imagine if your neighbors weren't mediocre? what if the guy practicing clarinet next door was buddy defranco? what if the old guy sitting out on the porch was howard zinn? what if manny ramirez was taking his cuts at the park across the street, instead of high school softball players? what if the local library stacks were filled with leftist texts? what if the landlord was an old marxist who didn't believe in charging more than a couple of bills? instead of the apolitical bums getting drunk and bothering people up the street from my joint, imagine a group of down and out drifters who know the deal.

why is it that the world we are stuck in is so far behind the ideal society which exists in our minds? it seems we are forever doomed to spend our lives in the company of stiffs. it is not an issue of race or class or gender, but one of the species. the stiffs are large in number, and growing exponentially. they already inhabitant the next apartment, own the house you live in, employ you at your job, and ring up your groceries. they act in the films you see, and sing the songs you hear on the radio. there are so many of them that they are not seen as stiffs. the horror is common. the every day man spreads his sickness to those already ill. swine flu would be a great improvement from this enveloping pandemic.

so, i am back to the beginning. the guy next door practices his scales. he has chops, but no inspiration. pee wee russell and defranco are long gone, and if they were alive, they wouldn't live next door. no one great ever lives next door, and even if they did, i wouldn't take the time to meet them, thinking that only stiffs could live next door to me.

the greats are always far away, or under the earth.

the mediocrities? they are with us always.

always.