Do you know that thing where you get angry at Satan for being so evil and you decide to teach him a lesson, but then you discover to your dismay that you actually are Satan and that you secretly enjoy being evil! Only in the deep-down core of your being it’s not so secret at all of course – in the deep-down core of your being you are exulting in your evil and you don’t care who sees it! That’s a bummer, isn’t it? That’s a real bad one for sure. That’s the real stinker my friends and I’m pretty sure you will agree with me on that one. Oh boy yes. Not a good one. Not a good one at all. For sure, for sure, for sure. Dear me no. That’s a real awkward moment – life’s so simple when you can be angry with Satan and not realize that Satan is you. If only life could stay that simple! And do you know, do you know that thing where you have been constantly validating yourself as a worthwhile and meaningful human being for years and years and years when all of a sudden you realise to your horror that all that ‘validation’ doesn’t mean a damn thing and that your whole life has been a cruddy second-hand fiction? Obviously you do know that feeling, I can tell by the way you’re nodding your head so knowledgeably. Oh yes, you’re saying, I certainly do know that one. By Jingo I do. Who doesn’t, after all? Who doesn’t? Isn’t that the falsification life has in store for us all, at some point or other? Isn’t that what it’s all about? The complete and utter falsification of all those self-serving illusions that we have about ourselves, the ‘acid bath’ as I like to call it. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is farting on about chasing their goals and fulfilling their dreams and all that sort of snivelling baloney but we know better, don’t we? You bet we know better. We know with supreme unexcelled clarity that what awaits us in life is the shocking negation of our precious dreams, not their smarmy fulfilment. What is the more glorious, after all – the supposed realisation of our tawdry dreams or their absolute falsification? Which is the more inspirational of these two options? The validation of a manky old illusion or its perfect annihilation, which is a blessed relief to all concerned? I can see from the roguish twinkle in your eyes that you know perfectly well what the correct answer to these questions is. Indeed you do, indeed you do… You know what side your bread is buttered on for sure and you have my respect for that. You have my total respect. You are no whining idiot, going on and on about your wretchedly dismal pointless goals – I can see that at a glance. I can see that from the fact that you are waving at me with such undisguised enthusiasm and vigorously giving me the old thumbs-up sign. It’s good to have you here my friend, it’s good to have you here. Only you’re not really here are you? That is the only thing about it – that is ‘the fly in the ointment’, as it were. A very big fat fly, a gargantuan fly you might say – an absolute record-breaker in fact – in an otherwise rather splendid ointment. It’s a pity you’re not there – I feel sad about that. It’s a great pity, but what can I do?