A police horse!

Australia. Escapology is an amazing album. It’s definitely in my desert island top 10.

Seconded. All you need is a knife, a block of wood and a box of Band-Aids (sticking plasters, or whatever your colloquial term is for small wound dressings).

I’m not afraid to cry. I tell my friends that I love them. I have two teenage sons that I kiss goodnight, every single day. I am a disability support worker. I do regular mental health checks on family and friends because I know what it is to be depressed, and how one person caring can be the difference between living and dying. I hug… A lot. I am 49 years old and I am male…

… Therefore, I must be gay. Please don’t tell my wife.

The moment that I let go of it was the moment I got more than I could handle. The moment I jumped off of it was the moment that I touched down.

Thank U - Alanis Morissette

Strangers passing in the street by chance two separate glances meet and I am you and what I see is me.

Echoes - Pink Floyd

Try journalling. Just write down whatever you’re thinking about. It helps to get those deep thoughts out of your head and into the world. It makes them easier to examine when they’re out of your head. It also gives you more clarity when you articulate what you’re thinking: a definite thing instead of a fuzzy idea floating around on your head. That’s what I do. I don’t need to worry about sounding like an idiot because I’m the only person that will see them anyway.

God-dammed

Same for me. It’s like closure.

Alphanumerically!

Ça Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand

99 Luftballons by Nena

Both songs were massive hits in Australia when I was a kid and they both are still in high rotation on my playlist.

Interestingly, the English version of 99 Luftballons hardly charted here at all.

Plastic Bertrand’s song was huge due to appearing on the soundtrack of the National Lampoon’s European Vacation movie starring Chevy Chase and Beverley D’Angelo.

Jack Black.

These Days - Powderfinger

And some people are truly wonderful. Offering empathy and understanding to internet strangers is a simple kindness that can make someone’s day brighter. Thank you.

You’ll probably feel that way for a while. Try to not hold on to it. Carrying resentment and anger around is like deliberately filling your life with negativity. It’s draining and will leave you emotionally and physically exhausted.

You may eventually find that it’s a blessing that so many people showed you their true colours in such a direct way. You have a clean slate. Start surrounding yourself with people that are supportive and empathetic. You can choose who your friends are. Make good choices. Move slowly. Trust your gut.

You’ll be okay, friend. Good luck.

Yeah, mate. When my ex left me, even my older brother asked me to not come to parties at his place because it made her uncomfortable.

She was there with my brothers’ friend. She had been seeing him for a while and I was the last person to know. The whole time she had been telling anyone who found out about them that I was abusive and to keep it quiet for her protection (yet she was verbally and financially abusing me).

In the end I was shunned by almost everyone that I knew. I lost my home, my friends, most of my family and ended up in debt for years as a result.

Only my younger brother stood by me and stood up for me. Everyone else believed her. When I started dating my (now) wife, she was approached by several of my old “friends” and told that I was ‘bad news’ and to avoid me because I was abusive. My (now) wife told them she was “a grown woman and capable of making up her own mind, thank you very much!” We’ve been together 22 years, married for 17 years and have two amazing kids. In the end, though I suffered, I have come through way better off than I was then. The perspective that I have gained has made me much more aware of the value loyalty, friendship and love.

My ex married and had a kid with the brother’s friend. They didn’t last 5 years. She pulled the same shit with him, but nobody believed her this time. They had seen the same playbook when she cheated on me. He’s still single, and she’s with another ex-friend’s brother, burning bridges as she goes…

Just take small steps, my friend. Start a journal. See a counselor. Get up every day and see what it brings. You never know what’s around the corner. Eat right. Exercise. Just exist in the world without expectation and you’ll find your place. May it be filled with joy.

She caught the Katy - Blues Brothers or Taj Mahal*

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

Midnight Special - Creedence Clearwater Revival or Leadbelly*

Love in Vain - Robert Johnson*

Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull

Barricades and Brickwalls - Kacey Chambers

Train to Nowhere - Savoy Brown

Hear My Train A Comin - Jimi Hendrix*

*There have been loads of songs about trains or that mention trains in American blues history… I’m barely scratching the surface, here. In the early days of the 20th century the blues artists used to travel around by hopping on freight trains to get from town to town, so they featured in many, many songs. There would have been even more songs written to the rhythm of a rolling carriage, too, that don’t even mention trains at all.

Nah. It’s OK. It wasn’t harsh. It was direct. It was a slap to the face that I needed. I was being lazy and making my education someone else’s problem. I am self aware enough to see when I’ve made a mistake, most of the time, and though my intentions were good, it’s really not anyone else’s job to educate me. I also hadn’t considered that the “lived experience” I was asking for could be traumatic to recall and relay. Like I said, I was being lazy. I make mistakes. I try to learn from them and be better.

Thanks for explaining. It’s easy to be lazy when you don’t realise you’re being lazy. I appreciate you taking time to politely set me on the right path. I apologise if I caused any offence.

My bad. Thanks for explaining. I apologise for any offence.

I can respect that. I would suggest blocking the users that post the stuff you don’t want to see. I would prefer, though, that you educate me about why and how these artists are offensive to you. I can be a better ally if I understand. You gain nothing if I’m kept ignorant just because you say so. I also understand that you’re probably tired of having to defend yourself and explain yourself over and over again. I would guess that there’s an existential fatigue just trying to live in a society that seems to be offended by your very existence. I’m sorry. I try to call it out when I see it, but I don’t see it as often as I should and I think that hiding it, even comic strips, doesn’t help me to understand better. I need you, with lived experience, to point it out to me so I know what to look for.