The · Dangerous · Dilettante

Dawn is approaching and I am staring at my brand new journal page, simultaneously bemoaning the "advertisement" marring my otherwise attractive aesthetic and wondering what to write my very first entry about. Or, rather, what to dictate to my faithful amanuensis.

Perhaps, given my nom de guerre (as an admirer of good china, I have long been a fighter in the War on Mugs), a piece concerning one of my many current delectatios would be appropriate. Considering I am listening to the breezy tones of The Beau Brummels - a band for whom the observation that their name is their greatest achievement is by no means a slur - this instant, I could very well extoll their particular virtues. I could proffer that they, among others whose sound is directly derived from The Beatles, are in fact the superior group, having never turned into self-indulgent potheads - the most heinous kind of "-head" to be, including "egg-" and "skin-". Most importantly, these fine gentlemen never chose to be tramps as a lifestyle choice; an offence for which happiness is, in my hands, a warm gun.

But I won't.

I could also examine the above mentioned "advertisement" - quotation marks used because I'm at a loss as to what on earth the people behind it could be promoting. The eyesore in question, just in case it has been changed by the time you're reading this, is a large, red rectangle. In it, the words "Who's To Blame For $4 Gas?" appear in white. Underneath, there are three pictures: An Arab gentleman, wearing a keffiyeh and agal (both of which I had to Google, kind people at the NSA); George W. Bush, mouth ajar, as per usual; and the BP logo. Oddly, below the pictures, we are ordered to "VOTE NOW!".

The logical choice, in spite of the Arab gentleman looking particularly sour, would, of course, be the supermajor. Why, just the other day, I found out via my primary news source, The Daily Show, that the present high petrol prices in the US are simply a result of expected future stock. That is to say, because the Big Oil Men foresee a dip in oil production, and thus consumption, the cost is hiked up to compensate. What cads!

The real intricacy, however, is this offshore drilling Mssrs McCain and, to a lesser degree, Obama continue to harp on about. The average Mr. Trucker and Mrs. SUV across the pond have very much been led up their respective, and albeit rather humble, garden paths concerning the issue. Many seem to be under the false assumption that, should offshore drilling commence forthwith, their gas-guzzling woes will be over. This fallacy is not entirely being helped by Mr. McCain (who is essentially George W. in old man drag) and his ever-decreasing "guesstimate" for when consumers can hope to feel the benefit of such actions - his initial suggestion of many years very shrewdly being whittled down to under six months, recently.

But, no, I wouldn't do that either. Politics makes for the most self-righteous and clichéd of subject matters.

What I will do is start as I mean to continue: by writing about whatever takes my fancy, quite simply. And I do hope you'll continue to read.