When I was a child I suspected that some of the adults around me weren’t firing on all cylinders in the intelligence department and due to a lack of experience and exposure to intelligence I had a working theory at best.

Thanks to social media, this is really no longer a theory as most folks are really no longer a mystery!

YAY!

It’s a good news bad news sort of situation and the good news is that if I may borrow from someone far more clever than I… Being stupid is similar to being dead; every knows but you.

Dennis Mantin

The devil is in the details…Their rage is ancient.

Mired in some savage childhood disappointments from a time when men were men and sheep were nervous!

But I digress.

I have listened and now I have walked away because I can.

Is this I wonder the origin of the the saying; if you don’t have anything good to say then just shut the fuck up?Dennis Mantin

My health returned today…

“So wonderful to see you Sweetheart, long time no see… I feel I am close to nothing without you.”

“Joyless until you show your loveliness and I am grateful for you beyond words. Welcome back!”

Dennis Mantin

I saw Mike… it might have been 20 years. We have a mutual friend who I asked if he had heard from.

Mike said, “Nothing I hear about him is good. I hear he’s conning people. ”

I knew the Con since high school, met him when we were 15… his nickname was ‘Willie Snake.’ I saw his generous side just once, and I was the beneficiary of this kindness. When he did me wrong I asked him why he sought me out as a friend.

Willie Snake said, “You were my way of getting to the girls where you lived.” I’ve always been a fan of honesty.

When he stole my friends cancer medication (allegedly) some wished him the worst. When Willie Snake got cancer I wondered about fate.

Later in life after a study on psychopaths I wondered again about if they can help themselves…I have to believe that if you gain a nickname before the age of 15 that has the word snake in it, then you have to expect you might have issues gaining trust.Dennis Mantin

My life changed forever as I became a father for the first and only time.

Zylia Tourny Mantin was born and I have had this privilege of being her friend and Dad and I take nothing for granted…

All the best my love!Dennis Mantin

The ice came with the squalls out of the north under a November darkness that seems so far from forgiving.

it is not a surprise anymore… just a dread that lasts for at least 100 short days and long nights punctuated with snot and sneezing.

But I digress…

I will work and play and paint and write and read and if by chance I lose myself in dreams of warmer realms until the thaw.

Dennis Mantin

Everywhere you look… they are there, making their way through this world as best they can, some succeeding, others not so much; but all with story.

On Saturday I asked the barista how he was. He answered, “Peaceful.”

Best answer yet for me.

My daughter turns 8 this week. I am constantly amazed.

Dennis Mantin

He sits outside the liquor store day after day greeting and cajoling spare change; telling all who pass to have a wonderful day or wishing them the best for whatever upcoming holiday is arriving. He’s healthy and personable and appears to have the gift of gab and a memory for names.

I can’t help myself from wondering how one arrives at a career choice like this. Does it come on gradually or did he just wake up one day and say, “I’m going to be a bum.”?

This falls under the category of question that I can ask and feel satisfied at not ever getting an answer.

Dennis Mantin

It came to me in a dream… A violence not practiced by me in my daily life but there I was in full swing and rage; striking out against… others.

What was their offense? It appeared that I wasn’t getting what I wanted. Some trailings I suspect from an immature past looking for escape from my subconscious.

Dennis Mantin

It’s real and it’s round and doesn’t make a sound.

It’s bright and it’s warm and can hide behind the storm.

The people look and yearn and pray for brighter burn.

Traveling November low and knows the way to go.

Dennis Mantin