One, Though.

He’s The Lone Ranger Of My Emotional State.

He Makes Me Smile.

He Makes Me Cry.

He Makes Me Very VERY Happy.

And This BLU-RAY Has Them All.

All His Best Jams.

ONLY THE LONELY

DREAM BABY

BLUE BAYOU

RUNNING SCARED

IN DREAMS

CRYING

CANDYMAN

MEAN WOMAN BLUES

IT’S OVER

OH, PRETTY WOMAN

They’re All Here.

It’s A 17-Track Concert…

…One Of The Last He Performed Before His Unexpected, And Horrifying Death.

When I Heard…

…In 1988…

…That ROY Was Dead…

…I Nearly Lost Myself.

I Simply Couldn’t Believe It.

I Was 8-Years-Old…

…And My Music Hero Was Gone.

It’s A Tough Gig When Your Personal Icon…

…Regardless Of Their Profession…

…Up And Dies On Ya.

It Was So So SO Sad.

😦

BUT…

…Like All Great Artists…

…He Lives On.

His Music Is Still Amazingly Wonderful.

It’s Timeless.

His Sound Was So Unique That It Transcends Time.

For My Money…

…Honestly…

…It Doesn’t Get Any Better.

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Puts ROY Along-Side Music Greats, Like…

JACKSON BROWNE

T. BONE BURNETT

ELVIS COSTELLO

k.d. lang

BONNIE RAITT

J.D. SOUTHER

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

…And…

TOM WAITS

!!! !!! !!!

ROY Is The Show…

…The Others All Back-Him-Up.

What You Get Is An All-Star Concert For The Ages!!!

It’s Brilliant, My Peeps.

It’s A Concert Film I’d Easily Watch With Anyone Who Might Care In The Slightest.

It’s That Good, Kiddies!!!

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SOOO…

…What Are YOU Watching, Tonight?!

Anything Special??

Anything At All???

Well…

…Y’all Know What I’m Watching…

…What I’m Listening To.

And Regardless Of What You’re Watching…

…I WIN.

PERIOD.

😉

Enjoy The Weekend, My Peeps.

I’m Sure You’ve Earned It.

I’m Sure We’ve ALL Earned It.

Got Nothin’ To Chill To, And Enjoy?!

ROY ORBISON‘s

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Could Easily Fill-In.

I Love It.

And Before It’s All Said And Done…

…You’ll Love It, Also.

Trust Me, My Peeps.

Trust Me, Indeed.

MERCY!!!

😀