One... More... Time!

Yes, I'm switching blogs. For the last time. Maybe.

My new blog can be found at:

https://jasonrhunt.wordpress.com/

As Heraclitus said, "The only constant is change." Well, actually, Heraclitus never said exactly that -- not in so many words. He did say a lot of cool things about change, but I think it was Isaac Asimov who penned the catchy paradox version.

Anyway, for my latest ramblings, go to the new place. ;-)

What are your "non-negotiables"?

Below is a list of my non-negotiables, the things that for me are never okay and that I will never accept or condone:

• Racism
• Bigotry
• Sexism
• Misogyny
• Sexual assault
• Religious persecution
• Discrimination because of sexual orientation
• Bullying
• Cheating workers out of money they have earned
• Defrauding the poor and desperate
• Mocking the handicapped
• Disrespecting those who have suffered or died for this country

People tell me I should respect Donald Trump because he is President-elect, but how can I respect a man who has repeatedly demonstrated ALL of these things (not to mention arrogance, ignorance and shameless, bald-faced lying)? If I accept him, then I am tacitly accepting everything he's said and done -- and everything he has threatened to do as President.

All of us have to ask ourselves, in our heart of hearts, what is not negotiable for us.

I have. 

Show me a sign....

Perhaps the four most dangerous words in any language -- show me a sign. The few times I have been daring -- or desperate -- enough to utter them, a sign has been shown.

Take last week for example. For over a decade I have had a good job at a great company with an altruistic mission -- competitive pay, great benefits, talented and wonderful colleagues and friends. But while the bottom tiers of Maslow's hierarchy of needs were solid, the upper layers, particularly the pinnacle of self-actualization, had steadily been falling into disrepair. In fact, I was struggling daily to keep from losing my enthusiasm -- and I am a firm believer that without enthusiasm, nothing excellent ever emerges.

So in that vague space between wakefulness and sleep, when I tend to have a running dialog with my Higher Power, I found myself muttering, "If you have bigger plans for me, you are probably going to have to get me laid off, because I'm kinda stuck...."

And I promptly fell asleep.

When I arrived at the office the next day, I found I'd been invited to a cryptically titled meeting with my manager (Brief one-on-one) and I immediate thought to retract my request from the previous night -- but then I stopped. I said to myself, "It is what it is. If I'm supposed to be doing something else, then so be it..."

As promised, the meeting was brief: reduction in workforce, your position is eliminated, yada, yada, yada.

The first hour following the announcement was a definite downer as my mind totaled and re-totaled mortgage, rents, student loans, parent loans, and loans yet to come. But once the clacking of the imaginary adding machine began to fade, I could feel a load like a lead smock (like you wear at the dentist's office) being lifted. the clouds of pessimism parting, and two roads diverging in a yellow wood.

(Hey, cut me some slack on the self-indulgent purple prose -- I just got laid off, for Pete's sake! :-))

So that was the first sign. As if one were not enough, a second, even more unmistakable sign occurred, dispelling once and for all any lingering shadows of doubt.

I was asleep and my phone buzzed on the nightstand. I fumbled frantically to find my glasses, expecting as always the worst, some catastrophe or desperate plea from a frightened friend in need. I grabbed the phone, gazed at the screen. At first I thought it was a dream -- a mashup of two things I've been obsessed with for as long as I can remember. I sat up, blinked a few more times, squinted, and looked again.

It was not a dream.

It was a second sign.

Bob Dylan had won the Nobel Prize in Literature. :-)

"Didn't you use to write fiction?"

Okay, okay. So I've wandered astray of late. Alright, of late meaning the last few years....

I admit, I have been dabbling in a number of non-writing-related pursuits -- xiangqi (Chinese chess); Koine Greek; Hebrew; figure drawing and cartooning; brushing up on my Stoics, Taoists, Buddhists; studying the history of Hip Hop and learning to freestyle; rereading all my favorite poets; Italian wine regions and varietals; using Netflix to catch up on 20 years worth of missed TV.

You get the idea. Everything but writing.

What woke me up and propelled me back onto the path of literary prolificity? (Yes, I know prolificity is not a word. I am coining it. Just like prohodiation, meaning to do things today, rather than procrastinating and leaving them for tomorrow -- cras is Latin for tomorrow, hodie is Latin for today).

Hm, good question.

I keep having dreams in which Edgar Allan Poe and Ernest Hemingway stop their Greco-Roman wrestling just long enough to throw shade in my general direction, hurl an anathema or two, then roll back off to Elysium.

