Please watch Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World. Yes, I know it’s old. Yes, I know it’s an hour and a half long. Watch it anyway. Oddly enough, Donald Rumsfeld was instrumental in pushing aspartame through the FDA. Makes me wonder what else is out there due to these kinds of shenanigans. The pivotal question on my mind: why not just research a new sweetener compound instead of covering-up research and forging ahead with a badly flawed compound?

There are seven. Though my lucky number is nine, I know that there are seven. I know that you don’t care. I’m aware that the universe doesn’t care. There’s a level of animosity beyond eternity I’ve heard and seen in my dreams. But even those are obtuse and unintelligible, sequenced in not terrifying sights disfigured by unshackled rifts in the unsettling darkness. Those twisted visages masqued by vibrating blurs, twisting in jerks and immediate explosive movements turned lucid and split.

Finally! My car is gone! Sure, I had to basically pay someone to take it, but I wasn’t having much luck otherwise, and simply getting rid of it saves me major cash. How much? I pay $415 monthly for the privilege of simply possessing the car. Then there’s the $160 per month just in case fee. I won’t count gas, because I haven’t filled the tank for three months; further proof a car is unnecessary in Chicago.

Acen was fun this year, and aside from being extraordinarily tired, I’m none too worse for the wear. I have about two and a half hours of film to go through and encode, as well as a couple interviews with some interesting folks from Artist Alley. Unfortunately there were some issues this year I didn’t enjoy. I’ll begin by first noting the planning folks had to contend with the amazing Acen 2005 experience, which was very hard to top.

There is no man on the mountain, no guru wise or otherwise experienced in the tumultuous rigors of life. Scouring the world through countless eons would reveal no monk or hermit overflowing with enough inner peace to admit True Knowledge. Here, there is only silence from beginning to end, Alpha to Omega, creation to oblivion. So speak the words on the Night’s Watch, that sense fretful questioning. Be those blessed with infinite abundance, so are they cursed equally complacent and unfulfilled.