I have discovered eating sugar right before bed is not a good thing. Not only is it not a good thing. It’s definitely bad. If I think I have trouble waking up in the morning, which I sometimes do (Why? Because I try and get less than 6-8 hours of sleep) then I really have trouble after gorging on sugar right before bed.

I wake up foggy and in a bad mood. I don’t wake up ready to conquer the world like Superman or Mighty Mouse or The Avenger.

I’m foggy. I feel slightly depressed. And in general, highly less powerful than I feel if I didn’t have sugar right before bed.

But back to the less than 6-8 hours of sleep. I need to wake up early. Around 4-6 a.m. every morning.

And I don’t usually go to bed until after midnight.

I know…I know… 

The customary rule of thumb is at least 6 hours of sleep. But when you factor in all the cool things one wants to do in life, and then work and responsibilities, I have no damn idea how people can get more than 4-5 hours of sleep and still get it all done.

Whatever that “it” is.

I’d rather sit under a tree. I don’t know why that phrase popped into my head. Oh yea, it’s in my new book, Eat Breathe Worry, The Smartass Guide to Life. (NOTE: This was not an intentional plug; it just popped up from my subconscious.)

(It’s a theme. Just sit under a tree and watch birds. I think my soul is tellin’ me somethin’ and I don’t think it’s GO, GO, GO, GO & DOUBLE GO and never sleep…)

In other news, I’m tired of the news. I’ve finally grown tired of the Matrix Box News Nightmare. Will I stop watching? Probably not. But I’ll know more and more what it does to me and my poor lil’ soul.

It never changes. That’s the funny thing about the news.

It truly never changes. Why? Because people, bad people mostly, and world affairs never really change.

They might go a little to the right or the left or the upside down—but all in all, it’s just a Matrix designed to keep you stuck in a feeling of powerlessness.

Now that sounds heavy. And I don’t mean there’s not good people bringing valuable information through the news.

Or that affairs can definitely turn more to the better.

Or that there’s some real good, amazing people doing amazing things to move the needle forward.

But all in all, when I watch the news (how about you?) I just feel stuck in a Matrix of Unfulfillment. I’m not in touch with my soul, with beauty, magic, the other world (wherever and whatever it is…).

I feel powerless.

The Dow goes up. The Dow goes down. Inflation rises. Inflation falls. Unemployment goes up and down and sideways.

Peace between some countries; war between others…

No matter what I do as a person living in a certain country on this Earth, when I watch the news I’m just lost in a some giant charade. A parade of shit.

The same ‘ol, same ‘ol shit.

Packaged and re-packaged every day as the date changes.

But underneath, still the same ‘ol shit.

That’s the only way to describe it.

If I see one more world leader being an asshole; or another car chase; or another UN Council meeting trying to get a country to do the right thing, I think I’ll just sit under a tree and melt into the earth.

No. That’s way too dramatic. But the feeling is one of despair, resignation and powerlessness.

It’s never one of uplift.

It sometimes goes 3 steps positive and some real change begins to happen and then BAM! We’re back to Square 1 and the shit show beings again.

It’s like a ride at a theme park. So sometimes I just don’t want to be on that news ride. I just want to sit under a tree and watch birds.

At least they do cool positive things like fly and sing.

So beautiful…

Does this make sense? Coffee’s kicking in and maybe my thoughts will become clearer.

For those who don’t know and might care, I write this blog first thing after waking up and drinking coffee.

I don’t sit and meditate. I don’t write in a gratitude journal. I don’t think about what I’m going to say.

I just pop open my laptop and start typing. Banging away at the keyboard—a cheap plastic one from China I bought on Amazon for less than $20—and I let the words fly.

My goal is to capture the feeling of jazz, improvisation, first thought, best thought school of poetry.

Jack Kerouac, a great writer and poet from the 50s and 60s had a theory of spontaneous prose.

It’s called “The Essentials of Spontaneous Prose.”

You who endeavor to write and like cool shit should Google this and read it. It’s about a page long.

I first read Kerouac back in my late teens. He still amazes me to this day.

His “Essentials of Spontaneous Prose” had a great effect on my writing.

As much as I love editing and crafting when writing, I love the way Kerouac just “blew” his lines from his fingers like a jazz saxophonist.

The raw, live line…rolling out like the endless American highway…

Jerry Garcia, from the Grateful Dead, was highly influenced by Kerouac.

You can hear it in his endless solos—which I love dearly.

And here am I, little ol’ me bangin’ out this blog, 500 - 1000 words a day, first thing in the mornin’.

But my goal is to also add a painterly element.

So I’ll go back over the first draft and add a touch of color here, a clarifying line there…just a touch.

Add a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper.

But keep the main dish as complete and improvised as possible.

For those who truly want to know.

So my point was…if I remember…that I’m not always fully coherent in the a.m. until that coffee kicks in.

Caffeine is a miracle drug, bean and substance. 

I truly believe this.

And so I swear by the bean.

And I hope I’ve shed some light on something.

I hope I’ve added a dash of hot sauce to the enchilada in your soul.

I don’t really hate the news as much as I said.

I just need to keep both feet firmly planted in the magic.

Under my tree.

The Bruce tree.

And watch my birds sing….