I don't know why, but the writing bug -- or in the short term, the editing/publishing bug (neither of which is resistant to antibiotics) -- has returned. It just has. So I guess I'll be saddling up, riding out of Dodge and galloping back onto the printed page.

SO LONESOME I COULD DIE will be the first to see the light of day, followed by a vast array of half-vast, unfinished projects that will have to battle it out for their seat on the down-bound train.

I know. You have questions. As do I.

Be patient. There's more to come. I promise to keep you posted. :-)

Evolving..but into what? :-)

Greedy, Little Hands (The Ballad of Donald Trump) -- Lyrics

Greedy, Little Hands (The Ballad of Donald Trump) 

by Jason Hunt

sung to the tune of "The Ballad of Jesse James")

VERSE

Donald Trump had a dad, who gave him all he had,

Money, a company and land

Sent him with a silver spoon to all the finest schools

That’s the way he became a self-made man

VERSE

Donald says he gets along with almost everyone

No matter rich or poor

He only mocks the handicapped, Muslims, Mexicans and Blacks,

Women and prisoners of war

CHORUS

Donald is a man with greedy little hands

Who wanted to build a wall

So he built one out of hate, but it crumbled ‘neath the weight

And it crushed Donald Trump in the fall

VERSE

If you’re standing ‘neath a tent at a Donald Trump event

You’d better be silent and still

‘Cause depending on your race someone might punch you in the face

And Donald will pay their legal bills

CHORUS

Donald is a man with greedy little hands

Who wanted to build a wall

So he built one out of hate, but it crumbled ‘neath the weight

And it crushed Donald Trump in the fall

CHORUS

Donald is an ass, a bully with no class

Who wanted to build a wall

So he built one out of hate, but it crumbled ‘neath the weight

And it crushed Donald Trump in the fall

Greedy, Little Hands (The Ballad of Donald Trump)

Some followers of Donald Trump have gotten rather angry with about this song -- and in true Trumpian fashion have attacked me, my singing, even my poor, old Yamaha. But none of them have been able to point to anything in the song that is not, in fact, true.

You be the judge. :-)

Coming January 2016: So Lonesome I Could Die

Zombie Apocalypse: The Song :-)

A songwriter friend of mine and I occasionally get into these little...arguments, and they almost always culminate in some sort of challenge. Recently, he accused me of writing hundreds of songs about the same two or three topics. We'd been drinking many a Sam Adams, so I said, "I can write a song about anything you can think up..." He said, "Okay, write a song called Zombie Apocalypse." So I did... :-)

Market Basket workers and customers win!

I am not the only one who has been inspired by six weeks of demonstrations and boycotts to protest the loss of a CEO who truly cares about and respects his employees. This song is dedicated to all the workers and customers who stood their ground and arose victorious!

"More Than a Grocery Store"

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S GUNFIGHT -- The Theme Song :-)

What's a great Western novel without a great country music song to go with it? Exactly. And so, I wrote one to go with my first Western novel, A Midsummer Night's Gunfight. Check it out on YouTube, "Like" it if you like it, leave a comment, share the link. Much obliged. :-)

A Midsummer Night's Sandwich Board

All you have to do is buy this guy a sandwich and a pint of Guinness, and voila, instant high-impact publicity. If he talks to a lot of people, it's practically social media.  :-)

Romancing the Heart

Find out the answer to that age-old question: Do cowboys have hearts? :-)

There's a nice interview with me out at Romancing the Heart. Now I know Willie and Waylon said "Cowboys ain't easy to love, and they're harder to hold," but that doesn't mean a little romance can't be found somewhere deep down in that heart of rawhide. So take a look at the interview and comment if the mood hits you. I'd love to hear what y'all think. :-)

Make that FIVE out of five...

Four out of five Christmas characters agree....

You should go straight to Amazon.com and buy your copy of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S GUNFIGHT. You'll be in good company:

Photoshop for Authors

So I got a little carried away one night, watching reality TV reruns and playing around in Photoshop. Here's the result:

It looks as though they are at least enjoying the book! :-)

Welcome to The Real Jason Hunt Blog

Yes, I know. I have a dozen blogs. Slicd.blogspot.com has been the most active. And cool. But since my Facebook site is www.facebook.com/TheRealJasonHunt, I thought I'd grab that for a blog name. (As if people are fighting for the Real Jason Hunt...)

Anyway. This is the holder text. I'll write some "real" posts soon. "Real" soon. Really.