(yours truly in 1974, serenading, wisps of cigarette smoke rising)
Apologies to all my readers for the longish pause. My prose writing energy has slacked as of late - not the least because I’ve been writing more music (finalizing a documentary movie score and other tasks) and because I’ve been dealing with a variety of minor ailments that seem to be par for the course as the notches on the stock of my lifespan gun keep adding up.
I have been reluctant to wade into the muddy waters of the Russia Ukraine conflict. Having been on the receiving end of a Soviet invasion, it’s exceedingly difficult for me not to feel enormous sympathy towards others in the same situation. Seeing ruined buildings, mangled bodies and crying children is not the right moment to ponder the geopolitical intricacies of the situation. Conversely, it’s folly to accuse the likes of Tucker Carlson of being a “Russian asset” for correctly pointing out the endless snafus, the lies, the corruption and the fraud perpetrated by our regime and by the NATO/Davos elites on the Ukrainians, while at the same time explaining Russian historical fears. Both things can be true - the profound civilian suffering at the hands of Putin’s aggression AND the West’s continuing perfidy.
My well of Covid commentary has run dry. We seem to have entered some kind of no-man’s-land. For the most part, Covid is over in our daily lives but so much of the world has been turned upside down and it will take SO long to right the ship that our lives seem derailed. My days often resemble daydreams…weeks and months pass and reality seems distant and in many ways peculiar. Watching pre-2020 movies transports me to a world I almost don’t believe I ever lived in. Yet, no one has yet made a movie - as far as I know - that reflects what 2020 and 2021 have truly been like: an unhinged delusional reality. A world playing at being somehow “normal”. And so, I try to leave all of that aside and live in the only reality that matters: my wife, my kids, my grandkids and my work
Much of my prose remains unpublished but scroll back here on Substack to read my short story “Kafka’s Dream”. I am interested in your opinion - always. I will shortly be publishing two more stories, one of which is finished, one just about to be.
To the music lovers among you, I post a lot of music on my Instagram at instagram.com/george.jazzcat and on YouTube at youtube.com/georgegrosman
If you’d like a copy of my latest EP “GG SINGS SATCH” (songs of Louis Armstrong), just shoot me an email and I’ll set you up
Thank you for reading, as always
I occasionally ponder the idea that, at some point, we shifted into an alternate reality. Things seem very much the same in many ways, but the foundations of how we understand life are radically different. There are tho very strong belief systems about what is the truth, and those beliefs are separating people who once loved one another unconditionally. Still, I look around my house, or out my window, or around my neighborhood, and everything is the same as it has always been.