Internet @ Camp TGO / "Lincoln's Tomb" / TGO Radio

You’ll notice that before today, this blog hasn’t been updated for quite some time … Internet service was disrupted at Camp TGO some weeks ago, and due entirely to the fact I couldn’t get the ISP (a local company) to address the problem despite emails, phone calls and a two page letter hand delivered to their offices, I cancelled the service, even though doing so greatly hurt my research and column writing efforts.

Had an interesting conversation Monday afternoon with a local librarian, whose library had been using the same ISP I was using. Apparently there had been some internal dissention and the man mainly responsible for the company’s day-to-day health left, or was forced out, leaving some third-rate, hack fuckwipe to run things. Badly. Apparently the reason no one has come to remove their equipment is because no one is being paid to do so; in other words, the company isn’t making payroll and is in very serious trouble. (Meanwhile, the guy who left – henceforth known as the Good Guy – is starting a new company, which I’m attempting to contact now.)

Regarding the old service, I’m not entirely sure where to go from here, though I acknowledge that any further movements from this point would be done entirely out of spite. So, yes, I am thinking of organizing some sort of large, expensive class action lawsuit against them, the eventual aim being to drive the hapless fuckwipe and his fat wife (the same cholesterol-laden trollop who’d been answering the phones there, come to find out) into some sort of ritualistic mass suicide, sparing no one that shares even a hint of their senseless DNA, from kids to great-grandparents on both sides. And if not that, the least I can hope for is they each contract and suffer greatly from the deepest, most painful disease a human being can possibly contract; preferably something of an African strain.

Research on the Lincoln book continues, though I am finally coming to grips with the fact this project will never be finished, and am wondering how to proceed with this knowledge.

Here’s an update re: TGO Radio. Originally, Jeff and I had agreed to record the show on Sundays and did indeed record one test show (which I’ve yet to edit down) on a Friday evening several weeks ago.

When I decided a second test show would be necessary, because we were rustier than I’d anticipated, our old dance from season one began anew. One day was suggested and scrapped, then another, whereupon I was informed Sundays might not be the best idea because weekends should be set aside for family. (No problems there.) Any set weekday also couldn’t be established due to liquidity in various schedules (i.e., his wife’s schedule). In other words, no set day could be set for recording, period.

So I thought about it: How badly did I want this show? As a creative outlet and stress reliever, quite badly, so I left Jeff a voice mail a couple of weeks ago, essentially saying that irregular days would be fine, so long as we could manage it once a week. In a conversation a few days later, about unrelated things, I asked at the conclusion for him to please call me back at some point and let me know about the radio show.

I haven’t heard from him since.

This was the same old problem despite new assurances it wouldn’t ever come up again: A base disrespect that reasonable people (let alone yours truly) just cannot sit still for and tolerate. And it came despite my saying things I thought were important to the process: Don’t say you’ll do TGO Radio because you don’t want to say no. If you cannot, will not, do the show despite your agreeing to do it, tell me. I may call you a few nasty names, but in the end I’ll appreciate your honesty and not put a pox on your house.

Apparently this was too much to ask. I understand why this happens, because having to tell people “No” makes Jeff uncomfortable, but his ignoring the question and the conversation is a self-defense mechanism, and frankly it’s too cowardly to tolerate.

And so, TGO Radio – at least as far as Jeff’s involvement is concerned – is off the books; deader than Jack Kennedy. Whatever recording equipment Jeff had here will be put on my front porch Tuesday morning for him to gather at his leisure, but recreationally speaking I want nothing further to do with him until I get a concrete, reasonable explanation. Which is too bad, because I care for Jeff and enjoy his company, but when this sort of thing spans years and different sets of commitments, I’m being given a message I’d be a fool to keep ignoring.

Still, I wonder whether I possess the ability to do a solo show, and will kick format ideas around for the next few months before deciding whether to continue on my own.