Eric  Ramsey

Actually, we've ALWAYS been: Mean-Spirited. Abusive. Racist. Irrelevant. Self-Centered. Angry. Entitled. Ignorant. Cheats. Bullies. Pretenders. Vicious. Liars. Amoral. Malicious. Petulant. Crybabies. Sycophants. Ruthless. Egotistical. Narcissistic. Petty. Recidivists. Callous. Unprincipled. Cruel. Dishonest. Parsimonious. Self-Indulgent. Vain. Vengeful. Machiavellian. Intolerant. Boorish. Arrogant. Corrupt. Greedy. Oppressive. 

Now it's OK to wave your flag....

We here at the House Of Strays wish for you…

Bad Craziness in this land of ours these days. Even the jackals on Wall Street have ceased gnawing at each others' necks to watch the spectacle. Who could ever have predicted that this great experimental dirigible called Democracy would spontaneously combust and crash flaming to the ground in two scant years. 

I've been wondering what Thompson would have made of all this; having survived the Nixon years, the Reagan regime and nepotism of the Bush Era he most likely would have been able to impart some…

Alternatively, the title of this entry could be: How To Slow The Descent Into Madness. 

What with the rising costs of therapy, I'm pretty happy to be able to exorcise some of my personal demons by writing about them. I think it's pretty efficacious, too - at least for me. I can third-personalize some aspect of my character or makeup of which I am not particularly proud. Or I can treat some of my less-than-ideal traits with humor or sarcasm (or, more likely, a combination of the two.) Writing often allows…

Yesterday was Memorial Day, once called Remembrance Day, when we honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. I wonder if other countries have similar days of appreciation? 

I'd like to see a worldwide day dedicated to the memories of ALL humans who died in the pursuit of war, regardless of nationality, creed or ethnicity. Or outcome. 

On second thought never mind. I suppose we'd then be treated to the spectacle of Bloated, Self Righteous Heads of State from all over the…

Yesterday afternoon I played a show at one of my favorite venues in my area. It's a coffee/wine joint in a small town north of the big city in which I live. I've been playing there, roughly monthly, for several years. Sometimes inside (in the summer or during our rare inclement weather) sometime outside on their expansive but intimate (if that makes any sense) patio. It's a busy place, good food and great staff, and the owners have made a commitment to quality live music.

So yesterday (on the patio) the…

Let's face it - we're nowhere (and nobody) without mothers. Yes, yes, we need the male ... ah ... input, if you will, but once the input has been put in, so to speak, mothers take over. They do all the work. They provide sustenance, support, shelter, giving of their own bodies to build ours. Inside their own bodies all this happens. Wow.

I'm at the age where many of my peers are beginning to lose parents. Some have left this physical plane, some are inhabiting their world created by dementia and…

Is how far I've travelled in the past year. So have you. That's how far our earth travels in one year circling the sun.

When I feel (as I sometimes do) that I am going nowhere, that I'm stuck, it's comforting to know that I'm actually sloping along at 110 million miles an hour. Small wonder I can't keep up with my thoughts.

Having recently had yet another birthday, I was once again taken by the outpouring of well wishes extended to me by friends and family, social-media acquaintances, peers and…

My friend Hope Cassity (a singer and songwriter of prodigious and world-class talent) is currently fighting a particularly insidious and aggressive form of cancer. Hope is the physical embodiment of love and light, and she puts forth in great abundance some of the qualities I wish I had - Strength, Courage and ... Hope.

Here is a link to her website so you can get to know her better: HOPE CASSITY

Here is a link to a Go Fund Me campaign to help: HELP FOR HOPE Please donate if you can....

Finally, should…

...these songs we write? Do they come from within? Are they gifts from some Supreme Energy Flow? Why do they sometimes appear almost fully rendered? Why must they sometimes be dragged kicking and screaming into the light? Why, sometimes, do they not come at all?

Some things I can quantify - a new tune can present itself as a riff on the guitar. Sometimes it's a phrase that starts the process. Sometimes it's a combination of the two. A memory, or an image, or even a scent can trigger the appearance of a new…

Shapeless Lives And A Book Of Rules.

What we do with that book is completely up to us, of course. We can read the whole thing chapter by chapter. We can consign it to a shelf where it will gather dust. We can pick and choose those topics that we find interesting, or deem useful to us. Regardless of how we use the information therein, that information is there for us, specific to our individual interpretation. You can think of it as the instruction manual for our unique Bag Of Tools.

As a Book gets dusty…