Vincent Van Gogh did NOT cut off his ear and give it to a prostitute. Paul Gaughan cut off Vincent’s ear and told police the bullshit story to save his ass from going to jail. There is an actual police report.

The customer is rarely right.

It’s a difficult realization for certain people to realize. However, blood is not always thicker than water.

The leading reason for relationship breakups where there is children involved is when the oldest child becomes more mature than the least mature parent.

Dennis Mantin

The Shortest Day

Is the Longest Night

And the Brightest Star

Is the Rarest Sight…

It’s calmer in the evenings, bathing in that sparkling light.

Just moments of peace and wonder where wonder brings the night.

Before the fears take over and time has had her way.

Its nothing short of dying and those words you try to say.

It’s because we love and want and out of that we grow the fear.

When I see my daughter and wish my Mom was here…

There’s this feeling that’s just so nearly…

Like the battered and the bruised.

I wonder if I heard clearly.

Deep down, I’m just confused.

There’s a man who’s screaming something.

In the face of that sad clown.

There’s a juggler in the spotlight.

That didn’t use the right pronoun.

The siamese twins grow tired.

Two heads can not agree.

Cooperation is required.

No discernments they can see.

The wives they seem so angry.

The husbands have that look.

Doesn’t much matter which way I go.

Either way, I’m on the hook.

And the men

I watched her rise and fall over our sleepy little town. That dead rock in the sky, that shines over us all… Who knows the secrets here? Where? Where everyone pretends that nothing happens.

The warm salt waters of the Gulf Stream flow north from Mexico, along the eastern continental shelf, passed Cape Breton and beyond. Cold arctic air sweeps down over frozen tundra and bristles raised hairs on hunched backs, along Labrador and into the Northumberland Strait. Where these 2 meet is a spit of land that rises out of the Atlantic, just north of New York City, and is formerly known as New Scotland. It’s because of this; the north winds and the south currents that the conversations here are usually always about the weather…

To an outsider, it would appear as if nothing else goes on here but the weather. However, appearances are deceiving. Nothing is as it seems…

Reminds me of the old joke… A man from the city asks a fisherman, “What do you do around here for excitement.”

The fisherman smiles, ” In the summertime we fish and we fuck. In the winter, we don’t fish. “

In the microcosm of my work, in the film industry, our transportation team is headed up by a coordinator, a captain, and a co-captain…
Mad Willie told me about a past trio that had gained some notoriety for a mixture of chaos and entertainment. They were known collectively as the alcoholic, the cocaine addict and God.
I will protect their real identities, mainly because I feel strongly about discretion and anonymity… another reason is I consider God to be a close personal friend. 
Dennis Mantin

I moved into the ground floor apartment at 77 Laxton with Al one floor above me and his son Mark one floor above Al; without incident.

After a few days, fears of running into Al faded into the distant foggy memories of past experiences.

I settled into a routine of shift work and Candice once or twice a week. She had a weird habit of calculating dollar value whenever we had sex. After she shared this tally with me the third or fourth time, I asked.

“So, you want this to be a hooker/john type relationship?” Then, the Candy experiences faded with Al into the mists of the past. Mark shared more Al stories with me, but I never saw much of either of them after that. I was asleep when I heard Al’s voice coming through my ceiling.

“I brought you into this world, and I can take you out! I will rip your throat out with my bare teeth!”

He repeated this a dozen times before I got up, dressed, went out my door, climbed the stairs, and kicked open Al’s front door.

Al slowly turned to face me. He was barely able to stand. Red faced in his underwear, drunk, and raged. He was holding a quart bottle of half consumed spirits. I walked towards him slowly, wagging my finger towards him and yelling. I stopped when I was right in his face.

“Al! If you don’t shut the fuck up and let me sleep I’m going to rip out your throat with my bare teeth… do you understand me Al?

Al’s eyes began to water. His arms shot out in an attempt to give me a hug. I stepped aside.

Finally, he said, ‘Dennis! Where you been?’

I burst out laughing and left. In that moment, Maltese Al was the loneliest man I had ever seen. I saw the price he’d paid for being a narcissistic abusive bullying cunt…

I moved somewhere soon after. I can’t remember the details. Wherever it was, it wasn’t with Maltese Al.

Dennis Mantin