JR: “Word-to-word resuscitation” has to be the best phrase I’ve heard in ages. Since my PC has hated me for several days now, I’ve been reading (The Crucible, The Best Awful and now Gulliver’s Travels of all things!) and I think you just described the effect. Brilliant!

Michael: Blimey, guv. Now that was a bit of weird, abstract thought that was mind-bendingly interesting and made me smile into the bargain. If I understood it correctly, I’m supposed to be a furry caterpillar and, tomorrow, a wrinkly one!! “I think we produce our best wordsmithing when we ache the most” is something I run into frequently – mostly among Goths (or should I now pretend I call them “Emo” to be trendy?) trying to write poetry and the people who visit psychoanalysts. The most creative are frequently the most tortured (also see this).

Paul: Photos of equines (though I am not particularly a fan) doused with liberal sunshine are – to the contrary – precisely what I needed. Sunshine, nature, grass and horse manure. What better cure is there for the blues? (That’s a rhetorical question, by the way!!)

Simone: Your visits always brighten my days. As for the apartment, I’m sure you could claim that it’s an ingenious trap for the Monster In The Closet – you know, Tom And Jerry style shenanigans resulting in his (or her) expulsion by the nearest window!! Thanks for the encouragement.

We all have those days/weeks/months (I’d offer a pic of my apt as exhibit A, but am too ashamed). You’ll ride it out and fight a way to use it. Perhaps in future blog posts or a story.

You’re such a talented writer. Please keep posting. More.

I feel a tad bad posting that link to the Morgan horse blog on your last post. Photos dripping with antipodean sunshine are probably not what you crave just now.

Many thanks for this literal snapshot of your literary life. Jolly interesting stuff. Best regards, P.

Neurological pathways between the word advertising and the distant pillar across the other side of my clouded brain – adorned with a slightly, yet appealingly, skewed Scrawlbug mirrored sign reflecting delightful and relevant polar antithesis – lit up my melancholy like a Blackpool tramway. Sparking intermittently until the contact yielded a grounded connection twixt the journey from Autumnal gloom to neon (if not natural) illumination: Spike!

Further crackling static emitted until I settled here for therapeutic, medicinal and controlled Spikehood substance intoxication. Job done.

Lest I confuse and amuse thee in equal unintelligibleness here’s the skinny: I think we produce our best wordsmithing when we ache the most. MHO? Empathy extended for how it must have and may still feel offline Spike but damn, if that’s the tax you’re paying, we are profiting from your bottom line. Beautifully crafted post my friend.

So, uh, Michael, tell us, what’s with the electricity? Glad you reminded me, thanks. Yeah.

Fields of influence 1 Inanimate objects 0.

As we transition from one state of being to another, moving mindsets, letting go of our perception of what we think we are into who we are becoming, we create a different, often higher vibratory pattern of energy. Positive thoughts or aspiring intention – desire to grow personally and professionally – replaces the eddying swirl of useless negativity thus giving rise to a disturbance in our force [insert Vader breathing here]. That force acts upon its environs and component electrons. Particles become waves and waves become particles. Physicists have been known to disturb sub-atomic level test results just by walking into the lab. In other words, it pisses about with yer white goods.

Engineering to Bridge: Cap’n we’ve found a fix. Guys, clench right fist and thump middle of chest. Or, snap fingers of right hand. You’ll look a total twazzock and everyone will think you are (or I am) a weirdo. That’s okay. Celebrate twazzock uniqueness as a statement of rebellion (I am not a number) and embrace being a weirdo, don’t knock what you’ve never tried, but at least you will be sans static and less likely to be assaulted by low-flying VHS projectiles or captive to Nexus Blade Runner-esque replicant toasters. Ladies, lead with the left hook, or a snap of the left fingers (right brain/left brain feminine/masculine, yin/yang kinda beat). Trust me on this. Y’all notice there’s more dust in your house? Not just down to being chained to your swivelchairs bloggin’ with no time for your domestic goddess impressions? Frequencies are on the up. Magnetic poles are shifting (some assert link to solar cycles). Earth measurements reveal Mama Nature is raising her vibe and so are we.

So, like, take it as a slightly, yet appealingly skewed sign the inclement conditions outside correlate with the inclement conditions about thy abode and thine physical self, symbolising the change from the dearly beloved Spike of yesteryear, through simply an uncomfortable chrysalis-like phase of late, into the new and improved Spike of tomorrow. What wonder awaits us….

A good dose of word-to-word resuscitation is in order. Or else go organize a file while eating a chocolate biscuit. Cheers,
JR Nuerge