I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. All that and Omicron, too.

Written by Tom Being Tom

Trust me, I’ve been kicking this around a lot. Where does TBT go from here? Where does Tom? And not just since my last entry – a birthday wish for Joe and a letters page from my legions of fans. And not just since the one before that, an homage to Howe and Strauss’ incredible series of books on the theory of generations, in which I talked about Mr Biden as the “Gray Champion.”

He might be. Some good things have come this year. He might be an old fool, too.

But even before that, when I went on an epic 4-week tear talking about vaccines (I’m for ‘em), marriage (worked out for me), distractions (I have 100 of them 100% of the time), and promises (I make a lot of ’em) I was thinking, “where do I go from here?” Honestly, though, you have to scroll back to the Summer of ’20 – more than 15 months – to find a time when Tom was a regular contributor to his own blog.

What changed?

Well, the world, obviously. Since that time the entire globe has been embroiled in battle against a fierce menace (er, I mean hoax) that attacks inside the body and through the air. Covid-19. The Corona. A plague the likes of which the world has not seen in 100 years. 5 million deaths worldwide. 800,000 American deaths. 1500 new cases in the United States yesterday and the day before. More than 1000 people dying a day. Again. Serious shit.

And now there’s a new variant, maybe one with the coolest name yet: Omicron.

*Incidentally, “Omicron” is the Greek letter equivalent to our “short” O, as in “on” or “off.” The Greeks had two O’s in their alphabet, the other one being the long O – as in “oar” or “or” – and was their final letter, “Omega,” which sounds even cooler than “Omicron” (Aw-muh-kron). But that is a variant we really don’t want to see. I mean, think of it in Stan Lee talk-bubble terms:

And then Doctor Doom yells out “Release the Omega!” Really, let’s not.

But the Virus That Changed The World hasn’t really changed me so let’s not blame it for this. More likely, but almost equally as improbable, is the fact that the terribly inept and fiercely aberrant Donald Trump presidency was winding down. That kept me from writing things like “imbecilic clown prince of politics” every week. That limited my vocabulary. If Batman didn’t have the Joker would he still be the Batman? What is Tom and TBT without the Orange Goblin? Well, the answers is yes: Batman is still the Batman without the Joker (he still has Catwoman, right?), and Tom is still Tom without an idiot president because he still talks about golden retrievers. ‘Nuff said.

So, if the coronavirus and the clear improvement in the Oval Office aren’t to blame for the dearth of effort in this House of Ideas – and if I can’t blame John Madden anymore – then the road out was probably more about Tom getting tired of Tom talking about Tom. Could be it.

Nah, we know me better than that.

The truth is it comes down to tomorrow. Tomorrow. I love tomorrow, as Annie says, because it holds so much promise. Today ain’t bad and yesterday was amazing, but tomorrow has yet to be writ and it holds all the potential of consistently being the best day ever. Ever. And there is no way you can ever prove that it won’t be, to me, because it ain’t come yet.

(Yes, I used “ain’t” twice in one paragraph. But earlier I explained the long and short “o” thing so now we’re even, Englishians.)

But tomorrow has one big drawback I can prove, and have: it’s the best day to do stuff. If, by chance, I want to and need to write in my blog I can, and will, tomorrow. Over and over again I can do it tomorrow. Like cutting down that damn tree that’s destroying my fence. I promise, tomorrow’s the day. And, if not, I promise to promise. That much I guarantee.

The answer to the opening question – because writing should be a continuum and the end must justify the beginning – is an altogether anticlimactic “I just don’t know.” Or, if Stan were here, it’d be more like “DON’T MISS THE NEXT INSTALLMENT! THE TRUTH MAY BE REVEALED!! EXCELSIOR!!!”

Man, I loved that guy.

In closing I’ll just say – as I have before – that I’m not dead. I’m invigorated, as a matter of fact. I don’t know what I’m going to say most of the time, I almost never have a plan when I start, but I will keep talking. I will keep writing. I honestly love to blog.

And, when I run out of words, I can always just do this:

Have an amazing day, folks! See you “tomorrow!”

29 thoughts on “I Am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. All that and Omicron, too.”

      2. Ah yes! I didn’t make the connection, obviously. I’ve noticed it right here in my own workplace; and Harari (and others) have talked about it at length before. I remember reading, maybe a decade ago, that our economy only needed about half the employment it has now, maybe less, and we’ll need even less of that in the future. Obviously, the big question then looms: what do we do with all the unemployed?

