Reality Bites by James Norton for the week of March 1
“In a world gone mad, we won’t spank the monkey, the monkey will spank us.” – Jay

  Being bi-polar sucks sometimes.  Sure there are meds to help, but who likes that stuff?  Lithium and thorazine with a little xanax and klonopin every day, how yummy.  It‚Äôs like walking around with a wet blanket over your emotions all the time ‚Äì assuming you‚Äôre awake long enough to interact with someone or something.
  Panic attacks manifest themselves at odd times and typically without warning.  They can cause you to want to avoid people and places at times, they can make you want to get a gun and shoot people at times and they can make you want to sit down and write.  A lot.

   They also make you jump around from topic to topic and make obscure and inane references and quotes from movies and books most of you have never even heard of.  But wait, I know there‚Äôs a couple of you who get my humor and laugh your asses off, so it‚Äôs all good to me.
   Recently, there was some discussion on The Somerville News weblog regarding the Lincoln School being torn down and the supposed naming of the new school after Dr. Argenziano.  Having sat on the School Committee for two years while he was the Superintendent of Schools, I had the pleasure of having both a professional and personal relationship with him during and after my brief time as an elected official.  We shared an interest in cigars and pipe tobacco and I consider him a good man with great character.
    I don‚Äôt, however, think we should name a school after him, at least not yet.  He only just retired last year and last time I checked, he is still very much alive.  I know I‚Äôll get the crap kicked out of me for saying this, but buildings and parts of buildings should not be named after people who are still living.  If they are, they better have contributed an extraordinary amount of time and personal sacrifice to this community as a whole through mainly public service.  You know what else?  There better not be anyone overlooked who is already dead or just happens to be living a longer than average lifetime.  That would be shameful.
    Honestly, if I had to pick a living person who would be best honored in our community for public service and dedication to our community as a whole, it would be Marie Howe.  She spent many years at her own personal sacrifice out there in the trenches, being passionate about the issues and knocking some heads to get things done.
    I hope Dr. Argenziano and others understand why I‚Äôm making this type of statement and trying to bring forth discussion about this topic and nobody considers it a personal slight, because it‚Äôs not meant to be.  We have a responsibility to our community and to future generations not honor someone merely because he or she is a decent citizen, or a sports supporter or won a medal in the Olympics.  It‚Äôs bigger than that, and it should be for good reason.  At its core is civic responsibility and looking back to honor the past, while looking ahead and planning for our future and our children‚Äôs future.
     Even though we are a city of many people, there should be more individual involvement.  We should have ‚Äútown meeting‚Äù type forums to discuss ideas like these and to educate the general public.  You might not like them, but you can‚Äôt help but appreciate groups like the Mystic View Task Force or the Progressive Democrats of Somerville ‚Äì at least they‚Äôre trying to get out there and share their ideas with others and promote discussion on some serious issues (too bad I only had those two to reference ‚Äì now people will think I‚Äôve gone over to the Dark Side, mistakenly).  Or will they?
Come to think of it, I think I will write a whole series about being involved – from its past in Somerville to where it should be in our future – so in the meantime I will, in a very manic manner, switch the topic back to ME (it should have never left in the first place).
     It‚Äôs hard to maintain a serious face these days when it comes to local politics.
Political functions, which I looked forward to when I was younger, I avoid like the plague now.  Don‚Äôt get me wrong, politicians themselves haven‚Äôt changed much, they are exactly the pimps or pied pipers they‚Äôre supposed to be to the legions of whores, minions and hacks that I lovingly refer to as ‚Äúpod people.‚Äù
     Believe me, not much has changed with the players and the puppet masters over the years (remember I was around in the S. Lester Ralph years) – sure some of the faces have changed here and there, but rarely does a wide-scale shift happen.
     Hey, I‚Äôm always open to a little self-deprecation, so maybe it‚Äôs my age, maybe it‚Äôs my maturity level, maybe I need those meds – maybe it‚Äôs just everyone else around me.
     I‚Äôm not sure, and quite frankly, neither is my bi-polar side.
‚ÄúSee, here‚Äôs the pulse.  And this is your finger, far away from the pulse, jammed straight up your ass.  Say, would you like a chocolate covered pretzel?‚Äù – Brodie