        Pay ’em, some have said. Pay ’em not to work and to go spend money. We’ve seen the seeds of that already, eh? UBI ain’t far behind.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. AI comes to fill all those empty jobs. UBI worked in Stockton, etc. The results were good. In a nutshell, the poor did not use the money to drink or get stoned as the right would have us believe…instead, they used the money to clean up, get better clothes, take classes and find better higher paying jobs. Google the rest if interested. The economy depends upon the CIRCULATION of money…so yeah, pay ’em.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Exactly right, George. Hadn’t thought about it in a couple of years, and not in the context of this era at all, but it makes too damn much sense. I think “who’s going to deliver all these appliances if I can’t get workers?” Well, if half the population is purposely out of work they will come pick up the appliances or their neighbor who is out of work will or a kid or a parent, etc. We adapt. We adapted to this wage slave society we have now, we’ll adapt to the better one after. 🙂

        Like

  2. Feel better now? I do.

    I was just remarking to my Mrs. C that the mutation rate of Omicron is such that we will never not wear masks when we venture into social situations. We just won't. The risk is too great -- and will never not be.

    Time for chainsaw sculpture? Try an owl first.
    ~~~
    That’s a lot of dog.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    2. As for the second statement, the enumerated one, was that a cut and paste or just an insert? Are you coding here? Either way, cool!

      As for the statement itself, I had to think about it for a minute. I think I disagree but understand that I could be dead, flat wrong. My contention, from the beginning (the alpha), was that this was “just another” 100-year plague, and the last one lasted “about two years.” If it’s comparable to that we’ll see the diminishing of this variant onslaught some time around next spring or summer, when the real original (alpha) onslaught began. Of course, it could be unlike that – we may not experience true herd immunity for much longer (just as we might have much earlier but did not).

      Do you really think the masking is here to stay?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. My seat-o-the-pants analysis comes from the failure of the 1st world to support the 3rd when it comes to vaccines. Maybe that will change? I don’t think so.
        With world travel being what it is, and the resistance to restrictions adding to the problem, Covid will continue to diffuse and mutate in countries and locales that do not — or can not — take it seriously. Omicron proves this point. Omega variant won’t even be the end.
        The fact that the human species has never experienced this radically novel variant of a virus says to me that it’s just getting started.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I can’t argue with any of that, but I still have hope that we’re wrong. But your idea makes more sense than most.

        Then there are those in my FB feed that find this “release” of the Omicron by somebody called “they” “timed” to exert maximum control over “us.” Or the customer who said to me “Awfully peculiar they released this one just in time to distract us from the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, ain’t it?”

        Awfully convenient, sir. Will that be cash or card?

        Like

  7. I’ve been discussing ADHD with some other friends lately and one of the symptoms is “object impermanence”. One friend says he will literally forget something as soon as he puts it down. Well, you’re no object and I certainly haven’t forgotten you–spare as your posts may be your wit and wisdom still cause me to pause when watching the news and wonder, what does Tom think of this? and reports of western wildfires make me think I hope Tom, Mrs. C. and the pups are okay. Granted I’ll hear about a natural disaster in a part of the world where I don’t know anyone–the volcano in Indonesia, for instance–and hope no one was killed and anyone injured has a speedy recovery, but putting names and faces to a place heightens the concern.
    Anyway your praise of tomorrow reminds me of Peggy Lee’s “Mañana (Is Soon Enough for Me)” which my mother always said described my outlook long before I’d even heard of Peggy Lee, much less the song, and there is something to be said for asking, “Why do today what we can put off indefinitely?” Granted that doesn’t apply to vaccines–I got my shots and booster as soon as I could, as well as my flu shot, and having to get up before dawn most mornings is something I’m grudgingly glad for as part of the price to be paid for life with dogs, but I appreciate your reminder of the importance of priorities. And here I’ve demonstrated another Greek term: logorrhea.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. You know, I go through the same thing: I often watch something on the news and wonder “What does Tom think of this?” He doesn’t always answer me but sometimes the question is the answer, as in Jeopardy or Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

      Obviously, I meandered.

      Your logorrhea (I had to look it up!) and grandiloquence (found that looking for the other!) are always welcome, and deserve a permanence on TBT without objection.

      How’s that for expatiation!

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. Pingback: Don’t Panic – Tom Being Tom

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